The role of discursive features in SLA modeling and grammatical frequency – a response to Cheng, Lu and Giannakouros

2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOSEPH COLLENTINE
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
General Terms ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
L2 Development ◽  
Different Levels

Initial studies on the acquisition of two Spanish copulas, ser and estar, emerged from a research agenda exploring whether second language (L2) development was driven by universal mechanisms manifested in stages rather than an accumulation of entities (Rutherford, 1987). Concerning the Spanish copulas, the stages of acquisition through which Spanish L2 learners pass seem – with a few exceptions – to be largely uniform (e.g. estar + locative, ser/estar + adjective; VanPatten, 1987; Ryan & Lafford, 1992; Geeslin, 2000). Cheng, Lu and Giannakouros provide one of the first studies which partially test the assumption of universality, examining Mandarin Chinese speakers' copula behaviors over different levels of development. The work of Geeslin as well as Cheng, Lu and Giannakouros is valuable not so much because it provides insights into copula development but rather because this work is building a model for predicting the interaction in general terms between aspectual, semantic, and pragmatic factors and the acquisition of both grammatical and lexical L2 phenomena.

Awareness, different learning conditions, and second language development

2004 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELENA M. ROSA ◽  
RONALD P. LEOW
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Differential Impact ◽  
Second Language Development ◽  
Learning Conditions ◽  
L2 Development ◽  
On Line ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Problem Solving Task

This study investigated the role of awareness in different learning conditions in relation to second language (L2) development. Adult learners of Spanish were exposed to past conditional sentences in one of five versions of a computerized problem-solving task that vary in their degree of explicitness. By employing both on-line and off-line data elicitation procedures, two main issues were addressed: whether exposure to L2 input under different conditions had a differential impact on learners' awareness and whether different levels of awareness influenced learners' ability to recognize and produce new exemplars of the target structure immediately after exposure to the input and over time. Results indicated that higher levels of awareness were not only associated with more explicit conditions but were also substantially more effective than lower levels.

scholarly journals Subjacency Violations in Second Language Acquisition: Some Evidence from Chinese Mandarin Speakers of L2 English

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Xia Dai
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Follow Up Study ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Mandarin Speakers

The literature review shows that many previous studies have used Subjacency to test the availability of UniversalGrammar (UG) in second language acquisition. Schachter (1989) claimed that L2 learners do not have access to UGprinciples, while Hawkins and Chan (1997) suggested that L2 learners had partial availability of UG, for they foundthere was a strong difference between the elementary L2 learners and the advanced L2 learners in judging theungrammaticality of Subjacency violations; that is, the elementary L2 learners owned the highest accuracy. Underthe hypothesis of partially availability of UG in second language acquisition, L2 learners are only able to acquire theproperties instantiated in their L1s. Although they may accept violations of universal constraints, it is only at facevalue; rather the L2 learners develop different syntactic representations from the native speakers. This study has beenundertaken as a follow-up study of Hawkins and Chan (1997), and tested on L1 Mandarin speakers of L2 English injudging the grammaticality of their Subjacency violations. The results of the Grammaticality Judgement Test showthat the accuracy of Chinese speakers in judgement increased with English proficiency and that they rejectedresumptives inside islands as a repair. Contrary to the previous findings, this study provides evidence that UG isavailable in adult second language acquisition.

scholarly journals Research on the Role of Situational Teaching in Second Language Teaching

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Lijuan Gao
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Second Language Teaching ◽  
The Times ◽  
Different Levels

<p>With the development of society and the progress of the times, it is very important for people to master a second language. Nowadays, the development of our country is becoming more and more international. Under such an environment, the application of second language is becoming more and more popular. At present, various colleges and universities have listed second language as a compulsory course, mainly to attract students' attention. In the process of second language teaching, in order to effectively enhance students' language skills and promote the teaching results of second language, the author believes that language teaching and situational teaching should be fully combined to effectively enhance students' second language ability. On this basis, the application of situational teaching method in second language teaching is discussed and analyzed in details from different levels.</p>

The role of pragmatics in reflexive interpretation by Turkish learners of English

2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 325-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahide Demirci
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Binding Domain ◽  
Parameter Setting ◽  
Pragmatic Theory ◽  
Pragmatic Information ◽  
The World ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Non Local

This study investigates the effects of pragmatic principles on the acquisition of the binding of English reflexives by adult Turkish second language (L2) learners. The study compares pragmatically biased and pragmatically neutral sentences to determine whether pragmatic bias towards a non-local antecedent overrides the parameter setting of English and causes learners to choose as possible antecedents NPs outside the binding domain. Both group and individual results indicate that pragmatically biased sentences compel the subjects to consider pragmatic information to the extent that it can affect their choice of local antecedent. Acquisition theories should account for the role that pragmatic information might play in the assignment of possible antecedents for reflexives.This study incorporates Huang's (1994) ‘pragmatic theory of anaphora’ in which the interpretation of a reflexive is subject to the I-principle, a pragmatic strategy which finds an antecedent for the reflexive that gives the most informative, stereotypical interpretation in keeping with our knowledge about the world.

English Nasalance Values of Chinese Learners of English

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yilan Liu ◽  
Sue Ann S. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Language Production ◽  
First Language ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Chinese Learners Of English

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Although a number of studies have been conducted to investigate nasalance scores of speakers of different languages, little research has examined the nasalance characteristics of second language learners. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> The goal of the current study was to examine whether English nasalance values of Mandarin Chinese speakers are similar to those of native English speakers, examining the potential effect of the first language on the nasalance scores of the second language production. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Thirty-two adults (16 Mandarin Chinese speakers and 16 native English speakers) with a normal velopharyngeal anatomy participated. Nasalance scores of various speech stimuli were obtained using a nasometer and compared between the 2 groups. <b><i>Results and Conclusions:</i></b> Chinese learners of English produced higher nasalance scores than native English speakers on prolonged vowel /i/ and /a/, the syllable “nin,” and non-nasal sentences and passages. The first language effect on nasalance of the second language found in the current study suggests the importance of linguistic consideration in the clinical evaluation of resonance.

Second language acquisition of English questions: An elicited production study

2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 1055-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
LUCIA POZZAN ◽  
ERIN QUIRK
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Target Language ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
L2 Production ◽  
Embedded Clause ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
L1 Acquisition

ABSTRACTThe present study investigates the role of the syntactic properties of the first and the target language on second language (L2) learners’ production of English main and embedded clause questions. The role of the first language (L1) was investigated by comparing the production of L2 learners whose L1s (Chinese and Spanish) differ from English and each other in terms of word order in main and embedded clause questions. The role of the target language was investigated by comparing L2 learners’ production of yes/no and adjunct and argument wh-questions. The results indicate that the L1 is not a predictor of L2 learners’ production patterns for either main or embedded clause questions. The linguistic properties of the target language, on the contrary, predict learners’ accuracy and inversion profiles. In line with data from the English L1 acquisition literature, L2 learners produced higher inversion rates in main clause yes/no than in wh-questions, and particularly low inversion rates with why-questions. In line with data from nonstandard varieties of English and preliminary evidence from L1 acquisition, L2 learners produced higher nonstandard inversion rates in embedded clause wh-questions than in yes/no questions. Taken together, these results highlight that L2 production is affected and constrained by the same factors at play in L1 acquisition and dialectal variation.

Risk perception and personal responsibility during COVID-19: An experimental study of the role of imperative vs reasoning-based communication for self-isolation attitudes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Thomas van Baal ◽  
Jakob Hohwy
Keyword(s):  
Personal Responsibility ◽  
Minimal Risk ◽  
Individual Decision ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Government Communication ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
General Terms ◽  
People’S Attitudes ◽  
Different Levels

Individual decision-making about social distancing, self-quarantine and self-isolation is crucial in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. In the rapidly evolving pandemic, little is known about how different government communication strategies may systematically affect people’s attitudes to staying home or going out, nor the extent to which people perceive and process the risk of different scenarios. In this study, we report results from a sample of 581 participants (residing in the United Kingdom), and we examine the degree to which participants’ attitudes regarding the permissibility of leaving one’s home are (1) sensitive to different levels of risk of viral transmission in specific scenarios, (2) sensitive to communication framings that are either imperative or that invite reasoning about scenarios, or (3) creating “loopholes” for themselves when scenarios are framed with reference to the participants themselves rather than in general terms. We find that participants’ attitudes to social distancing are sensitive to the level of risk of transmission, and that when scenarios are framed in imperative terms, rather than when their reasoning is encouraged, participants have more impermissive attitudes to going out in Minimal Risk scenarios, with a trend of decreased permissiveness more generally; for self-loopholes, more research is needed to determine if participants make exceptions for themselves. Thus, subject to the limitations of this study, during phases where it is important to promote self-isolation for all scenarios, including those perceived to be low risk, imperative communication may be best.

Second Language Reading in Hypertext Environments

2011 ◽  
pp. 48-63
Author(s):  
Robert Ariew ◽  
Gulcan Erçetin ◽  
Susan Cooledge
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Second Language Reading ◽  
Learning Theories ◽  
L2 Reading ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
L2 Learners

This chapter introduces second language reading in hypertext/hypermedia environments. It discusses the development of a template to annotate reading texts with multiple types of media such as text, sound, graphics, and video so as to aid reading comprehension for L2 readers. The chapter also reports on a series of studies conducted using the template in a variety of L2 learning environments in order to explore L2 learners’ reading behavior and the effects of multimedia annotations on L2 reading and vocabulary learning. The chapter synthesizes the results according to multimedia learning theories and discusses the role of proficiency level and prior knowledge in relation to L2 learners’ reading comprehension in hypertext environments.

Acoustic Sources of Accent in Second Language Japanese Speech

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaori Idemaru ◽  
Peipei Wei ◽  
Lucy Gubbins
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
First Language ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Prosodic Features ◽  
Acoustic Measurements ◽  
Acoustic Characteristics ◽  
Chinese Speakers

This study reports an exploratory analysis of the acoustic characteristics of second language (L2) speech which give rise to the perception of a foreign accent. Japanese speech samples were collected from American English and Mandarin Chinese speakers ( n = 16 in each group) studying Japanese. The L2 participants and native speakers ( n = 10) provided speech samples modeling after six short sentences. Segmental (vowels and stops) and prosodic features (rhythm, tone, and fluency) were examined. Native Japanese listeners ( n = 10) rated the samples with regard to degrees of foreign accent. The analyses predicting accent ratings based on the acoustic measurements indicated that one of the prosodic features in particular, tone (defined as high and low patterns of pitch accent and intonation in this study), plays an important role in robustly predicting accent rating in L2 Japanese across the two first language (L1) backgrounds. These results were consistent with the prediction based on phonological and phonetic comparisons between Japanese and English, as well as Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. The results also revealed L1-specific predictors of perceived accent in Japanese. The findings of this study contribute to the growing literature that examines sources of perceived foreign accent.

THE DATIVE ALTERNATION IN GERMAN-ENGLISH INTERLANGUAGE

2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 485-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Jäschke ◽  
Ingo Plag
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Probabilistic Constraints ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Dative Alternation ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
L1 English

This study investigates the role of probabilistic grammatical constraints on the dative alternation in English as a second language (ESL). It presents the results of an experiment in which the different factors that are influential in first language (L1) English are tested with advanced learners of English whose L1 is German. Second language (L2) learners are influenced by the same determinants as L1 speakers but to a lesser degree. Together with the results of previous studies, the present results suggest that, initially, the learners do not make use of probabilistic constraints in spite of the constraints being influential in the L1 and only gradually acquire a sensitivity toward the constraints that govern the choice between the two dative constructions.

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