BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Looking at Language Acquisition XII - Structuring temporal informa
 tion in early and advanced L2 discourse - Norbert Vanek\, RCEAL\, Universi
 ty of Cambridge
DTSTART:20110510T162000Z
DTEND:20110510T170000Z
UID:TALK31263@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Chris Cummins
DESCRIPTION:My current work compares the ways Czech and Hungarian learners
  at early and advanced levels of English vs. English native speakers organ
 ise temporal information in discourse. Two production experiments were des
 igned to test the claim from previous research on reference to time that L
 2 discourse largely reflects principles of temporal information organisati
 on typical of the speaker’s mother tongue. This claim has been supported
  by findings from numerous cross-linguistic studies focusing on a variety 
 of discourse dimensions such as topic time management (cf. Carroll & von S
 tutterheim 2003)\, regulation of granularity and condensation levels (cf. 
 Noyau et al. 2005)\, as well as selecting event perspectivation frames (cf
 . von Stutterheim & Lambert 2005). \n\nBased on contrasts linked to tempor
 al reference in the three discussed languages\, the main question addresse
 d here is how highly advanced L2 speakers from typologically unrelated L1s
  go about when construing events in English as a second language. Written 
 as well as spoken production data was elicited to detect whether advanced 
 learners who have mastered the formal devices for temporal reference in L2
  (a) still rely on principles of temporal information structure typical of
  their L1s\; (b) adopt target-like strategies for organising temporality i
 n discourse alongside learning a new language\; or (c) employ other techni
 ques. Analyses of early L2 data were added to provide a richer development
 al picture.\n\nResults show that the acquisition of new temporal forms in 
 L2 does not necessarily imply the acquisition of their TL functions. Altho
 ugh advanced L2 speakers have come a very long way in acquiring TL structu
 res\, at the level of organising temporal information they remain fixed in
  some principles typical of their L1\, resulting in inconsistencies in L2.
  Inconsistencies typical of advanced English discourse produced by Czech a
 nd Hungarian learners include overgeneralisations of phasal segmentation a
 nd combinations of temporally incompatible expressive means such as linkin
 g inchoative structures directly to endpoints. Mismatches like these demon
 strate that the reorganisation of discourse principles in moving from L1 t
 o L2 is a great challenge even at very advanced stages of L2 acquisition. 
     \n
LOCATION:GR-03\, English Faculty Building
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR