scholarly journals The acquisition of Mandarin sentence final particles by Italian learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 475-494
Author(s):  
Linda Badan ◽  
Chiara Romagnoli
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Analysis ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Intermediate Level ◽  
Discourse Particles ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Final Particles

AbstractThis article deals with the acquisition of four Mandarin sentence final particles ma, a, ba, ne by Italian native speakers. The research gives a contribution to the study of sentence final particles from an acquisition and didactic perspective, which has been scarcely investigated in the linguistic literature. The article proposes a quantitative and qualitative experimental analysis with two groups of Italian learners, one at elementary proficiency level and one at intermediate level. The research shows that ne and ba are the most challenging particles to acquire by Italian learners. We argue that this due to the fact that ne and ba are highly polyfunctional and they do not simply determine the type of clause. The functions of ne and ba tested in this paper, in fact, are better defined as discourse particles, whose meaning is highly dependent from the context. Moreover, the experiment demonstrates not only that the proficiency level is straightforward correlated to the mastery of sentence final particles, as expected, but also that the didactic tools play a crucial role. As a matter of fact, the results of this study opens up a number of pedagogical implications in relation to the teaching of Mandarin sentence final particles to Italian learners.

A Corpus-Based Exploration of the Discourse Marker Well in Spoken Interlanguage

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 570-593
Author(s):  
Lan-fen Huang
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Intermediate Level ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
First Languages

This corpus-based study examines the widely-used discourse marker well in Chinese-speaking learners’ speech and compares its frequencies in native speaker data and Swedish learners. While Swedish learners overuse well, Chinese-speaking learners (predominantly at the upper-intermediate level) significantly underuse it. The positions and functions of well are further examined using a functional framework. One-fourth of the Chinese-speaking learners who use well manipulate its positions in utterances in a similar way to native speakers. In terms of functions, well is employed for speech management much more frequently than for attitudinal purposes. The greater use of the former does not generally create negative effects, but the under-representation of the latter may suggest that Chinese-speaking learners sound too direct in certain contexts. The paper concludes by considering pedagogical implications for different first languages and proficiency levels and their possible applications to the instruction of well.

Syntax-Pragmatik-Schnittstelle am Beispiel der Fokussierung im Spanisch-Erwerb deutschsprachiger Lerner

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 315-350
Author(s):  
Julia Schirnhofer
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Test Results ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Information Focus ◽  
Focus Marking

Abstract As a phenomenon at the syntax-pragmatics interface, focus marking can cause particular difficulties in adult L2 acquisition and may never be fully acquired, whereas native-like competence can be achieved with formal syntactic properties. The present study examines this so-called Interface Hypothesis by analysing the strategies that monolingual German-speaking learners use to mark information focus in Spanish. Analyses of the test results show that around 97 % of the test subjects prefer to maintain the unmarked constituent order and mark focus in situ, irrespective of their proficiency level. In comparison with Spanish natives (Gabriel 2010, Heidinger 2014), the results show a divergence from the behaviour of native speakers, as the latter use various strategies. This indicates that the German-speaking learners do not make use of the variation of focus marking strategies the Spanish language provides, but rather adhere to in situ focalization, which is also the dominant focus-marking strategy in German. Furthermore, the results of the present study highlight that strategies for marking focus are scarcely taken into account in language teaching classes.

Native and Nonnative Speakers' Processing of a Miniature Version of Japanese as Revealed by ERPs

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 1229-1244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jutta L. Mueller ◽  
Anja Hahne ◽  
Yugo Fujii ◽  
Angela D. Friederici
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Behavioral Skills ◽  
Word Category ◽  
L2 Processing ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Before And After ◽  
On Line

Several event-related potential (ERP) studies in second language (L2) processing have revealed a differential vulnerability of syntax-related ERP effects in contrast to purely semantic ERP effects. However, it is still debated to what extent a potential critical period for L2 acquisition, as opposed to the attained proficiency level in the L2, contributes to the pattern of results reported in previous ERP studies. We studied L2 processing within the model of a miniature version of a natural language, namely Japanese, specifically constructed to assure high proficiency of the learners. In an auditory ERP experiment, we investigated sentence processing of the “Mini-Japanese” in Japanese native speakers and German volunteers before and after training. By making use of three different types of violation, namely, word category, case, and classifier violations, native and nonnative ERP patterns were compared. The three types of violation elicited three characteristic ERP patterns in Japanese native speakers. The word category violation elicited an anteriorly focused, broadly distributed early negativity followed by a P600, whereas the case violation evoked a P600 which was preceded by an N400. The classifier violation led solely to a late left distributed negativity with an anterior focus. Although the P600 was similar for Japanese natives and learners, the N400 and the anterior negativities were not present in the learner group. The differences across groups suggest deviant neural processes in on-line syntactic and thematic processing in the L2 learners despite high behavioral skills.

scholarly journals The Effects of Test Type, Pronunciation, and Proficiency Level on EFL Learners’ Speaking Exam Scores

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Kardelen Kilinc ◽  
Ozgur Yildirim
Keyword(s):  
Test Scores ◽  
Intermediate Level ◽  
Test Type ◽  
Speaking Test ◽  
Paired Samples ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Bivariate Regression ◽  
The Difference

The present study aims to reveal the effects of test type, pronunciation and proficiency levels of the students on speaking test scores. A total of 147 Turkish EFL students consisting of 38 beginner, 36 elementary, 37 pre-intermediate and 36 intermediate levels participated in the study. Presentation as planned, and paired speaking test as unplanned one were used as instruments to figure out the effects of two different test types on the test scores. Being prepared for their performances, the students did their presentations lasting between 5 and 8 minutes in front of two raters. The same participants, at the end of each level, were invited to the paired-speaking tests designed for the students to show their spontaneous performances. The performances in both tests were scored through a scale with five criteria, and the criteria along with overall scores were examined through Paired Samples t-test to reveal the effects of test type, and through bivariate regression to see the proportion of pronunciation aspect on overall scores. The results showed that in beginner level, although no differences were found in the overall scores, the test type induced differences in pronunciation, vocabulary and relevance aspect of their speaking performances. Similar results were found in elementary level besides the difference found in accuracy aspect, which resulted in a significant difference in overall scores. However, in pre-intermediate level, the only significant difference was found in pronunciation. On the other hand, in intermediate level all the aspects along with the overall scores were found to be affected by the test type except for fluency and pronunciation. The bivariate regression revealed that the effect of pronunciation sub-score on overall scores is significant in each level and test type.

scholarly journals Investigating Gender Differences in Iranian EFL Learners' Rounded Vowels

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 208-221
Author(s):  
Mohammad Mehdi Tahanzadeh ◽  
Mansoore Shekaramiz ◽  
Marjan Abyavi ◽  
Reihaneh Shamei
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Proficiency Test ◽  
Brain Injuries ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Visual Problems

The present study investigated the gender differences in producing all English rounded vowels /u:/, /ɔ:/, /ʊ/ and /o/ in Iranian EFL learners' speech in comparison with native ones. Sixty Iranian EFL learners including 30 males and 30 females were selected as the participants of this study. Oxford proficiency test (OPT, 2001) was conducted in order to ensure the learners were truly homogenous with regard to their English proficiency level. All learners were right-handed, Persian monolingual native speakers with no brain injuries, hearing or visual problems that interfered with their performance in the test. Four words containing English round vowels with CVC syllable structure were selected and put inside the carrier sentence ''Say......please''. In fact, each learner uttered the carrier sentences separately. Via PRAAT software (win 64), the voices of the participants were recorded and analyzed for obtaining the first and the second formants (F1 and F2) of each vowel. The obtained data from male and female speeches were compared to each other to find their differences. The results showed in F2 values, there were gender differences considering the consonantal context. This study demonstrated that for males, the degree of backness of vowel /u:/ was less than that of vowel /ɔ:/, but for females it was vice versa. For both vowels, male's mean F1 was lower than female's mean F1 and male's mean F2 was higher than female's mean F2. The present study showed gender differences in producing English rounded vowels. So, the results can be used in classes which contain only one gender. The findings of this study can bring about some pedagogical implications for teaching English diphthongs, triphthongs and English rounded vowels.

scholarly journals Experimental analysis of reporting about the high frequency of an event

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Chistyakov ◽  
Olga Soboleva
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Analysis ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Relative Frequency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Matching Law ◽  
State Trait Anxiety Inventory ◽  
Response Options ◽  
Prior Odds ◽  
Free Operant

Questionnaires are common tools in psychological studies, and they include questions about frequencies (e.g., State-Trait Anxiety Inventory asks how often do you feel nervous with response options ‘never’, ‘sometimes’, ‘often’ and ‘very often’), but the meaning of responses is not clear. B. F. Skinner proposed an experimental analysis as a way to find the meaning of verbal behavior. The term ‘often’ was defined functionally as behavior with positive sensitivity to the relative frequency of an event and sensitivity to the question and social consequences. The matching law was used to describe context-behavior relations quantitatively. We conducted four experiments on ten Russian native speakers to determine the meaning of the term ‘often’. During each experiment inducers (alternating events ‘1’ and ‘0’ with a predetermined probability of occurrence, the question about the relative frequency of one of the events ‘Do you often see ‘1’s?’) and response options (‘Yes’ and ‘No’) were constantly presented. We documented free operant responses over the sequences of events with different lengths (from 4 to 12 events) and prior odds of ‘1’s to ‘0’s (from 1:5 to 5:1). Collected data suggests that ‘often’ means ‘at least three times in a row’.

scholarly journals The sentence-final particles ne and yo in soliloquial Japanese

Pragmatics ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoko Hasegawa
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Management Model ◽  
Discourse Management ◽  
Final Particles

This paper investigates the Japanese sentence-final particles ne and yo as they occur in soliloquy. Because of their pivotal roles in spoken Japanese, these particles have been investigated extensively for decades. However, most previous works have analyzed them solely in terms of communication, invariably assuming the presence of an addressee. In fact, it is not yet widely known that these particles can also occur in soliloquy in which communication with another person is not intended. The present article is the first study to address the significance of ne and yo as they occur in soliloquy and discuss problems associated with hitherto proposed analyses. In order to investigate how communicative and non-communicative intentions influence utterances, an experiment was conducted in which soliloquies of native speakers of Japanese were examined. For ne, this study endorses Takubo and Kinsui’s Discourse Management Model. For yo, Inoue’s account is vindicated.

Chinese L2 acquisition of sense relatedness for shàng “to go up”

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Haiyan Liang ◽  
Karen Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Conceptual Level ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
The Senses ◽  
L2 Vocabulary ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Cognitive Motivations ◽  
Polysemous Words ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractThis paper examines the relations between the senses of the Chinese polysemous verbshàng“to go up”, in an effort to understand how the various senses of polysemous words are organized in the L1 and L2 lexicons and to shed light on the role they might play in L2 polysemy acquisition. To this end, we analyzed the senses of shàng at the conceptual level, then used these findings to inform an empirical study of the sense relatedness as perceived by L1 and L2 participants. A developmental pattern is identifiable across the L2 proficiency groups. Specifically, the sense relations identified by the L2 groups increasingly approximate those identified by L1 as their proficiency level grows. Both native speakers and learners base their perceptions of sense relatedness on purported conceptual metaphors as well as other factors such as transitivity, function and concreteness – though the two groups apply these concepts in different ways. These findings suggest that learners can access the same conceptual tools as native speakers, but are using these tools in a way that differs from native speakers. Conclusions support the cognitive motivations behind polysemous senses and teaching-oriented findings that overlap in L1 and L2. Conceptual universals should be helpful in L2 vocabulary acquisition.

The Relationship Between Controlled Productive Collocational Competence and L2 Proficiency

2010 ◽  
Vol 84-85 ◽  
pp. 29-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Déogratias Nizonkiza
Keyword(s):  
Crucial Role ◽  
Proficiency Test ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Vocabulary Growth ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Established Relationship ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship

This paper assesses the extent to which L2 learners' controlled productive collocational knowledge increases with proficiency level, and the extent to which controlled produc-tive collocational knowledge of L2 learners changes across word frequency levels. A proficiency test and a collocation test modelled after Laufer & Nation (1999) were administered to English majors at the University of Burundi. The results of the study suggest that controlled productive collocational knowledge develops alongside L2 proficiency without significant gains at low levels. This empirically supports Laufer's (1998) observation that productive vocabulary growth is slow in the first years and gains momentum later and strengthens the established relationship between productive collocation knowledge and L2 proficiency (Gitsaki, 1999; Bonk, 2001). Moreover, the study highlights the crucial role played by frequency in knowing words (cf. Nation & Beglar, 2007).

“It’s of no value compared to your value”

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Soodeh Saadati ◽  
Gülşen Musayeva Vefalı
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
No Value ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Intermediate Level ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
British English ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
Efl Learners

Abstract In the present study, we attempt to develop EFL learners’ metapragmatic awareness of English compliments, which still remains an under-researched issue. Initially, we conducted a cross-sectional survey with intermediate-level Iranian EFL learners, Persian and British English native speakers. Although the analysis of the language learners’ realization of compliments and responses to compliments seemed to indicate that their pragmatic development was overall adequate, it also suggested the influence of the native socio-pragmatic schema on their pragmatic performance. We therefore undertook a pragmatic instruction aimed at developing the EFL learners’ metapragmatic awareness of complimenting. The results suggested that through discussion, analysis, small-scale research, and reflections on the native and target pragmalinguistic and socio-pragmatic complimenting conventions the learners were developing metapragmatic awareness. Finally, we make recommendations for more effective pragmatic teaching in EFL contexts.

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