Showing papers in "Applied Linguistics in 1998"

Metacognitive knowledge and language learning

Abstract: Dating back to the early 80s, the FL/SL literature on learner strategies and on self-directed language learning documents an ongoing recognition of the need to help language leamers reflect upon and refine their beliefs and knowledge about learning, i.e. their metacognitive knowledge. To date, however, this literature has not been explicit about the function of this knowledge in language learning. This article reviews selected theoretical and research literature on metacognition to address this lack. It argues that insights provided by the review can enhance our understanding of those approaches to second language acquisition which assign an active role to the learner, and concludes with a consideration of practical implications for foreign and second language instruction.

The development of passive and active vocabulary in a second language : Same or different ?

Abstract: The study investigates the gains m three types of English as a Foreign Language vocabulary knowledge, passive, 'controlled active' and free active, in one year of school instruction It also examines how these aspects of lexical knowledge are related to one another,and what changes occur in these relauonships after one year Gains in vocabulary were measured by comparing two groups of learners with six and seven years of instruction Relauonships among the three areas of knowledge were invesngated by comparing them within the same individuals The results show that passive vocabulary size (as measured by Vocabulary Levels Test) progressed very well, controlled acttve vocabulary (as measured by the productive version of the Levels Test) progressed too but less than the passive Free acuve vocabulary (as measured by Lexical Frequency Profile) did not progress at all Passive vocabulary size was larger than controlled acuve in both groups of subjects, but the gap between the two types of knowledge increased in the more advanced group Passive and controlled acuve size scores correlated with each other well Free active vocabulary, on the other hand, did not correlate with the other two types The results raise several questions about the nature of vocabulary knowledge and the effect of instruction on vocabulary growth

Phraseology and Second Language Proficiency

Abstract: It is now generally accepted that advanced learners of English need to have command of a wide range of complex lexical units, which are for a native speaker processed as prefabricated chunks, fixed, or semi-fixed expressions. However, although there has been an increasing amount written about the role of phraseology in second language acquisition, there remains a lack of detailed description of learners' phraseological performance as the basis for understanding how phraseological competence develops. This paper addresses certain current issues in the description of collocations in English, and, in discussing the major approaches to the linguistic description of prefabricated language, the need for detailed categorization is emphasized, particularly for those interested in the development of this component of proficiency in a second language. Data is presented from native speaker language use, illustrating what can be revealed by one such descriptive model. Finally, the findings of a number of studies of native and non-native academic writing in English are discussed

A Classroom Perspective on the Negotiation of Meaning.

Abstract: It is widely argued that engaging in communicative language tasks helps a learner develop in an L2 in several ways. Tasks provide an opportunity not only to produce the target language, but also, through conversational adjustments, to manipulate and modify it. Checking and clarifying problem utterances ('negotiating for meaning') ensures that task participants receive comprehensible input and generate comprehensible output, both of which have been claimed as crucial to second language acquisition (SLA). Task type is considered significant, with those tasks requiring an exchange of information most likely to prompt negotiations for meaning. This paper reports a classroom observation of the language produced by intermediate EFL students engaged in required and optional information exchange tasks in both dyads and small groups. The results show no clear overall effect for task type or grouping, though there was a discernible trend for dyads doing a two-way task to produce more negotiated interaction. However, it was noticeable that many students in the small groups did not speak at all, many more in both dyads and small groups did not initiate any negotiated interaction, and very few students in either setting produced any modified utterances. Such positive results as were obtained seemed to be due to the disproportionate influence of a small number of the students, and so were not typical of the group as a whole. The setting of the study within a classroom, as opposed to a venue especially arranged for data collecting, is suggested as a significant variable, with important implications for group work research methodology. It is also suggested, contrary to much SLA theorizing, that 'negotiating for meaning' is not a strategy that language learners are predisposed to employ when they encounter gaps in their understanding

Language switches in L3 production : Implications for a polyglot speaking model

Abstract: In general, discussion of cross-linguistic influence has focussed almost exclusively on the role of L1 in L2 production, both in the form of cross-linguistic influence on the learner's interlanguage and in the form of language switches to the L1 during L2 production. As yet, there has been little work done on the influence of a learner's other previously learned L2s in the acquisition of a new language (L3). The few studies that have been been carried out on the role of L2 in L3 production however show that L2 does play an important role in L3 acquisition. This paper presents the results of ongoing research on non-adapted language switches, using data from a two-year longitudinal case study of an adult learner of L3 Swedish with L1 English and L2 German. Our study is based on 844 non-adapted language switches. We identified four main types of switch, three of which had pragmatic purpose, namely: (i) EDIT (marking self-repair, beginning of turntake etc.), (ii) META (used for asides, to comment on L3 performance or ask for help) and (iii) INSERT (use of non-L3 items to overcome lexical problems in L3), and the last of which we refer to as Without Identified Pragmatic Purpose (WIPP switch; cf. 'non-intentional switches', Poulisse and Bongaerts 1994). We found that while L1 English prevailed in EDIT, META and INSERT functions, almost only L2 German occurred in WIPP switches. Most of these WIPP switches were function words. We also noticed that a number of the English utterances used in INSERT function appeared to show German influence, although this was not the case when English was used in META function. Our results show that in this case study of L3 acquisition, L1 and L2 play different roles. We suggest that L2 German, which was shown to be the non-L3 language predominantly used to supply material for lexical construction attempts in the L3 (Williams and Hammarberg 1994), is activated in parallel to the L3 interlanguage, underlying L3 production and even L1 producti

Lexical Inventions: French Interlanguage as L2 versus L3

Abstract: The usual source of crosslinguistic influence in the interlanguage of a person learning a first foreign language (L2) is quite obviously his/her L1. Pinpointing the source of crosslinguistic influences in the interlanguage of a multilingual speaker is less straightforward. The main source of crosslinguistic influence in the L3 of a speaker is not automatically, as the present study shows, the L1 of the speaker. This paper investigates this phenomenon in the context of non-target-like lexemes (‘lexical inventions’) in the advanced oral French interlanguage of 39 Dutch L1 speakers, 32 of whom had French as an L2 and English as an L3, the remaining 7 speakers having English as an L2 and French as an L3. Our results show that a higher proportion of lexical inventions produced by the French L2 speakers derive from creative (non-standard) use of target language rules compared to the French L3 speakers. Crosslinguistic influence is visible in the lexical inventions of both groups, but the French L2 speakers seem to rely more on information attached to their Dutch L1 lemmas, whereas the French L3 speakers draw more on their English L2 lemmas. This suggests principles blocking L1 transfer in L3 learners in terms of spreading activation (cf Green 1986, Poulisse and Bongaerts 1994)

What Effects Do Text-based Tasks Promoting Generation Have on Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition?

Abstract: A large proportion of vocabulary is acquired incidentally from written contexts However, in text-based studies promoting generaUve processing, it is not dear if, or to what extent, generation influences incidental vocabulary learning This study examined the effects of text-based tasks and background knowledge (pnor vocabulary knowledge and a disposiuon to use generative learning tactics when tackling new vocabulary) on incidental vocabulary acquisition Fortyeight adult ESL learners were randomly assigned to one of three treatments (a) reading and retelling a text with explicit generative training and without access to the text during recall, (b) reading and retelling a text without explicit generative training but with access to the text during recall, and (c) neither reading nor retelling a text All subjects sat a pre-test (individual interviews and a read and retell task) and post-tests (individual interviews and two mukiplechoice tests) designed to tap partial vocabulary knowledge gams Results indicated that the process of reading and retelling a text promotes incidental vocabulary learning and that generative processing enhances vocabulary learning with greater levels of generative processing leading to greater vocabulary gams for unknown words

Bottom-up or Top-down Processing as a Discriminator of L2 Listening Performance

Abstract: Studies in reading comprehension and listening comprehension have investigated the processing skills used by skilled and less-skilled readers/listeners. Some of these studies observe that skilled readers/listeners are those who are better able to engage in top-down processing whereas others maintain that they are better able to engage in bottom-up processing. This study investigates the kind of processing skill that is more important in discriminating the performance of L2 learners on listening test items in large-scale public examinations in Hong Kong over a period of seven years. Two variables were investigated: the schema type of the aural text and the question type. Two types of schema were identified: the first type is referred to as the 'non-matching' schema type in which the schema activated by the initial linguistic input is not congruent with the subsequent linguistic input. Candidates need to be able to process the incoming linguistic cues rapidly and accurately, and to revise their developing schema accordingly in order to get the correct answer. The second type is referred to as the 'matching' schema type in which the schema activated by the initial linguistic input is congruent with the subsequent linguistic input. Hence candidates could rely on top-down processing to get the correct answer. Two types of questions were also identified. The first type is 'global' questions which required candidates to understand the text as a whole and to draw conclusions or inferences. Hence, candidates need to process all the key linguistic cues rapidly and accurately in order to get the correct answer. The second type is 'local' questions which only required candidates to pick out specific details. Hence, even if candidates failed to process some linguistic cues, they would still be able to get the correct answer. The mean criterion scores for the correct answers, which indicate the performance of the candidates who chose these answers in the entire paper, were compa

Assessing the Impact of Peer Revision on L2 Writing

Abstract: This study sought to investigate the impact of peer revision on writers' final drafts in two rhetorical modes, narration and persuasion, among 14 Spanish-speaking ESL college students. Two questions were addressed: (1) How were revisions made in peer sessions incorporated by writers in their final versions? (2) How were troublesources revised according to different language aspects (content, organization, vocabulary, grammar, and mechanics)? An analysis of audiotaped interactions, first drafts, and final drafts revealed that 74 per cent of revisions made in the peer sessions were incorporated. In addition, writers made many further and self revisions after the sessions. These revisions suggest a pattern of behavior conducive to self-regulation among writers. Results also show that students focused equally on grammar and content when revising in the narrative mode and predominantly on grammar in the persuasive mode. Organization was the least attended aspect in either mode. Only 7 per cent of false repairs were found overall. The study suggests that peer assistance can help L2 intermediate learners realize their potential for effective revision, to the extent their linguistic abilities permit. It is the authors' belief that peer revision should be seen as an important complementary source of feedback in the ESL classroom.

What Develops in the Development of Second-Language Writing?.

Abstract: Counts of register features have produced useful data on varieties of written English and on differences between writers of differing writing and language proficiency. This article reports an attempt to extend this procedure to an evaluation of the same foreign-language writers at two different stages. It shows that the procedure can differentiate the products of developing writers at two relatively close points in time, and that a more detailed examination of significant changes can be revealing about patterns of learning. The major changes were from features of spoken English to those more typical of formal writing, both in surface detail and in more fundamental characteristics. There was less change in complexity of construction or variety of vocabulary. Improved correctness in the structures used was balanced by errors in new structures being attempted. The subjects had been discriminating in their acceptance of academic style and actively sensitive to genre and other requirements.

Between Speaking and Listening: The Vocalisation of Understandings1

Abstract: In the teaching of listening in language pedagogy, there has been a tendency either to treat this skill as discrete from speaking, particularly as extended texts to be responded to after hearing them, or to focus on speaking rather than listening in the teaching of conversational skills. This paper argues that there are some important aspects of listening as an interactive skill that have been largely neglected. Amongst these are what have been characterised in the literature as backchannels (Yngve 1970), minimal response (e.g. Coates 1986) or receipt tokens (e.g. Heritage 1984a), and include items such as Yeah, Oh, Right, and Great. Such vocalisations produced by those in primarily listening roles at any particular moment in spoken interaction provide information to a primary speaker about how their contributions have been understood, and can have a crucial influence on the trajectory of talk. This paper argues that such items might profitably be taught as part of the development of conversational skills, and provides a characterisation of three of them, Yeah, Mm hm and Mm, to illustrate some of their characteristics in terms of placement in sequences of talk, prosodic shape, pause environment and speakership incipiency. Some comments on pedagogical implications are made.

Consider this: The role of imperatives in scholarly writing

Abstract: There have been numerous investigations in recent years into the linguistic and rhetorical features of research articles, but none, to our knowledge, has examined the 'fringe phenomenon' of imperatives This study investigates the use of imperatives in research articles from ten disciplines Five articles in each field, all five from one journal, were scanned for imperative uses in both main text and notes, and instances were collated and analysed In fields where imperatives were present in the main text (five out of ten), we recorded interviews with the authors of one of the articles Results show that main-text imperatives tend to congregate in sections where the principal argumentation occurs, but are very unevenly distributed across fields The interview data also reveals that, despite the potentially face-threatening nature of imperatives, authors use them for vanous strategic purposes such as engaging the reader, achieving text economy, or manifesting personal style Finally, there appear to be a number of field-specific expectations and conventions Given these subtleties, a case can be made for rather more sophisticated materials for NNS researchers and students than currently available.

May I See Your Warrant, Please?: Justifying Outcomes in Qualitative Research

Abstract: Despite both resistance from the dominant orthodoxy and complications caused by the competing claims of new paradigm diversity, there is a pressing need for TESOL researchers to engage productively with the richness of intellectual opportunity currently available in the human sciences. There are three possible avenues of growth: to extend conventional research parameters; to align one's work with a recognized radical alternative; to develop an individual stance. Any effective response must address questions of position (the research tradition in terms of which one wishes to be evaluated), voice (in terms of who is given space to speak) and representation (the form of discourse chosen). Taken together, these form the basis of legitimization (in terms of disputable argument) and authentication (in terms of contextualized credibility). They are, therefore, fundamental to the provision of adequate warrant for the research in which TESOL needs to be involved. This question of what constitutes a warrant is the central issue.

Lexical knowledge in L1 and L2 of third and fifth graders

Abstract: Lexical knowledge is an important predictor of school success. The present study focuses on aspects of the lexical knowledge of bilingual children in both their Ll and L2. It not only compares the amount of knowledge they have but also deals with qualitative aspects of their lexical knowledge. Data were obtained from 40 bilingual Turkish-Dutch children (9- and 11-year-olds) living in the Netherlands. These children were asked to explain the meaning of some common Dutch and Turkish nouns in an extended word definition task. The meaning aspects the children mentioned in their responses were analysed according to a classification scheme (cf. Verhallen and Schoonen 1993). It turns out that there are important differences between the available lexical knowledge in Ll and L2: children allot to Ll words less extensive and less varied meaning aspects than to L2 words, L2 being the language of education. These findings are added to earlier findings that the L2 knowledge of bilingual Turkish children lags behind that of monolingual Dutch children. The overall conclusion is that the L1 knowledge of the bilingual children cannot counterbalance their poor lexical knowledge in L2. Some educational implications are discussed.

Nonverbal Expression and L2 Private Speech

Abstract: This study investigated the relationship between nonverbal forms of expression, principally gestures, and L2 private speech (vocalized forms of speech for the self that function metacognitively to help the learner plan, guide, and monitor a course of activity) through the use of both a recall and picture narration task. Nonverbal elements were found to illuminate the private speech they accompanied; moreover, gestures were found in and of themselves, that is, with no verbalization, to act in a self-regulatory capacity after brief pauses, implying a possible connection to inner speech. The study also suggests possible cross-cultural and proficiency differences for the use of self-regulatory nonverbal forms. Overall, a strong connection between cognition and affective/volitional concerns is brought out: learners' strategic efforts are demonstrated to be of an embodied nature

Verbs Observed: A Corpus-Driven Pedagogic Grammar.

Abstract: This paper describes the outcome of a project to code the complementation patterns of all the verbs in Collins COBUILD English Dictionary (1995) COBUILD stands for 'Collins and Birmingham University International Language Database' The coding is based on the Bank of English corpus at COBUILD and uses a simple notation based on words and word-classes rather than traditional functional categories The result of this exercise is a list of verb patterns, with a complete list of all the verbs in a corpus of 250 million words that have each pattern It is found that the verbs that share a pattern fall into groups based on meaning This grammar is the first pedagogic grammar to integrate syntax and lexis using corpus data The grammar is used to explore traditional grammatical categories such as Object, Complement, etc These are found to be inadequate to account for the actual behaviour of verbs Finally, the paper explores the possibility of using a pattern grammar to analyse naturally-occurring discourse

Effect of rejoinders in production questionnaires

Abstract: Validation of data collection instruments must be a primary research concern in any subfield of applied linguistics. Such concerns are particularly urgent when the collected material is inherently context-sensitive. In interlanguage pragmatics research, the most frequently used instrument for data collection is some form of production questionnaire (PQ). While some studies have been conducted on the validity of PQs as compared to authentic and other types of elicited data, little is known on the effect of different PQ formats. This study investigates the effect of three types of rejoinder-positive, negative, or absent-on non-native and native informants' choices of strategies to perform complaints, requests, and apologies. Results show that strategy choice is differentially affected by rejoinder type. This suggests that findings from studies using different PQ formats may not be comparable, and that different data types and further validation studies are strongly needed.

Native speaker vs. L2 learner grammaticality judgements

Abstract: Although many SLA syntax studies have used non-native speaker (NNS) grammaticality judgements, what underlies NNS grammaticality judgements has recently come under increasing scrutiny. Some researchers (Ellis 1991, Goss et al. 1994), using speak-aloud protocols and oral group work, have presented evidence that indicates NNSs use very different strategies in making decisions about the grammaticality of particular sentences than do native speakers (NSs) of the same language. NNSs' use of strategies such as guessing, operationalizing learned rules, translation, and analogy calls into question whether or not their grammaticality judgements are a reliable indicator of their operational grammar. However, heretofore oral protocol data have not been available for NS grammaticality judgements. In this paper we report on an experiment comparing group oral protocols of native English-speaking subjects enrolled in a 4th semester college French course making grammaticality judgements in English and French. Results indicate that the subjects do not necessarily use the same strategies in rendering grammaticality judgements in L1 and L2, thereby casting doubt on theoretical claims based on data elicited through L2 grammaticality judgements.

Self-Instruction and Success: A Learner-Profile Study

Abstract: Interviews of 70 British adult learners with experience of self-instruction in a range of foreign languages generated profiles of language experience at learner and at self-instructed language-token level. Multivariate analysis showed: clear separation between languages with and without self-instruction; the most effective learning route appears to be starting with classwork, but adding or going over to self-instruction at a later stage; ab initio self-instruction results in low command and high dropout, but may meet modest, short-term learner needs. Sense of success, however, seemed to be based more on self-image than on external achievement; and L1-L2 cognacy appeared to have little effect on achievement.