Language Proficiency Of Learners Research Articles

Investigating proficiency in the language of instruction as means of improving mathematical proficiency in a multilingual classroom

This study investigated whether and how improvement of learners' English language proficiency enables or constrains the development of mathematical proficiency. I used statistical methods to analyse the pre- and post-tests in order to compare the mathematics achievement of 45 learners with those from another class of 48. I analysed the classroom interaction in the mathematics class before and after the intervention in order to determine to what extent the improvement of English language enabled or constrained communication in the mathematics class. The findings were, firstly, that the improvement of learners' language proficiency, even though important for achievement in mathematics, may not be sufficient to impact on classroom interaction; and secondly, that any attempt to improve the language proficiency of learners with the aim of improving academic proficiency should be done in such a way as to develop concurrently both the basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS) and the cognitive-academic lan...

Concept Selection and Developmental Effects in Bilingual Speech Production

The present study investigates the locus of language selection in less and more proficient language learners, specifically testing differential predictions of La Heij's (2005) concept selection model (CSM) and Kroll and Stewart's (1994) revised hierarchical model (RHM). Less and more proficient English dominant learners of Spanish participated in a Stroop translation task that included semantically related and unrelated word or picture distracters. The results for the more proficient learners provide support for the CSM as well as the RHM. The results for the less proficient learners provide support for the RHM and demonstrate the continued reliance on lexical level links and the difficulty in accessing the conceptual store during second language production. The selection by proficiency model of bilingual speech production is discussed.

The school exchange visit: effects on attitudes and proficiency in language learning

This paper reports the findings of a small-scale study involving Year 9 pupils at three Cambridgeshire schools participating in French exchanges. The findings are based on language tests and attitudinal questionnaires completed before and after the visit abroad and on post-visit interviews. The data suggest that pupils gained a degree of language proficiency and language awareness from their stay, as well as returning with a more favourable attitude towards France and French-speaking people.

母国語話者と非母国語話者との会話における母国語話者の意識的配慮の検討

The purpose of this paper was to reveal internal conversation process between native speaker/nonnative speaker. In order to investigate internal conversation process, 53 items concerning conversation rules were collected from 6 graduate students. 103 volunteers who taught Japanese language were asked to rate the importance of each item in three given situations; 1) conversation with a Japanese for entertainment, 2) conversation with Japanese language learners (in Japanese language) for entertainment, and 3) conversation with Japanese language learners (in Japanese language) for Japanese language practice. By factor analysis of the rating scores, 7 conversation rules were identified. The results of ANOVA of mean factor score indicated that the importance of each rule varied with social context: (a) goal of conversation,(b) Japanese language proficiency of learners and (c) length of Japanese language teaching.

Guessing: No substitute for systematic learning of lexis

While acknowledging the need to employ guessing in the course of learning a foreign language (FL), the author opposes the claim made by Nation Teaching and Learning Vocabulary (1987). Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University of Wellington, that it can be employed as a substitute for vocabulary learning. The author makes a distinction between guessing based on formal word features and that which relies solely on context. It is argued that the former, though fraught with pitfalls, is certainly more helpful and reliable than the latter; examples are provided that illustrate that even when every word except one in a passage is understood, contextual guessing alone seldom allows the reader to arrive at the correct meaning. It is also argued that even if such guessing could be shown to be more fruitful it is a strategy that does little to help promote the learner's language proficiency.

THE EFFECT OF AFFECT ON FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING: A REVIEW OF THE ANXIETY RESEARCH

Although studies of the relationship between affective factors and language learning proficiency abound in the literature, the evidence to support such a relationship is difficult to interpret. Much of the problem resides in the fact that a wide range of variables are lumped together under the rubric “affect.” An attempt is made to ameliorate this situation by defining affective variables in terms of traditional psychological theory and classifying them as a subset of those variables intrinsic to the learner. The conflicting evidence dealing with one important affective variable, anxiety, is then examined, and it is shown that ambiguous experimental results can be resolved if the distinction between facilitating and debilitating anxiety is drawn. Further classificatory distinctions are discussed from the abundant experimentation undertaken by applied psychologists, and an attempt is made to consider the implications of some of this research for adult language learning–for some of the new methodologies in EFL as well as for future research opportunities.