scholarly journals Influence of native language and general English proficiency on the use of articles in English

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-121
Author(s):  
Selma Elyildirim
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Great Difficulty ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Article System ◽  
English Articles

Second language learners face a great difficulty in the use of English articles since their native language does not have an article system which is similar to the target language they learn. Turkish is one of the languages which have an article system marking the semantic features ‘definiteness’ or ‘specificity’ in different ways.  It encodes these features by using case morphology, word order, stress and tense-aspect modality.  Being aware of the fact that this difference and lack of an article system similar to English may cause problems to learners, this study investigates the acquisition of the English articles by Turkish learners.   The data used in the study came from a fill-in-the blank task and a cloze test.  The former included 20 test-sentences assessing the production of English articles in terms of definiteness and specificity whereas the latter had 20 blanks measuring the proficiency of learners. Thirty five English major students attending a university in Turkey participated in the study. Following the data collection, the data were analysed to find out the effect of the learners’ native language as well as their general English proficiency on the production of English articles.  The results provided supporting evidence that the participants had some difficulties in the production of the definite and indefinite articles in English. In view of this finding, this paper discusses both the results and pedagogical implications of the study. Keywords: English articles, definiteness, specificity, L1 influence, language proficiency

SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS' THEORIES ON THE USE OF ENGLISH ARTICLES

2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 451-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuko Goto Butler
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Article System ◽  
English Articles ◽  
Metalinguistic Knowledge ◽  
Qualitative Analyses

Although it is well known that many second language (L2) learners have trouble using articles “properly,” the primary causes of their difficulties remain unclear. This study addresses this problem by examining the metalinguistic knowledge of the English article system that learners employ when selecting articles in a given situation. By doing this, the present study attempts to better understand the process of “making sense” of the English article system by learners who are at different stages in their interlanguage development. Eighty Japanese college students with varying levels of English proficiency participated in this study. Immediately after completing a fill-in-the-article test, a structured interview was conducted to investigate the reasons for their article choices. The quantitative and qualitative analyses reveal a number of conceptual differences with regard to their considerations of the hearer's knowledge, specific reference, and countability, which may account for learners' errors in article use across different proficiency groups.

scholarly journals Evaluating the Russian Language Proficiency of Bilingual and Second Language Learners of Russian

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Tatiana Luchkina ◽  
Tania Ionin ◽  
Natalia Lysenko ◽  
Anastasia Stoops ◽  
Nadezhda Suvorkina
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Bilingual Speaker ◽  
Proficiency Assessment

The starting point of most experimental and clinical examinations of bilingual language development is the choice of the measure of participants’ proficiency, which affects the interpretation of experimental findings and has pedagogical and clinical implications. Recent work on heritage and L2 acquisition of Russian used varying proficiency assessment tools, including elicited production, vocabulary recognition, and in-house measures. Using such different approaches to proficiency assessment is problematic if one seeks a coherent vision of bilingual speaker competence at different acquisition stages. The aim of the present study is to provide a suite of validated bilingual assessment materials designed to evaluate the language proficiency speakers of Russian as a second or heritage language. The materials include an adaptation of a normed language background questionnaire (Leap-Q), a battery of participant-reported proficiency measures, and a normed cloze deletion test. We offer two response formats in combination with two distinct scoring methods in order to make the testing materials suited for bilingual Russian speakers who self-assess as (semi-) proficient as well as for those whose bilingualism is incipient, or declining due to language attrition. Data from 52 baseline speakers and 503 speakers of Russian who reported dominant proficiency in a different language are analyzed for test validation purposes. Obtained measures of internal and external validity provide evidence that the cloze deletion test reported in this study reliably discriminates between dissimilar target language attainment levels in diverse populations of bilingual and multilingual Russian speakers.

scholarly journals LEXICO-SEMANTIC PECULIARITIES OF J. MARTIN’S NOVEL «THE GAME OF THRONES» AND THEIR TRANSLATION INTO UKRAINIAN

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (87) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olesia Kolodiy ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Native Language ◽  
Literary Work ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Color Scheme ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Unique Style ◽  
Game Of Thrones

The article reveals the expediency of using the plurality of translation of a literary work as a variant of reproduction of lexical and semantic peculiarities in the target language. It has been confirmed that such translations allow us to compare the individual-unique style of the author of the novel in his verbal-aesthetic picture of the world, to reproduce the stylistic features of that era, to create the language of mythical creatures, to depict the inner emotional state of the main characters. The comparative analysis of the texts of the Ukrainian variants of translations of the novel is of great value as they help us to evaluate the translators’ strategies for the adequate reproduction of the lexical and semantic features of the novel of the original by means of the native language. It has been found out that the problem of adequate translation of the original work into the target language is a major problem in the theory and practice of translation and the preservation of the original style and proper selection of lexical and stylistic equivalents is one of the key criteria for its adequacy. Particular attention was paid to the study of the preservation of the style and color scheme of the original, as their loss can make a false impression on the reader. It has been proved that the most commonly used methods of translation are calque, transliteration which translators resort to in most cases to reproduce the lexical and semantic peculiarities of the original into the target language. Each of the Ukrainian translations of J. Martin's novel "Game of Thrones" performed by N.I. Tysovska, V. Danmer and V. Brodov is unique, in which translators tried to find such ways of reproducing the text of the original by means of the native language that would correspond to the original as closely as possible. It has been confirmed that the author’s newly-coined words caused the greatest difficulties, which Ukrainian translators tried to reproduce with the help of stylistically marked vocabulary items, however, this approach has not always been successful because it has complicated the process of understanding the novel by modern readers.

Papier Is Geduldig

1993 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 45-52
Author(s):  
J.P.M. Jansen
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Classroom Situation ◽  
Written Form ◽  
Correspondence Course

Translation usually is a solitary activity, but it is often taught in the classroom and not as a skill (or art) leading to a goal, a text in a target language, but as a means of helping language learners to increase their awareness of the subtleties and intricacies of a foreign language. Unfortunately, teachers are rarely sufficiently equipped to anticipate all the variants which students may come up with in a classroom situation. It may difficult to convince students that certain options are wrong, and others acceptable only in a certain context. When the translation training does not take place in the classroom, but rather in a written form, on the basis of a large number of translations sent in by students, the teacher/author can select all variants in the quiet of his study, and argue his choice carefully and with an eye for details. An added advantage is that the teacher/author will be able to distinguish between very common mistakes, between variants which occur very often, and those that are very rare. For more than a century, the Dutch magazine De Talen [the languages] has offered students (in the broadest sense of the word) the opportunity to increase their language proficiency through carefully discussed translations. Five times a year, students are offered texts in French, German, Spanish and English for translation into Dutch, and five times Dutch texts must be translated into these foreign languages. Subscribers to the magazine can send in their attempts at a translation, using a pseudonym. These translations are corrected and used as the basis for a thorough discussion of all possible variants. It does not concern a correspondence course, although the submitted translations are graded, and these grades are published under the pseudonym. It is assumed that the mother tongue of the subscribers is Dutch, although quite a number of people whose native language is not Dutch use the magazine to improve their command of Dutch. This article, by the editor of the English part of the magazine, describes in some detail the history and setup of De Talen.

The role of proficiency and pair formation method in language-related episodes: A study of young CLIL learners’ interaction

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110243
Author(s):  
Francisco Gallardo del Puerto ◽  
María Basterrechea
Keyword(s):  
Primary Education ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Pair Formation ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Collaborative Task ◽  
Grade 5 ◽  
Formation Method ◽  
Interactive Behaviour

Little is known about young CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) learners’ attention to formal aspects of the target language when engaged in collaborative task-based interaction. Previous research on language-related episodes (LREs) with other populations indicates that certain variables (e.g. target language proficiency or pair formation method) may play a role in the production of LREs. This study investigates the amount, types and resolution of LREs produced by primary education CLIL learners in a collaborative picture-ordering + story-telling task depending on two variables – L2 English proficiency (grade 5 dyads vs. grade 6 dyads) and pairing method (proficiency-matched dyads vs. student self-selected dyads). Findings indicate that young CLIL learners’ interactive behaviour in L2 English, at least in terms of LRE production, does not differ as a consequence of target language proficiency, whereas pair formation method exerts some influence, self-selected pairs producing and resolving more meaning-based LREs. No differences were found for form-focused LREs.

scholarly journals Code-Switching and Language Proficiency in Bilingual Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Maria Kapantzoglou ◽  
Julie Esparza Brown ◽  
Lauren M. Cycyk ◽  
Gerasimos Fergadiotis
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Who Code ◽  
English Speaking

Purpose This study examined the frequency of code-switching by Spanish–English-speaking children as a function of language proficiency in each language and diagnosis (developmental language disorder [DLD] or typical language development [TLD]). Method Sixty-two Spanish–English-speaking children, 5–7 years of age, participated in this study (24 with DLD and 38 with TLD). Language samples were used to determine the level of language proficiency in each language as a continuum of performance. Correlational analyses were conducted to evaluate the relationship between Spanish and English language proficiency and the frequency of code-switching considering the total number of code-switched words, intrasentential code-switching (i.e., number of sentences/C-units with code-switched parts), and intersentential code-switching (i.e., code-switched sentences/C-units). Negative binomial and zero-inflated Poisson regressions were conducted to evaluate whether the frequency of code-switched words, code-switched parts, and code-switched sentences is different across children with DLD and their peers with TLD, controlling for Spanish and English proficiency. Results When Spanish was the target language, lower proficiency in Spanish was associated with higher frequency of code-switches to English for the group with DLD, but not for their peers with TLD who code-switched to English regardless of their Spanish and English proficiency. There were no statistically significant effects of diagnosis on the frequency of code-switches. Conclusion Results indicate that code-switching occurs similarly across children with DLD and their peers with TLD; therefore, the frequency and type of code-switches should not be used as an indicator of DLD.

scholarly journals Universal Grammar and Interlanguage Development

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daji He
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Interlanguage Development

Interlanguage Theory was first proposed by Selinker. It refers to the bridging language between the source language and target language constructed by the second language learners, which is a constantly dynamic moving toward the target language. Chomsky’s Universal Grammar (UG) has played an important role in expaining the native language acquisition. This paper, on the basis of UG’s impact on the native language, focuses on UG’s influence on the interlanguage development.

scholarly journals Neural representation of linguistic feature hierarchy reflects second-language proficiency

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni M. Di Liberto ◽  
Jingping Nie ◽  
Jeremy Yeaton ◽  
Bahar Khalighinejad ◽  
Shihab A. Shamma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Feature Representation ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Neural Encoding ◽  
Second Language Proficiency ◽  
Linguistic Feature

AbstractAcquiring a new language requires a simultaneous and gradual learning of multiple levels of linguistic attributes. Here, we investigated how this process changes the neural encoding of natural speech by assessing the encoding of the linguistic feature hierarchy in second-language listeners. Electroencephalography (EEG) signals were recorded during English story listening from native Mandarin speakers with varied English proficiency and from native English speakers. We measured the temporal response functions (TRF) for acoustic, phonemic, phonotactic, and semantic features in individual participants and found a main effect of proficiency on the linguistic encoding. This effect of second-language proficiency was particularly prominent on the neural encoding of phonemes, showing stronger encoding of “new” phonemic contrasts (i.e. English contrasts that do not exist in Mandarin) with increasing proficiency. Overall, we found that linguistic feature representation in nonnative listeners progressively converged to that of native listeners with proficiency, which enabled accurate decoding of language proficiency. This detailed view advances our understanding of the cortical processing of linguistic information in second-language learners and provides an objective measure of language proficiency.

EXTERNAL INDEPENDENT EVALUATION IN ENGLISH AS A CRITERION FOR ADMISSION TO MASTER`S DEGREE PROGRAMS IN UKRAINE: PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES

2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-50
Author(s):  
Л. Е. Бєловецька
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Degree Programs ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Independent Evaluation

The problem of external independent evaluation in English for admission Master`s degree programs in Ukraine is considered in the article. The perspective for further improvement of English teaching and learning standards at Ukrainian universities has been found. The correspondence to the CEFR basic levels and English proficiency has been identified. Conceptual Principles of State Policy on the Development of English in the Field of Higher Education are considered. The study included 1546 participants. The age of students, who studied to gain the first higher education, was between 17 and 20. The students were not familiar with the structure of External Independent Evaluation and they have never passed it. The research was carried out during the period 2018–2019. The relevance of English language competence in the professional context is noted emphasized as a key point of the presented research. The necessity to provide a sufficient competitive level for Ukrainian graduates through improving correspondent English language training has been considered. The study is based on a study of reports by British experts and contemporary scientific publications presented international researchers have focused on the problems of internationalization and perspectives for Ukrainian universities in the English language dimension. The relevance of studying and adaptation of the UK higher education successful practice has been highlighted. The problems and potential ways of improving students` English language proficiency in the given context are identified. In particular, the study contains important recommendations regarding the number of contact hours and the required levels of English proficiency for the main groups of participants in the educational process in higher education according to international standards.

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