Started Learning English Research Articles

Reading in two orthographies: A cross-linguistic study of Dutch average and poor readers who learn English as a second language

The present study investigated the reading of secondary school students in their first and second language (L1, L2). Twenty-six average and twenty-six poor readers matched on age, gender, listening and reading comprehension participated. They were native Dutch speakers who started learning English at secondary school (grade 7). We examined whether differences in L2 between the two groups reflect differences in L1 with regard to reading and relevant subskills. In addition, the relationship between reading and its predictors within and across the two languages was investigated. Between group differences were similar in L1 and L2 when task conditions involved high levels of phonological and orthographic complexity or demanded speeded processing. Furthermore, serial rapid naming predicted speeded word reading in both languages and L2 text reading accuracy, while L2 phoneme awareness and orthographic knowledge explained unique variance in L2 text reading accuracy. Cross-linguistic prediction revealed that speeded word reading predicted its counterpart from L1 to L2 and vice versa. Serial rapid naming explained additional variance in the prediction of L2 from L1. After exclusion of the reading predictor from the model, serial rapid naming was the most consistent cross-linguistic predictor, while L2 orthographic knowledge explained a small amount of unique variance in L1 speeded word reading.

CA for SLA: Arguments from the Chinese Language Classroom

When the seminal article on the organization of turn‐taking by Sacks, Schegloff, and Jefferson (1974) was published 30 years ago, I started learning English as a foreign language. In addition to being a learner of the English language for many years, I was also trained in the traditions of Conversation Analysis (CA) and linguistic anthropology (particularly Language Socialization) in graduate school. For the present article, my objective is to explore the uses and nonuses of CA for language learning, particularly for Chinese language learning. In what follows, I take the perspective of a conversation analyst as well as that of a second language (L2) learner.This article is divided into three main sections. The first section discusses the kinds of contributions CA can make to research on L2 learning and teaching. I propose that the basic science produced by CA research can be fruitfully applied to L2 learning and instruction and to oral language assessment. I further suggest that CA studies of classroom interaction provide richly textured descriptions of language learning contexts such as expert‐novice relations and participants' identity construction. The second section considers what CA does not do, or is not designed to do for Second Language Acquisition (SLA). I submit that, unlike language socialization research, CA does not address introspective, unobservable matters that may be important to language learning. Furthermore, unlike ethnomethodology, CA is not designed to document learning (i.e., change in behavior) over a considerable period of time. The final section concludes on a hermeneutical note: I argue that CA studies of SLA provide a part of the picture of L2 learning and teaching, a part that, crucially, compels us to reconsider the whole.

Age differences in foreign language learning

Abstract This article is based on the results of a project that analyses the linguistic development of English as a third language at different ages in a bilingual program. Specifically, it examines the influence of the age of introduction of English as a foreign language on general proficiency. Participants were 60 secondary school students who had Basque and/or Spanish as their first language and Basque as the language of instruction except for the subjects Spanish and English. All the students had studied English for six years but they had started learning English at different ages. Half of the students started learning English in grade 6 and the other half in grade 3. All the participants completed a battery of tests and questionnaires including different measures of proficiency in English: story telling, listening comprehension, composition, grammar and cloze test. The results indicate that older learners present a higher level of proficiency in English. The differences between older and younger students are discussed as related to several factors involved in foreign language learning.

ANALYSIS OF ACADEMIC SELF-EFFICACY OF EFL STUDENTS IN GRAMMAR SCHOOLS IN SERBIA

The aim of this research to discover whether there was a connection between the degree of the students’ self-efficacy in learning English as a foreign language (EFL), and the participants’ attendance of private English lessons, independent use of English outside the classroom, age at which they started learning English, grade achieved at the end of the previous term and self-evaluation of English knowledge. Data was gathered by a survey and analyzed by means of a descriptive and inferential analysis. It was established that overall average self-efficacy is relatively high. Furthermore, independent use of English outside the classroom, students’ grade and self-evaluation proved to be the most powerful self-efficacy determinants, leading self-efficacy to be both higher and lower in certain situations. The results imply that the these relationships are complex and it is necessary to offer possible explanations of the results in order to better understand students’ needs in EFL learning.