The differences between Flemish pupils acquiring English and Walloon pupils acquiring English before the input of formal instruction Master dissertation Supervisor: Prof. Dr. M. Van Herreweghe Siona Houthuys Master English - Italian Faculty of Literature and Philosophy University of Ghent 2010 - 2011 1 Preface I would like to thank my supervisor Professor Van Herreweghe whose assistance and suggestions added considerably to my graduate experience. Secondly, I would like to express my gratitude to Karine van der Borght and Eugeen Forrier who gave me the opportunity to gather my data in „Don Bosco‟ and „Pré vert‟. I would also like to thank all the pupils for participating in my research and filling out the questionnaire and vocabulary test to the best of their ability. I am grateful to Caroline and Charlotte Lippens for having let me use their questionnaire and test. Special thanks goes to Rian Houthuys for his assistance in my statistical analyses. My thanks go to Men, Johan and Astrid for their patience and willingness to help place me on the right path. Last, but not least, many thanks to my mother and father for their never-ending support and to my brothers and sisters for their listening ear. 2 Table of contents Preface ............................................................................................................................. 2 Table of contents ............................................................................................................. 3 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 6 Part I: Theoretical framework ................................................................. 8 2 English as a global language .................................................................................... 8 2.1 English as a global language ............................................................................ 8 2.2 English speakers in the world .......................................................................... 9 2.3 The position of English in Belgium ............................................................... 10 3 Second language acquisition................................................................................... 13 3.1 Native versus non-native language................................................................. 13 3.2 Second Language Acquisition (SLA) .............................................................. 14 3.3 Second language versus foreign language ...................................................... 14 3.4 Acquisition versus learning ............................................................................ 15 3.4.1 Krashen‟s Monitor Hypothesis ................................................................. 17 3.5 Instructed versus non-instructed learning .....................................................19 3.6 Implicit versus explicit learning .................................................................... 20 3.7 Incidental versus intentional learning ........................................................... 21 3.8 Other important notions and theories on L2 acquisition ............................. 22 3.8.1 Child second language acquisition ........................................................... 22 3.8.2 Fundamental Difference Hypothesis ....................................................... 23 3.8.3 The social settings of L2 learning: natural versus educational settings .. 24 3.8.4 Immersion ................................................................................................ 25 3.9 Learner-external factors and the language learner ....................................... 26 3.9.1 Input ......................................................................................................... 26 3.9.1.1 Input versus intake ............................................................................ 26 3.9.1.2 The effect of input and interaction on acquisition ............................ 27 3.9.2 Factors that influence L2 acquisition ...................................................... 30 3.9.2.1 Age ..................................................................................................... 30 3.9.2.2 The Affective Filter Hypothesis .......................................................... 31 3.9.2.3 Motivation ......................................................................................... 32 3.9.2.4 Aptitude ............................................................................................. 33 3.9.2.5 Anxiety ............................................................................................... 35 3 3.9.2.6 The role of the first language ............................................................. 35 3.9.2.7 The various fields of contact with the L2 .......................................... 37 4 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 38 Part II: The differences between Flemish pupils acquiring English and Walloon pupils acquiring English before the input of formal instruction................................................................................................... 40 5 Introduction to the research .................................................................................. 40 5.1 Research question .......................................................................................... 40 5.2 Informants and setting .................................................................................. 40 5.3 Methodology ................................................................................................... 41 6 The analysis of the results ...................................................................................... 42 7 General finding ...................................................................................................... 43 8 Data and findings ................................................................................................... 44 8.1 General questions .......................................................................................... 44 8.1.1 The informants‟ mother tongue ............................................................... 44 8.1.2 Sex ............................................................................................................. 46 8.1.3 Age ............................................................................................................ 47 8.1.4 Informants to a foreign country ............................................................... 48 8.1.5 An English acquaintance .......................................................................... 49 8.1.6 Motivational attitudes .............................................................................. 53 8.1.7 English courses ......................................................................................... 57 8.1.8 The conception of English ........................................................................ 60 8.1.9 Personal practice ...................................................................................... 63 8.1.10 The informants‟ conception of their English skills .................................. 67 8.1.11 Extracurricular activities .......................................................................... 70 8.2 English television programmes ..................................................................... 78 8.2.1 Subtitled English TV programmes (SP) ................................................... 78 8.2.2 English television programmes without subtitles (not subtitled programmes = NSP) .............................................................................................. 80 8.2.3 English TV programmes or Dutch/French TV programmes ................... 81 8.2.4 Dubbing or subtitling ............................................................................... 85 8.3 Computer ....................................................................................................... 88 8.3.1 The amount of time spent on the computer ............................................ 88 8.4 Music .............................................................................................................. 92 4 8.4.1 English music or Dutch/French music .................................................... 92 8.4.2 Do the informants understand the English songs? ................................. 94 9 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 96 10 Bibliography .................................................................................................... 100 11 Appendix .............................................................................................................. 103 11.1 Questionnaire (Dutch) ................................................................................. 103 11.2 Vocabulary test (Dutch) ................................................................................ 116 5 1 Introduction For my master dissertation, I investigated the differences between Dutch-speaking and French-speaking children in Belgium acquiring English as a second language. English can be acquired either naturally or through instruction. In my research, I focused on the incidental learning of English, which is before the input of formal instruction, by school children of the fifth and sixth year of primary school. The aim of my investigation