“My friend is funny.”- Baltic Young Learners’ Use of a Number of Adjectives in Written Production of English

Main Article Content

Stellan Sundh

Abstract

Vocabulary is central in foreign language learning for young learners. It is therefore relevant to investigate the vocabulary produced in English by young learners from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The present study investigates a number of adjectives in a specific context in texts written by 12-year-olds in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Sweden. The results indicate that there is a preference for the adjective funny in the descriptions of a best friend so that 12-year-olds in five different countries in the Baltic Region have the same favourite of type of adjective as a lexical teddy-bear and non-native collocation together with friend.

Article Details

Section
Research articles

References

Alderson, J.C. (2005). Diagnosing Foreign Language Proficiency. London: Continuum

Al-Harafsheh, A. (2012). The Use of English Adjectives among Jordanian EFL students in Al-Albeyt University: An Error Analysis. Language in India 12, pp.675-695.

Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching Languages to Young Learners Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Chou, M. (2014). Assessing English vocabulary and enhancing young English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ motivation through games, songs, and stories, Education 3–13, 2014 Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 284–297, DOI: 10.1080/03004279.2012.680899

Collentine, J. & Freed, B.F. (2004). Learning context and its effects on second language acquisition: Introduction, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 26(2), pp.153–171. DOI: 10.1017/S0272263104262015.

Council of Europe (2001). Common European Framework of Reference for

Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved on September 26, 2016 from http://www.coe.int/lang

Enever, J. (2011). Policy. In J. Enever (Ed.) ELLiE – Early Language Learning in Europe (pp. 23-41). United Kingdom: British Council

Erten, I.H. & Tekin, M. (2008). Effects on vocabulary acquisition of presenting new wordsin semantic sets versus semantically unrelated sets. System 36 (3) pp. 407-422

Fonzari, L. (1999). English in the Estonian multicultural society in World Englishes, Vol 18, No. 1, pp. 39-48

Ghaemi, F. & Ebrahimi, F. (2015). The impact of implementing computer games and motor activity on early EFL vocabulary achievement, Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 5(6) pp.1216-1225

Hashemi, R.H. & Gowdasiaei, F. (2005). An attribute-treatment interaction study: Lexical-set versus semantically-unrelated vocabulary instruction. Regional Language Centre Journal 36 (3) pp.341-361

Hasselgen, A. (1994). Lexical teddy bears and advanced learners: a study into the ways Norwegian students cope with English vocabulary. International Journal of Applied Linguistics Vol 4:2 pp.237-257 DOI: 10.1111/j.1473-4192.1994.tb00065.x

Hippner-Page, T. (2000). Semantic clustering versus thematic clustering of English vocabulary words for second language instruction: Which method is more effective? Report. U.S. Department of Education, Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC)

Hulstijn, J & Trompetter, P. (1998). Incidental learning of second language vocabulary in computer-assisted reading and writing tasks. In Albrechtsen, D, Hendricksen, B, Mees, M & Poulsen, E. (eds.) Perspectives on Foreign and Second Language Pedagogy. Odense: Odense University Press pp.191-200

Jantunen, J.H. (2015). Learning context and its effect on learner pragmatics: Degree modifiers as lexical teddy bears. Lähivõrdlusi. Lähivertailuja 25 Tallinn: Eesti Rakenduslingvistika Ühing pp.105-136

Jenkins, J. (2007). English as a Lingua Franca: Attitude and Identity Oxford: Oxford University Press

Jullian, P. (2000). Creating word meaning awareness ELT Journal 54(1) pp.37-46

Juknevičienė, R. (2009). Lexical bundles in learner language: Lithuanian learners vs. native speakers in Kalbotyra Vol 61(3), ISSN 1392–1517

Kaçani, L. (2014). Grammatical mistakes of Albanian students in learning English as a foreign language Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences 5(19), pp.323-329.

Karabulat, A. & Dollar, Y.K. (2016). The effects of presenting different types of vocabulary clusters on very young learners’ foreign language learning. Education 3-13, 44:3, pp.255-268 DOI: 10.1080/03004279.2014.904391

Keaveney, S. & Lundberg, G. (2014). Early language learning and teaching A1-A2. Lund: Studentlitteratur

Kersten, S. (2015). Language development in young learners: The role of formulaic language In Teaching English to young Learners – Critical Issues in Language teaching with 3-12 Year Olds J. Bland (Ed.) London: Bloomsbury

Lado, R. (1964). Language learning- a scientific approach. New York: McGraw-Hill

Laufer, B & Hulstijn, J (2001). Incidental vocabulary acquisition in a second language: The construct of task-induced involvement. Applied Linguistics 22, Vol1, pp.1-26

Laufer, B. & Waldman, T. (2011). Verb-Noun Collocations in Second Language Writing: A Corpus Analysis of Learners’ English. Language Learning 61:2, pp. 647-672

Levenson, E. A. & Blum, S (1977). Aspects of lexical simplification in the speech and writing of advanced adult learners. In Corder, S. P. & Roulet, E. (eds) The notions of simplification, interlanguage and pidgins and their relation to SL pedagogy. Neuchatel: Actes du 5ème Colloque de Linguistique Appliqué de Neuchatel pp. 51-71

Lundahl, B. (2014). Texts, Topics and Tasks: Teaching English in Years 4-6 Lund: Studentlitteratur

Madani, D. & Nasrabadi, M.M. (2016). The effect of songs on vocabulary retention of preschool young English language learners. International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning, Volume 6, Number 3 pp.63-72

McKay, S. (2006). Researching Second Language Classrooms Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum

McGeoch, J.A. & McDonald, W.T. (1931). Meaningful relation and retroactive inhibition. American Journal of Psychology 43 (4) pp. 579-588

Melka, F. (1997). Receptive vs. productive aspects of vocabulary in Schmitt, N. & McCarthy, M. (eds) Vocabulary: description, acquisition and pedagogy Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Mihaljevic Djigunovic, J. & Lopriore, L. (2011). The learner: do individual differences matter?. In J. Enever (Ed.) ELLiE – Early Language Learning in Europe (pp. 43-59). United Kingdom: British Council

Murphy, V. (2014). Second Language Learning in the Early School Years: Trends and Contexts Oxford: Oxford University Press

Nation, P. (2001). Learning Vocabulary in another Language Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Nation, P. (1990). Teaching and Learning Vocabulary New York: Heinle and Heinle

Nesselhauf, N. (2005). Collocations in a Learner Corpus Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Nordlund, M. (2016). EFL textbooks for young learners: A comparative analysis of vocabulary Education Inquiry, Vol 7, No.1 pp.47-68

Quirk, R. Greenbaum, G., Leech, G, & Svartvik, J. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language New York: Longmans

Pinter, A. (2011). Children Learning Second Languages Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

Ringbom, H. (2007). Cross-linguistic Similarity in Foreign Language Learning. Clevdon: Multilingual Matters

Selby, S. (1972). The Development of Morphological Rules in Children British Journal of Educational Psychology 42(3), pp. 293-299.

Selinker, L. (1992). Rediscovering interlanguage. London: Longman

Service, E. (1992). Phonology, working memory, and foreign language learning. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 45A, pp.21-50

Shintani, N. & R.Ellis (2014). Tracking ‘learning behaviours’ in the incidental acquisition of two dimensional adjectives by Japanese beginner learners of L2 English Language Teaching Research, 10/2014, Volume 18, Number 4, pp.521-542

Skolverket (2016). Läroplan för grundskolan, förskoleklassen och fritidshemmet 2011, Reviderad 2016 Förordning (SKOLFS 2010:37) om läroplan för grundskolan, förskoleklassen och fritidshemmet ISBN: 978-913832691-6 (Swedish National Agency for Education, Curricula for the compulsory school, the pre-school and the leisure center 2011, Revised in 2016),

Skolverket (2004). Nationella utvärderingen av grundskolan 2003: huvudrapport - svenska/svenska som andra språk, engelska, matematik och undervisningen i årskurs 5. Skolverkets rapport, 1103-2421; 251, Stockholm: Skolverket (National evaluation of the compulsory school 2003: main report: Swedish, English, mathematics and the teaching in year 5. Swedish National Agency Report 1103-2421; 251)

Sunderman, G. & Kroll, J.F. (2006). First language activation during second language lexical processing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 28 pp. 387-422

Sundh, S. (2016). A Corpus of Young Learners’ English in the Baltic Region - Texts for Studies on Sustainable Development Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education Vol 7, no. 2, pp. 92-104, doi: 10.1515/dcse-2016-0018

Swan, M. (1997). The influence of the mother tongue on second language vocabulary acquisition and use. In Schmitt, N. & McCarthy, M (eds) Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition, and Pedagogy. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press

Swan, M. & Smith, B. (2001). Learner English – a Teacher’s Guide to Interference and Other Problems Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Vahdat, S. & Rasti Behbahani, A. (2013). The effect of videogames on Iranian EFL learners’ vocabulary learning. Reading Matrix. An International Online Journal, 13(1), pp.61-71

Vassiljev, L., Skopinskaja, L. & Liiv, S. (2015). The treatment of lexical collocations in EFL coursebooks in the Estonian secondary school context. Eesti Rakenduslingvistika Ühingu , Aastaraamat Eesti Rakenduslingvistika Ühing (Estonian Association for Applied Linguistics), Vol 11, 297-311. doi: 10.5128/ERYa11.18

Webb, S. (2007). The effects of repetition on vocabulary knowledge. Applied Linguistics 28(1) pp. 46-65

Zahar, R., Cobb, T. & Spada, N. (2001). Acquiring vocabulary through reading: effects of frequency and contextual richness. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 57(4), pp. 541-572