Conceptual transfer studies in the context of second language acquisition: a scoping review
Conceptual transfer has emerged as a prominent focus in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research since1998. Given the complex and diverse theoretical frameworks associated with conceptual transfer, a commitment to methodological rigor within this field becomes imperative. Currently, among the...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2024
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/24269/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/24269/1/Akademika_94_2_7.pdf |
| Summary: | Conceptual transfer has emerged as a prominent focus in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research since1998.
Given the complex and diverse theoretical frameworks associated with conceptual transfer, a commitment to
methodological rigor within this field becomes imperative. Currently, among the existing review studies pertaining to
conceptual transfer, there seems to be a lack of comprehensive studies conducted to discover how this broad topic has
been approached in the literature. This scoping review has synthesised empirical studies on conceptual transfer,
focusing on publications indexed in the Social Sciences Citation Index and Chinese Social Science Index from 1998
onwards. A total of 55 studies were coded in terms of adopted theories, research lines of inquiry, participant
backgrounds, and research design. The primary aim was to identify the range of goals to date and emerging trends
for future research. Our analysis has revealed that empirical research in this area encompassed a broad scope of
inquiry lines and employed various research designs. However, several gaps in previous studies were identified,
including the following: (1) a lack of critical theoretical explanations in their empirical studies; (2) an unbalanced
development of lines of inquiry in conceptual transfer studies; (3) a lack of attention to target foreign languages other
than English and participants from alternative educational levels; and (4) homogenisation issues in both their data
collection and analysis process. These gaps underscored the pressing need for a more comprehensive and multi
dimensional investigation in the future. |
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