{"title":"The use of metadiscourse by secondary-level Chinese learners of English in examination scripts: insights from a corpus-based study","authors":"Edsoulla Chung, P. Crosthwaite, Cynthia Lee","doi":"10.1515/iral-2022-0155","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2022-0155","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Metadiscourse plays a significant role in determining the quality of writing. While a growing number of studies have investigated the use of metadiscourse by adult second language learners in academic writing at the tertiary level, studies on how secondary-level students adopt such linguistic resources in other genres, particularly in examination writing, remain few. The present study addresses this research gap by examining the distributions of metadiscourse markers in a corpus of 120 low-, medium-, and high-rated advice-giving texts (letters and reports) randomly selected from the Hong Kong public examination of English language writing, written by secondary-level Chinese learners of English. Using Hyland’s (2019) framework of metadiscourse, the study found considerable variation in the use of interactive and interactional metadiscourse across genres (letters vs. reports) and the final exam grades awarded to texts. Implications for teaching English to pre-tertiary Chinese writers are discussed with suggestions for future research.","PeriodicalId":46778,"journal":{"name":"Iral-International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43874141","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Scoping review of research methodologies across language studies with deaf and hard-of-hearing multilingual learners","authors":"Joanna Cannon, Nicole Marx","doi":"10.1515/iral-2022-0206","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2022-0206","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In recent years, research interest in both multilingual learners and, more specifically, in immigrant populations has increased. This is also true for students who are d/Deaf and hard of hearing (d/Dhh) and have families who do not speak or sign the languages of the wider community at home (d/Dhh multilingual learners; DML), and may be recent immigrants transitioning to a new country (immigrant DML; IDML). This is a low-incidence, diverse population of learners with minimal research on both language development and on adequate language support during the schooling years. The present study is a scoping review of the research methodologies utilized to conduct 33 original studies. The results help to explain why research is both lacking and sorely needed, and provide a basis for researchers to identify desiderata in research foci and research designs. Recommendations for educational research with DMLs are proposed.","PeriodicalId":46778,"journal":{"name":"Iral-International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48736506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bidirectional cross-linguistic influence in motion event conceptualisation in bilingual speakers of Spanish and English","authors":"Fraibet Aveledo, P. Athanasopoulos","doi":"10.1515/iral-2022-0179","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2022-0179","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract We investigated bidirectional cross-linguistic influence on motion event (ME) expressions in bilingual speakers of two typological different languages (Talmy’s typology), Spanish (as L1) and English (as L2). Specifically, we investigated whether bilingual speakers struggle to learn ME expressions in the L2, and whether this process affects ME uses in the L1. Potential effects of L2 proficiency and L2 AoA in both L1 and L2 was also studied. ME expressions elicited from 6-second video-clips were analysed for manner and path components at the level of the verb and of the clause. Results support the hypothesis of bidirectional cross-linguistic influence on motion event conceptualization. In bilinguals’ L2, we observed patterns of restructuring, convergence and L1 transfer. In bilinguals’ L1, we reported structural and conceptualization patterns that seem to emerge from the contact with the L2. Proficiency and AoA showed modulation in the use of manner verbs on both L2 and L1.","PeriodicalId":46778,"journal":{"name":"Iral-International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching","volume":"61 1","pages":"13 - 36"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41855275","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gale Stam, Kimberly Urbanski, J. Lantolf, Tetyana Smotrova
{"title":"How concept-based language instruction works in teaching thinking for speaking in an L2","authors":"Gale Stam, Kimberly Urbanski, J. Lantolf, Tetyana Smotrova","doi":"10.1515/iral-2022-0073","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2022-0073","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper investigates the question of whether systematically organized instruction in L2 thinking for speaking (TFS) can promote a shift from verb-framed L1 (Spanish) to satellite-framed L2 (English) TFS that encompasses the ability to appropriately express in speech and in gesture Path and Manner of Motion in the new language. A pretest narration-instruction-posttest narration design was used to evaluate whether the TFS patterns of seven L1 Spanish learners of L2 English changed as a result of Concept-Based Language Instruction. Learners’ pretest narrations showed primarily L1 patterns with some intermittent L2 TFS patterns. Following instruction, learners showed a shift to more L2 TFS patterns both linguistically and crucially gesturally, including the use of manner verbs, accumulation of path components within a single clause along with multiple path gestures, and boundary crossing gestures. These findings indicate that explicit Concept-Based Language Instruction is able to produce changes in TFS patterns that have not been possible even with extensive immersion.","PeriodicalId":46778,"journal":{"name":"Iral-International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching","volume":"61 1","pages":"111 - 153"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47029546","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Aural vocabulary, orthographic vocabulary, and listening comprehension","authors":"Y. Hamada, Kozo Yanagawa","doi":"10.1515/iral-2022-0100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2022-0100","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Vocabulary is a key variable to successful listening comprehension. Research has explored the relationship between aural and orthographic vocabularies and listening comprehension. This current study examined the relationships among aural vocabulary, orthographic vocabulary, and listening comprehension within the same Japanese cohort in an integrated manner. The test data of 155 Japanese EFL students, who took identical aural and orthographic vocabulary tests (the listening vocabulary levels test [LVLT] and new vocabulary levels test [NVLT], respectively) and a high-stakes listening test (Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) for Parts I and II), were analyzed. The results indicated that aural and orthographic vocabulary are closely related but not identical. Moreover, orthographic vocabulary is more connected to the word- and propositional-level understanding of extended texts than to aural vocabulary for the Japanese group. More specifically, the 2,000-word and 4,000-word level and the academic vocabulary of the orthographic vocabulary predicted 27% of the variance of the listening comprehension test performance, whereas only the academic words of the aural vocabulary predicted 8%.","PeriodicalId":46778,"journal":{"name":"Iral-International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44474976","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Immediate versus delayed prompts, field dependence and independence cognitive style and L2 development","authors":"Ehsan Rassaei, Hamdollah Ravand","doi":"10.1515/iral-2022-0137","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2022-0137","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Recent research has provided evidence that corrective feedback (CF) timing can play a significant role in feedback effectiveness. However, given that immediate and delayed feedback are differentially contextualized, little is known about the mediating role of learners’ field dependence/independence (FDI) cognitive style on the effectiveness of immediate and delayed prompts. To this end, the present study examined the effects of immediate and delayed prompts as well as the mediating role of learners’ FDI on the development of English articles by EFL learners. Fifty eight EFL learners were randomly assigned into two treatment conditions as well as a control group. The participants’ FDI orientation was measured through the group embedded figures test (GEFT). The treatment groups differed from each other in terms of whether the participants received prompts immediately after errors were made or at the end of the treatment task. The results obtained from post-tests and delayed post-tests showed that providing prompts immediately following learners’ errors is more effective than delaying them until the communicative activity is over. Furthermore, regression analysis revealed that the effectiveness of immediate prompts, and not delayed prompts, is significantly predicted by learners’ FDI cognitive style.","PeriodicalId":46778,"journal":{"name":"Iral-International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44108909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Expansion of verb-argument construction repertoires in L2 English writing","authors":"Ji-Hyun Park, Min-Chang Sung","doi":"10.1515/iral-2022-0145","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2022-0145","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper investigates the use of English verb-argument constructions (VACs) in second language writing in light of usage-based constructionist approaches to language development. It employs a comprehensive list of VACs to analyze every sentence in 390 essays written by L2 learners of three levels, i.e., Low, Mid, and High, and examines the theoretical hypotheses that the repertoires of VACs expand along with L2 proficient profile and that individual VACs, albeit varying in their expansion patterns, compose a structured inventory based on constructional information. Results indicate that L2 learners of higher proficiency used significantly more types of VACs than those of lower proficiency. It is also found that significant expansions of individual VACs appeared at different L2 proficiency levels. For example, the use of [Verb + NP complement] construction significantly increased between Low and Mid, not between Mid and High, whereas the [Verb + Prepositional object] construction significantly expanded throughout the three proficiency levels. Finally, there were strong cluster effects in the expansion of VACs as small sets of VACs showed similar by-text co-occurrence patterns.","PeriodicalId":46778,"journal":{"name":"Iral-International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42497273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Task complexity, task repetition, and L2 writing complexity: exploring interactions in the TBLT domain","authors":"Mahmoud Abdi Tabari, Sima Khezrlou, Yu Tian","doi":"10.1515/iral-2022-0123","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2022-0123","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Considering the increasing application of task-based frameworks to second language (L2) writing research, there has been a pressing need to examine TBLT views on the interactions between task conceptualization, task performance, and L2 writing outcomes. To address this need, the present study was designed to explore the synergistic effects of task complexity and task repetition on different facets of syntactic complexity as a key construct of proficiency and development in L2 writing. In doing so, 96 ESL learners performed written argumentative task versions with varying cognitive complexity in a counterbalanced fashion and then complete a task difficulty questionnaire. Afterward, they repeated the tasks in the opposite order at a one-week interval. The essays were analyzed using fine-grained syntactic complexity measures (reported by Lu’s L2 syntactic complexity analyzer, 2010). Linear mixed-effects models indicated significant main effects of task complexity and task repetition on different facets of syntactic complexity with robust effect sizes. However, no significant interaction effect between task complexity and task repetition was observed. These findings provide a reliable and accurate understanding of how syntactic complexity plays a role in the current accounts of connections between task features, implementation variables, and L2 writing task performance.","PeriodicalId":46778,"journal":{"name":"Iral-International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48173990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Low-level visual processing of motion events as a window into language-specific effects on perception","authors":"Norbert Vanek, X. Fu","doi":"10.1515/iral-2022-0048","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2022-0048","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article brings a new perspective to the currently burgeoning interest in the power of language to influence how speakers from different linguistic backgrounds process motion events. While many studies have targeted high-level decision-based processes, such as Manner-based versus Path-based categorisation or motion event similarity judgments from memory, far less is known about the role of various language systems on low-level automatic processing. The goal of this article is to present an experimental method called breaking continuous flash suppression (b-CFS), critically assess its potential to capture language-induced biases when processing motion through a small-scale feasibility study with English native speakers versus Mandarin native speakers, and to provide practical recommendations with examples of how motion event research can respond to the epistemological challenges that this emerging data elicitation method faces.","PeriodicalId":46778,"journal":{"name":"Iral-International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching","volume":"61 1","pages":"61 - 78"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46524637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effects of monolingual and bilingual subtitles on L2 vocabulary acquisition","authors":"Mingyue Li, Mairin Hennebry‐Leung","doi":"10.1515/iral-2022-0034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2022-0034","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study investigates the differential effects of monolingual (L1 or L2) and bilingual (L1+L2) subtitles on students’ receptive vocabulary acquisition. In light of the widespread use of bilingual subtitles in videos in language classrooms with limited supportive literature available, this study aims at examining the pedagogical effects of bilingual subtitles on receptive vocabulary acquisition in the L2 classroom. A seven-week quasi-experimental study was conducted among four year-3 English-major classes in a Chinese university: three treatment groups and one control group. Adopting a counterbalanced design, students in the treatment classes were exposed to three types of subtitles within three videos. They were then tested on recall and recognition of the vocabulary target items encountered in the videos. The results demonstrate a significant advantage for bilingual subtitling in videos in terms of students’ vocabulary recognition and recall at post-test, and this advantage is maintained at the delayed post-test. Implications of the study are discussed in the context of current pedagogical practices such as a wider L1 use in the L2 classrooms.","PeriodicalId":46778,"journal":{"name":"Iral-International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2022-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43176638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}