Among the foreign language learning strategies classified by R. Oxford (1990) as indirect are affective strategies, to which the researcher assigns an important role in regulating the process of acquiring knowledge and skills. One of the basic tools used for this purpose is a diary, which helps a learner identify their feelings, attitudes and motivations related to language learning. It can be kept both in the form of individual notes on paper or through electronic entries on a group forum, including interactive exchange of reflections. The change in the formula makes it not only a personal record, but also a testimony of various cognitive experiences that we share with others. The aim of the article is to present the changes taking place in the chosen form of the diary, which becomes not only a place for reflection, but also for the exchange of learning experiences, including metacognitive and social strategies. The research conducted in the period from the academic year 2018/19 to 2022/2023 covered five classes of first-year students of French Philology at the University of Wrocław and was aimed at examining preferences in relation to an open or closed form of keeping a diary of the learning strategies used. During the longitudinal research, statements from learners were collected (207 questionnaires), which pointed out the advantages and disadvantages of both forms of diary and commented on the usefulness of the tool in reflection on learning strategies used in practice.
From a didactic perspective, the learner’s diary offers numerous applications in learning, teaching, evaluation, and research. It is classified by R. Oxford (1990) as one of the indirect strategies involved in the regulating process of acquiring knowledge and skills. The present study aims to examine the efficacy of this tool as an affective strategy that addresses emotions, attitudes, motivation and values, all of which have an impact on the learners’ performance and language acquisition. This research was conducted from the academic year 2018/2019 to 2022/2023, which included five classes of first-year students in the French Philology department of the University of Wrocław. In these courses, students were expected to keep the learner’s diary and to log their experiences related to the language learning process. The analysis of the diaries, along with the questionnaires administered at the end of each course, prove the importance of this tool for (self-)reflection and the development of learning strategies and autonomy.
In an age when the global dissemination of digital information is transforming the way we read and write by foregrounding the interdependence of visual/verbal elements and languages, the reconstruction of identity and history in digital environments challenges binary translation processes. From this perspective, we interrogate the integration of visual and verbal elements in three Wikipedia articles, written in Polish, English, and Portuguese, about the topic “Polish death camp”. What is the role of translation in the semiotic construction of historical discourses in these articles? What are the conflicts generated by translated denominations? How do Wikipedia communities engage with the production of these cognitiverepresentations? This paper attempts to answer these questions.
The aim of this article is to present the results of a survey conducted in the academic year 2021/2022 among students of French Philology Studies at the University of Wroclaw. The subject of interest was the role they attribute to out-of-class language learning (including French) in the process of acquiring communicative competence. The question asked was formulated in such a way as to make students reflect on informal learning situations. Qualitative analysis of the answers indicates a relatively broad spectrum of situations of informal learning, which, due to their complexity, require deeper reflection in order to increase the awareness of not only the effects, but also of the process of lifelong learning and the breadth of learning itself. We postulate that language classes in a formal context have as one of their main purposes the stimulation of such reflection and should invite students to undertake various informal learning activities. This in turn increase the effectiveness of formal teaching/learning, and encourages further reflection on the overall foreign language learning process.
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