Formulaic and proceduralised language in the initial and advanced stages of learning French

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-113
Author(s):  
Richard J. Towell
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Syntactic Information ◽  
Advanced Stages ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Multiple Case Studies ◽  
Stages Of Learning

This article is based on the model of SLA presented in Approaches to Second Language Acquisition (Towell & Hawkins 1994). It begins by presenting that view in summarised form. It then looks at four sets of empirical data drawn from two longitudinal multiple case studies and interprets the evidence in the light of the particular approach. The first two deal with learners in the initial stages of learning and show how they have to store formulaic knowledge in order to be able to extract syntactic information. The second two deal with advanced learners and show how they have to chunk and proceduralise intermediate knowledge in order to be able to develop both their knowledge and their fluency. The study of the advanced learners shows, however, that they do not become either as knowledgeable or as fluent in the L2 as they are in the L1. An interpretation of that evidence within the model offered suggests that this is because their L2 is based on a multiplicity of knowledge sources and that processing this kind of knowledge is more demanding of the memory systems than acquiring knowledge of and the ability to process the L1.

Exploring the upper limits of the Aspect Hypothesis

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 256-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Vraciu
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Verb Morphology ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Upper Limits ◽  
Distributional Patterns ◽  
L2 Development

This paper explores coalitions between tense-aspect morphology and the aspectual class of predicates in second language acquisition (the Aspect Hypothesis) on the basis of 36 oral narratives elicited with a picture book from French L1 adult learners of English. The observed distributional patterns are analysed in relation to the prototypical inflection/predicate coalitions observed both at early stages of L2 development and in English L1. While advanced learners are expected to make a productive use of tense-aspect morphology within all predicate classes, our data indicate that the prototypical coalition between the progressive form and activity predicates remains strong until very proficient stages of English L2, when the distribution of verb morphology within this class eventually becomes more flexible and activities as a class are predominantly encoded in the non-progressive present or past form. Non-grammaticalisation of the progressive in the learners’ L1 may interfere with the predictions of the Aspect Hypothesis for this form in English L2.

Producing and learning to produce utterances in social interaction

2003 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 207-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Dausendschön-Gay
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Body Movements ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Discourse Production ◽  
Pragmatic Aspects

Developmental research on first and second language acquisition is mainly concerned with cognitive, linguistic or pragmatic aspects of individual speech production treated separately and based on the tenets of separate disciplines or approaches (psycholinguistics, psychology of language, constructivism, conversation analysis). However, some studies try to integrate questions of language acquisition into the much broader context of social interaction in general. This paper argues in favour of such integration, taking a conversationalist perspective on speech and discourse production in social — face-to-face — interaction. In particular, it argues for the systematic integration of all kinds of body movements (traditionally called gestures) and prosody into the analysis of empirical data as a fundamental basis for the development of an interactional grammar and its study in an acquisitional research framework.

scholarly journals 'You wouldn't pass the salt' – from accusation to request or the impact of learning context and learner identity on the acquisition of situational variation in highly advanced learners of English

2010 ◽  
pp. 53-58
Author(s):  
Anne Marie Devlin
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Learner Identity ◽  
Language Environment ◽  
The Impact

The field of second language acquisition is a fascinating and global topic. Many of us have spent long hours poring over textbooks, memorising vocabulary and perfecting our grammar only to find that when we arrive in the country no-one understands us or our use of language unexpectedly gives rise to hilarity or even causes offense. We've been told, 'Don't worry. Spend a few weeks in the country and you'll soon soak up the language'. Again, this is not always the case. While many learners return from their time abroad showing and feeling huge improvements, there are others who seem not to have benefited from the experience. In fact, it is well known that people can live in another language environment for years and never 'pick up' the language. So, if learning doesn't necessarily help and spending time in the country doesn't always produce the desired results, then what are the ...

scholarly journals A influência da idade na inteligibilidade e no grau de sotaque estrangeiro de alunos brasileiros de inglês de nível avançado

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronaldo Mangueira Lima Jr
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Phonological Acquisition ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Exceptional Learners

Resumo Este estudo investigou a influência que a idade com a qual brasileiros começam a estudar inglês no Brasil pode ter na sua pronúncia ao final do curso avançado de inglês, mais especificamente na inteligibilidade e no grau de sotaque estrangeiro. Alunos que estavam cursando o último semestre de seus cursos e haviam começado o curso em diferentes idades foram gravados lendo um parágrafo e falando espontaneamente. Um grupo controle de falantes nativos de inglês também foi gravado desempenhando as mesmas tarefas. Os níveis de inteligibilidade e de grau de sotaque estrangeiro dos participantes foram avaliados por um painel de nove juízes, e os resultados mostram uma tendência de declínio na pronúncia com o aumento da idade de início do curso, com um grande declínio mesmo entre o grupo controle e os aprendizes mais novos. Alguns aprendizes excepcionais, com níveis de inteligibilidade e de grau de sotaque estrangeiro próximos aos dos falantes nativos, foram encontrados. Os resultados estão alinhados ao conceito de aquisição de segunda língua como sistema dinâmico, sob a qual os dados foram analisados. Palavras-chave: Aquisição de segunda língua. Aquisição fonológica. Pronúncia. Inglês-L2. Inteligibilidade.   The influence of age on intelligibility and rate of foreign accent of Brazilian advanced learners of English  Abstract This study has investigated the influence that the age in which Brazilian learners begin to study English in Brazil may have on their pronunciation at the end of their advanced English courses, especially on their intelligibility and rate of foreign accent. Learners who were in the last semester of their courses and who had begun studying at different ages were recorded reading a paragraph and speaking spontaneously. A control group of native speakers of English was also recorded performing the same tasks. Participants’ levels of intelligibility and of rate of foreign accent were assessed by a panel of nine judges and the results show a tendency of decline in their pronunciation as the age in which they began studying increases; with a sharp decline even between the control group and the earliest starters. A few exceptional learners, with intelligibility and rate of foreign accent levels close to those of the native speakers, were found. The results are aligned with the concept of second language acquisition as a dynamic system, under which the data were analyzed. Keywords: Second language acquisition. Phonological acquisition. Pronunciation. English as a foreign language. Intelligibility.

Semantics-syntax correspondences in second language acquisition

1996 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Juffs
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Semantic Structure ◽  
Parameter Setting ◽  
Verb Classes ◽  
Change Of State ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
Advanced Stages ◽  
Chinese And English

This article investigates knowledge of semantics-syntax correspondences in SLA within the Principles and Parameters framework. A parameter of semantic structure is used to investigate knowledge of two distinct, but underlyingly related, verb classes: change of state locatives and 'psychologi cal' verbs. Chinese and English contrast in terms of the parameter setting. Experimental evidence indicates that adult Chinese learners of English L2 initially transfer parameter settings, but are able to reset the parameter. However, they only acquire L2 lexical properties and concomitant syntactic privileges with ease when L2 input adds a representation to their grammar. When positive L2 input should pre-empt overgeneralizations based on rep resentation transferred from the L1, for some learners L1 influence persists until quite advanced stages of acquisition. The implications of the results for the parameter-setting model of SLA are discussed.

Missing verbal inflections as a representational problem

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill VanPatten ◽  
Gregory D. Keating ◽  
Michael J. Leeser
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Native Spanish Speakers ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Grammatical Structures

A continuing concern in second language acquisition (SLA) research is whether problems with inflectional morphology are representational or related somehow to performance. In this study, we examine 25 non-advanced learners of L2 Spanish and compare them with 18 native Spanish speakers on three grammatical structures: subject-verb inversion, adverb placement and person-number inflections on verbs. We use self-paced reading as a measure of underlying sensitivity to grammatical violations. Our results clearly show that the L2 learners pattern like the native speakers on the two syntactic structures; both groups demonstrate sensitivity to grammatical violations while reading sentences for meaning. For person-number on verbs, L2 learners did not show sensitivity to grammatical violations whereas the native speakers did. We argue that these results suggest a representational problem for morphology in our L2 population.

Cleft constructions in Hong Kong English

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinyue Yao
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Regional Variation ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Variety ◽  
Information Packaging ◽  
Advanced Stages ◽  
Hong Kong English

Existing second language acquisition research converges on a picture where learners of English exhibit marked divergence from native speakers in their use of information-packaging constructions, even at advanced stages of acquisition. This study extends the investigation of these constructions to an emerging institutionalised second language variety, Hong Kong English. Based on the Hong Kong and British components of the International Corpus of English, the study examines the formal and functional properties of it-clefts and wh-clefts, revealing regional variation in a number of areas, particularly in the use of that’s why constructions. Importantly, the grammar of the contact variety is found to be shaped by the transfer of gradient grammatical rules from the substrate language, and by stratification along stylistic parameters.

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