Teachers’ English Proficiency and Classroom Language Use: A Conversation Analysis Study

RELC Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Le Van Canh ◽  
Willy A. Renandya
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Language Use ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Analysis Study ◽  
Classroom Language

scholarly journals Speech Acts

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen C. Levinson
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Linguistic Pragmatics ◽  
Recursive Structures ◽  
Core Language ◽  
Core Issues ◽  
Essential Insight

The essential insight of speech act theory was that when we use language, we perform actions—in a more modern parlance, core language use in interaction is a form of joint action. Over the last thirty years, speech acts have been relatively neglected in linguistic pragmatics, although important work has been done especially in conversation analysis. Here we review the core issues—the identifying characteristics, the degree of universality, the problem of multiple functions, and the puzzle of speech act recognition. Special attention is drawn to the role of conversation structure, probabilistic linguistic cues, and plan or sequence inference in speech act recognition, and to the centrality of deep recursive structures in sequences of speech acts in conversation.

Role of Immigrant Parents' Attitudes and Practices in Emergent Bilingual Students' Language Use and Translanguaging Performance

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Chaehyun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Immigrant Parents ◽  
Bilingual Students ◽  
Attitudes And Practices ◽  
Emergent Bilingual ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Classroom Language ◽  
Emergent Bilingual Students

Given the issue of heritage language (HL) development or attrition among children of immigrants in the U.S., this study examines Korean emergent bilingual students' HL use and translanguaging practices in an HL classroom. To extend our understanding of immigrant families' vital roles in their children's establishment of bilingualism, the study further explores the role of immigrant Korean families' language practices and attitudes towards their children's bilingualism. The chapter addresses the following research question: What was the relationship between the parents' attitudes toward bilingualism and their children's language use and translanguaging performance in an HL classroom? The findings show the emergent bilingual students' classroom language use, including their translanguaging performance and the immigrant parents' views and practices towards their children's development of bilingualism. The findings indicate that there is a close relationship between parents' attitudes and practices at home and the children's language use and development both in Korean and English.

scholarly journals Bilingual education success, but policy failure

1987 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy H. Hornberger
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Direct Result ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Policy Failure ◽  
Education School ◽  
School And Community ◽  
Classroom Language

ABSTRACTIn 1977, a bilingual education project began in rural areas of Puno, Peru, as a direct result of Peru's 1972 Education Reform. This paper presents results of an ethnographic and sociolinguistic study comparing Quechua language use and maintenance between: 1) a bilingual education school and community, and 2) a nonbilingual education school and community. Classroom observation indicated a significant change in teacher–pupil language use and an improvement in pupil participation in the bilingual education school. Community observation and interviews indicated that community members both valued and used their language. Yet the project has had difficulties expanding or even maintaining its implementation. (Quechua; Puno, Peru; Peru; Andes; bilingual education; classroom language use; ethnography; sociolinguistics; community development; language planning; language maintenance; educational policy)

A contextualised examination of target language use in the primary school foreign language classroom

2004 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Carless
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Classroom Language

Abstract This article discusses an issue which is of longstanding and central importance to foreign language teachers in a variety of contexts, namely teacher use of classroom language. It uses detailed qualitative case study data to explore how and why an expert practitioner uses English in her Hong Kong Primary school language classroom. Through the interplay between teacher beliefs, experiences and classroom transcript data, the paper develops a contextualised picture of classroom language use with young foreign language learners. The paper suggests that it is not necessarily the language proficiency of the learners which plays a major role in the quantity of target language use, but the teachers’ own proficiency, experience and beliefs.

EMI teacher and student identities and linguistic practices

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-141
Author(s):  
Joan Catherine Ploettner
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Teacher Development ◽  
Language Use ◽  
University Professors ◽  
Classroom Language ◽  
English Medium Instruction ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Content Specialist ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract Although the incorporation of English Medium Instruction (EMI) in multilingual higher education institutions is widely accepted, it may be a source of tension for university professors for whom English is an additional language, particularly when both teacher and students share an L1 other than English. A need exists to examine how linguistic attributes of EMI are interpreted and executed by participants. This study focuses on dialogue between a content specialist and a language specialist during an EMI teacher development partnership at a multilingual Catalan university. Membership Category Analysis (MCA) explores the categories made relevant in interaction, category associated features and responsibilities, and their procedural relevance within the interaction. The article focuses on results relating to the emerging identities of EMI classroom participants and related linguistic attributes. The results shed light on tensions relating to language use in EMI, and may inform EMI teacher development processes and classroom language policy.

scholarly journals LANGUAGE USE, LITERACY SKILLS, AND ONLINE HEALTH INFORMATION-SEEKING IN LATER LIFE AMONG HISPANICS IN THE U.S.

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S266-S266
Author(s):  
Roberto J Millar ◽  
Shalini Sahoo ◽  
Takashi Yamashita ◽  
Phyllis Cummins
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
Language Use ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Online Health Information ◽  
Health Information Seeking ◽  
Online Health Information Seeking ◽  
At Home

Abstract Online platforms, which are often in English, have become a common source of health information. Accordingly, language skills have been shown to be important for health information-seeking. In the United States, the use of online health information is generally low among Hispanics, particularly those with limited English proficiency. What is less clear, however, is how different measures of English proficiency may be linked to online health information seeking in later life. This study examines the associations between language spoken at home, literacy skills, and online health information seeking among middle age and older Hispanics in the U.S. Data of Hispanic adults aged 40 years and older (n = 315) come from the 2012/2014 Program for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). We used binary logistic regression models with complex sampling weights to examine online health information seeking as a function of primary language use at home (Spanish vs. English) and literacy skill assessment scores (low – high: 0 – 500 points). Results indicated that speaking Spanish at home (OR = 0.317, p < 0.05) is a negative predictor, and greater literacy skills (OR = 1.011, p < 0.05) is a positive predictor of online health information seeking. Findings from this study clarify possible health information disadvantages by limited English proficiency and lower literacy skills. We discuss how the impact of primary language use and literacy skills should be incorporated into future health communication and policy initiatives to address the barriers to health information among middle-aged and older Hispanic adults.

scholarly journals Conversation, Construction Grammar, and cognition

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 563-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
KERSTIN FISCHER
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Discursive Practices ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Grammar And Interaction

abstractRecent developments in grammatical theory seem to invite an integration of grammar and interaction; nevertheless, there are reservations on both sides. While some of these reservations can be traced to misconceptions, others are deeply rooted in the theoretical premises of each approach. The differences are, however, not very well understood; especially theoretical premises regarding the role of cognition in language use have been hindering a fruitful collaboration. Reinterpreting the results of Conversation Analysis (CA; cf. Sacks, Schegloff, & Jefferson, 1974; Sacks, 1992) in terms of Construction Grammar (Goldberg, 1995, 2006; Croft, 2001, Langacker, 2008) recasts the discursive practices identified in CA in terms of participants’ cognitive construals of the communicative situation, making the speaking subjects apparent in their strategies and conceptualizations of the interaction.

scholarly journals Small but Multi-functional: Response Tokens in Content Language Integrated Learning Interaction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Sabria Salama Jawhar
Keyword(s):  
Conversation Analysis ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Classroom Interaction ◽  
Integrated Learning ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Interactional Functions ◽  
The Relationship

This paper is an investigation of language use inside a content language integrated learning (CLIL) classroom at Saudi tertiary level. It examines the difference in language use between teachers and students in four subject-specific classrooms in which English is used as a medium of instruction. The study is informed by corpus linguistics (CL) and uses the principles and theoretical underpinning of conversation analysis (CA). It identifies the most frequent linguistic features of CLIL and examines their diverse interactional functions in this context. Amongst the most frequent linguistic features in CLIL are short response tokens such as “yes” and “no”. Using a micro-analytic approach to conversation analysis, a closer look at the data shows the students’ ability to use small and limited linguistic resources to accomplish multiple interactional functions such as taking the floor, taking turns and, most importantly, displaying orientation to knowledge. The data reflected the relationship between frequency and meaning construction. With regard to the difference in language use between teachers and students with regard to comes to short response tokens, the study shows some common interactional uses of response tokens between teachers and students, such as agreement, acknowledgement, response to confirmation checks and yes/no questions. On the other hand, it shows some exclusive interactional use of the same token by teachers and students. Finally, the paper emphasises the relationship of language, interaction and orientation to content knowledge in CLIL classrooms. Pedagogically, the findings have implications for teachers’ language use and for increased classroom interaction.

scholarly journals What's an ESL Teacher Good For?

1986 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patsy M. Lightbown
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Esl Teachers ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Teacher’S Role ◽  
Comprehensible Input ◽  
Classroom Language ◽  
Teacher's Role ◽  
Good For

While ESL teachers often must play many roles, their fundamental task is to help learners progress in their ability to use English. In this paper, the ESL teacher's role as a language teacher is explored and five specific areas of responsibility are elaborated: (I) Providing comprehensible input; (2) Preparing learners to cope with non-classroom language; (3) Providing references and resource materials and guidance as to their use; (4) Providing focused instruction in particular areas of language or language use; (5) Providing corrective feedback under certain conditions.

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