<b>Can metalinguistic awareness explain a connection between L1 literacy and L2 proficiency level in literate adults?</b><br>DOI:10.5007/2175-8026.2011n60p189

Abstract

Abstract:Recently, Bigelow, Delmas, Hansen, and Tarone (2006) argued that the differences in the oral performance of their L2 speakers (favoring the more literate ones) were probably due to their low level of metalinguistic awareness (which would be a consequence of their limited literacy). So as to contribute with evidence for this hypothesis, we collected data from 11 Brazilians, who performed tests of L1 literacy, L2 proficiency and L1 and L2 metalinguistic awareness (phonological, morphological, and syntactic) and a relationship between their L1 literacy and their L2 proficiency levels was, indeed, found. However, the role metalinguistic awareness (either in the L1 or the L2) plays in this relationship is not clear. While phonological awareness (in the L1 and in the 190 Donesca Cristina Puntel Xhafaj & Mailce Borges Mota L2) was related to L1 literacy and L2 proficiency, morphological awareness (in the L1, only) and syntactic awareness (in the L2, only) were only related to L2 proficiency. Though these inconclusive results might be the artifact of limitations in some of the instruments used to collect data, this seems to be a fruitful line of research.

Reading between the words: The effect of literacy on second language lexical segmentation

“…Somewhat contrary, Tarone and Bigelow (2005) suggest that L1 literacy may improve L2 acquisition through an improvement in memory and metalinguistic awareness. Although there are findings that support the claim L1 illiteracy hinders learning of morphology (Vainikka & Young-Scholten, 2007; van der Craats, 2011), there are also findings that show that higher L1 metalinguistic awareness, and a conscious attempt to extract grammatical rules (both associated with literacy), may actually harm L2 learning in literate adults (Robinson, 2005; Xhafaj & Mota, 2011). It is possible that literacy aids some areas of language learning (e.g., vocabulary and maybe morphology), but hinders others (e.g., collocations and gender agreement).…”