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« Ils vont – bientôt , ils ont – fini » : développement de tâches basées sur la compréhension pour des adultes en apprentissage de la langue et de la littératie
Abstract
Despite the growing presence of adult students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE) in French as a second language classrooms, few classroom-based studies have focused on this population. These have demonstrated that learner-centered approaches are recommended. Among these approaches, it has been established that comprehension-based tasks allowed SLIFE to grasp concrete lexical and grammatical notions. Given the effectiveness of this approach, it was important to determine if it could be adapted to allow SLIFE to assimilate abstract notions, such as temporality. We adapted the approach to this end and tested out a pedagogical sequence on two occasions in SLIFE groups. To determine whether the pedagogical sequence could be implemented with this population, we took field notes during the intervention and asked students to perform production-based tasks at then end of each implementation cycle. The data collected revealed that by making minor modifications to the approach, it is possible to lead SLIFE to make form-meaning connections on temporality.
Against the backdrop of the critical importance of recognising the specificity of learning languages other than English (LOTEs) in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research, this volume focuses on a state-of-the-art presentation of the research approaches and methods that characterise French as second language (L2) within contemporary SLA research. The presentation problematises those approaches and methods as a critique of what has been done, identifying a methodological roadmap of what needs to be done in order to advance the methodological agenda in L2 French and its contribution to wider SLA research. The discussion further aims to bridge the interface between methodological issues and the research investigation of a specific LOTE, French, such as in terms of its linguistic characterisation and developmental issues underpinning its acquisition. The analysis extends to approaches and methods across different theoretical paradigms in L2 French, in different areas of linguistic development, among learners in different learning contexts.
La présence grandissante, au Québec, de personnes adultes immigrantes faisant face au double défi de l’apprentissage du français et de la littératie a forcé les milieux politiques, d’enseignement et de recherche à s’intéresser davantage à ces apprenant.e.s afin de leur offrir des services répondant le mieux à leurs besoins. Ainsi, afin de favoriser une meilleure connaissance de cette population présente dans les quatre coins de la province, nous proposons d’abord, dans cet article, un bref survol de la situation démographique et de l’offre scolaire au Québec. Nous ferons ensuite ressortir certaines caractéristiques, partagées par plusieurs de ces apprenant.e.s, qui permettent de mieux comprendre leur riche bagage linguistique et culturel ainsi que la manière dont ce bagage peut influencer leurs apprentissages. Nous offrons enfin des pistes pédagogiques adaptées à ces caractéristiques, et ce, dans l’objectif de créer des occasions d’apprentissage pouvant facilement être mises en oeuvre avec des apprenant.e.s peu familier.ère.s avec les attentes scolaires de leur nouveau milieu d’accueil.
Dans cet article, nous traitons de l’approche par tâches basée sur la compréhension, un type d’approche qui favorise le développement langagier, notamment du lexique et de la grammaire, en passant essentiellement par la compréhension orale. Selon les études antérieures, menées auprès d’enfants (Shintani, 2012, 2016) et d’adolescents (Erlam et Ellis, 2018, 2019) débutant leur apprentissage d’une langue seconde, l’utilisation de cette approche favoriserait le développement de connaissances lexicales et grammaticales chez les participants des groupes expérimentaux, et ce, davantage que chez les apprenants des groupes témoins qui devaient produire les éléments lexicaux et linguistiques ciblés. Considérant le potentiel de cette approche et le fait qu’elle
diffère de nombreuses autres où l’écrit et la production occupent une place importante, elle nous semblait également adaptée pour des apprenants adultes peu scolarisés ou peu alphabétisés, dont la littératie est émergente. Afin d’évaluer la mise en place d’une approche basée sur la compréhension auprès de cette population, nous avons développé un partenariat avec un centre de formation des adultes de la région de Québec. Nous présentons une des séquences développées de concert avec une enseignante du centre. La séquence vise le développement du vocabulaire de l’habitation, des marques de singulier et pluriel et des prépositions de lieu. Afin de rendre compte de l’ensemble du processus de développement et d’implantation de la séquence, nous présentons les points de vue de l’enseignante, des participants et de l’équipe de recherche à cet effet.
Although most second language learning studies involve high-educated participants, addressing low-educated participants seems important as research suggests that education background impacts second language (L2) learning efficiency. A controversial point in the L2 learning literature is the role of corrective feedback (CF). Research on CF in relation to individual differences, including education background, requires controlled experimental environments. This article presents a study in such a controlled environment: a computer assisted language learning (CALL) system with logging capabilities and automatic speech processing to provide CF on spoken grammar practice. In the experiment, 68 Dutch L2 learners were randomly assigned to either an automatic grammaticality CF condition or a NOCF (no corrective feedback) condition. We analysed learning outcome, evaluative measures, and practice behaviour logged by the CALL system. Practice behaviour differed with education background, which in turn related to learning outcome. Learners with high and medium education levels benefitted from speaking practice in both conditions, while low-educated learners did not benefit from practice, in neither condition. For medium and high educated learners there was a trend for CF to increase practice effectiveness. Education level therefore is an important individual difference in L2 learning research that influences the effectiveness of CF.
Interaction is an indispensable component in second language acquisition (SLA). This review surveys the instructed SLA research, both classroom and laboratory-based, that has been conducted primarily within the interactionist approach, beginning with the core constructs of interaction, namely input, negotiation for meaning, and output. The review continues with an overview of specific areas of interaction research. The first investigates interlocutor characteristics, including (a) first language (L1) status, (b) peer interaction, (c) participation structure, (d) second language (L2) proficiency, and (e) individual differences. The second topic is task characteristics, such as task conditions (e.g. information distribution, task goals), task complexity (i.e. simple or complex), and task participation structure (i.e. whole class, small groups or dyads). Next, the review considers various linguistic features that have been researched in relation to interaction and L2 learning. The review then continues with interactional contexts, focusing especially on research into computer-mediated interaction. The review ends with a consideration of methodological issues in interaction research, such as the merits of classroom and lab-based studies, and the various methods for measuring the noticing of linguistic forms during interaction. In sum, research has found interaction to be effective in promoting L2 development; however, there are numerous factors that impact its efficacy.
The traditional dichotomy, ‘native’ versus ‘non-native speaker’ has to be rejected because of the inherent ideological assumptions about the superiority of the former and the inferiority of the latter. Cook’s (2002) substitution of ‘non-native speaker’ by ‘L2 user’ represented a big step forward in creating a more balanced dichotomy, but it kept the first part, namely the term ‘native speaker’—though not necessarily a monolingual one. The present contribution argues that the final step should be the substitution of ‘native speaker’ by ‘L1 user’. The dichotomy ‘L1 user’ versus ‘LX user’ – referring to any foreign language acquired after the age at which the first language(s) was acquired, that is after the age of 3 years, to any level of proficiency- is value-neutral. They are equal and can be complementary. It also suggests that variation can exist within both L1(s) and LX(s) and that all individuals can be multicompetent users of multiple languages.
Discourse features that promote the generation of interactionally modified input and output, such as negotiation for meaning, have been shown to significantly enhance second language acquisition. Research has also identified several characteristics of instructional practices that render them more or less propitious to the generation of these discourse features. While various classroom observation studies have successfully measured the communicative orientation of classroom environments, most of the indicators of interactivity analyzed in those studies were obtained through micro-level discourse analyses and not through macro-level analyses of task-related factors shown to directly influence the interactivity of instructional practices. Such a macro-level scale has potential practical implications for teachers and administrators seeking an efficient tool for assessing and improving the interactivity afforded by a given curriculum. The objective of the present study was therefore to develop macro-level scale to determine the extent to which teachers of French and English as a second language use interaction-friendly instructional practices. Using an observation scheme designed to code data on factors shown to influence interactivity, 63 hours of FSL and ESL classes from secondary schools in the Montreal area were observed and analyzed. Results indicate clear differences between the two groups. While both ESL and FSL classes were less teacher-centered than those observed in previous studies, they were still rated as not-very-interactive. Target language differences showed that the FSL classes were more teacher-centered and characterized by fewer interactionfriendly tasks and activities than the ESL classes. Task characteristics, reasons for ESL and FSL differences and recommendations for improvement are discussed.
Since the 1980s' decoupling of the formal study of second language acquisition from pedagogical concerns, the social relevance of such research has been of little concern. Early studies, in the 1970s, of uninstructed adult learners' acquisition of morphosyntax pointed to social implications: these working class immigrants had varying levels of schooling, and it turned out that those with the least education made the slowest progress. With a shift in interest to consideration of poverty of the stimulus effects, researchers no longer needed to rely on adults who were uninstructed in the second language (L2) while immersed in the target language. Reliance on easy-to-recruit middle-class secondary school and university participants has had the - unintended - consequence of diminishing the attention paid to socially excluded adult L2 learners. This has left a range of language-external factors unaddressed in second language acquisition (SLA) at the international level; however, at the local level, interest in the language acquisition and literacy development of adult immigrants has risen along with increased immigration by adults with little or no native language schooling. These adults face considerable challenges in acquiring the linguistic competence and literacy skills that support participation in the economic and social life of their new communities. Those who teach such adults have very little SLA research to refer to in dealing with increasingly politicized policies and worsening provision. A return to the type of studies conducted in West Germany and the rest of Europe in the 1970s and 1980s would serve this population of learners well.
The study reported in this article investigated the use of input-based tasks with young, beginner learners of English as a second language by examining both learning outcomes (i.e. acquisition) and the interactions that resulted from implementing the tasks. The participants were 15 learners, aged six, with no experience of second language (L2) learning. The target features were 36 vocabulary items (24 nouns and 12 adjectives) and plural -s. The input-based instruction consisted of three listen-and-do tasks, which were repeated nine times over a five-week period. The analysis of the process features found that even though the tasks did not require language production, the learners contributed actively. The tasks resulted in naturalistic conversation, negotiation of meaning, and ‘focus on form’, all of which have been claimed to facilitate acquisition. The input-based group improved significantly in both their receptive and productive knowledge of the vocabulary items and in their receptive knowledge of plural -s over time. They also outperformed a control group. The study shows that listen-and-do tasks can create contexts for the incidental acquisition of both vocabulary and grammar and are effective for implementing task-based instruction for young beginner learners.
This study attempts to test aspects of the input hypothesis (Krashen, 1980, 1983, 1985) and Long's modification of it (Long, 1980, 1983a, 1985). Specifically, it experimentally tests the hypothesis that both input and interactional modifications facilitate second language acquisition, using Japanese as the target language. Three experimental groups were differentiated in terms of input and interaction conditions: (1) unmodified input with no interaction, (2) premodified input with no interaction, and (3) unmodified input with the chance for negotiated interaction. The groups were compared in terms of (a) their degree of comprehension of the input and (b) their subsequent retention of vocabulary items and acquisition of two Japanese locative structures. The results indicated that moment-to-moment comprehension was highest for the negotiated interaction group, whereas there was no significant difference between the two noninteraction groups. Furthermore, there was no correlation found between differences in moment-to-moment comprehension and gains in vocabulary recognition and acquisition of structures, though significant gains on both measures were found for all three groups. Discussion of these findings centers on the relationship between comprehension and acquisition.
This research investigates how adult L2 learners with emergent literacy make meaning in assessment texts through writing. It examines their meaning-making processes, both perceptual and productive, on three iterations of assessment texts for students enrolled in a local English as a Second Language and English literacy program. The research explores what participants wrote and how they wrote it, as well as what they did not write. Under consideration was one type of test task: written short responses (e.g., “Write three sentences about the image”), with a variety of different multimodal designs for each writing task. Results show that the choices test designers make in the multimodal design of test tasks matter, in that there was a significant difference in response and meaning-making for different design variants. The results also illuminate participant engagement on assessment texts, revealing their beliefs about the purpose of writing, as well as their strategies for making meaning and engaging in dialogue with the absent test grader through writing. The study has implications for raising teachers’ awareness about what writing is for adult L2 learners with emergent literacy, as well as for how educators assess and evaluate the writing of this population.
The book examines how task-based language teaching (TBLT) can be carried out with young beginner learners in a foreign language context. It addresses how TBLT can be introduced and implemented in a difficult instructional context where traditional teaching approaches are entrenched. The book reports a study that examined how TBLT can be made to work in such a context. The study compares the effectiveness of TBLT and the traditional “present-practice-produce” (PPP) approach for teaching English to young beginner learners in Japan. The TBLT researched in this study is unique as it employed input-based tasks rather than oral production tasks. The study shows that such tasks constitute an ideal means of inducting beginner learners into listening and processing English. It also shows that such tasks lead naturally to the learners trying to use the L2 in communication. It provides evidence to support the claim that TBLT promotes the kind of naturalistic interaction which is beneficial for the development of both interactional and linguistic competence. The book concludes with suggestions for how to implement TBLT in Japanese school contexts.
Erlam & Ellis (2018) published, in Canadian Modern Language Review , an experimental study that investigated the effect of input-based tasks on the acquisition of vocabulary and markers of plurality by adolescent near-beginner learners of L2 (second language) French. The present paper reports an approximate replication of the original study with the aim of confirming or disconfirming the results. ¹ The research questions of both studies addressed the receptive acquisition of new vocabulary and the receptive and productive acquisition of markers of plurality resulting from instruction using input-based tasks. Both studies investigated near-beginner adolescent learners of French. The teacher, the students’ usual classroom teacher, was the same in both studies. In the replication study, a new, larger group of students were investigated, the length of the instruction was increased, involving the development of additional tasks, and productive as well as the receptive knowledge of the vocabulary items was assessed. The results of the replication study confirm and extend those of the original study. The teachers’ views about the role of input-based tasks with near-beginner learners remained constant in the two studies. The paper concludes with a discussion of the contribution that approximate replications can make to instructed second language acquisition research.
An important issue in second language (L2) teaching is transfer of learning. Transfer occurs ‘when learning in one context or with one set of materials impacts on performance in another context or with another set of materials’ (Perkins & Salomon 1994: 6452). For example, knowing how to play guitar may help a person who is learning to play the piano, or experience playing team sports may help a person who has a job that involves teamwork, or having learned math in school may help a person who is shopping. Questions about whether and how learning is applied in different contexts are central to an understanding of human behavior, and answers to such questions are of practical value to educators. It is not surprising, then, that for over a century, transfer has been ‘among the most challenging, contentious, and important issues for both psychology and education’ (Day & Goldstone 2012: 153).
This study investigated the effect of input-based tasks on the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar by beginner-level learners of L2 French and reported the introduction of task-based teaching as an innovation in a state secondary school. The experimental group (n = 19) completed a series of focused input-based language tasks, taught by their teacher, over two lessons. These tasks drew students' attention to markers of plurality in French. Students did not receive any explicit explanation of these features. Tests established that they acquired receptive knowledge of new vocabulary and target structures in comparison with a control group (n = 15) that completed the tests only. The teacher successfully implemented the tasks and considered the materials effective but also suggested improvements.
At present, more than one-fifth of humanity is unable to read and write. We critically examine experimental evidence and theories of how (il)literacy affects the human mind. In our discussion, we show that literacy has significant cognitive consequences that go beyond the processing of written words and sentences. Thus, cultural inventions such as reading shape general cognitive processing in non-trivial ways. We suggest that this has important implications for educational policy and guidance and research into cognitive processing and brain functioning.
Some second language (L2) learners are unique in that they bring low print literacy and limited formal schooling to the language learning enterprise. A range of personal, economic, historical, and political circumstances bring them to highly literate, industrialized societies where print literacy becomes not only desirable but necessary to earn a living and participate in a range of everyday activities. This article is a review of current research related to this population of learners for the purpose of informing educators about their particular teaching and learning needs. While the emphasis is on scholarship focused on adult L2 emergent readers, attention is also given to related research with bi- and multilingual children and monolingual adults who are not print literate. Finally, sociopolitical and historical issues are touched upon with regard to broader policy matters that may have contributed to or perpetuate low print literacy.
In this paper we describe an experiment in explicit instruction that compares traditional form-focused instruction and what we call processing instruction. Traditional instruction involves explanation and output practice of a grammatical point. Processing instruction involves explanation and practice/experience processing input data, taking learner strategies in input processing as the starting point for determining what explicit instruction should look like. Pretest and posttest measures involving both a sentence-level interpretation (comprehension) task and a sentence-level production task were submitted to an analysis of variance. Results reveal significant gains in both comprehension and production for subjects who experienced processing instruction. For those experiencing traditional instruction, significant gains were made in production only.
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Decoding citizenship in USCIS naturalization test materials
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