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Is There a Relationship Between Language Competences and Metalinguistic Awareness?

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Current Research in Bilingualism and Bilingual Education

Part of the book series: Multilingual Education ((MULT,volume 26))

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Abstract

Psycholinguistic publications often point to the fact that bi-/multilingual people learn a new language more effectively and efficiently than monolingual ones, especially in instructed conditions. An important reason of this advantage, mentioned by several researchers, is metalinguistic awareness, which is believed to be better developed in bi-/multilinguals than in monolinguals (e.g. Thomas. J Multiling Multicult Dev 9(3):235–246, 1988; Klein. Lang Learn 45(3):419–465, 1995; Herdina and Jessner. A dynamic model of multilingualism: perspectives of change in psycholinguistics. Multilingual Matters, Clevedon, 2002; Ó Laoire. L3 in Ireland: a preliminary study of learners’ metalinguistic awareness. In: Hufeisen B, Fouser RJ (eds) Introductory readings in L3. Stauffenburg, Tübingen, pp 47–53, 2005; Gibson and Hufeisen. Investigating the role of prior foreign language knowledge: translating from an unknown into a known foreign language. In: Cenoz J, Hufeisen B, Jessner U (eds) The multilingual lexicon. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 87–102, 2006; Jessner. Linguistic awareness in multilinguals: English as a third language. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2006; Rauch et al Int J Biling 16(4):402–418, 2012). The present study deals with the relationship between language competences and metalinguistic awareness. Its results indicate that language competences are an asset for understanding an unknown language. They also suggest that there may be a dependence between both the number of appropriated languages and the level of their attainment and metalinguistic awareness. However, it is not clear which direction of influence is more probable – whether language competences boost the development of metalinguistic awareness or whether metalinguistic awareness contributes to the successful development of any further language, or whether this dependence is bidirectional.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In the present article, three terms referring to the development of linguistic knowledge are used; these are: ‘appropriation’, ‘acquisition’ and ‘learning’. The term ‘appropriation’ is used, after Paradis (2009), as a hypernym of the terms ‘acquisition’ and ‘learning’. Language acquisition is a subconscious, implicit and unintentional process which takes place in natural communication; language learning is a conscious, explicit and intentional process typical of school instruction contexts (Krashen 1981).

  2. 2.

    Even though the authors do not mention this, most probably those children also learned English at school (although the German federal states differ in respect of the year when the teaching of English begins).

  3. 3.

    The present study is an extended version of the study reported on in the paper ‘Metalinguistische Bewusstheit von Mehrsprachlern’, presented at the international conference Mehrsprachigkeit und Multikulturalität im translatorischen und glottodidaktischen Paradigma, Wrocław, Poland, 9–11th October 2015.

  4. 4.

    The three levels were chosen over the six levels described in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe 2001) in order to reduce the variation in responses and thus highten response reliability.

  5. 5.

    In particular, the first, free lesson was used.

  6. 6.

    The experimental sheet also included a question regarding translation strategies. However, since many students left this space blank, the responses to this question were disregarded.

  7. 7.

    Since there are also several similarities between Dutch and Swedish, I initially considered excluding the two respondents with Swedish as a foreign language from the study, expecting an advantage which might bias their performance. However, since their level of Swedish was low and their results were average, I finally decided to take their results into consideration.

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Acknowledgments

I am most grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their invaluable comments on the previous versions of the text (naturally, all shortcomings of the present article are exclusively my own). Special thanks go to my colleague, Janusz Stopyra, for his invaluable help with the translation of the Danish text. Last but not least, I would like to thank the students from the German Philology Department of the University of Wrocław who agreed to participate in the translation task.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of German Philology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland

    Zofia Chłopek

Authors
  1. Zofia Chłopek
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Applied Linguistics, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

    Piotr Romanowski

  2. Institute of English, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland

    Małgorzata Jedynak

Appendix: Task Sheet Used in the Study

The instructions before the text:

John and Mette meet at Mad’s party. Try to translate the dialogue! Do not use a dictionary or any other aids. Which strategies have you applied?

The questionnaire after the text:

figure a

The English version of the dialogue:

  • John: Hi, I’m John/my name is John.

  • Mette: Hi. Mette.

  • John: Nice party, huh/isn’t it?

  • Mette: Yes, it is/that’s right. How do you know Mads?

  • John: We work together.

  • Mette: Are you also a teacher?

  • John: Yes, I am. I’m working as a substitute teacher here in Copenhagen.

  • Mette: Are you from Copenhagen?

  • John: No, I’m actually not a Dane. I’m from Namibia. / I come from Namibia.

  • Mette: Really? How exciting! How long have you been in Denmark?

  • John: I’ve been here almost three months.

  • Mette: But you speak Danish very well!

  • John: Thanks. My parents are Danes. My mother lives here, and my father lives in Namibia. How about you?

  • Mette: Oh, I’m just an ordinary Dane. I’m from Aarhus, but I live in Copenhagen.

  • John: What do you do?

  • Mette: I’m an actress.

Appendix: Task Sheet Used in the Study

John i Mette spotykają się na przyjęciu u Madsa.

Spróbuj przetłumaczyć dialog! Nie używaj słownika ani też innych pomocy! ☺

Jakich strategii użyłeś?

 

Duński

Polski

John:

Hej, jeg hedder John.

 

Mette:

Hej. Mette.

 

John:

Fed fest, hva?

 

Mette:

Ja, det er det.

 

Hvor kender du Mads fra?

John:

Vi arbejder sammen.

 

Mette:

Er du også lærer?

 

John:

Ja, det er jeg.

 

Jeg arbejder som vikar her i København.

Mette:

Kommer du fra København?

 

John:

Nej, jeg er faktisk ikke dansker.

 

Jeg kommer fra Namibia.

Mette:

Er det rigtigt?

 

Hvor spændende!

Hvor længe har du været i Danmark?

John:

Jeg har været her i næsten tre måneder.

 

Mette:

Men du taler da flot dansk!

 

John:

Tak.

 

Mine forældre er danskere.

Min mor bor her, og min far bor i Namibia.

Hvad met dig?

Mette:

Nå, jeg er bare almindelig dansker.

 

Jeg er fra Arhus, men jeg bor i København.

John:

Hvad laver du?

 

Mette:

Jeg er skuespiller.

 
figure b

Bardzo dziękuję! ☺

Text from:

http://www.speakdanish.dk/en/lessons/0010-1-first-meeting.php (accessed 31.10.2015).

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Chłopek, Z. (2018). Is There a Relationship Between Language Competences and Metalinguistic Awareness?. In: Romanowski, P., Jedynak, M. (eds) Current Research in Bilingualism and Bilingual Education. Multilingual Education, vol 26. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92396-3_2

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