scholarly journals THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF IMPLICIT-STATISTICAL LEARNING APTITUDE TO IMPLICIT SECOND-LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE

Author(s):  
Aline Godfroid ◽  
Kathy MinHye Kim

Abstract This study addresses the role of domain-general mechanisms in second-language learning and knowledge using an individual differences approach. We examine the predictive validity of implicit-statistical learning aptitude for implicit second-language knowledge. Participants (n = 131) completed a battery of four aptitude measures and nine grammar tests. Structural equation modeling revealed that only the alternating serial reaction time task (a measure of implicit-statistical learning aptitude) significantly predicted learners’ performance on timed, accuracy-based language tests, but not their performance on reaction-time measures. These results inform ongoing debates about the nature of implicit knowledge in SLA: they lend support to the validity of timed, accuracy-based language tests as measures of implicit knowledge. Auditory and visual statistical learning were correlated with medium strength, while the remaining implicit-statistical learning aptitude measures were not correlated, highlighting the multicomponential nature of implicit-statistical learning aptitude and the corresponding need for a multitest approach to assess its different facets.

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Leander Hughes ◽  
Stacey Vye ◽  
Debjani Ray

This study replicates research by Taguchi, Magid, and Papi (2009) regarding the L2 motivational self system, a framework for understanding second language learning motivation in terms of how learners view themselves as users of the second language (Dörnyei, 2005). The study was of 922 students at a national university in Japan who completed a questionnaire measuring 10 different L2 motivational and attitudinal factors. Correlation analyses and structural equation modeling (SEM) of the data supported the validity of the L2 motivational self system as a culture-independent explanation of the factors comprising L2 motivation. The differences that emerged in the strengths of relationships between factors for our sample compared to the Japanese sample in Taguchi et al. are postulated to be mainly due to differences between the two samples in their socioeconomic background and educational context. 本研究は、L2動機づけ自己システムに関する研究であるTaguchi, Magid, and Papi(2009)を追試したものである。L2動機づけ自己システムとは、第二言語学習における動機づけを、学習者が自分を第二言語使用者としてどのように見ているかという観点で理解するための枠組みである(Dörnyei, 2005)。本研究には日本の国立大学生922名が参加した。彼らはL2の動機づけ及び態度に関わる10個の異なる要因を測定するアンケートに回答した。相関分析と構造方程モデリング(SEM)を行った結果、L2動機づけの要因が文化的要因と独立したものであるとするL2動機づけ自己システムの妥当性が支持された。本研究とTaguchiらの研究で要因間の関係の強さに違いが生じたのは、主に社会経済的環境及び教育環境の違いが原因だと思われる。


2020 ◽  
pp. 136216882095840
Author(s):  
Altay Eren ◽  
Anıl Rakıcıoğlu-Söylemez

This study aimed to examine the relationships between English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ language mindsets (i.e. entity and incremental beliefs about general language intelligence, second language aptitude, and age sensitivity in language learning) and graded performance by considering the mediating roles of their perceived instrumentality as well as four aspects of engagement (i.e. agentic engagement, behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, and cognitive engagement) within English classes. A total of 526 EFL students voluntarily participated in the present study. A latent factor correlation analysis, a series of multiple regression analyses, and a structural equation modeling analysis were conducted to analyse the data. The results showed that EFL students’ language mindsets, four aspects of engagement, perceived instrumentality, and graded performance were significantly and selectively related to each other. The results also demonstrated that the relationship between incremental beliefs about second language aptitude and graded performance was fully mediated by perceived instrumentality, that the relationship between incremental beliefs about general language intelligence and graded performance was fully mediated by agentic engagement, and that the relationship between perceived instrumentality and graded performance was partially mediated by agentic engagement. Theoretical and practical implications for EFL learning, teaching, and educational policymaking processes are also discussed in the study.


Author(s):  
Mechael Ibrahim

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of attitudes and emotions on the desire to use Arabic in communication in a second language learning context, in this case learners of Arabic as a second language at the Malaysian University of Islamic Sciences. A number of 225 students from the Islamic Science University of Malaysiavoluntarily participated in the study. The students represented four faculties of the University. A model of "willingness" to communicate in the second language was tested using Structural Equation Modeling and was found to accurately fit the data. The study found that language competence was antecedent of language communication confidence, while language confidence significantly and statistically correlated with willingness to communicate and consequently with language proficiency. The study also showed that male learners are more liable to language anxiety which was found to be negatively correlated with language competence and consequently lack of ability to use the target language. The study recommends that teachers provide learners of Arabic as a second language with greater opportunities to use the language inside and outside the classroom and to make their teaching more task-orientedinstead of lecture-oriented. 


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Lin ◽  
Wai-Ip Lam ◽  
Shek Kam Tse

Motivational strategies have been recognized as a crucial but insufficiently explored component in second language (L2) learning. This study intends to explore the relationships between motivational strategies, language learning strategies, and literal and inferential comprehension in L2 Chinese reading. Data were collected from 547 international students of universities in mainland China through a strategy use questionnaire and a Chinese reading test. The analysis of the structural equation model indicated that motivational strategies indirectly affected literal comprehension through the mediation of learning strategies. Moreover, motivational strategies were found to directly affect inferential comprehension. The results emphasize the need for a more sophisticated analysis of the motivational strategies and language learning strategies in L2 Chinese reading.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8571
Author(s):  
Siti Fatimah Abd Rahman ◽  
Melor Md Yunus ◽  
Harwati Hashim

Flipped learning empowers learners to take an engaging role in learning while educators assist the learning process. The employment of flipped learning has been confirmed to enhance the teaching and learning of English as a second language in previous studies. This study aimed to explore the application of the unified theory of technology acceptance and use of technology towards ESL lecturers’ intention to use flipped learning. This study used a quantitative research framework where a set of online questionnaires was used in collecting the data. A total of 206 English as a second language lecturers from four different universities participated in this study. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The result of this study indicates that only social influence is significant in predicting English as a second language lecturers’ intention to use the flipped learning approach. Furthermore, this study enriches the literature on 21st century education and the integration of technology in teaching and learning. In addition, this study could help educators and stakeholders in adapting or enhancing the flipped learning approach by distinguishing the distinct predictors of technology acceptance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Kyung Kim ◽  
Tae-Il Pae

The purposes of the present study are two-fold: (1) To examine whether social psychological variables, such as attitude and subjective norm, can predict South Korean English as a foreign language high school students’ intention to learn English, and (2) to identify the best social psychological model for sustainable second language learning in the context of South Korean English as a foreign language (EFL) learning. A total of 614 South Korean high school learners of English participated in the present study. Data collected from a survey questionnaire were analyzed using a structural equation modeling procedure. Results of the present study indicate that South Korean high school students’ attitudes toward learning English and subjective norms made a significant and independent contribution to the variance in their intention to study English. Among the three competing social psychological models examined in the current study, the theory of Planned Behavior and an expanded model of Gardner’s Socio-educational Model proved to be the most effective in terms of the strength of path coefficients and explanatory power. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are provided.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asieh Amini ◽  
Hiwa Weisi

PurposeGiven the significance of willingness to communicate and its integral role in the field of foreign/second language acquisition (F/SLA), this quantitative study intends to examine the relationship between sensory emotioncy types and teacher immediacy with second language learners' willingness to communicate (WTC).Design/methodology/approachA total number of 280 students majoring in teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), and English Language and Literature completed three scales of Sensory Emotioncy Type (SET), Willingness to Communicate and Teacher Immediacy (TI). For data analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient, multiple regression analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were employed.FindingsThe results of SEM showed that learners' WTC was significantly predicted by emotioncy and teacher immediacy. Further, reports from correlational and regression analyses revealed a significantly positive correlation, first, between teacher immediacy and learners' WTC, secondly, between emotioncy and learners' WTC.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation of this study was that the participants were selected from one context with relatively a small sample which might restrict the generalization. Nonetheless, the present study findings might extend ancillary horizons and provided worthwhile insights into the perception of teacher immediacy and emotioncy on students' willingness to communicate.Practical implicationsThe significance of the current study lies in its theoretical contribution to the notion of WTC and its pedagogical implications and suggestions to the benefits of rejuvenating second language teaching and learning. Findings of this study help pre-service and in-service teachers in providing them more robust picture of learners' individual differences; and hence exert the most appropriate tasks which learners have the most degree of familiarity and better to say, emotioncy.Originality/valueIn the current study notable results were obtained which would be efficacious to the present literature on the EFL teacher immediacy, emotioncy and willingness to communicate. First and foremost, the findings added to a growing body of literature on emotioncy as a relatively novel concept in academic settings and teacher immediacy , and willingness to communicate which have gained scant attention in the field.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Madan ◽  
Anthony Singhal

Learning to play a musical instrument involves mapping visual + auditory cues to motor movements and anticipating transitions. Inspired by the serial reaction time task and artificial grammar learning, we investigated explicit and implicit knowledge of statistical learning in a sensorimotor task. Using a between-subjects design with four groups, one group of participants were provided with visual cues and followed along by tapping the corresponding fingertip to their thumb, while using a computer glove. Another group additionally received accompanying auditory tones; the final two groups received sensory (visual or visual + auditory) cues but did not provide a motor response—all together following a 2 × 2 design. Implicit knowledge was measured by response time, whereas explicit knowledge was assessed using probe tests. Findings indicate that explicit knowledge was best with only the single modality, but implicit knowledge was best when all three modalities were involved.


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