Quantitative Reconsideration of an L1 Effect on Asian Learners’ L2 English Writing: A Study Based on the ICNALE
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
A writer’s L1 is generally believed to influence their L2 English writing significantly. However, the extent to which L1 backgrounds influence Asian learners’ L2 English writing has not been wholly elucidated due to the lack of data covering various learners in Asia. Therefore, this study analysed more than one-million-word essays written by 2,318 Asian students with 18 regional backgrounds and more than 14 L1 backgrounds, which were taken from the International Corpus Network of Asian Learners of English (ICNALE) Written Essays and the ICNALE Written Essays Plus, currently under construction. The analytical focus was whether learners with the same or similar L1 backgrounds were agglomerated in a single subcluster despite the difference in the other parameters, such as essay topics. Hierarchical agglomerative cluster analyses that focused on the surface layer (words), the deeper layer (lexicogrammatical features), and the latent layer (textual factor scores) of student writing revealed that the degree of L1-based output similarities may be much lower than generally believed, which requires us to reconsider the traditional view that a writer’s L1 is an absolute factor in determining the aspects of their L2 use and establish a new analytical framework for discussion of Asian learners’ L2 English.
Article Details
References
Biber, D. (1988). Variation across speech and writing. Cambridge University Press.
Brezina, V. (2018). Statistics in corpus linguistics: A practical guide. Cambridge University Press.
Corder, P. (1967). The significance of learner’s errors. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 5, 161–170.
Eberhard, D. M., Gary, F. S., & Fennig, C. D. (Eds.). (2024). Ethnologue: Languages of the world. (27th ed.). SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.
Enfield, N. J. (2002). How to define ‘Lao,’ ‘Thai,’ and ‘Isan’ language? A view from linguistic science. Tai Culture, 7(1), 62–67.
Friginal, E. (2018). Corpus linguistics for English teachers: New tools, online resources, and classroom activities. Routledge.
Gilquin, G. (2008). Combining contrastive and interlanguage analysis to apprehend transfer: Detection, explanation, evaluation. In G. Gilquin, S. Papp, & M. B. Díez-Bedmar, Linking up contrastive and learner corpus research (pp. 1–33). Brill.
Gilquin, G. (2015). From design to collection of learner corpora. In S. Granger, G. Gilquin, & F. Meunier (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of learner corpus research (pp. 9–34). Cambridge University Press.
Gilquin, G. (2023). Written learner corpora to inform teaching. In R. R. Jablonkai & E. Csomay (Eds.). The Routledge handbook of corpora and English language teaching and learning (pp. 281–295). Routledge.
Gilquin, G., & Granger, S. (2021). The passive and the lexis-grammar interface: An inter-varietal perspective. In S. Granger (Ed.), Perspectives on the L2 phrasicon: The view from learner corpora (pp. 72–98). Multilingual Matters.
Granger, S. (1996). From CA to CIA and back: An integrated contrastive approach to computerised bilingual and learner corpora. In K. Aijmer, B. Altenberg, & M. Johansson (Eds.), Languages in contrast: Papers from a symposium on text-based cross-linguistic studies, Lund 4–5 March 1994 (pp. 37–51). Lund University Press.
Granger, S. (2015). Contrastive interlanguage analysis: A reappraisal. International Journal of Learner Corpus Research, 1(1), 7–24.
Hammarström, H., Forkel, R., Haspelmath, M., & Bank, S. (2024). Glottolog 5.0. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14006617 Available online at http://glottolog.org
Ishikawa, S. (2023). The ICNALE guide: An introduction to a learner corpus study on Asian learners’ L2 English. Routledge.
Jarvis, S. (2017). Transfer: An overview with an expanded scope. In A. Golden, S. Jarvis, & K. Tenfjord (Eds.), Crosslinguistic influence and distinctive patterns of language learning: Findings and insights from a learner corpus (pp. 12–28). Multilingual Matters.
Lado, R. (1957). Linguistics across cultures. University of Michigan Press.
McEnery, T., & Brezina, V. (2022). Fundamental principles of corpus linguistics. Cambridge University Press.
McEnery, T., & Hardie, A. (2012). Corpus linguistics: Method, theory and practice. Cambridge University Press.
Nini, A. (2019). The multi-dimensional analysis tagger. In T. B. Sardinha & M. V. Pinto (Eds.), Multi-dimensional analysis: Research methods and current issues (pp. 67–94). Bloomsbury Academic.
Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 10(1-4), 209–232.
Tenfjord, K., Jarvis, S., & Golden, A. (2017). Introduction. In A. Golden, S. Jarvis, & K. Tenfjord (Eds.), Crosslinguistic influence and distinctive patterns of language learning: Findings and insights from a learner corpus (pp. 1–11). Multilingual Matters.
Tsunoda, T. (2009). Sekai no gengo to nihongo [Japanese and the world languages]. Kurosio Publishers.
Wardhaugh, R. (1970). The contrastive analysis hypothesis. TESOL Quarterly, 4, 123–130.
Yurayong, C., & Szeto, P. U. (2020). (De-)Altaicisation as convergence and divergence between Japonic and Koreanic languages. Japanese/Korean Linguistics, 27, 1–16.