2011

EASTERN AVENUE,

THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

OCTOBER 8 9

Introduction and WelcomeWe welcome you to the 5th International Free Linguistics Conference. The FLC is the first conference of its kind, and it was organised on a number of principles that were originally envisioned over a cup of coffee as many good things are . This vision included providing a linguistics conference that is highly accessible in that it is completely free of fees, which are often staggering and prevent students and scholars from attending; and a conference that provides a forum for linguists in all areas of research to come together and share their diverse perspectives, ideas, and issues in an environment free of set themes and borders. Based on the continued success of the FLC initiative, we look forward to offering you another accessible and diverse conference. This year, our 2-day program includes 4 focus speakers and a range of paper presentations, colloquia, hot topic presentations and poster sessions. and cultural conceptualisations of English. Once again, thank you very much for your interest and participation in this conference. It is only with your continued support that the FLC initiative continues to grow. We hope you enjoy the conference! All the best, Dr. Ahmar Mahboob and Dr. Naomi K. Knight

1

AnnouncementsThis programme outlines the timetable of presentations (pages 3-4), abstracts for focus presentations (pages 5 7), colloquiums abstracts for papers, hot topics, and poster presentations (pages 5 38). Also included in the conference this year are: a Conference Dinner ($40pp) and a free Conference Social.This years Conference Dinner a chance to meet the Conference organisers and plenary speakers will be held on Saturday night at Buon Gusto (368 Abercrombie Street, Chippendale). Following the final focus speaker presentation by Peter Collins, a walking party will depart from the foyer to make the short journey to the restaurant together. Registration and payment for this, at a cost of $40 per person, close at 3 pm on Saturday; to book please ask at the registration desk.Lunch breaks are open for participants to find their own meals. On Saturday, you may walk to the Law School Annex (building next to Eastern Avenue) to Taste Baguette for lunch. On Sunday, you may want to chip in $5 for a pizza lunch, or, alternatively, you may find lunch in one of the many restaurants in nearby Newtown and Glebe.

The Conference Social on Sunday will be held in the foyer of the Eastern Avenue. Local information, including a restaurant guide, can be found on pages39 43Please do not hesitate to contact any of our volunteers should you require assistance.

All the best, FLC Conference Committee

2

TIMETABLE: Saturday 8 October 2011

Eastern Avenue Complex (EA)

LT 312 403 404 405 406

8:00 8:55 Registration

8:55 9:00 Welcome

9:00 10:00 Focus Speaker: William Greaves & Jim Benson

10:00 10:30 Coffee/PostersJamila Djumabayeva, Mr. Mohamed Yassine Frej, Assistant Professor Dr.Areewan Iamsa-ard

10:30 11:10 Farzad Sharifian Igor Smerdov, Li Chenxin, Zhou Conghui

Ahmad Mohammad AL-Harahsheh

Daniel O'Sullivan Sunjida Afrin Khan Rudolof Jibrael Isu

11:15 11:55 David Rose Feifei Han Duck-Young Lee Beatriz Quiroz Cecilia F. K. Pun Mira Taitz,Jane Goodman-Delahunty

12:00 12:40 David G. Butt,Alison Moore

Hilda Delavari, MalaysiaZoiemiow Vakili

Naomi Ogi Jason Brown Dana Skopal Li Jie

Hamamah

12:40 2:00 Lunch

2:00 2:40 Stephen Moore Nahid Zarei Hiromi Oda Ononiwu Chukwuma Godwin, Martins Lucky Ataman

Paul Hastie

2:45 3:25 Michele Zappavigna Hongzhi Yang Dorothy Economou Sook Hee Lee Salih Alzahrani

3:30 4:10 Shoshana Dreyfus, Pauline Jones

Hiromi Teramoto Miguel Farias, Leonardo Veliz

Hao Chen, Dr. Canzhong Wu

Guang Shi Hainan Marie Fellbaum Korpi

4:10 4:40 Coffee

4:40 5:40 Focus speaker: Peter Collins

6:30pm onwards Conference dinner Buon Gusto

TIMETABLE: Sunday 9 October 2011

Eastern Avenue Complex (EA)

LT 312 403 404 405 406

8:00 9:00 Registration

9:00 10:00 Focus Speaker: Peter White

10:00 10:30 Coffee/PostersMehrdad Safizadeh, Siriporn Atipatha & Nguyen Nhung, Wanvanut Yailaaw

10:30 11:10 ATESOL NSW Strategies and professional learning for teaching ESL in NSW

Tariq Elyas, Michelle Picard Ken Tann Mahdiyeh Ghanat Abadi Bong Jeong Lee

11:15 11:55 Santri Emilin Pingsaboi Djahimo

Anastasopouou Charikleia,Dimopoulou Kiriaki

Penelope Vos Kiran Pala, Suryakanth VG

12:00 12:40 Dr Mira Kim & Dr Claire Scott

Janine Delahunty Arne Blling Angela Cook Abdullah A. Bin Towairesh

Amy Suen, Andy Fung

12:40 2:00 Lunch

2:00 2:40 Professor Jane Goodman-Delahunty,Dr Paula Saunders

Boluwaji Oshod, Adekunle Ajasin

Samson Olasunkanmi Oluga Firooz Namvar, Jamilah Mustfa, Nor Fariza Mohd Nor

Ping Tian

2:45 3:25 The Centre for English Teaching Listening to all voices: New Research at the Centre for English Teaching, University of Sydney

Dr Phiona Stanley Panornuang Sudasna Na Ayuhdya

Alan Libert Lissette Ramos Marin

3:30 4:10 Amella V. Bersalona Laura Ficorilli Hyun Su KIM Temmy Thamrin

4:10 4:40 Coffee

4:40 5:40 Focus speaker: Andy Kirkpatrick

5:40 5:50 Closing remarks

5:50 7:00 Conference social -Eastern Avenue Lobby

AbstractsFocus SpeakersCan an ape have a conversation?

James D. Benson William S. Greaves York University

Rationale for a study of a corpus of conversations between language enculturated bonobos and humans.

We argue that apes can adhere to conversational norms, i.e. take turns appropriately, and carry out a sustained negotiation in ways that humans recognize as such. Our conclusion is based on regularities in three brief conversations between Kanzi (Savage-Rumbaugh et al 1993) and three different human interlocutors. Our method of inquiry is oriented to the language as action tradition rather than the language as product tradition (Bargh 2006:150); that is, we are concerned with the functions and purposes of language, how people use it to get things done in their daily lives. Bargh (2006:147) notes amazing advances in our knowledge of the kinds of psychological concepts and processes that can be primed or put into motion nonconsciously, among them social norms to guide or channel behavior within the situation. In our view, casual conversation construes just such social norms.

Our analytical framework of casual conversation fleshes out the proposals of Pickering and Garrod (2004) about automatic processing with a discourse model is grounded in the language as action tradition (Halliday 1975, Benson and Greaves 2005). The model was originally developed to account for the normative structures of casual conversation (Eggins and Slade 2005). The model is a layered hierarchy of increasingly differentiated choices of moves in discourse. The choices are a system of constraints on what can be said in response to a previous speaker, but these constraints allow for great flexibility, e.g. a speaker has the choice of responding supportively or confrontationally. The system is shared between interactants, since they alternate as speaker and addressee. The key point is that the turns in dialogue are coupled.

The three brief conversations with language-enculturated bonobos are sustained and highly coordinated, and demonstrate that the bonobos have the capacity to keep the perspective of their human interlocutors in mind. With the interactive alignment model (Garrod and Pickering 2004), these conversations, in which bonobo and human interlocutors negotiate mutual understanding, can be explained without recourse to prompting or mindreading, by identifying the processes of alignment and repair, which occur in canonical moves in dialogue. The findings make it possible to make predictions about a larger scale study of bonobo-human discourse.

ReferencesBargh, John A. 2006. What have we been priming all these years? European Journal of Social Psychology, 36:147-168.

Benson, James, and William Greaves. 2005. Functional Dimensions of Ape-Human Discourse. London: Equinox.

Eggins, Suzanne, and Diana Slade. 2005. Analyzing Casual Conversation. London: Equinox.

Garrod, Simon and Marin J. Pickering. 2004. Why is conversation so easy? Trends in Cognitive Science, 8,1:8-11.

Halliday, M.A.K. 1995. 'On Language in Relation to the Evolution of Human Consciousness'. In Allen, Sture, ed. Proceedings of Nobel Symposium 92. Of Thoughts and Words: the relation between language and mind. Singapore: Imperial College Press, pp. 45-84.

Pickering, Martin J. and Simon Garrod. 2004. Toward a mechanistic psychology of dialogue. Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 27:169-226.

5

AbstractsSavage-Rumbaugh, Sue, Murphy, J, Sevcik, R., Brakke, K., Williams, S. and D. Rumbaugh. 1993. Language Comprehension in Ape and Child. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Grammatical change in Old and New Englishes: the role of colloquialisation and other -isations

Peter Collins UNSW

Colloquialisation the increasing acceptance of colloquialism, particularly in more formal genres has been a powerful discourse-pragmatic agent of grammatical change in English since the mid-twentieth century. Studies of recent diachronic change in British and American English (e.g. Leech et al. 2009) suggest that it has played a role in, for example, the rise of the quasi-modals (have to, have got to, be going to, want to, etc.), of the progressive aspect, and of the get-passive. Little is known, however, about the spread of this development through regional varieties of other than the two inner circle supervarieties, British and American English. Using data derived from a number of sources, including the International Corpus of English, Brown family corpora, and the Corpus of Historical American English, I shall explore the impact of colloquialisation on a number of grammatical features across a range of World Englishes of both the Inner Circle and the Outer Circle. Attention will also be paid to such complementary processes as grammaticalisation and Americanisation, and explanations pursued in the light of independent evidence of the relative evolutionary statuses of the Englishes (q.v. Schneider 2007) and their characteristic style orientations.

References Leech, Geoffrey, Marianne Hundt, Christian Mair, and Nicholas Smith. 2009. Change in Contemporary English: A Grammatical Study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Schneider, Edgar. 2007. Postcolonial English: Varieties around the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Yin and Yang rhetoric and the prospects for public discourse in China

Andy Kirkpatrick Griffith University

Abstract

In this presentation I shall first briefly review the Chinese rhetorical tradition and outline some principles of rhetoric in Chinese. I shall then argue that the Chinese rhetorical tradition and ways of persuasion are not being taught to Mainland Chinese students today, with the exception of a small minority of students in Departments of Chinese. Indeed, Chinese university students receive far more instruction in Anglo rhetoric and how to write academic English than they do in Chinese rhetoric and how to write academic Chinese.

The lack of interest in the Chinese rhetorical tradition can, in large part, be traced to the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), when a new aggressive and highly antagonistic rhetorical style was adopted. Mao himself often adopted this style.

The adoption of this new aggressive (yang) rhetorical style, coupled with the neglect of the study of Chinese rhetoric, has made it extremely difficult for concerned and responsible Chinese citizens to engage in constructive public discourse.

I will illustrate my argument by analyzing examples of contemporary Chinese rhetoric, including samples

6

Abstractsfrom Mao, the Cultural Revolution, the annual petition written by the mothers of those who died during the Tiananmen massacre of June 1989, and the infamous Charter 08.

I shall conclude by suggesting that, until China reintroduces Chinese rhetoric as a serious subject for study, the prospects for a civic-minded and constructive public discourse in China will remain bleak. This, in turn, means that the prospect of a mature civic society developing in China also remains bleak.

Title? A fair and balanced exploration of media bias Appraisal meets the Murdoch empire.

Peter R. R. White. School of English, Media and Performing Arts, UNSW

It is generally agreed that all media texts are subjective in some sense, and consequently that notions of media objectivity are a stratagem by which mainstream news journalism tendentiously lays claim to a special epistemic status for its texts. But where does that leave us with notions of news media bias and news media fairness? Do we simply accuse of bias any journalistic text which doesnt support our own particular axiological preferences?

Recently the Murdoch press in Australia has been accused of gross bias in its coverage of climate change and the governments actions towards introducing a tax on companies which pollute the atmosphere with carbon emissions. In response, News Corporation representatives and defenders insist they are simply holding the government to account, as is the duty of the news media in its 4th estate role.

Is it possible to adjudicate such claims and counter claims by reference to some systematic, transparent and principled discourse analytical methodology, a methodology which would not only demonstrate that relevant texts are subjective and axiologically interested (since this is the case with all media texts), but which would also demonstrate that they are so axiologically interested as to be egregiously unfair and journalistically improper?

This paper will investigate the possibilities for developing such a discourse analytical methodology. In the context of an analyses of the Australian news medias coverage of climate change, it will outline a framework for characterising and measuring various types of journalistic bias, drawing on insights from Systemic Functional Linguistics in general, the Appraisal framework more narrowly, and from some key argumentation theorists.

7

Colloquia

ATESOL NSW - Strategies and professional learning for teaching ESL in NSW

Robert Jackson - President, ATESOL NSW and ACTASue Bremner - Board member, ATESOL NSWMaya Cranitch - Associate Academic, ACU

Katherine Brandon - Professional Support and Development Officer, English AustraliaKathleen Rushton - Associate Director Professional Experiences (Primary), Faculty of Education and

Social Work, University of Sydney

Abstract

This hands-on workshop will showcase effective ESL teaching strategies for different sectors and educational contexts.

About ATESOL NSW - ATESOL NSW is the professional association for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) in NSW. Our members come from all education sectors: early childhood, primary, secondary, tertiary, ELICOS, adult and community education. Our mission is to advocate on behalf of and improve educational outcomes for learners of English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D), including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who speak traditional Indigenous languages, creoles and varieties of Aboriginal English."

Listening to all voices: New Research at the Centre for English Teaching, University of Sydney

Patrick PheasantDr Stephen Howlett

John GardinerBradley Christmas

Lydia Dutche

Abstract

The Centre for English Teaching (CET) at the University of Sydney is pleased to present a colloquium sharing research conducted by staff and teachers at the Centre. These papers are part of an ongoing program of engaged enquiry and curriculum renewal at the Centre which aims to take into account not only the latest research but also the voices of both teachers and students.

CET Teacher, Bradley Christmas explores the role of brainstorming in improving students writing. This action research project explores the effects of brainstorming techniques on students perceptions of their writing performance.

Student perceptions of writing skill transfer from genre-based direct entry programs to university are investigated by CET Teacher John Gardiner. This paper investigates the student perceptions of writing skill transfer from a genrebased direct entry course at CET to their university course.

CET Director Patrick Pheasant explores in his doctoral research the aesthetic experience in the ESL classroom, how this affects language learning and how it can be heightened, focused and maximised in an adult learning context.

CET Head of Administration, Dr Stephen Howlett explores in his thesis the experiences of a cohort of sub-

Abstractscontinental students studying in an Australian university to identify the interaction between commercial sustainability and its effect on good practice.

CET Teacher, Lydia Dutcher researches the uses of Conversation Analysis methodology to investigate interactions between learners of varying proficiency levels in order to understand the strategies these learners use to initiate and maintain communication.

Summary

Patrick Pheasant, CET Director, University of Sydney has taught ESL for sixteen years in Japan, The Netherlands, USA and Australia. Originally a high school drama teacher, he has qualifications in education, TESOL, change management and occupational health. He is currently completing a Doctor of Education at the University of Sydney.

Single papers, hot topics and poster presentations

Silence with Agreeing and Disagreeing Responses in Australian Society

Ahmad Mohammad AL-Harahsheh, PhD Candidate in Applied Linguistics, Edith Cowan University, WA

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the use of silence with agreeing and disagreeing responses in casual conversation in Australian English. Twelve dyadic conversations were conducted for 30 minutes each. The participants were 24 university students at Edith Cowan University (Western Australia): 12 males and 12 females. They were grouped into two main groups: friends and strangers. Ninety seconds are analysed from the beginning, the middle, and the end of each conversation; these extracts were chosen randomly. The theoretical framework of this study draws on Conversation Analysis. One of the more significant findings to emerge from this study is that silence can accompany agreeing and disagreeing responses, since silence serves to confirm, to emphasise and to acknowledge what the current speaker has said.

Maa in Verbal Clauses in Faify Arabic

Salih Alzahrani - University of Newcastle

Negation is a universal phenomenon that plays a significant role in Classical Arabic as well as Modern Standard Arabic morphologically, syntactically and semantically. When a statement is negated, it means that there are changes in its meaning and/or its truth. Negation also causes morphological and syntactic changes.

Languages use different means to mark sentence negation. Some languages such as Standard French (Pollock 1989, cited in Ouhalla 2002) and West Flemish (Haegeman 1995, cited in Ouhalla 2002) mark negation on sentences using two elements. Others like Italian (Belletti 1990, cited in Ouhalla 2002) and English mark it only with one element. Arabic dialects have both types of variation Ouhalla (1993:299).

Faify Arabic (henceforth FA) uses a very simple way to express negation. It is easily accomplished by the use of maa where this negative particle does not have any morphological effect on the following word and/or phrase. I suggest that this dialect has almost lost all the eight negative particles which exist in Arabic.

6

AbstractsI suggest that maa can be used to negate different types of clauses in FA. In verbal clauses, it occurs before both the perfective and imperfective forms of verbs.

The Development of Thai Diploma Students English Communicative Skills Using Local Learning Resources

Siriporn Atipatha - Bansomdejchapraya Rajabhat University, BangkokNguyen Nhung - Bansomdejchapraya Rajabhat University, Bangkok

The research titled The Development of Thai Diploma Students English Communicative Skills Using Local Learning Resources in the Concentrated Language Encounter was aimed to investigate the development of Thai diploma students English communicative skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking using Bangkok local learning resources in the concentrated language encounter teaching method and to study students attitude and suggestion toward the use of local learning resources in the concentrated language encounter teaching method. The 30 subjects were randomly selected from the 1st year Thai diploma students, Siam Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand. The subjects were taught by the concentrated language encounter teaching method with Bangkok local learning resources for 6 fifty-minute periods. The instruments were English reading, writing, listening, and speaking tests and the attitude and suggestion questionnaire toward the use of local learning resources in the concentrated language encounter teaching method. The data were statistically analyzed by t-test for dependent samples. The research showed that there was significant difference in English reading, writing, listening, and speaking scores between the pretest and the post test at the 0.05 level.

Time-saving Talk: A Study on the Effect of Speech Rate on Listener Comprehension

Amella V. Bersalona - University of the Philippines, Philippines

The study investigated the effect on listener comprehension of a speech delivered at different speech rates using two methods: Speed Changing Method and Altered Pause Time.

The message used for the study was a five-minute, 750-word speech that has a standard rate of difficulty. It was normally delivered at 150 words per minute. This five-minute speech was compressed into a three-minute-and-twenty-second speech with a rate of 225 wpm. Using a computer, two types of speech compression techniques were used to produce this rate: Speed Changing Method and Altered Pause Time.

The effect of speech rate on listener comprehension was measured by administering a 30-item, four alternative comprehension tests. The independent t-test was used to analyze the data and compare the scores of the respondents.

The results showed that the scores of the Regular Rate group were superior to those obtained from the faster rate group using either method. There was, however, no significant difference between the scores of the respondents who listened to the speech using the Speed Changing Method and those who listened to it using the Altered Pause Time.

The results suggest that a fast speech rate has a significant effect on listener comprehension. A speed of 225 wpm is too fast and inappropriate for introducing new topics to the respondents since a comprehension loss of 12-13% (i.e., in comparison to the Regular Rate) was apparent at this rate. In terms of speech compression techniques, the findings support the application of the Speed Changing Method over Altered Pause Time in terms of efficiency, or ease of use.

7

AbstractsA Namescape of Sydney

Arne Blling - Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University

This paper reports on a current PhD project examining the toponyms of Sydney's shires, cities and suburbs.

A database, including the bounded localities in the County of Cumberland, is compiled from primary and secondary sources as well as personal communication. The date of establishment, the meaning of each name, who bestowed the toponyms and the language from or via which they were transferred to Australia are recorded.

Mapping the data both chronologically and regionally, answers to the following research questions will be provided:

Are there any differences in place-naming patterns/practices between Sydney and Melbourne?

What factors influence place-naming patterns?

Are there any differences in the bestowal of indigenous vs introduced toponyms? If so, why?

Additional fields of research include:

Applying the Australian National Placenames Survey place-name typology (see Tent and Blair 2011) to clarify whether it is suitable for further research on Australian placenames;

Placename changes affecting present names to see if these function as indicators of identity.

References

Appleton, Richard and Barbara Appleton (1992). Cambridge Dictionary of Australian places. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Blling, Arne. A Namescape of Melbourne cities, shires and suburbs. Unpublished master thesis.

Kennedy, Brian and Barbara Kennedy (2006). Australian Place-names. Rydalmere: Hodder and Stoughton.

Tent, Jan and David Blair (2011). ""Motivations for naming: The development of a toponymic typology for Australian placenames."" Names: A Journal of Onomastics, Vol. 59, No. 2, pp. 67-89.

Similar Place Avoidance: An Innate Property of Grammar?

Jason Brown - University of Auckland

Similar Place Avoidance (SPA) is a phenomenon well-known to adult languages. This includes the categorical variety that has traditionally fallen within the scope of the OCP, but also the gradient variety that stands as a set of statistical tendencies. In both cases, consonants within a root that share the same place of articulation are avoided. The existence of SPA across languages is so robust that is has been claimed to be a statistical phonological universal (Pozdniakov & Segerer 2007). Given these claims to universality, this study aims to investigate whether SPA is present in the speech of children.

While children often exhibit a stage of consonant harmony, there has been virtually no research involving possible gradient patterns of SPA for children. This study observes place co-occurrence figures from a single child (Smith 1973) over time in order to make a first pass at establishing a course of development for SPA. This is an exceptionally complex endeavour, as the child in question also exhibits consonant

8

Abstractsharmony; thus, these two courses of development will be compared.

The findings are telling: while SPA for the set of labials is indeed pronounced, SPA for the dorsals is exaggeratedly so. It is also no coincidence that this particular child exhibits a categorical dorsal harmony, though after the age of the gradient SPA. Thus, SPA may be an innate component of the childs phonology; furthermore, given this sequencing, it appears as though SPA may in fact prime the later stage of consonant harmony.

Context Networks: Elaborating and Testing the Parameters of Field, Tenor and Mode in Natural Settings

David G. Butt - Macquarie University, AustraliaAlison Moore - University of Wollongong, Australia

The context of situation and the context of culture are the ground against which the figure of our linguistic behaviour takes on its meaning. Our instantial utterances receive their valeur from the differences they make in a social situation, their semantic consequences in the living of life (Hasan, 1996).

In functional linguistics, therefore, a necessary task is to establish any motivated alignments between differences and changes at the level of context and the semantic and lexicogrammatical consequences of such conditions in the social background. This is not a straightforward matter. But it is tractable; and it needs to receive attention proportional to the importance of context as a level in a realizational model of language.

In this talk, I demonstrate the tool power of network treatments of context modelling: there is first a brief global perspective on the 3 parameters as simultaneous systems; and then I offer a closer examination of 3 difficult zones of contextual differentiation (1 from each parameter). The discussion uses a wide spectrum of empirical sources, chiefly drawn from contexts of care (medical/ psychiatric); from teaching; and from political discourse.

Linguistics might be characterised as a study of news of differences that make a difference (to conflate Saussure 1916 with Bateson 1980). The aim of this discussion is to encourage a radical concreteness about context variation to assist researchers in developing their own descriptions by applying and adapting the work of Halliday, Hasan, and other contributors to Firths polysystemic tradition.

Bateson, G. (1980). Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity. Glasgow, Fontana/Collins. Hasan, R. (1996). Introduction. Ways of Saying, Ways of Meaning: Selected Papers of Ruqaiya Hasan. C. Cloran, G. Williams and D. Butt. London and New York, Cassell. Saussure (1916/1974). Course in General Linguistics, Fontana/Collins.

Pragmatics in Preeschool Children

Anastasopouou Charikleia - MP, University of Patra, GreeceDimopoulou Kiriaki - MA, Randboud University, Netherlands

Background: It is well known, that Pragmatic Skills at the pre-school years play a very important role in the child`s further academic and social development. On the other hand communication and pragmatic difficulties very often are presented as a core symptom in children with developmental disorders.

Aims: The aim of the present study was to assess the pragmatic skills of typically developing Greek children four to five years old. There are no standardized tests for pragmatic skills in Greek, that is why we chose to use the test of the Pragmatics Profile of Everyday Communication Skills in Pre-school Children of Hazel Dewart and Susie Summers (1995 version) for our research. This test gives us the opportunity of

9

Abstractsusing it as a means of evaluation and measurement of the pragmatic skills of typically developing children of preschool age, so that we can get the complete picture of these childrens communication, and be able in the future to use it in screening evaluations of children with pragmatic deficits.

Methods & Procedures: After translation and relevant adjustments of the test, we administered it, in the form of a questionnaire, to 59 parents who had children at the appropriate age.

Through the use of descriptive statistics (distribution and analysis of percentages) the differences between the two sexes (boys-girls) that took place in our research were examined, and the four categories in which the test is separated were related to each other: A. Communicative Functions, B. Response to Communication, C) Interaction and Conservation, D) Contextual Variation.

Outcomes & Results: Results showed that girls generally and specifically in each category of the test scored higher than boys and appeared to use more mature communication skills.

Conclusion: Another goal of the present study was to make a qualitative comparison between the results of our study and those of other similar studies which have used atypical children, such as children in the spectrum of autism, deaf children, children with Specific Language Impairment etc. Results showed little differences between typically and non-typically developed children. That considered to be predictable among some basic aspects of communication because of the global characteristics of the childrens need of expressing communication. The ultimate goal was to track down the communication behaviors of these children and wherever possible, to come up with general conclusions on their pragmatic skills having as an initiating point the relevance theory (Sperber and Wilson, 1995).

Thematic Choices in Government Work Reports in Chinese and English

Hao Chen - a postgraduate of Macquarie UniversityDr. Canzhong Wu - the senior lecturer of Macquarie University

Chinas government work reports are the reporting texts that are produced by the Chinese central government and delivered usually by the Premier on the behalf of the State Council to the National Peoples Congress for deliberation. They typically comprise three parts: 1) Review of national economy and social development in the past few years, 2) Main objectives and tasks for the next five years, and 3) Work for the year of report.

These texts are not just interesting in terms of political jargons, but also in terms of grammatical structures, particularly when studied with reference to their English translations. This paper looks at the 2011 government work report and its English translation from a textual perspective, comparing the thematic choices in both texts, and investigating how the textual meaning is conveyed from Chinese into English, to what extent themes are preserved or changed, and what translation strategies are used in the translation process.

Lexical Neologisms in Mandarin Chinese and the Problem of Classification

Angela Cook - Griffith University

Many linguists have tried to classify Chinese lexical neologisms before. However, previous researchers have often focussed only on a small subset of all lexical neologisms. Even where an attempt has been made to present a comprehensive overview of lexical change in Mandarin Chinese, the resulting system of categorisation has frequently been incomplete, internally inconsistent or poorly structured. This has frustrated the efforts of linguists to draw any meaningful comparisons between lexical change in Mandarin Chinese and other languages. This paper represents a fresh attempt to present an overarching classification of the different types of lexical developments that have arisen in written and spoken Mandarin over the

10

Abstractspast three decades. Careful cross-linguistic analysis reveals that examples of almost all the equivalent categories of lexical innovations noted in the literature on English language change can likewise be provided in relation to Mandarin Chinese. In addition, Mandarin offers a surprisingly large number of options for creating and adopting lexical neologisms not available to speakers of English. Overall, this paper presents a picture of Mandarin speakers as cultivating a flexible, creative, playful approach to their use of language.

Free to be yourself?: exploring identity in online discussion

Janine Delahunty - University of Wollongong, Australia

In an effort to better understand the role of interaction in online learning, the discussion forums of one TESOL distance education subject were examined, revealing emergent themes relating to identity. This presentation will show how language choices reveal a process of identity building as students project an impression of themselves, and attempt to find and negotiate their positioning within the group. As the forum posts bear the meaning-making load, this can be understood and explained using Systemic Functional Linguistics, more specifically through the lens of Transitivity and Appraisal systems identified in the SFL model as important for realizing understandings of the world and for enacting interpersonal relationships respectively. The preliminary results show that students create multiple identities for themselves, and can also take on assigned identities. This process of constructing identities through online discourse occurs dynamically over the duration of the intake, creating an ebb and flow effect as students both align with and move away from others.

Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used by International Postgraduate Students at the University of Malaya

Hilda Delavari - University of Malaya, MalaysiaZoiemiow Vakili - University of Malaya, Malaysia

This paper investigates the use of English vocabulary learning strategies among a small group of 16 international postgraduate students with different backgrounds and levels of English proficiency knowledge at the University of Malaya. English was considered as their second or foreign language. The framework of the study was based on Oxfords Strategy Inventory (SILL,1990).The purpose of the language learning strategies becomes obvious when Oxford (1990) defines them as specific actions taken by learners to make learning easier, faster ,more enjoyable , more self directed, more effective and more transferable to new situations. To achieve this end as Nibset and Shucksmith (1986) state, successful language learners develop a range of strategies from which they are able to select appropriately and adapt flexibly to meet the needs of a specific context. A quantitative method was done in terms of questionnaire in order to find out whether they used direct strategies or indirect strategies. The analysis of the data showed that they used both types of strategies. At the end we concluded that the participants of the study used language learning strategies consciously or unconsciously although they were not familiar with the different categories of vocabulary learning strategies.

THE CONSTRAINTS IN INTRODUCING NEW TEACHING METHODS IN RURAL AND DISADVANTAGED SCHOOLS IN INDONESIA: A CASE STUDY

Santri Emilin Pingsaboi Djahimo - Nusa Cendana University, Kupang-NTT, Indonesia

This paper reports the findings of qualitative research undertaken by the writer in 2008. The field research was conducted in three different rural areas in the province of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. One randomly chosen eighth-grade class in each of three schools was studied for two months, with the

11

Abstractswhole study spanning six months during the year of 2008.

The main purpose of the study was to examine the constraints inhibiting the introduction of new teaching methods into rural and disadvantaged schools in Indonesia, taking into account the physical, cultural and socio-economic contexts. The exemplificatory and exploratory purpose was to identify the effectiveness of the innovation of teaching English using games and pictures in improving vocabulary acquisition of EFL students of Junior High Schools in rural areas in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.

The qualitative data were collected through two interview sessions (pre- and post-treatment), direct observation and field notes. The main interpretation of the study is explained qualitatively by: identifying the constraints and affordability of introducing new teaching methods into rural and disadvantaged schools in Indonesia.

The result shows that introducing educational innovations in rural areas is viable as long as it is easily achieved and fits in with local expectations. However, not all schools in all areas can accept innovation; one school in the study rejected this educational innovation because of the communitys strict cultural values. This study had clearly focused aims and was conducted only for a short period of time. Therefore the sustainability of this innovation cannot be assured as some aspects of the longer term issues were beyond the scope of the study.

Antonymy and Graduonymy

Jamila Djumabayeva - National University of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan

In European linguistics synonyms and antonyms were studied separately and they have been studied as two different, opposite phenomenon. But nowadays, in Uzbek linguistics these two oppositions synonyms and antonyms were joined into one phenomenon as g r a d u o n y m y. Whats that? This phenomenon was introduced by the Uzbek linguist professor H. Nigmatov, O. Bozorov. This word means gradation of words. A special research work has been made by Sh. Arifjanova. In Uzbek linguistics the units situated from the right and left side of a graduonymic rows centre/dominant are synonyms, the last word on the right and the last word on the left are antonyms, e.g. tiny ~ small ~ medium ~ big ~ enormous ~ gigantic. According to this phenomenon, sameness, synonyms, differentiation, the words with opposite meanings, synonyms and antonyms were joined they are joined in one graduonymic relation.

On the basis of antonyms and synonyms have been made an attempt to create graduonymic lines (nouns, according to the size e.g. room? flat? hut? home? house? bungalow ? dwelling? fortress? castle? palace; according to the expressiveness of an adjective: thin? gaunt? slight? willowy? lean? slim? slender? bony; verb, according to the expressiveness like? be infatuated with? love? be smitten with? adore? idolize? be besotted with? worship? dote on; noun, according to the age newborn? infant? toddler? child? teenager/adolescent? youngster? middle-aged? man/woman? old man/old woman, oldster).

The main part of the graduonymic line is the middle word or we can say the main word, the first and last words are antonyms. Its reasonable to consider first of all if with the help of semantic oppositions can be created graduonymic lines.

The main conclusions are:

Polar antonyms include as a middle member of a graduonymic line normal (in most cases);

Overlapping antonym pairs cant create together one single graduonymic line, separately can;

Equipollent antonym pairs can be members of a graduonymic line but they cant be in the polar position.

12

AbstractsReferences:

Arifjonova, Sh. Ozbek tilida lugawiy graduonimiya (Lexical graduonymy in Uzbek). Dissertation. Tashkent. 1994

Bozorov, O. Ozbek tilida darajalanish. (Graduonymy in Uzbek) Tashkent, 1996

Compact Oxford Dictionary & Thesaurus, Oxford University Press, 2008.

Cruse D.A. Lexical Semantics. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1986.

In-Seok Young. On antonomy in English. Language and linguistics. Volume 19.

Nigmatov, H., Rasulov R. O'zbek tili sistem leksikologiyasi asoslari. (Basics of Uzbek system lexicology). Tashkent. 1995.

Lyons J. Vvedeniye v teoreticheskuyu lingvistiku. (Introduction to the theoretical linguistics) Moscow. Progress. 1978.

Your Place or Mine? Understanding Spatial Meanings in Texts

Shoshana Dreyfus - University of SydneyPauline Jones - University of Wollongong

In this paper we present recent work on the investigation of discursive construals of place. Within SFL theory, place has been accounted for within the Transitivity constituent of circumstance of place, however beyond this, place has not received much attention. As educators and analysts, we have found that circumstances of place construe an abundance of meanings beyond what the theory could account for, and the more delicate descriptions proposed in this paper enable richer and deeper investigations of the kinds of meanings construed in texts.

We examine a number of texts written for children and young people; texts which are concerned with place, contestation over place and displacement, in order to demonstrate the usefulness of extended descriptions of place. In doing so, we present a developing framework for capturing nuances in meanings about place that enables us to distinguish between abstract places such as in situations of conflict and physical places such as in my village. The framework has also helped recognize something of the important meanings that are imbued in expressions of place such as from our country and from my family.

Such delicate descriptions of place have given us a richer toolkit for exploring the meanings of texts that, in turn, has significant pay-off for our educational interventions in two ways. With respect to language-in-text, this have given us insights into abstractions and the way they unfold in texts; and have shown us how deeper understandings of place can make the notion of setting more explicit in literary texts. With respect to language-in-development, we have found that circumstances of place can exemplify social realist notions of semantic gravity and density (Maton 2011). We are also able to demonstrate how the move into abstraction from childhood to late adolescence identified by Christie & Derewianka (2008) is reflected in spatial meanings in texts. Throughout, we suggest that, rather than being peripheral, circumstantial elements are integral to the realization of our cultural narratives (including the struggles and their consequences) as text.

Maton, K. 2011. Theories and things: The semantics of disciplinarity. In F. Christie and K. Maton (eds.), Disciplinarity: Systemic Functional and Sociological Perspectives. London: Continuum. 62-84.

Christie, F. & Derewianka, B. 2008. School Discourse. London: Continuum.

13

AbstractsTelling a Different Story: Knowledge and Stance in Verbal-visual News Displays

Dorothy Economou

This paper uses a socio-semiotics, in particular Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) Appraisal Theory (Martin and White, 2006) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to compare three verbal-visual news displays (Keeble, 2007) or standouts (Economou, 2006). Each standout, comprising news photos, headlines and captions, introduce the same 2009 news feature story on the issue of asylum seeker policy in Australia, written by well-known journalist-political analyst David Marr. Each standout appeared in a different news site the print Age (Melbourne), the print Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), and the Online SMH.

Produced by news editors and news designers, the aims of such standouts are to encapsulate the ensuing story as well as attract a wide readership to it. These three standouts produced for the one story are thus considered here in terms of how they re-contextualise the same knowledge, as well as construct an evaluative stance towards it.

Significant epistemic and evaluative differences were found in the three standouts and these were examined in terms of editorial aims, editorial voice and target readership in each context. Questions that this study raises about re-packaging and selling the same story differently in different media sites are considered, particularly in respect to readers who do not read the written story.

References

Economou, D. 2009 Photos in the News: Appraisal Analysis of Visual Semiosis and Verbal-visual Intersemiosis. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Sydney.

Economou, D. 2006 The Big Picture in L. Lassen, J. Strunck and A. Vestergaard (eds) Mediating Ideology in Text and Image. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp.112-234.

Keeble, R. 2006 (4th edn) The Newspaper Handbook. London: Routledge.

Martin, J. R. and White, P.R.R. 2005 The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave.

Analysis of Saudi Arabian Policies, Curricula and Enacted Curriculum: Pre and post 9/11 Socio-Political Approach

Tariq Elyas - King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaMichelle Picard - University of Adelaide, Australia

There has been limited research that has focused on the role of culture and teaching/ learning identities in EFL, and how these issues impact on EFL policy, curriculum, the use of textbooks and pedagogy (Field & Leicester, 2003). Even less research has focussed on these issues in the Gulf context. Some international research has explored the role of culture and geopolitical factors affecting EFL policies (Byram & Risager, 1999; nlan, 2005; Risager, 2006). Some other studies (several in the Gulf context) have explored global historical and political developments and how they have affected cultures and hence EFL curricula within those cultures (see e.g., Kramsch, 1993, 1998; Kramsch et al. 1999, Al-Qahatani, 2003; Karmani, 2005a, 2005b, 2005c; Al-Asmari, 2008, Elyas, 2008a, 2008b). A few studies have explored the enacted curriculum (specifically in relation to teachers use of textbooks) in Gulf countries, and its relationship to the local culture(s) and Discourses (AlShumaimeri, 1999; Al-Issa, 2006, Al-Alamri, 2008; Elyas, 2009a, 2009b). This paper is the first in Saudi Arabia context to examine the full range of documents including policy, curriculum and to explore how these documents arise out of cultural identities, and in turn may have a range of effects on teacher and learner identities. Hence, this paper briefly explores selected English and general education policy documents, curricula and textbooks within Saudi Arabian context from a Critical Discourse Analysis perspective, and examines how they have changed pre-and-post 9/11.

14

AbstractsEFL AND ESL STUDENTS METAPHORICAL CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF LANGUAGE

LEARNING

Miguel Farias - Universidad de Santiago de Chile, ChileLeonardo Veliz - Deakin University, Australia

Forceville & Urios-Aparisi (2009) have explored metaphors in modes other than purely linguistic ones. Metaphor as a mode of thinking and reasoning can by all means occur in such forms as images, pictures and gestures; that is, in various non-verbal forms. In this paper particular attention is paid to non-verbal forms of metaphorical depiction. We have examined EFL and ESL students drawings in order to both tap into their mental representations of what language learning means to them and get closer insights into these learners belief system. The objective of the analysis is three-fold: firstly, we attempt to scrutinize their metaphorical conceptualisations in order to find out the extent to which Chilean EFL and Australian ESL students drawings differ from each other with regards to what language learning is to them. Secondly, we also look into the question of how their metaphoric representations are in line with what Block (2003) discusses as acquisition metaphor and participation metaphor. Do they view the process of learning another language as purely acquiring elements or as a participatory interactive process? Finally, as our data were collected from two groups with different cultural backgrounds, we focus on how their representations may be idiosyncratically different, or, perhaps similar. Results indicate that the metaphorical depictions from both groups share common traits that allow us to postulate the presence of a cognitive metaphor (Lakoff and Johnson (1980) to the extent that language learning is understood as a dynamic, progressive and positive process. "

Ethnography of Communication: the Tool Room

Laura Ficorilli - Macquarie University

This paper is a preliminary analysis of a work in progress and part of a PhD project which investigates communication patterns, skills and management on the factory floor of a manufacturing company. It explores the various facets of ethnography and the forms it takes on when it is conducted in complex, hectic environments and communities.

Often if not always used as a complementary albeit powerful, instrument to define and capture the background of action and speech, ethnographic approaches are here critically reviewed in relation to the specific context under investigation. Two major aspects of conducting ethnography will be analysed: the techniques employed during fieldwork and the position and subjectivity of the researcher. Both these aspects, it will be shown, will converge into the interpretation process.

Specifically it will be shown how some of the traditional fieldwork techniques such as observation, field notes, question asking have to be utilized in a fluid and dynamic way (consider your participants, maintenance operators moving around the floor of an industrial plant). In the same way, the position and subjectivity of the ethnographer will have to be of the same type, fluid and dynamic (e.g.: consider yourself on the factory floor, you are given a visibility vest and a pair of goggles for safety reasons, you are the only woman among men).

It will be argued that, indeed, ethnography is a strange animal (Blommaert, 2006), chameleonic and visible at the same time whose tools have to be adapted to dynamic and at times unpredictable circumstances.

15

AbstractsLocal-grammar Based Approach to the Recognition of Variants of Loanwords

Mohamed Yassine Frej - DICORA, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South KoreaProf. Jee-Sun Nam - DICORA, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea

Many studies have investigated the role Loanwords play in second language learning. While English loanwords can be considered as an effective tool in teaching Korean to speakers of other languages, there are some problems connected with the variation of the spelling of English Loanwords. Even though there is an official norm imposed by the Korean government about the transliteration of loanwords in Korean, we observe people use, especially in internet documents, many variants of the standard spelling of loanwords. The variant spellings of loanwords are idiosyncratic phenomena that are problematic not only for natural language processing applications, but also for second language learners who get confused about the right spelling of a given loanword. This would hamper their second language learning process. In this paper, to account for this problem, we propose a finite-state methodology named Local-Grammar Graph (LGG) to describe and recognize these various spellings of loanwords. Through LGGs we can control all variations of a given loanword and are definitely more effective and less time-consuming than having to describe the variations one by one in a list form. Unitex system (Paumier 2003) has been developed to transform the LGGs into finite-state transducers, which can be integrated in E-learning systems, will offer an adequate environment for this work. The methodology we present here may be applied on other languages.

Conversational Competence and the Socio-academic Dilemma of International Students

Ononiwu Chukwuma Godwin - Universiti Putra Malaysia, MalaysiaMartins Lucky Ataman - Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

A comparably under-researched language-user-group is the L2 international students on a temporary stay abroad, who already possess a measure of the L2 (English) competence but are handicapped in this lingua franca context by such linguistic factors as phonological and lexical variations between their known variety and the dialect in the place of study. Foreign students in this situation suffer communication challenges which severely affect their social and academic interactions.

Considering the existence of varieties of Standard English and the consequent mutual intelligibility problems between speakers of various varieties or dialects, this study seeks to investigate the conversational competence and the socio-academic dilemma of international students based on a questionnaire survey of international postgraduate students at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia. A three part instrument was used to collect data from a sampled group of 70 students and was meant to elicit respondents English language proficiency level and their experiences with using English abroad with emphasis on their conversational skill experience with co-international students. The results indicate that dialectal differences and irregular use of English account for the conversational difficulties of international students and suggest that most of them would benefit from remedial grammar classes based on the contextually relevant English variety or dominant colloquial dialect.

Chances are Quadrillion to One: Probabilistic Language in Forensic Expert Evidence

Professor Jane Goodman-Delahunty - Charles Sturt University, AustraliaDr Paula Saunders - Charles Sturt University, Australia

The interests of justice are best served when scientifically sound and unbiased expert witness testimony is presented in court. It is equally important that jurors understand the testimony of the experts in order to reach a fair verdict. Jurors are frequently called upon to evaluate forensic evidence, such as DNA and fingerprint traces, in criminal trials. This evidence is presented by forensic experts who summarise their findings using probabilistic language such as 150 quadrilliion times more likely to quantify the

16

Abstractslikelihood of a random match between samples of biometric data from the accused and the crime scene. Research has shown that jurors reach different estimates of culpability based on variations in the terminology used by the experts to express this probability: statistics presented as percentages vs frequencies are more persuasive and statistics expressed in percentages closer to 100% are more strongly associated with culpability. Currently, experts witnesses are advised to avoid traditional statistical terminology due to common misconceptions regarding the power and conclusiveness of forensic scientific data and instead are advised to describe the relative rarity of a DNA profile match as weak strong very strong or extremely strong. These proposed linguistic alternatives have not been well-tested. This presentation draws on past research and current practice to make recommendations on language for experts to use to best assist jurors to render unbiased and fair verdicts.

The Challenges for Non-Native English Speakers in Writing for International Scientific Publication in English

Hamamah - UNSW, Australia

Scientific international publication is highly valued in scholarly life. Through Research Articles (RAs) scholars secure academic prestige and promotion (Canagarajah, 2002, p.33). However, it is taxing for non-native English speakers in quest of publishing in English in international journals. While research and writing are always locally situated, the publishing activity is influenced by the powerful and complex global practices (Lilis and Curry, 2010, p. 1). The aim of this study in progress is to extend our understanding of the processes, which includes the perceptions, problems, and strategies, that Indonesian academics, as non-native English speakers, go through in attempting to publish scientific articles in an international refereed journal in English. This study is meant to help academics in periphery countries to open the doors of publishing networks internationally.

References:

Canagarajah, S. (2002). A Geopolitics of Academic Writing. USA, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

Lilis, T.M. and Curry, M.J. (2010). Academic Writing in a Global Context: The politics and Practices of Publishing in English. USA, New York: Routledge.

Chinese EFL Learners' Attribution Beliefs and Self-Efficacy in English Reading

Feifei Han - University of Sydney, Australia

This presentation reports a study on self-efficacy and attribution beliefs in reading English as a foreign language (FL) with a group of 159 Chinese university EFL learners majoring in Business Management. The participants answered two questionnaires asking them to report their self-efficacy and attribution beliefs to FL reading. The English reading achievement was tested through a reading test with a format of College English Test Band-4. The results showed that Chinese students had different attribution beliefs to success and failure of English reading: they attributed the success of English reading frequently to the effort, the use of reading strategies and the English teachers, whereas the most frequent factors to which they attributed the failure of English reading were the bad luck, poor English teachers as well as the difficult reading tasks. The results of the multiple regression analysis indicated that self-efficacy and attribution beliefs (i.e. attribution to strategies and mood) in FL reading together explained about 17 % of variance in FL reading achievement. The study also found that both self-efficacy and attribution beliefs differed among high-, medium-, and low-achieving readers. High-achieving FL readers demonstrated higher self-efficacy than medium-achieving readers, who again were more confident than their low-achieving counterparts. Additionally, high-achieving FL readers tended to attribute English reading to the use of reading strategies, and to view reading achievement as changeable over time, more often than

17

Abstractsmedium- and low-achieving readers. Pedagogical implications and suggestions for future research are also articulated.

Tone, Tonality and Tonicity in Tikhak Tangsa

Paul Hastie - Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, Melbourne

Tikhak is a Tibeto-Burman language of North East India. A variety of the Tangsa language network, Tikhak is classified under the Bodo-Jingphaw-Konyak branch, aka the Sal language group (Burling 1983). Tangsa dialects are collectively called Naga, Tase in the online reference database Ethnologue . Despite this lumping, morphological and phonological difference is widespread across 70 known Tangsa varieties, and a Tikhak group seems to constitute a justifiable sub-grouping based on grammatical and phonological factors (Morey 2009).

According to modern geo-national borders, Tangsa communities have been migrating from Burma into India over several centuries, however many Tangsa people consider either side of the Eastern Indo-Burmese border as merely adjacent regions of their traditional land. Tikhak are thought to be one of the earliest Tangsa peoples to make this journey.

Tikhak has three lexical tones, however the tone system appears to be in a state of change, and possibly in the process of becoming moribund. While use of lexical tone varies, the system is perhaps on the decrease in Tikhak, whereas the intonational systems are robust and perhaps becoming moreso. Increasing contact with non-tonal languages (Hindi, Assamese, English) are a likely factor behind this change. In this view, the systems of tonicity and tonality appear to be taking an increasing functional load, while the system of tone as an experiential resource is becoming more highly constrained.

References

Burling, Robbins, 1983. The Sal Languages - Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area (v7.2)

Morey, Stephen, 2009 Tangsa Agreement Markers (RCLT seminar paper, La Trobe University)

The Evaluation of Graduate Diploma in Teaching Profession (International Program) English Department Faculty of Education Bansom

Assistant Professor Dr. Areewan Iamsa-ard - Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat University

The aim of this qualitative research is to explore the evaluation of Graduate Diploma in Teaching Profession (International Program) English Department Faculty of Education Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat University through CIPP Model in 4 aspects: context, input, process and product. Data are collected through 2 approaches i.e. (1) completion of 5-point rating scale questionnaire based on CIPP Model by 2 groups of population; total 13 students and 12 lecturers of Graduate Diploma in Teaching Profession (International Program) in academic year 2010 and (2) structured interviewing with the same groups of populations in (1).The analysis of data is presented in forms of percentage, arithmetic mean, and standard deviation.

The findings reveal that most of the 2 groups of subjects generally agree to evaluate the quality of the curriculum in 4 aspects of CIPP Model at high level. After analysis of each aspect, product is ranked as the most satisfactory particular preceding to input, context, and process respectively. Moreover, the strengths of the program are found to be qualified and experienced teaching staffs and concordance between curriculum and the need of learners as well as requirements of the authorities. The suggestions from the respondents also include some necessary improvements for further curriculum development such as the systematization of process and administration, strong management of educational supervision, and providing high quality of materials and documents.

18

AbstractsSyntax Phonology (Posleksikal) of Dawan Language

Rudolof Jibrael Isu English Study Program, Teacher Training and Education Faculty, PGRI University NTT Kupang, Indonesia

This paper discusses the problem of phonological processes of Dawan language at the level of syntax. Various phonological processes were analyzed using optimality theory. This theory proposes that input and output and the relationship between the two. The relationship between input and output was mediated by two formal mechanisms, namely generator and evaluators. In a generator that was created various candidates. One of the various candidates to be the optimal candidate after passing through a variety of constraints created by the evaluators.

Interpreting Grammatical Metaphor: A Cognitive-functional Perspective

Li Jie, Ph.D. - professor of English in the Foreign Languages Department at Shantou University, P.R.China

The previous researchers of grammatical metaphor focused mainly on such issues as the metafunctions, the classifications of grammatical metaphor and its identifications in discourse. However, they have done little to probe into the cognitive aspects of the grammatical metaphor phenomenon, not to mention any attempt at exploring metaphor from an integrative perspective of cognitive linguistics and functional grammar, so that it seems not possible to investigate the grammatical metaphor phenomenon thoroughly, and there have heretofore not been a satisfactory explanation given to this issue. This paper is going to study the lexico-grammatical metaphorical phenomenon in the English language. Grammatical metaphor was treated by previous studies as an alternative expression of a meaning or same signified, different signifier in Hallidays words, but the present paper will treat it as a cognitive-functional construct of linguistic representation for human experience. By looking for a linkage between functional and cognitive approaches to metaphor as a theoretical basis, the author attempts to build up an integrated model, hoping to show how the two approaches in combination can throw light on grammatical metaphor and how the cognitive and functional factors may result in the occurrence of grammatical metaphor.

Linguistic Chauvinism Constraining Linguistic Right of Indigenous Children in Nation States: Cases of Bangladesh and Australia

Sunjida Afrin Khan - Junior Lecturer, Centre for Languages (CfL), BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Studies into national education policies have repeatedly found that states are mostly manipulative and exclusionary when it comes to language policies. It is important to keep in mind that the language policies of many states are implicit, at times fuzzy, and to locate the hidden agendas one needs to scrutinize the de facto practices of that country. Exclusionary education policy can lead to the inevitable corollary of violation of elementary linguistic rights. In Bangladesh, for example, there are forty-five indigenous languages that are endangered now; in fact, some of them are almost dying. Linguistic constrain can be one of the reasons for the major drop out of indigenous children whose mother tongue is not Bangla. Another example can be Australia where, even though bilingual education has been proved to be essential for the cognitive development for the children of Indigenous communities, the policy has failed to ensure linguistic right for the children in the Northern Territory who are monolingual in a language other than English, which can cause death of the rest of the endangered Indigenous languages in Australia.

There is a host of interlinked socio-economic factors, for example, nationalism, linguistic chauvinism, that are contributing to the blotting out of our linguistic diversity. It is anticipated that this paper will stimulate significant discussion on using evidence based research to unearth the propaganda and ideology behind the exclusionary education policies of different nation states, especially Bangladesh and Australia.

19

AbstractsInteractional Functions of Korean -nikka and -nuntay

Hyun Su KIM - The Australian National University

This study aims to investigate the interactional functions of -nikka and -nuntay in Korean, which have been known as indirect quotation markers in the literature of Korean linguistics. These markers have been examined mainly in terms of semantic and syntactic perspectives, and their role in the spoken discourse or in two-way communication has not been fully and systematically explored even though some aspects of their behaviour beyond a sentence have been reported; e.g., these markers display the hearers co-alignment (Kim & Suh, 1994).

To obtain rich contexts, the current study adopts various data sets for its analysis, which include TV drama scripts, comic books and telephone conversations. For a theoretical framework, the notion of involvement (Chafe, 1982, 1985; Tannen, 1985, 1989; Arndt and Janney, 1987; Lee, 2007) will be used to identify the features of spoken discourse, looking at how the speakers use the target markers to invite involvement of the hearer. The current study will reveal that, while these markers share similarities that they are indirect quotation markers and frequently used in casual conversation, each marker indicates different functions from the other: In brief, the speakers use -nikka to repeat a previous utterance and show their attitude of complaining or urging. On the other hand, the speakers use -nuntay to elicit certain kinds of feelings and attitudes such as surprise and anger from the hearers. The marker is also used to introduce metaphors into the context for initiating, extending and concluding stories.

Advanced Bilingual Enhancement: Developing Translation and Interpreting Students Linguistic Competence

Dr Mira Kim - University of New South WalesDr Claire Scott - University of New South Wales

This paper reports on an ongoing project that addresses the unequal development of Translation and Interpreting (T&I) students working languages. The project explores the persistent challenge in T&I education by drawing on two major educationally oriented theories: one is a language theory, known as systemic functional linguistics (SFL), which Kim has successfully applied to translation teaching (c.f. Kim 2009), and the other is an educational theory known as socio cultural theory (SCT), which has been a powerful source of inspiration for great numbers of translator educators around the world since Kiraly (2000) started to advocate it for innovative translator education (c.f. Kearns 2008). The primary outcome of this project will be a program of learning activities in modular form, which T&I educators can incorporate into their curricula to create a multitude of scaffolded acquisition enhancement experiences for their students. This paper will mainly discuss the theoretical and methodological framework of this project and present the findings of a pilot study analysing English skill needs of international students studying T&I at Masters level at UNSW.

References

Kearns, J. (ed.) (2008) Translator and Interpreter Training: Issues, Methods and Debates, London and New York: Continuum.

Kim, M. (2009) Meaning-oriented assessment of translations: SFL and its application to formative assessment, in C. Angelelli and H. E. Jacobson (eds.), 123-157.

Kiraly, D. C. (2000) A Social Constructivist Approach to Translator Education, Manchester: St. Jerome.

20

AbstractsReflective Feedback Using Digital Technology for Developing Oral Communication

Marie Fellbaum Korpi - The University of Western Sydney, Australia

This paper presents the results of an ongoing research project using a model of video capture, digital recording, and web-technology to underpin the methodology of training and assessing at risk students of nursing and secondary education in Australia. The project is innovative in that it delivers a means of providing multi-source feedback on speech behaviours, such as articulation, intonation, and other prosodic behaviours, in addition to voice projection, posture and body language. The method provides systematic and formative feedback to students on their oral communicative skills for their profession.

Addressing the need for broader components in assessing language ability of non-native speakers aspiring to be professionals, such as teachers or nurses, the use of modern technology as a tool for training students is combined with instruments to develop self-reflection and self-monitoring, leading to continuing self-assessment in order to improve their speech. The combination of reflective tools and individual speech captured digitally, allows students to track changes in their communication skills both verbally and nonverbally, leading to speech which exudes confidence and authority necessary for their respective profession.

Korean Students Early Study Abroad, English and Globalisation

Bong Jeong Lee - University of Technology, Sydney

Until the late 1980s, Koreans leaving for a foreign country for study purposes, yuhaksaeng (the Korean term for international students), were mostly bachelors or masters degree holders. Since the 1990s, Korean students in pre-adulthood from primary to high school age have emerged as a new group of yuhaksaeng, increasingly comprised of a considerable number of the country leavers. While adult yuhaksaeng aims to obtain overseas degrees, these young students study abroad is more sparred by Koreas English fever, or collective neurosis of English fever (Y-M Kim 2002).

English in Korea has been a much sought after resource (Park 2004) as a ladder for upward social mobility since the transitional military government was established shortly after the end of Japanese colonial period in 1945. While the status of English throughout most of 20th century was highly related to Koreas economic and military dependence of the United States, the recent intensification of its value in Korean society is situated in the local globalisation processes in Korean society since the 1990s. This paper examines how the local process of globalisation in Korean society is involved in Korean students early study abroad, and what linguistic concerns mediate this phenomenon.

Kim, Y.-M. 2002, 'Collective neurosis of English fever', Education Review, vol. 9, pp. 56-64.

Park, J.S.-Y. 2004, 'Globalization, language, and social order: ideologies of English in South Korea', Dissertation thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Interactive Attitude in Japanese

Duck-Young Lee - Australian National University, Australia

During the past four decades, a number of approaches have made invaluable contributions in the area of spoken discourse: For example, Conversation Analysis (Schegloff, 1972; Schegloff and Sacks, 1973; Schegloff et al., 1977) sheds light on various aspects of interaction, by taking a closer look at specific micro-structural patterns such as turn-constructional units, turn-taking procedures, adjacency pairs, etc.; Interactional Linguistics (Ochs et al., 1996) aims at a grammatical description of talk-in-interaction, and clarifies the way in which syntax, lexis, and prosody are used and their role in the conversational organization; and a great number of researches have been undertaken on the issue of Discourse Markers

21

Abstracts(Schiffrin, 1987; Fraser, 1988; Redeker, 1991; Norrick, 2001; among others).

Adopting findings of recent researches in these approaches, the current study investigates linguistic forms and strategies in Japanese, which operate in close relation to the interaction between communication participants. More specifically, it assumes that those linguistic forms and strategies are a manifestation of a speakers attitude of undertaking interaction with the conversation partner. Based on a 550-minute-long corpus of 34 conversations between speakers with various social backgrounds collected in diverse situational contexts, the study further shows that the interactive attitude can be divided into six subgroups according to the purpose which the speaker attempts to achieve through the operation.

An Implementation of Team Teaching Strategy Based on Interpersonal Meaning Driven Pedagogy: Teaching Academic Essays in a Business

Sook Hee Lee - Charles Stuart University, Sydney Centre

This paper provides the results of implementing a Team Teaching strategy in teaching two academic tasks required at a University in Sydney: an argumentative/persuasive essay and a business report. The teaching was focused on structures of the tasks, key language aspects and referencing as the students first language was not English. An Australian genre-based approach in writing and appraisal theory (evaluative language), which has newly emerged within a Systemic Functional Linguistics framework (SFL), was mainly utilised via contextual, textual, and intertextual approaches. A survey was conducted on lecturers and students from three classes to identify their perceptions and measure the evaluations of team teaching.

Results show that both students and lecturers displayed positive attitudes towards content, and manner of language teaching. Both groups showed much more positive attitude for the language teacher than the content itself. The results also indicate that while team teaching can be quite effective, it cannot be a panacea for students who are potentially at risk and gained direct entry. The results have significant pedagogic implications in that team teaching, incorporated with interpersonally-oriented pedagogy within the SFL framework, adds a significant value to the study support programs.

Defining Interjections in Turkic Languages

Alan Libert - University of Newcastle, Australia

Interjections have been dealt with in various ways in grammars of Turkic languages and various words have been placed in this class. In this paper I will survey the treatment of interjections of Turkic languages in works both by western linguists and by native speakers of these languages and I will formulate a new definition of the class.

Curiously, some grammars, e.g. Lewis (1967), do not even discuss a class of interjections, although they may mention individual interjections. Some authors, e.g. Kornfilt (1997), do treat these words as a class, but include in this class words that other authors consider to belong to another part of speech. For example, Hacieminoglu (1992), although he does have a class of interjections, places elbette of course (an interjection for Kornfilt) among the kuvvetlendirme edatlari (strengthening particles) rather than among the interjections.

I will argue that such widespread disagreement may be partly due to the lack of a principled definition of interjections, which in turn could be due to the fact that they have been neglected when compared with other parts of speech. My definition limits interjections to those words which can felicitously be uttered in the absence of an interlocutor, while many of the supposed interjections of Kornfilt and others will be shown to be adverbs or words of some other class.

References

22

AbstractsHacieminoglu, N. (1992) Turk Dilinde Edatlar. Milli Egitim Bakanligi Yayinlari, Istanbul.

Kornfilt, J. (1997) Turkish. Routledge, London.

Lewis, G. (1967) Turkish Grammar. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Negotiating Ones Expertise through Appraisal in CVs

Dr Caroline Lipovsky - University of Sydney

In the recruiting process, CVs represent the image that job applicants create for themselves in their endeavour to obtain a job interview. Based on their impressions of these CVs, recruiters then make decisions about job applicants employability. The aim of this paper is to use empirical data to explore how applicants construct their professional identity through appraisal in their CVs.

Drawing on analysis of a set of CVs collected in France that uses Systemic Functional Linguistics Appraisal theory (Martin and White 2005), I will highlight how job applicants negotiate their professional expertise in their CVs and will identify the characteristics of successful applications. The CV analyses will be complemented by recruiters comments on their impressions of the CVs.

Martin, J. R. and White, P. R. R. 2005. The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Terminological Needs of the Air Transportation Committee of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature in Neologism

Ghanat Abadi, Mahdiyeh - The Academy of Persian Language and Literature, Iran

It is about a century that Academy of Persian Language and Literature under different names have tried to promote Persian language, literature and terminology. Terminology department is one of the different departments of Academy and nearly fifty professional committees contribute to this department. Air transportation committee which has started to work since 2000 is one of them. This committee has selected equivalents for about one thousand terms of this domain in its life span among which is a large number of neologisms.

The large number of terminological gaps in the air transportation field in Persian language and lack of Persian equivalents due to the short period of familiarity of Iranian people with this knowledge and the international spoken language which is used in flight conversations have led the air transportation committee to make neonyms.

The neonyms in contrast to the standardized equivalents have less chance for being accepted. After finding the most frequent and correct equivalent for a terminological unit among some preexisted equivalents, you can standardize this equivalent and be sure of your success. But neologisms should have many characteristics to be accepted by the society.

We mentioned unambiguous, brief, concise, grammatically and phonologically well-formed, and transparent neologisms which are able to be the basis for possible derived forms have a reasonable chance of being accepted. What makes the neonyms of the air transportation field to have these characteristics to be accepted is the usage of a full combination of electronic and updated monolingual and bilingual glossaries and dictionaries in different languages and even Persian language in the terminological sessions of the committee.

23

AbstractsAcademic Literacies for the World Food System:

The Case Study of a Chilean Student in the Discipline of Agribusiness

Lissette Ramos Marin - The University of Adelaide, Australia

Academic Literacy cannot be considered as a single and general skill that can be learnt, but a process where socialization plays a main role in providing students with the necessary linguistics tools to develop in a particular disciplinary community. From this perspective the literacy practices and events are of some importance to expose the process itself. In order to support this, the Theory of systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday, 1994) and Language Socialisation Theories (Vygotsky, 1978) provide what is necessary to analyse the texts and discourses involved in such activities. Particularly oral and written texts can be analysed to understand how meaning is conveyed in a particular discipline. Socialisation theories, the following sections will describe the literacy practices of an international first year student in the discipline of Agribusiness. The study is based on qualitative methodology in the form of a case study. Data consists of recorded lecture sessions, field notes and written and oral assignments. In addition to that material, two interviews will be considered for analysis. The discourses involved in each literacy event are to be described and analysed to expose how knowledge is construed among the participants of the discipline.

Teaching Applied Linguistics: Freedom Rules

Stephen Moore - Macquarie University

This presentation is concerned with the teaching of applied linguistics as a discipline in higher education in Australia. Whatever else applied linguistics is concerned with, the need to effectively communicate discipline-specific knowledge and skills to our students remains constant and fundamental to their learning experiences. A review of the literature reveals that unlike the physical sciences (e.g., chemistry; physics) or social sciences (e.g., education; law) there are virtually no reports of studies focused on teaching in our particular discipline. One reason why the field of applied linguistics has not been the subject of much pedagogical enquiry could be its perceived complexity as a unified field, as evident from its competing epistemologies (see, for example, Richards 2003). The current study has therefore focused on three important sub-disciplines of the field (i.e., second language acquisition; language testing and assessment; and pragmatics) to investigate teaching approaches used in those specific sub-fields. Six lecturers of postgraduate applied linguistics programs in Australia were interviewed to gain insights into the teaching approaches (based on Trigwell et al. 1994) that they adopted in face-to-face teaching of their particular sub-discipline. The study found that while each sub-discipline attracted some similarity in teaching approach, different approaches were favoured by all six lecturers. Factors strongly influencing teaching approaches include personal philosophies of teaching and learning; the nature of the sub-discipline; the nature of the student cohort; and institutional constraints.

The Lingua Franca Perspective of Word Combinations Usage in the Writing of Postgraduate Students

Firooz Namvar - University Kebangsaan Malaysia, MalaysiaJamilah Mustfa - University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia

Nor Fariza Mohd Nor - University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia

It is widely acknowledged that word combinations, in particular collocations, play an important role in second language learning, particularly at the intermediate and advanced levels. However, learners' difficulties with collocations have not been investigated in detail to date. This study intended to determine the underlying causes of collocation misuse by exploring the influence of L1 and the cultural background of learners on the proper production of collocations.

24

AbstractsThirty Iranian postgraduate students participated in this study and their academic writings have been analyzed to determine the odd collocations they made and to identify the basis for their difficulties in producing collocations. A focus group interview has been used to determine the influence of L1 and cultural background of the learners on the production of collocations.

According to the world Englishes studies and from the perspective of Lingua Franca, we cannot say all the collocations produced by students are wrong but their collocation production is related to the learners first language and cultural background. The result showed that learners have difficulties with both lexical and grammatical collocations in their writing. First language influence appeared to have a strong effect on the learners production of collocation. In addition, as language and culture are not separable, the cultural difference between the first language and target language caused students to come up with odd lexical collocations. The results indicated that learners are often not aware of the collocations and are not able to control their collocation production.

On the Cognitive Mappings between Human Body Parts and the Semantic Space in Gesture Language Experiments

Hiromi Oda - Waseda University

This presentation describes how subjects in Gesture Language Game invented mappings between their upper body parts and the semantic space that is defined in the experiment. After a quick introduction of the framework of the Gesture Language Game, the mappings that emerged in the experiment will be examined. The ultimate goal of this investigation is to create a model of mappings emerged in the experimental settings.

The experimental format of Gesture Language Game (Oda & Takei, 2003; Oda, 2006) requires two participants to establish communication only with gestural signs, which need to be invented and agreed upon by the subjects on the spot. Since only two signs for Yes and No were given at the beginning, they need to come up with signs that can express exact locations of objects against backgrounds or those that can convey object movements in relation to other objects, as well as other basic signs for animals, humans and various simple objects.

The mappings invented by the subjects included various types; one of straightfor