scholarly journals Language attitudes and L2 pronunciation

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-211
Author(s):  
Gillian Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
School Students ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Phonological Features ◽  
L2 Pronunciation

Abstract Since pronunciation serves as a vehicle for both intelligibility and identity, exploring learners’ attitudes towards different accent varieties can allow both pedagogical and sociolinguistic insights into second language acquisition. This study investigates the attitudes of Flemish secondary school students towards RP and General American and the relation between these attitudes and the students’ actual pronunciation in English. Participants rated British and American accents in a verbal guise experiment, and speech recordings provided a sample of respondents’ own pronunciation. Results diverged from previous findings: while participants had more positive attitudes towards RP, they spoke with a higher proportion of GA phonological features. Almost half of the participants did not aim to speak with either a British or an American accent.

scholarly journals THE INTERDEPENDANCE BETWEEN ATTRIBUTIONS AND SECOND LANGUAGE ATTAINMENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-124
Author(s):  
Bogusława Gosiewska-Turek
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Attribution Theory ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
School Students ◽  
Affective Factors ◽  
Adolescent Students

Affective factors are undoubtedly considered to be vital in second language acquisition. Among these factors attribution theory is of primary significance, as it affects learners’ final achievement. It indicates that people attribute various causes in their lives to their success and failure. With the employment of attribution theory, this study examines Polish secondary school adolescent students’ attributions for success and failure in second language learning. The main purpose of the study is to investigate, whether Polish secondary school students’ attributions have an impact on their achievements in second language acquisition. In order to conduct the study, the researcher administered attribution questionnaires to the students and an achievement sheet to the teacher to fill in with students’ semester grades in English. Then the data obtained from the questionnaires and the achievement sheet were correlated.  The results show that successful students are more likely to attribute their success to internal facets such as ability and effort and unsuccessful learners attribute their lack of success to external factors, among which task difficulty or luck could be enumerated.  

Vocabulary Size of Malaysian Secondary School Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Alice Su Chu Wong ◽  
Jocelyn Yee Vun Lee ◽  
Marianne Fung ◽  
Octavia Willibrord
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
School Level ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
School Students

Vocabulary plays a vital role in second language acquisition and is crucial in comprehension of various texts. Without a threshold level of vocabulary proficiency, English Language Learners (ELLs) will have difficulties in processing texts. Indeed, it is well conceded that vocabulary is a good predictor of second language proficiency. While sizable studies have examined ELLs reading skills, little is known about the vocabulary size of Malaysian secondary school students. The current work is part of a larger study that examines the relationship between vocabulary size and critical reading ability. It aims to investigate ELL secondary school students’ vocabulary level and determine whether they are equipped with sufficient vocabulary proficiency for tertiary level education. Eighty-five (85) participants from a public school in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah were involved in the study. A set of receptive vocabulary test was administered during a two-period lesson. Results showed that most of the participants have not mastered vocabulary proficiency beyond the 2000-word level. The findings have pedagogical implications for the teaching of vocabulary at the secondary school level.

SPEAKING ACCURACY OF RUSSIAN LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN CZECH LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOLS

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janina Krejčí
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Lower Secondary School ◽  
School Students ◽  
Learner Language

In the process of learning a foreign language, a mastery of means of expression is a prerequisite for a mastery of speaking skills. This article mainly focuses on the problem of learner language accuracy, as well as that of errors in the process of second language acquisition. The article presents the results of a study of Czech lower secondary school students’ language that aims to qualify the accuracy of speech during a dialogue in selected communicative situations.

Universal Grammar in the classroom: the effects of formal instruction on second language acquisition

1991 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sascha W. Felix ◽  
Wilfried Weigl
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Second Language ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Learning Situation ◽  
School Students ◽  
Formal Instruction ◽  
L2 Learners

One of the dominating issues in recent second language acquisition research has been the question of whether or not L2 learners have access to principles of Universal Grammar. It seems that currently there is fairly strong evidence both for and against UG-access by L2 learners. Consequently, the question arises what kinds of factors may potentially further or block UG-access and whether such factors can be related to certain properties of the learning environment. In this paper we wish to approach this question by looking at a somewhat extreme learning situation, namely the acquisition (or maybe non-acquisition) of English as a second language by 77 German high school students who learned and were exposed to English exclusively during classroom hours. These students were tested for their ability to correctly judge grammaticality contrasts in English that are standardly attributed to UG principles. The results suggest that - even under a most liberal interpretation - these students did not show any evidence of having UG-access. Rather, they utilized a number of strategies that (a) tied them very tightly to properties of German and (b) prevented them from making any generalizations that went beyond what had been explicitly taught in the classroom.

Referring In a Second Language

1985 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 15-25
Author(s):  
Andy Bentlage
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Referential Communication ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Identification Task ◽  
School Students ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Data Analyses

Naming and describing are important aspects of referential communication (RC). In an investigation of RC in a second language (L2), 36 secondary school students, divided into three groups of 12 with different proficiency levels, had to work in pairs on a description/identification task involving twelve nonrepresentative shapes. One task session consisted of six trials which were performed in English. The results of three different data analyses (numbers of words, naming and describing, and referential strategies) showed that RC in L2 differs from RC in L1 in three aspects: nonnative speakers (NNS) need longer references for the shapes; NNS' final references are structurally more complex; NNS with a lower L2 proficiency use their L1 more often than NNS with a higher L2 proficiency.

scholarly journals Secondary School Students’ Reading Anxiety in a Second Language

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Sadiq Abdulwahed Ahmed Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Second Language Reading ◽  
School Students ◽  
Reading Anxiety ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Group Interviews

<p>Developing an appropriate competence in reading in English as a second language is a key factor for subsequent academic success. This study investigated second language reading anxiety of secondary school students. A questionnaire was distributed to 72 female students and focus-group interviews were conducted with 19 volunteer students. Overall results reveal significant differences between the levels of reading anxiety reported by students relative to their general area of study (viz., science or arts). All the recorded differences were in favor of students in the science track. Most of the sources of reading anxiety that were identified by the students were related to language proficiency, specifically knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical rules.</p>

scholarly journals Innovating teacher feedback with writing activities aimed at raising secondary school students’ awareness of collocation errors

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-444
Author(s):  
Barry Lee Reynolds ◽  
Mark Feng Teng
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Second Language Writing ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Word Choice ◽  
Writing Teachers ◽  
School Students ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback ◽  
Language Writing

The study examined the types of written corrective feedback given by second language writing teachers on Taiwanese secondary school students’ collocation errors. First, the written corrective feedback that teachers provided on learners’ word choice errors was examined to uncover the types of feedback provided. Then, analysis focused on verb–noun collocations to draw attention to how students had been receiving different types of written corrective feedback from teachers on a single collocation error type. Results showed that some sentences tagged as including word choice errors only contained rule-based errors. Furthermore, for verb-noun collocation errors, teachers chose to provide indirect and direct feedback almost equally at the expense of metalinguistic feedback. Based on the results, we suggested options for second language writing teachers when providing feedback on word choice errors.

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