The relationship between cue-based sentence interpretation strategies and proficiency of second-language learners

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura M. Morett ◽  
Brian MacWhinney
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Sentence Interpretation ◽  
The Relationship

Zero Anaphora in Second Language Acquisition:A Comparison among Three Varieties of English

1988 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Williams
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Discourse Function ◽  
Spontaneous Production ◽  
Structural Differences ◽  
Zero Anaphora ◽  
The Relationship

This study examines the use of zero anaphora in the English production of three speaker groups: native speakers, second language learners, and speakers of a non-native institutionalized variety. General discourse function for zero anaphora is found to be similar across speaker groups, although in many cases, ungrammatical by prescriptive standards. In addition, there are important quantitative and structural differences between the native speakers and non-native speakers in how this device is used. The results suggest that the relationship between performance data and second language acquisition needs to be reexamined. In particular, it cannot be assumed that spontaneous production of a given form isa direct indicator of acquisition and conversely, that non-production is necessarily proof of non-acquisition.

The relationship between topic and metaphor in second-language learners’ essays

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-278
Author(s):  
Anne Golden
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Automatic Extraction ◽  
High Stake ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Written Assignments ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract In this article I investigate to what extent the use of metaphorical expressions in language learners’ texts vary according to the topic they have chosen to write about. The data come from the Norwegian learner corpus ASK, where the texts are from written assignments produced by adult second-language learners as part of an official Norwegian test and texts. Texts from two different prompts are selected, which are related to friendship and nature. Metaphors are defined according to conceptual metaphor theory and a triangulation of methods is used, alternating between a manual and an automatic extraction method. The results confirm the hypothesis that the two different prompts given to the learners in a language test not only triggers different metaphorical expressions but also influences the amount of metaphor used in the learners’ writing. This knowledge is important to researchers for comparing the use of metaphors between different groups, such as between different learners or between students in different stages of education. It is also important for test designers who decide on topics to be used in tests and teachers who help learners prepare for their tests. In addition, it is of interest for researchers, educators in general and the learners themselves who are interested in the effect the use of metaphors in texts have on raters’ evaluations in high-stake tests.

Review on Motivation of Second Language Learners in Class

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 4229-4233
Author(s):  
Yi Xia
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Style ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Classroom Environment ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Motivational Strategies ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

This paper will provide insight into motivation through the lenses of learning style, interaction and feedback. If the relationship between motivation and three factors are well understood, then the learning of second foreign language can be facilitated in the classroom. Motivational strategies also will be presented after each lens. At the end of the paper, it concludes with the limitations of these researches and specific implications such as classroom environment for further teaching practice.

scholarly journals The influence of content knowledge on NNS-NNS conversations

2008 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
Yuh-Fang Chang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
Foreign Language Acquisition ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
The Relationship

In the field of second and foreign language acquisition, a second-language learner’s language (i.e. interlanguage), like the language of native speakers, varies. What is not clear, however, are the underlying causes of this variation. Causes of interlanguage variation such as linguistic contexts, tasks, and interlocutors have been researched. However, there are other important factors in interlanguage variation that are under-researched. Topic of discourse is one such under-researched factor. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between discourse topics and second language learners’ oral performance.　Twenty-six Taiwanese students participated in this study. Data were collected from NNS-NNS conversations. It was found that discourse topics have a great impact on the grammatical complexity and fluency of L2 learners’ speech production. 第二言語習得や外国語の習得において、学習者の言語（いわゆる中間言語）も母語話者の習得言語と同様に変異があるということはよく知られているが、未だ解明されていないのは何が変異を起こしているのかである。言語、文脈、タスク、対話者などの要因についてはこれまで比較的多く研究されている。しかしながら談話上のトピックについてはほとんど調査が行われていない。本研究の目的は談話上のトピックと学習者の発話行動の関係を探ることである。26名の台湾人の学生が調査に参加した。非母語話者どうしの対話からデータを収集し分析した結果、談話のトピックは文法構造の複雑度および流暢さに大きく影響することがわかった。

Economy in the acquisition of English universal quantifier sentences: The interpretations of deaf and hearing students and second language learners at the college level

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
GERALD P. BERENT ◽  
RONALD R. KELLY ◽  
TANYA SCHUELER-CHOUKAIRI
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Universal Quantifier ◽  
College Level ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Sentence Interpretation

ABSTRACTEnglish sentences containing the universal quantifiers each, every, and all are highly complex structures in view of the subtleties of their scope properties and resulting ambiguities. This study explored the acquisition of universal quantifier sentences as reflected in the performance of three diverse college-level student groups on a multipicture sentence interpretation task. The participant groups (hearing native speakers, deaf students, and second language learners of English) all exhibited fundamental knowledge of universal lexical, semantic, and syntactic properties that contribute to quantifier sentence interpretation. The native speakers outperformed the deaf and second language groups, whose performance was strikingly parallel. Performance patterns are explained in terms of the influences of derivational economy, including the option to restrict in situ indefinite noun phrases to singleton indefinites. The symmetry effect observed in child language studies was also observed among the college-aged participants in this study. It is explained in terms of a pragmatic challenge in managing contextual information that invokes an unexpected singleton indefinite interpretation. The results contribute to the understanding of sentence comprehension under conditions of restricted learner access to target language input and underscore the value of seeking correlates of theory-internal derivational economy in language acquisition and use.

scholarly journals I Meant to Say That: How Adult Language Learners Construct Positive Identities Through Nonstandard Language Use

2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Szabo
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Adult Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Teachers ◽  
The Relationship

The aim of this article is to raise awareness in L2 education about the relationship between second-language learners' linguistic choices in the L2 and their identities. The author reviews empirical research and language-learning narratives that show that L2 learners may purposely use nonstandard L2 forms. Using a poststructuralist framework to conceptualize identity, the author argues that these second-language learners use nonstandard language in the L2 in order to create positive identities, and in some cases to resist social inequalities, in the L2 community. The implications of this research for second-language teachers are discussed and suggestions for classroom practice are offered.

scholarly journals Cross-linguistic perceptual learning in advanced second language listeners

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Katharina S. Schuhmann
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Perceptual Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Learning Effects ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
L1 English

An issue of long-standing interest is whether phones, which correspond to each other phonologically but differ phonetically across two languages, are distinct in the minds of bilinguals and second language learners. Here, we ask whether listeners maintain separate representations for phonetically highly similar phonemes common to two languages even though this might seem inefficient. One way to address this question is to induce a change in the representation of phonemes in one language, and to test whether the other language is also affected. We carried out two perceptual learning studies, one with intermediate to advanced L1 English learners of German and one with intermediate to advanced L1 German learners of English, to probe the relationship between listeners’ representations for the /f-s/ contrast in English and in German. We found cross-linguistic perceptual learning effects extending from English to German in both studies, though the effect sizes for perceptual learning in English and German differed. Based on these findings, we propose that phonetically highly similar phonemes common to listeners’ L1 and L2 have separate yet interconnected mental representations for speech perception.

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