scholarly journals What to Choose Amongst Dictionaries for the Linguistics Student: A Review of The American Heritage College Dictionary and the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albatool Mohammed Abalkheel

This article compares and contrasts two dictionaries: The American Heritage College Dictionary and the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. This review is written to provide English language learners – and others – who are taking undergraduate-level courses in linguistics, with in-depth advice on how to best support and augment their previously assigned textbooks. Specifically, the author seeks to make a case for how these two dictionaries are the most constructive for students taking courses that focus on semantics and pragmatics. Both of these texts contain extensive and detailed knowledge for students majoring in English. The reviewer examines key aspects of the two volumes in this comparison, including: front and back matter, range of contents and illustrations, and the organization of the entries. Other areas that are explored are how each dictionary deals with connotational meaning, collocational information, expressions related to the headword, and controversial usage issues. The findings of this author reveal that both texts are valuable additions to the library of any undergraduate student studying linguistics and the English language. Each volume has its strong points, making both dictionaries beneficial and essential to students of English. However, these particular texts are strongly recommended for the student for whom English is not the native language.

Author(s):  
Laila Aghai

This qualitative research study focuses on English language learners who are continuing their education in the U.S. high schools and examines their translanguaging in the classroom. When students are learning a second language, they use their linguistic repertoire and their knowledge in English and their native language for negotiation of meaning. In order to gain a better understanding of the students' translanguaging, one ESL teacher and 10 ESL students were interviewed and observed in a classroom. The ESL students spoke Arabic as their native language and had beginning to intermediate proficiency levels. The findings of the study showed that English language learners use various strategies to make the content comprehensible by making connections between their knowledge in their L1 and L2.


Author(s):  
Rana Muhammad Basharat Saeed

Purpose: The study aimed to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the English language used in social media and its impact on English language learners at the undergraduate level in Sargodha. Approach/Methodology/Design: Five private colleges in Sargodha were selected through convenient sampling. A total of 82 learners participated in the study and the individual perception of each learner was recorded using a questionnaire as a data collection tool. Due to the nature of the study tool, descriptive and inferential statistical design was adopted to analyze the collected data using SPSS, version 20.0. The reliability of the questionnaire was substantiated using reliability statistics (Cronbach’s alpha). Findings:  The results indicated that social media plays a vital role in advancing the language learnability of English language learners. It proved instrumental in enhancing vocabulary and improving the overall reading, writing, listening and speaking skills of the learners. It was also found that the overwhelming use of shortened forms, slang, and incorrect sentences on social media adversely affects the academic writings of the learners. However, the overall perception of the learners signified that social media positively impacts the learnability of the English language learners. Moreover, though practicing social media is imperative in learning the English language, the use of informal English language may prove a future risk to Standard English. Practical Implication: This research contributes to understanding the role of social media in language learning. The findings of the study present practical implications for teachers as well as learners to direct the teaching/learning process in a better way, adopting appropriate ways of writing English on social media. Originality/value: This study is different from other similar existing studies as it focuses the perception of the learners towards English language learning through social media in the Pakistani context, and empirically examines the impact of the English language used in social media on English language learners at undergraduate Level in Sargodha. 


2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
YUUKO UCHIKOSHI

This study examines growth rates in vocabulary over an academic year for 150 Latino English language learners. In October, February, and June of kindergarten, participants completed standardized measures of receptive and expressive vocabulary. Before the second and third assessments, a third of the children watched Arthur three times a week during school hours, while another third viewed Between the Lions. The last third did not view either show during school hours. Data on children's preschool experiences and home literacy activities were collected. Growth modeling analyses show while there were no effects of classroom viewing, children who viewed Arthur and Between the Lions at home had steeper growth trajectories than those who had not. Additional effects of native language home use and preschool attendance were seen. Boys displayed better English vocabulary skills than girls. These findings suggest the importance of English exposure and native language maintenance for English L2 vocabulary development.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Abdul Malik Abbasi ◽  
Masood Akhter Memon ◽  
Mansoor Ahmed Channa ◽  
Stephen John

This study aims to investigate the word stress placement in English and Sindhi words in learners from Indo-Aryan language and American English backgrounds. Since correct placement of word stress is key for L2 English intelligibility, and it is known that native language background affects English language learners’ word stress perception and production. The study explores English language learners’ intuition through behavioral data from the native speakers of Sindhi and American native speakers to compare their awareness of word stress in L1 and L2. It further investigates learner’s stress patterns by measuring their reports of word stress location in their Sindhi and in their L2 English. There were twenty native speakers (10 from Sindh, Pakistan-10 from Illinois State, America) who were recruited from the location in their countries. Results of three experiments show that Sindhi native speakers have less awareness of stress location in their native language than native English controls, and this effect carries into their L2 English. Teachers of Sindhi-speaking students should be prepared to provide explicit training on word stress.


2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea C. Ash ◽  
Mabel L. Rice ◽  
Sean M. Redmond

Purpose The primary goal of this study was to explore the effect of language context on the socially withdrawn behaviors of school-age-children who are English language learners (ELLs) from middle– to high–socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. This is one of the 1st studies to address the frequently confused concepts of shyness and unsociability as independent constructs within the ELL population. The authors of this study also investigated the feasibility of an experimental parent and child questionnaire that examines shyness and unsociability across native-language and English-speaking contexts. Method Children and mothers (34 of whom were ELLs and 37 of whom were native English speakers) were administered an experimental questionnaire examining the children's shy and unsociable behavior in native-language and English-speaking contexts. Results Children and mothers in the ELL group reported significantly higher ratings of shy behavior in English-speaking versus native-language contexts, whereas unsociable ratings did not differ across language contexts. Conclusions Shyness and unsociability are distinguishable behaviors in ELL children, and researchers should consider these constructs when examining withdrawal. In addition, examining ELL children's behavior across language contexts provides a valuable method for investigating language-influenced behavioral problems. This study demonstrates the need for service providers to evaluate behavior across subtype and language context before pathologizing withdrawal in ELL children.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (Spring) ◽  
pp. 115-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey Leacox ◽  
Carla Wood ◽  
Gretchen Sunderman ◽  
Christopher Schatschneider

Author(s):  
Nancy Lewis ◽  
Nancy Castilleja ◽  
Barbara J. Moore ◽  
Barbara Rodriguez

This issue describes the Assessment 360° process, which takes a panoramic approach to the language assessment process with school-age English Language Learners (ELLs). The Assessment 360° process guides clinicians to obtain information from many sources when gathering information about the child and his or her family. To illustrate the process, a bilingual fourth grade student whose native language (L1) is Spanish and who has been referred for a comprehensive language evaluation is presented. This case study features the assessment issues typically encountered by speech-language pathologists and introduces assessment through a panoramic lens. Recommendations specific to the case study are presented along with clinical implications for assessment practices with culturally and linguistically diverse student populations.


Author(s):  
Vera Joanna Burton ◽  
Betsy Wendt

An increasingly large number of children receiving education in the United States public school system do not speak English as their first language. As educators adjust to the changing educational demographics, speech-language pathologists will be called on with increasing frequency to address concerns regarding language difference and language disorders. This paper illustrates the pre-referral assessment-to-intervention processes and products designed by one school team to meet the unique needs of English Language Learners (ELL).


2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 73-79
Author(s):  
Sara C. Steele ◽  
Deborah A. Hwa-Froelich

Nonword repetition performance has been shown to differentiate monolingual English-speaking children with language impairment (LI) from typically developing children. These tasks have been administered to monolingual speakers of different languages and to simultaneous and sequential bilingual English Language Learners (ELLs) with mixed results. This article includes a review of the nonword repetition performance of monolingual and bilingual speakers and of internationally adopted children. Clinical implications for administration and interpretation of nonword repetition task outcomes are included.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (16) ◽  
pp. 15-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henriette W. Langdon ◽  
Terry Irvine Saenz

The number of English Language Learners (ELL) is increasing in all regions of the United States. Although the majority (71%) speak Spanish as their first language, the other 29% may speak one of as many as 100 or more different languages. In spite of an increasing number of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who can provide bilingual services, the likelihood of a match between a given student's primary language and an SLP's is rather minimal. The second best option is to work with a trained language interpreter in the student's language. However, very frequently, this interpreter may be bilingual but not trained to do the job.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document