scholarly journals Factors of Success and Failure in Second Language Learning

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Anita Anita
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Language Fluency ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Environment Exposure ◽  
Language Environment

This study aims to examine and elaborate the factors that contribute to the success and failure of English speakers as the second language in the pursuit of this language in three aspects of the language: fluency, language structure and pronunciation. Data for this study was obtained by conducting semi structured interviews with two students at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. Qualitative data analysis shows that factors such as second language learning in the pre-trial period, in the second language environment, exposure to the second language, the ability to acculturate, the motivation and the learning strategies impact on the mastery of the languages in the three areas mentioned above. Data analysis also shows that the existence and absence of such factors in the second language learning period significantly affect the mastery of language in the three areas.

Focused Tasks, Mental Actions and Second Language Learning. Cognitive and Connectionist Accounts of Task Effectiveness

2006 ◽  
Vol 152 ◽  
pp. 35-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Machteld Moonen ◽  
Rick de Graaff ◽  
Gerard Westhoff
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Depth Of Processing ◽  
Mental Actions ◽  
Involvement Load Hypothesis

Abstract This paper presents a theoretical framework to estimate the effectiveness of second language tasks in which the focus is on the acquisition of new linguistic items, such as vocabulary or grammar, the so-called focused tasks (R. Ellis, 2003). What accounts for the learning impact offocused tasks? We shall argue that the task-based approach (e.g. Skehan, 1998, Robinson, 2001) does not provide an in-depth account of how cognitive processes, elicited by a task, foster the acquisition of new linguistic elements. We shall then review the typologies of cognitive processes derived from research on learning strategies (Chamot & O'Malley, 1994), from the involvement load hypothesis (Laufer & Hulstijn, 2001), from the depth of processing hypothesis (Craik & Lockhart, 1972) and from connectionism (e.g Broeder & Plunkett, 1997; N. Ellis, 2003). The combined insights of these typologies form the basis of the multi-feature hypothesis, which predicts that retention and ease of activation of new linguistic items are improved by mental actions which involve a wide variety of different features, simultaneously and frequently. A number of implications for future research shall be discussed.

Second language learning of phonological alternations with and without orthographic input: Evidence from the acquisition of a German-like voicing alternation

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-545
Author(s):  
Shannon L. Barrios ◽  
Rachel Hayes-Harb
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Phonological Processes ◽  
New Words ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Naming Test

AbstractWhile a growing body of research investigates the influence of orthographic input on the acquisition of second language (L2) segmental contrasts, few studies have examined its influence on the acquisition of L2 phonological processes. Hayes-Harb, Brown, and Smith (2018) showed that exposure to words’ written forms caused native English speakers to misremember the voicing of final obstruents in German-like words exemplifying voicing neutralization. However, they did not examine participants’ acquisition of the final devoicing process. To address this gap, we conducted two experiments wherein native English speakers (assigned to Orthography or No Orthography groups) learned German-like words in suffixed and unsuffixed forms, and later completed a picture naming test. Experiment 1 investigated learners’ knowledge of the surface voicing of obstruents in both final and nonfinal position, and revealed that while all participants produced underlyingly voiced obstruents as voiceless more often in final than nonfinal position, the difference was only significant for No Orthography participants. Experiment 2 investigated participants’ ability to apply the devoicing process to new words, and provided no evidence of generalization. Together these findings shed light on the acquisition of final devoicing by naïve adult learners, as well as the influence of orthographic input in the acquisition of a phonological alternation.

The effects of age of second language learning on the production of English vowels

1996 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murray J. Munro ◽  
James Emil Flege ◽  
Ian R. A. Mackay
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Correct Identification ◽  
Percent Correct ◽  
English Vowels

ABSTRACTThis study examined the English vowel productions of 240 native speakers of Italian who had arrived in Canada at ages ranging from 2 to 23 years and 24 native English speakers from the same community. The productions of 11 vowels were rated for degree of foreign accent by 10 listeners. An increase in perceived accentedness as a function of increasing age of arrival was observed on every vowel. Not one of the vowels was observed to be produced in a consistently native-like manner by the latest-arriving learners, even though they had been living in Canada for an average of 32 years. However, high intelligibility (percent correct identification) scores were obtained for the same set of productions. This was true even for English vowels that have no counterpart in Italian.

Learner feedback and its effects in communication tasks: a pilot study

1981 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Gaies
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Referential Communication ◽  
Learner Interactions ◽  
Pilot Investigation ◽  
Feedback Responses

This article reports on a pilot investigation of learner feedback and its effects on teacher/ learner interactions in second language learning. In twelve ESL (English as a Second Language) dyads and triads, tapes were made of the performance by the participants of a pair of tasks in referential communication. In these tasks, the teacher described verbally a series of six graphic designs in such a way that the learner(s), who had the designs reproduced on a sheet of paper, could determine the order in which the designs were described. Data analysis involved classification of both learner feedback and teachers' post-feedback responses.

scholarly journals استخدام استراتيجيات التعلم لدى الجامعيين الناطقين بغير اللغة العربية (The Use of Learning Strategies among Students non-Native Arabic Speakers)

1970 ◽  
Vol 2 (2LING) ◽  
Author(s):  
ندوة بنت حاج داود (Nadwah Haji Daud)
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Arabic Speakers ◽  
Native Arabic Speakers ◽  
Item Item

 ملخص البحث: هذه الدراسة تبحث في استخدام استراتيجيات تعلم اللغة لدى 106 طلاب غير ناطقين باللغة العربية ومتخصصين في اللغة العربية وآدابها بالجامعة الإسلامية العالمية بماليزيا، حيث تمّ توزيع استبانة تحتوي على قائمة استراتيجيات تعلم اللغة الثانية من نموذج أكسفورد على أعضاء العينة. وتمّ تحليل استبانات العينة وإجاباتهم عن طريق نظام الإحصاء للعلوم الاجتماعية.. تهدف الدراسة إلى التعرف على اهتمامات الطلاب بالمهارات اللغويّة. واستنتجت الدراسة أن الاستراتيجيات المباشرة أخذت حظها الوافر في اختيار العينة لاستراتيجيات التعلم.الكلمات المفتاحية: الاستراتيجية- الكفاية- العينة- الأنواع- التحليل.Abstract:The paper reports on the study that was carried out among 106 respondents who are students of Arabic as second language and majoring in Arabic and Literature at the International Islamic University Malaysia. They responded to questionnaire that consisted of a list of strategies in second language learning taken from the Oxford model. The data was analyzed using the SPSS. In general, the study aims at identifying the interests of the students in the language skills. In conclusion, it was noted that the direct strategies were the most preferred strategies among the students in learning Arabic as second language.Keywords: Strategies– Competence– Sample– Types– Analysis.Abstrak:Kajian ini berhasrat mencari maklumat tentang penggunaan strategi pembelajaran bahasa di kalanga 106 orang pelajar bukan penutur berbahasa Arab yang juga mengkhusus dalam bidang Bahasa Arab & Kesusasteraan di Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia. Soal kajiselidik yang telah diedarkan di kalangan sampel kajian mengandungi item-item daripada senarai soal kajiselidik Oxford. Analisa terhadap soal kajiselidik diproses dengan dengan menggunakan SPSS. Kajian ini juga turut menyelidik perhatian pelajar terhadap kemahiran bahasa. Hasil dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa sampel kajian banyak menggunakan strategi pembelajaran secara langsung.Kata kunci: Strategi– Kecekapan– Sampel Kajian– Jenis Strategi- Analisa.

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