Matching Items (5)
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- All Subjects: Second Language Acquisition
- Genre: Masters Thesis
- Creators: Cerron-Palomino, Alvaro
- Creators: Alvarado, Margaret
- Member of: ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Description
The use of blogging tools in the second language classroom has been investigated from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives (Alm, 2009; Armstrong & Retterer, 2008; Dippold, 2009; Ducate & Lomicka, 2008; Elola & Oskoz, 2008; Jauregi & Banados, 2008; Lee, 2009; Petersen, Divitini, & Chabert, 2008; Pinkman, 2005; Raith, 2009; Soares, 2008; Sun, 2009, 2012; Vurdien, 2011; Yang, 2009) and a growing number of studies examine the use of microblogging tools for language learning (Antenos-Conforti, 2009; Borau, Ullrich, Feng, & Shen, 2009; Lomicka & Lord, 2011; Perifanou, 2009). Grounded in Cultural Historical Activity Theory (Engestrom, 1987), the present study explores the outcomes of a semester-long project based on the Bridging Activities framework (Thorne & Reinhardt, 2008) and implemented in an intermediate hybrid Spanish-language course at a large public university in Arizona, in which students used microblogging and blogging tools to collect digital texts, analyze perspectives of the target culture, and participate as part of an online community of language learners with a broader audience of native speakers. The research questions are: (1) What technology is used by the students, with what frequency and for what purposes in both English and Spanish prior to beginning the project?, (2) What are students' values and attitudes toward using Twitter and Blogger as tools for learning Spanish and how do they change over time through their use in the project during the semester course?, and (3) What tensions emerge in the activity systems of the intermediate Spanish-language students throughout the process of using Twitter and Blogger for the project? What are the underlying reasons for the tensions? How are they resolved? The data was collected using pre-, post-, and periodic surveys, which included Likert and open-ended questions, as well as the participants' microblog and blog posts. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data was analyzed to identify emerging themes following the Constant Comparative Method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Finally, three participant outliers were selected as case studies for activity theoretical analysis in order to identify tensions and, through their resolution, evidence of expansive learning.
ContributorsAlvarado, Margaret (Author) / Lafford, Barbara (Thesis advisor) / González, Verónica (Committee member) / Cerron-Palomino, Alvaro (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This study examined the development and acquisition of second language (L2) sounds by adult students enrolled in a communicative language program. The investigation explored the acquisition of L2 phones by analyzing the voice onset time (VOT) of word-initial voiceless stops in Spanish by native English speakers. A total of 40 subjects participated in the study and were divided into three groups; one group of students enrolled in a first semester course, another group of students enrolled in a third semester course, and the last group enrolled in a fifth semester course. The duration of VOT was compared between groups reading from a word list consisting of 60 words during the 13th to 15th weeks of the semester. Significant differences in VOT were found between the first and fifth semester groups, as well as the third and fifth semester groups suggesting that accurate acquisition of L2 phones and the formation of new phonetic categories are possible for late L2 learners in accordance with the Speech Learning Model.
ContributorsRussell, Nathan (Author) / Beaudrie, Sara (Thesis advisor) / Cerron-Palomino, Alvaro (Committee member) / Gradoville, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
ABSTRACT
This qualitative study used a survey to investigate the attitudes and experiences of 44 Heritage learners (HLL) and non-Heritage learners (NHLL) in beginning-level Spanish courses with a mixed population (HLLs and NHLLs) in the same classroom. Specifically, the survey elicited data on their attitudes and experiences towards their own language skills in Spanish and English, their mixed beginning-level Spanish course, their personal reactions to mixed classes, and their attitudes toward classmates that belong to the other group (e.g., HLLs view of NHLLs). The findings of this study indicated that HLLs perceived their listening and speaking skills to be better than their literacy (reading and writing) skills, while NHLLs self-assessed their receptive skills (reading and listening) to be higher than their productive skills (speaking and writing). In addition, both groups expressed a positive attitude toward mixed beginning-level Spanish classes and noted specific advantages to learning in such an environment (e.g., the opportunity to learn about each other’s cultures, the fact that each group felt appreciated and valued by the other group) with very few disadvantages (e.g., HLLs had mixed opinions on the effect that a mixed class might have on a teacher’s expectation for how much material is covered and how thoroughly, while NHLLs mostly agreed that a teacher’s expectations would affect the breadth and depth of material covered; NHLLs thought the presence of HLLs in their class might negatively affect their grades). However, both groups indicated they would prefer to be in Spanish classes with members of their own group instead of in mixed classes (NHLLs affirmed this more than HLLs). This study concludes with a discussion of pedagogical implications, limitations of the study, and ideas for future research on this topic.
This qualitative study used a survey to investigate the attitudes and experiences of 44 Heritage learners (HLL) and non-Heritage learners (NHLL) in beginning-level Spanish courses with a mixed population (HLLs and NHLLs) in the same classroom. Specifically, the survey elicited data on their attitudes and experiences towards their own language skills in Spanish and English, their mixed beginning-level Spanish course, their personal reactions to mixed classes, and their attitudes toward classmates that belong to the other group (e.g., HLLs view of NHLLs). The findings of this study indicated that HLLs perceived their listening and speaking skills to be better than their literacy (reading and writing) skills, while NHLLs self-assessed their receptive skills (reading and listening) to be higher than their productive skills (speaking and writing). In addition, both groups expressed a positive attitude toward mixed beginning-level Spanish classes and noted specific advantages to learning in such an environment (e.g., the opportunity to learn about each other’s cultures, the fact that each group felt appreciated and valued by the other group) with very few disadvantages (e.g., HLLs had mixed opinions on the effect that a mixed class might have on a teacher’s expectation for how much material is covered and how thoroughly, while NHLLs mostly agreed that a teacher’s expectations would affect the breadth and depth of material covered; NHLLs thought the presence of HLLs in their class might negatively affect their grades). However, both groups indicated they would prefer to be in Spanish classes with members of their own group instead of in mixed classes (NHLLs affirmed this more than HLLs). This study concludes with a discussion of pedagogical implications, limitations of the study, and ideas for future research on this topic.
ContributorsDones-Herrera, Vilma (Author) / Lafford, Barbara A. (Thesis advisor) / Cerron-Palomino, Alvaro (Committee member) / González, Verónica (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
The present study investigates the role lexical access plays in the oral fluency of intermediate second language (L2) learners. In order to do this, I utilized a picture-naming task (PNT) in the target language to assess lexical access and generated spontaneous L2 speech through two narration tasks to assess oral fluency. The response times from the PNT were correlated with the two fluency measures analyzed from the narration tasks, the frequency of filled pauses and the overall rate of speech. The results revealed that intermediate learners with faster PNT response times used fewer filled pauses in spontaneous L2 speech but did not reveal a significant relationship between intermediate learners' PNT response times and their rate of speech.
ContributorsCarriere, Aaron S (Author) / Cerron-Palomino, Alvaro (Thesis advisor) / Gradoville, Michael (Committee member) / Beaudrie, Sara (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Drawing on previous empirical works in the field of Intercultural Competence (ICC) and telecollaboration (Chun, 2011; Elola & Oskoz, 2008; Furstenberg, 2004; Schulz, 2007), this study investigates how a completion of Cultura Project tasks in L1 and L2 helped to determine students' cultural values and behaviors, find out how their mental lexicons are structured, and assess a state of their critical cultural awareness. The theoretical framework for this study is based on Byram's (1997) work on ICC. As a part of their course work, Spanish language learners from a lower-division class participate in three Cultura Project tasks and provided their comments afterwards. The findings revealed cultural values and believes of the participants, as well as the organization of their mental lexicons. Moreover, the findings illustrated how the level of critical cultural awareness, as one of the components of ICC, could be assessed using the rubrics developed based on Byram's (1997) work on ICC and Bloom's (1990) revised taxonomy of learning skills. The results of the study contributed to the field of SLA on what is known about the roles of culturally-based questionnaires in critical cultural awareness assessment and the structure of mental lexicons of L2 learners.
ContributorsVaskivska, Tetiana (Author) / Lafford, Barbara A. (Thesis advisor) / Cerron-Palomino, Alvaro (Committee member) / González-López, Verónica (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015