scholarly journals The Relationship Between English Language Proficiency and Politeness in Making Requests: A Case Study of ESL Saudi Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 89
Author(s):  
Abdullah Alshakhi
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
The United States ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Saudi Students ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
The Relationship

The acquisition of language as well as the acquisition of social consideration, or politeness, are two sets of separate skills. However, the lack of language knowledge by an English language learner can result in social mistakes that can be perceived as impolite by native speakers. The present study aimed to explore the relationship between English language proficiency and politeness in making requests at retail shops, specifically focusing on Saudi students in the United States. There were five participants in this study: two Saudi ESL students with low English proficiency; two Saudi Ph. D. students with advanced English proficiency, and an American waiter who speaks English as a native language. The study was conducted by using a qualitative research method in two phases. The first phase included observing all participants during interaction, and the second phase included interviewing a server at one of the restaurants where the students visited. The main findings revealed that there was no strong correlation between politeness and English language proficiency in making requests. However, there were some factors found in this study that contributed to politeness level, such as intonations and the use of politeness markers.

scholarly journals HUBUNGAN ANTARA TINGKAT KREATIVITAS VERBAL DENGAN KEMAMPUAN BERBAHASA INGGRIS PADA MAHASISWA JURUSAN PSIKOLOGI ISLAM IAIN PONTIANAK ANGKATAN 2017/2018

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Isyatul Mardiati Mardiati
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
State Institute ◽  
Verbal Creativity ◽  
Islamic Psychology ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract This study described about: (1) the level of verbal creativity of students of the Islamic Psychology Ushuluddin, Adab and Da’wah Faculty, Islamic State Institute of Pontianak  2017/2018; (2) English language proficiency of students of the Islamic Psychology Ushuluddin, Adab and Da’wah Faculty, Islamic State Institute of Pontianak  2017/2018; (3) the relationship between the level of verbal creativity and English language proficiency of students of the Islamic Psychology Ushuluddin, Adab and Da’wah Faculty, Islamic State Institute of Pontianak  2017/2018. The sample in this study were students of the Department of Islamic Psychology, Faculty of Ushuluddin, Adab and Da'wah, Islamic State Institute of Pontianak. The results of this study are that there is a positive correlation between verbal creativity with English language proficiency in Islamic Psychology students From this research, it can also be seen that the level of verbal creativity of Islamic Psychology students is quite high with a percentage of 49.2% and English proficiency of students has a high category in reading skills. Keywords: Verbal Creativity, English Proficiency

When Is a Student an English Learner? An Ethnographic Account of When Students and Educators Invoke the Institutional Identity “English Language Learner”

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-54
Author(s):  
Leena Her
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Limited English Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Proficiency ◽  
Academic Failure ◽  
The United States ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Ability Group ◽  
Popular Imagination

This article complicates the articulation of the achievement gap between native English speakers and English learners (ELs) as a problem rooted in English language proficiency. I challenge the institutional and popular imagination that 5.1 million ELs in the United States are “limited in English proficiency” and whose performance in school can be attributed to limited English proficiency. This argument is drawn from eighteen months of ethnographic fieldwork in a northern California High School where students identified as ELs were not a homogeneous-ability group with similar language needs. Yet there were occasions when educators echoed the concerns of education reformers and policy analysts by glossing the diversity of their EL population. In “explain failure events” the limited English proficiency of ELs was invoked to explain the academic failure of students and the school’s status as an underperforming school. I argue that the continued invocation and gloss of the diversity of ELs participates in the perpetuation of an ideology that ELs are a homogenous student population with similar educational needs. At best, the explanations offered by educators are partial descriptions of the situation of academic failure. I offer alternative explanations of academic failure by exploring the policy and cultural-ideological context of schooling.

scholarly journals A Study on the Relationship between English Language Proficiency and Intercultural Communication Competence among Arab Students in Malaysia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Abdul Qahar Sarwari ◽  
Muhammad Nubli Wahab
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Communication Competence ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Intercultural Communication Competence ◽  
Arab Students ◽  
The Relationship

This study was carried out to evaluate the relationship between English language proficiency (ELP) and intercultural communication competence (ICCC) of Arab students in Malaysia. This study included both of the quantitative and the qualitative data sets to further the information. The participants of this study were 108 Arab students from nine different Asian and African nationalities. Based on the results of this study, English language was the main means of education for the participants, and the main means of their communication with students from other cultures. The results from this study found some significant correlations between the attributes of ELP and ICCC. The good levels of ELP encouraged and enabled individuals to be involved in daily interactions with their peers from different countries who speak different languages, and their interactions helped them to improve the levels of their ELP. Moreover, the participants who obtained higher scores in English language proficiency test got higher mean scores in ICCC as well. Based on the results, in some cases, their personal characteristics and the low levels of their ELP had negative effects on the process of interactions among Arab and other students. The results of this study may add some interesting information in the literature regarding the relationships between ELP and ICCC of Arab students in an Asian multicultural collegiate environment.

The Relationship Between Oral Language and Reading in English-Only, Proficient Bilingual, and Emergent Bilingual Adolescents

2019 ◽  
pp. 112-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Becky H. Huang
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Emergent Bilinguals ◽  
English Only ◽  
Adolescent Groups ◽  
Language Assessments ◽  
Reading Measures ◽  
The Relationship

The chapter examined the English language and reading outcomes and the relationship between language and reading for two bilingual adolescent groups (Proficient Bilinguals and Emergent Bilinguals) and their English-only peers (n = 78 total). Participants completed a variety of English language assessments, and their scores from a standardized accountability reading assessment were collected from their teachers. Results from the study showed that Proficient Bilinguals performed comparably to their English-only peers in all language and reading measures, suggesting that simply being bilingual does not detract from adolescents' English language proficiency. Furthermore, the relationships between oral language and reading differed as a function of participants' English language proficiency. Oral language skills correlated with reading for both bilinguals and English-only adolescents, but the relationships were more robust for bilinguals than for English-only adolescents. Finally, the relationship between speech production and reading was significantly only for Emergent Bilinguals and not for Proficient Bilinguals.

English fever and American dreams

English Today ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinhyun Cho
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
The United States ◽  
English Language Proficiency ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Military Dictatorship ◽  
Korean Society ◽  
English Fever ◽  
Language Capital ◽  
Historical Examination

The current paper examines how English has evolved to become valued language capital in South Korea (henceforth ‘Korea’). Since the late 20th century, Korea has experienced the phenomenon of ‘English fever’, which refers to the frenetic and at times over-zealous pursuit of English-language proficiency across Korean society (J. S. Y. Park, 2009). Researchers have examined ‘English fever’ through various prisms, including education (Park & Abelmann, 2004; J. K. Park, 2009), neoliberalism (Piller & Cho, 2013; Cho, 2015; Lee, 2016), and local socio-politics (Shim & Park, 2008). Rarely has the phenomenon been approached from a historical point of view. Considering the fact that a historical examination of language can provide critical insights into the local processes through which distinctive ideologies of language have been shaped and popularized (Cho, 2017), this paper traces the historical evolution of English in Korean society by focusing on three key periods, i.e. Japanese colonization (1910–1945); the post-independence period and modernization (1945–1980); and military dictatorship and globalization (1980-present). Drawing on the theoretical framework of global centre-periphery divisions embedded in Orientalism (Said, 1979), the analysis focuses specifically on the influence of the United States on the rise of English in Korea. In doing so, I show that ‘English fever’ is not a recent phenomenon but has its roots in historicity through which the seeds for the ongoing phenomenon of ‘English fever’ were planted in Korean society.

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