scholarly journals Effects of the Informal Contact on Learners L2 Proficiency: A Review of Five Studies

1985 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina M. Spada
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Measurement Instruments ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Number Of Factors

In this paper, the findings of studies investigating the effects of informal contact on adult classroom learners' second language abilities are discussed and a number of factors are proposed which might have contributed to their conflicting results. This will involve a close examination of five of these studies in terms of differences in: I) type of contact 2) type of measurement instruments 3) type of learner 4) differences in quantitative measures of contact S) intensity and duration of instruction 6) interactions between type of instruction and contact.

SOURCES OF VARIATION IN SECOND AND NATIVE LANGUAGE SPEAKING PROFICIENCY AMONG COLLEGE-AGED SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Mona Roxana Botezatu ◽  
Taomei Guo ◽  
Judith F. Kroll ◽  
Sarah Peterson ◽  
Dalia L. Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Language ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Speaking Proficiency ◽  
Sources Of Variation ◽  
Internal Sources ◽  
L1 And L2

Abstract We evaluated external and internal sources of variation in second language (L2) and native language (L1) proficiency among college students. One hundred and twelve native-English L2 learners completed measures of L1 and L2 speaking proficiency, working memory, and cognitive control and provided self-ratings of language exposure and use. When considering learner-external variation, we found that more frequent L2 exposure predicted higher L2 and L1 proficiency, while earlier L2 exposure predicted higher L2 proficiency, but poorer L1 maintenance. L1–L2 distance limited crosslinguistic transfer of print-to-sound mappings. When considering learner-internal variation, we found that L1 and L2 proficiency were highly correlated and that better working memory, but not cognitive control, accounted for additional variance in L2 and L1 proficiency. More frequent L2 exposure was associated with better cognitive control.

scholarly journals Lexical correlates of comprehensibility versus accentedness in second language speech

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 597-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
KAZUYA SAITO ◽  
STUART WEBB ◽  
PAVEL TROFIMOVICH ◽  
TALIA ISAACS
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Surface Level ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Lexical Content ◽  
Lexical Factors

The current project investigated the extent to which several lexical aspects of second language (L2) speech – appropriateness, fluency, variation, sophistication, abstractness, sense relations – interact to influence native speakers’ judgements of comprehensibility (ease of understanding) and accentedness (linguistic nativelikeness). Extemporaneous speech elicited from 40 French speakers of English with varied L2 proficiency levels was first evaluated by 10 native-speaking raters for comprehensibility and accentedness. Subsequently, the dataset was transcribed and analyzed for 12 lexical factors. Various lexical properties of L2 speech were found to be associated with L2 comprehensibility, and especially lexical accuracy (lemma appropriateness) and complexity (polysemy), indicating that these lexical variables are associated with successful L2 communication. In contrast, native speakers’ accent judgements seemed to be linked to surface-level details of lexical content (abstractness) and form (variation, morphological accuracy) rather than to its conceptual and contextual details (e.g., lemma appropriateness, polysemy).

Second language (L2) proficiency, socioeconomic status (SES), and intelligence (IQ) are significant predictors of cognitive control differences among young adult unbalanced Chinese–English bilinguals

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (04) ◽  
pp. 866-882 ◽  
Author(s):  
ZHILONG XIE ◽  
TERESA SIGNORELLI PISANO
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Incongruent Condition ◽  
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Conflict Monitoring ◽  
L2 Proficiency

The current study investigates how second-language (L2) proficiency contributes to cognitive control differences among three groups of unbalanced Chinese–English bilinguals matched for socioeconomic status (SES), intelligence (IQ), education, age, culture, and L1 background. A Flanker task and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) were administered to measure conflict monitoring, inhibition, and mental set shifting. ANOVA analyses revealed faster performance for the High-L2 Group compared to the Low-L2 Group in the congruent, neutral, and incongruent conditions of the Flanker task. However, there were no group differences on the WCST. Multiple step-wise regression analyses showed that L2 proficiency was a predictor for the Flanker task performance in all three conditions, SES in the neutral and the incongruent condition, and IQ in the congruent condition. These results suggest that L2 proficiency, along with SES and IQ, contribute significantly to cognitive control differences in conflict monitoring among young-adult bilinguals.

scholarly journals Contention Between English as a Second Language and Special Education Services for Emergent Bilinguals with Disabilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-56
Author(s):  
Solange A. Lopes-Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Emergent Bilinguals ◽  
Special Education Services ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Related Services ◽  
Education Services ◽  
School Settings ◽  
Steady Growth

The debate surrounding the prioritization of services for emergent bilinguals with disabilities is an area in need of attention. The generalized belief that disability-related services must take priority over English as a Second Language services suggests that there is a critical need to develop school professionals’ understanding that these learners, in addition to receiving special education services, need substantial support in developing their second language abilities. The steady growth of emergent bilinguals and multilinguals in public schools, that is, students acquiring English as a new language, calls for well-trained practitioners able to meet these students’ diverse linguistic, academic, cultural, emotional, and intellectual needs. The typical challenges this population faces acquiring a new language have, well too often, been misrepresented, neglected, or led them to programs for students with true disabilities. However, when emergent bilinguals are legitimately referred to special education, it is not uncommon for their disability-related needs to be prioritized over their English as a Second Language-related needs, and they end up not receiving the support they need to develop social and academic skills in the new language. This review article is intended to stimulate reflection on the types of services being delivered to emergent bilinguals and multilinguals with disabilities in U.S. public school settings.

Relationships in the Learning Process of Reading Comprehension in Spanish and English

2020 ◽  
pp. 281-301
Author(s):  
Raúl Gutiérrez-Fresneda
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Complex Task ◽  
Written Information ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental

English is one of the most studied and used languages worldwide. The process of acquiring reading is a complex task that involves mastering a set of strategies aimed at assimilating written information by the reader. Different studies have shown that the process of understanding reading in the mother tongue has certain similarities with this same learning in English because in both situations semantic and contextual information is used, but there are also several authors who point out that there are distinctions between reading models in a first and second language. This chapter delves into these relationships, which focus on analysing the variables that most influence the learning of comprehensive capacity in Spanish and English. A quasi-experimental design of comparison between groups with pre-test and post-test measurements was used. The study involved 120 students aged between 8 and 9. The results indicate that there are a number of factors that are related in learning to read in Spanish and English.

scholarly journals The Emergence of Second Language Categorisation of the English Article Construction

Languages ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Helen Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Functional Categories ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Form Function ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
English Articles

This study examines the emergent cognitive categorisation of the English article construction among second language (L2) learners. One hundred and fourteen Mandarin-L1 learners of English, divided into two L2 proficiency levels (low-to-intermediate and advanced), were measured by a computer-based cloze test for the accuracy and response time of appropriate use of English articles in sentential contexts. Results showed that when learners acquired the polysemous English article construction they demonstrated stronger competence in differentiating individual form-function mappings in the article construction. L2 learners’ patterns of article construction usage were shaped by semantic functions. Learners performed better on the definiteness category than on the non-definiteness categories, suggesting that learners were sensitive to the prototypicality of nominal grounding. Advanced learners demonstrated an increased sensitivity to semantic idiosyncrasy, but they lacked contextualised constructional knowledge. Competition among the functional categories and restructuring of functional categories are important ways of regularization that learners go through to acquire semantically complex systems such as articles.

Prototypical influence in second language acquisition: What now for the Aspect Hypothesis

2013 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin McManus
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
L2 Development ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Sentence Interpretation

AbstractThis paper presents empirical evidence on the development of aspect by English- and German-speaking university learners of French L2 collected from a spoken narrative task and a sentence interpretation task. Contrary to the Aspect Hypothesis's predictions, this study's results suggest that increased use of prototypical pairings goes in hand with increased L2 proficiency. Following a small but growing number of studies, this study questions the route of L2 development proposed by the Aspect Hypothesis.

Referring In a Second Language

1985 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 15-25
Author(s):  
Andy Bentlage
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Referential Communication ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Identification Task ◽  
School Students ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Data Analyses

Naming and describing are important aspects of referential communication (RC). In an investigation of RC in a second language (L2), 36 secondary school students, divided into three groups of 12 with different proficiency levels, had to work in pairs on a description/identification task involving twelve nonrepresentative shapes. One task session consisted of six trials which were performed in English. The results of three different data analyses (numbers of words, naming and describing, and referential strategies) showed that RC in L2 differs from RC in L1 in three aspects: nonnative speakers (NNS) need longer references for the shapes; NNS' final references are structurally more complex; NNS with a lower L2 proficiency use their L1 more often than NNS with a higher L2 proficiency.

Can research into the diagnostic testing of reading in a second or foreign language contribute to SLA research?

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 30-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.Charles Alderson ◽  
Ari Huhta
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Diagnostic Tests ◽  
Diagnostic Testing ◽  
Language Testing ◽  
General Level ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Potential Synergy

Language testing researchers have recently shown interest in diagnostic testing. However, diagnostic testing requires a better understanding of language abilities at a less general level than has been normal in language testing, and this has posed challenges to testers to define their diagnostic constructs both theoretically and operationally. In theory, second language acquisition (SLA) should be able to offer insights into the construct of reading in a second or foreign language (S/FL), and testing ought to be able to base diagnostic tests of S/FL reading on theoretical insights from SLA. It is, however, unclear whether this happens in practice. In this paper we examine the potential synergy between second language acquisition and second and foreign language testing, and we report on progress in three inter-related research projects into S/FL reading.

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