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Abstract
Although some earlier studies reported female and child superiority in learning a second language (L2), current research has been inconclusive as to whether, and why, this might be the case. Using a socio-cultural paradigm, this study addresses how motivation, gender and age relate to the attainment of a native-like accent for young Kurdish learners of Turkish. A mixed methodological design was used to collect data from 56 girls and 65 boys at middle and high schools. Results suggested that as the level of integrated orientation increased, accent ratings increased for all participants; introjection, however, was a significant negative predictor of accent native-likeness only for boys. Furthermore, integrated orientation was associated with accent native-likeness for both middle- and high-school students while introjection orientation was a significant negative predictor only for high-school students. Interpreting the qualitative data, the study also presents indicative evidence of the gendered forms of motivation and their relation to native-like accent attainment.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Diane Schallert, Keith Walters and Laura Mahalingappa for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper. I also acknowledge with thanks my participants and the anonymous LLJ reviewers for their valuable suggestions that have improved this paper greatly.
Notes
1. It is not possible to provide precise statistical details of the ethnic diversity of the school populations. Such statistics are not officially collected in Turkey, and providing such information at an institutional level is highly sensitive in the Turkish context.