scholarly journals A cross-cultural study of condolence strategies in a computer-mediated social network

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-442
Author(s):  
Minoo Alemi ◽  
Niayesh Pazoki Moakhar ◽  
Atefeh Rezanejad
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Verbal Strategies

Among the various speech acts, an under-investigated one is condolence speech act. The present study sought to investigate the verbal strategies of expressing condolence used by (1) Iranian native speakers of Persian, (2) Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners, and (3) American native speakers of English. Accordingly, a total of 200, 42, and 50 responses were collected respectively from the informants who responded to an obituary post followed by a picture consisting of a situation related to the news of a celebritys death on Instagram (In the case of Iranians: Morteza Pashaii , a famous singer in the case of Americans: B. B. King , an American singer-songwriter). After creating a pool of responses to the death announcements and through careful content analysis, the utterances by native Persian speakers, EFL learners, and native English speakers were coded into seven, nine, and seven categories, with expression of affection ( n = 109, 46.38%), wishes for the deceased ( n = 34, 59.64%), and wishes for the deceased ( n = 32, 23.70%) being the most prevalent ones, correspondingly. Moreover, tests of Chi-square revealed that there was a statistically significant difference among the three groups. The results showed that there were significant differences among the participants in terms of using condolence strategies in Expression of affection (love and grief), Wishes for the deceased, Expression of shock, use of address terms, expression of gratitude, Offering condolences, expression of happiness for his peaceful death, and Seeking absolution from God categories, with Expression of affection being the most prevalent one among Iranian Persian speakers. The findings have pedagogical implications for EFL teachers as wells as textbook and course designers.

scholarly journals Impoliteness in the Realization of Complaint Speech Acts: A Comparative Study of Iranian EFL Learners and Native English Speakers

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atefeh Nikoobin ◽  
Mohsen Shahrokhi
Keyword(s):  
Social Distance ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Placement Test ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Common Strategy ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

This study was conducted to investigate the impolite complaint strategies that are used by Iranian EFL learners and native speakers in relation to social distance. This study also aimed at determining if there were significant differences among the strategies used by each group and if there was a significant difference between Iranian native speakers of English. To this end, 40 Iranian EFL learners and 20 Americans who were native speakers of English participated in this study. To make sure about the homogeneity of Iranian participants the Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was conducted. A questionnaire containing 12 different situations was designed by the researchers and was given to the participants to express their complaints for each situation. The results revealed that there were significant differences among the strategies used by each group; the most common strategy that was used by both groups of participants was positive impoliteness and the least common one was bald-on-record. Although the most and least common strategies used by both groups were the same, Iranians had a stronger tendency for using sarcasm in low social distance situations while natives had a stronger tendency for using bald-on-record in high social distance contexts. This study has implications for EFL curriculum designing in Iran and can make Iranian EFL instructors familiar with the importance of impoliteness as an indispensable part of language.

The Use of ICT in an English Classroom

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 44-67
Author(s):  
Tilen Smajla
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Willingness To Participate ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Chi Square Test ◽  
The Republic ◽  
English Classroom

The paper presents the results of a study on the attitudes of young Slovenian foreign language learners. The survey was conducted in five public elementary schools from different regions of the Republic of Slovenia. Four hundred six pupils aged 7 to 12 years (grades 2 to 4) declared their willingness to participate. One hundred thirty-eight of them or 34% (4th grade) were asked whether they used ICT during English lessons, homework, and vocabulary study. A quantitative research paradigm using crosstabs was conducted. In the case of gender, the results of the Chi-square test show a statistically significant difference in attitudes towards the use of mobile phones during English lessons and homework, while no statistically significant differences were found for the variable age. Such results should motivate language teachers and policymakers to adapt their teaching methods and allow for a careful use of ICT in language teaching.

scholarly journals SPEECH ACTS PREFERENCE IN COMPUTER – MEDIATED INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION VIA FACEBOOK MESSENGER: A NETNOGRAPHIC STUDY

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yehezkiel Adhi Nugraha
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Cultural Dimension ◽  
Direct Speech ◽  
Indirect Speech Acts ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

<p>People will not only use language for sharing message but also due to do an action. Through language, people will ask, promise, refuse, greet, invite, thank, and so on. The purpose of this research is to identify the speech acts preference used by Indonesian and Filipino non – native speakers of English via Facebook Messenger. Besides, to identify the similar or different of speech acts preference they used.</p><p>             The source of data are utterances of conversation in Facebook Messenger. The researcher applies documentation and an observation (reading the book and internet as the references) in collecting the data. After collecting the data, the researcher analyzes the data by focusing the speech acts theory. In order to support the evidence of the result, the researcher needs to describe and compare the high context-cultures and low context-cultures by Hall (1976) and also cultural dimension of Indonesia and Philippines by Hofstede.</p>The result of the analysis shows that the most speech acts preference used by Indonesian and Filipino non - native speakers of English is direct speech act. Similar and different types of speech acts are found. The similar speech act preferences are found in declarations and representatives. The different speech acts preferences are found in expressives, directives, commissives, direct, and indirect speech acts. The result of this research also shows that the communication of Indonesian and Filipino are included into low contex-cultures. It is contrary with the theory of Hall and Hofstede which shows that Indonesia and Philippines factually should be high context-cultures.

Timed versus untimed recognition of L2 collocations: Does estimated proficiency modulate congruency effects?

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 1197-1222
Author(s):  
Suhad Sonbul ◽  
Dina El-Dakhs
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Translation ◽  
First Language ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Choice Test ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Mixed Effects Modeling ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

AbstractCongruency (the availability of a direct first language translation) and level of proficiency have been reported among the most important determinants of second language collocation processing. However, only very few studies looked at the interaction between the two determinants, and none of these directly compared untimed collocation recognition assessed through traditional tests to timed recognition evident in psycholinguistic tasks. The current study administered both types of form recognition measures to 228 female Saudi English as a foreign language learners in two separate experiments: a traditional multiple-choice test (Experiment 1) and a timed acceptability judgment task (Experiment 2). Experiment 2 also tested 37 native speakers of English as a baseline for comparison. Congruency, estimated proficiency (vocabulary test scores), and the interaction between the two were evaluated as predictors of untimed and timed recognition through mixed-effects modeling. Results showed that congruency and estimated proficiency had a clear effect on untimed and timed recognition. More interesting, the effect of proficiency was clearer on timed recognition with a gradual decrease in the first language effect as proficiency increased getting closer to nativelike collocation processing. Results have implications for second language collocation learning and testing.

A Computer Corpus-Based Study of Chinese EFL Learners’ Use of Adverbial Connectors and Its Implications for Building a Language-Based Learning Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Fei Deng ◽  
Timothy V. Rasinski
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
L1 Transfer ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
English Major ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

This research adopts the methodology of corpus-based analysis and contrastive interlanguage analysis (CIA), using three corpora as the data source to analyze the adverbial connectors used by Chinese EFL (English as a foreign language) learners (i.e., university students in Guangzhou, China) in their written English. Major findings show that Chinese EFL learners have displayed a general tendency to overuse English adverbial connectors in terms of total tokens when compared with native speakers of English, and Chinese EFL learners deviate notably from the native speakers of English in the use of some individual English adverbial connectors. The research explores that Chinese EFL learners’ use of English adverbial connectors might be influenced by L1 transfer, writing handbooks’ and teachers’ instruction, learners’ lack of audience awareness, and lack of stylistic awareness. The research has some implications for language learning: a large collection of learner corpora, a target language's native speakers corpus, a learner's mother language corpus, and corpus software AntConc can complement textbooks in language learners’ deep learning process, constituting a language-based learning environment for human languages with reduced perplexity and increased accuracy.

The Processing of Congruent and Incongruent Prepositional Collocations: Empirical Study of Arab-English Bilinguals

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Zenah Dajem
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Formulaic Sequences ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Processing Effect ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
The Uk ◽  
L1 And L2

Learning and teaching formulaic sequences such as collocation and idioms, is an increasingly important issue for L2 language learners in the field of language teaching, psycholinguistics and applied linguistics. The aims of the present study are twofold: first, to investigate the effect of congruent and incongruent prepositional collocations on twenty Saudi Arab-English bilinguals in the UK; and secondly to examine the influence of frequency on the processing of these formulaic sequences. Twenty native speakers of English were involved as a baseline for comparison. In the present study, the psycholinguistic software E-Prime was used to measure the reaction time and the accuracy of Saudi Arab-English bilinguals’ responses while they are reading 80 sentences on a computer screen to judge their grammatical acceptability, that is, whether they are correct English or not. The results in general indicate that for both groups there was no processing effect in terms of the reaction time of collocation types, but there was a significant difference within the non-native speakers in terms of accuracy. However, regarding the influence of frequency, there was a significant effect of high frequent collocations in both native and non-native speakers of English. This may indicate that similarities and differences between L1 and L2 prepositional combinations are not necessarily due to processing effect, but may be due to high frequency.

Chinese language learners’ anxiety toward chat partners in computer-mediated communication

2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-147
Author(s):  
Yanlin Wang ◽  
Steven M. Crooks ◽  
Stefanie Borst
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Computer Mediated Communication ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Online Chat ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Chinese Language Learners

Abstract Studies have shown foreign language anxiety (FLA) can negatively impact learners’ performance in the classroom, but learners experience less FLA during computer-mediated communication (CMC) activities. Although it has been documented that communicating with native speakers (NSs) can make foreign language learners more anxious, very few empirical studies have compared learners’ anxiety levels toward different online chat partners. The current study investigated intermediate Chinese language learners’ FLA in online text CMC activities chatting with NSs and non-native speakers (NNSs). The quantitative data analyses showed that there was a significant difference in the anxiety level between chatting with NSs and NNSs in text-based CMC: chatting with NSs made Chinese learners more anxious than chatting with NNSs. Language confidence and partner familiarity were the two main factors mediating the anxiety. Practical pedagogical implications and future research directions were discussed.

ENGLISH TRANSCRIPTION COURSE. M. Luisa Garcia Lecumberri and John A. Maidment. London: Arnold, 2000. Pp. 156. £10.99 paper.

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-441
Author(s):  
Grover Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Casual Speech ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Received Pronunciation

This book, said to be written for native speakers of English as well as second and foreign language learners, is about the differences between the pronunciation of words in careful and casual speech, despite identity of spelling. It presents as models written-language texts and their phonetically written equivalents in the prestige British Received Pronunciation (RP) variety, and then provides more texts as exercise to be transcribed both ways. Almost all of the exercises are anonymously authored texts of 40 or more lines, on a variety of topics. Answers are given in an appendix. The idea is that learning to write English phonetically will improve nonnative speakers' pronunciation and, one supposes, promote the more accepting attitude of native speakers toward casual speech reductions.

scholarly journals May vs. Might in native vs. non-native English: Implications for inference and judgement in legal and educational contexts

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luna Filipović
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
The Other ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Witness Testimony ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Mock Jury ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Legal Contexts ◽  
Two Populations

AbstractIn this paper we discuss the empirically documented difference in a mock-jury judgement task between native speakers of English and speakers of English as a second language. We discovered a difference between these two populations in the understanding of events described by witnesses with regard to the use of verbs may and might. The events described with may were scored much higher on the possibility and witness certainty scales than when the same events were described with might by the non-native English speakers. On the other hand, the native speakers of English did not judge the events described with may and those with might differently. Further, the results for the non-native speakers did not vary based on their L1. A closer look at a sample of textbooks has provided support for the hypothesis that it is the L2 instruction materials and a specific learner strategy that are the most likely causes of the significant difference in inference and judgement between the two speaker groups. We discuss these findings in light of their applicability in, and their relevance for, legal contexts of witness testimony and jury judgement as well as their pedagogical implications and applications.

Do foreign language learners also have constructions?

2005 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 182-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Th. Gries ◽  
Stefanie Wulff
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Alternative Account ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
German Translation ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Rule Out

In Construction Grammar, the ultimate grammatical unit is the construction, a conventionalized form-meaning pairing. We present interrelated evidence from three different methods, all of which speak in favor of attributing an ontological status to constructions for non-native speakers of English. Firstly, in a sentence-fragment completion study with German learners of English, we obtained a significant priming effect between constructions. Secondly, these priming effects correlate strongly with the verb-construction preferences in native speaker corpora: verbs which are strongly associated with one construction resist priming to another semantically compatible construction; more importantly, the priming effects do not correlate with verb-construction preferences from German translation equivalents, ruling out a translational explanation. Thirdly, in order to rule out an alternative account in terms of syntactic rather than constructional priming, we present semantic evidence obtained by a sorting study, showing that subjects exhibited a strong tendency towards a construction-based sorting, which even reflects recent explanations of how constructions are related.

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