Exploring cognition processes in second language acquisition: the case of cognates and false-friends in EST

This article explores one aspect of the processing perspective in L2 learning in an EST context: the processing of new content words, in English, of the type ‘cognates’ and ‘false friends’, by Spanish speaking engineering students. The paper does not try to offer a comprehensive overview of language acquisition mechanisms, but rather it is intended to review more narrowly how our conceptual systems, governed by intricately linked networks of neural connections in the brain, make language development possible, creating, at the same time, some L2 processing problems. The case of ‘cognates and false friends’ in specialised contexts is brought here to illustrate some of the processing problems that the L2 learner has to confront, and how mappings in the visual, phonological and semantic (conceptual) brain structures function in second language processing of new vocabulary. Resumen Este artículo pretende reflexionar sobre un aspecto de la perspectiva del procesamiento de segundas lenguas (L2) en el contexto del ICT: el procesamiento de palabras nuevas, en inglés, conocidas como “cognados” y “falsos amigos”, por parte de estudiantes de ingeniería españoles. No se pretende ofrecer una visión completa de los mecanismos de adquisición del lenguaje, más bien se intenta mostrar cómo nuestro sistema conceptual, gobernado por una complicada red de conexiones neuronales en el cerebro, hace posible el desarrollo del lenguaje, aunque ello conlleve ciertas dificultades en el procesamiento de segundas lenguas. El caso de los “cognados” y los “falsos amigos”, en los lenguajes de especialidad, se trae para ilustrar algunos de los problemas de procesamiento que el estudiante de una lengua extranjera tiene que afrontar y el funcionamiento de las correspondencias entre las estructuras visuales, fonológicas y semánticas (conceptuales) del cerebro en el procesamiento de nuevo vocabulario.

Out-of-School English and the possible effect it has on Second Language Acquisition : - a study on how students with different backgrounds acquire the English language outside of school

Second language acquisition is a field that has fascinated linguists for numerous years and is a topic that is very much connected to how English teachers in Sweden try to teach the English language to the students in their classrooms. In 2009 Sundqvist examined what possible effects extramural English could have on learners' oral proficiency and their vocabulary. In her study she found out that extramural English “is an independent variable and a possible path to progress in English” (Sundqvist, 2009, p. i).  In 2014, three Swedish secondary- and upper secondary school teachers started a project for the Erasmus+. These three teachers tried to create better teaching conditions and to come up with new methods for teaching English. During their investigation they noticed that students who had only been in Sweden for four years or less, seemed to get less exposed to English in their spare time than native Swedish students, which created a disadvantage for them. Since the time when these two studies were carried out, the number of immigrants has increased drastically, which creates the need for further investigation within this area of second language acquisition. In this study, I therefore investigate how much and in what way students come in contact with the English language outside of school. I also examine if there are any differences between native Swedish students versus non-native Swedish students and if so, how this might affect the students and their grades in English. The study was conducted through the use of questionnaires and through observations of different teaching situations, including the participating teachers' methods and the participating students' reactions. The results show that there are differences between native- and non-native students when it comes to extramural English activities. The results also show that these differences seem to affect the students' grades in English, in favour of the native Swedish students. The native students tend to spend more time on extramural English activities, especially in connection to the Internet and computer games, than the non-native students. These results indicate that something needs to be done in order to compensate for the non-native students' disadvantage.

Peer Support: An Intervention To Facilitate Second Language Acquisition In Students With Asperger Syndrome And Primary Language Deficits

This is a study of a peer support program to aid students in secondary school struggling to learn a second language (for college entrance requirements) who have Asperger Syndrone and primary language deficits.

Audiovisual materials and second-language acquisition: a comparison between native language subtitles and target language captions.

Over the last few years, the massive popularity of video streaming platforms has managed to impact our daily habits by making the watching of movies and TV shows one of the main activities of our free time. By providing a wide range of foreign language audiovisual content, these entertainment services may represent a powerful resource for language learners, as they provide them with the possibility to be exposed to authentic input. Moreover, research has shown the beneficial role of audiovisual textual aids such as native language subtitles and target language captions in enhancing language skills such as vocabulary and listening comprehension. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the existing literature on the subject of subtitled and captioned audiovisual materials used as a pedagogical tool for informal language learning.

THE ROLE OF RULES, EXAMPLES AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN THE ACQUISITION OF DECLARATIVE AND PROCEDURAL SECOND LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE

The relevance of explicit instruction has been well documented in SLA research. Despite numerous positive findings, however, the issue continues to engage scholars worldwide. One issue that was largely neglected in previous empirical studies - and one that may be crucial for the effectiveness of explicit instruction - is the timing and integration of rules and practice. The present study investigated the extent to which grammar explanation (GE) before practice, grammar explanation during practice, and individual differences impact the acquisition of L2 declarative and procedural knowledge of two grammatical structures in Spanish. In this experiment, 128 English-speaking learners of Spanish were randomly assigned to four experimental treatments and completed comprehension-based task-essential practice for interpreting object-verb (OV) and ser/estar (SER) sentences in Spanish. Results confirmed the predicted importance of timing of GE: participants who received GE during practice were more likely to develop and retain their knowledge successfully. Results further revealed that the various combinations of rules and practice posed differential task demands on the learners and consequently drew on language aptitude and WM to a different extent. Since these correlations between individual differences and learning outcomes were the least observed in the conditions that received GE during practice, we argue that the suitable integration of rules and practice ameliorated task demands, reducing the burden on the learner, and accordingly mitigated the role of participants’ individual differences. Finally, some evidence also showed that the comprehension practice that participants received for the two structures was not sufficient for the formation of solid productive knowledge, but was more effective for the OV than for the SER construction.

Cross-language influences on new second language vocabulary acquisition: the effect of learning method

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Psicologia

Reported missing - learners in SLA/EFL research

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Task complexity, the Cognition Hypothesis and second language learning and performance

In this paper we describe a taxonomy of task demands which distinguishes between Task Complexity, Task Condition and Task Difficulty. We then describe three theoretical claims and predictions of the Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson 2001, 2003b, 2005a) concerning the effects of task complexity on: (a) language production; (b) interaction and uptake of information available in the input to tasks; and (c) individual differences-task interactions. Finally we summarize the findings of the empirical studies in this special issue which all address one or more of these predictions and point to some directions for continuing, future research into the effects of task complexity on learning and performance.

Improving English as a Second Language (ESL) Pedagogy in One University in Ontario

In this paper, theoretical pedagogical approaches and practical pedagogical approaches are investigated by drawing on English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers’ pedagogical principles and practices, and ESL Chinese students’ second language acquisition and learning needs as they related to improving ESL pedagogy in one university ELP in Ontario. Three experienced ESL teachers were inquired by interviews and 30 ESL Chinese students were surveyed by questionnaires. Based on the mix-method exploratory research design, communicative, task-based, and content-based language teaching approaches are identified and discussed in the light of the interview and questionnaire data.

Gaps in second language sentence processing

Four groups of second language (L2) learners of English from different language backgrounds (Chinese, Japanese, German, and Greek) and a group of native speaker controls participated in an online reading time experiment with sentences involving long-distance whdependencies. Although the native speakers showed evidence of making use of intermediate syntactic gaps during processing, the L2 learners appeared to associate the fronted wh-phrase directly with its lexical subcategorizer, regardless of whether the subjacency constraint was operative in their native language. This finding is argued to support the hypothesis that nonnative comprehenders underuse syntactic information in L2 processing.

Introduction: some notes on the generative study of L3 acquisition.

This article serves as a state-of the-science review of the blossoming field of generative third language (L3) acquisition as well as an introduction to this special issue on the same topic. We present and argue for the relevance of adult L3/Ln acquisition for many perennial questions that have sat at the core of linguistic approaches to adult language acquisition since the Principles and Parameters framework was first adopted into second language acquisition (SLA; e.g. Flynn, 1985, 1987; Liceras, 1985; White, 1985a, 1985b; Schwartz, 1986). Furthermore, we highlight the unique, specific questions that have emerged from studying L3/Ln from a generative perspective thus far while suggesting refinements to these questions and additional ones that should emerge in future inquiry.

Poverty-of-the-stimulus and SLA epistemology: considering L2 knowledge of aspectual phrasal semantics

Coupling a review of previous studies on the acquisition of grammatical aspects undertaken from contrasting paradigmatic views of second language acquisition (SLA) with new experimental data from L2 Portuguese, the present study contributes to this specific literature as well as general debates in L2 epistemology. We tested 31 adult English learners of L2 Portuguese across three experiments, examining the extent to which they had acquired the syntax and (subtle) semantics of grammatical aspect. Demonstrating that many individuals acquired target knowledge of what we contend is a poverty-of-the-stimulus semantic entailment related to the checking of aspectual features encoded in Portuguese preterit and imperfect morphology, namely, a [±accidental] distinction that obtains in a restricted subset of contexts, we conclude that UG-based approaches to SLA are in a better position to tap and gauge underlying morphosyntactic competence, since based on independent theoretical linguistic descriptions, they make falsifiable predictions that are amenable to empirical scrutiny, seek to describe and explain beyond performance, and can account for L2 convergence on poverty-of-the-stimulus knowledge as well as L2 variability/optionality.