Accent Marks in L2 French: Keyboarding, Presentation Format, Working Memory, and Pronunciation Ability
Sturm, Jessica Lynn
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/86280
Description
Title
Accent Marks in L2 French: Keyboarding, Presentation Format, Working Memory, and Pronunciation Ability
Author(s)
Sturm, Jessica Lynn
Issue Date
2008
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Golato, Peter
Department of Study
French
Discipline
French
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, Bilingual and Multicultural
Language
eng
Abstract
Foreign-language teaching often changes in response to technological advances. However, for a given implementation of technology in the foreign language classroom, are there some implementations which lead to measurable advantages over others? Sturm and Golato (in press) and Sturm (2006) found a wide range of variance on recall tests within groups of university students who practiced a list of accent-bearing target words one of three ways: handwriting, typing using preprogrammed function keys, or typing using ALT+ numeric codes. These results contradict the results of Gascogine-Lally (2000) and Gascoigne (2006a, 2006b), who found that students who typed a paragraph recalled accents better than those who wrote the paragraph by hand. In response to this finding, the present study seeks to explore possible sources of variance in Sturm and Golato's (in press) and Sturm's (2006) results and the difference between these studies and Gascoigne-Lally (2000). Specifically, pronunciation ability and working memory capacity were explored as possible sources of variance. Participants were exposed to Gascoigne-Lally's (2000) paragraph, as well as a new set of target items in either paragraph form or in list form. The participants were grouped by class section and each group practiced the target items, using one of three methods (handwriting, function keys, or ALT+codes). Participants' memory span was measured, using a variation of the Daneman and Carpenter (1980) reading span task and a Stroop color-interference task, and their ability to pronounce target items was recorded and rated by native speakers of French. Results showed that typing led to better recall of accent marks, but these differences did not obtain on delayed (one week later) posttests. Number of keystrokes had no effect on participant performance on posttests measures. When comparing treatment groups within each presentation format (word list or paragraph), these differences were only observed within the paragraph group. Additionally, working memory and pronunciation ability were observed to have a greater influence than treatment group on retention of accent marks.
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