Abstract The paper shows how, in conversation, people cooperate in making utterances, thereby creating social communication in an effort to express meaning. The paper discusses what constitutes a request and reveals that much of the time, a speaker will make an indirect appeal for action, slightly obscuring the request within an indirect sentence. The paper then investigates and compares how indirect directives are expressed in the English and the Mandarin Chinese languages. The paper appends a pronunciation guide for Chinese tones, vowels and consonants.
Outline:
Introduction
Speech Act Theory
Speech Act Categories
Speech Act Categories in Chinese
Direct and Indirect Speech Acts
Grice's Cooperative Principle
Politeness Theory 'Face' and Its Effect in Indirect Directives
Examples of Co-Maintaining Face in Chinese Conversation
Levels of Politeness in Conversation
Conclusion
From the Paper "In speaking people do more with words than share information, and when they do share information, an implicit meaning in an utterance is often expressed along with what the words in the utterance explicitly express. In an utterance, there can be three diverse levels of action that may be associated with the utterance. According to Austin, these levels include "the act of saying something, what one does in saying it, and what one does by saying it..." (Bach, K: internet) and are called locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary acts. Take, for example, the utterance, "There is a car coming." The locutionary act in that utterance is the act of informing a hearer that there is a car approaching. There is a lack of literal information regarding where exactly the vehicle is and exactly at what time it is due, but the sharing of the information occurs. The illocutionary act is what the utterance does, which in this case involves informing the hearer of a moving vehicle and advises him to look for the car. The perlocutionary act is the effect that the utterance has on the hearer, which in this utterance is that the hearer becomes vigilant and looks for the car. In the utterance itself, there isn't any explicit warning spoken to the hearer, but the implicit warning can be understood."
Tags: information, utterance, statement, request, command, sentences, meaning
Abstract The paper relates that various styles of test methods and test items have been developed over the years in order to measure the levels of
knowledge that a learner has attained. The paper critically looks at an exam given at an International High School in China, the Dalian Maple Leaf International School Exit Exam. The paper assesses test items and questions with regard to their validity and reliability, offers suggestions on how the exam could be improved and presents a final assessment of the quality of this exam.
Outline:
Introduction
Dalian Maple Leaf International School
Dalian Maple Leaf International School Exit Exam - Part A
Dalian Maple Leaf International School Exit Exam - Part B
Exam Results
Test Method Facets with Relation to DMLIS Exit Exam
Purpose of the DMLIS Exit Exam
Conclusion
From the Paper "Dalian Maple Leaf International School (DMLIS) is a privately owned and funded International High School with approximately 800 students in the coastal city of Dalian, Liaoning Province, China. As of this writing, DMLIS has the only agreement with another country of any school in China to provide a joint high school education to its students. The agreement is with the Provincial Government of British Columbia, Canada and specifies that for the sophomore, junior and senior grades of high school, the British Columbian curriculum will be taught in English with Chinese classes in Mandarin, Geography, History and Political Science. Upon successful completion of their senior year, a student would receive a joint Chinese-Canadian high school diploma that would be recognized at many post-secondary institutions in Canada. As many students at DMLIS are interested in post-secondary education abroad, this diploma has great appeal."
Abstract This paper attempts to present a definition of interlanguage and then briefly discusses the components of interlanguage and how they affect second language acquisition (SLA). The paper provides some examples of how interlanguage possibly influences Chinese adolescent learners at Dalian Maple Leaf International High School (DMLIS) in China.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Interlanguage - What is it?
Hypothesis Testing
Beginnings of Interlanguage
Fossilization
Processes Involved in Interlanguage
Language Transfer
Over-generalization
Transfer of Training
Strategies of L2 Learning
Communication Strategies
Conclusion
From the Paper "With regards to the learners at DMLIS, the aforementioned College English - Intensive Reading text reinforces errors being taught by some of the staff in the ESL Department. Learners are being given information (implicitly through the text and explicitly through instruction) that it is acceptable to begin sentences with the coordinating conjunctions, 'and', 'or', and 'but'. Within the College English - Intensive Reading text that is being used in the ESL department, there are 47 instances of coordinating conjunctions beginning a fragmentary dependent clause within 16 reading passages: an average of 3 per reading passage. Although there is the possibility of beginning a dependent clause with a coordinating conjunction to show emphasis of an idea, Swan (1980) specifies that conjunctions are "used to join clauses together..." (ibid: 152) and "...cannot be used with just one clause." (ibid: 154) In this instance, the instruction, supported by the text, is influencing the learners into accepting and acquiring incorrect grammar structures."
Abstract This paper describes a research that examined how some words can be falsely recalled during a memory recollection test. The writer explains that, in the research, one 23-year-old student completed an Internet based test that presented a sequence of words followed by a grid of 16 words. The writer notes that the participant selected which words in the grid had previously been shown. The participant correctly recalled 71.43% of previously presented words, 2.08% of non-semantically related words and 66.66% of semantically related words. The writer concludes that false memories are easy to create for words that are highly semantically related. The writer maintains that these results add weight to the semantic model of memory and arguments against other models of memory. Further, the writer notes that these results have important implications in the identification of suspects during criminal investigations.
From the Paper "Endo and Masao demonstrated that knowledge about the false memory phenomena could alter results. They informed one group of participants about the false memory phenomena but not the other. Half of each group were then asked to respond within four seconds, the other within eight as to whether they 'remembered' seeing the word. Results showed that in the slow condition false memory rates were lower within the forewarned group compared to the uniformed group. However in the fast condition there was no significant difference between the forewarned and uninformed group. Thus in the current experiment the participant is likely to have made more errors had he been uninformed of the false memory phenomena and under time pressure. This would explain why these results do not vary more significantly in comparison to other research. Similarly how words are presented can affect results."
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that the development of call centers as part of the customer service network for major companies today is part of the process of globalization. The writer points out that technology makes it possible for a call center to be anywhere in the world and still communicate with the customer to provide answers to questions, assistance with technical problems and all of the benefits of customer service by telephone. The writer discusses that many callers remain unaware that they are talking to someone in a distant part of the world, while others who are more aware will note differences in language and accent and will realize that the call center is not in their local area at all. The writer concludes that the economic disruption is real as call centers in North America are disappearing in favor of cheaper centers in other countries. The writer maintains that though efforts are being made to hide the fact by training workers in these centers, some linguistic elements remain to differentiate these workers from others.
From the Paper "No matter how well coached these workers may be, though, they often do not sound like Stockton or Dubuque. This may not be a major setback given the fact that many North Americans come from different parts of the world and use many accents. These workers often do not use the right slang terms or do not understand them when they hear them. They may read addresses from a computer screen and mispronounce place names that Americans would not. They tend to be well trained in certain types of business and technology, and many computer firms use such call centers and place them in India because that country also has a technologically educated population segment that can understand what customers want and how to explain technology to them. Such workers often speak better about technical matters than business issues and use the right terminology for the technology involved even when they do not use the right word in normal conversation."
Abstract How much does our language influence what we can think and perceive? Indeed, does our language control what we can think and perceive? Conversely, do our thoughts and perceptions influence or even control our language? This paper explores these questions, and shows that - while it is difficult to say which comes first, as the process is clearly somewhat circular - it does seem that culture influences language more than language influences culture.
From the Paper "Theories such as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which combine linguistic relativity and linguistic determinism, are useful in that they remind us of the relationships between culture and language. For example, in Canada the many aboriginal languages have died - and in terms of this hypothesis, this is one of the important reasons why aboriginal cultures are under threat. On the other hand, in South Africa, despite decades of colonial rule and then apartheid, the indigenous languages, such as Zulu and Xhosa, remained very strong. This was reflected in the fact that the indigenous cultures remained very strong - so it is certainly possible that the survival of the languages enabled the survival of the cultures. "
Abstract The paper looks at the article "Linguistics in Action" where Susan Ehrlich offers insight into the interrelationships between culture and language. The paper then reviews Roger Farr's article "Protest Genres and Pragmatics of Dissent" where he looks at dissent strategies, Marie Annharte Baker's article "Borrowing Enemy Language: A First Nation Woman Use of English" where she discusses language as a tool of oppression and colonialisation and Janet Giltrow's article "Academic Reading" which focuses on the first person narrative.
From the Paper "One of the things that differentiate humans from other animals is our ability to communicate with each in a variety of very effective ways. Of these communication methods, speech is the method that most effectively distinguishes us from other animals, and which, arguably, has been most important in our progress to our dominance of all other species. However, speech is so ubiquitous that we seldom pause to think about how it works. However, some linguists and other theorists have paused to think about it, and have come up with interesting theories about how language works."
This paper compares two articles on the cultural significance of language; "Decolonizing the Mind" by N'gugi wa Thiong'o and the "Intellectual Savage" by Jamake Highwater.
1,088 words (approx. 4.4 pages), 0 sources, 2008, $ 37.95
Abstract The paper examines two articles, "Decolonizing the Mind" by N'gugi wa Thiong'o and the "Intellectual Savage" by Jamake Highwater. The paper explains how the articles discuss how language becomes the means through which a cultural reality is transmitted, thus controlling language is one means by which colonial usurpers can control self-imagery and self-awareness. The paper is of the opinion that both articles do a commendable job of highlighting the inter-relationship between language and culture.
From the Paper "In her article, "Decolonizing the Mind," N'gugi wa Thiong'o writes about her childhood speaking Gikuyu in her native Africa. In particular, she devotes time to recollecting how, as a small child, she listened to tales about how the weak hare could outwit the beasts of prey - the lion, the leopard, and the hyena - and stay alive in a hostile world. Not to be overlooked, she comments at length upon the different types of human beings who emerged in anthropocentric tales and how some were cruel, selfish and opposed to all that might foster a stronger community, and how others were kind, giving and individualistic; in assessing the narrative, it is evident that Ngugi wa Thiong'o is comparing the beasts of prey with colonizers eager to take over her native land. More than that, those stories impressed upon her the power of language - its cadence, rhythm, inflection, its suggestive power - and how language could bind a community together. Later though, this harmony would be broken when Englishmen took over the school system and made it a serious penalty for any child to be speaking the native Gikuyu language instead of the alien, oppressive English of the colonizers."
Abstract This paper examines the grammatical errors evident in a fictional letter from "Betula" to "Andrea". The paper explains that although the grammatical mistakes (in the letter) are varied, the paper focuses primarily on the letter's problem of incorrect 'aspect', and attempts to analyze how Betula's grammatical aspect problems can be categorized and corrected. The paper also explains the types of tense expressed under 'aspect'.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
What is Aspect?
Types of Tense Expressed Under Aspect
Analysis of Betula's Essay in Terms of Aspect
Conclusion
From the Paper "In laymen's terms, aspect is really the grammatical aspect of a verb, which characterizes the temporal flow of one's writing. However, it is different from the concept of "tense" alone: although tense describes whether an action or event has occurred in the past, present, or future, aspect determines whether it happened only once, whether it happens continually without stopping, whether it happens on an intermittent basis or whether it continues to happen now (Lynch). An example of different aspects are the statements "I skip" and "I am skipping", both of which lend to different interpretations of tense."
Abstract The paper explains that culture is a learned system of beliefs that are personalized and that affect every aspect of a student's life. The paper further explains that culture is expressed through language, which is often particular to the societal group and requires a complete understanding of cultural values to comprehend. The paper shows how these two factors work hand-in-hand to shape the individual's learning and so concludes that both factors must be supported in the classroom.
From the Paper "Culture impacts every child that enters the school system because culture impacts how the child thinks, learns and becomes socialized in the educational community. Because the influences of culture on children begin from the time of birth, the information that affects the child's development is significant and so is the potential for conflict to arise within the classroom. This is because the student has learned to value his or her cultural ideas, which often become completely separate from the social norms expected in schools. Therefore, how culture is embraced or denied in the classroom has the potential to have long term affects on the manner in which the student continues a relationship with learning."
Abstract The paper looks at Maria Campbell's "Jacob" and explores how her work captures the rhythms and echoes of non-elite speech. The paper discusses Campbell's utilization of the oral family history, a mode of communication popular among native cultures, that was intended to resist the conventions and paradigms established by the dominant western society. The paper describes the poem as poignant and transgressive snf devoted to breaking free of the literary "mold" put into place by those who effaced the cultures which preceded them in North America.
From the Paper "Maria Campbell's elegant poem, "Jacob", captures the rhythms and echoes of speech in a way that more conventional and "esoteric" poetry does not. First of all, the poetry uses the vernacular of one who is little-schooled in the art of speaking formal, "white man's" language. Examples of this abound: there are frequent substitutions of "dat" for "that" (Campbell, lines 3, 6, 10, 11 and 15) and "dah" for the article "the" (Campbell, lines 22-24 and 28). Going further, the article invariably uses the term, "dey" in place of the English pronoun, "they" (Campbell, lines 19, 26, 32 and 34). Why Campbell would resort to this is a question that does not yield any definitive answers - but a number of possibilities."
Abstract This paper discusses four aspects of a professional portoflio addressing language arts teaching: promoting interest in a book, a double-entry journal, evaluation of student writing, and selecting professional resources. The paper also refers to a proposed five-year plan towards professional development so that language arts become more familiar and includes questions the author believes are important regarding future teaching practice, particularly in the preparation of classes.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Four Aspects of a Professional Portfolio
Module I - Promoting Interest in a Book
Module II - A Double-Entry Journal
Module III - Evaluation of Student Writing
Module IV - Selecting Professional Resources
Three Big Ideas for the Future
I - Assessing Students
II - Promoting Listening Skills
III - Writing Strategies
Five-Year Development Plan
Questions to Ask Myself
From the Paper "The student should feel that he or she can err on the side of English using words of one syllable, as long as the meaning is cogent, as opposed to feeling that he or she must use the latest phrase or terminology learned. There needs to be reinforcement, too, of the world as often without 'Spell check' and towards appreciation for what a person knows how to write by hand, spotting errors in time, or what might be expressed differently to better effect. Students learn that there is more to writing than word processing, in effect, as it is an intensely creative activity."
Abstract This paper aims to critically review, examine and explain how different metaphors impact organisational life, with the help of academic text and examples from personal experience. This author has carried this out by focusing on three commonly used organisational metaphors. The paper has been roughly divided into four sections with the author concluding that while metaphors use evocative images to help us understand situations, if taken too seriously they can eventually lead to managers making poor decisions.
Outline:
Machine Metaphor
Organism Metaphor
Culture Metaphor
Illustration of Metaphors through my Organisational Experience
From the Paper "Machine metaphor is arguably the most popular metaphor used in organisations and effectively the most influential metaphor to have influenced organisational life. This metaphor portrays an organisation as a machine, which is made up of several different parts, with each part playing a defined role, with the ultimate aim of achieving organisational goals and objectives. This mechanistic aspect is inherent in virtually all organisational functions, starting from planning, organising, and implementing to evaluation and control. In this concept people are considered as mere operators of machines and the focus is on maximum efficiency and productivity.
"Organisations that are designed and operated as if they were machines are usually called "bureaucracies" (Morgan, G, 1998). In mechanistic organisations things tend to be monotonous and predictable, such as arrival time, time for breaks, change over of employees, etc. Very often the work tends to be mechanical and repetitive, especially at the lower levels. Two of the greatest examples of the mechanistic model are Ford and McDonalds. During the industrial revolution, "the assembly line" by Ford proved to be a great success, and in the current times McDonalds has set up a great example by "mechanising the organisation of all its franchise outlets throughout the world, to produce a uniform product". (Morgan, G, 1998)."
Abstract This paper looks at definitions of metaphors, their usefulness or lack thereof, and the basics of communication theory and how metaphors work in conjunction with that theory. While acknowledging that metaphors are good in that they describe a feeling that might not be communicated in another fashion, the paper also looks at whether it might be possible to educate the receiver of these metaphores that it might be prudent to implement some basic communication theories before swallowing metaphors "as true fact'.
From the Paper "Metaphors go through every form of communication in daily life. Since everything from politics, to science, to internet based research, entertainment, to speaking day to day with friends, neighbors and academic professionals involve spoken or written communication, metaphors permeate every facet of our lives.
"With that being the case, we need to understand them, and that is the purpose behind this paper, Metaphors in Daily Life. This paper looks at definitions of metaphors, if any exist, their usefulness or lack thereof, and the basic of communication theory and how metaphors work in conjunction with that theory. Do they have a relevance when the recipient of the conversation does not share the same experiences as the deliverer of those messages, or are they lost with no relevance because there is not enough literal meaning in which to extract meaningful interpretation?"
Abstract This paper presents a case study of a girl who emmigrated from Cambodia to Canada. It describes the issues that are related to her integration into a new school in Canada. The paper begins by presenting the case study. It discusses the background of Cambodia and why the girl's family chose to leave. The paper then looks at the traditions and the behavior of the girl and describes the language issues that she has on arrival in Canada. Finally, the paper discusses goals for language development and adjustment into the school.
Table of Contents:
Introduction - Chantrea's Background
Behaviors, Attitudes & Traditions
Language
Goals for Language Development
Activities / Strategies Regarding the "Four Strands of Language Arts"
Adjustment in the Classroom
From the Paper "It is important that Chantrea should maintain a sense of pride in her culture whilst she assimilates to Canadian life. Many Cambodian immigrants escape the oppressive governmental regime to flock to North America, though this does not mean the Cambodian culture and traditional values should be forgotten. Chantrea may be able to join up with an after-school group, such as the equivalent of the Khmer Emerging Education Program (KEEP) in the United States (World, 2003). Such groups boast teachers which aim to "breathe life into literary figures and historical accounts, using movies, photographs, personal stories, and textbooks" from Cambodian sources. Learning about the Cambodian cultural background on a continuing basis will help the child also form a strong bond with her family and their origins."
