Search results for "L2 learners"

Yleisten kielitutkintojen arvioijien käsityksiä thainkieliseksi tunnistettujen suomenoppijoiden suullisesta kielitaidosta

2020

Artikkelissa tarkastellaan sitä, miten thainkielisten suomenoppijoiden (N=10) ensikielen tunnistaminen vaikuttaa Yleisten kielitutkintojen (YKI) suomen arvioijien (N=44) käsityksiin kielitaidosta ja millaisia käsityksiä arvioijilla on thainkielisten suullisesta kielitaidosta. Artikkelin aineisto liittyy Rikkinäistä suomea-hankkeeseen, jossa thainkieliset oli yksi tutkimukseen osallistuneesta ensikielen ryhmittymästä. Artikkelissa määrällisen aineiston avulla tarkastellaan tunnistamista ja arvioinnissa käytettyjen kuuden analyyttisen arviointikriteerin käyttöä. Laadullinen aineisto koostuu arvioijien kirjoittamista ensikielen tunnistamiseen ja oppijoiden kielitaitoon liittyvistä huomioista, …

Pronunciation Learning Strategy Chains: A Qualitative Approach

2014

Language learning is a daunting process frequently enhanced by a number of factors, for example, language learning strategies deployed in an orchestrated manner (Oxford 1990). Similarly, pronunciation learning may be supported by effective strategies used either separately or in logically combined chains. However, little attention has been given so far to the strategies L2 learners employ when learning the target language pronunciation, not to mention pronunciation learning strategy chains. Hence, there have been a limited number of empirical investigations into pronunciation learning strategies (PLS) in general and in particular the ones following the qualitative design (cf. Bukowski 2004;…

Lexically specific vs. productive constructions in L2 Finnish

2020

ABSTRACTIt is assumed from a usage-based perspective that learner language constructions emerge from natural language use in social interaction through exemplar learning. In L1, young learners have been shown to develop their constructions from lexically specific, formulaic expressions into more productive, abstract schemas. A similar developmental path has been shown for L2 development, with some exceptions. The aim of the current study is to explore to what extent the default assumption holds for L2 learning. The development of two constructions was traced in four adults learning L2 Finnish. Free-response data, collected weekly over a period of 9 months, were used to investigate the produ…

Dynamic Usage-based Principles in the Development of L2 Finnish Evaluative Constructions

2021

Abstract This study investigates the formal verbalizations of evaluation used by four beginning L2 learners of Finnish from a dynamic usage-based perspective. Longitudinal data collected weekly were used to investigate what kind of constructions learners use to express evaluation and how these interact and develop over time. The results show that when a new construction is acquired in the L2, another related construction might regress. The results also point to increased variability in the construction during a phase of rapid development and reduced variability in the phases of regression or slower progress. These findings add to our understanding of a developing L2 as a system in which cha…

"Writing to Learn or Learning to Write". A Critical Review of "English as a Foreign Language" (EFL) Teaching Practices in Writing in Saudi Universiti…

2020

Developing proficiency in English writing has always been a challenge for L2 learners in general and Saudi learners in particular. Despite the widespread presence of English departments as a result of the sharp rise of Saudi universities in the previous decade, the numbers of outcomes or achievements in terms of skills are very discouraging. This paper aims to study this issue closely by investigating the most crucial elements that are likely to explain this weakness by reviewing the related empirical and theoretical studies in the Saudi context. This paper also aims to present to researchers a quick reference as to how English writing skills have evolved in Saudi Arabia in the recent past,…

Digging up the frequency of phrasal verbs in English for the Police: the case of up

2016

The present study focuses on the frequency of phrasal verbs with the particle up in the context of crime and police investigative work. This research emerges from the need to enlarge McCarthy and O’Dell’s (2004) scope from purely criminal behavior to police investigative actions. To do so, we relied on a corpus of 504,124 running words made up of spoken dialogues extracted from the script of the American TV series Castle shown on ABC since 2009. Based on Rudzka-Ostyn’s (2003) cognitive motivations for the particle up, we have identified five different meaning extensions for our phrasal verbs. Drawing from these findings, we have designed pedagogical activities for those L2 learners that stu…

The Effects of Multiple‐Exposure Textual Enhancement on Child L2 Learners’ Development in Derivational Morphology: A Multi‐Site Study

2021

Tracking down phrasal verbs: the case of up and down

2016

Since the frequency of phrasal verbs is register-specific, it is essential for L2 learners to be exposed to the most productive phrasal verbs in their field of study. Thus, English for Police learners should become familiar and practise the most recurrent phrasal verbs in the context of crime and police investigative work. In this study we determine the frequency and meaning extensions of phrasal verbs with the particles up and down in a spoken corpus of English for the Police on the basis of which we also generate teaching materials for L2 trainee police officers. This research extends McCarthy and O’Dell’s (2004) scope of analysis by encompassing not only phrasal verbs related to criminal…

Examining L2 Learners' Use of Engagement Strategies in Telecollaborative Written Interactions

2018

Based on an intercultural telecollaboration project between two universities from either side of the Atlantic Ocean, this chapter analyzes written discourse produced by advanced learners of Spanish as a foreign language and higher intermediate learners of English as a foreign language in order to explore how second-language learners negotiate their ideological positions, create new knowledge, and build their arguments when discussing their first culture (C1) and second culture (C2) in telecollaborative written asynchronous interactions. Two research questions are addressed: a) the extent to which learners engage in a dialogic activity in online forums when discussing their C1 and C2, and b)…

Mobilizing ‘context’: Vocabulary checks in ESL tutoring sessions

2022

This study investigates the practice of unplanned and emergent vocabulary checks, i.e. turns through which a speaker explicitly checks whether the recipient knows a word, in small-group tutorial instruction. The data are video-recorded English as a second language (ESL) tutoring sessions between a native English speaker tutor and ESL students at an urban community college in the United States. By drawing on conversation analysis, we analyze how vocabulary checks emerge sequentially and with the help of contextual interactional resources. Findings suggest that vocabulary checks constitute a practice for managing both shared understanding and pedagogical concerns. By singling out a vocabulary…