Search results for "proficiency"
showing 9 items of 79 documents
Second language comprehensibility and accentedness across oral proficiency levels : A comparison of two L1s
2021
Second language comprehensibility and accentedness are highly complex phenomena, and numerous studies have been conducted to better understand these constructs. However, research has seldom addressed L2 comprehensibility and accentedness in relation to speakers' proficiency in the target language. This study explores L2 English comprehensibility and accentedness across three proficiency levels. The speakers were 60 teenaged Finns, half of them speaking Finnish as their L1 and half speaking Finland-Swedish as their L1. Using 20-s speech samples, the comprehensibility and accentedness of the speakers were rated by 34 English-speaking teenagers on a 9-point scale. Comparisons were made regardi…
The role of motor system in action-related language comprehension in L1 and L2: An fMRI study
2018
The framework of embodied cognition has challenged the modular view of a language-cognition divide by suggesting that meaning-retrieval critically involves the sensory-motor system. Despite extensive research into the neural mechanisms underlying language-motor coupling, it remains unclear how the motor system might be differentially engaged by different levels of linguistic abstraction and language proficiency. To address this issue, we used fMRI to quantify neural activations in brain regions underlying motor and language processing in Chinese-English speakers’ processing of literal, metaphorical, and abstract language in their L1 and L2. Results overall revealed a response in motor ROIs …
Words, clauses, sentences, and T-units in learner language: Precise and objective units of measure?
2020
In research on learner language complexity, accuracy and fluency (CAF), syntactic complexity is often studied with quantitative measures based on words, clauses, sentences, and T-units. The findings have been mixed, but segmenting learner language into these units of measure has seldom been problematised, even if the need for accurate coding is well known. The present study explores words, clauses, sentences, and T-units as production units in written learner language using a corpus of 352 L2 Finnish texts (28,813 words). The results illustrate how written learner language can be hard to fit into the production unit categories, which are essential for the most frequently used quantitative m…
Towards the phonetic basis of spoken second language assessment : temporal features as indicators of perceived proficiency level
2017
The role of pause location in perceived fluency and proficiency in L2 Finnish
2022
Fluency is a commonly used descriptor of second language (L2) speaking skills. Unplanned and too frequent pauses, hesitations, and repetitions disrupt the flow of speech and can cause temporal irregularities at all levels of speech hierarchy, from syllable rate to phrasing. However, most studies that attempt to quantify fluency disregard pause locations. The current study investigates, whether and which pause locations affect the perceived fluency and proficiency in L2 Finnish. Several pause parameters were computed from spontaneous L2 Finnish speech samples. Pause locations were investigated with regards to clauses and phrases as well as incomplete words. The effect of pause locations to h…
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 …
Helppoa vai vaikeaa arvioida? : Yleisten kielitutkintojen suomen kielen arvioijien käsityksiä vironkielisten arvioinnista
2016
Finnish raters’ beliefs about assessing Estonian speakers in a Finnish language test: easy or difficult? This paper aims to contribute to our understanding on rater beliefs and views and to promote transparency in rater’s work in the form of reflection. The paper focuses on professional Finnish raters’ beliefs and views of assessing L1 Estonian speakers in the criteria-referenced Finnish language test of the National Certifi- cates of Language Proficiency test system. Finnish raters (N = 27) were asked via email to shortly reflect on what they find easy and what difficult in rating Estonian speakers’ writing and speaking skills in the Finnish language test. The raters reflected on many issu…