Factors in the path from native language to the acquisition of second language proficiency

3月底，与未来大学函馆的亚当·斯密合作的一项在线研究完成。这项研究评估了暴露对日本作为外语的英语学习者阅读流利性的影响。曝光操作由六个块组成，每个块20个短文本。受控词汇表中的文本具有大致相同数量的单词(300到550个)。参与者被要求在三个多月的时间里尽可能多地阅读120篇课文。反馈优先考虑阅读速度，而不是完美的理解。与前测结果相比，后测中每个单词的阅读时间提高了，因为(A)每个单词的阅读时间快了300毫秒，理解能力没有明显下降，(B)矩阵动词的速度随着参与者阅读的文本数量的增加而增加。对动词结果的一个可能的解释是，接触文本提高了学习者的句子处理能力，因为他们磨练了他们的期望，从而降低了将动词与句子中的主语等先前成分整合起来的成本。如果这是正确的，这将表明这种类型的接触可能会通过提高学习者预测句子下一步的方式来促进阅读流利性的质量提高。研究结果将在2023年7月举行的第24届日本语言科学学会国际会议(JSLS2023)上公布。

An online study in collaboration with Adam Smith from the Future University Hakodate was completed at the end of March. The study evaluated the effect of exposure on the reading fluency of learners of English as a foreign language in Japan. The exposure manipulation consisted of six blocks of 20 short texts each. The texts in a block had about the same number of words (300 to 550) from controlled vocabulary lists. Participants were told to read as many as they wished of the 120 texts within a period of just over three months. Feedback prioritized reading speed rather than perfect comprehension. Compared to the results of a pre-test, reading times per word in a post-test revealed improved reading fluency as (a) reading times per word were 300 milliseconds faster without significant declines in comprehension, and (b) the speedup at matrix verbs increased along with the number of texts that the participants read.One possible explanation for the result at the verbs is that exposure to the texts improved learners’ sentence-processing abilities by honing their expectations, thus decreasing the cost to integrate verbs to previous constituents such as the subject in the sentences. If correct, this would suggest that this type of exposure may promote qualitative improvements in reading fluency by enhancing how learners predict what is coming next in the sentence.The results will be presented at the 24th Annual International Conference of the Japanese Society for Language Sciences (JSLS2023) in July 2023.