ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1996
In the course of a preliminary analysis of data used in an investigation into the effect on the r... more In the course of a preliminary analysis of data used in an investigation into the effect on the rate of interaction in the target language of the "level of proficiency" and the "type of task", some unexpected results for participation pattern led the analyst to pursue additional lines of enquiry. A decision was taken to consider gender in a subsequent analysis. Gender had been suggested by previous studies as being capable of affecting the learners' L2 access and performance. Some of the data of the wider investigation were re-analyzed with gender as an independent variable in lieu of, then together with, the level of proficiency. This paper reports on the results of the wider investigation and describes the findings of the analysis of data with gender as an independent variable. To set the scene for the discussion of the results relevant to gender, the paper discusses a sampling of studies on gender and communication. The results of the analysis concurred wi...
International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2010
... The language policy has always reaffirmed French supremacy, thus leaving very little room for... more ... The language policy has always reaffirmed French supremacy, thus leaving very little room for competition.9 Although both English and French are traditionally school ... Review of: Haarmann, Harald (1989 ... In other words: Language mixing, identity representations, and third space ...
This article reports on the findings of a classroom-based study of the use in combination of peer... more This article reports on the findings of a classroom-based study of the use in combination of peer feedback and teacher feedback in process writing by first-year university students at the revision stage. A peer-reviewing activity was carried out (following a survey of more than 250 students) in normal classroom writing activities with 52 first-year students from two tutorial groups taking an academic writing course. Two short (pre- and post-reviewing) questionnaires were administered to identify problems in and possibilities for using both peer and teacher feedback in student writing. The study confirmed the prediction of the preference of teacher feedback over peer feedback and, concomitantly, greater use of the former. It also resulted in the following findings: an unexpectedly high level of willingness to engage in peer reviewing by the majority of the students (more as reviewers than as recipients of the feedback); and, in some cases, correspondingly actual use of the feedback i...
Creativity' is the ability of speakers to innovate for a wide range of reasons and purposes a... more Creativity' is the ability of speakers to innovate for a wide range of reasons and purposes and is recognized as part of the outcomes of using a language. According to Aitchison (2001:259) language change is a 'natural and inevitable' phenomenon that is irreversible. This view contrasts with that of self-proclaimed 'linguistic activists', such as the New York Time's columnist William Safire (cited in Aitchison 2001 :259), or the well-known editor in the British publishing industry, James Cochrane, who recently published a book in which he denounces the 'sloppy use' of English (Cochrane 2004). They are among several people who are reluctant to accept new usages. While purists attempt to protect a language by restoring respect for basic rules, among other things, most linguists argue that a prescriptive attitude stifles creativity.
An investigation, using a locally designed survey questionnaire, backed by in-depth interviews wi... more An investigation, using a locally designed survey questionnaire, backed by in-depth interviews with a selected sample of respondents, and notes from classroom observation, was carried out with first-year students at a historically black university on: their preuniversity writing experiences, their folk beliefs about the roles, usefulness, and shortcomings of different types of feedback (especially student feedback) on their writing. Among the findings was the lack of pre-university writing experience by first year students that confirmed the predicted need for writing instruction as a priority. Also unsurprising was the preference by the respondents for teacher feedback over peer feedback. Unpredicted, however, was the learners' openness to the use of peer feedback in revision, most often than not when peers act as providers, not as recipients. This article underscores the importance of reflective research as a source of information for innovative pedagogy: the findings may info...
In multiple-draft (i.e. process) writing feedback is an important ingredient and may help the stu... more In multiple-draft (i.e. process) writing feedback is an important ingredient and may help the student-writer develop into an autonomous, independent writer. Autonomy is one of the underlying principles of outcomes based education (OBE) recently adopted in South Africa. The study reported in this article was grounded on the assumption that knowledge of the students' beliefs about and difficulties encountered during reviewing activities would guide future practice. More specifically, it was assumed that insights about the use of peer feedback advocated by OBE as a routine activity would inform writing instruction. An unexpected finding was the relatively high level of acceptance of peer feedback as a classroom activity in revision. This shows that a 'negotiated' classroom practice may become 'accepted' practice, in spite of presumably unfavourable socio-cultural and educational traditions. Whereas peer feedback may presumably confer a sense of 'ownership' t...
The remarkable expansion of English through macro-acquisition, decades after the end of colonisat... more The remarkable expansion of English through macro-acquisition, decades after the end of colonisation, and the exponential increase of non-native speakers have resulted in a multitude of New Englishes. This article discusses the cross-fertilisation of these Englishes in both the Inner and Outer Circles. Taking as a case in point black South African English, which coexists alongside South African English, the closest to ancestral (British) English, its prominence underscores the growing use in formal contexts, such as education, the media, business and government communication, of New Englishes, given the number of its/their speakers. In the case of South Africa, speakers of BSAE are now prominent movers in influential public arenas. New Englishes globally are also likely to grow in stature owing to changing attitudes towards them and their acceptance as varieties in their own right. Their ascendance may signal the siege of ancestral English, especially where this co-exists with a loc...
Page 1. TESL reporter 342 2001 ppap 1 14 1 responding to feedback in revision in multiple draft w... more Page 1. TESL reporter 342 2001 ppap 1 14 1 responding to feedback in revision in multiple draft writing luanga guanga A kasanga casanga university ofthe north south africa feedback to student writing isis vital inin revision inin multiple draft essay writing eg ...
Most learners - and even some competent users of English as a second language lack pragmatic and ... more Most learners - and even some competent users of English as a second language lack pragmatic and discourse knowledge. This article focuses on the progress made by one learner whose almost daily interaction with me was observed and recorded. This formed part of a study which set out to test the appropriacy of requests by non-native speakers of English. One of the aims of this study was to verify whether exposure to models of requesting devices used by a competent user would be beneficial to a less competent user. The analysis of the requests made by the less competent user seem to suggest that exposure of this kind is beneficial.
Conflict, Exclusion and Dissent in the Linguistic Landscape, 2015
Signs, or semiotic resources,1 pervade our environment even if we do not sometimes notice (some, ... more Signs, or semiotic resources,1 pervade our environment even if we do not sometimes notice (some, most, or even all of) them. The proliferation of signs in today’s consumerist society has prompted the analogy of the city with ‘a text’, ‘a festival of signs’ (Jaworski and Thurlow, 2010, p. 31). The importance of signs is also captured in the popular saying, ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ (or ‘A picture paints a thousand words’), which means that a picture tells a story just as well as (if not better than) a large amount of descriptive text.
Itl International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1998
The study of learners&amp... more The study of learners' pragmatic and discourse knowledge, also known as "interlanguage pragmatics", is now an important preoccupation of second-language acquisition (SLA) research. Spurred by this growing interest in interlanguage pragmatics and with a view to contributing to this field of research I conducted a study of requests in English produced by English as a second language (ESL) university students in their daily interaction mainly with lecturers. I collected the data for this study by means of observation and by recording "golden episodes of requesting behaviour in students' spontaneous speech. For comparative purposes, I elicited additional data by means of a discourse-completion task (DCT). One finding is that the students' knowledge of contextual use of requesting strategies in English is inadequate because their requests are of (very) limited range and inappropriate in context. The in-appropriacy of the requests was confirmed by native speakers' judgments. One explanation of the inadequacy of the students' pragmatic knowledge is the lack of exposure to the whole gamut of requesting devices. Another may have a strategic dimension. Also important is the explanation of transfer from the first language/s (Ll/s) : learners may be simply carrying over into English structures translated from their L1. From a pedagogical point of view, it is suggested that discourse and pragmatic knowledge be systematically taught to avoid miscommunication and negative reactions from native and competent non-native speakers of English. The suggestion of teaching pragmatic knowledge seems to be supported by the finding about one subject who, after exposure to a variety of requesting expressions, seemed to modify the pattern of her requests.
Underlying assumptions within the interactionist paradigm, which provide a theoretical basis for ... more Underlying assumptions within the interactionist paradigm, which provide a theoretical basis for classroom task-based practices involving peers in second language (L2) learning, are mostly speculative. The evidence from concurrent second language acquisition research on the mediating role of (modified) interaction in L2 learning is still too fragmentary to be of interest and use to language practitioners. The empirical research (on L2 Zaïrean multilingual students of foreign language English) reported here was part of ongoing efforts to uncover some of the correlates and components of (modified) learner interaction and its possible impact on acquisition. Overall, the findings (a) confirmed the working hypothesis of the differential effect of both task type and the level of target language attainment on the amount of interaction, (b) suggested a significant effect on L2 learning of oral peer interaction, and (c) showed a significant learning potential of mixed-ability participation patterns.
International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2015
Place renaming constitutes a linguistic and highly symbolic change in the Linguistic Landscape (L... more Place renaming constitutes a linguistic and highly symbolic change in the Linguistic Landscape (LL) in post-apartheid South Africa. While for opponents toponymic changes hasten the erasure of their heritage and constitute a form of reverse discrimination, for supporters they consolidate transformative processes in a “new” South Africa. In this article, I examine both sides of the argument, taking as a case in point the street renaming in a small area of Pretoria, the administrative seat of the national government. Drawing insights from existing literature in the LL, geosemiotics and geography, notably Scollon and Scollon’s (
ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1996
In the course of a preliminary analysis of data used in an investigation into the effect on the r... more In the course of a preliminary analysis of data used in an investigation into the effect on the rate of interaction in the target language of the "level of proficiency" and the "type of task", some unexpected results for participation pattern led the analyst to pursue additional lines of enquiry. A decision was taken to consider gender in a subsequent analysis. Gender had been suggested by previous studies as being capable of affecting the learners' L2 access and performance. Some of the data of the wider investigation were re-analyzed with gender as an independent variable in lieu of, then together with, the level of proficiency. This paper reports on the results of the wider investigation and describes the findings of the analysis of data with gender as an independent variable. To set the scene for the discussion of the results relevant to gender, the paper discusses a sampling of studies on gender and communication. The results of the analysis concurred wi...
International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2010
... The language policy has always reaffirmed French supremacy, thus leaving very little room for... more ... The language policy has always reaffirmed French supremacy, thus leaving very little room for competition.9 Although both English and French are traditionally school ... Review of: Haarmann, Harald (1989 ... In other words: Language mixing, identity representations, and third space ...
This article reports on the findings of a classroom-based study of the use in combination of peer... more This article reports on the findings of a classroom-based study of the use in combination of peer feedback and teacher feedback in process writing by first-year university students at the revision stage. A peer-reviewing activity was carried out (following a survey of more than 250 students) in normal classroom writing activities with 52 first-year students from two tutorial groups taking an academic writing course. Two short (pre- and post-reviewing) questionnaires were administered to identify problems in and possibilities for using both peer and teacher feedback in student writing. The study confirmed the prediction of the preference of teacher feedback over peer feedback and, concomitantly, greater use of the former. It also resulted in the following findings: an unexpectedly high level of willingness to engage in peer reviewing by the majority of the students (more as reviewers than as recipients of the feedback); and, in some cases, correspondingly actual use of the feedback i...
Creativity' is the ability of speakers to innovate for a wide range of reasons and purposes a... more Creativity' is the ability of speakers to innovate for a wide range of reasons and purposes and is recognized as part of the outcomes of using a language. According to Aitchison (2001:259) language change is a 'natural and inevitable' phenomenon that is irreversible. This view contrasts with that of self-proclaimed 'linguistic activists', such as the New York Time's columnist William Safire (cited in Aitchison 2001 :259), or the well-known editor in the British publishing industry, James Cochrane, who recently published a book in which he denounces the 'sloppy use' of English (Cochrane 2004). They are among several people who are reluctant to accept new usages. While purists attempt to protect a language by restoring respect for basic rules, among other things, most linguists argue that a prescriptive attitude stifles creativity.
An investigation, using a locally designed survey questionnaire, backed by in-depth interviews wi... more An investigation, using a locally designed survey questionnaire, backed by in-depth interviews with a selected sample of respondents, and notes from classroom observation, was carried out with first-year students at a historically black university on: their preuniversity writing experiences, their folk beliefs about the roles, usefulness, and shortcomings of different types of feedback (especially student feedback) on their writing. Among the findings was the lack of pre-university writing experience by first year students that confirmed the predicted need for writing instruction as a priority. Also unsurprising was the preference by the respondents for teacher feedback over peer feedback. Unpredicted, however, was the learners' openness to the use of peer feedback in revision, most often than not when peers act as providers, not as recipients. This article underscores the importance of reflective research as a source of information for innovative pedagogy: the findings may info...
In multiple-draft (i.e. process) writing feedback is an important ingredient and may help the stu... more In multiple-draft (i.e. process) writing feedback is an important ingredient and may help the student-writer develop into an autonomous, independent writer. Autonomy is one of the underlying principles of outcomes based education (OBE) recently adopted in South Africa. The study reported in this article was grounded on the assumption that knowledge of the students' beliefs about and difficulties encountered during reviewing activities would guide future practice. More specifically, it was assumed that insights about the use of peer feedback advocated by OBE as a routine activity would inform writing instruction. An unexpected finding was the relatively high level of acceptance of peer feedback as a classroom activity in revision. This shows that a 'negotiated' classroom practice may become 'accepted' practice, in spite of presumably unfavourable socio-cultural and educational traditions. Whereas peer feedback may presumably confer a sense of 'ownership' t...
The remarkable expansion of English through macro-acquisition, decades after the end of colonisat... more The remarkable expansion of English through macro-acquisition, decades after the end of colonisation, and the exponential increase of non-native speakers have resulted in a multitude of New Englishes. This article discusses the cross-fertilisation of these Englishes in both the Inner and Outer Circles. Taking as a case in point black South African English, which coexists alongside South African English, the closest to ancestral (British) English, its prominence underscores the growing use in formal contexts, such as education, the media, business and government communication, of New Englishes, given the number of its/their speakers. In the case of South Africa, speakers of BSAE are now prominent movers in influential public arenas. New Englishes globally are also likely to grow in stature owing to changing attitudes towards them and their acceptance as varieties in their own right. Their ascendance may signal the siege of ancestral English, especially where this co-exists with a loc...
Page 1. TESL reporter 342 2001 ppap 1 14 1 responding to feedback in revision in multiple draft w... more Page 1. TESL reporter 342 2001 ppap 1 14 1 responding to feedback in revision in multiple draft writing luanga guanga A kasanga casanga university ofthe north south africa feedback to student writing isis vital inin revision inin multiple draft essay writing eg ...
Most learners - and even some competent users of English as a second language lack pragmatic and ... more Most learners - and even some competent users of English as a second language lack pragmatic and discourse knowledge. This article focuses on the progress made by one learner whose almost daily interaction with me was observed and recorded. This formed part of a study which set out to test the appropriacy of requests by non-native speakers of English. One of the aims of this study was to verify whether exposure to models of requesting devices used by a competent user would be beneficial to a less competent user. The analysis of the requests made by the less competent user seem to suggest that exposure of this kind is beneficial.
Conflict, Exclusion and Dissent in the Linguistic Landscape, 2015
Signs, or semiotic resources,1 pervade our environment even if we do not sometimes notice (some, ... more Signs, or semiotic resources,1 pervade our environment even if we do not sometimes notice (some, most, or even all of) them. The proliferation of signs in today’s consumerist society has prompted the analogy of the city with ‘a text’, ‘a festival of signs’ (Jaworski and Thurlow, 2010, p. 31). The importance of signs is also captured in the popular saying, ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ (or ‘A picture paints a thousand words’), which means that a picture tells a story just as well as (if not better than) a large amount of descriptive text.
Itl International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1998
The study of learners&amp... more The study of learners' pragmatic and discourse knowledge, also known as "interlanguage pragmatics", is now an important preoccupation of second-language acquisition (SLA) research. Spurred by this growing interest in interlanguage pragmatics and with a view to contributing to this field of research I conducted a study of requests in English produced by English as a second language (ESL) university students in their daily interaction mainly with lecturers. I collected the data for this study by means of observation and by recording "golden episodes of requesting behaviour in students' spontaneous speech. For comparative purposes, I elicited additional data by means of a discourse-completion task (DCT). One finding is that the students' knowledge of contextual use of requesting strategies in English is inadequate because their requests are of (very) limited range and inappropriate in context. The in-appropriacy of the requests was confirmed by native speakers' judgments. One explanation of the inadequacy of the students' pragmatic knowledge is the lack of exposure to the whole gamut of requesting devices. Another may have a strategic dimension. Also important is the explanation of transfer from the first language/s (Ll/s) : learners may be simply carrying over into English structures translated from their L1. From a pedagogical point of view, it is suggested that discourse and pragmatic knowledge be systematically taught to avoid miscommunication and negative reactions from native and competent non-native speakers of English. The suggestion of teaching pragmatic knowledge seems to be supported by the finding about one subject who, after exposure to a variety of requesting expressions, seemed to modify the pattern of her requests.
Underlying assumptions within the interactionist paradigm, which provide a theoretical basis for ... more Underlying assumptions within the interactionist paradigm, which provide a theoretical basis for classroom task-based practices involving peers in second language (L2) learning, are mostly speculative. The evidence from concurrent second language acquisition research on the mediating role of (modified) interaction in L2 learning is still too fragmentary to be of interest and use to language practitioners. The empirical research (on L2 Zaïrean multilingual students of foreign language English) reported here was part of ongoing efforts to uncover some of the correlates and components of (modified) learner interaction and its possible impact on acquisition. Overall, the findings (a) confirmed the working hypothesis of the differential effect of both task type and the level of target language attainment on the amount of interaction, (b) suggested a significant effect on L2 learning of oral peer interaction, and (c) showed a significant learning potential of mixed-ability participation patterns.
International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2015
Place renaming constitutes a linguistic and highly symbolic change in the Linguistic Landscape (L... more Place renaming constitutes a linguistic and highly symbolic change in the Linguistic Landscape (LL) in post-apartheid South Africa. While for opponents toponymic changes hasten the erasure of their heritage and constitute a form of reverse discrimination, for supporters they consolidate transformative processes in a “new” South Africa. In this article, I examine both sides of the argument, taking as a case in point the street renaming in a small area of Pretoria, the administrative seat of the national government. Drawing insights from existing literature in the LL, geosemiotics and geography, notably Scollon and Scollon’s (
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