国外“三语习得”研究述评

三语习得的研究始于20世纪80年代,吸取诸多领域学者的研究成果,到了本世纪初步入快速发展时期。至今取得了第一和第二语言影响第三语言学习的迁移规律,多语言学习与元语言意识的发展以及在普遍语法下第一和第二语言在三语中的作用方面的研究成果。这些成果对我国三语习得研究,尤其是少数民族外语教育的研究有重要的启示。然而,目前研究尚处在初创阶段,在广度和深度上都有待拓展,需进一步界定和深入对普遍语法与三语习得的关系研究。     

Onset Entropy Matters – Letter-to-phoneme Mappings in Seven Languages

Alphabetic orthographies vary in the (in)consistency of the relations between spelling and sound patterns. In transparent orthographies, like Italian, the pronunciation can be predicted from the spelling, in contrast to opaque orthographies such as English, where spelling–sound correspondences are often inconsistent. The pronunciation of English vowel letters is in particular very ambiguous. In this paper, we provide a cross-linguistic investigation of orthographic transparency at the word-initial letter–phoneme level, resulting in ranked metrics for the seven languages investigated- Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, and Portuguese, expressed as entropy values. We focus on the contributions of vowels and consonants towards the overall orthographic transparency and provide evidence that deviations from consistent word-initial 1:1 mappings between letters and phonemes influence reaction times in naming tasks. Implications for theories of visual word recognition and speech production will be discussed.     

Using the known to chart the unknown: A review of first-language influence on the development of English-as-a-second-language spelling skill

Currently, there is a practical demand and necessity for research on how English-as-a-second language (ESL) learners acquire literacy skills, such as spelling. One important issue of this research agenda is how ESL learners apply first-language knowledge to learning to spell in English. Twenty-seven studies were reviewed that investigated the influence of the first language on ESL learners’ development of English spelling skill. Evidence was found for both positive and negative transfer of first-language knowledge and processes to ESL learners’ English spelling. These results are in agreement with theoretical propositions about the interdependence between first- and second-language academic skills [e.g., Cummins, J. (1981). In California State Department of Education (Ed.), Schooling and language minority students: A theoretical framework (pp. 3–49). Los Angeles: Evaluation, Dissemination, and Assessment Center, California State University, Los Angeles]. The findings are discussed in relation to the ESL learner’s first-language proficiency level and distance between first language and English. Comparisons are drawn between ESL learners’ and English monolinguals’ spelling development and suggestions for future research are provided.     

A cross-linguistic comparison of phonological awareness and word recognition

Phonological awareness is one of the critical skills in the acquisition of reading in an alphabetic orthography. The development of phonological awareness was compared across Turkish and English-speaking kindergarten and first-grade children (n = 138). The Turkish-speakers were more proficient in both handling of the syllables and deleting final phonemes of words. These patterns were related to the characteristics of the respective spoken languages (such as the saliency of the syllable, familiarity of the nonword patterns, importance of onset or final phoneme deletion, importance of vowel harmony) and the development of phonological awareness was discussed as a function of the characteristics of spoken language, orthography and literacy instruction.     

普通话儿童语音习得研究综述

普通话儿童的语音习得即普通话儿童在自然交际中潜意识地掌握普通话语音系统的过程。文章对有关普通话儿童语音习得的研究做了综合性回顾，旨在总结主要研究成果，探讨这些成果的理论意义，以及造成不同语言儿童语音习得的共性和差异的因素，为普通话儿童语音标准量化表的制定提供依据。     

跨语言学习心理测评——来自中英文阅读动机和阅读水平的证据

在跨语言学习测评研究中,目前尚未有学者探究同一群体的中国学生的中英文学习心理是如何相互影响,并最终影响语言能力。为弥补这一研究空白,本研究调查了中国北京267名初中生中英文阅读动机,并同时测试他们的和中英文阅读能力。在八个维度的阅读动机中,对中文作为母语和英文作为外语的阅读动机进行量化对比,中文阅读动机在自我效能感、好奇心、投入度、消遣娱乐性、社会伙伴态度五个维度上的表现高于英文阅读动机;而在学业成绩、工具性、社会家庭态度三个维度上,两者没有差异。同时,相关分析表明工具性与英文阅读水平密切相关;消遣娱乐性与中文阅读水平密切相关。此外,多元线性回归分析显示,不同维度的阅读动机分别解释中英文阅读水平的差异。这些研究结果验证了阅读动机的跨语言性迁移特征,不同的阅读动机对中英文阅读水平起着不同作用。文章最后对中英文阅读教学提出了指导意见。     

论语序类型中“顺”与“逆”的相对性

跨语言对比研究表明：语序类型的差异性是人类语言差异性的一项重要内容和表现形式;在同一对比参数之下,有些语言之间就语序类型而言“志同道合”,有些则“分道扬镳”;在一些语言或方言中被认为是“顺”的语序类型,在另外一些语言或方言中则是“逆”的,反之亦然.     

Role of morphological awareness in biliteracy development: Within- and cross-language perspectives among Korean ESL learners in grades five and six

The study investigated the within- and cross-language contribution of morphological awareness (MA) to vocabulary and reading comprehension among students learning to read two typologically different orthographies at the same time: Korean and English. Fifty Korean ESL learners in grades five and six were administered Korean and English measures of MA (derivational and compound morphemes), vocabulary, and reading comprehension (narrative and expository texts), in addition to measures of phonological awareness (PA) and orthographic awareness (OA). Information about home language environment was also obtained from a parental questionnaire. Path analysis showed that MA was the most significant contributor to vocabulary (β = 0.33, p < 0.05) and reading comprehension (β = 0.46, p < 0.01) in English; and in Korean (β = 0.62 and β = 0.54, respectively, all ps < 0.01), controlling for effects of PA and OA. Unidirectional cross-language transfer was found from Korean MA to English vocabulary (β = 0.27, p < 0.05) and reading comprehension (β = 0.22, p < 0.05) and multiple determining factors are discussed. Educational implications and research recommendations are also presented.     

Beginning to read across languages varying in orthographic consistency: Comparing the effects of non-cognitive and cognitive predictors

We examined whether the effect that different non-cognitive and cognitive factors have on reading acquisition varies as a function of orthographic consistency. Canadian (n = 77) and Greek (n = 95) children attending kindergarten were examined on general cognitive ability, phonological sensitivity, and letter knowledge. The parents of the children responded to a questionnaire on home literacy activities and the teachers reported on children's task-focused behaviour. In Grades 1 and 2 the children's word decoding and reading fluency were assessed. Results indicated that direct teaching of letter names and sounds at home was associated with better letter knowledge in both languages. Task-focused behaviour and letter knowledge in kindergarten predicted significantly nonword decoding in Grade 1, but their effect was stronger in English than in Greek. This pattern was not replicated for reading fluency in Grade 2.