scholarly journals READABILITY OF ESL PICTURE BOOKS IN MALAYSIA

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adlina Ismail ◽  
Normah Yusof
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Common Core ◽  
Picture Books ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Computational Tool ◽  
Reading Materials ◽  
Word Concreteness ◽  
Reading Text ◽  
Readability Assessment

Predicting readability of a reading text for second language learners is important for teachers, educators, and other concerned parties to make sure the text matches targeted readers’ proficiency. Suitable reading materials would promote language development among readers, especially children. In Malaysia nowadays, English story books for children which are published locally can be easily found in libraries or bookstores. However, the readability of these reading materials has remained uncovered. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the readability of Malaysian English children story books on five aspects (narrativity, syntactic simplicity, word concreteness, referential cohesion and deep cohesion) as provided by the computational tool, Coh-Metrix Common Core Text Ease Readability Assessor (T.E.R.A). Ten local English children story books were selected as samples. It was found that the majority of the samples have high narrativity, syntactic simplicity, and word concreteness but average referential cohesion and deep cohesion. The result revealed that there is lack of attention given to the aspect of cohesion in children story books. This study recommends that children book writers consider the readability of ESL children story books to help children’s language development.  Keywords: readability, assessment of reading materials, Coh-Metrix, picture books, childrenCite as: Ismail, A., & Yusof, N. (2016). Readability of ESL picture books in Malaysia. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 1(1), 60-70.

scholarly journals CORRELATING WRITER’S BLOCK AND ESL LEARNERS’ WRITING QUALITY

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 604 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Paul O. Dela Rosa ◽  
Cecilia F. Genuino
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Common Core ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Computational Tool ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Writer's Block ◽  
Correlational Design ◽  
Word Concreteness ◽  
Writer’S Block ◽  
Esl Learners

Despite the importance of writing in the language learners’ development, there are difficulties faced by English as a Second Language (ESL) learners that stem from various factors. One of them is the presence of writer’s block that could affect writing quality. Therefore, this study aims to describe writer’s block, along with a statistically-laden analysis of the possible correlation between the blocking experiences of 55 Filipino ESL learners and the levels of easability and readability of the essays they had written.  This research employed a descriptive-correlational design using The Questionnaire in Identifying Writer’s Block (QIWB) to gauge the extent of occurrence of writer’s block and the Coh-Metrix Common Core Text Easability and Readability Assessor (hereafter Coh-Metrix T.E.R.A.), an online computational tool, to measure the levels of easability and readability of the essays. The result shows that the learners generally experienced writer’s block, and their essays collectively showed high levels of easability on the basis of narrativity, referential cohesion, and deep cohesion. However, the essays were low in syntactic simplicity and word concreteness, while the level of readability computed exceeded that of the reading ability of 10th-grade learners. Test of correlation revealed that there exists negligible relationship between writer’s block and the overall easability and readability levels of the essays, though a significant but a weak relationship was documented between lateness and word concreteness and with premature editing and deep cohesion, respectively.

A hypertext approach to foreign language reading

2003 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 91-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeong-Bae Son
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Computer Assisted Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Reading ◽  
Reading Materials ◽  
Reading Text ◽  
Computer Based

This article reports the results of a study conducted to examine the use of three different reading text formats: paper-based format (PF), computerbased non-hypertext format (NHF), and computer-based hypertext format (HF). It investigates foreign language learners’ reactions to the three text formats, focusing particularly on the usefulness of hyperlinks in computermediated text to provide readers with optional assistance during independent reading. Data collected from an interview with a group of Korean as a foreign language (KFL) students are presented and discussed. The results of this study show that the students considered the use of hyperlinks to be helpful and useful for their learning and suggest that it is important to look at the way in which reading materials and supporting information are presented when designing or selecting computer-assisted language learning (CALL) programs.

The acquisition of the semantic values of the Spanish present tense in L2 and heritage Spanish

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 462-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Cuza ◽  
Julio César López Otero
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Patterns Of Use ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Present Tense ◽  
Spanish Heritage Speakers ◽  
Semantic Values

We examine the acquisition of the semantic values of the Spanish present tense among second language learners and Spanish heritage speakers, an area so far underexplored. We predict bilingualism effects evidenced in lower patterns of use, acceptance and preference of the simple present with an ongoing meaning, as well as preference for the progressive in ongoing and habitual contexts. Furthermore, we expect the heritage speakers to outperform the L2 learners, and to behave closer to native speakers. In contrast to our expectations, we found overextension of the simple present to ongoing situations and to contexts where the present progressive is preferred. The heritage speakers behaved closer to the native speakers, suggesting age-related effects in language development. We argue for morphosemantic convergence towards the less aspectually restrictive configuration.

Six Principles of Language Development: Implications for Second Language Learners

2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 404-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haruka Konishi ◽  
Junko Kanero ◽  
Max R. Freeman ◽  
Roberta Michnick Golinkoff ◽  
Kathy Hirsh-Pasek
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners

Starting Over

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse Snedeker ◽  
Joy Geren ◽  
Carissa L. Shafto
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Developmental Patterns ◽  
Grammatical Morphemes ◽  
Parental Reports

Language development is characterized by predictable shifts in the words children produce and the complexity of their utterances. Because acquisition typically occurs simultaneously with maturation and cognitive development, it is difficult to determine the causes of these shifts. We explored how acquisition proceeds in the absence of possible cognitive or maturational roadblocks, by examining the acquisition of English in internationally adopted preschoolers. Like infants, and unlike other second-language learners, these children acquire language from child-directed speech, without access to bilingual informants. Parental reports and speech samples were collected from 27 preschoolers, 3 to 18 months after they were adopted from China. These children showed the same developmental patterns in language production as monolingual infants (matched for vocabulary size). Early on, their vocabularies were dominated by nouns, their utterances were short, and grammatical morphemes were generally omitted. Children at later stages had more diverse vocabularies and produced longer utterances with more grammatical morphemes.

What Research Tells Us About Audio (and Video)

2021 ◽  
pp. 155-185
Author(s):  
Naomi S. Baron
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Written Text ◽  
Learning Platform ◽  
Learning Challenges ◽  
Reading Text ◽  
Common Technique ◽  
Audio Files

Chapter 7 explores the potential of audio as a learning platform. We lay the groundwork by looking at the historical relationship between spoken and written language, and at the evolution of recorded audio, from the phonograph up through books for the blind, books on tape, audiobooks, and podcasts. Compared with the research literature weighing reading in print versus digitally, relatively few studies have explored use of podcasts or audiobooks in educational settings, especially measured against reading equivalent written text. We review studies to date, distinguishing between audio files played alone (solo audio) and reading that combines listening to audio with following along in the text (audio + text). Simultaneous audio and text is a common technique with readers having learning challenges and with second language learners. Given rising use of video materials in education settings, we also consider research comparing viewing video versus reading text, and viewing video versus only listening to audio.

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