In their own voices: Development of English as a gender-neutral language

English Today ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janina Brutt-Griffler ◽  
Sumi Kim
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Asian Students ◽  
English Learner ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
Neutral Language ◽  
Learning English

This study explores how learning English among one subset of English learners, Asian female international students at US colleges, contributes to the larger project of advancing gender equality. Using their narratives, we ask why Asian female international students invest so much of their identities and effort into learning English. We discuss the ways in which their endeavours may even silently promote the development of English as a gender-neutral language. The population of Asian students offers a compelling case of how the English language is potentially transformed via its spread to this English learner population and how it presents new avenues for identity formation for the growing number of female English users worldwide (cf. Brutt-Griffler, 2010: 232).

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES OF VERBS IN ENGLISH AND ALBANIAN

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 2245-2249
Author(s):  
Suzana Ejupi ◽  
Lindita Skenderi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Part Of Speech ◽  
Grammatical Categories ◽  
Learning English

Working with English learners for many years, gives you the opportunity to encounter linguistic obstacles that they face while learning English language as a foreign language. Additionally, teaching for 13 years and observing the learning process, it enables you to recognize the students’ needs and at the same time, detect linguistic mistakes that they make, while practicing the target language. During my experience as a teacher, in terms of teaching and learning verbs in general and its grammatical categories in specific, it is noticed that Albanian learners find it relatively difficult the correct use of verbs in context and even more confusing the equivalent use of verbs in Albanian. Since verbs present an important part of speech, this study aims to investigate several differences and similarities between grammatical categories of verbs in English and Albanian. As a result, the Albanian learners of English language will be able to identify some of the major differences and similarities between the grammatical categories of verbs in English and Albanian; overcome the usual mistakes; gain the necessary knowledge regarding verbs and use them properly in English and Albanian.

scholarly journals Exploring Multiple Dimensions of Recording Video Clips in Group in Learning English Speaking Skill

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (02) ◽  
pp. 1222-1237
Author(s):  
Tuyen Nguyen Chau Bich
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Structure Interview ◽  
Video Clips ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
Speaking Skill ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Learning English

Applying technology in learning English language is indispensable in the period of industry 4.0 and global integration. However, what technological techniques should be applied in teaching and learning process is the most serious concern. Evidence shows that different technological applications may lead to various learning outcomes, detrimental effects, even spoiling learning interest or motivations. Therefore, this paper is aimed not only to explore the multiple dimensions of recoding video clips in group (RVCIG) in learning English speaking skill but also illustrate how this activity (RVCIG) influences on learners’ English speaking  improvement. Apparently, these explorations and illustrations help to consider whether this RVCIG is widely used in teaching English speaking process or not. To do that, a quantitative research method with the tool of semi - structure interview is used to collect various information, mixed feedbacks or motivations from 2 groups of students fully participating in recording three video clips in group within course. Additionally, a questionnaire survey is also sent to 33 English learners for exploring both commendable and detrimental influences of this RVCIG on English speaking development. The findings indicate that RVCIG makes learners have various opposite experiences in language competence, confident expression, and communication, as well as cope with unavoidable challenges of time consuming, technological problems, and group member’ disagreements. Whatever advantages or disadvantages of this RVCIG activity has, learners also express their interest and expectation of recording video clips in group for purposes of English speaking improvement, mutual engagement, collaborative learning and building friendship.

The Legacy of Federal Constitutional Court President Jutta Limbach

2002 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
English Language ◽  
German Language ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Public Figure ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
Female President

April marked the end of two, intertwined eras at the Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG – Federal Constitutional Court). Not only did Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jutta Limbach conclude her distinguished service as the Court's President and the Presiding Justice of the Second Senate; significantly, President Limbach's retirement also marked the end of the tenure of the first female President of the prestigious and powerful Federal Constitutional Court. It is, however, difficult to decide whether it does Ms. Limbach's legacy more honor to refuse to remark the later of these points, treating her tenure as President from a gender-neutral perspective and thereby giving life to the issue of gender-equality that is so important to her. This question is made somewhat less perplexing for an English-language commentator, who must not employ the gendered forms of nouns as required by the German language. While Ms. Limbach served as a Richterin and Präsidentin (the female forms of the German words Richter and Präsident – judge and president) in the German language, in the English language she was simply and fully (fully neutral with respect to gender) Justice and President. Nonetheless, if only at the level of pronouns, the issue persists in the English language as well: does President Limbach's retirement merit reflection as the conclusion of the tenure of a remarkable Jurist and public figure or the conclusion of the tenure of a remarkable female Jurist and public figure?

scholarly journals International Students in American Pathway Programs: Learning English and Culture through Service-Learning

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 334-352
Author(s):  
Julie Miller ◽  
Becca Berkey ◽  
Francis Griffin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Students ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Body ◽  
Demographic Shifts ◽  
Practical Factors ◽  
Learning English

As the number of international students studying in the United States continues to grow, the body of literature about service-learning in English Language Learning (ELL) curricula is growing in tandem. The primary goal of this paper is to explore how service-learning impacts the development and transition of pathway program students in the United States. Authors present recent demographic shifts in ELL student education, a concise introduction to pathway programs, an overview of literature about service-learning with international students, and theoretical and practical factors to consider for facilitators of Learning English and Culture through Service-Learning (LECSL) based on data from 250 students at Northeastern University.

Adding Flesh to the Bones: Dignity Frames for English Learner Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 482-510
Author(s):  
LUIS E. POZA
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Development ◽  
English Learner ◽  
Narrow Focus

In this essay, Luis E. Poza argues that educational dignity can help practices and reforms targeting students classified as English learners move beyond a narrow focus on programmatic and material factors related to English language development and instead toward more holistic consideration of these students and their schooling ecologies. In aligning the philosophical and legal operationalizations of dignity with landmark judicial victories for racially and linguistically minoritized students, he argues that dignity frameworks are relevant and actionable for more effectively imagining and designing education as an empowering, emancipatory endeavor.

scholarly journals English Language Learners in Higher Education: An Exploratory Conversation

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 415-430
Author(s):  
Jamie Harrison ◽  
Hong Shi
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Learners ◽  
International Student ◽  
English Language ◽  
Assistant Professor ◽  
English Learner ◽  
Cogenerative Dialogue ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Newly Hired

This article discusses an exploratory conversation between a newly hired assistant professor of ESOL Education and one of her graduate level students taking the methods and materials course. The graduate student was an English learner (international student), and therefore offered this new professor an opportunity to explore her practice of working with English learners in a new context outside of K-12 schools. The discussion followed theoretical protocols of cogenerative dialogue in which the student brought in artifacts from the recently completed course that exemplified easy and difficult assignments. Both professor and student were able to examine their own practices in relation to access of curriculum and strategies that encourage that access.

GENDER NEUTRALITY IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: TEACHER TALK AND COURSEBOOKS

2021 ◽  
pp. 40-53
Author(s):  
А.И. Колушкина ◽  
А.А. Коренев
Keyword(s):  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Teacher Talk ◽  
Gender Neutral ◽  
Gender Neutrality ◽  
Neutral Language

Постановка проблемы. В статье рассматривается феномен гендерной нейтральности при обучении английскому языку и представлены результаты анализа речи учителей и содержания учебников. Целью данного исследования является выявление степени осведомленности учителей английского языка в России о гендерной нейтральности в английском языке и существующих стратегиях гендерно нейтрального речевого поведения на занятиях по английскому языку, а также выявление того, насколько содержание учебников по английскому языку соответствует принципам гендерной нейтральности. Результаты. Результаты исследования демонстрируют, что многие учителя и авторы учебников используют гендерно нейтральные лексические и грамматические стратегии, но при этом им не удается избегать гендерных стереотипов и неравной репрезентации персонажей, персоналий и прецедентных имен. Таким образом, предположение, что учителя английского языка используют в своей речи гендерно окрашенные лексические и грамматические средства, а также гендерные стереотипы на занятиях по английскому языку, частично подтвердилось: более 60% учителей не владеют гендерно нейтральным речевым поведением в достаточной степени. В отношении содержания учебников гипотеза также частично подтвердилась: 60% учебников содержат гендерные стереотипы, а в 90% проанализированных учебников встретился дисбаланс мужских и женских персонажей, персоналий и прецедентных имен (в сторону мужских). Выводы. Представляется целесообразной разработка особых рекомендаций по гендерно нейтральному речевому поведению на занятиях по английскому языку для учителей английского языка в России, в которых были бы учтены некоторые аспекты гендерной нейтральности в английском языке. Данные рекомендации должны соотноситься с российским социокультурным контекстом и включать в себя все необходимые объяснения о специфике гендерной нейтральности и ее важности в англоязычном контексте. State of the problem. The article explores the phenomenon of gender neutrality in language education and presents the results of classroom discourse analysis and coursebook content analysis. The purpose of the study is to reveal to what extent teachers of English as a foreign language (L2 teachers) in Russia use gender-neutral language and gender-neutral behaviour strategies in the classroom and how gender neutrality is presented in the English coursebooks (created both by Russian and international authors). The novelty is determined by the fact that this is the first attempt to analyse teacher talk and English coursebook contents in terms of their gender neutrality in the Russian socio-cultural context. Results. Results show that many lessons and coursebooks analysed use some gender-neutral vocabulary and grammar strategies, but contain gender-stereotyping and unequal representation of personalia and case names. The proposed hypothesis that English teachers in Russia use gendered lexical and grammatical means, as well as gender stereotypes in the classroom was validated to a certain extent. The overall result demonstrates that more than 60% of teachers are not gender-neutral. As for the coursebooks, most of them seem to be gender-neutral in terms of grammar, and half of them seem to be gender-neutral in terms of vocabulary. At the same time, 60% of coursebooks contain gender stereotypes and 90% do not represent males and females equally (with male superiority in number). Conclusion. Special guidelines on gender-neutral English in the classroom for English teachers in Russia should be created to provide some recommendations on the use of gender-neutral language and the use of coursebooks. These guidelines should refer to the Russian socio-cultural context and contain all the necessary footnotes for teachers to explain to them the importance of gender neutrality in the English language and to help them to explain the phenomenon to the students, who might experience certain challenges while acquiring the concept of gender neutrality that is only minimally represented in the Russian language.

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES OF VERBS IN ENGLISH AND ALBANIAN

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 2245-2249
Author(s):  
Suzana Ejupi ◽  
Lindita Skenderi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Part Of Speech ◽  
Grammatical Categories ◽  
Learning English

Working with English learners for many years, gives you the opportunity to encounter linguistic obstacles that they face while learning English language as a foreign language. Additionally, teaching for 13 years and observing the learning process, it enables you to recognize the students’ needs and at the same time, detect linguistic mistakes that they make, while practicing the target language. During my experience as a teacher, in terms of teaching and learning verbs in general and its grammatical categories in specific, it is noticed that Albanian learners find it relatively difficult the correct use of verbs in context and even more confusing the equivalent use of verbs in Albanian. Since verbs present an important part of speech, this study aims to investigate several differences and similarities between grammatical categories of verbs in English and Albanian. As a result, the Albanian learners of English language will be able to identify some of the major differences and similarities between the grammatical categories of verbs in English and Albanian; overcome the usual mistakes; gain the necessary knowledge regarding verbs and use them properly in English and Albanian.

scholarly journals English Learners’ Identity Formation as Low and High Investors in their Learning Process

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-178
Author(s):  
Maritza Collazos Moná ◽  
Luis Fernando Gómez Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Descriptive Case Study ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Language Classroom

This article reports the fndings of a descriptive case study that analyzed how unfair social relationships established in an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classroom influenced a group of adolescent English language learners’ academic investment and identity construction at a school in Bogotá, Colombia. Data associated with students’ social behaviors and identities were collected through feld notes, a questionnaire, and an interview. Norton’s theory of identity and investment served as the basis to analyze the data from a social perspective. Three main fndings emerged from the data: First, EFL learners identifed themselves as high investors and low investors in their learning, depending on their own opinions about the usefulness of English in their lives. Second, power relationships based on domination and oppression reduced productive investment in the classroom. Third, some high investors resisted unfair relationships of power by investing through collaborative learning. Consequently, participants created diverse English learners’ identities (dominant, submissive, resistant, and productive), which influenced their academic investment negatively or positively.

scholarly journals The use of MOOCs in learning English: Rwaq as an example: مدى استفادة المتعلمين من منصات التعلم الإلكترونية في تعلم اللغة الإنجليزية – رواق نموذجاً

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sultan Saleem Althubaiti ,  Ahmad Zaid Almasaad
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Education Level ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Language Tests ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Gender Education ◽  
Language Courses ◽  
Open Courses ◽  
Learning English

  This study aimed to examine how effective using MOOCS in learning English, and how a number of factors, such as age, gender, education level, occupation and number of courses taken, can influence this effect, if any. In particular, this study sought to answer the following question: To what extent the use of MOOCS can enhance English learning? A number of English learners (n = 336) were recruited from an online English course initiative (English Mastery) at Rawq (An Arabic online platform offering open courses). Two sets of questionnaire were distributed among the learners. The first set was designed to obtain some demographic information from the participants (age, gender, education level, occupation, and number of Rwaq English Mastery courses taken). The second set contained 33 items designed to examine whether the learners benefited from the offered online English courses in terms of both: knowledge and skills. The results indicate that the use of the online English courses provided by the English Mastery Initiative at Rawq was effective in increasing the learner’s knowledge and skills of the English language. The factors age, gender, education level, and occupation were found not to have any effect on the results. Only the number of online courses taken was found to be effective in enhancing the learners’ knowledge and skills of the English language (from 3 to five courses). The study recommends the following: 1) online English language courses at Rwaq should be increased in number, 2) Rwaq should survey English leaners’ needs before offering their courses, 3) Rwaq should offer courses specialized in training English learners for taking standardized English language tests (e.g., IELTS, TOEFL, STEP), and 4) Saudi Universities should have their own MOOCs.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document