First and Second Language Acquisition Commons^™

El Concepto De Audiencia Y La Colaboración Entre Iguales En La Revisión De Textos Escritos, David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Divorcing Speech Ability And Intelligence: Why The Two Can No Longer Be Strongly Linked Together, Savannah E. Sims

Senior Honors Theses

Human language is a complex cognitive ability that is still not fully understood by scientists. Except in rare occasions of extreme seclusion or disability, children are able to acquire language without explicitly being taught how. Though animals have the ability to communicate, their “languages” are not comparable to human language. Commonly, people believe that one’s language ability correlates directly to one’s intelligence. It is the purpose of this paper to explore that belief and test its veracity. My hypothesis is that this correlation does not exist or is at best weak. This will be done by looking at several language-related …

Relájate Y Disfruta: Lecciones De Una Vida Musical Y Temporal En El Zaidín = Relax And Enjoy: Lessons About A Temporal Musical Life In Zaidin, Granada, Laura Westman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the following paper, I describe the volunteer project that I conducted during my fall 2009 semester in Granada, Spain. I spent a few hours each week accompanying voice lessons in a music school located in the neighborhood in which I lived while I was learning Spanish. This paper chronicles the importance of language and communication to my work, including problems that I had with the language barrier in communicating with people in the school before I was comfortable with the language. Though I originally planned to analyze relationships between teachers and students as a major theme in my project, …

Massachusetts Adult Basic Education And Esol Distance Learning Programs: How To Assess Student Readiness For Distance Learning?, Berna Kahraman, Amelia Mallona, Donna H. Friedman, Sarah Kuck Jalbert

Center for Social Policy Publications

This report presents the findings from the pilot screening process prepared by the Center for Social Policy (CSP) and implemented during December 2008-March 2009 by the adult basic education (ABE) online learning programs in MA which are funded by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE). The purposes of the pilot process were:

• To determine the effectiveness of screening tools in assessing participant characteristics, such as the skills, demographics, and life circumstances that are associated with success in online learning;
• To identify supports and interventions which students need in order to persist and succeed in online learning.

At the …

Assessment Of English Language Learners Seeking A Graduate Degree In Speech Language Pathology, Lisa Anne Prushko

Honors Scholar Theses

A shortage of bilingual/bicultural speech language pathologists may reflect a problem with recruitment and retention of bilingual/bicultural students. The purpose of the present study was to survey graduate training programs in speech language pathology to determine typical policies and practices concerning students who apply and are admitted as ELLs. With a growing number of ELL children needing services from a bilingual SLP, it seems that little is being done to address the issue. The problem may be with the reluctance of programs to not only accept ELL students, but there also seems to be a disinclination for any sort of …

10 Key Principles For Designing Video Games For Foreign Language Learning, Ravi Purushotma, Steven L. Thorne, Julian Wheatley

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper was produced for the Open Language & Learning Games Project, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Education Arcade.

Finding Cost-Effective Methods For Language Access Services Administration At New York City Children's Services, Kerry Cook

MPA Capstone Projects 2006 - 2015

New York City Children's Services (CS) serves an increasing populations of persons with limited English language proficiency (LEP). Federal and local laws mandate that these persons are provided with meaningful language access services. This analysis attempts to find the most cost-effective strategy for CS' Division of Child Protection (DCP) to provide interpretation services to LEP persons involved in DCP cases of child abuse and neglect. The study first identifies alternative strategies for providing these services, and then qualifies the cost of the current methods and alternative methods. A framework of transaction cost economic theory guides the cost analysis process. Next, …

The Neglect Of Listening Activities Among Egyptian Preparatory School Efl Teachers, Mohamed Eltawila

MA TESOL Collection

This thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter one describes the reasons for this study, the learning environment in which this study was done--La Seifer Prep School which is the school in which I teach, the general aims for TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) at Egyptian preparatory schools which is a foreign language context, the ten teachers of English who have been working or have worked at La Seifer Prep School who were interviewed for the study, and the textbooks used at the school and how they address listening. The second chapter is devoted to reviewing the literature …

Curriculum And Student Motivation, Jennifer Jones

MA TESOL Collection

This paper details the process and results of an experimental project-based curriculum for a college preparatory ESL course and its effects on student motivation. The course, designed to appeal to students’ desire for variety, community and self-expression, was divided into three modules, each with a different focus. Participants were international adults studying English at a private school in Austin, Texas. Results indicated that the course structure and content can play a large role in students’ motivation levels. Course documents are appended.

The Role Of Pragmatics In Second Language Teaching, Roberto Eduardo Echeverria Castillo

MA TESOL Collection

This research paper explores the application of pragmatics in second language teaching. It presents pragmatics as a discipline that may be taught and learned utilizing the experiential learning cycle. The paper explores challenging pragmatic experiences and how the cycle was used to overcome them. Additionally, it proposes a model to teach pragmatics, illustrated by a lesson based on an episode of a television show. Finally, the paper ends with my personal view of this project, and its applications on my learning of English and to my language teaching.

Imaginary Friends: Using Guided Imagery, Line Drawings And Webquests To Incorporate Culture Into The Foreign Language Curriculum, J.E. Buckingham

MA TESOL Collection

This paper examines the integration of authentic cultural experience into the foreign language curriculum through the use of guided imagery, line drawings, and a WebQuest designed to facilitate the creation of an imaginary friend living within a country where the target language is spoken. The student uses these techniques to vicariously communicate with and experience a proscribed facet of that imaginary friend’s life. Through the use of the guided imagery and web-based research, the student will breathe life into a black and white line drawing by coloring in an appropriate complexion and by giving the character a name which would …

Research On Autonomous English-Learning Strategies Of American Culture And Language Students, Jing Xu

Theses Digitization Project

This study will serve as a guideline for adult second-language learners who want to strengthen the effectiveness of self-directed learning outcomes or develop their self-directed learning strategies. Through the understanding of learning factors, fossilized language elements, and their own learning strategies, learners will be more confident and motivated to pursue their personal second-language acquisition goals and aspirations. These strategies are designed to help Taiwanese second-language learners.

Bilingual Lexical Disambiguation In Context: The Role Of Non-Selective Cross-Language Activation, Ana Schwartz, Li-Hao Yeh, Ana Areas Da Luz Fontes

Selected Works Temporary Series

The present study tested whether lexical disambiguation in sentence context is affected by cross-language lexical activation. In Experiment 1 Spanish-English bilinguals read English sentences biasing the subordinate meaning of homonyms that were either cognates or non-cognates. Participants’ ability to reject follow-up target words related to the dominant meaning showed greatest inhibition when the homonym was a cognate and the dominant meaning was shared with Spanish. In Experiment 2 a separate group of bilinguals read sentences biasing the dominant meaning of the homonyms and were instructed to accept target words related to any meaning of the homonym. In this case cognate …

Working Memory Influences On Cross-Language Activation During Bilingual Lexical Disambiguation, Ana Areas Da Luz Fontes, Ana Schwartz

Selected Works Temporary Series

This study investigated the role of verbal working memory on bilingual lexical disambiguation. Spanish-English bilinguals with low and high digit span read sentences in their second language ending in a cognate homonym (novel), noncognate homonym (fast), cognate (piano) or non-cognate (pencil). The dominant meanings of cognate homonyms were shared across languages while subordinate meanings were unique to the second language. Participants decided whether follow-up targets were related in meaning to the sentence. On critical trials sentences biased the subordinate meaning of the homonym and targets were related to the dominant meaning (novel – BOOK; fast – SPEED), forcing rejection of …

On A Different Plane: Cross-Language Effects On The Conceptual Representations Of Within-Language Homonyms, Ana Areas, Ana Schwartz

Selected Works Temporary Series

We examined whether bilinguals’ conceptual representation of homonyms in one language are influenced by meanings in the other. 117 Spanish-English bilinguals generated sentences for 62 English homonyms that were also cognates with Spanish and which shared at least one meaning with Spanish (e.g., plane/plano). Production probabilities for each meaning were calculated. A stepwise multiple regression revealed that whether a meaning was shared with Spanish or not accounted for a significant portion of the variance, even after entering production probabilities from published monolingual norms. (Twilley et al., 1994). Homonyms classified as highly polarized based on monolingual responses became less polarized if …

How Kindergarten English Language Learners "Come To Know" Written Language, Teresa Renee Morris

Theses Digitization Project

This project explored some of the methods and strategies used by teachers to teach writing in the classroom. The writing development of ten kindergarten English language learners was analyzed. These students interacted in a meaningful manner with their teacher, through use of interactive dialogue journals, over the course of the school year.

A Critical Analysis Of L1 And L2 Composition Scholarship On Instructor Feedback, Danny Elbar Marenco

Theses Digitization Project

This study focuses on what the scholarship indicates about students' attitudes toward instructor feedback and strategies of instructor feedback. This thesis presents a critical analysis of L1 and L2 composition scholarship instructor feedback.

On A Different Plane: Cross-Language Effects On The Conceptual Representations Of Within-Language Homonyms, Ana Areas, Ana Schwartz

Departmental Papers (Psych)

We examined whether bilinguals’ conceptual representation of homonyms in one language are influenced by meanings in the other. 117 Spanish-English bilinguals generated sentences for 62 English homonyms that were also cognates with Spanish and which shared at least one meaning with Spanish (e.g., plane/plano). Production probabilities for each meaning were calculated. A stepwise multiple regression revealed that whether a meaning was shared with Spanish or not accounted for a significant portion of the variance, even after entering production probabilities from published monolingual norms. (Twilley et al., 1994). Homonyms classified as highly polarized based on monolingual responses became less polarized if …

La Clasificación De Los Hablantes De Herencia De Español En Los Eeuu: Generación, Simplificación Modal Y Mantenimiento Del Español, Maria Martinez-Mira

Modern Languages & Literatures Articles

A study of the” Enciclopedia del español en el mundo: Anuario 2006-7 " carried out by the Cervantes Institute (http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/anuario/anuario_06-07/lengua.htm) presents a comprehensive picture for the future and development of the Spanish language in the world and in the United States in particular. According to the data provided by Cervantes, approximately 14 million people study Spanish in the world, of which 6 million study Spanish in the United States. It is precisely in this country that the study and presence of the Spanish language has a special significance.

NOTE: This abstract is a translation from the original Spanish

‘Community’, Semiotic Flows, And Mediated Contribution To Activity, Steven L. Thorne

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article begins with an overview and problematization of the term community through a brief assessment of its history, diverse uses, core attributes, heterogeneous elements, and collocational companions. Following this, I describe demographics and processes associated with collective engagement in digitally mediated environments. Utilizing select alternatives to the term ‘community’ and incorporating the cultural-historical notions of mediation and activity, I then present research describing exogenous influences affecting educational uses of technology in L2 settings, the use of instant messaging and blogging for out-of-class FL interaction at the secondary school level, and a pedagogically focused example of a remixing text posted …

Lexical Composition Of Effective L1 And L2 Students' Academic Presentations, Alla Zareva

English Faculty Publications

The present study set out to examine the lexical profiles of L1 (n = 30) and proficient L2 students' presentations (n = 30), aiming at finding out the overall lexical composition of successful academic presentations. It was also of interest to see how some of the presentations' lexical features compared to findings about the lexical composition of students' productively used vocabulary in writing. In addition to this, the analysis focused on the lexical composition of both groups' oral production in an attempt to uncover patterns of lexical uses that may need to be discussed in oral communication courses, specifically targeting …

La Expresión Escrita En La Clase De Ele, David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

En esta ponencia se presentará una definición de la expresión escrita y se tratará de reflexionar sobre los objetivos que persigue su uso y la valoración social de esta destreza, así como sobre la evolución de su tratamiento en la metodología de la enseñanza de lenguas. Se discutirán conceptos fundamentales en la composición del discurso escrito, tales como la planificación, textualización y revisión, a partir de los parámetros formales de cohesión, coherencia, adecuación y corrección gramatical. En su vertiente práctica, se presentará una tipología de actividades de expresión escrita y de estrategias que se ponen en práctica en esta destreza, …

Rule And Meaning In The Teaching Of Grammar, Joseph C. M. Davis

Publications and Research

While the construct of rule as a manipulation of purely formal properties of language has been widely abandoned in both formal and functional linguistics, it persists, though with diminished importance, in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). This is true even in Form-Focused Instruction (FFI), including Focus-on-Form (FonF), which emphasizes meaning as both classroom focus and element of language structure. This paper illustrates the meaningfulness of grammar, even where treatment has often appealed to such rules; identifies areas of overlap between what is identified by the term rule and what is identified by the terms meaning (semantics) and form …

Development Of Interactional Competence: Changes In The Use Of Ne In L2 Japanese During Study Abroad, Midori Ishida

Faculty Publications

This chapter investigates the development of the use of the Japanese particle ne by a second language (L2) learner of Japanese during a 9-month study abroad.