Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Preface. What the hook is about ix

Chapter 1 English in education and the media: global and local contexts 1

1.1 The presence of English in Europe 1

1.1.1 English in education 2

1.1.2 English in the media 3

1.2 What about Flanders? 4

1.3 'Media-induced Second Language Acquisition': what does it mean? 6

1.4 Flemish children's motivation for and attitudes towards (learning) English, their contact with English and the impact on foreign language acquisition 7

1.4.1 Attitudes towards and motivation for (learning) English 8

1.4.2 Conceptions children have of their own proficiency in English 9

1.4.3 Non-media-based exposure to English 10

1.4.4 Media-based exposure to English 11

1.4.5 Two prototypical profiles 15

1.4.5.1 Miles: positive attitude towards English 16

1.4.5.2 Alexandra: negative attitude towards English 16

Part 1 Phonology: sounds as the building blocks of words

Chapter 2 Acquiring English vowels: the perception of back vowels 21

2.1 Introduction and aim 21

2.2 Background: the perception of non-native (back) vowels 22

2.3 Research questions 23

2.4 Perceptual mappings of English vowels by Dutch speakers: predictions 24

2.5 Experiment 1: 4I-oddity discrimination task 26

2.5.1 Participants 26

2.5.2 Design and stimuli 26

2.5.3 Procedure 27

2.5.4 Results and discussion 27

2.6 Experiment 2: cross-language vowel categorization 28

2.6.1 Participants 28

2.6.2 Design and stimuli 28

2.6.2.1 Auditory stimuli 29

2.6.2.2 Visual stimuli 30

2.6.3 Procedure 30

2.6.4 Analysis 30

2.6.5 Results and discussion 30

2.7 Experiment 3: English categorization task 32

2.7.1 Participants 32

2.7.2 Design and stimuli 32

2.7.2.1 Auditory stimuli 32

2.7.2.2 Visual stimuli 32

2.7.3 Procedure 32

2.7.4 Results and discussion 32

2.8 General Discussion 34

2.9 Conclusions 36

Chapter 3 Acquiring English consonants; the production of dental fricatives 37

3.1 Introduction and aim 37

3.2 Explaining substitutions for English dental fricatives 38

3.3 Research questions 41

3.4 Methodology 42

3.4.1 Participants 42

3.4.2 Design and stimuli 42

3.4.3 Procedure 44

3.4.4 Coding and analysis 44

3.5 Results 44

3.6 Discussion 47

3.6.1 Acquiring the voiceless dental fricative in a context of limited but early L2 exposure 47

3.6.2 Explaining substitutions for the voiceless dental fricatives 48

3.6.3 Age effects: children versus adults? 50

3.7 Conclusions 53

Chapter 4 Foreign accent and intelligibility 55

4.1 Introduction and aims 55

4.2 Background: accentedness and intelligibility of non-native vowels 57

4.3 Research questions 58

4.4 Methodology 58

4.4.1 Part 1: production tasks by L1 Dutch children 58

4.4.1.1 Participants 58

4.4.1.2 Task 1: reading task 59

4.4.1.3 Task 2: repetition task 59

4.4.1.4 Task 3: picture-naming task 60

4.4.2 Part 2: rating tasks by L1 English adult listeners 61

4.4.2.1 Participants 61

4.4.2.2 Materials 61

4.4.2.3 Procedure 61

4.4.2.4 Coding and analysis 62

4.5 Results 62

4.5.1 Intelligibility 62

4.5.2 Foreign accent 65

4.6 Discussion 66

4.7 Conclusions 68

Chapter 5 Children's beliefs about English pronunciation 69

5.1 Introduction and aims 69

5.2 Background: learners' beliefs on pronunciation 71

5.3 Research questions 72

5.4 Methodology 73

5.4.1 Matched-guise experiment 73

5.4.1.1 Participants 73

5.4.1.2 Instruments 74

5.4.1.3 Procedure 75

5.4.1.4 Coding and analysis 75

5.4.2 The beliefs and affect questionnaire 75

5.4.2.1 Participants 75

5.4.2.2 Instruments 75

5.4.2.3 Procedure 76

5.4.2.4 Coding and analysis 77

5.5 Results 77

5.5.1 Results of the verbal guise test 77

5.5.2 Results of the beliefs and affect questionnaire 79

5.5.2.1 Learner-related beliefs 79

5.5.2.2 Learning-related beliefs 80

5.5.2.3 Affective variables 82

5.5.2.4 Motivational variables 83

5.6 Discussion 84

5.7 Conclusions 86

Part 2 The lexicon: words as the building blocks of communication

Chapter 6 Flemish children's receptive vocabularies in English 89

6.1 Introduction and aims 89

6.2 Background 90

6.3 Learner characteristics 91

6.3.1 Age 91

6.3.2 Gender 91

6.3.3 Type of education 92

6.4 Research questions 92

6.4.1 Study 1: the receptive English lexicon of Flemish fifth-grade pupils 93

6.4.1.1 Methodology 93

6.4.1.2 Results 95

6.4.1.3 Discussion 100

6.4.2 Study 2: the receptive English lexicon of Flemish fifth- and sixth-grade pupils 102

6.4.2.1 Methodology 102

6.4.2.2 Results 104

6.4.2.3 Discussion 109

6.4.3 Study 3: the receptive English lexicon of Flemish secondary school students in the first grade 110

6.4.3.1 Methodology 110

6.4.3.2 Results 112

6.4.3.3 Discussion 114

6.5 General discussion and conclusions 115

6.5.1 The receptive English lexicon of Flemish fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders 115

6.5.2 The link between learner characteristics such as age, gender and type of education and children's receptive English lexicon 116

6.5.2.1 Age 116

6.5.2.2 Gender 116

6.5.2.3 Type of education 117

Chapter 7 Flemish children's productive vocabularies in English 119

7.1 Introduction and aims 119

7.2 Research questions 120

7.3 Study 1: the English productive vocabulary of secondary school children in Flanders prior to English instruction measured through a written test 120

7.3.1 Methodology 120

7.3.1.1 Participants 120

7.3.1.2 Instruments 121

7.3.1.3 Procedure 123

7.3.2 Results 123

7.3.3 Discussion 127

7.4 Study 2: the English productive vocabulary of secondary school children in Flanders prior to English instruction measured through the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 129

7.4.1 Methodology 129

7.4.1.1 Participants 129

7.4.1.2 Instruments 129

7.4.1.3 Procedure 129

7.4.2 Results 130

7.4.3 Discussion 133

7.5 General discussion and conclusions 135

7.5.1 Children's productive vocabulary in English and its relation to their receptive vocabulary 136

7.5.2 Order of acquisition: parts of speech and semantic categories 136

7.5.3 The effect of type of secondary education and gender on children's productive lexical knowledge of English 140

Chapter 8 Factors influencing English L2 vocabulary acquisition through (digital) media immersion 143

8.1 Factors that may influence L2 acquisition 143

8.1.1 The necessary condition: exposure to the L2 143

8.1.2 Facilitating conditions: motivation and attitude 144

8.2 Research questions 146

8.2.1 Study 1: the English productive vocabulary of secondary school children in Flanders prior to English instruction in relation to their exposure to English 146

8.2.1.1 Methodology 146

8.2.1.2 Results 147

8.2.1.3 Discussion 156

8.2.2 Study 2: the English receptive vocabulary of secondary school children in Flanders prior to English instruction in relation to their exposure to English 157

8.2.2.1 Methodology 157

8.2.2.2 Results 158

8.2.2.3 Discussion 163

8.2.3 Study 3: the English receptive lexicon of Flemish fifth-grade pupils and motivation/attitudes 164

8.2.3.1 Methodology 164

8.2.3.2 Motivation and attitudes: results 166

8.2.3.3 Discussion 167

8.3 General discussion and conclusions 170

Chapter 9 The acquisition of English by Turkish- and Arabic-speaking children in Flanders 173

9.1 Introduction and aims 173

9.2 Background 173

9.3 Research questions 176

9.4 Methodology 176

9.4.1 Participants 176

9.4.2 Instruments 177

9.4.2.1 Written productive vocabulary test 177

9.4.2.2 Questionnaire 178

9.4.2.3 Procedure 179

9.5 Results 179

9.5.1 General results 179

9.5.2 Learner characteristics 180

9.5.2.1 General score in relation to grade 180

9.5.2.2 General score in relation to age 181

9.5.2.3 General score in relation to home language 182

9.5.2.4 General score in relation to gender 183

9.5.3 Attitudes towards English 184

9.5.3.1 The informants' interest in the English language 184

9.5.3.2 Perceived degree of difficulty in English 186

9.5.3.3 The degree to which the informants claim to understand English 187

9.5.4 Exposure to English 189

9.5.4.1 Exposure to English through different channels 190

9.5.4.2 Contact with English via television 190

9.5.4.3 Contact with English via the computer 192

9.5.4.4 Language preferences for television programmes 193

9.6 Discussion and conclusions 197

Chapter 10 General conclusions 199

10.1 Media-induced second language acquisition: does it exist? 199

10.1.1 Type of exposure, motivation and attitudes 200

10.1.2 Lexical versus phonological L2 acquisition 201

10.1.3 Individual differences between children 204

10.2 Methodology: tools and techniques for eliciting child L2 data 205

10.3 Implications for English language teaching 207

References 209