Maria del Mar Suárez

Dashboards can be a source of feedback that helps students in their learning process by fostering their agency. With that aim, the pieces of information they contain and how they are displayed are relevant variables, so students can use them for self-regulating their learning. Previous research shows what information contributes to better planning, monitoring, or self-reflection. Therefore, exploring student preferences can contribute to more motivating designs and greater use of dashboards. This paper presents the results of a survey administered to 1020 students from a face-to-face university. Knowing grades and the reasons behind them seem to be the most prominent preferences for students regarding learning analytics dashboards. Students’ use of dashboards seems to be unrelated to the promotion of self-regulation, as students use them for extrinsic motivation purposes. Consequently, there is a need to combine various pieces of information that turn dashboards into attractive and useful tools complementary to those with a greater potential for promoting self-regulation.

Audiovisual input has been shown to promote vocabulary acquisition in foreign language learners. However, there is limited research on the effects of extensive viewing in a classroom context with young beginner learners of English. This study investigates foreign language vocabulary learning through explicit teaching and additional viewing of subtitled TV series, as well as the role that second language (L2) vocabulary size and language aptitude may play. A teaching intervention lasting one academic year was implemented in primary school. Weekly, two groups of beginner learners of English enrolled in grade 6 and aged 11 (N = 47) were taught a set of target words. One group was additionally exposed to the target vocabulary through an episode of a TV series with subtitles in Spanish, their native language. Gains in form and meaning recall of the target vocabulary were measured. Participants’ L2 vocabulary size and language aptitude were also assessed at the beginning of the intervention. Multivariate tests showed that explicit teaching accounted for most vocabulary learning, although viewing the TV series significantly benefited learners at two testing points. L2 vocabulary size contributed to explaining lexical gains, while language aptitude did not have such a significant effect.

This chapter discusses the effects of aptitude on learning L2 grammatical constructions from TV series with or without captions. Study 1 involved 69 Catalan/Spanish learners of English (EFL) who watched ten episodes of an English TV series, and targeted grammatical constructions learning. Study 2 comprised 30 Flemish learners of Spanish (ELE) who watched two excerpts from a Spanish TV series episode, with auditory grammaticality judgement pretest-posttest to assess their learning of subjunctive constructions. Grammatical sensitivity and inference aptitude was measured using LLAMA F in both studies. Results revealed that groups without captions relied more on aptitude to handle the demanding processing of fast-paced TV series. Successful processing of uncaptioned input appeared to require higher aptitude, whereas captions attenuated the effects of individual differences.

In this ‘First Exposure’ (FE) study, 106 Catalan/Spanish young adults proficient in English watched a short advert with the audio in English and subtitles in Polish, a language they were not familiar with. Results indicated that vocabulary learning took place, as their meaning recognition scores were significantly higher than those of a control group who had not seen the video. The most recurrent learning strategies these novice learners used were associations with imagery and with vocabulary in previously learned languages, along with attention to specific input factors such as frequency of word occurrence. Findings reveal how audiovisual input can help vocabulary acquisition at FE, as well as factors relevant for learning from video viewing at these very first stages.

La enseñanza de la gramática necesita de enfoques más innovadores que motiven el alumnado a aprender dicha competencia lingüística, por ejemplo, usando géneros más informales. Este estudio tiene como objetivo determinar las percepciones del estudiantado universitario acerca de los memes (un género informal) como herramienta para consolidar el aprendizaje de la gramática en el aula de lengua extranjera. Durante un cuatrimestre, 74 estudiantes de los grados en Maestro de Educación Infantil y Primaria participaron en una experiencia gamificada en la que los memes se usaron como complemento al enfoque Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT). El alumnado escogió (rondas 1 y 2) o creó (ronda 3) un meme relacionado con el punto gramatical previamente trabajado mediante JiTT. En cada ronda, el profesorado subió los memes a una cuenta de Instagram y se pidió a los/as participantes que votaran el mejor meme, pudiendo obtener premios a corto y largo plazo por ello. Al final del cuatrimestre, el estudiantado respondió un cuestionario sobre la gamificación y el uso de los memes como herramienta para consolidar su aprendizaje gramatical. Los resultados muestran que el alumnado valoró la experiencia positivamente, considerándola divertida y motivadora a la vez que un buen complemento a la metodología JiTT.

Previous research on audiovisual input attests to a significant effect of on-screen text and proficiency on learning gains. However, there is scarce research on whether these factors affect viewers’ feeling of learning, a variable that can affect overall second language (L2) learning outcomes (Ellis, 2008). Moreover, there is a lack of research exploring whether viewing experience prompts viewers to switch from one viewing mode (subtitles, captions, no on-screen text) to another and what factors affect those choices. This study explores learners’ perspectives on learning from audiovisual input and their preferred viewing mode before and after participating in a prolonged viewing intervention. A total of 136 participants of varying L2 English proficiency levels (from A1 to C2) completed pre-viewing and post-viewing questionnaires. The results show that vocabulary and expressions were perceived to be learnt the most. The elementary proficiency group were more likely to be positive about learning from the intervention than higher proficiency students. Concerning the preferred viewing mode outside of the classroom, the participants favoured no on-screen text or first language (L1) subtitles over L2 captions. At the end of the intervention, the elementary-level participants found that viewing without any L1 support was too challenging for leisure viewing, while the intermediate- and advanced-level students gained confidence in watching without any textual support.

Este estudio presenta la relación entre la disfemia, las emociones académicas y el enfoque didáctico en contextos de aprendizaje del inglés como lengua extranjera en Educación Primaria. El objetivo es explorar la dimensión emocional de los estudiantes con disfemia y determinar la influencia del propio trastorno y del enfoque didáctico en estas experiencias emocionales. Para ello, se analizaron las emociones de 40 estudiantes con disfemia y 52 estudiantes sin disfemia a través de la versión reducida del Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ). El enfoque didáctico se determinó a partir de una escala de intervalo ad hoc. Los resultados indican la prevalencia de emociones negativas en el alumnado con disfemia, especialmente de ansiedad y vergüenza, y unas diferencias significativas en comparación con el grupo control. Los datos también evidencian que la condición de disfemia tiene un impacto relevante sobre las emociones negativas, mientras que es el enfoque didáctico la variable que más influye sobre las positivas. Estas evidencias subrayan la necesidad de implementar prácticas pedagógicas adecuadas que tengan en cuenta la dimensión afectiva de la persona y, muy especialmente, del alumnado con disfemia. Abstract This paper explores the link between stuttering, class-related emotions and teaching approaches in English as a Foreign Language learning contexts in Primary Education. The aim of this study is to discuss the emotional needs of learners who stutter in the process of learning this language, as well as to study the influence of both stuttering and teaching approach on these emotional experiences. To this end, the emotions of 40 students who stutter and 52 students who do not stutter were measured using the short version of the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ). The didactic approach was studied through an ad-hoc scale specifically created for this study with the aim of exploring the influence of this variable in the students’ emotional experiences. The results evidence the prevalence of negative emotions in students who stutter, especially anxiety and embarrassment. Stuttering shows to be a significant influence in negative emotions, whereas the teaching approach seems to be the main factor influencing positive emotions. Findings from this quantitative study highlight the need to implement pedagogical practices that consider the emotional dimension and, especially, the affective needs of students who stutter. Keywords: stuttering; english as a foreign language (EFL); emotions; class-related emotions; teaching approach.