Volume 9, Issue 1 , March 2021
Volume 9, Issue 1 , March 2021
Mustapha Chmarkh
Volume 9, Issue 1 , March 2021, Pages 1-13
Abstract
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first sociolinguistic matched-guise experiment that examined Chinese students’ attitudes toward African American English in both its standard and vernacular variants. This pilot study explored Chinese students’ implicit bias —if any— toward ...
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To the best of our knowledge, this is the first sociolinguistic matched-guise experiment that examined Chinese students’ attitudes toward African American English in both its standard and vernacular variants. This pilot study explored Chinese students’ implicit bias —if any— toward African American English compared to white American English. For this purpose, seventy-two undergraduate Chinese students pursuing their studies in the US rated standard and vernacular English recordings of a White American female speaker and an African American female speaker. To optimize the validity of this experiment, two non-guises were included as distractors. The findings suggest that the participants held a more positive attitude toward White American English. Interestingly, female respondents rated the African American guise slightly higher than their male counterparts. Finally, when the African American speaker’s teaching-related traits were rated, participants favored the standard over the vernacular recording. In sum: the findings suggest that respondents might have an existing/emerging implicit bias toward the African American speaker.
Hassan Soodmand Afshar; Mahsa Moradifar
Volume 9, Issue 1 , March 2021, Pages 14-29
Abstract
The present study explored the relational patterns of critical cultural awareness, institutional identity, self-efficacy, reflective teaching, and job performance of Iranian EFL teachers. To this end, 300 Iranian EFL teachers from different private language institutes were selected based on convenience ...
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The present study explored the relational patterns of critical cultural awareness, institutional identity, self-efficacy, reflective teaching, and job performance of Iranian EFL teachers. To this end, 300 Iranian EFL teachers from different private language institutes were selected based on convenience sampling and took part in the study by completing the critical cultural awareness questionnaire, the teachers’ sense of self-efficacy scale, the institutional identity questionnaire, and the reflective teaching questionnaire. Moreover, 1500 EFL students (i.e., five students per teacher) were randomly selected from teachers’ classrooms to take part in the present study. A Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis was adopted, the results of which revealed that all the predictor variables except critical cultural awareness predicted EFL teachers’ job performance. However, self-efficacy was found to be the strongest predictor of Iranian EFL teachers’ job performance. The implications, grounded in the findings of the study, are presented and discussed in more detail in the paper.
Hamza R'boul
Volume 9, Issue 1 , March 2021, Pages 30-42
Abstract
Conceptualizations of intercultural communication in English language teaching have largely been constructed on westerncentric and essentialist representations of interculturality. The failure to take into account power imbalances among Anglophone and Southern spaces may perpetuate the inequalities that ...
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Conceptualizations of intercultural communication in English language teaching have largely been constructed on westerncentric and essentialist representations of interculturality. The failure to take into account power imbalances among Anglophone and Southern spaces may perpetuate the inequalities that have long-existed. Questioning singularity of approaches in the intercultural language education is required to account for the complexity of intercultural interactions, especially in terms of power imbalances. The dialectic perspective, with its inclusiveness of varying discursive reasonings, can offer a discerning treatment of interculturality through reconciling the opposing dialectics in intercultural communication scholarship. This article (a) makes a case for the usefulness of incorporating multiple epistemological stances in order to develop more comprehensive insights about interculturality, (b) argues that, by developing pluriversal perspectives, we can simultaneously consider the multiplicity of individuals’ ontologies, identities, and cultures. This is realized by first advancing an inter-paradigmatic discussion of culture-communication research dialectics and then considering its theoretical relevance and practical applications in English language teaching.
Rafat Bagherzadeh; Zia Tajeddin
Volume 9, Issue 1 , March 2021, Pages 43-57
Abstract
Teacher education programs can pursue the aim of helping teachers acquire the knowledge base for effective teaching. However, the representation of curricular knowledge, one of the important dimensions of the teacher knowledge base, varies across educational and sociocultural contexts. As this knowledge ...
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Teacher education programs can pursue the aim of helping teachers acquire the knowledge base for effective teaching. However, the representation of curricular knowledge, one of the important dimensions of the teacher knowledge base, varies across educational and sociocultural contexts. As this knowledge has rarely been explored in the context of Iran, the current study sought to analyze the contents of teacher education programs to identify the representation of curricular knowledge. For this aim, the programs of 15 English language institutes were analyzed using a checklist developed based on Roberts’ (1998) model. Totally, 12 general categories, including 59 components, were found in pre-service programs; however, only 4 categories and 12 components were related to curricular knowledge, namely Methodology and instruction, Planning lessons, Materials, and Assessment. Regarding in-service programs, it was found that curricular knowledge was embodied only in two programs. The findings can provide insights to teacher educations for designing more effective teacher education programs that enhance teachers’ curricular knowledge.
Maman Lesmana
Volume 9, Issue 1 , March 2021, Pages 58-68
Abstract
In everyday life, there are often errors in foreign language translation, either in spelling or vocabulary or in pragmatic terms. Frequently, these errors are unintentionally amusing. This research discusses humor caused by language errors. The corpus of this study is an informative discourse in Arabic ...
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In everyday life, there are often errors in foreign language translation, either in spelling or vocabulary or in pragmatic terms. Frequently, these errors are unintentionally amusing. This research discusses humor caused by language errors. The corpus of this study is an informative discourse in Arabic and English found in notices in various Arab countries. The data obtained come from several sites. The samples analyzed in this article are memes that contain information about the name of a food at a buffet, the name of the country where a washing machine was manufactured, signs that prohibit parking, signposts, street names, shop names, chicken sales promotions, and salon names. The data are analyzed using theories of linguistics, translation, and humor. From the results of the study it is found that many bilingual informative discourses contain errors in spelling and vocabulary which, in a pragmatic sense, not only cause confusion for readers but also create humor that makes people laugh. The errors listed above are caused not only by the trusted translation tool but also by the informative discourse maker not reviewing the results of the translation.
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 ...
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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.
Аlina S. Gaynutdinova; Aliya Mutallimova
Volume 9, Issue 1 , March 2021, Pages 86-93
Abstract
In connection with the living environment, people have used all kinds of communication. One of the ancient modes of communication is whistling. Many people encoded their messages using this method. However, there are peoples and tribes that have developed this language to the level of communication. ...
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In connection with the living environment, people have used all kinds of communication. One of the ancient modes of communication is whistling. Many people encoded their messages using this method. However, there are peoples and tribes that have developed this language to the level of communication. One of them is the Turkish people. The present study aimed to investigate the language of the whistle of the Turkish people. Owing to globalization and the fear of losing this language, many organizations in Turkey have decided to take control of the language and try to prevent its disappearance. Thus, the language of the whistle has also been taken under the protection of UNESCO. This step has given the language a new lease of life, for many organizers trying to help it survive in the globalization of the world have appeared. Scientists persist in studying this language, and the residents continue to use their traditions and thereby attract new tourists.
Tatyana Anatolievna Spirchagova; Svetlana Evgenevna Nikitina; Maria Nikolaevna Spirchagova
Volume 9, Issue 1 , March 2021, Pages 94-101
Abstract
Due to its nature and content, the media is related to almost all different economic, social, cultural, and political dimensions of societies and can be claimed to be one of the influential variables in today's societies. The formation of a country's image in foreign media is a direct reflection of the ...
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Due to its nature and content, the media is related to almost all different economic, social, cultural, and political dimensions of societies and can be claimed to be one of the influential variables in today's societies. The formation of a country's image in foreign media is a direct reflection of the attitude of the world community to its foreign policy and economic course and the activities of its power structures in terms of coincidence with the political and economic interests of hegemonic states that dictate the conditions for the functioning of states within the framework of world space. The relevance of this work is due to the position of modern Russia on the world stage and the foreign policy and economic factors that have a strong influence on the formation of the image of the Russian state in foreign media. The chronological framework of the study covers the foreign policy of the Russian Federation from 2014 to 2018.
Marina Borisovna Grolman; Zubayda Albertovna Biktagirova; Olimjon Habibovich Kasimov
Volume 9, Issue 1 , March 2021, Pages 102-110
Abstract
In India, English has the status of an official language along with Hindi. According to linguists, the English spoken in India is different from the one spoken in other countries, with it being an independent version of the English language. While working on the research, the general trends of differences ...
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In India, English has the status of an official language along with Hindi. According to linguists, the English spoken in India is different from the one spoken in other countries, with it being an independent version of the English language. While working on the research, the general trends of differences between the Indian English pronunciation and the Standard English pronunciation were discovered. In our work, the phonetic peculiarities of Indian English were studied. There is a particular tendency towards assimilation with other indigenous languages of India – softening and reduction of some sounds and the abolition of reduction in others, the appearance of retroflex sounds, the replacement of interdental sounds with dental occlusive sounds, the transposition of stress, etc. Phonetic peculiarities of Indian English are explained by a different structure of the articulation apparatus of people living in India. Despite this, the educated population of India, when using Indian English, strives for a more prestigious pronunciation.
Forough Rahimi; Sara Bordbar; Fatemeh Asadi
Volume 9, Issue 1 , March 2021, Pages 111-114