The Case Study of Pragmatic Failure in Second Language of Pakistani Students

The current study explores the pragmatic failure in the second language (L2) of Pakistani learners at the graduate level. Pragmatic failure occurs mainly because of the lack of the cultural awareness and knowledge, and it offers an angle for the discussion in this study. However, the development of L2 learners’ pragmatic competence plays a significant role in accomplishment of communicative competence. This study was aimed to examine the relationship between pragmatics and language proficiency. The data were selected from two universities, i.e., University of Management and Technology, Lahore, and Minhaj University Lahore. The sample of 80 L2 learners participated in this study, and forty students were selected from each university. They were studying English as L2 for four years, respectively. All learners were Urdu speakers and their age ranged from 22 to 28. To assess participants’ language proficiency, Oxford Quick Placement Test (1999) was employed. The data were analyzed through the SPSS software (version 22) to answer the research questions. The descriptive analysis is utilized to find out the results. In order to evaluate the data, One Way ANOVA was run to see the level of significance among the three groups, i.e., High, Mid and Low. It is 0.445 between High and Mid group, and finally the level of significance between Low and Mid group is 0.001. The results reveal that L2 Pakistani learners have a lot of problems not only in pragmatic competence but in language proficiency as well. However, there is a significant relationship between pragmatics and language proficiency. And finally, it is found that there is no difference between male and female learners in pragmatic field, and eventually we came to this conclusion that pragmatic feature of English is predictable, namely, those students who are in a high level of language proficiency do better in pragmatic situations.

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PREDICTING L2 FLUENCY FROM L1 FLUENCY BEHAVIOR

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263119000755 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 671-695 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Zeynep Duran-Karaoz ◽

Parvaneh Tavakoli

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Speech Rate ◽

Placement Test ◽

Elicited Imitation ◽

Language Pedagogy ◽

Proficiency Level ◽

Second Language Pedagogy ◽

L1 And L2 ◽

The Relationship

AbstractThe article reports on the findings of a study investigating the relationship between first language (L1) and second language (L2) fluency behavior. Drawing on data collected from Turkish learners of English, the study also addresses the question of whether proficiency level mediates the relationship, if any. The data were coded for a range of breakdown, repair, speed, and composite measures. Language proficiency was measured by means of two tests: Oxford Placement Test (OPT) and an Elicited Imitation Task (EIT). The results show that some breakdown and repair measures were positively correlated in L1 and L2, but no correlations were observed for articulation rate and speech rate. The relationships were not mediated by proficiency level. Regression analyses show that a number of models predicted L2 fluency. L1 fluency contributed significantly to models predicting pausing behavior; EIT scores predicted L2 speech rate; and L1 fluency and OPT scores predicted L2 repair and mid-clause pauses. The important implications of the findings for fluency research and second language pedagogy are discussed.

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AKDENIZ UNIVERSITY GERMAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE STUDENTS' VIEW ABOUT YDS

Idil Journal of Art and Language ◽

10.7816/idil-10-78-14 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (78) ◽

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Academic Career ◽

Placement Test ◽

German Language ◽

Great Effort ◽

Difficult Situation ◽

Language And Literature ◽

Foreign Language Proficiency ◽

High Level

Finding a good job, making an academic career and advancing in a profession requires a high level of foreign language proficiency whose evidence is provided through proficiency exams. In Turkey’s case, proficiency exams in various languages are designed, administered and graded under the name of foreign language proficiency exam (YDS) by the Measuring, Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM). It's one of the important exam which is broadly accepted in relation to the business life, academic carier and for language proficiency. For graduates of German Language and Literature departments, this exam is also highly crucial and can only be passed with great effort and hard work. This study aims to evaluate the graduates who failed in this exam, and who became successful in such a difficult situation. To this end, opinions and suggestions of 40 participants, who are graduates of Akdeniz University German Language and Litarature, about YDS were taken with the questionnaire and the complications encountered along passing the exam were tried to be determined in many aspects, the reason for failiure and thing to be done for success were investigated. Data were analyzed through employing the frequency analysis, means scores, the correlation analysis, Cramer’s V and discourse analysis. Results were presented and discussed in the findings section. In the last section, implications and suggestions for success in short time and easily in YDS were presented. Findings presented contain useful information in revising the curriculums and their contents. In addition, the study will ease and shed light on preparation process of German Language and Literature, German Teaching and German Translation and Interpretation students for YDS. Keywords: Foreign language level / placement test, student views, success, failure

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Cross-Cultural Pragmatics and Its challenges in EFL context

10.31227/osf.io/dcgyk ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Dian Rianita

Keyword(s):

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Cultural Awareness ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Target Language ◽

Pragmatic Competence ◽

Efl Context ◽

High Level ◽

Cultural Pragmatics

Preprint-The target of teaching and learning a foreign language, like English, is customary to give the learners knowledge in using the target language for communication in an appropriate way. Because of that, it is not enough to teach the learners merely grammar skills, but they have to be provided with the cross-cultural competence in using the target language. Linguists believe that mastering high-level skills in grammar does not mean the learners have the equal pragmatic competence. Thus, the instruction concerning pragmatics is compulsory in term of rising a cross-cultural awareness. This paper discusses the intercultural pragmatics and its importance in second language acquisition. The discussion covers the challenges faced by the learners in becoming proficient at using English as their target language

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What vocabulary size tells us about pronunciation skills: Issues in assessing L2 learners

Journal of French Language Studies ◽

10.1017/s0959269520000010 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 141-160

Author(s):

Paolo Mairano ◽

Fabian Santiago

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Research Methods ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Vocabulary Knowledge ◽

Listening Skills ◽

Vocabulary Size ◽

L2 Learners ◽

The Impact ◽

Speaking Skills

AbstractMeasures of second language (L2) learners’ vocabulary size have been shown to correlate with language proficiency in reading, writing and listening skills, and vocabulary tests are sometimes used for placement purposes. However, the relation between learners’ vocabulary knowledge and their speaking skills has been less thoroughly investigated, and even less so in terms of pronunciation. In this article, we compare vocabulary and pronunciation measures for 25 Italian instructed learners of L2 French. We measure their receptive (Dialang score) and productive (vocd-D, MTLD) vocabulary size, and calculate the following pronunciation indices: acoustic distance and overlap of realizations for selected L2 French vowel pairs, ratings of nasality for ratings of foreign-accentedness, fluency metrics. We find that vocabulary measures show low to medium correlations with fluency metrics and ratings of foreign-accentedness, but not with vowel metrics. We then turn our attention to the impact of research methods on the study of vocabulary and pronunciation. More specifically, we discuss the possibility that these results are due to pitfalls in vocabulary and pronunciation indices, such as the failure of Dialang to take into account the effect of L1-L2 cognates, and the lack of measures for evaluating consonants, intonation and perception skills.

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Second Language Acquisition and the Mastery of Discourse Connectives: Assessing the Factors That Hinder L2-Learners from Mastering French Connectives

Languages ◽

10.3390/languages5030035 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 35 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mathis Wetzel ◽

Sandrine Zufferey ◽

Pascal Gygax

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Language Acquisition ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Cognitive Complexity ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Control Group ◽

Minor Role ◽

L2 Learners ◽

Discourse Connectives

Even though the mastery of discourse connectives represents an important step toward reaching high language proficiency, it remains highly difficult for L2-learners to master them. We conducted an experiment in which we tested the mastery of 12 monofunctional French connectives conveying six different coherence relations by 151 German-speaking learners of French, as well as a control group of 63 native French speakers. Our results show that the cognitive complexity of the coherence relation and connectives’ frequency, both found to be important factors for native speakers’ connective mastery, play a minor role for the mastery by non-native speakers. Instead, we argue that two specific factors, namely the connectives’ register and meaning transparency, seem to be more predictive variables. In addition, we found that a higher exposure to print in L1, correlates with a better mastery of the connectives in L2. We discuss the implications of our findings in the context of second language acquisition.

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How L2 learners of French and English express modality using verbal means: A crosslinguistic and developmental study

IRAL - International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching ◽

10.1515/iral-2017-0108 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 55 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Pascale Leclercq ◽

Amanda Edmonds

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Native Speakers ◽

Short Film ◽

Developmental Study ◽

Second Language Proficiency ◽

L2 Learners ◽

French And English ◽

French Speaking ◽

English Speaking

AbstractThis study describes and analyzes how native and non-native speakers express modality using verbal means during oral retellings. Participants included native speakers of French and English, as well as English-speaking learners of French and French-speaking learners of English at three levels of language proficiency. All participants performed the same short film retelling, which was then transcribed and analyzed in terms of modalization. Results show that all groups use verbal modal means, although rates, meanings and types of modal forms used vary across the two languages, and especially as a function of second language proficiency.

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Second language acquisition and first language loss in adult early bilinguals: exploring some differences and similarities

Second language Research ◽

10.1191/0267658305sr247oa ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 199-249 ◽

Cited By ~ 78

Author(s):

Silvina Montrul

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

First Language ◽

Target Language ◽

Linguistic Knowledge ◽

Heritage Speakers ◽

L2 Learners ◽

The Usa ◽

English Dominant

This study compares the linguistic knowledge of adult second language (L2) learners, who learned the L2 after puberty, with the potentially ‘eroded’ first language (L1) grammars of adult early bilinguals who were exposed to the target language since birth and learned the other language simultaneously, or early in childhood (before age 5). I make two main claims: (1) that the L1 grammar of bilinguals at a given stabilized state (probably endstate) resembles the incomplete (either developing or stabilized) grammars typical of intermediate and advanced stages in L2 acquisition; and (2) that despite similar patterns of performance, when language proficiency is factored in, early bilinguals are better than the L2 learners, probably due to exposure to primary linguistic input early in childhood. I offer empirical evidence from an experimental study testing knowledge of the syntax and semantics of unaccusativity in Spanish, conducted with English-speaking L2 learners and English-dominant Spanish heritage speakers living in the USA. I consider recent treatments of unaccusativity and language attrition within the generative framework (Sorace, 1999; 2000a; 2000b), that offer a unifying account of the formal parallels observed between these two populations I discuss how input, use and age may explain differences and similarities in the linguistic attainment of the two groups.

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Using elicited imitation to measure global oral proficiency in SLA research: A close replication study

Language Teaching ◽

10.1017/s026144482000021x ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-20

Author(s):

Kevin McManus ◽

Yingying Liu

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Original Study ◽

High Level Language ◽

Elicited Imitation ◽

Language Abilities ◽

Low Level ◽

Fourth Level ◽

L2 Learners ◽

High Level

Abstract We closely replicated Wu and Ortega (2013), who found that an elicited imitation test (EIT) reliably distinguished low-level from high-level language abilities among instructed second language (L2) learners of Mandarin Chinese. The original study sampled learners (1) from second-level courses to represent low-level language abilities and (2) from third-, fourth- and graduate-level courses to represent high-level language abilities. Results showed high-level learners outperformed low-level learners on the Mandarin EIT. Our close replication used Wu and Ortega's (2013) materials and procedures in order to understand (1) the extent to which this EIT can additionally distinguish between finer-grained language abilities and (2) the ways in which the broad grouping of language abilities in the high group may have contributed to the findings. Sixty-five instructed L2 learners from four instructional levels were assigned to one of three groups: Beginner (first-level courses), Low (second-level courses), High (third- and fourth-level courses). Consistent with the original study, our results showed clear between-group differences, indicating that the EIT can distinguish between both broad (beginner vs high) and finer-grained (beginner vs low, low vs high) language abilities. These results are discussed in light of the original study's findings with implications for proficiency assessment in second language acquisition (SLA) research.

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REVISITING THE SPANISH ELICITED IMITATION TASK

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263119000342 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 41 (5) ◽

pp. 1027-1053 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Megan Solon ◽

Hae In Park ◽

Carly Henderson ◽

Marzieh Dehghan-Chaleshtori

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Validation Study ◽

Narrow Range ◽

Oral Proficiency ◽

Practical Method ◽

Elicited Imitation ◽

Current State ◽

L2 Learners ◽

High Level

AbstractElicited imitation tasks (EITs) have been shown to be a valid, reliable, and practical method for establishing second-language (L2) oral proficiency across a variety of languages. Nevertheless, research that has validated existing EITs has most often explored a narrow range of learner proficiencies or has examined how well the EIT distinguishes between low- and high-level learners. Bowden’s (2016) validation study of the Spanish EIT was the first to expand the range of learner proficiencies by including low, advanced, and very advanced L2 learners; her results suggested that, in its current state, the EIT may not be equipped to distinguish finer-grained levels of proficiency, especially at more advanced levels. The present study revisits the Spanish EIT to examine (a) its ability to distinguish between higher level learners and (b) whether including additional, more challenging EIT items allows for finer-grained distinctions at higher levels. Results suggest that the addition of longer, more challenging EIT items can improve the discriminability of the test among more advanced L2 learners.

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On L1 attrition and the linguistic system

EUROSLA Yearbook ◽

10.1075/eurosla.9.11sch ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

pp. 212-244 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Monika S. Schmid

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Learning ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Native Speaker ◽

First Language ◽

Quantitative Difference ◽

Highly Active ◽

L2 Learners ◽

The Difference ◽

Native Language Proficiency

One of the most puzzling observations for linguists is the difference between learning a language from birth and later in life: while all normally developing children can attain full native language proficiency, there is considerable variability in ultimate attainment among older speakers who attempt to acquire a second language (L2). There is an ongoing controversy in linguistic research on whether this discrepancy is due to a maturationally constrained window of linguistic development making language learning difficult or impossible after puberty, or to general cognitive factors linked to the fact that the later an L2 is established, the stronger the competition it has to overcome from the more deeply entrenched first language (L1). Studies attempting to resolve this controversy have so far focussed exclusively on the development of L2 skills. New insights may be provided by investigating the first language skills of migrants who have become dominant in the L2 (referred to as L1 attriters). Such speakers learned their L1 as monolinguals during childhood, and were therefore not impeded by maturational constraints in the acquisitional process. Having lived in an L2 environment for a long period of time, however, their seldom-used L1 shows signs of the influence of their highly active L2. A systematic comparison of L1 attriters and L2 learners may therefore be able to shed some light on the question of whether there is a qualitative or merely a quantitative difference between L1 acquisition in childhood and L2 acquisition later in life: If being a native speaker is maturationally constrained, even attrited L1 systems should remain native-like. But if the persistent problems of L2 learners are due to issues such as lack of practice and exposure, and competition between their two language systems, bilinguals who use their second language dominantly should become more similar to L2 speakers.

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