Challenge For Second Language Learners Research Articles

L2 English Learners Perception of English Diphthong /u/ and Chinese Pinyin (wo) /uo/ (nest) in Phonetic Contexts

Abstract: In English phonetics instruction, vowels often present challenges for second language learners. The articulation of vowel is complex and can be difficult for learners to be accurately grasped, making it hard for them to perceive the precise where English vowels are produced. Additionally, the vowel systems of English and Chinese differ significantly. Native Chinese speakers have internalized the Chinese vowel system, leading to pronunciation patterns that do not easily align with those of English. This paper examines the differences between the vowel systems of the two languages and the extent to which second language learners perceive specific vowels through a literature review. The findings suggest that the collected research on English and Chinese vowel system differences will serve as a valuable foundation for the upcoming experiment on the comparison and perception of the diphthongs /u/ and /uo/. Furthermore, the review finds that conducting experiments on the perception of diphthongs with native Chinese speakers can provide valuable insights for further development in bilingual classrooms of second language learning.

Heterogloss in Chinese Undergraduates’ Oral Presentations in the EAP Pedagogical Setting

Appropriately incorporating other perspectives in an academic text is a challenge for second language learners and their incorporating practices in oral academic discourse are under-researched. Drawing on the account of heterogloss by Martin and his associates (e.g. Martin & Rose, 2007; Martin & White, 2005), this study investigated the heteroglossic practices in 81 oral presentations by the undergraduates enrolled in a 16-week course on English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in China. Textual analysis reveals the learners’ insufficient understanding of legitimate evidence and reporting verbs, overreliance on the high value modal verb (i.e. should) in presenting a proposal, and inappropriate sourcing for generating a concession in academic discourse. Based on the findings, a triadic model concerning heteroglossic practices in learners’ academic discourse is proposed, and pedagogical implications are discussed.

Phonetic Transfer of Mandarin and English Vowels: Advantages and Challenges for Second-Language Learners

This paper discusses the phonological migration of the Mandarin vowel system to the American vowel system during second language acquisition. To this end, six Mandarin-speaking Chinese students who received English certificates are selected for analysis in this paper. In addition, experimental results from previous studies are utilized for further phonological comparisons, and a perception task and an articulation task are used to compare similar vowel combinations in the Chinese and English vowel systems. The perception task is designed to assess the participants' ability to distinguish similar vowels in different vowel systems, while the articulation task utilized Praat software to acoustically analyze the participants' vowel and word pronunciation, standard English pronunciation, and Chinese vowel pronunciation. The pronunciation values are compared with the standard pronunciation values, and the relationship between similarity and learning difficulty is established to test the hypotheses. The results shows that Chinese students are influenced by the Chinese vowel system and are unable to distinguish similar vowel combinations. Therefore, the higher the similarity between English vowels and Chinese vowels, the better the acquisition effect.

Phonetic Transfer of Mandarin and English Vowels: Advantages and Challenges for Second-Language Learners

This paper discusses the phonological migration of the Mandarin vowel system to the American vowel system during second language acquisition. To this end, six Mandarin-speaking Chinese students who received English certificates are selected for analysis in this paper. In addition, experimental results from previous studies are utilized for further phonological comparisons, and a perception task and an articulation task are used to compare similar vowel combinations in the Chinese and English vowel systems. The perception task is designed to assess the participants' ability to distinguish similar vowels in different vowel systems, while the articulation task utilized Praat software to acoustically analyze the participants' vowel and word pronunciation, standard English pronunciation, and Chinese vowel pronunciation. The pronunciation values are compared with the standard pronunciation values, and the relationship between similarity and learning difficulty is established to test the hypotheses. The results shows that Chinese students are influenced by the Chinese vowel system and are unable to distinguish similar vowel combinations. Therefore, the higher the similarity between English vowels and Chinese vowels, the better the acquisition effect.

Unconventional Metaphor Use in the Writing of Chinese Learners of English

Metaphors are known to present both opportunities and challenges for second language learners, but relatively little is known about learners’ awareness of them. To investigate this, we analyzed 72 argumentative essays written in English by a group of 37 intermediate Chinese university students of English. We identified metaphors using an established identification procedure, and then used dictionary descriptions and corpus procedures to identify unconventional uses. Seeking to understand students’ thoughts about their uses of metaphor, we interviewed them within 2 days of the writing task. In this article, we explore the boundary between unconscious use of non-nativelike metaphors and deliberate choices. We argue that in many cases, our learners made conscious, careful language choices which they were able to articulate fluently and thoughtfully. Interview data show that sometimes they consciously decided to use a metaphor from their L1, fully aware that it was not a nativelike use in English, for one of various communicative functions. Our study extends thinking on deliberate metaphor, suggesting implications for its use in reframing research into second language metaphor use. Pedagogical implications are presented for developing learners’ metaphoric competence in L2 writing classrooms.

The Effectiveness of Activity Based Four-Dimensional Integrated Strategy for Alleviating Speaking Anxiety

Speaking in English is always a tough challenge for second language learners. It is a proven fact that anxiety is considered as one of the main factors responsible for speaking difficulty. An increasingly significant area of research and emerging trends in teaching and learning English language highlight speaking anxiety, methods, strategies and techniques that can be adopted to alleviate anxiety. Activity-based teaching is an effective and interesting method that can be adopted to enhance speaking skills of the learners. The present study focuses on the impact of group activity by incorporating a Four-dimensional integrated strategy: motivation, explaining rubrics, skill integration and grouping. Activity based intervention was given to 105 students who are pursuing Engineering Programmes in different disciplines in Chennai, India. Data was collected before and after the intervention to identify the existence of anxiety and to analyse the difference in anxiety levels. The results prove the effectiveness of Four-dimensional integrated strategy based group activity in alleviating speaking anxiety.

Helping Second Language Student Writers Improve Their Revision

Writing ability is a comprehensive evaluation of language learning level. Nowadays, most universities offer writing-related courses to help students lay a good foundation for writing and contribute to their subsequent studies. Compared with native English speakers, second language learners need to do more revision, which is a great challenge for second language learners. Therefore, in this paper, the aim is to make the second language students understand and apply the revision correctly.
 

Implementation of Guided Group Academic Writing Using Online Learning Tools

Writing is an important skill necessary for students pursuing a higher level of education. The challenge for second language learners would be to write accurate academic essays as required by the course for students that has been aligned to the Common European Framework (CEFR) B1 standard since 2015 at a public institution of higher learning. The academic English course offered at a public institution of higher learning was subjected to a guided academic writing using online tools by Harju and Åkerblom (2017) description of the teacher’s role in facilitating learning to achieve the intended learning outcome which is to write an academic essay focusing on its features. The participants in this study were second year undergraduates in the second semester of their study who struggled to write an essay early in the semester. This study used a quantitative analysis collected from 10 participating students (n=10). The results found that the students made improvements to the feature of their essay and their feedback of the intervention were processed using frequency analysis indicated a hundred percent preference of the students to learn by their own discretion guided by the instructor and supported with online learning tools.

When Beautiful Thai Smiles do not Count: CLT for Receiving Compliments in English

Differences in how one says the same thing in two distinct languages often give rise to challenges for second language learners, which when addressed, allow them to become more competent language users. The present study investigates the use of communicative language teaching (CLT) on compliment responses in Standard American English for English major students at a university in Northeast Thailand. Results from analysis of the data from the pretest, posttest and questionnaires indicate that not only do the CLT lessons designed with blended mechanical, meaningful, and communicative activities help students improve skills in responding to compliments in Standard American English, but these activities together with peer teaching also provide them with plenty of opportunities to practice other skills in English which they previously acquired. The discussion of these findings offers practical suggestions for optimal use of CLT in Thai EFL teaching contexts.

Is It a Professional Career or Job? Using Sketch Engine to Investigate Synonyms

As an important yet intricate linguistic feature in English language, synonymy poses a great challenge for second language learners. Using the 100 million-word British National Corpus (BNC) as data and the software Sketch Engine (SkE) as an analyzing tool, this article compares the usage of career and job by conducting the analysis of concordance, collocation, word sketches and sketch difference. The results show that different functions of SkE can make different contributions to the discrimination of career and job. The pedagogical implications of the findings are also discussed.

Exploring the impact of individual differences in aural vocabulary knowledge, written vocabulary knowledge and working memory capacity on explaining L2 learners’ listening comprehension

Abstract Listening comprehension constitutes a considerable challenge for second language learners, but little is known about the relative contribution of individual differences in distinct factors to listening comprehension. Since research in this area is relatively limited in comparison to that focusing on the relationship between reading comprehension and factors such as vocabulary knowledge and working memory, there is a need for studies that seek to fill the gap in our knowledge about the specific contribution of aural vocabulary knowledge, written vocabulary knowledge and working memory capacity to explaining listening comprehension. Among 130 non-native speakers of English, the present study examines what proportion of the variance in listening comprehension is explained by aural vocabulary knowledge, written vocabulary knowledge, and working memory capacity. The results show that aural vocabulary knowledge is the strongest predictor of listening comprehension, followed by working memory capacity, while written vocabulary knowledge contributes only marginally. The study discusses implications for the explanatory power of aural vocabulary knowledge and working memory to listening comprehension and pedagogical practice in second language classrooms.

Math and English for Academic Purposes

Even though math is thought to be mostly numbers, there is a significant amount of language involved. Students do not have to know only the discipline-specific vocabulary, or jargon, associated with math, but they also have to understand other forms of language in and out of the classroom. For example, instructors will work problems out on the board while discussing the steps orally to go from one part of the problem to the next which may not align with what the teacher is writing on the board, so there is potentially a loss of comprehension on the student’s part. Additionally, instructors will give instructions in class or give information on specific dates for exams, quizzes and homework which is sometimes given orally or written on the board. Asking questions during class and following transitions between activities can be another challenge for second language learners who struggle with language in a math class. Another aspect of language present in a math course is in the textbook. Students will often be assigned chapters or sections to read in order to prepare for an upcoming class. The textbook is written using the disciplinary language of math, which makes it difficult to follow especially because definitions of math words are often defined with other math jargon. With such rich language and classroom interaction, it is imperative to not overlook the subject of math when discussing English for Academic Purposes.

Math and English for Academic Purposes

Even though math is thought to be mostly numbers, there is a significant amount of language involved. Students do not have to know only the discipline-specific vocabulary, or jargon, associated with math, but they also have to understand other forms of language in and out of the classroom. For example, instructors will work problems out on the board while discussing the steps orally to go from one part of the problem to the next which may not align with what the teacher is writing on the board, so there is potentially a loss of comprehension on the student’s part. Additionally, instructors will give instructions in class or give information on specific dates for exams, quizzes and homework which is sometimes given orally or written on the board. Asking questions during class and following transitions between activities can be another challenge for second language learners who struggle with language in a math class. Another aspect of language present in a math course is in the textbook. Students will often be assigned chapters or sections to read in order to prepare for an upcoming class. The textbook is written using the disciplinary language of math, which makes it difficult to follow especially because definitions of math words are often defined with other math jargon. With such rich language and classroom interaction, it is imperative to not overlook the subject of math when discussing English for Academic Purposes.

Producing Lexical Stress in Second Language German

Lexical stress assignment plays a central role in being understood in a second language. In fact, research has shown that it may be more important for the comprehensibility of second language learners’ speech than, for example, grammatical correctness (Trofimovich & Isaacs, ). Nonetheless, its production poses challenges for second language learners. This study investigated the effect of perceptual training on the production of three types of predictable German lexical stress patterns by native speakers of English. Beginner and intermediate learners produced German words from three categories: words ending in schwa; words with unstressed suffixes; and German‐English cognates. The results demonstrate that both beginner and intermediate learners improved in their production of lexical stress after the training. Though participants in both groups had more difficulties in assigning lexical stress to cognate words than to non‐cognate words, production accuracy could best be predicted by the presence of certain suffixes. The results have implications for teaching second language vocabulary.

A Corpus-based Comparative Study of Learn and Acquire

<p>As an important yet intricate linguistic feature in English language, synonymy poses a great challenge for second language learners. Using the 100 million-word British National Corpus (BNC) as data and the software Sketch Engine (SkE) as an analyzing tool, this article compares the usage of <em>learn</em> and <em>acquire </em>used in natural discourse by conducting the analysis of concordance, collocation, word sketches and sketch difference. The results show that different functions of SkE can make different contributions to the discrimination of <em>learn</em> and <em>acquire</em>. Pedagogical implications are discussed when the results are introduced into the classroom.</p>

Vowel intelligibility and the second-language learner

Diane Kewley-Port’s work has contributed to our understanding of vowel perception and production in a wide variety of ways, from mapping the discriminability of vowel formants in conditions of minimal uncertainty to vowel processing in challenging conditions, such as increased presentation rate and noise. From the results of these studies, we have learned much about the limits of vowel perception for normal-hearing listeners and the robustness of vowels in speech perception. Continuously intertwined with this basic research has been its application to our understanding of vowel perception and vowel acoustics across various challenges, such as hearing impairment and second-language learning. Diane’s work on vowel perception and production by second-language learners and ongoing research stemming from her influence will be considered in light of several factors affecting communicative success and challenge for second-language learners. In particular, we will compare the influence of speaking style, noise, and syllable disruption on the intelligibility of vowels perceived and produced by native and non-native English-speaking listeners.

Challenges for second-language learners in difficult acoustic environments

Most anyone who has lived in a foreign country for any length of time knows that even everyday tasks can become tiring and frustrating when one must accomplish them while navigating a seemingly endless maze of unfamiliar social customs, vocabulary and speech that seem far removed from one’s language laboratory experience. Add to these challenges noise, reverberation, and/or cognitive demand (e.g., learning caculus, responding to multiple customer, and co-worker demands) and even experienced learners may begin to question their proficiency. This presentation will provide an overview of the speech perception and production challenges faced by second-language learners in difficult acoustic environments that we may encounter every day, such as in large lecture halls, retail or customer service, to name a few. Past and current research investigating the effects of various environmental challenges on both relatively early and later learners of a second language will be considered, as well as strategies that may mitigate challenges for both speakers and listeners in some of these conditions.

Epistemic Rhetorical Stance: Hedges and Boosters in L1 and L2 Students’ English Writing

A key aspect of academic writing involves delivering writer`s argument with an appropriate degree of mitigated expression and strong assertion. However, positioning statements with balanced qualification and certainty remains a formidable challenge for second language learners. Despite its significance, we know little on the use of epistemic devices in Korean students` English writing. The purpose of this paper is to compare the expression of doubt and certainty in English writing by Korean students to those of native speakers based on the learners corpora. The results indicate that Korean learners take a stronger stance in their statements, relying on a narrower range of lexical items with simpler constructions, compared to their British counterparts. Importantly, a detailed analysis regarding the language proficiency reveals that usages of epistemic metadiscourse markers in L2 essays are strongly related to the proficiency levels. Lower ability bands exhibit a heavy reliance on limited items with strong assertions while higher proficiency bands prefer alleviated expressions rather than strong assertions by employing more hedges, representing balanced distributions across lexical items.

Spatial Language, Polysemy, and Cross-Linguistic Semantic Mismatches: Cognitive Linguistics Insights into Challenges for Second Language Learners

Spatial language has long been recognized as one of the most difficult challenges for second language (L2) learners. Recent advances in linguistics have begun to reveal the complexity and cross-linguistic variation in spatial language, thus offering us tools for better understanding of the difficulties L2 learners face. This article focuses on recent Cognitive Linguistic analyses of the complex, extended semantic networks (polysemy networks) commonly associated with spatial language that codes focus-ground relations. The investigation involves fine grained comparisons of the extended polysemy networks associated with the Russian preposition za and the English prepositions over and at, which are two standard translations of za. The analysis reveals, even though the central figure-ground configurations of za versus over and at are quite different, za has developed key extended meanings which overlap those of over and at. The result is what seems like cross-linguistic semantic mismatches. I hypothesize that L2 learners' difficulties with focus-ground spatial language stem primarily from these cross-linguistic semantic mismatches, rather than difficulties with the central, spatial meanings. The analysis serves as a case study, allowing us to pinpoint extended meanings which are most likely to cause difficulties for L2 learners and provide teachers and learners with systematic, motivated explanations for how these meanings are related to the central, spatial scene.