Second half part of the apple

Abstract This article investigates the use of friendship metaphors in texts by adult second language writers, in relation to the occurrence and function of metaphor and the writers’ discursive constructions of identity. The texts come from the final assessment in Swedish for Immigrants (SFI), a language program in basic Swedish. The analysis confirmed the initial assumption that the emotional and existentially loaded theme of friendship allows for the use of metaphor. The results also showed that the experience of writers as newcomers in Sweden played out in the metaphors that were used and their contexts. In order to categorize the found metaphors, a model was developed to show how systematic metaphors reflect functions and values related to three thematic categories: guidance and help, belonging and inclusion, and sharing and solidarity. For several metaphors, the metaphoricity was created through novel and unidiomatic wording, i.e. a kind of neologism that can be considered a communication strategy. The importance of using universal and abstract themes in language testing is emphasized, to enable second language writers to express different facets of experience and knowledge through existential thoughts and attitudes – not only as language learners and newcomers, but also as social agents who create and keep transnational relations through friends.

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5 Language Standards in Language Testing: The Case of Variation in Written Chinese Proficiency Tests for Second Language Learners

10.21832/9781800411562-008 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 104-127

Author(s):

Lian Luo

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Learners ◽

Second Language Learners ◽

Language Testing ◽

Proficiency Tests

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Communication Strategy Use in English Conversational Discourse

Economica ◽

10.47282/economica/2014/7/4/4375 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 61-67

Author(s):

Zsuzsanna Tóthné Herbst

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Learners ◽

Communication Strategies ◽

Strategy Use ◽

Communication Strategy ◽

Teaching Material ◽

Conversational Discourse ◽

Full List ◽

Interactive Strategies ◽

The Given

The ultimate goal of language learners is to communicate efficiently and fluently in the given second language, which is hard work to reach. They are learning the language for long years, and it may happen that theoretically they are familiar with all the grammar intricacies, but practically they are not able to ask for even a glass of water in real situations. The question is whether the use of communication strategies could help to cope with the difficulties by their direct teaching. A few years ago I conducted a research to find out what kind of interactive strategies the learners are using and to provide a full list of them. The publications at that time did not deal with strategies specifically in the teaching material. I used my own list. The latest books, however, put a stress on useful phrases. So the question is whether the fact that they draw attention to strategies in separate sections, will bring significant changes in the learners’ communication.

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New Technologies in Second Language Spoken Assessment

10.1093/oso/9780190885052.003.0035 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 403-416

Author(s):

Phuong Nguyen ◽

Volker Hegelheimer

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Learners ◽

New Technologies ◽

Real Life ◽

Language Testing ◽

Test Design ◽

Technological Advances

In second language (L2) spoken assessment, one challenge has been to mimic real-life situations. New technologies may help improve test authenticity by placing language learners into authentic settings. This chapter provides an overview of the use and usefulness of new technologies in L2 spoken assessment and outlines inherent opportunities and challenges presented by these technologies. Specifically, it discusses commonly used technologies for test design, delivery, and scoring of examinees’ responses. It concludes with a visitation of Douglas’s warning that “language testing … driven by technology, rather than technology being employed in the services of language testing, is likely to lead us down a road best not traveled” in light of recent technological advances.

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Language learners’ use of non-turn-final ne

Journal of Japanese Linguistics ◽

10.1515/jjl-2014-0106 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Paul Ganir

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Language Acquisition ◽

Language Learners ◽

Japanese Language ◽

Formulaic Sequences ◽

Language Program ◽

Intermediate Learners ◽

Language Classrooms ◽

Educational Studies

AbstractThe present study examines how learners of Japanese as a second language employ the Japanese pragmatic particle ne in non-turn-final positions during their conversations. Data taken from class and club sessions totaling roughly 34 hours reveal that intermediate learners of Japanese studying in an American immersion language program use the particle in three main positions: turnfinal, turn-initial, and turn-internal. In particular, the turn-final and turn-initial uses were characterized by the use of formulaic sequences. Furthermore, the data indicate that the physical locations of language classrooms and club activities do not affect the position of the particle. These findings suggest that discourse structures and issues of (in)formality or intimacy influence learners’ variety of ne use. This study concludes with proposals to integrate these factors in theoretical and educational studies of Japanese language acquisition.

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GESTURE AS A COMMUNICATION STRATEGY IN SECOND LANGUAGE DISCOURSE: A STUDY OF LEARNERS OF FRENCH AND SWEDISH.Marianne Gullberg. Lund, Sweden: Lund University Press, 1998. Pp. 253.

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263100271052 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 122-123 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nicholas O. Jungheim

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Second Language Acquisition ◽

Language Learners ◽

Nonverbal Behavior ◽

Second Language Learners ◽

Communicative Competence ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Communication Strategies ◽

Communication Strategy ◽

Language Discourse

Nonverbal behavior has received little serious attention among second language acquisition researchers until now. Its importance is acknowledged with token attention in communicative competence frameworks and taxonomies of communication strategies, but empirical studies are few and far between. Marianne Gullberg's study of second language learners' use of gesture as a communication strategy is a welcome attempt to fill this gap.

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