scholarly journals The Impact of Language Attitude on the use of Swear Words: A Sociolinguistic Study of Pashtu Non-native Speakers of English

sjesr ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-257
Author(s):  
Uzma Khalil ◽  
Amjad Saleem
Keyword(s):  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
High Status ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Male Undergraduate ◽  
Undergraduate University Students ◽  
Integrative Motivation ◽  
Language Attitude ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
The Impact

Swear words make an important aspect of any language despite their taboo nature. Taking this feature of language into account, this paper investigates how the language attitude of Pashtu non-native speakers of English towards Pashtu and English languages might impact the use of swear words in these languages in different situations. Data from30 male undergraduate university students were collected through semi-structured interviews. The analysis revealed that Pashtu non-native speakers of English had a positive attitude towards English and Pashtu languages owing to instrumental and integrative motivation, respectively. Swearing in Pashtu and English was shown to be determined by the speakers’ perceptions of the degree of offensiveness of swear words in the languages, social status of the users of the language in the society, and the setting and context in which those words were used. It was concluded that the positive attitude of Pashtu non-native speakers towards English and Pashtu resulted in their swearing-in English and Pashtu for different reasons: swearing-in English was controlled by the high status of the language in the society, whereas swearing-in Pashtu was used as a marker of solidarity and covert prestige.

scholarly journals Intelligibility: The Goal of Language Learning and Teaching

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Sayyed Rashid Shah ◽  
Abdullah Al-Bargi
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
The Impact

<p>This action research study investigates the intelligibility of Saudi EFL learners’ speeches in relation to the Lingua Franca Core (LFC). This study is carried out in an EFL class of 15 Saudi learners. One native and four non-native speakers of English performed the role of evaluators. A mixed-method approach was adopted to collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data. The learners’ scores in their pre and post-intervention speeches led to the understanding of the impact of LFC on leaders’ speeches. The scores were awarded by five evaluators responding to a five-point Likert scale questionnaire while judging learners’ intelligibility. The results showed moderate improvement in the learners’ post-intervention speeches in terms of intelligibility. This procedure was followed by semi-structured interviews conducted with individual evaluators/listeners who rated post-intervention speeches as well-organized, lengthier and planned, delivered fluently and confidently in spite of insignificant improvement in the production of LFC features. Based on the findings, it can be recommended that LFC can have little or no impact on the learners’ pronunciation, thus intelligibility should be the goal of language teaching and learning in EFL settings.</p>

scholarly journals Linguistic Markers and Stylistic Attributes of Hedging in English Academic Papers Written by Native and Non-Native Speakers of English

MANUSYA ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Amara Prasithrathsint
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Linguistic Markers ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
English Academic Writing ◽  
The Impact

Hedging means mitigating words so as to lessen the impact of an utterance. It may cause uncertainty in language but is regarded as an important feature in English academic writing. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the style of academic writing in English with particular reference to the significant role of hedging and the linguistic features that mark it. The data was taken from academic articles in the humanities written by native speakers of English, Filipino speakers of English, and Thai speakers of English. It is hypothesized that speakers of English as a foreign language use fewer and different hedging devices than native speakers of English. The result of the analysis shows that the prominent linguistic markers of hedging are the auxiliaries may, might, could, the verbs suggest, appear, seem, and the adverbs perhaps and often. They are divided into three groups according to their stylistic attributes of hedging; namely, probability, indetermination, and approximation. The use of hedging found in the data confirms what Hyman (1994) says; i.e., that hedging allows writers to express their uncertainty about the truth of their statements. It is also found that English native speakers use hedges most frequently. The Filipino speakers of English are the second, and the Thai speakers of English use hedges the least frequency. This implies that hedging is likely to be related to the level of competence in English including knowledge of stylistic variation, and that it needs to be formally taught to those who speak English as a second or foreign language.

Identifying the Target Needs of Non-Native Subject Teachers Related to the Use of English in Their Professional Settings

2016 ◽  
pp. 149-175
Author(s):  
Ece Zehir Topkaya ◽  
İbrahim Nişancı
Keyword(s):  
Training Program ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Needs Analysis ◽  
Analysis Framework ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

This study primarily explores the target needs of subject teachers from various disciplines who are all non-native speakers of English and enrolled in a training program preparing them to teach their subjects in English. Secondarily, it looks into the key stakeholders' evaluation of the program to understand its effectiveness to meet the needs of the teachers. For the first question, key stakeholders were interviewed to identify the needs, wants, and lacks of the teachers based on Hutchinson and Water's (1987) needs analysis framework. Then, the pooled items were converted into a questionnaire which was administered to the teachers in the program. To investigate the second question, open-ended questions and semi-structured interviews were used. Findings revealed that participants were in need of developing productive language skills while they reported satisfaction over the program. It is concluded that a more specifically tailored course both in terms of content and practice is needed.

scholarly journals Stakeholder beliefs in English-medium instruction for young learners in Sweden

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanette Toth
Keyword(s):  
Primary Schools ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Multilingual Students ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
English Medium Instruction ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

While several studies have investigated English-medium instruction (EMI) or content and language integrated learning (CLIL) in Swedish upper secondary and tertiary education, few have investigated such programmes in Swedish primary schools. This paper explores perceptions among staff and students about affordances and constraints in the learning of content and languages, drawing on data from a larger longitudinal case study of an English-Swedish bilingual primary class during Grades 4-6. Data consisted of semi-structured interviews with a school leader, 12 teachers and 22 students as well as fieldnotes and photographs from classroom observations. Thematic analysis of the data revealed the belief among staff that learners acquired English naturally by being ‘forced’ to use it in English-medium subjects taught by native speakers of English. The use of Swedish among students in these subjects was generally seen as a potential scaffold when communicative difficulties arose, as students who were more proficient in English could translate and provide their classmates with explanations of difficult concepts in Swedish. However, staff and students nonetheless voiced concerns about students’ content learning as well as about limited development of subject-specific language in Swedish, which could have implications for their future Swedish-medium studies. Meanwhile, although multilingual students’ mother tongues were valued by the students themselves, participants did not acknowledge them as legitimate learning resources for use in the mainstream classroom, where only English and Swedish were allowed to be used in interaction.

scholarly journals Cross-Cultural Classroom Interaction between Native and Non-native Speakers of English

2018 ◽  
pp. 85-101
Author(s):  
Hanaa Alzalouk ◽  
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Classroom Interaction ◽  
Real Life ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Esl Learners

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interactional conversations between the native speakers (NSs) of English and the non-native speakers (NNSs) of English in a culturally mixed classroom. ESL learners need to be exposed to the second language through authentic and face to face interaction when they have opportunities to interact with NSs outside of the classroom (in real-life situations) and inside the classroom (through group work and pair work activities). Data were collected through conducting an ethnographic research in which classroom observation and semi-structured interviews were the primary data collection tools. Participants were eight MA students in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) in Nottingham Trent University.

British accent perceptions and attributions of guilt by native and non-native speakers

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-217
Author(s):  
Gaby Axer
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Analysis ◽  
British English ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Accent Perception ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
The Impact

This paper uses the matched-guise technique to analyse the impact of accent perception in the context of suspect interrogation. Three native speakers of British English and one of Norwegian recorded a suspect’s statement in a version as close as possible to standard English as well as in their strongest accented pronunciation of English. These recordings were rated by native speakers of English (NSs) and German learners of English (non-native speakers, NNSs) regarding competence, social attractiveness, credibility/guilt and standardness. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of these ratings shows evidence for accented speakers being rated less competent, but more socially attractive and more likely to be guilty than their standard counterparts. Moreover, NNSs’ ratings were significantly higher for competence and guilt in the standard guises, as well as social attractiveness and guilt in the accent guises, while NSs twice as often reported pronunciation/accent having influenced their ratings. This study also found that specific regional stereotypes were less important compared to the perceived degree of standardness.

scholarly journals The Impact of Social Support on EFL Learners’ Motivation at Iraqi Kurdistan Universities

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamad Yahya Abdullah ◽  
Khaldoon Waleed Husam Al-Mofti
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Student Motivation ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Social Factor ◽  
Motivation To Learn ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Motivation Level ◽  
The Impact

There are many reasons standing behind the fact why non-native speakers study English as a foreign language. For some, the aspiration to be a foreign language teacher or the ability to use English at work is the main reasons and driving factors, while for others the reason is simply to pass the course requirement at schools and universities. The present study aims to evaluate student motivation level and the factors influencing motivation. This paper will also highlight the influence of the factor of social support on the other factors of motivation. Data were gathered through likert scale questionnaires distributed to EFL learners of English in two different universities in Kurdistan region of Iraq and semi-structured interviews conducted with a number of students who have been selected randomly. The results indicated that the motivation to learn English is not dominated by one factor; however, the factors of goals, intention, and outside social support appear as the most influenced factors. Also, there was a statistically significant parallel correlation between the outside social support and goals factors. Consequently, the outside social factor appears as a significant contributor to the motivation of EFL Kurdish learners. 

scholarly journals Language Proficiency Among Respondents: Implications for Data Quality in a Longitudinal Face-to-Face Survey

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Wenz ◽  
Tarek Al Baghal ◽  
Alessandra Gaia
Keyword(s):  
Data Quality ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Primary Response ◽  
The Self ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Primacy Effects ◽  
The Impact

Abstract When surveying immigrant populations or ethnic minority groups, it is important for survey researchers to consider that respondents might vary in their level of language proficiency. While survey translations might be offered, they are usually available for a limited number of languages, and even then, non-native speakers may not utilize questionnaires translated into their native language. This article examines the impact of language proficiency among respondents interviewed in English on survey data quality. We use data from Understanding Society: The United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) to examine five indicators of data quality, including “don’t know” responding, primacy effects, straightlining in grids, nonresponse to a self-completion survey component, and change in response across survey waves. Respondents were asked whether they are native speakers of English; non-native speakers were subsequently asked to self-rate whether they have any difficulties speaking or reading English. Results suggest that non-native speakers provide lower data quality for four of the five quality indicators we examined. We find that non-native respondents have higher nonresponse rates to the self-completion section and are more likely to report change across waves, select the primary response option, and show straightlining response behavior in grids. Furthermore, primacy effects and nonresponse rates to the self-completion section vary by self-rated level of language proficiency. No significant effects were found with regard to “don’t know” responding between native and non-native speakers.

Non-native speaker perception of Intelligent Virtual Agents in two languages: the impact of amount and type of grammatical mistakes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Obremski ◽  
Jean-Luc Lugrin ◽  
Philipp Schaper ◽  
Birgit Lugrin
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Virtual Agents ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Intelligent Virtual Agents ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Target Culture

AbstractHaving a mixed-cultural membership becomes increasingly common in our modern society. It is thus beneficial in several ways to create Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVAs) that reflect a mixed-cultural background as well, e.g., for educational settings. For research with such IVAs, it is essential that they are classified as non-native by members of a target culture. In this paper, we focus on variations of IVAs’ speech to create the impression of non-native speakers that are identified as such by speakers of two different mother tongues. In particular, we investigate grammatical mistakes and identify thresholds beyond which the agents is clearly categorised as a non-native speaker. Therefore, we conducted two experiments: one for native speakers of German, and one for native speakers of English. Results of the German study indicate that beyond 10% of word order mistakes and 25% of infinitive mistakes German-speaking IVAs are perceived as non-native speakers. Results of the English study indicate that beyond 50% of omission mistakes and 50% of infinitive mistakes English-speaking IVAs are perceived as non-native speakers. We believe these thresholds constitute helpful guidelines for computational approaches of non-native speaker generation, simplifying research with IVAs in mixed-cultural settings.

scholarly journals Language Attitude of Pakistani Under-Graduate Students towards Non-Native Speakers

sjesr ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-24
Author(s):  
Dr. Uzma Imtiaz ◽  
Dr. Aisha Jadoon ◽  
Ali Naqi
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Communication Model ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Undergraduate University Students ◽  
The Status ◽  
Heated Debate ◽  
Language Attitude

English used by native English speakers was being followed as a standard token of usage for non-native English speakers for a longer time. However, with the spread of knowledge and technology, the English language across the world has provoked a much-heated debate about these norms whether they should be followed by the non-native English speaker or not. The present paper explores the response of Pakistani undergraduate university students about the effectiveness of the non-native English model of communication by using Kachru’s monocentric model which refutes the standard model of English language to focus more on conventional norms together with native politico-cultural needs. For this purpose, this study used a close-ended questionnaire that asked the non-native English speakers responses to the audio of three different English speeches Different varieties of spoken English existing across the Pakistani society point towards the strong influence of culture over language. This research concludes that the English language has now got the status of pluricentricity based on micro-level variation, so it is impossible to rely on a single communication model for language users considering their diversity.

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