This research on the autonomous learning of English as a second language (L2) was carried out in conjunction with pre-intermediate English students from La Gran Colombia University (UGC) and the ...School of Languages and Dialects of the National Army (ESIDE). The main objective was to implement the autonomous learning strategies of English as a L2 in the population sample. Initially, a review of background information related to the theoretical bases was carried out, for which the following categories of analysis were established: Autonomous Learning, Competencies and Abilities, Metacognition and New Technologies of English. The methodology used was mixed with a quantitative predominance under a quasi-experimental design, and we worked with an intentional probabilistic sample. All of the above was carried out through the implementation of instruments such as a competency level pre-test, a semi-structured questionnaire and a post-test, which allowed the results to be contrasted and analyzed. Finally, the results show that more than half of the population obtained academic improvement thanks to the implementation of 27 strategies for autonomous learning of English. Likewise, the adoption of an autonomous culture in their academic and professional lives is evident.
Most research on metaphor comprehension in second language (L2) speakers focuses on conventionalised expressions (e.g., Littlemore et al. 2011; Mashal et al. 2015), whereas L2 comprehension of novel ...metaphorical expressions has not been given much attention (Jankowiak et al., 2017). Th is paper investigates the extent to which L2 speakers at different levels of proficiency differentiate between creative metaphors classified as easy and hard to comprehend. A self–paced reading task combined with sensicality judgements was used to test two groups of participants: L2 speakers of English with low/intermediate and advanced proficiency. The study examined reading times and answers to the sensicality judgements which inquired about whether the metaphors make sense. The results show that the advanced group of speakers more often judges that creative metaphors make sense, but in the case of reading time, proficiency has no significant effect on the understanding of different types of metaphors. Based on the absence of interaction between the groups and the type of metaphor, it can be concluded that the skills needed to understand the metaphor are partially transferred from the first language, however, the results of the sensicality judgments show that the advanced group judges significantly more that creative metaphors (regardless of difficulty) are meaningful. Th is indicates that with advanced knowledge of the language comes richer semantic representations, so advanced speakers more easily activate features of concepts that are otherwise more difficult to activate
The aim of our study was to describe specific difficulties in reading and spelling in English (L2) of Polish (L1) students with dyslexia, as compared with Polish students without dyslexia. We found ...that Polish students with dyslexia, as compared with the controls, were less accurate and fluent in reading actual words and nonwords in L2. They made more phonological and orthographic errors in single L2 word spelling task; phonological spelling errors were more frequent than orthographic errors in both groups. The criterion group had more limited L2 vocabulary, regardless of the word difficulty. We also observed a positive correlation between the speed and accuracy of reading, and spelling in the two languages, though this relationship was more conspicuous in the control group. Our results corroborate Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis. Acquiring a second language poses substantial problems for the dyslexic students, who struggle with phonological processing deficits in L1 and L2.
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•We examined difficulties in English (L2) of Polish (L1) students with dyslexia.•We compared their performance to that of Polish students without dyslexia.•Students with dyslexia were less accurate and fluent in reading words and nonwords.•Students with dyslexia made more phonological and orthographic errors in spelling.•Students with dyslexia struggled especially with the phonology of English.
Većina istraživanja о razumijevanju metafora kod govornika stranog jezika usredotočena je na konvencionalne izraze (npr. Littlemore i sur. 2011; Mashal i sur. 2015; Werkmann Horvat i sur. 2021b; ...Citron isur. 2020), dok se razumijevanju kreativnih metaforičkih izraza nije pridavalo mnogo pozornosti (osimnpr. Jankowiak i sur. 2017). Ovaj rad istražuje kako govornici stranog jezika na različitim razinama znanja razlikuju kreativne metafore koje su lakše ili teže za razumjeti. Korišten je zadatak čitanja vlastitom brzinom u kombinaciji s prosudbom smislenosti, a testirane su dvije skupine sudionika: govornici engleskog kao stranog jezika s niskim/srednjim i govornici s naprednim znanjem. Zabilježeno je vrijeme čitanja u različitim područjima rečenice i odgovori na prosudbe о smislenosti o tome imaju li pročitane metafore smisla. Rezultati pokazuju da napredna skupina govornika više prosud strok signuje da kreativne metafore imaju smisla, no u slučaju vremena čitanja razina znanja nema značajan efekt na razumijevanje različitih vrsta metafora. Na temelju izostanka interakcije izmed strok signu skupina i vrste metafore može se zaključiti da se dio vještina potrebnih za razumijevanje metafore prenosi iz prvog jezika, med strok signutim, rezultati prosudbe smislenosti pokazuju da napredna skupina značajno više prosud strok signuje da kreativne metafore (bez obzira na težinu) imaju smisla. Ovo ukazuje da s naprednim poznavanjem jezika, dolaze i bogatiji semantički prikazi koncepata u mentalnom leksikonu pa napredni govornici lakše aktiviraju značajke koncepata koje je inače teže aktivirati.
Motivated by the rapid development and application of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in education and the needs of language learners during the COVID-19 pandemic, an AI-enabled English ...language learning (AIELL) system featuring authentic and ubiquitous learning for the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar in English as a second language (L2) was developed. The aim of this study was to present the developmental process and methods used to design, develop, evaluate, and validate the AIELL system and to distil key design features for English learning in authentic contexts. There were 20 participants in the tests, with three interviewees in the study. Mixed research methods were employed to analyse the data, including a demonstration test, a usability test, and an interview. The quantitative and qualitative data collected and analysed affirmed the validity and usability of the design and helped identify areas for further improvements to the desired features. This study informs the integration of AI into facilitating language teaching and learning guided by the mobile learning principle.
Argumentative writing is the most commonly used genre in writing classroom practices and assessments. To draft an argumentative essay in authentic settings, writers are usually required to evaluate ...and use content knowledge from outside sources. Although source-based argumentation is a sustainable skill that is crucial for students’ academic career, this area remains under-researched. Hence, this paper presents a within-subject study that investigated Hong Kong secondary school students’ argumentation construction in L1 and L2 source-based writing from both product-oriented and process-oriented perspectives. Multiple sources of data were collected, including L1 and L2 source-based argumentative texts, eye-tracking metrics and recorded videos, and stimulated recall interviews. Findings of our study show that the L1 source-based argumentative compositions of the Hong Kong secondary student writers differed greatly from their L2 ones in terms of the argument structure, source use, and reasoning quality. Analyses on four cases further revealed a multitude of factors such as self-regulation and cultural orientations coming into play in similar and different argumentation performance between L1 and L2 source-based writing tasks. This study contributes new knowledge to better understand the argumentation in L1 and L2 source-based writing, yielding meaningful implications on pedagogy and assessment in this field.
In the field of teaching a second language (L2), technology has always occupied a relevant position. The development of new technological tools has allowed the convergence of two learning ...environments, traditional face-to-face learning and virtual learning. This convergence has fostered the advantages of both types of instructions and the possibilities to learn a L2. In this study, researchers tried to explore pre-service teachers’ perspectives towards the use of wikis and discussion boards to improve writing skills in English and promote autonomous and collaborative learning in a B-learning environment. 358 pre-service teachers participated in the study in which a mixed methods research approach was adopted to integrate results and have a broader vision of the phenomenon. The results suggested pre-service teachers’ positive perception of the e-activities developed to improve the quality of their English, feeling more confidence in that language. They highlighted the opportunities afforded by wikis to create collective texts based on their agreements and individual contributions that promoted individual and cooperative learning, and by discussion boards to communicate, solve problems, get consensus or support a dynamic process. The fact of using a mixed methods research approach enhanced the validity and reliability of data, and added rigor to the study.
ABSTRACT Consonant clusters occur both in Portuguese and English. However, clusters are more productive in English than in Portuguese and there are sequences which are only found in English.This ...study focuses on the contrasts between American English and Brazilian Portuguese consonant clusters and on three strategies Brazilian learners tend to apply when producing them: adding the high front vowel (epenthesis) between the consonants in the clusters, discarding consonants, or introducing phonetic changes. The relevance of introducing English clusters to Brazilian learners of English is pointed out and discussed under the framework of the Speech Learning Model (SLM).
RESUMO Os grupos consonantais ocorrem tanto em inglês quanto em português. Contudo, os grupos consonantais são mais produtivos em inglês do que em português e algumas das sequências de consoantes ocorrem apenas em inglês. Este estudo focaliza os contrastes entre os grupos consonantais em inglês americano e português brasileiro e as estratégias utilizadas por aprendizes brasileiros de língua inglesa ao pronunciá-los: adicionar a vogal anterior alta (epêntese) entre as consoantes dos grupos consonantais, descartar consoantes, ou introduzir alterações fonéticas. A relevância de introduzir os grupos consonantais a aprendizes brasileiros de língua inglesa é apontada e discutida com base no quadro teórico do Modelo de Aprendizagem de Fala (SLM).
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