bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Vocabulary - Dictionaries - Reading
Authors: Heijnen Claudia
Published: March 2014

The use of a dictionary to solve vocabulary problems during reading has lately become the centre of much interest. In 1998, CITO drew up new guidelines for the modern foreign languages taught at HAVO ('higher secondary general education') and VWO ('Pre-university education') which allowed the use of a dictionary during the final exams in reading comprehension.
A next point of discussion is whether MAVO ('lower secondary general education') pupils should also be allowed to use a dictionary during final exams. The present study is an answer to this question and aims to find out if allowing the use of a dictionary during final exams in reading comprehension is indeed in the best interest of MAVO pupils.
The literature section deals with vocabulary knowledge and dictionary use in relation to reading comprehension. In this section, the importance of a large vocabulary, the ability to use the context to guess the meanings of unfamiliar words and knowing how to use a dictionary most effectively are emphasised as being inextricably linked with each other and with reading comprehension.
Furthermore, an experiment was conducted aimed at determining whether MAVO pupils would in any way benefit from using a dictionary during an English reading comprehension test. Results show that the use of a dictionary does not significandy affect reading comprehension scores and therefore does not result in improved reading comprehension.
The reason for this the absence of this effect most likely lies in the absence of a large vocabulary, the inability to guess and the inexperience with dictionary use. Unless the teaching programme deals with these important prerequisites to reading comprehension, there is not much sense in allowing MAVO pupils to use the dictionary, since it does not lead to improved reading comprehension.
De Invloed Van Snelheid Van Woordherkenning en Kennis Van Woordbetekenis op Nt2-Tekstbegrip
Authors: van Ingen Kirsten
Published: March 2014

The performance in Dutch reading comprehension of advanced L2 learners still lags behind the performance of L1 learners. This study investigates the role of inefficient word recognition and knowledge of L2 vocabulary as two of the explanatory factors for problems with reading comprehension.
The results of this study show that inefficient word recognition cannot account for problems with reading comprehension of L2-learners at the intermediate level of secondary education. There was no significant difference between the speed of word recognition between L2 learners and L1 learners. Nor was there relation between the score on reading comprehension and speed of word recognition.
Knowledge of vocabulary does show differences between L2 learners and L1 learners. L2 learners score significantly less and, in contrast with the L1 learners, they show a significant relation between the knowledge of vocabulary and the score on reading comprehension.
Vervolgonderzoek Naar de Interpretatie Van Non-Verbaal Gedrag Bij de Beoordeling Van Asielaanvragen
Authors: Korzilius Hubert , Springorum Dick
Published: March 2014

Part of the professional interaction strategy that immigration officers of the IND (the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service) use entails listening critically to the stories told by asylum seekers. If the truthfulness of their stories is doubtful, immigration officers base their judgements mainly on aspects of the refugees' body language. Unfortunately, experimental research has established that these interpretations are neither consistent nor homogeneous.
In order to improve the ecological validity of this investigation we propose using a think-aloud design to gain a more reliable insight into the deliberations and decisions immigration officers make while listening to the stories told by refugees. We will try to obtain more evidence for the meanings immigration officers attach to aspects of language behaviour and especially to re-examine the homogeneity of their interpretations of facial expressions and body movements in an intercultural encounter.
NIT of NTL?
Authors: Van den Branden Kris
Published: March 2014

In Flemish secondary schools, non-indigenous pupils underachieve. This is pardy due to the way teachers use Dutch as a medium of instruction. In the past, various pedagogical solutions have been put forward to address this problem. However, none of these appears to be successful, basically because they leave the 'instruction paradigm' unchallenged. In this article, the perspective of'powerful learning environments' is suggested as a possible way out. Rather than optimizing the way teachers use language to give instruction (i.e. to pass on abstract knowledge), teachers should develop the proficiency to guide learners while engaging in active confrontations with the world and building up knowledge themselves. Powerful learning environments may be visualised as consisting of three concentric circles: a positive and safe learning climate (outer circle), a variety of meaningful and challenging problem tasks (mid circle) and interactive support by the teacher or other learners (inner circle).
Hoe 'Gemeenschappelijk' Is het Gemeenschappelijk Europees Referentiekader?
Authors: Janssen-van Dieten Anne-Mieke
Published: March 2014

The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) is supposed to be applicable for all learners or users of second and foreign languages and to enhance the comparability of language qualifications. In this article, it is argued that, owing to a confusion of declarative knowledge and language proficiency, this framework does not enable language learners with a low level of previous education are not enabled to show progress in language proficiency.
Furthermore it is argued that the open and flexible nature of the framework does not contribute to a higher degree of comparability of results of language learning.
De taal van de Morele Ontwikkeling
Authors: de Haan Dorian
Published: March 2014

In studies of the moral development of children the focus obviously is on the interaction between children. However, research in which the language involved is systematically explored is scarce and fragmented. The main aim of the project is to fill this gap. The project analyses whether the model of Brown & Levinson (1987) of politeness strategies can be used as a broader framework. In this article the focus is on one component of this model relating to the language of togetherness. The research is a longitudinal case study of one child in his interactions in a day-care centre and an after school centre. The data in this report concern the whole group of children in the first and the last recordings.
Empirisch Onderzoek Naar de Rol Van Plaatjes in de Vocabulaireverwerving Van een Vreemde Taal
Authors: Sollie Monique
Published: March 2014

One of the most important parts of second language learning is vocabulary acquisition. As there is often not enough time for vocabulary acquisition, it is very important for the students to learn the vocabulary as efficiently as possible. Pictures seem to be a way of learning words more easily. This article discusses the results of a study done with 94 Dutch students who had to learn 20 French words by means of a translation, a picture or a translation and a picture. After learning, the three groups were tested twice on then receptive knowledge of the words: immediately after the learning session and two weeks later. The results of this study show that there are no significant differences in retention between the three groups.
Language Learners Learning Independently
Authors: Reinders Hayo , Cotterall Sara
Published: March 2014

Independent language learning is an essential complement to classroom-based learning, both for reasons of efficiency in learning and as a means to develop learner autonomy. In an effort to encourage out-of-class learning, many institutions in the last ten years have established language resource centres where learners are encouraged to learn independently. This article reports on an investigation of the perceptions and practices of a group of learners enrolled in an intensive English course in relation to their out-of-class language learning. The investigation included an evaluation of the self-access resources in terms of their efficiency and effectiveness as welll as an investigation of learners' understanding of the concepts involved in independent learning. It was found that learners hold positive attitudes towards independent learning, and a number of factors contributing to these perceptions were identified. However, it was also found that these attitudes were based on a rather shallow awareness of what independent learning entails.
De Analfabetische Blik en de Geletterde Bril
Authors: Kurvers Jeanne
Published: March 2014

Until recently, studies about adults' metalinguistic knowledge nearly always dealt with adult readers. Since explanations about the development of children's metalinguistic knowledge are not conclusive about the influence of either (language) development or experience with written language. Adult illiterates form a nice test case for these contrasting hypotheses, since they are both experienced language users and inexperienced in the written code.
Therefore, a research project was carried out to compare the metalinguistic knowledge of adult illiterates with another group of non-readers (young children) and with low-educated adult readers.
The research project was carried out with 24 young pre-readers, 25 adult (true) illiterates and 23 adult readers with about four years of schooling. All groups were offered different tests of metalinguistic awareness on the phonological, lexical/semantic and discourse-level of language. Analysis of variance and posthoc analyses showed that, on the whole, there were hardly any differences between young children and all adults in the knowledge of linguistic entities (favouring the developmental hypotheses) while there were many significant differences between the no-nreaders on the one hand (both children and adults) and low-educated literates on the other hand. It is concluded that experience with writing systems plays a major role in triggering metalinguistic knowledge.
Gezinsprofielen, Voor- en Vroegschoolse Stimulerings-Activiteiten en Schoolsucces
Authors: van Steensel Roel
Published: March 2014

In order to prepare children from disadvantaged backgrounds for primary education, early intervention programs are used. Generally, a distinction is made between two types of intervention activities: those which are conducted at home (family-based activities) and those which are conducted in, for example, preschools (center-based activities). This research project tries to establish whether there is a relation between participation in early intervention activities and the educational achievements of 119 pupils from the cities of Tilburg and Waalwijk. A comparison is made between four groups of children: a group that took part in the family-based program Opstap Opnieuw, a group that went to preschool, a group that did both, and a control group. The performances of these four groups are followed during the first years of primary education. In addition, an estimate is made of the influence of family characteristics on the effectiveness of both types of intervention activities.
Text Composition in a Second Language
Authors: Byrdina Arina , van Helvert Korrie
Published: March 2014

We investigated the influence of the language of writing (L1 versus L2) and the condition of writing (direct writing vs. writing via translation) on generic (obligatory and compositional) elements and discourse patterns (idea units and speech act functions) of texts composed by L2 writers with different proficiency levels in L2. The novelty of this investigation is the pragmalinguistic analysis of the texts produced by L2 writers. In our analysis, we concentrate on higher levels of text representation. The texts composed by L2 writers are advertisements of products and services. To avoid as much as possible an exercise- and educational effect, we had to find a task that for all participants would be novel but realistic, motivating, and feasible. Writing an advertisement seemed to fulfil these requirements best. A total number of 20 participants engaged in the data collection procedure, ten of whom were short-residence beginners and ten were long-residence advanced L2 users.
Each participant was asked to write three advertisements in the following order of conditions: Directly in Dutch (L2d-text); Directly in Russian (Lid-text) and Translation from Russian into Dutch (L2t-text). We did not look for "reverse" transfer explicitly. However, some evidence was found for a reverse transfer hypothesis in our data, especially for the long-residence group. The results of our study show that advanced L2 writers produced direct Russian texts (Lid-text) with higher total numbers on all analyzed elements than beginning L2 writers. Their texts consist of more idea units and contain a greater variety of speech act functions.Another tendency is that long-residence L2 writers elaborate more in the direct L2 condition than in the L2 translation condition. This finding contradicts the results of the study by Kobayashi (1984), which is surprising because L2 writers elaborate most in the condition in which they had to combine cognitive higher-order processing with lower level grammatical and lexical processing during writing.
Towards Text-Based Second Language Teaching
Authors: Blom A.
Published: March 2014

This article surveys corpus research into what might generally be referred to as conventionalism in language use, and discusses its implications for second language teaching methodology. After an introductory section with traditional and more recent views on the idiomatic and formulaic nature of language use, Section 2 presents a survey of corpus-based case studies into preselected types of lexical patterning like idioms and collocations. Section 3 presents the cruder statistical approach of automatically assessing the frequency of recurrent combinations in texts. The results suggest that conventionalism extends far beyond the traditionally recognised patterns, and might be the basic combinatory principle underlying the composition of written and oral texts. After a short section with some evidence that conventional sequencing is also a feature in learner output, the concluding section (5) argues that to do justice to the phenomenon of conventionalism in language use, teaching methodology should be essentially text-based.
Op weg Naar een Diagnostische Toets Leesvaardigheid Engels
Authors: Hulsker Anke
Published: March 2014

Foreign-language reading occupies a major place in Dutch secondary education and the diagnosis of specific reading comprehension problems is important to help students improve their reading. Therefore, it is interesting to see if and how these problems can be identified by means of a diagnostic test. On the basis of a literature study, seven factors were hypothesised to contribute to FL reading comprehension problems: vocabulary knowledge, syntax knowledge, understanding explicit information, understanding implicit information, understanding relations and structure, world knowledge and monitoring skills. These factors were tested in an experimental diagnostic test that was administered to 449 students, together with a general test of FL reading comprehension. The results show that linguistic factors such as vocabulary knowledge and syntax knowledge are strongly related to FL reading comprehension, whereas non-linguistic factors such as world knowledge and monitoring skills are only weakly related. The study also shows that individual students' reading problems are due to different combinations of factors.
Tussen Vier en Acht
Authors: van Ierland M.S.
Published: March 2014

Some preliminary results from a normative study on spontaneous speech from children between four and eight years are presented. The study is part of a project to develop a standardized and normalized method of analysis of spontaneous speech samples to be used in the assessment of developmental language disorders.
From four groups of 30 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-year olds respectively, spontaneous speech samples have been collected from adult-child conversations. The groups are heterogeneous but comparable to each other with respect to social background. The samples have been segmented into -units. To reduce interviewer-effects, a distinction was made between elliptical answers (answers to previous questions, without finite verb) and free utterances (all other utterances). 50 consecutive free utterances per child have been analyzed on several variables with regard to length (9), fluency (22), grammatical, semantic and pragmatic accept-ability (18) , and syntactic and semantic complexity (43) . The resulting frequency curves (mean frequencies per 50 free utterances per age group) have been analyzed with respect to the following questions:
(1) do the groups differ in the relative frequencies for these variables?
(2) if so, can these differences be fitted into a model of gradual increase or decrease?
(3) or, if there are sudden decreases and/or increases in frequency, how can they be explained?
Differences between the age groups were found on many of the variables, and several of these differences indeed do not fit the gradual model. Sudden dips and jumps in the frequency curves do occur. Examples of non-monotonic frequency curves are given for fluency (fig.3 and 4.), prono-minalization (fig.5), coordination and past tense (fig.7), and for adverbial phrases of time (fig.8). Some explanations are suggested for these non-gradual developments.
The stability of these frequency patterns is now being tested on a second group of 120 children. If developmental frequency curves prove to be fairly stable, intensive frequency pattern analysis on both cross-sectional and longitudinal data, taking into account situational variability, might be a way to trace the more subtle developments in the later stages of language acquisition.
Vreemdtalige Woorden
Authors: Schouten Carolien
Published: March 2014

Foreign language teaching implies learning an enormous number of words. The learning methods which are commonly used for this purpose, are still far from ideal. Serious psychological objections can be raised to learning isolated words. Presenting words in texts, however, does not guarantee that pupils will pay sufficient attention to the forms of the new words and to the ways in which these words are related to the text. A good retention of the new words requires that the traces of the words in memory are embedded in one or more meaningful memory systems. So there has to be created a situation in which the pupils will pay more attention to the relations between the new words and the text.
In an exploratory investigation which was carried out by Prof. Eikeboom and the author, we have tried to obtain this situation by asking the pupils to guess the meaning of new words from the context. A hundred and six second and third grade pupils of a large suburban High School served as subjects in this study. They worked at a Dutch story in which a number of words had been replaced by quasi-words. Half of the subjects had to guess the meaning of the quasi-words from the context, the other half could look up the meaning of the words in the margin and in a word-list. The subjects were submitted to an immediate and a postponed vocabulary test.
The hypothesis was that in particular in the postponed test the subjects in the guessing condition would have memorized more or at least as many words as the subjects in the'margin condition. This hypothesis was founded on the supposition that the guessers would have to work actively on the new words and their context, whereas the subjects in the margin condition would "substitute" the meaning of the new words whithout paying attention to the forms or the context of the new words. This hypothesis was partly confirmed, that is to say for the third grade classes, by means of an analysis of variance with repeated measures. An unexpected but interesting result was that the second grade classes differed significantly from the third grade classes in the guessing condition, but not in the margin condition. This may point to the instructability of using the context to guess the meaning of new words.
Finally the three methodological difficulties which occurred in this investi-gation, are discussed. These difficulties refer to: 1) the guessing ability of the subjects, 2) the necessity of confirmations in the guessing condition, and 3) the factors which influence the possibility to guess the meaning of words correctly .
Tekstbegrip Van Wiskundetaken
Authors: Prenger Joanneke , Hacquebord Hilde , de Glopper Kees
Published: March 2014

In secondary education, mathematics education has been highly influenced by Realistic Mathematics, which means that mathematical problems are presented in rich linguistic contexts. In order to solve the mathematical problem, students have to make a correct representation of the problem, and this puts a great demand on a students' text comprehension abilities. Especially for those with low language abilities, this may cause problems.
In this research, we want to explore the relationship between students' general academic text comprehension abilities and their ability to understand mathematical texts. The role of the different aspects of text comprehension in processing the text of mathematical problems will also be looked at. On the basis of previous research, we expect a great influence of academic text comprehension on the text comprehension of mathematical texts. We think that especially text comprehension abilities at the meso-level will be important in comprehending mathematics.
We used five tests to determine the students' text comprehension abilities. We can conclude from our analyses that there is a significant relation between general academic text comprehension and text comprehension of mathematical texts. In addition, there is a significant relation between general academic text comprehension at the meso-level and text comprehension of mathematical texts. This finding matches our expectation that especially abilities at the meso-level of text comprehension play a role in text comprehension of mathematical texts.
Is Taalbeleid Voor Molukkers Nodig?
Authors: Straver Hans
Published: March 2014

Over the last decade, the position of Moluccan pupils in the Dutch educational system has not improved. Undoubtedly, their Dutch language skills are a major factor in their chances of success. Yet Moluccan parents and Dutch teachers do not seem to be overly concerned about these language skills nor do they press for specific strategies in language teaching and language acquisition.
This paper offers a summary of linguistic research on Moluccans in the last decade. Research has focused on several aspects, such as the vitality of Moluccan Malay as a minority language, the attitudes of parents towards bilingualism and bilingual education, the Dutch language skills of pupils in primáty and secondary education or the extent of literacy within the Moluccan community. The outcome should convince both parents and teachers that educational policies should include Moluccan pupils. The research provides some insights into the causes of the lack of progress. Still, until now, factors like the use of Dutch in Moluccan homes and local communities or the quality of interaction within the classroom have not been researched at all. Further research is needed to help improve the language policies of Dutch schools towards Moluccan pupils.
Eigen Taal
Authors: Kroon Sjaak , Sturm Jan
Published: March 2014

The Dutch discussion on immigrant minority language teaching, which has been going on for three decades now, shows a remarkable lack of conceptual clarity. This not only includes the content of the subject, but also its aims and its operationalisation in classroom practice. In creating this unclarity, not only the ministry of education and its advisors but also scholars and opinion leaders are involved, irrespective of their position against or in favour of this type of language teaching. This is shown on the basis of a reconstruction of the different versions of eigen taal (litt.: 'own language', i.e. the object of immigrant minority language teaching) in a number of central policy papers of the ministry of education, and on the basis of an analysis of the linguistic, pedagogic and public discourse that developed in this context. In order of appearance, three main versions of eigen taal are distinguished: offiaéle taal van het land van herkomst (official language of the country of origin), allochtone levende taal (non-indigenous living language) and gekomen taal (chosen language). The analysis shows that the recent 2002 decision of the Dutch government to do away with immigrant minority language teaching and give priority to the teaching of Dutch, should not be considered a surprise: without a fundamental change in societal power relationships, immigrant minority languages have little prospect of becoming a legitimate part of the dominant curriculum.
De Voorkeur Voor Expertevidentie in Nederland en Frankrijk
Authors: Hornikx Jos
Published: March 2014

Numerous studies have investigated the persuasive effects of different evidence types as support for claims in persuasive messages, but little attention has been paid to the preference that people have for these evidence types. In Hornikx (2003), expert evidence, which relies on the expert's confirmation of the claim, was more frequently used in French than in Dutch persuasive information brochures. As text writers are professionals, experienced in designing persuasive texts, their preferences for evidence types may differ from those of lay people. In order to test whether this cultural difference also applies to lay people, 174 Dutch and French students were given claims supported by evidence, and were asked to rank the evidence types in function of their preference. Two subtle cross-cultural differences appeared: the French put expert evidence more frequently in the first position, and ranked it more frequently before statistical evidence, which was the most preferred evidence type in both groups.
Herkenning Van Homografen Door Tweetaligen
Authors: Tuinman Annelie , Dijkstra Ton
Published: March 2014

In two experiments, we investigated how words with cross-linguistic overlap in orthography and/or phonology are recognized by bilinguals. Dutch-English bilinguals performed an English visual lexical decision task including words that are spelled and/or pronounced the same in English and Dutch. Earlier studies by Dijkstra et al (1999) and Lemhöfer & Dijkstra (2004) showed seemingly contradictory results. For example, in the first study, homophones were reacted to significantly more slowly, whereas homophones produced facilitation in the second study. However, the previous studies had problems with the frequency distribution of the stimuli and the control conditions. Therefore, the experimental design was improved in Experiments 1 and 2 in order to find out how interlingual homographs are recognized by bilinguals and what the influence is of orthographic and phonological overlap. Experiment 1, with homographs with only orthographic overlap and homographs with both orthographic and phonological overlap, partly replicated results found by Dijkstra et al. and Lemhöfer & Dijkstra, but did not show the null-effect for homographs with both orthographic and phonological overlap. Because the major difference between the three studies was stimulus list composition, Experiment 2 tested whether a change in stimulus list composition influenced the reaction times to interlingual homographs. Experiment 2 included homographs with both orthographic and phonological overlap and homophones. In this experiment, homophones produced a null-effect and the homographs were reacted to significantly more slowly than control words. The results imply that a change in stimulus list composition influences reaction times to interlingual homographs, because it can induce different types of participant strategies.
The Role of the Non-Modal Auxiliary 'Hebben' in the Acquisition of Dutch as a Second Language
Authors: Verhagen Josje
Published: March 2014

The paper addresses the issue of a possible relationship between the acquisition of non-modal auxiliaries and the acquisition of syntactic phenomena in an L2. It has been claimed in the literature that the acquisition of non-modal auxiliaries enables learners to acquire syntactic phenomena such as post-verbal negation (cf. Parodi, 2000; Dimroth, 2004) and syntactic finiteness (Dimroth et al., 2003; Jordens, 2004). The present paper aims to make a contribution to this line of research by investigating the role of hebben in the acquisition of certain V2 phenomena in L2 Dutch. More specifically, it seeks to answer the question of whether the production of hebben by Turkish and Moroccan learners of Dutch is related to these learners' acquisition of topicalisation and post-verbal negation.
An exploratory study is described in which longitudinal production data are examined both quantitatively and qualitatively. The data are taken from the ESF-corpus (cf. Feldweg, 1992) and concern interview data and film retellings from two Turkish and three Moroccan learners who learned Dutch in a naturalistic setting.
The data show that all five learners fail to produce topicalised structures and post-verbal negations as long as they do not produce hebben. Moreover, learners start to produce such V2 structures shortly after they have produced their first instances of hebben. These findings seem to indicate that the production of hebben is related to the acquisition of topicalisation and post-verbal negation, i.e., the non-modal auxiliary seems to serve as a bootstrap into the V2 system of Dutch.
To explain the observed relationship between hebben and V2 phenomena, an explanation by Jordens (2004) is considered. It is concluded that the present data are in line with his account. It is also stressed, however, that some caution is needed in interpreting the findings, due to the exploratory character of the study.
Van Immigratie Tot Etnolect
Authors: van Krieken Esther
Published: March 2014

Ethnolects can be defined as language varieties determined by ethnicity. The ethnolect is especially attributed to the descendants of immigrants. This variety emerges from a language shift situation and takes over the symbolic function from the original language as a marker of ethnicity. The features of ethnolects can be explained by processes involving second language acquisition and bilingualism, namely interlanguage and transfer from the original language.
The Moroccan ethnolect in Nijmegen is distinguished primarily by phonological and morphosyntactical features and less by the lexicon. Most of the phonological features can be explained as transfer from Moroccan Arabic and Tarifit Berber. The morphosyntactic and lexical features are due to acquisition processes. There is also an influence from the Nijmegen city dialect on the ethnolect, mainly in pronunciation.
Hoe Eenduidig is Samenhang in Tekst?
Authors: Daamen Eric
Published: March 2014

This article deals with two key issues in discourse studies. First, to what extent is there a correspondence in the labelling of coherence relations? Second, to what extent are coherence relations judged as semantic or pragmatic? In an experiment, it was examined how actual readers interpret the relation between utterances, by presenting them with sets of utterances which contained both a semantic and a pragmatic relation. It was concluded that the correspondence in labelling was high and that in most cases the respondents chose the intended label. The majority of the respondents judged the relations either semantic or pragmatic, in the course of which most relations were evaluated as predominantly semantic. Moreover, readers judged a relation more semantic when the text contained factual information or portrayed a situation outside the speaker's control. The relation is more pragmatic when the credibility of the utterances is dubious or when utterances are unverifiable.
Schooltaal Thuis
Authors: Hootsen Geke , Aarts Rian
Published: March 2014

In Dutch education, children of Dutch parents with a low educational level lag behind peers with higher educated parents. This can be explained by the language input the former group receives at home, which is thought to prepare them less well for the academic language used in schools than that of the latter group. In this study, interactions between four mothers and their three-year-olds in five speech situations were analyzed to investigate whether mothers with different educational levels did indeed differ in their use of characteristics of academic language and whether the use of these characteristics varied in different speech situations. The language input of the higher educated mothers was found to show more characteristics of academic language than that of the mothers with a lower educational level. For all mothers, their language input showed most characteristics of academic language when they talk about a picture.
Negen Talen En Drie Schriften
Authors: Asfaha Yonas Mesfun , Kurvers Jeanne , Kroon Sjaak
Published: March 2014

In view of its sociolinguistic situation and its mother tongue language policy Eritrea qualifies as an excellent site for comparatively investigating the acquisition and use of literacy in nine different languages (Tigrinya, Tigre, Afar, Saho, Bidhaawyeet, Kunama, Nara, Bilen and Rashaida) using three different scripts (syllabic Geez, alphabetic Latin and consonantal-alphabetic Arabic) within one and the same cultural and educational context. This contribution presents first results of a literacy survey with 670 Eritreans (which is part of a larger NWO-WOTRO research project). It goes into the respondents' level of literacy, their use of reading and writing in a number of societal domains, their use of the different scripts, and their preferences for the different scripts. A main outcome of the survey is that both, religion and ethnolinguistic group membership, play an important role in the use and positive evaluation of specific scripts. The majority of respondents report a preference for either Geez or Arabic, the scripts of the holy books of the Coptic Orthodox Church and Islam respectively, whereas the Latin alphabet, notwithstanding the official support it gets and the fact that it is used for six out of nine Eritrean languages, hardly plays a societal role.
Ontwikkelingen In Het Gebruik Van Streektalen En Dialecten In De Periode 1995-2003
Authors: Driessen Geert
Published: March 2014

Usage of Dutch regional languages and dialects is very much in decline in favour of usage of standard Dutch. This paper analyses the developments in usage in the period 1995-2003 using data from five measurement points of the national cohort study Primai y Education (PRIMA). A total of 35,000 pupils and their parents were involved in this study. In addition, this paper analyses the relationship between usage of regional languages and dialects on the one hand and a number of family demographical characteristics and the children's Dutch language proficiency on the other. The results show that it is imperative to treat the Netherlands not as a whole but to differentiate between language areas. In contrast to the other regional languages and dialects the future of Limburgish seems less gloomy.
Woordleerstrategieen Van Leerlingen In De Onderbouw Van Het Voortgezet Onderwijs
Authors: Driessen Carla
Published: March 2014

To gain more insight into intentional vocabulary learning by students at secondary education three research questions wTere addressed: 1) According to students in the lower grades of secondary education, w7hat are good strategies for intentional vocabulary learning? 2) What vocabulary learning strategies do these students actually use? 3) How effective are the vocabulary learning strategies used? The research sfunved that the students value and demonstrate a variety of cognitive and meta-cognitive vocabulary learning strategies pertaining to 'non-elaboration of words', 'elaboration of words', 'planning', 'evaluation and self-regulation', and 'help seeking'. Differences were found between the students, but on the whole the quality of word knowledge is not optimal. Based on the research findings, several recommendations were formulated such as the exchange of learning strategies between students, the use of an on-line vocabulary learning programme with special attention to word forms, and the organisation of learning experiences in which students draw pictures of new words and invent ludicrous, bizarre or emotionally significant sentences for the words in order to promote vocabulary acquisition.
Emergent Literacy In Everyday Preschool Interactions
Authors: Deunk Marjolein
Published: March 2014

Young children can build up a range of knowledge and ideas about literacy because it is used in their environment. This paper examines how literacy is part of natural, everyday interactions in preschool. The focus is on mundane classroom interactions about components of literacy in activities that are not primarily meant to stimulate literacy. A variety of different ideas, knowledge and practices about writing and text can come up in (art) activities in preschool. The type of knowledge in these interactions can range from the use and function of writing to writing as a technical activity. The results show that everyday activities in preschool can be a setting for meaningful interactions about writing, in which children and teachers can share knowledge and ideas and focus on different aspects of writing.
Effects of the Dutch Causal Connectives 'Dus' and 'Daardoor' on Discourse Processing
Authors: de Leeuw Saskia , Mak Pim , Sanders Ted
Published: March 2014

Linguists have distinguished between various types of causal relations. For instance, Pander Maat & Sanders (2000; 2001) distinguish between different kinds of causal relations: objective and subjective causal relations. A connective provides explicit processing instructions on how the first segment should be related to the next segment. An eye tracking experiment on the online and offline effects of the subjective connective dus and the objective connective daardoor, shows that there are online differences between these connectives. Objective relations with daardoor cause a speeding up effect of the sentence after the connective in comparison to objective relations without daardoor. There were no differences in reading speed found between subjective relations with and without dus.
The online differences between dus and daardoor can be partly explained in terms of their differences in subjectivity. However, there are clues that subjectivity can not explain everything and that the specificity of the connective also might have played a role.
De Invloed Van Taalstatus en Taaltypologie op T2-Vaardigheid, Attitudes en Motivatie
Authors: Schoonheere E. , Welcomme Aurélie , Schoonjans Els , Janssens Sonja
Published: March 2014

The relevance of L1 status and typology for L2 learning is often assumed. These concepts, however, are rarely the primary object of study in SLA research, in part because defining them is a complex matter. In an attempt to redress this imbalance, this explorative study investigates French L2 social-psychological dispositions and global French L2 proficiency in young learners in European schools in Brussels and Luxemburg (n=83; 585h of FSL on average).
It was found that pupils with a lower status L1 (German as compared to English) display more positive L2 attitudes, higher L2 motivation and achieve higher levels of global L2 proficiency. A different trend was observed in pupils whose L1 is typologically similar to the L2 (Spanish as compared to German): few significant differences were found concerning social-psychological dispositions as well as global L2 proficiency.
Is De T2-Uitspraak Van Vroege Vogels Beter?
Authors: Reitsma Sieuwke
Published: March 2014

Early bilingual education is increasing in popularity. lts most important added value is thought to be pronunciation (e.g. Ioup, 2008; Birdsong, 2006). This study investigates the influence of two Dutch primary school educational settings on L2 English pronunciation, investigating aspiration (a feature of the English but not the Dutch sound system) and prevoicing (a feature of only the Dutch sound system). In general,the L2 English pronunciation of the EarlyBird (experimental), the youngest learners who started learning English in the first grade, is more native-like than that of older learners in an EarlyBird Light setting, who started in the fifth grade (control). However, as expected from earlier research (Simon, 2009), in both groups the amount of prevoicing still increases over time. Possibly, the rather late development of prevoicing in LI Dutch affects the L2 English pronunciation. The influence of the LI on L2 English pronunciation is stronger for children in the control group, leading to the conclusion that the EarlyBird educational setting is promising.
Birdsong, D. (2006). Age and second language acquisition: An overview. In M. Gullberg & P. Indefrey (Eds.), The congnitive neuroscience of second language acquisition (pp. 9-49). London: Blackwell. Ioup, G. (2008). Exploring the role of age in the acquisition of a second language phonology. In J.G. Hansen Edwards & M.L. Zampini (Eds.), Phonology and second language acquisition (pp. 41-62). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Simon, E. (2009). Child L2 development: A longitudinal study. The international journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 10, 582-602
Werken Aan Schooltaalwoordenschat
Authors: Plas Aliza
Published: March 2014

Though knowledge of academic vocabulary is fundamental to understanding textbooks and teachers' instruction, this is often underdeveloped in multilingual students. 'Het Posterproject' is a method for teaching receptive knowledge of academic language in primary and secondary education. The method is in some respects imperfect. Firstly, the way in which to explain a new word it is to a great extend left to the teacher, making possible large differences in quality. Secondly, there are limited opportunities for students to actively process the new words. These features are strongly developed in Kinsella's approach to word teaching. This approach was implemented in 'Het Posterproject' teaching materials. This study investigates the learning gain from the extension, also looking at several possibly confounding variables. A further more reliable study will be necessary to confirm the inconclusive but promising results.
The Relationship Between Controlled Productive Collocational Competence and L2 Proficiency
Authors: Nizonkiza Déogratias
Published: March 2014

This paper assesses the extent to which L2 learners' controlled productive collocational knowledge increases with proficiency level, and the extent to which controlled produc-tive collocational knowledge of L2 learners changes across word frequency levels. A proficiency test and a collocation test modelled after Laufer & Nation (1999) were administered to English majors at the University of Burundi. The results of the study suggest that controlled productive collocational knowledge develops alongside L2 proficiency without significant gains at low levels. This empirically supports Laufer's (1998) observation that productive vocabulary growth is slow in the first years and gains momentum later and strengthens the established relationship between productive collocation knowledge and L2 proficiency (Gitsaki, 1999; Bonk, 2001). Moreover, the study highlights the crucial role played by frequency in knowing words (cf. Nation & Beglar, 2007).
Group Differences in Dyslexia Screening Test scores Between 8- and 9-Year-old Dutch and Immigrant Children
Authors: Verpalen Anick , van de Vijver Fons
Published: March 2014

The prevalence of dyslexia is 4-5% in the Netherlands. A well known instrument for measuring the risk for dyslexia is the Dyslexia Screening Test (DST). This study addresses cultural bias in the DST in a sample of 63 Dutch and 53 immigrant fifth-graders. A positive relationship between DST scores, word lexicon and socio-economic status was found. Although DST scores did not show group differences in risk indicators, a comparison of subtest scores showed that confounding cultural and linguistic influences complicated the identification of at risk children. Differences were only found in the subtests naming letters, naming pictures and verbal fluency. Probably, these differences are caused by bias, because of the specific cultural and linguistic character of these subtests. It was concluded that cultural bias (both construct and item bias) challenges the validity of the DST for assessment in multicultural groups.
De Interactie Tussen Leiding en Kinderen En Tussen Kinderen Onderling in Twee Verschillende Typen Buitenschoolse Opvang
Authors: van der Schaaf Nynke , Vrij Marjolein , Berenst Jan , Doornenba Jeannette , de Glopper Kees
Published: March 2014

In this paper we will show how different types of after-school day care (bso) influences discourse between caretakers and children. In field research carried out in the context of a PhD-study on the social development and discourse practices of young children in after-school day care, a continuum was found ranging from traditional bso's on the one hand to child-centered bso's on the other hand. In the more traditionally oriented bso's caretakers mainly take care of the children and try to instill proper behaviour in them. In the more child-centered bso's caretakers help children to discover the world by themselves. In this type of bso children learn to use exploratory talk in discourse with caretakers. In a first study of conflicts between peers it was observed that different arguments are being used by the peers.
Individual Differences in the Perception of Entrenchment of Multiword Units
Authors: Verhagen Véronique , Backus Ad
Published: March 2014

While for a long time words and grammatical rules were regarded as the basic units in language, it has become increasingly clear that we have a much more varied set of units at our disposal, including multiword chunks. How such chunks are represented, which factors contribute to their entrenchment as units and to what extent this differs from person to person are questions that require investigation.
In this paper we report on the results of a magnitude estimation task investigating variation in entrenchment, both between units and across individuals. Interesting discrepancies were found between corpus frequencies and the participants' assessments of unit status, as well as substantial differences between individuals. These results are important with respect to usage-based theories of language, as they contribute to a more precise account of basic assumptions regarding the relative importance of the factor frequency in shaping linguistic representations and in giving rise to variation across speakers.
Irregular verbs
Authors: Peters Pam
Published: March 2014

Both language history and mathematical modeling suggest that the English irregular verbs will generally evolve to become more regular. Yet closer investigation of individual verbs and verb groups shows that evolutionary expectations can be overstated. Data from the ICE-corpora for Australian, New Zealand and British English show differing endorsements of nonstandard past tense forms, whether these are long-established ones as for ring/shrink/spring, or latter-day variants such as -t for burn, learn, spell. The data put Australian and New Zealand English closer to each other than either is to British. Australian population surveys show that younger citizens are more inclined to nonstandard/nonstandardized forms. Sociolinguistic and regional preferences may thus run counter to the broad evolutionary trend for English verbs, at least in the short term.