Theses and Dissertations from UMD

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

Browse

Subject: search.filters.subject.Foreign language instruction

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Comparing Second Language Learners' Sensitivity to Arabic Derivational and Inflectional Morphology at the Lexical and Sentence Levels
    (2015) Freynik, Suzanne Marie; Gor, Kira; Second Language Acquisition and Application; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    While L2 learners are less sensitive than native speakers to morphological structure in general (Clahsen & Felser, 2006; Jiang, 2007; Neubauer & Clahsen, 2009), researchers disagree about the roles different features of morphological systems play in determining the timecourse and accuracy of their acquisition by L2 learners. Some studies suggest that L2 learners process derivational morphemes in a more native-like manner than inflectional ones (Silva & Clahsen, 2008; Kirkici & Clahsen, 2013). Other research demonstrates accurate acquisition of L2 inflectional morphology as well (Gor & Jackson, 2013; Hopp, 2003; Jackson, 2008; Sagarra & Herschensohn, 2010). To date, few studies have directly compared L2 acquisition of inflectional and derivational morphology (Silva & Clahsen, 2008; Kirkici & Clahsen, 2013). Arabic verbs exhibit a system of derivational morphology whose function in constraining event structures and theta roles allows for comparably direct comparison with inflectional morphemes at the sentence level. Forty-four L2 learners and thirty-three native speakers of Arabic participated in the current study, which used three behavioral tasks: a primed lexical decision task, an acceptability judgment task, and a self-paced reading task, to triangulate a picture of L1 and L2 Arabic learners' commands of derivational and inflectional morphology at the lexical and sentential levels. Results of the lexical decision and self-paced reading tasks indicated that both L2 learners and native speakers alike made use of Arabic derivational and inflectional morphological structure during lexical access and sentence processing. However, the acceptability judgment task found that L2 learners made far more accurate judgments about Arabic inflectional errors than about derivational errors. By contrast, native speakers made accurate judgments about both kinds of morphological errors. Thus, L2 learners' behavior regarding Arabic inflectional morphology was at least as native-like as their behavior regarding derivational morphology, if not more so, across tasks. This pattern of results accords with previous research that found accurate processing of inflectional morphology in proficient L2 learners. It also adds to a growing body of research suggesting that the distinction between derivational and inflectional morphology in Semitic languages may be more graded than it is in Indo-European languages (Boudelaa & Marslen-Wilson, 2000; Frost, Forster, Deutsch, 1997).
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Comparison of an Integrative Inductive Approach, Presentation-and-Practice Approach, and Two Hybrid Approaches to Instruction of English Prepositions
    (2012) Mueller, Charles Mark; DeKeyser, Robert M; Second Language Acquisition and Application; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Certain semantic categories, such as the polysemous senses of English prepositions, present specific problems for adult second language (L2) learners, whether they attempt to acquire these meanings through implicit learning mechanisms or through explicit mechanisms associated with incidental learning or instruction. This study examined research on categorization and practice, along with results of learner corpus analyses, to arrive at a characterization of the learning problem posed by English prepositions. An experiment then assessed the effectiveness of a novel pedagogical intervention called semantic highlighting (SH), which employed an inductive, integrative approach to the acquisition of procedural knowledge while accounting for some of the distinctive features of the learning problem posed by polysemy and semantic complexity. A between-subject comparison examined the performance of a control group and four treatment groups. One treatment group (D-P) received explicit explanations of the senses of various prepositions, followed by practice with immediate feedback. Another group (SH) received only a practice session in which cues, referred to here as "semantic highlighting" (SH), were used to draw participants' attention to concrete form-meaning mapping as it applied to the target sentences. The other two treatment groups received hybrid instruction with explicit explanations preceding SH practice (D-SH) or with SH practice preceding explicit explanations (SH-D). Acquisition was measured using a fill-in-the-blanks (FB) test and a written sentence-elicitation (SE) test that was scored using a target-language use analysis (Pica, 1984). Two ANCOVAs, using pretest scores as a covariate, showed significant differences between groups on the FB measure (p < .001) and SE measure (p < .001) at an alpha level of .025. On the FB test, results indicated an advantage for the SH (p < .001) group relative to the SH-D group. On the SE measure, the SH group outperformed the D-P (p = .010), SH-D (p = .013), and D-SH (p = .002) groups. The results suggested that the SH treatment, and possibly the D-SH treatment, as well, constitute viable alternatives to a conventional presentation-and-practice approach when teaching complex semantic targets. The results were further discussed in terms of implications for theoretical accounts of explicit instruction and categorization.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    James E. Alatis: A Life in Language An Oral History
    (2012) Coomber, Nicole M.; Finkelstein, Barbara; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This oral history tells the story of James E. Alatis, who served as dean of the Georgetown School of Languages and Linguistics (SLL) and as the first executive director of the professional organization Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Born to Greek immigrants in Weirton, West Virginia in 1926, his preparation for leadership in language education included an upbringing as a child of immigrants and Greek community school. In this environment, Alatis learned to be an interpreter for his parents and for his community. In his later leadership of transformational organizations in the language education field, he institutionalized a style of leadership characterized by the ability to promote a vision and interpret the needs of various groups. His interpretive leadership style fostered collaboration towards a common vision. His story underscores the essential role of linguistics in language education, advocates for a close relationship between government and academia, and promotes applied linguistics as key for language learning and scholarship. He leads by facilitating collaboration and translating among different groups. His vision of language education proved prescient after over forty years in the field of language education and despite challenges presented to it by a change in leadership at TESOL and the closing of the SLL. Alatis's story both opens a window to this period of history in language education and stands as an example of academic leadership in the field.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    ITEM-ANALYSIS METHODS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ILTA GUIDELINES FOR PRACTICE: A COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF CLASSICAL TEST THEORY AND ITEM RESPONSE THEORY MODELS ON THE OUTCOME OF A HIGH-STAKES ENTRANCE EXAM
    (2011) Ellis, David P.; Ross, Steven J; Second Language Acquisition and Application; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The current version of the International Language Testing Association (ILTA) Guidelines for Practice requires language testers to pretest items before including them on an exam, or when pretesting is not possible, to conduct post-hoc item analysis to ensure any malfunctioning items are excluded from scoring. However, the guidelines are devoid of guidance with respect to which item-analysis method is appropriate for any given examination. The purpose of this study is to determine what influence choice of item-analysis method has on the outcome of a high-stakes university entrance exam. Two types of classical-test-theory (CTT) item analysis and three item-response-theory (IRT) models were applied to responses generated from a single administration of a 70-item dichotomously scored multiple-choice test of English proficiency, administered to 2,320 examinees applying to a prestigious private university in western Japan. Results illustrate that choice of item-analysis method greatly influences the ordinal ranking of examinees. The implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations are made for revising the ILTA Guidelines for Practice to delineate more explicitly how language testers should apply item analysis in their testing practice.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A MULTI-METHOD DESIGN TO INVESTIGATE THE ROLES OF READING STRATEGY USE AND READING INTEREST IN COMPREHENSION OF ENGLISH EXPOSITORY TEXTS FOR EIGHTH GRADERS IN THE EFL CONTEXT
    (2011) Lin, Chien-Yu; Afflerbach, Peter; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This study aimed to address three research gaps revealed in previous studies on L2 reading comprehension and L2 reading strategy use: (a) a restricted use of methodology in assessing L2 reading strategies, (b) inadequate attention to the role of reading interest in L2 reading comprehension, and (c) a lack of comprehensive understanding about the relationships between reading strategy use and reading interest in L2 reading. A multi-method design was adapted to assess L2 reading strategy use and L2 reading interest. The assessment methods for strategy use included think-aloud protocols and a L2 reading strategy questionnaire, the Cognitive-Metacognitive Strategy Questionnaire. To quantify the data from the think-aloud protocols, three scoring procedures were developed based on the frequency counts of the strategy coding system: (1) Quantity of Total Strategy Use, (2) Quality of Total Strategy Use and (3) Sophistication of Strategy Use. In addition, the readers' reading interest was measured by semi-structural interviews and two interest scales: the Situational Interest Questionnaire and the Interest Experience Scale. Based on the multiple assessments with 36 participants, the study examined (1) the specific L2 reading strategies employed by eighth graders in Taiwan and how the results from different strategy assessments corresponded to each other, (2) the sources for L2 reading interest for the eighth graders, and (3) how L2 reading strategy use and reading interest interacted with each other to influence L2 reading comprehension. The results indicated that the L2 readers utilized three clusters of reading strategies during comprehension: (1) textbase comprehension strategies, such as translation and paraphrasing, (2) situation model construction strategies, such as elaboration, summarization and drawing inferences, and (3) metacognitive monitoring strategies. The study also found that the measure, Sophistication of Strategy Use, had the most satisfactory validity among the strategy measures. The degree of sophistication in strategy use was more associated with the readers' text recalls than the quantity of total strategy use, indicating how the readers intentionally and carefully processed each strategy played a significant role to improve reading comprehension. Moreover, the study found several content characteristics which had positive influences on L2 readers' interest in the text; they were relevance, importance, novelty and familiarity of the ideas contained in the text. Furthermore, the case analyses on three readers' profiles showed that reading interest was closely related to the depth of the readers' strategic engagement. The less proficient L2 reader, Alice, possessed high reading interest and demonstrated an attempt to employ more higher-order, situation model construction strategies during reading. By contrast, the proficient L2 reader, Stella, did not intend to comprehend the text in depth and utilized the strategies at the superficial level due to low reading interest. These findings presented a dynamic picture of the intertwined relationship between strategy use and reading interest in L2 reading comprehension.