Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching
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Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching to czasopismo ukazujące się cztery razy w roku i wydawane przez Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydziału Pedagogiczno-Artystycznego Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu. Językiem publikacji jest język angielski. W czasopiśmie zamieszczane są wcześniej niepublikowane najwyższej jakości prace teoretyczne i badania empiryczne dotyczące uczenia się i nauczania drugiego języka i języków obcych. Artykuły dotyczą nauczania i uczenia się różnych języków obcych, nie tylko języka angielskiego, i ogniskują się na różnych zagadnieniach, począwszy od procesów leżących u podstaw przyswajania języka drugiego, przez różne aspekty nauki języka obcego w warunkach szkolnych i pozaszkolnych, a także procesu nauczania, w tym wyboru programów nauczania, projektowania materiałów, praktyki szkolnej i oceny.
Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching is a refereed journal published four times a year by the Department of English Studies, Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts, Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz, Poland. The language of publication is English. The journal is devoted to reporting previously unpublished highest quality theoretical and empirical research on learning and teaching second and foreign languages. It deals with the learning and teaching of any language, not only English, and focuses on a variety of topics ranging from the processes underlying second language acquisition, various aspects of language learning in instructed and non-instructed settings, as well as different facets of the teaching process, including syllabus choice, materials design, classroom practices and evaluation.
Redaktor naczelny: Mirosław Pawlak
Kontakt: Zakład Filologii Angielskiej
Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu
ul. Nowy Świat 28-30
62-800 Kalisz
Polska
strona www: http://ssllt.amu.edu.pl/
Nazwa wydawcy: Zakład Filologii Angielskiej
Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu
ISSN: 2083-5205
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Item 1. Contents / Notes on Contributors(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej: Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2011-10)Item A call for a multifaceted approach to language learning motivation research: Combining complexity, humanistic, and critical perspectives(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2012) Pigott, JulianIn this paper I give an overview of recent developments in the L2 motivation field, in particular the movement away from quantitative, questionnaire-based methodologies toward smaller-scale qualitative studies incorporating concepts from complexity theory. While complexity theory provides useful concepts for exploring motivation in new ways, it has nothing to say about ethics, morality, ideology, politics, power or educational purpose. Furthermore, calls for its use come primarily from researchers from the quantitative tradition whose aim in importing this paradigm from the physical sciences appears to be to conceptualize and model motivation more accurately. The endeavor therefore remains a fundamentally positivist one. Rather than being embraced as a self-contained methodology, I argue that complexity theory should be used cautiously and prudently alongside methods grounded in other philosophical traditions. Possibilities abound, but here I suggest one possible multifaceted approach combining complexity theory, a humanistic conception of motivation, and a critical perspective.Item A critical review of research on strategies in learning Chinese as both a second and foreign language(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2012-03) Jiang, Xiaoli; Cohen, Andrew D.This article critically reviews strategy research on learning Chinese both as a second and foreign language. Through a careful examination of major data bases in both the Chinese and English languages, the article summarizes research in the field and the principal research methods used in the studies reviewed. Moreover, key limitations in research designs, inconsistencies in reported findings, inappropriate use of research methods, and weaknesses in both Chinese- and English-language publications are discussed. The article concludes by calling for future research paying more attention to current language learning strategy theories and practices.Item Academic and linguistic gains during a semester-long study abroad: A cohort case study(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2013-12) Cai, Wei; Li, Xiangrong; Liu, MeihuaThe present case study investigated university students’ academic and linguistic gains during a semester-long exchange program abroad. Thirty three third-year English majors from a Chinese university answered a battery of questionnaires and 13 of them participated in semi-structured interviews both prior to and after the program. Analyses of the data showed that the participants gained greatly from the exchange program both academically and linguistically. Based on the findings, some implications about exchange programs are discussed.Item Acculturation strategy and language experience in expert ESL speakers: An exploratory study(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej: Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2011) Waniek-Klimczak, EwaAcculturation and language proficiency have been found to be inter-related both from the perspective of second language acquisition (Schumann, 1978, 1986) and socio-psychological adaptation in cross-cultural contacts (Ward, Bochner, & Furnham, 2001). However, the predictions as to the effect of a particular strategy on success differ, with assimilation believed to create most favourable conditions for SLA and integration for general well-being. The present study explores acculturation patterns in three expert users of English as a second language, recent Polish immigrants to the UK, in relation to their language experience. The qualitative data were collected with the use of a questionnaire and analysed with respect to language experience and socioaffective factors. The analysis aimed at better understanding of the relationship between language learning in a formal context and language use in a natural setting on the one hand and the relationship between language expertise and acculturation strategy choice on the other. The results show that in spite of individual differences, expert language users tend to adopt an assimilation rather than integration acculturation strategy. This may suggest that attitudes are related to expertise in English as a second language in a more conservative way than advocated by cross-cultural approaches.Item Achieving academic control in two languages: Drawing on the psychology of language learning in considering the past, the present, and prospects for the future(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2015-06-01) Cohen, AndrewThis paper first considers what it means to become truly proficient in a language other than the native one. It then looks briefly at the evolution of dual language programs. Next, it focuses on the issue of whether the first language (L1) or the second language (L2) serves as the language of mediation. Other dual language program issues are then discussed, such as how proficient learners actually become in academic and social language in the L2, their proficiency in grammar and pronunciation, and possible administrative constraints in the design and execution of such programs. Finally, attention is given to a guidebook written directly for dual language learners and for their teachers in which learners are encouraged to take a proactive role to ensure that they make the most of their dual program language learning and use experiences.Item Acquisition of German pluralization rules in monolingual and multilingual children(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2013-12) Zaretsky, Eugen; Lange, Benjamin P.; Euler, Harald A.; Neumann, KatrinExisting studies on plural acquisition in German have relied on small samples and thus hardly deliver generalizable and differentiated results. Here, overgeneralizations of certain plural allomorphs and other tendencies in the acquisition of German plural markers are described on the basis of test data from 7,394 3- to 5-year- old monolingual German and bi/multilingual immigrant children tested with a modified, validated version of the Marburger Sprachscreening (MSS) language test and 476 children tested with the SETK 3-5 language test. Classified correct and wrong answers to MSS and SETK 3-5 plural items were compared. The acquisition patterns of immigrants corresponded to those of younger German children. Both monolingual German and immigrant children demonstrated generally the same universal frequency and phonetically/phonologically based error patterns, irrespective of their linguistic background, but with different tendencies such as over-generalization of -s by German children only.Item Adversity and redemption: Learning and teaching in the language learning histories of two EFL student-teachers(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2015-06-01) Baum, Miri TashmaA better understanding of the multifaceted, dynamic and situated identity of the language learner stands at the center of much current SLA research. One of the main ways in which it is investigated is through the examination of autobiographical language learning histories. In an effort to better understand some of the processes which lead to a motivated, confident and successful language learner and user, this article analyzes the language learning histories of two EFL student-teachers, notable for their commitment to the learning and teaching of English. A close analysis of their narratives, focusing on thematic, stylistic and performative aspects, reveals what narrative psychologist McAdams (2006) has called “redemptive” patterns, that is, narrative structures in which hardship leads to inner growth and difficulties become “springboards” (Pals, 2006) to success. The two narrators also display a similar flexibility in their evolving self-positioning in response to the difficulties they narrate, and for both, attachment to the imagined community of Anglophone popular culture is an essential component in this process. Together, the learning experiences delineated in the accounts support the call for student-focused pedagogy, which puts emphasis on creating a positive emotional atmosphere, on the one hand, and providing rich intercultural knowledge, on the other.Item Affective variables, parental involvement and competence among South Korean high school learners of English(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2013-03) Morris, Annie; Lafonataine, Marc; Pichette, François; de Serres, LindaThis study investigated the relationships between various affective variables and two measures of competence in English, for 190 South Korean high school students. A 55-item questionnaire was used to measure attitudes (Attitudes toward English Speakers and their Communities and Attitudes toward the English- speaking Culture), motivation (Motivational Intensity, Desire to Learn and Attitudes toward the Learning of English), amotivation, parental involvement (Active Parental Encouragement, Passive Parental Encouragement and Parental Pressure), parental disinterest and students’ competence in L2 (English- EXAM and English-SELF). Pearson product-moment coefficients indicate that active and passive forms of parental encouragement correlate with motivation to learn, as conceptualized by Gardner (1985, 2010), as well as with parental pressure, which suggests that South Korean students report undergoing forms of pressure when their parents actively or passively encourage them. Furthermore, the obtained correlations of the active and passive forms of encouragement with different variables suggest that the two forms represent two distinct concepts. While parental disinterest correlated negatively with motivational variables, parental pressure correlated only with motivational intensity, and only weakly. Therefore, parental pressure seems not to interact significantly with participants’ attitudes, motivation and competence. Multiple linear regression analyses confirm the importance of motivation to learn for students' L2 competence.Item Affordances theory in multilingualism studies(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2012) Larissa Aronin, David SingletonThe concept of affordances originating in Gibson’s work (Gibson, 1977) is gaining ground in multilingualism studies (cf. Aronin and Singleton, 2010; Singleton and Aronin, 2007; Dewaele, 2010). Nevertheless, studies investigating affordances in respect of teaching, learning or using languages are still somewhat rare and tend to treat isolated aspects of multilingualism. This is despite the fact that the theory of affordances can actually provide a valuable, supplementary, up-to-date framework within which a clearer, sharper description and explication of the intriguing range of attributes of multilingual communities, educational institutions and individuals, as well as teaching practices, become feasible. It is important that not only researchers and practitioners (teachers, educators, parents, community and political actors) but also language users and learners themselves should be aware of how to identify or, if necessary, design new affordances for language acquisition and learning. The aim of this article is to adapt the concept of affordances to multilingualism studies and additional language teaching, and in so doing advance theoretical understanding in this context. To this end the article contains a brief summary of the findings so far available. The article also goes further into defining the ways of how affordances work in relation to multilingualism and second language teaching and puts forward an integrated model of affordances.Item Age effects on the acquisition of nominal and verbal inflections in an instructed setting(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej: Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2011-10) Pfenninger, Simone E.This study examines evidence for the hypothesis (e.g., Muñoz, 2006) that an early starting age is not necessarily more beneficial to the successful learning of L2 inflectional morphology in strictly formal instructional settings. The present author investigated the quantitative and qualitative differences in the production and reception of 5 selected inflectional morphemes in English written performance and competence tasks by 100 early classroom learners and 100 late classroom learners of the same age. While an earlier age of first exposure and a longer instructional period was not associated with higher accuracy scores, the findings suggest distinct patterns in the productive and receptive knowledge abilities of inflectional morphology; the late classroom learners’ superiority seems to be rooted in their greater reliance upon memory-based item-by-item associative learning, as they are significantly stronger on tasks that might cause semantic difficulties, whereas the early classroom learners are marginally better on pattern-based processes for certain morphemes. This finding possibly supports Ullman’s (2005) proposal that, as procedural memory declines with age, older starters have difficulty in discovering regularities in the input and thus over-rely on the declarative memory system in L2 learning.Item An investigation of Chinese university EFL learner’s foreign language reading anxiety, reading strategy use and reading comprehension performance(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2015-03) Lu, Zhongshe; Liu, MeihuaThe present study explored the interrelations between foreign language (FL) reading anxiety, FL reading strategy use and their interactive effect on FL reading comprehension performance at the tertiary level in China. Analyses of the survey data collected from 1702 university students yielded the following results: (a) Both Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS) and Foreign Language Reading Strategy Use Scale (FLRSUS) had important subcomponents, (b) more than half of the students generally did not feel anxious when reading English, and were confident in and satisfied with their English reading proficiency. Meanwhile, (c) more than half of them moderately used different types of reading strategies such as planning, checking and confirming, predicting and assessing, when reading English, (d) compared with their female peers, male students felt significantly more anxious when facing reading activities, less satisfied with their English reading proficiency, and used specific analyzing and planning strategies significantly less often during a reading activity, (e) FLRAS was significantly inversely related to FLRSUS, and both were significantly correlated with the students’ FL reading comprehension performance, and (f) FLRAS (overall FL reading anxiety), FLRAS1 (general anxiety about FL reading), and FLRSUS2 (predicting strategies) were good predictors of FL reading comprehension performance. Based on the findings, some implications are discussed.Item An investigation of the self-related concepts and foreign language motivation of young Deaf1 and hard-of-hearing learners in Hungary(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2015-06-01) Csizér, Kata; Kontra, Edit H.; Piniel, KatalinIn recent years increased attention has been given in applied linguistics to the learning processes of various groups of special needs (SN) students, especially to those whose achievement is impeded by dyslexia or other learning difficulties. However, students with sensory impairment, particularly those who are Deaf or severely hard of hearing (HOH), seem to have remained on the periphery of second language acquisition (SLA) research although they constitute a highly interesting group both from a linguistic as well as a cultural point of view. Since the best approach to understanding how this special minority handles foreign language learning is by first exploring their so-called individual differences, a nationwide research project was launched in Hungary to investigate students’ language learning beliefs, motivation, strategy use and motivated learning behavior. As part of that project, the present paper intends to detail how self-related concepts of hearing impaired students at eight different SN schools can be described. In order to gain an in-depth understanding, a mixed-method research design was employed. First, a barrier-free instrument was used to measure learner variables among 105 14-19-year-old Deaf and HOH learners. Then 31 individual interviews were conducted with selected students using maximum variety sampling. The quantitative data indicate that Deaf and HOH (D/HH) learners lack pronounced, well-developed and detailed future ideal L2 selves and corresponding visions to guide their learning. Another important finding is the paramount importance of language learning experience for our D/HH participants. Based on the analysis of the qualitative data, we can conclude that students’ language learning experiences are largely shaped by the choice of language used as the medium of education, the intensity and content of the English classes as well as how far students internalize extrinsic motives.Item Analyzing randomized controlled interventions: Three notes for applied linguists(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2015-03) Vanhove, JanI discuss three common practices that obfuscate or invalidate the statistical analysis of randomized controlled interventions in applied linguistics. These are (a) checking whether randomization produced groups that are balanced on a number of possibly relevant covariates, (b) using repeated measures ANOVA to analyze pretest-posttest designs, and (c) using traditional significance tests to analyze interventions in which whole groups were assigned to the conditions (cluster randomization). The first practice is labeled superfluous, and taking full advantage of important covariates regardless of balance is recommended. The second is needlessly complicated, and analysis of covariance is recommended as a more powerful alternative. The third produces dramatic inferential errors, which are largely, though not entirely, avoided when mixed-effects modeling is used. This discussion is geared towards applied linguists who need to design, analyze, or assess intervention studies or other randomized controlled trials. Statistical formalism is kept to a minimum throughout.Item Anxiety over EFL speaking and writing: A view from language classrooms(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej: Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2011) Gkonou, ChristinaThe assumption that foreign language learners experience a high level of anxiety mainly when faced with speaking activities implies that research should focus on those learners prone to anxiety over that skill. Despite not being widely investigated, foreign language writing anxiety also seems to be a concern for a large number of students. Drawing on questionnaire findings, the study reported in this article examined the nature of, and the connection between the English language classroom speaking and writing anxiety of 128 Greek EFL learners in private language school settings. Speaking anxiety was operationalised by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope's (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale, and writng anxiety was measured by Gungle and Taylor's (1989) ESL version of the Daly and Miller's 1975) Writing Apprehension Test. Interconstruct and intraconstruct associations between the two instruments were examined through principal components analysis with varimax rotation and correlations check. A significant and high correlation was found between classroom anxiety and speaking anxiety, thus indicating that the English language classroom context is a source of speaking anxiety. Writing anxiety was found to load primarily on items relating to attitudes towards writing in English followed by self-derogation for the process and fear of negative evaluation by the teachers and/or by fellow students. On the basis of the findings, suggestions are made concerning the reassessment of the influence that writing anxiety exerts on classroom performance and the adoption of teaching techniques that promote topic-centred process writing.Item Apt to change: The problematic of language awareness and language aptitude in age-related research(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2014-10) Singleton, DavidLanguage awareness and language aptitude often crop up in discussion of various second language acquisition phenomena, including age-related phenomena. There is a troublesome and ongoing definitional and theoretical problem in this connec- tion: Different researchers have different perspectives on what is to be included in the respective notions; on how do to measure language awareness, on the one hand, and language aptitude, on the other; and on how or whether to differentiate the two constructs in terms of innateness versus experience. This article begins by addressing the entire problematic of the conceptualization of language awareness and language aptitude. The language awareness/aptitude issue features in the mat- urational debate in connection with two claims. First, it is discussed in relation to the view that second-language (L2) learning of older individuals is explicit (whereas that of younger individuals is implicit). Second, it is referred to in regard to the notion that there are older L2 learners who appear to be able to “beat” the critical period thanks to high levels of language aptitude. The article critically explores both these propositions and concludes that neither is particularly safe, especially given the uncertain state of the relevant research contextItem Assessing instructional effects of proficiency-level EFL pronunciation teaching under a connected speech-based approach(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2014-12) Euler, Sasha S.This article discusses the assessment of pronunciation instruction under a new approach to pronunciation teaching centered on the role of connected speech in the prosodic system of English. It also offers a detailed discussion of various em- pirical problems in teaching-oriented L2 pronunciation research and suggests ways of addressing them in intervention studies. A new explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was developed for this study, which was used to assess 10 advanced EFL learners in Germany before and after 13 weeks of instruction. The results revealed co-occurring developments in learners’ use of prosody and connected speech in line with the rationale of the approach. The findings lead to various implications for language teaching and assessment. For future research, ways are suggested to increase the validity and predictiveness of L2 pronunciation research from both empirical and pedagogical perspectivesItem Book review(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej: Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2011-04) Killick, SteveItem Book review(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2012-03)Item Book review(Zakład Filologii Angielskiej Wydział Pedagogiczno-Artystyczny Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Kaliszu, 2012-06)