scholarly journals Die Komparativ- und Superlativformen besser/am besten/das Beste als Varianten in modalen Vergleichskonstruktionen

2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (6) ◽  
pp. 137-165
Author(s):  
Doris Höhmann
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Systematic Investigation ◽  
Left Periphery ◽  
Parallel Corpora ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Corpus Linguistic ◽  
Pragmatic Markers ◽  
Comparative Constructions ◽  
Research Goal

It is well known that linguistic variants play a key role in the acquisition of language skills in the first, second or foreign language as well as in writing and translation processes and in general in communicative interactions. Thus, a major research goal is the systematic investigation of intra- and interlinguistic variation. Due to its complexity, its qualitative-quantitative analysis continues to be a challenging issue, but it seems to become more and more feasible thanks to both the possibility of compiling very large corpora and the availability of high-performing corpus-linguistic tools. The paper discusses a corpus-linguistic pilot study concerning the use of besser, am besten and das Beste as pragmatic markers in a cross-linguistic perspective. In particular, the analysis focusses on selected superlative and comparative constructions on the left periphery used for expressing advice. The data basis consists mainly of German and Italian comparable very large web corpora and, to a lesser extent, of bilingual sentence pairs drawn from parallel corpora. As will be shown, even restricting the analysis to a very small segment of microvariation, in both languages the modal constructions appear to be characterized by the combination of numerous overlapping and interplaying variants and by different tendencies in language use.

scholarly journals Word Shortening Strategies: Egyptian vs. Non-Egyptian English Tweets

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Iman Mohamed Mahfouz
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Parallel Corpora ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
Message Length ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Media Platform

The language of Computer-mediated Communication (CMC) is known to deviate from standard language in many ways dictated by the characteristics of the medium in order to achieve brevity, speed as well as innovation. Together with the intrinsic features of CMC in general, the character limitation imposed by the popular social media platform, Twitter has triggered the use of a number of linguistic devices including shortening strategies in addition to unconventional spelling and grammar. Using two parallel corpora of English tweets written by Egyptians and non-Egyptians on a similar hashtag, the study attempts to compare the shortening strategies used in both datasets. A taxonomy for orthographic and morphological shortening strategies was adapted from Thurlow and Brown (2003) and Denby (2010) with particular focus on message length, punctuation, clipping, abbreviations, contractions, alphanumeric homophones and accent stylization. Given the scarcity of linguistic studies conducted on Egyptian tweets despite the vast amount of data they offer, the study compares the findings about tweets written by Egyptians in English as a foreign language to previous studies. The findings suggest that Egyptians tend to omit punctuation more frequently, whereas non-Egyptians favor abbreviations, contractions and clipped forms. The results also indicate that Twitter may be shifting towards longer messages while at the same time increasingly employing more shortening strategies. The study also reveals that character limitation is not the only factor shaping language use on Twitter since not all linguistic choices are governed by brevity of communication.

Language teaching and bilingual education policies in Scotland and Andalusia: A language-use-based comparative study

2021 ◽  
pp. 174549992110086
Author(s):  
Francisco Javier Palacios-Hidalgo ◽  
Cristina A. Huertas-Abril ◽  
María Elena Gómez-Parra
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Education Policies ◽  
Corpus Linguistic ◽  
Political Ideologies ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Policy And Planning

European countries and their regions are trying to develop quality foreign language policies to help citizens become communicatively competent. The Spanish region of Andalusia has implemented Bilingual Education since 2005, whereas in the United Kingdom the take-up rates of languages in schools are low despite the linguistic demands that Brexit will pose to citizens. Scotland, however, seems keen on promoting the inclusion of languages into curricula. Analysing language policies may help understand differences between both contexts and, ultimately, build synergies between the educational administrations of these countries. Considering that corpus linguistic analysis of language policies allows identifying political ideologies permeating language policy and planning, this article studies and compares the use of language in Scottish and Andalusian language teaching policies. Although differences are identified in terms of the focus of the instruction and the language approach followed, findings show the efforts of Andalusia and Scotland to foster plurilingualism.

The Potential of Corpus-Informed L2 Pedagogy

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathon Reinhardt
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Materials ◽  
Corpus Linguistic ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Linguistic Methods ◽  
Nature Of Teaching

AbstractCorpus linguistic methods have led to many revelations about the nature of language use and language learning which are otherwise untenable. To date, however, these findings have not had major impact on L2 (second and foreign language) teaching, except in a few areas like L2 for specialized purposes. This may be due to a number of reasons, including issues of theoretical commensurability and the nature of ‘teaching revolutions’. Still, corpus continues to influence SLA researchers, and pedagogical innovators continue to design, implement and evaluate corpus-informed L2 curricula. The future of corpus in L2 pedagogy depends on the extent to which this research and innovation can impact professional L2 instructor education and the design of commercial L2 teaching materials, as well as the continuing development of corpora and corpus-informed resources that are accessible, diverse, and adaptable.

scholarly journals The university as a terrain for hidden language conflicts? German, English and the silence beyond them

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-154
Author(s):  
Monika Dannerer
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Administrative Staff ◽  
Higher Education Administrators ◽  
Language Management ◽  
Institutional Level ◽  
Internationalisation At Home ◽  
Education Administrators ◽  
The University ◽  
Linguistic Backgrounds

AbstractIn this paper, language policy (LP) at the University of Salzburg (Austria), a mid-size seemingly monolingual university, serves as an example to analyse (potential) language conflicts at the institutional level considering the roles played by German, English and ‘immigrant’ languages at the university. Language management, beliefs, and (reported) language use by different stakeholders in higher education (administrators, academic and administrative staff and students) are contrasted, also taking into consideration different linguistic backgrounds (German as L1, German as L2 and German as a foreign language). This offers an overall perspective on institutional LP that is still group sensitive, one that reveals two different hidden language conflicts: the non-addressed conflict between the two most important and visible languages at the university by far, German and English, as well as the neglected and negated conflict between German and the hidden “immigrant” languages. A consistent ‘internationalisation at home’ strategy would address these hidden conflicts and show backwash effects on ideas of language use in education as well as in society in general.

scholarly journals Sprachnormbezogene Akkommodation in der Hochschullehre

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-62
Author(s):  
Philip C. Vergeiner
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Sociocultural Context ◽  
Standard Variety ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Rule Analysis ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis paper examines the relationship between accommodation processes and social norms in varietal choice within tertiary education in Austria. The investigation consists of (a) a content analysis of metalinguistic statements in semi-structured interviews and (b) a variable rule analysis of actual language variation in university lectures.The findings show that there are norms prescribing that listeners must have at least be able to comprehend a particular variety, whereas accommodation to actual language use does not appear to be required to the same extent. However, the norms depend strongly on group membership: while there is a norm prescribing the use of the standard variety in the presence of speakers of German as a foreign language, there is no such norm for Austrians vis-à-vis people from Germany, although speakers from both groups may lack the ability to understand the respective nonstandard varieties. This difference can be explained by the sociocultural context and differing language attitudes.

Factors predicting classroom WTC in English and French as foreign languages among adult learners in Spain

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110540
Author(s):  
Elvira Barrios ◽  
Irene Acosta-Manzano
Keyword(s):  
Adult Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Willingness To Communicate ◽  
French Language ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Relative Standing

This study aimed to identify associations and predictors of willingness to communicate (WTC) of adult foreign language (FL) learners and whether they are contingent upon the FL being learned. To this end, our research investigated learner variables associated with WTC in adult FL learners of English and of French in an under-researched field of WTC studies in Spain. More specifically, the following variables were studied: gender, age, level of multilingualism, perceived relative standing in the class, language proficiency, teacher’s use of the FL in class, out-of-class foreign language use (OCFLU) and the two emotions of foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA). Of the 9 independent variables examined, FLCA and language proficiency were found to be predictors of the WTC of both English and French language learners; additionally, enjoyment was found to be a predictor of WTC of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) and OCFLU, of learners of French as a foreign language (FFL). Our findings indicate that the construct of WTC needs to be further studied as research may produce dissimilar results depending on the instructional setting, population and foreign language. Pedagogical implications for language teaching practices seeking to enhance adult FL learners’ WTC were also drawn from the study results.

Languages of borderlands, borders of languages: Native and foreign language use in intergroup contact between Czechs and their neighbours

Human Affairs ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Magda Petrjánošová ◽  
Alicja Leix
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Intergroup Contact ◽  
International Project ◽  
Intergroup Attitudes ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Central European

AbstractIn this article we present a qualitative analysis of empirical findings from an international project on intergroup attitudes and contact in five Central European countries specifically concerning language use. The project concentrated on the interplay of intergroup contact and perception between the members of national groups in the borderlands between the Czech Republic and Austria, Germany, Poland and Slovakia. The open statements analysed here about the contact situations and the ensuing evaluation of the Others were collected as part of an online questionnaire (N=1959). After a short theoretical introduction we reveal the intertwined nature of construing language use: first in each specific borderland, then in the triads speaking together either in the native language of one of the groups (Czechs with Austrians and Germans) or with each speaking their own native languages (Czechs with Poles and Slovaks). Finally we highlight several effects we have observed as a result of being able to compare the situation in more than one neighbourhood, for instance, the effect of the different statuses of the languages involved, or the connection between the language used in contact and a feeling of proximity.

scholarly journals Ideologies of language at Hippo Family Club

Pragmatics ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-227
Author(s):  
Chad Nilep
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Approach To Learning ◽  
Japanese Schools ◽  
State Language

Ethnographic study of Hippo Family Club, a foreign language learning club in Japan with chapters elsewhere, reveals a critique of foreign language teaching in Japanese schools and in the commercial English conversation industry. Club members contrast their own learning methods, which they view as “natural language acquisition”, with the formal study of grammar, which they see as uninteresting and ineffective. Rather than evaluating either the Hippo approach to learning or the teaching methods they criticize, however, this paper considers the ways of thinking about language that club members come to share. Members view the club as a transnational organization that transcends the boundaries of the nation-state. Language learning connects the club members to a cosmopolitan world beyond the club, even before they interact with speakers of the languages they are learning. The analysis of club members’ ideologies of language and language learning illuminates not only the pragmatics of language use, but practices and outcomes of socialization and shared social structures.

scholarly journals Cultivating student understanding of context through drama and scriptwriting

2016 ◽  
Vol X (2) ◽  
pp. 22-36
Author(s):  
Matthew Michaud ◽  
Todd Hooper
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Private University ◽  
Role Playing ◽  
Student Understanding ◽  
Language Aptitude ◽  
Japanese Students ◽  
Communicative Abilities ◽  
English Instruction

This paper presents an English as a foreign language (EFL) drama in language acquisition scriptwriting project that took place at a four-year private university located in Japan. The focus of this project was two-fold: firstly, to see if students’ cognition of situational context improved after completing scriptwriting exercises, and secondly to see if role-playing the scripts increased awareness in the identification of setting, roles of speakers, and purpose while increasing language aptitude. Furthermore, this study addresses the insufficient communicative competence abilities of Japanese students who have had years of structured English study. Their lack of communicative abilities may be attributed to the method of English instruction used in Japan such as focusing on grammar and vocabulary in isolated example sentences. This lack of context in second language (L2) instruction may leave students with limited communicative competence (Brown, Collins & Duguid 1989; South, Gabbitas & Merrill 2008). If students improve their understanding of the context of language use, they may become better equipped to use the language they know. One approach that may help students improve this understanding of context is scriptwriting and drama (Belliveau & Kim 2013; Davies 1990). The results of this study indicate that participating in scriptwriting activities may improve students’ ability to identify the context of conversations.

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