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application of the less is more hypothesis in foreign language learning

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Date Issued:
2009
Summary:
This study tests Newports Less is More hypothesis with a language teaching experiment. Computerized French language lessons were presented to forty-two adults over two one-hour sessions. Learning trials were presented either in full sentences to resemble the adult learning environment, or in small increments that gradually increased to full sentences, resembling the steadily expanding processing capabilities of children. Trials were also presented randomly or ordered such that multiple examples of the same objects and verbs were presented consecutively. Language proficiency tests were administered after the lessons. A 2 (Presentation: incremental or full sentence) x 2 (Order of presentation: blocked or random) mixed ANOVA was used to analyze the data. The incremental conditions outperformed the sentence conditions on all proficiency measures. There was no significant effect of the blocking manipulation. This outcome suggests that a teaching method based on Newport's Less is More hypothesis can be advantageous in learning a foreign language.
Title: The application of the less is more hypothesis in foreign language learning.
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Name(s): Chin, Simone L.
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Department of Psychology
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Issued: 2009
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Physical Form: electronic
Extent: viii, 60 p. : ill.
Language(s): English
Summary: This study tests Newports Less is More hypothesis with a language teaching experiment. Computerized French language lessons were presented to forty-two adults over two one-hour sessions. Learning trials were presented either in full sentences to resemble the adult learning environment, or in small increments that gradually increased to full sentences, resembling the steadily expanding processing capabilities of children. Trials were also presented randomly or ordered such that multiple examples of the same objects and verbs were presented consecutively. Language proficiency tests were administered after the lessons. A 2 (Presentation: incremental or full sentence) x 2 (Order of presentation: blocked or random) mixed ANOVA was used to analyze the data. The incremental conditions outperformed the sentence conditions on all proficiency measures. There was no significant effect of the blocking manipulation. This outcome suggests that a teaching method based on Newport's Less is More hypothesis can be advantageous in learning a foreign language.
Identifier: 496275757 (oclc), 368254 (digitool), FADT368254 (IID), fau:4247 (fedora)
Note(s): by Simone L. Chin.
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009.
Includes bibliography.
Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subject(s): Second language acquisition -- Methodology
Language and languages -- Study and teaching
Cognitive grammar
Biolinguistics
Human information processing
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/368254
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU