Linguistic Target Research Articles

Evidence for raw acoustics as the target of phonetic imitation

Phonetic imitation (also called convergence or accommodation) occurs when talkers alter their production towards speech they hear, even in lab settings without explicit instruction to imitate. Though general evidence for imitation is robust, much of the existing work does not distinguish between convergence towards a linguistic target versus convergence towards an acoustic target. This study presents a direct test case of these hypotheses through spontaneous imitation of the English alveolar sibilant /s/ in a delayed shadowing task. Participants first produced /s/-initial words, then were exposed to model speech with either enhanced or reduced spectral mean (SM) on /s/, and finally produced /s/-initial words again post-exposure. The model talker had higher than average baseline SM, so raw acoustic values were higher than those of most participants. All participants exposed to the enhanced stimuli raised SM, converging towards both the raw acoustics of the model talker and the linguistic pattern of enhancement. However, participants exposed to the reduced stimuli also raised SM. This diverged from the linguistic pattern of reduction but converged towards the raw acoustics of the model talker, whose SM was still higher than participants' even when reduced. These results suggest raw acoustics can be the target of phonetic imitation. Possible interactions with phonological contrast, implications for the perception-production link, and methodological considerations for future imitation studies are discussed.

Recast, Task Complexity and Child Learners’ L2 Development

This paper investigated how production task combined with teacher feedback (in the form of recasts) affects child second language development, and the effects of task complexity on their production performance. 92 child learners of English in three intact classes were assigned to three tasks of different complexity (simple, +complex, ++complex). In response to errors in the use of the present third person singular verb forms, participants received the feedback of recasts. L2 development was measured through oral production and written tests. Results show that recasts are effective for learning the target form, and there is a negative correlation between task complexity and child learners’ acquisition of linguistic target in their written production, but no significant correlation was found between task complexity and participants’ oral production. The results confirm Skehan’s limited attention capacity prediction, and can be explained from the cognitive development level of the participants and their English learning habits. Implications for pedagogy and future research are discussed.

Investigating the impact of task complexity on uptake and noticing of corrective feedback recasts

Abstract This study investigated the relationship between task complexity, second language (L2) learners’ response and awareness of corrective feedback provided in the form of recasts during teacher–student interaction. Drawing on Robinson’s Triadic Componential Framework, the study examined how degrees of task complexity created by two specific task characteristics had an impact on learners’ responses (referred to as uptake), and their reported noticing of grammatical and lexical recasts. Data documenting learners’ uptake, operationalized as changes in response to feedback during interactions and noticing of recasts, as indicated in students’ self reports of detection and attention to recasts, were collected during one-on-one interaction sessions and stimulated recall sessions with ESL learners in Canada. Frequency analysis and Cochran’s Q analysis with multiple McNemar post hoc tests were carried out to compare the uptake and noticing of recasts across different tasks. The results revealed that tasks with different degrees of complexity impacted uptake and noticing of recasts differently. The results also showed that linguistic target, i.e., lexical or grammatical features, modulated the relationship between task complexity and recast uptake and noticing. The study calls for a more nuanced approach to investigating task complexity in research, and for practitioners to consider task complexity in decision making related to the use of corrective feedback and the design of classroom-based tasks.

Comparing students’ responses to synchronous written corrective feedback during individual and collaborative writing tasks

The present study examined students’ attention to linguistic forms during writing tasks and compared individual and collaborative writing conditions. Furthermore, the ways students in both conditions process indirect synchronous written corrective feedback (SWCF) and the ways they respond to it (i.e., uptake) were investigated. The target linguistic forms were Korean honorifics, which are closely related to Korean culture, honoring the elderly by using a different set of linguistic features. Twenty-nine learners of Korean were divided into two groups: collaborative and individual writing groups. The collaborative group completed e-mail writing tasks in pairs, whereas students in the individual group carried out the same tasks alone. During the tasks, indirect SWCF was provided on the target pragmatic features (i.e., honorifics). Think-aloud protocols and pair talk were audio-recorded. Students’ attention to linguistic forms was operationalized as the occurrence of language-related episodes (LREs), and their processing of SWCF was determined using feedback-related episodes (FREs). Uptake was identified based on students’ final writing output. The findings suggest that the collaborative group resolved linguistic errors more accurately than the individual group. In terms of the linguistic target features and uptake of SWCF, both groups demonstrated similar patterns, suggesting mediating effects of SWCF on students’ task performance.

Effects of oral corrective feedback on the development of complex morphosyntax

This exploratory study examined the relationship between corrective feedback (CF) and linguistic target complexity. In a pre-test/post-test/delayed post-test design, 44 adult intermediate L2 Italian learners from different L1 backgrounds were assigned to a didactic recast, a prompt and a no-feedback group. They were compared on oral and written measures on the development of passato prossimo, an Italian compound past form characterised by a set of complex semantic and morphosyntactic rules and participles displaying different degrees of form-meaning transparency. Mixed-effects models elucidated the extent to which feedback frequency predicted accuracy, whilst controlling for the effect of individual difference covariates and random variation. Only the frequency of didactic recasts predicted development of full passato prossimo sentences, whereas both feedback types were significantly related to participle development, a single aspect of the construction. Furthermore, only prompt frequency was positively related to accuracy in participles displaying more transparent (less complex) form-meaning relationships.

Recasts versus clarification requests: The relevance of linguistic target, proficiency, and communicative ability

Abstract This paper compares the effects of recasts and clarification requests as two implicit types of corrective feedback (CF) on learning two linguistic structures denoting past aspectual distinction in French, the passé composé and the imparfait. The participants in this classroom-based study are 52 high-school learners of French FL at a pre-intermediate level of proficiency (level B1 of CEFR). A distinctive feature of this study is the use of focused, context constrained communicative tasks in both treatment and tests. The paper specifically highlights the advantages of feedback using recasts for the acquisition of morpho-syntactically complex grammatical structures such as is the French passé composé. The study points to the participants’ communicative ability as an essential aspect of language proficiency, which seems to be crucial to bringing about the benefits of recasts. Oral communicative skill in a foreign language classroom is seen as a prerequisite for an appropriate interpretation and recognition of the corrective nature of recasts.

Shifting prestige norms in post-colonial contexts: interpreting phonetic trends in Namibia’s lingua francas

ABSTRACT This study sheds light on the socio-economic factors determining the (re)location of sociolinguistic prestige in postcolonial environments. It uses the case of Namibia, an ethnolinguistically diverse African country that replaced Afrikaans – an established lingua franca – with English as its official language to weaken the hold of the formerly ruling White Afrikaans-speaking minority on its linguistic marketplace while symbolically empowering the Black majority. Using phonetic features elicited from an ethnolinguistically representative sample, the study finds that Whites align with South African norms while Non-Whites are developing distinctly local varieties. While ‘Coloured’ Afrikaans varieties exert some gravitational pull on Black Afrikaans varieties, a more autonomous Black English variety spearheaded by women is emerging. Informant perceptions confirm the observed polarisation between Whites and Non-Whites, with the former not perceived as a linguistic target, while the valorisation of an ethnically neutral Black urban identity appears as a major driving force behind variation.

EXPLORING THE VERIDICALITY AND REACTIVITY OF SUBJECTIVE MEASURES OF AWARENESS

AbstractSubjective measures (SMs) of awareness assume (a) participants can accurately report the implicit/explicit status of their knowledge and (b) the act of reporting does not change that knowledge. However, SMs suffer from nonveridicality (e.g., overreporting of “guess” responses) and reactivity (e.g., prompting rule search). Attempting to improve the validity of “guess” responses, we conducted an exploratory mixed-methods replication of Rebuschat et al. (2013). Participants (N = 30) were randomly assigned to Traditional, True Guess, and NoSMs conditions. True Guess participants were led to believe the computer would replace “guess” responses with random answers. Confirming that SMs are reactive, Traditional and True Guess participants responded more slowly and accurately, with greater awareness of the linguistic target. Moreover, although True Guess participants responded “guess” less frequently, interviews revealed this was due not to greater veridicality, but rather to additional reactivity. We conclude with directions for further research to enhance the validity of SMs.

The influence of bistable auditory feedback on speech motor control.

The precision of speech production is strongly influenced by the auditory feedback of our voice. Studies have demonstrated that when speakers receive perturbed auditory feedback, they spontaneously change their articulation to reduce the difference between the intended sound and what was heard. For controlling the accuracy of vowel and consonant production, this corrective behavior reflects the intended sound's category represented in the mind. This in turn suggests that sounds that are not represented as a category would be controlled differently. The current study investigated the effect of linguistic status on controlling the production of a sound. Participants used an apparatus to produce a bistable sound, which could be heard either as a vowel or an acoustic buzz depending on the instructions. During the production of the target sound, their auditory feedback was perturbed and the change in acoustics in response to the perturbation was measured. The results showed that the group producing a linguistic target exhibited an error-reducing behavior similar to what was reported in natural vowel production, whereas the group producing a non-linguistic acoustic target exhibited an error-amplifying behavior, even when the majority in this group had noticed the perturbation and consciously tried to counteract it. Our findings indicate that access to a stable representation differentiates the perceptual organization of auditory feedback, and consequently changes how the production of the sound is controlled.

Cognitive Individual Differences as Predictors of Improvement and Awareness Under Implicit and Explicit Feedback Conditions

AbstractThe present study investigated a group of cognitive individual differences considered advantageous in second language learning and their role in language learning under implicit and explicit feedback conditions using both language awareness and language development measures. The study further investigated whether different types of awareness are related to language development. One hundred and twelve intermediate English learners of Spanish at a U.S. university were administered tests from 2 language aptitude test batteries (Hi‐LAB and LLAMA) and were randomly assigned to an implicit feedback (recast), explicit feedback (explicit correction), or control group. The 2 feedback groups received feedback on the target linguistic form (i.e., Spanish noun–adjective gender agreement) according to their group assignment in 2 treatment sessions. Learners’ knowledge of the linguistic target was measured using a grammaticality judgment test and an oral production task immediately before and after the treatment. Learners’ ability to notice the corrective function and linguistic target of the feedback was measured by means of a posttask debriefing questionnaire. Implicit sequence learning ability and error awareness predicted the implicit group's pretest–posttest improvement, whereas phonological short‐term memory predicted the explicit group's pretest–posttest improvement. Phonemic coding ability, attention control, and processing speed further predicted learners’ awareness in the implicit feedback group.

The moderating effects of perceptual salience and language aptitude on the effectiveness of L2 recasts

Abstract Although extensive research in SLA has focused on the facilitative effects of L2 recasts, few studies have investigated the moderating effect of a priori perceptual salience of the linguistic target. The present study addresses this issue, along with the role that language aptitude plays. Forty-eight native speakers of English carried out oral tasks during which they received recasts of two Korean morphemes differing in their degree of perceptual salience. Results of the study revealed a significant interaction between salience and language aptitude in terms of the ability to infer grammar rules of an artificial language. In conclusion, this study sheds new light on factors that moderate the effectiveness of recasts in the learning of L2 grammatical morphemes.

Focused written corrective feedback and linguistic target mastery: Conceptual replication of Bitchener and Knoch (2010)

AbstractThis study replicates Bitchener and Knoch (2010), which reported that written corrective feedback (WCF) targeting two single-rule English article functions (first mention a and subsequent mention the) is effective. The current replication study repeats the original study in most respects but adds to the assessment of the intervention's efficacy by recording the impact of focused WCF on all functional article uses, and not just on the two uses targeted by the WCF. The results of the replication study partially confirm Bitchener & Knoch's results and introduce some further differentiated findings. It is concluded that while the focused WCF leads to increased accuracy in the targeted functions of articles, the same WCF may negatively impact the remaining non-targeted article functions, especially for the group that received the most explicit WCF in the form of metalinguistic explanation.

The associations between cognitive ability and L2 development under five different instructional conditions

AbstractThis study examines the effects of two cognitive abilities—language analytic ability (LAA) and working memory (WM)—on language learning under five different instructional conditions. One hundred fifty eighth-grade English as a foreign language learners underwent a 2-hr treatment session. They were divided into five groups based on whether and when they received form-focused instruction. One group received pretask instruction on the linguistic target (English passive voice) before performing two narrative tasks; a second group received within-task feedback but no pretask instruction; a third group received both pretask instruction and within-task feedback; a fourth group received feedback after completing the tasks; and the fifth group only performed the tasks. The results showed that (a) LAA was predictive of the posttest scores of the group that only performed the communicative tasks and the group who received posttask feedback, (b) WM was associated with the learning outcomes of the two groups receiving within-task feedback, and (c) neither cognitive variable was implicated in the group that received pretask instruction before performing the tasks. The results suggest that the impact of LAA is evident when there is less external assistance and that WM is involved when learners face the heavy processing burden imposed by within-task feedback.

The effect of feedback timing on L2 Spanish vocabulary acquisition in synchronous computer-mediated communication

The benefits of corrective feedback (CF) for second language (L2) learning are empirically attested, and multiple factors mediating CF effectiveness have been investigated. However, the timing of oral CF has received less attention given most research examines corrections provided immediately after an error. Delayed CF also warrants investigation; it occurs naturally in L2 classrooms and may be an appealing alternative in online learning contexts. Existing CF timing research shows either no significant differences between immediate and delayed CF, or advantages for immediate CF. To elucidate mixed findings, more CF timing studies are needed, especially those considering the effects of factors such as CF type, linguistic target and communication mode. Regarding communication mode, the effect of CF timing on errors made during text-based synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC), for instance, has received less attention. Examining text-based SCMC is important given its empirically attested benefits for L2 learning, and in some cases its advantage over face-to-face interaction for fostering CF effectiveness. Investigating the role of CF timing on errors made in text-based SCMC will contribute to efforts to maximize CF effectiveness in online learning environments, which are becoming increasingly common. In this study, 30 third-year learners of Spanish as a foreign language completed a one-way information-gap task with an interlocutor using Skype text-chat. On vocabulary errors, learners received either immediate or delayed error repetition plus recast, or no CF. Results revealed both CF groups significantly outperformed the comparison group on an oral picture description task, with no significant differences between immediate and delayed CF. Results may be due to the salience of the CF modality, type, and target.

Conversation-based intervention for adolescents using augmentative and alternative communication

This study evaluated the effects of a conversation-based intervention on the use of verbs, personal pronouns, bound morphemes and spontaneous clauses in adolescents with cerebral palsy who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Four teenage girls aged from 14 to 18 years participated in the study. After a baseline period, a conversation-based intervention was provided for each participant in the context of a personal collage-building activity. The conversations were videotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using the Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT™) . While the results are mixed, all four participants increased their use of at least one linguistic target, three increased their use of verbs and grammatically correct spontaneous clauses, two increased their use of personal pronouns, and one produced more bound morphemes during intervention than in baseline. These findings, and future research needs, are discussed.

Metacognitive Instruction Enhances the Effectiveness of Corrective Feedback: Variable Effects of Feedback Types and Linguistic Targets

AbstractThis study explored the impact of metacognitive instruction provided in conjunction with corrective feedback, investigating the moderating effects of two types of implicit corrective feedback (input‐providing conversational recasts vs. output‐prompting clarification requests) that targeted English third‐person singular –s and possessive determiners his/her. Adult English as a foreign language learners from intact classes (N = 83) were assigned to four conditions: metacognitive instruction plus input‐providing recasts, input‐providing recasts only, metacognitive instruction plus output‐prompting clarification requests, and output‐prompting clarification requests only. Metacognitive instruction enhanced the effect of conversational recasts that otherwise had minimal impact but had no added benefit for clarification requests that supported language development without metacognitive instruction. Although the effect of metacognitive instruction was not moderated by linguistic structure, effectiveness of corrective feedback depended on linguistic target. Although corrective feedback in general impacted third‐person singular –s more, the comparison of feedback types showed that the advantageous effect of clarification requests was found only for possessive determiners, the more salient and communicatively valuable structure.Open PracticesThis article has been awarded an Open Materials badge. All materials are publicly accessible via the IRIS Repository at https://www.iris-database.org. Learn more about the Open Practices badges from the Center for Open Science: https://osf.io/tvyxz/wiki.

ESTABLISHING EVIDENCE OF LEARNING IN EXPERIMENTS EMPLOYING ARTIFICIAL LINGUISTIC SYSTEMS

Artificial linguistic systems (ALSs) offer many potential benefits for second language acquisition (SLA) research. Nonetheless, their use in experiments with posttest-only designs can give rise to internal validity problems depending on the baseline that is employed to establish evidence of learning. Researchers in this area often compare experimental groups’ performance against (a) statistical chance, (b) untrained control groups’ performance, and/or (c) trained control groups’ performance. However, each of these methods can involve unwarranted tacit assumptions, limitations, and challenges from a variety of sources (e.g., preexisting perceptual biases, participants’ fabrication of rules, knowledge gained during the test), any of which might produce systematic response patterns that overlap with the linguistic target even in the absence of learning during training. After illustrating these challenges, we offer some brief recommendations regarding how triangulation and more sophisticated statistical approaches may help researchers to draw more appropriate conclusions going forward.

Successful communication does not drive language development: Evidence from adult homesign

Constructivist accounts of language acquisition maintain that the language learner aims to match a target provided by mature users. Communicative problem solving in the context of social interaction and matching a linguistic target or model are presented as primary mechanisms driving the language development process. However, research on the development of homesign gesture systems by deaf individuals who have no access to a linguistic model suggests that aspects of language can develop even when typical input is unavailable. In four studies, we examined the role of communication in the genesis of homesign systems by assessing how well homesigners’ family members comprehend homesign productions. In Study 1, homesigners’ mothers showed poorer comprehension of homesign descriptions produced by their now-adult deaf child than of spoken Spanish descriptions of the same events produced by one of their adult hearing children. Study 2 found that the younger a family member was when they first interacted with their deaf relative, the better they understood the homesigner. Despite this, no family member comprehended homesign productions at levels that would be expected if family members co-generated homesign systems with their deaf relative via communicative interactions. Study 3 found that mothers’ poor or incomplete comprehension of homesign was not a result of incomplete homesign descriptions. In Study 4 we demonstrated that Deaf native users of American Sign Language, who had no previous experience with the homesigners or their homesign systems, nevertheless comprehended homesign productions out of context better than the homesigners’ mothers. This suggests that homesign has comprehensible structure, to which mothers and other family members are not fully sensitive. Taken together, these studies show that communicative problem solving is not responsible for the development of structure in homesign systems. The role of this mechanism must therefore be re-evaluated in constructivist theories of language development.

L2 Teachers’ Explicit and Implicit Corrective Feedback and Its Linguistic Focus

Various studies have confirmed the influential role of corrective feedback (CF) in the development of different linguistic skills and components. However, little, if any, research has been conducted on comparing types of linguistic errors treated by teachers through CF. To bridge this gap, this study sought to investigate the linguistic errors addressed and the types of CF provided by teachers. To this end, the classes of 40 teachers teaching at the intermediate level were audio-recorded for two successive sessions. The detailed analysis of around 128 hours of classroom interactions showed that explicit correction was the most frequent CF type, accounting for 48.5 percent of all CF types provided, and recast was the second most frequently used CF type, constituting 29.5 percent of all CF types. All the other CF types (i.e. request for clarification, confirmation check, repetition, metalinguistic feedback, elicitation, and multiple feedback) constituted 22 percent of the CF. Repetition was the least frequently used CF type, amounting to 0.66 percent of the CF given by teachers. As to the linguistic focus of CF, pronunciation errors were found to be the mostly noticed target for teachers’ CF, constituting 47 percent of all errors addressed, while vocabulary was the least frequently addressed linguistic target, accounting for 17.5 percent of all errors. The study suggests that teachers prefer explicit corrective strategies over implicit ones and that they provide CF mainly to correct pronunciations errors. The study suggests that there is a need for change in the types of CF teachers use and the relative attention they assign to different linguistic error types they treat through CF

Ethos Presidencial de Autoridade: Análise da Modalidade Deôntica nos Discursos de Tomada de Posse do Estado Novo

Under the scope of Discourse Analysis, this article analyses the construction of an authority presidential ethos (Amossy, 2010; Maingueneau, 1999) of the President of the Republic in 6 presidential inaugural addresses given during the Estado Novo. This study uses a qualitative approach to focus on the deontic modality (linguistic categories, obligation source, target and object) and its analysis falls into two headings: a) the President’s duties and b) the People’s duties. We have concluded that distinct and multiple images of authority (that serve Estado Novo’s political and ideological agenda) are built of and/or by the President.