Rasmus Steinkrauss

Individual differences in very young children’s English acquisition in China: Internal and external factors

This study assesses the impact of internal and external factors on very young EFL learners in an instructional setting. 71 child English learners in China (onset age: 2;0 - 5;6) were involved: their receptive vocabulary, productive vocabulary and receptive grammar were taken as outcome variables, and age of onset, short-term memory, nonverbal intelligence, English input quantity and quality, English use, and maternal English level were taken as predictive variables. Multiple regression analyses, verified by Bayes factor comparisons, revealed that the total amount of school input and home English media environment were significant predictors for all of three aspects of English proficiency, with each aspect having different additional significant predictors. Both internal factors (e.g., age of onset) and external factors (e.g., English input quantity) played an important role, but in contrast to similar studies (e.g., Paradis, 2011) focusing on a L2 naturalistic setting, external factors explained more variance of English proficiency measures.

Speed, breakdown, and repair: An investigation of fluency in long-term second-language speakers of English:

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: The present study investigated which factors would best predict second-language (L2) fluency in a group of long-term L2 speakers of different English varieties with German as their first language. Design/methodology/approach: L2 fluency was conceptualized in terms of utterance fluency for which speed, breakdown and repair fluency were distinguished. Data and analysis: Multiple measures of utterance fluency were applied to four-minute speech fragments originating from 102 spontaneous oral interviews. Interviewees’ ages of onset ranged from 7 to 17, whereas their ages at interview ranged from 57 to 87. Multifactorial analyses yielded significant effects of age at interview. Findings/conclusions: Whereas the mean number of silent pauses and repairs increases, syllable duration decreases. This leaves room for interpretation as to why we find an aging effect. Overall, the evidence suggests that the usual, L2 acquisition-specific factors, such as age of onset or length of residence, are no longer at play to predict L2 fluency. Originality and significance/implications: To this point L2 fluency in very advanced, highly proficient L2 speakers has received little attention. The results point to the need for more research into highly proficient L2 users.

A Multiple Case Study on the Effects of Temperamental Traits in Chinese Preschoolers Learning English

Aims: The current study tests Clarke’s (1999) findings on phases and variations of the English development of young second-language learners in a Chinese English as a Foreign Language setting and explores the cause of these variations under the following questions: 1) What verbal and non-verbal behavior can be observed in Chinese preschoolers in an English-learning classroom? 2) What variation can be observed among the children in such a class? 3) To what extent can the observed variation be interpreted on the basis of the children’s temperament? Methodology: Four Chinese children have been followed longitudinally in China and their developmental pattern and variation were compared with what has been found in Clarke’s study. The variation has been related to children’s different temperamental scores. Data and Analysis: The four three-year-old English learners in China were videoed and audio-recorded in class for five months. Their class data were transcribed with CLAN software and analyzed with SPSS software. Their temperamental information was provided by the parents by filling in the New York Longitudinal Study questionnaire. The temperamental traits were analyzed with the software MentalList 2. Findings: During the initial five months, the four Chinese preschoolers’ English-learning behavior developed from non-verbal reactions, such as non-verbal repetitions to verbal reactions, such as English responses, generally being in line with the first two phases outlined by Clarke. Children varied significantly in terms of time of entry into the verbal phase, in the extent of interaction with teachers and peers and in learning style. Temperamental traits such as adaptability and mood were found to be related to differences in development. A higher level of adaptation, a higher level of activity, more initial reactions and a positive mood were found to be related with more verbal and non-verbal repetitions and responses. A lower level of activity and fewer initial reactions were shown to be related to a smaller amount of verbal and non-verbal production. Finally, a negative mood and a higher threshold of responsiveness seem to have led to the teacher misreading a child’s needs and thus hampered that child’s motivation and incidental learning. Originality: Temperamental traits have been introduced into child foreign language development and successfully shown to capture the difference of children’s learning behaviors. Implications: Data on temperamental characteristics might enable the teachers to get to know the young learners more quickly and better and thus support their teaching and facilitate their teaching handover.

Individual differences in very young Chinese children’s English vocabulary breadth and semantic depth: internal and external factors

ABSTRACT This study examines the English vocabulary development of 43 very young child English as a foreign language (FL) learners (age 3.2–6.2) in China. They were tested twice for vocabulary breadth (reception and production) and semantic depth (paradigmatic and syntagmatic vocabulary knowledge). The development of the English vocabulary knowledge between these two measurements was predicted using a series of internal factors and external factors. An exploratory mixed-effects regression analysis revealed that English use, interacting with age of English onset, significantly predicted such growth. Older children benefitted more from practicing English to enhance their English vocabulary. The amount of English input at school was found to positively impact the development of English syntagmatic knowledge. Chinese paradigmatic knowledge significantly influenced the growth of English paradigmatic and syntagmatic knowledge. These findings indicate that at least at an early stage, external factors play an important role in child FL vocabulary development, particularly in children with a later age of English onset. Furthermore, the transfer of concepts from the first language to the second language (L2) might be more pronounced with respect to L2 semantic depth than L2 vocabulary breadth. This conceptual transfer is relevant to FL learners as young as three years of age.