scholarly journals An Ethnographic Study: The Role of “Play” in the Development of English Listening and Speaking Ability of Two Chinese Children in a Multilingual Setting

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenjuan He

Much scholarship on “play” activities has focused on enhancing children’s learning processes and developing interest towards learning second language (Nair, Yusof, Arumugam, 2014). Many of these studies, however, adopt the survey to conduct their study. This study explored how “play with local kids” activities effect the development of English speaking and listening of two Chinese children in the Philippines, employing an ethnographically based approach to observe the two participants playing with local kids, which lasted about 4 months. The findings of the study revealed that “play” activities can not only help young children have a better understanding of their English conversations, and make them have more confidence to speak English, but also inspire them to speak English in such environment. In view of the results, it is obvious that “play with local kids” is a very good way for young children to acquire a second language in a multilingual setting. It is strongly recommended that language researchers and teachers should pay more attention and do more research on the relationship between “play” and second language acquisition.

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-74
Author(s):  
Marz Kimberly T. Salas ◽  
Ma. Judy B. Legaspi

The Philippines is recognized globally as one of the largest English-speaking nations. The majority of its population has at least some degree of fluency in the language. Filipinos are exposed to the heavy usage of English, not just in school but also in their everyday lives. Exposing elementary pupils to different language learning sources (home, friends, school, and media) can help them acquire the language more easily. Thus, the second-language acquisition is a holistic process, which means acquiring the second language is not confined within the four walls of the classroom. This paper describes the extent of language learning exposure and the level of grammatical proficiency of Grade 6 pupils of a Catholic school in Bacolod City. Similarly, it explores the difference in the pupils' extent of language learning exposure and level of grammatical proficiency. Also, it determines the relationship between language learning exposure and grammatical proficiency.   


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 72
Author(s):  
Yilun Yang ◽  
Liping Chen

There are many factors influencing second language acquisition, such as learner external factors including social factors, the input of second language acquisition and the relationship between acquisition; internal factors including the transfer of language, cognition of second language and language universals, etc, which influence the psychological factors of learner's second language; individual differences include some factors in physiological emotion, cognition, and learning strategies. This article is to explore the role of learners in second language acquisition from the perspective of individual differences (age, aptitude, learning motivation).


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1163-1167
Author(s):  
Muhammad Saleem Rana ◽  
Muhammad Irfan Rai ◽  
Muhammad Zubair ◽  
Noor Muzammil

This article looks into the competence of second language acquisition investigating that how a language learner does learn English as a second language effectively by using his own abilities.Many studies have examined the function of Self-Efficacy in academic achievement, though as Pajares (2000) mentioned the relation of language achievement and Self-Efficacy has not been studied well and there has been small research in this regard. This made the researcher to investigate the relationship between Pakpattan ESL learners' language achievements and their Self-Efficacy. It also studies the variations of ESL learners’ Self-Efficacy and their majors. Besides, it explores the differences between ESL learners' majors and their language achievements. Population of this study was 200 ESL learners of The University of Lahore Pakpattan campus but 60 ESL learners from different departments of The University of Lahore Pakpattan campus selected for the sample of present study in order to measure ESL learners' language proficiency. Different types of tests applied for its measurement. A questionnaire was prepared and conducted. Computer statistical program SPSS XXII was used for statistics. Literature were reviewed and the work cited mentioned as well.


Author(s):  
Gyu-Ho Shin ◽  
Boo Kyung Jung

Abstract Studies on the role of input in L2 acquisition often estimate L2 input properties through L1 corpora and focus on L2-English. This study probes the initial stage of L2-Korean learning for adult English-speaking beginners of Korean to investigate input-output relations in the acquisition of L2 that is typologically different from English in a more direct manner. We specifically ask how L2 beginner input affects L2 beginner production with respect to Korean postpositions. For this purpose, we investigate how the beginners receive input regarding Korean postpositions from a textbook and to what extent the input characteristics are manifested in learner writing. We found that, whereas the presentation of certain postpositions in the textbook was generally reflected in learner writing, individual postpositions showed disparity in their use between the textbook and the writing. Implications of the findings are discussed in light of L1-L2 differences and how the textbook presents form-function pairings of these postpositions.


Relay Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 149-157
Author(s):  
Yukiko Oki

This paper is a case study examining the relationship between two individual difference (ID) factors, namely personality and language learning strategies (LLS), and language learning of two Japanese English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students. A qualitative analysis of their language learning histories, learner diaries, and interviews aims to uncover the role of personality in language learning and how personality seems to be reflected in their uses of LLS.


2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 359-376
Author(s):  
Margaret Thomas

Two textbooks written by Lydia White, one published in 1989 and the other in 2003, introduce generative research on second language acquisition and evaluate existing proposals about the role of Universal Grammar. Comparison of the two texts provides an opportunity to examine some of the conventions the field uses in representing itself to a novice readership. It also brings to light certain aspects of the field’s development during a 14- year interval. A point of particular interest is that this interval spans a shift in the language commonly used to pose questions about the relationship of Universal Grammar to second language acquisition, from the metaphor of ‘access’ to the metaphor of ‘constraint’.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 1111-1131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Roehr-Brackin ◽  
Angela Tellier

AbstractLanguage-analytic ability, or the ability to treat language as an object of analysis and arrive at linguistic generalizations, is at the core of the constructs of language learning aptitude and metalinguistic awareness, which are implicated in our ability to learn explicitly. In the context of child second language (L2) learning, it has been argued that children learn primarily implicitly and that the most important component of aptitude may be memory ability. However, no empirical research to date has investigated the relationship and development of aptitude and metalinguistic awareness longitudinally as well as examined their predictive power for children’s L2 achievement in the classroom. In a study with English-speaking learners aged 8–9 (N = 111), we found that although aptitude and metalinguistic awareness were (still) dynamic, they significantly predicted children’s achievement in L2 French. Moreover, language-analytic ability proved to be the component with the strongest predictive power. This finding suggests that it may not be level of cognitive maturity alone that determines children’s approach to L2 learning; experiencing explicit, form-focused instruction may foster the role of language-analytic ability even in children as young as 8–9 years.


1994 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan M. Gass ◽  
Evangeline Marlos Varonis

The role of conversational interactions in the development of a second language has been central in the recent second language acquisition literature. While a great deal is now known about the way in which nonnative speakers interact with native speakers and other nonnative speakers, little is known about the lasting effects of these interactions on a nonnative's linguistic development. This paper specifically investigates the relationship among input, interaction, and second language production. Through data from native–nonnative speaker interactions in a direction-giving task, we show that both modified input and interaction affect task performance. However, only interaction has an effect on subsequent task performance.


1980 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry McLaughlin

There has been a great deal of discussion in the literature on second-language acquisition about the relationship between first-(L1) and second-language (L2) acquisition. I believe that the dust is beginning to settle and that it is now possible to move beyond this debate. I would like to do so in this paper, and examine in particular the role of linguistic input in L1 and L2 and the nature of conversational strategies in both processes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill VanPatten

What is the relationship between instructed second language acquisition (ISLA) and more general second language acquisition? To what extent is the former informed by the latter? In this essay, I review five facts about second language acquisition involving the nature of mental representation, the slow and ordered acquisition over time, the nature of internal constraints and mechanisms, the role of input, and the observation that most acquisition results in some kind of non-nativeness. I use these facts to ponder underlying assumptions and unasked questions in the research on ISLA. I conclude with some queries regarding the scope and purpose of ISLA.


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