Language Encounter Research Articles

A RACIO-LINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE OF LANGUAGE DISCRIMINATORY INSTANCES IN SCOTLAND

Racism has evolved to include not only skin colour but also linguistic discrimination, specifically targeting the use of the English language. Hence, educators and scholars have started acknowledging the language encounters of immigrants in Western society. This study intends to broaden the understanding of language discrimination experienced by immigrants in Scotland by examining the concepts of 'Linguistic strategy of resistance', 'ethnic accent bullying', and 'linguistic stereotyping'. The study uses questionnaires to elicit responses from 40 respondents and adopts a quantitative analytical approach for its analysis. Findings reveal that a significant proportion of migrants have encountered linguistic racism in many forms, including both explicit and implicit instances and in both formal and informal contexts. Some individuals can devise strategies to fight being abused or discriminated against linguistically, while others admit to allowing it to go unchallenged, resulting in psychological consequences. In conclusion, the study postulates that racism has indeed extended to the use of language, and despite the Western world's assertion of being post-racial, migrants in Scotland still face language-related discriminatory experiences daily.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0770/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Engaging in language therapy to enhance the proficiency of simultaneous bilingualism: A case study of a multilingual child

Bilingualism and multilingualism are no longer exceptional occurrences on today’s globe; instead, they have become the prevailing standards in cultures worldwide. Individuals can become bilingual by either simultaneous acquisition of two languages from childhood or sequential acquisition over time as bilinguals. The primary objective of this study is to determine the role of language therapists in assisting parents and teachers in optimizing the dual-language proficiency of young children. This case study was conducted to investigate this matter, and it was determined that a balanced utilization of both languages, coupled with guidance from language professionals to parents and teachers, dramatically enhances a child’s performance. In addition, parents consistently strive for their child to become multilingual, as they perceive it as a beneficial factor for their child’s future. The data was gathered through a semi-structured interview session with parents and real-life scenario observations. This case study illustrates the advantages and disadvantages of being bilingual or multilingual. The study findings will assist parents and early childhood educators in dealing with children coping with different language encounters at home and school.

Investigating Passive Voice Problems in Kurdish Students’ Translation from and into English

Metaheuristic Translation is a means in which communication takes place between people who do not speak the same language and do not share the same culture. It is an undeniable fact that learners of language encounter problems in shifting a language into another using accurate aspects of the target one. This research looks at Badini-Kurdish students’ difficulties while translating passive voice structures from and into English. It also determines similarities and differences between English and Badini-Kurdish in terms of passive voice constructions. The participants of this study are 30 undergraduate students of the Department of Translation, College of Languages, University of Duhok. Two tests, i.e., an English language proficiency test and a translation test have been conducted for the purpose of data collection. Moreover, Larson’s (1984) model for translation assessment is used to assess the data obtained, combining statistical analysis with a qualitative evaluation. For data analysis, a descriptive method is used to explain the passive voice structure in both languages, a contrasted method is used to identify similarities and differences between the two languages, and a mixed method is used to accomplish the study’s goal. This research adds to the body of literature by illuminating the challenges and difficulties Badini-Kurdish students confront while translating passive voice constructs and offers insightful information for translators and language educators.

When minoritized languages encounter MT

Machine translation (MT) is improving even for low-resource minoritized languages such as Basque, for which free online engines are available. However, the level of adoption and common practices involving the technology are unknown, even though it has the potential to disrupt a carefully planned Basque language revitalization and sustainability process. To shed light on MT usage habits and perceptions among the Basque community, we report on the results of a survey of language specialists and general users, and a focus group with professional translators and interpreters. The data shows that MT is already becoming more popular among users of all backgrounds and that, overall, the attitude towards the technology is positive, which might result in increased use in the future. However, participants express concern about the impact MT will have on the development of Basque. The results call for further research on the language impact of MT and MT literacy initiatives.

“You Speak Ukrainian Very Well”. Language Encounters during Ethnographic Fieldwork

Some students of anthropology must be familiar with passages from Bronisław Malinowski’s work (1981), in which, based on his personal field experience gained in the Trobriand Islands, he formulated guidelines and postulates defining a new type of research method in social anthropology. One of the most important aspects of Malinowski’s methodological manifesto was drawing attention to the fact that the language of the studied community is a necessary tool. Malinowski strongly emphasised that ethnographers cannot explore the culture of the studied communities, and especially their “spirit”, without knowing the language of the local people. Thus, the ability to speak the respondents’ language, in addition to long-term research, became a rubric for ethnographic studies. In this article, the starting point for the reflection on ethnographic presence in the field is the language and the ethnographer’s level of linguistic (in)competence. Using my own research experience as an example, I show that the language of locals spoken by ethnographers is not only a tool for communication with fieldwork partners, but also that the very use of this language and the level of its competence or the use of its specific variants can become, if ethnographic reflexivity is maintained, the subject of observation and reflection, revealing selected aspects of the explored community and its culture.

Factors Affecting Speaking Proficiency in English Language Learning: A general overview of the speaking skill

For effective communication, speaking abilities must be developed and improved. One of the most complicated aspects of learning a new language is gaining speaking proficiency, which is commonly considered difficult. Many people learning a language encounter difficulties expressing their ideas and thoughts verbally. Individuals frequently need help with expressing themselves clearly in a foreign language. Individuals cease verbal communication when they encounter psychological obstacles or exhaust their repertoire of suitable linguistic formulations. Proficiency in spoken English is a vital requirement in today's modern communication and media landscape. This study aims to illustrate the significance of focusing on the factors that impact the speaking proficiency of those learning English as a second language. This review paper provides an overview of the existing body of research on speaking, its significance, the features of speaking performance, difficulties related to speaking, and factors that can influence speaking performance. The literature review indicated that learners prioritize and require increased attention to effective instruction in speaking skills. The findings of this study have the potential to inform educators and researchers about the speaking demands that English language learners face within the domain of English language instruction and acquisition.

Multilingual encounters in online video practices: the case of Portuguese university students

ABSTRACT Watching Netflix, YouTube or TikTok videos are day-to-day activities of young people which can produce different language encounters. We argue that watching videos online opens opportunities for students to use their plurilingual repertoires through different and combined modalities and analysing these practices is useful to construct the multi-situated learning in the classroom. This is an exploratory study that aims to document how Portuguese university students engage in video practices, meaning watching videos, reacting to videos and commenting on videos. In 2022, we issued a questionnaire aimed at all students at the University of Aveiro, collected 212 full responses, and analysed it through descriptive statistics. The results attest to the language diversity of the new media, where English, though dominating, is not the only foreign language used by participants, featuring Spanish, French, Korean and Japanese. To understand these languages, the participants mostly used subtitles in different languages and intercomprehension strategies. The students were confident that they learnt different languages through video practices, especially English and Romance languages. These results indicate that online video practices frequently lead to valuable multilingual and multimodal encounters, hence they could be beneficial to use in the classroom to enrich students’ plurilingual repertoires and multiliteracies.

The Relationship between Perceived Psychological Barriers, Anxiety, and Rural Affiliation of Pakistani College Students to Communicate in English

Learning a foreign language is always a challenging and complicated process. Learning other than the native language encounters several psychological barriers in the minds of learners, particularly, for students belonging to rural areas. The study goal is to identify the relationship between perceived psychological barriers, anxiety, and rural affiliation of Pakistani college students communicating in English. The objective of the study is to investigate perceived psychological barriers encountered by students speaking in English. The study used the mixed-method design of quantitative and qualitative research. The data were gathered through questionnaires from students and semi-structured interviews with teachers. Adopting purposive sampling of 50 students and 10 college teachers to know their perspective on the objective of the study. The main identified barriers were inferiority complex, peer pressure, loss of words, hesitation, lack of confidence, and shyness. The results also showed a negative relationship between students’ rural affiliation which caused psychological barriers and speaking anxiety among them. The study results contribute to the contemporary literature on pedagogical psychology, foreign language anxiety, and applied linguistics. In particular, to the well-being of rural learners and to understand the relationship between psychological development, anxiety, and social background.

Neuro Linguistic Programming : An Effective Tool for Teaching of English as a Second Language

Possessing a strong command of the English language is one of the fundamental requirements. There is English-language access to all of the content, both technical and non-technical. Learners of the English language and teachers of the language encounter a great deal of difficulty in both the learning and teaching of the language. The field of Neuro Linguistic Programming investigates the workings of the brain and how it processes various linguistic capabilities. It is concerned with the way the brain operates, and consequently, how the brain must be taught in order to get the desired results. The learner can develop their abilities like as listening, speaking, reading, and writing with the help of this. This is an effort to concentrate on bettering the process of teaching and learning languages through the utilisation of a novel method known as neuro-linguistic programming.

Postcolonial Semantics


 
 
 “Postcolonial semantics” is the study of meaning and meaning- making in postcolonial contexts, and at the same time, it is a way of articulating and mediating metasemantic critique. In this paper, my aim is to provide a brief overview of postcolonial semantics as an emerging field and approach, focusing on central concepts and analytical scopes.
 The theoretical backdrop for the establishment of postcolonial semantics is partly found in the developments of new fields, such as colonial and postcolonial linguistics, postcolonial pragmatics, and decolonial linguistics, and partly in the cognitive and cultural renewals of linguistic semantics. The cognitive cultural semantics to which this special issue is devoted is a conceptual kind of semantics, as opposed to a “realist” (or “referential”) semantics. It is also a semantics of “understanding” (U-semantics), rather than a semantics of “truth” (T-semantics). Synthesizing the overall aims of these movements, we can say that postcolonial semantics is a conceptual and U-semantic approach to the linguacultural complexities that colonial language encounters have brought about, and an approach that combines cultural and critical perspectives. Postcolonial semantics engages critically with the semantic conceptualizations born out of colonial-era linguistic worldviews, especially in the form of a critique of the terminological and conceptual biases that have entered into the frameworks of modern cognitive and social sciences, including Eurocentric and Anglocentric concepts and terminologies that characterize the vocabulary and priorities of modern linguistics.
 
 

Meaning-Making in the Untranslatability: A Translanguaging Analysis of the Film Love After Love

Films have been held for a long-term tradition as a meaning-making practice in visual and audio play, in the hybridization of language, image and sound, as well as in interactive symphonization with the audience/viewers. Through the emerging theoretical lens of translanguaging, this article analyzes the translingual practices, performance, instances in a Chinese film entitled Love After Love (adapted from Eileen Chang’s short story and directed by the Hong Kong Director Anne Hui), in which a Portuguese sonnet lyrical poem (Rimas) is delicately crafted in the film and projected in the trailer. Through this analysis, we aim to examine how translanguaging aesthetics transcend language boundaries, transforming from the seeming untranslatability to communicative meaning-making practice. The film presents a situated and embodied poem recital scene that encompasses untranslatable moments of imagination, thus transcending the Mandarin-English-Portuguese divide. The encounter and intertwining of heterogeneous languages and registers create a transformative space replete with tensions between reality and imagination, between lucidity and ambiguity, between resistance and compliance, interrogating the underlying discourses beyond languages and rendering the untranslatability meaningful. This translanguaging-informed film review thus offers an insightful autopsy of the literary aesthetics of the novel by Eileen Chang.

Frequency of the misuse of prepositions by Albanian students: A case study with first year students studying Greek, Italian and German at the Faculty of Foreign Languages

This study looks at English prepositions and the challenges that students learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) encounter in mastering them. The purpose of this study is to describe the problems Albanian students studying English have in discovering out how to use prepositions correctly. Examples of preposition misuse are taken from the descriptive essays submitted by Albanian students at the University of Tirana, Faculty of Foreign Languages. We acknowledge that inappropriate use of prepositions was one of the ten most common errors observed in the collected corpus of essays based on the findings of the study conducted with students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages. The findings suggest that Albanian students studying English as a foreign language have difficulty using prepositions correctly. Prepositions are the most frequently misused part of speech. By, at, in, on, to, of, and for were the most often misused prepositions.

Scenes of Linguistic Warfare in Shakespeare’s King Henry V

This paper analyses two battle scenes in the Other’s language in Shakespeare’s King Henry V. In this play, the encounter of different national, regional, and social languages leads to linguistic conflicts and ultimately questions the idea of a unified England and homogeneous English. By having a closer look at the concepts of nationalism and language of the time, this article explores how language was viewed and how Shakespeare expressed his opinion about the “minority” languages. The regional captains’ scene on the battlefield and the encounter between Pistol and the captured French soldier display different versions of linguistic otherness. This article will show how the linguistic confusion and transgression caused by different foreign accents and distinct idiolects contribute to the humour of the two scenes, but also demonstrate their subversive force to the King’s project of nationalistic and linguistic unity. By staging multilingualism, Shakespeare presents conflicting languages that narrate their regional and ideological background and create a world where disparate points of view enter into a dialogue with each other.

Enhancing Narrative Writing Skills of Elementary School Teacher Education Students through Concentrated Language Encounter (CLE) Model Assisted by Short Film Learning Media

This research aims at improving the narrative essay writing skills of elementary school teacher education students through Concentrated Language Encounter (CLE) learning activities assisted by short film learning media by employing a quasi-experimental nonequivalent group design. The subjects were all primary teacher education students in West Java, with a sample of 31 elementary school teacher education students in Cimahi City as the experimental class, and 31 Madrasah Ibtidaiyah teacher education students in Bandung City as the control class. The results of the post-test research showed that the average skill of writing narrative essays in the experimental class was 81.10, while the control class obtained an average of 66.32. While the test results of the average N-gain difference in writing narrative essay skills with 2-tailed sig were 0.000 with a significance level of less than 0.05. These findings revealed that there was an increase in the writing narrative essay skills of elementary school teacher education students through the application CLE Model assisted by short film learning media. This research is expected to facilitate lecturers/teachers to teach narrative essay writing skills by optimizing all language skills through the CLE model assisted by short film media.

Teaching the Big Three: Making Sense of Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton

Arguably, the three most important early writers in the English language – indeed, one might say the founders of the language – are Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400), William Shakespeare (1564-1616), and John Milton (1608-1674). Yet our experience at the higher level of education is that students have had little exposure to the life and times of these writers or of their work. Our study shows that, while some Georgian school leavers have been exposed briefly to a bit of Shakespeare, few have chanced to encounter Chaucer and none to Milton. Moreover, while teaching what we might call “The Big Three” of English language and literature, much the same might be said at the master’s level: a bit of Shakespeare, little of Chaucer, and none of Milton. To the extent that students of English as a foreign language encounter any literature at all, they tend to be offered little other than literal translation. “Retell the text.” They miss the nuances of the English language as they would encounter them through the greatest of writers. It is, therefore, essential that those who teach any or all of these great writers develop a strategy to fit the needs of the students while meeting the objectives of the course. The key to making sense of Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton is to make connections to what students already know, to their own experiences, to make these greatest of all English writers relevant to the lives of the students in ways they can understand.
 Keywords: English literature, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton

중국어 교재 출현 현황 분석을 통한 의문대사 ‘怎麽’·‘怎樣’·‘怎麽樣’의 교육 연구

This paper is a preliminary study that can be used for developing ways to teach the interrogative pronouns “怎麽,” “怎样,” and “怎麽样” in Modern Chinese to Koreans learning Chinese as a second language. “怎麽,” “怎样,” and “怎麽样” are interrogative pronouns frequently used in written and spoken language. They are categorized as the same kind of interrogative pronouns and are studied in various ways. Studies have been conducted on them independently, studies have compared them with each other and with other interrogative pronouns with similar meanings, and studies have been conducted to determine suitable pedagogical methods for teaching by analyzing errors committed by learners. Most of the error-analysis studies have shown that the most common error is the incorrect use of similar interrogative pronouns in place of “怎麽,” “怎样,” and “怎麽样,” which led to the comparative analyses of these three pronouns with similar pronouns.<BR> This study examined the causes of these errors in sentences by analyzing Chinese teaching materials used in class. The results showed that these words were contained in teaching materials of the old HSK level 甲, the new HSK level 1, and BCT level A. These are some of the first interrogative pronouns that learners of Chinese as a second language encounter, so they appear at the basic level as learners learn the most basic ways of [asking how to] and [asking about state]. Though they continue to have different meanings at the beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, they appear mostly as ways of [asking about reason], [asking how to], and [asking about state]. Otherwise, they sometimes appear as ways of [asking about characteristic], [negative expression], [counter-question expression], [arbitrary reference expression], and [indefinite reference expression]. This study showed that their appearance is unbalanced by level, so it is difficult to make pedagogical suggestions about how to develop effective curricula and teaching materials for Korean learners of Chinese.

Academic Challenges of Female Graduate TESOL Students in the Saudi Context

Academic challenges are apparent factors that might hinder the progress and efficiency of students' higher education. Moreover, identifying these challenges will contribute to the progress of academic programs as well as maximizing academic achievement. The current research aims to shed the light on the various academic challenges that graduate female students majoring in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) encounter in the Saudi context. Furthermore, the current study serves to expand the knowledge about the most prominent academic challenges that TESOL students experience in the given context. Thus, helping students overcome these issues which might result in better performance and more qualified students. In addition, this study follows a mixed method research; and the participants are 23 Saudi female TESOL students. The study employed a questionnaire adapted from Phakiti and Li's (2011); the questionnaire consisted of 4 sections that include 24 close-ended question, in addition to 2 open-ended questions. The results of this study reveal three leading areas of academic challenges that TESOL students experience in their academic studies. The most prominent area of difficulty is academic writing, academic reading, and lastly other general academic challenges such as speaking skills and managing the academic load. The findings of this study reveal that female TESOL students encounter several challenges and obstacles that hinder their academic success. Also, recommendations for further research are mentioned to investigate the factors causing these academic challenges.

Jiehebuor suburb? Towards a translational turn in urban studies

AbstractEngaging with reflections on improper urban vocabularies, this article proposes a translational turn to foreground dialogues—rather than equivalences—between languages. Drawing on the philosophies of language and hermeneutics, I adopt ‘the fusion of horizons’ as an alternative perspective to redefine translation where different languages encounter each other. To better capture global urban experiences, we should recognise the role of translation that exposes us to strangeness and alterity. This point is elaborated with heterogeneous names of the urban frontier, which inform us how and how far appropriating gaps/distances can initiate creative and unexpected dialogues for more global urban studies.

Using metalinguistic explanations to help advanced ESL/EFL learners overcome their problems with the use of English articles and reference representation

AbstractThis study reviews the difficulties that learners of English as a second or foreign language encounter in the use of English articles and puts forward some suggestions that can help advanced learners overcome their problems. It has been observed that learner performance may be deceptive and accurate article selections may be led by inappropriate assumptions, so explicit instruction is needed to enhance learners’ explicit knowledge. In the teaching of English articles, explicit analyses using metalinguistic explanations should be used to eradicate learners’ misconceptions. Their understanding of the use of different structures for showing genericity, of the distinction between definiteness and specificity, and of the differences between English articles and similar but distinct language items in their mother tongues should be strengthened. Self‐learning resources such as learners’ dictionaries can also be used to supplement teaching and learning, especially when the judgments of noun countability are at issue. It is with heightened explicit knowledge of the English article system and enhanced awareness of the use of different articles for representing different references that advanced learners will be able to master English article use competently.

Hybridität als Motor und als Ergebnis von Sprachwandel

AbstractThis paper deals with constellations in which, as consequences of linguistic interculturality, elements of two or more languages encounter each other and result in something partially or completely new, an – occasionally temporary – “third quality”, namely hybridity. The paper contributes to the meta-discourse and theory formation by questioning the concept, term and content of “linguistic hybridity”. It also submits a proposal for a typology of linguistic-communicative hybridity that consists of the following prototypical main groups, each with several subtypes: (1) language-cultural, (2) semiotic, (3) medial, (4) communicative, (5) systematic, (6) paraverbal and (7) nonverbal hybridity. At last, the paper examines hybridity as an explanatory variable for language change. In conclusion, hybridity is generally a place of cultural production, with special regard to communication and language it is potentially considered as an incubator of linguistic innovation. Hybridity can be seen as the engine and as the result of language change, or language development. It represents an essential factor by which language functions and develops as a complex adaptive system. Hybridity operates as a continuous cycle. By generating innovation, it triggers language change, which in turn, leads to further and new hybridizations. The processuality of hybridity creates diversity, while at the same time it can cause the vanishing of diversity.