This thesis is concerned with the investigation of directionality of difficulty in second language acquisition (SLA) by Chinese-speaking learners learning English as a foreign language (EFL) and by English-speaking learners learning Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) . Chinese allows both subject PRO in finite clauses and object pro. However, subject PRO in finite clauses and object pro give rise to ungrammaticality in English. Unlike Chinese, in which topics can be base-generated, English does not allow a base-generated topic. Chinese and English are also different in that while English reflexives can only take a local subject in finite clauses as their antecedent (thus a short-distance reflexive), the Chinese reflexive ziji can take the matrix subject as well as the embedded subject as its antecedent (thus a long-distance reflexive) . With respect to these differences between the two languages, our focus is on whether it is more difficult for CFL learners to acquire subject PRO, object pro, base-generated topics and the long-distance reflexive in the acquisition of Chinese than for EFL learners to unlearn subject PRO, object pro, base-generated topics and the long-distance reflexive in the acquisition of English. The results of our study suggest that there is no single direction of difficulty in the SLA of Chinese and English. In terms of object pro, the direction of difficulty is from Chinese to English. However, in acquiring and unlearning the subject PRO, neither CFL learners nor EFL learners seem to have much difficulty. As for base-generated topics, it is found that the acquisition of this feature by CFL learners is more difficult than the unlearning of this feature by EFL learners. The results concerning the acquisition of the Chinese long-distance reflexive ziji by CFL learners suggest that a lack of long-distance binding for ziji is fossilized in these learners' interlanguage (IL) grammars of Chinese. Based on the findings in this study, we argue that the directionality of difficulty in SLA can only be studied with respect to individual language features and that the mere existence of relevant positive evidence in the input is not a guarantee that there will be a change in the learner's IL grammar. There are many factors involved in deciding the direction of difficulty in SLA. These factors include the availability of informative evidence to the learner, the possibility that the learner makes use of the evidence available for the restructuring of his IL grammar of the target language, the learners' ability to process the relevant data in the input, and the interaction between the structure in the learners' L1 and the inherent developmental stage of the target language.

This thesis is a literature review that reports on the use of social media for language learning and teaching. I argue that the use of one’s first language as well as their second language (L2) on social media is a useful technique while learning L2 because code-switching can play a vital role in communication among users. I also argue that social media-based participation in Communities of Practice (CoPs) can provide learning opportunities for language learners. In the course of my argument, I examine a wide range of studies relating to social media, second language acquisition, sociolinguistics and applied linguistics, and I discuss the benefits and risks of the use of social media in language learning. After amalgamating the key points from the literature, I propose a curricular framework for language classrooms which serves as a scaffolding activity for the use of social media for participating in L2 CoPs through objective analysis of linguistic resources. / Graduate / 0290 / 0279

University of Macau / Faculty of Arts and Humanities / Department of Portuguese

University of Macau / Faculty of Arts and Humanities / Department of Portuguese

D.Litt. et Phil. / This study argues that the Critical Language Awareness Perspective adds an essential dimension to language learning and teaching. It further holds that this dimension brings to consciousness both the learners’ and teachers’ critical awareness of language use. It is this awareness that exposes the non-neutrality of language as a medium of communication. The CLA perspective engages both language learners and teachers in questioning and responding to the common-sense assumptions that are linguistically mediated. It also helps them to critically use language to achieve their own objectives. Three of these could be to use language in order to progress well with their studies, find employment and to change their societal psychic and thinking for the betterment of the general public. In this way the CLA perspective assists in developing responsible citizenry. This study therefore examines whether the Critical Language Awareness Perspective is part of the English Second Language programme in grade eleven ESL classes in the Goldfields area. It begins by examining the literature that indicates that the CLA perspective is a significant component of the any language teaching and learning practice. It then examines the empirical data in order to confirm that the CLA perspective does not form part of ESL teaching and learning practice in the context under investigation. It finally suggests possible solutions that could be adopted to facilitate the incorporation of CLA in the ESL class.

D.Litt. et Phil.

This three-article dissertation explores the first year of a sheltered university bridge program (also commonly known as "pathway" programs-see Winkle, 2011) for ESL students at a large public university in the American southwest. "Sheltering" is the practice of offering "academic courses taught in the second language" where "native and non-native [...] students are not mixed in any one class" (Snow & Brinton, 1984, p. 8), a model commonly found in K-12 settings (Echevarria & Graves, 1998; Freeman, Freeman & Gonzalez, 1987; Weinhouse, 1986), though there are sheltered programs in university settings (see, for example, the University of Ottawa Program-Burger, Weinberg & Wesche, 2013). The labels "bridge" and "pathway" refer to pre-matriculation programs that "feature a hybrid of credit-bearing coursework and instruction in English language and academic skills" (Redden, 2010, para 1). Bridge and Pathway Program (BPP) curricula typically follow the adjunct model in which ESL courses are linked with mainstream, unsheltered university courses, with the ESL course providing support. The model in the current study follows the sheltered convention of ESL-only cohorts, but adds the adjunct convention of offering linked support. As international student interest in studying at U.S. universities has grown over recent decades (Open Doors Report, 2015), a subset of international students has emerged that may have lower-than-institutional-benchmark English proficiency for admission based on exams like the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam. BPPs primarily serve this subset of students by offering non-testing curricular paths (linked ESL/university courses) to full matriculation that focus on "achievement, as opposed to proficiency alone" (Dooey, 2010, p. 185). One can expect that BPPS will continue to proliferate given that they bring in previously inadmissible international enrollees to add to the now essential revenue stream that international students represent for universities (Andrade, 2006; Marshall, 2005; Redden, 2010; 2014). This dissertation adds to a growing body of recent research (e.g. Dooey, 2010; Fiocco, 2006; Redden, 2010; 2014, Winkle, 2011) about these models. Article 1 (Appendix A): The Past, Present, and Future of Combined ESL/University Study Programs: From Ad Hoc ESL Interventions to Bridge and Pathway Programs. This article is both a critical literature review and "state-of-the-field" piece (Canagarajah, 2006) that situates the evolution of postsecondary ESL support historically. It explores how postsecondary ESL has gone from an ad hoc, situational endeavor focused on remediating language deficiencies to a multifaceted field of program offerings replete with varying curricular models and dedicated faculty and recruiting structures, a field that has evolved into current BPPs. Article 2 (Appendix B): Exploring Dynamics and Dimensions in Two Linked Adjunct/Content Courses in a Sheltered University Pathway Program for ESL Students: A Case Study. This case study considers the nuances of a sheltered university pathway program for ESL students in its first year of existence. It follows the research framework of an Unlu and Wharton (2015) study using grounded theory analysis. By reconciling classroom observations in two university general education courses (Introduction to Anthropology and US History) and their linked EAP courses (EAP Bridge to Anthropology and EAP Bridge to American History) with participant interviews, I explore the dynamics between students, content instructors, and EAP support instructors. I form a theory about the pedagogy constituted by (and constitutive of) participant actions and beliefs in the observed classes, and argue that the current program may uphold uncritical, remedial predispositions vis-à -vis EAP, as well as content instruction and learning. Finally, I discuss future considerations for this, and other, linked course programs couched in EAP literature. Article 3 (Appendix C): Team-Teaching in a First-Year Composition Course for ESL Students: A Participant-Observational Reflexive Account of One Sheltered University Pathway Context. This case study takes place in a first-year composition course in a sheltered university pathway program for ESL students. It focuses on a specific and complex essay assignment: the Text-in-Context essay (TICE). I consider the assignment parameters, primary and secondary texts offered for completion, interviews with students and instructors, field notes, notes from tutoring sessions, written student reflections, the assignments themselves, and a reflexive narration of my research experience to describe the milieu of the TICE. The description suggests a community of practice (Wenger, 2002) in which a team-teaching approach helps to facilitate the completion of a complex analytical task, while also fostering the growth of the ESL students as academic writers.

Bilingual decision making combines applied linguistics and decision making with an emphasis on cognitive behavioral approaches to explore the decision making of native (L1) and non-native (L2) speakers in the same contexts. In a Trolley Problem experiment, Costa et al. (2014) found that when people used their L2 they are more likely to make utilitarian choices than when they used their L1. Urbig et al. (2015) found that L2 speakers are more likely to act as free-riders in a public goods game, and Oosterbeek et al. (2004) found that Asian speakers reject more unfair proposals than Western speakers in an ultimatum game. This three-article dissertation emerges from an interest to extend the study of language acquisition beyond the classroom and into everyday settings in which humans make important decisions that have real-world consequences. To explore the issues surrounding this question, over 2,200 L1 and L2 speakers were recruited and participated in a series of experimental tests designed to determine if there were detectable decision-making differences using well-tested designs. In addition to the goals of identifying such differences, this dissertation looked to build pathways from applied linguistics into the applied nature of decision making. For example, in legal, medical, and management environments, how might native L1 and L2 speakers behave differently? The answer may suggest important implications for how people and institutions function. The basic question is whether L2 speakers make decisions that vary from L1 speakers, and in this dissertation the question was explored through three domains: verbal probability, ethics, and cognition. A brief summary of each article follows: Article #1: The first article employed verbal probabilities (e.g. likely, probable) that are used to estimate the likelihood of any particular event occurring. The study investigated whether probabilities expressed in words changes due to the language used to express those probabilities. Verbal probability expressions were used from a meta-analysis (Theil, 2002). In both monthly and daily contexts, given the same verbal probabilities L2 speakers gave higher numerical estimations than L1 speakers. In total, 301 (L1=56; L2=245) subjects participated in two experiments. Article #2: To study possible ethical decision-making distinctions between L1 and L2 speakers, in the second article five studies from experimental economics and experimental philosophy were utilized. The studies to date have found that L2 speakers made more utilitarian decisions (Costa et al., 2014), engaged in less-prosocial and more free-rider behavior (Urbig et al., 2015), cooperated less given exposure to Anglo culture (Akkermans, Harzing, & van Witteloostuijn, 2010), and rejected more unfair proposals (Oosterbeek, Sloof, & Van De Kuilen, 2004). The implications of these results to the bilingual decision making context indicate that L2 speakers are not necessarily more utilitarian, and give and offer more money, are similarly cooperative, and attribute responsibility to intentional and unintentional actions equally. In total, 1,346 (L1=537; L2=726) subjects participated in the five experiments. Article #3: The third article examined the cognitive differences between L1 and L2 speakers using two experimental designs. In the first, L1 and L2 participants participated in a subitizing experiment in which subjects were presented with 1-12 objects in various arrays. All participants exhibited very similar response patterns. In the second experiment, the Cognitive Reflection Test (Frederick, 2005) was used to elicit rapid and intuitive responses, but in order to answer correctly subjects are generally required to use slower, reflective thinking. Overall, L2 speakers provided more accurate responses than L1 speakers, a benefit for second language speakers. Male respondents answered more questions correctly than female respondents, but female respondents were more likely than male respondents to choose the most intuitive, yet incorrect answer. In total, 574 (L1=295; L2=279) subjects participated in three experiments. Implications: Taken together, this dissertation attempted to identify whether decision-making differences between L1 and L2 speakers appeared using thoroughly-tested experimental designs, and if distinctions appear, then have those distinctions form the basis for new research questions and experiments. The implications of bilingual decision making are found in environments in which both L1 and L2 speakers make consequential decisions, such as in medical decision making, legal decision making, and managerial decision making. Medical decision making is the study of decisions in medical contexts with an eye to improve the health and clinical care of individuals and to assist with health policy development (Medical Decision Making Journal, 2015). Scholars of legal decision making study the psychological and emotional factors of legal decision making made by jurists and jurors (Legal Decision Making Research Lab, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2015). Managerial decision making is the study of negotiation, investment, and management (Bazerman & Moore, 2012). What each of these sub-areas of decision making have in common is that they have not specifically addressed whether and how the decisions made by L2 speakers and bilingual speakers may vary as a function of one's first language.

This paper compares and contrasts how linguistic transfer has been incorporated in English course books for year 7 and year 11 in Swedish schools. This study has focused on finding explicit and implicit reference to transfer and interference in English course books for Swedish students by identifying references from the authors where they have pointed to similarities and differences between Swedish and English. The results of the study showed that comparisons between the languages were used in all books, but explicit references were more common than implicit references. Of the four different linguistic levels (pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, pragmatics) examined in this study, grammatical comparisons were the most frequent. However, the authors of the books for year 7 used more comparisons between the languages than the authors of the year 11 books. One conclusion that can be drawn from the present study is that it is up to the authors of the course books to decide to what extent they should compare and contrast the two languages, since the national curricula for the subject English give no indications of how the subject of transfer should be dealt with in language acquisition. / Den här uppsatsen jämför hur lingvistisk överföring behandlas engelska kursböcker för årskurs 7 och årskurs 11 i svenska skolor. Studien har fokuserat på att undersöka i vilken mån författarna uttryckligen eller underförstått refererat till överföring och transfer genom att identifiera var kursböckerna innehåller information om likheter och skillnader mellan svenska och engelska. Resultaten från denna studie visar att sådana jämförelser mellan språken fanns i alla böcker, men att uttrycklig jämförelse var det vanligast sättet för författarna att visa på likheter och skillnader. Av de fyra olika lingvistiska nivåer som användes i denna studie (uttal, grammatik, ordförråd, pragmatik), förekom jämförelse av grammatik mest. Författarna till böckerna för årskurs 7 använde sig mer av jämförelser mellan språken än författarna till böckerna för årskurs 11. En slutsats som man kan dra av denna studie är att det är upp till författarna själva att bestämma i vilken mån de ska jämföra de två språken, eftersom läroplanen för ämnet engelska inte ger någon information om hur överföring ska hanteras i språkinlärning.

M.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / As the South African education system is moving towards complete reorganisation and fundamental restructuring, teachers have been forced to take a look at the language being used in their now multilingual classrooms and also at their own teaching of language, as opposed to the teaching of school-based literature. Some teachers see this as a challenge, and with the attention now being paid in the school curriculum to the communicative use of English, are attempting to change their beliefs and conceptions about instruction, language and learning. For many teachers of English second language pupils, the answers lie in the whole language philosophy, as it stands for justice, democracy, and empowerment and against injustice and a stratified society. However, the whole language movement grew from an original focus on the reading, writing and learning processes of native speakers of English, and is only beginning to affect second language learners. The focus of this study is therefore on the implementation of whole language with English second language pupils, with the aim of improving the instruction and education of these learners as well as enhancing the support systems and training for whole language teachers. The whole language philosophy is it different way of thinking about teaching and learning, and thus teachers need to be continually encouraged to examine their own assumptions about learning and teaching. The theory framework for this study includes readings in the origins of whole language, the whole language belief system, English second language learning and connections between whole language and English second language pedagogy. The theoretical framework is constructed with the aim of supporting the construct and approaching the research question from different angles. The nature of the research question presupposes a monographic study as research format, which in tum directs the research to observations, an individual interview and document analysis. The discussion of the monographic study takes place against the background of the qualitative research paradigm. The teacher and Grade One English second language pupils of a Language Assistant Programme, characterised by whole language principles, are the target group of this study. The findings of the inquiry indicate that the whole language philosophy can be applied to English second language learners, but needs to be complemented with an understanding of second language acquisition and English second language teaching methods. It was also found that teachers need continual support in transforming the whole language philosophy into practice and in examining their own beliefs and assumptions about learning and instruction.