Languages

24 pages, 1253 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Correlation between Translation Equivalence, as a Vocabulary Learning Strategy, and Tunisian EFL Learners’ Speaking Anxiety

by Kamel Boustani

Languages 2019, 4(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010019 - 22 Mar 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 9241

Abstract

The use of the native language in the foreign language learning process has evoked controversy since the last century. The present research will argue for the use of translation by foreign language learners by investigating the correlation between translation equivalence as a vocabulary [...] Read more.

The use of the native language in the foreign language learning process has evoked controversy since the last century. The present research will argue for the use of translation by foreign language learners by investigating the correlation between translation equivalence as a vocabulary learning strategy, and the learners’ level of foreign language speaking anxiety. A sample of 258 Tunisian students, chosen randomly from different preparatory schools, participated in this project. Four research instruments were used to investigate this correlation: the inventory for translation as a learning strategy (ITLS), the classroom-related foreign language speaking anxiety scale (CRFLSAS), a receptive Translation Equivalence (TE) vocabulary test, and a productive TE vocabulary test. The findings revealed that the majority of the participants reported relying on their mother language to learn English vocabulary. Furthermore, a strong linear negative correlation was found between the use of this strategy, at both the receptive and productive levels, and the learners’ foreign language speaking anxiety. Full article

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23 pages, 444 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How to be Brief: Children’s and Adults’ Application of Grice’s Brevity Maxim in Production

by Kazuko Yatsushiro and Uli Sauerland

Languages 2019, 4(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010018 - 14 Mar 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4238

Abstract

The brevity maxim of Gricean pragmatics states that unnecessary prolixity should be avoided. We report a case in which 5-year-old children’s performance conforms better to Grice’s maxim than adults’ behavior. Our data come from a semi-spontaneous German relative clause production study that we [...] Read more.

The brevity maxim of Gricean pragmatics states that unnecessary prolixity should be avoided. We report a case in which 5-year-old children’s performance conforms better to Grice’s maxim than adults’ behavior. Our data come from a semi-spontaneous German relative clause production study that we carried out with 5- and 7-year-old children as well as adults. In particular, we focus on the pragmatics of the passive predicates that were produced. These constituted about a third of both child and adult productions in items that targeted an object relative clause structure. Since the expression of the agent is syntactically optional with passive predicates, the brevity maxim predicts that the agent should only be expressed when it is informative. We compare two conditions to test this prediction: one where the agent is informative and one where it is not. We find that 5-year-old children display significantly greater sensitivity to the brevity maxim than adults do. In two follow-up studies, we show that adults’ violations of brevity cannot be explained by priming of by-phrases expressing the agent and that there is an effect of age within children as well. Full article

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21 pages, 1490 KiB

Open AccessArticle

English Adverbial and Determiner Negation: A Problematic Area for Arabic Translators

by Mohammed Farghal

Languages 2019, 4(1), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010017 - 12 Mar 2019

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3503

Abstract

Negation hardly comes up as an issue in English–Arabic translation studies. The general assumption is that the translation of English negation into Arabic poses no serious problems to the translator. While this is generally true when it comes to rendering negation marked by [...] Read more.

Negation hardly comes up as an issue in English–Arabic translation studies. The general assumption is that the translation of English negation into Arabic poses no serious problems to the translator. While this is generally true when it comes to rendering negation marked by generic negative particles/affixes (John is not happy and John is unhappy, respectively) and even lexical and rhetorical implicit negation (John denied having cheated on the test and Can a person like John make such a mistake?), the present paper aims to show that the appropriate textualization into Arabic of English adverbial and determiner negation (e.g., by the adverbials too and hardly, and the determiners little and few) can be a problematic area for Arabic translators. The textual data (270 examples) is extracted from several published translations (belonging to literary, popular science/journalistic, and economic discourse), in an attempt to show what strategies translators follow when encountering such negation and how successful they are. While the findings provide solid evidence for the serious mishaps (about 42% of the renderings involve one kind of problem or another) that Arabic translators experience in this area, the critical discussion unravels several textual strategies that can capture the subtleties inherent in adverbial/determiner negation. It is hoped that the investigation of this subtle, neglected area in English–Arabic translation studies offers significant insights for both student and professional translators. Full article

10 pages, 299 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Actions as a Basis for Online Embodied Concepts

by Holly Keily

Languages 2019, 4(1), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010016 - 7 Mar 2019

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2622

Abstract

In co-speech gesture research, embodied cognition implies that concepts are associated with haptic and motor information that provides a framework for a gestural plan. When speakers access concepts, embodied action images are automatically activated. This study considers situations in which speakers need to [...] Read more.

In co-speech gesture research, embodied cognition implies that concepts are associated with haptic and motor information that provides a framework for a gestural plan. When speakers access concepts, embodied action images are automatically activated. This study considers situations in which speakers need to create online concepts of events to investigate the aspect of the event that forms the basis of a new concept. Speakers watched short event video clips with familiar or unfamiliar attributes. They described those clips to partners who had to perform a matching task. Experimental results show that speakers gestured less and produced shorter gestures when relaying longer event descriptions. Speakers were more likely to produce gesture when some aspect of the event was unfamiliar, and they were most sensitive to the familiarity of the event’s main action. Further, when speakers did gesture, they were most likely to gesture to represent the action of the event over the physical attributes of it (the instrument used to enact or the object acted upon). These findings suggest that in creating an embodied concept for something unfamiliar, the motion of the event acts as a basis for their online embodied representation of the concept. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Embodied Cognition and Language: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives)

18 pages, 393 KiB

Open AccessArticle

On the Latin Origins of Spanish mediante

by Esther Artigas

Languages 2019, 4(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010015 - 28 Feb 2019

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2914

Abstract

This paper aims to contribute to the clarification of the linguistic and extra-linguistic circumstances that accompany the emergence and behavior of mediante in the first centuries of Spanish. To this end, the origin of the Latin participle medians, mediantis is examined and the [...] Read more.

This paper aims to contribute to the clarification of the linguistic and extra-linguistic circumstances that accompany the emergence and behavior of mediante in the first centuries of Spanish. To this end, the origin of the Latin participle medians, mediantis is examined and the evidence of its ablative form mediante in various contexts is also analysed and discussed. We conclude from our study that (1) the appearance of mediante in Latin takes place at a relatively late stage of Latin, it having entered the language as a grammatical calque from Greek; (2) in Latin, prepositional values of mediante, which do not necessarily originate from Latin absolute ablative clauses, are already detected; and finally, (3) discursive traditions and historical-cultural factors, in particular those developed in Patristic and Scholastic Literature, are fundamental for the understanding, not only of the evolution of mediante in Latin, but also of its introduccion into Spanish. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Studies in Historical Linguistics and Language Change. Grammaticalization, Refunctionalization and Beyond)

13 pages, 555 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Expert–Novice Negotiation within Learning Opportunities in Online Intercultural Interactions

by Amira Benabdelkader

Languages 2019, 4(1), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010014 - 21 Feb 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3930

Abstract

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) and e-communication tools have introduced new pedagogical tools and activities that contribute to the development of language learners’ academic, multilingual, and intercultural skills and competences. Moreover, CMC has reinforced communication and collaboration between individuals and educational institutions through projects of [...] Read more.

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) and e-communication tools have introduced new pedagogical tools and activities that contribute to the development of language learners’ academic, multilingual, and intercultural skills and competences. Moreover, CMC has reinforced communication and collaboration between individuals and educational institutions through projects of intercultural language exchanges (ILE). Most of these exchanges idealise ‘nativeness’, and assert the L1 speaker as an expert ‘by default’. These models of ILE believe that the incorporation of a L1S is key to the creation of learning opportunities. This paper contests this belief. The one-to-one online video conversations took place on Skype between language learners of English and/or French over a period of four months. The dyads comprise the following speakers’ constellations: a L1S of French with a L1S of English, and a L1S of English with an Algerian (L2/LF of French and English). To assure equity in the use of languages, I scheduled two sessions every week, one in English and the second in French. This paper investigates the expert/novice dichotomy and how it is negotiated in the learning opportunities they have created. It also casts light on the speakers’ communicative strategies and linguaculture(s) included in overcoming intercultural misunderstanding and miscommunication when using or not using their L1, French and/or English. These intercultural interactions have uncovered that the novice–expert roles alternate between the speakers despite the language of communication and their L1s. The interactants used several strategies and channels, namely pragmatic strategies such as repetition, nonverbal cues to ask for clarification and signal intercultural misunderstandings, translanguaging and their multilingual repertoires in order to construct meaning, achieve their communicative goals or in case of the lack of linguistic resources. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue MOBILLE 2019)

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32 pages, 9181 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Immersive Virtual Reality as an Effective Tool for Second Language Vocabulary Learning

by Jennifer Legault, Jiayan Zhao, Ying-An Chi, Weitao Chen, Alexander Klippel and Ping Li

Languages 2019, 4(1), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010013 - 18 Feb 2019

Cited by 106 | Viewed by 18578

Abstract

Learning a second language (L2) presents a significant challenge to many people in adulthood. Platforms for effective L2 instruction have been developed in both academia and the industry. While real-life (RL) immersion is often lauded as a particularly effective L2 learning platform, little [...] Read more.

Learning a second language (L2) presents a significant challenge to many people in adulthood. Platforms for effective L2 instruction have been developed in both academia and the industry. While real-life (RL) immersion is often lauded as a particularly effective L2 learning platform, little is known about the features of immersive contexts that contribute to the L2 learning process. Immersive virtual reality (iVR) offers a flexible platform to simulate an RL immersive learning situation, while allowing the researcher to have tight experimental control for stimulus delivery and learner interaction with the environment. Using a mixed counterbalanced design, the current study examines individual differences in L2 performance during learning of 60 Mandarin Chinese words across two learning sessions, with each participant learning 30 words in iVR and 30 words via word–word (WW) paired association. Behavioral performance was collected immediately after L2 learning via an alternative forced-choice recognition task. Our results indicate a main effect of L2 learning context, such that accuracy on trials learned via iVR was significantly higher as compared to trials learned in the WW condition. These effects are reflected especially in the differential effects of learning contexts, in that less successful learners show a significant benefit of iVR instruction as compared to WW, whereas successful learners do not show a significant benefit of either learning condition. Our findings have broad implications for L2 education, particularly for those who struggle in learning an L2. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Embodied Cognition and Language: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives)

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10 pages, 384 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Role of Elision in Evolutionary Processes

by María Elena Azofra Sierra

Languages 2019, 4(1), 12; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010012 - 17 Feb 2019

Viewed by 2628

Abstract

Changes by elision—as well as those due to processes of adfunctionalization or refunctionalization—must be taken into account as explanatory mechanisms of linguistic change. In this paper, we study the role of elision in the theoretical overview of explanatory theories of language change by [...] Read more.

Changes by elision—as well as those due to processes of adfunctionalization or refunctionalization—must be taken into account as explanatory mechanisms of linguistic change. In this paper, we study the role of elision in the theoretical overview of explanatory theories of language change by focusing on the evolutionary process of the Spanish adverb aparte. We analyze the consequences of the elision of an initial construction for the development of new functions as an exceptive or additive adverb, and as an additive connector with a specific meaning, conditioned by the evolution of the entire construction. We find that, in this case, the ellipsis of a verbal element has led to important modifications of the preserved item (aparte), not only at the semantic-pragmatic and functional levels but also in its category membership. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Studies in Historical Linguistics and Language Change. Grammaticalization, Refunctionalization and Beyond)

13 pages, 372 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Competition Strategies during Writing in a Second Language: Age and Levels of Complexity

by Sandra Figueiredo

Languages 2019, 4(1), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010011 - 15 Feb 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3435

Abstract

(1) Background: Research in second language (L2) writing in the European context is an emerging tendency in L2 studies. European countries have become new hosts to immigrants in very recent years and new applied research is needed to aid schools in their inclusion [...] Read more.

(1) Background: Research in second language (L2) writing in the European context is an emerging tendency in L2 studies. European countries have become new hosts to immigrants in very recent years and new applied research is needed to aid schools in their inclusion process. (2) Method: This study examined differences in writing performance by comparing 99 immigrant students in Portugal between 7 and 17 years of age. They were assessed in six distinct aspects by means of a written essay in order to perceive how maturity and language groups impact competencies such as lexicon, grammar, sociolinguistics and use of strategies. (3) Results: The results were examined according to the competition model of MacWhinney and Bates (1989; MacWhinney 2005) and concluded that older students wrote more proficient essays. First language (L1) and parallel instruction in L1 were examined as covariates against their effects. (4) Discussion: Students who received parallel instruction in their L1 had better results in L2 writing, but only age-produced significant differences will be discussed. Full article

16 pages, 2012 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Grammatical Words and Spreading of Contexts: Evidence from the Spanish Preposition a

by Concepción Company Company

Languages 2019, 4(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010010 - 15 Feb 2019

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3063

Abstract

The paper shows that when grammatical words are involved, context is then the unit of language change. Certain changes consist in an active spreading of a form to new contexts, without changing the category or grammatical status of the form; in these cases, [...] Read more.

The paper shows that when grammatical words are involved, context is then the unit of language change. Certain changes consist in an active spreading of a form to new contexts, without changing the category or grammatical status of the form; in these cases, context must be considered the unit of language change. The empirical evidence is the diachrony of the Spanish preposition a ‘to’. Throughout history, this preposition pervasively extended to new and different contexts, but the form a never changed, remaining a grammatical preposition with a basic meaning of ‘directive telicity towards a goal’ (goal maybe locative, temporal, transitivity, finality, discursive, etc.). The paper labels this kind of change as ‘context construction’, and considers it an analogical extension induced by context. Finally, to test whether the diachrony of a is grammaticalization or not, the paper reviews fourteen related theoretical concepts, checking them against the diachronic evidence of the preposition a. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Studies in Historical Linguistics and Language Change. Grammaticalization, Refunctionalization and Beyond)

18 pages, 340 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Adolescent ELLs Improve Their Academic English while Learning about the UN Online

by Miriam Eisenstein Ebsworth, Chencen Cai and Lauren McCoy

Languages 2019, 4(1), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010009 - 13 Feb 2019

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 5092

Abstract

This action research project aimed at evaluating and revising Actionthroughwords (ATW), an online course on language learning through content for high school English language learners. Our multifaceted purpose is to help English language learners in an English language arts class to enhance their [...] Read more.

This action research project aimed at evaluating and revising Actionthroughwords (ATW), an online course on language learning through content for high school English language learners. Our multifaceted purpose is to help English language learners in an English language arts class to enhance their academic English language and literacy, while learning online about the work of the UN for health and peace worldwide. A teacher and nineteen students in a public high school bilingual program acted as learner-consultants, with a shift of learners’ roles to one of authority and engagement. Using a mixed design, data came from questionnaires, classroom observation, and interviews with the teacher and eight of her students. All participants responded affirmatively to the ATW site and expressed appreciation not only for the content but also for focused activities to enhance vocabulary development and grammatical awareness. Results showed students’ view of the UN was somewhat positive to begin with and became more positive over time. Participants recommended revision of ATW to make content more accessible through scaffolding and first language support and to offer additional games and videos appropriate for teenagers’ interests and modes of learning. Differentiated instructional materials and strategies integrated with the school curriculum were also suggested for future implementation of the course. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue MOBILLE 2019)

26 pages, 910 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Slot-and-Frame Schemas in the Language of a Polish- and English-Speaking Child: The Impact of Usage Patterns on the Switch Placement

by Dorota Gaskins, Ad Backus and Antje Endesfelder Quick

Languages 2019, 4(1), 8; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010008 - 1 Feb 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5613

Abstract

How does the bilingual child assemble her first multiword constructions? Can switch placement in bilingual combinations be explained by language usage? This study traces the emergence of frozen and semi-productive patterns throughout the diary collection period (0;10.10–2;2.00) to document the acquisition of constructions. [...] Read more.

How does the bilingual child assemble her first multiword constructions? Can switch placement in bilingual combinations be explained by language usage? This study traces the emergence of frozen and semi-productive patterns throughout the diary collection period (0;10.10–2;2.00) to document the acquisition of constructions. Subsequently the focus falls on most frequently produced monolingual and bilingual combinations captured through 30 video recordings (1;10.16–2;5.11) which are linked to the diary data to confirm their productivity. First, we verify that like in monolingual development, frequency-based piecemeal acquisition of constructions can be reproduced in our bilingual diary data: in the child’s earliest combinations 87% are deemed as semi-productive slot-and-frame patterns. Second, video recordings show that productivity, understood as a function of type frequency, plays a role in determining the switch placement in early bilingual combinations only to some extent. A more accurate explanation for why frames from one language take slot fillers from another is their autonomous use and semantic independence. We also highlight limitations of input: while the child was raised with two languages separated in the input, she continued to switch languages which suggests that switching is developmental. Full article

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29 pages, 1867 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Field-Testing Code-Switching Constraints: A Report on a Strategic Languages Project

by John M. Lipski

Languages 2019, 4(1), 7; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010007 - 1 Feb 2019

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4926

Abstract

The present article provides an overview of ongoing field-based research that deploys a variety of interactive experimental procedures in three strategically chosen bilingual contact environments, whose language dyads facilitate a partial separation of morphosyntactic factors in order to test the extent to which [...] Read more.

The present article provides an overview of ongoing field-based research that deploys a variety of interactive experimental procedures in three strategically chosen bilingual contact environments, whose language dyads facilitate a partial separation of morphosyntactic factors in order to test the extent to which proposed grammatical constraints on intra-sentential code-switching are independent of language-specific factors. For purposes of illustration, the possibility of language switches between subject pronouns and verbs is compared for the three bilingual groups. The first scenario includes Ecuadoran Quichua and Media Lengua (entirely Quichua syntax and system morphology, all lexical roots replaced by Spanish items; both are null-subject languages). The second juxtaposes Spanish and the Afro-Colombian creole language Palenquero; the languages share highly cognate lexicons but differ substantially in grammatical structures (including null subjects in Spanish, only overt subjects in Palenquero). Spanish and Portuguese in north-eastern Argentina along the Brazilian border form the third focus: lexically and grammatically highly cognate languages that are nonetheless kept distinct by speakers (both null-subject languages, albeit with different usage patterns). Results from the three communities reveal a residual resistance against pronoun + verb switches irrespective of the subject-verb configuration, thereby motivating the application of similar techniques to other proposed grammatical constraints. Full article

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16 pages, 525 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Refunctionalization. First-Person Plural of the Verb Haber in the History of Spanish

by Axel Hernández Díaz

Languages 2019, 4(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010006 - 31 Jan 2019

Viewed by 2896

Abstract

In this paper, the first-person plural diachronic behaviour of the verb form habemos with an existential value is analysed to explore its recovery in current Spanish as a case of refunctionalization. The latter is understood as timely cooptation of a form, which begins [...] Read more.

In this paper, the first-person plural diachronic behaviour of the verb form habemos with an existential value is analysed to explore its recovery in current Spanish as a case of refunctionalization. The latter is understood as timely cooptation of a form, which begins with any of the form’s characteristics. It is known that the cooptation’s origin might be directly, indirectly or not at all related to the previous or original use of the form. Results shown here are based on the analysis of constructions in which the first-person plural verb form of haber is used with a possessive meaning, as an auxiliary, and as existential between the 13th and 21st century. While grammaticalization theory pays attention to processes that culminate with grammatical enrichment of words or constructions, the verb form habemos with an existential meaning does not show that behaviour. It is explained as a case of refunctionalization or, at least, specialization. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Studies in Historical Linguistics and Language Change. Grammaticalization, Refunctionalization and Beyond)

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12 pages, 6336 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Developing Professional Communication: The Construction of a Multimodal Understanding of Job Interviews

by Wing Yee Jenifer Ho

Languages 2019, 4(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010005 - 17 Jan 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4200

Abstract

This article explores how online videos with a pedagogical focus can possibly make an impact on our current language teaching and learning practices. The affordance of videos to create multimodal content that can be shared with the public allows content creators to use [...] Read more.

This article explores how online videos with a pedagogical focus can possibly make an impact on our current language teaching and learning practices. The affordance of videos to create multimodal content that can be shared with the public allows content creators to use a wide range of resources, such as spoken and written language, gestures, screen layout, etc., to create learning environments that can promote an awareness of a multimodal perspective to the understanding of a particular kind of professional communication context, such as job interviews, as illustrated in this article. By analyzing a series of videos on job interviews using multimodal semiotic analysis, I argue that these videos, which I call pedagogical vlogs, are helpful not only in terms of teaching the language skills required for job interviews, but also to help create a multimodal understanding of job interviews through the strategic orchestration of multiple semiotic modes. The popularity of pedagogical vlogs, as well as their affordance to provide lesson content created by the public, offer new possibilities for language teaching and learning, but it has yet only received scant attention from applied linguistics and language education researchers. This article aims to start a dialog on the pedagogical implications of this new form of learning so as to uncover the potentials offered by pedagogical vlogs in education. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue MOBILLE 2019)

3 pages, 291 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Acknowledgement to Reviewers of Languages in 2018

by Languages Editorial Office

Languages 2019, 4(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010004 - 11 Jan 2019

Viewed by 1915

Abstract

Rigorous peer-review is the corner-stone of high-quality academic publishing [...] Full article

31 pages, 5450 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Learning Labels for Objects: Does Degree of Sensorimotor Experience Matter?

by Michele Wellsby and Penny Pexman

Languages 2019, 4(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010003 - 11 Jan 2019

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4433

Abstract

Theories of embodied cognition propose that sensorimotor experience is essential to learning, representing, and accessing conceptual information. Embodied effects have been observed in early child development and adult cognitive processing, but there has been less research examining the role of embodiment in later [...] Read more.

Theories of embodied cognition propose that sensorimotor experience is essential to learning, representing, and accessing conceptual information. Embodied effects have been observed in early child development and adult cognitive processing, but there has been less research examining the role of embodiment in later childhood. We conducted two experiments to test whether degree of sensorimotor experience modulates children’s word learning. In Experiment 1, 5-year-old children learned labels for 10 unfamiliar objects in one of six learning conditions, which varied in how much sensorimotor experience and information about the objects children received. Children’s word learning was assessed with a recognition test. Results indicated that there was no effect of learning condition on recognition accuracy, as children performed equally well in all conditions. In Experiment 2, we modified the stimuli to emphasize the sensory features of the objects; 5-year-old children learned labels for these objects in one of two learning conditions. Once again, there was no effect of learning condition on children’s recognition accuracy performance. Overall, children’s word learning was not modulated by the extent to which they had sensorimotor experience with the labelled objects. As such, the results place some limits on the role of embodiment in language learning. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Embodied Cognition and Language: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives)

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14 pages, 5139 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Scaffolding Embodied Access for Categorization in Interactions between a Blind Child and Her Mother

by Carolyn Rickard, Mara Strother, Barbara A. Fox and Chase Wesley Raymond

Languages 2019, 4(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010002 - 2 Jan 2019

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2940

Abstract

During language acquisition, sighted children have immediate and temporally stable access to the ‘gestalt’ of an object, including particular features that suggest its categorization as part of a class of objects. Blind children, however, must effectively and productively constitute the whole object from [...] Read more.

During language acquisition, sighted children have immediate and temporally stable access to the ‘gestalt’ of an object, including particular features that suggest its categorization as part of a class of objects. Blind children, however, must effectively and productively constitute the whole object from its constitutive parts in order to categorize them. While prior studies have suggested that varied experience and appropriate sensory access can contribute to this process, little attention has been given to how this is accomplished. The present study aims to address this issue by using conversation analysis to explore embodied understanding and categorization work between a 26-month-old congenitally blind child and her sighted mother as they play with various animal toys. Here we provide an analysis of a segment involving a particular toy (a cow plush), and ask two questions: (1) During play, how does Mother scaffold embodied routines for the identification of criterial information about a category, and (2) How is knowledge of varied exemplars, not directly accessible within the current activity, then made available to the child? Detailed examination of the linguistic and embodied practices employed by this mother–child dyad provides a concrete example of how non-visual modalities help scaffold the learning of categorization techniques, as well as illustrates the import that the examination of naturally occurring social interaction can have for theories of language and embodied cognition. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Embodied Cognition and Language: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives)

24 pages, 16189 KiB

Open AccessArticle

L1 Transfer in L2 Acquisition of English Verbal Morphology by Japanese Young Instructed Learners

by Akiko Muroya

Languages 2019, 4(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4010001 - 20 Dec 2018

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 6966

Abstract

Inflectional morphology has been considered as a particularly difficult area in second language (L2) acquisition (Lardiere 2008; Slabakova 2008). This paper reports on an empirical study investigating the L2 acquisition of English verbal morphology by Japanese young instructed learners. The aim of this [...] Read more.

Inflectional morphology has been considered as a particularly difficult area in second language (L2) acquisition (Lardiere 2008; Slabakova 2008). This paper reports on an empirical study investigating the L2 acquisition of English verbal morphology by Japanese young instructed learners. The aim of this study is to explore how the first language (L1) plays a role in the L2 acquisition of inflectional morphology, by applying the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis (FRH, Lardiere 2008, 2009) to a Japanese−English pairing. An elicited production task was administered to Japanese junior high school aged 12–15 (n = 102) and university students aged 19–20 (n = 30). The results show a difference with respect to accuracy rates and error types from previous L2 English studies, in terms of tense−aspect morphology. The findings provide evidence for the FRH’s prediction that attributes morphological variability to L1−L2 contrasts in reassembly of feature matrices for morpholexical items. Full article

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