Linking L2 proficiency to L2 acquisition: opportunities and challenges of profiling research
Jan H. Hulstijn · UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) · 2010
At the SLATE meeting of December 2006, Franceschina, Alanen, Huhta and Martin (2006) proposed the so called DEMfad agenda, meaning that development of a particular linguistic construction can best be studied by examining the frequency, accuracy and distribution of form-meaning constructions longitudinally, from emergence to mastery in a given domain2. However, we would not only like to examine the acquisition of specific elements of L2 grammar in isolation, but also in combination with an understanding of how the lexicogrammatical system at large is developing. Researchers therefore need to ascertain the “linguistic profile” of L2-learners, at any point of L2 development, in terms of the accuracy, under-use and over-use of morpheme sequences. Many of the papers brought together in this volume provide evidence of the feasibility of such a profiling enterprise. This is an exciting, promising and non-trivial feat, first of all for language testing practice and possibly also for syllabus design. As the contributions of Salamoura and Saville and of Alanen, Huhta and Tarnanen show, it is possible to build learner corpora of written productions, have productions rated at a given CEFR level, annotate them, and then conduct lexical and grammatical analyses yielding lexico-grammatical profiles. Comparisons of the profiles appear to show that the profiles of two adjacent developmental levels often differ from each other in the frequency of occurrence of a whole range of (correct or incorrect) morphemes rather than in the total absence versus presence of particular morphemes or in the partial versus fully correct application of particular rules of grammar.