The role of inter- and intralingual factors and compendiums in acquisition of Swedish as a foreign language: the case of Finns learning definiteness and the use of articles
TL;DR: This paper explored the acquisition of definiteness and article use in written Swedish by Finnish-speaking teenagers (n=67) during the three years in secondary school and found that the most central types of NPs build an acquisition explainable by a complexity hierarchy between the different types of nouns.
Abstract: This study explores the acquisition of definiteness and article use in written Swedish by Finnish-speaking teenagers (n=67) during the three years in secondary school The studied grammatical phenomena are problematic for all L2 learners of Swedish and are especially difficult for learners, such as Finns, whose L1 lacks expressive definiteness morphologically The informants produce complex NPs already in their first narratives The form of NPs poses significantly more problems than the choice of a correct form of definiteness Hence, it is possible that previous knowledge in English helps informants in the choice of definiteness The common nominator for problematic expressions is simplification, in both formal aspects and in the relation between form and meaning Previous research in Sweden has made similar findings The most central types of NPs build an acquisition explainable by a complexity hierarchy between the different types of NPs The informants master best NPs without definiteness markers Definite singulars containing an ending are significantly easier than indefinite singulars, the indefinite article of which is notoriously difficult for Finns learning Swedish as an L2 This acquisition order, however, profoundly differs from the traditional order of instruction of their compendiums
TL;DR: Second language acquisition research has been extensively studied in the literature as discussed by the authors, with a focus on second language acquisition in the context of English as a Second Language Learning (ESL) programs.
Abstract: Acknowledgements Introduction PART ONE - BACKGROUND Introduction 1. Second language acquisition research: an overview PART TWO - THE DESCRIPTION OF LEARNER LANGUAGE Introduction 2. Learner errors and error analysis 3. Developmental patterns: order and sequence in second language acquisition 4. Variability in learner language 5. Pragmatic aspects of learner language PART THREE - EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: EXTERNAL FACTORS Introduction 6. Social factors and second language acquisition 7. Input and interaction and second language acquisition PART FOUR - EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: INTERNAL FACTORS Introduction 8. Language transfer 9. Cognitive accounts of second language acquisition 10. Linguistic universals and second language acquisition PART FIVE - EXPLAINING INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Introduction 11. Individual learner differences 12. Learning strategies PART SIX - CLASSROOM SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Introduction 13. Classroom interaction and second language acquisition 14. Formal instruction and second language acquisition PART SEVEN - CONCLUSION Introduction 15. Data, theory, and applications in second language acquisition research Glossary Bibliography Author index Subject index
TL;DR: This paper analyzed definiteness and article use in spontaneous writing in Swedish by 15-year-old Finnish immersion students and compared their performance with that of non-immersion students at the same age (n = 67).
Abstract: There are two primary goals for this study – first, to analyse definiteness and article use in spontaneous writing in Swedish by 15-year-old Finnish immersion students (n = 162) and secondly, to compare their performance with that of non-immersion students at the same age (n = 67). Analyses at the group level show that immersion students usually perform significantly better than the control group, but they also reveal similar problems to what L2-Swedish non-immersion students have demonstrated in previous studies, such as omission of indefinite articles and difficulty in choosing the right definite form of the noun. Still, these inaccuracies occurred less often in the data from the immersion students. The studied constructions also show at the group level an acquisition order similar to that reported in previous studies, explainable by different aspects of complexity and cross-linguistic influence. Analyses on the individual level, however, show different acquisition orders depending on the criteria being used.
TL;DR: A memorial publication for Elsie Wijk-Andersson is presented in this paper. But it does not specify the authorship of the demonstrative in different languages, and it is only available in Swedish.
Abstract: Denna – den har – den dar. Om demonstrativer i tvarspraklig belysning. En minnesskrift till Elsie Wijk-Andersson (This – this one – that one. On demonstratives in different languages. A memorial publication for Elsie Wijk-Andersson).
TL;DR: Second language acquisition research has been extensively studied in the literature as discussed by the authors, with a focus on second language acquisition in the context of English as a Second Language Learning (ESL) programs.
Abstract: Acknowledgements Introduction PART ONE - BACKGROUND Introduction 1. Second language acquisition research: an overview PART TWO - THE DESCRIPTION OF LEARNER LANGUAGE Introduction 2. Learner errors and error analysis 3. Developmental patterns: order and sequence in second language acquisition 4. Variability in learner language 5. Pragmatic aspects of learner language PART THREE - EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: EXTERNAL FACTORS Introduction 6. Social factors and second language acquisition 7. Input and interaction and second language acquisition PART FOUR - EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION: INTERNAL FACTORS Introduction 8. Language transfer 9. Cognitive accounts of second language acquisition 10. Linguistic universals and second language acquisition PART FIVE - EXPLAINING INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Introduction 11. Individual learner differences 12. Learning strategies PART SIX - CLASSROOM SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Introduction 13. Classroom interaction and second language acquisition 14. Formal instruction and second language acquisition PART SEVEN - CONCLUSION Introduction 15. Data, theory, and applications in second language acquisition research Glossary Bibliography Author index Subject index
TL;DR: In this article, Willem "Pim" Levelt, Director of the Max-Planck Institute for Psycholinguistik, accomplishes the formidable task of covering the entire process of speech production from constraints on conversational appropriateness to articulation and self-monitoring of speech.
Abstract: In Speaking, Willem "Pim" Levelt, Director of the Max-Planck-Institut fur Psycholinguistik, accomplishes the formidable task of covering the entire process of speech production, from constraints on conversational appropriateness to articulation and self-monitoring of speech. Speaking is unique in its balanced coverage of all major aspects of the production of speech, in the completeness of its treatment of the entire speech process, and in its strategy of exemplifying rather than formalizing theoretical issues.
TL;DR: This article studied the early stages of grammatical constructions and the meanings they convey in pre-school children and found that the order of their acquisition is almost identical across children and is predicted by their relative semantic and grammatical complexity.
Abstract: For many years, Roger Brown and his colleagues have studied the developing language of pre-school children--the language that ultimately will permit them to understand themselves and the world around them. This longitudinal research project records the conversational performances of three children, studying both semantic and grammatical aspects of their language development. These core findings are related to recent work in psychology and linguistics--and especially to studies of the acquisition of languages other than English, including Finnish, German, Korean, and Samoan. Roger Brown has written the most exhaustive and searching analysis yet undertaken of the early stages of grammatical constructions and the meanings they convey. The five stages of linguistic development Brown establishes are measured not by chronological age-since children vary greatly in the speed at which their speech develops--but by mean length of utterance. This volume treats the first two stages. Stage I is the threshold of syntax, when children begin to combine words to make sentences. These sentences, Brown shows, are always limited to the same small set of semantic relations: nomination, recurrence, disappearance, attribution, possession, agency, and a few others. Stage II is concerned with the modulations of basic structural meanings--modulations for number, time, aspect, specificity--through the gradual acquisition of grammatical morphemes such as inflections, prepositions, articles, and case markers. Fourteen morphemes are studied in depth and it is shown that the order of their acquisition is almost identical across children and is predicted by their relative semantic and grammaticalcomplexity. It is, ultimately, the intent of this work to focus on the nature and development of knowledge: knowledge concerning grammar and the meanings coded by grammar; knowledge inferred from performance, from sentences and the settings in which they are spoken, and from signs of comprehension or incomprehension of sentences.
4,302 citations
"The role of inter- and intralingual..." refers background in this paper
..., high accuracy equals early acquisition (Brown 1973)....
[...]
...Research on acquisition order has its roots in morpheme studies (e.g.,
Dulay and Burt 1973, 1974) where the morphemes were ordered with their
accuracy as a starting point, i.e., high accuracy equals early acquisition (Brown
1973)....
TL;DR: This review concludes that the current state of second language acquisition in the United States is likely to be worse than in previous years, due to the combination of language barriers and the high level of adoption of English as a second language.
Abstract: W.C. Ritchie and T.K. Bhatia, Second Language Acquisition: Introduction, Foundations, and Overview. Research and Theoretical Issues in Second Language Acquisition: K.R. Gregg, The Logical and Developmental Problems of Second Language Acquisition. Issues of Maturation and Modularity in Second Language Acquisition: L. White, Universal Grammar and Second Language Acquisition: Current Trends and New Directions. S. Flynn, A Parameter-Setting Approach to Second Language Acquisition. J. Schachter, Maturation and the Issue of Universal Grammar in Second Language Acquisition. F.R. Eckman, A Functional-Typological Approach to Second Language Acquisition Theory. B. McLaughlin and R. Heredia, Information-Processing Approaches to Research on Second Language Acquisition and Use. D. Preston, Variationist Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition. Second Language Speech and the Influence of the First Language: J. Leather and A. James, Second Language Speech. S. Gass, Second Language Acquisition and Linguistic Theory: The Role of Language Transfer. Research Methodology and Applications: D. Nunan, Issues in Second Language Acquisition Research: Examining Substance and Procedure. A. Sorace, The Use of Acceptability Judgments in Second Language Acquisition Research. Modality and the Linguistic Environment in Second Language Acquisition: M.H. Long, The Role of the Linguistic Environment in Second Language Acquisition. G.P. Berent, The Acquisition of English Syntax by Deaf Learners. The Neuropsychology of Second Language Acquisition and Use: L.K. Obler and S. Hannigan, Neurolinguistics of Second Language Acquisition and Use. Language Contact and its Consequences: R.W. Anderson and Y. Shirai, The Primacy of Aspect in First and Second Language Acquisition: The Pidgin-Creole Connection. S. Romaine, Bilingualism. H.W. Seliger, Primary Language Attrition in the Context of Bilingualism. T.K. Bhatia and W.C. Ritchie, Bilingual Language Mixing, Universal Grammar, and Second Language Acquisition. Glossary. Author Index. Subject Index.
1,932 citations
"The role of inter- and intralingual..." refers background in this paper
...…makes it difficult to draw conclusions from the
input, especially if the learners’ L1 lacks them (see Interlingual factors above): a
learner might completely gloss over a grammatical feature not occurring in
his/her L1, which results in omission (Jarvis and Odlin 2000; Odlin 2003;
Ringbom 1992)....
[...]
...Finnish grammatical elements do not occur in the learners’production,
either: the influence from Finnish manifests itself indirectly, particularly in
omission of elements that seem irrelevant from the Finnish point of view (Jarvis
and Odlin 2000: 549–550; Odlin 2003: 440; Ringbom 1992: 105)....