L2 Proficiency (l2 + proficiency)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Learner Accuracy and Learner Performance: The Quest for a Link

FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 2 2000
Janet M. Renou
Specifically, we examined learner performance in carrying out three steps of a written and oral grammatically judgment test. First, subjects' ability to identify and correct an error, and to provide the rule, which the correction entailed, was examined according to group membership (communicative or grammar), types of errors, and mode of presentation. In a second phase of the analysis, judgment ability was compared with specific aspects of L2 proficiency. Results show significant differences between the groups in their ability to provide the rule that the correction entailed. Furthermore, significant differences in judgment ability were found depending on whether the item was presented in the written or oral mode. Generally, little difference was found in levels of L2 proficiency between subjects who could correct the error and provide the rule in comparison with those who were only able to correct the error. [source]


Age of Onset and Nativelikeness in a Second Language: Listener Perception Versus Linguistic Scrutiny

LANGUAGE LEARNING, Issue 2 2009
Niclas Abrahamsson
The incidence of nativelikeness in adult second language acquisition is a controversial issue in SLA research. Although some researchers claim that any learner, regardless of age of acquisition, can attain nativelike levels of second language (L2) proficiency, others hold that attainment of nativelike proficiency is, in principle, impossible. The discussion has traditionally been framed within the paradigm of a critical period for language acquisition and guided by the question of whether SLA is constrained by the maturation of the brain. The work presented in this article can be positioned among those studies that have focused exclusively on the apparent counterexamples to the critical period. We report on a large-scale study of Spanish/Swedish bilinguals (n,=,195) with differing ages of onset of acquisition (<1,47 years), all of whom identify themselves as potentially nativelike in their L2. Listening sessions with native-speaker judges showed that only a small minority of those bilinguals who had started their L2 acquisition after age 12, but a majority of those with an age of onset below this age, were actually perceived as native speakers of Swedish. However, when a subset (n,=,41) of those participants who did pass for native speakers was scrutinized in linguistic detail with a battery of 10 highly complex, cognitively demanding tasks and detailed measurements of linguistic performance, representation, and processing, none of the late learners performed within the native-speaker range; in fact, the results revealed also that only a few of the early learners exhibited actual nativelike competence and behavior on all measures of L2 proficiency that were employed. Our primary interpretation of the results is that nativelike ultimate attainment of a second language is, in principle, never attained by adult learners and, furthermore, is much less common among child learners than has previously been assumed. [source]


The Definition and Measurement of L2 Explicit Knowledge

LANGUAGE LEARNING, Issue 2 2004
Rod Ellis
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 guidelines for investigating explicit knowledge as analyzed knowledge and as metalanguage. [source]


The Facilitative Role of L1 Influence in Tense,Aspect Marking: A Comparison of Hispanophone and Anglophone Learners of French

MODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 3 2008
JESÚS IZQUIERDO
English learners of French whose first language (L1) does not mark the perfective/imperfective distinction have shown verb semantic influence and an overall preference for perfective over imperfective in their use of second language (L2) tense,aspect markers. This study investigated whether learners whose L1 marks the perfective/imperfective distinction would exhibit similar acquisition profiles. Hispanophones (n= 17) and Anglophones (n= 15) at similar levels of French L2 proficiency completed a 68-item cloze task with equal numbers of perfective and imperfective contexts distributed across 4 semantic categories: stative, activity, accomplishment, and achievements. In a 20-minute retrospective interview, a subsample of the participants (8 Hispanophones, 11 Anglophones) commented on factors influencing their tense,aspect choices. An ANOVA of 1,012 predicates revealed that unlike the Anglophones, the Hispanophones did not prefer perfective over imperfective, and they were also less influenced by verb semantics. The learners' comments suggest that the Hispanophones made effective use of L1,L2 similarities, whereas the Anglophones appealed to verb semantics and partially understood pedagogical rules, which were frequently associated with inappropriate uses of the forms. [source]


Second Language Listening: Listening Ability or Language Proficiency?

MODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 1 2006
LARRY VANDERGRIFT
This article reports on a study exploring the respective contributions of first language (L1) listening comprehension ability and second language (L2) proficiency to L2 listening comprehension ability. The participants were 75 Grade 8 English-speaking students learning French. The students completed tests in French and in English that required them to listen to authentic dialogues and to complete a number of multiple choice comprehension questions. Multiple regression analysis indicated that both L1 listening comprehension ability and L2 proficiency contributed significantly to L2 listening comprehension ability, with L2 proficiency having about twice as much common variance. A further analysis by question type indicated that, although the relative contribution of L2 proficiency to the combined variance continued to be higher for both question types, the relative contribution of L1 listening comprehension ability to answering literal questions was greater than for answering inferencing questions. The results are discussed in light of the linguistic threshold and the linguistic interdependence hypotheses and similar research on this same question for L2 reading. This article initiates an exploration of the ability/proficiency debate as it relates to L2 listening comprehension ability, discusses implications for L2 pedagogy, and suggests important avenues for further research. [source]