bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Contrast and Construction in a Parameter‐Setting Model of L2 Acquisition
Authors: Flynn Suzanne 
Published: October 2006

There is an emerging awareness in the field of L2 acquisition regarding the contributions made by both Contrastive Analysis (CA) and Creative Construction (CC) theories of L2 acquisition. CA theories indicate that the L1 experience is important in L2 acquisition, and CC theories indicate that principles of acquisition independent of this experience are also integral to L2 learning. Reconciliation of these two aspects within a principled, empirically‐based theory of L2 acquisition has been difficult (cf. Eckman 1977, 1984; Zobl 1980; Andersen 1983, 1984; Gundel and Tarone 1983; Liceras 1983; Rutherford 1983, 1984; White 1985).This paper argues that the parameter‐setting model of Universal Grammar (UG) (proposed by Flynn 1983a, b, 1987) for L2 acquisition provides the scaffolding necessary for an integration of these two components within one explanatory account. Consistent with CC, L2 learners within this model use principles of UG isolated in L1 acquisition in the construction of the L2 grammar; however, when values of parameters associated with these principles differ between the L1 and the L2, learners assign a new value to cohere with the values for the new target language. The L1 experience counts in determining whether such a new assignment of a parametric value is necessary. This aspect of the model is consistent with a traditional CA theory of L2 learning.Empirical support for this model is provided by a study that investigates the role of the head‐initial/head‐final parameter (Stowell 1981) in adult L2 acquisition of pronoun anaphora. Two groups of adults — L1 speakers of Spanish, a head‐initial language and L1 speakers of Japanese, a head‐final language — were studied in their elicited production of English, a head‐initial language. Results indicate that both groups of learners use the head‐initial/head‐final parameter as a source of structural organization for the L2. Results also indicate that Japanese speakers (L1 ≠ L2) are sensitive, from early stages of acquisition, to the mismatch in head‐direction in English and Japanese, and that they assign new values to this parameter to cohere with the target L2 value. These speakers are thus argued to have the head‐initial/head‐final parameter set in two different ways.Parameters of acquisition in the two cases correspond to those isolated for L1 acquisition of English; however, the point at which this similarity is observed depends upon the degree of correspondence between the two languages.
Testing Pronunciation: An Application of Generalizability Theory*
Authors: van Weeren J. , Theunissen T. J. J. M. 
Published: October 2006

Pronunciation is regarded as a valuable subskill in foreign language teaching and testing. Its quality is commonly assessed in a global way by having testees read aloud. A more systematic and explicit approach to evaluation is proposed. The reliability of this so‐called “atomistic” approach is compared with the reliability of a traditional “holistic” procedure.Generalizability theory was applied in order to comprise all relevant factors in one psychometric model. Decision studies were carried out to counter the effects of the number of raters and test length.
CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE MONOSYLLABLE STRUCTURE OF AMERICAN ENGLISH AND MANDARIN CHINESE
Authors: Tiee Henry Hung‐yeh 
Published: October 2006

The basic structure of any language is the individual syllable, that is, the concatenation of syllabic phonemes and nonsyllabic phonemes within minimal sequences of speech. The structure of monosyllables in the two languages can be described by the following formulas (N = nonsyllabic phoneme, S = syllabic phoneme);
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In English there are nineteen different permissible patterns in monosyllabic structures with many variations of nonsyllabic clusters in both initial and final position; the maximum number of nonsyllabics in these clusters is three in initial position, four in final. Mandarin, on the other hand, has only nine permissible combinations, with no consonant clusters. There are fourteen syllabic phonemes (11 simple vowels; 3 diphthongs) and twenty four nonsyllabics in English, whereas there are twenty syllabics (6 simple vowels, 9 diphthongs, and 5 triphthongs) and twenty two nonsyllabics in Mandarin. Each system has its significant features. The most important features to be considered in teaching either of the two languages are the contrasts between the tense‐lax contrast in English syllabics, noncontrast in Mandarin syllabics, voicing and aspiration in nonsyllabics, clustering in English nonsyllabics, allophones of English nonsyllabics, and allophones of Mandarin syllabics.
TEACHING COMPOSITION: A REPORT ON A BIDIALECTAL APPROACH1
Authors: Brader Mary Newton , Hayden Luddy 
Published: October 2006

Whichever theoretical position one holds regarding the problem of non‐standard dialects, it is clear that productive competence of standard formal composition style is a mandatory skill for anyone who wishes to obtain a university degree in this country. An outline is given of a rationale for choosing a bidialectal approach for teaching composition to users of non‐standard dialects including a description of the approach, the assumptions, and the class objectives.A description is then given of some of the methods, (e.g., contrastive analysis and the study of dialects and registers) and classroom techniques (e.g., lectures, discussions, exercises) which were used to achieve the objectives. The discussion includes an evaluation of the success of each technique, and concludes with an informal evaluation of the total experimental program.
AN EXPLANATION FOR THE MORPHEME ACQUISITION ORDER OF SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS
Authors: Larsen‐Freeman Diane E. 
Published: October 2006

Second language acquisition researchers (Dulay and Burt 1973, 1974a; Bailey, Madden and Krashen 1974) have claimed there exists an acquisition order of English morphemes to which ESL learners, despite their different ages and language backgrounds, adhere. Thus far, however, an explanation for the occurrence of such a morpheme order has eluded researchers.A study by this author was designed to yield data which would hopefully suggest a reason for the reported morpheme sequence. After analyzing the data in light of possible explanations, a significant correlation was found between the common morpheme difficulty order of the learners and the frequency of occurrence of these morphemes in adult native‐speaker speech.
SOCIOLINGUISTIC VARIATION AND STYLE SHIFTING IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 1
Authors: Beebe Leslie M. 
Published: October 2006

This paper presents empirical data (collected from nine Thai ESL learners) to support the claim that there is sociolinguistic variation and style shifting in interlanguage phonology, just as there is in the phonology of any natural language. The study addresses several theoretical questions:1. Is interlanguage more permeable to a superordinate rule system in formal than in informal situations?2. If it is more permeable, does the native language or the target language act as the superordinate rule system?3. Does phonological transfer follow the sociolinguistic rules of the native language?4. Does Monitoring operate on a continuum, increasing in formal contexts, and thereby producing a style shift?The findings are consistent with the point of view that interlanguage becomes permeable to a superordinate rule system in formal situations. In these data, the target language (English) acted as the superordinate rule system when the variable examined had no social meaning in the native language (Thai), but when the variable was in fact strongly marked for social value in Thai, the native language (Thai) was adopted as the superordinate rule system. The latter style shifting involved transfer of a socially appropriate variant. Finally, it was found that monitoring (attention to speech) and conscious Monitoring with a learned phonological rule operated on a sliding scale, increasing in formal contexts, and resulting in a style shift.
TEACHING STANDARD ENGLISH IN THE THIRD GRADE: CLASSROOM FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE1
Authors: Politzer Robert L. , Ramirez Arnulfo G. , Lewis Shirley A. 
Published: October 2006

This study is based on the examination of twenty lessons of about 20 minutes duration each. Ten of the lessons dealt with teaching standard English negation (lesson 1), ten of the lessons dealt with the teaching of standard English past tense formation (lesson 2). The pupils were third graders, predominantly speakers of Vernacular Black English (VBE). The purpose of the study was (I) to determine the distribution of the main classroom discourse functions (e.g., Informing, Eliciting, Evaluating, Replying) throughout the lessons and (2) to examine the incidence of use of VBE English grammar throughout the lessons. On the basis of pre ‐and post‐tests given to pupils, each group of ten lessons was also subdivided into five high‐achieving and five low‐achieving teaching performances. High and low achieving performances were compared on selected distribution of discourse function moves.Transcriptions of the lessons were segmented into T‐units (main‐clause + possible subordinate clause) which were in turn assigned to discourse function categories. As expected, Eliciting, Informing, Evaluating were by far the most frequent discourse categories used by teachers, while the category of Replying represented nearly the only discourse function (over 90%) utilized by pupils. VBE was used only occasionally by the teachers—either spontaneously or for the purpose of demonstrating a point of grammar (3.3% of moves in lesson 1, 0.35% of moves in lesson 2). Use of VBE by pupils—either spontaneously or indrills‐was also relatively scarce (7.3% in lesson I, I .2% in lesson 2).Only one of the comparisons of “high” and “low” achieving teacher performances indicates a significant difference between the two groups. In lesson I the high achieving teachers devoted higher proportions of their moves to Elicits than the low achieving ones. An examination of the lesson transcripts suggests that this fact may be explained by the “1ow” teachers’ tendency to devote much of their lessons to lnformsdealing with a clarification of the concept of negation. This clarification, however, may have been superfluous and was. at any rate, unrelated to the criterion test. I t is suggested that analysis of discourse functions may be a useful approach to the study of teaching efficiency if it is related to meaning and the concepts of a specific lesson.
THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE PLANNING IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
Authors: Tollefson James W. 
Published: October 2006

In recent years, several models of second language acquisition (SLA) have been proposed in an effort to describe the relationships among variables affecting rate and eventual attainment in SLA. A major weakness of these models is that they have not included planning variables. That is, they have not accounted for the impact of government planning on SLA processes. This article explores the impact of planning variables within one of the most comprehensive SLA models that proposed by Merrill Swain that includes four sets of variables: input, learner. Learning, and learned variables.The planning process is analyzed as a complex series of policy levels having varying kinds of impact on SLA. Four components of the planning process are distinguished: macro‐policy goals, macro‐implementation decisions, micro‐policy goals. and micro‐implementation decisions. The effects of these components on input, learner, learning, and learned variables are explored in order to demonstrate the ways in which SLA is often the result of deliberate policy implementation by national, regional, and local planning agencies.
THE USES OF THE ENGLISH PERFECT
Authors: Feigenbaum Irwin 
Published: October 2006

The English perfect, a “phase” or relative tense, indicates that the situation described in a clause is relevant to the situation described in a chronologically later clause or time Grammarians of modern English have been faced with the problem of reconciling this meaning of the perfect with its disparate uses—to describe situations that have ended, that have not ended, or that arc indeterminate as to ending before the later clauses or times.This paper shows that the three uses arise from the co‐occurrence of perfect with information outside the clause and with noun, verb, adverbial, and negation structures within the clause In addition, the paper presents evidence—from elicitation testing that these structures affect the uses and that speakers of English make and respond to these uses
INTROVERSION‐EXTRAVERSION AND THE EFL PROFICIENCY OF JAPANESE STUDENTS
Authors: Busch Deborah 
Published: October 2006

This study explores the relationship between the introversion‐extraversion tendencies of Japanese students and their proficiency in English as a foreign language (EFL). It was hypothesized that in an EFL situation, extraverted students would attain a higher proficiency in English because they may take advantage of the few available opportunities to receive input in English and practice the language with native speakers. In order to test the hypothesis that extraverts are more proficient in English, 80 junior college English students and 105 adult school English students took a standardized English test, completed a personality questionnaire, and provided information on a biodata form. In addition, 45 of the junior college students participated in English oral interviews which were then rated for proficiency by two evaluators.The hypothesis that extraverts are more proficient in English was not supported. In fact, statistical analysis revealed that extraversion had a significant negative correlation with pronunciation, a subcomponent of the oral interview test. In addition, introverts tended to have higher scores on the reading and grammar components of the standardized English test.Even though introverts tended to score better on most of the English proficiency measures, it was found that junior college males who had tendencies towards extraversion had higher oral interview scores. Extraversion also correlated positively with length of time spent studying English at the adult school. These findings are discussed with respect to cultural factors predominant in Japanese society and psychological theory.
LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY AND SEX/GENDER STUDIES: EPISTEMOLOGICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Authors: Clarke Mark A. , Losoff Ann , McCracken Margaret Dickenson , Rood David S. 
Published: October 2006

Two studies have investigated one purported manifestation of the Sapir‐Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity—the relationship between gender loading in languages (a linguistic construct) and the perception of gender (a psychological construct) by speakers of those languages. The results of the study conducted by the University of Michigan Language Behavior Research Group indicated that adult speakers of English and Hebrew categorized objects/concepts in essentially the same fashion regardless of native language. The results of our study (a replication of the Michigan studies) indicate that Arabic speaking adults categorize essentially asexual objects/concepts in a markedly different way from English speaking adults, suggesting that gender loading in Arabic influences Arabic speakers' perceptions of those objects/concepts. These findings appear to contradict conclusions reached by the Michigan group.In this paper we review the studies briefly, and we question their value in illuminating the issue of linguistic relativity. We then examine a number of theoretical and methodological issues in linguistic relativity research. Given that the work of Benjamin Lee Whorf serves as the foundation for most of the recent studies, we suggest that researchers need to develop a theoretical framework which accurately mirrors the complexity and subtlety of his views on the relationship between language and consciousness. We argue that such a framework is available in the sociological/philosophical tradition of phenomenology. Phenomenologists ascribe an important (though not a causal) role to language in determining an individual's view of reality. Finally, we raise a number of methodological issues that result from this perspective, and we suggest avenues for further research.
The Influence of Religion‐Specific Background Knowledge on the Listening Comprehension of Adult Second‐Language Students
Authors: Markham Paul , Latham Michael 
Published: October 2006

This article describes a study assessing the influence of religious‐specific background knowledge on adult ESL listening comprehension. Sixty‐five university‐level students participated in the study. Twenty‐eight students self‐reported being religion‐neutral with virtually no knowledge of Moslem or Christian religious rites. Sixteen of the students declared themselves to be practicing Moslems, and twenty students reported being practicing Christians. The students listened to one passage describing the prayer rituals of Islam and a second passage describing the prayer rituals of Christianity.The results clearly suggest that passage content exerts a powerful influence on the listening comprehension scores of students professing close ties to a particular religion. Particularly strong differences were observed regarding the recall of major idea units. Less striking, yet obviously supportive differences were in evidence with respect to the creation of schema‐appropriate elaborations and inappropriate distortions. The religion‐neutral students performed somewhat erratically in that they recalled more major idea units pertaining to the Moslem passage, but also provided more appropriate elaborations regarding the Christian passage. In addition, retrospective interviews that yielded insightful information that generally supported the quantitative findings were conducted.
The Cloze Test: Or Why Small Isn't Always Beautiful*
Authors: Sciarone A. G. , Schoorl J. J. 
Published: October 2006

This article presents the findings of an experiment aimed at determining the number of blanks minimally required to ensure parallelism for cloze tests differing only in the point at which deletion starts.Two 200‐item cloze tests were constructed, both based on the same Dutch text and differing only in that, in the their second halves, deletion in one version lagged one word behind those in the other. The two versions were administered to two groups of 38 and 36 Indonesian learners of Dutch. Analysis of their scores on various subsets of 100, 75, and 50 items revealed that the required minimum depends upon the scoringmethod used. With the exact‐word method, tests should contain a minimum of about 100 blanks; with the acceptable‐word method, a minimum of about 75 blanks will suffice. With tests containing only 50 blanks–the number generally held to be sufficient–parallelism was found to be a matter of pure chance.In an additional experiment, the tests involved were shown to satisfy a major requirement for th e validity of any L2 proficiency tests: administration to two groups of 20 and 19 native speakers of Dutch resulted in high scores, with mean acceptable responses of 190 or more for a total of 200 items.
Motivational Factors and Persistence in Foreign Language Study*
Authors: Ramage Katherine 
Published: October 2006

The predictive ability of motivational and attitudinal factors in continuation of foreign language study beyond the second level among high‐school students was investigated among students in two different geographical areas in the U.S. Three classes of French and three classes of Spanish Level 2 high‐school students participated in the study. The data were collected through a survey questionnaire. Discriminant function analyses were used to address the research questions.The results of the study indicate that motivational and attitudinal factors in addition to grade level and course grade successfully discriminate between continuing and discontinuing students. Interest in culture and in learning the language thoroughly—including reading, writing, and speaking it—distinguished continuing students from discontinuing students. On the other hand, interest in fulfilling a college entrance requirement primarily characterized the discontinuing students.Grade level when taking the second level of a foreign language and grade in the foreign language course were also found to be discriminating variables.Based upon these findings, profiles of continuing and discontinuing students were constructed and recommendations are made for interventions that may promote the type of intrinsic interest in language learning indicated by continuing students.
Evidence for Multicompetence
Authors: Cook Vivian J. 
Published: October 2006

The term multicompetence describes “the compound state of a mind with two grammars” (Cook, 1991a, p. 112). This paper reviews evidence addressing two questions:1. Do people who know two languages differ from people who know only one in other respects than simply knowledge of an L2? L2 users differ from monolinguals in L1 knowledge; advanced L2 users differ from monolinguals in L2 knowledge; L2 usershave a different metalinguistic awareness from monolinguals; L2 users have different cognitive processes. These subtle differences consistently suggest that people with multicompetence are not simply equivalent to two monolinguals but are a unique combination.2. Do people who know two languages have a merged language system rather than two separate systems? The L1 and L2 share the same mentallexicon; L2 users codeswitch readily; L2 processing cannot be cut off from LI; both languages are stored in the same areas of the brain; L2 proficiency relates to L1 proficiency. This evidence suggests merged systems at some level in some areas, even if some of it is open to other interpretations.A final section discusses more general issues. Much SLA research is biased by adopting the monolingual as a norm rather than the multicompetent speaker. Multicompetence distinguishes diachronic transfer during the learner's acquisition from synchronic transfer between the two languages at a single moment of time. Multicompetence starts when there is systematic knowledge of an L2 that is not assimilated to the L1. Holistic multicompetence is seen as an offshoot of polylectal grammar theory applied to monolinguals. Language teaching should try to produce multicompetent individuals not ersatz native speakers.
The Evaluation of Accent in the English of Dutchmen
Authors: Koster Cor J. , Koet Ton 
Published: October 2006

English native speakers and Dutch teachers of English were asked to judge the English pronunciation of two Dutchmen. Although there was a fairly large consensus between the English and Dutch judges, the former were more tolerant. The English native speakers found more fault with consonants, whereas the Dutch judges objected more to incorrectly realized vowels.In a second experiment, native speakers of English as well as experienced and inexperienced Dutch speakers of English (teachers and students, respectively) were asked to indicate on five 7‐point scales whether they found the English of Dutch people ugly or beautiful, monotonous or melodious, etc. There was considerable agreement in the global assessment of pronunciation. British listeners, again, showed themselves more tolerant in finding the pronunciation of Dutch speakers more pleasant and less ugly than did Dutch teachers of English, a finding ascribed to the Dutch teachers' undue fastidiousness.