Age effects on the acquisition of nominal and verbal inflections in an instructed setting

This study examines evidence for the hypothesis (e.g., Muñoz, 2006) that an early starting age is not necessarily more beneficial to the successful learning of L2 inflectional morphology in strictly formal instructional settings. The present author investigated the quantitative and qualitative differences in the production and reception of 5 selected inflectional morphemes in English written performance and competence tasks by 100 early classroom learners and 100 late classroom learners of the same age. While an earlier age of first exposure and a longer instructional period was not associated with higher accuracy scores, the findings suggest distinct patterns in the productive and receptive knowledge abilities of inflectional morphology; the late classroom learners’ superiority seems to be rooted in their greater reliance upon memory-based item-by-item associative learning, as they are significantly stronger on tasks that might cause semantic difficulties, whereas the early classroom learners are marginally better on pattern-based processes for certain morphemes. This finding possibly supports Ullman’s (2005) proposal that, as procedural memory declines with age, older starters have difficulty in discovering regularities in the input and thus over-rely on the declarative memory system in L2 learning

Not so individual after all: An ecological approach to age as an individual difference variable in a classroom

The main goal of this paper is to analyze how the age factor behaves as an alleged individual difference (ID) variable in SLA by focusing on the influence that the learning context exerts on the dynamics of age of onset (AO). The results of several long-term classroom studies on age effects will be presented, in which I have empirically analyzed whether AO works similarly across settings and learners or whether it is influenced by characteristics of the setting and the learner—and if so, whether there are contextual variables that can help us understand why those outcomes are different. Results of multilevel analyses indicate that macro-contextual factors (i.e., the wider school context) turn out to have a mediating effect on the relation between AO and L2 proficiency increase, exerting both positive and negative influences and thus suggesting that AO effects are malleable, which is what one would expect if we are dealing with an ID variable. In contrast, no such phenomenon can be observed in relation to lower contextual levels; learners within classes do not vary with regard to how sensitive they are to AO. Since the broader social environment in which learning takes place seems to be more influential than the cognitive state assumed to be a characteristic of the individual, I suggest that an ID model that assumes that age is a “fixed factor” (Ellis, 1994, p. 35) is not entirely satisfactory

Transitional woes: On the impact of L2 input continuity from primary to secondary school

In this paper, we discuss the problem of articulation between levels in the educational system, as the transition from a rather more communicative, contentbased and holistic approach to English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching at primary level to more formal and explicit ways of foreign language (FL) teaching at secondary is often experienced as problematic by students and teachers alike (see, e.g., Muñoz, Tragant, & Camuñas, 2015). The results of a mixed methods analysis are presented, in which we analyzed, through a questionnaire and language experience essays, perceived continuity between input received in primary school and secondary school, as well as learners’ beliefs, attitudes and self-efficacy before and after they transitioned to secondary school. Twelve primary schools and six secondary schools in Switzerland participated in the study, with a total of 280 early learners of EFL (biological age 12-13 years, age of onset 8 years). We will argue that one of the main reasons why early FL instruction seems not to bear fruit later in secondary school is that, on the one hand, coherence in curriculum design and practice vary in a few—but crucial—aspects within and between primary schools. On the other hand, the fact that secondary education becomes a meeting point for mixed ability classes also seems to mitigate the potential advantages of an earlier start

Report on Lemon Maturity Studies in 1957

This item is part of the Agricultural Experiment Station archive. It was digitized from a physical copy provided by the University Libraries at the University of Arizona. For more information, please email CALS Publications at [email protected]

Variability and individual differences in L2 sociolinguistic evaluations: The GROUP, the INDIVIDUAL and the HOMOGENEOUS ENSEMBLE

This study is the first to investigate subject-level variability in sociolinguistic evaluative judgements by 30 adult L2 German learners and explore whether the observed variability is characterizable as a function of individual differences in proficiency, exposure, and motivation. Because group-level estimates did not paint an accurate picture of the individual, we propose methods capable of integrating population-level estimates with person- and ensemble-centered approaches so as to reconcile generalizability and individuality. Using random effects from Bayesian mixed-effects models, we found that global subject-level variability in evaluative judgements was not predicted by individual differences. By building homogeneous ensembles (i.e., subgroups of individuals with similar evaluative judgements), however, it was possible to assess whether ensembles were characteristic of certain levels of individual differences. This ensemble-centered approach presents an innovative way to address the group-to-individual generalizability issue in cross-sectional data and transcend individual variability in order to make tentative generalizations of individual cases to wider populations

A pan-Atlantic 'multiple modal belt'?

Multiple modality is spread across the wider Atlantic region, both within individual varieties and across variety types. Based on corpus-based evidence, it is argued that first and second tiers of multiple modals carry high diagnostic value and that regionally separated Anglophone areas differ in their preference for first- and second-tier components in modal constructions. Semantics is a diagnostic typologically as there exists a continuum, the “Multiple Modal Belt,” which consists of three main clusters that are primarily differentiated by their respective compositional preferences: North American varieties favor epistemic ‘weak probability’ elements (~might) as first-tier modals, Caribbean varieties ‘high probability’ or ‘certainty’ (~must). Multiple causation and contact-induced change are offered as explanations for supra- and sub-regional variation in the Atlantic region, and there is strong evidence that the preference for second-tier components originally represented Scottish origin and subsequent diffusion with locally differing contact scenarios. Locally distinct preferences for semantic compositionality – particularly based on preference for first-tier ‘high-probability’ modals – are used to model a geo-typological clustering of varieties throughout the wider Atlantic region

The misunderstood variable: Age effects as a function of type of instruction

This study was designed to investigate the effects of age of onset and type of instruction on ultimate EFL attainment at the end of the period of normal schooling in Switzerland, measured in terms of written fluency, complexity, morphosyntactic accuracy, vocabulary size, and listening skills. Data were gathered from four groups of 18-year-old Swiss German learners of English: 50 were early starters who had attended an immersion (CLIL) program in elementary school and who continued CLIL in secondary school (EARLY CLIL), 50 had followed the same elementary school program but then received traditional EFL instruction after elementary school (EARLY MIX), 50 were late starters who began learning English immersively in secondary school, (LATE CLIL), while the other 50 attended a traditional EFL program in secondary school (LATE NON-CLIL). Results show that age of onset alone does not seem to be the distinguishing variable since early introduction of English in elementary school did not result in a higher level of proficiency when exposure to the language was limited to a few hours of class per week. The performance of the EARLY MIX participants was equaled and in certain areas significantly surpassed by the other groups, despite the additional five years of English study they had had in elementary school. The best results were found when early CLIL instruction was followed up by the use of English as an additional language of instruction in secondary school (EARLY CLIL group), which confirms the link between young starting age, implicit learning and long and massive exposure435295568Studies in Second Language Learning and Teachin

MSL in the digital ages: Effects and effectiveness of computer-mediated intervention for FL learners with dyslexia

The longitudinal intervention study reported here is the first to investigate the efficiency of computer learning software specifically designed for dyslexic Swiss German learners of Standard German as a second language (L2) and English as a third language (L3). A total of 40 subjects (20 of them dyslexics and 20 of them nondyslexics; 10 students from each group participated in in- terventions and the other 10 from each group served as control groups) were assessed with a battery of verbal and written pre- and posttests involving pho- nological/orthographic and semantic measures of their L2 and L3 before and after three months of daily intervention with the software. The results show that computer-based training in the L3 is potentially an important tool of intervention for dyslexic students as it has a positive effect on the components of L3 as well as L2 learning. As a consequence of their progress in acquiring the relationships between L3 graphemes and phonemes, the experimental groups, but not the control groups, made significant gains on L2 naming accuracy and speed, L2 and L3 word reading, L2 and L3 phonological awareness, and L2 and L3 receptive and productive vocabulary and comprehension tasks.511091336Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching

Foreign language learning in the third age: A pilot feasibility study on cognitive, socio-affective and linguistic drivers and benefits in relation to previous bilingualism of the learner

While there is a growing body of research on second language acquisition in children and prime-of-life learners, much remains to be explored about how older adults learn a new language and how good additional language learning is for them (see e.g. Mackey & Sachs, 2012). In this study we present the findings of a longitudinal pilot study in which 12 German-speaking subjects, half of them German-Slovenian bilinguals, between 63 and 90 years of age attended a four-week intensive English course for beginners, and were tested in a pre-/post-test design on a range of linguistic, cognitive, and socio-affective parameters. The results of non-parametric statistical tests and qualitative analyses suggest that: (1) the learning of an additional language in the third age can contribute to healthy and active aging, as it has a positive effect on executive function, (linguistic) self-confidence, autonomy, communicative skills and overall well-being, irrespective of age and prior language knowledge (bilingualism); and (2) age-related social, psychological and contextual factors seem to play as significant a role as strictly maturational factors. Such research promises in due course to inform adult educators about the establishment of relevant third-age learner profiles as well as the design of individualized third-age language training