Dynamic Paths of Complexity and Accuracy in Second Language Speech: A Longitudinal Case Study of Chinese Learners

Yu, Hanjing; Lowie, Wander

doi:10.1093/applin/amz040

Cited by 53 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(45 reference statements)

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“…The observed differences between the oral and written L2 data are a relatively novel finding, as there are only very few microdevelopment studies looking into the effects of mode (see, e.g., Chan et al., 2015; Larsen–Freeman, 2006; Yu & Lowie, 2019). Partial support was found for the hypothesis that measures of complexity, fluency, accuracy, and lexical richness are significantly greater in speaking than in writing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

The Dynamic Multicausality of Age of First Bilingual Language Exposure: Evidence From a Longitudinal Content and Language Integrated Learning Study With Dense Time Serial Measurements

Pfenninger

2020

The Modern Language Journal

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This study reveals hitherto overlooked effects of age of onset (AO) in immersive school contexts, using multiple measures over time so as to focus on fluctuations and trends in individual data. The second language (L2) English development was studied in 91 children who received 50–50 content and language integrated learning (CLIL) instruction in German and English and varied in their AO (5, 7, or 9). Data collection occurred 4 times annually for up to 8 school years (ages 5–12), via oral and written production tasks, motivation questionnaires, and interviews. Meaningfully integrating quantitative analyses (GAMM) and qualitative analyses, the study focuses not only on the process itself and on quantification of change but also on the underlying environmental and psychological reasons for change. Results reveal that (a) slightly later CLIL beginners (AO 7) turn out to show similar L2 development to that of the earlier beginners (AO 5), (b) besides external states and events, many internal states at any given moment contribute to significant L2 growth, (c) learners show significant improvement in the last 2.5 years of primary school, starting from age 10, and (d) there are significant differences between L2 oral and written performance in terms of height and shape of learner trajectories across (pre)primary school.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

The Dynamic Multicausality of Age of First Bilingual Language Exposure: Evidence From a Longitudinal Content and Language Integrated Learning Study With Dense Time Serial Measurements

Pfenninger

2020

The Modern Language Journal

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“…In order to disentangle the relationship between cognitive capacities and specific domains of L2 proficiency, we assessed receptive as well as productive oral and written L2 skills, including both lexical and morphosyntactic features, and—within the productive domain—extracted measures of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF), which, from the perspective of CDST, typify the three subsystems of the language system (Yu & Lowie, 2020). This yielded a total of seven measures of L2 proficiency (see Table 3).…”

Section: This Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive and Socioaffective Predictors of L2 Microdevelopment in Late Adulthood: A Longitudinal Intervention Study

Kliesch

Pfenninger

2021

The Modern Language Journal

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The question of cognition in second language (L2) acquisition later in life is of importance inasmuch as L2 learning is largely mediated by domain-general cognitive capacities. While a number of these capacities have been shown to decline with age, individual differences in cognition increase over the lifespan. This microdevelopment study investigates the L2 trajectories of 28 older German-speaking adults (age 64+) who participated in a combined computer-assisted and classroom-instructed 7-month Spanish training for beginners. We made use of generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) to quantify linear and nonlinear learner trajectories as well as any predictors thereof. Participants were assessed on a range of behavioral, L2, socioaffective, and background variables. We found a significant (linear and nonlinear) increase across all measures of L2 proficiency. Between-subject cognitive, socioaffective, and background variables significantly predicted the overall level of L2 proficiency as well as developmental patterns over time. Daily variances in cognitive performance and socioaffect had little impact on fluctuations in L2 performance. Findings are discussed against the backdrop of complex dynamic systems theory and highlight the necessity for dense longitudinal research designs to capture nonlinearity in third-age L2 learning.

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“…For this reason, emergentist accounts of second language development warrant greater attention to the dynamic interaction of multiple constructs. Such dynamic interaction analysis has surfaced in a handful of complexity-informed studies (e.g., Hepford, 2017;Evans, 2019;Yu and Lowie, 2019) and has offered insight into the ways in which linguistic constructs come together to both support or constrain development (van Geert, 1994).…”

Section: Complex Dynamic Systems Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Bifurcations and the Emergence of L2 Syntactic Structures in a Complex Dynamic System

Evans

Larsen‐Freeman

2020

Front. Psychol.

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We report on a complex dynamic systems study of an untutored adult French learner's development of English syntax, specifically two non-finite adverbial constructions. The study was conducted over one academic year of 30 weeks. From an analysis of L2 speech samples collected weekly, certain patterns in the flux emerged. The learner's ensuing second language development is characterized by a series of bifurcations, stemming from forms competing for the same functional terrain. Each bifurcation is accompanied by turbulence as the system moves from one attractor state to another. The transition is characterized by loss of stability, an increase in variability, and a period of dysfluency. It is in the dynamic relationship of accuracy and fluency that novel syntactic forms emerge, both convergent with and divergent from dominant contextual patterns, with dominance established by consulting a well-known corpus of contemporary English. Non-linear development occurs with continuous and iterative exposure to and interaction in English-from relexification to adaptation and synchronization, animated by the learner's perception and memory of regular sequential associations, to pruning of divergent forms. What results over time is a branching hierarchy, connecting online processing with over time development. Multiple competing forms continue to co-exist in the learner's repertoire, which is likely more typical of adult L2 development than of L1 acquisition.

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Dynamic Paths of Complexity and Accuracy in Second Language Speech: A Longitudinal Case Study of Chinese Learners

Cited by 53 publications

References 40 publications

The Dynamic Multicausality of Age of First Bilingual Language Exposure: Evidence From a Longitudinal Content and Language Integrated Learning Study With Dense Time Serial Measurements

The Dynamic Multicausality of Age of First Bilingual Language Exposure: Evidence From a Longitudinal Content and Language Integrated Learning Study With Dense Time Serial Measurements

Cognitive and Socioaffective Predictors of L2 Microdevelopment in Late Adulthood: A Longitudinal Intervention Study

Bifurcations and the Emergence of L2 Syntactic Structures in a Complex Dynamic System

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