Search results for "second"

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…

Developing a metatheoretical framework for second language development : a cultural-historical theory and dynamic systems theory perspective

2017

The main aim of this article-based dissertation is to construct and articulate a dialectical metatheoretical architecture for the study of second language development termed Purposive-Historical Systems Theory (PHiST) invoking, inter alia, the axiomatic imperatives of dynamic systems theory (DST), Vygotskian cultural-historical theory (CHT), and Pepperian root metaphor theory (RMT). Specifically, it primarily purports, first, to demonstrate the tenability of a dialectical synthesis of DST and CHT; second, to philosophize on the fundamental contours of PHiST; third, to apply a novel metatheoretical perspective, as a quintessential example, to reconceptualizing the seminal construct of the Zo…

From interdependence to agency

2011

Maahanmuuttajien määrä Suomessa on kasvanut räjähdysmäisesti sitten 1990-luvun. Muutos väestörakenteessa vaikuttaa myös suomalaisten koulujen arkeen ja opettajien työhön, mutta tutkimusta maahanmuuttajista erityisesti kieliaineiden oppijina on vähän. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena olikin selvittää millainen maahanmuuttajan kielellinen ympäristö Suomessa on ja erityisesti sitä millainen vaikutus sillä on kielten oppimiseen. Tutkimus tarkastelee maahanmuuttajia toiminnan teorian valossa, ja vastauksia haettiin seuraaviin kysymyksiin: 1) miten maahanmuuttajaoppijat käsitteellistävät itsensä englannin ja suomen kielten oppijina, 2) minkälaisia välittyneisyyden keinoja he käyttävät englannin ja…

Migrants at the university doorstep : How we unfairly deny access and what we could (should) do now

2022

The Finnish Government recently launched policies to meet labor shortage challenges, recruit highly skilled international workers. However, they overlook a skilled population already living in Finland, namely highly educated migrants. The problem is that migrants tend to be treated similarly, whether they are well-educated or not. This means that migrants are typically directed into low paying jobs. How is it possible to better develop this group with more effective career guidance? We believe an important answer lies in improved university education for migrants. This investigation is based on responses from surveys, interviews, and project evaluations. An analysis is made of three success…

Negative constructions in nonliterate learners' spoken L2 Finnish

2016

This chapter discusses the development of Finnish expressions of negation in four initially nonliterate women with very low oral skills during their first ten-month language course. While many studies have been published describing the learning of L2 Finnish by educated adult learners, hardly any research is available on how nonliterate adults learn Finnish. Yet research-based knowledge is needed for both pedagogical and resource-related decision making. The theoretical approach to additional language learning in this study is usage-based (e.g., Bybee 2008), with construction as the unit of analysis (Eskildsen 2012) and classroom as the interactional setting. In standard Finnish, the negati…

Second and foreign language fluency from a cognitive perspective : inefficiency and control of attention in lexical access

2017

The present dissertation focuses on the fluency of second and foreign language (L2). Second and foreign language use is often assessed by its fluency. However, the connections between language proficiency and fluency are far from clear. The fluency reasearch has tried to establish these connections, but results are varied. In the current thesis, this question is explored within the theoretical framework of Norman Segalowitz’s division of three types of fluency: cognitive, utterance, and perceived fluency. The overall proposition here is that in relation to L2 proficiency, cognitive fluency provides important insights. This is based on the theories of limited cognitive resources, which state…

The roles of linguistic confidence and integrative motivation on cross-cultural adaptation of Asian degree students Finland

2015

While cross-cultural adaptation of international students has become more and more popular topics in the field of intercultural communication, there are few studies related to students who come to non-native-English-speaking countries to study international programs. Specifically, the number of Asian students enrolling in international degree programs in Finland has been increasing recently. Besides other difficulties, language has become one of the most baffling issues in the process of both sociocultural adaptation and psychological adaptation of strangers in the host country (Maza, 1963). By narrowing the impacts of integrative motivation and linguistic confidence, they have drawn some r…

Yhteiskuntaopin kieliympäristö ja käsitteet : toisella kielellä opiskelevan haasteet ja tuen tarpeet

2012

Aletaan alusta : luku- ja kirjoitustaidottomat aikuiset uutta kieltä oppimassa

2014

Toinen kieli ja oma äidinkieli perusopetuksessa

2019

Koulujen monet kielet ja uskonnot -hankkeessa on kartoitettu oppilaan omien äidinkielten ja toisen kielen (suomi ja ruotsi) opetusta eri koulutusasteilla ja pyritty tavoittamaan sekä opetuksen onnistuneita käytänteitä että toteuttamisen ongelmakohtia. Tässä artikkelissa paneudutaan erityisesti perusopetuksen tilanteeseen ja haasteisiin näiden oppimäärien osalta. nonPeerReviewed