摘要:

It is a byword in contemporary cognitive psychology that humans are limited‐capacity processors. This paper discusses ways in which children and adult learners manage to make the most of their limited processes in dealing with the complex input of a second language. An information‐processing approach to second language learning is proposed and evidence in support of this approach is presented. We also discuss the implications of an information‐processing perspective for second language pedagogy and res

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1983.tb00532.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This study investigated the comprehension of three complex English structures by Dutch learners at different levels of proficiency. The research was inspired by Carol Chomsky's investigations (1969, 1972) of English‐speaking children's acquisition of complex English structures and by studies by d'Anglejan and Tucker (1975) and Cooper, Olshtain, Tucker, and Waterbury (1979) of the acquisition of such structures by adult learners with different LI backgrounds and at different levels of proficiency. For the present study, the research instruments developed by d'Anglejan and Tucker and used by Cooper et al. were adopted, and in part, adopted. The responses of the Dutch learners were in many ways similar to those of the French Canadians studied by d'Anglejan and Tucker and the Egyptians and Israelis in Cooper et al.'s study, but there was also an important difference: The Dutch learners had fewer problems with theeasy to seestructure. It is argued that this difference can be accounted for by differences in LI learning experiences. Dutch learners of English have already been confronted with the problem of surface structure similarity betweeneager to seeandeasy to seesentences in the course of learning their LI, whereas French‐, Arabic‐, and Hebrew‐speaking learners h

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1983.tb00533.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Research in native (English) and nonnative (ESL) reading comprehension has shown that the ability to understand texts is based not only on the comprehender's linguistic knowledge, but also on general knowledge of the world and the extent to which that knowledge is activated during processing. Separate components ofbackground knowledgewhich have been identified in the literature are: (1) prior knowledge in the content area of the text (familiar vs. novel); (2) prior knowledge that the text is about a particular content area (context vs. no context); and (3) degree to which the lexical items in the text reveal the content area (transparent vs. opaque). This paper reports a study which shows the individual and interactive effects of these three separate variables on the reading comprehension of both native (English) and nonnative (ESL) readers.Results indicate that, unlike native speakers for whom all three components of background knowledge play a significant role in reading, understanding, and recalling a text, nonnative readers show virtually no significant effects of background knowledge. Further, also unlike native readers, nonnative readers appear not to have a good sense of how easy or difficult a text is for them to understand. These findings are discussed in relation to schema‐theoretical views of reading as an interactive process between the text and the reader, and in relation to their implications for ESL reading pedagog

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1983.tb00534.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The present research tested the hypothesis that predictions concerning second language (SL) achievement and use would be improved by considering the motivational support the learner expects from the target language group (TL) in addition to considering the learner's own motivations for learning the language. The hypothesis was tested by asking adolescent English‐speaking Canadian students why they were learning French as a second language and why French‐speaking Canadians wanted them to learn French. Regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between the motivational predictors and the respondents' SL proficiency and use. In support of the hypothesis, it was found that the respondents' expectations of motivational support from the TL group emerged as significant and in some cases unique predictors of SL performance. It is concluded that social psychological models of SL learning need to consider the role of intergroup factors more seriou

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1983.tb00535.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This paper is intended as one statistical step towards achieving objectivity in group oral testing in English. The test and the marking system adopted were developed by Folland and Robertson (1976). The data under study comprise sample results from tests taken by 698 Finnish university students at the University of Tampere. The testees' performance was evaluated by noting errors under four categories—pronunciation, grammatical structure, lexis, and use—and “pluses” under use and lexis. The primary aim of this research has been to bring out statistical factors which may be useful in developing tests of spoken English. Distributions of errors are shown and studied in relation to variables such as number of utterances spoken by the testee, sex, mark in a matriculation examination, and group factors. The results show that most errors were made in grammatical structure and fewest in use. More talkative students showed better proficiency than less talkative when compared on the basis of the number of errors per ten utterances. Generally considered, the girls' proficiency was better than the boys', but this difference disappeared when the mark in the matriculation examination was taken into account: The mark was positively correlated with language proficiency and the girls' marks were significantly higher than those of t

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1983.tb00536.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Some Cognitive Issues in Second Language Acquisition: A Review of Semantic and Conceptual Development: An Ontological Perspective by F. Kiel

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1983.tb00537.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Language and Culture in Conflict. Nina Wallerstein.

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1983.tb00538.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1983.tb00539.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1983.tb00540.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1983.tb00541.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1983

数据来源: WILEY