scholarly journals Second language learners’ divergence from target language pragmatic norms

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Pia Gomez-Laich
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
L2 Pragmatics ◽  
Direct Explanation ◽  
The Individual

Pragmatic competence is an indispensable aspect of language ability in order for second and foreign language (L2/FL) learners to understand and be understood in their interactions with both native and nonnative speakers of the target language. Without a proper understanding of the pragmatic rules in the target language, learners may run the risk of coming across as insensitive and rude. Several researchers (Bardovi-Harlig, 2001; Kasper & Rose, 2002) suggest that L2 pragmatics not only can be taught in the L2/FL classroom, but, more importantly, that explicit approaches that involve direct explanation of target pragmatic features are beneficial for learning pragmatics. Just as native speakers of a language acquire a “set of dispositions to act in certain ways, which generates cognitive and bodily practices in the individual” (Watts, 2003, p. 149), instructors can help learners to become aware of the pragmatic features that characterize the target language. Although the importance of explicit teaching of pragmatics is well recognized in the literature, learning norms and rules of pragmatics largely depends on learners’ subjectivity. Learners’ convergence or divergence from the L2 pragmatic norms, both consciously and out of awareness, sometimes depends on whether these norms fit their image of self and their L1 cultural identity. Since identity-related conflict can have significant consequences for the acquisition of second language pragmatics, failing to consider the centrality of learners’ identities will produce an inadequate understanding of SLA. This paper synthesizes studies that document the reasons why learners opt to remain foreign by resisting certain L2 practic-es. The following synthesis question was proposed: Why do language learners resist the pragmatic norms of the target language?

scholarly journals Agreement attraction in native and nonnative speakers of German

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 619-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
SOL LAGO ◽  
CLAUDIA FELSER
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
Second Language Speakers ◽  
Linear Distance ◽  
The Subject

ABSTRACTSecond language speakers often struggle to apply grammatical constraints such as subject–verb agreement. One hypothesis for this difficulty is that it results from problems suppressing syntactically unlicensed constituents in working memory. We investigated which properties of these constituents make them more likely to elicit errors: their grammatical distance to the subject head or their linear distance to the verb. We used double modifier constructions (e.g., the smell of the stables of the farmers), where the errors of native speakers are modulated by the linguistic relationships between the nouns in the subject phrase: second plural nouns, which are syntactically and semantically closer to the subject head, elicit more errors than third plural nouns, which are linearly closer to the verb (2nd-3rd-noun asymmetry). In order to dissociate between grammatical and linear distance, we compared embedded and coordinated modifiers, which were linearly identical but differed in grammatical distance. Using an attraction paradigm, we showed that German native speakers and proficient Russian speakers of German exhibited similar attraction rates and that their errors displayed a 2nd-3rd-noun asymmetry, which was more pronounced in embedded than in coordinated constructions. We suggest that both native and second language learners prioritize linguistic structure over linear distance in their agreement computations.

scholarly journals Comprehension of grammatically modified and nonmodified sentences by second language learners

1992 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana C. Issidorides ◽  
Jan H. Hulstijn
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
State Of Affairs

ABSTRACTAt issue in the present research is whether native speakers' “simplified” or modified utterances, as in foreigner-talk (FT), actually facilitate comprehension for nonnative speakers hearing such utterances. It was hypothesized that (grammatical) Dutch inversion sentences (AdvVSO) that have proven to be problematic in studies on Dutch second language (L2) acquisition - as reflected both in the (ungrammatical) output of L2 learners and in the (ungrammatical) FT input to L2 learners - would not be problematic in terms of comprehension, when compared with modified, ungrammatical AdvSVO and AdvSOV sentences, as long as such sentences do not express an implausible state of affairs. Three subject groups participated in the experiment: 20 English and 22 Turkish L2 learners of Dutch and 30 Dutch native speakers (control group). Subjects heard and interpreted declarative Dutch sentences, in which word order (NVN, VNN, NNV) and animacy configurations (Al [i.e., animate/inanimate], AA, LA) were systematically manipulated. Subjects had to name the noun (first or second) that functions as actor/subject of the sentence. Positive evidence was found for the hypotheses. It is concluded from the present study, as well as from a previous study (Issidorides, 1988), that linguistically more complex input will not necessarily impede comprehension. The fact that normative speakers have difficulties in producing a certain grammatical structure (e.g., the AdvVSO structure) does not imply that such a structure is also more difficult to understand in the speech of others.

Tense-Aspect Distinctions within the Subjunctive Mood in the Spanish of Native Speakers and Second-Language Learners

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aarnes Gudmestad
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Subjunctive Mood ◽  
Frequency Of Use

AbstractThe current study constitutes the first empirical investigation of the complete repertoire of tense-aspect forms of the subjunctive mood in Spanish. In this study, I identify the frequency of use of the full range of tense-aspect forms of the subjunctive mood (e.g. present, pluperfect) that native speakers and five proficiency levels of second-language learners use in mood-choice contexts and seek to determine the linguistic contexts (i.e. functions) in which these forms occur. The results show that native speakers use the present, imperfect, and pluperfect subjunctive forms more frequently than other subjunctive forms and that they use these three forms in a range of linguistic contexts. The analysis also demonstrates that learners use these three forms in largely the same contexts as the native speakers and that they restructure the strength of their form-meaning associations as they become more proficient in the target language.

scholarly journals An Experimental Study on the Learning of Arbitrary and Non-Arbitrary Gender of Pseudo Dutch Nouns by Nonnative and Native Speakers of Dutch

1995 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 121-136
Author(s):  
Ahmed Zekhnini ◽  
Jan H. Hulstijn
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Inherent Feature ◽  
Gender Attribution ◽  
Made In

In this article we addres the question of whether, and to what exetent, noun gender attribution in languages such as French, German and Dutch can be formulated in terms of - semantic morphonological rules - competing semantic and morphonological cues - arbitrary idiosyncratic features In addressing this question we carried two learning experiments in which adult subjects, native speakers of Dutch and nonnative second language learners of Dutch, had to learn pseudo Dutch nouns. Our attempt was to provide some counter-evidence to falsify some claims Caroll (1989) made. In Caroll's view, L1 learners of French encode noun gender as an inherent feature of the noun in an obligatory fashion whereas English learners of French learn nouns as words distinct from their determiners. We argue, from the evidence we provide in our study, that the learning of gender values are equally difficult (or easy) for young native speakers, older native speakers, and nonnative speakers when these values are arbitrary. However, when learning the nonarbitrary gender values, it is easier for older native speakers to encode gender of nouns because they have already acquired many nouns from which cues or rules can be derived.

Economy in the acquisition of English universal quantifier sentences: The interpretations of deaf and hearing students and second language learners at the college level

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
GERALD P. BERENT ◽  
RONALD R. KELLY ◽  
TANYA SCHUELER-CHOUKAIRI
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Universal Quantifier ◽  
College Level ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Sentence Interpretation

ABSTRACTEnglish sentences containing the universal quantifiers each, every, and all are highly complex structures in view of the subtleties of their scope properties and resulting ambiguities. This study explored the acquisition of universal quantifier sentences as reflected in the performance of three diverse college-level student groups on a multipicture sentence interpretation task. The participant groups (hearing native speakers, deaf students, and second language learners of English) all exhibited fundamental knowledge of universal lexical, semantic, and syntactic properties that contribute to quantifier sentence interpretation. The native speakers outperformed the deaf and second language groups, whose performance was strikingly parallel. Performance patterns are explained in terms of the influences of derivational economy, including the option to restrict in situ indefinite noun phrases to singleton indefinites. The symmetry effect observed in child language studies was also observed among the college-aged participants in this study. It is explained in terms of a pragmatic challenge in managing contextual information that invokes an unexpected singleton indefinite interpretation. The results contribute to the understanding of sentence comprehension under conditions of restricted learner access to target language input and underscore the value of seeking correlates of theory-internal derivational economy in language acquisition and use.

Investigating the degree of humorous enjoyment in reading Chinese language errors

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-223
Author(s):  
Guangyan Chen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Gender Difference ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Chinese Teachers ◽  
Reading Chinese ◽  
People’S Perceptions

AbstractSecond language learners often make errors when they use their target language for communication. People perceive some of these errors as humorous. Many factors influence these perceptions. The purpose of this study is to investigate how these factors affect people’s perceptions when they read CSL (Chinese as a second language) learners’ humorous errors. The factors mainly refer to error stimuli and readers’ backgrounds. The researcher collected 25 error stimuli from two popular and often-cited online articles. 57 participants responded to these errors and rated them in the following three categories: Very Funny, Somewhat Funny, and Not Funny. These participants included 51 Native Speakers (NSs) of Chinese and six Non-Native Speakers (NNSs). The NSs consisted of 28 females and 23 males. Out of the participants, 17 were Chinese teachers and 40 were non-teachers. The results indicate that teachers perceived these texts as less funny than non-teachers; No significant gender difference was found; NNSs seemed to perceive these error stimuli as less funny than NSs, however, readers should be cautious in interpreting this result because of the limited number of NNSs. In addition, this study compared the humorous texts that were perceived as the funniest and the ones perceived as the least funny. The results demonstrate that an error-evoked “Very Funny” joke text had two overlapping and opposing scripts. The more overlapping and opposing the two scripts within a joke text were, the more humorous enjoyment a reader experienced. These findings improve our understanding of the interrelationship of language and humor that has been neglected in CSL, Chinese linguistics, and humor literature.

How do second language learners build syntactic structure?

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-64
Author(s):  
Eva M. Fernández
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Shallow Structure Hypothesis

Understanding the mechanisms learners use to process target language input is crucial to developing a complete model of both first language (L1) and second language (L2) acquisition. If adult L2 learners are found to process the target language with mechanisms that differ from those used by child L1 learners and adult native speakers, what implications might this have for the developing grammar? Clahsen and Felser review evidence that appears to point to such differences, generalizing their findings under a shallow structure hypothesis about how adult learners process input in L2.

scholarly journals Media Literacy in the Structure of the Secondary Linguistic personality

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 53-68
Author(s):  
Asst. Inst. Samaher Hasan Dawood
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Media Literacy ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Given ◽  
Russian Linguistic ◽  
Current Stage

The current study aims at investigating the importance of forming media knowledge of the structure of the second language learners in the current stage of social development. Thus, the text deals with the basic linguistic concepts associated with the problematic issues including "secondary linguistic personality", "media literacy", "communicative competence", and "media text".The study also investigates the source of the media literacy phenomenon in the framework of the secondary linguistic personality that is based on the traditional model of Russian linguistic level of linguistic personality developed by G.I. Bogin and Yu.N. Karaulov. Moreover, it discusses the possibility of using the most important data on the linguistic consciousness of the native- speakers of the target language which obtained from psycholinguistic lexicography in which they exhibit the options of using the results of the given associative experiment as being one of the main tools that can be used to improve the media knowledge of students who learn Russian as a second language.

scholarly journals Ausspracheabweichungen im Hochdeutsch thailändischer Immigrantinnen in der Deutschschweiz

2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Korakoch Attaviriyanupap
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Contrastive Analysis ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Female Immigrants ◽  
Sound Patterns

The situations of Thais not being understood by German native speakers even though they use correct words have always been experienced. However, the pronunciation difficulties of Thai native speakers are mostly just taken for granted as typical errors, but not systematically listed and discussed. As found out in the corpus consisting of utterances in Standard German of 16 female immigrants living in German-speaking Switzerland, their pronunciation variations which differ from the norm of the target language are very systematic and predictable because they are based on Thai sound patterns. This article aims to present a contrastive analysis of German and Thai in terms of segmental elements and syllable structure and to give an overview of systematic nontarget-like pronuncation of German second language learners who are native speakers of Thai. The findings should be made useful in teaching German as second language to this group of learners.

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