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.

在過去的兩個世紀， 一系列廣泛的研究已經著眼於中國兒童以中文為母語和英文為二語的閱讀和寫字方面的探索。 研究發現母語為中文的兒童在認讀中文和英文詞語過程中，一些基本的認知，元認知，以及語言方面的能力和技巧對他們的中文和英文閱讀有相似且不同的作用。同閱讀英文相比，閱讀中文似乎運用不同的認知，語言和正字法能力。然而，極少有研究從以字母語言為母語的兒童學習中文二語的角度探索這個中文閱讀。现在还不明确譬如這些兒童是否像以中文為母語的兒童一樣在閱讀中文的過程中經歷相似的認知和語言加工。問題在于和中文為母語兒童相比，以字母語言為母語的兒童在學習閱讀中文方面有哪些的相似和不同處。這項研究關注這些研究問題，測試一群在香港環境中學習中文為二語的兒童。 / 在香港眾多國際學校中，大多數學校每天有一節40分鐘的中文課。這些學校將中文作為一門外語學習。少數學校採用英中文雙語課程，這些學校的學生在校有至少40的中文學習時間。這項研究一部分採樣來自一所採用英中雙語課程的學校（共102名8-9歲兒童，62名母语为中文的儿童，40名母语为非中文的儿童），另一部分數據採樣來自兩所以中文為外語（一天一节40分钟中文课）和英文为主要语言的學校(共88名8-9歲兒童，47名母语为中文的儿童，41名母语为非中文的儿童)。大多數以中文為二語的儿童在英文为母语的环境中成长，这些儿童中少数以其他字母语言为母语，例如荷兰语，德语，西班牙语或是韩语。 / 在这项研究对儿童语言背景调查中，所有兒童的家長們對其子女的英文和中文語言能力，語言環境和學習態度的評估為這項研究提供了詳盡的兒童語言背景資料。我們对这些儿童进行 了一系列中文及英文閱讀相關的任務测试。在數據分析時，我們以這些兒童母親匯報的第一語言為標准，將這些兒童分為中文為母語和中文為非母語的兩組。 / 因為課程設置不同對語言習得的影響，我分開處理分析兩類採樣學校的數據。在英文閱讀相關的任務上，兩類學校的中文母語兒童和非中文母語兒童表現相當。但是無論是雙語學校還是英文學校中的中文母語兒童都在中文閱讀相關任務上較非母語兒童表現出顯著的優勢。兩類學校的兩組兒童在視覺能力上表現相同，但是在中文正字法相關的視覺能力上，中文母語兒童優於非母語兒童。結構方差分析表示中文母語兒童在認讀中文字詞中大量運用正字法相關的視覺能力和拼音知識，而非母語兒童依賴語音意識能力和視覺能力認讀中文字詞。 / 理論上，這項研究肯定了閱讀中文運用較閱讀英文不同的認知和語言能力。這項研究對中文二語教學有深刻的影響。非中文母語特別是以字母語言為母語的兒童在學習中文時會依賴其母語的經驗。今后的研究需要更進一步的研究這個特殊群體。 / For the last two decades, an extensive line of research has focused on how Chinese children learn to read and write Chinese as a first language and English as a second language. Researchers identified a number of basic cognitive, metalinguistic and linguistic skills making contributions to the reading of Chinese and English words by native Chinese-speaking children, with some differences between the two languages. It appears that learning to read Chinese taps different cognitive, linguistic and orthographic skills than learning to read English. / Only very limited research has so far addressed the phenomenon from the angle of children with a non-Chinese language background, i.e. those learning alphabetic languages. It is not known, for example, if children learning Chinese as a second language might also go through similar cognitive and linguistic processes in learning to read Chinese as native Chinese-speaking children. The question is, how similar or dissimilar learning to read Chinese is for children with an alphabetic language background compared to native-speaking Chinese children. This research project addresses these questions by examining a group of children learning Chinese as a second language in a Hong Kong context. / A majority of Hong Kong international schools offer Chinese classes of at least 40 minutes each day, with Chinese being taught as a foreign language. A minority offers an English-Chinese bilingual curriculum, with at least 40% of all teaching done in Chinese. For this research, 102 8-9 year olds (62 native and 40 non-native Chinese-speaking children) from a bilingual school were assessed, and 88 8-9 year olds (47 native and 41 non-native Chinese-speaking children) from two schools teaching Chinese as a foreign language, i.e. one lesson each day. Most of the non-native Chinese-speaking children grew up with English as their first language (L1). Other children speak other alphabetic language such as Dutch, German, Spanish, or Korean as their L1. / For this research, parental evaluations of the children’s English and Chinese language proficiency, exposure and learning attitudes were collected to obtain data on the children’s language background. The children were tested on a range of cognitive, language, metalinguistic and literacy skills in both Chinese and English. In analyzing the data, the children were separated into a native and a non-native Chinese-speaking group based on the reported first language of each child’s mother. / Data from the two types of schools were analyzed separately. In both types of schools, native Chinese-speaking children performed similarly to non-native Chinese-speaking children on English language related tasks, but outperformed them in Chinese language related tasks. However, the two groups were similar in pure visual skill tasks, although native Chinese-speaking children outperformed the non-native children on visual-orthographic skills. Regression analyses showed that native Chinese-speaking children rely heavily on visual-orthographic skills and on their knowledge of Pinyin in Chinese word reading, while children speaking alphabetic languages rely on phonological awareness skills and pure visual skills in learning to read Chinese. / This research has confirmed the theory that learning to read Chinese exercises a somewhat different set of cognitive and linguistic skills than learning to read English. This research has strong implications for teaching Chinese as a second language. Children with an alphabetic language background rely on their first language experience in learning to read Chinese. Further research is needed to study this group of children. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Zhou, Yanling. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-122). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.iii / 摘要 --- p.v / Acknowledgements --- p.vii / Table of Contents --- p.viii / List of Tables --- p.xi / Chapter Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / What is reading? --- p.2 / Second language reading and biliteracy development --- p.4 / Chinese and English language and orthography --- p.6 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Literature review --- p.9 / L1 reading acquisition --- p.9 / Oral language development in L1 English and Chinese reading development --- p.9 / Morphological awareness in L1 English and Chinese literacy development --- p.12 / Phonological processing skills in L1 literacy acquisition --- p.14 / Phonological awareness skills in L1 word reading --- p.15 / Phonological awareness and Pinyin knowledge for L1 Chinese word reading --- p.18 / RAN in L1 reading development --- p.20 / Phonological working memory --- p.20 / Working memory skills in literacy learning --- p.21 / Visual and visual-orthographic skills in literacy acquisition --- p.25 / L2 reading acquisition --- p.30 / Oral language in L2 reading development --- p.31 / Morphological awareness skills in L1 Chinese learning to read English as an L2 --- p.33 / Phonological awareness skills in L1 Chinese learning to read English as an L2 --- p.34 / Orthographic awareness skills in L1 Chinese learning to read English as L2 --- p.36 / Reading Chinese as L2 --- p.38 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Methodology --- p.44 / Participants --- p.44 / Procedures --- p.47 / Measures --- p.48 / Raven’s non-verbal intelligence --- p.48 / Chinese Phonological awareness --- p.48 / English Phonological awareness --- p.49 / Chinese Pinyin Knowledge --- p.49 / Tone detection task --- p.49 / Chinese morphological awareness --- p.50 / English morphological awareness --- p.51 / Chinese Vocabulary knowledge --- p.51 / English Vocabulary knowledge --- p.52 / Chinese word reading --- p.52 / English word reading --- p.53 / Chinese word dictation --- p.53 / English real and pseudo-word dictation --- p.54 / Chinese delayed copy tasks --- p.54 / Speed of copying Chinese characters --- p.54 / Speed of visual processing --- p.55 / Visual spatial relations --- p.55 / Visual orthographic configuration --- p.55 / Visual orthographic memory --- p.56 / Chinese and English working memory tasks --- p.56 / Rapid number naming in Chinese and English --- p.57 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Results --- p.58 / Results for the bilingual School --- p.58 / Group comparisons on Chinese and English reading related skills for the bilingual school --- p.59 / Chinese word reading in native and non-native Chinese-speaking children at the bilingual school --- p.65 / English word reading in native and non-native Chinese-speaking children at the bilingual school --- p.69 / Cross language transfer on English word reading for the bilingual school --- p.72 / Cross-language transfer on Chinese word reading for the bilingual school --- p.75 / Chapter Result For The Monolingual English-Speaking School --- p.77 / Group Comparison On Chinese And English Reading Related Skills For Children From The Monolingual English-Speaking Schools --- p.78 / Chinese Word Reading In Native And Non-Native Chinese-Speaking Children At The Monolingual English-Speaking Schools --- p.83 / English Word Reading In Native And Non-Native Chinese-Speaking Children At The Monolingual English-Speaking School --- p.87 / Cross Language Transfer On English Word Reading ForMonolingual English-Speaking Schools --- p.90 / Cross-Language Transfer On Chinese Word Reading For Monolingual English-Speaking Schools --- p.93 / Chapter Chapter5. --- Discussion --- p.95 / About Language Group Differences --- p.95 / Chinese Reading Related Skills On Chinese Word Reading For The Two Language Groups --- p.101 / English Reading Related Skills In Relation To English Word Reading For The Two Language Groups --- p.103 / Cross-Language Transfer Between Chinese And English --- p.104 / Vocabulary Development In Chinese --- p.104 / Chapter Chapter6. --- Conclusion --- p.109 / References --- p.113

All in all, the thesis tries to fill the research gap in the study of English pronunciation in a Hong Kong context. It exhausts the pronunciation of all types of English consonant clusters by native Cantonese learners of English, provides experimental studies to investigate the most effective approach to the acquisition of English consonant clusters, and applies Optimality Theory to elucidate the pronunciation phenomena found among Cantonese learners of English. / Apart from the inquiry into language pedagogy, this thesis also analyses and expounds the language phenomena of consonant cluster production through the application of Optimality Theory. From the data of the pre-test and post-tests, the pronunciation modification phenomena of subjects were summarised and analysed. It is found that subjects produced pronunciation forms that resembled that of native English speakers, but at the same time they produced forms that deviated from that of native English speakers. The most frequent pronunciation modifications are substitution and deletion. / Optimality Theory argues that phonological differences between languages are the results of the differences in the ranking of universal constraints; therefore, the preference towards certain modification phenomena and the production of certain pronunciation forms by Cantonese speakers can be viewed as the differences in the ranking of constraints between English and Cantonese. In the interlanguage phonology of Cantonese speakers, words like pray /pre I/ and find /faInd/ could become [pe I] and [faIn] phonetically. This can be explained by assuming that the English words are input to a phonology in which *COMPLEX (complex onset or coda is not permissible) is highly ranked, and that in order to observe this constraint, Cantonese learners of English might apply deletion to delete a consonant in syllables with consonant clusters. / Yam Pui Suen, Josephine. / "June 2005." / Advisers: G. Gong; J. Hung. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-01, Section: A, page: 0170. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 202-214). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

Lam Lai-chuen. / "May 2003." / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 261-280). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

This study examines, through the use of a quantitative questionnaire, to what extent Swedish upper secondary students are involved in receptive and productive extramural English activities and what their perceptions are of learning English inside and outside of school. Extramural English (EE) is a term referring to the English students encounter outside school as extra means ‘outside’ and mural means ‘walls’. This study also investigates if the students perceive that the extramural English activities facilitate their classroom learning of English, and more specifically in relation to the language proficiencies reading, listening, writing and speaking. The results showed that the students reported being involved in mostly receptive EE activities as the most common activities they reported being involved in daily were related to listening and reading. The listening activities involved watching English-language TV-programs, TV-series and movies with and without Swedish subtitles and reading English texts. 98% of the students perceived that they do learn English outside of school while 68.6% of the students perceived that the English that they learned outside school facilitated classroom learning. The language proficiency the students perceived they developed most outside school was listening as 39% reported they "developed very much". The majority of students also reported to be more comfortable speaking and writing in English outside of school, and 57% indicated that they have learned most of their English knowledge outside of the school environment.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a metacognitive language learning strategy training program that was implemented into computer-assisted language learning (CALL) software on second language learners' independent use of metacognition and language learning strategies (LLS). Questions under investigation included what effect this metacognitive training had on learners' independent use of metacognition, the differences in use of metacognitive strategies between fast and slow language learners, and the effect of learners' perceptions of metacognition on their use of LLS and specific metacognitive strategies.The subjects included 239 missionaries learning Spanish as a second language at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah where the learners experienced a rigorous, two-month language training program in their second language. The missionaries were randomly assigned to either the experimental group, which consisted of 120 missionaries, or control group, composed of 119 missionaries.

Thesis (Ph. D. (Education)) -- University of the North, 1976 / Refer to document

The aim of this study is to investigate the opinions teachers teaching English in grades 4-6 have on Extramural English in school, the advantages and disadvantages Extramural English brings, and how they teach to support the acquisition of English for students. The study is based on the following questions: Which teaching methods supports students' language acquisition of English according to teachers in grades 4-6? Which connections do teachers see between students' Extramural English and their attitude to, and knowledge of, English? Do teachers let students' Extramural English interests take place in the classroom, and in which ways? Results from interviews with five teachers from four different schools, and questionnaire responses from 122 teachers, has been used to create the basis for the study. Results show that participating teachers find students attitude to English, as a language as well as subject in school, to be mainly positive. From the teacher’s perspective the students positive attitude reflects on student’s production of English. Many of the teachers express that they include elements of Extramural English when they teach. The study may be of interest from a didactic perspective as it provides insight to how teachers view, and use, Extramural English while teaching. / Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka hur lärare som undervisar i engelska i årskurs 4-6 ser på fritidsengelska i skolan, eventuella fördelar och nackdelar som fritidsengelska innebär, men också hur man undervisar för att främja förvärvandet av engelska hos eleverna. Studien utgår från följande frågeställningar: Vilka undervisningsmetoder främjar elevers språkförvärvande av engelska enligt lärare i årskurs 4-6? Vad ser lärare för kopplingar mellan elevers fritidsengelska och deras inställning till, och kunskaper i, engelska? Låter lärare elevernas fritidsengelska ta plats i klassrummet, och i så fall hur? Resultat från intervjuer med fem lärare från fyra grundskolor, samt enkätsvar från 122 lärare, har använts för att skapa underlag till studien. Av resultaten framgår det att medverkande lärare anser att elevers inställning till engelska, både som språk och som skolämne, är huvudsakligen positiv. Ur lärarnas perspektiv reflekteras elevernas positiva inställning i deras produktion av engelska. Majoriteten av lärarna uttrycker även att de inkluderar fritidsengelska element i sin undervisning. Studien kan vara av intresse ur ett didaktiskt perspektiv då den ger en inblick i hur lärare idag ser på, och använder sig av, fritidsengelska i sin undervisning.

Le langage non-littéral (expressions idiomatiques, métaphores, métonymies, etc.) se révèle être très présent dans nos conversations de la vie de tous les jours. Contrairement à ce que l’on pourrait penser, l’utilisation du langage figuré ne revêt pas exclusivement une fonction ornementale : au contraire, la linguistique cognitive a montré que le langage non-littéral est le reflet d’un certain nombre de concepts que nous abordons de manière métaphorique (Gibbs, 1995 ; Gibbs et Tendhal, 2006 ; Lakoff et Johnson, 1980 ; et Sperber et Wilson, 1986/1995). En lien avec cet ancrage théorique, un certain nombre de chercheurs se sont intéressés au domaine de l’apprentissage et de l’enseignement des langues secondes. Ils ont proposé des stratégies d’enseignement afin de garantir un apprentissage de la langue le plus complet possible et ont surtout étudié les compétences non-littérales des apprenants en réception (Andreou et al., 2009 ; Boers, 2000 ; Boers et Lindstromberg, 2009; Cooper, 1998 et 1999 ; Komur et Cimen, 2009 ; Kosciuk, 2003 ; et Lennon, 1998). En revanche, très peu de didacticiens se sont interrogés sur les capacités des apprenants à produire du non-littéral dans une langue étrangère à l’exception de Littlemore et al. (2014), MacArthur (2010) et Nacey (2013). Afin de corroborer le travail de ces chercheuses, ce travail de thèse s’intéresse au développement du langage figuratif chez des apprenants de langue seconde tout en proposant une comparaison avec son acquisition en langue maternelle. Dans le but d’avoir une première idée de la façon dont ces deux types de sujets manient le non-littéral, j’analyse tout d’abord le discours d’une petite fille de nationalité anglaise filmée à intervalles réguliers entre l’âge d’un an et quatre ans, puis j’examine les productions écrites en anglais d’apprenants francophones. J’observe ensuite les productions non-littérales d’enfants natifs anglophones âgés de 7, 11 et 15 ans, d’apprenants francophones en classe de seconde, première année de licence d’anglais et deuxième année de master d’anglais, et enfin, d’un groupe contrôle d’adultes anglophones en interactions semi-guidées. Les résultats de ces différentes analyses révèlent de nombreux points communs entre les productions figuratives des enfants natifs anglophones et des apprenants francophones. La principale différence entre ces sujets se situe au niveau de la proportion de formes figuratives produites (croissante chez les enfants, mais constante chez les apprenants), de la proportion de formes figuratives conventionnelles produites (croissante chez les apprenants, mais constante chez les enfants) et de la forte proportion de formes déviantes chez les apprenants. Ces formes proviennent principalement d’une carence en ressources lexicales de la langue étrangère et d’expressions figuratives du français que les apprenants ont souhaité transposer en anglais. Cette thèse propose un ensemble d’implications pédagogiques pour la classe de langue dans le but de remédier à ces difficultés. / Research has shown that non-literalness is pervasive in language and that it is not always an ornamental device (e.g. to invest time in something, to be in love, the leg of a table, etc.). Metaphor permeates our way of thinking (Gibbs, 1995; Gibbs and Tendahl, 2006; Lakoff and Johnson, 1980) and serves a wide variety of discursive functions (Cameron, 2003; Charteris-Black, 2004; Müller, 2008; Steen, 2008, 2011, 2013). In the light of these findings, I propose to examine non-literal language from a second language acquisition perspective, as we know that language learners struggle to develop a successful command of the conceptual and figurative system of their L2 (Andreou and Galantomos, 2009; Irujo, 1986; Cooper, 1999; Danesi, 1992, 1995). Besides, even if recent studies have started to document L2 metaphorical performance (Littlemore et al., 2014; McArthur, 2010; Nacey 2009 and 2013), little is known about the way it actually develops across learning stages. As an attempt to bridge this gap, I propose a comparative study of figurative language development in first and second language acquisition. To get a preliminary picture of the use of non-literal language by native English-speaking children and French learners of English, I analyse the discourse of a young English child aged 1 to 4 using the Forrester Corpus available on the CHILDES database (MacWhinney, 2000), and I investigate essays written by French university students majoring in Arts and learning English as a second language. Then, I propose an L1/L2 comparative study where I analyze semi-guided interactions taking place between native English-speaking children (aged 7, 11 and 15), French learners of English (in their first year of high school, first year of B.A. in English studies and last year of M.A. in English studies), as well as native English-speaking adults. The results of this PhD project revealed many similar aspects in the figurative productions of native English-speaking children and French students. One of the main differences between the two groups is related to the amount of figurative forms produced, which increases across ages in children’s discourse while remaining constant in learners’ discourse. Another important difference is the amount of conventional figurative forms produced; they increase across learning stages in the learner’s production but remain constant in the children’s. Lastly, I observed a large amount of deviant figurative forms in the leaner’s productions, mainly resulting from L1 transfers and lexical overextensions. Taking into account these observations, implications for teaching are presented.

Although the benefits of group and pair work in the second language (L2) classroom have been extensively studied, most documented research has focused on the use of oral tasks and spoken interaction between learners. Recently however, researchers have begun to investigate the advantages of collaboration on written work. More specifically, with the advancements in computer technology and web-based collaborative platforms like wikis, there has been a growing awareness of the educational possibilities of wikis to enhance L2 writing instruction. This study followed a pretest/posttest repeated measures design to investigate the impact and students' perceptions of wiki-based collaborative writing activities on individual writing performance. The study involved 12 university students in a TOEFL preparation course at a large university in Bogota, Colombia. Students were divided into two groups: the experimental group (n=8) engaged in a series of wiki-based collaborative writing activities and focused practice between pre and posttests, while the control (n=4) received no treatment. Two individual writing samples (pre and posttest) composed by each participant under timed conditions were quantitatively analyzed using the three linguistic developmental measures of complexity, accuracy, and fluency. While statistically significant differences were not evident for measures of fluency or accuracy, descriptive statistics showed an overall positive impact for collaborative writing on individual learners' written fluency. Analysis of complexity measures revealed mixed results with respect to learning gains. Further analysis of perception data reported by learners in an exit survey disclosed their positive attitude towards perceived linguistic benefits with regard to the wiki-based collaborative writing activities. Both theoretical and pedagogical implications of the study, limitations, and directions for future research are presented.