Revitalizing Local Wisdom in Balinese Simile: An Effort to Enhance Balinese Youth Character

The moral message in local languages is often referred to as local wisdom. Local wisdom plays a very important role in people's lives since it is used as a means and basis for solving their encountered various problems. As one of the big local languages in Indonesia, the Balinese language contains many figurative languages that are rich in local wisdom values. The values have proven to be a shield to protect the Balinese people and their culture from the globalization attack. For this reason, local wisdom found in Balinese figurative language needs to be revitalized to be understood and implemented by the younger generation of Bali. One of the figurative languages studied in this study is the simile. Similes of the Balinese language are studied by combining three approaches, namely ecolinguistic, pragmatic, and cultural approaches, to reach detailed analysis results. Simile as part of a metaphor is an expression or discourse conveyed by the speaker indirectly to the interlocutor with certain aims and objectives. The ecolinguistic approach examines the form, function, and meaning or ideology contained in metaphorical language. Meanwhile, a pragmatic approach and a cultural approach are used to assist the ecolinguistic approach in uncovering the functions of figurative language in society and explaining the meaning or ideology existing in Balinese society. The values were reviewed for relevance to the current people's lives contaminated by information technology and tourism development.

Diversity of and Differentiation for Gifted English Learners

This chapter presents a need to understand the diversity of the English learner population. Within this large multi-lingual group of students, there is a richness of diversity in languages, skills, histories, abilities, and experiences. Teaching for differences begins by learning about the students in the classroom. English learners collectively share language needs, but as individuals require attention to their own personal assets and abilities and ongoing learning needs. This chapter presents suggestions for teaching English learners through the lens of differentiation and extends to individualization and personalization. Strategies for supporting the unique needs within and across the multi-lingual learning population are presented. A focus on maximizing thinking shows a strong correlation to language development. Therefore, this chapter presents instruction for English learners as rigorous and challenging to promote thinking and language development.

Identifying English Language Needs of Religious Guides at The General Presidency of The Grand Mosque and Prophet’s Mosque

The aim of this study is to identify English language needs for religious guides at The General Presidency of The Grand Mosque and Prophet’s Mosque. This study adopted a quantitative approach methodology using needs analysis questionnaire. The quantitative data collection instrument was a questionnaire with (51) participants. SPSS was used as the quantitative data analysis method. Findings showed that listening and speaking were the most important skills, and reading was moderately important, while writing is not important at all. Also, English is greatly rated as a tool to effectively perform their tasks in term of preaching and advising guests and pilgrims. Difficulties are embodied in lacking English language, accents, and proper religious expressions and vocabulary. This study highlights an urgent need for English for Religious Purposes. The study proposes a general guideline for a course design framework based on participants’ needs.

Educating Clinicians to Improve Telemedicine Access for Patients with Limited English Proficiency

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the rapid incorporation of telemedicine into healthcare systems, resulting in increased access challenges for patients in the United States with limited English proficiency (LEP). Non-English-language speakers face challenges with telemedicine that magnify pre-existing barriers to language-appropriate care, such as difficulty accessing professional medical interpreters and navigating both electronic health information and online patient portals. Improved medical education on telehealth would increase equitable care for linguistic minorities. Medical education targeting telehealth care delivery should include clinician instruction on working with interpreters in telehealth contexts, increasing patient access to telehealth resources, and addressing patients’ language needs for telemedicine.

FORMATIVE STRATEGIES FOR EVALUATING LANGUAGE COMPETENCES IN HIGHER EDUCATION BUSINESS PROGRAMMES

Evaluation does not represent an objective per se, but the strategies adopted in this process may take the teaching/learning process in different directions, according to the students’ language needs and to the competences that should be developed. The phenomenon is a complex one, sometimes comprising errors, which, nevertheless, contribute to progress, it gives precise clues and helps in identifying the positives and negatives in foreign language learning. The higher education system in Romania is adjusted to the quantitative and qualitative exigency of the European administration, with evaluation always accompanying the learning process, having both diagnostic and prognostic characteristics. The evaluation strategy predicts the most appropriate methodical path which ensures efficiency in approaching specific teaching and learning situations

Camouflaging in Developmental Language Disorder: The views of speech and language therapists and parents

Background: Camouflaging has been the subject of research in conditions which affect communication skills and social functioning such as autism, and has been shown to have negative impacts on mental health outcomes. However, camouflaging has received no systematic study in Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Aims: This study aimed to explore the topic of camouflaging in DLD, drawing on the experience and expertise of both speech and language therapists and parents of children with DLD. We aimed to capture the nature and appearance of camouflaging in this population, and its potential impact on the children. Methods & procedures: Using a qualitative descriptive design, we interviewed 6 speech and language therapists and 6 parents of children with DLD. We applied inductive thematic analysis to the interview transcripts. Outcomes & Results: We organised our findings into three broad areas: who camouflages and why, the many strategies for camouflaging, and the impacts of camouflaging. It was clear that camouflaging could take a range of forms, although there we identified 8 common presentations. Participants felt that camouflaging delayed recognition of children’s language needs, and had implications for interventions and support. There were also negative impacts on children’s levels of exhaustion, mental health and self-esteem, their personality and friendships, and how staff and those around them perceived children and young people with DLD. Conclusions & Implications: Our study provides a first look at the topic of camouflaging in DLD. Wesuggest how camouflaging could be taken into account when working with children and young people with DLD, especially when involving other colleagues such as teachers or assistants, who may not see the language needs underneath the camouflaging. Further research that characterises camouflaging DLD could lead to the development of tools that help mitigate against the under-detection of children’s language needs.

Supporting the mental health of children with speech, language and communication needs: the views and experiences of parents

Background & aims: A high rate of children in mental health services have poor language skills, but little evidence exists on how mental health support is delivered to and received by children with language needs. This study looked at parental experiences, asking parents of children speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) about their experiences seeking help for their children’s mental health. We were particularly interested on the experiences of parents of children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), a specific SLCN that remains relatively unknown to the general public. Methods: We conducted an online survey of 74 parents of children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). Survey respondents included parents of children with a range of difficulties, including DLD, autism, verbal dyspraxia, global intellectual delay, a history of hearing problems, and SLCN without a primary diagnosis. Survey respondents were asked what sources of support they had accessed for their child’s mental health and to provide comments on what was good and what was not good about this support. We then conducted 9 semi-structured interviews of parents of children with DLD about their experiences. These were parents of children with DLD aged 7 to 17 years, from across a range of educational settings, and with a range of present mental health concerns. Results: Content analyses of the survey responses from parents of children with SLCN highlighted three broad factors of importance to parents’ experiences: relational aspects of care, organisational aspects of care, and professionals’ knowledge. Thematic analyses of the interviews of parents of children with DLD identified 5 themes: the effects of language problems on the presentation of distress; the role of the school environment; the role of key professionals; standard approaches to mental health support might not be appropriate; and the role and impact on parents. Parents expressed concerns that their children’s mental health problems and need for support would not be recognised, and felt interventions were not accessible, or delivered in a manner that was not comfortable for their children due to high reliance on oral language skills. Some parents were left feeling that there was no provision suitable for their children.Conclusions: Parents of children with SLCN face barriers accessing support for their children’s mental health, including a lack of professional knowledge about their children’s language needs. Parents argued that language and communication needs can significantly affect the delivery and success of psychological therapies and interventions.

PROMOTING THE VOCATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE COMPETENCES OF STUDENTS IN AN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES CONTEXT: A NEEDS ASSESSMENT

he purpose of this study is to examine the vocational English language needs of students in an ESP context in the Accommodation and Travel Service department at a vocational and technical Anatolian high school. The study is a partially mixed sequential equal status design. While convenient sampling method was employed to select students, criterion sampling method was utilized to select teachers and supervisors as participants. As a result, 25 ATS students, two vocational course teachers, two English teachers and three supervisors contributed to this research. A survey, semi-structured interview forms and open ended questions in the open interview were employed respectively to collect data from students, teachers and supervisors. In the analysis of the survey data both qualitative and quantitative methods were put into effect. On the other hand, the interview data were analysed through systematic content analysis, inductive coding and thematizing. The result of the analysis of the data revealed that students in this specific context were in need of improving particularly their speaking and listening skills. Low self-confidence of students, negative attitude toward speaking the language, lack of use of appropriate materials; strategies and methods during instruction emerged as issues of consideration in order to reach a resolution. Finally, lack of an appropriate curriculum, lack of strong school-enterprise relationships and inadequate professional qualifications of teachers emerged as issues to be considered by decision makers.