Chinese As A Second Language Learners Speech Competence And Speech Performance In Classroom Contexts
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Chinese as a Second Language Multilinguals’ Speech Competence and Speech Performance
This book offers a comprehensive and systematic review of multilingual L2 learners’ spoken Chinese, focusing on the dual dimensions of speech competence and speech performance. Specifically, by adopting a mixed-methods approach, it explores the cognitive, affective, and socio-cultural differences between intermediate and advanced multilingual learners’ L2 Chinese speech competence and speech performance. Drawing on a theoretical framework underpinned by the affective filter hypothesis, L2 willingness to communicate model, L2 motivational self-system, and L2 speech production models, this book not only contributes to our theoretical understanding of the roles of various factors in L2 Chinese speech competence and speech performance, but also offers practical insights into the implications for both teachers and learners in terms of how to minimize the gap between these two dimensions among L2 Chinese learners. It concludes with a discussion on the limitations of L2 Chinese speech and on future directions for the field.
Chinese as a Second Language Learners' Speech Competence and Speech Performance in Classroom Contexts
People learn another language to be able to communicate. Nevertheless, most people are rarely able to speak an L2 with the same degree of, or even close to, the same skill of their L1s (Segalowitz, 2010). An underlying reason could be the existence of an L2 speech discrepancy/gap between speech competence and speech performance in all learners. Such a discrepancy/gap often leads to the breakdown of L2 speech performance no matter how good speech competence is. Although many researchers have explored L2 speech/speaking from cognitive (e.g., Segalowitz, 2010), affective (e.g., Chakrabarti & Sengupta, 2012), or sociocultural (e.g., Hernández, 2010) perspectives in an attempt to reveal the underlying reasons that may cause the discrepancy between speech competence and speech performance, little research, to date, has been conducted to investigate, comprehensively and systematically, the same cohort of L2 learners, particularly L2 Chinese learners, on the understandings of how these various aspects may contribute to a discrepant/unbalanced development of L2 learners' speech competence and speech performance. To fill this research gap, 152 Chinese as a second language (CSL) learners were recruited for this mixed methods study, with 118 for a quantitative investigation and 34 for an in-depth qualitative enquiry, informed by major theoretical and conceptual frameworks relating to L2 speech. These theoretical and conceptual frameworks include Krashen's (1982) affective filter hypothesis, MacIntyre and associates' (1998) L2 willingness to communicate (WTC) model, Dörnyei's (2009) L2 motivational self system, and Levelt's (1989) and Segalowitz's (2010) L2 speech production models, in order to examine CSL learners' speech competence and speech performance from cognitive, affective, and socio-cultural perspectives concurrently. The quantitative results of the study, on the one hand, revealed that age, anxiety, WTC, and L2 cultural interest were the predictors for CSL learners' speech competence, while kinaesthetic/tactile learning style, processing speed, anxiety, and attitudes towards L2 classes were the predictors for CSL learners' speech performance. Moreover, it was suggested that speech competence and speech performance were not in a simple positive linear relationship. The qualitative results, on the other hand, implied that group learning style, practice strategy, extrinsic motivation, communication apprehension, speaking self-efficacy, and WTC might account for the CSL learners' speech competence/performance development. In brief, the present study adds to our understanding of the complex nature of speech competence and speech performance from an integrated lens, namely, cognitively, affectively, and socio-culturally. The implications of the study in terms of what support could be provided to minimise the discrepancy/gap between CSL learners' speech competence and speech performance are discussed, and limitations and suggestions for future research explored.
Individual Differences in Second/Foreign Language Speech Production: Multidisciplinary Approaches and New Sounds
Author: Peijian Paul Sun
language: en
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Release Date: 2023-09-01
Second/foreign language (L2) speech production is a complex process requiring individuals’ combined efforts to utilize various processing components such as conceptualiser, formulator, and articulator. Since the publication of Pim Levelt’s book Speaking – From Intention to Articulation in 1989, a considerable number of studies have examined L2 speech production in the field of neuroscience with a particular focus on the link between speech perception and speech production. Undeniably, a neurolinguistic examination of speech production can enrich our understanding of how human brains compute linguistic information at a cognitive level. However, it is insufficient by only focusing on the neurocognitive dimension of speech production, given that individuals’ speech production can be subject to various individual differences factors, either cognitively, affectively, or socio-culturally. It is, therefore, necessary to move beyond the neurocognitive understanding of speech production by taking every possible perspective into consideration. Individual difference, as an umbrella term, covers psychological traits, personal characteristics, cognitive and emotional components that distinguish learners from each other. Given that individual difference factors can reveal disparities in L2 learning and performance among learners, such factors have attracted researchers’ growing interest concerning their influences on L2 speech processing, their relationships with L2 speech performance, and their contributions to L2 speech development. Nevertheless, our understanding of L2 speech production is not only insufficient compared to other L2 skills such as writing and reading, but also limited to the neurocognitive account of L2 speech production. More research, therefore, is in urgent need to uncover the influence of various individual differences factors on L2 speech production from multidisciplinary perspectives.