scholarly journals A Corpus-Based Investigation of Idiomatic Multiword Units

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lynn E Grant
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Know How ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Multiword Units ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Individual

<p>Idioms - a type of multiword unit (MWU) - are defined as being non-compositional and in general cannot be understood by adding together the meanings of the individual words that comprise the MWU. Because of this, they present a particular challenge to students who speak English as a second- or foreign-language (ESL/EFL). As a teacher of second-language (L2) learners, it is just that challenge which has motivated this study. Specifically, there were two main aims of the thesis. In order to know how to teach idioms to ESL/EFL learners, we - as language teachers - need to know how to define and explain them. Therefore, the first aim of the study was to either find an English (L1) definition of an idiom which could clearly distinguish one type from another, and an idiom from a non-idiom, or to develop a new definition. Having not found such a definition, a new definition was put forward, dividing MWUs presently known as idioms into three new groups - core idioms, figuratives, and ONCEs (one noncompositional element). The L1 perspective was adopted for the definition as an L2 perspective would involve considerably more variables. The second aim was to develop a comprehensive list of one of the three new groups - core idioms - and then try to establish frequency, using a corpus search. A number of steps were taken to compile this list, involving an examination of several sources of written and spoken English. The result was that when the criteria established to define a core idiom - being both non-compositional and non-figurative - were strictly applied to the large collection of MWUs presently known as 'idioms', the figure was reduced to only 104 MWUs deemed to be either core idioms or 'borderline figuratives' and 'borderline ONCEs'. Next the British National Corpus (BNC), a corpus of 100 million words, was searched for occurrences of these 104 core idioms and borderlines to establish their frequency. The result of the corpus search showed that none of the core idioms occurs frequently enough to get into the most frequent 5,000 words of English. However, as the motivation to do the study was the desire to find a better way to teach idiomatic MWUs, a brief discussion followed with suggestions for the teaching and learning of these idiomatic MWUs. Finally, some methodological implications and suggestions for future research were put forward, looking at further research which would advance the field of second-language acquisition (SLA) related to the learning of idiomatic MWUs.</p>

scholarly journals A Corpus-Based Investigation of Idiomatic Multiword Units

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lynn E Grant
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Know How ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Multiword Units ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Individual

<p>Idioms - a type of multiword unit (MWU) - are defined as being non-compositional and in general cannot be understood by adding together the meanings of the individual words that comprise the MWU. Because of this, they present a particular challenge to students who speak English as a second- or foreign-language (ESL/EFL). As a teacher of second-language (L2) learners, it is just that challenge which has motivated this study. Specifically, there were two main aims of the thesis. In order to know how to teach idioms to ESL/EFL learners, we - as language teachers - need to know how to define and explain them. Therefore, the first aim of the study was to either find an English (L1) definition of an idiom which could clearly distinguish one type from another, and an idiom from a non-idiom, or to develop a new definition. Having not found such a definition, a new definition was put forward, dividing MWUs presently known as idioms into three new groups - core idioms, figuratives, and ONCEs (one noncompositional element). The L1 perspective was adopted for the definition as an L2 perspective would involve considerably more variables. The second aim was to develop a comprehensive list of one of the three new groups - core idioms - and then try to establish frequency, using a corpus search. A number of steps were taken to compile this list, involving an examination of several sources of written and spoken English. The result was that when the criteria established to define a core idiom - being both non-compositional and non-figurative - were strictly applied to the large collection of MWUs presently known as 'idioms', the figure was reduced to only 104 MWUs deemed to be either core idioms or 'borderline figuratives' and 'borderline ONCEs'. Next the British National Corpus (BNC), a corpus of 100 million words, was searched for occurrences of these 104 core idioms and borderlines to establish their frequency. The result of the corpus search showed that none of the core idioms occurs frequently enough to get into the most frequent 5,000 words of English. However, as the motivation to do the study was the desire to find a better way to teach idiomatic MWUs, a brief discussion followed with suggestions for the teaching and learning of these idiomatic MWUs. Finally, some methodological implications and suggestions for future research were put forward, looking at further research which would advance the field of second-language acquisition (SLA) related to the learning of idiomatic MWUs.</p>

Acquiring variable commands at home and abroad: Examining optatives and imperatives in L1 and L2 Spanish

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-113
Author(s):  
Farrah Neumann ◽  
Matthew Kanwit
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Individual ◽  
At Home

AbstractSince many linguistic structures are variable (i. e. conveyed by multiple forms), building a second-language grammar critically involves developing sociolinguistic competence (Canale and Swain. 1980. Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics 1(1). 1–47), including knowledge of contexts in which to use one form over another (Bayley and Langman. 2004. Variation in the group and the individual: Evidence from second language acquisition. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 42(4). 303–318). Consequently, researchers interested in such competence have increasingly analyzed the study-abroad context to gauge learners’ ability to approximate local norms following a stay abroad, due to the quality and quantity of input to which learners may gain access (Lafford. 2006. The effects of study abroad vs. classroom contexts on Spanish SLA: Old assumptions, new insights and future research directions. In Carol Klee & Timothy Face (eds.), Selected proceedings of the 7th conference on the acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese as first and second languages, 1–25. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project). Nevertheless, the present study is the first to examine native or learner variation between imperative (e. g. ven ‘come’) and optative Spanish commands (e. g. que vengas ‘come’). We first performed a corpus analysis to determine the linguistic factors to manipulate in a contextualized task, which elicited commands from learners before and after four weeks abroad in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. Their overall rates of selection and predictive factors were compared to local native speakers (NSs) and a control group of at-home learners.Results revealed that the abroad learners more closely approached NS rates of selection following the stay abroad. Nonetheless, for both learner groups conditioning by independent variables only partially approximated the NS system, which was more complex than previously suggested.

scholarly journals Task-based approach in Second Language Acquisition and in the Didactics of Translation

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-78
Author(s):  
Edelweiss Vitol Gysel
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Syllabus Design ◽  
Definition Of

Studies on Second Language Acquisition (SLA) have been increasingly conducted in recent years, especially concerning the contributions of the so called task-based approach, which has been gradually undergone some adaptations, becoming a driving force for syllabus design. Within the field of Didactics of Translation (DT) the use of tasks has also, so far, proven to be an appropriate approach in the teaching and learning of translation. Therefore, in this article, I will discuss the differences regarding the rationale behind the definition of task as well as its application both in the SLA and in the DT environments. The method seeks to justify the choice of the discussed concepts, and presents the steps in the development a translation task here proposed. The discussion is grounded on this example of translation task and examines how the notion of task in SLA interfaces with the acquisition of translation competence in DT. The conclusion shows that SLA can inspire and contribute to DT concerning the task-based approach. Some of these contributions here discussed are authenticity, focus on meaning and on form, and planning. Furthermore, such contributions are applied in the development of a translation task, as a means of exemplification, and building a bridge between the areas of SLA and the DT.

scholarly journals Interactive Learning: An Innovation for English Language Acquisition

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1187-1190
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Interactive Learning ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Acquisition ◽  
Interactive Tool ◽  
Second Language Teachers

The education field is constantly venturing into many creative forms. Interactive learning is a hands-on approach to boost students' engagement and confidence. With new innovation, interactive learning enables students to reinforce critical thinking and problem-solving abilities in second language acquisition. Thus, the aim of this research is to design and create new interactive tool for second language teaching which can benefit both teachers and ESL students. This teaching and learning tool can be used for the 4 basic skills in ESL classrooms namely reading, listening, speaking and writing. A total of 30 students from a rural public secondary school were involved in this study. This interactive tool can help in building students’ motivation in learning especially among the low proficiency students and create autonomous learners who enjoyed and have fun while learning English. In conclusion, it is hoped that this research could add knowledge to the field of interactive tools and promotes creativity among second language teachers.

A closer look at blended learning — parameters for designing a blended learning environment for language teaching and learning

ReCALL ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETRA NEUMEIER
Keyword(s):  
Blended Learning ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Systematic Investigation ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Optimal Basis ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Individual

In the course of designing, writing and implementing CALL-supported material, it has become evident to me that a systematic investigation into the factors that shape the Blended Learning (BL) experience in the context of language learning and teaching is missing and urgently needed. The core question when designing a BL environment is: Which combination of modes provides the optimal basis for language learning and teaching given the particular conditions at hand? In order to tackle this question, course designers need a framework of parameters that help them decide on the individual, context-related implementation of BL. It is the purpose of this paper to put forward a definition of BL and a framework of parameters for designing a BL environment. In order to achieve a better understanding of the factors that shape the practice and the experience of BL, the main parameters which form a BL environment will be listed and specified. These parameters evolved from the experience of designing Jobline LMU (www.jobline.lmu.de) and will hopefully prove to be helpful for the process of designing other BL environments. If applied successfully, the idea of BL could serve as a bridge between the broader community of language teachers and learners and CALL experts and practitioners. BL offers the potential of broadening the scope and influence of CALL and of (re-)establishing it as an innovative component of general language teaching.

Introduction: Combining learner psychology and ISLA research: Intersections in the classroom

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110442
Author(s):  
Masatoshi Sato ◽  
Kata Csizér
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Classroom Environment ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Primary Concern ◽  
Instructed Second Language Acquisition ◽  
The Impact

This article explores intersections between two subfields of second language acquisition research: learner psychology (LP) and instructed second language acquisition (ISLA). Despite the common goal of discovering second language (L2) learning processes and products, the two inquiries have taken distinct paths. We argue that it is necessary to unite the knowledge and methods in the two inquiries, in order to answer theoretical and practical questions pertaining to classroom L2 teaching and learning. We make the case that the L2 classroom may be an ideal venue to explore the intersections of the two fields. Three intersections will be discussed. First, research can address the relationship between LP and interactional behaviors during classroom activities that have been investigated in ISLA research. Second, the roles of teachers, the classroom environment, and instruction – the primary variables in ISLA research – can be examined in relation to LP in the classroom. Third, research can target LP as a dependent variable in experimental designs that ISLA research often employs. LP is a primary concern of L2 teachers who face a range of LP (unmotivated students, silent students, anxious students, etc.). Some teachers are also concerned about the potential negative impact of a certain instructional technique on LP. Thus, combining LP and ISLA perspectives helps answer various pedagogical concerns, whether these are related to particular LP issues, or the impact of instructional techniques on LP. Throughout the article, we propose future research topics and make pedagogical recommendations addressing LP in the classroom.

scholarly journals SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: KRASHEN’S MONITOR MODEL AND THE NATURAL APPROACH

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 87-99
Author(s):  
Hafizah Hajimia ◽  
◽  
Manvender Kaur Sarjit Singh ◽  
Saralah Devi Mariamdaran Chethiyar ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Good Method ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Basic Knowledge ◽  
Natural Approach

The second language can be defined as any other language which is learned or acquired after their first language or their mother tongue. Learning or acquiring a second language can be a difficult task for anybody that wishes to speak or write in a language other than their first language. Teachers should have the basic knowledge of second language acquisition theories to provide a comprehensive teaching and learning environment to students. One of the most applied and well-accepted theories is Stephen’s Krashen’s theory of second language acquisition. The present study was carried out as an observation on students to address the importance of Krashen’s Monitor Model and the Natural Approach in the stages of second language development to ensure effective teaching of the second language. The findings show that the cause of the input factor should be taken into consideration when teaching a second language/foreign language. The findings also indicated that cooperative learning can be a good method for students to get comprehensible input from their classmates.

scholarly journals Validity of the Gender Dysphoria diagnosis and incidence trends in Sweden: a nationwide register study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Malin Indremo ◽  
Richard White ◽  
Thomas Frisell ◽  
Sven Cnattingius ◽  
Alkistis Skalkidou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gender Dysphoria ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Medical Intervention ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Incidence Trends ◽  
Interaction Terms ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Nationwide Register Study

AbstractThe aim of this study was to examine the validity of the Gender Dysphoria (GD) diagnoses in the Swedish National Patient Register (NPR), to discuss different register-based definitions of GD and to investigate incidence trends. We collected data on all individuals with registered GD diagnoses between 2001 and 2016 as well as data on the coverage in the NPR. We regarded gender confirming medical intervention (GCMI) as one proxy for a clinically valid diagnosis and calculated the positive predictive value (PPV) for receiving GCMI for increasing number of registered GD diagnoses. We assessed crude and coverage-adjusted time trends of GD during 2004–2015 with a Poisson regression, using assigned sex and age as interaction terms. The PPV for receiving GCMI was 68% for ≥ 1 and 79% for ≥ 4 GD-diagnoses. The incidence of GD was on average 35% higher with the definition of ≥ 1 compared to the definition of ≥ 4 diagnoses. The incidence of GD, defined as ≥ 4 diagnoses increased significantly during the study period and mostly in the age categories 10–17 and 18–30 years, even after adjusting for register coverage. We concluded that the validity of a single ICD code denoting clinical GD in the Swedish NPR can be questioned. For future research, we propose to carefully weight the advantages and disadvantages of different register-based definitions according to the individual study’s needs, the time periods involved and the age-groups under study.

scholarly journals What is Salience?

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 713-722
Author(s):  
Vincent Boswijk ◽  
Matt Coler
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Working Definition ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractA commonly used concept in linguistics is salience. Oftentimes it is used without definition, and the meaning of the concept is repeatedly assumed to be self-explanatory. The definitions that are provided may vary greatly from one operationalization of salience to the next. In order to find out whether it is possible to postulate an overarching working definition of linguistic salience that subsumes usage across linguistic subdomains, we review these different operationalizations of linguistic salience. This article focuses on salience in sociolinguistics, cognitive linguistics, second-language acquisition (SLA), and semantics. In this article, we give an overview of how these fields operationalize salience. Finally, we discuss correlations and contradictions between the different operationalizations.

Digital competences of the workforce – a research topic?

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 721-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Murawski ◽  
Markus Bick
Keyword(s):  
Research Topic ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Digital Competence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Considering working in the digital age, questions on the consequences for the individual workers are, so far, often neglected. The purpose of this paper is to deal with the question of whether the digital competences of the workforce is a research topic. The authors argue for the thesis that it is indeed a research topic. Design/methodology/approach In addition to a literature analysis of the top IS, HR, and learning publications, non-scientific sources, as well as the opinions of the authors, are included. The authors’ thesis is challenged through a debate of corresponding pros and cons. Findings The definition of digital competences lacks scientific depth. Focussing on the workforce is valid, as a “lifelong” perspective is not mandatory for research. Digital competence research is a multidisciplinary task to which the IS field can make a valuable contribution. Research limitations/implications Although relevant references are included, some aspects are mainly driven by the opinions of the authors. The theoretical implications encompass a call for a scientific definition of digital competences. Furthermore, scholars should focus on the competences of the workforce, including occupations, roles, or industries. The authors conclude by providing a first proposal of a research agenda. Practical implications The practical implications include the alignment of multiple stakeholders for the design of “digital” curricula and the integration by HR departments of the construct of digital competences, e.g. for compensation matters and job requirements. Originality/value This paper is one of very few contributions in the area of the digital competences of the workforce, and it presents a starting point for future research activities.

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