The Development of Cognate Awareness in Child Second/Third Language Learners of French in French Immersion: The Effects of Orthographic Overlap and Cognate Status

Author(s):  
Kathleen Hipfner-Boucher ◽  
Adrian Pasquarella ◽  
Sonal Prasad ◽  
Xi Chen

Purpose Our 1-year longitudinal study tracked the development of cognate awareness among second (L2) and third language (L3) learners of French in French immersion in Grades 1 and 2 to explore the impact of orthographic overlap and cognate status (true vs. false) on children's ability to recognize cognate relationships. We also assessed the impact of French L2/L3 status on performance. Method We compared performance on three conditions (true cognates with same and similar spellings, false cognates with same spellings) within and across grades. We used a direct measure of cognate awareness that required children ( n = 81) to distinguish true from false cognates presented orally and in print. Results Overall, Grade 1 children failed to recognize cognate relationships between true cognates with similar spellings, but successfully recognized true cognates with same spellings. Performance on all conditions increased significantly between Grades 1 and 2. The greatest improvement was seen on true cognates with similar spellings. Performance on false cognates was inferior to performance on true cognates with same spellings in Grade 1, and inferior to performance on both same and similar spelled true cognates in Grade 2. No differences were found due to L2/L3 status. Conclusions Among sequential learners of L2/L3 French in the early stages of additional language learning, cognate awareness is impacted by the degree of orthographic overlap, as well as by cognate status. Children's ability to recognize cross-language orthographic and semantic relationships improves substantially across the early elementary grades. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.16821106

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Sana SAKALE

Instruction plays a major role in the development of speaking skills for second language learners. Different approaches and methods have emerged throughout the history of language learning/teaching based on the influence of different theories of language, psychology, and related domains such as psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, pragmatics and cultural studies. Two major trends in language teaching emerged under the influence of these mentioned language theories, namely, accuracy based versus fluency based approaches. This article gives a historical sketch up to these trends in an attempt to provide a historical background and to empirically bring evidence that wait time instruction and teaching experience can impact classroom feedback in Moroccan classes. Relevant questions related to the role of teachers’ experience in leading different types of feedback, the effect of the number of teaching years as well as the correlation between wait time instruction and the corresponding teaching experience are closely investigated. This article adheres to a mixed design or what has been identified in research methodology as ex-post facto (Cohen, Manion, Morrison, 2007). Therefore, it is both a qualitative and a descriptive one. For the type of instructions used, the results obtained show the insignificance of the impact of experience on this variable. On the other hand, results retained that wait- time instruction in comparison to other items recorded a higher significance of the impact of experience. Therefore, current article brings empirical evidence on how wait- time instruction plays a crucial role in spoken activity for second language learners.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Abdalla Elkheir Elgobshawi

The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of Idiomaticity on language learning and the extent to which it can be a language learning barrier. It contrasts the perspective of language teachers and the attitude of language learners regarding how idioms can influence language learning. The theoretical framework provides a description of the general properties of English idiomatic expressions and shows the relevance of idiomaticity to linguistic theory. The paper is based on an analytical analysis and follows a quantitative approach in which two questionnaires are used to collect the data. The two questionnaires are administered to two independent samples: 20 participants representing ELT teachers at the tertiary level and 80 subjects representing Saudi EFL college students. The data are then analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). The study reveals learners’ reasonable consensus on the issues assessed. They generally acknowledge the significance of idioms for language learning but with a general dissatisfaction with their status in learning and teaching contexts. Both teachers and learners view idioms as odd pieces of language that lack a uniform character and do not receive due attention in language syllabi and curricula. Teachers give different ratings on the pedagogical value of idioms, but they generally show low interest in teaching them.


Author(s):  
Shaoqun Wu ◽  
Ian H. Witten

We use digital library technology to help language learners express themselves by capitalizing on the human-generated text available on the Web. From a massive collection of n-grams and their occurrence frequencies we extract sequences that begin with the word “I”, sequences that begin a question, and sequences containing statistically significant collocations. These are preprocessed, filtered, and organized as a digital library collection using the Greenstone software. Users can search the collection to see how particular words are typically used and browse by syntactic class. The digital library is richly interconnected to other resources. It includes links to external vocabularies and thesauri so that users can retrieve words related to any term of interest, and links the collection to the web by locating sample sentences containing these patterns and presenting them to the user. We have conducted an evaluation of how useful the system is in helping students, and the impact it has on their writing. Finally, language activities generated from the digital library content have been designed to help learners master important emotion related vocabulary and expressions. We predict that the application of digital library technology to assist language students will revolutionize second language learning.


Author(s):  
Mohsen Shahrokhi ◽  
Mina Kamyabi

This study investigated the impact of Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) on phrasal verbs learning in EFL context. Participants were 40 intermediate Iranian English learners. They were randomly divided into experimental and control groups of 20 each. The instruction of the control group was limited to the class activities but the experimental group received the instruction through Short Messaging Service (SMS) on their smart cellphones and worked with a new phrasal verbs learning application by Cambridge University Press called Phrasal Verbs Machine (PVM). The analysis of the data revealed that MALL instruction was more effective than in class language learning instruction. Results of the study indicate that smart cellphones as a tool for language learning provide a platform for language learners to use the language actively.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2-2019) ◽  
pp. 157-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Nicole Giannikas

The present study concentrates on the development of interactive skills in the L2 and the pedagogical aspects of Young Language Learners’ (YLLs) through the use of story telling. Such an approach reveals the benefits of encouraging creativity in learning and, as a result, captures the dynamics of the classroom and the progress of the learner. The data derives from an Action Research study carried out as part of a longitudinal study in South Western Greece, where storytelling is a neglected language learning source. The research concentrates on YLLs of a Beginners level, aged 7-9 years old. The results show the advantageous use of Action Research as a tool of intervention to apply necessary change in language teaching contexts.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Schumacher

AbstractBy adopting “functional plurilingualism” – a recurring concept in its new curriculum, “Lehrplan 21” – Switzerland is pursuing new avenues in foreign language education. The term refers to a goal-oriented approach to foreign language learning and teaching in primary and secondary schools, and implies that barriers to communication can be overcome by exploiting the sum of the individual’s linguistic capacities. In future, language learners will be expected to build on the interrelatedness of languages instead of developing abilities in languages that they keep separate from one another. This view of foreign language education coincides with the recommendations of the Council of Europe’sHaving reached the highest level specified by the CEFR, some learners continue their studies, seeking to maintain or reinforce their competences or to address individual weaknesses. In this article, a group of C2+ learners of German as a foreign language reflect on their desire for linguistic perfection and the notion of “functional plurilingualism” against the background of their own biographies. These learners have a high awareness and knowledge of German (often their third language) and of the learning process, which allows them to make informative statements. The data was analysed qualitatively and subjective theories were reconstructed – an approach that took account both of the multiperspectivity of the topic and of the uniqueness of the individual cases.


2012 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 312-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Scrimgeour

While Chinese language learning in Australian schools is characterised by predominantly second language programs for learners who have had no prior exposure to the target language, there is increasing participation by Australian-born children who speak Putonghua (Mandarin) or another dialect at home. Curriculum and assessment frameworks and syllabuses at senior secondary level have responded to the diversity in learner background through the provision of separate curricula and assessment schemes for different learner groups based on country of birth, prior educational experience and languages used at home. However the impact of learner background on learning and achievement as learners progress through Chinese language programs both in primary and secondary school remains under-researched. In particular, evidence of how the performance of second language learners differs from that of learners who a) speak the language at home and b) may have substantial community schooling experience beyond the school classroom, or c) were born and initially educated in Chinese, is very limited. This paper reports on the results of the Student Achievement in Asian Languages Education (SAALE) Project (Scarino et al., 2011; Scarino, this issue and Elder, Kim & Knoch, this issue) with regard to student achievement in Chinese. It focuses on the writing performance of Year 10 learners of Chinese and considers specifically the impact of language background by comparing performances between Australian-born students who do and do not speak Chinese at home. Scores assigned to students’ writing gathered on common test procedures confirms the expectation that background language learners perform at significantly higher levels and suggests that the two groups also differ in the nature of that performance. The implications of this data for the teaching, learning and assessment of Chinese in schools, and for the appropriate provision of programs for these different groups of learners is discussed.


SAGE Open ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824401668417
Author(s):  
Meral Seker

The study investigated the impact of scenario-based instruction on language learners’ awareness and use of self-regulated language learning (SRL) strategies to provide an instructional design to successfully promote them. The scenario-based SRL strategy instruction design developed in the study was based on Oxford’s Strategic, Self-Regulation (S2R) Model. Following an experimental design, the data were gathered from foreign language learners ( N = 125) at a state university through three instruments: the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning, whole-class discussions, and semistructured interviews. Although the quantitative data from the inventory helped determine the level of reported strategy use by learners, the additional qualitative data were gathered to elicit learners’ reflections to determine SRL awareness during and following the training experience. Analyzing pre- and posttraining results from the control and the experimental groups indicated significant differences with an increased awareness and a higher reported use of strategies for the experimental group. The results are meant to help guide future directions in strategy instruction for foreign language learning.


2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Sampson

Dörnyei’s (2009) L2 Motivational Self System draws the notion of possible selves into understanding language learning motivation. Whilst one element of this system involves language learners’ perceptions of expectations from significant others, research has revealed inconsistent conclusions as to the role of these influences on motivation. Moreover, little research has uncovered a picture of the qualities of such absorbed expectations. This paper presents part of a qualitative study into the contextualized motivation of one class group of first-grade Japanese kosen students. Emergent from data collected over one year, the results reveal that these students held detailed, often conflicting perceptions of expectations absorbed from various sources in their social environment. The results suggest that further research is necessary to explore the development of such perceived expectations with students and to investigate the impact on motivation of conflicting detail in expectations. Dörnyei (2009)のL2 Motivational Self Systemは、第2言語学習者の動機を理解するためにpossible self概念を用いている。 第2言語学習者が感じる「他人の期待」が動機付けになるというのがこのシステムの一部だが、その動機への影響に関して今までの研究結果は一貫性に欠けている。その上、第2言語学習者が感じる「他人の期待」の質に関する研究も少ない。本論は、ある工業高等専門学校1年の学生の動機を質的に調べる研究の一部である。1年間に収集したデータの分析により、学生が社会環境の様々な情報源から得た、詳細だが時には矛盾する期待を感じていたという結果が導き出された。第2言語学習者への「他人から感じる期待」を考察し、矛盾する期待が動機へ及ぼす影響について、更なる研究が必要とされる。


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