Does it ‘feel’ non-native?

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myrte van Hilten ◽  
Sanne van Vuuren
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Efl Writing ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Communicative Effect

Abstract Previous studies on information-structural transfer in texts produced by Dutch advanced learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) have found that one of the defining features in learners’ writing is a marked use of initial adverbials. The present study investigates the effect of this hypothesized L1 interference on native speakers’ perceptions. In line with Rosén (2006), it was hypothesized that the frequency and contextual use of clause-initial place adverbials in L1 Dutch EFL writing would lead native speakers of English to judge texts to be less coherent, continuous, and native-like than texts written by native speakers. Our qualitative and quantitative empirical study demonstrates that native speakers are not necessarily aware of initial adverbials and are more concerned with other elements of the text that influence cohesion and flow. This new perspective on information-structural transfer forms a starting point for further research into the communicative effect of interlanguage features.1

The Recognition Of Words Spoken In Isolation In a Foreign Language

1991 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 144-160
Author(s):  
Miriam van Nus
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Perceptual Information ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Intermediate Learners ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

This article discusses some of the results of an experiment in which native speakers of English, Dutch advanced and intermediate learners of English listened to frequently occurring English words, which had been sliced into fragments of increasing duration. From the initial 100 ms. of a word onwards, each fragment contained the preceding fragment and an added 50 ms. of the word. The subjects were asked to write down the sounds they had heard and to identify the test words as soon as they had sufficient perceptual information about the words. Their responses show that the Dutch intermediate learners needed significantly more perceptual information before they were able to recognize a word than the advanced learners and the native speakers. This article discusses some of the results of an experiment in which native speakers of English, Dutch advanced and intermediate learners of English listened to frequently occurring English words, which had been sliced into fragments of increasing duration. From the initial 100 ms. of a word onwards, each fragment contained the preceding fragment and an added 50 ms. of the word. The subjects were asked to write down the sounds they had heard and to identify the test words as soon as they had sufficient perceptual information about the words. Their responses show that the Dutch intermediate learners needed significantly more perceptual information before they were able to recognize a word than the advanced learners and the native speakers.

scholarly journals INTERPRETING THE AT-ISSUE STATUS OF NON-RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE: A CASE OF SERBIAN EFL STUDENTS

2018 ◽  
pp. 065
Author(s):  
Ema Živković
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Test Items ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Discourse Relations ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Restrictive Relative Clauses ◽  
Theory Of Discourse

Linguistic utterances can convey content which represents the speaker’s main point and is considered to be at-issue, as well as secondary content which is interpreted as not-at-issue. A large number of diverse expressions which carry some kind of not-at-issue content have been identified. The present paper contributes to the ongoing investigation of one group of such expressions, non-restrictive relative clauses (NRRCs), in English as a foreign language. The starting point of the paper is an approach developed by Jasinskaja (2016), which accounts for at-issue status within the general theory of discourse interpretation. An important prediction that it makes is that final NRRCs connected with their main clauses via coordinating discourse relations should express more at-issue behavior than final NRRCs connected with their main clauses via subordinating discourse relations. Relying on this approach, the present paper aims to investigate the way Serbian EFL students interpret the at-issue status of NRRCs and to compare the results to the existing data in English (Živković 2016). The direct rejection test (Tonhauser 2012) was used to diagnose the at-issue status of the test items, which involved the manipulation of coordinating and subordinating discourse relations between main clauses and NRRCs. The overall results indicated that the percentage of rejections targeting coordinate NRRCs was significantly higher than the percentage of subordinate NRRC rejections. Comparing these results to the ones obtained in English showed that Serbian EFL students performed at the same level as native speakers of English when interpreting the at-issue status of English NRRCs.

scholarly journals English as a Lingua Franca Approach: Implications and Limitations in Saudi English as a Foreign Language Classrooms

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 96-104
Author(s):  
Samar Alharbi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
English As Foreign Language ◽  
The World ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Foreign Language Classrooms ◽  
Global Language

English language considers a global language spoken by a majority of people around the world. It is a language used mainly for communication, trades and study purposes. This widespread of English language being wildly spoken lead to different varieties of English as a lingua franca (ELF) means that non native speakers of English still be able to communicate with each other. Using ELF as a legitimate variety of English in language classrooms is questioned by some researchers. This paper will provide an overview of the concept of ELF. It will also present implications and limitations of using ELF in Saudi English as foreign language classrooms.

scholarly journals Teaching English in India —The Use of Technologically Enhanced Realia in the Classroom

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Priya K. Nair
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Job Market ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Listening And Speaking ◽  
Speaking Skills

In India acquisition of English language is imperative if one wants to sell oneself in the increasingly competitive job market. With a booming population the nation is filled with educated, technologically literate youth. English is not merely a foreign language in India. As India is separated by a plethora of languages knowledge of English is imperative. As the teachers in India are not native speakers of English the language they teach is not free from errors. The articulation is quite problematic as the mother tongue influence is quite pronounced. Technology helps to reduce these errors. Movies as a tool can enhance the listening and speaking skills of our students. It is quite boring to work with disembodied voices and the recorded conversations available in language labs do not sustain the learner’s interest. However learners are often forced to listen to recorded conversations of people they never see, the conversation is often stilted and contemporary idiom is hardly used. However, a completely new dimension to aural practice can be added in the classroom by using movies. <br /><p><strong> </strong></p>

L1 transfer, proficiency, and the recognition of L2 verb-noun collocations: A perspective from three languages

2019 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Senyung Lee
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
English Only ◽  
Mixed Effects Modeling ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract This study investigated the effect of first language (L1) transfer in the recognition of second language (L2) collocations and unacceptable word combinations across low-intermediate to advanced learners of English, and the relationship between proficiency and the recognition of L2 collocations. The study targeted learners from two different L1 backgrounds and native speakers of English in order to disentangle the effect of L1 transfer from the effect of intralingual factors. Four types of English verb-noun combinations were included: English-Korean-Mandarin, English-only, Korean-only, and Mandarin-only phrases. A phrase acceptability judgment task and a phrase recognition report were used. The performances of 92 participants were analyzed using mixed effects modeling. The results from both Korean and Mandarin groups revealed no L1 influence in the recognition of unacceptable L2 word combinations, even at low levels of proficiency. The results also showed that L2 proficiency predicts learners’ ability to rule out grammatical-but-unacceptable L2 word combinations, but not the ability to recognize L2 collocations

scholarly journals An Interlanguage Study of Request Perspective: Evidence from German, Greek, Polish and Russian Learners of English

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-209
Author(s):  
Eva Ogiermann ◽  
Spyridoula Bella
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Strong Preference ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Pragmatic Transfer ◽  
Language Groups

Abstract The present study examines request perspective, the least researched form of mitigation in requesting, while focusing on a type of request characterized by a strong preference for speaker perspective in English and for hearer perspective in most other languages researched to date. It examines requests produced by 900 speakers from nine different (inter)language groups: five groups of native speakers (English, German, Greek, Polish and Russian) and four groups of advanced learners of English as a foreign language (German, Greek, Polish and Russian L1s). While our learners used more conventionally indirect forms than did the native speakers of the respective L1s, showing awareness of this English pragmatic norm, they retained a preference for the hearer perspective. These results suggest reliance on pragmatic universals as an alternative explanation to pragmatic transfer, also illustrating the need to address less salient pragmatic features in English language teaching.

Native Speakers Pronunciation of Foreign Names

Babel ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-259
Author(s):  
Judith Rosenhouse
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Field Study ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
Wide Spread ◽  
Personal Names ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Phonetic Features ◽  
Language Environment

Due to various reasons, proper names (personal names) are often considered a separate group within the noun category of a language. Nowadays, foreign names are much more wide-spread, perhaps, than ever before. This fact causes pronunciation difficulties to speakers in the native-language environment. Moreover, the foreign origin of a name remains long after an individual’s immigration, and many foreign names are integrated into the absorbing language. Two problem areas arise for speakers of a certain language who have to pronounce foreign names: on the written modality level, letter-to-sound correspondence, and on the aural modality, the pronunciation of the foreign name (according to the speaker’s L1). These issues require decisions about phonological and phonetic features of the foreign language which are to be adopted or discarded in pronouncing a name. Based on our field study, various solutions of these problems are here described and discussed. It appears that native speakers of English (not only American English, as our study reveals) do not base their decisions only on the graphic form of the names (letter sequences); their experience with other languages affects their productions. In addition, not all letter sequences yield identical pronunciation decisions. Thus, solutions are not uniform. Examples are given from French surnames and personal names that occur in English in the USA.

Linguistic structure and information organisation

2003 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 183-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christiane von Stutterheim
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Formal System ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Event Time ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Time Structures

This paper addresses the factors that distinguish very advanced learners from native speakers, investigating the difficulties which arise in overcoming the final thresholds in the learning process. Firstly, it compares different linguistic systems with respect to specific grammaticised categories, showing how these categories relate to patterns of information organisation at text level, with the assumption that the principles underlying these patterns form part of the learner’s linguistic knowledge. Secondly, it demonstrates that L2-learners who master the formal system of the target language to a near-perfect degree still have problems in applying forms in context in accordance with the principles of information organisation which grammaticised forms entail in the target language. The domains investigated are event-time structures. The languages investigated in the empirical study are Algerian Arabic, English, German, Spanish, and Norwegian, and advanced learner languages (English and German).

Light verb constructions in spoken L2 English

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaëtanelle Gilquin
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Light Verb Constructions ◽  
Light Verb ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
The Trinity

Abstract Light verb constructions (LVCs), that is, combinations like take a walk or make a choice, are often claimed to be problematic for non-native speakers of English. In this paper, spoken data from the Trinity Lancaster Corpus are used to explore the use of these constructions across different sections of the corpus, representing different proficiency levels (from lower intermediate to upper advanced) as well as different types of acquisitional contexts, namely English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL). The results of the study reveal a tendency towards an increased frequency of LVCs, as well as more complex and abstract uses, as we move from an intermediate to an advanced level and from an EFL to an ESL context. For the EFL speakers, this development corresponds to a better approximation to native English. For the ESL speakers, on the other hand, LVCs seem to have become ‘constructional teddy bears’, used more often than by the native speakers themselves.

Linking or delinking of ideas?

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noelia Navarro Gil ◽  
Helena Roquet Pugès
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
American University ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Argumentative Texts ◽  
Linguistic Backgrounds

Abstract This paper explores the use of adversative Linking Adverbials (LAs) in the academic writing of advanced English Foreign Language (EFL) learners with different linguistic backgrounds. The learner corpus used in this study consists of 50 argumentative texts, which are contrasted with a native corpus: the American university students’ corpus (LOCNESS). Liu’s (2008) comprehensive list of adversative LAs has been used for the analysis. Findings reveal that both non-native (NNS) and native speakers of English (NS) use similar types of adversative LAs, but NNS place them regularly in sentence- and sometimes in paragraph- initial position, which often results in punctuation issues and misuse. A total of 9 LAs were found to be overused (e.g., nevertheless) and underused (e.g., actually) by NNS. The analysis performed according to L1 has yielded unexpected results in terms of preference, frequency, and placement of adversative LAs. The so-called ‘teaching effect’ is considered one of the main factors influencing the learners’ choices.

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