Resumen de Cognate awareness -raising in late childhood: teachable and useful
This study is part of a larger investigation of the usefulness of instruction designed to raise cross-linguistic awareness in young Francophone learners of English in Quebec. In the research reported here, the focus is on cognates. Since previous research shows that learners typically fail to recognise many helpful similarities between words in a new language (in this case, English) and languages they already know, the instructional activities we designed emphasised strategies for identifying ‘good friend’ resemblances, though false friends were also discussed. The impact of the activities was assessed in three ways: learners’ performance on a measure of French–English cognate recognition ability; their written responses to a question that probed developing cognate awareness; and interviews that explored teachers’ experiences after using the activities in their classes. Findings suggested that learners benefited from the activities. Gains on the recognition test pointed to an advantage for ‘pattern’ instruction that addresses resemblances that are not readily detected (e.g. English screen = French écran). Learners who received the experimental instruction outperformed control groups on the cognate awareness measure. Furthermore, teachers were positive about the cross-linguistic comparisons. We conclude that the activities were effective and even enjoyable.
