The relationship between writing and speaking in the U.S. university Spanish language classroom

Michael David Hubert, Purdue University

Abstract

One of the most important tasks of SLA researchers is to describe the effect(s) that activity in one or more of the four language usage categories (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) may have on the overall acquisition of the target language by each learner population. Where this type of research is fairly plentiful, it is much less common for SLA researchers to compare learner development in one of these categories with concurrent development in any of the others. The present study is an attempt at such a comparison, seeking to characterize the relationship that may exist between the concurrent development of second language writing and speaking proficiencies. Study participants are native English-speaking learners of Spanish as a Foreign Language at beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels of study. The following research questions are addressed: (1) Do learners who demonstrate a certain level of proficiency in writing also demonstrate a similar level of proficiency in speaking? (2) Are learners who use certain grammatical forms in their writing able to reproduce those same forms with similar accuracy in their speaking? And (3) Do learners who self-report to write more show increased writing and/or speaking proficiency than those who write less? Writing and speaking samples were collected for comparison of synchronic proficiency level across these two modalities. Samples were first given a holistic score of proficiency by two native speakers of Spanish, and then were analyzed for the use of explicitly-presented grammatical items. Lastly, a survey of writing habits was administered. Results indicate a weak correlation between speaking and writing at beginning levels of study, and a much stronger correlation at the intermediate and advanced levels. Also, writing was found to be the modality in which more newly-presented grammatical forms were produced at the beginning and intermediate levels. Lastly, almost all subjects self-reported as not engaging in Spanish writing outside the classroom.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Silva, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Bilingual education|Linguistics|Higher education

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