bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Kinetics and Mechanism of Oxidation of d-Penicillamine in Acidified Bromate and Aqueous Bromine
Authors: Chipiso Kudzanai , Simoyi Reuben H.
Published: July 2016

The oxidation of the biologically active compound d-penicillamine (Depen) by acidic bromate has been studied. The stoichiometry of the reaction is strictly 1 : 1, in which Depen is oxidized only as far as the sulfonic acid with no cleavage of the C–S bond to yield sulfate. Electrospray ionization spectroscopy shows that Depen is oxidized through addition of oxygen atoms on the sulfur centre to successively yield sulfenic and sulfinic acids before the product sulfonic acid. In conditions of excess Depen over the oxidant, sulfenic acid was not observed. Instead, nearly quantitative formation of the dimer was obtained. The dimer, which is the d-penicillamine disulfide species, was formed from a reaction of the putative highly electrophilic sulfenic acid with unreacted Depen in a condensation-type reaction and not through a radical-mediated pathway. Further oxidation of the dimer is slow because it is the most stable intermediate in the oxidation of Depen. In excess oxidant conditions, negligible dimer formation is observed. The reaction of bromine with Depen gives a stoichiometry of 3 : 1 with the same sulfonic acid product. This reaction is so fast that it is essentially diffusion controlled. Our stopped-flow instrument could not capture the oxidation by the first 2 moles of bromine, only the section of the reaction in which the sulfinic acid is oxidized to sulfonic acid.
Phenotyping oilseed rape growth-related traits and their responses to water deficit: the disturbing pot size effect
Authors: Dambreville Anaëlle , Griolet Mélanie , Rolland Gaëlle , Dauzat Myriam , Bédiée Alexis , Balsera Crispulo , Muller Bertrand , Vile Denis , Granier Christine
Published: July 2016

Following the recent development of high-throughput phenotyping platforms for plant research, the number of individual plants grown together in a same experiment has raised, sometimes at the expense of pot size. However, root restriction in excessively small pots affects plant growth and carbon partitioning, and may interact with other stresses targeted in these experiments. In work reported here, we investigated the interactive effects of pot size and soil water deficit on multiple growth-related traits from the cellular to the whole-plant scale in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). The effects of pot size on responses to water deficit and allometric relationships revealed strong, multilevel interactions between pot size and watering regime. Notably, water deficit increased the root : shoot ratio in large pots, but not in small pots. At the cellular scale, water deficit decreased epidermal leaf cell area in large pots, but not in small pots. These results were consistent with changes in the level of endoreduplication factor in leaf cells. Our study illustrates the disturbing interaction of pot size with water deficit and raises the need to carefully consider this factor in the frame of the current development of high-throughput phenotyping experiments.
Cancer screening education: can it change knowledge and attitudes among culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Queensland, Australia?
Authors: Cullerton Katherine , Gallegos Danielle , Ashley Ella , Do Hong , Voloschenko Anna , Fleming MaryLou , Ramsey Rebecca , Gould Trish
Published: July 2016

Issue addressed

Screening for cancer of the cervix, breast and bowel can reduce morbidity and mortality. Low participation rates in cancer screening have been identified among migrant communities internationally. Attempting to improve low rates of cancer screening, the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland developed a pilot Cancer Screening Education Program for breast, bowel and cervical cancer. This study determines the impact of education sessions on knowledge, attitudes and intentions to participate in screening for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities living in Brisbane, Queensland.

Methods

Seven CALD groups (Arabic‐speaking, Bosnian, South Asian (including Indian and Bhutanese), Samoan and Pacific Island, Spanish‐speaking, Sudanese and Vietnamese) participated in a culturally‐tailored cancer screening education pilot program that was developed using the Health Belief Model. A pre‐ and post‐education evaluation session measured changes in knowledge, attitudes and intention related to breast, bowel and cervical cancer and screening. The evaluation focussed on perceived susceptibility, perceived seriousness and the target population's beliefs about reducing risk by cancer screening.

Results

There were 159 participants in the three cancer screening education sessions. Overall participants' knowledge increased, some attitudes toward participation in cancer screening became more positive and intent to participate in future screening increased (n = 146).

Conclusion

These results indicate the importance of developing screening approaches that address the barriers to participation among CALD communities and that a culturally‐tailored education program is effective in improving knowledge, attitudes about and intentions to participate in cancer screening.

So what?

It is important that culturally‐tailored programs are developed in conjunction with communities to improve health outcomes.
Student expectations of TESOL Programs
Authors: Bordia Sarbari , Wales Lynn , Pittam Jeffery , Gallois Cindy
Published: July 2016

Most practitioners teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) will agree that students come with some expectations about course content and teaching methodology and that these expectations play a vital role in student motivation and learning. However, the study of student expectations has been a surprising omission from Second Language Acquisition research. In the studies reported here, we develop a model of student expectations by adapting the Expectation Disconfirmation paradigm, widely used in consumer psychology. Student and teacher perspectives on student expectations were gathered by interviews. Responses shed light on the nature of expectations, factors causing expectations and effects of expectation fulfilment (or lack of it). The findings provide new avenues for research on affective factors as well as clarify some ambiguities in motivational research in second language acquisition. The model presented here can be used by teachers or institutions to conduct classroom-based research, thus optimising students’ learning and performance, and enhancing student morale.
Online reading strategy guidance in a Foreign Language
Authors: Bouvet Eric , Close Elizabeth
Published: July 2016

This paper reports on an online guided reading program designed and developed by the authors, and implemented in class conditions. The program allows students to read a short story from a computer screen and obtain immediate support, in the form of suggested problem-solving strategies designed to help them overcome the lexical and grammatical difficulties commonly encountered by intermediate language students, at local text level, during the reading process. Based on the analysis of case studies of readers, the chief objective of this study is to gauge the pedagogical relevance of the guided reading program and suggest that it facilitates intermediate language students’ first encounters with literary texts.
Variation in Swedish address practices
Authors: Norrby Catrin Elisabeth
Published: July 2016

This article explores variation in address in contemporary Swedish in Sweden-Swedish and Finland-Swedish. The research is part of a large-scale Australian project on changes in the address systems of French, German and Swedish. The present article focuses on results from 72 social network interviews conducted in Sweden (Gothenburg) and Finland (Vaasa). Both quantitative results (questionnaire part) and qualitative results (interview part) are presented. The findings suggest that the V pronoun of address –ni– is gradually disappearing in both national varieties. This tendency is clearly stronger in Sweden-Swedish; in spoken Sweden-Swedish V hardly exists any more, except for a controversial re-entry in communication between the young and middleaged and the very old in service encounters (c.f. Mårtensson 1986). Furthermore the results indicate that there is considerable variation between written (impersonal) and spoken Sweden-Swedish with a much higher acceptance for the V pronoun in written, impersonal contexts. The study demonstrates that national variation is considerable with much more use of V in Finland-Swedish.
Pronouns of address in Western Ukrainian
Authors: Weissenböck Maria
Published: July 2016

This article examines the current usage of terms of address in the Western Ukrainian variety of the Ukrainian language. It investigates the use of pronominal (ty– intimate form; [Vy– polite, distant form) and nominal forms of address (such as first name, father’s name, surname, title,pan/pani(Mr/Mrs),tovaryš(Comrade) etc.) in Western Ukrainian, as well as strategies to avoid direct address, through quantitative (questionnaires) and qualitative (oral discussion) data. The data were analysed using both descriptive and interpretive methods. A set of factors that determine address choice in Ukrainian was isolated and a model was developed which reflects the hierarchical relationships and mutual influences between these factors. The factors were divided into key factors (age, style of upbringing, personal value system, gender, and political convictions) and factors of interaction (relative age, relative status, setting, social distance, and kinship). Combining different address habits and the weight of pragmatic factors in the choice of address forms, the analysis demonstrates that two tendencies currently exist. Some people are traditionalists who adhere to fairly conservative patterns of address, whereas others are brought up more liberally and tend to have a more relaxed attitude towards the choice of address terms.
Missing me and Msing the other
Authors: Winter Joanne , Pauwels Anne
Published: July 2016

The introduction and spread ofMsas the courtesy address title for women is a cornerstone of feminist linguistic planning for English. Its introduction aimed to eradicate the discriminatory inequity in the address system that exposed women through their (non)marital relationship with men. The understanding, use and impact of the courtesy title are fairly well documented, particularly for Englishes of Australia (e.g. Pauwels 1987; 1998; 2001; 2003), US and Britain (Romaine 2001) and New Zealand (Holmes 2001). We have little knowledge of the form’s spread, impact and use by speakers for whom English is not the dominant language but forms part of their linguistic repertoire. Graddol (1997) argues that English-speaking bilinguals will outnumber first language speakers and, ‘increasingly will decide the global future of the language’ (p.10). Such contexts of English – second / third / foreign – usage loosely align with locales Kachru (1997) identified as ‘expanding circles’, and to some extent, many of the ‘outer circle’ Englishes, e.g. Hong Kong. In this paper we take up a new direction in feminist language planning: the exploration of courtesy title use and practices by English-speaking mono-/bi-/multilingual women around the world. We draw upon online survey data (available fromhttp://www.teagirl.arts.uwa.edu.au/) to probe respondents’ strategies for addressing unknown women, as well as women’s use of courtesy titles for themselves. Our mapping of practices associated withMsreveals an unexpected pattern of diffusion with implications for evaluating planned social language change. In relation toMs, the implementation of feminist linguistic policy does not cohere with a pattern of spread from inner to outer to expanding ‘circles’ of English or from ‘first language speaker’ to … ‘foreign language speaker’ diffusion. The locale and personal contexts associated with education, awareness and personal commitment to gender equity interact in complicating, and surprising ways. Indeed our research exposes a new directionality forMsas a preferred form for unknown women, without necessarily implicating its use in self-naming for many bilingual women resident in ‘outer circle’ locales.
Our (not so) polyglot pollies
Authors: Lo Bianco Joseph
Published: July 2016

The present article reports on research conducted during late 2004 on the language abilities of Australia’s parliamentarians and a parliamentary debate in 2005 on languages in Australia. A small questionnaire was administered to all members of the nine legislative structures of Australia comprising six states, two territories and the one Federal parliament. This is the first such survey in Australia. While the response rate was uneven, from good to poor, the survey does shed light on the range and number of languages other than English spoken by Australia’s parliamentary representatives, where their language capabilities were gained, how proficient they estimate themselves to be, and in what settings their language skills are used. The paper includes a comparison between these Australian data and equivalent, though slightly less sketchy, data from the UK. The article concludes with the text and debate of a recent private members’ bill on languages and makes comments on the responses in light of the language abilities of the parliamentarians.
Exploring the acquisition of German Verb Morphology by instructed learners
Authors: Boss Bettina
Published: July 2016

Research into the acquisition of L2 German word order has provided strong evidence for a sequence of incremental stages of development. Studies of the acquisition of German verb morphology so far have focused on establishing a correlation between the acquisition of word order and of verb morphology, neglecting the question how verb morphology per se is acquired. This article discusses the latter question on the basis of a qualitative analysis of longitudinal written data produced by 15 anglophone university students. It confirms some of the results of earlier studies involving tutored learners of German, such as Pienemann (1987) and Diehl et al. (2000), and provides evidence for a sequence of acquisition, as well as for a more holistic development for certain verb classes. Although most of the subjects produce perfect tense before preterite, the article suggests that teaching the preterite before the perfect tense may be feasible. It also draws attention to the importance of morphosyntactic features affecting subject-verb agreement, and calls for more research in that area.
Antecedents and consequences of TESOL student expectations
Authors: Bordia Sarbari , Wales Lynn , Gallois Cindy , Pittam Jeffery
Published: July 2016

Affective variables can help understand differences in student performance. This paper presents student expectations as an affective variable that has so far received little research attention. Students have expectations from educational providers, the fulfilment of which can create a positive learning environment leading to better performance. This study investigates students’ expectations from programs, the sources of these expectations and the outcomes of unmet expectations. A questionnaire was administered to learners of English as an additional language (n=65) in Brisbane, Australia. Factor analyses were conducted, and the results indicated that expectations are affected by levels of competitiveness, the educational and cultural gap between the home country and Australia, future orientation, and social value in the homeland. Unmet expectations affect performance, emotions, learning behaviour and cause rebelliousness. Followup interviews of teachers (n=10) at the same institutions were conducted to validate the results of the study. Students are likely to exhibit poorer performance and experience negative affective outcomes, thus hindering learning, if expectations are unmet. They may consider changing institutions and providing negative recommendations to prospective students. This research extends the understanding of affective variables in second language acquisition and has practical implications for educational providers.
The effects of music, relaxation and suggestion on tertiary students’ affect and achievement in learning Japanese as a Foreign Language
Authors: Shimbo Kuninori
Published: July 2016

This study investigates the effects of the three major factors of Suggestopedia – music, relaxation and suggestion – on the students’ affect and development of communicative competence in tertiary Japanese language classes. A review of literature on Suggestopedia, the original form of Accelerated Learning (AL), shows that its effects are controversial, surrounded by misunderstanding and lack of appropriate evaluation. There is a need to clarify the nature of AL and the effects of its factors. Two existing classes were randomly assigned as a control group (n= 29) and an experimental group (n= 25). This quasi-experimental study lasted for 12 weeks with 3 stages of 4 weeks each. The results oft-tests showed that there existed no major significant differences between the two groups. When differences between each stage were examined carefully, however, it was found that self-concept increased significantly with the introduction of suggestion. The findings did not support the general claims that AL has positive effects on language learning, but it was found that among the three independent variables suggestion influenced students’ affect positively. The finding implies that the teacher’s positive messages are powerful tools to enhance students’ affect in learning a foreign language.
Motivational and cultural correlates of second language acquisition
Authors: Yu Baohua , Watkins David A.
Published: July 2016

The present study investigates the relationships among motivational factors, cultural correlates and second language proficiency. The participants, from both Western and Asian backgrounds, were learning Chinese at university level in the People’s Republic of China. 115 students (35 Western students and 80 Asian students) ranging from beginning to advanced levels of proficiency were surveyed.

The results of the study indicated that the degree of integrativeness into Chinese culture and motivation was significantly and positively related to Chinese language proficiency, while language anxiety was significantly and negatively correlated to such proficiency. However instrumental orientation was found to have no statistically significant relationship with such proficiency. Multiple regression analysis indicated that integrativeness and gender were major variables predicting Chinese language proficiency. Significant differences between Western and Asian student groups were found in terms of motivational variables and Chinese language proficiency. Compared with the Asian student group, the Western student group tended to perform better in spoken Chinese proficiency as evaluated by their teachers and seemed to have higher levels of motivation and integrativeness but lower levels of instrumental orientation and language anxiety. Recommendations are made to enhance motivation and second language acquisition.
Code choice in Hong Kong
Authors: Yee Ho Judy Woon
Published: July 2016

China resumed its sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997. Since then drastic changes in this former British colony have occurred. One of these changes is a shift in language policy, from bilingualism (Cantonese and English) to trilingualism (Cantonese, English and Putonghua). The present study is aimed at investigating tertiary students’ use of Cantonese, English and Putonghua on a daily basis, analysing the roles and functions of each language and discussing how these may impact on language policy and language education.

Research instruments included 52 students’ language diaries and written analyses, 51 hours of audio-recordings of verbal exchanges, and focus group semi-structured interviews. Results show that the students’ speech repertoire mainly consists of two languages: Cantonese and English and their various mixes. Cantonese is used to ensure understanding, consolidate solidarity and maintain social cohesion. The English-Cantonese mix has become a more powerful identity marker for educated people in Hong Kong than pure Cantonese. English and its supplement with Cantonese are often used in the domain of education. The majority of students seldom use Putonghua in everyday life, but there is a strong instrumental motivation to learn it. Measures are suggested to facilitate a more successful move from bilingualism to trilingualism.
Effects of learner background on the development of writing skills in Japanese as a second language
Authors: Iwashita Noriko , Sekiguchi Sachiyo
Published: July 2016

The paper presents preliminary findings of a project which investigated whether learner background, in terms of instruction mode (i.e., school or intensive first-year course at university) and first language (i.e., character based or non-character based), has an impact on the development of writing skills in Japanese as a second language (JSL). Many students in second-year Japanese at university are post-secondary (i.e., they completed Year 12 Japanese at school). They are in class with students who started Japanese at university (i.e., are post-beginners). The intensity of instruction that the two groups have received is very different. A large number of the students learning Japanese at tertiary institutions in Australia are also native speakers of character-based languages (e.g., Chinese). Although there is a substantial volume of studies comparing the effects of instruction mode on L2 development, little is known of how instruction mode and L1 background together may affect L2 development in adult L2 learning settings. The data for the present study include writing samples collected on two occasions from 34 students from a variety of backgrounds. The samples were analysed in terms of length, grammatical complexity and schematic structures, use of kanji (Chinese characters), and vocabulary. The results were compared in terms of study experience and first language. In general, the performance of post-beginner learners from character-based language backgrounds was higher on kanji use and a few other areas, but their superior performance was derived from the interaction of two background factors (L1 and study background). The results show complexity in how different backgrounds affect L2 writing task performance. The study has strong pedagogical implications for teaching a character-based language to students from diverse study backgrounds.
Review of (2007)Review article of Chryssoula Lascaratou’s the language of pain
Authors: Sussex Roland
Published: July 2016

Studies of the language we use to talk about pain – “pain language” – have hitherto been mainly confined to medical disciplines, and there has been little research in the literature in linguistics and applied linguistics. The appearance of a major new study on pain language, Chryssoula Lascaratou’sThe language of pain, presents an opportunity for a review of the book in the context of an overview of this highly complex inter-disciplinary field. The quantitative, word-based MsGill Pain Questionnaire is summarized as a diagnostic instrument from the point of view of language, and compared to Lascaratou’s corpus-based investigation of the use of pain language in Modern Greek conversations between doctors and patients. The focus of this research is on the lexicogrammatical structuring of pain language, and the representation of pain in terms of cognitive metaphors.
Persistence in Japanese Language study and learners’ cultural/linguistic backgrounds
Authors: dummy contact - do not alter ZZZ
Published: July 2016

Motivational characteristics of students learning Japanese as a foreign language at universities in Australia were investigated to find out what affecting factors are closely related to their intentions for continuing/discontinuing their study. The results showed that students’ cultural/linguistic backgrounds have a significant impact on their performance in learning the language, and sustaining motivation, which is closely related to their interest in aspects of Japanese culture, is an important determinant for persistence in their study. Developing intrinsic cultural interest is an important factor for sustaining motivation, which is more likely to occur when learners have distant cultural/linguistic backgrounds from Japanese. Closer cultural/linguistic backgrounds, on the other hand, may become hazardous for having accurate self-efficacy.
Zagreb and Tenerife
Authors: Cookson Simon
Published: July 2016

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is currently implementing a program to improve the language proficiency of pilots and air traffic controllers worldwide. In justifying the program, ICAO has cited a number of airline accidents that were at least partly caused by language factors. Two accidents cited by ICAO are analysed in this paper: the mid-air collision above Zagreb in 1976, and the runway collision at Tenerife in 1977. The paper examines the linguistic factors involved in each accident, such as code switching and L1 interference, and uses the ‘Swiss cheese’ model of accident causation developed by Reason (1990) and adapted by Wiegmann and Shappell (2003) to put these factors into a broader aviation context. It is shown that, while linguistic factors were in each case significant, both accidents occurred as the result of multiple causal factors, many of which were non-linguistic. Furthermore, stress and fatigue played a decisive role in exacerbating the linguistic factors in each accident. Finally, the paper suggests lessons that may be drawn from the analysis for the training of pilots and air traffic controllers, both nativespeaker and non native-speaker.
Australian applied linguistics in relation to international trends
Authors: Baldauf Richard B. , Kaplan Robert B.
Published: July 2016

Applied Linguistics is a diverse field, comprising a substantial number of sub-fields, sub-specialisations and related fields. To see that this is the case one need only examine the various hand- books and encyclopaedic references that have been published in the last ten years to see the wide range of topics that have been covered. As with many professional areas in academia, Applied Linguistics is organised around national organisations, with its international structure being a loose confederation known as the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA). Given these diverse academic and structural arrangements, it should not be surprising if academics within different national associations were to cluster around different interests within the field. This study explores the question of what emphases are found in various parts of the world in Applied Linguistics, and in particular, the relationship of Australian Applied Linguistics to international trends using a structural text analysis of abstracts related to Applied Linguistics as well as an historical review of the trends involved.
What’s in a name?
Authors: Murray Neil , Crichton Jonathan
Published: July 2016

In this paper we explore the provision of applied linguistics within Australian universities. We focus on how the ‘what’ of applied linguistics, as captured in scholarly definitions of the discipline, accords with the ‘where’, as captured in potential contexts of application as these are manifested in provision. In doing so, we examine the extent of any congruence or divergence between how applied linguistics is understood in the abstract and how it is realised in degree programs. Our findings, based an analysis of data collected via a survey of university websites, suggest that while the rhetoric around course offerings may suggest a wider view of the discipline, the content of applied linguistics programs generally reflects a narrower interpretation which aligns closely with observations often made as caveats to scholarly definitions and sees English language teaching as predominant
Investigating the effect of contextual clues on the processing of unfamiliar words in second language listening comprehension
Authors: Cai Wei , Lee Benny P.H.
Published: July 2016

This study examines the effect of contextual clues on the use of strategies (inferencing and ignoring) and knowledge sources (semantics, morphology, world knowledge, and others) for processing unfamiliar words in listening comprehension. Three types of words were investigated: words with local co-text clues, global co-text clues and extra-textual clues. Data were collected from 20 participants using the procedures of immediate retrospection without recall support and of stimulated recall. The results indicate that contextual clues are an important factor in learners’ treatment of unfamiliar words in listening comprehension. Contrary to what some theories of inference generation predict, this study reveals that learners use the inferencing strategy more frequently for words with global co-text clues and words with extratextual clues than for words with local co-text clues. In terms of the use of knowledge sources for inferring word meaning, the learners in this study use the knowledge sources in accordance with the different types of contextual clues.
Acquisition of L2 english morphology
Authors: Zhang Yanyin , Widyastuti Ima
Published: July 2016

This study investigates the status of morphology in the L2 English of three members of a family from Indonesia (parents and their 5-year-old daughter) who have lived, studied or worked in Australia for a year. The investigation is contextualized against various learning settings in which the informants have learned English: formal instruction in the foreign language environment, naturalistic learning in the target language setting, and a mixture of formal and naturalistic learning in the target language environment. Following the developmental hierarchy for English morphology (Pienemann, 2005; Bettoni and Di Biase, forthcoming) and analytical procedures in Processability Theory (Pienemann, 1998, 2005), we found the informants were at different stages of L2 English morphology, with the father being the most advanced and the daughter the least. We also found a systematic developmental profile of each informant in line with the developmental hierarchy for English morphology. Both findings are discussed with reference to the developmental sequences and the role of learning settings in SLA.
Crossing borders
Authors: Rajadurai Joanne
Published: July 2016

This paper reports on a study of Malay learners of English in Malaysia as they attempt to extend their use of English outside the classroom and thus participate in new linguistic practices. Using a multiple case study approach, the study examines the narrative accounts of learners generated through student journals and focus group discussions. These are stories of conflict, tension, negotiation, and renewal as these aspiring bilinguals use English to contest language boundaries, transform social and linguistic resources, and express new identities. The analysis offers insights into how the norms of language choice and use are generated, preserved and changed, how language ideologies lend value to particular linguistic practices and stigmatise others, and what the consequences are of these practices in the lives and identities of people and the community as a whole.
Processability approach to Arabic L2 teaching and syllabus design
Authors: Al Shatter Ghassan
Published: July 2016

This study aims to identify the relationship between the developmental hierarchy in the acquisition of Arabic as a second language (Arabic L2) and formal classroom instruction. It provides a general presentation of the current debate on the influence of formal instruction in the acquisition of L2. Special attention is given to the subset of Processability Theory (PT) known as Teachability Theory, and its implications for teaching methods of L2 in general and Arabic L2 in particular. This study also provides descriptive information on teaching objectives and materials used by the participants to study Arabic L2. This information is presented in order to establish an explanation for the connection between the formal teaching of Arabic L2 and the processability hierarchy. Participants were nine students studying Arabic as a second language at the Australian National University (three Beginners, three Intermediates, and three Advanced). Interviews were conducted over a period of two teaching semesters during the year 2005. Both implicational and distributional analyses were conducted. The results of these analyses show that teachers and curriculum developers should consider the PT’s predicted developmental stages for Arabic L2 structures when developing teaching materials and syllabus.
Listening between the lines
Authors: Fraser Catriona , Kelly Barbara F.
Published: July 2016

This paper investigates the effect of listener attitudes on the ability to understand a foreign (non-Australian) accent. The research focuses on individual listener characteristics, such as attitude and frequency of contact with accented speakers, rather than speech production. Data was collected through a web-based survey and analysis employed both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Correlation was found between a negative attitude toward other ethnicities and ability to correctly transcribe foreign-accented speech, with a stronger correlation between a negative attitude and comprehensibility. Qualitative analysis of participant comments highlighted discrepancies in attitude testing methods and indicated that an accent can inspire many assumptions, the most common being that foreign-accented speakers have a lower level of education than Australian-accented speakers. The results suggest that future research in this area should always try to account for individual participant characteristics.
En Français s’il vous plaît
Authors: White Erin , Storch Neomy
Published: July 2016

This longitudinal study investigated teachers’ use of the first language (L1) in two French foreign language (FL) intermediate level classes at two Australian universities. A native French-speaking teacher (NS) and a non-native French-speaking teacher (NNS) were observed and audio-recorded approximately every two weeks over a 12- week semester. The study investigated the quantity of L1 used, the purposes it served, and whether these changed over time. It also investigated possible factors that explain teachers’ L1 use, including teachers’ attitudes towards the L1 use. The study found consistently more L1 use by the NNS than the NS, but that over time the use of L1 by the NS teacher increased. The L1 served a variety of purposes, most notably explanations of vocabulary and of tasks. However, towards the end of the semester, there was a marked increase in the use of L1 by both teachers for the purpose of general administration. The interview data show that use of L1 was related to the teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and goals and these together with context-specific factors determined L1 use. The findings are discussed in terms of how to establish guidelines concerning appropriate levels of L1 use in FL classes.
Social identity and sound change
Authors: Liu Guo-Qiang
Published: July 2016

Research has shown that language change is driven on one hand by forces internal to language itself such as grammar-internal systematic pressure, and on the other hand by social motives such as social identity. Language contact presents new features, but why is it that some of them are incorporated as variation and evolving into language change, while others are not? This paper reports a study on a sound change in Shanghainese, a dialect of the Chinese language. Data were collected in natural contexts of conversation followed by a brief interview with informants to gain identity related information about them. It has found that previously negative perception of status attached to a new sound induced by language/dialect contact changed into a positive perception, and people started to identify positively with this new sound. Further, there were differences in various different age and gender groups in taking up the new sound. As a result, this sound has evolved from a nonnative alternative to a systematic variation and it is being established as a sound change. This study has thus further confirmed that social identity plays a pivotal role in driving language features into language variation and language change.
Documenting the diversity of learner achievements in Asian languages using common measures
Authors: Elder Catherine , Kim Hyejeong , Knoch Ute
Published: July 2016

While there have been a number of studies exploring the impact of time-on-task and language background on language achievement for both English and other languages, the Student Achievement in Asian Languages Education (SAALE) project constitutes the first systematic attempt to gather empirical evidence of these effects for four Asian languages (Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese and Korean) in Australian schools. The paper focuses on the approach adopted to measure and exemplify the diverse nature of learner achievements in the context of concern. This approach involved a) the gathering of information about the language background and prior learning experience of the study’s participants in order to establish learner sub-groups for subsequent analysis, b) the use of common assessment procedures at each level of schooling to compare levels of achievement across learner sub-groups and c) the analysis of samples of each sub-group’s performance by teams of teacher experts to develop rich descriptions of achievement reflecting the different dimensions of diversity relevant to each language.

The paper outlines the methodology adopted for the study, and reports briefly on the overall findings, Particular attention is paid to the challenges encountered in undertaking the research and to the further efforts that are needed to build on the project outcomes.
Native speaker and nonnative speaker identities in repair practices of English conversation
Authors: Bae Eun Young , Oh Sun-Young
Published: July 2016

Within the theoretical and methodological framework of Conversation Analysis, the present study explores the nature of the native speaker (NS) and nonnative speaker (NNS) identities in repair practices of English conversation. It has identified and analyzed in detail repair sequences in the data and has also conducted quantitative analyses in order to investigate the relationship between NS/NNS identities and repair practices. The results show that the categories of NS and NNS identities are social products that are invoked during and through the participants’ ongoing interaction. First of all, the participants did not invariably make their NS/NNS identities relevant to their repair work; specifically, more than half of the repair practices were irrelevant to these identities. Secondly, when the participants’ NS/NNS identities were made relevant to repair, both the NS and the NNS participants initiated repair in order to solve interactional problems that had resulted from the NNS participants’ insufficient linguistic abilities. The participants’ orientation to their NS/NNS identities was frequently triggered by the NNS participants’ repair-initiation while the NS participants invoked these linguistic identities only in a limited range of interactional environments. The findings of this study provide a further empirical basis for arguing the importance of an emic approach to NS-NNS interactions and the potential to learn new vocabulary through repair.
Everywhere and nowhere
Authors: Sellwood Juanita , Angelo Denise
Published: July 2016

The language ecologies of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Queensland are characterised by widespread language shift to contact language varieties, yet they remain largely invisible in discourses involving Indigenous languages and education. This invisibility – its various causes and its many implications – are explored through a discussion of two creoles which developed in Queensland: Yumplatok (formerly Torres Strait Creole) and Yarrie Lingo. Although both are English-lexified and originate in Queensland, they represent different histories and different trajectories of awareness and recognition. The Yumplatok discussion emphasises issues arising from speakers’ own attitudes, including Sellwood’s own lived experiences. The Yarrie Lingo discussion highlights issues arising from its creole–lexifier relationship with (Standard Australian) English. Finally, this paper examines a recently published government language report, highlighting the ways that Indigenous creoles are marginalised: this marginalisation exacerbates their invisibility in mainstream discourse.
Aboriginal English
Authors: Malcolm Ian G.
Published: July 2016

Aboriginal English has been documented in widely separated parts of Australia and, despite some stylistic and regional variation, is remarkably consistent across the continent, and provides a vehicle for the common expression of Aboriginal identity. There is, however, some indeterminacy in the way in which the term is used in much academic and public discourse. There are diverse assumptions as to its relation to pidgin, creole and interlanguage varieties, as well as to Australian English.

In an attempt to provide some clarification, this paper compares Aboriginal English with the main varieties with which it bears some relationship, either historically (as in the case of the English of Southeast England and Ireland) or geographically (as in the case of Australian English and Australian pidgins and creoles). It does this by employing the morphosyntactic database of the World Atlas of Varieties of English (Kortmann & Lunkenheimer, 2012).

The electronic database on morphosyntactic variation in varieties of spoken English (eWAVE) isolates 235 variable features and enables their relative prevalence to be compared across varieties. A comparison of Aboriginal English with six relevant varieties on this database leads to the view that it retains significant influence from the English varieties of Southeast England and of Ireland, in many ways not shared with Australian English and that it has a great deal more feature overlap with Australian creoles than with Australian English, though a significant percentage of its features is shared only with other English varieties rather than creoles. The findings support the view that Aboriginal English is an English variety of post-creole origin, though not a creole, and that it is not directly related to Australian English. In the light of these findings, it is argued that Aboriginal English speakers will be disadvantaged in an education system which assumes that they are speakers of Australian English.

In the light of these findings, it is argued that Aboriginal English speakers will be disadvantaged in an education system whichassumes that they are speakers of Australian English.
Cinderella’s coach or just another pumpkin? Information communication technologies and the continuing marginalisation of languages in Australian schools
Authors: Norris Lindy , Coutas Penelope
Published: July 2016

The rhetoric around global connectedness and advances in information communication technologies (ICTs) suggests that: Professional life for the marginalised and isolated language teacher should beeasier; the experience of language learners in Australian schools should be more meaningful andbring them closer to the languages and communities that they are studying; and collectively thisshould be empowering for students and teachers and, in turn, empower the languages learning areawith respect to its status and place within the curriculum. This paper examines these assumptionsthrough a qualitative multiple case study investigation of the use of information communicationtechnologies (ICTs) in secondary school language classes. The study explores the perceptions andexperiences of early adolescent language learners and those of their teachers. It also identifies andexamines a range of contextual factors that both complicate and nuance the technology andlanguages learning nexus. The findings of the study question the assumption of “automaticity”associated with ICTs and an enhanced/improved language learning experience for all those involved.This study finds that experience with technologies can impact negatively on both learners andteachers. This, in turn, can have an adverse influence on perceptions about languages and theirstatus in schools. At a time when schools are investing heavily in information communicationtechnologies, and when they are having to manage the introduction of the Australian Curriculum:Languages, the findings of this study serve to highlight the place of the “critical” in terms of languagesin Australian schools.
Dynamic development of complexity and accuracy
Authors: Rosmawati R.
Published: July 2016

This paper reports on the development of complexity and accuracy in English as a Second Language (ESL) academic writing. Although research into complexity and accuracy development in second language (L2) writing has been well established, few studies have assumed the multidimensionality of these two constructs (Norris & Ortega, 2009) or endeavoured to make long-term observations on the course of their development (Vyatkina, 2012). Given that recent research in the field of Second Language Acquisition has moved towards a more holistic perspective on language learning and development (Larsen-Freeman, 2011, 2012), there is a need to consider the potential dynamics of the longitudinal development of these constructs in L2 writing.

This study addresses this issue by exploring the dynamic unfolding of complexity and accuracy development in the academic writing of an advanced L2 learner during her postgraduate study in Australia. The results suggested that both complexity and accuracy displayed the characteristics of a dynamic system and their development was highly variable, non-linear, and idiosyncratic. Their interaction, too, was dynamic and changed over time. The findings in this study confirm and substantiate the Dynamic Systems Theory (DST) proposition of L2 developmental dynamics, including the development of L2 academic writing.
Investigating teachers’ written corrective feedback practices in a Saudi EFL context
Authors: Alshahrani Abdulaziz , Storch Neomy
Published: July 2016

In recent years there have been a growing number of studies on written corrective feedback (WCF), particularly in terms of the efficacy of different types of WCF. However, few of these studies have investigated what shapes teachers’ WCF practices and how they align with students’ preferences. This study, conducted with staff and students in a large Saudi university that has strict guidelines on WCF provision, examined the teachers’ WCF practices in relation to the institutional guidelines, their own beliefs about the most effective forms of WCF as well as their students’ preferences. Data collected included the feedback given by three teachers on their students’ writing (15 students per teacher), follow-up interviews with the teachers, and questionnaires completed by the students. The study found that although the teachers followed the strict guidelines and provided comprehensive indirect feedback, these practices did not always accord with their beliefs. Most of the WCF given tended to be on mechanics, and the teachers seemed unaware that this was the main focus of their feedback. They were also largely unaware that their students preferred direct feedback and mainly on grammar. We conclude our paper with some policy recommendations.