Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Second language acquisition Study and teaching Australia'
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Mrowa, Colette. "Communication, discourse, interaction in language classes. /." Title page, contents and summary only, 1997. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phm939.pdf.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Linguistics, 1997.Amendments and errata are in pocket on front end paper together with covering letter. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 168-185).
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Kazemi, Ali School of Modern Language Studies UNSW. "A systematic study of self-repairs in second language classroom presentations: with some reference to social variables and language proficiency." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Modern Language Studies, 2006. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/24298.
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Self-repairs have been the subject of investigation in a number of research areas, notably psycholinguistics and conversation analysis. This study has aimed at the examination of self-repairs in second language classroom presentations. Specifically, it has sought to gain insight into self-repairs in naturally occurring talk and to explicate the possible relationships between the variables of age, sex, and educational background and self-repair behaviour of L2 speakers as well as the possible link between self-repair and proficiency. Accomplishing these required a scrutiny of individual self-repairs and their classification. However, the classifications which have traditionally been used in the psycholinguistic approach suffer from a number of shortcomings, as they are usually based on the analysis of surface forms of self-repairs. Because of the subjectivity involved in this process, there has been considerable variation in terms of classes of self-repairs and also the decision as to where a given self-repair belongs. An in-depth analysis of self-repair data revealed that self-repairs do cluster into categories. This analysis also yielded a set of features which are relevant to the study of self-repairs. In addition to showing that the established categories are mutually exclusive, comparison of major categories of self-repairs according to these features, which characterise the trajectory of self-repairs, resulted in the explication of a number of regularities in the way L2 speakers carry out self-repairs. Having established a data-driven classification of repairs, an attempt was made to see whether learner variables of age, sex and educational background have any significant effect on self-repairs. It turned out that none of these variables have a significant effect on self-repairs. In addition, it became clear that while beginning, intermediate, and advanced L2 speakers have been shown to demonstrate significant proficiency-related differences, these differences fade away when they come from the same proficiency level.
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Hui, Leng. "A study of intercultural discourse between mainland Chinese speakers of English and Anglo-Australians." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2005. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/672.
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Intercultural communication between mainland Chinese speakers of English and Anglo-Australians is receiving ever-increasing attention in many fields. These fields include intercultural communication. English language teaching, education and business. This study approached the intercultural communication between mainland Chinese speakers of English and Anglo-Australians from a cognitive perspective by applying the theoretical framework of cultural linguistics. The intercultural discourse produced by mainland Chinese speakers of English in the context of them interacting with Anglo-Australians was analysed. The analysis was made by employing key concepts such as schemas, cultural schemas, discourse scenarios and discourse indexicals. A body of 39 audio-taped conversations between mainland Chinese speakers of English and Anglo-Australians which ran about 50 hours was collected according to the research tradition of the ethnography of communication. The data were transcribed and examined with the “emic” and “etic” insights provided by volunteer participants and informants. Fifty live excerpts of these conversations were analysed in line with cognitive anthropology and cultural linguistics.
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Batt, Deleece A. "The communicative orientation of virtual language teaching in upper primary and lower secondary telematics in Western Australia." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2003. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/36669/1/36669_Digitised%20Thesis.pdf.
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The aim of this study was to investigate the communicative orientation of classroom interaction in Japanese language lessons that are conducted in the virtual environment of synchronous (real-time) telematics. Specifically, the study examined Japanese telematics classrooms in upper primary and junior secondary schools in Western Australia. This study focused on whether the interaction in the classes studied, evident in the virtual learning mode of telematics was facilitative of second language (L2) acquisition.
The form of telematics used in this study was synchronous communication between teacher and students using telephone and computer links, sometimes also referred to as "audiographics". Telematics may also include the use of other communication technologies, such as live interactive television (LIT) however this was not available to all sites in the current study so it was not investigated.
The aim of this study is articulated through the research questions:
1. What is the nature of the communicative orientation in upper primary and junior secondary Japanese language classrooms in telematics mode?
2. ls the interaction observed in Japanese language telematics classrooms of the type that promotes L2 acquisition?
The first question seeks to identify the relative emphasis placed on interaction and form-focused interaction in the telematics classroom context. The second question identifies whether the features of interaction that SLA researchers suggest promote L2 acquisition are evident in the telematics context. This study uses the term interaction to refer to the type of human-human communicative interaction occurring in L2 telematics classes via the computer/technology that is facilitated by a number of key communicative features of interaction drawn from the second language acquisition (SLA) research. Interactivity on the other hand is used to refer to the human-computer engagement which is technologically facilitated.
Subjects in the study were three telematics teachers, with distributed classes across several student receival sites. The study examined descriptive process data collected from Japanese telematics classes in Western Australia via audio and video recordings. The study engaged in a descriptive inquiry using Classroom-Centred Research (CCR) methodology. CCR as a methodology provides evidence about the nature and influence of language instruction and classroom interaction have on L2 acquisition. This study used multi-methods of data collection via four stages: teacher questionnaire, classroom observations of interactions, teacher focus group discussion and follow-up interviews conducted later in the study to confirm the findings.
The major analytical tool used was the current version of the Communicative Orientation of Language Teaching (COLT) Observation (1995). The use of this scheme stems from its ability to bring together all of the communicative variables to capture features deemed theoretically and empirically relevant to the L2 classroom. The COLT Observation Scheme also provides a framework for comparing features of discourse in classrooms with features of natural language acquisition considered to be facilitative of L2 acquisition. In this way the extent to which an instructional treatment may be characterised as communicatively orientated can be measured. Both Part A and Part B of the scheme were used. The features and categories in Part A are primarily derived from pedagogical issues identified in the literature on communicative language teaching (CL T). Features and categories in Part B reflect issues in first and second language acquisition. The only modification was an additional investigation of how form was used in the telematics lessons.
Although recent studies have recommended improvements to telematics delivery, no other known study has specifically investigated whether the interaction evident in the delivery of Japanese via telematics is of the type that promotes successful L2 acquisition. Through the use of the COLT Observation Scheme, this study was able to capture and measure features of L2 classroom interaction in these telematics environments.
The results indicate that there were a number of internal and external variables that influenced the nature of the communicative orientation of telematics classes in this study. In terms of the communicative features of interaction identified in the COLT Observation Scheme as predictors of successful L2 acquisition, a number of these were not strongly evident in the results, for example, use of the target language, interaction in group work, use of extended text, use of authentic resources and student-made materials, reaction to message and clarification request.
Pedagogic factors impinging on the communicative orientation of the telematics environment included the highly teacher-centred nature of the telematics context. The use of the computer as a controlling device and the only visual connection also moved teachers further towards a more directive delivery style and greater dependence on using the L 1. Given the recent support for the incorporation of some focus on form into a communicative curriculum, the supplementary focus on form data revealed how the electronic nature of telematics delivery influenced how form was taught and the overuse in some cases of vocabulary games, drilling, substitution and repetition. There was also little evidence of students initiating discourse, negotiating activities or requesting clarification. Students engaged in mainly minimal rather than extended text thus limiting opportunities to experiment with the L2.
The communicative orientation of L2 telematics classes in this study was also impacted upon by a number of external factors, such as noise, technical breakdowns and inadequate learning environments at receival sites. The impact of the absence of a two-way human visual connection led to teachers using a more directive style of teaching where "silences" were often filled with teacher talk. Teachers identified this limitation as also limiting opportunities for students to obtain comprehensible input. However, teachers developed useful compensation strategies to overcome some of these limitations such as, using colour on the computer screen and tone of voice to highlight salient features. They also introduced games that promoted interaction between sites.
Whilst this study has revealed that some of the communicative features of interaction are evident, a greater number of these features need to become more prominent or more communicative. As well as targeting the technological orientation of the delivery method by adding a human visual connection, this would also involve the careful incorporation of the features that are characteristic of a more communicative approach to L2 acquisition.
This study has contributed to the fields of SLA and virtual delivery in a number of ways. It has added to the existing literature base through interfacing the SLA literature with the telematics literature. It has also contributed to a new methodology by taking an existing methodology and methods and applying them to the virtual L2 telematics classroom, in particular, the use of the COLT Observation Scheme in a virtual context. A contribution this study has made to language teaching through telematics lies in a mapping framework that has evolved from the study that aims to bring the type of interaction that occurs in SLA, communicative interaction and telematics closer together.
Further research needs to determine how interaction can be more effectively promoted m the telematics and virtual learning environments. It is anticipated that this study will encourage other researchers to further investigate the benefits of a more communicatively orientated intervention which will ultimately lead to positive L2 learning outcomes for all students in telematics environments and the broader virtual learning contexts.
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Paolino, Annamaria. "An interdisciplinary intervention : the potential of the Orff-Schulwerk approach as a pedagogical tool for the effective teaching of Italian to upper primary students in Western Australia." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2012. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/557.
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Since the second half of the twentieth century, Italian has been the second language spoken in Western Australia. In the primary school sector, there are over two hundred Italian teachers engaged with primary students. Many Italian teachers also use music/song as a pedagogical tool. The first part of the research examines the extent that music/song is used in primary Italian classes, as well as how and why they are used. The second part of the research centres on the use of the Orff-Schulwerk approach as an integrated music approach to teaching Italian. The research examines the success of a trialled intervention with a group of upper primary Italian language teachers, as well as exploring the support that is required to support Italian as a second language specific to upper primary contexts.
The research findings conclude that the novelty of the Orff-Schulwerk approach is considered effective in the teaching and learning of Italian. However, the research also highlights a number of constraints, which need to be addressed if teachers are to provide students with a rich and engaging curriculum.
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Foreman, Annik 1973. "Pretending to be someone you're not : a study of second dialect acquisition in Australia." Monash University, School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, 2003. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/5859.
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Hirase, Yuka. "Fossilization and defossilization in second language acquisition." Virtual Press, 1996. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1014799.
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This study investigates the fossilization and defossilization in the developing interlanguage of ESL students. The subjects were a group of 13 Japanese SL learners who studied at a U. S. University in an exchange program during 1994-95. The students' use of copula, auxiliaries, morphemes and syntactic structures was examined to see the degree to which there were interlanguage changes during the period. A close examination of SL production in form-focused contexts indicates that fossilized errors are more likely to occur when a number of particular conditions are not satisfied, involving a relatively automatized system of conveying meaning, an easy control of topic and a high degree of understanding of the target linguistic structure.Department of English
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Slabakova, Roumyana. "Zero acquisition : second language acquisition of the parameter of aspect." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp02/NQ44589.pdf.
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Calder, Maryna. "Self-assessment of lexical knowledge in second language vocabulary acquisition." Thesis, Swansea University, 2013. https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa43186.
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Grondin, Nathalie D. "Functional projections in child second language acquisition of French." Thesis, McGill University, 1992. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=61279.
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Recently, there has been growing interest in the status of functional projections (i.e. the determiner phrase (DP), the inflectional phrase (IP), and the complementizer phrase (CP)) in first language (L1) development.The purpose of this study of child second language (L2) acquisition was to determine the status of functional projections in the first months of L2 development. Data from two child subjects (with English as their L1) acquiring French as an L2 were examined for evidence of DP, IP and CP. The results show that all functional projections are present in the grammar from the earliest months of child L2 development. The implications of this finding for L1 and L2 acquisition theories are discussed.
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Groot, Ingeborg. "Note-taking in English as a second language acquisition." Virtual Press, 1991. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/770936.
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The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe several aspects of English as a second language (ESL) note-taking in response to lectures. The objective of this study was to analyze note-taking production. In addition, the study had hoped to trace note-taking progress as it correlated with language proficiency progress, but due to circumstances beyond the control of the researcher this idea had to be abandoned. Instead, the study focused on the first six weeks of a learner's academic semester in the target language.The researcher observed twenty students in order to obtain insights into the note-taking production of low ESL students in response to lectures. The methods used were: class observation, notebook collection, a two-part questionnaire, and a follow-up questionnaire. It was found that in the first six weeks of academic study, this group of low ESL students had difficulty taking notes due, largely, to language proficiency problems, such as the rate of delivery. Other reasons why the students had difficulties taking notes included their lack of formal training in note-taking and the fact that they were not using special strategies and skills. Thus, all this study can say about note-taking in second language acquisition is that it is difficult for low ESL students.Department of English
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González, Fariña Elena. "Attending to form and meaning in processing second language input : a study of advanced second language learners." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/MQ64154.pdf.
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Alalwi, Fahd Shehail. "Intercultural Competence Development in a Study Abroad Context: Saudi Study Abroad Learners in the United States of America." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/605109.
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This longitudinal study used qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the development of aspects of the intercultural competence (ICC) of Saudi learners of English as a second language in a study abroad (SA) context based on Deardorff's (2004) ICC model. It also examined students' development of Saudis' perceptions of the home and host cultures at the beginning of SA and after four months. Moreover, this study explored the relationship between ICC and second language proficiency. This study found no substantial change in ICC-related attributes over four months of studying abroad. Results also showed an overall agreement in ICC assessment between the teachers and the students. As far as perceptions of members of the Saudi and US cultures are concerned in the second study, the findings suggested that the Saudi SA students continued to use their home frame of reference even after four months of study in the US and that the national stereotypes persisted. In these results, US Americans are perceived to be work-oriented, whereas Saudis are relationship-oriented. The findings of the third study demonstrated that SA students' perceived gains with regard to skills of speaking, listening, reading, grammar, and vocabulary were significantly lower than their expectations at the beginning of the program and that their expectations were relatively low for culture learning. Moreover, no significant relationship was found between SA students' L2 usage patterns and L2 learning, nor between L2 usage patterns and C2 learning. However, the level of L2 proficiency upon entry into the SA program indicated a strong correlation with perceived gains in L2 learning. Interestingly, no relationship was found between ICC and L2 learning, nor between ICC and C2 learning.
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Leung, Yau-keung, and 梁有強. "Lexical networks and foreign language vocabulary acquisition." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1997. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31959623.
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Powell, Judith Ann. "Teaching reading to adults where English is their second language." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2008. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/3346.
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This project sought to identify methods that will work best for Second Language (ESL) adults and identify ways in which ESL can be taught to help facilitate learning for the older adult over 40 years of age. This project identified some of the problems caused by the nature of the English language and the grammatical issues older ESL students face when attempting to learn to speak and read English.
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Cong, Stella Yan. "The second language acquisition of the mandarin potential complement construction." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2014. https://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_oa/121.
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The Mandarin potential complement construction is a language specific structure. This is different from most of the languages in the world including English where modal notions are expressed by modal verbs and auxiliaries. It is a syntactic construction used to convey potential possibility in Mandarin and Cantonese. The various behaviors of the modal expressions in these three languag，i.e., English, Cantonese and Mandarin, raise interesting questions in second language acquisition research. The present study aims to explore how Cantonese speaking learners and English speaking learners process the Mandarin potential complement construction. Acceptability judgment test and corpus study were conducted to examine typical learning difficulties and essential acqu isition patterns in the course of acquiring the Mandarin potential complement construction. Given that the Mandarin potential complement construction is less marked than the Cantonese counterpart but more marked than English modal expressions, I hypothesized that Cantonese speaking learners wou ld have more native-like performance than English speaking learners. Surprisingly, this hypothesis was not completely confirmed in the present study. I will spell out the subjects, performance from the perspectives of language transfer theory, markedness theory and subset principle theory.
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Hirakawa, Makiko. "Linguistic theory and second language acquisition : the acquisition of English reflexives by native speakers of Japanese." Thesis, McGill University, 1989. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=55607.
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Faine, Miriam. "At home in Australia: identity, nation and the teaching of English as a second language to adult immigrants in Australia." Monash University. Faculty of Education, 2009. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/68741.
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This is an autoethnographic study (e.g. Brodkey, 1994) based on ‘stories’ from my own personal and professional journey as an adult ESL teacher which I use to narrate some aspects of adult ESL teaching. With migration one of the most dramatically contested spheres of modern political life world wide (Hall, 1998), adult English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching is increasingly a matter of social concern and political policy, as we see in the current political debates in Australia concerning immigration, citizenship and language. In Australia as an imagined community (Anderson, 1991), the song goes ‘we are, you are Australian and in one voice we sing’. In this study I argue that this voice of normative ‘Australianess’ is discursively aligned with White Australians as native speakers (an essential, biological formulation). Stretching Pennycook’s (1994a) argument that ELT (English Language Teaching) as a discourse aligns with colonialism, I suggest that the field of adult ESL produces, classifies and measures the conditions of sameness and difference to this normative ‘Australian’. The second language speaker is discursively constructed as always a deficient communicator compared with the native speaker. The binary between an imagined homogeneous Australia and the ‘migrant’ as essentially other, works against the inclusion of the learner into the dominant groups represented by their teachers, so that the intentions of adult ESL pedagogy and provision are mitigated by this imagining, problematizing and containing of the learners as other. The role of ESL teachers is to supervise (Hage, 1998) the incorporation of this other. Important policy interventions (e.g. Department of Immigration and Citizenship, 2006; ALLP, 1991a) are based on understanding the English language as a universalist framework of language competences inherent in the native speaker; on understanding language as consisting of fixed structures which are external to the learner and their social contexts; and on a perception that language as generic, transferable cognitive skills can be taught universally with suitable curricula and sufficient funding. Conversely in this study I recognise language as linguistic systems that define groups and regulate social relations, forming ‘a will to community’ (Pennycook, op. cit.) or ‘communities of practice’ (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Language as complex local and communal practices emerges from specific contexts. Language is embedded in acts of identity (e.g. Bakhtin, 1981) developing through dialogue, involving the emotions as well as the intellect, so that ‘voice’ is internal to desires and thoughts and hence part of identity. Following Norton (2000) who links the practices of adult ESL learners as users of English within the social relations of their every day lives, with their identities as “migrants”, I suggest that the stabilisation of language by language learners known as interlanguage reflects diaspora as a hybrid life world. More effective ESL policies, programs and pedagogies that assist immigrant learners feel ‘at home’ within Australia as a community of practice (Wenger, 1998) rest on understanding immigrant life worlds as diasporic (Gilroy, 1997). The research recommends an adult ESL pedagogy that responds to the understanding of language as socially constituted practices that are situated in social, local, everyday workplace and community events and spaces. Practices of identity and their representation through language can be re-negotiated through engagement in collective activities in ESL classes that form third spaces (Soja, 1999). The possibilities for language development that emerge are in accord with the learners’ affective investment in the new language community, but occur as improvements in making effective meanings, rather than conformity to the formal linguistic system (Pavlenko & Lantolf, 2000).
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Yamazaki-Hasegawa, Tae. "Second language acquisition of aspectual and temporal interpretation in English and Japanese." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.608148.
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Jung, Heshim. "The relationship between adult second language readers' metacognitive awareness of reading and their reading processes in a second language." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/185796.
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Prior research in L2 reading has shown that adult ESL readers tend to lack in the use of reading strategies, failing to utilize contextual clues or their background knowledge base. In addition, studies demonstrated that when the adult readers who are highly competent in L1 reading read in L2, they become inefficient, "text-bound" readers, failing to utilize their effective reading strategies in L1. The present study investigated adult L2 readers' processes of reading in relation to their perceived view of L2 reading, in an attempt to explore the underlying factors related to "text-bound" processing in L2 reading. Two specific research questions were raised for investigation: (1) what is the relationship between an L2 reader's perceptions about L2 reading and his or her reading processes in L2?; (2) what is the relationship between an L2 reader's perceptions about reading (both in L1 and L2) and his or her transfer of reading strategies from L1 to L2 reading? A significant correlation between the perception and actual processing pattern was hypothesized for both questions within the three theories of reading: the metacognitive, the psycholinguistic, and the schema/interactive theory. These three theories of reading provided the theoretical bases for the study. The study consisted of two phases. In the first phase, a survey was conducted with 139 adult ESL readers who responded to a questionnaire developed to tap L2 readers' perceptions about reading and their actual processes while reading magazines in English. Their responses were statistically analyzed to test the research hypotheses. In the second phase, a case study method was utilized for further exploration with six readers chosen from the survey's respondents. Two meetings with the researcher were held with each of the six subjects to further probe their perceptions about L2 reading, and their actual reading processes while they read an article from a chosen magazine. The results indicated that the more linguistic perceptions an adult L2 reader has, the more text-based processing he or she employs. It was also found that the greater the difference perceived by the reader between L2 and L1 reading, the greater the difference between his or her interaction and transaction with L2 text compared to L1 text.
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Takagaki, Bob. "The acquisition of the English system of pronominalization by adult second language learners." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/25526.
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The study presented in this paper is a second language study of the acquisition of the English system of pronominalization by adult learners of English. It is a partial replication of Ingram and Shaw's (1981) first language acquisition study on the same topic.
One hundred and eighty four subjects and twenty control subjects were administered a written task that involved making anaphoric assignments to pronouns in thirty five test sentences, representing seven different sentence construction types.
Analysis of the data indicated that the two syntactic constraints of precedence and dominance played major roles in the anaphoric assignments made by all subjects. In addition, these two syntactic constraints were instrumental in delineating developmental stages in the acquisition process. A comparison of the response patterns displayed by the present study's subjects and those displayed by Ingram, and Shaw's subjects revealed a number of differences. These differences suggested that the acquisition process was not invariant and highly sequential in nature, but dynamic and highly creative, allowing a great deal of latitude in terms of the processing strategies employed.Education, Faculty of
Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of
Graduate
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del, Barco Dolores Villarreal. "First language instruction and second language acquisition among Spanish speaking high school students: A case study." Scholarly Commons, 1988. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/3364.
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This case-study had as its principal focus the applicability of James Cummins' theory of developmental interdependence in language acquisition to secondary age students. This theory postulates that, for younger children, the development and strengthening of the first language can ultimately lead to a more rapid and efficient acquisition of the second. The study set out to test the hypothesis that secondary age Limited English Proficient (LEP) students who receive Primary Language Arts instruction demonstrate higher levels of English acquisition than do comparable students who do not receive this instruction. The primary language of the students was Spanish. A quasi-experimental research design was used to compare the effect of different treatments on two relatively equal groups of Hispanic LEP students in a single urban high school over a five year period. Achievement and completion of high school work were examined statistically for students enrolled in English as a Second Language and Espanol Para Hispanos (Spanish for Spanish-Speakers) classes during the course of the study. Hispanic LEP students in neither treatment group and all other Hispanic students in attendance at the school during the study made up additional comparison groups. Results of achievement tests, while not completely conclusive, suggest a qualified affirmative of the hypothesis. Students in the Espanol Para Hispanos (Spanish for Spanish-Speakers) groups demonstrated a statistically significant higher level of achievement in English Reading and Language Arts than did the other LEP groups in Tenth grade. Achievement in English in Eleventh and Twelfth grades, although substantial, was not as definitive. There was also corroboration for Cummins' views on "Student Empowerment". Correlations of Participation in Treatment Groups with Completion of Studies showed that a statistically significant percentage of students who received instruction in the development of their primary language (Spanish) graduated from high school. The Tenth grade was found to be the most crucial year for treatment to be effective, both for achievement and for completion of studies.
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Quigley, June R. (June Richfield). "A Semantic Field Approach to Passive Vocabulary Acquisition for Advanced Second Language Learners." Thesis, North Texas State University, 1986. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc500401/.
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Current ESL instructors and theorists agree that university students of ESL have a need for a large passive vocabulary. This research was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of a semantic field approach to passive vocabulary acquisition in comparison to a traditional approach. A quantitative analysis of the short-term and long-range results of each approach is presented. Future research and teaching implications are discussed. The outcome of the experimentation lends tentative support to a semantic field approach.
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Suárez, Cepeda Sonia. "L2 acquisition of Spanish telic se constructions." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2000. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2596/.
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This thesis examines the acquisition of the aspectual properties of the Spanish se in transitive constructions by L2 learners of Spanish. Based on a parameterized distinction of the telic features in English and Spanish, this study investigates whether second language (L2) learners are able to reset the aspectual value of the English parameter to that of Spanish in their interlanguage grammar. Results indicate that L2 learners' responses to a picture interpretation task vary according to proficiency levels. Low-intermediate and intermediate learners did not differentiate between telic and atelic constructions whereas advanced learners successfully acquired the telic properties of the transitive se constructions. Results were interpreted in the light of current theories of second language acquisition and the mental representation of aspect in interlanguage.
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Lovitt, Ashli. "The Linguistic Gains and Acculturation of American High School Students on Exchange Programs in Germany." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/293543.
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There has been a sharp rise in study abroad participation over the last few decades (Institute for International Education, 2011), which can largely be explained by the rise of short-term study abroad programs. While there is much to be gained from participation in such programs, mid-length and year programs may offer the greatest benefits for linguistic gain (e.g. Brecht, Davidson & Ginsberg, 1996; Freed, 1995; Lafford, 2004; Vande Berg, 2003). Despite the advantages of longer stays, the percentage of students studying abroad for an entire year "has remained steady for over a decade" (Institute for International Education, 2011). Roughly four-percent of all students who study abroad choose to do so for an academic or calendar year. This statistic points to a problem with attracting students to pursue longer stays abroad. The Open Doors Report, prepared by the Institute for International Education, assumes a narrow view of study abroad by excluding data on American high school students. The present study attempts to fill a gap in the research by examining the overseas experiences of 14 American high school and gap year students who studied abroad in Germany during the academic year of 2011-2012. Data for this study was collected in the form of questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, the WebCAPE German placement test developed at Brigham Young University, and unofficial Oral Proficiency Interviews. The findings of the current study may help inform those involved in study abroad at both the high school and university levels. The purposes of this mixed-methods research, which is organized into three articles, are the following: 1) to investigate students' use of technology in a study abroad context, and examine how online communication might be indicative of participation in multiple Activity Systems (e.g. Engeström, 2011; Lantolf & Thorne, 2006; Leontiev, 2006), 2) to describe students' degree of participation in new Communities of Practice at German schools (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998; 2000) and, 3) to investigate students' (re)construction of national and regional identities. The role that language proficiency and prior instruction in the target language might play in the study abroad context is explored across all three topics.
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Muramatsu, Yumika. "The Role of Native-Speaker Status and Cultural Background: A Multidimensional Case Study of Teacher-Student Interaction in English Composition Classes." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194149.
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Previous nonnative-English-speaking teacher (NNEST) research has shown that nonnative speaker (NNS) students' attitudes towards NNESTs improve after exposure to them (Moussu, 2002). Past second language (L2) writing research has found that native speaker (NS) teachers interact with NS and NNS students differently (Thonus, 2002, 2004). Little has been investigated regarding NNESTs in mainstream composition courses that include both NS and NNS students. Also, most past NNEST attitude studies relied exclusively on perception data, without investigating whether or not the expressed perceptions were observed in practice. This study, involving both NS and NNS students and teachers, explored (1) students' attitudes towards composition teachers based on the teacher's NS status, (2) interaction characteristics during individual writing conferences, (3) reflections on expressed attitudes, if any, in actual teacher-student interactions, and (4) student attitude change after exposure to NS and NNS teachers. A questionnaire, distributed to 43 (23 NS and 20 NNS) students in composition classes taught by NS and NNS teachers, explored student attitudes towards teachers. Teacher-student interaction patterns were investigated via 12 (3 NS and 9 NNS) students' video-recorded writing conferences, two each, one with the NS and the other with the NNS teacher. Student attitude change was investigated via post-conference interviews. Several interaction characteristics attributed to the teachers' NS status and the students' linguistic and cultural backgrounds (e.g., turn-taking characteristics, question and advice types, etc.) were identified from the conference data. The questionnaire results showed that teachers' personal traits and teaching styles influenced student attitudes more strongly than NS status. Some student attitudes were found to be only perceptions, not reflected in actual interactions. It was also found that NS students' attitudes towards NNS teachers changed favorably after their conference experience with the NNS teacher. Students consider personally tailored conferences to be most successful, regardless of preconceptions about teachers. The findings that students evaluate and acknowledge teachers based on various factors (e.g., individual teachers' expertise, teaching performance, personality traits, etc.) offer implications for teacher training programs. This study also addresses the issue that NNS students should be treated as individuals, rather than categorized as a general group of NNS students.
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Qin, Chuan. "Tethering Effect as an Explanation for the Bottleneck in Second Language Acquisition." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2016. https://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_oa/332.
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A learner of L2 normally attains a certain level of competence which then stagnates, thereby rarely accomplishes native-like competence of the target-language (TL). This bottleneck effect is accounted for through the E-Tether Theory (ETT), which is the main thesis of this dissertation. The ETT argues that the L2 E-grammar of a learner's community exerts a centrifugal force that draws the I-grammar of the learner towards it. This force, christened as the "E-tether", stems from the learner's identification with his speech community and from the linguistic input provided by the local E-grammar. When the local E-grammar is not identical to the TL grammar, the E-tether is a double-edge sword that encourages the development of the L2 I-grammar in the initial stages, but then prevents the I-grammar from progression towards the TL. By considering how social environment affects the I-grammar of individual learners through E-languages, the ETT provides a more comprehensive account to the bottleneck effect.;The validity of the proposed ETT is examined in this dissertation through two empirical studies: (i) the acquisition of English consonant clusters by the native Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong, and (ii) the acquisition of the same structures by the native Cantonese speakers in Guangzhou. In the two studies, the ETT is tested by seeing whether the individuals in the two cities attitudinally incline towards the phonological patterns of Hong Kong English (HKE) and of Guangzhou English (GZE), which are the E-languages of the two communities. The E-grammar in each city is generalized from the productions of consonant clusters by 10 speakers and is analyzed under the framework of Optimality Theory; the attitudes towards the E-grammar are obtained through a language attitude test implemented to 129 participants in Hong Kong and 66 in Guangzhou. Two findings emerge from the results. First, there is a tendency in HKE and in GZE to produce syllabic obstruents and to devoice word-final obstruents. Both patterns are also attitudinally accepted by the participants in the two cities. Second, when there is more than one strategy in the local E-grammar to avoid consonant clusters, the one that better preserves intelligibility is more likely to be accepted. The observed acceptance of the L2 speakers towards the "non-standard" L2 patterns can hardly be explained if one does not acknowledge the role of the local E-grammar. The findings thus lend support to the ETT.;Besides the Hong Kong study and the Guangzhou study, there is evidence showing that the ETT can work in a range of social contexts, and can apply to domains other than phonological acquisition.
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Juffs, Alan. "Learnability and the lexicon in second language acquisition : Chinese learners' acquisition of English argument structure." Thesis, McGill University, 1993. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=41626.
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This thesis investigates the knowledge of semantics-syntax correspondences in second language acquisition (SLA) within the Principles and Parameters framework. A parameter of semantic structure is proposed to account for crosslinguistic syntactic differences between two previously unrelated, and superficially distinct, verb classes: change of state locatives and 'psychological' verbs. Chinese and English contrast in terms of the parameter setting. Experimental evidence indicates that adult Chinese learners of English L2 initially transfer parameter settings, but are able to reset the proposed parameter. However, they only acquire L2 lexical properties and concomitant syntactic privileges with ease when L2 input adds a representation to their grammar. When positive L2 input should pre-empt overgeneralizations based on representation transferred from the L1, it is shown that L1 influence may persist until quite advanced stages of acquisition. The implications of the results are discussed for the parameter setting model of SLA.
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Park, Hyeson. "Child second language acquisition and grammatical theories: The Minimalist Program and optimality theory." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/252897.
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The aim of linguistic theory is to explain what knowledge of language consists of and how this knowledge is acquired. Generative linguistics, which had set out to achieve this goal, has recently seen the development of two main approaches to Universal Grammar (UG). One is the Minimalist Program (MP) and the other is Optimality Theory (OT). In the MP framework, language is claimed to be acquired through parameter setting, while in OT language acquisition is viewed as a constraint reranking process. In this study, I compare the two evolving linguistic theories in relation to child L2 acquisition phenomena; that is, how and whether the two different approaches to UG could be used to account for language development in real time. The database for this study was a corpus of natural and elicited-interview speech collected by the National Center for Bilingual Research from six Korean children learning English as an L2 in a bilingual education school program. Two constructions, null arguments and wh-questions produced by the Korean children in their developing L2 English, were chosen for in-depth investigation. The data analysis shows that (1) the children dropped few subjects from the early stages, (2) the children dropped more objects than subjects, (3) the children did not apply subject-verb inversion in why -questions, and (4) of the wh-questions, when-questions were one of the last to appear in the children's developing English. It was examined whether these four findings could be explained within the MP and the OT frameworks. The MP and OT in their present forms, however, do not seem to be able to fully account for the data. I have proposed some adaptations of the theories and explored plausible explanations. The overall picture emerging from the study is that the gradual nature of language development can best be explained as being a result of the incremental acquisition of the lexicon. The relationship between linguistic theory and acquisition studies, especially second language acquisition studies, has been unidirectional, from theory to acquisition (SLA) studies. It is to be hoped that this study may contribute to connecting the gap between linguistic theory and SLA studies, and making their relationship more bidirectional.
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Mackenzie, Kevin Roderick. "Teachers' beliefs about classroom practice: implications for the role of second language acquisition theory inteacher education." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1998. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31944887.
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Leung, Yan-kit Ingrid. "Functional categories in second and third language acquisition : a cross-linguistic study of the acquisition of English and French by Chinese and Vietnamese speakers." Thesis, McGill University, 2002. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=82915.
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This thesis investigates non-native language acquisition of the verbal and nominal functional domains in Second language (L2) English and second/third language (L2/L3) French by Chinese and Vietnamese speakers. Six experimental studies are reported. Two current competing theories in the field of theoretical second language acquisition (L2A), namely, the Failed Features Hypothesis (FFH) and the Full Transfer Full Access (FTFA) model are compared and their applicability to third language acquisition (L3A) evaluated in the light of our data.A version of the Minimalist Program is assumed in this work. Predictions based on FFH and FTFA are as follows: As far as L2A is concerned, both FFH and FTFA predict full transfer of L1 in the L2 initial state. With respect to L3A, FFH predicts the initial state to be L1 while FTFA predicts either L1 or L2. The two models diverge regarding their predictions on the L2/L3 transitional and steady states. In particular, FFH hypothesizes permanent "failure" and persistent L1 influence in L2/L3 interlanguage while FTFA hypothesizes full access and acquirability of target structures.
Three L2/L3 experimental studies on the verbal functional domain (i.e. tense and agreement) and another three on the nominal functional domain (i.e. the Determiner Phrase) were conducted. Subjects include Chinese monolingual learners of English, Vietnamese monolingual learners of French as well as Chinese-English bilingual learners of French. A variety of tasks were used to test the predictions made by the two models. Results demonstrate partial transfer of L1 in the L2 initial state and of L2 in the L3 initial state, and point towards full access in the L2/L3 steady states. These findings do not seem to be consistent with FFH. It appears that FTFA is a more viable theory for non-native language acquisition. We also contend that L3A is not simply another case of L2A.
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Lepine, Christine. "Adolescent learners' awareness of first language influence on their second language knowledge." Thesis, McGill University, 2001. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=33912.
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This research is a replication and expansion of Lightbown and Spada (2000) which investigated the metalinguistic awareness of 11--12 year-old francophone learners of English as second language (ESL). Their research examined whether young L2 learners were able to make explicit L1 rules influencing their L2 performance. The present research builds on Lightbown and Spada (2000) by comparing their findings to those of older and more proficient francophone ESL learners (12--16 years old) in secondary school. As observed with the younger learners in Lightbown and Spada (2000), the interlanguage of the older learners revealed a clear influence of transfer of French even though they were more accurate in their overall performance. The results also indicated that the older learners were capable of considerable metalinguistic awareness regarding the target features (question formation and adverb placement). This contrasts sharply with Lightbown and Spada's (2000) in which there was no evidence of metalinguistic awareness on the part of the younger learners.
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Randolph, Gerda Ann Packard. "Building written language: A program for second language literacy in English." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2000. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1866.
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Saiwaroon, Chumpavan Lorber Michael A. "A comparative study of two English as a foreign language (EFL) programs non-content-based and content-based at the university level in Thailand /." Normal, Ill. Illinois State University, 2001. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ilstu/fullcit?p3006616.
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Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 2001.Title from title page screen, viewed April 18, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Michael A. Lorber (chair), Patricia H. Klass, Margaret T. Kang, Debbie Mounts. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-117) and abstract. Also available in print.
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Al-Qarni, Ibrahim R. "Rote repetition in Saudi Arabian foreign language vocabulary acquisition." Virtual Press, 2003. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1263922.
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This study was designed to examine the impact of rote repetition strategies (RRSs) on the retention of newly learned vocabulary items on both immediate recall test (IRT) and delayed recall test (DRT) in the Saudi Arabian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. The RRSs included in this study were the following:1. Silent repetition (SR): repeating the foreign word with its first language (Ll) translation silently2. Verbal repetition (VR): repeating the foreign word with its first language (L1) translation out loud3. Silent-written repetition (SWR): repeating the foreign word with its first language (Ll) translation silently while writing it down4. Verbal-written repetition (VWR): repeating the foreign word with its first language (L1) translation out loud while writing it downThe following hypotheses were investigated in this study:1. For Saudi EFL college learners rote repetition (RR) is an effective learning strategy in vocabulary learning for both short and long term retention.2. In terms of their impact on short-and-long-term retention, the four RR strategies investigated in this study are predicted to be ranked as follows: VWR > SWR > VR > SR.Four treatment groups with a total of one hundred and thirty three freshmen Saudi students majoring in English language and translation participated in this study. Each group was introduced to one of the above repetition strategies, trained to use the strategy, and instructed to carry out a vocabulary learning task using the specified strategy. The learning task was a memorization task of new English words with their Arabic equivalent translations. An iaanediate recall test (IRT) was administered right after the learning task was carried out followed by a one-week delayed recall test (DRT).The results obtained from participants' scores on both recall tests indicate that rote repetition strategies are effective strategies for Saudi EFL college students and help them in increasing their retention scores. The results also indicate that the SWR and VWR are more effective memorization strategies than VR and SR. The former strategies yielded better retention not only on the IRT but also on the DRT.College of ArchitectureDepartment of English
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Wolfaardt, Francois. "Hong Kong primary school children's second language acquisition: the impact of Filipina domestic workers." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2015. https://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_oa/148.
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Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs) in Hong Kong are a marginalised group, with many being subjected to various kinds of abuse. Numerous empirical studies documented the nature and extent of the abuse FDWs suffer. This study, with the aim of enhancing the prestige of FDWs, investigated the impact that Filipino Domestic Workers (FilDWs) in Hong Kong have on children's L2 English listening comprehension and spoken fluency. It was the first research that explored the impact of FilDWs on both a productive and receptive skill. A total of 20 children from Chinese Medium oflnstruction (CMI) schools between eight and 12 years old were used as research subjects. The experimental group consisted of 10 children from households with FilDWs, while the control group was composed of 10 children from households without FilDWs. Each group consisted of six boys and four girls. Prior to doing the study a pilot study was launched at a CMI school where five children of the target age group were tested. Based on the results of the pilot study, a test was designed to assess both listening comprehension and spoken fluency. Each participant listened to a children's story and was asked 25 fixed questions about it. All answers were recorded and transcribed for analysis. Results showed that those in the experimental group consistently outperformed those in the control group by substantial margins, even after controlling for age and gender. These results serve as evidence against the popular assertion in Hong Kong that FDWs have a bad influence on children's English.
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Williams, George Edward. "The effects of computer assisted language learning and specially designed academic instruction in English on second language acquisition." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2002. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2954.
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The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two methods of instruction for second language acquisition. The first method used a computer based software program known as English Language Learning Instructional System (ELLIS). The second method used Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE).
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Miller-Cornell, Carol Ann. "Error feedback in second language writing." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2007. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/3396.
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This thesis follows five second language (L2) students in an introductory composition class at California State University, San Bernardino. The study investigates their perceptions and responses to grammatical coded feedback provided by their writing instructor. The results showed that students wanted, expected, appreciated and understood the coded feedback that was given to them.
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Mutenda, Josephine. "Teaching reading in grade 4 Namibian classrooms : a case study." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2008. http://eprints.ru.ac.za/1644/.
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Jung, Miso. "When English as a Second Language students meet text-responsible writing." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2005. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2906.
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This thesis follows two international freshman students in an English composition class at California State University, San Bernardino. The results indicate that the students generally experienced feeling challenged and overwhelmed about the unfamiliar topic, but detailed assignment guidelines played a key role for students to progress in understanding the assignment.
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Venter, Edith Christina. "Framework for a task-based approach to the teaching of Xhosa as a second language for local government purposes." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/52853.
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Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study is to apply contemporary theories about language and language learning in a South African and Western Cape context in order to address the specific needs of isiXhosa second language learners in local government. This study explores the use of communication tasks for vocational language teaching. It aims at providing a sound theoretical foundation of second language learning principles that support a task-based approach to language teaching for specific purposes. The perspectives of a broad range of theories that view the learner as autonomous and a social individual are regarded. Second language learning is assumed to rely on some degree of access to Universal Grammar and an innate ability to acquire language. It is argued that controlled and purposeful learner-learner interaction provides the learner with the most opportunities to negotiate meaning and to develop effective communication. The role of instruction in second language acquisition is explored. A greater interface between second language acquisition theory and pedagogy is motivated and classroom research is regarded to form a platform for more open dialogue between the two fields. The study addresses practical issues regarding learner participation, error treatment, learning strategies and culture studies. A discussion of task types, examples of tasks and criteria for task development has the potential to inform and guide second language teachers and programme developers. In order to motivate the use of tasks in second language teaching for specific purposes, theoretical perspectives of the instructional task are reviewed and the properties of communication tasks and referential communication tasks are described. Learning tasks which focus on form and provide learning strategies and cross-cultural awareness are assumed to playa supportive role in the taskbased syllabus. Finally, a task-design that addresses the needs of the municipal worker is presented and provides a framework for developing task-based second language teaching programmes for local government workers. A range of target tasks are described and analyzed according to the principles and properties of communication tasks and possible move-structures and language structures are listed for consideration for learning tasks.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie is om huidige teorieë omtrent taal en taalleer in "n Suid-Afrikaanse en Wes-Kaapse konteks toe te pas ten einde die spesifieke behoeftes van leerders van isiXhosa tweede taal in plaaslike regeringsinstansies aan te spreek. Die studie ondersoek die gebruik van kommunikasie-take in beroepsgerigte taalonderrig. Dit stel ten doel die daarstelling van "n deeglike fondasie van beginsels van tweedetaalverwerwing wat "n taakgebasseerde benadering tot taalonderrig vir spesifieke doelstellings steun. Die perspektiewe van "n wye verskeidenheid van teorieë wat die leerder as outonoom en as "n sosiale individu beskou word in ag geneem. Tweedetaalverwerwing word beskou as afhanklik van "n mate van toegang tot Universele Grammatika en "n aangebore vermoeë om taal aan te leer. Daar word geredeneer dat beheerde en doelgerigte leerderleerder interaksie die meeste geleenthede bied vir onderhandeling van betekenis en die ontwikkeling van effektiewe kommunikasie-vaardighede. Die rol van onderrig in tweedetaalverwerwing word ondersoek. "n Hegter interaksie tussen tweedetaalverwerwingsteorie en onderrig word gemotiveer en klaskamer-navorsing word beskou as "n platform vir meer vrye-dialoog tussen die twee velde. Die studie spreek praktiese kwessies aan, soos leerder-deelname, hantering van foute, leerstrategieë en kultuurstudies. "n Bespreking van taaktipes, voorbeelde van take en kriteria vir taakontwikkeling kan moontlik van praktiese waarde wees vir tweedetaalonderwysers en programontwikkelaars. Ten einde die gebruik van take in tweedetaalonderrig vir spesifieke doeleindes te motiveer, word die teoretiese perspektiewe ten opsigte van die instruksionele taak hersien en die eienskappe van kommunikasie-take en verwysingskommunikasie-take beskryf. Leertake wat op vorm fokus en wat leerstrategieë en kruiskulturele bewustheid voorsien, word beskou as ondersteunend in 'n taakgebaseerde sillabus. Ten laaste word 'n taakontwerp voorgestel wat die behoeftes van die munisipale werker aanspreek en wat 'n raamwerk voorsien vir die ontwikkeling van taakgebaseerde onderrigprogramme vir plaaslike regeringswerkers. 'n Reeks teikentake word beskryf en geanaliseer volgens die beginsels en eienskappe van kommunikasie-take en moontlike struktuur-skuiwe en taalstrukture word gelys om vir leertake oorweeg te word.
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Moore, Glenn Edward. "Anxiety and motivation in second language learning." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2004. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2448.
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This study investigates student and instructor perceptions of the causes and effects of anxiety and motivation's effect on a student's ability to learn a second language. The study focused on the participant's perceptions of the causes and effects of anxiety, and relationships between anxiety and motivation, in both short-term and long-term learners.
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Yap, Set-lee Shirley. "Out-of-class use of english by secondary school students in a Hong Kong Anglo-Chinese school." Thesis, Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1998. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B19883468.
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Moss, Siobhan. "The acquisition of English functional categories by native speakers of Inuktitut /." Thesis, McGill University, 1993. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=69632.
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Several current studies in language acquisition have focussed on the emergence of functional categories in first and second languages. The properties of functional categories can be exhibited through movement, inflections, case marking and the use of functional elements such as determiners and complementizers.This pilot study investigated the English second language of two groups of Inuktitut speaking schoolchildren at the beginning of the school year to see whether the properties of functional categories in English emerged in the same way as they do for first language speakers. While some of the Kindergarten children showed no access to these properties, others showed partial or complete access to them. Those children who had been in school one year demonstrated access to all of the properties under investigation. The results are discussed with respect to future research methodologies and studies of acquisition.
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Gao, Li. "Teaching reading in English as a foreign language: a study of a grade 10 class in Taiyuan City, China." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2007. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_6754_1255508055.
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Since economic reform started in China in 1978, the educational objectives for English language teaching have undergone many changes. In secondary school, reading and writing abilities have become increasingly important, not only in assisting students to study and work in English language contexts, but also in setting up the foundation for further English learning at university level. Thus, new materials have been devised and new teaching methods have been used. However, in practice, the English reading skills of many learners do not seem to have improved and learners have difficulty in achieving the syllabus goals set for reading. This study investigated the factors which influence the development of reading skills by learners in one Grade 10 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) class in Taiyuan, a city in China.
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Pretorius, Rentia. "The language learning strategy use of isiXhosa-speaking adolescents in the second language acquisition of English." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/4132.
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Thesis (MA (General Linguistics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Research to date on language learning strategy (LLS) use and its influence on second language (L2) acquisition and proficiency has produced variable results. While many researchers feel that LLSs have an important role to play in L2 learning and teaching, a clear definition and classification of LLSs, as well as clear guidelines for LLS application and training, have yet to be established. LLS use and preference seem to be influenced by various factors such as culture, age, level of L2 proficiency and level of education. Therefore, results of specific studies are not necessarily applicable to different groups of L2 learners. This thesis reports on an investigation into the LLS use of first language (L1) isiXhosa adolescents in the acquisition of English. Using the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), the study examines the relationship between LLS use as well as LLS preference and L2 proficiency, with an assessment of the gender differences in LLS use. The study found no significant relationship between LLS use or LLS preference and English proficiency. Also, no significant difference was found between the reported preferred LLSs of female and male participants, although male participants reported significantly more high-frequency LLS use, whereas female participants reported significantly more low-frequency LLS use. Conclusions drawn from the results of the study are discussed, followed by suggestions for future research and a brief discussion of the implications of these results for L2 teaching and learning, specifically in a South African context.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Navorsing oor die gebruik van taalleerstrategieë (TLSe) en die invloed daarvan op tweedetaal(T2-)verwerwing het tot dusver uiteenlopende resultate opgelewer. Terwyl baie navorsers van mening is dat TLSe 'n belangrike rol het om te speel in die leer en onderrig van 'n T2, moet 'n duidelike definisie en klassifikasie van TLSe, asook duidelike riglyne vir TLS-aanwending en -opleiding, nog daargestel word. Die gebruik en voorkeur van TLSe word klaarblyklik deur verskeie faktore beïnvloed, insluitend kultuur, ouderdom, vlak van T2-vaardigheid en vlak van opvoeding. Resultate van spesifieke studies is derhalwe nie noodwendig bruikbaar vir verskillende groepe T2-leerders nie. Hierdie tesis lewer verslag oor ‘n ondersoek na die gebruik van TLSe deur T1 isiXhosa adolessente in die verwerwing van Engels. Die studie stel ondersoek in na die verhouding tussen TLS-gebruik asook -voorkeur, gemeet deur die Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), en T2-vaardigheid, met 'n beoordeling van die geslagsverskille in TLS-gebruik. Die studie het geen beduidende verhouding tussen TLS-gebruik of TLS-voorkeur en Engelse vaardigheid gevind nie. Daar is ook geen beduidende verskil tussen die aangeduide TLS-voorkeur van vroulike en manlike deelnemers nie, hoewel manlike deelnemers beduidend meer hoë-frekwensie TLS-gebruik aangedui het, en vroulike deelnemers beduidend meer lae-frekwensie TLS-gebruik aangedui het. Gevolgtrekkings wat op grond van die studie gemaak is, word bespreek, gevolg deur voorstelle vir verdere navorsing en 'n kort bespreking van die implikasies van die resultate van hierdie studie vir T2-onderrig, veral in 'n Suid- Afrikaanse konteks.
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Sepeng, Johannes Percy. "Grade 9 second-language learners in township schools : issues of language and mathematics when solving word problems." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1455.
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Second language (English) learning of mathematics is common in South African mathematics classrooms, including those in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa where isiXhosa speakers are taught in the language that is not spoken at home by both teachers and learners. The purpose of this research was to investigate issues of language, both home (isiXhosa) and the language of learning and teaching (LoLT), i.e. English, when 9th grade second language learners engage in problem-solving and sense-making of wor(l)d problems in multilingual mathematics classrooms. In addition, the aim of the study was to explore whether the introduction of discussion and argumentation techniques in these classrooms can ameliorate these issues. The study used a pre-test – intervention – post-test mixed method design utilising both quantitative and qualitative data. The data collection strategies for the purpose of this study included interviews (learners [n=24] and teachers [n=4]), classroom observations, and tests (experimental [n=107] and comparison [69]) in four experimental and two comparison schools in townships of Port Elizabeth. This study is framed by socio-cultural perspective which proposes that collective and individual processes are directly related and that students‘ unrealistic responses to real world problems reflect the students‘ socio-cultural relationship to school mathematics and their willingness to employ the approaches emphasised in school. Analysis of the data generated from pre- and post-tests, interviews and classroom observation schedule suggest that the interventional strategy significantly improved the experimental learners‘ problem-solving skills and sense-making abilities in both English and isiXhosa (but more significantly in English). The statistical results illustrate that the experimental group performed statistical significantly (p < .0005) better in the English posttest compared to comparison group. The data also suggests that the interventional strategy in this study (discussion and argumentation techniques) positively influenced the participating learners‘ word problem-solving abilities. The experimental group appeared to show a tendency to consider reality marginally better than the comparison group after the intervention. In particular, learners seemed to make realistic considerations better in the isiXhosa translation post-test compared to the English post-test. A large practical significant (d = 0.86) difference between the experimental group and the comparison group was also noted in the isiXhosa translation compared to a moderate practical significance (d = 0.57) noted in the English tests after the intervention. As such, the results of the study suggest that the introduction of discussion and argumentation techniques in the teaching and learning of mathematics word problems had a positive effect on learners‘ ability to consider reality during word problem-solving in both languages. Analysis of learners‘ interviews suggests that, although English is the preferred LoLT, they would prefer dual-use/parallel-use of English and isiXhosa for teaching and learning mathematics. There was also evidence of the benefits of code-switching throughout most of the lessons observed, coupled with instances of peer translation, and/or re-voicing. Overall results in this study illustrate that number skills displayed and mathematical errors made by learners seem to be directly related to language use in the classroom.
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Chou, Pei-Ying. "Co-teaching and reciprocal teaching for English-as-a-foreign-language reading." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2006. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2873.
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The purpose of this project is to help promote elementary English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students' reading comprehension. The project investigates the co-teaching model and its implementation in the Taiwanese English class. Curriculum and lesson plans are included.
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Bennett, Susan. "Second language acquisition of reflexive binding by native speakers of Serbo-Croatian." Thesis, McGill University, 1993. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=41534.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examines the role of transfer of first (L1) language properties and access to knowledge of Universal Grammar in second language (L2) acquisition. Two empirical components are included: a study of the syntax of anaphora in Serbo-Croatian and an experimental study of second language acquisition of reflexive binding. Data from field work on the coreference properties of anaphors in Serbo-Croatian are discussed in terms of standard, parameterized, LF movement, and Relativized SUBJECT approaches to Binding Theory. Recent versions of the theory identify a categorial distinction between morphologically simple ($ rm X sp circ$) and complex (XP) anaphor types as a crucial factor in determining coreference relations between reflexive pronouns and their syntactic antecedents.The predictions of a morphological approach to the Binding Theory were tested in a study of the acquisition of the binding properties of English XP reflexives by native speakers of Serbo-Croatian, a language with $ rm X sp circ$ reflexives. Acquisition of the English binding pattern by this group of L2 learners requires recognition of the morphological complexity of English reflexives. Prior to reanalysis, learners are predicted to produce an incorrect L1 coreference pattern in the L2 environment.
Two sentence comprehension tasks were administered to adolescent and adult Serbo-Croatian speaking L2 learners of English and similar groups of English native speaker controls. Picture identification and multiple choice comprehension tasks produced convergent results with significant differences between control (n = 47) and L2 learner (n = 73) interpretations of reflexives in complex noun phrases and object control infinitival sentences. Their pattern of interpretation shows evidence of transfer of the $ rm X sp circ$ anaphor type found in Serbo-Croatian to the target grammar and suggests L2 learners are able to apply a deductive system constrained by Universal Grammar to compute binding domains in second language acquisition.
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Lau, Ngar-yin Belinda, and 劉雅賢. "Vocabulary acquisition in second language: a comparison between paired associates and sentence contexts." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2010. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B45176255.
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