LINGUIST List 14.3414

Wed Dec 10 2003

Diss: Psycholing/Lang Acquisition: Griffin: 'The...'

Editor for this issue: Takako Matsui <takolinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. rgriffin, The Output Hypothesis Revisited

Institution: Indiana University
Program: Department of Linguistics
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2004

Author: Robert Berkley Griffin

Dissertation Title: The Output Hypothesis Revisited: An Examination of
the Language-Related Episode and Its Impact on the Second Language
Writer

Linguistic Field: Psycholinguistics, Language Acquisition, Discourse
Analysis, Applied Linguistics 

Subject Language: English (code: ENG )

Dissertation Director 1: Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig
Dissertation Director 2: Bill Johnston
Dissertation Director 3: Martha Nyikos
Dissertation Director 4: Harry Gradman

Dissertation Abstract:

Since Swain and Lapkin suggested that language-related episodes (LREs)
indicated a high correlation between the role of learner output and
second language learning, the literature on the Output Hypothesis has
remained inconclusive about the affect of production on L2
acquisition. Responding to calls by Izumi and Bigelow (2000) and
Shehadeh (2002) for an agenda that makes a cquisitional research
central to the study of comprehensible output, this dissertation
examines language-related episodes in the verbal protocols of 10 ESL
writers and their affect on writing development. Results from this
semester-long study show that the language-related episode is a
juncture for output and acquisition regardless of the learner's L2
proficiency. The study proposes that the language-related episode
impacts the learner's attempt to cohere the emerging L2 text by
analyzing learner LREs for changes in 1) lexical and syntactic
modifications, and the 2) length of LREs as continuous or
discontinuous episodes. This analysis indicates that lexical and
syntactic modifications lead to sentence coherence and that sentence
to paragraph coherence coincides with extended language-related
episodes. Drawing on the results of this dissertation, discussion
addresses the features and frequency of language-related episodes in
L2 writing development and suggests its importance as a research tool
in taking the field forward.