Anne Van Marsenille – EdD student – Open University Anne Van Marsenille - Open University - Edinburgh, July 2012

Anne Van Marsenille – EdD student – Open University

Anne Van Marsenille - Open University - Edinburgh, July 2012

Setting: Higher Education institution where I am currently working

Languages: Dutch (second language) - English (foreign language)

This study: learning of English - learning methods and strategies>to transfer to other languages.


->insights of learners in Higher Education> informal learning of English, in relation to formal learning.

- >individual methods and strategies for good foreign language learning.


.-What are language learners in Higher Education institutions in Brussels’ perceptions of informal learning?

-Are students motivated to learn a foreign language informally?

-Do learners reflect upon the informal language learning process?


-Qualitative inquiry

-Experiential approach > human lived experience > students’ experience

-Naturalistic research > learning situations through the eyes of the participants


in my Higher Education institution in Brussels > to transfer to other Higher Education institutions

Insider and outsider researcher:

-at my Higher Education institution

-not my students


-questionnaires : initial study: 10 students > main study: 80 students

-interviews: initial study: 2 students and 1 teacher > main study: 16 students and 4 teachers

-self-reports (adapted ELP biography): main study: 4 students


-French (mother tongue): not about the knowledge of English > about the language learning process


-Main study: use of self-reports (adapted ELP biography)

-Revision: neutral outsider (English Professsor in Foreign Language Teaching at the University of Brussels)


Formal learning: -questionnaires (see graph): more importance > reading

-interviews: more importance > speaking

-self-reports (main study) > discussions and reading

->



Informal learning:

-questionnaires (see graph): use of Internet and speaking-interviews: use of Internet (to be considered by the teacher)

-self-reports (main study): speaking English mainly abroad and in Brussels



-questionnaires (see graph) : ‘integrative motive’ : good disposition > language community

-interviews: ‘instrumental motive’: knowing English > to have a good job

-self-reports (main study): to be with the language community



-questionnaires (see graph) and interviews:

-use of a dictionary (teacher: grammatical structures and vocabulary)

– not heard about the ELP (European Language Portfolio) (teacher knows but > time-consuming)

-self-reports (main study): use of a dictionary and paying attention to the pronunciation



-Research questions > questions in questionnaires and interviews, later in the self-reports

-Initial study: small sample > no conclusions > in depth in main study (some findings through the self-reports and similarities between the initial and main studies): reading (formal learning) - speaking (informal learning) – motivation through the language community – reflection about the vocabulary (use of a dictionary).


Documents

Anne Van Marsenille – EdD student – Open University Anne Van Marsenille - Open University - Edinburgh, July 2012