Problem Solving in a Foreign Language: A Study in Content and Language Integrated Learning (Studies on Language Acquisition)

230 Pages·2010·1.68 MB·English

by  Lena Heine

Problem Solving in a Foreign Language
Studies on Language Acquisition
41
Editor
Peter Jordens
De Gruyter Mouton
Problem Solving
in a Foreign Language
by
Lena Heine
De Gruyter Mouton
ISBN 978-3-11-022445-0
e-ISBN 978-3-11-022446-7
ISSN 1861-4248
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Heine,Lena.
Problemsolvinginaforeignlanguage/byLenaHeine.
p.cm.(cid:2)(Studiesonlanguageacquisition;41)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-3-11-022445-0(alk.paper)
1. Second language acquisition (cid:2) Study and teaching. 2. Lan-
guage and languages (cid:2) Study and teaching. 3. Language and cul-
ture. 4.Sociolinguistics. I.Title.
P118.2H45 2010
418.0071(cid:2)dc22
2010003181
BibliographicinformationpublishedbytheDeutscheNationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailedbibliographicdataareavailableintheInternetathttp://dnb.d-nb.de.
(cid:2)2010WalterdeGruyterGmbH&Co.KG,Berlin/NewYork
Printing:Hubert&Co.GmbH&Co.KG,Göttingen
(cid:3)Printedonacid-freepaper
PrintedinGermany
www.degruyter.com
For Doris and Werner Heine
who make things grow
and sail the sea
Acknowledgements

This book is based on my PhD thesis “Kognitive Prozesse bilingualer Lerner
bei der fremdsprachlichen Verarbeitung von Fachinhalten” (2007, Osnabrück
University), which was partly funded by the German Research Foundation
within the project “Fachlernen und (Fremd-)Sprachlichkeit: aufgabenbasierte
Kognition, Kooperation, Kommunikation”.
I would like to thank H. Johannes Vollmer for all his support and for
taking me ‘on board’, Debbie Coetzee-Lachmann for the many stimulating
discussions and the enjoyable working hours spent together, and Verena
Barbosa Duarte, Kristin Möller and Randi Troschke for their help with the
coding of the think-aloud data.
A special thanks goes to Alex Bergs for his support under the final stages
of the project.
Thanks also to the editor of the present series, Peter Jordens, especially
for his valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.
My grateful thanks goes to the students of the Ratsgymnasium Os-
nabrück who allowed me intimate insights into their very thoughts. With-
out their help this book could never have been written.
Contents

Figures x
Tables xi
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1. Bilingual education and CLIL 1
2. Objectives 4
3. Structure 5
Chapter 2 Language and thinking 8
1. Linguistic knowledge 8
2. Linguistic knowledge in multilingual speakers 10
3. Language and meaning 13
4. Language and the format of thought 15
5. Conclusions and summary 21
Chapter 3 Problem solving 23
1. Mental processes 23
2. Task solving as problem solving 27
3. The appropriate level of description 28
4. Processes vs. phases 30
5. Focus on meaning and focus on form 32
6. Summary 35
Chapter 4 Language-specific cognitive processes 36
1. Linguistic processing 36
2. Processes of text comprehension 37
3. Processes of language production 40
4. Models of writing tasks 42
5. Summary 56
Chapter 5 A model of conceptual-linguistic task solving 57
1. Task-solving as a complex problem solving activity 57
2. Phases of task solving 61
3. Summary 66
viii Contents

Chapter 6 Task design and task analysis 68
1. The importance of the research design 68
2. Subjects 68
3. Elicitation tasks 69
4. Cognitive task analysis 73
5. Linguistic task analysis 79
6. Summary 81
Chapter 7 Think-aloud data 82
1. Thinking aloud 82
2. Thinking aloud and language of thought 84
3. Individual differences in cognitive processing 89
4. Thinking aloud in L2 settings 90
5. Think-aloud data as protocols of problem solving activites 94
6. Summary 98
Chapter 8 A coding scheme 99
1. Coding the data 99
2. Change of focus between the problem spaces 107
3. Different phases – different mental activities 114
4. Summary 118
Chapter 9 Problem solving in a foreign language 119
1. Language as a catalytic converter: depth of processing 119
2. L1-L2 processing differences in language production 128
3. Language reception 148
4. Filled and unfilled pauses 149
5. Mispronunciations 151
6. Differences in semantic processing of text information? 156
7. Critical thoughts on the process data 159
8. Summary 160
Chapter 10 Evaluation of the think-aloud method 162
1. Limitations of the think-aloud method 162
2. Subjective interview data 163
3. Reactivity 165
4. Mental language switches 170
5. Is thinking aloud a valid elicitation method? 173
6. Summary 176
Contents ix
Chapter 11 Results and discussion 177
1. Retrospective thoughts 177
2. Theoretical results 177
3. Methodological results 178
4. Empirical results 183
5. Implications for the design of learning contexts 185
6. What further research is needed? 187
7. Final remarks 189
Transcription conventions 191
References 192
Index 214