Towards a characterisation of saliency on first exposure to a second language

2003 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 131-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebekah Rast ◽  
Jean-Yves Dommergues
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Length ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Slavic Language ◽  
Word Stress ◽  
Sentence Repetition ◽  
First Contact ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Repetition Task ◽  
Over Time

This paper attempts to shed light on the question of what in the input is perceived and processed by the learner, and how it is processed upon first contact with a target language. Subjects were French learners of Polish who had had no contact with Polish or any other Slavic language before the onset of the project. They were tested on a sentence repetition task before receiving any Polish instruction, after 4 hours of instruction, and again after 8 hours. The results suggest that even as little as 8 hours of exposure induces a recognizable interlanguage; that the influence of global input can be predicted by word length, word stress, phonemic distance, transparency, position and frequency; and that the role these factors play evolves over time. Together the results suggest a way to characterise the notion of saliency in the input.

scholarly journals Chunk use and development in advanced Chinese L2 learners of English

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junping Hou ◽  
Hanneke Loerts ◽  
Marjolijn H. Verspoor
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Complexity Measures ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
English Classes ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Proficiency Scores ◽  
Over Time

The use of ‘chunks’ is not only a common and characteristic feature of first language use, but may also be a distinguishing factor between less and more proficient second language users. The present study aimed at investigating potential correlations between chunk use and holistically rated proficiency scores and development over time in advanced Chinese learners of English as a second language (L2) over the course of 18 months of English classes. Neither holistically rated proficiency scores nor common complexity measures had shown any progress in these learners, but a few lexically based measures did. Therefore, the development of chunks in these learners was examined as chunks are mostly lexical in nature and might show more subtle progress over time. The use of chunks was examined in the first and last two texts of the learners and, in line with previous research, it was found that more proficient writers use relatively more chunks, specifically collocations. Chunk coverage, the total number of chunk words divided by the total number of words, also correlated with some holistic proficiency scores, and increased significantly over time. Average chunk length did not show any correlation with proficiency scores nor did it increase over time. Increased proficiency in written texts is thus specifically related to the use of more chunks. This study shows that development in advanced Chinese L2 learners of English appears to be subtle, which might be due to the fact that at this advanced level mainly lexical changes take place. Future research into development over time in advanced learners may thus have to zoom in on lexical measures especially. Implications of this study point to the importance of promoting the use of target language chunks to advanced learners of English.

Learning prosody and fluency characteristics of second language speech: The effect of experience on child learners' acquisition of five suprasegmentals

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
PAVEL TROFIMOVICH ◽  
WENDY BAKER
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
The United States ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Korean Children ◽  
Sentence Repetition ◽  
Experience Effects ◽  
Acoustic Analyses ◽  
Rate Frequency ◽  
Repetition Task

This study examined second language (L2) experience effects on children's acquisition of fluency-(speech rate, frequency, and duration of pausing) and prosody-based (stress timing, peak alignment) suprasegmentals. Twenty Korean children (age of arrival in the United States = 7–11 years, length of US residence = 1 vs. 11 years) and 20 age-matched English monolinguals produced six English sentences in a sentence repetition task. Acoustic analyses and listener judgments were used to determine how accurately the suprasegmentals were produced and to what extent they contributed to foreign accent. Results indicated that the children with 11 years of US residence, unlike those with 1 year of US residence, produced all but one (speech rate) suprasegmentals natively. Overall, findings revealed similarities between L2 segmental and suprasegmental learning.

ENGAGEMENT PORTRAITS AND (SOCIO)LINGUISTIC PERFORMANCE

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Françoise Mougeon ◽  
Katherine Rehner
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Longitudinal Data ◽  
Strong Correlation ◽  
Learner Engagement ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Linguistic Performance ◽  
Learner Profile ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Over Time

This study considers, both transversally and longitudinally, advanced second language (L2) learners’ profile portraits, how these correlate with their sociolinguistic and linguistic performance, and how changes in these portraits over time connect to changes in sociolinguistic performance. The results show a strong correlation between high degrees of learner engagement, as captured in the profile portraits, and the three measures of sociolinguistic and linguistic performance. The longitudinal data point to an increase over time both of levels of engagement and of use of informal sociolinguistic variants. By measuring the impact of learners’ evolving engagement on their use of sociolinguistic variants as they progress to a more advanced level of proficiency in their L2, the present study shows that an index of engagement can usefully summarize the multiple effects captured by the learner profile portraits and can shed light on rates of use of certain forms.

scholarly journals Production and perception of the English /æ/–/ɑ/ contrast in switched-dominance speakers

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph V Casillas ◽  
Miquel Simonet
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
American English ◽  
Age At Onset ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Language Exposure ◽  
Vowel Contrast ◽  
Communicative Abilities ◽  
Shed Light

This study investigates how fluent second-language (L2) learners of English produce and perceive the /æ/–/ɑ/ vowel contrast of Southwestern American English. Two learner groups are examined: (1) early, proficient English speakers who were raised by Spanish-speaking families but who became dominant in English during childhood and, as adults, lack communicative abilities in Spanish, and (2) Spanish-speaking late learners of English who continue to be dominant in Spanish. The participants provided data in three tasks: one production and two perceptual. The study finds that both learner groups differ from native controls in their production and perception of the /æ/–/ɑ/ contrast. The findings shed light on our understanding of the relative effects of age (at onset of language exposure) and language dominance (at time of testing) by showing that sequential bilingualism impacts phonetic behavior even when speakers have become dominant in the target language.

The Direct Method

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Purwarno
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Direct Method ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Translation Method ◽  
Grammar Translation Method

The Direct Method was the outcome of a reaction against the Grammar Translation Method. It was based on the assumption that the learner of a foreign language should think directly in the target language. According to this method, English is taught through English. The learner learns the target language through discussion, conversation and reading in the second language. It does not take recourse to translation and foreign grammar.

The role of cross-linguistic stress pattern frequency and word similarity on the acquisition of English stress pattern by native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Post Silveira
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
American English ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Stress Pattern ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English As Second Language ◽  
Word Similarity ◽  
L1 Transfer

This is a preliminary study in which we investigate the acquisition of English as second language (L2[1]) word stress by native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese (BP, L1[2]). In this paper, we show results of a multiple choice forced choice perception test in which native speakers of American English and native speakers of Dutch judged the production of English words bearing pre-final stress that were both cognates and non-cognates with BP words. The tokens were produced by native speakers of American English and by Brazilians that speak English as a second language. The results have shown that American and Dutch listeners were consistent in their judgments on native and non-native stress productions and both speakers' groups produced variation in stress in relation to the canonical pattern. However, the variability found in American English points to the prosodic patterns of English and the variability found in Brazilian English points to the stress patterns of Portuguese. It occurs especially in words whose forms activate neighboring similar words in the L1. Transfer from the L1 appears both at segmental and prosodic levels in BP English. [1] L2 stands for second language, foreign language, target language. [2] L1 stands for first language, mother tongue, source language.

Second language processing of English past tense morphology: The role of working memory

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Filiz Rızaoğlu ◽  
Ayşe Gürel
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Masked Priming ◽  
Morphological Processing ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
L2 Learners

AbstractThis study examines, via a masked priming task, the processing of English regular and irregular past tense morphology in proficient second language (L2) learners and native speakers in relation to working memory capacity (WMC), as measured by the Automated Reading Span (ARSPAN) and Operation Span (AOSPAN) tasks. The findings revealed quantitative group differences in the form of slower reaction times (RTs) in the L2-English group. While no correlation was found between the morphological processing patterns and WMC in either group, there was a negative relationship between English and Turkish ARSPAN scores and the speed of word recognition in the L2 group. Overall, comparable decompositional processing patterns found in both groups suggest that, like native speakers, high-proficiency L2 learners are sensitive to the morphological structure of the target language.

scholarly journals What is special about L3 processing?

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
KEES DE BOT ◽  
CAROL JAENSCH
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
Third Language ◽  
The Core ◽  
Dynamic Perspective ◽  
Core Issue ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Over Time

While research on third language (L3) and multilingualism has recently shown remarkable growth, the fundamental question of what makes trilingualism special compared to bilingualism, and indeed monolingualism, continues to be evaded. In this contribution we consider whether there is such a thing as a true monolingual, and if there is a difference between dialects, styles, registers and languages. While linguistic and psycholinguistic studies suggest differences in the processing of a third, compared to the first or second language, neurolinguistic research has shown that generally the same areas of the brain are activated during language use in proficient multilinguals. It is concluded that while from traditional linguistic and psycholinguistic perspectives there are grounds to differentiate monolingual, bilingual and multilingual processing, a more dynamic perspective on language processing in which development over time is the core issue, leads to a questioning of the notion of languages as separate entities in the brain.

Effects of Sentence Structure on Sentence Elicited Imitation Responses

1978 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 809-819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Carol Hudgins ◽  
Walter L. Cullinan
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Female College Students ◽  
Sentence Structure ◽  
Response Accuracy ◽  
Relative Pronoun ◽  
Elicited Imitation ◽  
Sentence Repetition ◽  
Repetition Task

This study investigates the effects of sentence structure on the number of error sentences and response latency in a sentence-repetition task. Forty female college students repeated short and long test sentences containing either a single self-embedded or right-branching subject-focus or object-focus relative clause. Sentences were also controlled for deletion of the relative pronoun of the relative clause. Sentence structure was found to affect sentence elicited imitation response accuracy and latency in a manner similar to the effects of structure on ease of comprehension. The findings are consistent with a canonical-sentoid strategy explanation of sentence processing during sentence imitation.

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