Volume 6, Issue 1 -

There is a growing perception that English used as a lingua franca does not need to resemble English as a native language, but can include a great deal of lexicogrammatical variation. However, a more fundamental matter is whether research articles written in English need to conform to the dominant linear, deductive, ‘Anglo’ pattern of text organization, or whether non-native English speakers should be free to transfer rhetorical patterns from their L1s into English, such as, e.g., an inductive, indirect, end-weighted form of argumentation, perhaps with a less-assertive conclusion. Hinds (1987) describes the latter style of writing as “reader-responsible,” as opposed to the “writer-responsible” Anglo-American style, arguing that it requires a great deal more inferential work on the part of the reader. Yet from a relevance theory perspective it appears unlikely that a culture would choose to impose unnecessary additional processing effort on readers. The perception of difficulty is an etic perspective: analysts from “writer-responsible” cultures imagine the processing effort that would be necessary in their culture to make sense of “reader-responsible” texts. Indirect, inductive rhetorical styles do not cause problems for readers accustomed to them. Given that most academic writing in English is for an international audience, non-native English-speaking researchers – and indeed native English speakers too – should be free to adopt a range of styles, or some sort of heterogeneous hybrid, depending on their perceptions of their readers’ expectations. A further issue is whether researchers who have reservations about ‘Anglo’ styles of writing, e.g. in the social sciences or literary and cultural theory, should encourage non-native English speakers to imitate the noun-heavy, nominalized, passivized, syntactically-complex style dominant in these fields.

For decades, scholars across disciplines have lauded educational settings in which students have the interactional space to take initiative (e.g. Dyson 1987; Manke 1997; Renne 1996; Shah et al. 2002). As such, initiatives of this kind are considered an important part of student-centered activities, which in turn lead to greater learning opportunities (Waring 2011). While much research has been devoted to examining contexts in which learner’s voices may be heard, scant attention has been paid to the particular kinds of talk that encourage them to initiate contribution or the ways in which such initiatives, when they do occur, serve to shape the pedagogical trajectory. By utilizing conversation analysis (CA) to study interactions in one-on-one mathematics tutoring sessions between an experienced teacher and preschool-aged children, this study extends the small but growing body of microanalytic work on learner initiatives. It aims to further specify the discursive practices that foster rich environments for learner-led contributions. It also considers how the contributions shape the ensuing lesson, and what such contributions relay to teachers about the learner’s understanding of a concept.

The analysis of intercultural communication, which is adopted in mainstream applied linguistics and communication studies, aims to explain the meaning of cultural differences and identities in the present global world. The present analysis of intercultural communication is based on theories of cultural variability, which highlight the basic distinctions between values determining cultural differences and identities. Some studies in applied linguistics observe cultural variability as a discursive construction based on a form of epistemological essentialism, produced in the Western part of the world to give meaning to its hegemony. However, these studies share some epistemological foundations with theories of cultural variability. This paper proposes a theorization of intercultural communication, which explains cultural differences and identities as constructed in communication systems and based on their particular structural presuppositions. In this perspective, the hegemonic structure of intercultural communication is ethnocentrism, including the presuppositions of Us/Them basic distinction, positioning of individuals as members of cultural groups and normative expectations about displays of We-identities. This theorisation also provides an explanation of the discursive construction of new hybrid forms of identity, which are observed as a result of globalisation, and of the interdependence between local and global communication systems. Finally, this theorization leads to explain the meaning of intercultural dialogue, which is presented as an alternative to ethnocentrism. The open question regards the explanation of dialogue as either a new discursive construction of hegemonic Western culture or a new structure, introducing equality in participation, sensitivity for participants’ personal expressions and expectations of participants’ empowerment in local and global communication systems.

This research investigated the systematicity of turn-taking organisation in naturally occurring GP consultations where either a professional or an ad hoc interpreter was involved to mediate language discordant doctor-patient talk-in-interaction. I found that participants systematically organise their turns to speak, following one of the nine types of turn-taking organisation identified in this study disregarding the patient’s native language and culture, the type of interpreter and their interpreting proficiency. The effect turn-taking organisation has on communication varies in different contexts. Teaching doctors about the cause and effect relation between turn-taking and communication outcomes may help them improve their clinical communication.

In today’s digital age, the online public domain, particularly social networking websites, is the new frontier for the battle between censors and dissidents. This paper examines linguistic trends in the ways in which Chinese web users exploit Chinese phonology, morphology, and orthography to avoid notice by online censors through the lenses of pragmatics and critical discourse analysis. The linguistic transformations can be divided into 1) phonologically derived transformations, e.g. the well known “river crab” ( héxiè , 河蟹) in place of the word “harmony” ( héxié , 和谐); 2a) character suggestion (phono-orthographical) e.g. referring to former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao ( Wēn Jiābǎo , 温家宝) as “Teletubby” ( tiānxiàn bǎobǎo , 天线宝宝) because of the two names’ shared character 宝 ( bǎo ); and 2b) character suggestion (morpho-orthographical) e.g. the made-up word 目田 ( mù tián , “eye field”) being substituted for 自由 ( zìyóu , “freedom”). Consequently, introducing multiple linguistic transformations, in particular introducing elements of foreign languages and ideograms, drastically increases the level of encoding. This paper presents examples of combination methods, including Chinese-English compound words that connote disparate yet interdependent meanings in multiple languages meanings, as well as the youth culture phenomenon of Martian language, or 吙☆魰 (火星文, huǒxīng wén ). In characterizing the ways in which web users manipulate Chinese language, this paper aims to demonstrate that these transformation techniques are inherent to the Chinese language as well as a byproduct of the relationship between web users and censors, reflected in the encoded subversive messages heavy reliance on political and cultural references. Thus, interpreting the output strings of subversive messages requires both linguistic knowledge and social context.

Development of vocabulary is one of the fundamental elements for second language acquisition; it is important to meaning transfer and successful communication as well (Barcroft 2004). The purpose of the research reported in this paper was to investigate to what extent the characteristics of vocabulary affect Taiwanese English language majors’ second-language vocabulary acquisition and retention. This research builds upon similar research conducted by Willis and Ohashi (2012), which found a relationship between acquisition and a word’s frequency, cognateness, and length for Japanese learners of English. Our results indicate a significant relationship between acquisition and a word’s frequency, level of polysemy, and part of speech. Correlation results show that polysemy and frequency are both strongly related to acquisition. Nevertheless, a negative correlation between phonemes and acquisition was also shown. The findings indicate that high frequency words and polysemous words are both easily acquired and retained; in contrast, words with more phonemes require more effort by Taiwanese English language majors to learn and retain. Findings from a multiple regression analysis further suggest that high frequency polysemous nouns are easily acquired and retained by Taiwanese English language majors. Pedagogical implications concerning the variables investigated are provided.