Search results for "Language acquisition"
showing 10 items of 219 documents
Why have I failed? Why have I passed? A comparison of students’ causal attributions in second language acquisition (A1–B2 levels)
2019
Background Previous literature highlights the importance of causal attributions in achievement and motivation. However, the studies about causal attributions in second language acquisition (SLA) are limited and scarce. Aims This study was designed to determine the frequency of successful and unsuccessful activities per English level and to compare the causal attributions (explanations of outcomes) on successful and failure authentic tasks undertaken in the context of learning English as a foreign language (EFL) acquisition in an Official School of Languages (OSL). Sample To this aim, 407 native Spanish students from levels A1 (n = 111), A2 (n = 113), B1 (n = 98), and B2 (n = 85) in OSL part…
Cortical neuroplasticity in children after early cochlear implantation
2009
Hearing is crucial to learn and use language. Loss of hearing in children affects the development of speech, language and cognitive abilities, and severely impairs social capabilities. Thus, efforts to restore auditory perception are determinative and research should be focused on factors likely to bring about the best prognosis. Numerous experimental observations demonstrate that there is a sensitive or critical period for cochlear implantation. Implantations performed in prelingually deaf children in this period are associated with better results in terms of speech recognition and language acquisition. This is the time period in which brain plasticity shows its highest level of developmen…
Building blocks of fetal cognition: emotion and language
2010
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) can be effectively used to record fetal and neonatal cognitive abilities/functions by recording completely non-invasively the magnetic fields produced by the active neurons in the brain. During the last trimester and the first months of life, the cognitive capabilities related to emotion recognition and language acquisition develop rapidly. Latest research shows that already the newborn has advanced abilities related to processing emotional information and speech sounds. These abilities form the basis of the child's development towards mastering social tasks and native language. The possibilities of using fetal or neonatal MEG in studying these important abiliti…
Divu valodu salīdzinošā analīze bilingvāli runājošiem: franču un nūfu valodā
2022
Šis darbs sniedz atbildi uz problēmjautājumiem, kas rodas bilingvālajās kopienās visā pasaulē, lai parādītu valodu prakses ietekmi uz runātāja ikdienas dzīvi. Daudzvalodu valstīs, piemēram, Kamerūnā, kur valodu skaits sasniedz 250, bilingvāli runājošie, šajā gadījumā franču-nu'fī valodā runājošie, izjūt savas valodas lietošanas pozitīvu vai negatīvu ietekmi. Minētajā kontekstā bilingvālo prasmju lietošana nepaliek bez ietekmes uz runātāju. Viņi var izjust pozitīvu vai negatīvu kognitīvo ietekmi atkarībā no apgūtajām prasmēm. Ja kompetences līmenis ir ļoti zems, kognitīvai ietekmei ir apvērsuma efekts, ja kompetences līmenis abās valodās ir pietiekošs vai līdzvērtīgs, runātājs izjūt pozitīvu…
Similarities between Playing World of Warcraft and CLIL
2012
This article argues that playing World of Warcraft (WoW) and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) have a number of similar features. We base our argument on findings from three studies. The first (Sylvén 2004/2010) is about CLIL and non-CLIL students at upper secondary level and aims to investigate what effect, if any, CLIL has on the incidental acquisition of vocabulary. The second (Sundqvist 2009) is about extramural English and aims to examine its potential impact on learners’ oral proficiency and vocabulary. Extramural English is broadly defined as any type of contact that learners have with English outside the classroom. The third is a joint study focusing on young learners …
Continuity of Communication and Language Development (M����tt�� et al., 2016)
2022
Purpose: This longitudinal study examined the development of prelinguistic skills and the continuity of communication and language from the prelinguistic stage to school age. Method: Prelinguistic communication of 427 Finnish children was followed repeatedly from 6 to 18 months of age (n = 203���322 at ages 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 months), and its associations with language ability at ages 2;0 (n = 104), 3;0 (n = 112), 4;7 (n = 253), 5;3 (n = 102), and 7;9 (n = 236) were examined using latent growth curve modeling. Results: Prelinguistic development across several skills emerged as a rather stable intraindividual characteristic during the first 2 years of life. Continuity from prelinguistic de…
Norwegian children's acquisition of the dialect feature r
2019
The pronunciation of r is a central dialect feature of Norwegian. The main division is between a front and a back pronunciation. The back realization is acquired relatively early (around age 4), while the front realization is one of the most problematic sounds to acquire, and substitution sounds are frequent. Using two data collection points, we show how four children learning Norwegian start by substituting r use of the r of their dialect area or idiolectal surroundings. The main argument of this article is that the r-development of kindergarten children is not only governed by rules on acquisition and development lines, but also by the sociolinguistic variation and use of r in the Norwegi…
Implicit learning and statistical learning: one phenomenon, two approaches.
2006
The domain-general learning mechanisms elicited in incidental learning situations are of potential interest in many research fields, including language acquisition, object knowledge formation and motor learning. They have been the focus of studies on implicit learning for nearly 40 years. Stemming from a different research tradition, studies on statistical learning carried out in the past 10 years after the seminal studies by Saffran and collaborators, appear to be closely related, and the similarity between the two approaches is strengthened further by their recent evolution. However, implicit learning and statistical learning research favor different interpretations, focusing on the forma…
A Collective Binomial Learning Methodology
2013
In second-language learning, learners frequently have a poor environment for speaking and hearing the target language. Learning efficiency is thus limited. We propose a methodology involving the creation of temporary social structures. Collective interactions fed back among individuals and environment are constructed on a computer and practiced in a real world. A dynamic learning system which coherently ties together the practitioner’s design, the learner’s performance and the researcher’s theories is possible. Our results call for language learning structures to include adaptive spoken structures, in contrast with existing educational systems.
Blending Literature and Foreign Language Learning: Current Approaches
2013
The aim of this chapter is to discuss the place of literature in foreign language learning and teaching contexts, and to show reasons of using literary texts for the development of communicative competence, intercultural communicative competence, and for individual as well as social human growth. Although literature and language teaching had been following separate paths, currently a strong tendency emerges of integrating language and literature teaching across proficiency levels. This tendency results from the recognition of the roles that literacy, multiliteracies and multimodality play in the life of humans in the 21st century. Respected bodies such as the Council of Europe or Modern Lan…