Emblematic gestures learning in Spanish as L2/FL: Interactions between types of gestures and tasks

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110068
Author(s):  
Helena S. Belío-Apaolaza ◽  
Natividad Hernández Muñoz
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Verbal Communication ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Evolutionary Analysis ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
The Usa

The acquisition of communicative competence in second and foreign languages requires the incorporation of verbal and non-verbal elements. Notwithstanding, few studies have performed empirical research into the acquisition of non-verbal signs. This research studies the learning of emblematic gestures for students of Spanish in the USA using an evolutionary analysis after instruction. Interactions between types of gestures ( common, different, and unique) based on the similarities with the first language and learning mechanisms in free and guided comprehension and production tasks are taken into account. The results indicate that although the detection and production of emblems improve with instruction, the progress is unequal: the categories different and unique obtain a higher rate of improvement than common emblems in specific tasks. In conclusion, it is essential for the teaching of gestures and non-verbal communication to consider, along with the non-verbal target language code, the non-verbal mother tongue code.

Language Loss

2019 ◽  
pp. 181-195
Author(s):  
Nilsa J. Thorsos
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Loss ◽  
English Only ◽  
The Usa ◽  
First And Second Generation

This chapter explores the phenomenon of heritage language loss (mother tongue) and the implications for English only speakers born in the USA with parents who are first- and second-generation English language learners. Drawing from critical race theory (CRT), first language loss is examined in the perceptions of Americanism, nationalism, citizenship, otherness, and discrimination. In addition, the chapter examines the dynamics of Latinx parents' decision to encourage their children to speak English only and as a result erode their ability to speak their first language (L1) or mother tongue and cultural identity. The author makes the case for language maintenance and assurance of all children learning English, without losing their mother tongue.

scholarly journals Do not give up! The importance of mistakes in the process of teaching and learning foreign languages

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 244
Author(s):  
Eduardo Dias da Silva ◽  
Romar Souza-Dias ◽  
Juscelino Francisco do Nascimento
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Learning Programs

This paper aims to highlight the importance of errors and mistakes as an essential part in the process of teaching and learning foreign languages (FL). We understand that, while trying to produce meanings in the foreign language, learners, through some errors and mistakes, can develop the mental structures necessary for the consolidation of the target language. In this way, mistakes can e a strong tool indicator for teachers to assess and also to understand how far learners are in relation to the intended knowledge, according to objectives outlined in learning programs. The theoretical approach that orients our way of thinking is based on the point of view of some theorists, such as: Brito (2014); Corder (1967; 1985), Cavalari (2008); Richards and Rodgers (2004); Silva (2014); Simões (2007), among others. The results have demonstrated that the teacher, as a mediator of knowledge, must have a balanced attitude towards the students’ learning needs in order to help the learners to reach their best in the learning process. So, with this study, we expect that, in Teacher Education, mistakes could not be seen as something negative, but positive and necessary for the development of the student’s communicative competence.

scholarly journals A Survey on the Effectiveness of Mother Tongue on Learning L2 Vocabulary by Iranian Pre-intermediate EFL Learners

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 113
Author(s):  
Mohammadreza Khodareza ◽  
Maryam Kaviani
Keyword(s):  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Proposal A ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Objective Structures ◽  
L2 Vocabulary ◽  
Learning English

<p>This study investigated the role of mother tongue on learning English vocabulary by Iranian pre-intermediate EFL learners. For this purpose, 30 female pre-intermediate learners were chosen. After administering a Nelson test participants were selected from the intact classes at Foreign Language Institute in Babol. These 30 partners were randomly allocated to 2 gatherings (one laboratory and the other control) each comprising of 15 partners. The participants received a pre-test comprising 70 English words to ensure that they did not have previous information of objective structures. Experimental group received their instruction, meaning of each target word, and translation of target words with their mother tongue (Persian). But control group just received target language (English) for all activities or instructions. Both teacher and students in this group didn’t allow using Persian. After the treatment, the same pre-test was given to the participants as a post-test to measure the effectiveness of therapy gained. After collecting the data, to respond the research proposal, a t-test was conducted. The results indicated that first language had significant effect on learning English words. The findings of this study are considered to be useful in methodology issue.</p>

scholarly journals The Integrative Nature of Interculturalism in Galicia at The Beginning of the 20th Century

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (SPE3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Sokol ◽  
Olha Tsaryk ◽  
Irina Drozdova ◽  
Leonid Kravchuk ◽  
Taras Kadobnyj ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Social Communication ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Educational Pedagogy ◽  
Language Problems ◽  
Cultural Sphere

The article outlines the main aspects of interculturalism in Galicia at the beginning of the 20th century. The interculturalism has been defined as the initial basis of communication, formed by a combination of social and educational environment. In modern society with many political and intercultural problems, the communicative competence and formation of tolerant attitudes towards people play a significant role. Linguistic education is one of the main tasks of educational pedagogy, linguistics, methodology, language rules, principles, and methods of teaching, ways of investigating education. The level of language culture of the personality in the mother tongue and foreign languages is evidence of the development of linguistic competence. The changes in the cultural sphere of society determine the need to investigate linguistic problems, focusing on improving language culture to achieve efficiency. The language problems have gone beyond the framework of philology and have become the general problems of society to regulate language culture in the process of social communication, social processes, the development of society as a whole system. In the political sphere, the culture of language promotes the emergence of mutual interest and respect between people of different nationalities and the stabilization of interethnic and international relations. The described innovative approach in the organization of social communication and interculturalism in Galicia space can be creatively and practically adapted in the conditions of any modern multicultural society.

scholarly journals The Kinds of the Linguistic Interference

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 176
Author(s):  
Sayana Movsum Baghirova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
First Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Linguistic Interference

In the scientific literature, the symbols L1 (Language 1) and L2 (Language 2) are used to indicate the sequence of languages. In most countries, L1 is understood as a first language, and it usually coincides with the mother tongue. The other languages are learned later. This can be seen in the children of multilingual parents. Teaching a second foreign language covers everything a student hears and sees in a new language. This includes a variety of discourse activities, such as exchanges in restaurants and shops, talking to friends, reading billboards and newspapers, as well as teacher-student attitudes in the classroom, as well as language activities and books in the classroom. Regardless of the learning environment, the learner's goal is to master a target language. The learner starts the task of learning a second language from scratch (or close to it) and uses the necessary language skills in the mother tongue to determine the reciprocity of language units in the target language.

Politeness Formulas in English and Arabic

1990 ◽  
Vol 89-90 ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali El-Sayed
Keyword(s):  
Communicative Competence ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language

Abstract To be familiar with the kinds of formulaic expressions used by speakers of a language as markers of politeness, is a knowledg which is indispensable to the acquisition of communicative competence in lan-guage. Such expressions can present many pitfalls for the learner who is not fully aware of their conditions of use. A failure to grasp the often subtle differences between first language and target language formulas can lead to serious misunderstandings and misjudgements.

scholarly journals Second language acquisition and first language loss in adult early bilinguals: exploring some differences and similarities

2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvina Montrul
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
The Usa ◽  
English Dominant

This study compares the linguistic knowledge of adult second language (L2) learners, who learned the L2 after puberty, with the potentially ‘eroded’ first language (L1) grammars of adult early bilinguals who were exposed to the target language since birth and learned the other language simultaneously, or early in childhood (before age 5). I make two main claims: (1) that the L1 grammar of bilinguals at a given stabilized state (probably endstate) resembles the incomplete (either developing or stabilized) grammars typical of intermediate and advanced stages in L2 acquisition; and (2) that despite similar patterns of performance, when language proficiency is factored in, early bilinguals are better than the L2 learners, probably due to exposure to primary linguistic input early in childhood. I offer empirical evidence from an experimental study testing knowledge of the syntax and semantics of unaccusativity in Spanish, conducted with English-speaking L2 learners and English-dominant Spanish heritage speakers living in the USA. I consider recent treatments of unaccusativity and language attrition within the generative framework (Sorace, 1999; 2000a; 2000b), that offer a unifying account of the formal parallels observed between these two populations I discuss how input, use and age may explain differences and similarities in the linguistic attainment of the two groups.

scholarly journals Pragma-linguistic Difficulties in the Recognition of Phrasal Verbs by Iraqi EFL University Learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
Mohanad A. Amret ◽  
Sinan A. Yousif
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Phrasal Verbs ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
First Language Transfer ◽  
Culture Gap

The purpose of this paper is to recognize the level of pragma-linguistic difficulties Iraqi EFL university learners face when handling phrasal verbs. Despite the fact that phrasal verbs are easy to understand by native speakers of English, non-native speakers usually encounter some difficulties in understanding the meaning of a phrasal verb depending on the meaning of the root verb, or different phrasal verbs of the same root. The problem might be attributed to pragma-linguistic knowledge. However, culture gap could be the reason behind such difficulties. The aim of the study is (1) to evaluate the pragma-linguistic level of interpreting phrasal verbs as understood and used by Iraqi EFL university learners, (2) to check the level of difficulty they experience while recognizing phrasal verbs, and (3) to find out reasons behind such misinterpretations. It is hypothesized that (1) the pragma-linguistic interpretation of phrasal verbs tends to play an important role in understanding the message conveyed by the speaker; (2) cultural gap could be the reason that EFL learners recognize phrasal verbs incorrectly, and (3) mother tongue language might make it difficult for EFL learners to understand phrasal verbs. To verify the aforementioned hypothesis, a test has been constructed and administered to a sample of 100 fourth-year Iraqi EFL university learners, morning classes at the department of English Language and Literature, College of Arts, in Mustansiriyah University, during the academic year 2017 – 2018. The responses of the students have been collected and linguistically analyzed according to a model given by Richards and Schmidt (2010). It has been found that Iraqi students’ lack of cultural norms of the target language makes it difficult for them to understand phrasal verbs. The lack of this knowledge is considered as a factor of confusion and then failure. The influence of the first language culture on the recognition of phrasal verbs may be seen as a negative first language transfer. The reason behind this negative transfer is that the norms and principles of first language are different from the norms and principles of the target language. It has been concluded that Iraqi EFL university learners have difficulties in pragma-linguistic knowledge as far as phrasal verbs are concerned. Iraqi EFL university learners face great difficulties in using phrasal verbs while communicating with other people. While using phrasal verbs, Iraqi EFL university learners have been highly influenced by their mother tongue language.

scholarly journals Second Language Acquisition and Mother Tongue Influence of English Language Learners – A Psycho Analytic Approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.36) ◽  
pp. 497
Author(s):  
A. Delbio ◽  
R. Abilasha ◽  
M. Ilankumaran
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Second Language Learner

Language is a tool used to convey one’s thoughts, feelings and needs. Mother tongue is the language acquired by everyone ever since his birth. A learner encounters mother tongue influence while learning or speaking a foreign language or target language. Mother tongue influence is something that affects a person’s thought process in a sense that he thinks in mother tongue and expresses in English or a second language. People use incorrect pronunciation of words while communicating in English language as they are influenced by the sound patterns of their mother tongue. A second language learner has an unconscious preference to convey his customs from his first language to the target language. The influence of mother tongue has become a significant region and is generally referred to as ‘Language Interference’. Every language learner comes across this issue. Students, sometimes, use words from their parent language while communicating in English. This paper speaks about the difficulties faced by the learners of the second language and the causes of first language influence. This paper attempts to bring out the ways to avoid the overwhelmed influence of mother tongue and gives some notions to the students to develop their second language skills.  

scholarly journals Cross-interpreting in Slovakia: a tabooed reality

2021 ◽  
pp. 107-124
Author(s):  
Stefan Dorcak
Keyword(s):  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Quality Criteria ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Target Groups ◽  
Simultaneous Interpretation ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Grade Scale

The present paper is a partial research work within the author’s dissertation thesis and seeks evidence to refute or support the hypothesis that interpreters are more effective in terms of quality when working into their mother tongue in comparison with interpreters working between two foreign languages. The data for this study were collected via interpreting questionnaires with thirteen selected criteria (e.g. native accent, pleasant voice, exaggerated fillers, fluency of delivery, logical cohesion, sense consistency, completeness of interpretation, significant omissions, use of correct terminology, etc.) that had been filled out (assessed on a 5-grade scale) by three target groups (professional interpreters, students of interpreting and so-called delegates), after having listened to three records of simultaneous interpretation (from English into Russian/Ukrainian). The records include three conference interpretations of a speech by NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, delivered in English on defensce and political topics. Two of the three interpreters (N 1 and N 2) are native speakers of the target language, while the third interpreter (N 3) works between two foreign languages. This paper presents the results for three target groups’ rating of the selected quality criteria for simultaneous interpretation. The aim of the present paper lies within comparing the output-related quality of B to A language interpreting vs. B to B language interpreting from the audience quality perception point of view.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document