Effects of Modality and Speaking Style on Mandarin Tone Identification by Non-Native Listeners

Phonetica ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 263-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yueqiao Han ◽  
Martijn Goudbeek ◽  
Maria Mos ◽  
Marc Swerts
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Relative Strength ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Efficient Learning ◽  
Mandarin Tones ◽  
Mandarin Tone ◽  
Speaking Style

Although the way tones are acquired by second or foreign language learners has attracted some scholarly attention, detailed knowledge of the factors that promote efficient learning is lacking. In this article, we look at the effect of visual cues (comparing audio-only with audio-visual presentations) and speaking style (comparing a natural speaking style with a teaching speaking style) on the perception of Mandarin tones by non-native listeners, looking both at the relative strength of these two factors and their possible interactions. Both the accuracy and reaction time of the listeners were measured in a task of tone identification. Results showed that participants in the audio-visual condition distinguished tones more accurately than participants in the audio-only condition. Interestingly, this varied as a function of speaking style, but only for stimuli from specific speakers. Additionally, some tones (notably tone 3) were recognized more quickly and accurately than others.

Attainment of Syntactic and Morphological Accuracy by Advanced Language Learners

1989 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig ◽  
Theodora Bofman
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Design Feature ◽  
Relative Strength ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Specific System ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Syntactic Development ◽  
The Relationship

The present study examines the relationship between syntactic development, or complexity, and overall accuracy evidenced in the written English of advanced adult foreign language learners. Similar acquisition profiles were found to exist for 30 learners across five language groups: Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Malay, and Spanish. Syntactic complexity, measured in number of clauses per T-unit, is found to be similar in all five groups. These advanced foreign language learners, who show similar patterns of error distribution, all show relative strength in syntax, what Newport, Gleitman, and Gleitman (1977) call a universal design feature of language, but relative weakness in morphology, which is always a language-specific system.

scholarly journals The relationship between writing anxiety, writing selfefficacy, and Spanish EFL students’ use of metacognitive writing strategies: a case study

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Aula Blasco
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Writing Strategies ◽  
Think Aloud ◽  
Writing Anxiety ◽  
Written Text ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Efl Students

The composing process of a written text is one of the most challenging tasks encountered by foreign language learners. Mastering writing depends on numerous aspects, being the use of metacognitive writing strategies a paramount factor in the process. However, writing metacognition is not isolated from other factors, and emotional constructs have a deep influence both on the use of strategies and on the final written outcome. In this article, a case study is undertaken among six upper-secondary-school Spanish EFL students in order to explore, identify, and analyze the unique relationships existing between the use of metacognitive writing strategies, writing anxiety and writing self-efficacy, observing also how these three factors influence students’ writing performance. To do so, participants were invited to take part in a think-aloud protocol while writing a text in English. Results were cross-validated with students’ completion of a questionnaire designed drawing on previous literature (O’Neil and Abedi 1996; Cheng 2004; Jones 2008; Stewart et al. 2015; Ho 2016) to measure the three factors. Participants’ responses to both research instruments showed a positive correlation between writing metacognition and writing self-efficacy. On the other hand, these two factors were reported to be negatively correlated with students’ level of writing anxiety. Findings also suggest that think-aloud protocols might have flaws when measuring emotional constructs. Thus, EFL instruction should aim at reducing both personal and environmental factors that may cause writing anxiety and decrease learners’ self-efficacy, ultimately enhancing students’ writing skills.

Refusal Semantic Formulas Used by Foreign Language Learners

2008 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 115-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Euen Hyuk Sarah Jung ◽  
Kim, Young Jae
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Learners

The Involvement of Native Speakers in Teaching and Learning Japanese Language at UiTM

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Choong Pow Yean ◽  
Sarinah Bt Sharif ◽  
Normah Bt Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Japanese Culture ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Lexical Density

The Nihongo Partner Program or “Japanese Language Partner” is a program that sends native speakers to support the teaching and learning of Japanese overseas. The program is fully sponsored by The Japan Foundation. The aim of this program is to create an environment that motivates the students to learn Japanese. This study is based on a survey of the Nihongo Partner Program conducted on students and language lecturers at UiTM, Shah Alam. This study aims to investigate if there is a necessity for native speakers to be involved in the teaching and learning of Japanese among foreign language learners. Analysis of the results showed that both students and lecturers are in dire need of the Nihongo Partner Program to navigate the learning of the Japanese language through a variety of language learning activities. The involvement of native speaker increases students’ confidence and motivation to converse in Japanese. The program also provides opportunities for students to increase their Japanese language proficiency and lexical density. In addition, with the opportunity to interact with the native speakers, students and lecturers will have a better understanding of Japanese culture as they are able to observe and ask the native speakers. Involvement of native speakers is essential in teaching and learning of Japanese in UiTM.

Grammatical Competence within L2 Communication: Language Production, Monitor Hypothesis, and Focus on Forms Instruction

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moh. Rofid Fikroni
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Focus On Form ◽  
Grammatical Competence ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Speaking Skill ◽  
Focus On Forms ◽  
Learning Language

Bearing in mind that the learners’ speaking skill had become the main goal in learning language, grammatical competence is believed to have a big role within foreign language learners’ language production, especially in spoken form. Moreover, the learners’ grammatical competence is also closely related to the Monitor Hypothesis proposed by Krashen (1982) in which it says that the acquired system will function as monitor or editor to the language production. The students’ monitor performance will vary based on how they make use of their acquired system. They may use it optimally (monitor optimal user), overly (monitor over-user), or they may not use it at all (monitor under-user). Therefore, learners’ grammatical competence has its own role, which is very crucial, within learners’ language production, which is not only to produce the language, but also to monitor the language production itself. Because of this reason, focus on form instruction will give a great impact for students’ grammatical competence within their communicative competence. This paper aims to present ideas about the how crucial the role grammatical competence within learners’ L2 communication.

Conceptual metaphors as a tool for the efficient teaching of Dutch and German posture verbs

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine De Knop ◽  
Julien Perrez
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Semantic Networks ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
Awareness Raising ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Germanic Languages

The article deals with the typological differences between the Romance language French and the Germanic languages German and Dutch for the linguistic expressions of posture and location. It describes how these typological differences can be problematic for French-speaking learners of German and Dutch. The main difference between both types of languages is that posture and location tend to be encoded by posture verbs in Germanic languages and by very general verbs in Romance languages (Talmy 2000). After a detailed description of the semantic networks of the German and Dutch posture verbs, the paper takes a critical look at how these expressions are dealt with in teaching manuals. It further presents strategies for the efficient teaching of posture verbs to foreign language learners. These strategies are among others awareness-raising exercises about the compulsory use of posture verbs in Germanic languages and the description of conceptual metaphors in different languages. These pedagogical avenues for the efficient teaching of the Dutch and German posture verbs constitute a first step towards the elaboration of an experimental set-up aiming at verifying them.

scholarly journals Willingness to speak English among foreign language learners: A causal model

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1455332
Author(s):  
Mohammad Javad Riasati ◽  
Yvonne Xian-han Huang
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Causal Model ◽  
Foreign Language Learners
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