German L2 Learners Research Articles

Phrase Frame Use in EFL Learners’ Argumentative Essays: A Corpus-Based Comparative Study

Recently, there has been a growing interest in the features and development of multi-word formulaic sequences for foreign language learners in the field of second language acquisition. While considerable amount of research has been conducted on continuous formulaic sequences both domestically and abroad, scant attention has been rendered to discontinuous phrase frames. Adopting a corpus linguistic perspective, the current study compares and analyses second language learners from different backgrounds with native speakers, focusing on the phrase frame features identified in the argumentative essays written by Chinese and German EFL learners. With a corpus-based approach, the four-word phrase frames are extracted from the English TOEFL essay texts of Chinese and German students using AntConc 4.1.4 corpus analysis software. The top 100 most frequently occurring phrase frames are manually filtered and then classified according to their structural and functional features to identify similarities and differences in terms of overall frequency, structure, and function features of phrase frames between two groups of learners and with those of native writers. The findings reveal that L2 learners significantly employ more fixed and predictable phrase frames than their native writers, with German L2 learners using more phrase frames than their Chinese L2 counterparts. In terms of functional features, German L2 learners use more stance and discourse organizing expressions than Chinese L2 learners. Awareness of the essay genre, English proficiency, and the time-limited writing environment are contributing factors to these features. Therefore, the study suggests that the accuracy and variety of phrase frame usage are more representative of L2 learners’ acquisition and writing quality than their quantity of use. This study facilitates an understanding of different EFL learners’ phraseological competence through the lens of their p-frame use and provides pedagogical insights accordingly into teaching and learning argumentative essays in EFL contexts.

Out with the old, in with the new: contrasts involving new features with acoustically salient cues are more likely to be acquired than those that redeploy L1 features

Feature-based approaches to second language (L2) phonology conceptualize the acquisition of new segments as operations that involve either the addition of new phonological features, or the rebundling of existent ones. While the deficit hypothesis assumes that only features that are fully specified in the L1 can be redeployed to the L2 in order to create new segments, it has been shown that features which are completely absent in the L1 can also be learned. This article investigates whether a learning scenario in which features are only partially available (that is, they are present in the L1, but are redundant with other features) is less challenging than learning an entirely new feature, even when the new feature has acoustically salient cues. Since Spanish has a much smaller vowel system /i e a o u/, L2 learners of German with Spanish as L1 need to learn a system with front rounded vowels as well as tense/lax contrasts. We tested L1 Spanish speakers' perception of the German contrasts /i/ ~ /I/ (e.g., Miete/mitte, where [+/– tense] is acquired) and /u/ ~ /y/ (e.g., Spulen/spülen, where L1 feature [+/–round] redeploys to a front vowel). The results showed that experienced L2 learners are more successful when discriminating between sounds in a feature acquisition scenario than in redeployment; however, neither of the non-native contrasts was easier to perceive than the other in the identification task. The differences in performance between tasks and in the acoustic saliency of the cues by contrast (F2 vs. duration and F1) suggests that L2 phonological acquisition is likely to take place at a surface level and favors learning through attunement to auditorily salient acoustic cues over internal rearrangement of abstract features, regardless of their presence in the L1.

Implicit and explicit instruction in the second language classroom: A study of learner preferences in higher education

AbstractIn a recent study, English‐speaking L2 learners of German who received explicit instruction made significantly greater improvements in pronunciation and vocabulary than learners who received implicit instruction. Against the backdrop of this work, the present study reports learner preferences and perceptions about implicit and explicit language instruction. Results highlight a general preference for explicit instruction among university students, with implicit instruction reported as a source of stress and learner anxiety. While implicit and explicit instruction both have a place in the L2 classroom, learners reported that explicit instruction helped circumvent crosslinguistic transfer and ease anxiety. Many learners reported the expectation of declarative knowledge as a function of higher education instruction, suggesting that the exclusive goal of communicative competence may be an insufficient target for university language students. This study highlights the importance of explicit instruction in the L2 classroom.

The predictive processing of number information in subregular verb morphology in a first and second language

AbstractWe investigated the predictive processing of grammatical number information through stem-vowel alternations in German strong verbs by adult first language (L1) speakers and Dutch-speaking advanced second language (L2) learners of German, and the influence of working memory and awareness (i.e., whether participants consciously registered the predictive cue) thereon. While changed stem vowels indicate a singular referent (e.g., /ε/ in fällt3SG, “falls”), unchanged vowels indicate plural (e.g., /a/ in fallt2PL, “fall”). This target structure presents a challenge for L2 learners of German due to its subregularity and low salience. With their eye movements being tracked, participants matched German auditory sentences (VSO order) with one of two pictures, displaying identical action scenes but varying in agent number. The number cue provided by the strong verbs allowed participants to predict whether the upcoming subject would be singular or plural. The analyses revealed significant prediction, measured as predictive eye movements toward the target picture and faster button-press responses. Prediction in the L2 group was weaker than in the L1 group and present in the eye movement data only. Higher working memory scores were linked to faster predictive presses. Approximately half of the participants had become aware of the predictive cue, and being aware facilitated prediction to a limited extent.

Connectivity effects in pseudoclefts in L1 and L2 speakers of German

This study investigates the hypothesis that non-isomorphic syntax–semantics mappings pose a greater challenge for non-native (L2) than for native (L1) speakers, focusing on a previously understudied phenomenon. We carried out an antecedent judgment task with L1 German and L1 Russian-speaking, proficient L2 learners of German to examine Condition C connectivity effects in German pseudoclefts. Binding Condition C constrains the interpretation of cataphoric pronouns such that they cannot be interpreted as coreferential with a referential expression within their scope. In specificational pseudoclefts such as What she liked was Jane’s office, Condition C effects can be observed in the absence of the required structural configuration, indicating that these effects result from the computation of a non-isomorphic semantic representation. For superficially similar – but semantically different – predicational pseudoclefts, no connectivity effects are expected. While the L1 speakers’ judgements showed the expected selective Condition C effect, the L2 speakers showed an across-the-board effect, with their antecedent judgements based on surface-level cues to cataphoric pronoun resolution and not affected by the semantic differences between the two types of pseudocleft. These findings support the claim that establishing syntax–semantics mappings is more difficult in a non-native than in a native language if there is no one-to-one correspondence between form and interpretation.

First Language Matters: Event-Related Potentials Show Crosslinguistic Influence on the Processing of Placement Verb Semantics.

Second language (L2) learners experience challenges when word meanings differ across L1 and L2, and often display crosslinguistic influence (CLI) in speech production. In contrast, studies of online comprehension show more mixed results. Therefore, this study explored how L2 learners process fine-grained L2 verb semantics in the domain of caused motion (placement) and specifically the impact of having similar vs. non-similar semantics in the L1 and L2. Specifically, we examined English (20) and German (21) L2 learners of Swedish and native Swedish speakers (16) and their online neurophysiological processing and offline appropriateness ratings of three Swedish placement verbs obligatory for placement supported from below: sätta “set,” ställa “stand,” and lägga “lay.” The learners’ L1s differed from Swedish in that their placement verbs either shared or did not share semantic characteristics with the target language. English has a general placement verb put, whereas German has specific verbs similar but not identical to Swedish, stellen “set/stand” and legen “lay.” Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants watched still frames (images) of objects being placed on a table and listened to sentences describing the event with verbs that either matched the image or not. Participants also performed an offline appropriateness rating task. Both tasks suggested CLI. English learners’ appropriateness ratings of atypical verb use differed from those of both native Swedish speakers’ and German learners, with no difference in the latter pair. Similarly, German learners’ ERP effects were more similar to those of the native Swedish speakers (increased lateral negativity to atypical verb use) than to those of the English learners (increased positivity to atypical verb use). The results of this explorative study thus suggest CLI both offline and online with similarity between L1 and L2 indicating more similar processing and judgments, in line with previous production findings, but in contrast to previous ERP work on semantic L2 processing.

Non-canonical word order as a measure of syntactic complexity in advanced L2 German

AbstractA major issue in SLA research concerns the operationalization of syntactic complexity, in particular the need for fine-grained measures that go beyond the traditional focus on syntactic elaboration. Following recent findings that have demonstrated the potential of syntactic diversity for providing a more detailed picture of how complexity develops across languages and proficiency levels, the present study argues for the use of two types of non-canonical structures, passives and argument inversions, as indices of syntactic complexification in advanced L2 German writing. Based on 75 argumentative texts written by experienced L2 learners of German (B2 to C2 CEFR levels), we addressed the question to what extent learners’ use of non-canonical word order is a hallmark of advanced proficiency compared to measures of syntactic elaboration. The results revealed a considerable increase in the frequency of argument inversions from B2 to C1 and highlighted the interrelationship between diversity and elaboration in learner compositions.

Lexical stress assignment preferences in L2 German.

Assigning stress to the appropriate syllable is consequential for being understood. Despite the importance, second language (L2) learners' stress assignment is often incorrect, being affected by their first language (L1). Beyond the L1, learners' lexical stress assignment may depend on analogy with other words in their lexicon. The current study investigates the respective roles of the L1(English, French) and analogy in L2 German lexical stress assignment. Because English, like German, has variable stress assignment and French does not, participants included English- and French-speaking German L2 learners who assigned stress to German nonsense words in a perceptual preference and a production task. Results suggest a role of the L1, with English-speaking German L2 learners performing more like L1 German speakers. While French-speaking German L2 learners' performance could not be predicted by other factors, L2 German proficiency and the ability to produce analogous words were predictive of English-speaking German L2 learners' production performance.

The development of temporal-spatial meaning in personal recounts of beginning L2 writers of German

Personal recounts represent a core narrative genre that novice L2 learners typically encounter when learning about everyday experiences in the target culture. Expressing a “journey of significance” (Rothery & Stenglin, 1997, p. 248) through a succession of well-defined events, recounts are ideal textual environments for beginning learners to practice verb forms and cohesive devices (e.g., Abdel-Malek, 2019). A key feature of recounts are temporal-spatial circumstantial meanings, often realized lexico-grammatically through adverbial and prepositional phrases that guide movement through a sequence of habitual actions and reported happenings. While circumstances enhance (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004) recounts by providing additional details to situate events, L2 learners sometimes avoid producing these meanings (Gleason, 2014).Adopting an Integrated Performance Assessment (Adair-Hauck, Glisan, & Troyan, 2013) and genre-based approach (Martin, 2009; Martin & Rose, 2008), this study explores how collegiate beginning L2 learners of German develop their ability to write stories of travel experiences. Data come from two second-semester German classes in fall 2019 (n = 10). Pre- and post-tests of learners’ written recounts of their own vacation experiences provide information about learners’ developing facility with the genre, including the ability to produce temporal-spatial meaning discursively. Implications for supporting and evaluating beginning L2 learners’ narrative writing within Integrated Performance Assessments are offered.

Is giving better than receiving?

Abstract This study investigated the effects of teacher and peer corrective feedback on pronunciation development, with a special focus on whether providing or receiving peer feedback on pronunciation is more beneficial for L2 production skills. Participants included 96 L2 learners of German. They were assigned to one of three experimental groups or a control group. After general pronunciation training on a segmental and a suprasegmental feature, the teacher group received feedback from a teacher, the provider group gave feedback to peers, and the receiver group listened to feedback from peers. The control group received neither pronunciation training nor feedback. Results from native speaker comprehensibility ratings of learners’ productions indicated that while all groups outperformed the control group, both the teacher and the provider group improved more than the receiver group. In addition, the provider group had a slight edge over the teacher group. Theoretical and pedagogical implications of these findings are discussed.

Morpheme Analysis Associated with German Noun Plural Endings among Second Language (L2) Learners Using Event-Related Potentials (ERPs).

This paper aims to examine the morpho-syntactic process of noun plural endings, “-n” and “-s”, in adult second language (L2) learners using event-related potentials (ERPs). German noun plural endings consist of many inflectional forms. They are one of the difficulties faced by German L2 learners. We recorded an electroencephalogram (EEG) study of German L2 learners by dividing study subjects into low and high L2 learners according to the learning level. We examined what ERP components were associated with L2 language processing. All participants were Korean German L2 learners who had achieved varying levels of proficiency. As a result of our analysis, we confirmed different morpho-syntactic processing between the two groups. First, N400 was detected at any learning level. It confirmed language processing supportive of the Full-Listing Model for irregular endings. Second, we confirmed left anterior negativity (LAN), as detected in both low and high proficiency L2 learners. LAN is supportive of a Full-Parsing Model for regular endings, as it was detected in both low and high proficiency L2 learners. However, P600 was detected in highly proficient L2 learners only. It implies that high proficiency learners differ from low proficiency L2 learners. P600 is processed in a reparsing process after recognition of grammatical errors. Based on this result, more active use of a Dual Mechanism Model is possible as learning levels improve. It confirms that improvement in L2 learners results in an approach to cognitive processing similar to that of German first language (L1) speakers.

Second language learner intuitions of idiom properties: What do they tell us about L2 idiom knowledge and acquisition?

The present study investigated intuitions of L2 learners about important properties of L2 idiomatic expressions to gain insights for research on L2 idiom processing and acquisition. More specifically, we examined (a) how reliable L2 learners’ intuitions are, (b) how much they differ from native speakers’ intuitions, and (c) whether they are better predictors of L2 idiom knowledge than native speaker intuitions. To this end, Dutch native speakers and German L2 learners of Dutch rated 110 Dutch idioms on frequency of exposure, frequency of use, meaning familiarity, imageability, and transparency and were tested on idiom knowledge. This study shows that L2 learner intuitions about idiom properties are a valuable and reliable source of information on L2 idiom knowledge.

L2 German Learners' Perceptions and Use of an Online Semantic Frame‐Based Dictionary

AbstractTo know a word receptively and productively, second language (L2) learners must have knowledge of a word's form, meaning, and use, including grammatical functions and collocational patterns (Nation, 2001). Frame semantics (Fillmore, 1982) provides a useful model to help L2 learners deepen their lexical knowledge. A functional and construction grammar developed to explain form‐function pairings, the model views “frame” as a meaningful linguistic structuring device evoked by sets of related lexical items. These diverse lexical units exist along a continuum, theorized in Construction Grammar, from individual to multi‐word to abstract schematic constructions. Building on recent studies that explore frame semantics' potential for L2 vocabulary acquisition (e.g., Atzler, 2011; Boas & Dux, 2013; Boas, Dux, & Ziem, 2016), this study investigated how beginning and intermediate L2 learners of German (N=65) perceive and report interacting with a frame‐based dictionary, the German Frame‐Semantic Online Lexicon (G‐FOL). Discussion centers on the affordances G‐FOL offers in learning mulitfaceted aspects of vocabulary knowledge, which textbooks often fail to address (Neary‐Sundquist, 2015). The study provides teachers, program directors, and designers of frame‐based dictionaries with valuable information about the perceived usefulness of frame semantics for L2 learners across instructional levels.

Testing the malleability of teachers’ judgments of second language speech

Abstract This study examined whether a negative social bias can influence how teachers evaluate second language (L2) speech. Twenty-eight teachers of L2 German from Western Canada – 14 native speakers (NSs) and 14 proficient non-native speakers (NNSs) – rated recordings of 24 adult L2 learners of German across five speech dimensions (accentedness, comprehensibility, vowel/consonant accuracy, intonation, flow) using 1,000-point scales. Immediately before rating, half of NS and NNS teachers heard critical comments about undergraduate German students’ language skills, while the other half heard no biasing comments. Under negative bias, while the NNS teachers provided favorable evaluations across all five measures, NS teachers followed suit for only intonation and flow, downgrading L2 speakers’ accentedness, comprehensibility, and vowel/consonant accuracy. Findings call into question the relative stability of L2 speech ratings and highlight the importance of social context and teacher status as native versus non-native speakers of the target language in assessments of L2 speaking performance.

The Effectiveness of Implicit and Explicit Instruction on German L2 Learners’ Pronunciation

AbstractPrevious research has investigated the effectiveness of implicit and explicit instructional methods on second language (L2) learners’ grammatical accuracy. However, there is a scarcity of studies focused on the effects of the two teaching methods on L2 learners’ pronunciation. To fill this gap, the present study examined the effects of implicit and explicit instruction on the pronunciation of beginning learners of German. Over the course of one semester, one group of learners (n=5) was taught pronunciation explicitly (i.e., using phonetic rules), another group (n=5) implicitly (i.e., without phonetic rules), and a third group (n=5) received no pronunciation instruction. A pretest‐posttest design was used to measure learners’ improve ment in accent and comprehensibility. A slight improvement in both variables was observed under all conditions, but no significant difference in progress was found across the three groups. The findings suggest that some learner variables (e.g., age) might be better predictors of improvement than the type of instruction. Moreover, not all pronunciation features were equally relevant for L2 learners’ comprehensibility and accent. The results have implications for L2 pronunciation teaching.

Metaphorical language processing and amygdala activation in L1 and L2

The present study aims to investigate the neural correlates of processing conventional figurative language in non-native speakers in a comparison with native speakers. Italian proficient L2 learners of German and German native speakers read conventional metaphorical statements as well as literal paraphrases that were comparable on a range of psycholinguistic variables. Results confirm previous findings that native speakers show increased activity for metaphorical processing, and left amygdala activation increases with increasing Metaphoricity. At the whole-brain level, L2 learners showed the expected overall differences in activation when compared to native speakers (in the fronto-temporal network). But L2 speakers did not show any distinctive activation outside the caudate nucleus as Metaphoricity increased, suggesting that the L2 speakers were less affected by increasing Metaphoricity than native speakers were. With small volume correction, only a single peak in the amygdala reached threshold for L2 speakers as Metaphoricity increased. The findings are consistent with the view that metaphorical language is more engaging for native speakers but not necessarily for L2 speakers.

Grammatical aspect and L2 learners’ online processing of temporarily ambiguous sentences in English: A self-paced reading study with German, Dutch and French L2 learners

The results of a self-paced reading study with advanced German, Dutch and French second language (L2) learners of English showed that their online comprehension of early closure (EC) sentences which are initially misanalysed by native English speakers (e.g. While John hunted the frightened rabbit escaped) was affected by whether or not, like English, their first language (L1) encodes aspect grammatically (French) or only via lexical means (German, Dutch). The English and the higher proficiency French participants showed a processing asymmetry in their online reading of the temporarily ambiguous sentences, assumed to be caused by the difference in the aspectual perspective a comprehender takes when initial verbs appear in the past simple vs. the past progressive. In contrast, the German and Dutch learners, irrespective of proficiency, treated both progressive and simple sentences in the same way, despite the fact that all the L2 learners were matched according to their metalinguistic knowledge of English aspectual distinctions. Furthermore, despite patterning with the German learners online, the Dutch L2 learners’ offline judgments were more akin to those of the English native speakers and the French L2 learners, showing an effect of aspect, which could be argued to lend support to the idea that progressive aspect may be becoming grammaticalized in Dutch. Taken together, the results of this study add to our growing understanding of cross-linguistic influences during online L2 sentence processing, and differences between L2 parsing and learners’ metalinguistic L2 performance.

A longitudinal observation of technology-mediated feedback for L2 learners of German

AbstractThis article provides a longitudinal study of L2 learners of German who used a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) system that formed part of their regular classroom instruction. The 42 learners were enrolled in four consecutive university language courses at a beginner and intermediate level. The study compares two different feedback types, metalinguistic feedback and repetition, which were provided for the same exercise type over the course of four semesters. The exercise type required learners to build sentences from a set of predefined, uninflected words. While the grammatical focus of the exercises changed over time, many of the same grammatical constructions were present in all four courses. The study discusses the changes in learner performance and error correction behavior as students became more proficient in their knowledge of the L2 grammar and were exposed to the technology-mediated feedback that remained consistent throughout system use over the four language courses.

Elicited imitation as a window into developmental stages

In the second language acquisition literature, data of naturally occurring language use are considered the most ideal data to make statements about second-language (L2) development. This study examines to what extent experimentally elicited data can provide an equally valid basis for determining L2 development, by testing predictions derived from Processability Theory regarding the L2 acquisition of the German case system. Using naturally occurring language data, previous research on L2 German case acquisition has uncovered three developmental stages. The present cross-sectional study investigates whether the same stages occur in data obtained from an experimental task (i.e., a computer oral elicited imitation task (OEIT). Thirty-six university L2 learners of German participated in the study. The results show that the elicited data prove comparable to the naturally occurring data. As such, this study corroborates a previous validation study on developmental stages in L2 English, which demonstrated the comparability of naturally occurring and experimentally elicited data. In addition, concerning methodological advancement of the OEIT design, the present study proposes to include a direct measure of comprehension.

Collaboration Two-Way

Collaborative writing has been found to lead to more productive writing processes and enhanced final products in terms of a richer vocabulary, more accurate grammar, and better organization. The present study expands on this research strand by exploring if different group writing processes affect the quality of wiki texts composed by groups of intermediate German L2 learners. Defining true collaborative writing as involving both a balanced workload and a joint responsibility for the product from all group members, it measured collaboration in two ways. Results indicate that most of the 19 groups in this study had a somewhat unbalanced workload with wide variability in editing group members’ contributions. Although the wiki texts differed greatly with regard to quantitative measures of length, accuracy and cohesion, no correlation was found in terms of workload or co-ownership. While holistic ratings of the texts concerning accuracy and cohesion seemed at times incongruent with the analytic measures, the raters’ comments provided a perspective that captured facets and nuances of a text that the analytic indicators did not.