Applied Linguistics - current issue

Applied Linguistics Redux: A Derridean Exploration of Alzheimer Lifehistories

Ramanathan, V. — 2008-02-29

Advocating a position of self-critique, whereby we revisit our old research sites to dis-assemble our prior thinking in relation to our current cognitions, this paper offers, among other things, a critical revisitation and Derridean interpretation of one of my previous long-term, ethnographic endeavours: my extended work with the memories and lifehistories of patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Gathered over the span of three and a half years, this body of research was devoted to countering several psycholinguistic strains characterizing Alzheimer speech. Revisiting that work given my current cognitions raises, among other things, Derridean questions about ‘originals’. If it seemed that the scholarship first produced was the ‘original’, is the (present) paper produced as a result of critical re-visitation an original of a different, receding (or progressing) kind? Uncovering ways in which I, in retrospect, interpret Alzheimer's discourse from a Derridean perspective raises critical issues relating to our evolving cognitions and knowledge-making practices. In other words, what is the status of claims we make in the course of our research and how do these impact disciplinary ideologies? The paper also raises quasi-philosophical questions about the nature of ‘texts’, ‘originals’ and ‘presences’, and ‘truths’.

Assessed Levels of Second Language Speaking Proficiency: How Distinct?

Iwashita, N., Brown, A., McNamara, T., O'Hagan, S. — 2008-02-29

The study reported in this paper is an investigation of the nature of speaking proficiency in English as a second language in the context of a larger project to develop a rating scale for a new international test of English for Academic Purposes, TOEFL iBT (Brown et al. 2005). We report on a large-scale study of the relationship between detailed features of the spoken language produced by test-takers and holistic scores awarded by raters to these performances. Spoken test performances representing five different tasks and five different proficiency levels (200 performances in all) were analyzed using a range of measures of grammatical accuracy and complexity, vocabulary, pronunciation, and fluency. The results showed that features from each category helped distinguish overall levels of performance, with particular features of vocabulary and fluency having the strongest impact. Overall, the study contributes important insights into the nature of spoken proficiency as it develops and can be measured in rating scales for speaking, and has implications for methodological issues of the appropriateness of the use in language testing research contexts of measures developed in research on second language acquisition.

Analyzing Genre Exemplars in Preparation for Writing: The Case of an L2 Graduate Student in the ESP Genre-based Instructional Framework of Academic Literacy

Cheng, A. — 2008-02-29

Some researchers believe that the ESP genre-based framework of writing instruction is effective in teaching discipline-specific English EAP writing to L2 learners, especially to advanced L2 graduate students. However, studies examining students’ genre-based learning in such a framework are still underrepresented in current ESP genre-based literature. This study focused on a Chinese-speaking graduate student in electrical engineering who analyzed genre exemplars in preparation for writing. My analysis of the data reveals this student's two prominent and interrelated ways of analyzing the discourse-level generic features in discipline-specific genre exemplars. They are (a) rhetorical, as evidenced in his consistent attention not only to the generic features, but also to the underlying rhetorical parameters, such as reader, writer, and purpose and (b) evaluative, as shown in his increasingly sophisticated evaluation of the discourse-level generic features in the genre exemplars. The student's rhetorical and evaluative reading of the genre exemplars highlights the potential power of genre as an explicit, supportive tool for building academic literacy.

Formulaic Sequences: Are They Processed More Quickly than Nonformulaic Language by Native and Nonnative Speakers?

Conklin, K., Schmitt, N. — 2008-02-29

It is generally accepted that formulaic sequences like take the bull by the horns serve an important function in discourse and are widespread in language. It is also generally believed that these sequences are processed more efficiently because single memorized units, even though they are composed of a sequence of individual words, can be processed more quickly and easily than the same sequences of words which are generated creatively (Pawley and Syder 1983). We investigated the hypothesized processing advantage for formulaic sequences by comparing reading times for formulaic sequences versus matched nonformulaic phrases for native and nonnative speakers. It was found that the formulaic sequences were read more quickly than the nonformulaic phrases by both groups of participants. This result supports the assertion that formulaic sequences have a processing advantage over creatively generated language. Interestingly, this processing advantage was in place regardless of whether the formulaic sequences were used idiomatically or literally (e.g. take the bull by the horns = ‘attack a problem’ vs. ‘wrestle an animal’). The fact that the results also held for nonnatives indicates that it is possible for learners to enjoy the same type of processing advantage as natives.

Raising the Achievement of Young-beginner Readers of French through Strategy Instruction

Macaro, E., Erler, L. — 2008-02-29

This article reports on an intervention study of reading comprehension among young-beginner learners of French as a foreign language (L2) in England. A number of factors are currently contributing to low achievement in reading among this population of learners. Although research into reading strategies is extensive, and there is some evidence of success in reading strategy instruction, very few studies have focused on beginner readers and there are no examples of longitudinal interventions such as this one. A sample of 62, 11–12 year olds underwent a programme of reading strategy instruction lasting 14 months. Measures were taken of French reading comprehension, reading strategy use and attitudes towards French before and after the intervention and findings compared with a group of 54 students not receiving the intervention. Results suggest that strategy instruction improved comprehension of both simple and more elaborate texts, brought about changes in strategy use, and improved attitudes towards reading.

Microgenesis, Method and Object: A Study of Collaborative Activity in a Spanish as a Foreign Language Classroom

Ganem Gutierrez, A. — 2008-02-29

This paper draws on the Vygotskian methodological construct of microgenesis to study collaborative activity in an intermediate Spanish as a foreign language classroom. In this study, the construct of microgenesis is drawn upon to refer to both, the methodological tool to investigate language learning instances as observed in short periods of time (i.e. minutes), and also to refer to those observed language learning instances as the object of study. The Sociocultural approach to Second Language Learning (SLL) (Lantolf and Appel 1994; Donato 2000; Lantolf 2000; Lantolf and Thorne 2006) underpinning this investigation sees interaction as the enabling process that becomes essential for the individual to achieve learning and development. I refer to learning as the process through which participants are able to change, transform (i.e. develop) their use and/or understanding (see Wells 1999: 111) of the target language. Pairs/trios of students were audio-recorded while collaborating to complete three language tasks in the classroom during an academic semester in a UK university. Microgenetic analysis of the data (transcribed protocols) allowed us to gain further understanding of collaborative activity and of the importance of language as a mediational tool to co-construct meaning and learning opportunities. The results show that although each instance of microgenesis is unique, there are certain characteristics and patterns shared by the various instances identified in the data set. The investigation also highlights the importance of studying discourse markers to help us identify the learners’ level of regulation. Finally, we focus on a specific aspect of microgenesis that appears to be crucial for driving the learner's second language (L2) forward, and which following van Lier (2000: 252), I refer to as microgenesis affordance.

Learners' Production of Passives during Syntactic Priming Activities

Kim, Y., McDonough, K. — 2008-02-29

Previous research has shown that during syntactic priming activities, L1 speakers produce more target structures when they are prompted by a lexical item that occurred in their interlocutor's previous utterance. This preliminary study investigated whether L2 speakers are similarly influenced by lexical items during syntactic priming activities. Korean EFL learners from three proficiency levels carried out a picture description activity with a researcher whose interactional contributions were scripted with passive sentences. The results indicated that the learners produced more passives when they were prompted by verbs that had occurred in the researcher's passives. Directions for future research to investigate the relationships among syntactic priming, lexical items, and L2 development are suggested.

Janet Maybin: Children's Voices: Talk, Knowledge and Identity.

Richards, K. — 2008-02-29

S. Kurhila: Second Language Interaction.

Seedhouse, P. — 2008-02-29

P. Skandera: Phraseology and Culture in English

Wood, D. — 2008-02-29

K. Richards: Language and Professional Identity: Aspects of Collaborative Interaction.

Maybin, J. — 2008-02-29

Notes on Contributors

2008-02-29