676 research outputs found
The Role of Socially-Mediated Alignment in the Development of Second Language Grammar and Vocabulary: Comparing Face-to-Face and Synchronous Mobile-Mediated Communication
Decades of research has shown that speakers mutually adapt to each otherâs linguistic behaviors at different levels of language during dialogue. Recent second language (L2) research has suggested that alignment occurring while L2 learners carry out collaborative activities may lead to L2 development, highlighting the benefits of using alignment activities for L2 learning. However, despite the notion that speakers linguistically align in interactions happening in socially-situated contexts, little is known about the role of social factors in the magnitude and learning outcomes of alignment occurring in L2 interaction. The purpose of the study was to examine the pedagogical benefits of alignment activities for the development of L2 grammar and vocabulary during peer interaction across two different interactional contexts: Face-to-Face (FTF) and synchronous mobile-mediated communication (SMMC; mobile text-chat). The target vocabulary items included 32 words and the target structure was a stranded preposition construction embedded in an English relative clause. Furthermore, this study investigated whether social factors (i.e., L2 learnersâ perceptions of their interlocutorâs proficiency, comprehensibility of the interlocutorâs language production, and task experience with the interlocutor) and cognitive factors (i.e., individual differences in language aptitude, cognitive style, and proficiency) would modulate alignment effects. Ninety-eight Korean university students were assigned to either the FTF or SMMC group. They completed two alignment activities in pairs, three measurement tests (pre-, post-, and delayed post-test), various cognitive ability tests, and perception questionnaires over four weeks. Results indicated that alignment occurred at the structural and lexical levels in FTF and SMMC modes, but also that structural alignment was facilitated significantly more in the SMMC mode when compared to FTF. However, there was no significant modality effect on the degree of lexical alignment. Findings also demonstrated beneficial role of alignment activities in L2 grammar and vocabulary learning, irrespective of the modality. Furthermore, results suggested that language proficiency and explicit language aptitude were significantly associated with structural alignment driven learning. Learnersâ perceptions did not show a significant impact on the degree of alignment and learning outcomes. Implications for the benefits of interactive alignment activities for L2 development and the effect of modality, social factors, and cognitive factors are discussed
A Methodological Synthesis of Self-Paced Reading in Second Language Research : Methodological synthesis of SPR tests
Self-paced reading tests (SPRs) are being increasingly adopted by second language (L2) researchers. Using SPR with L2 populations presents specific challenges, and its use is still evolving in L2 research (as well as in first language research, in many respects). Although the topic of several narrative overviews (Keating & Jegerski, 2015; Roberts, 2016), we do not have a comprehensive picture of its usage in L2 research. Building on the growing body of systematic reviews of research practices in applied linguistics (e.g., Liu & Brown, 2015; Plonsky, 2013), we report a methodological synthesis of the rationales, study contexts, and methodological decision making in L2 SPR research. Our comprehensive search yielded 74 SPRs used in L2 research. Each instrument was coded along 121 parameters, including: reported rationales and study characteristics, indicating the scope and nature of L2 SPR research agendas; design and analysis features and reporting practices, determining instrument validity and reliability; and materials transparency, affecting reproducibility and systematicity of agendas. Our findings indicate an urgent need to standardize the use and reporting of this technique, requiring empirical investigation to inform methodological decision making. We also identify several areas (e.g., study design, sample demographics, instrument construction, data analysis, and transparency) where SPR research could be improved to enrich our understanding of L2 processing, reading, and learning
Individual differences in second language sentence processing
As is the case in traditional second language (L2) acquisition research, a major question in the field of L2 real-time sentence processing is the extent to which L2 learners process the input like native speakers. Where differences are observed, the underlying causes could be the influence of the learner's first language and/or differences (fundamental or not) in the use of processing strategies between learners and native speakers. Another factor that may account for L1âL2 differences, perhaps in combination with others, is individual variability in general levels of proficiency or in learnersâ general cognitive capacities, such as working memory and processing speed. However, systematic research into the effects of such individual differences on L2 real-time sentence processing has yet to be done because researchers in the main attempt to control for individual differences in general cognitive capacities rather than to investigate them in their own right: nevertheless, a review of the current work on L2 sentence and discourse processing raises some interesting findings. An overview of this research is presented in this paper, highlighting what appear to be the circumstances under which individual differences in factors such as working memory capacity and proficiency do or do not affect L2 sentence processing. Taken together, the data suggest that it is only under certain experimental circumstancesâspecifically, when participants are asked to perform a metalinguistic task directing their attention to the manipulation at the same time as comprehending the inputâthat individual differences in such factors as insufficient L2 proficiency and/or cognitive processing limitations, like speed and working memory influence L2 learnersâ real-time processing of the target input. Under these circumstances, L2 learners of for instance, a higher working memory capacity or greater proficiency are more likely to process the input like native speakers. Otherwise, learners appear to shallow process the input, irrespective of individual variability
CROSS-LINGUISTIC ACTIVATION IN KOREAN L2 LEARNERSâ PROCESSING OF REMENTION BIAS IN ENGLISH
Ph.D. Thesis. University of HawaiÊ»i at MÄnoa 2019
Investigating the construct measured by banked gap-fill items:evidence from eye-tracking
This study investigates test-takersâ processing while completing banked gap-fill tasks, designed to test reading proficiency, in order to test theoretically based expectations about the variation in cognitive processes of test-takers across levels of performance. Twenty-eight test-takersâ eye traces on 24 banked gap-fill items (on six tasks) were analysed according to seven on-line eye-tracking measures representing overall, text and task processing. Variation in processing was related to test-takersâ level of performance on the tasks overall. In particular, as hypothesised, lower-scoring students exerted more cognitive effort on local reading and lower-level cognitive processing in contrast to test-takers who attained higher scores. The findings of different cognitive processes associated with variation in scores illuminate the construct measured by banked gap-fill items, and therefore have implications for test design and the validity of score interpretations
Language and Linguistics in a Complex World Data, Interdisciplinarity, Transfer, and the Next Generation. ICAME41 Extended Book of Abstracts
This is a collection of papers, work-in-progress reports, and other contributions that were part of the ICAME41 digital conference
Language and Linguistics in a Complex World Data, Interdisciplinarity, Transfer, and the Next Generation. ICAME41 Extended Book of Abstracts
This is a collection of papers, work-in-progress reports, and other contributions that were part of the ICAME41 digital conference
Uncovering the myth of learning to read Chinese characters: phonetic, semantic, and orthographic strategies used by Chinese as foreign language learners
Oral Session - 6A: Lexical modeling: no. 6A.3Chinese is considered to be one of the most challenging orthographies to be learned by non-native speakers, in particular, the character. Chinese character is the basic reading unit that converges sound, form and meaning. The predominant type of Chinese character is semantic-phonetic compound that is composed of phonetic and semantic radicals, giving the clues of the sound and meaning, respectively. Over the last two decades, psycholinguistic research has made significant progress in specifying the roles of phonetic and semantic radicals in character processing among native Chinese speakers âŠpostprin
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