scholarly journals L2 TENSE TRANSFER IN EFL LEARNING

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatjana Grujić ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Adult Students ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
The Past ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
Adverbial Clauses

In second language acquisition (SLA) transfer is predominantly explored as either positive or negative influence of learners’ first language (L1) on their second/foreign language (L2) performance. Studies in this field serve not only to describe the learner’s interlanguage, but also to inform, improve and refine foreign language teaching. However, the scope of SLA studies is such that it leaves the other transfer direction under-researched (L2 to L1), assuming that once the learner’s L1 system has fully developed, their L1 competence will not be subject to change. More recent studies of adult bilinguals have shown a bidirectional interaction between the two linguistic systems: not only does L1 influence L2, but L2 influences L1 as well. In this study, conducted among adult students of English (B2 to C1 level language users, according to CEFR), we examine the influence of English as a foreign language upon Serbian as a native tongue in terms of tense transfer. More precisely, the study explores how the subjects interpret and translate the secondary meanings of the English past tense. The basic meaning of the past tense is to locate an event (or state) in the past. However, in its secondary meanings (backshift past in reported clauses, counterfactual present in adverbial clauses of condition and ‘past subjunctive’ when expressing wishes and regrets) it does not refer to the past time. The error analysis of students’ English to Serbian translations provides evidence of L2 influence: learners tend to use the Serbian past rather than the present tense in their translations. Pedagogical implications of this study of misuse of L1 tense include focusing on explicit corrective feedback and polishing instructional materials.

Variable competence and performance in child second language acquisition1

1991 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 220-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beverly Olson Flanigan
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Competence Model ◽  
Esl Students ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Academic Context ◽  
Mental Competence ◽  
The Past ◽  
And Performance

The variable competence model of second language acquisition proposes that the ability to use language varies systematically within functional domains and linguistic contexts, and that such variability is inherent in interlanguage as well. This study of elicited and naturalistic speech of elementary school ESL students in formal and informal situations supports the conclusion that variability exists in the acquisition process but disputes the theory that it is a necessary com ponent of the mental competence itself. Errors in use of the past tense, noun phrase plurals and possessives, adjectives, and determiners were calculated for four different activities or tasks; t-tests and regression analyses revealed little or no statistical difference across tasks but predictable differences with increase in proficiency. Implications are drawn for the teaching of grammar to children in an academic context.

The development of suppletive and affixal tense and agreement morphemes in the L3 English of Basque-Spanish bilinguals

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
María del Pilar García Mayo ◽  
Izaskun Villarreal Olaizola
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Surface Morphology ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Third Language ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Past ◽  
Third Person ◽  
The Third Person ◽  
Spanish Bilinguals

This article examines the third language (L3) developing morphology of 78 Basque—Spanish bilinguals following a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) program and a mainstream English as a foreign language (non-CLIL) program. The analysis of cross-sectional and longitudinal oral data shows that (1) the omission of inflection in the L3 English interlanguage of these groups of learners is due to problems with the realization of surface morphology, (2) there is a dissociation in frequency of suppliance between suppletive inflection (copula and auxiliary be) and affixal inflection (the third person morpheme -s and the past tense morpheme -ed) already attested in L2 data, and (3) no significant differences were found between the two groups tested as far as the development of suppletive and affixal tense and agreement morphemes. The overall findings seem to support full-UG explanations for the variable use of morphology in the acquisition of non-native systems.

scholarly journals A Case Study of How Visually Impaired Learners Acquire Language

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thi Minh Phuong Tran ◽  
Phuong Dzung Pho
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
The Past ◽  
Depth Interviews

The field of second language acquisition has grown enormously in the past decades. Many studies have been done on how learners acquire English as a second language; however, research on how visually impaired learners acquire English as a second or foreign language has been relatively scarce. It is even more difficult to find such studies in Vietnam. Based mainly on in-depth interviews with two visually impaired Vietnamese adults who have been successful in acquiring English, the present study seeks to answer two main questions: (1) How Vietnamese visually impaired learners acquire English as a second language; (2) What difficulties they have in learning English, and how they overcome their difficulties. The findings of the present study can contribute to the theory of second language acquisition and language teaching. The study can also provide strategies for practicing and learning a language not only for visually impaired learners but also for second language learners in general.

scholarly journals Plateaux in pronunciation

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 53-66
Author(s):  
Fiona Farr
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Optimal Conditions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Language Norms ◽  
Conditions Of Learning ◽  
Experimental Group

Within the field of second language acquisition the question of cessation of learning short of the target language norms, particularly among adult populations, has been widely discussed since the term FOSSILIZATION was first coined by Selinker in 1972. This article briefly outlines the main theoretical concerns of this phenomenon, which has had various terminological badges over the past three decades. It then details an experimental study whose aim it was to uncover the destabilizing potential of instruction on the pronunciation of advanced French learners of English as a Foreign Language who displayed fossilization tendencies. The results indicate significant improvements made by the experimental group relative to the control group. In conclusion it is deemed appropriate to classify such learners as stabilized and not permanently fossilized, as changes in pronunciation systems can occur give optimal conditions of learning and exposure.

"THE MANUAL IS VERY MUCH LIKE ANY OTHER BOOK…": FROM SKILLS AND HABITS TO CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING

2020 ◽  
pp. 31-40
Author(s):  
Irina B. Antonova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Creative Thinking ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Educational Goals ◽  
Conceptual System ◽  
The Past ◽  
Language Textbooks

Modern educational process is getting more and more interactive which presupposes the employment of brand new textbooks and the most difficult to be written are manuals for studying foreign languages. Over the past decades interest in learning languages in Russia might be justified by globalization (the consequence of which is the phenomenon of interactivity) that results in developing new demands to foreign language textbooks among which the primary ones are to be communicative, situational, problemsolving, and (relatively) easy to obtain the form and content of a foreign language. More complex demands to a manual in general and to a foreign language textbook in particular consider it to be the product of conceptual system, the method of achieving educational goals, and the control lever of managing the learning process. Meanwhile, as the monitoring of the modern instructional materials demonstrates there is an obvious deficit of foreign language textbooks and manuals that could completely satisfy the demands declared and – which is even more important – could stimulate the development of the meaningful attitude to the study of a foreign language. This gives us reason to consider the topic chosen for the paper to be an issue of concern and urgency. Without criticizing or questioning the authoritative opinions over the quality of the current foreign language textbooks the author makes an attempt to define the essence of a textbook, to revise the demands to it and to describe the potential challenges of its writing.

Written corrective feedback in L2 writing: Connors & Lunsford (1988); Lunsford & Lunsford (2008); Lalande (1982)

2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Ferris
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
L2 Writing ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Composition And Rhetoric ◽  
Research Paradigms ◽  
The Past ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback ◽  
Language Studies ◽  
Quasi Experimental

Written corrective feedback (CF) has been the most heavily researched topic in second language (L2) writing over the past 20 years. As a recent research timeline article in this journal (Ferris 2012; see also Bitchener & Ferris 2012) shows, studies of error correction in student writing have crossed disciplines (composition and rhetoric, foreign language studies, applied linguistics) and have utilized a range of research paradigms, including descriptive text analysis, quasi-experimental designs, and quantitative and qualitative classroom research. This article highlights two landmark studies on this topic, both from the 1980s, representing two of these research traditions. It explains why replication of these two studies would further advance our knowledge about written CF and makes specific suggestions about how the replications should be completed.

Two tenses are better than one

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Lindström
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
Variation Theory ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Teacher Researcher ◽  
Pupil Learning

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present findings from a learning study (Lindström, 2015) with Swedish sixth grade pupils on the English grammatical structure, the progressive aspect (PROG). The focus is on how the lesson design and the treatment of the subject content, informed by variation theory, affected the learning of the PROG. Design/methodology/approach Four teachers of English as a foreign language, including the teacher researcher, collaborated to plan, teach, evaluate and analyse a series of six research lessons. The theoretical framework was the variation theory of learning which was used both to design the lessons and analyse teaching and learning. A basic assumption is that learning is a function of discernment, and discernment is conditional upon experiencing variaion. Empirical data consisted of interview transcripts, pre- and post-lesson assessments, and video recordings of the lessons. Findings The use of the present tense when teaching the PROG was insufficient. When the past tense was introduced, along with particularly powerful examples, pupils’ understanding of the PROG improved. Furthermore, reversing the conventional order by instead beginning the lesson with examples in the past tense, helped the pupils to generalise the meanings of the PROG. Improved pupil learning outcomes were observed when the PROG was treated from the perspective of wholeness, simultaneity and complexity. Originality/value The findings challenge conventional ways of teaching the PROG and thus have value for instruction of English as a foreign language.

Written corrective feedback in second language acquisition and writing studies

2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 446-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana R. Ferris
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Writing Studies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Grammar Correction ◽  
Written Corrective Feedback ◽  
Language Studies ◽  
Controversial Topic

Written corrective feedback, referred to hereafter as ‘written CF’ and also known as ‘grammar correction’ or ‘error correction’, has been a controversial topic in second language studies over the past fifteen years. Inspired by John Truscott's thought-provoking 1996 essay inLanguage Learning, many different researchers have undertaken new programs of investigation, while others have engaged in scholarly synthesis and argumentation around the topic.

scholarly journals IMPROVING THE GRAMMATICAL ACCURACY OF THE SPOKEN ENGLISH OF INDONESIAN INTERNATIONAL KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 168
Author(s):  
Imelda Gozali ◽  
Ignatius Harjanto
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Kindergarten Students ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Auxiliary Verbs ◽  
Plural Form ◽  
Grammatical Accuracy ◽  
Subject Pronoun

The need to improve the spoken English of kindergarten students in an international preschool in Surabaya prompted this Classroom Action Research (CAR). It involved the implementation of Form-Focused Instruction (FFI) strategy coupled with Corrective Feedback (CF) in Grammar lessons. Four grammar topics were selected, namely Regular Plural form, Subject Pronoun, Auxiliary Verbs Do/Does, and Irregular Past Tense Verbs as they were deemed to be the morpho-syntax which children acquire early in life based on the order of acquisition in Second Language Acquisition. The results showed that FFI and CF contributed to the improvement of the spoken grammar in varying degrees, depending on the academic performance, personality, and specific linguistic traits of the students. Students with high academic achievement could generally apply the grammar points taught after the FFI lessons in their daily speech. Students who were rather talkative were sensitive to the CF and could provide self-repair when prompted. Those with lower academic performance generally did not benefit much from the FFI lessons nor the CF.

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