The Critical Period Hypothesis for L2 Acquisition: an Unfalsifiable Embarrassment?
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
And Others TITLE the Role of Mother Tongue Literacy in Third Language Learning
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 307 796 FL 017 964 AUTHOR Swain, Merrill; And Others TITLE The Role of Mother Tongue Literacy in Third Language Learning. INSTITUTION Ontario Inst. for Studies in Education, Toronto. PUB DATE Mar 89 NOTE 33p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (San Francisco, CA, March 27-31, 1989). PUB TYPE Reports - Research/Technical (143) -- Information Analyses (070) -- Speeches/Conference Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Bilingual Education Programs; Case Studies; Comparative Analysis; Fnglish (Second Language); Foreign Countries; *French; Grade 8; Immersion Programs; Junior High Schools; *Language Proficiency; Language Research; Language Role; Language Skills; *Literacy; *Second Language Learning; Socioeconomic Background; Transfer of Training IDENTIFIERS Ontario ABSTRACT Several research and evaluation stuCties completed in bilingual education programs for language minority children In Canada are presented to support the claim that heritage, or first, language (HL) literacy plays an important role in the acquisition of a third language. A study completed by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education investigated the learning of a third language (French) by eighth grade: HL students (N=210) who had been enrolled in an English/French bilingual program since grade five. The level of proficiency attained in French by the HL students was compared to the level of proficiency attained by students enrolled in an early total French immersion program. The researcn questions addressed included: (1) the effect of El, literacy knowledge on third language literacy; (2) the difference in acquisition of French language skills basedon whether the HL is a Romance language; and (3) the effects of socioeconomic variables on French language proficiency. -
Turkish College Students' Willingness to Communicate In
TURKISH COLLEGE STUDENTS’ WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE IN ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Yesim Bektas Cetinkaya, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2005 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Keiko K. Samimy, Adviser _______________________ Professor Joseph A. Gliem Adviser Professor Alan R. Hirvela College of Education Copyright by Yesim Bektas Cetinkaya 2005 All right reserved ABSTRACT English, which is defined as an international language, is used by more than one and a half billion people (Strevens, 1992) as a first, second, or foreign language for communication purposes. Consequently, the purpose of teaching English has shifted from the mastery of structure to the ability to use the language for communicative purposes. Thus, the issues of whether learners would communicate in English when they had the chance and what would affect their willingness to communicate gain importance. Recently, a “Willingness to Communicate” (WTC) model was developed by McIntyre et al. (1998) to explain and predict second language communication. The objective of the present study was to examine whether college students who were learning English as a foreign language in the Turkish context were willing to communicate when they had an opportunity and whether the WTC model explained the relations among social-psychological, linguistic and communication variables in this context. The present study was a hybrid design that combined both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis procedures. First, a questionnaire was administered to 356 randomly selected college students in Turkey. -
Models of Communicative Competence: Implications for Language Teachers and Teacher Educators
Knowledge Improvement Models of Communicative Competence: Implications for Language Teachers and Teacher Educators Ahmad Reza Eghtesadi Assistant Professor of ELT Farhangian University Shahid Beheshti Campus of Mashhad Email: [email protected] چکیده با اجرای سند تحول بنیادین آموزش وپرورش، بر اساس سند برنامه درسی ملی، هدف آموزش زبانهای خارجی در ایران عبارت اســت از: آموزش و رشــد مهارتهای چهارگانة زبانی از طریق رویکرد ارتباطی آموزش زبان. ميدانیم كه آموزش زبان از طریق رویکرد ارتباطی که در پی پرورش توانش ارتباطی میباشــد خود به معلماني با مهارتها و تواناییهای خاص نیاز دارد. لذا این مقاله به بررسی مدلهای مختلف این توانش میپردازد و برخی از انتظاراتی را که از معلم زبان می رود متذکر میشود. همچنین این مقاله به بیان مشــکﻻت معلمانی ميپردازد که به روشهای تدریس سنتیخو گرفتهاند و ممکن است در تدریس با رویکرد ارتباطی مواجه شوند. باﻻخره آموزههای تغییر در رویکرد آموزش زبان به رویکرد ارتباطی برای دستاندرکاران دورههای پیش از خدمت و ضمنخدمت آموزش معلمان نیز در این مقاله مورد بحث قرار میگیرند. کلیدواژهها: توانش ارتباطی، رویکرد ارتباطی آموزش زبان، مدرسان زبان، تربیت معلم Abstract With the implementation of the Fundamental Reform in Education in Iran, and development of the National Curriculum, foreign language education in Iran aims to develop four language skills through Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). However, CLT, which aims to develop communicative competence, make certain demands on teachers in terms of teaching skills and competences. This papers reviews the major models of communicative competence in the literature of CLT, and in the light of these models, clarifies some of the expectations from CLT teachers. -
Using the Focus on Form Method to Create a Grammar Resource Book for ELL Teachers
Hamline University DigitalCommons@Hamline School of Education Student Capstone Projects School of Education Fall 2017 Using The oF cus On Form Method To Create A Grammar Resource Book For ELL Teachers Julia Milne Hamline University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_cp Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Milne, Julia, "Using The ocF us On Form Method To Create A Grammar Resource Book For ELL Teachers" (2017). School of Education Student Capstone Projects. 61. https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_cp/61 This Capstone Project is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Education at DigitalCommons@Hamline. It has been accepted for inclusion in School of Education Student Capstone Projects by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Hamline. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. 1 USING THE FOCUS ON FORM METHOD TO CREATE A GRAMMAR RESOURCE BOOK FOR ELL TEACHERS by Julia E. Milne A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English as a Second Language Hamline University Saint Paul, Minnesota December 2017 Primary Advisor: Susan Manikowski Content Reviewer: Bette Blaisdell 2 Copyright by JULIA E. MILNE, 2017 All Rights Reserved 3 To my family and colleagues for your guidance and support throughout this capstone project. It would not have been possible without your patience, encouragement and advice. Thanks also to the Capstone Committee and everyone else at Hamline who has offered their assistance during this process. Finally, I huge thanks to my husband, who kept the kids fed and the house clean these last six months! 4 “Your grammar is a reflection of your image. -
Discourses of Multilingualism, Identity and Belonging: the View of Arabic Bilinguals in the UK
Featured Topic Journal of Social Science Education Volume 17, Number 4, Winter 2018 DOI 10.4119/UNIBI/jsse‐v17‐i3‐1774 Discourses of Multilingualism, Identity and Belonging: The View of Arabic Bilinguals in the UK Fatma Said University of York, UK Purpose: This sociolinguistic paper discusses the relationship between language and belonging from the perspective of Arabic‐English speaking bilinguals. It explores what knowledge of language(s) means for the minority language speaker and investigates the challenges, consequences and opportunities multilingualism poses for its speakers in a globalised era that is fraught with re‐imagining nationalism, country, security, loyalty, and belonging. The project reported in this paper aimed to (1) understand the symbolisms the Arabic language held for its speakers, (2) understand the ramifications knowledge of Arabic had for these bilinguals; and (3) explore how second generation Arabic heritage speakers define their identities and feelings of belonging to the UK. Method: Sixty‐two people took part in the project; data was collected through a short survey followed up by interviews that further explored issues of multilingualism, identity and belonging. Data from interviews and qualitative responses from the survey were analysed thematically in light of Ingrid Piller’s emerging linguistic social justice framework (Piller, 2016). Finding: The findings suggest that English and Arabic are equally important to speakers; additionally Arabic is highly symbolic for reasons of religion, family, and cultural ties. The results however, also point to the apprehensiveness speakers have in using Arabic in public because they fear that they may be deemed too different, weird, abnormal, dangerous, disloyal or untrustworthy (Tonkin, 2003). -
First Language Attrition in the Native Environment
Vol. 6 (2014) 53-60 University of Reading ISSN 2040-3461 LANGUAGE STUDIES WORKING PAPERS Editors: C. Ciarlo and D.S. Giannoni First Language Attrition in the Native Environment Boikanyego Sebina First language (L1) attrition is the disintegration of a first language as a result of second language domination. Even though L1 attrition literature on adult immigrants is abundant, little is known of people going through attrition in the native environment, particularly children. Similarly, though there is rich literature on other linguistic elements there is not much on phonetics and phonology. This paper argues for L1 attrition in the native environment by children who attend private English-medium schools for whom English is a dominant language, a language they acquired as a second language, like those in Botswana. The language situation in Botswana where English is afforded the high and prestigious status immensely contributes to the situation. In addition to reviewing literature on L1 attrition in phonetics, the paper offers an overview discussion of the language situation in Botswana as well as the Setswana penultimate syllable, a phonetic element from which L1 attrition can be researched. The paper could provide a base for in-depth research on L1 attrition in the length of the Setswana penultimate syllable. 1. Introduction Quite often native speakers of a language who have migrated to a different country experience inability to perform in their native language, especially in the production and perception of the native language. Moving to a foreign country leaves the immigrant without a choice but to learn the foreign language as a means of survival in the new environment. -
A Critical Period for Second Language Acquisition: Evidence from 2/3 Million English Speakers ⁎ Joshua K
Cognition xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Cognition journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cognit Original Articles A critical period for second language acquisition: Evidence from 2/3 million English speakers ⁎ Joshua K. Hartshornea,b, , Joshua B. Tenenbauma, Steven Pinkerc a Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Building 46, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States b Department of Psychology, Boston College, McGuinn Hall 527, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, United States c Department of Psychology, Harvard University, William James Hall 970, 33 Kirkland St., Cambridge, MA 02138, United States ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Children learn language more easily than adults, though when and why this ability declines have been obscure Language acquisition for both empirical reasons (underpowered studies) and conceptual reasons (measuring the ultimate attainment Critical period of learners who started at different ages cannot by itself reveal changes in underlying learning ability). We L2 acquisition address both limitations with a dataset of unprecedented size (669,498 native and non-native English speakers) and a computational model that estimates the trajectory of underlying learning ability by disentangling current age, age at first exposure, and years of experience. This allows us to provide the first direct estimate of how grammar-learning ability changes with age, finding that it is preserved almost to the crux of adulthood (17.4 years old) and then declines steadily. This finding held not only for “difficult” syntactic phenomena but also for “easy” syntactic phenomena that are normally mastered early in acquisition. The results support the existence of a sharply-defined critical period for language acquisition, but the age of offset is much later than previously speculated. -
The Language Learning Processes of Students with Specific Learning
The multilingual aspects of dyslexia and the learning of additional languages in classroom contexts Prof. Judit Kormos Lancaster University Department of Linguistics and English Language Overview of the talk The landscape: Divide, iceberg and pyramid The relationship between first and second language learning difficulties How can we identify SpLDs in the multilingual classroom? Recent research findings on promoting the second language learning success of dyslexic students Multilingualism and diversity 2011 Census: • 726,000 people in the UK could speak English but not well • 138,000 people could not speak English at all 2017: • 20 % in primary education and 16% in secondary children are EAL speakers (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system /uploads/attachment_data/file/650547/SFR28_2017_Main_Text.pdf) • 360 different languages spoken in UK classrooms (https://www.naldic.org.uk/research-and- information/eal-statistics/eal-pupils/) Division and diversity Proportion of children learning other languages in the UK Early literacy skills Number of children’s books at home GDP per capita Number of books at home Socio-economic Reading skills status R Parents’ attitude to reading e a d i n g School-mates’ early s literacy skills k i l l s Home-school School resources involvement School climate Reading attitude Reading self-concept Gender Chiu, McBride-Chang Lin (2012). Geva, E., & Wiener, J. (2014). Psychological assessment of culturally and linguistically diverse children and adolescents: A practitioner's guide. Springer Publishing Company. First language predictors of L2 reading performance of Slovenian learners of English (Kormos et al., in press) Predictors of L2 reading 6.8 15.8 1.3 76.2 Phonological awareness in L1 Timed word and non-word reading L1 Dictation in L1 Other Kormos, J. -
Lexical Attrition of General and Special English Words After Years of Non-Exposure: the Case of Iranian Teachers
www.ccsenet.org/elt English Language Teaching Vol. 3, No. 3; September 2010 Lexical Attrition of General and Special English Words after Years of Non-Exposure: The Case of Iranian Teachers Reza Abbasian Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University, Izeh Branch Islamic Azad University, Izeh, Khoozestan, Iran E-mail: Abbasian_reza @yahoo.com Yaser Khajavi (corresponding Author) Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University, Izeh Branch Islamic Azad University, Izeh, Khoozestan, Iran E-mail: [email protected] Abstract This study sought to investigate the rate of attrition in general and special vocabulary in and out of context. Participants of the study were 210 male Persian literature teachers with different years of non-exposure to English (2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 &10) after graduating from university. They were selected through purposive sampling from among 1000 Persian literature teachers from three provinces, namely Esfahan, Fars and Yasuj. Their age ranged between 25 and 35. The instrument included one translation task. The task consisted of 20 items of general words and 20 items of special words which were tested in and out of context. Results indicated that the rate of attrition increased gradually as the years of non-exposure to English increased. Also, it was found that the rate of attrition in special and contextualized lexicon is respectively less than general and de-contextualized lexicon. Keywords: Contextualization, Attrition, General words, Special words, De-contextualization 1. Introduction “Language attrition” is the most common term used for any “Loss of language skills” that occurs after some years of non-exposure (Moorcraft & Gardner, 1987, p.327). -
The Crucial Role of Language Input During the First Year of Life
Friedmann, N., & Rusou, D. (2015). Critical period for first language: The crucial role of language input during the first year of life. Current Opinion in Neurobiology. doi:10.1016/j.conb.2015.06.003 Critical period for first language: The crucial role of language input during the first year of life Naama Friedmann and Dana Rusou Language and Brain Lab, Tel Aviv University The critical period for language acquisition is often explored in the context of second language acquisition. We focus on a crucially different notion of critical period for language, with a crucially different time scale: that of a critical period for first language acquisition. We approach this question by examining the language outcomes of children who missed their critical period for acquiring a first language: children who did not receive the required language input because they grew in isolation or due to hearing impairment and children whose brain has not developed normally because of thiamine deficiency. We find that the acquisition of syntax in a first language has a critical period that ends during the first year of life, and children who missed this window of opportunity later show severe syntactic impairments. The critical period for language acquisition is often explored in the context of second language acquisition. Most studies and theories of the critical period for language ask until when children and adolescents can acquire a language effortlessly and accurately like a first language, given that they have already been exposed to a first language, and acquired it (or started acquiring it). This question received various ages as an answer, mostly revolving around puberty ages. -
L1 Attrition and the Mental Lexicon Monika Schmid, Barbara Köpke
L1 attrition and the mental lexicon Monika Schmid, Barbara Köpke To cite this version: Monika Schmid, Barbara Köpke. L1 attrition and the mental lexicon. Pavlenko, Aneta. The Bilin- gual Mental Lexicon. Interdisciplinary approaches, Multilingual Matters, pp.209-238, 2009, Bilingual Education & Bilingualism, 978-1-84769-124-8. hal-00981094 HAL Id: hal-00981094 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00981094 Submitted on 20 Apr 2014 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Chapter 9 L1 attrition and the mental lexicon Monika S. Schmid, Rijksuniversiteit, Groningen & Barbara Köpke, Université de Toulouse – Le Mirail Introduction The bilingual mental lexicon is one of the most thoroughly studied domains within investigations of bilingualism. Psycholinguistic research has focused mostly on its organization or functional architecture, as well as on lexical access or retrieval procedures (see also Meuter, this volume). The dynamics of the bilingual mental lexicon have been investigated mainly in the context of second language acquisition (SLA) and language pathology. Within SLA, an important body of research is devoted to vocabulary learning and teaching (e.g. Bogaards & Laufer, 2004; Ellis, 1994; Hulstijn & Laufer, 2001; Nation, 1990, 1993). In pathology, anomia (i.e. -
Multilingual Practices and Identity Negotiation Among Multilingual Heritage Language Learners in New Zealand
Multilingual Practices and Identity Negotiation among Multilingual Heritage Language Learners in New Zealand By Mohammed Yousef Nofal A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics Victoria University of Wellington 2020 To Hanadi who will remember the time and place if not the people, Sara, Sireen, Mahamoud, and Salma who filled my life with joy, euphoria and love 2 Abstract While heritage languages (HLs) have been receiving much research attention, there is still a scarcity of studies conducted on local HL communities. However, researchers in New Zealand have been actively engaged with various community languages for over four decades, providing rich insights into the dynamics of language maintenance and language shift within these communities. Although New Zealand sociolinguistic scholarship has covered a wide range of languages and ethnicities, there is no known study on the Indian Hindi community, whose HL is the fourth most spoken language in the country (Statistics New Zealand, 2013). Additionally, previous research has traditionally examined the functional aspects of language use and language attitudes in determining whether language can be preserved, viewing HL communities often as homogeneously formed. In contrast, current trends in the field of sociolinguistics aim to examine the connections between individuals and their languages (i.e. identity), taking multilingualism as a norm and focusing on dynamism in intraspeaker and interspeaker language use. This thesis addresses these issues by exploring how the realities that heritage language learners (HLLs) live connect to identity negotiation and development in social interaction. In particular, this thesis focuses on a group of learners of Hindi as a heritage language in New Zealand – a group that is under-explored.