This study is a contribution to the empirical underpinning of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and it aims to identify linguistic correlates to the proficiency levels defined by the CEFR. The study was conducted in a Swedish school setting, focusing on English, French and Italian, and examined the relationship between CEFR levels (A1–C2) assigned by experienced raters to learners’ written texts and three measures of syntactic complexity (based on length of t-unit, subclause ratio, and mean length of clause (cf. Norris & Ortega, 2009)). Data were elicited through two written tasks (a short letter and a narrative) completed by pupils of L2 English (N = 54) in years four, nine and the final year of upper-secondary school, L3 French (N = 38) in year nine and the final year of upper-secondary school, and L4 Italian (N = 28) in the final year of upper-secondary school and first year of university. The results showed that, globally, there were weak to medium-strong correlations between assigned CEFR levels and the three measures of syntactic complexity in English, French and Italian. Furthermore, it was found that syntactic complexity was homogeneous across the three languages at CEFR level A, whereas syntactic complexity was different across languages at CEFR level B, especially in the data for English and French. Consequences for the empirical validity of the CEFR framework and the nature of the three measures of complexity are discussed.
This article explores the value of judiciously used first language (L1)-to-second language (L2) translation in meaning-focused, advanced-level academic language education. It examines languaging in the teacher-led discourse (TLD) that arises when translation tasks are used and compares it to languaging during the TLD engendered by 4 other grammar-focused tasks. Data were collected in 3 different groups of students who were taught by the same teacher within a functioning university course in English at a Swedish university. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of audio-recorded lessons revealed that translation tasks led to (a) particularly high levels of student-initiated referential questions that break the initiation-response-feedback pattern and (b) a less-frequent focus on targeted L2 grammar as student attention tended to be drawn to vocabulary. Qualitative analysis of teacher scaffolding suggests that the teacher used translation to create a forum for student-centered discussion of various aspects of English language use in order to meet one of the course goals. The relatively strong presence of studentinitiated interaction suggests that translation may have particular potential to engender student activity. It is argued that translation, therefore, may have an important, yet limited, place in academic-level language education where knowledge of the L1 is shared.DEVELOPING EVIDENCE-BASED EDUCAtional practices for the teaching of form in instructed second language (L2) settings is a major current topic in pedagogically oriented second language acquisition (SLA) research. Even so, in many cases practice rests more on intuition than on theoretically informed empirical research, particularly when it comes to courses aimed toward developing advanced-level L2 capacities (Leaver & Shekhtman, 2002;Ortega & Byrnes, 2008). We know that instruction facilitates L2 learning, but "[t]he crucial question is . . . what kind of instruction works best" (Ellis, 2005, pp. 725-726). One form-focused task that has recently been advocated by a number of applied linguists and language educators as being pedagogically sound is translation, if used judiciously and alongside others in settings where the teacher and students share the same first language (L1)
Recent research suggests that multilingual students tend to use their complete language repertoires, particularly their L1, when writing in a non -native language (e.g. Cenoz & Gorter 2011;Wang 2003
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