English-speaking Learners Research Articles

A Preliminary Study for Developing Teaching Methods for Korean Particle edaga: Focused on English Speaking Learners of Korean

A Preliminary Study for Developing Teaching Methods for Korean Particle edaga: Focused on English Speaking Learners of Korean

Using event-related potentials to track morphosyntactic development in second language learners: The processing of number and gender agreement in Spanish.

We used event-related potentials to investigate morphosyntactic development in 78 adult English-speaking learners of Spanish as a second language (L2) across the proficiency spectrum. We examined how development is modulated by the similarity between the native language (L1) and the L2, by comparing number (a feature present in English) and gender agreement (novel feature). We also investigated how development is impacted by structural distance, manipulating the distance between the agreeing elements by probing both within-phrase (fruta muy jugosa “fruit-FEM-SG very juicy-FEM-SG”) and across-phrase agreement (fresa es ácida “strawberry-FEM-SG is tart-FEM-SG”). Regression analyses revealed that the learners’ overall proficiency, as measured by a standardized test, predicted their accuracy with the target properties in the grammaticality judgment task (GJT), but did not predict P600 magnitude to the violations. However, a relationship emerged between immersion in Spanish-speaking countries and P600 magnitude for gender. Our results also revealed a correlation between accuracy in the GJT and P600 magnitude, suggesting that behavioral sensitivity to the target property predicts neurophysiological sensitivity. Subsequent group analyses revealed that the highest-proficiency learners showed equally robust P600 effects for number and gender. This group also elicited more positive waveforms for within- than across-phrase agreement overall, similar to the native controls. The lowest-proficiency learners showed a P600 for number overall, but no effects for gender. Unlike the highest-proficiency learners, they also showed no sensitivity to structural distance, suggesting that sensitivity to such linguistic factors develops over time. Overall, these results suggest an important role for proficiency in morphosyntactic development, although differences emerged between behavioral and electrophysiological measures. While L2 proficiency predicted behavioral sensitivity to agreement, development with respect to the neurocognitive mechanisms recruited in processing only emerged when comparing the two extremes of the proficiency spectrum. Importantly, while both L1-L2 similarity and hierarchical structure impact development, they do not constrain it.

French Grammatical Accents: Practices, Sociolinguistic Foundations, and Pedagogical Implications in a Multilingual Setting

The present paper probes the use of French grammatical accents by English-speaking learners of French in a multilingual country: Cameroon. Its aim is twofold. First, it highlights the extent to which the various appropriative uses of French by French-speaking Cameroonians influence the form of the language spoken by their English-speaking counterparts. Then, it checks the effect of the language spoken by these learners on their written language. The data were collected among 160 Form 3 and Form 4 pupils from two high schools in the town of Maroua, Far North Region, Cameroon. Six tests and fifty tape recordings were carried out among the target population. Also, four French teachers were tape recorded during the exercise. The analysis of the errors made by the informants revealed significant patterns of acute and grave accents in the spoken language of respondents. These patterns of oral usage were found to strongly correlate with their written production. It therefore appears that Cameroon French displays some specific phonological characteristics, which severely spoils the acquisition of grammatical accents by English-speaking Cameroonians. These findings may revive the debate over whether French in former colonies should adapt to its contexts or keep its native purity.

French Grammatical Accents: Practices, Sociolinguistic Foundations, and Pedagogical Implications in a Multilingual Setting

The present paper probes the use of French grammatical accents by English-speaking learners of French in a multilingual country: Cameroon. Its aim is twofold. First, it highlights the extent to which the various appropriative uses of French by French-speaking Cameroonians influence the form of the language spoken by their English-speaking counterparts. Then, it checks the effect of the language spoken by these learners on their written language. The data were collected among 160 Form 3 and Form 4 pupils from two high schools in the town of Maroua, Far North Region, Cameroon. Six tests and fifty tape recordings were carried out among the target population. Also, four French teachers were tape recorded during the exercise. The analysis of the errors made by the informants revealed significant patterns of acute and grave accents in the spoken language of respondents. These patterns of oral usage were found to strongly correlate with their written production. It therefore appears that Cameroon French displays some specific phonological characteristics, which severely spoils the acquisition of grammatical accents by English-speaking Cameroonians. These findings may revive the debate over whether French in former colonies should adapt to its contexts or keep its native purity.
 This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

L2 DEVELOPMENT OF PERCEPTUAL CATEGORIZATION OF DIALECTAL SOUNDS

AbstractThe present study examined second language (L2) development in the perceptual identification of a dialectal sound of the target language, through an investigation of the role of individual learner experiences in L2 phonological development. A total of 213 English-speaking learners of Spanish across five levels of study and with varying dialect contact experiences completed an identification task, which tested perceptual categorization of Spanish dialectal aspirated-s (e.g.,siesta[ˈsi̯eh-ta]). In accordance with postulates of L2 speech perception models (PAM-L2, SLM, L2LP), findings revealed influence of the first language phonology on categorization at early levels shifting toward nativelike, dialect-specific categorizations of aspirated-s for more experienced learners. Dialect contact factors of prior study abroad location, native speaker social contacts, and metalinguistic training were found to be predictors of the dialectal perceptual targets toward which the L2 learners developed—for those learners past intermediate-level language courses—highlighting how individual experiences shape L2 perceptual abilities.

Research on English pronunciation training based on intelligent speech recognition

When learning English, Chinese students tend to spend a lot of time in practicing reading and writing skills, while neglecting their ability to speak English. This study presented a speech recognition-based intelligent spoken English pronunciation training system which took Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients as the characteristic parameter of speech signal and introduced deep neural network algorithm to improve the accuracy of speech recognition. Taking tone, speech speed and intonation as the evaluation criteria, a simulation experiment of artificial evaluation and machine evaluation was carried out. The results demonstrated that deep neural network had high speech recognition rate, and the three evaluation criteria were reliable, which provides a reference for the development of spoken English learning system.

A STUDY ON SPEAKING SKILL ACTIVITIES IN AR-ROHMAH ENGLISH COMMUNITY PROGRAM IN SMA AR-ROHMAH MALANG

Ar-rohmah English Community is an extracurricular program which provides time and creates opportunity to learn English speaking skill. The aims of this study are to describe kinds of speaking activities used in Ar-Rohmah English Community Program in SMA Ar-Rohmah Malang, to find out the problems related to teaching and learning English speaking skill activities in AEC Program and to investigate the solutions for the problems. The use of research design in this study was descriptive qualitative in which the instrument used to get the data were observation, questionnaire and interview. It was presumed as the proper design in order to attain the purpose in overcoming and solving the research problems. This study obtained the data from twenty-four students and two English teachers who were involved in the AEC Program. After analyzing the data, it is found that English teachers use seven speaking activities in Ar-Rohmah English Community Program. Those seven activities are free speaking, card game, watching movie, interview, storytelling, science writing presentation and dialogue activities. Furthermore, the problems found related to teaching and learning English speaking skill are derived from linguistic and non-linguistic factors. From linguistic factors, it is found that the students face the difficulty on mastering vocabulary, choosing appropriate grammar, lacking of pronunciation experience and not habituated with English. Moreover, from non-linguistic factor, they are reluctant to speak in English because they are inhibited, have nothing to say, have low participation and feel ease and safe using mother tongue language. Besides, the teachers face the difficulty such as get tired to handle a large class with only two teachers, confused to choose suitable activity, do not remember students’ names, hard to motivate the students to speak in English and lack of preparation time. In addition, other activity which is Pandu Hidayatullah influences the students’ passion toward AEC Program. Dealing with those problems, the teachers keep creating creative, fun and interesting activity to improve the students’ vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and familiarized the students with English. By creating regulations, they solve the problems of students’ low motivation to use English hard to push the students using English

A STUDY ON SPEAKING SKILL ACTIVITIES IN AR-ROHMAH ENGLISH COMMUNITY PROGRAM IN SMA AR-ROHMAH MALANG

Ar-rohmah English Community is an extracurricular program which provides time and creates opportunity to learn English speaking skill. The aims of this study are to describe kinds of speaking activities used in Ar-Rohmah English Community Program in SMA Ar-Rohmah Malang, to find out the problems related to teaching and learning English speaking skill activities in AEC Program and to investigate the solutions for the problems. The use of research design in this study was descriptive qualitative in which the instrument used to get the data were observation, questionnaire and interview. It was presumed as the proper design in order to attain the purpose in overcoming and solving the research problems. This study obtained the data from twenty-four students and two English teachers who were involved in the AEC Program. After analyzing the data, it is found that English teachers use seven speaking activities in Ar-Rohmah English Community Program. Those seven activities are free speaking, card game, watching movie, interview, storytelling, science writing presentation and dialogue activities. Furthermore, the problems found related to teaching and learning English speaking skill are derived from linguistic and non-linguistic factors. From linguistic factors, it is found that the students face the difficulty on mastering vocabulary, choosing appropriate grammar, lacking of pronunciation experience and not habituated with English. Moreover, from non-linguistic factor, they are reluctant to speak in English because they are inhibited, have nothing to say, have low participation and feel ease and safe using mother tongue language. Besides, the teachers face the difficulty such as get tired to handle a large class with only two teachers, confused to choose suitable activity, do not remember students’ names, hard to motivate the students to speak in English and lack of preparation time. In addition, other activity which is Pandu Hidayatullah influences the students’ passion toward AEC Program. Dealing with those problems, the teachers keep creating creative, fun and interesting activity to improve the students’ vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and familiarized the students with English. By creating regulations, they solve the problems of students’ low motivation to use English hard to push the students using English

Write to improve: exploring the impact of an automated feedback tool on Bahraini learners of English

The development of written accuracy among learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) has always been a primary concern for ESL teachers and researchers in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition (SLA). While a vast body of research has examined written corrective feedback on students’ written products, few studies have focused on the development of written accuracy among Arabic speaking learners of English using automated feedback tools. This case study first examined the level of written accuracy of Bahraini learners of English in their second year at a higher education institute, highlighting the frequency of errors influenced by their first language (Arabic). The course following this first stage included a significant component of automated feedback on students’ writing; and this study explored the impact that the use of these feedback tools had on learners’ writing in English, tracking development over the course of an academic semester. A corpus of students’ initial writings and subsequent revisions was analysed to identify whether there was an improvement in the accuracy of students’ texts; and students’ perceptions were elicited. ﻟط ﺎﻟ ﻣﺎ ﻛﺎ ن ﺗ طوﯾ ر اﻟدﻗﺔ ﻓ ﻲ ﻣﮭﺎ رة اﻟ ﻛﺗﺎﺑﺔ ﺑﯾ ن ﻣﺗ ﻌﻠ ﻣ ﻲ اﻟﻠ ﻐﺔ ا ﻹﻧ ﺟﻠﯾ زﯾﺔ ﻛﻠ ﻐﺔ ﺛﺎﻧﯾﺔ اﻟ ﺷـ ﻐ ل اﻟ ﺷـﺎ ﻏل ﻟ ﻣﻌﻠ ﻣ ﻲ اﻟﻠ ﻐﺔ ا ﻹﻧﺟ ﻠﯾ زﯾﺔ واﻟﺑﺎﺣ ﺛﯾ ن ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﻠ ﻐو ﯾﺎ ت اﻟ ﺗ ط ﺑﯾﻘﯾ ﺔ و ا ﻛﺗ ﺳ ـﺎ ب اﻟﻠ ﻐﺔ اﻟ ﺛﺎﻧﯾ ﺔ. ﻓ ﻲ ﺣ ﯾ ن أ ن ﻣ ﺟ ﻣو ﻋ ﺔ ﻛﺑﯾ ر ة ﻣ ن ا ﻷ ﺑ ﺣ ﺎ ث ﻗد د ر ﺳ ـ ت ﻣ ﻼ ﺣ ظ ﺎ ت ﺗ ﺻ ـ ﺣ ﯾ ﺣ ﯾ ﺔ ﺧ ط ﯾ ﺔ ﻋ ﻠ ﻰ ﻛﺗﺎﺑﺎ ت اﻟط ﻼ ب ، ﻓﻘ د رﻛز ت د را ﺳ ــﺎ ت ﻗﻠﯾﻠ ﺔ ﻋ ﻠ ﻰ ﺗ ط وﯾ ر اﻟ دﻗﺔ ﻓ ﻲ ﻣﮭﺎ رة اﻟ ﻛﺗﺎﺑ ﺔ ﺑﯾ ن ﻣﺗ ﻌﻠ ﻣ ﻲ اﻟﻠ ﻐﺔ ا ﻹ ﻧ ﺟ ﻠﯾ زﯾ ﺔ اﻟﻧﺎ ط ﻘﯾ ن ﺑﺎﻟ ﻌرﺑﯾ ﺔ ﺑﺎ ﺳ ــﺗ ﺧ دا م أدو ا ت اﻟ ﺗ ﻐذﯾ ﺔ ا ﻻ ﺳ ـــﺗ ر ﺟ ﺎ ﻋ ﯾ ﺔ ﻋ ﺑ ر ا ﻹ ﻧﺗ ر ﻧ ت . ﺗ ﺗ ﻧ ﺎ و ل د ر ا ﺳ ـ ـ ﺔ ا ﻟ ﺣ ﺎ ﻟ ﺔ ھ ذ ه أ و ﻻً ﻣ ﺳ ـ ـ ﺗ و ى ا ﻟ د ﻗ ﺔ ا ﻟ ﻣ ﻛ ﺗ و ﺑ ﺔ ﻟ ﻠ ﻣ ﺗ ﻌ ﻠ ﻣ ﯾ ن ا ﻟ ﺑ ﺣ ر ﯾ ﻧ ﯾ ﯾ ن ﻟ ﻠ ﻐ ﺔ ا ﻹ ﻧ ﺟ ﻠ ﯾ ز ﯾ ﺔ ﻓ ﻲ ﺳـ ﻧﺗ ﮭم اﻟﺛﺎﻧﯾ ﺔ ﻓ ﻲ ﻣؤﺳـ ﺳـ ﺔ ﻟﻠﺗ ﻌﻠﯾم اﻟﻌﺎﻟ ﻲ ، ﻣﻊ اﻟﺗ رﻛﯾ ز ﻋﻠ ﻰ ﺗﻛرا ر أ ﺧطﺎ ء اﻟﺗدا ﺧل ﺑﯾ ن اﻟﻠ ﻐﺔ ا ﻻوﻟ ﻰ واﻟﺛﺎﻧﯾﺔ. ﺛم ﺗ ﺳـﺗﻛ ﺷـ ف اﻟد را ﺳـ ﺔ ﺗﺄﺛﯾ ر أ دو ا ت اﻟ ﻣ ﻼﺣظﺎ ت ﻋﺑ ر ا ﻹﻧﺗ رﻧ ت ﻋﻠ ﻰ ﻛﺗﺎﺑﺔ اﻟ ﻣﺗ ﻌﻠ ﻣﯾ ن ﺑﺎﻟﻠ ﻐﺔ ا ﻹﻧ ﺟﻠﯾ زﯾﺔ ﻛﻠ ﻐﺔ ﺛﺎ ﻧﯾ ﺔ، وﺗ ﺗﺑ ﻊ اﻟﺗ طور ﺧﻼل اﻟﻔ ﺻ ـــ ل اﻟ د را ﺳـــ ﻲ. ﯾﺗ ﺿ ـــ ﻣ ن ا ﻟ ﺗ د ﺧ ل ا ﻟ ﻣ ط ﺑ ق ﻟ ﺗ ﺣ ﺳـ ﯾ ن ﺗ ﻧ ﻣ ﯾ ﺔ ﻣ ﮭ ﺎ ر ا ت ا ﻟ ﻣ ﺗ ﻌ ﻠ ﻣ ﯾ ن ﻣ ﻛ و ﻧًﺎ ﻣ ﮭ ﻣً ﺎ ﻟ ﻠ ﺗ ﻌ ﻠ ﯾ ق ﻋ ﺑ ر ا ﻹ ﻧ ﺗ ر ﻧ ت . ﻗ ﺎ ﻣ ت ا ﻟ د ر ا ﺳـ ﺔ ﺑ ﺗ ﺣ ﻠ ﯾ ل ﻣ ﺟ ﻣ و ﻋ ﺔ ﻣ ن ا ﻟ ﻛ ﺗ ﺎ ﺑ ﺎ ت ا ﻷ و ﻟ ﯾ ﺔ وا ﻟ ﻣرا ﺟﻌﺎ ت اﻟ ﻼﺣ ﻘﺔ ﻟﻠط ﻼ ب ، ﺑﺎﻹ ﺿ ﺎﻓﺔ إﻟ ﻰ ﻣر ا ﺟ ﻌﺎ ت اﻟ ﻧ ظ ر ا ء، ﻟﺗﺣ دﯾد ﻣﺎ إ ذا ﻛﺎ ن ھﻧﺎ ك ﺗ ﺣ ﺳ ن ﻓ ﻲ دﻗﺔ اﻟﻧ ﺻ و ص اﻟﻣﻛﺗ و ﺑ ﺔ ﻟﻠط ﻼ ب .

Developing content and language integrated English speaking materials for accounting students

This study aimed at developing content and language integrated English speaking learning materials for the students of international accounting study program to help them learn, practise and improve their speaking skills first in content subjects classes and then in their future career. The study involved 27 third year students of Accounting Department, Faculty of Economics, Yogyakarta State University. The data were collected through an interview, classroom observation, and a students’ questionnaire. The research findings show that, the students prefer: business, accounting basics, accounting concepts, and financial accounting accounting contents topics. In terms of classroom activities, students preferred making presentations, discussion, dialogues, role-plays, and making descriptions. The students have difficulties in discussions/debates, pronunciation, grammatical structures, and knowledge of specific vocabulary items. Their priorities for speaking English include presentations, discussions, questions and answers, descriptions, and using specific vocabulary items. Their preferences on the components of the English speaking learning materials include conversations/dialogues, grammatical features, specific vocabulary items, presentations, and discussions/debates. The evaluation of the developed materials falls in the Very Good category for both experts and students’ evaluation.

The Mixed Effects of Phonetic Input Variability on Relative Ease of L2 Learning: Evidence from English Learners’ Production of French and Spanish Stop-Rhotic Clusters

We examined the consequences of within-category phonetic variability in the input on non-native learners’ production accuracy. Following previous empirical research on the L2 acquisition of phonetics and the lexicon, we tested the hypothesis that phonetic variability facilitates learning by analyzing English-speaking learners’ production of French and Spanish word-medial stop-rhotic clusters, which differ from their English counterparts in terms of stop and rhotic voicing and manner. Crucially, for both the stops and rhotics, there are differences in within-language variability. Twenty native speakers per language and 39 L1 English-learners of French (N = 20) and Spanish (N = 19) of intermediate and advanced proficiency performed a carrier-sentence reading task. A given parameter was deemed to have been acquired when the learners’ production fell within the range of attested native speaker values. An acoustic analysis of the data partially supports the facilitative effect of phonetic variability. To account for the unsupported hypotheses, we discuss a number of issues, including the difficulty of measuring variability, the need to determine the extent to which learners’ perception shapes intake, and the challenge of teasing apart the effects of input variability from those of transferred L1 articulatory patterns.

SPEAKING CHALLENGES THAT ENCOUNTER 2ND AND 3RD YEAR EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

This research investigated the common problems and difficulties that face 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate students in developing their speaking skills. The qualitative approaches (interview and observation) were used as methods of collecting data of this study. Four classes were involved in the classroom observation, twenty students from this cohort and four teachers were interviewed. Some of the difficulties which were introduced in this study were related to the poor classroom conditions and methods that teachers employ in teaching speaking skills. Some other difficulties were related to pronunciation, including adding extra vowels and intonation and stress. Furthermore, there were other difficulties regarding the lack of vocabulary, which lead the students to avoid practicing their problems, have been provided in this study. The findings of this study are important as they represent the most influential factors which appear to be responsible for the problems of developing 2nd and 3rd year under- graduate students speaking skills. Recognition of the problems outlined in the first step of this study in order to supply appropriate solutions for overcoming these difficulties. In addition, these findings draw attention towards the importance of helping both the foreign language teachers and students to change their perspective about teaching and learning English speaking skills.

SPEAKING CHALLENGES THAT ENCOUNTER 2ND AND 3RD YEAR EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

This research investigated the common problems and difficulties that face 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate students in developing their speaking skills. The qualitative approaches (interview and observation) were used as methods of collecting data of this study. Four classes were involved in the classroom observation, twenty students from this cohort and four teachers were interviewed. Some of the difficulties which were introduced in this study were related to the poor classroom conditions and methods that teachers employ in teaching speaking skills. Some other difficulties were related to pronunciation, including adding extra vowels and intonation and stress. Furthermore, there were other difficulties regarding the lack of vocabulary, which lead the students to avoid practicing their problems, have been provided in this study. The findings of this study are important as they represent the most influential factors which appear to be responsible for the problems of developing 2nd and 3rd year under- graduate students speaking skills. Recognition of the problems outlined in the first step of this study in order to supply appropriate solutions for overcoming these difficulties. In addition, these findings draw attention towards the importance of helping both the foreign language teachers and students to change their perspective about teaching and learning English speaking skills.

Influence of L1 Properties and Proficiency on the Acquisition of Gender Agreement

This research investigates the influence of L1 properties and proficiency level on the acquisition of the Spanish gender agreement system. French and English-speaking learners of Spanish participated in the study. Subjects were divided into four different groups considering their L1 (French and English) and their proficiency level (intermediate and advanced). Subjects completed three different tasks: an untimed grammaticality judgment (UGJT) to measure learners’ explicit knowledge, an elicited oral imitation (EOI) and an eye-tracking to assess their implicit knowledge of the Spanish gender agreement system. From this multi-tiered methodology, this research project aimed to examine whether L1 properties and proficiency level influence learners’ explicit and implicit knowledge of the Spanish gender agreement. The results from the UGJT suggest that both French and English learners can notice noun-adjective discord. As for the EOI and eye-tracking tasks, only the French advanced learners clearly demonstrated integrated implicit knowledge of gender agreement. Therefore, based on these results, we can imply that implicit knowledge of gender agreement is acquired later and that L1 properties influence this whole process, even at an advanced proficiency level.

Directionality and complexity of L1 transfer in L2 acquisition: Evidence from L2 Chinese discourse

Abstract First language (L1) transfer is a common phenomenon in second language (L2) acquisition. However, it will be argued in this article that although there are indeed pervasive influences of learners’ L1 in L2 acquisition, L1 transfer is not everywhere and it can be directional. We compare data from Chang’s (2001b. Discourse effects on the second language acquisition of English and Chinese dative structures. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i at Manoa PhD dissertation, 2004. Discourse effects on EFL learners’ production of dative constructions. Journal of Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences 33. 145–169.) studies of Chinese-speaking learners of English with data of our study of English-speaking learners of Chinese to examine whether their L2 English discourse and L2 Chinese discourse are equally influenced by their L1 discourse rules. We focus on learners’ answers to wh-questions with a double object construction or a prepositional object construction. The results demonstrate that L1 transfer takes place in Chinese-speaking learners’ L2 English discourse but not in English-speaking learners’ L2 Chinese discourse. This directionality of L1 transfer is accounted for on the basis of computational complexity of linguistic structures involved and on an economical consideration.

PENGARUH METODE PEMBELAJARAN DAN KEPRIBADIAN TERHADAP KETERAMPILAN BERBICARA BAHASA INGGRIS SISWA SMA NEGERI DI CIBINONG

The purpose of this study was to show the influence of learning methods and personality towards English speaking skill. Sample size is 60 students consist of 30 students in experiment class and 30 students in control class and the sampling technique is intact class based on Factorial Group design. Research instrument used is a questionnaire about the personality of students who have tested its validity with the reliability coefficient of 0.875 and the test of speaking skills. Data analysis using descriptive statistical method, normality test, homogeneity test and two way ANOVA.The results showed: 1) There are significant effects of learning methods towards English Speaking skill as Fo = 85,435 and sig. = 0,000 < 0,05 2) There is a significant effect of personality towards English Speaking skill, as Fo = 6,741 and sig. = 0,012 < 0,05. 3) There is no significant effect of learning method and personlity towards English Speaking skill as Fo = 1,305 and sig. = 0,258 > 0,05. The results of this study is useful for improving the students’ English speaking skills by using suggetopedia method by considering the factor of student personality type Keywords: Learning Method, Personality, and English Speaking Skill

Study abroad learners’ metalinguistic and sociocultural reflections on short- and long-term international experiences

English-speaking learners of L2 Spanish who were taking part in a four-week study abroad program in Spain and Japanese-speaking learners of L2 English who were individually studying in year-long abroad experiences participated in the present study. Quantitative and qualitative data from language questionnaires and contact profiles along with open-ended responses revealed details on learners’ engagement with and use of their languages while abroad. We discuss the findings and their implications for programs, educators and learners.

An Analysis of the Relationship between College Students’ Learner Variables and Their English Speaking Learning Strategies

An Analysis of the Relationship between College Students’ Learner Variables and Their English Speaking Learning Strategies

Contextual effect in second language perception and production of Mandarin tones

A robust contextual effect is well documented in native tone perception and production but less well studied in non-native speech. The current study examined English-speaking learners’ Mandarin tone perception and production with varying preceding and following tones. Fifteen intermediate-level learners performed an Identification and a Reading task with disyllabic stimuli encompassing various tone combinations. The results revealed that the learners’ accuracy rates and error patterns varied in the initial and final position as well as in different tonal environments. For example, the learners predominantly misidentified T3 as T4 in the initial position when the following tone was T1, but rarely made such an error in the final position. In the Reading task, on the other hand, the learners frequently misproduced T3 as T2 in the final position, but often misproduced T2 as T3 in the initial position, especially when the following tone was T1. The learners’ overall accuracy and error rates in Identification correlated with those in Reading, indicating comparable tone perception and production abilities. However, there were some significant differences between perception and production with regard to T3. These findings suggest that the prosodic position and surrounding tones both have a significant effect on the learners’ performance with L2 tones, and that the effect differs in perception and production.

Teacher talk and Spanish subject personal pronouns

ABSTRACTThis study examines whether second-language instructors of Spanish overuse subject personal pronouns (SPPs) to facilitate communication with their English-speaking students, which would be a form of teacher talk. Ten native Spanish-speaking language instructors were recorded in two speech contexts: teaching a third-semester Spanish class to native English-speaking learners and talking with another native Spanish speaker. Logistic regression analyses using GoldVarb revealed that SPP expression was strongly conditioned both by the classroom as a speech context and by the linguistic factors including morphological ambiguity of the verb and switch reference. Crucially, instructors’ language in the classroom exhibited elevated and modified use of overt SPPs. This finding contributes to research on the variable use of Spanish SPPs, and it has important pedagogical implications for the acquisition of verbal morphology in the classroom context.