Young L2 Learners Research Articles

Motivational elements of digital instructional games: A study of young L2 learners’ game designs

This article focuses on the design of digital instructional game (DIG) tasks for young second language (L2) learners. The aim of the study is to identify motivational task elements based on what children respond to positively in games and incorporate into their own L2 vocabulary learning game designs. Eighty-two sixth-grade students (ages 11–12 years) in Japan were first asked to identify game elements by examining existing games and then to design games incorporating DIG tasks of their own and peer-evaluate them. Building on previous work (Butler, 2015), the study uses a mixed-methods approach to examine how both task-intrinsic characteristics and implementation conditions were realized in innovative and engaging DIG tasks by children. Although the study focuses on young learners, the findings might be applied to any type of task, including both digital and physical tasks for adults as well as for children. The article concludes with suggestions for how to design instructional materials which allow individualized learning and encourage autonomy in order to cater to the genuine interests of learners and to invoke intrinsic motivation for learning.

Lexical difficulty – using elicited imitation to study child L2

This paper reports a post-hoc analysis of the influence of lexical difficulty of cue sentences on performance in an elicited imitation (EI) task to assess oral production skills for 645 child L2 English learners in instructional settings. This formed part of a large-scale investigation into effectiveness of foreign language teaching in Polish primary schools. EI item design and scoring, IRT and post-hoc lexical analysis of items is described in detail. The research aim was to resolve how much the lexical complexity of items (lexical density, morphological complexity, function word density, and sentence length) contributed to item difficulty and scores. Sentence length, as number of words, predicted better than number of syllables. Function words also contributed, and their importance to EI item construction is discussed. It is suggested that future research should examine phonological aspects of cue sentences to explain potential sources for variability. EI is shown to be a reliable and robust method for young L2 learners with potential for classroom assessment by teachers for emergent oral production skills.

Chinese L1 children's English L2 verb morphology over time: individual variation in long-term outcomes.

This study examined accuracy in production and grammaticality judgements of verb morphology by eighteen Chinese-speaking children learning English as a second language (L2) followed longitudinally from four to six years of exposure to English, and who began to learn English at age 4;2. Children's growth in accuracy with verb morphology reached a plateau by six years, where 11/18 children did not display native-speaker levels of accuracy for one or more morphemes. Variation in children's accuracy with verb morphology was predicted by their English vocabulary size and verbal short-term memories primarily, and quality and quantity of English input at home secondarily. This study shows that even very young L2 learners might not all catch up to native speakers in this time frame and that non-age factors play a role in determining individual variation in child L2 learners' long-term outcomes with English morphology.

L1 reading factors in extensive L2 reading-while-listening instruction

Abstract Extensive reading has been used as an approach to L2 instruction in foreign language contexts, where there is a need to provide rich and extensive input to learners. Previous research has shown that this type of instructional intervention is associated with improved performance in L2 reading comprehension and writing, as well as with increased positive attitudes toward L2 reading. However, not enough research has investigated the factors that mediate its effectiveness with young L2 learners. This study investigated the role of L1 reading-related factors in L2 learning under extensive reading-while-listening instruction. The findings of the study indicated a relationship between L2 learning gains in writing and positive L1 reading attitudes, a supportive reading environment at home, mother's reading interest, and parents' education level. The study concluded that extensive L2 reading-while-listening instruction allows some learners to gain additional benefits, but without disadvantaging the others. This has implications for teaching programs in the primary school context investigated, which should take learner background profiles into account when implementing this type of L2 instruction.

Impact of Traditional, Blended Learning, and Task Planning on the Learning of Resumptive Pronouns by Iranian EFL Learners

Resumptive pronouns have been one of the most problematic issues in L2 teaching. The goal of this study was to see which of the 3 methods (i.e., traditional, blended learning, and task planning) is more successful to teach EFL learners to correctly use resumptive pronouns. Participants were 60 young intermediate L2 learners who were divided into 3 groups of 20 learners. All the participants were given a pretest to check their knowledge of resumptive pronouns, the result of which indicated their lack of knowledge of such pronouns. And, they were given a posttest at the end of the study to see the (probable) effect of the above methods on eradicating this problem. Participants were to submit 4 pieces of writing based on the topics in their lessons, the results of which indicated that comparing the 3 methods, task planning was more successful to help them to correctly use presumptive pronouns. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n4s1p39

Sensitivity to ungrammatical object drop in English by Korean young and adult L2 learners

This study looks at age effects in second language acquisition by exploring whether child L2 learners have an advantage over adult L2 learners in...

Discriminating CEFR levels in Greek L2: a corpus-based study of young learners’ written narratives

In line with cross-linguistic research aiming at identifying criterial features that discriminate the CEFR proficiency levels, the present study investigates language elements that are core characteristics of each proficiency level for Greek L2. It is based on a graded corpus of 150 written narratives produced by young L2 learners (aged 8–14) at levels A2 to B2. This corpus was annotated with respect to a set of features at both the sentence and discourse level, such as clause subordination, connectives, modifiers and grammatical accuracy. Statistical analysis identified certain aspects of these features that discriminate language proficiency levels in L2 Greek narratives and are put forward as criterial features. These include the frequency of dependent and centre-embedded clauses, the gradual decrease of additive and the emergence of contrastive and inferential connectives, the felicitous use of clitics, as well as the use of evaluative adverbs and adjectives.

How to Use Gifted Tips of the Strategies of the First Language Acquisition to Promote Young L2 Learners of English in Classroom

How to Use Gifted Tips of the Strategies of the First Language Acquisition to Promote Young L2 Learners of English in Classroom

The Relationship between (Meta)cognitive Strategies and Reading Comprehension in Iranian Female L2 Learners

The present study aimed to examine the possible effects of the Iranian elementary female L2 learners’ (meta)cognitive reading strategy knowledge on their reading comprehension in 3 different stages of reading, that is, prereading, while-reading, and postreading phases. In order to control the language proficiency factor, 40 L2 learners were selected through the application of the Oxford Placement Test. The participants belonged to 2 different age groups. Twenty of them were selected from the young people, ranging from 15 to 20 years old. The other 20 participants who comprised the second group were adults, ranging from 35 to 40 years old. The participants completed a reading strategy survey and took a reading comprehension test. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to describe the respondents’ reading strategy use and their performance on the reading test. The results showed no significant relationship between the young and adult Iranian female L2 learners’ comprehension level and their use of reading strategies. In fact, the data obtained from the young group resulted in a significant relationship between reading comprehension and metacognitive reading strategy use. That is, the more L2 learners employ metacognitive reading strategies, the more their reading comprehension level will be. Besides, the participants of both groups were alike in their perceived use of cognitive reading strategy.

Reviewing the Effects of Age on L2 Pronunciation

It was observed that young L2 learners have biological advantages over late learners for L2 language pronunciation under the CPH. According to this CPH, it is impossible to naturally and effortlessly acquire a native fluency of language in pronunciation after puberty because the human brain is biologically programmed to lose the plasticity necessary for language acquisition. However, it was also observed that there are numerous studies reporting late learners outperforming younger learners in L2 pronunciation. Although the degree of achievement might vary, studies showed that several variables such as degrees of L1 use, motivation, etc. could enhance late learners’ performance in L2 pronunciation with intensive training. Brief pedagogical implications from the findings of these research studies are provided.

A study of Swedish speakers' learning of Chinese noun classifiers

Chinese noun classifiers are an obligatory category associated with nouns. Studies have shown that achieving a full understanding and good mastery of Chinese noun classifiers is difficult for both young and adult L2 learners. This study examines the learning strategies used by 30 Swedish adults for a period of two months. Their learning results are compared to 30 bilingual children's production of Chinese noun classifiers. The adult learners exhibit a normal top–down learning fashion, in which they fail to acquire the complex semantic and cognitive meanings embedded in the classifiers. The children, on the other hand, apply cognitive strategies with a bottom–up approach. The adults’ learning of classifiers lags surprisingly far behind their general level of Chinese proficiency. This study can be used as a reference for future studies on the conceptual and cognitive aspects of Chinese language acquisition by speakers whose native languages are not classifier languages.

Emotions and vocal tones in cyberspace: A new literacies perspective

Traditionally, the term literacy has referred to the ability to read and write. However, due to a vast array of social, cultural, historical, technological, and economic factors, literacy has continued to evoke during the last century. Based on Leu and Kinzer's (2003) framework of new literacies on the Internet, the present study intended to explore young L2 learners' ability to overcome the communicative skills not compatible with electronic texts, including facial expressions, vocal tones, and body gestures. Nine Korean children engaged in online chatting for ten times using Blackboard. While examining the entire written chat transcripts from the chat room, the children were shown to incorporate various nonverbal cues such as 1) emoticons, 2) capital letters, 3) special characters, 4) repetition of letters, and 5) interjection to compensate for the constraints of chatting. These children were able to rapidly develop new communication techniques during the span of ten chat sessions and appeared to have been adept at the new literacies required to enter into the new millennium of the Internet.

Language Acquisition and Development: Studies of Learners of First and Other Languages

Introduction: Some Similarities and Differences Between L1 and L2 Acquisition and Development - Brian Tomlinson Part I. Critical Reviews of the Literature 1. The Role of Proto-Reading Activities in the Acquisition and Development of Effective Reading Skills - Hitomi Masuhara 2. The Transfer of Reading from the Language of Wider Communication to the First Language - Agatha van Ginkel 3. The Processing of Past Tense Verbs for L1 Learners of English - Natalie Barber 4. The Roles of Audio-Visual Mental Aids in the Development of First and Other Language Proficiency - Brian Tomlinson and Javier Avilla 5. Applications of the Research into the Roles of Audio-Visual Mental Aids for Language Teaching Pedagogy - Brian Tomlinson and Javier Avilla. 6. Internalization and Language Acquisition - James Lantolf and Beatriz Centeno-Cortes 7. Affect in L2 Teacher Talk - Jane Arnold and Carmen Fonseca 8. The Attitudes of Language Learners Towards Target Varieties of the Language - Ivor Timmis Part II. Research Reports 9. The Value of Recasting During Meaning Focused Activities 1 - Brian Tomlinson 10. The Value of Recasting During Meaning Focused Activities 2 - Javier Avilla 11. Output Like Input: Influence of Children's Literature on Young L2 Learners' Written Expression - Irma Kaarina Ghosn 12. The Value of Comprehension in the Early Stages of the Acquisition and Development of Bahasa Indonesia by Native and by Non-Native Speakers - Erlin Susanti Barnard 13. Classroom Reticence in the Learning of Vietnamese and of English in Vietnam - Bao Dat 14. A 'Sort of' Puzzle for Non- Native-Like Fluency - Luke Prodromou 15. Perceptions of Culture By British Students Learning French - Catherine von Knorring 16. A Blind Learner in EFL Mainstream Courses: A Case Study at The Lebanese American University - Nola Bacha Conclusions - Brian Tomlinson.

The Effectiveness of a Theme-based Syllabus for Young L2 Learners

This paper reports a longitudinal quasiexperimental study that investigated the effectiveness of a theme-based syllabus versus an essentially grammatical syllabus with functional elements for young Turkish learners of English (aged 10–11) in a primary school setting. The theme-based syllabus rested on two different theoretical premises, one being Widdowson's (1990) notion of systemic versus schematic knowledge in language learning and the other being Cummins' (1981) twodimensional concept of language proficiency, involving basic interpersonal/communicative skills and cognitive/academic language proficiency. Two intact groups were randomly assigned to one of these syllabus types and received instruction for two years. Results indicate that the experimental group outperformed the control group both in listening and reading/writing skills.

Young L2 learners' performance on a novel morpheme task

The teaching of an invented language rule has been proposed as a possible non‐biased, language‐independent assessment technique useful in differentiating young L2 learners with specific language impairment from their typically developing peers. The current study explores these notions by testing typically developing sequential bilingual children's ability to learn an invented language rule in either L1 (Spanish) or L2 (English). Participants were 20 children, age 3:6–5:8, who attended a Head Start programme. For all children, Spanish was the primary language spoken in the home and English was the primary language of instruction. Children were randomly assigned two groups. Group L1 was taught the novel language rule in Spanish; Group L2 was taught the novel language rule in English. Performance was better for the L1 group than for the L2 group. Moreover, not all of these typical language learners were able to learn the new rule, even in their strongest language. These findings suggest that even for typically developing children, specific language proficiency as well as individual differences are closely linked to performance on this novel morpheme learning task.

Verb Lexis in the Written Compositions of Young L2 Learners

The L2 lexical proficiency of 69 grade 6 French immersion students is compared with that of 22 native French-speaking peers, based on verb use in five written compositions. Measures of lexical error, variety, specificity, and sophistication show clear differences between the two groups. The learners' patterns of use of verb vocabulary are considered in relation to frequency and utility in French, the degree of congruence between L2 and L1, and the morpho-syntactic complexity of some specific types of French verbs. Results are further discussed in relation to observational data from grade 6 immersion classrooms.

Age on Arrival and Immigrant Second Language Learning in Canada: A Reassessment1

The popular notion that younger children are better second language (L2) learners than older children, or as expressed by Penfield and Roberts (1959), that there is an optimal prepubertal age for L2 learning, has often been supported by contrasting the native-like fluency of young immigrant L2 learners with the obvious non-native L2 proficiency of many adult immigrants. In the present paper this popular notion is challenged on the grounds that 'language proficiency' is not a unitary construct; specifically, some aspects of language proficiency, such as reading skills, are strongly related to cognitive and academic development, whereas others involving such basic interpersonal communicative skills as oral fluency and phonology, are less related to cognitive and academic development. Because of older children's greater cognitive maturity, we would expect them to display an advantage over younger children in acquiring those aspects of L2 which are strongly related to cognitive and academic skills. However, no advantage would necessarily be predicted for older learners in acquiring aspects of L2 which are unrelated to cognitive maturity. First the recent literature on this issue will be reviewed and then data from one of the lesser-known studies, that of Ramsey and Wright (1974), will be reanalysed in the light of these hypotheses.