Whereas ten years ago most SLA researchers assumed a rationalist, "scientific" approach to theory construction, recently, growing numbers have adopted relativist positions that strongly criticise the methods, and authority of the rationalist/empiricist paradigm. Apart from the problem of research methodology, other problems make progress in the construction of a theory of SLA difficult: the proliferation of theories, contradictions among them, and, most important of all, confusion about the domain and objectives of a theory of SLA. This thesis addresses the problems outlined above by returning to first principles and asking what it is that we can know about the world, whether there is any such thing as reliable knowledge, what is special about scientific methodology, and what the best way of tackling the complex task of explaining SLA might be. While previous surveys of SLA research exist, no previous attempt has been made to examine SLA research in terms of its epistemological underpinnings and its relation to scientific method, or to evaluate different research programmes and putative theories in terms of how they form part of, and contribute towards, a rational, scientific explanation of the phenomena of SLA. Having outlined basic terms and the problems to be dealt with, I give a brief history of scientific method and explain the objections to a rationalist methodology raised by various relativists. I then attempt to defend rationality against relativists' attacks and suggest criteria that can guide a rationalist research programme in SLA. The questions of the domain of SLA theories, what counts as an explanation, and different theory types are examined. Having suggested guidelines for a rationalist approach to SLA theory construction, I examine different approaches to SLA in the history of SLA, assessing them in terms of the guidelines. Finally I suggest what the domain of a theory of SLA should be and discuss to what extent theories to date offer a satisfactory explanation of the phenomena within that domain.

This thesis is an exploratory investigation of the effectiveness of a Contact Approach for communicative language teaching. The approach centres around learner-guided contacts with native speakers of English in the target community setting. The subjects of the study were 159 Japanese high school and university students and four Japanese teachers of English. These subjects had had an average of five years of English language instruction in Japan and had come to Vancouver Community College in Vancouver, Canada, to take a two or three week Summer English course to improve their conversational skills. The theoretical side of the thesis stresses the importance of creating learning conditions that allow the learners to engage in meaningful communication with others, and also creating conditions that provide the learners with a sense of security and confidence so that their contacts with native speakers outside the classroom do not become a negative learning experience. The empirical side of the study looks at the effectiveness of such an approach to learning for meeting the learners' cognitive and affective needs. The evaluation is very much an illuminative one which draws on both qualitative and quantitative data. The findings of the major study showed that the Contact Approach was a major contributor in meeting the learners' cognitive and affective needs. The learners, through their contact with native speakers, had learnt a lot about the culture and its people. They had shown a significant increase in self-confidence to communicate in English, and a significant decrease in anxiety about interacting and conversing with native speakers outside the classroom.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis investigates the role of metonymy in communication, in creating text, in learner communication and in translation. I make the claim that metonymy, defined here as the ability to recognize part-whole relations between things, words and concepts, is the essential mechanism behind a whole variety of linguistic phenomena, normally dealt with in linguistics as distinct topics. In the General Theory of Metonymy presented here, I suggest that metonymy is a unifying principle behind how we process language. I discuss a range of data to demonstrate metonymy at work. I show that metonymic principles are not just in play in metonymic language but also in metaphoric and literal language. I argue that metonymy not only offers alternative ways of referring to entities, but is powerful in giving nuance and spin, and is the key to understanding why language is so fit for purpose in giving us the flexibility and subtlety so important in our social dealings with others. I illustrate the role metonymy plays in our lives by examining data from social and recreational activities where metonymy is central and seems to be explored for its own sake. In the Metonymic Theory of Learner Communication I propose that learner communication relies in a number of different ways on metonymic processing; and in the Metonymic Theory of Translation I propose that translation also relies heavily on metonymic processing. The burgeoning interest in metonymy in recent years has generated an extensive literature. This thesis attempts to make sense of this body of knowledge, offers an original synthesis of it, proposes how it might be developed and suggests practical applications of it. I suggest that a new discipline of Metonymics might emerge and that this could make a valuable contribution in reframing issues of debate in a variety of different areas of practice.

This study focuses on the metalinguistic knowledge (MLK) of experienced Saudi teachers (ETs) and fourth year student teachers (STs) who had graduated or would graduate from a particular University in Saudi Arabia. The main aim of the study was to investigate the overall level of the participants’ MLK (including their knowledge of grammar rules and metalinguistic terms), the more specific nature of the participants’ MLK, and their perceptions of their own MLK. Moreover, the study aimed to reveal any significant differences between the two groups. The study drew on a mixed methods research approach. The quantitative data involved an MLK test and questionnaires, and the qualitative data comprised semi-structured interviews, observations and role-playing. The ET group significantly outscored the ST group on the test, demonstrating a higher level of MLK. The study showed that, for both groups, a good level of MLK at sentence level did not guarantee an ability to apply it to more complex grammar items in text. It also revealed that both groups’ receptive knowledge of rules was better that than their productive knowledge. Moreover, the teachers in both groups lacked an understanding of phrases and clauses and were poor in their ability to produce the corresponding terms. Despite this, the ETs generally displayed substantially higher levels of confidence in their overall level of MLK and all its individual components, than their actual performance on the test instrument would justify and did not seem motivated to enhance their MLK. The STs, in contrast, generally lacked confidence in their overall level of MLK, and all the related individual components, with the exception of their productive knowledge of terms. For both groups, there was a gap between their awareness of limitations and their actual knowledge. They were aware of gaps in their knowledge, but not precisely what these were.

No description available.

This thesis takes a critical look at the broader ideologies ensconced in English-Only approaches to English-language education and considers their impacts on Latino students, families, communities, and identities. Consistent with the objectives and methodologies found within Chicano Studies, this thesis is concerned primarily with eliminating racial hierarchies by decentralizing hegemonic practices that emphasize English monolingualism as a key signifier of American identity and as a primary goal of the U.S.’s educational system. In short, the thesis argues that English-Only methods of language instruction work to keep the boundaries of American identity protected, albeit narrowed, within a white and middle-class framework; and characterizes Latinos as a group whose culture and language lacks legitimacy within the United States. This has significant impacts not only on their education, but on their family life and representations within popular culture. To better understand the complicated nexus of race, ethnicity and class in which the debate over language education is situated, the thesis draws on recent developments in Language Studies and Critical Pedagogy to outline the relationship between social identity, language, power and education. This thesis is also an attempt to broaden the Chicano Studies tradition by emphasizing epistemology over subject matter. Widening the scope of Chicano Studies beyond a unique Chicano experience moves the tradition forward allowing researchers to effectively adopt a Chicano Studies framework for discussing other Latino ethnicities (Puerto Rican, Cuban, etc) and other minority language communities.

This study investigates incidental L2 vocabulary learning in a computer-mediated reading setting. The objective of the study is to determine the effect on lexical retentio~ of (1) computerised word-focused activities, (2) different types' of vocabulary learning activities, (3) frequency of word encounters, and (4) spacing between encounters. ( Sixty intermediate-level Thai learners of English (forty-five distributed across four experimental groups, and fifteen in a no-treatment control group) participated in the four- week experimental study. Over two weeks, they read two texts in one of four conditions: with an interactive multiple-choice gloss (IMG) activity; with a vocabulary enhancement exercise (VEE) activity; with both vocabulary activities; and with no supplementary vocabulary activity. Three vocabulary tests (form-supply, meaning-supply, and form- meaning matching tests) were administered immediately after the final reading task and again two weeks later. The results revealed a significant positive impact of the word- focused activities, particularly on short-term retention (the immediate test). For longer- term retention (the delayed test), the benefit of the supplementary vocabulary activities remained effective, in conditions where the activities included the IMG. In addition, the combined activities were best resistant to word loss, while the IMG was potentially better at mitigating word losses than the VEE. The study further examines the combined effect of the number of word encounters (one or two occurrences) and the length of time between repetitions (close or wide spacing). The test scores show a significant relationship between number of encounters and short- and longer-term word retention. Words that occurred twice were remembered significantly better than those occurring once. It was also found that the timing of explicit focus in relation to the tests was important for word recall. Words that were explicitly focused on through the activities and tested on the same day were remembered significantly better than those that were not. However, the length of time between repetitions had no significant effect. The study discusses the facilitative role of word-focused activities, particularly the interactive multiple-choice gloss, and the benefit of multiple exposures in incidental vocabulary learning from reading. It also suggests ways to implement the activities in classroom teaching. Keywords: Incidental vocabulary learning, word-focused activities, vocabulary retention, interactive multiple-choice glosses, vocabulary enhancement exercises, frequency of word exposures, spacing effect.

The role of LI in foreign language classrooms has been a matter for debate in FL teaching and learning for many years. In this thesis, it will be argued that it is now time for the current dogma "always teach in the FL" to be questioned and replaced by a view which re-integrates the LI into FL classrooms in a positive way. The thesis will trace the historical basis for and implications of the current view first in relation to language learning theories, and then in relation to language teaching theories and practices in the context of the classroom. On the basis of this re-examination of ideas, it will be suggested that many of the arguments leading to the view that the FL should always be used are either questionable in themselves or inappropriate for use in the FL context. In the process, an optimal view of LI use and a theoretically based framework of potential functional LI uses will be proposed. The theoretically based framework will then be used to provide the basis for an empirical investigation of the perceptions and actual use of the LI in a number of 'Eadadi' schools in Egypt. A study of what teachers actually do reveals the current pattern of use of the LI, and a questionnaire for teachers and students reveals the attitudes behind this use. Teachers' attitudes will then be compared to their actual use to find the motivations behind teachers' use of the LI, and how far it is optimal. Extracts of classroom interactions are then presented in order to illustrate how use of the LI could have been used in an optimal way, presenting more learning opportunities to the learners. The thesis concludes with a set of recommendations for the use of the LI in FL classrooms.