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Sensory Input and Mental Imagery in Second Language Acquisition

Nargis, Sultana Mahbuba
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1418370678

Abstract Details

2014, Master of Arts, University of Toledo, College of Languages, Literature, and Social Sciences.
In the field of second language acquisition, there is a dominant theory of language learning, specifically, the claims that the input for language learning consists of language by famous linguist Noam Chomsky (1964) and his followers. However, Douglas W Coleman (Thesis adviser), Samuel Johnston, Yifei Xin, and the author hypothesized in ENGL 6150, a master’s course in Fall 2011, that a person cannot learn a target language from the speech input alone. The findings of that study were published in Xin’s (2012) study which showed that the relevant input for language learning consists of the sound of speech in parallel with other sensory experiences, and what people learn is the ability to communicate. An even earlier study by Postica and Coleman (2006) indicated that mental imagery, the capacity of human brain to recreate sensory experience without external stimuli, could be a substitute to the required `parallel sensory input’ in Second Language Acquisition. Implementing a variation of Postica (2006) and Xin (2012) experiments, this study aimed to further investigate the role of mental imagery in generating sensory input for communication learning. Thus, the study set out to explore if mental imagery could be a substitute to the sensory input required for learning to communicate in a target language. The findings of the study differ from the findings of Postica’s (2006). The variation in instrument design of this study from Postica’s (2006) design might have contributed to the different outcome of this study.
Douglas Coleman, PhD (Committee Chair)
Stephen Christman, PhD (Committee Member)
Gaby Semaan, PhD (Committee Member)
78 p.
Education; English As A Second Language; Language; Linguistics

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Nargis, S. M. (2014). Sensory Input and Mental Imagery in Second Language Acquisition [Master's thesis, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1418370678

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Nargis, Sultana. Sensory Input and Mental Imagery in Second Language Acquisition. 2014. University of Toledo, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1418370678.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Nargis, Sultana. "Sensory Input and Mental Imagery in Second Language Acquisition." Master's thesis, University of Toledo, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1418370678

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

toledo1418370678
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This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.