Foreign Language Speakers Research Articles

Sociodemographic Indicators of Birth Rate in a Low Fertility Country-A Nationwide Study of 310 Finnish Municipalities Covering > 5,000,000 Inhabitants.

Background and Aims: Declining fertility is a key driver behind the rapid aging of populations worldwide. Finland has experienced a 25% decline in fertility from 2010 to date and ranks low even on the European and Nordic scales. This study aimed to address the association between sociodemographic indicators and birth rate (i.e., live births relative to total population) in Finland.Methods: Open data on 310 Finnish municipalities were retrieved from the public database of Statistics Finland. Several sociodemographic subdimensions (population structure, education and income, location and living, divorces, car ownership rate, and crime rate), each converted to standard deviation units, were modeled against birth rate at the municipality level using generalized estimating equations.Results: In this dataset, average annual birth rate was 8.8 per 1,000 individuals. Birth rate was positively associated with change in population size (rate ratio 1.06, 95% confidence interval 1.04−1.08), percentage of <15-year-olds (1.29, 1.22−1.36), percentage of individuals living in their birth municipality (1.05, 1.03−1.08), and percentage of foreign language speakers (1.02, 1.01−1.04). In contrast, birth rate was negatively associated with percentage of ≥65-year-olds (0.90, 0.85−0.96), percentage of unemployed individuals (0.98. 0.95−0.99), income (0.92, 0.89−0.96), and number of individuals living in the same household unit (0.94, 0.90−0.98).Conclusion: The present findings are expected to advance the allocation of resources to areas and subpopulations that have high or low birth rate, and thus contribute to the development of a more family-friendly society. Future studies are encouraged to evaluate the sociodemographic indicators of birth rate in other low fertility countries, and to address the individual-level mechanisms behind the municipality-level associations identified in this study.

Evaluating the efficacy of English proficiency on initial semestral results for higher education L1 English speakers in a multilingual context

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate an English Proficiency (EP) programme and its efficacy with respect to students' academic performance in a university within a multi-lingual context, as the programme had been in effect for some years.Design/methodology/approachA quasi-experimental approach was used to study the efficacy of an EP programme in a university within a multilingual context. Data across two academic years were used, along with regression discontinuity design.FindingsResults suggest that the EP programme had a significant and positive intervention effect on students' initial semester grade point average. The programme effect size was found to be medium to large.Research limitations/implicationsIt might be useful to extend the study for one more year for more concrete conclusions. As the study was anchored upon the structure of the 2016 EP programme, any major curricular/structural change to the programme warrants another study.Practical implicationsThis study demonstrated that the implementation of EP programmes in higher education institutions is essential not only for international students who are foreign language speakers of English but also for domestic students in English-speaking countries, especially for bi/multilingual speakers.Originality/valuePrevious studies related to the efficacy of EP within higher education have focused on international students who speak English as an additional/foreign language. Further, most studies have focussed on students' self-reported experiences and have yielded disparate findings. This study contributes to scholarship as it addresses the under-researched area related to domestic students who speak English as the first language in a bi/multi-lingual context.

Postpartum depression and anxiety: a community-based study on risk factors before, during and after pregnancy

BackgroundDepression and anxiety occur frequently postpartum, calling for early detection and treatment. Evidence on risk factors may support early detection, but is inconclusive. Our aim was to identify risk factors for postpartum depression and anxiety, before, during and after pregnancy. MethodsWe used data from 1406 mothers of the intervention arm of the Post-Up study. Risk factors were collected at 3 weeks and 12 months postpartum. Depression and anxiety symptoms were measured in the first month postpartum by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and 6-item State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-6), respectively. We used stepwise logistic regression to identify relevant risk factors. ResultsOf the mothers, 8.0% had EPDS-scores ≥9 and 14.7% STAI-6-scores ≥42. Factors associated with higher risk of depression were: foreign language spoken at home, history of depression, low maternal self-efficacy and poor current health of the mother. No initiation of breastfeeding was associated with lower risk of depression, no breastfeeding at 3 weeks postpartum increased the risk. Factors associated with higher risk of anxiety were: higher educational level, history of depression, preterm birth, negative experience of delivery and first week postpartum, excessive infant crying, low maternal self-efficacy, low partner support and poor current maternal health. LimitationsUse of a self-report instrument, potential bias by postpartum mood status, and no inclusion of emerging depression cases after one month postpartum. ConclusionsThe shared and separate risk factors for postpartum depression and anxiety may help professionals in identifying mothers at increased risk and provide opportunities for preventive interventions and treatment.

The affect of negativity: testing the Foreign Language Effect in three types of valence framing and a moral dilemma

ABSTRACT In decision-making people react differently to positive wordings than to negatives, which may be caused by negativity bias: a difference in emotional force of these wordings. Because emotions are assumed to be activated more strongly in one’s mother tongue, we predict a Foreign Language Effect, being that such framing effects are larger in a native language than in a foreign one. In two experimental studies (N = 475 and N = 503) we tested this prediction for balanced and unbalanced second language users of Spanish and English and for three types of valence framing effects. In Study 1 we observed risky-choice framing effects and attribute framing effects, but these were always equally large for native and foreign-language speakers. In our second study, we added a footbridge dilemma to the framing materials. Only for this task we did observe a Foreign Language Effect, indicating more utilitarian choices when the dilemma is presented in L2. Hence, across two studies, we find no Foreign Language Effect for three types of valence framing but we do find evidence for such an effect in a moral decision task. We discuss several alternative explanations for these results.

Therapeutic Mother Tongue and its Implications on the Work of Polyglot Psychotherapists

Psychodynamic psychotherapy occurs in the lingual field. At its core, the “talking cure” uses the power of words to transform the psyche. Questions arise when the psychologist using language as a central means for therapy is a foreign-language speaker. Research and personal contributions of polyglot therapists in recent years show, that practicing psychotherapy in foreign languages effects the therapist’s work on many levels; technical aspects, the therapist’s self-perception and role, the therapeutic relationship, therapist’s experience and understanding of language as an element in therapy, and more. The present study interviewed nine polyglot therapists in different stages of their career using diverse and different languages in their practice. Analysis of the data in the context of Winnicott’s construct of potential space (Winnicott, 1971) and current linguistics theories regarding language embodiment (Pavlenko, 2005) brought about the suggestion of the concept of Therapeutic Mother Tongue, that refers to the language of training. Therapists’ experience of Therapeutic Mother Tongue and other languages are explored.

Overcoming Aggressive Monolingualism: Prejudices and Linguistic Diversity in Russian Megalopolises

AbstractThe study deals with linguistic prejudices of citizens of the two main Russian cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, toward speakers of foreign languages. It aims to reveal possible recent changes in the language ideology dominating Russian society. Monolingual and linguistically normative orientations rooted in the Soviet ideological approach are being challenged nowadays by global processes of migration and cultural diversification, which influence the everyday reality of Russian megalopolises. The research is based on the analysis of two sets of data: (1) meta-discourse on language attitudes derived from interviews with labor migrants and native Russian speakers in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and posts and comments on issues of language, migration, and linguistic landscapes, collected from websites and social media and (2) linguistic landscape data collected in 2016–2019, mainly in St. Petersburg, which reflect recent changes in attitude toward linguistic diversity in public space. These data show, on the one hand, that most city dwellers still relate to monolingual speech norms and try to implement control over public space; on the other hand, that the tolerance toward multilingual communication has been increasing over the years. The study suggests that these “first cracks” in monolinguals facades of Russian cities could eventually lead to the establishing of a less rigid language regime.

A Corpus-Based Comparative Study of Derivational Morphemes Across ENL, ESL, EFL Learners Through ICNALE

This corpus-based comparative study was about morphemic derivational patterns in grammatical categories: adjective, noun and verbs in different varieties: English as native language (ENL), English as second language (ESL), and English as foreign language (EFL). This study was done on data collected from ICNALE in which learners’ data from three different varieties of English was compared. The data was tagged through CLAWS tagger and analyzed through AntConc software. In result of analysis, the frequency-based differences in the morphemic derivational patterns were observed after normalizing the data. Such differences across varieties in morphemic patterns were realized through the existence and absence of derivational morphemes. The results showed that the native speakers have higher ability of using a greater number of morphemic patterns than second and foreign language speakers of English. Due to their native like competence, they are more competent is the usage of morphemic derivational patterns. Those distinctive patterns should also be taken as pedagogical implication for second and foreign language learners of English. It can also be helpful for second and foreign language learners in achieving native like ability to use English language.

THE USE OF PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATIONAL DISCOURSE

The article deals with definition of English language discourse as a combination of mental and speech actions performed by subjects of educational process at the English language classroom. The author proves that educational discourse concerns knowledge and skills transferring, establishment relations between educational process subjects and evaluation of language competence of those who learn. Phraseological units are considered to be a significant property of English language educational discourse as they help the discourse be more effective and get students more motivated. Also, we assume that the proper usage of phraseological units in the English language classroom makes the educational process better and more focused on foreign language learning. The author analyzed three different approaches to classification of phraseological units in English language educational discourse and provided the examples to illustrate the types definitions. We have come to the conclusion that native and foreign classification vary as they are based on different criteria and linguistic characteristics. Besides, we offer that the knowledge of idioms is an indicator of high level English language competence of students and precondition of their professional competence as they will be able to perform professional duties by means of foreign language and consider social and cultural peculiarities of foreign language speakers. To realize this, we investigated the requirements to incorporation of phraseological units within the learning process and found out that some types of exercises can be effective; context analysis of new vocabulary and collaborative learning. The author proves that phraseological units should be widely used in the English language classroom while explaining new material, commenting on students’ behaviour and achievements, developing instructional materials or courseware.

Predictors of correct interpretation of English and Bulgarian idioms by Russian speakers

During intercultural communication, it is crucial to interpret correctly and to use appropriately foreign idioms which are culturally marked and reflect linguistic and cultural identity of a speech community. Interlocutors should be aware of the cultural and historical precedents that gave rise to the primary image underlying idiomatic expressions and thus created their unique phraseological worldview. The aim of the research is to find out what is a better predictor of correct idiom interpretation - degree of proficiency in a foreign language or degree of genealogical kinship between the native and foreign languages. The topicality of the research is justified by the need for a deeper understanding of linguistic and cultural identity of native and foreign-language speakers, with a view to facilitate and enhance cross-cultural communication. The working hypothesis is that due to the close genealogical kinship between Russian and Bulgarian and the users advanced level of English, the number of correctly interpreted idioms may vary within a statistically significant medium range. The total sample comprises 5000 idioms (2500 English and 2500 Bulgarian ones). The subsample used in the experiment comprises 60 idioms (30 English and 30 Bulgarian ones) selected from The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms and Nov fraseologichen rechnik na bylgarskiya jezik (Нов фразеологичен речник на българския език) by means of stratified systematic sampling. The main methods used in the research include (1) comparative linguistic and cultural analyses, (2) scientific experimentation, (3) systematic and stratified sampling, and (4) a paired t-test. The experimental research and the paired t-test have proved our hypothesis and demonstrated that Russian participants correctly decode more Bulgarian than English idioms, with intergroup variation being statistically significant. Research findings have implications for cultural linguistics. Since translation loans (calques), isomorphic idioms, and idioms dating back to a common source are interpreted more quickly and more accurately than idioms which contain unique or culturally-loaded elements, such as old-fashioned words or proper names, access to cultural precedents that served as prototypes of set expressions contributes to a more seamless code-switching and enables communicants to penetrate deeper the mentality of a specific linguacultural community and thus become aware of the variability of cultural cognition and conceptualisation.

Principles and Techniques for Competence Formation in Russian Dialogical Speech among Iraqi University of Baghdad Students

The article has an attempt to name the principles and techniques for competence formation in Russian dialogical speech among Iraqi University of Baghdad students. The notion of competence in dialogic speech is defined as the ability to successfully implement spoken foreign language activities in a dialogic form in accordance with the situation of communication. It is established that the competence in dialogical speech is based on the acquired knowledge (declarative and procedural), skills (phonetic, lexical and grammatical) and skills (speech, training, intellectual and compensatory). It is reported that the implementation of every of the above components of competence in the dialogical speech for Iraqi University of Baghdad students occurs through the implementation of certain principles (activity principle, visibility principle, situationality principle, the principle of advanced professional orientation of educational material, novelty principle, functionality principle), and methods or technologies (work in pairs, work in triples, work in small groups, carousel, aquarium), which will enable to achieve high results in training Russian as a foreign language for the Iraqi University of Baghdad students.

Visual vignettes for cross-national research

ABSTRACT Textual vignettes are a widely popular research tool, but they assume literacy and reading comprehension skills that limit their utility for both research with disadvantaged populations and cross-national research. We describe a new visual vignette approach, based on approaches used in studying populations with lower verbal ability, that avoids the issues raised by live actors while also reducing reliance on written language typical to textual vignettes. We examine the effectiveness of our new visual vignette using a survey experiment in which respondents were exposed to either a visual vignette, or a textual vignette, depicting the same interaction. We found that our visual vignette produced similar results when compared to traditional textual vignettes, confirming their utility. Additionally, we report on a pilot data collection using a cross-national sample, in which English literacy cannot be assumed. Our results indicate that our new method should improve research options both with low literacy populations and foreign language speakers.

Learning a Second Language in Adulthood Changes Subcortical Neural Encoding.

Second language learning has been shown to impact and reshape the central nervous system, anatomically and functionally. Most of the studies on second language learning and neuroplasticity have been focused on cortical areas, whereas the subcortical neural encoding mechanism and its relationship with L2 learning have not been examined extensively. The purpose of this study was to utilize frequency-following response (FFR) to examine if and how learning a tonal language in adulthood changes the subcortical neural encoding in hearing adults. Three groups of subjects were recruited: native speakers of Mandarin Chinese (native speakers (NS)), learners of the language (L2 learners), and those with no experience (native speakers of foreign languages (NSFL)). It is hypothesized that differences would exist in FFRs obtained from the three language experience groups. Results revealed that FFRs obtained from L2 learners were found to be more robust than the NSFL group, yet not on a par with the NS group. Such results may suggest that in human adulthood, subcortical neural encoding ability may be trainable with the acquisition of a new language and that neuroplasticity at the brainstem level can indeed be influenced by L2 learning.

English language learning and social media: Schematic learning on Kpop Stan twitter

The recent years have observed a notable rise in online activities and interactions. One of the popular online interaction zones are fandom communities comprising fans of any artist, band, TV show, movie, book, and so on. These fans come together on various platforms to enthuse about their favorites with people who share their admiration and interests. One such platform is Twitter and the fandom community is Stan Twitter. Within those fandoms, K-Pop fandom stands out because of the density of English as a second or foreign language speakers in this community. Taking this community as its sample, this study explores the ways in which the non-native English speaking fandom members use English to communicate on this platform. Moreover, the study focuses on the interpretation and usage of meme discourse by these non-native English speaking members. The findings reveal that the fandom members learn memetic discourse by internalizing it in the form of schemas, which means that they learn the whole chunk of interaction rather than learning individual words. The study has also explored overall language-learning within this community, and has discussed the implications of fandom activities as potential learning aids.

THE PECULIARITIES OF PROFESSIONAL FOREIGN LANGUAGE TRAINING OF TACTICAL LEVEL OFFICERS OF THE UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES

The article deals with the peculiarities of professional foreign language training of tactical level officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It describes some problems of training military personnel in higher military educational establishments of Ukraine. The paper also considers some aspects of the AFU officers’ professional foreign language training. The contradictions of professional foreign language training include the inconsistency of the requirements for individual training in connection with the need for teamwork during military service activities. Strict regulation of actions in the military environment, the formation of tolerance, and willingness to destroy a person in combat or service also belong to the above-mentioned problems. In order to solve the problems of foreign language preparation, it is necessary to create conditions that would encourage a willingness to communicate with different foreign language speakers. They include the rejection of unified models of learning, ignoring the learner’s personal characteristics; the flexibility of constructing the educational process, the relevance of the process content side to the motivational orientations of the subjects of learning as well as motivational support of the educational process. The educators have to oppose the devaluation of universal values, encourage cultural pluralism, tolerance, the development of different types of thinking and respect the learner’s personal right to be a unique individual.

Instanarratives: Stories of foreign language learning on Instagram

In a networked society, social media has become central to individuals’ lives. It has enabled people to access information, interact with communities, share experiences, find entertainment, and learn. This paper explores an online community on Instagram where members connect by sharing narratives, stories, memories, and other accounts of foreign language learning. The research seeks to assess the ways an online community on Instagram can be a learning network. It also investigates the affordances perceived by the community members in their language learning histories (LLHs). The analysis revealed that the community matches the network principles proposed by Downes (2012): autonomy, diversity, openness, and interactivity. Also, LLHs reveal that, in their personal learning networks, narrators have perceived affordances to interact with foreign language speakers; explore multimodality; make connections between native and foreign language; interact with technologies and cultural artifacts; practise repetition; find personal connections with the foreign language; participate in fandoms; and pay attention to foreign language speakers. The stories shared in the learning network indicate that the actions upon affordances perceived in informal environments seem to have a positive impact on learners’ linguistic repertoires, identities, and emotions.

Intonation in Hong Kong English and Guangzhou Cantonese-accented English: A Phonetic Comparison

Hong Kong English is to a certain extent a standardized English variety spoken in a bilingual (English-Cantonese) context. In this article we compare this (native) variety with English as a foreign language spoken by other Cantonese speakers, viz. learners of English in Guangzhou (mainland China). We examine whether the notion of standardization is relevant for intonation in this case and thus whether Hong Kong English is different from Cantonese English in a wider perspective, or whether it is justified to treat Hong Kong English and Cantonese English as the same variety (as far as intonation is concerned). We present a comparison between intonational contours of different sentence types in the two varieties, and show that they are very similar. This shows that, in this respect, a learned foreign-language variety can resemble a native variety to a great extent.

Интернет-мемы как средство формирования лингвострановедческой компетенции при обучении иностранных студентов и слушателей русскому языку

The article examines the methodology of using Internet memes when teaching Russian as a foreign language, analyses the efficiency of Internet memes as a means promoting the formation of foreign learners’ linguo-cultural competence. The paper aims to justify the reasonability of using Internet memes when forming foreign-language speakers’ linguo-cultural competence in the process of the Russian language acquisition. Scientific originality of the study involves justifying the efficiency of using Internet memes when forming foreign learners’ linguo-cultural competence, a component of the communicative competence, which serves as a basis for further development of their language competences. The research findings are as follows: specificity of Internet memes as a source of linguo-cultural information is revealed, reasonability of their usage when teaching Russian as a foreign language is justified, their potential as a means to form foreign learners’ linguo-cultural competence is identified.

Acquiring sub-efficient and efficient variants of novel means by integrating information from multiple social models in preschoolers

Sub-efficient action routines often represent culture-specific conventional forms of actions that belong to the repertoire of cultural knowledge shared by a social group. Children readily acquire such sub-efficient routines from social demonstrations and often preserve them in their action repertoire despite encountering more efficient alternatives. This suggests that they can treat sub-efficient conventional forms and their efficient alternatives in a context-sensitive selective manner. We hypothesized that children may rely on their sensitivity to differentiate speakers of their own language versus a foreign language as an informative cue indicating whether the model belongs to their own cultural community and the action modeled represents shared cultural knowledge. We assessed preschoolers’ imitation following two different demonstrations. The first model demonstrated a sub-efficient action sequence, whereas the second model presented a more efficient alternative to obtain the same goal. We varied whether the children had heard the models speak their own language or a foreign language before their nonverbal action demonstrations. We found that 4-year-olds adopted the second model’s efficient alternative, but only when she spoke their own language. However, they disregarded the efficient alternative if it was presented by a foreign-language speaker and continued to perform the sub-efficient routine they initially acquired. Therefore, 4-year-olds employed the cue of shared language to optimize acquiring and maintaining culturally shared sub-efficient action routines by selectively updating their action repertoire relying on their language-based evaluation of the demonstrator’s culture-specific competence. In contrast, 5- and 6-year-olds adopted the efficient alternative independently of the demonstrator’s language. Possible reasons for this developmental trend are discussed.

TO THE ISSUE OF TEACHING SPEAKING IN ENGLISH TO FUTURE SPECIALISTS IN THE SPHERE OF TOURISM

The article discusses the issues of teaching speaking to future tourism specialists. The formation and development of foreign language spoken language is the process of instilling future specialists with the skills and abilities of understanding and expressing thoughts, designed in a foreign language. These tools are little known to future specialists, since he cannot get them from the environment, just as he receives means of expressing thoughts in his native language. Thus, in the process of teaching perception and reproduction of speech in a foreign language, the categories of form and content play an important role. Auditory, audiovisual and visual supports are used to form oral foreign speech. Visual props are printed texts. In the methodology of teaching English as a foreign language, the question of the use of texts in teaching speaking was widely discussed. There is no definite answer to this question. We hold the view that for future tourism specialists, texts are the main source of language tools and information

Turn-Initial Discourse Markers in L2 Spanish Conversations: Insights from Conversation Analysis

Turn beginnings are the place in conversation where the connection (or otherwise) between a prior and a next turn is displayed. This crucial interactional task is usually fulfilled by turn-initial particles, specifically those known as discourse markers. Although the use of discourse markers by second or foreign language speakers has actually been largely discussed in the previous literature on interlanguage pragmatics, studies that focus on turn-initial discourse markers and that are conducted from a conversation analytical perspective are still scarce. The aim of this paper is therefore twofold. On the one hand, it makes a case for the use of conversation analysis as a research methodology for the study of discourse markers in a second or foreign language. On the other hand, and as a practical elaboration, this paper investigates the use of the discourse markers “y” and “sí” in the turn-initial position by foreign language speakers of Spanish. The results show that both discourse markers are part of an overall concern of signalling continuity and affiliation even in topic shifts and in non-aligned turns.