Effect of l1 interlinear glosses on l2 reading and translation tasks
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- 2. y EFFECT OF L1 INTERLINEAR GLOSSES ON L2 READING AND TRANSLATION TASKS Camilo Andrés Bonilla Carvajal Research grant: 80740-204-2020 Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación Universidad del Quindío Ministerio de Ciencias 2021
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- 5. 5 Introduction The study investigates the effects of different types of glossing for word recall after reading a text in English. This work addresses how modifying a text written in a foreign language (L2), by using glosses in a learner’s first language (L1), can reduce the cognitive load (CL) associated to vocabulary learning. Learning is defined as the rate of L1 words that participants recall immediately after reading the L2 text, and one week after. This study will compare three conditions: 1-) Interlinear translation. 2-) Parallel text translation. 3-) Columnar translation.
- 6. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND In the history of language teaching methodologies, there has been a long-held view that criticises the usage of translation for L2 learning.*1 In modern times, teachers and methodologists have accepted the idea that the L1, in particular, and translation, in general, should be avoided in the classroom.*2 Interlinear translations (ITs) were abandoned without explanation.*3 As of today, ITs still remains under-discussed in applied linguistics and vocabulary studies.*4 Support for the use of translation is found in Cognitive Load Theory (CLT). Reading in a foreign language imposes a load in the available cognitive resources which affects performance.*5 The mental effort to meet the demands imposed by a complex task takes up cognitive capacity.*6 *1 (Hummel, 2010; Husain, 1994; Kern, 1994; Liao, 2006; Malmkjær, 1998; Prince, 1996; Tsagari & Phlōros, 2013). *2 (Hummel, 2010). *3 (Blum, 2008). *4 (Elekaei et al., 2015; Holley & King, 1971; Zarei & Hasani, 2011). *5 (Paas & Van Merriënboer, 1994, p. 122). *6 (Choi et al., 2014; Paas & Van Merriënboer, 1994; Paas et al., 2003, p. 64).
- 8. 8 Cognitive Load Theory and language learning WM is one of the best predictors of successful language learning.*1 CLT: humans have not evolved to acquire domain-specific skills (i.e. learning grammar rules or L2 vocabulary), but generic- cognitive knowledge that does not require explicit instruction, i.e. biologically secondary, domain-specific knowledge.*2 Information processing load induced by learning tasks affects one’s ability to process new information and add it to long-term memory.*2 *1 Gathercole & Baddeley (1993); Service (1992); Wen, Borges Mota & McNeill (2015).
- 9. 9 Automation frees WM capacity that can be used for other activities because, when attention is not focused on the automated schema, WM can process new ‘steps’ in the concatenation of a complex behaviour.*1 The goal in a CLT-based intervention is to prevent the excessive usage of our limited cognitive WM capacity in order to concatenate more complex skills. *1 Van Merriënboer & Sweller (2005).
- 10. 10 Research Questions The effects of different types of glosses in word recall during a task of reading texts of academic English. This work examines the possible correlation between the recall of L2 words and the extraneous CL when participants read the English text unassisted by the translation.
- 11. 11 RQ-1) What type of L1 gloss ...will induce the higher L2 word recall rate (as measured by a post-test and a delayed test of L2-L1 translation) for EFL beginner learners reading a text in academic English? RQ-2) Which of these types of gloss will induce the higher and lower CL, as measured by the average score of the perception questionnaire NASA-Task Load Index?
- 12. 12 Method Word recall: the subject’s capacity to retrieve the L1 meaning of an L2 lexical item in a written text to provide its L1 translation. This was assessed employing a translation task from L2 (English) to L1 (Spanish); a task which measured participants’ word recall after exposure to an L2 text. Participants in all conditions read one text (4 paragraphs: 472 words) in different reading conditions: interlinear translation, parallel text, and columnar text. They were tested immediately after (post-test) and eight days later again using the same final task (delayed post-test). Participants answered four reading comprehension questions.
- 14. 14 For the parallel and columnar, participants also received the instruction of confirming that each word in every sentence was understood before moving on to read the next one.
- 17. 17 Procedure 1. Participants were selected out of the first-semester students that do not belong to the B.A. in English. 2. The total number of participants was randomly assigned to one of the experimental conditions: interlinear, parallel, or columnar. 3. Participants fill out the consent form and the linguistic background questionnaire. 4. In one session lasting 60 minutes, each participant read the glossed version of the text. 5. Participants were instructed to make sure they understood each sentence in L2. 6. Once the time was over, participants completed an immediate post-test where they had to provide the translation of the L2 text into L1.
- 18. 18 7. The accuracy of the translation that participants provide was assessed with the meaning of the L1 gloss. It was obvious that a participant could not recall the exact L1 meaning of an L2 word, but the usage of a synonymous word that still conveyed the idea of the sentence was counted into the total amount of recalled words. On the contrary, false cognates, leaving a blank space or using an incorrect translation were not counted. Participants were therefore instructed to write out the translation for every word in an online form. When they forgot the meaning of a word, they typed a series of question marks ‘???’ and proceeded with the rest of the translation.
- 19. FINDINGS Session 1 Interlinear Parallel Columnar
- 20. FINDINGS Session 2 Interlinear Parallel Columnar
- 21. CONCLUSIONS The results from this study correlate a short-term memory recall for lexical meanings in L2 with the exposure to an IT as a more effective reading strategy than the traditional use of dictionary, or a contextual-inferential reading. With the aid of an interlinear reading method, there are interesting accomplishments for L2 first- semester beginners, such as the capacity to read an authentic text from a business journal requiring over 10 years of formal English education, or, in other words, to achieve a reading capacity beyond high-school level according to the U.S. grade standards despite of a self-reported average proficiency of 1.18 in a 0-10 scale. It is recommended to stress the relevance of the printed word in order to develop linguistic skills (i.e. vocabulary and grammar).*1 ITs are not a replacement to a thorough process of reading. “Interlinear glosses are not abbreviations of deep analyses, but reading aids to the reader”.*2 1* (Parent & Belasco, 1970, p. 503) 2* (Haspelmath, 2016, p. 301)
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