Chapter 12. Preservice instructors’ performance on a language learning task

2017 ◽  
pp. 282-302
Author(s):  
Charlene Polio ◽  
Susan M. Gass
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Task

scholarly journals The Role of a Domain-specific Language Mechanism in Learning Natural and Unnatural Stress

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela C. Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Domain Specific Language ◽  
Training Procedure ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Artificial Language Learning ◽  
French And English

AbstractIn an artificial language-learning task, two groups of English and French participants learned one of two language rules: 1) stress the first heavy (CVC) syllable, else the first syllable, or, 2) stress the first light (CV) syllable, else the first syllable. French and English participants were chosen to compare learning outcomes by speakers of different native stress systems, fixed and variable. Participants were trained on the target language by listening to a set of nonsense familiarization words exemplifying the stress rule. This was followed by a forced-choice task to choose the correct version of the words they had just learned. Following the training procedure, participants were tested on novel words with the same stress pattern to which they were familiarized. The result of the novel word testing was that the natural rule with stress on heavy syllables was learned significantly better than the unnatural, stress light syllables, rule. To account for the learnability of both the natural and the unnatural rules, I argue for the interaction of a general cognitive mechanism that facilitates learning in general and a domain-specific language mechanism that can access universal phonological principles to aid in learning a natural language rule.

Song and infant-directed speech facilitate word learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (7) ◽  
pp. 1036-1054
Author(s):  
Weiyi Ma ◽  
Anna Fiveash ◽  
Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis ◽  
Douglas Behrend ◽  
William Forde Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Relationship

Two separate lines of research have examined the influence of song and infant-directed speech (IDS—a speech register that includes some melodic features) on language learning, suggesting that the use of musical attributes in speech input can enhance language learning. However, the benefits of these two types of stimuli have never been directly compared. In this investigation, we compared the effects of song and IDS for immediate word learning and long-term memory of the learned words. This study examines whether the highly musical stimuli (i.e., song) would facilitate language learning more than the less musical stimuli (i.e., IDS). English-speaking adults were administered a word learning task, with Mandarin Chinese words presented in adult-directed speech (ADS), IDS, or song. Participants’ word learning performance was assessed immediately after the word learning task (immediate word learning) and then 1 day later (long-term memory). Results showed that both song and IDS facilitated immediate word learning and long-term memory of the words; however, this facilitative effect did not differ between IDS and song, suggesting that the relationship between the degree of musicality and language learning performance is not linear. In addition, song and IDS were found to facilitate the word association process (mapping a label to its referent) rather than the word recognition process. Finally, participants’ confidence in their answers might not differ among ADS, IDS, and sung words.

A prioriassessment of language learning tasks by practitioners

2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 504-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard J. Westhoff
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Learning Materials ◽  
Learning Tasks ◽  
Depth Analysis

Teachers' competence to estimate the effectiveness of learning materials is important and often neglected in programmes for teacher education. In this lecture I will try to explore the possibilities of designing scaffolding instruments fora prioriassessment of language learning tasks, based on insights from SLA and cognitive psychology, more specifically connectionist theory. I will subsequently outline the development and evaluation of a ‘yardstick’ to judge complex, integrated, life-like tasks, such as WebQuests. The possibilities will be explored of performing in-deptha prioritask analyses as a learning task for teachers in order to enhance their competence in making ‘educated guesses’ about task effectiveness. Finally, an experiment will be described to determine the reliability and validity of an instrument for in-depth analysis of language learning tasks based on the theoretical framework previously described.

Observations in the computer room: L2 output and learner behaviour

ReCALL ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 124-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTINE LEAHY
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Computer Assisted Language Learning ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Oral Interaction

This article draws on second language theory, particularly output theory as defined by Swain (1995), in order to conceptualise observations made in a computer-assisted language learning setting. It investigates second language output and learner behaviour within an electronic role-play setting, based on a subject-specific problem solving task and the Internet as source of primary information. Students were given a task which includes the collaborative development of a marketing strategy for a chosen product. Data collected consists of the following corpora: emails exchanged between groups, the recorded discussions between each group’s members while engaged in the problem solving activity, oral presentation of the groups’ results as well as the individually written summaries. One area of particular interest is the analysis of the oral L2 output while solving a computer-assisted language learning task. How can the oral interaction be characterised? What kind of conclusions regarding the use of CALL can be drawn from the comparison of the oral interaction and the written output? Another area of interest is the analysis of the written L2 output. Is there evidence of second language acquisition and/or acquisition of content? Can such a CALL setting promote second language acquisition (SLA) and/or acquisition of content? Finally, the study aims to identify whether student-initiated focus on language form can be found. The article answers the questions posed above. Furthermore, the results of this study show that a very high percentage of all communication took place in L2 and occurrences of acquisition of content and language can be demonstrated.

scholarly journals Pitch It Right: Using Prosodic Entrainment to Improve Robot-Assisted Foreign Language Learning in School-Aged Children

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Bo Molenaar ◽  
Breixo Soliño Fernández ◽  
Alessandra Polimeno ◽  
Emilia Barakova ◽  
Aoju Chen
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Robot Assisted ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
Nao Robot ◽  
Pitch Level ◽  
Promising Application

Robot-assisted language learning (RALL) is a promising application when employing social robots to help both children and adults acquire a language and is an increasingly widely studied area of child–robot interaction. By introducing prosodic entrainment, i.e., converging the robot’s pitch with that of the learner, the present study aimed to provide new insights into RALL as a facilitative method for interactive tutoring. It is hypothesized that pitch-level entrainment by a Nao robot during a word learning task in a foreign language will result in increased learning in school-aged children. The results indicate that entrainment has no significant effect on participants’ learning, contra the hypothesis. Research on the implementation of entrainment in the context of RALL is new. This study highlights constraints in currently available technologies for voice generation and methodological limitations that should be taken into account in future research.

scholarly journals Animacy Distinctions Arise from Iterated Learning

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 552-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virve-Anneli Vihman ◽  
Diane Nelson ◽  
Simon Kirby
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Entropy Measure ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Morphological Complexity ◽  
Artificial Language Learning ◽  
Noun Classes ◽  
The World ◽  
Iterated Learning ◽  
A Chain

Abstract Linguistic animacy reflects a particular construal of biological distinctions encountered in the world, passed through cultural and cognitive filters. This study explores the process by which our construal of animacy becomes encoded in the grammars of human languages. We ran an iterated learning experiment investigating the effect of animacy on language transmission. Participants engaged in a simple artificial language learning task in which they were asked to learn which affix was assigned to each noun in the language. Though initially random, the language each participant produced at test became the language that the subsequent participant in a chain was trained on. Results of the experiment were analysed in terms of learnability, measured through the accuracy of responses, and structure, using an entropy measure. We found that the learnability of languages increased over generations, as expected, but entropy did not decrease. Languages did not become formally simpler over time. Instead, structure emerged through a reorganisation of noun classes around animacy-based categories. The use of semantic animacy distinctions allowed languages to retain morphological complexity while becoming more learnable. Our study shows that grammatical reflexes of animacy distinctions can arise out of learning alone, and that structuring grammar based on animacy can make languages more learnable.

Computational Modeling of Phonological Learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaja Jarosz
Keyword(s):  
Computational Modeling ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Phonological Structure ◽  
Phonological Learning ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Phonological Knowledge ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Language Data ◽  
Recent Developments

Recent advances in computational modeling have led to significant discoveries about the representation and acquisition of phonological knowledge and the limits on language learning and variation. These discoveries are the result of applying computational learning models to increasingly rich and complex natural language data while making increasingly realistic assumptions about the learning task. This article reviews the recent developments in computational modeling that have made connections between fully explicit theories of learning, naturally occurring corpus data, and the richness of psycholinguistic and typological data possible. These advances fall into two broad research areas: ( a) the development of models capable of learning the quantitative, noisy, and inconsistent patterns that are characteristic of naturalistic data and ( b) the development of models with the capacity to learn hidden phonological structure from unlabeled data. After reviewing these advances, the article summarizes some of the most significant consequent discoveries.

Private speech: evidence for second language learning strategies during the ‘silent’ period

1988 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 567-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muriel Saville-Troike
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Learning Style ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Silent Period ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Private Speech ◽  
Social Orientation ◽  
Second Language Development

ABSTRACTThis study focuses on children who go through a ‘silent’ period early in the course of second language development, during which they largely cease verbal communication with speakers of the second language (English). Video recordings with radio microphones under natural conditions revealed that most of these children engaged in extensive private speech, which they were found to use for a variety of intrapersonal learning strategies, including (1) repetition of others' utterances, (2) recall and practice, (3) creation of new linguistic forms, (4) paradigmatic substitution and syntagmatic expansion, and (5) rehearsal for overt social performance. Quantity and quality of private speech was related not only to the children's level of cognitive development and the difficulty of the learning task (confirming previous research), but also to the children's social orientation and learning style, and to the domain of knowledge (language) that was being acquired.

Language Distance and the Magnitude of the Language Learning Task

1979 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Corder
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Personal History ◽  
Second Languages ◽  
History Of

A learner brings to the classroom many characteristics which are relevant to predictions about his career as a language learner. These characteristics are the product of his membership of a community; he shares its language and its attitudes to, beliefs about, motivations for and traditions in, language learning in general, and in the learning of specific second languages. And he possesses particular features of personality as formed by his personal history of maturation and experience. I am concerned in this paper with the role of only two of these characteristics, both related to the community he belongs to: the nature of his mother tongue and any other languages known to him, and the beliefs current in his community, which he presumably shares, as to the nature, extent and probable success in the learning task which lies ahead of him.

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