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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Playing With Knives: The Socialization Of Self-Initiated Learners, David F. Lancy
Playing With Knives: The Socialization Of Self-Initiated Learners, David F. Lancy
David Lancy
Since Margaret Mead’s field studies in the South Pacific a century ago, there has been the tacit understanding that as culture varies, so too must the socialization of children to become competent culture users and bearers. More recently, the work of anthropologists has been mined to find broader patterns that may be common to childhood across a range of societies. One improbable commonality has been the tolerance, even encouragement, of toddler behavior that is patently risky, such as playing with or attempting to use a sharp-edged tool. This laissez faire approach to socialization follows from a reliance on children as …
Teaching: Natural Or Cultural?, David F. Lancy
Teaching: Natural Or Cultural?, David F. Lancy
David Lancy
This chapter will argue that teaching, as we now understand the term, is historically and cross-culturally very rare. It appears to be unnecessary to transmit culture or to socialize children. Children are, on the other hand, primed by evolution to be avid observers, imitators, players and helpers—roles that reveal the profoundly autonomous and self-directed nature of culture acquisition (Lancy in press a). And yet, teaching is ubiquitous throughout the modern world—at least among the middle to upper class segment of the population. This ubiquity has led numerous scholars to argue for the universality and uniqueness of teaching as a characteristically …
Hybrid Language Teaching And Learning: Looking Forward, Fernando Rubio, Joshua J. Thoms
Hybrid Language Teaching And Learning: Looking Forward, Fernando Rubio, Joshua J. Thoms
Joshua J. Thoms
This introductory chapter discusses the current state of affairs in hybrid or blended second language teaching and emphasizes the main issues that need to be taken into account when starting or maintaining a hybrid foreign language (FL) course. After providing a summary of the content of the different sections of our co-edited volume ('Hybrid language teaching and learning: Exploring theoretical, pedagogical, and curricular issues'), the chapter closes with our view of how blended language teaching and learning will continue to evolve and contribute to the ever-changing landscape of FL education.
Hybrid Language Teaching And Learning: Assessing Pedagogical And Curricular Issues, Joshua J. Thoms
Hybrid Language Teaching And Learning: Assessing Pedagogical And Curricular Issues, Joshua J. Thoms
Joshua J. Thoms
In recent years, several economic factors have led to an increase in the number of hybrid courses offered in foreign language departments at the post-secondary level in the United States (U.S.). Hybrid courses incorporate several technological applications not typically used in a traditional face-to-face course. Hybrid courses combine contact time in a traditional classroom with virtual days, in which students are responsible for working with content on their own or in small groups outside of the classroom. This study reports on student and instructor perceptions of and reactions to a hybrid course piloted in three lower-level Spanish language courses at …
Learning Guided By Others, David F. Lancy, M. A. Grove
Learning Guided By Others, David F. Lancy, M. A. Grove
David Lancy
Anthropologists who study children in traditional societies almost universally note the absence or great rarity of adults teaching children in the village setting. Children are encouraged to learn on their own. This chapter teases out those instances where, in the view of adults, independent learning is not sufficient. In some situations,adult intervention—usually falling short of “teaching”—is deemed necessary. The chapter focuses on four very general issues. At what age is the child targeted for a course correction or intervention to facilitate his or her development and socialization? What is the substance or goal of this intervention? What should the child …
Learning “From Nobody:” The Limited Role Of Teaching In Folk Models Of Children’S Development, David F. Lancy
Learning “From Nobody:” The Limited Role Of Teaching In Folk Models Of Children’S Development, David F. Lancy
David Lancy
Among the Western intelligentsia, parenting is synonymous with teaching. We are cajoled into beginning our child’s education in the womb and feel guilty whenever a ‘teaching moment’ is squandered. This paper will argue that this reliance on teaching generally, and especially on parents as teachers, is quite recent historically and localised culturally. The majority follow a laissez faire attitude towards development that relies heavily on children’s natural curiosity and motivation to emulate those who are more expert.
Children Learning In New Settings., David F. Lancy
Children Learning In New Settings., David F. Lancy
David Lancy
This chapter uses a wide-angle lens to briefly examine the many new settings that village children find themselves adapting to. Those settings include schools that have barely taken root in the village, labor, urban streets, and the milieu of the insurgent band.
Journal-Based Self-Studies Of L1 English/L2 Spanish Speakers Learning L3 Kichwa In Ecuador And L3 Guaraní In Paraguay, Carol Severino, Joshua J. Thoms
Journal-Based Self-Studies Of L1 English/L2 Spanish Speakers Learning L3 Kichwa In Ecuador And L3 Guaraní In Paraguay, Carol Severino, Joshua J. Thoms
Joshua J. Thoms
Both Carol and Joshua, speakers of L1 English and L2 Spanish, were recently granted opportunities to learn two of the most common indigenous languages in South America–Kichwa and Guaraní. We lived with Spanish-dominant bilingual families who spoke the target language (L3) we were studying. We both kept learning journals recording our language learning progress. After highlighting the tradition of journal-based studies of language learning, and reviewing the perspectives on interaction in second language acquisition, we first describe the contexts for bilingualism in Ecuador and Paraguay. Second, we present data from our journals to illustrate how each of our language acquisition …
The Use Of L1 In An L2 On-Line Chat Activity, Joshua J. Thoms, Jianling Liao, Anja Szustak
The Use Of L1 In An L2 On-Line Chat Activity, Joshua J. Thoms, Jianling Liao, Anja Szustak
Joshua J. Thoms
This study focuses on the use of the native language (L1) by second language (L2) learners when carrying out a collaborative jigsaw task in a computer chat environment. It investigates the extent and function of L1 use by means of a sociocultural theoretical framework. The research project was carried out in three languages: Chinese, German, and Spanish. Students were assigned to dyads at random and were asked to perform a jigsaw task activity. The chat logs were collected and analyzed via descriptive statistics and discourse analysis. The findings suggest that across all three languages, the students used their L1 (English) …