Search results for "Language acquisition"

From a bodily-based format of knowledge to symbols. The evolution of human language

2013

Although ontogeny cannot recapitulate phylogeny, a two-level model of the acquisition of language will be here proposed and its implication for the evolution of the faculty of language will be discussed. It is here proposed that the identification of the cognitive requirements of language during ontogeny could help us in the task of identifying the phylogenetic achievements that concurred, at some point, to the acquisition of language during phylogeny. In this model speaking will be considered as a complex ability that arises in two different steps. The first step of competence widely relies on a bodily-based format of knowledge. The second step relies on more abstract meta-representations …

A Sociocultural Approach to Young Language Learners' Belief about Language Learning

2003

Can research into the diagnostic testing of reading in a second or foreign language contribute to SLA research?

2011

Language testing researchers have recently shown interest in diagnostic testing. However, diagnostic testing requires a better understanding of language abilities at a less general level than has been normal in language testing, and this has posed challenges to testers to define their diagnostic constructs both theoretically and operationally. In theory, second language acquisition (SLA) should be able to offer insights into the construct of reading in a second or foreign language (S/FL), and testing ought to be able to base diagnostic tests of S/FL reading on theoretical insights from SLA. It is, however, unclear whether this happens in practice. In this paper we examine the potential syne…

LATGALIAN COMPONENT IN THE LEARNING OF LATVIAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: FROM PRESCHOOL TO SECONDARY SCHOOL (1990–2015)

2017

The conditions of language development and preservation are the quality of its acquisition in the early childhood, in-depth usage and study in the educational process and formation of positive and responsible attitude towards language and national literary heritage. The quality of the development of child’s Latvian language is determined by several environmental factors: the language environment in the family, the language environment in preschool, basic and secondary educational institutions and the language environment in public space. In Latgale most children learn Latvian in heterogeneous sociolinguistic environment. Child’s acquisition of the Latvian language in the family occurs in on…

LAS PERIFERIAS SINTÁCTICAS EN EL HABLA COLOQUIAL DE ESPAÑOL L1 Y L2 Y DE SUECO L1: UN ESTUDIO TIPOLÓGICO Y ADQUISICIONAL

2019

Las dos últimas décadas han visto crecer el interés en las denominadas periferias sintácticas, la de izquierda así como la de derecha. Deriva la presente contribución de un proyecto que se va realizando en Estocolmo y cuyo objetivo es comparar la actuación de suecos muy proficientes en español y francés L2 con la de hablantes nativos de una y otra lengua. En esta comunicación se enfocarán los usos del español L1 y L2 así como del sueco L1. Por un lado, se aplica una perspectiva tipológica al examinar en qué aspectos difieren las pautas del español L1 de las del sueco L1. Por el otro lado, se toma en cuenta la perspectiva adquisicional al formular la pregunta de hasta qué punto llega a parec…

The effect of bidialectal literacy on school achievement

2015

The Norwegian language has two written standards, Bokmal (majority variety) and Nynorsk (minority variety), and children receive their schooling in one or other of them. Pupils schooled in Nynorsk acquire the Bokmal variety simultaneously through extracurricular exposure and thus develop what may be termed bidialectal literacy. In this study, we correlate, at municipal level, the results from Norwegian standardized national tests in reading, arithmetic, and English from four cohorts of eighth graders (2009–2012), with available statistics on language of instruction and socio-economic status. The finding is that municipalities with Nynorsk pupils have better than average results in national …

EVALUATIVE LANGUAGE IN SPOKEN AND SIGNED STORIES TOLD BY A DEAF CHILD WITH A COCHLEAR IMPLANT: WORDS, SIGNS OR PARALINGUISTIC EXPRESSIONS?

2011

In this paper the use and quality of the evaluative language produced by a bilingual child in a story-telling situation is analysed. The subject, an 11-year-old Finnish boy, Jimmy, is bilingual in Finnish sign language (FinSL) and spoken Finnish. He was born deaf but got a cochlear implant at the age of five. The data consist of a spoken and a signed version of “The Frog Story”. The analysis shows that evaluative devices and expressions differ in the spoken and signed stories told by the child. In his Finnish story he uses mostly lexical devices – comments on a character and the character’s actions as well as quoted speech occasionally combined with prosodic features. In his FinSL story he…

CSCL – a tool to motivate foreign language learners: The Finnish application

2003

This article discusses the applications of the theory of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) to teaching and learning a foreign language, in this case, one of the ‘Less Commonly Taught Languages’, Finnish. The ‘Virtually Finnish’ project was based on the idea of creating a larger, virtual Finnish learning community among the second-year Finnish language students in five US universities during the fall semester, 2001. CSCL was chosen as a base, as its principal goal is to aid the learners in sharing and distributing their knowledge to the whole learning community. In addition to discussing the set up and the content of the project, the students’ feedback about their language lea…

CLIL classroom discourse

2013

Under the label of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) the teaching of curriculum subjects through the medium of a foreign language has become a widely accepted feature in mainstream education systems in Europe and other parts of the world. After contextualizing its subject matter in CLIL research as a whole, this article focuses on research into classroom discourse. In order to unravel the complexities involved, three different takes on CLIL classroom discourse are discussed as an evidence-base for (a) language learning, (b) language use and social-interactional aspects of L2-interaction, and (c) processes of knowledge construction in and through a second or foreign language. T…

Yhteistyön mahdollisuudet – lukiokoulutukseen valmistava koulutus kielellistyvässä maailmassa

2018

Tassa tutkimuksessa selvitetaan sita, millaisia kasityksia rehtoreilla, opettajilla ja opiskelijoilla on vuorovaikutuksen mahdollistavasta toiminnasta eli yhteistyosta Lukiokoulutukseen valmistavan koulutuksen (LUVA) ja muun lukiotoiminnan valilla. Edellisen lisaksi tarkastellaan sita, ilmeneeko LUVA-koulutuksessa aineiston perusteella kielenoppimista tukevaa eri kielten limittaista kayttoa (engl.  translanguaging ).  Tutkimuksen teoreettinen tausta pohjautuu kielenoppimisen kayttopohjaiseen ajatteluun eli siihen, etta oppimisessa tarkeimpana nahdaan kielenkaytto ja vuorovaikutus. Taman artikkelin keskeinen teoreettinen kasite on  translanguaging , joka nahdaan vastakohtana yksikielisyyden …