Browsing by Subject "Second Language"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Brain plasticity in speech training in native English speakers learning mandarin tones
    (2014-05) Heinzen, Christina Carolyn
    The current study employed behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) measures to investigate brain plasticity associated with second-language (L2) phonetic learning based on an adaptive computer training program. The program utilized the acoustic characteristics of Infant-Directed Speech (IDS) to train monolingual American English-speaking listeners to perceive Mandarin lexical tones. Behavioral identification and discrimination tasks were conducted using naturally recorded speech, carefully controlled synthetic speech, and non-speech control stimuli. The ERP experiments were conducted with selected synthetic speech stimuli in a passive listening oddball paradigm. Identical pre- and post- tests were administered on nine adult listeners, who completed two-to-three hours of perceptual training. The perceptual training sessions used pair-wise lexical tone identification, and progressed through seven levels of difficulty for each tone pair. The levels of difficulty included progression in speaker variability from one to four speakers and progression through four levels of acoustic exaggeration of duration, pitch range, and pitch contour. Behavioral results for the natural speech stimuli revealed significant training-induced improvement in identification of Tones 1, 3, and 4. Improvements in identification of Tone 4 generalized to novel stimuli as well. Additionally, comparison between discrimination of across-category and within-category stimulus pairs taken from a synthetic continuum revealed a training-induced shift toward more native-like categorical perception of the Mandarin lexical tones. Analysis of the Mismatch Negativity (MMN) responses in the ERP data revealed increased amplitude and decreased latency for pre-attentive processing of across-category discrimination as a result of training. There were also laterality changes in the MMN responses to the non-speech control stimuli, which could reflect reallocation of brain resources in processing pitch patterns for the across-category lexical tone contrast. Overall, the results support the use of IDS characteristics in training non-native speech contrasts and provide impetus for further research.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The language learning motivation of early adolescent French and Spanish elementary immersion program graduates.
    (2009-06) Wesely, Pamela Mary
    This mixed methods study focuses on the transition between elementary and middle/junior high school in one-way immersion programs in the United States. Understanding more about this transition is important to creating immersion programs that provide the maximum benefits to students, schools, and the community. An exploration of students' language learning motivation at this point of their education can help with this understanding. The primary goal of this study is thus to investigate the L2 learning motivation of elementary immersion school graduates, with a particular focus on issues vital to the unique context of immersion education. Three hundred fifty-eight (358) students who had graduated from five public elementary immersion schools in one metropolitan area were the target population. The secondary target population was their parents. One hundred thirty-one (131) students and their parents responded to surveys, and 33 students were interviewed. Data analysis procedures included a theme analysis of the interview data, a statistical analysis of the survey data, and an integrated consideration of the qualitative and quantitative findings. Findings were organized around two topical frameworks in immersion education: persistence and attrition in immersion programs, and developing cross-cultural understanding in immersion students. This study found that the participating immersion graduates' decisions to persist in the immersion program were more based on peer influence and their assessments of the school environment of the immersion continuation program than any other factor. Additionally, students who demonstrated the most cross-cultural understanding had experienced increased exposure to other cultures, languages, and individuals outside of the immersion classroom. Other findings reflected the respondents' understandings of the nature of language and culture, their relationships with their parents and teachers, and their many reasons and uses for learning a language. The conclusion includes suggestions and implications for district-level administrators, school administrators, and teachers in immersion programs.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Toward a student-centered understanding of intensive writing and writing-to-learn in the Spanish major: an examination of advanced L2 Spanish students' learning in the writing-intensive Spanish content course.
    (2009-12) Strong, Robert Marvin
    The purpose of this study is to build upon our understanding of the place and value of writing in the advanced foreign language curriculum. Specifically, the study examines how students in writing-intensive Spanish-major courses are affected by the writing-intensive (WI) requirement at the University of Minnesota. Writing-Across-the-Curriculum (WAC), an educational movement which began in the 1960's in England and whose most fundamental tenet, writing-to-learn, emphasizes the value of writing in the learning process, has led to the establishment of writing-intensive curricula in post-secondary institutions throughout North America. The study is an attempt to give students a voice in the FL curriculum inasmuch as it investigates students' perceptions and attitudes regarding the writing-intensive requirement and explores what they believe they learn, in terms of the course content, writing skills and the Spanish language, as a result of their participation in the writing-intensive Spanish course. Both qualitative and quantitative data were employed in the study. Qualitative data were gathered by means of focus group interviews and open-ended questions on a written survey. Quantitative data were collected via the aforementioned survey and by way of pre- and post-write samples whereon errors per T-unit (E/T) analyses and topical structure analyses (TSA) were performed for verification of improvement in linguistic accuracy and coherence in students' writing respectively. No statistically significant improvement was found in terms of linguistic accuracy (E/T) or coherence (TSA) over the course of the semester and findings suggest that writers in Spanish as a FL may be more apprehensive about writing in Spanish than are English L1 writers about writing in English. Additionally it was found that many advanced Spanish student writers perceive that the workload associated with the WI requirement is excessive and that writing in Spanish as a FL is generally harder than writing in L1 English. On the other hand, however, many Spanish students expressed a belief that the WI requirement was no harder for them than for students writing in English and some expressed the sentiment that WI was actually more advantageous for Spanish students than for English L1 students given the value of writing for the language learning process. With regards to students' beliefs about their learning resulting from engaging in intensive writing in the advanced Spanish classroom, findings show that students generally believe that they learn not only how to be better writers but also that they improve in their abilities with the Spanish language and, especially, in their understanding of the subject matter of the course. Additional findings regarding students' learning of the Spanish language are that students generally believe that not only their Spanish grammar and vocabulary improved as a result of their participation in the intensive writing in the WI course, but also their ability to speak in Spanish. Based on the findings of the study, it is proposed that foreign language education practitioners be especially sensitive to students' perceptions and beliefs regarding both negative and positive aspects of writing in the FL curriculum.