32.2165, Review: Applied Linguistics: Hyltenstam, Bartning, Fant (2020)

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Subject: 32.2165, Review: Applied Linguistics: Hyltenstam, Bartning, Fant (2020)

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Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2021 18:55:08
From: Jean Danic [calkinsjean at gmail.com]
Subject: High-Level Language Proficiency in Second Language and Multilingual Contexts

 
Discuss this message:
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?subid=36692677


Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/31/31-3295.html

EDITOR: Kenneth  Hyltenstam
EDITOR: Inge  Bartning
EDITOR: Lars  Fant
TITLE: High-Level Language Proficiency in Second Language and Multilingual Contexts
PUBLISHER: Cambridge University Press
YEAR: 2020

REVIEWER: Jean Danic

SUMMARY

This text is composed of an introductory chapter and eight additional
topic-based chapters. The chapters are written by a variety of authors. The
book’s description on the back cover and on the first page states that its
goal is to explore and answer two questions: “what conditions allow learners
to attain an outstanding level of proficiency in a second language, and what
factors still prevent them from becoming entirely like first language
speakers?” Each section contributes research-based answers that help the
reader answer those questions. While a variety of studies are described, a
large research program conducted at Stockholm University is the focus of this
book, and thus the research described involves speakers of Swedish as either
their first or second language.

The introduction, titled “Introduction: High-Level Proficiency and the Concept
of Nativelikeness in Second Language and Multilingual Research Practice,” is
written by Kenneth Hyltenstam, Inge Bartning, and Lars Fant. It explains in
great detail the circumstances by which much of the text’s information was
obtained and compiled through an extensive research program which followed
speakers whose first language was Swedish and whose second languages were
either French, English, Spanish, or Italian. It also summarizes previous
research, discusses the distinction between native and non-native speakers,
and highlights the importance of studying language learners of such high
aptitude. Finally, the introduction summarizes each of the book’s eight
chapters.y. 

The first chapter, “Age Effects on Language Acquisition, Retention and Loss:
Key Hypotheses and Findings,” is written by Niclas Abrahamsson, Kenneth
Hyltenstam, and Emanuel Bylund. In this chapter, the authors examine the
ongoing debate about the presence and timing of a “critical period” for
language development. They delve extensively into studies which have focused
on this issue and explore the link between age of onset (AO) and ultimate
attainment (UA), attempting either  to prove the existence of a critical
period or by seeking out counterexamples to disprove it. They also discuss the
possibilities that bilingualism itself may be the reason for non-nativeness in
second language learners or that differences in the types of memory
(declarative or procedural) used in second language learning by children and
adults are to blame. The ultimate conclusion of the chapter stops just short
of claiming proof of a critical period but admits that the evidence is
consistent with the Critical Period Hypothesis and the existence of
maturational constraints on second language learning.

Chapter 2, “The Last Barriers in High-Level S2 Speech: Morphosyntax in Focus,”
by Inge Bartning and Fanny Forsberg Lundell, addresses morphosyntax
specifically as a barrier to achieving nativelike second language acquisition
(SLA). They first explain theories about why even advanced learners struggle
with grammar and previous research before describing their research study,
conducted using a French corpus in an attempt to understand these issues more
clearly. The authors discuss which features of spoken French were examined by
describing both the correct grammatical form and errors that are likely to
occur in second language learners’ speech. They also summarize the stages of
SLA proposed by previous research, while also adding to it in order to more
accurately reflect the learners investigated in this study. They conclude that
even in French learners who reached near-native status, morpho-syntactic
deviations from the norm could still be detected in more cognitively demanding
speech tasks. The authors posit several reasons for the difficulty of
achieving target-like acquisition in this domain and also propose ideas for
further study.

Chapter 3, “Discourse and Interaction in Highly Proficient L2 Users,” by Lars
Fant, investigates the discourse of several groups of second language (L2)
users by examining three domains: pragmatic markers, pragmatic acts, and
sociocultural alignment. With regard to pragmatic markers, the author
concludes that L2 speakers do not typically achieve full native usage. They
tend to underutilize or overuse certain markers, and factors like transfer of
the first language (L1), cognates, or socio-cultural preferences may all play
roles. The investigation of pragmatic acts revealed differences in the variety
of request acts used by L2 speakers in comparison to L1 speakers, who actually
used fewer. L2 speakers also seemed to choose “safer” argumentation strategies
to avoid making errors and demonstrated a greater ease in adapting to L2
discourse when the gap between L1 and L2 was narrower. Regarding the last
discourse feature, sociocultural alignment, it again was found that
socio-cultural proximity between L1 and L2 affected the degree to which L2
speakers could assimilate; this was demonstrated in a study conducted by
observing conversations between Chileans and L1 Swedish speakers conversing in
Spanish via a role-playing task.

Chapter 4 is titled “Formulaic Language in Advanced Long-Residency L2
Speakers,” and it was authored by Britt Erman, Fanny Forsberg Lundell, and
Margarita Lewis. In this chapter, the authors describe how second language
learners use multi-word sentences and conventional word combinations, their
interest being in whether  learners’ multi-word sentences and collocations
align with native speaker usage and frequency. Much of the research described
is based on L2 speakers who have lived in their target language country for
many years (“long residency participants”). Prior to discussing the results of
the study, a brief explanation is given of the various types of multi-word
sentences in question, ranging from lexical to procedural forms. Results are
then explored from four perspectives: role play, an online retelling task,
situation-bound utterances, and productive tests. Regarding clausal multi-word
sentences, it seemed that all L2 groups had achieved nativelike usage. Phrasal
multi-word sentences proved more difficult and was the area in which L2
speakers were furthest behind their native speaking counterparts.
Additionally, it was posited that individual differences such as personality
and psychology are also at play. The chapter concludes by discussing
situational variation in L2 proximity to nativeness, the effects of long-term
residency in the country where the L2 is spoken, and the factors that best
facilitate the learning of formulaic language, which may be partially based on
aspects like personality and memory abilities, but as the writer states, more
studies are needed.

Chapter 5, “Developing Lexical Complexity in Oral Production: Limitations and
Possibilities of the Advanced L2 Learner,” is written by Camilla Bardel and
Anna Gudmundson. In this chapter, several studies aiming to examine lexical
complexity through productive vocabulary in L2 users are explored.
Specifically, the studies discussed examine lexical sophistication,
originality, and diversity. Study participants speaking either French,
English, or Spanish as a second language were given discussion-based tasks
including role playing, interviews, and monologues, and then their speech was
analyzed and compared to various corpora to determine lexical complexity. The
theory underlying these studies is that the usage of more advanced (e.g., less
frequently occurring) words corresponds to superior knowledge and ability in
the second language, and thus reflects proximity to nativeness. It was found
that L2 users generally do not attain native levels of lexical complexity, and
it was additionally posited that the participants sometimes faced task-based
difficulties, causing their performance to vary based on the activity. Lastly,
the chapter delves into individual variation, such as the case of one
particular L2 learner who did demonstrate nativelike lexical complexity, or
others who may have been influenced by the advantage of cognates in vocabulary
acquisition.

Chapter 6, “Reading Comprehension in Advanced L2 Readers,” is written by
Philip Shaw and Alan McMillion. The authors seek to find and explain the
differences between L1 and L2 advanced reading. Before describing their
research, the text explains that good reading skills are often transferred
from the first to the second language, and that if a person is a good reader
in L1, they will likely use those same successful strategies when reading in
the second language, albeit with more difficulty or necessitating more time.
The studies described relied on data gathered from surveys, interviews, and
tests to determine reading fluency, reading rate, comprehension, and
vocabulary size in the L2 as compared to the L1. The conclusions drawn from
these studies are that L2 users can achieve the same reading comprehension as
their L1 peers when given untimed general academic reading tasks.
Additionally, vocabulary size does seem to play a role, but only to a point,
as an L2 reader does not necessarily need a nativelike vocabulary in order to
achieve nativelike reading comprehension. Surprisingly, reading speed did not
appear to be slower in L2 than in L1. The chapter ends with a discussion of
the implications for teaching that the findings of these studies present.

Chapter 7 is “Polyglotism: A Synergy of Abilities and Predispositions,” by
Kenneth Hyltenstam. It examines second language acquisition in those who can
speak six or more languages fluently (polyglots). The questions explored in
this chapter regard what special abilities such people may possess, what
backgrounds they have, which strategies for language learning they employ, and
what their motivations for learning languages are. Previous studies described
in the chapter draw many interesting conclusions, including that most
polyglots are self-taught, male, use linguistic abilities in their careers,
and possess high levels of language-learning abilities. The author then moves
on to a discussion of the study at hand, which involves ten participants, each
of whom speaks between six and twenty-five second languages. Those who took
part in this study almost all adhered to the aforementioned characteristics.
Each participant was submitted to a testing battery and extensive interview
process to determine their level of language learning aptitude, systemizing
abilities, and motivations for learning a myriad of languages. While results
varied among individuals, many patterns emerged that seem to confirm the
previously held hypotheses. The author concludes the chapter by explaining
these commonalities, which confirm superior linguistic aptitude and a tendency
to be strong in systemizing ability (with some individual variation).
Motivations for language learning also varied, but common answers included a
love of languages, a passion for acquiring new languages, and an interest in
form. It appears that a combination of strong motivation and excellent
linguistic aptitude are the factors which can create a polyglot.

The last chapter is titled “What’s the Target? A Folk Linguistic Study of
Young Stockholmers’ Constructions of Linguistic Norm and Variation,” and is
authored by Ellen Bijvoet and Kari Fraurud. This chapter specifically examines
the perceptions of young Swedes seeking to describe what qualifies as “good”
Swedish in order to address the titular question. The authors describe the
linguistic variation in Sweden among young people based on factors like
differences in dialect, age of speaker, background, and neighborhood of
residence. The text also described the slang spoken in Stockholm Sweden to
give more background information on the folk linguistic study to be described
in the remainder of this chapter. In this study, speech samples were elicited
from Swedish speakers of varying backgrounds speaking different varieties of
Swedish. Some speakers used a variety of Swedish that most native speakers
would find easy to classify as either ‘good: or “bad” Swedish, but many
speakers used varieties of questionable types. High school students from
different schools listened to the samples and answered questions about their
perceptions of the speakers and the language they used. Some also participated
in group discussions of these topics. The answer to the question of what is
considered the target language by these Swedish speakers was not fully
answered (nor was it intended to be by the authors), but interesting
observations were nonetheless made. Participants mostly agreed on which
features should be removed or added to speech to approximate “good” Swedish,
that is, what would make one successful in school or work, but there were
differences in perception between monolingual and bilingual listeners.
Listeners who spoke more than one language applied the label of “good” Swedish
more liberally than their monolingual peers. Based on these and other
observations, the authors conclude with specific suggestions for future
research that may help the linguistic community better answer the question of
what the target language is sought to replicate by L2 learners.

EVALUATION 

The goal of this text is to explore how language learners can attain
near-native fluency in an L2 and to describe which factors either encourage or
stand as obstacles to this high-level attainment. The authors have
successfully described potential answers to both. The studies detailed in each
chapter provide excellent evidence for the conclusions which the authors
ultimately draw at the end of each chapter. The authors make astute
observations about which areas should be further studied to advance
understanding of the concepts and second language learning as a whole. All
information and data are clearly explained and exemplified using charts and
tables which aid in explaining the data and their significance. Overall, while
the text cannot possibly provide definitive answers to its broad questions
(and never claims to), it does leave the reader with a much deeper
understanding of these issues and the questions that remain to be explored.

The format of each chapter is both logical and helpful to the reader. Each
begins with an introduction which briefly covers any necessary background
information and describes the goals of the chapter. This is an excellent way
to frame research within the context of what has already been done and what is
expected to be discovered now. Each chapter also ends with a conclusion or
discussion which neatly summarizes the Gestalt, explains the significance of
findings, and proposes ideas for further research. Because the information
described can be quite dense and technical, providing these summaries is an
excellent way to help the reader focus on the significance and application of
the information described in the text. The ideas for what should be examined
next to fully understand the linguistic topic at hand are also insightful ways
to inspire readers in their own research.

Unlike other texts, the format of footnotes, citations, and abbreviations are
nondescript and make the content easy to follow. They do not interfere with
the flow of the text, but they are there for those who want to see them.
Additionally, the text succeeds in using abbreviations well, as each one is
introduced and used in ways that do not leave the reader confused or in need
or constantly referring to a previous page in order to recall the meaning of
each abbreviation or piece of jargon.

An additional valuable feature of many of the chapters is that they often
contain practical applications. Readers who are already conducting fieldwork
or teaching language can find information that will help refine their own
skills and methods. An example of this is found in Chapter 1, at which point
the authors mention how knowledge of L2 attainment for children may be best
achieved implicitly, whereas it is adults who thrive on explicit instruction.
This, they state, has implications for language instruction in primary
schools, as it is perhaps ill-advised to devote time to explicit language
learning at this period in a child’s life if that is not how children best
learn language. Additionally, graduate students and working linguists alike
can find value in the chapters’ explanations of research methods and
acknowledgements of why certain choices were made throughout the course of
each study. For example, there is often a description of how or why
participants were matched to peers of roughly the same age, background, and
circumstances. Often, there is also a brief discussion of what might be
changed if the research is to be continued, as at the end of the last chapter
when the authors describe three specific inclusions that should be made in the
next study of target language. These types of insights make this book as
valuable in practicality as it is in theory.

As comprehensive as the text is, there are a few areas which this reviewer
found wanting. Most studies are explained quite comprehensively, but some of
the qualitative research was summarized too briefly. An example is in Chapter
9, at which point several study participants’ interviews regarding the
motivation to learn languages are described. Some of these are detailed in a
large paragraph, but others are only given in one or two sentences. These
self-reported insights are interesting, and more space could have been devoted
to providing detail. In general, though, areas of brevity like this one are
few, and they also may be entirely subjective as each reader wishes to hear
more on his or her specific areas of interest.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Jean Danic obtained her Master's degree in Linguistics from Wayne State
University in 2012, and she currently teaches English for Academic Purposes at
Hillsborough Community College.





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