transfer

This paper attempts to introduce the dimensions of bi/multi-lingualism as a cognitive linguis-tic phenomenon, which can be thought over in sociological, biolinguistic, cultural and psy-cholinguistic perspective. The main research question being asked as how bi/multilingualism is a cognitive phenomenon and what are the bilinguality problems and how do they repre-sents in linguistics? Linguistic interference, bilingual acquisition, and mental lexicons notions and multi lingual representation in the brain are the main problems of the subject. There are, at least, two dif-ferent types of linguistic transfer, positive and negative or interference. The mental lexicon is the constituent of the grammar consisting of phonological, morphological, semantic, syntac-tic, and pragmatics information which speakers have stored about individual words and morphemes in their minds.The paper, therefore, is an attempt to answer and deschibe the above questions.

This study addresses the acquisition of the morphological markers in Persian learners of English as a foreign language. To this end, the accuracy order of nine morphemes including plural –s, progressive –ing, copula be, auxiliary be, irregular past tense, regular past tense –ed, third person –s, possessive -ʼs and indefinite articles was studied in 60 teenage Persian EFL learners. Placement and proficiency tests and a demographic questionnaire were employed to collect the data. The total production of 2160 morphemes was manually checked, classified, and counted to rank their acquisition order. The learners’ accuracy order was ranked in a decreased order from 1 to 9 as follows: regular past tense, auxiliary be, copula be, present progressive tense, indefinite articles, plural –s, possessive -ʼs, irregular past tense and third-person singular –s. The Spearman correlation showed that Persian students’ accuracy order had a moderate and weak relationship with the accuracy order of ESL and EFL learners, respectively. This finding proves that Persian EFL learners do not learn English grammatical morphemes in a natural order. Moreover, the universal grammar does not remain fully in these learners. The minor role of UG in EFL acquisition also indicates the important role of transfer in foreign language learning.

Learning can only maintain its functional originality when it leads to permanent changes, and such changes are only possible if accompanied by self-explanation. The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of self-explanation and the solved examples on students’ transfer, intrinsic motivation, and cognitive load in English courses. It was an experiment in the form of a 2×2 generalized random block design. The population consisted of all 8th-grade students in Semnan, Iran, from whom 120 students were selected applying random sampling – by considering a figure for each student, writing each figure on a piece of paper, putting all inside a pack, mixing them together, and drawing one piece out each time to get 120 candidates. Teaching English was done using the “Solved Examples” method. The instruments applied  to collect the data included the Intrinsic Motivation Questionnaire by Kuvaus and Dysvik (2009), the Cognitive Load Questionnaire by Paas and van Merrienboer (1993), and the researcher-made questionnaire of near and far transfer. The statistical analysis of the data was conducted using the Two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The findings indicated that the format of presenting content (ordinary and erroneous solved examples) and self-explanation are correlated significantly with the near and far transfer, cognitive load, and intrinsic motivation (P<0.01). Based on the obtained results, it can be argued that self-explaining and presenting solved examples are useful strategies to enhance students’ transfer, intrinsic motivation, and cognitive load in learning English, and can be included in the curriculum of schools to empower students in solving intellectual problems.  

Task motivation has recently gained prominence in second language (L2) research. However, its potential effects on the transfer of learning across tasks have not been investigated. The present study sought to deal with this issue through a mixed-methods approach. A total of 82 intermediate English learners took part in the study. Initially, they were tested regarding their knowledge of the English definite article. Then, they performed a consciousness-raising task that accentuated the article. Following the task, their task motivation was measured using a self-report questionnaire. After a few days, they completed another task requiring the knowledge of the article to see whether those who experienced higher task motivation on Task 1 were able to transfer the newly gained knowledge more efficiently to Task 2 compared to learners with low task motivation. Then, focus group interviews were conducted with learners representing both groups. Analysis of variance revealed that task motivation significantly affects transfer of learning. Moreover, thematic coding analysis of the qualitative data indicated that positive task appraisal, peer effect, increased effort, and activating self-regulation strategies were the major factors associated with high task motivation leading to efficient transfer of learning. The findings suggest some implications for pedagogy and research.