Stonehenge is the ancient stone circle and a World Heritage Site. It is thought to be remains of something which was built between 3000BC and 1600 BC. The circle is regarded to have a relation to the course of the sun. It is still the mystery because it has not solved why the monument was made.Monday 22 December 2008
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is the ancient stone circle and a World Heritage Site. It is thought to be remains of something which was built between 3000BC and 1600 BC. The circle is regarded to have a relation to the course of the sun. It is still the mystery because it has not solved why the monument was made.
Discourse
Blommaert, J., 2005, Discourse: A Critical Introduction, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Language varieties
a) Varieties identified on the basis of the modes or channels of communication: spoken versus written, direct versus indirect (mediated) communication, etc.
b) Geographically identified varieties – ‘dialects’, regional accents
c) Socially identified varieties often called ‘sociolects’ – class varieties, professional jargons, peer-group talk, age-, gender-, or ethnically marked varieties, etc.
d) Situationally or domain-identified varieties, i.e. varieties used on particular occasion or in particular social domains, such as peer-group talk, dinner table conversations, doctor-patient interactions, classroom interactions etc.
e) Styles, genres, formats of communication – formal versus informal varieties, storytelling, jokes, casual chat, public speech, media discourse, etc.
Every chunk of real language will carry all these features at the same time.
Language varieties
a) Varieties identified on the basis of the modes or channels of communication: spoken versus written, direct versus indirect (mediated) communication, etc.
b) Geographically identified varieties – ‘dialects’, regional accents
c) Socially identified varieties often called ‘sociolects’ – class varieties, professional jargons, peer-group talk, age-, gender-, or ethnically marked varieties, etc.
d) Situationally or domain-identified varieties, i.e. varieties used on particular occasion or in particular social domains, such as peer-group talk, dinner table conversations, doctor-patient interactions, classroom interactions etc.
e) Styles, genres, formats of communication – formal versus informal varieties, storytelling, jokes, casual chat, public speech, media discourse, etc.
Every chunk of real language will carry all these features at the same time.
Friday 19 December 2008
Discourse analysis
Yule, G., 2006, The Study of Language (Third Edition), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
The word ‘discourse’ is usually defined as ‘language beyond the sentence’ and the analysis of discourse is typically concerned with the study of language in text and conversation.
Cohesion is the ties and connections that exist within texts.
Cohesive ties
-words to maintain reference to the same people and things, such as father-he; a Lincoln convertible-that car-the convertible
-terms that share a common element such as ‘time’-once-nowadays-sometimes
-connector such as however
-the verb tenses
Coherence-everything fitting together well; something that exists in people
-You would have to create meaningful connections that are not actually expressed by the words and sentences.
A: That’s the telephone. (A makes a request of B to perform action.)
B: I’m in the bath. (B states reason why B cannot comply with request.)
A: OK. (A undertakes to perform action.)
Conversation analysis
Speech event such as debate, interview, various types of discussions
-the roles of speakers and their relationship such as friends, strangers, men, women, young, old, of equal or unequal status, and many other factors
-the topic of conversation
-in what setting it took place
Turn-taking
-rudeness (one speaker cuts in on another speaker)
-shyness (one speaker keeps waiting for an opportunity to take a turn and none seems to occur.)
-filled pauses (hesitation marker such as er, em, uh, ah, you know)
-[ is conventionally used to indicate a place where simultaneous or overlapping speech occurs.
Completion point
-Speakers can mark their turns as complete in a number of ways: by asking a question or by pausing at the end of a completed syntactic structure like a phrase or sentence.
-Other participants can indicate that they want to take the speaking turn, also in a number of ways. They can start to make short sounds, usually repeated, while the speaker is talking, and often use body shifts or facial expressions to signal that they have something to say.
Hedges can be defined as words or phrases used to indicate that we’re not really sure that what we’re saying is sufficiently correct or complete, such as sort of, kind of, as far as I know
Implicature is an additional conveyed meaning
A: Are you coming to the party tonight?
B: I’ve got an exam tomorrow.
(B’s answer means ‘No’ or ‘Probably not.’ It is not a statement about tomorrow’s activities, it involves tonight’s activities, which mean ‘study tonight.’)
The word ‘discourse’ is usually defined as ‘language beyond the sentence’ and the analysis of discourse is typically concerned with the study of language in text and conversation.
Cohesion is the ties and connections that exist within texts.
Cohesive ties
-words to maintain reference to the same people and things, such as father-he; a Lincoln convertible-that car-the convertible
-terms that share a common element such as ‘time’-once-nowadays-sometimes
-connector such as however
-the verb tenses
Coherence-everything fitting together well; something that exists in people
-You would have to create meaningful connections that are not actually expressed by the words and sentences.
A: That’s the telephone. (A makes a request of B to perform action.)
B: I’m in the bath. (B states reason why B cannot comply with request.)
A: OK. (A undertakes to perform action.)
Conversation analysis
Speech event such as debate, interview, various types of discussions
-the roles of speakers and their relationship such as friends, strangers, men, women, young, old, of equal or unequal status, and many other factors
-the topic of conversation
-in what setting it took place
Turn-taking
-rudeness (one speaker cuts in on another speaker)
-shyness (one speaker keeps waiting for an opportunity to take a turn and none seems to occur.)
-filled pauses (hesitation marker such as er, em, uh, ah, you know)
-[ is conventionally used to indicate a place where simultaneous or overlapping speech occurs.
Completion point
-Speakers can mark their turns as complete in a number of ways: by asking a question or by pausing at the end of a completed syntactic structure like a phrase or sentence.
-Other participants can indicate that they want to take the speaking turn, also in a number of ways. They can start to make short sounds, usually repeated, while the speaker is talking, and often use body shifts or facial expressions to signal that they have something to say.
Hedges can be defined as words or phrases used to indicate that we’re not really sure that what we’re saying is sufficiently correct or complete, such as sort of, kind of, as far as I know
Implicature is an additional conveyed meaning
A: Are you coming to the party tonight?
B: I’ve got an exam tomorrow.
(B’s answer means ‘No’ or ‘Probably not.’ It is not a statement about tomorrow’s activities, it involves tonight’s activities, which mean ‘study tonight.’)
Pragmatics
Yule, G., 2006, The Study of Language (Third Edition), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Pragmatics
-is conceptual meaning and the relationships between words; context and the communicative intentions of speakers; the study of what speakers mean or ‘speaker meaning’; is the study of ‘invisible’ meaning, or how we recognize what is meant even when it isn’t actually said or written.
Linguistic content (co-text) is the set of other words used in the same phrase or sentence
Physical context is the time and place
Deixis-physical context
-means ‘pointing’ via language, such as it, this, these boxes
-person deixis such as him, them, those students
-spatial deixis such as here, there, near that (location)
-temporal deixis such as now, then, last week (time)
Reference such as my friend, he, the blue thing, Jennifer
-When words themselves don’t refer to anything, we have to define reference as an act by which a speaker uses language to enable a listener to identify something.
Inference is additional information used by the listener to create a connection between what is said and what must be meant.
Ex. “Can I look at your Chomsky?” “Sure, it’s on the shelf over there.”
Anaphora is the first expression such as a boy
Antecedent is the second referring expression such as the boy
Presupposition is the type of action performed by a speaker, such as the function of requesting, commanding, questioning, informing, promising or statement.
Direct speech act
“Can you ride a bicycle?”-interrogative structure with the function
“You left the door open.”-declarative structure with the function of statement
Indirect speech act
“Can you pass the salt?”-interrogative structure with the function of requesting
“You left the door open.”-declarative structure with the function of requesting
Face is your public self-image.
Politeness shows awareness of and consideration for another person’s face.
Face-threatening act is a threat to another person’s self-image.
Ex. “Give me that paper!”-direct speech act with the assumption of social power
Face-saving act
Ex. “Could you pass me that paper?”-indirect speech act without the assumption of social power
Negative face is the need to be independent and free from imposition.
Positive face is the need to be connected, to belong, to be a member of the group.
“I’m sorry to bother you…; I know you’re busy, but…”-A face-saving act that emphasizes a person’s negative face will show concern about imposition.
“Let’s do together…; You and I have the same problem, so…”-A face saving act that emphasizes a person’s positive face will show solidary and draw attention to a common goal.
Pragmatics
-is conceptual meaning and the relationships between words; context and the communicative intentions of speakers; the study of what speakers mean or ‘speaker meaning’; is the study of ‘invisible’ meaning, or how we recognize what is meant even when it isn’t actually said or written.
Linguistic content (co-text) is the set of other words used in the same phrase or sentence
Physical context is the time and place
Deixis-physical context
-means ‘pointing’ via language, such as it, this, these boxes
-person deixis such as him, them, those students
-spatial deixis such as here, there, near that (location)
-temporal deixis such as now, then, last week (time)
Reference such as my friend, he, the blue thing, Jennifer
-When words themselves don’t refer to anything, we have to define reference as an act by which a speaker uses language to enable a listener to identify something.
Inference is additional information used by the listener to create a connection between what is said and what must be meant.
Ex. “Can I look at your Chomsky?” “Sure, it’s on the shelf over there.”
Anaphora is the first expression such as a boy
Antecedent is the second referring expression such as the boy
Presupposition is the type of action performed by a speaker, such as the function of requesting, commanding, questioning, informing, promising or statement.
Direct speech act
“Can you ride a bicycle?”-interrogative structure with the function
“You left the door open.”-declarative structure with the function of statement
Indirect speech act
“Can you pass the salt?”-interrogative structure with the function of requesting
“You left the door open.”-declarative structure with the function of requesting
Face is your public self-image.
Politeness shows awareness of and consideration for another person’s face.
Face-threatening act is a threat to another person’s self-image.
Ex. “Give me that paper!”-direct speech act with the assumption of social power
Face-saving act
Ex. “Could you pass me that paper?”-indirect speech act without the assumption of social power
Negative face is the need to be independent and free from imposition.
Positive face is the need to be connected, to belong, to be a member of the group.
“I’m sorry to bother you…; I know you’re busy, but…”-A face-saving act that emphasizes a person’s negative face will show concern about imposition.
“Let’s do together…; You and I have the same problem, so…”-A face saving act that emphasizes a person’s positive face will show solidary and draw attention to a common goal.
Sunday 7 December 2008
Introduction of Teacher Identity
Teaching English as an International Language: Identity, Resistance and Negotiation by Phan Le Ha (2008)
New Words
-In its heyday, the company ran trains every fifteen minutes.
-She writes under a pseudonym.
Main points
-national identity, cultural identity
-Language is a part of identity.
-Status is a part of identity.
-Morality plays an important role in all processes of teacher identity in Vietnam.
-The sense of belongings, connectedness, continuity and a coherent growth are important for identity formation.
New Words
-In its heyday, the company ran trains every fifteen minutes.
-She writes under a pseudonym.
Main points
-national identity, cultural identity
-Language is a part of identity.
-Status is a part of identity.
-Morality plays an important role in all processes of teacher identity in Vietnam.
-The sense of belongings, connectedness, continuity and a coherent growth are important for identity formation.
Complexities of Identity Formation 2
Complexities of Identity Formation: A narrative Inquiry of an EFL Teacher by Amy B. M. Tsui (2007)
Summary
Minfang is a successful English learner as well as a successful English teacher in China. There was a gap between the spirit of Communicative language teaching (CLT) and his belief. CLT was introduced from the West in order to develop Chinese communicative competence and it had a prestige as a new method. Chinese people had a difficulty with English conversation even after 900 hours of learning, though they tended to be good at writing and grammar. He could not adopt CLT because it was against the Chinese Confucian learning culture. In the class, he needed to change to different personae and to express opinions spontaneously. In addition, he did not like to do communicative activities in groups. As a result, he did not have motivation of studying CLT. He created his own learning style and succeeded in developing communicative competence, not because of CLT, but because of his hard work after class. Through his experience as a learner, he had an idea that traditional method (TM) worked better than CLT.
As a teacher, he was assigned to teach listening skills for the first two years. He gave a lot of interactive activities in his class because of the spirit of CLT. But it did not work for his students and he started to teach in his own way based on TM. His approach went well and in the third year he was assigned to teach the CLT course which was considered to be important. He kept teaching in his own approach in the CLT course and students liked it. However, from inspectors’ point of view, he was a faked CLT practitioner because he taught in eclectic approach. As his status advanced, he regarded himself as a member of the department, but he became very cautious about what he said because he was very influential both inside and outside the department.
After three year of teaching, he started a postgraduate course in EFL teaching. He found the misconception of CLT and his eclectic approach based in Confucian culture was not wrong. After he finished the sixth year, he left the institution in order to get a doctoral degree in the United Kingdom. He felt that empirical study in a classroom was important and it took time to decide how to teach suitably.
Summary
Minfang is a successful English learner as well as a successful English teacher in China. There was a gap between the spirit of Communicative language teaching (CLT) and his belief. CLT was introduced from the West in order to develop Chinese communicative competence and it had a prestige as a new method. Chinese people had a difficulty with English conversation even after 900 hours of learning, though they tended to be good at writing and grammar. He could not adopt CLT because it was against the Chinese Confucian learning culture. In the class, he needed to change to different personae and to express opinions spontaneously. In addition, he did not like to do communicative activities in groups. As a result, he did not have motivation of studying CLT. He created his own learning style and succeeded in developing communicative competence, not because of CLT, but because of his hard work after class. Through his experience as a learner, he had an idea that traditional method (TM) worked better than CLT.
As a teacher, he was assigned to teach listening skills for the first two years. He gave a lot of interactive activities in his class because of the spirit of CLT. But it did not work for his students and he started to teach in his own way based on TM. His approach went well and in the third year he was assigned to teach the CLT course which was considered to be important. He kept teaching in his own approach in the CLT course and students liked it. However, from inspectors’ point of view, he was a faked CLT practitioner because he taught in eclectic approach. As his status advanced, he regarded himself as a member of the department, but he became very cautious about what he said because he was very influential both inside and outside the department.
After three year of teaching, he started a postgraduate course in EFL teaching. He found the misconception of CLT and his eclectic approach based in Confucian culture was not wrong. After he finished the sixth year, he left the institution in order to get a doctoral degree in the United Kingdom. He felt that empirical study in a classroom was important and it took time to decide how to teach suitably.
Friday 5 December 2008
A multi-dimensional Approach
A multi-dimensional Approach to Teaching English for the World by Brian Tomlinson
English in the world, Global Rules edited by Rubdy & Saraceni (2006)
New Word
-She will be a contender for a gold medal in the Olympics.
-He was stigmatized as a coward and a liar.
-She hopes to emulate her sister’s sporting achievements.
-In the poem he laments the destruction of the countryside.
-A lot of jargon they use is unintelligible to outsiders.
-Her official designation is Financial Controller.
-Physical exercise is indispensable to young people.
-I’ve no inclinations toward becoming a teacher.
-‘Darling’ is a term of endearment.
-I feel strangely exhilarated by the event.
Summary
English as an International Language (EIL) is developing as a distinctive variety of English and English is becoming more diverse in its forms, functions and cultural associations. English speakers from different parts of the world develop two varieties of the local and the global and they switch codes due to the interlocutors and purposes for communication. EIL learners should continue to be exposed to the Lingua Franca Core (LFC) as well as different varieties of English. They should be considered to be equal and nobody should be considered to be as a good model. The best EIL teachers would be successful EIL learners. They have the ability to communicate with native speakers as well as non-native speakers.
English in the world, Global Rules edited by Rubdy & Saraceni (2006)
New Word
-She will be a contender for a gold medal in the Olympics.
-He was stigmatized as a coward and a liar.
-She hopes to emulate her sister’s sporting achievements.
-In the poem he laments the destruction of the countryside.
-A lot of jargon they use is unintelligible to outsiders.
-Her official designation is Financial Controller.
-Physical exercise is indispensable to young people.
-I’ve no inclinations toward becoming a teacher.
-‘Darling’ is a term of endearment.
-I feel strangely exhilarated by the event.
Summary
English as an International Language (EIL) is developing as a distinctive variety of English and English is becoming more diverse in its forms, functions and cultural associations. English speakers from different parts of the world develop two varieties of the local and the global and they switch codes due to the interlocutors and purposes for communication. EIL learners should continue to be exposed to the Lingua Franca Core (LFC) as well as different varieties of English. They should be considered to be equal and nobody should be considered to be as a good model. The best EIL teachers would be successful EIL learners. They have the ability to communicate with native speakers as well as non-native speakers.
Thursday 4 December 2008
Teaching EIL
Teaching EIL-Teaching International or Intercultural English? What Teachers Should Know by Nicos Sifakis (2006)
New Words
-Our objectives need to be precisely delineated.
-They embarked on a discussion even during lunch time.
-The British job of Lecturer corresponds roughly to the US Associate Professor.
-Lack of money hindered completion of the project.
-The food rendered them homeless.
-I have some appreciation of your problem.
-The idea is of paramount importance.
-She works in a predominantly male environment.
Summary
There are two perspectives in language communication; N-bound approach and C-bound approach. N-bound is a traditional and codified approach by native speakers (NSs) and is used for EIL (English as an International Language) at a classroom. C-bound approach is for many different forms of communication and many varieties of English by non-native speakers (NNSs) and is used for EIcL (English as an Intercultural Language). In real life, communication has a shift from EIL to EIcL and learners need to be exposed to NNS communication. Because of the lack of C-bound material, EIcL teachers need to create syllabus and materials.
New Words
-Our objectives need to be precisely delineated.
-They embarked on a discussion even during lunch time.
-The British job of Lecturer corresponds roughly to the US Associate Professor.
-Lack of money hindered completion of the project.
-The food rendered them homeless.
-I have some appreciation of your problem.
-The idea is of paramount importance.
-She works in a predominantly male environment.
Summary
There are two perspectives in language communication; N-bound approach and C-bound approach. N-bound is a traditional and codified approach by native speakers (NSs) and is used for EIL (English as an International Language) at a classroom. C-bound approach is for many different forms of communication and many varieties of English by non-native speakers (NNSs) and is used for EIcL (English as an Intercultural Language). In real life, communication has a shift from EIL to EIcL and learners need to be exposed to NNS communication. Because of the lack of C-bound material, EIcL teachers need to create syllabus and materials.
Wednesday 3 December 2008
Complexities of Identity Formation 1
Complexities of Identity Formation: A narrative Inquiry of an EFL Teacher by Amy B. M. Tsui (2007)
New Words
-Our interest converged on the subject.
-I felt a sense of alienation from society.
-The coach lumped the boys and girls together in one gym class.
-She’s been posted to Washington for two years.
-Fresh vegetables are scarce in winter.
-A country bumpkin is a person from the countryside who seems stupid.
-His public persona is quite different from the family man described in the book.
-They all huddled around the fire.
-I was pushed into a filthy, stinking room.
-The thief cursed the police for finding him.
-The police intensified their investigation.
-He ascribes his poverty to his parents.
-She had the implicit trust of her stuff.
-I blamed the accident on him. = I blamed him for the accident.
-She deeply ashamed of her behavior at the party.
main points
Wenger’s social theory of identity formation (1998)
Identity formation is a dual process of identification and negotiation of meanings.
Identification
-It is the investment of self in building associations and differentiations.
-It is reificative and participative belonging.
-It is relational and experiential.
-It consists of three modes of belonging.
1 engagement-roles and relations with other people in the community
2 imagination- relations to the world beyond the community
3 alignment-power through coercion and oppression and leads to dissociation and alienation
Negotiation of meanings-the production and adoption of meanings
The ELT landscape in China
-The necessity of English communication with foreigners has increased dramatically since 1978.
-University graduates were found to be highly competent in writing and grammar, but poor in speaking and listening.
-Most middle-school graduates found it hard to converse in simple English even after 900 hours of learning.
-A large number of native speakers of English have been recruited from the West.
-In 1985 the Ministry of Education recommended CLT for nation-wide adoption. CLT was considered a new method and approach as opposed to traditional approach (TM) although Chinese learners have different cultural background from western culture.
Minfang’s EFL Learner Identities
-Most of the teachers had never found themselves in a situation where they had to use English for daily conversational.
-Students needed to change to different personae.
-Instantaneous oral participation in class required students to express opinions spontaneously without careful thinking.
-This activity went against the Chinese culture, which attaches a great deal of importance to making thoughtful remarks and not babbling before one has thought things through.
-He believed strongly that he could develop communicative competence through daily interaction with his friends.
-His English movement comes from his hard work after class, not from CLT class.
-He thinks TM is no worse than CLT.
Minfang’s EFL Teacher Identities
First 2 years
-He was assigned to teach listening skills which was considered auxiliary.
-He had an implicit belief that TM worked better.
-He did not know how to deal with the intimate relationship with his students.
-He became a popular teacher, but he didn’t want to be because it is perceived as a teacher of little substance and one who has nothing but relationships to win the students’ hearts. Too friendly, undermine authority
After the first 2 years
-He was assigned to teach the CLT course.
-He was a faked CLT practitioner and he taught in eclectic approach.
-In MA, he found the misconception of CLT.
-In PhD, he felt that the teacher’s lived experience in the classroom was the best guide for pedagogical decision-making.
Conclusion
-Competence and legitimacy of access to practice are important for identity formation as well.
-Participation is central to identity formation.
-The interplay of identification and the negotiability of meanings could generate identity conflicts. These conflicts could lead to new relations with members of the community, new ownership of meanings or identities of marginality, disengagement and nonparticipation.
New Words
-Our interest converged on the subject.
-I felt a sense of alienation from society.
-The coach lumped the boys and girls together in one gym class.
-She’s been posted to Washington for two years.
-Fresh vegetables are scarce in winter.
-A country bumpkin is a person from the countryside who seems stupid.
-His public persona is quite different from the family man described in the book.
-They all huddled around the fire.
-I was pushed into a filthy, stinking room.
-The thief cursed the police for finding him.
-The police intensified their investigation.
-He ascribes his poverty to his parents.
-She had the implicit trust of her stuff.
-I blamed the accident on him. = I blamed him for the accident.
-She deeply ashamed of her behavior at the party.
main points
Wenger’s social theory of identity formation (1998)
Identity formation is a dual process of identification and negotiation of meanings.
Identification
-It is the investment of self in building associations and differentiations.
-It is reificative and participative belonging.
-It is relational and experiential.
-It consists of three modes of belonging.
1 engagement-roles and relations with other people in the community
2 imagination- relations to the world beyond the community
3 alignment-power through coercion and oppression and leads to dissociation and alienation
Negotiation of meanings-the production and adoption of meanings
The ELT landscape in China
-The necessity of English communication with foreigners has increased dramatically since 1978.
-University graduates were found to be highly competent in writing and grammar, but poor in speaking and listening.
-Most middle-school graduates found it hard to converse in simple English even after 900 hours of learning.
-A large number of native speakers of English have been recruited from the West.
-In 1985 the Ministry of Education recommended CLT for nation-wide adoption. CLT was considered a new method and approach as opposed to traditional approach (TM) although Chinese learners have different cultural background from western culture.
Minfang’s EFL Learner Identities
-Most of the teachers had never found themselves in a situation where they had to use English for daily conversational.
-Students needed to change to different personae.
-Instantaneous oral participation in class required students to express opinions spontaneously without careful thinking.
-This activity went against the Chinese culture, which attaches a great deal of importance to making thoughtful remarks and not babbling before one has thought things through.
-He believed strongly that he could develop communicative competence through daily interaction with his friends.
-His English movement comes from his hard work after class, not from CLT class.
-He thinks TM is no worse than CLT.
Minfang’s EFL Teacher Identities
First 2 years
-He was assigned to teach listening skills which was considered auxiliary.
-He had an implicit belief that TM worked better.
-He did not know how to deal with the intimate relationship with his students.
-He became a popular teacher, but he didn’t want to be because it is perceived as a teacher of little substance and one who has nothing but relationships to win the students’ hearts. Too friendly, undermine authority
After the first 2 years
-He was assigned to teach the CLT course.
-He was a faked CLT practitioner and he taught in eclectic approach.
-In MA, he found the misconception of CLT.
-In PhD, he felt that the teacher’s lived experience in the classroom was the best guide for pedagogical decision-making.
Conclusion
-Competence and legitimacy of access to practice are important for identity formation as well.
-Participation is central to identity formation.
-The interplay of identification and the negotiability of meanings could generate identity conflicts. These conflicts could lead to new relations with members of the community, new ownership of meanings or identities of marginality, disengagement and nonparticipation.
Sunday 30 November 2008
Plan for the assignment
Topic: language policy in Japan
1 Introduction
2 English as a global language
Globalisation (economic merit), parentocracy, national curriculum, variety of English
3 Ainu and Okinawan as minority languages
Authority, language maintenance, language death
4 Conclusion
1 Introduction
2 English as a global language
Globalisation (economic merit), parentocracy, national curriculum, variety of English
3 Ainu and Okinawan as minority languages
Authority, language maintenance, language death
4 Conclusion
Friday 28 November 2008
Yet Another Early-Start Languages Policy in Europe
Yet Another Early-Start Languages Policy in Europe: Poland This Time! By Janet Enever (2007)
New Words
-It is mandatory for blood banks to test all donated blood for the virus.
-The trade balance has been in deficit for the past five years.
-We couple the name of Aomori with the idea of apples.
-Social engineering is the attempt to change society and to deal with social problems according to particular political beliefs, for example by changing the law.
-Newspaper propagates news and ideas.
-He agreed to their visit with the proviso that they should stay no longer than one week.
-She was standing amid the ruins of the castle.
-Power can be intoxicating.
-The President’s inaugural address was great.
-This painting is indisputably one of his finest works.
Summary
A majority of European countries have started to teach language at school earlier because of the economic merit, the EU recommendations and the parentocracy. Early start has advantages in that children will acquire better pronunciation, learn faster and more efficiently and achieve a higher language skill at last. It is difficult to choose a language for some countries. They left the choice to the regional or local authorities. On the other hand, Poland decided to introduce only English at early schooling stage, though some Poles considered that German is also an important language.
New Words
-It is mandatory for blood banks to test all donated blood for the virus.
-The trade balance has been in deficit for the past five years.
-We couple the name of Aomori with the idea of apples.
-Social engineering is the attempt to change society and to deal with social problems according to particular political beliefs, for example by changing the law.
-Newspaper propagates news and ideas.
-He agreed to their visit with the proviso that they should stay no longer than one week.
-She was standing amid the ruins of the castle.
-Power can be intoxicating.
-The President’s inaugural address was great.
-This painting is indisputably one of his finest works.
Summary
A majority of European countries have started to teach language at school earlier because of the economic merit, the EU recommendations and the parentocracy. Early start has advantages in that children will acquire better pronunciation, learn faster and more efficiently and achieve a higher language skill at last. It is difficult to choose a language for some countries. They left the choice to the regional or local authorities. On the other hand, Poland decided to introduce only English at early schooling stage, though some Poles considered that German is also an important language.
Liberalisation, privatisation, modernization, and schooling in India
Liberalisation, privatisation, modernization, and schooling in India: an interview with Krishna Kumar by Chaise LaDousa (2007)
New Word
-She wrested a secret from her friend.
-The only stipulation is that the topic you choose must be related to your studies.
-The road follows the natural contours of the coastline.
-These issues resonated with the voters.
-He is seeking after a better life.
-These discoveries raise intriguing questions.
-Our society is secular.
-He endowed each son with a million dollars.
-They began to lose momentum in the second half of the game.
Summary
People in the low status think that they can overcome poverty due to the education. Children worked before instead of studying at school because parents didn’t know the importance of education. Now the situation has changed dramatically. A large number of children go to school which is in bad situation. Parents started to focus on private school. States schools remain bad, but children may get a chance at a private school. People started to notice that the God cannot help them nor save a small child life. They feel the politics or governance is bad. This leads to secularization, though Hinduism and castle levels were important before. Globalisation has a great impact on Indian society and education. The spread of the new technology such as television and the Internet has changed the roles of parents and teachers and people now can access to privacy.
New Word
-She wrested a secret from her friend.
-The only stipulation is that the topic you choose must be related to your studies.
-The road follows the natural contours of the coastline.
-These issues resonated with the voters.
-He is seeking after a better life.
-These discoveries raise intriguing questions.
-Our society is secular.
-He endowed each son with a million dollars.
-They began to lose momentum in the second half of the game.
Summary
People in the low status think that they can overcome poverty due to the education. Children worked before instead of studying at school because parents didn’t know the importance of education. Now the situation has changed dramatically. A large number of children go to school which is in bad situation. Parents started to focus on private school. States schools remain bad, but children may get a chance at a private school. People started to notice that the God cannot help them nor save a small child life. They feel the politics or governance is bad. This leads to secularization, though Hinduism and castle levels were important before. Globalisation has a great impact on Indian society and education. The spread of the new technology such as television and the Internet has changed the roles of parents and teachers and people now can access to privacy.
Wednesday 26 November 2008
Variations of RP
Accents of English 2: The British Isles by J. C. Wells (1982)
Gimson’s varieties of RP (1980)
Conservative RP is ‘used by the older generation and, traditionally, by certain professions or social groups’.
General RP is ’most commonly in used and typified by the pronunciation adopted by the BBC’.
Advanced RP is ‘mainly used by young people of exclusive social groups-mostly of the upper classes, but also, for prestige value, in certain professional circles’.
Wells’s varieties of RP
RP consists of mainstream RP (U-RP and adoptive RP) and Near-RP
Upper-crust RP (U-RP) is accent for upper class people
Adoptive RP is ‘variety of RP spoken by adults who did not speak RP as children’. The speaker of adoptive RP tend to retain their native accent of English and the both native and adoptive accents often appear in the case of informal or formal situation. It is not easy for them to control elision, assimilation, smoothing, /r/,/hw/, /t/. /i:/, /u:/ and diphthongs.
Near-RP is accent which doesn’t apply to the definition of RP but includes regional one slightly.
Gimson’s varieties of RP (1980)
Conservative RP is ‘used by the older generation and, traditionally, by certain professions or social groups’.
General RP is ’most commonly in used and typified by the pronunciation adopted by the BBC’.
Advanced RP is ‘mainly used by young people of exclusive social groups-mostly of the upper classes, but also, for prestige value, in certain professional circles’.
Wells’s varieties of RP
RP consists of mainstream RP (U-RP and adoptive RP) and Near-RP
Upper-crust RP (U-RP) is accent for upper class people
Adoptive RP is ‘variety of RP spoken by adults who did not speak RP as children’. The speaker of adoptive RP tend to retain their native accent of English and the both native and adoptive accents often appear in the case of informal or formal situation. It is not easy for them to control elision, assimilation, smoothing, /r/,/hw/, /t/. /i:/, /u:/ and diphthongs.
Near-RP is accent which doesn’t apply to the definition of RP but includes regional one slightly.
Received Pronunciation (RP)
Accents of English 1: An Introduction by J. C. Wells (1982)
RP
The meaning of “received” is “generally accepted”. RP is the accent which has the highest prestige in England. It is also the most general type of educated British pronunciation. It is characteristic of the upper and upper middle class socially. From the perspective of occupations, barrister, stockbroker and diplomat tend to speak RP. Less than 10% people in England could be RP speakers. There are 19 vowels in the RP system. On the other hand, General American has 15 vowels.
RP
The meaning of “received” is “generally accepted”. RP is the accent which has the highest prestige in England. It is also the most general type of educated British pronunciation. It is characteristic of the upper and upper middle class socially. From the perspective of occupations, barrister, stockbroker and diplomat tend to speak RP. Less than 10% people in England could be RP speakers. There are 19 vowels in the RP system. On the other hand, General American has 15 vowels.
Intereference, Transfer and Universals
Bilingualism Second Edition by Suzanne Romaine (1995)
-Bilingual children aged 3 or under cannot differentiate their two languages.
-Bilingual children aged 3 or under cannot differentiate their two languages.
Studies of Type 6 Child Bilingualism
Bilingualism Second Edition by Suzanne Romaine (1995)
Burling’s Study (1959)
It is a child who heard only English until he was about 17 months. After that, he went to India and Garo was his dominant language there because there were only monolingual Garo speakers in his environment. When he was nearly 3 years, he had clearly separate vowel systems, but he never acquired the consonant systems. Replacements of the English consonants were used for the Garo ones.
Burling’s Study (1959)
It is a child who heard only English until he was about 17 months. After that, he went to India and Garo was his dominant language there because there were only monolingual Garo speakers in his environment. When he was nearly 3 years, he had clearly separate vowel systems, but he never acquired the consonant systems. Replacements of the English consonants were used for the Garo ones.
Three articles for the second assignment (Issue)
Current Perspectives on Teaching the Four Skills by Eli Hinkel (2006)
The article focuses on L2 speaking, listening, reading and writing from the four current perspectives on L2 teaching; the decline of methods, bottom-up and top-down skills, new knowledge about English, and integrated and multiple skills taught in context. The author deals with teaching to young learners.
Complexities of Identity Formation: A Narrative Inquiry of an EFL Teacher by Amy B. M. Tsui (2007)
The article is about Minfang’s experience both as an English learner and an English teacher. It deals with Wenger’s theory, CLT in China and Minfang’s identity. I will choose this article because it is easier for me to comment and link with my experience in Japan. In addition, I can use other articles about CLT which I read already.
Mapping the Scope of Theory in TESOL by Tim McNamara (2008)
The article is quite short, but focuses on a lot of various theories; psycholinguistics, individualistic psychology, sociology, anthropology and social psychology. You need to deal with Chomsky, Hymes, Fishman and so forth.
The article focuses on L2 speaking, listening, reading and writing from the four current perspectives on L2 teaching; the decline of methods, bottom-up and top-down skills, new knowledge about English, and integrated and multiple skills taught in context. The author deals with teaching to young learners.
Complexities of Identity Formation: A Narrative Inquiry of an EFL Teacher by Amy B. M. Tsui (2007)
The article is about Minfang’s experience both as an English learner and an English teacher. It deals with Wenger’s theory, CLT in China and Minfang’s identity. I will choose this article because it is easier for me to comment and link with my experience in Japan. In addition, I can use other articles about CLT which I read already.
Mapping the Scope of Theory in TESOL by Tim McNamara (2008)
The article is quite short, but focuses on a lot of various theories; psycholinguistics, individualistic psychology, sociology, anthropology and social psychology. You need to deal with Chomsky, Hymes, Fishman and so forth.
Sunday 23 November 2008
Language ideology, ownership and maintenance
Language ideology, ownership and maintenance: the discourse of the Academia Mayor de la Lengua Quechua
Opportunities and Challenges of Bilingualism edited by Li W, Dewaele and Housen, A (2002)
New Words
-She seems to feel ambivalent about her new job.
-He succeeded by dint of hard work.
-These results accord closely with our predictions.
-He exerted all his authority to make them accept the plan.
-The election victory is a clear endorsement of the policies.
-Her second marriage was likewise unhappy.
-There will be only about 500 applicants at best.
-Sociolect is a variety of a language that the members of a particular social class or social group speak.
-Japan is prone to earthquakes.
-He is always telling jokes at the expense of others.
Summary
Quechua is thought to be a language of the noble in Cusco under the Incas and the true native tongue of all Peruvians. The Academia Mayor de la Lengua Quechua (the Academia) contributed to the language maintenance. The official status was established by the Academia. Quechua started to be incorporated in the school curriculum. However, daily Quechua speakers are regarded as peasants. And the role of the Academia is different from a language academy as commonly understood. As a result of this, the support for the language maintenance is complex and unclear.
Opportunities and Challenges of Bilingualism edited by Li W, Dewaele and Housen, A (2002)
New Words
-She seems to feel ambivalent about her new job.
-He succeeded by dint of hard work.
-These results accord closely with our predictions.
-He exerted all his authority to make them accept the plan.
-The election victory is a clear endorsement of the policies.
-Her second marriage was likewise unhappy.
-There will be only about 500 applicants at best.
-Sociolect is a variety of a language that the members of a particular social class or social group speak.
-Japan is prone to earthquakes.
-He is always telling jokes at the expense of others.
Summary
Quechua is thought to be a language of the noble in Cusco under the Incas and the true native tongue of all Peruvians. The Academia Mayor de la Lengua Quechua (the Academia) contributed to the language maintenance. The official status was established by the Academia. Quechua started to be incorporated in the school curriculum. However, daily Quechua speakers are regarded as peasants. And the role of the Academia is different from a language academy as commonly understood. As a result of this, the support for the language maintenance is complex and unclear.
Saturday 22 November 2008
Language as a Contributing Factor in Conflicts
Language as a Contributing Factor in Conflicts Between States and Within States
Language and Conflict edited by Sue Wright (1998)
New Words
-Etymology is the study of the origin and history of words and their meanings.
-He is demonized by the media.
-It is impossible to discern a number of different techniques in her work.
-A number of the monuments are of considerable antiquity.
-The declaration proclaimed the full sovereignty of the republic.
-The country has a quota system for accepting refugees.
-These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications.
-Though a talented player, he was completely eclipsed by his brother.
-The President’s visit was intended to cement the alliance between the two countries.
-The government’s economic policies have created a marked cleavage between the rich and the poor.
-He took these actions purely in the furtherance of his own career.
-The crisis helped to weld the party together.
-The rebels finally managed to oust the government from power.
-I have a provision of food against a disaster.
-South America is really the most homogeneous in a way of populations.
Summary
Language has played an important role in nation building and warfare. There are two important European models for the nation building process; France as the contractual nation and German as the ethno-linguistic nation. In France, territory is thought to be important. Linguistic and cultural cohesion and unification were promoted through warfare and primary education given by the medium of French. In German, blood and belongings were the important factors as membership when Germany consisted of 350 small states and cities. Now language as mother tongue is more important marker. In terms of warfare, the novel and newspaper as well as army played key roles to promote a single lingua franca and form national identity. At the end of the 21th century, trend of devolution, autonomy and secession are prevailing. In the case of the collapse of Yugoslavia, there was a lack of communication. They were different politically, not linguistically because the majority of four different varieties speakers could do. On the other hand, devolution of political power causes the revival of the minority languages such as Welsh and Lallans, which is a dialect in the central Scotland, particularly in Glasgow. People in Wales and Glasgow will not be monolingual because they need English for wider communication. The languages are used as a marker of identity.
Language and Conflict edited by Sue Wright (1998)
New Words
-Etymology is the study of the origin and history of words and their meanings.
-He is demonized by the media.
-It is impossible to discern a number of different techniques in her work.
-A number of the monuments are of considerable antiquity.
-The declaration proclaimed the full sovereignty of the republic.
-The country has a quota system for accepting refugees.
-These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications.
-Though a talented player, he was completely eclipsed by his brother.
-The President’s visit was intended to cement the alliance between the two countries.
-The government’s economic policies have created a marked cleavage between the rich and the poor.
-He took these actions purely in the furtherance of his own career.
-The crisis helped to weld the party together.
-The rebels finally managed to oust the government from power.
-I have a provision of food against a disaster.
-South America is really the most homogeneous in a way of populations.
Summary
Language has played an important role in nation building and warfare. There are two important European models for the nation building process; France as the contractual nation and German as the ethno-linguistic nation. In France, territory is thought to be important. Linguistic and cultural cohesion and unification were promoted through warfare and primary education given by the medium of French. In German, blood and belongings were the important factors as membership when Germany consisted of 350 small states and cities. Now language as mother tongue is more important marker. In terms of warfare, the novel and newspaper as well as army played key roles to promote a single lingua franca and form national identity. At the end of the 21th century, trend of devolution, autonomy and secession are prevailing. In the case of the collapse of Yugoslavia, there was a lack of communication. They were different politically, not linguistically because the majority of four different varieties speakers could do. On the other hand, devolution of political power causes the revival of the minority languages such as Welsh and Lallans, which is a dialect in the central Scotland, particularly in Glasgow. People in Wales and Glasgow will not be monolingual because they need English for wider communication. The languages are used as a marker of identity.
Friday 21 November 2008
Vowel harmony and agglutinative language
A dictionary of Linguistics & phonetics fifth edition by David Crystal (2003)
Vowel harmony
All the vowels in a word share certain features. For example, they are all articulated with the front of the tongue, all are rounded and so forth. It is found in Turkish or Hungarian. And Japanese language has vowel harmony partly. The same vowel sound continues in a word such as ka ra da (body) and ko ko ro (heart).
Agglutinative language
It is a type of language and focuses on the characteristics of the word. A word can be divided into a few morphemes such as dis/establish/ment. It is seen in Turkish and Japanese.
Vowel harmony
All the vowels in a word share certain features. For example, they are all articulated with the front of the tongue, all are rounded and so forth. It is found in Turkish or Hungarian. And Japanese language has vowel harmony partly. The same vowel sound continues in a word such as ka ra da (body) and ko ko ro (heart).
Agglutinative language
It is a type of language and focuses on the characteristics of the word. A word can be divided into a few morphemes such as dis/establish/ment. It is seen in Turkish and Japanese.
Types of Bilingual Acquisition in Childhood
Bilingualism Second Edition by Suzanne Romaine (1995)
Type1: ‘One Person-One language’
Type2: ‘Non-dominant Home Language’/’One language-One environment’
Type3: ‘Non-dominant Home Language without Community support’
Type4: ‘Double Non-dominant Home Language without Community Support’
Type5: ‘Non-native Parents’
Type6: ‘Mixed languages’
Ebru’s case-Type6
Parents: The parents are bilingual.
Community: Sectors of community may also be bilingual.
Strategy: Parents code-switch and mix languages.
Type1: ‘One Person-One language’
Type2: ‘Non-dominant Home Language’/’One language-One environment’
Type3: ‘Non-dominant Home Language without Community support’
Type4: ‘Double Non-dominant Home Language without Community Support’
Type5: ‘Non-native Parents’
Type6: ‘Mixed languages’
Ebru’s case-Type6
Parents: The parents are bilingual.
Community: Sectors of community may also be bilingual.
Strategy: Parents code-switch and mix languages.
Wednesday 19 November 2008
Similarities between Turkish and Japanese
-Atlac Languages (SOV structure, agglutinative language, vowel harmony)
-A few words have both same meaning and pronunciation.
-The pronunciation of the progressive form
-Pro-drop language
-A few words have both same meaning and pronunciation.
-The pronunciation of the progressive form
-Pro-drop language
Creating the basic motivational conditions
Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom by Zoltan dornyei (2001)
New words
-A good dictionary is indispensable for learning a foreign language.
-I soon discerned from her silence that she was angry.
-Her opinions are embodied in this book.
-The mayor enlisted every citizen in the clean-up campaign.
-These children have a huge reserve of latent talent.
-Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.
-Some girls formed a clique that shut out other students.
-He is a computer nerd.
-He’s a nasty little creep!
Interesting points
-Students motivation is influenced by a teacher.
-It is important to express enthusiasm such as positive attitudes and interests in the topic and share them with the students.
-‘All for one and one for all!’ is the three Musketeers’ motto, which sounds a bit trite.
-Pygmalion effect refers to there is a good chance that your students can reach high levels of achievement if you have high expectations about them.
-It is important to ‘establish relationship of mutual trust and respect with the learners’.
-Three linchpins of Carl Roger’s humanistic psychology area acceptance, empathy and congruence, which is very important in the development of student-centered teaching.
-The use of humour is a good way to improve the classroom atmosphere.
New words
-A good dictionary is indispensable for learning a foreign language.
-I soon discerned from her silence that she was angry.
-Her opinions are embodied in this book.
-The mayor enlisted every citizen in the clean-up campaign.
-These children have a huge reserve of latent talent.
-Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.
-Some girls formed a clique that shut out other students.
-He is a computer nerd.
-He’s a nasty little creep!
Interesting points
-Students motivation is influenced by a teacher.
-It is important to express enthusiasm such as positive attitudes and interests in the topic and share them with the students.
-‘All for one and one for all!’ is the three Musketeers’ motto, which sounds a bit trite.
-Pygmalion effect refers to there is a good chance that your students can reach high levels of achievement if you have high expectations about them.
-It is important to ‘establish relationship of mutual trust and respect with the learners’.
-Three linchpins of Carl Roger’s humanistic psychology area acceptance, empathy and congruence, which is very important in the development of student-centered teaching.
-The use of humour is a good way to improve the classroom atmosphere.
Tuesday 18 November 2008
Background knowledge of motivation
Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom by Zoltan dornyei (2001)
New Words
-A number of pupils have been truanting regularly.
-He is sullen about the results of the examination.
-Sit up straight. Don’t slouch.
-The weather made her lethargic.
-Teachers need a skill to deal with anti-learning influences of deviant children.
-She understood the importance of establishing a close rapport with clients.
Main points
-‘The learner’s enthusiasm, commitment and persistence are key determinants of success or failure’.
-‘Motivation is a convenient way of talking about a concept which is generally seen as a very important human characteristic but which is also immensely complex’.
-‘Motivation is a general way of referring to the antecedents (i.e. the causes and origins)’.
-‘Motivation explains why people decide to do something, how hard they are going to pursue it and how long they are willing to sustain the activity’.
-‘Classroom is the place where they grow up. They acquire skills and learn about the world, make friends, fall in love, rebel against the previous generation, find out who they are and what the purpose of life is…’
-‘Learning a foreign language always entails learning a second language culture to some degree’.(Douglas Brown, 1989:65)
-‘Facilitation, not control, should be the guiding idea in attempts to motivate humans‘.
-‘Motivational strategies are techniques that promote the individual’s goal-related behavior and refer to those motivational influences that are consciously exerted to achieve some systematic and enduring positive effect’.
New Words
-A number of pupils have been truanting regularly.
-He is sullen about the results of the examination.
-Sit up straight. Don’t slouch.
-The weather made her lethargic.
-Teachers need a skill to deal with anti-learning influences of deviant children.
-She understood the importance of establishing a close rapport with clients.
Main points
-‘The learner’s enthusiasm, commitment and persistence are key determinants of success or failure’.
-‘Motivation is a convenient way of talking about a concept which is generally seen as a very important human characteristic but which is also immensely complex’.
-‘Motivation is a general way of referring to the antecedents (i.e. the causes and origins)’.
-‘Motivation explains why people decide to do something, how hard they are going to pursue it and how long they are willing to sustain the activity’.
-‘Classroom is the place where they grow up. They acquire skills and learn about the world, make friends, fall in love, rebel against the previous generation, find out who they are and what the purpose of life is…’
-‘Learning a foreign language always entails learning a second language culture to some degree’.(Douglas Brown, 1989:65)
-‘Facilitation, not control, should be the guiding idea in attempts to motivate humans‘.
-‘Motivational strategies are techniques that promote the individual’s goal-related behavior and refer to those motivational influences that are consciously exerted to achieve some systematic and enduring positive effect’.
Monday 17 November 2008
Introduction of motivation
Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom by Zoltan dornyei (2001)
New Words
-The only way to improve is through hard work and dogged perseverance.
-He worked with renewed vigour and determination.
Main points
-Motivation has a ‘very important role in determining success or failure in any learning situation’.
-Motivational strategies are ‘methods and techniques to generate and maintain the learners’ motivation’.
New Words
-The only way to improve is through hard work and dogged perseverance.
-He worked with renewed vigour and determination.
Main points
-Motivation has a ‘very important role in determining success or failure in any learning situation’.
-Motivational strategies are ‘methods and techniques to generate and maintain the learners’ motivation’.
Attitudes, Orientations, and Motivations
Attitudes, Orientations, and Motivations in Language Learning: Advances in Theory, Research, and Applications by Zoltan Dornyei
-Three different forms of Gardner’s (1985) motivation theory is integrative orientation, integrativeness and integrative motive.
-Alternative theoretical approaches are cognitive approaches in psychological research such as self-determination theory (intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, student autonomy), attribution theory (causal attribution) and goal theory (specificity and frequency of the goal) and Schumann’s neurobiological theory (stimulus appraisal in novelty, pleasantness, good/need significance, coping potential and self-and social image; mental foraging).
-The classroom environment such as course-specific motivational components, teacher-specific motivational components and group-specific motivational components started to be examined. These situated approaches have three research directions; the willingness to communicate (WTC), task motivation and learning strategies.
-A process-orientated approach is needed to capture dynamic character and temporal variation. In the motivational process, there are three phases; preactional stage, actional stage and postactional stage.
-Research on L2 motivation have two areas; the systematic development of motivational strategies and the formulation of self-motivating strategies. Motivational strategies have four parts; creating the basic motivational conditions, generating initial student motivation, maintaining and protecting motivation as well as encouraging positive retrospective self-evaluation. Self-motivating strategies consist of five classes; commitment control strategies, metacognitiue control strategies, satisfaction control strategies, emotion control strategies and environmental control strategies.
-Three different forms of Gardner’s (1985) motivation theory is integrative orientation, integrativeness and integrative motive.
-Alternative theoretical approaches are cognitive approaches in psychological research such as self-determination theory (intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, student autonomy), attribution theory (causal attribution) and goal theory (specificity and frequency of the goal) and Schumann’s neurobiological theory (stimulus appraisal in novelty, pleasantness, good/need significance, coping potential and self-and social image; mental foraging).
-The classroom environment such as course-specific motivational components, teacher-specific motivational components and group-specific motivational components started to be examined. These situated approaches have three research directions; the willingness to communicate (WTC), task motivation and learning strategies.
-A process-orientated approach is needed to capture dynamic character and temporal variation. In the motivational process, there are three phases; preactional stage, actional stage and postactional stage.
-Research on L2 motivation have two areas; the systematic development of motivational strategies and the formulation of self-motivating strategies. Motivational strategies have four parts; creating the basic motivational conditions, generating initial student motivation, maintaining and protecting motivation as well as encouraging positive retrospective self-evaluation. Self-motivating strategies consist of five classes; commitment control strategies, metacognitiue control strategies, satisfaction control strategies, emotion control strategies and environmental control strategies.
Saturday 15 November 2008
Bilingualism and Language Cognitive Development
Bilingualism and Language Cognitive Development by Elena Nicoladis
An Introduction to Bilingualism: Principles and Processes edited by Jeanette Altarriba and Roberto R. Heredia (2008)
Delay in Language Development
-Vocabulary size of bilingual children in a language is smaller than that of monolingual children because of the less frequent experience and the delay may be limited to the first five years of acquisition.
-Bilingual children need more time to interact in either language than monolingual children for acquisition.
Acceleration in Language Development
-When bilingual children have two similar underlying structures in both languages, the knowledge of one language can accelerate the usage of the other language. The linguistic development of bilingual children might be faster than that of monolingual children.
Cross-Linguistic Transfer
-It means “the structural influence of one language on another”. When bilingual children have two different language structures, they have to choose between them. Cross-Linguistic Transfer appears in their speech production, especially word order and pronunciation.
Cognitive Differences
-There are cognitive differences between monolingual and bilingual children. Bilingual children have advantages in terms of communicative competence, theory of mind, gesture use and control of attention.
An Introduction to Bilingualism: Principles and Processes edited by Jeanette Altarriba and Roberto R. Heredia (2008)
Delay in Language Development
-Vocabulary size of bilingual children in a language is smaller than that of monolingual children because of the less frequent experience and the delay may be limited to the first five years of acquisition.
-Bilingual children need more time to interact in either language than monolingual children for acquisition.
Acceleration in Language Development
-When bilingual children have two similar underlying structures in both languages, the knowledge of one language can accelerate the usage of the other language. The linguistic development of bilingual children might be faster than that of monolingual children.
Cross-Linguistic Transfer
-It means “the structural influence of one language on another”. When bilingual children have two different language structures, they have to choose between them. Cross-Linguistic Transfer appears in their speech production, especially word order and pronunciation.
Cognitive Differences
-There are cognitive differences between monolingual and bilingual children. Bilingual children have advantages in terms of communicative competence, theory of mind, gesture use and control of attention.
Canterbury Cathedral
It was established in 597AD when St Augustine was sent by Pope Gregory the Great as a missionary. There was a struggle between church and king for control of the country and Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in the Cathedral in 1170. Since his canonization, Canterbury has attracted thousands of pilgrims, as told famously in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.Friday 14 November 2008
Language Europe?
Language Europe? By Kirk Sullivan & Janet Enever
Globalisation and Europeanisation in Education in Europe editied by Robertson, S.L. & Dale, R (2008)
New Words
-We heard every strand of political opinion.
-The bank had no mandate to honour the cheque.
-We had doubts about the validity of their argument.
-A degree is an essential prerequisite for employment at this level.
-These tasks were repetitive, lengthy and lacking any intrinsic interest.
-Please keep your comments pertinent to the topic under discussion.
-Our confidence in the team has been seriously undermined by their recent defeats.
-The team needs players who complement each other.
-Appearances can often be deceptive (things are not always what they seem to be).
-The constant presence if the media was very intrusive.
-Doctors are not infallible.
-With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country’s leading director.
-His resignation precipitated a leadership crisis.
Summary
In Sweden, which is one of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), the use of English has been increased in higher education due to the Bologna process. There are a few negative effects of this. A Swedish lecturer who teaches in English has a frustration of the quality of the job because of the use of English. And using English by non-English native speakers could lead to students misunderstanding. The student’s low English competence could accelerate it. Supporting and training lecturer and student are needed for a success. At primary school level, English has been chosen as a foreign language in the former Soviet satellite countries. In addition, English has started to be taught at earlier age in most of the European countries. However, policies of early language learning (ELL) are not the same among the countries. Rural areas have difficulties with teacher training and attracting qualified teachers.
Globalisation and Europeanisation in Education in Europe editied by Robertson, S.L. & Dale, R (2008)
New Words
-We heard every strand of political opinion.
-The bank had no mandate to honour the cheque.
-We had doubts about the validity of their argument.
-A degree is an essential prerequisite for employment at this level.
-These tasks were repetitive, lengthy and lacking any intrinsic interest.
-Please keep your comments pertinent to the topic under discussion.
-Our confidence in the team has been seriously undermined by their recent defeats.
-The team needs players who complement each other.
-Appearances can often be deceptive (things are not always what they seem to be).
-The constant presence if the media was very intrusive.
-Doctors are not infallible.
-With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country’s leading director.
-His resignation precipitated a leadership crisis.
Summary
In Sweden, which is one of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), the use of English has been increased in higher education due to the Bologna process. There are a few negative effects of this. A Swedish lecturer who teaches in English has a frustration of the quality of the job because of the use of English. And using English by non-English native speakers could lead to students misunderstanding. The student’s low English competence could accelerate it. Supporting and training lecturer and student are needed for a success. At primary school level, English has been chosen as a foreign language in the former Soviet satellite countries. In addition, English has started to be taught at earlier age in most of the European countries. However, policies of early language learning (ELL) are not the same among the countries. Rural areas have difficulties with teacher training and attracting qualified teachers.
The Bologna Process
The aim is to create a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and to promote worldwide through international cooperation and academic exchange of European students and staff as well as those who from other parts of the world. It started with 29 European countries in 1999 and now it consists of 46 countries. By 2010, it will remove the obstacles to student and education staff mobility, offer their future career or support their development and establish a high-quality higher education across Europe.
Thursday 13 November 2008
Language Development in Bilingual Children
An Introduction to Bilingualism: principles and processes edited by Jeanette Altarriba and Roberto R. Heredia
Bilingual Research Methods by Victoria Marian
Positive effects
-Metacognitive skills are increased and can be thought differently and flexibly.
-Comprehension can be better.
Negative effects
-Lexical acquisition is slow.
-The number of vocabulary is smaller than monolingual children, though the technique of assessment is often against bilingual children because they are assessed in only one of their two languages.
Bilingual Research Methods by Victoria Marian
Positive effects
-Metacognitive skills are increased and can be thought differently and flexibly.
-Comprehension can be better.
Negative effects
-Lexical acquisition is slow.
-The number of vocabulary is smaller than monolingual children, though the technique of assessment is often against bilingual children because they are assessed in only one of their two languages.
Wednesday 12 November 2008
Types of Bilingualism
Bilingualism Second Edition by Suzanne Romaine (1995)
Weinreich (1968)
-The coordinate bilingual has two sets of concepts and two lexicons connected to them.
-The compound bilingual has one set of conceptions and two lexicons connected to them.
-“The sub-coordinate bilingual has a primary set of meaning established through their first language, and another linguistic system attached to them.”
Lambert, Havelka and Crosby (1958)
-“The coordinate group was represented by bilinguals who had acquired their languages in separate contexts such as at home vs outside the home, those who had used different languages with their parents and those who had acquired their languages in distinct national or cultural settings. It would have a similar or the same set of connotative meanings for the equivalent items in their two languages.”
-“The compound bilingual group contained individuals who used both languages indiscriminately with both parents, or inside and outside the home, or who had learned the second language at school through traditional methods of vocabulary drill and translation. It would show more divergences in their associations. There was no difference between compound bilinguals and those coordinate bilinguals who had learned the two languages in the same cultural setting. The two types of language systems had been given empirical support.”
Lambert and Fillenbaum (1959)
They compared compound and coordinate bilinguals who had suffered brain damage and were aphasic. In the coordinate group, the damage tended to be limited to either language. The trouble in compound bilinguals had a tendency to take place in both languages.
-The difference between compound and co-ordinate bilingualism is not clear.
Weinreich (1968)
-The coordinate bilingual has two sets of concepts and two lexicons connected to them.
-The compound bilingual has one set of conceptions and two lexicons connected to them.
-“The sub-coordinate bilingual has a primary set of meaning established through their first language, and another linguistic system attached to them.”
Lambert, Havelka and Crosby (1958)
-“The coordinate group was represented by bilinguals who had acquired their languages in separate contexts such as at home vs outside the home, those who had used different languages with their parents and those who had acquired their languages in distinct national or cultural settings. It would have a similar or the same set of connotative meanings for the equivalent items in their two languages.”
-“The compound bilingual group contained individuals who used both languages indiscriminately with both parents, or inside and outside the home, or who had learned the second language at school through traditional methods of vocabulary drill and translation. It would show more divergences in their associations. There was no difference between compound bilinguals and those coordinate bilinguals who had learned the two languages in the same cultural setting. The two types of language systems had been given empirical support.”
Lambert and Fillenbaum (1959)
They compared compound and coordinate bilinguals who had suffered brain damage and were aphasic. In the coordinate group, the damage tended to be limited to either language. The trouble in compound bilinguals had a tendency to take place in both languages.
-The difference between compound and co-ordinate bilingualism is not clear.
Monday 10 November 2008
Creating word-meaning awareness
by Paula Jullian (2000)
New Words
-The new car design incorporates all the latest safety features.
-Inflation has reached a plateau.
-This word has several shades of meaning.
-The storm resumed with even greater intensity.
-The word ‘professional’ has connotations of skill and excellence.
-Her latest novel was dissected by the critics.
-He shows great discernment in his choice of friends.
-Science can penetrate many of nature’s mysteries.
-Prefix ‘un’ is a classifier that shows the word is negative.
-‘Dog’ and ‘cat’ are hyponyms of ‘animal’.
-‘Fruit’ is the superordinate/hypernym of ‘apple’, ‘orange’, etc.
-The theory of natural selection was first propounded by Charles Darwin.
-Patience is one of the most important attributes in a teacher.
-His actions are in contradiction to his words.
-The advertisements depict smoking as glamorous and attractive.
-They tried to discern what really happened.
-She went on to elaborate her argument.
Summary
This activity for creating word-raising awareness has 6 steps; collecting lexical sets, classification, word mapping, contextualization, using the new words and presentation of the research. It helps upper-intermediate and advanced learners expand their vocabulary. Their vocabulary is limited and they tend to overuse simple terms on the production side and misunderstand on the reception side. Through this activity, they learn to approach new alternative terms.
New Words
-The new car design incorporates all the latest safety features.
-Inflation has reached a plateau.
-This word has several shades of meaning.
-The storm resumed with even greater intensity.
-The word ‘professional’ has connotations of skill and excellence.
-Her latest novel was dissected by the critics.
-He shows great discernment in his choice of friends.
-Science can penetrate many of nature’s mysteries.
-Prefix ‘un’ is a classifier that shows the word is negative.
-‘Dog’ and ‘cat’ are hyponyms of ‘animal’.
-‘Fruit’ is the superordinate/hypernym of ‘apple’, ‘orange’, etc.
-The theory of natural selection was first propounded by Charles Darwin.
-Patience is one of the most important attributes in a teacher.
-His actions are in contradiction to his words.
-The advertisements depict smoking as glamorous and attractive.
-They tried to discern what really happened.
-She went on to elaborate her argument.
Summary
This activity for creating word-raising awareness has 6 steps; collecting lexical sets, classification, word mapping, contextualization, using the new words and presentation of the research. It helps upper-intermediate and advanced learners expand their vocabulary. Their vocabulary is limited and they tend to overuse simple terms on the production side and misunderstand on the reception side. Through this activity, they learn to approach new alternative terms.
Saturday 8 November 2008
Beyond single words
Beyond single words: the most frequent collocations in spoken English by Dongkwang Shin & Paul Nation (2008)
New words
-Cities are designated on this map by red dots.
-The money is left at my disposal.
Summary
This study offers a list of the most frequent spoken collocations. Collocation is a combination of two or more words frequently used together. A collocation consists of a pivot word and another word or other words. Ten million words from the spoken section of British National Corpus (BNC) were used as the data source. The top collocation is ‘you know’ with 27,348 times and the third frequent collocation is ‘a bit’ with 7,766 occurrences in the list. Interjection and amplifies are used much more frequently. Therefore, the most frequent collocations could be helpful for improvement of ‘the learners’ language fluency and native-like selection of language use’, especially in an elementary speaking course.
New words
-Cities are designated on this map by red dots.
-The money is left at my disposal.
Summary
This study offers a list of the most frequent spoken collocations. Collocation is a combination of two or more words frequently used together. A collocation consists of a pivot word and another word or other words. Ten million words from the spoken section of British National Corpus (BNC) were used as the data source. The top collocation is ‘you know’ with 27,348 times and the third frequent collocation is ‘a bit’ with 7,766 occurrences in the list. Interjection and amplifies are used much more frequently. Therefore, the most frequent collocations could be helpful for improvement of ‘the learners’ language fluency and native-like selection of language use’, especially in an elementary speaking course.
Grammar and vocabulary
Grammar and vocabulary: showing the connections by Suzan Hunston, Gill Francis, and Elizabeth Manning (1997)
New words
-He amassed a fortune from silver mining.
-We did not want to put away any undue pressure on them.
-Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil.
-Over-cultivation has impoverished the soil.
Summary
Teacher should pay attention to patterns as an important aspect of grammar and vocabulary. A pattern consists of a combination of words and a word has a particular meaning in a particular pattern. Patterns promote understanding because some of them have a clear meaning. Learners can guess the meaning through the pattern when they come across an unfamiliar word. In addition, the knowledge of pattern promotes accuracy, fluency and flexibility.
New words
-He amassed a fortune from silver mining.
-We did not want to put away any undue pressure on them.
-Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil.
-Over-cultivation has impoverished the soil.
Summary
Teacher should pay attention to patterns as an important aspect of grammar and vocabulary. A pattern consists of a combination of words and a word has a particular meaning in a particular pattern. Patterns promote understanding because some of them have a clear meaning. Learners can guess the meaning through the pattern when they come across an unfamiliar word. In addition, the knowledge of pattern promotes accuracy, fluency and flexibility.
Friday 7 November 2008
Some misconceptions about communicative language teaching
Some misconceptions about communicative language teaching by Geoff Thomson (1996)
New Words
-Poverty is a recurrent them in her novels.
-From the vintage point of the present, the war seems to have achieved nothing.
-How do you put this into words?
-Colours like red convey a sense of energy and strength.
-With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him.
-The excellent menu is complemented by a good wine list.
-I came to London for preliminary survey.
-The product was called in because of a defect in construction.
Communicative language teaching (CLT)
-‘It is established as the dominant theoretical model in ELT’.
-There are a lot of confusion and completely different perceptions in CLT.
Misconception1-Explicit grammar teaching is avoided.
Grammar is essential to communicate effectively. Learning grammar through CLT leads a natural development. Learners could communicate quite naturally by being conducted in English.
Misconception 2-Only speaking is emphasized.
It is thought teacher talking time (TTT) should be reduced and student talking time (STT) should be increased. However, communication should be thought broadly because ‘communication does not only take place through speech’.
Misconception 3-CLT means pair work (role play)
Role play is useful as a follow-up pair work, but pair work can be used for a preliminary activities as well such as doing a grammatical exercise and analyzing the new language structures.
Misconception 4-CLT depends on the teacher’s language proficiency.
‘CLT is an approach developed by and for native speaker teachers’. However, teachers need a different balance of proficiency skills and they have an opportunity to develop their skills.
New Words
-Poverty is a recurrent them in her novels.
-From the vintage point of the present, the war seems to have achieved nothing.
-How do you put this into words?
-Colours like red convey a sense of energy and strength.
-With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him.
-The excellent menu is complemented by a good wine list.
-I came to London for preliminary survey.
-The product was called in because of a defect in construction.
Communicative language teaching (CLT)
-‘It is established as the dominant theoretical model in ELT’.
-There are a lot of confusion and completely different perceptions in CLT.
Misconception1-Explicit grammar teaching is avoided.
Grammar is essential to communicate effectively. Learning grammar through CLT leads a natural development. Learners could communicate quite naturally by being conducted in English.
Misconception 2-Only speaking is emphasized.
It is thought teacher talking time (TTT) should be reduced and student talking time (STT) should be increased. However, communication should be thought broadly because ‘communication does not only take place through speech’.
Misconception 3-CLT means pair work (role play)
Role play is useful as a follow-up pair work, but pair work can be used for a preliminary activities as well such as doing a grammatical exercise and analyzing the new language structures.
Misconception 4-CLT depends on the teacher’s language proficiency.
‘CLT is an approach developed by and for native speaker teachers’. However, teachers need a different balance of proficiency skills and they have an opportunity to develop their skills.
Thursday 6 November 2008
How culturally appropriate is the communicative approach?
How culturally appropriate is the communicative approach? By Greg Ellis (1996)
New words
-The astronaut was attuned to weightlessness in space.
-Shyness inhibited the new student from talking freely in class.
-They needed to assimilate their way of thinking to new surroundings.
-Promotion is dependent on ability. (=Promotion depends on ability.)
-She was vacillating between two possible courses of action.
-The movie based on the novel distorted the original story.
Summary
Communicative approaches help students communicate with native speakers and communicative competence is regarded as linguistic knowledge and ‘the skill in using this knowledge’. This is used for Asian students as well. However, it has unsuitable aspects because groups are focused, process is important, meaning is emphasized rather than form and approach is teacher-centered in Asia. There is misunderstanding between ESL and EFL. English as a second language (ESL) is for development of communication competence within an English-speaking environment. The role of the ESL teacher is a facilitator using student-centred approach. On the other hand, English as a foreign language (EFL) is designed for the national curriculum or government policy and students don’t have to communicate using the target language outside the classroom in a daily life. Due to the cross-cultural interaction, students tend to experience culture shock and various kinds of responses are observed; ‘over-assimilation’ and ‘self-segregation’ (Skutnabb-Kangas and Phillipson, 1983), rejection or exaggerating their first culture; rejecting or exaggerating their second culture; vacillating between the two culture or synthesizing them (Bochner, 1982), and so forth. Therefore, the ideal role of the EFL teacher is a cultural mediator. ‘Integration between Western and Eastern teaching practices’ can be useful in an Asian setting.
New words
-The astronaut was attuned to weightlessness in space.
-Shyness inhibited the new student from talking freely in class.
-They needed to assimilate their way of thinking to new surroundings.
-Promotion is dependent on ability. (=Promotion depends on ability.)
-She was vacillating between two possible courses of action.
-The movie based on the novel distorted the original story.
Summary
Communicative approaches help students communicate with native speakers and communicative competence is regarded as linguistic knowledge and ‘the skill in using this knowledge’. This is used for Asian students as well. However, it has unsuitable aspects because groups are focused, process is important, meaning is emphasized rather than form and approach is teacher-centered in Asia. There is misunderstanding between ESL and EFL. English as a second language (ESL) is for development of communication competence within an English-speaking environment. The role of the ESL teacher is a facilitator using student-centred approach. On the other hand, English as a foreign language (EFL) is designed for the national curriculum or government policy and students don’t have to communicate using the target language outside the classroom in a daily life. Due to the cross-cultural interaction, students tend to experience culture shock and various kinds of responses are observed; ‘over-assimilation’ and ‘self-segregation’ (Skutnabb-Kangas and Phillipson, 1983), rejection or exaggerating their first culture; rejecting or exaggerating their second culture; vacillating between the two culture or synthesizing them (Bochner, 1982), and so forth. Therefore, the ideal role of the EFL teacher is a cultural mediator. ‘Integration between Western and Eastern teaching practices’ can be useful in an Asian setting.
Tuesday 4 November 2008
Learning and teaching different types of grammar
Second Language Learning and Language Teaching by Vivian Cook (2008)
Keywords
Focus on FormS by Long (1991): deliberate discussion of grammar without reference to meaning
Focus on form (FonF): discussion of grammar and vocabulary arising from meaningful language in the classroom
Interesting points
-Prescriptive grammar (spelling and punctuation), traditional grammar (school grammar), structural grammar (phrase structure), grammatical competence (knowledge in the mind)
-‘Japanese does not have plural forms for nouns.’
-content words (in a dictionary), function words (in a grammar book)
-‘The morpheme is the smallest element that has meaning.’
-Universal Grammar (UG) is ‘the knowledge of grammar in the mind as made up of two components: ‘principles’ that all languages have in common and ‘parameters’ on which they vary’.
-Children start to say sentences without subjects at the beginning.
-Japanese is a pro-drop language. Japanese sentences do not have to have subjects.
-‘Japanese has the order phrase + head of phrase. e.g. noun phrase followed by postposition ‘Nihon ni’ (Japan in)’
The order of difficulty for the eight grammatical morpheme
plural ‘-s’, progressive ‘-ing’, copula forms if ‘be’, auxiliary form of ‘be’, definite and indefinite articles ‘the’ and ‘a’, irregular past tense, third person ‘-s’, possessive ‘’s’
-‘L2 learners have the same order’ regardless of the first language.
-‘Adults have roughly the same order as children.’
Principles of language
-locality (how to make questions)
-‘Japanese does not form questions by moving elements of the sentence around.’
Parameters of variation
-pro-drop parameter
-In ‘non-pro-drop’ languages such as English and German, the subject is needed in declarative sentences.
Keywords
Focus on FormS by Long (1991): deliberate discussion of grammar without reference to meaning
Focus on form (FonF): discussion of grammar and vocabulary arising from meaningful language in the classroom
Interesting points
-Prescriptive grammar (spelling and punctuation), traditional grammar (school grammar), structural grammar (phrase structure), grammatical competence (knowledge in the mind)
-‘Japanese does not have plural forms for nouns.’
-content words (in a dictionary), function words (in a grammar book)
-‘The morpheme is the smallest element that has meaning.’
-Universal Grammar (UG) is ‘the knowledge of grammar in the mind as made up of two components: ‘principles’ that all languages have in common and ‘parameters’ on which they vary’.
-Children start to say sentences without subjects at the beginning.
-Japanese is a pro-drop language. Japanese sentences do not have to have subjects.
-‘Japanese has the order phrase + head of phrase. e.g. noun phrase followed by postposition ‘Nihon ni’ (Japan in)’
The order of difficulty for the eight grammatical morpheme
plural ‘-s’, progressive ‘-ing’, copula forms if ‘be’, auxiliary form of ‘be’, definite and indefinite articles ‘the’ and ‘a’, irregular past tense, third person ‘-s’, possessive ‘’s’
-‘L2 learners have the same order’ regardless of the first language.
-‘Adults have roughly the same order as children.’
Principles of language
-locality (how to make questions)
-‘Japanese does not form questions by moving elements of the sentence around.’
Parameters of variation
-pro-drop parameter
-In ‘non-pro-drop’ languages such as English and German, the subject is needed in declarative sentences.
Monday 3 November 2008
Background to second language acquisition research and language teaching
Second Language Learning and Language Teaching by Vivian Cook (2008)
Keywords
Second language: ‘A language acquired by a person in addition to his mother tongue’ (UNESCO)
Contrastive analysis: this research method compared the descriptions of two languages in grammar or pronunciation to discover the differences between them; these were then seen as difficulties for the students that needed to be overcome
Second and foreign language: broadly speaking, a second language is for immediate use within the same country; a foreign language is for long-term future use in other countries
Interesting points
-‘Language is at the centre of human life. We use it to express our love or our hatred, to achieve our goals and further our careers, to gain artistic satisfaction or simple pleasure, to pray or to blaspheme. Through language we plan our lives and remember our past; we exchange ideas and experiences; we form our social and individual identities. Language is the most unique thing about human beings.’
-‘Knowing another language may mean: getting a job; a chance to get educated; the ability to take a fuller part in the life of one’s own country or the opportunity to emigrate to another; an expansion of one’s literary and cultural horizons; the expression of one’s political opinions or religious beliefs; the chance to talk to people on a foreign holiday. A second language affects people’s careers and possible futures, their lives and their very identities.’
-Children who learn a second language can understand better in their first language.
-‘People who speak a second language are more creative and flexible at problem solving than monolinguals.’
-‘The majority of an English class will be conducted in English’ (MEXT, 2003) in Japan. MEXT stands for Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, science and Technology.
Meaning of ‘language’ (Cook, 2007)
-Lang1: a representation system known by human beings-‘human language’
-Lang2: an abstract entity-‘the English language’
-Lang3: a set of sentences-everything that has been or could be said-‘the language of the Bible’
-Lang4: the possession of a community-‘the language of French people’
-Lang5: the knowledge in the mind of an individual ‘I have learnt French as a foreign language for eight years’
Useful links
www.hoddereducation.com/viviancook.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/SLA/index.htm
Keywords
Second language: ‘A language acquired by a person in addition to his mother tongue’ (UNESCO)
Contrastive analysis: this research method compared the descriptions of two languages in grammar or pronunciation to discover the differences between them; these were then seen as difficulties for the students that needed to be overcome
Second and foreign language: broadly speaking, a second language is for immediate use within the same country; a foreign language is for long-term future use in other countries
Interesting points
-‘Language is at the centre of human life. We use it to express our love or our hatred, to achieve our goals and further our careers, to gain artistic satisfaction or simple pleasure, to pray or to blaspheme. Through language we plan our lives and remember our past; we exchange ideas and experiences; we form our social and individual identities. Language is the most unique thing about human beings.’
-‘Knowing another language may mean: getting a job; a chance to get educated; the ability to take a fuller part in the life of one’s own country or the opportunity to emigrate to another; an expansion of one’s literary and cultural horizons; the expression of one’s political opinions or religious beliefs; the chance to talk to people on a foreign holiday. A second language affects people’s careers and possible futures, their lives and their very identities.’
-Children who learn a second language can understand better in their first language.
-‘People who speak a second language are more creative and flexible at problem solving than monolinguals.’
-‘The majority of an English class will be conducted in English’ (MEXT, 2003) in Japan. MEXT stands for Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, science and Technology.
Meaning of ‘language’ (Cook, 2007)
-Lang1: a representation system known by human beings-‘human language’
-Lang2: an abstract entity-‘the English language’
-Lang3: a set of sentences-everything that has been or could be said-‘the language of the Bible’
-Lang4: the possession of a community-‘the language of French people’
-Lang5: the knowledge in the mind of an individual ‘I have learnt French as a foreign language for eight years’
Useful links
www.hoddereducation.com/viviancook.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/SLA/index.htm
Introduction to the Study of Bilingualism
Bilingualism by Suzanne Romaine (1995)
New Words
-The book was written for professional and layman alike.
-Yoruba is a language spoken by the Yoruba people of Africa, now an official language of Nigeria.
-He was stigmatized as a coward and a liar.
Main Points
-‘Bilingualism exists within cognitive systems of individuals as well in as families and communities’
-‘Bilingualism has been treated as a special case,’ but from a global societal perspective, most of the world population speak more than one language. Therefore, monolingualism is a special case.
-‘Many bilinguals might know one language better’.
-Bilinguals tend to lack in some aspects of communicative competence including phonology, grammar, lexicon and semantics for one of the languages.
-Bilinguals might not know when and where their speech style should be changed.
New Words
-The book was written for professional and layman alike.
-Yoruba is a language spoken by the Yoruba people of Africa, now an official language of Nigeria.
-He was stigmatized as a coward and a liar.
Main Points
-‘Bilingualism exists within cognitive systems of individuals as well in as families and communities’
-‘Bilingualism has been treated as a special case,’ but from a global societal perspective, most of the world population speak more than one language. Therefore, monolingualism is a special case.
-‘Many bilinguals might know one language better’.
-Bilinguals tend to lack in some aspects of communicative competence including phonology, grammar, lexicon and semantics for one of the languages.
-Bilinguals might not know when and where their speech style should be changed.
Sunday 2 November 2008
The concept of ‘World English’
The concept of ‘World English’ and its implication for ELT by Kanavillil Rajagopalan (2004)
New Words
-The cat was poised to jump on the bird.
-Some children undergo a complete transformation when they become teenagers.
-He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician.
-The monarchy is seen by many people as an anachronism in the modern world.
-This taste evades explanation.
-Make a note of it lest you might forget (in order not to forget).
-This is a history book sui generis.
-It was an altogether different situation.
-There are phenomena in nature that seem to defy logic.
-It is by no means possible to finish this work today.
-The newspaper has become the official mouthpiece of the opposition party.
-The constitution vests in the Japanese people the right of free speech.
-I would like to convey my gratitude to you on behalf of my family.
-No matter what happens, do not lose hope.
Summary
World English (WE) is a language spoken all over the world and nobody’s mother tongue. In other words, WE has no native speakers. It is estimated that WE speakers are twice as many as English native speakers and the number of WE speakers is growing faster and faster. WE is a completely unique linguistic phenomenon in that more and more people will use WE to communicate with non-English speakers rather than native English speakers. Now we need to cope with a large variety of accents of WE, though English has been studied in order to communicate with English native speakers,. WE is a mishmash of a wide variety of dialects and accents. Therefore, English native speakers will lose the status as EFL professionals because they are no longer model speakers of WE.
New Words
-The cat was poised to jump on the bird.
-Some children undergo a complete transformation when they become teenagers.
-He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician.
-The monarchy is seen by many people as an anachronism in the modern world.
-This taste evades explanation.
-Make a note of it lest you might forget (in order not to forget).
-This is a history book sui generis.
-It was an altogether different situation.
-There are phenomena in nature that seem to defy logic.
-It is by no means possible to finish this work today.
-The newspaper has become the official mouthpiece of the opposition party.
-The constitution vests in the Japanese people the right of free speech.
-I would like to convey my gratitude to you on behalf of my family.
-No matter what happens, do not lose hope.
Summary
World English (WE) is a language spoken all over the world and nobody’s mother tongue. In other words, WE has no native speakers. It is estimated that WE speakers are twice as many as English native speakers and the number of WE speakers is growing faster and faster. WE is a completely unique linguistic phenomenon in that more and more people will use WE to communicate with non-English speakers rather than native English speakers. Now we need to cope with a large variety of accents of WE, though English has been studied in order to communicate with English native speakers,. WE is a mishmash of a wide variety of dialects and accents. Therefore, English native speakers will lose the status as EFL professionals because they are no longer model speakers of WE.
Thursday 30 October 2008
Background to the L2 User
Portraits of the L2 User, Multilingual Matters by Vivian Cook (2002)
New Words
-She passes for a scholar.
-The vice-president took power in the interim period before the election.
-Her hearing was found to be slightly defective.
-She’s neither rich nor famous. (=She isn’t either rich or famous.)
-The diet may leave you deficient in calcium.
-You may need to amplify this point.
Main Points
L2 Users and L2 Learners
-L2 users are using English for real-life purposes.
-L2 learners are studying English for later use.
-Many L2 learners are studying a second language as one of the academic subjects at school. They don’t have any purposes for immediate use and future careers.
-‘L2 user refers to a person who knows and uses a second language at any level’.
-‘L2 learner implies that the task of acquisition is never finished’.
Characteristics of L2 uses
-‘L2 users often code-switch from one language to another’.
-L2 users can paraphrase L1 to L2 or vice versa.
-L2 uses are influenced by another language in aspects of phonology, vocabulary, syntax and reading.
-Few L2 users can be regarded as native speakers.
-Bilingual children tend to think more flexibly, have increased language awareness, read more quickly in their L1 and have better communication skills in their L1 than monolingual children.
Interesting points
-Japan is not a monolingual country, to be precise, because there are 900,000 Okinawan speakers and 670,000 Korean speakers in Japan (Ethnologue, 1996).
http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/.
-All Japanese children learn English in the senior secondary school.
New Words
-She passes for a scholar.
-The vice-president took power in the interim period before the election.
-Her hearing was found to be slightly defective.
-She’s neither rich nor famous. (=She isn’t either rich or famous.)
-The diet may leave you deficient in calcium.
-You may need to amplify this point.
Main Points
L2 Users and L2 Learners
-L2 users are using English for real-life purposes.
-L2 learners are studying English for later use.
-Many L2 learners are studying a second language as one of the academic subjects at school. They don’t have any purposes for immediate use and future careers.
-‘L2 user refers to a person who knows and uses a second language at any level’.
-‘L2 learner implies that the task of acquisition is never finished’.
Characteristics of L2 uses
-‘L2 users often code-switch from one language to another’.
-L2 users can paraphrase L1 to L2 or vice versa.
-L2 uses are influenced by another language in aspects of phonology, vocabulary, syntax and reading.
-Few L2 users can be regarded as native speakers.
-Bilingual children tend to think more flexibly, have increased language awareness, read more quickly in their L1 and have better communication skills in their L1 than monolingual children.
Interesting points
-Japan is not a monolingual country, to be precise, because there are 900,000 Okinawan speakers and 670,000 Korean speakers in Japan (Ethnologue, 1996).
http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/.
-All Japanese children learn English in the senior secondary school.
Wednesday 29 October 2008
Impact on reading
Awareness of the structure and meaning of morphologically complex words: Impact on reading by Joanne F. Carlisle (2000)
New Words
-The jargon in his talk was opaque to me.
-Friday 31 July 1925 henceforth became known as ‘Red Friday’.
Main points
-Morphological awareness (structural knowledge and meaning) and processing (the ability to decompose morphologically complex words, or derived words) are useful for reading comprehension..
-High frequency words were read more accurately than low frequency ones.
-Production of shift words were less well than transparent words.
New Words
-The jargon in his talk was opaque to me.
-Friday 31 July 1925 henceforth became known as ‘Red Friday’.
Main points
-Morphological awareness (structural knowledge and meaning) and processing (the ability to decompose morphologically complex words, or derived words) are useful for reading comprehension..
-High frequency words were read more accurately than low frequency ones.
-Production of shift words were less well than transparent words.
Critical Period Effects
The Robustness of Critical Period Effects in Second Language Acquisition by Robert M. DeKeyser (2000)
New Words
-His articles provided the main impetus for change.
-The town has a sizeable Sikh population.
-Virtually all students will be exempt from the tax.
Main points
Fundamental Difference Hypothesis (Bley-Vroman, 1988)
Adults need to consider a structure of a second language and to use verbal-analytic problem-solving mechanisms for explicit learning because they have mostly lost the ability to learn it. On the other hand, children learn a language through language-specific mechanisms of implicit learning. The hypothesis suggests only adults who have a high level of verbal ability will succeed in getting a second language competence.
Critical Period Hypothesis (Lenneberg, 1967)
-Those who are older than a certain age (17) are worse at learning both pronunciation and grammar of a second language than younger people.
-The concept is controversial.
Conclusion
-Fundamental Difference Hypothesis is correct.
-Language-learning aptitude is important to succeed in acquiring a second language.
-Ideal age for language learning exists.
New Words
-His articles provided the main impetus for change.
-The town has a sizeable Sikh population.
-Virtually all students will be exempt from the tax.
Main points
Fundamental Difference Hypothesis (Bley-Vroman, 1988)
Adults need to consider a structure of a second language and to use verbal-analytic problem-solving mechanisms for explicit learning because they have mostly lost the ability to learn it. On the other hand, children learn a language through language-specific mechanisms of implicit learning. The hypothesis suggests only adults who have a high level of verbal ability will succeed in getting a second language competence.
Critical Period Hypothesis (Lenneberg, 1967)
-Those who are older than a certain age (17) are worse at learning both pronunciation and grammar of a second language than younger people.
-The concept is controversial.
Conclusion
-Fundamental Difference Hypothesis is correct.
-Language-learning aptitude is important to succeed in acquiring a second language.
-Ideal age for language learning exists.
Reformulation and reconstruction
Reformulation and reconstruction: tasks that promote ‘noticing’ by Scott Thornbury (1997)
New words
-The play foregrounds the relationship between father and daughter.
-The rumor soon gained currency throughout the town.
-Research has been constrained by a lack of funds.
-The population of the United States is heterogeneous.
-Everyone is treated equally, irrespective of race.
-I found it hard to study at home because there are too many distractions.
-You need to marshall your arguments.
-Metalanguage is the words and phrases that people use to talk about or describe language or a particular language.
-She fully exploits the humour of her role in the play.
-Advertising like this is a cynical manipulation of the elderly.
-He attempted to harness the sun’s rays as a source of energy.
-The agency will make travel arrangements for you. Alternatively, you can organize your own transport.
-I met ex-wife by chance at the airport.
Main points
Two kinds of noticing
1 Learners must pay attention to input in order to become ‘intake’. Input improvement activities and procedures are effective.
2 Learners must notice the gap between the interlanguage and the target language. The term ‘matching’ is used by Klein (1986).
Reformulation
It is a technique for the teaching of writing and speaking skills. The order of instruction moves from fluency to accuracy.
e.g. Community Language Learning (CLL)-The content comes from learners and the form comes from teachers. The learner’s text is reformulated by the teacher.
Reconstruction
The teacher’s text is the starting point for the activities.
e.g. tried-and-true activities (copying; memorization and recitation of texts; dictation (dictogloss, dicto-comp(dictation/composition), grammar dictation); rhetorical transformation; translation and re-translation; storyboard-type computer games)
New words
-The play foregrounds the relationship between father and daughter.
-The rumor soon gained currency throughout the town.
-Research has been constrained by a lack of funds.
-The population of the United States is heterogeneous.
-Everyone is treated equally, irrespective of race.
-I found it hard to study at home because there are too many distractions.
-You need to marshall your arguments.
-Metalanguage is the words and phrases that people use to talk about or describe language or a particular language.
-She fully exploits the humour of her role in the play.
-Advertising like this is a cynical manipulation of the elderly.
-He attempted to harness the sun’s rays as a source of energy.
-The agency will make travel arrangements for you. Alternatively, you can organize your own transport.
-I met ex-wife by chance at the airport.
Main points
Two kinds of noticing
1 Learners must pay attention to input in order to become ‘intake’. Input improvement activities and procedures are effective.
2 Learners must notice the gap between the interlanguage and the target language. The term ‘matching’ is used by Klein (1986).
Reformulation
It is a technique for the teaching of writing and speaking skills. The order of instruction moves from fluency to accuracy.
e.g. Community Language Learning (CLL)-The content comes from learners and the form comes from teachers. The learner’s text is reformulated by the teacher.
Reconstruction
The teacher’s text is the starting point for the activities.
e.g. tried-and-true activities (copying; memorization and recitation of texts; dictation (dictogloss, dicto-comp(dictation/composition), grammar dictation); rhetorical transformation; translation and re-translation; storyboard-type computer games)
Monday 27 October 2008
Interlanguage, Language transfer, Fossilization
Second Language Learning Theories by Rosamond Mitchell & Florence Myles (2004)
New Words
-This theme recurs several times throughout the book.
-She pursued her dream of becoming a journalist.
-The plan, as yet, only exists in embryonic form.
-His mother nurtured his love of music.
-They embarked on a discussion.
Interlanguage (learner language)
The term was coined by Selinker in 1972 to describe the language production by learners as a second language. The interlanguage consists of two basic ideas: the language with a systematic system and with a dynamic system developing over time. Interlanguage studies focus on the learner system and are not limited to Error Analysis.
Language transfer (individual variability)
Language transfer takes place in their second language because of the influence of the native language or mother tongue. First language interferes with the second language learning and various errors are produced from the first language habit.
Fossilization
Fossilization is the phenomenon that the development of a second language seems to stop at some level.
New Words
-This theme recurs several times throughout the book.
-She pursued her dream of becoming a journalist.
-The plan, as yet, only exists in embryonic form.
-His mother nurtured his love of music.
-They embarked on a discussion.
Interlanguage (learner language)
The term was coined by Selinker in 1972 to describe the language production by learners as a second language. The interlanguage consists of two basic ideas: the language with a systematic system and with a dynamic system developing over time. Interlanguage studies focus on the learner system and are not limited to Error Analysis.
Language transfer (individual variability)
Language transfer takes place in their second language because of the influence of the native language or mother tongue. First language interferes with the second language learning and various errors are produced from the first language habit.
Fossilization
Fossilization is the phenomenon that the development of a second language seems to stop at some level.
Sunday 26 October 2008
Linguistic aspects of interlanguage
Second Language Acquisition by Rod Ellis (1997)
New Words
Poverty of the stimulus: The inability of input to provide the linguistic information needed for language acquisition
Positive evidence: Input that shows the learner what is grammatical but not what is ungrammatical.
Markedness: This refers to the general idea that some linguistic features may be more ‘basic’ or ‘natural’ than others. More technical definitions based on linguistic theory also exist.
Main points
Universal Grammar (UG) by Noam Chomsky’s theory
-Children learning their L1 must rely on innate knowledge of language.
-UG is not available to adult L2 learners.
New Words
Poverty of the stimulus: The inability of input to provide the linguistic information needed for language acquisition
Positive evidence: Input that shows the learner what is grammatical but not what is ungrammatical.
Markedness: This refers to the general idea that some linguistic features may be more ‘basic’ or ‘natural’ than others. More technical definitions based on linguistic theory also exist.
Main points
Universal Grammar (UG) by Noam Chomsky’s theory
-Children learning their L1 must rely on innate knowledge of language.
-UG is not available to adult L2 learners.
Psycholinguistic aspects of interlanguage
Second Language Acquisition by Rod Ellis (1997)
New Words
L1 transfer: The process by which the learner’s L1 influences the acquisition and use of L2.
Contrastive analysis: A set of procedures for comparing and constructing the linguistic systems of two languages in order to identify their structural similarities and differences.
Restricting continuum: This refers to the idea that interlanguage development consists of
Learners gradually replacing L1 rules with target-language rules.
Operating principles: Slobin’s term for the strategies children use during L1 acquisition to segment and analyse input, and which account for regular properties of their output.
Multidimensional model: A theory of L2 acquisition proposed by Meisel, Clahsen, and Pienemann. It distinguishes developmental and variational features according to weather they are governed by processing constraints or socio-psychological factors
Processing constraints: Mechanisms that block learners’ ability to perform the permutations involved in different grammatical structures (e.g. produce wh- questions with inversion).
Parallel distributed processing: A model of language that views language use and acquisition as involving a complex network of interconnections between units rather than rules.
Main points
L1 transfer
-negative transfer, positive transfer, avoidance, overuse
The role of consciousness
Processing operations
-operating principles, processing constraints
Communication strategies
New Words
L1 transfer: The process by which the learner’s L1 influences the acquisition and use of L2.
Contrastive analysis: A set of procedures for comparing and constructing the linguistic systems of two languages in order to identify their structural similarities and differences.
Restricting continuum: This refers to the idea that interlanguage development consists of
Learners gradually replacing L1 rules with target-language rules.
Operating principles: Slobin’s term for the strategies children use during L1 acquisition to segment and analyse input, and which account for regular properties of their output.
Multidimensional model: A theory of L2 acquisition proposed by Meisel, Clahsen, and Pienemann. It distinguishes developmental and variational features according to weather they are governed by processing constraints or socio-psychological factors
Processing constraints: Mechanisms that block learners’ ability to perform the permutations involved in different grammatical structures (e.g. produce wh- questions with inversion).
Parallel distributed processing: A model of language that views language use and acquisition as involving a complex network of interconnections between units rather than rules.
Main points
L1 transfer
-negative transfer, positive transfer, avoidance, overuse
The role of consciousness
Processing operations
-operating principles, processing constraints
Communication strategies
Discourse aspects of interlanguage
Second Language Acquisition by Rod Ellis (1997)
New Words
Comprehensible input: That part of the total input that the learner understands and which is hypothesized to be necessary for acquisition to take place.
Negative evidence/feedback: Information given directly or indirectly to learners that an interlanguage hypothesis is incorrect.
Scaffolding: The process by which learners utilize discourse to help them construct structures that lie outside their competence.
Zone of proximal development: Vygotsky uses this term to refer to the cognitive level that a child is not yet at but is capable of performing at with adult guidance.
Auto-input: This refers to the possibility that learners’ own out-put can serve as input to their language acquisition mechanisms
Main points
Foreigner talk
1 ungrammatical foreigner talk
-deletion of copula be, modal verbs and articles
-the use of special constructions such as ‘no+verb’
2 grammatical foreigner talk
-a slow pace
-simplifications such as the use of shorter sentences, avoidance of subordinate clauses and the omission of complex grammatical forms
-the use of basic form
-elaborates language use
Input hypothesis (Stephen Krashen)
L2 acquisition depends on comprehensible of meaning.
Interaction hypothesis (Micheal Long)
The Negotiation of meaning assists learners’ L2 acquisition.
New Words
Comprehensible input: That part of the total input that the learner understands and which is hypothesized to be necessary for acquisition to take place.
Negative evidence/feedback: Information given directly or indirectly to learners that an interlanguage hypothesis is incorrect.
Scaffolding: The process by which learners utilize discourse to help them construct structures that lie outside their competence.
Zone of proximal development: Vygotsky uses this term to refer to the cognitive level that a child is not yet at but is capable of performing at with adult guidance.
Auto-input: This refers to the possibility that learners’ own out-put can serve as input to their language acquisition mechanisms
Main points
Foreigner talk
1 ungrammatical foreigner talk
-deletion of copula be, modal verbs and articles
-the use of special constructions such as ‘no+verb’
2 grammatical foreigner talk
-a slow pace
-simplifications such as the use of shorter sentences, avoidance of subordinate clauses and the omission of complex grammatical forms
-the use of basic form
-elaborates language use
Input hypothesis (Stephen Krashen)
L2 acquisition depends on comprehensible of meaning.
Interaction hypothesis (Micheal Long)
The Negotiation of meaning assists learners’ L2 acquisition.
Saturday 25 October 2008
Focus on form
Focus on form-a myth in the making? By Ron Sheen (2003)
New Words
-Some parents equate education with exam success.
-Exam results are not the only yardstick of a school’s performance.
-Researchers are trying to correlate the two sets of figures.
Main points
‘focus on form’ by Long (1988)
-the idea of that comprehensible input is best experienced through classroom interaction.
-All classroom activity needs to be based on communicative task.
-task structure
-no grammar syllabus
-by means of problem-solving tasks
-perceived as being compatible with currently-accepted theories of SLA
-implicit (inductive) teaching strategy such as the direct method, the natural method, audiolingualism, strong CLT and various aspects of focus on form strategies
‘focus on formS’
-This is equated with the traditional teaching of discrete points of grammar in separate lessons.
-Communicative activity is the underlying propriety of the classroom.
-by problem-solving activities
Step1: providing understanding of grammar
Step2: written and oral exercises
Step3: providing frequent opportunities for communicative use of the grammar
-perceived as being incompatible with these
-explicit (deductive teaching strategy) such as grammar translation, cognitive code-learning and focus on forms as in a skills-learning approach
Conclusion
A ‘focus on formS’ approach is more effective than a ‘focus on form’ approach.
New Words
-Some parents equate education with exam success.
-Exam results are not the only yardstick of a school’s performance.
-Researchers are trying to correlate the two sets of figures.
Main points
‘focus on form’ by Long (1988)
-the idea of that comprehensible input is best experienced through classroom interaction.
-All classroom activity needs to be based on communicative task.
-task structure
-no grammar syllabus
-by means of problem-solving tasks
-perceived as being compatible with currently-accepted theories of SLA
-implicit (inductive) teaching strategy such as the direct method, the natural method, audiolingualism, strong CLT and various aspects of focus on form strategies
‘focus on formS’
-This is equated with the traditional teaching of discrete points of grammar in separate lessons.
-Communicative activity is the underlying propriety of the classroom.
-by problem-solving activities
Step1: providing understanding of grammar
Step2: written and oral exercises
Step3: providing frequent opportunities for communicative use of the grammar
-perceived as being incompatible with these
-explicit (deductive teaching strategy) such as grammar translation, cognitive code-learning and focus on forms as in a skills-learning approach
Conclusion
A ‘focus on formS’ approach is more effective than a ‘focus on form’ approach.
Social aspects of interlanguage
Second Language Acquisition by Rod Ellis (1997)
New Words
Convergence: The process by which speakers make their speech similar to their interlocutors’ speech. L2 acquisition can viewed as ‘long-term convergence’ towards native-speaker norms.
Divergence: The process by which speakers make their speech different from their interlocutors’ speech. Frequent divergence can be considered to impede L2 acqiosition.
Investment: Learners’ commitment to learning an L2, which is viewed as related to the social identities they construct for themselves as learners.
Three socio-cultural models of L2 acquisition
1 Interlanguage as a stylistic continuum
-stylistic continuum (Elaine Tarone)...Why learner language is variable, from a careful style to a vernacular style
-accomodation theory (Howard Gile)...How a learner’s social group influences the course of L2 acquisition
2 The acculturation model (John Schumann)
-Pidginization takes place when learners are unable or unwilling to adapt to a new culture because of the social distance and psychological distance from L2 group
3 Social identity and investment (Bonny Peirce)
-Learners have complex social identities. Investment is required in order to establish an identity
New Words
Convergence: The process by which speakers make their speech similar to their interlocutors’ speech. L2 acquisition can viewed as ‘long-term convergence’ towards native-speaker norms.
Divergence: The process by which speakers make their speech different from their interlocutors’ speech. Frequent divergence can be considered to impede L2 acqiosition.
Investment: Learners’ commitment to learning an L2, which is viewed as related to the social identities they construct for themselves as learners.
Three socio-cultural models of L2 acquisition
1 Interlanguage as a stylistic continuum
-stylistic continuum (Elaine Tarone)...Why learner language is variable, from a careful style to a vernacular style
-accomodation theory (Howard Gile)...How a learner’s social group influences the course of L2 acquisition
2 The acculturation model (John Schumann)
-Pidginization takes place when learners are unable or unwilling to adapt to a new culture because of the social distance and psychological distance from L2 group
3 Social identity and investment (Bonny Peirce)
-Learners have complex social identities. Investment is required in order to establish an identity
Interlanguage
Second Language Acquisition by Rod Ellis (1997)
New Words
Interlanguage continuum: The series of interim systems that a learner constructs in the process of acquiring an L2
Backsliding: This is said to occur when learners employ a rule that belongs to an earlier stage of development than the learner’s current stage.
The concept of interlanguage-‘how L2 acquisition take place’
-Interlanguage means mental grammar of the L2 (unique linguistic rules)
-The grammar is easily influenced.
-The grammar is transitional.
-The grammar has variable rules.
-Various learning strategies are used.
-The grammar tends to fossilize.
Four stages of a computational model of L2 acquisition
1 The learner is exposed to input.
2 Some of the input is delivered to short-term memory (intake).
3 Some of the intake is stored in long-term memory as L2 knowledge.
4 The learner produce output as learner language.
New Words
Interlanguage continuum: The series of interim systems that a learner constructs in the process of acquiring an L2
Backsliding: This is said to occur when learners employ a rule that belongs to an earlier stage of development than the learner’s current stage.
The concept of interlanguage-‘how L2 acquisition take place’
-Interlanguage means mental grammar of the L2 (unique linguistic rules)
-The grammar is easily influenced.
-The grammar is transitional.
-The grammar has variable rules.
-Various learning strategies are used.
-The grammar tends to fossilize.
Four stages of a computational model of L2 acquisition
1 The learner is exposed to input.
2 Some of the input is delivered to short-term memory (intake).
3 Some of the intake is stored in long-term memory as L2 knowledge.
4 The learner produce output as learner language.
The nature of learner language
Second Language Acquisition by Rod Ellis (1997)
New Words
Overgeneralization: the oversuppliance of an interlanguage feature in contexts in which it does not occur in target-language use (e.g. ‘He ated ice-cream.’) Overgeneralization result in errors.
U-shaped course of development: The pattern of learning evident when learners use a correct target-language form at one stage, replace it with an ungrammatical interlanguage form, and then finally return to use of the correct target-language form.
Restricting: The process by which learners reorganize their interlanguage in the light of new evidence about the target language. It can occur as a result of a shift from item learning to system learning.
Form-function mappings: The identification by the learner of a particular function which can be performed by means of a particular form. The ensuing ‘mapping’ may or may not correspond to target-language norms.
Free variation: The random use of two or more variants of a structure.Fossilizatioln: the process responsible for the cessation of learning some way short of target-language competence. Most L2 learners’ interlanguages fossilize
New Words
Overgeneralization: the oversuppliance of an interlanguage feature in contexts in which it does not occur in target-language use (e.g. ‘He ated ice-cream.’) Overgeneralization result in errors.
U-shaped course of development: The pattern of learning evident when learners use a correct target-language form at one stage, replace it with an ungrammatical interlanguage form, and then finally return to use of the correct target-language form.
Restricting: The process by which learners reorganize their interlanguage in the light of new evidence about the target language. It can occur as a result of a shift from item learning to system learning.
Form-function mappings: The identification by the learner of a particular function which can be performed by means of a particular form. The ensuing ‘mapping’ may or may not correspond to target-language norms.
Free variation: The random use of two or more variants of a structure.Fossilizatioln: the process responsible for the cessation of learning some way short of target-language competence. Most L2 learners’ interlanguages fossilize
Friday 24 October 2008
The Current Top Twenty
Empires of the Word: a Language History of the World by Nicholas Ostler
New Words
-The article gave a distorted picture of his childhood.
-Switzerland is a mountainous country; conversely Holland is flat.
-The growing town soon encroached on the surrounding countryside.
-A Mediterranean cruise was the perfect antidote to a long cold winter.
-Japanese people eat rice as a staple crop.
-Though a talented player, he was completely eclipsed by his brother.
-Romance languages such as French, Italian and Spanish are language that developed from Latin.
-These tasks were repetitive, lengthy and lacking any intrinsic interest.
-Our life has changed because of the advent of new technology
-The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city.
-The runners jocked for position at the start.
-She was the relegated to the role of assistant.
-We have a good reason for our contention over the idea of a new motorway.
-There was a crisis looming.
Summary
Languages have grown by organic growth through the increase of population as well as merger and acquisition through the colonial policy. The figures of the top twenty languages in the world are based on use as a first or second language. The top language is Mandarin Chinese with 1,052 million speakers which is more than twice as many as the next highest language, English, with 508 million speakers. Third highest language is Hindi with 487 million and fourth Spanish, with 417 million. Interestingly, just under half in the table are spoken in area where people eat rice as a staple crop. And the dialect used in the national capital is chosen as the standard language. When it comes to the global language in the future, the population will be important. Asian languages, especially languages in India Pakistan and Arabic countries, will maintain the position or will be higher in the top 20 because of the birth rate. In contrast, German and Italian will go to the bottom of the table unless the number of immigrants will increase. English, Spanish Portuguese and French established the status due to the colonial empires. Future growth of French and English are limited, but they are used as a lingua franca in the world and those countries have influenced the world economically, culturally and militarily. The languages will maintain the prestige as a tool for communication and access to the global system.
New Words
-The article gave a distorted picture of his childhood.
-Switzerland is a mountainous country; conversely Holland is flat.
-The growing town soon encroached on the surrounding countryside.
-A Mediterranean cruise was the perfect antidote to a long cold winter.
-Japanese people eat rice as a staple crop.
-Though a talented player, he was completely eclipsed by his brother.
-Romance languages such as French, Italian and Spanish are language that developed from Latin.
-These tasks were repetitive, lengthy and lacking any intrinsic interest.
-Our life has changed because of the advent of new technology
-The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city.
-The runners jocked for position at the start.
-She was the relegated to the role of assistant.
-We have a good reason for our contention over the idea of a new motorway.
-There was a crisis looming.
Summary
Languages have grown by organic growth through the increase of population as well as merger and acquisition through the colonial policy. The figures of the top twenty languages in the world are based on use as a first or second language. The top language is Mandarin Chinese with 1,052 million speakers which is more than twice as many as the next highest language, English, with 508 million speakers. Third highest language is Hindi with 487 million and fourth Spanish, with 417 million. Interestingly, just under half in the table are spoken in area where people eat rice as a staple crop. And the dialect used in the national capital is chosen as the standard language. When it comes to the global language in the future, the population will be important. Asian languages, especially languages in India Pakistan and Arabic countries, will maintain the position or will be higher in the top 20 because of the birth rate. In contrast, German and Italian will go to the bottom of the table unless the number of immigrants will increase. English, Spanish Portuguese and French established the status due to the colonial empires. Future growth of French and English are limited, but they are used as a lingua franca in the world and those countries have influenced the world economically, culturally and militarily. The languages will maintain the prestige as a tool for communication and access to the global system.
The European Union
The European Union: the more languages, the more English
Words of the World Policy by Abram De Swaan (2001)
New Words
-The city boasts a fine library.
-He hopes one day to surpass the world record.
-The wind dislodged one or two tiles from the roof.
-The stadium is adjacent to the school.
-This system perpetuated itself for several centuries.
-I intend to challenge the legitimacy of his claim.
-Ice dissolves into water.
-During the winter the seeds lie dormant in the soil.
-I’m in a terrible predicament.
-The letter was deliberately couched in very vague terms.
Main points and additional information about EU
-The EU had 15 members in 2001. 11 languages were recognized as official languages, which needed a great number of translators and interpreters.
-The EU has 27 member states and 23 official languages as of 2008.
-English is a dominant language in EU.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_European_Union
Words of the World Policy by Abram De Swaan (2001)
New Words
-The city boasts a fine library.
-He hopes one day to surpass the world record.
-The wind dislodged one or two tiles from the roof.
-The stadium is adjacent to the school.
-This system perpetuated itself for several centuries.
-I intend to challenge the legitimacy of his claim.
-Ice dissolves into water.
-During the winter the seeds lie dormant in the soil.
-I’m in a terrible predicament.
-The letter was deliberately couched in very vague terms.
Main points and additional information about EU
-The EU had 15 members in 2001. 11 languages were recognized as official languages, which needed a great number of translators and interpreters.
-The EU has 27 member states and 23 official languages as of 2008.
-English is a dominant language in EU.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_European_Union
Thursday 23 October 2008
Describing and explaining L2 acquisition
Second Language Acquisition by Rod Ellis (1997)
New Words
Language aptitude: the special ability that people have, in varying degrees, for leaning an L2
Formulas: chunks of language that are stored either as complete units (e.g. ‘I don’t know’) or as partially analysed units (e.g. ‘Can I have a _____?’)
Mentalist: a mentalist theory of language learning emphasizes the learner’s innate capacity for acquiring a language
Main points
-SLA is the study of a language other than a mother tongue.
-The goals of SLA are the description of L2 acquisition process and the explanation of the learners’ external factors (social condition, type of input) and internal factors (cognitive mechanisms, language aptitude).
-There are two methodological arguments. One is the range of learners’ description, from a specific aspect to the whole of it. The other is the relationship between language form and linguistic function as a feature of the target language.
-Can learners acquire the language systematically?
New Words
Language aptitude: the special ability that people have, in varying degrees, for leaning an L2
Formulas: chunks of language that are stored either as complete units (e.g. ‘I don’t know’) or as partially analysed units (e.g. ‘Can I have a _____?’)
Mentalist: a mentalist theory of language learning emphasizes the learner’s innate capacity for acquiring a language
Main points
-SLA is the study of a language other than a mother tongue.
-The goals of SLA are the description of L2 acquisition process and the explanation of the learners’ external factors (social condition, type of input) and internal factors (cognitive mechanisms, language aptitude).
-There are two methodological arguments. One is the range of learners’ description, from a specific aspect to the whole of it. The other is the relationship between language form and linguistic function as a feature of the target language.
-Can learners acquire the language systematically?
Wednesday 22 October 2008
Breaking Down Words to Build Meaning
Breaking Down Words to Build Meaning: Morphology, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension in the Urban Classroom by Michael J. Kieffer, Nonie K. Lesaux (2007)
New Words
-She writes under a pseudonym.
-The film resonates with a lot of kids.
-He overlooked an important detail.
-Parents play a crucial role in preparing their child for school.
-The two colleges have a reciprocal arrangement whereby students from one college can attend classes at the other.
-The book shows only a superficial understanding of the historical context.
-There is a direct correlation between exposure to sun and skin cancer.
-The school’s approach must be complementary to that of the parents.
-The word morphology can be broken down into two meaning parts known as morphemes.
-She has the daunting task of cooking for 20 people every day.
-Can anyone decipher his handwriting?
-The city is dissected into two areas by a network of old canals.
-It is impossible to say at what point along the continuum a dialect becomes a separate language.
-A cloze test is a type of test in which you have to put suitable words in spaces in a text where words have been left out.
Summary
There is a relationship between vocabulary and reading. Vague notion of a word could lead to misunderstanding of comprehension. It is useful for students to know the way of breaking the complex words down into morphems; bound, unbound (root word), inflection and derivational morphems. The degree of difficulty depends on whether the words are required spelling and sound changes or included less frequent root words. The correlation among roots and affixes may be useful as “a component of knowing a word well and a strategy for learning new words”.
My Idea
The knowledge of breaking down is difficult for the beginners, but it is useful for the advanced learners. It causes the improvement of vocabulary and reading/writing comprehension as well. And knowing the roots from Latin and Greek may be interesting for students. They can know English has been influenced by other languages.
Useful Links
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=253
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=880
New Words
-She writes under a pseudonym.
-The film resonates with a lot of kids.
-He overlooked an important detail.
-Parents play a crucial role in preparing their child for school.
-The two colleges have a reciprocal arrangement whereby students from one college can attend classes at the other.
-The book shows only a superficial understanding of the historical context.
-There is a direct correlation between exposure to sun and skin cancer.
-The school’s approach must be complementary to that of the parents.
-The word morphology can be broken down into two meaning parts known as morphemes.
-She has the daunting task of cooking for 20 people every day.
-Can anyone decipher his handwriting?
-The city is dissected into two areas by a network of old canals.
-It is impossible to say at what point along the continuum a dialect becomes a separate language.
-A cloze test is a type of test in which you have to put suitable words in spaces in a text where words have been left out.
Summary
There is a relationship between vocabulary and reading. Vague notion of a word could lead to misunderstanding of comprehension. It is useful for students to know the way of breaking the complex words down into morphems; bound, unbound (root word), inflection and derivational morphems. The degree of difficulty depends on whether the words are required spelling and sound changes or included less frequent root words. The correlation among roots and affixes may be useful as “a component of knowing a word well and a strategy for learning new words”.
My Idea
The knowledge of breaking down is difficult for the beginners, but it is useful for the advanced learners. It causes the improvement of vocabulary and reading/writing comprehension as well. And knowing the roots from Latin and Greek may be interesting for students. They can know English has been influenced by other languages.
Useful Links
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=253
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=880
Talking shop
Second language acquisition research: how does it help teachers? An interview with Rod Ellis (1993)
New words
-Subsequent experiments failed to replicate these findings.
-I can’t envisage working with him again.
-Measures to protect the environment could be compatible with economic growth.
Main point
These three approaches are compatible with the ways of learning grammar.
Focused communication activity
This activity improves learners’ grammar accuracy under real operating condition. When learners make errors grammatically, teachers request for clarification deliberately. In some cases, the learners can reformulate correctly.
Grammar conscious-raising activity
The activity encourages learners to try to construct their own explicit grammar. Learners are provided a list of sentences with two different structures and are asked to distinguish into two. And then they need to explain the differences.
Interpretation grammar activity
This is a listening comprehension activity which supply learners with input manipulated to include the target grammatical structure. After listening learners need to explain the meaning of the structure.
My Idea
The three activities seem to be a little old because the article was published in 1993, more than 10 years ago. I’d like to know more practical and useful activities for grammar.
New words
-Subsequent experiments failed to replicate these findings.
-I can’t envisage working with him again.
-Measures to protect the environment could be compatible with economic growth.
Main point
These three approaches are compatible with the ways of learning grammar.
Focused communication activity
This activity improves learners’ grammar accuracy under real operating condition. When learners make errors grammatically, teachers request for clarification deliberately. In some cases, the learners can reformulate correctly.
Grammar conscious-raising activity
The activity encourages learners to try to construct their own explicit grammar. Learners are provided a list of sentences with two different structures and are asked to distinguish into two. And then they need to explain the differences.
Interpretation grammar activity
This is a listening comprehension activity which supply learners with input manipulated to include the target grammatical structure. After listening learners need to explain the meaning of the structure.
My Idea
The three activities seem to be a little old because the article was published in 1993, more than 10 years ago. I’d like to know more practical and useful activities for grammar.
Tuesday 21 October 2008
L1 differences and L2 similarities
L1 differences and L2 similarities: teaching verb tenses in English by Laura Collins (2007)
Main point and My Idea
-Verbs can be categorized into four semantic types; statives, activity, accomplishment and achievement. Teachers don’t have to tell the category to the students, but the knowledge may be useful to teaching.
-French has a component past which is similar to the English present perfect. That’s why Francaphone learners tend to overuse present perfect instead of simple past. Therefore, teachers should know students language background. It’ll be easier to understand where the errors come from.
-Japanese learners were successful only in achievement category compared to Francaphone learners. I think further research will be needed to clarify.
-Dictogloss and interpreting contexts seem to be useful as activities for verb tenses in a Japanese classroom. In Japanese language, we don’t have a concept of present perfect and past perfect. It’s difficult to distinguish between past simple and present perfect. So the activities could help students understanding of the differences of the contexts.
Main point and My Idea
-Verbs can be categorized into four semantic types; statives, activity, accomplishment and achievement. Teachers don’t have to tell the category to the students, but the knowledge may be useful to teaching.
-French has a component past which is similar to the English present perfect. That’s why Francaphone learners tend to overuse present perfect instead of simple past. Therefore, teachers should know students language background. It’ll be easier to understand where the errors come from.
-Japanese learners were successful only in achievement category compared to Francaphone learners. I think further research will be needed to clarify.
-Dictogloss and interpreting contexts seem to be useful as activities for verb tenses in a Japanese classroom. In Japanese language, we don’t have a concept of present perfect and past perfect. It’s difficult to distinguish between past simple and present perfect. So the activities could help students understanding of the differences of the contexts.
Monday 20 October 2008
Globalisation and national communities of communication
by Joseph Lo Bianco (2005)
New Words
-When the ambulance gone, the crowd dissolved.
-He returned to Britain in 1939, having resided abroad for many years.
-A vernacular is the language spoken in a particular area or by a particular group, especially one that is not the official or written language.
-He devoted his energies to the cause of peace.
-They reverted to the subject of finance.
-He is a highly esteemed scientist.
-He is my revered teacher.
Language planning in Japan
Generally, Japanese people cannot speak English fluently, though we have studied English for many years. For this reason, the government and educational board started to focus on speaking at school. As the article said, the national curriculum has been changed. As a result of this, English has been taught as a foreign language at Japanese junior high schools and elementary school students have started to learn English conversation without textbooks since 2001. Before 2001, there were a lot of arguments about starting English at elementary school. Some experts such as linguists and university professors argued that it was too early and they needed to Japanese more at this stage. Then, it was pointed out that students literacy was falling down and the way of speech style was not suitable. However, the national curriculum will be changed again in one or two years and English is going to be a subject at elementary school officially.
New Words
-When the ambulance gone, the crowd dissolved.
-He returned to Britain in 1939, having resided abroad for many years.
-A vernacular is the language spoken in a particular area or by a particular group, especially one that is not the official or written language.
-He devoted his energies to the cause of peace.
-They reverted to the subject of finance.
-He is a highly esteemed scientist.
-He is my revered teacher.
Language planning in Japan
Generally, Japanese people cannot speak English fluently, though we have studied English for many years. For this reason, the government and educational board started to focus on speaking at school. As the article said, the national curriculum has been changed. As a result of this, English has been taught as a foreign language at Japanese junior high schools and elementary school students have started to learn English conversation without textbooks since 2001. Before 2001, there were a lot of arguments about starting English at elementary school. Some experts such as linguists and university professors argued that it was too early and they needed to Japanese more at this stage. Then, it was pointed out that students literacy was falling down and the way of speech style was not suitable. However, the national curriculum will be changed again in one or two years and English is going to be a subject at elementary school officially.
Dante Alighieri
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighieri
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
He was a Florentine poet of the Middle Ages. His central work was the Divine Comedy (Divina Commedia), which was written in Italian language. It was thought to be a new language because it was based on the regional dialect of Tuscany, with some elements of Latin and of the other regional dialects. One of his other works on linguistics was On the Eloquence of Vernacular (De vulgari eloquentia), which deals with the relationship between Latin and vernacular and analyses the origin of vernacular.
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
He was a Florentine poet of the Middle Ages. His central work was the Divine Comedy (Divina Commedia), which was written in Italian language. It was thought to be a new language because it was based on the regional dialect of Tuscany, with some elements of Latin and of the other regional dialects. One of his other works on linguistics was On the Eloquence of Vernacular (De vulgari eloquentia), which deals with the relationship between Latin and vernacular and analyses the origin of vernacular.
Sunday 19 October 2008
Methods and Materials
Methods and Materials: the importance of ‘difference’ in ELT-towards a critical pedagogy by Fiona English (2003)
New Words
-Their findings have been widely disseminated.
-He was eulogized as a hero.
-The two companies consolidated for greater efficiency.
-He could not reconcile himself to the prospect of losing her.
-You’ll have to go to the police station to reclaim your wallet.
-The job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities.
-Designs are available in a myriad of colours.
-In the exhibition, abstract paintings are juxtaposed with shocking photographs.
My Idea
The article is dealing with some teaching methods. I agree as well as disagree in parts. First, I think it is a good contextualizing activity to show pictures which match the reading text and give the narrative after introducing new or important vocabularies. This activity may be effective for guessing the content of the text. Next, I have to be careful of what ‘speaking’ is. ‘Speaking’ is an oral interaction, not repetition, imitation and drilling. Next, memorizing the text is useful at some extent, especially for beginners, though it is boring. It probably leads to the development of language awareness and monitoring because students learn sentence structures, phrases and pronunciation through memorizing.
New Words
-Their findings have been widely disseminated.
-He was eulogized as a hero.
-The two companies consolidated for greater efficiency.
-He could not reconcile himself to the prospect of losing her.
-You’ll have to go to the police station to reclaim your wallet.
-The job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities.
-Designs are available in a myriad of colours.
-In the exhibition, abstract paintings are juxtaposed with shocking photographs.
My Idea
The article is dealing with some teaching methods. I agree as well as disagree in parts. First, I think it is a good contextualizing activity to show pictures which match the reading text and give the narrative after introducing new or important vocabularies. This activity may be effective for guessing the content of the text. Next, I have to be careful of what ‘speaking’ is. ‘Speaking’ is an oral interaction, not repetition, imitation and drilling. Next, memorizing the text is useful at some extent, especially for beginners, though it is boring. It probably leads to the development of language awareness and monitoring because students learn sentence structures, phrases and pronunciation through memorizing.
Saturday 18 October 2008
Seven Hypotheses about Language Teaching and Learning
By David Nunan (2000)
New Words
-My instinctive reaction was to deny everything.
-Computers are very efficient at manipulating information.
-I’m greatly indebted to you for my escape.
-He tended to dramatize his success.
-Her behavior is consistent with her words.
-There is an inclination to treat geography as a less important subject.
My Idea
In order to have students acquired English proficiency, English teachers need to give various activities or materials from different approaches and teachers should focus on learning process because there are different routes to success. I learned English by rote teaching, but it is boring for students and it doesn’t help for communication competence. Students can enjoy English lessons if they learn in positive way, for example, expressing their own experiences and ideas in English. Students usually don’t have an opportunity to use English outside a classroom in Japan. So, teachers need to give information for using English outside of the classroom such as listening to songs, watching films, summarizing articles and so forth.
New Words
-My instinctive reaction was to deny everything.
-Computers are very efficient at manipulating information.
-I’m greatly indebted to you for my escape.
-He tended to dramatize his success.
-Her behavior is consistent with her words.
-There is an inclination to treat geography as a less important subject.
My Idea
In order to have students acquired English proficiency, English teachers need to give various activities or materials from different approaches and teachers should focus on learning process because there are different routes to success. I learned English by rote teaching, but it is boring for students and it doesn’t help for communication competence. Students can enjoy English lessons if they learn in positive way, for example, expressing their own experiences and ideas in English. Students usually don’t have an opportunity to use English outside a classroom in Japan. So, teachers need to give information for using English outside of the classroom such as listening to songs, watching films, summarizing articles and so forth.
Language and social variation
The study of Language by George Yule (2006)
New words
Postvocalic: used after a vowel
Overt prestige: status that is generally recognized as ‘better’ or more positively valued in the larger community
Covert prestige: status of a speech style or feature as having positive value, but which is ‘hidden’ or not valued similarly among the larger community
Study questions
1 An idiolect is a personal dialect of an individual speaker.
2 A speech community is a group of people who share a set of norms and expectations regarding the use of language.
3 He wanted to know the frequency of occurrence of postvocalic /r/ as a linguistic variable, which could mark the speech samples as upper middle class versus middle class versus working class.
4 The final pronunciation of –ing with [n] is a social marker associated with working-class speech.
5 A register is a conventional way of using language that is appropriate in a specific situation, occupation or topic.
6 Be is used as a way of expressing habitual action in AAVE. “He don’t be smoking now?” means that smoking in not a habitual action for him now or he has stopped smoking.
New words
Postvocalic: used after a vowel
Overt prestige: status that is generally recognized as ‘better’ or more positively valued in the larger community
Covert prestige: status of a speech style or feature as having positive value, but which is ‘hidden’ or not valued similarly among the larger community
Study questions
1 An idiolect is a personal dialect of an individual speaker.
2 A speech community is a group of people who share a set of norms and expectations regarding the use of language.
3 He wanted to know the frequency of occurrence of postvocalic /r/ as a linguistic variable, which could mark the speech samples as upper middle class versus middle class versus working class.
4 The final pronunciation of –ing with [n] is a social marker associated with working-class speech.
5 A register is a conventional way of using language that is appropriate in a specific situation, occupation or topic.
6 Be is used as a way of expressing habitual action in AAVE. “He don’t be smoking now?” means that smoking in not a habitual action for him now or he has stopped smoking.
Language and culture
The study of Language by George Yule (2006)
New words
Linguistic relatively: the idea that, some extent, we think about the world using categories provided by our language
Linguistic determinism: the idea that we can only think in the categories provided by our language
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: the general idea that differences in language structure cause people to view the world differently, from the names of two American linguists, Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf
T/V distinction: the difference between pronouns such as tu (socially close) and vous (socially distant) in French, used address terms
Back-channels: the use of words (yeah) and sound (hmm) by listeners while someone else is speaking
Study questions
1 Culture is socially acquired knowledge.
2 Determinism is the idea that language determines thought.
3 Non-lexicalized means not expressed as a single word.
4 Classifiers are grammatical markers that indicate the type or ‘class’ of a noun.
5 The word ‘advice’ is a non-countable noun, which is not used with a/an.
6 A sentence with a tag question is more likely to be spoken by a woman because it is expressing an opinion in a way of inviting agreement rather than asserting it.
New words
Linguistic relatively: the idea that, some extent, we think about the world using categories provided by our language
Linguistic determinism: the idea that we can only think in the categories provided by our language
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: the general idea that differences in language structure cause people to view the world differently, from the names of two American linguists, Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf
T/V distinction: the difference between pronouns such as tu (socially close) and vous (socially distant) in French, used address terms
Back-channels: the use of words (yeah) and sound (hmm) by listeners while someone else is speaking
Study questions
1 Culture is socially acquired knowledge.
2 Determinism is the idea that language determines thought.
3 Non-lexicalized means not expressed as a single word.
4 Classifiers are grammatical markers that indicate the type or ‘class’ of a noun.
5 The word ‘advice’ is a non-countable noun, which is not used with a/an.
6 A sentence with a tag question is more likely to be spoken by a woman because it is expressing an opinion in a way of inviting agreement rather than asserting it.
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