Studies on the role of storage and computation in native speakers' processing of complex words have shown morphological priming effects that differ between regular and irregular inflection (see Clahsen 1999, Rastle and Davis, 2008 for review): when stems of regularly inflected target words presented after morphologically related prime words (walked-WALK), word/non-word-decisions are made faster than after the presentation of unrelated primes (bank- WALK), often just as fast as after the presentation of the stem itself (walk- WALK). For irregulars like slept, priming of the stem (e.g. sleep) is reduced. Some researchers have argued that this results from regularly inflected words being decomposed into affixes and stems, which are then pre-activated for word/non-word decisions, while irregulars are stored as wholes that are only associatively linked to their stems (Clahsen 1999). Others argue that priming-effect sizes depend on formal/orthographic overlap between primes and targets (Gonnerman et al., 2007). It is also debated whether second language (L2) learners employ different processing mechanisms, or if they are just slower and less efficient (Indefrey, 2006). Moreover, it is unclear whether formal/orthographic information plays the same role in L1- and L2-processing. This thesis presents four priming experiments with English native speakers and L2- learners of English, with Arabic and Mandarin Chinese Ll. These experiments used different priming methods (cross-modal, overt visual and masked priming) to study regularly inflected verbs (walked-WALK), irregularly inflected verbs (sleep-SLEP1) and orthographic ally/formally related pairs (yellow-YELL). The results show significant morphological priming in all groups. L1-learners exhibited the expected priming reduction for irregulars and no formal/orthographic priming. L2-learners showed morphological priming, but less priming for regulars than the Ll-group and significant orthographic priming effects for purely orthographically related primes (yellow-YELL). This suggests that L2-speakers are less sensitive to the morphological regular/irregular-distinction and rely more on orthographic information compared to Ll speakers.

One of the key factors that determine speech intelligibility under challenging conditions is the difference between the accents of the talker and listener. For example, normal-hearing listeners can be accurate at recognizing a wide range of accents in quiet, but in noise they are much poorer (e.g., 20 percentage points less accurate) if they try to understand native (L1) or non-native (L2) accented speech that does not closely match their own accent. The aim of this PhD research is to provide a more detailed account of this talker-listener interaction in order to establish the underlying factors involved in L1 and L2 speech communication in noise for normal-hearing populations. Study 1 examined the effects of L2 proficiency on the L1-L2 accent interaction in noise, with Study 2 investigating the contribution of acoustic similarity to accent intelligibility. Study 3 examined L1 listeners’ adaptation processes to unfamiliar accents in noise. Finally, Study 4 took a cross-linguistic approach and investigated how language experience and accent similarity affect the talker-listener accent interaction in noise across languages. Overall, the results revealed that several factors contribute strongly to the L1-L2 accent interaction in noise, with the emerging findings contributing to our general understanding of speech in noise perception. For instance, acoustic similarity in the accents of the talkers and the listeners accounted for a great amount of the variance in intelligibility. Linguistic background and L2 experience were also shown to play a major role in the interaction, shaping the listeners’ accent processing patterns in their L1 and L2, as well as general speech-in-noise processes, with bilingual and highly proficient L2 listeners showing facilitation effects for speech processing in both their languages. Finally, the selective tuning processes found for standard accents in English were not replicated for French, indicating that accent processing varies across languages.

This thesis reports on a study of a group of L2 English speakers' perceptions of pronunciation in English as a lingua franca (ELF), with respect to issue pertaining to identity and pedagogy. The study was carried out with local undergraduate students at the University of Hong Kong in 2010 and 2011, and its central aim was to contribute to theorizing in ELF studies by providing empirical evidence of perceptions from the perspectives of 'lay' end-users.

No description available.

English has become the preferred language for the dissemination of academic knowledge world-wide and in higher education both students and lecturers make extensive use of academic texts in English. This study takes as a starting point a concern about the difficulties L2 readers in a college of agriculture in Portugal face in reading academic texts in English and considers how their reading could be improved. The present study took place in a teaching situation which can be seen as naturalistic, in the sense that it was carried out in the researcher's normal work situation following both the normal conventions of Portuguese academic life and the pre-existing social realities and routines of the college. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether awareness of certain text features and academic genres would help students and lecturers in the college to improve their reading and whether there would be any differences between these two types of academic reader. Attention was also given to rhetorical differences between Portuguese and English academic writing styles. The effects of a language awareness approach to L2 reading instruction upon the ability of 20 Portuguese agriculture students and 15 lecturers to improve their reading were investigated. A range of qualitative and quantitative data were collected before, during and after the course and analysed in order to describe and understand whether the approach facilitated reading: the data included pre- and post-course questionnaires, interviews, pre- and post-course tests, warm-up and follow-up tasks done in class, nonparticipant observation, audiotapes of lessons, lesson feedback questionnaires, tasks done at home and participant observations. The research findings indicate that participants and the teacher-researcher have different views or perceptions of language and academic texts. These divergences in perspective are grounded in the different, scientific, disciplinary cultures to which these L2 readers/learners and the teacher-researcher belong and which make them operate in different paradigms. They are also influenced by rhetorical differences between Portuguese and English academic writing styles. It is further suggested that an awareness-raising approach is an effective way of attending to reading problems in L2 since it allows learners to work on the development of their skills (e.g. skimming, scanning), using both bottom-up and top-down strategies while, at the same time, increasing their understanding of the rhetorical structure, discourse conventions and social contexts of written academic discourse in English. On the basis of these findings practical implications for designing academic reading courses in EAP/ESP contexts are also proposed.

Language teacher cognition research originated from teacher cognition studies in general education. It is a well-established domain of research concerned with what teachers think, know and believe and the relationship of these mental constructs to their classroom practice. Although research in the field of language teaching cognition has proliferated in the last 10 years, particularly in the teaching of grammar, there are very few studies on the teaching of reading in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and no specific studies which relate to the teaching of advanced level reading to adults in preparation classes for a high stakes international examination. The present study aims to fill the gap in our understanding of the teaching of reading by examining the cognitions and practice of four experienced teachers of English working in a non-profit language teaching centre in Greece. The research framework for this study in language teacher cognition is an exploratory interpretative paradigm. The research design is naturalistic rather than experimental and concerned with understanding the teachers' knowledge base and how this knowledge has been shaped. Central to the interpretative nature of this study are the combined qualitative methods of classroom observation, individual teacher interviews and a scenario-based group discussion including all four teachers. The combination of methods is aimed at enhancing the ecological validity of the study, and an attempt to relate teacher thinking to real teaching situations. The findings suggest that the four 'teachers in this study mostly shared similar practices in the organization of their instruction, explicit instruction of reading strategies and mode of delivery and that there were very few inconsistencies between their beliefs and practice. The findings also indicated that teachers' cognitions and practice are informed by undergraduate studies in general, professional coursework in teaching as well as accumulated Classroom experience, particularly in teaching examination preparation classes. These results have strong implications for pre-service and in-service teacher education courses and seminars in EFL.

The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate critically the literature and research findings of SLA pertaining to the phenomenon variously known as transfer, interference, or cross linguistic inf luence. The first chapter focuses on different models of second language acquisition and accounts of transfer therein. By examining different views of the acquisition process it is hoped to/highlight the interaction between universal and language specif ic features of language learning. Chapter Two deals with the competence performance distinction as it relates to cross linguistic inf luence. While there is relatively little dispute about the presence of LI influenced features in inter language production, there is more debate about whether these features reveal anything about the knowledge which is acquired, or whether such features are an artefact of the production process itself. Chapter Threelooks at attempts to give a principled account of what gets transferred where, under what conditions, and why. One criticism sometimes aimed at transfer research is the concentration of empirical studies into particular language domains such as phonology and grammar while other important areas of language acquisition are relatively under-researched. Chapter Four therefore looks at research into cross linguistic influence as it relates to pragmatics and discourse features of language learning. The stated objective of this thesis is a critical evaluation of SLA literature in an attempt to account for the role of crosslinguistic influence in the overall acquisition of a second language.

In an attempt to improve English language teaching to students with visual impairment in Egypt, this study explores the provision of EFL to students with visual impairment in Egypt in order to establish whether it is adequate to enable these students to meet the communicative aims and goals of the English syllabus as stated by the Ministry of Education, which has a policy of equal access to education for students with disability. A secondary aim is the collection of views on inclusive education, which is a relatively new educational concept in Egypt. The research investigates the perspectives of 198 students with visual impairment in both preparatory and secondary stages in six schools serving two areas in Egypt, one of which is a school for partially sighted students, whereas the remaining five schools are for students with visual impairment (blind). The views of all 23 EFL teachers in these schools are also analysed. The study adopts a qualitative approach employing the following methods of data collection: classroom observation including videotaping, semi-structured interviews with teachers and students and incidental data collection. Three of the schools, two for students with visual impairment and one for partially sighted students, are described in case studies. The data from all six schools is then comprehensively analysed in order to extract common themes across all schools in the sample to complement the case studies. Provision of educational services to students with visual impairment was found to be inadequate in various respects. In addition, unequal conditions existed between different schools for students with visual impairment and also within the schools. The major problem was the lack of specialist training received by the teachers either for teaching EFL or for teaching students with visual impairment. This omission was particularly serious in the case of teachers with visual impairment. The inadequacy of training existed at both pre- and in-service levels. This led most importantly to the omission of the listening and speaking practice so central to a communicative approach to language learning and so essential for students with visual impairment. Physical conditions in schools were not always appropriate. Essential material resources e. g. Braille machines, tape recorders were scarce and unevenly distributed. Supplementary language practice materials, available to fully sighted students, were not available for these students. Inclusion was not rejected as a policy, but there was a common concern among teachers and students about the response of the larger society. The following conclusions are drawn: there is a need for awareness raising about people with disabilities in society in general and in the educational world more particularly. It is suggested that specialised pre-service training to student teachers in the Special Education Section as well as compulsory refresher courses to all in-service teachers would increase EFL teaching effectiveness to students with visual impairment. Consideration is given to the content and organisation of such courses. Recommendations are made for collaborative efforts on the part of concerned ministries to raise community awareness towards persons with disabilities and introduce special education to all student teachers in order to pave the way to successful inclusive educational, and rehabilitation efforts

A number of studies of interest to TBL T and SLA researchers have examined L2 task complexity in pedagogical and assessment contexts by using models of cognitive complexity to predict and account for complexity in learner performances as responses to tasks (e.g. Chalhoub-Deville, 2001; Elder, Iwashita & McNamara, 2002; Robinson, 2001, 2005; Skehan & Foster, 1999,2001; Wigglesworth, 2001). These experimental studies manipulated task variables in order to identify how those variables impact complexity-as determined by quantitative measures of fluency, accuracy and complexity-in the resulting performances. The findings have varied considerably, both within and across studies, however, drawing their underlying assumptions into critical view and creating an opportunity for other theories and methods in applied linguistics to bring new light to the phenomenon of complexity. Complex dynamic systems theory provides a useful framework for better understanding complexity in this applied linguistics problem space (Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008).

There are two aims of this research. The first is to gain an understanding of Japanese university students' concepts of reading English as a second language. This focuses on what they read, why they read and their attitudes towards reading a first and second language (LI and L2). The second is to develop and demonstrate the use of a culturally valid approach to research. Aspects relating to all dimensions of research are fully and transparently described to show how culturally valid research was accomplished. A study of 305 Japanese university students in Tokyo was conducted using questionnaires concerning the frequency of reading Japanese (L1) and English (L2), the students' purposes for reading English in the future and their ideas relating to reading English and Japanese. Supportive interviews with six of the students were also conducted to provide further perspectives. Quantitative data was statistically analysed to identify trends and relationships and qualitative data was coded using categories grounded in the students' responses. The findings of this study provide a better understanding of many aspects of Japanese university students' concepts of reading and reveal that reading Japanese and English is an integral part of their lives. They also demonstrate the interactive relationship between reading L1 and L2; they provide a possible model of the construct of reading in both L1 and L2; they expand the parameters of the context of reading; and they have potential application to teaching. Moreover, this study demonstrates the value of using a culturally valid approach and provides an illustrative example of guidelines for conducting research in a culturally valid way that can be applied to research in other contexts.