Academic literature on the topic 'LX English'

This article focuses on individual differences in emotion recognition ability among 356 first language (L1) and 564 foreign language (LX) users of English. Recognizing emotions can be particularly challenging in LX contexts. Depending on their linguistic profile, individuals may interpret input very differently, and LX learners and users have been found to perform significantly worse than native control groups (Rintell 1984) in tests of emotion recognition ability. In the present article, we investigate the effect of three independent variables, namely, L1 versus LX status, proficiency in English, and cultural background, on emotion recognition ability. We used an online survey in which participants had to identify the emotion portrayed by a native English-speaking actress in six audiovisual clips. Despite LX users having lower proficiency scores, English L1 users and LX users’ emotion recognition ability scores were broadly similar. A significant positive relationship was found between LX proficiency and emotion recognition ability. A similar but only marginally significant relationship emerged among L1 users. A significant effect of L1 culture was found on emotion recognition ability scores, with Asian LX users scoring significantly lower than European LX users. It thus seems that audiovisual input allows advanced LX users to recognize emotions in LX as well as L1 users. That said, LX proficiency and L1 culture do have an effect on emotion recognition ability.

Abstract“Cunt” is currently one of the most offensive words in the English language and is usually censored in the English press and media. The present study looks firstly at differences between 1159 first (L1) and 1165 foreign (LX) users of English in their perceived understanding of the word, its perceived offensiveness and their self-reported frequency of use. Secondly, it considers the relationships between the dependent variables and a number of psychological, sociobiographical and linguistic profile variables. The findings suggest that LX users are less sure about the exact meaning of the word, underestimate its offensiveness and use it less frequently than L1 users. Links between understanding of the word and its perceived offensiveness vary for L1 and LX users. High levels of Extraversion, Neuroticism and Psychoticism were linked to more frequent use of the word, as were lower levels of education, a younger age, being a male and working in a swearing-rich environment for both L1 and LX users. Variation in the group of LX users was linked to age of onset of acquisition of English, context of acquisition, self-reported oral proficiency, frequency of use of English and having lived in an English-speaking environment.

AbstractThis paper considers individual differences in the Emotion Recognition Ability (ERA) of 1368 participants in different modalities. The sample consisted of 557 first language (L1) and 881 foreign language (LX) users of English from all over the world. This study investigates four independent variables, namely modality of communication, language status (L1 versus LX), proficiency, and cultural background. The dependent variable is a score reflecting ERA. Participants were asked to identify an emotion (happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise and disgust) portrayed by a native English-speaking actress in six short recordings – either audiovisual or audio-only – embedded in an online questionnaire. English proficiency was measured through a lexical recognition test. Statistical analyses revealed that participants were better able to recognise emotions when visual cues are available. Overall, there was no difference between L1 and LX users’ ERA. However, L1 users outperformed LX users when visual cues were not available, which suggest that LX users are able to reach L1-like ERA when they can rely on a sufficient amount of cues. Participants with higher proficiency scores had significantly higher ERA scores, particularly in the audio-only condition. Asian LX users were found to score significantly lower than other LX users.

This article reports on an interview study with six secondary school LX English teachers working in a part of Austria where there is an above-average number of residents–and thus also students–who are multilingual and come from migration backgrounds. It attempts to extend research on deficit perspectives of multilingual learners from migration backgrounds to the area of LX English learning and to provide insights into a language learning context that is underrepresented in international applied linguistics research, which has tended to focus on elite language learning. The article explores teachers’ perceptions of teaching English in this context. We hypothesized that teachers would hold negative beliefs about their students’ multilingual backgrounds and practices. The typological analysis of teachers’ interview data revealed that teachers did hold some dominant deficit perspectives about their students’ multilingualism and language learning; however, it also suggests that teachers are taking on the rudiments of a translanguaging stance that values multilingual practice. The article thus closes by considering how possibility perspectives can be harnessed and extended to foster students’ multilingual and multicultural development, with particular regard to LX English language learning.

Abstract Multilinguals often report having different perceptions of themselves when switching languages, typically indicating their first language (L1) as the one in which they feel more authentic and describing a sense of detachment when using any foreign language (LX). This phenomenon amplifies in migration contexts, where the LX is the language of the host society. The present study approaches the topic in a holistic way, by interconnecting the L1 and LX dimensions and investigating their joint influence on migrants’ self-perceptions. Data from 468 Italian migrants living in English-speaking countries, supported by 5 in-depth interviews, revealed that the maintenance of an emotional and cognitive bond with the L1 anticipated stronger perceptions of self-change when speaking the LX. Conversely, higher levels of dominance in the LX and its use in social interactions predicted milder feelings of difference. Participants described their identity shifting as a reflexive sociolinguistic practice in response to their emotional and cognitive needs.

When COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, the education sector soon faced the unprecedented challenge of moving courses online within no time. The rapid implementation of emergency remote teaching (ERT) led to students and teachers alike being thrown into an emotional terra incognita. This paper sets out to explore if foreign language (LX) grit, learners’ passion and perseverance for LX learning, is a predictor of learners’ foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and their foreign language anxiety (FLCA) in LX classes taught remotely due to COVID-19. Additionally, the role of trait emotional intelligence (TEI) in mediating the connections between LX grit, FLE, and FLCA is investigated. With a web survey, data were collected from 481 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in Europe. Regression analyses indicated that LX grit was a reliable predictor of FLE and TEI. TEI functioned as a partial mediator in the model, explaining a significant proportion of variance (14.3%) in FLE scores. Thus, grittier students, who were also more emotionally intelligent, reported enjoying their English classes more. LX grit was also shown to be a reliable predictor of FLCA. In this case, TEI functioned as a full mediator in the model, explaining 22.5% of the variance in FCLA scores. Therefore, lower TEI scores were linked to higher levels of FLCA. Less gritty EFL learners scored lower on TEI, which consequently determined higher levels of FLCA. Data from two open-ended questions revealed that particularly enjoyable or anxiety-provoking episodes during ERT were similar among all learners. While positive group dynamics, teachers’ forgiving nature and easy-going disposition, humor as well as the innovative use of technology were mentioned as common factors boosting their FLE, speaking in front of strangers, overwhelming workload and technology-related aspects were frequently mentioned sources of anxiety.

Abstract The first language (L1) is generally considered by multilinguals as the one in which they feel more ‘themselves’ in emotional circumstances. Affective socialization in a foreign language (LX) can help speakers develop a similar level of authenticity when using that language. This study is conducted on a sample of 468 migrants living in Anglophone countries who are L1 speakers of Italian and LX speakers of English, the language of the host society. The objective is to verify if the frequency of use for expressing emotions and the perceived emotional resonance of both languages can predict changes in migrants’ self-perceptions when discussing emotional topics in the LX. Survey data revealed that the emotional resonance of the L1 was the only factor increasing participants’ sense of feeling different when using the LX in emotional conversations. Narratives from 5 interviews and 303 answers to an open-ended survey question suggested that these self- perceptions varied extensively according to the intensity and type of emotion expressed.

As in many other social sciences, second/additional language (Lx) researchers are often interested in generalizing their findings beyond the samples they collect data from. However, very little is known about the range of learner backgrounds and settings found in Lx research. Moreover, the few papers that have addressed the range of settings and demographics sampled in Lx research paint a disappointing picture). The current study examines the extent to which concerns expressed over this issue are merited and worthy of further attention. Toward that end, sample-related features such as L1, Lx/target language, age, proficiency, and educational setting (or lack thereof) were extracted from a sample of 308 systematic reviews of Lx research. The data from this “meta-synthetic” sample are then used to estimate the extent to which Lx research has sampled—and might or might not be able to generalize to—different populations and contexts including those pertinent to migrant populations, the focus of this special issue. The results reveal an incredibly disproportionate interest in participants with English as a first or target language and as well as university students in a narrow range of countries. The findings are used to call out the applied linguistics community on this gross oversight while also seeking to inform future research and contribute to the ongoing methodological reform movement in applied linguistics.

In this paper, we consider the censorship of public swear word usage as a function of, and continued maintenance of, taboo with a focus on L1 and LX swearing and its management. In research with multilingual speakers, first-language swear words are consistently perceived as more taboo, and thus more emotional/powerful than equivalent words from a second or third language. While the public use of English-language swear words may be subject to censorship in Anglophone contexts, it is not censored to the same extent in LX contexts. On the other hand, L1 swear words are censored. Such perceptions of differences in strength between one’s L1 and LX languages also seem to affect the work of language professionals: translators’ tendency to self-censor may at least in part be explained by this bias. The existence of a two-tier system of swearing and censorship serves to reinvigorate L1 swear words, while diminishing the power of English swear words. We thus examine how censorship works as a means of maintaining and/or attenuating taboo, potentially moderating the power of swearing itself in cross-linguistic and multilingual contexts.

Aims and Objectives: The primary aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between visual–vocal–verbal emotion recognition ability (ERA) and multilingualism – that is, both bilingual first language (L1) acquisition and the level of multilingualism operationalised as the number of languages one can speak. Besides these two factors, we also consider nativeness and proficiency as possible predictors of ERA. Methodology: One-thousand-two-hundred-and-twenty participants completed a survey online consisting of a sociobiographical background questionnaire, an English lexical test and an emotion recognition test including six stimuli. For each of the six audiovisual recordings, participants had to indicate which emotion they thought the L1 English speaker was conveying – happiness, sadness, anger, (positive) surprise, fear, disgust or no/neutral emotion. Data and Analysis: An individual ERA score was calculated for each participant. Correlations between ERA and the different variables were computed – including interactions – and significant correlations were fed into a linear regression model. Findings: The number of spoken languages was unrelated to ERA in our sample. The data revealed an interaction between BFLA and nativeness: bi/multilingually raised English second or foreign language (LX) users outperformed monolingually raised LX users, but bi/multilingually raised L1 users of English scored lower than monolingually raised L1 users. Proficiency was significantly related to ERA. Originality: This study points to a bilingual advantage in emotion recognition in English for participants with specific linguistic profiles. Participants who grew up with two languages from birth had an advantage if it did not include English. The advantage seemed to be cancelled out among bi/multilingually raised English L1 users, possibly due to interferences from their other L1(s) or L1 culture(s). Significance: This study contributes to the scarce literature on bilingual advantage in the affective domain and offers a nuanced view on bilingualism and ERA.

La majorité des études portant sur la motivation à apprendre une langue seconde/étrangère (LX) (Dewaele, 2017) se concentrent sur la manière dont la motivation se développe en fonction des caractéristiques individuelles et des facteurs contextuels plutôt. Mais ces études prennent rarement en considération l'impact des pratiques pédagogiques sur la motivation des élèves (Ushioda, 2016). L'objectif de notre recherche doctorale est donc d'examiner l'influence des stratégies éducatives sur la motivation à apprendre l'anglais LX chez les élèves de collège (âgés de 11 à14 ans). Pour atteindre cet objectif, nous avons procédé à une étude comparative des pratiques pédagogiques dans trois contextes distincts : la France, la Finlande et le Nouveau-Brunswick (N.B.), Canada. Chacun de ces terrains d’enquête est caractérisé par des stratégies d'enseignement distinctes, qui impactent la motivation des apprenants de diverses manières. Dans cette étude, les analyses quantitatives révèlent que les collégiens (N = 473) de Finlande étaient les plus motivés pour apprendre l'anglais LX, suivis par les collégiens du N.B., puis par les collégiens de France – sachant qu’aucune différence statistiquement significative n'a été trouvée qu'entre la Finlande et la France. En ce qui concerne les analyses qualitatives, les enseignants d'anglais LX (N = 13) ont participé à des entretiens semi-directifs : l’objectif était de mieux comprendre les pratiques pédagogiques dans lesquelles ils s’inscrivaient. Des thèmes spécifiques ont émergé de ces entretiens. Chez les professeurs français, on a pu relever des éléments liés à la pédagogie imposée et à la recherche de leur propre matériel d'apprentissage en ligne. En Finlande, les thèmes récurrents qui revenaient chez les enseignants interrogés concernaient la liberté pédagogique, l'utilisation de matériel d'apprentissage et l'utilisation de manuels. Au N.B., les thèmes communs concernaient également la liberté pédagogique, mais les enseignants ont souligné le manque de formation à l'anglais LX, de matériel d'apprentissage fourni et de programme d'études efficace, autant d’obstacles à leurs stratégies d'enseignement. En utilisant un modèle parallèle convergent, les résultats suggèrent que la motivation des collégiens est favorisée par la liberté pédagogique, l'accent mis sur la communication plutôt que sur la correction, les programmes d'échange, l'intelligence émotionnelle des enseignants et le fait qu’ils puissent disposer d’activités prêtes à l'emploi qui ciblent avec précision et adéquation, les besoins et les intérêts des collégiens. Ces résultats montrent que les stratégies d'enseignement ont un impact sur la motivation des collégiens à apprendre une langue étrangère et que, lorsqu'elles sont choisies à bon escient, elles peuvent avoir plus d'influence que les contextes socioculturels extérieurs à la salle de classe
The majority of studies investigating motivation to learn a second/foreign language (LX) (Dewaele, 2017) concentrate on the way in which motivation develops in function of individual characteristics, and environmental factors, but rarely take into consideration the impact of teaching practices on student motivation (Ushioda, 2016). The objective of this study is therefore to examine the influence of educational strategies on motivation to learn LX English amongst middle-school pupils (ages 11 to 14). To achieve this objective, teaching practices in three distinct contexts will be examined in this mixed-methods comparative study: France, Finland, and New Brunswick (N.B.), Canada. Each region has different teaching philosophies that likely affect student motivation in a variety of ways. In this mixed-methods comparative study, quantitative analyses reveal that students (N = 473) in Finland were the most motivated to learn LX English, followed by students in N.B., and then students in France, however a statistically significant difference was only found between Finland and France. With regards to quantitative analyses, LX English educators (N = 13) took part in semi-structured interviews to gain insight into their teaching practices. Common themes amongst educators in France included elements related to imposed pedagogy and finding their own learning materials online. In Finland, recurring themes related to pedagogical freedom, the use of online learning materials, and the use of course textbooks, which are written by practicing LX English educators. In N.B., common themes related to also having pedagogical freedom, but a lack of LX English training, provided learning materials, and an effective curriculum were highlighted as inhibiting their teaching practices. Using a convergent parallel design, the results suggest that pedagogical freedom, emphasizing communication over correctness, student exchange programs, emotional intelligence in teachers, and providing teachers with ready-made activities that accurately target and represent student needs and interest foster student motivation. The implication of these results is that teaching strategies impact student motivation to learn an LX and when chosen correctly, may be more influential than sociocultural contexts outside the classroom

Abstract Agnew, Jean (ed.) The Drennan-McTier letters 1776-1793, volume 1, general editor Maria Luddy. (Dublin: Women’s History Project in association with the Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1998), lx, 612p. Johnson, Barry Cornish. Baronet in an earth lodge: the life of Sir St George Gore and his ‘singular adventures’ in the great West. (London: English Westerners’ Society, 1997), viii, 96p. McCabe, Ian. ‘Leaving the Commonwealth’, History Ireland 6:4 (1998), 5-7.