Social Icons

21 January 2017

PHILOSOPHY OF ANIMATED CARTOON BEES

Bees live in highly stratified yet flexible social organizations with group decision-making skills that rival academic, corporate or government committees in efficiency. In spring, when bees swarm, they choose a new hive that needs to satisfy many demands within a couple of days (consider that the next time you go house hunting). They communicate information about the location and quality of food sources using the waggle dance. Bees can fly several kilometers and return to their hive, a remarkable navigational performance. Their brains seem to have incorporated a map of their environment. And a scent blown into the hive can trigger a return to the site where the bee previously encountered this odor. This type of associative memory was famously described by French novelist Marcel Proust in À la Recherche du Temps Perdu.

Given all of this ability, why does almost everybody instinctively reject the idea that bees or other insects might be conscious? The trouble is that bees are so different from us and our ilk that our insights fail us. But just because they are small and live in colonies does not mean that they can’t have subjective states, that they can’t smell the fragrance of the golden nectar or experience the warm rays of the sun or maybe even have a primitive sense of self. I am not a mystic. I am not arguing for pan-psychism, for the notion that anything is conscious. Nor am I assuming that bees can reason or can reflect on their fate as animated cartoon bees.

Bibliography
honeybeephilosophy.blogspot.com
(QS. An Nahl [16]:68-69)

20 January 2017

EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

The definition of educational technology is new. While it grows out of and uses concepts from previous theoretical frameworks of educational technology, it is, in Lewis’ (Hawkridge, 1976) words, “a whole new conceptual frame work.” It is a synthesis which presents a new way of thinking about what the concept, field, and profession of educational technology are.
Lewis indicates that this type of new conceptual framework is a “lonely and high risk activity.” Kuhn (1962) would consider this new framework a major paradigm change for educational technology and predict the difficulties which will occur in’ its acceptance by educational technologist and non-educational technologist alike.
To present the other side of these views of the difficulties associated with this new conceptual framework, we close the definition of educational technology with two positive statements that best summarize what this new definition means and what its implications can be.
Properly constructed, the concept of instructional or educational technology is totally integrated. It provides a common ground for all professionals, no matter in what aspect of the field they are working; it permits the rational development and integration of new devices, materials, and methods as they come along. The concept is so completely viable that it will not only provide new status for our group, but will, for the first time, threaten the status of others. (Finn, 1965,p. 193)
The educational future will belong to those who can grasp the significance of (educational and) instructional technology (Finn, 1964, p. 26).

Bibliography

J.C. Agarwal. Essential of Educational Technology.Vikas Publishing House Pvt limited.2009

Natural Phenomena of Hoax in Media

NATURAL PHENOMENA OF HOAX IN MEDIA
Various news HOAX are often shared by us, Muslims. Perhaps because happy, because amazed, because it likes. But since we are not careful and critical so that even in disgrace, or bear the sin.
Actually what is the purpose of this kind of news HOAX? Many. There were only want to get a lot of readers on your blog or website. Some are made for the sake of business competition. Some are made just for spreading false news. The more lie would make us no longer able to distinguish what is right and what is wrong. There also are intentionally made to pit Muslims and non-Muslims. And lastly, there is the news made by Muslims themselves. What for? I have no idea. In the Koran there is also a great deal about this:
Really those who brought forward the lie are a body among You too. Or do you think that false news was bad for you even it is good for you. Each one of them, gets a reply from the sin that he did. And who among those who took the largest portion in broadcasting false news that her great torment (Surah An Nuur, 24:11).
May those who like to make hoax, created a bad stigma, and then do a smear campaign to get his guidance, ... then become a useful man in building the Islamic civilization. Aamiin.

Reference

(QS An Nuur, 24:11).
NATURAL PHENOMENA OF HOAX IN MEDIA
Various news HOAX are often shared by us, Muslims. Perhaps because happy, because amazed, because it likes. But since we are not careful and critical so that even in disgrace, or bear the sin.
Actually what is the purpose of this kind of news HOAX? Many. There were only want to get a lot of readers on your blog or website. Some are made for the sake of business competition. Some are made just for spreading false news. The more lie would make us no longer able to distinguish what is right and what is wrong. There also are intentionally made to pit Muslims and non-Muslims. And lastly, there is the news made by Muslims themselves. What for? I have no idea. In the Koran there is also a great deal about this:
Really those who brought forward the lie are a body among You too. Or do you think that false news was bad for you even it is good for you. Each one of them, gets a reply from the sin that he did. And who among those who took the largest portion in broadcasting false news that her great torment (Surah An Nuur, 24:11).
May those who like to make hoax, created a bad stigma, and then do a smear campaign to get his guidance, ... then become a useful man in building the Islamic civilization. Aamiin.

Reference

(QS An Nuur, 24:11).

17 January 2017

New Psychological Technology
Edi Sukmara

Technology as product will certainly drive the trends of instructional technology in the future. This will be followed by another dimension of technology that is technology as process or some experts term it psychological technology. Until recently, the development of teaching approaches significantly gives tangible impact in the practices of instructional technology. Later, some experts say that new trend of psychological technology will remain hand in hand in driving the trend of instructional technology.
One of important discoveries in psychological technology is accelerated learning. This approach which is founded by psychologist Georgi Lozanov tries to make teaching and learning as relaxing as possible. Through the integration of multimedia such as classic music and attractive visuals, the students are expected to take part in the learning process relaxingly. This is believed to help them master the materials effectively.
To make the learning more effective, experts also develop the integration of computer intelligence which is adapted from human intelligence. They call this artificial intelligence. Chess game, for example, is a good example how human brain is adapted in computer game. This will help students train themselves without having ‘real’ partner. This experiment led to the development of another program called expert systems. These are software packages that allow the collective wisdom experts in a given field to be brought to bear on a problem. One of the first such system to be developed is called MYCIN, a program that helps train doctors to make accurate diagnose of infectious diseases on the basis of tests and patient information fed into the computer.
Bibliography
Hsieh, I.-L. & O’Neil, H. F. Jr. (2002). Types of feedback in a computer-based collaborative problem solving group task. Computers in Human Behavior, 18(1), 699-715.

Miwa, K., & Terai, H. (2012). Impact of two types of partner, peceived or actual, in human-human and human-agent interaction. Computers in Human Behavior, 28, 1286-1297.
picture of the cone of experience by Edgar Dale
Edi Sukmara


The goal of multimedia in education and training is to immerse the learner in a multisensory experience to promote learning. By using multimedia, learners can enhance the use of their senses in understanding the lesson. The sound which is found in audio and moving pictures which are found in the video will bring the real experience to the learners. Multimedia makes one’s experience as realistic as possible without actually being there.
Multimedia refers to the sequential or simultaneous use of a variety of media formats in a given presentation or self-study program. It makes communication more effective as it combines audio media, visual media, and computers including combinations managed by computers. The maximum use of the senses will enhance the effective communication in the classroom.
Communication process based on Berlo theory involves source, message, channel and receiver. Multimedia is the source that sends the message from the media to the students as receivers using the channel.
Bibliography

SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITENESS

Social Media and Politeness
Edi Sukmara


Utilisation of any media, including social media should be carefully considered. It may change new generation’s  language habit impacting on the change of the politeness pertinent to particular culture. We argue that youth’s  immersion in socila media has influenced their language habit.
·      The first change is spontanety promoted in socila media brought in within Interpersinal             assimmectrical interaction between Student-Lecturer.
·      The second change is the movement toward the lower context communication style. As a        consequence, a politeness is value from formality, absence of the swear word, hurtful words.
·      The third change is often used of “Bahasa Gaul” that value egalitarianism, modernity,and         expression during interaction with lecturer to reduce social distance.
·      Finally, feeling of connectedness as a result of easy and convinient contact with lectures        develops student’s casual choice of language. This notion may also challenge the concept of “traditional” politeness that expected during Student-Lecturer interaction.
Due to, the education institution and practitioners should make the police the regulate communication media that is more suitable for the student-lecturer interaction, and incoorporate politeness, broader language etiquette, and culturer ethics in academic curriculum, for mainstrean media, they should be more careful in presenting the model of politeness within broadcasted interaction.

Bibliography
Barness, S.B.2008. Understanding socila media from the media, ecological perspective

Eelen, G. 2001. A Critique of politenss theories. St.Jerome, Manchester.

16 January 2017

LEARNING ENGLISH TROUGH SOCIAL NETWORKS


A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for analyzing the structure of whole social entities as well as a variety of theories explaining the patterns observed in these structures. The study of these structures uses social network analysis to identify local and global patterns, locate influential entities, and examine network dynamics.
Group webpages, blog, wikis, and Twitter allow learners and educators to post thoughts, ideas, and comments on a website in an interactive learning environment. Social networking sites are virtual communities for people interested in a particular subject to communicate by voice, chat, instant message, video conference, or blogs. 
Computer networks combined with social networking software produces a new medium for social interaction. A relationship over a computerized social networking service can be characterized by context, direction, and strength. The content of a relation refers to the resource that is exchanged. In a computer mediated communication context, social pairs exchange different kinds of information, including sending a data file or a computer program as well as providing emotional support or arranging a meeting. With the rise of electronic commerce, information exchanged may also correspond to exchanges of money, goods or services in the "real" world. Social network analysis methods have become essential to examining these types of computer mediated communication.
In practice, as technology has advanced, the particular "narrowly defined" terminological aspect that was initially emphasized by name has blended into the general field of educational technology.[11] Initially, "virtual learning" as narrowly defined in a semantic sense implied entering an environmental simulation within a virtual world.
 A "virtual education course" refers to any instructional course in which all, or at least a significant portion, is delivered by internet. "Virtual" is used in that broader way to describe a course that is not taught in a classroom face-to-face but through a substitute mode that can conceptually be associated "virtually" with classroom teaching, which means that people do not have to go to the physical classroom to learn.
Accordingly, virtual education refers to a form of distance learning in which course content is delivered by various methods such as course management multimedia, multimedia resources, and videoconferencing

References :

Wasserman, Stanley; Faust, Katherine (1994). "Social Network Analysis in the Social and Behavioral Sciences". Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications. Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–27. ISBN 9780521387071.

EDUCATION AND MULTIMEDIA APPLICATION

Technological demand in this era has become a way of life, especially in education and business. Educational technology refers to the use of both physical hardware and educational theoretics. It encompasses several domains, including learning theory, computer based training, online learning and, where mobile technologies are used. There are several discrete aspects to describing the intellectual and technical development of educational technology:
·         Educational technology as the theory and practice of educational approaches to learning.
·         Educational technology as technological tools and media that assist in the communication of knowledge, and its development and exchange
·         educational technology for learning management system (LMS), such as tools for student and curriculum management, and education management information systems (EMIS)
·         educational technology itself as an educational subject; such courses may be called "Computer Studies" or “ information and communication technology (ICT)".
Multimedia is content that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, video and interactive content. Multimedia contrasts with media that use only rudimentary computer displays such as text-only or traditional forms of printed or hand produced material.
Multimedia can be recorded and played, displayed, interacted with or accessed by information content processing devices, such as computerized and electronic devices, but can also be part of a live performance. Multimedia devices are electronic devices used to store and experience multimedia content. Multimedia is distinguished from mixed media in fine art ; by including audio, for example, it has a broader scope.
As Oliver (1994) notes, the term multimedia has not always designated computer-based media, as it does now, but originally referred to combinations of audio, visual, and print materials delivered by various media.  Now, however, “the term has been adopted by the computer industry and re-defined to mean 'the integration of video, audio, graphics, and data within a single computer workstation.
While multimedia applications offer advantages and benefits, these do not come without costs, awareness of which may help users to make informed decisions about the true advantages of the medium (Grabe &Grabe, 1996). The key concerns include unnecessary duplication of existing instructional materials; teachers untrained in design becoming bogged down in the production of low-quality multimedia; problems of assessment using multimedia materials, which occur because learners using hyperlinks in multimedia do not always cover the same material in the same sequence; and high technical demands, with technical difficulties arising because of the complexity of some multimedia applications.
Obstacles to the widespread use of multimedia are myriad, and arise in part from the fact that multimedia applications, even if instituted carefully and with the intention of altering the learners' experiences, are an example of change and innovation, and so may provoke resistance, including such obstacles as (Helm & McClements, 1996):
1.      reluctance on the part of teachers to see materials transformed.
2.      the fear felt by users (staff and learners) over the level of technical knowledge required to get involved.
3.      the need of many tutors for special training (which may or may not be conveniently available) to use multimedia effectively.
4.      the significant challenge and expense of “adapting and transforming material intended for traditional delivery methods into new media”.
5.      the desire to tinker endlessly and mindlessly on presentations, with negative results for productivity.
The impact of multimedia in teaching is ultimately dependent upon the incorporation of certain principles that govern its usefulness and effects. Mayer (2001) has suggested seven such principles, based on empirical evidence from his ongoing research on multimedia and actual learning. These principles not only describe the various impacts of multimedia on learning, they also constitute a good basic primer for instructional designers working with media generally.
  1. Multimedia principle: Students learn better from words and graphics or pictures than from words alone .
  2. Spatial contiguity principle: Students learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented near rather than far from each other on the page or screen.
  3. Temporal contiguity principle: Students learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented simultaneously rather than successively.
  4. Coherence principle: Students learn better when extraneous words, pictures,  and sounds.
  5. Modality principle: Students learn better from animation and audible narration than from animation and on-screen text .
  6. Redundancy principle: People have only limited capacity to process visual and auditory material presented simultaneously; therefore, students learn better from animation and narration than from a combination of animation, generation, and onscreen text.
  7.  Individual differences principle: Design effects are stronger for low-knowledge learners than for high-knowledge learners, and for high-spatial-ability learners than for low-spatial-ability learners .

 Education today is inseparable of technology especially multimedia. With the use of multimedia projects, students can utilise the knowledge presented to them by the teacher, and represent them in a more meaningful way, using different media elements. These media elements can be converted into digital form and modified and customised for the final project.
By incorporating digital media elements into the project, the students are able to learn better since they use multiple sensory modalities, which would make them more motivated to pay more attention to the information presented and better retain the information.

References :
Grabe, C., & Grabe, M. (1996). Integrating technology for meaningful learning. Toronto: Houghton Mifflin.
Helm, P., & McClements, R. (1996). Multimedia business training: The big thing or the next best thing? In J. Frankl & B. O'Reilly (Eds.). 1996EDEN Conference: Lifelong learning, open learning, distance learning(pp. 134-137). Poitiers, France: European Distance Education Network.
Oliver, E. L. (1994). Video tools for distance education. In B. Willis (Ed.), Distance education strategies and tools (pp. 165-173). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.

ABC's Method in Language Learning Skills

Published By Melissa (1507042035)

When we heard the word language, perhaps most of us will think that language is the tools or the symbols which is used for communication with one another. You might have come up with this definition because we know that we used language to communicate with one another. But only a few of us know or study about how the process of the language learning.
Some questions are emerged when we talk about how the process of the language learning. Where does the learning take place? How can a person ensure success in language learning? And maybe one of the question which is emerged is ‘What are the strategies does the learner use?' These are some questions which will be answered by the writer in this paper.
In order to find the answers of those questions, we must ascertain the core and the fundamental issues to be discussed: defining the focus of our inquiry. Since this paper discuss about Language Skills Learning and learning couldn’t be separated with teaching. So, let’s try to define those two terms first; learning and teaching.
Learning and teaching is two terms which cannot be defined apart because we know that learning is the process of getting and acquiring knowledge or new informations consciously by study, experience or instruction (Kimble and Garmezy 1963 : 133). Similary, teaching, which is implied in the first definition of learning maybe define as transferring the knowledge, giving an instruction and guiding in the study of something to the learner.


The Four Basic Language Skills
When we learn a language, there are four skills that we need for complete communication. When we learn language, we are generally taught and assessed in terms of the ‘four skills’: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Listening and reading are known as ‘receptive’ skills while speaking and writing are known as ‘productive’ skills. And in the case of being success to learn language, all language learners will need to develop their skills in each of these areas. Not only that, the person’s prior knowledge, attitudes, personality, learning styles, skills and motivation, to mention a few, are all factors related to the eventual outcome of the language study.
A further importance for ensuring the learner to be success in learning language is the consciousness of the teacher to find a good teaching style, the classroom techniques and know the principles of teaching. We can say that not only the learner need to develop their skills in each of those four areas but the teachers also need to find their appropriate techniques of teaching the students.

As a teacher of language, we must be able to know about our students and how the way they learn. Because as we know a teacher is one of a basic need for a learner. As the writer clarified in the first chapter that teaching activity cannot be apart from learning activity.



Following these circumstances, we will roll out some principles of language teaching and learning. In some cases the principles will be expanded so that you can try to put them into practice if you wish. We outline eight principles that apply our best understandings of research on both effective teaching and learning for school-age learners and specific knowledge about how language is most efficiently acquired and best taught. Indeed, the purpose of this paper is to present a variety of principles, some of which may be new to you, and to encourage you to experiment with them.

Active Engagement
Learners play enjoyable, engaging, active roles in the learning experience. Language and literacy development are facilitated by a comfortable atmosphere—not only one that values, encourages, and celebrates efforts but also one that provides the appropriate level of challenge to motivate and engage learners (Cummins, 2007; Guthrie et al., 2004; Jensen, 1998; Sprenger, 1999; Krashen, 2003). When active engagement is practiced, language is learned while doing something with it, not just learning it.

Cultural Relevance
Classrooms respect and incorporate the cultures of learners in the class while helping them to understand the new culture of the community, the school, and the classroom. Teachers play the most important role in determining the quality and quantity of participation of the learners in their classrooms. When teachers develop a climate of trust, understand children’s social and cultural needs, and involving them as a model, can include English learners in classroom conversations and activities as important members of the classroom learning communities, the learners’ active involvement in the classroom and their learning show improvement (Yoon, 2007).
Creating a culturally responsive and culturally relevant classroom goes beyond “parental involvement” and requires thoughtfulness and effort on the part of teachers to learn about students’ cultures from students themselves, families, community members, and library and Internet resources; to value and include what learners bring to the classroom from their cultures; and to take into account the different world views represented in the classroom.

Collaboration
Learners develop and practice language in collaboration with one another and with teachers. As language is a tool for meaning-making, and communication and thinking are developed through using language to accomplish things (Vygotsky, 1986), and as learning cooperatively has been shown to be effective at improving learning (Kessler, 1991; Slavin, 1995). So instruction should be organized to facilitate interaction and collaboration. Learning should provide two-way experiences through which learners solve problems, negotiate meaning, and demonstrate what they have learned.

Learning Strategies
Learners use a variety of language and learning strategies to expand learning beyond the classroom and to become independent, lifelong learners. Learning strategies (also called learner strategies) (Chamot & O’Malley, 1996; Nunan, 1996; Oxford, 1996; Lessard-Clouston, 1997) are steps taken by learners to enhance their learning and develop their language competence. These strategies can be observable behaviors, steps, or techniques, such as SQ3R (survey, question, read, recite, review) (Robinson, 1970), a reading strategy, or mental practices, such as visualization or positive thinking. Although learners do use strategies unconsciously, the focus in teaching learning strategies is to bring them to the learners’ attention and make them consciously part of the learners’ repertoire. Learning strategies allow learners to control and direct their own learning. These strategies also expand the role of language teachers beyond teaching language to that of helping learners develop their own strategies. They are generally oriented toward solving problems and can involve many aspects of language to be learned beyond the cognitive.

Differentiation
Learning activities accommodate different language, cognitive levels and incorporate many dimensions of learning: different learning styles, intelligences. All learners are not the same: they have different native intelligence, learned intelligence, learning styles. Including English learners in a grade-level classroom expands the differences by adding different language backgrounds, educational levels, cultural experiences, experiences of culture change, and sometimes the trauma of war, famine, or poverty. When learners are limited in their comprehension of English, providing input through other means—pictures, gestures, sounds, movement, graphics—helps provide them the “hook” they need to be included in the classroom conversation.

Prior Knowledge
Teachers help learners use their prior knowledge of language, content, and the world to develop new language and increase learning. If we already know a lot about a topic—global warming, for example—we will find television programs, lectures, or written materials on global warming much easier to follow. If a student has learned a lot about a topic in his home language, it is easier to develop new language about that topic. Prior knowledge or background knowledge is key to comprehension for all learners (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2004), but it is of particular importance for English learners. If learners are less familiar with a topic and structures of the oral discussion or written text, they will have more difficulty with comprehension (Upala et al., 2007; Carrell & Eisterhold, 1988). Language difficulty increases with cognitive difficulty, unfamiliarity, and lack of context. So, when developing language with English learners, teachers must work to start where students are. This includes finding out what students already know about a new topic and helping them to make connections between what they already know and what they are learning. It includes making connections between learners’ cultures and cultural knowledge and the new culture of the school and the community. It also may include, at beginning levels, selecting topics that learners are likely to be familiar with, providing necessary background information on new topics in home languages, preteaching key vocabulary to expand background knowledge before studying a topic, or helping learners make connections between what they know about language in their home language (L1) to uses of this knowledge in English (L2). It also might include providing background information in L1 before proceeding to study a theme or topic in L2. In a bilingual classroom, content could be taught in two languages. In a monolingual classroom teachers might, for example, have learners read or listen to a home language summary of a text before they will be reading it in English.

Content Integration
Language learning is integrated with meaningful, relevant, and useful content—generally the same academic content and higher-order thinking skills that are appropriate for the age and grade of learners. Teaching language along with age-appropriate academic content has several advantages: it is efficient because two goals—acquisition of language and content learning—are accomplished at once. It is effective first because language is learned better when learners are doing something purposeful and important to them—and learning the content for their grade level is very important. It is also necessary because learners cannot afford to take a year or two off from content learning while they develop language: they will end up only further behind their peers. Content-based language learning can happen in a ­variety of settings: in a pull-out English language development (ELD) class (also called an ESL class), in which the teacher introduces content through integrated themes (this is often used with newcomers/ beginners); in a special section of a content class with a grade-level teacher with training in teaching ELD who teaches the content using approaches that make the content comprehensible to language learners and promote language development (this is sometimes done in middle and high schools with significant numbers of English learners); or in grade-level classes that include both English proficient learners and English language learners and in which teachers have training to attend to both content and language needs of learners and to differentiate instruction to include learners at different language and learning levels. These integrated models are used because research findings have shown that they are the most effective at both language learning and content learning for English learners (Cummins, 1986; Thomas & Collier, 2003). Teachers can differentiate through adapting the language, content, process, or product in classrooms (Tomlinson, 1999).

Clear, Appropriate Goals and Feedback
Teachers set and communicate attainable goals for learners and provide students appropriate and consistent feedback on their progress in attaining these goals. Setting clear goals helps both teachers and learners have a much greater chance to attain those goals. Goals begin our curriculum, inform our curriculum, and new, more advanced goals are the outcome of our curriculum. As John Dewey once said, “Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another.” We want English learners to attain the same high goals as their English-proficient peers, but to do this, we must set the right goals—goals that comprise the next step forward for individual learners. Learners want to do well, and will do much better when they understand what is expected of them and when our expectations are appropriate. We must establish clear language and content goals for learners and provide them feedback on their progress toward those goals. We can also, in developmentally appropriate ways, encourage learners to begin to evaluate their own progress toward accomplishing goals to help them become independent, self-motivated learners. We must determine intermediary steps toward grade-level standards that are attainable at learners’ language level. 

References:

Aebersold, Jo Ann and Field, Mary Lee. 1997. From reader to reading teacher.: issues and strategies for second language classrooms. Cambridge University Press Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/139.
Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching (4th ed.). New York: Longman. Retrieved from http://aeservices.net/English/Language-Learning-Mitsutomi.
Cohen,A. D. (1998). Strategies in learning and using a second language. London, UK:Longman. Retrieved from http://www.pearsonhighered.com/assets/hip/u/hip_us_pearsonhighered/
Klingner, J. K., & Vaughn, S. (2000). The helping behaviors of fifth graders while using collaborative strategic reading during ESL content classes. TESOL Quarterly, 34(1): 69–98. Retrieved fromhttp://www.pearsonhighered.com/assets/hip/u/hip_us_pearsonhighered/
Krashen, Stephen. 1982. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Retrieved from https://pedufopenglish.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/teaching-by-principles-douglas-brown.
Nunan, David. 1992. Collaborative Language Learning mid Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/
Van Lier, L. (1996). Interaction in the language classroom. London: Longman. Retrieved from http://aeservices.net/English/Language-Learning-Mitsutomi.




15 January 2017

Emotions that Facilitate Language Learning: The Positive Psychology-Broadening Power of the Imagination

Published By Melissa (1507042035)

In today’s world, society is facing extremely tough challenges in the form of global warming, natural disasters, economic recession, unprecedented homelessness, terrorism and the draining continuation of war. With all this sadness and horror, where in the world does a science based on testing happiness, wellbeing, personal growth and ‘the good life’ fit into the modern-day agenda?
Positive psychology is not simply the focus on positive thinking and positive emotions. It’s much more than that. Indeed, the area of positive psychology is focused on what makes individuals and communities flourish, rather than languish. Flourishing is defined as ‘a state of positive mental health; to thrive, to prosper and to fare well in endeavours free of mental illness, filled with emotional vitality and function positively in private and social realms’ (Michalec et al., 2009: 391). Indeed, existing figures show that only 18 per cent of adults meet the criteria of flourishing, 65 per cent are moderately mentally healthy and 17 per cent are languishing. Unsurprisingly, flourishing has several positive correlates such as academic achievement, mastery goal setting, higher levels of self-control and continued perseverance (Howell, 2009). Thus, a science that focuses on the development and facilitation of flourishing environments and individuals is an important addition to the psychological sciences.
Positive psychology concentrates on positive experiences at three time points: (1) the past, centering on wellbeing, contentment and satisfaction; (2) the present, which focuses on concepts such as happiness and flow experiences; (3) the future, with concepts including optimism and hope. Not only does positive psychology distinguish between wellbeing across time points but it also separates the subject area into three nodes:
■ the subjective node, which encompasses things like positive experiences and states across past, present and future (for example, happiness, optimism, wellbeing);
■ the individual node, which focuses on characteristics of the ‘good person’ (for example, talent, wisdom, love, courage, creativity); and
■ the group node, which studies positive institutions, citizenship and communities (for example, altruism, tolerance, work ethic) (Positive Psychology Center, 1998).
Contrary to criticism, positive psychology is not a selfish psychology. At its best, positive psychology has been able to give the scientific community, society and individuals a new perspective on existing ideas as well as providing empirical evidence to support the phenomenon of human flourishing. Above all, though, positive psychology has challenged and rebalanced the deficit approach to living while connecting its findings to many different disciplines. Throughout this textbook you will see how inducing positive emotions, committing acts of kindness and enhancing social connections enable individual and societal flourishing, demonstrating the usefulness of the discipline for individual, group and community wellbeing.




Applications of Positive Psychology
Positive psychology can have a range of real-world applications in areas including education, therapy, self-help, stress management, and workplace issues. Using strategies from positive psychology, teachers, coaches, therapists, and employers can motivate others and help individuals understand and develop their personal strengths. 

The Goals of Positive Psychology

The goals of Positive Psychology mirror the goals of language learning.  Most professionals enter the field of teaching in order to make a difference in the lives of students.  What motivates teachers to continue is the reinforcement of seeing students thrive and perform at optimal levels.  Positive Psychology seeks to do the same, promoting general well-being and life satisfaction across the broader spectrum of individuals and institutions.
Positive psychology is a rapidly expanding subfield in psychology that has important implications for the field of second language acquisition (SLA). Positive Psychology also has application in all aspects of teaching and learning, from pre-school level to post graduate, for faculty and students alike. The concept of positive education seeks both higher academic achievement, increased character strengths, self awareness and emotional control, self efficacy (not self-esteem), resilience, flexible and accurate thinking skills, strategies for positive relationships and learned optimism. There are reasons for both encouragement and caution as studies inspired by positive psychology are undertaken.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND LANGUAGE LEARNING
On the trail of positive psychology in SLA As with the field of psychology, PP in SLA could perhaps be viewed as having a short history and a long past. Lake (2013) was one of the first to explicitly adapt and apply PP concepts in his study of Japanese learners’ positive self, positive L2 self, self-efficacy, and intended effort. Lake successfully demonstrated that PP-inspired measures correlate with effort, self-efficacy, and TOEIC Bridge scores. There are several additional, established concepts familiar to those studying SLA that could also be brought under a PP umbrella. Although there are a number of lines of inquiry that we could consider, let us focus on five especially salient ones: the humanistic movement in language teaching, models of motivation that draw upon a range of affective factors, the concept of an affective filter, studies of the good language learner, and the more recent literature on concepts related to the self and its development.
The humanistic movement in language teaching was at its peak in the 1970s and 1980s. Characteristically, humanistic approaches took a holistic view of the learner, combining cognition and affect; the underlying assumption, as expressed by Roberts (as cited in Stevick, 1990), being that “the affective aspects of language learning are as important as the cognitive aspects, [and therefore] the learner should be treated in some sense as a 'whole person'” (p.26). Today few would dispute such core principles and their importance for understanding language learner psychology and behaviours. However, humanism became closely associated with alternative forms of language teaching such as Suggestopedia, The Silent Way, and Total Physical Response (Asher, 1969; Gattegno, 1963; Lozanov, 1979). As with humanistic psychology, these instructional methods came under considerable criticism for their lack of scientific support and validity; however, the humanistic tradition as a guiding approach and epistemology has had a considerable, lasting influence in SLA. Indeed, integrating affect and cognition remains a key tenet of many contemporary SLA models. In particular, work by R. C. Gardner and his colleagues has played an important role in drawing attention to socio-affective factors and the importance of positive attitudes toward the language, its speakers and related cultures (Gardner & Lambert, 1972; Gardner, 1985, 2010). In the socio-educational model, Gardner (2010) holds that positive attitudes towards the learning situation (teacher and course) facilitate language learning. The social milieu in which the learning takes place is a key source of both positive and negative attitudes, as learners internalize elements of the context in which they live. Clément’s (1980, 1986) socio-contextual model places even more emphasis on the learning context, the power relationships among language groups, and tensions between language acquisition and language loss, especially for members of a minority group learning the language of a majority group. In addition, Clément proposes a secondary motivational process within the individual, self-confidence, which is defined by low anxiety and perceptions of high linguistic competence. Both Gardner’s and Clément’s models foreground the role of social and cultural contexts, highlighting that an individual’s psychology does not exist in a vacuum; an individual learner is always embedded in multiple contexts.
A third perspective of note is offered by Krashen (1985), who also drew attention to the role of emotions with what he termed the affective filter. Krashen argued that a high degree of negative emotion raises a filter that reduces the amount of comprehensible input reaching the learner. Conversely, in the presence of positive emotions, the affective filter is lower and the learner is open to being exposed to more comprehensible input. A fourth noteworthy approach, studies of the “good language learners.” (GLLs; Naiman, 1978, Rubin, 1975; Stern, 1975; Stevick, 1989), provides recognizable parallels to the holistic approach of Maslow’s studies of self-actualizing persons. Essentially, GLL studies sought to understand the lessons that can be learned from “good” or “expert” learners or teachers (Griffiths, 2008). The related set of studies of “expertise” (see, e.g., Farrell, 2013; Johnson, 2005; Tsui, 2003) also examined positive examples of learners and/or teachers, typically focussing on the integrated use of competences and skills. An important feature of many GLL studies has been the tendency to look at the processes by which “good” language learners acquire a foreign language and not just merely describe the learner and their language output. Such a process-oriented approach to understanding the learner resonates with more recent developments in complexity perspectives.
Most recently, a fifth line of relevant research has developed that emphasizes the self as a central concept. With respect to motivation, Dörnyei’s (2005) L2 self system model proposes that people are motivated to deal with perceived discrepancies between their current sense of self and their future selves, one to move closer to their vision of an ideal self and another to prevent developing negative aspects of the self, such as a sense of failure or disappointing important others. This approach stresses the importance of having positive future goals, a requisite level of optimism that one is able to change and potentially achieve these future self-states, as well as the strategic knowledge necessary in order to achieve future goals. Related studies investigating the self in its various forms  also highlight the role of positive self-beliefs, a sense of competence, a growth mindset and accompanying optimism about the potential for positive change in one’s abilities (e.g., Mercer & Ryan, 2010; Mercer & Williams, 2014).

Positive and negative emotion
One of the most important findings in the PP literature thus far has been Fredrickson’s (Fredrickson, 2001, 2003; Fredrickson & Branigan, 2005) clarification of the difference between positive and negative emotion (MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012), that is, emotions that are generally experienced by individuals as pleasant versus unpleasant. Emotion research has been successful in identifying a relatively small number of basic, universal emotions that are closely tied to physiological responding and basic survival (emotions such as fear, disgust, anger, and so on). Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory (2001, 2003) examines the nature and function of positive emotion. Fredrickson concludes that positive and negative emotions are not dichotomous or opposite ends of the same continuum (as was implied by Krashen’s concept of the affective filter); they are better conceptualized as two dimensions of experience. At the core, the function of positive emotion is qualitatively different from negative emotion. Whereas negative emotion tends to narrow a person’s field of attention and predisposes specific action tendencies, positive emotion creates tendencies toward play and exploration, yielding a broadened field of attention and building resources for future action.
The implications of positive-broadening emotions for SLA can be profound. Differentiating positive and negative emotions leads to a more nuanced understanding of how they affect L2 learning and communication. The most widely studied emotion in SLA has been anxiety (Dewaele & MacIntyre, this volume). Prior research has presented a conventional, one-dimensional view of positive and negative emotion using a see-saw metaphor (positive goes up, negative goes down). A two-dimensional view of emotion can accommodate the see-saw view of emotion, but also opens up the possibility of examining ambivalence (MacIntyre, 2007) which is the co-occurrence of negative with positive emotion (see Table 2). Ambivalence is a common experience in SLA; for example, when a person is feeling both confident and anxious before giving a classroom presentation or approaching a native speaker. Further, a twodimensional view allows for understanding amotivation, apathy or the absence of emotion in the situation as the lack of arousal of both positive and negative emotions in a particular context.

Goals of language learning
For us, as with many language educators, one of the goals is to foster the positivity of our learners’ educational experiences, and supporting them as individuals in reaching their personal highest levels of achievement and success (Fredrickson, 2001). Whilst learners’ ultimate levels of achievement and proficiency will be a focus of SLA research, perhaps a vital additional perspective would be to focus on the processes and timescales in which learners can be seen to be happy and experience flourishing in language learning. Griffiths (2008, pp. 1-2) asks key questions in her collection on the GLL such as, what is it that makes a good language learner? And why are some learners more successful than others? Viewed through a PP lens, these questions might take a slightly different focus concentrating not on levels of proficiency, language competence and achievement, but instead considering the processes, rather than the product of learning. The following are example questions that capture processes over different timescales:
1. Over the long term (measured in years), why are some learners happier, more resilient, and enjoy language learning more than others?
2. In what ways/how do learners appear to develop a sense of flourishing whilst engaging in language learning (activities) during a specific course (measured in days and months)?
3. What features of short-term, immediate experience are associated with the ebb and flow of engagement in the learning situation, such as a classroom, during the minutes that teacher and students spend together? Can we better understand what leads to greater engagement for some learners and not others (measured in seconds and minutes)?
4. How do learners’ immediate experiences interact with their mediumto-long-term emotional trajectories whilst learning a foreign language (measured on multiple timescales)?
As research progresses with a process-oriented approach, positive experiences can be understood in more nuanced terms as we consider not only moment-tomoment experiences but also how ongoing experiences fit within the language and self-development process. Kahneman and Riis (2005) draw a valuable distinction between these two processes that they link to the conceptualization of self. First, the experiencing self, with a timeframe of approximately 3 seconds, is our ongoing window of conscious experience; the experiencing self is active and fleeting. Second, the remembering self has a long history in memory. The remembering self knits together the narrative that captures the meaning of events in our life, and is open to reinterpretation. Kahneman’s (2011) studies of the experience of happiness draw the distinction between the experiencing and remembering selves, helping to clarify ways in which immediate negative events can ultimately be interpreted within a positive narrative or vice versa. Thus, the multiple processes involved in learning a foreign language might produce a complex answer to a deceptively simple question such as “what makes learners happy?” When we consider these different perspectives on experiences?

Four encouraging trends for the future of PP research in SLA
If PP is to be taken up in SLA, it needs to develop along strong empirical lines. In considering the potential for PP-inspired research to have an impact on SLA, we see four trends that support emerging research in this area.
First, the social turn in SLA means that the field is taking seriously the idea that contexts in which language learning occurs are diverse, nuanced, and they matter. The three pillars of PP include positive emotions, positive character traits and positive institutions. Conducting studies of enabling institutions, so far, has been the weakest link for PP (Waterman, 2013). However, in SLA research, greater care is now being taken to describe the contexts in which learning occurs, especially at the classroom level. Perhaps the next step is to focus a little more on the institutions (broadly defined formal and informal organizational structures) that enable success and promote positive language learning environments. Institutions are embedded in the broader cultural milieu that will shape the ways in which the aims of PP are pursued and various possible configurations of its pillars (see Leu, Wang, & Koo, 2011; Sheldon, 2009).
A second trend that bodes well for developing interest in PP is the idea of complex dynamic systems, which has become a “hot” topic in SLA (MacIntyre, Dörnyei, & Henry, 2015). Larsen-Freeman and Cameron (2008) have argued that L2 development involves complex, dynamic, emergent, open, self-organizing and adaptive systems. Systems thinking adopts inherently holistic perspectives and examines dynamism across different contexts and timescales. Models of the learning and communication process are incomplete without explicit consideration of positive emotions, individual strengths, and the various institutions and contexts of learning, such as governments, public/private schools, community groups, and networks in which learning occurs. In addition, Lazarus (2003) questioned whether one can consider any emotion positive or negative. In a functional sense, all emotions are adaptive (e.g., fear serves a protective function). Quickly moving between positive and negative affective states, and explicitly considering ambivalent states (MacIntyre, 2007), is one of the strengths that dynamic models have over prior approaches to individual differences research (MacIntyre & Serroul, 2015).
A third reason that PP topics might be especially relevant to SLA is the methodological diversity already present in the field. As noted previously, core epistemological advances have been made toward reconciling the humanistic and PP traditions that sometimes seem impossible in psychology (Waterman, 2013). However, SLA research has been receptive to a variety of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research for several years now, with studies routinely collecting data from multiple types of sources. The strength of large- scale quantitative surveys lies in assessing the reliability and generalizability of the findings, but the weakness is that general trends in large datasets might not apply to any single individual within those data sets. On the other hand, the strength of individual-level qualitative data is that a rich description of the relevant factors for an individual can be proffered, with the weakness that reliability and generalizability typically cannot be assessed. The strength of each method is the weakness of the other (Creswell, 2003). It is highly desirable to maintain the empirical base for PP in SLA, and the diversity of rigorous research approaches already available is encouraging.

A fourth, related sign that SLA is ready for PP is what might be called an “individual turn” (MacIntyre, 2014). The dense data that is required to study in detail the processes of language learning often must be collected and interpreted at the individual level (de Bot, Lowie, & Verspoor, 2007). Research that uses group averages and correlations among variables has been a mainstay of SLA theory development over the years (Dörnyei & Taguchi, 2010). More recently, alongside the existing large-sample methods, there has been a burgeoning interest in documenting the complexity of individual cases; it is for this reason we have opened this paper with the personal stories of Csikszentmihalyi and Seligman. Individual level research can describe in some detail the processes that lead to happiness, the protective force of learned optimism, or describe the most enjoyable facets of learning for a specific person, with nomothetic studies identifying how commonly occurring these events might be. An example of a dense, individual-level, mixed methods approach (quantitative and qualitative) to SLA research can be found in MacIntyre and Serroul’s (2015) idio dynamic study that integrates motivation with perceived competence, anxiety and willingness to communicate as part of an ongoing, dynamic process. Perhaps we are at an optimal time for a wide ranging research program devoted to study the role of PP in SLA from both the individual and group perspectives.

References:

Baumgartner, H., Pieters, R., & Bagozzi, R. (2008). Future-oriented emotions: Conceptualization and behavioral effects. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38(4), 685-696. Retrieved from https://repozytorium.amu.edu.pl/jspui/bitstream/
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Nakamura, J. (2011). Positive psychology: Where did it come from, where is it going? In M. K. Sheldon, T. B. Kashdan, & M. F. Steger (Eds), Designing positive psychology: Taking stock and moving forward (pp.3-8). New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from https://repozytorium.amu.edu.pl/
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden and build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218-226.
Gable, S. & Haidt, J (2005). What (and Why) is Positive Psychology? Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 103–110. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/
Lake, J. (2013). Positive L2 self: Linking positive psychology with L2 motivation. In M. Apple, D. Da Silva, & T Fellner (Eds.), Language learning motivation in Japan (pp 225-244). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Retrieved from https://repozytorium.amu.edu.pl/jspui/bitstream/
Seligman, M. E. P. & Csikszenmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55, 5-14. Retrieved from
 
 
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