Applied Linguistics - current issue

Editorial: On a Change of Editor

Zuengler, J., Cook, G. — 2009-06-19

Modelling the Role of Inter-Cultural Contact in the Motivation of Learning English as a Foreign Language

Csizer, K., Kormos, J. — 2009-06-19

The research reported in this paper explores the effect of direct and indirect cross-cultural contact on Hungarian school children's attitudes and motivated behaviour by means of structural equation modelling. Our data are based on a national representative survey of 1,777 13/14-year-old learners of English and German in Hungary; 237 of the students learning English with the highest level of inter-cultural contact were selected for analysis. Our model indicates that for our participants, motivated behaviour is determined not only by language-related attitudes but also by the views the students hold about the perceived importance of contact with foreigners. The results of our study also reveal that the perceived importance of contact was not related to students’ direct contact experiences with target language speakers but was influenced by the students’ milieu and indirect contact. Among the contact variables, it was only contact through media products that had an important position in our model, whereas direct contact with L2 speakers played an insignificant role in affecting motivated behaviour and attitudes.

Practices for Social Interaction in the Language-Learning Classroom: Disengagements from Dyadic Task Interaction

Hellermann, J., Cole, E. — 2009-06-19

Using conversation analysis and situated learning theory, in this paper we analyze the peer dyadic interactions of one adult learner of English in class periods 16 months apart. The analyses in the paper present microgenetic and longitudinal perspectives on the learner's increasing participation in his classroom communities of practice. The focus of the analyses is on the language practices for a social action that is not taught explicitly by the instructors—disengaging from teacher-assigned dyadic task interactions. The tasks from which the learner disengages are serial dyadic interaction tasks. In these tasks, a learner engages with a number of different classmates doing the same task consecutively. The serial dyadic interaction task design is shown to offer students ongoing opportunities to develop interactional routines for social actions and language practices needed to accomplish habitual actions such as opening and disengaging from their dyadic task interactions.

Adult Learners' Perceptions of the Incorporation of their L1 in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning

Brooks-Lewis, K. A. — 2009-06-19

This article challenges the theory and practice of the exclusion of the adult learner's first language (L1) by reporting learners’ overwhelmingly positive perceptions of its incorporation in foreign language teaching and learning. Classroom-based research was undertaken with university students in an English as a foreign language course which included and incorporated the L1. Upon completion of the course the learner-participants were asked for their perceptions of the experience in written form, this being the data collected. Results of the research demonstrate learners’ positive response to the experience in their expressions of how and why they considered that the inclusion of the L1 had been beneficial to their foreign language learning experience. While the focuses of the research were literate Spanish-speaking adults in Mexico and English as the target language, the views of learner-participants expressed in the data concerning the inclusion and incorporation of the L1 in the foreign language learning experience suggest that the practice would be applicable in EFL teaching situations with learners of different backgrounds and/or with different L1s, and in the teaching of other target languages.

Uncovering the Extent of the Phraseological Tendency: Towards a Systematic Analysis of Concgrams

Cheng, W., Greaves, C., Sinclair, J. McH., Warren, M. — 2009-06-19

This paper offers an analytical procedure for identifying phraseological variation within ‘concgrams’ (Cheng et al. 2006), which are sets of words that co-occur regardless of constituency variation (e.g. AB and A * B), positional variation (e.g. AB and BA), or both. It argues that examining concgrams takes us closer to more fully appreciating and understanding the idiom principle (Sinclair 1987) which underpins the claim that phraseology is at the heart of all language use. Central to a description of phraseology is the identification of ‘meaning-shift units’ (MSU) (Sinclair 2007a, 2007b) and the analytical procedure for concgrams described in this paper can lead to their identification. In this paper, the concordance lines of a two-word concgram, PLAY/ROLE, are analysed to identify all of the possible concgram configurations and their frequencies of occurrence. Based on frequency, the canonical form is identified and its meaning described. The canonical form then serves as the benchmark against which all of the other concgram configurations are compared, resulting in a ranking of the concgram configurations relative to their adherence to the canonical form. At the end of the process, a meaning-shift unit is identified and described with all of its potential variations; in other words, a paraphrasable family with a canonical form and patterns of co-selection. Lastly, this paper proposes initial theoretical statements to account for key phraseological patterns so far observed, and explores the implications of a shift in emphasis towards descriptions of phraseological variations for the field of applied linguistics.

Age and Proficiency in L2 Attrition: Data from Two Siblings

Tomiyama, M. — 2009-06-19

This paper investigates whether any difference exists in the degree of second language attrition between two siblings in terms of grammatical complexity, grammatical accuracy, lexical complexity, and lexical productivity based on their storytelling data collected over the period of 31 months. The subjects’ L1 and L2 are Japanese and English, respectively. The siblings (one male, one female) have similar L2 profiles with respect to attained proficiency, including literacy, but differ in age. The ages of returning home were 7;0, an age reported to be more vulnerable to attrition and 10;0, an age reported to be more resistant. The siblings showed similar attrition patterns suggesting that an attained high proficiency level including the acquisition of literacy skills is an important factor in the maintenance of L2. One exception was grammatical accuracy, but the difference surfaced only after the second year, indicating that the period of disuse was differentially affected according to their ages. The younger sibling's data also suggest that maturational factors may play a role in successfully handling grammatical complexity and accuracy simultaneously.

Semantically Redundant Language--A Case Study

Rizza, C. — 2009-06-19

In this article, I discuss the concept of semantically redundant language through a case study of the Te Rauparaha Maori haka. I suggest that current linguistic theories cannot give a full account of ritualized speech events, of which the haka is an example, as these theories are based on a traditional dyadic model of interaction involving a specific addresser and addressee. I describe the speech event from the perspective of Speech Act Theory and show how the existence of the locution, illocution, and perlocution of an utterance in certain social contexts becomes unclear. In ritualized speech events, non-verbal elements of communication are more important than linguistic meaning. Linguistic meaning is downgraded in terms of value, in that what is said and the words of the utterance are less important than the fact that they have been uttered and the manner in which they have been delivered. I call this kind of language ‘semantically redundant language’ and suggest that there are varying degrees of this dependent on the social context within which an utterance is performed. Thus, semantic redundancy is greater in highly formalized, ritual scenarios, and less obvious in ‘normal’ dyadic interaction.

Hanneke Bot: Dialogue Interpreting in Mental Health.

Inghilleri, M. — 2009-06-19

Witold Tulasiewicz and Anthony Adams (eds): Teaching the Mother Tongue in a Multilingual Europe.

Yagmur, K. — 2009-06-19

David Hanauer: Scientific Discourse: Multiliteracy in the Classroom.

Bock, Z. — 2009-06-19

Alastair Pennycook: Global Englishes and Transcultural Flows.

Blackledge, A. — 2009-06-19

Notes on Contributors

2009-06-19

Readers During 2007/2008

2009-06-19