STUDY QUALITY IN SLA

2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 655-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Plonsky
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Experimental Designs ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Study Quality ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Lack Of Control

This study assesses research and reporting practices in quantitative second language (L2) research. A sample of 606 primary studies, published from 1990 to 2010 inLanguage LearningandStudies in Second Language Acquisition, was collected and coded for designs, statistical analyses, reporting practices, and outcomes (i.e., effect sizes). The results point to several systematic strengths as well as many flaws, such as a lack of control in experimental designs, incomplete and inconsistent reporting practices, and low statistical power. I discuss these trends, strengths, and weaknesses in comparison with methodological reviews of L2 research (e.g., Plonsky & Gass, 2011) as well as reviews from other fields (e.g., education, Skidmore & Thompson, 2010). On the basis of the findings, I also make a number of suggestions for methodological reforms in applied linguistics.

Symposium – Perspectives on Motivation for Second Language Learning on the 50th Anniversary of Gardner & Lambert (1959)

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter MacIntyre
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
50Th Anniversary ◽  
Seminal Paper ◽  
Canadian Association

Held at the Association canadienne de linguistique appliquée/Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics Conference, Ottawa, Canada; 28 May 2009.With the 50th anniversary of Robert C. Gardner and Wallace Lambert's seminal paper ‘Motivational variables in second language acquisition’ (Gardner & Lambert 1959), we paused to reflect on the contributions the work has inspired and the state of the art in the study of motivation research.

scholarly journals Applied linguistics

2004 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 208-210
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Relevance Theory ◽  
University Teaching ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Language Research

04–413 Biber, Douglas and Cortes, Viviana (Northern Arizona U., USA). If you look at…: lexical bundles in university teaching and textbooks. Applied Linguistics (Oxford, UK), 25, 3 (2004), 371–405.04–414 Davies, C. E. (U. of Alabama, USA), Developing awareness of crosscultural pragmatics: The case of American/German sociable interactionMultilingua (Berlin, Germany), 23, 3 (2004), 207–231.04–415 Kaufman, Dorit.Constructivist issues in language learning and teaching. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (Cambridge, UK), 24 (2004), 303–319.04–416 Kern, Richard, Ware, Paige and Warschauer, Mark. Crossing frontiers: new directions in online pedagogy and research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (Cambridge, UK), 24 (2004), 243–260.04–417 Liszka, S. A. (U. of London, UK; Email: [email protected]). Exploring the effects of first language influence on second language pragmatic processes from a syntactic deficit perspective. Second Language Research (London,UK), 20, 3 (2004), 212–231.04–418 McArthur, T. Is it world or international or globalEnglish, and does it matter?English Today (Cambridge, UK), 20, 3 (2004), 3–15.04–419 Ying, H. G. (U. of Colorado at Denver, USA; Email: [email protected]). Relevance mapping: a study of second language learners' processing of syntactically ambiguous sentences in English. Second Language Research (London,UK), 20, 3 (2004), 232–255.04–420 Zegarac, V. (U. of Luton, UK; Email: [email protected]). Relevance Theory andthein second language acquisition. Second Language Research (London, UK), 20, 3 (2004), 193–211.

scholarly journals DOES FORM-FOCUSED INSTRUCTION AFFECT L2 LEARNERS PERFORMANCE? FOCUS ON GRAMMATICALLY JUDGMENTS

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 57-100
Author(s):  
Hosni El-dali
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Focus On Form ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Learner Language ◽  
Insight Into

It is one of the goals of research in applied linguistics to gain insight into the process and mechanisms of second language acquisition.  The cornerstone and the single most fundamental change in perspective on the nature of language and language learning is, perhaps, the focus on learners as active creators in their learning process, not as passive recipients.  The present study has two goals.  First, it aims at investigating advanced students’ metalinguistic ability in solving multidimensional grammatical problems.  Second, it is, also, an attempt to highlight the role of focus on form instructions in shaping L2 learners’ performance. The subjects of the present study were forty Egyptian students who were in their fourth year of academic study in the Department of English and Literature, Faculty of Arts, Menufia University, Egypt.  The instrument of this study consisted of (1) pre-test; (2) post-test; and (3) individual interviews.  Two tasks were used: (1) “Sentence Completion” task, and (2) “Error Recognition and Correction” task.  In the first task, a list of 15 incomplete sentences was given to the subjects who were asked to choose the word or phrase to complete the sentence.  The focus, in this task, was on the meaning of the sentence rather than the form, although accurate understanding of the formal properties of language is a must.  In the second task, students were asked to detect the word or phrase that must be changed in order for the sentence to be correct.  A list of 25 sentences was given to the subjects who worked on this task twice.  In the pre-test, no word or phrase was underlined; it is an example of the unfocused correction type.  In the post-test, the same sentences were given to the subjects, with four words underlined, and marked (A), (B), (C) and (D).  It is an example of the focused correction type. Finally, students were interviewed to explain and comment on their performance in the previous tasks.  The data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Results were obtained and conclusions were made.It is one of the goals of research in applied linguistics to gain insight into the process and mechanisms of second language acquisition.  A correct understanding of these processes and mechanisms is a prerequisite for an adequate didactic approach.  Relatedly, Morley (1987) points out that during the last twenty years ideas about language learning and language teaching have been changing in some very fundamental ways.  Significant developments in perspectives on the nature of second language learning processes have had a marked effect on language pedagogyThe cornerstone and the single most fundamental change in perspectives on the nature of language and language learning in recent years is, perhaps, the focus on learners as active creators in their learning process, not as passive recipients.  Accordingly, the focus of second language study has shifted from a prominence of contrastive analysis in the 1940s and 1950s and error analysis in the 60s and 70s to interlanguage analysis in the 70s and 80s.  Interlanguage analysis is marked today by “a variety of investigations looking at diverse aspects of learner language” (Morley, 1987: 16).  In this connection, Gass (1983: 273) points out that “it is widely accepted that the language of second language learners, what Selinker (1972 has called ‘interlanguage’ or what (Gass, 1983) has called ‘Learner-language’ is a system in its own right.”  To understand such a system, we should focus on discovering how second language (L2) learners evaluate and correct their own or other people’s utterances, an issue that will be explored in the present study.  In other words, the major point of interest here is L2 learners’ linguistic intuitions and the role of focus on form instruction in making grammaticality judgments.

scholarly journals What's in a name? The quest for new metaphors for second language acquisition

2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-162
Author(s):  
Vera Lucia Menezes Oliveira e Paiva
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Complex Phenomenon ◽  
Cognitive Studies ◽  
Metaphor And Metonymy

The present article focuses on a series of metaphors found in texts on language and language learning, and discusses the criticisms of the acquisition metaphor and the addition of participation as a new concept to represent language learning. The main theoretical proposals for second language acquisition (SLA) have been selected in order to verify which theories use acquisition and which use participation. While scrutinizing those texts, I found that other metaphors have also been proposed; however, acquisition and participation are still the most prevalent. Participation has been used as a metaphor since Sfard (1998) and has been well accepted in Applied Linguistics. Therefore, I present the cognitive view of metaphor and metonymy and demonstrate that, according to the cognitive studies on metaphor, participation cannot be seen as a metaphor, but rather as a metonym. To prove this, I use the metonymic model proposed by Lakoff (1990) as support. I conclude, agreeing with Ortega (2009) that a metaphorical polyphony can help us understand the complex phenomenon of language and language learning. Nevertheless, metonyms must not be disregarded.

scholarly journals Hypothesis of Interaction: Reflections on its Theoretical and Practical Contributions for Second Language Acquisition (SLA)

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed A. Al Khateeb
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Interaction Hypothesis

<p><em>This article is about one of the most influential hypothesis in the fields of applied linguistics and language learning. It is based on the work of a number of scholars who contributed to the understanding of this hypothesis such as Steve Krashen, Mike Long, Teresa Pica and Merrill Swain. It starts with a brief introduction about the significance of interaction hypothesis generally in language learning in general and its central role in second language acquisition (SLA). The next section reviews some of the fundamental works and studies that have investigated the theoretical and practical understanding of this phenomenon and its relationship to learners’ achievement. It also highlights the contribution of interaction hypothesis to learning in two basic areas: noticing and feedback. There are explanatory examples presented in the following section in order to show how interactional modification techniques are used by learners. The last section presents some concluding thoughts pertaining to this topic with a focus on how it can be employed in language learning classrooms.</em></p>

scholarly journals From the editor

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Rahimi
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Second Language Teaching

 From the Editor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali RahimiMessage from EditorDear Readers,It is a great honor for us to publish August 2016 - Vol 6, No 3 of Global Journal of Foreign Language Teaching (GJFLT).Please follow the link below:http://www.gjflt.eu/Global Journal of Foreign Language Teaching welcomes original empirical investigations and comprehensive literature review articles focusing on foreign language teaching and topics related to linguistics. GJFLT is an international journal published quarterly and it is a platform for presenting and discussing the emerging developments in foreign language teaching in an international arena.The scope of the journal includes, but is not limited to the following major topics: Cultural studies, Curriculum Development and Syllabus Design, Discourse Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), General Linguistics, Globalization Studies and world English’s, Independent/Autonomous Learning, Information and Computer Technology in TEFL, Innovation in language, Teaching and learning, Intercultural Education, Language acquisition and learning, Language curriculum development, Language education, Language program evaluation, Language Testing and Assessment, Literacy and language learning, Literature, Mobile Language Learning, Pragmatics, Second Language, Second Language Acquisition, Second Language Acquisition Theory, Digital Literacy Skills, Second Language Learners, Second Language Learning, Second language Pedagogy, Second Language Proficiency, Second Language Speech, Second Language Teaching, Second Language Training, Second Language Tutor, Second language Vocabulary Learning, Teaching English as a Foreign/ Second Language, Teaching Language Skills, Translation Studies, Applied linguistics, Cognitive linguistics. Keyword and Full Video Captioning in Listening Comprehension, Infants’ Acquisition of Words Before Concepts, Pragmatics, Task Complexity , Language Use of Patients With Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease, Headings in Theses and Research Articles in Applied Linguistics, and Developing Intercultural Competence have been included in this issue. The topics of the next issue will be different. We are trying to serve you with our journal with a rich knowledge through which different kinds of topics will be discussed in 2017 issues.We present many thanks to all the contributors who helped us to publish this issue.Best regards,Associate Professor Dr. Ali Rahimi,Editor – in Chief, Bangkok University

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.

Acquiring variable commands at home and abroad: Examining optatives and imperatives in L1 and L2 Spanish

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-113
Author(s):  
Farrah Neumann ◽  
Matthew Kanwit
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Individual ◽  
At Home

AbstractSince many linguistic structures are variable (i. e. conveyed by multiple forms), building a second-language grammar critically involves developing sociolinguistic competence (Canale and Swain. 1980. Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics 1(1). 1–47), including knowledge of contexts in which to use one form over another (Bayley and Langman. 2004. Variation in the group and the individual: Evidence from second language acquisition. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 42(4). 303–318). Consequently, researchers interested in such competence have increasingly analyzed the study-abroad context to gauge learners’ ability to approximate local norms following a stay abroad, due to the quality and quantity of input to which learners may gain access (Lafford. 2006. The effects of study abroad vs. classroom contexts on Spanish SLA: Old assumptions, new insights and future research directions. In Carol Klee & Timothy Face (eds.), Selected proceedings of the 7th conference on the acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese as first and second languages, 1–25. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project). Nevertheless, the present study is the first to examine native or learner variation between imperative (e. g. ven ‘come’) and optative Spanish commands (e. g. que vengas ‘come’). We first performed a corpus analysis to determine the linguistic factors to manipulate in a contextualized task, which elicited commands from learners before and after four weeks abroad in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. Their overall rates of selection and predictive factors were compared to local native speakers (NSs) and a control group of at-home learners.Results revealed that the abroad learners more closely approached NS rates of selection following the stay abroad. Nonetheless, for both learner groups conditioning by independent variables only partially approximated the NS system, which was more complex than previously suggested.

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