Actual Use Of English Research Articles

An English Diagnostic Intelligence Evaluation Model Based on Organizational Evolutionary Information Entropy

English is widely used as a universal language in the world, but there are still great limitations in the diagnosis and evaluation of English, which leads to serious errors in the actual use of English. In order to realize the English diagnostic intelligence evaluation, improve the English learning ability, and construct the cognitive framework of English learning, this study proposes an English diagnostic intelligence evaluation model based on the organizational evolution information entropy. Firstly, this study adopts the HRNet text feature extraction model and uses the pretrained model to extract text features from text. Secondly, this study adopts the organizational evolution algorithm to simulate the process of sorting, merging, and cooperating in the evolution of the population and classify and organize the characteristic population. Finally, the information entropy method is used to represent the amount of information contained in each feature for evaluation, and the optimal solution is found. The method proposed in this study has good experimental results in actual testing and comparison and can basically realize the function of English diagnostic intelligence evaluation.

Glocalizing ELT Reform in China: A Perspective from the Use of English in the Workplace

With the largest number of English learners in the world, the influence of the English language teaching (ELT) reform in China cannot be underestimated. This article explores the implications of the actual use of English in China’s workplace for ELT reform in the context of English as a lingua franca (ELF). On the basis of cross-validated data (questionnaire survey and focused interview) collected from 2495 participants, we argue that ELT reform in China should be geared towards using English communicatively in ELF settings –that is, firstly, ELT curriculum and pedagogies should focus more broadly on improving students’ communication skills instead of narrowly measuring whether they have successfully adhered to lexico-grammatical accuracy pertaining to Standard English norms. Secondly, the native-speaker-based pedagogical model of ELT in China should be enriched with judiciously selected indigenized variants as long as meaning is not adversely affected. Last but not least, for ELT reforms to bear fruit, it is absolutely crucial to ensure a steady supply of properly trained and resourceful ELT teachers.

CODE-SWITCHING AND CODE-MIXING PRACTICES IN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP) COURSES

This study focuses on the practices of the ESP (English for Spesific Purposes) lecturer and students toward code-switching and code-mixing (CS/CM) in the class activity. The study used descriptive qualitative method in the research. In collecting the data, the researcher shared some questionnaires and did interviews and observation. It provides the clear findings of the actual implementation of the institutional language policy on the medium of instruction in the classroom. CS/CM in both Indonesian and English languages emerged as the lecturer’s code choice in the classroom instruction. Such language practice seems not to only have undermined the role of English as the stipulated medium of instruction, but also underestimated the speech behaviour of bilinguals. It causes the conflict between the language policy and the actual use of English and Indonesian in the classroom.

English Needs of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH): The Multinational and National Companies’ Voice in Indonesia

The vast growths of multinational and national companies to world-class companies in Indonesia result in the advanced demand for English mastery in every working sector including Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). This article aims at investigating the needs and actual use of English in a working environment specifically at OSH. This research adopted mix method which use questionnaire and open-ended interview to obtain the data on the needs of English in OSH field matching to the prerequisite test in recruitment as well as the use of English from fifteen multinational and national companies. The result of the investigation revealed that English certification positioned as a prerequisite test and getting a high priority in job recruitment. When recruiting, companies expect at least an intermediate level for English. Recruits at least have to be able to manage communicative competence for daily conversation and perform a solid knowledge and skills of general OSH vocabulary. Productive skills are more required for communicating to expatriates, leading the meeting, doing a presentation, writing a report and designing Standard Operational Procedure (SOP). This research implies that in spite of position as the foreign language in Indonesia, English has a vital role in the working environment.

Raising awareness in teacher education: from the EFL course book to other ELF-aware sources

English is currently a global lingua franca, through which communication mainly take place between non-native speakers of the language. Despite this reality, English Language Teaching (ELT) and ELT materials have continued to mainly follow the Standard English and British/American cultural paradigms. As a result, even though English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers may be aware of the international use of the language, the majority continue to blindly follow the models presented in the course books used in schools, without ever questioning the language, culture or even images that are depicted. Bearing this in mind, this paper proposes that it is crucial EFL teachers learn how to take a critical stance from early on; therefore, pre-service teacher education programs are viewed as the essential place for future EFL teachers to learn how to critically analyze course books. By doing so, they can take an informed stance on what matters most for their class and be able to develop their own materials that may be more in line with the students’ interests/needs, as well as reflect the global use of English. Finally, this paper ends with some suggestions on how teachers can develop more globally-oriented materials that reflect the actual use of English.

Language Learner Investment and Identity Negotiation in the Korean EFL Context

Most research on language and identity has been conducted in contexts in which English is an official language. As a result, the Western-derived framework guiding identity research may not be representative for L2 learners/speakers in localized settings. To address this potential disparity, this qualitative study examines L2 identity construction and negotiation in the local context of Korea and investigates how English shapes self and social identity through actual use of English in day-to-day interaction. Using purposive homogenous sampling techniques, open-ended questionnaires and in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 adult bilingual Korean-English speakers who have lived abroad for over 4 years, a criterion which assumes the formation of self and social identity aside from their native L1. Analysis of the interview and questionnaire data reveals the challenges and opportunities to reconstruct and renegotiate L1/L2 identities locally. Findings show (1) challenges in using English in the local context, (2) strategic use or non-use of language to blend in or distinguish themselves from the local population, and (3) “natural” L2 expression and identity occurring mainly in private or professional circumstances. Findings suggest that L2 identity negotiation in local contexts is a complex process raising the question of L2 identity options and (dis)empowerment. Pedagogical implications relating to L2 language instruction follow.

Spoken Grammar: An Urgent Necessity in the EFL Context

Recent studies in corpus linguistics have revealed apparent inconsistencies between the prescriptive grammar presented in EFL textbooks and the type of grammar used in the speech of native speakers. Such variations and learning gapsdeprive EFL learners of the actual use of English and delay their oral/aural developmental processes. The focus of this research is therefore to highlight the necessity of integrating features of spoken grammar in L2 materials. Abasic comparative analysis is carried out to describe how reported speech, mainly direct speech, is prescriptively presented in Oxford Pocket English Grammar (OPEG) in comparison to how it is descriptively presented in the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English (LGSWE). The analysis reveals clearly the lack of spoken grammatical features of reported speech in (OPEG). In the light of the analysis, the paper proposes the incorporation of a twofold spoken/written grammar approach targeting primarily EFL advanced learners. Pedagogical implications and considerations for the incorporation of the two-fold grammar approach are thoroughly discussed.

A week in the life of a ‘finely tuned’ secondary school in Hong Kong

The 2010/2011 academic year marked an important turning point in the development of Hong Kong's medium-of-instruction (MOI) policy as it offered secondary schools greater autonomy in determining their MOI policy. This paper examines the implementation of the new fine-tuning MOI policy in a representative secondary school. It compares its school-based language policy with students' (Years 7, 8 and 10) self-reported data about their actual use of English over a five-day week. At the junior secondary level (Years 7 and 8), the findings indicate a close alignment of policy and practice only in the English-medium subjects, whereas in some other subjects, the proportion of use of English could not be clearly determined due largely to the complexity of the school-based policy and teachers' flexibility and autonomy in practice. Furthermore, it is revealed that a highly sophisticated language-using situation at the senior secondary level (Year 10) poses potential challenges for the transition of students graduating from the junior level. The paper concludes by suggesting that a likely outcome of this newly implemented policy will be a return to the colonial government's laissez-faire policy in the 1980s and 1990s, where there was virtually no monitoring of policy implementation.

Relationship between Perceived Needs and Actual Use of English By Graduates of Qatar University in the Workplace

This paper summarizes a survey of the perceived needs and actual uses of English in workplace by graduates of Qatar University. It was carried out by the Documentation and Humanities Research Centre at Qatar University in 2004. A questionnaire was designed to elicit such information. It comprises three parts: 1) demographic information, 2) perceived needs of English in the workplace, 3) the actual use of the different English language skills in the workplace. The sample consists of 644 employees who finished their education at Qatar Universit. In this paper the emphasis is on the interaction between perceived needs and actual use of English by the graduates. The results showed that English is used extensively in civil surface in all its skills. It is also evident that these skills correlate with each other. In addition, English is used at a high frequency. Implications for future research and Pedagogical Implications are also addressed.

Adapting cooperative learning in tertiary ELT

An updated guideline for tertiary ELT in China has shifted the emphasis to the development of learners’ ability to communicate in English. Using group work and getting learners actively involved in the actual use of English are highlighted more than before. This article focuses on adapting cooperative learning methods for ELT with tertiary learners. The adaptation mainly involved three aspects: group formation, technique adaptation, and course evaluation.

The Use of English in the Japanese Novel Tôsei shosei katagi: The Influence of English on Japanese in the Late 19th Century

This paper discusses the use of English in the Japanese novel by Tsubouchi Shôyô Tôsei shosei katagi (“The Student Character of the Present Time”), which was published in sections between 1885 and 1886, and is considered one of the first Japanese novels to be influenced by English. It describes students in Tokyo around 1881 and 1882 (Tsubouchi 1977a), who were in the vanguard of the Meiji era (1868–1912), during which a great deal of effort went into the modernization of Japan. The novel can be said to reflect the actual use of English by students in Tokyo then because the author was a pioneer in realistic novels in Japan, and was himself a student at the University of Tokyo at the time of writing. The discussion deals with the author’s style repertoire, English use in the novel in relation to three language contact phenomena, that is, code-switching, code-mixing, and borrowing, and forms and functions of English use.

J. C. Tressler--A Brief Memoir

It was fifty years ago. I had passed the teacher-intraining test given by the New York City Board of Examiners and was appointed to Richmond Hill High School. That assignment changed my life because the chair of the English Department was J. C. Tressler. As a neophyte, I knew little about the giants in the field of English education, names like Wilbur Hatfield, Angela Broening, Robert C. Pooley, Charles Fries, and Carol Hovious. Among the leaders, J. C. Tressler stood tall. By 1936 he had a national reputation. More than a million books in the English in Action series had been sold. He was sought after as a speaker at conventions and a contributor to educational journals. He pioneered a new emphasis in English textbooks-on making young people proficient in the actual use of English, not on trying to create inept grammarians. He devised a dual organization of textbooks, with composition activities in one section and a reference handbook in the second.