...examine the reasons why it is important both linguistically and psychologically to build a vocabulary quickly when learning a foreign language. The article asserts that very little can be achieved or learned in a foreign language with a small vocabulary and that by building a sizable vocabulary quite quickly one can soon be able to function adequately. You may also wish to look at http://www.jalt-publications.org/tlt/files/95/feb/meara.html Introduction It is obvious that in order to learn a foreign language one needs to learn many many words. But how many? Educated English native speakers have a vocabulary of about 20,000-25,000 word families (A 'word family' refers to a group of words that share the same basic meaning e.g. create, creation, creating, created, creative etc), foreign learners of English need far fewer[1].The speaking vocabulary is usually said to be half of the reading and writing vocabulary. Foreign learners of English only need about 3000-5000...
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...multilingualism has always been a common use among people speaking another language because it was the only way to communicate between them. From the moment two cultures are in contact, there are exchanges of ideas, information, goods… and vocabulary. In ancient times, the Greeks created the concept of democracy, and the word that designates it, was borrowed later by the Latin before being used in English. English draws several words from the vocabulary of French cookery (chef, menu, entrée); the French borrowed musical vocabulary from the Italian (allegro, concerto), but with the birth of industrialisation and of new technologies, most other languages now borrow from English. In countries where more than one language is spoken, the phenomenon of borrowing is very frequent. Those different languages are spoken in very close territories, so that their speakers have contact with each other and by hearing the language of the others, they end up by integrating some words of the other language. Borrowings or loanwords, less numerous than words of the mother language (except with the Creoles) though, are extremely common in the vocabulary of many languages: this is an unconscious process and a constituent factor in the life and evolution of languages. In my essay I will show how necessary are the lexical borrowings to fill the gaps in a native lexicon. To do so I will focus on the reasons that pushed the languages to use loanwords instead of native words and the processes that are used...
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...English has come a long way since it first started to crop up as a language. Many words have been borrowed from pervious and concurrent languages in the beginning and still are to this day. English is an ever evolving language. Even now, new words and phrases are being adding to it. What will the English language look like in 500 years? We can look to the past and present for clues to how the language will evolve over that time. The English language as it is known now will not exist in 500 years. The difference between English at the beginning of its usage and English in the modern day is astounding. It has come a very long way from how it used to be. This is due, in part, to the fact that English speakers are constantly adding new words and phrases. These days, it is common to see people texting on their phones and chatting on social media sites. To decrease the amount of characters they have to type, many use abbreviations or acronyms. Abbreviations and acronyms make it faster and easier to share information. They have become very prevalent in modern society. Acronyms like YOLO, which means “You Only Live Once”, have become so popular in writing that they have become commonly used while speaking. This form of speaking has become very popular among young people. In years to come, it would not be improbable if this acronym or acronyms like it became actual words. This would not be the first time an acronym has become a word though. The word laser was an acronym for Light...
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...Topic Error analysis on written English of two public and two private universities students Abstract This study seeks to identify and analyze errors by means of error analysis procedures. The objective of this study was investigating the written English errors of University students in males and females universities in Dhaka. It was conducted on purpose of identifying The written errors of English committed by the university students, estimating the predominant errors And the least ones and explaining the causes of the written errors of English committed by the University students .The sample of study consisted of 4 student selected from public and private university in Dhaka. Introduction Learning a Second Language (L2) is a lifelong process and it is often a challenging experience for L2 learners. Presently, English is an international language and is used as the language in international relations, and in exchanging knowledge and technology. It is not easy for anybody to deny that English is one of the most important languages in the world. It is seen by large number of people as the language of art, science, politics and economics. So when one wants to cope with what happens in the world he must learn English language. Languages are of four Skills. English language is not an exception. It consists of four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. One of the most important components in English language is writing skills. The ability to write...
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...Internet Campus Philosophy 210: Critical Thinking Strayer University February 3, 2013 It is often believed that the English language is one of the most difficult languages to learn. The phonetic system employed by the English language leaves open a vast majority of issues for any individual attempting to master the language. For instance, the English language is the only language which uses multiple spellings for similar-sounding words. Take for example “threw” and “through;” “led” and “lead;” or “accept” and “except.” “The fact is, although it’s possible to make rough guesses at English spellings using phonetics, in order to really know English spelling, you have to memorize the spelling of every word” (Alexander, 2009). Additionally, the English language features words which are spelled the same, but possess different definitions and uses. For example, “wound” and “wound.” Unless these words are seen in the form of a sentence or heard the terms in which they are referenced, recognizing the difference is impossible; sometimes even for one brought up speaking the English language. Not only do individual words offer different meanings, the method, or “tone” in which one speaks also offer a level of confusion. While there are different methods in which to ‘stress’ key words within a sentence or ‘emphasize’ the importance of what is being said, two common types of language, which are complete opposites, often result in frequent misinterpretations that no other language...
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...Comprehension in Translation If we ask people who know English whether they understand the following sentence “This car is very powerful” they all say they do. Their comprehension is based on two elements. One is their knowledge of the words and grammar of the English language. But this is not enough. In different contexts and in different situations the word “powerful” may mean different things: “ a powerful car “ in the advertisement is not the same as “ a powerful method” for solving a problem , or “a powerful man” in felling trees, though the three “powerfuls” do not have smth in common. Similarly, the word “car” can mean not only an automobile , but also according to Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language it means “ a streetcar; an elevator cage; a part of the balloon which carries people and equipment” . “Understanding” the above sentence means that those hearing or reading it can imagine automobile, probably big, that can run very fast. This is where the second element of comprehension comes in: besides knowledge of the language comprehension implies knowledge of the outside world, called extralinguistic knowledge or encyclopedic knowledge or background knowledge. Comprehension varies from non-comprehension to full comprehension. Total non-comprehension of verbal statements is extremely rare, since the situation and/or content almost always say smth about its meaning. The problem of full comprehension is rather more difficult to deal...
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...Ancient Peruvian mythology is rich with creatures, kings, and conquests from prominent cultures like the Incan Empire and Tiwanaku civilization. One of the myths is of a huge, double-headed water serpent with birdlike wings and feet that emerges from underground in times of revolution. This creature, called the Amaru, comes from the spiritual world and is often associated with water (Steele). Danilo Sanchez Lihón’s Spanish children’s book El Amaru, Semidios del agua features this mystical beast (the subtitle Semidios del agua translates to water demigod). Lihón, a Spanish poet and novelist, wrote this book to encourage literacy and reading among Spanish speaking children (Press Release). While he does not give an age bracket, El Amaru is most likely written for children between ages 8...
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...A DICTIONARY OF NIGERIAN ENGLISH [DRAFT CIRCULATED FOR COMMENT] http://homepage.ntlworld.com/roger_blench/RBOP.htm Cambridge, Sunday, 07 August 2005 Roger Blench Mallam Dendo 8, Guest Road Cambridge CB1 2AL United Kingdom Voice/Answerphone/Fax. 0044-(0)1223-560687 E-mail R.Blench@odi.org.uk TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations...................................................................................................................................................ii Preface ..............................................................................................................................................................ii Introduction .....................................................................................................................................................1 Sources..............................................................................................................................................................1 Spelling .............................................................................................................................................................1 Nigerian English/West African English.........................................................................................................1 Pidgin versus Nigerian English ......................................................................................................................1 Auxiliaries ..........................................
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...new | |language a Creole language is born. Some type of human "upheaval" that forces people to find a way to communicate, without using | |their own languages, stimulates the creation of a Creole language. In the case of Creole languages in the Caribbean, the | |"upheaval" is the past history of slavery. Most Creole languages are based on one language. In Jamaica the African slaves were | |thrown into a situation where the only common means of communication was English, or at least broken English, therefor Jamaican | |Creole has a majority of its roots in English (Sebba 1, 1996). Essential words which people could not find an English name for, | |such as people, things (like plants and animals) and activities (especially religious ones) were taken from a variety of West | |African languages. | |As a result of patois not being an official language, a name for the Jamaican dialect has not been settled to this day. Common | |names such as Jamaican, Jamaican Creole, Jamaican patwa or patois, Black English, broken English and even baby talk or slang are | |all used to describe...
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...CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIAN ENGLISH Indian English is a distinct variety of the English language. Many Indians claim that it is very similar to British English, but this opinion is based on a surface level examination of lexical similarities. Of course, one must keep in mind that not every linguistic item is used by every Indian English speaker and that a great deal of regional and educational differentiation exists. Even so, items can be identified which are indicative of Indian English speech and which are widely used. These operate on various phonological, morphological, lexical, and syntactic levels, which I will characterized with items brought up in the recorded discussions, in my previous experience with Indian English, and in scholarly writings about Indian English. References to the transcription excerpts (pages 17-26 of this report) are written, for example, as 1.3.4, which indicates Discussion 1, Excerpt 3, Item 4. 4. PHONOLOGY I was able to do very little on the phonological level. I set up a test to see if the English alveolar /t/ would be articulated as the Indian retroflex /t/ or as the dental /t/ in different phonological environments. The result was that the retroflex completely replaced the alveolar; in fact, it has been found that the entire series of English alveolar consonants tends to be replaced by retroflex consonants (Trudgill & Hannah 1994, p.128). One item that did come out of the experiment was that some Indian English speakers had a tendency to...
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...1. Old English Poetry Old English poetry was written during A.D. 650 to 1100. Often called Anglo-Saxon literature, the poetry was written in the old English language. The first characteristic is structure of the poetry. In Old English poetry, each line is broken into two sections called verses or half lines. The first verse is called the on verse, and the second is called the off verse. A pause called a caesura is between the on and off verses. The second is alliteration. Because, one of the most predominant characteristics of Old English poetry is the use of alliteration. Alliteration is the repeated use of the same consonant or vowel sound in different words. In Old English poetry, the alliteration was completed on stressed words beginning with the same consonants or on any vowel sound. The third characteristic is Meter and Rhythm. In Old English poetry, five rhythm types were common. The rhythms were represented by "lift," which means stressed syllable, and "drop," which means unstressed syllables. The five patterns are (1) lift, drop, lift, drop; (2) drop, lift, drop, lift; (3) drop, lift, lift, drop; (4) lift, lift, half-lift, drop or lift, lift, drop, half-lift; and (5) lift, half-lift, drop, lift. The last characteristic of poetry in old English is compound. It was useful to poets focusing on creating alliterations and keeping the rhythm and meter of the poem itself consistent. Three types of compounds occur in Old English poetry. In one type of compound, one...
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...Modern English What are the distinguishing characteristics (grammar, vocabulary and writing system of this period?) Student : Dardan Palucaj Modern English is the form of the English language spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England, which began in the late 15th century and was completed in roughly 1550. With some differences in vocabulary, texts from the early 17th century, such as the works of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible, are considered to be in Modern English, or more specifically, are referred to as using Early Modern English or Elizabethan English. English was adopted in regions around the world, such as North America, the Indian subcontinent, Africa, Australia and New Zealand through colonization by the British Empire. Modern English has a large number of dialects spoken in diverse countries throughout the world. This includes American English, Australian English, British English, Canadian English, Caribbean English, Hiberno-English, Indo-Pakistani English, Nigerian English, Philippine English, Singaporean English, and South African English. compounds formed from Greek & Latin elements: The same method may be employed in forming words elements derived from Greek and Latin. Eugenics is formed with 2 Greek roots, eu-meaning well, and yes-meaning to born. The world therefore means well born and is applied to the efforts to bring about well born offspring...
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...Project entitled: “The difficulties and some solutions to Vietnamese-English translation” to total fulfillment of the requirement for the report of graduation practice. Son La, April 2011 Nguyễn Thị Thiện ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisors, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Thuy and Mrs. Nguyen Mai Huong, lecturers of the Foreign Languages Department of Son La College. This report could have probably not completed without their patient, enthusiastic and instructive supervision and encouragement. I also would like to show my profound gratitude to all the lecturers in the Foreign Languages Department in Son La College for tirelessly devoting time and efforts to enrich, broaden and deepen my knowledge over the past three years. My special thanks go as well as to the Foreign Languages Department of Son La College for giving me the opportunity and permission to implement this report. I also would like to delicate my special thanks to my classmates in English course 45, who have supported, cooperated and provided me with valuable suggestions. Especially, I am obliged to my friends who looked closely at the final providing me their translation exercises and assignments to use as version of the report for English style and grammar, correcting both and offering suggestions for improvement...
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...Poland Abstract Poglish is a dialect that results from combining language elements from Polish and English. It is most commonly heard among people whose first language is Polish, but encounter the need to use English for practical situations in an English-speaking country, or to describe things using English words in Poland because there is no easily translatable equivalent term in Polish. The Poglish examples in this presentation will include those personally experienced by the author when listening to Polish immigrants in Chicago, some accounts of this dialect currently used by Polish immigrants in England, and the incorporation of English words or modifications of English words into the Polish lexicon in Poland. The implications of the use of Poglish on Polish immigrant traditions and the culture of presentday Poland are discussed. Introduction “Poglish”, also called “Polglish” or “Ponglish”, combines the words “Polish” and “English” to indicate a mixing of Polish- and English-language elements within a single speech production. It often occurs where native Polish speakers living in an English-speaking country swap certain Polish words or phrases for English ones, or add Polish pre- and suffixes, decline or otherwise modify English words to fit in with the rest of the (Polish) sentence.i Sometimes the combining of Polish and English elements occurs in a single word, such as a “drinkować” (drink) with “frendy” (friends). But don’t drink too much if you are “drajwnić” ...
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...Introduction The concern for learning academic English has seen a rise rapidly, as increasingly, non-native speakers of English are becoming part of academic institutions in the global context which creates interest in the field of academic English teaching (Charles & Pecorari, 2016, p.20). This report will present four annotated bibliographies dealing with issues in English for academic purposes. Annotated Bibliographies Coxhead, A. (2000). A New Academic Wordlist. TESOL Quarterly 34(2), 213-230. The purpose of the author in this paper is to help teachers and students of academic English by providing them with a ready list for reference at a tertiary level, that is, at the time of self-study. In this study, the author has attempted to come up with a method that can help to derive a vocabulary specific to academic English, an academic word list (AWL), based on large corpus of words. In doing this, the author consulted a...
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