This study is an exploration of the ways in which four Somali students use language to express their identity and assert their views. The study explores the ways in which the Somali students' home culture and the school culture influence the development of their identity. Students participated in a lunchtime focus group on a regular basis over a period of several weeks. Using a micro-ethnographic approach to analysis, the students' interactions were reviewed while considering the ways in which knowledge was affirmed and contested, examples of intertextuality and intercontextuality were identified, and ideational notations or larger world view constructs were pinpointed. In this approach, specific events and interactions were linked to the broader contexts and connections that the participants were using in their communications. The result suggests a new and deeper understanding of the way in which these Somali learners use language to express their identity and negotiate the world. As a result of the examination of their interactions, educators can take from these participants' experiences some ideas about issues to consider when working with second language learners and their families. In this study students used language to assert their own identities as well as to position others in the group. These identities were continually negotiated by students and teachers alike. Students at times pushed back against ways in which they were identified. The Somali learners spoke of changing roles in the family as a result of learning English and being relied on to translate for parents who were non-English speakers. There were occasions where students used language in meaningful and contextually appropriate ways, but without understanding the power of the terms they used. Teachers have a significant role to play in shaping learners use of language and terms and guiding them to a more nuanced understanding of language. By examining children's language, it became apparent that teachers can provide critical information to help parents of second language learners negotiate the school and district resources. Students did express their Somali language and culture as they negotiated their school experience.

<p>Although L2W practice has been present in China for a long time, limited existing research has investigated its origin and development. My study aims at reviewing and synthesizing L2W articles published in major linguistic/foreign language journals in the People’s Republic of China in the past seven decades (1949-2018). By collecting and analyzing the 1,340 articles, I identified four developmental periods in China’s L2W history, nine major topics covered in the scholarship. Features in research methods and article contexts are also discussed. I conclude that L2W in China emerged from the pedagogical practices and that its development has been heavily influenced by the country’s social and political movements. After seventy years of development, L2W in China has become a promising field of study with an increased number of journals articles, investigating diverse topics related to L2W, with various research methods, in rich contexts.</p>

<p><a>A translingual approach to writing as a new paradigm has been proposed to challenge English monolingualism, question traditional ideas on language difference, advocate for writer agency in shaping their own language, and legitimize additional languages/varieties as resources rather than deficits in the target language teaching, learning, and using. Though these central tenets are broadly valorized, the notion of “translingual” has elicited a number of concerns, such as the partial representation of language mixture ideas in sociolinguistics and second language studies, the pedagogical implications for language learners, the discouragement of discussion about similarities and differences among languages, and the missing discussion of language development. Given these concerns, a translingual approach has not been well-represented in the field of L2 writing. </a></p> <p>In this dissertation, I introduced the development of the notion of a translingual approach to writing, summarized its conceptual debates, outlined its practical enactment, conducted a case study to examine a L2 writing process from a translingual approach, and discussed the possibilities and challenges of a translingual approach to L2 writing. To be specific, the notion of a translingual approach to writing has been continually extended by incorporating various concepts, such as a temporal-spatial approach, translation, spatial repertoires, and an ecological approach. This extension has elicited some debates on its conceptualization, e.g., code-switching vs. code-meshing vs. rhetorical sensibility, language competence vs. language performance, a multilingual approach vs. a translingual approach, and a translingual approach to writing and L2 writing. Despite these debates, a translingual approach to writing has been implemented in different contexts (such as EFL, ESL, ENL, and cross-cultural contexts) with different writer groups (e.g., K-12 students, college students, and professional writers) and for different purposes (such as, improving teaching, motivating learning, and being more creative in writing).</p> <p>The results from the conceptual debate synthesis, enactment summary, and the case study indicated that a translingual approach is possible to benefit L2 writing theoretically, ideologically, and pedagogically. However, the findings also showed the challenges of a translingual approach to L2 writing, such as the confusing definition of “translingual writing” with L2 writing, the resistance of language norms by a translingual approach, and the blurring differences between languages and language users. Hopefully, this dissertation could be a bridge between a translingual approach to writing and L2 writing. </p>

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for degree: MASTER OF ARTS in the department of GENERAL LINGUISTICS at the UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND, 2010. / The objective of this study was to determine learner errors in both rural and urban schools. The first aim was to determine through literature the types of errors and their probable causes. The second aim was to conduct an investigation into errors committed by learners and experienced by educators from learners. The questionnaires were developed by the researcher for both educators of English as a second language and learners of English as a second language. By using the questionnaires the researcher was interested in determining whether factors such as lack of resources such as libraries, learning material, under qualification in English as a subject, lack of training in the structure of English and other factors had any influence in the committing of errors by learners. In terms of factors associated with errors, the most common factor to which all educators responded as a causal factor was the lack of facilities, among others, was the shortage of libraries and library books in cases where there are libraries. One other factor which was prominent was the lack of training in the structure of English as a subject. The last chapter of this investigation recommends a variety of strategies that could be employed both by the educators and the Department of Education to minimise English errors among learners of English.

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Second language (L2) learning has begun recognizing that intelligibility, comprehensibility, and accentedness influence how nonnative speakers of English are perceived by others. As such, pronunciation instruction is becoming more common in L2 curriculum around the world. Corrective Feedback (CF) is commonly given in the pronunciation classroom to draw attention to and correct learners’ errors. Research has tried to understand what forms of CF are most effective for language learning, how CF affects pronunciation, and what learners believe about CF. What is lesser known is if the frequency or rate of CF affects learner’s uptake and pronunciation error repair. Participants in this study were nonnative English speakers who were placed in the high frequency feedback group (HFFG) or the low frequency feedback group (LFFG). After an initial demographic and language beliefs survey, participants experienced a one-on-one pronunciation session with a pronunciation researcher. In the pronunciation session, participants received either high frequency feedback (100% of errors corrected) or low frequency feedback (50% of errors corrected defined as every other error corrected). An immediate follow up survey asked learners about their frequency preference for feedback and their emotional reactions to the feedback. After a nonparametric statistical analysis, results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the uptake rates of the HFFG and LFFG. Marginal significance was found in the repair rates between the HFFG and LFFG with the LFFG performing marginally better, but not to a statistically significant level. Frequency of CF may affect learners’ error repair rates. The immediate follow up survey indicated that most participants were inaccurate in their perception of the frequency of CF they received during the lesson. Only two participants changed their preference for frequency of CF after the lesson. These two wanted more feedback and no learner wanted less feedback. Finally, the same survey indicated that learners felt mostly positive emotions when receiving feedback, while only two experienced nervousness/anxiousness. Conclusions are that feedback frequency does not seem to affect learner uptake, but that frequency may affect pronunciation error repair.

The purpose of this research was to replicate previous studies (Foote et al., 2017; Martinsen et al., 2017) investigating the technique of shadowing and its impact on English language learners’ oral fluency and intelligibility. The target population for this study was intermediate-level English language learners as prior shadowing research has focused on advanced learners (Foote et al., 2017) and beginner learners (Lu, 2021). The study involved both a control group (n=10) and a treatment group (n=10), with each group participating in a semester-long class at Brigham Young University’s English Language Center (ELC). Both groups participated in pre and post testing during the second and second to last week of instruction. The experimental group then received 10-weeks of shadowing treatment with transcripts as part of their curriculum of instruction in their listening/speaking class. The control group did not. Speech samples from the pre and post tests were rated for fluency, comprehensibility, accentedness, and the quality of imitative speech with each of the criteria rated by naïve native English speaking raters on a nine-point Likert scale as has been used in other pronunciation studies (Derwing & Munro, 2013). A repeated-measures ANOVA was used to evaluate the results. The data showed that all participants improved significantly from the pre-test to post-test in fluency and comprehensibility, while reducing their accentedness. For the criteria of imitation, the ratings were not significant for the control group and treatment group, although the treatment group showed a trend upward in their improvement. Previous studies investigating shadowing have largely indicated significant improvement in the treatment group’s ability to shadow as well as its influence on changing raters’ perceptions of the speakers’ fluency and comprehensibility. Several of these previous studies, however, did not include control groups, which calls into question the validity of their results if all students can improve in these criteria over the course of a semester, as shown in this study. Qualitative feedback from this study’s participants suggests that overall, students enjoy the technique of shadowing and believe it should be incorporated into an oral communication curriculum.

English learners (ELs) represent one of the fastest growing student populations in the United States. Given that language can serve as a barrier in EL performance, test accommodations are provided to help level the playing field and allow ELs to better demonstrate their true performance level. Test accommodations on the computer offer the ability to collect new types of data difficult to obtain via paper-and-pencil tests. Specifically, these data can be used as additional sources of validity evidence when examining test accommodations. To date, limited research has examined computer-based accommodations, thus limiting these additional sources of validity evidence. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity of computer-based test accommodations on high school History and Math assessments using evidence based on response processes, specifically accommodation use and response time. Two direct linguistic accommodations, non-ELs, two EL groups, and five research questions were investigated in this study. Accommodation use results indicated significant differences in use across the three student groups, with ELs using accommodations more frequently than non-ELs. However, there were still high percentages of all three groups not accessing any accommodations on individual items. Accommodation use was more common on History than on Math, and decreased as the assessment progressed. Results suggest future research focus on students actually using the accommodations when conducting research on the effectiveness of accommodations. Response time results showed ELs taking longer to process test items as compared to non-ELs regardless of receiving test accommodations. Receiving accommodations significantly impacted processing time for some of the items on History, but not on Math. Similarly, History showed a relationship between the number of accommodations on test items and response time, but Math did not. These results suggested that the Math content knowledge may have played a larger role in response time than the accommodations. Positive relationships between test performance and response time were found in both subject areas. The most common predictors of both accommodation use and response time across both subject areas were sex, Hispanic status, and socioeconomic status. Implications of the results and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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