Advances in Second/Foreign Language Acquisition

✍ Scribed by Georgios P. Georgiou (editor), Aretousa Giannakou (editor), Christine Savvidou (editor)

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2023
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 231
• Edition: 1st ed. 2023
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book includes studies that employ a variety of research techniques from diverse fields targeting a better understanding of the second language (L2)/foreign language (FL) acquisition process including issues of heritage language (HL) learning. Specifically, the chapters discuss matters such as speech perception and production patterns in a second/foreign language, factors that facilitate second language acquisition, acquisition of heritage languages, teaching of a second/foreign language, and acquisition of second/foreign language grammatical and other structures, among others. The investigation of L2/FL and HLs is of paramount importance for updating the existing theories in the field and maximizing learning outcomes for the sake of effective communication, cultivation of intercultural understanding, career advancement, and personal development. The book is of interest to a wide range of disciplinary audiences, including linguists, psychologists, educators, and social scientists.

✦ Table of Contents

Preface
Contents
About the Editors
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
1: Does Musical Training Influence Perceptual Learning of Japanese Pitch Accent? The Case of Native Italian Speakers
1 Introduction
1.1 The Present Study
2 Methodology
2.1 HVPT Experiment on Japanese Pitch Accent
Participants
Stimuli
Procedure
2.2 The Absolute Pitch Test
Participants
Stimuli
Procedure
3 Results
3.1 The HVPT Experiment
3.2 The Absolute Pitch Test
4 Discussion
5 Conclusions
References
2: Multisensory Pronunciation Training in a Video Conference-Based Foreign Language Classroom
1 Introduction
2 Review of the Literature
2.1 Visual Feedback in L2 Pronunciation Instruction
2.2 Somatosensory and Multisensory Feedback
2.3 L2 Pronunciation Training with Learners’ Own Video Feedback
2.4 The Current Study
3 Methodology
3.1 Participants
3.2 Procedure
Video Conference (Zoom) Sessions: Three Individual Interviews
Video Conference (Zoom) Sessions: Group Lessons
3.3 Auditory Ratings
4 Results
4.1 Categorization as Target Phonemes
4.2 Goodness Rating Data
4.3 Reaction Time
5 Discussion
6 Conclusion
References
3: Word Stress Prosody in the Spontaneous Declarative Utterances of Threshold Level Hungarian Learners of Spanish
1 Introduction
2 Review of Literature
3 Methodology
4 Results
5 Discussion
6 Conclusions
References
Access to Research Data
4: Use of Listening Strategies: Does It Improve Listening Performance Tasks?
1 Introduction
2 Theoretical Background
2.1 Listening Strategies
Direct Strategies
Indirect Strategies
3 Literature Review
4 The Study
4.1 Aims
4.2 Participants
4.3 Materials
4.4 Procedures
4.5 Results
4.6 Discussion
5 Implications
References
5: Word Order with Transitives and the Interface Hypothesis in L2 Greek and L2 Spanish
1 Introduction
2 Background
2.1 The Interface Hypothesis
2.2 Subject Position in L2 Greek and L2 Spanish Acquisition
2.3 Subject Positions with Transitive Verbs in Greek and Spanish
3 The Study
3.1 Predictions
3.2 Methods
Experimental Design
Participants
Procedure
Coding and Statistical Analysis
4 Results
5 Discussion and Conclusions
References
6: L1-L2 Transfer in Ditransitive Construction: A Usage-based Replication Study with Turkish Speakers of English
1 Introduction
2 Literature Review
3 Methodology
3.1 Participants
4 Results
4.1 Overall Means of Acceptability
4.2 Proficiency
4.3 Statistical Analyses of the Collostructional Contingencies
5 Discussion
5.1 Implications for SLA and Directions for Future Studies
6 Conclusion
Appendix
References
7: Encouraging Children’s Development of Discourse Repertoires in EAL Classrooms
1 Introduction
1.1 The Study of Discourse
1.2 Teaching Language Through Discourse
1.3 Creating an Environment for Discourse
2 Aim of the Study
3 Method
3.1 Setting
3.2 Teachers
3.3 Students
3.4 Duration of the study
3.5 Data collected: Class Observations and Teacher Interviews
4 Results
4.1 Extract 1: Cleaning the Park
Activity 1: Encouraging Spoken Interaction Via Reading Comprehension
Activity 2: Context-dependent Writing
4.2 Extract 2: How Do You Feel About Cell Phones?
Activity 1: Initiating the Topic
Activity 2: Bring Home to School
Activity 3: Producing freestanding texts
5 Discussion
5.1 Teacher Interviews
Structure-based Interactive Tasks
Implicit Corrective Feedback
6 Conclusion
References
8: The Role of Motivation in Learning Cypriot Maronite Arabic
1 Introduction
2 Review of the Literature
2.1 Heritage Speakers and New Speakers
2.2 The Role of Motivation in Learning a Heritage Language
3 Methodology
4 Results
5 Discussion
6 Conclusion
References
9: Heritage Language Education and Ethnolinguistic Vitality: Community Initiatives to Support Greek Learners in Canada
1 Heritage Language Terminology
2 Language Maintenance and HLE
3 Ethnolinguistic Vitality and HLE
4 Greek Heritage Language Education in Canada: Community and Institutional Support
5 Conclusion: More Research Needed
References
Index