Recent research in both native (L1) and non-native (L2) knowledge of quantifier scope has led to a number of competing beliefs about the nature of learner knowledge. With regard to native knowledge, it has been noted in the literature that there is a discrepancy between L1 child and adult performance in quantifier interpretation. This observed mismatch has led to the formulation of two conflicting analyses of the L1 data. Philip (1991, 1992, and 1995) and others (Philip and Takahashi, 1991; Roeper, Strauss and Pearson, 2004, 2005; DelliCarpini, 2003) propose that quantification is a natural acquisition process constrained by Universal Grammar (UG) in which children progressively mature in their competence until they converge upon an adult grammar. Conversely, Crain (1995, 1996, and 1998) and others (Musolino, Crain and Thornton, 2000; Musolino and Lidz, 2006) maintain that children as young as five years old have a mature competence and that the failure to apply semantic principles is the result of the infelicitous nature of experimental task items. Essentially, the former account posits imperfect child L1 competence, while the latter asserts perfect competence. Similar research in the non-native (L2) knowledge of quantifier scope has been motivated by two essential questions: 1) Is adult L2 acquisition constrained by the same innate linguistic mechanisms as L1 acquisition; and 2) what is the role of L1 knowledge in adult L2 acquisition? (Marsden, 2004b: 9). In consideration of these questions, two main approaches have been devised as predictive models (following Epstein, Flynn and Martohardjono, 1996; Grüter, Lieberman and Gualmini, 2008, 2010). Under the Full Transfer hypothesis, the learner is predicted to approach an L2 with the same values, settings and preferences of the L1, whereas under the Full Access account, the L2 learner is informed by the Language Faculty directly without the intervening effects of the L1 (Grüter et al., 2008: 47). A third approach, Schwartz and Sprouse's (1996) model, unites both Full Access and Full Transfer to explain L2 acquisition. The present study explores L1 Mandarin knowledge of L2 English quantifier scope in order to address the issue of perfect vs. imperfect competence (as applied to SLA), as well as the matter of access to UG vs. L1 transfer. Incorporating insights from DelliCarpini (2003), I first assess the presence of symmetric and exhaustive responses, which are indicative of an immature grammar. Crucially, I use one group (n=11) of L2 English speakers (low intermediate and advanced) in order to test for a maturational discrepancy that would putatively differ according to proficiency. Secondly, I identify a potential poverty of the stimulus situation: L1 transfer cannot account for the L2 acquisition of English non-isomorphic scope licensing by native speakers of Mandarin Chinese due to the Isomorphic Principle (Aoun and Li, 1993). If demonstrated, the ability of L2 learners to converge upon this semantic principle (non-isomorphism) will serve as potential evidence for access to Universal Grammar in adult non-native learners.

TITLE: Didactic use of knowledge, competence, learning strategies and habits acquired when learning English (L2) in teaching French (L3) AUTHOR: PhDr. Radek Vít DEPARTMENT: Department of French language and literature SUPERVISOR: doc. PhDr. Marie Fenclová, CSc ABSTRACT: In the Czech Republic, French is most often taught as a second foreign language after English. Factors influencing cross-linguistic transfer (English - French) are analyzed. Its areas are delimited. By means of a questionnaire and an experiment, it is examined whether learners of French can make use of knowledge, competence, learning strategies and habits acquired when learning English to facilitate learning French and make it more efficient. The questionnaire revealed that 87% grammar school teachers highlighted similarities between English and French in subject matter in French lessons, 70% claim that their learners make use of learning strategies, metalinguistic competence and learning habits acquired previously in English lessons and 90% state that their learners make mistakes probably due to interference of English. After the experiment at grammar schools, the posttests showed that making use of activities based on similarities between the subject matter in English and French when presenting new grammar in French lessons does not...

Cette thèse s’inscrit dans une série d’études récemment entamées qui cherchent à caractériser les lectes d’apprenants avancés de l’anglais. Nous présentons une analyse de quelques facteurs sémantiques, discursifs et inter-linguistiques qui sous-tendent l’emploi des formes verbales en anglais langue étrangère par des apprenants avancés francophones et catalanophones en milieu guidé. À partir d’un corpus de narrations orales élicitées à partir d’un livre en images, nous examinons la distribution de la morphologie temporo-aspectuelle par rapport à l’aspect sémantique des prédicats (l’hypothèse de l’aspect) et le type d’information temporelle que ces prédicats encodent dans la narration (l’hypothèse du discours). L’emploi de la morphologie verbale est considéré également du point de vue du style rhétorique de l’apprenant, c’est-à-dire des choix systématiques faits dans une tâche communicative spécifique à partir d’un répertoire appris de formes cibles, mais aussi à travers le filtre inconscient du mode de sélection et d’organisation de l’information en langue maternelle. Même si l’anglais, le français et le catalan grammaticalisent des distinctions aspectuelles, ceci ne permet pas aux apprenants étudiés de faire un emploi de la morphologie verbale tout à fait semblable à celui des locuteurs natifs. Des coalitions prototypiques entre la sémantique des prédicats et celle de la forme verbale, qui caractérisent l’emploi de la morphologie verbale aux stades moins avancés, persistent dans l’emploi des prédicats duratifs (a)téliques et débouchent sur un emploi généralisé du progressif en anglais, souvent dans des contextes où la présence de ce marqueur génère une tension avec le type d’information temporelle encodée. Les moyens d’encoder le déroulement dans la langue maternelle des apprenants semble brouiller leurs hypothèses relatives à l’emploi du progressif en discours dans la langue cible. Seul un sous-ensemble d’apprenants très avancés utilise la morphologie verbale d’une façon véritablement libérée du sémantisme de la construction verbale, de façon similaire aux locuteurs natifs. Pour ces apprenants, le progressif acquiert une fonction discursive et sa présence n’est plus systématique dans les contextes où l’information sur le caractère non-borné d’une situation peut être récupérée à partir d’autres éléments, sémantiques ou syntaxiques. Il existe en effet des légères différences entre les productions des apprenants et des locuteurs natifs en ce qui concerne la palette de fonctions discursives que les formes verbales présentent dans la narration. L’analyse du marquage aspectuel d’une relation temporelle spécifique, celle de simultanéité, nous a permis d’identifier quelques traits qui distinguent des stades successifs dans la variété d’apprenants avancés de l’anglais, ainsi que la présence d’une perspective temporelle en anglais langue cible manifestement construite à partir des choix linguistiques transférés de la langue maternelle des apprenants, même très avancés. Notre étude ouvre des pistes de recherche sur l’étanchéité des oppositions grammaticales dans le domaine de la morphologie verbale, sur les coalitions atypiques qui peuvent surgir en discours et la façon dont ces usages périphériques peuvent s’apprendre (et s’enseigner) dans un milieu guidé. Il en résulte aussi que la production orale chez des apprenants avancés se construit à travers le filtre d’une façon de penser le monde qui reste, de façon irréductible, celui de la langue maternelle. / Our dissertation belongs to a recently initiated line of studies seeking to characterise the advanced English L2 variety. We present an integrated analysis of some semantic, discourse and cross-linguistic factors underlying the use of verb forms by advanced French and Catalan learners of English as a foreign language. Using a corpus of oral picture book narratives, we explore the distribution of tense-aspect morphology in relation to the aspectual class of predicates (the Aspect Hypothesis) and the temporal information they encode in narrative discourse (the Discourse Hypothesis). The use of tense-aspect forms is also considered from the perspective of the so called L2 rhetorical style, the systematic linguistic choices learners make in a given communicative task drawing on their learnt repertoire of L2 devices but also on information selection and organisation patterns unconsciously transferred from their L1. While English, Catalan and French grammaticalise aspectual distinctions, this does not ensure a nativelike use of aspectual marking in English L2. Prototypical predicate/form coalitions in learner production were found to remain strong in the use of tense-aspect morphology with durative (a)telic predicates and to lead to an across-the-board reliance on aspectual marking, often in tension with the plot-advancing role of the predicate. The degree of grammaticalisation of the progressive aspect in learners’ L1 seems to interfere with the hypotheses of use concerning the progressive form in English L2. Only a subset of the learners, the most advanced ones, employ tense-aspect forms in a way which is genuinely liberated from the semantic congruence with the predicate, similar to what was observed in English L1. In this case, the progressive has a discourse-specific function and becomes optional when viewpoint information can be retrieved from other elements in the context. Form-function mappings in the domain of tense-aspect morphology remain, nevertheless, more limited or do not match the ones observed in English L1. The analysis of the expression of simultaneity allows us to identify certain proficiency-related traits in the advanced English L2 variety regarding the distribution of the progressive and the non-progressive forms and the use of other linguistic devices, in coalition with tense-aspect morphology. The cross-linguistic comparison with Catalan and French L1 reveals the existence of a subtle L1 temporal perspective in the expression of simultaneity in English L2, even with the most proficient learners. These findings invite to a reflection on the margins of grammaticalised contrasts, where atypical coalitions arise, and how learners can grasp such peripheral uses in an instructional setting. They also indicate that L2 oral production at the advanced stages remains bound to a way of thinking the world which is the legacy of our L1.

Sub-Saharan Africa is a multilingual environment and there is a lack of materials available for speech and language assessment in this area (Hartley & Krämer, 2013). The norms for assessment material cannot be used for both monolinguals and bilinguals, since bilinguals may have different levels of knowledge in their languages (Kohnert, 2010). The Spoken Language Assessment Profile – Revised edition (SLAP-R) is an assessment that can be used to evaluate English as a second language (ESL) in Sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this instrument is an attempt to fill the gap of suitable speech and language assessment tools that can be used for all those involved in setting up clinics, schools or speech and language assessment tools (Hartley & Krämer, 2013). The aim of the present study was to assess English as a second language for Kenyan children in primary school based on their result on the SLAP-R. The present study consisted of 68 participants with reported typically developed language and hearing that attended first or second grade in a public school in western Kenya. All participants were between six and nine years old, had a Bantu language as their first language and had been exposed to English for less than one year up to eight years. They had also attended preschool at their current school. The independent variables in the present study were grade, age and exposure to English. SLAP-R consists of six subtests that test expressive and receptive phonology, semantics and grammar. These parts constituted the dependent variables. In addition there is a part called ultimate expressive language skill (UELS) that consists of picture sequences where the participant should tell a story of what is happening in the pictures. The result indicated that grade had the largest effect on the participant’s performance in English as a second language. Grade two had significantly higher results regarding receptive phonology as well as expressive and receptive semantics and grammar than the participants in grade one. Most of the incorrect answers were made in the subtest expressive grammar. These answers were mainly incorrect due to other reasons than an answer in Kiswahili. / Sub-Sahara Afrika är en flerspråkig miljö och det finns en brist på material för tal- och språkbedömningar inom detta område (Hartley & Krämer, 2013). Normerna för ett bedömningsinstrument kan inte användas för både enspråkiga och tvåspråkiga barn, eftersom tvåspråkiga barn kan ha varierande kunskapsnivåer inom språken (Kohnert, 2010). Spoken Language Assessment Profile – Revised edition (SLAP-R) är ett bedömningsmaterial som är avsett att utvärdera engelska som andraspråk i Sub-Sahara Afrika. Syftet med detta instrument är att försöka fylla tomrummet av lämpliga tal- och språkbedömningsmaterial som kan användas av samtliga inblandade vid att starta upp kliniker, skolor eller logopedmottagningar (Hartley & Krämer, 2013). Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka engelska som andraspråk för Kenyanska barn i grundskolan baserat på deras resultat i SLAP-R. Föreliggande studie bestod av 68 deltagare med rapporterad typisk hörsel och språkutveckling som gick i klass ett eller två i en kommunal skola i västra Kenya. Alla deltagarna var mellan sex och nio år, hade ett bantuspråk som förstaspråk och hade exponerats till engelska i mindre än ett år upp till åtta år. De hade även gått i den förskolan som tillhörde deras nuvarande skola. De oberoende variablerna i föreliggande studie var klass, ålder och exponeringstid till engelska. SLAP-R består av sex deltest som testar expressiv och receptiv fonologi, semantik och grammatik. De här delarna utgör de beroende variablerna. Det finns ytterligare en del som kallas för ultimate expressive language skill (UELS) som består av sekvensbilder där deltagaren ska berätta en historia om vad som händer på bilderna. Resultatet indikerade att klass var variabeln som hade störst inverkan på deltagarnas prestationer i engelska som andraspråk. Klass två hade signifikant högre resultat gällande receptiv fonologi, såväl som expressiv och receptiv semantik och grammatik än deltagarna i klass ett. De flesta felsvaren gjordes i deltestet expressiv grammatik och var i huvudsak på grund av andra skäl än svar på kiswahili.

Thesis (M. A. (English Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / This study aimed to explore contextual factors affecting first entering students' motivation to learn English at the University of Limpopo (UL). It has utilised a qualitative approach and also adopted an exploratory design to explore the contextual factors, which affect students' motivation to learn the English language. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data from a selected sample of respondents. Moreover, Thematic Content Analysis (TCA) was employed to analyse and thematise the collected data in line with the objectives of the study, which are aligned with the literature review in the study. The following themes were generated: students' motivations to learn the English language, the students' approaches to learning the English language, the role of context in relation to students' motivation to learn English, the lecture hall control and climate, the effect of lecture hall control and climate on students' motivation, and the lecturers' perceptions about motivation to learn. In addition, the study found that first entering students' motivation to learn the English language was influenced by contextual factors such as lecture hall setting, lecturers' teaching approaches as well as the perceptions of friends and classmates. Therefore, the study recommended that the UL Department of Languages, the lecturers, as well as the Academic Development Centre (ADC) should come up with possible strategies to suggest contextual factors that could motivate the UL first entering students to learn English. Key concepts: Motivation, contextual factors, English L2, first entering students, Self Determination Theory

Language teachers’ accounts regarding grammatical assessment have changed over the years. Researchers have presented conflicting approaches, methods and different materials language teachers can use when assessing pupils’ L2 grammar. In addition, different researchers, within the applied linguistic field, have presented and discussed what possibly can affect teachers’ accounts of underlying reasonings for certain practices. This study aims to investigate English teachers’ accounts concerning grammatical assessment and reveal what methods English teachers use, further, what underlying reasonings the teachers have for their choices. To accomplish this investigation, three semi-structured interviews with English teachers from lower secondary schools in Sweden were conducted. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed through thematic analysis and table-coding. The results showed that the English teachers relied on four different methods when assessing their pupils L2 grammar. Grammatical assessment methods that emphasized both a traditional- and alternative assessment approach. Furthermore, all of the English teachers had several underlying reasonings for their grammatical assessment methods. The teachers considered learners’ need, personal experiences, school system guidelines and time constraints. This study provides further insight to the grammatical assessment discussion within teaching English as a second language, and contributes with a perspective of how Swedish lower secondary English teachers work with grammatical assessment.

Assessment of writing skills is a part of teachers’ everyday life. According to previous studies on a similar subject, teachers’ education in assessing writing is limited. The lack of education for teachers may lead to negative consequences for the whole educational system. For this reason, the purpose of this study focused on the analysis of English upper-secondary school teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and practices in assessing writing in Sweden.  The method for this study was adapted from Crusan et al. (2016) research. An Internet survey was used in order to receive information about teachers’ cognition. Firstly, the survey was published in different Facebook groups, and secondly, it was sent to upper-secondary teachers of English in different counties in Sweden via email. In total, 52 English teachers from upper-secondary schools participated in this study.  The results showed that teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and practices are co-dependent. Teachers need to be aware of their cognition regarding knowledge, beliefs, and practices. In-service teachers need to receive more training as a form of professional development, while institutions for pre-service teachers need to re-evaluate their educational plans. More research about teachers’ cognition and assessment of writing is needed in Sweden.