INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF COGNITIVE VARIABLES IN SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS’ LISTENING COMPREHENSION: APTITUDE AND METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS

ABSTRACTEnglish-speaking children (N = 91) who were attending French schools (bilingual group) were given a battery of phonological awareness tests in kindergarten and in grade 1. At the time of kindergarten testing the mean age of the children was 5:9. Their performance was compared to age-matched English-speaking children (N = 72) attending English schools (monolingual group). The bilingual children showed heightened levels of phonological awareness skills in kindergarten in the area of onset-rime awareness. By grade 1, the pattern of group differences was more complex. The monolingual and bilingual children performed similarly on onset-rime segmentation tasks. The monolingual children had higher phoneme awareness scores than their French-schooled peers; this result is interpreted to reflect the role of literacy instruction on phoneme awareness development. In comparison, the bilingual children had higher syllable segmentation scores than their monolingual peers. This result is interpreted to reflect the role of second language input on phonological awareness.

Download Full-text

“Reduced Forms” Influence on Second Language Learners’ Listening Input-Intake Conversion

Scientific and Social Research ◽

10.36922/ssr.v3i5.1255 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 (5) ◽

pp. 194-199

Author(s):

Yueyang Zhao

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Empirical Study ◽

Language Learners ◽

Listening Comprehension ◽

Second Language Learners ◽

Factors Influencing ◽

Comprehension Ability ◽

Input Hypothesis ◽

Esl Learners ◽

Reduced Forms

This article analyses the factors influencing the process of input-intake conversion and focuses on the effect of “reduced forms” on English as a Second Language (ESL) learners’ listening comprehension. The Input Hypothesis, the Noticing Hypothesis, the input-intake relationship, and the factors influencing the input-intake relationship are critically reviewed and analyzed. The empirical study of Brown and Hilferty [1] is reviewed and discussed to show reduced forms’ influence on ESL learners’ listening comprehension. The results prove that integrating reduced forms into ESL lessons is both necessary and meaningful for improving students’ listening comprehension ability.

Download Full-text

Profile of second language learners' metacognitive awareness and academic motivation for successful listening: A latent class analysis

Learning and Individual Differences ◽

10.1016/j.lindif.2019.01.007 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 70 ◽

pp. 62-75 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yuah V. Chon ◽

Tacksoo Shin

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Latent Class Analysis ◽

Language Learners ◽

Academic Motivation ◽

Latent Class ◽

Second Language Learners ◽

Metacognitive Awareness ◽

Class Analysis

Download Full-text

When late second language learners access the meaning of L2 words: Using ERPs to investigate the role of the L1 translation equivalent

Journal of Neurolinguistics ◽

10.1016/j.jneuroling.2016.09.006 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 ◽

pp. 50-69 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Fengyang Ma ◽

Peiyao Chen ◽

Taomei Guo ◽

Judith F. Kroll

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Learners ◽

Second Language Learners ◽

Translation Equivalent

Download Full-text

One size fits all? In search of the desirable caption display for second language learners with different caption reliance in listening comprehension

Language Teaching Research ◽

10.1177/1362168819856451 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 136216881985645 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ping-Jung Lee ◽

Yeu-Ting Liu ◽

Wen-Ta Tseng

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Language Learners ◽

Listening Comprehension ◽

Second Language Learners ◽

Transient Nature ◽

Significant Difference ◽

L2 Learners ◽

Comprehension Aids ◽

The Impact

Existing research has established captions as effective second-language (L2) or foreign language (FL) listening comprehension aids. However, due to the transient nature of captions, not all learners are capable of attending to captions in all cases. Previous work posited that to leverage the impact of technologies in learning and instruction, a better understanding of the interplay between technology and cognition is warranted. In this vein, the current study set out to investigate the effects of four different caption modes (full vs. partial vs. real-time vs. control) on the listening comprehension of 95 high-intermediate Taiwanese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) with different caption reliance (i.e. more-caption-reliant vs. less-caption-reliant). The results showed no significant difference between the participants’ listening comprehension outcomes under the four caption conditions when their caption reliance was not considered. However, when this was considered, the differences among the four caption conditions became salient, which was suggestive of the selective effect of captions on L2 learners with different caption reliance. While less-caption-reliant L2 learners had the best listening comprehension outcome under the partial-caption condition and the worst under the full-caption condition, more-caption-reliant L2 learners exhibited the best performance under the full-caption condition yet the worst under the partial-caption condition. The finding underscores the importance of considering L2 learners’ processing profiles when utilizing captioned videos as multimodal instructional/learning materials and speaks to the need of utilizing differentiated video materials for optimal listening outcomes.

Download Full-text

Gestures by advanced Spanish-English second-language learners

Gesture ◽

10.1075/gest.4.2.03she ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 143-156 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Jody Sherman ◽

Elena Nicoladis

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Learners ◽

Second Language Learners ◽

English Second Language ◽

Symbolic Gestures ◽

L1 English

We examined the role of deictic (i.e., point) and symbolic (i.e., imagistic) gestures in advanced Spanish-English second-language learners to determine whether the role of gestures is consistent with that of intermediate second-language learners (i.e., Gullberg, 1998). Participants (10 L1 Spanish and 10 L1 English) watched two short cartoons and re-told the stories in both of their languages to native-speaking listeners who had never seen the film. Gestures were coded and analyzed in relation to word types from the verbal narratives. We found that participants used more deictic gestures in their second language, similar to the trend noted in previous research. Contrary to research with low or intermediate proficiency participants, however, symbolic gestures did not appear related to proficiency. Possible reasons for the differences in gesture use by proficiency are discussed.

Download Full-text

Litteraturarbete i ett svenska som andraspråksklassrum

Acta Didactica Norge ◽

10.5617/adno.1704 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 9

Author(s):

Catarina Economou

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Learners ◽

Second Language Learners ◽

Field Studies ◽

Language Instruction ◽

Second Language Instruction ◽

Literature Teaching ◽

Upper Secondary ◽

Literature Pedagogy

AbstractThis article considers the role of reading fiction in Swedish as a second language instruction. The study examines how a group of advanced second language learners in a Swedish upper secondary school read, interpret and discuss a contemporary Swedish novel, how they interact with the text and with each other in relation to the text. Furthermore, it analyses which forms of reading the students use. It is a qualitative, empirical study based on field studies, transcriptions of tape recorded interaction and of written texts. The results indicate that second language learners in this context have a positive attitude towards reading and discussing what they read using several forms of reading. They often compare the content of the text to their own lives. One conclusion is that literature teaching and literature can be integrated into one Swedish subject in order to create even more meaningful interactions between students from different backgrounds. Another is that literature can be a means of language development as well as personal development.Keywords: Second language learners, literature pedagogy and didactics, forms of reading, democracy. SammandragDenna artikel handlar om skönlitteraturens roll i skolämnet svenska som andraspråk. Studien undersöker hur en grupp avancerade andraspråksinlärare i en svensk gymnasieskola läser, tolkar och diskuterar en modern svensk roman och hur de interagerar med texten och med varandra i relation till texten. Dessutom analyseras vilka läsarter som eleverna använde sig av. Den är en kvalitativ, empirisk studie som baseras på fältstudier, transkriptioner av inspelade boksamtal och elevtexter. Resultaten visar att andraspråkseleverna hade en positiv attityd till boksamtal och de använde sig av flera läsarter. De jämförde ofta texten till sina egna liv och erfarenheter. En slutsats är att litteraturundervisning och litteraturarbete skulle kunna integreras i ett gemensamt ämne så att ännu mer meningsfulla samtal mellan elever från olika bakgrund. Dessutom kan litteratur bli ett medel för personlighetsutveckling liksom för språkutveckling.Nyckelord: Andraspråkselever, litteraturpedagogik och didaktik, läsarter, demokrati.

Download Full-text