scholarly journals Proverbs in Language Teaching: Using the Example of Let’s Speak Tigrinya (2018)

Aethiopica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filip Busau
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
European Research ◽  
Classroom Situation ◽  
Effective Manner ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Insight Into

Proverbs have been used in language teaching for centuries. Nowadays, language learners associate mastery of this traditionally oral genre to a certain level of fluency and regard it as an access key to a deeper understanding of the native speakers’ culture. The recently released Tǝgrǝñña coursebook Let’s Speak Tigrinya (2018) contains almost fifty proverbs, and provides students with an insight into this old and rich tradition. However, owing to the lack of commentary or translation, the paper here seeks to compensate for this deficiency. In comparison with several Tǝgrǝñña proverb collections, it becomes apparent that the expressions listed in the textbook are common in Eritrea as well as in the Tǝgray region, in several alternative variations, some of which have been attested to in earlier European research works. A few examples even have an Amharic equivalent. The proverbs focused on here cover a wide range of both grammatical and everyday life topics and should be implemented in a more effective manner than the textbook provides. However, due to the lack of translations and occasional misprints, their accessibility is radically reduced and of little use for the individual language learner unassisted by a classroom situation.

scholarly journals Second language learners’ divergence from target language pragmatic norms

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Pia Gomez-Laich
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
L2 Pragmatics ◽  
Direct Explanation ◽  
The Individual

Pragmatic competence is an indispensable aspect of language ability in order for second and foreign language (L2/FL) learners to understand and be understood in their interactions with both native and nonnative speakers of the target language. Without a proper understanding of the pragmatic rules in the target language, learners may run the risk of coming across as insensitive and rude. Several researchers (Bardovi-Harlig, 2001; Kasper & Rose, 2002) suggest that L2 pragmatics not only can be taught in the L2/FL classroom, but, more importantly, that explicit approaches that involve direct explanation of target pragmatic features are beneficial for learning pragmatics. Just as native speakers of a language acquire a “set of dispositions to act in certain ways, which generates cognitive and bodily practices in the individual” (Watts, 2003, p. 149), instructors can help learners to become aware of the pragmatic features that characterize the target language. Although the importance of explicit teaching of pragmatics is well recognized in the literature, learning norms and rules of pragmatics largely depends on learners’ subjectivity. Learners’ convergence or divergence from the L2 pragmatic norms, both consciously and out of awareness, sometimes depends on whether these norms fit their image of self and their L1 cultural identity. Since identity-related conflict can have significant consequences for the acquisition of second language pragmatics, failing to consider the centrality of learners’ identities will produce an inadequate understanding of SLA. This paper synthesizes studies that document the reasons why learners opt to remain foreign by resisting certain L2 practic-es. The following synthesis question was proposed: Why do language learners resist the pragmatic norms of the target language?

scholarly journals Non-Verbal Communication: Why We Need It in Foreign Language Teaching and How We Can Foster It with Drama Activities

2014 ◽  
Vol VIII (2) ◽  
pp. 28-43
Author(s):  
Carola Surkamp
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Verbal Communication ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Willingness To Communicate ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Intercultural Encounters

Even though non-verbal communication is an essential part of communicative situations, it still is a neglected issue in foreign language teaching. This is quite surprising as no language learner can achieve communicative competence without having some knowledge of non-verbal phenomena, which make communication authentic and serve numerous functions needed for communicative success.Teaching a combination of verbal and non-verbal aspects of communication has positive effects on the language learning process in general and on the students’ willingness to communicate in particular. Furthermore, it is important for language learners to become aware of the role non-verbal communication plays in intercultural encounters. Additionally, the knowledge and awareness of the functions of non-verbal communication also help to develop literary competence since non-verbal phenomena contribute to a text’s meaning and its effect on the reader in both drama and prose.The objectives of this paper are to outline the nature and functions of non-verbal communication, to show why integrating non-verbal phenomena into different areas of FLT can be highly valuable, and to present drama activities that help sensitise students to non-verbal aspects of communication in various contexts.

scholarly journals Software Review: Meetup

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiromi Nishioka
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Online Platform ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Time Availability

Meetup (https://www.meetup.com/apps/) is an online platform designed to get people to share similar interests and to enjoy the social activities with other members offline. Users have access to a wide range of Meetup events that they may wish to participate in according to their interests, date and time availability, and location. Although Meetup is developed for general users, language learners can use the application to construct opportunities to communicate with the native speakers while enjoying their shared interests together. Access to such opportunities is not always easy for learners either studying the target language in their home country or studying the target language in a host country (e.g., Allen, 2010; Kim, 2011). As such, Meetup allows learners to identify events where they can meet native speakers who live near to their location and to interact with them using the target language in naturally-occurring settings.

The crosslinguistic study of language acquisition: Vol. 5. Expanding the contexts. D. I. Slobin. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1997. Pp. 339.

1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-454
Author(s):  
Beverly A. Goldfield
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Systematic Sampling ◽  
Intractable Problems ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Typological Variation ◽  
Theoretical Issues

For many years, research and theory on language acquisition have been sustained by data on English language learners, with an occasional crosslinguistic contribution. With more than 5,000 languages currently spoken in the world, we are not even close to a systematic sampling of languages and language learners. However, current crosslinguistic inquiry motivates much of the most interesting work in theoretical linguistics, neurolinguistics, and, thanks in large part to Dan Slobin's multivolume series, language acquisition. Volumes 1, 3, and 4 of The Crosslinguistic Study of Language Acquisition summarize critical features and the overall course of development for 25 languages. The chapters in Volume 2 consider theoretical issues raised by the crosslinguistic evidence. Volume 5 is the most recent publication, and, like Volume 2, its chapters provide a broader perspective on the data. The five chapters of the current volume attempt to enlarge the all-too-often narrow portrayal of the individual language learner grappling with the intractable problems of syntax and morphology. The authors review relevant data from previous volumes and consider how prosody, semantics, and pragmatics can disambiguate syntax and morphology and how a framework of systematic typological variation is crucial to understanding just how this might be accomplished.

scholarly journals تعليم اللغة العربية للناطقين بغيرها بين الأغراض الخاصة وأغراض الحياة: مقاربة نظرية وتطبيقية وآفاق مستقبلية/Teaching the Arabic Language for Non-native speakers in between Special and General Life purposes: A theoretical and applied approaches, and future

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rijan Abduh Obeidat ◽  
Mohammed, A. Al-Qudah
Keyword(s):  
Field Study ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Analytical Methods ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Teaching Programs ◽  
Research Centres

ملخص البحث: يهدف هذا البحث إلى إجراء مقارنة تفصيليّة بين تعليم اللغة العربية للناطقين بلغات أخرى، للأغراض الخاصة، وتعليمها لأغراض الحياة (الأغراض العامة)، مع إجراء دراسة ميدانية على عينة من متعلمي العربية من غير الناطقين بها، في مركز اللغات في جامعة اليرموك للوقوف عند مدى قدرة الطلبة على تحديد الغرض من تعلّمهم للغة العربية، وتحديد حاجاتهم لها. وقد اُعتمد في البحث على المنهج الوصفي التحليلي المستند إلى دراسة تطبيقية تعتمد على استبانة محدَّدة الأسئلة. وكان من أبرز النتائج التي توصّل إليها البحث: غياب الاستراتيجية العربية الموحَّدة على غرار الاستراتيجية الأوروبية في تعليم اللغات الحية (ومنها العربية)، وغلبة الرؤى الفردية التي يقدّمها دارسون مختصون، أو مراكز بحثية صغيرة، فيما يتعلق بالجانب النظري والتطبيقي على صعيد بناء البرامج، وغياب الجهود الجماعيّة المتكاملة التي تراكم الخبرات وتستفيد منها، والقصور الواضح في الدراسات التطبيقية التي تقدّم برامج لتعليم العربية لأغراض خاصة، والتداخل بين المفهومات الاصطلاحية، ولاسيّما العربية للحياة والعربية لأغراض خاصة، وغلبة الطابع الاجتهادي لبرامج العربية لكافة برامج تعليم العربية لغير الناطقين بها، نتيجة غياب الاستراتيجية العربية الموحدة. الكلمات المفتاحية: الناطقين بلغات أخرى-العربية للحياة-العربية لأغراض خاصّة-الفروق.   Abstract The study aims at conducting a detailed comparison between the teaching of Arabic language for non-native speakers for special and general purposes. A field study was conducted on a sample of non-native Arabic language learners at the Languages Center at Yarmouk university to identify the learners’ ability to determine their purpose and need of studying the Arabic language. The descriptive analytical methods were used in the applied part of the study through a limited number of questionnaires. The most salient conclusions  of the study are: lack of unified Arab strategy similar to European strategy for teaching live languages (including Arabic); dominance of individual visions, provided by specialized scholars or small research centres, concerning theoretical and applied aspects on creating programs as well as the lack of integrated and collective efforts that accumulate experiences to benefit from them; the clear shortage in applied studies that offer programs for teaching Arabic, for special purposes; overlapping between concept to understand teaching Arabic for life and Arabic for special purposes; dominance of ad hoc approach in Arabic language for all Arabic language teaching programs for foreigners, as a result of the lack of unified Arab strategy. Keywords: teaching Arabic language, non-native speakers, special purposes, life purposes.   Abstrak Kajian ini bertujuan membandingkan di antara mengajar bahasa Arab kepada bukan penutur asli untuk tujuan umum dan khusus. Satu kajian lapangan telah dijalankan terhadap pelajar-pelajar bukan Arab di Pusat Bahasa Universiti Yarmouk untuk mengenalpasti kebolehan mereka untuk menentukan tujuan dan keperluan mempelajari bahasa Arab. Metod deskriptif dan analitikal digunakan untuk bahagian practical kajian melalui agihan soal selidik. Di antara dapatan terpenting kajian ialah: kekurangan strategi bersama Arab yang serupa dengan strategi negara Eropah untuk mengajar bahasa hidup (termasuk bahasa Arab) ; penguasaan visi individu yang diberikan oleh pakar atau pusat-pusat kajian yang kecil berkenaan aspek-aspek teori dan praktikal dalam membuat program juga kekurangan kerjasama untuk memanfaatkan pengalaman masing-masing sebaik mungkin; kekurangan yang jelas dalam kajian gunaan yang menawarkan kursus-kursus dalam pengajaran Bahasa Arab untuk tujuan khas; pertindihan di antara konsep untuk memahami pengajaran bahasa Arab untuk tujuan kehidupan dan khas; banyaknya pendekatan tidak terancang dalam program pengajaran Bahasa Arab kepada bukan Arab kerana ketiadaan inisiatif strategik untuk mengisi jurang tersebut. Kata kunci: Pengajaran Bahasa Arab – bukan penutur Arab asal – tujuan khas – tujuan kehidupan  

scholarly journals Practicing Pronunciation: Will Voice XML do for language learners what HTML did for collaborators?

2007 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Kenneth J. Luterbach ◽  
Diane Rodriguez
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Markup Language ◽  
Telephone Number ◽  
Voice Synthesis ◽  
Extensible Markup ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Insight Into

This paper considers the utility of the Voice Extensible Markup Language (Voice XML) for language learning. In particular, this article considers whether Voice XML might become as popular as HTML. First, this paper discusses the surprising popularity of HTML, which provides contextual information useful for considering the potential of Voice XML. Second, this article discusses two voice scripts in order to demonstrate Voice XML tags and features. The first example script concerns voice synthesis only whereas the second script utilizes both voice synthesis and voice recognition. In order to gain insight into the utility of Voice XML for instructional applications, the second voice script can be accessed by language learners in order to practice pronouncing words in English. Technically, each voice script is a text file containing Voice XML tags. Once the file containing a Voice XML script is stored on a web server and a telephone number linked to the file, a language learner can use a telephone to practice pronouncing words. Those implementation details are considered in the third section of this paper, which identifies one particular system that permits developers to test and deploy Voice XML scripts free of charge. Lastly, this article concludes with a discussion of issues concerning the utility of Voice XML relative to HTML.

scholarly journals Personalization and User Profile Management

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Francoise Petersen ◽  
Giovanni Bartolomeo ◽  
Mike Pluke
Keyword(s):  
User Profile ◽  
Technical Committee ◽  
User Preferences ◽  
Next Generation Networks ◽  
European Research ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Profile Management ◽  
The Individual

Personalization and effective user profile management will be critical to meet the individual usersâ?? needs and for achieving e-Inclusion and e-Accessibility. This paper outlines means to achieve the goal of the new ICT era where services and devices can be personalized by the users in order to meet their needs and preferences, in various situations. Behind every instance of personalization is a profile that stores the user preferences, context of use and other information that can be used to deliver a user experience tailored to their individual needs and preferences. Next Generation Networks (NGN) and the convergence between telephony and Internet services offer a wide range of new terminal and service definition possibilities, and a much wider range of application in society. This paper describes the personalization and profile management activities at European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Technical Committee Human Factors, together with relevant experimentations in recent European research projects.

scholarly journals Review of Text Authenticity Relationship with Language Learner Motivation and Communicative Competence

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 89
Author(s):  
Hamdi Ahmad ◽  
Robert McColl Millar
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Careful Analysis ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Authentic Materials ◽  
Learner Motivation ◽  
Language Classrooms

Although the call for a more learner-centered pedagogy has long existed in English language teaching, viewpoints are still very controversial on what type of materials should be used in language classrooms. This paper is aimed at defining and addressing the ambiguities surrounding the concept of text authenticity and its relationship with language learner motivation and communicative competence in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT). However, wherever possible, for the purpose of maintaining criticality, data associated with pedagogic materials are also discussed. The study is based upon the theoretical strategy of research represented in a critical review of a number of research studies aimed at defining the concept of text authenticity and investigating the effects of authentic materials on language learners’ individual differences, namely learner motivation and communicative competence. The findings obtained from the literature review revealed that aspects of text authenticity may be situated in the text itself, the participants, social or cultural situations and purposes of the communicative act, or some combination of these elements. Equally important, the study concluded that a lack in language learners’ motivation and deficiency in their overall communicative competence in the English language can be attributed to teachers’ exclusive reliance on contrived text materials in a typical form of textbooks. The study recommends that teacher training courses should be aimed to develop language teachers’ practical knowledge and skills necessary for evaluating and designing TESOL materials. In addition, to introduce authentic materials into language classrooms, syllabus writers and classroom teachers need to take into consideration this methodological framework consisting of three sequential procedures: 1) conducting a careful analysis of learners’ needs in context, 2) selecting authentic texts in light of learners’ needs already analyzed in context, 3) basing teaching on the Task-Based Learning (TBL) approach that stresses the importance of activating learner schemata, awareness-raising activities and task differentiation. This triangulation methodology is likely to contribute to reducing the difficulty of text authenticity and realizing comprehensible input.

Fostering (pro)active language learning through MOO

ReCALL ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
LESLEY SHIELD ◽  
LAWRENCE B. DAVIES ◽  
MARKUS J. WEININGER
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Object Oriented ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Geographically Distributed ◽  
Learning Behaviours ◽  
Distributed Language

The Internet allows the language learner myriad opportunities to consult authentic sources and to practise using the target language with native speakers and other learners both synchronously and asynchronously. The current paper describes the design, development and implementation of language learning activities using text-based virtual reality or MOO (Multi-User Domain Object Oriented) in conjunction with the World Wide Web. The underlying purpose was to promote active, autonomous learning behaviours by enabling geographically distributed language learners to work with native- and non-native speakers of the target language on an engaging and motivating task with a concrete and meaningful outcome.

The influence of first language on referential expressions of Japanese language learners: A focus on narrative story by native Chinese and Korean speakers

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-188
Author(s):  
Chika Tōyama
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Narrative Story ◽  
Korean Speakers ◽  
Referential Expressions ◽  
Language Influence

Abstract The present study examines how Japanese language learners use referential expressions in discourse, especially topicalized or non-topicalized subjects, in addition to whether the first language of a Japanese language learner influences the choice of referential expressions. The text of narrative stories, written in both the subject’s first language and second language (i.e. Japanese) by native Chinese speakers and native Korean speakers, as well as text written by Japanese native speakers, were analyzed. As a result, the first language influence and common difficulties were observed in the use of referential expressions by Japanese language learners. Using referential expressions is not simply a matter of negative or positive transfer.

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