How to promote the pragmatic awareness and avoid the fossilization phenomenon through a role play activity in English as a foreign language classes

Many people, even after spending a lifetime studying a foreign language are prone to get stuck in a certain grammatical domain no matter the efforts made and the amount of the target language input offered in the classroom. Unfortunately, the great majority who pursuits their dreams to be the closest possible to a native like speaker, the lack of ability to analyze and synthesize linguistic elements makes them persist in the same errors, establishing a phenomenon known as Fossilization in their learning process. In fact, Fossilization can occur in all learning process levels: phonological, grammatical, lexical and pragmatic and the errors made seem to be similar from individual to individual. In an attempt to avoid this Fossilization process concerning the pragmatically ability to communicate, this article aims to present a suggestion of a role-play activity involving strategies to enhance pragmatic awareness related to politeness theory.

Early parental causal language input predicts children’s later causal verb understanding

How does parental causal input relate to children’s later comprehension of causal verbs? Causal constructions in verbs differ across languages. Turkish has both lexical and morphological causatives. We asked whether (1) parental causal language input varied for different types of play (guided vs. free play), (2) early parental causal language input predicted children’s causal verb understanding. Twenty-nine infants participated at three timepoints. Parents used lexical causatives more than morphological ones for guided-play for both timepoints, but for free-play, the same difference was only found at Time 2. For Time 3, children were tested on a verb comprehension and a vocabulary task. Morphological causative input, but not lexical causative input, during free-play predicted children’s causal verb comprehension. For guided-play, the same relation did not hold. Findings suggest a role of specific types of causal input on children’s understanding of causal verbs that are received in certain play contexts.

Vocabulary in EFL/ESL Context: An Analysis of General English Textbook

<p style="text-align: justify;">Vocabulary plays an important part in an EFL/ ESL textbook. The language input contained in textbooks and the representation of dimensions in vocabulary activities may have various impacts on learners’ language acquisition and development. According to Webb and Nation, vocabulary development requires the establishment of certain learning situations. It is imperative to analyze whether the vocabulary exercises presented in the book serve the desired purpose or not. The present research analyzed present General English textbook to ensure that it fulfills the learning needs of students. During the analysis, it was found that most of the sections of the vocabulary are well presented with proper context. However, there were some sections which do not contextualize the vocabulary as presented in the book. These items need to be substituted. Certain sections of the vocabulary are above the level of learners and need to be replaced with the easy ones.</p>

Acoustic-Lexical Characteristics of Child-Directed Speech Between 7 and 24 Months and Their Impact on Toddlers' Phonological Processing

Speech-language input from adult caregivers is a strong predictor of children's developmental outcomes. But the properties of this child-directed speech are not static over the first months or years of a child's life. This study assesses a large cohort of children and caregivers (n = 84) at 7, 10, 18, and 24 months to document (1) how a battery of phonetic, phonological, and lexical characteristics of child-directed speech changes in the first 2 years of life and (2) how input at these different stages predicts toddlers' phonological processing and vocabulary size at 2 years. Results show that most measures of child-directed speech do change as children age, and certain characteristics, like hyperarticulation, actually peak at 24 months. For language outcomes, children's phonological processing benefited from exposure to longer (in phonemes) words, more diverse word types, and enhanced coarticulation in their input. It is proposed that longer words in the input may stimulate children's phonological working memory development, while heightened coarticulation simultaneously introduces important sublexical cues and exposes them to challenging, naturalistic speech, leading to overall stronger phonological processing outcomes.

Optimizing auditory input for foreign language learners through a verbotonal-based dichotic listening approach

The quality of the physical language signals to which learners are exposed and which result in neurobiological activity leading to perception constitutes a variable that is rarely, if ever, considered in the context of language learning. It deserves some attention. The current study identifies an optimal audio language input signal for Chinese EFL/ESL learners generated by modifying the physical features of language-bearing audio signals. This is achieved by applying the principles of verbotonalism in a dichotic listening context. Low-pass filtered (320 Hz cut-off) and unfiltered speech signals were dichotically and diotically directed to each hemisphere of the brain through the contralateral ear. Temporal and spatial neural signatures for the processing of the signals were detected in a combined event-related potential (ERP) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment. Results showed that the filtered stimuli in the left ear and unfiltered in the right ear (FL-R) configuration provided optimal auditory language input by actively exploiting left-hemispheric dominance for language processing and right-hemispheric dominance for melodic processing, i.e., each hemisphere was fed the signals that it should be best equipped to process—and it actually did so effectively. In addition, the filtered stimuli in the right ear and unfiltered in the left ear (L-FR) configuration was identified as entirely non-optimal for language learners. Other outcomes included significant load reduction through exposure to both-ear-filtered FL-FR signals as well as the confirmation that non-language signals were recognized by the brain as irrelevant to language and did not trigger any language processing. These various outcomes will necessarily entail further research.

Mini Texts: A Fusion of Grammar, Communication and Vocabulary Development in CLT (Communicative Language Teaching)

Rich and adequate input is the first and foremost condition for perfect language learning, other important things come later in order to achieve the goal of developing communicative competence in a language learning process in an EFL or ESL setting. In this context, Communicative Language Learning (CLT) is still the most prevalent approach of English language learning/teaching field both in ESL and EFL settings. In EFL settings CLT is adopted nowadays with some reservations. One solution to the drawbacks of CLT is "mini texts" in order to provide rich and adequate language input as they subsume grammar, communication, and most importantly, adequate vocabulary development. Objectives: The main objective is to critically assess the role of mini texts in order to provide rich and adequate language input for language learning. Method: Collaborative action research design was adopted to assess the outcome of teaching "mini texts" under improved communicative approach. Brief written and oral performance tests of class ten students were used as the tools of evaluation. Purposive sampling was used for the selection of thirty schools in three districts of the Kathmandu Valley whereas random sampling was used to select the respondent students of mixed ability for the written and oral performance test. The test items for the test were easy enough to be answered by average students of even lower classes. The test items were based on fixed criteria: different elements of grammatical competence to write and speak correctly, and also on some essential aspects of informal colloquial English used in fast spoken English. Pre-test and Post test were administered in order to compare the result of the traditional teaching with the outcome of the new method teaching with "mini texts" as the primary teaching material to provide optimal and quality language input to the students. Result: The over-all result of the test shows that the learning outcome, in general, is rather frustrating. Let alone government schools where most of the students belong to lower-class unprivileged families, even in private schools, or rather in so called A grade private schools, the condition of the English proficiency from the viewpoint of grammatical competence is rather frustrating. Surprisingly, not a single school could obtain even pass marks whereas same students secure good marks in their national level SEE exam.Conclusion: The current English teaching practice in Nepalese schools is deficient in (i) optimal quality language input, and (ii) suitable teaching methods to produce desirable outcome of English teaching for better learning outcome or better communicative proficiency. Mini texts have come out as an appropriate teaching material to be experimented on a large scale as they subsume essential, grammar points, essential vocabulary stock and also communication-oriented practice exercises.

Parent Language Input Prior to School Forecasts Change in Children’s Language-Related Cortical Structures During Mid-Adolescence

Children differ widely in their early language development, and this variability has important implications for later life outcomes. Parent language input is a strong experiential factor predicting the variability in children’s early language skills. However, little is known about the brain or cognitive mechanisms that underlie the relationship. In addressing this gap, we used longitudinal data spanning 15 years to examine the role of early parental language input that children receive during preschool years in the development of brain structures that support language processing during school years. Using naturalistic parent–child interactions, we measured parental language input (amount and complexity) to children between the ages of 18 and 42 months (n = 23). We then assessed longitudinal changes in children’s cortical thickness measured at five time points between 9 and 16 years of age. We focused on specific regions of interest (ROIs) that have been shown to play a role in language processing. Our results support the view that, even after accounting for important covariates such as parental intelligence quotient (IQ) and education, the amount and complexity of language input to a young child prior to school forecasts the rate of change in cortical thickness during the 7-year period from 5½ to 12½ years later. Examining the proximal correlates of change in brain and cognitive differences has the potential to inform targets for effective prevention and intervention strategies.