Suchergebnisse

Abstract
This paper is an elaboration of a theoretical framework we developed in the introductory chapter of our co-edited volume, State Traditions and Language Regimes (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2015). Using a historical institutionalism approach derived from political science, we argue that language policies need to be understood in terms of their historical and institutional context. The concept of 'state tradition' focuses our attention on the relative autonomy of the state in terms of its normative and institutional traditions that lead to particular path dependencies of language policy choices, subject to change at critical junctures. 'Language regime' is the conceptual link between state traditions and language policy choices: it allows us to analytically conceptualize how and why these choices are made and how and why they change. We suggest that our framework offers a more robust analysis of language politics than other approaches found in sociolinguistics and normative theory. It also challenges political science to become more engaged with scholarly debate on language policy and linguistic diversity.

Cover; The Cambridge Handbook of Language Policy; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; List of figures; List of tables; Contributors; Preface and acknowledgements; Part I Definition and principles; 1 What is language policy?; 2 History of the field: a sketch; Introductory remarks; Periodization of language policy and planning; Examples from the now distant past; The French academy; European national movements; Soviet Union of the 1920s and 1930s; Czechoslovakia and the Prague Linguistic School; 'Classic language planning'; Critique of classic language planning.

This article begins by examining previous empirical studies to demonstrate that language anxiety, or the negative emotional reaction learners experience when using a second language (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1999), is a dynamic individual difference learner variable. I show that it forms part of an interconnected, constantly-in-flux system that changes unpredictably over multiple time scales. While at certain times this system might settle into an attractor state that accommodates contradictory conditions, perturbations that arise may lead to development and change with the curious possibility that minor disruptions generate large effects while major alterations go unnoticed. In essence, language anxiety (LA) is part of a continuous complex system in which each state evolves from a previous one. After I establish LA as a dynamic variable using the aforementioned criteria, I outline the implications and challenges for researching LA using a dynamic paradigm, which include focusing on individuals, transforming LA research questions, designing interventions and re-thinking data gathering methodologies. I conclude with implications for language teaching that emphasize: 1) raising awareness of the importance of decoding nonverbal behavior to identify moment-by-moment shifts in learner emotion; 2) remaining vigilant concerning variables that are interacting with LA that make this factor part of a cyclical process; 3) understanding that anxiety co-exists with positive emotions to varying degrees and that language tasks are not unanimously enjoyed or universally anxiety-provoking; and 4) incorporating positive psychology activities that proactively encourage buoyancy and resilience for moment-by-moment daily perturbations as well as debilitating disruptions that result in long-lasting influences.

Abstract
This study is of a theoretical-conceptual nature and is a partial outcome of the research project VEGA MŠVVaŠ SR and SAV no. 1/0176/15. It deals with one of the problems currently faced by educational theory and practice, i.e. the foreign language education of seniors. The trend is typical for many EU member states, since it results from the needs of a modern society. In addition to strategic documents, programs and legislation which binds the Slovak Republic to create conditions for lifelong education, including foreign language education, the authors are more closely preoccupied with specificities and possibilities of the language education of seniors, which are explained on a comparative basis with the language education of children and youth. Even though in literature one can find results of many substantial empirical research projects devoted to foreign language education of children and youth, research into the education of adults and seniors in the area of foreign languages falls behind considerably. A sufficient platform for the methodology of language education of adults and seniors in Slovakia has not been created either, if compared with the methodology of language education of younger age categories. This shortcoming is often quite noticeable in practice. The study attempts to pay adequate attention to the analysis of selected teaching styles specific for adult and senior age as well as teaching methods which may be used in the language education of seniors.

The 2005 Western Consortium Multi-Language Conference was hosted by the University of Arizona Center for Middle Eastern Studies. The theme and focus of this year conference proceedings was titled, hat Works in the Language Classroom. The conference thus aimed to bring together teachers and scholars of Middle Eastern languages in order to elucidate relevant pedagogical trends and techniques in the field of language instruction. Moreover, the conference served as a valuable venue for the exchange of pedagogically grounded scholarly material that provided for demonstrated classroom application. Conference participants and session presenters represented a diversity of institutions from around the country. The following provides a brief summary of the featured conference presentations and participant reactions.