Children's Learning of Unfamiliar Phonological Sequences

1971 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 559-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorma Kuusinen ◽  
Eero Salin
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Children’S Learning ◽  
Opposite Trend ◽  
Phonological Rules ◽  
Children's Learning

4 groups of 15 4-, 6-, 8-, and 10-yr.-old children learned nonsense phonological sequences that varied in grammaticality by violating 0, 1, or 2 phonological rules of Ss' native language. The youngest age group made fewer errors in learning the most nongrammatical phonological sequences than in learning grammatical ones. With the 10- and 8-yr.-olds an opposite trend was found. The differences were not statistically significant. Implications for second language learning were discussed.

Neural systems of second language learning are shaped by native language

NeuroImage ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Hai Tan ◽  
John A. Spinks ◽  
Charles A. Perfetti ◽  
Peter T. Fox ◽  
Jia-Hong Gao
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Neural Systems

How subtle differences in orthography influence conceptual interpretation

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arina Banga ◽  
Esther Hanssen ◽  
Robert Schreuder ◽  
Anneke Neijt
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Linguistic Relativity ◽  
Noun Compounds ◽  
Linking Element

The present study investigates linguistic relativity. The units of writing investigated are e and en, which are used to represent units of language in Dutch, Frisian, and Afrikaans. Dutch has homographic forms in the plural suffix -en and the linking element of noun-noun compounds en. Frisian does not have homography of this kind, while Afrikaans has a different homography. This raises the question whether second language learners of Dutch consistently interpret the linking en in Dutch noun-noun compounds as plural in the way that native speakers do. Plurality ratings for Dutch modifiers obtained from native Dutch speakers are compared with ratings from Frisian-Dutch bilinguals and Afrikaaners learning Dutch as L2. Significant differences relating to orthography are observed. We therefore argue that differing orthographic conventions in one’s native language (L1) can lead to different interpretations for the same everyday words written in Dutch (L2). Orthography thus provides an example of linguistic relativity. Keywords: linguistic relativity; second language learning; morphology; compounding; linking element; plurality; homography; Dutch; Frisian; Afrikaans

scholarly journals THE INFLUENCE OF INDONESIAN PROSODIC FEATURES ON ENGLISH WORD STRESS PRODUCTION

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Rudha Widagsa ◽  
Sri Wiyanah ◽  
Primasari Wahyuni
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
English Word ◽  
Prosodic Features ◽  
Limited Knowledge ◽  
Word Stress

Generally, word stress tends to be ignored and is not considered a serious problem in Indonesian EFL; most teachers only focus on lexical and grammatical aspects of English. In fact, the prosodic features existing in English greatly affect meaning. This research, therefore, is intended to find out how Indonesian Learners of English (ILE) produce the English word stress. The stressed syllables were identified by using the highest pitch in each word. This research involved 20 respondents whose mother tongue is Indonesian. PRAAT software was applied to analyze the recordings, including measuring the pitch of each word. Word stress is indicated by the highest pitch of each word. The lowest pitch indicates weak stress. The result illustrated that ILE produces inappropriate word stress in second language learning. Most of them are not able to distinguish between strong and weak stressed syllables. This is because in their native language, prosodic features, such as word stress, do not prevail. Thus, English word stress production was heavily influenced by Indonesian features of stress. From the 36 words that become the instrument of this research, less than 50% were pronounced correctly, in most cases, and the highest pitch fell on last syllables. The absence of prosodic features in Indonesian language and limited knowledge on English phonetics drive the ILE to pronunciation error.�

On the issue of completeness in second language acquisition

1990 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacquelyn Schachter
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
Adult Second Language Acquisition

The issue of completeness in adult second language acquisition is critical in the development of a theory of second language acquisition. Assuming the Chomskyan definition of core grammar as being those aspects of the language determined by the interaction of the innately specified Universal Grammar and the input to which the learner is exposed, we need to ask if it is possible for an adult learner of a second language to attain native-speaker competence in the core aspects of the grammar of the second language. This paper examines evidence for presence or absence of one principle of UG, Subjacency, in the grammars of groups of proficient nonnative speakers of English. There are three groups whose native languages - Korean, Chinese, Indonesian - differ from English with regard to Subjacency, Korean showing no evidence of it, Chinese and Indonesian showing partial evidence of it. There is one group whose native language, Dutch, shows the full range of Subjacency effects that English does. If all groups show the same Subjacency effects in English that native speakers do, then it must be the case UG is still available for adult second language learning and completeness in second language grammars is possible; if not, then completeness cannot be included as a possible characteristic of adult second language acquisition. Proficient nonnative university students with the above native languages were given grammaticality judgement tests on a set of sentences containing a variety of structures (islands) and Subjacency violations involving those structures. Analysis showed that though all groups were able to correctly judge grammatical sentences (containing islands) as grammatical, only the Dutch group was able to correctly judge ungrammatical sentences (containing Subjacency violations) as ungrammatical; the Korean subjects performed randomly on this task. This native language effect was shown not to be due to attribute variables, such as age of first exposure to English, number of months in an English-speaking country, number of years of English study, etc. The results support the conclusion that completeness is not a possible property of adult-acquired grammars since adults no longer have access to UG for the second language learning process.

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