scholarly journals Acquiring Word Order in Slovak as a Foreign Language: Comparison of Slavic and Non-Slavic Learners Utilizing Corpus Data

2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 353-370
Author(s):  
Martina Ivanová ◽  
Miroslava Kyseľová ◽  
Anna Gálisová
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Error Distribution ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Written Texts ◽  
Corpus Data

Abstract The paper deals with the acquisition of Slovak word order in written texts of students of Slovak as a foreign language. Its attention is focused on identifying the correct and incorrect placement of enclitic components, and their erroneous usage is analysed with respect to different investigated variables (types of enclitic components, types of syntactic construction, distance from lexical/syntactic anchor, and realization in pre- or post-verbal position). The paper also pays attention to the error rate regarding individual proficiency levels of students, and error distribution in two language groups, Slavic and Non-Slavic learners, is compared.

scholarly journals Evaluating Korean learners’ English rhythm proficiency with measures of sentence stress

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 1363-1376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ho-Young Lee ◽  
Jieun Song
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
First Language ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Speech Rhythm ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Sentence Stress ◽  
Korean Learners

AbstractPrevious research has suggested that the production of speech rhythm in a second language (L2) or foreign language is influenced by the speaker’s first language rhythm. However, it is less clear how the production of L2 rhythm is affected by the learners’ L2 proficiency, largely due to the lack of rhythm metrics that show consistent results between studies. We examined the production of English rhythm by 75 Korean learners with the rhythm metrics proposed in previous studies (pairwise variability indices and interval measures). We also devised new sentence stress measures (i.e., accentuation rate and accentuation error rate) and investigated whether these new measures can quantify rhythmic differences between the learners. The results found no rhythm metric that significantly correlated with proficiency in the expected direction. In contrast, we found a significant correlation between the learners’ proficiency levels and both measures of sentence stress, showing that less-proficient learners placed sentence stress on more words and made more sentence stress errors. This demonstrates that our measures of sentence stress can be used as effective features for assessing Korean learners’ English rhythm proficiency.

scholarly journals Bilingual advantage in early EFL pronunciation accuracy of German 4th-graders

2021 ◽  
pp. 136700692199681
Author(s):  
Teresa Kieseier
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Social Background ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Error Sources ◽  
Common Error ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Background Factors ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Error Types

Aims and Objectives: We compared speech accuracy and pronunciation patterns between early learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) with different language backgrounds. We asked (1) whether linguistic background predicts pronunciation outcomes, and (2) if error sources and substitution patterns differ between monolinguals and heterogeneous bilinguals. Methodology: Monolingual and bilingual 4th-graders ( N = 183) at German public primary schools participated in an English picture-naming task. We further collected linguistic, cognitive and social background measures to control for individual differences. Data and Analysis: Productions were transcribed and rated for accuracy and error types by three independent raters. We compared monolingual and bilingual pronunciation accuracy in a linear mixed-effects regression analysis controlling for background factors at the individual and institutional level. We further categorized all error types and compared their relative frequency as well as substitution patterns between different language groups. Findings: After background factors were controlled for, bilinguals (irrespective of specific L1) significantly outperformed their monolingual peers on overall pronunciation accuracy. Irrespective of language background, the most frequent error sources overlapped, affecting English sounds which are considered marked, are absent from the German phoneme inventory, or differ phonetically from a German equivalent. Originality: This study extends previous work on bilingual advantages in other domains of EFL to less researched phonological skills. It focuses on overall productive skills in young FL learners with limited proficiency and provides an overview over the most common error sources and substitution patterns in connection to language background. Significance/Implications: The study highlights that bilingual learners may deploy additional resources in the acquisition of target language phonology that should be addressed in the foreign language classroom.

Tswana Concepts of Custom and Law

1983 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Schapera
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Written Texts

When discussing rules or modes of conduct, Tswana generally referred to them collectively asmekgwa lemelao(plural forms respectively ofmokgwaandmolao; le- is a conjunctive formative). In the standard Tswana dictionary,mokgwais defined as “a custom, a habit, a peculiarity”, andmolaoas “a law”; and when used together in a single phrase they were usually translated “custom(s) and law(s)” or, since the word order was flexible, “Law(s) and custom(s)”. The following are some examples, taken from written texts:In a Malete case (27.1938), a widow claimed and was awarded her late husband's cattle, but the judge told her that,kamokgwa lemolao waSeiswana, “according to Tswana custom and law”, she could not take them with away from her husband's ward.

N-gram use in EFL learners’ retelling and monologic tasks

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaopeng Zhang ◽  
Baoshan Zhao ◽  
Wenwen Li
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Association Strength ◽  
College Level ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Speaking Proficiency ◽  
N Gram

Abstract This study examined n-gram use in oral production by Chinese college-level English as a foreign language (EFL) learners at four distinct proficiency levels. Thirty indices regarding range, frequency, and association strength of bi- and tri-grams obtained from retelling and monologic samples were analyzed. Results suggest that, i) the four proficiency levels differed in measures for frequency and association strength of bi- and tri-grams, ii) academic bi- and tri-gram proportions and association strength (captured by MI- and t-scores) were predictive of EFL speaking proficiency for both the retelling and monologic samples but the effects were small, and iii) EFL learners used more well-attested bi- and tri-grams in monologues than in retelling, demonstrating that higher rated samples tended to contain more strongly-associated bi- and tri-grams, a greater proportion of frequent attested academic tri-grams, and that EFL n-gram use was task-sensitive. These findings help enrich our understanding on EFL development of multi-word sequences and have potentially useful implications for EFL pedagogy.

Syntactic complexity, discourse status and animacy as determinants of grammatical variation in Modern English

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELENA SEOANE
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Semantic Role ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Word Order Variation ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Grammatical Variation ◽  
Order Variation ◽  
Corpus Data

The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the syntactic, pragmatic and semantic determinants of word-order variation in Modern English, exemplified by the specific case of the use of long passives as order-rearranging devices. Word order in English and in most other SVO languages is affected by a number of factors such as animacy, semantic role, discourse status and syntactic complexity (Sornicola 2006). In this article, which analyses the influence of such factors in the use of long passives, I will try to show that their effects are construction-specific; in particular, that factors which are crucial in determining word order in some constructions – factors such as the animacy of the constituents involved – are entirely overruled by others in the case of Modern English long passives. Corpus data presented here will also serve to address issues pertaining to the nature of the determinants of grammatical variation, such as their independent versus epiphenomenal character, their interactions, and the locus of their effects on word order.

scholarly journals The development of English grammar and reading comprehension by majority and minority language children in a bilingual primary school

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-442
Author(s):  
Anja K. Steinlen
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Language Background ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Language Groups

Both for the first language (L1) and for all additional languages (L2 or L3), grammatical knowledge plays a vital role in understanding texts (e.g., Grabe, 2005). However, little is known about the development and interaction of grammar and reading comprehension in beginning foreign language learning, especially with respect to children with a minority language background. This longitudinal study, therefore, examined minority and majority language children’s English grammar and reading comprehension skills. The children attended a German-English partial immersion primary school and were tested at the end of Grades 3 and 4. As expected, we found grammar to affect reading comprehension but also reverse effects. Most importantly, the results did not reveal any differences between the two language groups, irrespective of the test. Therefore, immersion primary school programs seem to be suitable for minority language children, and these children do not automatically represent an at-risk group for foreign language learning.

scholarly journals STRATEGIES IN IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH VOCABULARY ACQUISITION

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khairil Razali ◽  
Irhami Razali
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Large Vocabulary ◽  
Written Text ◽  
Written Texts ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Basic Ideas ◽  
Basic Features

Vocabulary acquisition concerns on how people expand the numbers of words they understand when learning a new language. Knowing words in a second or foreign language is vitally important because the reader will be able to understand the written text well and the speaker will be able to communicate basic ideas through vocabulary even if the person does not understand how to create a grammatically correct sentence. As Madsen argued, “mastering vocabulary is the primary thing that every student should acquire in learning English” (Harold, 1983). Therefore, acquiring a sufficiently large vocabulary is one of the important tasks faced by L2 learners in order to comprehend the written texts in reading as one of the four basic features of language learning.

scholarly journals Corpus analysis of phraseology in an A1 level textbook of German as a foreign language

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (22) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Maria Rosario Bautista Zambrana
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
German Language ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Productive Activities ◽  
Written Texts ◽  
The Common ◽  
Lexical Competence ◽  
Level Student

This paper aims to analyse the extent to which the textbook for German as a foreign language DaF kompakt A1 (Sander et al., 2011) complies with the recommendations of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe, 2001) (hereafter CEFR) in respect to lexical competence and sociolinguistic competence in receptive and productive activities, specifically with regard to phraseological units. In this respect, we have focused on sentential formulae and fixed frames present in a corpus containing the textbook materials, and we have checked whether those fixed expressions correspond to the phraseological and sociolinguistic compe-tences that are expected in the Framework for an A1 level student of German language. To this end, we have compiled a corpus of the textbook receptive and productive materials, made up by three subcorpora: one for the written texts, one for the oral texts, and a third subcorpus containing exercises. We have performed a quantitative analysis (by means of AntConc 3.4.4 [Anthony, 2016] and kfNgram [Fletcher, 2007]), and a qualitative one. Our results suggest that the textbook complies with the recommendations of the CEFR.

scholarly journals An Interlanguage Study of Request Perspective: Evidence from German, Greek, Polish and Russian Learners of English

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-209
Author(s):  
Eva Ogiermann ◽  
Spyridoula Bella
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Strong Preference ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Pragmatic Transfer ◽  
Language Groups

Abstract The present study examines request perspective, the least researched form of mitigation in requesting, while focusing on a type of request characterized by a strong preference for speaker perspective in English and for hearer perspective in most other languages researched to date. It examines requests produced by 900 speakers from nine different (inter)language groups: five groups of native speakers (English, German, Greek, Polish and Russian) and four groups of advanced learners of English as a foreign language (German, Greek, Polish and Russian L1s). While our learners used more conventionally indirect forms than did the native speakers of the respective L1s, showing awareness of this English pragmatic norm, they retained a preference for the hearer perspective. These results suggest reliance on pragmatic universals as an alternative explanation to pragmatic transfer, also illustrating the need to address less salient pragmatic features in English language teaching.

A phrase-frame approach to investigating phraseology in learner writing across proficiency levels

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Garner
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Psycholinguistic Research ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Academic Settings ◽  
Qualitative Characteristics

Findings from corpus-based and psycholinguistic research have highlighted the importance of acquiring productive knowledge of English phraseology for L2 learners. Many studies exploring this facet of language learning have investigated the use of predominantly fixed multi-word sequences by advanced learners in academic settings and compared their use against that of native-speaking writers. More recent studies have attempted to explore the differences between learners’ use of multi-word sequences across proficiency levels. The current study aims to add to this growing body of literature. It examines the use of phrase-frames by L1 German learners of English as a Foreign Language at five different proficiency levels represented in the EF-Cambridge Open Language Database (EFCAMDAT). The most frequent phrase-frames in each level are analyzed according to both quantitative and qualitative characteristics. The results revealed that, at higher proficiency levels, p-frames in learner texts are more variable, less predictable, and more functionally complex.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document