The Selection, Promotion, and Reception of Translated Fiction in Wellington

<p>This is the first systematic study of the selection, promotion, and reception of translated fiction anywhere in New Zealand. The study has two phases. The first draws on the responses of 277 adult readers in Wellington to a questionnaire about their perceptions of translated fiction. The findings reveal that most Wellington readers say they enjoy reading books set in other cultures, but their actual reading is largely English-language oriented. While some respondents expressed a specific interest in reading translated fiction, most prioritised genre and content. Age and ethnicity correlate only weakly with perceptions of translated fiction, but knowledge of one or more second languages is a strong predictor of positive perceptions of translated fiction. The second phase of the study draws on seven semi-structured interviews with representatives from three major book-related entities in Wellington: New Zealand Festival’s Writers Week, Wellington City Libraries (WCL), and Unity Books. The interviews provided first-hand insights into each entity’s policies and practices for selecting and promoting translated fiction. Although its past and current coordinators speak highly of translated literature, Wellington’s Writers Week has seen a significant decline in the number of non-English-speaking writers in the last two decades. Similarly, Unity Books claims to treat all categories of books, including translated fiction, equally, but its commercial practice in fact prioritises certain other categories. Wellington City Libraries, on the other hand, has taken a proactive approach to the promotion of translated fiction, for example through blogs and physical displays. Combined with the survey data, the interview findings demonstrate both the complex nature of reading choices and the challenges of advocating for the enhanced visibility of translated fiction in a largely monolingual context. However, many signs also point to a growing recognition of translated fiction as an important element of eclectic reading. This recognition can lead to positive changes in the future.</p>

The Selection, Promotion, and Reception of Translated Fiction in Wellington

<p>This is the first systematic study of the selection, promotion, and reception of translated fiction anywhere in New Zealand. The study has two phases. The first draws on the responses of 277 adult readers in Wellington to a questionnaire about their perceptions of translated fiction. The findings reveal that most Wellington readers say they enjoy reading books set in other cultures, but their actual reading is largely English-language oriented. While some respondents expressed a specific interest in reading translated fiction, most prioritised genre and content. Age and ethnicity correlate only weakly with perceptions of translated fiction, but knowledge of one or more second languages is a strong predictor of positive perceptions of translated fiction. The second phase of the study draws on seven semi-structured interviews with representatives from three major book-related entities in Wellington: New Zealand Festival’s Writers Week, Wellington City Libraries (WCL), and Unity Books. The interviews provided first-hand insights into each entity’s policies and practices for selecting and promoting translated fiction. Although its past and current coordinators speak highly of translated literature, Wellington’s Writers Week has seen a significant decline in the number of non-English-speaking writers in the last two decades. Similarly, Unity Books claims to treat all categories of books, including translated fiction, equally, but its commercial practice in fact prioritises certain other categories. Wellington City Libraries, on the other hand, has taken a proactive approach to the promotion of translated fiction, for example through blogs and physical displays. Combined with the survey data, the interview findings demonstrate both the complex nature of reading choices and the challenges of advocating for the enhanced visibility of translated fiction in a largely monolingual context. However, many signs also point to a growing recognition of translated fiction as an important element of eclectic reading. This recognition can lead to positive changes in the future.</p>

An Interdisciplinary Approach to Develop Linguistic Abilities in Bilingual Education

The traditional methods of language teaching have always had their roots in the grammar-translation method, used in our educational system for more than 500 years. However, the constant search for updating and the desire to improve the language skills of students has led to a succession of different methods and proposals in a few years with the intention of improving the existing ones. The literature on this subject confirms that there is no perfect approach, but it also shows that the communicative one and the interdisciplinarity in the teaching-learning process of second languages brings good results. The author proposes a holistic interdisciplinary activity for the bilingual early childhood classroom, based on the communicative method. Thus, this chapter presents the elaboration of a musical tale, accompanied by a subsequent audiovisual recording, which will help students to learn a second language in real natural contexts.

Machine Translation in the Teaching and Learning of Chinese as a Foreign Language

Due to its rapid development and increasing availability, machine translation is now being used by an increasing number of teachers and students to facilitate their teaching and learning of second languages. This has provoked heated debate over the role of machine translation in second language education among L2 educators. This chapter sets out to provide an analytical overview of the existing body of research on this topic. It is revealed that the controversy and complexity regarding the use of MT for language education are two-fold. First of all, significant differences reside between L2 educators and L2 learners in their general attitudes to, perceived usefulness of, and actual uses of machine translation. Furthermore, among L2 teachers and L2 students respectively, the views, understandings, and uses of machine translation are also divergent.

Learning aspect in Italian as additional language. The role of second languages

The study examines the role played by English and Romance languages (L2s) when learning grammatical aspect in Italian as additional language (Ln). Swedish university students of Italian (n = 34), divided according to knowledge of a Romance L2 and English aspectual knowledge, completed an interpretation task of aspectual contrast in Italian. Eight native speakers served as a control group. The findings showed that knowledge of a Romance language as L2 and high English aspectual knowledge exerted a differential influence on learning aspect in Italian. This outcome is discussed in the light of a consistent form-meaning relationship between the L2s and Italian. Yet, with a mismatch between grammatical and lexical aspect, the learners’ judgments differed from the native speakers’ judgments. Thus, our findings also support the idea of the existence of differential learning paths sustained by the L2s when learning complex aspectual configurations.

Teaching second language pragmatics in the current era of globalization: An introduction

The increasing mobility of speakers of different languages to different countries, together with the globalized world we live in, have led to multilingual societies in which linguistic exchanges between both native and non-native speakers have become a very common practice. This reality emphasizes the need to help learners of foreign and second languages become not only linguistically competent but also pragmatically competent, in order not to sound impolite or inappropriate in the target language. Addressing this need, studies in interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) have explored which methodology is most effective for teaching pragmatics. Earlier ILP studies compared explicit versus implicit instruction, highlighting the key role of explicit metapragmatic explanations. More recently, scholars have investigated how to create opportunities to for authentic pragmatic practice inside the classroom. To do so, some studies have implemented task-based language teaching to provide students with goal-oriented meaningful activities that address their real-world needs. Other studies have incorporated technology-enhanced materials such as simulated immersive environments and computer-mediated communication to promote students’ engagement in authentic use of the language beyond the classroom. Another current concern in L2 pragmatic instruction is how to account for the emergence of English as an International Language (EIL), and the consequent need to guide learners into acquiring language as a tool to mediate across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Different studies have adopted an EIL perspective, proposing the enhancement of students’ metapragmatic awareness and strategies to deal with the hybrid nature of English and its associated varieties and cultures. The special issue ‘Teaching second language pragmatics in the current era of globalization’ aims to illustrate such current trends, with six contributions by distinguished scholars in the field of L2 pragmatics from all over the globe.

Some Interesting Internet Resources and Activities for Teaching a Foreign Language (English) Online

Is online teaching worse than the one in the classroom? No, it is different and sometimes even better, only teachers should be aware of available resources and techniques in order to use peculiarities of online teaching effectively. We should know when and how to apply them and how to select the most effective ones for specific tasks to achieve the best results in teaching. The aim of this conference presentation is sharing some effective webpages, activities and techniques that work better while teaching online and that have been tested in my online teaching English and Georgian as second languages. The participants will practically get familiarized with some of the resources. More specifically, the presentation will cover the following topics: • some websites for presenting new material, practicing it and testing it • some websites and the activities or techniques for teaching, revising and activating vocabulary • some websites for correct pronunciation • some websites for getting students’ feedback The participants of this presentation will not only theoretically learn the presented resources, teaching activities and techniques, but also they will immediately use the most effective ones for online teaching at the conference session. They will be able to select some new resources of their interest and use them in their teaching practice. Keywords: online teaching, the second/foreign language, English as a Foreign Language (EFL), sharing experience, online teaching resources

Lexical preference in second dialect acquisition in a second language

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: How does second dialect acquisition in a second language compare to that in a first language in terms of rates and predictors of second dialect vocabulary use? Design/methodology/approach: A lexical preference task was completed by four groups of participants residing in Australia: first language speakers of Australian (L1D1) and American (L1D2) English, and first language speakers of Russian who acquired Australian (L2D1) and American (L2D2) English first. The participants named objects which are denoted by different words in American and Australian English (e.g. bell pepper vs capsicum). Data and analysis: The response was coded as either American or Australian, and percentage of use of Australian items was calculated for each group. Findings/conclusions: L1D1 used Australian words the most and L1D2 the least. L2D1 and L2D2 fell between the two L1 groups. L1D2 rate of use was predicted by proportion of life spent in Australia. L2D1 were more likely to choose Australian words if they had lived in Australia longer and had positive attitudes toward Australia. L2D2 were less likely to use Australian words the longer they had lived in the USA. Similar, but not identical, factors predict second dialect acquisition in the first and second languages. Originality: The research is innovative in considering second dialect acquisition in second language speakers and creates a bridge between second language and second dialect acquisition research. Significance/implications: The finding that second language speakers may be more flexible in second dialect acquisition than first language speakers has important implications for our understanding of cognitive and social constraints on acquisition.

Impact of COVID-19 On the Development of Premature Labor

Background: According to the literature described, the perinatal results of maternal viral infections during pregnancy could lead to different obstetric complications; pregnant women have a higher risk of morbidity and mortality due to physiological changes in their immune system and cardiopulmonary system. has associated pneumonia in pregnant women with premature rupture of membranes before labor, preterm labor, fetal growth restriction, fetal death, and neonatal death. Methodology: A narrative review was carried out in which databases such as pubmed, science direct, scielo, academic google, among others, were used to search for articles, these were taken from indexed journals in first and second languages. The keywords DECS and MeSH, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, preterm birth and complications were used. Results: It’s no secret that women who are pregnant due to the same condition are at higher risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 compared to non-pregnant women of reproductive age, and are at risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm delivery. Studies report that most cases of prematurity are secondary to respiratory complications and are done in order to preserve maternal health.

Some analogical methods of teaching English as a second foreign language

To teach English as a second foreign language at university levels provides the educator or professor an excellent occasion to compare the first and second languages by a series of analogical activities that not only highlight the similar forms and structures of them, but more important still, oblige students to comprehend these forms and structures without having either to rely on or depend upon their mother tongue or apprehend them through the prism of their own. In this article are compared Turkish, French and Chinese forms and structures with English through sets of analogical activities that I prepared and applied in classrooms with my Russian students studying the aforesaid languages at the University of Academgorodok near Novosibirsk in Siberia. It was my methodical experiment to bring together English/Turkish, English/French and English/Chinese as interrelated objects of study; to put into relief the interpenetrating analogical elements that these languages possess as a pedagogical approach to them in spite of their very different language families and distinctive structural and morphological features.