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JLLT edited by Thomas Tinnefeld
Showing posts with label Volume 5 (2014) Issue 1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Volume 5 (2014) Issue 1. Show all posts

Volume 5 (2014) Issue 1 (PDF)

I. Articles


Shing-lung Chen 陳欣蓉 (Kaohsiung, Taiwan):

Abstract (English)
Since communication in conventional language teaching usually only takes place between the classroom interlocutors (learners and instructors), learners usually have little opportunity and time to practice communication in the foreign language. Therefore, language learning programmes that help learners practice and improve foreign language communication outside of class are urgently needed. Modern language learning programmes are typically based on the development of speech recognition techniques for the correct decoding of users' utterances. They are usually based on a linear rather than a circular model, and therefore proceed according to this particular linear structure, which is not able to take potential system failures into account. As a consequence, the programmes can, in the event of a communication failure, not proceed with the communication, and thus, the communication process is interrupted. Learners may soon lose interest in the use of that particular programme. Based on the description of these facts, it can be shown that a language learning programme solely based on speech recognition techniques, does not fulfill learners' needs. The present article examines which inherent potential failures language learning programmes have and how these failures can be reduced or eliminated so that the programs will run smoothly.
Keywords: software, language learning programme, computer programme, programme, system failure, rescue model, rescue measure, Learning system design, failure

Abstract (Deutsch)
Da die Kommunikation im konventionellen Sprachunterricht meist nur zwischen den Teilnehmern (Lernern und Dozenten) erfolgt, bleibt Lernern in der Regel kaum Gelegenheit und auch wenig Zeit zur Einübung fremdsprachlicher Kommunikation. Daher werden dringend Sprachlernprogramme benötigt, mit deren Hilfe die Lerner die fremdsprachliche Kommunikation fern des Unterrichts am Computer praktizieren und verbessern können. Moderne Sprachlernprogramme orientieren sich in der Regel an der Entwicklung von Spracherkennungstechniken zur korrekten Dekodierung der Äußerungen der Anwender. Da Sprachlernprogramme statt auf einem zirkulären meist auf einem linearen Modells basieren, verlaufen sie gemäß einer bestimmten linearen Struktur, die nicht in der Lage ist, potentielle Systemfehlschläge zu berücksichtigen. So können die Programme im Falle eines kommunikativen Misserfolgs nicht weiter kommunizieren, und folglich wird der Kommunikationsablauf unterbrochen. Entsprechend verlieren die Lerner das Interesse an derartigen Programmen. Aus der Beschreibung dieser Konstellation wird ersichtlich, dass ein Sprachlernprogramm, das einzig und allein auf Spracherkennungstechniken basiert, nicht den Bedürfnissen der Lerner gerecht wird. In dem vorliegenden Artikel wird untersucht, welches Misserfolgspotential Sprachlernprogrammen inhärent ist und wie dieses verringert bzw. behoben werden kann, damit die Programme reibungslos funktionieren.
Stichwörter: Software, Sprachlernprogramm, Computerprogramm, Programm, Systemfehlschlag, Rettungsmodell, Rettungsmaßnahme, Design des Lernsystems, Misserfolg



Chris Merkelbach (Taipeh, Taiwan):

Abstract (English)
Based on the observation that foreign students in Chinese-speaking countries encounter major problems reading extensive academic texts within an allotted time frame, this article puts forward the idea of teaching reading strategies in Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) classes. Following the introduction of the special features of written Chinese, the mental process for reading in a foreign language is discussed. The article takes into special account that CSL-learners have, prior to learning Chinese, usually learned other foreign languages and can be regarded as experienced tertiary language learners. Furthermore, the different reading styles for various foreign languages are described in detail and finally, the article delineates how these strategies may be trained in CSL classes on the sentence and the text level.
Key words: Chinese as a Foreign Language, reading styles, reading strategies

Abstract (Deutsch)
Basierend auf der Beobachtung, dass ausländische Studierende in chinesischsprachigen Ländern erhebliche Probleme beim Lesen umfangreicher wissenschaftlicher Texte innerhalb eines vorgegebenen Zeitraums haben, beschäftigt sich dieser Artikel mit der Vermittlung von Lesestrategien im Unterricht Chinesisch als Fremdsprache (ChaF). Zunächst werden die besonderen Merkmale der chinesischen Schriftsprache dargestellt, danach der mentale Prozess, der beim Lesen in einer fremden Sprache zu beobachten ist. Der Artikel berücksichtigt, dass Chinesischlerner in der Regel bereits andere Fremdsprachen gelernt haben und als erfahrene L3-Lernende gelten. Außerdem werden die verschiedenen Lesestile für Fremdsprachen im Detail beschrieben. Abschließend geht der Artikel darauf ein, wie Lesestrategien ChaF-Unterricht auf Satz- und Textebene geschult werden können.
Stichwörter: Chinesisch als Fremdsprache, Lesestile, Lesestrategien



Nina Daskalovska (Stip, Republic of Macedonia)

Abstract 
A lot of studies on vocabulary learning have demonstrated that one of the ways of acquiring vocabulary is through reading. The purpose of this study was to replicate the study conducted by Zahar, Cob and Spada (2001) and compare the results with the original study and another replication study using the same design. The study was conducted with university students who were in their first year of studying English language and literature. In order to establish the participants’ vocabulary size, Nation’s Vocabulary Levels Test (1990) was used. The effect of the reading treatment was determined by using a pretest-posttest design. The results of the posttest showed that the participants learned one in three previously unknown words. There was a positive relationship between the participants’ vocabulary size and the relative gains as well as between the frequency of the words in the text and the relative gain scores. The findings suggest that learners’ general knowledge and cognitive abilities may be significant factors that affect the rate of vocabulary acquisition through reading.
Key words: vocabulary acquisition, incidental learning, reading, vocabulary size, word frequency


Andrew Schenck & Wonkyung Choi (both Daejeon, South Korea):

Abstract
Past research has emphasized the universality of grammar acquisition over key differences, resulting in the development of a number of one-size-fits-all approaches to grammar instruction. Because such approaches fail to consider disparities of grammatical features, they are often ineffective. Just as a doctor needs to diagnose an illness and prescribe a suitable treatment, the teacher must evaluate a grammatical feature and choose an appropriate instruction. To better understand how this may be accomplished, highly disparate grammatical features (the definite article and plural noun) were taught to adult second language learners, using three different pedagogical techniques: Explicit focus on meaning, explicit focus on form, and implicit focus on form. Results suggest that the effectiveness of these treatments depends upon characteristics of the grammatical feature, the type of instruction utilized (implicit or explicit), and the learner’s language proficiency. According to the results, an empirical method to guide the content of grammar instruction is proposed. 
Keywords: Explicit grammar instruction, implicit grammar instruction, semantic complexity, morphosyntactic complexity, learner proficiency, focus on form, focus on meaning



Anna Krulatz (Trondheim, Norway):

Abstract 
This study compares electronic requests written by native and non-native speakers of Russian. 184 responses were elicited via a discourse completion task with four scenarios. Using a framework adapted from the cross-cultural speech acts realization project (CCSRAP) (Blum-Kulka et al. 1989), the analysis focused on the strategies used to construct the head act of request (i.e. direct, conventionally indirect, and non-conventionally indirect) and internal and external modifications (i.e., upgraders, downgraders and supportive moves), and it revealed that while the use of some of the non-native speaker strategies approximates that of the native speakers, the requests produced by the two groups differ on several dimensions. The findings of the study confirm the hypothesis that even advanced foreign language learners often do not fully develop certain aspects of sociolinguistic competence.
Key words: speech acts, electronic requests, sociolinguistic competence, foreign language acquisition

Аннотация 
Это исследование сравнивает электронные запросы, написанные родными и неродными носителями русского языка. Было собрано 184 ответа на задачу завершения дискурса по четырем сценариям. Применяя методику, адаптированную из проекта осуществления кросс-культурных речевых актов (CCSRAP) (Блюм-Кулка соавт., 1989), мы сосредоточили анализ на стратегиях, используемых для построения главного акта запроса (то есть прямых, условнокосвенных и неусловнокосвенных), а также на внутренних и внешних мотиваторах (таких, как сигнализаторы, обогатители, принижающие и вспомогательные ходы). Анализ показал, что хотя некоторые из неносителей применяют стратегии на приближенном к носителям языка уровне, запросы, произведенные двумя группами, отличаются по нескольким параметрам. Результаты исследования подтверждают гипотезу, что даже изучившие иностранный язык на продвинутом уровне часто не полностью развивают определенные аспекты социолингвистической компетенции.
Ключевые слова: речевые акты, электронные запросы, социолингвистическая компетенция, приобретение иностранного языка



Patrycja Golebiewska & Christian Jones (both Preston, UK)

Abstract
The focus of this study is the comparison of two teaching frameworks: Presentation Practice Production (PPP) and Observe Hypothesise Experiment (OHE) in the context of teaching twelve lexical chunks to two groups of twenty-one EAP students. An analysis of pre- and post-test scores demonstrated that both frameworks were successful in aiding students’ productive and receptive knowledge of the target language. The question as to whether one framework was more effective than the other in the context studied was answered negatively, since no statistically significant difference between the treatment types was found. The results suggest that both input and output oriented activities can aid the acquisition of chunks to the same extent and thus, perhaps, the choice between these frameworks may be more dependent on teaching and learning styles than upon their impact on the acquisition of formulaic language.
Key words: Observe Hypothesise Experiment, Presentation Practice Production, formulaic language, lexical chunks, productive knowledge, receptive knowledge, input oriented activities, output oriented activities 




Elisabeth Kolb (München):

László Kovács (Szombathely, Ungarn):
Posted by JLLT
Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching
Volume 5 (2014) Issue 1


Foreword to the Issue

The present issue commences the fifth volume of the Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching. This issue comprises six articles and three book reviews The articles selected here offer insight into the teaching of reading, the learning of vocabulary, grammatical instruction, and the sociolinguistic competence of language learners, potential remedies that can be implemented into language learning software, and, last but not least, the teaching and learning of lexical chunks.

The first article by Shing-Lung Chen (Kaohsiung, Taiwan) describes a model that aims to reduce or even possibly eliminate potential failures occurring in language learning programmes in the speech recognition process. Modern language learning software, specially made for the correct decoding of learners’ utterances, is designed on the basis of linear rather than circular models. In the author’s opinion, however, only circular models can serve to compensate for communication failures and, thus, assure the continuation of given communication processes. In this article, potential problems of language learning programmes are analysed and possible remedies are  suggested.

In the subsequent article by Chris Merkelbach (Taipei, Taiwan), the teaching of reading skills in Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) is the issue in the focus of the author’s attention. Students generally encountering tremendous difficulties in reading academic Chinese texts of a certain length within a reasonable lapse of time, the article depicts the  prominent importance of reading skills in the framework of the mastery of this language. Considering the fact that Western students of Chinese are, as a rule, experienced language learners, the author elaborates on selected reading styles, suggesting ways and techniques to teach these strategies in CSL classes. Special focus is laid on the syntactic and textual levels.

The third article by Nina Daskalovska (Stip, Republic of Macedonia) also deals with reading, but considers it as a way to boost students’ incidental vocabulary learning,  taking into account that reading is generally recognised as one of the essential sources of human beings to extend their vocabulary banks. Providing the second replication of a study by Zahar, Cob and Spada (2001; see the article) with the first replication study also being her own, the author analysed a group of university students in their first and second year of English instruction. Her results suggest a positive relation between learners’ existent vocabulary size and their relative acquisition of new words,  as well as a positive correla-tion between the frequency with which new words appear in a given text and the proba-bility of students acquiring them. The study also confirms that learners’ general pre-knowledge and their cognitive abilities may be of decisive importance for their vocabulary extension through reading.

Grammar is in the focus of Andrew Schenck’s & Wonkyung Choi’s (both Daejeon, South Korea) contribution. The authors recommend best practices for the teaching of some important grammatical features of English. In the introductory part of their article, the authors state the principal ineffectiveness of those ways of teaching grammar that follow a one-for-all approach. Focusing on adult learners, with a close examination of their learning such grammatical items as the definite article and the plural noun, they point to the poten-tial outcome of three different techniques: explicit focus on meaning, explicit focus on form, and implicit focus on form. The findings of the study reveal that grammatical instruction should vary according to the traits of the individual grammatical item, the instruction employed, and learners’ language proficiency. On this basis, an empirical method is suggested that takes the respective content of grammar instruction into account.

In her article, Anna Krulatz (Trondheim, Norway), gives insight into the sociolinguistic competence of foreign language learners, analysing written electronic requests (emails) produced by non-natives and natives of Russian under test conditions. Focusing on the head act of request on the one hand and internal and external modifications on the other, the researcher identified various differences between the requests produced by non-native and native speakers. In addition, the author also found that although non-native speakers’ strategies occasionally  approximate those utilised by native speakers, the sociolinguistic competence of the latter is most rarely fully attained by the former.

Patrycja Golebiewska / Christian Jones (both Preston, UK) elaborate on lexical chunks, comparing the potential effectiveness of Observe Hypothesise Experiment (OHE) and Presentation Practice Production (PPP). In their experiment, the authors found that both approaches proved to be promising in terms of improving students’ productive and receptive language knowledge, no statistically significant data in favor of the one or the other framework being identified. Their research suggests that both input- and output-based language activities have the potential of enhancing students’ acquisition of lexical chunks. Instructors’ choice of the one framework or the other - so they conclude - may therefore be based on their personal teaching preferences or on their estimation of the effectiveness of learning styles rather than on the potential success of the use of these two approaches.

The present issue is rounded off by three book reviews: the first one by Heinz-Helmut Lüger (Koblenz-Landau, Germany) on Zofia Bilut-Homplewicz’s book on perspectivation in text linguistics (2013), the second one by Elisabeth Kolb (Munich, Germany) on a book on mediation in foreign language teaching edited by Daniel Reimann & Andrea Rössler (2013), and the third one by László Kovács (Szombathely, Hungary) on Erzsébet Drahota-Szabó’s book on intertextuality and translation (2013)

This issue sees a varied selection of articles which will not only will answer but also may open up further research questions. As well as the articles, the three book reviews presented in this issue may  ultimately entice our readers to  pick up the respective books and read them in detail. In either case, the editor hopes that JLLT  has reached one of its objectives, i.e. to cast a tiny light  on one of the most interesting, inspiring, and meanwhile, most complex fields - the relationship between linguistics on the one hand and language teaching on the other. Being aware of all this, we wish our readers a pleasant time thumbing through and enjoying the latest issue of JLLT.

Thomas Tinnefeld
JLLT
Editor

Posted by JLLT
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