The present study was anchored in an inquiry of second language Chinese vocabulary acquisition and learning Chinese as a foreign language. It investigated character density in L2 Chinese vocabulary recognition and production: low character density recognition, high character density recognition, low character density production, and high character density production. It also investigated the effectiveness of strategies that students perceived when faced with learning Chinese. The data was collected from the Chinese program at Brigham Young University across one semester level. Along with this data, students' vocabulary achievement test scores were collected. Descriptive and non-parametric statistics were used. The one-way ANOVA was used to investigate the effect of character density on students' vocabulary recognition and production performance. The Pearson Correlation was used to determine whether there was a linear relationship between the strategies they prioritized and their performance in vocabulary recognition and production tests. The research found that character density had an effect on vocabulary production performance but not on recognition performance. The research also found strategies that are positively correlated with recognition and production performance, and strategies that are negatively correlated with recognition performance.

The current study examines aspects of the Russian language that are particularly challenging for English-speaking students. It focuses on the complexity of Russian's grammatical morphology, specifically Russian case endings. In this study, methods and theories from the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) are reviewed to support a study aide designed by the author to help students with the acquisition of Russian case endings. The proposed study aide consists of 24 sentences composed of high-frequency Russian words. The 24 sentences contain all regular (approximately 75) Russian case endings. The purpose of the model sentences is to teach case forms using a concrete language referent that can be manipulated during spontaneous speech. The proposed method was tested at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah to verify its validity in a formal classroom setting. Two sets of missionaries learning Russian were tested on their acquisition of Russian case forms over a period of three weeks. The control group, consisting of 34 missionaries, was tested first. This group was given the Russian case paradigm chart traditionally used at the MTC as a study aide for learning Russian case endings. The test group, consisting of 22 missionaries, was tested second. This group was given the model sentences in place of the traditional paradigm chart as a study aide for learning Russian case endings. The test-group missionaries were asked to memorize the model sentences. Each group was given a pretest on their knowledge of case forms on their first formal day of instruction. Three weeks later, they took a posttest. Missionaries from the test group were also given a quiz to test their knowledge of the model sentences. Gain scores for the two groups were analyzed statistically using a Two-way ANOVA (analysis of variance), finding the treatment for the control group (the paradigm chart) to be 0.2323 not significant, and the treatment for the test group (the model sentences) to be .0001 highly significant. This study suggests that by using model sentences as a companion to traditional case paradigms, a greater amount of case endings can be learned and retained in a shorter period of time.

Various studies show that the use of instructional technology in university-level second language courses can improve and enrich students' L2 acquisition and greatly motivate students to continue learning their target language. In spite of such advantages, few instructors are integrating instructional technology into their lessons. This research investigates the main issues that affect the use of instructional technology among L2 instructors at Brigham Young University. An online survey was administered to 98 instructors, examining the following factors: time, factors concerning software and availability, teacher training, and the attitudes of administrators. Results showed that the three most significant factors that impede the use of instructional technology among BYU instructors are a teacher's level of proficiency, the lack of time for training, and a lack of quality software. The research also shows that those instructors that had received training find themselves more competent and more prepared to integrate instructional technology in their courses than those that have not received any training. Because a teacher's training in use of instructional technology has significant benefits that motivate students in second language acquisition, we can conclude that teachers would profit a great deal from in-service training.

The present study investigates the effect of furigana on lexical inferencing. After completing a pretest to determine their knowledge of the target words, participants read a passage and completed a think-aloud protocol and questionnaire. The experimental group read a passage with furigana over all kanji words while the control group read a passage without furigana. The protocols were evaluated to determine the rate and quality of lexical inferences of 16 target kanji words. The results of the questionnaire were evaluated to determine participant perception of passage and kanji difficulty, self-assessed percentage of the story that was understood, and the degree to which they liked the story. It was found that the group with furigana made more correct inferences than the control group. It was also found that the furigana group perceived the kanji in the passage to be easier than the control group did. Furigana did not seem to affect the degree to which the participants liked the story, their perception of the difficulty of the story or the percentage of the story that they understood. Implications for theory and pedagogy are discussed.

School curriculum and pedagogy change over time and are affected by changes in technology. One little used technology in foreign language classrooms is the electronic language corpus. In corpus-based linguistics, language corpora are often used as tools to analyze and observe various language features, including discourse, pragmatics, and syntax. However, language corpora can also act as a tool to assist language teachers by providing greater exposure to features of the language. Using language corpora is especially helpful in exposing learners to so-called authentic language used in a target language culture. Moreover, students can gradually enhance their language proficiency by using a well-developed corpus. In the foreign language-teaching world, most corpora studies focus on using English corpora in ESL settings, and there are only a few studies focused on using foreign language corpora in other foreign language teaching settings. The light use of corpora in other foreign language settings may be partly related to the lack of user-friendly foreign language corpora, or a lack of understanding of how to manipulate different foreign language corpora effectively. This study seeks to demonstrate how language corpora can be used in advanced Chinese classrooms, and how Chinese corpora can help students to enhance their language proficiency. This study's results show that corpus use in advanced Chinese classrooms can help advanced Chinese learners to improve their understanding of grammar taught in class.

Study abroad (SA) is typically thought to provide an excellent opportunity for second language acquisition, particularly through exposure to and application of the target language within the target culture. However, actual language gains vary greatly among SA participants and some may gain very little (Freed, 1995a). The purpose of the current study is to determine some specific linguistic gains made by 28 second language learners of Japanese studying for two semesters in Japan, and to determine possible correlates with these gains. Specifically, it addresses whether or not these SA students improve their grammatical proficiency, lexical proficiency, narrative ability, fluency, and pragmatics proficiency. It then explores how language learning aptitude, personality, language use, social networking, and initial ability correlate with those gains. To measure these gains and their correlates it uses the following instruments: the Elicited Imitation task, a picture story, the Pragmatics Self-Assessment, the Non-Word Repetition test, the NEO-Five Factor Inventory, the Language Contact Profile, and the Study Abroad Social Interaction Questionnaire. The results indicated that these SA students improved significantly in at least on measure of grammatical proficiency, lexical proficiency, narrative ability, fluency, and pragmatics proficiency. Initial ability and language use proved to correlate best with each area of linguistic gain; however, the other correlates were also related in certain areas. SA students should prepare to use their language and participate in social networks to best improve their linguistic abilities.

The present study examined the ability of 4th year students of Russian as a second language to use intonation to form intelligible questions. 25 speakers were recorded asking a question in which they were supposed to stress one word in the question using intonation, as is standard in Russian. They then received an intelligibility score based on whether the native Russian raters correctly understood that they were asking a question and what they were asking a question about. Additionally, native speakers rated the speech samples on accentedness, meaning how much the speech deviated from native norms and comprehensibility, meaning how difficult it was to understand the speaker. Both of these last two constructs, i.e., comprehensibility and accentedness were rated using a Likert scale. It was then examined whether there was correlation between intelligibility, comprehensibility and accentedness. This study found the L2 speakers of Russian were correctly understood as asking a question 89% of the time, but what the question was about was only correctly understood at a rate of 39%. Correlation was found between accentedness and comprehensibility, meaning that speakers with better accentedness also received higher comprehensibility scores. But no correlation was found between intelligibility and accentedness nor with comprehensibility. The study concludes with suggestions of why intonation is, in fact, important in communication and suggests areas for improvement in pedagogical settings as well as directions for future research which would include context-based dialogues and the use of Praat in judging statements.

The purpose of this research was to better understand the relationship between L1 and L2 fluency, precisely, whether there is a relationship between L1 and L2 temporal fluency measures and whether this relationship differs across different languages and different proficiency levels. In order to answer these questions, L1 and L2 speech samples of the same speakers were collected and analyzed. Twenty-five native speakers and 45 non-native speakers of Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian were asked to respond to questions and perform picture descriptions in their L1 and L2. The recorded speech samples were then analyzed by means of a Praat script in order to identify mean length of run (MLR), speech rate, and number of pauses. Several different statistical analyses were then performed to compare these L1 and L2 temporal features across different languages and different proficiency levels. The results of this study indicate that there is a strong relationship between L1 and L2 fluency and that this relationship may play a role in L2 production. Furthermore, it was found that native languages differ in their patterns of L1 temporal fluency production and that these differences may affect the production of L2 temporal fluency. It was also found that L1-L2 fluency relationship did not differ at different proficiency levels suggesting that individual factors may play a role in L2 fluency production. Thus, it was found that an Intermediate speaker of Spanish, for instance, did not speak faster than an Intermediate speaker of Russian, suggesting that naturally slower speakers in their L1 will still speak slower in their L2. These results indicate that fluency is as much of a trait as it is a state. However, it was also found that not all of the L1-L2 language combinations demonstrated the same results, indicating that the L1-L2 fluency relationship is affected by the L2. These findings have different implications for both L2 teaching and learning, as well as L2 assessment of fluency and overall language proficiency.

<p>Une analyse des créations onomatopêiques de choc dans la bande dessinée SPIROU</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This thesis aims at a comparative study of the role and portrayal of the non-aristocratie characters of several chansons de geste selected from the twelfth to early fifteenth centuries. At the same time, the treatment of the so-called pseudo-vilains in relation to that of the genuine non-nobles will also be considered.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)