scholarly journals Understanding online reading through the eyes of first and second language readers: An exploratory study

2014 ◽  
Vol 73 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haijun Kang
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Kim McDonough ◽  
Rachael Lindberg ◽  
Pavel Trofimovich ◽  
Oguzhan Tekin

Abstract This replication study seeks to extend the generalizability of an exploratory study (McDonough et al., 2019) that identified holds (i.e., temporary cessation of dynamic movement by the listener) as a reliable visual cue of non-understanding. Conversations between second language (L2) English speakers in the Corpus of English as a Lingua Franca Interaction (CELFI; McDonough & Trofimovich, 2019) with non-understanding episodes (e.g., pardon?, what?, sorry?) were sampled and compared with understanding episodes (i.e., follow-up questions). External raters (N = 90) assessed the listener's comprehension under three rating conditions: +face/+voice, −face/+voice, and +face/−voice. The association between non-understanding and holds in McDonough et al. (2019) was confirmed. Although raters distinguished reliably between understanding and non-understanding episodes, they were not sensitive to facial expressions when judging listener comprehension. The initial and replication findings suggest that holds remain a promising visual signature of non-understanding that can be explored in future theoretically- and pedagogically-oriented contexts.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie McNaughton ◽  
Kim McDonough

This exploratory study investigated second language (L2) French speakers’ service encounters in the multilingual se ing of Montreal, specifically whether switches to English during French service encounters were related to L2 speakers’ willingness to communicate or motivation. Over a two-week period, 17 French L2 speakers in Montreal submitted online questionnaires after they concluded service encounters that they had initiated in French. Their willingness to communicate in French was higher when the service provider did not switch to English; however, the frequency of English switches was not related to their general motivation to learn French. Possible reasons for language switches are explored, and pedagogical implications are highlighted. Ce e étude exploratoire porte sur des consultations qu’ont eues des locuteurs de français L2 dans le milieu plurilingue qu’est Montréal; plus précisément, les auteures se penchent sur la question de savoir si les transferts du français vers l’anglais pendant les consultations étaient liés à la volonté des locuteurs L2 à communiquer ou à la motivation. Au cours d’une période de deux semaines, 17 locuteurs de français L2 à Montréal ont complété des questionnaires en ligne après avoir eu des consultations qu’ils avaient initiées en français. Ils étaient plus motivés à communiquer en français quand le fournisseur de services ne passait pas à l’anglais; toutefois, la fréquence des transferts vers l’anglais n’était pas liée à leur motivation générale pour apprendre le français. Les auteures évoquent des raisons possibles pour le passage à l’anglais et en soulignent les répercussions pédagogiques. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-209
Author(s):  
Laia Canals ◽  
Gisela Granena ◽  
Yucel Yilmaz ◽  
Aleksandra Malicka

Online language courses that rely on asynchronous teacher-learner communication face a practical problem when it comes to the provision of immediate corrective feedback by the teacher in oral interaction tasks. In this learning context, learners can still communicate synchronously and record their interaction without the teacher being present, but feedback by the teacher will be delayed in time. Research indicates that the effectiveness of feedback decreases as the time between the error and the correction increases and that immediate feedback is more effective (Arroyo & Yilmaz, 2018; Shintani & Aubrey, 2016). In this exploratory study conducted at an online university, we implemented a novel type of feedback we referred to as delayed immediate corrective feedback (DICF) and analyzed second language learners’ and teachers’ perceptions regarding its effectiveness and usefulness. Our goal was to assess the feasibility of implementing this type of feedback in our context and, ultimately, in other contexts where communication between teachers and learners takes place asynchronously. DICF was provided by teachers orally via screencast video. Learners and teachers’ perceptions were collected via two separate questionnaires. The results showed that teachers and learners responded positively to DICF and several potential benefits were identified. Les cours de langue en ligne qui s’appuient sur la communication asynchrone enseignant-apprenant rencontrent un problème pratique quand vient le temps de fournir de la rétroaction corrective immédiate par l’enseignant lors des tâches d’interaction orale. Dans ce contexte d’apprentissage, les apprenants peuvent toujours communiquer de manière synchrone et enregistrer leur interaction sans que l’enseignant soit présent, mais la rétroaction de l’enseignant sera décalée dans le temps. La recherche indique que l’efficacité de la rétroaction diminue au fur et à mesure que le temps entre l’erreur et la correction augmente, et que la rétroaction immédiate est plus efficace (Arroyo & Yilmaz, 2018; Shintani & Aubrey, 2016). Dans cette étude exploratoire menée auprès d’une université en ligne, nous avons mis en place une nouvelle forme de rétroaction, que nous avons appelée rétroaction corrective immédiate retardée (RCIR), et nous avons analysé les perceptions des apprenants de langue seconde et des enseignants quant à son utilité et à son efficacité. Notre objectif était d’évaluer la faisabilité de mettre en place ce type de rétroaction dans notre contexte, et par extension, dans d’autres contextes où la communication entre apprenants et enseignants se passe de manière asynchrone. La RCIR a été fournie oralement par des enseignants à l’aide de vidéos d’écrans. Les perceptions des apprenants et des enseignants ont été recueillies dans deux questionnaires distincts. Les résultats ont montré qu’apprenants et enseignants ont réagi à la RCIR de manière positive et plusieurs avantages potentiels ont été identifiés.


2019 ◽  
Vol 170 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-276
Author(s):  
Nicole Ziegler ◽  
Huy Phung

Abstract This exploratory study examines the extent to which mode differentially impacts the quantity and quality of interactional features in second language (L2) task-based interaction. Following a within-subject, repeated measures design, intermediate adult learners (n = 20) completed four (counter-balanced) tasks with a confederate interlocutor in the following conditions: audio-chat, video-chat, text-chat, and multimodal chat (in which participants could interact using more than one form of communication). Quantitative analyses examined the quality of learners’ interactions, including negotiation, recasts, and LREs. Data regarding learners’ perceptions of type of technology were also collected to provide a more holistic perspective. The results demonstrate differences in terms of interactional features and learners’ preference based on mode of technology.


2005 ◽  
Vol 73 ◽  
pp. 41-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josje Verhagen

The paper addresses the issue of a possible relationship between the acquisition of non-modal auxiliaries and the acquisition of syntactic phenomena in an L2. It has been claimed in the literature that the acquisition of non-modal auxiliaries enables learners to acquire syntactic phenomena such as post-verbal negation (cf. Parodi, 2000; Dimroth, 2004) and syntactic finiteness (Dimroth et al., 2003; Jordens, 2004). The present paper aims to make a contribution to this line of research by investigating the role of hebben in the acquisition of certain V2 phenomena in L2 Dutch. More specifically, it seeks to answer the question of whether the production of hebben by Turkish and Moroccan learners of Dutch is related to these learners' acquisition of topicalisation and post-verbal negation. An exploratory study is described in which longitudinal production data are examined both quantitatively and qualitatively. The data are taken from the ESF-corpus (cf. Feldweg, 1992) and concern interview data and film retellings from two Turkish and three Moroccan learners who learned Dutch in a naturalistic setting. The data show that all five learners fail to produce topicalised structures and post-verbal negations as long as they do not produce hebben. Moreover, learners start to produce such V2 structures shortly after they have produced their first instances of hebben. These findings seem to indicate that the production of hebben is related to the acquisition of topicalisation and post-verbal negation, i.e., the non-modal auxiliary seems to serve as a bootstrap into the V2 system of Dutch. To explain the observed relationship between hebben and V2 phenomena, an explanation by Jordens (2004) is considered. It is concluded that the present data are in line with his account. It is also stressed, however, that some caution is needed in interpreting the findings, due to the exploratory character of the study.


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