scholarly journals Evaluating the Russian Language Proficiency of Bilingual and Second Language Learners of Russian

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Tatiana Luchkina ◽  
Tania Ionin ◽  
Natalia Lysenko ◽  
Anastasia Stoops ◽  
Nadezhda Suvorkina
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Bilingual Speaker ◽  
Proficiency Assessment

The starting point of most experimental and clinical examinations of bilingual language development is the choice of the measure of participants’ proficiency, which affects the interpretation of experimental findings and has pedagogical and clinical implications. Recent work on heritage and L2 acquisition of Russian used varying proficiency assessment tools, including elicited production, vocabulary recognition, and in-house measures. Using such different approaches to proficiency assessment is problematic if one seeks a coherent vision of bilingual speaker competence at different acquisition stages. The aim of the present study is to provide a suite of validated bilingual assessment materials designed to evaluate the language proficiency speakers of Russian as a second or heritage language. The materials include an adaptation of a normed language background questionnaire (Leap-Q), a battery of participant-reported proficiency measures, and a normed cloze deletion test. We offer two response formats in combination with two distinct scoring methods in order to make the testing materials suited for bilingual Russian speakers who self-assess as (semi-) proficient as well as for those whose bilingualism is incipient, or declining due to language attrition. Data from 52 baseline speakers and 503 speakers of Russian who reported dominant proficiency in a different language are analyzed for test validation purposes. Obtained measures of internal and external validity provide evidence that the cloze deletion test reported in this study reliably discriminates between dissimilar target language attainment levels in diverse populations of bilingual and multilingual Russian speakers.

scholarly journals On the problem of typological research of the Russian phonetic system in a linguodidactic context

2021 ◽  
pp. 4-9
Author(s):  
Е.Л. Бархударова
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Accent ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Sound Structure ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Russian Language

В основе разработки курсов практической фонетики, адресованных иноязычной аудитории, лежит анализ типологического своеобразия фонетической системы изучаемого языка в контексте лингводидактики. К числу важных направлений типологического исследования звукового строя русского языка следует отнести, во-первых, изучение соотношения консонантизма и вокализма в его фонетической системе на иноязычном фоне, во-вторых, – анализ позиционных закономерностей русской фонетической системы в сопоставлении с функционированием звуковых единиц в типологически разных языках. В позиционных закономерностях звукового строя языка наиболее ярко проявляется его идиоматичность: в каждом языке позиционные закономерности носят специфический характер и определяются соотношением парадигматики и синтагматики звуковых единиц. Большое число фонологически значимых отклонений в иностранном акценте обусловлено интерферирующим воздействием позиционных закономерностей родного языка на русскую речь учащихся. The development of practical phonetics courses addressed to a foreign audience is based on the analysis of the typological features of the phonetic system of the target language in the context of linguodidactics. It is necessary to designate two important areas of typological research of the sound structure of the Russian language: the study of the relationship of consonantism and vocalism in its phonetic system against a foreign language background and the analysis of positional rules of the Russian phonetic system in comparison with the functioning of sound units in typologically different languages. Idiomatic character of the language is most clearly manifested in the positional patterns of its sound structure. In each language, positional patterns are specific and are determined by the dominance of paradigmatic or syntagmatic relations of sound units. A large number of phonologically significant deviations in a foreign accent are due to the interfering influence of the positional laws of the native language on the Russian speech of students.

scholarly journals Influence of native language and general English proficiency on the use of articles in English

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-121
Author(s):  
Selma Elyildirim
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Great Difficulty ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Supporting Evidence ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Article System ◽  
English Articles

Second language learners face a great difficulty in the use of English articles since their native language does not have an article system which is similar to the target language they learn. Turkish is one of the languages which have an article system marking the semantic features ‘definiteness’ or ‘specificity’ in different ways.  It encodes these features by using case morphology, word order, stress and tense-aspect modality.  Being aware of the fact that this difference and lack of an article system similar to English may cause problems to learners, this study investigates the acquisition of the English articles by Turkish learners.   The data used in the study came from a fill-in-the blank task and a cloze test.  The former included 20 test-sentences assessing the production of English articles in terms of definiteness and specificity whereas the latter had 20 blanks measuring the proficiency of learners. Thirty five English major students attending a university in Turkey participated in the study. Following the data collection, the data were analysed to find out the effect of the learners’ native language as well as their general English proficiency on the production of English articles.  The results provided supporting evidence that the participants had some difficulties in the production of the definite and indefinite articles in English. In view of this finding, this paper discusses both the results and pedagogical implications of the study. Keywords: English articles, definiteness, specificity, L1 influence, language proficiency

Creating an Online Assessment Test for Heritage Learners of Russian

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Titus
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Learners ◽  
Linguistic Performance ◽  
Testing Tools ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Grammar Tests ◽  
Traditional Grammar

This paper examines the differences between second-language learners and heritage learners of Russian in terms of their linguistic performance, a finding supported by current research (Andrews, 2001; Kagan & Dillon, 2001/2003), examines the implications of these differences for the creation of testing tools, and offers a sample of a test designed for the author’s Russian for Heritage Learners course. Also discussed are the drawbacks of applying traditional grammar tests created for second-language classes to heritage-language-classroom settings and the inability of these types of tests to reflect the unique language strengths of heritage learners. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language proficiency guidelines are suggested as a starting point in creating an assessment test for heritage learners.

The same cloze for all occasions?

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
James Dean Brown ◽  
Theres Grüter
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Scoring Methods ◽  
Scoring Method ◽  
Reliability Estimates ◽  
Proficiency Assessment ◽  
Cloze Test

AbstractTarget language proficiency assessment has become an integral part of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research design, with cloze tests frequently serving this purpose for reasons of practicality. Assumptions underlying the interpretation of such cloze test scores, however, are often not examined. With the goal of providing researchers with better means for drawing inferences from cloze test scores, we present an analysis of a combined dataset comprised of scores from 1,724 test takers on a frequently used English cloze test (Brown 1980). We examine variation in score distributions and reliability estimates among L2 groups, between L2 and native-speaker (NS) examinees, and for different scoring methods, and investigate the degree to which different sets of items were effective for classifying low- vs high-proficiency L2 examinees and L2 vs NS test takers. Standardized scores are provided for each scoring method so that future researchers can reference their scores to this larger set.

PROFICIENCY ASSESSMENT STANDARDS IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION RESEARCH

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie Tremblay
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Target Language ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Proficiency Assessment ◽  
Assessment Standards ◽  
The Relationship

The present study aims to sensitize SLA researchers to the importance of documenting and controlling for their participants’ proficiency in the target language, with the goal of establishing more robust proficiency assessment standards in experimental research. First, this article presents a survey of recent (2000–2008) foreign and second-language (L2) acquisition studies that show that such standards have yet to be met. Second, it demonstrates the validity, reliability, and practicality of a cloze (i.e., fill-in-the-blank) test designed to discriminate among L2 learners of French at different proficiency levels. Subject and item analyses are performed on the cloze test scores of 169 L2 learners of French from various language backgrounds. The relationship between these scores and the learners’ language background is examined. Cutoff points between proficiency levels are identified in the data. The test then is shared with scholars so that those working with a similar population of L2 learners of French can also use it.

scholarly journals Translanguaging in the Family Context: Evidence from Cyprus, Sweden and Estonia

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 619-641
Author(s):  
Sviatlana Karpava ◽  
Natalia Ringblom ◽  
Anastassia Zabrodskaja
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Language Management ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Language

The aim of this paper is to highlight translanguaging practices in the home among bilingual/multilingual Russian-speaking children and their parents in Cyprus, Sweden and Estonia. Multilingual families are the focus of our research: 50 in Cyprus, 20 in Estonia and 50 in Sweden. Using parental written question- naires with the focus on general background, socio-economic status and language proficiency, as well as oral semi-structured interviews and ethnographic participant observation, our study attempts to describe how family language policy is managed through translanguaging and literacy activities in multilingual Russian-speaking families in three different cultural and linguistic environments. Our results show both differences and similarities among Russian-speakers in the three countries, not only in their family language practices, but also in their attitudes towards the fluidity of language, language repertoires, translanguaging and Russian-language literacy. Russian-speakers incorporate a wide range of language repertoires in their everyday lives. Sometimes, such language contacts generate power struggles and the language ideological dimension becomes a key terrain to explore how speakers feel about the need to effectively attain a degree of multilingualism. Multilingualism and the maintenance of the Russian language and culture are usually encouraged, and parents often choose the one-parent-one-language approach at home. However, not all families make conscious choices regarding specific language management and may have “laissez-faire” attitudes to the use of languages in the family. We show how family language use and child-directed translanguaging can support, expand and enhance dynamic bilingualism/multilingualism, and reinforce and integrate minority language in a wider context: societal and educational.

scholarly journals Within- and between-language competition in adult second language learners: implications for language proficiency

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
McCall E Sarrett ◽  
Christine Shea ◽  
Bob McMurray
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Spoken Word Recognition ◽  
Lexical Competition ◽  
Developmental Progression ◽  
Language Competition ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Proficiency Assessment

Second language (L2) learners must not only acquire L2 knowledge (i.e. vocabulary and grammar), but they must also rapidly access this knowledge. In monolinguals, efficient spoken word recognition is accomplished via lexical competition, by which listeners activate a range of candidates that compete for recognition as the signal unfolds. We examined this in adult L2 learners, investigating lexical competition both amongst words of the L2, and between L2 and native language (L1) words. Adult L2 learners (N=33) in their third semester of college Spanish completed a cross-linguistic Visual World Paradigm task to assess lexical activation, along with proficiency assessment (LexTALE-Esp). L2 learners showed typical incremental processing activating both within-L2 and cross-linguistic competitors, similar to fluent bilinguals. Proficiency correlated with both the speed of activating the target (which prior work links to the developmental progression in L1) and the degree to which competition ultimately resolves (linked to robustness of the lexicon).

scholarly journals Foreign language learning as a factor of the inophone’s sociocultural adaptation

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Students ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Student ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Sociocultural Adaptation ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
Concert Programs

The article describes the features of the inophones’ sociocultural adaptation. One of the factors of the foreigner’s sociocultural adaptation – mastering the Ukrainian (Russian) language has been considered. The forms of work with foreign students to be helpful in their successful sociocultural adaptation have been proposed. The activity of the teacher is to manage the organization of active knowledge of the realities by the foreigners. It is also worth attracting foreigners to certain educational activities, excursions; organizing the concert programs both as observers and participants; arranging visits to various events where you can communicate with native Ukrainian (Russian) speakers. As a result of linguistic education, the students can and should be formed: readiness to comprehend a socio-cultural portrait of the country, the target language, and understanding of the native speakers; ethnic, racial and social tolerance, language tact and socio-cultural politeness; propensities to find non-violent ways to resolve conflicts. So, when learning foreign languages, the enrichment of foreign students’ individual experience of communication with another linguistic culture and the result of foreign language training are positive changes in the overall structure of students’ behavior. The author is convinced that the systematic, purposeful teachers’ work to overcome adaptation difficulties is the key to the successful adaptation of foreign students, the further development of each student as a person and future specialist. The better the Ukrainian (Russian) language is learned, the more adaptive it is, the more students adapt to the new socio-cultural environment, the better and more successful is the process of joining a new educational system and the sphere of interethnic communication with representatives of different countries. Prospects for further research are to find the forms and methods of work that will facilitate the acquisition of a foreign student to a new environment. The teacher must create certain conditions for foreigners to comprehend the linguistic material and learn to participate in the dialogue communication of the society in an active way.

scholarly journals Bilingual advantage in early EFL pronunciation accuracy of German 4th-graders

2021 ◽  
pp. 136700692199681
Author(s):  
Teresa Kieseier
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Social Background ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Error Sources ◽  
Common Error ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Background Factors ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Error Types

Aims and Objectives: We compared speech accuracy and pronunciation patterns between early learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) with different language backgrounds. We asked (1) whether linguistic background predicts pronunciation outcomes, and (2) if error sources and substitution patterns differ between monolinguals and heterogeneous bilinguals. Methodology: Monolingual and bilingual 4th-graders ( N = 183) at German public primary schools participated in an English picture-naming task. We further collected linguistic, cognitive and social background measures to control for individual differences. Data and Analysis: Productions were transcribed and rated for accuracy and error types by three independent raters. We compared monolingual and bilingual pronunciation accuracy in a linear mixed-effects regression analysis controlling for background factors at the individual and institutional level. We further categorized all error types and compared their relative frequency as well as substitution patterns between different language groups. Findings: After background factors were controlled for, bilinguals (irrespective of specific L1) significantly outperformed their monolingual peers on overall pronunciation accuracy. Irrespective of language background, the most frequent error sources overlapped, affecting English sounds which are considered marked, are absent from the German phoneme inventory, or differ phonetically from a German equivalent. Originality: This study extends previous work on bilingual advantages in other domains of EFL to less researched phonological skills. It focuses on overall productive skills in young FL learners with limited proficiency and provides an overview over the most common error sources and substitution patterns in connection to language background. Significance/Implications: The study highlights that bilingual learners may deploy additional resources in the acquisition of target language phonology that should be addressed in the foreign language classroom.

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