Browsing by Author "Halenko, Nicola"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Developing Second Language Mandarin Fluency Through Pedagogic Intervention and Study Abroad: Planning Time, Speech Rate, and Response Duration
    (Wiley, 2024-10-21) Wang, Jiayi; Halenko, Nicola
    This longitudinal study examines the effects of a pre-study abroad (SA) pedagogic intervention and subsequent SA experience on second language (L2) Mandarin fluency. It explores two temporal aspects of oral fluency—planning time and speech rate—along with one performance measure, duration of response. Additionally, L2 contact data were included as a supplementary variable in the analysis. The experimental group was assessed at three points: before instruction (T1), after 2 weeks of instruction (T2), and post-SA (T3). A non-instructed control group that participated in the SA period provided baseline data. Both groups demonstrated improved fluency after the SA period, with the experimental group showing superior performance in planning time, speech rate, and duration of response. The greatest reduction in between-group differences occurred at T2 and persisted over time. These findings highlight that combining targeted instruction with exposure is highly effective, with L2 contact strongly correlating with overall fluency gains.
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    Developing the use of formulaic language for study abroad: a targeted instructional intervention
    (Taylor and Francis, 2022-06-25) Wang, Jiayi; Halenko, Nicola
    This study investigates the immediate and sustained effects of a pre-departure study abroad training on the oral production of L2 Chinese formulaic language across a range of social and transactional interactions. Eighteen upper-intermediate learners of Chinese were assigned to either an instructed or non-instructed group to determine the efficacy of instruction designed to enhance their study abroad year in China and beyond. A three-stage pre-post-delayed longitudinal experimental design was adopted to examine instructional effects over an academic year, elicited by means of a computerised oral task (COT). The assessment was based on quantitative appropriateness ratings and a qualitative analysis of the output. Results show that the instructed group outperformed the control group immediately after the pre-study abroad (pre-SA) instruction, as well as after the year abroad. The significant difference between the two groups, however, decreased after the period abroad as the control group also showed significant improvement without the pre-SA instruction. Nevertheless, the sustained effect of the instruction enabled the experimental group to retain their competitive edge, even after a year in the target language country. The findings demonstrate the longitudinal benefits of pre-SA instruction.
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    Learning and teaching second language pragmatics: setting the scene
    (Taylor and Francis, 2022-08-05) Wang, Jiayi; Halenko, Nicola
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    Longitudinal benefits of pre-departure pragmatics instruction for study abroad: Chinese as a second/foreign language
    (Equinox, 2019-04-30) Wang, Jiayi; Halenko, Nicola
    Whilst the study of second language pragmatic development in study abroad (SA) contexts has gained momentum in recent years, research on L2 Chinese pragmatics, in general, remains in its infancy and is therefore limited. Longitudinal studies on the effects of instruction before, during and after SA remain scant. Following a short pre-SA pragmatics intervention on formulaic expressions with a group of UK undergraduate learners of Chinese, qualitative data in three phases (before, during, and after a year abroad in China) were collected and analysed to shed light on the perceived benefits of the treatment. The findings show that in all three phases, learners highly valued the instruction provided, but they seemed to benefit from the sociopragmatic input the most, particularly in the pre-departure stage and after completion of the SA period. The findings will be discussed in relation to the learners' accounts of their SA experiences and the implications for pre-SA instruction.
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    ‘Mind Your Language’: L2 English Email Requests during Study Abroad
    (Cambridge University Press, 2022-09-29) Wang, Jiayi; Halenko, Nicola
    There is an ever-growing consensus amongst EFL/ESL researchers that while L2 learners may improve their English language proficiency during a period of study abroad in the target language, they may not show concomitant development of pragmatic competence. This mixed-methods study aimed to examine this interlanguage issue by tracking asymmetrical email communication with academic staff. Using 170 authentic L2 emails in comparison to a reference corpus of 162 authentic L1 emails, we identified three distinct features of the Chinese learners’ L2 email requests to faculty: significant directness and limited choices of conventional indirectness, extensive external modification and relative limited internal modification, and heavy reliance on the request perspectives of ‘you’ and ‘I’. L2 email practices also remained largely unchanged during study abroad in England, suggesting a ten-month immersion in the L2 environment alone was insufficient to evidence developmental change. Learners found it challenging to implicitly acquire more complicated pragmatic structures such as internal modification, for instance. Participant interviews revealed learner agency played a key role in pragmatic learning and unlearning, the latter of which refers to the process by which learners actively dissociate from L2 norms when conflicts with the L1 systems arise, implying that L2 pragmatic development is fluid.
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    Pragmatics in English Language Learning
    (Cambridge University Press, 2022-10) Wang, Jiayi; Halenko, Nicola
    Written by an international team of experts, this groundbreaking book explores the benefits and challenges of developing pragmatic competence in English as a target language, inside and outside the classroom, and among young and adult learners. The chapters present a range of first language contexts, including China, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico and Norway, to provide international perspectives on how different first languages present varying challenges for developing pragmatic awareness. The book outlines cutting-edge techniques for investigating spoken and written pragmatic competence, and offers practical teaching solutions, both face-to-face and online. It also examines underexplored areas of L2 pragmatics research, such as young learner groups, the effects of textbook materials, study abroad contexts and technology-mediated instruction and assessment. Innovative and comprehensive, this volume is a unique contribution to the field of L2 pragmatics, and will be essential reading for researchers, course developers, language teachers and students.
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    Second language pragmatics
    (Equinox, 2019-04-30) Wang, Jiayi; Halenko, Nicola
    Second language pragmatics, also known as interlanguage pragmatics, “investigates how L2 learners develop the ability to understand and perform action in a target language” (Kasper & Rose, 2002, p. 5). Being pragmatically competent in another language is considered an essential component of being a successful communicator, as outlined in a number of leading influential frameworks of communicative competence (Bachman & Palmer, 1996; Canale & Swain, 1980; Hymes, 1972). These early frameworks advocate not only the importance of knowing the constructs of a language, but having the ability to use language in socially appropriate ways. For instance, when requesting a favour from someone, in addition to knowing what forms and lexis are needed to produce the request (grammatical competence), users need to consider their linguistic choices in light of acceptability of the request according to the local cultural norms, the specific situation, the favour itself, and from whom they are soliciting the favour (pragmatic competence). Both competencies are inextricably linked and need equal attention in the language-learning process. Leech (1983) and Thomas (1983) describe pragmatic competence as the sum of two specific components: ‘pragmalinguistics’ (the knowledge of linguistic resources needed for communication) and ‘sociopragmatics’ (the knowledge of sociocultural rules which govern these resources). Second language pragmatics investigations often draw on these distinctions when evaluating and assessing L2 performance. Recently, second language pragmatic investigations have begun to highlight the interplay of interactional and intercultural competences in the language-learning process given today’s interconnected societies within which language users now operate.