Language Teaching and Acquisition

LANGUAGE TEACHING AND ACQUISITION

Panel coordinator: Amparo Lázaro Ibarrola (Universidad Pública de Navarra). Departamento Filología y Didáctica de la Lengua. Facultad de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales. Campus de Arrosadia. 31006 Pamplona (Navarra).

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Amparo Lázaro Ibarrola (Universidad Pública de Navarra) & Mª Ángeles Hidalgo Gordo (Universidad Pública de Navarra)
“Should teachers present vocabulary in semantically related sets?”

Propuesta: Comunicación

Abstract: Teaching vocabulary in semantically related sets is common practice among EFL teachers. The present study tests the effectiveness of this method by comparing it to the alternative technique: presenting vocabulary in an unrelated way. The study was carried out with two intact classes of Spanish learners of English in high-school, one group with a beginner level and the other with an intermediate level of English. All learners were presented with a set of unrelated and related words unknown to them and were then asked to complete a post-test to measure the impact of both techniques on learning. The results indicate that both techniques successfully help the learners to acquire the new words but that presenting words in unrelated sets seems to be more effective, especially for the intermediate learners. Therefore, we recommend that teachers combine both techniques in order to help their students more successfully with the acquisition of vocabulary.

Keywords: EFL, secondary education, teaching vocabulary, semantically related vocabulary.

Andrés Canga Alonso (Universidad de La Rioja)
“The Receptive Vocabulary of 4th ESO Spanish EFL Learners”
Propuesta: Comunicación

Abstract: This paper responds to the need of research on vocabulary knowledge in foreign language education, mostly in secondary education, in Spain. Thus, we aim at investigating (i) the receptive vocabulary knowledge of ninety-two 10th grade (4th ESO) Spanish students learning English as a foreign language in a secondary school located in the north of Spain, and (ii) its pedagogical implications for students’ understanding of written and spoken discourse in English (Adolphs & Schmitt 2004; Laufer 1992, 1997; Nation 2001). We used the 2,000 frequency band of the Vocabulary Level Test (VLT) (Schmitt, Schmitt & Clapham, 2001, version 2) as the instrument to measure students’ receptive vocabulary knowledge. Our results reveal that the means of our pupils’ receptive vocabulary size is below one thousand words, which agrees with the estimates proposed by López-Mezquita (2005) for Spanish students of the same age and educational level. Our data also indicate that the informants analysed in the present study could have problems to understand written and spoken discourse due to their low scores in the receptive vocabulary level test.

Keywords: EFL, secondary education learners, receptive vocabulary size, VLT

Agustín Reyes Torres (Universitat de Valencia), Eva Pich Ponce (Universidad de Sevilla), María Dolores García Pastor (Universitat de Valencia)
“The Practice of Linguistic Routines in English through Digital Storytelling”
Propuesta: Comunicación

Abstract: Digital storytelling not only offers language teachers the opportunity of working with all four language skills from the very beginning but also brings together the idea of combining the art of telling stories with a variety of digital multimedia (Robin 2006). This enables instructors to teach any topic in a way that can generate interest and attention. Our study consists of a didactic sequence in which we make use of digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool to work on linguistic routines such as greetings and leave-takings in English as a foreign language. To this aim, we have worked with first year students in the School of Education at the Universitat de Valencia to improve their ability to adapt their language skills to specific situations within common daily interaction. Finally, after working on the targets set, students are expected to produce their own digital stories showing thus what they have learned.

Keywords: Didactic sequence, linguistic routines, digital storytelling, teaching

Francisco Gallardo del Puerto (Universidad de Cantabria) & Kenneth Friedman (Universidad de Cantabria)

“On the pronunciation of L2 English word-final consonant clusters in monomorphemic vs. inflected words”
Propuesta: Comunicación

Abstract: English learners whose first language does not possess consonant clusters in word-final positions tend to display consonant reduction due to L1 influence. On some occasions, this phonological impairment goes hand in hand with morphological inaccuracy, since the phonetic realization of “ed” quite frequently involves the creation of consonant sequences (look/looked). Empirical evidence suggests that L1 Spanish learners of L2 English have great difficulty in producing the “ed” morpheme and that consonant reduction is significa ntly more evident in complex coda words inflected for past -ed than in monomorphemic words, even though some end-of-state learners seem to be able to master the morpho-phonological acquisition of “ed”. This pilot study attempts to ascertain whether word-final consonant clusters are acquired differently in inflected words (e.g.: passed) vs. monomorphemic words (e.g.: past). Additionally, we will consider whether consonant cluster production is dependent upon learners’ proficiency (beginner vs. intermediate). Thirteen university students were recorded in a sentence-reading/imitation exercise. Productions were assessed on the basis of cluster frequency (whether the cluster was reduced or actually produced) and cluster quality (a holistic evaluation of the pronunciation of the cluster). Results indicate that learners acquire clusters in monomorphemic words more successfully than those in inflected words, as they produce the former with greater frequency and accuracy, suggesting that phonology and morphology do indeed interact in interlanguages. This is particularly evident in the case of beginners, which may be interpreted as evidence for divergent learning rates for morphology and phonology. Additionally, analyses revealed that transfer effects are greater in the first stages of acquisition, since intermedate learners clearly outperform beginners.

Keywords: EFL, consonant clusters, pronunciation, phonology-morphology interface

María Juan Garau, Joana Salazar Noguera and Maria Gené Gil (Universitat de les Illes Balears)
“Holistic assessment of EFL written development: gains and attrition during and after a period of CLIL provision”
Propuesta: Comunicación

Abstract:The spread of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) within Europe has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. However, few studies have focussed on written competence in CLIL contexts and findings in this field are not definite (Ruiz de Zarobe, 2010). This paper makes a contribution in this direction by presenting longitudinal results on the development of EFL writing in secondary education CLIL learners and their non-CLIL counterparts in the Balearic Islands. Additionally, we seek to uncover the extent to which the effects of CLIL instruction over written competence are long-lasting, which is an under-researched area (Roquet, 2011).To that end, written compositions of EFL learners (N=50) are analysed by means of holistic assessment (rating content, organisation, vocabulary, language use and mechanics) at four data collection times over a three-year period. More specifically, at T1-T3, participants are a group of CLIL students learning a content subject through the medium of English and a group of comparable non-CLIL learners of English in the Balearic Islands. At T4, the participants are three groups of EFL learners, since part of the T1-T3 CLIL pupils stopped receiving CLIL treatment at the end of T3. Thus, at T4 language gains and attrition in EFL writing are analyzed twelve months after having received a two-year CLIL treatment and compared to those at the end of a three-year CLIL programme and with no CLIL provision at all.Results point to significant differences in overall written competence for CLIL learners along T1 and T3 and also between CLIL and non-CLIL learners to the advantage of the former. At T4, the three-year CLIL pupils outperform the other two groups, and the two-year CLIL students score significantly better than their non-CLIL counterparts in some of the categories rated.

Keywords: CLIL, EFL, writing, language gains, attrition, holistic assessment