Mastering Language and Literature

          I am currently working on my thesis proposal and though i have already determined the area that i would focus on (applied linguistics), I am still very much hanging in the air as to what direction my study is heading to. Lisnguistics is such an overwhelming field of study and there are so many issues and problems that are very much au courant. A simple task of choosing a topic for my thesis is already driving me into hopeless bouts of confusion. After days and nights (and wee hours in the morning) of research and internet diving (surfing would be an understatement) i have decided to do an investigation that would provide answers to a hypothesis i have postulated a few years back (the effect of sandhi variation on second language listening).

          My greatest frutration in my years of experience in teaching ESL/EFL is the lack of effective and substantial material for the improvement of second language listening specifically suited for beginner students. L2 learners with less knowledge of the English phonology and lexicons find it quite stressful using the available listening materials.

to be finished....

          

joseyo!

            With the increasing number of interracial marriages around the globe, children born from these families now have the advantage of speaking two languages.  The growing appeal of raising kids in a bilingual environment is certainly undeniable in today's global village. Most parents believe that growing up with more than one language is certainly a  very good advantage. Not only do these children have a wider opportunity, but also a greater understanding of other cultures and traditions that goes with the study of a particular language.

             I myself, am raising a bilingual child having been married to a Korean. My son Seth who's turning 4 this year had been the subject of my study regarding bilingualism in children. Through observation and a well-controlled recording of his lexical development, it is quite amazing to see children at this age to learn languages with ease. As his pediatrician put it, "Their brains at this age are like sponges that could absorb practically anything..." This supports Chomsky's Critical Period Hypothesis wherein he explains that there is a crucial period at which the language should be learned (until the age of 12). The younger the learner learns, the easier the process of learning will be. It is helpful then that learners of language start at a very young age to ensure that they achieve a near native fluency of their target language.

   

Koreans are very traditional and highly critical people. There is an exacting in the enforcement and adherence to the social norms therefore each individual is pressured to acquire the necessary qualifications to be deemed worthy of a certain position. Also, they have a very high regard on education. One cannot just teach without the proper technical competence to perform in the academe. Most highly-respected professors are those who have studied in the most prestigious universities in the world. Such high standard is imprinted on their way of thinking and thus affect the way they perceive things.

In the case of ELT, undeniably Koreans expect to be taught by the professionals who initially they think would be the Caucasian speaker. I mentioned Caucasian because though the Korean participants in the study (by Lucie Moussu) exhibited a rather negative notion on the ability of their nonnative teachers, due to the study’s limitation it did not mention the same negative perception toward the African-American teachers. Since these students are notably traditional with the way they think, they would initially think that the African-American’s English proficiency would be in a way a bit substandard to that of a Caucasian. Also, further personal observations proved that they could not actually distinguish the real native speaker of English if they do not have prior knowledge of the background of the foreign teachers since they have a generalized belief that all Caucasians is equal to a native speaker. It is only later when they learn about the racial ethnicity of that particular teacher that they come to see them as a nonnative speaker. This accounts for the more negative ratings given to the Japanese teacher since he’s the only one with an obvious ethnicity. This perception is perhaps greatly influenced by the limited knowledge they have about the outside world having been unwilling to accept changes in the past due to the stronghold of their homogenous culture.

Korean wave in the Philippines.

             Then why you might ask do Korean students flock to the Philippines to study English if Filipino ELTs are not considered as competent as their native speaker counterparts? The emerging popularity of the Philippines as the best alternative place in studying ESL is due to several notable factors. First is time and exposure, initially these students had doubts in the success of their English learning and the sole reason they chose the Philippines is its relatively cheaper rates compared with that of going to the States, Australia or Canada. However, with more exposure to the professionalism and skills of these NNEST, Koreans are slowly accepting their authority in teaching the English language. They see different strengths in the teaching of NNEST and NEST after spending considerable time in the Philippines. Second reason is “word-of-mouth.” More and more Koreans are recommending the country as a sort of a preparatory stage. Preparatory means they find it easy to strengthen their foundations in the basics of the English language, due mainly to the specific strengths of these NNEST.

             As mentioned in the study, NNEST can very well empathized with the students being a second language learner themselves and since Koreans are highly technical even in their way of studying, they find it easier to understand the methods and explanations of NNEST since they are well-equipped with the grammatical rules and structures. Having realized this, Koreans who want to further their understanding of the English language, therefore continue their studies in the States, Australia, Canada and other western countries where English is the native tongue. Experience has taught them that it is rather difficult to go directly to these countries without the proper foundation and basic skills.    This however, does not undermine the ability of the NEST to teach the English language. Undeniably, NNEST in the Philippines have  limited knowledge on the culture that comes with the study of the English language. And since culture intertwines with language, NEST I believe will have a more effective influence on the learner on that aspect.

           Conclusively, there should be no competition between NEST and NNEST because both have distinct strengths and weaknesses which when put together could give a higher level of learning of the English language. Further studies of these individual strengths could very well result in a very productive and utilitarian program for learners of English as a second language.

native speakers or nonnative speakers?

CRITIQUE:

The Attitudes of ESL Students Towards Nonnative English Language Teachers

by: Lucie Moussu

Purdue University, USA

            The highly debated issue of native vs. nonnative teacher is a trend that has recently emerged in the English Language Teaching (ELT). The capability of nonnative teacher has been put into question so many times in the past. Fortunately, with the introduction of the standard qualifying certificates for ESL teachers, the color of the eyes and hair or the paleness of one’s skin no longer holds the sole validity of one’s ability to teach the English language.

             The study is not set out to investigate the dichotomous distinction between NEST and NNEST but rather it focused more into analyzing the common perceptions of students toward their nonnative teachers in relation to their authority and ability to teach the English language despite the fact that it is considered their second language also.

             The participants of the study are rather diverse wherein there are students representing Asia, Latin America among others. They were given a set of questionnaire to be given at the initial part of their class. The same questionnaire is to be answered again by the end of the program to determine any positive or negative changes on the original perceptions of the students regarding their nonnative teachers. Though the result of the study represents a generally positive perception towards their nonnative teachers, it is interesting to note that there is still an existing discrimination when it comes to the instruction of the English language, exclusively from certain racial group.

             According to the data that was gathered, Korean and Chinese students exhibited a rather negative recognition of the ability of their nonnative teachers while the Latin Americans and the Japanese showed a positive outlook on the matter.

Present one case of child isolation.

          Isabelle (born in 1932), who was six years old at the time she was found by the authorities could not talk and was only able to produce croaking sounds. This was largely caused by the way she was kept isolated from the rest of the world. Though not entirely solitary, her only companion inside the unlit room was her deaf-mute, brain-damaged mother. According to the records, since the day she was born until she was barely six years old, she and her mom spent their time together in a dark room where the blinds are kept drawn. There was a very minimal contact with other people and no one ever spoke to her. Isabelle was then limited to a sort of “personal system of gesture” to communicate with her mother. It was said that Isabelle was an illegitimate child, and for this reason was locked up by his grandfather.  After six years of isolation, the mother was able to escape bringing Isabelle with her. And that’s when the authorities’ attention was drawn to Isabelle as another case of feral children.

          “Feral” by definition means existing in the wild or untamed state. There are different sequences of events that cause such cases like children abandoned or lost in the wild, eventually adopted by animals as if they were their own or purposely confined and cut-off from the civility of men. These children have spent their formative years in a rather “untouched” manner, meaning there were no external influences that help them develop as “humans” at least according to the conventional definition of what is to be considered human. There was a common misconception that feral case is synonymous to autism or retardation. However, as a result of the advancement of science, researchers and specialists have come to realize and prove that these cases are practically different from each other.

Isabelle’s story is just one of the many recorded cases of feral children found in the wild or rescued from a horrific confinement. Most of these children exhibited a rather uniform behavior and characteristics such as the inability to develop language or to at least clearly express themselves. They are usually limited to sounds that resemble those of a wild animal, if not unintelligible gabble of sounds. But unlike most of the feral children cases, Isabelle’s story is a rather successful one.

          Isabelle was severely retarded due to her inhumane confinement. As a result of lack of proper and healthy growing environment, she didn’t develop in should we say, a normal way. Her growth was severely stunted both physically and intellectually. Also, she reacted in a rather violent manner when approached by other people. When the experts measured her intelligence at the age of six years old and a half, they found out that her intelligence is like that of a nineteen month old and the words coming out of her mouth cannot be classified as a normal kind of speech. Isabelle however underwent an intensive training with the doctors, psychologists and other experts who put her in a stimulating environment, thus making her language acquisition develop in such a rapid manner.

Isabelle went through the usual stages of learning characteristics of the years from one to six not only in proper succession but far more rapidly than normal. In a little over two months after her first vocalization she was putting sentences together. Nine months after that she could identify words and sentences on the printed page, could write well, could add to ten and could retell a story after hearing it. Seven months beyond this point she had a vocabulary of 1500-2000 words and was asking complicated questions. www.feralchildren.com

          She was considered a normal child at the age of 8. She gradually learned to speak and more remarkably, was able to be reintegrated again to society.

There are several reasons that affected the end result of the study and reintegration program of Isabelle. Eric Lenneberg stated that “the crucial period of language acquisition ends around the age of 12 years and that if no language is learned before then, it could never be learned in a normal and fully functional sense (better known as the Critical Period hypothesis).” To give a concrete example of this theory, let us then compare the cases of Genie and Isabelle. Both girls were reportedly able to develop language with the help of a team of professionals. However, there is quite a big difference on the level of their language development or better yet, language acquisition. Genie never learned to produce more than telegraphic speech while Isabelle mastered grammar within a year and even attended school like most other children of her age. This was largely a result of the period or age they started learning language. Genie was isolated until the age of thirteen and a half. Isabelle on the other hand was found when she was six years old. This strengthens the theory that claims that the  acquisition of language by the age of seven has been proven to yield native command but if the language was not introduced between the ages 8-15, it yields progressively less perfect command (Lenneberg:1932).

          Like most of the well-publicized cases of feral children, Isabelle had undergone a series of tests and training. Unlike other normal kids, these feral children required special attention for them to be able to develop or acquire language. This further questions the issue on Nurture vs. Nature or Rousseau’s concept on humans being innately wise and generous. Surely, Isabelle’s cases had disproved and prove some of the theories in the acquisition of language. But one thing is for certain, that education is indeed very necessary for the development of human language. Learning is a necessity for humans to survive and without it we would then be no more than bipedal animal.

my very first paper in graduate school..

got a perfect grade of 1...

MLL 201 - Theories of Language and Language Acquisition

Is language species-specific?

Language, since the time it was invented (there is no existing record to date back the origin of language), has always been considered a unique human trait that sets us apart from the rest of the species. The majority of people have considered the word “language” as a mere shorthand for human language, or more explicitly “adult human language. However, there has been a popular, a rather radical disagreement about the specificity of language. Quite a number of researchers and scholars have conducted experiments and studies to prove or disapprove the much contested debate on language. I, on the other hand, would present several arguments that would support the Orthodox belief that language is one of the main hallmarks that distinguishes us humans from animals.

whales do communicate too...

To set a grounding point for our arguments, let us first define language. In the many disciplines of linguistics, its meaning has been narrowed down into “a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used by an individual or a group to interact and communicate.” Just simply analyzing the above-mentioned meaning, we can come up with several properties of language that generally cannot be found in animal communication (note that I used the word “communication” instead of language). First is arbitrariness, if language therefore is arbitrary, as popularly explained by Saussure, there is no connection between the linguistic form and the meaning. Almost all the words we used do not posses an obvious relationship between their sound/sign and their meaning (except perhaps for onomatopoeic expressions). Let us take for example the word phone. There is nothing “phony” about a phone. Several research observations proved that non human communication system is quite different from human language. The latter is undeniably infinite while the former is limited to a series of sounds or movements that convey a target meaning. The sounds they make could mean that they sense danger, hunger, or for the purpose of attracting the opposite sex as a possible mate. On the contrary, human language has no limit to the number of expressions or words and even until now in our modern era, humans are continually inventing and reinventing the way we communicate.

As mentioned above, language is a series of vocal symbols. In the history of humankind, we are probably the only specie that spends most of its time talking. Though we cannot deny the existence of vocal communication among animals, it is but important to note that there is no more complex and composite as the human vocal symbols. Compared to animals, there exists a variation and inflection on the way we speak. Alterations are made depending on the situation or feeling of the speaker. We can modulate, change the tone or pitch, even the speed to suit our particular whim at a particular period or time. How about the animals that were claimed to have successfully learned not only to randomly imitate the exact sound of a human language but also to associate it with the corresponding meaning? Well, these experiments had been done in a uniform method that is “iteration” which involves repeating an action or object an arbitrary number of times. Classic example would be teaching a parrot to say “magandang umaga” everytime you open the door. It’s just as good as a simple conditioning (Pavlov: dogs salivating at the sound of the bell).  The question is do they understand what they’re doing? Those animals (usually chimpz) that were able to develop or acquire such vocal skills are nonetheless special cases. However, comparing them to the development of a human child, it is quite apparent that human has the more innate ability to naturally acquire the faculty of language in or out of a controlled environment.

Language for us is a means to effectively communicate and interact in our individual speech community. This is one trait that is analogous to most animal communities. Animals have displayed certain behaviors that are for the sole purpose of conveying messages or symbols to the other members of their pack, thus enabling them to survive. But this doesn’t prove that they have the ability to expand upon the grammatical rule in general sense or fully understand the changes in the meaning of the words. Humans are gifted with a unique imagination, manifesting itself even in language wherein we continually create new expressions (slang) and even hypothetical concepts (Santa Clause, Superman and the likes) which is absent in animals. This further proves that humans have a more conscious control over their faculty of language. It is conclusively more than a tool used for survival. Human language has and is constantly flowing and evolving parallel to the evolution of man.

There are many other arguments that would further support my views on the specificity of language to humans. However, I have just limited my points around the given and acknowledged meaning of language which I think is the most fundamental basis at which we can distinguish the big difference of human language and animal communication. It seems very unlikely for another species to learn or interpret signals or symbols of another (I have not yet heard of a chicken able to talk in “mutton”). I must say that the attention being given to the analysis of animal communication to classify it as a “true language” is but a biased effort of a number of researchers and an over interpretation of the similarities and shared pre-linguistic ability between some animals and humans.