VOT production, writing skills, and general proficiency in multilingual learners of French: approaching the intertwinement of different linguistic levels

Multilingua ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Gabriel ◽  
Thorsten Klinger ◽  
Irina Usanova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Acoustic Feature ◽  
Linguistic Awareness ◽  
Global Language ◽  
Language Competencies

Abstract We investigate the interrelations between pronunciation and writing skills in French as a foreign language produced by two groups of bilingual learners (German-Russian; German-Turkish) and a monolingually raised German control group (each n = 10). As an indicator of the learners’ pronunciation skills, we refer to a perceptually relevant acoustic feature of stop production, “Voice Onset Time” (VOT). Our aim is to explore whether the learners’ proficiency at the level of pronunciation is mirrored in (1) their global language competencies and (2) their writing skills. We applied an extreme-cases approach based on the learners’ VOT productions in L3 French. Both positive and negative deviations from the French target pronunciation were found in all groups. In orthography, bilinguals showed lower correctness scores as compared to monolinguals. The VOT measurements yielded more target-like results for the bilinguals. For the monolinguals, the results reveal no correlation between pronunciation and general language proficiency as well as writing skills. In the bilinguals the investigated phenomena were more interrelated. Our analysis of semi-focused interviews conducted with all participants revealed that more target-like VOT productions correlate with a greater degree of phonological and multilingual awareness. This suggests that phonological and cross-linguistic awareness should be fostered in today’s multilingual classrooms.

The effect of collaborative writing in an EFL secondary setting

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 874-897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Izaskun Villarreal ◽  
Nora Gil-Sarratea
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Collaborative Writing ◽  
School Context ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Experimental Group

Collaborative writing (CW) has been proven advantageous to enhance the second and foreign language skills of university students. However, little research to date has explored whether CW practices are fruitful for secondary school learners in foreign language (FL) contexts, a population characterized by low language proficiency levels, and few opportunities to engage with the FL. The present classroom-based study examines CW in this setting and aims to determine whether CW fosters language opportunities, operationalized as language-related episodes (LREs), which will allow learners in low-input scenarios to compose better texts. Two parallel intact classes were studied: a control group ( n = 16) which produced an argumentative essay individually, and an experimental group ( n = 16) which did so in pairs while recording their interactions. The findings revealed that the pairs produced shorter but more accurate and slightly more lexically and grammatically complex texts and obtained higher scores in content, structure and organization. Collaboration afforded students the opportunity to pool ideas, deliberate over language use, and provide each other with feedback (collective scaffolding). Most importantly, collaborating seemed to be beneficial for all intermediate secondary learners and, thus, a useful strategy for improving FL writing skills in the secondary school context.

scholarly journals VOICE ONSET TIME IN MULTILINGUAL SPEAKERS: ITALIAN HERITAGE SPEAKERS IN GERMANY WITH L3 ENGLISH

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Miriam Geiss ◽  
Sonja Gumbsheimer ◽  
Anika Lloyd-Smith ◽  
Svenja Schmid ◽  
Tanja Kupisch
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Third Language ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
L3 Acquisition ◽  
Crosslinguistic Influence

Abstract This study brings together two previously largely independent fields of multilingual language acquisition: heritage language and third language (L3) acquisition. We investigate the production of fortis and lenis stops in semi-naturalistic speech in the three languages of 20 heritage speakers (HSs) of Italian with German as a majority language and English as L3. The study aims to identify the extent to which the HSs produce distinct values across all three languages, or whether crosslinguistic influence (CLI) occurs. To this end, we compare the HSs’ voice onset time (VOT) values with those of L2 English speakers from Italy and Germany. The language triad exhibits overlapping and distinct VOT realizations, making VOT a potentially vulnerable category. Results indicate CLI from German into Italian, although a systemic difference is maintained. When speaking English, the HSs show an advantage over the Italian L2 control group, with less prevoicing and longer fortis stops, indicating a specific bilingual advantage.

The effectiveness of integrating technology in EFL/ESL writing: a meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-454
Author(s):  
Baleigh Qassem Al-Wasy
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Integrating Technology ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
Language Context

Purpose This paper aims to highlight a research on integrating technology into teaching and learning of second/foreign language writing. Design/methodology/approach In total, 18 empirical studies, involving a total of 1,281 second and foreign language learners, have been reviewed. These studies are selected from the following two databases: Web of Science and Google Scholar. The meta-analysis investigates how effect sizes vary depending on these moderators as follows: stage of writing, language context, learners’ educational level and language proficiency level. Findings The findings of this meta-analysis have indicated that technology has a large effect on second/foreign language writing (d = 1.7217). These findings have also revealed that the two stages of writing, drafting and editing, have received most of the researchers’ concern. In addition, high school and university learners have achieved a larger effect size of using technology in writing learning; beginner learners have achieved the smallest effect size. Originality/value To sum, the previous meta-analyses and reviews tried to explore the effect of computer on writing skills. However, some of them were limited to special groups (Williams and Beam, 2019) and some others analyzed very few studies (Little et al., 2018). Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of the effect of implementing technology in writing skills is needed. The purpose of this study is to perform a meta-analysis of the primary studies about the integration of technology into writing skills. The primary goals of this meta-analysis were to: examine the overall effects of implementing technology in writing; synthesize the relationship between technology and a number of moderators such as stages of writing, language context, learners’ target language proficiency and learners’ educational level (school and university).

scholarly journals White matter microstructure predicts foreign language learning in army interpreters

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 763-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Mårtensson ◽  
Johan Eriksson ◽  
Nils Christian Bodammer ◽  
Magnus Lindgren ◽  
Mikael Johansson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Brain Structure ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Final Test ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
White Matter Microstructure

AbstractAdult foreign language acquisition is challenging, and the degree of success varies among individuals. Anatomical differences in brain structure prior to training can partly explain why some learn more than others. We followed a sample of conscript interpreters undergoing intense language training to study learning-related changes in white-matter microstructure (FA, MD, RD and AD) and associations between differences in brain structure prior to training with acquired language proficiency. No evidence for changes in white matter microstructure relative to a control group was found. Starting values of RD, AD and MD were positively related to final test scores of language proficiency, corroborating earlier findings in the field and highlighting the need for further study of how initial brain structure influences and interacts with learning outcomes.

L1 attrition and L2 acquisition

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 248-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conny Opitz
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Host Community ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Verbal Fluency Task ◽  
L1 Attrition ◽  
Global Language ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Fluency Task

L1 attrition is increasingly being studied as a feature of bilingualism, taking into account the parallel process of L2 language acquisition in a migrant situation. Such situations may foster L1 attrition as a result of insufficient L1 input and competition or interaction with the language of the host community. In a study of 27 German late bilinguals resident in Ireland, the question of a possible interaction between the two language systems (German and English) is addressed. This paper reports on the results of two of the elicitation instruments used – a C-test as a measure of global language proficiency, and a verbal fluency task as a measure of lexical retrieval and bilingual dominance. The former is an unspeeded integrative task, while the latter taps lexical access as a function of the relative activation levels of the languages. The analysis focuses on the proficiency profiles of the bilingual participants vis-à-vis a German and an Irish control group to establish the level of L1 attrition and L2 acquisition, and the degree with which L1 and L2 proficiency correlate.

Acoustic Characteristics of Stop Consonants in Children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Bolinger ◽  
James Dembowski
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Prenatal Alcohol Exposure ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Stop Consonant ◽  
Alcohol Exposure ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Fetal Alcohol ◽  
Oral Motor

Speech of children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) has been little studied compared to language. Becker, Warr-Leeper, and Leeper (1990), found a relationship between prenatal alcohol exposure, oral motor control, and speech articulation. Behavioral tests suggest deficits in focal oral motor control specific to children with FAS (Bolinger & Dembowski, 2010). The current project extends that investigation through acoustic measures. Peak and mean frequencies of stop consonant releases were used to infer control of place of articulation. Voice onset time (VOT) was used to infer articulatory-laryngeal coordination. Preliminary measures on 3 experimental speakers and 2 matched neurotypical controls suggest higher stop consonant frequencies in the experimental group, with a poorer distinction between alveolar and velar stops than in the control group. Voiced VOT values were significantly longer for FAS children than for controls. Mean voiceless VOTs were similar across groups, but substantially more variable for the FAS children. Values may be interpreted as acoustic evidence for specific speech motor control deficits in FAS children relative to matched neurotypical children.

scholarly journals Language Proficiency through Vocabulary Development: A Framework

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boumediène BENRABAH
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Threshold Level ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
English As Foreign Language ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Language Proficiency Test ◽  
Experimental Group

The global aim of the present research paper is an attempt to reach a threshold level of the learning of a foreign language (English) through the development of vocabulary. Observing the very limited rate of use of English in the Algerian community, English as Foreign Language (EFL) students, actually, need to progress in the mastery of that language by reading and/or listening to texts or messages intensively. To achieve this goal, subsequent procedures should take place by giving the foreign language a rather more appreciable position in the community such as the one held by a second language. To be down-to-earth, a brief survey on the linguistic situation in Algeria is exposed where neat clarification of second-foreign language status in the community is laid out to show that the more a (foreign) language is explicitly exposed in its manifold forms, the more are learners, in that community, likely to acquire it as a second language. However, the assumption of presenting the receptive skills (reading and listening) as the most appropriate means for the growth of foreign language vocabulary is supported by Krashen’s input theory where any input to be understood, should come at EFL learners’ capacity to read/listen and decode easily the meaning. In due course, First year EFL students have been subject to a language proficiency test-‘a pre-test then a post-test’. This typical experimental design is an intervention study which contains two groups: ‘the treatment or experimental’ group which receives the treatment, or which is exposed to some special conditions of intensifying vocabulary learning through a varied, comprehensible input; and a second group of EFL learners- the control group- whose role is to provide a baseline. The findings showed better scores among the experimental group compared to the other group. Actually, the results proved the adequacy of the adopted theory.

scholarly journals Temporal pattern analysis of voicing in children with and without alterations in sonority feature

Revista CEFAC ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliane Ramone ◽  
Silvana de Coelho Frota
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Production Test ◽  
Acoustic Characteristics ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
Minimal Pairs ◽  
The Voice

ABSTRACT Purpose: to compare acoustic characteristics of stop consonants in speakers of Brazilian Portuguese with and without alterations in speech referring to voicing feature. Methods: out of 66 children assessed, 18 were selected for this study, aged from 9 to 12 years, distributed in Control Group, 8 without language alterations, and Deviation Group, 10 children with alterations in speech, regarding sonority features. Participants with hearing loss, with cognitive deficit, left-handed ones or using neurological medication, were excluded. The following tests were performed: tonal audiometry, ABFW speech test, and a PowerPoint interactive production test, which was developed by the author for this study, with the purpose of comparing the minimal pairs in words. At the end, the acoustic analysis was conducted, by using the PRAAT program. The acoustic characteristics of stops related to total and relative duration of voice onset time were compared in the two groups and analyzed by the Mann-Whitney U test, with a significance level lower than 0.05. Results: significant differences were observed in the duration of the voice onset time between the two groups, such as the increase in absolute voice onset time in the Deviation Group in voiced stops, and reduction in absolute onset time in voiceless stops. The relative voice onset time presented significant differences between the two groups only in voiceless stops. Conclusion: Brazilian Portuguese speakers with alteration in their sonority feature showed an acoustic pattern different from that of other speakers, regarding the voice onset time.

Constraints on speech rate: A heritage-language perspective

2020 ◽  
pp. 136700692092093
Author(s):  
Naomi Nagy ◽  
Marisa Brook
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Articulation Rate ◽  
Heritage Languages ◽  
Subject Pronoun ◽  
Highly Correlated

Research questions: Polinsky argues that speech rate in heritage languages is highly correlated with proficiency level. In sociolinguistics studies, speech rate in monolingual speakers is found to be conditioned by social factors. What occurs when both proficiency and social factors vary? Is speech rate a valid measure of proficiency? Methodology: We use two automated methods of measuring articulation rate (syllables per second), cross-referenced to improve accuracy: an orthographic vowel count and an acoustic measure of amplitude changes from syllable nucleus to periphery. Data and analysis: Across 51 speakers, each recorded in an hour-long conversation in Heritage Italian, Russian, Ukrainian, or Homeland Italian, we calculate speech rate in more than 10,000 clauses. Findings: Linear regression analyses reveal that articulation rate correlates with generation (since immigration) and age, but, surprisingly, not with ethnic orientation, sex or language. Age and generation are partly collinear in our sample, and models with generation fit better than those with age. We also find that articulation rate does not predict performance on sociolinguistic variables (voice onset time for stops, subject pronoun presence) in heritage varieties. Originality: This study compares two ways of calculating articulation rate automatically, examining whether speech rate is a viable stand-in for proficiency when social factors and proficiency vary independently. We resolve several obstacles to using articulation rate as a stand-in for more labor-intensive proficiency measures in spontaneous speech data. Implications: These findings suggest that speech rate is a valid proxy for heritage language proficiency. The factor with the strongest effect is generation since immigration (indicating the dominant language in the speaker’s childhood community). The effects of the social factors are complex but must be considered in order to interpret the proficiency measure accurately.

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