On the use of miniature artificial languages in second-language research

1980 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry McLaughlin
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Implicit Learning ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Construction Process ◽  
Artificial Languages ◽  
Language Research ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
Creative Construction ◽  
Systematic Manipulation

ABSTRACTIn this article the hypothesis is advanced that the learning of a miniature artificial language (MAL) is second-language (L2) learning writ small. Recent research from MAL experiments is reviewed which, if the hypothesis is correct, throws light on inductive L2 learning, suggesting that in the “creative construction” process both “implicit” learning and analogic generalization are possible strategies. The argument is made that MAL experiments are heuristically valuable for L2 research and that more creative use of MAL methods can have pedagogical implications, since teaching, like MAL research, involves systematic manipulation of input.

IMPLICIT LEARNING IN SLA AND THE ISSUE OF INTERNAL VALIDITY

2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 545-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald P. Leow ◽  
Mike Hama
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Implicit Learning ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Internal Validity ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
Methodological Debate

There is a growing theoretical, empirical, and methodological debate in the SLA field as to whether unawareness plays a role during attention to or processing of new incoming second language (L2) data. Indeed, studies that have methodologically addressed the construct of unawareness in their research designs offer both empirical support (e.g., Leung & Williams, 2011, 2012; Williams, 2004, 2005) and no empirical support (e.g., Faretta-Stutenberg & Morgan-Short, 2011; Hama & Leow, 2010; Leow, 2000) for implicit learning. This article takes a critical look at one recent study (Leung & Williams, 2011) and questions the level of internal validity with respect to the claim that their study provided empirical evidence of implicit learning. It concludes by providing specific criteria that need to be considered in any study purporting to address the construct of awareness or lack thereof in L2 learning.

scholarly journals The emergence of awareness in uninstructed L2 learning: A visual world eye tracking study

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sible Andringa
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Implicit Learning ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Movement Behavior ◽  
Visual World ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
Learning Without Awareness ◽  
Over Time

The construct of awareness plays a pivotal role in several big debates in the field of second language acquisition. It lies at the heart of discussions about the (im)possibility of learning without awareness, or conversely, whether some degree of awareness is a requirement for learning to take place. In this study, I propose a research agenda to further the interface issue, which addresses how awareness, or knowledge of which you are aware, may impact on second language (L2) learning. I argue progress can be made by assessing the development of learning over time and establishing when awareness emerges, and by making a clear distinction between uninstructed and instructed learning. The present study was designed to investigate if awareness would autonomously emerge in uninstructed learning and whether this was contingent on prior implicit learning. Visual world eye tracking was used to monitor learners on the fly as they were exposed to a fully unknown miniature language with a determiner system marking for distance and animacy. Twenty-six out of 39 participants remained fully unaware of the determiner system and showed no signs of learning throughout the exposure. The remaining 13 participants, however, showed clear signs of changed eye movement behavior prior to and post awareness. Thus, in as far as learning was observed, it coincided with the emergence of awareness.

Verbal statistical learning: Prior knowledge impacts word identification but not metacognition

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laetitia Zmuda ◽  
Charlotte Baey ◽  
Paolo Mairano ◽  
Anahita Basirat
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Prior Knowledge ◽  
Statistical Learning ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Bayesian Approach ◽  
Word Identification ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Artificial Languages ◽  
Transitional Probabilities ◽  
Fully Bayesian

It is well-known that individuals can identify novel words in a stream of an artificial language using statistical dependencies. While underlying computations are thought to be similar from one stream to another (e.g. transitional probabilities between syllables), performance are not similar. According to the “linguistic entrenchment” hypothesis, this would be due to the fact that individuals have some prior knowledge regarding co-occurrences of elements in speech which intervene during verbal statistical learning. The focus of previous studies was on task performance. The goal of the current study is to examine the extent to which prior knowledge impacts metacognition (i.e. ability to evaluate one’s own cognitive processes). Participants were exposed to two different artificial languages. Using a fully Bayesian approach, we estimated an unbiased measure of metacognitive efficiency and compared the two languages in terms of task performance and metacognition. While task performance was higher in one of the languages, the metacognitive efficiency was similar in both languages. In addition, a model assuming no correlation between the two languages better accounted for our results compared to a model where correlations were introduced. We discuss the implications of our findings regarding the computations which underlie the interaction between input and prior knowledge during verbal statistical learning.

Introspection in Second Language Research

1989 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Mary-Ann Reiss ◽  
Claus Faerch ◽  
Gabriele Kasper
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Research

Pragmatic transfer

1992 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Kasper
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Interlanguage Pragmatics ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Pragmatic Transfer ◽  
Language Research ◽  
Linguistic Action ◽  
Core Areas ◽  
Basic Distinction ◽  
Pragmatic Knowledge

Throughout the short life of interlanguage pragmatics as a subdiscipline of second language research, it has been a virtually uncontested assumption that non-native speakers' comprehension and production of linguistic action is considerably influenced by their L1 pragmatic knowledge. The literature strongly supports this hypothesis. However, whereas there has been a lively controversy about the role of transfer in the traditional core areas of second language research (syntax, morphology, semantics), there has been little theoretical and methodological debate about transfer in interlanguage pragmatics. As a contribution to such a debate, this article seeks to clarify the concept of pragmatic transfer, proposing as a basic distinction Leech/Thomas' dichotomy of sociopragmatics versus pragmalinguistics and presenting evidence for transfer at both levels. Evidence for purported pragmatic universals in speech act realization and for positive and negative pragmatic transfer is discussed. Further issues to be addressed include the conditions for pragmatic transfer (transferability), the interaction of transfer with non-structural factors (proficiency, length of residence, context of acquisition), and the effect of transfer on communicative outcomes. The article concludes by briefly considering some problems of research method in studies of pragmatic transfer.

Principles of compiling artificial languages

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (07) ◽  
pp. 40-46
Author(s):  
Khayala Mugamat Mursaliyeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Natural Consequence ◽  
Modern Language ◽  
Artificial Languages ◽  
The World ◽  
The Creation

The explosion of information and the ever-increasing number of international languages make the modern language situation very difficult. The interaction of languages ultimately leads to the creation of international artificial languages that operate in parallel with the world`s languages. The expansion of interlinguistic issues is a natural consequence of the aggravation of the linguistic landscape of the modern world. The modern interlinguistic dialect, which is defined as a field of linguistics that studies international languages and international languages as a means of communication, deals with the importance of overcoming the barrier.The problem of international artificial languages is widely covered in the writings of I.A.Baudouin de Courtenay, V.P.Qrigorev, N.L.Gudskov, E.K.Drezen, A.D.Dulchenko, M.I.Isayev, S.N.Kuznechov, A.D.Melnikov and many other scientists. Key words:the concept of natural language, the concept of artificial language, the degree of artificiality of language, the authenticity of language

Second language learning via syntactic priming: The effects of modality, attention and motivation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Coumel ◽  
Ema Ushioda ◽  
Katherine Messenger
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Input Modality ◽  
Online Study ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
High Motivation

We examined whether language input modality and individual differences in attention and motivation influence second language (L2) learning via syntactic priming. In an online study, we compared French L2 English and L1 English speakers’ primed production of passives in reading-to-writing vs. listening-to-writing priming conditions. We measured immediate priming (producing a passive immediately after exposure to the target structure) and short- and long-term learning (producing more target structures in immediate and delayed post-tests without primes relative to pre-tests). Both groups showed immediate priming and short- and long-term learning. Prime modality did not influence these effects but learning was greater in L2 speakers. While attention only increased learning in L1 speakers, high motivation increased L2 speakers' learning in the reading-to-writing condition. These results suggest that syntactic priming fosters long-term L2 learning, regardless of input modality. This study is the first to show that motivation may modulate L2 learning via syntactic priming.

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