Dissertations / Theses: 'English usage'

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Garnier, Mélodie. "English phrasal verbs : usage, knowledge, acquisition." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2016. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38662/.

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Formulaic language constitutes an essential part of English vocabulary and is necessary for performing a wide range of communicative functions, but knowledge and acquisition of formulaic sequences is typically found to be lacking and problematic for L2 learners. Whilst much research has been carried out on formulaic sequences such as idioms and collocations, comparatively little has been done on phrasal verbs which are nonetheless commonly perceived as one of the most challenging aspects of English vocabulary. This thesis attempts to contribute to filling this gap by exploring the usage, knowledge and acquisition of phrasal verbs by native and non-native speakers of English. Study 1 explores the semantic frequencies of the 150 most frequently used phrasal verbs using the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). Results show that, whilst the vast majority of these phrasal verbs are polysemous, only two meaning senses on average are enough to cover three-quarters of the occurrences of each of them. The most frequent meaning senses of all 150 phrasal verbs are listed in the PHrasal VErb pedagogical List (PHaVE List), in frequency ranking order along with frequency percentages. The list thus offers teachers and learners the possibility of prioritising these most frequent, and thus most important, meaning senses, thereby allowing for a more systematic approach to tackling phrasal verbs. Study 2 explores L2 learners’ knowledge of a sample of phrasal verbs and meaning senses on the PHaVE List at a form-recall level of mastery, and the effect of a number of factors on this knowledge. Results show that only about 40 % of meaning senses were known, with a 20 % chance that all the various meaning senses attached to a given phrasal verb would be known. A mixed-effect modelling analysis reveals a significant effect of two factors on scores: item frequency and learner engagement in leisure activities in the L2 such as reading and social networking. This is consistent with previous research showing the robust effect of frequency for L2 knowledge of individual words and formulaic sequences, and the benefits of reading for L2 language acquisition. Study 3 investigates L2 learners’ acquisition of novel phrasal verbs through three intentional, word-focused learning activities: rote memorisation, textbook exercises, and guessing from context. Knowledge of the items was measured both immediately and one week after the teaching treatment at meaning-recall and meaning-recognition levels of mastery. Results show encouraging learning gains, similar to those found by previous research for individual words and idioms, with higher L2 proficiency and general vocabulary knowledge leading to significantly higher scores. A Friedman test reveals no significant difference in learning gains between the three activities. Taken together, these studies provide empirical evidence for the gap in L2 learners’ knowledge of phrasal verbs, but suggest that a restricted number of phrasal verbs and meaning senses can go a long way and be effectively learned using the same explicit activities commonly used for learning single words. Overall, they offer useful insights for learning and teaching English phrasal verbs in a more systematic and efficient manner.

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Frandsen, Jacob F. "Interpreting Standard Usage Empirically." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2014. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3986.

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Writers, editors, and everyday language users look to dictionaries, style guides, usage guides, and other published works to help inform their language decisions. They want to know what is Standard English and what is not. Commentators have been prescribing and proscribing certain usages for centuries; however, their advice has traditionally been based on the subjective opinions of the authors. Recent works have analyzed usage by relying wholly or partly on statistical and descriptive data rather than traditional opinion alone; however, no work has presented statistical usage data in a user-friendly and consistent format. This study presents a statistically based methodology for analyzing the standardness of disputed English usage points that can be presented in a dictionary-like format useful to writers and editors. Using data from the Corpus of Contemporary American English, this study determined the percent of use of several disputed usage items. Percents of use were then applied to a statistically based "standardness" scale with several levels. The scale presented in this study is adapted from scales that have been used previously to study language change. In addition, returns from the Corpus of Historical American English were used to present historical trends, if any, for each usage item. It was found that traditional sentiments about certain prescribed and proscribed usage items differ markedly from actual observed usage. Corpus data make it clear that even usage guides that purport to rely at least partly on descriptive data are often wrong about the prevalence and acceptability of usage items. To produce truly objective and accurate analysis, usage advice must depend on corpus data and use a standard usage-trend scale that accounts for how language changes.

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Roller, Katja Martina [Verfasser], Bernd [Akademischer Betreuer] Kortmann, and Christian [Akademischer Betreuer] Mair. "Salience in Welsh English grammar : a usage-based approach." Freiburg : Universität, 2016. http://d-nb.info/1122831803/34.

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Banning, Yvonne. "English language usage in South African Theatre since 1976." Thesis, University of Cape Town, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/23508.

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Hantrakul, Chanpen Steffensen Margaret S. "English tense and aspect usage in controlled written discourse by non-native speakers." Normal, Ill. Illinois State University, 1990. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ilstu/fullcit?p9101113.

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Thesis (D.A.)--Illinois State University, 1990.
Title from title page screen, viewed November 4, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Margaret S. Steffensen (chair), Irene T. Brosnahan, Ronald J. Fortune, Ronald S. Halinski, Bruce W. Hawkins. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-150) and abstract. Also available in print.

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Makwela, Matlaleng Maria. "The role of usage examples in Northern Sotho-English / English-Northern Sotho bilingual dictionaries." Thesis, University of Limpopo, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10386/2372.

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Lau, Tak-lai Michael. "An analysis of ICT usage among the English teachers in a Hong Kong secondary school /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 2002. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B25148230.

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Hong, S. H. "Aviation english and its usage at the Macau International Airport." Thesis, University of Macau, 2004. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b1636180.

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McGarry, Theresa, and J. Mwinyelle. "Adverbial Clause Usage and Gender in English, Spanish, and French." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2016. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/6154.

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This study examines adverbial clause usage by women and men in three contexts: (1) single-gender and mixed-gender meetings of a US social club, (2) single-gender and mixed gender dyads speaking Ecuadorean Spanish, and (3) French speakers in informal interviews. The English results generally support past findings that women tend to use adverbial clauses to weaken their expressed commitments to the propositions they express, while men tend to use more of the clauses that strengthen the expressed commitments. However, the situation affects the specific clause types used, and the English results are not replicated in the Spanish or French data.

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Fronk, Amanda Kae. "Determining Dictionary and Usage Guide Agreement with Real-World Usage: A Diachronic Corpus Study of American English." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2014. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4093.

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Dictionaries and, to a lesser extent, usage guides provide writers, editors, and users of American English information on how to use the language appropriately. Dictionaries, in particular, hold authority over correct usage of words. However, historically, usage guides and dictionaries were created using the knowledge of a small group of people. Lexicographers like Noah Webster set out to prescribe a proper way of using American English. To make these judgments, they often relied on a combination of study and idiosyncratic intuitions. A similar process took place in creating usage guides. Though these manuals profess to explain how the language is used by American English speakers-or rather by the selected group of speakers deemed "standard" by usage guide editors and lexicographers-ultimately the manuals can only express the perspectives of the editors and lexicographers on this language. Historically, the views of these editors and lexicographers were the best tools available to assess language, but now computer-based corpora allow for studying larger swaths of language usage. This study examines how much dictionaries and usage guides agree with real-world usage found in corpus data. Using the Corpus of Historical American English, a set of dictionaries and usage guides published throughout the last two hundred years were analyzed to see how much agreement they had with corpus data in noting the addition of denominal verbs (i.e., verbs formed by the conversion of nouns as in 'They taped together the box.') in American English usage. It was found that the majority of the time dictionaries noted new denominal verbs before corpus data reflected accepted usage of these verbs. However, about a quarter of the time dictionaries noted new denominal verbs concurrently with the corpus data. These results suggest that dictionaries-and the subjective opinions of the lexicographers that created them-are more aligned with real-world usage than would be expected. Because of sparse listings, results for usage guide agreement was inconclusive.

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Park, Linda Seojung. "Language varieties and variation in English usage among native Korean speakers in Seoul." Thesis, University of Iowa, 2019. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/6830.

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In the last few decades, a rise in Korean speakers’ borrowing from English has led to a rich pool of contemporary Anglo-Korean vocabulary, also known as English loanwords. Despite the English roots of these borrowed words, their usage in a Korean context is often non-uniform and non-traditional; this process of borrowing, reshaping, and dispersing borrowed vocabulary provides insights on the dynamics of Korean society and its relationship to global English-speaking communities. In order to investigate the variations on Korean speakers’ use of Anglo-Korean words and their potential correlations with various factors, I conducted interviews with 24 native Korean speakers in Seoul, Korea in the summer of 2018. Subjects were diverse in their age, gender, and occupation. I analyzed the r speakers with a preference of Sino-Korean words, speakers with a preference of Anglo-Korean words, and speakers with a speech mixed of Korean, Korean English, and American English. I identified two variables as the most significant causes of diversity of speech: 1) age and 2) exposure to English. I established that 80% of my subjects over the age of 60 fell into the Sino-Korean-dominant category, and the best indicator of a subject being a translingual speaker was an increased exposure to English. In order to expand on evidence from my interviews, I historically contextualize Korean language in society alongside current ideologies related to language in Korea. In so doing, I explore the relationship between these variables and the language varieties of individual speakers. I argue that because a speaker’s age and exposure to English shapes the language variety they use and the language ideology in Korea touches individual speakers in different ways, native speakers in today’s Korea use several language varieties. These findings challenge the notion of a linguistically and ethnically homogeneous Korea and shed light on the current status of Korean English and American English in Korea.

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Ng, Man-yi Emily, and 吳敏儀. "English in designs in Hong Kong." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2001. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31953189.

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Harms, Aaron A. "First-year composition and writing center usage." Diss., Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10355/4933.

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Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007.
The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on March 27, 2008) Includes bibliographical references.

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Tlaka, Henrietta Ntombi. "Employers' perceptions of Black South African English usage / Henrietta Ntombi Tlaka." Thesis, Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/6258.

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The common usage of Black South African English (BSAE) forms the main focus of this study. Its usage by members of the black population has caused a major debate on language standards and usage, and acceptance of BSAE as a variety of English. The purpose of this study was to establish employers' perceptions of BSAE usage by employees (and prospective employees). The employers' preferences, views on re-standardisation of English and the usage of English in South Africa were established. The literature review dealt with topics related to the usage of English in South Africa, namely, the domains of English use, English usage and varieties of English -with specific focus on BSAE -and perceptions of English. A questionnaire, with three application letters, was used as an instrument to investigate the perceptions of employers from different companies. The questionnaire examined issues of style and language usage, comprehensibility, language usage and employment, correctness and preferences in language usage, accent as a factor that influences employment opportunities, and re-standardisation and the standard of English usage in South Africa. The results indicate that most employers appreciate a well-written application letter and they regard correctness in written communication as very important. Most of them seem to be familiar with the grammatical and lexical features of BSAE, but the application letter with BSAE features is considered the least comprehensible. Therefore, BSAE may still be unacceptable or even stigmatised, and may affect employment opportunities in some cases. Although the British model of English is preferred by the majority of the employers, they agree that the African model is widely used in South Africa and at the workplace. The results also indicate an awareness of sociolinguistic variations and the possibility of accepting the re-standardisation of English in future. According to the findings, accent is unimportant. However, in some cases, proficiency in English may play a role as prerequisite for employment. The results of this study show the importance of proper teaching of English at school level, with the inclusion of Business English to prepare learners for the workplace.
Thesis (M.A. (Applied Language and Literary Studies))--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2002.

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Fong, Kaela. "Talkin' Black: African American English Usage in Professional African American Athletes." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2019. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1352.

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Sports play an important role in the culture of the United States as does language, so the choice to use non-Standard dialects in a nation that privileges the Standard and negatively judges dialectical differences, especially those spoken by mostly people of color, is not undertaken lightly. Because of this privileging of Standard American English, it is assumed that only professional African American athletes are allowed to keep their native dialect if it is African American English (AAE) and still be successful. However, this is complicated by the historical and present increased criticisms women face in both sport and language. To investigate this claim, a quantitative analysis of post-game interviews of five men and five women in the National Basketball Association and Women’s National Basketball Association, respectively, was conducted. The athletes were analyzed to see if they used dental stopping and be-leveling, two features of AAE. Four additional features of AAE were also investigated on an exploratory basis. Inter-gender variance was found among both genders. Across genders, women used the features of AAE studied an average of 30.6 percent less than men, demonstrating a clear gender difference in the usage of AAE. The results of this study illustrate disparities in women and men’s language use that could be a consequence of the inherent and historical sexism women must face in the realms of both sport and language.

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Alftberg, Ann-Kristin. "British or American English? : attitudes, awareness and usage among pupils in a secondary school." Thesis, University of Gävle, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-5545.

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The aim of this study is to find out which variety of English pupils in secondary school use, British or American English, if they are aware of their usage, and if there are differences between girls and boys. British English is normally the variety taught in school, but influences of American English due to exposure of different media are strong and have consequently a great impact on Swedish pupils. This study took place in a secondary school, and 33 pupils in grade 9 participated in the investigation. They filled in a questionnaire which investigated vocabulary, attitudes and awareness, and read a list of words out loud. The study showed that the pupils tend to use American English more than British English, in both vocabulary and pronunciation, and that all of the pupils mixed American and British features. A majority of the pupils had a higher preference for American English, particularly the boys, who also seemed to be more aware of which variety they use, and in general more aware of the differences between British and American English.

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Taylor, Vi Linh. "Tense usage in academic writing a cross-disciplinary study /." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2001. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/MQ58551.pdf.

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Azad, Yusef. "The government of tongues : common usage and the 'prescriptive' tradition, 1650 to 1800." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1989. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.303455.

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Lee, Eun-Hee. "English article usage in online graduate forums by non-native EFL teachers." [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2007. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3274275.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Language Education, 2007.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-07, Section: A, page: 2859. Adviser: Martha Nyikos. Title from dissertation home page (viewed Apr. 9, 2008).

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Chan, Chin-ying Alice, and 陳展瑩. "A corpus-based analysis of tense usage in Cantonese-English bilingual children." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2010. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B4515093X.

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Sentance, Susan. "Recognising and responding to English article usage errors : an ICALL based approach." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/20176.

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Artificial Intelligence techniques are increasingly being used to enhance the area of Computer-Aided Instruction. This thesis is concerned with the area of Computer-Aided Language Learning, a subset of Computer-Aided Instruction, and demonstrates how various Artificial Intelligence techniques can be incorporated into a language system to produce an intelligent educational tool. In this thesis, the focus is on the use of English articles, which is a subtle area of the English language with which even advanced students of English have difficulty. This thesis describes Artcheck, an intelligent Computer-Aided Language Learning (ICALL) system which detects, analyses and responds to English article usage errors. This system has three main features: it has knowledge of the article usage domain; it dynamically creates a model of the student; and it adapts to the individual student. The system's knowledge of the domain consists of a set of article usage rules which reflect standard teaching practice. The information necessary to apply the rules is extracted at the natural language processing stage, and includes structural and contextual information. The system models the state of the student's knowledge at all times, in order to give informative explanations to the student about any errors which are made. It is able to generate mal-rules which account for consistent errors made by the student, using version spaces and the candidate elimination algorithm. The student model can be described as dynamic because the generation of mal-rules can create new parts of the student model, in response to student behaviour, which are not pre-determined by the system designer. The system responds to individual students by giving explanations of errors which are tailored to the student's level of ability and preferred learning style.

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Almerfors, Håkan. "Preposition and article usage in learner English : An investigation of negative transfer." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för språk, litteratur och interkultur, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-65794.

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The ways in which someone’s first language (L1) influences his or her second language (L2) to create errors, that is negative transfer, is a topic that has received much attention in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Previous research has suggested that negative transfer is responsible for many errors. The primary aim of this study is to investigate article and preposition errors in the production of Swedish learners of English and to discuss these errors in relation to negative transfer. The secondary aim is to compare transfer errors by L1 Swedish and L1 Portuguese learners of English. The first and main part of the study is a corpus investigation of the written production of 80 students in upper secondary school (high school). The second part is a multiple-choice test constructed to provoke transfer errors. It was distributed to students in upper secondary school in Sweden and in Brazil. The results from the corpus analysis are largely in line with those of previous research, for example with regards to how definite article errors are more common than indefinite article errors, and how contexts with definite articles and generic noun phrases seem prone to create transfer errors. The corpus study also shows that substitution was the most common preposition error and that many transfer preposition errors supposedly were caused by direct translations. Through the multiple-choice test, the degree to which the first language had an impact on individual errors could be revealed. All in all, the study reveals several aspects of negative transfer that perhaps a single-language investigation could not, because it is in the comparison of English-learners with different L1s that the most interesting results occur.
De sätt som någons första språk påverkar hans eller hennes andra språk så att fel uppstår, det vill säga negativ språköverföring (negative transfer), är ett ämne som har fått mycket uppmärksamhet inom forskning kring språkinlärning. Tidigare studier har visat på hur negativ språköverföring orsakar många fel. Det primära syftet i denna uppsats är att undersöka artikel- och prepositionsfel i skrift hos svenska elever som lär sig engelska och att diskutera dessa fel i relation till negativ språköverföring. Det sekundära målet är att jämföra hur negativ språköverföring yttrar sig hos svenska och portugisiska elever som lär sig engelska. Den första delen av denna uppsats, som även är huvuddelen, är en korpusundersökning av 80 uppsatser skrivna av högstadieelever. Den andra delen är ett flervalstest som konstruerats för att provocera fram språköverföringsfel. Deltagarna var högstadie- och gymnasieelever från Sverige och Brasilien. Resultaten från korpusundersökningen stämmer i stor utsträckning överens med vad tidigare forskning visat, till exempel att det är vanligare att fel uppstår med bestämda artiklar än med obestämda artiklar och hur bestämda artiklar och tillsammans med generiska nominalfraser tenderar att generera negativ språköverföring. Korpusstudien visar också på hur felaktigt utbyte (substitution) var det vanligaste prepositionsfelet och att många språköverföringsfel förmodligen orsakats av direkta översättningar från svenska. I analysen av resultateten från flervalstestet kunde graden av inflytande från första språket på enskilda fel påvisas. Sammantaget avslöjar undersökningen i denna uppsats på flera aspekter av negativ språköverföring som troligen ej uppenbarats om enkom elever med ett förstaspråk inkluderats, detta eftersom det är i jämförelsen mellan engelska-elever med olika förstaspråk som de mest intressanta resultaten framkommer.

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Trounce, R. J. A. "The derivation and applications of a knowledge base for computational stylostatistics : the semantics and syntax of adverbs in selected Wycliffite texts." Thesis, Keele University, 1990. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.293947.

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Wild, Catherine. "Attitudes towards English usage in the late modern period : the case of phrasal verbs." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2010. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2264/.

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Phrasal verbs are an intrinsic part of Late Modern English, and are found in both informal and colloquial language (check out, listen up) and more formal styles (a thesis might set out some problems and then sum up the main points). They are highly productive: 'up' can be added to almost any verb to signify goal or end-point (read up, finish up, eat up, meet up, fatten up); and once a phrasal verb has been coined, a conversion often follows (for example, the verb 'phone in' was first recorded in 1946, and the noun 'phone-in' in 1967; 'dumb down' was coined in 1933, and we read of 'dumbed-down' material in 1982). Perhaps because of their pervasiveness, phrasal verbs are frequently criticized (although occasionally praised) in Late Modern English texts about language. The purpose of this thesis is to examine such attitudes in three strands. Firstly, over one hundred language texts (grammars, dictionaries, and usage manuals, among others, from 1750 to 1970) were examined to discover how phrasal verbs were recognized and classified in Late Modern English. Secondly, these materials were analyzed in order to find out how attitudes towards phrasal verbs in English developed in relation to broader attitudes towards language in the Late Modern period. Thirdly, phrasal verb usage in A Representative Corpus of Historical English Registers, a corpus of British and American English from 1650 to 1990, was analyzed to determine how such attitudes affect usage. It will be shown that attitudes towards phrasal verbs reflect various strands of language ideology, including opinions about Latinate as opposed to native vocabulary; ideals relating to etymology, polysemy, and redundancy; reactions to neologisms; and attitudes towards language variety. Furthermore, it will be suggested that in the case of certain redundant combinations such as 'return back' and 'raise up', proscriptions of phrasal verbs did have an effect on their usage in the Late Modern period.

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Lawrence, Constance Diane. "English oral language usage of caregivers in selected orphanages of eastern India a phenomenological study /." Birmingham, Ala. : University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2008. https://www.mhsl.uab.edu/dt/2008p/lawrence.pdf.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2008.
Additional advisors: Lois Christensen, Lynn Kirkland, Maryann Manning, Lou Anne Worthington. Description based on contents viewed Feb. 9, 2009; title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 106-113).

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Sjöberg, Helén. "English Teachers´Views on the Use of the Target Language in the Classroom." Thesis, Halmstad University, School of Teacher Education (LUT), 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-1388.

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In our ever more international world, the English language plays an important role. This is

also reflected in its prominent position as a core subject in the Swedish school system. It is

therefore important that English teachers offer students an environment in which they have

the best possible opportunities to be successful in reaching the goals specified in the

syllabuses. One variable in a successful foreign language classroom is the teacher's usage

ofthe target language.

This study is about English teachers' views on the issue of target language usage in the

classroom, versus usage of the mother tongue. In this study, at Upper Secondary level, the

interviews show that the teachers are, more or less, in agreement that the target language

should be used all the time in the classroom. There are, however, occasions in which the

interviewed teachers do not work according to their own beliefs and methods and revert to

using Swedish. The main such occasions can briefly be said to be: explanation of grammar,

non-subject related "mentor's issues" and classroom management issues. In addition, this

study argues that the governing documents, previous research, as well as well-known

theories on the subject support a high usage of the target language by the teacher.

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Soya, Nongesiba. "Perceptions of school stakeholders towards the use of English as a language of learning and teaching (LoLT) in grade 9 Social Sciences." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/6447.

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The dawn of democracy in South Africa led to the development of Language in Education Policy (LiEP) as one of the pieces of legislations that promote languages in schools where parents, learners, who have come of age may choose a language for instruction. LiEP, together with the Constitution of South Africa, promote equal value of all eleven official languages spoken in this country. The promotion of language policies clearly shows that language is the bedrock of the academic development of every child. Unfortunately, Spaull, Van der Berg, Wills, Gustafsson and Kotzè (2016) found that South African Foundation Phase learners lack the most basic skill needed for academic achievement, reading for meaning. Spaull et.al (2016) findings show that language problems start during the early years of schooling. This study aimed at finding out the perceptions of school stakeholders about the use of English as LoLT in Grade 9 Social Sciences, and it is located in the Interpretivist Paradigm. In this study, stakeholders are learners because they are central to learning, parents, as they have the responsibility of choosing LoLT for their children and assist them in their schooling career. Lastly, teachers are stakeholders because of their critical role of imparting knowledge and skills during classroom interaction. The researcher uses a Qualitative approach to identify data-collecting tools suitable for this research, and chooses semi-structured interviews and observations. Semi-structured interviews are flexible and allow deeper probing during the interview. The sample consists of nine Grade 9 learners, three teachers of Grade 9 Social Sciences and six parents from the School Governing Body (SGB). The aim of conducting observations was to find out the language used by learners and teachers during classroom interaction. This study found out that most participants prefer learning Social Sciences in English than in isiXhosa. They are aware of the challenges experienced in the classroom when learning in English but they still choose it. From the sample used, participants clearly indicate that learning in English causes some barriers in the learning and teaching process. However, it also became clear that the benefits associated with learning in English make it difficult to put it at the same level as other languages and participants do not link mother tongue to career opportunities. It is also evident that English will enjoy its hegemony until such time that all stakeholders in Education view the mother tongue as a foundation for learning other languages and as a resource as well so that they can use it in the classroom to understand the content. Policy developers must look deeply into the question of LoLT so that learners receive instruction in a language that will assist them in improved academic performance. Teachers must be equipped with adequate skills to assist learners in developing reading and comprehension skills in the classroom. There is a dire need to develop the culture of reading in rural school learners; and teachers must expose learners to a variety of English reading material.

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Mann, Richard Philip. "A statistical survey of transitional device usage among writers of English as a second language and native writers of English /." The Ohio State University, 1986. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu148726601122525.

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劉德禮 and Tak-lai Michael Lau. "An analysis of ICT usage among the English teachers in a Hong Kong secondary school." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2002. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B3125634X.

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Jia, Ting Ting. "A comparative study of English-language newspaper headlines." Thesis, University of Macau, 2011. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b2525502.

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Takahashi, Reiko. "English as a lingua franca in a Japanese context : an analysis of ELF-oriented features in teaching materials and the attitudes of Japanese teachers and learners of English to ELF-oriented materials." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/5269.

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As a result of the spread and growth of English as a global means of communication, a new approach to teaching and learning English has recently emerged: ELF – English as a lingua franca (ELF). Graddol (2006: 87) claims that "some of its [ELF] ideas are likely to influence mainstream teaching and assessment practices in the future". Indeed, a shift from traditional EFL goals to ELF has been observed in the documents of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. Jenkins (2004) suggests that applied linguists and publishers will need to find ways of promoting a more ELF perspective in teaching materials. However, to begin with, the reason why the ELF approach is necessary for Japanese learners of English should be adequately discussed. Also, how people are likely to respond to the new materials in the future should be investigated. The aim of this thesis is two-fold: (1) to examine current English language teaching practices in Japan from an ELF perspective, and (2) to examine the attitudes of Japanese people towards the new ELF-oriented practice. More specifically, the current study will focus on the teaching materials that are currently being used within the country. The research consists of three parts: (1) the identification of the characteristics of ELF; (2) an analysis of the EFL coursebooks and audiovisual materials according to those traits; and (3) an investigation of the attitudes of Japanese learners and teachers of English to ELForiented coursebooks and audiovisual materials by means of questionnaires and focusgroups. EFL coursebooks and audio materials employed in the state and private sectors were analysed. ELF-orientation was found in different forms and to different degrees according to the level and the objectives of individual materials: this was apparent in the nationalities and contexts represented, in the content of texts, and in English varieties in audio materials. There were some differences between publishers in the degree of ELF orientation. 717 students and 28 teachers were involved in the questionnaire survey. Sixteen students and nine teachers participated in the focus-group discussions. The survey data revealed that the informants showed strong reactions to certain ELF features in materials. They had little objection to ELF-features which were related to contextual factors of ELF (e.g. representation of characters in a dialogue). In contrast, they expressed more opinions regarding ELF-features which were closely related to the issues of a target model (e.g. written forms of non-standard English, and audio recordings which included NNS English). The findings are discussed with regard to the implementation of ELF-oriented materials. Pedagogical implications are proposed for the further development of ELF-oriented materials and for possible changes in English language teaching in the Japanese educational system.

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Rydblom, Oskar. "Onomatopoeic phrasal verbs : A corpus study of their meanings and usage in American English." Thesis, Linnaeus University, School of Language and Literature, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-6360.

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This study examines how the meanings of onomatopoeic phrasal verbs are created and in which register these verbs are most frequently used. Through the study of previous research on the subject qualities of onomatopoeia and phrasal verbs are identified. Based on this a framework for identifying phrasal verbs and categorizing the meanings of onomatopoeic verbs and particles was created. Using the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), a study of concordance lines and frequency in different registers was carried out on 50 onomatopoeic phrasal verbs. These verbs were constructed from ten mono-syllabic onomatopoeic verbs and three opposite pairs of spatial adverbs. The study found that several metaphorical meanings of the onomatopoeic verbs examined were not listed in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). The meanings of the particles were strongly linked to metaphorical structures.The conclusion of this study was that onomatopoeic verbs possess a flexibility that allows them to create a variety of different meanings. Furthermore, the types of meaning can be categorized after a pattern, although this pattern is often not found in the dictionary. The onomatopoeic phrasal verbs studied were most frequent in the fiction register, more so than other phrasal verbs. Understanding of the metaphorical nature of particles such as up and down is imperative to understand how the meaning of a phrasal verb is created. This should be taken into consideration when teaching English as a second language or creating a dictionary.

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Tedford, Douglas H. "Social capital influences upon Internet usage of rural Guatemalan English teachers for professional development." ScholarWorks, 2008. http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/627.

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This qualitative study examined Internet usage by Guatemalan English teachers in the rural, indigenous community of San Lucas Toliman, to improve enrollments and persistence in online teacher professional development programs promoted by the Fundacion Rigoberta Menchu Tum. Woolcock's concepts of bonding, bridging and linking social capital were united with Rogers's theory of perceived attributes to ascertain why only 5 of 34 teachers completed free online coursework. Research questions addressed teacher concerns about using the Internet, teacher satisfaction with Internet resources, and social influences upon Internet usage. The participatory rural appraisal (PRA) method was employed using a culturally-sensitive native speaker to interview 20 teachers selected in a purposive sample. In accordance with PRA analysis procedures, representative interview statements were sorted, prioritized and discussed by a team of 42 community educators to generate findings. Findings indicated that interest in engaging the Internet and receiving specialized introductory support (bridging social capital) in groups (bonding social capital) was high. Findings also indicated that salary level (linking social capital) and family time demands (bonding social capital) were barriers to attending a community technology center or Internet cafe. Findings reinforced the community's support for the design of online coursework leading to salary points and college credits. This study has positive social change implications by demonstrating how organizations can promote community-driven research collaborations to facilitate teacher Internet usage in San Lucas Toliman, and could be replicated in other remote sectors of the developing world.

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PAOLA, ALYNE LEITE DE OLIVEIRA DE. "SERVICE ENCOUNTERS IN ENGLISH AS LINGUA FRANCA USAGE CONTEXT: OVERLAPS AS STRATEGIES OF SOLIDARITY." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2010. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=16350@1.

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COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR
Estudos de comunicação intercultural têm, em geral, como foco os desentendimentos e insucessos nesse tipo de interação. Neste trabalho, pretendese investigar os esforços dos participantes de um encontro de serviço que usam o inglês como língua franca para serem bem sucedidos. O foco do estudo é o uso das sobreposições, tratadas sob o viés da Análise da Conversa Etnometodológica. Apesar de as sobreposições poderem funcionar como um mecanismo de tomada de turno, seguido geralmente pela tomada do piso conversacional, o uso das sobreposições, nas interações analisadas, se mostrou orientado por um esforço dos participantes de se entenderem, como nos casos em que elas ocorreram em lugares não relevantes para a transição de turnos. Assim, como apontam os resultados, as sobreposições, em sua grande maioria, têm como função sinalizar solidariedade, beneficiando a interação e, consequentemente, a solução dos problemas/ questões que orientam a ação tanto do cliente quanto do atendente.
Studies in intercultural communication have, in general, focused on misunderstandings and failure in this type of interaction. In this work, it is intended to investigate the participants’ efforts to be successful in a service encounter that has English as a lingua franca. The focus of this study is the use of overlaps, dealt under the theory of the Conversation Analysis. Although the overlaps can function as a mechanism of turn taking, usually followed by the taking of the conversational floor, the use of overlaps, in the data analyzed, has shown that the participants are oriented to an understanding, as it can be seen when they happen in a non-relevant transitional place. Therefore, as the results indicate, the overlaps, in the majority of the cases, function to signal solidarity, benefiting the interaction and, consequently, the solution of the problems which orient the action of the client and the attendant.

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Machado, Filha Maria Carmelia. "A study in contrastive analysis and error analysis: article usage in english and portuguese." reponame:Repositório Institucional da UFSC, 2013. https://repositorio.ufsc.br/handle/123456789/106035.

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Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, 1977.
Made available in DSpace on 2013-12-05T18:57:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 321796.pdf: 2709666 bytes, checksum: c94936800c560d172bb945a686e66eb7 (MD5)

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36

Tedford, Douglas Hudson. "Social capital influences upon Internet usage of rural Guatemalan English teachers for professional development." ScholarWorks, 2010. http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dilley/16.

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This qualitative study examined Internet usage by Guatemalan English teachers in the rural, indigenous community of San Lucas Toliman, to improve enrollments and persistence in online teacher professional development programs promoted by the Fundación Rigoberta Menchú Tum. Woolcock's concepts of bonding, bridging and linking social capital were united with Rogers's theory of perceived attributes to ascertain why only 5 of 34 teachers completed free online coursework. Research questions addressed teacher concerns about using the Internet, teacher satisfaction with Internet resources, and social influences upon Internet usage. The participatory rural appraisal (PRA) method was employed using a culturally-sensitive native speaker to interview 20 teachers selected in a purposive sample. In accordance with PRA analysis procedures, representative interview statements were sorted, prioritized and discussed by a team of 42 community educators to generate findings. Findings indicated that interest in engaging the Internet and receiving specialized introductory support (bridging social capital) in groups (bonding social capital) was high. Findings also indicated that salary level (linking social capital) and family time demands (bonding social capital) were barriers to attending a community technology center or Internet café. Findings reinforced the community's support for the design of online coursework leading to salary points and college credits. This study has positive social change implications by demonstrating how organizations can promote community-driven research collaborations to facilitate teacher Internet usage in San Lucas Toliman, and could be replicated in other remote sectors of the developing world.

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Owen, Jonathon R. ""At the Coal-Face of Standardization": Uncovering the Role of Copy Editors in Standardizing the English Language." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2013. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3927.

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Though much work has been done on the definition of Standard English and on the standardization process, little attention has been paid to the role of copy editors in that process. Editors comprise a class of craft professionals employed to remove errors from texts and make them more consistent, but when editors speak about editors at all, they generally rely on anecdotes rather than hard data about what editors do. Since formal written English is often used as a baseline for determining what is standard, and since corpora of published writing are increasingly used to research questions of usage, it is important to understand the role of copy editors in shaping the text that we see on the printed page. This study examines the usage and grammar changes made by student editorial interns in twenty-three academic journal articles. Volunteer professional editors were then solicited to edit the same articles, and their changes were compared against the interns' changes. The changes were counted and categorized to determine which usage rules can be considered most important to copy editors and thus most essential to distinguishing Standard Edited English from standard unedited writing. It was found that the most frequent changes were several grammatical items and a few lexical items, including the that/which rule, avoidance of towards, increased parallelism, and standardization of s-genitive forms. These changes confirm the idea that editors play a role in standardization, particularly codifying certain forms by reducing optional variation. From this data we can conclude that educated written usage and edited usage are not necessarily the same and should not be conflated. These findings also have implications for the use of corpus data in usage studies by showing that the final version of a printed work does not necessarily show the usage of edited writers but likely has a substantial contribution from copy editors.

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Groot, Ingeborg. "The use of conjunctions in English as a second language (ESL) : students' oral narratives." Virtual Press, 2000. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1191106.

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This dissertation analyzes the production and functions of the conjunctions and, but, so, and then as discourse markers in English as a Second Language (ESL) students' oral narratives. Two types of narratives are analyzed: a non-guided, or spontaneous narrative, and a picture-guided-narrative. Narratives of forty three ESL students are included in the analysis as well as narratives from six native speakers.This study indicates that l) the ESL students attach a narrowly defined meaning to and, but, so, and then, 2) the ESL students use and, but, so, and then to link previous sentences or ideas. or refer back to ideas, less than for any other function, 3) the ESL students do not use a greater number of occurrences of and, but, so, and then in the picture-guided-narrative than in the non-guided-narrative, and 4) the ESL students misuse conjunctions in similar ways regardless of their native language (LI ); that is, although the influence from a student's Ll may result in specific problems of transfer, some patterns of conjunction errors are unrelated to the Ll and may be indicative of a more general problem.
Department of English

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Snyder, Delys Ann Waite. "A Corpus-based Approach to Determining Standard American English." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2007. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd2239.pdf.

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Wong, Wai-man Queenie, and 黃慧敏. "Modal expressions in English in the educational sector." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1999. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B3195246X.

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Chan, Haw-fung Victor, and 陳可風. "Hong Kong English and the internet." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1999. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31951806.

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Drifalk, Rickard. "Teaching and learning English in a Swedish school : A case study of television media usage." Thesis, Växjö University, School of Humanities, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-5246.

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The purpose of this essay was to investigate how films and TV-series were used in a Swedish lower secondary school, but also the pupils’ and teachers’ attitudes towards using television media. A questionnaire was handed out to 49 pupils asking them, for example, if they thought they learned grammar from watching films. In addition two teachers were interviewed and asked questions about what they thought about using television media in their teaching and how often they used it in their teaching. The results showed that both teachers and pupils were positive towards television media. The pupils thought they learned grammar, pronunciation, improved their listening comprehension and learned new vocabulary. They also stated that a lesson based on television media was more fun than a usual lesson and something they would like to see more of . However, the pupils were doubtful whether they learned more during such a lesson than a lesson based on the textbook. Copyright problems were an issue for the two teacher and they also stated that it requires more time to plan a meaningful activity involving television media compared to the traditional teaching. However, they felt that when they took the time to plan such an activity, it was worth it and the pupils reacted in a positive way.

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Horvath, Veronika. "Errors and judgments : a sociolinguistic study of freshman composition." Virtual Press, 1996. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1027109.

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This study attempts to discover and describe patterns of variation in college students' overt attitudes toward a limited set of grammatical and lexical variables, the shibboleths of edited written American English usage. The basic instrument used in the study is a 115 item multiple choice questionnaire prepared by the researcher. Fifteen questions were designed to assess the respondents' social, economic, and demographic backgrounds, whereas the major part of the questionnaire elicited judgments about one hundred English sentences offering the choice between the attributes "good," "bad," and "I can't decide." This questionnaire was administered to 172 students in nine freshman composition classes during the spring semester of 1994 at Ball State University. The study sought to discover and describe systematic relationships between the answers to the first set of questions (extralinguistic data) and the second set of questions (linguistic data) by using various analytical methods and statistical techniques, such as correlation coefficients, chi-square tests, and multidimensional scaling.It was hypothesized that variation in subjects' overt judgments about linguistic variables would parallel the findings of numerous sociolinguistic studies about variation in linguistic production, and hence would pattern along the social and demographic characteristics of the subjects. However, although this study found considerable variation in the freshman students' judgments about the usage shibboleths, it did not find social or demographic correlates to the respondents' judgments.By investigating the nature of the variation in freshman composition students' notions about linguistic correctness, this study attempted to answer questions which have not been asked by traditional usage studies, sociolinguistics, or composition research. Moreover, this study has added support for linguists' claims that the traditional "mistakes" in usage handbooks have almost no empirical basis, even if they remain the favorites of most handbook authors and English teachers.
Department of English

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Wat, Lok-Sze Josephine, and 屈樂思. "Cantonese-speaking students' handling of WH-questions in English." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2006. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B3692264X.

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Elchert, Keith J. "A survey of Midwestern newspaper editors on current language use." CardinalScholar 1.0, 2009. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1468269.

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This thesis makes use of an online survey to study the current state of language use among newspapers in the American Midwest. Specifically, it examines editors’ attitudes toward and adaptation to changed language over the course of the last fifteen years. Those years have seen a general relaxation of language-use standards in the allowance of profanity, as well as changes brought about by emerging electronic media including the Internet and text messaging. The survey results indicate editors are gradually reacting to these changes, as opposed to leading the charge for change themselves.
Department of Journalism

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Miller, Sherri Lynn. "Percentage of phonological process usage in expressive language delayed children." PDXScholar, 1991. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4204.

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Language delay and phonological delay have been shown to coexist. Because they so often co-occur, it is possible that they may interact, sharing a relationship during the child's development. A group of children who were "late talkers" as toddlers, achieved normal development in their syntactic ability by the preschool period. Because their language abilities are known to have increased rapidly, data on their phonological development could provide information on the relationship between phonological and syntactic development. The purpose of this study was to compare the percentage of phonological process usage of the eight most commonly used simplification processes in four-year-old expressive language delayed (ELD) children, children with a history of slow expressive language development (HX), and normally developing (ND) children. The questions this study sought to answer were: do ELD children exhibit a higher percentage of phonological process usage than ND children, and are HX children significantly different in their percentage of phonological process usage than ND and/or ELD children.

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Trypanagnostopoulou, Sofia. "The Treatment of phraseology in English-Greek dictionaries." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/667104.

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Phraseological units are an important part of every language and due to their distinctive characteristics, they require special attention in their lexicographic description. However, phraseology is often underrepresented in lexicography, especially in bilingual dictionaries. Even though many important theoretical propositions have been suggested by linguists in the field of phraseology and idioms, from the perspective of lexicography, research is rather limited and concentrates mainly on monolingual lexicography. In our attempt to fill this gap, we have examined the treatment of phraseology in bilingual English-Greek dictionaries. Specifically, we proceeded to a corpus-based comparative analysis of the main English-Greek dictionaries (paper and electronic editions), in order to detect the problematic aspects in the description of phraseological units in terms of dictionary macrostructure and microstructure. Our attention focused on various issues, such as phraseological coverage, translation equivalents, grammatical and syntactic information, usage labels and more. In order to extract information about the use of phraseological units and to retrieve potential translation equivalents, we built a parallel English – Greek corpus, consisted of texts collected from TED talks. While parallel corpora have been widely used in several fields of linguistics, they have not been extensively exploited as a tool in bilingual lexicography. The results of the dictionary assessment have shown that even if the general quality of the examined dictionaries is rather high, they present various problems and omissions, such as poor phraseological inclusion, insufficient grammatical/syntactic or stylistic information, inadequate translation equivalents and so on. Based on the information retrieved from our parallel corpus we compiled for our study, we have proposed solutions for their improvement, which could be applied both in this language combination and in bilingual dictionaries in general. Our attempt aims to make a lexicographical proposal on how bilingual dictionaries would improve the representation of phraseology. This model could be used in the compilation of bilingual dictionaries of general use, as well as dictionaries of phraseology.
Les unitats fraseològiques i les expressions idiomàtiques en especial constitueixen una part important de totes les llengües. Requereixen una atenció especial per part de la lexicografia ateses les seves característiques i atès que el seu significat no és composicional. Això no obstant, la representació de la fraseologia als diccionaris, i especialment al diccionaris bilingües, sovint és deficient. Malgrat el fet que s’hagin proposat diverses aproximacions lingüístiques per analitzar la fraseologia, hi ha hagut relativament poca recerca sobre la fraseologia des de la perspectiva de la lexicografia, i la que hi ha se centra principalment en els diccionaris monolingües. En aquesta tesi s’analitza el tractament de la fraseologia i, de manera especial, de les frases fetes, en diccionaris bilingües de la combinatòria lingüística anglès-grec. Es proposa analitzar els principal diccionaris bilingües d’aquesta combinatòria disponibles en format imprès i en format digital i utilitzar les dades d’un corpus paral·lel per tal de detectar els punts més problemàtics amb relació a la macrostructura i microstructura del diccionari. Es tractaran els temes següents: la selecció de fraseologia inclosa, els equivalents, la informació gramatical i sintàctica, i les etiquetes de registre, entre altres. Per tal d’obtenir informació sobre l’ús real de les unitats fraseològiques i per tal d’identificar els equivalents potencials, es crea un corpus paral·lel anglès-grec basat en un grup de textos corresponents a ponències de la fundació TED. Tot i que s’han utilitzat els corpus paral·lels en diversos estudis lingüístics, fins ara el seu ús en l’elaboració dels diccionaris bilingües ha estat relativament limitat. Els resultats de l’avaluació dels diccionaris demostren que, malgrat la bona qualitat general dels diccionaris estudiats, hi ha diversos problemes i llacunes en relació amb la fraseologia, com ara un nivell pobre d’inclusió de frases, una representació insuficient d’informació gramatical, sintàctica i estilística, i una identificació d’equivalents no satisfactoris, entre altres. Basant-nos en la informació extreta del corpus paral·lel desenvolupat per a aquesta tesi, hem proposat solucions per millorar els diccionaris d’aquesta combinatòria en especial i, més generalment, que es podrien implementar en la confecció de diccionaris bilingües. El nostre objectiu és fer una proposta factible en què els diccionaris bilingües incloguessin una informació fraseològica més acurada, que es podria adoptar tant pels diccionaris bilingües generals com pels diccionaris de fraseologia.
Las unidades fraseológicas y las expresiones idiomáticas en especial constituyen una parte importante de todas las lenguas. Requieren una atención especial por parte de la Lexicografía debido a sus características y a la falta de composicionalidad de su significado. No obstante, la representación de la fraseología en los diccionarios y especialmente en los diccionarios bilingües suele ser deficiente. A pesar de que se hayan propuesto varias aproximaciones al análisis de la fraseología desde la Lingüística, la investigación en fraseología desde la perspectiva de la Lexicografía es relativamente pobre y se centra principalmente en los diccionarios monolingües. En nuestra investigación, analizamos el tratamiento de la fraseología y, muy particularmente, de las frases hechas, en diccionarios bilingües de la combinatoria lingüística inglés-griego. Proponemos analizar los principales diccionarios bilingües de esta combinatoria y utilizar datos de un corpus paralelo para detectar los puntos más problemáticos en relación con la descripción de la fraseología y en relación con la macrostructura y la microstructura del diccionario. Se tratan los siguientes temas: la selección de fraseología incluida, los equivalentes, la información gramatical i sintáctica, i las etiquetas de registre, entre otros. Para obtener información sobre el uso real de unidades fraseológicas y para identificar equivalentes potenciales, se crea un corpus paralelo inglés-griego basado en textos correspondientes a ponencias de la fundación TED. Aunque se ha utilizado los corpus paralelos en varios estudios lingüísticos, hasta la fecha su uso en la elaboración de diccionarios bilingües ha sido relativamente limitado. Los resultados de la evaluación de los diccionarios demuestran que, a pesar de la buena calidad general de los diccionarios estudiados, hay varios problemas y carencias en relación con la fraseología, como, por ejemplo, el nivel pobre de inclusión de frases, una representación insuficiente de información gramatical, sintáctica y estilística, y una identificación de equivalentes no satisfactorios, entre otros. Basándonos en la información extraída del corpus paralelo desarrollado para esta tesis, se han propuesto soluciones para mejorar los diccionarios bilingües existentes en esta combinatoria específicamente y, más generalmente, que se podrían aplicar a la confección de diccionarios bilingües. Nuestro objetivo es desarrollar una propuesta factible en la que los diccionarios bilingües incluyeran una información fraseológica más esmerada, que se podría adoptar tanto para los diccionarios bilingües generales como para los diccionarios de fraseología.

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Matsumura, Tomomi. "The Use of Evidentials in Hearsay Contexts in Japanese and English." PDXScholar, 2017. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/4153.

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Evidentials are one of the language codes that convey the speaker's beliefs in terms of the degree of reliability of information and how the speaker obtained information (Chafe, 1986; Ishida, 2006; McCready and Ogata, 2007). Evidentials play an important role in communication since they also function to show the speaker's attitude toward the interlocutors by making a sentence softer (Trent 1998). In his theory of territory of information, Kamio (1990, 1997, 2002) proposed that pragmatic rules of evidentials are different in Japanese than in English. Ishida (2006) studied these differences and argued that learners of Japanese (JF learners) face difficulties when conveying information with evidentials in Japanese. This study aimed to see how learners of Japanese as a foreign language (hereafter JF learners) use evidentials differently from Japanese native speakers by replicating Ishida's (2006) study. Discourse data, consisting of utterances produced by Japanese L1 speakers (J-speakers) in Japanese and JF learners in Japanese and English, was produced based on twelve situations where participants were instructed to convey hearsay information verbally to the specific third party. Collected productions were compared to see differences in the frequencies of evidentials, in general, and in terms of the source of information, the timing of conveyance, and the addressees. The study showed that JF learners use evidentials less frequently both in Japanese and English than J-speakers. This less frequent use of evidentials by JF learners in both languages indicates a transfer effect from English to Japanese. Additionally, a close look at each evidential use revealed other factors that might impact the speaker's choice of evidentials. This study revealed that JF learners tend to prefer to use evidentials such as soo da and to itta, while they tend to avoid using lexical evidentials such as rashii, mitai da, and yoo da which require more practice. These findings have implications for future research and for a classroom pedagogical approaches to the use of evidentials.

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Haidari, Sayed Masood. "Cooperative Learning in Afghan Teacher Training Colleges : The usage of cooperative learning in English teaching and learning." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-32144.

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Education in Afghanistan is burgeoning and new educational systems are being introduced to promote students’ learning achievement, not least in teacher training colleges (TTC). As a matter of fact, TTCs play a vital role in improving the quality of teaching and learning in schools. Therefore, the Ministry of Education has a big responsibility in increasing teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and equipping them with various learner-centred techniques. Cooperative learning (CL), which is the field of the present study, focuses on students’ social interactions in the classrooms and their learning in a cooperative manner. The Ministry of Education is dedicated to develop teachers’ knowledge, skills and attitudes as regards active learning methods in schools. CL is one way to increase students’ involvement in their own learning. This study aimed at exploring teacher educators’ and teacher-students’ perceptions about CL as wells as to investigate some CL practices in English teaching at TTCs. Two types of structured data collections tools were used in this study; questionnaires for teachers and students as well as a classroom observation form. In general, this study ended up with many interesting findings. Nearly everyone in the current study emphasized upon the importance of CL in promoting students’ English learning achievement and believed that it also improves students’ social relationships. It was also found that CL diminishes students’ language anxiety and makes them feel more comfortable when interacting with one another in group works. A certain number of CL methods were also practiced in English classrooms. In fact, the study revealed that the teachers and students in TTCs are adopting the change from conventional teaching and learning approaches to modern ones like CL, which is a positive initiative for a big change towards a productive educational system in Afghanistan. However, teacher educators still need to learn a lot about CL in order to apply it effectively in their classrooms. Their improper application of CL activities in their classes is the indicative features of their insufficient CL knowledge as well as their unfamiliarity with many other CL methods except a few.

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BARROS, KELLY CRISTINA GONCALVES. "THE PRESENCE OF PORTUGUESE IN THE WRITTEN PRODUCTION OF THE ENGLISH LEARNER: A STUDY ON WORD USAGE." PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO, 2006. http://www.maxwell.vrac.puc-rio.br/Busca_etds.php?strSecao=resultado&nrSeq=8756@1.

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COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR
A presente pesquisa se debruça sobre a produção escrita de aprendizes de inglês como língua estrangeira no Brasil. Analisam-se redações produzidas por alunos de nível intermediário e avançado, com foco em construções cuja inadequação pode ser especificamente associada o emprego do vocabulário. O objetivo geral da pesquisa é investigar a interferência do português no aprendizado do inglês como LE, com foco no emprego lexical, em modalidade escrita. Seu objetivo mais específico é testar a hipótese de que o caráter não isomórfico das relações de sentido entre línguas diferentes, no caso deste estudo, o português e o inglês, tem relação com a incidência de problemas de emprego lexical encontrados em redações de aprendizes de inglês como LE. Os resultados da análise, empreendida sobretudo com base nas proposições de Cruse (1986), Lyons (1990) e Saeed (2003), contribuem para confirmar a hipótese testada, demonstrando que os problemas lexicais em exame podem ser associados à interferência da língua materna e, mais especificamente, a discrepâncias nas relações de sentido entre o português e o inglês.
This study aims at the written production of students of English as a foreign language in Brazil. Compositions of intermediate and advanced students are analyzed with a special focus on constructions whose inadequacies may be specifically associated to vocabulary usage. The general goal of the research is to investigate the interference of Portuguese in the acquisition of English as a foreign language, with a special emphasis on lexical usage in the written modality. Its specific objective is to test the hypothesis that the non isomorphic character of sense relations between different languages − in the case of this study, Portuguese and English − is related to the incidence of lexical problems encountered in compositions of students of English as a foreign language. The results of the analysis, which was mainly grounded on the propositions of Cruse (1986), Lyons (1990) and Saeed (2003), contribute to confirm this hypothesis, demonstrating that the lexical problems being scrutinized can be associated with mother tongue interference, and, more specifically, with the discrepancies in the sense relations between Portuguese and English.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'English usage'

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