Second Language Learning Processes in Lower Primary Children

List of Tables 9 List of Figures 11 Acknowledgements 13 Introduction 14 PART ONE: COGNITIVE, EMOTIONAL, SOCIAL AND LINGUISTIC DEVELOPMENT 17 Chapter 1: Human learning 19 1 Approaches to learning 19 2 The role of intelligence in learning processes 21 2.1 Defining intelligence 21 2.2 Intelligence testing 22 2.3 Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children 23 3 The role of memory in learning processes 26 3.1 Sensory, short-term and long-term memory 27 3.2 Memory strategies 28 3.3 Study strategies 29 3.4 Metamemory 30 3.5 Recall and recognition 30 3.6 Pictorial and verbal encoding: single versus dual memory models 31 4 Cognitive styles and learning styles 32 5 The role of perception in learning processes 38 Chapter 2: Child development and learning processes in children 41 1 Historical foundations 42 2 Theories of child development 46 2.1 Piaget’s cognitive-developmental psychology 46 2.2 Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory 48 2.3 Information processing 49 2.4 Bruner’s theory 50 2.5 Feuerstein’s theory 51 2.6 Ecological systems theory 52 3 Child development and the educational system 53 3.1 Early school years 53 3.2 Gesell’s age group characteristics 54 3.3 Cognitive development – the period of concrete operations 56 3.4 Play as development 56 Chapter 3: First language acquisition 59 1 The history of child language studies 59 2 First language learning theories 62 3 Acquisition of phonology 65 4 The mental lexicon 66 5 Acquisition of the lexicon 68 6 Acquisition of syntax 72 Chapter 4: Second and foreign language acquisition 74 1 Theories of second language acquisition 74 1.1 Krashen’s Monitor Model 76 1.2 Interlanguage theory 79 1.3 Linguistic universals 80 1.4 Cognitive theory 82 2 Factors influencing second language acquisition 83 2.1 Motivation 83 2.2 Aptitude and intelligence 85 2.3 The age factor 87 3 The comparison of first and second language learning 92 Chapter 5: Vocabulary in second and foreign language acquisition 96 1 Vocabulary processing – the bilingual lexicon 98 2 Aspects of knowing a word 98 3 Word difficulty 101 4 The role of memory in vocabulary acquisition 102 5 Vocabulary learning strategies 103 6 Teaching second language vocabulary 106 6.1 Enhancing comprehension 107 6.2 Enhancing production 108 7 Assessing vocabulary knowledge 110 8 Children’s vocabulary learning and teaching 112 PART TWO: RESEARCH ON VOCABULARY RECOGNITION AND RECALL IN CHILDREN AGED 7–8 117 Chapter 6: Methodology of research on language learning and teaching 119 1 An overview 119 1.1 Defining research 119 1.2 Research traditions 120 2 Research methods 125 2.1 Case studies 126 2.2 Triangulation 127 2.3 Quasi-experimental methods 128 3 Ethical problems in educational research 129 4 Methods used in research projects in the primary context 131 Chapter 7: Research design 133 1 Research aims 133 2 Research variables and research questions 133 3 Research design and organization 134 4 Sample 135 5 Research instruments 136 Chapter 8: A qualitative research project on vocabulary recognition and recall in children aged 7–8 138 1 Research subjects 138 1.1 Syllabus 139 1.2 Additional teaching materials 140 1.3 Learning progress 141 2 Methods, Procedures and Materials 143 2.1 Method 143 2.2 Procedure 144 2.3 Materials 146 3 Research instruments 146 4 Case studies 148 4.1 Case study A 150 4.2 Case study B 155 4.3 Case study C 159 4.4 Case study D 164 4.5 Case study E 168 4.6 Case study F 171 4.7 Case study G 175 4.8 Case study H 179 5 Factors influencing subjects’ lexical attainment 182 5.1 Linguistic factors 184 5.2 Psychological factors 198 5.3 Conclusions from the qualitative research project for the quantitative research Project 200 Chapter 9: A quantitative research project on vocabulary recognition and recall in children aged 7–8 202 1 Introduction 202 2 Research sample 202 3 Research method 203 4 Research instruments 204 5 Quantitative results in the researcher’s perspective 204 5.1 Research question number 1 204 5.2 Research question number 2 206 5.3 Research question number 3 208 6 Correlation analysis of lexical test results and factors observed by the teacher 210 7 Teacher variable 212 8 Discussion 214 Conclusions and implications for teaching English to young learners 216 Bibliography 220 Subject index 234 Selected author’s index 238