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North American Jews in a Year-Long Volunteer Program in Israel: Identities, Motivations, Attitudes, and Hebrew Language Proficiency
Smadar Donitsa-Schmidt,
Rivi Carmel
Issue:
Volume 6, Issue 4, July 2018
Pages:
101-109
Received:
1 June 2018
Accepted:
1 July 2018
Published:
24 July 2018
Abstract: The study investigated a group of 68 young North American young adults who volunteered to teach English in Israeli public schools for a year in the framework of a joint project conducted by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israeli Ministry of Education entitled 'Israel Teaching Fellows' that was inaugurated in 2013. Employing a pre-post design, the research explored their motivations for joining the program as well as the changes in their self-ascribed identity, attitudes toward Israel and its culture, and gains in Hebrew language proficiency and knowledge about Israel. Findings showed that after spending a year in Israel, the participants gained more knowledge of Israel and improved their proficiency in Hebrew, but no changes were detected in their attitudes and Jewish identity.
Abstract: The study investigated a group of 68 young North American young adults who volunteered to teach English in Israeli public schools for a year in the framework of a joint project conducted by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israeli Ministry of Education entitled 'Israel Teaching Fellows' that was inaugurated in 2013. Employing a pre-post design,...
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Boundary Assignment: A Cognitive Motivation for Lexicalization
Issue:
Volume 6, Issue 4, July 2018
Pages:
110-117
Received:
26 June 2018
Accepted:
9 July 2018
Published:
4 August 2018
Abstract: Lexicalization is a process of structural innovation in language change, which is motivated by a human cognitive ability of structural boundary assignment in the construction of linguistic structures. In this process, the first innovative form may be a result of a language user’s intentional violation of a structural organization rule for a certain communicative purpose. The receiver, trying to correctly understand what the producer means, will have to make cognitive efforts to establish a structural gestalt by way of assigning structural boundaries. If the receiver’s boundary assignment comes to an agreement with the producer’s and accords with Gestalt Laws in human cognition, the innovative form will be accepted and spread in the language community and then finally entrench itself as new grammatical convention. That is the general process of lexicalization. The boundary assigning tendency manifested in the process of linguistic structure construal is a cognitive ability dominated by Gestalt Laws in human cognition of the world and world relations, which is actually a driving force for linguistic structural organization, and therefore an important motivation for lexicalization.
Abstract: Lexicalization is a process of structural innovation in language change, which is motivated by a human cognitive ability of structural boundary assignment in the construction of linguistic structures. In this process, the first innovative form may be a result of a language user’s intentional violation of a structural organization rule for a certain...
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A Pragmatic Study of Mitigating Strategies for Interpersonal Conflicts in Unequal Power Relations
Issue:
Volume 6, Issue 4, July 2018
Pages:
118-126
Received:
28 June 2018
Accepted:
9 July 2018
Published:
7 August 2018
Abstract: Conflict talk is a common but complex interactional phenomenon, whose initiation, maintenance, termination, etc. have been explored by many scholars. However, the mitigating strategies of conflict talk have not attracted much attention for research. This paper is a pragmatic study of mitigating strategies for interpersonal conflicts on the basis of the collected data from a number of Chinese official novels within Verschueren’s theoretical framework of Linguistic Adaptation Theory. It then offers an account of the pragmatic motivations for interlocutors with unequal power relations to use mitigating strategies in verbal conflicts in Chinese official settings.
Abstract: Conflict talk is a common but complex interactional phenomenon, whose initiation, maintenance, termination, etc. have been explored by many scholars. However, the mitigating strategies of conflict talk have not attracted much attention for research. This paper is a pragmatic study of mitigating strategies for interpersonal conflicts on the basis of...
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Influence of Contextual Factors on Chinese Private College Students’ Spoken English
Cui Yanqiu,
Huang Xiaorong
Issue:
Volume 6, Issue 4, July 2018
Pages:
127-133
Received:
13 June 2018
Accepted:
25 July 2018
Published:
16 August 2018
Abstract: Spoken English has long been a bottleneck for Chinese English learners, which is caused by not only the exam-oriented teaching mode, but also the negative psychological factors of shyness and timidness. Besides, in private colleges, high student-teacher ratio and less class hours also hinder the effect and efficiency of spoken English class. To improve spoken English ability, contextual factors including situational factors and personal factors were tested by a questionnaire with 201 students from a private college in Guangdong Province. Then an SPSS analyses were conducted on the correlation of spoken English and contextual factors. Special attention was given to the students who were good at writing but poor at spoken English, whose communicative mode, psychology and motives of spoken English acquisition were analyzed. The results indicated that non-verbal contextual factors related closely to students’ speaking ability, among which psychological factors were the most remarkable. In addition, the students’ autonomy was the weakest part and demand attention from teachers. Therefore, apart from language ability, cultivating positive psychology and autonomous learning could be break-throughs for spoken-English ability. The teachers should be more creative in creating a relaxing and interesting class by using multi-modality input in class. Besides, as mobile phone has become an indispensable learning tool, teachers should recommend more effective Apps and encourage ubiquitous learning. As a stimulus, teachers may use the Apps to assess students’ progressive grades. To increase students’ confidence in speaking English, pronunciation and fluency should be the focus of training, using Apps such as dubbing English movies. Furthermore, teachers should explain cultural differences and pragmatic aspect of English, such as body languages, customs, politeness and pertinence in expression to enhance students’ cross-cultural communicative skills. Through such training, students can not only become a fluent English speaker, but also a cultural expert which is beneficial to their future career.
Abstract: Spoken English has long been a bottleneck for Chinese English learners, which is caused by not only the exam-oriented teaching mode, but also the negative psychological factors of shyness and timidness. Besides, in private colleges, high student-teacher ratio and less class hours also hinder the effect and efficiency of spoken English class. To imp...
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On Rhetorical Functions of Narratives in Hillary Clinton’s Speeches
Issue:
Volume 6, Issue 4, July 2018
Pages:
134-139
Received:
30 July 2018
Accepted:
28 August 2018
Published:
27 September 2018
Abstract: Hillary Clinton is generally considered as a competent female politician and an excellent orator. She has impressed the world with her elegant words, storytelling styles and unique personal charm. Scholars have probed into her speeches from different angles and found that kinds of discourse strategies have been applied to enhance the appeal of her speeches, which to a great extent reflect her identities as a female and a politician. Taking Hillary Clinton’s speeches in different contexts for example, this paper makes a study on the features and rhetorical functions of narratives in her speeches. It attempts to point out the way narratives work to enhance the persuasive power of her speeches. Based mainly on theories about persuasive appeals of speech, identification between speaker and listeners, and rhetorical functions of narratives in speech discourses respectively proposed by Aristotle, Burke and Yang, the present research forms its own theoretical basis and seeks out how narratives work to provide factual evidences for her arguments, to stir the emotions of the audience through appealing to her authority and identifying with them emotionally, and to help organize the discourse. 14 speeches by Hillary have been collected to make data analysis and sample illustration. The research yields two major findings as follows: 1. Narratives are frequently applied by Hillary Clinton in each of the 14 speeches as an effective speech strategy and also a rhetorical device. She tends to narrate relevant events to promote the achievement of the speech purpose by highlighting the theme, supporting the viewpoints and stimulating emotions; 2. Comparatively, most of the narratives, altogether 96% of them, are employed to provide factual evidences for her viewpoints, emphasizing more on the post-narrative effect, and to stir the empathy of the listeners by presenting her ethos and identifying emotions. The current research is of practical significance for language learners and researchers to evaluate more effectively and investigate more deeply into language of female politicians.
Abstract: Hillary Clinton is generally considered as a competent female politician and an excellent orator. She has impressed the world with her elegant words, storytelling styles and unique personal charm. Scholars have probed into her speeches from different angles and found that kinds of discourse strategies have been applied to enhance the appeal of her ...
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