ERIC Number: EJ1158436
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Dec
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0090-6905
EISSN: N/A
Word-Level and Sentence-Level Automaticity in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Learners: a Comparative Study
Ma, Dongmei; Yu, Xiaoru; Zhang, Haomin
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, v46 n6 p1471-1483 Dec 2017
The present study aimed to investigate second language (L2) word-level and sentence-level automatic processing among English as a foreign language students through a comparative analysis of students with different proficiency levels. As a multidimensional and dynamic construct, automaticity is conceptualized as processing speed, stability, and accuracy which are indexed by reaction time, coefficient variation and accuracy rate. Sixty students (39 undergraduate students and 21 graduate students) who majored in English participated in this study. They completed the lexical semantic classification task, the sentence construction task, the sentence verification task under two different modalities (visually- and aurally-presented situations). Multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the differences between the students with different proficiency levels pertaining to their L2 performance. The results indicated that the processing speed was not found to be a good indicator of automatic language processing. Moreover, both levels of students appeared to reach a plateau in word-level processing but there were some variations in students' sentential processing. Finally, the findings showed that automatic language processing seemed to be module-specific and non-sharable across different modalities and skills.
Descriptors: English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Language Processing, Psycholinguistics, Language Proficiency, Comparative Analysis, Classification, Semantics, Task Analysis, Sentences, Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students, Accuracy, Reaction Time, Majors (Students), Second Language Instruction, Multivariate Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A