Search results for "First language"

Fluent Speakers of a Second Language Process Graspable Nouns Expressed in L2 Like in Their Native Language

2017

According to embodied cognition, language processing relies on the same neural structures involved when individuals experience the content of language material. If so, processing nouns expressing a motor content presented in a second language should modulate the motor system as if presented in the mother tongue. We tested this hypothesis using a go-no go paradigm. Stimuli included English nouns and pictures depicting either graspable or non-graspable objects. Pseudo-words and scrambled images served as controls. Italian participants, fluent speakers of English as a second language, had to respond when the stimulus was sensitive and refrain from responding when it was not. As foreseen by emb…

Motorista kehitystä tukevaan kerhoon osallistuneiden oppilaiden oppimistuloksia ja opiskelustrategioita matematiikassa ja äidinkielessä

2015

Guessing Meaning From Word Sounds of Unfamiliar Languages: A Cross-Cultural Sound Symbolism Study

2019

Sound symbolism refers to a non-arbitrary relationship between the sound of a word and its meaning. With the aim to better investigate this relationship by using natural languages, in the present cross-linguistic study 215 Italian and Polish participants were asked to listen to words pronounced in 4 unknown non-indo-European languages (Finnish, Japanese, Swahili, Tamil) and to try to guess the correct meaning of each word, by choosing among 3 alternatives visualized on a computer screen. The alternatives were presented in the mother tongue of participants. Three different word categories were presented: nouns, verbs and adjectives. A first overall analysis confirmed a semantic role of sound…

Differences between students' PISA reading literacy scores and grading for mother tongue and literature at school : A geostatistical analysis of the …

2016

In Finland, the national Core Curriculum for Basic Education defines the learning objectives along with the numerical grade to be given for good competence in each school subject in the final phase of basic education. While serving as a guideline for schools and teachers, it should also ensure an objective evaluation of all students in Finland. In this paper, we take a closer look at the equality of student assessment in Finland in the light of student performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009. This study investigates the relationship between the grades given to students in mother tongue and literature at different schools and the same students’ reading l…

Język polski - ojczysty nieobcy czy obcy? Wyzwania edukacji językowej w czasach ponowoczesnych

2016

W artykule podjęty został temat rangi szkolnego nauczania języka polskiego jako ojczystego na tle uczenia języków obcych. Stwierdzono, że nie tylko w polityce językowo-edukacyjnej państwa polskiego, ale także w przekonaniach społecznych i działaniach uczelni wyższych widoczne jest preferowanie języków obcych i niedoszacowanie potrzeb rozwijania kompetencji językowej i komunikacyjnej w zakresie języka polskiego. Niewielka też jest społeczna świadomość znaczenia dobrego władania językiem ojczystym. O konieczności doszacowania wagi rozwijania i doskonalenia sprawności językowo-komunikacyjnych w języku ojczystym świadczą zmiany kulturowe dokonujące się we współczesnym świecie, które obniżają po…

The Use of Multimodal Resources by Technical Managers and Their Peers in Meetings Using English as the Business Lingua Franca

2020

Background: Engineers increasingly work and advance their careers in international business settings. As technical managers, they need management and technical skills when working with different stakeholders with whom they may not share a common first language. Studies have revealed that informal oral communication skills are of prime importance for global engineers who face challenges in building shared meaning and formulating clear messages in meetings with non-native speakers of English. This article proposes that studying the use of multimodal resources (spoken language, gaze, gestures, and objects) in meetings can unpack how work tasks are accomplished in business through different com…

Second Language Prosody and its Development : Connection between Different Aspects

2018

This study focuses on the development of L2 prosody and, in particular, whether different aspects can affect each other. Finnish-speaking learners of Swedish took part in a pronunciation and oral skills course and were recorded for various speaking tasks before and after the experimental intervention. Read-aloud declarative sentences (statements) from nine learners were acoustically analysed for several tonal and temporal aspects, focusing on the marking of primary stress. The results reveal that the learning of Swedish tonal word accent 2 (H*LH) facilitates other tonal developments towards native-like utterance intonation. A link between tonal and temporal developments in the marking of pr…

Investigating Syntactic Complexity in EFL Learners' Writing across Common European Framework of Reference Levels A1, A2, and B1

2019

Abstract The study investigates the linguistic basis of Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) levels in English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ writing. Specifically, it examines whether CEFR levels can be distinguished with reference to syntactic complexity (SC) and whether the results differ between two groups of EFL learners with different first languages (Sindhi and Finnish). This sheds light on the linguistic comparability of the CEFR levels across L1 groups. Informants were teenagers from Pakistan (N = 868) and Finland (N = 287) who wrote the same argumentative essay that was rated on a CEFR-based scale. The essays were analysed for 28 SC indices with the L2 Syntactic Co…

Current L2 self-concept of Finnish comprehensive school students : The role of grades, parents, peers, and society

2021

L2 (second/foreign language) motivation research in Finland has been scarce. Furthermore, international motivational research has focused more on ideal and ought-to selves, leaving the current L2 self-concept in the background. In the present study, we attempted to address this gap, exploring what shapes L1 (mother tongue) Finnish students' understanding of themselves as users and learners of L2s. Using structural equation modelling, we studied the relationships between students' (n = 1206) current L2 self-concept and parental encouragement, peer pressure, societal expectations, and grades. We further studied which of these factors are the best predictors of students' current L2 self-concep…

The Development of Russian Heritage Pupils' Writing Proficiency in Finnish and Russian

2018

James Cummins has stated that “a cognitively and academically beneficial form of bilingualism can be achieved only on the basis of adequately developed first language (L1) skills” (1979, p. 222). In this chapter we focus on bilingual writing development and its connections to learners’ cognitive and linguistic skills in L1 and L2 and background factors. Our participants come from Russian-speaking immigrant families living in Finland. All participants go to Finnish schools and are either integrated into mainstream classes or have started a preparatory class specially designed for recently arrived immigrant children. The basic aim of this chapter is two-fold and thus, the study is introduced …