1,721,014 research outputs found
Crosslinguistic influence in L3 acquisition across linguistic modules
Full text linkIn this study, we investigated crosslinguistic influence (CLI) at developmental stages of third language (L3) acquisition of English by Russian–Norwegian children (N = 31). We tested seven linguistic properties within three linguistic modules (morphology, syntax and syntax-semantics). We compared the L3 learners to Norwegian (N = 90) and Russian (N = 74) second language (L2) learners of English. We predicted simultaneous facilitative and non-facilitative CLI in the L3 group within all modules, as the previously acquired languages offered conflicting options. Our predictions were partly supported. On one property, the L3 learners were different from both L2 groups, which is in line with cumulative CLI from both previously acquired languages. On four conditions, the L3 learners performed like the more accurate L2 group, indicating facilitative influence. On two conditions, all groups performed alike, showing high rates of accuracy. Taken together, the results indicate that CLI obtains on a property-by-property basis, with none of the L1s being the sole or primary source of CLI. Finally, we found CLI in all linguistic domains, but the developmental slopes for the properties were not equal, which suggests that factors such as complexity and saliency needs to be taken into account when we compare CLI.</p
Investigating the Beliefs on English Grammar Instruction among Norwegian Students and Teachers in High School. The beliefs of Norwegian L2 learners of English on grammar instruction, and the correlation between grammar knowledge and learner beliefs
Full text linkThe objectives of the present study were to gain insight into the beliefs of high-level English second language (ESL) students and teachers from a Norwegian high school on grammar instruction as well as to investigate if grammar knowledge had an influence on these beliefs. To do this, a questionnaire was designed to measure the participants’ preferred grammar instructional method out of the four construct pairs: meaning- versus form-focused instruction, focus on form (FonF) versus focus on forms (FonFs), implicit versus explicit instruction, and inductive versus deductive instruction. Additionally, I tested the participants’ grammar knowledge and proficiency in English by having them complete a proficiency test and a grammaticality judgement test. After analysing the data from the proficiency and grammaticality judgement test, the students were divided into two groups: The high scoring group (those who scored above the mean score in both tests) and The low scoring group (those who scored under the mean score in both tests). Overall, the participants in the high scoring group showed a preference for meaning-focused and inductive instructional approaches (as did the teachers) and the participants in the low scoring group reported to prefer focus on form and deductive instructional approaches. What this suggests is that there is in fact a correlation between grammar knowledge and one’s instructional method preference
STUDY OF THE BOTTLENECK HYPOTHESIS IN L2 ACQUISITION: The acquisition of functional morphology and syntax by Persian L2 learners of English
Full text linkThe current study tried to test the Slabakova’s Bottleneck Hypothesis which claims that “functional morphology is the bottleneck of the SLA” (Slabakova, 2006, 2008, 2013). A total of 44 participants in 3 groups answered three kinds of questions including Proficiency Test, GJT, and Background questionnaire. Subject-verb agreement and past tense -ed were selected to test functional morphology while two declarative sentences including subject initial and non-subject initial sentences were chosen to test the word order. The correlation of language proficiency, age, length of exposure with the Judgment Test also involved in the analysis. The results fully support the Bottleneck Hypothesis even though one of the morphological conditions had a high mean score in the Judgment Test. Subject-verb agreement (third-person singular -s) has been the most difficult conditions. Past tense -ed, non-subject initial sentences, and subject initial sentences were in the hierarchy of the difficulty respectively
Explicit grammar instruction in the L2 classroom. Issues in teaching and learning English word order
Full text linkIn this thesis, I investigate the effect of explicit instruction on the acquisition of word order in declarative sentences with adverbs in the medial position and topicalised declaratives. Both constructions are shown to be problematic for Norwegian learners of English because of negative influence from Norwegian, which uses the V2 rule in the two structures. The study consists of a grammaticality judgment pre- and posttest and an intervention. The intervention focuses on explicit word order teaching, exposure to positive and negative evidence, as well as error correction. The thesis investigates techniques appropriate to teach problematic sentence structures and to investigate their effectiveness in the classroom.
The results of the intervention show that the participants improve the most with detecting ungrammaticality. This is especially clear for the lower proficiency learners. I can thus conclude that the intervention has a positive effect on learning word order in the L2 English classroom. At the same time the results of the present study reveal that many of the participants has high language proficiency and near-target like knowledge of word order from the start. Therefore the intervention does not reveal significant improvement in the higher proficiency learners
Bilingual vocabulary acquisition A corpus-based case study
Full text linkA bilingual learning two languages from birth seems to follow the same developmental trajectory as that of a monolingual. However, within vocabulary acquisition persistent and significant differences have been found between bilingual and monolinguals when the languages of bilinguals are compared separately to monolinguals’ level. The domain specific nature of a bilingual’s vocabularies is an important characteristic in understanding this difference, but also when investigating a bilingual’s vocabulary acquisition. The role of context in which a bilingual acquires his or her languages is crucial to the aspect of domain specificity. An important theory here is the Complementarity Principle, emphasizing how different domains in life require different languages and that the vocabularies and proficiencies of a bilingual’s languages will develop thereafter. This theory has mostly been investigated in adult bilingualism.
This study examines the English and Norwegian vocabularies of a 2-year-old bilingual girl, Emma. Emma is growing up in northern Norway and has acquired Norwegian and English from birth. The thesis uses corpus data collected between the ages of 2;7-2;11 to examine the expressive lexical characteristics of Emma’s vocabularies. Emma is a relatively balanced bilingual, with an asymmetrical code-switching pattern. Her vocabulary levels do not match those of monolingual peers when her languages are compared separately, but when her total and conceptual vocabularies are compared to monolingual vocabulary levels, her results are more comparable. Based on this, Emma’s results are discussed in relation to the implications of the complementarity principle and current research on monolingual and bilingual comparisons
The acquisition of questions by a Mandarin-English bilingual child
Full text linkLinguists have been debating on whether the two languages of bilingual children develop separately since 1990s. Some studies suggest when the two languages are acquired very early in life, each language develops separately (the Separate Development Hypothesis), while others show that bilinguals’ two languages can influence each other and that the weaker language is more vulnerable to cross-linguistic influence from the dominant language (the Interdependent Development Hypothesis). This study aims to investigate the acquisition of questions by an English-Mandarin bilingual child, Luna, between the ages of 03;10 and 04;11. Specifically, it investigates Luna’s language dominance and whether there is cross-linguistic influence in her acquisition of questions in English and Mandarin. To test the hypotheses, Luna’s MLUm values in both languages were calculated in each file and all her questions, especially the non-target-like structures, were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The results showed that Luna was rather balanced in the two languages during the period of investigation, and there was little evidence showing cross-linguistic influence in Luna’s acquisition of questions. The results of this study support the Separate Development Hypothesis, but not necessarily refute the Interdependent Development Hypothesis
The Effect of Media Habits on L2 English Proficiency: A study of L1 Norwegian lower secondary pupils
Full text linkThis thesis explores the possible significant interactions between lower secondary school pupils’ English proficiency and the extent and characteristics of English language exposure from their media habits and out-of-school activities. The English language has manifested itself in the Norwegian society, and teenagers are exposed to considerable amounts of English in their everyday lives.
A quantitative approach was used in this study. Data was gathered from three classes of different year levels in Norwegian lower secondary schools. The participants answered a survey consisting three parts. The first part was about the participants’ background, the second part was to measure the extent and characteristics of their media habits and out-of-school activities, and the third part was an Oxford Proficiency Test, to measure their English language proficiency.
Fours tests were conducted in this study: the Shaprio-Wilk test to examine normality, correlation coefficients Pearson’s r (PCC) and Spearman’s rho (SCC), and a t-test to compare two groups.
Significant interactions were found for English out-of-school activities that requires the pupils to use their language, specifically for reading English books, playing video games. Another significant interaction found was found for both the extent and for characteristics concerning watching English movies and TV-series. Correlation tests suggest frequent use of this out-of-school activity to induce English proficiency. Inspecting this further, subtitle preferences was declared as a cause of importance
The effects of grammar instruction when learning L2 English subject-verb agreement. An investigation of L1 Norwegian learners' acquisition of L2 English
Full text linkIn this master’s thesis, I investigate L1 Norwegian learners of L2 English and their difficulties with subject-verb agreement. The main aim of this study is to explore why this grammatical construction is problematic in L2 English and whether grammar instruction will affect the learners’ knowledge and accuracy of subject-verb agreement.
The study combines insights and methods from linguistics and language acquisition as well as from language didactics and pedagogics. This thesis will look at the acquisition of subject-verb agreement, but also examine the role of grammar instruction, and emphasis will be given to the pedagogical domain and language instruction in the English classroom in Norwegian upper secondary school.
I collected data using an acceptability judgment task conducted twice, before the teaching intervention (pre-test) and immediately after it (post-test). The teaching intervention consists of two sessions, 90 minutes each, with explicit grammar teaching and tasks.
The results suggest that subject-verb agreement is learnable and teachable and gives an indication of which subject-verb agreement structures that are more problematic to learn and thus requires more attention in the English language classroom
Teaching English Reading Strategies in the Second Language Classroom. An intervention study of teacher instructed use of reading strategies with L1 Norwegian L2 English Learners
Full text linkIn this thesis, I investigate the effect of explicit teacher instructed use of reading comprehension strategies on the reading comprehension of L1 Norwegian L2 English learners. The study was conducted in two classes in a Norwegian lower secondary school, with one class being the experimental group and the other functioned as the control group. The participants took part in a quasi-experimental intervention study, with pre-post testing. The pre-test was a shortened version of the Norwegian National Test in English, which was adapted to measure the participants’ reading comprehension before the intervention. The intervention was one reading session in each group, in which the participants read Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.
The independent variable of teacher instructed use of reading comprehension strategies was introduced in the experimental group. There were not introduced any independent variables into the intervention in the control group, to compare the effects on the immediate post-test. The immediate and delayed post-tests were designed to measure the participants’ reading comprehension of Treasure Island and to see if there would be a lasting positive effect of the reading comprehension strategies in the experimental group. The participants also completed two questionnaires, SORS by Mokhtari and Sheorey (2002) and a researcher-made questionnaire called the Intervention Experience Questionnaire. The results of the present study showed that there were no significant positive effects of the reading comprehension strategies in the experimental group
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