Syntax, Semantics, and SLA

1993 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Duff
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Partial Explanation ◽  
First Language Transfer ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Perceptual Characteristics ◽  
Esl Instruction ◽  
Esl Learners

This paper examines the intersection of syntax and semantics in second language acquisition (SLA), a perspective on language learning that has received relatively little attention in the past, in ordertoanswer the following question: Why do English-as-a-second-language (ESL) learners tend to use the same morpheme (e.g., HAVE) for Possessives (P) and Existentials (E), when English has separate forms (HAVE, THERE BE) for these two functions? Working within a functionalist framework, data are analyzed from the longitudinal case study of a Cambodian adult who, despite formal ESL instruction and residence in an English-speaking community, persistently uses the form has for both P and E. Although first language transfer can be invoked as a partial explanation forthis, it alone cannot account for the systematic conflation of P and E in interlanguage. Rather, it is argued that the shared semanticproperties of P/E, together with syntactic, pragmatic, and perceptual characteristics of native language, interlanguage, and second language constructions, make this overlap imminently transferable, especially in untutored or low-level instructed SLA.

scholarly journals What Lies Beneath the Stated Meanings: a Transactional View of Language Learners Making Meaning with Texts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
~ Marianne
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Reading Program ◽  
Extensive Reading ◽  
Transactional Theory ◽  
Reading For Pleasure ◽  
Esl Learners

<p>This thesis reports on a year long case study conducted into the processes and products of English Second Language (ESL) learners reading fiction texts for pleasure in a high school extensive reading program. Although 'extensive reading' is usually associated with interactive language learning perspectives such as 'Second Language Acquisition' (for one view within this perspective see Krashen [1982]), a different theoretical perspective was applied in the present study. Louise Rosenblatt's transactional theory of reader response is used to analyse and discuss data made about teenagers reading for pleasure in an extensive reading program. At the heart of Rosenblatt's transactional theory is the assumption that every reading event is unique to the person, text and context of that reading experience. To understand what it means to make meaning with a text, each of those things must be considered. Thus in order to better understand ESL learners' processes and products of reading for pleasure, this thesis provides a fine grained, deep description of how one reader made meaning with texts. This description is contextualised and enriched through the inclusion of case study data from other ESL and native English speaker participants. By focusing on one reader, the complexity of the interrelationships of reader, text and context are amply demonstrated. This, it will be argued, provides a valuable lens through which teachers and researchers may view other readers, other texts and other contexts. Conclusions drawn from this study will claim that Rosenblatt's transactional theory not only readily facilitates language learning goals (for example, extensive use of the target language) but importantly provides another perspective, apart from the predominant interactive language learning perspectives, on what it might mean for readers to make meaning with texts read for pleasure. Understanding the processes and products of reading for pleasure from a transactional view has pedagogical import for the utilization of extensive reading programs, and perhaps most importantly, for the intellectual development of second language learners.</p>

scholarly journals Language Learning Exposure and Grammatical Proficiency of Intermediate Pupils

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-74
Author(s):  
Marz Kimberly T. Salas ◽  
Ma. Judy B. Legaspi
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Catholic School ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Holistic Process ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Relationship

The Philippines is recognized globally as one of the largest English-speaking nations. The majority of its population has at least some degree of fluency in the language. Filipinos are exposed to the heavy usage of English, not just in school but also in their everyday lives. Exposing elementary pupils to different language learning sources (home, friends, school, and media) can help them acquire the language more easily. Thus, the second-language acquisition is a holistic process, which means acquiring the second language is not confined within the four walls of the classroom. This paper describes the extent of language learning exposure and the level of grammatical proficiency of Grade 6 pupils of a Catholic school in Bacolod City. Similarly, it explores the difference in the pupils' extent of language learning exposure and level of grammatical proficiency. Also, it determines the relationship between language learning exposure and grammatical proficiency.   

Willingness to communicate in the L2 about meaningful photos: Application of the pyramid model of WTC

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110046
Author(s):  
Peter D. MacIntyre ◽  
Lanxi Wang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Willingness To Communicate ◽  
Dynamic Changes ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
Instructed Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Pyramid Model ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Esl Learners ◽  
Considerable Complexity

Willingness to communicate (WTC) reflects an intersection between instructed second language acquisition and learner psychology. WTC results from the coordinated interaction among complex processes that prepare second language (L2) learners to choose to use their L2 for authentic communication. Prior research has revealed considerable complexity in the influences on dynamic changes in WTC from moment-to-moment. The heuristic ‘pyramid model’ of WTC (MacIntyre et al., 1998) proposes interactions among approximately 30 different variables that may influence WTC. The present study uses the pyramid model to interpret data from three focal participants, all English as a second language (ESL) learners and international students in Canada, with varying degrees of experience in an English-speaking context. Using the idiodynamic method, all participants were recorded while describing a self-selected, personally meaningful photo. Second, participants rated their WTC in English using software that played a recording of their speech and collected continuous WTC ratings. Finally, participants were interviewed about their WTC ratings. Triangulating the data revealed how processes on multiple timescales interact during L2 communication about the photos. WTC changes as speakers’ motivations and emotions are influenced by the deep, personal relevance of the topics under discussion. Pedagogical implications for the results of this study and the use of the idiodynamic method in L2 classrooms are discussed.

SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION PROCESSES IN THE CLASSROOM: LEARNING JAPANESE. Amy Snyder Ohta. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2001. Pp. xviii + 298. $79.95 cloth, $34.50 paper.

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 450-451
Author(s):  
Sufumi So
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Nonnative Language ◽  
Acquisition Processes

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.

Does learning Spanish grammatical gender change English-speaking adults' categorization of inanimate objects?

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELENA KURINSKI ◽  
MARIA D. SERA
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Cognitive Change ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
The Body ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
English Speaking

Second language acquisition studies can contribute to the body of research on the influence of language on thought by examining cognitive change as a result of second language learning. We conducted a longitudinal study that examined how the acquisition of Spanish grammatical gender influences categorization in native English-speaking adults. We asked whether learning the grammatical gender of Spanish affects adult native English speakers' attribution of gender to inanimate objects. College students enrolled in beginning Spanish participated in two tasks repeatedly (four times) throughout one academic year. One task examined their acquisition of grammatical gender. The other examined their categorization of inanimate objects. We began to observe changes in participants' grammatical gender acquisition and in categorization after ten weeks of Spanish instruction. Results indicate that learning a second language as an adult can change the way one categorizes objects. However, the effect of Spanish grammatical gender was more limited in Spanish learners than in native Spanish speakers; it was not observed for all kinds of objects nor did it increase with learners' proficiency, suggesting that adults learning Spanish reach a plateau beyond which changes in categorization do not occur.

L2 distribution of Chinese connectives: Towards a comprehensive understanding of a discourse grammar

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 557-586
Author(s):  
Yuan Lu
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Cognitive Complexity ◽  
Threshold Effect ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
Discourse Grammar ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Complex Relationships

This study investigated second language distribution of Chinese connectives by tallying responses on a mini-discourse completion test taken by English-speaking learners with different language learning backgrounds and at different proficiency levels. The results showed that an underuse pattern underlay practically all Chinese connectives as a result of learners’ attention distributed among the three layers of language (i.e. semantic-lexical, syntactic-structural, and discourse-textual layers). The underuse of Chinese connectives, especially for obligatorily paired ones, was moderated by learners’ heritage language background and increased proficiency. Even though Chinese connectives’ syntactic position/obligatoriness effect was not evinced, learners demonstrated sensitivity to the cognitive complexity of semantic relationships marked by connectives, producing more connectives to signal more cognitively complex relationships in general. Meanwhile, the cognitive complexity of connectives seemed to have a threshold effect that beyond a certain level, the excessive cognitive load imposed on learners diminished their use of connectives. This study sheds light on the understanding of Chinese connectives as a multifaceted discourse grammar in second language acquisition.

scholarly journals What Lies Beneath the Stated Meanings: a Transactional View of Language Learners Making Meaning with Texts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
~ Marianne
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Reading Program ◽  
Extensive Reading ◽  
Transactional Theory ◽  
Reading For Pleasure ◽  
Esl Learners

<p>This thesis reports on a year long case study conducted into the processes and products of English Second Language (ESL) learners reading fiction texts for pleasure in a high school extensive reading program. Although 'extensive reading' is usually associated with interactive language learning perspectives such as 'Second Language Acquisition' (for one view within this perspective see Krashen [1982]), a different theoretical perspective was applied in the present study. Louise Rosenblatt's transactional theory of reader response is used to analyse and discuss data made about teenagers reading for pleasure in an extensive reading program. At the heart of Rosenblatt's transactional theory is the assumption that every reading event is unique to the person, text and context of that reading experience. To understand what it means to make meaning with a text, each of those things must be considered. Thus in order to better understand ESL learners' processes and products of reading for pleasure, this thesis provides a fine grained, deep description of how one reader made meaning with texts. This description is contextualised and enriched through the inclusion of case study data from other ESL and native English speaker participants. By focusing on one reader, the complexity of the interrelationships of reader, text and context are amply demonstrated. This, it will be argued, provides a valuable lens through which teachers and researchers may view other readers, other texts and other contexts. Conclusions drawn from this study will claim that Rosenblatt's transactional theory not only readily facilitates language learning goals (for example, extensive use of the target language) but importantly provides another perspective, apart from the predominant interactive language learning perspectives, on what it might mean for readers to make meaning with texts read for pleasure. Understanding the processes and products of reading for pleasure from a transactional view has pedagogical import for the utilization of extensive reading programs, and perhaps most importantly, for the intellectual development of second language learners.</p>

Review of Child Second Language Acquisition (SLA): Examining Theories and Research

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 62-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhonda Oliver ◽  
Agurtzane Azkarai
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Older Learners ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Research With Children ◽  
Foreign Language Immersion ◽  
Instructional Settings

ABSTRACTWithin the field of second language acquisition (SLA), there has been much less research undertaken with children than with adults, yet the two cohorts are quite distinct in characteristics and in their learning processes. This article provides a review of child SLA research, particularly the research with a pedagogical focus. We describe a series of studies, including those informed by different theoretical perspectives (interactionist and sociocultural), in different instructional settings (i.e., second language, foreign language, immersion, and content and language integrated learning [CLIL] contexts) and using different research methodologies (longitudinal, case study, experimental, and naturalistic). We begin by highlighting the importance of age as a factor in SLA research, presenting studies that have focused on the differences existing between younger and older learners. We also consider interventions that can support language learning—including form-focused instruction and the use of tasks. We finish by presenting a proposed change in the way that research with children is conducted.

Language Ideology and Second Language Learning

2008 ◽  
Vol 155 ◽  
pp. 95-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa McGarry
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Ideology ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Explanatory Power

AbstractThe increasing recognition of the concept language ideology and the corresponding increasing use of the term have not yet been matched by applications in the field of second language acquisition. However, applications of the concept in analysis of actual classroom practices have shown it to have considerable explanatory power. Greater consideration of language ideology in SLA is necessary not only to achieve greater understanding of the role of ideology in various areas but also to show connections between these areas that may yield important generalizations and to impel the application of the concept in areas where it has been neglected by highlighting its uneven treatment.

Learning opportunities in peer-peer interaction: A case study of two L2 Mandarin Chinese learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-226
Author(s):  
Dan Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
French Immersion ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Instructed Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Negotiation For Meaning

AbstractThe roles of interaction have been studied for several decades. Recent studies have turned to investigate “the details of which components of interaction might be more or less effective in which contexts with which learners” (Loewen, Shawn & Masatoshi Sato. 2018. Interaction and instructed second language acquisition. Language Teaching 51(3). 285–329: 286). This case study, based on three unstructured interactions outside the classroom between two L2 Mandarin Chinese learners, investigates the learning opportunities these interactions brought about in terms of helping them to increase in control over forms that had already been encountered inside the classroom. Using the concept of the language-related episode (Swain, Merrill & Sharon Lapkin. 1998. Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion students working together. The Modern Language Journal 82(3). 320–337), this study sets focus on learning opportunities for lexis- and grammar-related items. It finds learning opportunities arise as the two peers negotiate for meaning motivated by the need to comprehend, strive to use the L2 to express/co-express themselves, and improve their form through the other’s feedback. In addition, lexis-related learning is found to be very positive in this study. The dictionary played an indispensable role in facilitating the learners when they encountered lexis-related issues. Further, it enabled the learners to learn new vocabulary when driven by communicative needs. In comparison, the grammar-related learning is found to be relatively complicated. And the fact the learners had nowhere to resort to concerning grammatical issues attributed to it. In terms of the different types of interactions, compared to learning through negotiation for meaning and feedback, output and co-construction/collaboration were found to be most productive in promoting the learning.

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