Advances in the Linguistic Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Dec. 2019) Released
Advances in the Linguistic Sciences (ALS, ISSN: 2707-157X) has published its No. 1 issue of 2019. All papers can be freely downloaded here. You are encouraged to share them with your colleagues and cite them in your research papers.
You are welcome to submit or recommend manuscripts to us. Manuscripts should be submitted online or by email to: [email protected].
Task-Based Language Teaching in Hong Kong English Education
Author(s): Chi Wui Ng
Abstract: Task-based language teaching, which is a language teaching approach where tasks constitute the bedrock of planning and instruction, is a learner-centred and experiential pedagogy popular in the field of second language acquisition and promulgated to second and foreign language classrooms all over the globe in recent decades. This paper elucidates influences of three forces— central agencies, textbook publishers, and teachers—on implementation of such pedagogy originated from the West in English language education in Hong Kong. It is discovered that the intended English language curriculum in Hong Kong is in favour of such pedagogy and highly advocates incorporation of communicative tasks into the implemented curriculum albeit partial realization of the essence of task-based language teaching in locally produced instructional materials, which comprise more integrated tasks than form-focused tasks. Moreover, English teachers in Hong Kong may not be receptive to such pedagogy out of their concern about the examination-oriented education system in Hong Kong as well as worry about plausible occurrence of disciplinary problems in task-based lessons. Suggestions targeting those three prominent forces influencing curriculum decisions on teaching methods are eventually put forward to illuminate and facilitate implementation of task-based language teaching in Hong Kong English language education.
Author(s): Hala Toubal, Lara Qassas, Sami Al-Heeh
Abstract: This small-scale study explores the rhetorical features of women’s language in the Qur’anic discourse. It aims to check the norms of speech the Qur’anic discourse maintains for women as interlocutors. The study utilizes both corpus linguistics, i.e. large body of texts, and discourse analysis as methods of research. For data collection, the study benefits from concordance, i.e. key words in context (KWIK). For data analysis, the study, however, applies critical discourse analysis (CDA). Therefore, it builds on Fairclough’s 2013 and Van Dijk’s 1998 models of analysis. It has been found that the Qur’anic discourse urges women to keep face, to maintain norms of polite speech and to tell the truth. Finally, the study implicates for pedagogy and research.
A Book Review of Language and Meaning
Author(s): Bochun Yin
Abstract: Language and Meaning, written by Betty Birner, specifically pays more attention on the relationships between literal and non-literal meanings, linguistic form and meaning, language and thought based on philosophical, semantic, pragmatic approaches. This book is of many significant merits and has something to be improved. In all, it is a tasteful and instructive book, and everyone to study or studying meaning should follow this book and everyone will get so many things from this book.
Analysis of the Rhetorical Patterns in Iraqi EFL Students' Writings
Author(s): Lina Lafta Jassim
Abstract: This study attempts to describe and analyze how the rhetorical patterns are employed by Iraqi EFL students. The research materials are descriptive essays gather from 100 students at fourthyear. The Ninety-six samples are selected and given a quantitative analysis to compute the overall frequency of the occurrence of different rhetoric patterns. The purpose of the study is to investigate which rhetoric patterns employ most frequently in writing of Iraqi students. They are two hypotheses. First, deductive patterns are employed most frequently more than inductive ones in writing of the Iraqi EFL student. Second, most students tend to place a thesis in the first sentence of the introduction paragraph. The results of the study indicate that students preferred the deductive rhetoric pattern of inductive rhetoric patterns in their English writings. The present study can assist instructors of writing to explore the rhetoric features revealed in Iraqi EFL students' writings.
Author(s): Destiny Idegbekwe
Abstract: Communication is not done in isolation. Ideas, opinions, beliefs etc. shared during communication are presented as strands in a larger dialogue unit with other discourse participants and subjects. For a language user to communicate his/her opinion in a larger dialogue unit containing different subjects or opinions, the linguistic stance is deployed to either evaluate, position or align with the existing subject matters. However, how this is achieved has not been made sufficiently explicit by linguists. It is on this basis therefore that this study focuses on the deployment of linguistic stance in the editorials of the Vanguard Newspaper with a view to underlining the nature of communication through conjunctional adversatives. The study adopted the stance triangle framework of John Du Bois (2007) as the theoretical framework. The study used ten (10) editorials (from February, 2018 to April, 2018) of the Vanguard Newspaper as the population of the study. The editorials chosen were found to have deployed linguistic stance through adversative conjunctions. Each of these instances were analysed in line with the stance triangle. At the end, the study presents as part of its findings that linguistic stance helps the language user to implicitly communicate explicit messages of evaluation, position and alignment with the subject matter raised in a discourse. The adversative conjunctions enable editorials to shift or change focus from subject 1 to subject 2 before making the decision to align with any of them. Also, the subject 1 in the stance triangle is usually the popular opinion in the discourse but with the use of adversative conjunctions, the editorial is able to present another opinion of the discourse that might not be too popular. This second opinion then forms the basis for the subject 2 and a possible alignment.