Papers by Michael Harrington
Schmidt (1990, 1995) proposed a seminal theory of the role of awareness in second language (L2) l... more Schmidt (1990, 1995) proposed a seminal theory of the role of awareness in second language (L2) learning, distinguishing two levels of awareness, noticing, argued to be necessary for L2 learning, and understanding, which was not. This theory has framed subsequent debate on the role of awareness in L2 learning, and the phrase noticing the gap has entered the common lexicon of L2 researchers. However, while Schmidt's distinction suggests hypotheses that are in principle testable, in practice, thorny difficulties have impeded progress. Theoretical difficulties arise in drawing the line between noticing and understanding, and methodological problems relate to the use of verbal protocols as the measure of understanding. Verbal protocols have created difficulties because measuring understanding depends on both how articulate the learner is and what the rater's definition of understanding is. We concur with Truscott and Sharwood Smith (2011) that one cannot norvarbitrarily distinguish between noticing and understanding and suggest that progress can be made by combining both under the heading of awareness. We also suggest that a better approach to measuring awareness is to use the cognitive neurophysiological approach of measuring event-related potentials (ERPs) while learners perform grammaticality judgment tasks (G]Ts), together with behavioral measures of G]T sensitivity. If that approach is combined with provision of explicit or implicit feedback on each trial, one can observe differential awareness and differential learning within a single experiment. We briefly review recent studies that have investigated online L2 processing of grammatical violations using ERPs and shown evidence for both conscious and unconscious processing of such violations, as well as ERP studies of learners' online conscious and unconscious processing of their own response errors.
Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 2013
This study examines the effect of recognition-based retrieval practice on vocabulary learning in ... more This study examines the effect of recognition-based retrieval practice on vocabulary learning in a university Chinese class. Students (N=26) were given practice retrieving new vocabulary (single or two-character words) in a series of simple form recognition tests administered over four weeks. The test sets consisted of target vocabulary that appeared in the previous week’s lesson and distracter items drawn from upcoming vocabulary. Tests were group-administered via PowerPoint and students used a checklist response to indicate whether a given item had appeared in the previous week’s material. Responses relied on episodic knowledge of previous exposure and required no processing of semantic information. Students were able to reliably identify the target items in the retrieval task with performance on these items being found superior to that for supplementary list control words on midterm and final vocabulary tests. The findings indicate that a focus on word forms can have a measurable...
Cognitive Processing in Bilinguals, 1992
This chapter examines the role of working memory capacity in L2 development. The first part of th... more This chapter examines the role of working memory capacity in L2 development. The first part of the chapter traces the development of working memory as an explanatory construct in individual differences models of language processing and use. The research paradigm developed ...
This chapter examines vocabulary size as a dimension of second language (L2) vocabulary skill. Th... more This chapter examines vocabulary size as a dimension of second language (L2) vocabulary skill. The vocabulary size research literature is introduced and research methods used to study it are described. The use of frequency statistics to estimate vocabulary size is introduced and the relationship of vocabulary size measures to L2 performance is explained.
Issues in the Teaching and Learning of Japanese, 1998
This study examines the use of gendered sentence-final forms by learners of Japanese as a second ... more This study examines the use of gendered sentence-final forms by learners of Japanese as a second language (JSL). Sentence-final forms (SFF) like wa, zo, kashira, etc., are pervasive in Japanese speech, and serve to signal agreement or empathy with the interlocutor and to maintain the ongoing discourse. Although these forms carry no syntactic or semantic meaning, they serve a range of pragmatic functions, including that of marking gender, which is an important distinction in Japanese. In this study the receptive and productive knowledge of gendered forms by advanced JSL learners is examined. Results from a recognition test and an analysis of oral speech samples produced by JSL learners are compared with those of a control group of native Japanese speakers. Three findings emerged. 1) The advanced JSL learners consistently used the same sentence-final forms, which were far fewer in number than those used native speaker counterparts. 2) No clear-cut male-female differences emerged in ei...
CALICO Journal, 2013
Recent research suggests that email can be a powerful motivator for authentic L2 interaction, but... more Recent research suggests that email can be a powerful motivator for authentic L2 interaction, but little is known about the efficacy of this medium in the development of target language proficiency. The present study addresses this issue by examining email exchanges between university learners of Japanese as a foreign language and native Japanese university students. Of interest is the effect of email interactions on the incidental development L2 syntax and vocabulary as reflected in both quantitative and qualitative measures. Messages sampled at regular intervals over a 5-week collection period indicated a reliable increase in syntactic development as reflected in several measures of structural mastery as well as in qualitative ratings supplied by native speaking raters. There was no evidence of quantitative development for vocabulary, but qualitative ratings did show a small improvement over the collection period. A sharp drop-off was noted between the first and the second samples across all measures, with learner performance then improving steadily till the end of the study. The findings are related to an interactionist account of L2 development that is embedded in the framework of computer-mediated communication (CMC). Issues in research methodology are also discussed.
This paper presents findings of a study of recognition vocabulary knowledge as a predictor of wri... more This paper presents findings of a study of recognition vocabulary knowledge as a predictor of written Academic English Proficiency (AEP) and overall Academic Achievement in an English medium higher education program in an English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) context. Vocabulary knowledge was measured using a Timed YES/NO (TYN) test. AEP was assessed using an academic writing test based on IELTS. Performance on these measures was correlated with Grade Point Average (GPA) as a measure of academic achievement for Arabic L1 users (N=70) at an English-medium College of Applied Sciences in the Sultanate of Oman. Vocabulary size and speed correlated with both academic writing and GPA measures. The combined vocabulary and writing measures were also examined as predictors of academic achievement. The TYN test is discussed as reliable, cost and time effective general measure of AEP and for showing if students have the necessary vocabulary knowledge to undertake study in a tertiary level English medium program.
Nigeria presents a unique case study on differences in agricultural productivity between men and ... more Nigeria presents a unique case study on differences in agricultural productivity between men and women. This study, which captures a comprehensive picture of agriculture across the nation, shows that female farmers produce 16 percent less per hectare than their male counterparts, when plot size, farmer characteristics, and inputs are taken into account. This gender gap is driven by the North East and Central zones located in the Northern region of the country, where female farmers are 28 percent less productive than male farmers. In this region, women, particularly those who are older, farm on smaller plots and have lower levels of key inputs, notably fertilizer and labor, which is a well-documented pattern in many African contexts. The Southern region, however, does not fit this established pattern. When controlling for key characteristics and factors of production, in the South no gender gap in productivity is observed, though female farmers would benefit from additional herbicide and female labor. The notably different patterns in these two regions of the same country provide ample space for further study. Thus, in order to decrease the country-wide gender gap in production, we recommend extending access to fertilizer, hired labor, and cash crops to women-particularly those in the North.
Alaa Alanz 2nd Combined Conference, Jul 26, 2011
The learning of L2 vocabulary involves the learning of a phonological or orthographic form, its m... more The learning of L2 vocabulary involves the learning of a phonological or orthographic form, its meaning, and its condition of use. Typically all three are simultaneously involved in classroom instruction, with the emphasis varying on the task. Presented here is a pilot study that examines the effectiveness of a activity that focuses on practice in recognising the word forms alone in a Chinese FL classroom. A series of form recognition tests requiring students to judge whether a presented word item was encountered in the previous week were administered over a four week period. Participants were a group of intermediate Chinese FL learners (n =30) in a university language course. The treatment consisted of a checklist task in which participants were asked to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as to whether a given item was part of the previous week’s lesson. The list included target items from the previous week as well as distracters. The preliminary results indicate that students were able to reliably identify items previously presented, and that performance on target items on mid-term vocabulary tests was better than for other unit vocabulary, suggesting that form retrieval practice can contribute to learning. The relevance of the results and the focus on perceptual learning is related the explicit development of automatic word retrieval skills in the classroom, as well as to a possible role that episodic-binding – that is, the use of the specific learning episode as an encoding cue for new word knowledge – might play in L2 vocabulary learning, particularly for less-advanced learners.
Language Testing in Asia, 2013
This paper presents findings of a study of recognition vocabulary knowledge as a predictor of wri... more This paper presents findings of a study of recognition vocabulary knowledge as a predictor of written Academic English Proficiency (AEP) and overall Academic Achievement in an English medium higher education program in an English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) context. Vocabulary knowledge was measured using a Timed YES/NO (TYN) test. AEP was assessed using an academic writing test based on IELTS. Performance on these measures was correlated with Grade Point Average (GPA) as a measure of academic achievement for Arabic L1 users (N=70) at an English-medium College of Applied Sciences in the Sultanate of Oman. Vocabulary size and speed correlated with both academic writing and GPA measures. The combined vocabulary and writing measures were also examined as predictors of academic achievement. The TYN test is discussed as reliable, cost and time effective general measure of AEP and for showing if students have the necessary vocabulary knowledge to undertake study in a tertiary level English medium program.
his study examines the relationship between written academic English proficiency and academic ach... more his study examines the relationship between written academic English proficiency and academic achievement in an undergraduate English-medium university program in the Sultanate of Oman. The study aims to identify reliable measures for screening academically at-risk students in a time and cost effective manner. Three established measures of written English proficiency (academic writing, academic reading and recognition vocabulary) are examined as predictors of academic achievement as reflected in student grade-point average (GPA). Performance on the three tests by Year 1 (N = 174) English as Additional Language using university students was correlated with their GPA scores for the semester in an English-as-a-Lingua-Franca (ELF) university program. The accuracy of the tests in classifying at-risk students was assessed with logit regression analyses and ROC curves using GPA cut-scores. The best predictors of GPA were academic writing and recognition vocabulary knowledge skill. The suit...
EUROSLA Yearbook, 2006
Prior applications of the lexical decision task in second language research have either examined ... more Prior applications of the lexical decision task in second language research have either examined performance accuracy (Meara and Buxton 1987) or speed of response to familiar items (Segalowitz and Segalowitz 1993). This paper examines how well the two measures together serve to discriminate among between-group levels of proficiency and within-group levels of difficulty on an English lexical decision task. Performance was compared across three levels of English proficiency (Intermediate L2, Advanced L2 and English L1 control) and four levels of item difficulty, as defined by frequency of occurrence (words from the 2000, 3000, 5000 and 10,000 most frequently occurring words). Accuracy and reaction time measures systematically decreased as a function of increasing proficiency and frequency level. Response variability, as measured by the coefficient of variance, also decreased as performance improved. The implications of the findings for the use of lexical decision tasks in second langu...
Oxford Handbooks Online, 2010
Sentence comprehension draws on multiple levels of linguistic knowledge, including the phonologic... more Sentence comprehension draws on multiple levels of linguistic knowledge, including the phonological, orthographic, lexical, syntactic, and discoursal. This article focuses on the computational models of second language sentence processing. Understanding the computational mechanisms responsible for using this knowledge in real time provides basic insights into how language and the mind work. For a cognitive theory of second language acquisition, a better understanding of how the second language learner develops the capacity to process sentences fluently also has important implications for theories of acquisition and instruction. This article examines two perspectives on written sentence comprehension in the second language. The two approaches considered are syntax based and constraint based. The approaches make fundamentally different assumptions concerning the nature of linguistic representation and how the human speech processing mechanism uses this knowledge in online comprehension. The two perspectives also represent a basic division between formalist and functionalist/usage based approaches to second language learning and use.
Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 2014
This study examines the relationship between written academic English proficiency and academic ac... more This study examines the relationship between written academic English proficiency and academic achievement in an undergraduate English-medium university program in the Sultanate of Oman. The study aims to identify reliable measures for screening academically at-risk students in a time-and cost-effective manner. Three established measures of written English proficiency (academic writing, academic reading and recognition vocabulary) are examined as predictors of academic achievement as reflected in student gradepoint average (GPA). Performance on the three tests by Year 1 (N ¼ 174) Omani students in an English-as-a-Lingua-Franca (ELF) university program was correlated with their end of semester GPAs. The accuracy of the tests in classifying at-risk students was assessed with logit regression analyses and ROC curves using GPA cutscores. The best predictors of GPA were the academic writing and recognition vocabulary knowledge measures. The suitability of the latter as a screening tool in ELF higher-education settings is discussed. The study contributes to the growing interest in post-enrolment assessment as a practical means to ensure that admitted students have the linguistic resources needed to be successful academically.
This bibliography brings together research produced by UQ Vietnamese researchers and their UQ col... more This bibliography brings together research produced by UQ Vietnamese researchers and their UQ colleagues, 2005-2011. It is intended to serve both as a record of research activities completed and as a resource for future research. The current version contains 101 entries consisting of MA and PhD theses, research publications and conference presentations.
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Papers by Michael Harrington