scholarly journals IMPROVING THE GRAMMATICAL ACCURACY OF THE SPOKEN ENGLISH OF INDONESIAN INTERNATIONAL KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 168
Author(s):  
Imelda Gozali ◽  
Ignatius Harjanto
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Kindergarten Students ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Auxiliary Verbs ◽  
Plural Form ◽  
Grammatical Accuracy ◽  
Subject Pronoun

The need to improve the spoken English of kindergarten students in an international preschool in Surabaya prompted this Classroom Action Research (CAR). It involved the implementation of Form-Focused Instruction (FFI) strategy coupled with Corrective Feedback (CF) in Grammar lessons. Four grammar topics were selected, namely Regular Plural form, Subject Pronoun, Auxiliary Verbs Do/Does, and Irregular Past Tense Verbs as they were deemed to be the morpho-syntax which children acquire early in life based on the order of acquisition in Second Language Acquisition. The results showed that FFI and CF contributed to the improvement of the spoken grammar in varying degrees, depending on the academic performance, personality, and specific linguistic traits of the students. Students with high academic achievement could generally apply the grammar points taught after the FFI lessons in their daily speech. Students who were rather talkative were sensitive to the CF and could provide self-repair when prompted. Those with lower academic performance generally did not benefit much from the FFI lessons nor the CF.

The relative effects of metalinguistic explanation and direct written corrective feedback on children’s grammatical accuracy in new writing

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Gorman ◽  
Rod Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Present Perfect ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback ◽  
Grammatical Accuracy ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Metalinguistic Knowledge ◽  
Group 1

Abstract There has been little research investigating the effects of form-focused instruction (FFI) on the second language acquisition of children. This article reports a quasi-experimental study of integrated form-focused instruction for 33 children aged 9–12 years. They completed four dictogloss tasks designed to elicit the use of the Present Perfect Tense and received instruction consisting of either explicit metalinguistic explanation (group 1), direct written correction (group 2) or no form-focused instruction (the comparison group) between performing the tasks. Accuracy in the production of the target structure across the four tasks was variable and showed no improvement from the first to the last. Nor were there any statistically significant differences in accuracy among the three groups. The results support some earlier studies of young children (e.g. Fazio, 2001) that have failed to show that FFI benefits young children. This may be because children fail to make use of their metalinguistic knowledge of grammatical features when undertaking meaning-focused writing tasks.

Inversion as an artifact

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 101-120
Author(s):  
Peter Jordens
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Functional System ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Auxiliary Verbs ◽  
Subject Pronoun ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Predicate Argument Structure ◽  
Finite Verb

Dutch is a so-called verb-second language, i.e. the finite verb typically occurs in second position with one constituent in initial position. The element in initial position is often the subject. However, if it is an adverb or an object, the subject occurs after the finite verb. This characteristic, known as ‘inversion’ is acquired in both child first- and adult second-language acquisition as a function of topicalization. Both learner varieties develop from a lexical system to a functional system. At the lexical stage, utterance structure is the result of predicate-argument structure interacting with principles of information structuring. The shift to a functional system comes as a result of the identification of the initial position in a sentence as a structural topic position. It coincides with the acquisition of auxiliary verbs (the category AUX) such that AUX + subject pronoun (subjP) functions as a topicalization device. Hence, inversion is an artifact. It is the result of a process of restructuring due to the acquisition of topicalization. Also the fact that both L1 and L2 Dutch learner systems seem to develop as the result of the interaction between predicate-argument structure and principles of information structuring explains why the process leading to the acquisition of ‘inversion’ takes place similarly in both children and adults.

scholarly journals The Effects of Direct and Indirect Corrective Feedback on Accuracy in Second Language Writing

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Abbas Mustafa Abbas ◽  
Hogar Mohammed Tawfeeq
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Second Language Writing ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
L2 Writing ◽  
Grammatical Accuracy ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
Post Test

The effectiveness of providing Corrective Feedback (CF) on L2 writing has long been a matter of considerable debate. A growing body of research has been conducted to investigate the value of various types of CF on improving grammatical accuracy in the writing of English as a second or foreign language. This article is mainly concerned with the role of Corrective Feedback (CF) in developing the L2 writers’ ability to produce an accurate text, and argues that CF is considered to be one of the fundamental techniques in teaching second language (L2) writing. Bearing this in mind, it attempts to maintain the effectiveness of CF on the L2 students’ abilities to develop the accuracy of their written output. This topic has recently produced a significant interest among both teachers and researchers in the areas of L2 writing and second language acquisition. A key issue to be addressed is the degree to which CF effectively helps the second language writers obtain long-term accuracy. Currently, the author of this paper has been conducting a PhD study on the effect of direct and indirect corrective feedback on the academic writing accuracy of Kurdish EFL university students, and the data was collected from writing testing samples (pre-test, post-test and delayed post-test) produced by105 undergraduate students of English department from two public universities. The results could be obtained from the study should have important implications for L2 writing practitioners and researchers.

scholarly journals ANALISIS PENGGUNAAN TATA BAHASA DAN PEMEROLEHAN BAHASA KEDUA BAHASA INGGRIS PADA MAHASISWA THAILAND

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-44
Author(s):  
Minkhatunnakhriyah Minkhatunnakhriyah ◽  
Fahriany Fahriany ◽  
Albiansyah Albiansyah
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
English Text ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Auxiliary Verbs ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Text Production ◽  
Study Results

Abstract: This paper aims to determine the types of grammar usage and todescribe the acquisition of English as a second language among Thaistudents. The method used was a qualitative paradigm and the data sourceswere taken from interviews. The interview instrument was used to obtainthe data in the form of English text production, which was used to identifyand to classify the types of grammar elements and information on howinformants acquire the language. This study results in variations in the useof grammar elements namely simple present tense, simple past tense,degree of comparison, noun phrases, and auxiliary verbs. The results of theinterview show that the process of mastery of a second language wasobtained through watching films in English or films with English subtitles,reading novels in English, and listening to English songs. Keywords: English Grammar; Second Language Acquisition; Speaking

scholarly journals L2 TENSE TRANSFER IN EFL LEARNING

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatjana Grujić ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Adult Students ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
The Past ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
Adverbial Clauses

In second language acquisition (SLA) transfer is predominantly explored as either positive or negative influence of learners’ first language (L1) on their second/foreign language (L2) performance. Studies in this field serve not only to describe the learner’s interlanguage, but also to inform, improve and refine foreign language teaching. However, the scope of SLA studies is such that it leaves the other transfer direction under-researched (L2 to L1), assuming that once the learner’s L1 system has fully developed, their L1 competence will not be subject to change. More recent studies of adult bilinguals have shown a bidirectional interaction between the two linguistic systems: not only does L1 influence L2, but L2 influences L1 as well. In this study, conducted among adult students of English (B2 to C1 level language users, according to CEFR), we examine the influence of English as a foreign language upon Serbian as a native tongue in terms of tense transfer. More precisely, the study explores how the subjects interpret and translate the secondary meanings of the English past tense. The basic meaning of the past tense is to locate an event (or state) in the past. However, in its secondary meanings (backshift past in reported clauses, counterfactual present in adverbial clauses of condition and ‘past subjunctive’ when expressing wishes and regrets) it does not refer to the past time. The error analysis of students’ English to Serbian translations provides evidence of L2 influence: learners tend to use the Serbian past rather than the present tense in their translations. Pedagogical implications of this study of misuse of L1 tense include focusing on explicit corrective feedback and polishing instructional materials.

scholarly journals Recasts, prompts and noticing: A comparative study

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 416-441
Author(s):  
Choo Siow Chin ◽  
Stefanie Pillai ◽  
Siti Zaidah Zainuddin
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Theoretical Construct ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Linguistic Feature ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Diary Writing ◽  
Esl Learners

Noticing has been regarded as an important theoretical construct in the mechanism of how corrective feedback (CF) facilitates second language acquisition. However, to date, only a paucity of CF research has examined noticing triggered by different types of CF (i.e., recasts vs. prompts). The study is intended to fill in the gap by examining the relationships between type of CF and level of noticing. To that end, 105 Malaysian ESL learners were asked to perform four communicative tasks during which recasts and prompts were provided contingent upon the encounter of past tense errors.  To assess noticing, the study has employed a triangulated method using multiple elicitation procedures including diary writing, stimulated recall, and exit questionnaire. The results of the study revealed that both recasts and prompts were able to induce noticing the corrective intent, noticing the target of CF or form, noticing the gap, and noticing the rule. However, contrary to what was expected, recasts were able to promote higher levels of noticing across all noticing categories. Moreover, the greatest difference between recasts and prompts was found in noticing the gap. The study suggests that CF that provides exemplars of the target linguistic feature may promote higher levels of noticing the gap which may, in turn, increase the effectiveness of CF in L2 acquisition. 

Recent change in non-present perfect constructions in British and American English

Corpora ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinyue Yao ◽  
Peter Collins
Keyword(s):  
American English ◽  
Recent Change ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Present Perfect ◽  
British English ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
General Decline ◽  
Modal Auxiliaries

A number of recent studies of grammatical categories in English have identified regional and diachronic variation in the use of the present perfect, suggesting that it has been losing ground to the simple past tense from the eighteenth century onwards ( Elsness, 1997 , 2009 ; Hundt and Smith, 2009 ; and Yao and Collins, 2012 ). Only a limited amount of research has been conducted on non-present perfects. More recently, Bowie and Aarts’ (2012) study using the Diachronic Corpus of Present-Day Spoken English has found that certain non-present perfects underwent a considerable decline in spoken British English (BrE) during the second half of the twentieth century. However, comparison with American English (AmE) and across various genres has not been made. This study focusses on the changes in the distribution of four types of non-present perfects (past, modal, to-infinitival and ing-participial) in standard written BrE and AmE during the thirty-year period from the early 1960s to the early 1990s. Using a tagged and post-edited version of the Brown family of corpora, it shows that contemporary BrE has a stronger preference for non-present perfects than AmE. Comparison of four written genres of the same period reveals that, for BrE, only the change in the overall frequency of past perfects was statistically significant. AmE showed, comparatively, a more dramatic decrease, particularly in the frequencies of past and modal perfects. It is suggested that the decline of past perfects is attributable to a growing disfavour for past-time reference in various genres, which is related to long-term historical shifts associated with the underlying communicative functions of the genres. The decline of modal perfects, on the other hand, is more likely to be occurring under the influence of the general decline of modal auxiliaries in English.

Reflecting on task-based language teaching from an Instructed SLA perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Nina Spada
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Distinguishing Characteristic ◽  
Instructional Activities ◽  
Instructed Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Theory Research ◽  
Instructed Sla

Abstract Task-based language teaching (TBLT) and instructed second language acquisition (ISLA) have much in common in terms of theory, research, and educational relevance. The distinguishing characteristic between the two is that TBLT adopts communicative tasks as the central unit for instruction and assessment, whereas ISLA comprises a broader range of instructional activities and assessment practices. In this presentation, I focus on two of the conference themes: Instruction and Outcomes. With respect to Instruction, I draw attention to the pedagogical timing of form-focused instruction (FFI) and corrective feedback. I discuss relevant studies within ISLA and TBLT and argue that TBLT is particularly well-suited to investigating questions about the timing of FFI. In discussing Outcomes, I consider differences in how outcomes are measured in TBLT (i.e. performance) and ISLA (i.e. development) and the different aspects of language examined within each, for example, accuracy, implicit/explicit knowledge in ISLA and complexity, accuracy and fluency in TBLT. I discuss underlying similarities between fluency and implicit knowledge, how they are measured, and propose research to investigate the pedagogical timing of FFI in relation to fluency development. I conclude with a brief discussion of the need for a balance between theoretically and pedagogically motivated research within ISLA and TBLT.

Outcome of toddlers with specific expressive language delay

1990 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Rescorla ◽  
Ellen Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Expressive Language ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Language Delay ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Auxiliary Verbs ◽  
Language Problems ◽  
Articulation Disorders ◽  
Expressive Language Delay

ABSTRACTThis article describes a follow-up of 25 boys diagnosed as having specific expressive language delay (SELD) in the 24- to 31-month age period. At the time of diagnosis, all subjects had Bayley MDI scores above 85, Reynell Receptive Language Age scores within 4 months of their chronological age, and Reynell Expressive Language Age scores at least 5 months below chronological age; most had vocabularies of fewer than 50 words and few if any word combinations. At follow-up, 16 boys were 3 years old, 7 were 3½, and 2 were 4 years of age. When seen for follow-up, half the 25 boys still had very poor expressive language. These boys were speaking at best in short, telegraphic sentences, and many had moderately severe articulation disorders with quite poor intelligibility. The 12 boys with better outcome had a range of language skills. All spoke in sentences to some extent, and each displayed some mastery of early morphemes (prepositions, plurals, articles, progressive tense, and possessives). However, few if any of the children spoke in completely fluent, syntactically complex, and morphologically correct language. Problems with copula and auxiliary verbs, with past tense inflections, and with pronouns seemed especially common. This research suggests that children with SELD at 24 to 30 months are at considerable risk for continuing language problems.

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