L2 Acquisition

Lourdes Ortega, Professor of Linguistics at the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University, delivered a presentation as a part of the Faculty of Language Translation's Webinar Series on February 19, 2018. The webinar, supported by the E-Learning Deanship of King Khalid University, drew a crowd of nearly 170 participants from around the Kingdom.  Ortega’s webinar, entitled “Aptitude and Motivation in Second Language Acquisition,” examined the relationships between aptitude and motivation with a special focus on the best-researched SLA works on motivations and the complex set of constructs that follow. A relatively recent paper that was discussed in the webinar is also Dr. Fakieh Al-Rabai's -- Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics at King Khalid University -- most well-known research article in the field. The 2013 paper, titled The Effects of Teachers’ Motivational Strategies on Learners’ Motivation: A Controlled Investigation of Second Language Acquisition, was cleverly devised as related by Professor Ortega. From the abstract of the webinar: In this webinar, I discuss the wealth of research on aptitude and motivation that has become available in the field of second language acquisition and which can help teachers answer some important questions: Are there special cognitive abilities (aptitude) and certain personal predispositions (motivation) that could help explain the large difference we all see in how successful students are in learning a new language in our classrooms? How much does the surrounding environment contribute to shaping aptitude and motivation: the classroom, family and peers, a society's message about the new language, its value, and its difficulty? And to what extent can aptitude and motivation to learn a new language change with experiences inside and outside of the classroom? I also point at ways in which this research can help language teachers strategize so they can support their students' aptitude and motivation and enhance their odds of lasting success with English, in the language classroom and beyond. Delivering official closing remarks, Dr. Munassir Alhamami, Chairman, advised participants to implement the lessons learned during the webinar. Ortega’s academic and research interests are broadly in second language acquisition, particularly sociocognitive and educational dimensions in adult classroom settings. Her research utilizes insights from bilingualism and from usage-based linguistics to the investigation of second language development. Date: 2-19-2018 Source: Faculty of Languages and Translation

Lourdes Ortega, Professor of Linguistics at the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University, delivered a presentation as a part of the Faculty of Language Translation's Webinar Series on February 19, 2018. The webinar, supported by the E-Learning Deanship of King Khalid University, drew a crowd of nearly 170 participants from around the Kingdom.  Ortega’s webinar, entitled “Aptitude and Motivation in Second Language Acquisition,” examined the relationships between aptitude and motivation with a special focus on the best-researched SLA works on motivations and the complex set of constructs that follow. A relatively recent paper that was discussed in the webinar is also Dr. Fakieh Al-Rabai's -- Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics at King Khalid University -- most well-known research article in the field. The 2013 paper, titled The Effects of Teachers’ Motivational Strategies on Learners’ Motivation: A Controlled Investigation of Second Language Acquisition, was cleverly devised as related by Professor Ortega. From the abstract of the webinar: In this webinar, I discuss the wealth of research on aptitude and motivation that has become available in the field of second language acquisition and which can help teachers answer some important questions: Are there special cognitive abilities (aptitude) and certain personal predispositions (motivation) that could help explain the large difference we all see in how successful students are in learning a new language in our classrooms? How much does the surrounding environment contribute to shaping aptitude and motivation: the classroom, family and peers, a society's message about the new language, its value, and its difficulty? And to what extent can aptitude and motivation to learn a new language change with experiences inside and outside of the classroom? I also point at ways in which this research can help language teachers strategize so they can support their students' aptitude and motivation and enhance their odds of lasting success with English, in the language classroom and beyond. Delivering official closing remarks, Dr. Munassir Alhamami, Chairman, advised participants to implement the lessons learned during the webinar. Ortega’s academic and research interests are broadly in second language acquisition, particularly sociocognitive and educational dimensions in adult classroom settings. Her research utilizes insights from bilingualism and from usage-based linguistics to the investigation of second language development. Date: 2-19-2018 Source: Faculty of Languages and Translation