In this study, form-to-meaning mapping of the bilingual mental lexicon is investigated. Sixty native speakers of Arabic, divided into intermediate and advanced ESL groups, served as the participants of the study. They performed a semantic relatedness rating task of sixty high frequency semantically related English word pairs on a 6point scale. While thirty word pairs had the same translation (ST) word in Arabic, the other thirty had a different translation (DT) word. Fifteen of the word pairs in each of the two word pair categories were abstract, while the other fifteen were concrete nouns. The vast majority of these word pairs were synonyms. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the word pair ratings between the intermediate and advanced ESL groups. The intermediate group rated all word pairs higher than the advanced learners. Both groups, however, rated the ST word pairs higher than the DT word pairs. Nonetheless, the rating mean difference score between the ST and DT was significantly lower in the advanced group than it was in the intermediate group. In addition, both ESL groups rated the abstract word pairs higher than their concrete counterparts. Overall, the results support the claim that beginning ESL learners map their bilingual lexicon to Ll translation, and as they become advanced move toward mapping form-to-meaning directly. This is particularly evident in the higher rating of ST and the lower rating of DT as well as in the higher rating mean difference score between ST and DT in the intermediate group. / Department of English

Note: / Intensive English programs can be highly motivating for high-ability grade 6 students in Quebec.Following the progression of learning included in the Ministry of Education’s currentcurriculum, four in-class projects were created, focusing on cultural aspects and challenging,authentic tasks to increase students’ motivation and academic achievement. These inquiry-basedprojects emphasize students’ use of communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skillsand promote effective English Second Language learning among grade 6 students in IntensiveEnglish classes of Quebec.

This study examines the relationship between gesture and a deep understanding of a second language. The participants, including the researcher, are second-language educators who have experience drastic changes in levels of fluency after switching from traditional teaching methods, prioritizing grammar and thematic teaching, to the gesture approach. Data of this phenomenon is collected through a series of semi-structured interviews giving priority to narrative accounts of personal experiences. A phenomenological framework is employed to allow the dialogues to fuse and new understandings to emerge in the spaces in between. The findings are presented in an in-depth conversation between the participants and including well-known dynamic systems theorists to allow new insights and connections to develop. which are then creatively summarized and further explored in the final chapter through multi-lingual slam poetry. / Graduate

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The research for this dissertation is focused on the following two issues: (1) Can bilingual child language development be considered as 'two monolinguals in one', and (2) Can bilingual child language contribute uniquely to our understanding of the acquisition process in all children? Three studies examining functional categories in the grammatical development of bilingual and second language children were conducted in order to address these questions. / Study 1 investigates potential interference between the developing grammars of three French-English bilingual children. Naturalistic production data were collected from the children at six month intervals between approximately 2;0 and 3;0 years of age. The data were examined for the children's acquisition of INFL and these results were compared with extant findings for monolingual French and English speaking children. The results indicate that these bilingual children showed no evidence of transfer, acceleration. or delay in acquisition and support the hypothesis that their grammars are acquired autonomously and like those of monolinguals. / The principle focus of Study 2 is an investigation of the continuity debate on functional category acquisition through an analysis of bilingual language development. In this study, the acquisition of INFL and DET by two French-English bilingual children was examined. These children were at an earlier stage of syntactic development than those in Study 1. Naturalistic production data were collected at two month intervals from the children, between approximately 2;0 to 3;0 years of age. The analyses indicate that INFL appeared at different times in the children's languages; whereas, DET appeared at the same time. The results are discussed with respect to the maturation and continuity views on the acquisition of functional categories. Because of the between-language discrepancy in the emergence of INFL, it is argued that these findings support a continuity perspective. It is also argued that bilingual first language acquisition provides unique evidence bearing on the continuity debate. / The principal focus of Study 3 is also the continuity debate on functional category acquisition, but in contrast to Study 2, the children in this study were second language learners. In this study, the acquisition of features within INFL, agreement and tense, were examined separately to determine if they are acquired in sequence. Fifteen English-speaking learners of French and five monolingual francophone grade-mates. participated in the study. A structured oral interview was given annually to each of the children from grade one to grade three, and the transcripts were analysed for the use of tense and agreement. The results revealed that items encoding agreement emerged before items encoding tense in the second language learners' speech, suggesting that these features emerge in sequence in their grammars. The findings are interpreted with respect to three prevailing views on continuity in the acquisition of functional phrase structure in second language acquisition. It is argued that a weak continuity position is best supported by the data.

This research was designed to provide information concerning the developmental differences in early language production and comprehension between 21 month-old first born and second born children. Furthermore, the study explored the assumption that more opportunities to hear conversations between the parent and the older sibling provide an advantage for second born children in learning personal pronouns. / Spontaneous speech productions of 16 first born children were compared to those of 16 second born children while in dyadic interactions with their mothers. First born children were observed in two 25 minute free-play dyadic interactions with their mothers. Second born children were observed in one 25 minute free-play mother-child dyadic interaction and in one 25 minute free-play mother-child-older sibling triadic interaction. All children were administered controlled tasks involving production and comprehension of first and second person pronouns. / Compared to first borns, second born children are not significantly delayed in general language development. Second borns' speech productions differ depending on whether or not their older sibling was present. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)