This study explored ESL speakers' vocabulary comprehension of unfamiliar words. The researcher examined the ways the participants dealt with unfamiliar vocabulary, factors that influenced their vocabulary comprehension strategies, and word retention rates. For data collection, the participants' vocabulary sizes were measured. Also, they were asked to record unfamiliar words that they encountered. Two interviews were also carried out. Finally, a vocabulary achievement test was given. The findings may help ESL practitioners more effectively facilitate the second language vocabulary development of their students. First, practitioners should be more aware of individual learner differences and similarities in vocabulary comprehension approaches. Second, they can guide their learners to be aware of the benefits of thematically related extensive reading in vocabulary learning. Consciousness-raising about the importance of vocabulary knowledge in text comprehension will increase learner attention to unknown words in text comprehension. Finally, practitioners can guide their learners to be aware of their own learning strategies.

L'interaction en langue seconde a fait l'objet de nombreuses études Qui ont examiné son rôle par rapport aux conditions et aux processus considérés comme importants dans le développement d'une langue seconde, mais peu d'entre elles ont porté spécifiquement sur te rôle de l'interaction comme moyen de favoriser l'enseignement et l'apprentissage de la grammaire en langue seconde. De plus, très peu d'études ont recueilli les commentaires des participants pour mieux comprendre leur démarche d'apprentissage. Pourtant, le développement de la compétence grammaticale constitue une source de difficultés pour beaucoup d'étudiants anglophones qui apprennent le français. C'est pourquoi notre recherche avait comme objectif d'étudier l'interaction en tenant compte des commentaires des participants et posait, pour étudier cette problèmatique, les questions suivantes: Quelle est la nature de l'interaction langagière entre apprenants de français langue seconde de niveau intermédiaire engagés dans une tâche grammaticale accomplie en dyade? Quelles sont les perceptions des apprenants par rapport à la tâche grammaticale et à l'interaction? Y a-t-il d'autres facteurs, qui selon eux, devraient être mis en lumière? (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

This thesis is an investigation of the role of formulaic language in second language (L2) speech fluency development, within a cognitive and information processing framework. Fluency has been studied and defined in terms of temporal variables of speech such as rate of speech, pause frequency and distribution, and the length of fluent runs between pauses. It has been suggested by several researchers that the key to fluency in spontaneous speech is mastery of a repertoire of formulaic language sequences, multiword strings processed mentally as single words (Schmidt, 1991; Towell, Hawkins, and Bazergui, 1996; Chambers, 1998). If formulaic sequences are automatized or stored and retrieved as wholes from long term memory so as to allow longer lexical units to be produced within the limits of controlled processing (McLaughlin, Rossman, and McLeod, 1983; Kahnemann and Treismann, 1984; DeKeyser, 2001) and short term memory (Anderson, 1983; Baddeley, 1988), then they may facilitate spontaneous speech under the constraints of real time. The present study was designed to examine whether this could be so. The study draws on a synthesis of research from three areas: fluency and its development in second language (L2) speech; formulaic language, multi-word lexical units which are stored and retrieved in long-term memory so as to be retrieved as wholes; social and cultural factors related to fluency development and formulaic language use, including first language and culture, voice, and identity. The research was interpreted in light of psycholinguistic knowledge about mental processes underlying L2 speech production, particularly the growing evidence that formulaic language sequences are fundamental to fluent language production as they allow production to occur despite the restrictions of controlled processing and the constraints of short term memory capacity. The hypotheses which frame the research centre around the idea that increased use of formulaic language units by learners over time facilitates the development of speech fluency as measured by temporal variables such as speech rate, pause phenomena, and the length of fluent runs occurring between pauses. Specifically, it was hypothesized that, with continued learning and experience, L2 speech would exhibit a faster rate of production, a greater proportion of production time spent speaking as opposed to pausing, longer runs between pauses, and that formulaic sequences would appear more frequently in the longer runs between pauses. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

No description available.

This study investigated the relationship between metalinguistic awareness (MLA) and L2 proficiency of second language learners from an experiential (communicative) and an analytic (grammar) approach to learning French. The model tested (Bialystok & Ryan, 1985) posits that linguistic and metalinguistic proficiency are composed of two components--'analysed knowledge' and 'control' over that knowledge. All tasks (e.g., conversation, literacy, metalinguistic) require some degree of both components. Since the development of the components is the result of different learning experiences, learners may master aspects of proficiency related to an increase in analysed knowledge but not master ones which stem from an increase in control, or vice versa. This is problematic in that it is conceivable that learners may have a very different mastery of the language when task demands change. Advanced university level French L2 learners (n = 64) completed a French Test of Proficiency and a written and oral grammaticality judgement test. The grammaticality judgement task required subjects to judge sentences for grammaticality, to identify errors, to correct errors and to provide the rule which had been violated. The first level of analysis looked at the performance of the entire sample on the grammaticality judgement tests and on the test of L2 proficiency. Then further analyses were carried out in light of the demands tasks made upon the two components and with subjects grouped according to learning methods; that is whether they had been exposed to a communicative or grammar approach to L2 learning. Results show that there is a positive relationship between MLA and L2 proficiency when analyses are run for the entire sample, but that once learners are grouped according to learning methods, that positive relationship no longer exists for communicative-approach learners. Tasks which made similar demands did not always correlate. Significant differences were found in learners' performance depending upon whether the tasks required high levels of analysed knowledge, control, or both and depending upon the type of learning method. Implications for the model and for L2 learning conclude the study.

The purpose of this thesis is to generate hypotheses pertaining to Input Enhancement as a pedagogical strategy or procedure by examining studies dealing with Input Enhancement and relating them to formal language learning environments. Input Enhancement (Sharwood Smith 1991, 1993) is the process by which language becomes salient on the basis of evidence presented to the learner Its premise is that input can be manipulated so that ultimately there might be an improvement in the accuracy and overall effectiveness of second language learning in the formal environment of the classroom. There are numerous studies dealing with Input Enhancement. An analysis of these studies in a controlled setting should help in the specification of aspects that might be likely candidates for the formulation of hypotheses. In order to generate hypotheses, elements such as the following are considered: the morpho-syntactic focus targeted for Input Enhancement, the specific type of Input Enhancement offered to the learner, and the language skills that should benefit from this type of intervention. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Neither interactional ability nor cultural understanding are easily acquired in the language classroom. In a recent study (MacFarlane & Wesche, 1995), French immersion graduates who reported using their French during contact opportunities with francophones outside the classroom were those who attained higher French proficiency and integrated French more into their daily lives after graduation. This led to the hypothesis that certain classroom limitations may be overcome by providing young learners of both official languages with opportunities for contact with native speakers and their culture beyond the classroom. To test this hypothesis, this study examined interethnic contact in the context of the SEVEC (The Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges in Canada) School Year Group Exchange Program. This exchange program, linked directly to classroom language study through pre- and post-exchange activities which supplement the 5 to 7 day visits in each community, pairs groups of anglophone and francophone students between the ages of 10 and 18 at minimal cost to participants. Although many exchange formats exist, the School Year Group Exchange program is accessible to a wider range of language students than longer exchanges. This research sought to answer the following questions: (1) What are the characteristics of school year group exchanges? (2) Which factors promote successful school year exchanges? (3) How are brief interethnic contact experiences and classroom language learning complementary? Evidence from the case study exchange indicates that exchange language learning processes and classroom language learning processes are complementary. The classroom equips participants with basic language skills without which communication would be impossible. It also provides participants with the self-confidence to attempt communication with native speakers (NSs). The exchange provides a sheltered "real" L2 use context: participants are paired with native-speaking peers in situations which guarantee opportunities and incentive for communication. Finally, different learning styles are accommodated in each context. For gregarious students, unmotivated by classroom academic-type L2 acquisition, the exchange context provides a social stage for language acquisition more suited to their personalities. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the potential of Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) pedagogy to support English language learners (ELLs) in enhancing their meaning making potential as they engage in persuasive writing practices within academic contexts. The dissertation results from a teacher action research project in which the teacher researcher (the author) constructed qualitative case studies focusing on the teaching practice of a veteran ESL teacher (the researcher) and the persuasive writing practices of three middle school beginning level ELLs. Through data analysis methods drawing on SFL and intertextuality, the study illuminates connections between the SFL based teaching practice and the expanding linguistic repertoire of ELLs as they enact the genre of persuasive argument in the context of producing persuasive music reviews. Research methods are qualitative in nature and designed to attend to both the sociocultural context of teaching and learning as well as a linguistic analysis of written texts. Through a qualitative case study approach focusing on the literacy practices of three emergent bilingual middle school students and the reflective teaching practices of their veteran ESL teacher, the teacher researcher highlights how SFL pedagogy created space for urban middle school ELLs to participate in high interest language learning activities designed to increase their control over the semiotic resources needed to construct persuasive texts. The subsequent SFL and genre analysis of students' texts analyzes changes in the schematic structure and register variables of student texts aims to explore the intertextual connections between these changes and the SFL pedagogical practices described in the study. Data derive from multiple sources including student texts, videotaped interactions among classroom community members, field notes, lesson plans and instructional materials. The study offers important new directions in language teaching and learning as it demonstrates how SFL-based pedagogy can draw on the cultural and linguistic resources of ELLs to create a culturally relevant (Ladson-Billings, 1995) and permeable curriculum (Dyson, 2003) that both challenges the conceptualization of ELLs as students with a "deficit" and repositions them as skillful language users and text analysts.

No description available.

No description available.