Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 59-63).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-63). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S.)--Bowling Green State University, 2006. / Document formatted into pages; contains v, 52 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Undergraduate honors paper--Mount Holyoke College, 2006. Dept. of Psychology and Education. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-102).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Iowa, 2006. / Adviser: Michael E. Everson. Includes bibliographical references (p. 154-161)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 193-209).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Howard Goldstein, Florida State University, College of Communication, Dept. of Communication Disorders. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 19, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 129 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

This study investigates the acquisition of conventional metaphorical expressions by Chinese learners of English. A conventional metaphorical expression, following the definition of cognitive semantics, refers to the use of a conventionalised non-literal meaning of a lexical item in a multi-word phrase. For example, the word 'attack' in the phrase 'attack one's idea', which should be interpreted as 'to criticise somebody or something severely', clearly departs from the literal meaning 'to use violence to try to hurt or kill somebody', and thus should be seen as a metaphorically used word. Consequently, the phrase 'attack one's idea' is a conventional metaphorical expression. This study explores learners' behaviour towards and acquisition of metaphorical expressions from two major perspectives: (1) possible cross-linguistic influence in the process of acquisition and factors that could affect cross-linguistic influence; and (2) the organisation of learners' bilingual lexicon and the status of metaphorical expressions in a bilingual lexicon. These two perspectives are considered to be the main factors that can influence learners' acquisition of metaphorical expressions: in order to acquire a metaphorical expression, learners should be able to integrate it into the bilingual lexicon, while the process of integration can be impacted by cross-linguistic influence. Previous research has mainly been conducted on the acquisition of certain figurative expressions in a second language, predominantly idioms; however, a combination of the two perspectives and a joint analysis on the acquisition of figurative language has yet to be accomplished. This study presents a first attempt of such analysis on the acquisition of a specific type of figurative language. The results of the experiments reported in this dissertation show that learners react differently to metaphorical expressions with different cross-linguistic availabilities (shared between Chinese and English or exclusively available in Chinese or English) but in general they encounter difficulty to achieve native-like performance when reading metaphorical expressions available in their second language. Persistent cross-linguistic influence is observed in two aspects, even among highly proficient learners: (1) learners encounter obstacles when acquiring the metaphorical expressions that are only available in their second language; and (2) learners seem to still activate the metaphorical meanings that are only available in their first language even when they read in their second language. These results altogether reflect that metaphorical expressions, regardless of cross-linguistic availability, are more difficult to acquire than literal expressions in a second language.

In Second Language Acquisition (SLA)literature there has been a considerable theoretical debate over the issue of teachers’ use of the students’ first language, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as ‘code-switching’. Yet to date there has been little study of the effect of teachers’ use of code-switching (CS) on the second language learning itself. Therefore the aim of this research was to study the effect of teachers’ CS on the learning of English word meanings by two age groups – 19- and 12-year–old EFL students in Korea. To this end, this study implemented a quasi-experimental design but conducive to ecological validity, drawing on intact EFL classrooms of two kinds: one with monolingual English teachers (English-only condition) and the other with bilingual teachers who speak mainly English but occasionally switch to Korean to explain unknown English words (CS condition). Under these two different instructional types, the participants – 286 adult and 443 young learners – were encouraged to learn previously unknown English words, drawn from reading texts, through their teachers’ explanations. The study also employed a participant questionnaire and follow-up interviews, so as to shed light on the issue of teacher CS from the learners’ perspective. The results reveal that, for both age groups, the teachers’ CS by and large yielded better learning results, in terms of vocabulary gains, than English-only instruction. However, an inspection of the effect sizes further shows that young learners, compared with adult ones, might benefit from the CS environment to an even greater degree in the learning of vocabulary. The findings from the questionnaire and interviews further suggest that this differential effect of teachers’ CS might be due to the young learners’ overwhelming preference for teachers’ CS in learning English. These differences both in results and learner perceptions are explained as resulting from proficiency levels on the one hand and levels of learning experience on the other. Having discovered these differential effects of teachers’ CS on the two age groups, the findings of the present thesis call for a reconsideration of pedagogical decisions regarding L2-only instruction, in particular for young L2 learners.

TITLE: The Relevance of Australianisms in English Language Teaching AUTHOR: Markéta Hillier DEPARTMENT: Department of English Language and Literature SUPERVISOR: PhDr. Klára Matuchová, Ph.D. ABSTRACT: The proposed thesis explores the existence of Australian English, the part it plays in Australian culture, available sources on the subject, the direction in which it is heading and the relevance of its teaching to foreign students. The theoretical section of the thesis explores the development of Australian English, modern Australian English, second language acquisition and aspects and importance of teaching vocabulary. The practical part of this thesis introduces two hypotheses: "Australianisms are constantly evolving and in order to keep up with new generations, fresh texts should be developed as a reference for both foreign students and tourists" and "Australian English vocabulary is very different to other English varieties; therefore, students need to be exposed to Australianisms in order to successfully communicate in the Australian environment". Upon statistical analysis the first hypothesis is supported with the second hypothesis being partially supported. KEYWORDS: Australia, Australian English, Australianisms, Second Language Acquisition, Vocabulary