Matthew Absalom

Reflecting on Reflection: Learner Perceptions of Diaries and Blogs in Tertiary Language Study

The use of reflective tasks, such as journals, as a means to enhance learning is not uncommon in higher education. However, the formative value of reflective tasks is not easily reconciled in tertiary settings where assessment requirements traditionally favour product over process. While learner perception and resolution of this tension have rarely been investigated, research confirms that learners’ level of engagement with the task is a salient parameter for learning to take place (Platt and Brooks, 2002). In other words, if the task is to serve its formative purpose, learners’ perception of and engagement with the task are paramount. The present case study compares learner perceptions of two types of reflective tasks: an online blog and a traditional pen-and-paper learning journal. Findings suggest that reflective tasks can facilitate regular working habits and offer a space for use of the language, and that regular teacher monitoring strongly affects learners’ perceptions of the usefulness of the task.

Student Perceptions of Internationalization of the Curriculum An Australian case study

One of the recent imperatives in higher education worldwide has been internationalization of the curriculum. The object of this article is to explore student perceptions of internationalization across diverse course offerings within one school of the University of South Australia (UniSA). UniSA is notable in the Australian context as a university which from very early in its development enshrined internationalization among its seven ‘graduate qualities’. In this preliminary study, we explore the notions of internationalization of the curriculum as represented in the literature, describing the context for internationalization at UniSA before exploring student perceptions. Our data reveal that on the whole students appear to have a deep and integrated sense of internationalization of the curriculum which at times clashes with a less developed conceptualization defined by their course of study. From our study we are able to begin to define certain principles which foster internationalization of the curriculum and draw some challenging conclusions about its future in higher education.

Exploring conceptions of language with teachers of Chinese and Italian

This project explores conceptions of language with eight teachers of Chinese and Italian: four primary educators and four secondary educators. The aim of the research is to explore the range of conceptions of language held by language teachers, and how these conceptions relate to conceptions of learning and cognition. It appears that much of the conceptualizing about language by teachers flows from folk pedagogy, to use a term borrowed from Bruner (1996). That is, teachers build up conceptualizations of language based on their own past experiences and practices. Bruner points out that ‘educational practices in classrooms . . . premised on a set of folk beliefs about learners’ mind . . . badly want some ‘‘deconstructing’’ if their implications are to be appreciated’ (1996: 49). This is the aim of the current research. While there is a growing body of research which explores students’ conceptions of language, a similar line of research is lacking on teachers’ conceptions (Mitchell and Hooper, 1991: 40). Three methods will be used to investigate teachers’ conceptions. First, a brief questionnaire consisting of background information and open-ended questions will be administered. This will be analysed by a working group of academics to identify categories of conceptions. Secondly, a lesson or an excerpt of a lesson in which the teacher introduces a new concept will be audio-recorded. This will then be transcribed and used to elicit from the teacher moments in the lesson that are illustrative of their personal conceptions of language, language and learning, language and cognition, and so on. A retrospective interview with the principal researcher will follow considering the lesson and questionnaire responses. This will also be recorded and transcribed and form a further set of data which will also be checked for accuracy by participant teachers. Finally, an innovative aspect of the project

Caratteristiche della comunicazione e-mail: riflessioni su un corso universitario australiano di italiano L2.

This is a pre-print of an article published in Rassegna Italiana di Linguistica Applicata 2004.

Raddoppiamento sintattico and glottalization phenomena in Italian

This paper is a preliminary phonetic exploration of aspects of the well-known Italian sandhi phenomenon of Raddoppiamento sintattico (henceforth RS), which involves the gemination of word-initial consonants under certain conditions, eg dei [k]ani ‘some dogs’ but tre [kk]ani ‘three dogs’. It is often assumed that RS C-gemination is regular, but there is increasing evidence that it competes with other phenomena such as vowel lengthening. This paper first discusses results of our auditory study of RS contexts, which show that RS is far less frequent in spontaneous speech than is theoretically predicted. This paper then looks specifically at glottal stop insertion and creak in RS contexts, based on the results of an initial small-scale acoustic investigation. The first has controversially been reported as occurring in RS environments where it serves to block RS (Absalom & Hajek, 1997). In addition, glottal stops have also been claimed to provide a coda to short word-final stressed vowels outside of RS environments (Vayra, 1994). We discuss our unexpected finding that glottalization characterizes phrase boundaries in our spontaneous speech data, and the implications that this evidence may have for the phonetic and phonological description of Italian and for our understanding of RS.

Lori Repetti (ed.) (2001). Phonological theory and the dialects of Italy. (Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 212.) Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Pp. x+301.

This volume is a welcome addition to the literature on Italian dialectology, specifically phonology, and to the wider discourse of phonological theory. I would like to thank Sharon Hargus for her keen attention to detail on earlier drafts of this review. Originally intended as a companion volume to Syntactic theory and the dialects of Italy (Belletti 1993), this volume grew out of a project initiated by the editor in 1995. The contributions collected in this book display the enormous richness of Italys complex linguistic situation, a complexity which arises from the interaction between Standard Italian and Italian dialects, as well as from influences from other minority languages spoken throughout the Italian peninsula. Standard Italian as a widely used national language is little over 100 years old. However, as Berruto (1993: 3) points out, ’whether or not Italian is the national language of our country, maintaining that all Italians speak (only) Italian would be a serious misrepresentation of the facts‘ (my translation). Italian dialects are classified geographically into three macro-categories: Northern (those above the La Spezia-Rimini isogloss), Tuscan and those of the Centre-South (which includes Sicily and Sardinia) (see Lepschy & Lepschy 1992, Sobrero 1993 and Maiden & Parry 1997 for detailed information pertaining to both Standard Italian and Italian dialects). As well as providing descriptive and theoretical accounts of aspects of Standard Italian phonology, the contributions in this volume cover a range of southern and northern dialects, including Friulian, a Tuscan variety (Pisan) and data from the Raeto-Romance of Eastern Switzerland. There are, however, no in-depth treatments of the dialects of Sicily or Sardinia. Theoretical frameworks include classical generative phonology, (early) Optimality Theory, derivational constraint and repair models, moraic phonology and feature-based models. The collection resembles a whos who of Italian phonology, in that it gathers together work from many important established and upcoming scholars in the field.