Main Editions
Culture Rejected as an Individual Difference in the SLA Process: Not significant, separate and appropriate, overall -nor for Northeast Asia
The question for examination is whether culture needs to be considered as a significant and/or separate individual difference factor in SLA (second language acquisition) process theory and teaching against the more traditionally considered ones such as anxiety, aptitude attitude, and personality (Gardner and Lambert.1959; Gardner, Smythe and Clement 1979; Schumman, 1986; Mangubhai, 2002).
Teaching English Pronunciation Skills to the Asian Learner. A Cultural Complexity or Subsumed Piece of Cake?
For the last two decades academics and publishers have propounded theories on pronunciation acquisition and on pronunciation training. For the greater part, they have paid lip service to the critical issue underlying both the aforementioned, namely the culture behind the target of the pronunciation theory.
Subliminal Sexism in Current ESL/EFL Textbooks
This study was an attempt to explore the status of sexism in current ESL/EFL textbooks. To this end, two types of analysis were performed to examine the manifestation(s) of sexist attitudes and values in two textbooks (Right Path to English I & II) that are locally designed to cater for and respond to the English language needs of Iranian students at secondary schools.
The Viability of Computer Mediated Communication in the Korean Secondary EFL Classroom
Korean secondary EFL classrooms have suffered severely from limited opportunities for authentic language interaction, which Integrationists claim is necessary for language acquisition. The literature and previous research suggest that Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) can provide many of the alleged benefits ascribed to the Interaction Hypothesis.
ASSESSING JAPAN’S INSTITUTIONAL ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS
Entrance into institutions of tertiary education in Japan has been described as a hierarchical system of ‘exam hell’ by more than one critic (see, e.g., Cutts 1997; Yoneyama 1999). Families invest enormous resources, both in time and money, to cram for the tests. In some cases, if initially unsuccessful at entering the college of choice, students even devote a year (or more!) after high school to further prepare to sit the exam yet again.
Enhancing Value Perception in the Japanese EFL Classroom
Raffini (1996) has proposed five psychoacademic needs (autonomy, competence, self-esteem, belonging/relatedness, and fun and enjoyment) the satisfaction of which “fuels” intrinsic motivation in an educational setting.
Intercultural Communication & Grice’s Principle
Grice’s theory of implicature has been considered ethnocentric, but this paper will argue that it is highly relevant to intercultural analysis. The Principle of Cooperation, and its subordinate maxims, focus on the rationality of discourse, but Grice also includes linguistic and nonlinguistic context, conventional meaning and “other items of background knowledge” in the inferential process.
ASSESSING DICTIONARIES IN ASIAN EFL USAGE
The primary subject of this work is the dictionary entitled, “Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition” hereafter referred to simply as Merriam’s. Further reference by way of a comparison, which is essential to evaluate carefully the primary work, will be made to the “Longman English-English-Korean Dictionary,” hereafter referred to as Longman’s, and the “Collin’s Concise Dictionary,” hereinafter referred to as Collin’s.
Dictionaries Usage in EFL and Learner Development
Sinclair’s new style of presenting lexicographical information is by offering examples from actual texts as well as omitting rules or ideas about words that are shown to be in error. A simple exercise using the COBUILD dictionary in class, as described by Boyce (in Nation 1994: 191) is only one step in familiarizing learners …
English Only (EO) In The Classroom: Time For a Reality Check?
That the EO question, at times, has been framed in “all or nothing” views, has appeared to take away from a common sense approach. There may be a more middle ground area, at least as a point of departure towards meeting the requirements of the English language teaching curriculum.
