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| International Paper Session - Research on Second Language Learning |
| Saturday, May 26, 2007 |
| 4:00 PM–4:50 PM |
| America's Cup D |
| Area: EDC |
| Chair: Corrine A. Kirsch (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee) |
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| Fluency Training the Declension of German Articles. |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| CORRINE A. KIRSCH (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee), Marshall L. Dermer (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee) |
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| Abstract: The present study evaluated software that teaches German article declension when translating from English to German. To construct this software, I first analyzed the composite behavior of article declension into component responses and subsequently constructed fourteen instructional units. I designed these units to promote fluency: accurate and rapid responding. After participants mastered a component or a composite they practiced this behavior in the context of similar, previously trained behaviors. These cumulative practice units insured that participants responded appropriately though behaviors were similar. I additionally constructed a battery of five tests comprised of English sentences which were not encountered during training. Four tests respectively assessed article use for one of the German cases: nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive, and the fifth test assessed article use for all cases. Two participants who had studied German but had not mastered article declension worked on the units for 20 min daily. They completed the test battery: 1) before training, 2) after they had mastered using nominative articles, 3) after they had mastered using accusative articles, 4) after they had mastered using dative articles, and 5) after they had mastered using genitive articles. The tests revealed that relative to performance before training, performance generally improved and remained high after articles for a particular case and when they are used had been trained. Participants acquired these composite responses after about 14 hrs of training. I discuss ways in which the software and experiment can be improved, and I suggest how fluency training can efficiently train these and other skills and so supplement conversational approaches for teaching second languages. |
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| Behavioral Techniques for Learning English: How to Eliminate Taiwanese Students’ Anxiety. |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| LI-CHING HUNG (Mississippi State University) |
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| Abstract: The Taiwanese Ministry of Education stated it is mandatory that college freshmen learn English, with the added proviso that each individual must exhibit a specific level of competence. This has caused major problems since many Chinese students feel that if any mistakes are made during class, then he/she loses face and in Chinese culture, that is the ultimate ignominy.
In order to find a method for alleviating stress, two universities in southern Taiwan were used. Two freshman classes, both taking English as a second language at the respective institutions, served as the control group and experimental group---each class received a pretest. The experimental class was divided into 8 small units, each group containing no more than 4 students. Of these, one student was akin to a peer tutor; that is, the classmates in his/her group that suffered shyness at speaking English were given special help.
After one semester, a posttest was administered, and a one way ANOVA was conducted. A statistical significance at the .01 level was found, showing that peer tutoring could be a powerful tool when acquiring a second language. Today, the specific steps taken will be discussed in detail. |
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