scholarly journals Trendy versus Appropriate Language Use: The Position of Standard English in Formal Written and Spoken Communication among Undergraduates of Selected Universities in Abuja

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Standard English

A Pragmatic Act Analysis of English Postproverbials on Twitter

Matatu ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 379-392
Author(s):  
Ronke Eunice Okhuosi
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Standard English ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Contextual Features ◽  
The World ◽  
Radical Revision ◽  
Cultural Indices

Abstract Postproverbiality, the novel perspective to studying proverbs, has focused mainly on the radical revision of African proverbs. However, this phenomenon is not only found in African proverbs, but also in many other languages as already suggested in literature. Therefore, this study investigates postproverbiality in English proverbs as used on social media, particularly Twitter. Twitter is especially known for people’s display of radical ideologies, opinions, and idiosyncrasies; therefore, it serves as a useful source for such radical revision of English proverbs. The analysis was done using Jacob Mey’s (2001) Pragmatic Acts as theoretical framework. The data was purposively gathered using five standard English proverbs to search for postproverbial versions; a total of thirty postproverbials were discovered on Twitter. The analysis revealed ten practs and allopracts which include affirming, insisting, informing, counselling, warning, instructing, and encouraging. These were projected through contextual features of shared situational knowledge, voicing, inference, metaphor, and socio-cultural knowledge. The interaction among the textual and contextual features and the allopracts shows that cultures and occurrences in public affairs affect such cultural indices as proverbs and language use and this interaction increases through the internet and social networks which link the world into a global community.

Linguistic Decolonization in Jamaican Radio

2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Westphal
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Power Distribution ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Discursive Practices ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Framework Conditions ◽  
Jamaican Creole

AbstractThis article illustrates the value redistributions of Jamaican Creole (JC) and Standard English (StE) in the public sphere of radio by investigating changes in the discursive practices of language use, norms and other framework conditions of radio production, as well as listeners’ perception of linguistic variation on air. JC was marginalized and stigmatized in pre- and early post-independence Jamaican radio but has subsequently acquired an important role, mainly in dialogic and informal contexts. Despite its increased value, JC has not substantially challenged the prestige position of StE, which has remained the unmarked choice for formal broadcasting. However, there has been a localization of StE on the air away from exonormative standards and towards Jamaican English (JE) while British and American influences remain in place. In this linguistic decolonization process both JC and JE have acquired new values, but remnants of an unequal power distribution linger on.

Facilitating departures from monolingual discourses

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-23
Author(s):  
Claire French
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Ideologies ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Linguistic Resources ◽  
Shared Beliefs ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Praxis I

This article locates and critiques monolingual discourses within applied performance praxis in the United Kingdom and South Africa, suggesting starting points for facilitating multilingual actors’ vast linguistic resources. Set out as a theorized reflection of praxis, I interrogate how the facilitator can draw from actors’ linguistic resources without perpetuating dominant and potentially damaging language ideologies, by which I refer to the socially shared beliefs about language that shape and are shaped by language use. I discuss the powerful language ideologies connected to so-called ‘standard’ English and constructed by dominant institutions to discover how they are reproduced in performance praxis. I also analyse performance examples engaging complex linguistic conditions related to both student and refugee groups in the United Kingdom and South Africa to discuss varied facilitation approaches in context. Through my reflection, I reveal the complexities and opportunities for the facilitator navigating the socio-culturally and politically fraught terrain of language.

Language and the Aboriginal Child

1983 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 43-46
Author(s):  
J. Schmider
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Major Focus ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Language Programs ◽  
Language Difference ◽  
Language Deficit

The language used by Aboriginal and Islander children has become in recent years a major focus of attention, with concern being felt on two broad fronts. There has been an increasing awareness that many use a mother tongue which is not English; at the same time there has been a growing realisation that many of those Aboriginal and Islander children who do use English as a first language use a form of language which differs from that normally used in the school. Whereas originally the tendency was to see these deviations from mainstream language use in terms of language deficit, they are now increasingly accepted as examples of language difference. A major philosophical shift has therefore occurred in the area of language teaching: an early emphasis on remediation and compensation has given way to a stress on language development; and language programs are now based on a philosophy of acceptance of the child’s language, and on the belief that it is necessary to start from where the child is. Thus programs no longer aim to ‘stamp out’ the child’s language or to ‘overcome’ the influence of the home, but instead have as their goal the extension and broadening of the child’s already existing language abilities. The emphasis has shifted from ‘correctness’ in terms of standard English, to ‘appropriateness’ in terms of language use in different social situations.

Language ideologies and self-Orientalism: representing English in China Daily travelogues

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxiao Chen
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Ideologies ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Incorrect Usage ◽  
China Daily ◽  
East West

Abstract While there is plenty of scholarship on the spread and study of English in China, scarce attention has been paid to representations of English in tourism discourses about China. This article aims to explore language ideologies undergirding representations of English language use in 253 travelogues from China Daily published since 2000. Findings show that most prominently in China Daily “standard” English was represented as a lingua franca for travel in China, a language of prestige, and a means of Othering. Some places are demarcated from others due to the lack of English-language services. Chinese people’s way of using English was reduced to Chinglish, a pejorative term indicating inappropriate or incorrect usage of English. Chinese use of English was thus ridiculed as an inferior Other. This critical discourse analysis of tourism discourses about China emanating from within the country demonstrates one facet of Orientalism – self-orientalism. CD’s self-orientalist strategies were embedded in oppositional East-West ideologies that set an inferior China against a superior West.

Workplace perceptions and attitudes toward standard English use

2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Yeok-Hwa Ngeow ◽  
Keng-Soon Soo ◽  
Avon Crismore
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Behavioral Intentions ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Likert Scale ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
Perceptions And Attitudes ◽  
Civil Sector ◽  
Insight Into

This study investigated the perceptions and attitudes of Malaysian civil sector and private sector workers toward the use and acceptance of Malaysian English, a variety of nonstandard English. A survey using a 20-item Likert Scale questionnaire highlighted some language issues: current perceptions and attitudes about and use of standard English, international intelligibility, public models of language use, and behavioral intentions of civil sector and private sector Malaysians toward standard English. The major findings for the combined sectors were 1) a recognition of the importance of attaining international intelligibility of English in their interactions with foreigners and 2) mixed reactions toward the use of standard English language within their Malaysian society. Differences were found for some items between the civil sector and private sector workers as well as for the factors of age, gender and ethnicity. Studies like this one can be used as a model for replication to find out more about language perceptions and attitudes in other countries and are significant for raising the language awareness needed by educators to better help their students succeed in finding employment, by employers to gain insight into employees’ perceptions and attitudes toward and use of English in order to enhance communication. In addition, the study raises important questions and issues such as about the growth and acceptance of non-native varieties of English in Malaysia and other countries.

Designing ELF-aware lessons in high-stakes exam contexts

ELT Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-472
Author(s):  
Nicos C Sifakis ◽  
Natasha Tsantila ◽  
Aristea Masina ◽  
Katerina Vourdanou
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Instructional Practice ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Instructional Interventions ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Teaching Context ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Exam Preparation

Abstract In ELT contexts, the concept of ELF awareness has been proposed as a means of developing the skills, strategies, and overall outlook that learners require to competently participate in ELF interactions. Depending on the teaching context, this can be a demanding process. We discuss the ELF-aware instructional interventions carried out by two practitioners working in high-stakes exam preparation contexts in Greece. These contexts are predominantly Standard English oriented. The interventions described an attempt to put into practice the principles of ELF-aware pedagogy, namely awareness of language and language use, awareness of instructional practice, and awareness of learning. The innovative aspect of these interventions is that they do not run contrary to the curriculum of these high-stakes exam preparation classes. On the contrary, they complement the courseware used in these contexts with authentic audiovisual materials and original metalinguistic activities that boost learners’ self-confidence as ELF speakers and as candidates of these exams.

The marginalized positions of Thai professional writers on the global hegemony of English

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adcharawan Buripakdi
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
The Political ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Political Aspect ◽  
Thai English ◽  
Professional Writers ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Nature Of Teaching

This qualitative study investigated the positions of the Thai professional writers towards Thai English. Data was collected from in-depth interviews of 20 Thai bilingual writers. The findings revealed that most of the writers had different ways to distant themselves from Thai English. The majority of the participants expressed a marginalized view toward their English. Their attitudes were greatly influenced by the hegemonic Standard English. Evidently, Thai perceptions of the English language conformed to a colonial, hierarchical standpoint which privileged the types of English spoken and written within the U.S. and Great Britain and denigrated spoken and written Thai English. The study not only reflected the reality of World Englishes but also addressed political aspect of language use related with identity, power, and hierarchical discourse. It clearly indicated the political nature of teaching English and called for a reconsideration of teaching practices in countries where English is not the native language.

Linguistic Competence in Aphasia

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 87-92
Author(s):  
Leonard L. LaPointe
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Competence ◽  
Careful Study ◽  
Feral Children ◽  
Performance Factors ◽  
Performance Loss ◽  
Linguistic Rules ◽  
Communication Goals ◽  
Aphasia Treatment ◽  
And Performance

Abstract Loss of implicit linguistic competence assumes a loss of linguistic rules, necessary linguistic computations, or representations. In aphasia, the inherent neurological damage is frequently assumed by some to be a loss of implicit linguistic competence that has damaged or wiped out neural centers or pathways that are necessary for maintenance of the language rules and representations needed to communicate. Not everyone agrees with this view of language use in aphasia. The measurement of implicit language competence, although apparently necessary and satisfying for theoretic linguistics, is complexly interwoven with performance factors. Transience, stimulability, and variability in aphasia language use provide evidence for an access deficit model that supports performance loss. Advances in understanding linguistic competence and performance may be informed by careful study of bilingual language acquisition and loss, the language of savants, the language of feral children, and advances in neuroimaging. Social models of aphasia treatment, coupled with an access deficit view of aphasia, can salve our restless minds and allow pursuit of maximum interactive communication goals even without a comfortable explanation of implicit linguistic competence in aphasia.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document