scholarly journals The Realization of English Vowels by Kuwaiti Speakers

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Hanan A. Taqi ◽  
Nada A. Algharabally ◽  
Rahima S. Akbar
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
English Vowels ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Received Pronunciation ◽  
Insight Into

Learning to speak a language does not necessarily mean learning to realize all the phonemes of that language. When a sound does not exist in a speakers’ mother tongue, s/he tends to use a phonotactic; hence, either replacing the sound with another that might sound similar, eliminating the sound, or adding a sound to make it possible to realize. In some cases, the orthography of the target language causes confusion and is considered misleading to non-native speakers. There are only 6 vowels in Arabic phonetics, long and short. Yet, there are 20 phonetic vowel symbols in Received Pronunciation, and 16 in General American. The following study investigates the realization of the English vowels by Kuwaiti speakers, and the effect of orthography on such realizations. 64 male and female Kuwaiti speakers are recorded reading 55 words and 10 sentences. The data obtained was analyzed by Praat (qualitative data), and SPSS (quantitative data). Focus group interviews were also conducted to gain further insight into the topic. It was found that not only do the speakers replace the vowels that do not exist in Arabic, but they also mispronounce vowels that exist in Arabic as they are negatively affected by the English orthography.

Mass tourists and destination interaction avoidance

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hee-Jung Lee ◽  
Hugh Wilkins
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Underlying Structure ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Mass Tourism ◽  
Sequential Mixed Methods ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Insight Into

The concept of the environmental bubble was introduced by Cohen to describe the ‘psychological comfort’ sought by mass tourists. However, there has been little empirical research to investigate the underlying structure of this construct. This study provides insight into the psychological motivations of those who choose mass tourism and provides a scale, named Tourist Interaction Avoidance, which measures the extent to which tourists seek to avoid uncertainty during their trips and can be used as a predictor of travel style. A sequential mixed methods research design was adopted with qualitative data collected through focus group interviews followed by a self-completion survey to collect the quantitative data. The findings identify three underlying components: ‘protection’, ‘food’ and ‘avoidance’. These provide deeper understanding of the needs of tourists from South Korea by identifying the three components that underpin the dimension and provide a means to measure individual tourist preferences.

scholarly journals Students' perceptions of content and language integrated pedagogy via electronic communication (e-CLIP)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-67
Author(s):  
Supanee Sengsri ◽  
Kiki Juli Anggoro
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Electronic Communication ◽  
Electronic Media ◽  
Media Content ◽  
Educational Service ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Clip Application ◽  
Group Interviews

e-CLIP or Content and Language Integrated Pedagogy via Electronic Communication is an innovation in the Thai education system which supports the integration of electronic media and content-based English. e-CLIP is one of the tools developed to cope with the 21st century and has been integrated into several Thai schools in recent years.  This research aims to compare students' perceptions of e-CLIP application in two distinct settings: a small and large-sized school. This study was conducted in Secondary Educational Service Area 39 Thailand. The data were collected through a survey, focus group interviews, and observations. The collected qualitative data were analyzed through content analysis. Additionally, descriptive and inferential statistics were performed to interpret the quantitative data. The quantitative findings exposed that students from both schools showed positive perceptions of integrating electronic media and content-based English in their classes.  However, qualitative data showed that small-sized students were more motivated to participate in activities utilizing the e-CLIP model than those in the large-sized school. Keywords: e-CLIP Model, electronic media, content-based English

scholarly journals IsiZulu and English in KwaZulu-Natal rural schools: how teachers fear failure and opt for English

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nontokoza Mashiya
Keyword(s):  
Parental Involvement ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Primary Language ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Group Interviews

 In this article, factors inhibiting the use of mother tongue as the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) in rural foundation phase classes is investigated. I analysed qualitative data from focus group interviews with 20 foundation phase teachers that were selected through purposive sampling. Findings show that factors such as prior learner knowledge, better opportunities for children, time constraints, low self-concepts of African teachers, failure of the education system, teachers’ lack of proficiency in the language of teaching and learning, directly translated resources, lack of parental involvement in decision making, and ‘invisible’ school language policies inhibit the use of children’s primary language in the classroom. These nine factors are discussed and the article makes recommendations to suggest ways to alleviate these challenges.

The role of cross-linguistic stress pattern frequency and word similarity on the acquisition of English stress pattern by native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Post Silveira
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
American English ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Stress Pattern ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English As Second Language ◽  
Word Similarity ◽  
L1 Transfer

This is a preliminary study in which we investigate the acquisition of English as second language (L2[1]) word stress by native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese (BP, L1[2]). In this paper, we show results of a multiple choice forced choice perception test in which native speakers of American English and native speakers of Dutch judged the production of English words bearing pre-final stress that were both cognates and non-cognates with BP words. The tokens were produced by native speakers of American English and by Brazilians that speak English as a second language. The results have shown that American and Dutch listeners were consistent in their judgments on native and non-native stress productions and both speakers' groups produced variation in stress in relation to the canonical pattern. However, the variability found in American English points to the prosodic patterns of English and the variability found in Brazilian English points to the stress patterns of Portuguese. It occurs especially in words whose forms activate neighboring similar words in the L1. Transfer from the L1 appears both at segmental and prosodic levels in BP English. [1] L2 stands for second language, foreign language, target language. [2] L1 stands for first language, mother tongue, source language.

scholarly journals Exploring Military Artefacts in Early Childhood Education: Conflicting Perspectives on Cultural Sustainability, Belonging and Protection

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2587
Author(s):  
Åsta Birkeland ◽  
Liv Torunn Grindheim
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Local Area ◽  
Positive Interactions ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Cultural Sustainability ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Chinese Kindergarten ◽  
Insight Into

Social and cultural sustainability is outlined as creating surroundings that include and stimulate positive interactions, such as promoting a sense of community and a feeling of belonging to a community, by being safe and attached to the local area. Artefacts chosen in early childhood education (ECE) institutions are integrated parts of the culture in which the ECE institutions are embedded; artefacts, thus, are understood as serving belonging and cultural sustainability. The study examined what insight into cultural sustainability could be surfaced in conflicting perspectives about military artefacts in ECE. Focus group interviews were conducted with Chinese and Norwegian graduate students and ECE researchers, during which photographs of a Chinese kindergarten where military artefacts and toys were highly represented. Conflicting perspectives on military artefacts among the participant surfaced how belonging are closely intertwined with protection and where to belong: locally, nationally or internationally. The skeptical approach to military artefacts is challenged by awareness of different ways to promote national pride and entanglement among generations. The findings indicate a need for more research on conditions for belonging and the normative complexities of artefacts in cultural sustainability.

Nursing Students’ Experiences With Death and Terminal Patients During Clinical Education

2020 ◽  
pp. 003022282095051
Author(s):  
Şenay Gül ◽  
Seyhan Demir Karabulut ◽  
Handan Eren ◽  
Mahinur Durmuş İskender ◽  
Zehra Göçmen Baykara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Students ◽  
Clinical Education ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Dying Patients ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
First Time

The aim of this study is to explore nursing students’ experiences with death and terminal patients during clinical education. A secondary analysis of qualitative data that were collected through 11 focus group interviews with nursing students was performed. Data obtained from the interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. There were a total of 9 themes across 3 contexts. Data were grouped under the following themes: feelings experienced when encountering death for the first time, reactions to the first encounter with death, factors affecting the reactions to death, involvement in terminal patient care, being informed about the physical process that terminal patients are going through, students’ approach toward terminal patients and their relatives, health professionals’ approach toward terminal/dying patients/their relatives, changes in the ideas about death, and changes in the ideas about terminal/dying patients. The study shows a lack of guidance on the part of teachers who also avoid patients and families who are considered terminally ill.

scholarly journals English Vowels and Consonants Mispronunciation of the Seventh President of Republic of Indonesia in His Official English Speeches and Its Influencing Factors

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 113
Author(s):  
Ambalegin Ambalegin ◽  
Tomi Arianto
Keyword(s):  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Sound System ◽  
British English ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
English Vowels ◽  
Environmental Background ◽  
Observation Method ◽  
Received Pronunciation ◽  
Consonant Sounds

This research aimed to find out the mispronunciation of English vowels and consonants of the seventh president of Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Joko Widodo in his official English speeches based on the standard of British English Received Pronunciation (RP) and the factors influencing his English vowels and consonants mispronunciation. This research is a descriptive qualitative research. In collecting data, the researchers used observation method with non-participatory technique (Sudaryanto, 2015). In analyzing the data, the researchers used articulatory identity method (Sudaryanto, 2015). It was found that the consonant sounds /θ/, /ð/, /v/, /z/, /ʃ/ were pronounced incorrectly, the vowel sounds/ə/, /ɒ/, /ɛ/, /i/, /e/, /ɪ/ were pronounced inconsistently, and the diphthong sounds /ɪə/, /eɪ/, /əʊ/ and /aʊ/ were pronounced incorrectly. The consonant sound /l/ in the middle of the word was not pronounced. The consonant sound /j/ in the middle of the word is omitted. The consonant sounds /g/, /tʃ/, and /r/ were pronounced the same as the spelling. The consonant sounds /t/, /s/, /k/ at the end of the words were omitted. The letter y sounded /ɪ/ at the end of the word was pronounced as /e/. The diphthong sounds /ɪə/, /eɪ/, /əʊ/ and /aʊ/ were pronounced as /ɪ/, /ʌ/, /ɛ/, /ə/, /e/, and /ͻ/. The factors influencing the mispronunciation of English vowel and consonant sounds were mother tongue interference, sound system differences between Indonesian and English, the influence of spelling on pronunciation, educational background, and environmental background.

scholarly journals The effectiveness of explicit or Implicit pronunciation teaching to Greek learners of english

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Βάϊα Παπαχρήστου
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Phonological Development ◽  
Phonological Acquisition ◽  
Speaker Variability ◽  
English Classes ◽  
Pronunciation Instruction ◽  
English Vowels ◽  
The One

Previous research on second language phonological acquisition has shown that mastery of the L2 phonological system constitutes a challenging task for L2 learners. Several parametres have been suggested to constrain pronunciation accuracy, such as, interference from speakers’ mother tongue, learners’ age, quality and quantity of exposure to the target language, as well as motivation, attitude and other social and psychological factors. However, research on pronunciation teaching and its potential effectiveness on learners’ L2 phonological development has been quite limited, especially in foreign language contexts.The main aim of the present thesis is to investigate the production of English vowels by Greek learners of English and the effectiveness of explicit vs. implicit pronunciation instruction within a foreign language setting. To this end, three groups of speakers aged 9 and 15 years old were examined; i.e. two experimental groups, one which received explicit pronunciation tuition and one which was taught the pronunciation of the English vowels implicitly, via the use of recasts, and a control one which did not get any pronunciation tuition. Both experimental groups received 43 mini pronunciation interventions embedded in the regular English classes at school. The methodology adopted was the one proposed by Celce-Murcia, Brinton and Goodwin (1996) moving from controlled and guided activities to more communicative ones. Additionally, L1 Greek and L1 English data were obtained in order to compare the vowel inventories of the two languages.The results showed that after teaching, explicit pronunciation instruction can selectively bring about a change in both young and older students’ L2 vowel production, while no improvement was reported for the implicit and control groups9for either age group. Generally, considerable intra- and inter-speaker variability was revealed after tuition and despite the small changes observed, systematic native-like production was difficult to attain. Moreover, no clear effect of learners’ age was documented. A thorough examination of the factors hindering pronunciation accuracy is presented and the findings are discussed on the basis of current theories of L2 phonological acquisition.

scholarly journals Kva styrer og kva styrker samspelet mellom barnehagepersonalet og foreldra?

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 49-64
Author(s):  
Gunnhild Bergset
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Parental Involvement ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Parent Group ◽  
Migrant Background ◽  
Daily Contact ◽  
Resource Perspective ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Insight Into

The purpose of this article is to present and discuss some of the challenges in communication and interaction between a kindergarten staff and a parent group of migrant background. Based on an interview study conducted in a kindergarten, the article works to provides insight into and understanding of the kindergarten staff’s experiences and reflections from their efforts to improve communication and interaction practices in daily contact with parents of migrant background. The staff completed a kindergarten-based project of the initiative of the principal, in which all employees implemented specific communication and interaction measures. Then, in-depth interviews were conducted with all staff, as well as two focus group interviews with the same group of informants. The study is based on a dynamic concept of culture and highlights the challenges of asymmetric communication and the possibilities of communicating and interacting based on a resource perspective. The findings show that a movement has taken place towards dialogue-based reciprocity in the staff`s attitudes towards communication and interaction with these parents. The article argues that connection between a trying-out of concrete, professionally grounded practice and pedagogical reflection constitutes the necessary basis for a shift from a problem orientation to a resource orientation in communication and interaction. One outcome of this resource perspective was that the kindergarten staff recognized the parent`s experiences and perceptions as valuable for achieving the parental involvement required by kindergarten`s social mandate.

Divergent Perspectives: Post-Title IX Sportkids’ Views of Female Athletes

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-162
Author(s):  
Katie Sullivan Barak ◽  
Chelsea A. Kaunert ◽  
Vikki Krane ◽  
Sally R. Ross
Keyword(s):  
Title Ix ◽  
Female Athletes ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Young Athletes ◽  
Sport Media ◽  
College Female ◽  
Photo Collection ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Historical Moment ◽  
Insight Into

Previous research suggests that sport media provide one avenue for boys and girls to learn what and who is valued in sport. We explored girl and boy athletes’ perceptions of photographs of female college athletes, which provided insight into young athletes gendered perceptions of athletes and sport. Sixty-nine sportskids participated in focus group interviews where they discussed what they liked and disliked about a series of photographs of college female athletes. Framed by feminist cultural studies, the authors situated their analysis within the current historical moment bounded by young athletes’ post-Title IX and postfeminist sensibilities. The authors present their appraisals of a few exemplar images that characterize themes that appeared across the whole photo collection. Emergent themes included gendered sport terrain, which situates their comments within the gendered milieu of their sport experiences. Data also revealed themes associated with the select images: female athleticism, inspiration versus objectification, transgressing heteronormative femininity, and sporty cute. Overall, both girls and boys struggled with images that were interpreted as too feminine or too muscular/masculine. These data also point to how little has changed in the past 50 years regarding how female athletes are culturally constructed. While the borders of acceptability may have shifted, female athletes continue tenuous navigation of socially acceptable boundaries of athleticism, femininity, and muscularity while masculine privilege in sport continues and the presence of females in sport is framed by a heterosexual male gaze.

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