American Association for Applied Linguistics Colloquia, 2010

2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 264-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasone Cenoz ◽  
Durk Gorter

Presented at the AAAL Annual Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; 6 March, 2010.This colloquium discussed a multilingual approach to language learning, language teaching and language assessment in school settings. This approach implies looking at language acquisition and use from a holistic perspective, taking into account not only the target language but all the languages known by the learner; such a perspective brings together the traditions of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and bi/multilingualism because it looks at the whole linguistic repertoire of learners when acquiring and using languages. This perspective does not regard the boundaries between languages as clear-cut; nevertheless, those boundaries are themselves used as a resource in communication. In contrast to traditional teaching approaches, code-mixing, code-switching and translanguaging are considered common practices in the behavior of multilingual learners. The multilingual approach also represents a reaction against the ‘monolingual bias’, which leads to the judging of multilingual speakers' competencies by native speaker norms. It also goes beyond common practices not only in foreign language classrooms but also in bilingual and multilingual schools.

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.36) ◽  
pp. 624
Author(s):  
A. Delbio ◽  
M. Ilankumaran

English is the only lingua-franca for the whole world in present age of globalization and liberalization. English language is considered as an important tool to acquire a new and technical information and knowledge. In this situation English learners and teachers face a lot of problems psychologically. Neuro linguistic studies the brain mechanism and the performance of the brain in linguistic competences. The brain plays a main role in controlling motor and sensory activities and in the process of thinking. Studies regarding development of brain bring some substantiation for psychological and anatomical way of language development. Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) deals with psychological and neurological factors. It also deals with the mode of brain working and the way to train the brain to achieve the purpose. Many techniques are used in the NLP. It improves the fluency and accuracy in target language. It improves non-native speaker to improve the LSRW skills.  This paper brings out the importance of the NLP in language learning and teaching. It also discusses the merits and demerits of the NLP in learning. It also gives the solution to overcome the problems and self-correction is motivated through neuro-linguistic programming.   


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Burhan Ozfidan ◽  
Lynn M. Burlbaw

Age is an essential factor in Second Language Acquisition (SLA), impacting the success of students and instructional methods. The purpose of this study is to examine the age factor in SLA by examining three age categories – children, adolescents and adults. In doing so, the study considers the Critical Period Hypothesis as a base of linguistic research in the area of age factor. The study disapproves the assertion of the hypothesis that all prepubescent learners are able to acquire native-like proficiency in target language pronunciation. The study analyzes common SLA beliefs, including: 1) younger learners are more successful than older learners, 2) the language learning processes of younger learners are less stressful and require less of an effort, and 3) young learners are more skillful in language learning. Adolescents and adults are considered as older learners in terms of cognitive maturity. The results of the study indicated that children learn a language easier than adolescents and adults, particularly with respect to pronunciation and morpho syntax. Adolescents are good at syntax and listening sills, while the best results for adults are for reading and writing activities. Thus, the types of brain organization at learners of different developmental stages lead to the need for a diversity of instructional methods for children, adolescents and adults.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aarnes Gudmestad ◽  
Amanda Edmonds ◽  
Thomas Metzger

In the current study, we respond to calls for reform in second language acquisition that center on the field’s preoccupation with native-speaker and prescriptive targets as a benchmark for additional-language learning. In order to address these concerns, we examine the use and development of grammatical gender marking in additional-language Spanish in a prescriptive-independent manner. Specifically, we depart from previous analyses that have centered on accuracy and targetlikeness and we shift the object of analysis to the linguistic forms (i.e., feminine and masculine modifiers) that additional-language participants use. We adopt a variationist approach to explain how participants vary their use of modifier gender and how this use changes longitudinally. We argue that such an approach to studying additional languages allows us to offer new insights about the acquisition of grammatical gender marking in additional-language Spanish. We end by critically reflecting on some of the challenges that we encountered in trying to integrate this paradigm shift into the examination of a well-studied grammatical structure.


Author(s):  
Pritz Hutabarat

<p>English as a global language is learned worldwide and a plethora of methods and approaches have been developed and practiced in English classrooms by dedicated teachers and students. Understanding the underlying theories of second and foreign language acquisition and learning will help both teachers and students in learning and teaching a target language. There has not been many research conducted in the area, especially within Indonesian context. This research therefore attempts to fill in gaps in a way that it provides sufficient discussion of the theories and practice in English Language Teaching (ELT) in Indonesia in its conjunction with the second and foreign language acquisition theories. Twenty eight students specializing in teacher training participated in the research and two distinguished data collection methods were utilized; survey and interview. The results show that the students are not consistent with their opinions concerning the theories of second or foreign language acquisition and learning in relation to the mastery of English as a foreign language in Indonesia.</p><p> </p><p>Keywords: language learning, language acquisition, ELT</p>


2005 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 153-156

05–360Chiswick, Barry, R. & Paul W. Miller (U of Illinois at Chicago, USA), Linguistic distance: a quantitative measure of the distance between English and other languages. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (Clevedon, UK) 26.1 (2005), 1–11.05–361Csomay, Eniko (San Diego State U, USA; [email protected]), Linguistic variation within university classroom talk: a corpus-based perspective. Linguistics and Education (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) 15.3 (2005), 243–274.05–362De Jong, Nel (Amsterdam U, the Netherlands; [email protected]), Can second language grammar be learned through listening? An experimental study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition (Cambridge, UK) 27.2 (2005), 205–234.05–363Ellis, Nick C. (Michigan U, USA; [email protected]), At the interface: dynamic interactions of explicit and implicit language knowledge. Studies in Second Language Acquisition (Cambridge, UK) 27.2 (2005), 305–352.05–364Ellis, Rod (Auckland U, New Zealand; [email protected]), Measuring implicit and explicit knowledge of a second language: a psychometric study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition (Cambridge, UK) 27.2 (2005), 141–172.05–365Handley, Zöe (U of Manchester, UK) & Marie-Josée Hamel, Establishing a methodology for benchmarking speech synthesis for computer-assisted language learning (CALL). Language Learning & Technology (U of Hawaii, Manoa, USA) 9.3 (2005), 99–120.05–366Loewen, Shawn (Auckland U, New Zealand; [email protected]), Incidental focus on form and second language learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition (Cambridge, UK) 27.3 (2005), 361–386.05–367Mosavi Miangah, Tayebeh & Ali Delavar Khalafi (Shahre Kord U, Iran; [email protected]), Word sense disambiguation using target language corpus in a machine translation system. Literary and Linguistic Computing (Oxford, UK) 20.2 (2005), 237–249.05–368Rydberg-Cox, Jeff (U of Missouri, USA; [email protected]), Talking about violence: clustered participles in the speeches of lysias. Literary and Linguistic Computing (Oxford, UK) 20.2 (2005), 219–235.05–369Tokowicz, Natasha (Pittsburgh U, USA; [email protected]) & Brian MacWhinney, Implicit and explicit measures of sensitivity to violations in second language grammar: an event-related potential investigation. Studies in Second Language Acquisition (Cambridge, UK) 27.2 (2005), 173–204.05–370Van De Mieroop, Dorien (U of Antwerp, Belgium; [email protected]), An integrated approach of quantitative and qualitative analysis in the study of identity in speeches. Discourse & Society (London, UK) 16.1 (2005), 107–130.05–371Yamaguchi, Masataka (U of Georgia, USA; [email protected]), Discursive representation and enactment of national identities: the case of Generation 1.5 Japanese. Discourse & Society (London, UK) 16.2 (2005), 269–299.


2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 450-451
Author(s):  
Sufumi So

This book, as part of a series published by Erlbaum entitled Second language acquisition research: Theoretical and methodological issues, addresses the question as to how the acquisition of a nonnative language progresses through interaction in language classrooms. As the author admits (p. xiii), this is hardly a new topic in studies of SLA. The book, however, sheds some new light by introducing novel theoretical and methodological perspectives in dealing with this old topic. The author finds in Vygotskyan ideas a theoretical stance to frame her views of language, the language learner, and the language learning process. Furthermore, it focuses on the second language (L2) acquisition of Japanese by English-speaking learners, which has only recently begun attracting the attention of SLA researchers.


1996 ◽  
Vol 111-112 ◽  
pp. 155-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luanga A. Kasanga

Abstract In the course of a preliminary analysis of data used in an investigation into the effect on the rate of interaction in the target language of the "level of proficiency" and the "type of task", some unexpected results for participation pattern led the analyst to pursue additional lines of enquiry. A decision was taken to consider gender in a subsequent analysis. Gender had been suggested by previous studies as being capable of affecting the learners' L2 access and performance. Some of the data of the wider investigation were re-analyzed with gender as an independent variable in lieu of, then together with, the level of proficiency. This paper reports on the results of the wider investigation and describes the findings of the analysis of data with gender as an independent variable. To set the scene for the discussion of the results relevant to gender, the paper discusses a sampling of studies on gender and communication. The results of the analysis concurred with those of at least four separate studies in which it had been suggested that gender tended to affect the learners1 target language access and performance in ways that may influence their language learning.


1991 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 46-62
Author(s):  
Jeanine Deen

In communication between native (NS) and non-native (NNS) speakers problems of understanding may easily arise because the NNS do not have a complete knowledge of the rules and means of communication of the particular target language community. When a NNS indicates non-understanding the NS usually will adjust his or her language, and the interaction will be modified. Hatch (1978) and Long (1983) hypothesized that these adjustments will lead to an increase of comprehensible input for the NNS and thus to language acquisition. The case study discussed in this article investigates how input is made comprehensible through negotiation of meaning in so-called clarification sequences. Two 'housing office' conversations that were videotaped and transcribed for the data collection of the European Science Foundation Project "Second Language Acquisition by Adult Immigrants in Europe" (Perdue, 1984) were analyzed. The study is a follow-up on the 'Ways of Achieving Understanding' study (Bremer et al, 1988) executed as part of the ESF project. Questions that were investigated were how Mohamed, a Moroccan speaker of Dutch, indicates understanding problems, how the native speaker tries to solve these problems and what the structure is of the clarification sequences. Furthermore, some attempt was made to analyze the kind of understanding problems Mohamed indicates and the degree of success the speakers have in negotiating understanding. The results showed a basic structure for clarification sequences, starting with a trouble source, followed by a trouble indicator, trouble clarification, and ending with a main-line response connected to the trouble source. The trouble sources Mohamed indicated were mostly lexical problems. The way he indicated understanding problems was quite implicit. He either did not verbally react to a move of the NS or reacted with minimal unspecified requests, such as "hm?" or "what?". Therefore, the NSs did not receive specific feedback as to what the problem was. In spite of this, they used several strategies to clarify problems, such as reformulations, expansions and hypothesis forming. In addition, it was found that the negotiation of meaning process was quite successful: most understanding problems seemed to be solved that way. ReferencesBremer K., Broeder P., Roberts C, Simonot M., Vasseur M.-T. (1988). Ways of Achieving Understanding: Communicating to Learn in a Second Language. Final Report Vol. I, ESF project, Strassbourg. Perdue, C. (Ed.) (1984). Second Language Acquisition by Adult Immigrants. Newbury House, Rowley, Mass.


ReCALL ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
VASSILIKI SIMINA ◽  
MARIE-JOSÉE HAMEL

The basic tenet of constructivism is that learners construct their knowledge on their own by associating new with prior information. The significance of the learner’s interaction with his/her social and physical environment is here of great importance; the learner is at the center of the learning process while the tutor is seen as a facilitator, a guide. Considering the paradigm shift in education and language learning, the assumptions of the constructivist philosophy encourage the use of computers in second language acquisition. Computer technology is capable of providing the context for collaboration and social interaction in which learners will construct the knowledge of the target language on their own by being engaged in meaningful activities. Moreover, computers allow learners to interact not only with the learning materials but also with other people. The combination of the social and individual aspect is best expressed by social constructivism. Placing language learning in a socio-cognitive context, we will approach second language acquisition from a social constructivist perspective and indicate the value of such an approach for the design and evaluation of Computer Applications in Second Language Acquisition (CASLA). Firstly, an overview of constructivism as a theory of learning is required in order to make clear the basic assumptions of the constructivist theory. Secondly, the focus is placed on social constructivism which is examined in relation to second language acquisition. This in tandem exploration will lead us to provide a framework which integrates all four language skills in a general theoretical framework of social interaction and shows how social constructivism can promote second language acquisition. Finally, one type of on-line application such as WebQuest, which is best developed in project-driven language learning, will be provided as a potential example of good practice in approaching Computer Applications in Second Language Learning through a social constructivist perspective.


2017 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenefer Philp ◽  
Margaret Borowczyk ◽  
Alison Mackey

This issue was designed to include a wide range of research on children's second language learning. Here we provide a short overview of each of the articles contained in this issue, many of which bring up novel ideas and topics, as well as new takes on familiar themes that sometimes challenge prior conceptions and, ideally, inspire new understandings of child language acquisition, and policies, and practices in instructed settings. The 15 articles in this issue are based in instructed and naturalistic settings and include reviews and experimental work, and collectively represent learners between 5 to 18 years old. The language backgrounds include Mandarin (first language [L1]), Arabic (L1), Basque (L1), Cantonese (L1), English (second language [L2]), Hebrew (L1, L2), Spanish (L1, L2), and Thai (L1). Topics include the uniqueness of child second language acquisition (SLA); learning in majority language classrooms; best practices in bilingual schooling, cognition, and SLA in younger learners; testing and assessment relating to age and language choice; and methodological contributions that arise from the particular challenges of researching child second language development in instructed and naturalistic settings.


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