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2022 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. p1
Author(s):  
Steve Daniel Przymus ◽  
Zachary Brooks

Do adult learners of English make different and sometimes better decisions in English than their monolingual peers and teachers? It is likely, possible, and probable. Using evidence from classroom decision making studies, with over 500 participants, we demonstrate that often adult English learners (henceforth adult Active Bilingual Learners/Users of English [ABLE]) make more accurate decisions in English than first language English speakers, when given time and the ability to utilize their whole linguistic repertoire (i.e., translanguaging). We specifically look at differences in decisions that involve 1) common adverbs of frequency (rare, possible, likely, frequently, etc.) and 2) system 1 (implicit) vs. system 2 (analytical) thinking in cognitive reflection tests, such as math story problems. Understanding these surprising differences and advantages in decision making in English as an Additional Language (EAL) has important practical implications for test preparation and daily instruction for adult ABLE students, and potentially as well for ABLE youth in K-12 schools.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brinkley M. Sharpe ◽  
Courtland Hyatt ◽  
Donald Lynam ◽  
Josh Miller

Insults convey information about the speaker’s perception of the target’s personality. Previous research has found that several commonly used insults (“asshole,” “dick,” “bitch”) are uniformly associated with self- and other-reported antagonism (or low Agreeableness). We aimed to replicate and extend these findings by focusing on the insult “asshole,” a common insult used to refer to both men and women. In the present study, participants (n = 397) described the “biggest assholes” in their lives using a measure of the Five-Factor Model of personality. “Assholes” described by participants were typically middle-aged, predominantly male, and included romantic partners, coworkers, bosses, family members, and friends. Results showed that “assholes” were perceived to be characterized by interpersonally relevant traits (i.e., low Agreeableness, high Anger). The consensus Five Factor Model profile for target “assholes” was similar to expert profiles of psychopathic, antisocial, and narcissistic personality disorders. Exploratory analyses conducted on open-ended descriptions of nominated bothersome “asshole-related” behaviors revealed common themes including manipulation, aggression, irresponsibility, and entitlement.


Author(s):  
Kimiko Tsukada ◽  
Kaori Idemaru

Purpose: This research compared individuals from two first language (L1) backgrounds (English and Japanese) to determine how they may differ in their perception of Mandarin tones (Tones 1 vs. 2 [T1–T2], Tones 1 vs. 3 [T1–T3], Tones 1 vs. 4 [T1–T4], Tones 2 vs. 3 [T2–T3], Tones 2 vs. 4 [T2–T4], Tones 3 vs. 4 [T3–T4]) on account of their L1. Method: The participants included two groups of learners of Mandarin (23 English speakers, 18 Japanese speakers), two groups of nonlearners of Mandarin (24 English speakers, 21 Japanese speakers), and a control group of 10 Mandarin speakers. A four-alternative forced-choice discrimination task that included 360 trials was presented in three blocks of 120 trials. Results: The native Mandarin group was more accurate in their tonal discrimination of all six tone pairs than all the nonnative groups. While Japanese nonlearners generally outperformed English nonlearners in their overall perception of Mandarin lexical tones, L1-based differences were less extensive for the two groups of learners. Both learner groups were least accurate on T2–T3 and most accurate on T3–T4. Conclusion: The results suggest that with classroom experience, English speakers can overcome their initial disadvantage and learn lexical tones in a new language as successfully as speakers of Japanese with classroom experience.


2022 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 747-759
Author(s):  
Farisani Thomas Nephawe ◽  
Matodzi Nancy Lambani

Proficiency in English politeness is an invaluable tool in maintaining effective communication. Differences in beliefs, culture and customs, values and norms exist between English and other languages. Non-native English speakers encounter difficulties when making apologies and greetings in the language. The research examined politeness of English and Tshivenda apologies and greetings. The research paper adopted a qualitative research approach designed to build a holistic narrative description concerning social or cultural phenomenon. Formal and informal interviews were carried out ethnographically to collect data from selected 15 historical experts at Phawe, Zoutpansberg in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Data were quantified, simplified, organised, and interpreted using an 'emic' approach because they were interpreted from the perspective of the population under study. The research found that some Vhavenda people could narrate stories around politeness in their society. The research recommends the continuous practice of apologies and greetings to preserve the Vhavenda culture and custom.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Jara-Ettinger ◽  
Roger Philip Levy ◽  
Jeanette Sakel ◽  
Tomas Huanca ◽  
Edward Gibson

In the US, children often generalize the meaning of new words by assuming that objects with the same shape have the same name. We propose that this shape bias is influenced by children’s exposure to objects of different categories (artifacts and natural kinds), and language to talk about them. We present a cross-cultural study between English speakers in the US and Tsimane’ speakers in the Bolivian Amazon. We found that US children and adults were more likely to generalize novel labels by shape rather than by material or color, relative to Tsimane’ participants. Critically, Tsimane’ children and adults systematically avoided generalizing labels to objects that shared no common features with the novel referent. Our results provide initial evidence that the relative exposure to objects of different kinds and language to talk about them can lead to cross-cultural differences on object name learning.


Author(s):  
U. Shukla ◽  
M. Sueyoshi ◽  
B. Diamond ◽  
I. Chowdhury ◽  
C. Stambaugh ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiaoyan He ◽  
Cuihua Bi ◽  
Hao Jiang ◽  
Jianan Meng

People often use concrete spatial terms to represent abstract time. Previous studies have shown that mental timeline (MTL) is represented along a horizontal axis. Studies of the mental timeline have demonstrated that compared with English speakers, Mandarin speakers are more likely to think about time vertically (up-down) than horizontally (left-right/front-back). Prior studies have suggested that MTL in the up and down dimensions originated from temporal-spatial metaphors in language. However, there are still a large number of perceptual experiences in the up and down dimensions, such as visual and sensorimotor experience. Then does the visual experience in daily life affect the MTL in the vertical dimension? This study is aimed to investigate whether visual experience can promote or activate the opposite direction of MTL from implicit and explicit levels. The results showed that when the time information in the task was not prominent, the direction of vertical MTL cannot be affected by ascending or descending perceptual experience. While when the time information was prominent, whether the task was implicit or explicit, compared with the control group, watching the top-down scene significantly increased the top-down direction selection, while in the implicit task, watching the bottom-up scene made the top-down MTL disappear. To the best of our knowledge, our study provides the first evidence that the flexibility of space–time associations in vertical dimension extends beyond explicit and embraces even implicit levels. This study shows that the vertical MTL is activated in certain conditions and could be affected by the visual experience.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Wenzhe Kang ◽  
Ruiyi Zhang

Writing ability is a comprehensive evaluation of language learning level. Nowadays, most universities offer writing-related courses to help students lay a good foundation for writing and contribute to their subsequent studies. Compared with native English speakers, second language learners need to do more revision, which is a great challenge for second language learners. Therefore, in this paper, the aim is to make the second language students understand and apply the revision correctly.    


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-29
Author(s):  
Mohammed Nour Abu Guba ◽  
Bassil Mashaqba ◽  
Anas Huneety ◽  
Omer AlHajEid

This paper explores attitudes toward Jordanian Arabic-accented English among native and non-native speakers of English. Three groups of listeners (native English speakers, Jordanian Arab specialists and non-specialists in English) were asked to rate three groups of speakers (a group of native English speakers and two groups of Jordanian Arabic bilinguals) reading a short story in English on the degree of foreign accentedness, friendliness, pleasantness and clarity. The results showed that the Jordanian Arabic speakers, especially those with a lower level of English, were perceived less favourably than the native speakers. Furthermore, the English native listeners generally had more favourable perceptions than the non-native listeners with regard to the non-native speakers. The degree of foreign-accentedness was highly correlated with attitudes toward non-native speakers, especially among the non-native speakers themselves. The results confirm that a native English accent is preferred over non-native accents.


Author(s):  
E.A. Generalova

This article is devoted to the study of the verbal-semantic level (Thesaurus-I) of the secondary linguistic personality based on the analysis of texts on economic and financial topics. 8 texts (17,348 words, 97,712 characters, 132 minutes 36 seconds), which are transcripts of a monologue public speech by non-native English speakers at a TED conference, and 10 texts (19,227 words, 110,133 characters, 125 minutes 44 seconds), which are transcripts of native English speakers’ speeches, are served as the material for this study. The paper presents the results of a statistical analysis of the use of words frequency, proving the fact that Thesaurus-I of the secondary linguistic personality under analysis corresponds to the verbal-semantic level of native speakers. Further, the results of a statistical analysis of the use of Word Classes frequency are given indicating that the analyzed texts are a reflection of the real English language picture of the world. In addition, a thesaurus of English texts of an economic orientation has been built and analyzed, which allows describing the main characteristics of an English language picture of the world fragment, verbalized in texts of an economic orientation, and highlighting its inherent archetypes.


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