Theresah Ennin; Nancy Nkansah
Volume 4, 1 (Special Issue on African Cultures and Languages) , March 2016, , Pages 69-79
Abstract
Names as markers of identity are a source of a wide variety of information. This paper explores the names of characters to show the sociocultural factors which influence the choice of names and the effects that the names of these characters have on the roles they play. Using a variety of personal names ...
Read More
Names as markers of identity are a source of a wide variety of information. This paper explores the names of characters to show the sociocultural factors which influence the choice of names and the effects that the names of these characters have on the roles they play. Using a variety of personal names from Ayi Kwei Armah’s Fragments, Buchi Emecheta’s The Joys of Motherhood, and Nawal El Sadaawi’s Woman at Point Zero, the study revealed that, the choice of names in Akan, Igbo, and Arab societies are influenced by the day of birth, the family one belongs to, circumstances surrounding one’s birth, titles, and religion. Furthermore, writers chose these specific names to reinforce the roles characters play in the literary work. These findings have implications for onomastics, characterization, and further research.
Rajabali Askarzadeh Torghabeh
Volume 7, 2 (Special Issue on Iranians Views of Cultural Issues) , September 2019, , Pages 69-79
Abstract
This study has analyzed the culture and language of the American Dream in Blue Surge. It shows the effects of the formula of success and the competition presented by this dream; and, how it produces neurotic individuals trying to cope with the competitive society by means of neurotic strategies. This ...
Read More
This study has analyzed the culture and language of the American Dream in Blue Surge. It shows the effects of the formula of success and the competition presented by this dream; and, how it produces neurotic individuals trying to cope with the competitive society by means of neurotic strategies. This study has used Karen Horney’s theories and strategies. Horney says neurosis is engendered from the conflicting values of the competitive culture such as the absence of means to fulfill goals which are set for the individuals and harsh childhood experiences. The paper has analyzed the main characters’ languages, their psyches, and their defensive strategies according to Horney’s theories of Neurotic needs, which consider cultural elements as an important factor in producing neurotic individuals. The results show that the members of this society, the rich and the poor, all become neurotic individuals who are searching for defensive strategies, since individuals are living a social life and cannot escape its consequences.
Leili Kassaie; Hamid Reza Shairi; Mahmoud Reza Gashmardi
Volume 9, Issue 1 , March 2021, , Pages 69-85
Abstract
One way to develop language skills in FFL (French as a foreign language) learners is to surround them with authentic materials. This study aimed at enhancing the listening and speaking skills of Iranian FFL learners through the integration of MALL (Mobile-assisted language learning) in the form of podcasts ...
Read More
One way to develop language skills in FFL (French as a foreign language) learners is to surround them with authentic materials. This study aimed at enhancing the listening and speaking skills of Iranian FFL learners through the integration of MALL (Mobile-assisted language learning) in the form of podcasts into FFL courses. The main advantage of integrating authentic podcasts as an educational instrument lies in the variety, accessibility, and the rich content it provides. Repeated measure analysis of variances was administered to find out any significant change in the level of listening and speaking skills of the participants throughout five sessions. At the end of each session, a self-evaluation survey was implemented to evaluate the participants’ perception of such integration and that of their own speaking performances. The findings indicated that the listening and speaking skills of the participants developed significantly through the integration of podcasts. The findings of the self-evaluation survey also showed that the participants’ attitudes and evaluation of their speaking performances were positive.
Shannon McCrocklin
Volume 8, Issue 1 , March 2020, , Pages 70-81
Abstract
Research has shown that language teachers’ beliefs are often difficult to change through education. Experiential learning may help, but more research is needed to understand how experiential approaches shape perceptions. This study compares two approaches, conversation partners (CONV) and ...
Read More
Research has shown that language teachers’ beliefs are often difficult to change through education. Experiential learning may help, but more research is needed to understand how experiential approaches shape perceptions. This study compares two approaches, conversation partners (CONV) and structured language learning experiences (SLLE), integrated into a course in language acquisition. Participants (n = 32) completed a pre- and post-questionnaire that included: demographic questions, Likert scales on beliefs, ranking of second language acquisition (SLA) factors, and open-ended questions. Results showed differences from pre- to post-questionnaire for both groups for four Likert scale items (e.g., the importance of exact pronunciation) and six language learning factors (e.g., motivation). Further, both groups grew to recognize more factors. Slight differences emerged between groups on two items, the importance of intelligence and dominance in SLA. Qualitative analysis showed that, while CONV reported no changes in beliefs, SLLE reported finding language learning to be more difficult than believed. Further, SLLE wished to have more of the project, while CONV did not.
Niloofar Keshtiari; Michael Kuhlmann
Volume 4, Issue 2 , September 2016, , Pages 71-86
Abstract
This paper reports on a behavioral study that explores the role of culture and gender in the recognition of emotional speech in an under investigated cultural context (a collectivist society: i.e., Iran). Participants were asked to recognize the emotional prosody of a set of validated emotional vocal ...
Read More
This paper reports on a behavioral study that explores the role of culture and gender in the recognition of emotional speech in an under investigated cultural context (a collectivist society: i.e., Iran). Participants were asked to recognize the emotional prosody of a set of validated emotional vocal portrayals (including the five basic emotions). Findings of the experiment were then compared with the results of a similar study performed on members of an individualist culture. Taken together, our results established that both, gender as a biologically rooted social mechanism and cultural factors modulate the recognition of emotional speech. More specifically, our findings supported the view that with regard to vocal emotions, females are more sensitive compared to males. Additionally, it was revealed that members of a collectivist culture show higher sensitivity to vocal emotional cues compared to their individualist counterparts. These findings imply that cultures that center on group harmony (i.e., collectivist cultures), may thus promote higher default levels of emotional sensitivity.
Mona Tabatabaee-Yazdi; Purya Baghaei
Abstract
Culture is rooted in every aspect of human life, and more specifically in the simplest and easiest act of language to the degree that every single speech act accounts for performing a cultural act. Thus, this study aimed to validate the Persian translation of the Intercultural Intelligence Scale developed ...
Read More
Culture is rooted in every aspect of human life, and more specifically in the simplest and easiest act of language to the degree that every single speech act accounts for performing a cultural act. Thus, this study aimed to validate the Persian translation of the Intercultural Intelligence Scale developed by Ang et al. (2007), using the Rasch rating scale model, to discover whether the same constructs of the scale would be extracted in order to make it available to use within the Persian language contexts. The scale was administered to 203 EFL teachers who have taught English in several language institutes and universities. Findings showed the test had an acceptable person and item separation reliability which proved the external validity of the scale. The order of the category thresholds showed the respondents could discriminate well among the scale’s categories. Therefore, the scale is potentially valid and can be used as a measure of Intercultural Intelligence in the Persian language contexts.
Chin-Hui Chen
Volume 3, Issue 2 , September 2015, , Pages 72-84
Abstract
This paper uses critical discourse analysis to examine discursive representations of older people in Taiwanese newspapers. A total of 926 references to older people were sampled from 62 articles published in four Taiwanese newspapers from January to August 2013. The findings suggest that, older people ...
Read More
This paper uses critical discourse analysis to examine discursive representations of older people in Taiwanese newspapers. A total of 926 references to older people were sampled from 62 articles published in four Taiwanese newspapers from January to August 2013. The findings suggest that, older people were frequently allocated roles suggestive of dependency. Those portrayed in line with the positive golden ager stereotype were more likely to be treated as identifiable individuals, via referential strategies including nomination, titulation, functionalization, and honorifics. People of very advanced ages, meanwhile, were often discussed in the contexts of problems or tragedies. On the whole, negative stereotypes of older people were dominant within the sample, and appeared to be treated as more newsworthy. The articles occasionally reported positive experiences of aging, but implied that, these were exceptional. The nature of older age and aging as discursively constructed in Taiwanese newspapers appears to be problematic for those seeking to build a less ageist society in Taiwan.
Alfred Lawrence Owusu-Ansah
Volume 2, Issue 1 , March 2014, , Pages 73-87
Abstract
Semantic strategies are a kind of discourse strategy that include the sum of language and cognitive moves which are used to reach an adequate goal of communication normally resulting in text comprehension by the reader or listener. Here, the language user takes a number of steps in order to perform a ...
Read More
Semantic strategies are a kind of discourse strategy that include the sum of language and cognitive moves which are used to reach an adequate goal of communication normally resulting in text comprehension by the reader or listener. Here, the language user takes a number of steps in order to perform a complex task. Semantic strategies in prejudiced talk have been examined extensively in western cultures (e.g., Augoustinos & Every, 2007; Bonnila-Silva, 2002). In order to close the gap on the vastness of western studies, the Ghanaian context is investigated in this study. Ten Ghanaian university students from differing ethnic backgrounds were sampled and interviewed to reveal their ethnic prejudices using the Discourse-Historical approach as advocated by Wodak and Reisigl (1999). The analysis of data reveals projection, semantic distancing, incoherence, and rationalization as the four semantic strategies used in the discourse of prejudice among Ghanaian university students. This study has implications for language socialization.
Marianna Kyriakou
Volume 6, Issue 1 , March 2018, , Pages 73-85
Abstract
This study examines how Greek-Cypriot students aged 12 to 18, an understudied group of students, construct their ethnic identity in a complex setting such as Cyprus and what motivates the students in the selection of ethnic identity labels. The choice to focus on students aged 12-18 was made on the hypothesis ...
Read More
This study examines how Greek-Cypriot students aged 12 to 18, an understudied group of students, construct their ethnic identity in a complex setting such as Cyprus and what motivates the students in the selection of ethnic identity labels. The choice to focus on students aged 12-18 was made on the hypothesis that young children, who did not experience the 1974 war in Cyprus, may have a different perception of ethnic identity in contrast to adults who are generationally closer to the war. Data are collected by means of interviews. A social constructionist approach is used for the analysis of ethnic identity construction. The results show that Greek-Cypriot students use the ethnic labels Greek, Greek-Cypriot, and Cypriot to construct their ethnic identities and they change and negotiate between these ethnic labels when talking about their identity. The students’ choice of a specific ethnic label seems to be widely motivated by ideologies connected to politics, language, religion, and education.
Lisa Hilte; Reinhild Vandekerckhove; Walter Daelemans
Volume 6, Issue 2 , September 2018, , Pages 73-89
Abstract
In a large social media corpus (2.9 million tokens), we analyze Flemish adolescents’ non-standard writing practices and look for correlations with the teenagers’ social class. Three different aspects of adolescents’ social background are included: educational track, parental profession, ...
Read More
In a large social media corpus (2.9 million tokens), we analyze Flemish adolescents’ non-standard writing practices and look for correlations with the teenagers’ social class. Three different aspects of adolescents’ social background are included: educational track, parental profession, and home language. Since the data reveal that these parameters are highly correlated, we combine them into one social class label. The different linguistic practices emerging from the analyses demonstrate the crucial impact of social class on adolescent online writing practices. Furthermore, our results nuance classical findings on working class adherence to ‘old vernacular’ by also highlighting working class youth’s strong connection to the online writing culture, or ‘new vernacular’. Finally, we point out the complexity of the social class variable by demonstrating interactions with gender and age, and by examining groups of teenagers whose social background is ambiguous and therefore hard to operationalize.
Ihor Bloschchynskyi; Lyubomyr Borakovskyy; Ganna Prihodko; Tetiana Novikova; Nadiia Moroz; Natalia Kalyniuk
Volume 9, Issue 3 , September 2021, , Pages 73-81
Abstract
In the era of globalization and the rapid development of all the spheres of human life, the analysis of the term-formation methods becomes particularly topical. The functioning of frontier and customs terminology in combination with the terminology of legal acts (in particular in legal documents, agreements, ...
Read More
In the era of globalization and the rapid development of all the spheres of human life, the analysis of the term-formation methods becomes particularly topical. The functioning of frontier and customs terminology in combination with the terminology of legal acts (in particular in legal documents, agreements, and works that contain certain legal recommendations, requirements, and provisions) plays an important role in the period of deepening integration of countries and international relations. The article presents the results of the analysis of the terminological units of the frontier sphere. We compared the professional terminology used in the English and German variant of the same document – the Schengen Borders Code, which is a regulation that modifies existing legislation on border checks carried out on people. It is intended to improve the legislative part of the integrated border management policy by setting out the rules on crossing external borders and on reintroducing checks at internal borders.
Siti Nurbayani; Moh. Dede
Abstract
Initially, white-collar workers would do implement their activities by working from the office (WFO) but later changed to working from home (WFH) during COVID-19. This study aims to analyze the effect of the pandemic on white-collar workers based on the driver-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) model ...
Read More
Initially, white-collar workers would do implement their activities by working from the office (WFO) but later changed to working from home (WFH) during COVID-19. This study aims to analyze the effect of the pandemic on white-collar workers based on the driver-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) model and semantic aspect. Respondents came from 22 provinces in Indonesia. The study used a sequential mixed methods design to reveal the significance between DPSIR components and to understand the meaning of symbols or signs. The results showed that there is a significant gender difference, specifically in the driver (D). The correlation value of P-S, S-I, and I-R in men was more significant than in women (p < 0.05). Men expressed more statements about the COVID-19 effect than did women. Theyused adverbs with adjective words, showing that the pandemic requires a proper adaptation, although, at the same time, they felt difficult, bored, and depressed. Based on these analyses, institutions need to pay more attention to the work efficiency and work-life balance of their workers.
Vahid Parvaresh; Azizullah Dabghi
Volume 1, Issue 1 , March 2013, , Pages 74-88
Abstract
The present study is an attempt to investigate the use of vague expressions by intermediate EFL learners. More specifically, the current study focuses on the structures and functions of one of the most common categories of vague language, i.e. general extenders. The data include a 22-hour corpus ...
Read More
The present study is an attempt to investigate the use of vague expressions by intermediate EFL learners. More specifically, the current study focuses on the structures and functions of one of the most common categories of vague language, i.e. general extenders. The data include a 22-hour corpus of English-as-a-foreign-language conversations. A comparison is also made between this corpus and a 20-hour corpus of Persian conversations. The analyses show that the first language influences not only the structure but also the position of EFL general extenders. Additionally, the present study shows that some of the functions fulfilled by Persian general extenders can be transferred to EFL discourse. The current study can be interpreted as evidence suggesting that there is a complex intertwining between universal and language-specific features at least when one compares general extenders across languages.
Milene Mendes de Oliveira
Volume 3, Issue 1 , March 2015, , Pages 76-90
Abstract
This paper showed the results of a qualitative investigation that looked into intracultural communication between Brazilian teachers and students of English, and intercultural communication between American teachers and Brazilian students of English. The aims were to identify and describe contextualization ...
Read More
This paper showed the results of a qualitative investigation that looked into intracultural communication between Brazilian teachers and students of English, and intercultural communication between American teachers and Brazilian students of English. The aims were to identify and describe contextualization cues used by both Brazilian and American speakers of English, and to connect these cues with sociocultural differences. Data was collected through footage of English classes in Brazil and through interviews with American English teachers. The analyses of the footage and the interviews have shown that, while assertiveness could be related to the sociological dimension of individualism in the American culture, compliance, as perceived in verbal interactions, could be connected with the collectivist orientation of the Brazilian culture. Moreover, the higher-context communication style in the Brazilian culture and the lower-context communication style in the American culture (when contrasted with each other) were found to be able to account for differences in the use of politeness strategies. The results showed the importance of making English students aware of contextualization conventions.
Raushan Koilybayeva; Maira Zhunis; Kulzhibek Kusmanova; Mukhtar Mirov; Svetlana Missyachenko
Abstract
In modern linguistics, the issue of values has become especially acute. The value system was considered in the context of family discourse. The purpose of this article was to consider family discourse characteristics and the connection of the family discourse with the resilience theory. It defined the ...
Read More
In modern linguistics, the issue of values has become especially acute. The value system was considered in the context of family discourse. The purpose of this article was to consider family discourse characteristics and the connection of the family discourse with the resilience theory. It defined the lingua-axiological aspect through language, national values, and communication. One hundred sixty-seven participants from Kazakhstan took part in an online survey, representing their attitude to family values. The findings revealed that family support, understanding, love, parental agreements, and having a child were rated higher than other values. Decisions were made by both parents or collectively. Participants’ answers portrayed family values as different from traditional family discourse. The study clarified the importance of family values, parents’ roles, family traditions, and methods of teaching family values. The research findings demonstrated that the narrative organization of family communication distinguishes the main signs of the lingua-axiological aspect in family discourse.
Zohreh Shooshtari; Monireh Allahbakhsh
Volume 1, Issue 2 , September 2013, , Pages 82-103
Abstract
This article intended to illustrate a profile of the impact of English in magazine print advertising in Iran, examining the quantitative results obtained from discourse analysis. Three issues of Khanevadeh Sabz and two issues of Zendegi Ideal, female-oriented and best-seller magazines published in 2011, ...
Read More
This article intended to illustrate a profile of the impact of English in magazine print advertising in Iran, examining the quantitative results obtained from discourse analysis. Three issues of Khanevadeh Sabz and two issues of Zendegi Ideal, female-oriented and best-seller magazines published in 2011, were collected and a total of 261 advertisements was analyzed qualitatively. Results showed that English has consistently used in Persian magazine advertisements, representing attention-getting, persuasion, international brands, prestige, modernity, globalization, premium quality, fun, innovation and creativity. However, the use of English in Persian magazine advertisements is culturally and linguistically constrained. Culturally, in advertising traditional products English is only used to introduce the name and e-mail address. Linguistically, although some English written slogans in Persian magazines had pun in them, English used in Persian magazine advertisements mostly consists of easy-to-read vocabulary. Overall, in spite of the public’s generally low proficiency in English, it is predicted that English mixing will continue to thrive in magazine advertising discourse in Iran.
Hamid Allami; Najmeh Barzegar
Volume 8, Issue 2 , September 2020, , Pages 90-104
Abstract
This study investigates the representation of ordinary people in the inaugural speeches of two Iranian presidents and their underlying ideologies through the lens of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). An aggregate model integrating Fairclough’s three-dimensional (1989), Van Dijk’s socio-cognitive ...
Read More
This study investigates the representation of ordinary people in the inaugural speeches of two Iranian presidents and their underlying ideologies through the lens of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). An aggregate model integrating Fairclough’s three-dimensional (1989), Van Dijk’s socio-cognitive (1993), and Van Leeuwen’s socio-semantic (1996) approaches to CDA was proposed and applied as the analytical tool. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques were employed for the study design. In the quantitative part, statistically significant differences in the use of vocabulary items and structures were investigated based on the description stage of Fairclough’s and van Leeuwen’s frameworks. In the qualitative part of the study, attempts were made to justify the found similarities and differences based on the interpretation and explanation stages of Fairclough’s and van Dijk’s frameworks. The study showed that in spite of differences in the presentation of political self, both presidents design similar strategies in their political discourse to project the identity of common people within their sociocultural context.
Aliya Nailevna Miftakhova; Tatiana Gennadievna Bochina; Amir Zufarovich Malikov
Volume 8, 3 (Special Issue on Russian Culture and Language) , December 2020, , Pages 54-62
Abstract
The study of the functioning of the language as a means of electronic communication is one of the most relevant areas of linguistics. In this article, based on messages from women's and men's forums of the Russian-speaking Internet, gender representation of the words woman and baba is considered, and ...
Read More
The study of the functioning of the language as a means of electronic communication is one of the most relevant areas of linguistics. In this article, based on messages from women's and men's forums of the Russian-speaking Internet, gender representation of the words woman and baba is considered, and the speech characteristics assigned to these words are highlighted as criteria for femininity recorded in Runet. The study of woman and baba lexical items in the language of the forums of the Russian-speaking Internet made it possible to identify and describe the gender criteria of femininity existing in modern linguistic culture, as well as to determine the role and place of these lexemes in the system of gender values of users in a virtual environment. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that the use of women and baba lexical items in a comparative aspect was carried out on the material of Russian-language Internet forums.
Nikolay Ivanov; Elena Komissarova; Anatoly Kryukov; Sergey Lysenko
Volume 9, 2 (Themed Issue on Modern Realities of National Languages of CIS Countries) , August 2021, , Pages 64-73
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify the features of the transmission of the semantic structure of speech in English and Russian when translating using the example of monorgem and direme, and also to ensure consistency between them. The following methods were used during the research: analysis and ...
Read More
The purpose of this study was to identify the features of the transmission of the semantic structure of speech in English and Russian when translating using the example of monorgem and direme, and also to ensure consistency between them. The following methods were used during the research: analysis and synthesis, comparative analysis and descriptive method, as well as adequate translation. An analysis of the current state of translation in the English-Russian sphere has shown that at the moment when translating texts, there are some difficulties associated with semantic, linguistic, and cultural differences between the two languages. It was concluded that any transformations made during the translation of a text are aimed at overcoming the differences in the communicative structure of English and Russian utterances. The practical significance of the study is determined by the fact that these recommendations for the translation of monorgem and directives can be used in translation activities.
Aygul Zufarovna Ibatova; Eka Demurievna Korkiya; Lyudmila N. Shcherbatykh; Mahaсh Vagabov; Elena Viktorovna Salimullina
Abstract
This research investigated the effects of teaching English cultural-oriented materials on enhancing the speaking fluency and accuracy of Russian EFL learners. To do so, 75 Russian intermediate EFL learners were chosen from 99 students at an English language institute, Moscow, Surgut Branch of IUT, Russia. ...
Read More
This research investigated the effects of teaching English cultural-oriented materials on enhancing the speaking fluency and accuracy of Russian EFL learners. To do so, 75 Russian intermediate EFL learners were chosen from 99 students at an English language institute, Moscow, Surgut Branch of IUT, Russia. The participants were randomly divided into two experimental groups (fluency and accuracy) and a control group. The respondents of the experimental groups received the treatment (English cultural-oriented materials). The researchers selected some conversations containing topics related to the English culture to teach to the experimental groups. The subjects of the control group were taught some conversations without having any cultural-based content. After the instruction, all groups took the speaking post-test. The findings indicated that there were significant differences between the speaking post-tests of the experimental groups and the control group in favor of the experimental groups.
Brian Seilstad
Volume 5, Issue 2 , September 2017, , Pages 73-90
Abstract
This article focuses on home-based citizenship classes for Bhutanese-Nepali elders in Central Ohio in the United States. As part of a larger longitudinal study centered in the ethnographic, language socialization, and discourse analytic traditions, the article focuses on data, particularly regular audiovideo ...
Read More
This article focuses on home-based citizenship classes for Bhutanese-Nepali elders in Central Ohio in the United States. As part of a larger longitudinal study centered in the ethnographic, language socialization, and discourse analytic traditions, the article focuses on data, particularly regular audiovideo recordings, gathered over a five-month period and tracks one student’s progress towards competence in answering a routine personal information question required in the citizenship interview. Although many learners and teachers center cognitive difficulties in preparing for this task, the complexities of this process are explored more broadly by using both the microanalysis of classroom discourse across time and social and cultural-historical explanations for why a Bhutanese-Nepali elder may struggle to respond appropriately, in English, to a seemingly simple question such as What is your date of birth?. The results of this article have implications for reflexive approaches to learning and teaching, community-based inquiry, and research on diversity and demographic change.
Muhammad Y Gamal
Volume 2, Issue 2 (Special Issue on Translation, Society and Culture) , September 2014, , Pages 77-88
Abstract
In the global village of today, more people have been moving and migrating than ever before creating a need for better communication. Thus community interpreting rose as a specialization serving the needs of members of the community who are unable to communicate with the system. Within this broad field ...
Read More
In the global village of today, more people have been moving and migrating than ever before creating a need for better communication. Thus community interpreting rose as a specialization serving the needs of members of the community who are unable to communicate with the system. Within this broad field of interpreting the specialist area of legal interpreting assumed a high position. However, legal interpreting is commonly understood to mean only court interpreting. This tends to obscure that fact that a great deal of ‘legal interpreting’ takes place outside the court. Before a matter goes to the ‘public’ court room, interpreters have spent days and perhaps weeks assisting in the investigation of a matter. This is the field of police interpreting. Although it takes place ‘behind the scenes’ it nevertheless deserves the attention of academics. The context of police interpreting has for too long been closed off to the public. However, political, economic, and human rights concerns are now putting more pressure to open up the field for more investigation.
Dare Williams Omotoyinbo
Volume 4, 1 (Special Issue on African Cultures and Languages) , March 2016, , Pages 80-88
Abstract
Various studies on the National Policy on Education (NPE) have concentrated on the cognitive value of pedagogy and learning of the language aspect but few have viewed its importance on the togetherness of the nation - Nigeria. This paper deals with how the language policy can influence and ensure the ...
Read More
Various studies on the National Policy on Education (NPE) have concentrated on the cognitive value of pedagogy and learning of the language aspect but few have viewed its importance on the togetherness of the nation - Nigeria. This paper deals with how the language policy can influence and ensure the co-existence of Nigeria in achieving self-actualisation, national unity, social, cultural, economic, and educational advancement for collective benefit. It also reveals that, the language aspect of the NPE is also providing sustainable attempts using the three major languages in Nigeria – Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba - and English language as well. The paper suggests that, the language policy can be used to foster a desirable and the real Nigerianism philosophy of our forefathers. It moreover concludes and recommends that, Nigeria leaders should exhibit patriotism; shun the (audible and bodily) language of disintegration and division for the sake of national unity.
Hassan Soodmand Afshar; Shadi Donyaie
Volume 7, 2 (Special Issue on Iranians Views of Cultural Issues) , September 2019, , Pages 80-93
Abstract
As part of a large-scale project, the current qualitative study investigated the possible contribution of a consciousness-raising interactive workshop (as a form of professional development activity) to 30) 22 female and 8 male) Iranian EFL teachers’ professional identity construction. Thirty Iranian ...
Read More
As part of a large-scale project, the current qualitative study investigated the possible contribution of a consciousness-raising interactive workshop (as a form of professional development activity) to 30) 22 female and 8 male) Iranian EFL teachers’ professional identity construction. Thirty Iranian EFL teachers were asked to write two reflective journals (one individually and one collectively) before and two others after they attended an eight-session interactive workshop on Reflective Journal Writing (RJW). The workshop aimed at raising their consciousness of RJW based on the framework proposed by Richards (1995) and the journal content guide developed by Soodmand Afshar (in press). Subsequently, in order to demonstrate how the consciousness-raising interactive workshop contributed to the participants' professional identity construction, interviews were conducted with them. The data collected were analyzed through the grounded-theory approach and qualitative content analysis. The results indicated that the workshop contributed to the participants’ professional identity construction in various ways which are discussed at length in the paper.
Siti Noor Fazelah Mohd Noor
Volume 5, Issue 1 , March 2017, , Pages 82-93
Abstract
This paper presents the first part of a larger study on the issue of graduate employability in Malaysia as construed in public discourse in English, a language of power in Malaysia. The term employability itself has many definitions depending on the requirements of government and industry, and in the ...
Read More
This paper presents the first part of a larger study on the issue of graduate employability in Malaysia as construed in public discourse in English, a language of power in Malaysia. The term employability itself has many definitions depending on the requirements of government and industry, and in the case of Malaysia, the English-language ability of graduates is inseparable from graduate employability. Data were collected from three socially significant English-language publications: a mainstream newspaper, an alternative newspaper, and a government document outlining the national approach to improving graduate employability in universities. The data were collected between 2012 and 2013, a significant two-year period of time due to the publication of the Graduate Employability Blueprint in 2012, and the five-yearly Malaysian General Election in 2013. Applying Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the study also employs Transitivity Analysis (TA) from Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). The analysis looks at the grammatical roles and evaluation of important social actor groups in the graduate employability issue.