Survey On Language Acquisition Research
Survey On Language Acquisition Research
Survey On Language Acquisition Research
programmes
The occasional viewing of subtitled films inject fun into many foreign
language classrooms while also providing a glimpse of the culture the language
originates from. But can subtitled programmes also lead to incidental foreign
language acquisition?
Most studies on the issue have dealth with vocabulary acquisition, and have
took it further and, pointing out that acquisition involves not only vocabulary,
The study also shed light on the interface vs. non-interface model devate.
The interface model claims that explicit and implicit knowledge are not
separate, and that explicit knowledge may lead to implicit knowledge through
automization. On the other han, linguists such as Krashen who support the
non-interface model claim that explicit and implicit knowledge are entirely
distinct and that explicit knowledge cannot lead to implicit language, for
acquisition.
There were two experiments conducted in the study. The first experiment
language (Esperanto) and playing the soundtrack in the native language. The
participants in this were divided into two groups: those who were given the
rules before watching the movie (in the form of a story to eliminate the
possibility of intentional learning), and those to whom the rules were not
mentioned at all before watching the movie or after watching the movie. Both
groups of participants took the same test to measure vocabulary. The second
the participants to intentionally look for grammar rules applied in the movie.
There were different participants for each eperiment. The first experiment
had 62 participants (34 females and 15 males) who were primary school
sixth-graders and 47 (32 females and 15 males) secondary school sixth graders.
The participants of the second experiment were 94 (39 females and 55 males)
acquisition.
For the first experiment, the older participants outperformed the younger
participants, challenging the notion that those who are younger tend to do
better in acquisition. Those who were presented the rules beforehand also did
better than those who were simply asked to watch the movie. The second
movie presentation.”
Indeed, as Van Lommel, Laenen and d’Ydewalle have pointed out, the
movies shown were really short. Aside from this, while the researchers stated
that the movie presentations could have negatively affected retention since they
were placed between the discussion on rules and the test, it is notable that they
presented the rules a day before showing the movie. This interval could have
also affected the results. What if the rules and the movie were presented on the
same day? The first experiment also, as they themselves have mentioned,
But given the rather short duration of the research and the topic at hand,
one can indeed not expect to find spectacular results. The researchers are
correct when they said that grammar is too complicated to glean from such
The paper raises certain questions though. Grammar rules are difficult to
acquire in one or two sittings, but what about watching various subtitled
foreign films for an extended period of time? What if the variables were not
incidental learning and especially since films are accessible and if subtitled
films and the thought of acquiring vocabulary and grammar from them seem
really promising. However, given that the research, which already altered
variables in order to maximize effect, did not show substantial difference, could
This is not to say, though, that subtitled films are not beneficial. While it
may be at the moment be quite ambitious to say that students can incidentally
learn language from simply watching films, they are still valuable a valuable
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Learning?
It has long been a truth that reading is not every student’s favorite academic -
let alone recreational - activity. Most students hardly go beyond readings assigned
in class, and if they do, the literature they prefer are most likely frowned upon. An
unfortunate reality it is, because numerous linguists have pointed out the that
development. Krashen also points out, free voluntary reading “may be the most
This, the comparative dearth of similar studies, and Laufer’s view that
motivation are the fuel behind “Does the Freedom of Reader Choice Affect
and Yi Ling Bai that measured the effect of freedom to choose reading materials
Foreign Language (EFL) reading classes. The paper also sought to find out
whether or not the interest of the participants in the reading material had an
Taiwan) were divided into two groups: the system-assigned group and the
self-choice group. Those in the self-choice group were given the liberty to pick
two out of ten passages to read, while those in the system-assigned group received
two passages from a computer. The passages that the computer assigned were also
based on the choices of those in the self-choice group to ensure that, for later
comparison, there were readers in both groups with the same material. The
that the students have encountered the vocabulary words before, the target
minimize factors that might interfere with the results are notable, although they
did not expound much on their research, which was rather short.
difference for comprehension was minute, though, and implies that choice does
effect on vocabulary.
These results are interesting, since not a lot of language classrooms place a
great value on students’ choice of reading materials except those that have applied
Krashen’s claims, such as the Sustained Silent Reading program in the United
States. And vocabulary is no small deal; while it is true that vocabulary is not the
whole picture, it undeniably plays a huge part in language learning and if it can
be maximized, must be. I agree with Reynolds’s and Yi Ling Bai’s conclusion that
research was targeting EFL reading courses. The closest counterpart would be the
Science Research Associates (SRA) program, which could in a way benefit from
the results of the study by allowing students to be freer to pick among the reading
materials.
REFERENCES:
Reynolds, Barry Lee, and Yi Ling Bai. "Does The Freedom Of Reader Choice
Bilingual Environments
While there have been claims that early bilingualism comes with
disadvantages and might be too taxing on the brain, numerous studies have also
differ in terms of prosodic features, this study focused more on bilinguals and
their ability to distinguish between two languages of the same rhythmic pattern,
which is more challenging. Their results were also compared with those of
monolingual infants.
The results are rather intriguing: bilingual infants can distinguish between
the two rhythmically similar languages (Spanish and Catalan), but so can
monolinguals, and the effects were the same. This is contrary to the claim that
There have also been much support from previous related and similar
studies, and the researchers have conducted a much recent similar experiment,
involved in the study. The first two experiments focused on two groups of
with Spanish as native language) and also aimed to make sure that the
were also taken into great consideration. The procedure revolved around
familiarizing the infants to utterances in their native language (or the native
utterances from the other language. If the infants had longer listening time to
which suggests that they were able to distinguish between the two.
More intriguing is Werker’s comment on the issue: that infants are bound
for bilingualism as much as they are for monolinguialism. If this is true, then
this proves that there is little reason to fear that exposing a child early to two
(or more) languages can lead to delays, disadvantages or other detriments. And
if this is the case, and there really is not that much difference, then it only
disadvantageous.
This brings my attention to the recent changes brought about by the K-12
for better or for worse that the English language is now going to be introduced
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atmosphere free from àffective filters, such as anxiety, which serve as “screens”
Anxiety (FLCA) Scale by Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope. One other notable study
anxiety”, which aimed to figure out how English Language Classroom Anxiety
(ECLA) progresses or changes in the classroom and what the main causes of
ECLA are. 128 participants participated in the quantitative part of the research,
but only eight were included in the qualitative part, which involves the diary
entries. The study follows the entries of eight Greek EFL learners, seven of
whom where female, who were told to record activities that were anxiety
provoking for them and then to expound on it. The study was also conducted in
the middle of the semester to ensure that the anxiety levels usually present
during the first and last part of the semester do not interfere with the results.
Based on their entries, the results suggest that anxiety levels fluctuate
throughout the semester, and not necessarily in a certain pattern. It was more
random, and depended not so much on where they were in the semester but
input and low self-efficacy (participants the complexity of the input could
decrease their self-efficacy and lead to ECLA), (2) the four skills, especially
speaking and listening (most of the aniety came from timed writing
performance), (3) the mistakes and the teacher (the attitude of the teacher
motivated were more anxious than those intrinsically motivated), and (5) marks
(the primary concern; they were concerned about their grades, not about the
The study’s scope seems limited. While there were enough participants for
the quantitative part, only eight students participated in the qualitative part,
which is apparently the focus of the study. Diary studies and qualitative content
analyses also tend to be less objective. Nevertheless, the findings of the study
are interesting, and pave a way into a deeper look at what EFL learnings are
One notable statement by Gkonou is that according to the study, the input
recommended that students be exposed to i+1, students are afraid that the
higher complexity is too much for them and the fear serve as an affective filter.
Second, the product and not the process contributes to anxiety. The students
are afraid about their grades, which is the product, and not really about the
motivated or study for the sake of learning and not for a job or a high mark or
any other external reward have a lower level of anxiety than the extrinisically
motivated.
The study’s significance banks on the truth that to solve a problem, you
filters such as those determined must be minimized. From the looks of the
results, it seems that students’ problems are not really the process and the
activities, but their own fear of failure. Perhaps this should encourage not just
the truth that mistakes are a normal part of learning. Students should also be
instead of external rewards. This (and the observation on the input hypothesis
challenge themselves?
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