Cognitive-Individual, Linguistic and Demographic Variables, and Syntactic Abilities in Foreign Language

Abstract

The research was aimed at finding the measure of influence of cognitive-individual variables (Need for Structure, Ability to Achieve Cognitive Structure, Self-Esteem, Cognitive Style 'Category Width'), linguistic variables (Verbal Intelligence, Morphology Score), and demographic variables (Study-year, Grade, Living abroad) on syntactic abilities of students studying English language and culture at the Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra. Subsequently, we investigated the relation between syntactic ability and chosen variables. We used the following research methods:

Tolerance of Ambiguity and the Linguistic Intervention Program

“…Furthermore, statistical significance shown in the results was considerably positive indicator. As Stranovská et al (2013) claimed individuals equipped with higher extent of tolerance of ambiguity perceived uncertain situations as 1) wanted, 2) challenging, 3) interesting; accepting them without refusal. As Bar-Tal and Guinote (2002), Sarmány-Schuller (2001) claimed a person was equipped with a simple and rigid system of cognitive structures, when they used the same structures or constructs and could not avoid making the same mistakes over again.…”

“…Apparently, ambiguity plays one of the essential roles in the process. Tolerance of ambiguity refers to the way a learner processes information about uncertain stimuli and situations generally considered uncertain when a set of uncertain, complex or incongruent information is confronted (Stranovská et al, 2013).…”

“…Thus, research in the field of tolerance of ambiguity (Liu, 2012;Clarke, 2012;Stranovská et al, 2013;Sarmány-Schuller, 2014;Liu-Lu, Liu, 2016;Švecová, Pavlovičová, 2016; and others) represents a wide field of investigation, induction as well as deduction. Presumably, tolerance of ambiguity is a skill necessary for all foreign language teaching programs; it enhances natural foreign language communication as well as in-service teachers` foreign language self-esteem.…”

“…Presumably, tolerance of ambiguity is a skill necessary for all foreign language teaching programs; it enhances natural foreign language communication as well as in-service teachers` foreign language self-esteem. Yet despite the ample work on the tolerance of ambiguity intervention, there seems to be a low number of research studies aimed at the primary and the secondary education (Švarbová, 2012;Lalinská, 2013a;Stranovská et al, 2013;Gadušová, Hašková, 2015;and other). Evidently, two suitable models reflecting modern needs of leading approaches in foreign language education: the model of transdisciplinary thinking (Root-Bernstein, 2003;Henriksen, Mishra, Fisser, 2016) and the model of creative concept of foreign language education (Clarke, 2012; Runco, 2014) have not been reflected in the conditions of the educational system in Slovakia, yet.…”

“…The research study set out to demonstrate the influence of the cognitive variable tolerance of ambiguity towards achievements in a foreign language production (Liu, 2012;Brown, 2000 and others). Furthermore, it examined the influence of the variable on the learner`s syntactic skill development: sentence structure production development, and overall sentence comprehension in a foreign language (Stranovská et al, 2013).…”