LINGUISTICS RESEARCH PAPER L1 Chinese difficulties in L2 english learning.

Abstract

This is a max 150 word summary of your project. After reading the abstract, the reader should know what your project is about, what the data show, and what your main conclusions are. You should write the abstract last, after you’ve complete the project.

I. Introduction

One or two paragraphs that give an overview of your study, the specific research questions you hope to address, and any matters related to SLA theory that are relevant for your project.

2. Methodology

2.1. Focal participant(s)

This section includes a relevant description and details about your focal participant(s). Remember to use a pseudonym! Provide quantitative details (e.g., age of arrival, length of exposure, years of formal study, etc.) as well a qualitative summary of his/her learning experience, as gathered from your interview (attach interview questions in Appendix).

2.2. Instrument

This section describes the instrument, or materials that you used to elicit the language sample from your participant. For example, if you used a picture description task, you would describe it here. It is perfectly fine to use a task from previous research as long as you cite the source.

2.3. Description of linguistic variable(s)

This subsection provides a description of the linguistic form or structure that you will analyze. For example, if you are looking at object pronouns in L2 Spanish, you will need to specify which ones you’ll consider in your analysis. Some examples are always helpful here. You should also briefly discuss why you chose the feature(s) that you did (i.e., motivation from previous research/theory).

2.4 Data Analysis

In this section you explain what you did with the data after gathering it. For example, oral data were transcribed and divided into AS units. If you only use a portion of the data for analysis, mention that here (e.g., you have 2 hours of oral data but will only analyze the first 20 minutes). Here you also explain the procedure for the analysis you conducted on the target language variable(s). Examples here may be helpful.

3. Results

3.1. Target analysis

In this section you will present the results of your analysis. What are the patterns you notice? Is the participant finding ways to avoid the form(s) in question? Depending on your analysis, this may include quantitative data with tables and/or figures. Also, show relevant examples here, and make sure to attach the data in an Appendix.

3.2. Additional analyses

Generally speaking, there is always something else interesting in the data that you wish to comment on. Your planned analysis likely doesn’t reveal everything going on in the sample, so here is your opportunity to examine other interesting aspects. For example, you may choose to comment on lexical choices or even present a measure of lexical diversity. If the learner is using the form in question but restricted to one or two lexical items, that is something potentially interesting to mention. If you gathered native speaker baseline data, you will present it here.

4. Discussion and conclusion

The purpose of the discussion section is to interpret what you’ve found. While your results section presents the results, your discussion is aimed an explaining them. What do these data mean? How do they relate to what we know about SLA more generally (i.e., how do they relate to theories and/or research findings we’ve discussed or that you’ve read about)? In this section you also want to mention any difficulties you had during the data collection process and what you would do differently if you could take this project to the next level (e.g., with more participants or with additional tasks).

5. References

Cite all sources here (a minimum of four; APA format)

6. Appendix A

Attach your interview questions here.

7. Appendix B

If relevant, attach your data elicitation materials here

8. Appendix B

Attach your data set here.