Anna's Story: How a Ukrainian Orphan's Acquisition of English as a Second Language Transformed Her Life

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-119
Author(s):  
Rebecca Allen ◽  
Alex Nakonechnyi ◽  
Mary Sovik Benedetti
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Theory ◽  
Educational Psychology ◽  
Adopted Children ◽  
Institutional Agents

This article presents a case study of an adult Ukrainian orphan, Anna, who acquired English as a second and accessed U.S. higher education despite the fact that adopted children or aged out orphans face a unique constellation of educational and psychological challenges in language learning. This article presents Anna's story in her own voice and advocates for the specialized needs of the underserved, often voiceless thousands of older orphans in war-stricken Ukraine. This article suggests that access to institutional agents and social capital played a key role in Anna's success. Of interest to researchers, the article postulates common, current language learning theory perhaps may not fully explain the distinct processes of language acquisition by institutionalized, language-delayed children. The article also offers tangible lessons for educators of victims of trauma, and would thus be of interest to practitioners as well as researchers in the areas of language acquisition and educational psychology.

scholarly journals A CASE STUDY OF FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO SUCCESSFUL SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Terri Chen
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Personality Characteristics ◽  
Single Individual ◽  
English Speaker ◽  
Learning Success

Every case of second language learning is different, but they are often influenced by systematic factors. What causes a learner to succeed or fail? In this case study, the language learning experiences of a single nonnative English speaker who successfully acquired English sheds light on the interplay between several of these aspects. An interview with a single adult subject reveals that for this particular individual, a high aptitude, as well as identity and personality characteristics that aligned with an openness to experience and learning in general, were more effective than factors of motivation. While identifying how and why a single individual may be successful or unsuccessful might not be generalizable to all learners, it can serve as a tool in helping to understand differences in L2 learning success.  

Informal Learning in Second Language Acquisition

2019 ◽  
pp. 1111-1122
Author(s):  
Helen, Yeh Wai Man
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
And Performance

This chapter has investigated the importance of informal language learning in second language acquisition through a case study of two ESL learners. The effect of various kinds of informal learning with various resources on language proficiency and performance are discussed in relation to Bennett's model (2012). The case study shows that an “intake-type” informal environment can provide input to the language acquisition and self-directed learning and is crucial to effective language learning. Through the interviews with the subject learners, it can be seen that the learner with higher English proficiency and performance has been using self-directed language learning throughout his childhood and youth whereas the learner with lower English proficiency and performance generally has adopted tacit learning, which seems to be less effective in informal learning. Hence, self-directed learning should be promoted in schools and colleges by raising students' awareness of its importance and promoting learning-to-learn strategies.

scholarly journals SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION BEYOND CRITICAL AGE: A CASE STUDY OF AN OLD SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNER

2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-43
Author(s):  
Jawaria Samiya Siddiqui
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Longitudinal Design ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
Second Language Learner ◽  
Deviant Case

This paper investigates the factors that facilitate/hinder Second Language Learning. The two factors that the study focuses on are age and motivation. Role of motivation in relation to age is discussed of a deviant case using Qualitative Paradigm, and the data is analyzed using Narrative Inquiry, Case Study and Retrospective Longitudinal design to find out if motivation plays any significant role in terms of achieving successful second language competence. It is a common belief that people who start young to learn a Second Language perform better than the old learners. However, the results indicate that this is not true in many cases, as this study on a deviant case shows that motivation plays a very important role in achieving successful Second Language Acquisition. If the learners are intrinsically motivated and are motivated from the beginning of their learning journey irrespective of their age then learning becomes easier.

scholarly journals ACQUISITION OF ARABIC AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN EARLY CHILDREN IN ISLAMIC KINDERGARTEN

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-168
Author(s):  
Abdul Aziz ◽  
Siti Khoirun Niswah ◽  
Faisal Mahmuoud Adam Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Opening And Closing ◽  
Case Study Methods

It is believed that memorizing the Qur’an would be able to improve the acquisition of a second language, especially Arabic language, particularly for early childhood. This is because children have quite sharp hearing, so they quickly acquire Arabic language as their second language. The language acquisition is done by listening and kinesthetic methods. For this purpose, the study aims to describe the process of acquiring Arabic in early childhood at Daarut Tahfidz lil Athfal Malang. Researchers applied descriptive qualitative research and case study methods. Data obtained by observation and interviews. The results showed that learning activities to memorize the Qur’an can accelerate language acquisition in early childhood who previously had not been able to pronounce sentences perfectly. At the opening and closing of the lesson, the teacher in the class always reminds the mufradât (vocabulary) that has been delivered, so that it will strengthen their memory in Arabic language. The research is expected to provide an overview of the importance of providing Arabic language learning from an early age in order to strengthen Islamic teachings from an early age.

Informal Learning in Second Language Acquisition

2015 ◽  
pp. 52-63
Author(s):  
Helen, Yeh Wai Man
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Informal Learning ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
And Performance

This chapter has investigated the importance of informal language learning in second language acquisition through a case study of two ESL learners. The effect of various kinds of informal learning with various resources on language proficiency and performance are discussed in relation to Bennett's model (2012). The case study shows that an “intake-type” informal environment can provide input to the language acquisition and self-directed learning and is crucial to effective language learning. Through the interviews with the subject learners, it can be seen that the learner with higher English proficiency and performance has been using self-directed language learning throughout his childhood and youth whereas the learner with lower English proficiency and performance generally has adopted tacit learning, which seems to be less effective in informal learning. Hence, self-directed learning should be promoted in schools and colleges by raising students' awareness of its importance and promoting learning-to-learn strategies.

scholarly journals Effect of Gamification on students’ motivation and learning achievement in Second Language Acquisition within higher education: a literature review 2011-2019

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Nadia Azzouz Boudadi ◽  
Mar Gutiérrez-Colón
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Educational Benefits ◽  
Motivation And Engagement ◽  
Motivation And Learning

<h4>This paper focuses on a fairly new motivational technique, the so-called Gamification, which consists of introducing game mechanics in non-game environments to promote motivation and engagement. By the turn of the 21rst century, Gamification took off in the business field and soon after became an attractive concept for researchers and professionals in education as it appears to be an increasingly popular method to motivate learners. Nevertheless, it is still a nascent field in terms of empirical evidence available to firmly support its educational benefits. This paper intends to shed some more light on this topic through a comprehensive review of literature published in the most prominent journals. The present study is framed within the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) in higher education and Computer-Assisted Language Learning, and focuses on the effects of gamified learning environments on student’s motivation and learning. A Meta-analysis method was used to explore relevant empirical research published between 2011 and 2019. After reviewing a corpus of 68  papers drawn from the leading databases Scopus and Web Of Science, and from which only 15 could be included in the study, we can point out two main findings: (i) there is still very limited literature in the field of SLA and, (ii) results seem to be predominantly positive in terms of motivation and engagement but only a few studies confirm clear interconnections with learning outcomes. The results suggest a lack of solid correlations between Gamification, motivation and cognitive processes. </h4>

scholarly journals A Survey of the Use of English Vocabulary Mnemonic Strategies by Non-English Majors

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1656
Author(s):  
Yiying Wang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Theory ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
English Majors ◽  
Traditional Language

Vocabulary can be regarded as an absolutely necessary part of language learning. Since the late 1970s, there have been a great lot of researches by native English learners on English vocabulary mnemonic strategies. Recently, many experts who are in the field of second language acquisition have been studying and researching all kinds of mnemonic strategies. But few researches focus on the study of the use of mnemonic strategies by non-English majors. Therefore, this investigation study focuses on the use of mnemonic strategies and the relevance between the strategies and the vocabulary grades. This study will investigate some subjects by means of a questionnaire survey to collect explicit data. And by analyzing the relevance between the strategies and the grades, this study can provide some effective suggestions about vocabulary learning. According to the research, the strategy used most frequently is repetition strategy. Because of the influence of traditional language learning theory, most students choose to use repetition strategy. And we can get that students should try more strategies to memorize words and teachers also should introduce more strategies to students.

scholarly journals THE INFLUENCE OF FIRST LANGUAGE ON THE PRONUNCIATION OF SECOND LANGUAGE (A CASE STUDY OF THE MEMBERS OF ENGLISH CLUB AT MTS SALAFIYAH SYAFIIYAH MUMBULSARI JEMBER)

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nailul Authar
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Negative Transfer ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
First Language ◽  
Definition Of

The first language will always influence the second language acquisition. The influences involve all parts of language learning such language skills (speaking, reading, listening, and writing) and language components (vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation). In particular, this current study focuses on investigating the influence of first language on the pronunciation of second language. It is found that there is a negative transfer got by most of the members of English club at MTS Salafiyah Syafiiyah Mumbulsari Jember. The respondents make more mistakes or errors because of the interference of their L1 to the L2 as a result of negative transfer. This paper is divided into seven parts. Those are introduction, the definition of LI and L2, the definition and features of pronunciation, research design, and pronunciation test given to the respondent, result, discussion, and conclusion.

Assessment : Basic Concepts, Thoughtful Decisions

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-21
Author(s):  
Milton Raul Licona Luna ◽  
Elizabeth Alvarado Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Assessment For Learning ◽  
Continuous Assessment ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Basic Concepts ◽  
Education In Mexico

Institutions from basic to higher education in Mexico that offer courses of English as a Foreign Language rely heavily on the administering of assessment, usually a formal type of assessment. However, the literature shows how important it is the involvement of other types of assessment in the classroom for effective language learning to take place. For instance, assessment for learning, which consist of a continuous assessment where learners receive feedback so greater learning occurs, what is more, it enables teachers to modify their teaching ways as they reflect on the learners’ progress. To show how assessment is carried out in our context, this research project focuses on a case study within the CAADI from FOD in the UANL.

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