scholarly journals Exploring the Teaching of Communicative Grammar in EFL Classes in Benin to Promote Language Use in CBA Context

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Estelle Bancolé-Minaflinou
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Language Practice ◽  
Communicative Strategies ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Real Language ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Efl Learning

This paper sets out to investigate how communicative grammar can effectively be used in EFL classes in Benin topromote real language practice. To collect data, instruments such as questionnaires, interview and class observationwere used. The sample of the study consists of twenty purposively chosen secondary EFL teachers (ten of them teachtraditional grammar and ten, communicative grammar) and twenty six students ranging from beginners to advancedlevel. The data were analyzed using the SPSS tools, the goal of which is to verify the effectiveness of this approachover the traditional one.The findings of the investigation have revealed the following: (i) not many teachers teach communicative grammarin Benin and those who claim they teach it still have a hazy idea of what it is supposed to be; (ii) communicativegrammar teaching is what is needed to make EFL learning a rewarding experience for students’ effective use of thelanguage; (iii) both approaches are not mutually exclusive for they can become perfect complements.The study concluded with some strategies for implementation illustrated by some suggested activities that candevelop students’ communicative strategies and interactional skills.

scholarly journals INDONESIAN EFL TEACHERS’ CONCEPTUALIZATION OF CULTURE IN THE 21ST CENTURY EFL CLASSROOM (Konseptualisasi yang Dimiliki Guru Bahasa Inggris Indonesia Terkait dengan Kultur dalam Pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris sebagai Bahasa Asing pada Abad XXI)

SUAR BETANG ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruly Morganna ◽  
Sakut Anshori
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Knowledge Construction ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Learning Culture ◽  
Linguistic Competence ◽  
Teaching Principles ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Per Se ◽  
The Way ◽  
Efl Learning

In dealing with the 21st century EFL pedagogy where interculturality and multiculturality are promoted to be the crucial aspects of EFL learning, this study is oriented towards investigating Indonesian EFL teachers’ conceptualization of culture in EFL classroom. The conceptualization in this sense is emphasized on their knowledge construction underlying their teaching principles. This study was conducted qualitatively by engaging three Indonesian EFL teachers selected purposively. The data of this study were garnered from open-ended questionnaires and interview. Regarding the teachers’ conceptualization, this study revealed that culture referred to the way of living becoming the framework of language use since language per se referred to a social semiotic, and the framework of learning going on inter and intra-individually. In EFL learning, culture was viewed from its interculturality. Interculturality was supported although two teachers stayed in native-speakerism specifically for linguistic competence. This study is meaningful since it serves a set of contributive knowledge vis-a-vis culture in EFL learning for EFL teachers and curriculum developers. However, this study is still delimited on cultural conception. Further studies are expected to work on the practice of cultural conception to deal with the 21st century EFL learning in Indonesia.

scholarly journals Discovering Language Properties through Corpus-Based Dictionary Data Analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-70
Author(s):  
Paul Lyddon ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Language Use ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Linguistic Data ◽  
Large Samples ◽  
Widespread Availability ◽  
Real Language

To reveal underlying patterns in real language use, linguists have increasingly come to rely on corpus analyses, involving the evaluation of statistical frequencies in generally sizable bodies of natural linguistic data. However, accessing and analyzing large samples of raw language is neither always practical nor even truly necessary, especially in cases pertaining to structural characteristics. In fact, the requisite data can oftentimes be gleaned from a state-of-the-art (i.e., corpus-based) dictionary. Moreover, given the widespread availability of easily searchable electronic dictionaries nowadays, almost any language teacher or learner can use one to answer a number of these types of queries. This paper illustrates this claim with a step-by-step analysis of corpus-based dictionary data for the purpose of formulating the sound-symbol relations in English words with vowels preceding –gh.

scholarly journals Task Based Learning (TBL) in EFL Classroom: from theory to practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 139-144
Author(s):  
Muhammad Badrus Sholeh ◽  
Sahril Nur ◽  
Kisman Salija
Keyword(s):  
Learning Process ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Learning Framework ◽  
Theory To Practice ◽  
Efl Teachers

Task-Based Learning (TBL) is one of the contemporary approaches, which has attracted a great deal of study in recent decades. It is a language education approach that offers students the opportunity to use authentic target language use by tasks. Task-Based Learning drives skill-based teaching and learning, engages students in the learning process, motivates and enhances student imagination. This paper focuses on some fundamental aspects of TBL in literature: (1) the task-based learning definition, (2) the task-based learning characteristics, (3) the task-based learning framework, (4) the task-based learning benefits, and (5) a proposed task-based learning practice for EFL learners. The paper gives useful suggestions to EFL teachers who have similar teaching strategies to help students meet such learning goals in their classrooms and continue positive TBL patterns in teaching and learning.

Do we teach the real language?

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-241
Author(s):  
Yevgen Matusevych ◽  
Ad Backus ◽  
Martin Reynaert
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Real Language ◽  
Recurrent Patterns

This article is about the type of language that is offered to learners in textbooks, using the example of Russian. Many modern textbooks of Russian as a foreign language aim at efficient development of oral communication skills. However, some expressions used in the textbooks are not typical for everyday language. We claim that textbooks’ content should be reassessed based on actual language use, following theoretical and methodological models of cognitive and corpus linguistics. We extracted language patterns from three textbooks, and compared them with alternative patterns that carry similar meaning by (1) calculating the frequency of occurrence of each pattern in a corpus of spoken language, and (2) using Russian native speakers’ intuitions about what is more common. The results demonstrated that for 39 to 53 percent of all the recurrent patterns in the textbooks better alternatives could be found. We further investigated the typical shortcomings of the extracted patterns.

“It’s like herding butterflies”

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-80
Author(s):  
Joanna Marhula
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Rhetorical Figures ◽  
Complementary Role ◽  
Global Discourse ◽  
Academic Lectures ◽  
Real Language ◽  
Discourse Functions ◽  
Dialogic Interaction ◽  
Communicative Discourse

Abstract This study focuses on simile in real language use. More specifically, it examines the explanatory power of similes in dialogic interaction where speakers are trying to bring their intimate experiences closer to others. The material under analysis comes from BBC Radio 4 “Woman’s Hour” programmes and is characterized by a relatively high simile frequency compared with other spoken genres, for example, academic lectures (Low, 2010). In view of this fact, the study aims to explore the discourse functions of similes in radio talk: are they one-off rhetorical figures which cater for local discourse needs only, or do they also form extensive explanations with more global discourse functions? Apart from examining how simile-type comparisons are employed in radio conversations, the study also explores the interplay between similes and metaphors as well as their complementary role in realizing communicative discourse goals.

scholarly journals Coatsandbrasandjeans– andclothes, too: lexical contrast between hyperonyms and hyponyms

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-499
Author(s):  
ANU KOSKELA
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Prototype Structure ◽  
Real Language ◽  
Special Case ◽  
Category Prototype

A special case of lexical contrast involves contrasting a hyperonym and a hyponym (as inclothes and socks), leading to the narrowing of the hyperonym's sense. However, not all hyperonym/hyponym pairs are amenable to contrast (e.g.?animals and cats). While category prototype structure forms a strong motivating and constraining factor for hyperonym/hyponym contrast (e.g. Lehrer 1990), what is lacking in previous work is a systematic consideration of the co-hyponyms in real language use. To that end, data from the GloWbE corpus (Davies 2013) were used to investigate which terms for items of clothing (e.g.coat,bra,jeans) can be contrasted with their hyperonym (eitherclothesorclothing). While marginal members of theitem of clothingcategory (e.g.belt,hat) have a stronger potential for contrasting with the hyperonym, even prototypical hyponyms (e.g.shirt,jeans) contrasted withclothes/clothingin at least some contexts. Language users can therefore manipulate category boundaries to meet their discourse needs, exploiting a range of dimensions of difference to create contrast. Many clothing terms were also found to contrast more readily withclothesthan withclothing, suggesting that the meaning ofclothesis generally narrower than that of its near-synonymclothing.

Corpus Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition – the use of ACORN in the teaching of Spanish Grammar

2010 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guadalupe Ruiz Yepes ◽  
Ramesh Krishnamurthy
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Grammar Teaching ◽  
Real Language ◽  
Authentic Language

AbstractWith increasing demands for the use of authentic language in the teaching of a second language, the potential role of corpora has been an important issue of discussion in the last two decades. Corpora have helped to reveal patterns of real language use and uncovered discrepancies between the language portrayed in textbooks and the language used in real life.This article focuses on corpus-driven as well as corpus-based grammar teaching, summarising the experience of applying ACORN (the Aston Corpus Network) in the teaching of Spanish Grammar to students in the School of Languages and Social Sciences at Aston University. Our main goals were to show the students a large number of examples taken from authentic language texts, in order to support the grammar explained in class, and to provide them with a very useful resource that they can use while writing essays, preparing for exams, etc.

scholarly journals Doing role-play successfully in Japanese language classrooms

2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Eric Bray
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Role Play ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Language Practice ◽  
Mass Market ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
English Textbooks ◽  
Set Up

Roleplay is a traditional EFL technique included in many books on EFL methodology as well as mass-market English textbooks. However, roleplay can be a challenge in Japanese EFL classrooms, and teachers are often wary of the uncomfortable silence that can result when trying this relatively open-ended activity with students accustomed to teacher-fronted classes and tightly controlled language-practice activities focused on form. In fact, roleplay can be a great tool for language learning and considerable fun for students and the teacher alike if set up and monitored carefully with attention to a few key points. When done successfully, roleplays can also transform the atmosphere of the classroom as students manage the risk and unpredictability of freer language use. ロールプレイは市販の教科書で使われているだけでなくＥＦＬ方法論テキストにも明記されている従来からあるテクニックである。しかしながら、教師主導型の授業や厳しく制限された言語形態重視の練習に慣れている学生相手に、この比較的無制限の言語活動を行うと不快な沈黙を伴うことが多く、日本の授業で行うには課題の多いテクニックである。だが実際、いくつかのカギとなる点を考慮に入れて注意深く組み立て調整すれば、学生にとっても教師にとっても言語学習の効果的、かつ楽しみを与えてくれる手段でもある。ロールプレイがうまく作動すると、学生は自由な言語活動が持つ危険性と予測不能性にうまく対処し、クラスの雰囲気は大きく変わるのである。

scholarly journals Sprachgebrauch und Spracheinstellungen in der Deutschschweiz. Pfarrpersonen als sprachbewusste Sprecherinnen und Sprecher im Fokus

2017 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Oberholzer
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
Specific Group ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Swiss German ◽  
German Dialects ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Real Language ◽  
High Degree

The relation between Swiss German dialects and Standard German has been subject to public and scholarly debates for over 100 years. Among the most frequently discussed points are the appropriateness of spoken Standard German in different contexts and the attitudes of Swiss people towards the two varieties. This paper summarises the results of a completed research project (Oberholzer in Vorb.), which surveyed language use and language attitudes in Swit-zerland for a specific group of speakers: pastors and priests working in German-speaking Switzerland. The paper shows how pastors and priests make use of the diglossic situation and the possibility to code-switch in Sunday services. The use of Standard German emerges as an important communicative resource in German-speaking Switzerland. In addition, real language use and intended language use match to a high degree; this shows the degree of language awareness of this particular group in a diglossic situation. Furthermore, a relatively new approach – the assumption that several mental models of High German coexist – helps to show differentiated language attitudes and to contradict some of the most common stereotypes regarding Standard German in German-speaking Switzerland. The attitudes towards Standard German in this study are significantly more positive than those observed in previous studies.

scholarly journals DEBUNKING THE MYTHS OF NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKER TEACHERS: AN INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR MASAKI

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 126
Author(s):  
Flora Debora Floris
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Vice President ◽  
English Speaker ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Native English Speaker ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Georgetown University ◽  
And Training ◽  
Phd Program

Masaki Oda is a Professor of Applied Linguistics at Tamagawa University in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in Sociopolitical Aspects of Language Use. Prof. Oda got his PhD program from Georgetown University, where he also taught Japanese for several years. He returned to Japan in 1990 and began teaching EFL and training EFL teachers at Tamagawa University. He was the 2003 – 2004 Chair of the NNEST Caucus and is now the Director of Center for English as a Lingua Franca (CELF) at Tamagawa University and the AsiaTEFL Vice President. This interview highlights Professor Oda’s experiences and opinions regarding NEST (Native English Speaker Teacher) and NNEST (Non-Native English Speaker Teacher). He attempts to raise awareness among the professionals that there should be no divide between NEST and NNEST in the ELT profession. 

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