...Introduction The origin of the Chinese culture derives from the Mainland China. This culture is the world’s oldest and most complex civilizations with the history of more than 5,000 years. According to Wikipedia, “Chinese culture (Chinese: 中華文化) is a broad term used to describe the cultural foundation, even among Chinese-speaking regions outside of mainland China.” It is a broad term that covers almost all the aspects of life and the Chinese culture is considered very rich. Culture is defined as “the ideas, beliefs, and customs that are shared and accepted by people in a society” (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 1995). In every culture, one aspect is considered essential and that is politeness. It goes the same with the Chinese culture where politeness is hardly regarded and one element under politeness is highly crucial, which is the importance of ‘face’ or face work. Politeness is best expressed as the practical application of good manners or etiquette. Politeness can vary from one culture to another and what is considered polite in one culture might be considered not in another. Politeness includes behaving and speaking correctly with consideration of other people’s feelings. For example, giving your seat to a disabled person in the LRT. Since culture is considered the institution of life, politeness is highly dependent on its culture. It goes the way the culture goes and it shapes the society under that particular culture through the family up-bringing...
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...IELTS (International English Language Testing System) is now one of the most popular exams all over the world. According to the data released by the British Council, there are about 200,000 Chinese took the exam in 2012. However, average Chinese did not perform well in this exam. Personally, my performance improved a lot after I learned linguistic course. In my point of view, this exam is closed related to the Semantics study. Therefore, in this paper, I will present the exam in a semantics way. The IELTS exam has four parts---listening, reading, writing and speaking. I will look into them respectively from a semantics perspective. The listening part has much to do with context. Hall E. T. defines the “context” as the information that surrounds an event; it is inextricably bound up with the meaning of the event. Thus, we have high-context and low context. A high-context communication or message means most of the information is already in the person, not in words. A low context communication is the just the opposite, that is, the important information is stated. IELTS is made by the British Council, and Britain is a typical low-context country. Nevertheless, China is a typical high-context country and we Chinese are affected by that culture in the IELTS exam. In Chinese exams, we have questions that need us to infer the content or the relationship between the speaking people or guess the intended meaning behind a word. But in IELTS, they never have questions like these. The answers...
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...Writing 3 Assignment Annotated Bibliography By: Andre Mutia 12010/NK-1 2012 1. Article 1 Abed, A., Q. (2011). Pragmatic Transfer in Iraqi EFL Learners' Refusals, International Journal of English Linguistics, 1(2), 166-185. doi:10.5539/ijel.v1n2p166 The study deals with pragmatic transfer of Iraqi EFL learners' refusal strategies as reflected by their responses to a modified version of 12- items written discourse completion task; and compare with two groups ,namely Iraqi native speakers of Arabic and American native speakers of English. The data were collected from task consisted of three requests, three offers, three suggestions, and three invitations. Each one of the situations included one refusal to a person of higher status, one to a person of equal status, and one to a person of lower status. Data analyzed according to frequency types of refusal strategies and interlocutor's social status. I prefer this article because it is very useful for my topic. The author found that Iraqi EFL learners are apt to express refusals with care and/or caution represented by using more statements of reason/explanation, statements of regret, wish and refusal adjuncts in their refusals than Americans. Americans are more sensitive to their interlocutor's higher and equal status, whereas Iraqi EFL learners to lower status. The study is suitable for the topic I chose for its valuable information. 2. Article 2 Al-Khatani, S., A., W. (2005). Refusals Realizations in Three Different...
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...preserved with its identity. 4. A nature without culture is characterized with oblivion, anonymity and randomness. 5. Regarding the Linguistic Relativism, the proposal of the idea is that different people speak differently because they …………………………………. (in 2 or 3 words). 6. People think differently because their languages offer them different ways of expressing the world around them Explanation 1. How can people identify themselves as members of community? (in one line) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 2. How can culture liberate people? (in one line) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 3. How can culture constrain people? (in one line) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 4. Regarding the topic, way and style of presenting information, please provide one example about the reactions of social groups based on differing values given to a speech act in different cultures. ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 5. Regarding the imagined communities, it is said that the city of London is inseparable, in the cultural imagination of its citizens, from Shakespeare and Dickens. Please provide one example about imagined communities as far as Vietnamese culture is concerned. 6. Which of the brief description fits each of the two versions (strong and weak) of Linguistic Relativism by Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis |Version |Description ...
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...Developing Guidelines to Design Gestures for Teaching Chinese as a Second Language From the Perspectives of Kinesics and Linguistics Yihan Zhou Seton Hall University Abstract According to kinesics and linguistic theories, this project investigates what parts are involved in making gestures and how gestures carry meanings. A wide range of body parts are involved in making a gesture. According to David Mcneill, the physical movements acquire meaning by iconics, metaphorics, deictics, and beats. The project also discovers an etymological way to connect gestures to Chinese vocabulary. Based on the findings, the project further develops some guidelines to design gestures for teaching Chinese. They are making easy movements, identifying teaching content, making gestures understandable to your students, and applying gestures into teaching. In the end, the project applies the guidelines in designing activities for teaching Chinese pronunciation, vocabulary, character, and culture. Keywords: guidelines, gestures, teaching Chinese, kinesics, linguistics 1. Introduction 2.1 Background Gestures are common body movements: teachers instruct with gestures, referees in soccer game use gestures, people greet each other with gestures. Then what are gestures? Generally speaking, gestures are body movements which accompany and even sometimes replace verbal language. Because of its intimacy with language, it has attracted the people’s attention since Greek and Roman era...
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...people communicate and express thoughts (Sternberg, et al, 370). On the other hand, linguistics focus on the formal approach of language in a system which may be even irrelevant. Psycholinguistics refers language to a system of communication which is either written or spoken that uses words or signs to passing information across a particular community (Bailey 54). Users of a particular language culture with the use of symbols with meanings to share information. According to Hockett all languages used by human beings have common features called linguistic universals. Human beings and animals communicate differently; human language contains 13 features of linguistic...
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...Available at: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/globalpeople/resourcebank/researchpapers Achieving Mutual Understanding for Effective Intercultural Management Helen Spencer-Oatey Centre for Applied Linguistics, University of Warwick WORKING PAPER Abstract Purpose – To introduce an approach to managing intercultural communication that is effective for achieving mutual understanding among people in culturally complex situations. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes a ‘meaning negotiation’ approach to the intercultural communication process. It argues against a generalised ‘differences/adaptation’ approach, and maintains that people need to interact in contextually sensitive ways. Findings – The paper outlines a set of strategies that can help people in intercultural interaction contexts negotiate and agree the messages they are trying to convey. It draws them together into a conceptual framework of intercultural communication competencies. Research limitations/implications – The paper only focuses on the communication of messages, not the use of language to manage relationships. It also does not attempt to suggest practical techniques for helping managers and their staff develop competence in using the strategies. Practical implications – Since mutual understanding is achieved through meaning negotiation, it is important for managers and their staff to know how this takes place and to develop a communication strategy for implementing it. Social implications...
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...In Other Words This book addresses the need for a systematic approach to the training of translators and provides an explicit syllabus which reflects some of the main intricacies involved in rendering a text from one language into another. It explores the relevance of some of the key areas of modern linguistic theory and illustrates how an understanding of these key areas can guide and inform at least some of the decisions that translators have to make. It draws on insights from current research in such areas as lexical studies, text linguistics and pragmatics to maintain a constant link between language, translation, and the social and cultural environment in which both language and translation operate. In Other Words examines various areas of language, ranging from the meaning of single words and expressions to grammatical categories and cultural contexts. Firmly grounded in modern linguistic theory, the book starts at a simple level and grows in complexity by widening its focus gradually. The author explains with clarity and precision the concepts and theoretical positions explored within each chapter and relates these to authentic examples of translated texts in a variety of languages, although a knowledge of English is all that is required to understand the examples presented. Each chapter ends with a series of practical exercises which provide the translator with an opportunity to test the relevance of the issues discussed. This combination of theoretical discussion and...
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... which focuses on vocabulary, grammar and linguistic phenomenon rather than on listening and speaking. The teaching pattern is text-based and teacher-dominated, and will inevitably prevent students from developing their creativities. I used to be an English teacher in a vocational college of China and the ages of my students usually range from 17 to 21. In the process of English learning, students often confront with some concrete problems. For example, all the students learnt the dialogue: “How are you?” “Fine/Good.” However, when a foreigner asks them “How are you?” in their presence, most of them don’t know how to give response. Obviously, lots of students cannot transfer their theoretical knowledge into oral application. Many students always get high scores in English test but speak English stutteringly. Nowadays, in the campus, more and more college students are bothered by the CET (College English Test). They always hold a vocabulary book in their hands and make their efforts to memorize these words. They just mechanically stuff these vocabularies into their brains but rarely think of how to associate one word with other related words or how to use one word in a specified context. I still remember that many students asked me how to cope with English vocabularies and they often complained that it was really difficult to memorize them. In fact, how to memorize English vocabularies has become an obstacle for a great many Chinese students. Besides vocabularies, English grammar...
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...only the phonics imitation method,but also the basic knowledge about phonetics.However,with the influence of quality-orientededucation and the western language teaching mode,pronunciation teaching in China tends touse the imitation method and the basic knowledge of phonetics is undervalued.It is worth tonotice that English acquisition environment for Chinese students is different from the West.First,English teachers in China are mostly Chinese.Even if there are foreign teachers,theforeigners teaching force is relatively weak.Second,the language surrounding to the studentsis mainly in Chinese.And students in the oral English class are not active to participate andinteract.Moreover,English belongs to Indo-European language system,while Chinesebelongs to Sino-Tibetan language system.They belong to different language families andthere are many differences in tone,syllable and phoneme.Thus the negative influence ofChinese on the English acquisition is great.Without any basic knowledge of phonetics,thelearners will meet lots of difficulties when they learn a new language which is quite differentfrom their mother tongue.Therefore,the Chinese phonetic teaching only relying on theimitation phonics method is premature.This study aims at the practical problems in phonetics teaching.And the basic currentsituation of English phonetics teaching in Hengshui is summed up by the way of surveys,questionnaires,interviews,statistics analysis,etc.According to the survey results,this thesisanalyzes the...
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...UNIVERSIDAD DE BELGRANO FACULTAD DE LENGUAS Y ESTUDIOS EXTRANJEROS TRADUCTORADO PÚBLICO, LITERARIO Y CIENT. TEC. DE INGLÉS PROF. ALEJANDRO PARINI “PIDGINS, CREOLES AND THE CRITICAL PERIOD HYPOTHESIS” SAMANTHA VÁSQUEZ 7517 INTRODUCTION In this paper I am going to talk about pidgins and creoles from the point of view of language acquisition. Creolistics (short form for pidgin and creole linguistics) have provided some revealing and controversial insights into language evolution, acquisition and use; though disagreements exist over what languages or varieties can be labelled as 'creole' or as 'pidgin', and debate continues over the nature of creolization, the 'life cycle' of pidgins and creoles and the origin of grammatical structures in creoles which are absent in any preceding pidgin. PIDGIN LANGUAGES A pidgin language is a language which is based on another language or to be precise on several other languages. A pidgin language develops among people and becomes a means of communication among people who speak different native languages, but in contrast to normal natural languages a pidgin language shows a very poor grammar and a sharply curtailed vocabulary. The major ingredients of a pidgin language come from the native languages of the pidgin speakers. The language with the strongest influence on the pidgin is called the superstrate language and all other contributing languages are called the substrate...
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...humans to express their ideas, thoughts and knowledge through communication. The terms that will be discussedare imperative in comprehension linguistics. Teaching second language learners how to read, recognize otheir learning types, strengths and weaknesses higher performance and language development is achieved. Language is the communication of thoughts and feelings through a system of arbitrary signals such as voice, sounds gesters, or written symbols. Dialect refers to a particular form of a language that is peculiar to a specific region or social group. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is the general idea that differences in language structure cause people to view the world...
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...Саратовский Государственный Университет им Н.Г.Чернышевского Literary Language Formation of English Literary Language Выполнила студентка 411 группы Журкина Дарья Саратов, 2012 1. Literary Language Literary language is a developed form of a national language, with norms fixed in writing to varying extents; the language of all manifestations of culture that are expressed in words. The concept of a “developed form” is historically variable (in different ages and with different peoples). In the age of feudalism many peoples of the world used foreign languages as their written literary languages. The Iranian and Turkish peoples used classical Arabic, the Japanese and Koreans used classical Chinese, the Germanic and West Slavic peoples used Latin, and the people in the Baltic region and the Czechs used German. The popular languages supplanted the foreign language in many functional spheres of communication during the 14th and 15th centuries in some states and in the 16th and 17th centuries in others. The literary language is always the result of collective creative activity. The notion that the norms of a literary language are “fixed” is somewhat relative (despite all the importance and stability of the norm, it changes in time). It is not possible to imagine a national culture that is rich and developed without a rich and developed literary language. This is why the problem of the literary language is very important for society. Linguists do not agree about the...
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...UNIVERSITY OF PERPETUAL HELP SYSTEM - DALTA UNIVERSITY OF PERPETUAL HELP SYSTEM - DALTA MOLINO CAMPUS MOLINO CAMPUS Molino III, Bacoor City Molino III, Bacoor City English Proficiency of Grade 9 Students of University of Perpetual Help System – DALTA – Molino Campus Francia Lasala Maria Angelica Anne Velasco Kurt Wilson Arias James Oliver Niango Eduardo Delima III Lester Evangelista Rovic Kalugdan Alexander Acedilla RESEARCHERS Figure 1: Respondent’s Mother’s Educational Background Figure 1 shows that among the 210 respondents, 42% of the Respondents Mother’s educational background are graduated at Bachelor’s Degree, 36% of respondents Mother’s educational background are Highschool graduate, 21% of respondents Mother’s educational background are graduated at Master’s Degree and 1 % of the respondents Mother’s educational background is graduated at Doctoral’s Degree. This shows that majority of the respondents Mother’s educational background has graduated at a Bachelor’s Degree. Figure 2: Respondents Father’s Educational Background Figure 2 shows that among the 210 respondents, 49% of the Respondents Father’s educational background are graduated at Bachelor’s Degree, 25% of respondents Father’s educational background are Highschool graduate, 25% of respondents Father’s educational background are graduated at Master’s Degree and 1 % of the respondents Father’s educational background is graduated at Doctoral’s Degree. This shows...
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...AITA01 1 5/9/05, 4:36 PM Blackwell Textbooks in Linguistics The books included in this series provide comprehensive accounts of some of the most central and most rapidly developing areas of research in linguistics. Intended primarily for introductory and post-introductory students, they include exercises, discussion points, and suggestions for further reading. 1. Liliane Haegeman 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Andrew Spencer Helen Goodluck Ronald Wardhaugh Martin Atkinson Diane Blakemore Michael Kenstowicz Deborah Schiffrin John Clark and Colin Yallop 10. 11. 12. 13. Natsuko Tsujimura Robert D. Borsley Nigel Fabb Irene Heim and Angelika Kratzer 14. Liliane Haegeman and Jacqueline Guéron 15. Stephen Crain and Diane Lillo-Martin 16. Joan Bresnan 17. Barbara A. Fennell 18. Henry Rogers 19. Benjamin W. Fortson IV 20. AITA01 Liliane Haegeman 2 Introduction to Government and Binding Theory (Second Edition) Morphological Theory Language Acquisition Introduction to Sociolinguistics (Fifth Edition) Children’s Syntax Understanding Utterances Phonology in Generative Grammar Approaches to Discourse An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology (Second Edition) An Introduction to Japanese Linguistics Modern Phrase Structure Grammar Linguistics and Literature Semantics in Generative Grammar English Grammar: A Generative Perspective An Introduction to Linguistic Theory and Language Acquisition Lexical-Functional Syntax ...
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