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Article published In: Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 6:1 (2017) ► pp.77–99

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The multilingual experience

Can individual factors related to multilingual usage predict metalinguistic awareness?

 | Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
Published online: 26 October 2017
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https://doi.org/10.1075/dujal.6.1.05wol
Abstract
Of the numerous factors affecting language development, a particular role has been assigned to Metalinguistic Awareness (MLA) as a major constituent of the cognitive development of experienced language learners, while being itself a key to accelerated language learning (e.g., (2008). A DST model of multilingualism and the role of metalinguistic awareness. The Modern Language Journal 921, 270–283. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). The present study explores the relationship between multilingual usage and MLA in French-speaking Quebeckers (n = 66) with different language backgrounds who start to learn German after English in a formal setting. ‘Multilingual experience’ was operationalized by the frequency and the diversity of foreign language use across 10 different contexts of use. A reflexive dimension of MLA was assessed by means of the THAM-3 (Pinto, M. A., & El Euch, S. (2015). La conscience métalinguistique: Théorie, développement et instruments de mesure. Québec, QC: Les Presses de l’Université Laval.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), and complemented by think-aloud protocols produced during a multilingual translation task, which reflected an applied dimension of MLA. Multiple regression analyses suggest that both frequency and diversity of non-native language use in specifically literacy-based activities predicted the applied dimension of MLA.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Methodology
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2Instruments
      • 2.2.1Multilingual experience
      • 2.2.2Metalinguistic awareness
    • 2.3Data processing
      • 2.3.1Computation of variables
      • 2.3.2Statistical analyses
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Descriptive results reflecting multilingual experience
    • 3.2Principal component analysis revealing three dimensions of use
    • 3.3Results of the regression analyses: The relationship between multilingual experience and MLA
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (30)
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