Introduction: State of the Art of Assessing Second Language Abilities

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Sahbi Hidri
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Language Abilities

Exploiting native language interference for native language identification

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Ilia Markov ◽  
Vivi Nastase ◽  
Carlo Strapparava
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Emotion Expression ◽  
The State ◽  
Language Identification ◽  
Independent Features ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Native language identification (NLI)—the task of automatically identifying the native language (L1) of persons based on their writings in the second language (L2)—is based on the hypothesis that characteristics of L1 will surface and interfere in the production of texts in L2 to the extent that L1 is identifiable. We present an in-depth investigation of features that model a variety of linguistic phenomena potentially involved in native language interference in the context of the NLI task: the languages’ structuring of information through punctuation usage, emotion expression in language, and similarities of form with the L1 vocabulary through the use of anglicized words, cognates, and other misspellings. The results of experiments with different combinations of features in a variety of settings allow us to quantify the native language interference value of these linguistic phenomena and show how robust they are in cross-corpus experiments and with respect to proficiency in L2. These experiments provide a deeper insight into the NLI task, showing how native language interference explains the gap between baseline, corpus-independent features, and the state of the art that relies on features/representations that cover (indiscriminately) a variety of linguistic phenomena.

scholarly journals Contention Between English as a Second Language and Special Education Services for Emergent Bilinguals with Disabilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-56
Author(s):  
Solange A. Lopes-Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Emergent Bilinguals ◽  
Special Education Services ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Related Services ◽  
Education Services ◽  
School Settings ◽  
Steady Growth

The debate surrounding the prioritization of services for emergent bilinguals with disabilities is an area in need of attention. The generalized belief that disability-related services must take priority over English as a Second Language services suggests that there is a critical need to develop school professionals’ understanding that these learners, in addition to receiving special education services, need substantial support in developing their second language abilities. The steady growth of emergent bilinguals and multilinguals in public schools, that is, students acquiring English as a new language, calls for well-trained practitioners able to meet these students’ diverse linguistic, academic, cultural, emotional, and intellectual needs. The typical challenges this population faces acquiring a new language have, well too often, been misrepresented, neglected, or led them to programs for students with true disabilities. However, when emergent bilinguals are legitimately referred to special education, it is not uncommon for their disability-related needs to be prioritized over their English as a Second Language-related needs, and they end up not receiving the support they need to develop social and academic skills in the new language. This review article is intended to stimulate reflection on the types of services being delivered to emergent bilinguals and multilinguals with disabilities in U.S. public school settings.

Language learning in a study-abroad context: Research agenda

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoko Taguchi ◽  
Joseph Collentine
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
The State ◽  
Empirical Methods ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Half Century

Isabelli-García, Bown, Plew & Dewey (forthcoming) presented the ‘state of the art’ in research on language learning abroad. Beginning with Carroll's (1967) claim that ‘time spent abroad is one of the most potent variables’ predicting second language (L2) abilities (p. 137), the scope of study-abroad research has grown multifold in guiding theoretical frameworks, empirical methods, and objects of examination. A half-century of work surveyed in Isabelli-García et al.’s review reveals diverse goals of investigation, ranging from studies focusing on documenting learning outcomes, to studies aiming to unveil the process and nature of learning in a study-abroad context.

THE ASPECT HYPOTHESIS AND THE ACQUISITION OF L2 PAST MORPHOLOGY IN THE LAST 20 YEARS

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 1137-1167
Author(s):  
Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig ◽  
Llorenç Comajoan-Colomé
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Coming Of Age ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Tense And Aspect ◽  
The Third

AbstractTwenty years ago, a state-of-the-art review in SSLA marked the coming of age of the study of temporality in second language acquisition. This was followed by three monographs on tense and aspect the next year. This article presents a state-of-the-scholarship review of the last 20 years of research addressing the aspect hypothesis (AH) (Andersen, 1991, 2002; Andersen & Shirai, 1994, 1996), the most tested hypothesis in L2 temporality research. The first section of the article gives an overview of the AH and examines its central tenets, and then explores the results of empirical studies that test the hypothesis. The second section considers studies that have investigated four crucial variables in the acquisition of temporality and the testing of the AH. The third section discusses theoretically motivated areas of future research within the framework of the hypothesis.

scholarly journals Effects of the Informal Contact on Learners L2 Proficiency: A Review of Five Studies

1985 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina M. Spada
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Measurement Instruments ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Number Of Factors

In this paper, the findings of studies investigating the effects of informal contact on adult classroom learners' second language abilities are discussed and a number of factors are proposed which might have contributed to their conflicting results. This will involve a close examination of five of these studies in terms of differences in: I) type of contact 2) type of measurement instruments 3) type of learner 4) differences in quantitative measures of contact S) intensity and duration of instruction 6) interactions between type of instruction and contact.

SECOND LANGUAGE EPISTEMOLOGY

2009 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Dekydtspotter
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Domain Specificity ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Language Knowledge

This article presents evidence that supports the claim that second language (L2) grammars arise in a domain-specific, informationally encapsulated module with contents provided by Universal Grammar and enriched by native language knowledge, as entertained by Schwartz (1986, 1987, 1999) contra Bley-Vroman (1990). I consider state-of-the-art evidence representative of a body of research on the poverty of the stimulus (POS) that argues for the domain-specificity of L2 representations, with a main focus on interpretation. Then I examine interpretive evidence relevant to the role of informational encapsulation and compositionality in SLA. I seek to demonstrate that the acquisition of syntax-linked interpretive properties where the POS is severe provides opportunities for a type of fingerprinting of mental organization that can inform a variety of epistemologically relevant questions.

Symposium – Perspectives on Motivation for Second Language Learning on the 50th Anniversary of Gardner & Lambert (1959)

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter MacIntyre
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
50Th Anniversary ◽  
Seminal Paper ◽  
Canadian Association

Held at the Association canadienne de linguistique appliquée/Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics Conference, Ottawa, Canada; 28 May 2009.With the 50th anniversary of Robert C. Gardner and Wallace Lambert's seminal paper ‘Motivational variables in second language acquisition’ (Gardner & Lambert 1959), we paused to reflect on the contributions the work has inspired and the state of the art in the study of motivation research.

Can research into the diagnostic testing of reading in a second or foreign language contribute to SLA research?

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 30-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.Charles Alderson ◽  
Ari Huhta
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Diagnostic Tests ◽  
Diagnostic Testing ◽  
Language Testing ◽  
General Level ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Potential Synergy

Language testing researchers have recently shown interest in diagnostic testing. However, diagnostic testing requires a better understanding of language abilities at a less general level than has been normal in language testing, and this has posed challenges to testers to define their diagnostic constructs both theoretically and operationally. In theory, second language acquisition (SLA) should be able to offer insights into the construct of reading in a second or foreign language (S/FL), and testing ought to be able to base diagnostic tests of S/FL reading on theoretical insights from SLA. It is, however, unclear whether this happens in practice. In this paper we examine the potential synergy between second language acquisition and second and foreign language testing, and we report on progress in three inter-related research projects into S/FL reading.

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