Colour word Stroop test in Polish learners of English: No evidence that L2 proficiency matters

2014 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-393
Author(s):  
Joanna Śmiecińska ◽  
Grzegorz Krynicki ◽  
Marta Sojkin
Keyword(s):  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Naming Speed ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
English Version ◽  
Word Test ◽  
L2 Processing ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Colour Word ◽  
Linguistic Interference ◽  
L1 English

Abstract The aim of our study was to test whether and how the proficiency level in L2 affects the amount of within-language interference in Stroop colour word test (Polish as L1, English as L2); as well as to test whether and how the proficiency level in L2 affects colour naming speed in this L2, based on a study on 50 Polish students (age M = 20.8, SD = 1.6) at varying levels of English proficiency and age of acquisition > 7. The English version of Golden et al. (2002) Stroop Colour and Word Test and its Polish counterpart were used. The results show that in late unbalanced bilinguals the within-language interference was smaller in L2 than in L1 and its amount was not affected by L2 proficiency level; and that colour naming was slower in L2 than in L1, and the scores were not affected by L2 proficiency level. The implications of the study are discussed, concerning, among others, L2 processing in late unbalanced bilinguals. The popular claim that the pattern of the interplay between inter- and intra-linguistic interference in Stroop colour word test relates to proficiency level in L2 is challenged.

scholarly journals ‘Almost people’: A Learner Corpus Account of L2 Use and Misuse of Non-numerical Quantification

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Crosthwaite ◽  
Lavigne L.Y. Choy ◽  
Yeonsuk Bae
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Closed Class ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Noun Number ◽  
L1 English

AbstractWe present an Integrated Contrastive Model of non-numerical quantificational NPs (NNQs, i.e. ‘some people’) produced by L1 English speakers and Mandarin and Korean L2 English learners. Learner corpus data was sourced from the ICNALE (Ishikawa, 2011, 2013) across four L2 proficiency levels. An average 10% of L2 NNQs were specific to L2 varieties, including noun number mismatches (*‘many child’), omitting obligatory quantifiers after adverbs (*‘almost people’), adding unnecessary particles (*‘all of people’) and non-L1 English-like quantifier/noun agreement (*‘many water’). Significantly fewer ‘openclass’ NNQs (e.g a number of people) are produced by L2 learners, preferring ‘closed-class’ single lexical quantifiers (following L1-like use). While such production is predictable via L1 transfer, Korean L2 English learners produced significantly more L2-like NNQs at each proficiency level, which was not entirely predictable under a transfer account. We thus consider whether positive transfer of other linguistic forms (i.e. definiteness marking) aids the learnability of other L2 forms (i.e. expression of quantification).

scholarly journals El papel del lenguaje en la construcción de explicaciones en la clase de ciencias en contextos bilingües a través del enfoque CLIL

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (21) ◽  
pp. 105-122
Author(s):  
Mauricio Mancipe Triviño ◽  
Cynthia Marcela Ramírez Valenzuela
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Language ◽  
Natural Phenomena ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Close Link ◽  
Cognitive Linguistic ◽  
Science Classes ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
L1 English ◽  
Do So

This paper covers the issue with respect to elaborating explanations about natural phenomena in the Science class in bilingual contexts (Spanish (L1) – English (L2)), in which the role of the language is analysed from two perspectives: communicative and explanatory. To do so, this article focuses on the categorisation of cognitive-linguistic abilities exhibited by the students throughout the implementation of the designed unit, as well as analysing the expressions used by them from the communicative perspective; this analysis is born from the upcoming and growing concern of bilingualism implementation in Colombia and Latin America. The methodology used follows an interpretative-qualitative analysis with an inductive analysis approach, analysing the collected information during the didactic implementation in recordings, products developed by students and class diaries from a sample of 25 and 19 students belonging to two private secondary schools located in Cajicá and Bogotá, Colombia. The document presents the reflections arisen from the analysis categories built to assess the collected information: socio-linguistic abilities, communication of ideas in both L1 and L2, the conceptual, social, epistemological and didactic aspects of knowledge. It was found a close link between the L2 proficiency and the depth of the explanations elaborated by the students, enabling the more competent students in L2 to communicate better using the scientific language and getting to more complex explanations. Moreover, the implementation re-dimensioned the content perspective applied by some teachers when using the CLIL approach, placing bilingualism in the Science classes in a dimension distant from transmitting information, being a medium that fosters communicative and explanatory processes by nurturing different cognitive-linguistic abilities.

scholarly journals THE PRODUCTION OF SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT AMONG SWEDISH AND CHINESE SECOND LANGUAGE SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 907-921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie N. Jackson ◽  
Elizabeth Mormer ◽  
Laurel Brehm
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Completion ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Second Language Speakers ◽  
L2 Production ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Verb Number ◽  
L1 English

AbstractThis study uses a sentence completion task with Swedish and Chinese L2 English speakers to investigate how L1 morphosyntax and L2 proficiency influence L2 English subject-verb agreement production. Chinese has limited nominal and verbal number morphology, while Swedish has robust noun phrase (NP) morphology but does not number-mark verbs. Results showed that like L1 English speakers, both L2 groups used grammatical and conceptual number to produce subject-verb agreement. However, only L1 Chinese speakers—and less-proficient speakers in both L2 groups—were similarly influenced by grammatical and conceptual number when producing the subject NP. These findings demonstrate how L2 proficiency, perhaps combined with cross-linguistic differences, influence L2 production and underscore that encoding of noun and verb number are not independent.

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 Normative Data for the Stroop Color Word Test for a North American Population

2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 842-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah A. Morrow
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Normative Data ◽  
North American Population ◽  
Attentional Deficits ◽  
Word Test ◽  
The North ◽  
Colour Word ◽  
Impaired Attention ◽  
Serial Addition

Background:Cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) often involves attentional deficits. The Stroop colour word test, a measure of attention, lacks current normative data for an english-speaking North american MS population. Further some authors suggest the Stroop actually measures processing speed.Objective:To generate normative data for the Stroop colour word test that can be used for a Canadian or North american MS population and to examine the relationship between processing speed tests - the Paced auditory Serial addition Test (PASAT) and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) - and the Stroop.Results:Data from 146 healthy subjects aged 18-56 was collected. age was significantly although weakly correlated with general intelligence (r=0.168, p=0.043) assessed with the North american adult Reading Test (NAART), and education (r=-0.313, p<0.001). No demographic variables were associated with SDMT or PASAT. age had a low-moderate negative correlation (r=-0.403, p<0.001) with Stroop scores. The mean (±standard deviation, SD) Stroop score was 45.4(10.4). The z-score can thus be calculated as [(X-45.4)/10.4]. if adjusted for age, Xadj = [X-(-0.47)(age-37.5)] and is substituted for X. in a comparison MS population consisting of 75 randomly selected patients from the MS Cognitive clinic, Stroop and PASAT performance were not related. a relationship existed between Stroop and SDMT scores but only 12.2% of the Stroop score variance was explained by the SDMT. Therefore, the Stroop measures selective attention independently of processing speed.Conclusion:This data can be used to determine impaired attention in MS patients.

scholarly journals Age of acquisition and proficiency in a second language independently influence the perception of non-native speech

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 190-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
PILAR ARCHILA-SUERTE ◽  
JASON ZEVIN ◽  
FERENC BUNTA ◽  
ARTURO E. HERNANDEZ
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Sensorimotor Processing ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Native Speech

Sensorimotor processing in children and higher-cognitive processing in adults could determine how non-native phonemes are acquired. This study investigates how age-of-acquisition (AOA) and proficiency-level (PL) predict native-like perception of statistically dissociated L2 categories, i.e., within-category and between-category. In a similarity task, participants rated the level of similarity between pairs of English syllables from 1 (similar) to 4 (dissimilar). Early L2 acquisition predicts accurate within-categorization and high proficiency in late L2 acquisition predicts improved between-categorization. Our results suggest that the manner in which bilinguals learn to categorize non-native sounds depends on the cognitive processes available at the age of L2 exposure.

Semantics and morphosyntax in predictive L2 sentence processing

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Holger Hopp
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Semantic Information ◽  
Lower Sensitivity ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
L2 Processing ◽  
Verb Semantics ◽  
Anticipatory Processing ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
L1 English

AbstractIn the context of current approaches to anticipation in native and non-native sentence processing, this paper investigates whether late second-language (L2) learners integrate morphosyntax, i.e. case marking, and verb semantics to generate anticipations in L2 sentence comprehension. In a visual-world eye-tracking experiment with 45 L1 English L2 learners of German and 12 German natives, German natives are found to integrate morphosyntactic and lexical-semantic information in anticipatory processing, while L2 learners only rely on lexical-semantic information for prediction. Moreover, there is no indication that increasing proficiency leads to the involvement of morphosyntax in predictive L2 processing. We discuss reasons for the lower sensitivity to morphosyntax in anticipatory L2 sentence processing.

Electrodermal complexity during the Stroop Colour Word Test

2010 ◽  
Vol 152 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 101-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslav Svetlak ◽  
Petr Bob ◽  
Michal Cernik ◽  
Miloslav Kukleta
Keyword(s):  
Word Test ◽  
Colour Word

scholarly journals The Acquisition of Do-Support in Negation and Interrogatives by Adult Arab Learners of English: A preliminary study

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Elham Salem AL-Makatrah ◽  
Mohamad Subakir Mohd Yasin
Keyword(s):  
Arabic Language ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Production Task ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Arabic Speaking

This preliminary study investigates the acquisition of do-support in negation and interrogatives by adult Arab learners of English. The main question is to identify how Arabic language influences the acquisition of do-support. The influence of L2 proficiency level in the acquisition of do-support is also addressed. The study is conducted within the perspective of Full Transfer/Full Access Hypothesis and Differential Markedness Hypothesis. Do-support as a marked feature of English has received little or no attention in previous work on the acquisition of English as a second language by adult Arab learners. This study seeks to fill that gap by documenting the acquisition of do-support in negation and interrogatives. To address these aims, a written production task, a multiple-choice task and a semi-structured interview were administered to 10 adult Arab learners of low and advanced English proficiency levels. The findings indicate that the role of Arabic is noted. While not the source of errors, it acts as a strategy that adult Arab learners use to dealing with limited L2 knowledge and the markedness of do-support, which is the main source of difficulty shown by adult Arab learners. The role of learners’ L1 is selective according to the learners’ perception of what is difficult or not. Moreover, a significant relationship was found between L2 proficiency level and the mastery of do-support in that high- proficiency learners outperform low-proficiency learners. It is recommended that future research examine the acquisition and markedness of do-support in the interlanguage of Arabic-speaking children.

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