Aptitude Revisited

Aptitude Revisited PDF Author: David E. Drew
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
In Aptitude Revisited David Drew argues that the people least encouraged to study mathematics and science in our society are those who have the least power - especially students from poverty, minority students, and young women. Policy makers, teachers, and even parents often steer certain students away from math and science for completely erroneous reasons. The result, Drew contends, is not simply an inadequately trained work force: this educational discrepancy is widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots in our society. Drew systematically reviews studies, programs, and data to identify the causes of our educational problems and the solutions that will work. He challenges the conventional view - that science and math are too boring or too hard for many students - to argue that virtually all students are capable of mastering these subjects. Drew's carefully researched recommendations speak directly to policy makers concerned with America's international competitiveness and to parents and students facing a tough economy and tight labor market.

Aptitude Revisited

Aptitude Revisited PDF Author: David E. Drew
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Get Book

Book Description
In Aptitude Revisited David Drew argues that the people least encouraged to study mathematics and science in our society are those who have the least power - especially students from poverty, minority students, and young women. Policy makers, teachers, and even parents often steer certain students away from math and science for completely erroneous reasons. The result, Drew contends, is not simply an inadequately trained work force: this educational discrepancy is widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots in our society. Drew systematically reviews studies, programs, and data to identify the causes of our educational problems and the solutions that will work. He challenges the conventional view - that science and math are too boring or too hard for many students - to argue that virtually all students are capable of mastering these subjects. Drew's carefully researched recommendations speak directly to policy makers concerned with America's international competitiveness and to parents and students facing a tough economy and tight labor market.

The Psychology of the Language Learner Revisited

The Psychology of the Language Learner Revisited PDF Author: Zoltan Dornyei
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317699823
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
Over the past decade, the focus of inquiry into the psychology of SLA has shifted from the analysis of various characteristics within individuals towards a greater consideration of individuals’ dynamic interactions with diverse contexts. This revisit of the bestselling The Psychology of the Language Learner reflects on these developments by challenging some of the assumptions upon which the original text was based, maintaining the familiar structure of the original, while situating the discussion within a very different theoretical framework. Written in a lively, accessible style, the book considers how the field has evolved and maintains a keen eye on the future, suggesting exciting new directions for the psychology of SLA. The Psychology of the Language Learner Revisited will appeal to students and researchers in a wide range of disciplines, including applied linguistics, second language acquisition, modern languages, and psychology.

Language Aptitude

Language Aptitude PDF Author: Zhisheng (Edward) Wen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351348264
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
Language Aptitude: Advancing Theory, Testing, Research and Practice brings together cutting-edge global perspectives on foreign language aptitude. Drawing from educational psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience, the editors have assembled interdisciplinary authors writing for an applied linguistics and education audience. The book is broken into five major themes: revisiting and updating current language aptitude theories and models; emerging insights from contemporary research into language aptitude and the age factor or the critical period hypothesis; redefining constructs and broadening territories of foreign language aptitude; exploring language aptitude from a neurocognitive perspective; and exploring future directions of foreign language aptitude research. Focused on critical issues in foreign language aptitude and second language learning and teaching, this book will be an important research resource and supplemental reading in both applied linguistics and cognitive psychology.

Exploring Language Aptitude: Views from Psychology, the Language Sciences, and Cognitive Neuroscience

Exploring Language Aptitude: Views from Psychology, the Language Sciences, and Cognitive Neuroscience PDF Author: Susanne M. Reiterer
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319919172
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
This book presents original, empirical data from quantitative and qualitative research studies in the field of language learning aptitude, ability, and individual differences. It does so from the perspectives of Second Language Acquisition, psychology, neuroscience and sociolinguistics. All studies included in the book use a similar and uniform layout and methodology. Each chapter contains a study examining factors such as memory, personality, self-concept, bilingualism and multilingualism, education, musicality or gender. The chapters investigate the influence of these concepts on language learning aptitude and ability. Several of these chapters analyse hypotheses which have never been tested before and therefore provide novel research results. The book contributes to the field both by verifying and contesting existent findings and by exploring novel approaches to devising research in the subject area.

The Psychology of the Language Learner

The Psychology of the Language Learner PDF Author: Zoltán Dörnyei
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135704775
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
Research results over the past decades have consistently demonstrated that a key reason why many second language learners fail--while some learners do better with less effort--lies in various learner attributes such as personality traits, motivation, or language aptitude. In psychology, these attributes have traditionally been called "individual differences." The scope of individual learner differences is broad--ranging from creativity to learner styles and anxiety--yet there is no current, comprehensive, and unified volume that provides an overview of the considerable amount of research conducted on various language learner differences, until now. Each chapter in this new volume focuses on a different individual difference variable. Besides a review of the relevant second language literature, Zoltán Dörnyei presents a concise overview of the psychological research involving each topic. A key concern for the author has been to define the various learner factors as measurable constructs and therefore the discussion includes a summary of the most famous tests and questionnaires in each domain. A wide range of readers will benefit from this book--students in linguistics, applied linguistics, modern languages, and psychology programs; second language teachers participating in in-service training courses; and researchers in second language acquisition and psychology.

(Pushing) the Limits of Neuroplasticity Induced by Adult Language Acquisition

(Pushing) the Limits of Neuroplasticity Induced by Adult Language Acquisition PDF Author: Jurriaan Witteman
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889456404
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 157

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Book Description
Most adults attempt to learn a second or even third language at some point in their life. Since language exposure is one of the most intense cognitive training regimes one can encounter, it is not surprising that previous research has shown that multilingualism can induce profound change in the brain or ‘neuroplasticity’.What remains unclear is the scope of such adult language learning induced neuroplasticity. In other words, much is yet to be investigated about the factors that limit or promote adult language learning induced neuroplasticity. On the one hand, the present research topic discusses research that sheds light on neural mechanisms that limit adult language learning induced neuroplasticity such as: neural mechanisms of first language interference in the acquisition of a second language and reduced opportunity for language induced neuroplasticity due to aging. On the other hand, the Research Topic discusses factors that could enhance non-native language learning (and underlying neuroplastic mechanisms), such as the duration of the training regime, language aptitude, and meta-linguistic awareness. Therefore, the goal of the present Research Topic is to examine both the limits of neuroplasticity in adult language learning and the ways to push beyond those limits. Understanding of such limits and frontiers to push beyond the limits is not only theoretically fundamental but could also have practical implications for enhancing language training programmes.

Cognitive Individual Differences in Second Language Processing and Acquisition

Cognitive Individual Differences in Second Language Processing and Acquisition PDF Author: Gisela Granena
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 9027266328
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
Cognitive Individual Differences in Second Language Processing and Acquisition contains 14 chapters that focus on the role of cognitive IDs in L2 learning and processing. The book brings together theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of cognitive IDs, as well as empirical studies that investigate the mediating role of cognitive IDs in various linguistic domains. Chapters include contributions from researchers working within second language acquisition (SLA), psycholinguistics, and cognitive psychology, sharing a common interest in the application of cognitive IDs to their respective areas of study. The interdisciplinary understanding of cognitive IDs presented in this book makes the book of interest to a wide readership of graduate students, faculty members, and academic researchers in the fields of SLA, psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology, and education.

STEM the Tide

STEM the Tide PDF Author: David E. Drew
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421416956
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
Proven strategies for reforming STEM education in America’s schools, colleges, and universities. One study after another shows American students ranking behind their international counterparts in the STEM fields—science, technology, engineering, and math. Businesspeople and cultural critics such as Bill Gates warn that this alarming situation puts the United States at a serious disadvantage in the high-tech global marketplace of the twenty-first century, and President Obama places improvement in these areas at the center of his educational reform. What can be done to reverse this poor performance and to unleash America’s wasted talent? David E. Drew has good news—and the tools America needs to keep competitive. Drawing on both academic literature and his own rich experience, Drew identifies proven strategies for reforming America’s schools, colleges, and universities, and his comprehensive review of STEM education in the United States offers a positive blueprint for the future. These research-based strategies include creative and successful methods for building strong programs in science and mathematics education and show how the achievement gap between majority and minority students can be closed. A crucial measure, he argues, is recruiting, educating, supporting, and respecting America’s teachers. Accessible, engaging, and hard hitting, STEM the Tide is a clarion call to policymakers, administrators, educators, and everyone else concerned about students’ participation in the STEM fields and America’s competitive global position.

Neuropsychology and the Hispanic Patient

Neuropsychology and the Hispanic Patient PDF Author: Marcel O. Ponton
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 113568538X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 632

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Book Description
By 2010, 15% of the U.S. population will be Hispanic. Neuropsychology and the Hispanic Patient: A Clinical Handbook brings together internationally recognized authorities to address the cultural, methodological, research, and forensic issues that must be considered by neuropsychologists seeking to be maximally effective in their work with members of the fastest-growing American minority group. It includes: * useful assessment decision trees; * summaries of normative data; * descriptions of tests available in Spanish; * extensive HIV and pediatric references; and * numerous charts and illustrations. Reflecting the latest demographic information and covering the developmental spectrum from pediatric to geriatric, this landmark Handbook will become an indispensable reference tool for clinicians and researchers alike.

Culture and Foreign Language Education

Culture and Foreign Language Education PDF Author: Wai Meng Chan
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 1501503022
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 387

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Book Description
The teaching of culture and interculturality is today viewed as an integral part of foreign language education. This book presents insights from recent research on the role of culture in second/foreign and heritage language education. It contains 14 chapters including an introductory chapter that discusses diachronically the evolving notion of culture and how the sociocultural view of culture as a complex and dynamic concept informs language teaching and language learning research. The chapters following the introduction are organised in four parts focusing on: 1) the teacher's role in integrated language and culture learning; 2) the interrelationship between culture, identity, and language learning and use; 3) the effect of culture on learner characteristics which impact language learning processes and outcomes; and 4) curriculum development aimed at fostering language and culture learning. The chapters in Parts 1 to 3 present contributions from current research - either in the form of the authors' original studies or comprehensive reviews of relevant essential research - which bears important implications for curricular practice in foreign language and language teacher education. This close link between research, theory and practice is also maintained in the two chapters in Part 4, which present developmental projects based on well-grounded theoretical frameworks.