Second language acquisition

This study investigates the perceptions that second language students have of those who speak the language that these students are trying to acquire and examines how these perceptions relate to students' progress in acquiring the target language. The study is based on the psychological theory of the need to belong, i.e. belongingness as well as on the concept of integrative motivation. This study is a qualitative investigation that uses the Repertory Grid Technique and Personal Construct Theory in order to elicit subject perceptions and their constructs. Membership checking was carried out with nine of the originally interviewed 22 subjects in order to obtain more insight into the subjects' perceptions of themselves, their progress, and, most importantly, their perceptions of the target language speakers. One of the important findings in this study is the establishment of what elements second language students use to construct views of target language speakers.

This study tests Newports Less is More hypothesis with a language teaching experiment. Computerized French language lessons were presented to forty-two adults over two one-hour sessions. Learning trials were presented either in full sentences to resemble the adult learning environment, or in small increments that gradually increased to full sentences, resembling the steadily expanding processing capabilities of children. Trials were also presented randomly or ordered such that multiple examples of the same objects and verbs were presented consecutively. Language proficiency tests were administered after the lessons. A 2 (Presentation: incremental or full sentence) x 2 (Order of presentation: blocked or random) mixed ANOVA was used to analyze the data. The incremental conditions outperformed the sentence conditions on all proficiency measures. There was no significant effect of the blocking manipulation. This outcome suggests that a teaching method based on Newport's Less is More hypothesis can be advantageous in learning a foreign language.

This study was designed to measure the relation of education and ethnic identity to attitudes towards bilingualism in two different ethnic groups, Asian and Latinos in the United States. In order to do this, an instrument was developed to measure attitudes towards bilingualism. No significant relations were found among education or ethnic identity and attitudes towards bilingualism in either group, but analyses revealed several other significant relationships. The two subscales of ethnic identity, MEIM-R Commitment and Exploration, were related to each other both within Asian and Latino groups and in all participants combined. In the combined sample, education levels of participants' mothers was correlated with the MEIM-R subscale of Exploration. In addition, participants with a Bachelors Degree or above were found to have significantly higher ethnic identity levels of MEIM-R Commitment than participants with an Associates Degree or below. Participants with mothers who possess a Bachelors Degree or above were found to have significantly higher ethnic identity levels of MEIM-R Exploration than participants with mothers who possess an Associates Degree or below. Finally, Asian participants were found to have lower levels of MEIM-R Commitment when compared to Latino participants.

Many adults who have dual language experience describe themselves as "passive bilinguals," able to understand two languages, but speak only one. The aim of this study was to examine the relation between language production and comprehension in bilingual children in order to determine whether bilingual comprehension is more readily achieved than production. ... Productive and receptive skills in both languages were assessed using standardized tests. Children's relative amount of exposure to each language, as well as their language choice during production was measured via interview with the primary caregiver.... Language exposure as measured via dominance in one language over another appears to affect productive language differently than receptive language, further evidencing that language exposure is a significant predictor of acquisition that predicts production and comprehension differently. Additionally, when input is held constant, child language choice is uniquely related to productive and receptive language skill. The results of this study not only describe patterns of productive and receptive language skills and their correlates in young bilinguals, but they also address competing theories regarding the roles of input and output in the development of language comprehension and production.

The increasing number of English language learners (ELL) in Florida's public schools has brought challenges to educational leaders as they work to provide educational opportunity to these children. In 1990, several community and activist groups filed a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Education to pressure it to provide adequate English language programs in all public schools. The lawsuit resulted in Floridas META Consent Decree (MCD), a legal accord by which Florida agreed to provide adequate teacher training and educational programs, thereby improving access to equal opportunity for ELLs. ELLs are also called limited English proficient (LEP) students in other states. This term was changed in Florida because the LEP label brought with it a negative connotation as it referred to proficiency within the learning of English as a limitation rather than as an asset. The study presents a comprehensive review of the MCD and its eleven main components. Through document and content analysis, the study intended to ix determine whether Florida's 67 public school districts comply with the decree and whether policies are in place to implement the court authorized processes. The study begins with an introduction, which includes historical data and Florida demographics that relate to the issue of second language learners. A review of the literature incorporates legal cases and pertinent educational policies that have preceded the decree.

There is little research-based and theoretical literature about adult education or English literacy classes in nonformal settings such as library literacy programs in the community (Mathews-Aydinli, 2008; McCook & Barber, 2002b). The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to explore the motivation, learning supports, learning barriers, and program change recommendations of Third Age Learners in a nonformal library ESOL setting. This study provides insight into the demographic variable of linguistically-isolated Third Age English Language Learners (ELLs) participating in a library conversationally-based ESOL program. The results can guide libraries offering services, as well as those considering offering services to these customers (American Library Association [ALA], 2008a). Data collected included in-depth, face-to-face interviews, classroom observations, documents, learner and teacher essays, researcher journals, and analytic memos. The researcher coded all data with NVIv o 8 qualitative software then half of the data was coded with Atlas-TI 5 software by a second coder. A thematic analysis was completed in order to triangulate the data. The purposeful sample consisted of 21 participants at a Florida library adult ESOL program which included 11 learners and 10 teachers. The 11 learners were selected based on their ethnic background, predominantly those of Hispanic background. Eight learner findings and four teacher-perceived findings were identified in this study.

This study examines the potential benefits of using the native language of learners in a principled way by reviewing research that represents the dominant view of using only the second or target language (L2) against a growing body of literature that argues for principled L1 use. The development of the direct and monolingual method and its key aspects are discussed, and bilingual methods and arguments for implementing the first language (L1) in a foreign language classroom are reviewed and evaluated. An attitudinal case study investigating learners' attitudes towards L1 use in the classroom showed that students prefer a mixture of L1 and L2, and that the principled use of the L1 has positive effects on the learner.

This study tested the hypotheses that phonological memory contributes to vocabulary and grammatical development in young Spanish-English bilinguals, and that the relation between phonological memory and both vocabulary and grammar is language-specific. Phonological memory skill was the percentage of consonants correctly repeated (PCC) in English, and Spanish Nonword Repetition (NWR) tasks at 22 months. Vocabulary size and grammatical complexity were measured at 25 months using the English and Spanish versions for the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories. Nonword repetition accuracy was significantly related to both subsequent vocabulary size and grammatical complexity within and across languages after controlling for the percentage of input in English. The relations were not significantly higher within than between languages. The results suggest that in these young Spanish-English simultaneous bilinguals phonological memory is a language-general ability that contributes to the development of vocabulary and grammar in both English and Spanish.