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The effects of age and intensive exposure on second language learning in an international school context: a study of adolescent learners of English
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Date
2022
Authors
Jouinot, Isabelle
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Publisher
University College Cork
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Abstract
The aim of this PhD thesis was to investigate the effects of age and intensive exposure on the learning of a second language in an international school context. This PhD sought to confirm the positive impact of intensive exposure on L2 development in adolescent learners and evidence possible differences in learning rate and proficiency between learners at the beginning versus in the middle of adolescence. The relative impact of internal and external factors on linguistic development during adolescence was assessed, and the contribution of a range of quantity- and quality-oriented input variables was estimated. Learners’ experiences were analysed to provide more insights into teenagers’ L2 learning in an international school and determine which characteristics of its education model might be extended to further contexts for quality, equitable bilingual education in the 21st century.
A sequential mixed-method, longitudinal design with semi-guided learner interviews was used for this investigation, starting with the quantitative analyses of the interviews, followed by their qualitative examination. The mixed-method design was created with the aim of integrating findings from the two methods of investigation and discussing their convergences and divergences. The data was collected at three time points over ten months, from 28 French L1 learners of English, of which 14 were aged 11 and the other 14 were 15 years old. The learners were attending a one-year semi-intensive L2 learning programme designed for rapid English learning in an at-home context. A large range of objective and holistic proficiency measures were employed to scrutinise learners’ L2 development, including complexity, accuracy and fluency indices of oral proficiency. Cumulative and current L2 exposures were evaluated with the help of a questionnaire on language learning background and extracurricular exposure, and a second questionnaire on motivation was also administered. The qualitative analyses were conducted based on the vision of bilingual education in the 21st century created by García and colleagues (2011).
The benefit of intensive exposure for proficiency development was confirmed for the period of adolescence, with the caveat that semi-intensive exposure in an instructed context led to mixed results in terms of oral proficiency growth. The intensive input supported rapid oral accuracy and holistic proficiency development, but complexity and fluency gains emerged later, and only for certain subcomponents.
Age-related differences in learning rate and proficiency were also evidenced. The 15-year-olds showed an advantage in lexical and grammatical complexity and written production. However, the 11-year-olds had a faster learning rate than their older peers in lexical accuracy and breakdown fluency. Unexpectedly, initial L2 proficiency levels had a more important impact than age on linguistic development during the intensive experience. For grammatical complexity, combined effects of age, initial proficiency and intensive exposure on the type of syntactic structure developed were evidenced.
During adolescence, exposure-related external factors were shown to contribute more to L2 development than age-related internal factors. For lexical and grammatical complexity, internal factors associated played a greater role than in other proficiency dimensions. While global proficiency, lexical complexity and fluency developed over the learners’ entire learning history, grammatical complexity, and lexical and grammatical accuracy were boosted by the intensive experience.
Cumulative curricular exposure had a greater influence on proficiency development than the one-year intensive programme, which was related to a prior intensification of L2 instruction. Some effects were found for extracurricular exposure on lexical development and holistic proficiency before, but not during the intensive experience. During the intensive programme, the older learners shifted from extensive extramural to intensive intramural exposure in the international school.
Learners’ global motivation remained unchanged during the intensive year, although patterns of long-, medium- and short-term dynamics emerged for different motivational components. The ideal L2 self, instrumental motivation and integrativeness did not show an increase during the intensive experience, as the adolescents were still in the process of creating a vision of their future selves. However, medium-term changes in integrativeness, and attitudes towards the L2 speakers and related cultures were linked to the students’ experience in the international school.
The bilingual and bicultural education provided in the international school was found to correspond to the prestigious bilingual education model based on additive bilingualism and monoglossic beliefs, as defined by García (2011). Although this model ensures the maintenance of high standards of bilingual proficiency and bicultural knowledge, more integration and cooperation could be created between the taught languages and cultures, the two curricula, their teachers and teaching pedagogies. Selective international sections could become more equitable and inclusive and cater for speakers of minoritised languages and students with learning difficulties and special needs.
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Keywords
Age , Intensive exposure , English , Motivation , Proficiency , Complexity , Accuracy , Fluency , International school , Context , French learners , Extracurricular exposure , L2 acquisition , L2 learning , Mixed methods , Quantitative , Qualitative , Interview , Questionnaire , CHAT , CLAN , Statistics , Adolescent , Internal factors , External factors , CAF , Development , Growth , Translanguaging , Bilingual education , Bilingualism , Intercultural , Second language acquisition
Citation
Jouinot, I. 2022. The effects of age and intensive exposure on second language learning in an international school context: a study of adolescent learners of English. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.