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Young learners’ L2 English after the onset of instruction: longitudinal development of L2 proficiency and the role of individual differences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2021

Vanessa De Wilde Open the ORCID record for Vanessa De Wilde [Opens in a new window] ,
Marc Brysbaert Open the ORCID record for Marc Brysbaert [Opens in a new window]  and
June Eyckmans
Vanessa De Wilde*
Affiliation:
Department of Translation, Interpreting and Communication, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Artevelde University of Applied Sciences, Ghent, Belgium
Marc Brysbaert
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
June Eyckmans
Affiliation:
Department of Translation, Interpreting and Communication, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
*
Address for correspondence: Vanessa De Wilde, E-mail: vanessa.dewilde@ugent.be
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Abstract

In this study we investigated 107 young learners’ L2 English receptive vocabulary knowledge and speaking skills at two points in time, before and after the onset of instruction. We also investigated the role of several individual difference variables: out-of-school exposure to English, length of instruction, analytic reasoning ability, working memory, L1 vocabulary knowledge and prior L2 knowledge. Results show that L2 English proficiency in receptive vocabulary knowledge and speaking skills greatly improved over time and that the effects of schooling and contextual learning are largely additive. The main predictor of the children's proficiency at time 2 was their L2 prior knowledge, which they had acquired through contextual language learning before getting formal education. When considering the other variables that predicted L2 proficiency, the contribution of internal variables (L1 vocabulary size and working memory) was considerably smaller than that of external variables (out-of-school exposure and length of instruction).

Keywords

young learnersindividual differencescontextual language learningout-of-school exposurelongitudinal study
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 24 , Issue 3 , May 2021 , pp. 439 - 453
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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