Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Attitude acquisition'

This paper deals with the study of the robustness concerning the attitude control of the spacecraft TARANIS regarding disturbances on its sun acquisition sensors. Two kinds of disturbances have been studied: the masking of the sunlight by the dierent spacecraft devices as well as the sunlight reexion on their surface. This study has been performed by doing rst the sensor and observer modeling on a simulator specially designed for the study from the whole spacecraft simulator. Then the modeling of the disturbances has been achieved depending on the characteristics of the sources in terms of size, positioning, roughness and light reection. Finally a set of simulations of the acquisition and survival mode has been executed in order to evaluate the impact of the disturbances on its convergence time. The study shows that the algorithm designed to calculate the spacecraft attitude from the solar sensors data set is robust concerning these disturbances with the actual design of the satellite, but also shows limits concerning the size and positioning of its devices.

This thesis investigates employer attitude/behaviour and its impact on Indigenous Australians’ skill acquisition and employment experience in the mining and banking industries. The current Indigenous employment literature has a limited number of studies on demand-side factors focusing on the demand for Indigenous workers and the characteristics of employers, such as how they perceive and treat Indigenous workers. This study adds to the emerging body of research with its focus on labour market discrimination and labour market segmentation as a result of employer attitude/behaviour to explain the employment disadvantage experienced by many Indigenous Australians. The study employed mixed methods to understand the phenomenon of Indigenous employment disadvantage in the context of the mining and banking organisations. The mixed-method approach included participatory observation, in-depth interviews conducted with a total of 29 management and 11 Indigenous employees across the four organisations, focus group discussions with 28 Indigenous employees, relevant document analysis, and a self-administered questionnaire that included 46 items distributed to a random sample of 278 employees. The key findings of this study confirm that systemic racism is embedded in the employment and training system of organisations, which is reflected in the barriers faced by Indigenous trainees/employees in entering and progressing through the labour market. Hence, the negative impacts lead to their low participation in the labour market. Furthermore, the study reveals the failure of executive management to take Indigenous employment seriously by embedding it as a goal throughout the organisation. This is reflected in the ‘silo approach’ to Indigenous employment, low recruitment rates, and high turnover rates that act as a ‘red flag’, indicating an attitude/behaviour of prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping that may exist in these workplaces. This finding is significant, as detailed empirical evidence shows that the mechanisms that re-produce racial inequalities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups in the case study organisations are institutional and embedded in the employment relations and human resource systems, policies and practices of these organisations, thus explaining poor employment outcomes and, in particular, low Indigenous participation in the labour market.<br>Thesis (PhD Doctorate)<br>Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)<br>Dept Empl Rel & Human Resource<br>Griffith Business School<br>Full Text

Communicative strategies not only play an important role in communication but they also contribute to second language acquisition. Communicative strategies (CS) can help to keep the communication channel open, encourage hypothesis formation and automatization. The overall aim of this essay is to find out whether there is a relationship between Chinese English learners’ attitudes toward the use of communicative strategies and the reported frequency of using them in actual communication. Forty Chinese English majors are selected randomly to participate in this investigation. They were divided into two different groups according to their different level of language proficiency. The main methods of this essay are two questionnaires and an interview.   Based on the framework of achievement strategies and reduction strategies and through the investigation of the relationship between the attitude toward communicative strategies and the reported frequency of using them in communication, three tentative conclusions have been drawn. Firstly, a learner’s attitude of CS has some influence on the use of CS. Secondly; Chinese learners of English tend to use reduction strategies most often. Finally, Chinese learners seldom use achievement strategies although they tend to believe the important role of achievement strategies in communication. What is more, this essay also analyzes the two groups of students’ different attitudes and different reported frequency of using CS and finds some reasons for those differences. After the above analyses, the essay categorizes three main factors which affect learners’ attitudes and their reported frequency of using CS. It includes the learner itself, the learning context, and the communication context.

Second language acquisition is a field that has fascinated linguists for numerous years and is a topic that is very much connected to how English teachers in Sweden try to teach the English language to the students in their classrooms. In 2009 Sundqvist examined what possible effects extramural English could have on learners' oral proficiency and their vocabulary. In her study she found out that extramural English “is an independent variable and a possible path to progress in English” (Sundqvist, 2009, p. i).  In 2014, three Swedish secondary- and upper secondary school teachers started a project for the Erasmus+. These three teachers tried to create better teaching conditions and to come up with new methods for teaching English. During their investigation they noticed that students who had only been in Sweden for four years or less, seemed to get less exposed to English in their spare time than native Swedish students, which created a disadvantage for them. Since the time when these two studies were carried out, the number of immigrants has increased drastically, which creates the need for further investigation within this area of second language acquisition. In this study, I therefore investigate how much and in what way students come in contact with the English language outside of school. I also examine if there are any differences between native Swedish students versus non-native Swedish students and if so, how this might affect the students and their grades in English. The study was conducted through the use of questionnaires and through observations of different teaching situations, including the participating teachers' methods and the participating students' reactions. The results show that there are differences between native- and non-native students when it comes to extramural English activities. The results also show that these differences seem to affect the students' grades in English, in favour of the native Swedish students. The native students tend to spend more time on extramural English activities, especially in connection to the Internet and computer games, than the non-native students. These results indicate that something needs to be done in order to compensate for the non-native students' disadvantage.

Over the past 30 years, there has been little consensus on the benefits of peer review (PR) with respect to the teaching of expository writing in English to non-native speakers. Lu & Bol (2007) reported on several ESL writing instruction studies (Chaudron, 1983; Mangelsdorf, 1992; Paulus, 1999) that suggested peer feedback was as good as, and in some cases better than teacher feedback in helping revise and improve students' papers (p. 101). Brammer & Rees (2007), however, reported, "We frequently hear students complain bitterly that peer review is a waste of time or blame their peers for `not catching all the mistakes' and students do not stay on task during the peer review process" (p. 71). The literature also identifies social issues that can negatively affect the outcome of face-to-face PR, such as students being easily biased or not honest when providing feedback due to friendship, gender, race, interpersonal relationships, or personal preferences (Carson & Nelson, 1996; Ghorpade & Lackritz, 2001; MacLeod, 1999; Nilson, 2003; Zhao, 1998). To maximize the benefits of PR and reduce social interferences, this study incorporated anonymous electronic-peer review with 25 EFL students enrolled in an expository writing class in Spain. The goal of this dissertation is to explore the relationship between students' attitudes towards peer review and one) the amount and type of corrections a student makes to an essay in anonymous electronic-peer review, and two) the amount and type of corrections a student incorporates into his/her original essay after receiving feedback from a peer. The participants completed several Likert questionnaires, participated in PR training, wrote two drafts of an essay and were interviewed. The interviews provided data not only on the corrections mentioned above, but also how the participants viewed the experience, the effects PR had on their writing, insecurities about their English writing skills, and confidence they had in themselves and their peers based on perceived target language competence. Findings include discussion on perceptions and implications of electronic peer review on EFL learners' ability to provide helpful feedback and the willingness of the students to participate in peer review again in the future.

This study consists of two methods: textual analysis and interviews, which are based on text from The Uppsala Learner English Corpus (ULEC), and teachers as interview objects. The textual analysis investigates errors made by students in year seven and year nine, regarding the construction of different verb forms in written English essays. A potential difference between errors made in year seven and nine is also examined. Moreover, the interview based analysis investigates professional junior high school teachers’ teaching methods and attitudes towards grammar. The errors investigated in the textual analysis are compared with the responses of the teachers’ perception of common errors in verb forms made by their students.    The textual analysis showed that the most common errors made regard spelling within the verb phrase, auxiliary verbs, subject-verb agreement, and irregular verbs, and that year seven had a higher frequency of errors than year nine in most categories, even if the results differed inconsiderably.    The analysis of the interviews of the teachers found that teachers, in general, enjoy grammar, and aim to have a student-centered approach, however, the teachers testify of characteristics of traditional teacher-centered grammar teaching. It is reasoned that traditional teacher-centered grammar teaching is fundamentally established, where teachers today appear not to acquire the tools to move away from the teacher-centered approach onwards to a student-centered grammar teaching.    We reason that the education of L2 teachers needs to be reformed and provide tools to help teachers achieve a student-centered approach, and therein enable students to become more successful in grammar.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: As the number of Asian students studying English abroad continues to increase, there is a growing need for language learning programs that help students to increase their English proficiency in the most effective way possible. Studies have shown that exposure alone is not sufficient for improving proficiency. The question is: “Can a second language (L2) learner truly learn the target language if they do not like the people who speak it?” Schumman’s (1978) acculturation theory proposes that the degree to which a learner integrates into the target culture through decreasing their social and psychological distance from it will determine the degree to which they learn the target language. Central to this process is the learner’s attitude toward the target language and the target culture. By fostering positive attitudes toward the target language and culture, can we aid L2 students in transforming the L2 input that they receive while studying abroad into meaningful intake through which they can, in turn, achieve greater proficiency in the L2? This thesis explores the above questions through a research study investigating the relationship between attitude toward the target language and target culture, and L2 proficiency; amount of L2 input and L2 proficiency; and amount of L2 input and attitude toward the target language and target culture. A small-scale study was conducted with Korean L2 English students studying abroad in the USA. Ten participants completed a language background questionnaire, an attitude questionnaire, and an English proficiency test. The data collected via these instruments were analysed to determine if any correlations exist between the above-mentioned three sets of variables. Results showed no correlations between attitude and L2 proficiency. However, descriptive analysis showed a clear positive correlation to exist between several L2 input variables and L2 proficiency, and between L2 input and attitudes toward the target language.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Namate die aantal Asiese studente wat Engels oorsee studeer toeneem, styg die behoefte aan taalonderrig-programme wat studente help om hulle Engelse vaardigheid op die mees effektiewe wyse moontlik te ontwikkel. Studies toon dat blootstelling op sigself nie voldoende is vir die bevordering van taalvaardigheid nie. Die vraag is: “Kan tweedetaal- (T2-) leerders werklik ’n teikentaal aanleer indien hulle nie hou van die sprekers van daardie taal nie?” Schumman (1978) se akkulturasie-teorie stel voor dat die mate waartoe leerders hulself in die teikenkultuur integreer deur hulle sosiale en psigologiese afstand daarvan te verminder, bepalend is van die mate waartoe hulle die teikentaal sal aanleer. Sentraal tot hierdie proses is die leerders se houding teenoor die teikentaal en die teikenkultuur. Deur positiewe houdings teenoor die teikentaal en -kultuur onder T2-studente te bevorder, kan ons hulle help om die T2-toevoer wat hulle tydens oorsese studies ontvang te omskep in sinvolle T2-inname wat verhoogde T2-vaardigheid tot gevolg kan hê? Hierdie tesis verken die bostaande vrae op grond van ’n navorsingstudie wat ondersoek doen na die verhouding tussen T2-vaardigheid en houding teenoor die teikentaal en -kultuur; hoeveelheid T2-toevoer en T2-vaardigheid; en hoeveelheid T2-toevoer en houding teenoor die teikentaal en -kultuur. ’n Kleinskaal-studie is uitgevoer met Koreaanse T2-Engelssprekers aan’t studeer in Amerika. Tien deelnemers het elk ’n taalagtergrond-vraelys, ’n houding-vraelys en ’n Engels-vaardigheidstoets voltooi. Die data wat deur middel van hierdie instrumente ingesamel is, is geanaliseer ten einde vas te stel of daar enige korrelasies bestaan tussen die bogenoemde drie stelle veranderlikes. Resultate toon geen korrelasies tussen houdings en T2-vaardigheid nie, maar beskrywende analise dui wel op ’n duidelike positiewe korrelasie tussen verskeie T2-toevoer-veranderlikes en T2-vaardigheid, asook tussen T2- toevoer en houdings teenoor die teikentaal.

Millions of people, young and old, participate in sporting events in the roles of athlete or spectator or both. Sportsmanship affects the experience of both groups of participants. There is an absence of evidence showing that software that is designed using a set of research-based rules, can make a lasting, or even short-term difference in (a) the acquisition of sportsmanship knowledge and attitudes, and (b) the way children respond when placed in sporting situations, either as athletes or as spectators. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, determine whether schoolchildren, grades three through five, who use STAR Sportsmanship, a computer-based software program that was designed using a set of research-based rules and is rich with visual/ auditory examples and nonexamples, will (a) acquire more sportsmanship knowledge and attitudes, and (b) exhibit more sportsmanlike behaviors than those who do not use the software. Second, determine how those two outcomes would be impacted if all visual/ auditory examples (modeling based) were removed and replaced with auditory-only examples (lecture based). Through the use of a pre-post questionnaire of attitudes, and then with observations of behavior while youngsters were engaged in athletic events, changes in sportsmanship knowledge and attitudes were measured. This study compared questionnaire response levels and observation data of participants who either received no treatment or were assigned to use either a modeling-based or a lecture-based version of software that was developed to teach sportsmanship attitudes and behaviors to children. In regards to sportsmanship attitude and understanding, there was no measurable difference when comparing the pooled treatment group scores with the control group. The modeling treatment appeared to have a small effect when compared to both the lecture group and the control group. Furthermore, the findings showed some differences in measured attitudes and understanding between the grades, with the highest levels of sportsmanship understanding in those at the fourth grade. In regards to behavior, placement in either treatment group of the control group did not make a statistically significant impact. Grade placement, however, did however appear to make a significant impact.

The aim of this study is to investigate how students think that sociolinguistic factors such as age, gender, social class, and ethnic identity affect their attitudes and motivation regarding English second language learning in the Swedish upper secondary school. A questionnaire consisting of both qualitative and quantitative questions has been distributed in order to examine students’ attitudes and motivation regarding English second language learning. The data was analysed using a hermeneutic approach. The results show that the influential factors were age, gender and ethnic identity, whereas most of the participants disagreed concerning the influence of one’s social class onlanguage learning. In examining the students’ motivation for English language learning it was found that the majority of the students have a positive attitude due to the status of English as a global language and the possibilities for future employment that a command of English entails. In conclusion, according to the students’ perspectives, sociolinguistic factors do impact on their attitudes and motivation regarding English second language learning at upper secondary school level.    Keywords: Second Language Acquisition, Second Language Learning, Sociolinguistic Factors, Attitude, Motivation

Research on the acquisition of English by immigrants is abundant when it takes place in second language (SL) contexts. However, few studies deal with immigrant learners’ acquisition of English as a foreign language (EFL). In the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a very high rate of immigration, research on language acquisition by immigrant learners has focused on the two official languages, Catalan and Spanish. In contrast to this, the study hereby reported tackles EFL among immigrant secondary-school learners, with a focus on the participants’ affective variables (attitudes and perceived chances of success) and lexical cross-linguistic influence (CLI) in an oral and written narrative in EFL. The participants in our study are immigrant learners of three schools in the province of Barcelona (an area with the highest concentration of immigrants in Catalonia) who have at least two languages apart from English: L2 or L1 Spanish, L2 Catalan and their L1 when it is different from Spanish. The design of the study includes two different methods: a cross-sectional study with 92 learners divided into three groups (First cycle, ages 12-13; Second cycle, ages 14-15; and Post-compulsory education, ages 16-17), and a longitudinal study conducted with some of the cross-sectional participants, divided into two groups, with two collection times over two academic years: from grade 7 to grade 8 (n=10), and from grade 8 to grade 9 (n=14). The cross-sectional study includes a local group of learners in Second cycle for the comparison of their results in affective variables with those in the immigrant sample. The longitudinal study aims at investigating the role of hours of instruction (approximately 200 hours) in affective variables and CLI in EFL. The first Research Question in the study inquires into the participants’ indices of affective variables, which include attitudes and perceived chances of success, their factors and their relationship with achievement in EFL. The results in both the cross-sectional and longitudinal studies reveal that the participants have in general positive attitudes, slightly more favourable than those found in the local participants of the present study as well as in other studies conducted in Catalonia and other regions of Spain (Comajoan & Gomàriz, 2008b; Ibarraran, Lasagabaster & Sierra, 2008; Saravia i Terricabras, 2004; Uribe, Gutiérrez & Madrid, 2008). As for the immigrant participants' perceived chances of success, they reported having an expected school mark in English from Pass to Good, slightly inferior to those among their local peers. Similar findings have been found by previous research in Catalonia (Comajoan & Gomàriz, 2008a). The results on our immigrant participants’ perceived ability according to L1 showed that they did not believe in general that having an L1 different from Spanish and L2 Catalan had an influence on success in EFL. In the light of previous research, we assumed that affective variables led to higher indices of attainment in the target language through motivation. However, only two of the affective variables included in the study correlated with achievement in the three cross-sectional groups: attitudes towards learning English and expected school mark in English. Neither integrative attitudes (i.e. attitudes towards the target language community) nor instrumental attitudes correlated with indices of achievement. The lower scores obtained by integrative attitudes were coherent with the findings in Bernaus, Masgoret, Gardner & Reyes (2004), while the lack of correlations between integrative attitudes and achievement contradicts previous studies conducted by Gardner and associate researchers in Catalonia (Bernaus & Gardner, 2008; Gardner, 2007) and other national contexts (Clément, 1980; Gardner, 1960, 2000, 2007; Gardner, Day & MacIntyre, 1992; Gardner & Lambert, 1959, 1972; Gardner, Tremblay & Masgoret, 1997; Tremblay & Gardner, 1995). The comparison of the indices of affective variables between the three groups and the results cast by the longitudinal study indicate that the influence of school level and hours of instruction, which comprise increasing age and proficiency in EFL, on affective variables in our sample was weak. This is explained by the fact that the attitudinal constructs in the present study are more stable than other factors that depend on classroom variables, as was found in previous research (Gardner, Masgoret, Tennant & Mihic, 2004; Kuhlemeier, Van den Bergh & Melse, 1996; Lamb, 2007). It is argued here that social attitudes seem nonetheless more sensible to the influence of school level and hours of instruction than instrumentality or expected school mark in English and that the former can be influenced through increasing amount of exposure to the target language culture and the views exposed by the adults in the learners’ environment. The second Research Question of our study addresses amount of CLI and source selection in the participants’ oral and written production in English in addition to their factors. The results of the cross-sectional study show that school level is associated with less CLI in our sample, especially in the number of borrowings, which is in line with previous studies in the Catalan context (Celaya, 2006; Celaya & Ruiz de Zarobe, 2010; Celaya & Torras, 2001; Navés, Miralpeix & Celaya, 2005). Despite the fact that school level involves higher achievement, the statistical analysis showed that attainment in EFL was related to lower amount of CLI only in Second cycle, while type of CLI did not hold any consistent correlations with achievement. What is more, the role of hours of instruction in the longitudinal study, which is also related to higher achievement in EFL, was weak, as it only had a statistical significant effect on the decrease of amount of CLI in the oral production of the group followed from grade 8 to grade 9. Finally, the results in the study suggest that high indices of affective variables can lead to lower amounts of CLI but the comparison with the results in a previous piece of research (Agustín Llach & Fernández Fontecha, 2009) suggests that their effect seems to interact with school level and task effect. The findings on the participants’ use of other languages in EFL point to Spanish as, in general, the preferred source language in the written and oral data. Catalan was selected with lower frequency and no transfer from a mother tongue different from Spanish was found. In the choice of Spanish for instrumental roles (i. e. to address the interlocutor or to make comments on the task), source selection was determined mainly by the association of the interlocutor with the source language. In the use of transferred items to fill gaps in the narrative in EFL, the factors of source selection were different according to the participants’ L1. Among the native speakers of Spanish, the selection of this language was largely due to the role of the L1. Whereas among the rest of participants, transfer from Spanish and Catalan in detriment of the L1 was due to a combination of recency, proficiency and exposure to the L2, language distance and L2-status, which confirms a previous piece of research in Catalonia (Ciruela Castillo, 2007). Finally, the superiority of Spanish over Catalan in both L1 and L2 Spanish participants was largely due to the overwhelming presence of the former in the participants’ sociolinguistic environment, as in Ciruela Castillo (2007).<br>La investigación en la adquisición del inglés por parte de alumnos inmigrantes es abundante cuando aquélla tiene lugar en contextos de segunda lengua (L2). Sin embargo, pocos estudios han investigado la adquisición del inglés como lengua extranjera por parte de alumnos inmigrantes. En la región española de Cataluña, con un índice muy alto de inmigración, la investigación de la adquisición lingüística por parte de alumnos inmigrantes se ha centrado en las dos lenguas oficiales, el catalán y el español. A diferencia de ellos, el estudio aquí presentado aborda la adquisición del inglés como lengua extranjera por alumnos inmigrantes de educación secundaria y se centra en variables afectivas (actitudes y expectativas de éxito) e influencia interlingüística en el léxico de una narración oral y escrita en inglés. Los participantes de nuestro estudio son alumnos inmigrantes de tres escuelas en la provincia de Barcelona (área con la concentración más alta de inmigrantes en Cataluña) que poseen al menos dos lenguas aparte del inglés: español como primera lengua (L1) o segunda lengua (L2), Catalán como L2 y otra L1 cuando ésta es diferente del español. El diseño del estudio incluye dos métodos diferentes: un estudio transversal con 92 aprendices divididos en tres grupos (Primer ciclo, 12-13 años; Segundo ciclo, 14-15 años; y Educación postobligatoria, 16-17 años), y un estudio longitudinal conducido con algunos de los participantes transversales, divididos en dos grupos, con dos recogidas en dos cursos académicos: de primero de ESO (Educación Secundaria Obligatoria) a segundo de ESO (n=10), y de segundo de ESO a tercero de ESO (n=14). El estudio transversal incluye un grupo local de alumnos en Segundo ciclo con el que se comparan los resultados de las variables afectivas con aquéllos en la muestra inmigrante. El estudio longitudinal tiene como objetivo investigar el rol de horas de instrucción (aproximadamente 200 horas) en variables afectivas e influencia interlingüística en inglés como lengua extranjera. La primera Pregunta de Investigación en el estudio indaga sobre los índices de las variables afectivas, que incluyen actitudes y expectativas de éxito, los factores de éstos y la relación de aquéllas con el aprendizaje del inglés como lengua extranjera. Los resultados del estudio transversal y del estudio longitudinal revelan que los participantes tienen en general actitudes positivas, algo más favorables que las encontradas en los participantes locales del presente estudio así como en otros estudios conducidos en Cataluña y otras regiones de España (Comajoan & Gomàriz, 2008b; Ibarraran, Lasagabaster & Sierra, 2008; Saravia i Terricabras, 2004; Uribe, Gutiérrez & Madrid, 2008). Respecto a las expectativas de éxito, nuestros participantes expresaron que tenían una nota esperada de inglés de Suficiente a Bien, ligeramente inferior a la de los participantes immigrantes. Resultados similares se han encontrado en un estudio previo en Cataluña (Comajoan & Gomàriz, 2008a). Los resultados sobre la habilidad percibida según la L1 mostrada por nuestros participantes inmigrantes señalan que, en general, creen tener una L1 diferente del español y catalán como L2 no tiene influencia en el aprendizaje el inglés como lengua extranjera. A la luz de investigaciones anteriores, asumimos que las variables afectivas llevaban a mayores índices de éxito en el aprendizaje de la lengua meta a través de la motivación. Sin embargo, sólo dos de las variables afectivas incluidas en el estudio correlacionaban con el nivel de lengua en inglés en los tres grupos transversales: actitudes hacia el aprendizaje del inglés y nota esperada de inglés. Ni las actitudes integrativas (es decir, actitudes hacia la comunidad de la lengua meta) ni las actitudes instrumentales correlacionaban con los índices de aprendizaje. El hecho de que las actitudes integrativas sean menos favorables que las instrumentales es coherente con los resultados en Bernaus, Masgoret, Gardner & Reyes (2004), mientras que la falta de correlaciones de aquéllas con el aprendizaje del inglés contradice investigaciones anteriores conducidas por Gardner e investigadores asociados en Cataluña (Bernaus & Gardner, 2008; Gardner, 2007) y otros contextos nacionales (Clément, 1980; Gardner, 1960, 2000, 2007; Gardner, Day & MacIntyre, 1992; Gardner & Lambert, 1959, 1972; Gardner, Tremblay & Masgoret, 1997; Tremblay & Gardner, 1995). La comparación de los índices de las variables afectivas entre los tres grupos y los resultados arrojados por el estudio longitudinal indican que la influencia de nivel escolar, edad y horas de instrucción en las variables afectivas de nuestra muestra fue débil. Esto se explica por el hecho de que los constructos atitudinales del presente estudio son más estables que otros factores que dependen de variables que tienen lugar en el aula, tal y como han hallado investigaciones previas (Gardner, Masgoret, Tennant & Mihic, 2004; Kuhlemeier, Van den Bergh & Melse, 1996; Lamb, 2007). Argumentamos aquí, de todas maneras, que las actitudes sociales son más sensibles a la influencia de nivel escolar y horas de instrucción que instrumentalidad o nota esperada en inglés y que la influencia de aquéllas se produce a través de una exposición creciente a la cultura de la lengua meta y a los juicios de valor expresados por los adultos en el entorno de los aprendices. La segunda Pregunta de Investigación de nuestro estudio aborda cantidad de influencia interlingüística y la selección de la lengua fuente en la producción oral y escrita de los participantes en inglés además de los factores de aquéllas. Los resultados del estudio transversal muestran que el nivel escolar está asociado con menor influencia interlingüística en nuestra muestra, especialmente en el número de préstamos, lo cual está en línea con estudios anteriores en el contexto catalán (Celaya, 2006; Celaya & Ruiz de Zarobe, 2010; Celaya & Torras, 2001; Navés, Miralpeix & Celaya, 2005). A pesar del hecho de que nivel escolar supone mayor aprendizaje, el análisis estadístico mostró que el nivel de inglés estaba relacionado con menor cantidad de influencia interlingüística sólo en Segundo ciclo, mientras que el tipo de influencia interlingüística no obtuvo correlaciones consistentes con el aprendizaje del inglés. Lo que es más, el rol de horas de instrucción es débil, pues sólo influyó significativamente en la reducción de cantidad de influencia interlingüística en la producción oral del grupo seguido de segundo a tercero de ESO. Finalmente, los resultados en el estudio sugieren que los altos índices en variables afectivas pueden llevar a menores cantidades de influencia interlingüística pero la comparación con los resultados en un estudio anterior (Agustín Llach & Fernández Fontecha, 2009) sugiere que su efecto parece interactuar con nivel escolar y el efecto de la tarea. Los resultados sobre el uso de otras lenguas en inglés por parte de los participantes señalan el español como, en general, la lengua fuente preferida en los datos escritos y orales. El catalán fue elegido con menor frecuencia y no se dio transferencia desde una lengua madre diferente del español. En la elección del español con funciones instrumentales (es decir, para dirigirse al interlocutor o para hacer comentarios sobre la tarea), la selección de la lengua fuente estaba determinada especialmente por la asociación del interlocutor con la lengua fuente. En el uso de influencia interlingüística para llenar huecos en la narración, los factores de la selección de la fuente eran diferentes según la L1 de los participantes. Entre los hablantes nativos de español, la selección de esta lengua fue debida en gran parte al rol de la L1. Por otro lado, entre el resto de participantes, la transferencia de español y catalán en detrimento de la L1 fue debido a la combinación de uso reciente, la competencia y exposición a la L2, distancia lingüística y el estatus de la L2, lo que confirma un estudio previo en Cataluña (Ciruela Castillo, 2007). Finalmente, la superioridad del español sobre el catalán tanto en participantes con español como L1 o como L2 se debió ampliamente a la presencia dominante del español en el entorno sociolingüístico de los participantes, como en Ciruela Castillo (2007).

Learner beliefs, which contribute to attitude and motivation, may affect language learning. It is therefore valuable to investigate the malleability of learner beliefs, and to determine whether potentially detrimental beliefs can be ameliorated. This study examines how instruction of the principles of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) affects students' beliefs about classroom activities and their beliefs about language learning in general. The 68 first-year German students at Brigham Young University who participated in this study were asked to rate the effectiveness of three activities typical of communicative language teaching: Dialogue activities, Peer Interview activities, and Information-gap activities. They were also asked to respond to 11 statements about language learning, seven of which were taken from the Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory(Horwitz, 1988). Students responded to the survey three times: once during the first week of the semester, again during the fourth week, and again during the eighth week. During the four weeks between the second and third surveys, students in the experimental group received seven treatment lessons based on some of the basic principles of SLA. A Repeated Measures ANCOVA and a Logistical Regression were used to determine the effects of the treatment, time, and a number of demographic variables. Results of this study show that the treatment did not have a significant effect on any of the beliefs that were measured. However, one language learning belief was significantly affected by time. A majority of the students who participated in this study agreed with the statement, “The instructor should teach the class in German.” After three weeks of class instruction, however, they agreed with this statement significantly stronger. The results of this study also show that many of the demographic variables, such as gender and previous language learning experience, had a significant effect on a number of the students' beliefs.

An often discussed issue in the field of second language learning is the influence and importance of individual differences, IDs, such as motivation, personality, previous learning experiences and learning strategies. It has been claimed that IDs form a complex system in the learner, but little consensus has been reached as regards definitions of constructs or their relative importance. Taking the individual learner as a starting-point, this dissertation attempts to demonstrate the complexity of individual differences in the single learner by adopting an in-depth holistic approach. For this purpose a longitudinal case study was designed to follow the learning process of a young Greek woman's acquisition of Swedish during a ten-month intensive course in Sweden. The study is mainly based on self-report and personal diaries, which have been interpreted and analysed qualitatively. The learning process is extensively described and changes in, for example, strategy use, life situation and learning progress are illustrated. There are indeed many complex factors which have the potential to influence learning. In this particular case, seven factors are indicated as having had a positive influence: previous language learning experiences (especially as regards learning strategies), long-term motivation, metalinguistic awareness, social contacts with L2 speakers, access to English as a mediating language, access to a strict and intensive Swedish course, and a well-needed learning break in the middle of the studies. Negative factors were largely of an emotional nature, especially a period of liminality which created feelings of not belonging, of being betwixt and between. It is suggested that IDs form a dynamic variable system in the learner. All the IDs are present in the learner, but they seem to change both in substance over time and in importance for the learner at different times in the learning process. Furthermore, IDs appear to be interconnected in a complex and dynamic way. The results of this study strongly emphasise the importance of both an holistic and a longitudinal approach to IDs in second language learning.<br>digitalisering@umu

L'introduction de la dimension comportementale dans l'explication des phénomènes de fusions-acquisitions a permis de remplacer les suppositions traditionnelles de rationalité des acteurs par des suppositions comportementales potentiellement plus réalistes. La finance d'entreprise comportementale permet de traiter le phénomène de fusion-acquisition dans un cadre élargi en intégrant dans l'analyse l'hypothèse de l' irrationalité des acteurs notamment les dirigeants des acquéreurs. Le présent travail porte sur l'étude de la relation qui existe entre les biais comportementaux des dirigeants des acquéreurs tels que le biais d'excès de confiance, et les opérations d'acquisitions. Nous développons, dans un premier temps, plusieurs mesures d'excès de confiance des dirigeants. Dans un second temps, les différentes mesures développées seront mobilisées pour étudier l'effet de l'excès de confiance sur les politiques d'acquisition. Sur un échantillon d'entreprises françaises engagées dans des opérations d'acquisition durant la période 1999-2007, nous montrons que les dirigeants surconfiants des acquéreurs ont tendance à réaliser plus d'acquisition et à les effectuer avec une prime d'offre plus élevée. Cependant, ces acquisitions ne sont pas rentables pour les actionnaires des acquéreurs étant donné que les rentabilités réalisées sont négatives autour de la date d'annonce<br>The introduction of the behavioral dimension in the explanation of the phenomena of mergers and acquisitions has allowed to replace the traditional assumptions of rationality of the participants by potentially more realistic behavioral assumptions. Behavioral corporate finance allows to treat the phenomenon of mergers and acquisitions in a framework widened, incorporating into the analysis the hypothesis of the irrationality of participants in particular the managers of bidders. The present work focuses on studying the relationship between the behavioural bias of managers of bidders such as overconfidence bias, and the operations of acquisition. Firstly, we develop several measures of CEO overconfidence. Secondly, these measures are used to study the effect of overconfidence on acquisitions policies. From a sample of French firms involved in operations of acquisitions during the period 1999-2007, we show that the overconfident CEO tend to make more acquisitions and to make them with a higher acquisition premium. However, these acquisitions are unprofitable for the shareholders of the bidders since the returns realized are negative around the date of announcement

The attitudes and learning strategies of 100 language learners who are also users of Self-Access Centers (SACs) in a theoretical context of Self-Access Language Learning (SALL). Though questionnaire survey, the present study discovered several significant correlations between learner’s attitudes towards SALL and their language learning strategies. It also established a profile of SALL center users in their attitudes and learning strategies from an comparative view based on their previous SALL experiences. The results showed that leaners who are more ready for Self-Access tend to use affective strategies. Memory strategies are practiced more often among leaners who prefer learn grammar without teachers and have more speaking activities in class, also who are relatively more self-aware of their own learning objectives. Cognitive strategies are widely used by leaners who prefer leaning grammar by themselves, also those who are more confident to solve problems by themselves. There is a stronger intention of control over content selection for leaners who had SALL experiences, especially in utilizing non-staffing SALL resources at SACs.<br>published_or_final_version<br>Education<br>Master<br>Master of Education

Psychotherapy has differentiated into models of practice based on diverse principles. Current policies in the UK favour expansion of empirically supported treatments, especially cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). This is likely to result in therapists seeking training in CBT after previously adhering to other models.

This research focuses on student attitudes toward multilingual education. Although much work has been done on multilingual education pedagogy and policy, almost none has been child-centered. Little consideration has been given to first-hand accounts of children in immersion programs. Through participatory observation, surveys, and focus group discussions with third grade students at a public, French immersion elementary school in the Pacific Northwest, I have found many common threads within student experiences of multilingual education. Specifically, students' fear of failure and peer-to-peer shaming when learning a new language can leave them feeling ambivalent toward French. This is not to say that the student experience is overwhelmingly negative; however, student attitudes seem to fall somewhere between their learned value for multilingualism and their lived experiences. Ultimately, this thesis highlights the importance of student narratives and the ways in which they can inform the development of immersion education programs.

Den här studien syftar till att undersöka elevers syn på skolans roll när de lär sig engelska och deras attityder till det engelska språket och engelskundervisningen. Studien genomfördes med hjälp av en enkätundersökning, där 92 elever i årskurs 9 från två olika högstadieskolor deltog. Resultatet visar att eleverna är positivt inställda till det engelska språket och fritidsengelskan. Majoriteten av dem tycker att de inhämtar mer kunskap i engelska på fritiden än i skolan och knappt hälften tycker att de lär sig språket bäst själva, utan skolans hjälp. Resultatet visar också att en stor majoritet av eleverna anser att skolan har en viktig roll när de lär sig engelska och de inser vikten av att inhämta grammatiska kunskaper. Eleverna värderar den muntliga förmågan högt och många av dem anser att det är lättare att prata engelska på fritiden än i skolan. Majoriteten elever anser också att undervisningen behöver anpassas till att likna deras fritidsengelska mer och många elever ser gärna att det är mer arbete med film på lektionerna. Resultatet visar även att det förekommer en viss könsskillnad vid några av frågorna.

The Institute of Medicine report of 2011 defined Transgender Specific Health Needs as one of four priority research areas. While there is research asserting that health care providers (HCPs) do not have adequate training in providing competent care to transgender patients, there are no studies to date assessing HCPs' gender identity attitudes and their willingness to learn the Standards of Care (SOC) developed for this patient population. According to the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, as of 2010, 52% of Nurse Practitioners (NPs) were practicing in primary care settings. As more than half of NPs practice in primary care and transgender patients often initially present their gender concerns to their primary care provider, this study focuses on the NP population. This study describes a sample of NPs' attitudes towards gender variance, as well as their perceived need and interest in learning the SOC as published by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. Multi-state purposive sampling of NP professional organizations was conducted. Two conservative and two progressive states' professional organizations were included in the sample. The states were randomly assigned within both geopolitical groups to intervention or control with the use of a random numbers table. Comparisons between geopolitical groups and between control and intervention groups cannot be made due to low response rates of all states. The majority of this small sample of NPs agreed that they needed and wanted additional training in transgender health care. Future research with representative sample sizes is needed to better understand provider-sided barriers to caring for this marginalized patient population.

Language students today have grown up with a plethora of technology tools at their fingertips, which has in some cases earned them the title of "digital native". 'Students' high use of technology outside the classroom has led teachers and researchers to believe that technology could be highly effective for language learners when used appropriately. Yet little is known about how students actually react to technology-based tools for language learning purposes. This study seeks to not only understand student attitudes toward technology in general, but also to see how those attitudes might affect student attitudes toward online language learning tools in a social media context. Using a design-based research approach, we implemented a curriculum that utilizes a social networking environment in which students could consume authentic language samples and practice using the language in a controlled environment. Through the analysis of pre and post surveys, it was discovered that age was the most significant predictor of student attitudes toward technology, but that the extent to which students use technology proves to be a more significant predictor when other variables are factored in. Furthermore, it was discovered that general attitudes toward technology do affect the ways in which students will react to a technology-based curriculum. Nevertheless, the way in which a curriculum is presented can be a stronger factor in predicting how the curriculum will be received.

In this degree project, a survey-study of 50 Swedish primary teachers’ attitudes towards reading and their choice of reading instruction practice in Swedish was made. The aim of the study was to examine Swedish primary teachers’ attitudes towards reading and how they describe their reading instruction practice. This to make it possible to examine if there is a relationship between the teachers’ attitudes towards reading and the choice they make about their reading instruction practice. The study aimed to answer the questions below: Considering the personal reading habit among the teachers, what kind of attitudes and perceptions of reading does the teachers in the study express? When it comes to their reading instruction practice, based on what principals do they describe their practice? What is described as important by the teachers when planning and contemplating reading instruction practice in Swedish? What does the teachers describe as successful motivators for a beneficial development in reading among the pupils? Is there a relationship between the teachers’ attitudes towards reading and their choice of reading instruction practice? Is the choice of reading instruction practice among the teachers influenced by the attitude towards reading that they have? The theoretical bases of this study were based on theories of functions of reading, the literacy language practices emergent literacy and skill-based read readiness and also on the theory of attitudes value in decision making.As a conclusion, this study finds that there is evidence for a relationship between the teachers’ attitudes towards reading and their choice reading instruction practice in Swedish. It is shown that the teachers’ attitudes towards reading could be seen as influential in the choice of reading instruction practice. This since there is a correlation between how reading is defined, descried and how the purpose of reading is described, in both of the aspects which the study investigated.<br>I detta självständiga arbete gjordes en enkätstudie av 50 svenska lågstadielärares attityder gentemot läsning och deras val av undervisningspraktik i läsundervisningen i Svenska. Syftet med studien var att undersöka svenska lågstadielärares attityder gentemot läsning och hur de beskriver sin läsundervisningspraktik i svenska. Detta för att undersöka utifall det fanns en relation i vilken attityd gentemot läsning de hade och de val de gjorde i utformandet av sin läsundervisningspraktik i svenskämnet. Studien syftade till att besvara dessa frågor: Utifrån den personliga fritidsläsningen, vilka attityder och inställningar gentemot läsning uttrycker lärarna i studien? Utifrån vilka principer beskriver lärarna sin läsundervisningspraktik? Vad framhåller de är av vikt vid planering samt genomförande av läsundervisning i svenskämnet i lågstadiet? Vad framhåller lärarna som motivatorer för en gynnsam läsutveckling hos eleverna? Finns det en relation mellan lärarnas personliga attityd samt förhållning gentemot läsning och deras val av metod i läsundervisningen? Är deras val av metod i undervisningen influerad av vad de personligen anser om läsning? De teoretiska utgångspunkterna i detta självständiga arbete baseras på teorier om funktioner av läsning, teorier om språkundervisningspraktikerna emergent literacy samt skill-based read readiness och också på teorier om hur våra attityder står i relation till de val och beslut vi gör. Sammanfattningsvis finner denna studie att det finns bevis för en relation mellan lågstadielärarnas personliga attityder gentemot läsning och hur de väljer att konstruera sin läsundervisningspraktik i svenskämnet. Detta då det finns en korrelation mellan hur lärarna i studien definierar och beskriver läsning samt syftet med läsning,  båda de aspekter som studien undersökte.

The word zenzen is an adverb that is used frequently in daily conversational Japanese. From the Meiji period (1868-1912) until the early Showa period (1924-1989) the word was used together with both affirmative and negative words to form expressions. In the early Showa period the grammatical rules in education changed so that the only acceptable use was together with a negative word. From the 1990’s onward, the use together with an affirmative word has made a comeback especially among younger Japanese people. However even though the usage together with an affirmative word has made a comeback and was considered normal once in history, in today’s society it is still considered as slang and thus not recommended usage in formal situations. Foreign language learners however, tend not to learn a language only by textbooks but also by imitating the language of native Japanese speakers and Japanese popular culture. This may lead to a confusion regarding what words are acceptable to use in conversations. Therefore in this study, an online survey that examines the usage and attitudes regarding the word zenzen aimed at Japanese language learners at Swedish universities was conducted. The results of the survey showed that although a majority of the learners showed a good understanding of the usage, more than half of the learners displayed a feeling of confusion regarding the usage of the word. The gender comparison regarding the usage showed no major differences. Having lived in Japan, having Japanese friends whom you speak Japanese with regularly and length of Japanese study was associated with an increased understanding of the usage. Regular consumption of Japanese popular culture, however, was not associated with an increased understanding of the usage. A literature analysis was also conducted to examine the attitudes regarding the usage of zenzen in a variety of books with topics including business language and books aimed at Japanese language teachers. The results showed that zenzen used together with a negative word was considered as the norm while zenzen used together with an affirmative word was not recommended to be used in formal situations. When recommending proper usage of the word zenzen together with an affirmative word to foreign learners of Japanese, hijou-ni and totemo was seen as better alternatives to zenzen in a formal situation.

La recherche sur le consommateur considère aujourd’hui les modèles multi-attributs comme des modèles de décision et de choix de l’acheteur. Ceux-ci constituent un effet, une évolution importante dans la recherche sur le consommateur, d’où leur intérêt. La première partie présente l’automobile et le comportement du consommateur. Nous examinons la situation du parc et du marché de l’automobile, et les facteurs explicatifs du taux d’équipement, pour nous intéresser ensuite aux modes d’acquisition et d’utilisation de l’automobile par les consommateurs. La deuxième partie donne un aperçu sur les différents aspects des modèles multi-attributs. Nous avons étudié ceux-ci en fonction du comportement du consommateur. Puis nous avons abordé les problèmes soulevés par leur utilisation et par leur formalisation quantitative. La troisième partie est une application des modèles multi-attributs au problème du choix d’une automobile. Nous avons d’abord exposé la méthodologie de notre enquête, ensuite les résultats du questionnaire. Enfin, nous avons comparé les efficacités et les performances des modèles linéaire additif (modèle de FISHBEIN), multiplicatif, conjonctif et lexicographique dans le choix d’une automobile. Le modèle lexicographique a donné la meilleure prédiction. Il est suivi du modèle multiplicatif. Ensuite, il y a le modèle linéaire additif (modèle de FISHBEIN) et enfin le modèle conjonctif. Cette comparaison que nous avons faite à partie des attributs, a porté sur sept marques de voitures. Elle nous a montré le grand intérêt des modèles multi-attributs dans le choix d’un produit de forte implication.

The purpose of the study was to investigate Oriental women's clothing acquisition behaviors and to compare their body measurements with the measurements listed in Voluntary Product Standard, PS 42-70. A questionnaire was administered to 101 Oriental women residing in Tucson, Arizona. Thirty-nine body measurements were taken from each subject in the sample. The major type of store used most frequently was department store. It appears that Oriental women were not impulsive buyers or influenced by suggestive selling techniques but highly represented careful shopping characteristics. Fit was the most important consideration in purchasing a garment. Newspapers were the major information source of fashion for Oriental women. A significant fitting problem area appeared in garment length when Oriental women purchased ready-to-wear. Bigger differences were found in vertical than the circumference body measurements for Oriental women when the mean of body measurements was compared with the PS 42-70 measurements.

The effect of the perception of fitness on the acquisition of several basic interviewing skills was explored. Furthermore, the relationship between perceived and actual fitness was investigated, as well as the relationship between actual fitness and basic interviewing skills. The interviewing skills were eye contact, talk time, verbal following (topic change) and focus of subject verbalization.<br>The study consists of two parts. The first part explored the viability of altering an individual's perception of personal physical fitness. Fifty-four subjects were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control condition. Experimental subjects received positive feedback related to their physical fitness during a bicycle ergometer test of actual fitness. Control subjects received only neutral feedback. Results indicated that positive feedback worked to successfully alter perception of fitness among experimental subjects.<br>The second part of the study explored the effect of fitness perception on interviewing skill acquisition. Results indicated that increasing an individual's perception of personal fitness did not enhance skill acquisition. There was also no significant difference in skill acquisition among subjects with higher and lower levels of perceived fitness. It was further determined that no significant relationship existed between actual fitness and the acquisition of basic interviewing skills used in the study. Additionally, it was determined that although a significant relationship between perceived and actual fitness was evident for female subjects in the study, this relationship did not hold true for male subjects.

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2008.<br>Thesis research directed by: Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

The aim of this thesis is to elucidate how English teachers in Sweden choose what materials to use in the classroom and how they benefit students. In order to accomplish this, I studied a variety of theories that deal with the subject of using traditional teaching aids versus authentic materials. Four interviews with English teachers of different backgrounds and experiences were conducted. I analysed the results of the interviews in conjunction with the theories. My conclusion is that teachers use different materials based on a combination of experiences and preferences. However, due to the limited number of interviewees in this study, it is not possible to draw any general conclusions. Nevertheless, it seems probable that new and inexperienced teachers seek comfort in traditional teaching aids such as textbooks and accessories, while experienced teachers lean towards incorporating authentic materials in their teaching to a larger extent. The experienced interviewees feel that authentic materials enable students to learn in an environment where they forget that they are actually ‘learning’. Instead, English becomes the natural means of communication. However, most interviewees agreed that time constraints sometimes make it difficult to incorporate authentic materials in the classroom. It is my own conclusion that authentic materials provide teachers with a never-ending source of inspiration that has the potential to revitalize and even reinvent the profession.

This study used a questionnaire given to four classes of beginning Spanish to examine students’ motivations and attitudes towards learning a foreign language. Results show that although students do not regularly encounter individuals who do not speak English and therefore have little opportunity to practice language outside the classroom, their attitudes are overwhelmingly positive towards foreign language and culture. Most participants strongly agree that bilingualism is important and report they would want to be fluent in at least two languages.

Une part croissante de la théorie financière considère l'hypothèse que la valeur de marché d'une firme puisse diverger non seulement de sa valeur fondamentale, mais de la valeur attribuée par son dirigeant. L'objectif de cette thèse est de mieux comprendre comment la perception d'une sur ou sous-évaluation des actions par le marché influence les décisions des dirigeants en matière de fusions et d'acquisitions. L'étude du comportement des dirigeants de sociétés françaises cotées révèle que, si des changements économiques sont bien apparus à l'origine d’une intensification de l'activité de fusions-acquisitions, l'utilisation des actions de l'acquéreur comme moyen de paiement a augmenté lorsqu'elles étaient surévaluées et a diminué lorsque le dirigeant avait tendance à être surconfiant. Nous nous sommes alors interrogés sur les raisons ayant conduit les actionnaires de la cible à accepter les paiements en actions et avons constaté que la perception d'une faible asymétrie d'information, un horizon d'investissement de court terme et l'octroi au dirigeant de la cible d’un poste gratifiant dans l'organisation de l’acquéreur après la fusion ou l'acquisition favorisaient les paiements en actions. Dans le cadre d'une représentation dynamique, nous avons aussi mis en lumière des stratégies consistant à accroître la taille de la firme pour que les actionnaires ne puissent se voir proposer l'échange de leurs actions sous-évaluées (stratégies défensives) ou, au contraire, pour augmenter la probabilité qu'un dirigeant concurrent, potentiellement surconfiant, leur propose d'acquérir leurs actions surévaluées contre un paiement en numéraire (stratégies de positionnement).

The international and national assessment results indicated that Turkish students&rsquo<br>conceptual understanding in science and basic inquiry skills are far behind the expected levels. The reason of low achievement could be attributed to many sources such as family background characteristics, students&rsquo<br>attitudes, and teaching methodologies. The low socioeconomic environment in the school and crowded classrooms are important facts that should be somehow considered by the educational researchers. The way a teacher teaches in a crowded classroom is important to help students&rsquo<br>understanding of concepts and development of inquiry skills. The present study aimed to propose a methodology that helps teachers to enhance students&rsquo<br>understanding of concepts and develop inquiry skills in many schools with various socio-economic-status environments and large classrooms. The method proposed could be called as guided (teacher-directed) inquiry to develop concepts, skills, and affective characteristics of the students such as attitudes. This study was conducted with 168 sixth grade public elementary school students in Ankara in 2006-07 academic year. Repeated measures design was used in the study. Intact groups received either traditional or teacher-directed inquiry instructions. The students in both groups were measured with the unit achievement and science process skills tests, and attitudes toward science questionnaire before and after the instructions, and repeatedly after no treatment by a retention or delayed test. It was found that while the guided (teacher-directed) inquiry instruction made a difference on student achievement in the first unit (Reproduction, Development and Growth in Living Things), it could not make a difference on student achievement in the second unit (Force and Motion). The instruction also made a difference on students&rsquo<br>science process skills test performance and both the composite and individual attitude scores. It is concluded that guided (teacher-directed) inquiry instruction generally helps students&rsquo<br>understanding of science concepts and results with achievement in science. It helps students&rsquo<br>development of scientific skills with authentic experiences. Guided (teacher-directed) inquiry instruction also has an effect on students&rsquo<br>development of positive attitudes toward science and technology course, specifically on self-concept, anxiety, interest, career, enjoyment, and usefulness dimensions.

This quantitative research, carried out at the military environment at the Defense Language Institute investigated whether learning approaches could predict learners' language proficiency and learners' attitude towards technology-enhanced language learning (TELL). In addition, it also examined whether learners' demographic factors, such as age, educational backgrounds, prior experience in foreign language learning and in TELL as well as their ability to use PC and the World Wide Web could predict the above mentioned language proficiency and attitude. A cluster sampling method was adopted and data was collected in four Chinese departments at the institute. Both the learning approaches inventory ASSIST and the attitudes towards TELL survey were administered to 158 Chinese language learners. 137 valid responses were obtained. All data were input into SPSS for regression and correlation analyses. Conclusions of the study are as follows: 1. The surface and apathetic approach (p<.01) was a significant predictor for both learners' measured language proficiency and their self-perception of academic performance. 2. The strategic approach was a positive predictor for learners' attitudes towards TELL; whereas, surface and apathetic approach was a negative predictor for learners' attitudes towards TELL. 3. None of the learners' demographic variables could not predict either learners' language proficiency or their attitudes towards TELL. Implications for instructional design, curriculum development, teacher education, as well as relevant research issues were discussed.<br>Ph.D.<br>Department of Educational Research, Technology and Leadership<br>Education<br>Instructional Technology/Media

The present study was a one sample pre- and post-session, quasi experimental design, conducted during an intensive English course in 2003 in Taiwan. Participants were fifty tertiary level freshmen from a medical college in Southern Taiwan. In order to understand the effects of graphic organizers on participants' EFL, reading comprehension and attitudes towards reading in English, quantitative and qualitative data were gathered. Research has shown that the graphic organizer is effective in facilitating reading comprehension and learning attitudes when students construct their own graphic organizers cooperatively in group-work in the post-reading session. The purpose of the present study was three-fold. First, the study investigated the effects of two different types of graphic organizer strategies, teacher- and student-generated on Taiwanese TVES (Technological and Vocational Education System) tertiary freshmen's EFL reading comprehension achievement. Secondly, the study explored participants' attitudes towards EFL reading after the use of the two types of organizer strategies. Thirdly, the study examined the participants' attitudes towards the use of the two types of organizer strategies. The study was conducted in two stages. During the first stage, the teacher-generated graphic organizer strategy was employed. In the second stage, participants generated graphic organizers in a group-work setting. Two comprehension tests generated by the researcher as a pre- and post-test were administered. Following analysis of the qualitative and quantitative data three important conclusions can be made. First, the student-generated graphic organizer strategy had significantly positive impact on the students' reading comprehension. I-Iowever, the ceiling effect of language proficiency inhibited low-scorers' comprehension performance. Secondly, the use of student-generated graphic organizers in a group-work setting had a significantly positive impact on students' attitudes towards EFL reading, particularly those of the low-scorers. Thirdly, students' attitudes towards the use of two graphic organizer strategies did not show any significant differences. Although these conclusions are based on a small sample, the findings of this study suggest that the use of graphic organizers is an effective pedagogical tool for promoting EFL, reading comprehension and improving attitudes toward EFL reading, particularly when students generate their graphic organizers cooperatively, Key words: EFL reading, tertiary students, graphic organizers, reading comprehension, attitudes towards reading.

Motivation and attitudes are considered as hypothetical psychological constructs in explaining both the process and outcome of second/foreign language learning. The taxonomy and categorization of second/foreign language motivation into integrative and instrumental motivation has long been established and dominated L2 motivation research in different educational contexts. According to Lambert (1972), Integrative motivation reflects an interest in learning another language because of a sincere and personal interest in the people and culture represented by the other language group. Instrumental motivation on the other hand, refers to the pragmatic and functional orientations in learning a foreign language. Gardner (1985) claimed that integrative motivation is the most important and predictable factor of excelling in a second language than the instrumental motivation. Nevertheless, this assumption that stresses the importance of integrative motivation over the instrumental one in predicting the level of success in learning a second language, has rather been challenged, and a set of controversial findings have been reported. This study sought to compare and investigate the motivational and attitudinal orientations of Sudanese undergraduate students towards learning English and German; in relation to the target language in question and gender differences. In addition, it intended to examine if there would be any correlation between students’ level of motivation and attitudes, and their self-assessed achievement in the target language. The sample of this study composed of 221 students from the Faculty of Arts, University of Khartoum, Sudan. 148 students from the department of English language, and 73 students from the department of German language have participated in the survey. Based on Gardner’s Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB), a survey scale has been constructed to measure students’ motivation and attitudes. The findings of the empirical investigation revealed that Sudanese students were relatively highly motivated and had favorable attitudes towards learning English and German, respectively. In line with the established literature in the field, the results demonstrated that Sudanese students were more instrumentally motivated to learn English. On the other hand, the students in the German department had more positive attitudes towards the German community and culture in comparison to the students of the English department. Gender differences have also been identified in the department of English only; where female students had a significantly higher level of motivation and were rather more integratively motivated to learn English than their male counterparts. Finally, the study could not indicate any correlation between students’ level of motivation and attitudes, and their achievement in the target language<br>Einführung in die Thematik Motivation und Einstellung als hypothetische psychologische Konstrukte spielen eine große Rolle sowohl für den Prozess und als auch für das Ergebnis eines Zweit/Fremdsprachenerwerbs (Gardner, 1985; Kleppin, 2001; Dörnyei, 2003; Riemer, 2001; Al-Busairi, 1990). Traditionell wird in der Fremdsprachenforschung zwischen integrativer und instrumenteller Motivation unterschieden. Integrative Motivation bezieht sich auf das Interesse an der Sprachgemeinschaft und ihrer Kultur, um sich mit der jeweiligen Kultur zu identifizieren und sich in diese zu integrieren. Dahingegen bezieht sich die instrumentelle Motivation auf die pragmatischen Gründe des Fremdsprachenlernens, wie z. B. das Erlernen, um eine erforderliche Prüfung zu bestehen oder um einen guten, besseren Job zu bekommen. Jedoch gingen Gardner (1985) in seinem sozio-pädagogischen Modell davon aus, dass die integrative Motivation den Lernerfolg stärker fördert und folglich zu besseren Lernergebnissen führt als die instrumentelle Motivation. Diese Konzeptualisierung und Dichotomisierung zwischen integrativer und instrumenteller Orientierung wird kontrovers diskutiert und wurde laut empirischer Untersuchungen vor allem im Falle des Englischen als globaler Sprache kritisiert. Die Problematik liegt darin, dass die Untersuchungen von Gardner ursprünglich in der Kanadischen, bilingualen, Französisch-Englischen Gesellschaft durchgeführt wurden und damit einen anderen Kontext betreffen als im Falle des normalen Erlernens einer Fremdsprache. Somit scheint das Konzept von integrativer Motivation im traditionellen Sinne beim Fremdsprachenerwerbsprozess weniger relevant zu sein, weil es in diesem Fall keine definierte Zielsprachengemeinschaft gibt, mit der man sich identifizieren und integrieren kann. Darüber hinaus zählen Einstellungen gegenüber der Zielfremdsprache, deren Sprachgemeinschaft und Lernatmosphäre als wichtige Faktoren, die bedeutend für den erfolgreichen Fremdsprachenerwerb sind (Candlin &amp; Mercer, 2001). Motivation und Einstellung sind eng miteinander verbunden, die beim Sprachenlernen zusammenspielen und sich gegeneinseitig positiv auswirken. Brown (1994) argumentiert, dass positive Einstellungen günstig für den Erwerb einer Zweitsprache sind, und dass negative Einstellungen den Motivationsgrad vermindern und folglich aufgrund geringen Inputs und Interaktion zu einem unerfolgreichen Lernen führen können. Das erreichte Niveau und die Kompetenz in einer Zweit/Fremdsprache werden weitgehend zu den individuellen Persönlichkeitsunterschieden der Lernenden gezählt. Geschlechtsunterschiede werden als Einflussfaktoren beim Fremdsprachenerwerb betrachtet. Im allgemeinen wird in der Fremdsprachenforschung davon ausgegangen, dass weibliche Studierende einen höheren Motivationsgrad und positivere Einstellung besitzen (vgl., Csizer &amp; Dörnyei, 2005; Gardner &amp; Lambert, 1972). Dies wurde in einer Reihe von empirischen Studien in der Fremdsprachenforschung bestätigt. In der vorliegenden Arbeit soll dementsprechend diese grundlegende Thematik bezüglich der Rolle von Motivation und Einstellung beim Fremdsprachenerwerb nachgegangen werden. Es wird untersucht, inwiefern sudanesische Studierende motiviert und eingestellt sind, um Englisch und Deutsch zu lernen, und ob sie dabei eher integrativ oder instrumentell orientiert sind. Es wird ebenfalls untersucht, ob geschlechtsspezifische Unterschiede, so wie sprachbedingte Unterschiede zwischen der englischen und deutschen Abteilung vorliegen. Darüber hinaus wird ermittelt, ob es einen signifikanten Zusammenhang zwischen Motivationsgrad und Einstellung der Studierenden und ihrer selbst eingeschätzten Leistung gibt. Diese Arbeit ist von besonderer Bedeutung für die Fremdsprachenforschung im Sudan, da die meisten Studien dort sich auf Englisch beziehen, wohingegen diese Studie sich sowohl mit Englisch als auch mit Deutsch als Fremdsprache beschäftigt. Forschungshypothesen Diese Studie prüft sechs Haupthypothesen über die beiden Abteilungen sowie Subhypothesen für die jeweiligen Abteilungen, wobei Englisch- und Deutschstudierende miteinander verglichen und in einer zusammenhängenden Art und Weise betrachtet wurden. Die Hypothesen wurden wie folgt operationalisiert und formuliert: 1. Sudanesische Studierende sind relativ hoch motiviert beim Englisch- und Deutschlernen. 2. Sudanesische Studierende haben relativ positive Einstellungen gegenüber Englisch und Deutsch und folglich gegenüber der englischen und deutschen Sprachgemeinschaft und Kultur. 3. Sudanesische Studierende sind eher instrumentell motiviert beim Englisch- und Deutschlernen. 4. Es gibt statistische signifikante Unterschiede zwischen den Englisch- und Deutschstudierenden bezüglich ihrer Motivation und Einstellungen. 5. Es gibt signifikante geschlechtsspezifische Unterschiede bezüglich Motivation und Einstellungen gegenüber Englisch und Deutsch. 6. Es gibt einen signifikanten Zusammenhang zwischen dem Motivationsgrad, den Einstellungen der Studierenden und ihrer selbsteingeschätzten Leistung in Englisch und Deutsch. Methodisches Vorgehen Die Stichprobe dieser Untersuchung bestand aus insgesamt 221 Anglistik und Germanistikstudierenden in der Faculty of Arts an der Khartum Universität. 148 Probanden von insgesamt 273 wurden von der englischen Abteilung einbezogen. Wohingegen 73 von insgesamt 79 von der deutschen Abteilung an der Untersuchung teilgenommen haben. Die Stichprobe von der Germanistikabteilung war wesentlich kleiner im Verglich zu der Stichprobe der Anglistikabteilung. Dies hat mit Tatsache zu tun, dass es weniger Germanistikstudierende an der Universität Khartum gibt und somit diese Stichprobe trotzdem sehr repräsentativ ist. Die Messinstrumente der empirischen Untersuchung wurden anhand der relevanten Literaturrecherche und Gardner’s Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) entwickelt. Die Items wurden zunächst in englischer Sprache verfasst und dann ins Arabische übersetzt, wobei die Rückübersetzung und die Inhalte von Experten im Bereich Psychologie und angewandter Linguistik überprüft wurden. Der Fragebogen bestand aus zwei Skalen: Der Motivationsskala zur Erfassung der integrativen und der instrumentellen Motivation. Die zweite Skala bestand ebenfalls aus zwei Subskalen zur Erfassung der Einstellungen gegenüber der Zielsprache und Kultur. Die Antwortmöglichkeiten sind auf einer fünfstufigen Schätzskala vorgegeben. Die Antwortalternativen sind wie folgt berechnet: Stimme stark zu (5 Punkte); stimme zu (4 Punkte); unentschieden (3 Punkte); stimme nicht zu (2 Punkte); und stimme stark nicht zu (1 Punkt), jedoch sind die negativen Items umgekehrt codiert. Die Fragebögen wurden in ihrer endgültigen Version im Arabischen eingesetzt, um so möglichst gleiche Verständlichkeit für alle Probanden zu gewährleisten. Forschungsergebnisse Die Ergebnisse der empirischen Untersuchung weisen daraufhin, dass sudanesische Englisch- und Deutschstudierende einen relativ hohen Motivationsgrad und positive Einstellungen gegenüber der englischen und deutschen Sprache haben. Die Englischstudierenden zeigten einen wesentlich höheren Durchschnitt der Motivation im Vergleich zu den Deutschstudierenden. Demgegenüber zeigten die Deutschstudierenden positivere Einstellungen als die Englischstudierenden gegenüber der Zielsprache. Konsistent zu anderen Untersuchungen lies sich mit der vorliegenden Studie belegen, dass im Sudan als Englisch-Studierende eher instrumentell motiviert sind Deutsch-Studierende. Darüber hinaus gab es signifikante Unterschiede zwischen den Germanistik- und Anglistikstudierenden bezüglich ihrer Einstellungen gegenüber der Zielsprachengemeinschaft zugunsten der Germanistikstudierenden. Was die Arten der Motivation betrifft, waren die Studierenden in beiden Abteilungen sowohl integrativ als auch instrumentell motiviert gegenüber der Zielsprache. Jedoch war der Durchschnittswert der integrativen Motivation höher als der der instrumentellen Motivation. Somit sind beide Stichproben eher integrativ motiviert gegenüber beider Sprachen, was unerwartet war vor allem im Falle des Englischen als Weltsprache, die eher mit instrumentellen Zwecken und Nützlichkeit verbunden wird. Signifikante geschlechtsspezifische Unterschiede wurden nur unter den Englischstudierenden nachgewiesen, wobei die weiblichen Studierenden einen deutlich höheren Motivationsgrad besassen und eher integrativ motiviert waren. Schlussfolgerungen Anhand der empirischen Befunde dieser Untersuchung kann man davon ausgehen, dass sowohl instrumentelle als auch integrative Motivation (beide gleichgewichtig) sich auf das Erlernen einer Fremdsprache auswirken. Dementsprechend ist die Rolle der Intensität und Stärke der Motivation beim Fremdsprachenlernen noch nicht oft erforscht worden, was als Folge der Beschäftigung mit der Polarisierung zwischen instrumenteller und integrativer Motivation zu sehen ist. Das Konzept der integrativen Motivation sollte erweitert und reininterpretiert werden, um in den Kontext des Fremdsprachenlernens zu passen. Solche neuen Konzepte wie imaginäre Sprachgemeinschaft oder ideelles Selbstbild, entwickelt von Dörnyei (2005), sind von Relevanz für das Fremdsprachenlernen, wobei die Studierenden anstreben in der Fremdsprache so kompetent wie ein Muttersprachler zu werden und sich nicht zwangsläufig in die Zielsprachengemeinschaft zu integrieren. Es wurden einige Einschränkungen bezüglich der Forschungsmethodik formuliert. Diese Studie und die daraus resultierenden Ergebnisse können von einer großen Bedeutung sein für die Fremdsprachendidaktik im Allgemeinen und für die englische und deutsche Sprache im Sudan ins Besondere. Auf dieser Basis wurden Schlussfolgerungen für zukunftsorientierte Untersuchungen zum Fremdsprachenlernen im Sudan abgeleitet

The main purpose of this mixed methods research was to explore and analyze visitors’ overall experience while they attended a museum exhibition, and examine how this experience was affected by previously using a virtual 3dimensional representation of the museum itself. The research measured knowledge acquisition in a virtual museum, and compared this knowledge acquired between a virtual museum versus a real one, employing a series of questionnaires, unobtrusive observations, surveys, personal and group interviews related to the exhibition and the artist. A group of twenty-seven undergraduate students in their first semester at the College of Architecture and Design of the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico participated in the research, and were divided in two groups, one of which used a 3D virtual representation previous to the museum visit. Results show that participants who experienced the virtual museum concurred that using it was a positive experience that prepared them to go to the real museum because they knew already what they were going to find. Most of the participants who experienced the virtual museum exhibited an increased activity during their museum visit, either agreeing, being more participative, concurring and showing acceptance, asking questions, or even giving their opinion and analysis, disagreeing with the guide and showing passive rejection. Also participants from this group showed an increase on their correct answers to the knowledge acquisition questionnaires, going from 27% answers responded correctly in the pre-test, to 67% of correct answers after the virtual museum usage. The research attempted to show that experiencing a virtual museum can be similar to the experience in physical museum visits, not only engaging participants to go to the museum, but sometimes even offering a more functional way to deliver content. Results of this research evidence that using a virtual museum creates a positive impact in users before, during, and after the museum visit, and that it can be a good alternative, not only for educational, but for promotional and recreational and purposes.

The importance of explicit grammar instruction has been debated during decades within the second language acquisition discourse community. Researchers’ views on the topic are controversial, and there is still no clear answer to be found. In terms of English teacher attitudes, previous research shows no indication of a gradually decreasing interest in explicit grammar instruction in L2 or FL classrooms. Despite this, the Swedish National Agency of Education does not mention explicit grammar instruction in their official documents regarding the subject of English. Hence, this paper aims to examine if the Swedish context has an impact on in-service English teachers’ attitudes towards explicit grammar instruction. To investigate their attitudes, along with their preferred approaches to explicit grammar instruction, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five English teachers at upper secondary school. The interviews were recorded, carefully analysed and partly transcribed. The results show that all of the interviewed English teachers were positive towards explicit grammar instruction and use it in their teaching. In terms of approaches to explicit grammar instruction, all of the five teachers explained that they highlight a certain grammatical rule when they notice that many of their students have a hard time with it. It is often after a writing assignment that the grammatical difficulties are revealed and will be brought up in class. The teachers tend to explain the rule by using the whiteboard, a relevant YouTube clip or a PowerPoint. An interesting finding was that all of the teachers referred to their own experience when explaining why they use a specific approach to explicit grammar instruction, whereas none of the teachers referred to research within the field. In addition, all of the interviewed teachers expressed that the official steering documents by the Swedish National Agency of Education should mention grammar instruction more explicitly. However, they were still positive towards the official documents, because of the fact that these focus on communication. The current paper provides an indication of how English teachers in Sweden prefer to work with explicit grammar instruction, along with suggestions for further research on the topic.

Studies relating to Electronic Games (EG) and the development of language acquisition for ESL learners have shown remarkable results. A Swedish study researching vocabulary proficiency reported that “frequent gamers had a higher total mean score than the moderate gamers, and in turn the moderate gamers had a higher score than the non-gamers” (Sundqvist &amp; Sylvén, 2012, p. 313). Regarding oral proficiency, willingness to communicate and language strategies Horowitz (2019) illustrates that verbal linguistic competence increases concurrently with extended periods of exposure to EG. Games and grades in English similarly seem to have some overlap (Sundqvist &amp; Sylvèn, 2012; Uuskoski, 2011). “Massively multiplayer online games, role-playing games, strategy games and shooter games also had noticeable statistically significant correlations with good grades” (Uuskoski, 2011, p. 43). The adage of the more you use it, the better you become seems to have further implications when the use of EG seems to not only increase the average grades, vocabulary, and oral skills in addition to possibly increasing the motivation of EFL students. However, a vital aspect that has often been overlooked in other studies is how students and users of EG perceive their own language learning and what implications this entails for learners of English. This study consists of the attitudinal values of 50 adolescent students in an International School in Stockholm towards L2 language skills and language motivation through EG. In order to measure the study a quantitative analysis was conducted based on answers from a questionnaire. The results showed that a majority of the students had positive attitudes towards the use of Electronic Games (EG) and increasing their English proficiency. It was additionally discovered that both receptive and productive skills when playing were considered useful with significant differences between girl and boy gamers. In regards to EG and student motivation to learn more in school by playing EG a majority however found EG to not give any major contributions. Furthermore, students believed they learned the most English at school although EG and other sources had some importance.

Environmental deterioration has been and continues to be a serious problem in our consumer-oriented society. The ecologically detrimental effects of clothing waste are often unappreciated even by those who attempt to practice social responsibility in other areas of consumption. The purpose of this research was to examine the degree of social responsibility exhibited by individuals in their consumption of clothing. The specific clothing acquisition and discard (CAD) behaviors studied were garment recycling. purchase of secondhand clothing purchase of classic style apparel, and general clothing conservation. A 26-item instrument (CAD scale) was developed to measure attitudes toward these behaviors. The scale was subjected to two pretests using student samples from VPI&SU and was analyzed by means of a computer program (PACKAGE) designed to assess reliability and dimensionality. Construct validity was evaluated by correlating the CAD scale with an established measure of attitudes toward socially responsible consumption. Correlation with a behavior measure was used to investigate the scale's predictive validity. Data were obtained through the distribution of a questionnaire to a sample of 405 shoppers at a Roanoke, Virginia, mall. Only questionnaires with complete CAD scales (282) were used for analysis. This group of respondents was divided into three parts. the top third was considered to have favorable attitudes toward responsible clothing consumption and the bottom third to have less favorable attitudes. Chi-square tests compared the scores of both groups on clothing consumption behaviors. sociodemographic variables, and media usage variables. Stepwise discriminant analysis and correlation coefficients were also used to examine the relationship between attitudes and sociodemographic variables. The CAD scale was found to be a reasonably reliable and valid measure of attitudes toward socially responsible clothing consumption as conceptualized. Respondents with favorable attitudes were older and had lower incomes and higher education levels than those with less favorable attitudes. They were also less inclined to be politically conservative and more likely to be married and living with their spouses. They watched more news and nature/wildlife television programs and fewer game shows. They also read more literary and educational magazines.<br>Ph. D.<br>incomplete_metadata

The present study examined a hypothesized relationship between the following variables: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as described by Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), integrative and instrumental orientation (Gardner & Lambert, 1972), attitudes toward pronunciation, and accent in English-speaking late learners of Japanese. Data collection occurred in two steps: First, English-speaking participants completed three questionnaires designed to measure their motivation and attitudes toward pronunciation; they then provided speech samples in Japanese. Native speakers of Japanese then rated these speech samples holistically on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 indicating a strong foreign accent, and 5 indicating a native accent. Scores on the questionnaires were then correlated with the accent ratings. None of the English-speaking participants were judged as native or near-native speakers of Japanese. However, results demonstrated a significant positive correlation between ratings of accent and two variables: Intrinsic Motivation Toward Accomplishment and attitudes toward pronunciation. The statistical analysis also revealed a positive correlation between integrative and instrumental orientation and extrinsic motivation, suggesting a relationship between measures of orientation and extrinsic motivation as well. These results highlight the importance of including Self-Determination Theory in the area of second/foreign language acquisition research, as well as clarifying the role of motivation and attitudes toward pronunciation in the present context of late learners of Japanese.

<p>Although many studies have been conducted on second language acquisition and bilingual education, little is known about the role of language in the formation of identity by adolescent immigrants in the language classroom. More specifically, this study aims to investigate the use of code-switching by immigrant and refugee students learning Swedish and English in a high school preparatory program. Furthermore, this study investigates the relationship between students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards code-switching and language as a resource, and theories on language as a marker of identity. Quantitative collection of data and qualitative interviews reveal tensions between the ways in which teachers and students relate to code-switching and bilingualism. This study concludes that language in general, and code-switching in particular, can be used by students as a marker of identity. It further concludes that teachers to some extent discourage the use of code-switching, and thereby undermine the students’ possibilities in forming multicultural identities.</p>

The aim of this paper was to investigate student and teacher attitudes towards English vocabulary learning and teaching. Secondary aims were to find out how a number of students learn new vocabulary and whether teachers prefer explicit or implicit teaching methods. The investigation was conducted by letting 75 students in two lower secondary schools and 24 teachers of English from different schools answer questionnaires about vocabulary learning and vocabulary teaching. The results show that both the students and the teachers generally had positive attitudes towards vocabulary learning. The teachers of English did not prefer explicit teaching methods to implicit teaching methods when teaching vocabulary, but they thought implicit vocabulary teaching to be most effective. The results also show that the students claim to learn new vocabulary in varied ways and watching English movies or TV-series and by playing computer- or video games were singled out as the most effective ways to acquire new vocabulary by the students. Hence, the results show that both the teachers and the students agreed on implicit vocabulary learning to be the most effective, however, previous research has shown that vocabulary is most effectively learnt explicitly.

Attitude and motivation, two central concepts in the domain of educational psychology, have not been attended to as required in the literature on English language teaching and learning in Iraq. Consequently, the current study aims at launching a theoretical and empirical investigation into the role of both concepts in bringing about the current discouraging situation of teaching and learning English as a foreign language in Iraq. The theoretical part of the work subsumes the first four chapters. Chapter One is the introduction where the problem to be investigated, the hypotheses, the aims of the research, and the reasons behind the choice of this topic for research have been stated. Chapter Two describes the educational system and the current situation of English language teaching and learning in Iraq. Worth mentioning in this respect are the different pre- and in-service training establishments, English textbooks and tests, and the supervision of teachers of English. Chapter Three is on attitude. The concept has been initially considered from a purely psychological viewpoint with focus on the historical review of attitude development, definition, basic components, main characteristics, formation, and change. Attitude in education forms a second point of departure with emphasis being laid on the role of the concept in teaching and learning foreign languages. Chapter Three ends with attitude measurement. Motivation, the topic of study of Chapter Four, is tackled in terms of its historical development, definition, and different theories. Reference is also made to the role of motivation in education in general, and in foreign language teaching and learning in particular. Accordingly, types of motivation, factors affecting pupils' and teachers' motivation, and teachers' role in motivating pupils form main subjects of discussion. Chapter Four ends with two sections; the first of which tackles the facets of difference between attitude and motivation, while the second deals with the differences between interest on the one hand, and attitude and motivation on the other. Chapter Five is on the method of research adopted to gather the data for the current study. It also contains the analysis of the Pupils' and Teachers' Attitudes and Motivation Questionnaires. Finally, some general remarks about the empirical part of the work are also made. Chapter Six presents the statistical analysis and survey results. It also contains some hypotheses on pupils' and teachers' attitudes and motivation. There is further analysis of some responses made by pupils and teachers which could not be hypothesized. This chapter ends with the analysis of headteachers' and supervisors' perceptions of English language teaching and learning in Iraq. The final chapter titled 'conclusion' contains the general conclusions arrived at by the researcher, followed by some implications for future work.

The objective of this study is to examine various aspects of the difference between the acquisition of English and Spanish by Swedish learners in compulsory education and its causes. The two subjects have the same syllabus, with the difference that English studies start 3 years earlier, but studies of the competences of the Swedish students in these two languages (see f.ex. First European Survey of Language Competences, 2012)suggest that the gap between the languages is bigger than what could be expected and that there is an existing difference in attitude towards the two languages. The conclusion is that the predominance of English in the immediate environment of the surveyed students is considerable. The study has shown large differences between the input in English and Spanish. Students receive input in Spanish, communicate in Spanish and acquire knowledge of Spanish / Latin American cultures almost exclusively at school. On the other hand, they acquire knowledge, receive input and interact in English both in school and in their spare time. We also found considerable differences in attitudes towards the two languages and the perceived ability of the students. The Spanish is perceived as more difficult, less necessary, less fun and less useful in their future lives. New technologies create new platforms for communication that allow students to participate in interaction in the target language. This study shows that these situations occur mostly in English but also in Spanish, which in our opinion could be more used in teaching.

English language learners need teachers who are knowledgeable about the children they are teaching and they must be willing to learn more about their students' cultures, backgrounds and languages in order to make their educational experience meaningful.