Corpus linguistics and the study of English grammar

This paper describes how corpus-based analyses can be employed for the study of English grammar, with a focus on case studies taken from the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English (LGSWE). Two major themes are developed: 1) the kinds of unexpected findings about language use that result from corpus-based investigations, and 2) the importance of register for any descriptive account of linguistic variation. Three case studies are presented: one focusing on the use of words (i.e., the most common verbs in English); the second focusing on the use and distribution of grammatical forms (i.e., the relative frequency of simple, progressive, and perfect aspect in English); and the third describing how lexis and grammatical structure can interact in complex ways (i.e., showing how verbs with the same valency patterns can have strikingly different preferences for particular valencies). In all three cases, the paper argues for the centrality of a register perspective, showing how the patterns of use vary dramatically from one register to another

Causes of reticence in EFL classrooms: A study of Chinese University students

This paper reports the findings of a studys of students’ reticence in Chinese EFL context. The participants were three teachers and 100 university freshmen from three proficiency levels enrolled in an English Listening & Speaking course. Using journals, observations and interviews as a technique of collecting data, the study revealed that (1) the majority of the participants were active during pair work but only a few volunteered to respond to their teachers or actively engaged in group discussions, (2) advanced-level students tended to be more active than their lower-level counterparts, and multiple variables worked together to result in student reticence in EFL classrooms. The results indicate that more research needs to be done to help students become more active and proficient EFL learners

Competency-based language instruction in speaking classes: its theory and implementation in Indonesian contexts

The competency-based curriculum as endorsed by the Department of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia has recently been implemented nationwide from elementary to high schools in the country. It is claimed that by improving syllabi, materials, and activities or by putting a more emphasis on learners’ autonomy, more effective language learning will take place. However, such an approach may also be counter-productive as it emphasizes the outputs more than the inputs. Another problem may arise as learners’ language performance may also entail teaching preparations in that teachers are obliged not only to be knowledgeable of the topics discussed, but also to be skillful and creative in preparing the materials. The implementation of this approach then becomes more complicated, especially when related to the learners’ culture. The features of this language instruction seem to be contradictory to Indonesians’ cultural values and beliefs which are reflected in the forms of total obedience, the unquestioning mind, the concept of the old know all, and the teachers can do no wrong. Due to the above barriers, this study intends to explore and evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of this instruction in speaking classes in Indonesian contexts. It will specifically attempt to assess the extent to which closed and open tasks can affectively be accomplished and with what degree of success the students acquire natural language use

Instructing language learning strategies to promote autonomous learning

The paper discusses the effects of language learning strategy instruction on the improvement of the four language skills at tertiary education level. The focus of the discussion reflects two main points. The first relates to the effect of instruction in the use of language learning strategies prior to undertaking autonomous language learning in a self-access center on the improvement of the four language skills, and the second relates to the language learning strategies used in the self-access center where autonomous language learning takes place. The paper argues that language learning strategies instruction promotes autonomous language learning mode and contributes to the improvement of both the productive and the receptive skills. It is also evident that there are some other language learning strategies used during the autonomous learning in the self-access center other than those identified and used in foreign language learning. Practical application of autonomous learning mode in the self-access center in relation to the teaching of English to non-language departments at tertiary education level is also suggested

Joint maximum likelihood estimates on items-examinees using the prox method: A study on the reading subtest of TOEFL

Item response theory (IRT) emerges as an accurate solution to the weaknesses of the classical test theory (CTT). IRT provides more advantages than CTT does. The advantages include the requirements of unidimension for items, local independence between examinees and items, and examinee-item parameter invariance. The requirements are needed in test construction. TOEFL is so far known as the test which meets the requirements in language testing. It however concerns IRT. In this case, the research deals with the reading subtest of TOEFL with regard to IRT. The research is designed to estimate examinee-item parameters. As a parameter logistic (1PL) model in IRT, the Prox method is employed to estimate the parameters jointly. This is named joint maximum likelihood estimates. The method requires dichotomous data. Therefore, TOEFL as a good test instrument is chosen. It includes 30 persons as the examinee measure θ parameter and 20 items as the item difficulty b parameter. Unlike CTT, IRT using Prox method is able to estimate the examinee-item parameters jointly. As a result, the values of θ and b prove the ranges as the model intended in IRT, which is commonly named as the item characteristic curve