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Learners' Perception (learner + perception)
Selected AbstractsUptake, Modified Output, and Learner Perceptions of Recasts: Learner Responses as Language AwarenessMODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 1 2010TAKAKO EGI Recent research has shown that certain learners' responses to feedback, specifically repair and modified output, are predictive of subsequent second language (L2) development. Yet, little is understood about why these responses are associated with second language acquisition (SLA). The current study investigated this question by exploring the cognitive processes underlying learner responses. Learners of Japanese (n,= 24) engaged in task-based interactions during which they received recasts of their errors. Each learner then watched video clips of the recast episodes and commented on them. The learners' stimulated recall reports were analyzed in relation to their responses to the recasts: uptake, repair, and modified output. In recast episodes where they produced uptake, their reports indicated that they perceived the recasts as corrective feedback significantly more frequently compared to cases where they did not produce uptake. In episodes where learners correctly repaired their errors, they were significantly more likely to report not only recognizing corrective recasts but also noticing the interlanguage,L2 mismatch. Modified output was also significantly related both to learners' recognition of corrective recasts and to their noticing of the gap (Schmidt & Frota, 1986). Given the developmental benefits commonly associated with noticing the gap, these findings may partly explain why repair and modified output have been found to be predictive of SLA. [source] Developing an Oral Communication Strategy InventoryMODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 2 2006YASUO NAKATANI This study focuses on how valid information about learner perception of strategy use during communicative tasks can be gathered systematically from English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. First, the study attempted to develop a questionnaire for statistical analysis, named the Oral Communication Strategy Inventory (OCSI). The research project consisted of 3 stages: an open-ended questionnaire to identify learners' general perceptions of strategies for oral interaction (N= 80); a pilot factor analysis for selecting test items (N= 400); and a final factor analysis to obtain a stable self-reported instrument (N= 400). The resulting OCSI includes 8 categories of strategies for coping with speaking problems and 7 categories for coping with listening problems during communication. The applicability of the survey instrument was subsequently examined in a simulated communicative test for EFL students (N= 62). To validate the use of the instrument, participant reports on the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) were compared with the result of the OCSI. When combined with the oral test scores, it was revealed that students with high oral proficiency tended to use specific strategies, such as social affective strategies, fluency-oriented strategies, and negotiation of meaning. [source] Self-Assessment of Speaking Skills and Participation in a Foreign Language ClassFOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 1 2009Diane De Saint Léger French; relevant to all languages Abstract: This article investigates the ways in which learners' perception of themselves as second language (L2) speakers evolved over a 12-week period. Thirty-two students of the advanced French stream in a tertiary institution participated in this semester-long study. Students self-assessed their speaking skills and their level of participation in French oral tasks in weeks 4, 6, and 12, and set learning goals accordingly. Self-perception evolved in a positive fashion over time, particularly in relation to fluency, vocabulary, and overall confidence in speaking in the L2. In addition, individual goal-setting encouraged learners to take increased responsibility toward their own learning, although increased awareness did not necessarily lead to concrete actions to modify learning behavior. To conclude, this study highlights the potential pedagogical benefits of self-assessment at both the cognitive and affective levels. [source] Discovering EFL learners' perception of prior knowledge and its roles in reading comprehensionJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 2 2002Zheng Lin This paper investigates EFL learners' perception of prior knowledge and its roles in reading comprehension. It is based on a survey conducted among 400 EFL students studying at secondary and tertiary levels in China. Through the analysis of the ranked multiple responses to the questions posed in the questionnaire, the paper shows that EFL students in mainland China believe that their command of English vocabulary plays a crucial role in their reading comprehension. However as their linguistic knowledge increases, they tend to attach less importance to their linguistic knowledge, especially the knowledge of English syntax and formal structures. At the same time, conceptual and sociocultural knowledge seems to gain greater importance. Furthermore, the perceived importance of linguistic knowledge seems to start diminishing around the end of secondary education, when EFL students have acquired a vocabulary of about 3000 words and the basic knowledge of English syntax and formal structures. The final replacement of linguistic knowledge by conceptual or sociocultural knowledge as the top factor that affects their reading comprehension seems to take place one year after the beginning of the tertiary EFL course. This may well be considered as an indication of the EFL threshold level for EFL students in China. [source] Students' and Teachers' Assessments of the Need for Accuracy in the Oral Production of German as a Foreign LanguageMODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 4 2007MONIKA CHAVEZ Previous research indicates that foreign language learners are much more focused on accuracy, particularly grammatical accuracy, than their teachers are. The purpose of the current study was to gain a more detailed understanding of American learners' views of the need for accuracy in the oral production of a foreign language (German) by (a) distinguishing among 4 different purposes of language use (deriving a personal sense of accomplishment; being comprehensible to a native speaker [NS]; being pleasant to an NS; receiving an A in the course); (b) specifying 19 different language forms (grammatical, phonological, lexical, and pragmatic) of German; (c) asking the learners to assess the likelihood of ever attaining 90% or higher accuracy in each of these features; (d) examining learners in 4 different years of instruction; and (e) comparing the learners' beliefs to those of their teachers. The results revealed that (a) the learners in this study were not universally motivated toward accuracy in oral production generally or toward grammatical accuracy specifically; (b) they assumed that the grade requirements demanded much higher levels of accuracy than were necessary (as reported by the teachers) and were needed for communication with NSs or for their personal sense of accomplishment; (c) the year of instruction distinguished ratings of needed accuracy in specific forms, but not ratings of the overall degree of needed accuracy; and (d) the views of beginning learners especially and their teachers differed on the degree of accuracy needed to obtain a grade of A in the course, to derive a sense of accomplishment, and in the usage of specific language forms. Here, the learners appeared to construct unwarranted equivalencies between form-meaning relationships in the first language (L1) and the second language (L2) when they perceived that a low degree of accuracy was needed in certain German forms, particularly case endings and suprasegmental features. These findings suggest that judgments of required accuracy: (a) interact with the specific language-use purpose and specific language forms; (b) may vary by specific L1,L2 pairings; and (c) may have reflected in previous research the learners' perceptions of grade requirements rather than their true personal motivations. [source] | ||||||||||