In the light of recent findings regarding age and cumulative language exposure in the domain of Second Language Acquisition, the present study examines how starting age and linguistic input influences Swedish learners of French in a formal instructional setting. In contrast to natural settings, research suggests that a younger starting age in formal settings does not result in more advanced long-term competences in the target language. For the benefits associated with a younger age to be triggered, significant amounts of rich linguistic input need to be obtained by the learner on a daily basis. To test the validity of these findings, two groups with different starting ages were asked to fill in a questionnaire about their age and language contact as well as to perform a grammar and vocabulary test. A correlation analysis showed that an older starting age did in fact have a statistically significant relationship with higher test results and that the participants who reported having more frequent self-regulatory habits of studying French also performed better than the ones with little to no extracurricular exposure. However, a regression analysis did not manage to confirm these correlations and did instead find that other variables such as motivation and which group the participants belonged to have a much stronger significance than mere starting age and the amount of received input.

<p>A great deal of the research on cross-linguistic phonetic influence demonstrates that a speaker’s knowledge of their first language (L1) significantly affects their ability to perceive and produce sounds in any other language. While current studies show that cross-linguistic transfer occurs at the L3 level, some research suggests that properties of both L1 and L2 are present in the production of L3 (Ionin, Montrul & Santos, 2011). Many studies have addressed perception, production and factors that influence foreign speech in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) (Watkins, Rauber & Baptista, 2009). As the number of multilingual individuals rises, so does the need for studies that investigate not only SLA but also that of additional languages (i.e., Third Language Acquisition). This dissertation examines how cross-linguistic influence (CLI) occurs among English, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese (BP), examining instances of vowel reduction, an aspect of phonological production. English and BP are assumed as vowel reducing languages, whereas Spanish displays negligible vowel reduction in comparison. The vowel productions in L3 BP of two multilingual groups, L1English-L2Spanish-L3BP (ESP) and L1 Spanish-L2 English-BP (SEP) were investigated in two tasks: a paragraph reading task (PRT) and a carrier phrase task (CPT). The study sought to determine whether i) a native speaker of a vowel reducing L1 and a non-vowel reducing L2 displays more or less vowel reduction in a vowel reducing L3 than a native speaker of a non-vowel reducing L1 and vowel reducing L2 and ii) how length of exposure to an L3 affects phonological production. Three fixed effects were considered: duration ratio, intensity ratio and height (F1). The goal was to ascertain whether the Typological Primacy Model (TPM) (Rothman 2011, 2015) or the L2 Status Factor Model (Bardel & Falk 2007, 2012; Hammarberg, 2001) would be a better predictor for how vowel reduction would occur in the L3. Results for duration ratio and vowel height showed no significant difference between groups ESP and SEP. Results for intensity ratio suggest L2 Status as a better predictor, as group SEP displayed more phonological transfer than the ESP group. A hybrid approach to L3 acquisition models is proposed. </p>

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<p dir="ltr">Vocabulary is a crucial element in second language learning. However, researchers in vocabulary acquisition express concerns about students’ successful acquisition of vocabulary (e.g., no significant gain after one semester of instruction (Clark & Ishida, 2005)) and the limited classroom instruction dedicated to vocabulary. In an effort to address these issues, the present study developed an online vocabulary learning system intended for use as homework, incorporating relevant theories, hypotheses, and empirical findings from existing literature and investigated its effectiveness employing a mixed-methods design.</p><p dir="ltr">For the quantitative component, students’ vocabulary gains were measured across three aspects of vocabulary knowledge (breadth/size, depth, and speed of access). A three-week experiment was conducted with students enrolled in the third-semester Japanese language course at a US Midwest institution. The final dataset included 54 students’ data. The experimental group (<i>n</i> = 28) utilized the new system to learn target words, while the control group (<i>n</i> = 26) used the current system employed in the course. The current system is also operated online and includes two types of exercises (i.e., listen-and-repeat and flashcards). ANCOVAs were employed to identify any significant differences between the groups, controlling for their pretest scores. Additionally, regression analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between the time the experimental group students spent learning new words using the new system and their outcomes, while also controlling for their pretest scores.</p><p dir="ltr">For the qualitative component, eight students from the same participant pool as the quantitative component participated in one-hour focus group discussions, conducted separately for the experimental and control groups.</p><p dir="ltr">The quantitative analysis revealed no significant differences between the groups; however, it was found that the time spent by the experimental group learning new words using the system significantly predicted two aspects of vocabulary knowledge. The qualitative data offered insights into potential explanations for the lack of significant differences between the groups, including the influence of students’ motivation on the experiment and the perceived difficulty level of the vocabulary exercises implemented in the new system. Based on the results of the present study, numerous suggestions are made for future development projects of similar systems and research.</p>

隨著主管機關對金融商品規定的鬆綁，金融機構業務型態的變化越來越多，量也越來越大，對資訊系統依賴的程度也越來越高。其中，證券公司業務的執行及對客戶的服務，更是高度依賴IT服務的可用性、可靠性、安全性和表現的效能。然而，IT與業務部門需求認知上的落差及IT部門在企業內扮演角色認知上的錯誤及不當的IT管理方式，反而讓問題的發生層出不窮，IT也經常落入問題處理的深淵。 問題的複雜度雖然不斷提高，相對於業務單位對系統穩定性的要求卻更高。問題是：企業不可能因為追求效率上的完美而不斷花錢投入IT資源。在IT資源有限的情況下，IT部門須對這些問題，進行更有效的管理及回應。因此，IT治理不僅已成為金融機構實現業務目標的基本要素，也是獲取客戶信任不可或缺的元素。本論文則嘗試透過導入行之有年的ITIL管理方法，協助解決證券公司資訊部門的困境。 為能達到良好的IT服務治理結果，本研究針對業務單位對IT部門所提供的資訊服務期望，透過ITIL的服務水準管理流程（Service Level Management，SLM）來加以定義及描述。主要做法： 1.利用ITIL流程改善模型（Process Improvement Model）的四階段步驟，參考營業服務管理（Business Service Management，BSM）的觀念與做法，讓IT單位與業務部門能有更好的溝通。 2.依據溝通的結果產出實際可行之服務水準協議。簡言之，即是由使用者的角度去找出所需達到的IT服務標準。還可依此畫出營業服務與IT服務間之對應關係，明確彼此的責任。 3.透過重複不斷的檢討與回饋，讓IT服務能越來越符合實際業務的需要。 本研究發現，透過案例「致富快手」系統在服務水準管理流程中所獲得的業務單位對IT部門的服務期望資訊，對照現況IT部門的服務表現與目標水準的差異分析。的確可以協助IT部門就資訊服務的提供現況來推導，以獲致未來可進行服務改善的目標項目。而不再是以個人的直覺來進行系統維護與IT投資，這些效益還包括： 1.增進IT了解自己在企業營運上的價值貢獻；體會與業務單位的分工合作關係，減輕彼此的對立。 2.營業服務關鍵流程協助IT部門進行資源佈署，優化IT投資。 3.對營業服務關鍵流程，提供一具體、可量化的衡量標準與描述。可依此建立SLA與OLA。 4.服務期望與服務現況比較，了解IT服務對營業服務支持程度。 5.服務期望與服務現況差異化分析，為日後服務改善之依據。 6.營業服務與IT資源對應，明確IT資源關鍵元件；為備援建置及容量管理之重點對象。 7.以Business/IT知識庫檢視監控機制涵蓋程度，做為服務改善之目標。 8.透明IT營業支援服務體系，增進雙方溝通與問題處理有效性。 研究中也發現，服務水準管理流程只是在規範IT服務相關單位的行為活動。也就是說，服務水準管理流程其實只是在訂定IT服務的目標，至於應如何來實現，仍須藉由其他服務提供(Service Support)流程的有效支持；改善的具體實現，又會反應在服務水準指標的執行結果上，兩者其實為互相呼應，相輔相成的因果關係。 / As the finance production deregulates, the financial institutions could run more and more various businesses. In order to offer quality service, it’s necessary to have IT support in the back. So does Security Corporation. The business performances of a security corporation almost depend on an available, reliable, and secure IT services. However, there are some problems occurred between the business and IT units. In one hand, they both have misunderstanding in cognition to the other party; on the other hand, passive attitude and ineffective management of IT department made two groups always unsatisfied to each other. Furthermore, the spending of IT investment in a company is limited, but the business units continually require of better performance requirement. The atmosphere between two parties is in tension. For solving those problems, the study of IT governance comes out. It helps organization offer better IT service under limited resources. Moreover, IT governance is not only the effective method to realize business object, but the important one to obtain the customers’ trust. As the result, we use one of IT governance methodology, ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library), to resolve the predicament of IT department in the security corporation. In this paper, we identify the expectation to IT service from Business units using the concept of SLM (Service Level Management) module described in ITIL. Our analysis steps are as follow: I.Understand the needs: We use the “Process Improvement Model” in ITIL and the concept in BSM (Business Service Management) to analyze the “real” requirements from business units. II.Settle and implement the agreements: After clarify the relationship between business function and IT service, the most important document in SLM, SLA (Service Level Agreement), will be ready for recording the result of negotiation of two parties. It’s also good for addressing the responsibility. III.Review and improve the IT services: After implement, it’s necessary to review the result, and get the feedback for next service improvement. By continuous improvement, IT service will be able to match the business needs. In the case, we conduct the gap analysis between the expectation of business department and real performance of IT service. It helps IT department to understand “where we are” and “what we want”. Through the result of the comparison, it provides an obvious direction for service improvement, instead of by “intuition” only. It also includes other benefits like that: I.The IT department can realize its role in whole enterprise. It could have better cooperation with business department. II.The BSM helps IT manager to deploy its resources and optimize the investment in IT. III.The methodology provides a concrete, measurable standard and description to the business. It’s useful to establish the SLA and OLA (Operation Level Agreement). IV.The comparison between expectation and current status can show how the level of IT services support business services. V.The gap analysis provides the direction of service improvement. VI.The IT resources components are highlighted. Those components are major objects in backup mechanism and capacity management. VII.The Business/IT Knowledge base helps to review the range of monitor. VIII.The IT support system can be revealed. It is benefit to communication and problem management. The study shows that Service Level Management focus on how to restrict the action of IT Services provider. In other words, the whole process just helps to fine out the object of IT Services. It also needs support of other Service Support processes. Furthermore, the services’ quality improve will be showed by the Service Level Index. The SLM and other process complement to each other. To sum up, SLM is good for IT units to identifying needs and catching them. However, it should implement with other process to get better effect.

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Research demonstrating the beneficial effects of corrective feedback (CF) for second language (L2) learning (e,g., Li, 2010) has almost invariably resulted from studies in which CF was provided immediately. Yet teachers are often encouraged to delay CF to avoid interrupting learners (Harmer, 2001). This study investigates how differences in the timing of CF on oral production affect L2 learning and learners’ reactions to CF. Theoretically, Immediate CF may facilitate L2 development by allowing learners to immediately compare their errors to accurate models (i.e., recasting, e.g., Doughty, 2001). The effectiveness of Immediate CF has also been linked to skill acquisition theory because some CF (i.e., prompting) is hypothesized to help learners proceduralize their L2 knowledge (Ranta & Lyster, 2007). This thesis introduces additional theoretical explanations to explain the effectiveness of both Immediate and Delayed CF. For example, reactivation and reconsolidation theory (Nader & Einarsson, 2010) holds that long-term mental representations are susceptible to change when they are recalled. Thus, both Immediate and Delayed CF may help learners alter their incorrect mental representations of language features if that CF reminds learners of those incorrect representations and provides them with accurate models. In a laboratory-based study, 90 intermediate-level adult ESL learners were randomly assigned to Immediate, Delayed, and No CF conditions. Learners took three pre-tests to measure their knowledge of the English passive construction: an aural grammaticality judgment test (AGJT), an oral production test (OPT), and a written error correction test (ECT). Next, they received some brief instruction on the passive. Learners then completed three communicative tasks in which the CF conditions were provided. These tasks were followed by immediate and delayed post-tests. Learners’ reactions to CF were elicited with a questionnaire. Mixed-design one-way ANOVAs revealed statistically significant improvement for all conditions over time on all measures, but no statistically significant differences between conditions. The questionnaires revealed that learners prefer Immediate CF, but that Immediate CF may constrain CF noticeability and learners’ independence, while Delayed CF may cause anxiety or embarrassment. In summary, altering the timing of CF did not differentially affect L2 development, but it did elicit different reactions from learners.

Research has shown that literacy acquisition and the ultimate realisation of literacy, comprehension of the written text requires more than the ability to decode individual words. This study brings together a synthesis of current research on early language acquisition, language structure, vocabulary development and its intrinsic underpinning of comprehension in monolinguals thereby providing a theoretical framework for a comparative study of limited English proficient learners (LEP’s)/English language learners (ELLs) acquiring first time literacy with the attendant vocabulary deficits and age appropriate decoding skills. A quantitative and qualitative study examines the statistical differences between reading, vocabulary, rapid automatic naming (RAN/decoding) and comprehension when a learner born of foreign parents acquires first time literacy in a language other than the language spoken at home. The study isolates and specifies an at risk educational minority through the identification of a hidden comprehension deficit (HCD). In summarising the main findings from the literature review and the empirical investigation, an “at risk educational minority” was identified and isolated through the identification of the HCD. The envisioned outcome was achieved and the hypothesis accepted. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

Research has shown that literacy acquisition and the ultimate realisation of literacy, comprehension of the written text requires more than the ability to decode individual words. This study brings together a synthesis of current research on early language acquisition, language structure, vocabulary development and its intrinsic underpinning of comprehension in monolinguals thereby providing a theoretical framework for a comparative study of limited English proficient learners (LEP’s)/English language learners (ELLs) acquiring first time literacy with the attendant vocabulary deficits and age appropriate decoding skills. A quantitative and qualitative study examines the statistical differences between reading, vocabulary, rapid automatic naming (RAN/decoding) and comprehension when a learner born of foreign parents acquires first time literacy in a language other than the language spoken at home. The study isolates and specifies an at risk educational minority through the identification of a hidden comprehension deficit (HCD). In summarising the main findings from the literature review and the empirical investigation, an “at risk educational minority” was identified and isolated through the identification of the HCD. The envisioned outcome was achieved and the hypothesis accepted. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)