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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'English language acquisition'

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Published: 4 June 2021
Last updated: 21 February 2023

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1

Al-Alami, Suhair. "Utilising fiction to promote English language acquisition." Thesis, Aston University, 2012. http://publications.aston.ac.uk/18726/.

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Towards the end of the university stage, students residing in the United Arab Emirates and specialising in subjects other than English are expected- amongst other university requirements- to have acquired adequate communicative competence as well as a repertoire of critical thinking skills. Despite the efforts made within the field of teaching English to EFL university students in the country, the output gained in terms of acquired skills and competencies is still below expectations. The main concerns of the current thesis are, therefore, a) to investigate the factors which inhibit EFL university students’ progress in the areas of acquiring adequate communicative competence as well as critical thinking skills, and b) to propose a course book and pedagogic methods to improve students’ progress in the areas of acquiring adequate communicative competence as well as critical thinking skills. Believing in the essential role literature plays in enhancing critical thinking and promoting communicative competence on the part of EFL learners, the current study introduces a course, designed and implemented by the researcher: LEARN AND GAIN. The proposed course is fiction-based language teaching, adopting the view that literature is a resource rather than an object, thus advocating the use of literature as one of the main resources in foreign/second language acquisition. Investigating whether or not the proposed course was effective in promoting EFL university students’ communicative competence as well as enhancing their critical thinking skills, a study sample taken from the study population was selected. Adopting an experimental design, the research project involved two groups: experimental and control. The experimental group students were exposed to the proposed course whilst the control group students were exposed to a general English language course. To examine treatment effectiveness, the researcher set and administered a pre-post test. Divided into two main parts, communicative critical reading competence and communicative critical writing competence, the pre-post test measured subjects’ communicative critical reading competence and subjects’ communicative critical writing competence. In addition, a pre-post questionnaire was administered and a semi-structured interview was conducted involving the experimental group students, to gain an awareness of students’ attitudes towards learning literary texts in general, and the proposed course in particular. To examine issues of interest and relevance, gender differences: male vs. female, and university major: science vs. non-science, were also examined for enrichment purposes. For the purpose of gathering sufficient data about subjects’ achievements on the pre-post, the following statistical tests were conducted: Mann-Whitney test, and paired data t-test. Based on the statistical findings, the experimental group students’ performance on the communicative critical reading competence pre-post test and the communicative critical writing competence pre-post test was significantly better than their counterparts of the control group students. Speaking of gender differences in relation to language performance on the communicative critical reading competence pre-post test and the communicative critical writing competence pre-post test, no significant differences were cited. Neither did the researcher cite any significant performance differences between science/non-science students on the communicative critical reading competence pre-post test and the communicative critical writing competence pre-post test. As far as the questionnaire’s findings are concerned, the experimental group students’ responses to the post-questionnaire’s items were more positive than those of their responses to the pre-questionnaire’s, thus indicating some positive attitudes towards literature, which students possibly gained throughout the course of implementation. Relating the discussion to the interview’s results, students conveyed their satisfaction with the proposed course, emphasising that promoting English language skills through the use of literary texts was rewarding. In the light of findings and conclusions, a number of recommendations as well as implications have been proposed. The current study aimed to arrive at some appropriate suggestions to a number of enquiries, yet concluding with some areas of enquiry to be explored for further research.
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Chiu, Lai-wan Hazel. "Consciousness-raising and the acquisition of grammar." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1999. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B21161823.

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3

Gardner, Eliza Racquel. "Language Acquisition with English Language Learners Who Have Developmental Delays." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2017. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6725.

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The current study examined the effects of language instruction with two preschool age students who are English language learners who have developmental delays using the incidental teaching method. Language targets were randomly chosen according to the language level of each student and the targets were either in Spanish (L1) or English (L2). The students were in a special education classroom and researchers worked with them one-on-one, using the natural learning environment to teach and to better implement learning objectives. Targets were withheld during play and students had to mand, tact, or use intraverbal skills to receive the item. Their reward was the object they desired after they manded, tacted, or used intraverbal language. The experimental effects were measured using a single case, repeated acquisition design. The intervention was maintained for five months. The results indicated that acquisition of English (L2) is acquired faster after Spanish (L1) has been appropriately taught. Implications for further research are discussed.
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4

Parrilla, Larissa Karina. "Multimedia Technologies' Influence on Language Acquisition in English Language Learners." ScholarWorks, 2016. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/2682.

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English as a Second Language (ESL) learners at the upper elementary level have struggled to demonstrate the vocabulary required to read in English at grade-level. Although multimedia technologies have demonstrated positive effects as language acquisition educational tools at the university level, it remains unclear how useful they are for language acquisition at the elementary level. This quasi-experimental study used dual coding theory as a framework to examine the relationship between the level of reading comprehension upper elementary students developed and their construction of word meanings through use of multimedia technologies. The study utilized convenience sampling of 85 students divided into treatment and control groups in a Puerto Rican Montessori school. The treatment consisted of use of multimedia technologies that included video, audio, images, and words in a digital environment for vocabulary acquisition instruction. Data sources included pretest and posttest results for the Maze Close test that measures reading comprehension. These results were analyzed using a paired t test. Results indicated that students in treatment groups developed greater reading comprehension than did those in control groups. However, the difference in scores between the groups was not significant, so the null hypothesis was not rejected. Further research is required in order to determine whether a positive relationship can exist between multimedia technology usage and development of upper elementary student vocabulary and reading comprehension. This study indicates the importance of examining whether multimedia technology use in elementary student English reading comprehension can create reading gains for upper elementary ESL students.
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5

Jakielski, Kathy Jo. "Motor organization in the acquisition of consonant clusters /." Digital version accessible at:, 1998. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/main.

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6

Itani-Adams, Yuki. "One child, two languages : bilingual first language acquisition in Japanese and English." Thesis, View thesis, 2007. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/28484.

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This is the first Japanese-English Bilingual First Language Acquisition (BFLA) longitudinal study carried out within the framework of Processability Theory (PT) (Pienemann, 1998a). The informant of this study is Hannah, who was raised in Australia in a one-parent one-language environment from birth. Hannah’s speech production in each language was collected in a language-specific setting with different interlocutors (i.e., Japanese with the Japanese-speaking mother and English with the English-speaking father), from the time she was 1; 11 (one year and eleven months) until she was 4;10. This study investigates Hannah’s lexical development, the acquisition of morphology and syntax in the two languages. Unlike previous studies in bilingual children’s lexicon (Deuchar and Quay, 2000), this study focuses on the composition of the lexicon in each language to test for language-specific developmental patterns (Gentner and Boroditsky, 2001).The study also compares the development of these two languages in terms of MLU, lexical, morphological and syntactic development. Furthermore, the study examines the relationships between lexical and grammatical development within each of the two languages and tests the Critical Mass Hypothesis (Marchman and Bates, 1994) in a bilingual context. One of the central issues in the field of BFLA, identified by scholars such as DeHouwer (2005) and Meisel (1990a), is to characterise the relationship between the two developing languages of one child. Does a bilingual child initially develop the two languages as one linguistic system that later separates into two as expounded by Volterra and Taeschner (1978), or does a bilingual child develop the two languages separately from the beginning, as represented by De Houwer’s (1990) Separate Development Hypothesis (SDH)? Previous BFLA studies addressing this issue (e.g., De Houwer, 1990; Meisel, 1990a; Mishina, 1997; Paradis and Genesee, 1996) did not have a common point of reference to compare the development of two different languages directly. In the present study, PT provides a common point of reference for a direct comparison of the development of two typologically distant languages. Results indicate that both Japanese and English of the child developed in the sequence predicted by PT. They also support the SDH for lexical development, the acquisition of morphology and word order. The study confirms the Critical Mass Hypothesis in bilingual context. The results from the present study suggest that, for one bilingual child, Japanese and English each developed in parallel but in a separate manner.
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Itani-Adams, Yuki. "One child, two languages bilingual first language acquisition in Japanese and English /." View thesis, 2007. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/28484.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2007.
A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, School of Humanities and Languages, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographies.
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8

Mohamed, Ayman Ahmed Abdelsamie Larson-Hall Jenifer. "Investigating incidental vocabulary acquisition in ESL conversation classes." [Denton, Tex.] : University of North Texas, 2009. http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc12165.

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9

Yam, Pui Suen Josephine. "The acquisition of English consonant clusters by Hong Kong learners." access full-text online access from Digital Dissertation Consortium, 2005. http://libweb.cityu.edu.hk/cgi-bin/er/db/ddcdiss.pl?3203176.

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10

Hsieh, Fang-Yen. "Relative clause acquisition in second language Chinese and second language English." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2015. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.709395.

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11

Lawrence, Tracee Ann Lang Adler Susan A. "First language literacy and second language reading." Diss., UMK access, 2005.

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Thesis (Ed.D.)--School of Education. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2005.
"A dissertation in curriculum and instructional leadership." Advisor: Susan Adler. Typescript. Vita. Title from "catalog record" of the print edition Description based on contents viewed June 23, 2006. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-125 ). Online version of the print edition.
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12

Vilkaitė, Laura. "Formulaic language : distribution, processing, and acquisition." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2016. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35442/.

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Formulaic sequences are very frequently used in language as a preferred way to convey certain meanings. This thesis looks at distribution, processing, and incidental acquisition of formulaic sequences, by presenting four separate studies on different aspects of formulaicity. Study 1 investigated the distribution of four different categories of formulaic sequences (collocations, idiomatic phrases, lexical bundles, and phrasal verbs) and showed that those four categories vary considerably in terms of frequency. Also, register seems to affect the number of formulaic sequences used, as well as the categories of formulaic sequences preferred. Importantly, this study raised an issue of form variation of formulaic sequences (especially collocations) which seemed to be an under-researched area. Therefore, the following studies investigated the effect of form variation (focusing on non-adjacency) on collocation processing and their incidental acquisition. Studies 2 and 3 used an eye-tracking technique to investigate how native and non-native speakers of English process adjacent and non-adjacent verb-noun collocations. The results suggest that native speakers process both adjacent and non-adjacent collocations faster than matched control phrases, albeit the collocation effect seems to be larger for adjacent collocations. As for non-native speakers, there is a clear collocation effect for adjacent collocations and it is moderated by prior vocabulary knowledge. However, there seems to be almost no effect for non-adjacent collocations. This finding suggests that even advanced non-native speakers process non-adjacent collocations differently than native speakers. Finally, Study 4 tried to take the findings from the previous studies to a classroom. It investigated whether there is any difference between the chances of incidentally acquiring adjacent and non-adjacent collocations from reading. The results suggest low but durable gains for both adjacent and non-adjacent collocations, with no significant differences between these two groups of items. Overall, the results presented in the thesis support the idea that formulaic language is ubiquitous, but suggest that some of the criteria that have been widely used for identifying formulaic sequences might need to be reconsidered. It seems that collocations, at least for native speakers, retain their formulaic status even when presented non-adjacently. They seem to be successfully learned as non-adjacent dependencies as well. While this finding cannot be easily generalized to other types of formulaic sequences, it seems to suggest that a lot more research on form variation of formulaic sequences is needed in order to better understand the scope of the phenomenon.
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13

Davy, Belinda. "A cognitive-semantic approach to the acquisition of English prepositions /." view abstract or download file of text, 2000. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p9998029.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2000.
Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 281-296). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users. Address: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/fullcit?p9998029.
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So, Pui-kwan. "The acquisition of English passives by Cantonese ESL learners." Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 2005. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B31571773.

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15

Strikis, Liena A. "The effects of orthography and phonology on vocabulary acquisition /." Connect to online version, 2006. http://ada.mtholyoke.edu/setr/websrc/pdfs/www/2006/179.pdf.

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16

Caissie, Roland. "English verb phrase grammar prototypes for speakers of other languages : a cognitive approach to facilitate second language English composition /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/9351.

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17

Kim, Shin-hye. "The acquisition of tense and aspect by Korean and Chinese learners of English /." Digital version accessible at:, 1999. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/main.

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18

Son, Sun Ah. "The acquisition of English obstruents by Korean speakers of English as a second language /." Access to citation, abstract and download form provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company; downloadable PDF file 1.04Mb, 235 p, 2005. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3182629.

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19

Hart-Rawung, Pornpimon, and n/a. "Internationalising English language education in Thailand: English language program for Thai engineers." RMIT University. Global Studies, Social Science and Planning, 2008. http://adt.lib.rmit.edu.au/adt/public/adt-VIT20090715.100731.

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This current research study is an outcome of the global expansion of English into the business world, the vigorous growth of the research in the area of English language acquisition as a second language and a global language, as well as of the researcher's passionate ESP teaching experience to university engineering students, and her pro-active engagement with Thai automotive engineers in the multi-national companies. Through investigating the English language learning and working experience of Thai automotive engineers, pictures about their needs on English language communication in the workplace are sketched; through looking into the perspectives of the university teachers and the international engineering professionals, the factors impacting on the needs of those automotive engineers in English language communication have been demonstrated. As a product of this research study, an ESP working syllabus has been designed to showcase the major findings of this stu dy, and to inform the current and future practices in English language learning and teaching for global engineers from the angles of program design. In light of the principles in second language learning and teaching, and of the theoretical framework in Global English, this research study has been designed with a multi-faceted research strategy, which interweaves qualitative and quantitative research paradigms, and consists of questionnaire survey, in-depth interviews and case studies. The data obtained through this research strategy are analyzed through SPSS statistics, content analysis and triangulation. The research participants were recruited from two settings: automotive engineering workplace and technological educational institutions in Thailand. They include: 1) automotive engineers from an automotive-parts manufacturer, 2) foreign engineering professionals who co-work with the engineers from that manufacturing company, and 3) ESP teachers from the two selected technology universities of Thailand. The results from this study indicate that proficiency in English communication has not only become a global passport for Thai automotive engineers, but also for the engineering organisations. It works as a source of power for both employees and employers, if they own it, in entering global automotive business to effectively function and compete, but as a challenge for those who do not possess this asset. It is believed that enhancing their English language proficiency for engineers is a key toward their generic skills building. On the basis of the findings of this study, a 90-hour sample ESP syllabus spread out over a course of three months is developed. It employs an integrated model of syllabus design, having incorporated and balanced learner-centred approach, communicative approach and task-based approach. It combines classroom-based training sessions, self-directed learning and advisory sessions to introduce and strengthen the knowledge and skills and to mentor the engineers grow through the self-directed English learning process. Thus, the objectives of this sample ESP syllabus are to foster Thai engineers as not only proficient English communicators, but also as autonomous English learners. Through this learning process, they could get themselves better prepared for the challenges posed by this ever-changing world, while sowing seeds for nurturing future global leaders in the engineering profession.
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Mpoche, Kizitus Nformi. "Anaphors in English and Limbum : acquisition of English as a second language." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.614737.

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21

Iyer, Gowri Krovi. "Cross-linguistic studies of lexical access and processing in monolingual English and bilingual Hindī-English speakers." Connect to a 24 p. preview or request complete full text in PDF format. Access restricted to SDSU campuses, 2006. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ucsd/fullcit?p3237601.

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22

Swanson, Kimberly Anne Bankart. "Acquisition versus suppression of phonological processes in the second language acquisition of French and English." [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2007. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3243793.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Depts. of French & Italian and Linguistics, 2007.
Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Nov. 17, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-12, Section: A, page: 4529. Advisers: Daniel A. Dinnsen; Albert Valdman.
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Law, Mei-han Crystal. "The acquisition of English subject-verb agreement by Cantonese speakers." Click to view the E-thesis via HKUTO, 2005. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B31627766.

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24

Wennerstrom, Ann K. "Discourse intonation and second language acquisition : three genre-based studies /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/9493.

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25

Moss, Linda Macrae. "Benefits of school band programs on English language acquisition among English language learners| A quantitative study." Thesis, University of Phoenix, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3572954.

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Immigrant and refugee students who have been entering the United States have a pressing challenge and that challenge is the learning and comprehension of the English language. School administration and faculty have struggled to meet the needs of immigrant and refugee students in urban schools. The purpose of the quantitative correlational study was to test the hypothesis that sixth, seventh, and eighth grade immigrant and refugee band students scored higher on the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) test than did junior high immigrant and refugee non-band students in the reading and comprehension of the English language, as assessed by the 2010 and 2011 reading and 2011 writing test scores of the AIMS. The target population consisted of the immigrant and refugee student population in three junior high schools in the A1 district, a Title 1 district in Phoenix, Arizona. The federal government created and developed Title 1 schools in the United States for students who were living at or near poverty and who may have been at risk of failure. The data clerks, faculty, and administrative members collected the reading and writing scores of the band and non-band sixth, seventh, and eighth graders of the three junior high schools from the Microsoft Excel® program of the A1 District and the data were input into the Microsoft Excel program, then into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences® (SPSS) program and analyzed. Two-tailed t-tests were conducted to analyze differences in the reading and writing scores between the band and non-band students in three junior high schools in Central Phoenix. A statistically significant difference in reading and writing scores was found between those students who were band participants and those who were not.

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Tracy, Anna Marie. "Analysis of ESL teacher endorsement effects on English language learners' student achievement and English language acquisition." Lexington, Ky. : [University of Kentucky Libraries], 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10225/1027.

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Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Kentucky, 2009.
Title from document title page (viewed on August 3, 2009). Document formatted into pages; contains: iv, 156 p. : ill. Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 135-153).
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27

Hoffmann, Leatrice Neves. "An accelerative psycholinguistic aproach to second language acquisition applied to english language." reponame:Repositório Institucional da UFSC, 1990. https://repositorio.ufsc.br/xmlui/handle/123456789/157638.

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Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro de Comunicação e Expressão
Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-08T16:45:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 81455.pdf: 2415574 bytes, checksum: 199d8ba8fdc459f824c28982ea1ef387 (MD5) Previous issue date: 1990
Trata de uma abordagem psicolingüística para o ensino/aprendizagem de línguas estrangeiras. Através de estudos lingüísticos e teorias cognitivas, um modelo simplificado foi desenvolvido para acelerar a aquisição da língua inglesa através do ensino das estruturas verbais. Neste estudo o modelo foi testado através de dois experimentos, quando a eficiência acelerativa desta metodologia foi investigada e comparada à metodologia comunicativa. Os resultados favoreceram a abordagem psicolingüística em termos de eficiência de ensino os estudantes submetidos a metodologia psicolingüística obtiveram melhores resultados nos aspectos da competência lingüística testados.
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28

Groot, Ingeborg. "Note-taking in English as a second language acquisition." Virtual Press, 1991. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/770936.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe several aspects of English as a second language (ESL) note-taking in response to lectures. The objective of this study was to analyze note-taking production. In addition, the study had hoped to trace note-taking progress as it correlated with language proficiency progress, but due to circumstances beyond the control of the researcher this idea had to be abandoned. Instead, the study focused on the first six weeks of a learner's academic semester in the target language.The researcher observed twenty students in order to obtain insights into the note-taking production of low ESL students in response to lectures. The methods used were: class observation, notebook collection, a two-part questionnaire, and a follow-up questionnaire. It was found that in the first six weeks of academic study, this group of low ESL students had difficulty taking notes due, largely, to language proficiency problems, such as the rate of delivery. Other reasons why the students had difficulties taking notes included their lack of formal training in note-taking and the fact that they were not using special strategies and skills. Thus, all this study can say about note-taking in second language acquisition is that it is difficult for low ESL students.
Department of English
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29

Anttila, J. (Juha). "Language acquisition and linguistic requirements in peacekeeping:a case study." Master's thesis, University of Oulu, 2013. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-201305201318.

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This study looks into the ways language acquisition is presented in peacekeeping and what are the linguistic requirements for working in a peacekeeping organization. The study also provides some possibilities for the results to be used by the peacekeeping organization in planning and organizing the language training of future peacekeepers in order to meet the linguistic requirements of peacekeeping more efficiently. The data mainly consists of recordings gathered during and after two separate tours of duty in peacekeeping work in Afghanistan. The gathered data was first assessed according to the assessment scales provided by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the results were compared with a similar setting with Finnish employees working in a foreign language environment. The data has been divided into three separate phases, where the first phase represents the starting level of the subject’s language skills, the second phase represents the language skills resulted from active use of the target language at work, and the third phase represents the permanence of the improved language skills over a period of language use less active than between the first two phases. In each phase, the recordings were assessed according to each of the assessment scales for communicative language competences provided by the CEFR. The result of each assessment was compared to the corresponding assessment on the next phase, which made the language proficiency progress more measurable. The results of the research showed that most of the language competences categorized by the CEFR were permanently improved, or in other words, the results of both the second as well as the third phase were improved comparing to the first phase. Few of the competences did not improve at all, which was partly the result of the lack of those skills interfering with the message the least. According to the results, the future language training of peacekeepers could be more effective if peacekeepers were given more practical exercises regarding English in peacekeeping. Also, the awareness and tracking the progress of their own language skills could make the peacekeepers more efficient in communicating in a foreign language
Tässä tutkimuksessa perehdytään niihin tapoihin joilla kielen omaksuminen ilmenee rauhanturvatyössä ja mitä kielellisiä vaatimuksia työskentely rauhanturvaorganisaatiossa asettaa. Tutkimus tarjoaa myös muutamia mahdollisuuksia tulosten käyttämiseen rauhanturvaorganisaation kielellisen harjoittelun suunnitteluun ja järjestämiseen, jotta rauhanturvatyön asettamat kielelliset vaatimukset voitaisiin täyttää tehokkaammin. Aineisto koostuu pääosin äänitteistä, jotka on kerätty kahden Afganistanin rauhantuvatyön rotaation aikana ja niiden jälkeen. Kerätty aineisto ensin arvioitiin Eurooppalaisen viitekehyksen (CEFR) arviointiasteikkojen mukaan ja tuloksia verrattiin vastaavanlaiseen asetelmaan, jossa tutkittiin suomalaisia työntekijöitä vieraskielisessa työympäristössä. Aineisto on jaettu kolmeen vaiheeseen, jossa ensimmäinen edustaa koehenkilön lähtötasoa, toinen vaihe edustaa työnteon lomassa kohdekielen aktiivisesta käytöstä johtunutta kielitaitoa, ja kolmas vaihe edustaa kielitaidon kehityksen pysyvyyttä ajanjakson jälkeen jolloin kielenkäyttö on ollut vähemmän aktiivista verrattuna ensimmäisen ja toisen vaiheen väliseen aikajaksoon. Äänitteet arvioitiin kussakin vaiheessa jokaisen CEFR:in viestinnällisyyteen perustuvan kielitaidon arviointiasteikon mukaan. Kunkin arvioinnin tuloksia verrattiin vastaavaan arviointiin seuraavassa vaiheessa, joka mahdollisti kielitaidon kehittymisen tekemisen mittaamiskelpoisemmaksi. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittivat, että CEFR:n luokittelemista kielitaidoista useimmat kehittyivät pysyvästi, tai toisin sanoen, sekä toisen että kolmannen vaiheen tulokset olivat ensimmäisen vaiheen tuloksia parempia. Vain harvat kielitaidoista eivät kehittyneet lainkaan, joka johtuu osittain siitä, että kyseisten kielitaitojen puutteet haittasivat kielenkäytön viestinnällisyyttä vähiten. Tulokset osoittavat, että rauhanturvaajien kielitaidon koulutus voisi tulevaisuudessa olla tehokkaampaa, mikäli rauhanturvaajille tarjottaisiin käytännöllisempiä harjoituksia liittyen englannin kielen käyttöön rauhanturvatyössä. Lisäksi omien kielitaitojen tiedostaminen ja niiden kehittymisen seuraaminen saattaisivat tehdä rauhanturvaajista tehokkaampia vieraan kielen käyttäjiä viestinnällisyyden kannalta
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30

Urponen, Marja Inkeri. "Ultimate attainment in postpuberty second language acquisition." Thesis, Boston University, 2004. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/32846.

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Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University
PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you.
The study examined ultimate attainment m postpuberty second language acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis as an explanation for non-nativeness. A grammaticality judgment task acted as an assessment instrument; a subject was considered to be native-like if the individual's subtest score was greater than or equal to the mean ratings of 90% of the control group members. The native-like subtests were totaled into a nativeness score. The study consisted of 6 research questions and followup interviews with the highest scoring and lowest scoring subjects. As a methodological innovation, the selection of Finnish-born spouses of native English speakers (N=104) as subjects controlled background variables (amount and quality ofL2 exposure, amount ofL2 and Ll use, education and language learning); 80% had studied EFL. 55 subjects had age on arrival of 2:16 years and had lived in USA/Canada for 20-60 years. 88% of the control group (N=40) obtained the nativeness score 6 or 5. The grammaticality judgments of 38% of Finnish-born subjects were indistinguishable from the judgments of the control group and contradicted the Critical Period Hypothesis as an only explanation for native-like ultimate attainment. The findings also indicate that Age on Arrival and Age English as a Foreign Language Began are separate age of exposure measures. The best logistic regression model with 11 binary variables predicted nativelikeness with 76.9% accuracy; the significant predictors were Age English as a Foreign Language Began, US Education, and Length of Exposure, but not Age on Arrival. However, the youngest age on arrival group (12-15 years) outperformed all other subject groupings. Their performance did not decline with aging; the nativeness scores of other subjects declined as Age at Testing increased after the peak performance age. ANOV As for Age English as a Foreign Language Began, Length of Exposure, Total Years of Education, and Age at Testing were significant for the 104 and 55 subject groupings. The n-shaped relationship between the nativeness score and Length of Exposure explains their low correlation. Age at Testing impacted on ultimate attainment by confounding with education and other background variables (prior foreign language study, second language proficiency on arrival, multilingualism, etc.).
2031-01-01
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31

Dimitrova, Vesela Dimitrova. "Prosodic parameters in multilingual acquisition of English." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/198801.

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Bilingual and multilingual research has mainly focused on segmental phonology, vocabulary and syntactic structures. The acquisition of native-like prosodic patterns has often been taken for granted. A study of prosodic features is particularly relevant since many children born into families of non-native speakers acquire English as a first or second language alongside the family or local language. Previous research has mainly identified general trends and found that children as a group are mainly accurate in their comprehension or production, but few studies have tried to go into detail and examine prosodic features in individual children. This thesis investigates the acquisition of prosodic parameters in two multilingual children, aged 10;5 and 9;5, learning English alongside Standard Chinese and Cantonese. Their data are compared with data from monolingual native-speakers and Cantonese speakers of English (L2 learners). Controlled experiments using minimal pairs and testing both comprehension and production of prosodic phrasing (“chocolate biscuits and milk” vs. “chocolate, biscuits and milk”) and compound vs phrasal stress (“hot dog” vs. “hot dog”) were conducted with each respondent. Praat phonetic analyses of the output and acoustic measurements were combined with auditory observations and listeners’ disambiguation. Comprehension was tested in identification tasks drawing on prosodic cues only. Results indicated that the multilingual children were less successful in using pitch movements to signal prosodic boundaries and convey compound and phrasal rhythmic patterns that the monolingual children. In terms of segmental and pause durations, and final-syllable lengthening, both multilingual children showed more consistency in their production. This supports previous monolingual research (Peeppé et al., 2000; Danbovicová et al., 2004) that temporal cues are more systematically used and more reliable disambiguating factors, which many contribute to their earlier acquisition (Vihman, 1996). In addition, the ability to accurately produce rhythmic patterns of compounds and phrases may develop at an even later stage in multilingual that in monolingual acquisition (Atkinson-King, 1973; Vogel & Raimy, 2002). Compared to L2 learners, the multilingual children have a well-differentiated English phonology with subtle evidence for language transfer (e.g., strengthening of unstressed vowels and tone on unstressed syllables) and deceleration (e.g., less stable or consistent production of single-stressed compounds). The L2 learners, although sensitive to contrasts in pitch, duration and lengthening, many never fully develop the ability to manipulate prosodic cues in a native-like way. Comprehension tests reveal that the relationship between perception and production of the same feature is no straightforward. Good perception does not mean accurate and unambiguous production while unsuccessful perception does not imply inaccurate and ambiguous production while unsuccessful perception does not imply inaccurate and ambiguous output. This thesis examines children’s perception and production of prosody, and contributes some detailed insights into prosodic development of monolingual, multilingual, and L2 learners. The results not only have implications for theoretical conceptualizations of language acquisition, but also provide relevant information for language instructors and testing specialists who develop assessment materials for children.
published_or_final_version
Linguistics
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy
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32

Gordon, Leslie S. "Factors affecting English speakers' perception of L2 Spanish vowels." Connect to Electronic Thesis (ProQuest) Connect to Electronic Thesis (CONTENTdm), 2008. http://worldcat.org/oclc/436442802/viewonline.

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33

Mills, Robin. "Acquisition of English in and out of school : Comparing bilingual and trilingual student's acquisition of the English language." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Akademin för lärande, humaniora och samhälle, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-41072.

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The English language has a great influence on Swedish culture. Swedish students learn English in school, listen to music in English and watch movies where English is spoken. As the importance of English increases the number of students who already speak a second language also increases. Therefore, the objective of this essay is to compare bilingual and trilingual students in their English acquisition and establish which differences that can be found between these two groups of students. The results showed that even if the students media consumption did not differ, the bilingual students were exposed to English in a greater degree. Even though the bilingual students were exposed to English to a greater degree, the bilingual and trilingual students showed similar results in the English subject. The results also showed that the trilingual students who were exposed to English in the same extent as the bilingual students showed better results in the English subject.
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Nguyen, Thi Anh Thu. "Prosodic transfer : the tonal constraints of Vietnamese acquisition of English stress & rhythm /." [St. Lucia, Qld.], 2003. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/pdfserve.php?image=thesisabs/absthe17668.pdf.

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35

Hirakawa, Makiko. "Linguistic theory and second language acquisition : the acquisition of English reflexives by native speakers of Japanese." Thesis, McGill University, 1989. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=55607.

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36

Barlow, John Stephen. "Intonation and second language acquisition : a study of the acquisition of English intonation by speakers of other languages." Thesis, University of Hull, 1998. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:3873.

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In the field of second language acquisition (SLA) research, the study of intonation, and prosodic systems generally, suffers from a considerable under-representation.This has far-reaching consequences. From the large body of empirical work on various aspects of SLA over the last three decades, a great deal has been turned to pedagogical use. Indeed, the field of SLA is closely linked to that of language pedagogy, as the dual acquisition theoretical and pedagogical character of many current journals and conferences shows.However, the mutually nourishing relationship between SLA research and language teaching suffers if either component is inadequate.In the case of intonation, this is exactly the case. At a time when the processes of SLA are under analysis from a wide range of linguistic, psychological and sociolinguistic perspectives, relatively little is known, even on a simple descriptive level, about the acquisition of intonation. There is no body of studies of L2 intonational form comparable, for example, to the 'morpheme studies' or to studies of 'developmental sequences' which informed much thinking in the field in the 1970s and 1980s (see Ellis 1994, Ch.3); no substantial body of work, that is, which might form the basis of further research.The present study aims to contribute to current knowledge on the acquisition of intonational form in second languages. It seeks to provide a detailed account of how certain aspects of L2 English intonation develop, both in terms of their phonetics, and also in terms of the linguistic and discoursal ends to which they are put. The study is divided into two parts:Part One: in which the theoretical and descriptive bases of the study are established. It deals first with aspects of intonational form in English, describing in detail the prosodic systems which are employed to mark various aspects of informational structure within the spoken language, and also considers briefly the current state of language teaching in these areas (Chapter One). Then a review of research into the acquisition of sound systems in second languages is presented, looking particularly at intonational form and other aspects of prosodic production and perception (Chapter Two).Part Two: in which the experiments which have been undertaken as part of this study are presented. Firstly, the procedural and analytical aspects of these experiments will be described (Chapter Three). The findings will then be presented and discussed (Chapters Four to Seven). Finally, findings will be summarised and some general conclusions drawn (Chapter Eight).
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37

Kwok, Wing-ki Judy. "The relationship between students' self-monitoring and performance on oral tasks." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1999. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B21160740.

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38

Guerriero, A. M. Sonia (Antonia Michela Sonia). "The acquisition of deictic feminine third-person pronouns /." Thesis, McGill University, 1998. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=21216.

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This thesis investigated how a third-born female child acquired the deictic meaning of feminine third-person pronouns in English. The child began producing feminine third-person pronouns at 24 months of age and made few production errors. In contrast, she made systematic comprehension errors between 24 and 36 months of age and did not master the correct comprehension until 40 months of age. Analysis of the child's person errors indicated that she held the proper name interpretation that the feminine third-person pronoun her referred to herself. In production, however, the child rarely called herself with feminine third-person pronouns because she had already mastered the correct use of first-person pronouns in self-reference. The issues of why the child made systematic person errors for such a long period of time and how she corrected the errors are discussed with regard to Oshima-Takane's (1985, 1998) pronoun-learning model.
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39

Hahn, Sara Leigh-Anne. "Developing the English language vocabulary of native Korean-speaking students through guided language acquisition design /." Connect to title online (Scholars' Bank) Connect to title online (ProQuest), 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/10221.

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40

Koylu, Yilmaz. "Acquisition Of English Reflexives By Turkish L2 Learners Of English." Master's thesis, METU, 2010. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12611909/index.pdf.

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This M.A. thesis investigates the L2 acquisition of binding properties of English reflexives by Turkish L2 learners to address the issue of UG availability in L2 grammar. 140 Turkish L2 learners of English (67 elementary, 73 upper) participated in this study. They were all students at the Department of Basic English, Middle East Technical University. In addition, in the control group, there were 8 native speakers of English. A grammaticality judgment task and a story-based truth-value judgment task were used to examine whether the L2 grammars of the Turkish learners of English are governed by the principles and parameters of UG in the context of reflexive binding. According to the Full Transfer Full Access Model (FTFA), L2 learners have direct access to innate principles and parameters of Universal Grammar (UG) from the initial state to the end-state in the process of L2 acquisition. In line with FTFA, the results of the two tests suggest that the L2 learners&rsquo
grammar is UG-constrained even though they do not fully converge on native English norms with respect to reflexive binding.
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41

Sulima, Krystyna. "Acquisition of Polish nasal vowel syllables by native English speakers /." View abstract, 2000. http://library.ctstateu.edu/ccsu%5Ftheses/1601.html.

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Thesis (M.S .)--Central Connecticut State University, 2000.
Thesis advisor: Andrea G. Osburne. " ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in TESOL." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-104).
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Chiu, Chia-Hui. "Semantic development in ESL vocabulary acquisition." online access from Digital Dissertation Consortium, 2006. http://libweb.cityu.edu.hk/cgi-bin/er/db/ddcdiss.pl?3247996.

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43

Juffs, Alan. "Learnability and the lexicon in second language acquisition : Chinese learners' acquisition of English argument structure." Thesis, McGill University, 1993. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=41626.

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This thesis investigates the knowledge of semantics-syntax correspondences in second language acquisition (SLA) within the Principles and Parameters framework. A parameter of semantic structure is proposed to account for crosslinguistic syntactic differences between two previously unrelated, and superficially distinct, verb classes: change of state locatives and 'psychological' verbs. Chinese and English contrast in terms of the parameter setting. Experimental evidence indicates that adult Chinese learners of English L2 initially transfer parameter settings, but are able to reset the proposed parameter. However, they only acquire L2 lexical properties and concomitant syntactic privileges with ease when L2 input adds a representation to their grammar. When positive L2 input should pre-empt overgeneralizations based on representation transferred from the L1, it is shown that L1 influence may persist until quite advanced stages of acquisition. The implications of the results are discussed for the parameter setting model of SLA.
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Jin, Jongdo. "Child second language acquisition : acquisition of English functional categories by Korean child L2 learners." Thesis, University of Reading, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.422776.

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45

Callies, Marcus. "Information highlighting in advanced learner English : the syntax-pragmatics interface in second language acquisition /." Amsterdam : John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2009. http://opac.nebis.ch/cgi-bin/showAbstract.pl?u20=9789027254313.

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46

Slabakova, Roumyana. "Zero acquisition : second language acquisition of the parameter of aspect." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp02/NQ44589.pdf.

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47

Chiu, Lai-wan Hazel, and 趙麗雲. "Consciousness-raising and the acquisition of grammar." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1999. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31945004.

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48

Yuan, Boping. "Directionality of difficulty in second language acquisition of Chinese and English." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/17576.

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This thesis is concerned with the investigation of directionality of difficulty in second language acquisition (SLA) by Chinese-speaking learners learning English as a foreign language (EFL) and by English-speaking learners learning Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) . Chinese allows both subject PRO in finite clauses and object pro. However, subject PRO in finite clauses and object pro give rise to ungrammaticality in English. Unlike Chinese, in which topics can be base-generated, English does not allow a base-generated topic. Chinese and English are also different in that while English reflexives can only take a local subject in finite clauses as their antecedent (thus a short-distance reflexive), the Chinese reflexive ziji can take the matrix subject as well as the embedded subject as its antecedent (thus a long-distance reflexive) . With respect to these differences between the two languages, our focus is on whether it is more difficult for CFL learners to acquire subject PRO, object pro, base-generated topics and the long-distance reflexive in the acquisition of Chinese than for EFL learners to unlearn subject PRO, object pro, base-generated topics and the long-distance reflexive in the acquisition of English. The results of our study suggest that there is no single direction of difficulty in the SLA of Chinese and English. In terms of object pro, the direction of difficulty is from Chinese to English. However, in acquiring and unlearning the subject PRO, neither CFL learners nor EFL learners seem to have much difficulty. As for base-generated topics, it is found that the acquisition of this feature by CFL learners is more difficult than the unlearning of this feature by EFL learners. The results concerning the acquisition of the Chinese long-distance reflexive ziji by CFL learners suggest that a lack of long-distance binding for ziji is fossilized in these learners' interlanguage (IL) grammars of Chinese. Based on the findings in this study, we argue that the directionality of difficulty in SLA can only be studied with respect to individual language features and that the mere existence of relevant positive evidence in the input is not a guarantee that there will be a change in the learner's IL grammar. There are many factors involved in deciding the direction of difficulty in SLA. These factors include the availability of informative evidence to the learner, the possibility that the learner makes use of the evidence available for the restructuring of his IL grammar of the target language, the learners' ability to process the relevant data in the input, and the interaction between the structure in the learners' L1 and the inherent developmental stage of the target language.
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49

Laubitz, Zofia. "Coordinate and subordinate conjunctions in children's texts." Thesis, McGill University, 1988. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=75958.

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This thesis examines the use of conjunctions in texts, and in particular their function as a marker of text type. Children's acquisition of this aspect of conjunction usage is the main focus. An examination of the characteristics of various text types and the nature of coordinate and subordinate conjunctions in English serves as a framework within which the experimental evidence from adults and children (aged three to five) is considered. Three types of texts--conversation, narratives, and game explanations--were collected. It was found that both the types of conjunctions used and the frequency of conjunctions as a class vary according to text type; conjunctions are much more frequent in narratives and explanations than in conversation. It is shown here that pragmatic or cognitive factors cannot account for these findings; they can only be explained as a function of text type. The data from the children provide evidence that their conjunction usage is also constrained by text type, although their patterns of use are not exactly the same as the adults'. The results indicate that by age five children have a definite conception of text as a linguistic entity.
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50

Muir, E. "The strategies of language acquisition in bilingual Polish/English children." Thesis, University of Reading, 1986. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.372666.

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