Foreign Language Environment Research Articles

Verb-Noun Collocation Proficiency and Academic Years

Generally vocabulary and collocations in particular have significant roles in language proficiency. A collocation includes two words that are frequently joined concurrently in the memory of native speakers. There have been many linguistic studies trying to define, to describe, and to categorise English collocations. It contains grammatical collocations and lexical collocations which include nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverb. In the context of a foreign language environment such as Iran, collocational proficiency can be useful because it helps the students improve their language proficiency. This paper investigates the possible relationship between verb-noun collocation proficiency among students from one academic year to the next. To reach this goal, a test of verb-noun collocations was administered to Iranian learners. The participants in the study were 212 Iranian students in an Iranian university. They were selected from the second term of freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years. The students’ age ranged from 18 to 35.The results of ANOVA showed there was variability in the verb-noun collocations proficiency within each academic year and between the four academic years. The results of a post hoc multiple comparison tests demonstrated that the means are significantly different between the first year and the third and fourth years, and between the third and the fourth academic year; however, students require at least two years to show significant development in verb-noun collocation proficiency. These findings provided a vital implication that lexical collocations are learnt and developed through four academic years of university, but requires at least two years showing significant development in the language proficiency.

ELT Majors' Cross Sectional Evaluation of Academic Lexical Competence and Performance

Academic vocabulary knowledge and use are critical for students’ language proficiency and academic achievement. Through the constructs of lexical competence and performance, the multidimensional nature of academic vocabulary and its interrelated components could be described better so that students’ development of academic vocabulary knowledge through their education could be revealed effectively. Considering this, the present study aimed to examine the university students’ academic lexical competence and performance combing all main dimensions, namely receptive (size; how many words), and productive (use) dimensions. In that way, it was aimed to reveal 371 ELT majors’ academic vocabulary development in English as Foreign Language environment through cross-sectional evaluation. Applying multi-test approach, the receptive and productive sub-dimensions were investigated. The results indicated that both academic lexical competence and performance developed through the years. Particularly, a salient jump of size of academic vocabulary from the 1st year to the 2nd year indicated the effect of proficiency and education. In spite of promising increase in the students’ academic lexical competence, limited use of academic vocabulary in the essays drew attention. It was observed that the students tend to avoid using academic vocabulary while writing. In this study, the reasons underlying these findings were discussed within related literature.

Human Factors in a Computer Assisted Foreign Language Environment

This multi-method research examines the effects of gender, personality and keyboard control on foreign language learning and interaction patterns of 60 intermediate French students in a computer assisted language learning environment at the university level. This study includes ten female dyads (pairs), ten male dyads, and ten mixed-gender dyads. Results of the Analyses of Variance reveal that learning achievement and interaction patterns at the computer are more strongly related to personality differences and keyboard control than to gender differences, although males and females still perform differently, yet not quite as expected. The most detrimental factor in this computer based French activity was shown to be the inability for linear learners, whether males or females, to adjust to the nonlinear format of foreign language hypertexts.

Teaching English through cultural lenses. A perspective on initial teacher training programs

1 IntroductionThis paper consists of two parts: the first one intends to provide details regarding the intertwined relationship between and language and the reasons for which this connection should be applied in the field of foreign languages, while the second aims to present a study that has been conducted in order to better understand the would-be teacher's interest in addressing different objectives. In order to provide more details about the students' profile there has been organized a feed-forward session and there have been applied some follow-up questions.2 Language and cultureLanguage and cannot be viewed apart since ''language is not a culture-free code'' (Kramsch, 1998:8). The interlocutor inevitably makes use through language of different social roles that are appropriate for a specific situation. ''Language need to attend to variables (e.g. age, status, age, gender and education) that are especially sensitive to different cultural interpretations, which in turn, may result in miscommunication'' (Meier in Guerra, Flor, Juan 2003:195) even if the intended message obeys the rules of grammar. Kramsch (1998:32) suggests that the register, the tone of one's voice, the distribution of the silence and the choice of lexical and grammatical structures are markers of identity. These details should be taken into account by any interlocutor who wants to engage effectively in a conversation. Knowledge of these details can also offer a perspective on the complex manner of interpreting a message.Acquiring a new language also implies the learning of the conceptual structures available in the foreign language because learners have not only to master the grammatical structures and communicative peculiarities of the new language but also, in order to be native like, they have to learn to think as native speakers do, perceive the world the way native speakers and use the language metaphorically as native speakers do (Kecskes, Papp 2000:9). Since most foreign language are exposed to this reconceptualization in an artificial environment in which sociocultural knowledge is constructed with the help of course books and other authentic resources there might appear grammatical and lexical problems due to a negative language transfer from the mother tongue.3 Initial teacher training programs - A general philosophyInitial teacher training programs should focus on a constructivist approach to and learning since this perspective ''aims to prepare the individual for an active integration in a democratic society'' (Boco? 2007:55). Boco? (2007:56) suggests that a constructivist design would place the learning activity in contexts that are relevant for the learner, would favour the self-reflective attitude towards the learning process and would include learning within social experience. These also represent some of the guidelines promoted by the intercultural education.Would-be teachers enrolled in initial teacher training programs need to be fully aware that [A] foreign language environment presents a unique challenge to the language because they have to enhance background knowledge and sociocultural competence without direct contact with the target language environment and culture (Kecskes, Papp 2000:108). This lack of genuine contact with the sociocultural background should be sustained with activities and resources that focus on developing students' cultural knowledge, communication skills and interaction abilities in the target language. These represent according to Byram (1997: 34-37) the key elements for attaining intercultural communicative competence. Still, being able to speak in a foreign language does not transform the speaker into an intercultural speaker endowed with intercultural competence since the latter (...) is not a 'natural' or 'automatic' result of foreign language teaching Meyer (1991: 157). …

Researching Vocabulary: A Vocabulary Research Manual

Linguistic studies focusing on monolinguals have often examined individuals with considerable experience using another language. Results of a methodological review suggest that conflating ostensibly ‘multicompetent’ individuals with monolinguals is still common practice. A year-long longitudinal study of speech production demonstrates why this practice is problematic. Adult native English speakers recently arrived in Korea showed significant changes in their production of English stops and vowels (in terms of voice onset time, fundamental frequency, and formant frequencies) during Korean classes and continued to show altered English production a year later, months after their last Korean class. Consistent with an Incidental Processing Hypothesis (IPH) concerning the processing of ambient linguistic input, some changes persisted even in speakers who reported limited active use of Korean in their daily life. These patterns thus suggest that the linguistic experience obtained in a foreign language environment induces and then prolongs restructuring of the native language, making the multicompetent native speaker in a foreign language environment unrepresentative of a monolingual in a native language environment. Such restructuring supports the view that one’s native language continues to evolve in adulthood, highlighting the need for researchers to be explicit about a population under study and to accordingly control (and describe) language background in a study sample.

Phonemic perception under noise condition by early and late learners of English

This study investigated long-term age effects of minimal input in an English as a foreign language (EFL) environment on the perception of English phonemes. Ten native speakers of American English, 10 university students who started studying English in Japan for a few hours a week between ages of three and eight (early learners), and 10 university students who began study in junior high school at the age of 12 or 13 (late learners) participated in a phonemic discrimination test. The selected target phonemes were tense vs. lax vowels ([i, ɪ], [u, U]) and word-initial approximants ([l,r]). Three monosyllabic words were selected for each phoneme (e.g., beat, bit). Each pair of words was tested as six different tri-word trials (e.g., AAB, ABA) with and without the presence of a white noise. The participants were asked to choose the odd out in each trial. Results showed that although the early and late learners did not significantly differ across the phonemes in the discrimination test given without any noise, the former outperformed the latter under noise condition (p < 0.05). The findings support Lin et al.'s (2004) hypothesis that early learners are likely to establish more robust phonemic categories than late learners.

Acquisition of L2 english morphology

This study investigates the status of morphology in the L2 English of three members of a family from Indonesia (parents and their 5-year-old daughter) who have lived, studied or worked in Australia for a year. The investigation is contextualized against various learning settings in which the informants have learned English: formal instruction in the foreign language environment, naturalistic learning in the target language setting, and a mixture of formal and naturalistic learning in the target language environment. Following the developmental hierarchy for English morphology (Pienemann, 2005; Bettoni and Di Biase, forthcoming) and analytical procedures in Processability Theory (Pienemann, 1998, 2005), we found the informants were at different stages of L2 English morphology, with the father being the most advanced and the daughter the least. We also found a systematic developmental profile of each informant in line with the developmental hierarchy for English morphology. Both findings are discussed with reference to the developmental sequences and the role of learning settings in SLA.

Acquisition of L2 English morphology

This study investigates the status of morphology in the L2 English of three members of a family from Indonesia (parents and their 5-year-old daughter) who have lived, studied or worked in Australia for a year. The investigation is contextualized against various learning settings in which the informants have learned English: formal instruction in the foreign language environment, naturalistic learning in the target language setting, and a mixture of formal and naturalistic learning in the target language environment. Following the developmental hierarchy for English morphology (Pienemann, 2005; Bettoni and Di Biase, forthcoming) and analytical procedures in Processability Theory (Pienemann, 1998, 2005), we found the informants were at different stages of L2 English morphology, with the father being the most advanced and the daughter the least. We also found a systematic developmental profile of each informant in line with the developmental hierarchy for English morphology. Both findings are discussed with reference to the developmental sequences and the role of learning settings in SLA.

Pratimų tipologijos problema lingvodidaktikos teorijoje ir praktikoje

The article deals with the problem of the exercise system and typology. The author considers that without the foreign language environment, the system of exercises and exercises themselves are the basic means of learning a foreign language. The definitions of an exercise, exercise system and typology are given in the article. The author emphasizes that there are three viewpoints concerning exercise typology. In the author’s opinion the most perspective thing is the interaction of positive aspects of the second and the third viewpoints. The necessity of preparing exercise typology is highlighted in the article. The classification of exercises is provided, showing the positive things and shortcomings of it. The article is useful both from theoretical and practical viewpoints, bearing in mind that a unified, well-grounded exercise system has not been founded yet.

Support for Foreign Language Listeners

■ The assessment of listening comprehension in a second language has received relatively little attention until recently. This study investigated the effectiveness of providing different types of listening support for learners in a foreign language environment with a low level of English proficiency. The research was conducted with 140 students taking an English listening course at a college in Taiwan. The participants took sections of a listening test under four different conditions. Two of the conditions provided support in the form of either a set of pictures or a written background text. The third condition was a repetition of the test input, whereas the fourth one was simply no type of support. After the test, the participants completed a short questionnaire and some of them were also interviewed. According to the results, repeating the input was the most effective treatment, followed by having visual and textual support. However, the limits of the learners' English competence meant that all of the types of support could improve their comprehension only to a certain degree. Nevertheless, the provision of appropriate support may motivate foreign language learners to improve their listening proficiency by making adequate comprehension more attainable for them.

An interview study of inter-cultural contact and its role in language learning in a foreign language environment

The research reported in this paper investigates what types of inter-cultural contact Hungarian schoolchildren have, what kind of language-related attitudes they can give account of and how they see the role of contact situations in affecting their attitudinal and motivational dispositions towards the L2, the L2 speaking communities and the process of L2 learning. This study is based on data gathered in an interview project that involved 40 13-, 14-year-old learners of English and German from all over Hungary. The results reveal that tourism does not create many contact opportunities for the majority of students in this country and that in this particular foreign language setting, indirect contact through various cultural products is the most frequent means of gaining information about target language speakers and their culture. The participants were found to display a wide variety of attitudes towards a considerable number of aspects of the target language culture. Students reported that cross-cultural contact helps the development of their communicative competence and contributes to the increase of their motivation and the decrease of language use anxiety.

“Show, don’t tell!”

While the field of drama and theater continues to inspire many foreign language teachers, improvisational theater has not received more than passing attention as a resource providing interesting warm-ups and games to be used periodically in our classroom. This article makes a case for using the format of an improvisational theater workshop in beginning foreign language teaching. The example of a three-week experimental workshop in January 2006 suggests that improvisational theater and systematic work with its basic directive ‘Show, don’t tell!’ encourage students to communicate in a foreign language environment before they may feel prepared to do so in the target language itself. Physical engagement with a situation opens up communicative possibilities, and it eventually enables students to overcome cognitive and psychological barriers to successfully move towards greater linguistic proficiency and communicative freedom. While the field of drama and theater continues to inspire many foreign language teachers, improvisational theater has not received more than passing attention as a resource providing interesting warm-ups and games to be used periodically in our classroom. This article makes a case for using the format of an improvisational theater workshop in beginning foreign language teaching. The example of a three-week experimental workshop in January 2006 suggests that improvisational theater and systematic work with its basic directive ‘Show, don’t tell!’ encourage students to communicate in a foreign language environment before they may feel prepared to do so in the target language itself. Physical engagement with a situation opens up communicative possibilities, and it eventually enables students to overcome cognitive and psychological barriers to successfully move towards greater linguistic proficiency and communicative freedom.

What Motivates L2 Learners in Acquisition of Kanji Using CALL: A Case Study

Unlike alphabetic languages, knowledge of about 1,000 basic kanji characters is imperative to comprehend written Japanese such as that used in newspapers. Exposure to authentic materials is often recommended from the early stages of learning. This puts pressure on the learning of kanji. How can learners acquire kanji more quickly in order to take advantage of available sources of information? Learning kanji is perhaps not difficult but is extremely time-consuming, especially when learners study it in a foreign language environment. This case study, undertaken in 1997 among first-year university students of Japanese, examines language learning motivation and strategies in relation to the learning of kanji using CALL. The findings indicate that: (i) instrumental motivation was a dominant factor; and (ii) metacognitive strategies along with a positive attitude toward the CALL kanji program are also influential factors in mastering kanji effectively, especially at beginner level.

Reading Is Communication, Too!

ABSTRACT The communicative aspect of the reading skill resides in the ability to interpret culturally authentic messages in the foreign language environment, that is, to be functionally literate in the second language. A task‐analysis procedure is useful in three areas: identification of appropriate communicative materials, strategies effective for the decoding process, and evaluation techniques that capitalize on the communicative aspect of the situation. Within thematic units developed in textbook lessons, teachers can provide guidelines that expand the reading materials to exploit communication between written messages and learners by encouraging the guessing process that the independent reader must develop. This type of activity serves to bridge the gap between controlled and liberated reading situations. A combination of language skills and contextual expectations works together so that the reader interprets the realia of the foreign culture.