Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: cognición y procesamiento reflexión metalingüística evaluación

Resumen:

A number of theories of second language (L2) acquisition acknowledge a role for explicit L2 knowledge. However, the testing of these theories remains problematic because of the lack of a widely accepted means for measuring L2 explicit knowledge. This article seeks to address this lacuna by examining L2 explicit knowledge from two perspectives. First, it considers explicit knowledge as a construct. How can explicit knowledge be defined? How does it differ from other constructs such as L2 proficiency and language aptitude? Second, the article considers how L2 explicit knowledge can be measured. It critically reviews some of the ways in which explicit knowledge has been operationalized in second language acquisition research and discusses some of the instruments that have been used to measure L2 explicit knowledge. It concludes with some...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: trabajo teórico

Temas: teorías de aprendizaje adquisición de segundas lenguas estrategias de aprendizaje

Resumen:

A model of second language learning is proposed which attempts to account for discrepancies both in individual achievement and achievement in different aspects of second language learning. The model outlines aspects of the input of information through various kinds of exposure to the language, the storage of that information for the language learner, and the responses that are produced as a function of the stored information. The operation of the model is explained in terms of learning processes and learning strategies. The former refer to the obligatory relationships that hold between aspects of the model and are true for all second language learners. The latter describe a group of optional strategies that may be employed by different language learners and in different learning situations. Individual learner characteristics, such as...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: interacción interlengua adquisición de segundas lenguas

Resumen:

The purpose of the following study was to investigate what Swain has labeled “comprehensible output” (Swain 1985). Negotiated interactions between a native English speaker (NS) and ten nonnative speakers (NNSs) of English were examined to find out how the nonnative speakers made their interlanguage utterances comprehensible when the native speaker indicated difficulty in understanding them. On the basis of theoretical work and anecdotal evidence from NS-NNS interaction, it was believed that the NNSs would respond to the NS by modifying interlanguage morphosyntax, phonology, and lexicon and, in so doing, would employ more target-like use of English. Results of the study offered somewhat limited confirmation of these beliefs. The data revealed that the NNSs were, indeed, capable of modifying their interlanguage in response to the NS’s...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: gramática CALL/ELAO feedback/retroalimentación

Resumen:

The facilitative role of explicit information in second language acquisition has been supported by a significant body of research (Alanen, 1995; Carroll & Swain, 1993; de Graaff, 1997; DeKeyser, 1995; Ellis, 1993; Robinson, 1996, 1997), but counterevidence is also available (Rosa & O’Neill, 1999; VanPatten & Oikkenon, 1996). This experimental study investigates the effects of computer-delivered, explicit information on the acquisition of Spanish word order by comparing four groups comprised of [+/−Explanation] and [+/−Explicit Feedback]. Results showed that all groups improved significantly and similarly on interpretation and production tests. It is suggested that explicit information may not necessarily facilitate second language acquisition and that exposing learners to task-essential practice is sufficient to promote...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: revisión bibliográfica

Temas: adquisición de segundas lenguas cognición y procesamiento diferencias individuales

Resumen:

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New evidence is presented that modifies Lenneberg’s (1967) proposed critical period of language acquisition. The development of lateralization is complete much earlier than puberty and is thus not a barrier to accent free second language learning by adults. Rather, the development of lateralization may correspond to normal first language acquisition. Also, the case of Genie, a girl who endured 11 years of enforced isolation, shows that some first language acquisition is possible after the critical period, although mechanisms outside of the left hemisphere may be involved. Genie’s slow but steady progress also implies that adult achievement in learning second languages should not be pre-...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: adquisición de segundas lenguas interlengua morfología

Resumen:

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The Bilingual Syntax Measure (Burt, Dulay, and Hernandez 1973) was administered to 73 adult learners of English as a second language in order to investigate accuracy of usage for eight English functors. It was found that there is a highly consistent order of relative difficulty in the use of the functors across different language backgrounds, indicating that learners are experiencing intra-language difficulties. Also, the adult results agreed with those obtained by Dulay and Burt (1973) for 5 to 8 year old children learning English as a second language, indicating that children and adults use common strategies and process linguistic data in fundamentally similar ways.

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: trabajo teórico

Temas: adquisición de segundas lenguas teorías de aprendizaje metodología de investigación

Resumen:

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McLaughlin (1978) examines the Monitor Model and presents “a methodological critique of the research on which the Model is based”. This paper is a response to that critique, and discusses various misrepresentations and misinterpretations of the work on Monitor Theory.

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