6 research outputs found
Is explicit instruction effective? The learning of English noun-noun and adjective-noun structures by L1 Spanish school children (驴Es efectiva la instrucci贸n expl铆cita? El aprendizaje de las estructuras nombre-nombre y adjetivo-nombre del ingl茅s por escolares de L1 espa帽ol)
Producci贸n Cient铆ficaThe relative order of constituents within determiner phrases (DP) in which the noun is modified by an adjective (AN) has traditionally been taught in English as an L2 subject in the Spanish context. This is not the case for the same type of phrase in which the N-head is modified by another N (NN). This study aims to assess the impact of direct instruction in English NNs as part of the school curriculum. Acceptability judgement data and production have been elicited from two groups of L1 Spanish-L2 English children living in Spain, one receiving explicit NN instruction and the other following the regular only-AN instruction. Results show an advancement of the instruction group not only in NNs but also in ANs. This has a double implication: that NNs and ANs might share a common morphosyntactic underlying structure and that explicit teaching of grammatical properties that are shared by different structures might result in better attainment.En el aula de ingl茅s como lengua extranjera en Espa帽a se ense帽a el orden relativo de los elementos en sintagmas determinantes (SDet) en los que un adjetivo modifica a un nombre (AN). No ocurre lo mismo con sintagmas de este tipo en los que el nombre n煤cleo est谩 modificado por otro nombre (NN). En este estudio se eval煤a el impacto de la instrucci贸n directa de los compuestos NN como parte integral del curr铆culum. Se obtuvieron datos a partir de pruebas de juicios de aceptabilidad y de producci贸n de dos grupos de escolares con espa帽ol como primera lengua (L1), residentes en Espa帽a, que cursaban estudios de ingl茅s como segunda lengua (L2); uno de ellos con instrucci贸n expl铆cita sobre la estructura NN y el otro con instrucci贸n tradicional 煤nicamente sobre la estructura AN. Los resultados revelan mayor avance del grupo con instrucci贸n expl铆cita, no solo en relaci贸n con las estructuras NN sino tambi茅n con las estructuras AN. La implicaci贸n es doble: por un lado, las estructuras NN y AN podr铆an compartir una estructura morfosint谩ctica subyacente com煤n y, por otro lado, la ense帽anza expl铆cita de las propiedades gramaticales compartidas por estructuras diferentes podr铆a mejorar el rendimiento en todas ellas.Junta de Castilla y Le贸n - ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) Ref. VA009P17Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovaci贸n y Universidades y FEDER (Ref. PGC2018-097693-B-I00
When teaching works and time helps: Noun modification in L2 English school children
Producci贸n Cient铆ficaThe study focuses on the interaction between length of exposure and instruction in the L2 English acquisition process of L1 Spanish school children. Two target structures involving noun premodification are targeted: noun鈥搉oun (NN) compounds and adjective鈥搉oun (AN) strings. Four groups of participants have been studied for 3 years: a group that has been exposed to a specifically designed teaching program targeting NN compounds and a group that has received the regular English instruction program which does not address this structure as part of the curriculum. Two age subgroups appear in each case. The longitudinal judgment data elicited show that performance improves in the cooperation between length of exposure and the exposure to the NN instruction program. Furthermore, it is this last issue that actually takes the lead in that the NN instruction program directly impacts on not only NN compounds but also AN strings. This points to instruction being determinant in the L2 learning process; that is, a consciously and carefully directed instruction is proven to be more effective than length of exposure itself. This study on longitudinal experimental data contributes to shed light on the factors involved in instructed L2 acquisition.Junta de Castilla y Leon - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (project VA009P17)Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovaci贸n y Universidades - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (project PGC2018-097693-B-I00
Instructed second language acquisition & cross-linguistic influence: word order in nominal structures
This dissertation analyzes the impact of two issues related to the field of Instructed Second Language Acquisition: length of exposure and explicit instruction. These issues are explored in the specific domain of noun modification in English by considering two structures: adjective-noun strings (ANs) and noun-noun compounds (NNs). To do so, the L2 English data of 96 L1 Spanish children are analyzed along three years as elicited via two written tasks: an acceptability judgment and a production task. Additional cross-sectional oral data are obtained in the last year by means of a director-matcher task. All the participants receive explicit instruction for ANs, as customary in the Spanish school context. A specific pedagogical program including explicit instruction on NNs is used with half of the participants, thus establishing two groups: the instruction group and the non-instruction group. Both groups include two age groups each, depending on the age at which participants were first tested (6 and 8-year-olds). This participants’ taxonomy allows to measure the role of length of exposure to the L2 and to test the effectiveness of explicit instruction. The results show that length of exposure plays a role in the learning of ANs and NNs given the improvement of the participants’ L2 knowledge for both structures along the three years. Furthermore, participants in the instruction group perform better than their non-instruction cohorts, and not only in the structures targeted in the explicit intervention, NNs, but also in ANs. In the convergence of the two main variables of explicit instruction and length of exposure, the results obtained in both the longitudinal written data and the cross-sectional oral data point to explicit instruction being more determinant than length of exposure. This study sheds further light into factors that are relevant to the L2 learning process in a school context, while it also contributes to the scarce existing literature on the acquisition of structures including noun modification in the form of ANs and NNs by L1 Spanish-L2 English children.Esta tesis doctoral analiza el impacto de dos aspectos relacionados con el campo de la Adquisici贸n de Segundas Lenguas mediante Instrucci贸n: el tiempo de exposici贸n y la instrucci贸n expl铆cita. Estos aspectos se exploran haciendo uso de dos estructuras concretas que incluyen modificaci贸n nominal en ingl茅s: secuencias de adjetivo-nombre (ANs) y compuestos nombre-nombre (NNs). Se ha testado el ingl茅s como L2 de 96 ni帽os con espa帽ol como L1 a lo largo de tres a帽os por medio de dos pruebas escritas: una prueba de juicios gramaticales y una prueba de producci贸n. Se han obtenido datos transversales adicionales en el 煤ltimo a帽o por medio de una prueba oral tipo director-matcher. En lo que respecta a la instrucci贸n, todos los participantes recibieron instrucci贸n expl铆cita para las ANs, tal y como es habitual en el contexto escolar espa帽ol. La mitad de los participantes recibieron instrucci贸n expl铆cita sobre los NNs a trav茅s de un programa pedag贸gico espec铆ficamente dise帽ado para tal fin. El uso de este programa permite la clasificaci贸n de los participantes en dos grupos: el grupo de instrucci贸n y el grupo de no instrucci贸n. Cada grupo incluye dos grupos de edad, dependiendo del momento en el que fueron testados por primera vez (6 y 8 a帽os). Esta clasificaci贸n de los participantes permite medir el papel que juegan tanto el tiempo de exposici贸n a la L2 como la eficacia de la instrucci贸n expl铆cita. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que el tiempo de exposici贸n juega un papel determinante en el aprendizaje de las ANs y los NNs que se refleja en una mejor铆a en el conocimiento de la L2 por parte de los participantes para ambas estructuras a lo largo de los tres a帽os de estudio. Adem谩s, los participantes del grupo de instrucci贸n obtienen mejores resultados que sus equivalentes del grupo de no instrucci贸n y no solo en las estructuras que son objeto del programa de instrucci贸n expl铆cita, los NNs, sino tambi茅n en las ANs. Cuando se comparan las dos variables analizadas, el tiempo de exposici贸n y la instrucci贸n expl铆cita, los resultados obtenidos apuntan a que es la instrucci贸n expl铆cita la que tiene un papel m谩s determinante y esto se ha observado tanto en los datos longitudinales escritos como en los transversales orales. Este estudio contribuye a arrojar luz sobre algunos de los factores relevantes del proceso de aprendizaje de una L2 en contextos educativos, a la par que tambi茅n contribuye a la escasa literatura existente sobre la adquisici贸n de estructuras que incluyen modificaci贸n nominal en forma de ANs y NNs por ni帽os de L1 espa帽ol y L2 ingl茅s.Escuela de DoctoradoDoctorado en Estudios Ingleses Avanzados: Lenguas y Culturas en Contact
Formal and Methodological Approaches to Applied Linguistics (Languages Special Issue)
This Special Issue, entitled Formal and Methodological Approaches to Applied Linguistics, brings together recently published papers on various aspects of applied linguistics presented at the AESLA37 (Spanish Society of Applied Linguistics) conference in Valladolid held on 27–29 March 2019 [...
Formal and Methodological Approaches to Applied Linguistics
Producci贸n Cient铆ficaThe goal of this Special Issue is to bring together state-of-the art articles on applied linguistics which reflect investigation carried out by researchers from different parts of the world. By bringing together papers from different perspectives, we hope to be able to gain a better understanding of the field. Hence, this Special Issue intends to address the study of language in its different dimensions and within the framework of multiple methodologies and formal accounts as used by researchers in the fieThis Special Issue is dedicated to research in any area related to applied linguistics, including language acquisition and language learning; language teaching and curriculum design; language for specific purposes; psychology of language, child language and psycholinguistics; sociolinguistics; pragmatics; discourse analysis; corpus linguistics, computational linguistics and language engineering; lexicology and lexicography; and translation and interpretation
Noun-noun compounds in a game task: what child data can tell us about teaching practices
Producci贸n Cient铆ficaThe modification of a noun by another noun (e.g. paper plane) is not part of the English curriculum
in Spanish schools. This is so in spite of the presence these structures have in the textbooks used both
in the English subjects as well as in the content subjects taught in English. We have analyzed the
noun-noun constructions (NN compounds) produced by L1 Spanish-L2 English children in order to
address (i) the role of direct explicit instruction as opposed to indirect implicit instruction in the
English classroom; and (ii) the effect length of exposure can have in native-like attainment in these
cases. Four groups of participants have been considered: two groups that have been part of a 3-year
teaching program involving explicit NN instruction (a 9-year-old group and an 11-year-old group);
and the same two age groups following the regular instruction where NN modification is not explicitly
addressed in the classroom. Participants were tested by means of a director-matcher task which
prompted them to produce NN compounds. Results show that (i) explicit instruction has an effect and
that this effect is positive in that not only a more native-like production is achieved but also a higher
number of these structures do appear after the explicit instruction period; and (ii) length of exposure
has a parallel effect but is accentuated when combined with explicit instruction. This has a double
implication: explicit teaching of grammatical properties is effective and the productivity of English
NN compounds is something that can actually be taught.En los colegios espa帽oles la modificaci贸n en ingl茅s de un nombre por otro nombre (compuestos NN;
p.ej. paper plane) no es parte habitual del curr铆culum a pesar de la alta incidencia de estas estructuras
en los libros de texto usados tanto en la asignatura de ingl茅s como en las de contenido que se ense帽an
en ingl茅s. Este estudio se centra en los compuestos NN producidos por ni帽os L1 espa帽ol-L2 ingl茅s y
persigue analizar (i) el papel de la instrucci贸n expl铆cita directa en contraposici贸n a la instrucci贸n
impl铆cita indirecta en la clase de ingl茅s; y (ii) el efecto que el tiempo de exposici贸n puede tener para
alcanzar producciones gramaticales. Se estudian cuatro grupos de participantes: dos han recibido
durante tres a帽os un plan espec铆fico de instrucci贸n expl铆cita en compuestos NN (estudiantes de 9 y
11 a帽os), y otros dos grupos de las mismas edades han seguido la instrucci贸n habitual que no incluye
la modificaci贸n NN. Se ha usado una tarea experimental semi-espont谩nea (director-matcher) que
favorece la producci贸n de compuestos NN. Los resultados muestran que (i) la instrucci贸n expl铆cita
tiene un efecto positivo que implica un mayor 铆ndice de correcci贸n gramatical tras el per铆odo de
instrucci贸n expl铆cita; y (ii) el tiempo de exposici贸n tiene un efecto paralelo, pero adem谩s se acent煤a
cuando se combina con la instrucci贸n expl铆cita. Estos resultados tienen una doble implicaci贸n: que la
ense帽anza expl铆cita de ciertas propiedades gramaticales es efectiva y que, adem谩s, la productividad
de los compuestos nominales en ingl茅s es algo que efectivamente se puede ense帽ar