Project

Determining the impact of feedback types on uptake and oral gains in low-educated adult L2 learners

Code
G0A5L24N
Duration
01 January 2024 → 31 December 2027
Funding
Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
Promotor-spokesperson
Research disciplines
  • Humanities and the arts
    • Language acquisition
  • Social sciences
    • Second language learning
    • Adult education
Keywords
Implicit/explicit learning instructed second language acquisition Non-WEIRD sampling Linguistics
 
Project description

Low-educated learners make up a large, yet vulnerable population in the world today (Unesco, 2004). Little is known about the second language acquisition process of this group of learners, but there are reasons to assume that it differs from the learning process of higher-educated earners (Kurvers, 2015, Bigelow et al. 2012). This project aims to investigate the impact of explicit and implicit feedback on the oral proficiency gains in adult L2 learners with reduced schooling and limited print literacy (LESLLA learners). It focuses on recasts and explicit correction in particular, both in a controlled environment and a classroom context. In order to be able to correctly measure the uptake and learning gains, the project also focuses on determining the validity of measurement instruments for tracking gains in LESLLA learners. The research addresses a significant gap in the literature, as most studies on language acquisition rely on data from highly educated participants. It contributes to the current body of research on ISLA, while in addition, it has the potential to benefit effective teaching practices for low-educated migrants.