scholarly journals Begrijpelijkheid en accent bij beginnende NT2-leerders

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-221
Author(s):  
Bart Deygers ◽  
Carolien Frijns
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Educational Backgrounds ◽  
Beginning Learners ◽  
The One

Abstract In social interaction, foreign language accent and comprehensibility impact how we perceive our conversational partners. In recent years, research interest in these constructs has been on the rise, while many issues remain underexposed. These issues include the relationship between comprehension and accent on the one hand, and background variables of both learner and assessor on the other. Since most research to date has been conducted with highly educated and advanced learners of English as a second or foreign language, we do not know to what extent those results can be generalised to a wider population that includes beginning learners of Dutch as a second language from various educational backgrounds. In addition, little research has been done into the comparability of the judgements of trained and non-trained assessors. In the current study, we compared the judgments of four trained evaluators with the intuitive judgments of 272 non-trained evaluators (first-year students at various Educational Bachelor’s Programmes in Primary Education). The first group of raters evaluated the speaking performance of 116 learners of Dutch as a second language using standardised criteria, the second group used more subjective criteria. The results show that the two groups of evaluators make very similar judgements and that these judgements are mainly related to two background variables: the nature of the NT2 course the learners followed (also an indicator of prior education and cognitive ability) and the level of language proficiency of the course.

First language effects on the identification and evaluation of second language speech

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-194
Author(s):  
Anne-France Pinget
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Aptitude ◽  
Content Type ◽  
It Impacts ◽  
Language Effects

Abstract In Belgium, Dutch as spoken by Francophone learners is relatively frequent in political, commercial or educational contexts. While the characteristics of this second language (L2) variety have been studied extensively, there is to date no systematic report of how it is evaluated by either native speakers of Dutch or non-natives. Previous studies conducted in other language contexts have found that non-natives tend to be very critical towards L2 accents similar to their own. The main goal of the present study is to investigate the extent to which the listener’s first language (L1) impacts ratings of the fluency, accentedness and comprehensibility of L2 Dutch as spoken by Francophone learners and how it impacts the identification of the speakers’ L1. Specifically, we compared ratings by three groups of listeners: Francophone learners of Dutch, native speakers of Belgian Dutch and native speakers of Netherlandic Dutch. Moreover, the extent to which three additional cognitive and environmental factors influence L2 ratings is examined: listeners’ familiarity with the L2 variety, their language aptitude and language proficiency. The results show that the majority of native and non-native listeners recognized the speakers’ L1 (French). Non-native listeners perceived L2 speech as less fluent, less comprehensible and more accented than natives did, which corroborates the previously reported critical attitudes towards a shared L2 accent. Moreover, subtle differences in accent and fluency ratings were found between the Netherlandic Dutch and the Belgian Dutch listeners. No clear effects of other cognitive and environmental factors appeared in the ratings.

scholarly journals Levels of tests of Russian as a foreign language in terms of school age characteristics

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-234
Author(s):  
Nadezhda A. Dubinina ◽  
Dmitrii V. Ptiushkin
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
School Students ◽  
Second Language Proficiency ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Training Courses ◽  
Guidelines And Recommendations

The current paper discusses possibilities for school students to successfully pass TORFL-I/B1, TORFL-II/B2 and TORFL-III/C1. The relevance of this article is determined by the fact that despite Russian as a foreign (second) language has been taught within the framework of the TORFL system for more than two decades, there is a shortage of methodological material aimed at preparing school students for TORFL. In addition, the issue of choosing the level of testing in accordance with the level of Russian language proficiency and taking into account age specifics is not sufficiently covered in Russian academic literature. The aim of this paper is to define age reference marks for school students who plan to pass TORFL. The materials to review and analyse were the works of Russian and foreign researchers in the field of foreign (second) language proficiency, language development of children and adolescents, assessment of school students communicative competence, language assessment, and correlation of these data with the requirements for completing tasks of the TORFL-I/B1, TORFL-II/B2, TORFL-III/C1 Writing subtests selected as an example. The paper has resulted in providing recommendations on the choice of examination level for senior and junior school students, within the framework of TORFL-I/B1, TORFL-II/B2, TORFL-III/C1, which can also be used in the development of training courses in Russian as a foreign language for schools. The authors concluded that there is need to develop a new methodological area in testing of Russian as a foreign language system capable to provide guidelines and recommendations for preparing school students for examinations, and designing TORFL training courses and teaching materials according to the school students age.

The effectiveness of integrating technology in EFL/ESL writing: a meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-454
Author(s):  
Baleigh Qassem Al-Wasy
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Educational Level ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Integrating Technology ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
Language Context

Purpose This paper aims to highlight a research on integrating technology into teaching and learning of second/foreign language writing. Design/methodology/approach In total, 18 empirical studies, involving a total of 1,281 second and foreign language learners, have been reviewed. These studies are selected from the following two databases: Web of Science and Google Scholar. The meta-analysis investigates how effect sizes vary depending on these moderators as follows: stage of writing, language context, learners’ educational level and language proficiency level. Findings The findings of this meta-analysis have indicated that technology has a large effect on second/foreign language writing (d = 1.7217). These findings have also revealed that the two stages of writing, drafting and editing, have received most of the researchers’ concern. In addition, high school and university learners have achieved a larger effect size of using technology in writing learning; beginner learners have achieved the smallest effect size. Originality/value To sum, the previous meta-analyses and reviews tried to explore the effect of computer on writing skills. However, some of them were limited to special groups (Williams and Beam, 2019) and some others analyzed very few studies (Little et al., 2018). Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of the effect of implementing technology in writing skills is needed. The purpose of this study is to perform a meta-analysis of the primary studies about the integration of technology into writing skills. The primary goals of this meta-analysis were to: examine the overall effects of implementing technology in writing; synthesize the relationship between technology and a number of moderators such as stages of writing, language context, learners’ target language proficiency and learners’ educational level (school and university).

The use of stative progressives by school-age learners of English and the importance of the variable context

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Fuchs ◽  
Valentin Werner
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intermediate Level ◽  
School Age ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Dialectal Variation ◽  
Aspect Hypothesis ◽  
Intermediate Learners

Abstract Previous studies indicate that even advanced learners of English as a Foreign Language and speakers of English as a Second Language extend the progressive to stative verbs, contrary to the predictions of the Aspect Hypothesis (AH). We test this claim based on a corpus of beginning and lower intermediate learner writing produced by speakers of three languages with and three without a progressive. In contrast to previous studies, we measure the frequency of stative progressives using the variable context method, which is frequently used in research on dialectal variation. Results reveal that stative progressives are very rare at the beginning/lower intermediate level, regardless of the presence of a progressive in the learners’ L1, confirming the claim of the AH for beginning and lower intermediate learners. Moreover, stative progressives mostly occur in contexts that are grammatical in native usage, especially in the interlanguage of learners with a progressive in their L1.

Wie Zijn 'Onze' Leerders?

1999 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 87-97
Author(s):  
Anne-Mieke Janssen-van Dieten
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
The Other ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
The One

There is an increasing awareness that the number of non-native speakers in the category of 'adult, highly educated, advanced L2-learners' is rapidly increasing. This paper presents an analysis of what it means to teach them a second language - whether it is Dutch or any other second language. It is argued that, on the one hand, conceptions about language learning and teaching are insufficiendy known, and that, on the other hand, there are many widespread misconceptions that prevent language teachers from catering adequately for people's actual communicative needs, and from providing tailor-made solutions to these problems.

scholarly journals The influence of code-mixing and speaker information on perception and assessment of foreign language proficiency: An experimental study

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphael Berthele
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Assessment Scores ◽  
Swiss German ◽  
Code Mixing ◽  
Other Information ◽  
The One ◽  
Academic Potential

The study draws on different lines of research on the influence of social and other information on the evaluation of language production in school contexts. On the one hand, names or other background information is well known to influence teachers and other gatekeepers’ evaluations, and on the other hand, code-switching and other non-standard features in pupils’ language production are also known to affect assessment outcomes not only of linguistic skills but also of general academic potential. Taking into account these two research traditions, this study investigates the influence of different ethnically marked names and code-switches on teachers’ evaluations of pupils’ oral proficiency in French as a foreign language. Three authentic oral texts were rerecorded once by inserting German words and once without such inserts. Additionally, these samples were presented either as stemming from a bilingual Swiss German native or from a multilingual Swiss-German Serbian boy. A total of 157 future teachers rated the speech samples with respect to different dimensions (fluency, correctness, but also the pupil’s academic potential in general). The analyses provide evidence for positive and negative stereotyping of the Serbian first name, and there is also an unexpected interaction with code-mixing into German: without insertional mixing, the texts with a Balkan name are perceived as being superior, but with such mixing this superiority is lost and turns into significantly lower assessment scores.

Hebben we oren naar anderstaligen in het Vlaamse hoger onderwijs?

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-247
Author(s):  
Laura Rosseel
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Education Community ◽  
Entrance Level

Abstract In order to enroll in Flemish higher education, aspiring students whose native language is not Dutch require a B2 CEFR level for language proficiency for most courses that are taught in Dutch. The question we aim to answer in this study is how future interlocutors of these students perceive that B2 entrance level. Do fellow students, lecturers and other members of staff feel that this level of language proficiency is sufficient to successfully navigate higher education? We specifically focus on the perception of pronunciation proficiency. We conducted a speaker evaluation experiment in which 191 students and staff members evaluated six sound clips with non-native Dutch speech representing pronunciation levels B1, B2 and C1. Results show that overall attitudes towards the speakers in the experiment are rather positive. In addition, there is a clear association between pronunciation proficiency and perceived functioning in higher education that reflects the Flemish higher education entrance policy. Our study also shows that various groups within the higher education community react differently towards non-native Dutch speakers and that there is a link between perception of non-native pronunciation and the amount of contact a listener has with non-native speakers. Overall, this study underlines the importance of pronunciation training in foreign language teaching for academic purposes.

scholarly journals Understanding the information literacy experiences of EFL (English as a foreign language) students

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 552-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Johnston ◽  
Helen Partridge ◽  
Hilary Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Literacy Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Literacy Experiences ◽  
Relational Approach ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – This paper aims to outline research that explores the information literacy experiences of English as a foreign language (EFL) students. The question explored in this research was: how do EFL students experience information literacy? Design/methodology/approach – This study used phenomenography, a relational approach to explore the information literacy experiences of EFL students. Phenomenography studies the qualitatively different ways a phenomenon is experienced in the world around us. Findings – This research revealed that EFL students experienced information literacy in four qualitatively different ways. The four categories revealed through the data were: process, quality, language and knowledge. This research found that language impacted on EFL students’ experiences of information literacy and revealed that EFL students applied various techniques and strategies when they read, understood, organised and translated information. Research limitations/implications – This research was conducted in a specific cultural and educational context; therefore, the results might not reflect the experiences of EFL students in other cultural or educational contexts. Practical implications – The findings from this research offer an important contribution to information literacy practice by providing important insights about EFL students’ experiences and perceptions of information and learning that can be used to inform curriculum development in second language learning contexts. Originality/value – There is currently a lack of research using a relational approach to investigate EFL students’ experiences of information literacy. There is also limited research that explores the impact language has on information literary and learning in EFL or English as a second language (ESL) contexts.

scholarly journals Language Proficiency through Vocabulary Development: A Framework

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boumediène BENRABAH
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Threshold Level ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
English As Foreign Language ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Language Proficiency Test ◽  
Experimental Group

The global aim of the present research paper is an attempt to reach a threshold level of the learning of a foreign language (English) through the development of vocabulary. Observing the very limited rate of use of English in the Algerian community, English as Foreign Language (EFL) students, actually, need to progress in the mastery of that language by reading and/or listening to texts or messages intensively. To achieve this goal, subsequent procedures should take place by giving the foreign language a rather more appreciable position in the community such as the one held by a second language. To be down-to-earth, a brief survey on the linguistic situation in Algeria is exposed where neat clarification of second-foreign language status in the community is laid out to show that the more a (foreign) language is explicitly exposed in its manifold forms, the more are learners, in that community, likely to acquire it as a second language. However, the assumption of presenting the receptive skills (reading and listening) as the most appropriate means for the growth of foreign language vocabulary is supported by Krashen’s input theory where any input to be understood, should come at EFL learners’ capacity to read/listen and decode easily the meaning. In due course, First year EFL students have been subject to a language proficiency test-‘a pre-test then a post-test’. This typical experimental design is an intervention study which contains two groups: ‘the treatment or experimental’ group which receives the treatment, or which is exposed to some special conditions of intensifying vocabulary learning through a varied, comprehensible input; and a second group of EFL learners- the control group- whose role is to provide a baseline. The findings showed better scores among the experimental group compared to the other group. Actually, the results proved the adequacy of the adopted theory.

scholarly journals THE NECESSITY OF BILINGUAL APPROACH IMPLEMENTATION AT HIGHER EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Nataliia Martovytska ◽  
Liubov Lokhvytska
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Empirical Survey ◽  
Search Experiment ◽  
Higher Educational ◽  
New Generation

The article highlights the results of the bilingual approach implementation to the process of preparing students for their professional competencies in the context of higher education system reformation. The topicality of the study is caused by the fact that the entry of Ukrainian society into the European space imposes appropriate requirements for the new generation specialists’ training. The purpose of the study was to substantiate theoretically and verify experimentally the implementation of a bilingual approach to learning a foreign language in the process of teaching some professional disciplines in order to improve the professional training of students of non-linguistic specialties. To achieve this goal, we used the following methods: to collect empirical survey data (student questionnaires and interviews with teachers), a statement experiment to find out the real state of the problem under investigation, a search experiment to implement the bilingual approach in the study of foreign language and its control.The experiment was participated by students of the 1st and 2nd years of study of non-linguistic specialties students at higher educational institutions during four terms, the study was carried out in three stages. At the first stage the level of preparation of the first-year students of non-linguistic specialties was studied. The results demonstrated that more than half of the respondents had difficulties in mastering the material. At the second stage of the study, a search experiment was conducted using a bilingual approach. In the course of the effectiveness approach checking, it was recorded that students demonstrated a sufficient level of foreign language proficiency due to the systematic use of the bilingual approach while studying basic disciplines.  

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