Second language acquisition

This paper aims at investigating the acquisition of Italian complex predicates by native speakers of Persian. Complex predication is not as pervasive a phenomenon in Italian as it is in Persian. Yet Italian native speakers use complex predicates productively; spontaneous data show that Persian learners of Italian seem to be perfectly aware of Italian complex predicates and use this familiar feature as a bridge between their native language (NL) and the target language (TL). Elicitation of complex predicates in guided context seems to indicate that the Persian group learners’ group is strikingly uniform to the Native Speakers’ group and quite homogeneous with the control group of learners with NL other than Persian. This research shows that the use of complex predicates in Italian Interlanguage (IL) cannot be considered a simple effect of transfer، but could be also analyzed as a more general IL strategy.

Recent research in the area of Second Language Acquisition has proposed that bilinguals and L2 learners show syntactic indeterminacy when syntactic properties interface with other cognitive domains. Most of the research in this area has focused on the pragmatic use of syntactic properties while the investigation of compliance with a grammatical rule at syntax-related interfaces has not received due attention. In this study, the compliance of 67 Persian native speakers and 52 Persian speaking L2 learners of English with the Overt Pronoun Constraint (OPC, henceforth) a proposed UG principle, at the syntax-pragmatics interface is investigated. Both groups of participants demonstrated violations of the OPC at the syntax-pragmatics interface. It is argued that the results of this study both confirm and complement Sorace and Filiaci’s (2006) Interface Hypothesis while showing that difficulties at interface contexts are more a result of interface complexities than cross-linguistic influence.

With the latest paradigm shift in SLA from Cognitivism to Sociocultural Theory (SCT), more studies are carried out to investigate the efficacy of Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) through a social and cultural lens. A more recent offspring of SCT is Activity Theory which provides an explanatory framework for scrutinizing an activity in a social setting. The present study aimed at investigating the impact of Scaffolded WCF within the framework of Activity Theory on Iranian EFL learners’ writing performance in terms of reduction of the learners’ writing errors with respect to the content, vocabulary, mechanics, organization, and grammar. Finally, different types of Activity Theory-based strategic mediations (i.e. artifact, rule, community, and role mediations) Iranian EFL learners employed in their writing revisions were investigated. Accordingly, 25 Iranian university-level students, through convenient sampling, were chosen to participate in the study. The treatment they received on their writings was a graduated Scaffolding WCF in their Zone of Proximal Development in the form of both peer and teacher feedback. The findings indicated that Scaffolded WCF statistically significantly contributed to the participants’ writing performance in terms of content, vocabulary, mechanics, organization, and grammar. With respect to the mediation strategies used by the learners, it was discovered that the learners benefitted from all the available mediators although with various degrees. It is hoped that the findings of this study will promise implications for promoting a teacher/learner-friendly method of providing WCF based on SCT, which can be utilized in large classes typical of Iranian EFL university courses.

Audiovisual devices such as satellite and conventional televisions can offer easy access to authentic programs which are considered to be a rich source of language input for SLA (Second Language Acquisition). The immediacy of various audiovisual programs ensures that language learners’ exposure is up-to-date and embedded in the real world of native speakers. In the same line, in the present paper, some anecdotal as well as experimental studies conducted to highlight the pedagogical values of various audiovisual programs such as news broadcasts, movies, cartoons, series and documentary films are reviewed. The related literature indicates that most of the studies are anecdotal which highlight the pedagogical values of various audiovisual programs as sources of authentic language input particularly in an EFL context where access to social interaction in English as a potential source of language input is limited. As a result, teachers are encouraged to expose the language learners to various audiovisual programs to enhance second language acquisition.  

This study investigated the validity of processability theory proposed by Pienemann (1998/2015) among Iranian EFL learners’ oral performance. The theory defines six procedural stages for learners in the process of second language acquisition. In order to conduct the study, 10 intermediate EFL learners were selected based on their performance on Oxford Placement Test. Then, they participated in five tasks; namely, interview, spot-the- difference task, picture description, picture identification and story-telling task. Their speech was recorded and then transcribed according to predetermined structures (i.e., interrogatives, word order, and negation) called target structures. The frequency of the occurrence of target structures was calculated based on the emergence criterion. The results showed that Iranian EFL learners produced language structures in the predicted procedural stages as proposed by processability theory. Thus, processability theory can be valid for Iranian EFL learners too.

Unlike Lexical Projections, Functional Projections (Extended Projections) are more of an ‘abstract’ in nature. Therefore, Functional Projections seem to be acquired later than Lexical Projections by the L2 learners. The present study investigates Iranian L2 learners’ acquisition of English Extended Projections taking into account their level of grammatical proficiency. Specifically, the aim is to identify the level of grammatical proficiency at which the acquisition of Extended Projections could occur in the process of learning English by the Iranian students. Two hundred and seventy Iranian female L2 learners of English participated in this study. Participants were administered three tests with a ten-day interval between each test. First, an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was used to classify the participants’ level of grammatical proficiency. Second, a Grammaticality Judgment Task (GJT) was administered in order to assess the learners’ ability to recognize grammatical problems in Extended Projections. Finally, a picture description task (PDT) was administered to examine the learners’ ability to produce grammatical Extended Projections. The results indicated that the learners are able to recognize and produce English Extended Projections even at lower levels of grammatical proficiency. The results also showed that the learner’s recognition and production of English Extended Projection improves with their increased level of grammatical proficiency.

Contemporary literature in English language teaching shows some impacts of oral narrations on learners’ speaking competence and phonological processing. However, little research has explored the relationship between this methodological practice and young learners’ L2 reading comprehension. This paper investigates the effect which story retelling has on young English learners’comprehension of reading. The researchers employed quantitative and qualitative approaches. Forty children were chosen from two different classes of a comparable level of proficiency and assigned into two groups for a two-month treatment. The results show that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group on the reading comprehension posttest. The questionnaire and observation data also indicated that the children responded positively to story retelling and that story retelling brought about excitement in the reading class, motivated young learners to read as well as shaped young learners’ behaviours and attitudes. This study suggests using story retelling more often in L2 language programs for young learners.

Cross-linguistic influence is a documented cause of errors committed by second language learners. Since Talmy (2000) proposed two categories to classify languages of the world regarding their preferred lexicalization patterns of a literal motion event, known as verb-framed and satellite-framed languages, the effect of typological properties of the first language on second language acquisition specifically in the domain of motion expressions has been subject to extensive scrutiny. The present research examines whether the typological properties of Persian (L1) and English (L2) affect adult second language acquisition, particularly in the spatial domain comparing controls (English and Persian native speakers). To this end, three groups (every 25 members) of participants were asked to watch 12 short animated cartoons representing voluntary motion carried out in vertical and trajectory directions. The participants’ descriptions were recorded and analyzed regarding information density, semantic focus, and semantic locus of utterances. The findings of the research revealed that in spite of different lexicalization patterns to encode manner in English and Persian, Persian learners of English across two levels of proficiency, do not face challenges to lexicalize motion components in English, but they produce utterances with low density which is the typical way of focusing on spatial components in their native language, suggesting that the challenge learners face encoding motion events was not a linguistic issue, but rather a cognitive one. Persian learners’ use of English motion expressions regarding information density was more aligned with that of English motion expressions as they advanced to a higher proficiency level.         

With the rise of positive psychology (PP) and its emphasis on the affordances of positive emotions to second/foreign language teaching and learning, numerous studies have been conducted on different PP constructs all over the world. Nonetheless, the status of researching this school of psychology in L2 education is still imprecise. To fill this gap, the present state-of-the-art paper intends to flesh out the conceptualizations, premises, versatilities, emerging theories and methods, and research trends in PP and second language acquisition (SLA). Moreover, it elaborates on the seven PP factors, including optimism, immediacy, connectedness, commitment, academic buoyancy, immunity, and mindfulness. Such sample variables have also been supported by scientific evidence from different contexts. Additionally, some potential implications are drawn for stakeholders to enlighten the process and quality of L2 education. Finally, the study suggests some avenues for future studies to expand the scope of PP and SLA research and practice.

While second language acquisition can be a complex and time-consuming process, developing efficient approaches that are less demanding on the part of the learner can greatly enhance the learning outcomes. The present study was an attempt to explore the potential application of priming as an approach to enhance the production of motion phrasal verbs. Ninety students were divided into intermediate and upper-intermediate groups based on their proficiency levels. The participants were required to narrate a silent movie as a baseline written production task. In the next stage, for the purpose of priming, they were required to read a storybook containing instances of motion events expressed in phrasal verbs. Immediately afterward, the participants were asked to narrate a second silent movie. The researchers also administered a working memory test to investigate its potential impact on the learning outcomes. The results indicated that only the upper-intermediate group benefited from the priming mechanism. Additionally, the results suggested that working memory did not show a significant predictive role in implicit learning within the specific context of motion phrasal verbs. These findings are in line with the processability hypothesis, which posits that developmental readiness plays a significant role in language learning.

Exploring L2 affective variables requires innovative research analytic approaches that can adequately address the complexity and dynamicity of the variables. Not always can the normality of distribution and linearity of relationships be assumed. Neither can the homogeneity of variance be always met. Latent profile analysis (LPA) is suggested to deal with the heterogeneity of data and non-linear relationships. It allows for hypothesis testing and model testing to tackle the ergodicity issue in second language acquisition (SLA) research from a person-centered approach. LPA, which primarily serves to classify a population or sample into several sub-groups, can be effectively employed in SLA research to classify L2 teachers or learners in terms of the different positive and negative emotions (e.g., enjoyment, boredom, anxiety, etc.) they experience while learning a foreign or second language. A classroom-based L2 learning experience occurs interactively with several personal and contextual variables involved. The relationship between any single affective variable can hardly be conceived as linear. Thus, LPA holds promises for dealing with these non-linear relations and provides insightful information about the profiles of learners or teachers concerning a particular affective variable. The purpose of this conceptual analysis is to provide a review of the basic tenets of LPA and to explain how it can contribute to the exploration of emotional variables in SLA. By identifying distinct emotional profiles, the study offers guidance on tailoring instructional strategies to address the specific emotional needs of language learners, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of language acquisition interventions.