Speaking Contexts Research Articles

ANALYSING WOMEN'S LANGUAGE FEATURES IN ESHA CHHABRA'S TED TALK ON ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS

This research, titled "Women's Language Features of Environmental Business Journalist Esha Chhabra Video on TED YouTube Channel," aims to identify the characteristics of women's language used by Esha Chhabra. The data was collected from her spoken words in the video. The study identified 41 instances of women's language features, including lexical hedges, tag questions, rising intonation, empty adjectives, intensifiers, hypercorrect grammar, super polite forms, and emphatic stress. The most frequently used feature was the intensifier, which the speaker employed to reinforce her statements and persuade the audience. While the least encountered features are tag question, hypercorrect grammar, and emphatic stress. Notably, two features—precise color terms and strong swears words—was absent. This absence is attributed to the video's business context, where strong swear words are inappropriate, and precise color terms are unnecessary. This research contributes to understanding how women's language features are utilized in professional and public speaking contexts.

Cross-cultural adaptation and user-experience validation of the ACAD Toolkit

Design for learning involves the delicate interweaving of knowledge about learning and knowledge about design. This work is often carried out by heterogenous design teams in which members speak of and value different aspects of design, and different methods for evaluating these designs in use. The challenge of reconciling these often-competing demands is critical to the success of these teams. This short paper outlines work breaking new ground translating an educational design method, developed in English speaking contexts, for use in Spanish speaking contexts. Steeped in socio-cultural and socio[1]material awareness this project explores how the ACAD Toolkit—a set of tangible design related resources embodying networked learning ideals—shapes and is (re)shaped in and through the process of translation. Guided by two questions: (i) How can we explore the process of translating not only language but values and forms of practice? and (ii) How can the ACAD Toolkit be validated in new contexts? This qualitative study involves the thematic analysis of multimodal data including video and audio recordings, and artefacts produced during workshops. Our method builds on traditional cross[1]cultural processes of adaptation that involve adapting, expanding and splitting ideas and concepts in two stages: language translation and user-experience testing. Our analysis is, therefore, reported in two stages. In the first we explore the process of reaching agreement on a test set of translated resources, and in the second we explore how these resources are being enrolled in educational design work in new contexts. The newly translated resources have been tested in three workshops in two Spanish speaking educational settings (Spain and Argentina). After analysing the data from these workshops, the initial translation will be corrected, and instructions will be developed—in both languages—to improve future translations of the ACAD Toolkit and in its ongoing use in English contexts. These instructions and the processes through which they will be developed will produce potential research objects for future educational design research. This method, initially developed with educators in Australia and New Zealand, embodies the very heart of networked learning—the movement of people, objects, and ideas across contexts and time.

Investigating the Impact of Dialogic and Trialogic Interactive Factors on Chinese Advanced L2 learners’ Vocabulary Use in Spoken Contexts

The main objective of this study is to investigate how interactive factors affect the vocabulary usage of second language learners in their spoken language. Participants were 24 L1 Chinese undergraduate students of L2 English at an advanced level. L2 learners’ vocabulary use was assessed via tokens, lexical diversity, and frequency-based lexical sophistication. Participants provided speech data in response to seven persuasive speaking tasks across three speaking modes: two monologic, two dialogic, and three trialogic. This study showed that the interactive factor has a varied effect on L2 learners’ vocabulary usage. It positively influences the use of advanced vocabulary but does not affect the total number of words produced or the diversity of words used. Second, of all three speaking modes, the dialogic speaking mode is the best speaking condition to trigger L2 learners’ use of advanced words. Third, the vocabulary employed in dialogues and trialogues can vary due to the inherent disparities between the two modes of speech. Therefore, we propose the use of the dialogic interactive factor and trialogic interactive factor instead of the term “interactive factor” to encompass two specific conditions in which there was a noticeable difference in the performance of L2 learners.

The Use of Metadiscourse Markers in the Spoken Discourse of Different EMI Disciplines

Abstract Metadiscourse (MD) allows instructors to organize classroom discourse and reflect their own style while delivering the content. MD has been studied for years, especially with a focus on written contexts even though the number of studies conducted on spoken contexts in different educational settings has a tendency to increase. With the increasing spread of English medium instruction (EMI) across the world, the role of MD in EMI classroom discourse has become a field of research that is worth investigating. Concerning the Turkish context, MD has recently been a popular research area, but there are limited number of studies conducted the examination of MD in spoken interactions in the Turkish context. To this end, the current study aims to investigate the distribution and lexicogrammatical realizations of metadiscourse markers employed by the lecturers in the spoken discourse of different EMI courses. A corpus-based discourse analysis was carried out by referring to Ädel’s (2010) framework of metadiscourse. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of the corpus collected from 36 hours of lesson observation have revealed some variations in both the distribution and realization of metadiscursive categories in different EMI courses.

Design and Evaluation of English-Speaking Practice Environment Based on Virtual Reality Technology

The design and evaluation of an English-speaking practice environment based on virtual reality (VR) technology involves creating immersive virtual environments where users can interact with realistic scenarios to enhance their English-speaking skills. By leveraging VR technology, users can engage in simulated conversations, presentations, or social interactions in English, providing a safe and controlled environment for language practice. This paper presents an innovative approach to enhance English-speaking practice within virtual reality (VR) environments using the Sbi-gramO system. Sbi-gramO combines sentiment analysis and optimization techniques to select emotionally resonant and linguistically relevant bi-grams tailored to various speaking scenarios. The system's performance is evaluated through error estimation metrics, stop word analysis, and classification results across different scenarios such as job interviews, casual conversations, and public speaking engagements. Results indicate the system's effectiveness in predicting sentiment scores and distinguishing between diverse speaking contexts. Performance evaluation reveals the system's accuracy, with mean absolute errors ranging from 0.04 to 0.07 across different scenarios. Additionally, stop word analysis highlights the linguistic complexity within each scenario, with an average stop word count of 4.6. Classification results demonstrate the system's adaptability, correctly classifying instances with an accuracy of 80% on average.

Strategies for Anticipating Speech Production Errors in the Public Speaking Context: Psycholinguistic Analysis and Improving Public Speaking Ability

This research explores and analyzes various aspects related to public speaking and speech production errors in real life contexts. Through a literature review, this research explains the types of speech production errors, their causes, and strategies to anticipate these errors. This research also links speech production errors with public speaking, highlighting the importance of psycholinguistic understanding in this regard. The research results show that anticipating speech production errors is the key to improving public speaking skills. Anticipation strategies include preparing the topic well, maintaining composure, focusing, and using familiar vocabulary. Speech production errors can disrupt the flow of a presentation, so a deep understanding of these aspects is very important in public speaking.

CONVERGENCES AND DIVERGENCES BETWEEN AN EFL TEACHER’S BELIEFS AND CLASSROOM PRACTICES IN TEACHING SPEAKING

Revealing teachers’ beliefs about teaching in EFL speaking contexts may help better teaching practice. This research was conducted to investigate a teacher’s belief about teaching speaking focusing on convergences and discrepancies between the beliefs and the practices in the classroom. Grounded in a qualitative case study with interviews and classroom observations, an experienced English teacher with more than 10 years of teaching speaking in English participated in the study. The results of the study indicated that the teacher paid more attention to fluency and gave practical speaking tips when the students encountered communication breakdowns. Further, the teacher generally practiced her belief in the classroom, even though she encountered some discrepancies. It was due to some students’ factors including students’ language proficiency and their affective factors. Therefore, it is essential for EFL teachers to systematically and regularly monitor the relations between their beliefs and practices through reflective practices in order to improve their everyday practice of teaching speaking in particular. It is further suggested that teachers get engaged in some reflective practices to bridge their beliefs and teaching practices and find out how the reflection can benefit their beliefs and instructional decisions.

Speech motor adaptation during synchronous and metronome-timed speech.

Sensorimotor integration during speech has been investigated by altering the sound of a speaker's voice in real time; in response, the speaker learns to change their production of speech sounds in order to compensate (adaptation). This line of research has however been predominantly limited to very simple speaking contexts, typically involving (a) repetitive production of single words and (b) production of speech while alone, without the usual exposure to other voices. This study investigated adaptation to a real-time perturbation of the first and second formants during production of sentences either in synchrony with a prerecorded voice (synchronous speech group) or alone (solo speech group). Experiment 1 (n = 30) found no significant difference in the average magnitude of compensatory formant changes between the groups; however, synchronous speech resulted in increased between-individual variability in such formant changes. Participants also showed acoustic-phonetic convergence to the voice they were synchronizing with prior to introduction of the feedback alteration. Furthermore, the extent to which the changes required for convergence agreed with those required for adaptation was positively correlated with the magnitude of subsequent adaptation. Experiment 2 tested an additional group with a metronome-timed speech task (n = 15) and found a similar pattern of increased between-participant variability in formant changes. These findings demonstrate that speech motor adaptation can be measured robustly at the group level during performance of more complex speaking tasks; however, further work is needed to resolve whether self-voice adaptation and other-voice convergence reflect additive or interactive effects during sensorimotor control of speech. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Audience perceptions of a speaker who uses a smartphone as a public speaking aid: An experimental video vignette investigation

Individuals use their smartphones for an assortment of communication and functional activities and in a variety of contexts. Researchers analyzing smartphone use during interpersonal interactions have posed hypotheses and developed theories regarding the positive and negative influences that smartphones have on individuals and relationships. However, there is little research that examines the role smartphone use plays in a public speaking context. The current study uses a video vignette methodology to explore audience perceptions of a speaker who uses a smartphone as a presentation aid at a small university in Singapore. Overall, results suggest that the speaker’s smartphone use did not have a negative impact on perceptions of credibility (likeability/trustworthiness, competence, speaker ability), speaker immediacy, or persuasion. However, there was a small interaction effect when accounting for participants’ degree of smartphone acceptance. University students who reported lower smartphone acceptance perceived the speaker who used a smartphone as less credible (likable/trustworthy) than a speaker who delivered a speech from memory. Additionally, despite reporting significantly less smartphone use than students, staff and instructors did not perceive a speaker who uses a smartphone compared to a memorized presentation differently. This exploratory study carries implications for better understanding normative and appropriate smartphone use in public speaking contexts and provides recommendations for public speaking educators.

DECOLONIZING ANGLOPHONE EAP INFLUENCE IN THE EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION CONTEXT

It is widely known that English teaching practices are largely rooted in colonialism and linguistic imperialism – the belief in the superiority of the Western teaching methods and linguistic norms established in such countries as the UK and the US. The current trend to decolonize English teaching has been gaining momentum for over three decades but has not entirely penetrated into the mainstream teaching of English, with English for Academic Purposes not being an exception. Relatively little focus has been placed in the research onto non-English speaking contexts with the purpose of analysing the current state of EAP provision at universities and gauging the influence of the native-speakerist academic English norms on EAP students’ writing. In the case of the EU context, it may be particularly pertinent to investigate the potential influence that Brexit might have had in terms of rejecting the imposition of the Standard British English norms and associated teaching approaches. This paper is meant to be a reflection with an attempt to stimulate the discussion of EAP teaching practices and academic discourses in the EU higher education in the post-Brexit era. It will consider the issues in the EAP provision in the EU with the example of Portuguese HE and will reflect on the native-speakerist tendencies within the academia and ways to tackle the dominance of the Anglophone norms. This paper hopes to contribute to the argument in favor of the decolonization of EAP teaching practices in non-English speaking contexts, as decolonization can help foster a more equitable and inclusive world.

Classroom gesture instruction on second language learners' academic presentations: Evidence from Chinese intermediate English learners

Gesture has been recognized as an important aspect of second language (L2) acquisition, playing a vital role in L2 communication. Previous research has shown that L2 learners' communicative efficacy can be facilitated through gesture mediation. In particular, L2 learners may find gesture a useful tool to deliver their subject-related academic presentations. However, whether classroom gesture instruction could boost L2 learners' gesture use in academic speaking context and their overall presentation performance has rarely been explored. Drawing on activity theory, this study aims to investigate the potential role of gesture instruction in intermediate L2 English learners' gesture use and their academic presentation performance. Our study found that L2 learners who received classroom gesture instructions showed significant improvement in their use of gestures, and outperformed the control group in a post-test presentation session, showing improvement in all gesture types among which beats were significantly increased. These findings confirm the teachability of gesture to enhance Chinese L2 English learners' academic presentation skills, proving gesture as an indispensable instructional component in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classroom.

Dialect perception in song versus speech

Investigations into style-shift in singing led to the proposal of genre-specific musical sociolects [Coupland, 2011, J. of Soc. 15]. Gibson [2019, Univ. of Canterbury Dissertation] demonstrated that style-shift in popular music is automatic. Additionally, Mageau et al. [2019, Phonetica 76] found non-native English speakers have a less perceptible foreign accent while singing than speaking. These findings provide possible behavioral analogues to the differential processing of speech and song. Gibson [2019, UofCanterbury Dissertation] accounts for this using Todd et al’s [2019, Cognition 185] exemplar theory, emphasizing the role of sung and spoken contexts in perception. We investigate the role of musical context in accent identification. 24 participants completed a dialect-identification task of 32 musical clips from two genres with strong sociocultural associations: country and reggae. 16 clips contained the original instrumental-removed vocals, and 16 different clips from the same songs additionally underwent monotonization and rhythm-normalization. Responses to the manipulated stimuli were more varied than the original vocals. Listeners’ judgements may be more closely tied to country and reggae’s sociocultural associations than speech information itself. These findings counter Mageau et al., illuminating a more complex relationship between accent perception, music, and genre. Future work will investigate this for dialect-nonspecific genres and adjust approaches to stimuli manipulation.

Quantifying the Relationship between Parental Involvement and English Language Proficiency among EFL Learners

This study investigates the correlation between parental involvement and English language proficiency among learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in non-English speaking contexts. Despite the established significance of parental involvement in general academic success, its specific impact on EFL learning remains under-researched. Building on previous studies and theories, this research aims to fill this gap by quantifying the relationship between these two variables in a non-English speaking environment. Guided by the primary research question "Is there a significant correlation between the level of parental involvement and English language proficiency among EFL learners?” the study hypothesizes that higher levels of parental involvement will be associated with greater English language proficiency. By exploring this potential relationship, the study hopes to provide insights beneficial for educators, policymakers, and parents in supporting EFL learners more effectively. The outcomes of this research will contribute to the literature on second language acquisition and parental involvement, broadening our understanding of the dynamics involved in EFL learning.

Evaluating evidence for the reliability and validity of lexical diversity indices in L2 oral task responses

AbstractAlthough lexical diversity is often used as a measure of productive proficiency (e.g., as an aspect of lexical complexity) in SLA studies involving oral tasks, relatively little research has been conducted to support the reliability and/or validity of these indices in spoken contexts. Furthermore, SLA researchers commonly use indices of lexical diversity such as Root TTR (Guiraud’s index) and D (vocd-D and HD-D) that have been preliminarily shown to lack reliability in spoken L2 contexts and/or have been consistently shown to lack reliability in written L2 contexts. In this study, we empirically evaluate lexical diversity indices with respect to two aspects of reliability (text-length independence and across-task stability) and one aspect of validity (relationship with proficiency scores). The results indicated that neither Root TTR nor D is reliable across different text lengths. However, support for the reliability and validity of optimized versions of MATTR and MTLD was found.

Verbs Matter: A Tutorial for Determining Verb Difficulty.

Research indicates that when teaching grammatical forms to children, the verbs used to model specific grammatical inflections matter. When learning grammatical forms, children have higher performance when they hear many unique verb forms that vary in their frequency and phonological complexity. In this tutorial, we demonstrate a method for identifying and characterizing a large number of verbs based on their frequency and complexity. We selected verbs from an open-access database of transcribed child language samples. We extracted verbs produced by 5- to 8.9-year-old children in four morphosyntactic contexts: regular past tense -ed, third person singular -s, is/are + verb+ing, and do/does questions. We ranked verbs based on their frequency of occurrence across transcripts. We also coded the phonological complexity of each verb. We coded each verb as high or low frequency and high or low phonological complexity. The synthesis yielded 129 unique verbs used in the regular past tense -ed context, 107 verbs used in the third person singular -s context, 69 verbs used in the is/are + verb+ing context, and 16 verbs used in the do/does question context. We created tables for each form that include the frequency rankings and phonological complexity scores for every verb. Clinicians may use the verb lists, frequency ratings, and phonological complexity scores to help identify verbs to incorporate into assessment and intervention sessions with children. Researchers and clinicians may use the step-by-step approach presented in the tutorial to identify verbs or other syntactic components used in different morphosyntactic contexts or produced by individuals of different demographics in different speaking contexts.

Virtual reality gaze exposure treatment reduces state anxiety during public speaking in individuals with public speaking anxiety: A randomized controlled trial

BackgroundPublic speaking anxiety (PSA) is a prevalent social anxiety affecting up to 30% of the population. Individuals with PSA often express fear of being evaluated by others and avoid eye contact. Despite this behavioral characteristic, the potential of gaze avoidance reduction as a therapeutic intervention to alleviate PSA-related anxiety remains unexplored. MethodsWe designed a standalone virtual reality (VR) gaze exposure treatment focused on enhancing eye contact in public speaking contexts and evaluated its effectiveness in reducing state anxiety during public speaking. In a single-blind, randomized controlled trial, 89 participants with subclinical PSA were assigned to either a gaze exposure treatment or a control group. Assessments occurred at baseline, following a one-hour intervention, and after nine additional 20-minute home interventions. The primary outcome was state anxiety, assessed using the Subjective Units of Distress Scale during a real-life public speaking test. ResultsRepeated, but not acute VR gaze exposure reduced state anxiety during public speaking compared to the control group (treatment: baseline 48.95 [SD 19.52], post-intervention 2: 26.60 [SD 19.23]; control: baseline 48.92 [SD 18.43], post-intervention 2: 56.34 [SD 28.15]; adjusted mean group difference: -29.82, 95% CI: -41.77 to -17.87; Cohen's d = -1.07, p < 0.0001). LimitationsOur study design does not allow conclusions regarding the effective component (i.e., gaze exposure vs. social context) of the intervention. ConclusionsOur findings indicate that repeated VR gaze exposure treatment in public speaking contexts can effectively reduce state anxiety during public speaking among individuals with subclinical PSA. These promising results call for further investigations in clinical populations.

FROM FRINGE TO MAINSTREAM: QANON NARRATIVES IN CENTRAL EUROPEAN DIGITAL SPACES

The paper analyses the spread of QAnon adjacent conspiracy narratives in Czech and Slovak speaking digital spaces, with focus on influencers communities on social media (TikTok, Instagram). Based on case study of a two specific narratives about COVID-19 and the anti-covid vaccines, it proposes a 5-step structure of how conspiracy content moves from a) English to non-English speaking contexts online and b) accross platforms, from fringe to mainstream spaces. It focuses on the role of influencers and digital opinion leaders in mainstreaming fringe political content and analyses how both political and lifestyle influencers adopt the role of cultural translators in the process. The paper is based on mixed method approach, combining digital ethnography and ethnographic content analysis.

Bye-Bye Bunny: Place and Manner Sequences in Children's C1VC2V-Shaped Words.

Place and manner of articulation in American English-learning children's salient consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel (C1VC2V) target words (e.g., baby, bunny, and cookie) were compared with their actual productions of these words. We hypothesized that target words with repeated place and/or manner characteristics in C1VC2V consonant sequences would be matched in children's actual productions more frequently than target words with variegated place and manner sequences. This hypothesis was based on a proposal that children use available production system capacities to produce salient word forms derived from perceptual input on those word forms. Place and manner sequences were analyzed in 2,092 tokens of C1VC2V target words produced by 18 typically developing children in the single-word period. All data were from these children's spontaneous functional speech in a familiar speaking context. Both target word forms and actual child productions of those targets were analyzed. Results indicated that C1VC2V word target sequences predominantly consisted of repetitions in both place and manner of articulation (e.g., labial-labial, stop-stop). Targets with repetitions of consonant sequences were matched more frequently than targets with variegated sequences for both place and manner (e.g., labial-coronal, stop-nasal) in these children's actual productions. Results also indicated that C1VC2V target words beginning with a labial consonant (e.g., baby, bunny, and piggy) were matched in children's actual productions more frequently than words with coronal or dorsal consonant onsets (e.g., daddy and cookie). In C1VC2V word forms, occurring in early output, children's actual productions matched their target word sequences when the words consisted of repeated sequences in both place and manner. These results suggest that salient target words with repeated sequences may help children support increases in their repertoire of meaningful vocalizations during the transition from babbling to meaningful speech.

A Study of Earthly and Ethereal Oscillations in Happy Birthday Wanda June by Kurt Vonnegut

Discourse analysis is a broad term for the study of the ways in which language is used by people, both in written texts and spoken contexts. It is "the study of real language use, by real speakers in real situations," wrote Teun A. van Dijk in the "Handbook of Discourse Analysis, Vol. 4 (2001)." This study expounds upon the “Discourse Analysis of earthly and ethereal oscillations in Happy Birthday Wanda June by Kurt Vonnegut.”. This study is significant because it explores how the exposition of temporal distortions in Vonnegut’s play (1971) offers a panoramic view of life against the non-linear structure of the play. It also reveals why the impacts of socio-political and historic-religious figures on the fabrication of vice/virtue relationships among the human race are important to focus on in this research. It explores the ordeals that thwart the afterlife notions on the principle of poetic justice. The purpose of this study is to explore (I) the dichotomy between the playful life of Iscariot, Hitler, and other minor characters in heaven, and (II) the victimized existence of Penelope on earth due to the sudden resurrection of her husband (Harold Ryan) after eight years from the rainforests of Amazon. Discourse Analysis has been applied as a research tool. The conceptual framework of James Paul Gee’s (1999) “six buildings tasks” (pg:104) have been used, which helped us to evaluate the language used by the author to build up his narrative. Basing on Gee’s theory this study finds the absolute connectedness of the mortal characters bracketed by futile frustrations and the immortals waiting upon more menace to radically ravish them for their sports. This paper has further implications for future researchers to analyze other literary texts by Kurt Vonnegut to unveil various aspects of geospatial distinctions by applying the post-modern theories.

The Use of Mobile-Assisted Language Learning to Promote Learner Autonomy in The EFL Speaking Context

The Use of Mobile-Assisted Language Learning to Promote Learner Autonomy in The EFL Speaking Context