Study abroad and the SLA of variable structures: A look at the present perfect, the copula contrast, and the present progressive in Mexico and Spain

Probus ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Kanwit ◽  
Kimberly L. Geeslin ◽  
Stephen Fafulas
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Present Perfect ◽  
Immersion Programs ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Grammatical Structures

AbstractThe present study connects research on the L2 acquisition of variable structures to the ever-growing body of research on the role of study abroad in the language learning process. The data come from a group of 46 English-speaking learners of Spanish who participated in immersion programs in two distinct locations, Valencia, Spain and San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Simultaneously, we tested a group of native speakers from each region to create an appropriate target model for each learner group. Learners completed a written contextualized questionnaire at the beginning and end of their seven-week stay abroad. Our instrument examines three variable grammatical structures: (1) the copulas

scholarly journals Studying individual differences in the social environment to better understand language learning and processing

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (s1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiri Lev-Ari
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Linguistic Performance ◽  
The Social

AbstractPeople learn language from their social environment. Therefore, individual differences in the input that their social environment provides could influence their linguistic performance. Nevertheless, investigation of the role of individual differences in input on performance has been mostly restricted to first and second language acquisition. In this paper I argue that individual differences in input can influence linguistic performance even in adult native speakers. Specifically, differences in input can affect performance by influencing people’s knowledgebase, by modulating their processing manner, and by shaping expectations. Therefore, studying the role that individual differences in input play can improve our understanding of how language is learned, processed and represented.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN EFL CLASSROOM

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-118
Author(s):  
Fahri Haswani
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Conceptual Foundation ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Based Instruction

In  response  to  an  appeal  from  Indonesia’s  Ministry  of  Education  and  Culture  to  all universities and colleges to improve the quality of tertiary  education toward regional and international standard, language institutions are making great efforts to further promote the  foreign  language  learning  process.  In  the  last  few  years  there  have  been  dramatic changes  in  the  ways  that  languages  are  taught  by communicative  approach  and  the introduction of technological tools. In recent years, the use of technological aids, especially those related to computers, has increasingly become  a common feature of the classroom. There is no doubt that computer based instruction will occupy a more central role in the foreign language classroom in the future. Information technology has drawn the interest of teachers of English as a second or foreign language in non-English speaking countries. The technology integration into  the curriculum is not a single concept which is generated from one  single  theory  nor  does  it  give  full  guidelines  for  the  implementation  in  practical situation. This issue constitutes ideas from many different theories. This paper  discusses the issue of technology contributions in EFL classroom. The question raised in this paper is how technology facilitates  the attainment of course goals.  The answer of the question will help  English  teachers  to  clarify  the  real  problems  of  the  initiative  so  that  the  innovation and possible changes can be aligned with the need of the students. However, this literature review  only  covers  limited  issues  related  with  the  role  of  technology  in  EFL  classroom. Further  discussion  from  other  different  points  of  view  is  still  needed  to  create  more complete description of conceptual foundation of the innovation.

Learning Languages Abroad

2018 ◽  
pp. 23-43
Author(s):  
Alex Pinar
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Narrative Research ◽  
Japanese Student ◽  
Oral Expression

This chapter presents research on language learning abroad and its influence on the development of oral expression. By using biographical-narrative research methods, specifically linguistic life stories, this work examines the experiences and beliefs of a Japanese student of Spanish who has studied this language in Spain on several occasions. This study attempts to determine how study abroad has influenced his language training and the development of his communicative competence, in particular oral expression. At the same time, it describes how the length of each stay abroad has helped or hindered the language learning process, the interaction with native speakers, and the practice of speaking skills.

Unconventional Expressions: Productive syntax in the L2 acquisition of formulaic language

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig ◽  
David Stringer
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Formulaic Language ◽  
Elicited Imitation ◽  
Current Usage ◽  
L2 Development ◽  
Independent Process ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Simulation Task

This article presents a generative analysis of the acquisition of formulaic language as an alternative to current usage-based proposals. One influential view of the role of formulaic expressions in second language (L2) development is that they are a bootstrapping mechanism into the L2 grammar; an initial repertoire of constructions allows for statistical induction of abstract grammatical categories, such that formulaic language is the data source from which syntactic rules are derived. This study brings evidence to bear on this debate from three studies of the acquisition of conventional expressions by L2 learners of English. A total of 271 learners and 58 native speakers completed either an oral conversation-simulation task or an aural-written elicited imitation task. The data show that while learners exhibit knowledge of both contextualized use and the lexical core of conventional expressions, production data reflect the morphosyntactic knowledge of learners at particular stages of development. Formulaic language does not drive the acquisition of syntax; rather, the acquisition of syntax as an independent process drives changes in the production of conventional expressions. Their gradual transformations allow for insights not only into the acquisition of syntax, but also into the nature of multi-word expressions in the mental lexicon.

The emergence of tense and agreement in child L2 French

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanne Paradis ◽  
Mathieu Le Corre ◽  
Fred Genesee
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Acquisition Sequence ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Lexical Transfer ◽  
Grammatical Structures

The present study examined the acquisition of tense and agreement by L2 learners of French. We looked at whether the features and and the categories AGRP and TP emerged simultaneously or in sequence in the learners' grammars.We conducted interviews with English-speaking children acquiring French as a second language and with grade-matched native-speaker controls once a year for three years. The data were analysed for the productive use of morphosyntax encoding tense and agreement. Results revealed that items encoding agreement emerged before items encoding tense, suggesting that the abstract grammatical structures associated with these morphosyntax items emerge in sequence. The findings are interpreted with respect to three prevailing views on the acquisition of functional phrase structure in L2 acquisition: the Lexical Transfer/Minimal Trees hypothesis (Vainikka and Young-Scholten, 1994; 1996a; 1996b), the Weak Transfer/Valueless Features hypothesis (Eubank, 1993/94; 1994; 1996) and the Full Transfer/Full Access hypothesis (Schwartz and Sprouse, 1994;1996). Possible reasons for the existence of this acquisition sequence in French are also discussed.

scholarly journals English language students’ productive and receptive knowledge of collocations

ExELL ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirna Begagić
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Language Performance ◽  
Lexical Collocations ◽  
Language Students

Abstract The importance of collocations in second language learning has been recognized in the past few decades. There have been numerous studies in L2 acquisition research that investigated how the knowledge and use of collocations at different levels of proficiency affect learners’ communicative competence and language performance. Moreover, it seems important to mention that most of the studies investigating the collocational knowledge of students learning English as their L2, indicated students’ poor performance (Fayez-Hussein 1990; Aghbar 1990; Bahns and Eldaw 1993; Stubbs 2002; Wray 2002; Nasselhauf 2005; Ozaki 2011). The aim of this paper is to explain the notion of collocation as well as its most common classification, and to point out the importance of its proper use for English language students who are native speakers of the Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS) language. Furthermore, this study examines the productive and receptive knowledge of lexical collocations in order to access students’ collocational competence. The results indicate students’ poor collocational knowledge. This can be due to the fact that collocations of the language students are learning are interfering with the collocations of their mother tongue, but also due to the way students are taught English (vocabulary negligence in comparison with grammar and unawareness of the importance of collocations in language learning).

CONTACT, CONTEXT, AND COLLOCATION

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 553-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen M. Kennedy Terry
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Phonological Variation ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Variation Patterns ◽  
Speech Data ◽  
Third Person ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Network Strength

This study uses a mixed-effects model to examine the acquisition of targetlike patterns of phonological variation by 17 English-speaking learners of French during study abroad in France. Naturalistic speech data provide evidence for the incipient acquisition of a phonological variable showing sociostylistic variation in native speaker speech: the elision of /l/ in third-person subject clitic pronouns (il vient [il vjɛ̃] ∼ [i vjɛ̃] “he is coming”). Speech data are compared and correlated with the results of a social network strength scale designed for the study abroad learning context. Results demonstrate that phonological variation patterns are acquired in a predictable order based on token type and collocation and that social networks with native speakers are statistically significant predictors of phonological variation patterns.

AN EXPLORATION OF THE RANGE AND FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE OF FORMS IN POTENTIALLY VARIABLE STRUCTURES IN SECOND-LANGUAGE SPANISH

2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly L. Geeslin ◽  
Aarnes Gudmestad
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Grammatical Structures

This article adds to the growing body of research focused on second-language (L2) variation and constitutes the first large-scale study of the production of potentially variable grammatical structures in Spanish by English-speaking learners. The overarching goal of the project is to assess the range of forms used and the degree to which native and L2 speakers of Spanish differ in several independently defined syntactic or discourse-based contexts. The contexts examined in the current study have been the object of sociolinguistic research in monolingual environments and include the following: copula contrast, mood distinction, past-time reference, future-time reference, and subject expression. Interview data from 16 English-speaking learners and 16 native speakers of Spanish from a variety of countries, all of whom are part of a single speech community in the United States, are examined. The analysis focuses on the range of forms used in each of the contexts investigated and the frequency with which these forms appear. A possible relation of individual characteristics, such as country of origin, years of language study, and time spent abroad, to this frequency of use is also considered.

scholarly journals Competing priorities: Student perceptions of helps and hindrances to language acquisition during study abroad

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcie J. Pyper ◽  
Cynthia Slagter
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Competing Priorities

Multiple studies have investigated the effect of language contact on language proficiency, testing the assumption that the study abroad context means greater contact with the target language (L2).  Other studies have examined the context of L2 interactions, considering host families, contact with community members, and interactions with non-native-speaking peers. While these studies are helpful, larger scales studies are needed to determine how students are interacting with native and non-native speakers during study abroad.  The current study examines student perceptions of helps and hindrances to L2 gain during semester-long study abroad of more than 100 students studying Spanish in Spain, Honduras, and Peru. Participants completed surveys patterned after the Language Contact Profile of Freed, Dewey, Segalowitz, and Halter (2004) and took the Versant Language Test before and after their study abroad experience. They also participated in a post-program interview which was subsequently transcribed, encoded and analyzed.  Results suggest that students experience competing priorities in decisions governing L1 vs L2 use and that student intentionality is key to successful language learning.

scholarly journals AUTHENTICITY WITHIN THE EIL PARADIGM

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (34) ◽  
Author(s):  
I.Y ZHEBRATKINA ◽  
◽  
V.V ROMANOV ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
International Communication ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
English Teacher ◽  
Unique Role ◽  
International Language ◽  
High Level

The purpose of this work is to study the relevance of the phenomenon of authenticity in the expanding context of English as an International Language (EIL). Based on the data of modern science on this issue, as well as on the results obtained during the generalization and analysis of existing experience, we concluded that authenticity should be considered within the framework of English as an international language, taking into account the inevitable need to adapt extralinguistic elements to the situation of international communication, while paying due attention to the need to comply with the norms of native speakers in phonology and grammar. Authenticity within the paradigm of English as an International language presupposes pragmatic conformity: these are correctly, methodically selected materials included in a language learning course, correspondence of the materials to the needs of students, their language level, presentation of the material by the developers taking into account an international factor. One cannot fail to note a unique role of an English teacher and his irreplaceable contribution to communicative capabilities and authenticating abilities. Thus, authenticity within the framework of English as an International language requires interaction of language itself, dynamically developing and subject to various kinds of changes, students, teachers, authors of textbooks of a new rank, who take into account the needs of international communication and contextual factors as well. We shouldn`t not forget about native speakers who undoubtedly contribute to the development of English as an International language. But we need to note that, standards of native speakers are not primary for authentication process, but auxiliary. We are profoundly convinced that this cooperation will surely result in the so-called "strong" students - these are students with a high level of English proficiency, who will easily challenge international communication environment with mutual understanding at the intercultural level.

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