摘要:

Recent research interest in the performance of second language learners has neglected the area of phonology learning. This report on a longitudinal study shows the viability of using a sociolinguistic model of sound change for studying the process of learning a target language sound system. The model calls for a variability analysis of the phonetic diversity in the learner's speech. The example analysis shows that learners systematically alter their phonetic output in the direction of a particular target. Significantly, second language learners use the same mechanism found to be operative in native language speakers as they participate in the ongoing linguistic change of their speech community. This finding reveals the psycholinguistic unity of the general process of effecting change in phonological systems. Motivations are provided (1) for regarding the learner's performance as the product of a unique language system and (2) for regarding the system as consisting of variable rules. An example of such a rule is given in detail.

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1976.tb00274.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1976

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Sixty‐one non‐native speakers of English were measured on 20 variables suspected of displaying significant relationships to pronunciation accuracy. The English pronunciation of the non‐native speakers was then rated under controlled conditions by a panel of 14 native English‐speaking judges. The variables which proved to be most strongly related to pronunciation accuracy were native language, strength of the speaker's concern about his pronunciation, and amount of conversation carried on at work and at school with native speakers of English. Among the variables found to have negligible relationships to pronunciation accuracy were amount of formal classroom training in the pronunciation of English, extroversion,

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1976.tb00275.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1976

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

An open‐ended cloze procedure was modified by item‐analytical and error‐analytical techniques. A short (33 items) multiple‐choice (M‐C) test was the result of that modification. The new test was administered as an experimental adjunct to an established placement examination at a large university in the eastern United States. The M‐C cloze took less than twenty minutes to administer and score, yet rivaled the placement accurary of the much longer placement examination. Substantial correlation was found between the M‐C cloze and the sub‐tests of the placement examination. The study provides evidence for the feasibility of vastly reducing the time spent in placement testing in established English as a second language programs without sacrificing the quality of the information derived fr

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1976.tb00276.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1976

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The current research was undertaken to assess the role of intelligence, as measured by standardized, group I.Q. tests, in the acquisition of a second language. Anglophone students from three different grade levels (4, 7 and 11) in each of two types of second language programs were evaluated on a battery of French language tests, including tests of reading, language usage, listening comprehension and interpersonal communication. The students were enrolled in regular French‐as‐a‐second language courses and in French immersion courses where French is used as a medium of course instruction during all or part of the school day. A sample of average, below average and above average students was selected to represent each program at each grade level. The test results indicated that performance on the reading and language usage tests correlated with IQ level. On the other hand, performance on the tests of listening comprehension and interpersonal communication skills did not correlate with IQ level. This was true for students at all grade levels in both types of language programs. The results are discussed in terms of first language acquis

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1976.tb00277.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1976

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

A cybernetic model of factors involved in the fossilization of grammatical and lexical forms in learner grammars is offered. A distinction is made between affective and cognitive dimensions of a multidimensional channel of human communication. A distinction is also made between expected and unexpected feedback. It is argued that expected negative feedback on the cognitive dimension of language usage is the principal de‐stabilizing factor in the development of learner grammars. When the configuration of feedback to the learner becomes predominantly expected positive feedback on the cognitive dimension it is predicted that the learner's level of proficiency will tend to fossilize. Thus, the tendency toward fossilization of either correct or incorrect forms is governed by feedback principally on the cognitive dimension. However, if feedback on the affective dimension is not predominantly as expected, and predominantly positive, the feedback on the cognitive dimension will lose much of its force. Predominantly negative affective feedback whether expected or unexpected is likely to result in abortion of further communication attempt

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1976.tb00278.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1976

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This paper argues that the Interlanguage Hypothesis, as it is currently stated, lacks clear definitions of some of its most important characteristics. The central characteristics of ILs are examined. It is suggested that interlanguages (ILs) are natural languages, in the obvious sense, but that their grammar is peculiar in being permeable. This permeability of ILs explains why learners can transfer grammatical properties from their native language and why they can generalize or otherwise distort target language properties in an effort to communicate. Accepting this view of ILs forces the researcher to gather specific and copious data to support the hypotheses which may be proposed concerning the grammatical intuitions of any IL speaker. The relevance of this proposal to research strategies and the advantages of research with a more explicit notion of ILs are discussed.

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1976.tb00279.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1976

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Major findings are reported here of a longitudinal, naturalistic study of the acquisition of English as a second language by a five‐year old Japanese girl. The emphasis is on empirical findings based on careful distributional analyses performed on the data, rather than on any particular theoretical orientation. The major content areas discussed are 1) the problem of prefabricated patterns (Hakuta 1974b); 2) the order of acquisition of grammatical morphemes; and 3) the problem of language transfer. It is argued that there is still great need for a broader empirical data base before any serious attempts at theoretical formulations of the second language acquisition process are mad

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1976.tb00280.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1976

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This study examined bilingual children's performance in reading Persian and English at grades one, three and six. Two types of programs, one an immersion curriculum, and the other a split curriculum, where half the daily instruction was in one language and the remaining half was in the other, were compared with monolingual control schools. The results showed the bilingual children performing not quite as well as either of their monolingual peer groups, although the difference was more striking for Persian than English. A parallel processing theory of reading for bilinguals is proposed to account for the overall trend.

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1976.tb00281.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1976

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Recent interest in “humanism” in second language teaching and learning has produced a number of interesting paradigms for the examination of psycho‐sociological factors in second language learning. Of particular note are the theoretical perspectives developed by Guiora et al. (1972, 1975), Gardner and Lambert (1972), and Schumann (1976). These characterizations of second language learning do not, however, provide explanations which lead directly to the identification and solution of problems faced by students in a foreign culture. This paper presents a theoretical perspective of second language learning which explains cross‐cultural problems in terms of conflicting definitions of reality. First, parallels are drawn between the trauma endured by ESL students in the United States and that endured by schizophrenics. Then, culture and language shock are discussed in terms of the conflicts experienced by individuals from traditional societies as they attempt to adjust to a “modernized

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1976.tb00282.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1976

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This paper is a case study of the untutored acquisition of English by a 33 year old Costa Rican named Alberto. His language learning was examined longitudinally for a ten month period. During that time he evidenced very little linguistic growth. Three causes for Alberto's lack of development are considered: ability, age, and social and psychological distance. Performance on a test of adaptive intelligence indicated that lack of ability is not adequate to explain his acquisition pattern. Also, due to the inadequacy of the arguments for a biological critical period in language acquisition, age is also rejected as a cause. However, Alberto's English speech showed evidence of pidginization. Pidginization is seen as the result of the learner's social and psychological distance from speakers of the target language. Hence, it is argued that Alberto's lack of development in English is the result of his social and psychological distance from native speakers of English.

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1976.tb00283.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1976

数据来源: WILEY