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Article published In: Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education
Vol. 6:1 (2018) ► pp.57–84

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Refereed Article

Definiteness in written Swedish by Finnish-speaking immersion pupils at the end of immersion

A comparison with non-immersion pupils

 | University of Turku
Published online: 26 January 2018
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https://doi.org/10.1075/jicb.17001.nyq
Abstract
There are two primary goals for this study – first, to analyse definiteness and article use in spontaneous writing in Swedish by 15-year-old Finnish immersion students (n = 162) and secondly, to compare their performance with that of non-immersion students at the same age (n = 67). Analyses at the group level show that immersion students usually perform significantly better than the control group, but they also reveal similar problems to what L2-Swedish non-immersion students have demonstrated in previous studies, such as omission of indefinite articles and difficulty in choosing the right definite form of the noun. Still, these inaccuracies occurred less often in the data from the immersion students. The studied constructions also show at the group level an acquisition order similar to that reported in previous studies, explainable by different aspects of complexity and cross-linguistic influence. Analyses on the individual level, however, show different acquisition orders depending on the criteria being used.
Abstrakt
Denna studie har två huvudsakliga syften: för det första att analysera hur 15-åriga språkbadselever med finska som L1 (n = 162) uttrycker species och använder artiklar i en spontan skrivuppgift och för det andra att jämföra deras produktion med texter skrivna av jämngamla elever i traditionell undervisning (n = 67). Analyserna på gruppnivå visar att språkbadseleverna vanligen presterar signifikant bättre än kontrollgruppen, men att de också har likadana problem som informanterna utan språkbadsbakgrund har uppvisat i tidigare undersökningar, såsom bortfall av obestämd artikel och svårigheter med att välja den rätta formen av ett substantiv. Dessa problem är dock mer sällsynta hos språkbadseleverna. Inlärningsgången på gruppnivå påminner om de mönster som upptäckts i tidigare forskning och som kan förklaras med olika aspekter av komplexitet och tvärspråkligt inflytande. Analyserna på individnivå uppvisar däremot delvis olika inlärningsgångar, vilket beror på de använda kriterierna.
Abstrakti
Tutkimuksen tavoite on kahtalainen. Tavoitteena on ensinnäkin analysoida, kuinka 15-vuotiaat, suomenkieliset kielikylpyoppilaat (n = 162) hallitsevat ruotsin kielen määräysmuotojen ja artikkelien käytön ja verrata heidän tuotostaan perinteistä ruotsinopetusta saaneiden saman ikäisten (n = 67) oppilaiden tuotokseen. Ryhmätason analyysit osoittavat, että kielikylpyoppilaat hallitsevat määräisyyden ja artikkelien käytön tilastollisesti merkitsevästi paremmin kuin kontrolliryhmä, mutta että heillä toisaalta on samantyyppisiä ongelmia kuin aikaisempien tutkimusten tutkimushenkilöillä, joilla ei ole kielikylpytaustaa, kuten epämääräisen artikkelin poisjättöä ja vaikeutta valita substantiivin oikea muoto. Nämä ongelmat ovat kuitenkin harvinaisempia kielikylpyoppilailla. Ryhmätason oppimisjärjestys on hyvin samankaltainen kuin aiemmissa tutkimuksissa havaitut, ja sitä voidaan selittää kompleksisuuden ja kielten välisen siirtovaikutuksen avulla. Yksilötason analyysit puolestaan tuottavat keskenään hieman erilaisia oppimisjärjestyksiä, mikä johtuu analyyseissä käytettyjen analyysitapojen painotuksista.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction and background
  • 2.Background to the study
    • 2.1Definiteness and article use in Swedish and Finnish
    • 2.2Previous research
      • 2.2.1Acquisition of definiteness in L2 Swedish
      • 2.2.2Usage-based grammar and feature-related difficulty
  • 3.The Study
    • 3.1Study informants
    • 3.2Data collection
    • 3.3Research questions and hypotheses
    • 3.4Data analysis
  • 4.Results – group level analysis
    • 4.1Frequency analysis
    • 4.2Normative analysis
      • 4.2.1Indefinite NPs
      • 4.2.2Definite NPs
  • 5.Results – individual level analysis
    • 5.1Systematic use
    • 5.2The percentage criterion
  • 6.Discussion
  • Notes
  • References
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