This article investigates assessment in Russian as a type of social action by using the approach ... more This article investigates assessment in Russian as a type of social action by using the approach to linguistic relativity where the diversity of lexicosyntactic resources available to the speakers of natural languages brings about different collateral effects to the social act of assessment. An analysis of selected samples of a Russian spoken corpus presented in this paper shows that specific lexicosyntactic resources available to the speakers of Russian, such as flexible word order and particles (e.g. da, nu, vot, to), have specific collateral effects. In addition to building agreement in assessment, these lexicosyntactic resources (i) create the context of closeness where more can be said with less overtly expressed linguistic means, and (ii) intensify the social act of assessment by making it more emotionally charged.
This paper presents the findings of a case study, which aims to answer the question of whether la... more This paper presents the findings of a case study, which aims to answer the question of whether languaging (i.e. storytelling as a cognitively demanding talk) can improve the cognition of an older adult suffering from multiple sclerosis and living in a long-term care facility. Languaging, the process of using language to make meaning, evokes the views of Bakhtin and Vygotsky on language as a dynamic, heterogeneous and dialogic construct that mediates our relationship with the outside world and, most importantly, shapes our minds in the process of communication. We analyzed the structure of the 10 audio recorded and transcribed sessions between the researcher and the participant for the stories. Focusing on one of the stories told by Jane, the participant, and to the researcher, the analysis shows that Jane was capable of engaging in a cognitively demanding task of telling the story. By doing this, Jane restored her relationship with the outside world; the act of storytelling “pushed”...
This paper addresses case assignment in Standard Arabic (SA). It shows that the current Agree-bas... more This paper addresses case assignment in Standard Arabic (SA). It shows that the current Agree-based accounts of case in SA are problematic, as they face problems accounting for case assignment in complex event nominals. Using Baker’s (2015) dependent case theory, we argue that there are two modalities of structural case assignment in SA, i.e., the dependent case and the Agree-based case, and that the latter is only available when the former fails to apply. It is also argued that case assignment takes place at Spell Out, the point where phase heads are merged into the structure. We provide evidence that vP in SA is a soft phase and we claim that v in SA is incapable of assigning the accusative case to the object, due to v’s deficiency. We also claim that a DP of the complex nominal type in SA is a hard phase. SA PRO is argued to lack a case feature, and it is therefore neither a proper goal for case in the Agree-based case mechanism, nor is it a proper case trigger/competitor in the ...
The purpose of this article is to analyze a task included in the LINC Home Study (LHS) program. L... more The purpose of this article is to analyze a task included in the LINC Home Study (LHS) program. LHS is a federally funded distance education program offered to newcomers to Canada who are unable to attend regular LINC classes. A task, in which a language structure (a gerund) is chosen and analyzed, was selected from one instructional module of LHS offered as a demonstration module for the general public. Specifically, the analysis presented in this article focuses on how language structure is integrated into the task. The integration of language structure into the task is assessed against the criteria outlined in the Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning (TBLT) literature and the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLBs) guidelines. The analysis of the task demonstrates that the presentation of language structure in the task violates the main principle of a meaning-based approach to second language teaching (i.e., task-based instruction) that emphasizes the primacy of meaning over lan...
Pragmatic competence is one of the essential competences taught in the second language classroom.... more Pragmatic competence is one of the essential competences taught in the second language classroom. The Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB, 2012a)
This paper focuses on the autobiographical narratives of three translingual writers, Nabokov, Bro... more This paper focuses on the autobiographical narratives of three translingual writers, Nabokov, Brodsky and Makine. Their narratives are analyzed by taking into account Vygotsky’s ideas on the relationship between language and thought (1987), Bruner’s ideas on storytelling (1986, 2002) and Swain’s concept of languaging as a meaning-making process through language (Swain, 2006). The paper investigates the question of the role of language in making sense of writers’ lives as displaced people. In order to answer this question, we analyzed the autobiographical narratives for languaging episodes that are defined as autobiographical excerpts where the writers attempt to make sense of their lives as displaced people. The following major themes have been identified as the result of the analysis: construction of the lost world out of new experiences, discovery of the meaning of existence, reconciliation through cultural and linguistic hybridity. We believe that the implication of the study is ...
The present study tests Pereltsvaig’s Lexical Hypothesis [2005, 2008] by investigating the intera... more The present study tests Pereltsvaig’s Lexical Hypothesis [2005, 2008] by investigating the interaction between the features of grammatical aspect (±perf(ectivity)) and those of lexical aspect (±telic(ity)) in the varieties of Russian spoken among three generations of heritage speakers of Russian (HSR) in the Greater Toronto Area. Two hypotheses are tested: (a) the variety of Russian as spoken by the first generation of HSR is not different from that of Contemporary Standard Russian (CSR); particularly, the constellations [+perf, +telic] and [-perf, -telic] are a tendency rather than a rule, (b) the Russian spoken by the second and third generations of HSR is distinct from CSR in that the constellations [+perf, +telic] and [-perf, -telic] are a rule rather than a tendency. The results of the study generally though not categorically lend support to the Lexical Hypothesis.
This article describes the results of Action Research conducted in an ESP classroom of Dhofar Uni... more This article describes the results of Action Research conducted in an ESP classroom of Dhofar University located in Oman. Following the call of Oman Vision 2040 to emphasize educational practices that promote the development of higher-order cognitive processes, this study raises the following question: Can an online multiple choice question (MCQ) quiz tap into the higher-order cognitive skills of apply, analyze and evaluate? This question was also critical at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic when Omani universities switched to the online learning mode. The researchers administered an online MCQ quiz to 35 undergraduate students enrolled in an ESP course for Engineering and Sciences. The results showed that MCQ quizzes could be developed to tap into higher-order thinking skills when the stem of the MSQ is developed as a task or a scenario. The study also revealed that students performed better on MCQs that tap into low--level cognitive skills. This result can be attributed to the pr...
The study focuses on the strategies English as a foreign language (EFL) learners choose to take o... more The study focuses on the strategies English as a foreign language (EFL) learners choose to take on in requests without evaluating them against the norm of a native speaker, as the concept of native speaker is ideologically problematic in the time of super-diversity. The study uses cultural scripts proposed in the field of cross-cultural pragmatics to interpret the strategies of EFL learners in making requests. Seventy-six requests were elicited from twenty-six undergraduate Omani EFL learners through Discourse Completion Tasks (DCTs). The results obtained from the DCTs were supported by the results of the focus discussion group and our personal observations as faculty members and students’ advisors. The study shows that contrary to the claims made in most of the literature on requests in interlanguage pragmatics, EFL learners use indirect strategies. In addition, they use address terms and provide reasons for their requests. These strategies are shaped by cultural scripts that prior...
The purpose of this article is to analyze a task included in the LINC Home Study (LHS) program. L... more The purpose of this article is to analyze a task included in the LINC Home Study (LHS) program. LHS is a federally funded distance education program offered to newcomers to Canada who are unable to attend regular LINC classes. A task, in which a language structure (a gerund) is chosen and analyzed, was selected from one instructional module of LHS offered as a demonstration module for the general public. Specifically, the analysis presented in this article focuses on how language structure is integrated into the task. The integration of language structure into the task is assessed against the criteria outlined in the Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning (TBLT) literature and the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLBs) guidelines. The analysis of the task demonstrates that the presentation of language structure in the task violates the main principle of a meaning-based approach to second language teaching (i.e., task-based instruction) that emphasizes the primacy of meaning over lan...
This article examines the arguments made in the article “Determiners, Feline Marsupials, and the ... more This article examines the arguments made in the article “Determiners, Feline Marsupials, and the Category-Function Distinction: A Critique of ELT Gram- mars” by Brett Reynolds recently published in the TESL Canada Journal (2013). In our response, we demonstrate that the author’s arguments are problematic on both theoretical and empirical grounds. In particular, we show that, by the author’s own metrics, (a) the items in the so-called my set (i.e,. my, your, his/ her, etc.) should be determinatives rather than pronouns, and (b) even items that the author argues to be determinatives (i.e., all, many, few, little, etc.) cannot be classified as such if we apply the tests suggested by the author. We conclude our critical response by discussing some of the pedagogical implications of the author’s article.Cet article porte sur les arguments présentés dans l’article “Determiners, Feline Marsupials, and the Category-Function Distinction: A Critique of ELT Gram- mars” écrit par Brett Reyno...
Pragmatic competence is one of the essential competences taught in the second language classroom.... more Pragmatic competence is one of the essential competences taught in the second language classroom. The Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB, 2012a), the standard document referred to in any federally funded program of ESL teach- ing in Canada, acknowledges the importance of this competence, yet at the same time notes the limited resources available to help ESL teachers address it in the classroom. Informed by the theoretical construct of communicative competence and its application to second language learning, the article offers an exemplar of the whats and hows of teaching pragmatics in the ESL classroom. The article stresses the importance of making explicit to the learners the sociolinguistic and sociocultural variables that underlie native speakers’ linguistic choices. It is hoped that ESL learners will thus develop a better understanding of the reasons that make native speakers choose one linguistic expression rather than others when performing a certain linguistic act. The speech...
This article investigates assessment in Russian as a type of social action by using the approach ... more This article investigates assessment in Russian as a type of social action by using the approach to linguistic relativity where the diversity of lexicosyntactic resources available to the speakers of natural languages brings about different collateral effects to the social act of assessment. An analysis of selected samples of a Russian spoken corpus presented in this paper shows that specific lexicosyntactic resources available to the speakers of Russian, such as flexible word order and particles (e.g. da, nu, vot, to), have specific collateral effects. In addition to building agreement in assessment, these lexicosyntactic resources (i) create the context of closeness where more can be said with less overtly expressed linguistic means, and (ii) intensify the social act of assessment by making it more emotionally charged.
This paper presents the findings of a case study, which aims to answer the question of whether la... more This paper presents the findings of a case study, which aims to answer the question of whether languaging (i.e. storytelling as a cognitively demanding talk) can improve the cognition of an older adult suffering from multiple sclerosis and living in a long-term care facility. Languaging, the process of using language to make meaning, evokes the views of Bakhtin and Vygotsky on language as a dynamic, heterogeneous and dialogic construct that mediates our relationship with the outside world and, most importantly, shapes our minds in the process of communication. We analyzed the structure of the 10 audio recorded and transcribed sessions between the researcher and the participant for the stories. Focusing on one of the stories told by Jane, the participant, and to the researcher, the analysis shows that Jane was capable of engaging in a cognitively demanding task of telling the story. By doing this, Jane restored her relationship with the outside world; the act of storytelling “pushed”...
This paper addresses case assignment in Standard Arabic (SA). It shows that the current Agree-bas... more This paper addresses case assignment in Standard Arabic (SA). It shows that the current Agree-based accounts of case in SA are problematic, as they face problems accounting for case assignment in complex event nominals. Using Baker’s (2015) dependent case theory, we argue that there are two modalities of structural case assignment in SA, i.e., the dependent case and the Agree-based case, and that the latter is only available when the former fails to apply. It is also argued that case assignment takes place at Spell Out, the point where phase heads are merged into the structure. We provide evidence that vP in SA is a soft phase and we claim that v in SA is incapable of assigning the accusative case to the object, due to v’s deficiency. We also claim that a DP of the complex nominal type in SA is a hard phase. SA PRO is argued to lack a case feature, and it is therefore neither a proper goal for case in the Agree-based case mechanism, nor is it a proper case trigger/competitor in the ...
The purpose of this article is to analyze a task included in the LINC Home Study (LHS) program. L... more The purpose of this article is to analyze a task included in the LINC Home Study (LHS) program. LHS is a federally funded distance education program offered to newcomers to Canada who are unable to attend regular LINC classes. A task, in which a language structure (a gerund) is chosen and analyzed, was selected from one instructional module of LHS offered as a demonstration module for the general public. Specifically, the analysis presented in this article focuses on how language structure is integrated into the task. The integration of language structure into the task is assessed against the criteria outlined in the Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning (TBLT) literature and the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLBs) guidelines. The analysis of the task demonstrates that the presentation of language structure in the task violates the main principle of a meaning-based approach to second language teaching (i.e., task-based instruction) that emphasizes the primacy of meaning over lan...
Pragmatic competence is one of the essential competences taught in the second language classroom.... more Pragmatic competence is one of the essential competences taught in the second language classroom. The Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB, 2012a)
This paper focuses on the autobiographical narratives of three translingual writers, Nabokov, Bro... more This paper focuses on the autobiographical narratives of three translingual writers, Nabokov, Brodsky and Makine. Their narratives are analyzed by taking into account Vygotsky’s ideas on the relationship between language and thought (1987), Bruner’s ideas on storytelling (1986, 2002) and Swain’s concept of languaging as a meaning-making process through language (Swain, 2006). The paper investigates the question of the role of language in making sense of writers’ lives as displaced people. In order to answer this question, we analyzed the autobiographical narratives for languaging episodes that are defined as autobiographical excerpts where the writers attempt to make sense of their lives as displaced people. The following major themes have been identified as the result of the analysis: construction of the lost world out of new experiences, discovery of the meaning of existence, reconciliation through cultural and linguistic hybridity. We believe that the implication of the study is ...
The present study tests Pereltsvaig’s Lexical Hypothesis [2005, 2008] by investigating the intera... more The present study tests Pereltsvaig’s Lexical Hypothesis [2005, 2008] by investigating the interaction between the features of grammatical aspect (±perf(ectivity)) and those of lexical aspect (±telic(ity)) in the varieties of Russian spoken among three generations of heritage speakers of Russian (HSR) in the Greater Toronto Area. Two hypotheses are tested: (a) the variety of Russian as spoken by the first generation of HSR is not different from that of Contemporary Standard Russian (CSR); particularly, the constellations [+perf, +telic] and [-perf, -telic] are a tendency rather than a rule, (b) the Russian spoken by the second and third generations of HSR is distinct from CSR in that the constellations [+perf, +telic] and [-perf, -telic] are a rule rather than a tendency. The results of the study generally though not categorically lend support to the Lexical Hypothesis.
This article describes the results of Action Research conducted in an ESP classroom of Dhofar Uni... more This article describes the results of Action Research conducted in an ESP classroom of Dhofar University located in Oman. Following the call of Oman Vision 2040 to emphasize educational practices that promote the development of higher-order cognitive processes, this study raises the following question: Can an online multiple choice question (MCQ) quiz tap into the higher-order cognitive skills of apply, analyze and evaluate? This question was also critical at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic when Omani universities switched to the online learning mode. The researchers administered an online MCQ quiz to 35 undergraduate students enrolled in an ESP course for Engineering and Sciences. The results showed that MCQ quizzes could be developed to tap into higher-order thinking skills when the stem of the MSQ is developed as a task or a scenario. The study also revealed that students performed better on MCQs that tap into low--level cognitive skills. This result can be attributed to the pr...
The study focuses on the strategies English as a foreign language (EFL) learners choose to take o... more The study focuses on the strategies English as a foreign language (EFL) learners choose to take on in requests without evaluating them against the norm of a native speaker, as the concept of native speaker is ideologically problematic in the time of super-diversity. The study uses cultural scripts proposed in the field of cross-cultural pragmatics to interpret the strategies of EFL learners in making requests. Seventy-six requests were elicited from twenty-six undergraduate Omani EFL learners through Discourse Completion Tasks (DCTs). The results obtained from the DCTs were supported by the results of the focus discussion group and our personal observations as faculty members and students’ advisors. The study shows that contrary to the claims made in most of the literature on requests in interlanguage pragmatics, EFL learners use indirect strategies. In addition, they use address terms and provide reasons for their requests. These strategies are shaped by cultural scripts that prior...
The purpose of this article is to analyze a task included in the LINC Home Study (LHS) program. L... more The purpose of this article is to analyze a task included in the LINC Home Study (LHS) program. LHS is a federally funded distance education program offered to newcomers to Canada who are unable to attend regular LINC classes. A task, in which a language structure (a gerund) is chosen and analyzed, was selected from one instructional module of LHS offered as a demonstration module for the general public. Specifically, the analysis presented in this article focuses on how language structure is integrated into the task. The integration of language structure into the task is assessed against the criteria outlined in the Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning (TBLT) literature and the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLBs) guidelines. The analysis of the task demonstrates that the presentation of language structure in the task violates the main principle of a meaning-based approach to second language teaching (i.e., task-based instruction) that emphasizes the primacy of meaning over lan...
This article examines the arguments made in the article “Determiners, Feline Marsupials, and the ... more This article examines the arguments made in the article “Determiners, Feline Marsupials, and the Category-Function Distinction: A Critique of ELT Gram- mars” by Brett Reynolds recently published in the TESL Canada Journal (2013). In our response, we demonstrate that the author’s arguments are problematic on both theoretical and empirical grounds. In particular, we show that, by the author’s own metrics, (a) the items in the so-called my set (i.e,. my, your, his/ her, etc.) should be determinatives rather than pronouns, and (b) even items that the author argues to be determinatives (i.e., all, many, few, little, etc.) cannot be classified as such if we apply the tests suggested by the author. We conclude our critical response by discussing some of the pedagogical implications of the author’s article.Cet article porte sur les arguments présentés dans l’article “Determiners, Feline Marsupials, and the Category-Function Distinction: A Critique of ELT Gram- mars” écrit par Brett Reyno...
Pragmatic competence is one of the essential competences taught in the second language classroom.... more Pragmatic competence is one of the essential competences taught in the second language classroom. The Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB, 2012a), the standard document referred to in any federally funded program of ESL teach- ing in Canada, acknowledges the importance of this competence, yet at the same time notes the limited resources available to help ESL teachers address it in the classroom. Informed by the theoretical construct of communicative competence and its application to second language learning, the article offers an exemplar of the whats and hows of teaching pragmatics in the ESL classroom. The article stresses the importance of making explicit to the learners the sociolinguistic and sociocultural variables that underlie native speakers’ linguistic choices. It is hoped that ESL learners will thus develop a better understanding of the reasons that make native speakers choose one linguistic expression rather than others when performing a certain linguistic act. The speech...
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