Variability in the learning of complex morphophonology

2012 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 807-831 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARC ETTLINGER ◽  
ANN R. BRADLOW ◽  
PATRICK C. M. WONG

ABSTRACTThis paper explores how theories on the relationship between language and domain-general cognitive capabilities might account for individual variation in second language learning. We investigated the acquisition of a morphophonological grammar paired with standardized tests of memory function. The language learned had simple and complex morphophonological patterns of word formation, which are hypothesized to correlate with standardized measures of procedural and declarative memory, respectively. The results show a significant amount of variation in learning success is accounted for by these measures of memory in accordance with the hypothesis. These findings help explain why some adults are able to learn a second language more easily than others while also advancing a model of second language learning motivated by linguistic theory.

2019 ◽  
pp. 136216881987285
Author(s):  
Simón Ruiz ◽  
Patrick Rebuschat ◽  
Detmar Meurers

The extent to which learners benefit from instruction may be largely dependent on their individual abilities. However, there is relatively little work on the interaction between instructional effectiveness in second language learning and learner individual factors. In this study, we investigated the relationship between instruction, individual differences in cognitive abilities (working memory and declarative memory), and second language vocabulary acquisition in the context of web-based intelligent computer assisted language learning (ICALL). To this end, 127 adult learners of English, predominantly advanced-level, German-speaking learners, read news texts on the web for about two weeks using an ICALL system under two instructional conditions: form-focused and meaning-focused instruction. Learners in the form-focused condition read and completed automatically-generated multiple-choice gaps where phrasal verbs appeared in the text, while learners in the meaning-focused condition simply read and did not complete any gaps. Mixed-effects regression analyses showed that working memory was associated with vocabulary acquisition and that this association depended on the instructional context, with working memory being predictive of learning only in the form-focused condition, suggesting an aptitude-treatment interaction. Furthermore, declarative memory abilities were related to learning only as measured by the Continuous Visual Memory Task, and the relationship was not moderated by instructional condition. Overall, the study contributes to accounting for variability in second language learning in general, as well as in instructional contexts supported by intelligent CALL.


2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 822-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Ettlinger ◽  
Kara Morgan-Short ◽  
Mandy Faretta-Stutenberg ◽  
Patrick C.M. Wong

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Firsa Afra Yuslizar ◽  
Zakiyah Arifa

This research is based on the problem of morphological and syntactical first language interference which is often overlooked in second language learning. Interference problems result in misunderstanding the meaning of words or sentences spoken by students towards the second language used. This study attempts to analyze the Indonesian morphological and syntactical interference in speaking Arabic of Al-Kindy community UIN Malang, explaining the factors and implications of interference in learning speaking Arabic. This research method uses a descriptive qualitative approach, and the data are collected through observation by analyzing subject audio documentation data (listening technique- note-taking technique) and interviews. The results showed that members of the al-Kindy community experienced Indonesian morphological interference in word formation, merging/compounding, repetition/reduplication. Meanwhile, Indonesian syntactical interference occurs in: adding sentence elements, errors (sentence elements, sentence location, phrase formation), and missing sentence elements. The factors of the interference are bilingualism, vocabulary mastery, motivation, and psychology of speakers towards the Arabic used. Interference has implications for barriers and challenges in Arabic language learning. The barriers are in the intensity of language interference phenomena, so the language quality is stagnant, and the challenges are to make interference phenomena as motivation for learners to evaluate the language learning process better


10.32698/0141 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Asnadia Binti Alias ◽  
Nur Atikah Binti Noor Rashid

Students in Malaysian Polytechnics must enrol in a second language course as one of the compulsory courses offered by the institution. There is no placement test for polytechnics students to enrol in English language class. Therefore, students with different level of proficiency are mixed together in a classroom to learn English language. Consequently, students encountered difficulties in learning the second language due to feeling of anxiety. Hence, the aim of this study was to determine the correlation between students’ language learning anxiety and their language proficiency. This study involved of 96 semester three students from Civil Engineering Department, Politeknik Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin which have been chosen randomly. A 33 item questionnaire of Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) was analysed using SPSS 22. The study revealed that the students experienced moderate level of language learning anxiety. Correlations – Spearman Test was used to determine the relationship between students’ second language learning anxiety and language proficiency. Three types of anxiety was tested which are Test Anxiety, Communication Apprehension and Fear of Negative Evaluation. Correlations – Spearman Test demonstrated that only Test Anxiety showed significant relationship with students’ language proficiency. Several implications have been discussed to offer suggestions to the lecturers in dealing with students learning anxiety. Lecturers should be careful in correcting students’ error to avoid students feel humiliated. This is because students tend to feel anxious whenever lecturers correct their mistakes in the classroom. A further research should be carried out by using two approaches; qualitative and quantitative and adds more variables such as attitude and motivation towards learning a second language.


Author(s):  
Harold Andrés Peña

While there has been an upsurge of research studying the relationship of gender and second language learning in cross-cultural contexts, far less has been investigated about preschool children’s gender and learner identities in contexts where English is a foreign language. In this paper I describe how gendered discourses are at stake in the classroom and how these discourses are related to the learner identities of a group of Colombian preschoolers. I use a Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis (FPDA) approach to pin down moments in which the assertion of power is manifested in second language practices like ‘classroom races’ during literacy activities. This assertion of power positions participants differently. Findings suggest the need to understand how children negotiate subject positions discursively in language learning activities. I am suggesting the need to erode discourses of approval that marginalize girls and favour boys.


Author(s):  
Terri Chen

Every case of second language learning is different, but they are often influenced by systematic factors. What causes a learner to succeed or fail? In this case study, the language learning experiences of a single nonnative English speaker who successfully acquired English sheds light on the interplay between several of these aspects. An interview with a single adult subject reveals that for this particular individual, a high aptitude, as well as identity and personality characteristics that aligned with an openness to experience and learning in general, were more effective than factors of motivation. While identifying how and why a single individual may be successful or unsuccessful might not be generalizable to all learners, it can serve as a tool in helping to understand differences in L2 learning success.  


Author(s):  
Carolyn F. Pardo-Tolentino ◽  
Rischelle G. Aggabao

This paper examines the effectiveness of using collaborative instructional strategies in teaching second language and presents the attitudes toward using these collaborative strategies among Grade 8 students. To determine the results, the experimental research design was used to test the relationship between the variables. Findings revealed that five collaborative learning strategies namely think-pair-share, jigsaw puzzle, mind mapping, round robin, and send a problem were assessed as satisfactory by the respondents. Though the data show these collaborative strategies received the same assessment, “send a problem” has the highest average mean. With regard to the respondents’ performance in the pretest and posttest, students who belong in the experimental group show a slight increase in scores than those students in the control group. Students from both groups have the same perception in using these collaborative strategies. Thus, the researchers believe that using collaborative instructional strategies help learners understand better the second language.


2000 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-115
Author(s):  
James F. Lee

Input, interaction, and the second language learner is, as the title suggests, a view of the relationship among input, interaction, and second language development. Susan M. Gass has written an extremely readable book that explicates many of the most discussed issues in second language learning in the 1990s. Her intention, successfully achieved, is to demonstrate where theories and frameworks coincide, not just collide.


Author(s):  
Jacek Fisiak

The development of contrastive studies (CS) in recent years, judging by the proliferation of projects and published materials, has been accompanied since the late sixties by vigorous discussions and controversies concerning the theoretical status of CS, their form and their place in both general and applied linguistics.Many linguists and language teachers have gone so far as to reject the validity and usefulness of CS (cf. Alatis, 1968). It seems that this attitude results from a number of misunderstandings created by such factors as the peculiar methodological status of CS, the lack of a clear-cut distinction between theoretical and applied CS (Stockwell, 1968:25; Fisiak, 1971:88ff), and the lack of any precise formulation of the different aims of theoretical CS and applied CS, as well as the confusion of the relationship between CS, psycholinguistic theories of interference and errors, and the theory of second language learning (Zabrocki, 1976). Some confusion also stems from the misunderstanding of the relationship between CS and linguistic theory.


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