scholarly journals Teaching teachers phonetics: The design and implementation of an asynchronous online English phonetics course

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 5112
Author(s):  
Steven H. Weinberger ◽  
Hussain Almalki ◽  
Larisa A. Olesova
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Target Language ◽  
International Teachers ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Online Archive ◽  
Native Speech ◽  
Accented English

It is axiomatic that one of the chief goals of an applied linguistics program is to instruct teachers in the intricacies of English language structure. Explicit knowledge of the target language can help domestic and international teachers when dealing with adult 2nd language learners. But while most programs offer courses in English grammar, we found a paucity of (online) phonetics classes. We discuss three characteristics to be included in an online phonetics course: the description and learning of the sounds of the world’s languages, the technology-based collaborative procedures to narrowly transcribe a wide range of accented English speech, and the specific design to engage a variety of online students. Particular attention is devoted to our unique collaborative online project that at once trains students in the phonetic analysis of non-native speech. The results of these analyses are contributed to the online database, the speech accent archive (accent.gmu.edu), thereby giving students ownership of a publicly available online archive. The outcomes are described, with justifications and specific methods for measuring them. This paper emphasizes that learning to narrowly transcribe leads to enhanced listening and analysis, and that peer-to-peer collaboration is vital for any asynchronous online class.

scholarly journals A Study of Language Anxiety among English Language Learners in Saudi Arabia

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Badia Muntazer Hakim
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Language Anxiety ◽  
Self Awareness

Classroom anxiety is a recurrent phenomenon for language learners. There are various factors that cause language anxiety, the most common of which include learners’ excessive self-consciousness and self-awareness concerning their oral reproduction and performance and their peculiar, and quite often misplaced and mistaken, views and beliefs regarding different approaches. Other potential reasons for this problem could include the fear, and the consequent deterrence occasioned thereof, of encountering difficulties in language learning, specifically learners’ individual problems regarding the culture of the target language and the varying social statuses of speakers. The most important fear is, perhaps, the deterrent fear of causing damage to one’s self-identity. Therefore, while needing to paying special attention to language learners’ anxiety reactions, language teachers have a crucial role in helping their students achieve the expected performance goals in the target language. Another factor that could potentially lead to language anxiety is simply the poor command of the target language. This problem could be attributed to linguistic barriers and obstacles language learners encounter in learning and using the target language. In the current study, using a qualitative, semi-structured interview and the focus-group discussion technique, the researcher aims to investigate the factors that contribute to language anxiety among Arab language learners. It focuses on learners both within the classroom setting and without, i.e. in the social context, and recommends a number of approaches to manage and overcome this problem.

scholarly journals Novice teachers’ perspectives on the use of languages in French as a second language classes that include English language learners: A longitudinal view

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-95
Author(s):  
Callie Mady
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Novice Teachers ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Bachelor Of Education ◽  
Longitudinal View ◽  
Core French ◽  
Teachers Perspectives

In the Canadian context, although most considerations of the home-target language use divide are centred on the presence of English in French Second Language (FSL) programs, the increasing number of immigrants has provided impetus to extend the discussion to include the use of languages beyond Canada’s official languages.  With the use of questionnaires with novice teachers pre and post Bachelor of Education programs and interviews for three years hence, this study sought to explore novice teachers’ perspectives on the use of languages in the FSL classes that include English language learners (ELL). Novice teachers remained consistent in identifying the need to maximize French use, minimize English use, and include languages from students’ language repertoires as useful means to support the FSL acquisition of ELLs. In addition, the novice teacher participants revealed a preference for ELLs to be included in core French as opposed to immersion programming. 

scholarly journals ERROR ANALYSIS OF CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-42
Author(s):  
Wilna Kristina ◽  
Albert Rufinus ◽  
Masfa Maiza
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Research Method ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Analysis Data ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English Language Education ◽  
Study Program ◽  
West Kalimantan ◽  
Foreign Language Learners

Making mistakes when using conditional sentences is common for foreign language learners. Errors in this study are in accordance with the error classification surface strategy taxonomy, namely omission, addition, misform ation and misordering. The purposes of this study are to identify and to classify the types of error and to find the factors causing errors in the use of conditional sentences. The research method used is descriptive qualitative research method that is a case study with taxonomic analysis. Data collection techniques were carried out using test and interview. The research subject was third semester students of the English Language Education Study Program 2018/2019 of Pamane Talino College of Education in Landak Regency, West Kalimantan. The results show that 30.27% of students make omission errors, 21.11% addition errors, 34.86% misformation errors and 13.76% misordering errors. The factors that cause errors are found from the system's own target language (intralingual). The main error factors classified as intralingual errors in this study are: incomplete knowledge in verb forms, incomplete application of rules and false concept hypothesis.

scholarly journals Communicating with Islamic Communication and Broadcasting English Language Learners

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Lina Masruuroh ◽  
Lyla Anggerwina Kusuma
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Teacher Talk ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Communication Style ◽  
Effective Teacher ◽  
Language Classroom

Proper Teacher Talk (TT) used in the EFL classroom contributes to the effective communication in  TEFL. Teachers who are expected to implement proper and effective teacher talk are apparently seeing this as one of the most complicated elements to be appropriately integrated in EFL class due to the different context between target language and first language and also the excessive target language exposure that is given by English teacher to the students as one of authentic learning process in the classroom. Many research focus on researching effective TT strategy in general EFL classroom, however, there is ony limited number of them that focuses on researching this concept in Islamic classroom with its Islamic culture, Islamic learners and Islamic situations. This descriptive qualitative study discussed and proposed the effective teacher talks in supporting the success of teaching english as a foreign language classroom in Islamic context. This article had anaysed the interview result from 7 English-Islamic lecturers in Islamic Broadcasting and Communication Learners (KPI) major and used TT features which later focussed on its ammount, diction and questioning type under SLA theory. This article aims to explain why and what types of language of the proper communication style and strategies should be applied by the English lecturers in Islamic higher education for having the effective teacher talk to English-Islamic  learners, specifically to Islamic Broadcasting and Communication Learners, that could contribute to a professional development in English Language Teaching.

scholarly journals “MY GRADES ARE ALWAYS EQUAL TO STANDARDIZED CRITERIA”: DISCOVERING EFL LEARNERS’ MOTIVATION OUTSIDE FORMAL CLASSROOM

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-369
Author(s):  
Siti Jannatussholihah ◽  
Ashadi Ashadi ◽  
Erna Andriyanti
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Integrative Motivation ◽  
Instrumental Motivation ◽  
Depth Interviews

Motivation in language mastery is a crucial aspect that supports learner success especially in non-formal education. This study explores the motivation of English language learners in non-formal education as well as their perceived difficulties. Employing a qualitative approach with in-depth-interviews in the data collection, the study involved eight learners from a language course institution in Yogyakarta. The transcribed data were analyzed, interpreted, and categorised based on types of motivation and difficulties. The results show that most of the English learners possess instrumental motivation in learning foreign languages, but some tend to have integrative motivation. The instrumental motivation is mainly linked to efforts to pass the exam or tests with good grades. Their integrative motivation is related to recognizing the culture of the target language speech community and desire to communicate with the target community. Despite their motivation, they faced some difficulties related to language skills, especially reading and listening. In addition, they perceived vocabulary as hindrance in all the four skills. Further research to overcome the difficulties is recommended to maximize the learning achievement.

scholarly journals Difficulties in Teaching English Modal Auxiliaries to Turkish Students: A Cognitive Pragmatic Approach

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismail Erton
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Modal Auxiliaries ◽  
Teaching Learning

Recently, attention in modern linguistic theory has been shifted to facilitating a broader understanding of the world, in which language is a tool to establish a bridge between the interlocutor and the recipient. To do so, the development of linguistic, communicative and socio-pragmatic competences enriched with socio-cultural inputs in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) or Second Language (L2) teaching and learning contexts have a significant impact on language learners both to develop their perception as native speakers of English and to facilitate the progress of cognitive skills and capabilities. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate a case study to show some of the difficulties in teaching English modal auxiliaries to Turkish students in EFL/L2 contexts which arise not only from structural characteristics, but also from insufficiently developed linguistic, communicative and socio-pragmatic competencies. It is also asserted that only teaching the lexical properties of modal auxiliaries in isolation from their socio-pragmatic and semiotic contexts alone cannot help learners to become successful communicators in the target language as it ends in communication failures, hesitation, a slower L2 progress, fear and misunderstandings. Therefore, role-play activities, cloze tests, research assignments, writing tasks and songs can also be integrated into the teaching-learning process to assist learners to become more aware of their actual authentic usages in a wide range of contexts through different activities. On the whole, this would also free language learners to refer to their First Language (L1) input and shape a broader understanding of the Foreign Language (FL) framed with its actual authentic usage.

scholarly journals Book Reviews

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Joanne Froese ◽  
Lori Lobchuk ◽  
Jayesh Maniar ◽  
Ellen Pilon ◽  
Toshiyuki Takagaki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Teacher's Guide

Reviews of: 'Fifty Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners,' edited by A. and M. Jordan; 'Vocabulary,' by John Morgan and Mario Rinvolucri; 'Learner English: A Teacher's Guide to Interference and other Problems,' edited by Michael Swan and Bernard Smith; 'Putting Language Into Practice,' series by B. Vizard and C. Vizard; 'Test It, Fix It Pre-Intermediate (English Grammar),' and 'Test It, Fix It Intermediate (English Grammar),' by Kenna Bourke; and 'American Headway 3,' by Mike Sayer, John Soars and Liz Soars.

scholarly journals Software Review: Meetup

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiromi Nishioka
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Online Platform ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Time Availability

Meetup (https://www.meetup.com/apps/) is an online platform designed to get people to share similar interests and to enjoy the social activities with other members offline. Users have access to a wide range of Meetup events that they may wish to participate in according to their interests, date and time availability, and location. Although Meetup is developed for general users, language learners can use the application to construct opportunities to communicate with the native speakers while enjoying their shared interests together. Access to such opportunities is not always easy for learners either studying the target language in their home country or studying the target language in a host country (e.g., Allen, 2010; Kim, 2011). As such, Meetup allows learners to identify events where they can meet native speakers who live near to their location and to interact with them using the target language in naturally-occurring settings.

Variationist Sociolinguistics

Linguistics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Bayley ◽  
Richard Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Sufficient Information ◽  
Multivariate Statistical ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Variationist Sociolinguistics

Researchers in language variation seek to understand how linguistic, social, and individual factors influence speakers’ choices within sets of related variable forms as in, for example, the alternation between working and workin’ in English. A central premise in this approach is that the variation observed at all linguistic levels is not random. Rather, provided that one has sufficient information about speakers’ backgrounds and the linguistic contexts in which a variable form occurs (e.g., whether a final /t/ or /d/ in English followed by a consonant or a vowel), one can predict, in a probabilistic sense, which speakers will be more likely to choose one variant or another. Further, variationists maintain that variation is an essential characteristic of language change. By applying rigorous multivariate statistical analysis to a wide range of variable forms at all linguistic levels, ranging from phonetic detail to language choice, variationists have demonstrated conclusively that most of the variation that is observed in language is highly systematic. The demonstration of systematic variability has been particularly important for minority languages and dialects, which, until the development of sociolinguistics, were often regarded as imperfect copies of the standard languages or dialects with which they co-existed. In recent decades, variationists have expanded the scope of their work and shown that systematic variation is characteristic of all human languages regardless of modality or stage of development. Research on variation in sign languages, for example, has shown that they are subject to many of the same linguistic and social influences as spoken languages. Moreover, language learners, whether first, second, or nth, have been shown to vary systematically in their use of forms that are usually considered obligatory in the target language as well as in their use of forms that vary in the target language. Finally, variationists have sought to use the findings from their research to improve conditions in the communities from which they draw their data, particularly in education for children who speak a minority language or dialect.

scholarly journals Exploring a Phonological Process Approach to Adult Pronunciation Training

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber Franklin ◽  
Lana McDaniel
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Process Analysis ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Phonological Process ◽  
Phonological Processes ◽  
Phonological Learning ◽  
Pronunciation Instruction

Purpose The production of speech sound classes in adult language learners is affected by (a) interference between the native language and the target language and (b) speaker variables such as time speaking English. In this article, we demonstrate how phonological process analysis, an approach typically used in child speech, can be used to characterize adult target language phonological learning. Method Sentences produced by 2 adult Japanese English language learners were transcribed and coded for phoneme accuracy and analyzed according to the percent occurrence of phonological processes. The results were interpreted relative to a contrastive analysis between Japanese and English phonetic inventories and developmental norms for monolingual English children. Results In this pilot study, common consonant processes included vocalization, final consonant devoicing, and cluster reduction. These are processes commonly observed in the speech of children who are typically developing. Conclusions The process analysis can inform clinical approaches to pronunciation training in adult English language learners. For example, the cycles approach (Hodson & Paden, 1981) may provide more clinical efficacy than an articulatory approach in which phonemes are targeted individually. In addition, a process analysis can enable clinicians to examine the principles of within-class and across-class generalization in adult pronunciation instruction.

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