Hasil untuk "Language acquisition"

Jie Lin, Yongliang Wang

Abstract Growing research attention has focused on examining the role of emotions in Second Language Acquisition (SLA), with particular emphasis on positive emotions and student engagement as significant factors in promoting various aspects of human behavior and cognition. Despite the significance of Willingness to Communicate (WTC) in understanding learners’ communicative behaviors in a foreign language, there still exist gaps in understanding how positive emotions like Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) and behavioral engagement relate to WTC. This study investigates the relationships among FLE, behavioral engagement, and WTC within the Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context, drawing upon the Broaden-and-Build theory. Therefore, the study examined how 690 Chinese EFL college students perceive FLE and behavioral engagement related to their WTC by using a quantitative method. The findings revealed significant positive relationships between FLE and behavioral engagement with WTC, with FLE showing a stronger association than behavioral engagement. Moreover, FLE and WTC could significantly and strongly predict WTC. These findings offer valuable insights for educational practices and policy development, suggesting the potential benefits of incorporating enjoyment-focused strategies in language learning. Additionally, this research contributes to our understanding of how positive emotions, particularly enjoyment, may work alongside other factors to enhance students’ communicative competence and overall experience in language learning.

Antonette R. Pierce, Unati Stemela-Zali

Background: Hearing loss in children has a profound impact on development. It negatively affects speech production, language acquisition, social interaction and early cognitive growth. These challenges influence emergent literacy if undetected and untreated. Aim: This study aimed to determine the referral rate and potential prevalence of hearing loss among Grade R learners in the Qumbu Circuit Management Centre (CMC). Setting: Nine primary schools located in Qumbu CMC, a rural area within the O.R. Tambo Inland District of the Eastern Cape province, South Africa. Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional design was used. Out of 215 schools, 10 were conveniently selected using Slovin’s formula. From these, 259 Grade R learners aged 5–6 years were randomly selected to participate. Hearing screening followed the minimum standards for school-based screening set by the Professional Board for Speech, Language, and Hearing Professions in October 2018. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27. Results: Screening outcomes revealed that 25.5% of the learners presented with ear-related conditions requiring referral for further diagnostic evaluation and management. Conditions on findings included wax impaction and otitis media. Conclusion: The study revealed a notable referral rate and potential prevalence of both temporary and permanent hearing loss among learners in Qumbu CMC. These results emphasise the importance of regular screening, early detection and timely intervention in underserved rural communities. Contribution: This study provides baseline data to guide future research and inform planning for hearing healthcare in the Eastern Cape.

Dingkang Peng, Xiaokang Zhang, Wanjing Wu et al.

Remote sensing image classification models face significant challenges when adapting to new domains due to variations in image acquisition conditions, sensor types, and scene categories. Conventional domain adaptation methods rely on multistage adaptation pipelines with limited semantic understanding, and even recently developed vision-language models (VLMs) still exhibit limited discriminative capability when encountering unseen images. To tackle these challenges, we propose OSClip, a novel open-set domain adaptation framework based on the VLM model, contrastive language-image pre-training (CLIP). Specifically, OSClip harnesses the powerful generalization capabilities of CLIP by employing domain-adaptive prompt tuning, which inserts lightweight, learnable prompts into both the vision and language encoders. This design enables efficient adaptation to new, unlabeled target domains while retaining knowledge acquired during pretraining. Furthermore, a robust open-set recognition mechanism is incorporated by combining confidence-weighted pseudolabel supervision and energy-based regularization, further strengthened by a teacher–student self-distillation scheme to enhance pseudolabel reliability under unsupervised conditions. To support adaptation across multiple target domains while mitigating catastrophic forgetting, OSClip adopts a continual adaptation paradigm for the blended test set. It dynamically aggregates prompts based on the distribution of domain-specific features to ensure stable knowledge transfer. Extensive experiments on public remote sensing datasets demonstrate that OSClip consistently outperforms state-of-the-art methods, delivering superior accuracy in distinguishing known and unknown classes across various adaptation scenarios. The results also confirm the effectiveness of OSClip in achieving robust cross-modal and cross-domain semantic alignment.

Hui Wang, Anh Dang, Zihao Wu et al.

The advancements in Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) can provide opportunities for enriching educational experiences, but at the same time raise concerns regarding academic integrity. Many educators have expressed anxiety and hesitation when it comes to integrating GenAI in their teaching practices. Thus, recommendations and guidance from institutions are needed to support instructors in this new and emerging GenAI era. In response to this need, this study explores different U.S. universities' academic policies and guidelines regarding the use of GenAI tools (e.g., ChatGPT) for teaching and learning, and from there, gains understanding of how these universities respond and adapt to the development of GenAI in their academic contexts. Data sources include academic policies, statements, guidelines, and relevant resources provided by the top 100 universities in the U.S. Results show that the majority of these universities adopt an open but cautious approach towards GenAI. Primary concerns lie in ethical usage, accuracy, and data privacy. Most universities actively respond and provide diverse types of resources, such as syllabus templates, workshops, shared articles, and one-on-one consultations; focusing on a range of topics, namely general technical introduction, ethical concerns, pedagogical applications, preventive strategies, data privacy, limitations, and detective tools. The findings provide four practical pedagogical implications for educators when considering GenAI in teaching practices: 1) accepting GenAI presence, 2) aligning GenAI use with learning objectives, 3) evolving curriculum to prevent misuse of GenAI, and 4) adopting multifaceted evaluation strategies. For recommendations toward policy making, the article suggests two possible directions for the use of GenAI tools: 1) establishing discipline-specific policies and guidelines, and 2) managing students' sensitive information in a transparent and careful manner.

Irene Fioravanti, Luciana Forti, Veronica D’Alesio et al.

Collocations are one of the most studied types of word combinations. Their intricate nature, based on varying degrees of restriction, begs the question as to how modifications in their typical form influence the way they are processed by native speakers and learners. In this study, an eye-tracking experiment was carried out. We compared native speakers and learners of Italian when processing typical (i.e., common) and atypical (i.e., uncommon) collocations of Italian. Atypical collocations were developed by manipulating the grammatical and lexical components of a set of typical collocations. We also investigated how the online processing was affected by the different modifications (i.e., lexical and grammatical) performed and proficiency levels included. Both kinds of modifications disrupt collocation processing, with lexical modification being generally more salient than grammatical modification in terms of processing costs. Further, proficiency level influences phraseological processing, with varying effects related to the different kinds of modifications. The findings of our study are largely in line with previous research, while providing new insights into how lexis and grammar affect phraseological processing. They contribute to the evidence on languages other than English, a still under-researched domain in second language acquisition as a whole.

Caitríona Ní Mhurchú, Sylvaine Ní Aogáin, T.J. Ó Ceallaigh

Is le fada an lá a thuigtear go mbíonn dara teanga (T2) daltaí tumoideachais tearcfhorbartha. Sonraítear sa litríocht nach gan dua a fhorbraíonn T2 na ndaltaí tumoideachais agus go mbíonn dúshláin nach beag roimh mhúinteoirí agus dhaltaí tumoideachais leis an T2 a threisiú agus a shaibhriú. Déantar scagadh san alt seo ar thaighde ina ndearnadh iniúchadh ar úsáid Aiseolais Cheartaithigh (AC) ar bhonn córasach sa seomra ranga tumoideachais. Cé go raibh sé mar aidhm ag an taighde seo gort an AC in Éirinn a fhorbairt agus cur le tionscadail thaighde atá curtha i gcrích sa ghort seo cheana, bhí sé mar sprioc ag na taighdeoirí freisin anailís a dhéanamh ar earráidí coitianta daltaí tumoideachais mar aon leis na gnáthchleachtais cheartúcháin a úsáideadh chun na botúin a réiteach. Sa taighde faoi chaibidil úsáideadh córas AC in dhá sheomra ranga tumoideachais ar feadh cúig seachtaine. Ar an gcaoi sin, ghlac beirt mhúinteoirí, mar aon le 53 dalta tumoideachais, páirt sa taighde agus chuir siad córas AC i bhfeidhm ina seomraí ranga féin. Bailíodh sonraí taighde cáilíochtúla faoi scáth na paraidíme tógachaíche ó mhúinteoirí (n=2) trí agallaimh leath-struchtúrtha roimh agus i ndiaidh na hidirghabhála agus trí dhialanna machnaimh le linn na hidirghabhála. Lena chois sin, bailíodh sonraí taighde ó dhaltaí trí cheistneoirí (n=53) agus trí ghrúpaí fócais (n=10) roimh agus i ndiaidh na hidirghabhála. Bailíodh sonraí taighde ón dá sheomra ranga trí chuairteanna breathnóireachta seachtainiúla le linn na hidirghabhála. I ndiaidh anailíse, sonraíodh go raibh na hearráidí coitianta céanna le cloisteáil sa dá rang agus gur tháinig athrú ar an gcleachtas ranga agus ar fheasacht an mhúinteora agus na ndaltaí maidir le ceartú na n-earráidí coitianta tar éis an chórais AC a chur i bhfeidhm ar bhonn córasach, leanúnach. Táthar ag súil go gcuirfidh an taighde seo le corpas litríochta an ghoirt agus go mbeidh sé ina threoir luachmhar do mhúinteoirí tumoideachais agus daltaí tumoideachais chun sealbhú cruinn an dara teanga a chur chun cinn i gcomhthéacs an tumoideachais.  Much research in the field of immersion education highlights the challenges students experience in acquiring an accurate and rich L2 repertoire. This paper reports on a research study that investigated the systematic implementation of Corrective Feedback (CF) in the Irish immersion context as a potential contribution to counteracting these challenges. The study builds on previous research conducted both nationally and internationally, by analysing the most frequent grammatical errors among fifth and sixth class immersion students and then exploring how such errors are corrected in the immersion classroom setting. Thus, CF was implemented in two immersion classrooms over a five-week period in the current study. Qualitative data were gathered within a constructivist paradigm from teachers (n=2) through semi-structured interviews before and after the intervention, along with daily reflective diary entries that were completed throughout the intervention. Further data were collected from fifth and sixth class students through questionnaires (n=53) and focus group interviews (n=10) before and after the intervention. To further enhance the data collection process while also supporting the validity and reliability of research findings, one of the researchers engaged in weekly observation routines over the course of the intervention. Compelling findings illustrate that similar grammatical errors were evident in both classrooms and that, with the implementation of the systematic CF intervention, both teachers’ and students’ awareness in relation to error-correction practices increased and evolved. Stemming from research findings, implications for future research, policy and practice are discussed. 

Alberto Hijazo-Gascón, Reyes Llopis-Garcia, Maria Andria

Zekun Wu, Yuan Li

Connectors are linguistic elements that link statements between textual units (Duden, 2016, p. 1083) and function as conjunctions (Heringer, 1989, p. 353). Many scholars have studied English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ connector usage, but few studies have occurred in fields related to German, with deficiencies still present regarding issues such as the relatively limited classification of connectors, insufficient analytical dimensions, and lack of studies on learners at different levels. This study is based on the dynamic systems theory and uses 168 argumentative essays as its data basis, with 155 having been selected from Lerner Corpus and covering four learning stages and the rest from the FalkoEssayL1 corpus. The study uses frequency, diversity, and accuracy as three variables in the quantitative and qualitative analyses of Chinese German as a Foreign Language (GFL) learners’ acquisition of connectors. The results indicate Chinese GFL-learners’ acquisition of connectors to show a non-unidirectional, non-linear, and interactive developmental tendency. Their usage of connectors also shows certain characteristics compared to native German speakers. In addition, the phenomena of lexical plateau and fossilization are also observable among GFL-learners during certain specific learning stages. Accordingly, this study verifies and even enriches the dynamic systems theory with specific lexical data. Based on the obtained results, the influencing factors on the usage of connectors is attributable to four aspects: language input, linguistic interference, learning strategies, and thought patterns. The final section of the article discusses didactic suggestions based on these results.

Richard Skultety Madsen, Melita Koletnik

This paper presents a study of the acquisition and use of English relativizers by non-native university students of the English language. Danish students of English Business Communication, Serbian students of general English studies and Slovene students of Translation Studies serve as informants for this work, which is quantitative and comparative in nature. The informants' mastery of English relativizers is investigated by questionnaire surveys. The study tests 3 hypotheses concerning challenges that the learners are likely to face due to possible interference from their mother tongues. The study does not only address the hypotheses themselves, but also possible ramifications for the theory of cross-linguistic influence. Two of the hypotheses are shown to be valid, showing that cross-linguistic influence is indeed real. The hypotheses in question concern the correct choice of relativizer with respect to animacy, and the misuse of whom in subject position. The results regarding the third hypothesis, i.e. concerning problems thought to be specific to Danish informants, are inconclusive, suggesting that cross-linguistic influence alone cannot explain all the challenges that non-native users of a language face.

Lisa Marie Brinkmann

The review

Romali Rosales Chavarria

This work reports, from a qualitative research perspective, the development of an English Corner project for a preschool Children’s House classroom in central Mexico over the course of a 3-year period. It shows the transition of a language specialist over six consecutive periods of work, from a traditional understanding and practice of teaching English as a second language to young learners into a more comprehensive one of the Montessori Method. The analysis of my own practice is used to recover insights through a reflective process with the intention to develop a second language (L2) Montessori program for 3- to 6-year-olds that aligns better with Montessori pedagogy.  Variables such as instruction time, setting, group constitution, materials, and teaching and learning strategies allowed for certain aspects to arise as leading points of interest for the focus of the analysis and the methodological and pedagogical adaptations that followed each period. This paper is an attempt to fill the gap between the need to deliver a second language effectively in Montessori education and the lack of guidance for doing it the Montessori way; it is especially for practitioners who do not have a Montessori background but also for Montessori-trained teachers for whom more specific preparation would aid their practice. I also hope to stimulate further research in the field of second language acquisition and multilingualism in Montessori education at every level of education.

Max Garagnani, Max Garagnani, Evgeniya Kirilina et al.

Embodied theories of grounded semantics postulate that, when word meaning is first acquired, a link is established between symbol (word form) and corresponding semantic information present in modality-specific—including primary—sensorimotor cortices of the brain. Direct experimental evidence documenting the emergence of such a link (i.e., showing that presentation of a previously unknown, meaningless word sound induces, after learning, category-specific reactivation of relevant primary sensory or motor brain areas), however, is still missing. Here, we present new neuroimaging results that provide such evidence. We taught participants aspects of the referential meaning of previously unknown, senseless novel spoken words (such as “Shruba” or “Flipe”) by associating them with either a familiar action or a familiar object. After training, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to analyze the participants’ brain responses to the new speech items. We found that hearing the newly learnt object-related word sounds selectively triggered activity in the primary visual cortex, as well as secondary and higher visual areas.These results for the first time directly document the formation of a link between the novel, previously meaningless spoken items and corresponding semantic information in primary sensory areas in a category-specific manner, providing experimental support for perceptual accounts of word-meaning acquisition in the brain.

Lynn Hansberry Mayo, M. Florentine, S. Buus

Terry Lamb

Following a contextualisation of multilingual London, I will explore the ways in which many of London’s – and indeed the UK’s – language communities and the languages they speak suffer marginalisation and exclusion. Based on an exploration of language education policy, the article employs the construct of “monolingual habitus” (Gogolin 2002), which, whilst tending to monolingualise multilingualism, also offers insights into how the habitus might be shifted. Despite the structural forces at play, I argue that, through their supplementary schools, the language communities themselves can be conceived of as “spaces of hope”, able to challenge the constraints they encounter in order to ensure that their languages continue to be spoken and learnt. I support this argument by first considering their creative educational and cultural practices, and then the ways in which they act as spaces of resistance to the challenges they face. However, I also maintain that they have the potential to play a role in shifting the monolingual habitus beyond their communities, co-creating a more linguistically inclusive society. Further research is needed, however, to understand the processes that may be conducive to this shift and lead to a more inclusive and socially just world.

Peter Kim

This forum is dedicated to the discussion on the social values of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research and is motivated by talks organized in the Fall of 2018 by Columbia University, Teachers College Center for International Foreign Language Teacher Education (CIFLTE): two talks by Professor Weiguo Zhang of Shandong University and a talk by Professor Lourdes Ortega of Georgetown University. Historically, SLA research has investigated the linguistic and cognitive phenomena of language transfer, staged developments, and systematicity and variability of the learner’s interlanguage. Such inquiry has led to empirical studies that explored the role of one’s internal mechanisms (both language-specific and cognitive), the role of the mother tongue, the role of psychological variables and lastly, the role of the second language (L2) learner’s social and environmental factors. Due to the field’s reliance on drawing inspiration from psycholinguistic traditions, the latter factors of social and environmental influences had typically received little limelight within the SLA community. However, this trend is starting to change as the discussion on the meaning and the significance of social values in language research is beginning to take shape among SLA scholars.

C. Snow, Marian Hoefnagel-Höhle

Abdullah Sarani

Issues related to bilingualism and the effects which might have on language learners’ cognitive and meta-cognitive variables have attracted the attention of a couple of researchers in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA).Since a couple of decades ago, there has been a plethora of studies on cognitive and metacognitive differences between bilinguals and monolinguals. However, the impact of bilingualism on EFL learners’ WMC and verbal intelligence has not be explored yet. The present study aimed at comparing the WMC and verbal intelligence of bilingual and monolingual language learners. In so doing, 30 Baluch EFL learners and 30 Persian speaker EFL learners were selected through convenience sampling. The data of the study were collected through running WMC measure and verbal intelligence test. The data of the study were analyzed through running descriptive and inferential statistics tests (independent samples-t-tests). Results showed that bilingual language learners outperformed the monolingual language learners in both WMC measures and verbal intelligence test. Therefore, it could be concluded that bilingualism affects EFL learners’ WMC and verbal intelligence. The findings have theoretical implications for applied linguists and psycholinguists and practical implications for teachers and syllabus designers.

Jia Li, Qizhen Deng

We examined the role of university English language learners’ (ELLs) behavior and perception of a texting-based instruction intervention on their academic vocabulary acquisition. This article reports on the data pertaining to 1081 ELLs from six undergraduate classes taking two comparable undergraduate courses on content-based English for Academic Purpose (EAP). The data include (1) the performance of the control and intervention groups on pre- and post-intervention tests on target vocabulary and academic vocabulary, (2) a pre-intervention survey of participants’ technology use, and (3) a post-intervention survey of participants on learning behavior during the intervention and their perception of the intervention. Data presented here are related to the article [4].

J. Paradis

R. Clément, B. Kruidenier