9 research outputs found
Stylistic analysis of deictic expressions in President Benigno Aquino IIIâs October 30th speech
This paper analyses how the President of the Philippines, Benigno Simeon Aquino III, or simply PNoy, deployed
persons, time, location and social relationships in the English translation of his October 30th televised national
address and what meaning and effect does such deployment of referring expressions bring about in
understanding the nature of the political speech. Using the frameworks of Hanks (2005) and Buhler (1934), this
paper examines how, PNoy strategically sets up the deictic field by placing several personal, temporal, spatial
and social deictic expressions in what initially is a ground zero. The deployment creates a deictic field in which
the Filipino people are situated at deictic centre and the President and his critics are in binary opposition.
PNoyâs deployment of deictic expressions is very effectively done so that the deictic centre is persuaded to judge
the president and his government favourably and the binary opposite in the deictic field, unfavourably. Through
a systematic stylistic account of deixis in political speech, this paper argues that not only personal deixis, as
previous studies put forth, but also temporal, spatial and social deixis helps political actors to persuade the
audience in their favour and ultimately boost leverage in their political discourse and outside
Abrogation and appropriation in selected pre-war Philippine short stories in English
Postcolonial literature is characterized by abrogation and appropriation, in which writers take
the language of the former imperial power and re-place it in a discourse fully adapted to the
colonized place. Studies on literary traditions of former colonies have shown how native
writers advance local collective sentiments. In this paper, the short stories of Manuel
Arguilla, a literary icon of Philippine short stories in English, were analyzed using Ashcroft
et al.âs (1989) textual strategies in postcolonial writing to unearth the strategies used by the
writer in valorizing the use of an abrogated and appropriated âenglishâ in expressing native
sentiments. Qualitative content analysis of Arguillaâs four short stories suggests that the use
of untranslated words and glossing were the most abundant strategies used to abrogate and
appropriate the colonizerâs language. Further, thematic analysis of the stories point to four
themes relating to how the author valorized the use of an english in expressing native
sentiments: expression of an authentic self, expression of an authentic place, subtle form of
subversion and advancement of Filipino identities and ideologies. These findings suggest
that, like in other postcolonial literary traditions, postcolonial Philippine short stories, as seen
from the writing of Manuel Arguilla, are typical of what Ashcroft et al. (1989) advance as a
paradigmatic tension between the colonizer and the colonized, but are unique in that they
serve as medium through which to voice out local Filipino sentiments and aspirations. Some
implications for postcolonial literature are discussed
Reconceptualizing the language motivation of Timorese ELLs in the Philippines
Second language (henceforth L2) motivation has been traditionally studied from the lens of
integrative motivation. However, this framework presents problems in that it is limiting and
lacks insights from emerging cognitive motivational research. This paper investigated the L2
motivation of Timorese English language learners (henceforth ELLs) using Dörnyeiâs (2009)
L2 Motivational Self System and Markus and Nuriusâs (1986) possible-selves theory. Ten
Timorese ELLs studying in a school of higher learning in the Philippines participated in a
free writing task and a follow-up focus group discussion. These activities aimed to examine
the content and functions of the studentsâ two most important types of possible selves: âideal
L2 selfâ and âought-to L2 self.â The results revealed that the studentsâ âideal L2 selfâ
coincides with the original theoretical construct, which includes a promotion-focused
function for studying English, i.e., to achieve personal goals and to communicate with other
people. Interestingly, however, the present study corroborated Chenâs (2012) findings in the
Taiwanese context that the âought-to L2 selfâ is not simply prevention-focused, but a mixture
of prevention- and promotion-focused functions of learning English. The findings pointed to
necessary research, curriculum design and pedagogical implications, which are discussed as
this paper closes
Influence of language learning anxiety on L2 speaking and writing of Filipino engineering students
Feelings of anxiety, apprehension, and nervousness remain a prevailing phenomenon in learning a second or a
foreign language. This explanatory sequential research examined the influence of language learning anxiety on
studentsâ second language (henceforth L2) writing and speaking performance. A total of 162 students in an
engineering University in Manila, the Philippines participated in the initial quantitative phase, in which they
accomplished a self-developed scale adapted from Horwitz, Horwitz and Copeâs (1986) Foreign Language
Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) to fit the context of the present investigation. Speaking and writing scores
from an institutional English language test were also used as measures for the outcome variables. The analyses
of variance yielded significant results for both anxiety on speaking [F(2,162)=43.35; p=0.00; ηp
2 =0.35] and
anxiety on writing [F(2,162)=10.73; p=0.00; ηp
2=0.12]. The findings on the influence of language learning
anxiety on speaking corroborate previous studies that found high levels of anxiety to have debilitative impact on
L2 speaking. Interestingly, however, the influence of anxiety on writing reflects the less frequent facilitative
impact of anxiety on language abilities found in a very small number of studies in the literature. Therefore, in
the consequent, qualitative phase, the researchers conducted semi-structured interviews among nine,
purposefully selected respondents and focused on the factors explaining the dissimilar influence of anxiety on
L2 speaking and writing. Results exposed the double-edged nature of anxiety within the studyâs context. On one
hand, social comparison-instigated anxiety debilitated speaking task performance. On the other, grade anxiety
facilitated constant correction, which aided the engineering students in writing task performance. Besides
implication for research, the pedagogical implications of the results in relation to teaching engineering students
as learners of English are provided
Physical and topical structures of manpower discourse: a contrastive rhetoric analysis in Southeast Asia
This paper explores the physical and topical structures of thirty paragraphs culled from websites of Philippine, Indonesian and Malaysian manpower agencies. Drawing on the frameworks of Simpson (2000) and Lautamatti (1987), the study describes potential regional (Southeast Asian) and national preferences of writers on a subgenre of L2 professional writing, called manpower discourse (MD). The physical structure analysis points to slight but statistically insignificant differences between the data sets. Such analysis aids in the description of a possible regional preference in the physical structure of MD in Southeast Asia, which appeals to directness and simplicity. The topical structure analysis (TSA) shows that there is a stronger demand for internal coherence in Philippine MD, compared with Indonesian MD and Malaysian MD. Specifically, the analysis reveals that topical development is more sophisticated in Philippine MD attributed to the use of some form of topical reoccurrence and some kind of topical progressions in all paragraphs, which was not observed in the internal structure of paragraphs from Indonesian and Malaysian MD. Moreover, Philippine MD seems to keep up with one valued characteristic of composition in English: to develop ideas using sequential and extended parallel progressions. Also, topical depth is found to be most elaborate in Philippine MD than in the Indonesian and Malaysian counterparts. The paper closes with a discussion of implications for professional writing, specific to manpower discourse and teaching writing coherence based on socially and culturally relevant inputs
Attitude and motivation towards a working language: case of East Timorese students in the Philippines
This study explores the attitude and motivation of ten East Timorese students in the Philippines towards
English, one of East Timorâs two working languages. Five themes corresponding to the research questions
emerged from the semi-structured interviews conducted in this qualitative study: (1) English as a favored
language, (2) English as an indicator of competence, (3) English as a vehicle for communication, (4) English
as an edge in the workplace, and (5) English as a global/international status marker. Results point to the
participantsâ favorable attitude toward English because of its value as a linguistic tool, an instrument in the
achievement of personal and career goals, and a utilitarian language. Based on a proposed four-fold typology,
the researcher found that the participants are driven because of their favorable attitude and instrumental
motivation toward English. The results challenge EFL teachers to consider the difference between English
taught as a foreign language and English learned as a foreign language, as the former is conservative and to a
certain extent prescriptivist, whereas the latter takes into account the attitudinal and motivational aspects of
language learning which are a necessary component of any successful learning of a language
Towards a possible selves-based model of language teacher identity among new teachers: An exploratory sequential analysis
Language teacher possible selves were used as a bellwether of the ongoing identity construction among new language teachers (NLTs). The aim was to build a socio-psychological model that illuminates the dimensions and transitional trajectory of hoped-for and feared language teacher selves during the transition into ELT role. An exploratory sequential design was used, consisting of qualitative (n=15 pre-service=7, in = service=8), scale development, and quantitative (n=507 pre-service=207, in-service=300) phases. NLT identity was indeed multidimensional, resulting from a rich intermingling of personal and social factors. Most dimensions constitute ĂąâŹËrecurrent identities, rationalizing current ELT thinking and behavior. Also, an emergent language model self was traced, raising questions on the affordances and constraints of dichotomizing NLT identity into qualities and tasks. The assembly of a wide repertoire of future-oriented identities appears to be a creative strategy that NLTs utilize toward a ĂąâŹËresistance-in-progress. A language model self most clearly demarcates this, since it directly veers away from the notion that only native speaker teachers could be language models. Further, validation of NLT hoped-for and feared selves scales and quantitative analyses revealed no transitional trajectory between ELT qualities or tasks. Instead, difference exists in whether the transition primed more hoped-for or feared identities. This suggests that NLT identity construction is neither simply outward, nor both outward and inward, as previous studies proposed, but could also be edgeways moving from valence to valence depending on the fit of current context and future thinking. Implications focused on how might language teacher possible selves inform ELT preparation and practicum, professional development, and instructional and curricular design
Exploring English speaking anxiety among Filipino engineering students: its influence on task performance and its sources
The need for effective English speaking skills in engineering fields compels schools to
innovate curricula that shall address the language skills of a âglobal engineer.â The impact of
engineering curricular reforms trickled down among students who contend with language
learning anxiety, besides anxiety from mathematics and other technical courses. In this paper,
the researchers explored English speaking anxiety among 162 engineering students in an
engineering University in Manila, Philippines. A mixed-method, explanatory sequential
design was used. This method combines the quantitative and qualitative approaches in
investigating the phenomenon under study, i.e., English speaking anxiety. In the quantitative
phase, the researchers used data from the speaking component of a self-developed scale and
speaking performance scores yielded from an interactive English conversation task. Analysis
revealed a significant negative relationship between speaking anxiety and speaking task
performance, pointing to the debilitative influence of anxiety on task performance. In the
qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews among nine purposefully selected students
revealed that both peers and teachers were common sources of speaking anxiety and in a
variety of ways. The findings point to speaking anxiety as an important psycho- and
sociolinguistic phenomenon, which is hinged on the specific roles that language teaching and
learning plays in preparing engineering students as future language consumers and users in
highly technical, specialized, and competitive engineering fields
Are Filipino studentsâ L2 learning goals performance- or masteryoriented? An explanatory sequential analysis
Whether studentsâ goals for learning English as a second language (L2) are oriented towards
performing better than others or mastering oneâs skills had not been traditionally investigated
in language motivational research. Premised on Pintrichâs (2000) revised achievement goal
theory, this explanatory sequential research (Creswell, 2014) examined the influence of
learnersâ goal orientation in L2 to their writing and speaking performances. 162 Filipino
students enrolled in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course in a University in
Manila participated in the study. They initially accomplished the Goal Orientation in A L2
Scale (GOALS) developed to fit the current context, α= .93. Then, they took two language
tests, i.e., a group conversation in English for L2 speaking and an individual essay for L2
writing. Both were administered in the EAP classes as an entry requirement. Analyses
yielded significant results on the influence of goal orientation on both speaking and writing.
Results suggest that students with a performance orientation to L2 learning performed
significantly better than those with either a mastery or a multiple goal orientation. In keeping
with the sequential design, the researchers proceeded with semi-structured interviews among
nine purposefully selected respondents to understand the quantitative results in greater detail.
The follow-up interviews focused on two aspects of the statistical results: maladaptive
influence of multiple orientation and the adaptive influence of performance orientation in L2
learning. The paper closes with implications for research and language teaching