Linguistic Coding Differences in University, First-Year, English as a Foreign Language Learners　

The 2nd IAFOR International Conference on Language (ACL2021)　Online from Tokyo, Japan 
 March 25-26, 2021

The purpose of this research was to explore ways to diminish learning disabilities in second language learners at the university level. The Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis (LCDH) is the idea that one’s capacity to learn an L2 is closely related to the individual’s first language (L1) learning skills, and second language (L2) learning difficulties stem in part from native language difficulties. Affective differences between learners with lower and higher levels of L2 skills (e.g., differences in anxiety) are a consequence of their differing levels of self-perceptions about their L2 learning skills. This study is in-line with current research into learning disabilities being done in Japan (e.g., Ogawa, Shibasaki, Isomura, & Masataka, 2016) and overseas (e.g., Sparks, Granschow, 2009).  Our research focused on three aspects for the learners’ L1, namely two discrete grammar points (e.g., particle markers such as ‘が’), vocabulary (e.g., grammatical terms such as 副詞 [fukushi]), and reading comprehension. We looked for links between how successfully the participants were in the L1 portion of the experiment, then compared their L1 success with their L2 success in their first semester and year within the university. Our interest was in the performance of learners moving from a high school setting into completing their first year of university English classes. We wanted to track their progress from their L1 (Japanese) proficiency baseline to find correlation with their L2 (English) ability on graded assessments.
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