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This study investigates the acquisition of English in a nine year old totally blind student (Amanda) who has English-as-a Second Language (ESL). The study demonstrates the intricate relationship between language and interactive experiences. This case study will show the contrast in expressive language before and after a transition into a grade four class. In this classroom, Amanda was expected to participate and interact with her teacher and classmates. Data was collected on videotapes from I960-1967 and language samples were recorded from 1966-1990. Additional testing was also used to determine post transitional development. Language samples were analyzed and results of pre and post means of Mean Length of Utterance, Complete Sentence Usage, Function Word Usage, Braille Letter Recognition, and Braille Writing were determined. Results indicated that significant improvement occurred in Amanda's expressive language following transition into the grade four classroom. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The number of people learning English as a second or foreign language has increased dramatically over the last two decades. Many of these second language learners are university students who must attain very sophisticated academic skills. To a great extent, their academic success hinges on their ability to read a second language. This multiplecase study investigated first language (LI) and second language (L2) reading strategies in academic settings. The study drew on Bernhardt's (2000) socio-cognitive model of second language reading. Five Chinese students in a graduate program in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) volunteered to participate in the study. A combination of data collection techniques was employed including think-alouds, interviews, learning logs, classroom observations, course materials, and the participants' reading samples. The results showed that there were similarities and differences between LI and L2 reading strategies. Although evidence was found supporting the view of cognitive universals and socio-cultural constraints, individual differences at the cognitive level and similarities across cultures were also identified. The findings of this study indicate that the comparison between LI and L2 academic reading should take into consideration the similarities and differences at both cognitive and cultural levels. Implications are discussed in relation to the construction of an L2 transfer model as well as the delivery of L2 reading instruction. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

A learner of L2 normally attains a certain level of competence which then stagnates, thereby rarely accomplishes native-like competence of the target-language (TL). This bottleneck effect is accounted for through the E-Tether Theory (ETT), which is the main thesis of this dissertation. The ETT argues that the L2 E-grammar of a learner's community exerts a centrifugal force that draws the I-grammar of the learner towards it. This force, christened as the "E-tether", stems from the learner's identification with his speech community and from the linguistic input provided by the local E-grammar. When the local E-grammar is not identical to the TL grammar, the E-tether is a double-edge sword that encourages the development of the L2 I-grammar in the initial stages, but then prevents the I-grammar from progression towards the TL. By considering how social environment affects the I-grammar of individual learners through E-languages, the ETT provides a more comprehensive account to the bottleneck effect.;The validity of the proposed ETT is examined in this dissertation through two empirical studies: (i) the acquisition of English consonant clusters by the native Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong, and (ii) the acquisition of the same structures by the native Cantonese speakers in Guangzhou. In the two studies, the ETT is tested by seeing whether the individuals in the two cities attitudinally incline towards the phonological patterns of Hong Kong English (HKE) and of Guangzhou English (GZE), which are the E-languages of the two communities. The E-grammar in each city is generalized from the productions of consonant clusters by 10 speakers and is analyzed under the framework of Optimality Theory; the attitudes towards the E-grammar are obtained through a language attitude test implemented to 129 participants in Hong Kong and 66 in Guangzhou. Two findings emerge from the results. First, there is a tendency in HKE and in GZE to produce syllabic obstruents and to devoice word-final obstruents. Both patterns are also attitudinally accepted by the participants in the two cities. Second, when there is more than one strategy in the local E-grammar to avoid consonant clusters, the one that better preserves intelligibility is more likely to be accepted. The observed acceptance of the L2 speakers towards the "non-standard" L2 patterns can hardly be explained if one does not acknowledge the role of the local E-grammar. The findings thus lend support to the ETT.;Besides the Hong Kong study and the Guangzhou study, there is evidence showing that the ETT can work in a range of social contexts, and can apply to domains other than phonological acquisition.

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Jiang, Changsheng. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 279-313). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract, appendix A and C also in Chinese.

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published_or_final_version / Applied English Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This thesis investigates non-native language acquisition of the verbal and nominal functional domains in Second language (L2) English and second/third language (L2/L3) French by Chinese and Vietnamese speakers. Six experimental studies are reported. Two current competing theories in the field of theoretical second language acquisition (L2A), namely, the Failed Features Hypothesis (FFH) and the Full Transfer Full Access (FTFA) model are compared and their applicability to third language acquisition (L3A) evaluated in the light of our data. / A version of the Minimalist Program is assumed in this work. Predictions based on FFH and FTFA are as follows: As far as L2A is concerned, both FFH and FTFA predict full transfer of L1 in the L2 initial state. With respect to L3A, FFH predicts the initial state to be L1 while FTFA predicts either L1 or L2. The two models diverge regarding their predictions on the L2/L3 transitional and steady states. In particular, FFH hypothesizes permanent "failure" and persistent L1 influence in L2/L3 interlanguage while FTFA hypothesizes full access and acquirability of target structures. / Three L2/L3 experimental studies on the verbal functional domain (i.e. tense and agreement) and another three on the nominal functional domain (i.e. the Determiner Phrase) were conducted. Subjects include Chinese monolingual learners of English, Vietnamese monolingual learners of French as well as Chinese-English bilingual learners of French. A variety of tasks were used to test the predictions made by the two models. Results demonstrate partial transfer of L1 in the L2 initial state and of L2 in the L3 initial state, and point towards full access in the L2/L3 steady states. These findings do not seem to be consistent with FFH. It appears that FTFA is a more viable theory for non-native language acquisition. We also contend that L3A is not simply another case of L2A.

published_or_final_version / Curriculum Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy