Abstract In this document the writer discusses a psycho-educational program that is targeted at the foreign student population of American higher education institutions. The writer notes that these types of psycho-educational group programs are designed to help the foreign student population better integrate socially and culturally. Further, the writer points out that these types of dimensions are often overlooked by higher education institutions which typically concentrate on assistance with academic performance only. The writer maintains that since the numbers of foreign born students studying within the United States is expected to increase, improving their acculturation process performance can benefit not only the institution of higher learning but the US' international standing and reputation as well.
Outline:
Abstract
Literature Review
Overview
Language Aspects
Cooperative Nature of Psycho-Educational Groups
Summary
Evaluation of Program Outcomes
Strengths of the Program
Limitations of the Program
Summary and Conclusions
Program Summary
Comparison to other Programs
Recommendations for Improvement
Recommendations for Future Study
From the Paper "The idea is that these students must also be culturally integrated as well as linguistically capable. If they are able to comprehend all aspects of navigating common experiences in the US such as going to the bank or post-office but still lack any type of effective social skills and awareness in the host culture then they will still remain effectively isolated. The structure of these programs are in large part responsible for their success for both majority and minority language speakers because the students are not separated from their native language nor expected to lose their cultural identity but are give the tools and the opportunity to gradually work in the host culture environment. For the foreign born student, because so much of the instruction of these cultural familiarization and acculturation programs is in their primary language they receive a much more comprehensive education regarding what it means to integrate. However, it should be noted that these types of programs are offered outside of any official academic program and typically are not offered for credit and thus do contribute to a student's workload with little concrete return other than peace of mind. "
Abstract This paper briefly looks at the historical treatment of Spanish-speaking patrons by the American public libraries. It discusses the implications of properly treating Spanish-speaking Americans for the library profession. It then explores the many options and solutions being considered and implemented by professional librarians seeking to formulate some kind of a rapprochement with the Spanish-speaking community. Next, the paper looks at how one major stakeholder (private business) has responded to the ongoing problem about how the library system of the United States can best serve the needs of Spanish-Americans. Finally, the paper provides an analysis of some of the solutions that appear to be available and which one of all of these appears most promising.
From the Paper "There can scarcely be any doubt that American public libraries have historically done a poor job of meeting the needs of Spanish-speaking Hispanic Americans. Part of the reason for this unhappy state of affairs is that Hispanic Americans, until quite recently, did not constitute a large proportion of the American population. In addition, however, there is a general sense (at least in some quarters) that public libraries overlooked the language needs of Hispanic Americans because of a perception that America was an "English-speaking" nation and thus had no pressing obligation to provide for those who spoke another language. This perception has been challenged in recent years - at least in part because libraries are coming to the conclusion that one of the two groups (the other group is Chinese) that is really beginning to assert itself with regards to the use of the latest information technology is Spanish-speaking peoples. For this reason, the ability of American public libraries to accommodate this growing group of patrons is now of undeniable importance."
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that Canada's two official languages and growing demand for bilingual or French immersion education beyond Francophone areas challenges special education teachers, as they must explore different teaching methods and novel approaches to second language studies. The writer points out that other special education teachers face students from new Canadian backgrounds who must acquire French quickly in areas where French is the usual language and medium of instruction. The writer also notes that others speak French in the home but in dialects that demand instruction towards French as it is spoken in Canada. Moreover, in Anglophone areas of Canada, the special education student is entitled to study French, like all students, just as he or she is entitled to studies as much as possible resembling those of mainstream students. The writer reflects on what is understood by the term of bilingual education as it appears to have several implications depending upon the situation, languages or kinds of students involved.
Outline:
Introduction
Background
Special Abilities & Problems
Acquiring an Approach
Assessment Pitfalls
Withdrawing Children
Concluding Remarks
From the Paper "Special Education has been an important issue in the Province of Ontario's francophone boards that sometimes receive students who do not speak French in the home or otherwise encounter the French-medium school as a place of language acquisition. Only in 2004 did the Ontario government resolve to step up funding for Special Education classes, assessment and support services so that all francophone schools do cater to the roughly 10% of students, as in Anglophone boards, to require Special Education for some or all of their education. In areas where bilingualism is usual or valued, Francophone Special Education students have sometimes been assigned to local English-medium schools that do offer Special Education.
Where bilingual schools exist, similarly, the expectation in some boards has been that Special Education will be taken in English. French immersion schools in Ontario are charged with providing French-medium Special Education for students in need. In Anglophone areas, bilingual schools and classes have expanded greatly, along with French immersion facilities that a generation ago were seen as suiting advanced or 'gifted' students but now serve generic students, French immersion schools offer their French-medium Special Education classes, too."
Abstract This paper looks at the issue of international education and considers the consumer decision-making process that motivates, in particular, Chinese students to enroll in educational institutions in Vancouver, Canada. It also examines the pressures and incentives that may induce Chinese students to study in Vancouver and offers a marketing plan for the successful development of a new English as a second language (ESL) school. The paper discusses the social, cultural and educational considerations, as well as a general economic outlook for the future.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Industry Overview
Consumer Identification
Analysis of Consumer Motivation
Marketing implications
Conclusion
From the Paper "Another important point to be addressed in the literature is the quick turnaround offered by the school. As an intensive, short-duration course, the academy will offer students the most efficient methods of learning and using English to pass the exam (if this is their stated goal). As we have also seen, there is a tremendous amount of money in the ETL book publishing industry. This is a market which is largely unregulated and there are few standard texts accepted by all institutions. Therefore, the development of a unique teaching curriculum supported by an in-house publishing wing may offer a long-term and lucrative source of income. As Vancouver is home to a number of universities, colleges and other educational institutions, as well as a thriving Chinese community, it may be possible to co-develop a series of educational books that take into account the realities - and pressures - faced by Chinese ESL learners."
Abstract The paper illustrates how language serves a purpose to the gay and lesbian community to assist them in recognizing themselves as a group in a world of opposition and ridicule of their status. The paper quotes several words and descriptively explains how the word is utilized in gay society. The paper then summarizes the situation with examples on how language has been used negatively with the resultant necessity for this group to formulate their own vocabulary.
From the Paper "This usage appears to have grown out of political activism. The need to combat homophobic oppression - including internalized homophobia - was perceived, and a concrete way of doing this was to hold a public parade in which pride in one's alternative sexual orientation was expressed. Out of this activity, the word "pride" acquired a whole new meaning - a meaning that is useful for this community in overcoming the societal prejudices it has to deal with."
Tags: homophobic, gay, pride, lesbian, language, word
Abstract This paper explains that adults learning a second or foreign language often produce errors or nonnative substitutions, including a foreign accent and normative grammatical utterances. To study the issue of L1 (native language) transfer versus universal grammar, the author uses a critical review of relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature and a survey of Mexican-American second language learners living in California concerning their views on these issues. The paper concludes that the knowledge of grammar in one language does not necessarily translate into an efficient use of grammar in another language. Included with the paper are several graphs, charts and tables.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Purpose of Study
Importance of Study
Rationale of Study
Overview of Study
Definition of Terms
Review of the Literature
Background and Overview
L1 Transfer
Universal Grammar
Discussion
Table: Recapitulation of L1 Transfer Studies
Table: .Recapitulation of Universal Grammar Studies
Methodology
Data Analysis
Summary and Conclusions
From the Paper "Following a period of relative inattention during the Renaissance, an wide range of concepts of universal grammar emerged which were no longer tied strictly to Latin; instead, grammarians began to consider what is universal in human languages to the "particular" or "special" properties that serve to differentiate one language from another. In this regard, Thomas reports that Johann Heinrich Alsted provided a useful definition of "general grammar" in his 1630 Encyclopedia as 'the pattern [norma] of every particular grammar.'"
Abstract This paper presents a comparative study of the orthographic structure, tenses and syntax between Gullah and Kamtok. The paper also reviews phonology. The paper then explores the structures of Gullah and Kamtok sentences with a strong emphasis on the verb tenses to facilitate both languages. The paper examines how the tenses and sentences are organized in a way that facilitates output in both languages. The paper then presents the results of the study that reveal how written forms of these languages relate not only to their pronunciation, but to other levels of linguistic knowledge. The researcher provides a meta-analysis of data collected from linguistic studies of the English languages, including reviews of the Gullah, Kamtok, influence of Cameroon, Pidgin, Creole and many other derivative languages, all of which have their foundation in British English, Creole, or African phonology and orthography. The researcher predicts the results of this study will help explain the commonality of communication, and assert whether a universal standard of syntax, tense, pronunciation and meaning may be derived from the research gathered.
Outline:
Introduction
- Background to Study
- Research Questions
Preliminary Review of the Literature
- Limitations of Study
Study Summary
From the Paper "The English language derived from Europe and moved to many regions including to Africa. Here, English mixed with many local languages, giving birth to what we now know as Kamtok. The African languages as they were, also migrated to an English speaking country, mixed with English giving birth to Gullah. Noting this, it is important to point out these migrations had differing destinations, with English moving from Europe to Africa to create Kamtok, and from Africa to the U.S. to produce Gullah."
Abstract This paper discusses the history of film dubbing in Spain since globalization of the film industry. It analyzes the intricacies of how film dubbing works and discusses the philosophy behind the process of exchanging dialogue in one language for dialogue in another. The paper also analyzes why translations in film are so important to the interpretation of culture and how it is portrayed.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Political History
Ideologies
Ideological Analysis
Thick Description
Text Analysis
Translation
Application of Theory to Practice
Conclusion
Addendum
From the Paper "If these three films are conceived of as "inwardly directed," this conception would be wrong, for they are composing non-conversational, progressively threaded scenes in sequences that are meant to instruct, reach a dramatic goal or demonstrate an idea. They are taking a thousand scenes and, with them, are moving toward one goal. This film is not trying to say a thousand things, even if it uses a thousand scenes.
"Secondly, these three films are unalike. The campaign film is unlike the lecture film and the entertaining film is not going to try to convert or instruct the viewer. One does not entertain people by campaigning or lecturing. One is trying to entertain, move the audience to emotion, to remind them of something, or to amuse them. When the film is finished, it will not make any difference to what people have already decided, politically, spiritually or any other way. The film is not meant to teach, but to entertain."
Tags: translation, interpretation, subtitles, languages
An analysis of the benefits of using corpora in the classroom in order to promote second language learning and a discussion of how teachers can overcome the difficulties of its use.
Abstract This paper examines how the use of corpora in the classroom would facilitate second language learning. The paper also discusses how the English as a second language teachers could overcome the difficulty in teaching English vocabulary in context through the use of the corpora. The paper hypothesizes that use of corpora will facilitate second language learning by contextualizing the taught vocabulary and providing a real discourse.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Definition of the Problem
Importance of the Study
Research Objectives
Research Hypothesis
Literature Review
Computer-based Corpus
Applying Vocabulary
Current Knowledge of Corpus Benefits
Methodology
Subjects
Instrument
Procedures
Data Analysis
Validity and Reliability
Scope and Limitations
From the Paper "The scope of the study is to measure whether there is significant benefit in using corpus based materials over traditional methods for second language vocabulary learning. It is acknowledged that there are various limitations which the study must impose. The first of these is that the study is limited only to the one language school, and although there are a spectrum of students who attend the school, the results of the study may not translate into identical results when the study is taken outside of the school. In order to assess whether current curriculum structure should incorporate such methods outside of the language school in which the study is conducted it may be necessary to conduct a much large longitudinal study, involving several language schools in different areas."
Abstract The paper relates the problems resulting from indigenous people being pushed out of the places that they traditionally inhabited. As a result of this movement their languages are disappearing. The paper reports that we are losing a language almost every other week because people speaking these languages are dying out and they are not being taught to others before they die. The paper relates the reasons for this phenomenon and highlights specific regions throughout the world where this is occurring. The goal of the research is to record for eternity basic words of these languages to preserve them. These words can teach us much about them, and ultimately about ourselves as well.
From the Paper "A story reported in the New York Times last month stated that indigenous people all over the world are finding that they are being pushed out of the places that they inhabited to some degree, but mostly their languages are disappearing (Wilford, 2007). The story addressed the fact that there are approximately 7000 languages still spoken throughout the world. Out of all of those, around half will be gone during this century (Wilford, 2007). We are losing a language about every other week. It seems almost impossible to simply 'lose' a language? Where does it go? More importantly, why does it go? The answer is deceptively simple - the people that speak these languages are dying, and they are not teaching others the language before they go to their graves. "
Abstract This paper explains that language policy is a big problem in developing countries, especially in the Maghreb world, which was under the French rule: Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. The paper defines language planning (LP) as the activity of preparing a normative orthography, grammar and dictionary for the guidance of writers and speakers in a non-homogeneous speech community and relates that language planning includes language policy. The paper then discusses corpus, status and acquisition planning using examples mainly from the French Academy and the Hebrew revival movement.
Table of Contents:
A Theoretical View on Language Planning (LP)
Introduction
Definitions and Elements of LP
The Term "Language Planning"
Two Different Definitions of LP
Elements of Language Planning
Types of Language Planning
Corpus Planning
Status Planning
Acquisition Planning
Examples of Language Planning and Language Planning Policies
The "Academie Francaise" as an Example of Corpus Planning
The Promotion of Hebrew in Palestine as an Example of Status Planning
Examples of Language Planning Policies: Policy A, B, C.....
From the Paper "Richelieu established the AF. In 1624, he became first minister in Louis XIII. Richelieu was so close to artists, writers in particular. In 1629, a group of men interested in language and literature started to meet at a rich man's house just for conversation. Richelieu wanted to transform this club into an official institution serving the country. He formed this group into an official body. He had a political purpose. He wanted them to work on his behalf by supporting his policies, which is the main reason behind his finding of the AF. "
A research proposal aimed at identifying ways a family literacy program can help English language learner (ELL) students develop their English language skills.
Abstract This paper presents a research proposal that aims to identify best practices for the effective delivery of educational services to English language learner (ELL) students using a family literacy program approach. It discusses the US federal and state mandates that are in place concerning ELL students. It also looks at how family literacy programs have been used in the past to help ELL students achieve successful academic outcomes and the types of initiatives that have been shown to be most effective. Finally, the paper discusses the factors that contribute to the success of family literacy programs in general and those designed to assist ELL students in particular.
Table of Contents:
Chapter I: Research Proposal
Introduction
Proposal
Chapter II: Review of Literature
Review of Literature
Chapter Summary
From the Paper "The preliminary review of the peer-reviewed and scholarly literature concerning English language learning students and the challenges they face in American classrooms today made it clear that teachers and parents need to join forces to help these young learners become more proficient in English. Acquiring English for the vast majority of ELL students represents the difference between success and failure in virtually every academic endeavor, and the inadequacy of many existing approaches was made clear. On a positive note, though, the problem has been recognized by concerned academicians and steps have been taken to help begin the process needed to develop superior delivery approaches for ELL programs in the future. One of the most important parts of this initiative was shown to encourage the active involved of ELL students' parents and caregivers in the educational process by implementing family literacy programs that can help teachers, students and parents alike in a number of ways. First and foremost, ELL students become better learners and acquire English more readily; second, and perhaps just as importantly, such programs were shown to help bring families together in ways that not only helped the children involved, but their parents and caregivers as well. Finally, family literacy programs were shown to help teachers accomplish their professional goals by integrating their classroom-based practicum with the home-based components of the program. All in all, family literacy programs represent an enormously cost-effective approach to helping ELL students become better learners, but such initiatives require solicitation of feedback from all of the stakeholders involved, a viable framework in which to administer the program, and careful oversight during its administration to ensure its successful outcome."
Abstract The paper discusses how writing a research report begins with the selection of a topic and the research of information. The paper relates that writers often outline what they are going to do and then make changes later on. The paper also points out that there are different levels and types of writing and the form of the report, the wording and the tone may depend on what type of report is being written. Additionally, the paper refers to various sources that offer advice on writing and language styles.
Outline:
Introduction
Organizing the Topic
Research
The Writing Process
Other Elements to be Considered
Conclusion
From the Paper "Writing a report can be achieved in several different ways, but there are certain steps every writer should consider and that may help the writer focus on a topic, develop the evidence needed, and shape the written report to follow. In general terms, the writing process begins with the selection of a subject about which to write. Sometimes the subject is assigned, while at other times it must be selected from something that interests the writer or that he or she thinks they can explain in an interesting way. This is more than just the beginning of the process--it is one of the most important parts of the process because it decides much of what will be done next. If the writer chooses a subject that is too hard to understand, he or she will not be able to explain it to someone else."
Abstract The paper looks at Anne Fadiman's book "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" that relates the tragedy of three-month-old Lia Lee that was due to cultural misunderstandings. The paper examines the situation today, a decade after the book was written, and reveals that since the U.S.' demographics are changing so quickly, it does not appear that enough is being done to promote change. The paper discusses how to solve the communication and cultural understanding issues of diverse groups and stresses the need for collaboration.
From the Paper "Bringing a family member to the emergency ward is difficult enough, even when speaking the same language as the staff. As soon as someone walks into the ER, he/she is bombarded with questions regarding insurance, injury/illness history, and medication contradictions. In the meantime, the intended patient is waiting in pain. Even in this scenario, communication often breaks down because of stress and concern. This process becomes much more complicated when someone comes to the ER who speaks an unknown language and has a different cultural perspective. Miscommunication can endanger the person requiring care."
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that duality in literature and drama is a common theme suggesting various relationships between people, attributes, character traits, and also suggesting the larger dictum that things are not always what they seem. The writer discusses that the 'Alchemist' is a comedy written in verse and that two of the central themes in this play are inherently shaped around ideas of duality. The first of these themes is that of illusion versus reality, again a common theme in drama and one that includes duality as how things appear is not how they truly are. This theme also shows the tendency people have to see what they want to see and to fail to perceive the true nature of people and things in this world. A second theme in this play is transformation, clearly a term related to the idea of an alchemist, who had as his primary goal changing base metals into gold, an idea that was an illusion in itself. The writer notes that in the 'Alchemist' this idea involved a deliberate duality as even the concept of alchemy itself becomes the subject of and means to a swindle, a deliberate illusion to mask the true intent of the perpetrator.
From the Paper "The names of the characters have a duality all their own as they tend to be fitting to the real character while the character him or herself seeks to hide that fact. The three conspirators are Subtle, Face, and Dol Common, and the use of the word "subtle" in particular suggests deception. Their primary target is Sir Epicure Mammon, a man whose name represents two of the seven deadly sins, gluttony and greed. The house where the conspirators create their illusion is owned by a man named Lovewit, also suggestive of one who knows a deception is taking place and who enjoys the game of it, though in fact he has left London to escape the plague. The conspirators want to be all things to all people, so long as this will give them an advantage and enable them to fleece those who visit them. Mammon is attracted by their promise of the Philosopher's stone, a legendary artifact that can turn base metals into gold and that is the object of all alchemical inquiry. Kastril is attracted by the promise of a charm so he can win at cards. Drugger the tobacconist wants his shop cleansed of impurities and supernatural threats. The duality of the three conspirators is matched by that of Pertinax Surly, the man who sees through their deceptions and who uses a disguise of his own to investigate."
