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Purpose: Findings from previous speech production research suggest that the nature of phonological planning units is language-specific, with phonemes as the planning units in Dutch and English but syllables in Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese. However, little is known about how multilingual speakers possessing languages with distinctive phonological planning units plan for their speech. This study was conducted to investigate the roles of syllable and phoneme in Cantonese (L1) and English (L2) production among Cantonese–English bilinguals. Design: A picture version of the form-preparation task was employed, where participants named aloud (in their L1 and L2) small sets of pictures repeatedly. The names of the pictures in a set either shared the same word-initial syllable, word-initial phoneme, or were unrelated. Participants' L1 and L2 proficiencies were measured. Data and analysis: 53 Cantonese–English bilinguals participated. The naming latency data were submitted for linear mixed effects modeling analyses. Findings: Significant priming effects on naming latency, relative to an unrelated control, were found when the response words shared the same word-initial syllable but null effects were found when they shared merely the same word-initial phoneme in both L1 and L2 production. Critically, in L2 English production, a significant negative association was observed between the size of syllable priming and the participant's English vocabulary size. Furthermore, significant English phonemic priming was observed among the participants higher in spoken English proficiency but not among the lower proficiency counterparts. Originality: This study provides clear evidence showing the multifaceted effects of L2 proficiency on L2 phonological planning using a picture naming task. Significance: The present findings indicate the significant impact of L1 on L2 phonological planning. Yet, this L1-to-L2 influence would be modulated in different ways by the different aspects of one's L2 proficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractCollaborative dialogue is an important method for improving English as a Foreign Language (EFL) oral proficiency and reducing foreign language anxiety, but it is often influenced by the proficiency level of peers and whether they are native English speakers. With the support of artificial intelligence and automatic speech recognition language synthesis technology, Large Language Models (LLMs) have the potential to enhance EFL oral proficiency and reduce foreign language anxiety. However, there is limited empirical research on the impact of Large Language Models on EFL oral proficiency and foreign language anxiety. This study recruited 83 freshmen from China to participate in a 4-week LLM-assisted English oral proficiency learning activity, employing a randomized controlled trial. Participants’ oral proficiency, foreign language anxiety, willingness to communicate in English, and self-efficacy were assessed before and after the intervention. The results indicated that the LLM (GPT-4) significantly enhanced their oral proficiency. Furthermore, it significantly increased participants’ willingness to communicate orally in English and their self-efficacy, while significantly reducing foreign language anxiety. Semi-structured interview analysis revealed learners’ positive attitudes towards using LLM and their willingness to continue using them in the future but also highlighted occasional deviations from topics and feedback delays due to network speed during conversations, which influenced participants’ experiences to some extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-word expressions (MWEs) serve as vital indicators of language development and have been a primary focus in second language acquisition research. The use of MWEs in spoken discourse, however, remains relatively under-explored. To address this gap, this study aims to investigate the current status and developmental features of MWE use in spoken English by Chinese learners of English across three proficiency levels based on Nattinger and DeCarricos' classification framework of MWEs. A comparative analysis of MWE usage patterns across these groups yields two key findings: (1) The overall proficiency in using MWEs is relatively low, marked by an imbalance and inaccuracy in MWE types. Specifically, learners exhibit minimal use of "polywords" and "institutionalised expressions" within the structural dimension, and "discourse devices" and "social interactions" within the functional dimension. Moreover, learners demonstrate a high error rate across various MWE types. (2) Although the overall proficiency in using MWEs shows no significant improvement across the three levels, an upward trend is observed in the usage of overall tokens, types, and various categories of MWEs in both dimensions, culminating in a significant increase in the variation of MWEs at the highest proficiency level. Drawing upon these findings, this study proposes several pedagogical implications for enhancing the teaching and learning of MWEs in spoken discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates vague cataphoric reference with shell nouns in the the-N-is construction (e.g. the point is). It highlights the ties between the construction, which is sometimes analysed as a specfticational copular sentence, shell nouns, which function to some extent like pronouns, and reference. Using a corpus of spoken British English, it shows that referent identification is however not always achieved with this construction and puts forward several contextual that contribute to the vague reference for the shell noun, such as the form and complexity of the shell content or the larger context. The article finally offers interactional perspectives and shows that speakers can use the construction with its vague cataphoric potential as turn-taking or floor-holding device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many scholars consider clause-final adverbs (CFAs) like already, also, and only to be a prominent feature of Colloquial Singapore English (CSE), but little is known about their use in present-day CSE. Using data from the Corpus of Singapore English Messages (CoSEM), we investigate patterns of variation involving CFAs and examine whether they are sensitive to factors such as speaker age and gender. We find that clause-final already and only has increased over time, while clause-final also has remained stable. Overall, the results suggest that CFAs are a stable feature of CSE. Variation in the use of CFAs is conditioned by semantic function, age, and gender. Specifically, clause-final already is associated with the inceptive function. Clause-final already and also are more likely to be used by younger speakers, while clause-final also and only are more likely to be used by males and in all-male conversational settings respectively. We suggest that these patterns are due to present-day English-Mandarin bilingualism, increasingly positive attitudes toward CSE, and National Service for males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arab World English Journal is the property of Arab World English Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study developed the Speaking Strategies for Self-Regulated Learning Questionnaire based on Oxford's (2017) strategic self-regulation model of language learning to cross-validate the multifaceted structure of speaking strategies in English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. 963 undergraduate students from a university in Southeast China voluntarily participated in the investigation. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to verify three hypothesized models. Through model comparisons, the results indicate that the 10-factor correlated multidimensional structure is the most informative and robust model. The model sheds light on the relationships between the cognitive, affective, sociocultural-interactive strategies, and metastrategies of the ten lower-order speaking strategies. Through multiple linear regression analysis, it was found that three of the ten SRL strategies were predictive of EFL learners' speaking competence. The findings imply that Oxford's (2017) theory can be extended to the field of EFL speaking. The study concludes with implications for fostering strategic awareness among EFL learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the impact of technology-based non-enculturation sources on Yoruba (Nigerian) teenagers' nuclear and contrastive stress assignment to determine the suitability of the facilities as ancillary models of spoken English in Nigeria. Labov's variability theory and Liberman and Prince's metrical phonology served as theoretical framework. Participants were purposively selected from 300 University of Ibadan teenage undergraduates (UIYTUs) and a Briton, who served as the native baseline (NB). The teenagers' technology (TC) levels were ascertained through a questionnaire. Participants were stratified into High(H), Mid(M) and Low(L) TCs. Their production of a prepared text into Speech Filing System (version 1.54) constituted the data which were analysed statistically, metrically and acoustically. The teenagers' nuclear stress assignment to regular [F(2, 297)=63.78; p<.05] and contrastive [F(2, 297)=50.93; p<.05] Designated Terminal Elements was reflective of their level of technology exposure. HTC exhibited metrical pattern similar to the NB. MTC either imposed stress on metrically weak syllables or assigned stress following the NB pattern. LTC productions were predominantly characterised by stress clash. Sample HTC spectrograms showed the highest amplitude and longest duration for the nuclearly stressed syllable. Although the spectrograms of the MTC displayed some alternation, the nuclearly stressed syllable did not receive its due prominence. Sample LTC spectrograms displayed flatness. Technology-based non-enculturation sources of native English available to teenage Nigerians have the capability of enhancing their spoken English. These technological devices should be explored as alternative model of English pronunciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined the utilization of discourse markers as practised by Arabic native speakers taking English as a foreign language at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Kuwait University. The paper sought to examine the disparities between the high and low language proficiency levels of the Faculty of Social Sciences learners. The researchers implemented Fung and Carter‟s (2007) model, which categorizes discourse markers into four groups. This classification may overlook nuances in discourse marker usage or fail to capture all relevant categories, potentially limiting the depth of the analysis. These groups were interpersonal, structural, inferential, and cognitive. To collect and analyze data, the researchers adopted quantitative and qualitative approaches. The sample study included 32 students of intermediate level taking English as a foreign language course at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Kuwait University. The researchers chose the students depending on their scores in the presentation component. The findings demonstrated that the interpersonal discourse markers were the most common discourse marker being used by the students, whilst the referential discourse markers were reported to be least used ones. The structural and cognitive discourse markers registered the second and the third, respectively. It was also found that the high proficient learners displayed better proficiency in using discourse markers than low level students. Consequently, while the study suggests a correlation between speaking proficiency levels and discourse marker usage, establishing a causal relationship may be challenging due to the cross-sectional nature of the research design. The study recommended integrating discourse markers into the evaluation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of School Administrators is the property of School Administration Research Association, R.O.C. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article compares patient care models at a local free clinic, the Birmingham Free Clinic (BFC), and an insurance-based University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) in Pennsylvania. The study analyzed demographics, diagnoses, and management strategies of dermatology patients at both clinics from January 2020 to May 2022. The BFC serves a more diverse patient population with a higher percentage of uninsured individuals, patients with limited English proficiency, and a focus on acute dermatologic conditions. In contrast, UPMC sees more benign and preventive care cases, offers more preventive education, and has a higher percentage of patients with private insurance. The study suggests that both clinics can improve patient care by enhancing communication with patients with limited English proficiency, providing skin care education, and offering social and scheduling services. [Extracted from the article]

Multi-word expressions make up a large proportion of the English language and particularly spoken language. Using multi-word expressions can assist with the impression of fluency, making them useful for language learners to know and use. However, proven methods for teaching this language phenomenon are required, so that learners can easily use multi-word expressions in their conversations. The purpose of the study was to examine the efficacy of a fluency workshop focused on multi-word expression use in conversation and to determine the most appropriate implementation for the Japanese context. An action research structure was used over three iterations of the fluency workshop, learner feedback and teacher observations were used to make improvements. Learner feedback regarding the usefulness of each activity for learning English was compared between the original cohort and subsequent cohorts. The results showed significant differences in levels of perceived usefulness for activities where improvements were made, but also for some activities where no specific improvement was made, suggesting that teaching improves through practice. Pedagogical implications include maximising the time on task via clear instructions, providing visual time constraints, and offering scaffolding to support the use of multi-word expressions when recall seems beyond a learner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective interaction between travellers and local suppliers of services is critical in the increasingly international tourism business. Speaking and understanding English well is frequently essential to a satisfying trip. In the setting of tourism, this study investigates the use of machine learning algorithms for the real-time assessment of spoken English interaction. The aim of this research is to create a new system that uses algorithms based on machine learning to evaluate and enhance English-language conversations among travellers and travel agents. We provide a novel method for assessing many facets of a conversation, such as spelling, syntax, proficiency, and general sentiment, that integrates automated speech recognition (ASR), natural language processing (NLP), and sentiment analysis. The gathering of a broad collection of spoken English exchanges in travel-related contexts, the creation of a tailored ASR models taught on terminology unique to the travel industry, and the incorporation of natural language processing (NLP) methods to assess the sentiment and linguistic structure of dialogues are important aspects of the project. To assist businesses and visitors improve their ability to communicate, models based on machine learning will be taught to deliver immediate input. The goal of this project is to benefit the tourism sector by developing a tool that will enable better English-speaking interaction, which will eventually end up resulting in more satisfied and better experiences for visitors. It also covers the requirement for domain-specific individualized language instruction and evaluation tools. The study's findings could revolutionize the way spoken English proficiency is assessed and enhanced in the travel and tourism industry. They could also have wider ramifications for language acquisition and intercultural interaction across a range of sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study investigates the language use and ideologies of a Chinese-American youth who speaks English, Mandarin, and Fuzhounese, and lives in a predominantly white town. It addresses the scarcity of research on Chinese heritage speakers of varieties in addition to Mandarin, particularly those living outside Chinese communities with extensive heritage language resources. The participant mainly spoke standard English in formal domains, colloquial English informally, and a mixture of English and basic Mandarin at home with his parents, while predominantly using English with his sister. He knew only a few words in Fuzhounese, which was rarely spoken in his daily life. His language ideologies interacted with his identity as a Chinese-American, perceptions of linguistic hegemony, and iconization pertaining to different ethnic communities. He viewed Mandarin as his heritage language with global significance, while Fuzhounese, despite of not mutually comprehensible with Mandarin, was only regarded as a dialect by him, iconized with negative stereotypes about rural Fuzhou and Brooklyn Chinatown. The study enhances our understanding of how multilingual children from immigrant families navigate different languages, and provides implications for offering culturally and linguistically sensitive support for immigrant families speaking less commonly taught languages outside their ethnic communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign language anxiety (FLA) has drawn a considerable amount of attention in recent decades. However, the anxiety that EFL learners experience during public speaking has been relatively underexplored. Thus, this study explored the effects of personality traits and self-perceived public speaking competence on public speaking anxiety (PSA). A total of 205 university students in China participated in a questionnaire gauging EFL learners' PSA, personality and self-perceived public speaking competence. SPSS, version 27, was used for data analysis, including descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and regression analysis. The first finding revealed significant associations between PSA and Extraversion, Conscientiousness and Neuroticism, with Neuroticism showing the strongest correlation with PSA. The second result indicated that self-perceived public speaking competence negatively correlated with PSA, with 9 out of the 17 aspects of overall public speaking competence showing significant correlations with PSA. In addition, this study revealed significant associations between self-perceived public speaking competence and Extraversion, Conscientiousness and Neuroticism. This study has pedagogical implications for educators to help EFL learners better combat anxiety in public speaking settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to examine the discourse marker (henceforth DM) okay by making use of the Spoken British National Corpus 2014 (Spoken BNC2014). The objective is to investigate the multifunctional status of okay, and to examine sociolinguistic variation by taking age as the main variable. Many studies have been undertaken to describe the linguistic features of the DM okay and have demonstrated that it is susceptible to variation according to gender (Johannsen et al. 2015) and age (Stenström et al. 2002; Torgersen et al. 2011). On no occasions, however, have the multifunctional features of okay been described by accounting for sociolinguistic variation exhibited by people of all ages in spoken English. The present study is a corpus-based investigation that aims to fill this gap and examine the linguistic features and sociolinguistic variation exhibited by okay in contemporary English. The analysis reveals that there is variation in the use of okay among people of different ages and changes in apparent time. Specifically, signs of change concern the collocational profile and uses of the DM okay with the function of a response form, especially in the age group 0–14. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spoken English Competency (SEC) remains a critical weakness in English Proficiency (EP) of Chinese college students, particularly when compared with their English competency in writing and reading. Despite years of English learning since elementary school, Chinese college students often struggle to master SEC. Although previous studies have explored Chinese students' SEC from various perspectives, there is still a significant knowledge gap, especially from students' perspectives. This study aims to analyze students' Perceptions and Needs of Spoken English (PNSE) and their Self-Assessment of Spoken English Competency (SA-SEC) with the language output evaluation indicators (including three dimensions: complexity, accuracy, and fluency [CAF]). The study analyzed 2,677 (male = 1,340, female = 1,337) online questionnaires from college students across four English proficiency distinct groups. There are four identified aspects of PNSE (i.e., oral importance, difficulty, purpose, and improvement willingness). Similarly, SA-SEC was analyzed with three dimensions of CAF, namely complexity, accuracy, fluency, and nominal variables like pause type. The findings revealed that gender and EP significantly influenced PNSE and SA-SEC, and correlations were observed between paired variables of PNSE and dimensions of CAF in the SA-SEC section. Notably, complexity was identified as the weakest dimension of CAF for most students. Future studies are imperative to further explore the intricate relationship between PNSE and SA-SEC, and how factors such as pause type influence students' spoken English performance. Plain Language Summary: Study endeavoring to understand how students view their proficiency, what they believe are their needs in oral English, and how they assess their own ability in this domain Background: Chinese college students have weaker oral English skills than their other English skills. Few studies have investigated their perceptions and needs for their oral English learning, including their self-assessments. Purpose: This study aims to analyze students' perceptions and needs of Spoken English (PNSE) and their Self-Assessment of Spoken English Competency (SA-SEC) with the language output evaluation indicators (including three dimensions: complexity, accuracy, and fluency [CAF]). Methods: An online questionnaire was used to collect data, which had mainly sections related to PNSE and SA-SEC. Statistical methods, including correlation analyses, independent samples t -tests, linear regression, ANOVA, and Chi-square tests, were used to analyze the data. Results: The study found that gender and English proficiency could influence students' PNSE and SA-SEC. Students thought the most common pause type is "en∼" when speaking English, and complexity was their poorest dimension of CAF. Implications: The results have significant implications for Spoken English learning and teaching. Specifically, the findings can encourage students to evaluate their CAF actively and know more about their strengths and weaknesses, and also help teachers understand students' attitudes towards oral English learning and their weaknesses, thus adjusting teaching methods to improve students' SEC. Limitations: The study focuses on spoken English from students' perspectives, and future studies are needed to incorporate teachers' perspectives and other important PNSE and SA-SEC variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Alustath is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We suggest a novel theoretical analysis of what is known as the reactive what-x construction. This construction, which has recently been noticed and described in Põldvere & Paradis (2019, 2020), has primarily clarificational properties and requires the presence of an antecedent in the preceding context. We begin by summarizing its syntactic properties and main functions, based on data drawn from the London–Lund Corpora of spoken British English, and then address a pattern that has escaped notice thus far, i.e. that the majority of the instances of this construction feature a type of ellipsis known as fragments. Departing from the analysis articulated in Põldvere & Paradis (2020), we present one that captures the elliptical properties of the reactive what-x construction by assimilating it to two classes of fragments: those serving as reprise utterances and those serving as direct utterances. Our analysis relies on Ginzburg & Sag's (2000) detailed analysis of reprise and direct fragments couched within a non-sententialist approach to ellipsis. This allows us to analyze the reactive what-x construction as a type of an in-situ interrogative clause whose elliptical properties are licensed by a version of the constraint Ginzburg & Sag (2000) use to license fragments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research deals with the phenomenon of hedging language, mainly focusing on the context of spontaneous verbal interactions. The main aim of the study is to analyze the occurrence of hedges in English spoken discourse as captured in the Spoken British National Corpus 2014. The research process deals with the differences in the usage of approximators and shields existing among men and women across different age groups and levels of education. The research methodology involves creating six sub-corpora, measuring hedge dispersion, examining selected hedges to ascertain their hedging function within the context and calculating frequencies within each sub-corpus. The research outcomes point to the prevalence of shields in spoken discourse. Plausibility shields are commonly used while attribution shields show lower usage. Adaptors contribute to mitigating certainty in utterances, whereas rounders play a less prominent role. These findings emphasize the nuanced interplay between linguistic strategies and speaker characteristics in spoken communication and highlight the importance of cooperative principles in discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ordnance Industry Automation is the property of Editorial Board for Ordnance Industry Automation and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper provides a brief overview of cultural noise interference in English communication. Subsequently, it conducts an illustrative analysis using 100 first-year students from Chongqing Vocational College of Light Industry to explore the impact of cultural noise interference on speaking coherence. Initially, a questionnaire is employed to assess the influence of cultural noise on students' judgments of speaking coherence. Different conversation scenarios involving different types of cultural noise interference are introduced to analyze the speaking coherence of students gradually. A significant impact of cultural noise on learners' speaking coherence is revealed by the results. As the variety of cultural noise increases, the influence on speaking coherence grows more pronounced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of the multilingual speakers all over the world has been increasing steadily, which calls for closer analyses of multilingualism as a phenomenon. The current study aims at investigating multilingual speakers' spoken and written English productions in formal and informal contexts within the boundaries of social context of migration. As for the purposes of the study, data coming from four groups in Germany and the US (32 participants and 24 speakers from RUEG corpus, 56 people in total) via data collection tools such as Language Situations (Wiese 2018), Linguistic Background Questionnaire and c-tests were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The results were divergent. The comparison of -ing use only revealed that the acquisition of the progressive marker in L3? English differs in Germany and the US while -ing use in total Communication Units (henceforth CU) ratio signaled some cross-linguistic effects. However, there was no difference in within group comparisons obscuring multilingual-monolingual dichotomy within both Germany and the US. Also, task modality and registers were found to have a prominent effect on L3 patterns of English progressive morpheme -ing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colloquial Singapore English (CSE), also known as ‘Singlish’, features a wide range of sentence‐final particles (SFP) influenced by local languages such as Hokkien, Cantonese, Mandarin and Malay. This study focuses on the SFP sia, a relatively new and less‐explored particle with Malay roots. We examine sia and its variants (sia, sial, siak and siol) using data from the Corpus of Singapore English Messages, a 6.9‐million‐word text‐message corpus from 2016 to 2022.While previous research has associated sia and its variants with strong illocutionary contexts, particularly among young male Singaporeans due to its vulgar and masculine connotations, our data indicate that sia is now used more broadly among CSE‐speaking youth. It is employed in both strong and weak illocutionary contexts, suggesting a shift away from its negative/vulgar associations. Sia and its variants are emerging as general phatic markers reflecting the identity of CSE‐speaking youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the impact of Task-Based Language Teaching on Englishspoken production and interaction among English as a Second Language preuniversity students in Malaysia. The quasi-experimental research design involved 63 pre-university ESL students and two ESL teachers from the Centre of Foundation Studies in Management at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Sintok, Kedah. Pre- and post-tests were conducted before and after the Task-Based Language Teaching intervention respectively. Data were also collected using semi-structured interviews, and online questionnaires. Data analysis procedures included a paired sample test, text analysis, thematic analysis and descriptive analysis. The results from the paired sample test revealed no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups. However, the experimental group indicated considerable development in spoken production and interaction in terms of fluency through reduction of fillers and improved speech quality. The thematic and descriptive analysis found that TBLT encouraged the students to enhance their spoken abilities. The findings suggest that although TBLT has the potential to foster greater fluency and deepen students' engagement in language tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The choice between the future constructions will/shall and BE going to is among the most well-investigated topics in English linguistics. A host of semantic, pragmatic, and syntactic factors has been suggested to drive the alternation between these constructions. Recent research has taken a contrastive perspective and investigated whether similar factors also apply to Norwegian, which shows a very similar alternation (skal/vil vs. kommer til å). This paper follows up on this line of research, taking new data into account. Drawing on the Open American National Corpus (OANC) and the Spoken BNC2014 for English on the one hand and the NoTa corpus as well as the Big Brother corpus for Norwegian, we carve out commonalities and differences between the alternation patterns in English and Norwegian, and we argue that in both languages, it may actually be semantic, rather than structural, aspects that play the most crucial role in language users' choice between competing future constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst there has recently been an upsurge in studies into self-praise on social media, and despite the fact that there exists a vast amount of literature available on speech acts such as requests, apologies and compliments, praise in traditional spoken and written English has largely escaped scholarly attention. However, it seems to form a substantial part of everyday behaviour in various linguacultures, and the Ugandan ones appear to belong to these. This paper aims at describing how praise is performed in Ugandan English. Using data collected for the Uganda component of the International Corpus of English , it examines how praise is performed linguistically, in which genres praise can be found, and which functions it seems to perform in comparison to what is the case in British English data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The massive relocation of international students calls for a thorough investigation of diverse difficulties faced by them, among which language-related barriers are reported to have serious consequences. The main goal of this research is to investigate accent-related challenges as barriers to comprehension and effective communication faced by international students in the United Kingdom (UK), along with the factors that helped or could help the students in terms of having better experiences. The scope of this study is limited to native British accents. The study relies on data collected to analyse the impact of native-accented speech, both qualitatively and quantitatively, on the listening experiences of currently enrolled or recently graduated international students in a British university. The underlying mixed-method approach is comprised of a survey and an interview. Analysis of data collected from the survey (n = 33 participants) revealed that 42% of the participants considered native-accented speech as the biggest factor affecting their listening comprehension. This is followed by a fast speech rate, which was selected by 36% of the participants. Regarding mitigation of the difficulties, participants showed mixed responses in terms of adopting various strategies. During the interview, participants (n = 6) shared their listening comprehension experiences, particularly those encountered during the initial months after their arrival in the UK. The results obtained are potentially useful in terms of students' support, English as a Second Language (ESL) curriculum design, English language teachers' training and establishing learning pedagogies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the attitudes of Chinese college students toward using a blended learning approach to enhance their English speaking skills. Participants include 105 non-English major students from a regular university in western China. A quantitative analysis was conducted based on the data from a designed questionnaire. The findings identify the majority of students were satisfied with using the blended learning approach during the courses to improve their English-speaking skills. Furthermore, most students showed a preference for using blended learning in future English-speaking learning because of its user-friendliness, flexibility in terms of time and location, access to self-directed learning, and diverse teaching resources. The study further demonstrated the successful and effective implementation of blended learning in English-speaking instruction as part of an educational reform process in a regular university in Western China. The researcher attempted to provide some tips to enhance blended English-speaking learning including diversified instructional designs, increased teacher-student interaction, the active use of spoken English in the classroom, practice opportunities outside of class, and the dissemination of rich oral language learning resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surveying a representative sample of studies of colloquialisation, a tendency for written norms to move closer to spoken usage, the chapter explores: the relationship between colloquialisation, operationalised in exclusively linguistic terms, and informalisation and democratisation, two processes primarily targeting wider sociocultural change, and complications arising when colloquialisation is extended beyond its original domain of application, standard written English of the ENL type. There are two major findings. Colloquialisation works less well in the study of ESL varieties than ENL ones. In addition, recent real-time analyses of change in spoken English suggest that the supposedly homogeneous baseline style of informal conversational English is more internally variable than is assumed in current work on colloquialisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAural decoding skill, the ability to recognize words from speech, is crucial for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) listening. Yet, mastering decoding is challenging due to word variations and blending in natural spoken English. Online decoding training is vital for EFL learners because it provides opportunities for consistent and intensive practices. However, students’ disengagement and perceived difficulty plague online decoding training. The flipped SEF (suitability, explore, feedback)-ARCS (attention, relevance, confidence, satisfaction) decoding model holds potential in addressing these challenges. This instructional model combines the flipped learning approach, SEF decoding principles and the ARCS motivational model. However, although this model has been shown to improve learning outcomes for EFL learners at post-intervention stages, its role in enhancing students’ actual engagement and performance during the learning process requires further investigation. This is crucial as low levels of actual engagement or performance during the everyday practices can dampen learners’ motivation for ongoing decoding practice. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of the flipped SEF-ARCS decoding model by comparing three groups: an online out-of-class decoding training using the flipped SEF-ARCS decoding model (EG2), an online out-of-class decoding training using the conventional decoding approach (EG1), and a control group without online out-of-class decoding training (CG). Results indicated that the flipped SEF-ARCS model significantly improved student behavioral and cognitive engagement, and their actual performance during daily practice compared to the conventional decoding approach. Understanding how the flipped SEF-ARCS decoding model influences both actual engagement and performance can offer valuable insights into designing effective online decoding training programs for EFL learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Children with medical complexity experienced health disparities during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Language may compound these disparities since people speaking languages other than English (LOE) also experienced worse COVID-19 outcomes. Our objective was to investigate associations between household language for children with medical complexity and caregiver COVID-19 vaccine intentions, testing knowledge, and trusted sources of information. Methods: This cross-sectional survey of caregivers of children with medical complexity ages 5 to 17 years was conducted from April-June 2022. Children with medical complexity had at least 1 Complex Chronic Condition. Households were considered LOE if they reported speaking any language other than English. Multivariable logistic regression examined associations between LOE and COVID-19 vaccine intentions, interpretation of COVID-19 test results, and trusted sources of information. Results: We included 1,338 caregivers of children with medical complexity (49% response rate), of which 133 (10%) had household LOE (31 total languages, 58% being Spanish). There was no association between household LOE and caregiver COVID-19 vaccine intentions. Caregivers in households with LOE had similar interpretations of positive COVID-19 test results, but significantly different interpretations of negative results. Odds of interpreting a negative test as expected (meaning the child does not have COVID-19 now or can still get the virus from others) were lower in LOE households (aOR [95% CI]: 0.56 [0.34–0.95]). Households with LOE were more likely to report trusting the US government to provide COVID-19 information (aOR [95% CI]: 1.86 [1.24–2.81]). Conclusion: Differences in COVID-19 test interpretations based on household language for children with medical complexity were observed and could contribute to disparities in outcomes. Opportunities for more inclusive public health messaging likely exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article defines and describes the concepts of generalized skill, generalized operations, and operations. It provides the internal structure of the generalized skill to speak English as a foreign language for students of Cuban language schools and the synthetic analytical scale for its evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Esports gambling has steadily grown in popularity alongside esports itself. While research has been increasing in the field of esports-related gambling, no study has yet reviewed the relevant literature on esports gambling. The present study aimed to comprehensively review all empirical research conducted in the wider field of esports gambling. A systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines was undertaken using PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Only empirical studies were included and were also assessed for potential biases using the ROBUST guidelines. A total of 30 studies from eight countries were included in the review. Esports gamblers were found more likely to be young males, likely to score high on problematic gambling scales, and likely to belong to households speaking a non-English language at home in English speaking countries. Esports gamblers are a unique type of gambling population, with rare characteristics and behaviors compared to other types of gamblers. Given the limited number of studies, there is a need for further research in this field to understand these populations, as well as the need for longitudinal research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working aboard an international cruise ship that travels to Europe is an exciting adventure with the many wonderful ports of call to visit, exquisite dining experiences, and a multitude of crew members who come from different countries. Because they have to serve foreign guests, crewmembers speak English frequently. This paper is an autoethnographic sketch of a pianist who works in an international cruise line and befriends a Polish musician who has English language issues such as inability to pronounce correct English words and phrases, excessive use of non-verbal cues in communication, and a generally low English comprehension level, but with an inquisitive spirit to learn the second language, the two communicators manage to foster a mutual understanding. Narratives are drawn from self-reflections, analyzed and interwoven as a self-culture assemblage of cross-cultural communication. Results of the study reveal that interpersonal communication hovers within diverse cultural settings despite certain language impediments, emphasizing that the English language as a second language spoken by both second language speakers tends to eliminate speech anxiety. European crew members mingling with multi-cultural individuals establish good interactive skills while fostering good relationships while they learn practical English in the exercise of their daily duties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring English intelligibility in linguistically diverse environments, such as China, is crucial for improving cross-cultural dialog and tailoring language instruction to address the phonetic hurdles of non-native speakers. This research employed a phonetic experimental methodology to assess the intelligibility of English spoken by college students from the Bashu dialect region of Southwest China to an international audience. Data from 40 intermediate English-proficient students in Sichuan and Chongqing were analyzed using open-ended questionnaires and evaluative scales. The findings revealed that the influence of the Bashu dialect significantly impeded the accurate articulation of specific English phonemes, thereby exerting an impact on the international intelligibility of their spoken English. Notably, notwithstanding their conspicuous accents, the research concluded that the English enunciated by these students generally retained intelligibility for global audiences. The study identified a spectrum of pronunciation challenges, encompassing issues with phonetic sounds, recurrent mispronunciations, and variances in accent and prosody, collectively contributing to an overarching influence on intelligibility. Grounded in international listener feedback, this study proffers strategies to augment the intelligibility of spoken English among Chinese learners originating from dialect-specific regions, thereby fostering the amelioration of their communicative skills and bolstering their confidence when engaging with global audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines two variants of the pseudo-cleft construction which display a WHAT-NP-VP-be pattern with the VP realised with cognitive verbs and the proform do in the context of spoken British English dyadic and multi-party BBC podcasts. It is based on the premise that the construction's referencing potentials are both cataphoric and projective, and that depending on its contexts, one of the two referencing functions is foregrounded while the other is backgrounded. The analysis focuses on those linguistic features and contextual configurations which either contribute to its cataphoric referencing function, or which go beyond the local cataphoric referencing function and indicate its projective, discourse-organising function. The research is corpus-based and uses quantitative and qualitative methodologies, filtering out the linguistic features and contextual configurations which contribute to assigning the two variants the status of a projective construction with a discourse-organising function. The features under investigation are (1) the semantics of the constitutive NPs and VPs marking for tense, aspect and modality and their uptake in the discourse, (2) degrees of continuity and discontinuity in the cohesive chains triggered by the constitutive parts of the construction. The paper shows that when semantic continuity between the what-clause and what follows is discontinued and thus deferred, the construction's projective function is foregrounded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culture and social cognition are deeply intertwined, yet how this rich intersectionality is expressed neuropsychologically remains an important question. In a convenience sample of 128 young adults (mean age = 24.9 years) recruited from a majority-minority urban university, we examined performance-based neuropsychological measures of social cognition, the Advanced Clinical Solutions-Social Perception (ACS-SP), in relation to both cultural orientation, as assessed by the Individualism-Collectivism Scale (ICS) and spoken English language, as assessed by the oral word pronunciation measure of the Wide Range Achievement Test-4 (WRAT4). Results indicated higher WRAT4 scores correlated with better performance across all ACS-SP measures of social cognition. Controlling for these associations in spoken English, partial correlations linked lower scores across both prosody interpretation and affect naming ACS-SP tasks with a propensity to view social relationships vertically, irrespective of individualistic or collectivistic orientations. Hierarchical regression results showed that cultural orientation and English-language familiarity each specifically and uniquely contributed to ACS-SP performance for matching prosody with facial expressions. These findings underscore the importance of incorporating and prioritizing both language and cultural factors in neuropsychological studies of social cognition. They may be viewed as offering strong support for expanding the boundaries of the construct of social cognition beyond its current theoretical framework of one that privileges Western, educated, industralized, rich and democratic (WEIRD) values, customs, and epistemologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates a previously unresearched use of the discourse marker so : prefacing answers to questions from an interlocutor, informally coined "backstory so " and found to signal that the answer necessitates background information, or more complexity or length than the asker assumes the questioner expects, a function known to be carried out by well. This investigation was motivated by (i) negative attitudes toward this use of so , describing the speakers with attributes like annoying, condescending, confusing, and wrong; (ii) layperson claims that it is new; and (iii) non-scholarly writings by linguists reporting controversy over whether answering questions with so is actually new or a Zwickian Recency Illusion. This paper draws on spoken data from the Corpus of Contemporary American English from 1990 to 2016, and presents findings of 774 target tokens by 544 unique speakers starting in 1992. Results of a logistic regression show a statistically significant increase in the rate of this form over that time. I tentatively suggest that previous constraints against the discourse marker so prefacing answers to mark added information seem to have undergone a rapid language shift, competing with the older use of well , and supporting the layperson intuitions of newness. • Prefacing the answer to a question from an interlocutor with so shows evidence of being an innovation on the rise. • This use of so marks added background information that the answerer assumes the questioner lacks, a function often carried out by well. • Grassroots prescriptivists in the online discourse criticize so -prefacing answers and claim that it has been increasing. • The rise of this form may have started in the early 1990s, which does not support a Zwickian Recency Illusion. • Those laypeople associate so -prefacing answers with expert interviews on NPR , which was also the most common source in the corpus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the pragmatic marker "I think" and its translation into Turkish, specifically focusing on its use in TED Talks. Using a corpus-based approach, the research investigates the various functions and Turkish equivalents of "I think", revealing significant insights into its role as a commenting speech action. Grounded in speech act theory, particularly expositive illocutionary acts, the study emphasizes the illocutionary pluralism of "I think" in managing discourse, expressing speaker attitudes, and engaging interlocutors. The findings highlight the high frequency and critical role of "I think" in spoken English, its function as a commenting speech action in maintaining discourse coherence, and the notable translation choices in Turkish, such as bence 'in my opinion' and sanırım 'I suppose/I assume'. This study contributes to pragmatics by enhancing our understanding of the illocutionary pluralism of "I think" vis-à-vis its translation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to understand the anxiety experienced by Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. It aimed to determine if their preference for foreign language classes affects their anxiety levels and which specific anxiety features are most prevalent when speaking English? The study employed a quantitative research technique to evaluate the anxiety levels of EFL learners. The anxiety was measured using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), a widely used tool for assessing speaking anxiety that was established by Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope in 1986. The scale consists of 33 items rated on a five-point Likert scale. However, nine out of the thirty-three items have been reverse-coded and then translated into Arabic. The data indicated that 73.43% of the participants had different degrees of anxiety while talking in English. Among them, 14.06% experienced a high level of anxiety, 39.06% had moderate anxiety, and 20.31% had low anxiety. The results revealed that preference or sensation towards the EFL had no impact. Studies reveal that anxiety is a prominent concern in EFL programs, with a significant number of students experiencing challenges related to speaking anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study evaluated whether the direction (inhibitory or facilitative) of the phonological neighborhood density effect in English spoken word recognition was modulated by the relative strength of competitor activation (neighborhood type) in two groups of English-dominant learners of Spanish who differed in language experience. Classroom learners and heritage learners of Spanish identified spoken English words from dense (e.g., BEAR) and sparse (e.g., BOAT) phonological neighborhoods presented in moderate noise. The phonological neighborhood was separately manipulated at word onset (cohort) and word offset (rhyme). Classroom learners were overall slower in recognizing spoken words from denser neighborhoods. Strongly active (onset) neighbors exerted inhibitory effects in both classroom and heritage learners. Critically, weakly active (offset) neighbors exerted inhibitory effects in classroom learners but facilitative effects in heritage learners. The results suggest that the activation of both within and cross-language neighbors should be considered in determining the direction of neighbor effects in bilingual lexical processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is dedicated to developing an innovative method for evaluating spoken English by integrating large language models (LLMs) with effective space learning, focusing on the analysis and evaluation of emotional features in spoken language. Addressing the limitation of current spoken English evaluation software that primarily focuses on acoustic features of speech (such as pronunciation, frequency, and prosody) while neglecting emotional expression, this paper proposes a method capable of deeply recognizing and evaluating emotional features in speech. The core of the method comprises three main parts: (1) the creation of a comprehensive spoken English emotion evaluation dataset combining emotionally rich speech data synthesized using LLMs with the IEMOCAP dataset and student spoken audio; (2) an emotion feature encoding network based on transformer architecture, dedicated to extracting effective spatial features from audio; (3) an emotion evaluation network for the spoken English language that accurately identifies emotions expressed by Chinese students by analyzing different audio characteristics. By decoupling emotional features from other sound characteristics in spoken English, this study achieves automated emotional evaluation. This method not only provides Chinese students with the opportunity to improve their ability to express emotions in spoken English but also opens new research directions in the fields of spoken English teaching and emotional expression evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Bartin University Journal of Faculty of Education is the property of Bartin University Journal of Faculty of Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)