234 research outputs found
Measures of variability in transitional phases in second language development
Full text linkThis paper investigates measures of change to help demonstrate the necessity of variability as a developmental mechanism for advancing different features of L2 learning (related here primarily to writing, but also to reading) with a particular focus on learners at different stages of development. To do so, the work draws on three studies to build a case for using variability as a meaningful marker of change. Lowie, Wander M. & Marjolijn Verspoor. 2019. Individual differences and the ergodicity problem. Language Learning 69. 184-206 found in a group of 22 Dutch learners of English that the Coefficient of Variation (CoV), rather than individual factors such as motivation and aptitude, showed a significant correlation with writing proficiency gains. A replication study by Huang, Ting, Rasmus Steinkrauss & Marjolijn Verspoor. 2020b. Variability as predictors for L2 writing proficiency. Journal of Second Language Writing, with 22 Chinese learners of English revealed that the CoV rather than motivation, aptitude or working memory was a significant predictor in writing proficiency gains. A study by Gui, Min, Xiaokan Chen & Marjolijn Verspoor. Submitted. The dynamics of reading development in English for Academic Purposes, on reading for academic purposes with 27 Chinese Chemistry majors showed that the Standard Deviation of differences (SDd) rather than proficiency in English or knowledge of Chemistry correlated with reading gains. Two further studies present tentative evidence that these changes take place especially at transitional phases while learning a new skill
Coordination of linguistic subsystems as a sign of automatization?
No full textThis study explored retrodictively differences in developmental patterns between a learner who makes some progress and one that does not. Their twelve successive writings were analyzed on holistically scored measures of complexity, accuracy, fluency, idiomaticity, and coherence (CAFIC) and on two analytical measures to operationalize syntactic and lexical complexity. Their developmental trajectories were explored with visual graphs (LOESS curves), Monte Carlo analyses, and correlational analyses. The stronger learner showed rather synchronous development in most measures and a significant jump in lexical complexity (operationalized as average word length), suggesting a level of coordination of subsystems and therefore automaticity of the system as a whole. The weaker learner, on the other hand, showed more competitive or random patterns in the measures
Réponse à Marjolijn Verspoor : de la nécessité d’aller au-delà du linguistique
Full text linkCet article est d’un type particulier, puisque son auteur répond à un auteur du même numéro qui retrace les débats d’une journée d’étude NEQ (Notion en questions), consacrée à l’émergentisme en janvier 2016. Le positionnement du répondant, didacticien de l’intervention, explique sa réaction. Une première partie situe donc l’auteur dans un courant transdisciplinaire où l’émergentisme a sa place dans une perspective plurilingue. La suite est autant une réaction à l’article de Marjolijn Verspoor qu’aux débats de la journée. L’apport des recherches présentées dans l’article initial est d’un grand intérêt, mais leurs limites confirment le besoin d’un travail transdisciplinaire incluant d’ailleurs la discipline des documents académiques.This article has an unusual format as its author responds to another article in the same issue that relates the exchanges that took place during a Notion in Question (NEQ) seminar devoted to « Emergentism » in January 2016. The theoretical position of the respondent, a researcher in language learning and teaching, justifies his response. The first part of the article will describe this transdisciplinary position in which emergentism has a place in a plurilingual perspective. The second part is as much a response to Marjolijn’s Verspoor (MV)’s contribution as to the debates on that day. The results of MV’s research are rich and worthwhile but their very limitations justify the need for transdisciplinary collaboration in which the various fields of research complement each other
Second language development through the lens of a dynamic usage-based approach
Full text linkUniversiteiten in de hele wereld zijn doordrongen van het feit dat studenten een goed mondje Engels moeten kunnen spreken en bieden daarom bijna standaard een Engels programma. Dat gaat niet altijd vlekkeloos: weinig gemotiveerde studenten met verschillende niveaus samengepakt in grote groepen met docenten die zelf de doeltaal niet goed beheersen en in plaats van effectief communicatief taalonderwijs te verzorgen grammaticaregels uitleggen. Zo ook aan de Universiteit van Sri Jayewardenepura in Sri Lanka waar Mufeeda Irshad heeft onderzocht of het niet beter kan met computer en een Dynamic Usage-Based (DUB) aanpak. Steekwoorden zijn frequente input, herhaling, en een betekenisvolle context en het zo op een holistische manier aanbieden van een tweede taal, zonder daarbij expliciet grammaticaonderwijs in te hoeven zetten (Verspoor & Hong 2013). 216 eerstejaars studenten deden mee aan het onderzoek, verdeeld over drie verschillende condities: een groep die een nieuw ontworpen DUB computerprogramma kreeg, een groep die precies dezelfde DUB lessen kreeg maar docent gestuurd was en een groep die de reguliere methode volgde, docent-gestuurd met grammatica instructie. De resultaten waren duidelijk: de studenten in de DUB computerconditie zonder docent ging significant meer vooruit dan de twee andere groepen in schrijfvaardigheid, algemene taalvaardigheid én grammaticabeheersing (dus zonder dit ooit expliciet onderwezen te hebben gekregen). Ook waren zij positiever over het onderwijs. Dit zijn belangrijke resultaten: een computer kan een docent vervangen in het vreemde taalonderwijs en expliciete grammaticatraining is absoluut niet nodig! De volgende stap is het programma verder ontwikkelen en inzetten in verschillende (culturele) contexten
Toisen kielen kehittymisen monet muuttujat
Full text link[Marjolijn H. Verspoor, Kees de Bot & Wander Lowie (toim.): A dynamic approach to second language development. Methods and techniques
Measuring Longitudinal Writing Development Using Indices of Syntactic Complexity and Sophistication
Full text linkMeasures of syntactic complexity such as mean length of T-unit have been common measures of language proficiency in studies of second language acquisition. Despite the ubiquity and usefulness of such structure-based measures, they could be complemented with measures based on usage-based theories, which focus on the development of not just syntactic forms but also form-meaning pairs, called constructions (Ellis, 2002). Recent cross-sectional research (Kyle & Crossley, 2017) has indicated that indices related to usage-based characteristics of verb argument construction (VAC) use may be better indicators of writing proficiency than structure-based indices of syntactic complexity. However, because cross-sectional studies can only show general trends across proficiency benchmarks, it is important to test these findings in individuals over time (Lowie & Verspoor, 2019). Thus, this study investigates the developmental trajectories of second language learners of English across two academic years with regard to syntactic complexity and VAC sophistication. </p
- …
