...Using L1 in ESL Environment In my opinion, L1 should not be used in the English classroom for many reasons, especially if the pupils are young. Teachers should use English as much as possible in order to help to develop an “English atmosphere” and because the more English they hear, the faster they will be able to communicate through it. But there could be some possible exceptions: When the pupils, being adults, do not speak a word in English. Maybe, L1 could be necessary to help them acquiring some initial vocabulary and rules. In relation to this, L1 can be useful to reduce the time pupils need to learn vocabulary and rules in any other case. For example, it is easier to explain what a chair is just by saying ‘silla’ instead of saying ‘a thing that people use to sit, with four legs…’ Besides, the need to manage the class could make teachers speak in L1. Sometimes, problems are big enough to require the use of L1 if we want to solve them in a fast way. Another good example of necessary use of L1 in the English classroom is that when we need to explain a proverb, jokes, expressions, etc. It could be very hard to explain some of them in English if pupils know almost nothing about the English culture. In conclusion, my opinion is that L2 should be used as much as possible. Despite of the exceptions I have mentioned and many other, it is preferable to have in mind that the use of the target language in the teaching process maximizes the effectiveness of pupils’ learning...
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...Eating Sugar It has always been easy to judge other people before you know them – much easier than it is to open up to a complete stranger. Every day we judge other people by the way they look, and especially people with different backgrounds than ourselves. But isn’t it wrong to make first-hand impressions before you know the person? It might turn out that it is a nice person with a great personality hidden under a different appearance. The short story Eating Sugar, written by Catherine Merriman,_ _describes the meeting between two different cultures; how their first-hand-impressions on each other are and how this impression develops over time. The story takes place in Thailand in the month of April. We are in the deserted rainforest where an English family, consisting of Alex, Eileen and their twenty-one-year old daughter Suzanne, have been on a trip with other tourists and guides. But they decide to stay a little longer than the other, so they can enjoy the waterfall alone and end up getting lost. After a while - and many thoughts about the situation, they meet a group of Thai men. Suzanne and her parents have very different views on strangers. Alex and Eileen are very suspicious about the Thais, and they do not feel safe among them. They do not trust them, and especially Alex is sure that they have met someone who might be dangerous as he states: “...Christ, they could be up to anything” (_page 5, line 125)_ Unlike her parents, Suzanne is very cool about...
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...Defining Culture Paper GBM 480 University of Phoenix December 13, 2008 Culture in America can be compared to other cultures as being many different cultures rolled into one. “Es ist nichts schrecklicher als eine tätige Unwissenheit” (“There is nothing more terrible than ignorance in action”) (Goethe 1805). Unlike American culture, Germany the land of poets and thinkers is a culture shared by many members of society with many outside influences but with little internal differences. “Although there are different norms of national cultures, there is a good deal of variation among individuals making up the norm” (Daniels, Radebaugh, Sullivan 2007). The following paper defines the term culture along with examining the elements of German culture and how they impact business practices. Definition of Culture There are many times when people don’t understand why a certain people do certain things but they attribute it to a culture other than their own. It is easy to “blame” something on culture. Knowing what culture is exactly is not always as easy as a person might think. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary; culture is the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education (2008). It is also defined as “the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations (Merriam-Webster 2008). Culture pertains to the activity of humans...
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...points” which the majority of citizens within that specific country can relate with * Point #1: the two cultures (the English and the French) that help create the foundation of this nation have been involved in a conflict with each other though out the history of the country. * Events such as the 1837 Rebellion, the Quiet Revolution and the late 20th century referendums all prove the negative tension between the 2 dominant cultures of Canada. * Point #2: the multiculturalism Canada is known for turns out to be one of the primary reasons why Canada hasn’t yet developed a strong national identity. * Thesis Statement: The combination of Canada’s cultural roots failing to coexist through its history and the significant amount of multiculturalism this country possesses makes it impossible for Canada to have one true national identity. * Closing sentence: the effects of these factors shows today, as the majority of people both inside and outside of Canada fail to recognize a consensual concept within the country, that could be concretely characterized as Canada’s national identity. Body Paragraph #1: * Topic Sentence: Perhaps one of the most critical reasons why Canada’s national identity has struggled to develop is due the considerable amount of tension between the two founding cultures of the country. * Throughout the history of Canada, the English and the French have faced off in a conflict against one another. * This relationship dates back to...
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...Should English language be the medium of instruction for Malaysian Universities? Topic: Hook: “If you talk to man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language that goes to his heart.”- Nelson Mandela. Bridge: In this quote means that when we are learning and using other language for instance English language it’s easy to see how reaching out to people in their own language makes for a very good start to build relationship. Because in Malaysia now, English language being a command language for all people use to communicate with each other’s surrounding, Even in office, school, universities, and so on. For those would aren’t to leave behind now need to master and learn English language from the beginning. The changes of the instruction in education was started from the former prime minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, which was part of two-year government funded research project “Language Policy and Planning in Higher Education in Malaysia: Responding to the Needs of the Knowledge Economy. Thesis statement: The English language should be the medium of instruction for Malaysia universities because they promote communication with the international world, the graduates will have good communication skills, different cultures to communicate with internet technology. Body 1 - is that it enables student to communication with the international world. In these days - In my opinion, the important thing for university and graduates is to...
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...are at least 300 different cultures in the United States, we will bump into someone from another culture very often. As the demand of global trading increased, it required us to have the skills to communicate efficiently with people all around the world in order to get our job done. This is the reason why we must take every culture serious and learn to understand and respect the difference of others. However, there are always something we will take for granted, as we “think” the person that we are communicating with see things the same as we do. The first thing we always take for granted is language, the second thing is eye-contact and body movement, the last thing is the way we talk. Due to English is a global language and therefore we except everyone that we are communicating with in the United State of America to know English. However, we do have some English as second language speaker here in the United State, therefore we will have to take that into account whenever we encounter them, and avoid using slang or jargons that they do not understand. Even though the same language, English are the main language of the United State, Canada and England. But they do not use it in the same way, as in vocabulary, spelling and dialect, they...
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...may be intentional, it may be based on societal cues, or it may be completely unconscious. Common forms of nonverbal communication include body language and facial cues, fashion and personal grooming, hand gestures, and graphical signs and design. Nonverbal communication can be broadly divided into relatively universal forms and culturally dependent forms. Many facial expressions, for example, are relatively universal, with most cultures able to identify expressions of fear, joy, or anger. On the other hand, nonverbal cues like bowing, shaking hands, or flashing a peace sign are culturally defined, and therefore have little meaning outside of cultures that understand them. Scientists once said that body language accounts for 80% of the message we try to tell others and that what we actually say is only 20%. Body language definitely plays an important role in communication. Body language is used to convey things that we may not be fully aware of. We are not fully conscious of signals we give off to others through our body language and what others are trying to send off to us. Furthermore, body language means different things in different cultures or context. For example, direct eye contact is usually a sign of respect or interest, but in other cultures like Japan, eye contact is actually disrespect. Hence, when trying to read body language, pay careful consideration into the cultural and situational context In many countries in the world, men kiss each other when...
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...written work of any single body. Literature is writing that is considered to be an art form. It is used to refer to all written account, though living at or belonging to the same time definitions extend the term to include text that are spoken or sung. “Literature is a process of producing grand, beautiful, well – ordered lies that tell more truth than any assemblage of facts, by Julian Barnes”. Literature is a Latin word, originated in the southern Mesopotania of Sumar C. 3200. Literature usually means works of poetry and prose that are especially well written. There are many kinds of literature, such as poetry, plays or novels. They also put into groups through their language,...
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...The grammars of a language differ than other languages. Every language has its own grammars, but it is not only about grammars. Languages are also different in the way they are structured, their metaphors, and the meaning of words based on every culture. The environment effects the way people communicate. People use their surroundings to express themselves, we reached a level where words are more powerful than what we imagine, they sometimes mean acts. “It addresses the physicality of language in a way that perhaps surprises us.” (Rios, 506). Alnasri, 2 Mansour Alnasri #000543474 02/08/2012 College Writing Trudy Stone First Paper Languages Conflict In this world and in this time it is hard to find a person who speaks only one language. Every person of them passes through situations where they face conflict between their native language and the other language that they speak. I read “Translating Translation: Finding the beginning” by Albert Alvaro Rios and I find it really interesting. I feel it touches my mind, he writes about what every person who speaks more than one language thinks about. He writes about different aspects of speaking another language, and more examples of his personal experience. Rios holds the Katharine C. Turner Endowed chair in English at Arizona State University. He is the recipient of many distinguished awards for his writing. Rios starts with general information about himself and how he first noticed this conflict. Then he gets to the main idea and specify more about his experience and provides more examples...
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...Culture and language are closely connected. Although many cultures share specific languages, many words and phrases are inclusive and have different meanings to a certain culture. This topic is touched upon in both Fatiha Guessabi’s “ Blurring the line between Language and Culture” and James Harbeck’s “ Why isn’t ‘American’ a language?”. This topic makes you ask the question, is culture a language of sorts, specifically is American a language. Fatiha Guessabi’s Blurring the line between Language and Culture describes the connection that different cultures have with language, arguing that culture is a language itself. Guessabi believes that you cannot learn a language without learning about the culture tied to it. Guesabi also writes about the high likelihood...
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...“The Cultural History of Tattoos,” tells of Chinese records that show Japanese males having tattoos since the third century. In the mid-nineteenth century, colonization broke a barrier that had been keeping Japan separate from the rest of the world (“The”). After this barrier broke, the art of tattooing was shunned and viewed as something bad. It is astounding how an art form was able to become so ingrained in a culture that it still exists hundreds of years later, even after attempts to remove it. There is some debate on whether tattoos may have been used as a form of punishment and torture in Japan (“The”). Though this may have been the case, it is not today. All cultures have history that are aren’t proud of, because they are human and people make mistakes. This doesn’t mean that change is impossible though. People can learn from mistakes and, in this case, eventually accept body modification. An example of this is woodblock printing, an art that originated in Japan. Woodblock prints weren't always viewed as art and were seen as different from the typical standards, but today they and their influence is seen in most art museums and galleries (“The”). Woodblock printing and tattooing have a deeply connected history. They serve as inspiration and competition for each other (“The”). This example shows how people and society change and over time are capable of accepting things that are...
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...LANGUAGES. 2006. NO. 9 The Language of Advertising: Analysis of English and Lithuanian Advertising Texts Jurgita Vaičenonienė Annotation. The spread of globalization and marketing during the last century triggered the proliferation of advertising genres. The goal of advertisements is to persuade consumers to act or think in a textually determined way in order to boost sales of particular commodities and services. In order to capture attention, convey the message and persuade the consumer, advertising texts use a range of manipulative language devices. Moreover, different cultures may have different expectations with regard to stylistic choices, language use and other preferences in the same genre. Hence the aim of the article is to analyze the language of advertising in English and Lithuanian in order to estimate the specificities of the advertising genre in the two different cultural and linguistic systems. The approach employed in the study draws on the ideas of the functionalist interpretation of text typology and source text analysis as proposed by Nord (1997) and Reiss (2000). The functionalist approach provides an in-depth understanding of the source and target text conventions and functions which are prerequisites for successful intercultural communication and translation. The means to accomplish the task of the present article is the analysis of a comparable corpus of data consisting of 100 English and 100 Lithuanian advertising texts. For the analysis, only...
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...“Why not use Standard English all the time?” Introduction Standard English is the most influential and important in terms of how society operates. It is the benchmark that other “varieties” of English measure itself against and the dialect promoted in schools, recorded in dictionaries and grammar texts. In terms of influence, it’s also used in powerful areas such as law, government and media. Standard English allows society to form an effective way to communicate between people and communities that have a different way of speaking. Attitudes toward the use of Standard and non-Standard English varies depending on upbringing, culture and subjectiveness. Due to the advancements in technology, many people have shifted from using Standard to non-Standard because the rules and grammar are more flexible making it easier to use. It’s no surprise this is happening, as Standard English is not easy to learn and use. *** Body Paragraph 1 The most significant variety of English is Standard English. * history of the British empire * effective way of communicating Body Paragraph 2 Standard English is used as a benchmark. * used in dictionaries, etc. * prescriptivism Body Paragraph 3 Standard English is optional and should remain this way in means of communication. * difficulty of Standard English * tends to be more applicable to written language * flexibility of rules and grammar http://year11englishlanguage2013.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/should-we-use-standard-english-all-time...
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...How a Multicultural Workforce Might Affect Teamwork and Communications in Large Companies Bethany Ward, Nicole Ortiz, Brandi Cook Learning Team B University of Phoenix COMM/215 Linda Lawliss February 5, 2007 Large companies find a multicultural workforce essential because they have to do business effectively with many diverse cultures in order to be successful. Unique skills and/or lower costs become more accessible to companies when they broaden their work forces. However, in working with different cultures and backgrounds, many companies face difficulties and challenges they must overcome. Managing a diverse workforce is an important task for today’s corporations. The idea of a diverse workforce is not a new concept. “According to The History Channel, in the 1850’s, Chinese and Irish laborers were brought over to lay the tracks for the transcontinental railroad, which raised anger of those who had arrived a hundred years earlier”. (Cartby, 2006). No matter how angry people may get over diversity and new workers coming to America in search of a better life, it’s not going to go away. Ethnic backgrounds are just one dynamic of a diverse workforce. According to the Workforce 2000 study funded by the U.S. Department of Labor: “Immigrants, women and people of color accounted for 85 percent of the net growth in the labor force throughout the 1990’s”. (Cartby, 2006). This study proves the workforce of the future is going to become even more diverse...
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...Group Membership The first cultural group that I subscribe to and identify with is the African American culture. Like many, the African culture is represented in many forms such as music, art, storytelling and dance. Cultures exist to satisfy the needs of its subscribers. Through culture, I was taught about food habits, rituals concerning life and death, and how to worship. In many African American households, it is customary to serve black-eyed peas adhering to the belief that dish is a lucky New Year's meal is especially popular in the south. To date, I still cook black-eyed peas on New Year’s Eve because that’s what I grew up seeing, so became the tradition. As a child, relatively all of my friends followed the same ritual in their household. I take value in this cultural behavior that has transmitted from generation to generation. Verbal and Nonverbal Communication The communicative potential of nonverbal behavior is heavily influenced by culture, where we are taught how to interpret messages of other’s nonverbal communication and behavior within the culture. A learned nonverbal communication cue that I was taught as a child was to always make eye contact when generating or receiving a message. A known characteristic of my culture reveals that within USA, African-Americans use more eye contact when talking and less when listening with the reverse true for other cultures, as this may be seen as an act of defiance and disrespect. Expressions using our face and eyes influence...
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