Affect trumps age: A person-in-context relational view of age and motivation in SLA

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone E Pfenninger ◽  
David Singleton
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
School Level ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Late Starters

Recent findings (see, for example, Muñoz and Singleton, 2011) indicate that age of onset is not a strong determinant of instructed foreign language (FL) learners’ achievement and that age is intricately connected with social and psychological factors shaping the learner’s overall FL experience. The present study, accordingly, takes a participant-active approach by examining and comparing second language (L2) data, motivation questionnaire data, and language experience essays collected from a cohort of 200 Swiss learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) at the beginning and end of secondary school. These were used to analyse (1) whether in the long run early instructed FL learners in Switzerland outperform late instructed FL learners, and if so the extent to which motivation can explain this phenomenon, (2) the development of FL motivation and attitudes as students ascend the educational ladder, (3) the degree to which school-level variables affect age-related differences, and (4) learners’ beliefs about the age factor. We set out to combine large-scale quantitative methods (multilevel analyses) with individual-level qualitative data. While the results reveal clear differences with respect to rate of acquisition in favor of the late starters, whose motivation is more strongly goal- and future-focused at the first measurement, there is no main effect for starting age at the end of mandatory school time. Qualitative analyses of language experience essays offer insights into early and late starters’ L2 learning experience over the course of secondary school, capturing the multi-faceted complexity of the role played by starting age.

scholarly journals Transitional woes: On the impact of L2 input continuity from primary to secondary school

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone E. Pfenninger ◽  
Johanna Lendl
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Early Learners ◽  
The Impact

In this paper, we discuss the problem of articulation between levels in the educational system, as the transition from a rather more communicative, contentbased and holistic approach to English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching at primary level to more formal and explicit ways of foreign language (FL) teaching at secondary is often experienced as problematic by students and teachers alike (see, e.g., Muñoz, Tragant, & Camuñas, 2015). The results of a mixed methods analysis are presented, in which we analyzed, through a questionnaire and language experience essays, perceived continuity between input received in primary school and secondary school, as well as learners’ beliefs, attitudes and self-efficacy before and after they transitioned to secondary school. Twelve primary schools and six secondary schools in Switzerland participated in the study, with a total of 280 early learners of EFL (biological age 12-13 years, age of onset 8 years). We will argue that one of the main reasons why early FL instruction seems not to bear fruit later in secondary school is that, on the one hand, coherence in curriculum design and practice vary in a few—but crucial—aspects within and between primary schools. On the other hand, the fact that secondary education becomes a meeting point for mixed ability classes also seems to mitigate the potential advantages of an earlier start.

How does time-on-task affect the achievement of early and late starters of Indonesian in schools?

2012 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Kohler
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Target Language ◽  
School Level ◽  
Time On Task ◽  
Written Responses ◽  
Late Start ◽  
Late Starters

In the Australian education context, there are typically two cohorts of language learners at the secondary school level, those who commence their study of the target language early in their primary schooling (early starters), and those who commence their study later, at the beginning of secondary school (late starters). The two groups may have undertaken their language study under quite different program conditions, in particular in relation to “time-on-task”i. There is little empirical evidence about the nature of student achievement in languages at the end of primary and in junior secondary and its relationship to time-on-task. This paper compares the achievements of a sample of early and late start students of Indonesian in Australia using score data gathered from common measures of achievement. In addition, a small sample of student written responses are analysed in order to highlight issues related to eliciting and describing student achievement that may not be evident from the quantitative data alone. The findings of the study reveal the nature of achievement by early and late starters of Indonesian in the SAALE study, as well as the complexity of investigating a single variable such as time-on-task in relation to student achievement. The paper concludes by recommending that assessment of student achievement in language learning take into consideration methodologies that may capture more holistically a constellation of variables that impact on students’ language learning.

scholarly journals Brain ageing in schizophrenia: evidence from 26 international cohorts via the ENIGMA Schizophrenia consortium

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constantinos Constantinides ◽  
Laura KM Han ◽  
Clara Alloza ◽  
Linda Antonucci ◽  
Celso Arango ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Characteristics ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Collaborative Study ◽  
Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
Intracranial Volume ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Brain Ageing ◽  
Increased Risk

Schizophrenia (SZ) is associated with an increased risk of life-long cognitive impairments, age-related chronic disease, and premature mortality. We investigated evidence for advanced brain ageing in adult SZ patients, and whether this was associated with clinical characteristics in a prospective meta-analytic study conducted by the ENIGMA Schizophrenia Working Group. The study included data from 26 cohorts worldwide, with a total of 2803 SZ patients (mean age 34.2 years; range 18-72 years; 67% male) and 2598 healthy controls (mean age 33.8 years, range 18-73 years, 55% male). Brain-predicted age was individually estimated using a model trained on independent data based on 68 measures of cortical thickness and surface area, 7 subcortical volumes, lateral ventricular volumes and total intracranial volume, all derived from T1-weighted brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Deviations from a healthy brain ageing trajectory were assessed by the difference between brain-predicted age and chronological age (brain-predicted age difference [brain-PAD]). On average, SZ patients showed a higher brain-PAD of +3.64 years (95% CI: 3.01, 4.26; I2 = 55.28%) compared to controls, after adjusting for age and sex (Cohen's d = 0.50). Among SZ patients, brain-PAD was not associated with specific clinical characteristics (age of onset, duration of illness, symptom severity, or antipsychotic use and dose). This large-scale collaborative study suggests advanced structural brain ageing in SZ. Longitudinal studies of SZ and a range of mental and somatic health outcomes will help to further evaluate the clinical implications of increased brain-PAD and its ability to be influenced by interventions.

scholarly journals Examining Character Recognition and Recall Skills of CFL beginner Learners under Four different Approaches

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 52-73
Author(s):  
Caitríona Osborne
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Character Recognition ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Written Feedback ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Planning Stage ◽  
Comparative Group ◽  
Teaching Chinese ◽  
Colour Coding

The following paper presents an action research project investigating four approaches to teaching Chinese as a foreign language (henceforth CFL) to beginner learners in an Irish secondary school over a period of 16 weeks. Around 85 participants were divided into four groups and were taught Chinese via one method of rote memorisation, delayed character introduction, character colour-coding, or a unity curriculum approach respectively. The fourth group acted as a comparative group, and focused on all four skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Participants were taught for two one-hour classes per week and each group covered the same material, including learning 107 Chinese words and their characters. Upon completion of the 16 weeks of teaching, participants were presented with identical recognition and recall tests, whereby higher results in each group reveal effectiveness in a given teaching approach, and provided written feedback detailing their learning experience in the form of a questionnaire. It was found from the questionnaires that all participants felt that learning Chinese was challenging, particularly the characters. While all groups struggled to provide correct answers in the recognition and recall tests, the character colour-coding group coped best in providing the highest percentage of correct answers in both tests. At the same time, all groups agreed that more time spent learning would have allowed for more favourable outcomes. It is hoped that the current study will encourage further research relating to character-teaching methods, with particular reference to using colour, as well as providing some possible guidelines for a future Irish secondary school Chinese language course that is currently in the planning stage. These may include guidelines not only relating to the use of colour when teaching characters, but also in relation to the amount of time spent learning Chinese both inside and outside the classroom.

On the role of experience and age-related effects: Evidence from the Spanish CP

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Cuza ◽  
Joshua Frank
Keyword(s):  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Sentence Completion ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Age Related ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Preference Task ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers

The present study examines and compares the extent to which advanced L2 learners of Spanish and Spanish heritage speakers acquire the syntactic and semantic properties that regulate the grammatical representation of double complementizer questions in Spanish, a CP-related structure not present in English. Results from an aural sentence completion task, an acceptability judgment task, and a preference task indicate significant differences between the two experimental groups and the monolingual controls. However, the heritage speakers outperformed the L2 learners in their target use and interpretation, which suggests a linguistic benefit for earlier exposure and use of Spanish during childhood. We propose that the differences observed among the L2 learners and the heritage speakers can be accounted for in terms of cross-linguistic influence from the dominant language as well as language experience and age of onset of bilingualism as an interrelated dimension in L2 and heritage language development.

Foreign language planning

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Payne
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Language Planning ◽  
School Level ◽  
Framework Model ◽  
Secondary School Level

Drawing on empirical research and established language planning theories and ideas, this paper presents a conceptual framework model to support foreign language planning. The key focus is foreign or second language planning at secondary school level. Whilst foreign language planning is not a new phenomenon, this paper argues for a reconfigured perspective on this often under-examined issue.

scholarly journals Externalizing Disorders in Albanian Adolescents: Age and Gender Differences in a Large Sample of Secondary School Pupils

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-87
Author(s):  
Marsel Cara
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Externalizing Disorders ◽  
School Transitions ◽  
Male Population ◽  
Large Sample ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Focus Group Meeting ◽  
And Gender

AbstractExternalizing disorders (ED) refer to behaviours of a child/adolescent that negatively affect persons external to them. So far, no large-scale study on ED in adolescents attending secondary schools has been carried out in Albania. The current study explored gender and age differences in relation to externalizing disorders (ED) in a large sample of adolescents in 8 secondary schools situated in Tirana, the capital of Albania. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach. A survey consisting of two questionnaires SDQ-T and WOST were completed by 42 teachers (randomly selected) on 614 pupils randomly selected in their K7-9 classes. The teachers were divided in 4 groups which participated in one focus group meeting. Gender-related differences confirmed previous studies that indicate a higher prevalence of ED in the male population. Evidence on age-related differences was mixed, with quantitative data indicating higher levels of ED in the 14 and 15-year olds in comparison with the 13-year olds, and qualitative data suggesting the opposite trend, that is, higher levels in 13-year olds attending year 7 adjusting to transition in secondary schools, gradually decreasing in years 8 & 9. Recommendations based on the findings of the study are given regarding interventions that should target coping with school transitions in secondary school, promoting positive social skills and competencies, emotion regulation techniques and awareness of risks related to unsupervised use of social apps/media in schools.

scholarly journals Mediation as a strategy for constructing meaning in the teaching of a subject by integrating a foreign language

XLinguae ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 264-281
Author(s):  
Magdalena Sowa ◽  
Joanna Kic-Drgas
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Content Knowledge ◽  
School Level ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Knowledge Presentation ◽  
Secondary School Level ◽  
Subject Content Knowledge ◽  
Constructing Meaning

The increasing globalization as well as internationalization have influenced educational systems all over the world, contributing to widespread of the idea of teaching in a second or foreign language so as to allow students, ranging from primary to tertiary levels, to compete in an international context. The aim of this paper is to analyse and categorise the strategies of mediation used for presentation of subject content knowledge while teaching in bilingual French-Polish classes at secondary school level. In order to take the complex nature of the issue into account, variety of used strategies will be examined by means of corpus analysis. The material used for analysis comes from the bilingual lessons of chemistry and biology recorded in secondary school in Warsaw in the period between November and December 2019. The studies presented will allow conclusions to be drawn regarding the potential possibilities and problems of content-knowledge presentation in foreign langue.

scholarly journals Appraising Adequacy of Standard Based Curriculum 2006 and Allied Secondary School Mathematics Textbooks for Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) in the Punjab, Pakistan

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khurram Gulzar
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
School Mathematics ◽  
Secondary School Mathematics ◽  
Depth Of Knowledge ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
Alignment Tool ◽  
Level 2

In Pakistan the curriculum was revised in 2005-06 and corresponding textbooks for secondary school mathematics were developed and adopted for session 2012-13. This study was conducted to analyze the adequacy of the curriculum and the newly adopted textbooks in instilling the HOTS in students. The research design used was descriptive in which data was analyzed both by qualitative and quantitative methods. Web Alignment Tool was used to assign Depth of knowledge (DOK) levels to the prescribed students learning outcomes (SLOs) for secondary level mathematics in Pakistan. The outcomes of the study show that the curriculum is predominated by the SLOs of DOK level 1(204 out 280 SLOs). There is no SLO of DOK level 4. There are 70 SLOs of DOK level 2 and only six SLOs of DOK level 3. The entire format of the textbooks is monotonous as it mostly guides the students to learn an algorithm to deal with any SLO. This is followed by an exercise of sums to practice the learnt algorithm without any appropriate learning experience. It is suggested to revise the respective curriculum by adopting fewer, higher and deeper approach. For DOK level 2 and above, appropriate learning experiences should be incorporated in the curriculum and textbooks.

Marcadores del discurso en francés lengua extranjera

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 588-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Vázquez Veiga ◽  
Belén Donís Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
School Level ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Formal Similarity ◽  
Secondary School Level

This paper examines the challenges posed by discourse markers (DM) for learners at secondary school level of French as a foreign language (FFL), based on a corpus of samples of written work by FFL students. The first section looks at how DM are presented and described in the textbooks and dictionaries used by secondary school teachers and learners. The next section focuses on organizational discourse markers, with an analysis of student errors in the corpus. The range of semantic possibilities explored in the case of enfin and finalement offers a good illustration of the difficulties faced by teachers and learners alike in the acquisition of DM, due to the multifunctionality of the particles and their formal similarity to the Spanish DM en fin and finalmente. The final section makes some observations regarding the effectiveness of teaching DM systematically from the earliest stages of FFL learning, based on recent work by Donís Pérez (2014).

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