Cognitive, Motivational and Ecological Factors in Second Language Acquisition Flashcards
what is the relevance of english as a second language
- there is a dramatic increase in bilingual learners of english in north america
- there are often difficulties in english reading comprehension
- english is a conventional medium in higher education in many non-english speaking countries
what is a valuable technique to study reading processes
eye-tracking
why is eye-tracking a valuable technique for studying reading processes
- high spatial and temporal resolution to study reading
- captures the natural reading process without confounds
- more reliable than previous methods to study reading processes
wat is L1 en L2
L1 is reading in native language, L2 is reading in non-native language
Eye-tracking Psychology students studying L2 texts: results
- reading processes of L2 readers are less effective compared to L1 readers
- words are recognized slower
- less information is processed on a high-level simultaneously
-> Eye-tracking shows and confirms difficulties in English L2 reading comprehension at a process level
learning goals:
- Why is reading in English difficult (Introduction/Recap)?
- Simple view of reading (Li et al., 2020)
- Componential model of reading (Li et al., 2020)
- The role of cognitive, psychological and ecological factors in Second Language English reading (Li et al., 2020)
- Relative contribution of Motivation and Extramural exposure to Foreign Language English Vocabulary (Leona et al., 2021)
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what is reading?
- highly complex skill
- long tradition in psychology
- skilled reader: very fast and fluent
- in evolutionary terms: relatively newly acquired skill
the process of learning to read in the first language:
- concept -> spoken sound
- written word -> spoken sound -> concept
orthographic depth =
in hoeverre een taal arbitraire relaties heeft tussen letters en geluiden
- shallow/transperant (a specific letter is almost always pronounced the same)
- deep/intransperant (relations between letters and sounds are more arbitrary)
voorbeelden transparent vs intransparent languages
- shallow/transparent: finnish, greek, italian, spanish
- deep/intransparent: english, danish, french, portuguese
Impact of Orthographic Depth on the development of word reading skill
meer transparent talen hebben lagere error rates bij words vs. non words dan intransparent languages (engels de hoogste, fins de laagste)
effect of transparency on development word reading
- no difference in letter knowledge between transparent and intransparent languages (all know more than 90% of the letters after the first year of school)
- there are differences in familiar word reading: intransparent languages have 70-80% accuracy of familiar words, more transparent languages already have >90% after the first year. english children only get to >90% after the second year (1 jaar later dus pas).
- english word reading is therefore difficult to learn
waarom zijn intransparante talen lastiger te leren
The reason is that English has many irregularities and inconsistencies in how letters are pronounced, which makes the process of learning to read slower and more challenging compared to languages with clearer, more consistent spelling rules.
simple view of reading =
decoding x linguistic comprehension = reading comprehension
- useful framework: specific skills are needed to become successful readers
- new insight: decoding/word recognition and linguistic/language comprehension are both needed
word recognition =
- phonological awareness
- phonics
- fluency
language comprehension=
- comprehension and vocab
- language concepts
- communication
phonological awareness=
ability to recognize and manipulate the spoken parts of words (rhyming, blending, segmenting)
phonics=
matching the sounds of spoken english with individual letters or groups of letters
language concepts =
big, cold etc.
communication=
strategic reading
variables of the componential model of reading
- cognitive domain: word recognition, word reading fluency, vocabulary, and listening comprehension
- psychological domain: reading motivation and mainstream acculturation (adaptation to majority of social and cultural norms)
- ecological domain (home and school environmental factors)
ecological domain:
- maternal education
- number of books in the home
- starting age at which one was read to
results of the Li et al (2020) study on reading comprehension (RC)
- effect of ecological domain on RC completely mediated by both cognitive and psychological domains (explains 84% of the variance)
- cognitive and psychological domains are direct contributions to the RC
- the cognitive domain has the largest contribution
- ecological domain directly affects the cognitive and psychological domain, also indirectly affects the RC
wat zijn de implicaties van Li et al
- supports the simple view of reading (SVR) framework for older bilingual children (not just native grade 1 children)
- direct contribution of the psychological domain: reading motivation and mainstream acculturation also important in elementary education
wat is er met het ecological domain bij Li et al
home literacy environment is at this age still influential, but only indirect effect via cognitive and psychological domain.
Why is there only an indirect effect in older bilingual children
educational implications of Li et al
- cognitive; develop word reading accuracy, fluency, vocabulary, and listening comprehension skills also in the middle grades
- psychological: focus on motivational strategies and adapting to mainstream culture
- ecological: create rich home literacy environments
added value of the Leona et al study
- Young English Language Learners (YELLs) comprise an important and growing group of learners of English as a foreign language, so in non-English speaking European countries
- Crucial to understand underlying processes of Vocabulary learning
- Vocabulary knowledge: essential to the acquisition of subsequent language skills
- Vocabulary: Good estimate of YELLs’ general English performance
- Motivation: one of the most important factors explaining individual differences in adults’ or adolescents’ learning EFL
- In depth focus on Psychological and Ecological domain
- Psychological domain: Motivation, under researched in upper elementary grades
- Relative contribution of Motivation and Extramural exposure to English Vocabulary
- EFL English language learning motivation questionnaire
- Detailed study of Extramural English exposure (i.e., English outside the walls of the classroom, number of books at home, starting age shared book reading)
extramural variables that may influence english speaking
- Entertaining Media: surfing on the internet, chatting
- Family: speaking English at home
- Friends: text message in English
- Formal Reading: reading magazines, books
motivational variables that influence english speaking
- Desire to Learn English: I would like to learn as much as possible about English
- Importance of Communicating in a Lingua
Franca: It is important to learn English because then I can go along easily with people from different countries. - Linguistic Self-Confidence: I am sure that in a few years I will be able to watch English movies without subtitles.
- Self-Advancement through Learning English: If I learn English well, I will become smarter (and good job)
- Attitude towards English speaking People (not Acculturation): I like English-speaking people very much
- Willingness to Communicate in English with Peers: I would like to have English-speaking friends
vocabulary variables in speaking english
- Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, the PPVT-4: age adequate selection to assess native
English speakers’ receptive oral vocabulary - EIBO-Vocabulary Test: to specifically assess the written receptive vocabulary of Dutch YELLs.
Children had to choose the best Dutch translation for the target word in the carrier sentence out of three options
results of Leona et al
- Children with Informal exposure only:
- Extramural English exposure through entertaining media and familial extramural English exposure play a direct role for vocabulary (PPVT and EIBO) - Children with also Formal (school) exposure:
- Both extramural English exposure through entertaining media and familial extramural English exposure play an indirect role (via Motivation) for vocabulary (PPVT and EIBO) - Joint effect of Familial extramural English exposure and entertaining Media larger for Children with Informal exposure only than for Children with also Formal (school) exposure
- exposure to media is more frequent than familial
only informal: family & media has a direct effect (en groter dan bij informal & formal)
informal and formal: family & media have an indirect effect
antwoord op RQ: Motivational factors mediate the relationship between different types of extramural English exposure and YELLs’ English vocabulary knowledge?
Only mediating role of Motivation (Linguistic selfconfidence) for Children with also Formal (school) exposure
While the sources of extramural English exposure were directly predictive of performance with regard to both oral and written English receptive vocabulary tests for YELLs’ learning English informally, linguistic self-confidence fully mediated these relationships for YELLs learning English formally.
theoretical implications of Leona et al
- Learning contexts determine whether Extramural exposure effects are direct or indirect
- Exposure through Entertaining media and Familial exposure important for vocabulary learning
- Only mediating role of Motivation for Children with also Formal (school) exposure
- Negligible effects motivational factors from Adult theoretical models…so different piece of cake.
educational implications of Leona et al
- educators could make more use of the positive contribution of extramural english exposure (lyrics, films, social media) or take this influence into account in their teachings
- teachers could be more flexible, adapting their teaching to the language level of their students instead of departing from the presumption that all YELLs are novice learners of english
