Vol. 1 (1) 2014 by JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION UPM
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION, 2014
This study investigated the effect of message source labeling (US politician versus Al-Qaeda lead... more This study investigated the effect of message source labeling (US politician versus Al-Qaeda leader) on citizens' perception of their own values in comparison to their perception of values held by the message source. An experiment conducted on 145 participants found that citizens perceived the values of the political figure as more similar to their own when the political figure was labeled " US politician " instead of " Al-Qaeda leader ". However, when presented with a statement with no source labels, participants perceived the values of the US politician and the Al-Qaeda leader to be similar to one another.
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION, 2014
The paper explored how in feminism, the sexes will co-exist to determine mutuality in the overhea... more The paper explored how in feminism, the sexes will co-exist to determine mutuality in the overheated sexual polity. Series of sexual rift between the sexes have been the attention of extensive debate; and the debate still rages on as to whether taking series of the imagined aspects of feminism would still widely be viewed as working outside, or in this instance against feminism. With the emergence of recoded feminism (Nego-feminism), there is a significant shift from other previously coded feminisms because there are observable defective dichotomies. Based on the findings, therefore, the authors recommend that in sanitising the sexist world, it is important for both sexes to bury their egos and simply, in a round table discussion, negotiate their mutual existence. The authors synthesised that as an answer to all sexual challenges, if concerted efforts are not made by feminists, critics, and teachers of literature towards Nego-feminism, the world may continue to be beclouded by visions of disharmony between the sexes.
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION, 2014
Collaborative writing involves group members engaging directly with one another to complete a tas... more Collaborative writing involves group members engaging directly with one another to complete a task. The quality of learning from members is closely associated with the nature of the collaboration and the interactions that take place. This paper examines the dynamics of three groups of tertiary ESL learners as they collaborated on three expository essays. Data were collected from nine audio-recordings of group discussions and four semi-structured interviews. The three cases unveiled very different dynamics due to group connection, individual traits, level of engagement, and degree of control. Social, affective and cognitive processes affected the direction and the quality of collaboration. With an understanding of the group dynamics that ensues during collaboration, practitioners will be better prepared when incorporating collaboration in their writing class.
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION, 2014
This study concerns the perception of proficiency in English as a foreign language among employee... more This study concerns the perception of proficiency in English as a foreign language among employees in the Beijing 798 art zone plus visitors' perception of services received and staff professionalism. The aim of the study is to establish the extent of the mismatch between the perceptions of both gallery employees and foreign visitors and of the role this plays in the overall visitor experience. Data collection comprised of a bespoke questionnaire with additional open ended questions. All questionnaires were distributed to both employees and visitors in August 2013. Based on the responses received from 100 respondents, the results showed significant misinterpretation that resulted from ineffective communication. Most visitors experienced a number of issues and faced difficulties in obtaining appropriate feedback from gallery staff. These communication problems, (relating to language barriers, either in English among local staff, or in Mandarin among overseas visitors), have lead to misunderstandings and ultimately to lower appraisals of the art works exhibited. The study offers suggestion for improvement, e.g. through the more efficient teaching of English for specific purposes, i.e. tourism, volunteering as mandatory industry training for foreign language students from nearby colleges or universities, and the extension of general information boards and signs within the art district itself. The study is limited in the number of participants (n=100) and should, therefore be repeated for higher objectivity with more participants (n>1000).
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION, 2014
For years, word sequences which tend to co-occur have been studied under different terms, such as... more For years, word sequences which tend to co-occur have been studied under different terms, such as phraseology, chunks, n-grams and lexical bundles. Lexical bundles in the main are referred to as extended collocations which are used more frequently that we expect by chance. They are building blocks of discourse which have three main functions. Among them, stance expressions appear to be frequently used in academic discourse to reflect the speaker or writers' attitudes towards different propositions. With this idea in mind, the present study aims to portray the use of stance expressions in academic lectures to find out the discourse functions that the stance bundles serve. To this aim, the most frequent stance expressions in six English lectures taken from the British Academic Spoken English (BASE) corpus were studied and analyzed in order to see to what extent stance expressions are used and how English lecturers use them. Results revealed that lecturers deployed 62 different word combinations to carry out stance functions. Among the functions, attitudinal/modality stance bundles were found to be more used – about twice as many as the epistemic stance bundles which was next in the hierarchy. Most of the stance expressions found in the corpus of the study were of personal rather than impersonal. The study of stance expressions in lectures delivered in English could provide insights into the significance of lexical bundles as building blocks of academic discourse in the context of their communicative functions. INTRODUCTION There has always been an interest in finding out the underlying meaning of what people say. Sometimes people do not mean what they say or they may use certain markers to indirectly convey a message that cannot be overtly expressed. Most of these markers are in the form of a variety of lexical phrases which are frequently used in everyday conversations. These expressions, also known as formulaic word units, are considered as a main source of fluency and cohesion in speech or writing, and help to shape meaning in specific contexts (Hyland, 2008).Understanding the way that academic articles or speeches are organized is of a great value for researchers particularly those that are concerned with English for Academic Purposes (EAP), based on the fact that spoken discourse has not received that much attention in research. In order to appreciate the text organization of academic articles or speeches, research could be done by carrying out analyses of the most frequently used multi-word combinations in the language used in academic
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION, 2014
The present study examines selected speeches of a non-Western leading politician as an attempt to... more The present study examines selected speeches of a non-Western leading politician as an attempt to widen the scope of rhetorical studies from different cultures and to address the lack of studies from non-Western societies. The study conducts a rhetorical analysis of selected speeches of Mahathir Mohamad (the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia) to identify and interpret his language use as a means to persuade his audience to accept or follow a specific course of action. This study explores logos, ethos, and pathos as a means of persuasion demonstrating how they are utilized by Mahathir Mohamad to influence his audience. The findings revealed that logical, ethical and emotional proofs were used for this purpose. Together logos and pathos projected Mahathir's ethos, that is, his credibility as a person, as a persuasive mean. Supportive rhetorical techniques such as examples, parallelisms, rhetorical questions and metaphors were used to enhance Mahathir's argument and to add clarity and conciseness to the argument. INTRODUCTION The study of rhetoric and persuasion should be encouraged because our society can profit from a general awareness of persuasion as a mode of social change and influence. Lessl (2005) emphasizes the importance of rhetoric because the study of rhetoric helps us to understand the processes of communication which underpin making decisions. He adds that understanding the rhetoric of a society tells us about its culture, beliefs, ideas, and assumptions. The recent period has witnessed an interest among researchers to understand the nature of rhetoric and the application of rhetorical techniques in persuasion. However, the study of rhetoric does not cover all societies; it still focuses on the West today. This focus of rhetorical studies on the West has created a lack of knowledge about the rhetorical techniques and the ways of argumentation in non-Western communities. This study is a modest attempt to address the lack of rhetorical studies from the non-Western societies. It is designed to examine how language is utilized by a prominent non-Western orator as a means of
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION, 2014
The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of using pragmatic consciousness-raisi... more The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of using pragmatic consciousness-raising activities on EFL learners' metapragmatic awareness of the speech act of suggesting. Fifty-two Iranian EFL learners in two intact classes were randomly assigned into an experimental group (n=27) and a control group (n=25). A Metapragmatic Awareness Test (MAT) was administered to both groups before the treatment as a pretest, which showed no significant difference between the two groups' awareness levels.Then, the experimental group received a pragmatic consciousness-raising treatment for eight weeks. After the treatment, first an immediate posttest and then, after eight weeks, a delayed MAT posttest were administered to the participants in both groups to determine the effect of the treatment. The t-test analysis of the delayed posttest mean scores of the experimental and control groups showed a significant difference, indicating the effectiveness of the treatment on the experimental group's metapragmatic awareness. Additionally, the results of repeated measures of ANOVA showed that the treatment enhanced the experimental group's awareness in the immediate posttest as well as the delayed posttest, confirming the durability of the effect of the consciousness-raising treatment on these EFL learners' metapragmatic awareness. The results showed that pragmatic consciousness-raising activities improved EFL learners' immediate and delayed metapragmatic awareness significantly, thus they can be taken into consideration more seriously in L2 teaching, teacher training and material development. INTRODUCTION The role of conscious learning as opposed to unconscious learning has been a controversial issue among second language acquisition theorists and researchers. Some theorists such as Chomsky (1965) and Krashen (1982) have stressed the significance of unconscious learning of a target language; however, conscious learning has gained favour among a greater number of
JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION, 2014
The purpose of this study is to investigate Malaysian undergraduates' perception of plagiarism an... more The purpose of this study is to investigate Malaysian undergraduates' perception of plagiarism and university policies on plagiarism detection and prevention. The study also aims to identify the factors contributing to students' plagiarism. Data were collected through a questionnaire distributed among undergraduates of different disciplines at a local public university. Results indicated that the students had quite good knowledge about the concept of plagiarism, its various forms, and university plagiarism policies. Most of the students mentioned the ease of copying and pasting from the Internet sources and getting a higher score as contributing factors to commit plagiarism. The study offers a significant contribution in the area of plagiarism prevention. Although students have generally good knowledge of plagiarism, the results of the study may provide further evidence that students' knowledge of plagiarism need to be improved, and lecturers need to understand the causes of students' plagiarism. The study suggests that educators need to provide more information on plagiarism, referencing rules and paraphrasing in academic writing to reduce students' plagiarism.
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Vol. 1 (1) 2014 by JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION UPM