Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Implicit language learning'

The field of language motivation is almost 60 years old. Throughout these decades, one idea has been persistent: Motivation is assumed to be a conscious process on which the learner can exert direct control. That this conscious conceptualization might not give the full picture has not been seriously entertained. An important consequence ensuing from this approach is the overreliance on self-report measures, such as questionnaires and interviews. Thus, in effect, the individual’s conscious reflection on their own attitudes and motivation has been the primary source of empirical data for our field. This thesis challenges this hegemony of conscious motivation. It provides an extensive review of the various paradigms of unconscious attitudes and motivation. It traces back their origins, highlights some of their major findings, and reviews the instruments used within each paradigm to circumvent direct self-report (as well as the controversies surrounding these instruments). The review also demonstrates that the adoption of an unconscious perspective is not inconsistent with major theoretical frameworks in the field. It then selects one of these paradigms, namely implicit attitudes, to apply in the context of language learning. Two studies were conducted on two independent samples (with almost 700 participants in total), in two different contexts (the UK and Saudi Arabia), and with different instruments of implicit attitudes (the Implicit Association Test and the Single-Target Implicit Association Test). Study 1 found that openness to language speakers at the implicit level is associated with more openness at the explicit level. Study 2 successfully replicated this finding, and extended it to language achievement—showing that learners with more favorable attitudes toward language speakers at the implicit level achieved higher grades in their English class. This finding could not be explained away by either social desirability or cognitive confounds. The results from these two studies were also meta-analyzed using Bayes factors in order to give an overall picture of the findings. The Discussion chapter wraps up this thesis by highlighting the relevance of this unconscious approach to the field more broadly. This chapter reviews a number of recent studies that have yielded similar findings to those from the current thesis. Some of these findings are then critically reanalyzed and reinterpreted in the context of unconscious motivation, thus demonstrating how adopting an unconscious approach helps view existing findings in a new light. In some cases, the analysis casts doubt on established ideas that have been taken for granted for decades. The overall message of this thesis is not that conscious motivation should be disregarded. Instead, conscious motivation should be complemented with a consideration of the role of unconscious motivation. A conscious-only approach would offer a limited window into human attitudes and motivation.

The findings reported in this dissertation have several implications for our understanding of language acquisition and for future research. Firstly, while the precise form of the knowledge acquired in these experiments is unclear, the findings provided no evidence for rule learning in the vast majority of subjects. It suggests that subjects in these types of experiments (and perhaps in natural language acquisition) do not acquire linguistic rules. The results support Shanks (1995; Johnstone & Shanks, 2001), who argues against the possibility of implicit rule learning. Secondly, while adults can acquire knowledge implicitly, the work reported in this dissertation also demonstrates that adult syntactic learning results predominantly in a conscious (but largely unverbalizable) knowledge base. Finally, from a methodological perspective, the results of the experiments confirm that relying on verbal reports as a measure of awareness is not sufficient. The verbal reports collected at the end of the experiment were helpful in determining what aspects of the semi-artificial grammar subjects had consciously noticed. At the same time, verbal reports were clearly not sensitive enough to assess whether subjects were aware of the knowledge they had acquired. Confidence ratings and source attributions provided a very useful method for capturing low levels of awareness and to observe the conscious status of both structural and judgment knowledge. Future experiments on language acquisition would benefit from the introduction of this relatively simple, but effective way of assessing awareness. The results of the experiments indicate that adult learners are able to acquire syntactic structures of a novel language under both incidental and intentional learning conditions, while processing sentences for meaning, without the benefit of corrective feedback and after shortviexposure periods. That is, the findings demonstrate that the implicit learning of natural language is not restricted to infants and child learners. In addition, the experiments also show that subjects are able to transfer their knowledge to stimuli with the same underlying structure but new surface features. The measures of awareness further suggest that, in experiments 3 to 6 at least, learning resulted in both conscious and unconscious knowledge. While subjects did not become aware of all the information they have acquired, it was clear that higher levels of awareness were associated with improved performance. Participants in experiments 1-5 were exposed to the semi-artificial system under incidental learning conditions by means of different training tasks. In experiments 1 and 2, an auditory plausibility judgment task was used to expose participants to the stimulus sentences. In experiment 3, elicited imitations were used in addition to the plausibility judgment task. The training phase in experiment 4 consisted solely of elicited imitations, while training in experiment 5 consisted of a classification task which required participants to identify the syntactic structure of each stimulus item, followed by plausibility judgments. Participants in experiment 6, on the other hand, were exposed to the semi-artificial grammar under intentional learning conditions. These participants were told that the word order of the stimulus sentences was governed by a complex rule-system and instructed to discover syntactic rules. After training, participants in all six experiments took part in a testing phase which assessed whether learning took place and to what extent they became aware of the knowledge they had acquired. Grammaticality judgments were used as a measure of learning. Awareness was assessed by means of verbal reports, accuracy estimates, confidence ratings and source attributions. Control participants did not take part in the training phase. The present dissertation focuses on the question of how humans acquire syntactic knowledge without intending to and without awareness of what they have learned. The aim is to apply the theoretical concepts and the methodological framework provided by implicit learning research to the investigation of language acquisition. The results of six experiments are reported. In terms of design, all experiments consisted of (i) a training phase, during which subjects were trained on a miniature linguistic system by means of different exposure conditions, (ii) an unexpected testing phase, during which learning and awareness were assessed, and (iii) a debriefing session. A semi-artificial grammar, which consisted of English words and German syntax, was employed to generate the stimulus material for experiments 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6; in the case of experiment 4, nonsense syllables were used instead of English words. The linguistic focus was on verb placement rules. Native speakers of English with no background in German (or any other V2 language) were recruited to take part in the experiments.

Individuals with developmental language impairment can show deficits into adulthood. This suggests that neural networks related to their language do not normalize with time. We examined the ability of 16 adults with and without impaired language to learn individual words in an unfamiliar language. Adults with impaired language were able to segment individual words from running speech, but needed more time to do so than their normal-language peers. ICA analysis of fMRI data indicated that adults with language impairment activate a neural network that is comparable to that of adults with normal language. However, a regional analysis indicated relative hyperactivation of a collection of regions associated with language processing. These results are discussed with reference to the Statistical Learning Framework and the sub-skills thought to relate to word segmentation. (C) 2017 The University of Arizona. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The research presented in this PhD dissertation examines the phenomenon of semantic implicit learning, using semantic preferences of novel verbs as a test case. Implicit learning refers to the phenomenon of learning without intending to learn or awareness that one is learning at all. Semantic preference (or selectional preference – as preferred in computational linguistics) is the tendency of a word to co-occur with words sharing similar semantic features. For example, ‘drink’ is typically followed by nouns denoting LIQUID, and the verb ‘chase’ is typically followed by ANIMATE nouns. The material presented here spans across disciplines. It examines a well-documented psychological phenomenon - implicit learning – and applies it in the context of language acquisition, thereby providing insights into both fields. The organisation of this dissertation groups its experiments by their methodology. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the current psychological and linguistic literature. Chapter 2 includes a pen-and-paper study carried out in a classroom environment on Polish learners of English, where awareness is assessed by subjective measures taken at each test question as well as a post-experiment questionnaire. Chapter 3 includes a collection of 5 computer-based experiments based on a false-memory paradigm. After exposure to sentential contexts containing novel verbs, participants are shown to endorse more previously unseen verb-noun pairings that follow the correct semantic preference patterns to the pairings that violate it. The result holds even when participants do not reveal any explicit knowledge of the patterns in the final debriefing. Awareness is additionally assessed using indirect measures examining correlations of confidence judgements with performance. Chapter 4 examines whether implicit learning of novel verb semantic preference patterns is automatic. To this end, a reaction time procedure is developed based on two consecutive decisions (“double decision priming”). The method reveals that semantic implicit learning, at least in the described cases, exerts its influence with a delay, in post-processing. Chapter 5 comprises research done in collaboration with Dr Nitin Williams, University of Reading. It documents an attempt at finding neural indices of implicit learning using a novel single-trial analysis of an electroencephalographic (EEG) signal, based on empirical mode decomposition (EMD) denoising. Chapter 6 presents a final discussion and indications for future research. The main contribution of this dissertation to the general field of implicit learning research consists in its challenging the predominant view that implicit learning mainly relies on similarity of forms presented in training and test. The experiments presented here require participants to make generalisations at a higher, semantic level, which is largely independent of perceptual form. The contribution of this work to the field of Second Language Acquisition consists of empirical support for the currently popular but seldom tested assumptions held by advocates of communicative approaches to language teaching, namely that certain aspects of linguistic knowledge can develop without explicit instruction and explanation. At the same time, it challenges any view assuming that vocabulary learning necessarily relies on explicit mediation. The experiments collected here demonstrate that at least word usage in context can be learnt implicitly. A further contribution of this dissertation is its demonstration that the native language may play a key role in determining what is learnt in such situations. A deeper understanding of the phenomenon of semantic implicit learning promises to shed light on the nature of word and grammar learning in general, which is crucial for an account of the processes involved in the development of a second language mental lexicon.

In the past few decades, cognitive psychologists and linguists have shown increasing research interest in the phenomenon of implicit learning, a term generally defined as learning of regularities in the environment without intention and awareness. Some psychologists regard implicit learning as the primary mechanism for knowledge attainment and language acquisition (Reber, 1993), whereas others deny the possibility of learning even simple contingencies in an implicit manner (Lovibond and Shanks, 2002). In the context of language acquisition, while first language acquisition is essentially implicit, the extent to which implicit learning is relevant to second language acquisition remains unclear. Empirical evidence has been found on the implicit learning of grammar/syntactic rules (e.g., Rebuschat & Williams, 2012) and form-meaning connections (e.g., Leung & Williams, 2011) but little investigation of implicit learning has been conducted in the realm of phonology, particularly supra-segmental phonology. Besides, there is still no consensus on the extent to which implicit learning exhibits population variation. This dissertation reports three experiments which aim to 1) address the possibility of learning second language (L2) word stress patterns implicitly; 2) identify relevant individual differences in the implicit learning of L2 word stress rules; and 3) improve measurement of conscious knowledge by integrating both subjective and objective measures of awareness. Using an incidental learning task and a two-alternative forced-choice post-test, Experiment 1 found evidence of learning one-to-one stress-to-phoneme connections in an implicit fashion, and successfully applied the process dissociation procedure as a sensitive awareness measure. Experiment 2 found implicit learning effect for more complicated word stress rules which involved mappings between stress assignment and syllable types/types of phoneme, and integrated verbal reports, confidence ratings and inclusion-exclusion tasks as awareness measures. Experiment 3 explored potentially individual differences in the learning of L2 word stress rules. No correlation was found between learning of L2 word stress and working memory, processing speed and phonological short-term memory, supporting the belief that involvement of working memory in implicit learning is minimal, and the view that different stimuli/task-specific subsystems govern different implicit learning tasks. It is concluded that L2 word stress rules may be learnt implicitly with minimal individual variations.
published_or_final_version
English
Master
Master of Philosophy

The present dissertation explored the acquisition of grammatical knowledge in L2 by adults. The main focus was to investigate the role of type and token frequency in knowledge acquisition under incidental learning conditions. Such impact was studied by using different experimental conditions, in which items were presented with high or low type and token frequency during training. The mediating effect of working memory in such learning conditions was also measured. The material for the study was a natural language (Russian), as opposed to the previous research having used mainly artificial or semi-artificial languages. Within the course of four experiments native speakers of English with no previous knowledge of a Slavic language were exposed to noun-adjective agreement patterns of different complexity. A simple noun-adjective agreement pattern according to gender was used in Experiment 1. A medium-complexity pattern, according to gender and case, was chosen in Experiment 2. And a complex noun-adjective agreement pattern, according to gender, case and number, was used in Experiment 3. Experiment 4 employed the same agreement pattern as in Experiment 2; animacy effects were also studied by selecting animate and inanimate head nouns as stimuli. The knowledge acquired was tested both in comprehension and production domains. Working memory was measured using the Operation and Reading span tests. The results supported a “starting small” approach for production; accuracy was greater in the low type low token frequency and low type high token frequency conditions. For comprehension, high type frequency had shown more effect. Working memory was differentially involved in the production of acquired knowledge in different conditions and not engaged where learning was facilitated by frequency. Levels of knowledge also depended on the complexity of the agreement pattern, frequency effects and the domain of knowledge acquisition: comprehension versus production.

Implicit learning is the learning of underlying regularities hidden in the environment without the learner being conscious of what is being learnt. First language acquisition in young children is essentially implicit (Krashen, 1982), but the role of implicit learning in second language acquisition is debatable. Previous research on learning of tonal languages focused on perception and identification of language tones in relatively explicit settings, and showed that tonal language experience may not help with learning a new tonal language in an explicit setting (So & Best, 2010; Wang, 2006). Yet, little research was done on the implicit learning of language tones, and on whether prior tonal language experience plays a role in such implicit learning. In this study, simplified Thai tonal rules were used as a learning target to investigate if implicit learning of such rules is possible. Implicit learning performance among native tonal language speakers with no knowledge of Thai, non?tonal language native speakers who have learnt/have been learning tonal languages other than Thai, and non?tonal language speakers with little knowledge of tonal languages were compared. Results showed that the native tonal language group implicitly learnt the target, and some trends of learning were found in the tonal language learner group, but not in the tonal language na?ve group. This advantage of tonal language experience over the learning of tonal patterns suggested that tonal language experience can be transferable to the learning of a new tonal language in implicit settings. This suggested that, rather than being hindered by their prior linguistic experience, learners with some tonal language background may benefit from implicit settings when learning a new tonal language.
published_or_final_version
English
Master
Master of Philosophy

Language Arts
Ed.D.
Multiword units (MWUs) is a term used in the current study to broadly cover what second language acquisition (SLA) researchers refer to as collocations, conventional expressions, chunks, idioms, formulaic sequences, or other such terms, depending on their research perspective. They are ubiquitous in language and essential in both first language (L1) and second language (L2) acquisition. Although MWUs are typically learned implicitly while using language naturally in both of these types of acquisition, the current study is an investigation of whether they are acquired in implicit knowledge when they are learned explicitly in a process called deliberate paired association learning. In SLA research, it is widely accepted that explicit knowledge is developed consciously and implicit knowledge is developed subconsciously. It is also believed that there is little crossover from explicit learning to implicit knowledge. However, recent research has cast doubt on this assumption. In a series of priming experiments, Elgort (2007, 2011) demonstrated that the formal and semantic lexical representations of deliberately learned pseudowords were accessed fluently and integrated into the mental lexicon, convincing evidence that deliberately learned words are immediately acquired in implicit knowledge. The current study aimed to extend these findings to MWUs in a psycholinguistic experiment that tested for implicit knowledge gains resulting from deliberate learning. Participants’ response times (RTs) were measured in three ways, on two testing instruments. First, subconscious formal recognition processing was measured in a masked repetition priming lexical decision task. In the second instrument, a self-paced reading task, both formulaic sequencing and semantic association gains were measured. The experiment was a counterbalanced, within-subjects design; so all comparisons were between conditions on items. Results were analyzed in a repeated measures linear mixed-effects model with participants and items as crossed random effects. The dependent variable was RTs on target words. The primary independent variable was learning condition: half of the critical MWUs were learned and half of them were not. The secondary independent variable was MWU composition at two levels: literal and figurative. The masked priming lexical decision task results showed that priming effects increased especially for learned figurative MWUs, evidence that implicit knowledge gains were made on their formal and semantic lexical representations as a result of deliberate learning. Results of the self-paced reading task were analyzed from two perspectives, but were less conclusive with regard to the effects of deliberate learning. Regarding formulaic sequencing gains, literal MWUs showed the most evidence of acquisition, but this happened as a result of both incidental and deliberate learning. With regard to semantic associations, it was shown that deliberate learning had similar effects on both literal and figurative MWUs. However, a serendipitous finding from this aspect of the self-paced reading results showed clearly that literal MWUs reliably primed semantic associations and sentence processing more strongly than figurative MWUs did, both before and after deliberate learning. In sum, results revealed that the difficulties learners have with developing fluent processing of figurative MWUs can be lessened by deliberate learning. On the other hand, for literal MWUs incidental learning is adequate for incrementally developing representation strength.
Temple University--Theses

The neural basis of statistical learning as it occurs over time was explored with stimuli drawn from a natural language (Russian nouns). The input reflected the "rules" for marking categories of gendered nouns, without making participants explicitly aware of the nature of what they were to learn. Participants were scanned while listening to a series of gender-marked nouns during four sequential scans, and were tested for their learning immediately after each scan. Although participants were not told the nature of the learning task, they exhibited learning after their initial exposure to the stimuli. Independent component analysis of the brain data revealed five task- related sub- networks. Unlike prior statistical learning studies of word segmentation, this morphological learning task robustly activated the inferior frontal gyrus during the learning period. This region was represented in multiple independent components, suggesting it functions as a network hub for this type of learning. Moreover, the results suggest that subnetworks activated by statistical learning are driven by the nature of the input, rather than reflecting a general statistical learning system.

The aim of this paper was to investigate student and teacher attitudes towards English vocabulary learning and teaching. Secondary aims were to find out how a number of students learn new vocabulary and whether teachers prefer explicit or implicit teaching methods. The investigation was conducted by letting 75 students in two lower secondary schools and 24 teachers of English from different schools answer questionnaires about vocabulary learning and vocabulary teaching. The results show that both the students and the teachers generally had positive attitudes towards vocabulary learning. The teachers of English did not prefer explicit teaching methods to implicit teaching methods when teaching vocabulary, but they thought implicit vocabulary teaching to be most effective. The results also show that the students claim to learn new vocabulary in varied ways and watching English movies or TV-series and by playing computer- or video games were singled out as the most effective ways to acquire new vocabulary by the students. Hence, the results show that both the teachers and the students agreed on implicit vocabulary learning to be the most effective, however, previous research has shown that vocabulary is most effectively learnt explicitly.

This study explored the main effects and interaction effects of implicit learning and explicit instructional approaches on the language acquisition of beginning adult and child learners of Chinese and analyzed the successful adult and child learners' learning styles in their information processing time, second language acquisition techniques, and cognitive strategies. Volunteers from Brigham Young University and Wasatch Elementary School were randomly assigned to either an Explicit Instruction Treatment (EIT) or an Implicit Learning Treatment (ILT). Following the treatment, the participants completed an online survey and a vocabulary application test. Results from a 2 x 2 factorial ANOVA indicated that adults performed significantly better than children on the listening and vocabulary tests scores (F (1, 135) =158.901, p<.001), and the EIT was significantly more effective than the ILT. There was no interaction between maturity and treatment factors. Results from a 3 x 2 factorial MANOVA indicated that in the Learning Phase, adults in the high and mid performance groups spent significantly longer processing information than those in the low performance group, and adults in the EIT also spent a longer time than those in the ILT. Results from the stepwise regression showed that for successful adult and child learners, Phonological Processing was the most frequently used second language strategy for both adults and children, which was strongly correlated with their vocabulary application test scores. Guessing was the most popular cognitive strategy. Successful children spent significantly less time than the low performing children in the Testing Phase.

This dissertation presents the design of a novel joining-in-type humanoid robot-assisted language learning that uses two robots to conduct a goal-oriented conversation with the human learner to practice English as a second language. The system uses implicit learning as the main learning style to teach the usage of a specific expression form. A mix of tutoring and peer learning is implemented in the course of a three-party conversation. This learning style enables the learner to gain linguistic knowledge, and at the same time it improves the performance of the speech recognition engine.
博士(工学)
Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering
同志社大学
Doshisha University

This paper compares and contrasts how linguistic transfer has been incorporated in English course books for year 7 and year 11 in Swedish schools. This study has focused on finding explicit and implicit reference to transfer and interference in English course books for Swedish students by identifying references from the authors where they have pointed to similarities and differences between Swedish and English. The results of the study showed that comparisons between the languages were used in all books, but explicit references were more common than implicit references. Of the four different linguistic levels (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, pragmatics) examined in this study, grammatical comparisons were the most frequent. However, the authors of the books for year 7 used more comparisons between the languages than the authors of the year 11 books. One conclusion that can be drawn from the present study is that it is up to the authors of the course books to decide to what extent they should compare and contrast the two languages, since the national curricula for the subject English give no indications of how the subject of transfer should be dealt with in language acquisition.
Den här uppsatsen jämför hur lingvistisk överföring behandlas engelska kursböcker för årskurs 7 och årskurs 11 i svenska skolor. Studien har fokuserat på att undersöka i vilken mån författarna uttryckligen eller underförstått refererat till överföring och transfer genom att identifiera var kursböckerna innehåller information om likheter och skillnader mellan svenska och engelska. Resultaten från denna studie visar att sådana jämförelser mellan språken fanns i alla böcker, men att uttrycklig jämförelse var det vanligast sättet för författarna att visa på likheter och skillnader. Av de fyra olika lingvistiska nivåer som användes i denna studie (uttal, grammatik, ordförråd, pragmatik), förekom jämförelse av grammatik mest. Författarna till böckerna för årskurs 7 använde sig mer av jämförelser mellan språken än författarna till böckerna för årskurs 11. En slutsats som man kan dra av denna studie är att det är upp till författarna själva att bestämma i vilken mån de ska jämföra de två språken, eftersom läroplanen för ämnet engelska inte ger någon information om hur överföring ska hanteras i språkinlärning.

The procedural deficit hypothesis (PDH) posits that a range of language, cognitive and motor impairments associated with specific language impairment (SLI) and developmental dyslexia (DD) may be explained by an underlying domain-general dysfunction of the procedural memory system. In contrast, declarative memory is hypothesized to remain intact and to play a compensatory role in the two disorders. The studies in the present thesis were designed to test this hypothesis. Study I examined non-language procedural memory, specifically implicit sequence learning, in children with SLI. It was shown that children with poor performance on tests of grammar were impaired at consolidation of procedural memory compared to children with normal grammar. These findings support the PDH and are line with previous studies suggesting a link between grammar processing and procedural memory. In Study II, the same implicit sequence learning paradigm was used to test procedural memory in children with DD. The DD group showed a learning profile that was similar to that of children with SLI in Study I, with a significant impairment emerging late in learning, after extended practice and including an overnight interval. Further analyses suggested that the DD impairment may not be related to overnight consolidation but to the effects of further practice beyond the initial practice session. In contrast to the predictions of the PDH, the sequence learning deficit was unrelated to phonological processing skills as assessed with a nonword repetition task. Study III examined declarative memory in DD. The performance of the DD group was found to be not only intact, but even enhanced, compared to that of the control children. The results encourage further studies on the potential of declarative memory to compensate for the reading problems in DD. In sum, the results lend partial support for the PDH and suggest further refinements to the theory. Collectively, the studies emphasize the importance of going beyond a narrow focus on language learning and memory functions in the characterization of the two disorders. Such a broader cognitive, motor and language approach may inform the development of future clinical and pedagogical assessment and intervention practices for SLI and DD.

This study evaluated the effects of input enhancement techniques and metalinguistic/collaborative awareness on the acquisition of the plural -s morpheme. Additionally, the durability of these interventions on the target linguistic feature was examined. The two treatment groups and the comparison group consisted of 101 grade 5 students enrolled in a French-language school board in the Montreal area. A pretest-posttest design was used to assess participants before and after the treatments. A series of 8 oral and written treatment activities focusing on plural -s were specifically created for the study, which lasted 4 weeks. The findings demonstrate that both groups showed durable, definite intervention effects for written production. The metalinguistic/collaborative group significantly outperformed the input enhancement group in oral production, indicating that input enhancement in conjunction with metalinguistic awareness is effective. Nonetheless, the learning effect for oral production was found to be robust for both groups, 5 months after the end of the treatment period, as well as for a small subsample selected from each group 10 months later.

During the production of language, speakers tend to use the same structural patterns from one utterance to the next if it is possible to do so. For example, if a speaker uses a passive or dative construction, he/she is relatively more likely to use the same construction again in the next utterance (e.g., Bock, 1986; Bock & Loebell, 1990; Hartsuiker & Kolk, 1998): the sentence structure "persists".The current study investigates syntactic persistence in first and second language speakers of English and Korean using within-language primes (Experiments 1A, 1B, and 2) and across-language primes (Experiment 3). The target structures were transitive alternate structures (active and passive) and dative alternate structures (double object dative/DAT-ACC dative and prepositional dative/ACC-DAT dative). The experimental paradigm involved repetition of an auditory stimulus, followed by picture description. Overall, syntactic priming effects were found, although various magnitudes were observed as a function of structure; strong effects were found for "shared" syntactic constructions across languages (e.g., active vs. passive) and weak priming effects were found for syntactic constructions not shared (e.g., double object dative vs. prepositional dative) between English and Korean. Other asymmetrical priming effects were observed, reflecting differences between Korean and English such that reliable priming effects were found from L1 to L2, but not from L2 to L1 for Korean-as-L2 speakers (English-as-L1) These patterns of asymmetrical priming imply that cross-linguistic differences might interfere with syntactic persistence in production process unless speakers are highly advanced proficient bilinguals. Also, the present study showed that syntactic priming appears to be sensitive to the order of case-marked phrases in the cross-language priming condition. This finding indicates that the order of case-marked arguments is involved in syntactic repetition. It shed lights on further universal accounts of syntactic priming.

This thesis deals with the task of identifying implicit citations between scientific publications. Apart from being useful knowledge on their own, the citations may be used as input to other problems such as determining an author’s sentiment towards a reference, or summarizing a paper based on what others have written about it. We extend two recently proposed methods, a Machine Learning classifier and an iterative Belief Propagation algorithm. Both are implemented and evaluated on a common pre-annotated dataset. Several changes to the algorithms are then presented, incorporating new sentence features, different semantic text similarity measures as well as combining the methods into a single classifier. Our main finding is that the introduction of new sentence features yield significantly improved F-scores for both approaches.
Detta examensarbete behandlar frågan om att hitta implicita citeringar mellan vetenskapliga publikationer. Förutom att vara intressanta på egen hand kan dessa citeringar användas inom andra problem, såsom att bedöma en författares inställning till en referens eller att sammanfatta en rapport utifrån hur den har blivit citerad av andra. Vi utgår från två nyliga metoder, en maskininlärningsbaserad klassificerare och en iterativ algoritm baserad på en grafmodell. Dessa implementeras och utvärderas på en gemensam förannoterad datamängd. Ett antal förändringar till algoritmerna presenteras i form av nya särdrag hos meningarna (eng. sentence features), olika semantiska textlikhetsmått och ett sätt att kombinera de två metoderna. Arbetets huvudsakliga resultat är att de nya meningssärdragen leder till anmärkningsvärt förbättrade F-värden för de båda metoderna.

CoNLL 2015 featured a shared task on shallow discourse parsing. In 2016, the efforts continued with an increasing focus on sense classification. In the case of implicit sense classification, there was an interesting mix of traditional and modern machine learning classifiers using word representation models. In this thesis, we explore the performance of a number of these models, and investigate how they perform using a variety of word representation models. We show that there are large performance differences between word representation models for certain machine learning classifiers, while others are more robust to the choice of word representation model. We also show that with the right choice of word representation model, simple and traditional machine learning classifiers can reach competitive scores even when compared with modern neural network approaches.

This research involves an examination of the effects that familiarity with a task may have on the way young ESL children negotiate for meaning, and provide and use implicit negative feedback to each other. The focus of this research is the interactions that occur between pairs of young primary school children between the ages of 7.0 to 8.6 years. Two studies were carried out. The first study investigated the effect of familiarity with a type of task, whilst the second examined the effects of familiarity with the content (or subject domain). A stratified random sampling procedure was used to select 40 ESL children (20 girls and 20 boys) from a primary school in Perth, Western Australia. Strategies of negotiation (as outlined by Long, 1983), and patterns of interaction (as outlined by Oliver, 1995b, 2000) were used to analyse the interactions between the children after having worked through two different types of tasks, a one way task and a two way task for each study. Half the tasks were made familiar (i.e., either type or content) to the children, while the other half were kept unfamiliar. Results from the studies suggest that familiarity has a significant effect on the way children negotiate for meaning, and their provision and use of implicit negative feedback. The frequency of negotiation and the provision of implicit negative feedback increases when working on unfamiliar tasks. However, only the familiar dyads were able to use a substantial proportion of this feedback when it was provided to them.

The artificial grammar learning (AGL) paradigm has been intensively researched since the 60-s. In general, these investigations attempt to study the implicit acquisition of structural regularities. Among other things, it has been suggested that the AGL paradigm can serve as a model for the process of acquiring a natural language. Thus it can serve as a well-controlled laboratory task that might be used to understand certain aspects of the process of language acquisition. For example the AGL paradigm has been used in an attempt to isolate the acquisition of syntactic aspects of language. Several experimental studies show that the participants acquire knowledge of the underlying rule system since they are able to differentiate grammatical strings from non-grammatical ones. It has been argued that the traditionally conducted AGL paradigm with grammaticality instructions might make the task explicit, at least during the test phase. In order to imitate the language learning process as close as possible, to rule out the possibility of an explicit component during the testing phase (i.e., keeping the retrieval process implicit) and to rule out explicit rule conformity or rule following, we modified the classical AGL paradigm. In a behavioural study we combined the AGL paradigm with an altered mere exposure paradigm in an attempt to better model aspects of language acquisition. We were able to show that subjects, classifying under mere exposure instructions, categorize grammatical and non-grammatical strings just as well as those solving the classification task with the grammaticality instructions. This indicates that the mere exposure version might serve as a more appropriate model for language acquisition.

The benefits of explicit knowledge for language learning is a much debated issue. In this study this question is approached from a new perspective since it focuses on the correlation between students’ concept images and their language ability. The focused concept is the subordinate clause in German. By means of a short written test the performance of 12 Swedish university-level students in three types of tasks was elicited: translating, correcting an erroneous text and commenting on grammatical differences in parallel German and Swedish texts. The students were asked to think aloud, but complementary questions were also asked if verbalizations were not lucid. A semi-structured interview that focused on school experiences, attitudes towards language learning and grammatical concepts followed. One year later the same procedure was repeated with three of the students who had successfully finished their first year of German.As for the concept images many students had only blurred conceptions of subordinate clauses, especially when they did not have access to texts to refer to. When they had the help from artefacts they often focused on visual clues such as subjunctions and verb position. Many verbalized statements were simply wrong. A common concept image described the subordinate clause as positioned after the main clause with the function of adding extra information. This led to the conclusion that the relative clause is the prototypical subordinate clause.Despite the often vague concept images, most students had no difficulty in producing subordinate clauses or in correcting a text with word order errors. Interestingly, the relative clause proved to cause the most problems.The fact that the students were able to produce subordinate clauses, but not able to explain their chosen solution indicates implicit knowledge. This in turn gives reason to believe that students have formed their own natural concepts from experience and not learned a well defined scientific concept. The students in this study could also be seen to represent stages in the concept building process that begins with a category ‘sentence’. Step by step different types of subordinate clauses break loose and form a new category ‘subordinate clause’. With time the attributes become more refined.The analysis of four Swedish grammars of German showed that three of them had content shortcomings, whereas the fourth placed too much emphasis on linguistic correctness which would leave the learners behind.In the last chapter implications for grammar writing and grammar teaching are discussed. One key point is the necessity of opportunities to verbalize your thoughts since this promotes learning
ZusammenfassungHintergrund, Ziel und ForschungsfragenDie übergreifende Frage dieser Arbeit stammt aus meinem Grammatikunterricht an einer schwedischen Universität. In dem Kontakt mit Studenten lässt sich leicht feststellen, dass sie alle individuelle Charakteristika aufweisen – auch was den Erfolg mit den theoretischen Aspekten der Grammatik als auch mit der Anwendung des Wissens. Einige Studenten haben damit große Schwierigkeiten, während andere einigermaßen korrektes Deutsch produzieren können und anscheinend auch verstanden haben, wie die deutsche Sprache aufgebaut ist, wie die grammatischen Begriffe gebildet sind, usw.Ich habe mich dann gefragt, ob vielleicht Grammatiklernen wie Mathematik¬lernen funktioniert und dass die beobachteten Schwierigkeiten auf ein mangelndes Verständnis grundlegender grammatischer Begriffe wie ,Satz‘ und ,Kasus‘ zurückzuführen sind. Nach einer Beschränkung auf ,Satz‘, aber vor allem ,Nebensatz‘ ließen sich folgende Forschungsfragen formulieren:•    Welche Vorstellungen haben schwedischsprachige Deutschstudenten vom Begriff ,Nebensatz‘?•    Wie verhalten sich die Begriffsvorstellungen eines Studenten zu seiner Fähigkeit, korrekte deutsche Nebensätze zu produzieren?Ein wichtiges Hilfsmittel beim Sprachenlernen und -lehren sind Grammatik¬handbücher. Wenn es um Grammatiken für die Schule, didaktische Gram¬matiken, geht, wird immer eine Auswahl vorgenommen und die Darstellung wird auch in anderer Weise den Schülern und ihren vermuteten Vorkenntnissen angepasst. Eine zweite Spur dieser Arbeit gilt solchen Beschreibungen der Struktur des Deutschen, und eine dritte Hauptfrage lautet:•    Wir wird der Begriff ,Nebensatz‘ in schwedischen Grammatiken für den Unterricht Deutsch als Fremdsprache beschrieben?Das Hauptziel der Arbeit ist es, einen Teil der ”Realität” zu erkunden (die Vorstellungen der Studenten von ,Nebensatz‘ und ihre Fähigkeit, solche zu produzieren, sowie Sprachbeschreibungen) und daraus folgernd mögliche Verbesserungen der Sprachbeschreibungen und des Sprachunterrichts  über¬sichtlich zu diskutieren.Theoretischer RahmenGrundlegende Fragen nach Begriffsvorstellungen betreffen kognitive Prozesse und Produkte. Der theoretische Hintergrund dieser Untersuchung setzt sich deshalb zusammen aus einerseits allgemeinen Lerntheorien sowie Theorien zu Begriffsbildung bzw. Begriffsaneignung, andererseits aus Theorien zum Fremdsprachenerwerb: wie lernen wir? Welche Wissensform ist das Ergebnis? Wie verhalten sich Wissen und Performanz zueinander? In den Gesprächen mit Studenten (s. u.) stellte sich aber heraus, dass die Gespräche an sich und die Möglichkeit, Gedanken und Hypothesen zu verbalisieren, oft zum Lernen führten.Material und MethodeMit zwölf Universitätsanfängern des Fachs Deutsch wurde ein kurzer schriftlicher Test und ein anschließendes gesprächsähnliches Interview durch¬geführt. Die Studenten lösten die Aufgaben individuell und waren aufgefordert, dabei laut zu denken. Wenn die verbalisierten Gedanken nicht aufschlussreich genug waren, wurden spezifische Fragen gestellt. Themen des Interviews waren teils Schulerfahrungen und Einstellung zum Sprachenlernen, teils explizite Fragen zu grammatischen Begriffen. Mit drei dieser Informanten wurde dasselbe Verfahren ein Jahr später wiederholt, nach erfolgreichem Abschluss des ersten Studienjahres. Bei dieser Gelegenheit wurden auch retrospektivisch ausgerichtete Fragen zum Lern- und Begriffsbildungsprozess gestellt.ErgebnisseWas die Begriffsvorstellungen betrifft, zeigte sich ein Unterschied je nach dem, ob konkrete Nebensätze zum Anschauen zugänglich waren oder nicht. Waren solche vorhanden, wurde eher auf visuell beobachtbare Charakteristika wie Einleiter und Verbletztstellung hingewiesen. Ohne die Unterstützung durch ein Artefakt standen ein Vergleich oder eine Verbindung mit einem Hauptsatz im Fokus.Eine zweite Beobachtung war, dass die Studenten häufig Merkmale anführten, die als fehlerhaft zu betrachten sind. So glauben viele, das Vorhandensein eines Kommas würde einen Nebensatz verursachen.Eine häufig vorkommende Vorstellung war, dass der Nebensatz immer dem übergeordneten Satz nachgestellt ist und inhaltlich eine Spezifizierung dazu ausmacht. Daraus lässt sich der Schluss ziehen, dass der Relativsatz der proto¬typische Nebensatz ist.Obwohl viele Studenten vage oder sogar fehlerhafte Vorstellungen vom Begriff ,Nebensatz‘ verbalisierten, hatten sie selten Probleme, deutsche Sätze mit korrekter Wortstellung zu produzieren oder Sätze mit inkorrekter Wort¬stellung zu korrigieren. Interessanterweise verursachte dabei gerade der Relativsatz Schwierigkeiten. Die Tatsache, dass die meisten Informanten also Nebensätze produzieren konnten, gleichzeitig aber Schwierigkeiten hatten, ihre Vorstellungen zu verba¬lisieren und die gewählten Lösungen im Test metasprachlich zu begründen, lässt sich als Indiz für implizites Wissen interpretieren. Das wiederum legt den Schluss nahe, dass sie eher von ihren konkreten Erfahrungen ausgehend, d. h. im Kontakt mit gesprochenem und geschriebenem Deutsch einen natürlichen Begriff gebildet haben, als dass sie sich einen fertigen, genau definierten Begriff angeeignet hätten. In diesem Fall ist es demnach nicht notwendig, im Besitz eines wissenschaftlichen Begriffs zu sein.Weiter stellte sich heraus, dass die Informanten dieser Untersuchung als Vertreter für unterschiedliche Phasen des Begriffsbildungsprozesses gesehen werden können. Dabei scheint eine Kategorie ”mening” (,Vollsatz‘) der Aus¬gangspunkt zu sein, aus dem sich schrittweise die verschiedenen Neben¬satztypen losmachen, um die Kategorie ,Nebensatz‘ zu bilden. Die Kenn¬zeichen, Attribute, die diese Mitglieder aufweisen, werden im Prozess zunehmend verfeinert.In den analysierten Grammatiken, die alle in einer ersten oder späteren Auflage in den 1990er Jahren erschienen, ließ sich eine gewisse Entwicklung von einer relativ starken Fokussierung auf Morphologie zu einer ausführlicheren Behandlung der Syntax sowie einer umfangreicheren Diskussion der Begriffe. Bei drei der Grammatiken waren inhaltliche Mängel und undeutliche Formulierungen zu verzeichnen, während die vierte in so hohem Grad eine sprachwissenschaftlich korrekte Beschreibung angestrebt hatte, dass die Anpassung an die Schüler in Frage gestellt werden musste.Didaktische ImplikationenDas abschließende Kapitel der Arbeit umfasst mögliche didaktische Implikationen der Untersuchung für Sprachbeschreibung und Sprachunterricht. Im ersten Fall werden u. a. der Einsatz der Nebensatzeinleiter als Signalwörter sowie der Gebrauch von Visualisierungen fokussiert. Wenn es um Unterricht geht,  werden die soziokulturellen Lerntheorien wieder aufgegriffen, wobei besonders ihre Betonung der Bedeutung des Gesprächs fürs Lernen thematisiert wird. Ferner wird auf die positive Wirkung eines induktiven Verfahrens hingewiesen
SammanfattningBakgrund, syfte och frågeställningarDen övergripande frågan för denna undersökning har uppstått i min under¬visning i tysk grammatik på universitetsnivå. Som vid all annan undervisning, eller kontakt med människor över huvud taget, konstaterar man ganska snart att individerna är olika. I mitt konkreta fall har vissa studenter stora svårigheter med både den teoretiska grammatiken och tillämpningen av den, medan andra både kan producera god tyska och tycks ha förstått hur tyskan är uppbyggd, hur de grammatiska begreppen är bildade och liknande. Inspirerad av forskning inom matematikdidaktik som visat att svårigheter som dyker upp kan bero på att eleverna inte förstått grundläggande begrepp som ’tal’ och ’mängd’ frågade jag mig om förhållandet kunde vara likartat här, dvs. att de som hade svårigheter inte förstått grundläggande begrepp som ’sats’ och ’kasus’. I denna undersökning inskränktes arbetet till att i någon mån behandla begreppet ’sats’ men i huvudsak omfatta begreppet ’bisats’.De konkreta forskningsfrågorna för undersökningen är:•    Vilka föreställningar har svenskspråkiga tyskstudenter av begreppet ’bisats’?•    Hur förhåller sig en students begreppsföreställning(ar) till förmågan att producera korrekta tyska bisatser?Ett viktigt hjälpmedel vid språkinlärning och -undervisning är handböcker i grammatik. När det gäller grammatikor för skolbruk, didaktiska grammatikor, har alltid ett urval gjorts och framställningen har även på annat sätt anpassats till elever och deras förmodade förkunskaper. Ett annat spår i avhandlingen gäller dessa beskrivningar av tyskans struktur och en tredje huvudfråga lyder därför:•    Hur beskrivs begreppet ’bisats’ i svenska skolgrammatikor för tysk¬undervisningen?Huvudsyftet med undersökningen är att ta reda på hur en del av verkligheten ser  ut (studenternas föreställningar om och förmåga att producera bisatser samt språkbeskrivningar) och utifrån detta diskutera hur man eventuellt kan förbättra språkbeskrivning och språkundervisning så att eleverna lär sig både mer och bättre.Teoretisk förankringDe grundläggande frågorna omkring begreppsföreställningar handlar om kognitiva processer och produkter. Den teoretiska bakgrunden till denna under¬sökning utgörs därför dels av teorier kring lärande generellt och kring begreppsbildning respektive begreppstillägnande, dels av teorier kring frågor om hur förvärvandet av ett främmande språk går till, vilken form av kunskap detta leder till samt hur kunskaper och performans hör samman. I samtalen med studenterna (se nedan) visade det sig dock att dessa samtal i sig och möjligheten att verbalisera sina tankar och hypoteser ofta ledde till lärande. Detta för¬hållande är centralt inom sociokulturella lärandeteorier varför även sådana beaktas – inte minst i diskussionerna kring didaktiska implikationer av resultaten.Material och metodFör att få svar på forskningsfrågorna sammanställdes ett kort skriftligt test. Sammanlagt tolv studenter på första terminens universitetsstudier i tyska löste testuppgifterna enskilt och ombads därvid tänka högt och motivera sina lösningar. Vissa specifika frågor kring deras svar ställdes också för att få dem att verbalisera sina föreställningar. I anslutning till testet genomfördes en lite längre semistrukturerad intervju dels kring deras erfarenheter från skolan och inställning till språkundervisning, dels kring grammatiska begrepp. Med tre av dessa studenter upprepades test och intervju ett år senare då de med framgång avslutat ett års studier i tyska. Då ställdes också frågor som syftade till att retrospektivt försöka klargöra hur begreppsbildning och -utveckling går till.Både testdelen och intervjun spelades in på video. Undersökningen bygger således på det skriftliga testet (performans) och transkriptioner av den samtals¬liknande intervjun.ResultatNär det gäller föreställningarna av begreppet ’bisats’ visade det sig att de skiljer sig åt något när studenterna hade konkreta bisatser att hänvisa till eller iaktta och när de bara besvarade frågan om vad en bisats är. I det första fallet var de visuella signalerna bisatsinledare och ordföljd viktiga, medan en jämförelse eller annan koppling till en huvudsats gjordes när inga hjälpande artefakter fanns.Ytterligare en iakttagelse var att studenterna i många fall anförde känne¬tecken hos bisatser som måste anses vara direkt felaktiga. Så tycks flera av dem utgå från att förekomsten av ett komma förorsakar en bisats. En vanlig föreställning var också att en bisats alltid står efter den över¬ordnade satsen och att den innehållsligt innebär en specificering av denna. Av detta kan man dra slutsatsen att relativsatsen är den prototypiska bisatsen. Trots att många studenter hade luddiga eller till och med felaktiga före¬ställningar av begreppet ’bisats’, hade de sällan problem att själva producera tyska bisatser eller korrigera satser med felaktig ordföljd. Intressant nog visade sig relativsatsen förorsaka mest problem i studenternas egna produktion. Det faktum att de flesta informanterna således kunde producera bisatser samtidigt som de hade svårigheter att verbalisera sina föreställningar och att motivera sina lösningar i testet i någon metaspråklig form kan ses som ett tecken på att de besitter implicit kunskap. Det i sin tur kan tolkas som att de utifrån sina konkreta erfarenheter med bisatser, det vill säga genom sin kontakt med tyskan i tal och skrift snarare bildat ett naturligt begrepp än tillägnat sig ett färdigt, väldefinierat begrepp. Att besitta en begreppsföreställning som motsvarar det vetenskapliga är alltså i detta fall inte nödvändigt.Det visade sig också att de studenter som ingår i denna undersökning kan ses som representanter för olika faser i begreppsbildningsprocessen. I denna tycks utgångspunkten vara en kategori ’mening’ från vilken olika bisatstyper stegvis lösgör sig för att bilda kategorin ’bisats’. De kännetecken, attribut, som dessa uppvisar blir med tiden allt mer förfinade.I de analyserade skolgrammatikorna, som alla utgavs i en första eller senare upplaga under olika skeden av 1990-talet, kunde en viss utveckling från en förhållandevis stark fokusering på morfologi i de äldre mot en utförligare behandling av syntax liksom ökad diskussion av begreppen. Tre av gramma¬tikorna kunde sägas uppvisa innehållsliga brister och otydliga formuleringar, medan den fjärde i så hög grad eftersträvat en språkvetenskapligt korrekt beskrivning att anpassningen till eleverna kunde ifrågasättas. Didaktiska implikationerI det avslutande kapitlet diskuteras de didaktiska implikationer som under¬sökningen har eller kan ha för språkbeskrivning och språkundervisning. I det första fallet fokuseras bland annat hur bisatsinledare kan framhävas som signalord och hur visualiseringar kan bidra till framställningen. När det gäller undervisningen återkopplas bland annat till de sociokulturella teorierna och deras betoning av samtalets betydelse för lärandet samt visas på möjligheterna med ett induktivt arbetssätt.

The present study examines possible effects of extramural English (EE) on oral proficiency (OP) and vocabulary (VOC). The study is based on data collected from Swedish learners of ESL in grade 9 (aged 15-16; N=80; 36 boys, 44 girls) over a period of one year. EE was defined as linguistic activities that learners engage in outside the classroom in their spare time. EE was measured with the help of a questionnaire and two language diaries, each covering one week. In the diaries, the learners recorded how much time they had spent on seven given EE activities (reading books, reading newspapers/magazines, watch­ing TV, watching films, surfing the Internet, playing video games, listening to music). There was also an open category. Speech data were collected with the help of five interactional speaking tests; learners were in random dyads on each occasion. Each student performance was assessed by three raters with the help of a profile scheme, resulting in an overall grade. Based on these grades from the tests, a mean grade for OP (the OP grade) was calculated for each student. OP was defined as the learner’s ability to speak and use the target language in actual communication with an interlocutor. Learners’ VOC was measured with an index variable based on the scores on two written vocabulary tests. For a selection of ten learners, additional analyses were made of oral fluency and the use of advanced vocabulary in speech. A mixed methods research design was used, but the lion’s share of data was analyzed using inferential statistics. Results showed that the total amount of time spent on EE correlated positively and significantly (p < .01) both with learners’ level of OP and size of VOC, but that the correlation between EE and VOC was stronger and more straightforward than the one between EE and OP. The conclusion drawn was that although EE impacts both OP and VOC, the causal relationship is more salient in the case of VOC. Results also showed that some activities were more important than others for OP and VOC respectively; i.e., the type of EE activity mattered. EE activities that required learners to be more productive and rely on their language skills (video games, the Internet, reading) had a greater impact on OP and VOC than activities where learners could remain fairly passive (music, TV, films). An important gender difference was identified. Boys spent significantly more time on productive EE activities than girls; therefore, EE had a greater impact on OP and VOC for boys than for girls. Four background variables were also studied. The conclusion was that EE is an independent variable and a possible path to progress in English for any learner, regard­less of his or her socioeconomic background.

Students today encounter a vast amount of English in their free time, outside the walls of school. They watch English films, play English computer games, and keep international contacts through the internet. This present study focuses on mapping the so called Extramural English activities of two groups of upper secondary high school students in order to find out how and if the overall English proficiency of those students can be derived from the English they encounter in their free time. One of the groups is living and studying at a Swedish school in the UK, while the other one is living and studying at a regular high school in the south of Sweden. Both groups participated in a survey where they were asked to answer questions about their free time habits, time spent on different English activities and how they feel that their confidence and overall proficiency in the subject has improved. The results of this study show that the students living in the UK engage in more English activities outside of school and that they claim overall better results and higher confidence in their English. This study contains proof that Extramural English is an important factor in achieving targetlike language proficiency.

Because of the globalization of society, English as a foreign language (EFL) has become easier to access through internet and outside school English activities, so called “extramural English activities” (EEA). Previous research indicates a positive relation between pupils’ EFL vocabulary development and EEA (Sundqvist, 2009). This development may influence teachers’ lesson planning, because of pupils’ wide span of interests and the resulting different levels of EFL vocabulary. The focus of this degree project is on year five teachers’ perception of pupils’ EEA and their level of vocabulary. We investigate there is a relationship between those variables, and how teachers are bridging the gap between pupils’ EEA and classroom activities. Further on, different theories of motivation and vocabulary, and previous research are presented and used in the analysis of collected data. The data was collected qualitatively through six interviews with teachers in year five. The results indicate that the teachers, to some extent know what kind of EEA the pupils are interested in. Teachers’ perceptions of the pupils’ level of EFL vocabulary correlated to some extent with their EEA. To bridge the gap between pupils’ EEA and enhancing motivation in EFL classrooms, some teachers tried to include pupils’ experiences in their teaching. Further on, these conclusions are discussed in relation to previous research. Finally, this degree project may motivate teachers to explore the EEA habits of their pupils.

The theme of this work is personal narrative as an element of English teaching. Personal narratives are a very frequent type of genre in our oral day-today interactions. These oral narratives have the constant presence of certain elements in their internal structure, which are usually incorporated by written narratives. Therefore, the objective of this work is to use personal narratives as a tool for the teaching and learning of the English language. In order to reach this objective, a didactic experience was developed with fourteen students from a group under my responsibility in the Licentiate Degree in Languages (Portuguese- English) at Faculdade José Augusto Vieira (FJAV), in the city of Lagarto, Sergipe. The aim of the didactic experience was to enable students to write texts by making conscious use of the structure and elements of personal narratives as a text genre. The instruments which were used to verify the effectiveness of the didactic experience were questionnaires, field notes, students writing production and interviews. The research was based on the analysis of narratives according to Labov and Waletzky (1967), Pratt (1977), Prince (1983), Polanyi (1979), and Tannen (1982), among others. A theory of genres by Bakhtin (2003), Schneuwly (2004) and Marcuschi (2005), as well as a theory of writing by Raimes (1983), Flower and Hayes (1981) and Grabe and Kaplan (1996) integrated the work. Likewise, studies on implicit and explicit learning by Mathews et al. (1989), Zimmer and Alves (2006), and others, gave theoretical support to the research. The results of the research revealed the necessity to develop writing practices which attend both to the linguistic and social needs of learners. I hope that this work can contribute to the development of more meaningful teaching tasks and to the formation of more efficient writers of English as a foreign language.
O tema deste trabalho é a narrativa pessoal como elemento do ensino da língua inglesa. As narrativas pessoais são um gênero textual muito freqüente na oralidade, nas nossas interações do dia-a-dia. Essas narrativas pessoais orais têm a presença constante de certos elementos, em sua estrutura interna, que são geralmente incorporados pelas narrativas escritas. Desta forma, a pesquisa tem como proposta utilizar as narrativas pessoais como uma estratégia de ensino para a aprendizagem da escrita na língua inglesa. Para alcançar este objetivo, uma experiência didática foi desenvolvida com catorze alunos de uma turma sob minha responsabilidade no curso de Letras com habilitação em português e inglês, na Faculdade José Augusto Vieira (FJAV), no município de Lagarto, Sergipe. O objetivo da experiência didática era levar os alunos a escreverem textos empregando conscientemente a estrutura e os elementos do gênero narrativa pessoal. Os instrumentos de pesquisa utilizados foram questionários, notas de campo, análise das produções escritas dos alunos colaboradores e entrevistas. O referencial teórico apoiou-se nas análises das narrativas, segundo Labov e Waletzky (1967), Pratt (1977), Prince (1983), Polanyi (1979), e Tannen (1982), entre outros. Uma teoria de gêneros baseada em Bakhtin (2003), Schneuwly (2004) e Marcuschi (2005), assim como uma teoria de produção de textos de Raimes (1983), Flower e Hayes (1981) e Grabe e Kaplan (1996), também integraram o arcabouço teórico do trabalho. Da mesma forma, estudos sobre aprendizagem implícita e explícita, realizados por Mathews et al. (1989), Zimmer e Alves (2006), e outros, deram suporte teórico à pesquisa. Os resultados da pesquisa revelaram a necessidade do desenvolvimento de práticas de escrita que atendam tanto às necessidades lingüísticas quanto às sociais dos aprendizes. Espera-se que este trabalho contribua para o desenvolvimento de atividades de ensino mais significativas e para a formação de escritores mais eficientes de inglês como língua estrangeira.

Estudos na área de Sociolinguística têm mostrado a complexidade da arquitetura do italiano contemporâneo, composta tanto de variedades linguísticas comuns a todas as línguas naturais, relacionadas às dimensões diamésica, diastrática, diafásica e diatópica, quanto de dialetos e interlínguas. Essa intricada realidade, no entanto, parece não chegar até os aprendizes de italiano, sobretudo, fora da Itália, que, frequentemente, têm a impressão de que essa língua é monolítica e estável. Isso, em geral, se reflete em seu desempenho enquanto falantes, pois, uma vez que acreditam que a língua italiana é imutável e única, não serão capazes de reconhecer as variedades e registros linguísticos produzidos por falantes nativos. Tendo em vista a importância do livro didático como fonte de input linguístico em sala de aula e como norteador da atividade docente e discente, selecionamos os dois livros didáticos mais usados no estado de São Paulo para o ensino do italiano no momento em que se iniciou a pesquisa, e analisamos como e em que medida tais obras expõem o aprendiz às variedades linguísticas do italiano para que desenvolvam competência sociolinguística e, portanto, sensibilidade sobretudo receptiva quanto à realidade linguística italiana. Para isso, analisamos os diálogos, os livros do aluno e os guias do professor das coleções didáticas Linea Diretta e Rete! com base em 67 critérios escolhidos por poderem identificar diferentes variedades do italiano. Os resultados relacionados ao livro Linea diretta permitem dizer que essa coleção aborda implicitamente alguns dos fenômenos considerados, mas que não os explora explicitamente. Por outro lado, Rete! praticamente não insere fenômenos marcados sociolinguisticamente em seus diálogos, mas trata as questões fonológicas das variedades regionais. Desse modo, foi possível constatar que o tratamento das variedades sociolinguísticas mostrou-se insuficiente e, em alguns casos, inexistente em ambos os livros didáticos, fazendo-nos concluir que o aprendiz, cujo input linguístico derive de seus conteúdos, dificilmente desenvolverá uma competência sociolinguística que lhe propicie reconhecer e compreender adequadamente enunciados produzidos em diferentes contextos comunicativos.
Studies in Sociolinguistics have shown the complexity of contemporary Italian arquitecture, composed of both linguistic varieties, common to all natural languages and related to diamesic, diastratic, diaphasic and diatopic dimension, and the dialects and interlanguages. Nonetheless, this intricate reality doesn\'t seem to reach learners of Italian, especially outside Italy, which often have the impression that this language is monolithic and that it doesn\'t change. In general, this reflect on their performance as speakers of the language they learn, therefore, since they believe that the Italian language is unique and unchangeable, they will not be able to recognize linguistic varieties produced by native speakers. Considering the importance of the textbook as a source of linguistic input in the classroom and as a guide for teacher\'s and learner\'s activity, we selected, in the period in which our research began, the two most used textbooks for Italian teaching in the State of São Paulo, and analyzed how and to what extent these works expose the learner to linguistic varieties of Italian, in order to develop sociolinguistic competence and mainly receptive sensibility to Italian linguistic reality. We analyzed the dialogues, the student books and teacher\'s guides of the teaching collections Linea Diretta and Rete! based on 67 criteria chosen by selecting phenomena that could identify different varieties of Italian. The results related to the textbook Linea diretta let say that this collection implicitly addresses some of the considered phenomena, but doesn\'t explore them explicitly. On the other side, Rete! practically doesn\'t insert in its dialogues sociolinguistically marked phenomena, but treats phonological issues of regional varieties. So, it was found that the treatment of sociolinguistic varieties proved to be scanty and, in some cases, not existent in both textbooks. This caused the conclusion that learners, whose linguistic input derives from its content, can hardly develop a sociolinguistic competence that can allow them to recognize and understand properly utterances produced in different communicative contexts.

La musique et le langage sont des matériels structurés à partir de principes combinatoires. Les auditeurs ont acquis des connaissances sur ces régularités structurelles par simple exposition. Ces connaissances permettent le développement d’attentes sur les événements à venir en musique et en langage. Mon travail de thèse étudiait deux aspects de la spécificité versus la généralité des processus de traitement de la musique et du langage: la perception et l’apprentissage statistique.Dans la première partie (perception), les Études 1 à 4 ont montré que le traitement des structures musicales influence le traitement de la parole et du langage présenté en modalité visuelle, reflétant l’influence des mécanismes d’attention dynamique (Jones, 1976). Plus précisément, le traitement des structures musicales interagissait avec le traitement des structures syntaxiques, mais pas avec le traitement des structures sémantiques en langage (Étude 3). Ces résultats sont en accord avec l’hypothèse de ressources d’intégration syntaxique partagées de Patel (2003). Nos résultats et les précédentes études sur les traitements simultanés des structures musicales et linguistiques (syntaxiques et sémantiques), nous ont incités à élargir l’hypothèse de ressources d’intégration partagées au traitement d’autres d’informations structurées qui nécessitent également des ressources d’intégration structurelle et temporelle. Cette hypothèse a été testée et confirmée par l’observation d’une interaction entre les traitements simultanés des structures musicales et arithmétiques (Étude 4). Dans la deuxième partie (apprentissage), l’apprentissage statistique était étudié en comparaison directe pour des matériels verbaux et non-verbaux. Plus particulièrement, nous avons étudié l’influence de l’attention dynamique guidée par des indices temporels non-acoustiques (Études 5 et 6) et acoustiques (Étude 7) sur l’apprentissage statistique. Les indices temporels non-acoustiques influençaient l’apprentissage statistique de matériels verbaux et non-verbaux. En accord avec la théorie de l’attention dynamique (Jones, 1976), une hypothèse est que les indices temporels non-acoustiques guident l’attention dans le temps et influencent l’apprentissage statistique.Les études de ce travail de thèse ont suggéré que les ressources d’attention dynamique influençaient la perception et l’apprentissage de matériels structurés et que les traitements des structures musicales et d’autres informations structurées (e.g., langage, arithmétique) partagent des ressources d’intégration structurelle et temporelle. L’ensemble de ces résultats amène de nouvelles questions sur la possible influence du traitement des structures auditives tonales et temporelles sur les capacités cognitives générales de séquencement notamment requises pour la perception et l’apprentissage d’informations séquentielles structurées.Jones, M. R. (1976). Time, our lost dimension: Toward a new theory of perception, attention, and memory. Psychological Review, 83(5), 323-355. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.83.5.323Patel, A. D. (2003). Language, music, syntax and the brain. Nature Neuroscience, 6(7), 674-681. doi:10.1038/nn1082
Music and language are structurally organized materials that are based on combinatorial principles. Listeners have acquired knowledge about these structural regularities via mere exposure. This knowledge allows them to develop expectations about future events in music and language perception. My PhD investigated two aspects of domain-specificity versus generality of cognitive functions in music and language processing: perception and statistical learning.In the first part (perception), musical structure processing has been shown to influence spoken and visual language processing (Études 1 & 4), partly due to dynamic attending mechanisms (Jones, 1976). More specifically, musical structure processing has been shown to interact with linguistic-syntactic processing, but not with linguistic-semantic processing (Étude 3), thus supporting the hypothesis of shared syntactic resources for music and language processing (Patel, 2003). Together with previous studies that have investigated simultaneous musical and linguistic (syntactic and semantic) structure processing, we proposed that these shared resources might extend to the processing of other structurally organized information that require structural and temporal integration resources. This hypothesis was tested and supported by interactive influences between simultaneous musical and arithmetic structure processing (Étude 4). In the second part (learning), statistical learning was directly compared for verbal and nonverbal materials. In particular, we aimed to investigate the influence of dynamic attention driven by non-acoustic (Études 5 & 6) and acoustic (Étude 7) cues on statistical learning. Non-acoustic temporal cues have been shown to influence statistical learning of verbal and nonverbal artificial languages. In agreement with the dynamic attending theory (Jones, 1976), we proposed that non-acoustic temporal cues guide attention over time and influence statistical learning.Based on the influence of dynamic attending mechanisms on perception and learning and on evidence of shared structural and temporal integration resources for the processing of musical structures and other structured information, this PhD opens new questions about the potential influence of tonal and temporal auditory structure processing on general cognitive sequencing abilities, notably required in structured sequence perception and learning.Jones, M. R. (1976). Time, our lost dimension: Toward a new theory of perception, attention, and memory. Psychological Review, 83(5), 323-355. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.83.5.323Patel, A. D. (2003). Language, music, syntax and the brain. Nature Neuroscience, 6(7), 674-681. doi:10.1038/nn1082

The aim of this work was to verify to what extent playful activities are effective in the English language learning process. The relevance of this study is due to the fact that ludic activities are widely used in English lessons nowadays but there are not many studies about their real contribution to the learning process of the language. To verify that, the methodology used in this research was based on collaborative action-research in two 3rd grade high school groups at the Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Alagoas (CEFET-AL) in Maceió, Brazil, in the year of 2006. Non-participant class observations, questionnaires, recordings, field note taking and some experiments like traditional and playful activities were used during the research. The theoretical background was based on the study of EFL teaching procedures, playfulness, motivation, implicit and explicit instruction. The results obtained indicated that ludic activities play an important role in students motivation but do not guarantee successful conscious learning.
O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar em que medida as atividades lúdicas são eficientes no processo de aprendizagem de Língua Inglesa. A relevância deste estudo deve-se ao fato de que as atividades lúdicas são amplamente usadas nas aulas de inglês nos dias atuais, porém não há muitos estudos sobre sua real contribuição para o processo de aprendizagem da língua. Para verificar isso, a metodologia usada nesta pesquisa foi baseada em pesquisa-ação colaborativa em dois grupos de 3º ano do Ensino Médio no Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Alagoas (CEFET-AL) em Maceió, Brasil, no ano de 2006. Observações de aulas não participativas, questionários, gravações, notas de campo e alguns experimentos como atividades tradicionais e lúdicas foram usados nesta pesquisa. A fundamentação teórica baseou-se no estudo de procedimentos de ensino de inglês como língua estrangeira, da ludicidade, da motivação e das instruções implícita e explícita. Os resultados obtidos indicaram que as atividades lúdicas desempenham um papel importante na motivação dos alunos, mas não garantem o sucesso da aprendizagem consciente da língua.

Image sur le web : analyse de la dynamique des images sur le Web 2.0. En plus d’être un moyen d’accès à la connaissance, Internet est devenu en quelques années un lieu privilégié pour l’apparition et la diffusion d’opinions.Chaque jour, des millions d’individus publient leurs avis sur le Web 2.0 (réseaux sociaux, blogs, etc.). Ces commentaires portent sur des sujets aussi variés que l’actualité, la politique, les résultats sportifs, biens culturels, des objets de consommation, etc. L’amoncellement et l’agglomération de ces avis publiés sur une entité (qu’il s’agisse d’un produit, une entreprise ou une personnalité publique)donnent naissance à l’image de marque de cette entité.L’image d’une entité est ici comprise comme l’idée qu’une personne ou qu’un groupe de personnes se fait de cette entité. Cette idée porte a priori sur un sujet particulier et n’est valable que dans un contexte, à un instant donné.Cette image perçue est par nature différente de celle que l’entité souhaitait initialement diffuser (par exemple via une campagne de communication). De plus,dans la réalité, il existe au final plusieurs images qui cohabitent en parallèle sur le réseau, chacune propre à une communauté et toutes évoluant différemment au fil du temps (imaginons comment serait perçu dans chaque camp le rapprochement de deux hommes politiques de bords opposés). Enfin, en plus des polémiques volontairement provoquées par le comportement de certaines entités en vue d’attirer l’attention sur elles (pensons aux tenues ou déclarations choquantes), il arrive également que la diffusion d’une image dépasse le cadre qui la régissait et même parfois se retourne contre l’entité (par exemple, «le mariage pour tous» devenu « la manif pour tous »). Les opinions exprimées constituent alors autant d’indices permettant de comprendre la logique de construction et d’évolution de ces images. Ce travail d’analyse est jusqu’à présent confié à des spécialistes de l’e-communication qui monnaient leur subjectivité. Ces derniers ne peuvent considérer qu’un volume restreint d’information et ne sont que rarement d’accord entre eux. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons d’utiliser différentes méthodes automatiques, statistiques, supervisées et d’une faible complexité permettant d’analyser et représenter l’image de marque d’entité à partir de contenus textuels les mentionnant. Plus spécifiquement, nous cherchons à identifier les contenus(ainsi que leurs auteurs) qui sont les plus préjudiciables à l’image de marque d’une entité. Nous introduisons un processus d’optimisation automatique de ces méthodes automatiques permettant d’enrichir les données en utilisant un retour de pertinence simulé (sans qu’aucune action de la part de l’entité concernée ne soit nécessaire). Nous comparer également plusieurs approches de contextualisation de messages courts à partir de méthodes de recherche d’information et de résumé automatique. Nous tirons également parti d’algorithmes de modélisation(tels que la Régression des moindres carrés partiels), dans le cadre d’une modélisation conceptuelle de l’image de marque, pour améliorer nos systèmes automatiques de catégorisation de documents textuels. Ces méthodes de modélisation et notamment les représentations des corrélations entre les différents concepts que nous manipulons nous permettent de représenter d’une part, le contexte thématique d’une requête de l’entité et d’autre, le contexte général de son image de marque. Nous expérimentons l’utilisation et la combinaison de différentes sources d’information générales représentant les grands types d’information auxquels nous sommes confrontés sur internet : de long les contenus objectifs rédigés à des informatives, les contenus brefs générés par les utilisateurs visant à partager des opinions. Nous évaluons nos approches en utilisant deux collections de données, la première est celle constituée dans le cadre du projet Imagiweb, la seconde est la collection de référence sur le sujet : CLEFRepLab
Analyse of entities representation over the Web 2.0Every day, millions of people publish their views on Web 2.0 (social networks,blogs, etc.). These comments focus on subjects as diverse as news, politics,sports scores, consumer objects, etc. The accumulation and agglomerationof these notices on an entity (be it a product, a company or a public entity) givebirth to the brand image of that entity. Internet has become in recent years aprivileged place for the emergence and dissemination of opinions and puttingWeb 2.0 at the head of observatories of opinions. The latter being a means ofaccessing the knowledge of the opinion of the world population.The image is here understood as the idea that a person or a group of peopleis that entity. This idea carries a priori on a particular subject and is onlyvalid in context for a given time. This perceived image is different from theentity initially wanted to broadcast (eg via a communication campaign). Moreover,in reality, there are several images in the end living together in parallel onthe network, each specific to a community and all evolve differently over time(imagine how would be perceived in each camp together two politicians edgesopposite). Finally, in addition to the controversy caused by the voluntary behaviorof some entities to attract attention (think of the declarations required orshocking). It also happens that the dissemination of an image beyond the frameworkthat governed the and sometimes turns against the entity (for example,« marriage for all » became « the demonstration for all »). The views expressedthen are so many clues to understand the logic of construction and evolution ofthese images. The aim is to be able to know what we are talking about and howwe talk with filigree opportunity to know who is speaking.viiIn this thesis we propose to use several simple supervised statistical automaticmethods to monitor entity’s online reputation based on textual contentsmentioning it. More precisely we look the most important contents and theirsauthors (from a reputation manager point-of-view). We introduce an optimizationprocess allowing us to enrich the data using a simulated relevance feedback(without any human involvement). We also compare content contextualizationmethod using information retrieval and automatic summarization methods.Wealso propose a reflection and a new approach to model online reputation, improveand evaluate reputation monitoring methods using Partial Least SquaresPath Modelling (PLS-PM). In designing the system, we wanted to address localand global context of the reputation. That is to say the features can explain thedecision and the correlation betweens topics and reputation. The goal of ourwork was to propose a different way to combine usual methods and featuresthat may render reputation monitoring systems more accurate than the existingones. We evaluate and compare our systems using state of the art frameworks: Imagiweb and RepLab. The performances of our proposals are comparableto the state of the art. In addition, the fact that we provide reputation modelsmake our methods even more attractive for reputation manager or scientistsfrom various fields

The communicative approach to language learning is widely taught in Western education, and yet its predecessor, the grammar-translation method, is still commonly employed in other parts of the world. In Sweden, the increasing popularity of the communicative approach is often justified by the high level of students’ communicative skills (Öhman, 2013). At the same time, students’ written texts and speech contain many grammatical errors (Öhman, 2013). Consequently, being aware of their tendency to produce grammatical errors, some students express beliefs regarding both the explicit and implicit learning of grammar (Sawir, 2005; Boroujeni, 2012). The objective of this thesis is to gain more knowledge regarding students’ beliefs concerning the learning of English grammar at the upper secondary level, in Sweden. With this purpose a survey was conducted in two schools in Sweden, where 49 upper-secondary English students participated. Qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to process the collected data. Despite some difference in the participants’ ages, there were many similarities in their attitudes towards the teaching and learning of grammar. The results show that the participants in both schools believe that only by applying both, explicit and implicit methods, can they obtain a high level of language proficiency. The results of this study can help teachers in planning different activities that enhance the students’ knowledge of grammar.

Cette thèse a pour objectif de faire la lumière sur l'acquisition d'une langue étrangère en autonomie par la télévision. Elle s'inscrit dans deux champs de recherche, celui de la didactique des langues et celui de la psychologie cognitive. Elle s'appuie sur l ' étude de spectateurs tunisiens qui ont acquis l'italien par la simple exposition à la chaîne italienne Rai Uno et sur une expérimentation menée auprès de jeunes enfants. Des tests [CELI1] ont montré que ces spectateurs ont pu acquérir un niveau intermédiaire en italien malgré l'absence d'enseignement et d'interaction. L'analyse qualitative des entretiens a montré que l'exposition à une langue étrangère par la télévision s'accompagne d'un apprentissage implicite de cette langue, que l'acquisition de celle-ci est le résultat d'une exposition prolongée et qu'elle fait développer davantage des compétences de compréhension que des compétences de production. L'expérimentation menée auprès des enfants a confirmé ces résultats. L'ensemble de ces données a également montré la validité des hypothèses de Krashen concernant la primauté de l'acquisition sur l'apprentissage, l'importance des inputs compréhensibles et l'effet du filtre affectif
This thesis aims to shed light on the fact to acquire a foreign language autonomously by watching television. It comes according to two fields of research that are “the didactic of languages” and the “cognitive psychology”. This thesis is based on a survey of Tunisian spectators who have acquired the Italian language by watching the Italian channel Rai Uno and also experimentation conducted with young children. Indeed, the acquisitions of language by the spectators are real despite the absence of education and interaction. They were evaluated by tests [CELI1] which have shown that these viewers have an intermediate level in Italian language. Qualitative analysis of interviews showed that exposure to a foreign language television is accompanied by an implicit learning of the language. The acquisition of the latter is the result of a long exposure and it is further developing the understanding skills than the production skills. Together, these data also showed the validity of Krashen hypothesis regarding the primacy of the acquisition to the learning, the importance of understandable inputs and the impact of the emotional filter

La première partie fait le point sur la recherche concernant l'apprentissage des concepts (notamment dans les neurosciences, en biologie et dans les sciences de la cognition). Le concept est d'abord vu comme système ouvert en interaction avec l'environnement, puis avec le langage. C’est une notion empreinte de subjectivité. Il est aussi élément d'un système en interaction avec d'autres concepts. La notion de transduction est introduite : l'apprentissage des concepts est présenté comme un processus d'individuation. La réflexion porte alors sur la différence entre acquisition (assimilation) et formation (accommodation) des concepts. La deuxième partie est consacrée à l'apprentissage des concepts en langue étrangère, à la distinction entre connaissance implicite et explicite, et à l'interaction entre formes et concepts en langue maternelle et en langue étrangère. L’étude porte aussi sur le rôle de l'instruction formelle et du métalangage. La troisième partie est expérimentale. Sont d'abord évoquées la conceptualisation et la restructuration nécessaires pour un apprenant francophone lors de l'apprentissage de deux formes du présent en anglais. Puis l'accent est mis sur l'impact de la place de l'explicitation au sein du processus d'individuation qu'est l'apprentissage des concepts : il est démontré que, pour des élèves de 11-13 ans, le fait d'avancer la phase d'explicitation (après l'observation des faits de langue, avant leur manipulation et le transfert - par opposition à une approche suggérant une explicitation en fin de parcours) permet d'établir des liens plus solides entre connaissances déclaratives et connaissances procédurales. Il semble donc que, au sein d'une relation transductive, la place de l'explicitation joue un rôle non négligeable dans l'interaction entre connaissances implicites et explicites.

Les objectifs de cette thèse sont multiples. Le premier objectif est de comparer, aux niveaux comportemental et électrophysiologique, l'apprentissage implicite de structures linguistiques et musicales après l'écoute d'un langage artificiel chanté. Alors qu'au niveau comportemental, seule la structure linguistique semble être apprise, les résultats électrophysiologiques révèlent un effet N400 pour les deux dimensions, linguistique et musicale. Le deuxième objectif de cette thèse est d'évaluer comment cet apprentissage est influencé par l'expertise musicale. Nous avons comparé un groupe d'adultes musiciens à un groupe de non musiciens. Alors qu'au niveau comportemental les musiciens sont à peine meilleurs que les non musiciens dans les deux dimensions, les données électrophysiologiques révèlent, via des différences précoces (N1/P2) et tardives (N400), une meilleure segmentation chez les musiciens. De plus, les analyses en potentiels évoqués et en temps-fréquences des données électrophysiologiques enregistrées pendant les phases d'apprentissage révèlent que les musiciens apprennent plus rapidement que les non musiciens. Cependant, un lien de causalité quant aux effets de l'apprentissage de la musique ne peut être mis en évidence qu'en réalisant une étude longitudinale. Nous avons mené une telle étude chez des enfants de 8 ans à qui l'on a fait suivre un apprentissage de la musique ou de la peinture pendant 2 années. Les résultats comportementaux et électrophysiologiques révèlent un large bénéfice de l'apprentissage musical comparé à celui de la peinture démontrant l'importance de la musique dans l'éducation des enfants
The aims of the present thesis were two-folded. Firstly, we wanted to compare behavioral and electrophysiological measures related to the implicit learning of linguistic and musical structures contained within an artificial sung language. While behavioral measures suggest that only the linguistic structure was learned, electrophysiological data revealed similar N400 effects in both linguistic and musical dimensions, suggesting that participants did also learn the musical structure. The second goal was to evaluate to what extent musical expertise can affect speech segmentation. At this aim, we compared a group of adult musicians to a group of nonmusicians. While behavioral data showed that musicians had marginally better performance than non musicians in both dimensions, electrophysiological data revealed, via early (N1/P2) and late (N400) differences, a better speech segmentation in musicians than in non musicians. Moreover, event-related potentials and time-frequency analyzes during learning revealed a faster and more efficient learning process in musicians. However, the only way to unambiguously claim causality between expertise and the observed effects requires a longitudinal approach. At this aim, we conducted a study with 8 year-old children who followed either music or painting lessons over a period of 2 years. Behavioral and electrophysiological data revealed a larger benefit of musical compared to painting training, bringing evidences for the importance of music in childrens' education

Dans cette thèse, nous examinons l'effet de différentes conditions d'apprentissage sur l'évolution des mécanismes neurocognitifs utilisés par des apprenants francophones pour traiter l'anglais L2, grâce à des mesures comportementales (jugements d'acceptabilité) et électrophysiologiques (potentiels évoqués). Deux types d'entrainement reflétant deux situations d'apprentissage ont été comparés : en immersion (apprentissage implicite) ou par l'instruction (apprentissage explicite).Deux expériences ont été réalisées. Dans la première (E1), nous avons étudié l'effet des entrainements sur le traitement de violations morphosyntaxiques dont le fonctionnement était similaire ou conflictuel avec la L1. Dans la deuxième (E2), nous avons cherché à réduire le biais en faveur d'un traitement explicite induit par la présence de violations, en étudiant le traitement d'anomalies syntaxiques temporaires provoquées par la prosodie.Les résultats montrent des effets bénéfiques pour les deux types d'entrainement. L'apprentissage explicite présente un léger avantage pour le traitement de la structure conflictuelle, et a permis dans E2 de réduire l'impact des aptitudes individuelles. E1 a confirmé l'influence de l'attention portée à la correction grammaticale sur les réponses en potentiels évoqués. Dans E2, l'entrainement implicite était associé à un traitement plus rapide et plus automatique des incongruités.Ce travail confirme que les conditions d'apprentissage modifient le traitement de la L2 même dans un temps court chez des apprenants intermédiaires, mais souligne l'importance de réduire les biais en faveur d'un apprentissage explicite inhérents au paradigme EEG
This work examines the effect of learning conditions on the evolution of the neurocognitive mechanisms used by French speakers to process a second language (English). We used behavioural (acceptability judgments) and electrophysiological (event-related potentials) measures. Two types of training were compared, designed to reflect two learning situations : through exposure (implicit learning) or instruction (explicit learning).Two experiments were conducted. In the first one (E1), we studied how our trainings affected the processing of morphosyntactic violations working in a similar or conflictual way in the L2 and L1 of our participants. In the second experiment (E2), we tried to reduce the bias towards explicit learning entailed by the presence of violations, by studying how learners process temporary syntactic anomalies triggered by prosody-syntax mismatches.Results show a beneficial effect for both types of training. Explicit learning proved to be slightly more effective in improving the processing of a coflictual structure. In E2 it reduced the impact of individual abilities. E1 confirmed that the level of attention to grammaticality affects the nature and amplitude of ERP components. In E2, implicit training was linked to a faster and more automatic processing of incongruities.This research confirms that learning conditions can affect L2 processing even in a short time and for intermediate learners, but underlines the importance of reducing the biases towards explicit processing that are inherent to the EEG violation paradigm

Cette recherche se situe dans le domaine de la didactique des langues et a trait à l'exploitation pédagogique de la littérature en tant que composante de la culture cible. Elle s'appuie sur une expérience menée en classe de français langue étrangère auprès d'étudiants étrangers non spécialistes de littérature et évoluant en milieu universitaire français, qui consistait à mettre en place des activités et projets autour des références littéraires présentes dans les titres et textes journalistiques français. L'hypothèse est que ces activités de décryptage de références culturelles, qui correspondent à une valeur d'usage social de la littérature à la mesure de ces apprenants en FLE, favorisent leur apprentissage du français dans le développement de la composante interprétative de leurs compétences culturelles. Une première expérimentation portant sur l'acquisition de connaissances littéraires tient compte de l'orientation actuelle de la didactique des langues vers des mises en oeuvre de type actionnel ; le suivi des étapes principales de réalisation de ces projets culturels autour d'auteurs français (Proust, Molière) en fait apparaître les deux tâches les plus caractéristiques : recherche documentaire et observation/analyse de documents. Une deuxième expérimentation portant sur l'utilisation de connaissances littéraires acquises considère le lien chez les natifs entre références communes et argumentation contenues dans trois articles de presse ; les observations permettent de mesurer l'impact de la culture littéraire en constitution chez des apprenants en français langue étrangère sur leur capacité à exercer une compétence interprétative. L'analyse des productions orales et écrites de ces apprenants permet de mettre en évidence certains éléments du rapport références littéraires/interprétation/acquisition du FLE qui peuvent servir à l'élaboration de situations autres que celles de l'enseignement de ou avec la littérature. En effet, toute mesure gardée sur sa portée et ses limites, cette étude peut intéresser tout enseignant de FLE désireux de développer chez ses apprenants l'acquisition d'un pan de culture cultivée (histoire, arts,...) à travers les usages et représentations de celle-ci chez les natifs
The research presented in this doctoral thesis is situated in the field of language didactics and deals with the pedagogical exploitation of literature as a component of the target culture. The research presented is based on in-class experiments carried out with foreign students learning French as a foreign language during a stay in France. The students in question were not specialists in literature, and the experiment consisted in a series of activities and projects that focused on literary references that were present in French journalistic sources (both within titles and the texts themselves). The hypothesis that guided this research is that the deciphering of cultural references that contain a value of social usage of literature corresponding to an accessible level for the learners of French as a foreign language facilitates the development of the interpretative component of their cultural competences. The first experiment respected the current task-based orientation of language didactics. Through monitoring the principal stages involved in the completion of these cultural projects, which were focused on French authors (Proust, Molière), two tasks were revealed as particularly characteristic: literature search and observation/analysis of documents. The second experiment examined the use of acquired literary knowledge. More specifically, this part of the research project analyzed, for native speakers of French, the connection between shared references and argumentation patterns found in three articles taken from the French press. The observations that resulted from this part of the research project made it possible to measure the impact of the learners' developing literary culture in French as a foreign language on their ability to use an interpretative competence. The analysis of oral and written productions from the learners who participated in this project reveals certain traces of the relationship between literary references/interpretation/acquisition of French, which can be used to create situations in teaching above and beyond the teaching of or with literature. Indeed, without overstating the importance of the current research and recognizing its limitations, the results may interest teachers of French as a foreign language who wish to help their students to develop the acquisition of a portion of Culture (history, arts, ...) based on natives' own use and representation

Les relations entre la Chine et la France ne cessant de se développer, la problématique de la communication interculturelle entre les deux pays devient un enjeu important. Dans ce contexte, cette thèse a pour objectif de mettre en place une approche interculturelle dans l’enseignement du français en milieu universitaire chinois pour sensibiliser les étudiants à la diversité culturelle et les préparer aux contacts interculturels. Avec un cadre de référence méthodologique élaboré essentiellement sous les aspects pragmatique et ethnographique, nous avons essayé donc de cerner l’origine des difficultés communicationnelles et relationnelles entre Chinois et Français en identifiant les principales variables culturelles exprimées sous forme d’allusions dans la langue, d’usages sociolinguistiques et socioculturels qui régissent les interactions verbales et dans les comportements inhérents au langage non-verbal, etc. Les différences culturelles sino-françaises relevées dans notre analyse comparative et descriptive aident d’une part à expliquer les éventuels problèmes/obstacles de compréhension liés aux implicites culturels de ces deux communautés et d’autre part, nous servent de repère important pour proposer des pistes pédagogiques en vue de l’amélioration dans l’enseignement de la culture et la formation d’une compétence de communication interculturelle
Since relations between China and France are forever growing, the issue of intercultural communication between the two countries is becoming an increasingly important art. In this context, the objective of this thesis is to put in place an intercultural approach of teaching French in Chinese Universities, to sensitize students to cultural diversity and prepare them for intercultural contacts. With a methodological reference framework developed essentially under the pragmatic and ethnographic aspects, we have tried to identify the origins of communication and relational difficulties between Chinese and French people by identifying the main cultural variables expressed by allusions in language, in sociolinguistic and sociocultural uses that govern verbal interactions and behaviour inherent to non-verbal language, etc. The Sino-French cultural differences revealed by our comparative and descriptive analysis helps on one hand to explain eventual problems/obstacles to understanding linked to implicit cultural meanings of two communities, and on the other hand, they can be used as an important mark to propose pedagogic clues aiming to the better teaching of culture and training of an intercultural communication competence

The World Wide Web (WWW) is a huge information network within which searching for relevant quality contents remains an open question. The ambiguity of natural language is traditionally one of the main reasons, which prevents search engines from retrieving information according to users' needs. However, the globalized access to the WWW via Weblogs or social networks has highlighted new problems. Web documents tend to be subjective, they mainly refer to actual events to the detriment of past events and their ever growing number contributes to the well-known problem of information overload. In this thesis, we present our contributions to digest information in real-world heterogeneous text environments (i.e. the Web) thus leveraging users' efforts to encounter relevant quality information. However, most of the works related to Information Digestion deal with the English language fostered by freely available linguistic tools and resources, and as such, cannot be directly replicated for other languages. To overcome this drawback, two directions may be followed: on the one hand, building resources and tools for a given language, or on the other hand, proposing language-independent approaches. Within the context of this report, we will focus on presenting language-independent unsupervised methodologies to (1) extract implicit knowledge about the language and (2) understand the explicit information conveyed by real-world texts, thus allowing to reach Multilingual Information Digestion.

abstract: Globalization is driving a rapid increase in motivation for learning new languages, with online and mobile language learning applications being an extremely popular method of doing so. Many language learning applications focus almost exclusively on aiding students in acquiring vocabulary, one of the most important elements in achieving fluency in a language. A well-balanced language curriculum must include both explicit vocabulary instruction and implicit vocabulary learning through interaction with authentic language materials. However, most language learning applications focus only on explicit instruction, providing little support for implicit learning. Students require support with implicit vocabulary learning because they need enough context to guess and acquire new words. Traditional techniques aim to teach students enough vocabulary to comprehend the text, thus enabling them to acquire new words. Despite the wide variety of support for vocabulary learning offered by learning applications today, few offer guidance on how to select an optimal vocabulary study set. This thesis proposes a novel method of student modeling which uses pre-trained masked language models to model a student's reading comprehension abilities and detect words which are required for comprehension of a text. It explores the efficacy of using pre-trained masked language models to model human reading comprehension and presents a vocabulary study set generation pipeline using this method. This pipeline creates vocabulary study sets for explicit language learning that enable comprehension while still leaving some words to be acquired implicitly. Promising results show that masked language modeling can be used to model human comprehension and that the pipeline produces reasonably sized vocabulary study sets.
Dissertation/Thesis
Masters Thesis Software Engineering 2020

Procedural learning abilities have been shown to be deficient in children who meet criteria for Developmental Dyslexia (DD) and those who meet criteria for Specific Language Impairment (SLI; Lum et al., 2010; Menghini et al., 2006). Further, grammatical understanding has been linked to implicit sequence learning abilities across SLI and typically developing children (Lum, 2012). The present study examined implicit sequence learning, measured by the Serial Reaction Time Task (SRTT), in children who met criteria for DD with or without SLI. Implicit sequence learning was modeled using multi-level growth models of initial reaction time and learning slope across the repeated sequences of the SRTT. We further examined the predictive contributions of grammatical understanding, vocabulary abilities, phonological awareness, and diagnostic groups on implicit learning performance on the SRTT. Results showed language abilities and diagnostic group did not relate strongly to rates of implicit learning.

This thesis is placed in the context of the ongoing debate on the issue whether second language acquisition occurs on the basis of innate language-specific learning mechanisms or general learning mechanisms. The author shares the view of scholars who propose that an innate knowledge base underlying first language acquisition does not extend to second language acquisition due to the lack of uniform success in the acquisition of native speaker competence, the possibility of fossilisation and the facilitative potential of form-focused instruction. It is, thus, assumed that the sequential second language acquisition process can be accounted for by general learning mechanisms. The key to these learning mechanisms is, firstly, the investigation of the nature of the knowledge underlying the grammatical encoding procedures for speech production in the context of M. Pienemann’s (1998a) Processability Theory and, secondly, the investigation of the nature of its acquisition process. Pienemann’s Processability Theory explains and predicts the sequential acquisition process of a second language as the result of the hierarchically ordered development of the processing procedures of the grammatical processor to grammatically encode conceptual information. It shares with Levelt’s (1989) theory of speech production the assumptions concerning the nature of the knowledge underlying the grammatical encoding procedures, which require further investigations for verification. Since the Processability Theory does not specify how the assumed knowledge underlying grammatical encoding is acquired, an investigation of the nature of its acquisition process is necessary. This investigation highlights the interdependence between the nature of the knowledge to be acquired and the nature of its acquisition process by demonstrating that the knowledge underlying grammatical encoding is predominantly implicit and, consequently, determines the implicit nature of its acquisition process. Such implicit knowledge is dissociated from explicit knowledge, which determines the explicit nature of its acquisition process. This investigation also demonstrates that explicit grammar teaching and practice in the context of the manipulation of the learners’ attentional orientation mediated by alertness may contribute to the implicit learning process under certain conditions. In conjunction with the provision of guidance by the Processability Theory in regard to the achievement of instructional focus and the independent finding that comprehensible input is needed in order for second language acquisition to occur, these results constitute the basis for the formulation of detailed instructional measures for the effective organisation of the sequential second language acquisition process. These measures are exemplified by their implementation for the initial stages of the acquisition of German as a second language.
PhD Doctorate

This thesis is placed in the context of the ongoing debate on the issue whether second language acquisition occurs on the basis of innate language-specific learning mechanisms or general learning mechanisms. The author shares the view of scholars who propose that an innate knowledge base underlying first language acquisition does not extend to second language acquisition due to the lack of uniform success in the acquisition of native speaker competence, the possibility of fossilisation and the facilitative potential of form-focused instruction. It is, thus, assumed that the sequential second language acquisition process can be accounted for by general learning mechanisms. The key to these learning mechanisms is, firstly, the investigation of the nature of the knowledge underlying the grammatical encoding procedures for speech production in the context of M. Pienemann’s (1998a) Processability Theory and, secondly, the investigation of the nature of its acquisition process. Pienemann’s Processability Theory explains and predicts the sequential acquisition process of a second language as the result of the hierarchically ordered development of the processing procedures of the grammatical processor to grammatically encode conceptual information. It shares with Levelt’s (1989) theory of speech production the assumptions concerning the nature of the knowledge underlying the grammatical encoding procedures, which require further investigations for verification. Since the Processability Theory does not specify how the assumed knowledge underlying grammatical encoding is acquired, an investigation of the nature of its acquisition process is necessary. This investigation highlights the interdependence between the nature of the knowledge to be acquired and the nature of its acquisition process by demonstrating that the knowledge underlying grammatical encoding is predominantly implicit and, consequently, determines the implicit nature of its acquisition process. Such implicit knowledge is dissociated from explicit knowledge, which determines the explicit nature of its acquisition process. This investigation also demonstrates that explicit grammar teaching and practice in the context of the manipulation of the learners’ attentional orientation mediated by alertness may contribute to the implicit learning process under certain conditions. In conjunction with the provision of guidance by the Processability Theory in regard to the achievement of instructional focus and the independent finding that comprehensible input is needed in order for second language acquisition to occur, these results constitute the basis for the formulation of detailed instructional measures for the effective organisation of the sequential second language acquisition process. These measures are exemplified by their implementation for the initial stages of the acquisition of German as a second language.
PhD Doctorate

Under the premise that vocabulary learning in a Spanish as a second language in-class environment may be affected by the instructional approach adopted by the instructors or the materials followed, this study explores the influence of rather distant teaching styles, such as implicit and explicit approaches, on the learning outcome of Spanish lexicon. Research has shown successful results in studies undergoing both approaches (Ellis, 1994; Barcroft, 1994; Maura, 1995; Huckin and Coady, 1997; Schmitt, 2000; Paribakht and Wesche, 2000; Hiebert and Kamil, 2005). Despite the adopted instructional approach, vocabulary is finally assimilated by the learners to an extended degree. Nevertheless, explicit style shows better results in early stages of learning, whereas implicit style proves to be more effective in a more advanced stage of learning, since beginning students' lack of vocabulary limits their inferring ability (Zimmerman, 1997; Coady, 1997). The reason is that the explicit approach facilitates breadth knowledge of the material, in opposition to implicit approach, which facilitates a depth of knowledge (Paribakht & Wesche, 1996). As a result, we may have students with vocabulary breadth knowledge, who gloss a Spanish word in English, but are unable to apply or recognize the word in a context; as opposed to students with depth of knowledge, who may know the Spanish glosses of English words and their meaning variations depending on context On the other hand, Second Language Acquisition (SLA) has also proved to be influenced by factors out of the scope of instructional techniques. Each learner may approach differently to the foreign language learning process and affect his/her final results (Oxford, 1990; Skehan, 1991). Facts such as motivation, or individual strategies, will influence the mastery of vocabulary regardless of the instructional approach This study presents the vocabulary learning results of a long term implicit and explicit approach treatment applied to two different sections of an intermediate Spanish course. Lexicon learning results will be correlated with the individual factors of motivation and learning strategies to measure aspects that may be determinant in the acquisition of Spanish vocabulary in an in-class university-level setting
acase@tulane.edu

碩士
國立中央大學
認知與神經科學研究所
101
Recent findings have indicated that statistical learning ability correlates with literacy acquisition of alphabetic languages both as a first and a second language. However, it was unclear whether the correlation was demonstrated only in alphabetic languages or not. In the present study, we examined whether the same ability of detecting statistical regularities embedded in sequential stimuli, as well as the abilities of auditory perception and phonological processing, predict the literacy level in adults who learn Chinese as a second language. Cross-sectional results from native speakers of alphabetic languages showed that the performance of Chinese literacy was significantly correlated with the time participants spent on learning Chinese and their performance on statistical learning of visual stimuli (VSL). The regression analysis further revealed that VSL accounted for unique variance of the size of Chinese characters that participants know even when the contribution from other variables, intelligence, and working memory was considered. The follow-up research examined whether the potential factors have influence on the development of Chinese literacy. Analysis of the data from all remaining participants who were tested in both Experiment 1 and 2 did detect obvious improvement of Chinese literacy. Correlation and regression results showed no significant relationship between all the predictor variables and Chinese literacy. However, further analysis indicated that participants who continued studying Chinese during the past six months between Experiment 1 and 2 had greater improvements in Chinese literacy, especially in reading fluency. Significant correlation was also observed between the improvement of Chinese literacy indices and the performance of VSL for participants who did not continue taking formal Chinese courses. That is, formal instructions generally improved the performance of Chinese literacy, while the performance of VSL had impacts on Chinese literacy acquisition, especially when formal instruction was not available. To conclude, the current study suggests that the ability of statistical learning is a critical predicting factor for learning Chinese as L2. These results are compatible with previous research that statistical learning ability has association with literacy acquisition both for L1 and L2. Moreover, the results demonstrated that not only in alphabetic languages, but also in Chinese, the ability to extract regularities and to compute transitional probability is greatly correlated with literacy acquisition.

Learning a second language (L2) is essential in today’s globalized world. However, learners generally have low sensitivity to grammar, as L2 acquisition proceeds largely through functions. Thus, pedagogical assistance appears to be necessary to trigger learners’ attention to L2 grammar, but research shows no consensus on which type of instruction best promotes it. Moreover, few empirical studies have examined 'acquisition' of target constructions, which entails mappings between form, meaning, and function. To address this gap, the present study investigated the effects of implicit and explicit instruction on L2 acquisition of the English passive. The passive was chosen as the target construction due to the intricate mappings between form, meaning, and function encompassed in it. The study employed an experimental design including a pretest, immediate posttest, and delayed posttest, with five treatment sessions between the pretest and posttests. Participants were 99 Korean English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners, randomly assigned to two experimental groups that received implicit or explicit instruction, respectively, or a control group. Implicit instruction comprised typographically enhanced passive constructions to increase perceptual saliency; explicit instruction comprised a grammar activity to raise the participants’ consciousness about the passive construction. Five measurement tasks were employed to examine any changes in the participants’ knowledge of, and ability to use, the passive: a grammaticality judgment task (GJT), a sentence pair task, a closed discourse completion task (DCT), and spoken and written production tasks. Results from quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data yielded three main findings. First, implicit instruction had a more significant, beneficial effect than explicit instruction on the overall mappings between the form, meaning, and function of the passive. Second, the difference appeared to be more salient for meaning and function, whereas both types of instruction had almost equal benefits for form; yet, the production tasks seemed to exhibit a greater score decrease as for meaning and function over time in both treatment conditions. Finally, each type of instruction had similar effects on the performance of high- and low-level learners. Overall, these findings suggest that both types of instruction are beneficial for L2 acquisition but implicit instruction is more effective than explicit instruction.

Isolated grammar tasks develop different types of learning: incidental (pick up grammar), explicit (conscious learning) and implicit (unconscious learning). Cognitive abilities affecting the accuracy of these types of learning have been discussed (Robinson, 1997a). We know much less about learning during meaningful tasks, common in second language classrooms, during which language is used to understand or communicate information. This study employed tasks of this type to further knowledge of the: a.) incidental acquisition of form, b.) possibility of simultaneous explicit and implicit learning, c.) quantitative differences between explicit and implicit accuracy, d.) role of learner cognitive abilities on quantity and type of learning, and e.) effects of classification of type of learning on the results. Eighty-one Anglophone adults completed two crosswords and two reading passages presented using a semi-artificial language (Rebuschat, 2008), which ensured experimental control, and between-participant equal vocabulary knowledge. After, participants completed a surprise, timed grammaticality judgement test to measure learning. Type of learning (explicit and/or implicit) was assessed using three awareness measures (confidence ratings, source attributions, and verbal reports). Participants’ working memory, inductive ability, processing speed, and verbal reasoning were measured. The results demonstrated participants incidentally acquired some of the language. The majority of participants (n = 63) learnt the language explicitly and implicitly, and explicit learning was slightly more accurate. Cognitive abilities were unrelated to incidental acquisition, and the accuracy of explicit and implicit learning. However, inductive ability predicted the quantity of language processed explicitly positively and implicitly negatively. The findings further knowledge of the effectiveness of incidental, explicit, and implicit learning during language use. They demonstrate for the first time that adults learn language form using explicit and implicit processing simultaneously when focused on meaning. The small differences in accuracy of explicit and implicit learning suggest that when learning form is a by-product of understanding, implicitly-learnt information may be as accurate as explicitly-learnt information. Furthermore, as cognitive abilities did not affect the accuracy of incidental, explicit, and implicit learning, learning form whilst using may not disadvantage certain learners. However, as ability to induce patterns affects how information is processed, learners may benefit from practising pattern induction.