From the perspective of the poverty of stimulus argument and the cognitive development theory, this paper attempts to reveal the mechanism of language acquisition. The poverty of stimulus argument theoretically proves...From the perspective of the poverty of stimulus argument and the cognitive development theory, this paper attempts to reveal the mechanism of language acquisition. The poverty of stimulus argument theoretically proves the hypothesis that based on their finite linguistic experience, children can construct their complete language knowledge system. Language acquisition is the process of acquisition of core grammar and of mental representation of vocabulary. Parameter values must be set in the process of children＇s core grammar acquisition. Vocabulary of natural language is stored and processed in the form of conceptual representation, which is associated with syntactic structures by projection rules and bounded by various well-formed rules. The cognitive development theory claims that language acquisition is a development process of universal grammar into particular grammar, which is redescribed at a higher level.展开更多
The paper discusses SL learners＇ lexical competence from O＇Connor＇s Five Steps of Vocabulary Acquisition Theory, Collins ＆ Loftus＇s Semantic Network Theory and Fay ＆ Cutler＇s Mental Lexicon Theory. From the dis...The paper discusses SL learners＇ lexical competence from O＇Connor＇s Five Steps of Vocabulary Acquisition Theory, Collins ＆ Loftus＇s Semantic Network Theory and Fay ＆ Cutler＇s Mental Lexicon Theory. From the discussion, the author finds that second language learners＇ lexical competence includes the following aspects： the ability to recall the words which are similar to the target words in spelling and pronunciation; the ability to recall the synonyms of the target words; the ability to recall the antonyms of the target words; and the ability to recall the related words which come together with the target words in a context. Meanwhile it advances some strategies to develop the corresponding competence.展开更多
The paper discusses 3 significant differences between Chinese and English. It proposes that because of the differences, the transfer of mother tongue into the target language tends to appear in the negative form. The ...The paper discusses 3 significant differences between Chinese and English. It proposes that because of the differences, the transfer of mother tongue into the target language tends to appear in the negative form. The negative transfer of Chinese into English is the major cause of the so-called Chinglish. The paper states some forms of the negative transfer.展开更多
As one of the important phases of language acquisition process, vocabulary acquisition has great impact on one＇s language competence and communication competence. However, there are still some problems in students＇ ...As one of the important phases of language acquisition process, vocabulary acquisition has great impact on one＇s language competence and communication competence. However, there are still some problems in students＇ vocabulary acquisition. This paper first discusses the current problems in vocabulary teaching, and then analyzes some laws in vocabulary acquisition, and at last it discusses the advantages of making use of Internet in vocabulary teaching, which aims to find a possible solution to the problems.展开更多
Based on the interactive theory of reading, this study mainly explored the etlects ot topic familiarity and second language proficiency on IVA （Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition） of second language through reading. ...Based on the interactive theory of reading, this study mainly explored the etlects ot topic familiarity and second language proficiency on IVA （Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition） of second language through reading. By using two different measures （translation production and selection）, this study found： （1） Vocabulary can be acquired incidentally in reading passages; （2） There are no significant interactive effects of topic familiarity and second language proficiency on vocabulary acquisition, but the two independent variables of topic familiarity and second language proficiency exerted their positively significant effect on incidental vocabulary acquisition, and （3） As for the two vocabulary measures, learners can acquire more words in translation selection than in translation production.展开更多
The present study employed a quantitative and network approach to detect alignment effects in second language(L2) continuation tasks designed on the xu-argument(Wang, 2016). The materials used in this study were 6 sub...The present study employed a quantitative and network approach to detect alignment effects in second language(L2) continuation tasks designed on the xu-argument(Wang, 2016). The materials used in this study were 6 sub-corpora consisting of two selected input stories and two groups of L2 written production based on two continuation tasks. During continuation, the participants were required to continue in English a story with its ending removed, with one group reading and continuing the Chinese version and the other group the English version, and then switching their roles in the two tasks. Results show that the alignment effect differs across the two versions of continuation. Specifically, compared with the Chinese-version continuation, L2 learners produced more use of unigrams and bigrams similar to the input story in terms of lexical items, frequency and ranking correlations in the English-version task;on the other hand, the English-version continuation can facilitate generating linguistic networks that are much closer to the native English networks. Moreover, this research corroborates that written production in L2 continuation tasks can be influenced by input content.展开更多
This paper explores Chinese college students＇ motivation for learning oral English, which is normally considered as an important factor contributing to learners＇ speaking proficiency in Second Language Learning. The...This paper explores Chinese college students＇ motivation for learning oral English, which is normally considered as an important factor contributing to learners＇ speaking proficiency in Second Language Learning. The theoretical studies on motivation in Second Language Learning are firstly reviewed. Based on the literature review, Chinese college students＇ motivation in oral English learning is examined in terms of the Chinese context. Finally, five specific helpful strategies are put forward to facilitate students＇ optimal oral English learning.展开更多
Fuzziness is the nature of language. If the students can make full use of the fuzziness in language, their communicative competence will be greatly improved. So the fuzziness principles are advanced here to guide lang...Fuzziness is the nature of language. If the students can make full use of the fuzziness in language, their communicative competence will be greatly improved. So the fuzziness principles are advanced here to guide language teaching, which are the principle of tolerance ambiguity and the principle of active selection. And teachers should try to cultivate the students＇ cognitive learning style of inference, guessing, and association. In this way the students＇ communicative competence of using L2 will be improved.展开更多
It is difficult for L2 English learners in general, and especially Chinese learners of English, to form idiomatic collocations. This article presents a comparison of the use of intensifier-verb collocations in English...It is difficult for L2 English learners in general, and especially Chinese learners of English, to form idiomatic collocations. This article presents a comparison of the use of intensifier-verb collocations in English by native speaker students and Chinese ESL learners, paying particular attention to verbs which collocate with intensifiers. The data consisted of written production from three corpora: two of these are native English corpora: the British Academic Written English(BAWE) Corpus and Michigan Corpus of Upper-Level Student Papers(MICUSP). The third one is a recently created Chinese Learner English corpus, Ten-thousand English Compositions of Chinese Learners(TECCL).Findings suggest that Chinese learners of English produce significantly more intensifier-verb collocations than native speaker students, but that their English attests a smaller variety of intensifier-verb collocations compared with the native speakers. Moreover, Chinese learners of English use the intensifier-verb collocation types just-verb, only-verb and really-verb very frequently compared with native speaker students. As regards verb collocates, the intensifiers hardly, clearly,well, strongly and deeply collocate with semantically different verbs in native and Chinese learner English. Compared with the patterns in Chinese learner English, the intensifiers in native speaker English collocate with a more stable and restricted set of verb collocates.展开更多
Based on empirical research and qualitative analysis, this paper aims to explore the effects of interlingual strategies on L2 vocabulary teaching. The results show that, during L2 vocabulary teaching process, the prop...Based on empirical research and qualitative analysis, this paper aims to explore the effects of interlingual strategies on L2 vocabulary teaching. The results show that, during L2 vocabulary teaching process, the proper application of interlingual strategies can effectively facilitate the memorization of new words, and the bilingual method （both English explanation and Chinese translation） is welcomed by most subjects. Therefore, using L1 as a means of semantization or as a tool for checking and validating L2 learners＇ understanding of word meaning should not be completely rejected, especially for adult Chinese EFL learners.展开更多
How to promote interaction in cooperative learning tasks is discussed from a theoretical perspective in order to maximize the benefits of cooperative learning. A classroom instructional model is presented and examined...How to promote interaction in cooperative learning tasks is discussed from a theoretical perspective in order to maximize the benefits of cooperative learning. A classroom instructional model is presented and examined to illustrate how successful and effective interaction is carried out to create the optimal conditions for second language acquisition.展开更多
Based on the literature review on learner-centered classroom, this essay is to explore now to create a learner-centered classroom in Chinese context so as to design a workshop for those teaching professionals all over...Based on the literature review on learner-centered classroom, this essay is to explore now to create a learner-centered classroom in Chinese context so as to design a workshop for those teaching professionals all over China to create a learner-centered classroom. The workshop conducted mainly focuses on what is a learner-centered classroom, why and how to create a learner-centered classroom, meanwhile, it aims at helping the participants work out a practical framework which can be eventually put to their everyday teaching.展开更多
We live in an age of changes. And these changes in science, technology, economy, political systems, and immigration patterns, especially the emergence of Internet, have created a world in which we increasingly interac...We live in an age of changes. And these changes in science, technology, economy, political systems, and immigration patterns, especially the emergence of Internet, have created a world in which we increasingly interact with people from different cultures. The levels of students＇ cultural awareness toward the target language （English） have a profound influence on the foreign language teaching （English） practice and performance. Obviously linguistic knowledge alone is not enough to secure successful interactions with native speakers in cross cultural communications. Cultural mistakes are worse than linguistic ones because they tend to cause misjudgments, or ill feelings between native and foreign speakers. Therefore, this paper mainly discusses the relationship between culture and language, explaining cultural awareness, providing some principles of cultural knowledge teaching and some techniques to develop students＇ cultural awareness through foreign language （English） teaching in high schools.展开更多
In this paper, the author presents an overview of the history and trends of the Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition in recent years; and then, combining the present situation in China, indicates that the a...In this paper, the author presents an overview of the history and trends of the Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition in recent years; and then, combining the present situation in China, indicates that the approach of Action Research will be the future trend in research on Computer Assisted Second Language Acquisition （CASLA）. To explain the author＇s viewpoint, this paper firstly sets out to describe the author＇s understanding of the Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition （SLA）, and then the comprehension of Action Research in CASLA.展开更多
Vocabulary is a fundamental element of a language. It undertakes the task of conveying semantic meanings. And it guarantees the implement of language communication. Thus, accumulation of a certain amount of vocabulary...Vocabulary is a fundamental element of a language. It undertakes the task of conveying semantic meanings. And it guarantees the implement of language communication. Thus, accumulation of a certain amount of vocabulary and the master of proper use of them is the essential condition of skillful employment of a language. The current lexical teaching in College English is far from satisfaction. Based on the findings of psycholinguistic research, this paper intends to explore an effective way to help the students enlarge their vocabulary and use them correctly with the help of various psychological associations with English vocabulary through analysis of some lexical mistakes committed in students＇ daily writing exercises.展开更多
文摘From the perspective of the poverty of stimulus argument and the cognitive development theory, this paper attempts to reveal the mechanism of language acquisition. The poverty of stimulus argument theoretically proves the hypothesis that based on their finite linguistic experience, children can construct their complete language knowledge system. Language acquisition is the process of acquisition of core grammar and of mental representation of vocabulary. Parameter values must be set in the process of children＇s core grammar acquisition. Vocabulary of natural language is stored and processed in the form of conceptual representation, which is associated with syntactic structures by projection rules and bounded by various well-formed rules. The cognitive development theory claims that language acquisition is a development process of universal grammar into particular grammar, which is redescribed at a higher level.
文摘The paper discusses SL learners＇ lexical competence from O＇Connor＇s Five Steps of Vocabulary Acquisition Theory, Collins ＆ Loftus＇s Semantic Network Theory and Fay ＆ Cutler＇s Mental Lexicon Theory. From the discussion, the author finds that second language learners＇ lexical competence includes the following aspects： the ability to recall the words which are similar to the target words in spelling and pronunciation; the ability to recall the synonyms of the target words; the ability to recall the antonyms of the target words; and the ability to recall the related words which come together with the target words in a context. Meanwhile it advances some strategies to develop the corresponding competence.
文摘The paper discusses 3 significant differences between Chinese and English. It proposes that because of the differences, the transfer of mother tongue into the target language tends to appear in the negative form. The negative transfer of Chinese into English is the major cause of the so-called Chinglish. The paper states some forms of the negative transfer.
文摘As one of the important phases of language acquisition process, vocabulary acquisition has great impact on one＇s language competence and communication competence. However, there are still some problems in students＇ vocabulary acquisition. This paper first discusses the current problems in vocabulary teaching, and then analyzes some laws in vocabulary acquisition, and at last it discusses the advantages of making use of Internet in vocabulary teaching, which aims to find a possible solution to the problems.
文摘Based on the interactive theory of reading, this study mainly explored the etlects ot topic familiarity and second language proficiency on IVA （Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition） of second language through reading. By using two different measures （translation production and selection）, this study found： （1） Vocabulary can be acquired incidentally in reading passages; （2） There are no significant interactive effects of topic familiarity and second language proficiency on vocabulary acquisition, but the two independent variables of topic familiarity and second language proficiency exerted their positively significant effect on incidental vocabulary acquisition, and （3） As for the two vocabulary measures, learners can acquire more words in translation selection than in translation production.
文摘The present study employed a quantitative and network approach to detect alignment effects in second language(L2) continuation tasks designed on the xu-argument(Wang, 2016). The materials used in this study were 6 sub-corpora consisting of two selected input stories and two groups of L2 written production based on two continuation tasks. During continuation, the participants were required to continue in English a story with its ending removed, with one group reading and continuing the Chinese version and the other group the English version, and then switching their roles in the two tasks. Results show that the alignment effect differs across the two versions of continuation. Specifically, compared with the Chinese-version continuation, L2 learners produced more use of unigrams and bigrams similar to the input story in terms of lexical items, frequency and ranking correlations in the English-version task;on the other hand, the English-version continuation can facilitate generating linguistic networks that are much closer to the native English networks. Moreover, this research corroborates that written production in L2 continuation tasks can be influenced by input content.
文摘This paper explores Chinese college students＇ motivation for learning oral English, which is normally considered as an important factor contributing to learners＇ speaking proficiency in Second Language Learning. The theoretical studies on motivation in Second Language Learning are firstly reviewed. Based on the literature review, Chinese college students＇ motivation in oral English learning is examined in terms of the Chinese context. Finally, five specific helpful strategies are put forward to facilitate students＇ optimal oral English learning.
文摘Fuzziness is the nature of language. If the students can make full use of the fuzziness in language, their communicative competence will be greatly improved. So the fuzziness principles are advanced here to guide language teaching, which are the principle of tolerance ambiguity and the principle of active selection. And teachers should try to cultivate the students＇ cognitive learning style of inference, guessing, and association. In this way the students＇ communicative competence of using L2 will be improved.
文摘It is difficult for L2 English learners in general, and especially Chinese learners of English, to form idiomatic collocations. This article presents a comparison of the use of intensifier-verb collocations in English by native speaker students and Chinese ESL learners, paying particular attention to verbs which collocate with intensifiers. The data consisted of written production from three corpora: two of these are native English corpora: the British Academic Written English(BAWE) Corpus and Michigan Corpus of Upper-Level Student Papers(MICUSP). The third one is a recently created Chinese Learner English corpus, Ten-thousand English Compositions of Chinese Learners(TECCL).Findings suggest that Chinese learners of English produce significantly more intensifier-verb collocations than native speaker students, but that their English attests a smaller variety of intensifier-verb collocations compared with the native speakers. Moreover, Chinese learners of English use the intensifier-verb collocation types just-verb, only-verb and really-verb very frequently compared with native speaker students. As regards verb collocates, the intensifiers hardly, clearly,well, strongly and deeply collocate with semantically different verbs in native and Chinese learner English. Compared with the patterns in Chinese learner English, the intensifiers in native speaker English collocate with a more stable and restricted set of verb collocates.
文摘Based on empirical research and qualitative analysis, this paper aims to explore the effects of interlingual strategies on L2 vocabulary teaching. The results show that, during L2 vocabulary teaching process, the proper application of interlingual strategies can effectively facilitate the memorization of new words, and the bilingual method （both English explanation and Chinese translation） is welcomed by most subjects. Therefore, using L1 as a means of semantization or as a tool for checking and validating L2 learners＇ understanding of word meaning should not be completely rejected, especially for adult Chinese EFL learners.
文摘How to promote interaction in cooperative learning tasks is discussed from a theoretical perspective in order to maximize the benefits of cooperative learning. A classroom instructional model is presented and examined to illustrate how successful and effective interaction is carried out to create the optimal conditions for second language acquisition.
文摘Based on the literature review on learner-centered classroom, this essay is to explore now to create a learner-centered classroom in Chinese context so as to design a workshop for those teaching professionals all over China to create a learner-centered classroom. The workshop conducted mainly focuses on what is a learner-centered classroom, why and how to create a learner-centered classroom, meanwhile, it aims at helping the participants work out a practical framework which can be eventually put to their everyday teaching.
文摘We live in an age of changes. And these changes in science, technology, economy, political systems, and immigration patterns, especially the emergence of Internet, have created a world in which we increasingly interact with people from different cultures. The levels of students＇ cultural awareness toward the target language （English） have a profound influence on the foreign language teaching （English） practice and performance. Obviously linguistic knowledge alone is not enough to secure successful interactions with native speakers in cross cultural communications. Cultural mistakes are worse than linguistic ones because they tend to cause misjudgments, or ill feelings between native and foreign speakers. Therefore, this paper mainly discusses the relationship between culture and language, explaining cultural awareness, providing some principles of cultural knowledge teaching and some techniques to develop students＇ cultural awareness through foreign language （English） teaching in high schools.
文摘In this paper, the author presents an overview of the history and trends of the Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition in recent years; and then, combining the present situation in China, indicates that the approach of Action Research will be the future trend in research on Computer Assisted Second Language Acquisition （CASLA）. To explain the author＇s viewpoint, this paper firstly sets out to describe the author＇s understanding of the Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition （SLA）, and then the comprehension of Action Research in CASLA.
文摘Vocabulary is a fundamental element of a language. It undertakes the task of conveying semantic meanings. And it guarantees the implement of language communication. Thus, accumulation of a certain amount of vocabulary and the master of proper use of them is the essential condition of skillful employment of a language. The current lexical teaching in College English is far from satisfaction. Based on the findings of psycholinguistic research, this paper intends to explore an effective way to help the students enlarge their vocabulary and use them correctly with the help of various psychological associations with English vocabulary through analysis of some lexical mistakes committed in students＇ daily writing exercises.
