Käyttötaajuus ja tarkkuus toisen kielen kehityksessä
Frequency of use and accuracy in second language development
Keywords:
frequency of use, accuracy, second language development, Finnish as a second languageAbstract
The path of learning a new language twists between the need to express oneself and the aspiration towards accuracy. The article discusses this relationship between learning to use various constructions and getting them right. The pseudolongitudinal data consist of about 1200 texts written by young and adult learners of Finnish as a second language, assessed to represent the functionally determined Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) levels A1 – C2. The results are sifted from a large number of studies which have followed the use and/or accuracy of a given construction in these texts. The results show that an increase of use often preceeds an improvement in accuracy at the next CEFR level. Common constructions peak earlier both in use and accuracy than the less obligatory ones but errors in rarer contructions can function as indicators of high level language skills.
