The study attempts to explore native and non-native English speakers’attitudes towards accents and pronunciation-related issues.The sample group surveyed is composed of non-native English speakers,specifically,Italia...The study attempts to explore native and non-native English speakers’attitudes towards accents and pronunciation-related issues.The sample group surveyed is composed of non-native English speakers,specifically,Italian students studying at the University of Calabria(Italy)and native English speakers from Alberta University(Canada)and Florida Atlantic University(USA).An online link to a questionnaire was sent via email to all participants and was used as a research instrument to collect quantitative data.The research questions will investigate learners’attitudes in relation to the following aspects:accent and identity,beliefs about native/non-native accents,impact of pronunciation on communication,and learners’expectations towards pronunciation teaching.Firstly,mean scores in relation to the aforementioned aspects will be examined.Secondly,differences between native/non-native speakers’responses will be statistically analysed.Thirdly,non-native learners’responses will be correlated with their proficiency level in English to identify the extent to which language competence may affect learners’attitudes.The study aims to gain useful insights that may hopefully raise students and teachers’awareness of what models we expect learners to imitate and attain in the English language classroom,how appropriate and relevant these may be especially in the globalized English world where non-native speakers will increasingly use English in a diversity of forms to achieve their communicative goals.The preliminary results will be presented and pedagogical considerations suggested.展开更多
This paper attempts to argue that in the age of‘World Englishes', it is not necessary to differentiate native speaker teachers from non-native speaker teachers. It is concluded that non-native speaker teachers ca...This paper attempts to argue that in the age of‘World Englishes', it is not necessary to differentiate native speaker teachers from non-native speaker teachers. It is concluded that non-native speaker teachers can be as effective as their native colleagues and they have equal chance to achieve professional success, even though native speaker teachers have great advantages over non-native teachers in some aspects. It is time for employers, as well as ELT professionals to shut their eyes to the glaring differences between native speaker teachers and non-native speaker teachers and optimize such unique resources.展开更多
It is believed by both educationalists and policy makers that qualified native speaker English teachers with sound educational background and training play an important role in EFL teaching in China.But research on th...It is believed by both educationalists and policy makers that qualified native speaker English teachers with sound educational background and training play an important role in EFL teaching in China.But research on the attitudes of Chinese university students towards native English teachers has rarely been conducted.This paper aims to investigate the students'perceptions of their own experience in the native speaker teachers'classrooms and identify the students'attitudes towards native speaker English teachers.The conclusion suggests that native speaker teachers use the communicative approach in teaching,and they are also aware of the cultural difference in class and willing to adapt either culturally or pedagogically.The Chinese students have positive attitudes towards native English teachers and would like to work with them for some courses.Meanwhile,they also agree that Chinese teachers of English play an important role,and they need teachers from both cultures.展开更多
As much more non-native-speaker English teachers teach alongside native-speaker English teachers, either in China or any other non-English-speaking country, research on the differences between native-speaker English t...As much more non-native-speaker English teachers teach alongside native-speaker English teachers, either in China or any other non-English-speaking country, research on the differences between native-speaker English teacher and non-native-speaker English teacher is necessary. This paper offers an overview of such difference between the two groups of English teachers in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, teaching styles and approaches. The conclusion suggests that cooperation and communication be emphsised and that the two groups of teachers communicate more and exchange their ideas on how to teach the same group of students more effectively.展开更多
With the development of globalization,the use of English is no longer restricted to native speaker(NS)but also widely spread to non-native speaker(NNS).The importance of English learning is also acknowledged by Expand...With the development of globalization,the use of English is no longer restricted to native speaker(NS)but also widely spread to non-native speaker(NNS).The importance of English learning is also acknowledged by Expanding and Outer Circle,and English as a foreign language(EFL)education plays a significant role in China’s education.Admitting the fact that non-native English teachers(NNESTs)take up a large proportion of English teachers,English language teaching(ELT)is still greatly influenced by native-speakerism.This research aims to investigate language ideologies reflected in Chinese foreign language education policy(FLEP)at higher education level,and Chinese English learners’attitudes towards native-speakerism and English teachers.A mixed method of policy analysis and survey is adopted in this research.After conducting analysing two FLEPs in higher education level,it is found that linguistic instrumentalism is the prominent language ideology,although native-speakerism and standard English ideology is implicitly demonstrated.Questionnaire is used to investigate 58 Chinese English learners’attitudes,revealing that most participants do not demonstrate bias towards either NESTs or NNESTs.Instead,the strengths and weaknesses of both NEST and NNEST are identified,though participants adhere to native-speakerism in terms of English variety.Overall,English learner’s attitudes are consistent with language ideologies in FLEPs.This research may provide implications for future studies on addressing native-speakerism in Chinese FLEPs,as well as relationship of students’attitudes and language policies.展开更多
Integrating letters and sounds are essential for successful reading in alphabetic languages. It remains unclear if native speakers of non-alphabetic languages integrate letters and sounds in reading an alphabetic lan-...Integrating letters and sounds are essential for successful reading in alphabetic languages. It remains unclear if native speakers of non-alphabetic languages integrate letters and sounds in reading an alphabetic lan- guage in the same way as native alphabetic readers do. Chinese is a morpho-syllabic system (each character cor- responds to one syllable) and contrasts sharply with alphabetic languages such as English. Several fMRI studies have shown that native Chinese speakers apply their native language system to read English words. By using the cross- modal mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm, we directly investigated letter-sound integration for reading in English among native Chinese speakers. To investigate the effect of native language background on letter-sound integration in second language reading, a group of native Korean English learners served as a comparison group. We compared MMN responses between an auditory only condition (only vowels presented) and two audiovisual conditions (AV0, vowel presented synchronously with the corresponding letter; AV200, the letter presented 200 ms before the corresponding vowel) for both native Chinese and native Korean speakers. Native Chinese speakers demonstrated significantly attenuated MMN amplitudes in audiovisual conditions compared with the auditory only condition, regardless of their phonological decoding speed. In con- trast, native Korean speakers showed amplified amplitude MMN in AV200 compared with that in the auditory only condition. The results suggest that native language may shape the brain responses of second language learners to reading a second language in the early stages. Native non- alphabetic language speakers may be unable to use visual information to facilitate their phonological processing in the early stage while naT:lye alphabetic language speakers are capable of integrating letter sounds automatically.展开更多
This paper investigates the impacts of intercultural experience through English as a lingua franca (ELF) on language attitudes, with the focus on Chinese speakers' narratives of ELF experience in relation to their ...This paper investigates the impacts of intercultural experience through English as a lingua franca (ELF) on language attitudes, with the focus on Chinese speakers' narratives of ELF experience in relation to their views of Englishes. The data retrieved through 769 questionnaires and 35 interviews with Chinese users of English revealed the impacts in four aspects. First, the lack of ELF experience helps to maintain the assumption that conformity to native English is necessary for interactants to understand each other. Second, ELF experience triggers the question about the exclusive connection between nativeness and intelligibility. Third, it raises challenges to the exclusive relevance of native English for successful intercultural communication. Fourth, it helps to develop an awareness of intercultural communication strategies as important for communicative effectiveness in the context of the diversity of English. Attitudes revealed in the four aspects all point to a concern with the issue what is intelligible English. This paper thus discusses intelligibility in relation to (non-) nativeness and the role of intercultural experience in making sense of the issue of intelligibility, which leads to the exploration of pedagogical implications of this study.展开更多
English communicative competence is growingly important,however,many college graduates can't communicate smoothly in English.Therefore,the English teacher is supposed to know clearly what abilities English communi...English communicative competence is growingly important,however,many college graduates can't communicate smoothly in English.Therefore,the English teacher is supposed to know clearly what abilities English communicative competence should contain,namely:what ability a person needs to be able to use English to communicate effectively.To that end,a large number of relevant literatures is carefully read;the evolution of English communicative competence model is reviewed;and then an English communicative competence model,inclusive,open-ended and dynamic,is put forward to guide English teaching and learning.展开更多
The study ventures to probe into the incidence of hedges in the conclusion part of English theses on the basis of carefully chosen samples,two self-compiled English theses corpora, namely,the Corpus of Native English ...The study ventures to probe into the incidence of hedges in the conclusion part of English theses on the basis of carefully chosen samples,two self-compiled English theses corpora, namely,the Corpus of Native English Speakers(CNES) and the Corpus of Chinese English Learners (CCEL).The findings clearly indicate that hedges used in CCEL shares some similarities with those in CNES,but the differences between them outweigh the similarities.This paper aims to raise Chinese EFL students' awareness of hedges and improve their skills in thesis writing.展开更多
文摘The study attempts to explore native and non-native English speakers’attitudes towards accents and pronunciation-related issues.The sample group surveyed is composed of non-native English speakers,specifically,Italian students studying at the University of Calabria(Italy)and native English speakers from Alberta University(Canada)and Florida Atlantic University(USA).An online link to a questionnaire was sent via email to all participants and was used as a research instrument to collect quantitative data.The research questions will investigate learners’attitudes in relation to the following aspects:accent and identity,beliefs about native/non-native accents,impact of pronunciation on communication,and learners’expectations towards pronunciation teaching.Firstly,mean scores in relation to the aforementioned aspects will be examined.Secondly,differences between native/non-native speakers’responses will be statistically analysed.Thirdly,non-native learners’responses will be correlated with their proficiency level in English to identify the extent to which language competence may affect learners’attitudes.The study aims to gain useful insights that may hopefully raise students and teachers’awareness of what models we expect learners to imitate and attain in the English language classroom,how appropriate and relevant these may be especially in the globalized English world where non-native speakers will increasingly use English in a diversity of forms to achieve their communicative goals.The preliminary results will be presented and pedagogical considerations suggested.
文摘This paper attempts to argue that in the age of‘World Englishes', it is not necessary to differentiate native speaker teachers from non-native speaker teachers. It is concluded that non-native speaker teachers can be as effective as their native colleagues and they have equal chance to achieve professional success, even though native speaker teachers have great advantages over non-native teachers in some aspects. It is time for employers, as well as ELT professionals to shut their eyes to the glaring differences between native speaker teachers and non-native speaker teachers and optimize such unique resources.
文摘It is believed by both educationalists and policy makers that qualified native speaker English teachers with sound educational background and training play an important role in EFL teaching in China.But research on the attitudes of Chinese university students towards native English teachers has rarely been conducted.This paper aims to investigate the students'perceptions of their own experience in the native speaker teachers'classrooms and identify the students'attitudes towards native speaker English teachers.The conclusion suggests that native speaker teachers use the communicative approach in teaching,and they are also aware of the cultural difference in class and willing to adapt either culturally or pedagogically.The Chinese students have positive attitudes towards native English teachers and would like to work with them for some courses.Meanwhile,they also agree that Chinese teachers of English play an important role,and they need teachers from both cultures.
文摘As much more non-native-speaker English teachers teach alongside native-speaker English teachers, either in China or any other non-English-speaking country, research on the differences between native-speaker English teacher and non-native-speaker English teacher is necessary. This paper offers an overview of such difference between the two groups of English teachers in terms of their strengths and weaknesses, teaching styles and approaches. The conclusion suggests that cooperation and communication be emphsised and that the two groups of teachers communicate more and exchange their ideas on how to teach the same group of students more effectively.
文摘With the development of globalization,the use of English is no longer restricted to native speaker(NS)but also widely spread to non-native speaker(NNS).The importance of English learning is also acknowledged by Expanding and Outer Circle,and English as a foreign language(EFL)education plays a significant role in China’s education.Admitting the fact that non-native English teachers(NNESTs)take up a large proportion of English teachers,English language teaching(ELT)is still greatly influenced by native-speakerism.This research aims to investigate language ideologies reflected in Chinese foreign language education policy(FLEP)at higher education level,and Chinese English learners’attitudes towards native-speakerism and English teachers.A mixed method of policy analysis and survey is adopted in this research.After conducting analysing two FLEPs in higher education level,it is found that linguistic instrumentalism is the prominent language ideology,although native-speakerism and standard English ideology is implicitly demonstrated.Questionnaire is used to investigate 58 Chinese English learners’attitudes,revealing that most participants do not demonstrate bias towards either NESTs or NNESTs.Instead,the strengths and weaknesses of both NEST and NNEST are identified,though participants adhere to native-speakerism in terms of English variety.Overall,English learner’s attitudes are consistent with language ideologies in FLEPs.This research may provide implications for future studies on addressing native-speakerism in Chinese FLEPs,as well as relationship of students’attitudes and language policies.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31221003)National Basic Research Program of China(2014CB846103)
文摘Integrating letters and sounds are essential for successful reading in alphabetic languages. It remains unclear if native speakers of non-alphabetic languages integrate letters and sounds in reading an alphabetic lan- guage in the same way as native alphabetic readers do. Chinese is a morpho-syllabic system (each character cor- responds to one syllable) and contrasts sharply with alphabetic languages such as English. Several fMRI studies have shown that native Chinese speakers apply their native language system to read English words. By using the cross- modal mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm, we directly investigated letter-sound integration for reading in English among native Chinese speakers. To investigate the effect of native language background on letter-sound integration in second language reading, a group of native Korean English learners served as a comparison group. We compared MMN responses between an auditory only condition (only vowels presented) and two audiovisual conditions (AV0, vowel presented synchronously with the corresponding letter; AV200, the letter presented 200 ms before the corresponding vowel) for both native Chinese and native Korean speakers. Native Chinese speakers demonstrated significantly attenuated MMN amplitudes in audiovisual conditions compared with the auditory only condition, regardless of their phonological decoding speed. In con- trast, native Korean speakers showed amplified amplitude MMN in AV200 compared with that in the auditory only condition. The results suggest that native language may shape the brain responses of second language learners to reading a second language in the early stages. Native non- alphabetic language speakers may be unable to use visual information to facilitate their phonological processing in the early stage while naT:lye alphabetic language speakers are capable of integrating letter sounds automatically.
文摘This paper investigates the impacts of intercultural experience through English as a lingua franca (ELF) on language attitudes, with the focus on Chinese speakers' narratives of ELF experience in relation to their views of Englishes. The data retrieved through 769 questionnaires and 35 interviews with Chinese users of English revealed the impacts in four aspects. First, the lack of ELF experience helps to maintain the assumption that conformity to native English is necessary for interactants to understand each other. Second, ELF experience triggers the question about the exclusive connection between nativeness and intelligibility. Third, it raises challenges to the exclusive relevance of native English for successful intercultural communication. Fourth, it helps to develop an awareness of intercultural communication strategies as important for communicative effectiveness in the context of the diversity of English. Attitudes revealed in the four aspects all point to a concern with the issue what is intelligible English. This paper thus discusses intelligibility in relation to (non-) nativeness and the role of intercultural experience in making sense of the issue of intelligibility, which leads to the exploration of pedagogical implications of this study.
文摘English communicative competence is growingly important,however,many college graduates can't communicate smoothly in English.Therefore,the English teacher is supposed to know clearly what abilities English communicative competence should contain,namely:what ability a person needs to be able to use English to communicate effectively.To that end,a large number of relevant literatures is carefully read;the evolution of English communicative competence model is reviewed;and then an English communicative competence model,inclusive,open-ended and dynamic,is put forward to guide English teaching and learning.
文摘The study ventures to probe into the incidence of hedges in the conclusion part of English theses on the basis of carefully chosen samples,two self-compiled English theses corpora, namely,the Corpus of Native English Speakers(CNES) and the Corpus of Chinese English Learners (CCEL).The findings clearly indicate that hedges used in CCEL shares some similarities with those in CNES,but the differences between them outweigh the similarities.This paper aims to raise Chinese EFL students' awareness of hedges and improve their skills in thesis writing.