scholarly journals On the use of semantic calques in academic legal written language

2015 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Dalia Gedzevičienė
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Indirect Contact ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
The Status ◽  
National Languages ◽  
The Impact

The use of semantic calques in academic legal written language is the focus of the present article. Semantic calques are words in new irregular meanings. The following two groups of semantic calques in academic legal written language are distinguished: old calques, which are produced in the Lithuanian language due to the impact of the Russian language, and new calques, which have been produced in the Lithuanian language due the impact of the English language. The most frequently used calques of the first group are the verbs (pa)talpinti, atstatyti, sutikti, naudoti and their derivatives, the adjectives pilnas, -a, vieningas, -a and their derivatives, the noun saugiklis.The most frequently used calques of the second group are the adjectives pilotinis, harmoningas, -a, the verb harmonizuoti and the noun harmonizavimas. The present paper aims to identify the key reasons why some semantic calques spread in the academic language of the law. According to the contact between the user of the calque and the foreign language of its origin, the article distinguishes two types of reasons: primary and secondary. Primary reasons (concerned with the direct contact between the user of the calque and the language of origin) can be divided into three general reasons: (1) life among bilingual population; (2) the author of the text is a non-native speaker of Lithuanian; (3) the author relies on secondary written sources (research papers, documents, legal acts) in foreign languages, especially on its non-professional translation. Secondary reasons are concerned with an indirect contact between the user of the calque and the language of origin. In many cases the user of the calque does not know the foreign language from which the calque has been adopted. Semantic calques are copied from administrative language (legal acts, codes), public spoken language and are the result of imitation. Due to secondary reasons the calque appearing in a narrow peripheral field of standard language is further transferred into general usage. The analysis of the texts has demonstrated that in most cases semantic calques spread in academic legal written language due to extralinguistic factors. For example, Soviet occupation is one of them, when Russian in fact had the status of a state language. Now we are in a different situation, when the EU membership requires that all legal acts be translated into national languages of all member states.

scholarly journals (Re)claiming English Language Today

2019 ◽  
pp. 177-185
Author(s):  
Nadežda Stojković
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Cultural Renewal ◽  
Paradoxical Situation ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
National Languages ◽  
The Impact

In the huge and most diverse discussion on the influence of the English language as a second, international, or bridge language, there are distinctive voices drawing attention to the fact that this language as nowadays so widely used in innumerable contexts, is no longer ‘owned’ by the community of speakers to whom it is mother language, those primarily of the countries from where English language originates. Moreover, the number of people speaking, or rather using English language today either as their second or foreign language, by far outnumbers people to whom it is native. Situation being such, it is further claimed the concept of ‘standard English’ reflects inherent inequality stance, for if it belongs to everyone speaking it, then insisting on the supremacy on only one of its variants means placing all those speakers of it in a subdued position, and this possibly being yet another facet of English an agent of neocolonialism and globalization (Pennycook 1998, Phillipson 1992). The spread of the English language has been much investigated as oppressive to the formation and expression of personal and collective identities, degrading national languages and through globalization diminishing the impact of local cultures (Bhaba 1990), that it challenges cultures and discourses, being the impetus for continuous re-codification and re-colonisation (Foucault 1980). However, equally significant in relevance and number, the opposing views claim English today offers an expanded community of users enabling new ways of expressing, changing, negotiating voices that offer chances for cultural renewal and exchange around the world, that the awareness of this brings “decolonizing of the colonizers mind” (Penycook 2013). Taking the flip side of the situation, English language natives are noted to be in a paradoxical situation of being expatriates from their own language, themselves “co-victims” (Bratlinger 1990). This insurgent knowledge of the status of English language today is certainly to instigate further investigation, ‘writing back’ of what ontology this language now embodies.

English language schooling, linguistic realities, and the native speaker of English in Hong Kong

Multilingua ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jette G. Hansen Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Government School ◽  
The Impact ◽  
At Home

AbstractThe study employs a case study approach to examine the impact of educational backgrounds on nine Hong Kong tertiary students’ English and Cantonese language practices and identifications as native speakers of English and Cantonese. The study employed both survey and interview data to probe the participants’ English and Cantonese language use at home, school, and with peers/friends. Leung, Harris, and Rampton’s (1997, The idealized native speaker, reified ethnicities, and classroom realities.TESOL Quarterly 31(3). 543–560) framework of language affiliation, language expertise, and inheritance was used to examine the construction of a native language identity in a multilingual setting. The study found that educational background – and particularly international school experience in contrast to local government school education – had an impact on the participants’ English language usage at home and with peers, and also affected their language expertise in Cantonese. English language use at school also impacted their identifications as native speakers of both Cantonese and English, with Cantonese being viewed largely as native language based on inheritance while English was being defined as native based on their language expertise, affiliation and use, particularly in contrast to their expertise in, affiliation with, and use of Cantonese.

scholarly journals INTERNATIONAL AND GLOBAL LANGUAGES: CRITERIA, RATINGS, FORECASTS

Movoznavstvo ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 320 (5) ◽  
pp. 17-33
Author(s):  
P. O.  SELIHEY ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
International Language ◽  
World Languages ◽  
Social Prestige ◽  
The Status ◽  
Modern Knowledge ◽  
National Languages ◽  
The Military ◽  
Intellectual Power ◽  
Informational Value

The article examines the criteria on the basis of which ratings of international languages are compiled and their future is predicted. Language’s chances of becoming international are not highly dependent on its demographic power, structural advantages or ease of learning. What matters most is the influence that speakers of the language have on other peoples. The criteria of «internationality» of the language actually coincide with the criteria of its influence, communicative value, social prestige, sociolinguistic weight. The ratings of the influence of national languages are based on various criteria: state status, communicative potential, economic power, the number of people studying it as a foreign language. These ratings reveal more essential criteria of an international language: prevalence on several continents, the status of an official language in international organizations, value as a source of modern knowledge, a large number of its speakers as a second. A specific feature that brings the international language to the class of world languages should be recognized as its worldwide prevalence. This language is used all over the world, it is spoken (as the first or second) by the majority of the world’s population, its world status is recognized in all countries. The composition of the club of leading languages is constantly changing: some languages come to it, others decrease — depending on the military-political, demographic, economic and cultural success of their speakers. Although the number of speakers of English as a second language is growing steadily, its dominance should be considered as temporary. A new hierarchy of languages may emerge in the middle of 21st century, with other major languages — Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, Hindi/Urdu, competing equally with English in their respective regions. Although state status of the Ukrainian language creates favorable preconditions for its development, it could spread much faster due to its informational value, intellectual power, cultural attractiveness and economic success of Ukraine.

The Impact of Teacher Speech Modification on the Quality of Interaction and Learning: An Analysis of Spoken Discourse in Saudi EFL Classrooms

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Hanaa Al-Ghamdi ◽  
Abdullah Al-Bargi
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Classroom Interaction ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Efl Classrooms ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study is to investigate, following a qualitative research design, the ways in which English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers modify their speech in an endeavor to create interactive learning environments facilitated by the implementation of strategies providing inherently comprehensible input for students. The study also seeks to examine students’ reactions to the use of such different speech modification strategies. The data gathered was taken from three different EFL classrooms with a total of sixty-two university students (forty male and twenty-two female) and three non-native speakers (NNS) of English language teachers. The data analysis reveals that EFL teachers regularly modify their talk through the use of different linguistic and interactional strategies in the Saudi EFL context, including the use of simplified grammar and vocabulary, shorter sentences, repetition, and emphatic stress and reduced speech rate. Other modification strategies include the use of clarification requests, confirmation checks, transition markers and hand gestures in order to facilitate student understanding and learning. The data analysis also suggests that teachers’ modification strategies have a positive impact on language learners in accelerating their comprehension and developing their classroom interaction. The study results provide valuable implications for foreign language classroom pedagogy and teacher training.

scholarly journals PENGIKISAN BAHASA DALAM MASYARAKAT JAWA Catatan tentang Proses Kepunahan Bahasa Jawa

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendarto Suparta
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
National Language ◽  
High Status ◽  
Young Generation ◽  
Language Death ◽  
Global Era ◽  
Code Mixing ◽  
The Status

Will Javanese language die in ten to fifteen years to go? The answer tends to be “no”. How about in coming two or three generations? The answer will be “possibly yes”. The fact, since the day of the independence declaration of the Republik of Indonesia, Javanese language has been undergoing a process what may be called language obsolescent or language replacement, or language demise or language death, in a certain degree. There are at least two reasons to support the prediction on that undesired destiny of the Javanese language in next generation periods. First, in this global era caused by the speed development of science and technology especially in transportation and communication, half of the total languages in the world, around 6000 languages, were dead in the past three centuries and ten languages will die every year. Some local languages have been replaced by, not many but powerful and dominant international languages, like English, and by national language like Indonesian in Indonesia. In Semarang and possibly other cities in Java not including Surakarta and Yogyakarta, Javanese people rarely speak krama, in a situation where it should be, while at least in rural area where ngoko was used, now in certain domains are replaced by Indonesian language significantly, where the speakers are young generation. Javanese language, said many people, has been a foreign language taught in elementary school to senior high school. Today, however, in informal situation among those who are familiar one with another, especially between people from lower status, lower Javanese or ngoko is still used in many places, and full Javanese (ngoko and krama) is still used in areas such as Demak, Purwodadi, Salatiga, and Pekalongan. This phenomena will unlikely change in 5 to 10 years to go. But no one, I think, will dare to guarantee if people use one to two generations as criterion. Now people with different backgrounds have been without hesitant to choose Indonesian as their children’s mother tongue since 30 to 35 years ago, with many different reasons. Two among other reasons are, first, for their children’s success in school, and second, parents don’t want their children speak with them using ngoko, so it seems no choice but Indonesian. How about with krama? It is not a secret any more that some parents in Semarang city tend not having communicative competence to speak krama. Entering global era in this reformation period, English language has been used everywhere in this country although actually people still use Indonesian, so what I mean is that that is a case of code-mixing. What is important to note here is that people’s attitude toward that foreign language can be considered to endanger the status of Indonesian because of the high status of that foreign language in the situation only few people speak standard Indonesian, an Indonesian prestigious variety. It is clear without saying with the fate of Javanese language if no people are aware with the situation. This article proposes some suggestions to anticipate the situation described above beside the fact that Javanese people are still proud with their culture.

scholarly journals Omani Students’ Perceptive of Communicative Language Teaching Approach in Higher Education in Oman: Its Practice

Proceedings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (21) ◽  
pp. 1333
Author(s):  
Mouza Said Al Kalbani ◽  
Josu Solabarrieta ◽  
Ahmad Bin Touq
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Approach ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
The Impact

This study aimed to analyze and understand learners’ attitudes towards Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach in a foreign language context in higher education in Oman. In the literature review, learners’ attitudes play a strong role in determining the success of innovations in instructional practices (Savignon and Wang 2003). In addition to that, this study is considered as an evaluative study to explore teachers’ implication of CLT and the impact of this implication on students “communicative competence”, which is considered as an ultimate goal of communicative language teaching in a foreign langue context (FL). The importance of this study is due to its significance to come up with a clear understanding of Omani learners’ beliefs considering teaching and learning process. It also aims to specify the impact of CLT as an effective teaching approach in English as a foreign language (EFL) among higher education students and to specify any difficulties or challenges that might hinder CLT implementation in the Omani context. To achieve this, a quantitative study had been used to collect data from both teachers and learners. The participants of this study were 631 students (189 male and 391 female) who were enrolled in Intensive English language programs (IELP) in Foundation Institute (FI) in two Universities (210 students from public university and 421 students from private university) and those participants were from three different English proficiency levels (247 level 1, 155 level 2 and 229 level 3). The analysis revealed that students perceived classroom’s practice to be more oriented towards using strategic and grammatical competence and less towards sociolinguistic and intercultural competences. Additionally, Omani learners reported statistically significant correlation between CLT practice. The students’ gender, language proficiency and education context affected how students perceived classroom practice.

scholarly journals The Impact of Native Language Use on Second Language Vocabulary Learning by Saudi EFL Students

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Saleem Khan
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Target Language ◽  
The Impact

<p>This paper strives to explore the impact of Native Language use on Foreign Language vocabulary learning on the basis of empirical and available data. The study is carried out with special reference to the English Language Programme students in Buraydah Community College, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. The Native Language of these students is Arabic and their Second Language is English. The participants in this research study are the post-secondary students of Buraydah Community College in Intensive Course Programme. The instrument used in this study was in the form of two tests. It is well known that in language assessment tests play a pivotal role in evaluating the EFL learners’ language proficiency. The use of native language as a semantic tool for assessing second language learners’ understanding shouldn’t be rejected altogether especially for the undergrad Saudi EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students. The outcomes of the study show that in learning the vocabulary of target language is significantly helped by the use of translation method of native language (Arabic) in understanding the meaning of novel words and expressions of foreign language (English). This method is widely welcomed by majority of the students of Buraydah Community College. It’s recommended to use this method in order to take the students directly to the core meaning of the word or expression. It also, sometimes, gives a sense of accuracy of the meaning of native language equivalents.</p>

The impact of computer-assisted language learning on Iranian EFL students’ vocabulary learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 210-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ali Rahimi ◽  
Samira Mouri
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Computer Assisted Language Learning ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

This study aimed to explore the impact of computer-assisted language learning on Iranian EFL students’ vocabulary learning. Participants of the study were 76 students – 29 males and 47 females – learning English as a foreign language in Parto, Sadr, Poyesh and Andishe Institutes in Ahvaz who were selected after taking the Nelson English Language Test as a proficiency test. They were randomly divided into two groups. One group was taken as control and the other as experimental group. Both groups participated in the teacher-made test of vocabulary, Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), and Word-Associates Test (WAT) as pre-test. During class sessions the control group was taught the vocabulary, in the conventional way, through the printed textbook while the experimental group taught by the software version of the same book. Three ANCOVAs were run to compare the performance of experimental and control groups after the treatment period. The results of the ANCOVAs revealed that using vocabulary learning software was more effective than using printed book on vocabulary learning, vocabulary breadth, and vocabulary depth of the participants. The results of the present study could help EFL course book designers, foreign language institutes, educational planners, material developers, teachers, and learners to provide a better context for EFL learning. Keywords: computer-assisted instruction, computer-assisted language learning, information communication technology, vocabulary breadth, vocabulary teaching software.  

Dynamics of Communication in the Sphere of Speech Etiquette

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-26
Author(s):  
N. Basko
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Computer Technology ◽  
English Language ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Present Stage ◽  
Communicative Act ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Russian Language ◽  
Modern Russian

The article discusses the changes in communication that have occurred in the Russian speech etiquette, on the example of etiquette forms of greeting. Speech etiquette is the most important element of a communicative act. Compliance with the rules of speech etiquette largely ensures success in solving communicative problems. Based on the analysis of lexicographical sources and materials of modern Russian mass media, a shift in the use of greeting forms is noted. It is expressed in the transfer of old forms of greeting to a passive stock and the emergence and active use of new forms of greeting The author concludes that the dynamics of changes in speech forms of greeting reflects the general trends in the development of the Russian language at the present stage, such as a) the active neologization; b) the influence of the English language; c) the impact of computer technology on the language.

scholarly journals VALIDATION AND CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION OF RATING SYSTEMS WOMAC, KSS AND FJS-12 IN PATIENTS WITH KNEE DISORDERS AND INJURIES

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. Irzhanski ◽  
T. A. Kulyaba ◽  
N. N. Kornilov
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Adaptation ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Rating Systems ◽  
Retest Reliability ◽  
Reverse Translation ◽  
Total Knee ◽  
English Speaking

The purposeof the work — is validation and cultural adaptation of the english-language rating systems for knee function assessment for use in scientific, medical and educational institutions of the Russian Federation.Materials and Methods.The english versions of rating systems WOMac® 3.1 Index, The knee Society clinical Rating System©, FjS-12® were translated to Russian language by orthopedic surgeon with advanced level of english and the professional translator specializing in the translation of medical texts. Reverse translation was provided by third independent translator born in the english-speaking country (native speaker). a printed version of the various translations of the questionnaires was filled by patients with an interval of two days. The study group included 150 patients with Stage III knee osteoarthritis (90 women and 60 men aged 48 to 75 years, an average of 62.5 years) hospitalized in Vreden Research Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics from February to april 2017 for total knee arthroplasty.Results.good and very good retest reliability of WOMac (α = 0.87 and α = 0.9), kSS (α = 0.89 and α = 0.86) and FjS-12 (α = 0.94 and α = 0.96) was revealed. The study revealed a strong correlation between the results of the questionnaires performed by different translators: WOMac (Icc = 0.89), kSS (Icc = 0.86), FjS-12 (Icc = 0.92). The correlation dependence between subsections of WOMac (stiffness – Icc = 0.98, pain – Icc = 0.87, daily functions – Icc = 0.89) and kSS (knee score – Icc = 0.94, function score – Icc = 0.88), which indicates a good constructive validity.Conclusion. The results of the study of criterial and constructive validity, as well as the retest reliability of the Russian versions of the WOMac, kSS and FjS-12 scales, indicate that they are a reliable and sensitive tool for assessing the function of knee joint, which can be widely used by Russian researchers in practical and scientific activities.

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