摘要:

This study investigated attitudes toward second‐language learning over an extended period of time in a cross‐sectional design. Subjects were 1,252 children in Grades 4 through 12 studying Hebrew in a private Jewish school system in South Africa. Five sets of attitudes were measured: attitudes toward learning the language, traditional orientation, nationalist orientation, motivation, and self‐rating of proficiency. Results showed that attitudes decreased in positive value over the nine grade levels, although not always in totally linear fashion, supporting other research findings. The sharpest changes took place from Grades 4 through 9 while a less consistent pattern characterizes the high‐school years. The rate of decline was not equal for all attitude sets suggesting the need for different explanations to account for the variety of attitude p

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1989.tb00589.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The study described in this paper was set up to investigate the effect of foreign language learners' proficiency level on compensatory strategies used by these learners to solve lexical problems. At the same time, the effect of task‐related factors on compensatory strategies was examined. The study involved three groups of Dutch learners of English at three different proficiency levels. The subjects were tested on three different tasks: a picture naming/description task, a story retell task, and an oral interview with a native speaker of English.It appeared that “proficiency level” is inversely related to thenumberof compensatory strategies used by the subjects: the most advanced subjects used fewer compensatory strategies than did the least proficient ones. Contrary to our expectations, however, thetypeof compensatory strategy chosen by the subjects was not to any large extent related to their proficiency level. Rather, the data indicate that task‐related factors play a large role in this respect. Whereas the subjects predominantly used analytic strategies in the picture naming/description task, they frequently resorted to holistic strategies and transfer strategies in the story retell task and the oral interview.To explain these differences it is suggested that in selecting compensatory strategies the subjects observed general conversational pri

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1989.tb00590.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Modular conceptions of the language faculty assume that linguistic knowledge is encoded in distinct cognitive systems differing in the nature of their representations. Earlier investigations (Schachter&Rutherford, 1979; Rutherford, 1983) have reported that L2 (English) syntactic forms are adapted to L1 (Chinese/Japanese) discourse functions, which suggests evidence for module‐sensitive acquisition. These findings invite a consideration of modular functioning in adult acquisition as a source of interlanguage‐primary language difference. Drawing on these earlier findings and production data from a large written corpus of Japanese‐English interlanguage, the paper shows that discourse‐pragmatic markedness conditions on the subject position combine with central aspects of a configurational syntax in the generation of sentential forms. The modular interaction leads to overrepresentation of NP‐movement and extraposition constructions, a significant number of which violate the Theta‐Criterion. Three positions on modular functioning are identified as possible ways of accounting for interlanguage‐primary language difference: (1) partial loss of the domain‐specific module; (2) penetration of the domain‐specific module by external knowledge representations; and (3) the creation of a module interface distinct from the L1 and the L2. The data strongly support the third position, lend some support to the second, but are difficult to reconci

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1989.tb00591.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The second‐language writing performance of 23 young adults on three composition tasks was assessed in relation to their writing expertise and second‐language proficiency. Both factors accounted for large proportions of variance in the qualities of written texts and problem‐solving behaviors in the second language. But the factors exerted independent effects, suggesting they are psychologically distinct. Writing expertise proved to relate to: qualities of discourse organization and content in the compositions produced; attention to complex aspects of writing during decision making; problem‐solving behaviors involving heuristic searches; and well‐differentiated control strategies. Second‐language proficiency proved to be an additive factor, enhancing the overall quality of writing produced, and interacting with the attention that participants devoted to aspects of their writing. But second‐language proficiency did not visibly affect the processes of composing. In all analyses, more cognitively demanding argument and summary tasks produced significantly different behaviors from a less cognitively demandin

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1989.tb00592.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1989.tb00593.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0023-8333    

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-1770.1989.tb00594.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY