This study investigated differences in Vietnamese (native) and English (second) oral language proficiency across sex, age, socioeconomic status (SES), and grade levels for Vietnamese students as a result of their exposure to a 3-year (K-2) transitional bilingual education program. It also attempted to determine whether there was a difference in English language proficiency across Vietnamese language proficiency as well as whether there was a relationship between English language proficiency and Vietnamese language proficiency. One hundred twenty six subjects were selected based on the fact that they had participated in the said bilingual education program and that the scores they had obtained on the Language Assessment Scales (LAS) which measured their proficiency in English and Vietnamese were available for both kindergarten and second grade. These children's school records were examined in view of noting their LAS scores, sexes, birthdates, and SES. Statistical treatments used were analysis of covariance and Spearman's rho correlation. Tukey post-hoc tests were calculated where appropriate. The results indicated that: (1) for Vietnamese language proficiency, girls scored higher than boys, middle- and high-SES students scored higher than low-SES students, but no significant difference was found between the scores of older students and the scores of their younger counterparts; (2) for English language proficiency, females scored higher than males, older students scored higher than younger students, and scores increased linearly with SES increment; (3) there was a significant difference in English language proficiency across Vietnamese language proficiency; (4) there was a significant positive relationship between English language proficiency and Vietnamese language proficiency; and (5) the subjects enjoyed a marked gain in English but suffered a significant loss in Vietnamese.

In the Storyline approach a fictive world is created in the classroom. Learners become characters in a story, which develops as they work in small groups on open key questions, devised by the teacher on the basis of curriculum content and in which practical and theoretical tasks are integrated. Though established in first language contexts, Storyline is less known in second language education, although it would seem to offer conditions considered to promote language development in young learners: the story framework provides an engaging and meaningful context in which learners use their language skills holistically, in tasks which simulate the way they might use English in the real world, and in which they can use their creative talents. This multi-strategy case study investigated the language development of a class of Swedish 11-13 year olds who took part in Storyline, Our Sustainable Street, lasting five weeks. In the topic the learners were families living in a new street in a fictive English town. The aim was to consolidate their existing structural and lexical knowledge, develop their language skills and introduce the lexis of sustainability. Findings show that the learners became engaged when they worked with the Storyline, and that this impacted positively on their language development, especially regarding the learning of new words, losing the fear of speaking English before their peers, and in the voluntary production of longer and more structurally and lexically complex written texts. Features which contributed most to learner engagement were found to be group work, art work and the variety of task types, with the boys also motivated by not working with a textbook and girls by opportunities to use their imagination. The results suggest that inclusion of the Storyline approach in a teaching repertoire can facilitate language development in young learners.

This thesis examines the different uses of a large-scale and high-stakes national English test in China—the College English Test (CET), together with their social and educational impacts. The research takes a multi-method, qualitative approach to collect different sources of data. The primary data were drawn from a series of face-to-face in-depth interviews with university students, lecturers, administrators, employers, a test designer and a bookseller. Other supporting data were collected through observations, email interviews, and a variety of documentary and online sources. The data show that the CET results have been used for both intended and unintended purposes by intended and unintended users. The main focus of the study is on the test takers—the university students. It was found that the CET, through the various uses made of the results, had a significant impact on the learning of English and subjects in other disciplines in the universities. There are also significant influences on test takers’ ethical conduct and their fairness perceptions of both the test itself and its uses. These impacts are multifaceted and they have chain consequences. The relation between the several uses of the CET results and their impacts can be represented by a model of ‘impact introducers (test users)—impact medium (test itself)—impact context—impact receivers (e.g. test takers)’. The study provides empirical evidence that the four elements in the model play different roles in the impact processes, and the impact is reciprocal between introducers and receivers. It also shows that test uses and their impacts are mediated by a number of factors, among which contextual factors (e.g. cultural, social and economic) tend to play more significant roles than the test itself. The study concludes with a discussion of the role of the four elements in the CET impact processes from different perspectives.

The aim of this study is to investigate the motivational orientations affecting ESL learers in learing English and to identify learners' learning strategies when dealing with CALL instruction at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Specifically, the study seeks to investigate: Cl) Motivational orientations when learning English in a conventional classroom, (2) Motivational orientations when learning English in a CALL classroom, and (3) Learners' strategies when learing English using computers. The data for the study were collected using two research tools: questionnaires and interviews. Two types of analyses, that is a Crosstabs and a Chi- Square tests were applied to the data. This thesis is divided into six chapters. Chapter One presents the research context of the study. It also describes the significance of the study by addressing major questions concerning students' motivation when learning English at UTM. Chapter Two reviews the literatue on motivational orientations and learning strategies to put the study in the broader research context. Chapter Three describes the sampling, research instruments and data collection procedures employed in the present study. Chapter Four analyses and presents the findings in relation to students' motivational orientations when learning English in a conventional classroom and in a CALL classroom. Chapter Five describes the findings in respect of students' learning strategies specifically when dealing with CALL tasks. Chapter Six presents a summary of the major research findings and ilustrates how the findings of the investigation relate to previous research findings. The chapter also indicates the implications of the findings for pedagogy, discusses the study limitations, and finally offers suggestions for future research. The research results provide evidence that students put effort into learning English, showed a positive attitude, a strong desire, low anxiety, and high expectations when learning English using computers. The results also show that students used a wide range of strategies when working with computers, that is, metacognitive, affective, cognitive and social strategies. Based on the results of the study, the recommendation is made that if CALL is to be integrated in the English language curriculum at UTM, students' motivational orientations and learing strategies should be considered for effective teaching and learning.

The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether the setting of the verb movement parameter in L2 is dependent on agreement acquisition. The Optionality hypothesis (Eubank, 1994) is tested by examining the L2 grammar of Chinese learners of English. To test this hypothesis, the sentence matching procedure originally described in Freedman and Forster (1985) is used. It is found that no current theory truly accounts for the results that are obtained.

This study contributes to the debate about the importance of focus on form to adult second language acquisition with an investigation of a Portuguese-speaking adult's acquisition of English present perfect from a historical, correlational, and qualitative viewpoint. Using a husband-wife interaction in the L1, it investigates whether explicit grammar instruction and error correction can lead to automatic production. The focus of the study, the distinction between L1 present simple and L2 present perfect, is contrasted with a control distinction: L1 stative and L2 progressive. The importance of these distinctions is that both are semantically challenging for the L2 acquirer; therefore, they might require focus on form. This study argues against claims based on Krashen's input hypothesis that only comprehensible input can promote acquisition and that explicit data and negative evidence only affect performance. The results confirm the importance of noticing (Schmidt and Frota, 1986) as an essential aspect of adult second language acquisition. With a thorough look at the semantics of the present perfect, the study shows that focus on form is highly recommended for the acquisition of complex structures.

Degree: MA in Psychology by Coursework and Research Report, 2016 / A comprehensive study has demonstrated that language experience provides cognitive benefits above the attainment of a second language (Bialystok, Craik, Green & Gollan, 2009) and thus it is purported that being a bi/multilingual stimulates memory and other executive functions (Jessner, 1999).The relation between language experience and verbal working memory and visual and verbal long-term memory was explored by assessing 30 healthy, young multilingual adults. The instruments that were used for this study are as follows: The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q) which rated self-reported language experience/s, the Letter-Number Sequencing subtest from the WAIS-IV which assessed verbal working memory, the Visual Reproduction (VR) subtest from the WMS-IV which evaluated visual long-term memory and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) which measured verbal memory and learning. The results of the ANOVA statistics found that there was a correlation between language experience and verbal long-term memory (which was measured by utilising the RAVLT), but no links between language experience and verbal working memory and visual long-term memory were found. The results suggest that the language experience of young, multilingual adult South Africans is not related with verbal working memory and visual long-term memory. / MT2017

Submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters in Educational Psychology At the: University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg / South Africa is a multicultural and multilingual country. The majority of learners (90%) speak a mother tongue that is not English. The language of instruction is however English. English has become the dominant language in education, commerce and industry and therefore proficiency in the language is imperative. In order to help learners learn more efficiently, and to inform education policy making, an exploration of what language learning strategies learners from divergent mother tongue backgrounds employ, is beneficial. This study was conducted in a high school, in a township area of Gauteng, South Africa in order to investigate whether there is a relationship between the mother tongue of South African high school learners and English second language learning strategies employed by these learners. The sample consisted of 107 Grade 8-Grade 12 participants who were receiving instruction in English, with their mother tongue specified as one of the 9 African languages. Learners were asked to complete a 50 item questionnaire, as well as a demographical information form. The results showed that although there was no significant relationship between mother tongue and English second language learning strategies used by high school learners, other variables such as number of years of English language instruction and age were significant variables that influenced choice of English language learning strategy use. It was also found that metacognitive strategies were the most commonly used English language learning strategies. Research on the relationship between mother tongue and language learning strategy use is imperative given the significant number of learners that would benefit from this research and subsequent interventions implemented. / AC2018

Submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters in Educational Psychology At the: University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg January 2016 / South Africa is a multicultural and multilingual country. The majority of learners (90%) speak a mother tongue that is not English. The language of instruction is however English. English has become the dominant language in education, commerce and industry and therefore proficiency in the language is imperative. In order to help learners learn more efficiently, and to inform education policy making, an exploration of what language learning strategies learners from divergent mother tongue backgrounds employ, is beneficial. This study was conducted in a high school, in a township area of Gauteng, South Africa in order to investigate whether there is a relationship between the mother tongue of South African high school learners and English second language learning strategies employed by these learners. The sample consisted of 107 Grade 8-Grade 12 participants who were receiving instruction in English, with their mother tongue specified as one of the 9 African languages. Learners were asked to complete a 50 item questionnaire, as well as a demographical information form. The results showed that although there was no significant relationship between mother tongue and English second language learning strategies used by high school learners, other variables such as number of years of English language instruction and age were significant variables that influenced choice of English language learning strategy use. It was also found that metacognitive strategies were the most commonly used English language learning strategies. Research on the relationship between mother tongue and language learning strategy use is imperative given the significant number of learners that would benefit from this research and subsequent interventions implemented

Lexical acquisition requires the ability to identify word boundaries in a continuous auditory speech stream. This complex task is even more challenging when learning a new language in adulthood. Previous studies have shown that word boundary identification can be enhanced by pairing musical tones with native language phonemes. The objective of this dissertation study was to investigate whether musical tones also have this effect in a novel pseudo-language that uses non-native speech sounds. The N400, a brain event-related potential that has been linked with familiarity responses and detection of statistical regularities during exposure to pseudowords, provides an index of brain activation associated with semantico-lexical processing. In this study, language-like stimuli incorporating a French phoneme (a high, front, rounded vowel that is not part of the English phonetic inventory) were presented to typically developing English monolingual adults. Participants were presented to one of two types of exposure conditions for 7 minutes: monotone presentation of the concatenated language-like stimuli; or the same speech stream with a musical tone associated with each syllable. The exposure protocol was based on Schön, Boyer, Moreno et. al. (2008). Exposure was followed by a lexical decision task, requiring participants to distinguish “words” (heard during the exposure in a concatenated speech stream) from “part words” (end of one word and the beginning of another, crossing word boundaries). High-density EEG was recorded during the lexical decision and analyzed offline to determine N400 event-related responses to the stimuli in each condition. Although behavioral measures did not reveal any significant differences between groups or conditions, we found a N4 significantly different response to “partword” in the tone-exposed group, compared to the monotone. This difference only occurred in a frontal region with a right-hemisphere bias, and was not found to be significant over the left hemisphere. This difference suggests that participants in the tone group were supported in differentiating “words” from “partwords”, supporting the view that the inclusion of tonal information is beneficial in the early stages of L2 lexical learning.