Edit filter log

'== Second Language Proficiency == === Developing L2 Proficiency - Katie === === Defining and Measuring L2 Proficiency - Jolie === ==== Defining L2 Proficiency ==== Over the last half century, there has been much debate as to how to define [[Second language|L2]] proficiency. An early theory by [[Robert Lado|Lado]] focused on the four "skills" of language--reading, writing, speaking, and listening<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lado|first=Robert|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/395065271|title=Language testing: The construction and use of foreign language tests: A teacher's book|date=|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=1964|location=New York|oclc=395065271}}</ref>. These skills are still emphasized today in many instructional materials. <ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Leclerq|first=Pascale|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/870699275|title=Measuring L2 proficiency : perspectives from SLA|last2=Edmonds|first2=Amanda|last3=Hilton|first3=Heather|date=2014|publisher=Multilingual Matters|others=|isbn=978-1-78309-228-4|location=Bristol|oclc=870699275}}</ref> While early theories by [[Noam Chomsky|Chomsky]] and Lado, among others, focused almost exclusively on grammatical knowledge, in the 1970s, [[Dell Hymes|Hymes]] popularized the idea of pragmatic [[communicative competence]], with competence defined as encompassing both knowledge of and use of language.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Hymes|first=Dell|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/651225|title=Sociolinguistics: selected readings|date=1972|publisher=Penguin|others=|isbn=0-14-080665-2|editor-last=Pride|editor-first=J. B.|location=Harmondsworth|chapter=On communicative competence|oclc=651225|editor-last2=Holmes|editor-first2=Janet}}</ref> In 1980, Canale and [[Merrill Swain|Swain]] published their own framework for communicative competence, based on 3 sub-competencies: grammatical, sociolinguistic, and strategic.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Canale|first=M.|last2=Swain|first2=M|date=1980-03-01|title=Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/applin/1.1.1|journal=Applied Linguistics|volume=1|issue=1|pages=1–47|doi=10.1093/applin/1.1.1|issn=0142-6001}}</ref> There has also been much debate as to the difference between competence and performance, and whether proficiency encompasses, or is encompassed by, one or both of these concepts. In the 1980s, Ingram, followed by Taylor, argued that proficiency should not only consider knowledge, but how that knowledge is put to use in a given context.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Iyldyz|first=Leila B.|date=2007|title=Rethinking Validity of the L2 Proficiency Concept: Lessons for EIL|url=https://www.eilj.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/1-april%202007.pdf|journal=Asian EFL Journal|volume=9|issue=1|pages=65-85|doi=|issn=1738-1460}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Taylor|first=D|date=1988|title=The meaning and use of the term 'competence' in linguistics and applied linguistics|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/9.2.148|journal=Applied Linguistics|volume=9(2)|pages=146-168}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Ingram|first=D.|title=Modelling and assessing second language development|publisher=Multilingual Matters|year=1985|isbn=0905028414|editor-last=Hyltenstam|editor-first=K.|location=Clevedon|pages=216-276|chapter=Assessing proficiency: An overview of some aspects of testing|editor-last2=Pienemann|editor-first2=M.}}</ref> Still today, there is some consensus on the idea that proficiency can be defined largely as communicative competence, but the finer details are not well agreed upon, and these differing definitions of proficiency can greatly affect how proficiency is measured. ==== Measuring L2 Proficiency ==== Because proficiency encompasses many different modalities and types of competencies, it can be difficult for educators to measure. Some measures of proficiency assess multiple modalities or competencies for an overall proficiency evaluation, whereas others evaluate only one specific facet of proficiency.<ref name=":0" /> The criteria for different scores or levels of proficiency can also vary between systems of measurement. One of the most widely used measures is the [[Common European Framework of Reference for Languages]]. It serves as a standard for proficiency measurement across Europe and in many other countries outside of Europe. === L1 Influence on L2 Proficiency - Brenna === A speaker's L1 can significantly affect L2 proficiency. Lado was among the first to refer to this process of cross-linguistic influence in second language acquisition as transfer.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Wang|first=Zhanming|date=2014-10-26|title=Review of the Influence of L1 in L2 Acquisition|url=http://www.cscanada.net/index.php/sll/article/view/5721|journal=Studies in Literature and Language|language=en|volume=9|issue=2|pages=57–60|doi=10.3968/n|issn=1923-1563}}</ref> Some of the components of L2 transfer include sounds, words, syntax and culture. [[Phonetics|Phonetic]] and [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] similarities between L1 and L2 can allow for easier L2 acquisition and higher L2 proficiency.<ref name=":1" /> Linguist Håkan Ringbom suggests that L2 proficiency is heavily dependent on the cross-linguistic similarities between a speaker's languages and states that L2 comprehension may depend on how well a speaker can acquire L1-L2 equivalencies.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Håkan.|first=Ringbom,|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/913056523|title=The role of the first language in foreign language learning|date=1987|publisher=Multilingual Matters Ltd|isbn=0-905028-81-3|oclc=913056523}}</ref> == References == <references />'