＂I＇m here to discuss my final grade!＂ A study of the speech act of complaint by Malaysian ESL learners

The present study investigates the preferred strategies of the speech act of complaint by Malaysian ESL learners. The subjects were selected from Malaysian university students majoring in English at University Sains Malaysia. Data were collected through an open-ended questionnaire in the form of a discourse completion task and a semi-structured interview. The responses were analyzed based on Rinnert and Nogami＇s （2006） taxonomy of the speech act of complaint to examine the main components of complaint, the level of directness and the degree of mitigation. It is anticipated that the findings will be able to provide valuable insights into teaching and learning English in non-native settings.

A Pronunciation Lesson Designed for ESL Learners from China

Based on the reflection of the development of oral English ability and the status quo of phonetic teaching for English as a second language(ESL)learners domestically,this paper takes the dual vowel acquisition in English pronunciation as the teaching goal,carries out the design of classroom teaching content,and discusses the problems existing in the second language speech teach-ing.This paper mainly takes the dual vowel teaching as an example,and adopts the"top-down"teaching method(also known as PPP method)to design the phonetic course,including designing detailed classroom tasks and explaining the purpose of each task.Finally,the paper summarizes the pros and cons of this method,and discusses the research methods of L2 speech teaching in the future.

Discourse-Based Communication Strategies of ESL Learners

Communication strategies have commonly been used by ESL learners, especially the learners with low proficiency to fulfill their needs to communicate. The paper attempts to classify communication strategies learners used in discourse and investigate the role of these strategies in second language acquisition.

A Study of Cohesive Features in Argumentative Writing by Chinese ESL Learners

It is known that writing is one of the main basic language skills and is very important for the ESL learners.However,writing skill is normally the more complex and challenging one,especially for Chinese ESL learners.A successful written discourse is influenced by a variety of elements and the good use of cohesive device is one of them.In this paper,by using the Halliday&Hasan’s taxonomy of cohesive devices as the framework,the features of cohesive devices which Chinese ESL learners have adopted in their argumentative writings will be analyzed and identified.

A comparative study of differences in writing strategies among Chinese EFL learners, overseas Chinese ESL learners, and Northern American ENL learners

This paper concerns study of learning strategies from language learners. In the light of the types and models of strategies found in the study of ESL （English as a Second Language） learners＇ strategies abroad, the authors have summed up and induced 3 group learners＇ writing strategies stated in their reports, with which they have designed the surveying tool by using factor analysis. And then, the authors use descriptive and 1-way ANOVA （Analysis of Variance） analysis of SPSS16.0 （Statistical Program for Social Science） to examine the differences of strategies used by EFL （English as a Foreign Language） learners in China, overseas Chinese ESL learners in Northern Americas and Northern American ENL （English as a Native Language） learners. It is concluded by he results of the study that ENL and ESL learners are good at using various writing strategies. And there are significant differences in using writing strategies between ENL/ESL learners and EFL learners. The authors also conclude that the differences between ESL group and ENL group are not significant, much less than the ones between ESL group and EFL group. The authors make comparative analysis on the causes to the findings on the aspects of class teaching approaches and language learning surroundings, which bring out implications for teaching of English writing in China.

The Efficacy of Multimodal Input on ESL Learners’Listening and Speaking Abilities

Language input in foreign language classrooms is no longer restricted to one particular mode of transmission,but it can be achieved by use of different modes.Multimodality or the combination of various modes has been applied to stimulate foreign language learning.The present paper aims to verify the effectiveness of multimodal input in language learning.It demonstrates the experiment conducted in two freshman classes in a university.The two classes used the same textbook supported by audio CD containing the recorded material.The experiment class,however,additionally has some visuals in listening classes to strengthen the linguistic input.The research lasted for one semester and findings from the study show that multimodal input has significantly improved the listening and speaking abilities of the students and also has positive impacts on the learners’attitudes towards language study.

Cross-Linguistic Influence in Hong Kong ESL Learners' Acquisition of Conjunctions

Language transfer is one of the most significant aspects of cross-linguistic influ-ence.It can be divided into two types:positive and negative,the beneficial and det-rimental use of one language's acquired characteristics in another.This study aims to investigate the L1(Chinese)influence on Hong Kong ESL learners'acquisition of conjunctions and whether the use of L1 has an impact on this influence.An online questionnaire combining questions about students'English learning experience and a grammatical judgement task was sent to a government-funded secondary school in Hong Kong and completed by 79 students.Evidence of both positive and negative transfer from Chinese to English was found by testing six conjunctions or conjunc-tion pairs:although...but,because...so,not only...but also,either...or,neither...nor,.and despite.The results suggest that Chinese is likely to have an impact on students'acquisition of conjunctions,and the use of Chinese in English classes can worsen negative transfer and boost positive transfer.The degree of transfer might increase when more Chinese is used in class.To alleviate the impact of Chinese transfer and to provide more effective L2 teaching,monitoring the use of L1 and regular evalua-tion might be useful.Teachers can also adjust the amount of Chinese used according to the students'English proficiency level.

A Comparison of the L2 Motivational Self System Between Chinese EFL and ESL Learners

This present study attempts to conduct a comparison of the tripartite model of L2 Motivational Self System in two different learning contexts, Chinese EFL and ESL learning settings. It was designed using a mixed methods approach, with a primary questionnaire instrument being supported by secondary interview data. The quantitative data was submitted to Amos version 18.0 to evaluate proposed models. It was found that L2 learning experience was the most important predictive dimension of intended learning effort for both samples. However, the roles of the other two components, the ideal L2 self and the ought-to L2 self, appeared to be unstable, which concludes that D6rnyei＇s tripartite model obtained partial support in both EFL and ESL contexts. The analysis of qualitative data offers strong evidence for the claim that the future self-guides do not necessarily result in intended effort unless some essential conditions are met.

A Contrastive Analysis of Conditionals in English and Moroccan Arabic: Potential problems when learning English conditionals by Moroccan EFL learners

Learning to handle hypothetical situations in a new language is always difficult(Catford,et al.,1974).This rule holds true for Moroccan Arabic(henceforth MA)speakers learning English because grammatical devices in the two languages differ in almost all equivalent situations.For instance,while English verb forms are used to indicate tense in conditional sentences,MA uses them to indicate aspect.Adopting the typology of conditional constructions suggested by Dancygier(1999)and Dancygier&Sweetser(2005),this study provides a contrastive analysis of conditionals in English and MA to predict the possible errors EFL/ESL learners are likely to make while learning English.The analysis shows that the main discrepancy between English conditionals and MA conditionals lies in the verb form used by the two systems.Accordingly,if EFL/ESL learners are influenced by verb form in their L1,they are likely to face some challenges while learning English conditionals.That is,they are likely to use the past tense in the protases of English predictive conditionals and generic conditionals since the perfective form of the verb is used in the protases of these two types in MA.Concerning the protases of English non-predictive conditionals,Moroccan EFL/ESL learners are likely to use either the past tense or the present tense since both the perfective and the imperfective forms of the verb are possible in the protases of MA non-predictive conditionals.However,due to the fact that the perfective form is the prototypical form in the protases of conditionals in MA,EFL/ESL learners are likely to use the past tense more often than the present tense.The analysis also shows that EFL/ESL learners tend to use the present tense in the apodoses of English conditionals since the prevalent form in the apodoses of MA conditionals is the imperfective.

Erasable/Inerasable L1 Transfer in Interlanguage Phonology:An Optimality Theory Analysis of/aʊn/and Sentence Stress in Chinese Learners of English

The areas affected by the L1 transfer to L2,such as phonotactics and stress,appear to have different degrees of erasability through training and practice.This paper attempts a theoretical analysis to account for empirical observations of L1 transfer in diphthong-coda coalescence and in sentence stress for Chinese learners of English in an American accent training course.Using the framework and tableau method of Optimality Theory(Prince and Smolensky 1993),the phonological paradigm that views languages’differences as symptomatic of differences in rankings of a set of universal violable constraints,this paper posits the underlying ranking at work in(a)the segmental case where[aŋ]is the observed output for/aʊn/;(b)the suprasegmental case where no stress contrast is observed for a pair of phonologically similar sentences with contrastive stress.It is argued that,in the segmental case,the coalescence of the second vowel of a diphthong with an alveolar nasal coda results from the high ranking of markedness constraints,including Complex Syllable;and in the suprasegmental case,sentence stress is greatly affected by changes in the ranking of the constraint culminativity.Aside from shedding light on the understudied issue of diphthong-coda coalescence,this research also contributes to the discussion of the comparative erasability of L1 transfer for the two areas and demonstrates how a deduction-based theoretical method may actually have practical implications for guiding the design of L2 teaching methodology of English pronunciation as well as for promoting native English speakers’clearer understanding of Chinese learners of English on the global stage.