The relevance of spoken features in English as a foreign language (EFL)

English Today ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 17-25
Author(s):  
Manfred Markus
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Large Majority ◽  
World Language ◽  
Local Variety ◽  
The World

ABSTRACTAn analysis of the need for attention to the spoken word and phonetics in the teaching of English world-wide. It is a truism that English is increasingly becoming a world language. Even in China a ‘craze for English’ has been, in view of the fact that over 200 million children (about 20% of all children in the world) now1 learn English in Chinese schools. McArthur has estimated that c.250 million Indians use English every day. All these speakers of English use it their own way. This localisation of English has been variously detected, for example in Hong Kong. It is also well known from versions of African English and, in fact, from most English varieties that have been attributed to the ‘Outer’ or ‘Extended. However, as early as 1983 Kachru voiced a caveat: ‘A large majority of the non-native speakers of institutionalised varieties of English use a local variety of English, but when told so, they are hesitant to accept the fact’.

scholarly journals Race and native speakers in ELT: parents' perspectives in Hong Kong

English Today ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 25-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chit Cheung Matthew Sung
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Global Context ◽  
The World ◽  
Important Means ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

English is used as an important means of international and intercultural communication around the world more than ever. Because of its widespread use in the global context, non-native speakers of English around the world outnumber native speakers by far (Crystal, 1997). According to Kachru and Nelson (1996: 79), ‘accepting even cautious estimates, there must be at least three nonnative users of English for every old-country native user’. A similar phenomenon is also observable in the English Language Teaching (ELT) profession, with the vast majority of teachers of English as a second and foreign language in the world being non-native speakers.

How words make the world: language materialities and the circulation of the Sakha algys

Multilingua ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenanne Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
Spoken Language ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
World Language ◽  
Material World ◽  
The World ◽  
The Way

Abstract This article investigates contemporary uses of the Sakha language algys (blessing poems) and reveals the “old” and “new” types of language materiality present in this genre of ritual poetry. Focusing primarily on one example of algys shared online in 2018, I discuss how performing algys has always involved close interconnection between language and the material world and present the changing contexts and forms of algys transmission that highlight both fixity and fluidity in the way speakers conceive of language and materiality. Despite the new mobilities and technologies that build upon the previously established written textual forms of this poetry—and contribute to its continued circulation and transmission—certain elements of traditional algys remains salient for speakers, reinforced by ideologies or ontologies of language that foreground the power of the (spoken) word. This is connected to the production of qualia and the invocation of chronotopes. Thus, while textual forms further enable processes of citationality as they are circulated online; the written words alone do not constitute an algys. Rather, here the importance of embodied, spoken language materiality is at the fore.

André Martinet (1908–1999)

2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-293
Author(s):  
Johannes Klare
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Columbia University ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of Linguistics ◽  
History Of ◽  
Important Position ◽  
Research Director

André Martinet holds an important position in the history of linguistics in the twentieth century. For more than six decades he decisively influenced the development of linguistics in France and in the world. He is one of the spokespersons for French linguistic structuralism, the structuralisme fonctionnel. The article focuses on a description and critical appreciation of the interlinguistic part of Martinet’s work. The issue of auxiliary languages and hence interlinguistics had interested Martinet greatly from his youth and provoked him to examine the matter actively. From 1946 onwards he worked in New York as a professor at Columbia University and a research director of the International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA). From 1934 he was in contact with the Danish linguist and interlinguist Otto Jespersen (1860–1943). Martinet, who went back to Paris in 1955 to work as a professor at the École Pratique des Hautes Études (Sorbonne), increasingly developed into an expert in planned languages; for his whole life, he was committed to the world-wide use of a foreign language that can be learned equally easily by members of all ethnic groups; Esperanto, functioning since 1887, seemed a good option to him.

scholarly journals English as a Lingua Franca Approach: Implications and Limitations in Saudi English as a Foreign Language Classrooms

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 96-104
Author(s):  
Samar Alharbi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
English As Foreign Language ◽  
The World ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Foreign Language Classrooms ◽  
Global Language

English language considers a global language spoken by a majority of people around the world. It is a language used mainly for communication, trades and study purposes. This widespread of English language being wildly spoken lead to different varieties of English as a lingua franca (ELF) means that non native speakers of English still be able to communicate with each other. Using ELF as a legitimate variety of English in language classrooms is questioned by some researchers. This paper will provide an overview of the concept of ELF. It will also present implications and limitations of using ELF in Saudi English as foreign language classrooms.

scholarly journals Linguodidactic potential of concepts in teaching foreign languages to students-interpreters

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-262
Author(s):  
Svetlana S. Vasilenko
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Authentic Materials ◽  
The World ◽  
Interdisciplinary Nature

The paper discusses possibilities and ways of studying concepts in teaching foreign languages to students-interpreters. The author notes that modern didactic research has interdisciplinary nature, analyzes the theory of the concept from the point of view of linguistics, cultural studies and psycholinguistics. The author also notes the fact of creation of linguo-conceptodidactics as a new scientific direction. The paper presents a linguodidactic understanding of the concept, analyzes its structure and semantic content. The author describes in detail the process of foreign language concepts acquisition and presents it as a sequence of several stages. The acquisition of foreign language concepts is associated with the development of concept competence. The paper notes that the acquisition of foreign language concepts should go in parallel with the acquisition of foreign language lexis. In addition, it is necessary to use authentic materials in teaching foreign languages that allows forming a conceptual picture of the world of native speakers. Acquisition of foreign language concepts is especially important for students-interpreters who study several foreign languages and are faced with the problem of translating foreign concepts and phenomena of foreign language reality. The paper presents how conceptuality can be realized in teaching foreign languages. The author gives a practical example of studying the English concept Travel, offers examples of exercises and tasks for mastering it, as well as mnemonic techniques for memorizing lexemes that represent the concept. In the paper is stressed, that the concepts should be included in the content of foreign language teaching to students-interpreters. This contributes to the development of correct ideas about foreign language reality, understanding the facts of the native and foreign language culture, i.e. cultural reflection development.

Students’ Attitudes towards the Use of Technologies in Language Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 477-485
Author(s):  
Georgi Dzhumayov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World Wide Web ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
The World ◽  
Students Attitudes

The current study aims to examine attitudes towards the use of technologies in learning a (foreign) language. The study also aims to find out how much time students spend online, what the purposes are for their using The World Wide Web and whether they believe that computer and mobile technologies can help them learn a foreign language.

Chinese Culture and Internet E-Commerce

2011 ◽  
pp. 267-288
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Hsu
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
The World ◽  
Practical Guidelines

The potential for the Internet and e-commerce in China and Chinese-speaking nations (including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore) is huge. Many experts believe that China will have the second largest population of web surfers, after the United States, by the year 2005 (McCarthy, 2000). Currently, the Internet population in China is doubling every six months (CNNIC, 2001). There are many issues relating to China’s cultural aspects and society, which can impact the design and content of web sites that are directed towards Chinese audiences. Some of these issues include basic differences between Chinese and American/Western cultures, family and collective orientations, religion and faith, color, symbolism, ordering and risk/uncertainty. Attention is given to the differences between the cultures of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, as well as addressing issues brought up by related theories and frameworks. A discussion of important considerations that relate to using Chinese language on the World Wide Web (WWW) is also included. Finally, insights are gained by examining web sites produced in China and Chinese-speaking countries. This chapter will focus on many of these issues and provide practical guidelines and advice for those who want to reach out to Chinese audiences, whether for e-commerce, education, or other needs.

World Englishes in language testing: a call for research

English Today ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 32-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun-Ju Kim
Keyword(s):  
World Wide ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Language Testing ◽  
Oral Proficiency ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Important Goal ◽  
The World ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

Native speakers of English are a minority; there are far more non-native speakers in the world (cf. Kachru 1997, Pennycook 2001). In addition, native speakers' standard or ‘correct’ English, in terms of its grammar and phonology, is not always useful or even appropriate in international contexts (cf. Gisborne 2000, Newbrook 1998, Shim 1999). However, despite global changes in the use of the language, the norms for ENL (English as a Native Language) remain dominant, most notably for the assessment of oral proficiency. Yet it is a major deficiency in the use of international oral tests that the proficiency of non-native speakers is measured against unrealistic and irrelevant standards (cf. Jenkins, 1996). The present paper focuses on the need to revisit the testing of English oral proficiency for non-native speakers, bearing in mind that English is used for world-wide communication and that being able to understand one another (cf. McKay, 2002) is the most important goal.

The use of humor in the foreign language classroom: Funny and effective?

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Wagner ◽  
Eduardo Urios-Aparisi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Multidisciplinary Approach ◽  
World Language ◽  
Long Term Study ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
The World ◽  
World Language Classroom

AbstractThe present paper deals with the role of humor in world language teaching and learning. The goal is to enable educators and researchers to address the phenomenon of humor in the world language classroom in its complexity by suggesting a multidisciplinary approach and by introducing a coding scheme for investigating the use of humor in the world language classroom. Finally, we will introduce an ongoing long-term study planned with the proposed design.

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