JLLT Volume 3 (2012) Issue 2

Foreword to the Issue

I. Articles

K. James Hartshorn & Norman W. Evans (Provo (Utah), USA):

The Differential Effects of Comprehensive Corrective Feedback on L2 Writing Accuracy 

Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 3 (2), 217-248 (PDF) 

Abstract

Although recent studies of focused written corrective feedback (WCF), targeting only one or a few error types, may provide valuable insights for building second language acquisition theory, a growing number of scholars have been concerned with the ecological validity of these studies for the second language (L2) classroom. While many researchers favor focused WCF to prevent overload for L2 writers, this study examines an alternative instructional strategy, which targets all errors simultaneously. Based on principles derived from skill acquisition theory, this strategy avoids overload by using shorter pieces of writing. Building on earlier research showing this method improved overall accuracy, this study examines its effects on a variety of discrete linguistic categories. Analyses of pretest and posttest writing in a controlled, 15-week study, suggest that the treatment positively influenced L2 writing accuracy for the mechanical, lexical, and some grammatical domains. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are addressed along with limitations.  

Kay Cheng Soh (Singapore):

Bilingual Testing at the Phrase and Text Levels and Its Implications for Bilingual Programmes

Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 3 (2), 249-264 (PDF) 

Abstract

As an earlier study (Soh 2011) shows, by controlling the substantive content and item format, bilingual testing which systematically combined questions and options yielded much greater correlations in students text performance in two languages. This indicates that bilingual ability has been under-estimated when assessed by using two language tests separately. The finding is only for bilingual testing at the word level. The present study goes beyond to test bilingual ability by using the same approach but at the levels of phrase and text. The same effect was found for this more complex testing. The findings are discussed with reference to the bilingual approach to language syllabus design, classroom instruction, and assessment.

Alexandra Reuber (New Orleans, USA):

From Association to the Acquisition, Process, and Consolidation of New Language Material: A Differentiated Approach to French Vocabulary Instruction

Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 3 (2), 265-283 (PDF) 

Abstract (English)

This article explores a differentiated approach to vocabulary instruction via the combination of textbook exercises selected fromVis-à-Vis (2010) and Tom Tykwer’s court-métrage Faubourg Saint-Denis (2006). By doing so, this approach offers authentic input, recognizes students’ individual intelligence and learning styles, and provides them with ample opportunities to express their personal opinions on the topic of la vie quotidienne (‘daily life’) in French. Because it allows students to experiment with language and to shape their lessons, they experience the foreign language classroom as one learning community where everybody has a voice. Consequently, this approach not only lowers students’ foreign language anxiety, but also motivates them for the study of the language and its culture. Hence, it supports the development of students’ linguistic, inter-social, and cross-cultural competence.

Abstract (Français)

Cet article présente une démarche différenciée pour l’enseignement du vocabulaire. En combinant des exercices du manuelVis-à-Vis (2010) avec le court-métrage Faubourg Saint-Denis (2006) de Tom Tykwer, cette approche offre des ressources authentiques aux étudiants, reconnaît leurs intelligences individuelles, respecte leurs modes d’apprentissage et leur apporte une multitude d’occasions d’exprimer leurs opinions personnelles sur le thème de la vie quotidienne. Comme cette approche leur permet d’expérimenter avec la langue  et d’influencer le déroulement de la leçon, les étudiants perçoivent leur cours de français comme une communauté d’apprentissage dont tous les membres ont le droit de s’exprimer. Par conséquent, une telle démarche pédagogique ne réduit pas seulement l’angoisse de la langue étrangère, mais incite les étudiants à apprendre cette langue et sa culture. Cette démarche différenciée soutient donc le développement de la compétence linguistique, inter-sociale et interculturelle des étudiants.

Valerie Wust (Raleigh (NC), USA) / Barbie Book Brown (Knightdale (NC), USA):

Teaching the imparfait and the passé composé in French: New Findings on Sequence

Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 3 (2), 285-309 (PDF) 

Abstract (English)

Research on instructed second language (L2) learners of French consistently shows that the preterit emerges before the imperfect and remains the primary past tense marker until the advanced stages of acquisition. This study investigated whether instructional order (preterit-imperfect vs. imperfect-preterit) impacts upon past tense-aspect acquisition by high school learners of French. It was hypothesized that a sequence accounting for the increasing formal complexity of the two primary past tenses in French (e.g., imperfect before preterit) would positively affect mastery of the formation and distribution of both tenses, resulting in increased performance on a written cloze task. This hypothesis could be verified. The findings offer support for conducting further empirical investigations of grammar sequencing as a means of improving the effectiveness of instruction.

Abstract (Français)

Les recherches sur l’acquisition du français par les apprenants en milieu scolaire montrent que le passé composé est traditionnellement enseigné avant l’imparfait et reste le marqueur du passé principal jusqu’aux stades avancés de l’acquisition. Dans la présente étude, la question est examinée de savoir si la séquence d’instruction (passé composé-imparfait vs. imparfait-passé composé) a un impact sur l’acquisition des temps du passé et de l’aspect par les apprenants de français inscrits à l’école secondaire. Nous partons de l’hypothèse qu’une séquence d’instruction tenant compte d’une complexité formelle croissante des deux temps du passé principaux en français (ex. l’imparfait avant le passé composé) a un impact positif sur la maîtrise de la formation et de la distribution des deux temps. La méthode choisie est un test de closure écrit. Dans la présente étude, cette hypothèse a pu être vérifiée. Pourtant, il importe de constater qu’avant que l’on puisse transférer les résultats de cette étude à l’enseignement pratique du français langue étrangère, d’autres études empiriques du même type devront être effectuées.

Frank Kostrzewa (Karlsruhe, Deutschland):

Die Bedeutung von Formeln und Routinen für den Erwerb des Deutschen als Zweit- und Fremdsprache

Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 3 (2), 311-341 (PDF) 

Abstract (English)

Formulaic expressions and routines play an important role in the acquisition of German as a second or a foreign language. As unanalyzed complex structures, they lead to a higher degree of security in language production on the learner’s part and to faster access to linguistic structures. It seems that the language acquisition process cannot only be regarded as a process of increasing complexity, but rather as one which also entails complex structures as a starting point that get gradually segmented and analyzed. In language acquisition, processes of construction and deconstruction seem to coexist with each of them playing a major role in the acquisition process. Whereas processes of this type have occasionally undergone investigation in the area of spoken language, there is only little documentation of the importance of formulaic expressions and routines for the acquisition of written language.  

Abstract (Deutsch)

Formeln und Routinen spielen eine wesentliche Rolle beim Erwerb des Deutschen als Zweit- oder Fremdsprache. Als zunächst noch unanalysierte komplexe Einheiten verschaffen sie Lernern ein höheres Maß an Sprachsicherheit und einen schnelleren Zugang zu sprachlichen Strukturen. Es hat den Anschein, dass der Spracherwerbsprozess nicht ausschließlich als ein Prozess der zunehmenden Komplexität zu verstehen ist, sondern zugleich auch als ein Prozess verstanden werden kann, an dessen Anfang komplexe Strukturen stehen, die allmählich segmentiert und analysiert werden und damit gewissermaßen als Prozess der Dekonstruktion von Komplexität zum Spracherwerb beitragen. Während Vorgänge dieses Typs für den Bereich der Mündlichkeit vielfach untersucht worden sind, liegen nur wenige Arbeiten vor, die auch auf die Bedeutung der Formelhaftigkeit für den Erwerb der Schriftlichkeit fokussieren.

II. Book Reviews

Thomas Tinnefeld (Saarbrücken, Germany):

Veronica Smith: Tertiary Language Learning. Changing Perspectives and Practical Responses. Tübingen: Narr 2010 (Tübinger Beiträge zur Linguistik; Bd. 518). X + 112 pages. 

Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 3 (2), 345-350 (PDF) 

Xuan Jiang (Miami (Florida), USA):

Tonette S. Rocco & Tim Hatcher (eds.): The Handbook of Scholarly Writing and Publishing. San Francisco, CA.: Jossey-Bass 2011. 336 pages. 

Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching 3 (2), 351-368 (PDF)