Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Attitudes Of American Secondary Students Towards Foreign Languages: A Study At A High School In Western Pennsylvania, Lynnell P. Fry

Channels: Where Disciplines Meet

The purpose of this study has been to investigate American secondary students’ attitudes towards foreign languages (FL). When researching attitudes towards FLs, Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) was used as a framework to investigate attitudes, as attitudes affect motivation. While there is much literature on attitudes towards FLs (Artamonova, 2020; Drewelow 2011, Knouse et al., 2021) and motivation towards learning a second language (Dörnyei, 2009; Dörnyei & Kubanyiova, 2013; Kormos & Csizér, 2008; Lightbown & Spada, 2018; Ushioda & Dörnyei, 2012), there is insufficient research on Dörnyei’s L2MSS being used to investigate FLs or used to investigate a United …

Humor In The Foreign Language Classroom, Emily M. Walker

Channels: Where Disciplines Meet

Humor is a notoriously vague construct, often identified not by formal definition but by individual intuition (Bell, 2009). This makes it rather difficult to study or categorize concisely – indeed, analyzing humor or explaining a joke is often thought to remove the fundamental enjoyment from the experience. Despite the inherent hazards, this research seeks to provide further insight into the effects and potential applications of humor in the foreign language (FL) classroom, guided by the following research question: How does L1 humor, specifically when used as a pedagogical tool, influence students’ affective filters in a college-level elementary foreign language classroom? …

Humor In The Foreign Language Classroom, Emily M. Walker

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

Humor is a notoriously vague construct, often identified not by formal definition but by individual intuition (Bell, 2009). This makes it rather difficult to study or categorize concisely – indeed, analyzing humor or explaining a joke is often thought to remove the fundamental enjoyment from the experience. Despite the inherent hazards, this research seeks to provide further insight into the effects and potential applications of humor in the foreign language (FL) classroom, guided by the following research question: How does L1 humor, specifically when used as a pedagogical tool, influence students’ affective filters in a college-level elementary foreign language classroom? …

Adopting Heritage: What Influences Adoptive Parents In Heritage Language Decisions For Their Internationally Adopted Children, Abigail Mouring

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

The purpose of this study has been to discover more about influences on adoptive parents’ decisions regarding heritage language maintenance/learning for their older, internationally-adopted children. While there is much literature available on heritage language learning/maintenance (see Geerlings et al., 2015; Hornberger & Wang, 2008; McGinnis, 2008; Mu, 2016) and also on intercultural navigation in transnational adoptive families (see Bebiroglu & Pinderhighes, 2012; Lee, 2003), the blending of the two (heritage language in these adoptive families) does not seem to be as well studied – a gap this present study attempts to address. The population specifically addressed in this study is …

The Influence Of Investment On Generation 1.5, Karis E. Ryan

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

This study seeks to look at the relationship between Generation 1.5 language learners, and the investment that is made. It reflects on the influence that student language investment in an English-speaking high school has on the language identity and social capital of Generation 1.5. Following the learning patterns of three different immigrant students, readers will observe the differences and effects of investment in school programs, as well as the involvement and availability of ESL programs in public school systems.

The Effects Of Code-Mixing On Second Language Development, Aimee K. Spice

Channels: Where Disciplines Meet

Second language development is an important topic of discussion in an increasingly multilingual world. This study aims to examine and detail research on the effects of code-mixing (CM) on second language development, answering how CM facilitates or constrains second language acquisition. Peer-reviewed articles on the topic published between 2013 and 2018 were examined and synthesized. Language learners/multilinguals answered questionnaires about their views on CM and second language acquisition, and a language teacher was interviewed regarding use of L1 in the language classroom and CM as a pedagogical tool. This study found that CM can be a beneficial tool for language …

The Effects Of Code-Mixing On Second Language Development, Aimee K. Spice

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

Second language development is an important topic of discussion in an increasingly multilingual world. This study aims to examine and detail research on the effects of code-mixing (CM) on second language development, answering how CM facilitates or constrains second language acquisition. Peer-reviewed articles on the topic published between 2013 and 2018 were examined and synthesized. Language learners/multilinguals answered questionnaires about their views on CM and second language acquisition, and a language teacher was interviewed regarding use of L1 in the language classroom and CM as a pedagogical tool. This study found that CM can be a beneficial tool for language …

Language And Entertainment: Can Language Be Learned Through Movies?, Elizabeth Carraher

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

This paper looks at second language acquisition and factors that affect second language acquisition. This project also utilizes a small experiment conducted to help determine how difficult or how easy it is for one to learn even a small number of words in another language. In this experiment a small number of college students watch a movie in another language and after finishing said movie take a short quiz to determine if the students were able to learn the meaning of some frequently used words. These students have had little to no interaction with the language in question. Even so, …

The L1 Context Embedding Method In Foreign Language Vocabulary Instruction: A Comparative Study With The Keyword Method, Jordan V. Nanda

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

The L1 Context Embedding Method that has been proposed and tested by Zi-Gang (2015), consists of inserting target L2 vocabulary, with translations in brackets, into an L1 story text. It has been demonstrated by Zi-Gang (2015) to be more effective than rote memorization. This current study tested the L1 Context Embedding Method against the Keyword Method (Atkinson, 1975) to see if the two methods are comparable. Sixteen university students from an Elementary Spanish class were taught 10 novel Spanish words using each method in a counterbalanced presentation order. They were administered an immediate posttest for each set of 10 words …

The Effects Of Bilingualism And Multilingualism On Lexical Retrieval, Sarah E. Young

Linguistics Senior Research Projects

This research reviews literature that has been written concerning the positive and negative cognitive impact bilingualism has on the speaker. It then takes this research one step further asking whether increasing the number of languages one speaks slows down the person’s lexical retrieval. Methods include an interview and two tests, the data from which strongly supports the hypothesis mentioned in the literature review that bilingualism slows down lexical processing. This research concludes that having more languages does increase a person’s difficulty with retrieving words on demand.

Key terms: bilingualism, lexical retrieval, RIF, retrieval induced forgetting, aphasia, tip of the tongue, …