English

A Cure For Formal Language Errors In Papua New Guinea (& Elsewhere) - This Is Your Problem, Friend, Not Mine

by Thorold (Thor) May

The material in this article is as relevant now as it ever was. Some things don't change.  It was first published in Guidelines - A Periodical For Classroom Language Teachers, Vol.8, No.1,  June 1986, SEAMEO Regional Language Centre, Singapore. This is an extended version of a paper given  at the TESLA Conference in Goroka, PNG, in July 1985.

This paper proposes that teacher correction often has very little transfer effect on a student's later language... more This paper proposes that teacher correction often has very little transfer effect on a student's later language behaviour. It examines reasons for this, and the motivational paradigm within which students operate. The paper argues that student self-correction is more likely to have a measurable long term effect. A mechanism to motivate directed self-correction is therefore proposed. This mechanism involves subtracting marks from assessed essays, and indicating line locations where there is a problem, without however explaining the problem. The procedure gives students the option to recover the lost marks through re-editing and re-submission within a time frame. The system has been tested empirically and found to yield promising results. The method of error evaluation also results in a lower burden of pointless correction for teachers.

Roger Waters: Complete Lyrics List (1967-2007)

by Andreas Andreou

Chronological list of all Roger Waters lyrics. Pink Floyd, solo and contributions/collaborations. Chronological list of all Roger Waters lyrics. Pink Floyd, solo and contributions/collaborations.

When Grammar Doesn't Help

by Thorold (Thor) May

This paper questions the role of grammar in language teaching and learning. Firstly it identifies the constituencies... more This paper questions the role of grammar in language teaching and learning. Firstly it identifies the constituencies in academic language teaching, and their often conflicting notions of language programs. Several kinds of learners are discussed, with particular attention to the large group who are uncomfortable with any technical analysis, including formal grammars. Some conventional ideas about what a natural language grammar actually is are challenged. The consequences of a connectionist view of language processing are briefly explored. The power of collocation sets is identified as a key to language acquisition. Language is set in the broader cognitive context of memory processes and patterns of generalization. Pedagogical grammars are viewed as forced external generalizations with little organic presence in memory, but some suggestions are made about how to make use of them. Actual student language memory, as well as teacher self-insight into L1 are both contrasted with the idealized patterns assumed by academic language programs. Finally, the stubborn problem of average teacher behaviour is set against the real ways in which people appear to use grammars and learn languages.

Stress, Rhythm and Intonation for Teachers and Students

by Thorold (Thor) May

also available on the blog, Thor's Language & Teaching Notes at http://thorslanguageandteachingnotes.byeways.net/?p=38

This document is directed at teachers and students of English as a second or foreign language.

These are notes on English stress, rhythm and intonation.

Part A is for students and Part B is for... more These are notes on English stress, rhythm and intonation.

Part A is for students and Part B is for teachers.

The treatment here is “technical”, as by a linguist, but in very plain language. Even with poor formal English, L2 speakers who “sound right” will gain social acceptance, and this in turn will greatly accelerate their learning.

Firstly the concept of “the music of a language” is introduced. It is noted that languages are on a scale of “syllable timed” to “stress timed” (though this is not a simple matter). English is a stress-timed language. Both word stress and sentence stress are essential in English. However, proper word liaison and elision marks native speakers from non-native speakers. Some advice is given on how to practice privately and in a classroom. The importance of teacher talk as a model is noted.

Fractional Language Learning

by Thorold (Thor) May

first published in Asian EFL Journal Quarterly Vol. 9, No.4, December 2007

Abstract : Many users of a second language, especially English, have little productive mastery of the language.... more Abstract : Many users of a second language, especially English, have little productive mastery of the language. Rather, some requirement in their life forces them to use limited subroutines (maybe quite small and formulaic) which are effectively encapsulated as special elements within L1.

This paper proposes that fractional language learning is a valid objective for large numbers of users, and briefly examines some of the contexts in which it has a pragmatic application. It notes that much fractional language learning occurs outside of formal educational environments, and then goes on to consider how both the classroom teaching and evaluation can be adapted to give proper recognition to student achievements on a fractional scale. The paper suggests that this kind of graduated recognition is in fact likely to enhance outcomes across the full spectrum of language teaching, and can be consciously incorporated into curriculum design.

A paradigm shift to teacher acceptance (and community acceptance) of fractional language learning has strong implications for assessment practices. Most current measures of language assessment offer little or no recognition to the achievements of learners in the pre-production phase of acquisition. Attempts at language use in this phase are routinely punished by existing assessment tools. Partly as a result of this discouragement, large numbers of students never progress to independent language production. Fractional language objectives are one remedy for this deep flaw in language teaching outcomes.

GSU Spring 2012 Teaching Evaluations

by Robin Kemp

Purposive Constructions in English

by Thorold (Thor) May

The detailed analysis of Purposive Constructions in this long paper will help researchers to clarify these phenomena in English, even though the linguistic model employed, Chomsky's Government and Binding, has (in my view) been superseded.

Abstract: This thesis* explores some of the syntactic & semantic properties of Purposive Constructions in English.... more Abstract: This thesis* explores some of the syntactic & semantic properties of Purposive Constructions in English. The term "purposive" is recognized as a semantic concept which finds regular expression in a small range of syntactic configurations. Purpose Clauses (PCs) and Rationale Clauses (Rat.Cs) are examined in some detail. Briefer reference is made to several other configurations, notably Because Clauses, So-That Clauses and Infinitival Relatives. In general Purposive Constructions comprise rather fuzzy semantic categories. Nevertheless, the main syntactic features are fairly clear. Interpretation of the constructions requires a systematic account of the control of empty slots (ellipted NPs) by thematic elements in the matrix clause. General conditions of Government and Binding appear adequate to predict the distribution of gaps in most Purposive Clauses. However, the relationship between propositions predicated of a common argument in these constructions is found to sometimes require matching conditions too subtle for syntax alone to predict. A concept of Thematic Coextensiveness is introduced to account for such matching.

Language Tangle - Predicting & Facilitating Outcomes in Language Education - PhD Thesis - ThorMay

by Thorold (Thor) May

Doctoral dissertation in knowledge worker productivity (specifically language teaching productivity) awarded by the University of Newcastle, NSW in 2010. The abstract and links to supporting documents including the thesis itself may also be viewed at http://thormay.net/lxesl/lxtangle_abstract.html. The full dissertation title is "Language Tangle - Predicting and Facilitating Outcomes in Language Education".

This thesis argues that foreign and second language teaching productivity can only reach its proper potential when it... more This thesis argues that foreign and second language teaching productivity can only reach its proper potential when it is accorded priority, second only to language learner productivity, amongst the many competing productivities which are always asserted by stakeholders in educational institutions.

A theoretical foundation for the research is established by examining the historical concept of productivity, and its more recent manifestation as knowledge worker productivity, especially as applied to teachers.

The empirical basis of the thesis is sourced from a chronological series of twenty biographical case studies in language teaching venues in Australia, New Zealand, Oceania and East Asia. The biographical case study methodology, although rare in applied linguistics, is justified by reference to its wide and growing application in other fields of qualitative research. The case studies are analysed for common patterns of productivity, as well as teaching productivity inhibition or failure.

It was affirmed across all of the case studies without exception that external parties could not control or even reliably predict what individual students might learn, and how well, from instances of instructed language teaching. This was regardless of the power of institutional players, external resources, curriculums or the teacher. Student belief in the immediate value of what was to be learned in a given lesson, and personal confidence in an ability to learn it were the most critical factors.

Teaching productivity was found to turn, ultimately, on the teacher's ability to influence the probability of student learning. The teacher could best influence learning probability by enhancing student motivation. The most effective environments for teaching productivity were seen to be those where the teacher was professionally equipped and politically enabled to exercise judgements which maximized opportunities for student language learning productivity. A negotiated pact concerning both curriculum and method often proved effective, especially with mature students, and at times required some deception of institutional authorities.

Empirically, the encouragement of reciprocal learning relationships between teacher and students was found to be powerfully enabling for language teaching productivity in the case studies.

In many venues a small but effective minority of 'intimate learners' were also able to leverage their language learning productivity by forging more personal relationships with the teacher.

The wider cultural paradigm within each of the countries represented in the case studies sanctioned different paths and limitations for both language learners and teachers, and hence was seen to influence teaching productivity in critical ways. It was found that under certain conditions, notably (but not exclusively) those prevailing in many East Asian educational institutions, that certification of foreign language skills had a higher cultural, employment and monetary value than the actual ability to exercise foreign language skills.

A negative influence on teacher productivity in many of the case studies was an ignorance about language learning and teaching amongst institutional players. The disregard of language teacher professionalism was fed by a belief that being able to speak a language was all that was necessary to teach it, and reinforced by misinterpreting the meaning of test results. Related to this, an imbalance of power relationships between teachers or students with other institutional interests was consistently found to interfere with teaching and learning productivities. Overall, the model of productivity understood in institutions instanced by the case studies tended to reflect a 19th Century economic paradigm of capital, raw materials (students) and labour (dispensable classroom workers) rather than any more sophisticated grasp of knowledge worker productivity.

It was demonstrated in the context of the case studies that productivity, and in particular knowledge worker productivity, is a complex concept whose facets require detailed analysis to arrive at a proper understanding of the role that foreign and second language teachers play in educational institutions.

Plain Speaking : Judging an Oratory Contest

by Thorold (Thor) May

Although first published in 1989, this paper retains relevance, especially for the "speech competitions" which are run (usually poorly) in countries where English is taught as a second language.

Abstract: This paper attempts to explain the criteria which judges are likely to apply in the Fiji National Oratory... more Abstract: This paper attempts to explain the criteria which judges are likely to apply in the Fiji National Oratory Contest. It comments upon some features of the 1989 contest, and suggests factors which may have underlain the performance of contestants. However, the analysis is not merely local to an historical time or place. Oratory contests are a special case of the “speaking competitions” which are widespread in countries where English is learned as a second language. The cultural beliefs and traditions which come into play in public speaking are especially important in cross-cultural situations. The solutions discussed here have universal relevance for speakers and judges.

Evaluating Linguistic Difficulty

by Thorold (Thor) May

This material was originally published in TESOL News Vol. 8 No. 3 1987 . In spite of the date, its content remains very current for language teachers and others.

While ESL teachers cannot eliminate linguistic difficulties, with an awareness of the factors involved it is possible... more While ESL teachers cannot eliminate linguistic difficulties, with an awareness of the factors involved it is possible to minimise the confusion of their students. This article systematically analyses some important problem areas in language learning. It itemizes a range of syntactic and semantic phenomena, considering in each cas how the rule or pattern might pose a difficulty for some learners. This paper has been published for a number of years now, and the writer has become aware that many teachers themselves have found it a useful aid in preparing and presenting course material.

Table of Contents: INTRODUCTION // orders of complexity // LEXICAL DIFFICULTY // Syllabic length:// Clusters // Irregular spelling // Irregular stress // Affixes // Multiple denotation // Range of connotation // Specialized application // Frequency of lexical items // Selectional restrictions // Subcategorical restrictions // MEASURES OF STRUCTURAL COMPLEXITY IN SENTENCES // Sentence length // Qualifying words // Adverbial and prepositional phrases // Conjunctive sentences // Equi-deletion // Deletion by convention // Permutation // Transposition // Embedding // Sentential complements // Topicalization // Presupposition // Tense // Aspect // Agreement (concord) rules // Anaphoric, cataphoric and exophoric references // DISCOURSE COHESION // CUEING // IDIOM // CONCEPTUAL DIFFICULTY // More accessible reference // Less accessible reference // Types of Inference // REFERENCES

Fluency Vs Accuracy OR Fluency AND Accuracy for Language Learners?

by Thorold (Thor) May

This document is also available on the blog, Thor's Language & Teaching Notes at http://thorslanguageandteachingnotes.byeways.net/
// This is the outline of a seminar on teaching methodology given as a teacher inservice for Chinese English teachers in Zhengzhou, Henan, China, in November 2009.

Abstract : This seminar paper indicates a fundamental difference in objectives between language learning for... more Abstract : This seminar paper indicates a fundamental difference in objectives between language learning for certification and learning for live use. Whereas accuracy is an absolute goal within schooling contexts, its value on the street is highly variable. This difference is reflected in teaching perspectives.

Enhancing learning and retention through ‘cognitive linkages’: a case study of Malaysian children.

by Airil Haimi Mohd Adnan

(2012) - refereed proceedings.
Co-authored with Nurulhayati Ilias (lead).

Second International Congress of Interdisciplinary Research and Development (INRIT) / May 31st to June 1st, 2012, Bangkok, THAILAND.

College Composition Topics: Give Regional Topics a Chance

by J.D. Meyer

HubPages

This article vindicates the choice of regional model essays through the sustainability research of Derek Owens.... more This article vindicates the choice of regional model essays through the sustainability research of Derek Owens. Sustainability is more than ecologically sound building practices; it's allowing kids to write about meaningful aspects of their lives and neighborhoods, whether liberal or conservative.

PRIVATIVE WORDS AS A MEANS OF LACK AND DENIAL

by Venera Suleymanova

          Some verbs and figuratively- ideomatic phrases from diffirent levels of language... more           Some verbs and figuratively- ideomatic phrases from diffirent levels of language like syntactic, lexical, morphological, semantic ones take an active part in expressing indirect negation. The relation between privation and denial with lexical-semantic, grammatical systems of language gives a useful material for structural and functional typology of English language.
        We explored privation as a semantic universality which is specific to all languages and gave different expressions showing privation,lack and denial in English, German and Azerbaijan languages. The great number of negative and privative prefixes has drawn our attention while investigating them through  structural,  communicative, pragmatic, functional-semantic  and stylistic foctors.
In English some morphological privative markers like un-, in-, dis-, de-, non-,etc. make a series of  words from different parts of speech, ecpecially there are a plenty of verbs made by adding morphological units.

Superdiverse repertoires and the individual

by Jan Blommaert

Lookalike language (column 'English Today', 2012)

by Jan Blommaert

Supervernaculars and their dialects (2011)

by Jan Blommaert

A Genre Approach to Goals and their Implementation Applied to a TV programme for the Virginia Farming Community

by Barry Pennock-Speck

In this article we have analysed a television programme, Down Home Virginia, addressed to farmers and the general... more In this article we have analysed a television programme, Down Home Virginia, addressed to farmers and the general public in the state of Virginia, USA from a genre studies perspective. Down Home Virginia constitutes a mixed or hybrid genre (Bhatia 2002) which combines news, entertainment and the promotion of agricultural products. We have centred on the diverse goals pursued in the programme and how they are implemented. We have divided the concept of goal into several separate but related notions: overt/covert and strategic/tactical. We have focused our analysis on the implementation of the goals of the programme on the use of music and images, voices and accents, stereotypical images, and popularized specialist discourse (Calsamiglia & van Dijk 2004; Myers 2003, inter alia). Through our analysis we hope to have contributed to genre studies, especially to discovering some of the differences between specialized and popularized genres.

Constructing female identities through feminine hygiene TV commercials

by Barry Pennock-Speck

Journal of Pragmatics Article in Press, Corrected Proof Co-authored with María Milagros del Saz Rubio

In this paper we report the results of a qualitative multimodal analysis of a corpus of Spanish and British TV ads... more In this paper we report the results of a qualitative multimodal analysis of a corpus of Spanish and British TV ads featuring female hygiene products such as tampons, liners and sanitary towels/pads. We contend that advertisers of menstruation-related products employ a wide range of strategies to convey both overt information about the products advertised, as well as to – and more importantly – indirectly transmit stereotypical beliefs of women which inevitably helps reproduce and sometimes perpetuate a gender-biased type of discourse (Holmes and Marra, 2005). Crook's (2004) distinction between the product-claim and the reward dimension in ads has been taken as the starting point for our analysis. Within the product-claim dimension we have focused on what information is transmitted through the application of some of Brown and Levinson's (1987) generic positive and off-record politeness strategies. On the other hand, within the reward dimension attention is shifted to how information surfaces the language in an indirect fashion through attention to different format types, visual imagery, voices and music. Results indicate that ads either tend to focus on the product, its advantages and practicality as the solution to women's worries during menstruation, something that brings the negative aspects of this biological activity to prominence; whereas a second group of ads is constructed as a celebration of womanhood and the creation of a certain female identity whereby women are endowed with their ability to break with old myths and taboos.

Voice-overs in Standardized English and Spanish Television Commercials

by Barry Pennock-Speck

Our aim in this article is to explore the paralinguistic characteristics of voices in voice-overs in a corpus of... more Our aim in this article is to explore the paralinguistic characteristics of voices in voice-overs in a corpus of English and Spanish TV ads. Our underlying premise is that voice-overs, just like linguistic messages, images and music, convey information which is picked up by viewers whether at a conscious or subconscious level. In our analysis we attempt to find what patterns, if any, can be discovered in our corpus of voice-overs with regard to a number of parameters such as gender, accent, age and voice-quality. To this end we gathered data on our corpus of voice-overs through questionnaires completed by native English and Spanish informants respectively. The analysis we have carried out goes beyond previous research into voice-overs which either centres on one of the above parameters in isolation or which makes use of the intuitions of researchers using limited samples of TV ads. Our findings reveal that prestigious accents predominate in both the English and Spanish voice-overs. We also discovered that female voices are perceived to be younger than those of their male counterparts and voice characteristics such as pitch, breathiness, assertiveness and others also seem to correlate with the gender of the speaker.