Textual Enhancement, Type of Linguistic Item, and L2 Development

Abstract Although foreign language instruction in mixed-age (M-A) is gaining popularity (Heizmann and Ries and Wicki 2015; Lau and Juby-Smith and Desbiens, 2017; Shahid Kazi and Moghal and Aziz 2018; Thurn 2011), the research is scarce. Drawing from multiple data sources, this study investigated to what extent do peer interactions among M-A and same-age (S-A) pairs aid L2 development and how students perceive their interactions. In this study, the same learners (N=24) aged between 10 and 12 interacted with the same and different age partners during common classroom lessons in two EFL classrooms. The results suggest that both S-A and M-A peer interactions aided L2 development. Although S-A pairs outperformed M-A pairs on the post-test, the results are not statistically significant. The analysis of students’ perceptions revealed that the majority of students prefer working in S-A to M-A pairs. In addition to age/proficiency differences, factors such as students’ relationships and perceptions of one’s own and partner’s proficiency greatly impact how they interact with one another.

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Variability as normal as apple pie

Linguistics Vanguard ◽

10.1515/lingvan-2020-0034 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (s2) ◽

Author(s):

Marjolijn Verspoor ◽

Wander Lowie ◽

Kees de Bot

Keyword(s):

Dynamic Systems ◽

Dynamic Systems Theory ◽

Complex Dynamic ◽

Controlled Processes ◽

Complex Dynamic Systems ◽

L2 Development ◽

Limited Degree ◽

Development Phases ◽

Longitudinal Case Studies ◽

Over Time

Abstract In recent studies in second language (L2) development, notably within the focus of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST), non-systematic variation has been extensively studied as intra-individual variation, which we will refer to as variability. This paper argues that variability is functional and is needed for development. With examples of four longitudinal case studies we hope to show that variability over time provides valuable information about the process of development. Phases of increased variability in linguistic constructions are often a sign that the learner is trying out different constructions, and as such variability can be evidence for change, and change can be learning. Also, a limited degree of variability is inherent in automatic or controlled processes. Conversely, the absence of variability is likely to show that no learning is going on or the system is frozen.

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Learner attention to form in ACCESS task-based interaction

Language Teaching Research ◽

10.1177/1362168816651462 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 21 (4) ◽

pp. 454-479 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Phung Dao ◽

Noriko Iwashita ◽

Elizabeth Gatbonton

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Group Size ◽

Task Complexity ◽

Language Teaching ◽

Past Tense ◽

Interaction Data ◽

Self And Other ◽

Linguistic Item ◽

Task Modeling ◽

Task Features

This study explored the potential effects of communicative tasks developed using a reformulation of a task-based language teaching called Automatization in Communicative Contexts of Essential Speech Sequences (ACCESS) that includes automatization of language elements as one of its goals on learner attention to form in task-based interaction. The interaction data collected from a class for English as a second language (ESL) over a four-week period was analysed for incidence, outcome and characteristics (i.e. focus, initiation, response, and turn length) of language-related episodes (LREs) operationalized as evidence of learner attention to form. The results showed that during ACCESS task-based interactions, learners attended to form as reflected in a large number of LREs. Despite being brief, a majority of these LREs were correctly resolved, self-initiated, self- and other-responded, and focused on the target linguistic item: past-tense verbs. These results are discussed in terms of the potential effects of ACCESS task principles, different task features (i.e. task complexity, pre-task modeling, speaker role and group size), and learners’ approach to tasks on the incidence and characteristics of LREs.

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Promoting learning and unlearning through textual enhancement in a closely related L1-L2 relationship

European Journal of Applied Linguistics ◽

10.1515/eujal-2018-0005 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 1-30

Author(s):

Paolo Della Putta

Keyword(s):

Judgment Task ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Spanish Speaking ◽

Instructional Treatment ◽

Group A ◽

Similarities And Differences ◽

Textual Enhancement ◽

Group B ◽

Syntactic Properties ◽

Grammatical Judgment

AbstractThis study investigates the differential effects of Textual Enhancement (TE) on the learning and unlearning of two syntactic properties of Spanish – the absence of the Pre-possessive Determiner Article (PPDA) and the presence of the Prepositional Accusative (PA) – which each pose specific acquisitional difficulties for Italian-speaking learners of Spanish (ISS) due to their asymmetrical relationships with corresponding L1 structures. 77 ISS were divided in two experimental groups: group A read 5 texts with TE on PA – the feature to be learned – and group B read the same 5 texts with TE on PPDA – the feature to be unlearned. The participants took a timed grammatical judgment task three times (before, five days after, and two months after the instructional treatment). The results are compared with those of Della Putta (2016), a symmetrical study to this, in which the same teaching intervention and experimental conditions were adopted with Spanish-speaking learners of Italian, whose task was to unlearn PA and to learn PPDA. The bidirectional comparison shows a similar, weak effect of TE, although in the present study, unlike in Della Putta (2016), unlearning did not seem to be more difficult than learning. These similarities and differences are discussed and theoretically motivated.

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THE EFFECTS OF IMMEDIATE AND DELAYED CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK ON L2 DEVELOPMENT – ERRATUM

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263120000595 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-1

Author(s):

Mengxia Fu ◽

Shaofeng Li

Keyword(s):

Corrective Feedback ◽

L2 Development

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Case morphology and word order in second language Turkish: Evidence from Greek learners

Second language Research ◽

10.1177/0267658310376348 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 173-204 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Despina Papadopoulou ◽

Spyridoula Varlokosta ◽

Vassilios Spyropoulos ◽

Hasan Kaili ◽

Sophia Prokou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Word Order ◽

Second Language Learners ◽

First Language ◽

Matching Task ◽

L2 Acquisition ◽

Case Morphology ◽

L2 Development ◽

Order Constraints ◽

On Line

The optional use of morphology attested in second language learners has been attributed either to a representational deficit or to a ‘surface’ problem with respect to the realization of inflectional affixes. In this article we contribute to this issue by providing empirical data from the early interlanguage of Greek learners of Turkish. Three experiments have been conducted, a cloze task, a sentence picture matching task and an on-line grammaticality judgement task, in order to investigate case morphology and its interaction with word order constraints. The findings of all three experiments point towards a variable use of case morphology, which is also observed in previous studies of Turkish as a second language (L2). Moreover, they show clearly that the learners face difficulties with non-canonical word orders as well as with the interaction of word order constraints and Case. On the other hand, the learners performed well on verbal inflections. On the basis of these findings, we argue that the developmental patterns in the early stages of L2 acquisition cannot be attributed to a global lack of functional categories but rather to more localized difficulties, which seem to be related to (a) whether the features in the L2 are grammaticalized in the first language and (b) the way these features are encoded in the morphosyntax of the first language. Moreover, we claim that processing factors and the specific properties of the morphological paradigms affect L2 development.

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“Les copains *dit au revoir”: On Subject–Verb Agreement in L2 French and Cross-Linguistic Influence

Languages ◽

10.3390/languages6010007 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 7

Author(s):

Malin Ågren ◽

Marie-Eve Michot ◽

Cyrille Granget ◽

Sonia Gerolimich ◽

Pascale Hadermann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Oral Narrative ◽

Complex Interplay ◽

Verb Morphology ◽

Future Studies ◽

Proficiency Levels ◽

Verb Agreement ◽

Significant Difference ◽

L2 Development

This study focuses on the production of subject–verb (SV) agreement in number in L2 French and investigates the role of cross-linguistic influence (CLI) in this particular morphosyntactic domain. CLI is a well-known phenomenon in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research but it has rarely been investigated systematically in relation to SV agreement in French. The participants of the study are 114 learners with Italian, German, Dutch and Swedish as L1. The source languages are all inflectional languages but they vary in terms of morphological richness in the verb paradigm, ranging from very poor (Swedish) to very rich (Italian). The participants performed an oral narrative task contrasting singular and plural contexts of SV agreement. Results indicate a significant difference between L1 groups in terms of correct SV agreement but they also show that the overall presence of rich verb morphology in the L1 does not, on its own, result in a more correct SV agreement. It is when comparing learners at two different proficiency levels that we observe differences in the rate of L2 development, which may be explained as an effect of CLI. Overall, results indicate a complex interplay of different factors, where the role of CLI must be further investigated in future studies in relation to L2 French.

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