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Choi, Myong Hee. "The acquisition of wh-in-situ constructions in second language acquisition." Connect to Electronic Thesis (CONTENTdm), 2009. http://worldcat.org/oclc/450899150/viewonline.
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Prévost, Philippe. "Truncation in second language acquisition." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/NQ44557.pdf.
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Prévost, Philippe 1966. "Truncation in second language acquisition." Thesis, McGill University, 1997. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=34766.
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In this thesis, I argue that early child second language (L2) grammars allow truncation, on a par with proposals by Rizzi (1993/1994) and Haegeman (1995) for first language (L1) acquisition. This account (the Truncation Hypothesis) holds that Rizzi's (1994) Root Principle, according to which root declaratives are CPs, is initially underspecified in L2 systems (for processing reasons). This means that the root of main declaratives will not systematically be CP. Instead, different types of roots should be projected, such as CP, IP or VP, with VP underlying root infinitives. If one further assumes that functional categories are present in early grammars, the possibility of truncation can thus account for optionality of verb-movement and finiteness in early SLA, and more generally for why such categories seem to be optionally projected initially (Vainikka & Young-Scholten, 1994; 1996; Eubank, 1992; 1993/1994; 1996).Predictions based on the Truncation Hypothesis were tested against longitudinal spontaneous production data from child and adult L2 learners. There were two child and two adult learners of L2 French (whose L1s were English and Arabic) and two child two adult learners of L2 German (native speakers of Romance pro-drop languages). The findings suggest that the distribution of finite and nonfinite verbs is structurally determined in L2 child grammar, i.e. tenseless verbs only appear when VP is the root, while finite verbs are found when functional categories are projected. This in turn means that children project truncated structures in early L2 acquisition. I argue that no other theory of the nature of early L2 grammars is able to account for the full range of properties of the child L2 data.
The adult data are less conclusive concerning the possibility of truncation in adult L2 grammars. In particular, the learners seem to use infinitival markers as substitutes for finite inflections, which means that nonfinite verbs are found in contexts which are not predicted by the Truncation Hypothesis. The difference between the child and adult learners is attributed to problems that adults may have in mapping the syntactic and morphological systems (Lardiere, 1996), and not to a discrepancy in syntactic knowledge.
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Lacerda, Adriana Campbell Santos de. "Teenagers'motivation in second language acquisition." reponame:Repositório Institucional da UFSC, 2012. http://repositorio.ufsc.br/xmlui/handle/123456789/95741.
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Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão, Programa de Pós-graduação em Letras/Inglês e Literatura Correspondente, Florianópolis, 2011Made available in DSpace on 2012-10-26T05:30:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 298672.pdf: 494099 bytes, checksum: e9d2e3ac265a053f38d186d6a33488e1 (MD5)
Considerando que a motivação é um fator de grande importância no processo de aquisição de uma segunda língua/língua estrangeira por gerar interesse em iniciar a aprendizagem da mesma e também por mantê-la durante todo o processo (Dornyei, 2005), o objetivo da pesquisa aqui proposta foi investigar a motivação dos alunos adolescentes em relação às suas aulas de Inglês e verificar a opinião dos seus professores em relação à motivação dos mesmos e seus comportamentos em sala de aula. A pesquisa foi realizada com duas coordenadoras, quatro professoras de Inglês e duzentos e trinta e sete alunos, de uma escola pública e de uma escola particular de Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brasil. O estudo procurou oferecer uma visão geral de alguns aspectos teóricos da motivação que são relevantes no processo de aquisição de uma segunda língua para os adolescentes, buscando discutir a relação existente entre o processo de aquisição de uma segunda língua, a adolescência e o impacto desta relação em tal aprendizado, considerando as diferenças individuais e os fatores afetivos, principalmente a motivação. O método utilizado na pesquisa consistiu de entrevistas semi-estruturadas, feitas com as coordenadoras e professoras, e de questionários, aplicados aos alunos. Os resultados sugerem que há uma dissonância entre o pensamento da maioria dos professores de Inglês, que acreditam que seus alunos normalmente se mostram desmotivados durante as suas aulas, e o que foi relatado pelos alunos. A análise dos dados também indica que o meio sócio-econômico e cultural dos alunos pode influenciar a motivação dos mesmos, uma vez que os alunos da escola particular, os de classe média, mostraram ter uma motivação extrínseca em relação ao aprendizado da língua inglesa, enquanto os da escola pública, os menos privilegiados, demonstraram ter uma motivação intrínseca. Tais resultados corroboram a hipótese de Dornyei (2001b) de que a motivação para aprender uma segunda língua é uma situação complexa, já que a aprendizagem de uma língua não é somente uma atividade educacional, mas também envolve questões sociais e culturais.
Considering that motivation is of great importance in the process of acquiring a second/foreign language, whereas it is responsible for providing the primary interest in initiating L2 learning and also for maintaining it throughout the process (Dornyei, 2005), the aim of the research here proposed was to investigate the teenagers# motivation towards their EFL classes and their teachers# opinions about their motivation and overall behavior in class. The research was carried out with two coordinators, four English teachers and two hundred and thirty-seven students from a public and a private school in Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil. The study attempted to provide an overview of some theoretical aspects of motivation that seem to be particularly relevant in the adolescent learners# process of learning a foreign language, discussing the relation between SLA, the adolescence and its impact in the SLA process, considering individual differences and affective factors, especially motivation. The method used in the research consisted of semi-structured interviews with the coordinators and teachers, and questionnaires administered to the students. The results suggest that there is a mismatch between the teachers# thoughts about adolescent students# motivation and the way they really feel in their EFL classes. Although English teachers, in general, usually believe that teenagers seem not to be motivated, the data collected showed that most of the participants of this study like their English classes and feel motivated towards them. The study also indicates that the socio-economic and cultural milieu of the students may influence their overall motivation, since the students from the private school, so the middle-class ones, showed extrinsic motivation for learning English, while the ones from the public school, the less privileged ones, showed intrinsic motivation. These findings corroborate Dornyei#s (2001b) assumption that motivation to learn a language is a complex situation, as language learning is not only an educational activity, but also involves social and cultural issues.
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Guillory, Helen E. (Helen Elizabeth). "Computer Applications to Second Language Acquisition." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1991. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc504628/.
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This thesis is intended to give a panorama of technology in foreign language pedagogy. Although my field of study is French, the computer applications under scrutiny do not relate solely to the teaching of French. This paper begins with a criticism of the rigid listen-and-repeat language laboratory concept while tracking the rise of communicative language learning theory; follows the microprocessor revolution in language consoles; documents the development of computer-assisted instruction; showcases software evaluations of computer-assisted language learning; explores telecommunications; discusses satellite dishes and other computer peripherals; presents the results of a survey of Texas universities; and concludes with the presentation of the evolving language media center.
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Hsieh, Fang-Yen. "Relative clause acquisition in second language Chinese and second language English." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2015. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.709395.
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Matsumoto-Sturt, Yoko. "Second language acquisition of Japanese orthography." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/24918.
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The aim of this thesis is to address issues on second language (L2) acquisition of Japanese orthography. In particular, I investigate L2 acquisition of reading and writing in Japanese with special attention paid to how linguistic and perceptual difficulties influence lexical processes involved in reading and writing by English-speaking learners of Japanese. I first establish that L2 spelling problems are found in writing by keyboard. Evidence is presented from error patterns of L2 language used in a small self-constructed L2 error corpus that was gathered according to originally set external criteria. Next, I demonstrate that there are predictable error causes as well as general linguistic and perceptual problems among L2 writers. Real-time observational data illustrates how and when L2 writers make spelling mistakes with the keyboard, and an analysis of verbal protocol data reveals L2 writing strategies. Third, I turn to the domain of L2 perception and L1-specific listening strategies. I show the different patterns of learners’ perceived rhythmic units in terms of L2 Moraic Awareness of Japanese words, and determine the extent of the use of L1-specific listening strategies. Fourth, I provide a general picture of Interlanguage (IL) lexical representations in reading and spelling. Evidence from novel and existing experimental work is presented which shows that L2 writer’s linguistic problems are reflected in their written products. I present an account of a typical learner strategy of sub-lexical reading and writing. Finally, in the domain of visual kanji recognition, visual attention is addressed. An originally defined phenomenon of ‘kanji illusion’ leads to the interesting result that linguistic factors are not solely responsible for failures to notice kanji errors. This represents a new kind of explanation for L2 kanji reading difficulties, from a psycholinguistic perspective.
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Schuwerk, Timothy Andrew. "MORPHEME ACQUISITION IN SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS." Master's thesis, University of Central Florida, 2004. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETD/id/4451.
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This study explored morpheme acquisition in learners of English as a Second Language (ESL). Specifically, it looked at the development of eight selected individuals from Korea over the course of an intensive 8-week instruction program and tracked their acquisition of three specific English morphemes: indefinite articles used with singular count nouns, progressive -ing forms, and third person -s markers. The individuals were given an assessment test to place them at the correct level within the program prior to their selection for the study. The participants provided four sets of data in the form of writing samples at fixed intervals during the eight weeks. The results were evaluated and documented in the pages that follow. Improvement was shown in raw performance data on the morphemes, and a significant correlation was found for both the indefinite article and progressive -ing morphemes in number of correct responses.M.A.
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
Arts and Sciences
Foreign Languages and Literatures
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Medina, Erica. "Individual Differences in Second Language Acquisition." Thesis, The American University of Paris (France), 2019. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=13871585.
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Second language acquisition can be defined as the process in which language learning occurs through the formal study of rules, patterns, and conventions which enable one to talk about and consciously or unconsciously apply the knowledge gained. Individual differences, along with linguistic input, play a key part in the process of second language acquisition. Studies such as the VILLA Project focus on the exposure conditions and the content of the input leading to initial contact in the process of second language acquisition. Participants’ individual differences in the categories of motivation and individual learning style for Francophone students served as the control variables, and the form-based versus meaning-based input as the experimental variable. In comparison to their German and Dutch counterparts, neither the Francophone meaning nor form based groups presented any significant results based on these specific individual differences in their acquisition of Polish in the word formation tasks. Further study should be conducted on other individual differences and their role in the acquisition process.
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Ionin, Tania. "Article semantics in second language acquisition." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/7963.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, 2003.Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-318).
This thesis examines article choice and parameter-setting in second language (L2) acquisition. It argues, on the basis of L2-English elicitation and production data, that L2- learners have access to UG-based semantic distinctions governing article choice, but do not know which distinction is appropriate for English. A Fluctuation Hypothesis (FH) is proposed, according to which L2-learners fluctuate between different parameter settings until the input leads them to set the parameter to the target value. The thesis proposes that articles cross-linguistically may encode definiteness or specificity. The definition of specificity that is adopted is based on Fodor and Sag's (1982) view of specificity as speaker intent to refer. The behavior of referential this, a specificity marker in colloquial English, is examined, and it is proposed that the definition of specificity incorporates the concept of noteworthy property. An Article Choice Parameter is next proposed, which governs whether articles in a given language are distinguished on the basis of definiteness or on the basis of specificity. While English has the Definiteness setting of this parameter, it is suggested, on the basis of data from Mosel and Hovdhaugen (1992), that Samoan has the Specificity setting. It is hypothesized, in accordance with the FH, that L2-learners fluctuate between the two settings of the Article Choice Parameter. This hypothesis leads to the prediction that L2- English errors of article use should come in two types: overuse of the with specific indefinites and overuse of a with non-specific definites. These predictions are examined in a series of studies with adult speakers of Russian and Korean, two languages with no
(cont.) articles. The empirical data confirm the predictions, and show that L2-English article choice is not random but reflects access to the two settings of the Article Choice Parameter. The same patterns of results are found for L-Russian and L-Korean speakers, and it is shown that the results are not attributable to LI-transfer. On the basis of these findings, it is concluded that L2-learners have direct UG-access to semantic distinctions underlying article choice. The data also provide evidence for the existence of a specificity distinction which cross-cuts the definiteness distinction.
bu Tania Ruth Ionin.
Ph.D.
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Jordan, Geoffrey. "Theory construction in second language acquisition." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2004. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10020474/.
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Whereas ten years ago most SLA researchers assumed a rationalist, "scientific" approach to theory construction, recently, growing numbers have adopted relativist positions that strongly criticise the methods, and authority of the rationalist/empiricist paradigm. Apart from the problem of research methodology, other problems make progress in the construction of a theory of SLA difficult: the proliferation of theories, contradictions among them, and, most important of all, confusion about the domain and objectives of a theory of SLA. This thesis addresses the problems outlined above by returning to first principles and asking what it is that we can know about the world, whether there is any such thing as reliable knowledge, what is special about scientific methodology, and what the best way of tackling the complex task of explaining SLA might be. While previous surveys of SLA research exist, no previous attempt has been made to examine SLA research in terms of its epistemological underpinnings and its relation to scientific method, or to evaluate different research programmes and putative theories in terms of how they form part of, and contribute towards, a rational, scientific explanation of the phenomena of SLA. Having outlined basic terms and the problems to be dealt with, I give a brief history of scientific method and explain the objections to a rationalist methodology raised by various relativists. I then attempt to defend rationality against relativists' attacks and suggest criteria that can guide a rationalist research programme in SLA. The questions of the domain of SLA theories, what counts as an explanation, and different theory types are examined. Having suggested guidelines for a rationalist approach to SLA theory construction, I examine different approaches to SLA in the history of SLA, assessing them in terms of the guidelines. Finally I suggest what the domain of a theory of SLA should be and discuss to what extent theories to date offer a satisfactory explanation of the phenomena within that domain.
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Ghafarsamar, Reza. "Aspects of second language speech, a variationist perspective on second language acquisition." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp02/NQ57041.pdf.
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Woodall, Billy Ray. "Language-switching in second language writing /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/7545.
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Richard, Erin. "Individual differences and second language acquisition among low-income preschoolers." Fairfax, VA : George Mason University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1920/2957.
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Thesis (M.A.)--George Mason University, 2007.Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jan. 21, 2008). Thesis director: Adam Winsler. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology. Vita: p. 65. Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-64). Also available in print.
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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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Kayama, Yuhko. "Second language acquisition of Japanese relative clauses." Thesis, McGill University, 2005. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=100636.
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This thesis investigates the second language acquisition of Japanese relative clauses (RCs) by native speakers of English or Korean. Researchers have argued that Universal Grammar (UG) can be accessed in adult second language (L2) acquisition. The Full Transfer Full Access (FTFA) Hypothesis (Schwartz and Sprouse 1994, 1996) claims that after initial transfer from L1, learners reset their parameter values and are able to acquire L2 properties that are different from their L1. Japanese and English relativization: while Japanese relativization does not involve movement in the syntax (Kuno 1973, Saito 1985, etc.), English relativization involves obligatory operator movement and is subject to movement constraints like Subjacency. Because of Subjacency, certain RC structures are prohibited in English. In Japanese, on the other hand, a zero pronominal, pro, is base-generated in the gap position of an RC and coindexed with the relative head noun, and thus long distance relativization is possible. I argue that the presence or absence of pro is also a parametric difference between Japanese and English; pro is present in Japanese, but not in English. In order for English speakers to acquire Japanese RCs, they need to reset the values of these two parameters.Experimental studies were conducted with high-intermediate and advanced learners of Japanese (15 English speakers and 18 Korean speakers). Tests examined the learners' knowledge of the two grammatical properties in Japanese---namely, the lack of wh-movement and the presence of pro. Korean is different from English but similar to Japanese with respect to the parameters in question. Following FTFA, it is hypothesized that English-speaking learners initially transfer their L1 values, and that eventually they are able to switch parameters to the L2 values by accessing UG. The results of several tasks (including interpretation tasks and judgment tasks) confirm this hypothesis; while Korean speakers generally performed well irrespective of proficiency levels, English-speaking intermediate learners transferred their L1 values, failing to accept grammatical Japanese sentences that are not possible in English. English-speaking advanced learners, on the other hand, performed better than intermediate learners, and exhibited evidence that they had acquired the two properties of Japanese, supporting FTFA.
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Alf, Kerstin, and erik starck. "Vocabulary acquisition and the second language learner." Thesis, Linnaeus University, School of Language and Literature, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-8475.
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Abstract
It is unclear how L2 students acquire vocabulary – how is it taught – or wheather it can even be taught. In an SSL (Swedish as second language) program for young adults the ambition has been to integrate the L2 students’ into the national high school (gymnasium) courses as quickly as possible, in order to meet the students’ demands for subject education and to challenge them on an appropriate knowledge level. Teachers noticed quite early that the course – integrated L2 students seemed to have a deeper understanding of words and an easier flow in their speech. The study was conducted to map and learn more about the differences in vocabulary with L2 students who were integrated in the national L1 programs in several subjects and L2 students who have chosen to focus, in an isolated group, on SSL only. How does the students’ vocabulary evolve in relation to time? The study is based on the vocabulary knowledge scale as the methodological tool and Stephen Krashen’s monitor model as the theoretical practice, and in particular the input hypothesis and the hypothesis of acquisition and learning in combination with Pauline Gibbons’s methodologies in scaffolding. In the study the test results of eight SSL students are compared; four of the students have chosen to integrate with the L1 classes and four of them have chosen not to integrate with the L1 students. We will show that students that participate in national “high school” courses on the same premises as the L1 students will, through exposure to vocabulary in text books, lectures and post scaffolding, learn their vocabulary at a faster and higher rate than students who focus on the structural functions and, often non-contextual, vocabulary training alone.
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Umeda, Mari. "Second language acquisition of Japanese wh-constructions." Thesis, McGill University, 2008. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=112128.
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Note:This dissertation investigates the second language (L2) acquisition of Japanese wh-constructions by Chinese- and English-speaking learners. The focus of this study is twofold; first, it examines whether parameter resetting is possible in L2 acquisition, as both Chinese and English wh-constructions are parametrically different from Japanese wh-constructions. Second, it examines whether parameter resetting is affected by the learners' first language (Ll). Not only do Chinese and English wh-constructions differ from Japanese wh-constructions, but they also differ from each other. Chinese is, like Japanese, a wh-in-situ language, while English is a wh-movement language. Chinese wh-constructions, therefore, can be said to be more similar to Japanese wh-constructions than English wh-constructions. It is investigated whether the similarity between Chinese and Japanese and dissimilarity between English and Japanese affect the course and/or the ultimate attainment in the acquisition ofwh-constructions in Japanese.[...]
Cette dissertation enquete sur l’acquisition des constructions wh du japonais appris comme langue seconde (L2) par les anglophones et les sinophones. Le point de mire de cette etude est double. Dans un premier temps, elle cherche a savoir si le changement parametrique est possible en acquisition L2, puisque les constructions wh de l’anglais et du chinois sont parametriquement opposees a celles du japonais. Deuxiemement, elle cherche a savoir si le changement parametrique est affecte par 1a langue matemelle de l’apprenant. Non seulement les constructions wh de l’anglais et du chinois sont differentes de celles du japonais, elles different egalement l’une de l’autre. Le chinois, comme le japonais, est une langue wh-in-situ, alors que l’anglais est une langue a movement wh. Les constructions wh du chinois peuvent done etre decrites comme etant plus semblables a celles du japonais qu’a celles de l’anglais. Ce travail cherche a sa voir si la similarite entre le chino is et le japonais et la dissimilarite entre l’anglais et le japonais ont un effet sur le processus et/ou le resultat final de 1’acquisition de ces constructions en japonais.[...]
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Rodrigeuz-Sanchez, I. "Matrix models of second language vocabulary acquisition." Thesis, Swansea University, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.638702.
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Most of the current research in L2 vocabulary acquisition has been too focused on what it is to learn a word, and has neglected how whole vocabularies grow or decline. In general, it is assumed that vocabulary gains and losses are incremental and follow a linear progression. This thesis postulates a model which considers several discrete stages of knowledge and accounts for the unstable nature of vocabulary knowledge, where words can change from one state to any other. Matrix algebra is a tool capable to operate with such a model and produce long-term forecasts of vocabulary size. Our experimental work describes the retention and the overall growth of the vocabulary of advanced learners of Spanish. These experiments show that forecasts of vocabulary size generated by the matrix model are far more accurate than those generated by a linear model. With data from two self-rating tasks containing a large number of words completed within a given lapse we build matrices which generate forecasts of vocabulary knowledge. These forecasts highly correlate to the actual knowledge measured three and four months later. This methodology is tested with subjects of various groups, using words from different frequency bands, and different measurement scales. In addition, we indicate ways of identifying matrices likely to generate inaccurate predictions. This methodology is considered one step forward towards the establishment of a model for L2 vocabulary acquisition.
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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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Lennon, P. "Second language acquisition of advanced German learners." Thesis, University of Reading, 1987. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.378307.
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Vidaković, Ivana. "Second language acquisition of dynamic spatial relations." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.613290.
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Ronald, James Martin. "Second language vocabulary acquisition through dictionary use." Thesis, Swansea University, 2006. https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa43127.
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Santos, Paula Alexandra Fatur. "The (un) consciousness of second language acquisition." reponame:Repositório Institucional da UFSC, 1994. http://repositorio.ufsc.br/xmlui/handle/123456789/76100.
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Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e ExpressãoMade available in DSpace on 2012-10-16T07:19:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0Bitstream added on 2016-01-08T18:46:44Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 96898.pdf: 6669312 bytes, checksum: 11334ef5585f2cca38e43f48ac6e3965 (MD5)
Este estudo teórico analisa o processo de aquisição de segunda língua, em geral, e os aspectos conscientes e inconscientes deste processo, em particular, nas mais importantes teorias psicolingüísticas de aquisição de segunda língua. Além disso, este mesmo processo é analisado em uma teoria psicológico-cognitiva, a teoria da Assimilação de Ausubel, e em uma teoria neurolingüística, a de Paradis. A busca das teorias multidisciplinares deve-se ao fato de que o processo de aquisição de segunda ordem é per se altamente complexo, envolvendo múltiplos aspectos e, consequentemente, múltiplas disciplinas. A análise do processo nas teorias culmina numa classificação das mesmas. A percepção das áreas subjacentes às teorias foi o critério encontrado para classificá-las. Assim, elas foram classificadas em teoria que emanam da Psicologia, tendência esta que privilegia o aprendizado consciente, baseada na Psicologia Cognitiva, e que emanam da Lingüística, tendência que privilegia a aquisição inconsciente e que tem suas raízes em Chomsky.
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Urponen, Marja Inkeri. "Ultimate attainment in postpuberty second language acquisition." Thesis, Boston University, 2004. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/32846.
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Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston UniversityPLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you.
The study examined ultimate attainment m postpuberty second language acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis as an explanation for non-nativeness. A grammaticality judgment task acted as an assessment instrument; a subject was considered to be native-like if the individual's subtest score was greater than or equal to the mean ratings of 90% of the control group members. The native-like subtests were totaled into a nativeness score. The study consisted of 6 research questions and followup interviews with the highest scoring and lowest scoring subjects. As a methodological innovation, the selection of Finnish-born spouses of native English speakers (N=104) as subjects controlled background variables (amount and quality ofL2 exposure, amount ofL2 and Ll use, education and language learning); 80% had studied EFL. 55 subjects had age on arrival of 2:16 years and had lived in USA/Canada for 20-60 years. 88% of the control group (N=40) obtained the nativeness score 6 or 5. The grammaticality judgments of 38% of Finnish-born subjects were indistinguishable from the judgments of the control group and contradicted the Critical Period Hypothesis as an only explanation for native-like ultimate attainment. The findings also indicate that Age on Arrival and Age English as a Foreign Language Began are separate age of exposure measures. The best logistic regression model with 11 binary variables predicted nativelikeness with 76.9% accuracy; the significant predictors were Age English as a Foreign Language Began, US Education, and Length of Exposure, but not Age on Arrival. However, the youngest age on arrival group (12-15 years) outperformed all other subject groupings. Their performance did not decline with aging; the nativeness scores of other subjects declined as Age at Testing increased after the peak performance age. ANOV As for Age English as a Foreign Language Began, Length of Exposure, Total Years of Education, and Age at Testing were significant for the 104 and 55 subject groupings. The n-shaped relationship between the nativeness score and Length of Exposure explains their low correlation. Age at Testing impacted on ultimate attainment by confounding with education and other background variables (prior foreign language study, second language proficiency on arrival, multilingualism, etc.).
2031-01-01
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Linford, Bret Gene. "The acquisition of subject pronouns in second language Spanish." Diss., [Missoula, Mont.] : The University of Montana, 2009. http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-05292009-154201.
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Thesis (MA)--University of Montana, 2009."Major Subject: Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures" Contents viewed on November 11, 2009. Title from author supplied metadata. Includes bibliographical references.
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Charters, Areta Helen. "The second language acquisition of Mandarin nominal syntax." Thesis, University of Auckland, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/2405.
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This thesis establishes a natural acquisition order for 18 nominal structures in Mandarin SLA, and assesses the extent to which that order can be explained as a consequence of cognitive processing demands. The natural acquisition order is based on a longitudinal study of three adults learning Mandarin in a classroom environment in Auckland, New Zealand. Two representatives of an average emergence order are derived from the three individual orders: a ranking of mean emergence times (RMT) and a ranking of mean emergence ranks (RMR). Processing demands are calculated in three different ways: once on the basis of six developmental stages identified in Pienemann’s Processability Theory (Pienemann, 1998c), once on the basis of a detailed analysis of each nominal structure according to the generative grammar of LFG (Bresnan, 1982, 2001); and finally on the basis of the Minimalist Programme (Chomsky 1995; 1999; 2000). All rest upon a prior analysis of lexical feature structures and constituent structures evident in the learner’s output over the course of a year. The standard six-stage model of Processability Theory proves unable to differentiate between most nominal structures, because they fall within the single developmental category of so-called ‘phrasal’ structures. However, processing demands calculated on the basis either of LFG or of the MP prove to be highly correlated with both individual and average emergence orders. On the basis of these results, various generalisations are made about the relevance of different kinds of syntactic processes to the determination of emergence order. In particular, c-structural complexity and thematic structure are found to be factors most significantly associated with later emergence times. LFG and MP each provide interesting insights into different aspects of syntactic processing that impact on the acquisition of a second language; LFG throws light on the significance of the grammaticalisation of thematic structure; the MP throws light on the processes of lexical construction, and the interactions between this and constituent structure. Both indicate the significance of delays in feature valuation or unification as c-structural complexity increases.
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Lawrence, Tracee Ann Lang Adler Susan A. "First language literacy and second language reading." Diss., UMK access, 2005.
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Thesis (Ed.D.)--School of Education. University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2005."A dissertation in curriculum and instructional leadership." Advisor: Susan Adler. Typescript. Vita. Title from "catalog record" of the print edition Description based on contents viewed June 23, 2006. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-125 ). Online version of the print edition.
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Tuniyan, Elina. "Second language acquisition of definiteness : a feature-based contrastive approach to second language learnability." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2018. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/421841/.
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The main goal of this thesis is to investigate learnability and development in the second language (L2) acquisition of syntax-semantics mismatches. Specifically, this thesis examines the acquisition of definiteness and its expression through articles in L2 English by native speakers (L1) of article-less Mandarin Chinese and Russian. Difficulties in the acquisition of the English article system have been widely attested in L2 acquisition research. In particular, it has been suggested that L2 learners from article-less languages assign inappropriate meanings to the English articles the and a (Ionin et al., 2004; Ko et al., 2008; Cho, 2016; inter alia). However, what remained unclear is why acquiring a universal concept such as definiteness is problematic for L2 English learners. This thesis offers a novel insight into the nature of the learning task involved in the L2 acquisition of English articles through reconsidering the semantics of definiteness and through formulating the acquisition task situated within the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (henceforth, FRH, Lardiere, 2009) and the cline of difficulty in feature acquisition (Slabakova, 2009). Following Birner and Ward (1994) and Schwarz (2009, 2013), this thesis suggests that the concept of definiteness is comprised of two notions: familiarity and uniqueness. Further support for this claim comes from languages that distinguish between familiarity and uniqueness by employing two definite articles (German, Fering). This thesis suggests that in English both notions are expressed through one form of the definite article the. Cross-linguistic evidence shows that in languages without articles, as in Chinese and Russian, both familiarity and uniqueness are usually expressed through bare nouns, with the relevant interpretation filled in by context. However, familiarity can be optionally expressed through demonstratives. Since definiteness is a binary concept, all languages have means to express indefiniteness, that is, non-familiarity and non-uniqueness. In English, these two notions are expressed through the indefinite article a. In contrast, in Chinese and Russian, bare nouns are usually used to express non-familiarity and non-uniqueness, although unstressed numerals in these languages can also express these notions. Moreover, evidence from the different uses of definite noun phrases suggests that the expression of familiarity and uniqueness is dependent on another semantic concept, i.e. anaphoricity. The different meanings of definiteness are operationalised as the semantic features [familiar, anaphoric] and [unique, anaphoric] in this thesis. Under the FRH, the L2 acquisition task consists of reconfiguring features from the way they are realised in the L1 to the way they are expressed in the L2. Within the FRH, Slabakova (2009) further predicts that reassembling features that are expressed covertly, through context in the L1, but overtly, through a morpheme in the L2, will be more difficult than the overt-to-overt feature reassembly. These predictions are tested in a study with 61 Chinese learners of English (intermediate and advanced) and 48 Russian learners of English (beginner, intermediate and advanced). The results in two tasks, an acceptability judgement task and a written sentence production task that tested the interpretation and use of articles in different semantic contexts provide evidence for both the FRH and Slabakova’s (2009) predictions. In addition, this thesis reveals different factors that affect the mapping and restructuring processes of feature reassembly, such as the transparency of form-feature mapping, the semantics and uses of the closest morpholexical counterpart in the L1, the initial non-target feature mapping, and the acquisition of a new constraint. The findings also reveal that anaphoricity is a factor that plays a role in L2 learners’ interpretation and use of the English article the. Overall, this thesis advances our understanding of learnability problems in the L2 acquisition of syntax-semantics mismatches.
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Leung, Yau-keung. "Lexical networks and foreign language vocabulary acquisition." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1997. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B18810664.
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Choi, Jeong A. "Relevance of Musical Training to Second-Language Acquisition." Bachelor's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2018. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/15207/.
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In today’s globalized world, efficient communication with parties of other cultures is proving to be increasingly significant. As Mandela said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart,” and its benefits in the working world has increased the demand for multilingualism in today’s job market. Naturally, more people try to speak more languages if only to raise their probabilities of getting hired. The process of learning a language that is not his or her first and/or native tongue is referred to as the process of second-language acquisition (SLA). In this paper, I will argue that SLA engages the brain in several stages of cognitive processes that can be enhanced and accelerated by musical training. Previously published works of psychology and neuroimaging studies have revealed the overwhelming amount of overlapping features and the shared and parallel cognitive processes involved in music and language processing and this has led me to hypothesize that musical training can both accelerate and enhance the SLA process in the ways that have already been theorized by Anderson and Schmidt (the Automaticity Theory, 1992; the Noticing Hypothesis, 1990).
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Lai, Fung-kuen Eva, and 黎鳳娟. "Extensive reading as input for second language acquisition." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1991. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31232279.
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Pavesi, M. G. "A study of markedness in second language acquisition." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1986. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.374133.
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Alruwaili, Awatif. "Integrating corpus linguistics in second language vocabulary acquisition." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2018. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51589/.
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Corpus linguistics has been used for over three decades in language teaching but not until now has it become a mainstream approach to language learning in the classroom. Thus, this thesis explores how the use of corpora can be successfully integrated into the English Foreign Language classroom, specifically in the Saudi classroom context. The integration is explored through two studies. Study One addresses the learners’ actual use of corpora in the classroom for learning general verbs patterns. General verbs patterns are selected through a multi-level approach which consists of a corpus-based approach as a first level, a phraseological approach as a second level and a pedagogical approach as a third level. The study relies on data collected from 51 participants who were at the intermediate level studying general English in the foundation year. The study ran for five weeks and included three training sessions, in which the learners were trained in how to use the corpus resource and how to read and analyse concordance lines and two testing sessions. The participants were tracked via software tracker in both training and testing sessions. The data were collected through tracking logs, activity sheets, reflective forms and interviews. The findings of Study One show that the intermediate-level learners were able to use the corpus resource in the same way as they had been trained, which indicates that the training was successful. The learners were also able to identify general verbs patterns through the use of concordance lines. Most participants had a positive attitude towards the use of corpora in the classroom besides identifying a few difficulties related to the use of corpora. Study Two investigates teachers’ attitudes towards the use of corpora in the classroom which included 56 in-service teachers who attended a training course on the uses of corpora in the classroom. The data collected included questionnaires (pre-course and post-course questionnaires) and interviews. The findings show that the questionnaires had a good reliability value and the teachers’ attitudes were moderately positive towards the use of corpora in the classroom. In addition, Study Two finds that there are some factors that seem to influence teachers’ attitudes, such as the training course, the level of computer literacy and the teachers’ perceptions of their role and learners’ roles within the communicative approach. The interviews constitute an in-depth investigation of teachers’ views about the use of corpora in the classroom by listing possible factors that facilitate or hinder the implementation of corpora in everyday teaching practice. Through the discussion of these findings from Study One and Study Two, a full integration of corpus linguistics into the Saudi classroom is possible taking into consideration the hindrances. These difficulties can be overcome through the offered proposal for implementing the use of corpora in the classroom.
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Brown, Cynthia A. 1967. "Acquisition of segmental structure : consequences for speech perception and second language acquisition." Thesis, McGill University, 1997. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=34704.
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Through an investigation of the acquisition of feature geometric representations in first and second language acquisition, this dissertation demonstrates how the Feature Geometry theory contained in Universal Grammar actively guides and constrains the acquisition of segmental representations by children. In addition, it demonstrates how the mature feature geometry in a speaker's mental grammar restricts the range of nonnative phonemic contrasts that he or she will be sensitive to in the input and, hence, able to acquire as an L2 learner.Three related areas of research are explored and integrated in this work: first, a theoretical study explores the feature-geometric representation of sonorant and non-sonorant laterals, based on their behavior in a variety of phonological processes cross-linguistically, and suggests that [lateral] is not a phonological feature, but rather that laterality is a phonetic property that derives from a specific feature-geometric representation; second, an experimental study investigates the acquisition of phonemic contrasts by English children and demonstrates that segmental representations are acquired in a uniform order that is consistent with properties of Feature Geometry; finally, a series of experimental studies examines the perception and acquisition of the English /l-r/, /b-v/, /p-f/, /f-v/ and /s-theta/ contrasts by native speakers of Japanese, Mandarin Chinese and Korean.
The findings from each of these studies are synthesized to obtain a comprehensive picture of how segmental representations are acquired and how this L1 knowledge impinges on the acquisition of L2 phonemes: it is argued that the monotonic acquisition of feature-geometric structure by young children restricts their sensitivity to particular non-native contrasts, and the continued operation of this existing feature geometry in adult speech perception constrains which non-native contrasts adult learners will be sensitive to in the L2 input and, therefore, capable of acquiring; the circumstances in which the native grammar facilitates perception of non-native contrasts and in which acquisition is possible are also discussed.
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Johnson, Brianne J. McManness Linda M. "Foreign language learning : an exploratory study on the external and internal influences affecting success /." Waco, Tex. : Baylor University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2104/3959.
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Falsanisi, Giulia. "Linguistic relativity and second language acquisition: can languages affect how we think?" Bachelor's thesis, Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna, 2021. http://amslaurea.unibo.it/23998/.
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The purpose of this thesis is to provide a global overview on the studies that have been carried out on the relationship between language, culture and thought. Specifically, the first part will focus on the belief at the core of this subject, Linguistic Relativity, while the second part will analyse the field of second language acquisition, which appears to often intertwine with the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. After a short introduction, a brief overview of previous research is provided. In particular, the claims of Aristotle, von Humboldt and Boas are illustrated more in detail. Then, the focus is shifted towards the figures and claims of Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf. The hypothesis of Linguistic Relativity is further explained, pointing to the two principles which stem from it (the weak and the strong version, i.e., linguistic determinism). The belief that each language deeply affects its speaker’s cognition (resulting in differences in patterns of thought and cognitive structures) is consequently illustrated. A review of some of the objections that have been moved against this hypothesis follow. After that, a general overview on subsequent studies is provided, drawing the attention towards some of the main domains around which research has revolved: colour perception and grammatical gender and number. Lastly, the field of second language acquisition is outlined. The main focus concerns the implications of Linguistic Relativity for this field and a summary of the research that has been carried out on this topic, again offering a deeper insight on some of the most well-researched areas: colour terms and perception, grammatical gender and number and the interpretation of motion events.
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Brown, Cynthia A. "Acquisition of segmental structure, consequences for speech perception and second language acquisition." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1997. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp02/NQ44371.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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Li, Mingyue. "An investigation into the differential effects of subtitles (first language, second language, and bilingual) on second language vocabulary acquisition." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/22013.
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Video recordings can be subtitled in three ways: with first language (L1) subtitles, with second language (L2) subtitles, or with first language plus second language (bilingual or L1+L2) subtitles. The first two types of subtitles are widely discussed in previous research with regard to how they affect language learning. However, the effects of bilingual subtitles have not been widely studied. This study aims to examine the pedagogical effects of bilingual subtitles on vocabulary acquisition in the L2 classroom. A seven-week quasi-experimental study was conducted with four English-major classes in year-3 in a Chinese university: three experimental groups and one control group. Students in the three experimental classes were exposed to three documentary films on very similar topics with the three different types of subtitles in turn. They then took a vocabulary test relating to the lexical items encountered in the films. At the end of the experiment, they were given a questionnaire to explore their opinions towards differential subtitles in relation to their language learning. The results demonstrated a significant advantage of bilingual subtitling in videos for students’ receptive vocabulary knowledge and recall at post-test and this advantage was maintained at delayed post-test. The bilingual subtitles probably are more effective than monolingual subtitles with regard to students’ vocabulary acquisition in short-term and long-term. Also, bilingual subtitles were preferred by a majority of students in respect of video understanding and vocabulary learning. L2 subtitles were favoured by more students for improving their listening comprehension. Pedagogical implications for the use of differential subtitles in the L2 classroom are discussed.
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Wang, Xiaojun. "Chinese syntactic systems and second language acquisition: Approaches to the teaching of Chinese as a second language." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/187340.
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The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the relation between the teaching of Chinese syntax and the acquisition process by adult learners based on multitheoretical and multimethodological approaches. Through a brief review of the features of Chinese syntax and a comparative study of three different syntactic analytic systems, a Chinese linguistic background is provided. A further study of pedagogical Chinese syntax was conducted by investigating the teaching materials and methods introduced in three commonly used Chinese textbooks. Based on the Chinese linguistic and pedagogical background, the surveys were designed to probe the learners' acquisition process of Chinese syntax. The studies involved a total of 73 subjects who are native English speakers learning Chinese at different universities. It has been found that: (1) adult learners' acquisition order and rate are closely related to their cognitive skills; (2) the scope of acquisition in adults is subject to time limitations; (3) analysis & analogy are the main methods used by adult learners in the acquisition of syntax; (4) the learning environment & the knowledge of the target syntax by adult learners are not required to be situationally linked; (5) the process of syntactic transfer is incomplete among adult learners due to the lack of target language input; (6) the general failure rate in L2 acquisition partially associates with the lack of the fully functional innate language faculty; (7) the adult learners' common mistakes in syntactic acquisition process are predictable due to syntactic transfer and the influences from L1; (8) different teaching methods result in different strengths in students; (9) there is a gap between grammatical competence & communicative competence in the adult learners' acquisition process. According to those features, I proposed nine pedagogical principles for the Chinese syntax teaching, and a case study of teaching Chinese structures with three post-verbal complements was conducted in order to have a field-test. The discussion in this dissertation has partially confirmed the claim made by psycho-linguistic researchers that learning a second language is a complex process. There is a hierarchical order in acquiring language competence, and the acquisition of hierarchically ordered skills requires integrated approaches.
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SANTOS, JANE CRISTINA DUARTE DOS. "THE PRONOUNS / FORMS OF ADDRESS IN PORTUGUESE AND BRAZILIAN CULTURE: SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND SECOND CULTURE ACQUISITION." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2008. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=12215@1.
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PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIROEste trabalho investiga a aquisição dos pronomes tu e você e das formas de tratamento no português como segunda língua e a aquisição da cultura brasileira como segunda cultura. Objetivou-se identificar e caracterizar os fatores gerais (afetivos e sociais) envolvidos no processo de aquisição, caracterizar as estratégias de aprendizagem utilizadas, verificar como os fatores gerais influenciam as estratégias de aprendizagem usadas e analisar como esses fatores influenciam na aquisição da segunda cultura. Foram utilizadas importantes obras que usam o Modelo Sócio- Educacional de aquisição de segunda língua, além de outras que abordam os conceitos de aquisição de segunda cultura. Com os dados da pesquisa, verificou-se que: (i) grande parte dos alunos estrangeiros que vêm estudar no Brasil apresenta uma motivação integrativa; (ii) uma das estratégias de aprendizagem utilizada por esses alunos é a interação com os brasileiros; (iii) a atitude positiva diante da interação com os brasileiros e da exposição à cultura brasileira auxilia a aquisição da língua e da cultura. Por outro lado, a atitude foi o ponto principal do estudo, distanciando-se, um pouco, da teoria abordada. Ainda assim, foi possível constatar que o sucesso da aquisição da Língua Portuguesa vem acompanhado da aquisição da cultura brasileira. A pesquisa e o resultado encontrado podem auxiliar professores e pesquisadores na elaboração de novos materiais didáticos e no aperfeiçoamento de metodologias para o ensino do PL2-E.
This work investigates the acquisition of the pronouns tu and você and other forms of address in Portuguese as a second language, and the acquisition of Brazilians culture as a second culture. It was aimed to identify and characterize general factors (affective and social ones) involved in the acquisition process, to characterize the learning strategies used, to verify the way general factors influence the learning strategies used and to analyse the ways those factors influence on the second culture acquisition. Important masterpieces were used - some that use the socio-educational model of acquisition of a second language, among others that approach the concept of second culture acquisition. With the data provided by this research, it was verified that: (i) a significant part of foreign students who came to Brazil to study presents an integrative motivation; (ii) one of the learning strategies used for foreign students is the interaction with Brazilians; (iii) the positive attitude toward the interaction with Brazilians and the exposition to Brazilian culture helps the language and culture acquisition. On the other hand, the attitude was the major point of this research, just getting a little bit far from the theory used. Even this way, it was possible to notice that the success on Portuguese language acquisition comes together with Brazilian culture acquisition. The research and the results found can help teachers and researches on the elaboration of new pedagogical material and on the improvement of new methodologies for teaching PL2-E.
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Muramatsu, Chie. "Portraits of second language learners: agency, identities, and second language learning." Diss., University of Iowa, 2013. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/4885.
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This study is a qualitative examination of second language (L2) learning processes by four advanced learners of Japanese in the community of a summer intensive full-immersion program in the United States. Using L2 socialization theory as a theoretical framework, this study conceives of L2 learning as a process of social participation in a community of practice and examines L2 learning processes by four learners, focusing on the dynamic interplay between the affordances of the social community and the agency of the individual learners. The purpose of this study is twofold: (a) It investigates the ways in which the four learners exercise their agency to pursue their goals of learning Japanese and (b) it documents how the different ways in which the four learners exercise agency form different trajectories of learning and create different experiences of L2 socialization.
This study has adopted an ethnographic case study approach to the investigation of research inquiries. Through the analyses of data obtained from multiple sources, including interviews with the four learners, observations of their engagement in the community of practice of the summer intensive full-immersion program, their audio-recorded conversations with other members of the community, and various artifacts, this study explores the role of L2 learner agency in the process of L2 socialization and describes in depth their experiences of learning Japanese from their emic perspectives.
The case studies of the four learners have highlighted the different ways in which they engaged in the community of practice, understood their tasks of learning Japanese, interpreted the affordances of the social community, negotiated the meaning of their participations, defined and redefined their sense of self, and eventually achieved their L2 learning goals.
The findings suggest that the richness and effectiveness of a social environment are not characterized by the physical and academic affordances of a social community alone; rather they are constructed in a dynamic relation between the affordance structure of a social community and the L2 learners' agency in the pursuit of the joint enterprise of making L2 learning happen.
With regard to the role of L2 learner agency, the study has foregrounded the important role of the aspirations of the four L2 learners for personal transformation and negotiation of the meaning of self of the past, the present, and the future. The findings suggest that L2 learners' diverse and complex social and personal desires for learning an L2 may not be able to be explained using the notion of investment (Norton, 1995, 2000) alone.
Since the SLA debate initiated by Firth and Wagner (1997, 2007), SLA research has begun to reconceptualize L2 learners as socially situated beings with diverse needs, wants, and identities. This study presents four portraits of L2 learners who engaged in the enterprise of learning Japanese, as a means of contributing to this reconceptualization, and explores for these four learners what it meant to learn Japanese in the summer of 2010.
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Ojeda, Fernando Arturo. "The role of word games in second-language acquisition second-language pedagogy, motivation, and ludic tasks /." [Gainesville, Fla.] : University of Florida, 2004. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/UFE0003980.
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Dai, Ruyi. "Second language acquisition and processing of Chinese 'bei' passives." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2019. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/288880.
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This doctoral dissertation reports on an empirical study, which takes a feature-based approach and probes the L2 acquisition and processing of Chinese bei passives by adult English native speakers. In Chinese, an individual passive marker bei is used to mark passive constructions. Whilst historically used as a lexical verb, bei is in the process of being grammaticalised (i.e. semi-lexical) and hence contains a semantic component (Liu, 2012a). Three forms of bei passives and their semantic properties have been investigated: basic long bei passives (i.e. with an external argument), basic short bei passives (i.e. without an external argument), and the retained-object construction of bei. In total, 75 English native speakers with intermediate and advanced Chinese proficiency, and 33 native Mandarin Chinese speakers (serving as a control group) were tested by a series of on-line methods (a self-paced reading task and a reaction-time picture elicited word rearrangement task) and off-line methods (an untimed acceptability judgement task and a fill-in-the-blank task). The current study finds that the reconfiguration of target semantic features of bei is a gradual process and occurs feature-by-feature, depending on consistent and ample input-based evidence. This lends support to the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (Lardiere, 2005, 2008, 2009). It is also found that morphosyntax-semantics mismatches lead to acquisitional difficulties, as predicted by the Bottleneck Hypothesis (Slabakova, 2008, 2009b), which shares a similar view to the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis. In addition, L1 English L2 Chinese learners are found to be subject to the formation strategy of English short passives, in line with Montrul (2001). A disjunction in L2 performance between off-line and on-line tasks has been found in the advanced learners, who show target-like on-line sensitivity to violations of semantic constraints on bei but fail to converge on the target grammar in off-line judgements. These findings are compatible with Ullman's (2001, 2005) declarative-procedural model and suggest that the increase in convergence on real-time comprehension and production in the advanced learners is a result of the more involved procedural system. The general findings of the current study lend support to the view (Sorace, 2009; White, 2011) that representational and processing difficulties must be teased apart in L2 acquisition.
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Andersson, Anders-Börje. "Second language learners' acquisition of grammatical gender in Swedish." [Göteborg] Sweden : Dept. of Linguistics, University of Göteborg, 1992. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/29257400.html.
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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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Whong-Barr, Melinda. "Morphology, derivational syntax and second language acquisition of resultatives." Thesis, Durham University, 2005. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2783/.
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This thesis explores questions of functional morphology in morphosyntactic theory and in second language acquisition. The work develops Emonds' (2000) notion of a Syntacticon as the store of grammatical lexical items in the Lexicon and it explores the interaction between morphology and syntax in syntactic derivation. The focus of the work is the resultative construction (e.g. She painted the table red). As a resultative, the string conforms to a regular syntactic structure and gives rise to an interpretation in which there is an agent that acts upon some object so as to effect some change of state. In this work, resultative formation in English is contrasted with resultative formation in Korean because the latter, but not the former, includes an obligatory functional result morpheme, -key. The proposed analysis of the resultative accounts for both the morphological and syntactic facts in English and Korean. Additionally, traditional notions of subcategorization are developed, using a Feature-based approach in order to explain the lexical restrictions associated with resultatives. The thesis also includes an experimental study of the acquisition of English resultatives by native Korean and Mandarin Chinese speakers. These languages were chosen in order to highlight the mismatch between Korean and English resultative formation in terms of functional morphology. Accepting the Full Transfer/Full Access model of Schwartz and sprouse (1996), the whole of the native language is assumed to transfer to form the initial state of second language acquisition. The results of the experimental study provide support for the claim that functional morphology, like that implicated in Korean resultative formation, transfers from the native language to affect the development of the Interlanguage in second language acquisition.
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Morrison, George. "Cross linguistic influence and transfer in second language acquisition." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.527555.
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The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate critically the literature and research findings of SLA pertaining to the phenomenon variously known as transfer, interference, or cross linguistic inf luence. The first chapter focuses on different models of second language acquisition and accounts of transfer therein. By examining different views of the acquisition process it is hoped to/highlight the interaction between universal and language specif ic features of language learning. Chapter Two deals with the competence performance distinction as it relates to cross linguistic inf luence. While there is relatively little dispute about the presence of LI influenced features in inter language production, there is more debate about whether these features reveal anything about the knowledge which is acquired, or whether such features are an artefact of the production process itself. Chapter Threelooks at attempts to give a principled account of what gets transferred where, under what conditions, and why. One criticism sometimes aimed at transfer research is the concentration of empirical studies into particular language domains such as phonology and grammar while other important areas of language acquisition are relatively under-researched. Chapter Four therefore looks at research into cross linguistic influence as it relates to pragmatics and discourse features of language learning. The stated objective of this thesis is a critical evaluation of SLA literature in an attempt to account for the role of crosslinguistic influence in the overall acquisition of a second language.
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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.
Full textAbstract:
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