Automatic Analysis of Linguistic Complexity and Its Application in Language Learning Research
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The Impact of Pushed Output on Accuracy and Fluency Of
Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research 2(2), (July, 2014) 51-72 51 Content list available at www.urmia.ac.ir/ijltr Urmia University The impact of pushed output on accuracy and fluency of Iranian EFL learners’ speaking Aram Reza Sadeghi Beniss a, Vahid Edalati Bazzaz a, * a Semnan University, Iran A B S T R A C T The current study attempted to establish baseline quantitative data on the impacts of pushed output on two components of speaking (i.e., accuracy and fluency). To achieve this purpose, 30 female EFL learners were selected from a whole population pool of 50 based on the standard test of IELTS interview and were randomly assigned into an experimental group and a control group. The participants in the experimental group received pushed output treatment while the students in the control group received non-pushed output instruction. The data were collected through IELTS interview and then the interview of each participant was separately tape-recorded and later transcribed and coded to measure accuracy and fluency. Then, the independent samples t-test was employed to analyze the collected data. The results revealed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in accuracy. In contrast, findings substantiated that pushed output had no impact on fluency. The positive impact of pushed output demonstrated in this study is consistent with the hypothesized function of Swain’s (1985) pushed output. The results can provide some useful insights into syllabus design and English language teaching. Keywords: pushed output; accuracy; fluency; EFL speaking © Urmia University Press A R T I C L E S U M M A R Y Received: 28 Jan. -
The Impact of Task Complexity on the Development of L2 Grammar
English Teaching, Vol. 75, No. 1, Spring 2020, pp. 93-117 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15858/engtea.75.1.202003.93 http://journal.kate.or.kr The Impact of Task Complexity on the Development of L2 Grammar Ji-Yung Jung* Jung, Ji-Yung. (2020). The impact of task complexity on the development of L2 grammar. English Teaching, 75(1), 93-117. The Cognition Hypothesis postulates that more cognitively complex tasks can trigger more accurate and complex language production, thereby advancing second language (L2) development. However, few studies have directly examined the relationship between task manipulations and L2 development. To address this gap, this article reviews, via an analytic approach, nine empirical studies that investigated the impact of task complexity on L2 development in the domain of morphosyntax. The studies are categorized into two groups based on if they include learner-learner interaction or a focus on form (FonF) treatment provided by an expert interlocutor. The results indicate that the findings of the studies, albeit partially mixed, tend to support the predictions of the Cognition Hypothesis. More importantly, a further analysis reveals seven key methodological issues that need to be considered in future research: target linguistic domains, different types of FonF, the complexity of the target structure, task types, outcome measures, the use of introspective methods, and the need of more empirical studies and replicable study designs. Key words: task complexity, Cognition Hypothesis, resource-directing and resource-dispersing -
Code-Switching and Its Challenges: Perspectives on Translanguaging in the EFL/ESL Classroom
Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Plan B and other Reports Graduate Studies 12-2017 Code-Switching and Its Challenges: Perspectives on Translanguaging in the EFL/ESL Classroom Michael Spooner Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/gradreports Part of the First and Second Language Acquisition Commons Recommended Citation Spooner, Michael, "Code-Switching and Its Challenges: Perspectives on Translanguaging in the EFL/ESL Classroom" (2017). All Graduate Plan B and other Reports. 1126. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/gradreports/1126 This Creative Project is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Plan B and other Reports by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i CODE-SWITCHING AND ITS CHALLENGES: PERSPECTIVES ON TRANSLANGUAGING IN THE EFL CLASSROOM by Michael Spooner A portfolio submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHING Approved: Dr. Karin DeJonge-Kannan Dr. Maria Luisa Spicer-Escalante Major Professor Committee Member Dr. Abdulkafi Albirini Dr. Sylvia Read Committee Member Committee Member Dr. Bradford J. Hall Department Head UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 2017 Copyright 2017 © Michael Spooner All rights reserved DEDICATION This work is dedicated to the memory of Alberto, whose full name I do not know. Alberto was a Puerto Rican man who worked long ago with my father in a machine shop in Milwaukee. Alberto loved Spanish, his first language, and especially the way it was spoken in Puerto Rico. -
A Study of Chinese Second-Year English Majors' Code Switching
ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 364-369, February 2015 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0502.17 A Study of Chinese Second-year English Majors’ Code Switching Phenomenon in Comprehensive English Course from the Perspective of Interlanguage Lili Cui Department of English, Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology, Maoming, Guangdong Province, China Xianchun Xie Department of English, Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology, Maoming, Guangdong Province, China Abstract—The paper analyzes functions and influencing factors of second-year English majors’ code switching in Comprehensive English Course on the basis of the interlanguage theory and other SLA (second language acquisition) models, i.e. Krashen’s Comprehensible Input Hypothesis and Affective Filter Hypothesis, Long’s Interaction Hypothesis and Swain’s Comprehensible Output Hypothesis. Index Terms—interlanguage, SLA, learners’ code switching in EFL classroom, functions, influencing factors I. INTRODUCTION Code is a neutral form, and it refers to the linguistic sign of any type. As Hudson states, code switching is to switch lingual varieties in bilingual or multilingual contexts. And learners’ code switching in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) class is the phenomenon that learners insert phonetic forms, vocabulary, phrases, sentences of MT (Mother Tongue) into English-dominated expressions or the activity that learners consciously or unconsciously inlay speech segments of MT into the grammatical system of English in the conversion between the two languages. There are many features of previous learners’ code switching in EFL class. Firstly, current classroom code switching studies are mostly conducted in primary schools, middle schools and non-English majors’ EFL classes in universities. -
Investigating Tertiary Level EFL Learners' Willingness To
English Language Teaching; Vol. 11, No. 3; 2018 ISSN 1916-4742 E-ISSN 1916-4750 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education Investigating Tertiary Level EFL Learners’ Willingness to Communicate in English Tutku Başöz1 & İsmail Hakkı Erten2 1 Department of English Language Teaching, Balıkesir University, Balıkesir, Turkey 2 Department of English Language Teaching, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey Correspondence: Tutku Başöz, Department of English Language Teaching, Balıkesir University, Balıkesir, Turkey. E-mail: [email protected] Received: October 29, 2017 Accepted: February 15, 2018 Online Published: February 17, 2018 doi: 10.5539/elt.v11n3p78 URL: http://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v11n3p78 Abstract The present study aimed to investigate Turkish EFL learners’ perceived levels of willingness to communicate (WTC) in English inside and outside the classroom. The study also aimed to explore whether there is a statistically significant difference between their in-class WTC in English and out-of-class WTC in English. The study, which employed a quantitative research design, was conducted with the participation of 701 EFL learners enrolled in the departments of Tourism Guidance and Tourism Management at Balıkesir University Faculty of Tourism located in Balıkesir, Turkey. The data collection instrument included a scale which measures the participants’ perceived levels of WTC in English. The data were analyzed descriptively through IBM SPSS 21. The findings of the study indicated that EFL learners have a moderate level of WTC in English. The findings also showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the participants’ perceived levels of their in-class WTC in English and their out-of-class WTC in English. -
Input, Interaction, and Second Language Development
CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Lancaster E-Prints SSLA, 21, 557±587. Printed in the United States of America. INPUT, INTERACTION, AND SECOND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT An Empirical Study of Question Formation in ESL Alison Mackey Georgetown University This study examines the relationship between different types of con- versational interaction and SLA. Long's (1996) updated version of the interactionist hypothesis claims that implicit negative feedback, which can be obtained through negotiated interaction, facilitates SLA. Similar claims for the benefits of negotiation have been made by Pica (1994) and Gass (1997). Some support for the interaction hypothesis has been provided by studies that have explored the effects of interaction on production (Gass & Varonis, 1994), on lexical acquisition (Ellis, Tanaka, & Yamazaki, 1994), on the short-term outcomes of pushed output (see Swain, 1995), and for specific interactional features such as recasts (Long, Inagaki, & Ortega, 1998; Mackey & Philp, 1998). However, other studies have not found effects for interaction on gram- matical development (Loschky, 1994). The central question ad- dressed by the current study was: Can conversational interaction facilitate second language development? The study employed a pre- test-posttest design. Adult ESL learners (N = 34) of varying L1 back- grounds were divided into four experimental groups and one control I am grateful to Susan M. Gass and Charlene Polio for insightful suggestions and help with this paper. I also want to thank Patsy Lightbown, Michael H. Long, Teresa Pica, and Merrill Swain for many helpful comments on the doctoral dissertation from which this paper arose. I am much indebted to Ian Thornton for assistance with the statistical analysis and discussions of many of the issues in- volved in this study. -
Pronunciation Anxiety and Willingness to Communicate in the Foreign Language Classroom
Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Acquisition of Second Language Speech Concordia Working Papers in Applied Linguistics, 5, 2014 © 2014 COPAL Pronunciation Anxiety and Willingness to Communicate in the Foreign Language Classroom Małgorzata Baran‐Łucarz University of Wrocław Abstract Numerous studies have proven language anxiety to have a detrimental effect on foreign language (FL) and second language (L2) performance (e.g., Horwitz et al., 1986; MacIntyre & Gardner, 1989). Furthermore, while anxiety has been found to be one of the most immediate determinants of Willingness to Communicate (WTC) in a FL (e.g. Clement et al., 2003; MacIntyre et al., 2001), other observations (Gregersen & Horwitz, 2002; Phillips, 1992; Price, 1991) show that it is particularly concern over pronunciation mistakes and speaking in front of the whole class that cause embarrassment and anxiety in FL students. Linking these two facts might lead to an explanation why many post‐puberty learners avoid speaking tasks in the FL classroom, which deprives them of practice and improvement in communicative skills—usually their main goal of FL learning. The aim of the present paper is to report results of a study conducted to verify whether Pronunciation Anxiety (PA) is an important determinant of students’ WTC in a FL classroom – the first part of a two‐fold project on the relation between PA and WTC inside and outside of the classroom. I provide a brief theoretical introduction of the two variables in question and a description of the research design, followed by a discussion of results and final conclusions. Pronunciation Anxiety and WTC in the FL Classroom 37 Proficiency in speaking skills constitutes the main aim of most foreign language (FL) learners. -
Ian Davison Supervisor: Dr. Jenefer Philp Phd in Applied Linguistics By
Department of Linguistics and English Language Student: Ian Davison Supervisor: Dr. Jenefer Philp PhD in Applied Linguistics by Thesis and Coursework Thesis submitted for PhD in Applied Linguistics “The Effects of Carrying out Collaborative Writing on the Individual Writing Proficiency of English Second Language Learners in an English for Academic Purposes Program” Abstract This quasi-experimental classroom-based study (n=128) looks at what students in an English for Academic Purposes Program (EAP) learn from the process of writing collaboratively and how this affects the individual writing that they subsequently produce. This is compared to how individual writing is affected by carrying out independent writing. Previous research carried out by Storch (2005), Storch and Wigglesworth (2007), Wigglesworth and Storch (2009), Dobao (2012), McDonough, De Vleeschauwer and Crawford (2018) and Villarreal and Gil-Sarratea (2019) found that writing produced collaboratively (by pairs or groups of writers) was more accurate than writing produced independently. This thesis suggests that individual students can learn from the process of writing collaboratively and that their own subsequent individual writing could become more accurate or improve as a result. Analysis of individual pre and post-test writing completed before and after two groups of students had carried out a series of writing tasks either collaboratively (collaborative writing group, n=64) or independently (independent writing group, n=64) over a period of 8 weeks revealed that accuracy increased to a significantly greater degree in the post-test writing of students from the collaborative group than in the same writing of students from the independent writing group. On the other hand, there were similar statistically significant increases in fluency and lexical complexity in the post-test writing of both groups and in the coherence and cohesion of post-test writing although syntactic complexity did not increase significantly in either group. -
Learner Differences in Metalinguistic Awareness: Exploring the Influence of Cognitive Abilities and Language Experience
Learner Differences in Metalinguistic Awareness: Exploring the Influence of Cognitive Abilities and Language Experience Daniel O. Jackson University of Hawai‘i at M ānoa 1. Introduction Recent emergentist views of language propose that its structure is “fundamentally molded by preexisting cognitive abilities, processing idiosyncrasies, and limitations” (Beckner et al., 2009, p. 17). Thus, the psychological characteristics that distinguish us as human contribute to language change at the collective and individual levels. With regard to the latter, it is particularly important for second language professionals to understand the nature of learners’ individual differences (IDs), so that we may appreciate these abilities, adapt instruction to idiosyncrasies, and circumvent limitations to the greatest extent possible. The outlook for research on IDs extends this perspective. For example, Dörnyei (2009) views IDs in second language (L2) research as multi-componential, integrated, dynamic, interacting, and complex. These themes are touched on throughout the following paper, which examines the role of L2 aptitude, working memory, and language experience in metalinguistic awareness stemming from exposure to an artificial language. * 2. Demystifying awareness for L2 research Following Schmidt (1990 and elsewhere), awareness is a form of consciousness implicated in mental processes that are crucial to L2 learning, including perception, noticing, and understanding. Regarding the distinction between noticing and understanding, he wrote: Noticing is related to rehearsal within working memory and the transfer of information to long- term memory, to intake, and to item learning. Understanding is related to the organization of material in long-term memory, to restructuring, and to system learning. (Schmidt, 1993, p. 213) Second language acquisition relies on both item and system learning. -
Social Networking and Second Language Acquisition: Exploiting
Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2011 Social networking and second language acquisition: Exploiting Skype™ Chat for the purpose of investigating interaction in L2 English learning Mallory Leigh Dalton Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons, and the Rhetoric and Composition Commons Recommended Citation Dalton, Mallory Leigh, "Social networking and second language acquisition: Exploiting Skype™ Chat for the purpose of investigating interaction in L2 English learning" (2011). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 10221. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/10221 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Social networking and second language acquisition: Exploiting Skype Chat for the purpose of investigating interaction in L2 English learning by Mallory Leigh Dalton A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Major: Teaching English as a Second Language/Applied Linguistics Program of Study Committee: Volker Hegelheimer, Major Professor Tammy Slater Michelle Tremmel Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2011 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES iii LIST OF TABLES iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v ABSTRACT vi CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Research Questions 3 Organization of the Study 4 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 5 SLA Using an Interactionist Framework 6 Strengths of Using Synchronous CMC 11 Interlocutor Native Language 20 CHAPTER 3. -
The Interaction Hypothesis: a Literature Review
The interaction hypothesis: A literature review Tran-Hoang-Thu Alliant International University [email protected] November 17th 2009 Abstract This paper will examine the interaction hypothesis (IH) in second language acquisition (SLA). To begin with a short discussion of the confusing terms in SLA such as theory, model, hypothesis, and construct will be done so as to help readers easily understand theories in the field of SLA and related concepts. Next, what the IH is, and who proposed it will be discussed in detail. How the IH has evolved and has been modified since its inception will then be pointed out. The origins of the IH will also be discussed. In addition, the role of the IH in the field of SLA will be presented together with its positive contributions as well as its caveats. Research studies that support the hypothesis and those that do not support it will both be listed. Moreover, all the constructs in the IH will be delineated. The implications that the hypothesis has for SLA pedagogical research will also be mentioned. Overall, the hypothesis can probably be considered as one of the most persuasive in current SLA literature. 1 To understand the literature in the field of SLA, a good understanding of certain commonly used terms in the field is needed and such terms as theory, model, hypothesis, and construct may appear confusing to some people. Therefore, a brief overview of these terms will be addressed. To begin with a theory, as VanPatten and Williams (2007) pointed out, at its most fundamental level, is a set of statements about natural phenomena which explains why these phenomena happen the way they do. -
The Readability of Reading Passages in Prescribed English Textbooks and Thai National English Tests
THE READABILITY OF READING PASSAGES IN PRESCRIBED ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS AND THAI NATIONAL ENGLISH TESTS BY MISS THANAPORN SRISUNAKRUA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING LANGUAGE INSTITUTE THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC YEAR 2018 COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY Ref. code: 25615621320109NCD THE READABILITY OF READING PASSAGES IN PRESCRIBED ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS AND THAI NATIONAL ENGLISH TESTS BY MISS THANAPORN SRISUNAKRUA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING LANGUAGE INSTITUTE THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC YEAR 2018 COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY Ref. code: 25615621320109NCD (1) Thesis Title THE READABILITY OF READING PASSAGES IN PRESCRIBED ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS AND THAI NATIONAL ENGLISH TESTS Author Ms. Thanaporn Srisunakrua Degree Doctor of Philosophy Major Field/Faculty/University English Language Teaching Language institute Thammasat University Thesis Advisor Associate Professor Tipamas Chumworatayee, Ph. D. Academic Year 2018 ABSTRACT Readability has long been regarded as a significant aspect in English language teaching as it provides the overall picture of a text’s difficulty level, especially in the context of teaching and testing. Readability is a practical consideration when making decisions on materials to match a text with target readers’ proficiency. A suitable difficulty level will ensure that students receive the most benefit from the materials. However, few studies have compared the readability levels of teaching and testing materials in terms of the difficulty of passages. The present study, therefore, aims to explore the readability of reading passages in English textbooks and Thai national English tests based on three aspects: readability level, linguistic characteristics, and topic areas.