CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN PHILOLOGY. INNOVATIVE METHODS OF TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES - Volume 1, 2021
The article has revealed the study in the field of pragmatics. It analyzes the speech acts of com... more The article has revealed the study in the field of pragmatics. It analyzes the speech acts of complimenting in Ukrainian and American cultures. This is especially important in linguistic interaction between people. Compliments as speech acts have the reflection and expression of cultural values. Many of the values reflected through compliments are personal appearance, new acquisitions, possessions, talents and skills. The objective of compliment expressions is to establish or to reinforce solidarity. The article presents the results of a cross-cultural study of the speech act of complimenting, comparing many aspects of Ukrainian and American English compliments to find similarities and differences in: compliment form, role relationship of the participants, gender of the giver and receiver of the compliment, compliment frequency and attributes praised. This study describes syntactic patterns or formulas that could be used to define the structure of the compliments. It shows particular characteristic that could distinguish some compliments from others, explain and understand some factors of meaning toward the compliments. The results in this study yield important implications to use compliments across the Ukrainian and American cultures. The information provided informs cultural patterns that will help avoid pragmatic failure and has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians and for teaching Russian and Ukrainian to speakers of English. Knowing how to use speech acts, allows the speaker to have communicative and pragmatic competences.
The following paper reports the results in the development of the Oregon English Language Profici... more The following paper reports the results in the development of the Oregon English Language Proficiency Assessment where no item test specifications were used to create test items. However, based on the feedback from ELL educators in their analysis of item formats, a specific context to create item test specifications (presumably reverse-engineering) is provided to compensate for this gap. The article highlights the importance of teachers' content decisions in supplementing statistical information for test construction in large scale assessment. Therefore, this paper concerns a systematic procedure carried out by a group of teachers evaluating several item formats from an item bank to select the most suitable ones in their relationship with the construct of the test to create item test specifications. The article only reports on the modality of writing, even though the original study tapped all four domains: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. The result of this teacher eff...
INTRODUCTION Speech acts take an important role in communication. Austin defines speech acts as t... more INTRODUCTION Speech acts take an important role in communication. Austin defines speech acts as the minimal unit of communication. Austin divides speech acts into locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary acts 1 . One of the most interesting acts to study is complimenting. Herbert studies speech acts such as compliments and compliment responses because there is not an agreement or a common pattern on what is the correct way of complimenting and responding to a compliment, even within the same speech community. Holmes claims that a compliment is: “a speech act which attributes credit to someone other than the speaker, usually the person addressed for some ‘good’ possession, characteristic, skill etc.” 2
While teaching English compliments, a tutor should consider the following two aspects: teaching c... more While teaching English compliments, a tutor should consider the following two aspects: teaching compliments itself and acknowledging the pragmatics of the speech act peculiar to Ukrainian and American speakers. The pragmatics behind the produced compliment comprises tone employed, specific use of different parts of speech, frequency of giving compliments, attributes praised in the compliments, and relationship between compliment giver and receiver. This paper proposes some general useful tips for enriching the background knowledge of second language learners.
The current focus across the U.S. on student college and career readiness standards makes clear t... more The current focus across the U.S. on student college and career readiness standards makes clear that both instruction and assessment of academic English will continue to be important for school-age English learner (EL) students. This article presents an overview and summary of key literature on academic language (usually academic English); considers how language demands are represented in the Common Core State Standards adopted by most states; briefly compares how academic English is represented in four sets of current English language proficiency/development standards; and considers some factors and challenges in operationalizing academic English for next-generation English language proficiency assessments. The overview and summary information should be useful to educators and developers of standards, curricula, and assessments who want a deeper understanding of academic language and its significance in EL instruction and assessment.
This paper considers L1 use by foreign language students. Sociocultural theory positions language... more This paper considers L1 use by foreign language students. Sociocultural theory positions language, and especially learner metalanguage (student speak about their own language use), as a cognitive tool which students employ as they engage in language-learning ...
YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN THE GLOBAL WORLD: VISTAS AND CHALLENGES, 2020
Pragmatics has been a paramount part in the field of intercultural
communication for linguists. ... more Pragmatics has been a paramount part in the field of intercultural communication for linguists. It concerns the study of linguistic interaction between people and it analyzes conversation and the speech acts (Wierbicka, 1991). To acquire pragmatic competence, speakers must also have a good command of speech acts. Searle (1969) considers that “a speech act is the basic or minimal unit of linguistic communication” (p.16). Speech acts are very important because they let people express in universal ways and with appropriate knowledge; therefore, knowing how to use speech acts, allows the speaker to have “communicative competence”. For the purpose of the present study, the uses of compliment expressions have been analyzed. Manes (1983) defines compliments as those speech acts which have the reflection and expression of cultural values because of their nature as judgments, over expressions of approval or admiration of another’s work, appearance or taste. The objective of compliment expressions is to establish or to reinforce solidarity. Many of the values reflected through compliments are personal appearance, new acquisitions, possessions, talents and skills. A second notion this paper addresses, is the idea of interlanguage. “Interlanguage, or learner language, is the type of language produced by second language learners who are in the process of learning a language. In this process, learners’ errors are caused by such phenomena as borrowing patterns from the mother tongue, extending patterns from the target language, and expressing meanings using the vocabulary and syntax which are already known” (Richards, Platt, & Platt, 1992). This process where English language learners make errors in their interlanguage by borrowing patterns from their mother tongue is referred to as “negative transfer” or “interference” by a number of researchers (James, 1980; Nobel, 1982; Swan & Smith, 1987; Brown, 2001; Parker & Riley, 1994; Horwitz, 2008). Interlanguage is this study was the main motive to conduct the study. Thus, we analyzed how semi-fluent to fluent Ukrainian speakers of English produced compliments as a speech act, and then compared the results to the linguistic patterns of the same speech act to those used by native speakers of English in the US. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the interlanguage used by the Ukrainian participants and what factors affected or shaped such processes. In the present study, participants were interviewed via a survey to collect the following variables: compliment form, tone used, compliment frequency, relationship between users, gender relationship, speakers’ age, and attributes praised. Participants consisted of native speakers of English (control group) from the United States and native speakers of Russian and Ukrainian from all over Ukraine. Approximately 300 compliments were collected in English from the Ukrainian participants and 250 compliments were collected from the American Participants. The results in this study yields important implications to inform cultural patterns to help avoid pragmatic failure and has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians.
The process where English language learners make errors in their interlanguage by borrowing p... more The process where English language learners make errors in their interlanguage by borrowing patterns from their mother tongue is referred to as “negative transfer” or “interference” by a number of researchers (James, 1980; Nobel, 1982; Swan & Smith, 1987; Brown, 2001; Parker & Riley, 1994; Horwitz, 2008). Interlanguage is this study was the main motive to conduct the study. Thus, we analyzed how semi-fluent to fluent Ukrainian speakers of English produced compliments as a speech act, and then compared the results to the linguistic patterns of the same speech act to those used by native speakers of English in the US. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the interlanguage used by the Ukrainian participants and what factors affected or shaped such processes. In the present study, participants were interviewed via a survey to collect the following variables: compliment form, tone used, compliment frequency, relationship between users, gender relationship, speakers’ age, and attributes praised. Participants consisted of native speakers of English (control group) from the United States and native speakers of Russian and Ukrainian from all over Ukraine. Approximately 300 compliments were collected in English from the Ukrainian participants and 250 compliments were collected from the American Participants. The results in this study yields important implications to inform cultural patterns to help avoid pragmatic failure and has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians.
Arab Society of English Language Studies From the SelectedWorks of Arab World English Journal AWEJ, 2019
Every speaker of a native language undergoes an interlanguage continuum or the way that the langu... more Every speaker of a native language undergoes an interlanguage continuum or the way that the language learners go through from the first to the second language. Interlanguage is an essential theory for teachers to know what goes on in the learning process. It makes the teachers look at the varieties of mistaken linguistic forms with an eye for improvement. Interlanguage is the main motive to conduct this research. The article aims to analyze the interlanguage used by the Ukrainian participants. The study analyzes how semi-fluent to fluent Ukrainian speakers of English produce compliments as a speech act. Then the results to the linguistic patterns of the same speech act to those used by native speakers of English in the US are compared. Participants were interviewed via a survey to collect the following data: compliment forms, correlation of compliment formulas, Russian/Ukrainian transfer of typical compliments, and common idiomatic complement expressions. The results of this study have cultural implications in the teaching of the second language (English) in the Ukrainian context. To simplify the act of complimenting second language (L2) students, the research suggests some main speech tactics of producing compliments based on metalinguistic awareness and contextual factors. It helps to attain pragmatic teaching goals and supports the interlanguage development of learners to be more productive in their second language.
Every speaker of a native language undergoes an interlanguage continuum or the way that the langu... more Every speaker of a native language undergoes an interlanguage continuum or the way that the language learners go through from the first to the second language. Interlanguage is an essential theory for teachers to know what goes on in the learning process. It makes the teachers look at the varieties of mistaken linguistic forms with an eye for improvement. Interlanguage is the main motive to conduct this research. The article aims to analyze the interlanguage used by the Ukrainian participants. The study analyzes how semi-fluent to fluent Ukrainian speakers of English produce compliments as a speech act. Then the results to the linguistic patterns of the same speech act to those used by native speakers of English in the US are compared. Participants were interviewed via a survey to collect the following data: compliment forms, correlation of compliment formulas, Russian/Ukrainian transfer of typical compliments, and common idiomatic complement expressions. The results of this study have cultural implications in the teaching of the second language (English) in the Ukrainian context. To simplify the act of complimenting second language (L2) students, the research suggests some main speech tactics of producing compliments based on metalinguistic awareness and contextual factors. It helps to attain pragmatic teaching goals and supports the interlanguage development of learners to be more productive in their second language.
This short paper is a guide for language teachers to write item language test specifications base... more This short paper is a guide for language teachers to write item language test specifications based on the model created by Popham, Lynch and Davidson (2002). Also the author brings his experiences working in several testing publishing companies throughout the years.
While teaching English compliments, a tutor should consider the following two aspects: teaching c... more While teaching English compliments, a tutor should consider the following two aspects: teaching compliments itself and acknowledging the pragmatics of the speech act peculiar to Ukrainian and American speakers. The pragmatics behind the produced compliment comprises tone employed, specific use of different parts of speech, frequency of giving compliments, attributes praised in the compliments, and relationship between compliment giver and receiver. This paper proposes some general useful tips for enriching the background knowledge of second language learners.
Compliments as speech acts have the reflection and expression of cultural values. Many of the val... more Compliments as speech acts have the reflection and expression of cultural values. Many of the values reflected through compliments are personal appearance, new acquisitions, possessions, talents and skills. It is especially important in linguistic interaction between people. This research aims to analyze the speech acts of complimenting in Ukrainian and American cultures in order to use them for teaching pragmatics second language (L2) students. Defining the ways of complimenting in Ukrainian, Russian and American English help to avoid misunderstandings and pragmatic failures. This study uses a method of ethnomethodology. Speach acts are studied in their natural contexts. To carry out this research native speakers of English in the United States and native speakers of Russian and Ukrainian from all over Ukraine were interviewed on-line. The analysis was made on the data that included: 445 Russian, 231 Ukrainian and 245 English compliments. Results of this study show how native speakers tend to compliment people: syntactical structure of expressions, cultural lexicon, attributes praised and language context. It has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians and for teaching Russian and Ukrainian to speakers of English. Knowing how to use speech acts allows the speaker to have pragmatic competence. Upon completion of the data analysis on the current study, further information on deeper analysis in terms of semantics and metaphorical language can be provided.
The Speech Act of Complimenting as Part of the Ukrainian, Russian and English- Speaking Communities: Ukraine and the USA , 2018
Compliments as speech acts have the reflection and expression of cultural values. Many of the val... more Compliments as speech acts have the reflection and expression of cultural values. Many of the values reflected through compliments are personal appearance, new acquisitions, possessions, talents and skills. It is especially important in linguistic interaction between people. This research aims to analyze the speech acts of complimenting in Ukrainian and American cultures in order to use them for teaching pragmatics second language (L2) students. Defining the ways of complimenting in Ukrainian, Russian and American English help to avoid misunderstandings and pragmatic failures. This study uses a method of ethnomethodology. Speach acts are studied in their natural contexts. To carry out this research native speakers of English in the United States and native speakers of Russian and Ukrainian from all over Ukraine were interviewed on-line. The analysis was made on the data that included: 445 Russian, 231 Ukrainian and 245 English compliments. Results of this study show how native speakers tend to compliment people: syntactical structure of expressions, cultural lexicon, attributes praised and language context. It has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians and for teaching Russian and Ukrainian to speakers of English. Knowing how to use speech acts allows the speaker to have pragmatic competence. Upon completion of the data analysis on the current study, further information on deeper analysis in terms of semantics and metaphorical language can be provided.
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN PHILOLOGY. INNOVATIVE METHODS OF TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES - Volume 1, 2021
The article has revealed the study in the field of pragmatics. It analyzes the speech acts of com... more The article has revealed the study in the field of pragmatics. It analyzes the speech acts of complimenting in Ukrainian and American cultures. This is especially important in linguistic interaction between people. Compliments as speech acts have the reflection and expression of cultural values. Many of the values reflected through compliments are personal appearance, new acquisitions, possessions, talents and skills. The objective of compliment expressions is to establish or to reinforce solidarity. The article presents the results of a cross-cultural study of the speech act of complimenting, comparing many aspects of Ukrainian and American English compliments to find similarities and differences in: compliment form, role relationship of the participants, gender of the giver and receiver of the compliment, compliment frequency and attributes praised. This study describes syntactic patterns or formulas that could be used to define the structure of the compliments. It shows particular characteristic that could distinguish some compliments from others, explain and understand some factors of meaning toward the compliments. The results in this study yield important implications to use compliments across the Ukrainian and American cultures. The information provided informs cultural patterns that will help avoid pragmatic failure and has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians and for teaching Russian and Ukrainian to speakers of English. Knowing how to use speech acts, allows the speaker to have communicative and pragmatic competences.
The following paper reports the results in the development of the Oregon English Language Profici... more The following paper reports the results in the development of the Oregon English Language Proficiency Assessment where no item test specifications were used to create test items. However, based on the feedback from ELL educators in their analysis of item formats, a specific context to create item test specifications (presumably reverse-engineering) is provided to compensate for this gap. The article highlights the importance of teachers' content decisions in supplementing statistical information for test construction in large scale assessment. Therefore, this paper concerns a systematic procedure carried out by a group of teachers evaluating several item formats from an item bank to select the most suitable ones in their relationship with the construct of the test to create item test specifications. The article only reports on the modality of writing, even though the original study tapped all four domains: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. The result of this teacher eff...
INTRODUCTION Speech acts take an important role in communication. Austin defines speech acts as t... more INTRODUCTION Speech acts take an important role in communication. Austin defines speech acts as the minimal unit of communication. Austin divides speech acts into locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary acts 1 . One of the most interesting acts to study is complimenting. Herbert studies speech acts such as compliments and compliment responses because there is not an agreement or a common pattern on what is the correct way of complimenting and responding to a compliment, even within the same speech community. Holmes claims that a compliment is: “a speech act which attributes credit to someone other than the speaker, usually the person addressed for some ‘good’ possession, characteristic, skill etc.” 2
While teaching English compliments, a tutor should consider the following two aspects: teaching c... more While teaching English compliments, a tutor should consider the following two aspects: teaching compliments itself and acknowledging the pragmatics of the speech act peculiar to Ukrainian and American speakers. The pragmatics behind the produced compliment comprises tone employed, specific use of different parts of speech, frequency of giving compliments, attributes praised in the compliments, and relationship between compliment giver and receiver. This paper proposes some general useful tips for enriching the background knowledge of second language learners.
The current focus across the U.S. on student college and career readiness standards makes clear t... more The current focus across the U.S. on student college and career readiness standards makes clear that both instruction and assessment of academic English will continue to be important for school-age English learner (EL) students. This article presents an overview and summary of key literature on academic language (usually academic English); considers how language demands are represented in the Common Core State Standards adopted by most states; briefly compares how academic English is represented in four sets of current English language proficiency/development standards; and considers some factors and challenges in operationalizing academic English for next-generation English language proficiency assessments. The overview and summary information should be useful to educators and developers of standards, curricula, and assessments who want a deeper understanding of academic language and its significance in EL instruction and assessment.
This paper considers L1 use by foreign language students. Sociocultural theory positions language... more This paper considers L1 use by foreign language students. Sociocultural theory positions language, and especially learner metalanguage (student speak about their own language use), as a cognitive tool which students employ as they engage in language-learning ...
YOUNG RESEARCHERS IN THE GLOBAL WORLD: VISTAS AND CHALLENGES, 2020
Pragmatics has been a paramount part in the field of intercultural
communication for linguists. ... more Pragmatics has been a paramount part in the field of intercultural communication for linguists. It concerns the study of linguistic interaction between people and it analyzes conversation and the speech acts (Wierbicka, 1991). To acquire pragmatic competence, speakers must also have a good command of speech acts. Searle (1969) considers that “a speech act is the basic or minimal unit of linguistic communication” (p.16). Speech acts are very important because they let people express in universal ways and with appropriate knowledge; therefore, knowing how to use speech acts, allows the speaker to have “communicative competence”. For the purpose of the present study, the uses of compliment expressions have been analyzed. Manes (1983) defines compliments as those speech acts which have the reflection and expression of cultural values because of their nature as judgments, over expressions of approval or admiration of another’s work, appearance or taste. The objective of compliment expressions is to establish or to reinforce solidarity. Many of the values reflected through compliments are personal appearance, new acquisitions, possessions, talents and skills. A second notion this paper addresses, is the idea of interlanguage. “Interlanguage, or learner language, is the type of language produced by second language learners who are in the process of learning a language. In this process, learners’ errors are caused by such phenomena as borrowing patterns from the mother tongue, extending patterns from the target language, and expressing meanings using the vocabulary and syntax which are already known” (Richards, Platt, & Platt, 1992). This process where English language learners make errors in their interlanguage by borrowing patterns from their mother tongue is referred to as “negative transfer” or “interference” by a number of researchers (James, 1980; Nobel, 1982; Swan & Smith, 1987; Brown, 2001; Parker & Riley, 1994; Horwitz, 2008). Interlanguage is this study was the main motive to conduct the study. Thus, we analyzed how semi-fluent to fluent Ukrainian speakers of English produced compliments as a speech act, and then compared the results to the linguistic patterns of the same speech act to those used by native speakers of English in the US. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the interlanguage used by the Ukrainian participants and what factors affected or shaped such processes. In the present study, participants were interviewed via a survey to collect the following variables: compliment form, tone used, compliment frequency, relationship between users, gender relationship, speakers’ age, and attributes praised. Participants consisted of native speakers of English (control group) from the United States and native speakers of Russian and Ukrainian from all over Ukraine. Approximately 300 compliments were collected in English from the Ukrainian participants and 250 compliments were collected from the American Participants. The results in this study yields important implications to inform cultural patterns to help avoid pragmatic failure and has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians.
The process where English language learners make errors in their interlanguage by borrowing p... more The process where English language learners make errors in their interlanguage by borrowing patterns from their mother tongue is referred to as “negative transfer” or “interference” by a number of researchers (James, 1980; Nobel, 1982; Swan & Smith, 1987; Brown, 2001; Parker & Riley, 1994; Horwitz, 2008). Interlanguage is this study was the main motive to conduct the study. Thus, we analyzed how semi-fluent to fluent Ukrainian speakers of English produced compliments as a speech act, and then compared the results to the linguistic patterns of the same speech act to those used by native speakers of English in the US. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the interlanguage used by the Ukrainian participants and what factors affected or shaped such processes. In the present study, participants were interviewed via a survey to collect the following variables: compliment form, tone used, compliment frequency, relationship between users, gender relationship, speakers’ age, and attributes praised. Participants consisted of native speakers of English (control group) from the United States and native speakers of Russian and Ukrainian from all over Ukraine. Approximately 300 compliments were collected in English from the Ukrainian participants and 250 compliments were collected from the American Participants. The results in this study yields important implications to inform cultural patterns to help avoid pragmatic failure and has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians.
Arab Society of English Language Studies From the SelectedWorks of Arab World English Journal AWEJ, 2019
Every speaker of a native language undergoes an interlanguage continuum or the way that the langu... more Every speaker of a native language undergoes an interlanguage continuum or the way that the language learners go through from the first to the second language. Interlanguage is an essential theory for teachers to know what goes on in the learning process. It makes the teachers look at the varieties of mistaken linguistic forms with an eye for improvement. Interlanguage is the main motive to conduct this research. The article aims to analyze the interlanguage used by the Ukrainian participants. The study analyzes how semi-fluent to fluent Ukrainian speakers of English produce compliments as a speech act. Then the results to the linguistic patterns of the same speech act to those used by native speakers of English in the US are compared. Participants were interviewed via a survey to collect the following data: compliment forms, correlation of compliment formulas, Russian/Ukrainian transfer of typical compliments, and common idiomatic complement expressions. The results of this study have cultural implications in the teaching of the second language (English) in the Ukrainian context. To simplify the act of complimenting second language (L2) students, the research suggests some main speech tactics of producing compliments based on metalinguistic awareness and contextual factors. It helps to attain pragmatic teaching goals and supports the interlanguage development of learners to be more productive in their second language.
Every speaker of a native language undergoes an interlanguage continuum or the way that the langu... more Every speaker of a native language undergoes an interlanguage continuum or the way that the language learners go through from the first to the second language. Interlanguage is an essential theory for teachers to know what goes on in the learning process. It makes the teachers look at the varieties of mistaken linguistic forms with an eye for improvement. Interlanguage is the main motive to conduct this research. The article aims to analyze the interlanguage used by the Ukrainian participants. The study analyzes how semi-fluent to fluent Ukrainian speakers of English produce compliments as a speech act. Then the results to the linguistic patterns of the same speech act to those used by native speakers of English in the US are compared. Participants were interviewed via a survey to collect the following data: compliment forms, correlation of compliment formulas, Russian/Ukrainian transfer of typical compliments, and common idiomatic complement expressions. The results of this study have cultural implications in the teaching of the second language (English) in the Ukrainian context. To simplify the act of complimenting second language (L2) students, the research suggests some main speech tactics of producing compliments based on metalinguistic awareness and contextual factors. It helps to attain pragmatic teaching goals and supports the interlanguage development of learners to be more productive in their second language.
This short paper is a guide for language teachers to write item language test specifications base... more This short paper is a guide for language teachers to write item language test specifications based on the model created by Popham, Lynch and Davidson (2002). Also the author brings his experiences working in several testing publishing companies throughout the years.
While teaching English compliments, a tutor should consider the following two aspects: teaching c... more While teaching English compliments, a tutor should consider the following two aspects: teaching compliments itself and acknowledging the pragmatics of the speech act peculiar to Ukrainian and American speakers. The pragmatics behind the produced compliment comprises tone employed, specific use of different parts of speech, frequency of giving compliments, attributes praised in the compliments, and relationship between compliment giver and receiver. This paper proposes some general useful tips for enriching the background knowledge of second language learners.
Compliments as speech acts have the reflection and expression of cultural values. Many of the val... more Compliments as speech acts have the reflection and expression of cultural values. Many of the values reflected through compliments are personal appearance, new acquisitions, possessions, talents and skills. It is especially important in linguistic interaction between people. This research aims to analyze the speech acts of complimenting in Ukrainian and American cultures in order to use them for teaching pragmatics second language (L2) students. Defining the ways of complimenting in Ukrainian, Russian and American English help to avoid misunderstandings and pragmatic failures. This study uses a method of ethnomethodology. Speach acts are studied in their natural contexts. To carry out this research native speakers of English in the United States and native speakers of Russian and Ukrainian from all over Ukraine were interviewed on-line. The analysis was made on the data that included: 445 Russian, 231 Ukrainian and 245 English compliments. Results of this study show how native speakers tend to compliment people: syntactical structure of expressions, cultural lexicon, attributes praised and language context. It has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians and for teaching Russian and Ukrainian to speakers of English. Knowing how to use speech acts allows the speaker to have pragmatic competence. Upon completion of the data analysis on the current study, further information on deeper analysis in terms of semantics and metaphorical language can be provided.
The Speech Act of Complimenting as Part of the Ukrainian, Russian and English- Speaking Communities: Ukraine and the USA , 2018
Compliments as speech acts have the reflection and expression of cultural values. Many of the val... more Compliments as speech acts have the reflection and expression of cultural values. Many of the values reflected through compliments are personal appearance, new acquisitions, possessions, talents and skills. It is especially important in linguistic interaction between people. This research aims to analyze the speech acts of complimenting in Ukrainian and American cultures in order to use them for teaching pragmatics second language (L2) students. Defining the ways of complimenting in Ukrainian, Russian and American English help to avoid misunderstandings and pragmatic failures. This study uses a method of ethnomethodology. Speach acts are studied in their natural contexts. To carry out this research native speakers of English in the United States and native speakers of Russian and Ukrainian from all over Ukraine were interviewed on-line. The analysis was made on the data that included: 445 Russian, 231 Ukrainian and 245 English compliments. Results of this study show how native speakers tend to compliment people: syntactical structure of expressions, cultural lexicon, attributes praised and language context. It has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians and for teaching Russian and Ukrainian to speakers of English. Knowing how to use speech acts allows the speaker to have pragmatic competence. Upon completion of the data analysis on the current study, further information on deeper analysis in terms of semantics and metaphorical language can be provided.
This is a short hands on article that teachers students how to create a biography, paraphrase int... more This is a short hands on article that teachers students how to create a biography, paraphrase into either more formal or more informal phrases, practice reading comprehension and vocabulary building.
The following reading test specification was designed to assess high school students learning Eng... more The following reading test specification was designed to assess high school students learning English in the USA, their understanding of reading comprehension via literal, interpretative and applied levels of reading comprehension as well as using the QARs. The assessment format is constructed response where students are supposed to produce their understanding of the readings by writing their answers.
Linguae et Cultūrae - Linguistic Diversity & Culture in Ukraine: Past & Current Trends, 2020, 2020
In this special documentary, our Masters degree students from V.O. Shukhomlinskyi National Univer... more In this special documentary, our Masters degree students from V.O. Shukhomlinskyi National University of Mykolaiv and I, interview a very selected group of Educators: English, Russian and Ukrainian Teachers and Professors from the region of Zaporizhia, including the Zaporizhia National University in Ukraine. Experts share their opinions about language identity, historical aspects of Russian and Ukrainian languages (pre and post Euromaidan), language policy, the role of Surzhyk in Ukraine, and language contact, among the linguistic preferences university students reported in a recent study at Zaporizhia National University. In addition, we explore language and aspects as they relate to the Cossacks and their culture. The Cossacks: were members several autonomous communities from various ethnic and linguistic groups (such as Slavs, Tatars, and Circassians) that formed in Ukraine, southern Russia, the Caucasus Mountains, and Siberia after about 1400 and that were completely incorporated into czarist Russia during the 18th and 19th centuries (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). We highlight their opinions and witness an enactment of some of their stunts in the region of Khortitsa. They explain what has been their culture, what is happening right now and what could be the future for this underrepresented group which is paramount of the Ukrainian culture.
Linguae et Cultūrae - Linguistic Diversity & Culture in Ukraine: Past & Current Trends, # 3, 2020
This educational documentary contains a field research interview done by university students from... more This educational documentary contains a field research interview done by university students from V.O. Shukhomlinskyi National University of Mykolaiv in Ukraine and myself. We interviewed a very selected group of Language and English teachers in Odessa, Ukraine. They are representative from various regions from Ukraine including Lugansk, Sloviansk, Donestsk, and Zaporizhzhya. They are a group of teachers in a US Sponsored Program called the ACCESS Micro-scholarship Language Program. They share their impressions and opinions by representing their corresponding regions and the situations happening there. We discussed topics such as: a) the relationship between Russian and Ukrainian languages b) the impact of English in Ukrainian society c) the phenomenon of Surzhyk in Ukrainian society d) the notion of diglossia or transglossia in Ukraine e) the phenomenon and importance of bilingualism and multilingualism in Ukraine f) the current state of language use in the conflict war areas in the East of Ukraine g) the current spread and development of Ukrainian language in Ukraine
Linguae et Cultūrae - Linguistic Diversity & Culture in Ukraine: Past & Current Trends, # 2, 2020
This documentary highlights a short interview my graduate students from V.O. Shukhomlinskyi Natio... more This documentary highlights a short interview my graduate students from V.O. Shukhomlinskyi National University of Mykolaiv and I did . We interviewed a selected panel of language teachers in the city of Berehove in the far west of Ukraine. Panelists discuss the linguistic situation in this area given its proximity with Hungary, the neighboring country. We discussed topics such as multilingualism, the relationship between Ukrainian, Russian and Hungarian, Surzhyk, among other languages spoken. Also, topics such as diglossia and language education are discussed. Berehove is placed currently in a unique situation since the spread of Ukrainian across the country is expanding in the educational settings. However, a clash of language policy has recently emerged in the current use of Hungarian that has been spoken in previous generations in this area. Finally, we believe this is a good example of how students can create their own media literacy by executing first hand interviews from primary sources, in this case in the city of Berehove after we attended and provided a series of workshops for English teachers in the area.
Linguae et Cultūrae - Linguistic Diversity & Culture in Ukraine: Past & Current Trends, # 1, 2019
This initial documentary highlights what was the Greek ancient city of Olvia in Southern Ukraine.... more This initial documentary highlights what was the Greek ancient city of Olvia in Southern Ukraine. This documentary was made in collaboration with my undergraduate and graduate students at V.O. Shukhomlinsky National University of Mykolaiv, in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. This is part of a series of documentaries we did on a linguistic, cultural and historical research in Ukraine during 2019.
The ancient Greek city of Olvia was populated when around 650 BC, settlers from Milet and different Ionian cities established themselves along the estuary of the Bug river now in modern south Ukraine. Then it became a metropolis on its peak around the 5th to the 3rd century BC. It was attacked by the armies of Alexander the Great and then by the Getae around 331 BC. Then, it was rebuilt around the first century AD. At that time it came to be under control of the Roman Empire and started declining up around the 4th century AD after the Romans left. Finally the Turks came and destroyed the city. Still, the city is mentioned in the historical accounts by Herodotus, who is believed to have visited the city. Other ancient authors such as Strabo, Ptolemy, Polybius, Diodrus Siculus, and Pliny the Elder, mention Olvia in their descriptions of the Northern Black Sea.
We go on a tour on the main parts of Olvia with explanations in Ukrainian and English from an expert in this topic. The documentary is narrated bilingually in both Ukrainian and English for these two linguistic audiences.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized b... more This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. The presentation provides both theoretical and practical ideas to design rating scales or rubrics for ESL students in a formative assessment model. This talk was presented in October 2017 in Chernivtsi, Ukraine.
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The article presents the results of a cross-cultural study of the speech act of complimenting, comparing many aspects of Ukrainian and American English compliments to find similarities and differences in: compliment form, role relationship of the participants, gender of the giver and receiver of the compliment, compliment frequency and attributes praised. This study describes syntactic patterns or formulas that could be used to define the structure of the compliments. It shows particular characteristic that could distinguish some compliments from others, explain and understand some factors of meaning toward the compliments.
The results in this study yield important implications to use compliments across the Ukrainian and American cultures. The information provided informs cultural patterns that will help avoid pragmatic failure and has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians and for teaching Russian and Ukrainian to speakers of English. Knowing how to use speech acts, allows the speaker to have communicative and pragmatic competences.
communication for linguists. It concerns the study of linguistic interaction
between people and it analyzes conversation and the speech acts (Wierbicka, 1991). To acquire pragmatic competence, speakers must also have a good command of speech acts. Searle (1969) considers that “a speech act is the basic or minimal unit of linguistic communication” (p.16). Speech acts are very important because they let people express in universal ways and with appropriate knowledge; therefore, knowing how to use speech acts, allows the speaker to have “communicative competence”. For the purpose of the present study, the uses of
compliment expressions have been analyzed. Manes (1983) defines compliments as those speech acts which have the reflection and expression of cultural values because of their nature as judgments, over expressions of approval or admiration of another’s work, appearance or taste. The objective of compliment expressions is to establish or to reinforce solidarity. Many of the values reflected through compliments are personal appearance, new acquisitions, possessions, talents and
skills.
A second notion this paper addresses, is the idea of interlanguage.
“Interlanguage, or learner language, is the type of language produced by second language learners who are in the process of learning a language. In this process, learners’ errors are caused by such phenomena as borrowing patterns from the mother tongue, extending patterns from the target language, and expressing meanings using the vocabulary and syntax which are already known” (Richards, Platt, & Platt, 1992).
This process where English language learners make errors in their
interlanguage by borrowing patterns from their mother tongue is referred to as “negative transfer” or “interference” by a number of researchers (James, 1980; Nobel, 1982; Swan & Smith, 1987; Brown, 2001; Parker & Riley, 1994; Horwitz, 2008). Interlanguage is this study was the main motive to conduct the study. Thus, we analyzed how semi-fluent to fluent Ukrainian speakers of English produced compliments as a speech act, and then compared the results to the linguistic patterns of the same speech act to those used by native speakers of English in the US. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the interlanguage used by the Ukrainian participants and what factors affected or shaped such processes.
In the present study, participants were interviewed via a survey to collect
the following variables: compliment form, tone used, compliment frequency, relationship between users, gender relationship, speakers’ age, and attributes praised. Participants consisted of native speakers of English (control group) from the United States and native speakers of Russian and Ukrainian from all over Ukraine.
Approximately 300 compliments were collected in English from the
Ukrainian participants and 250 compliments were collected from the American Participants. The results in this study yields important implications to inform cultural patterns to help avoid pragmatic failure and has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians.
In the present study, participants were interviewed via a survey to collect the following variables: compliment form, tone used, compliment frequency, relationship between users, gender relationship, speakers’ age, and attributes praised. Participants consisted of native speakers of English (control group) from the United States and native speakers of Russian and Ukrainian from all over Ukraine.
Approximately 300 compliments were collected in English from the Ukrainian participants and 250 compliments were collected from the American Participants. The results in this study yields important implications to inform cultural patterns to help avoid pragmatic failure and has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians.
The article presents the results of a cross-cultural study of the speech act of complimenting, comparing many aspects of Ukrainian and American English compliments to find similarities and differences in: compliment form, role relationship of the participants, gender of the giver and receiver of the compliment, compliment frequency and attributes praised. This study describes syntactic patterns or formulas that could be used to define the structure of the compliments. It shows particular characteristic that could distinguish some compliments from others, explain and understand some factors of meaning toward the compliments.
The results in this study yield important implications to use compliments across the Ukrainian and American cultures. The information provided informs cultural patterns that will help avoid pragmatic failure and has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians and for teaching Russian and Ukrainian to speakers of English. Knowing how to use speech acts, allows the speaker to have communicative and pragmatic competences.
communication for linguists. It concerns the study of linguistic interaction
between people and it analyzes conversation and the speech acts (Wierbicka, 1991). To acquire pragmatic competence, speakers must also have a good command of speech acts. Searle (1969) considers that “a speech act is the basic or minimal unit of linguistic communication” (p.16). Speech acts are very important because they let people express in universal ways and with appropriate knowledge; therefore, knowing how to use speech acts, allows the speaker to have “communicative competence”. For the purpose of the present study, the uses of
compliment expressions have been analyzed. Manes (1983) defines compliments as those speech acts which have the reflection and expression of cultural values because of their nature as judgments, over expressions of approval or admiration of another’s work, appearance or taste. The objective of compliment expressions is to establish or to reinforce solidarity. Many of the values reflected through compliments are personal appearance, new acquisitions, possessions, talents and
skills.
A second notion this paper addresses, is the idea of interlanguage.
“Interlanguage, or learner language, is the type of language produced by second language learners who are in the process of learning a language. In this process, learners’ errors are caused by such phenomena as borrowing patterns from the mother tongue, extending patterns from the target language, and expressing meanings using the vocabulary and syntax which are already known” (Richards, Platt, & Platt, 1992).
This process where English language learners make errors in their
interlanguage by borrowing patterns from their mother tongue is referred to as “negative transfer” or “interference” by a number of researchers (James, 1980; Nobel, 1982; Swan & Smith, 1987; Brown, 2001; Parker & Riley, 1994; Horwitz, 2008). Interlanguage is this study was the main motive to conduct the study. Thus, we analyzed how semi-fluent to fluent Ukrainian speakers of English produced compliments as a speech act, and then compared the results to the linguistic patterns of the same speech act to those used by native speakers of English in the US. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the interlanguage used by the Ukrainian participants and what factors affected or shaped such processes.
In the present study, participants were interviewed via a survey to collect
the following variables: compliment form, tone used, compliment frequency, relationship between users, gender relationship, speakers’ age, and attributes praised. Participants consisted of native speakers of English (control group) from the United States and native speakers of Russian and Ukrainian from all over Ukraine.
Approximately 300 compliments were collected in English from the
Ukrainian participants and 250 compliments were collected from the American Participants. The results in this study yields important implications to inform cultural patterns to help avoid pragmatic failure and has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians.
In the present study, participants were interviewed via a survey to collect the following variables: compliment form, tone used, compliment frequency, relationship between users, gender relationship, speakers’ age, and attributes praised. Participants consisted of native speakers of English (control group) from the United States and native speakers of Russian and Ukrainian from all over Ukraine.
Approximately 300 compliments were collected in English from the Ukrainian participants and 250 compliments were collected from the American Participants. The results in this study yields important implications to inform cultural patterns to help avoid pragmatic failure and has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians.
In addition, we explore language and aspects as they relate to the Cossacks and their culture. The Cossacks: were members several autonomous communities from various ethnic and linguistic groups (such as Slavs, Tatars, and Circassians) that formed in Ukraine, southern Russia, the Caucasus Mountains, and Siberia after about 1400 and that were completely incorporated into czarist Russia during the 18th and 19th centuries (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). We highlight their opinions and witness an enactment of some of their stunts in the region of Khortitsa. They explain what has been their culture, what is happening right now and what could be the future for this underrepresented group which is paramount of the Ukrainian culture.
a) the relationship between Russian and Ukrainian languages
b) the impact of English in Ukrainian society
c) the phenomenon of Surzhyk in Ukrainian society
d) the notion of diglossia or transglossia in Ukraine
e) the phenomenon and importance of bilingualism and multilingualism in Ukraine
f) the current state of language use in the conflict war areas in the East of Ukraine
g) the current spread and development of Ukrainian language in Ukraine
The ancient Greek city of Olvia was populated when around 650 BC, settlers from Milet and different Ionian cities established themselves along the estuary of the Bug river now in modern south Ukraine. Then it became a metropolis on its peak around the 5th to the 3rd century BC.
It was attacked by the armies of Alexander the Great and then by the Getae around 331 BC. Then, it was rebuilt around the first century AD. At that time it came to be under control of the Roman Empire and started declining up around the 4th century AD after the Romans left. Finally the Turks came and destroyed the city. Still, the city is mentioned in the historical accounts by Herodotus, who is believed to have visited the city. Other ancient authors such as Strabo, Ptolemy, Polybius, Diodrus Siculus, and Pliny the Elder, mention Olvia in their descriptions of the Northern Black Sea.
We go on a tour on the main parts of Olvia with explanations in Ukrainian and English from an expert in this topic. The documentary is narrated bilingually in both Ukrainian and English for these two linguistic audiences.