Open AccessEffects of the Informal Contact on Learners L2 Proficiency: A Review of Five Studies
Author(s) -
Nina Spada
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
tesl canada journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1925-8917
pISSN - 0826-435X
DOI - 10.18806/tesl.v2i2.462
Subject(s) - psychology , language contact , language proficiency , mathematics education , duration (music) , linguistics , pedagogy , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , art , philosophy , literature
In this paper, the findings of studies investigating the effects of informal contact on adult classroom learners' second language abilities are discussed and a number of factors are proposed which might have contributed to their conflicting results. This will involve a close examination of five of these studies in terms of differences in: I) type of contact 2) type of measurement instruments 3) type of learner 4) differences in quantitative measures of contact S) intensity and duration of instruction 6) interactions between type of instruction and contact.