Evaluating the appropriacy of Ritual Frame Indicating Expressions (RFIEs): A case study of learners of Chinese and English

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-173
Author(s):  
Juliane House ◽  
Dániel Z. Kádár
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
British English ◽  
Mainland Chinese ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Chinese And English ◽  
Standard Situation

AbstractThis paper investigates the evaluation of ritual frame indicating expressions (RFIEs) in two groups of L2 learners: British English learners of Chinese and Mainland Chinese learners of English. RFIEs are expressions by means of which speakers confirm their awareness of rights and obligations in a particular standard situation. Previous research in applied linguistics has largely ignored the production and evaluation of such forms, despite the fact that they are pragmatically-loaded and, as such, are very important for the development of the (meta)pragmatic competence of L2 learners. In our study, we have conducted an experiment in which we exposed our learners to both authentic and constructed uses of RFIEs. The evaluation of their (meta)pragmatic competence has revealed notable linguacultural differences between the two groups of L2 learners.

scholarly journals Influence of Negative Transfer of Mother Tongue on Chinese English Learners’ Pronunciation

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 1478
Author(s):  
Tingting Zheng ◽  
Qi’ang Liu
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Northwest China ◽  
Central China ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
English Pronunciation ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Chinese And English

In our modern society, English is becoming increasingly important. As is known to all, pronunciation is a significant part of a language, which is complex and flexible. Chinese learners with a fluent and native English will benefit a lot. But the fact is that Chinese learners who have learned English as a second language for a long time still have lots of different problems on English pronunciation because of the interference of mother tongue. Therefore, based on language transfer theory, this paper intends to show different English pronunciation problems of learners in several areas—Northwest China, Central China, Northeast China and Southern China. By comparing Chinese and English phoneme families, the reasons of the problems in these areas will be analyzed. This paper aims to alleviate English pronunciation problems in these areas. What’s more, it is expected that this paper will be useful in teaching of English pronunciation.

scholarly journals A Corpus-Based Analysis of Simultaneous Speech in English Conversation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Anping He
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Social Constraints ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Chinese And English ◽  
Specific Degree

<p>This is a study of the distribution of 2011 instances of simultaneous speech in a 91,802-word subcorpus from the London-Lund corpus of Spoken English. Five categories of simultaneous speech (successful and unsuccessful turn-bidding, successful and unsuccessful turn-competing, and backchannelling) were analysed in terms of: (a) characteristics of the prosodic, lexical and grammatical context in which simultaneous speech occurs; (b) linguistic devices and strategies in aspects of prosody, discourse and pragmatics which are frequently used to introduce simultaneous speech; (c) variables such as speech domain, degree of familiarity between interlocutors, speakers' status and gender which may influence the frequency of simultaneous speech and affect the occurrence of the linguistic features and devices associated with simultaneous speech. In a complementary case study, 288 instances of simultaneous speech in Chinese (Cantonese) were also analysed in a 10385-word sample of Chinese conversation, and compared with simultaneous speech in English. The findings of the study show: (a) Simultaneous speech is rule-governed and context-constrained. It is most likely to occur at a unit boundary which is prosodically, lexically and syntactically marked. It is often introduced and carried out by a number of prosodic devices, discourse items and repetition strategies. This is particularly the case in turn-bidding and turn-competition. (b) Frequency of simultaneous speech seems to be strongly associated with degree of formality of speech domain and degree of familiarity between interlocutors, but loosely related to speakers' status and gender. However, particular linguistic devices and strategies seem more preferred by interlocutors in a specific speech domain, or with a specific degree of familiarity, or having specific status or gender. (c) Chinese and English simultaneous speech share many similarities in terms of pragmatic functions, and linguistic devices and strategies employed, though equivalents between the two languages are not always found. However social constraints on turn-bidding seem different in the two languages especially in terms of age, status and gender. The descriptive findings of the study help explain why Chinese learners of English find it difficult to take a turn in English conversation, and especially to bid for a turn. Thus the study enhances our awareness of the linguistic features of English conversation and the factors which can affect Chinese students' pragmatic and discourse competence. Moreover, the computer corpus approach adopted in the research provides a way of obtaining rich input for teaching English discourse devices in terms of prosody, lexicon and syntax and suggests further applications of corpus-based research in the study of language teaching and learning.</p>

scholarly journals A Corpus-Based Analysis of Simultaneous Speech in English Conversation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Anping He
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Social Constraints ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Chinese And English ◽  
Specific Degree

<p>This is a study of the distribution of 2011 instances of simultaneous speech in a 91,802-word subcorpus from the London-Lund corpus of Spoken English. Five categories of simultaneous speech (successful and unsuccessful turn-bidding, successful and unsuccessful turn-competing, and backchannelling) were analysed in terms of: (a) characteristics of the prosodic, lexical and grammatical context in which simultaneous speech occurs; (b) linguistic devices and strategies in aspects of prosody, discourse and pragmatics which are frequently used to introduce simultaneous speech; (c) variables such as speech domain, degree of familiarity between interlocutors, speakers' status and gender which may influence the frequency of simultaneous speech and affect the occurrence of the linguistic features and devices associated with simultaneous speech. In a complementary case study, 288 instances of simultaneous speech in Chinese (Cantonese) were also analysed in a 10385-word sample of Chinese conversation, and compared with simultaneous speech in English. The findings of the study show: (a) Simultaneous speech is rule-governed and context-constrained. It is most likely to occur at a unit boundary which is prosodically, lexically and syntactically marked. It is often introduced and carried out by a number of prosodic devices, discourse items and repetition strategies. This is particularly the case in turn-bidding and turn-competition. (b) Frequency of simultaneous speech seems to be strongly associated with degree of formality of speech domain and degree of familiarity between interlocutors, but loosely related to speakers' status and gender. However, particular linguistic devices and strategies seem more preferred by interlocutors in a specific speech domain, or with a specific degree of familiarity, or having specific status or gender. (c) Chinese and English simultaneous speech share many similarities in terms of pragmatic functions, and linguistic devices and strategies employed, though equivalents between the two languages are not always found. However social constraints on turn-bidding seem different in the two languages especially in terms of age, status and gender. The descriptive findings of the study help explain why Chinese learners of English find it difficult to take a turn in English conversation, and especially to bid for a turn. Thus the study enhances our awareness of the linguistic features of English conversation and the factors which can affect Chinese students' pragmatic and discourse competence. Moreover, the computer corpus approach adopted in the research provides a way of obtaining rich input for teaching English discourse devices in terms of prosody, lexicon and syntax and suggests further applications of corpus-based research in the study of language teaching and learning.</p>

Learning opportunities in peer-peer interaction: A case study of two L2 Mandarin Chinese learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-226
Author(s):  
Dan Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
French Immersion ◽  
Chinese Learners ◽  
Instructed Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Negotiation For Meaning

AbstractThe roles of interaction have been studied for several decades. Recent studies have turned to investigate “the details of which components of interaction might be more or less effective in which contexts with which learners” (Loewen, Shawn & Masatoshi Sato. 2018. Interaction and instructed second language acquisition. Language Teaching 51(3). 285–329: 286). This case study, based on three unstructured interactions outside the classroom between two L2 Mandarin Chinese learners, investigates the learning opportunities these interactions brought about in terms of helping them to increase in control over forms that had already been encountered inside the classroom. Using the concept of the language-related episode (Swain, Merrill & Sharon Lapkin. 1998. Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion students working together. The Modern Language Journal 82(3). 320–337), this study sets focus on learning opportunities for lexis- and grammar-related items. It finds learning opportunities arise as the two peers negotiate for meaning motivated by the need to comprehend, strive to use the L2 to express/co-express themselves, and improve their form through the other’s feedback. In addition, lexis-related learning is found to be very positive in this study. The dictionary played an indispensable role in facilitating the learners when they encountered lexis-related issues. Further, it enabled the learners to learn new vocabulary when driven by communicative needs. In comparison, the grammar-related learning is found to be relatively complicated. And the fact the learners had nowhere to resort to concerning grammatical issues attributed to it. In terms of the different types of interactions, compared to learning through negotiation for meaning and feedback, output and co-construction/collaboration were found to be most productive in promoting the learning.

Plural marking in the second language: Atomicity, definiteness, and transfer

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Sea Hee Choi ◽  
Tania Ionin
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Mass Nouns ◽  
Count Nouns ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Plural Marking

Abstract This paper examines whether second language (L2)-English learners whose native languages (L1; Korean and Mandarin) lack obligatory plural marking transfer the properties of plural marking from their L1s, and whether transfer is manifested both offline (in a grammaticality judgment task) and online (in a self-paced reading task). The online task tests the predictions of the morphological congruency hypothesis (Jiang 2007), according to which L2 learners have particular difficulty automatically activating the meaning of L2 morphemes that are incongruent with their L1. Experiment 1 tests L2 learners’ sensitivity to errors of –s oversuppliance with mass nouns, while Experiment 2 tests their sensitivity to errors of –s omission with count nouns. The findings show that (a) L2 learners detect errors with nonatomic mass nouns (sunlights) but not atomic ones (furnitures), both offline and online; and (b) L1-Korean L2-English learners are more successful than L1-Mandarin L2-English learners in detecting missing –s with definite plurals (these boat), while the two groups behave similarly with indefinite plurals (many boat). Given that definite plurals require plural marking in Korean but not in Mandarin, the second finding is consistent with L1-transfer. Overall, the findings show that learners are able to overcome morphological incongruency and acquire novel uses of L2 morphemes.

scholarly journals Toward an Intercultural Rhetoric: Improving Chinese EFL Students’ Essay Writing through Outline Writing

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Fang Li ◽  
Yingqin Liu
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Essay Writing ◽  
Intercultural Rhetoric ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Main Ideas ◽  
English Academic Writing ◽  
Chinese And English

This study explores the effects of teaching EFL students to use an outline in their English essays. The researchers maintain that using outlines can raise students’ awareness of different audience expectations embedded in the rhetoric of the target language (English) and culture and can improve their English academic writing. The study was based on a four-week long case study at a university in Xi’an, China, in which 24 Chinese EFL students at the College of Translation Studies participated. A discourse analysis was conducted by comparing the Chinese EFL students’ English essays produced at the beginning of the study with those produced at the end of the study after learning and practicing outlining for writing the English essays. Email inquiries were used for understanding the participants’ viewpoints on learning how to write English essay outlines. The findings reveal that teaching EFL students to use outlining in their English essays is an effective way to help them improve their essay writing. Not only can it enhance the students’ understanding about using the English thesis statements, but it can also help improve the use of related, logical, and specific detailed examples to support the main ideas in their essays. The email inquiries also revealed that the students believe that outline learning helped them to understand the differences between Chinese and English essay writing. The implications of the study for intercultural rhetoric are also discussed.

scholarly journals Transdisciplinarity across two-tiers

AILA Review ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 29-52
Author(s):  
Chantelle Warner
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Modern Language Association ◽  
Affective Labor ◽  
Modern Language ◽  
Language Pedagogy ◽  
Language And Literature ◽  
Status Differences

Abstract In the ten years since the Modern Language Association published their report, “Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World” (2007) dissatisfaction with the “two-tiered configuration” of US foreign language departments has become increasingly vocal. While the target of the criticism is often the curriculum, it has often been noted that programmatic bifurcations mirror institutional hierarchies, e.g. status differences between specialists in literary and cultural studies and experts in applied linguistics and language pedagogy (e.g. Maxim et al., 2013; Allen & Maxim, 2012). This chapter looks at the two-tiered structure of collegiate modern language departments from the perspectives of the transdisciplinary shape-shifters who maneuver within them – scholars working between applied linguistics and literary studies. These individuals must negotiate the methodologies and the institutional positions available to them – in many instances, the latter is what has prompted them to work between fields in the first place. The particular context of US foreign language and literature departments serves as a case study of the lived experiences of doing transdisciplinary work in contexts that are characterized by disciplinary hierarchies and the chapter ends with a call for applied linguistics to consider not only the epistemic, but also the institutional and affective labor needed to sustain transdisciplinary work.

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