Engage in a formal research project over the summer semester with the UQ Summer Research Program.

The UQ Summer Research Scholarship Program offers scholarships to students wishing to gain experience working alongside a researcher in a formal research environment in their area of interest at UQ.

Applications for the 2022/2023 Summer Research Program have now CLOSED.

Participation is open to undergraduate (including honours) and master by coursework students who are currently enrolled and will remain at UQ for the entirety of the research program.

Discover more about the Summer Research Program

Applications have closed

Available 2022-23 Projects

4. Potential impact of learner background factors on their second language communication

Project title: 

Potential impact of learner background factors on their second language communication

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

  • 10 weeks
  • 36 hours per week
  • Except occasional face-to-face meetings, the work can be done mostly remotely

Description:

This project explores how the speakers’ first language and other background factors may impact on their second language development through group activities. An increasing volume of studies on learner-learner interaction has shown its facilitative role for second language development as it provides meaningful opportunities to use the L2 (e.g., Philp, Adams, & Iwashita, 2014; Sato & Lyster, 2012). Drawing on cognitive interactionist or sociocultural theories several studies have explored how task type, learner (e.g., proficiency, working memory, anxiety) and contextual factors (e.g., classroom vs. laboratory, second vs. foreign language setting) may contribute to the overall quality/quantity of interaction and subsequent learning. These studies have been undertaken in various languages including both commonly and less commonly taught languages. Furthermore, although it is well acknowledged that there is a variety of communication styles according to their first language, it is relatively unknown the extent to which L2 learner background associated with their L1, learning experiences, culture of learning and their L1 communication style may contribute to their communication during small group interactions and subsequent learning. In the proposed project we will develop an instrument to identify the factors contributing to interaction during group work and examine how the background factors may have impacted in the interaction during the group work.

Week 1-4: Literature review, preparation for data collection and analysis

Week 4-7: Data collection (if required) and pilot data analyses

Week 8-10: Data analyses and write up for preliminary analyses

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

Student Scholars will have an opportunity to gain skills in research in the areas of role of learner-learner interaction in second language acquisition. More specifically, they will have an opportunity to: 1) be introduced or expand their understanding of the field; 2) be trained for critical analyses of the relevant literature; 3) gain skills required for pilot data collection and analysis and 4) write up preliminary analyses.  Student Scholars will work closely with the supervisor through all stages of the project.

Suitable for:

  • Have honours/postgraduate-level training in Applied Linguistics or equivalent.
  • Good proficiency of one of the speakers’ languages in the spoken data (e.g., Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese) Primary Supervisor:
Primary SupervisorAssociate Professor Noriko Iwashita

Further info:

If you would like more information before applying, please contact Noriko Iwashita (n.iwashita@uq.edu.au).