Martha Bigelow

Testing the Output Hypothesis: Effects of Output on Noticing and Second Language Acquisition.

This study addresses one of the functions of output proposed by Swain (1993, 1995, 1998). In particular, the activity of producing the target language may, under certain circumstances, prompt L2 learners to recognize some of their linguistic problems and bring to their attention something they need to discover about their L2. Two research questions were posed: (a) Does output promote noticing of linguistic form? and (b) Does output result in improved performance on the target form? In treatment phase 1, participants reconstructed a short passage after being exposed to it, followed by a second exposure to the same input material and a second reconstruction opportunity. In phase 2, participants wrote on given topics, followed by the presentation of a model written by a native speaker. Participants wrote a second time on the same topic. To test the noticing function of output, participants underlined parts of the sentences they thought were “particularly necessary” for subsequent (re)production. The control group was exposed to the same input materials but was not required to produce any output. Although phase 1 tasks resulted in noticing and immediate incorporation of the target form, the posttest performance failed to reveal their effects. In contrast, phase 2 tasks resulted in improvement on posttest 2. The results are discussed in terms of the efficacy of output in promoting noticing and learning and the conditions that may be required for output to be useful for SLA.

Somali Adolescents' Negotiation of Religious and Racial Bias In and Out of School

This article explores the issues of race and religion as they pertain to adolescent Somali immigrants and their lives at school, among their families, and in their communities. Research from a number of contexts offers a range of perceptions, held by Somali youth and adults, not commonly available in the media. Multiple suggestions are offered to educators for engaging youth in conversations about race and religion in ways that will make Muslim students feel more welcome at school and help all students understand racial and religious identity, as well as the harm that racial and religious bias can cause.

Literacy and the Processing of Oral Recasts in SLA

In this exploratory study, we examine the role of literacy in the acquisition of second-language (L2) oral skills through a partial replication of Jenefer Philps (2003) study of recasts in native speaker (NS) -non-native speaker (NNS) interaction. The principal research question was the following: Is the ability to recall a recast related to the learners alphabetic print literacy level? The participants in the study were eight first language (LI) speakers of Somali with limited formal schooling, who were grouped according to scores on LI and L2 literacy measures. Procedures involved interactive tasks in which participants received and recalled recasts on their grammatically incorrect interrogative sentences. Unlike Philps more educated participants, our overall less educated participants showed no significant effects for recast length or, as a group, for number of changes in the recasts. This suggests that findings on the oral L2 processing of more educated L2 learners may not hold for the oral L2 processing of less educated learners. Within our less educated population, the more literate group recalled all recasts significantly better than the less literate group when correct and modified recalls were combined. Literacy level was also significantly related to ability to recall recasts with two or more (2+) changes, with the more literate group doing better than the less literate group. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

The Role of Literacy Level in Second Language Acquisition: Doesn't Who We Study Determine What We Know?

TESOL Quarterly invites commentary on current trends or practices in the TESOL profession. It also welcomes responses or rebuttals to any articles or remarks published here in the Forum or elsewhere in the Quarterly.

IMPACT OF LITERACY ON ORAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING: IMPLICATIONS FOR SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION RESEARCH

In this chapter we describe a body of research on oral language processing that we believe has important implications for applied linguistics. This research documents the effects of literacy on human oral language processing. Studies in this area show that illiterate adults significantly differ from literate adults in their performance of oral processing tasks that require an awareness of linguistic segments. These studies provide evidence that the acquisition of the ability to decode an alphabetic script changes the way in which the individual processes oral language in certain kinds of cognitive tasks. At the same time, based on research establishing a clear reciprocal relationship between oral language processing skills and literacy, researchers on first language acquisition are extending the scope of their study to explore the way in which an individuals language competence is altered and extended by literacy itself. In this discussion, we describe the broad outlines of this new body of research and scholarship, and explore the implications for our understanding of second-language acquisition, and particularly for theories and research that explore the impact of “noticing” on SLA. We conclude by stressing the social and theoretical importance of including clearly-identified illiterate adults in our growing database on second language acquisition research.

Bridging the Gap: Cognitive and Social Approaches to Research in Second Language Learning and Teaching.

For some, research in learning and teaching of a second language (L2) runs the risk of disintegrating into irreconcilable approaches to L2 learning and use. On the one side, we find researchers investigating linguistic-cognitive issues, often using quantitative research methods including inferential statistics; on the other side, we find researchers working on the basis of sociocultural or sociocognitive views, often using qualitative research methods including case studies and ethnography. Is there a gap in research in L2 learning and teaching? The present article developed from an invited colloquium at the 2013 meeting of the American Association for Applied Linguistics in Dallas, Texas. It comprises nine single-authored pieces, with an introduction and a conclusion by the coeditors. Our overarching goals are (a) to raise awareness of the limitations of addressing only the cognitive or only the social in research on L2 learning and teaching and (b) to explore ways of bridging and/or productively appreciating the cognitive-social gap in research. Collectively, the nine contributions advance the possibility that the approaches are not irreconcilable and that, in fact, cognitive researchers and social researchers will benefit by acknowledging insights and methods from one another.

Con)Texts for Cultural and Linguistic Hybridity among Somali Diaspora Youth

The perspectives of immigrant youth are important to be aware of because they can reveal the powerful role society has in framing and forming the range of possibilities available to them. Culturally speaking, immigrant youth often face mismatches between home and school values, but they sometimes encounter intracultural struggles as well. This article reviews literature about immigrant cultural adaptation and then illustrates concepts of cultural third space (Bhabha, 1994) using three texts produced by Somali adolescent boys. The texts offer examples of Somali adolescent perspectives and a window into their language use, and identities that take shape at school, at home, and in other public spaces. A discussion of each text connects to questions and implications for educators.

Teaching Adult Second Language Learners Who Are Emergent Readers

Some second language (L2) learners are unique in that they bring low print literacy and limited formal schooling to the language learning enterprise. A range of personal, economic, historical, and political circumstances bring them to highly literate, industrialized societies where print literacy becomes not only desirable but necessary to earn a living and participate in a range of everyday activities. This article is a review of current research related to this population of learners for the purpose of informing educators about their particular teaching and learning needs. While the emphasis is on scholarship focused on adult L2 emergent readers, attention is also given to related research with bi- and multilingual children and monolingual adults who are not print literate. Finally, sociopolitical and historical issues are touched upon with regard to broader policy matters that may have contributed to or perpetuate low print literacy.

Somali immigrant youths and the power of print literacy

This article examines some of the ways in which the politics of a written script are enacted among Somali refugees and immigrants in present-day schools and classrooms. Analysis focuses on data gathered with Somali youths in one all-immigrant high school classroom in the US. Data are examined to illustrate how global processes, some of which have developed across timescales of multiple decades, including the decision about a Somali script, the Somali civil war(s) and the rise of Somali Diaspora, play out in everyday classroom interactions. Here we extend the academic conversation about the cognitive and educational benefit of home language literacy and schooling when learning a new language by exploring the dynamic relationship between the symbolic power of Somali print literacy on the one hand, and current classroom practices and informal policies on the other. These findings illustrate how the history of the Somali script, differential access to formal schooling along gender lines and the benefit of having print literacy in Somali play out in everyday interactions at school. We document ways in which Somali print literacy is integral to how Somali adolescents see themselves and others as learners and individuals.

The Language Policy of Placement Tests for Newcomer English Learners

U.S. public schools are required to establish policies ensuring that English language learners have equal access to “meaningful education.” This demands that districts put into place mechanisms to determine student eligibility for specialized English language services. For the most states, this federal requirement is fulfilled through the local administration of the WIDA–Access Placement Test (W-APT), arguably the most widely used, yet under-studied, English language assessment in the country. Through intensive participant observation at one, urban new student intake center, and detailed qualitative, discursive analysis of test administration and interaction, we demonstrate how the W-APT works as a high-stakes assessment, screener, and sorter, and how test takers and test administrators locally negotiate this test and enact this federal and state policy. Our analysis indicates that the W-APT is problematic in several respects, most importantly because the test does not differentiate adequately across students with widely different literacy skills and formal schooling experiences.