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摘要：This study investigates the effects of Acoustic Spectrographic Instruction on the production of the English phonological contrast /i/ and / I /. Acoustic Spectrographic Instruction is based on the assumption that physical representations of speech sounds and spectrography allow learners to objectively see and modify those non-accurate features in their oral production which may impede effective communication in the target language. Twenty-six pre-service non-native English teachers, 16 in the experimental group and 10 in the control group, participated in the investigation. During a two-week period, the experimental group received Acoustic Spectrographic Instruction while the control group was exposed to a more traditional pronunciation approach. Production accuracy of the target segments was evaluated by two production tasks and a perceptual identification task. Acoustic measurements from the production tasks show that Acoustic Spectrographic Instruction significantly improved pronunciation of both vowels. Data from perceptual identification also indicate pronunciation improvement of both vowels, particularly for English / I /. Taken together, the results of these three experiments lend support to the use of acoustic features of speech and spectrography in English segmental acquisition. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Yoo's (2014) article raises a number of questions concerning local teachers' status and the ownership of English in the Expanding Circle. In this article, I address five issues that I see as most important relating to the ownership of English and empowering local teachers in the Expanding Circle. I provide up-to-date evidence of World Englishes and English as a lingua franca (ELF) research and respond to skepticism and fallacies in Yoo's paper. This article demonstrates the necessity and benefit of accepting ELF users' ownership of English in the Expanding Circle. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This Forum challenges the generally accepted position in the linguistic sciences -- conscious or not -- that monolingualism and nativeness are essentially synonymous in an exclusive way. We discuss two consequences of our position that naturalistic bilinguals and multilinguals exposed to a language in early childhood are also native speakers: (i) that bi-/multilinguals have multiple native languages; and (ii) nativeness can be applicable to a state of linguistic knowledge that is characterized by significant differences to the monolingual baseline. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Numerous scholars (e.g. Crystal 2003; Widdowson 2003) have argued that English belongs to nonnative speakers because English is widely used as an international language and because there are more nonnative speakers than native speakers. Many nonnative teachers in the Expanding Circle accept this argument, believing that having the ownership of English empowers them. This forum piece, however, argues that the issue of English ownership is not as relevant for them as it is for those living in the Outer Circle because there may not exist a local variety of English in their respective country. Moreover, claiming the ownership of English can bring about detrimental effects in their classroom, especially when only 'good English' is accepted as 'a powerful symbolic resource' (Park 2010: 193), as is the case in Korea. This article also argues that the real source of nonnative teachers' empowerment stems from their identity as the ideal teachers of English to English as a Foreign Language learners. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This study investigates whether native Hmong speakers' first language (L1) lexical tone experience facilitates or interferes with their perception of Mandarin tones and whether training is effective for perceptual learning of second (L2) tones. In Experiment 1, 3 groups of beginning level learners of Mandarin with different L1 prosodic background (Hmong, Japanese, and English) took a perception test on Mandarin tones. Both the English and Japanese groups outperformed the Hmong group in perceptual accuracy of Mandarin tones. In Experiment 2, 18 learners with different L1 background received either perception training only or perception with production training on Mandarin tones for 6 hours within 3-4 weeks. Both training paradigms were effective for perceptual learning of Mandarin tone contrasts as the two training groups' perceptual accuracy improved significantly at posttest compared with a control group. Although Hmong speakers initially had more difficulties in perception of Mandarin tones than the other 2 groups, they are by no means disadvantaged by their L1 prosodic background as they gain L2 experience after intensive training.

摘要：This article highlights a preliminary study that is part of a larger research project relating to a specific-purpose English language test for overseas-trained health professionals: the Occupational English Test (McNamara, 1996). The present study highlights findings from the first phase of the project designed to prove the views of spoken communication by doctors, nurses, and physiotherapists, eliciting these views by analyzing clinical experts' feedback on instances of trainee-patient communication proffered independently of the test setting. This research aims to determine "what criteria underlie the judgements of clinical educators regarding the spoken clinical communication of native- and nonnative-English-speaking health professionals." Adapted from the source document

摘要：The Native English Teachers (NETs) Scheme has been in place for over 20 years in secondary schools in Hong Kong and yet how students perceive these teachers is under-researched. This article reports a study which analyses student perceptions of the advantage and disadvantages of learning English from NETs and their non-native counterparts, local English teachers (LETs). Data were collected through semi-structured group interviews with 30 secondary students studying in three different schools in Hong Kong. Content data analysis was conducted, and main themes that emerged from interview transcripts were categorised. Results show that the perceived advantages of LETs include their proficiency in students' L1, their knowledge of students' learning difficulties, the ease students experience in understanding their teaching, and in communication. The perceived advantages of NETs are their good English proficiency and ability to facilitate student learning. The disadvantages of one category of teachers appear to be the reverse of the advantages of another. Data also show that some students experience anxiety when encountering NETs and tend to prefer certain teaching styles. This study has significant implications for classroom teaching practice and teacher professional development. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Comprehensibility, a major concept in second language (L2) pronunciation research that denotes listeners' perceptions of how easily they understand L2 speech, is central to interlocutors' communicative success in real-world contexts. Although comprehensibility has been modeled in several L2 oral proficiency scales -- for example, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) -- shortcomings of existing scales (e.g., vague descriptors) reflect limited empirical evidence as to which linguistic aspects influence listeners' judgments of L2 comprehensibility at different ability levels. To address this gap, a mixed-methods approach was used in the present study to gain a deeper understanding of the linguistic aspects underlying listeners' L2 comprehensibility ratings. First, speech samples of 40 native French learners of English were analyzed using 19 quantitative speech measures, including segmental, suprasegmental, fluency, lexical, grammatical, and discourse-level variables. These measures were then correlated with 60 native English listeners' scalar judgments of the speakers' comprehensibility. Next, three English as a second language (ESL) teachers provided introspective reports on the linguistic aspects of speech that they attended to when judging L2 comprehensibility. Following data triangulation, five speech measures were identified that clearly distinguished between L2 learners at different comprehensibility levels. Lexical richness and fluency measures differentiated between low-level learners; grammatical and discourse-level measures differentiated between high-level learners; and word stress errors discriminated between learners of all levels. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This study tested three hypotheses about the direct and indirect contributions of derivational morphological awareness to English reading comprehension in sixth-grade students from differing language backgrounds (n= 952). Students included Spanish-speaking, Filipino-speaking, and Vietnamese-speaking language minority learners as well as native English speakers. Multiple-group structural equation modeling indicated that morphological awareness made a significant direct contribution to reading comprehension, controlling for reading vocabulary and word reading fluency. Morphological awareness also made a significant indirect contribution to reading comprehension via reading vocabulary, but not via word reading fluency. Effects were similar across the four language groups. Findings suggest that morphological awareness may play multiple important roles in English reading comprehension for students from a variety of home language backgrounds. Adapted from the source document

摘要：The goal of this study was to test on a non-francophone population a repetition task of non-words created for a francophone population. A group of heritage language speakers (n = 27) was paired with a group of native speakers of French (n = 27) with a corresponding level of receptive lexical knowledge. The scores of both groups on a task consisting of the repetition of nonwords were compared. An analysis of variance showed that heritage language participants scores were similar to those of native speakers of French, even though their first language was not the one from which the non-words had been formed. The results highlight the potential of using a non-word repetition task with a linguistically heterogeneous population. The findings also suggest that the best measurement of phonological memory may be the number of correct syllables produced, as this may limit the influence of various factors on the task. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This paper reports the findings of an empirical study on ESL/EFL teachers' evaluation and interpretation of oral English proficiency as elicited by the national College English Test-Spoken English Test (CET-SET) of China. Informed by debates on the issue of native speaker (NS) norms which have become the focus of attention in recent years, this study addresses the question of whether judgments of language proficiency by non-native English speaking (NNES) teachers, who are currently used to assess performance on the CET-SET, correspond to those of native English speaking (NES) teachers or whether the two groups draw on different constructs of oral proficiency. Data for the study were derived from two sources: unguided holistic ratings given by a group of 19 NES and 20 NNES teachers to CET-SET speech samples from 30 test-takers, and written comments to justify the ratings assigned. Results yielded by both quantitative (MFRM) and qualitative analyses of teacher data, revealed no significant difference in raters' holistic judgments of the speech samples and a broad level of agreement between groups on the construct components of oral English proficiency. However, the analysis of raters' comments revealed both quantitative and qualitative differences in the way NES and NNES teachers weighed various features of the oral proficiency construct in justifying the decisions made. The paper concludes by considering the implications of the study's findings for debates about the native speaker norm as the target for language learners and test-takers. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Ltd., copyright holder.]

摘要：The goal of this study was to explain individual differences in both native and non-native listening comprehension; 121 native and 113 non-native speakers of Dutch were tested on various linguistic and nonlinguistic cognitive skills thought to underlie listening comprehension. Structural equation modeling was used to identify the predictors of individual differences in listening comprehension and to test for differences between the native and non-native participants. Listening comprehension for native speakers was found to be a function of knowledge of the language and the efficiency with which one can process linguistic information, while listening comprehension for non-native speakers was a function of knowledge and reasoning ability. Working Memory did not explain unique variance in listening comprehension in either group. Differences in experience with the Dutch language are likely to explain the observed pattern of results for both groups. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This nonexperimental study explored the predictive strength of English proficiency levels on academic achievement of middle school students in a sample of 17,470 native English-speaking (NES) students, 558 English language learners (current ELLs), and 500 redesignated fluent English proficient students (former ELLs). Results of multilevel analyses indicated that after controlling for relevant student- and school-level characteristics, former ELLs significantly outperformed current ELL and NES students in reading (effect sizes: 1.07 and 0.52) and mathematics (effect sizes: 0.86 and 0.42). The results support Cummins's (1979, 2000) lower level threshold hypothesis predicting that upon reaching adequate proficiency in the language of schooling and testing, ELLs would no longer experience academic disadvantages. Refinements for the theory and directions for future research are discussed. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This study examines aspects of the syntax-discourse interface in near-native French. Two cleft structures-c'est clefts and avoir clefts-are examined in experimental and spontaneous conversational data from 10 adult Anglophone learners of French and ten native speakers of French. C'est clefts mark focus, and avoir clefts introduce new discourse referents. Although previous research on the syntax-discourse interface has revealed residual difficulties in near-native speakers, the near-natives in the present study evinced nativelike behavior on a range of measures, a finding that suggests complete acquisition of aspects of the syntax-discourse interface. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Native English-speaking (NES) English teachers at universities in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts are sometimes asked to edit English manuscripts written by non-native English-speaking (NNES) colleagues in scientific fields. However, professional peers may differ from English teachers in their approach towards editing scientific manuscripts (Benfield & Howard, 2000). This study examined (1) editing strategies used by NES English teachers at Japanese universities with different amounts of medical editing experience, compared to those used by NES healthcare professionals in editing an abstract written by a Japanese medical researcher; (2) points where participants felt the need to consult with the abstract's author; (3) revisions affecting definite articles; and (4) editors' attitudes towards editing. Results reveal that disciplinary knowledge and medical editing experience did not significantly impact editing strategies, but did impact the number of points where consultation was considered necessary, as well as revisions affecting definite articles. English teachers' ambivalence towards editing was also revealed. We argue that greater collaboration between English teachers and researchers in scientific fields is needed, and that consultation and clarity should become themes in courses designed for graduate and undergraduate EFL students. [Copyright The American University; published by Elsevier Ltd.]

摘要：In order for discourse to be considered idiomatic, it needs to exhibit features like fluency and pragmatically appropriate language use. Advances in corpus linguistics make it possible to examine idiomaticity from the perspective of recurrent word combinations. One approach to capture such word combinations is by the automatic retrieval of lexical bundles. We investigated the use of English-language lexical bundles in advanced learner writing by L1 speakers of Swedish and in comparable native-speaker writing, all produced by undergraduate university students in the discipline of linguistics. The material was culled from a new corpus of university student writing, the Stockholm University Student English Corpus (SUSEC), amounting to over one million words. The investigation involved a quantitative analysis of the use of four-word lexical bundles and a qualitative analysis of the functions they serve. The results show that the native speakers have a larger number of types of lexical bundles, which are also more varied, such as unattended 'this' bundles, existential 'there' bundles, and hedging bundles. Other lexical bundles which were found to be more common and more varied in the native-speaker data involved negations. The findings are shown to be largely similar to those of the phraseological research tradition in SLA. [Copyright The American University; published by Elsevier Ltd.]

摘要：This article focuses on the issue of non-native English-speaking ELT instructors and the tendency to conceptualize them along the same lines as non-native speakers in general. This debate is important in the realm of teaching and learning English as an International Language as it is estimated that non-native speakers outnumber native-speaker counterparts by three to one. The ownership of the English language is shared by all speakers regardless of 'nativeness.' Adapted from the source document

摘要：An online discussion involving text-based computer-mediated communication has great potential for promoting equal participation among non-native speakers of English. Several studies claimed that online discussions could enhance the academic participation of non-native speakers of English. However, there is little research around participation patterns in online discussions for non-native speakers of English. This descriptive pilot study considered the concept of communities of practice as it examined the online postings of three non-native and three native speakers of English who were enrolled in an online course on Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Content analysis was employed to study the 201 postings. The findings showed that the non-native speakers of English posted more messages in online discussions than their native peers did, and their postings showed more reflection on and accommodation of other students' perspectives than their native peers' postings. The pattern and frequency of these non-native English speakers' participation revealed that they gained a legitimate status engaging in academic socialization. In addition, an examination of the influence of the types of discussion questions posed for the non-native English speakers confirmed the significant role of the instructor in class participation. Adapted from the source document

摘要：Nurses working in their second language (L2) face different language-related problems in clinical practice, among which is the difficulty to understand patients' accents or the colloquial phrases they use. These results come as no surprise as L2 teaching is often implicitly oriented toward the acquisition of the standard level of the target language. In order to incorporate a greater linguistic diversity into L2 teaching, the concept of a pedagogical norm, which reflects the observable linguistic behaviour of target language speakers, can be used. The present study aims to establish the pedagogical norm to adopt in the French as a second language education of nursing science students living in a French minority environment. Adapted from the source document

摘要：This study examines the significance of language use for second language (L2) accent and tests it against factors such as length of residence (LOR) and age of onset (AO). Participants include 42 non-native speakers of English and 8 native speaker controls. Read-aloud items and guided free-speaking tasks are rated on a 5-point scale. Correlation analyses confirm the significance of AO, LOR, and experiential factors such as first language (L1) use, breadth of L2 use across multiple modes, and especially domain-based L2 use, such as personal, interactive contact with native speakers of the target language. Results suggest that experiential quality has a more significant impact on accent than experiential quantity and that, according to multiple regression models, experience is independent of the influences of AO and LOR. Based on these analyses, closer investigations of language experience and its connections to LOR are recommended. Adapted from the source document