The contribution of prosody to intelligibility, comprehensibility and accentedness in foreign language acquisition

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-298
Author(s):  
Pauline Degrave
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
Future Research ◽  
General Description ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to review recent research illustrating the importance of prosody in foreign language acquisition, and to examine whether music might help in this learning process. The paper starts off by defining prosody and by examining previous research on foreign language prosody acquisition, stating the difficulties for learners and the potential effect of non-native prosody on communication, notably on comprehensibility, intelligibility and accentedness. A subsequent section focuses on prosodic characteristics of Dutch and the problems foreign language learners may encounter in acquiring them. Based on this general description of foreign language prosody acquisition, the paper then zooms in on the link between music and prosody, and on the potential effect of musical training, musical abilities or the use of music in the foreign language classroom on foreign language prosody acquisition. The paper ends with a short discussion on avenues for future research.

scholarly journals The Long-term Effects of Instruction on EFL Learners' Use of Complaining Formulas

10.29007/5xsb ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia Martínez-Flor ◽  
Esther Usó-Juan
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Over Time

Studies analysing the positive role of pragmatic instruction in formal settings have increased over the last decades. Within this area of interventional pragmatics, some studies have particularly examined whether the effectiveness of the instruction implemented is sustained over time. In order to shed more light on the long-term effects of instruction, this research investigates English as a Foreign Language learners’ use of complaining formulas not only after immediately receiving instruction, but also two months later. Results show that learners keep using a variety of appropriate complaining formulas two months after having participated in the instructional period. These findings are discussed and directions for future research suggested.

Analysis and classification of errors when shifting from general English to ESP teaching at University (the case of legal translation)

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 148-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karine Chiknaverova
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Error Analysis ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Introductory Course ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Legal Translation ◽  
Sociocultural Characteristics

Teaching legal translation at university causes a number of challenges which are caused by linguistic and sociocultural characteristics of the corresponding original and translation texts and psycholinguistic peculiarities of the second language acquisition process. There are some aspects in teaching legal translation that are rarely under investigation, among them there are issues that arise when shifting from general English to legal translation teaching. The article aims to comprehensively analyse and classify errors that students make during the introductory course of legal translation as well as to reveal the causes thereof. The author is guided by a set of methods including inter alia analysis of research on errors made by foreign language learners, observation and representative method. It concludes with recommendations related to teaching legal translation at the introductory level, summarises sources, types of errors and the ways to minimise and avoid them. Keywords: Teaching legal translation, ESP, ESL, error analysis.

English spelling performance of Dutch grammar school students

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marieke Hoeijmakers ◽  
Elise de Bree ◽  
Merel C.J. Keijzer
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Grammar School ◽  
School Students ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Spelling Performance ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Pseudoword Reading ◽  
English Spelling

The present study investigates English spelling performance of Dutch grammar school students to establish whether Dutch grammar school students are able to spell words differing in complexity, as well as whether they are sensitive to the information available in the spellings (phonological, orthographical, and lexical frequency). Twenty-one Dutch foreign language learners of English were presented with an English dictation task (from Kemp, Parrila, & Kirby, 2009). They had to spell base (uninflected) and derived (inflected) words and pseudowords which were matched on the basis of their phonological or orthographical patterns. Students also had to complete a Dutch dictation task, and a word and pseudoword reading task. Findings show that the students obtained higher scores on spelling words versus pseudowords, base versus derived targets, and on phonological versus orthographical targets. There was no correlation between Dutch and English spelling proficiency. These data are interpreted within a usage-based model of language acquisition.

scholarly journals Does the effect of enjoyment outweigh that of anxiety in foreign language performance?

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Marc Dewaele ◽  
Mateb Alfawzan
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Language Performance ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Positive And Negative Emotions

Interest in the effect of positive and negative emotions in foreign language acquisition has soared recently because of the positive psychology movement (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014, 2016; MacIntyre, Gregersen & Mercer, 2016). No work so far has been carried out on the differential effect of positive and negative emotions on foreign language performance. The current study investigates the effect of foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) on foreign language performance in a group of 189 foreign language pupils in two London secondary schools and a group of 152 Saudi English as a foreign language learners and users of English in Saudi Arabia. Correlation analyses showed that the positive effect of FLE on performance was stronger than the negative effect of FLCA. In other words, FLE seems to matter slightly more than FLCA in foreign language (FL) performance. Qualitative material collected from the Saudi participants shed light on the causes of FLCA and FLE and how these shaped participants’ decisions to pursue or abandon the study of the FL.

scholarly journals WPŁYW UMUZYKALNIENIA NA PRZYSWAJANIE PODSYSTEMU FONICZNEGO U UCZĄCYCH SIĘ JĘZYKÓW OBCYCH: WYNIKI BADANIA

Neofilolog ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (43/2) ◽  
pp. 168-179
Author(s):  
Wioletta Piegzik
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Wilcoxon Test ◽  
Musical Ability ◽  
Music School ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Positive Effect

This report presents the results of a study into the relationship between musical ability and the development of a phonological system by foreign language learners. Our own experiences both as a foreign language teacher and as a musical group leader have raised a number of questions and lines of enquiry. These challenge previous researchers’ findings concerning the allegedly absolutely positive effect of music on language learning and as a result this study has been undertaken.After a brief theoretical presentation, we describe the research project in which learners abilities to distinguish and produce different phonemes as well as the prosody of the language studying are analyzed. Two groups of learners were compared in this study. One group attended a music school. The second group had no musical experience. The study showed that receptive skills were not significantly different between the two groups. The group of learners with musical training was more articulate but this was the only difference. The statistical approach used in analysis of data was the Wilcoxon test.

The Role of Gender in the Linguistic Performance of Foreign Language Learners: Does Gender Make a Difference?

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hosny Mostafa Al-Dali
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Linguistic Performance ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Number Of Males

<p>The present study examines the variation in the proficiency of adult learners (males and females) of English as a foreign language.  It is a generally accepted fact in L<sub>1</sub> acquisition that females enjoy a rate advantage, initially at least. However, I know of no study that has systematically investigated the rate of second language acquisition (SLA) in females versus males. It might be safe to cite few SLA studies: Farhady, 1982; Eisenstein, 1982; Lakoff, 1973; Zimmerman and West, 1975; and Gass and Varonis, 1986. Although these studies reported sex-related differences, they were incidental to their main focus. The subjects for the present study are 180 students in the Department of English, Faculty of Arts, Minufiya University. They are divided into three groups according to their academic status in their university: Beginners (60); Intermediate (60); and advanced (60). Each group is equally divided into males (30), and females (30). Accordingly, the total number of males is 90, and that of females is 90, as well. All subjects performed three tasks: 1) listening; 2) reading, and 3) structure and written expressions, similar, to those used in the TOEFL test. The overall umbrella, under which all these tasks are designed, is ‘systematicity’; and/or ‘variability’; and whether learners' sex is responsible for it. Results are obtained and conclusions are made. </p><strong>Keywords</strong>: Variability; L<sub>2</sub> learners’ proficiency, sex.

L1 frequency in foreign language acquisition: Recurrent word combinations in French and Spanish EFL learner writing

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magali Paquot
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Equivalent Form ◽  
Systematic Investigation ◽  
Frequency Effects ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
Argumentative Essays

This study investigated French and Spanish EFL (English as a foreign language) learners’ preferred use of three-word lexical bundles with discourse or stance-oriented function with a view to exploring the role of first language (L1) frequency effects in foreign language acquisition. Word combinations were extracted from learner performance data (i.e. argumentative essays), and the frequency of their translation equivalent forms was analysed on the basis of French and Spanish L1 corpora. Strong and positive monotonic correlations were found between the frequency of a lexical bundle in the EFL learners’ written productions and the frequency of its equivalent form in the learners’ first language. Results also suggest that different patterns of use across the two L1 learner populations may be explained by frequency differences in L1 French and Spanish. Overall, the study calls for a more systematic investigation of L1 frequency effects within usage-based perspectives on second language acquisition.

scholarly journals A Review of Foreign Language Learners’ Emotions

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiangfu Yu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Influencing Factors ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Foreign Language Anxiety ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
The Relationship

In the past half century, the research on emotions of foreign language learners (FLL) has shifted the focus from an exclusive analysis of negative emotions to a more holistic study of both negative emotions and positive emotions, and currently to mediators of multiple emotions. Of the FLL’s negative emotions, foreign language anxiety (FLA) attracts the most attention. Researchers have widely discussed the relationship between FLA and foreign language achievement, the influencing factors of FLA, the dynamicity of FLA as well as regulation and intervention strategies of FLA. Foreign language enjoyment (FLE) is the most heavily studied research subject on FLL’s positive emotions. Researchers generally focus on the influencing factors of FLE, the dynamicity of FLE and the relationship between FLE and FLA. With the implementation of holistic education, emotional intelligence (EI), a mediator of multiple emotions of FLL, has been becoming a newly hot topic in the field of FLL’s emotions. By reviewing the previous studies, this paper proposes that the future research on FLL emotion needs to expand the research perspectives, enrich the research topics, and innovate the research methods.

scholarly journals Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLSs) Employed by Learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 177
Author(s):  
Prashneel Ravisan Goundar
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Discussion Section ◽  
English As Foreign Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Vocabulary Learning Strategies

Learning a new language entails various challenges, one of these is grasping the vocabulary of the language. A significant way to tackle the problem is to motivate students to become independent learners during the progression of second language (L2) vocabulary learning. Thus, this study intended to explore the use of different vocabulary learning strategies among adult English as foreign language learners and investigated the various vocabulary learning strategies and found the benefits and drawbacks associated with each strategy. It was able to select the most frequently and least frequently used VLSs by learners who have completed the language program and those who are continuing the course. Further, it found effective strategies that could be used in teaching vocabulary to students. The research used a quantitative method approach with 53 participants who were EFL learners took part in the questionnaire survey. The results of the present study reveal the common strategies that foreign language learners use in vocabulary learning. The VLSs from this study will not only benefit students of the English language but can easily to be used by learners of other second languages globally. Finally, the paper discusses different strategies at length, gives valuable recommendations in the discussion section and concludes with implications for future research.

scholarly journals Problematyka sprawności mówienia we wczesnoszkolnej edukacji językowej w świetle współczesnych niemieckojęzycznych badań empirycznych

Neofilolog ◽  
2010 ◽  
pp. 143-152
Author(s):  
Ewa Wieszczeczyńska
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Teaching Methodology ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
Research And Teaching ◽  
Early School ◽  
Language Research ◽  
New Research

The main goal of this paper is to evaluate recent empirical studiesconducted in the German environment which concern theprocesses of foreign language acquisition by young children intheir early school education. The results of these new studies led tothe development of new teaching strategies based on the interactionbetween the teacher and the young learners. Different aspectsof the studies reported in the paper are now subject to a widespreaddebate and they deserve attention in our educational contextas well, since Polish schools resemble German ones in manyrespects. Therefore, the critical overview presented here can beseen as an inspiration for a new research agenda in the area ofsecond language research and teaching methodology for that agegroup. Moreover, from the practical point of view, it opens newoptions in developing new teaching methods and teaching materialsfor young foreign language learners in Polish schools.

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