A Multiple Word Association Probe in Second Language Acquisition Research

1987 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heleen Kruse ◽  
James Pankhurst ◽  
Michael Sharwood Smith

The background to word association tests is described, their potential relevance to second language research considered, and the history of their use as L2 measuring instruments reviewed. A computer-controlled word association test is described, its reliability established, and its validity as a measure of language proficiency established by means of comparison with other tests.

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Reza Talebinejad ◽  
Aasa Moattarian

<p class="1"><span lang="X-NONE">Over the past several decades, a substantial body of research on second language acquisition has been provided. The current study was an attempt to investigate language teachers’ views on applying research findings in their every day practice of language teaching through a critical lens. Data for this qualitative study was collected by means of a semi structured interview with 10 language teachers teaching English at different language institutes in Iran. Analyses of data revealed that, although teachers find second language acquisition research a useful tool for their professional development; they do not usually consult bodies of research in their every day teaching practice. They report problems in applying second language research in their practice due to problems with practicality, particularity, and possibility. The findings suggest that language teachers need to be exposed to insight from SLA research and practice.</span></p>


2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 17.1-17.22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baohua Yu ◽  
David A. Watkins

The present study investigates the relationships among motivational factors, cultural correlates and second language proficiency. The participants, from both Western and Asian backgrounds, were learning Chinese at university level in the People’s Republic of China. 115 students (35 Western students and 80 Asian students) ranging from beginning to advanced levels of proficiency were surveyed. The results of the study indicated that the degree of integrativeness into Chinese culture and motivation was significantly and positively related to Chinese language proficiency, while language anxiety was significantly and negatively correlated to such proficiency. However instrumental orientation was found to have no statistically significant relationship with such proficiency. Multiple regression analysis indicated that integrativeness and gender were major variables predicting Chinese language proficiency. Significant differences between Western and Asian student groups were found in terms of motivational variables and Chinese language proficiency. Compared with the Asian student group, the Western student group tended to perform better in spoken Chinese proficiency as evaluated by their teachers and seemed to have higher levels of motivation and integrativeness but lower levels of instrumental orientation and language anxiety. Recommendations are made to enhance motivation and second language acquisition.


1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Wang

Although considerable evidence indicates that age of onset for second language acquisition is related to second-language proficiency outcomes among adult learners Jew studies have actually looked at how adult learners of different ages experience and perceive second language acquisition. This study presents 30 women immigrant learners' accounts of their experiences and perceptions of learning English as a second language in the Canadian context. Findings from this study reveal the complexity of adult L2 acquisition, which involves factors pertaining not only to the learners themselves, but also to the social context in which the second language is learned. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the second language curriculum development and classroom practice.


2001 ◽  
Vol 65 ◽  
pp. 123-135
Author(s):  
Jeanine Deen

In conversations between native and nonnative speakers, problems in understanding may occur quite frequently. If one of the speakers tries to repair the trouble, negotiation of meaning will take place. This article describes the roles native and nonnative speakers of Dutch play in negotiating meaning in informal and institutional conversations and the influence of language proficiency and setting on the role distribution. Interaction data were used from a large longitudinal adult second language acquisition project (Perdue, 1993a/b). The relative distribution of the three main negotiation moves (trouble indicators, trouble clarifications and confirmation checks) showed that asymmetry occurs in both types of conversation at all three moments of measurement indicating that language proficiency is indeed a factor causing asymmetry (c.f. Deen, 1997). The nonnative speaker and the native speaker held complementary roles, the former mainly indicating trouble and the latter clarifying and checking. The influence of setting on the asymmetry was less clear because there was little difference between the two settings. The semi-authenticity of the data may partly explain this outcome. Furthermore, it could be shown that the use of confirmation checks by the native speaker could be an indicator of dominance but only when there is competition between the two speakers.


1996 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 9-21
Author(s):  
Niclas Abrahamsson

This paper looks at whether Natural Phonology can be directly applied to second language acquisition. First, the original theory, as presented by Stampe and Donegan in the 1970s, is outlined. Secondly, its application to first language acquisition is presented, as this is highly crucial for the following discussion on the naturalness of second language phonology. Thirdly, an attempt is made to establish a preliminary model of the application to second language speech. Findings indicate that Natural Phonology is able to, if not resolve, then at least shed some light on a controversial issue in second language research, namely the distinction between interference and development. With the dichotomy of processes vs. rules offered by Natural Phonology, and hence the interpretation of deviations in second language research as the result of failure of suppression and limitation of processes (instead of as the result of interference from LI phonological rules), the interference/ development distinction collapses. In addition, a principle of closest phonetic value' is postulated in order to explain substitutional variation across learners with differing LI backgrounds. Although highly promising, application of Natural Phonology to second language issues also raises inherent problems in the original theory that need to be resolved. Instead of the notions of innateness and latency of processes proposed by Stampean Natural Phonology, in this paper, suggestions are made concerning the brain's early programming of processes in the form of a model which covers both first and second language acquisition.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 55-64
Author(s):  
Nabaraj Neupane

Second language acquisition (SLA) generates and tests the theories concerning the acquisition of languages other than first language (L1) in different contexts. Even if SLA is a nascent discipline, its history is remarkable and helpful to seek the answers to the questions that researchers are raising in the field of second language or foreign language. Based on this context, this article aims to recount the history of the burgeoning discipline that heavily draws from numerous disciplines like linguistics, psychology, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and so on. To achieve the objective, document analysis method has been used. The analysis and interpretation of the available documents exhibit that the traces of SLA were observed in the studies that address the issue of language transfer. Specifically, the diachronic study proves that the development of the discipline has undergone three evolving phases like background, formative, and developmental. The background phase caters for behaviourism, contrastive analysis hypothesis, and the attacks on the fundamental premises of behaviourism. The formative phase deals with Chomsky’s revolutionary steps, error analysis, interlanguane theory, morpheme order studies, and the Krashen’s monitor model that opened up the avenues for further studies of SLA. The developmental phase recounts various studies that have consolidated SLA as a separate discipline.


2019 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-166
Author(s):  
Viktorija Kostadinova ◽  
Nuria Yáñez-Bouza ◽  
Gea Dreschler ◽  
Sune Gregersen ◽  
Beáta Gyuris ◽  
...  

Abstract This chapter has fourteen sections: 1. General; 2. History of English Linguistics; 3. Phonetics and Phonology (not covered this year); 4. Morphology; 5. Syntax; 6. Semantics; 7. Lexicography, Lexicology, and Lexical Semantics; 8. Onomastics; 9. Dialectology and Sociolinguistics; 10. New Englishes and Creolistics; 11. Second Language Acquisition. 12. English as a Lingua Franca; 13. Pragmatics and Discourse. 14. Stylistics. Section 1 is by Viktorija Kostadinova; section 2 is by Nuria Yáñez-Bouza; sections 4 and 5 are by Gea Dreschler and Sune Gregersen; section 6 is by Beáta Gyuris; section 7 is by Kathryn Allan; section 8 is by Maggie Scott; section 9 is by Lieselotte Anderwald; section 10 is by Sven Leuckert; section 11 is by Tihana Kraš; section 12 is by Tian Gan, Ida Parise, Sum Pok Ting, Juliana Souza da Silva and Alessia Cogo; section 13 is by Beke Hansen; section 14 is by Jessica Norledge.


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