Cross-linguistic influence and formulaic language

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 240-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magali Paquot
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Lexical Bundles ◽  
Discourse Function ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
French Words

This chapter reports on a follow-up study to Paquot (2013) which replicates its methodology to investigate transfer effects on French EFL learners’ use of recurrent word sequences. The study focuses on a large dataset of two- to four-word lexical bundles overrepresented in the French component of the International Corpus of Learner English (ICLE) as compared to nine other ICLE learner sub-corpora. Results are in line with a usage-based view of language that recognizes the active role that the first language (L1) may play in the acquisition of a foreign language. In accordance with Paquot’s (2013) findings, the different manifestations of L1 influence displayed in the learners’ idiosyncratic use of lexical bundles are traced back to various properties of French words and word combinations, among which their discourse function and frequency of use seem to play a crucial role.

Lexical bundles and L1 transfer effects

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magali Paquot
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Active Role ◽  
General Term ◽  
Transfer Effects ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Lexical Bundles ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
French Words

This exploratory study makes use of Jarvis’s (2000) methodological framework to investigate transfer effects on French EFL learners’ use of lexical bundles. The study focuses on 3-word recurrent sequences that include a lexical verb in the French component of the International Corpus of Learner English (ICLE) as compared to nine other ICLE learner sub-corpora. Results are in line with a usage-based view of language that recognizes the active role that the first language (L1) may play in the acquisition of a foreign language. The different manifestations of L1 influence displayed in the learners’ idiosyncratic use of lexical bundles are traced back to various properties of French words, including their collocational use, lexico-grammatical patterns, function, discourse conventions, and frequency of use. Following Hoey (2005), these transfer effects are subsumed under the general term of ‘transfer of primings’.

scholarly journals On the Acquisition of Derivational Suffixes by Kuwaiti EFL Learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 223
Author(s):  
Maye A. Alotaibi ◽  
Abdullah M. Alotaibi
Keyword(s):  
English Proficiency ◽  
First Language ◽  
Choice Test ◽  
Production Test ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Comprehension Skills ◽  
L1 Influence

This study aims to test the extent to which 90 Kuwaiti EFL learners are aware of the correct use of derivational suffixes in English. It also identifies the mains reasons of the errors that Kuwaiti EFL learners may make. In addition, it investigates whether the English proficiency level of the participants plays a role in their answers on the test. To this end, the participants were tested twice in this study; a multiple-choice test was used to check their comprehension skills, whereas a fill-in the blank test was used to measure their ability to produce the correct derivational suffixes in English. Following data analysis, the results reveal that Kuwaiti EFL learners are fairly aware of the correct use of English derivational suffixes to a certain degree; the total mean on both tests (comprehension = 70% and production = 56%) is 63%. The participants obtained higher percentage of correct answers on the comprehension test (mean= 70%) compared to the production test (mean = 56%). Additionally, the t-test shows that the participants’ English proficiency level plays a central role in their comprehension and production of these suffixes. The performance of the Advanced Learners (ALs) (comprehension = 77% and production = 62%) is better than that of the Intermediate Learners (ILs) (comprehension = 64% and production = 48%) on the tests. In particular, there is a statistically significant difference between the answers of ALs and ILs on both tests. Regarding the types of error made by the participants, I argued that the most noticeable ones are due to: (1) the modification that non-neutral derivational suffixes cause when they are attached to the word (stems/roots); and (2) first language (L1) influence. Finally, the study concludes with some recommendations for further research.

An exploration of the structural and colligational characteristics of lexical bundles in L1–L2 corpora for English language teaching

2022 ◽  
pp. 136216882110665
Author(s):  
Toyese Najeem Dahunsi ◽  
Thompson Olusegun Ewata
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
First Language ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Lexical Bundles ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Language Universals ◽  
British National Corpus

Multi-word expressions are formulaic language universals with arbitrary and idiosyncratic collocations. Their usage and mastery are required of learners of a second language in achieving naturalness. However, despite the importance of multi-word expressions to mastering a second language, their syntactic architecture and colligational possibilities have received little attention in English language teaching (ELT). This study examined lexical bundles, a type of multi-word expressions, to understand their structure and co-occurrence possibilities with other syntactic elements. It was aided by an automated frequency-driven approach using two corpora, the British component of the British National Corpus – a first language (L1) corpus – and a purpose-built Nigerian Media Discourse corpus – a second language (L2) corpus. Two items of lexical analysis software were used to extract three-word lexical bundles with a minimum of 50 frequencies per corpus. The syntactic structures of the identified lexical bundles were determined, and their in-corpus usages were analysed for their colligational characteristics. Results showed that both corpora had instances of general and genre-specific lexical bundles (LBs) with varying frequencies. Five categories of lexical bundles with different structural patterns and peculiar colligational characteristics were identified in the study. Since lexical bundles are more frequently found in both L1–L2 texts, mastering how they are used will further enhance the teaching of English as a second language. The teaching of lexical bundles as a multi-word expression is therefore recommended in ELT as a way of enhancing learners’ proficiency and naturalness in English.

The acquisition of formulaic language by EFL learners

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Leńko-Szymańska
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Classroom Setting ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Lexical Bundles ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Stages Of Learning

Most of the studies on the use of phraseology by second language learners concentrate on advanced L2 users. Researchers attempt to tease out to what extent learners’ phraseology is different from the native one. There are almost no accounts of formulaic language emerging at the early stages of learning, particularly in foreign language settings. The research reported in this paper attempts to bridge this gap. It is exploratory in nature and investigates the emergence and use of lexical bundles by a range of students learning English in the classroom setting. The data analyzed in the study were drawn from the ICCI corpus and are examined with reference to learners’ ages, stages of proficiency, and L1 backgrounds. The probed essays were written by students in grades 6, 9 and 12 with Chinese, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Polish and Spanish as their L1s.

scholarly journals ONLINE PRONOUN RESOLUTION IN L2 DISCOURSE: L1 Influence and General Learner Effects

2008 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Roberts ◽  
Marianne Gullberg ◽  
Peter Indefrey
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Pronoun Resolution ◽  
Subject Pronouns ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
L2 Processing ◽  
Overt Pronouns ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
Final Interpretation ◽  
Subject Pronoun

This study investigates whether advanced second language (L2) learners of a nonnull subject language (Dutch) are influenced by their null subject first language (L1) (Turkish) in their offline and online resolution of subject pronouns in L2 discourse. To tease apart potential L1 effects from possible general L2 processing effects, we also tested a group of German L2 learners of Dutch who were predicted to perform like the native Dutch speakers. The two L2 groups differed in their offline interpretations of subject pronouns. The Turkish L2 learners exhibited a L1 influence, because approximately half the time they interpreted Dutch subject pronouns as they would overt pronouns in Turkish, whereas the German L2 learners performed like the Dutch controls, interpreting pronouns as coreferential with the current discourse topic. This L1 effect was not in evidence in eye-tracking data, however. Instead, the L2 learners patterned together, showing an online processing disadvantage when two potential antecedents for the pronoun were grammatically available in the discourse. This processing disadvantage was in evidence irrespective of the properties of the learners' L1 or their final interpretation of the pronoun. Therefore, the results of this study indicate both an effect of the L1 on the L2 in offline resolution and a general L2 processing effect in online subject pronoun resolution.

Analyzing trends in the aural decoding errors of Japanese EFL learners

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kriss Lange ◽  
Joshua Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
First Year ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Decoding Skills ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Japanese University ◽  
Syntactic Knowledge ◽  
L2 Listening

Abstract Japanese EFL learners’ difficulty with accurately decoding connected English speech motivated this mixed methods study. The aural decoding capacities of 63 first-year Japanese university students, with low to intermediate level English proficiency, were first measured with a battery of paused transcription tests (PTT). The transcriptions were clusters of three-words that each possessed attributes typical of co-articulated speech. In addition, after each test, a subgroup of 10 participants individually listened to the same PTT and recounted introspective self-observations of their perceived difficulties with the aural decoding tasks in their L1. These quantitative and qualitative data were used to identify four trends in decoding errors which were categorized as follows: limited collocation familiarity, syntactic knowledge constraints, difficulties utilizing co-text, and L1 phonological influence. This study investigates some of the difficulties associated with aural decoding, highlights the challenges of identifying the origins of decoding errors and suggests that more focus is needed on developing decoding skills as well as knowledge of formulaic language in L2 listening education.

Never saw one – first-person null subjects in spoken English1

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUSANNE WAGNER
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
First Language ◽  
First Person ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Language Variation And Change ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Verb Phrase ◽  
The One ◽  
Colloquial Speech

While null subjects are a well-researched phenomenon in pro-drop languages like Italian or Spanish, they have not received much attention in non-pro-drop languages such as English, where they are traditionally associated with particular (written) genres such as diaries or are discussed under a broader umbrella term such as situational ellipsis. However, examples such as the one in the title – while certainly not frequent – are commonly encountered in colloquial speech, with first-person singular tokens outnumbering any other person.This article investigates the linguistic and non-linguistic factors influencing the (non-) realisation of first-person singular subjects in a corpus of colloquial English. The variables found to contribute to the observed variation are drawn from a variety of linguistic domains and follow up on research conducted in such different fields as first language acquisition (FLA), cognitive linguistics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics and language variation and change. Of particular interest is the finding regarding the link between null subjects and complexity of the verb phrase, which patterns in a clearly linear fashion: the more complex the verb phrase, the more likely is a null realisation. Not discussed in this form before, this finding, given its high significance and its robustness in light of alternative coding, may prove to be an important candidate for inclusion in future studies on (English) null subjects.

Assessing the Role of Selective Fossilization Hypothesis in Determining Fossilizable Phonetic Errors in Tunisian EFL Learners’ Oral Output

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Aicha Rahal ◽  
Chokri Smaoui
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
First Language ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Phonetic Errors ◽  
Linguistic Phenomenon

Fossilization is said to be a distinctive characteristic of second language (L2) learning (Selinker, 1972, 1996; Han, 2004). It is the most pervasive among adult L2 learners (Han and Odlin, 2006). This linguistic phenomenon has been characterized by cessation of learning, even though the learner is exposed to frequent input. Based on the findings of the MA dissertation of the first researcher which is about ‘phonetic fossilization’ and where she conducted a longitudinal study, Han’s Selective Fossilization Hypothesis (SFL) is used to analyze the obtained fossilized phonetic errors in relation to L1 markedness and L2 robustness with a particular focus on fossilized vowel sounds. This is an analytical model for identifying both acquisitional and fossilizable linguistic features based on learners’ first language (L1) markedness and second language (L2) robustness. The article first gives an overview of the theory of Interlanguage and the phenomenon of fossilization. Then, it introduces SFL. This is an attempt to study fossilization scientifically. In other words, it tests the predictive power of a developed L1 Markedness and L2 Robustness rating scale based on Han’s (2009) model. The present study has pedagogic implications; it is an opportunity to raise teachers’ awareness on this common linguistic phenomenon.

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