Applicability of processability theory to Japanese adolescent EFL learners: A case study of early L2 syntactic and morphological development

Eguchi, Akiko; Sugiura, Masatoshi

doi:10.1016/j.system.2015.05.005

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Hence, this result adds to the existing robust empirical support for the PT stages (for L2 English, see Bonilla, 2015; Buyl and Housen, 2015; Dyson, 2009, 2021; Eguchi and Sugiura, 2015; Johnston, 1985; Lenzing, 2013; Pienemann, 1998; 179ff; Sakai, 2008).…”

Section: A Pt Analysis Of Variation In a Complex And Dynamical L2 Systemsupporting

confidence: 60%

SLA as complex, dynamical and predictable: A Processability Theory perspective

Dyson

2022

Second Language Research

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This article enters the debate about the complex and dynamical nature of second language acquisition (SLA) by discussing and commenting on Pallotti’s critique of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST). Pallotti’s critique brings to the fore the argument that, due to its anti-reductionist stance, CDST research fails to observe three fundamental research criteria, namely that research should (1) construct models, (2) make generalizations and falsifiable predictions and (3) adopt clear empirical approaches. While Pallotti does not explore research already moving SLA beyond anti-reductionist approaches to complexity and dynamism, the debate can be advanced by examining research doing exactly this. This article aims to evaluate the extent to which Processability Theory (PT) – a theory of second language (L2) processing that advocates reductionism for the sake of theory construction – meets Pallotti’s criteria for researching L2 complexity and dynamics. By discussing Pallotti’s – and PT’s – criticisms of CDST, the article outlines the implied research criteria and delineates how PT meets these criteria by (1) its bidimensional design, (2) its generalizations and falsifiable predictions for development and variation, and (3) its operationalization of constructs. Findings from a longitudinal study of L2 English are presented. These findings elucidate that, by meeting the criteria, PT can reveal the predictable, implicational development of processing complexity in eight learners and the patterned, dynamical interaction between development and variation in the trajectories of two of these learners. The article concludes that PT fulfils Pallotti’s (2022) criteria and, by a reductionist approach which models SLA as multidimensional, it can generate what CDST cannot; dynamical and complex L2 systems which progress in predictable stages, with well-defined constraints on variation, including DST-defined constraints. The article closes by discussing the implications of PT’s approach for future research on L2 complexity and dynamics.

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Section: A Pt Analysis Of Variation In a Complex And Dynamical L2 Systemsupporting

confidence: 60%

SLA as complex, dynamical and predictable: A Processability Theory perspective

Dyson

2022

Second Language Research

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“…At stage 4, where sentence procedure develops, third person singular -s on verbs, as in Peter loves rice, can be produced since learners become able to exchange the information between two phrases (i.e., the noun phrase and the verb phrase). PT stages of English morphology have been tested in many studies (e.g., Charters, Dao, & Jansen, 2011;Di Biase, Kawaguchi, & Yamaguchi, 2015;Dyson, 2009;Eguchi & Sugiura, 2015;Itani-Adams, 2011;Keßler, 2008;Lenzing, 2013;Pienemann, 1998;Yamaguchi, 2009Yamaguchi, , 2013Yamaguchi & Kawaguchi, 2014;Zhang & Widyastuti, 2010) and most of them have shown support for the prediction of PT. However, there are still some issues to be addressed regarding the hypothesized PT stages for the English plural morpheme -s. In Charters, Jansen, and Dao's (2011) crosssectional study on 36 Vietnamese learners of English, aged 13 to 18, Vietnamese learners were found to have acquired the English plural -s on nouns with numeral quantifiers, as in two cats before the plural -s on nouns without quantifiers.…”

Section: Processability Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Plural Marking in Spoken and Written Narratives: A Corpus-based Study of Japanese Learners of English

Yamaguchi

Usami

2017

Int. J. Appl. Linguist. Engl. Lit.

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This paper aims to present the results of a learner corpus study on spoken and written narratives by Japanese learners of English using Processability Theory (PT) (Pienemann, 1998). PT assumes that there is a universal hierarchy of second language (L2) development and many studies (e.g., Di Biase, Kawaguchi, & Yamaguchi, 2015; Pienemann, 1998) have shown support for PT stages for English L2. However, few PT studies have addressed the issues of whether learners use linguistic structures in the same way in spoken and written tasks. The current study focuses on learners’ use of plural marking on nouns, since contradictory results have been reported for the developmental sequence of lexical plural -s and phrasal plural -s (Charters, Dao, & Jansen, 2011). The participants in this study comprised 291 university students learning in English programs in Japanese universities. Each of them performed spoken and written narratives using a picture book titled Frog, where are you? (Mayer, 1969) containing 24 wordless pictures. The learner corpus including both 291 audio-recorded and transcribed spoken narratives and 291 written narratives was compiled. The results of the analyses showed a connection between learners’ use of plural marker -s in speaking and that in writing, while a small number of students were found to perform differently in two different tasks. Moreover, this study demonstrated support for the developmental sequence of lexical and phrasal plural marking predicted in PT.

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Dynamic Variation in Second Language Acquisition

Dyson

2021

Processability Approaches to Language Acquisition Research &Amp; Teaching

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Dynamic Variation in Second Language Acquisition makes a cutting-edge contribution to knowledge about how second language learners develop their second language. Drawing comprehensively on Processability Theory’s theoretical understanding that individual variation dynamically interacts with ordered stages of language acquisition, the book provides an informative, critical analysis of historical and contemporary debates about the role of variation in linguistic variation, particularly second language variation. Richly illustrated with a forensic year-long study of how eight adolescent learners of English vary in their acquisition of syntax and morphology, this monograph shows that learners vary in their timing of development between two distinct learner types along a continuum and without skipping stages. The book uncovers how learner variation is dynamic and quite (although not entirely) systematic and how this variation contributes to change in the second language. It will be essential reading for researchers, students, and practitioners.

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Applicability of processability theory to Japanese adolescent EFL learners: A case study of early L2 syntactic and morphological development

Cited by 4 publications

References 33 publications

SLA as complex, dynamical and predictable: A Processability Theory perspective

SLA as complex, dynamical and predictable: A Processability Theory perspective

Plural Marking in Spoken and Written Narratives: A Corpus-based Study of Japanese Learners of English

Dynamic Variation in Second Language Acquisition

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