Search the digital library catalog

Abstract: This thesis explores the role of phonetic transcription in teaching English pronunciation to Slovene secondary school students. Pronunciation has long been marginalised in EFL classrooms, yet it is crucial for intelligibility. For Slovene learners, whose L1 is syllable-timed, the main difficulty lies in adapting to the stress-timed rhythm of English, especially in recognising word stress. The research combined two parts: an analysis of six secondary school coursebooks and an experimental study. The coursebook analysis revealed that phonetic transcription is often limited to glossaries, leaving learners without clear guidance on stress placement. The experiment compared traditional teaching with a kinaesthetic technique—clapping for syllables. Results showed that the experimental group did not outperform the control group in transcribing -ed endings or schwa. However, this outcome points to a transitional stage: the experimental group had already disrupted Slovene stress patterns but had not yet stabilised English ones. The findings highlight the importance of phonetic transcription as a tool that bridges segmental and suprasegmental levels, supports the shift from orthography to pronunciation, and makes hidden features such as vowel reduction and allomorphic variation visible. Combined with kinaesthetic techniques, it offers a pathway for more systematic and effective pronunciation teaching in Slovene classrooms.
Keywords: phonetic transcription, language learning, pronunciation teaching, word stress, syllable clapping
Published in DKUM: 16.10.2025; Views: 0; Downloads: 11
Full text (5,54 MB)

Abstract: This master’s thesis analyses early foreign language learning, specifically the learning of English and German, in Slovenian kindergartens, with a particular emphasis on the implementation of games and songs in language instruction. The primary aim of this thesis is to investigate teachers’ attitudes and experiences regarding early foreign language teaching in practice. As such, the research focuses on several key areas: teaching methods, the availability and use of teaching materials and the prevalence of songs and games during lessons. The theoretical part provides an overview of early foreign language learning, including the benefits of early exposure, the influence of age, teaching approaches and strategies, teacher competences and the role of materials, games and songs in early foreign language acquisition. It also examines the Slovenian context, addressing how early language learning is regulated and supported by the National Preschool Curriculum and the availability of formal training for teachers. The empirical part combines qualitative and quantitative research methods. The qualitative method includes six semi-structured interviews with teachers/preschool teachers of English and German from Maribor and the surrounding area. The quantitative method includes a questionnaire, distributed to kindergartens across various regions of Slovenia and completed by 64 respondents. Together, these approaches complement the theoretical framework and provide valuable insight from practitioners into how foreign languages are taught in practice and aid in identifying areas where improvements could be made.
Keywords: Early foreign language learning, English, German, kindergarten, songs, games
Published in DKUM: 15.07.2025; Views: 0; Downloads: 20
Full text (3,31 MB)

Abstract: Ausgehend von einem interdisziplinären Studium eng miteinander verwobener wissenschaftlicher Disziplinen wird in der vorliegenden Dissertation theoretisch untersucht und belegt, wie der Wortschatzerwerb bzw. das Wortschatzlemen bei Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen verläuft und wie Sprachelementspiele sinnvoll in diesen Prozess integriert werden können. Die so eruierten Paradigmen bilden die Grundlage fUr die Entwicklung einer Sprachspieltypologie, die sich speziell mit dem institutionellen Wortschatzerwerb hei Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen beschäftigt, Anhand einer empirischen Fallstudie wird die Effizienz einiger ausgewählter Sprachelementspiele in der Praxis mit jugendlichen Deutschlernem überprüft. Vor dem Hintergrund der theoretischen und empirischen Erkenntnisse werden die aufgestellten Hypothesen im Bezug auf den motivationalen Charakter von Sprachspielen bzw. Sprachelementspielen auf ihre Gilltigkeit überprüft. Schließlich werden noch ein Fragenkatalog und die entwickelte Sprachspieltypologie als Werkzeuge angeboten, die es einer DaF-Lehrkraft ermöglichen, Sprachelementspiele sinnvoll und zielgerichtet in ihrem DaF-Unterricht mit Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen einzusetzen. Dies alles wird durch die genau beschriebene, erklärte und begründete Schrittabfolge des Wortschatzerwerbs, den ausgearbeiteten Fragenkatalog und die entwickelte Sprachspieltypologie ermöglicht.
Keywords: German, foreign languages, didactics, vocabulary, language games, motivation, cognition, learning, adolescents, dissertations
Published in DKUM: 27.05.2025; Views: 0; Downloads: 8
Full text (9,70 MB)

Abstract: Because of the prevalence of depression, its often-chronic course, relapse and associated disability, early detection and non-intrusive monitoring is a crucial tool for timely diagnosis and treatment, remission of depression and prevention of relapse. In this way, its impact on quality of life and well-being can be limited. Current attempts to use artificial intelligence for the early classification of depression are mostly data-driven and thus non-transparent and lack effective means to deal with uncertainties. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an end-to-end framework for extracting observable depression cues from diary recordings. Furthermore, we also explore its feasibility for automatic detection of depression symptoms using observable behavioural cues. The proposed end-to-end framework for extracting depression was used to evaluate 28 video recordings from the Symptom Media dataset and 27 recordings from the DAIC-WOZ dataset. We compared the presence of the extracted features between recordings of individuals with and without a depressive disorder. We identified several cues consistent with previous studies in terms of their differentiation between individuals with and without depressive disorder across both datasets among language (i.e., use of negatively valanced words, use of first-person singular pronouns, some features of language complexity, explicit mentions of treatment for depression), speech (i.e., monotonous speech, voiced speech and pauses, speaking rate, low articulation rate), and facial cues (i.e., rotational energy of head movements). The nature/context of the discourse, the impact of other disorders and physical/psychological stress, and the quality and resolution of the recordings all play an important role in matching the digital features to the relevant background. In this way, the work presented in this paper provides a novel approach to extracting a wide range of cues relevant to the classification of depression and opens up new opportunities for further research.
Keywords: digital biomarkers of depression, facial cues, speech cues, language cues, deep learning, end-to-end pipeline, artificial intelligence
Published in DKUM: 17.01.2025; Views: 0; Downloads: 13
Full text (2,34 MB)

Abstract: This contribution addresses Slovenian in-service and pre-service foreign language and general education teachers' awareness of dyslexia in the foreign language classroom. The authors examine and analyse the levels of familiarity with dyslexia among foreign language teachers and primary school teachers (in-service teachers) and foreign language students (pre-service teachers), their perceptiveness regarding the particularly demanding areas of language learning, and their willingness to engage in additional training to obtain the appropriate skills for teaching children with learning disabilities, particularly dyslexia. The results reveal noticeable differences in answers to individual research questions provided by the participants based on their profiles. The majority of participants stated that they were familiar with dyslexia from a theoretical point of view but also indicated that they were aware of the need to further improve their individual specialist-didactic knowledge and skills in order to give successful support to dyslexic pupils engaged in foreign language learning. The authors also predict the necessary extent of additional training measures in which foreign language teachers, primary school teachers, and foreign language students should engage.
Keywords: pouk tujega jezika, zgodnje učenje, disleksija, dislektični učenci, učitelji tujega jezika, razredni učitelji, empirične študije, foreign language teaching, early learning, dislexy, dislexic pupils, foreign language teachers, pre-service teachers, in-service teachers
Published in DKUM: 21.05.2024; Views: 248; Downloads: 30
Link to full text
This document has many files! More...