Transferring cue-weighting from second language into first language: Group trends and individual differences

2016 ◽  
Vol 140 (4) ◽  
pp. 3333-3334
Author(s):  
Olga Dmitrieva ◽  
Jenna Conklin ◽  
Yulia Nigmatulina
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Group ◽  
Cue Weighting

Individual differences predict ERP signatures of second language learning of novel grammatical rules

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily S Nichols ◽  
Marc F Joanisse
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
First Language ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
Grammatical Rule ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Anterior Negativity

We investigated the extent to which second-language (L2) learning is influenced by the similarity of grammatical features in one’s first language (L1). We used event-related potentials to identify neural signatures of a novel grammatical rule - grammatical gender - in L1 English speakers. Of interest was whether individual differences in L2 proficiency and age of acquisition (AoA) influenced these effects. L2 and native speakers of French read French sentences that were grammatically correct, or contained either a grammatical gender or word order violation. Proficiency and AoA predicted Left Anterior Negativity amplitude, with structure violations driving the proficiency effect and gender violations driving the AoA effect. Proficiency, group, and AoA predicted P600 amplitude for gender violations but not structure violations. Different effects of grammatical gender and structure violations indicate that L2 speakers engage novel grammatical processes differently from L1 speakers and that this varies appreciably based on both AoA and proficiency.

scholarly journals Language-dependent cue weighting: An investigation of perception modes in L2 learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 557-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kakeru Yazawa ◽  
James Whang ◽  
Mariko Kondo ◽  
Paola Escudero
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
English Studies ◽  
Cue Weighting ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Spectral Cues ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
L2 Perception ◽  
Japanese Learners

This study examines relative weighting of two acoustic cues, vowel duration and spectra, in the perception of high front vowels by Japanese learners of English. Studies found that Japanese speakers rely heavily on duration to distinguish /iː/ and /ɪ/ in American English (AmE) as influenced by phonemic length in Japanese /ii/ and /i/, while spectral cues are more important for native AmE speakers. However, little is known as to whether and how this non-native perceptual weighting can change as a result of L2 learning. By employing computational and experimental methods, the present study shows that Japanese learners of English exhibit different cue weighting depending on which language they think they hear. The experiment shows that listeners use more spectral cues and less durational cues when they think they are listening to ‘English’ stimuli as opposed to ‘Japanese’ stimuli, despite the stimuli being identical. This result is generally in line with our computer simulation, which predicts distinct developmental paths in first language (L1) and second language (L2) perception. The Second Language Linguistic Perception (L2LP) model, which incorporates the language mode hypothesis, provides a comprehensive explanation for the current findings.

Second language acquisition research and the second language acquisition of French

1992 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Hawkins ◽  
Richard Towell
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
First Language ◽  
Specific Context ◽  
Language L ◽  
Different Ages ◽  
Key Issues

AbstractPrior to the late 1960s second language acquisition was thought to be a relatively uninteresting phenomenon; it involved transferring grammatical properties already activated in the first language (L 1) onto second language (L 2) vocabulary. Successful L 2 learners were those who could capitalise on the similarities between the L 1 and the L 2, and eradicate the differences; and successful language teaching involved training learners to overcome the L 1-L 2 differences. Today, perceptions of second language acquisition are more sophisticated and nuanced. Second language acquisition researchers are interested in questions bearing not only on the influence of the L 1, but also on the degree of systematicity in L 2 development, the role that L 1, but also on the degree of systematicity in L 2 development, the role that conscious knowledge plays, the sources of variability in second language speaker performance, the ultimate levels of success achieved by L 2 learners of different ages, and individual differences between learners. The purpose of this article is to present what the authors believe to be some of the key issues which characterise current second language acquisition research, and to consider those issues within the specific context of the acquisition of French as second language.

Understanding second language fluency behavior: The effects of individual differences in first language fluency, cross-linguistic differences, and proficiency over time

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 755-785 ◽  
Author(s):  
AMANDA HUENSCH ◽  
NICOLE TRACY-VENTURA
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
First Language ◽  
Oral Narrative ◽  
Language Fluency ◽  
Multiple Regressions ◽  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
Mitigating Factors ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Over Time

ABSTRACTThis study examined the extent to which first language (L1) fluency behavior, cross-linguistic differences, and proficiency can predict second language (L2) fluency behavior over time. English L1 Spanish (n= 24) and French (n= 25) majors completed a picture-based oral narrative in the L2 before and after 5 months residing abroad and later in the L1 after returning home. Data were coded for seven measures of speed, breakdown, and repair fluency. The results from multiple regressions indicated that L1 fluency behavior, cross-linguistic differences, and proficiency differentially contributed to explaining L2 fluency behavior prior to and during immersion. These findings suggest that when investigating L1–L2 fluency relationships considerations of mitigating factors such as cross-linguistic differences are necessary, and it is worthwhile to focus on how the contributions of these factors shift during development.

scholarly journals The comparability of the construct validity of Schepers’ locus of control inventory for first and second language respondents

2004 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Berg ◽  
Michiel Buys ◽  
Pieter Shaap ◽  
Chantal Olckers
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Locus Of Control ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analysis ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Group ◽  
External Locus ◽  
Internal Locus Of Control ◽  
Confirmatory Factor

The study investigated the construct validity of the Locus of Control Inventory (LCI) for first and second language respondents. The results of confirmatory factor analysis revealed differences in the construct validity of the LCI for the first language (n=357) and second language (n=387) respondents. Item discrimination values, scale reliabilities and factor structures revealed that the three hypothesized domains, (namely external locus of control, internal locus of control and autonomy) underlying the LCI could be confirmed for the first language group, but not for the second language group. Opsomming Die studie het die konstrukgeldigheid van die Lokus van Beheer Vraelys (LBV) vir eerste en tweede taal respondente ondersoek. Die resultate van ‘n bevestigende faktorontleding het verskille in die konstrukgeldigheid van die LBV vir eerste (N=357) en tweede taal (N=387) respondente blootgelê. Itemdiskriminasie waardes, skaalbetroubaarhede en faktorstrukture het onthul dat die drie hipotetiese gebiede, (naamlik eksterne lokus van beheer, interne lokus van beheer en outonomie) wat onderliggend is aan die LBV, bevestig word vir die eerste taal groep maar nie vir die tweede taal groep nie.

scholarly journals Statistical learning in children's emergent L2 literacy: Cross-cultural insights from rural Côte d'Ivoire

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Zinszer ◽  
Joelle Hannon ◽  
Aya Élise Kouadio ◽  
Hermann AKPE ◽  
Fabrice Tanoh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Emergent Literacy ◽  
Statistical Learning ◽  
Cote D'ivoire ◽  
Côte D’Ivoire ◽  
First Language ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Cote D’Ivoire ◽  
Côte D'ivoire

Children around the world learn to read across radically different educational systems and communities. In the west African nation of Côte d’Ivoire, children enter the fifth grade (CM-1) with widely varying literacy skills in French, the official language for primary education. Previous studies have often linked performance in statistical learning tasks with differences in children’s and adults’ literacy outcomes, mainly in Western and high-income educational contexts. We asked whether Ivorian children’s individual differences in emergent second language literacy skills and analogous first language skills could also be explained by their performance in non-linguistic visual statistical learning (VSL). Across three iteratively-developed tasks, 157 children in rural communities surrounding the Adzópe region in Côte d’Ivoire completed a VSL task on touchscreen tablets. We found strong group-level evidence that children exploited the statistical regularities in the image sequence to decrease their response times, but in a post-test, their discrimination between valid and invalid sequences did not exceed chance. Overall, their responses were slower than U.S. children completing a similar task (Qi et al., 2019), and these individual differences in processing speed both confounded statistical learning and predicted second language emergent literacy skills. Moreover, the weak correlation to analogous skills in their first language further suggests that this task did not measure the same skills for the Ivorian children as in previous samples. We recommend adaptations to the statistical learning paradigm that may improve its generalizability across the wider global population.

Individual differences in second language speech perception across tasks and contrasts: The case of English vowel contrasts by Korean learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Donghyun Kim ◽  
Meghan Clayards ◽  
Heather Goad
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
Cue Weighting ◽  
Cue Use ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Phonetic Cues ◽  
Korean Learners ◽  
Perceptual Weighting

Abstract:The present study examines whether individual differences in second language (L2) learners’ perceptual cue weighting strategies reflect systematic abilities. We tested whether cue weights indicate proficiency in perception using a naturalistic discrimination task as well as whether cue weights are related across contrasts for individual learners. Twenty-four native Korean learners of English completed a two-alternative forced choice identification task on /ɪ/-/i/ and /ɛ/-/æ/ contrasts varying orthogonally in formant frequency and duration to determine their perceptual cue weights. They also completed a two-talker AX discrimination task on natural productions of the same vowels. In the cue-weighting task, we found that individual L2 learners varied greatly in the extent to which they relied on particular phonetic cues. However, individual learners’ perceptual weighting strategies were consistent across contrasts. We also found that more native-like performance on this task – reliance on spectral differences over duration – was related to better recognition of naturally produced vowels in the discrimination task. Therefore, the present study confirms earlier reports that learners vary in the extent to which they rely on particular phonetic cues. Additionally, our results demonstrate that these individual differences reflect systematic cue use across contrasts as well as the ability to discriminate naturally produced stimuli.

scholarly journals Individual Differences in Resting-state Brain Rhythms Uniquely Predict Second Language Learning Rate and Willingness to Communicate in Adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chantel S. Prat ◽  
Brianna L. Yamasaki ◽  
Erica R. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Resting State ◽  
First Language ◽  
Learning Rate ◽  
Fluid Reasoning ◽  
L2 Learning ◽  
First Language Proficiency ◽  
Lh Rh

The current study used quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) to characterize individual differences in neural rhythms at rest and to relate them to fluid reasoning ability, to first language proficiency, and to subsequent second language (L2) learning ability, with the goal of obtaining a better understanding of the neurocognitive bases of L2 aptitude. Mean spectral power, laterality, and coherence metrics were extracted across theta, alpha, beta, and gamma frequency bands obtained from eyes-closed resting-state qEEG data from 41 adults aged 18–34 years. Participants then completed 8 weeks of French training using a virtual language and cultural immersion software. Results replicate and extend previous studies showing that faster learners have higher beta power recorded over right hemisphere (RH) electrode sites, greater laterality (RH − LH/RH + LH) of alpha and beta bands, and greater coherence between RH frontotemporal sites across all frequencies, although only coherence measures survived multiple comparisons. Increased coherence within and between RH networks was also associated with greater posttest declarative memory scores and with more accurate speech during learning. Total speech attempts, in contrast, correlated with bilaterally distributed small-world network configurations, as indexed by lower power and coherence over high-frequency (beta and gamma) bands recorded over frontotemporal networks in both hemispheres. Results from partial correlations and regression analyses suggest that the neural predictors of L2 learning rate, posttest proficiency, and total speech attempts varied in their degree of overlap with qEEG correlates of first language proficiency and fluid reasoning abilities, but that neural predictors alone explained 26–60% of the variance in L2 outcomes.

scholarly journals Individual variability in cue weighting for first-language vowels

Loquens ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 044
Author(s):  
Payam Ghaffarvand Mokari ◽  
Stefan Werner
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
First Language ◽  
Individual Variability ◽  
Perceptual Identification ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Cue Weighting ◽  
Vowel Space ◽  
Identification Test ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Perceptual Weighting

This study investigates the use of different cues in discrimination of Azerbaijani /oe/ and /ɯ/ vowels. Regarding the large overlap in f1-f2 vowel space in the production of these vowels, this study researched for other possible cues in their categorization. Twenty native Azerbaijani listeners were tested through a perceptual identification test. Since f2 was weighted more consistently through the experiment, it is suggested that f2 is the primary cue in discriminating of this vowel pair. We observed individual differences in the perceptual weighting of f2 and f3 among the listeners. Although most of the participants gave more weight to f2, some others weighted f3 heavier than f2 or gave weight to both cues equally. These findings expand the knowledge on perceptual cue weighting and point the importance of examining cue weighting at the individual level.

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