Bilingualism and bilingual education: new approaches and challenges. Foreword

ELIA 19, 2019, pp. 11-14 DOI: h p://dx.doi.o g/10.12795/elia.2019.i19.01 Es udios de lingüís ica inglesa aplicada FOREWORD / PRÓLOGO DOI: h p://dx.doi.o g/10.12795/elia.2019.i19.01 ELIA is an academic jou nal whose aim is o p esen g ound-b eaking esea ch on di e en aspec s o English linguis ics wi h sa iew o con ibu ing o imp o ing speci ic a eas such as educa ion, which is undoub edly a g ea s a ing poin o making long-las ing changes in socie y as a whole. This issue he e o e abides by he a o emen ioned goal by p o iding bo h membe s o he academic communi y and he gene al public ano he se o quali y publica ions dealing wi h issues ha include he eaching and lea ning o o al skills in EFL class ooms, di e en eaching app oaches and/o iews owa ds hem. The i s a icle in his issue is en i led “De eloping EFL o al skills h ough linguis ic media ion in he seconda y educa ion class oom” and discusses he ex en o which linguis ic media ion can con ibu e o he de elopmen o o al skills in English as a Fo eign Language. As a ma e o ac , Gema Alca az-Má mol acili a ed cul u al media ion ac i i ies amongs 40 senio seconda y school s uden s in Spain and ealised ha he ac i i ies had a posi i e impac on he s uden s’ acquisi ion o speci ic o al skills such cohesion, and cohe ence, luency, p onuncia ion, jus o name a ew. Ma ía Luquin and Hanne Roo hoo ’s “The e ec s o o al co ec i e eedback and language anxie y on p onuncia ion de elopmen ” add esses a s a egy which seems o ha e been o e looked by esea ch on he eaching ELIA 19, 2019, pp. 11-14 DOI: h p://dx.doi.o g/10.12795/elia.2019.i19.01 12 and lea ning o p onuncia ion, i.e., he use o co ec i e eedback. The s udy emphasizes he phonological endi ion o he -ed mo pheme amongs beginne -le el s uden s and a emp s o es ablish a co ela ion be ween co ec i e eedback and o eign language anxie y. Luquin and Roo hoo conclude he a icle by indica ing ha indi ec co ec ion h ough e o mula ion, also known as ecas , is he bes co ec i e eedback s a egy when i comes o p onuncia ion. They add ha anxie y seems o play a mino ole in he s uden s’ lea ning expe ience. The hi d a icle in his issue also deals wi h he eaching and lea ning o o al skills in EFL class ooms. Ne e heless, as opposed o he a icles p esen ed ea lie , “S uden a i udes owa ds English p onuncia ion and di e en a ie ies in he English class oom” mo es away om speci ic eaching app oaches o discuss s uden a i udes owa ds English phonology and a ie ies. As pa o hei s udy, Ane Alonso-He e o and Da id Lasagabas e decided o su ey 55 seconda y school s uden s in he Basque Coun y and ound ha he s uden s belie e p onuncia ion is a e y impo an aspec o lea ning. The au ho s also no ed a p e e ence o na i e a ie ies as well as na i e eache s. Though hey mo e away om speci ically discussing o al skills and p onuncia ion, he nex wo a icles in his issue a e simila o Alonso- He e o and Lasagabas e ’s in ha hey gi e he loo o s uden s. “S uden s’ iews abou ins uc ional p ac ices o adi ional, PPP, and ask o ien ed eache s” by Ana Ma ía Calle, Ma ía Daniela Calle, Home o Pa icio Cab e a and Ma ía Ve ónica León was mo i a ed by he au ho s’ desi e o gain insigh in o s uden belie s conce ning hei eache s’ pedagogical app oaches. The su ey, which was conduc ed amongs a popula ion o 481 high school s uden s in Sou he n Ecuado e ealed ha s uden s disca ded adi ional eaching and a ou ed he use o mode n app oaches such as ask-based language eaching and p esen a ion, p ac ice and p oduc ion me hods. Based on hei indings, Calle e al. de eloped a model which eache s may use in o de o os e lea ning in hei class ooms. The nex a icle in his issue also comes up wi h a eaching app oach ha can ha e a posi i e impac on lea ning so long as i is well applied. An onio Roigón-Rod íguez and Ángela La ea-Espina ’s “The 13 ELIA 19, 2019, pp. 11-14 DOI: h p://dx.doi.o g/10.12795/elia.2019.i19.01 use o si coms o cul u al lea ning in EFL: a wo kshop o uni e si y s uden s” deals wi h s uden s’ a i udes owa ds a wo kshop o eaching English and whose de elopmen is cen ed a ound he si com “Mas e o None”. The su ey ha ollowed he wo kshop e ealed ha s uden s a e in di e need o eaching app oaches ha mo e away om ex books and include ac i i ies likely o imme se hem di ec ly in o he a ge language cul u e. All membe s o he academic communi y a e well awa e o he ac ha gende may ha e an impac on lea ning, hus making i necessa y o unde s and possible gende di e ences and con ol hem so as o os e lea ning in an inclusi e manne . This is exac ly wha he nex a icles in his issue a e all abou . “The a ailable English lexicon o male and emale Spanish adolescen s” by Rosa Ma ía Jiménez and And és Canga is a quali a i e and quan i a i e esea ch which aims a assessing ocabula y amongs seconda y school s uden s in an EFL class in Spain. In o de o elici he a ge ocabula y, speci ic p omp s belonging o se e al seman ic ca ego ies we e p o ided and esea che s hen wen on o iden i y wo d equency ac oss gende s. Thei conclusion is ha he e a e mo e simila i ies han di e ences ac oss gende s when all seman ic ca ego ies a e conside ed. In e es ingly enough, hough, male and emale esponden s ended o use di e en lexical i ems when alking abou jobs and clo hing. “Social science lea ning and gende -based di e ences in CLIL. A p elimina y s udy” also deals wi h gende di e ences, bu a he ocuses on p ima y educa ion. Mo e speci ically, p esen he indings o a longi udinal s udy which aimed a compa ing he eaching o social science in bilingual and Spanish-medium p ima y schools in Spain. The a icle e eals ha Con en In eg a ed Language Lea ning has no nega i e impac on s uden achie emen amongs Spanish p ima y school s uden s, while gende seems o a ec achie emen in Spanish-medium social science classes. In ac , hough s uden s augh social science in English showed he same le el o achie emen as hose augh he same subjec in Spanish, he esea che s no iced a le el imbalance in Spanish-medium schools which was le elled in bilingual schools. F om hei indings, once can conclude ha English-medium educa ion can con ibu e o dampening he e ec o gende di e ences in he social science class oom. ELIA 19, 2019, pp. 11-14 DOI: h p://dx.doi.o g/10.12795/elia.2019.i19.01 14 The second nex a icle in his issue is Vicen Bel án-Palanques’s “Towa ds a mul imodal pe spec i e o assess p agma ics: a s udy based on complain s- esponses o complain s”. This is he ou come o a s udy ha a ge ed uni e si y s uden s and aimed a assessing he esponden s’ p agma ic language skills om a mul imodal pe spec i e. I consis ed in making 64 pa icipan s a lowe and uppe in e media e le els comple e ac i i ies which would enable he esea che o d aw conclusions abou how well he pa icipan s can make complain s o p o ide esponses o complain s. O e all, he s udy e ealed a s ong co ela ion be ween English p o iciency and he esponden s’ abili y o use app op ia e p agma ic exp ession and manage u n aking. To w ap up his issue, Robe DeKeyse p o ides eade s wi h some key concep s ha may help hem ha e a be e unde s anding o li e a u e in applied linguis ics. The a icle en i led “Age-e ec s in second language lea ning, so ob ious and so misunde s ood” places special emphasis on concep s ela ed o language and age, and would de ini ely be a key o decoding a wide ange o esea ch wo ks. Finally, we would like o exp ess ou deep app ecia ion o all au ho s as well as membe s o he academic communi y who ook pains o e iew he a icles ea u ing in his issue. We i mly belie e ha his issue will be a sound con ibu ion o collec i e e o s owa ds aking linguis ics away om academic se ings and making socie y eel he impac o academic esea ch. Rubén Chacón-Bel án Di ec o / Gene al Edi o