“Appropriateness” in foreign language acquisition and use: some theoretical, methodological and ethical considerations

In this contribution, I focus on the concept of “appropriateness” in the usage, the learning and the teaching of foreign languages. Using a participant-based emic perspective, I investigate multilinguals’ perceptions of appropriateness in their foreign languages. Referring to the existing literature, and using previously unpublished material collected through a web questionnaire (Dewaele and Pavlenko 2001–2003), I will show that multilinguals develop their judgements of appropriateness, a crucial aspect of sociopragmatic and sociocultural competence, as part of their socialisation in a new language/culture. However, their ability to judge appropriateness accurately does not imply that they will always act “appropriately”. Indeed, the presence of conflicting norms in their other languages may contribute to conscious or unconscious divergence from the “appropriate” norm in a particular language. Some implications for foreign language teaching will be considered

Writing/thinking in real time: digital video and corpus query analysis

The advance of digital video technology in the past two decades facilitates empirical investigation of learning in real time. The focus of this paper is the combined use of real-time digital video and a networked linguistic corpus for exploring the ways in which these technologies enhance our capability to investigate the cognitive process of learning. A perennial challenge to research using digital video (e.g., screen recordings) has been the method for interfacing the captured behavior with the learners’ cognition. An exploratory proposal in this paper is that with an additional layer of data (i.e., corpus search queries), analyses of real-time data can be extended to provide an explicit representation of learner’s cognitive processes. This paper describes the method and applies it to an area of SLA, specifically writing, and presents an in-depth, moment-by-moment analysis of an L2 writer’s composing process. The findings show that the writer’s composing process is fundamentally developmental, and that it is facilitated in her dialogue-like interaction with an artifact (i.e., the corpus). The analysis illustrates the effectiveness of the method for capturing learners’ cognition, suggesting that L2 learning can be more fully explicated by interpreting real-time data in concert with investigation of corpus search queries

Is multilingualism linked to a higher tolerance of ambiguity?

The present study investigates the link between multilingualism and the personality trait Tolerance of Ambiguity (TA) among 2158 mono-, bi- and multilinguals. Monolinguals and bilinguals scored significantly lower on TA compared to multilinguals. A high level of global proficiency of various languages was linked to higher TA scores. A stay abroad of more than three months was also linked to higher TA although the effect levelled off after one year. Growing up in a multilingual family had no effect on TA. These findings show that a high level of multilingualism makes individuals more at ease in dealing with ambiguity, but we acknowledge that a higher level of TA can also strengthen an individual’s inclination to become multilingual

Predicting language learners' grades in the L1, L2, L3 and L4: the effect of some psychological and sociocognitive variables

This study of 89 Flemish high-school students' grades for L1 (Dutch), L2 (French), L3 (English) and L4 (German) investigates the effects of three higher-level personality dimensions (psychoticism, extraversion, neuroticism), one lower-level personality dimension (foreign language anxiety) and sociobiographical variables (gender, social class) on the participants' language grades. Analyses of variance revealed no significant effects of the higher-level personality dimensions on grades. Participants with high levels of foreign language anxiety obtained significantly lower grades in the L2 and L3. Gender and social class had no effect. Strong positive correlations between grades in the different languages could point to an underlying sociocognitive dimension. The implications of these findings are discussed

Designing a Voip Based Language Test

[EN] Assessing speaking is one of the most difficult tasks in computer based language testing. Many countries all over the world face the need to implement standardized language tests where speaking tasks are commonly included. However, a number of problems make them rather impractical such as the costs, the personnel involved, the length of time for interviews and many other factors. Additionally, reliability as compared to face-to-face tests is continually challenged by issues such as comfort with the interface, navigability and, among others and more important, the lack of visual interaction and the high anxiety created by interacting with a interlocutor with more than a limited interactional activity. This paper addresses a new approach to language testing by the use of VOIP devices. It also addresses its benefits and the way to implement it within the Spanish framework of nationally organized standardized tests Designing a Voip Based Language Test. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281207173_Designing_a_Voip_Based_Language_Test [accessed Dec 28, 2015].S1307131119

A rolling stone gathers no moss? The case of mature students in higher education and their plurilingual repertoires

This study diagnoses how the plurilingual repertoires of mature students (MS) in higher education (HE) are constructed throughout their lives. It addresses the main characteristics of MS; the contexts in which they move throughout their lives, and the situations they contact with languages. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire, mostly comprising open-ended questions. The questionnaire was emailed to 485 MS and was filled in by 195 (40.2%). The results highlight the intrinsic relationship between the MS’ life histories and the construction of their plurilingual repertoires. The findings reinforce the relevance of considering the MS’ plurilingual repertoires and life histories in the development of educational linguistic policies in HE.publishe

L2 development in an intensive Study Abroad EAP context

The current study’s main aim was to examine development of L2 proficiency over a short period of time by adopting an analytic framework that balances out the strengths and limitations of the existing Complexity, Accuracy, Lexis and Fluency (CALF) framework of linguistic measurement. CALF indices and discourse markers were used to analyse development of proficiency among participants on an intensive EAP course in a Study Abroad context. To investigate the differential rates of development in two different task types, gains in various aspects of proficiency were examined. The results suggest that some CALF measures adequately demonstrate L2 development over a one-month period. Discourse markers provide evidence of L2 development beyond CALF, and add a new dimension to investigating and measuring L2 development. The differences in L2 development indicated in monologic and dialogic performances imply that specific measures of analysis are more suitable to characterize development in different task types

Echoes of Postfeminism in American Students’ Narratives of Study Abroad in France

In qualitative research on Americans in study abroad contexts, female gender often emerges as problematic, with young women portrayed as hapless victims of sexual harassment. The assumption underlying interpretation of these studies appears to maintain that female students are victimized because they find themselves in places where inherently superior American discourses of gender equity do not prevail. Meanwhile, however, scrutiny of participants’ stories reveals deeper mysteries, to do with  gender trouble from home that students bring to their experiences abroad. This paper adopts a narrative approach to interview and journal data from a previous study in which American students, both male and female, recount their experiences in France. Their accounts are linked to the sociocultural history and popular ideology of Franco-American relations and to images of study abroad in the American media. Students’ stories draw upon and contest an amalgam of images related to social class, gender, and national identity, which are embedded in perennial American representations of French language learning as social class transcendence. In the early decades of the twenty-first century, this phenomenon has morphed into a contemporary postfeminist self-help literature for would-be Frenchwomen, which celebrates anachronistic images of women as accomplished homemakers and objects of sexual desire who nevertheless control their destinies through artful styling of self and navigation of the global marketplace. “Frenchness,” with or without corresponding language ability, symbolizes membership in the mobilized, global elite. Thus, while a second language offers potentially new resources for the performance of gendered identity, this study shows how the relationship between such resources and learners’ desires is mediated by previous participation in specific discourses of gender and social class, which may or may not prioritize language learning per se.