...ENGLISH ONLY COURT CASES INVOLVING THE U.S. WORKPLACE: THE MYTHS OF LANGUAGE USE AND THE HOMOGENIZATION OF BILINGUAL WORKERS’ IDENTITIES KARI GIBSON University of Hawai‘i Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects against discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, sex, religion and national origin. However when the judicial system has examined English only workplace policies in light of Title VII, it has generally determined that such policies are not discriminatory if an employee is able to speak English. Although plaintiffs have argued that language is inextricably linked to national origin and cultural identity, the courts have stated that the use of a language other than English is detrimental to the morale of monolingual English speakers and a single language is necessary to ensure workplace harmony and proper management. This paper examines the court cases where English Only workplace policies have been challenged, and identifies the prevalent myths and ideologies held by businesses and the courts about language use, identity, and bilingual speakers. Through the process of homogeneism, linguistic diversity is rejected as monolingual English speakers are able to create and enforce rules that favor themselves as they construct the identity of “American” in their own image. Language is a central feature of human identity. When we hear someone speak, we immediately make guesses about gender, education level, age, profession, and place of origin....
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...another. And it is having a dramatic effect on the number of languages. If means are not devised to stop it, half of the worlds 7000 odd languages that are spoken today will disappear within the next couple of generations. (SBS, 2013). This will also correspond to the loss of half of the world’s cultural wealth and ancestral knowledge. I will discuss the reasons why language diversity is important, and the challenges that are presented to it by contemporary society. Language is the most important tool we as humans have at our disposal. It is the means by which we learn, and the means by which we teach. It provides us with the only vehicle to express our feelings, articulate our ideas and collaborate. Human language itself is remarkably unique in the context of the natural world. We are the only creature that both speaks and writes and the only creature with the power of recursive thought, which in layman’s terms allows the ability for us to recall past episodes and imagine ourselves in future ones, as well...
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...lives at home, school and in life in general. These problems and conditions can affect students in such a big way when it comes to schoolwork or academic success. Many schools nationwide have set up programs or assistance to help these students succeed despite the problem or condition they are forced to face. Not all students may encounter a problem in school, but some encounter multiple problems. The types of problems and conditions include changing families, poverty, violence, abuse of alcohol and/or drugs, suicide, and child abuse. These are serious problems that many students face in today’s world, which can seriously affect academic success. Students who face one or more of these problems is said to be “at-risk” for academic failure (Axia College, 2005). The characteristics of students placed at-risk are a low SES, inner city, male, transient, minority, non-native English speaker, and divorced families (Axia College, 2005). The only way a school, district, or state can do something about the at-risk students is to assist the needs of these students as much as possible. Many schools, districts, and states have set up special programs for at-risk students, including anything from afterschool programs to housing assistance. Usually the programs assist one of the characteristics of at-risk students to assist these students for their particular problem. I decided to take this assignment to a personal place. I was once an at-risk student. I was suicidal when I was in Junior...
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...This paper will discuss developmentally appropriate methodologies in teaching language and literacy to young children across a developmental curriculum. Also to be discussed will be the aspects/knowledge of language, language diversity and Theoretical Perspectives. There is now evidence that it is never too early to teach a child. Through research it has been discovered that the infant even before he/she is born can hear sound and as we know that is how we acquire language, by hearing spoken words. According to Otto (2010), language development begins when language speakers assume that an infant is a participating partner in conversational settings, even though it is months before the child is able to begin using conventional words. In an article written by Dr. Carmelita Lomeo-Smrtic,Ph.D, she wrote that “Teaching children to become literate members of society is a daunting task, often relegated to the elementary teacher. However, research on teaching children to become literate suggests that this process must begin well before kindergarten. Research suggests that children are primed for learning language in utero. Also from the Otto text, “research on children’s perception of speech and the development of the auditory system in utero has determined that the fetus can perceive sounds beginning with the 25th week of gestation and at the 35th week a fetus’s hearing acuity is at a level similar to an adult’s (2010). Knowing all...
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...UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY: INVESTIGATING THE LANGUAGE PRACTICES OF MULTILINGUAL GRADE 9 LEARNERS AT A PRIVATE DESEGREGATED HIGH SCHOOL IN SOUTH AFRICA. Submitted by: Nomakhalipha Margaret Nongogo Student Number: 0309644N Supervised by Dr Carolyn McKinney Research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the degree of Masters of Arts in Applied English Language Studies. 2007 ABSTRACT This research report engages with the concern that African learners attending English medium, multiracial schools are losing their proficiency in African languages. In so doing, the report explores the language practices of four multilingual Grade 9 learners at a desegregated private high school in Gauteng. In a school environment that does not overtly support the use of African languages, I explore the extent to which multilingual learners use African languages in the school context, to position themselves and others, as an identity building resource, and the extent to which the use of African languages is implicated in their identities. I also explore the possible influence of the learners’ cultural and ethnic backgrounds on their language practices, and related to this, the expression of their identities. I look at how their language practices help them shift identities with space and purpose, and the contradictions therein. The study draws on poststructuralist theories of language and...
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...Classroom English and Employability Skills: An Insight Author: E S Sharmila Sigamany, Assistant Professor, Kingston Engineering College, Vellore. Co-Author: S. Shirly Christina, Assistant Professor, Kingston Engineering College, Vellore. Abstract: Teaching English to students both at higher secondary level and at collegiate level requires a lot of planning and the ability to execute the plan. Language learning involves improvement in all 4 skills involved: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing (LSRW Skills) as well as language areas: vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. But are all these 4 elements being visited upon in our classrooms? This paper aims at looking at the kind of English that is taught/learnt in our traditional classrooms in schools and colleges across India and how it relates to boosting the employability quotient in an individual. Keywords: LSRW, employability, communication, language learning. Introduction: Down the ages English gained popularity through commerce as there was a time when the sun never set on the British Empire – thanks to their conquests - and their colonies spread from one end of the Earth to the other end. Though English is a foreign language it has been taught in India for decades and as we are all well aware it is an associate official language. All our government documents exist in English as well as Hindi. "I would have English as an associate, additional language, which can be used not because of facilities, but because I do not...
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...others, many low income members of the population view it as a God sent opportunity. While a lot of concern has been raised, little has been advanced concerning the propagation of the actual learning itself. This paper seeks to underscore some of the pertinent issues concerning actual instruction in the FPE program. A glaring gap, which poses a major challenge to the success of the FPE, exists in terms of the language of instruction. The existing language policy disregards mother tongues as tools of disseminating knowledge and does very little to promote them. The paper suggests the training of teachers to equip them with skills in mother tongue instruction, preparation of learning materials, books and other resources. Providing money for schools without providing books in itself is a failure. This paper argues that there is need to put in place structures that enhance, promote and develop mother tongues for the purposes of actualizing the FPE program. Abbreviations: FPE-Free Primary Education; NARC-National Rainbow Coalition; MT-Mother...
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...Rafael / Mis-education, Translation and the Barkada of Languages 1 MIS-EDUCATION, TRANSLATION AND THE BARKADA OF LANGUAGES: READING RENATO CONSTANTINO WITH NICK JOAQUIN Vicente L. Rafael University of Washington, Seattle vrafael@uw.edu This paper re-visits the classic piece by Renato Constantino, “The Mis-education of the Filipino” (1959/1966), inquiring into the colonial basis of his anti-colonial critique of American English. It explores the affinity between his view of language and those of American colonial officials, especially around the relationship between English and the vernacular languages. Both conceived of that relationship in terms of a war of and on translation. It then turns to an important but overlooked essay by Nick Joaquin published around the same time as Constantino’s, “The Language of the Streets” (1963). By closely considering Joaquin’s views on “Tagalog slang” as the basis for a national language, we can see a different politics of language at work, one based not on translation as war but as play. Whereas Constantino was concerned with language as the medium for revealing the historical truth of nationhood that would lead to democratizing society, Joaquin was more interested in the conversion of history into language as a way of expanding literary democracy. Abstract Vicente L. Rafael is Professor of History at the University of Washington in Seattle. He grew up in Manila and graduated from the Ateneo in 1977. His books include Contracting...
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...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 A History of English: A Sociolinguistic Approach Writing Systems: A Linguistic Approach Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction Thinking Syntactically: A Guide to Argumentation and Analysis 5/9/05, 4:36 PM An Introduction to Sociolinguistics FIFTH EDITION Ronald Wardhaugh AITA01 3 5/9/05, 4:36 PM © 1986,...
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...Level of English Proficiency and Communication Skills among BSHRM CSTA Students: an Assessment A Thesis Proposal Presented to the Faculty of the Colegio De Sta. Teresa De Avila Foundation Inc. In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of Degree Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management By: Wendell Galapate Mau Bryan Calimlim Alvin Pancito Robert Charles Magno Rodrigo Tinaja Jr. Heizel Bisnan Lea Sojor Jenelyn Soriano Aisha Valencia Clarisse Hipolito Ian Victo APPROVAL SHEET In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management, this thesis proposal entitled “LEVEL OF ENGLISH PROFICIENCY AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS AMONG BSHRM STUDENTS: AN ASSESSMENT has been prepared and submitted by Wendell Galapate, Mau Bryan, Alvin Pancito, Robert Charles Magno,RodrigoTinojaJr., , , are hereby recommended for this deliberation. Edelitha L. Dancel Thesis Adviser Approved as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management by the panelists. _________________________ ___________________________ PanelistPanelist _________________________ Panelist Accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management. ACKNOWLEDGMENT Several people played an important...
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...we consider the future potential growth of the Japanese market and our company, global implementation is not a nice-to-have but a must-do. — Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman and CEO, Rakuten Group With less than a year to go before his self-imposed deadline of migrating to the exclusive use of English at Rakuten, Japan’s largest online retailer, CEO Hiroshi Mikitani (HBS ‘93) found himself seated outside Paris at the May 2011 e-G8 summit1. Seated alongside Internet, political, and business luminaries, Mikitani was among those shaping technology’s future agenda. But his future, his company’s future, was closing in on him. In a matter of days he would announce his acquisition of Ikeda in Brazil, marking another step in his company’s global ascent. And in a matter of months, he would evaluate its most critical stride toward becoming the world’s No. 1 Internet services company: the transition of his 7,100 Tokyo employees from their native Japanese to English, the global language of business. The future of his company lay in the success of his boldest step yet. Mikitani’s vision rested with his Japanese employees, who had fifteen months to respond to his controversial two-year English proficiency mandate at the risk of being demoted. Yet the vast majority had not yet reached their target proficiency scores. He needed to decide how to proceed in the few months that remain before the deadline. In his mind, the future of Rakuten and Japan depended on the mandate he issued fifteen...
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...exactly (or almost exactly) as they are written here. The Standard Introduction Questions 1. “Good morning (good afternoon). My name’s X. Can you tell me your full name, please?” (= Please tell me your name.) 2. “What can I call you?” (= What shall I call you? = What should I call you? = What would you like me to call you?) 3. “Can you tell me where you’re from?” (= Where are you from?) 4. “Can I see your identification, please?” (= Could I see your identification, please? = May I see your identification, please?) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (The examiner is usually referred to as "he" on this page because writing, "he or she" is too cumbersome. Actually, about 40% of the examiners are female.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The ‘Introductory’ phase of the test consists of a greeting from the examiner, followed by four questions. The main purpose of this part is to check the candidate’s identity. At the same time, the examiner begins to get an impression of the candidate’s English ability. Although this is (indirectly) part of the test, you should...
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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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...by the team. The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and should not be attributed to the EFA Global Monitoring Report or to UNESCO. The papers can be cited with the following reference: “Paper commissioned for the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005, The Quality Imperative”. For further information, please contact efareport@unesco.org The importance of mother tongue-based schooling for educational quality Commissioned study for EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005 Carol Benson, Ph.D. Centre for Research on Bilingualism Stockholm University 14 April 2004 Part A: Overview While there are many factors involved in delivering quality basic education, language is clearly the key to communication and understanding in the classroom. Many developing countries are characterized by individual as well as societal multilingualism, yet continue to allow a single foreign language to dominate the education sector. Instruction through a language that learners do not speak has been called “submersion” (Skutnabb-Kangas 2000) because it is analogous to holding learners under water without teaching them how to swim. Compounded by chronic difficulties such as low levels of teacher education, poorly designed, inappropriate curricula and lack of adequate school facilities, submersion makes both learning and teaching extremely difficult, particularly when the language of instruction is also foreign to the teacher. Mother tongue-based bilingual...
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...This page intentionally left blank The Study of Language This best-selling textbook provides an engaging and user-friendly introduction to the study of language. Assuming no prior knowledge of the subject, Yule presents information in short, bite-sized sections, introducing the major concepts in language study – from how children learn language to why men and women speak differently, through all the key elements of language. This fourth edition has been revised and updated with twenty new sections, covering new accounts of language origins, the key properties of language, text messaging, kinship terms and more than twenty new word etymologies. To increase student engagement with the text, Yule has also included more than fifty new tasks, including thirty involving data analysis, enabling students to apply what they have learned. The online study guide offers students further resources when working on the tasks, while encouraging lively and proactive learning. This is the most fundamental and easy-to-use introduction to the study of language. George Yule has taught Linguistics at the Universities of Edinburgh, Hawai’i, Louisiana State and Minnesota. He is the author of a number of books, including Discourse Analysis (with Gillian Brown, 1983) and Pragmatics (1996). “A genuinely introductory linguistics text, well suited for undergraduates who have little prior experience thinking descriptively about language. Yule’s crisp and thought-provoking presentation of key issues works...
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