WHAT CAN YOU DO TO
FACILITATE YOUR L2
LEARNING？
Yukiko A. Hatasa
Hiroshima University
Successful Language Learners
Successful L2 learners are:





Highly motivated.
Autonomous.
Capable of using a variety of language learning
strategies.
Select strategies that match with the learners’
cognitive styles, learning styles, and learning
contexts and language use.
Able to maximize the opportunities for
socialization with native speakers.
Motivation
The strongest predictor of
 General achievement
 Oral task engagement
 Extensive reading
 Reading comprehension
 Kanji knowledge
(Gardner, 2003; Noels, 2000; Dornyei, 2005; Dönyei & Kormos, 2000; Maclntyre et al., 2003;
Yamashita, 2004. Schmidt,et al., 1996; Schmidt &Watanabe, 2001; Kondo-Brown, 2006)
Types of Motivation (Deci & Ryan,1985)
A)
Intrinsic motivation (performing the task
because of the inherent pleasure in doing so)
1. IM-knowledge (The pleasure involved in
learning new things)
2. IM-accomplishments (The enjoyment
inherent in mastering challenges or grasp a
difficult construct in L2),
3. IM-stimulation (The general aesthetic
pleasure of the experience, e.g., the high that I
experience while speaking L2)
B) External motivation
1. Integrated regulation (L2 learning supports a
valuable component of one’s identity and selfconcept.)
2. Identified regulation (L2 learning will help
him/her to achieve an important personal goal.)
3. introjected regulation (Imposing pressure on
him/herself to perform an activity; e.g., I feel
guilty if I didn’t know the L2. )
4. External regulation (An complete external
control over the activity by the expectation of
rewards or punishments, e.g. to get a job. )
C) Amotivation (absence of motivation. e.g., I don’t
really understand what I am doing studying L2. )
Effects of Different Types Motivation
1. Intrinsic motivation is more effective than extrinsic
motivation.
2. Intrinsic motivation is a predictor of:
(a) Lower anxiety, increased tolerance of ambiguity
(b) Positive attitudes towards language learning
(c) Feelings of self-efficacy in language learning
(d) Increased language use and persistence
(e) Increased grammatical sensitivity
(f) Improvement on speaking and reading proficiency
(g) Language learning strategy preferences
(h) Motivational intensity
(Ehrman, 1996; Noels et al., 1999, 2000; Ramage, 1990; Schmidt, Boraie, & Kassabgy, 1996; Tachibana, Matsukawa, & Zhong, 1996;KondoBrown 2006).
How to maintain your motivation and
support strategic learning
1. Identify long-term and short-term goals (IM-
accomplishment).
Be realistic about your goals. Short term goals
should be achievable with efforts and can see
outcomes/effects within the time span you have
specified.
2. Make an overall plan to achieve your short-term
and long-term goals.
3. Choose a task to achieve short terms goals
and work on it.
4. Choose an enjoyable task that is slightly difficult
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
but not too difficult, such as reading books,
watching anime or drama, listening to J-pop,
playing games, etc. (IM-knowledge & IMesthetics, IM-accomplishment)
Regularly check and reflect on what has worked
or not worked, using checklists and logs.
If your original goals are found to be a bit
unrealistic, modify your goals and plans to make
them more realistic.
Relax and pay attention to the sign of stress.
Reward yourself when you have done well on a
L2 task.
Do not compare yourself with others.
Learning Strategies
1. Learning strategies are techniques employed
by learners to facilitate learning and support
autonomous long-term learning.
2. Learning to use strategies is like learning to
drive. It takes practice and time to be good at
it. But in a long run, having a good set of
strategies will facilitate L2 learning.
3. Learning strategy is not a quick fix, so don’t
expect an immediate result.
Types of Strategies
Direct Strategies
Strategies that deal with language directly.
1. Memory Strategies
Creating mental linkages, applying images and sounds、
reviewing well, employing action
2.
Cognitive Strategies
Practicing, receiving and sending messages, analyzing
and reasoning, creating structure for input and output
3.
Compensation Strategies
Guessing intelligently, overcoming limitations in
speaking and writing
（See Handout pp.5-13）
Indirect Strategies
Strategies that regulate your learning process
1.
Metacognitive Strategies
Centering your learning, arranging & planning your
learning, evaluating your learning
2.
Affective Strategies
Lowering your anxiety, encouraging yourself, taking your
emotional temperature
3.
Social Strategies
Asking questions, cooperating with others , empathizing
with others
Effects of Learning Strategies
1. The use of appropriate language learning
strategies often results in improved proficiency
and achievement overall or in specific skill
areas.
2. Successful language learners can:


Use strategies that work well together in a
highly orchestrated way, tailored to the
requirements of the language task.
Explain the strategies they use and why they
employ them.
(Chamot & Kupper, 1989/ Oxford et al., 1993; Thompson & Rubin, 1993;O'Malley & Chamot,
1990; Cohen et al.1997)
3. Well tailored combinations of strategies often
have more impact than single strategies.
Certain strategies or clusters of strategies are
linked to particular language skills or tasks.
Speaking risk-taking, paraphrasing,
circumlocution, self-monitoring, selfevaluation
Listening
elaborating, inferencing, selective
: .
attention, self-onitoring
Reading whispered reading, guessing,
deduction, summarizing
Writing:
planning, self-monitoring, deduction,
substitution
How to Use Appropriate Strategies
1. Know your personality, belief , attitudes, and
beliefs about language learning, your learning
styles, and general approach to language
learning.
 Asian students tend not to have strong
negative attitudes or belief towards
memorization
 Negative attitudes and beliefs often causing
poor strategy use or lack of orchestration of
strategies.
 People who are impatient about unknown tend
to develop negative attitudes.
2. Know what types of strategy works for different
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
task types.
Choose a strategy that fits your learning style and
that you think you can handle with reasonable
efforts.
Limit a number of strategy to practice.
As you use the strategy, keep a checklist or log of
what worked and what not.
Once you become used to using the strategy,
select another strategy to practice.
Strategies should be chosen so that they mesh
with and support each other and so that they fit
the requirements of the language task, the
learners’ goals, and the learners’ style of learning.
Nativelikeness
1. Pronunciation
2. Fluency
3. Accuracy
4. Vocabulary (50,000 or more)
5. Appropriate choice and use of vocabulary
and grammar.
6. Sociolinguistic competence
7. Discourse competence
How to Acquire Native-like Control
1. The acquisition of procedural knowledge is
essential in order to use the language
2. However, most classroom learners are taught
declarative knowledge.
3. Key to successful language learning is how
fast you can move from the declarative
knowledge stage to the procedural
knowledge stage.
Declartive knowledge and Procdural
knowledge
Declarative knowledge
 Knowledge
you obtain through explanations,
reading, etc. It helps to understand how a
language works
 The acquisition of declarative knowledge is
unrelated to language proficiency.
 The use of this knowledge requires a lot of
conscious control and efforts. Thus, language
processing with this knowledge is slow.
Procedural knowledge
 Knowledge about how to do things, cannot be
easily explained verbally, and cannot obtained
without a lot of practice in using language.
 This type of knowledge is processed
unconsciously and automatically, and thus
language processing is extremely fast.
 The automatization of low-level language
elements such as phonology, lexicon, letter and
word recognition, and grammar is essential for
fluency.
How to automatize low-evel
language elements?
Phonology
1. The most sigifiicant factor with which native
speakers makes judgment about nonnativeness.
2. Among phonological features
1. Accent & intonation affects native speakers’
judgment more than other features.
2. An inability to differenciate long vowels,
double consonants, and non-special morae
causes comprehension and production
problems.
How to improve your pronunciation
1. People who can tell the native speaker’s model
sound and your own tend to improve those who
cannot (Ogawara, 1997).
2. Learning to pronounce correctly requires
conscious and focused practice of target
phonological features.
3. Repetition of a model sound with selfmonitoring of your speech is necessary.
4. Once you get a feel of the correct pronunciation,
use it over and over again in communication
until it becomes a part of you.
Grammar
1.
Grammar explanation helps to acquire the
declarative knowledge, but it does not convert into
the procedural knowledge without practice.
2.
Mechanical drills such as repetitions help improve
pronunciation, but no correlation is found between
the amount of participation in mechanical drills
and grammatical acquisition.
3.
Repetition for the purpose of confirmation checks
and clarification checks are more effective in
internalizing grammar. Beginner should be
encouraged to use this type of repetition.
4.
Students tend to acquire grammatical
competence more readily when they engage in
tasks where they have to process information
and use the language functionally.
5.
When students take an initiative in conversation,
grammatical complexity and speech acts vary
more than teacher centered classroom.
6.
Students tends to acquire answers to a problem
that they themselves raised in classroom than
those presented by the teacher.
(Seliger, 1977;Naiman et al 1978, Strong, 1984; Day, 1984; Ely, 1986, Dekeyser, 2007;
Cathcart, 1986; Ellis, Basturkmen, Loewen, 2001)
How to acquire procedural
knowledge of grammar
During speaking:
1. Analyze your own form and the correct
form
2. Analyze grammar and hypothesize the
correct form using your knowledge of
grammar.
3. Speak and try to get some feedback from
your listener to test your hypothesis.
(Iwashita 1999, 2003, Philp 2003, Takahashi 2003, Oliver & Mackay 2003)。
4. Learn a lot of expressions that help you to
negotiate meanings and use them during
conversation in L2 (Long, 1991)
•
•
•
•
Comprehension check (e.g.（私がいったことが／い
みが） わかりますか？（この表現は／意味は）正しい
ですか。まちがっていませんか。）
Confirmation check (e.g., 〜ですね。〜っていうことで
すか？〜っていいましたか, 〜ですか）
Repetition
Clarification request （e.g, あのう、今よくわからな
かったんですけど， 〜がわからなかったんですけど,
もういちどいってくれませんか， 〜ってなんですか。
Try to engage in one-to-one conversation. It
increases the amout and complexity of speech,
and helps improving the comprehension.
6. Ask your teachers to provide more opportunities
for pair work. It should have a specific
communicative goal and go beyond pattern
practice with gaps or script with blanks. A good
pair work should be task-oriented and can be
extended to a real-life task.
5.
7.
(Pica & Doughty 1985; Pica, Young & Doughty 1987, Gass & Varonis 1994, Loschky
1994, Polio & Gass 1998; Mackay 1999, Ellis and He 1999, Ohta 1999, 2000).
After speaking
1. Try to write down what you have talked
about and check the forms on your own.
2. Use check list (noticing log to find out
what you have been able to or not able to
do during the conversation.
Vocabulary Knowledge
1. Vocabulary knowledge is the key to
beginning level conversation.
2. Vocabulary knowledge is the best predictor
of reading proficiency.
(Nation, 2001)
Types of vocabulary knowledge
1. Word knowledge
2. Formulaic sequence (multi-word
strings)
Word knowledge (Mental lexicon)
(Levelt, 1993)
lexime
lemma
Meaning
Phonology
Syntax
Grapheme
Morphology
Mental lexicon: meaning
1. Labeling
Matching the object and the word
2. Packaging
Defining the scope of word meaning
3. Network building
Paradigmatic relations (table-chair)
Syntagmatic relations (sit-chair)
Characteristics of vocabulary
acquisition
1. Most of vocabulary is acquired incidentally.
2. Conscious learning or memorization of
vocabulary has a limitation.
3. Many of the vocabulary items are learned
through reading in the case of adults.
4. Using vocabulary in context is essential to
build appropriate L2 mental lexicon.
(Anderson & Freebody,1981; Ammon, 1987; Garcia 1991; Flood et. al., 1991; Rupley,
Logan, and Nichols , 1999)
Japanese word recognition
(Kadota, 1998)
Semantic representation
Orthographic
representation
Phonological
representation
Visual input
Characteristics of Japanese word
recognition
1.
2.
3.
4.
Visual shapes, sounds, and meanings must be
processed in order to recognize words.
Processing orthographic information must be very fast
for fluent recognition.
Use of information is different depending orthographic
backgrounds. Alphabetic readers tend to rely heavily
on sound information but Japanese readers use
graphic information in addition to sounds.
Learners tend to be affected by their L1. As they
become more proficient, they tend to acquire more
appropriate strategies for L2 though they may never
acquire native-like strategy
(Chikamatsu, 1996、2006; Akamatsu, 1998, 1999, 2002;Haynes & Carr, 1990； Mori 1998, Koda, 1989, 1990,
1998)
Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition
1. Guessing a word meaning using morphological and
2.
3.
4.
5.
contextual information facilitates vocabulary
acquisition.
An ability to guess the meaning of the word using the
morphological information is unrelated to language
proficiency.
An ability to use context is positively correlated with
language proficiency.
If sound can be identified in context, it is easier to
guess the meaning of a words.
Combined use of morphology and context is more
effective than a heavy reliance on one of them.
(Freyd & Baron 1982 ; Tyler & Nagy 1989; Mori & Nagy, 1999; Mori 2002a, 2003; Kondo-Brown,
2007
How to increase word knowledge
1. Acquisition of kanji knowledge affects vocabulary
development .
2. Learners must have a positive attitudes toward
kanji:
 kanji is useful and has a cultural value and
learn historical significance.
 The knowledge of kanji component shapes and
morphology helps kanji learning
3. Speeded word recognition tasks (e.g., scanning
on the web, speed reading, kanji writing in the
air) to develop the skill to process orthographic
information fast.
4.
(Mori, Sato & Shimizu, 2007)
4. Utilize kanji morphology using kanji
games, kanji-matching games, etc.
5. Reading a lot of somewhat challenging
but interesting materials on the same
topic to increase frequency.
6. Try to paraphrase or define expressions
using your own words.
Formulaic sequence
Formulaic sequence are preferred multi-word
strings that native speakers use.
Knowing formulaic sequences is particularly
important at the beginning level because they
reduce memory load and increase a chance of
sustained communication.
Native speakers have a large inventory of
formulaic sequence, but non-native speakers
don’t.
(Ellis, 2004; Wray, 2002,2009; Schmidt, 2001)
4. A lack of knowledge of formulaic sequence are
found to cause persistent problem of nonnativeness at an advanced level
E.g.) 早速お返事を書いてくださり、どうもあ
りがとうございました。
E.g. ) 正直に話してみますと、僕は韓国で日
本語教育を専攻しており、専ら日本語だけ
を勉強しました。
How to increase the knowledge of
lemma and formulaic sequence
1. Study vocabulary in phrases rather than
individual words
2. Use vocabulary in phrases in conversation
instead of relying heavily on grammar.
3. For advance learners, pay attention to
expressions that native speakers use which
is new to you. Take a note, and use it in
context.
おわり
ご静聴ありがとうございました。