English as the Lingua franca and the Economic Value of Other Languages: The Case of the Language of Work in the Montreal Labor Market

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilles Grenier ◽  
Serge Nadeau
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Interesting Case ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Lingua Franca

An important feature of Canada is that it has two official languages, English and French, and that one of them, English, is also the international lingua franca. This situation may have particular policy implications. Within Canada, the Montreal metropolitan area presents an interesting case in point: it has a majority of native French speakers, an important minority of native English speakers, and many immigrants from various linguistic backgrounds who try to make their way into the labor market. Using confidential micro-data from the 2006 Canadian Census, this chapter investigates the determinants and the economic values of the use of different languages at work in Montreal. Workers are divided into three groups: French, English and Other mother tongues, and indices are defined for the use of French, English, and Other languages at work. It is found that the use of English at work by non-English native speakers is positively related to the education level of the workers, while there is no such relationship for the use of French by native English speakers. The returns to using at work a language that is different from one’s mother tongue are analyzed with ordinary least squares and instrumental variables regressions. For the English mother tongue group, using French at work has little or no reward, while using English at work pays a lot for the French mother tongue group. For the Other mother tongues group, there is a high payoff to using an official language at work, especially English. This situation is not due to the inferior economic status of the native French speakers; it is due to the fact that English is the international lingua franca. The policy implications of the above results are discussed.

The cognitive saliency of word associations of verbs of speech in English as a Lingua Franca interactions

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-443
Author(s):  
Yang Pang
Keyword(s):  
Common Ground ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Target Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Word Associations ◽  
Similar Word ◽  
Speech Communities

AbstractBuilding on the theoretical insights into the socio-cognitive approach to the study of interactions in which English is used as a lingua franca (ELF)), this paper reports on the idiosyncratic phenomenon that ELF speakers do not adhere to the norms of native speakers, but instead create their own particular word associations during the course of the interaction. Taking the verbs of speech talk, say, speak, and tell as examples, this study compares word associations from three corpora of native and non-native speakers. The findings of this study reveal that similar word associative patterns are produced and shared by ELF speech communities from different sociocultural backgrounds, and these differ substantially from those used by native English speakers. Idiom-like constructions such as say like, how to say, and speakin are developed and utilized by Asian and European ELF speakers. Based on these findings, this paper concludes that ELF speakers use the prefabricated expressions in the target language system only as references, and try to develop their own word associative patterns in ELF interactions. Moreover, the analysis of the non-literalness/metaphorical word associations of the verbs of speech in the Asian ELF corpus suggests that ELF speakers dynamically co-construct their shared common ground to derive non-literal/metaphorical meaning in actual situational context.

De Konstruktie Van Een Vokabulair Amsterdam in Tweede-Taalverwerving

1978 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 121-149
Author(s):  
Geert Jan Hartman
Keyword(s):  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Cognitive Structure ◽  
Random Order ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Sorting Task ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
General Question ◽  
L2 Vocabulary ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Dutch Children

The general question to be answered in this study, and to be reported in this talk,reads: is there a transfer of cognitive structure from mother tongue to second language? As far as the construction of the vocabulary in a foreign language is concerned, the question means: does this process go just like the construction of the Ll-vocabulary (no transfer), or is the L2 vocabulary directly from the beginning onwards stored in a structure similar to the structure resulting from the process of aquiring the mother tongue (transfer)? If transfer takes place from the beginnings then simple English words have to be stored by speakers of Dutch, beginning to learn English, in the same way as by native English speakers, if and only if both groups have in their mother tongue the same cognitive structures at their disposal. In the experiment thirty Dutch children participated, 13-15 years of age, who had just started to learn English, and an equal number of English/Dutch bilingual children of similar age. There were two experimental tasks 1) the sorting task: based on similarity in meaning twenty cards (on every card a single word) had to be sorted in piles? 2} free recall: twenty words in random order were presented to the subject, after which he/she had to mention the words he could recall. The results were analysed in two separate ways; a) a"hierarchical clustering scheme" and b) an analysis of the degree to which the words were sorted together, res-pectively recalled as a function of the abstractness of the relationship that exists between those words. As predicted, the hypothesis that transfer does take place could not be falsified.

A British response to some Indian English usages

English Today ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 19-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raja Ram Mehrotra
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Indian English ◽  
The World ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

English has been established in India for well over two centuries, and is now both its major lingua franca and ‘window on the world’. Some Indianisms are however little known beyond South Asia and are liable to be regarded by native speakers of English as ‘deviant’ in various ways. Here, a project is described in which a set of distinctive and representative Indian English expressions was shown to a group of native English speakers who were asked to comment on them. The list includes both distinctive words (such as face-cut, freeship, and weightage) and distinctive senses of universally used words (such as chaste, see, and tempo). The responses are discussed and a summarizing conclusion presented.

scholarly journals Which words do English non-native speakers know? New supernational levels based on yes/no decision

2020 ◽  
pp. 026765832093452
Author(s):  
Marc Brysbaert ◽  
Emmanuel Keuleers ◽  
Paweł Mandera
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Vocabulary Test ◽  
Word Families ◽  
The World

To have more information about the English words known by second language (L2) speakers, we ran a large-scale crowdsourcing vocabulary test, which yielded 17 million useful responses. It provided us with a list of 445 words known to nearly all participants. The list was compared to various existing lists of words advised to include in the first stages of English L2 teaching. The data also provided us with a ranking of 61,000 words in terms of degree and speed of word recognition in English L2 speakers, which correlated r = .85 with a similar ranking based on native English speakers. The L2 speakers in our study were relatively better at academic words (which are often cognates in their mother tongue) and words related to experiences English L2 students are likely to have. They were worse at words related to childhood and family life. Finally, a new list of 20 levels of 1,000 word families is presented, which will be of use to English L2 teachers, as the levels represent the order in which English vocabulary seems to be acquired by L2 learners across the world.

scholarly journals Specificity of Interaction of Cooperative and Non-cooperative Tactics While Communicating in English as Lingua Franca

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
First Language ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
The Other ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Substitution Principle ◽  
The One ◽  
English As Lingua Franca ◽  
Negative Stereotyping

This article discusses the specificity of interaction of cooperative and non-cooperative tactics. Such interaction occurs during a person’s discursive adaptation while communicating in English as a lingua franca. Based on A. Cogo research, we differentiate between English as a lingua franca (ELF) and English as a native/first language (ENL). The above, in its turn, explains the fact that native English speakers will most likely adapt to interaction in ELF rather than impose ENL standards on non-ENL speakers. The following principles of tactic interaction have been singled out: a) unification and b) substitution. Tactic interaction based on the principle of unification presupposes using one tactic that ensures successful realization of the other. That is how the negative stereotyping tactic in conjunction with the intimacy achievement tactic ensures the successful realization of the latter. Another example of tactic interaction based on the principle of unification is the interaction of the intimacy achievement tactic with the one of intimacy achievement / manipulation. In case of the latter, politeness that is characteristic of the intimacy achievement tactic can be used with a non-obvious purpose. In case of tactic interaction based on the substitution principle, there is a transition of one tactic to the other, thus achieving the communicative goal. For example, manifestation of aggression can be changed by the tactic of intimacy achievement. In that case, a communicant’s aggressive behavior can be changed into the reconciliatory one, thus demonstrating readiness to achieve intimacy.

scholarly journals Which words do English non-native speakers know? New supernational levels based on yes/no decision

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Brysbaert
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Vocabulary Test ◽  
Word Families ◽  
The World

To have more information about the English words known by L2 speakers, we ran a large-scale crowdsourcing vocabulary test, which yielded 17 million useful responses. It provided us with a list of 445 words known to nearly all participants. The list was compared to various existing lists of words advised to include in the first stages of English L2 teaching. The data also provided us with a ranking of 61 thousand words in terms of degree and speed of word recognition in English L2 speakers, which correlated r = .85 with a similar ranking based on native English speakers. The L2 speakers in our study were relatively better at academic words (which are often cognates in their mother tongue) and words related to experiences English L2 students are likely to have. They were worse at words related to childhood and family life. Finally, a new list of 20 levels of 1000 word families is presented, which will be of use to English L2 teachers, as the levels represent the order in which English vocabulary seems to be acquired by L2 learners across the world.

Predictors of Family Caregiver Burden in Shanghai

2020 ◽  
pp. 073346482095102
Author(s):  
Jun Li
Keyword(s):  
Caregiver Burden ◽  
Family Caregiver ◽  
Functional Disability ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Family Care ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Urban China ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Care Recipients ◽  
Family Caregiver Burden

This study explored predictors of family caregiver burden against the backdrop of the rapidly aging population and gradually weakening family care in urban China. It used a unique sample from the 2017 survey on older adults with functional disability and their family caregivers in Shanghai, China. A multi-pronged approach and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression were employed to identify predictors of family caregiver burden. Statistical analysis revealed that approximately 25% of caregivers felt stressed. Many independent variables related to caregivers, care recipients, their relationship, and social support had statistically significant impacts on caregiver burden. This study also found that caregiver educational level, caregiver family economic status, and the number of other caregivers had significant moderating effects on the correlation between older people’s ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL) and family caregiver burden. Policy implications derived from those findings were also discussed.

scholarly journals An Analysis of Madurese Dialect in the English Conversation by the Members of Bata-Bata English Centre (BBEC)

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-121
Author(s):  
Imroatul Mufidah ◽  
Eva Nikmatul Rabbianty
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Language ◽  
Different Parts

The concept of world Englishes refers to English as a global language that means communication in numerous dialects and the movement towards an international standard for English. Varieties of English are used in various sociolinguistic contexts in different parts of the world, also in Indonesia. Since English plays as a foreign language, sometimes Indonesians still use their dialect. This study was mainly purposed to describe Madurese dialect in the English conversation made by Bata-Bata English Centre (BBEC). Mainly, this research is aimed to (1) Describe the patterns of Madurese dialect in English conversation by the members of the Bata-Bata English Centre (BBEC). (2) Know the factors that affect the pattern of Madurese dialect in the English conversation by the Bata-Bata English Centre (BBEC). This research belongs to qualitative research which investigates the group of BBEC about Madurese dialect in their English conversation. The researcher observed the students' learning process, interviewed them and took notes, recordings, and pictures. The study results were that the researcher found the patterns of Madurese dialect occur in the English conversation in three features: pronunciation which caused sound changing, a grammatical pattern that caused incorrect grammar; and inappropriate vocabulary. Second, the researcher found that three factors affected how their dialect in the English conversation. The first is lack of speech, Madurese language influences second, and the last factor is never listening to native English speakers. Madurese language that plays as their mother tongue influences their dialect in the English conversation

Mother-tongue diversity in the foreign language classroom: Perspectives on the experiences of non-native speakers of English studying foreign languages in an English-medium university

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Bruen ◽  
Niamh Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Native English Speakers ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Foreign Language Classroom ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

AbstractThis paper considers the position of university language students whose mother tongue is other than the medium of instruction. Specifically, it investigates the attitudes and experiences of non-native English speakers studying either German or Japanese as foreign languages at an English-medium university. The findings indicate that the non-native speakers (NNSs) of English consider themselves to be at an advantage over the native speakers (NSs) of English in the study of German and Japanese as Foreign Languages, despite the fact that the medium of instruction is English, at least in the early stages of the language module. This is primarily owing to the fact that the non-native English speakers are already experienced language learners with an extensive linguistic repertoire. This view is supported by the NSs of English. Some concerns are expressed by non-native speakers of English in relation to an assumed knowledge of culture and society of the host country. The implications of these findings are discussed. Diverging from previous studies, this research focuses on learners of languages other than English and contributes to recent discussions on the increase in linguistic and cultural diversity and its impact within the foreign language classroom.

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