Language and Linguistics

Abstract

Language and Linguistics Orlando R. Kelm In this special issue readers will find articles that are roughly subdivided into two customary divisions: Language and Linguistics, and Literature and Cultural Studies. When a non-specialist hears the phrase "Language and Linguistics" what comes to mind is simply a coarse association with the word "grammar." Those who work in foreign language education know that language and linguistics actually cover a much broader range of specializations. In foreign language education we deal not only with teaching, but we also include knowledge and research about language acquisition. The field becomes even more complex when we consider social factors, such as the learning of heritage speakers, those who are learning a third or fourth language, and adult versus youth learners. The premise behind much of this research is that a better understanding about how languages are acquired makes an important contribution to society. If in society there is an actual need for something, society will find a way to meet that need. In the case of foreign language skills and language learning, the needs are real. In both professional and personal settings, society is enriched when people can communicate in multiple languages. It is within this context that the articles in this volume address a response to this societal need as it relates to Portuguese. Language acquisition research can and should guide our pedagogy. The more we understand first and second language acquisition processes, the more we can modify our teaching practices to coincide with those developments. Bridget Yaden and Eduardo Viana da Silva's contribution, "O papel da proficiência em programas de português como língua estrangeira" exemplifies this type of insight. Traditionally we have seen a disconnect between how we rank and test for proficiency and how we design curriculum and teaching materials. Yaden and Viana da Silva's call is to bring our methods, tasks, and assignments more in line with realistic proficiency objectives. A second area where linguistic-focused research contributes to our understanding of language is when we discover actual usage and variation. In the absence of data, we are often unaware of how languages are used in real-life scenarios. These variations can be based on a host of factors such as dialect, region, education, gender, age, etc. The present contribution by Camila Lívio and Chad Howe provide a superb example of this type of variation, "Intensification in Portuguese: A Cross-dialectal Study of Muito and Bem." Their data present evidence of variation among four varieties of Portuguese, namely Angolan, Brazilian, European, and Mozambican. Their results show that the choice between phrases such as, Maria é bem rica and Maria é muito rica differ from one dialect to another. Lívio and Howe also provide evidence that these configurations differ from similar patterns in Spanish dialects. A third area where linguistic-focused research contributes to our understanding of language is in the effect that one language has on another. For example, one assumes that a Spanish-speaking person who wants to learn Portuguese will have some type of advantage, given the similarities between the two languages. However, research indicates that there are [End Page 459] both advantages and disadvantages. Research also shows that the benefits depend on whether Spanish is a person's native language or their later acquired second language. Jamile Forcelini and Gretchen Sunderman's contribution, "When More is Less: The Effect of a Third Language on a Second Language" deals specifically with these issues. In "Nominal and Verb Agreement in Portuguese: Differential Outcomes of a Focus on Language in a Fourth-Grade Immersion Class," Michael W. Child and Blair E. Batemen address similar issues for Dual Language Immersion programs. They compare the gains among fourth-grade learners of Portuguese in listening and reading as compared to their gains in speaking and writing. Grammatical accuracy in areas such as verb and nominal agreement is one of the great challenges for young language learners. One of the characteristics of dual language learners is to exhibit high general fluency but also still maintain undeveloped accuracy in verb and noun agreement. One final area where society grapples with the need for foreign language learning is to determine the best...