24.1081, Diss: Applied Ling/Lang Acq/Linguistic Theories/Spanish: Garcia: 'Verbalizing in the Second Language Classroom...'

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LINGUIST List: Vol-24-1081. Sun Mar 03 2013. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 24.1081, Diss: Applied Ling/Lang Acq/Linguistic Theories/Spanish: Garcia: 'Verbalizing in the Second Language Classroom...'

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Date: Sun, 03 Mar 2013 15:34:59
From: Prospero Garcia [prospero.garcia at rutgers.edu]
Subject: Verbalizing in the Second Language Classroom: The development of the grammatical concept of aspect

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Institution: University of Massachusetts at Amherst 
Program: Department of Spanish and Portuguese 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2012 

Author: Prospero N Garcia

Dissertation Title: Verbalizing in the Second Language Classroom: The
development of the grammatical concept of aspect 

Dissertation URL:  http://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations/640/

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
                     Language Acquisition
                     Linguistic Theories

Subject Language(s): Spanish (spa)


Dissertation Director(s):
Eduardo Negueruela

Dissertation Abstract:

Framed within a Sociocultural Theory of Mind (SCT) in the field of 
Second Language Acquisition (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006), this 
dissertation explores the role of verbalizing in the internalization of 
grammatical categories through the use of Concept-based Instruction 
(henceforth CBI) in the second language (L2) classroom. 

Using Vygotsky’s (1986) distinction between scientific and spontaneous 
or everyday concepts applied to L2 development (Negueruela, 2008), 
this study focuses on the teaching and potential development of the 
grammatical concept of aspect in the Spanish L2 classroom, and the 
role of verbalizing in its internalization. It is proposed that verbalizing 
mediates between the learners’ initial understandings of the 
grammatical concept of aspect, the development of conscious 
conceptualizations, and students’ written and oral production of 
preterite and imperfect grammatical forms.

This study presents and analyzes data from one of the thirty-two adult 
college students enrolled in an advanced Spanish conversation course. 

Data is analyzed through a clinical analytic approach, which has its 
roots in Vygotsky’s (1978) genetic method of analysis. The study was 
carried out over a 12-week period and collected multiple sets of 
developmental data, including learners’ definition of the grammatical 
concept of aspect, written performance protocols, and verbalization 
data recorded during two oral interviews. The study interprets learner 
performance in these three complementary, and dialectically connected 
types of L2 conceptual data. A close analysis of this participant’s data 
provides critical insights to understand the role of verbalizing in L2 
conceptual development.	

Findings confirm that learners’ verbalizations are key factors to 
ascertain L2 conceptual development, as well as a mediational tool that 
fosters learners’ internalization of the grammatical concept of aspect. It 
is proposed that verbalizing notably contributes to research on L2 
development. Not only does it allow the researcher to have a more 
comprehensive picture of L2 development, but it also helps learners 
develop a more sophisticated semantic understanding of the 
grammatical concept of aspect and fosters their ability to understand 
and control relevant grammatical features in L2 communication.






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