scholarly journals The question of questions in Malaysian English

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Radina Mohamad Deli
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Peninsular Malaysia ◽  
British English ◽  
Tag Questions

This paper examined the forms that interrogatives and tag questions can take when used by young Malaysian speakers of English language in oral communication. It offers a description of the features for both question forms as produced by the respondents compared to those of Singapore English (SE) and Standard British English (SBE). The influence of domains and the issue of mother tongue interference in relation to the subjects’ usage of such features will also be investigated. Data were obtained through interviews with 19 Malaysian English (ME) speakers from three major ethnic groups in Peninsular Malaysia and via the recording of six conversations. The results showed various distinctive forms and features of questions in ME used by the speakers. Their usage is found to have a certain link to the domains of conversation. Further analysis revealed that mother tongue interference at the grammatical level, particularly in the case of Malay and Cantonese, plays a major role in determining the structure of ME interrogatives and tag questions as well as the subjects’ unvarying use of the rising intonation as regards the latter. As a result of this interference, ME tag questions used are found to be confined to four forms whilst both the structure of wh- and polar interrogatives experience reduction in the system of tense, auxiliary and operator when used by the subjects.

scholarly journals Professional Communication Skills in English for Non-native English Speaking Engineers: Challenges and a Proposed Teaching Framework

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2S10) ◽  
pp. 595-599
Keyword(s):  
Communication Skills ◽  
English Language ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Professional Communication ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Written Form ◽  
English Speaking

Communicating effectively in English does not come naturally to undergraduate engineering students in India and presumably everywhere where English is not the first language or the mother tongue. In India, English is used as official language in most of the states. It is also the medium of instruction in most educational institutes. Teaching methods and objectives to be achieved while imparting knowledge of English language mainly focus on ability of students to reproduce the learned facts in written form in the examination. Focus on the oral communication and development of English as a medium to share and express original ideas is not really observed at school or university level. Employers worldwide have acknowledged that the conventional engineering curriculum that is focused on imparting technical knowledge has proved to be inadequate in equipping engineers with the adequate employability skills. The objective of this paper is to present a framework for design, teaching and evaluation of a course on communication skills/professional communication for engineering students. A proposed pedagogical framework has been discussed and illustrated as appendices. Guidelines regarding improving communication skills have been made keeping in mind that rather than emphasizing upon incorporating a course on communication skills in the engineering education, communication should be made an integral part of the curriculum

scholarly journals The Consonant System of Nigerian English Shaped in the Context of Language Contact

2020 ◽  
pp. 5-19
Author(s):  
А. Д. Петренко ◽  
Д. А. Петренко ◽  
Н. А. Вовк
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
British English ◽  
Yoruba Language ◽  
Audio Media

Статья представлена в русле социолингвистических исследований. Актуальность научной темы связана с выявлением роли английского языка в нигерийском социуме. Основная цель работы — установить корреляцию фонетических характеристик родного языка (йоруба) и британского английского, что позволит определить специфику произношения и формирования системы консонантизма нигерийского варианта английского языка. Статус ряда элементов системы согласных языка йоруба вызывает споры среди исследователей. Источники указывают на варьирование количества согласных фонем. Если сравнивать нигерийский вариант английского языка с системой консонантизма британского английского, можно отметить, что первый содержит 22 согласные фонемы, аналогичные фонемам британского английского, за исключением двух. Сопоставляя системы консонантизма языка йоруба и британского английского, констатируем, что в обоих языках присутствует ряд похожих фонем, при этом имеются такие фонемы, которые характерны лишь для одного из языков. Можно предположить, что носители языка йоруба как родного испытывают сложности в освоении нехарактерных для этого языка фонем британского английского в ходе его усвоения и использования в процессе общения. Следует также подчеркнуть, что при анализе речи информантов из Федеративной Республики Нигерия, записанной на аудионосители, обнаружены явления фонетической интерференции в ходе реализации согласных фонологических переменных английского языка. The article is presented in the wake of sociolinguistic research. The topicality of the issue is connected with defining the role of the English language (further — EL) in the Nigerian society. The main purpose of the work is to reveal the correlation of the phonetic characteristics of the mother tongue (Yoruba) and British English (further — BrE), what will allow to define the specifics of pronunciation and formation of the consonant system of Nigerian English (further — NigE). The observations brought us to the following conclusions. The consonant system of the Yoruba language (further — YL) provokes dispute among the researchers. According to the sources, the number of the consonant vowels in YL varies from seventeen to nineteen. If we compare NigE with the consonant system of BrE, then it is possible to say that the former contains twenty two consonant phonemes which coincide with the phonemes of British English except two cases. Collating the consonant systems of the YL and BrE, it can be noted that both languages have similar phonemes. There are also such phonemes which are typical of only one language from the pair. It is possible to suppose that the YL native speakers have difficulties studying BrE phonemes which are not typical of the YL during learning and using the EL in communication. Also it should be said that the analysis of the speech of informants from the Federative Republic of Nigeria recorded on the audio media showed the presence of the phonetic interference in the production of the EL consonant phonological variables.

The nature and significance of English as a global language

English Today ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
British English ◽  
English Only ◽  
Global Language ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Received Pronunciation ◽  
Global Population ◽  
Initial Literacy

THE DEMOGRAPHICS of the English language are well known, and the following approximations are based on figures, always provisional, projected by Crystal, Graddol, and McArthur. Anglophones (to use a broader term than ‘native’ or ‘mother tongue’ speakers of English – terms which in any case pose problems) make up some 12% of the global population. Speakers of English in the UK constitute about 16% of the 380 or so million Anglophones worldwide. In the UK, some 2% of the population speaks English as a second language, and perhaps only 15% regularly speaks a southern British form of standard English. Only a small minority of these have a form of Received Pronunciation (RP) as their normal accent, even though RP is predicated as the basis of ‘phonics’ in initial literacy, and is assumed to be the default accent in the second-language teaching of British English, in the UK and elsewhere (with however the notable exception of North America).

FIRST AND SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING THROUGH TEXTBOOKS IN ALBANIAN SCHOOLS (COMPARATIVE OVERVIEW OF ALBANIAN AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS)

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 2319-2324
Author(s):  
Rina Muka ◽  
Irida Hoti
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Grammatical Knowledge ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
The Third

The language acquired from the childhood is the language spoken in the family and in the place of living. This language is different from one pupil to another, because of their social, economical conditions. By starting the school the pupil faces first the ABC book and then in the second grade Albanian language learning through the Albanian language textbook. By learning Albanian language step by step focused on Reading, Writing, Speaking and Grammar the pupil is able to start learning the second language on the next years of schooling. So, the second language learning in Albanian schools is related to the first language learning (mother tongue), since the early years in primary school. In our schools, the second language (English, Italian) starts in the third grade of the elementary class. On the third grade isn’t taught grammar but the pupil is directed toward the correct usage of the language. The textbooks are structured in developing the pupil’s critical thinking. The textbooks are fully illustrated and with attractive and educative lessons adequate to the age of the pupils. This comparative study will reflect some important aspects of language learning in Albanian schools (focused on Albanian language - first language and English language - second language), grade 3-6. Our point of view in this paper will show not only the diversity of the themes, the lines and the sub-lines but also the level of language knowledge acquired at each level of education. First, the study will focus on some important issues in comparing Albanian and English language texts as well as those which make them different: chronology and topics retaken from one level of education to another, so by conception of linear and chronological order will be shown comparatively two learned languages (mother tongue and second language). By knowing and learning well mother tongue will be easier for the pupil the foreign language learning. The foreign language (as a learning curriculum) aims to provide students with the skills of using foreign language written and spoken to enable the literature to recognize the achievements of advanced world science and technology that are in the interest of developing our technique. Secondly, the study will be based on the extent of grammatical knowledge, their integration with 'Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing' as well as the inclusion of language games and their role in language learning. The first and second language learning in Albanian schools (grade III-VI) is based on similar principles for the linearity and chronology of grammatical knowledge integrated with listening, reading, writing and speaking. The different structure of both books help the pupils integrate and use correctly both languages. In the end of the sixth grade, the pupils have good knowledge of mother tongue and the second language and are able to write and speak well both languages.

Language Use and Sustainable Development: Opportunities and Challenges for Policy-Makers and Educators in Northeast Vietnamese Areas

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-130
Author(s):  
Ha Ngan Ngo ◽  
Maya Khemlani David
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
The Status ◽  
Wedding Songs

Vietnam represents a country with 54 ethnic groups; however, the majority (88%) of the population are of Vietnamese heritage. Some of the other ethnic groups such as Tay, Thai, Muong, Hoa, Khmer, and Nung have a population of around 1 million each, while the Brau, Roman, and Odu consist only of a hundred people each. Living in northern Vietnam, close to the Chinese border (see Figure 1), the Tay people speak a language of the    Central    Tai language group called Though, T'o, Tai Tho, Ngan, Phen, Thu Lao, or Pa Di. Tay remains one of 10 ethnic languages used by 1 million speakers (Buoi, 2003). The Tày ethnic group has a rich culture of wedding songs, poems, dance, and music and celebrate various festivals. Wet rice cultivation, canal digging and grain threshing on wooden racks are part of the Tày traditions. Their villages situated near the foothills often bear the names of nearby mountains, rivers, or fields. This study discusses the status and role of the Tày language in Northeast Vietnam. It discusses factors, which have affected the habitual use of the Tay language, the connection between language shift and development and provides a model for the sustainability and promotion of minority languages. It remains fundamentally imperative to strengthen and to foster positive attitudes of the community towards the Tày language. Tày’s young people must be enlightened to the reality their Tày non-usage could render their mother tongue defunct, which means their history stands to be lost.

Developing conversational competence through language awareness and multimodality: the use of DVDs

ReCALL ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Moreno Jaén ◽  
Carmen Pérez Basanta
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
Multimodal Texts ◽  
Conversational Interaction ◽  
Conversational Competence ◽  
Oral Interaction

AbstractThe argument for a pedagogy of input oriented learning for the development of speaking competence (Sharwood-Smith, 1986; Bardovi-Harlig and Salsbury, 2004; Eslami-Rasekh, 2005) has been of increasing interest in Applied Linguistics circles. It has also been argued that multimedia applications, in particular DVDs, provide language learners with multimodal representations that may help them ‘to gain broad access to oral communication both visually and auditory’ (Tschirner, 2001: 305). Thus this paper focuses on an exploratory study of teaching oral interaction through input processing by means of multimodal texts.The paper is divided into a number of interconnected sections. First, we outline briefly what teaching conversation implies and examine the important role of oral comprehension in the development of conversational interaction. In fact, it has been suggested that effective speaking depends very much on successful understanding (Oprandy, 1994). In this paper we pay special attention to the crucial role of context in understanding oral interactions. Therefore, we outline the theory of context in English Language Teaching (ELT). The discussion draws on approaches to teaching conversation and it also offers a brief reflection about the need for materials which might convey the sociocultural and semiotic elements of oral communication through which meaning is created.We then discuss the decisions taken to propose a new multimodal approach to teaching conversation from a three-fold perspective: (a) the selection of texts taken from films, and the benefits of using DVDs (digital versatile disc); (b) the development of a multimodal analysis of film clips for the design of activities; and (c) the promotion of a conversation awareness methodology through a bank of DVD clips to achieve an understanding of how native speakers actually go about the process of constructing oral interactions.In sum, the main thrust of this paper is to pinpoint the advantages of using multimodal materials taken from DVDs, as they provide learners with broad access to oral communication, both visual and auditory, making classroom conditions similar to the target cultural environment (Tschirner, 2001).

Code-Switching and Code Mixing in the Selected Tracks of the Hip Hop Music of Flavour and 9ice

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 55-70
Author(s):  
Balogun Sarah ◽  
Murana Muniru Oladayo
Keyword(s):  
Hip Hop ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Music Industry ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
National Language ◽  
Code Mixing ◽  
Unique Identity

This article attempts a comparative analysis of code-switching and code-mixing in the Nigerian music industry, using the lyrics of Flavour and 9ice as a case study. Although the English language is the national language in Nigeria and the language used by most of the musicians for the composition of their songs, and due to the linguistic plurality of Nigeria, most of these musicians tend to lace their songs chunks of words and phrases from their mother tongue or at least one of the three major languages in Nigeria, which are Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. The Markedness Model by Myers-Scotton (1993) is used as the framework to interrogate the switching and mixing in the codes used by these selected musicians and we find that while most code-switching is done in three languages – English, Nigerian Pidgin and the artist’ first language (mother tongue)  – their mother tongue plays the prominent role. Code-switching or code-mixing in these songs, therefore, becomes a depiction of the Nigerian state with its diverse languages and it provides the links between the literates and the illiterates thereby giving the artiste the popularity desired. The study concludes that the unique identity created by code-switching and code-mixing in the Nigerian music industry has a positive influence on music lovers, helping artists to achieve wide patronage and reflecting the ethnolinguistic diversity of the Nigerian nation.

scholarly journals Students’ Perceptions about the Importance of Communication Skills: A Case Study of EFL Learners at Jazan University, Saudi Arabia

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Muhammad Riaz Khan ◽  
Shehla Riaz Khan ◽  
Saeed Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
English Language ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Sample Population ◽  
Speaking Skills

The graduates of Jazan University (Saudi Arabia), like anywhere else in EFL or ESL settings, require effective oral communication skills in English language for a highly competitive and expanding market economy of the country, and the worldwide too. The study was taken to evaluate the students’ perceptions about the need of speaking skills and the urgency to participate in language enhancement activities keeping in view the generally unsatisfactory position of the Saudi students in speaking English language. The sample population for this research was taken from three colleges, i.e. the first grade students from Engineering, Business and Computer Science of this university. A survey method technique was adopted in which data was obtained using a structured questionnaire about students’ responses on multiple items indicating their understanding of the importance of speaking skills, their existing level of oral communication and the need to participate in the extra coaching programs offered by the university. The quantitative data were analyzed by using SPSS 17. The data shows the participants’ understanding of the importance of communication skills for social needs, personality development, attaining and survival in the job market, and their needs for attending extra language training sessions other than their normal routine courses.

scholarly journals ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF EFFECTIVE ACADEMIC WRITING IN ENGLISH

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 41-43
Author(s):  
Yu.V. Lysanets ◽  
O.M. Bieliaieva ◽  
L.B. Slipchenko ◽  
K.H. Havrylieva ◽  
H.Yu. Morokhovets
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Professional Communication ◽  
Academic Standards ◽  
Medical Setting ◽  
British Council ◽  
Academic Communication ◽  
English Academic Writing

The article discusses the features of academic writing in English based on the recommendations from the British Council in Ukraine in the framework of the “Researcher Connect” project, aiming to facilitate the transition to academic standards of English and improve the academic discourse produced by non-native language users. The authors outline major tendencies in the modern English language as pertains to written discourse and provide recommendations for rendering academic writing persuasive. It is a well-established fact that academic writing in English possesses unique features, which must be respected and taken into account. Hence, a transfer of academic norms from a person's mother tongue to English can be a challenge, which may impair the quality of academic writing. Presenting the research results without consideration of academic norms, grammar, and lexical features of English academic writing can lead to mistakes and misunderstanding, and result in a written work of poor quality, even if the research findings are valid. The mechanisms of improving the academic writing skills during the study of English for Academic Communication with due account for relevant grammar and lexical peculiarities have been explored. Therefore, the major challenge for researchers is the difficulty in transition to academic standards of a foreign language. The article discusses the surface and the deeper purposes in any academic writing; the significance of understanding one’s audience; the concepts of persuasion, clarity, and conciseness, as well as grammar and lexical means for achieving them. Developing the communication skills of Ukrainian scientists is crucial for successful international communication and cooperation. The study of potential difficulties, which the Ukrainian medical professionals may face in the process of academic writing in English, is important for developing the guidelines to eliminate possible mistakes and avoid misunderstanding in a medical setting. Further study of the peculiarities of academic writing in English will contribute to the optimization of international professional communication, the expansion of inter-institutional dialogue, and the integration of Ukraine into the world community.

scholarly journals Teachers’ Perception about English as a Medium of Instructions: Evidence from the Government Higher Secondary Schools of Sindh, Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 362-371
Author(s):  
Abul Ala Mukhtar ◽  
Zafarullah Sahito ◽  
Abida Siddiqui
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Common People ◽  
British Rule ◽  
The Government ◽  
Set Up

This case study inquires the perceptions and experiences of teachers about the English as a medium of instructions at government higher secondary schools of Warah city of Sindh, Pakistan. It witnesses that a large chunk of the population is diversified to use their provincial or regional languages as destined by socio-political heritage. Because English was remained a paramount part of educational context in Pakistan during British rule. In Sindh, students learn English from their teachers at their schools, who by no means really acquire the required proficiency in the English language. The research design undertaken was qualitative in nature and revolved around the semi structured interviews. English as a medium of instruction has a daunting and remarkable role to set to be set up across the globe. The mother tongue has the supreme role to play in the organized system of social institutions, which has massive resources of linguistics pouring down to the common people in the forms of superb streams of dialects with definite code of syntax, semantics and pragmatism. The extra reading materials with the support of technology, the English lessons can play a pivotal role to give internalization and adaptation of English language as a medium of instruction.

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