scholarly journals Prepositional Phrases in English as Phases of the Weak Kind

2021 ◽  
Vol 06 (02) ◽  
pp. 82-93
Author(s):  
W.A.T. Weerasooriya
Keyword(s):  
Computational Complexity ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
English Language ◽  
Phase Theory ◽  
Prepositional Phrases ◽  
Sentence Construction ◽  
Verb Phrases ◽  
The Status ◽  
Valid Test

A phase is an instance of derivation or “spell out’’ of a chunk or whole of a sentence construction. It is standardly assumed that only complementizer phrases and little v(erb) phrases are phases, and tense and verb phrases are not phases. Other categories such as determiner phrases and applicative phrases have been tested positive for phases. However, no claim is made about the status of prepositional phrases as phases. This paper investigated whether prepositional phrases in English can have the status of a phase as defined in phase theory. It was hypothesised that prepositional phrases are phases of the ‘weak’ kind. To determine the phase status of prepositional phrases, the method of standard phase diagnostics tests such as computational complexity, phonological independence, semantic independence, and case checking, and theta completeness were used. It was found out that computational complexity is not a valid test to test prepositional phrases for phasehood. While prepositional phrases bear very strong evidence to be labelled phases with respect to phonological independence, PPs fail to be phases in the case of semantic independence, and case checking and theta completeness. Given these findings, it was concluded that prepositional phrases in English are phases of the ‘weak’ kind. A sample of sentence constructions in English selected by the author and borrowed from the existing literature were used for the tests to draw conclusions. The study is expected to help better understand and analyze the cognitive processes involved in the acquisition and production of the English language specifically and any language in general.

Impact of Social Media on English Language: A Review

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Dr. Neha Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
English Language ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
International Level ◽  
Class Society ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Media ◽  
Subsequent Rise

Language being a potent vehicle of transmitting cultural values, norms and beliefs remains a central factor in determining the status of any nation. India is a multilingual country which tends to encourage people to use English at national and international level. Basically English in India owes its presence to the British but its subsequent rise is not fully attributable to the British. It has now become the language of wider communication which is now spoken by large number of people all over the world. It is influenced by many factors such as class, society, developments in science and technology etc. However the major influence on English language is and has been the media.

Negative Evidence in Language Classroom Activities

2003 ◽  
Vol 141-142 ◽  
pp. 301-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Pica ◽  
Gay N. Washburn
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Negative Evidence ◽  
Academic English ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Sentence Construction ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Subject Matter Content

This study sought to identify and describe how negative evidence was made available and accessible in responses to learners during two classroom activities: a teacher-led discussion, which emphasized communication of subject matter content, and a teacher-led sentence construction exercise, which focused on application of grammatical rules. Data came from adult, pre-academic English language learners during six discussions of American film and literature, and six sets of sentence construction exercises. Findings revealed little availability of negative evidence in the discussions, as students' fluent, multi-error contributions drew responses that were primarily back-channels and continuation moves. Greater availability and accessibility of negative evidence were found in the sentence construction exercises, as students were given feedback following their completion of individual sentences. Results from the study suggested several pedagogical implications and applications.

English Education Reform in Asian Countries

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenyang Sun ◽  
Xue Lan Rong
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Education ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Education Policies ◽  
English Language Education ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
The Status ◽  
Globalized World

Language education is becoming an increasingly important topic in education in Asian countries, especially as schools in Asian countries have become more multilingual and multicultural as a result of rapid urbanization and globalization. A comparative analysis of the issues in language education reform in Asian countries—using China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore as examples—shows that, historically and currently, English language education policies are shaped by various underpinning ideologies such as linguicism, nationalism, and neoliberalism. English can serve as a vehicle for upward socioeconomic mobility, or an instrument of linguistic imperialism, or both, in Asia contexts. These ideologies, through language education policies and reforms, impact the status as well as the pedagogy and promotion of the English language. There is a trend and a need with regard to addressing critical consciousness in English education in order to counter the forces of linguicism and neoliberalism in an increasingly multilingual, multicultural, and globalized world.

scholarly journals SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF COGNATE WORD COMBINATIONS IN THE ENGLISH AND UZBEK LANGUAGES

2020 ◽  
pp. 39-71
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Structural Models ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Speech Activity ◽  
The Status ◽  
Functional Features ◽  
Root Word ◽  
Linguistic Units ◽  
Speech Situation

This article describes the derivational potential of root word combinations belonging to the noun, adjective and verb groups in the English and Uzbek languages and their grammatical functional features on the basis of comparative-typological, comparative and distributive methods at the lexical and syntactic levels of the language. Structural models of derivation of verbs, nouns and adjectives in the English and Uzbek languages and their features are considered based on component analysis, as well as morphological factors that ensure the completeness of derivation, their distinctive and similar features in both languages, the role and importance in the formation of verbal compounds is analyzed in detail. The article also identifies the factors that ensure the transposition of root verbs, nouns and adjectives in English and Uzbek, and describes their structural-functional and contextual-semantic analysis at the required level. Until today’s period of development of linguistics, many problematic processes related to the language system have been studied and researched. This situation can be observed both in the context of world linguistics and in the context of Uzbek linguistics. Linguistics, like all sciences, is constantly evolving. Due to this, it is natural that there are still problematic processes in this sphere today. The fact that the phenomenon of derivation less researched in the context of root words can be related to such problems, because in both English and Uzbek linguistics the problem of derivation of root words is not studied at the required level. Any new word that exists in a language takes its initial form from speech, and thus the speech dependence of the word formed ends, because the next life of a derived word goes on in a language. That is, the derived word takes its place in the paradigm of its own analogical forms after being tested in social speech activity for a certain period of time. Only derivatives that have fully passed such tests will receive the status of a language unit and, like their other paradigms, will begin to function as a means of enriching the language with new constructions. It is well known that the derivational sequence of linguistic units cannot be fully understood only on the basis of grammatical research, because word formation in its extralinguistic basis is a product of speech activity. Since related words are considered not as a finished product of the language, but as a product of speech, since they are artificial words, in speech they are activated only in the form in which they are adapted for communication. In some places, depending on the need for speech, we can also observe cases where two or more related words are involved in the process of communication or in context. In this article, the works of English and Uzbek writers are selected as a source, as well as the degree of influence of the speech situation of both languages on the choice of words is studied and scientifically substantiated on the examples taken for analysis. As a result of syntactic-semantic analysis of root word combinations in the English language, on the basis of a detailed analysis, it was shown that root words can be combined with other words in speech, forming various models.

scholarly journals THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY AS A GLOBAL EMPLOYMENT SKILL: THE VIEWPOINT OF PAKISTANI ACADEMIA

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1071-1077
Author(s):  
Furrakh Abbas ◽  
Abdul Majid Khan Rana ◽  
Irfan Bashir ◽  
Azhar Munir Bhatti
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Mixed Method Research ◽  
Occupational Groups ◽  
Employment Skills ◽  
The Status

Purpose of the Study: The current research aims at exploring the need of effective English skill as a global employment skill and its various reasons, as there are various Pakistani institutes which are dedicated to The English language teaching and reinforce its relationship with employability. The importance of the study being conducted in Pakistan becomes more evident as English enjoys the status of the second language in the country. Methodology: Current study uses a mixed-method research design and employs both questionnaires and interviews as research instruments. The questionnaire was administrated on a sample of 392 university students while a sample of 13 informants from university faculty participated in an interview for data collection. Main Findings: The study concludes that the importance of English was associated with increased connectivity due to globalization. The study also concludes that the importance of English for finding jobs and making a career was well-established. To conclude, it can be said that English language proficiency is amongst the top global employment skills in the viewpoint of Pakistani academia. Application of this Study: The study implicates that the importance of English for employment across the globe and a successful career will further lead to the formulation of English Specific courses for different professional and occupational groups in Pakistan. The originality of the Study: There is a scarcity of empirical evidence in terms of the importance of English as an employment skill though English is considered very important as an elite language and a status symbol. The study proposes to fill in the gap by providing empirical evidence, therefore, the research is being conducted to assess the status of English and its importance for global employment skills.

scholarly journals (Re)claiming English Language Today

2019 ◽  
pp. 177-185
Author(s):  
Nadežda Stojković
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Cultural Renewal ◽  
Paradoxical Situation ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
National Languages ◽  
The Impact

In the huge and most diverse discussion on the influence of the English language as a second, international, or bridge language, there are distinctive voices drawing attention to the fact that this language as nowadays so widely used in innumerable contexts, is no longer ‘owned’ by the community of speakers to whom it is mother language, those primarily of the countries from where English language originates. Moreover, the number of people speaking, or rather using English language today either as their second or foreign language, by far outnumbers people to whom it is native. Situation being such, it is further claimed the concept of ‘standard English’ reflects inherent inequality stance, for if it belongs to everyone speaking it, then insisting on the supremacy on only one of its variants means placing all those speakers of it in a subdued position, and this possibly being yet another facet of English an agent of neocolonialism and globalization (Pennycook 1998, Phillipson 1992). The spread of the English language has been much investigated as oppressive to the formation and expression of personal and collective identities, degrading national languages and through globalization diminishing the impact of local cultures (Bhaba 1990), that it challenges cultures and discourses, being the impetus for continuous re-codification and re-colonisation (Foucault 1980). However, equally significant in relevance and number, the opposing views claim English today offers an expanded community of users enabling new ways of expressing, changing, negotiating voices that offer chances for cultural renewal and exchange around the world, that the awareness of this brings “decolonizing of the colonizers mind” (Penycook 2013). Taking the flip side of the situation, English language natives are noted to be in a paradoxical situation of being expatriates from their own language, themselves “co-victims” (Bratlinger 1990). This insurgent knowledge of the status of English language today is certainly to instigate further investigation, ‘writing back’ of what ontology this language now embodies.

scholarly journals Dialect Levelling: A Case Study of Ìkàr??-Àkókó Dialect

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-315
Author(s):  
Esther Olayinka Bamigbola ◽  
Fadekemi Rukayat Umar
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Work Place ◽  
The People ◽  
Restricted Domains ◽  
The Status ◽  
Lack Of Commitment

This study investigates the factors that are responsible for the levelling of Ìkàr??-Àkókó dialect. Specifically, the paper examines the impacts of Nigerian indigenous languages, especially Yorùbá, on the dialect. The study aims at identifying the patterns of changes in the dialect and their impacts on the ethnic identities of the people. The work is based on the variationist approach pioneered by William Labov in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The tools used for data collection include questionnaire, oral interview and observation. The findings of the study reveal that the dialect manifests different stages of changes, vital domains like home, school and work place, which are supposed to be the strongholds of this dialect are being encroached upon by languages other than the mother tongue in the study area. It was found that the changes in the dialect are not due to the influence of English language only, but to indigenous Nigerian languages, mostly Yorùbá. It was concluded that the gradual levelling of Ìkàr??-Àkókó dialect is caused in part by restricted domains of use, increase in population; lack of commitment to indigenous language use by the native speakers; and suppressive language policy in the nation. The study recommends sensitization campaigns as a way of maintaining and sustaining the status of indigenous languages.

Computational Models of Bio Heuristics Based on Physical and Cognitive Processes (Review)

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 563-574
Author(s):  
V. V. Kureychik ◽  
◽  
S. I. Rodzin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Computational Complexity ◽  
Convergence Rate ◽  
Rate Of Convergence ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Optimization Problems ◽  
Search Space ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Software Implementation ◽  
Minimum Total Length

Computational models of bio heuristics based on physical and cognitive processes are presented. Data on such characteristics of bio heuristics (including evolutionary and swarm bio heuristics) are compared.) such as the rate of convergence, computational complexity, the required amount of memory, the configuration of the algorithm parameters, the difficulties of software implementation. The balance between the convergence rate of bio heuristics and the diversification of the search space for solutions to optimization problems is estimated. Experimental results are presented for the problem of placing Peco graphs in a lattice with the minimum total length of the graph edges.

The Internationalization of Chinese English-Language Humanities and Social Science Journals

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 273-293
Author(s):  
Ying Huang ◽  
Weishan Miao
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Growth Rate ◽  
Social Science ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
Citation Indexes ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
Time Type ◽  
Over Time

This paper surveys the status of Chinese English-language journals in the humanities and social sciences (HSS-CELJs). HSS-CELJs are an important vehicle for disseminating Chinese scholarly voices and culture throughout the world. We used a mixed-methods approach to investigate the status of HSS-CELJs according to a number of attributes: growth rate over time, type of publisher, discipline, region of publication, publishing frequency, independence versus co-publication, and inclusion in citation indexes. We discuss some of the challenges facing HSS-CELJ publishing and highlight several contradictions of internationalization in the Chinese context. As of March 2020, eighty-seven HSS-CELJs covered nineteen disciplines, among which economics (17 per cent) and law (13 per cent) accounted for the highest proportions. The establishment of HSS-CELJs has increased significantly since 2004. Fifty-two per cent of HSS-CELJs were jointly operated with international publishers under two different models of cooperation, and twenty-eight (32 per cent) were indexed in international databases.

Restoring Official Bilingualism

2020 ◽  
pp. 123-136
Author(s):  
Amílcar Antonio Barreto
Keyword(s):  
Puerto Rican ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Fluency ◽  
English Only ◽  
Clear Sign ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Status ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Language Law ◽  
English Language Fluency

While the PPD methodically debated the pros and cons of official unilingualism their PNP rivals, who won the 1992 elections, restored bilingualism within weeks of taking office. The PNP’s rush became apparent when Gov. Pedro Rosselló announced the promotion of a new status plebiscite. As Congress took up the status question in 1993, PNP delegates flashed the new language law as a clear sign of loyalty to the US. That move failed to sway many federal lawmakers who repeatedly brought up the connection between the Spanish language and Puerto Rican identity, along with the low rates of English-language fluency on the island. At this juncture English-language activists from the US mainland began interjecting themselves in the island’s status debates during the English-only movement, reiterating the tight bonds between American-ness and the de facto US vernacular. Although out of office, Commonwealth supporters won the 1993 status plebiscite.

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