The Effect of Using Authentic Videos on English Major Students' Prosodic Competence

This study aims to investigate the effect of using authentic videos on the prosodic competence of foreign language learners. It is hypothesized worldwide that authentic videos have a positive effect on the EFL learners' supra segmental competence. The population of the study included 32 students majoring in English Language at Taibah University in KSA during the academic year 2011/2012. The sample consisted of two sections, a control group and an experimental one. A pretest was administered to both groups to ensure that they were homogeneous. The control group was taught supra segmental aspects of language using a traditional approach while the experimental group was taught authentic videos. About four months later, a posttest was administered. The results of the study showed that there was much progress in the experimental group which significantly outperformed the control group in the different aspects of prosody. These findings confirm the hypothesis which read videos can have a positive effect on the EFL learners' supra segmental competence.  Keywords :Supra segmental competence, authentic videos ,Saudi English major students as  EFL learners, Intonation, Pronunciation, Stress, Pause , Juncture , Rhyme ,  and Prosodic aspects of language

Second language acquisition of the English interrogatives : the effect of different learning contexts on the SLA of three groups of Chinese learners of English.

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:D91701 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

ITSICALL: investigating teaching strategies in computer assisted language learning

This thesis evaluates the effect on the learning and teaching of gender and gender agreement in French for English speakers of various teaching strategies Implicit, Explicit and Exploratory, implemented as a CALL program, 'Itsicall' (Investigating Teaching Strategies in Computer Assisted Language Learning). It is an original piece of research with school children in London which uses a variety of L2 research methods, i.e..error analysis, contrastive analysis and learner interviews, to inspire the design of the computer program , which teaches the concepts of Gender and Gender Agreement in French in the three modes selected, Implicit, Explicit and Exploratory. The design of the gender teaching program was motivated by a series of preliminary investigations, which lead to the accumulation of a rich source of data on the way school children perform and acquire concepts prominent in another language and provides many insights into the difficulties encountered by children Vying to grapple with the concept of Gender, under represented in the English language and primordial in French. The program was then tested and evaluated in an exercise which provided further invaluable data for Second Language Acquisition Research, Second Language Teaching and Computer Assisted Instruction, taking into account the answer to the original research questions and the opinions of the children who tried out the program. The account of this empirical work, which reveals the potential of exploratory computer environments is then followed by an analysis which incorporates all the findings of the previous experiments into a critical evaluation of the merits of Implicit, Explicit and Exploratory teaching of grammar rules in a CALL environment

Automatic Feedback for L2 Prosody Learning

International audienceWe have designed automatic feedback for the realisation of the prosody of a foreign language. Besides classical F0 displays, two kinds of feedback are provided to learners, each of them based upon a comparison between a reference and the learner's production. The first feedback, a diagnosis, provided both in the form of a short text and visual displays such as arrows, comes from an acoustic evaluation of the learner's realisation; it deals with two prosodic cues: the melodic curve, and phoneme duration. The second feedback is perceptual and consists in a replacement of the learner's prosodic cues (duration and F0) by those of the reference. A pilot experiment has been undertaken to test the immediate impact of the "advanced" feedback proposed here. We have chosen to test the production of English lexical accent in isolated words by French speakers. It shows that feedback based upon diagnosis and speech modification enables French learners with a low production level to improve their realisations of English lexical accents more than (simple) auditory feedback. On the contrary, for advanced learners involved in this study, auditory feedback appears to be as efficient as more elaborated feedback

Addressing the grammar needs of Chinese EAP students: an account of a CALL materials development project

This study investigated the grammar needs of Chinese EAP Foundation students and developed electronic self-access grammar materials for them. The research process consisted of three phases. In the first phase, a corpus linguistics based error analysis was conducted, in which 50 student essays were compiled and scrutinized for formal errors. A tagging system was specially devised and employed in the analysis. The EA results, together with an examination of Foundation tutors’ perceptions of error frequency and gravity led me to prioritise article errors for treatment; in the second phase, remedial materials were drafted based on the EA results and insights drawn from my investigations into four research areas (article pedagogy, SLA theory, grammar teaching approaches and CALL methodologies) and existing grammar materials; in the third phase, the materials were refined and evaluated for their effectiveness as a means of improving the Chinese Foundation students’ use of the article. Findings confirm the claim that L2 learner errors are systematic in nature and lend support to the value of Error Analysis. L1 transfer appears to be one of the main contributing factors in L2 errors. The salient errors identified in the Chinese Foundation corpus show that mismanagement of the article system is the most frequent cause of grammatical errors; Foundation tutors, however, perceive article errors to be neither frequent nor serious. An examination of existing materials reveals that the article is given low priority in ELT textbooks and treatments provided in pedagogical grammar books are inappropriate in terms of presentation, language and exercise types. The devised remedial materials employ both consciousness-raising activities and production exercises, using EAP language and authentic learner errors. Preliminary evaluation results suggest that the EA-informed customised materials have the potential to help learners to perform better in proofreading article errors in academic texts

Sequencing in SLA: Phonological Memory, Chunking and Points of Order.

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/139863/1/Ellis1996Chunking.pd

Noticing-promotion approach and L2 development: a study of English interrogative acquisition in the classroom

Instruction which draws learner attention to form in meaning-centred activities is often referred to as focus onform (FonF) (Long, 1991). It is considered a potentially useful means of helping learners to acquire L2 forms, since it can promote the noticing oflinguistic gaps between their output and the target language, which is regarded as a necessary condition for L2 development (Schmidt, 1994a). Among the most extensively studied L2 features are English interrogatives (Mackey, 1999; Mackey & Oliver, 2002; Mackey & Philp, 1998; McDonougjh, 2005; Silver, 1999, 2000; Spada & Lightbown, 1993). These studies have shown the benefit of FonF instruction in learners' advancement in developmental stage, but most research to date has been conducted in experimental conditions and has focused mainly on the effect of intensive corrective feedback on learners' nontarget-like L2 use by a native speaker in one-to-one conversations; few attempts have been made to examine effective ways of implementing FonF instruction in typically large EFL classes, where such feedback is difficult to provide.This study aims to fill this gap and explores the potential ofteachers' creating opportunities for noticing tine gap through dialogical interaction between learners. To this end, a pedagogical option, a noticing-promotion approach, was employed, intended to encourage learners to take an active role both in noticing gaps and in assisting their partner by scaffolding replies to notice and self-correct mistakes. The instruction consisted of four sessions, including explicit teaching of one or two pre-selected structures and noticing tasks (dictogloss and information-gap) with a modelling video performed by a learner dyad; this approach, therefore, represents a compromise between FonF and traditional presentation-practice-production instruction, with a strong leaning towards the latter, though not as far as FonFT as defined by Long (1991). A pretest and two posttests design was used to measure the sustained effect over 6-7 weeks. Oral performance data collected in two communicative tasks from 48 Japanese students was used to examine individuals' change in developmental stage in relation to their readiness to learn the target rules; the results were compared with those from a comparison group (N=12). In addition, the study explored through questionnaires learners' perceptions oftheir gains and ofthe usefulness ofthis type ofinstruction.Results indicate that this noticing-promotion approach was effective in helping learners who were ready to learn the target rule advance in developmental stage and to fill gaps in their L2 development. Moreover, learners' self-reports showed that the instruction was beneficial, not only in motivating many ready students to carry on using the target rules beyond the treatment sessions, but also in helping them become better 'noticers' and users of the target rules both inside and outside the classroom

Learner needs and ESP

The purpose of this thesis is to explore how ESP learner needs have been perceived and answered in contemporary ESP programmes. It aims at providing some suggestions and implications regarding needs analysis, course design and the development of language skills. The first chapter introduces the concept of 'ESP ' and, therefore, attempts to unfold the debate which has surrounded its definition and its practices. This involves viewing the factors which have led to its development and which have set it apart of General Purpose English (GPE); investigating the theoretical background against which it has developed and, thus, questioning the validity of equating ESP with the learner's specialized subject-matter or specialist register; and considering the major types of ESP courses which have branched off ESP. The second chapter is concerned with the main changes that have occurred in ESP course design. It argues for a process-oriented approach since this type of syllabus, in its balanced form, accommodates the learner's real-world needs and process-learning needs. The process oriented movement has revolutionized the concept of 'learner needs'. The needs of the learner are not only viewed in terms of language items or course content but also in terms of the psychological aspects of the learning process and classroom learning behaviours. Chapter Three establishes a view of needs analysis and course design which takes the learner's perception of her needs as a starting point. This view is opposed to the needs analysis associated with Munby 's work (1978). It proceeds from the concept of 'need' and is built upon the ideas emerging from the process- oriented movement. It emphasises the centrality of the learner’s role in the needs analysis and course design procedures. Chapter Four represents a case study conducted at Dublin City University (D.C.U.). The study arose from a concern about how adult learners envisaged their needs and, thus, the extent to which they could act as informants regarding the content of the language course and the teaching-learning methodology. It was inspired by a belief that EAP learners are not necessarily instrumentally motivated and, therefore, their needs cannot be met by a course which proceeds from a target-situation needs analysis. In addition to supporting our assumption, the study has provided some insights into the nature of learner needs and learning styles and perceptions of teacher-learner role. Chapter Five aims at highlighting some of the subskills and strategies involved in each of the four skills with reference to specialized needs. It provides suggestions for selecting learning materials and some teaching implications. The final chapter discusses some conclusions about the implications which this research provides for ESP instruction and course design