scholarly journals Pronunciation Acquisition of the Inflectional Morpheme –ed in English by Nicaraguan Spanish Speakers

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angel M. Dávila
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
Differential Rate ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Nicaraguan Spanish

This descriptive non-experimental quantitative study investigated if the pronunciation of the –ed morphemeim proves as the English proficiency level develops. A random sampling design was used to recruit research participants.  A target sample of 48 Nicaraguan English as a foreign language students were chosen from an accessible population (N= 91) to participate in this research.  The participants’ age ranged from 18 to 24, with a mean age of 21 years.  They belonged to three English proficiency levels: high beginners, intermediate, and high intermediate. Findings showed that more advanced English as a Foreign Language learners had a significantly higher pronunciation accuracy on the production of the allomorphs, /t/ and /d/. Their error rate on these two allomorphs was as low as 9% and 8%, respectively. Concerning the /əd, ɪd/ allomorph, no significant differences were found among proficiency levels.  These results were interpreted in view of the Markedness Differential Hypothesis (Eckman, 1977) and the Similarity Differential Rate Hypothesis (Major & Kim, 1996). The trends in the data definitely suggested support for the Similarity Differential Rate Hypothesis which postulates that markedness by itself cannot explain the development of L2 learners as they improve their L2 proficiency level. This study offers implications for the teaching of the three phonological realizations of the -ed past tense inflection.

scholarly journals Offers by Greek FL learners

Pragmatics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spyridoula Bella
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Verbal Reports ◽  
Developmental Patterns ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Grammatical Structures

This study investigates developmental patterns in the ability of Greek foreign language learners to make offers. Drawing data from role-plays and retrospective verbal reports it attempts to explore the initiative offer strategies, the syntactic modification and the degree of insistence that learners of three different proficiency levels (lower intermediate, intermediate and advanced) employ when performing offers in two symmetrical (-P, -D) and two asymmetrical (+P, +D) situations. The results suggest that, although there is a great deal of grammatical and pragmalinguistic development regarding both initiative offer strategies and syntactic modification devices, this does not guarantee concomitant levels of sociopragmatic development (cf. Bardovi-Harlig 1999). Specifically, it is shown that learners of increased proficiency tend to overgeneralise complex grammatical structures like interrogative constructions and the conditional in situations in which NSs employ more direct and simple grammatical means in order to achieve a solidarity effect. Furthermore, the learners appear to lag far behind NSs in the appropriate use of insistence. The findings of the study lend support to both the developmental stages of pragmatic competence acknowledged in the relevant literature (Ellis 1992; Achiba 2003) and to Bialystok's (1993) model regarding the acquisition of pragmatic competence.

How to select and present cultural data: a challenge to lexicography

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-57
Author(s):  
Antoni Nomdedeu Rull
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
English Language ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Lexicographic Product ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Language Technology ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
Cultural Data

AbstractForeign language learners need to get cultural information during their learning process for their oral and written comprehension and expression activities. Current lexicographic products are not characterized by showing explicit, systematic, and organized cultural data about cultural words or expressions found in their vocabularies. Current lexicographic products are not characterized by showing explicit and/or systematically cultural data about cultural words or expressions found in their vocabularies. Consequently, learners’ communicative and cognitive needsare not satisfied when looking up any cultural word and/or expression. One of the challenges of lexicography is how to select and represent cultural data in various lexicographic products. Overcoming this double challenge will depend on how these lexicographic tools cope with the following actions: (1) personalization of the lexicographic product; (2) integration in other tools (e.g. writing assistants); and (3) development of the product as a learning tool and not only a consultation tool. In view of this issue, this paper discusses about how to select cultural data from different sources and how to represent them in Write Assistant, a tool created by the Danish language technology company Ordbogen and published in 2019, though still in progress. Special attention will be given to Spanish speakers learning the English language.

scholarly journals The Relationship between Attitudes toward Foreign Culture and English Proficiency Level in Taiwanese Students of English as a Foreign Language

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 264
Author(s):  
Min-chen Tseng
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Teaching Culture ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Foreign Culture ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Ethnic Factors ◽  
The Relationship

<p><em>In this study, we investigated the relationship between the English proficiency levels of students of English as a foreign language (EFL) and their attitudes toward foreign culture, addressing personal, school, family, social, and ethnic perspectives. Teaching culture facilitates a strong understanding of both familiar and unfamiliar worlds and encourages positive attitudes toward differences. The study sample comprised 90 Taiwanese students who were divided into 2 groups: high-proficiency and low-proficiency learners. The results showed a significant correlation between the English proficiency levels of the high-proficiency learners and their attitudes toward culture. Among the 5 examined factors, the results demonstrated significant correlations among the personal, family, and ethnic factors. Regarding the low proficiency learners, no significant correlation was demonstrated in the attitudes towards culture and none of the factors exhibited significant differences.</em></p>

The development of vocabulary and morphological awareness: A longitudinal study with college EFL students

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 877-903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yih-Lin Belinda Jiang ◽  
Li-Jen Kuo
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Morphological Awareness ◽  
Parts Of Speech ◽  
Skilled Readers ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Complex Words ◽  
Academic Year

AbstractWhile the relationship between vocabulary, morphological awareness, and reading comprehension has been examined extensively, research on this relationship among adult second language learners has only been explored recently. The present study addresses this gap by examining how adult English as a foreign language learners developed different types of English vocabulary and morphological awareness over the course of one academic year. Participants included 523 college freshmen in Taiwan with varying reading proficiency levels. Results from a series of mixed-measure analyses of variance revealed that (a) even the more proficient college English as a foreign language learners failed to fully grasp morphological principles; (b) the gap in vocabulary between the less skilled readers, the average, and the skilled readers widened significantly over the course of one academic year; (c) the effect of phonological and orthographic changes involved in morphologically complex words differed for the assessment of base meaning, but did not vary across proficiency levels; (d) progress in different aspects of morphological awareness, such as interpreting the meaning of the suffix or identifying the base of a morphologically complex word, varied significantly among readers of different proficiency levels; and (e) suffixes of different parts of speech posed different challenges to learners. Theoretical and pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed.

The Effects of Different Caption Modes on Chinese English Learners' Content and Vocabulary Comprehension

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 54-68
Author(s):  
Hongling Lai ◽  
Dianjian Wang ◽  
Xiancai Ou
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Vocabulary Comprehension ◽  
Chinese English Learners ◽  
Different Levels

This empirical study investigates the effects of different caption modes on the content and vocabulary comprehension by Chinese English learners with different levels of English proficiency. The results show that the full captioned group performed better on content comprehension than the keyword group, while no significant difference was found on vocabulary comprehension between the two captioned groups. For the beginning-level learners, the full captioned groups did better both in content and vocabulary comprehension than the keyword caption group; meanwhile, for the advanced learners, both full captions and keyword captions similarly facilitated content and vocabulary comprehension. Therefore, the present findings suggest that keyword captioning is insufficient for foreign language learners' content comprehension, yet might be appropriate for their vocabulary learning. Furthermore, choosing the content caption mode for teaching EFL depends on students' English proficiency and their learning purpose.

Constructions at work in foreign language learners’ mind

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 219-242
Author(s):  
Annalisa Baicchi ◽  
Paolo Della Putta
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Ontological Status ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Mind

Abstract This article reports empirical evidence of constructional priming effects in L2 learners of English and Italian. The well-known pioneering experiment carried out by Bencini and Goldberg (2000) with L1 speakers of English paved the way for our investigation. We employed the same protocol to ascertain whether constructions have an ontological status also in the mind of L2 learners. We conducted experiments with four groups of learners whose language proficiency levels correspond to the B1 and B2 levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The results we obtained in our cross-linguistic experiments demonstrate that learners are reliant on constructional templates when they are required to produce linguistic generalizations.

The Relationship Among Vocabulary Size, Grammar Proficiency, and Critical Thinking Skills of Adult Language Learners

2020 ◽  
pp. 104515952095947
Author(s):  
İhsan Ünaldı ◽  
Erkan Yüce
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Adult Language Learners ◽  
The Relationship

This study aims to determine the possible relationships among foreign language vocabulary size, foreign language grammar proficiency, and critical thinking skills. To this end, 126 adult language learners were examined in terms of vocabulary size, grammar proficiency, and critical thinking skills. The results revealed that participants’ grammar proficiency levels and their vocabulary size scores correlated significantly with certain aspects of critical thinking skills. However, unlike their vocabulary size scores, grammar proficiency level scores of the participants correlated significantly with their overall critical thinking skills scores. These results will be discussed in relation to adult language learners.

The effects of planning time and proficiency level on accuracy of oral task performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 155-168
Author(s):  
Alireza Khorami ◽  
Reza Khorasani
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Task Planning ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
Planning Time ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Performance Accuracy

Abstract   This study examined the effect of pre-task planning (PTP) and proficiency level on the language proficiency of 60 English foreign language learners. The Oxford placement test was administered. Based on the scores, the participants were divided into groups of low and high proficiency. The high and low language level students were randomly assigned to either 0 minutes or 10 minutes PTP time. Then the participants in all the four groups were shown a set of pictures and were required to produce a story about it. They spoke based on the same topic, but in different conditions. The productions were transcribed for further analyses. The results of the analysis revealed that high proficiency learners (PTP) outperformed the NP group of the same level; however, there was no meaningful difference between the low groups. The results of two-way Anova also revealed an interaction between the planning and proficiency levels.   Keywords: Pre-task planning time, oral performance, accuracy, proficiency.

The Effects of Different Caption Modes on Chinese English Learners’ Content and Vocabulary Comprehension

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Vocabulary Comprehension ◽  
Chinese English Learners ◽  
Different Levels

This empirical study investigates the effects of different caption modes on the content and vocabulary comprehension by Chinese English learners with different levels of English proficiency. The results show that the full captioned group performed better on content comprehension than the keyword group, while no significant difference was found on vocabulary comprehension between the two captioned groups. For the beginning-level learners, the full captioned group did better both in content and vocabulary comprehension than the keyword captioned group; meanwhile, for the advanced learners, both full captions and keyword captions similarly facilitated content and vocabulary comprehension. Therefore, the present findings suggest that keyword captioning is insufficient for foreign language learners’ content comprehension, yet might be appropriate for their vocabulary learning. Furthermore, choosing the content caption mode for teaching EFL depends on students’ English proficiency and their learning purpose.

scholarly journals Crosslinguistic influence in development of reference realization: A comparison of foreign language learners and heritage language learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-257
Author(s):  
Shu-Ling Wu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Discourse Coherence ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
English Dominant ◽  
Crosslinguistic Influence

AbstractRecent developments in the study of crosslinguistic influence have started to account for how the dynamic interaction between language and cognition influences transfer phenomena. This study examined the acquisition and use of referring expressions in narratives produced by 80 English-dominant learners of Chinese representing two proficiency levels (Low vs. High) and two linguistic backgrounds (Foreign Language vs. Heritage Language), as compared to two baseline groups of 40 Chinese native speakers (NSs) and 40 English NSs. Results showed that, while heritage language learners (HLLs) demonstrated a more idiomatic use of referential forms to introduce new characters and maintain reference to them than did foreign language learners (FLLs) at the same low-proficiency level, the advantage of early language exposure diminished at the high-proficiency level when HLLs were compared to High FLLs who had prolonged in-country experience. Meanwhile, three types of production errors persisted, including (i) failing to use definite reference when obligatory for simple bare nouns, (ii) struggling to supply item-specific classifiers, and (iii) avoidance of zero anaphora, when discourse coherence would prefer such a strategy. All three of these features involve the restructuring of L1 preferences to accommodate L2-specific patterns due to L1-L2 typological differences.

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