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Full-Text Articles in Modern Languages
Empowering L2 Learners: The Role Of Relational Empathy In L2 Learning, Gabriela Olivares-Cuhat, Giovanni Zimotti
Empowering L2 Learners: The Role Of Relational Empathy In L2 Learning, Gabriela Olivares-Cuhat, Giovanni Zimotti
Faculty Publications
In this article, we explore the relevance of the concept of relational empathy to L2 learning. To this end, we first provide a short overview of the notion of empathy in second language acquisition (SLA). Then, we present ideas that gave rise to the introduction of relational empathy in the field of intercultural communication, along with potential benefits of taking this perspective in SLA. Next, we describe the post-method framework for L2 teaching as a strategy that is both well-suited for the fostering of relational empathy and is facilitated by the exercise of this approach. Following this lead, we explain …
The Role Of Working Memory Among Non-Traditional Foreign Language Students, Gabriela Olivares-Cuhat, Michelle H. Ploof
The Role Of Working Memory Among Non-Traditional Foreign Language Students, Gabriela Olivares-Cuhat, Michelle H. Ploof
Faculty Publications
Over the last 40 years, a growing number of nontraditional students have joined the ranks of higher education. However, due to a number of internal and external factors, these students face multiple social, economic, and academic challenges that may limit their success in postsecondary education. The focus of this article is to examine the implications of these challenges on the learning of a foreign language (FL), and more specifically on the role played by working memory (WM) with nontraditional FL learners. To this end, research studies in the fields of psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology and neuroscience are reviewed and their findings …
Cross-Language Community Engagement: Assessing The Strengths Of Heritage Learners, Elise Dubord, Elizabeth Kimball
Cross-Language Community Engagement: Assessing The Strengths Of Heritage Learners, Elise Dubord, Elizabeth Kimball
Faculty Publications
This article reports on university students’ learning outcomes stemming from their work as language partners in a community-based learning project in an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) class with adult Spanish-speaking immigrants. We present a rubric designed to assess student learning in the collaborative, cross-language nature of the partnership that moves beyond notions of language acquisition. The rubric was used to score the reflective writing of students in two university classes who participated in this off-campus partnership, one in Spanish for majors, and one in English for general education students. Our analysis focuses on correlations between students’ language …
Gender Assignment To English Words In The Spanish Of Southern Arizona, Elise M. Dubord
Gender Assignment To English Words In The Spanish Of Southern Arizona, Elise M. Dubord
Faculty Publications
This paper examines the gender assignment of English words in the Spanish of Southern Arizona based on the categories of biological sex, phonological gender, and analogical gender. It is determined that biological sex is the greatest indicator of gender assignment, followed by phonological gender and lastly by analogical gender. There was a small (7.9%) proportion of variation in gender assignment to English words in the corpus that is attributed to a combination of words that are neither phonologically nor socially integrated into the Spanish lexicon and the linguistic insecurity of the participants.
Mexican Elites And Language Policy In Tucson’S First Schools, Elise M. Dubord
Mexican Elites And Language Policy In Tucson’S First Schools, Elise M. Dubord
Faculty Publications
Educational institutions developed in Tucson, Arizona in the last quarter of the 19th Century during a critical time in cultural and political shifts of power between Anglo and Mexican elites in Southern Arizona. This paper examines unofficial language policies in both public and parochial schools in Tucson that reflect the accommodation of power between the two groups. The data used to reconstruct these de facto language policies comes from school documents, newspaper articles and advertisements, memoirs of teachers, politicians and others as well as historical accounts of the formation of Tucson’s first schools. Tollefson (1991) suggests that “language policy is …