scholarly journals A CORPUS-BASED STUDY OF DIMINISHERS IN CHINESE EFL LEARNERS' WRITINGS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
LING FENG
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Written Corpus

This paper investigates the use of diminishers in Chinese EFL learners' written English (CLEC) and compares it with that in an English native speakers' written corpus (LOCNESS) through both quantitative and qualitative analysis. The corpus-based study reveals: (a) that there are similarities and differences in the frequency and pattern of usage of diminishers between Chinese EFL learners and English native speakers; (b) that the misuse, the overuse of some and underuse of other diminishers or patterns of diminishers indicate that Chinese learners have a different collocational range which could be affected by factors like mother tongue interference and the understanding of sematic prosody. Pedagogical implications of the study are also discussed to shed light on teaching English vocabulary and writing.LING FENG

scholarly journals The Frequently Used Discourse Markers by Saudi EFL Learners

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Maryam Alsharif
Keyword(s):  
Key Words ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Frequency Count ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Concordance Program ◽  
Shed Light

The paper examines the use of discourse markers by Saudi English learners who struggle to master them when they write English essays. The hypothesis is, and based on previous studies of discourse markers by English learners, Saudi English learners overuse them. English essays are collected as a corpus for analysis and a concordance program is used to shed light on how frequently key words in contexts are used by learners. The study compares between Saudi learners and native speakers in their use of discourse markers and to investigate similarities and differences between the two groups. The results support previous studies as the analysis proves that Saudi learners overuse discourse markers. They have been used unnecessarily and redundantly. The preference of types of discourse markers has been investigated to show that learners use listing and resultive discourse markers mainly. The frequency count of the discourse markers in the collected corpus indicates their preference to vary specific types to avoid repetition and not to vary the semantic functions of discourse markers..

scholarly journals Teaching English in India —The Use of Technologically Enhanced Realia in the Classroom

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Priya K. Nair
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Job Market ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Listening And Speaking ◽  
Speaking Skills

In India acquisition of English language is imperative if one wants to sell oneself in the increasingly competitive job market. With a booming population the nation is filled with educated, technologically literate youth. English is not merely a foreign language in India. As India is separated by a plethora of languages knowledge of English is imperative. As the teachers in India are not native speakers of English the language they teach is not free from errors. The articulation is quite problematic as the mother tongue influence is quite pronounced. Technology helps to reduce these errors. Movies as a tool can enhance the listening and speaking skills of our students. It is quite boring to work with disembodied voices and the recorded conversations available in language labs do not sustain the learner’s interest. However learners are often forced to listen to recorded conversations of people they never see, the conversation is often stilted and contemporary idiom is hardly used. However, a completely new dimension to aural practice can be added in the classroom by using movies. <br /><p><strong> </strong></p>

scholarly journals Investigating Gender Differences in Iranian EFL Learners' Rounded Vowels

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 208-221
Author(s):  
Mohammad Mehdi Tahanzadeh ◽  
Mansoore Shekaramiz ◽  
Marjan Abyavi ◽  
Reihaneh Shamei
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Proficiency Test ◽  
Brain Injuries ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Proficiency Level ◽  
Visual Problems

The present study investigated the gender differences in producing all English rounded vowels /u:/, /ɔ:/, /ʊ/ and /o/ in Iranian EFL learners' speech in comparison with native ones. Sixty Iranian EFL learners including 30 males and 30 females were selected as the participants of this study. Oxford proficiency test (OPT, 2001) was conducted in order to ensure the learners were truly homogenous with regard to their English proficiency level. All learners were right-handed, Persian monolingual native speakers with no brain injuries, hearing or visual problems that interfered with their performance in the test. Four words containing English round vowels with CVC syllable structure were selected and put inside the carrier sentence ''Say......please''. In fact, each learner uttered the carrier sentences separately. Via PRAAT software (win 64), the voices of the participants were recorded and analyzed for obtaining the first and the second formants (F1 and F2) of each vowel. The obtained data from male and female speeches were compared to each other to find their differences. The results showed in F2 values, there were gender differences considering the consonantal context. This study demonstrated that for males, the degree of backness of vowel /u:/ was less than that of vowel /ɔ:/, but for females it was vice versa. For both vowels, male's mean F1 was lower than female's mean F1 and male's mean F2 was higher than female's mean F2. The present study showed gender differences in producing English rounded vowels. So, the results can be used in classes which contain only one gender. The findings of this study can bring about some pedagogical implications for teaching English diphthongs, triphthongs and English rounded vowels.

Bangladeshi EFL Learners’ English Connectors: Overused or Underused?

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 1357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Md Golam Faruk ◽  
Pulak Barua
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
The Other ◽  
Final Exam ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
English Writing ◽  
English Only ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The One

The paper investigates the answer scripts of an “English Writing” exam of 72 students in a Bangladeshi university in order to find out the nature and extent of the use of connectors in their second semester-final exam. It also tries to find out similarities and differences between the connector use of Bangladeshi non-native speakers (BNNS) and that of French, Japanese, Swedish, and Chinese non-native speakers on the one hand and between the connector use of BNNS and that of the native speakers of English (only British and American) on the other. To this end, the secondary data for other non-native and native speakers (NS) of almost the same age and level were collected from some published articles. The paper finds that in comparison to NS, BNNS, like most other non-native speakers, underuse most of the connectors.

scholarly journals REASONS FOR MISTAKES IN FOREIGN SPEECH PERCEPTION: BASED ON RUSSIAN AND CHINESE

2019 ◽  
pp. 26-32
Author(s):  
Bai Xuhaoran ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Listening Comprehension ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Lexical Stress ◽  
Connected Speech ◽  
Negative Interference ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Sentence Patterns

Fluencyin a foreignlanguagepresupposesadvancementinvariousskills. When learning a foreign language, listening is one of the most difficult types of language practices for non-native speakers. The results of the present research based on the survey of 52 Chinese and 50 Russian L2 learners, aged 18-28 (Bachelor, Master and PhD levels) in Chelyabinsk support this viewpoint. The current paper analyzes the causes of mistakes in listening comprehension made by Chinese learners of Russian and Russian learners of Chinese. The causes can be of psychological nature (anxiety and the lack of motivation), of linguistic nature reflected on the phonetic (number of sounds, syllable tone vs lexical stress, connected speech processes), lexicographic, lexical-grammatical (the lack of vocabulary, differences of grammatical categories and syntactic sentence patterns) levels, as well as the lack of knowledge regarding cultural realities. These mistakes are a naturally expected as a result of the negative interference of the mother tongue.

scholarly journals Pragma-linguistic Difficulties in the Recognition of Phrasal Verbs by Iraqi EFL University Learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
Mohanad A. Amret ◽  
Sinan A. Yousif
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Phrasal Verbs ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
First Language Transfer ◽  
Culture Gap

The purpose of this paper is to recognize the level of pragma-linguistic difficulties Iraqi EFL university learners face when handling phrasal verbs. Despite the fact that phrasal verbs are easy to understand by native speakers of English, non-native speakers usually encounter some difficulties in understanding the meaning of a phrasal verb depending on the meaning of the root verb, or different phrasal verbs of the same root. The problem might be attributed to pragma-linguistic knowledge. However, culture gap could be the reason behind such difficulties. The aim of the study is (1) to evaluate the pragma-linguistic level of interpreting phrasal verbs as understood and used by Iraqi EFL university learners, (2) to check the level of difficulty they experience while recognizing phrasal verbs, and (3) to find out reasons behind such misinterpretations. It is hypothesized that (1) the pragma-linguistic interpretation of phrasal verbs tends to play an important role in understanding the message conveyed by the speaker; (2) cultural gap could be the reason that EFL learners recognize phrasal verbs incorrectly, and (3) mother tongue language might make it difficult for EFL learners to understand phrasal verbs. To verify the aforementioned hypothesis, a test has been constructed and administered to a sample of 100 fourth-year Iraqi EFL university learners, morning classes at the department of English Language and Literature, College of Arts, in Mustansiriyah University, during the academic year 2017 – 2018. The responses of the students have been collected and linguistically analyzed according to a model given by Richards and Schmidt (2010). It has been found that Iraqi students’ lack of cultural norms of the target language makes it difficult for them to understand phrasal verbs. The lack of this knowledge is considered as a factor of confusion and then failure. The influence of the first language culture on the recognition of phrasal verbs may be seen as a negative first language transfer. The reason behind this negative transfer is that the norms and principles of first language are different from the norms and principles of the target language. It has been concluded that Iraqi EFL university learners have difficulties in pragma-linguistic knowledge as far as phrasal verbs are concerned. Iraqi EFL university learners face great difficulties in using phrasal verbs while communicating with other people. While using phrasal verbs, Iraqi EFL university learners have been highly influenced by their mother tongue language.

scholarly journals An Interlanguage Study of Thai EFL Learners’ Apology

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 116
Author(s):  
Boonjeera Chiravate
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Cultural Background ◽  
Target Language ◽  
High Exposure ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Low Exposure

Although a number of interlanguage studies on apologies have been conducted, there has been no study of apologies among Thai EFL learners that differentiates between learners with high and low levels of exposure to the target language. This study, differentiating between learners with high and low levels of exposure to the target language, addresses two research questions: (i) What are the similarities and differences between perception of offense context of Thai EFL learners and native speakers of English? (ii) What are the similarities and differences between apology strategies used by Thai EFL learners and native speakers of English? Data for the analysis came from a questionnaire consisting of 12 scenarios eliciting different offense contexts. The participants were divided into four groups: native speakers of English (NEs), native speakers of Thai (NTs), Thai EFL learners with high exposure to the target language (TEHs) and Thai EFL learners with low exposure to the target language (TELs). The results revealed that due to the influence of cultural background, the learners&rsquo; perception of offense context was dissimilar to the NEs in certain respects. However, the investigation of apology strategies showed that compared to the TELs, the TEHs&rsquo; apology strategies tended to be less influenced by their cultural background and more similar to the NEs&rsquo;. Providing support for levels of exposure to the target language, as individual differences vary in L2 pragmatic development, the study sheds light on pedagogical intervention that may enhance learners&rsquo; pragmatic competence.

What’s Beyond the Language of Apology? A Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Ala’ Al-Qtaishat
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Sole Source ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Written Discourse ◽  
Jordanian Arabic ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Linguistic Patterns ◽  
Completion Test ◽  
The Impact

This study investigates the realization of the speech act of apology. It seeks to analyze the linguistic patterns used to represent apology from a pragmalinguistic point of view. It aims at presenting an actual insight on the impact of gender and social practices on performing different apology strategies through providing empirical evidence on the impact of the mother tongue on acquiring apology competence by EFL learners. The study made use of the written Discourse Completion Test (DCT) including 20 scenarios administrated to three groups of respondents of both genders: 100 native speakers of Jordanian Arabic, 100 Jordanian EFL learners, and 50 native speakers of American English. The findings revealed that gender has influenced the use of different apology strategies between the males and females of each group. It was also indicated that the sociocultural practices have played a big role in the socio-linguistic realization of apology. This impact was more pronounced throughout the different preference to the use of apology strategies among the three groups. In addition, it was found that there are interlingual hypotheses concerning the foreign language pragmatics prompting the EFL learners to deviate from the native language and English norms of apology. Thus, it was concluded that the mother tongue influence is not the sole source of pragmatic deviations from the second language norms; this influence cannot be described as negative transfer but a creative process done by EFL Learners to master English.

Development of the progressive construction in Chinese EFL learners’ written production: From prototypes to marginal members

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianqi Wu ◽  
Min Wang
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Type Distribution ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Written Production ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Fixed Type ◽  
Increase In Productivity ◽  
Argumentative Essays

AbstractThis study investigates the developmental trajectory of L2 English progressive construction with a focus on frequency, verb-construction contingency and semantic prototypicality. Comparisons were made on the use of the progressive construction in argumentative essays written by Chinese learners at three different proficiency levels and English native speakers. Data of frequency and verb type distribution indicate that L2 learners’ progressive repertoire showed an increase in productivity and variability and a spread from a fixed type to a wider range of verbs. Contingency data demonstrate that, when associating verbs with the progressive, learners’ preference shifted from prototypical progressive verbs which denote specific and dynamic meanings to more marginal members represented by generic verbs. In addition, semantic prototypicality overweighs generality in driving the development of the progressive, which presents an interesting contrast with findings in the verb-argument construction learning literature where semantically general verbs were first predominantly used in the construction.

A walk in the Garden of Diverse Cultures When Teaching English as a Foreign Language

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 157
Author(s):  
Kusumarasdyati .
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
English Department ◽  
State University ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Cultural Understanding ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Diverse Cultures

<p>It is virtually impossible to teach a foreign language without teaching the culture where this language is spoken as a mother tongue because the use of a language relies heavily on the culture observed by the speakers. This principle also applies to the teaching of English in Indonesia, where it is spoken as a foreign language. The present paper aims to describe how the native cultures and the target cultures are explored in a course offered by the English Department of Universitas Negeri Surabaya (State University of Surabaya) in an effort to build understanding across cultures through their similarities and differences. While this may be a tedious task to accomplish due to the multicultural backgrounds of the learners and their diverse experiences that shape their personal opinions, it does not necessarily mean that cross-cultural understanding is impossible to achieve. It should be approached with appropriate methods to ensure that the teaching-learning process can yield the desired results. In addition, learners are engaged in a variety of motivating activities that not only have them examine how their native and target cultures are alike or different, but also give them relevant experiences that can lead to understanding.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong><em>TEFL, foreign language, culture, cross-cultural understanding<strong></strong></em></p>

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