bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reading Hypertext: Higher-Level Processes
Authors: Walz Joel
Published: June 2010

In a previous issue of this journal (2001a, vol. 57, no. 3), an application of reading theory to WWW documents ('hypertext') revealed two problems for beginning learners: reading an electronic format and deciphering the language used in Web pages. A third major difficulty for readers is content; it requires higher-level reading processes, which call on the reader's store of knowledge. This article proposes pedagogical solutions to these problems, including a study of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) to enhance predictions, the analysis of visuals that support the meaning of the text, and the conversion of search engine summaries into pre-reading activities to activate schemata. Three additional skills related to content are the understanding of cultural allusions, critical reading, and the ability to read extensively. Cultural allusions are frequent in hypertext, especially in personal home pages. Readers can ask pertinent questions based on surrounding text, and they can research an allusion online to determine meaning. Critical reading is a necessary skill to develop when reading hypertext, since much information is incorrect or biased. The identification of sources and text type to gain perspective on the author's intended message is recommended. The necessity for extensive reading with the WWW requires ways of helping students choose appropriate sites and of evaluating their work in order to promote reading for meaning.
Comparaison de deux versions d'un test de classement: version papier-crayon et version informatisée
Authors: Weinberg Alysse
Published: June 2010

En Décembre 1998 l'Institut des langues secondes de l'Université d'Ottawa a décidé d'informatiser son test de classement à l'aide du programme auteur Ficelle, un programme permettant de créer des items de type lacunaire et des choix multiples et fournissant également des données statistiques. Les 248 étudiants inscrits dans les cours de base de français langue seconde ont soit passé une version papier-crayon soit une version informatisée d'un même test. Les résultats des analyses effectuées n'ont pas révélé de différence significative entre les deux versions. Les réactions des étudiants et du corps enseignant face à la version informatisée ont par contre été très positives.
A Functional Approach to Research on Content-based Language Learning: Recasts in Causal Explanations
Authors: Mohan Bernard , Beckett Gulbahar
Published: June 2010

There is wide agreement among researchers that content-based language learning (CBLL) instruction is most effective when it provides both meaningful communication about content and intentional language development (e.g., Pica, 2000). However, it is less widely recognized that a systemic functional linguistic (SFL) approach offers a distinctive theoretical perspective and characterization of CBLL and addresses issues of advanced language development which are crucial when the second language is a medium of learning. To demonstrate this, we analyze the grammatical scaffolding by teacher and L2 learner(s) of causal explanations which form part of work by a group of L2 students in a project on the human brain. We show how an SFL analysis reveals quite different aspects of the recast sequences of these data than does a 'focus on form' approach. These aspects include: the lexicogrammar of causal meanings, the place of 'grammatical metaphor' in the processes of language development, the nature of causal explanations as knowledge structures of 'ideational meaning' in discourse, and the role of knowledge structures as bridges between language learning and content learning. The potential of the functional perspective to increase the range and power of research on CBLL considerably is thus seen.
Interdependence Revisited: Mathematics Achievement in an Intensified French Immersion Program
Authors: Bournot-Trites Monique , Reeder Kenneth
Published: June 2010

This study examines the effect of teaching mathematics in French on mathematics achievement evaluated in English. In this context it analyzes the effect of increased intensity of bilingual education on mathematics achievement. It also analyzes the effects of language of testing in the context of French immersion at the intermediate level. The participants in the study are two cohorts of French immersion pupils followed from Grades 4-7. The treatment group received 80% of the core academic curriculum, including mathematics, in French and 20% in English. The comparison group received 50% of the core academic curriculum in French and 50%, including mathematics, in English. Achievement in mathematics was measured for both groups at the end of Grade 6. Analyses of covariance showed an advantage in mathematics for the 80% French group compared to the 50% French group. These results provide further evidence for Cummins' threshold hypothesis and interdependence hypothesis.
The Development of Oral Production in Content-based Second Language Courses at the University of Ottawa
Authors: Burger Sandra , Chrétien Marie
Published: June 2010

This article presents a study focusing on the oral production of students enrolled in adjunct or content-based ESL and FSL language courses linked to an introductory psychology course. The two-year study measured changes in students' oral production over two semesters during the 90-minute-per-week adjunct course. Instruments used were an elicited imitation exercise and a discussion task administered at the beginning and end of the course. These were recorded in the language laboratory for later analysis. The elicited imitation task was corrected for accuracy and for the presence of certain prosodic, syntactic, and discourse features. The discussion task scored on content, speed of delivery, pronunciation, grammatical accuracy, and precision of vocabulary. A detailed qualitative analysis was done on the discussions produced by a subgroup of students who had shown gains in grammatical accuracy. The authors discuss the results of the study and its implications for the teaching of oral production in content-based language courses.
The Dynamics of ESL Drop-out: Plus Ça Change…
Authors: Watt David , Roessingh Hetty
Published: June 2010

This study provides longitudinal insights into a pattern of drop-out that the authors had previously identified, by tracking educational outcomes among ESL youth for a single, large urban school. Over a span of eight years, distinct changes in the educational climate and, in particular, in the structure and funding of ESL programming have led to two distinct cohorts of ESL students: pre- and post-budget cuts. While the results show the general drop-out rate for ESL students remains unchanged at 74%, a comparison of the two cohorts suggests that accelerated integration into academic mainstream courses has had a detrimental impact on the educational success of intermediate level ESL students. Further, a new set of issues emerges related to the quality of success for ESL learners and the identification of ESL learners.
Going Through a Bad Spell: What the Spelling Errors of Young ESL Learners Reveal about Their Grammatical Knowledge
Authors: Morris Lori
Published: June 2010

The spelling errors of 215 Grade 6 ESL learners were examined with a view to gaining an understanding of how these children construe and misconstrue the structure of their L2. It was found that unstressed grammatical (function) words proved particularly difficult for the learners to render in writing. The children achieved much higher success rates with lexical (content) words, which are more salient both phonetically and informationally. Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between an ability to spell grammatical words accurately and increased use of verbal morphology. These findings add to the growing body of literature that argues that mere exposure to an L2, even when that exposure is intensive and sustained, is not enough to ensure learner uptake.
Loss and Maintenance of First Language Skills: Case Studies of Hispanic Families in Vancouver
Authors: Guardado Martin
Published: June 2010

This qualitative study aims to explore the loss and maintenance of Spanish in Hispanic children in Vancouver from the perspective of parents. It focuses on the experiences of Hispanic parents of children either developing bilingually (Spanish-English) or monolingually (English). The primary method of data collection is the semi-structured interview. Data collected in this study support the notion that first language (L1) cultural identity is crucial to heritage language maintenance in the context of a dominant second language (L2). However, the data contradict previous findings that a narrow linguistic community and the input of one parent are not sufficient for L1 maintenance. The bilingual (i.e., L1 maintenance) children in the present study had L1 input from only one parent and limited L1 contacts outside the home. The data also show that the type of encouragement parents give to their children to speak the L1 can have a facilitating or a detrimental effect. Therefore, this article urges parents committed to L1 maintenance to promote a positive attitude in their children and to address their affective needs accordingly.
The Impact of Attending to Unstressed Words on the Acquisition of Written Grammatical Morphology by French-Speaking ESL Students
Authors: Morris Lori , Tremblay Michel
Published: June 2010

This study reports the findings of a classroom experiment involving 123 French-speaking ESL learners in a junior college setting. An experimental group of 65 learners was required to do weekly Cloze dictation activies designed to focus their attention on unstressed grammatical words. A group of 58 learners in the same course of instruction served as a control group. Both groups did storywriting tasks as pre- and post-tests. An analysis of learners' accuracy in verbal and nominal morphology on the pre- and post-tests revealed that the experimental group improved far more than the control group over the 15-week period of the study. The theoretical and classroom implications of these results are discussed.
Altérité et intégration: Le rôle de la traduction
Authors: Malena Anne
Published: June 2010

Étant donné les contraintes budgétaires occasionnant des réformes départementales, il y a lieu de s'interroger sur la meilleure façon de parer aux exigences économiques tout en maintenant l'intégrité intellectuelle des programmes offerts par les départements de langues et de littératures. Prenant à l'appui les efforts de restructuration déployés par le département des Modern Languages and Cultural Studies de l'université de l'Alberta, cet article se penche sur le rôle de médiateur que la traduction est appelée à jouer dans ce genre de situation et propose, à partir d'une réflexion sur la traduction en tant que métaphore, quelques pistes à suivre pour les départements de langues et de littératures en Amérique du Nord. L'intégration des programmes de langue, de linguistique, de traduction et de littérature/culture doit respecter l'altérité de chacun et assurer la compétence culturelle des étudiantes en les préparant intellectuellement pour un monde du travail de plus en plus axé sur l'échange interculturel.
'It Was Nice to See That Our Predictions Were Right': Developing Metacognition in L2 Listening Comprehension
Authors: Vandergrift Larry
Published: June 2010

Beginning-level core French students (Grades 4-6) completed listening comprehension tasks and reflective exercises, using instruments that engaged the students in prediction, evaluation, and other processes involved in listening. Following each task and accompanying exercises, students completed a questionnaire on the formative qualities of the activities and instruments. Results of this qualitative study suggest that use of these instruments helped sensitize students to the processes underlying L2 listening comprehension and tapped their metacognitive knowledge. Student comments evidenced a high degree of task and strategic knowledge and, to a lesser degree, person knowledge. Evidence from this study supports the argument that reflection on the processes of listening can help students develop metacognitive knowledge and, potentially, achieve greater success on these types of L2 listening tasks.
Integrated Reading and Writing Tasks and ESL Students' Reading and Writing Performance in an English Language Test
Authors: Esmaeili Hameed
Published: June 2010

This exploratory study investigated whether content knowledge from reading would affect the processes and the products of adult ESL (English as a second language) students' writing and reading performance in a simulated English language test that made use of reading and writing modules. Following a counterbalanced within-subjects design, 34 first-year engineering students with intermediate levels of English proficiency did two reading and writing tasks in two conditions, one when the reading passage was related thematically to the writing task, and the other when the reading passage was not. In addition, participants answered interview questions and filled out a retrospective checklist of the writing strategies they used when the writing task was related thematically to the reading task. The students performed significantly better on their writing and on summary recalls of their reading comprehension in the condition where the reading and writing tasks were thematically related. The study revealed that the thematic connection between reading and writing enhanced both the processes and the products of students' writing performance.
L'alternance de codes chez deux enseignants de français langue seconde, niveau débutant, dans l'enseignement assisté par ordinateur
Authors: Taylor Alan
Published: June 2010

Cet article propose un examen descriptif de l'alternance de codes (CS) chez deux enseignants de français dans le cadre de l'enseignement assistá par ordinateur (EAO). À la lumière des articles rácents publiás sur l'usage de la langue de dápart (L1) dans un cours de langue seconde (L2), on y expose les rásultats d'une recherche dámontrant que l'enseignant devrait être plus conscient des rapports interpersonnels pendant les leçons donnáes en EAO. L'influence de la dynamique sociale et des aspects techniques sont mis en ávidence. Les conclusions de l'enquête, qui s'appuient sur la collecte de donnáes variáes, soulèvent des questions fondamentales pour la comprá-hension de la problámatique de l'usage du CS par les enseignants de L2 dans le contexte de l'EAO.
La mise en évidence textuelle: d'où venons-nous et où allons-nous?
Authors: Simard Daphnée
Published: June 2010

L'utilisation des indices typographiques dans le but d'attirer l'attention des apprenants d'une L2 sur des éléments linguistiques, à savoir la mise en évidence textuelle, a retenu l'attention de nombreux chercheurs depuis quelques années. Toutefois, les résultats des études portant sur la MET sont contradictoires. Ces résultats divergents peuvent vraisemblablement s'expliquer par les choix d'ordre méthodologique très variés qu'effectuent les chercheurs. Dans le cadre de cet article, nous allons d'abord effectuer un bref retour historique sur l'utilisation des indices typographiques, après quoi nous exposerons les motifs sous-jacents à l'utilisation de la MET en classe de L2. Nous présenterons ensuite une recension des écrits ainsi qu'un sommaire des éléments de la recherche sur la MET. Enfin, nous conclurons en formulant quelques pistes pour la recherche sur la MET dans l'enseignement d'une L2.
Never Quite a ‘Native Speaker’: Accent and Identity in the L2 - and the L1
Authors: Marx Nicole
Published: June 2010

The examination of identity issues in learning a second language has recently become a focus issue in SLA research and especially in the field of sociocultural linguistics, which seeks to examine not only how languages are learned, but also the context in which learning takes place and the individual involved. This study addresses the question of L2 (second language) and C2 (second culture) acquisition by focusing on identity, and specifically on one particular aspect, the appropriation of accent. A first-person account of identity phenomena in learning a second language, it seeks to explain changes in the L2 accent - and later also in the L1 accent - applying the metaphor of self-translation as a general framework for explaining processes of L2 learning and L1 loss, and the construction and reconstruction of learner identity.
Writing in Two Cultures: Chinese Professors Return from the West
Authors: Shi Ling
Published: June 2010

Little is known about nonnative English language teachers who, after having been awarded an MA or PhD in the West, return to their home countries and write academic papers mainly in their first language. This study, based on interview data, reports on the writing and teaching experiences of nine Western-trained Chinese TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) professionals in China. The findings show that the participants were all conscious of their biliterate/bicultural intellectual identity. Although some had different views about what counted as logic and digression in academic discourse, most of the participants were persistent in promoting a direct and linear English approach in their own writing as well as in their teaching of both English and Chinese writing. The study highlights the complexity of bilingual/bicultural intellectual identity and the contribution of Chinese TESOL scholars either toward or against an Anglo-centric globalization of rhetorical development.
Analyzing Late Interlanguage with Learner Corpora: Québec Replications of Three European Studies
Authors: Cobb Tom
Published: June 2010

The characterization of learner interlanguage has been largely confined to the early acquisition of speech in a second language (L2), with later acquisition not commonly analyzed in this framework for lack of theory, lack of data, and the fact that late acquisition is intermeshed with the acquisition of literacy. The current trend to electronic submission of classroom writing relieves the data problem, defines steps in the acquisition of literacy, and may even contribute to the growth of theory. When assembled by teachers or researchers into a learner corpus (LC) of suitable size and character, such a corpus provides the empirical means to discover what advanced learners know and do not know about their L2. A strong tradition of LC analysis has emerged in Europe; the present study introduces this work and tests its applicability to a North American context.
From Prediction Through Reflection: Guiding Students: Through the Process of L2 Listening
Authors: Vandergrift Larry
Published: June 2010

This article attempts to bridge the apparent gap between L2 listening theory and practice by examining the effect of two tasks designed to teach students how to listen. This small-scale study involved two groups of students (N=41) registered in the second semester of a beginner-level French as a Second Language course. Students completed each task and then reflected on its usefulness in facilitating comprehension and its effectiveness in raising their awareness of the listening process. Students reacted positively to both listening tasks and provided suggestions for improving the second task. Student responses highlighted the benefit of predictions, the usefulness of discussion with a partner, and the motivational effect of focusing attention on the process as well as the product of listening. This study illustrates the potential of applying current knowledge about developing metacognitive processes and metacognitive knowledge in L2 listening pedagogy.
The Role of Reflective Conversations and Feedback in Helping Preservice Teachers Learn to Use Cooperative Activities in their Second Language Classrooms
Authors: Gwyn-Paquette Caroline , Tochon François
Published: June 2010

The object of this qualitative study was to examine how preservice second language teachers navigate through the difficulties of introducing cooperative learning into their classrooms during student teaching, despite the fact that this approach differs from their cooperating teachers' customary teaching strategy. We sought to determine what helps or inhibits the student teachers' progress. Although convictions about the usefulness of the cooperative approach and other personal motivation provided the springboard for experimentation, it became evident from the analysis of supervisory conversations that expert coaching and continuous moral support are essential to foster the development of the preservice teachers' ability to innovate in their teaching approach. In the absence of informed in-school support, expert help is needed from outside the school. Under these conditions, the university supervisor becomes a central player in the preservice teacher's construction of knowledge about cooperative learning.
What Do ESL Students Say About Their Accents?
Authors: Derwing Tracey
Published: June 2010

This study concerns adult immigrants' perceptions of their own pronunciation problems and the consequences of speaking with a foreign accent. Interviews were conducted with 100 intermediate proficiency ESL students (58 of whom belonged to a visible minority). Over half the respondents felt that pronunciation played a role in their communication problems, yet when asked what their pronunciation difficulties were, many were unable to answer. Those who did identify problems tended to focus on a small set of salient segmental units that generally have little effect on intelligibility. When asked whether they had been discriminated against because of accent, two thirds said no, but when asked if people would respect them more if they pronounced English well, the majority agreed. In light of the students' comments, recommendations are made for pronunciation instruction guided by intelligibility rather than salience; it is also suggested that the politics of accent and bias be explored with ESL students.
‘From Behind the Veil’: Teaching the Literature of the Enemy
Authors: Hurlbert Claude
Published: June 2010

The purpose of this article is to dramatize what can happen when educators teach literature for cross-cultural understanding, especially when the literature being taught is written by citizens of a country with which the students' country is at war. It contains a deep description of the events of one class in the United States in the fall of 1990 on the eve of the first Gulf War, and it theorizes these events in light of the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. It employs the transnational perspective of linguists such as A. Suresh Canagarajah and Tové Skutnabb-Kangas, the critical psychology of Fyodor Vasilyuk, the postmodern theory of Bill Readings, and the spiritual theory of Peter Gabel to conclude with a call for teaching literature with a vision for cross-cultural understanding.
Multicultural Moments in Poetry: The Importance of the Unique
Authors: Hanauer David
Published: June 2010

This paper argues for the importance of poetry for the field of applied linguistics. The central argument of the article is that poetry is a discourse constructed around the epistemological principle of the unique that provides its readers with specific insights into individualized, personal human experience and linguistic expression. Poetry has particular value in promoting multiculturalism and the understanding of human diversity and can provide moments of contact among individuals living in diverse communities. For applied linguistics, a multi-generic approach is proposed in which all modes of communication and research need to be employed in order to contend with the major issue of human diversity in conservative social systems that promote unity as an ideal and function through the racist inability to differentiate between the group and the individual member of the collective. As argued in this paper, poetry can provide a counterweight to the desire to collectivize and generalize and remind us of the value of the humanly individual life.
The Narrative of Language Choice: Writers from Ethnolinguistic Minorities
Authors: Tannenbaum Michel
Published: June 2010

Language acquisition, language maintenance, and language instruction among ethnolinguistic minorities are widely researched issues. This paper considers them through the unique perspective of writers who belong to ethnolinguistic minorities and write in a language other than their mother tongue. This stance is particularly interesting because writers build their professional identity around language, and their confrontation with linguistic issues could prove an insightful source for new understandings. The paper focuses on the works of two such writers: Tahar Ben Jelloun and Sayed Qashu. Their writings and their linguistic choices are discussed in terms of political and psychological motives as reflected in the style and the contents of their work, seeking to draw conclusions about the potential implications of these questions for applied linguistics.
‘So the Meaning Escapes’: On Literature and the Representation of Linguistic Realities
Authors: Widdowson H.
Published: June 2010

A formalist model of language is said to be inappropriate for applied linguistics in that it deals with idealized abstractions and does not come to terms with the real language as actually experienced by its users. Two current areas of linguistic enquiry, corpus linguistics and critical discourse analysis, claim to redress this deficiency by revealing how language is actually put to use. One area of linguistic experience, however, continues to be neglected, namely the imaginative and individual exploration of meaning potential that is characteristic of literature, and particularly of poetry. Corpus analysis does use prose fiction as data, but very selectively. Drama and poetry are excluded altogether, presumably because they tend to be nonconformist and not reliably representative of normal usage. Since corpus descriptions are designed to reveal commonalities and regularities across individual uses of language, it is not surprising that they should avoid what is abnormal and eccentric. But then such descriptions inevitably reduce language to some kind of ideal representation of what is commonly attested as ‘standard’ or ‘normal’: a social construct of the conventional in which individual expression has no place. Critical discourse analysis has also used the data of literary texts but again its purpose is to show how texts are ideologically informed and so exemplify a more general social significance. The individual is again reduced to a common factor.

In both corpus and critical linguistics, where literature is taken account of at all, it is used expediently as data to exemplify social aspects of language and sustain convenient generalities. But the essence of creative writing is that it is indeed creative, and so subverts such generalities and in exploiting the unrealized potential of language is expressive of alternative realities not recognised by social convention. To ignore this is to misrepresent the reality of the individual's experience of language which applied linguistics needs to take account of.
Internet-Based ESL for Distance Adult Students - A Framework for Dynamic Language Learning
Authors: Reynard Ruth
Published: June 2010

This research study investigated the potential of Internet technology to provide a dynamic and autonomous language-learning environment for adult distance language learners. The study focused on five essential characteristics of dynamic language learning and observed the online study activity of the students in relation to these. Learners were presented with various study resources and tools from which they could freely self-select as required. The lessons were constructed through a process of open dialogue and negotiation between students and teachers, integrating preset content with individualized assignments and actual language use. While students demonstrated an interest to explore and use the resources and tools, teachers found the environment to be overwhelming. Therefore, while student activity was tracked, teacher intervention was random and ineffective. Challenging the existing approach and mindset of teachers was difficult.
Cognitive Conflict, Disagreement and Repetition in Collaborative Groups: Affective and Social Dimensions from an Insider's Perspective
Authors: Tocalli-Beller Agustina
Published: June 2010

This paper examines conflict, disagreement, and repetition in a collaborative group and the social interactions and lessons that occur due to them. By examining my own participation and reflections in a content-based collaboratively structured course and analyzing them from within a sociocultural theory of mind, the point is made that the study of cognitive conflict, disagreement and repetition in collaborative groups holds substantial potential for understanding the socially mediated process of learning. This understanding will, in turn, provide insightful information about group work in L2 classrooms.
Developing the Curriculum for Intensive French
Authors: Netten Joan , Germain Claude
Published: June 2010

This article describes the way in which the curriculum for intensive French was developed. Reference is made to its similarities to and differences from both the multidimensional curriculum proposed by the National Core French Study and the communicative approach. The importance of learning outcomes stated in terms of communicative outcomes (language functions) is discussed first. The content of the curriculum is then presented under five headings that are related to the five theoretical principles underlying the conception of intensive French: authentic communication, literacy development, cognitive development, interaction, and the development of accuracy and fluency. The role of compacting the regular curriculum in the development of the intensive French program is also explained.
Rethinking Teaching Strategies for Intensive French
Authors: Collins Jacquie , Stead Shelley , Woolfrey Sid
Published: June 2010

This article gives the perspectives of three teachers of intensive French (IF) as they adjusted their thinking to teaching in a French as a second language (FSL) classroom that was very different from the core French classroom and developed teaching strategies to facilitate effective learning of communication skills by the students. Four major differences from regular core French are presented: the increase in time and intensity; the enriched curriculum; the atmosphere in the classroom; and the role of the teacher. Eight teaching strategies for the IF classroom are then described: always communicating in French; creating interaction in the classroom; integrating language and the experiences of the students; developing literacy skills; balancing accuracy and fluency; teaching grammar implicitly; sequencing tasks; and the need for variety and flexibility in the teaching strategies used. The article concludes with a summary for the beginning IF teacher of the most important teaching strategies.
Second Language Pre-service Teachers as Learners: The Language Portfolio Project
Authors: Christiansen Helen , Laplante Bernard
Published: June 2010

This article reports on a study of pre-service French immersion teachers who were required to compile second language (L2) portfolios as part of their professional development. Documents included a brief biography of the students' lives as speakers and learners of French; an action plan in which students assessed their L2 proficiency and set specific language learning goals; artefacts from both in-class and out-of-class learning experiences; and a final narrative entry commenting on the degree of success of their action plan. Volunteers participated in semi-structured audiotaped interviews and allowed their portfolios to be copied. Although the project was not as successful as initially anticipated, the process of compiling portfolios created a new space for L2 development. The portfolio became a tool mediating language learning activities. Furthermore, students showed that they were less capable of working autonomously than had been anticipated and that they required encouragement and support throughout the project.
Using Activity Theory to Explain Differences in Patterns of Dyadic Interactions in an ESL Class
Authors: Storch Neomy
Published: June 2010

Variations in how L2 learners work in pairs/groups have been noted by a number of researchers. However, explanations for such variations are often made in terms of differences in L2 proficiency or culture. What has often been overlooked is the participants' orientation to an activity and, in particular, their motives and goals. The importance of human motives and goals in explaining human behaviour is encapsulated in activity theory (Leont'ev, 1981). It is this theoretical perspective that guided the study reported in this article. The study attempted to explain variations found in the ways students interacted in pairs in a university ESL class. The data consist of interviews with eight participants who formed four case study pairs, each case exemplifying a distinct pattern of dyadic interaction. The findings suggest that patterns of dyadic interaction can be traced to the nature of the participants' goals and to whether or not members of the dyad share these goals.
Investigating the Effects of Oral Output on the Learning of Relative Clauses in English: Issues in the Psycholinguistic Requirements for Effective Output Tasks
Authors: Izumi Yukiko , Izumi Shinichi
Published: June 2010

This study investigated whether giving learners an opportunity for oral output has any positive effect on the L2 learners' acquisition of a grammatical form. Twenty-four adult ESL learners were randomly assigned to one of three groups: an output group, which engaged in a picture description task that involved input comprehension and output production; a non-output group, which engaged in a picture sequencing task that required input comprehension only; and a placebo control group. The two treatment groups were exposed to the same aural input for the same amount of time. Learning was assessed by means of a pre-test and a post-test consisting of production and reception parts. The results indicated that, contrary to our expectations, the output group failed to outperform the non-output group. On the contrary, it was the non-output group that showed greater overall gains in learning. A careful post-hoc re-examination of the treatment tasks revealed that the output task failed to engage learners in the syntactic processing that is necessary to trigger L2 learning, while the task for the non-output group appeared to promote better form-meaning mapping.
Effective High School ESL Programs: A Synthesis and Meta-analysis
Authors: Roessingh Hetty
Published: June 2010

Over the past decade there has been increased pressure in the public discourse for accountability in educational outcomes. There has been a growing sense that ESL students are not being well served by the delivery of supports meant to facilitate their development of English language acquisition and enable them to participate with their classmates in the mainstream. In short, educational outcomes measured by way of dropout, failure, and low achievement on standardized tests all suggest that for some reason ESL learners do not benefit from ESL programming. This article begins with a synthesis and meta-analysis of 12 major studies of effective ESL programs conducted over the past 14 years, providing a backdrop for our reflections on our program development and successful outcomes for ESL learners, documented and published previously. By identifying major themes that pervade these studies across time and relating them to our work, we pinpoint the gaps in program design and implementation that should lead to instructional and policy reform. These reforms must be guided and directed by further research efforts in the Canadian context, implemented and supported at the jurisdictional and ministerial levels.
Emergent Identities in On-Line Discussions for Second Language Learning
Authors: Nguyen Hanh , Kellogg Guy
Published: June 2010

In this article, issues of identity in second language (L2) learning are examined by using discourse analysis and ethnographic observations to analyze electronic bulletin board postings by ESOL students in a content-based class as they participated in discussions about gay rights and homosexuality. Drawing on notions of identity construction, community of practice, and participation frameworks, we demonstrate that as the students were engaged in the language and content of the lessons, they also selected multifaceted and complex alignments with their existing values and the values promoted in the course. In turn, their stances in the discussions could either encourage or discourage their participation and opportunities to use the L2. Further, in these on-line discussions, language socialization was uniquely facilitated by the affordances of computer technology.
Learner Corpus Analysis and the Development of L2 Pragmatic Competence in Networked Inter-cultural Language Study: The Case of German Modal Particles
Authors: Belz Julie , Vyatkina Nina
Published: June 2010

This article reports on a corpus-based, developmental pedagogical intervention for the teaching of German modal particles (MPs) in which learners examined their own emerging MP use as well as that of their native-speaking keypals in the context of electronically mediated, project-based collaboration. Individual learner development was traced micro-genetically over a period of nine weeks using Telekorp, a bilingual learner corpus with a built-in control corpus. The current study contributes to the teaching of second language (L2) pragmatics with respect to the authenticity of the interactions, the corpus-enabled nature of the intervention, the developmental scope of the data, and the potential for ‘hyper-noticing’ in Internet-mediated intercultural foreign language education.
Utilisation des TIC: adaptation et validation de trois échelles de mesure de variables affectives
Authors: de Serres Linda , Lafontaine Marc
Published: June 2010

À partir des travaux de Gardner (1985) réalisés en langues secondes et de son questionnaire d'attitudes et de motivation, trois échelles de mesure -soit les attitudes, la motivation et l'anxiété -ont été adaptées à une situation impliquant l'utilisation des TIC. La présente étude décrit les étapes d'adaptation et de validation de ces échelles. Les données ont été recueillies à deux reprises auprès des mêmes étudiants pour former une seule base de données. Les résultats obtenus des analyses de validité interne laissent voir l'importance de différencier les TIC en tant que source d'information, de l'ordinateur comme outil de travail. Les résultats de l'analyse factorielle font ressortir la proximité des concepts d'attitude et de motivation ainsi que la distinction de celui d'anxiété. Des suggestions sont émises pour améliorer les présentes échelles. Pour l'enseignant de L2 sensible à l'influence des variables affectives, cette étude fournit des échelles utilisables auprès d'apprenants ayant recours aux TIC.
CALL the Canadian Way
Authors: Chapelle Carol
Published: June 2010

This paper describes past Canadian contributions to the study of CALL and raises questions about the identity of Canadian CALL as distinct within CALL scholarship in North America.
Investigating the Role of Identity in Writing Using Electronic Bulletin Boards
Authors: Spiliotopoulos Valia , Carey Stephen
Published: June 2010

Recent research has focused on the relationship between language and identity (Ivanic, 1998; Kanno & Norton, 2003). International students who come to Canada to learn English as a second language realize that to succeed in the academic community, they must be particularly adept at writing in English for academic purposes. This article addresses how using WebCT's electronic bulletin board to improve writing in English offers students opportunities for the development of student identities in ways that are not as prevalent in the traditional face-to-face classroom. More specifically, this article argues that the monologic and dialogic writing tasks that occur on the electronic bulletin board have important implications for student participation, motivation, and inter-cultural awareness.
Time Spent on Reading and Reading Comprehension in Second Language Learning
Authors: Pichette François
Published: June 2010

This study examined the relationship between time spent on reading and reading comprehension in a second language (L2). Eighty-one French-speaking learners of English, from beginners to advanced, were tested for reading comprehension in French and in English as well as for English grammar and vocabulary competence. Low-proficiency learners showed low, non-significant correlations between time spent on reading English and English reading comprehension, while correlations for high-proficiency learners were moderate and significant. The results suggest that if L2 reading is used to enhancing L2 reading development, it may not serve that purpose effectively for beginning and intermediate learners, whose working memory is still taxed by word decoding processes.
Indexical Relations and Sound Motion Pictures in L2 Curricula: The Dynamic Role of the Teacher
Authors: Chen Liang , Oller John
Published: June 2010

Well-chosen sound motion pictures (SMPs) can be excellent language teaching tools for presenting facts and providing comprehensible input in the target language. They give access to content and authentic surface forms in the target language as well as to the associations between them. SMPs also allow repeated exposures, but they are rarely exploited fully. Here we argue that indexical relations of three kinds are critical to language acquisition and to the use of SMPs: (1) objective indexes emanating from material bodily objects to observers, (2) subjective indexes projected from observers onto bodily objects, and (3) symbolic indexes marking linguistic associations between the surface forms of the target language and their referents as well as relations between all of these. The teacher plays an essential role in helping the language learner to discover, establish, and develop the crucial indexical relations owing to the dynamic nature of these relations.
Cross-Cultural Awareness for Second/Foreign Language Learners
Authors: Knutson Elizabeth
Published: June 2010

This article proposes a reconsideration of curricular objectives with respect to the teaching of culture, in the interest of broadening the humanistic scope of the second/foreign language curriculum while at the same time alleviating the pressure of a typically over-extended instructional agenda. Recent research and theory support a relational approach to culture learning, emphasizing understanding of the target and home culture(s) as they relate to one another, with explicit reference to the learner's culturally subjective position. The article explores the notions of cultural identity and attitudes toward the other, arguing for increased emphasis on an understanding of self as cultural subject and openness of mind toward cultural difference. Topics and activities for a curricular module on cross-cultural awareness are suggested.
La richesse lexicale des productions orales: mesure fiable du niveau de compétence langagière
Authors: Ovtcharov Valentin , Cobb Tom , Halter Randall
Published: June 2010

Cette recherche propose de tester l'intuition commune que les apprenants du français L2 dont la compétence langagière est considérée plus approfondie utilisent un vocabulaire plus riche lors de leurs interactions orales. Elle teste aussi la capacité de la méthode Profil de fréquence lexicale (PFL) à fournir une mesure objective du vocabulaire utilisé. Deux groupes étaient composés d'anglophones adultes apprenants du français L2 (N = 48) et fonctionnaires du gouvernement fédéral canadien ayant obtenu un certain niveau de compétence en français comme exigence partielle de leur poste. Les groupes ont été répartis selon leur niveau d'interaction orale obtenu dans leur test. Ces interactions étaient enregistrées et dactylographiées, et la méthode PFL utilisée pour la conversion quantitative des données afin de mener des tests statistiques. Ces tests ont démontré des différences statistiquement significatives entre les productions des deux groupes et par ce même fait ont confirmé notre intuition de différence lexicale.
Comparing Phonological and Orthographic Vocabulary Size: Do Vocabulary Tests Underestimate the Knowledge of Some Learners?
Authors: Milton James , Hopkins Nicola
Published: June 2010

Abstract:

Any description of what it means to know a word in a foreign language is likely to include recognition of form, both how a word sounds when heard and what it looks like when written. However, tests of vocabulary knowledge focus almost exclusively on the written form of the word. We have little idea of learners' phonological vocabulary knowledge or how it might interact with orthographic knowledge. It is suspected that written vocabulary tests may underestimate the vocabulary knowledge of native Arabic speakers, who often handle English orthography poorly. This paper reports a comparison of the phonological and orthographic vocabulary sizes of Greek and Arabic native speakers. Results suggest that written tests do not underestimate Arabic speakers' vocabulary size. The two aspects of vocabulary knowledge develop differently with language level. Very proficient learners of EFL are characterized by an orthographic word recognition much greater than their phonological word recognition.
Breaking up is not so Hard to do: Individual Differences in L2 Memorization
Authors: Fitzpatrick Tess , Wray Alison
Published: June 2010

Abstract:

Six intermediate/advanced learners of English, studying in the United Kingdom, identified messages that they wanted to convey in specific future conversations and memorized native-like versions of them. Their ability to use them in practice and in the real conversation was analyzed. Propensity to attempt using memorized material correlated with aural-repetition aptitude, but neither propensity nor accuracy of reproduction correlated with proficiency. It is hypothesized that increased proficiency invites increased risk-taking during memorization. Individual differences in motivation and attitude, and the relationship with the interlocutor, are all discussed as salient variables.
From Faible to Strong: How Does Their Vocabulary Grow?
Authors: Horst Marlise , Collins Laura
Published: June 2010

Abstract:

The study drew on an 80,000-word corpus consisting of narrative texts produced in response to picture prompts by 210 beginner-level francophone learners of English (11-12-year-olds). The unique feature of the corpus is its longitudinal character: The samples were collected at four 100-hour intervals of intensive language instruction, during which time students made considerable progress in listening and speaking. However, analysis of these staged sub-corpora using Laufer and Nation's 1995 Lexical Frequency Profile did not identify the expected increase in use of less frequent words. Further analyses using three measures available at (a Greco-Latin cognate index, a count of word families, and a types-per-family ratio) showed that although the learners continued to use large proportions of frequent words, their productive vocabulary featured fewer French cognates, a greater variety of frequent words, and more morphologically developed forms. Implications for frequency-based vocabulary acquisition research and vocabulary teaching are discussed.