A Processability Approach to the Acquisition of Italian as a Second Language: Theory and Applications

This thesis concerns the acquisition of Italian as a second language in instructed adult and child learners within the framework of Processability Theory (Pienemann 1998) with particular reference to morphological and syntactic development. It also contains some contributions to an extension of the theory itself, particularly the development of syntax, leading to a new exploration of the interface between discourse-pragmatics and syntax in L2 learners. The empirical longitudinal and cross-sectional studies on which these papers are based support Processability Theory’s universal developmental implicational hierarchy based on the hypothesised processing procedures in Levelt (1989). The second part of the thesis investigates the development of Italian L2 in primary school programs, testing both PT and Focus-on-form instruction. This study demonstrates that PT can be applied to classroom contexts and that it promotes more efficient language development in child-learners within existing school Italian L2 program time and resources constraints. This work also revealed that focused feedback is effective in promoting acquisition and accuracy in L2 production. This classroom- based quasi-experimental longitudinal study was supported by the Australian Research Council and Industry partner CoAsIt, a provider of Italian language education services. This work on researching practice shows the critical interrelation between theory construction and the investigation of practice itself. A sample of my contributions to professional journals exemplify the need for a continuing dialogue between research and professional practice

COME SVILUPPARE LA RESA IN GRAMMATICA DEL LESSICO IN ITALIANO L2: UN ESPERIMENTO IN UNA SCUOLA PRIMARIA DI SYDNEY

Anche dopo qualche anno di insegnamento della L2, a volte l'apprendimento fatica a procedere verso la resa in grammatica, ossia oltre allo stadio 1 che la Teoria della Processabilità definisce lemmatico e formulaico. Questo perché, specialmente nel caso della scuola primaria, la diffusione di metodologie di insegnamento comunicative porta a trascurare gli aspetti formali della lingua. Riportiamo qui i risultati di un esperimento condotto a Sydney, in cui l'insegnante è riuscita a sbloccare l'apprendimento dell'italiano L2 da parte dei bambini anglofoni cambiando, in misura minima ma qualitativamente significativa, il proprio insegnamento, e cioè attirando l'attenzione degli allievi sulla forma in due modi: (i) insistendo su alcune strutture che, secondo la Teoria della Processabilità, sono imparabili perché appartengono allo stadio 2 categoriale, ossia quello immediatamente successivo rispetto a dove già si trovano gli apprendenti, e (ii) fornendo un minimo di feedback correttivo mirato esclusivamente a queste stesse strutture - senza però rinunciare mai ad attività essenzialmente comunicative

The effect of study-abroad experience on lexical translation among interpreting students

This study investigates the impact of study-abroad experience (SAE) on lexical translation among 50 Chinese (L1)-English (L2) interpreting students. Participants were divided into two groups based on their experience abroad. Both groups consisted of 25 unbalanced L2 learners who were matched in age, working memory, length of interpreting training, and L2 proficiency. Bidirectional word translation recognition tasks, from L1 to L2 and L2 to L1, highlighted several key findings: (1) both groups were significantly more accurate and faster from L2 to L1 than in the reverse direction; (2) the study abroad (SA) group was more inclined to respond quickly at the risk of making errors, whereas the non-study abroad (NSA) group tended to be more cautious, prioritising accuracy over speed; (3) the SA group were more balanced and consistent in their performance across lexical translations in both directions than the NSA group. These results emphasise the potent effect of SAE in resolving bilinguals’ language competition, especially in streamlining language switching, a cognitive process critical for interpreting students engaging daily with dual languages

The onset of English lexical acquisition among Malaysian preschoolers

English is undoubtedly an important language for educational and socioeconomic mobility in numerous countries including Malaysia. Regardless of its importance, studies to document English language acquisition among Malaysian children acquiring English in the local context remain scarce. This normative data is imperative for syllabus-designers, policymakers, teachers and linguists to understand and to develop materials that are developmentally sensitive and contextualised to the local setting. Thus, the objective of this paper is to present the onset of English lexical acquisition among 99 Malaysian preschoolers at the beginning of formal instruction. The 99 children were pupils in 3 public preschools in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The children’s language production was elicited in individual communicative tasks. Their lexical output, both in English and Malay were analysed based on the children’s language choice during the session as well as the frequencies of types and tokens. The results indicate that Malaysian preschoolers displayed a limited range of productive abilities and age-sensitive vocabulary in English at the beginning of formal instruction. However, at that point, the children already possess receptive skills greater than their productive skills. Based on the findings, implications for pedagogy are also discussed

Bilingualism and environment: from childhood to adulthood

The talk explores the relationship between how children acquire several languages and their linguistic environmental factors

A case study on the acquisition of plurality in a bilingual Malay-English context-bound child

The early development of simultaneous bilinguals has been at the core of heated controversy since the mid-seventies. The Unitary Language System Hypothesis by Volterra and Taeschner saw early development as a single language system gradually diverging into two systems. On the contrary, Meisel (1989), De Houwer (1990) and Paradis and Genesee (1996) suggested the early separation of two linguistic systems. Neither position, however, considered language environmental conditions constraining development as key variables. This paper aims to show that the predominant environmental languages to which the Malay-English bilingual child in the current study was alternately exposed might have played an important role in shaping the child’s acquisition of plurality in each language. Throughout the period of investigation (from age 3;4 to 3;10 and at 4;8) the child’s interactions were regularly audio and video recorded. The current study focuses on the development of plural marking in a simultaneous Malay-English bilingual child. Interestingly, at a point when English was environmentally predominant, the child would occasionally use the English plural suffix -s on Malay nouns. After moving back to Malaysia, the child used reduplication to mark plurals in both languages. The findings of this study indicate that the predominant linguistic environment in which the child grows and develops plays an important role in shaping the child’s language production

Towards a new framework of English language learning in Malaysian preschools

At the preschool level in Malaysia, all preschools, including those from public and private sectors are required to follow the guidelines stated in the National Preschool Standard-based Curriculum (NPSC) issued by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in 2017. However, the NPSC is very general and schools are not provided with any further guidance on the program, which leads to some preschools, mainly private ones, to supplement their curriculum by subscribing to various private education franchisors available on the market. There seems to be a need to propose improvements to current curriculum practices. It is proposed that this is best done by investigating the theoretical foundations of language learning. In particular, this paper discusses Pienemann‟s Processability Theory (1998, 2005) and elaborates on the Developmentally Moderated Focus-on-Form instruction (DMFonF) (Di Biase, 2002,2008). It proposes the development of a new model of English language learning based on the latter leading towards a new framework aiming to assist teachers, linguists and syllabus-designers to create a developmentally moderated English curriculum

The development of plural expressions in a Malay-English bilingual child

In a postcolonial country such as Malaysia, English plays an important role in governance, education and popular culture. With English now becoming the lingua franca of the globalised world, many Malaysian urban families use English to speak to their children at home, in conjunction with the Malay language or other ethnic languages. Recognising the important relationship between the two languages, this paper investigates early bilingual development of Malay and English focusing specifically on the development of plural marking in a child raised simultaneously in these typologically distant languages. These two languages express plurals differently: Malay through various forms of reduplication and English by morphological marking on nouns. But how does the child manage to learn, simultaneously, such divergent systems? In order to shed some light on this question, a bilingual child growing up in these two languages was audio- and video- recorded in each language over 6 months, that is from 3 years 4 months (3;4) to 3 years 10 months (3;10). Results suggest that though the child appeared to develop two distinct systems of plurality in Malay and English, the two developing systems also manifested considerable cross-linguistic influence in both directions. Implications for the study of world Englishes are discussed

Exploring the effectiveness of DMFonF on English vocabulary and grammatical plural constructions among Malaysian preschoolers

This study explores the effectiveness of a novel second language instruction approach in a Malaysian preschool context. This approach is called Developmentally Moderated Focus-on-Form (DMFonF), an instructional intervention that integrates a communicative approach to second language teaching with a ‘focus on form’ and a psycholinguistic theory of second language development, the Processability Theory. In this study, the development of six Malaysian preschool children (mean age =5.6) were investigated in a 10-week longitudinal study. Three children in the group received DMFonF in their English lessons and the other three children received no intervention. Data collection sessions were conducted at three different points over the 10 weeks to evaluate the children’s English development. The first data collection point, a pre-test, was conducted physically before the DMFonF intervention to establish the lexical and grammatical baseline of the children’s English development. The second data collection was conducted online after the first set of six face-to-face lessons with DMFonF. The third and final data set was also collected online after the completion of the second set of four online lessons. Results show that the children who received DMFonF instruction acquired English lexical and grammatical plural constructions, specifically the plural suffix -s and the plural noun phrase agreement (i.e., numeral quantifiers+ noun+ suffix-s) as taught in the DMFonF lessons; the children in the control group, however, acquired English lexical items but their grammatical skills did not change. The outcome of this study suggests that DMFonF is effective in triggering grammatical development and in further facilitating the learners’ lexical acquisition

Adipokines and coronary artery disease

Adipose tissue, besides being an important energetic storage, is also a source of cytokines and hormones which act in a paracrine, autocrine and especially endocrine manner, influencing the cardiometabolic axis. Adipokines are a group of mediators with pleiotropic function, that are involved in many physiological processes, so that a disregulation in their secretion can lead to multiple pathological conditions. In this review our aim was to clarify the role of adipokines in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, especially in coronary artery disease, and based on current scientific evidence, to analyze the therapeutic and behavioral strategies that are so far available