VARIABLES AFFECTING NATIVE MEXICAN CHILDREN'S LEARNING SPANISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE¹

Abstract

To assess the effect of the different variables of theoretical and practical interest to second language research, 920 Native Mexican children, aged five through twelve, learning Spanish as a second language were tested on a Spanish language achievement test. The variables measured for investigation were: order of presentation of the different parts of the test; age, sex and native languages of the children; whether the father, mother and siblings speak Spanish; proximity of the domicile to a Spanish speaking community; amount of attendance at school; and whether the parents needed to speak Spanish to travel for work. The variables which had a statistically significant effect on test scores were: order of presentation of the parts of the test; native language of the children; father speaks Spanish; attendance at school; and need for the parents to speak Spanish to travel for work. All other variables in this study were not statistically significant. Discussion of the results includes possible reasons for the findings.

Instruction and Exposure: How Do They Contribute To Second Language Acquisition?

“…2, 1998 FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALSSVMMER 1998 Krashen and Seliger 1975;Krashen 1976;Krashen and Seliger 1976;Krashen, Zelinski, Jones, and Usprich 1978). Similar findings r e garding the beneficial effects of formal classroom instruction have been reported by others (Briere 1978;Chihara and Oller 1978;Bialystok 1979;Pica 1983;Long 1983;Billmyer 1990;and Ellis 1991). Another group of studies points out that formal classroom instruction does not make any significant contribution to ESL develop ment, especially when opportunities to practice English exist outside the classroom (Upshur 1968;Hale and Budar 1970;Mason 1971;Schumann 1976;Martin 1980;Kadia 1989;and Tang 1991).…”

The Influence of Formal Language Learning Environment on Vocabulary Learning Strategies

“…The results of this study showed that some strategies which the students are using are related to the ways that they are trained by their teachers. These results are consistent with those of other studies such as (Briere, 1978;Carroll, 1967;Chihara and Oiler, 1978;Krashen, et al 1978 andSeligar, 1976) who suggested that the role of formal instruction on second language acquisition is undoubtedly important.…”

“…Many researchers approved the positive influence of formal instruction on second language learning (Briere, 1978;Carroll, 1967;Chihara and Oiler, 1978;Krashen et al, 1978 andSeligar, 1976). Haggan (1990) examined EFL students in Kuwait University where she perused the benefits of using newspapers in the teaching of English as a foreign language.…”

Barriers to Speaking in English Among Maritime Students

“…One of them is the opportunity to use the target language. According to Briere, second language acquisition is heavily influenced by the amount of time in exposure to a target language in linguistic environments, both formally and informally [29]. Language acquisition and the type and proficiency level resulting from the learning process is determined by language exposure.…”