scholarly journals Incidental learning of a grammatical feature from reading by Japanese learners of English as a foreign language

System ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 102250
Author(s):  
Natsuki Aka
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Incidental Learning ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Japanese Learners

The Generalization of Instruction on Genitive Relative Clause in the Acquisition of English as a Foreign Language

2006 ◽  
Vol 151 ◽  
pp. 99-113
Author(s):  
Akihiro Ito
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Special Instruction ◽  
Japanese Learners

This study examines the generalization of instruction in foreign language learning. A group of Japanese learners of English served as participants and received special instruction in the structure of genitive relative clauses. The participants were given a pre-test on combining two sentences into one containing a genitive relative clause wherein the relativized noun phrase following the genitive marker "whose" is either the subject, direct object, or object of preposition. Based on the TOEFL and the pre-test results, four equal groups were formed; three of these served as experimental groups, and one as the control group. Each experimental group was given instruction on the formation of only one type of genitive relative clause. The participants were then given two post-tests. The results indicated that the generalization of learning begins from structures that are typologically more marked genitive relative clauses to those structures that are typologically less marked, and not vice versa.

Japanese EFL learners’ sentence processing of conceptual plurality: An analysis focusing on reciprocal verbs

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
YU TAMURA ◽  
JUNYA FUKUTA ◽  
YOSHITO NISHIMURA ◽  
YUI HARADA ◽  
KAZUHISA HARA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
First Language ◽  
Sentence Completion ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Transitive Verbs ◽  
Reading Experiment ◽  
Japanese Learners

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to investigate how Japanese learners of English as a foreign language, whose first language does not have obligatory morphological number marking, process conceptual plurality. The targeted structure was reciprocal verbs, which require conceptual plurality to interpret their meanings correctly. The results of a sentence completion task confirmed that participants could use reciprocal verbs reciprocally in English. In a self-paced reading experiment, participants read sentences with reciprocal verbs and those with optionally transitive verbs (e.g., while the king and the queen kissed/left the baby read the book in the bed). There was no reading time delay for reciprocal verbs but a delay for optionally transitive verbs. Therefore, the participants succeeded in processing second language conceptual plurality in the online sentence comprehension task.

scholarly journals The role of aptitude in second language segmental learning: The case of Japanese learners’ English /ɹ/ pronunciation attainment in classroom settings

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
KAZUYA SAITO
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Associative Memory ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Incidental Learning ◽  
Sequence Recognition ◽  
Foreign Language Aptitude ◽  
Japanese Learners

AbstractBuilding on the extensive work conceptualizing, developing, and validating foreign language aptitude for successful second language acquisition (e.g., Skehan, 2015, inApplied Linguistics), the current project expounded the cognitive abilities relevant and instrumental to adult Japanese classroom learners’ pronunciation attainment of English /ɹ/. The speech production of 50 Japanese participants was elicited, acoustically analyzed, and linked to different aspects of their aptitude profiles (phonemic coding, associative memory, and sequence recognition). Whereas those with higher phonemic coding demonstrated better performance in a relatively easy dimension of English /ɹ/ pronunciation (lower F2 for tongue retraction), those with greater associative memory demonstrated more advanced performance in the relatively difficult dimensions of English /ɹ/ pronunciation (longer transition duration for phonemic length; lower F3 for labial/alveolar/pharyngeal constrictions). The role of incidental learning aptitude (i.e., sequence recognition) remained unclear. The findings here indicate that explicit aptitude related to phonological analysis and memory may play a key role in predicting the incidence of advanced second language segmental proficiency attainment in classroom settings.

scholarly journals Developmental Stages and the CEFR Levels in Foreign Language Learners’ Speaking and Writing

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Yumiko Yamaguchi
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Written Narratives ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
English Syntax ◽  
Japanese Learners

<p class="AbstractTitle"><em>This paper aims to investigate foreign language learners’ speaking and writing based on a second language acquisition (SLA) theory and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR; Council of Europe, 2001). While the CEFR has been widely used as a reference instrument in foreign language </em><em>education</em><em>, there has been insufficient empirical research undertaken on the CEFR levels (e.g., Hulstijin, 2007; Wisniewski, 2017). Also, few studies have examined how the CEFR levels relate to the developmental stages predicted in SLA theories. In this study, spoken and written narratives performed by 60 Japanese learners of English are examined based on one of the major SLA theories, namely Processability Theory (PT; Pienemann, 1998, 2005; Bettoni &amp; Di Biase, 2015), as well as on the CEFR. Results show that the Japanese L1 learners acquire English syntax as predicted in PT in both speaking and writing. In addition, there seems to be a linear correlation between the CEFR levels and PT stages. However, it is also found that the learners at the highest PT stage are not necessarily at a higher CEFR level.</em><em></em></p>

Integrating technology in the writing curriculum of Japanese learners of english as a foreign language

1996 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rowena Santiago ◽  
Mikiko Nakata ◽  
Nelson Einwaechter ◽  
Ruth Marschmeier ◽  
Rumiko Shimada
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Writing Curriculum ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Integrating Technology ◽  
Japanese Learners

scholarly journals Effects of HVPT on perception and production of English fricatives by Japanese learners of English

2019 ◽  
pp. 186-192
Author(s):  
Atsushi Iino
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Computer Program ◽  
Reading Aloud ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
High Variability ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Japanese Learners ◽  
Perception Training

This study investigated the effects of High Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT) on beginner level English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Japanese learners’ perceptions and productions of the English fricatives /f/, /v/ and /θ/. With the use of the computer program ‘English Accent Coach’ (EAC, Thomson, 2017), two groups of participants were engaged in learning the sounds in a two-syllable environment: target consonant + vowels (CV) and target consonant + vowels + consonant (CVC). The perception training with EAC was conducted for five weeks between a pre-test and a post-test in perception and production. Production was measured in the form of recorded reading aloud and was evaluated by native English speakers and a Japanese teacher of English. The results indicated the advantageous effects of CVC environments on perception as well as on production.

REEXAMINING EFFECTS OF FORM-FOCUSED INSTRUCTION ON L2 PRONUNCIATION DEVELOPMENT

2012 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuya Saito
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Focus On Form ◽  
Target Feature ◽  
Phonetic Information ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Posttest Performance ◽  
Japanese Learners ◽  
Rule Presentation

The present study examines whether and to what degree providing explicit phonetic information (EI) at the beginning of form-focused instruction (FFI) on second language pronunciation can enhance the generalizability and magnitude of FFI effectiveness by increasing learners’ ability to notice a new phone. Participants were 49 Japanese learners of English in English as a foreign language setting. Whereas the control group (n = 14) received meaning-oriented lessons without any focus on form, the experimental groups received 4 hr of FFI treatment designed to encourage them to practice the target feature of an English /ɹ/ in meaningful discourse. Instructors provided EI (i.e., multiple exposure to an exaggerated model pronunciation of /ɹ/ and rule presentation on the relevant articulatory configurations) to the FFI+EI group (n = 17) but not to the FFI-only group (n = 18). Their pre- and posttest performance was acoustically analyzed according to various lexical, task, and following vowel conditions. The results of the ANOVAs showed that (a) the FFI-only group demonstrated moderate improvement with medium effects (e.g., change from hybrid exemplars to poor exemplars), particularly in familiar lexical contexts, and (b) the FFI+EI group not only demonstrated considerable improvement with large effects (e.g., change from hybrid exemplars to good exemplars) but also generalized the instructional gains to unfamiliar lexical contexts beyond the instructional materials.

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