Poor English Research Articles

The Role of Error Analysis in Teaching and Learning of Second and Foreign Language

The aim of this paper is to investigate errors made by second and foreign language (L2) learners so as to understand the strategies and techniques used in the process of second and foreign language learning. Error analysis is a very important area of applied linguistics as well as of second and foreign language learning. It is also a systematic method to analyze learners' errors. Errors are not always bad, rather they are crucial parts and aspects in the process of learning a language. They may provide insights into the complicated processes of language development as well as a systematic way for identifying, describing and explaining students' errors. Errors may also help to better understand the process of second and foreign language acquisition. This study tries to investigate why Pakistani ESL and Iranian EFL learners fail to produce grammatically correct sentences in English, in spite of having English as a compulsory subject at all levels in their learning institutions and schools. What are the reasons for their poor English written performance? In the present study, the writing assignments of university students as well as intermediate English learners were analyzed for the purpose of error analysis. Results of the analysis suggest that students lack grammatical accuracy in their writing and are not sure of the grammatical rules that may apply in their writing in English. The study concludes that they are highly influenced by the rules of their first language (L1).

ESL and EFL Learners Improve Differently in Pronunciation: The Case of Lebanon

Many ESL/EFL students in Lebanon reach the university level with poor English in general and underdeveloped phonetic competence in particular. Phonetic competence is one of the abilities to communicate regarding pronunciation skills (Saz, Rodríguez, Lleida, Rodríguez, & Vaquero, 2011). Students in Lebanon acquire Arabic as their mother tongue. Some learn English as their second language (ESL) in schools where English is the medium of instruction. However, in French schools, students learn English as their foreign language (EFL) and study the content subject matters in French, the medium of instruction. It's commonly known among many educators in Lebanon that French educated students develop their English language skills and proper pronunciation more perfectly than do their English educated fellows in middle/low class schools. This phenomenon is widely observed; however, it is not based on research findings. This study aims to investigate whether there is a difference among French and English educated students in terms of English pronunciation after intervention of pronunciation learning strategies (PLS) such as using phonetic symbols and transcriptions, repeating after the teacher/others, and minimal pair drilling. 22 EFL and ESL university students took part in this study. A checklist of frequent common pronunciation mistakes was used to collect data. Ten sounds (segments) were identified in the pretest as common mistakes. The post-test took place five weeks later. Findings showed that PLS improved the pronunciation of both EFL and ESL learners. However, there was no statistical difference in the improvements between these two groups. Limitations and recommendations are provided in this study.

English

This study presents the results from a study [W1] funded by the Directorate General of Occupational Health and Safety, an institutional body that pertains to the Employment Council of the Regional Government of Andalusia (Spain) and Ministry of Employment and Labour (Spain). The analysis  focuses mainly on the teachers who work in pre-primary, primary and secondary education in Andalusia. The aim is to discover the current situation of the educational institutions in matters of occupational safety and health, establish mechanisms to orient didactic and organisational intervention to facilitate the teaching-learning process of a prevention culture, and extract basic elements to acquire training in health and safety. To do so, an inferential and descriptive analysis of quantitative data was conducted (research methology).  [W2] All of this made it possible to discover the reality of the job risk prevention culture in the schools. An especially important result in this research, in order to achieve quality education in terms of prevention, safety and health, must receive preparation in their Initial Training and later in the Teacher Centres. They must be able to evaluate the teaching-learning methodology used, the suitability of what is taught for the objective proposed, and the media and/or resources based on criteria of quality, quantity, use or interest in the classroom, as expressed in the Spanish Strategy for Occupational Safety and Health and in the Second Andalusian Plan for Occupational Health and Job Risk Prevention for teachers in public schools dependent on the Education Department of the Regional Government of Andalusia (Spain) . [AB3] Key words: Occupational safety and health, schools, teachers, prevention culture, quantitative research.  [W1]This does not make sense  [W2]Poor English I stopped correcting your English hereon  [AB3]Changed (Reviewer 1) &nbsp

Excuse my poor English: language management in English-language online discussion forums

AbstractUsing the framework of Language Management Theory (LMT), this article seeks to analyze the ways in which non-native speakers negotiate their position in English-language online discussion forums. Based on the material collected from four discussion forums, competing opinions have been identified regarding the acceptability of “bad English” and the need for language management, i.e. acting upon a perceived lack of compliance to linguistic norms. Some users propose that compliance to communication norms should be enforced in a top-down manner or based on an explicit set of rules, whereas others hold that the community of users can deal with potential communication problems individually in an emergent manner. While the applicability of native speaker norms to the discussion forums is being questioned, non-native speakers, especially in practically oriented forums, tend to perform pre-interaction language management, using disclaimers in their posts, such as “Excuse my poor English”, to avoid potential misunderstandings and to prevent native speaker norms from being applied to them. The article argues for the use of LMT in computer mediated communication research, as it offers a dynamic view of the process in which rules, conventions and norms of online communication are being continuously discussed, negotiated and applied.

Concern over plans to investigate nurses with poor English

Concern over plans to investigate nurses with poor English

NMC able to ban nurses with poor English under draft legislation

The Nursing and Midwifery Council would be able to ban nurses with poor English-language skills from practising, under a proposed reform of its legal powers.

From Lark Rise to the Storied City

In Lark Rise to Candleford, Flora Thompson, through her character Laura Timmins, tells stories about the daily struggles of the residents of a poor English hamlet coping with the wrenching changes of late 19th Century England. Cooperative working of open fields which had supported self-sufficiency is replaced by enclosed landholdings, industrialization and imminent starvation. The contrasts between the stories of Queenie, the beekeeper and Dorcas Lane, the postmistress, reveal the evolution between an agrarian communal society and an industrialized economy. Their stories tell so much more than conventional legal description could provide. This article proposes "The Storied City" as a better way to understand what is at stake in regard to local government authority and to help us to arrive at better solutions. The article describes a cognitive science approach to law, uses it to critically evaluate conventional "pyramid" legal analysis of local government authority, and suggests stories as alternative models for defining such authority. The article illustrates the storytelling analytical approach in three situations: a local government's condemnation of private property for resale to a private developer, the delegation of land use control authority to neighborhood groups, and local government attempts to zone out nontraditional families. Part I describes a cognitive science approach to law. Part II traces the evolution of local government powers and focuses on the particularly intractable problem of adequately defining their proper scope. Part III unpacks conventional local government legal analysis by exploring the writings of Frank Michelman, a prominent local government law theorist. Part IV reveals the unstated assumptions of conventional legal analysis and the serious and unsettling consequences of those assumptions for defining local government authority. Part V reconstructs conventional local government legal analysis in cognitive terms and Part VI concludes by suggesting stories as alternative cognitive strategies for defining local government authority.

HIV Testing Histories and Risk Factors Among Migrants and Recent Immigrants Who Received Rapid HIV Testing from Three Community-Based Organizations

Migrants and recent immigrants in the US constitute a large population that is vulnerable to HIV. From March 2005 to February 2007, three community-based organizations conducted rapid HIV testing among migrants in five states. Participants were asked to complete a survey on sociodemographics, HIV-risk behaviors, and HIV-testing histories with the aim of understanding factors associated with HIV testing. Among 5,247 persons tested, 6 (0.1 %) were HIV-positive. Among 3,135 persons who completed surveys, more than half had never been tested for HIV previously (59 %). Participants reported high levels of HIV-risk behaviors in the past year, including 2 or more sex partners (45 %), sex while high/drunk (30 %), and transactional sex (29 %). Multivariate analysis identified several factors independently associated with decreased likelihood of prior HIV testing, including poor spoken English. Continued efforts are needed to ensure that migrant populations have improved access to HIV testing and prevention services. Understanding factors associated with migrants' lack of previous HIV testing may help focus these efforts.

Factors Causes Students Low English Language Learning: A Case Study in the National University of Laos

It has been generally well-known that most people faced some problems in learning English as a second or foreign language in non-English speaking countries; for example, in Lao People Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). This paper has a main purpose to explore students-teachers’ weakness towards English language learning as a foreign language of a Continuing Summer Program for Bachelor’s degree of Teacher Education in English at the Faculty of Education (FOE), the National University of Laos (NUOL) in Lao. A study focuses on the reasons that impact on their poor English performance. Data were drawn from the question “Why Lao students weak in English?”. This question was administered to 30 English students-teachers in order to respond with their own views. Each respondent listed ten reasons that mentioned why students are poor in English language performance. Based on the findings of this research, main causes have been included namely: first, the majority of students stated that the English teachers are not well-trained; for instance, they use Lao language when teaching, so they cannot perform well to attract the interest of the student. Secondly, students lack of English foundation background. Third, students lack of confidence to use English because they are afraid of mistakes and shy feeling. Fourth, the curriculum is inappropriate for helping students to improve their English proficiency. Last but not least, English language is difficult to learn due to students are not well-motivated, encouraged and gained learning strategy. Furthermore, students do not practice speaking English with English native speakers, and class environment is crowded and noisy that is not fulfilled with teaching pedagogy.

Editors and Scribes in Two Clerk's Tale Cruxes

Editors and Scribes in Two <i>Clerk's Tale</i> Cruxes

Epilogue of Texas life.

I, Sangkook Lee spent two years of professional medical training at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas from March 2010 through March 2012. As the largest medical complex in the world, the Texas Medical Center is located in Houston, where the member institutions of the Texas Medical Center such as M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, one of the largest cancer centers in the world, Memorial Hermann Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine are known throughout the world. As an instrumental instructor at Baylor College of Medicine, I had tremendous experiences under the supervision of Professor Daniel H. Kim. Dr. Daniel Kim is a professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine where he also serves as the Director of Spinal Neurosurgery and Reconstructive Peripheral Nerve Surgery. Dr. Kim is also the Chair of the Spine Center of Neurosurgery and Orthopedic Surgery and leads a joint conference for discussion of patient treatment. Not only patients from the U.S, also thousands of international patients each year visit the Texas Medical Center for patient care services, recognizing that the quality of the care for the scope of the health services are unsurpassed anywhere in the world. The Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Raymond Sawaya also serves as the Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. I was able to attend a neurosurgery conference held at an M.D. Anderson auditorium every week, where the world's best doctors from different departments such as Pathology, Radiology and Rehabilitation Services of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center did presentations and discussion about their interesting cases. Aside from research works, two years in the states were also meaningful; I spend a great time with visiting doctors from different hospitals in Korea, and had a chance to make a good relationship with Dr. Daniel Kim's family. I expected a little, but English gave a hard time to stay in the state, especially in Texas that is not very familiar with people from Korea. I am very thankful for my colleagues in the office and the lab, who understood my poor English and helped me with lots of things. Last, I can't say enough thanks to Professor Sehoon Kim and professors at Korea University for having given me this great opportunity. Starting my new career here at Guri Hospital of Hanyang University, I will do my best to take care of patients and I am pretty sure that this training experience will be appreciated. Thank you.

Lecture –– Germany's Sozialstaat Principle and the Founding Period

I cannot avoid beginning on an embarrassing note –– speaking to you as possibly the next German Foreign Minister. That is a position I will have earned because it is a good old (bad) tradition in Germany that its Foreign Ministers speak English either not at all or so badly that it is better if they do not speak it. Some say that not being able to speak English is even a requirement for becoming Foreign Minister. Well, in that case my prospects are excellent. I hope you will forgive my poor English.

Is Cameroon Pidgin flourishing or dying?

Cameroon Pidgin English (abbreviated to CamP) is one of the languages of wider communication in Cameroon, a country second only to Papua New Guinea in terms of its multiplicity of languages for a relatively small population. CamP is used alongside other languages like English and French (official languages), Fulfulde, Arab Choa, Ewondo and Duala (lingua francas), and over 250 indigenous languages. What is, however, peculiar about CamP is that it is not restricted to a particular class of people or to people from a particular region. A language which arose as a result of the desperate need for a link language between people who spoke mutually unintelligible languages has now established itself as a major force to reckon with in the linguistic landscape of the country. One of the main preoccupations among researchers on CamP has been its relationship with Cameroon English (CamE), which has higher status. While CamE is an official language in the country's constitution, CamP enjoys covert prestige bestowed on it by Cameroonians as a language of wider communication, social interaction, intimacy, etc. However, Cameroonians have been given to understand that the coexistence of CamP and CamE is responsible for the falling standard of English in the country, as a result of which CamP should be eradicated at all costs. This attitude has led to the stigmatisation and intimidation of CamP speakers as educational authorities all over the country attempt to ban the language, and refer to it in such pejorative terms as bad English, poor English, bush English, join join English etc. Such hostility has tended to drive the language underground so that speakers rarely express their liking for the language overtly. They are suspicious of language authorities and thus have developed an ambivalent attitude towards anything that has to do with CamP. Thus if those speakers who use CamP daily as the main medium of communication were to be asked what they think about its status, functions and prospects, the results would be largely negative (Schröder, 2003), not because they do not like the language but simply because they have been intimidated and stigmatised. This ambivalence has caused serious methodological difficulties for researchers, which have marred most results of studies on the functions, status and prospects of CamP. The inability to adopt an appropriate methodology to research the topic has given rise to conflicting findings and statements on the relationship between CamP and CamE, some of which are sometimes truly baffling (see Ngefac &amp; Sala, 2006; Ayafor, 2005; Kouega, 2001; Chia, 2009). Researchers insensitive to the situation carry out research on CamP and obtain results that paint a completely distorted picture of the situation on the ground. In this light, certain basic questions about this relationship remain to be settled: What is actually the relationship between CamP and CamE? Is CamP really facing death? Is CamP losing ground to CamE? Is CamP soon going to lose its identity and idiosyncrasies to CamE or is CamP going to supplant CamE? This paper will consider how various researchers have grappled with these questions. By analysing their statements, it will attempt to explain the controversies that have characterised research on the relationship between CamP and CamE thus far.

The impact of Asian race on colorectal cancer screening (CRCS).

381 Background: While research shows that African Americans and Hispanics frequently receive less CRCS than Whites, few studies have focused on CRCS among Asians. The aims of the current analysis were to 1) compare CRCS between Asians and Whites in a large U.S. population, 2) evaluate for other clinical predictors of CRCS, and 3) examine the impact of health insurance coverage, place of birth and English proficiency on potential racial disparities. Methods: From the 2007 California Health Interview Survey, we identified all Asian (N=2,108) and White (N=23,237) average-risk respondents aged ≥50 years who were eligible for CRCS. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate for differences in CRCS between Asians and Whites. We used stratified and interaction analyses to examine whether associations between race and CRCS were modified by insurance status (insured vs uninsured), birthplace (U.S. vs non-U.S.) or language skills (good vs poor English), while controlling for other confounders. Results: Baseline characteristics were similar between Asians and Whites: mean age was 64 years in both groups; 45% and 47% were male; and 47% and 50% were employed, respectively. Only 58% of Asians and 66% of Whites reported undergoing up-to-date CRCS (p&lt;0.001). In multivariate analyses, female gender and those living in rural areas were less likely to receive CRCS (OR 0.84, 95%CI 0.76-0.93, p=0.001 and OR 0.88, 95%CI 0.81-0.98, p=0.015, respectively).When compared to Whites, Asians also had decreased odds of CRCS (OR 0.82, 95%CI 0.71-0.95, p=0.008), even after adjusting for confounders such as education and income. Stratified analyses revealed that this disparity existed mainly in the insured (OR 0.83, 95%CI 0.72-0.96, p=0.014), but not in the uninsured (OR 0.94, 95%CI 0.43-2.06, p=0.873). The relationship between race and CRCS was not modified by place of birth or English proficiency. Conclusions: Despite its ability to reduce mortality, CRCS is suboptimal in our U.S. population-based cohort of Asians when compared to Whites. The racial disparity was more evident within the insured subset, suggesting that factors unrelated to healthcare access, such as patient preference, physician discretion or patient-physician rapport, may be more important drivers of CRCS among Asians. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Tips and resources for non-native English speaking authors

The goal of The Journal is to advance pediatric research and serve as a practical guide for the continuing education of physicians who diagnose and treat disorders in infants and children worldwide. More than 60% of manuscripts submitted to The Journal are from corresponding authors outside of the United States; however, only 40% of accepted manuscripts are from other countries. Although manuscripts are usually not rejected on the basis of poor English, vital information may be lost or misunderstood by Editors or reviewers if not communicated clearly.

Korean TV Serials in the English-Language Diaspora: Translating Difference Online and Making It Racial

Korean TV Serials in the English-Language Diaspora:Translating Difference Online and Making It Racial Brian Hu In an online discussion forum for the Korean television serial Love Story in Harvard (SBS, 2004-05), one fan joined in a raucous denunciation of the poor English spoken by the program's lead actors, all three of whom play law or medical students at Harvard University: "I cringe at the sound of every english word they try so hard to pronounce. it's like taking your fingernails and running it across the blackboard. jeez . . . they just do not take into consideration of the viewers outside korea. Have some sympathy for the US audience !! pls !!!"1 Of course, the program, produced by Korean television network SBS, was never intended for the U.S. audience but rather for the domestic Korean market as well as those in the East and Southeast Asian regions. But with the ease of online piracy and the international reach of Asian diasporas, the "Korean wave" (or hallyu in Korean) spreading throughout Asia has become a cross-regional phenomenon, attracting fans from all continents even before legal distribution channels have been established. As the quote above suggests, this underground network of fans has a lot invested in these television serials. The anxiety over poor English is more than a cry for realism; it is an elaboration of an Asian American identity separate from Asia and sensitive to the stigma of linguistic inauthenticity as a population deemed perpetually "foreign" by mainstream America.2 The quote also articulates a sentiment common to many pirate communities in the Asian diaspora: the powerlessness of nonrecognition as a consumer market. The problem is that overseas Asians around the world don't have a voice in the Asian media because they are not included in the target audience. These online communities are alternative spaces in which complaints are lodged and identities are worked through with-or in spite of-other members of the diaspora around the world. However, first I must acknowledge that these self-conscious elaborations of identity are a rarity in online fan communities like D-Addicts, Soompi, and Asian Fanatics. While the forums for Love Story in Harvard are full of attacks on the program's poor accents (which makes sense, given that these Web sites are frequented by English speakers), very few of the fans connect their disappointment with representation to any political or panethnic agency.3 Fans on these Web sites come from different parts of the globe and thus interpret the dramas (and bad accents) through different cultural contexts and desires that may or may not be related to progressive identity politics. What we observe instead are postings that demonstrate a considerable overflow of emotional investment in Korean television serials. Emotion, not politics, is perhaps a more suitable category through which to explore the forums' fan activity, which ranges from complaints about the use of language, to confessions of sexual attraction to stars, to yearnings for an online store selling the jewelry seen in the television program. This does not mean that racial discourse is absent but rather that race and panethnic affiliations undergird an emotional rather than a political investment in fandom. One can observe the (un)conscious workings of race and ethnicity in the emotion-laden practice of translation-an essential means of maintaining and informing fans in forums where not all users understand all Asian languages. The collective act of translation mobilizes resources from around the world in order to sustain the emotional investment necessary for fandom in the absence of traditional advertising and publicity. In this article I explore the ways fan communities for Love Story in Harvard on the Web sites D-Addicts, Soompi, and Asian Fanatics exemplify what I call affective translation communities. First, I define this term and how it emerges out of the medium specificity of the online forum. I then show how these fan communities bring [End Page 36] to the ground the various ways in which the global proliferation of media texts and their official and unofficial discourses activate multiple transnational sites of affective engagement along lines of gossip, fashion, sexuality, and especially race. As an international network of English...

Manuscript rejection in ophthalmology and visual science journals: identifying and avoiding the common pitfalls

The majority of ophthalmology and visual science journals reject more original manuscripts than they accept. Submissions to Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology were analysed over a 12-month period with the aim of identifying common reasons for editorial rejection of manuscripts. A content analysis was carried out of reviewer and section editor comments of all rejected manuscripts (original papers) submitted to Clinical 0mp; Experimental Ophthalmology between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2008. Comments were categorized by reasons for rejection. A total of 662 manuscripts were submitted to Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology via ScholarOne Manuscripts from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2008 with a final decision date of up to 1 April 2009. The overall rejection rate for these manuscripts was 73.6%. The most common reason for rejection of manuscripts was 'does not add to current literature', followed by 'poor methodology', 'problematic control groups', 'poor English and grammar/poorly organized', 'needs further work/clarification' and 'simultaneous submission to another journal/plagiarized'; the remainder had either no readily categorized reason stated or were grouped into an 'other' category. Understanding why original research work is rejected can be invaluable to an author's publishing career. The categories that emerged from this content analysis are reflected in other literature on the topic, therefore the flaws in manuscripts rejected by Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology appear to be both common and avoidable. Armed with this knowledge an author may strive towards a more 'rejection-proof' manuscript when submitting to ophthalmology and visual science journals.

We need to assess english language skills properly

A nurse trainer tells Matt Griffiths that she has been asked to train healthcare assistants (HCAs) in nursing homes to administer medications (reflections September 23). The trainer adds: ‘I am being asked to train them to witness nurses checking medications. This is apparently necessary to avoid mistakes by nurses with poor English.’

Linking Home-School Dissonance to School-Based Outcomes for African American High School Students

The current study examined associations between home-school dissonance and several academic and psychological variables among 239 African American high school students. Regression analyses revealed that home-school dissonance significantly predicted multiple academic and psychological variables, including academic cheating, disruptive classroom behavior, performance avoidant and performance approach goal orientations, and poor self-reported English and math grades. Implications of this research include a more systematic incorporation of African American high school students’ out-of-school experiences into their classroom learning experiences.

Final Control Volume Analysis

The tenure of an editor is, from a variety of viewpoints, mercifully limited. With high hopes and prodigious plans begun, the editorship soon becomes immersed in a rising tide of submissions requiring reviews and decisions in a timely manner. Toward the end of the tenure, a clearer, more balanced view emerges, motivating this stocktaking or control volume analysis, as it were, on the flow of manuscripts. The transition to an Internet-based system of submission/ review/publication was undoubtedly the major milestone defining the last four years. As the first large monthly ASCE journal to dip our toes in digital waters, we contributed our share to working out the bugs of the system. Improvements can still be made, and innovations will be added, but very few, if any, in the hydraulic research community are nostalgic for paper-based submissions. The greater degree of security, transparency, accountability, even convenience, is welcome; but the problem of overly long reviews remains resistant. In an increasingly fragmented and competitive research publishing environment emphasizing citation metrics with real consequences for research careers, the appropriate balance between review time and review quality needs to be struck. While review time can be readily quantified, a corresponding metric of review quality is not available. Even so, a positive correlation between review time and review quality may be as weak or nonexistent? , particularly beyond a certain time, as any found in sediment transport or hydrology. Some relevant data and statistics for the 40-month period 1 May 2006 to 28 Aug. 2009, covering the period of operation of the Internet system, which allows convenient compilation of such data are given in Table 1. As is often the case with flow problems, data are limited, and a stationary state may not have been established, but the analysis may still be of interest. Over 1,200 manuscripts were handled, corresponding to an inflow manuscript velocity of 1 ms/day with final decisions accept or reject, or withdrawn rendered on 74%, the remainder being at various stages of the review process. The globalization of the authorship is seen in that only 25% of the submissions originate in North America, and only about a third from English-speaking countries. The latter has particular repercussions because poor English usage or, more broadly speaking, poor presentation, can adversely affect the evaluation of a manuscript, or unduly prolong the review process. Almost 4,400 reviews were solicited, but only 3,000 reviews were submitted by over 1,000 different reviewers. Finding good reviewers and maintaining uniformly high standards continue to present challenges to the editorial board. Interestingly, once a reviewer has agreed to perform a review, the average time taken for the review is only 50 days. The contributions of all reviewers should be acknowledged, but those of Giuseppe Oliveto, Nian-Sheng Cheng, Brett Sanders, and Jochen Aberle, who each performed 12 or more reviews including rereviews during the 40-month period, merit special mention.