Second Language Learning Processes in Lower Primary Children

• Druk: Warszawa, 2007
• Autor: Magdalena Szpotowicz
• Wydawca: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego

Publikacja dotyczy procesów uczenia się drugiego języka (obcego) przez dzieci w niższych klasach szkoły podstawowej. Autorka skupiła się w szczególności na przyswajaniu słownictwa oraz umiejętności odtwarzania słów z pamięci. Z powodu rosnącego zainteresowania edukacją językową dzieci młodszych, praca ma duże walory praktyczne i może być przydatna dla nauczycieli języka angielskiego w szkołach podstawowych. Publikacja w języku angielskim.

This book explores the issues of the acquisition of English as a foreign language with the focus on vocabulary learning. The author presents the topic from the psychological, educational and linguistic perspective and reviews theories of language acquistion. This is followed by the description of her own research study which employed a number of research methods with an interesting analysis of several case studies of young learners of English. This book can be a valuable source for linguists, psychologists, teachers and students - future language teachers.

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• Język wydania: angielski
• ISBN: 978-83-235-1604-0
• ISBN druku: 978-83-235-0317-0
• Liczba stron: 240

List of Tables     9

List of Figures     11

Acknowledgements     13

Introduction     14

PART ONE: COGNITIVE, EMOTIONAL, SOCIAL AND LINGUISTIC DEVELOPMENT     17

Chapter 1: Human learning     19

1 Approaches to learning     19
2 The role of intelligence in learning processes     21
2.1 Defining intelligence     21
2.2 Intelligence testing     22
2.3 Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children     23
3 The role of memory in learning processes     26
3.1 Sensory, short-term and long-term memory     27
3.2 Memory strategies     28
3.3 Study strategies     29
3.4 Metamemory     30
3.5 Recall and recognition     30
3.6 Pictorial and verbal encoding: single versus dual memory models     31
4 Cognitive styles and learning styles     32
5 The role of perception in learning processes     38

Chapter 2: Child development and learning processes in children     41

1 Historical foundations     42
2 Theories of child development     46
2.1 Piaget’s cognitive-developmental psychology     46
2.2 Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory     48
2.3 Information processing     49
2.4 Bruner’s theory     50
2.5 Feuerstein’s theory     51
2.6 Ecological systems theory     52
3 Child development and the educational system     53
3.1 Early school years     53
3.2 Gesell’s age group characteristics     54
3.3 Cognitive development – the period of concrete operations     56
3.4 Play as development     56

Chapter 3: First language acquisition     59

1 The history of child language studies     59
2 First language learning theories     62
3 Acquisition of phonology     65
4 The mental lexicon     66
5 Acquisition of the lexicon     68
6 Acquisition of syntax     72

Chapter 4: Second and foreign language acquisition     74

1 Theories of second language acquisition     74
1.1 Krashen’s Monitor Model     76
1.2 Interlanguage theory     79
1.3 Linguistic universals     80
1.4 Cognitive theory     82
2 Factors influencing second language acquisition     83
2.1 Motivation     83
2.2 Aptitude and intelligence     85
2.3 The age factor     87
3 The comparison of first and second language learning     92

Chapter 5: Vocabulary in second and foreign language acquisition     96

1 Vocabulary processing – the bilingual lexicon     98
2 Aspects of knowing a word     98
3 Word difficulty     101
4 The role of memory in vocabulary acquisition     102
5 Vocabulary learning strategies     103
6 Teaching second language vocabulary     106
6.1 Enhancing comprehension     107
6.2 Enhancing production     108
7 Assessing vocabulary knowledge     110
8 Children’s vocabulary learning and teaching     112

PART TWO: RESEARCH ON VOCABULARY RECOGNITION AND RECALL IN CHILDREN AGED 7–8     117

Chapter 6: Methodology of research on language learning and teaching     119

1 An overview     119
1.1 Defining research     119
1.2 Research traditions     120
2 Research methods     125
2.1 Case studies     126
2.2 Triangulation     127
2.3 Quasi-experimental methods     128
3 Ethical problems in educational research     129
4 Methods used in research projects in the primary context     131

Chapter 7: Research design     133

1 Research aims     133
2 Research variables and research questions     133
3 Research design and organization     134
4 Sample     135
5 Research instruments     136

Chapter 8: A qualitative research project on vocabulary recognition and recall in children aged 7–8     138

1 Research subjects     138
1.1 Syllabus     139
1.2 Additional teaching materials     140
1.3 Learning progress     141
2 Methods, Procedures and Materials     143
2.1 Method     143
2.2 Procedure     144
2.3 Materials     146
3 Research instruments     146
4 Case studies     148
4.1 Case study A     150
4.2 Case study B     155
4.3 Case study C     159
4.4 Case study D     164
4.5 Case study E     168
4.6 Case study F     171
4.7 Case study G     175
4.8 Case study H     179
5 Factors influencing subjects’ lexical attainment     182
5.1 Linguistic factors     184
5.2 Psychological factors     198
5.3 Conclusions from the qualitative research project for the quantitative research
Project     200

Chapter 9: A quantitative research project on vocabulary recognition and recall in children aged 7–8     202

1 Introduction     202
2 Research sample     202
3 Research method     203
4 Research instruments     204
5 Quantitative results in the researcher’s perspective     204
5.1 Research question number 1     204
5.2 Research question number 2     206
5.3 Research question number 3     208
6 Correlation analysis of lexical test results and factors observed by the teacher     210
7 Teacher variable     212
8 Discussion     214

Conclusions and implications for teaching English to young learners     216

Bibliography     220

Subject index     234

Selected author’s index     238