This thesis investigates referential communication strategies using the
theoretical framework of Levelt's (1989) model of speech production and its
application to second language speech production (de Bot, 1992). The
investigation focuses on utterances of adult speakers who solve a referential
communication task in their first language (English) and their second language
(German). Two different groups participate in the study. The first group consists
of students from a large West Canadian University who learn German in a foreign
language classroom, whereas the second group consists of native speakers of
English who work in Germany and acquire German in a second language
environment. All participants describe abstract shapes while their utterances are
being recorded and later transcribed for analysis.
Quantitative and qualitative methods measuring the time and words reflect
the strategies used to describe the shapes. The analysis of the data reveals that the
participants in Germany are more accurate in their descriptions and solve the
referential problems more successfully than the participants from the West
Canadian University do. The direct contact these participants have with the
German language and culture proves to be beneficial to the process of generating
a comprehensible message in referential communication.
The study concludes with suggestions for the teaching of German as a second
language and recommendations are made for future research on language acquisition
the learning environment.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/14956 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Schuetze, Ulf |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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