Second Language Speakers Of English Research Articles

A Comparative Study of Requests amongst Second Language Speakers of English

A Comparative Study of Requests amongst Second Language Speakers of English

A comparative study of requests amongst second language speakers of english

This paper is based on the findings from a study that investigated the analysis of requests produced by second language (L2) speakers (that is, 15 Afrikaans-speaking (L1) and 17 Sesotho-speaking (L...

Multiple language learning

English is no longer seen as an extra qualification and it has become a sine qua non basic skill rather than a foreign language, resulting in the slogan English is not enough not only for second language speakers of English but also for the L1 speakers. Accordingly, in this paper, we review studies on multilingualism and simultaneous or successive learning of multiple languages and describe the languages involved in terms of their qualitative or quantitative properties by referring to accessibility, universal grammar and initial state theories, finally aiming to dissipate the terminological ambiguity in the field. In this context, based on the current theories of Universal Grammar on lexical and grammatical learning and theoretical and applied studies on multilingualism and multilingual individuals, we put forth approaches and strategies suggested for simultaneous or successive learning of multiple languages. The results obtained from the study not only contribute to the terminology but also understanding of the simultaneous and successive learning of multiple languages. Keywords: languages, learning, strategies, multilingualism.

Communication strategy used by Spanish speakers of English in formal and informal speech

Research questions: Are emergent bilinguals sensitive to register variation in their use of communication strategies? What strategies do LX speakers, in casu Spanish speakers of English, use as a function of situational context? What role do individual differences play? Methodology: This within-speaker study compares Spanish second-language English speakers’ communication strategy use in an informal, peer-to-peer conversation and a formal interview. Data and analysis: The 15 hours of informal and 9.5 hours of formal speech from the Nijmegen Corpus of Spanish English were coded for 19 different communication strategies. Findings/conclusions: Overall, speakers prefer self-reliant strategies, which allow them to continue communication without their interlocutor’s help. Of the self-reliant strategies, least effort strategies such as code-switching are used more often in informal speech, whereas relatively more effortful strategies (e.g. reformulations) are used more in informal speech, when the need to be unambiguously understood is felt as more important. Individual differences played a role: some speakers were more affected by a change in formality than others. Originality: Sensitivity to register variation has not yet been studied within communicative strategy use. Implications: General principles of communication govern speakers’ strategy selection, notably the protection of positive face and the least effort and cooperative principles.

Listening effort and accent in competing-talker speech recognition by native and non-native listeners: Electrophysiological measures of auditory and lexical processing

Listening effort modulates auditory processing for speech, such that attention to a target talker in the presence of a distractor increases the entrainment of cortical activity to the target speech amplitude envelope. Similarly, lexical-processing effort can be measured in EEG recordings, with more extensive lexical search being measured as a more negative N400. The present study compared effort at both levels for native speakers of southern British and Glaswegian English, and Chinese second-language English speakers. Listeners heard sentences spoken in southern British and Glaswegian accents, either with single or competing talkers. The results demonstrate that competing talkers and difficult accents have similar effects at a lexical level, increasing the amount of lexical search for native listeners and disrupting lexical search for non-native listeners. In contrast, cortical-acoustic entrainment was higher for targets than distractors in competing-talker conditions, but was not modulated by accent; entrainment was also similar for different language groups in the present study, although language-background differences in entrainment can be found in easier conditions with spatial cues to segregation. Accent may thus have little role in the auditory segregation of competing talkers, despite the fact that accent and listener background affects intelligibility and lexical access.

Functional activity and white matter microstructure reveal the independent effects of age of acquisition and proficiency on second-language learning

Two key factors govern how bilingual speakers neurally maintain two languages: the speakers’ second language age of acquisition (AoA) and their subsequent proficiency. However, the relative roles of these two factors have been difficult to disentangle given that the two can be closely correlated, and most prior studies have examined the two factors in isolation. Here, we combine functional magnetic resonance imaging with diffusion tensor imaging to identify specific brain areas that are independently modulated by AoA and proficiency in second language speakers. First-language Mandarin Chinese speakers who are second language speakers of English were scanned as they performed a picture-word matching task in either language. In the same session we also acquired diffusion-weighted scans to assess white matter microstructure, along with behavioural measures of language proficiency prior to entering the scanner. Results reveal gray- and white-matter networks involving both the left and right hemisphere that independently vary as a function of a second-language speaker's AoA and proficiency, focused on the superior temporal gyrus, middle and inferior frontal gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, and the basal ganglia. These results indicate that proficiency and AoA explain separate functional and structural networks in the bilingual brain, which we interpret as suggesting distinct types of plasticity for age-dependent effects (i.e., AoA) versus experience and/or predisposition (i.e., proficiency).

Speed, breakdown, and repair: An investigation of fluency in long-term second-language speakers of English

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: The present study investigated which factors would best predict second-language (L2) fluency in a group of long-term L2 speakers of different English varieties with German as their first language. Design/methodology/approach: L2 fluency was conceptualized in terms of utterance fluency for which speed, breakdown and repair fluency were distinguished. Data and analysis: Multiple measures of utterance fluency were applied to four-minute speech fragments originating from 102 spontaneous oral interviews. Interviewees’ ages of onset ranged from 7 to 17, whereas their ages at interview ranged from 57 to 87. Multifactorial analyses yielded significant effects of age at interview. Findings/conclusions: Whereas the mean number of silent pauses and repairs increases, syllable duration decreases. This leaves room for interpretation as to why we find an aging effect. Overall, the evidence suggests that the usual, L2 acquisition-specific factors, such as age of onset or length of residence, are no longer at play to predict L2 fluency. Originality and significance/implications: To this point L2 fluency in very advanced, highly proficient L2 speakers has received little attention. The results point to the need for more research into highly proficient L2 users.

Spoken English Errors of Undergraduate Students in Selected Tertiary Institutions in Southeastern Nigerian

This paper examines spoken English errors of undergraduate students of selected tertiary institutions in southeastern Nigeria. The data draws from community of informants in randomly selected Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education located in Enugu and Ebonyi states of Nigeria. The respondents aged between 18 and 25 constitute the representative population. Findings reveal that mother tongue interference is a common phenomenon in the spoken English of some educated population of Nigerian second language speakers of English. Some are unconsciously displayed by the speakers while others are not. Notwithstanding that tertiary institution students in Nigeria constitute an educated class who must have been exposed to written and spoken English for about twelve years in the primary and secondary schools, respondents still displayed predominantly the error of substitution, where some English phonemes which do not exist in Nigerian languages were replaced with the ones they have in their various languages or dialects. These substitutions could lead to distortion in communication and meaning especially in communications involving non-speakers of Igbo language.

Nonformal institutional interaction in a conversation club

The data analyzed in this paper come from audio-recorded interaction among first and second language speakers of English at a conversation club sponsored by an English language school. As the analysis shows, the interaction in the conversation club can be understood as a type of non-formal institutional interaction. The analysis focuses on the questions asked by the first language speakers, or conversation partners. In particular, it focuses on the questioning styles of serial-questioning and pivoting. In addition, the conversation partners tend to assume a discourse identity as primary participant within the participation framework, a discourse identity that they work to maintain and, when necessary, re-establish. As non-formal institutional interaction, it does not involve turn pre-allocation or restrictions on the type of turn that participants may take. It is, though, oriented toward the fulfilment of institutionally relevant goals.

How Germans prepare for the English past tense: Silent production of inflected words during EEG

ABSTRACTProcesses involved in late bilinguals’ production of morphologically complex words were studied using an event-related brain potentials (ERP) paradigm in which EEGs were recorded during participants’ silent productions of English past- and present-tense forms. Twenty-three advanced second language speakers of English (first language [L1] German) were compared to a control group of 19 L1 English speakers from an earlier study. We found a frontocentral negativity for regular relative to irregular past-tense forms (e.g., asked vs. held) during (silent) production, and no difference for the present-tense condition (e.g., asks vs. holds), replicating the ERP effect obtained for the L1 group. This ERP effect suggests that combinatorial processing is involved in producing regular past-tense forms, in both late bilinguals and L1 speakers. We also suggest that this paradigm is a useful tool for future studies of online language production.

Students’ perceptions of Black English teaching staff at education institutions in Johannesburg, South Africa

Since the official end of apartheid in South Africa, the English departments of some former whites-only secondary schools and universities have made attempts at transformation by employing both local and foreign black teaching staff. This paper qualitatively explores both secondary and tertiary students’ perceptions of black teachers/lecturers of English at two secondary schools, an FET college and a university located in Johannesburg. It does so against the backdrop of South Africa’s racial history, the high status the colonial language of English continues to have in the postcolonial country and now, its instruction by second-language speakers of English to multi-racial students. It is in this context that the paper investigates and comes to grips with how postcolonial identity constructs of the last century are today impacting the teaching-learning of English; how identity is being perceived, constructed and performed in some South African schools and higher education institutions. It concludes by recommending context-sensitive approaches that exploit the opportunities bi/multilingual identities offer, specifically to the teaching-learning of English and other languages generally.

‘They drag my marks down!’ – challenges faced by lecturers in the allocation of marks for multicultural group projects

Our university hosts a diverse student cohort and, in certain discipline areas, international students and domestic students whose first language is not English outnumber their English-speaking peers. On the whole, group projects with these cohorts are challenging, and in particular, the allocation of marks is fraught with difficulty. Awarding the same mark to all group members is often viewed as unfair, and resented by those who feel either disadvantaged or exploited by group members they view as less able or less willing to share the workload. However, the allocation of individual marks to group members is equally difficult and elicits the same cries of injustice. In this study, 165 first-year university students were surveyed before and after the completion of assessed group projects in their different discipline areas. The findings reveal that students wanted some say into how marks were allocated and that students’ attitudes towards the allocation of group marks differed, depending on whether they were first- or second-language speakers of English. In this article, we explore the reasons for these differences and discuss the future of this vexed assessment model.

What were they all about: Two questions that provoked different reaction and feeling

The poor education and lack of exposure to literature for most Blacks in South Africa makes it difficult for second language speakers of English to cope with demanding expectations for engaging with the level of knowledge and skills required for working in higher education (HE). Being black, and being a second language speaker of English and having to work in HE institution, which privileges the use of English have combined to shape my identity in many ways. The theoretical framework of agency and ownership is used in this narrative to share episodes of my journey as a student and academic. Perseverance and persistence enabled me overcome challenges during my studies and to navigate expectations in my academic career. The narrative is based on two questions, the one triggered action of agency, and the other evoked feelings of self doubt and judgement. As a Black woman and second language speaker, the paper intends to share the experiences associated with overcoming these challenges and celebrating success despite all.

‘I don’t think we’re seen as a nuisance’: the positioning of postgraduate learning advisors in New Zealand universities

New Zealand universities host linguistically and culturally diverse cohorts of students. Many of these students, both first and second language speakers of English, struggle to achieve their potential because their academic language skills do not meet the requirements of the academy. Despite the acknowledged need to facilitate the improvement of all students’ language skills, in particular the ability to write clearly and cogently, the learning advisors at each university who are tasked with assisting this development are, on the whole, not held is in high esteem by the institutions they serve. This lack of regard makes it difficult for them to be effective in helping students reach their full potential. This article sought to capture the perspectives of postgraduate learning advisors at universities around New Zealand, which might have relevance for those based elsewhere. It concludes with some suggestions as to how advisors might strengthen their position and gain recognition for the contribution they make in the postgraduate sector.

Grammatical analysis of interlanguage

The process of second language acquisition involves the active construction of interim granmiars or interlanguages (Selinker, 1972) by learners as they progress towards competence in the target language. An interlanguage evolves as a result of the various strategies which learners apply to the task of language learning. The primary aim of this study was to analyse and describe the Interlanguage of two second-language English speakers in samples of interactional spoken language with the goal of identifying the learning strategies being applied and developing appropriate, empirically based inteivention strategies designed to facilitate the acquisition process. A secondary aim of the study was to evaluate ihe appropriacy of the particular descriptive tool employed in this study, namely the Language Assessment, Remediation and Screening Procedure (LARSP) (Crystal, Fletcher and Carman, 1989), in the context of L2 acquisition research. While the LARSP provided a useful initial description it lacked precision in identifying and accounting for the numerous error patterns produced. A detailed error analysis was therefore devised which permitted ideniification of idiosyncratic strategies as well as the more general error patterns that characterised the interlanguage of both subjects in strikingly similar ways. Of particular note was the finding thai the acquisition of the verb phrase and its components was particulariy problematic for both subjects. Numerous errors in the realisation of the argument structure of lexical verbs was noted. As it is generally agreed that the verb phrase plays a central role in the syntactic organisation of the sentence and contributes significantly to conmiunicative efficiency (Fletcher, 1992), this finding has significant implications for second language pedagogy and warrents further investigation

Eliminating grammatical function assignment from hierarchical models of speech production: Evidence from the conceptual accessibility of referents

ABSTRACTThe assignment of grammatical functions has been a key feature of hierarchical (serial) models of speech production since their inception in the 1970s. This article argues that grammatical function assignment is neither sufficient nor necessary in such models. It reports a study of the effects of the conceptual accessibility of referents on the selection of English dative syntactic frames in production and shows that the effects relate to linear precedence rather than grammatical function assignment. A secondary topic addressed in the same study is whether second language speakers of English have difficulty integrating syntactic knowledge where it interfaces with conceptual accessibility in speech production. Findings suggest that advanced proficiency speakers do not and are qualitatively similar to native speakers. The implications of this for the interface hypothesis about second language acquisition are discussed.

‘The English is not the same’: challenges in thesis writing for second language speakers of English

In this article I describe my interaction as an English for academic purposes (EAP) practitioner with a supervisor and her two postgraduate international students, both of whom were second language speakers of English (L2). Because of linguistic and relationship issues the supervisory experience for the parties was challenging and frustrating. I discuss the implications of this research and suggest that while linguistic difficulties impact negatively on the supervisory relationship this is exacerbated by the differing assumptions and expectations of the stakeholders. I argue, however, that what is regarded as ‘acceptable’ English at our institutions has not been sufficiently interrogated and the belief that English as a native language (ENL) is the only acceptable variety of English needs further investigation. Such an investigation needs to take place in a forum where the less powerful voices of the EAP practitioners and the students will not be marginalised.

An exploration of explicit and implicit learning of rules by English Second Language learners

This article addresses the issue of whether second language learners of English can benefit from explicitly taught rules. It describes research carried out on 264 South African respondents at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University – hereafter referred to as NMMU (previously known as the University of Port Elizabeth), some of whom were first and some second language speakers of English. The research replicates in a multilingual environment one done by Green and Hecht (1992) in which twelve errors commonly committed by German learners of English were given to 300 respondents at various levels from school pupils to university students. It was found that the South African respondents were less likely than the German ones to be able to articulate rules of grammar and also less able to correct the errors. If they were able to state which rule of grammar had been broken they were almost always able to correct the error.

Developing an English for specific purpose curriculum for Asian call centres: How theory can inform practice

The primary focus of this article is the investigation of how current applied linguistic research into the nature of call centre communication breakdown in business processing outsourcing (BPO) sites such as India and the Philippines, can impact English communications training program content and design for this industry. It is argued that a research-based approach to English for specific purpose (ESP) syllabus design and content will yield improved outcomes. It is the interface between the research and the design and content, rather than the implementation and the evaluation of the program, that is the focus of this article. A case study of an ESP curriculum development project commissioned by a large multinational company operating global call centres and back offices in Asia is used for this investigation. There has been concern within this company about the level of English communication skills where their customers are native speakers of English, but their customer services representatives (CSRs) are second language speakers of English. The article outlines the theoretical principles upon which this ESP syllabus was developed and then traces the steps in integrating the findings and tailoring the program to the needs of this multinational worksite.

Auditory training for experienced and inexperienced second-language learners: Native French speakers learning English vowels

ABSTRACTThis study examined whether high-variability auditory training on natural speech can benefit experienced second-language English speakers who already are exposed to natural variability in their daily use of English. The subjects were native French speakers who had learned English in school; experienced listeners were tested in England and the less experienced listeners were tested in France. Both groups were given eight sessions of high-variability phonetic training for English vowels, and were given a battery of perception and production tests to evaluate their improvement. The results demonstrated that both groups learned to similar degrees, suggesting that training provides a type of learning that is distinct from that obtained in more naturalistic situations.