scholarly journals Processing possessives in French as a foreign language: Design of an experiment

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-23
Author(s):  
Bergljot Behrens ◽  
Cathrine Fabricius-Hansen ◽  
Anneliese Pitz
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Design ◽  
Problem Orientation ◽  
First Languages ◽  
Linguistic Influences

The paradigm of possessive determiners differs in systematic ways across languages and causes cognitive resolution problems in the interpretation of a foreign language. Based on previous investigations into cross-linguistic influences (CLI) in learners’ interpretation of possessive determiners, this article presents the design of an experiment for testing English, German and Norwegian adult learners of French. We specify two kinds of processing problems: a direction problem (orientation towards possessor vs. possessee) and a problem of lexical parasites (‘false friends’). The experiment is directed at learners’ spontaneous interpretation of the singular possessives "son", "sa" and "ses", on account of a partly false friendship with the possessive determiners in these learners’ first languages.

Factors predicting classroom WTC in English and French as foreign languages among adult learners in Spain

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110540
Author(s):  
Elvira Barrios ◽  
Irene Acosta-Manzano
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Willingness To Communicate ◽  
French Language ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Relative Standing

This study aimed to identify associations and predictors of willingness to communicate (WTC) of adult foreign language (FL) learners and whether they are contingent upon the FL being learned. To this end, our research investigated learner variables associated with WTC in adult FL learners of English and of French in an under-researched field of WTC studies in Spain. More specifically, the following variables were studied: gender, age, level of multilingualism, perceived relative standing in the class, language proficiency, teacher’s use of the FL in class, out-of-class foreign language use (OCFLU) and the two emotions of foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA). Of the 9 independent variables examined, FLCA and language proficiency were found to be predictors of the WTC of both English and French language learners; additionally, enjoyment was found to be a predictor of WTC of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) and OCFLU, of learners of French as a foreign language (FFL). Our findings indicate that the construct of WTC needs to be further studied as research may produce dissimilar results depending on the instructional setting, population and foreign language. Pedagogical implications for language teaching practices seeking to enhance adult FL learners’ WTC were also drawn from the study results.

scholarly journals Audyt językowy w nauczaniu osób dorosłych

Neofilolog ◽  
1970 ◽  
pp. 133-143
Author(s):  
Maciej Smuk
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Cognitive Styles ◽  
Dominant Type ◽  
Interdisciplinary Character

Among the various means used for assessing the general language competences of adult learners, the audit is one of the most popular tools. Apart from its main purpose, which is the diagnosis of current language proficiency, during the audit the learner’s various needs might be as well analyzed. Additionally, we may use this tool to recognize the non-language competences such as: cognitive styles, dominant type of intelligence or learner’s beliefs, attitudes and habits. Thus, the interdisciplinary character of the audit allows, in an exquisite way, to optimize the content of the foreign language course for adults.

Children’s and adults’ initial phonological acquisition of a foreign language

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-401
Author(s):  
Romana Kopečková ◽  
Christine Dimroth ◽  
Ulrike Gut
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Phonological Acquisition ◽  
Phoneme Discrimination ◽  
Sentence Imitation ◽  
German Children ◽  
L2 Perception

Abstract This study compared children’s and adults’ L2 perception and production in the first hours of exposure to a foreign language. A total of 10 German children and 19 German adults performed a phoneme discrimination task and a sentence imitation task in Polish at two testing times. Exposed to a comparable input, the adult learners were found to perceive Polish sibilant contrasts more accurately than their child counterparts and to maintain this advantage over a two-week-long instruction. However, the two groups did not differ in their developing ability to produce the tested sibilants. A great deal of inter- and intra-individual differences in both learner groups was also attested. Our findings suggest that young L2 instructed learners are not necessarily better and/or faster perceivers and producers of novel language sounds than adult L2 instructed learners, who are able to discriminate a range of novel sibilant pairs even after very limited L2 exposure.

Kijkend Leren

1997 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 9-21
Author(s):  
Karolien Kamma
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Effect ◽  
Incidental Learning ◽  
Lexical Acquisition ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Television Programs ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Learning Instruction

The research reported on in this paper concerns the role of television in the lexical acquisition of a foreign language. Twenty higher educated adult learners of Dutch as a foreign language watched a 15-minute compilation of the educative television programs Klokhuis and Lucht. By means of a pre-post-test-design, it was examined whether the subjects learned words by watching and listening to the television programs. The results indicated a significant learning effect, which persisted after a one-week time interval. There was also a tendency for the learning effect in the ten students who watched with explicit word-learning instruction (intentional learning) to be stronger than the learning effect in the students who watched without instruction (incidental learning). The learnability of a word was neither positively influenced by the visual support as extra contextual cue, as offered by television, nor by the number of times a word was offered in the television fragments. It was concluded that television could play an important role in the lexical acquisition of Dutch as a foreign language.

scholarly journals An Analysis of Linguistic Errors Made by EFL’s Adult Learners in Translating English into Indonesian language

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Julian Chandra
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Education ◽  
Lexical Aspect ◽  
Morphological Aspects ◽  
Translation Errors ◽  
Lexical Errors ◽  
Academic Year ◽  
Bahasa Indonesia ◽  
Made In

The study was aimed at describing what linguistic errors namely, grammatical, syntactical, morphological, phnological and lexical errors that English education program students made in translating Indonesian language into English. This research was a descriptive qualitative research. Research participants were 19  sixth semester students of English education at STKIP YDB who took translation subject for academic year of  2018/2019. The research instrument was translation test derived from the students’ translation midterm examination which comprised translating 15 Indonesian sentences into English. Data was analyzed through error analysis in which was proposed by Ellis (1997) involving  steps such as (1) collecting samples / data, (2) identifying the errors, (3) classifying translation errors, (4) explaining the errors, and (5) evaluating / interpreting the error.             The results of the study revealed that the main linguistic errors that the students had in translating Bahasa Indonesia into English was in lexical  aspect. It was found that lexical error comprised  72,8% of total errors. For grammar and syntactical aspects,  it was found that both contained 12,% of total errors made by the students. For morphological aspects,  it was found that only 3,1% of total errors was made. For the linguistic problems in phonological aspects, surprisingly it was found 0% of total errors . It can be concluded language acquisition of these students in the linguistic component of English as a foreign language was inadequate in the act of translating, especially in the level of "lexicon" (vocabulary and choice of words), grammar and syntax.

scholarly journals Teaching English to Adult Learners: A Practical Remedial Method

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 62-69
Author(s):  
Hamza Ethelb ◽  
Mahfouz Shalabi ◽  
Ishraq Sasi
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching Style ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Style Preferences

This study explores the particularities of teaching English to adult learners. It looks at whether adult learners’ comprehension of lessons is slowed down by factors of teaching style or classroom settings. The study uses a questionnaire to collect views of adult learners from the Libyan context. The questionnaire that contains 37 statements measures different aspects of teaching English. It was delivered online using Google Forms. Those aspects include teaching style, preferences of correcting mistakes, willingness of cooperation among adult learners, self-dependence and self-confidence of learners, and preferred techniques to learning grammar and vocabulary. This study also offers a remedial method that is inferred from the experience of the researchers and supported by the results of the data. The results show that adult learners have different perception towards acquiring a foreign language. They agree that they need to better their learning input. The suggested remedial process could be an answer to their needs.

scholarly journals Learning Strategies Used by Good EFL Adult Learners: a Case Study on University Students in Pare-Pare

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 114
Author(s):  
Buyung Renaldy Adisaputra ◽  
Haryanto Atmowardoyo ◽  
Kisman Salija
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Cognitive Strategy ◽  
Metacognitive Strategy ◽  
Social Strategy ◽  
Audio Recorder

This research aimed to find out the good EFL adult learners learning strategies in acquiring the foreign language and how the learning strategies affect the leaners achievement at Universitas Muhammadiyah Parepare. The method used in this research was qualitative method. The instrument were an interview and audio recorder. The participant of the research were the graduate students of Universitas Muhammadiyah Parepare within the age of 25-65 as one of the criteria of adult learners. The result of the research showed that the learning strategies applied by the learner were direct and indirect strategy. Direct strategy covered memory related strategy, cognitive strategy and compensatory strategy while metacognitive strategy, affective strategy and social strategy were included in indirect strategy.

scholarly journals Language learning experience of two Vietnamese language adult learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Cao Thi Hong Phuong
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Case Study Report ◽  
English Classroom ◽  
Linguistic Influences ◽  
Shed Light

In-depth research on Second Language Acquisition (SLA) has shed light on different factors affecting learners� process of learning an additional language (AL). The well-researched factors may include age, inter-linguistic influences, language aptitude, cognition, motivation, and so forth. This case study report compares two adult learners� language learning experiences from social and cognitive SLA perspectives. The key findings reveal that both of the learners mostly relied on three significant factors such as motivation, learners� identity and inter-linguistic influences to acquire the language. From the findings, the paper then suggests some pedagogical implications to maximize the effectiveness of English classroom practices.

scholarly journals Use of Saudi EFL Adult Learners’ L1 to Address Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Khaled Besher Albesher ◽  
Muhammad Sabboor Hussain
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom ◽  
Classroom Anxiety

This study highlights the major emotional and psychological factors related to the medium of instruction (use of First Language (L1) in the classroom) in the domain of bilingual education for adult Saudi English as foreign language (EFL) learners. The primary area of emphasis is to consider whether the use of L1 in the class reduces the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) or it deprives the learners of the real and constant language inputs, viz., the words of the teacher in the target language. Thus, the main research question of the study is how the medium of instruction (use/mixing of Arabic or use of English-only approach) impacts the FLCA (Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety) of Saudi adult learners. The quantitative research tool of survey has been administered on the teachers and students on five-point Likert-scale with the responses ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. There are twelve items in the survey and each item tends to explore different psychological dimension of the issue. 100 adult Saudi university students and 100 EFL teachers have responded to these items. The main finding of the study is that learner’s L1 speeds up the language learning process in a natural way if used occasionally and judiciously with the objective of keeping self-esteem and self image of the learners intact and bringing their FLCA down. The research study not only brings to surface the current state of bilingual EFL education in Saudi context, but also puts forth recommendations for learners, teachers, administrators, and policy makers to strengthen English language teaching/learning in EFL perspective in the bilingual context.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document