Particular English language learners have a need to demonstrate high levels of accuracy in their written and spoken language production. Dynamic corrective feedback (dynamic CF) has been shown to facilitate L2 learner written accuracy attainment through providing manageable, meaningful, timely and constant feedback on authentic and frequent written language production. The research of this thesis examined the benefits of altering the dynamic CF model to be responsive to students' spoken production rather than solely their written production and measured the impact this adaptation would have on the established benefits of the instructional strategy on students' gains in written accuracy. The study also looked at the impact of both forms of dynamic CF on students' attainment of written complexity, fluency, and lexical development. The study included two groups of students whose language proficiency ranged from intermediate-low to advanced-mid who were studying English for academic purposes in an intensive English language program. These students participated in a one-semester Linguistic Accuracy course. Half of the students received the traditional form of dynamic CF in which they received feedback on only their written production, and the other half received a modified version of dynamic CF that provided students with feedback on only their spoken production. Before and after the treatment, samples of students' written production were collected through a thirty-minute essay test. These writing samples were analyzed for accuracy, fluency, complexity, and lexical development. Changes in each of these variables for both groups were contrasted using a mixed-model repeated measure Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). These tests revealed that there was not a significant difference in terms of the changes in accuracy or lexical development between the two groups; however, participants receiving the modified variation of dynamic CF did perform significantly better on the measurement of written complexity. Also, lower proficiency students receiving the modified version of dynamic CF did significantly better on the measurement of written fluency than students of a similar proficiency receiving the traditional form.

The purpose of this study is to find out whether pupils English language learning benefits from using Swedish during the English lessons. I decided to collect my material from interviews in combination with classroom observations. I chose to start with the observation of the class and the teacher during one lesson before I did my interview. It is difficult to draw any conclusions of this with only the two schools I visited. If I were to do it again I would have chosen two schools that both start teaching English at the same age and devote the same amount of time each week to learning English. I did not discover any findings to support my theory that it would be beneficial to exclude Swedish during English lessons, nor did I find the opposite. The teachers from the observations felt it was necessary to use Swedish during the English lessons with the argument that it helped them learn Swedish better. Since that was not exactly my question I felt that my findings were inconclusive.

Looking at Bilingualism and L2/SLA (Second Language Acquisition) theory and practice are there points of convergence that reflect notions of global emerging bilingualism, and can be used in language learning. Giving an overview of the key theories within each field then using a literature review from June 2013 – June 2014 we see what approaches are suggested in 36 journals. The journals show an increase in discussion, but there is still a notable lack of both dialogue and experimental work. One possible approach Language as SocialSemiotic approach (LASS) which builds on Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) emphasises created meaning.

This study examines how second language (L2) English learners differ in their amount of language anxiety across three communication tasks: a formal academic speaking test, an informal casual interaction with a classmate during an activity in pairs, and a formal interview with an unfamiliar native speaker. It also addressed whether and how their language anxiety across the three tasks affected their accuracy, comprehensibility, and rate of speech. Thirty-seven intermediate-high L2 English learners participated in the three communication tasks. They also completed a general language anxiety questionnaire and three anxiety inventories--one before each task. Results demonstrated that the speaking exam caused more anxiety than the other two tasks. This anxiety had a positive correlation with both accuracy and comprehensibility, but not speech rate. The anxiety caused by the native speaker activity was found to have a correlation with comprehensibility, but nothing else. Finally, the anxiety caused by the pair activity did not have a significant relationship with any variable. It was also found that the participants' speech rate was higher in the native speaker activity than the pair activity, but that there was no significant difference in speech rate, or any other factor, between the exam and the other two activities. The results of the current study suggest that anxiety has a demonstrable effect on the way people speak. Higher anxiety was more likely to produce significant effects on one or more aspects of the participants' speech, including more comprehensible and accurate speech.

Cet essai compare deux langues européennes, une langue dite modimes et une langue internationale, le français. Cela permet de comparer deux langues qui sont proches géographiquement, tout en ayant un impact différent sur les étudiants de par leur statut. Cette étude offre une opportunité d´évaluation de la place des cours de langue pour débutants dans le milieu universitaire en Suède et en France en 2011. Les étudiants ont rempli des enquêtes dans leur langue maternelle. Les réponses obtenues représentent plus de 25% des étudiants qui étudient les langues. Nous avons étudié les motivations et aspirations des étudiants envers la L2 puis nous avons examiné l´intérêt porté par les étudiants pour la culture et la société de la langue cible et enfin nous avons soulevé comment les étudiants évaluent leur apprentissage de la L2.  Les résultats obtenus   démontre une motivation intrinsèque et sociale de la part des apprenants et une approche cognitive et émotionnelle  envers la  langue cible.

No

The purpose of this study was to determine whether language aptitude and the use of language strategies predict pronunciation gains in second language (L2) acquisition. A second goal was to determine whether these factors differed depending on whether learning occurred in an English as a second language (ESL) or English as a foreign language (EFL) learning context. Eighty-six ESL students in the United States and one hundred EFL students in China were asked to take the Pimsleur language aptitude test. The top 15 or 16 and lowest 15 or 16 scorers on this test from each group were asked to complete a test of pronunciation proficiency and a pronunciation strategies inventory at the beginning and end of a 10-week speaking class in which they were enrolled. The pre and post pronunciation tests were rated and pronunciation proficiency gains in global foreign accent, fluency, comprehensibility and accuracy were compared to both Pimsleur test scores and use of pronunciation strategies before and after training. Results indicated that general language aptitude did not predict pronunciation gains regardless of type of setting (ESL or EFL), but that auditory aptitude may be linked to pronunciation proficiency. Analyses revealed that specific pronunciation strategies were strong predictors of pronunciation gain for comprehensibility and accuracy gains. The findings for this study suggest that pronunciation strategies seem to play a bigger role in pronunciation improvement than language aptitude and are effective in both ESL and EFL settings.

No description available.

In this study, I explore the dynamic relationships between how students feel about their school, school belonging, and to what extent they feel motivated to study a second language, L2 motivation. School belonging, which has rarely been studied in the field of applied linguistics, is widely discussed in educational psychology, and its relationship with academic achievement has been examined. However, the relationship between school belonging and L2 motivation has hardly been investigated. The first purpose of this study is to fill this gap by verifying the existence of a sense of school belonging as a psychological factor among first-year Japanese university students in an English as a foreign language context, and then to investigate its relationship with L2 motivation. I employ a convergent mixed method design in which the quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted at the same time. Quantitative data were collected through surveys from 540 first-year students in four Japanese universities, including higher- and lower-ranked universities. The qualitative data were collected through self-reflection from 176 students, comments from 413 students, and interviews with 11 students. The interviewees were selected based on their willingness to participate. The quantitative data and qualitative data were collected three times in 2018 and 2019: the first time in May and June 2018, the second time in September and October 2018, and the third time in January and February 2019. Validity evidence for the surveys was gathered through a pilot study. In the main study, school belonging was verified as one large factor mainly using Rasch analysis. The general relationship between school belonging and motivation to learn English and the changes of those relationships over the course of the year were assessed by calculating the responses to the questions with structural equation modeling (SEM). Details of students’ feelings toward their school and their connections to English learning motivation were investigated through analyses of the qualitative data. The quantitative results showed that a sense of school belonging that varies among first-year Japanese university students exists and that the relationship between school belonging and L2 motivation and their changes over the course of the year can be explained in a model in which individual differences in school belonging and L2 motivation and their changes are explained. The qualitative results support the finding that school belonging and L2 motivation are related to each other and also show that students change their school belonging and L2 motivation dynamically for a variety of reasons. Students can change their perceptions of school and language learning from positive to negative or negative to positive, and their changes can be uneven when looked at through the lens of sub-components of these constructs. By merging quantitative results and qualitative results, differences were found between the two types of data analyses. School was found to predict changes in school belonging and L2 motivation in the quantitative analyses, while different types of students, such as those who have positive school belonging and negative L2 motivation and those who have negative school belonging and positive L2 motivation were found in the same school in the qualitative analyses. Moreover, concepts of school belonging and L2 motivation were validated as hypothesized in the quantitative analyses, while unexpected ideas, such as belonging to multiple groups and loss of L2 motivation due to technological developments, were revealed by the result of the qualitative analyses. These results imply that fostering school belonging among university students can lead to studying English harder. / Teaching & Learning

In this dissertation, I investigate how Thai doctoral students adapt to and navigate academic expectations in their nonnative language. Through coded semi-structured interviews with eight participants from six different universities across the U.S., I analyze the lived experiences, stories, and challenges faced by Thai doctoral students in Humanities disciplines as students in Humanities are believed to rely more on writing as a mode of inquiry than students in STEM. I explore how, and to what extent, they cultivated agency to meet the expectations of the academy and how they assimilated into the U.S. academic culture. I initially hypothesized that writing was the most challenging skill, given that composition program and classrooms are virtually nonexistent in Thai curricula and students coming into the U.S. academy from such educational backgrounds would have limited exposure to formal writing instruction. Interestingly, through thematic coding schemes, I found that, while writing was challenging, there were other significant factors impacting their education. In my analysis, I found that students also had to navigate academic reading, participation in active classroom discussions, and acculturation into U.S. academic setting, all of which challenged their learning experiences. I argue in the dissertation that these complex social negotiations, not accounted for in most pedagogical structures in U.S. education, result in inequitable access to curriculum and undo hardships on students. By amplifying the voices of Thai students, this project highlights the ways that Thailand's educational system, deeply entrenched discourses of loyalty to Thailand's monarchy and the Criminal Code Act 112, impacts Thai students' formation and navigation of academic identity while encountering the U.S. Academy. / Doctor of Philosophy / In this dissertation, I investigate how Thai doctoral students adapt to and navigate academic expectations in their nonnative language. Through coded semi-structured interviews with eight participants from across the U.S., I analyze the lived experiences, stories, and challenges faced by Thai doctoral students in Humanities disciplines. I explore how, and to what extent, they cultivated agency to meet the expectations of the academy and how they assimilated into the U.S. academic culture. I initially hypothesized that writing was the most challenging skill, given that composition program and classrooms are virtually nonexistent in Thai curricula and students coming into the U.S. academy from such educational backgrounds would have limited exposure to formal writing instruction. Interestingly, participants revealed that, while writing was challenging, there were other significant factors impacting their education. In my analysis, I found that students also had to navigate academic reading, participation in active classroom discussions, and acculturation into U.S. academic setting, all of which challenged their learning experiences. I argue in the dissertation that these complex social negotiations, not accounted for in most pedagogical structures in U.S. education, result in inequitable access to curriculum and undo hardships on students. By amplifying the voices of Thai students, this project highlights the ways that Thailand's educational system, deeply entrenched discourses of loyalty to Thailand's monarchy, impacts Thai students' formation and navigation of academic identity while encountering the U.S. Academy.