English Acquisition Research Articles

A Dual-Role Collaborative Learning Support System for Simultaneous Speaking Acquisition in English and Japanese

Learning a foreign language is becoming more vital in Japan as a result of globalization. It gives foreigners various reasons to study Japanese including working or living in Japan. They should exchange language and skills and generate opportunities for engagement. Assisting them in exchanging linguistic skills and knowledge is critical. This study first proposes a theoretical model of dual-role collaborative learning to improve second language learners' speaking skills. Learners will participate as facilitators in their native language and receivers in their second language. Some supporting features must be given, followed by a Computer-supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) named BiTak which is a video chat system that allows strict turn-taking dual-lingual conversation. The learner’s progress is positively evaluated by language teachers using a Rubric scoring framework. Based on the experiment results, it was concluded that BiTak has turned users' perspectives of video chat programs into collaborative learning platforms, allowing them to act as facilitators and receivers.

The Effect of Serious Mobile Games on Student English Vocabulary Acquisition and Attitude Toward English

The main aim of this study was to explore the effect of the serious mobile game Jumo the Jumper on the vocabulary acquisition of primary school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students and their attitudes toward an EFL course. The main research design of the study was a quasi-experimental design with nonequivalent control groups that included pre-test and post-test control groups. Twenty students in the experimental group played the serious mobile game aimed at teaching English vocabulary about the “animals” unit for four weeks, while 20 students in the control group received traditional, curriculum-based tuition. Based on the analysis of the independent sample t-test, the use of the serious mobile game Jumo the Jumper in primary school classrooms had a significant effect on the vocabulary acquisition of the students compared to traditional instruction. On the other hand, the serious mobile game did not have a significant effect on the students’ attitudes toward the EFL course.

A Systematic Review of Mobile-Assisted Language Learning Research Trends and Practices in Malaysia

Mobile technology integration in Malaysia’s English language education has a bright future, owing to the many advantages offered by mobile devices. However, there are inadequate studies that systematically review existing work in Malaysia to uncover gaps in the use of mobile technologies for English teaching and learning. Thus, a systematic review was conducted to offer an up-to-date synthesis of Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) integration in Malaysia from January 2019 to January 2021. The review followed the PRISMA Statement's guidelines which resulted in the identification of eleven articles that met all the inclusion criteria. Following that, the eleven articles were analysed and synthesised quantitatively and qualitatively using seven codes derived from two earlier systematic reviews of the literature. The codes were: (1) research objectives, (2) research methodologies, (3) educational level, (4) learning context, (5) device types, (6) theories, and (7) research outcomes. The systematic review discovered several significant findings, including the fact that the majority of the studies examined the effect of MALL integration on students' English acquisition and performance, and that MALL was more prevalent in Malaysian higher education institutions than other levels of education, with the lowest prevalence in primary schools. In light of this information, recommendations for future research were proposed. Malaysian academics are encouraged to broaden the scope of their future research and engage students from all levels of education in future MALL practices in order to better understand MALL's usability in English language instruction in Malaysia.

Multimodal Intelligent Acoustic Sensor-Assisted English Pronunciation Signal Acquisition and Phonetic Calibration

In this paper, a multimodal intelligent acoustic sensor is used for an in-depth study and analysis of English pronunciation signal acquisition and calibration analysis of English phonetic symbols based on the acquired sound signals. This paper proposes a bimodal fusion algorithm around the direction of feature extension and fusion of acoustic recognition features. After each unimodal classification error cost is minimized, the current fusion process is determined by adaptive weights to fix its one decision layer on the fusion. The adaptive weight approach in this algorithm improves the drawback of always identifying one mode as the optimal mode in fixed-weight fusion and further improves applicability and performance compared to unimodal recognition. The random network generation algorithm is used to generate a random network for sound source data acquisition; then, the algorithm is investigated using the decomposition containing fusion center algorithm to each node, and data preprocessing is implemented at each node; finally, the distributed consistency algorithm based on average weights is used for consistent averaging iterations to achieve a consistent speech enhancement effect at each node. The experimental results show that this distributed algorithm can effectively suppress the interference of noncoherent noise, and each node can obtain an enhanced signal close to the source signal-to-noise ratio. In this study, factors that may affect the readability of spoken texts are summarized, analyzed, defined, and extracted, and the difficulty of spoken items obtained from the divisional scoring model is used as the dependent variable, and the extracted influencing factors are used as independent variables for feature screening, model construction, and tuning, and the generated results are interpreted and analyzed. From this, it was found that phonological features have a strong influence on the readability of spoken texts, mainly in features such as phonemes, syllables, and stress. This study is summarized, and the shortcomings of location-based contextual mobile learning of spoken English in terms of student management, device deployment, and empirical evidence are pointed out, to provide references and lessons for the research on IT-supported language learning.

A Transformation of Oral English Teaching Method in the Network Environment

In order to effectually improve the application effect of the existing oral English teaching methods, this paper studies the conversion of effective oral English teaching methods under the network environment, aiming at the application problems, such as the flexibility of the current education platform. We build an effective oral English teaching platform which is comprised of oral English perception processing module, oral English pronunciation acquisition program module, oral English pronunciation preprocessing module, and oral English pronunciation error detection modeling module. We establish the information technology teaching objectives of the effective oral English teaching model on this basis. This research work is focused on the study of the output driven input-facilitated college oral English teaching model in oral English classroom. It is performed to realize the transformation of effective oral English teaching methods under the network environment. The experimental results show that the transformation effect of the effective teaching method of oral English, under the designed network environment, is better as compared to the existing work. The error detection rate in the proposed methodology reaches up to 98.6%, which is significantly higher than the results obtained by researchers in their existing work. The proposed method has obvious application advantages.

Mental Representations of Time in English Monolinguals, Mandarin Monolinguals, and Mandarin-English Bilinguals.

This study recruited English monolinguals, Mandarin monolinguals, and Mandarin–English (ME) bilinguals to examine whether native English and native Mandarin speakers think about time differently and whether the acquisition of L2 English could reshape native Mandarin speakers’ mental representations of temporal sequence. Across two experiments, we used the temporal congruency categorization paradigm which involved two-alternative forced-choice reaction time tasks to contrast experimental conditions that were assumed to be either compatible or incompatible with the internal spatiotemporal associations. Results add to previous studies by confirming that native English and native Mandarin speakers do think about time differently, and the significant crosslinguistic discrepancy primarily lies in the vertical representations of time flow. However, current findings also clarify the existing literature, demonstrating that the acquisition of L2 English does not appear to affect native Mandarin speakers’ temporal cognition. ME bilinguals, irrespective of whether they attained elementary or advanced level of English proficiency, exhibited temporal thinking patterns commensurate with those of Mandarin monolinguals. Some theoretical implications regarding the effect of bilingualism on cognition in general can be drawn from the present study, a crucial one being that it provides evidence against the view that L2 acquisition can reshape habitual modes of thinking established by L1.

Strategies used in teaching English Language Learners: A Case of Adult Literacy Centres in Imenti-North sub-county, Kenya.

This study investigated the acquisition of English as a second language in adult post-literacy level learners in the adult literacy centres in Imenti-North Sub-County. The study utilised the descriptive research design. The target population comprised of all the adult learners at the post-literacy programme level and the adult English instructors in the centres. The post-literacy programme is a part of continuing education that provides opportunities for adults and out-of-school youths to retain, improve and apply basic educational skills for personal, community and national development. The study found out that further 55 per cent indicated that they used scaffolding techniques. Some scaffolding techniques include giving mini-lessons where new concepts are broken down into bite-sized pieces that build on one another. The study concluded that the most frequently used strategies are demonstrations and group work. More scaffolding should be incorporated into the lessons. In teaching strategies teachers have measurable effects on the students’ quality of English Language Skills. The study recommended that teachers need to carefully select strategies to use in teaching the English Language to help adult learners acquire skills.

Segmental and Prosodic Evidence for Property-by-Property Transfer in L3 English in Northern Africa

In this paper, I argue in favour of property-by-property transfer in the third language acquisition of English by L1 Arabic and L2 French speakers in Northern Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) based on a reanalysis of previous work. I provide a phonological analysis of their spontaneous production data in the domains of consonants, vowels, stress, and rhythm. The L3 phonology shows evidence of influence from both L1 Arabic and L2 French, with mixed influences found both within and across segmental and prosodic domains. The vowels are French-influenced, while the consonants are Arabic-influenced; the stress is a mixture of Arabic and French influence while the rhythm is French. I argue that these data are explained if we adopt a Contrastive Hierarchy Model of feature structure with the addition of parsing theories such as those proposed by Lightfoot. These data provide further evidence in support of the Westergaard’s Linguistic Proximity Model. I conclude by showing how this approach can allow us to formalize a measure of linguistic I-proximity and thus explain when the L1 or L2 structures will transfer.

Compiling a Corpus of Audiovisual Materials for EFL Learning: Selection, Analysis, and Exploitation

Films and series are usually consumed in leisure moments, but they can be included in the English as a foreign language classroom as they offer real-life language in context, which can help develop learners’ communicative competence. This paper examines how audiovisual materials can promote English acquisition in secondary education and proposes a corpus of films and series for this purpose. Two surveys will be presented, one for compiling fragments, and the other regarding students’ viewing habits. The fragment selection process will be explained, and some illustrations of the fragments’ exploitation will be described. This medium’s language learning benefits will be discussed, and it will be argued that using this corpus can have a positive influence on students’ communicative competence development.

Grammatical and Oral Fossilization of a College Student in English Acquisition: A Longitudinal Study

The fossilization process is one of the distinctive characteristics of learning a second language (L2). Adult L2 learners are most likely to experience it. It is characterized by a cessation of learning, despite frequent input. However, it remains unclear how the situation changes after a period of living in the first language (L1). In order to address the obscured issue, the current research conducted a longitudinal study by interviewing the same participant before and after one academic semester on the same subject and analyzed the transcripts with two dimensions: grammar and phonology. The results showed that the participant’s grammatical skills and phonetic error patterns did not improve much after one semester. The study discussed the underlying factors based on participants’ learning and living situations, intending to provide implications for teaching and learning L2 grammar and phonetics.

Knowledge Management Applied to Learning English as a Second Language Through Asynchronous Online Instructional Videos

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this research is to determine whether ESL teaching videos as a form of asynchronous online knowledge sharing can act as an aid to ESL learners internalizing knowledge in language acquisition. In this context, internalizing knowledge carries the meaning of being able to remember language, and purposefully and accurately use it context, including appropriacy of language, and aspects of correct pronunciation, intonation, stress patterns and connected speech, these being the elements of teaching and practice that are very often lacking in asynchronous, online, instructional video. Background: Knowledge Management is the field of study, and the practice, of discovering, capturing, sharing, and applying knowledge, typically with a view to translating individuals’ knowledge into organizational knowledge. In the field of education, it is the sharing of instructors’ knowledge for students to be able to learn and usefully apply that knowledge. In recent pandemic times, however, the mode of instruction has, of necessity, transitioned from face-to-face learning to an online environment, transforming the face of education as we know it. While this mode of instruction and knowledge sharing has many advantages for the online learner, in both synchronous and asynchronous learning environments, it presents certain challenges for language learners due to the absence of interaction and corrective feedback that needs to take place for learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) to master language acquisition. Unlike other subjects where the learner has recourse to online resources to reinforce learning through referencing external information, such as facts, figures, or theories, to be successful in learning a second language, the ESL learner needs to be able to learn to process thought and speech in that language; essentially, they need to learn to think in another language, which takes time and practice. Methodology: The research employs a systematic literature review (SLR) to determine the scope and extent to which the subject is covered by existing research in this field, and the findings thereof. Contribution: Whilst inconclusive in relation to internalizing language through online, asynchronous instructional video, through its exploratory nature, the research contributes towards the body of knowledge in online learning through the drawing together of various studies in the field of learning through asynchronous video through improving video and instructional quality. Findings: The findings of the systematic literature review revealed that there is negligible research in this area, and while information exists on blended and flipped modes of online learning, and ways to improve the quality and delivery of instructional video generally, no prior research on the exclusive use of asynchronous videos as an aid to internalizing English as a second language were found. Recommendations for Practitioners: From this research, it is apparent that there is considerably more that practitioners can do to improve the quality of instructional videos that can help students engage with the learning, from which students stand a much better chance of internalizing the learning. Recommendation for Researchers: For researchers, the absence of existing research is an exciting opportunity to further explore this field. Impact on Society: Online learning is now globally endemic, but it poses specific challenges in the field of second language learning, so the development of instructional videos that can facilitate this represents a clear benefit to all ESL learners in society as a whole. Future Research: Clearly the absence of existing research into whether online asynchronous instructional videos can act as an aid to internalizing the acquisition of English as a second language would indicate that this very specific field is one that merits future research. Indeed, it is one that the author intends to exploit through primary data collection from the production of a series of asynchronous, online, instructional videos.

Prosodic cue weighting in the processing of ambiguous sentences by native English listeners and Korean listeners of English.

Differences in the perception of segmental contrasts by native and non-native listeners have been analyzed as the results of language-specific weightings of acoustic cues in their perception grammar [e.g., Escudero and Boersma, Stud. Second Lang. Acquis. 26, 551-585 (2004)]. However, less attention has been paid to the weighting of prosodic cues. This study investigated the relative importance of four prosodic cues-word duration, pauses, pitch, and intensity-in the resolution of English syntactic ambiguity by native English listeners and Korean learners of English. In a forced-choice processing task, English listeners' disambiguation relied most heavily on pitch, followed by pause and intensity cues, whereas pauses were the only heavily weighted cue for Korean listeners, indicating an influence from their native language. Moreover, Korean listeners' use of prosody for disambiguation was found to be influenced by their age of English acquisition and English proficiency.

The Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Priming Effect of Part of Speech Representation

Part of speech feature is the representation between syntactic morphology and semantic category. Priming effect experiment can test the correlation between the parts of speech feature and the lexical processing process. This article puts forward part of speech representation paradigmatic and syntagmatic effect hypotheses. The experiments applied the design pattern of 3 (part of speech: noun by predicate by nonword) ∗ 2 (interval time: 50 by 500 milliseconds) ∗3 (English level: elementary by intermediate by advanced). Subjects are requested to make options of the part of speech of the target words. This study shows that when Chinese English learners extract an individual word, their choices are still influenced by part of speech factor without the restrictions of constructive syntagmatic semantic conditions. Both the syntagmatic and paradigmatic effects are verified. Part of speech priming effect intensity is influenced by the English acquisition levels of the subjects.

The Negative Transfer Effect of Jianghuai Dialect in Huai’an on Local Students’ English Pronunciation

In English pronunciation learning, the difference between Chinese dialects and English will interfere with the acquisition of pronunciation. Students often transfer the pronunciation characteristics of dialects to English pronunciation, which affects the learning and application of English pronunciation. Therefore, it is necessary to study the influence of dialect on English phonetic acquisition. On the basis of systematically summarizing the theory of negative transfer of Chinese and dialects to English acquisition, this paper takes the students of a junior high school in Huai’an as samples, and investigates the negative transfer effect of Jianghuai dialect on the phonological transfer of local students’ English. On the one hand, negative transfer effect of Jianghuai dialect on local students’ English vowels pronunciation manifests in the following aspects: no distinction between long and short vowels, tightness and length are indistinguishable, incomplete pronunciation of English diphthongs. On the other hand, negative transfer effect on consonant pronunciation is obvious, including unable to distinguish between [n] and [l], lacking rhyme [v] and initial “r”, no interdental fricatives [θ] [e]. The research results can help junior high school students to overcome negative transfer and provide scientific guidance for English phonetic teaching in Huai’an.

Impact of Formative Assessment on Students’ Motivation in Foreign Language Acquisition

The article focuses on introducing formative assessment to the educational process of professionally oriented English communication and the impact of assessment on students’ motivation to learn English. In the article, various types of motivation are discussed; high and low levels of formative assessment are presented; the relationship between motivation and assessment in learning English is studied. The model of high and low levels of formative assessment implementation in learning English for professional communication is tested. The levels of students’ motivation to English acquisition in the conditions of low and high levels of formative assessment are compared. Special attention is paid to specific pedagogical conditions under which formative assessment has a greater impact on students’ motivation. Experimental training was conducted among students of the pedagogical university who study English for professional communication. The authors compare and analyze the results of the motivation tests and diagnostic tests of language proficiency at the pre- and post- stages of experimental training. The study supports the idea about the relationship between students’ motivation and their English language proficiency assessment. The results show that a high level of formative assessment can be beneficial for overcoming students’ low motivation if students receive immediate feedback, evaluation of their work, teachers’ recommendations and support. It is observed that the reasonable integration of students’ self-assessment into teachers’ formative assessment plays a vital role in increasing students’ motivation to English acquisition. According to the study, regular practical implementation of high-level formative assessment methods in English acquisition increases the level of students’ motivation and, consequently, the level of students’ achievements in mastering professionally oriented English communication.

TEACHING ENGLISH TO MEDICAL STUDENTS: CURRENT TRENDS AND PERSPECTIVES

The teaching of special subjects in English in non-linguistic universities is currently being widely introduced into the higher educational system. The main requirements for the modern image of today's personnel, the peculiarities of teaching English as well as the essence of the strategy for the acquisition of foreign languages are coming up on the agenda. Accordingly, the issues of the introduction of effective methodologies for achieving quality and respectable results in the organization of activities in this regard, the efficient use of modern teaching methods – all this is very important and leads to huge achievements. The given investigation examines the features of teaching the English language, taking into account the main requirements for modern personnel in the current system of higher education, as well as the essence of the strategy of mastering foreign languages. Along with the issues of implementing the latest methods to achieve quality in this area, effective mechanisms to ensure effectiveness are proposed, and as a result the given complex analysis determines the main meaning of this study. Besides, the influence of motivation on the successful acquisition of English, the impact of the most frequent motivational moments on medical students are analysed. Some effective methods are proposed to create favourable conditions for students to learn the language, achieve effective results, and in addition self-government. The development of topical forms aimed at improving knowledge and skills of English in the training of personnel for the medical field is interpreted as much as possible in the organization of study strategies and effective curricula.

Developing and evaluating an online video-assisted collocation learning system for EFL students

ABSTRACT The degree of collocational knowledge influences learners’ competence in the production of L2 speech and text. However, collocation learning is complex because learners might co-produce words incorrectly according to L1 inference. This study aims at the design of an online video-assisted collocation learning system, VACLS, that integrated video captioning and concordancing to foster collocational knowledge acquisition. English collocations with three patterns, namely verb–noun, verb–adverb, and verb–preposition, were selected as target collocations in VACLS. While learning with VACLS, the learners are able to watch videos with full captions and then looked for additional knowledge and instances of the target collocations via an online concordancer incorporated in VACLS. Besides the development of VACLS, effectiveness of the system and learners’ perception were also evaluated. 20 university EFL students in Taiwan enrolled the experiment. After 3 weeks of learning with the aid of VACLS, the learning outcome for collocation retention was significant and the participants with less initial collocational knowledge exhibited greater improvement in collocation retention after learning VACLS. Besides, these learners highly agreed VACLS is helpful for English collocation acquisition. Thus the VACLS can be useful for English educators and EFL/ESL learners.

Student Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition of English: Empirical Study of Private University Student in Pandeglang District

The importance of learning English as a foreign language or second language in the university environment, as it is known that English is a widely spoken language all over the world, however, inefficient learning of English is a tremendous problem for many English departments in the English language. Apart from the linguistic environment, the lack of an effective strategy guide is also one of the main factors causing this problem. To find out whether the use of language learning strategies helps the speaking ability of students in English departments or not, in this study, fifteen students in English departments were surveyed with a questionnaire about learning English and using their strategies. It was found that most students in this private university used metacognitive learning strategies with an index of 3.80, and compensation and affective strategies were used the least with an index of 2.67 while cognitive strategies were used almost frequently but sometimes memory and social strategies were used by students a private university student in English departments in this Pandeglang district. In other words, the use of learning strategies helps students' English skills there. Therefore, to improve students' English, this paper proposes that lecturers systematically guide students in learning strategies.

The Contribution of Bilingualism to Cognitive Functioning and Regional Brain Volume in Normal and Abnormal Aging.

We examined the association between bilingualism, executive function (EF), and brain volume in older monolinguals and bilinguals who spoke English, Spanish, or both, and were cognitively normal (CN) or diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or dementia. Gray matter volume (GMV) was higher in language and EF brain regions among bilinguals, but no differences were found in memory regions. Neuropsychological performance did not vary across language groups over time; however, bilinguals exhibited reduced Stroop interference and lower scores on Digit Span Backwards and category fluency. Higher scores on Digit Span Backwards were associated with a younger age of English acquisition, and a greater degree of balanced bilingualism was associated with lower scores in category fluency. The initial age of cognitive decline did not differ between language groups. The influence of bilingualism appears to be reflected in increased GMV in language and EF regions, and to a lesser degree, in EF.

Investigating Stereotype Threat in Foreign Language Acquisition: A Preliminary Study

Various research studies in the field of psychology have shown that the phenomenon of stereotype threat is real and has a consistent and measurable negative effect on individuals’ performance on cognitively demanding tasks in a variety of areas. Currently, the relationship between stereotype threat and second language acquisition has not been explored in empirical research. This preliminary study aims to fill this gap by identifying stereotypes in regard to English and English as a foreign language (EFL) education in Japan, and testing whether stereotype threat has a measurable and consistent impact on English acquisition by Japanese university students. Results show that stereotype threat plays a role in English acquisition in Japan. As the current study is only preliminary in nature, further research is warranted. This article concludes with a discussion of limitations and implications, and gives some guidance for further research in this new area of inquiry.