ITEM PERFORMANCE ACROSS NATIVE LANGUAGE GROUPS ON THE TEST OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

This article contends that the profile of a foreign language learner can contain valuable information about possible problems they will face during the learning process, and could be used to help personalize feedback. A particularly important attribute of a foreign language learner is their native language background as it defines their known language knowledge. Native language identification serves two purposes: to classify a learners' unknown native language; and to identify characteristic features of native language groups that can be analyzed to generate tailored feedback. Fundamentally, this problem can be thought of as the process of identifying characteristic features that represent the application of a learner's native language knowledge in the use of the language that they are learning. In this article, the authors approach the problem of identifying characteristic differences and the classification of native languages from the perspective of 15 automatically predicted writing errors by online language learners.

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Eye Movements of Children and Adults While Reading Television Subtitles

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040.12.3.196 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 196-205 ◽

Cited By ~ 57

Author(s):

Géry d'Ydewalle ◽

Wim De Bruycker

Keyword(s):

Eye Movements ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Age Differences ◽

Information Sources ◽

Native Language ◽

Verbal Information ◽

Single Text ◽

Grade 5 ◽

Reading Patterns ◽

Attentional System

Abstract. Eye movements of children (Grade 5-6) and adults were monitored while they were watching a foreign language movie with either standard (foreign language soundtrack and native language subtitling) or reversed (foreign language subtitles and native language soundtrack) subtitling. With standard subtitling, reading behavior in the subtitle was observed, but there was a difference between one- and two-line subtitles. As two lines of text contain verbal information that cannot easily be inferred from the pictures on the screen, more regular reading occurred; a single text line is often redundant to the information in the picture, and accordingly less reading of one-line text was apparent. Reversed subtitling showed even more irregular reading patterns (e.g., more subtitles skipped, fewer fixations, longer latencies). No substantial age differences emerged, except that children took longer to shift attention to the subtitle at its onset, and showed longer fixations and shorter saccades in the text. On the whole, the results demonstrated the flexibility of the attentional system and its tuning to the several information sources available (image, soundtrack, and subtitles).

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Naming in the Native Language Predicts Foreign Language Proficiency

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e527312012-879 ◽

2008 ◽

Author(s):

Katy Borodkin ◽

Miriam Faust

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Native Language ◽

Foreign Language Proficiency

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The Inscriptions on the Gravestones in the Croatian Villages of Slovakia, Chunovo and Jarovce: The Specificity of Mixing Graphics Systems

Slavic World in the Third Millennium ◽

10.31168/2412-6446.2019.14.1-2.10 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (1-2) ◽

pp. 159-173

Author(s):

Darya Yu. Vashchenko

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Ethnic Group ◽

Ethnic Groups ◽

Native Language ◽

Close Contact ◽

Funerary Monuments ◽

Traditional Spelling ◽

The Family ◽

High Degree ◽

The Village

The article discusses the inscriptions on funerary monuments from the Croatian villages of Cunovo and Jarovce, located in the South of Slovakia, near Bratislava. These inscriptions reflect the complicated sociocultural situation in the region, which is particularly specific due to the fact that this territory was included to Slovakia’s territory only after 1946, while earlier the village was part of Hungary. In addition, the local Croatian ethnic group was actively in close contact with the German and Hungarian communities. At the same time, the orthographic norms of the literary Croatian, German, Hungarian, and Slovak languages, which could potentially be owned by the authors of the inscriptions, differ in many ways, despite the Latin alphabet used on all the gravestones. All this is reflected in the tombstones, representing a high degree of mixing codes. The article identifies the main types of fusion on the monuments: separate orthograms, writing the maiden name of the deceased in the spelling of her native language, the traditional spelling of the family name. In addition, the mixing of codes can be associated with writing feminitives, also order of name and surname within the anthroponym. Moreover, the settlements themselves represent different ethnic groups coexistence within the village. Gravestones from the respective cemeteries also differ from each other in the nature of the prevailing trend of the mixing codes. In Jarovce, where the ethnic groups live compactly, fusion is often presented as a separate foreign language orthograms. In Cunovo, where the ethnic groups constitute a global conglomerate, more traditional presents for a specific family spelling of the names on the monument.

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Bilingual advantage in early EFL pronunciation accuracy of German 4th-graders

International Journal of Bilingualism ◽

10.1177/1367006921996811 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 136700692199681

Author(s):

Teresa Kieseier

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Primary Schools ◽

Social Background ◽

Target Language ◽

Error Sources ◽

Common Error ◽

Language Background ◽

Background Factors ◽

Language Groups ◽

Error Types

Aims and Objectives: We compared speech accuracy and pronunciation patterns between early learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) with different language backgrounds. We asked (1) whether linguistic background predicts pronunciation outcomes, and (2) if error sources and substitution patterns differ between monolinguals and heterogeneous bilinguals. Methodology: Monolingual and bilingual 4th-graders ( N = 183) at German public primary schools participated in an English picture-naming task. We further collected linguistic, cognitive and social background measures to control for individual differences. Data and Analysis: Productions were transcribed and rated for accuracy and error types by three independent raters. We compared monolingual and bilingual pronunciation accuracy in a linear mixed-effects regression analysis controlling for background factors at the individual and institutional level. We further categorized all error types and compared their relative frequency as well as substitution patterns between different language groups. Findings: After background factors were controlled for, bilinguals (irrespective of specific L1) significantly outperformed their monolingual peers on overall pronunciation accuracy. Irrespective of language background, the most frequent error sources overlapped, affecting English sounds which are considered marked, are absent from the German phoneme inventory, or differ phonetically from a German equivalent. Originality: This study extends previous work on bilingual advantages in other domains of EFL to less researched phonological skills. It focuses on overall productive skills in young FL learners with limited proficiency and provides an overview over the most common error sources and substitution patterns in connection to language background. Significance/Implications: The study highlights that bilingual learners may deploy additional resources in the acquisition of target language phonology that should be addressed in the foreign language classroom.

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Understanding of Aviation Safety Pictograms among Respondents from Europe and the U.S.

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193129604001606 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 40 (16) ◽

pp. 820-824 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Florian Jentsch

Keyword(s):

Native Language ◽

Safety Information ◽

Aviation Safety ◽

Future Research ◽

Research Needs ◽

Native Languages ◽

Language Groups ◽

Passenger Safety ◽

Pictorial Representations ◽

The U.S

Conveying safety information to aircraft passengers is an important task for the designers of aircraft passenger safety information cards. Since the information must be understood by all passengers, regardless of native language or nationality, many designers use pictorial representations that are considered “culture free.” The current study investigated the comprehension of 13 pictograms from a sample of actual safety cards among participants from four language groups in Europe and the U.S. One-hundred-and-fifty students whose native languages were English (British and U.S.), French, or German, respectively, interpreted 13 pictograms. From their responses, three main conclusions can be drawn: 1. Conveying aviation safety information by pictorial means appears to be largely effective, as indicated by general comprehension levels above 85%. 2. While passengers may get the “essence” of a particular pictogram, it is often difficult for them to recognize specific details. 3. There are relatively small differences in the comprehension levels between participants from different language groups, pointing towards the “universality” of pictograms in conveying safety information. Future research needs to focus on identifying exactly which features of pictograms are most effective in conveying safety information, without introducing cultural or language biases.

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Analysis and typology of phonetic errors in the vocal speech of Italian speaking students

Tambov University Review Series Humanities ◽

10.20310/1810-0201-2021-26-193-98-106 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 98-106

Author(s):

Anna A. Kachanova ◽

Valerio Fabrizi

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Native Language ◽

Phonetic Errors ◽

Vocal Speech ◽

Level Student

The relevance of the undertaken research is explained by the fact that phonetic skills and the absence of the phenomenon of errors at this level are important when teaching Russian as a foreign language to Italian speaking students. Researchers M.N. Shutov and I.A. Orekhova paid attention to this importance in their in-depth studies and other scientists. The purpose of this re-search is to analyze and typology of the phenomenon of errors at the phonetic level of Italian speaking students when teaching Russian as a foreign language. We concluded that, in practice, a B1 level student in monologue and dialogical speech, faced with difficulty in placing stress in a word, tries to find an analogue in his native language in consciousness (uses pure interlingual in-terference at the phonetic level) or tries to stress a word (in Russian), taking into account familiar rules (depending on the level of proficiency in Russian as a foreign language).

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German-English Interference in the Field of Vocalism (Based on the Speech of Germans who Study English as a Foreign Language)

Известия Смоленского государственного университета ◽

10.35785/2072-9464-2021-53-1-128-143 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 128-143

Author(s):

Anna Abryutina ◽

Anna Ponomareva

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

English Language ◽

Native Language ◽

Comparative Methods ◽

Instrumental Method ◽

Qualitative And Quantitative ◽

Theoretical Significance

The growing popularity of contrastive phonology as a branch of linguis-tics is seen now, in particular, due to the spread of bilingualism and multilin-gualism. Globalization involves the ability to speak several languages, in the study of which the phonetic level is primarily considered. The purpose of this work is to examine and describe the most likely consequences arising from in-terference in the articulation of vowel sounds in the English-language speech of Germans who study English as a foreign language. The article deals with monophthongs, diphthongs, and triphthongs, dis-cusses possible variations in the articulation of sounds, as well as the processes of reduction, elision, and substitution. Descriptive and comparative methods are the leading ones in the work, however, the instrumental method is also used to determine deviations from the norm and the nature of changes in articulation. The paper identifies a number of trends in the articulation of English sounds by Germans and reveals the reasons of the main difficulties which stu-dents face while studying phonetic norms of RP and speaking German as their native language, i.e. the qualitative and quantitative mismatch of allophones. The achievement of this goal testifies to the theoretical significance of this work, namely, the possibility of further detailed research in the field of sociophonetics and phonostylistics.

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DEVELOPING COLLOCATIONAL AND PHONOLOGICAL COMPETENCES OF EMERGING TEACHERS OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE THROUGH COGNITIVE APPROACH TO PROCESSING MULTI-WORD UNITS

SOCIETY INTEGRATION EDUCATION Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference ◽

10.17770/sie2014vol1.741 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 1 ◽

pp. 42

Author(s):

Irisa Berga

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Natural Language ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Native Language ◽

Instructional Approach ◽

Cognitive Approach ◽

Proficiency Level ◽

Formal Instruction ◽

Analytic Processing ◽

Informal Settings

<p>This paper addresses unresolved issues in the acquisition, processing and use of multi-word units which account for the learner’s idiomatic, natural language. The aim of the study is to argue for an analytic instructional approach to developing the trainee teacher’s collocational and phonological competences through the medium of the native language employing a set of didactic and linguistic techniques like etymological, phonological, structural, lexical and semantic dissection of multi-word units. Research results imply that analytic processing of multi-word units relate moderately to the enhancement of the learner’s collocational and phonological competences though relations between formal instruction and the language proficiency level may be partly obscured by the probable exposure of the learner to multi-word units in informal settings.<strong></strong></p>

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On the problem of typological research of the Russian phonetic system in a linguodidactic context

Russkii iazyk za rubezhom ◽

10.37632/pi.2021.284.1.001 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 4-9

Author(s):

Е.Л. Бархударова

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Native Language ◽

Russian Language ◽

Target Language ◽

Foreign Accent ◽

Language Background ◽

Sound Structure ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship ◽

The Russian Language

В основе разработки курсов практической фонетики, адресованных иноязычной аудитории, лежит анализ типологического своеобразия фонетической системы изучаемого языка в контексте лингводидактики. К числу важных направлений типологического исследования звукового строя русского языка следует отнести, во-первых, изучение соотношения консонантизма и вокализма в его фонетической системе на иноязычном фоне, во-вторых, – анализ позиционных закономерностей русской фонетической системы в сопоставлении с функционированием звуковых единиц в типологически разных языках. В позиционных закономерностях звукового строя языка наиболее ярко проявляется его идиоматичность: в каждом языке позиционные закономерности носят специфический характер и определяются соотношением парадигматики и синтагматики звуковых единиц. Большое число фонологически значимых отклонений в иностранном акценте обусловлено интерферирующим воздействием позиционных закономерностей родного языка на русскую речь учащихся. The development of practical phonetics courses addressed to a foreign audience is based on the analysis of the typological features of the phonetic system of the target language in the context of linguodidactics. It is necessary to designate two important areas of typological research of the sound structure of the Russian language: the study of the relationship of consonantism and vocalism in its phonetic system against a foreign language background and the analysis of positional rules of the Russian phonetic system in comparison with the functioning of sound units in typologically different languages. Idiomatic character of the language is most clearly manifested in the positional patterns of its sound structure. In each language, positional patterns are specific and are determined by the dominance of paradigmatic or syntagmatic relations of sound units. A large number of phonologically significant deviations in a foreign accent are due to the interfering influence of the positional laws of the native language on the Russian speech of students.

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