This dissertation considers the factors affecting the acquisition of a second language and those factors thought to be the most important in the acquisition of English as a second language. An examination of the theories of language acquisition is followed by a literature study and discussion of the factors appearing to be of importance in second language acquisition. The account of the empirical investigation, conducted in an English medium school in Botswana, includes the formulation of hypothesis, discussion of the sample, a description of the measuring instruments used and a summary of the general procedure followed. The results of the empirical investigation suggest that the most important factors in the acquisition of English as a second language are age, intelligence, the amount of English spoken at home, pupil perception of parental support and first language acquisition. In conclusion, some of the educational implications of this investigation are considered. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of South Africa, 2002.

Thesis (DPhil (General Linguistics))—University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Addressing the low literacy rates in South Africa poses a mountainous challenge. However, identifying children at risk for reading difficulties and providing timely and preventative intervention might be a good starting point to addressing this challenge. This study aimed at making a contribution to the existing body of literature on emergent literacy skills of learners who are educated in a second or additional language. The study investigated English Language Learners’ (ELLs) emergent literacy skills prior to entering Grade 1 and evaluated the effectiveness of an evidence-based stimulation program in the South African context. The main research question this study attempted to answer was: “What is the effect of a stimulation program for emergent literacy skills in Grade R on the development of literacy of English Language Learners in Grade 1?” In a quasiexperimental design, ELLs’ emergent literacy skills were assessed with an adapted version of the Emergent Literacy Assessment battery (Willenberg 2004) and were compared to those of English first language (L1) and of ELL control groups, both prior to and after an 8-week purpose-designed stimulation program. Results indicated that while learners showed significant improvement on six out of the eight subtests, the particular intervention program did not significantly improve ELLs’ emergent literacy skills (those pertaining to alphabet knowledge, phoneme awareness, print awareness and oral language skills, amongst others) when compared to learners in the respective control groups. When controlling for receptive language abilities, English L1 learners did not perform any better than their L2 peers on any of the eight measures of emergent literacy prior to intervention. Furthermore, upon entering Grade 1, there was no statistical significant difference in the performance of the English L1 learners and ELLs on any of the eight subtests after intervention. Possible independent variables contributing to the dearth of intervention effect included socio-economic status, learners’ L1, and teacher and classroom specific characteristics. These variables were addressed, and clinical implications for speech-language therapists with regards to assessment, intervention, service delivery and outcome measures were highlighted. / AFRIKAANS OPSOMMING: Die aanspreek van Suid-Afrika se geletterdheidsvraagstuk is ‘n reuse uitdaging. Die vroeë identifisering van kinders met ‘n hoë risiko vir leesprobleme en die verskaffing van tydige en voorkomende intervensie mag egter ‘n goeie beginpunt wees in die aanspreek van hierdie uitdaging. Hierdie studie het gepoog om ‘n bydrae te lewer tot die bestaande literatuur oor ontluikende geletterdheidsvaardighede van kinders wat in ‘n tweede of addisionele taal onderrig word. Die studie het die ontluikende geletterheidsvaardighede ondersoek van Graad R-leerders wat in Engels onderrig word, maar vir wie Engels nie hul eerste taal is nie, asook die effektiwiteit van ‘n navorsingsgebaseerde stimulasieprogram binne die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks. Die hoof navorsingsvraag van die studie was: “Wat is die effek van ‘n stimulasieprogram vir ontluikende geletterheidsvaardighede in Graad R op die ontwikkeling van geletterdheid van Engels tweede taal (T2)-leerders in Graad 1?” In ‘n kwasieksperimentele ontwerp is Engels T2-leerders se ontluikende geletterheidsvaardighede met ‘n aangepaste weergawe van die Emergent Literacy Assessment Battery (Willenberg 2004) geëvalueer, en voor en na ‘n 8-week doelgerigte stimulasieprogram vergelyk met die vaardighede van kontrolegroepe wat bestaan het uit Engels eerste taal (T1)-leerders en Engels T2-leerders onderskeidelik. Alhoewel leerders ‘n beduidende verbetering in ses van die agt subtoetse getoon het, het die spesifieke intervensieprogram nie T2-leerders in die eksperimentele groepe se ontluikende geletterdheidsvaardighede beduidend verbeter in vergelyking met leerders in die twee kontrole groepe nie (dit sluit in onder andere alfabetkennis, foneembewustheid, drukbewustheid en orale taalvaardighede). Wanneer daar vir reseptiewe taalvaardighede gekontroleer is, het die T1-leerders nie beduidend beter gevaar as hul T2-portuurgroep op enige van die agt subtoetse van ontluikende geletterdheid nie, en met toetrede tot Graad 1 was daar gevolglik geen statisties beduidende verskil tussen die T1- en T2-groepe ten opsigte van enige van die agt subtoetse nie. Moontlike onafhanklike veranderlikes wat tot hierdie gebrek aan intervensie-effek kon bydra, sluit sosio-ekonomiese status, leerders se T1 en onderwyseren klaskamer-spesifieke eienskappe in. Hierdie veranderlikes is aangespreek, en die kliniese implikasies vir spraak-taalterapeute met betrekking tot evaluasie, intervensie, dienslewering en die noukeurige meting van uitkomste is toegelig.

This dissertation focuses on the experiences of second language pupils which involve linguistic encounters. The overarching aim is to analyse second language pupils' encounters with Swedish as a Second Language and the Swedish school, using a “curriculum theory” and a ”life story” approach". The goal is achieved by examining two empirical contexts which can be described as expressed and experienced curricula. In the first context, an idea analysis is carried out of the contents of the syllabi and curricula for Swedish as a Second Language over a period of time. In the second context, a narrative analysis is carried out of the life stories given by second language pupils of their encounter with Swedish as a Second Language and the Swedish school. Trainee teachers with Swedish as a Second Language participate by telling their life stories. A framework for interpretation emerges by reasoning about language and the creation of meaning, as well as about culture, cultural capital, similarities/differences, compensating/completing and limited participation/full participation. The reasoning leads to the construction of a theoretical interpretation framework and prisms through which the offered and experienced learning can be studied. The analysis shows that what is on offer in the curricula and syllabi is mainly monocultural. It shows that a new subject has grown up based on the need to teach pupils about the Swedish cultural heritage and Swedish norms. Moreover, both changes in the expressed educational ideals over a period of time and contradictory educational ideals become evident. It is also clear that those providing the information felt both different and excluded. They were not monolingual, and did not have Swedish as their mother tongue. To make up for this lack of Swedishness, they were separated from the other classmates and offered special teaching in an attempt to compensate. They also received mother tongue tuition, which was not in Swedish, and this became a problem for those around them, who considered this was an easy option. The second language tuition they were offered focussed partly on their mistakes and shortcomings, and partly on the Swedish cultural heritage. Their earlier experience and skills were not used.

Ce doctorat présente une recherche menée en linguistique et en psycholinguistique sur la production de verbes en F.L.S. dans une Approche Fonctionnaliste chez des adultes. Il est important de s’interroger sur les énoncés non conventionnels du type casser un fruit, nommés métaphores, ou erreurs de surextension. Duvignau les a appelés approximations sémantiques à cause de la proximité entre un verbe produit (non conventionnel) et un verbe conventionnel pertinent. L’objectif de ce travail est d’analyser la production d’approximations sémantiques chez les participants étrangers de différents niveaux de F.L.S. Notre hypothèse la plus importante est que la production d’approximations sémantiques serait une stratégie palliative qui aide les étrangers à communiquer avec peu de mots. Nous avons établi l’hypothèse selon laquelle plus les apprenants F.L.S. sont avancés, moins ils produiraient d’approximations sémantiques. Nous avons utilisé un protocole « Approx » (Duvignau et Gaume, 2004) qui contient 17 séquences d’actions (DVD) dont le but est d’analyser la production des verbes dans les tâches de dénomination et de reformulation d’actions auprès de 125 participants (un groupe de chinois de F.L.S. (N=56), un groupe d’étrangers non sinophones de F.L.S. (d’une vingtaine de langues maternelles différentes ; N=56) et un groupe contrôle de F.L.M. (N=13). Par ailleurs, nous avons recueilli des données au sein de différentes écoles et entreprises à Toulouse. Notre hypothèse selon laquelle plus les participants de F.L.S. sont avancés, moins ils utiliseraient d’approximations sémantiques a reçu un soutien mitigé. / This PhD presents a study in linguistics and psycholinguistics that uses a functionalist approach to the study of production of non-conventional verbs by adults learning in French as a Second Language. We are interested in oral productions like to break a fruit that are known as metaphors or errors of over-extension. Duvignau called these semantic approximations because of the proximity between the non-conventional verb that participants produced and the conventional verb that should have been produced. The objective of this PhD is to investigate production of semantic approximations at different levels in French Second Language learning. We suggest that the palliative strategy could be responsible for the production of semantic approximations by learners in Second Language and helps learners to communicate with few verbs. We hypothesized that the more advanced learners will use less semantic approximations. We used the “Approx” protocol (Duvignau and Gaume, 2004) that contains 17 video-actions to measure production of verbs in denomination and reformulation tasks in 125 participants at different levels in French (a Chinese group (N=56), a foreign non-Chinese group speaking 27 different languages (N=56) and French group (N=13)) from different schools or companies in France. This research shows that our hypothesis that the more advanced learners will use less semantic approximation receives limited support.

This study investigated the relationship between reading attitudes in L1 and in L2 of learners in Pakistan. It also investigated the differences between reading attitudes of learners from different home backgrounds, rural and urban. The participants of the study had Sindhi as their L1 and English as their L2. They came from rural (n=186) and urban (n=202) parts of Sindh. The study employed a mixed methods approach. It collected data through a questionnaire, and semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire collected information on four reading attitude variables: self perception as a reader, utilitarian value for reading, personal involvement for reading and lack of reading anxiety both in Sindhi and in English. The fifth variable was learner’s rural/urban home background. My study partially confirms findings from previous studies indicating that reading attitudes in L1 and in L2 are related. Rural learners displayed a stronger relationship between reading attitudes in L1 and in L2, whereas urban learners displayed a weaker relationship. This finding was further confirmed when, through a multiple regression analysis, the contribution of each reading attitude was checked in terms of the coefficient values. A learner’s ‘rural/urban home background’ emerged as the strongest indicator of a learner’s reading attitudes than his/her reading attitudes in Sindhi. Thus, urban home background seems to add positively to reading attitudes in English. The findings show the importance of one’s educational background, home and society on the whole in the process of developing a learner’s attitudes towards reading in English. Furthermore, this study also demonstrated marked differences in the reading attitudes of both the groups in terms of their reading attitudes in L1 and in L2. The rural learners had better reading attitudes in L1 than their counterparts, whereas the urban learners had better reading attitudes in English than the rural learners. Such a finding again supports the role of society and social background in shaping learners’ reading attitudes in L1 or in L2.

Då strategier är vagt beskrivna i styrdokument och svåra att observera hos elever är studiens syfte att undersöka några lärares förmåga att uppfylla läroplanens krav när det gäller undervisning och bedömning av strategier i muntlig kommunikation i engelska och slutligen utifrån litteratur ge exempel på hur det kan konkretiseras i klassrummet. Genom kvalitativa metoder inom fenomenologin har observationer och intervjuer med tre lärare genomförts och analyserats. Resultatet visar att lärare är överens gällande styrdokumentens otydlighet. Dessutom är strategibegreppet vagt beskrivet och saknar gemensam definition bland forskare. Lärares metoder för att undervisa strategier sker både genom direkt och indirekt undervisning och båda metoderna får stöd i forskning. Materialet som ska bidra med mer förståelse till kursplanen, kommentarmaterialet, används inte av lärare. Det leder till att lärare inte blir medvetna om vilka strategier elever rekommenderas att använda och att bedömningen av kunskapskravet blir godtyckligt. Lärare anser dessutom att strategier är svåra att upptäcka då vissa strategier inte sker synligt eller att de sker i samband med att elever interagerar i par eller helklass. Problemet med att upptäcka vilka strategier som används av ”duktiga elever” gör att progressionen i kunskapskravet kan ifrågasättas. Resultatet visar på ett utvecklingsbehov av metoder för att undervisa strategier i muntlig kommunikation samt att resurseffektiva metoder för bedömning behöver identifieras. / When strategies are vaguely described in steering documents and difficult to observe with students, the aim of the study is to investigate the ability of some teachers to fulfil the curriculum's requirements in terms of teaching and assessing strategies in oral communication in English and finally based on literature giving examples of how it can be made concrete in classroom. Through qualitative methods in phenomenology, observations and interviews with three teachers have been carried out and analysed. The result shows that teachers agree on the obscurity of the steering documents. In addition, the strategy concept is vaguely described and lacks a common definition among researchers. Teachers' methods for teaching strategies take place through direct and indirect teaching and both methods are supported in research. The material that will contribute more understanding to the syllabus is not used by teachers. This means that teachers do not become aware of which strategies students are recommended to use and that the assessment of the knowledge requirement becomes arbitrary. Teachers also believe that strategies are difficult to detect, as some strategies are not visible or that they occur in connection with pupils interacting in pairs or in full class. The problem of discovering which strategies are used by "good students" makes the progression of the knowledge requirement questionable. The results show a need for development of methods for teaching strategies in oral communication and that resourceefficient methods of assessment need to be identified.

Nesta dissertação, são analisados, via Teoria da Otimidade (MCCARTHY; PRINCE, 1995; PRINCE; SMOLENSKY, 1993), dois aspectos da fonologia do português como segunda língua por aprendizes americanos e britânicos: a ausência de assimilação regressiva de vozeamento envolvendo a fricativa alveolar final em posição de fronteira de palavra e a produção de oclusivas nasais em posição final e de fronteira de palavra. Em inglês, a fricativa alveolar /s/ em coda final diante de segmento sonoro tende a manter seu status de vozeamento subjacente (GIMSON; CRUTTENDEN, 2008; MYERS, 2010; ROCA; JOHNSON, 1999); em contrapartida, em português, a fricativa alveolar, nessa mesma posição, compartilha do traço de sonoridade do segmento à sua direita (BISOL, 2005; FERREIRA NETTO, 2001; MATTOSO CÂMARA JR., 2007 [1970]). Ademais, as oclusivas nasais [m, n] não são licenciadas em posição de coda em português, a não ser diante de segmentos que lhes sejam homorgânicos (BISOL, 2005; CAGLIARI, 2007; MATTOSO CÂMARA JR., 2007 [1970]); em inglês, no entanto, essas oclusivas nasais podem ocorrer independentemente do ponto de articulação do elemento seguinte (EWEN; HULST, 2001; GIMSON; CRUTTENDEN, 2008; ROCA; JOHNSON, 1999). Cabe, portanto, ao aprendiz anglófono do português como segunda língua adquirir processos fonético-fonológicos não presentes em sua primeira língua, passando a vozear a fricativa alveolar final diante de segmento sonoro, p. ex. mai[s] árvores > mai[z] árvores, e a deixar de articular as oclusivas nasais em final de palavra, em favor da realização da vogal nasal do português, p. ex. co[m] arte > c[õw] arte. A partir do corpus, constituído por entrevistas com seis americanos e cinco britânicos, verificou-se que o tempo de residência no Brasil foi o fator mais significativo para a produção da fricativa alveolar vozeada e, juntamente com a qualidade da vogal, constituiu-se também como o fator mais relevante para a realização da vogal nasal. Pela análise da produção de aprendizes iniciantes, por meio do modelo baseado em restrições proposto pela Teoria da Otimidade, foi possível constatar a interação entre processos de marcação e de transferência do ranqueamento do inglês para a interlíngua do aprendiz. / In this dissertation, two phonological aspects of Portuguese as a second language by American and British learners are analysed within Optimality Theory framework (MCCARTHY; PRINCE, 1995; PRINCE; SMOLENSKY, 1993): the lack of regressive voicing assimilation involving the final alveolar fricative in word-boundary context and the production of nasal stops in word-final and word-boundary contexts. In English, the alveolar fricative /s/ in word-final position preceding a voiced segment tends to maintain its underlying voicing value (GIMSON; CRUTTENDEN, 2008; MYERS, 2010; ROCA; JOHNSON, 1999); conversely, in Portuguese, the alveolar fricative in this same position agrees in voicing with the following segment (BISOL, 2005; FERREIRA NETTO, 2001; MATTOSO CÂMARA JR., 2007 [1970]). Moreover, the nasal stops [m, n] are not allowed in coda position in Portuguese, unless they precede homorganic segments (BISOL, 2005; CAGLIARI, 2007; MATTOSO CÂMARA JR., 2007 [1970]); on the other hand, in English, these nasal stops can occur regardless of the next segments place of articulation (EWEN; HULST, 2001; GIMSON; CRUTTENDEN, 2008; ROCA; JOHNSON, 1999). Therefore, the Anglophone learner of Portuguese as a second language is given the task of acquiring phonetic/phonological processes not present in their first language, having to voice the final alveolar fricative which precedes a voiced segment, e. g. mai[s] árvores > mai[z] árvores more trees, and to cease producing nasal stops in word-final position in favour of the production of Portuguese nasal vowels, co[m] arte > c[õw] arte with art. From the corpus, consisting of interviews with six American and five British learners, it was demonstrated that the time of residence in Brazil was the most significant factor for the production of the voiced alveolar fricative, and together with the quality of the vowel, it was also shown to be the most relevant factor in the production of the nasal vowel. Analysing the production of beginning learners within Optimality Theory constraint-based model, it was possible to attest the interaction between markedness effects and transfer of the English constraint ranking to the learners interlanguage.

An intrinsic case study was conducted to understand what helps Early Care and Education (ECE) English as a Second Language (ESL) students to enroll in a customized ECE ESL course at a local state college and what barriers may hinder their success in the course. This research examined whether the following were either motivators or barriers or both in ECE ESL participants enrolling in an ECE ESL customized course: course design and delivery, student support systems, student self-motivation, student self- efficacy, time and schedule commitment, instructor and student relationship, availability of resources, and level of classroom involvement. The results revealed that the students were highly motivated to enroll and complete the course successfully. Across the board, there was (1) a sense of gratitude from the participants for being afforded an opportunity to learn the English language, (2) evidence of knowledge of their future goals, and (3) their knowledge that learning English was their first step in achieving their goals. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Bilinguals commonly report experiencing emotions differently depending on which language are they speaking. Emotionally loaded words were expected to be appraised differently in first versus second language in a sample of Spanish-English bilinguals (n=117). English (L2) ratings were subtracted from Spanish (L1) ratings; the resulted scores were used as dependent variable in the analyses. Three categories of words (positive, negative and taboo) were appraised in both languages (English and Spanish)and two sensory modalities (Visual and auditory). The differences in valence scores in Spanish (L1) and English (L2) were expected to be significantly higher when presented aurally than when presented visually. Additionally, taboo words were expected to yield larger differential scores than negative and positive words. The 2 X 3 general linear model (GLM) revealed no significant effect of sensory modality but a significant effect of word type. Additional analyses of the influence of language and sensory modality within each word category resulted in significant differences in ratings between languages. Positive word ratings were higher (more positive) in English than in Spanish. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection