Native English Speakers Research Articles

Lost in translation: the association of international status and native language on concussion in collegiate athletes in the United States

ABSTRACT Objective The purpose of this study was to characterize the associations of international student status and native language on time (in days) with the date of injury to (i) diagnosis, (ii) symptom resolution, and (iii) return to sport. Methods Utilizing data from a cross-sectional cohort of 1,044 concussion cases from LIMBIC MATARS member institutions (n = 11) in the US, we conducted two, matched case–control designs. Cases were divided into two groups: (i) international (n = 32) or domestic students (n = 32) and (ii) English as an Additional Language (EAL) speakers (n = 18) or Native English language speakers (n = 18). Both groups were individually matched to their respective controls based on gender, age, sport, and preexisting health conditions. Results There were no significant differences in days from injury to diagnosis (p = 0.94), symptom resolution (p = 0.64), or return to sport (p = 0.15) between international and domestic athletes. EAL speakers experienced symptom resolution approximately 7.5 days sooner (Md = 4.50; IQR = 4.00, 8.00) than Native English language speakers (Md = 12.00; IQR = 7.00, 21.00, p = 0.01). Conclusions Our findings suggest that native language is associated with symptom resolution in collegiate athletes. Healthcare professionals should consider barriers related to native language that may impact symptom reporting and the overall injury experience of diverse collegiate athletes.

Cross-Cultural Collaborative Translation/Adaptation of Assessments Via International Working Groups

Abstract: Most neuropsychological assessments are developed in English, yet nearly 95% of the global population are not native English speakers. To further compound this problem, translating and adapting assessments is a complex, expensive, and time-consuming process that few individual psychologists can undertake on their own. To overcome these obstacles, we formed an international consulting group of bilingual pediatric rehabilitation/hospital clinicians to translate and adapt a common assessment of cognitive recovery, the Cognitive and Linguistic Scale (CALS), for use with youth in three linguistic/cultural groups: Spanish-speaking youth residing in the United States, Dutch-speaking youth residing in the Netherlands, and Hebrew-speaking youth residing in Israel. We describe the collaborative process of translating and adapting the CALS for the respective populations following the first two stages of the International Test Committee guidelines (Precondition and Test Development). We also present new, more culturally accessible versions of visual stimuli that can be used across many linguistic/cultural groups in the Western world. Initial examination of responses from a preliminary pilot sample of US youth ( N = 11) supported the acceptability of the Spanish translation and new visual stimuli. Next steps for each translated/adapted version of the CALS are discussed, including plans for validation in each respective population. We hope this overview will serve as a model for other groups to help decrease the translation burden on individual clinicians and promote higher-quality translated/adapted assessments that better serve diverse and often underserved patient populations.

Discriminatory Practices Against Non-Native English Speaker Teachers in Colombia’s Language Centers: A Multimodal Study

This multimodal/multimedia discourse analysis explored institutional practices regarding native and non-native English speaker teachers in five language centers in Medellín, Colombia, as reflected in interviews with coordinators and teachers, language centers’ websites, social media, and recruitment materials. Data were analyzed using content and multimodal discourse analysis. Findings unveiled that, in general, these language centers favor native English speaker teachers and discriminate against non-native English speaker teachers in multiple ways, as the former are privileged in job searches, are asked fewer hiring requirements, have more room for negotiation, earn higher salaries, and enjoy more perks.

A Comparative Study on Epistemic Modality in Linguistic Research Article Conclusions

Epistemic modality is an important and complex linguistic device in academic writing, which could help authors state their claims and positions. The conclusion is also a critical part in research articles, where authors summarize their studies and give suggestions. Many scholars study modality in many aspects, but they rarely focus on its application in research article conclusions. Therefore, this study compared the use of modality in 25 conclusions of linguistic research papers written by native English speakers and 25 English conclusions written by Chinese authors from a systemic functional perspective. It focused on the similarities and differences of the use of modality in linguistic research article conclusions from two perspectives: value and orientation. The results show that both native English speakers and Chinese authors are more likely to rely on low and median value and subjective orientation in their conclusions. The findings suggest that linguistic research article authors tend to make claims in a reserved and tentative way. Moreover, this study shows that Chinese authors are more likely to employ modal expressions and subjective orientation of modality in their conclusions, which may relate to cultural diversity and modality shift. The findings of the study may help non-native English authors to produce linguistic research articles in a more acceptable way.

COUNT/MASS NOUNS AND DEFINITENESS IN PALESTINIAN ARABIC HERITAGE SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH

Definiteness correlates to a cluster of cross-linguistic semantic scalar variables, among which is countability (count/mass nouns distinction). Count and mass nouns are distinguished by definiteness markers in English, but not in Arabic. Middleton et al. (2004) proved that countability is related to cognitive individuation of discrete bounded entities. Lucy and Gaskins (2001) demonstrated that the presence of count/mass distinction directly correlates with attention to the shape rather than the substance of individual entities. I analyze linguistic and cognitive effects of the Palestinian Arabic (PA) and English (EN) definiteness systems and cognitive individuation biases in 15 PA heritage speakers of English (PAHSEs, aged 18-25). Heritage speakers understand but cannot speak a familiar heritage language (Polinsky, 2018). PA is sociogeographically and cognitively peripheral in PAHSEs’ world experience. Fifteen PA and EN native speakers (aged 18-25) represent control groups. Linguistic experiments (Liu and Gleason, 2002) tested definiteness grammar of nouns with different countability properties. Semantic and cognitive experiments (Iwasaki et al., 2010) tested effects of PA countability and individuation parameters in PAHSEs. PA definiteness does not significantly affect PAHSEs’ grammatical competence. PAHSEs’ semantic and cognitive results converge with those of the PA control group, showing bedrock effects of heritage PA.

Language attitudes toward Global Englishes: Is Thai accented English our identity?

This study examines language attitudes toward Global Englishes (GE) among employees of multinational companies in Thailand’s Chonburi and Rayong provinces. Sequential mixed-method research is applied. The survey questionnaires were first distributed and a total of 120 participants responded. The participants were employees in multinational companies and used English as their primary working language. The analysis of questionnaires revealed a prevailing inclination towards native speakerism while acknowledging the importance of GE in the global workplace. Participants demonstrated proficiency in communicating with both native and non-native English speakers. An in-depth interview approach is used with 10 informants for confirming or disconfirming the survey results. However, interviews highlight a complex attitude towards GE, particularly among high-ranking individuals who strongly adhere to standard English ideology. Nonetheless, a significant number of participants recommended introducing GE concepts to Thai students as a valuable step towards familiarizing them with diverse English varieties. This recognition of the need to prepare the next generation for a globalized world is encouraging. The prevalence of native speakerism underscores the urgency of addressing language attitudes and promoting linguistic inclusivity within the global workplace. By fostering on cultural awareness and embracing linguistic diversity, we can create a more inclusive environment that appreciates and values different English accents and expressions. This study highlights the ongoing importance of these efforts in promoting a comprehensive understanding of GE and nurturing a global mindset among individuals and institutions alike.

An Exploratory Study on the Derivation of Ironical Implicatures by English Foreign Language Learners: Could Culture Play a Role?

Literature on cross-cultural communication has demonstrated that communication breakdowns are more likely to occur among speakers from different cultural backgrounds (Keenan 1976; Devine 1983). This kind of assumptions constituted the departing point of further studies, such as that of Bouton (1988), where he tested the communicative habits of non-native speakers of English and contrasted them with those of English native speakers. The results of these studies have proved that the derivation of implicatures by English non-native speakers differs if compared with that of English native speakers and that ironical implicatures are among the most difficult ones to grasp for English non-native speakers. What is more, culture has been regarded as a possible variable influencing the derivation of implicit meanings (Bouton 1988; Liddicoat 2009). In view of this literature and applying the approach on High Context and Low Context cultures (in accordance with Hall 1976; Würtz 2005; Min 2016; Hornikx and le Pair 2017), this exploratory study aims at analysing if culture plays a role in the derivation of ironical implicatures by English foreign language learners. For current purposes, the present study aims to analyse, first, whether a group of English foreign language learners derives pragmatically felicitous ironical implicatures or not; and, secondly, if culture as a bidirectional factor has an impact on participants’ interpretations. In order to do so, an exploratory sample of twelve English foreign language learners (all of them belonging to a High Context culture) filled a questionnaire, which was used to gather data. The questionnaire contained fifteen questions: ten multiple-choice questions and five open questions, each of them giving rise to an ironical implicature. The results suggest that participants show a high tendency to derive pragmatically felicitous ironical implicatures and that culture as a bidirectional variable has an impact on their interpretations. This leads to the conclusion that culture as a bidirectional variable seems to play a role in the derivation of ironical implicatures by the English foreign language learners in our sample.

Teacher well-being matters: The case of students’ motivation on their own perceptions of native and non-native English speaker teachers

English has become the most-widely used lingua franca in international communication, creating a demand for effective English teachers around the world. In reality, there is a surging demand for English teachers around the world and in China, with a greater inclination for native English-speaking teachers (NESTs) over non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs), a phenomenon commonly known as explicit or implicit advocacy of native-speakerism. Research has shown that Chinese students are affected by native-speakerism, harming Chinese English teachers' feelings and instructional practices. Even though research has shown that student characteristics play a role in students' perceptions of their teachers' effectiveness, few have examined more complex variables such as motivation and teacher well-being. To fill the research gap, we investigated 470 Chinese English-major students' perceptions of NESTs and NNESTs in relation to NNESTs' psychological well-being. Results show that students perceived NESTs and NNESTs as having different strengths and weaknesses. Such perceptions had various effects on both groups' well-being. Students' motivation was found positively correlated to their perceptions of NESTs and NNESTs. We discuss these findings for the purpose of raising students' awareness of native-speakerism and identifying possible means for teachers to improve their teaching effectiveness by adopting motivational strategies so that teacher well-being is given sufficient attention.

Reflections of Chinese Middle School English Instructors and Learners on Efficiency of English Education

This article sheds light on a survey study on the reflection of English teaching and learning by teachers and students in high schools in China. Forty-Two English teachers and 156 students from four high schools in Hunan Province participated in the study. They responded to questions through an online survey about their English learning and teaching experience. The survey also asked the participants to share their comments and opinions on how to make improvement and changes to make English education more effective and efficient. The data were discussed and analyzed in comparing with English learning experience and process of native speakers of English in the United States. Findings of this study suggest that more exposure to authentic English, extensive reading, and daily oral communication be enhanced to improve the learners’ proficiency. This study indicates that the current learning process and instructional sequence are not effective and efficient. Some fundamental issues related to learning sequence, learning efficiency, curriculum policy and design are addressed, and suggestions are made for future research and English education reform.

A simple methodology for identifying speech act tendencies

Abstract Speech act studies often compare two or more groups of speakers by analyzing how often each group uses a given strategy to realize a speech act. Since the goal of such studies is to compare groups, they often do not discuss the variation that exists within the groups and, by extension, what can be considered a speech act tendency for a given group. To illustrate within-group variation and how such variation can be interpreted to identify the speech act tendencies of a group, this study used e-mail refusals of requests written by 50 native speakers of English as a case study. Data were collected using a discourse completion task and analyzed for participants’ strategies to refuse a request. Descriptive statistics show a considerable amount of variation in this rather homogenous group of English speakers but also allow for the identification of both commonly and rarely used refusal strategies. These findings highlight the importance of considering the commonly used strategies and the rarely used strategies when attempting to empirically identify speech act tendencies for teaching and assessment purposes. Implications of the results for future research, teaching, and assessment practices are discussed.

The Impact of Social Determinants of Health on Australian Women's Capacity to Access and Understand Health Information: A Secondary Analysis of the 2022 National Women's Health Survey.

The ability to access, understand, judge, and use health information is crucial for making informed decisions about health and optimal health outcomes. This secondary data analysis investigated associations between social determinants of health and Australian women's ability to access and understand health information using data from 10,652 women who responded to the 2022 National Women's Health Survey. A score (0-5) was created based on five questions assessing the participants' ability to access and understand health information, which was dichotomised into low (≤3) and high (≥4) scores. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, univariate comparisons, and multivariable binary logistic regression. Almost a quarter of the women had a low score. Non-native English speakers were approximately four times more likely to have low health literacy than native English speakers. Additionally, women without tertiary education, financially disadvantaged women, and First Nations women were almost twice as likely to have lower health literacy than other women. These findings suggest that social determinants of health decrease the capacity to access and understand health information. To reduce health inequalities, healthcare systems and health professionals must consider the factors that reduce women's capacity to access and understand health information and address the health information needs of socioeconomically disadvantaged women.

Individual word and phrase frequency effects in collocational processing: Evidence from typologically different languages, English and Turkish.

Collocations are understood to be integral building blocks of language processing, alongside individual words, but thus far evidence for the psychological reality of collocations has tended to be confined to English. In contrast to English, Turkish is an agglutinating language, utilizing productive morphology to convey complex meanings using a single word. Given this, we expected Turkish speakers to be less sensitive to phrasal frequencies than English speakers. In Study 1, we conducted a corpus analysis of translation-equivalent adjective-noun collocations (e.g., front door) and found differences between the two languages in frequency counts. In Study 2, we conducted a reaction time experiment to determine the sensitivity of native speakers of English and Turkish to the frequency of adjectives, nouns, and whole collocations. Turkish speakers were less sensitive to whole-phrase frequencies, as predicted, indicating that collocations are processed less holistically in Turkish than English. Both groups demonstrated that processing collocations involves combining information about individual words and phrases. Taken together, we show that speakers are sensitive to frequency information at multiple grain sizes that are attuned to the typology of different languages. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Enhancement of laryngeal contrasts in non-native English clear speech: a comparison between L2-immersed sequential bilinguals and L1-immersed speakers.

Clear speech, a speaking style used to mitigate communicative circumstances affecting the transmission or decoding of speech signal, often involves the enhancement of language-specific phonological contrasts, including laryngeal contrasts. This study investigates the role of language dominance in the implementation of language-specific laryngeal contrasts in L2 clear speech. Two groups of Korean-English speakers (L1 Korean) were tested: a relatively less Korean-dominant L2-immersed group of sequential bilinguals (N = 30) and a strongly Korean-dominant L1-immersed group (N = 30), with dominance assessed based on the results of the Bilingual Language Profile. Participants read a set of English minimal pairs differing in the voicing of word-initial stops (e.g., tab vs. dab), and their acoustic enhancement strategies were compared with those of native English speakers (N = 20). As correlates of the English laryngeal contrast, voice onset time (VOT) and onset f0 were measured. Results showed that both bilingual groups enhanced English laryngeal contrast in clear speech via voiceless VOT lengthening, similarly to native English speakers, but to a smaller extent than native speakers. Both bilingual groups also implemented a greater degree of onset f0 difference between voiced and voiced English stops than native English speakers did, although no enhancement of this parameter was observed in their clear speech. Surprisingly, no significant differences were found between L2- and L1-immersed speakers, suggesting a lack of language immersion effect on the acoustic enhancement strategies in L2 clear speech. We discuss possible explanations for this finding and propose directions for future research.

ДІЄСЛОВО В МОВНІЙ ТА КОНЦЕПТУАЛЬНІЙ КАРТИНАХ СВІТУ НОСІЇВ АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ МОВИ

The paper studies the peculiarities of mental representations of the verb in the conceptual worldview and their reflection in the linguistic worldview of English language native speakers. Special attention is paid to the etymology and meaning of the word “verb” in the English language. In particular, its connection with the meaning “word” in general, which is manifested in the corresponding derivatives, is clarified. A tendency to define the verb through its syntactic function in scientific literature has been revealed. The key role of the predicate-argument structure, which reflects the linguistic worldview of English language native speakers, has been established. At the same time, the conceptual structure of the verb meaning and its mental representations shed light on the place of the verb in the conceptual worldview of English language native speakers. In the naive worldview of the English speakers, a tendency to associate the verb with an action or an act can be observed. High productivity of verbification in present-day English, as well as the overall high saturation of verbs in the English language corpora, estimated at 10.86 per cent, testify to the significance of the verb in English. The corpus analysis has been conducted based on the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), the British National Corpus (BNC), the Strathy Corpus of Canadian English, and iWeb Corpus of modern web communication. The total distribution of verbs across the aforementioned corpora does not reveal any substantial variation. Nonetheless, the corpus data provide illuminating insights into the worldview of the native speakers of English. The prospects of further research in this direction lie in the construction of a mental model of the English verb, which would integrate the approaches to verb semantics within different modern frameworks, employing both experimental findings and empirical corpus data.

Adaptação transcultural para o português Brasileiro do Vocal Congruence Scale e Transgender Congruence Scale

ABSTRACT Purpose to carry out the cross-cultural adaptation of the Vocal Congruence Scale (VCS) and the Transgender Scale Congruence (TSC) instruments into Brazilian Portuguese. Methods the study was developed in two stages: cross-cultural adaptation and pre-test. 1. Cross-cultural adaptation: it was composed of a team of two speech therapists and two non-speech therapists, being responsible for the translation of the instruments into Portuguese (a speech therapist and a non-speech therapist native to Brazilian Portuguese - BP and English speakers, independently, with subsequent consensus achieved by the researchers; back-translation of the instruments into English (a speech therapist and a non-speech therapist who are native speakers of English and speakers of BP); analysis of the final version by a committee (a translator, a methodologist, and three speech therapists). Data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially. Results In the cross-cultural adaptation process of the VCS there were adjustments in five items of the questionnaire, four of them in terms of form and one in terms of content. necessary adjustments regarding form in five items. In the pre-test, for all VCS and TSC items, the non-applicable option had a significantly lower proportion than the instrument response key options (p<0.001, for all). Finally, a translated and adapted version for Brazilian Portuguese of the Vocal Congruence Scale (VCS) and the Transgender Scale Congruence (TSC) instruments was obtained. Conclusion The VCS and TSC were transculturally adapted to Brazilian Portuguese and named as Vocal Congruence Scale and Transgender Person Congruence Scale.

Affective and sensory–motor norms for idioms by L1 and L2 English speakers

AbstractIn the present study, we developed affective (valence and arousal) and sensory–motor (concreteness and imageability) norms for 210 English idioms rated by native English speakers (L1) and English second-language speakers (L2). Based on internal consistency analyses, the ratings were found to be highly reliable. Furthermore, we explored various relations within the collected measures (valence, arousal, concreteness, and imageability) and between these measures and some available psycholinguistic norms (familiarity, literal plausibility, and decomposability) for the same set of idioms. The primary findings were that (i) valence and arousal showed the typical U-shape relation, for both L1 and L2 data; (ii) idioms with more negative valence were rated as more arousing; (iii) the majority of idioms were rated as either positive or negative with only 4 being rated as neutral; (iv) familiarity correlated positively with valence and arousal; (v) concreteness and imageability showed a strong positive correlation; and (vi) the ratings of L1 and L2 speakers significantly differed for arousal and concreteness, but not for valence and imageability. We discuss our interpretation of these observations with reference to the literature on figurative language processing (both single words and idioms).

Cross-cultural adaptation of the Voice-related Experiences of Nonbinary Individuals - VENI to Brazilian Portuguese.

This study aimed to translate and cross-culturally adapt the "Voice-related Experiences of Nonbinary Individuals" (VENI) to Brazilian Portuguese (BP). Cross-cultural adaptation was performed based on the combined guidelines of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Translation Recommendations and the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN). The process included five stages: a) Translation of the instrument into BP by a translator specialized in the construct and a non-specialist, both native BP speakers and fluent in English; b) Synthesis of the two translations by consensus; c) Back-translation by a translator specialized in the construct and a non-specialist, both native English speakers and fluent in BP; d) Analysis by a committee of five speech-language pathologists voice specialist and the creation of the final version; e) Pre-testing with 21 individuals from the target population, conducted virtually. During the translation stage, there were disagreements regarding the title, instructions, response key, and 15 items. In the back-translation stage, there were discrepancies in the format of 12 items and the content of four items. The expert committee's analysis led to changes in the title, instructions, one option in the response key, and eight items to meet the equivalence criteria. In the pre-test, a significantly higher proportion of usual responses to the instrument was observed when compared to the non-applicable option; this is frequently observed in instrument adaptations. The cross-cultural adaptation of VENI into Brazilian Portuguese was successful, resulting in the "Experiências relacionadas à Voz de Pessoas Não Binárias - VENI-Br" version.

A Comparative Study on Stance Adverbial Positions between Academic Discourse of Chinese and English Native Speakers

A Comparative Study on Stance Adverbial Positions between Academic Discourse of Chinese and English Native Speakers

What Contributes to the Perceived Impact of Live Chatting with English Native Speakers on EFL Learners' Willingness in Speaking English?

What Contributes to the Perceived Impact of Live Chatting with English Native Speakers on EFL Learners' Willingness in Speaking English?

A Sociophonetic Study on the English Accent Varied among Three England National Footballers

English accents have been under discussion by many researchers. It seems that English native speakers still lack cohesion in terms of phonetic features. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the English accents that varied among England’s national footballers to find out what sounds are practiced and how they are categorized socially. Three of them, namely Harry Kane, Luck Shaw, and Harry Maguire, and their interview videos were used as instruments in this study. The data gained were analyzed qualitatively to elicit meaning, gain understanding, and develop empirical knowledge. To help analyze and generate the findings, Estuary English, Received Pronunciation, and Cockney accents were also highlighted here in this study. The findings revealed that these three players happened to share a prestige accent, namely Estuary English, which contains RP and Cockney accents. It is confirmed when the three of them share the most common phonetic features, such as t-glottalization and th-glotalization. For the l-vocalization, it was difficult to determine which accent they belonged to because it was not used often. For h-dropting, neither of the speakers used h-dropping. However, it is also found that each player still has a regional accent.