scholarly journals “Your English is so good”: Linguistic experiences of racialized students and instructors of a Canadian university

Ethnicities ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 146879682110558
Author(s):  
Ryuko Kubota ◽  
Meghan Corella ◽  
Kyuyun Lim ◽  
Pramod K Sah
Keyword(s):  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Normative Expectations ◽  
Racial Stigma ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Group Interviews

Racism has increasingly been exposed and problematized in public domains, including institutions of higher education. In academia, critical race theory (CRT) has guided scholars to uncover everyday experiences of racism by highlighting the intersectionality of race with other identity categories, among which language constitutes an important, yet underexplored, component. Through the conceptual lens of CRT and counter-storytelling as a methodological orientation, this study investigated how racialized graduate students and faculty members at a Canadian university experienced racialization and racism in relation to issues of language, including communication and the use of ethnic names as semiotic markers. Individual and focus group interviews generated participants’ stories, to which we applied a thematic analysis. Participants generally felt that they were forced into pre-determined and essentialized categories of race, ethnicity, nationality, and language. Racialized non-native speakers of an official language—English or French—often received compliments or inquisitive comments on their language proficiency, which further accentuated their raciolinguistic Otherness and caused pain. Conversely, racialized native speakers did not report receiving compliments on language. For East Asian participants especially, speaking White English seemed to offset their racial stigma and psychologically separated them from non-native, English-speaking East Asian immigrants who looked like them. These experiences indicate normative expectations. The participants felt they were expected to not only speak, write, or communicate in the White normative language and manners, but also to use or not use an Anglicized name against their will. These impositions were questioned and resisted by some participants, and antiracist consciousness was expressed. The participants’ voices encourage universities to validate their stories as well as their ways of telling their stories.

scholarly journals Crossing borders . . . shifting sands: An investigation of Chinese students’ study experiences in the UK and China

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 451-472
Author(s):  
Kashmir Kaur
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Mobility ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Different Types ◽  
English Medium Instruction ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Learning Issues

In the current landscape of higher education in the UK, international students play a key role. It is an environment in which they not only cross borders physically but also transition through various identities as they develop their professional and linguistic confidence and skills to fully access and contribute to their programme of study and beyond. The aim of this paper is to outline the results of an empirical investigation into Chinese students’ perceptions of their study experiences in the context of student mobility and English-medium instruction in higher education. It reports on a study of two groups of Chinese students – one group studying in an English-speaking environment, the other in their home country where instruction is delivered through the medium of English. Semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted at each site which focused on the transition of “crossing borders” for educational purposes. The data was analysed using thematic analysis (Clarke & Braun, 2016). The main finding was that both groups experienced remarkably similar learning issues, despite being located in very different learning environments and crossing different types of borders.

Cultural conceptualizations of haghighat/vagheyat (‘truth’/‘reality’) in Persian

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vahede Nosrati
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Sociocultural Factors ◽  
Conceptual Basis ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Analytical Tools ◽  
Online Sources ◽  
Cultural Linguistics

Abstract This article examines the cultural conceptualizations of haghighat/vagheyat (‘truth’/‘reality’) expressions in Persian as these are fundamental concepts in life, religion, as well as culture and are used in many commonly used everyday expressions. Therefore, it is important to understand what these expressions really mean and how they compare with equivalent concepts in other languages. To that end, this study investigates haghighat/vagheyat expressions that instantiate cultural conceptualizations in Persian. This is the first attempt at employing the analytical tools of Cultural Linguistics (Sharifian 2011, 2017b) to exclusively focus on exploring such cultural conceptualizations. In order to study naturally instigated expressions, the researcher makes use of multiple sources including an open-ended questionnaire, dictionaries, online sources, and focus group interviews. The study further draws on the author’s intuition as a native speaker and analyzes have been cross-checked by a number of Persian native speakers and experts. Analysis of the data concerns the significant conceptualizations of haghighat/vagheyat expressions, indicating that haghighat/vagheyat functions as the main conceptual basis for many manifestations of truth/reality in Persian. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate that a number of sociocultural factors such as religion, history, and literature have a role in shaping the cultural conceptualizations of haghighat/vagheyat expressions in Persian.

scholarly journals How L2 learners of French and English express modality using verbal means: A crosslinguistic and developmental study

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascale Leclercq ◽  
Amanda Edmonds
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Short Film ◽  
Developmental Study ◽  
Second Language Proficiency ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
French And English ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
English Speaking

AbstractThis study describes and analyzes how native and non-native speakers express modality using verbal means during oral retellings. Participants included native speakers of French and English, as well as English-speaking learners of French and French-speaking learners of English at three levels of language proficiency. All participants performed the same short film retelling, which was then transcribed and analyzed in terms of modalization. Results show that all groups use verbal modal means, although rates, meanings and types of modal forms used vary across the two languages, and especially as a function of second language proficiency.

scholarly journals The Realization of English Vowels by Kuwaiti Speakers

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Hanan A. Taqi ◽  
Nada A. Algharabally ◽  
Rahima S. Akbar
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
English Vowels ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Received Pronunciation ◽  
Insight Into

Learning to speak a language does not necessarily mean learning to realize all the phonemes of that language. When a sound does not exist in a speakers’ mother tongue, s/he tends to use a phonotactic; hence, either replacing the sound with another that might sound similar, eliminating the sound, or adding a sound to make it possible to realize. In some cases, the orthography of the target language causes confusion and is considered misleading to non-native speakers. There are only 6 vowels in Arabic phonetics, long and short. Yet, there are 20 phonetic vowel symbols in Received Pronunciation, and 16 in General American. The following study investigates the realization of the English vowels by Kuwaiti speakers, and the effect of orthography on such realizations. 64 male and female Kuwaiti speakers are recorded reading 55 words and 10 sentences. The data obtained was analyzed by Praat (qualitative data), and SPSS (quantitative data). Focus group interviews were also conducted to gain further insight into the topic. It was found that not only do the speakers replace the vowels that do not exist in Arabic, but they also mispronounce vowels that exist in Arabic as they are negatively affected by the English orthography.

scholarly journals CHALLENGES IN PRESENTING ACADEMIC CRITICISM: CASE STUDY OF INDONESIAN STUDENTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Nova Ariani
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Literacy Practice ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Group Interviews

Presenting academic criticism in academic papers is one of the most challenging study tasks for students from Non-English-Speaking Background (NESB) countries studying in Australia. Most lecturers in Australian university expect students to engage in critical discussion and put their adversarial position in academic writing. This study investigates the challenges experienced by Indonesian students studying in Australia in presenting academic criticism. Data were collected through questionnaires along with two focus group interviews of Indonesian graduate students in Australia. The study has found that cultural values, socio-political situations, and previous educational experience in Indonesia have contributed to participants’ limited writing experience and limited critical literacy practice. All of these have manifested to their struggle of presenting academic criticism and writing according to the expected dominant discourse in Australia.

scholarly journals Unprofessional behaviour of GP residents and its remediation: a qualitative study among supervisors and faculty

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter C. Barnhoorn ◽  
Vera Nierkens ◽  
Marianne C. Mak-van der Vossen ◽  
Mattijs E. Numans ◽  
Walther N. K. A. van Mook ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Unprofessional Behaviour ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Gp Training

Abstract Background Lapses in professionalism have profound negative effects on patients, health professionals, and society. The connection between unprofessional behaviour during training and later practice requires timely identification and remediation. However, appropriate language to describe unprofessional behaviour and its remediation during residency is lacking. Therefore, this exploratory study aims to investigate which behaviours of GP residents are considered unprofessional according to supervisors and faculty, and how remediation is applied. Methods We conducted eight semi-structured focus group interviews with 55 broadly selected supervisors from four Dutch GP training institutes. In addition, we conducted individual semi-structured interviews with eight designated professionalism faculty members. Interview recordings were transcribed verbatim. Data were coded in two consecutive steps: preliminary inductive coding was followed by secondary deductive coding using the descriptors from the recently developed ‘Four I’s’ model for describing unprofessional behaviours as sensitising concepts. Results Despite the differences in participants’ professional positions, we identified a shared conceptualisation in pinpointing and assessing unprofessional behaviour. Both groups described multiple unprofessional behaviours, which could be successfully mapped to the descriptors and categories of the Four I’s model. Behaviours in the categories ‘Involvement’ and ‘Interaction’ were assessed as mild and received informal, pedagogical feedback. Behaviours in the categories ‘Introspection’ and ‘Integrity’, were seen as very alarming and received strict remediation. We identified two new groups of behaviours; ‘Nervous exhaustion complaints’ and ‘Nine-to-five mentality’, needing to be added to the Four I’s model. The diagnostic phase of unprofessional behaviour usually started with the supervisor getting a ‘sense of alarm’, which was described as either a ‘gut feeling’, ‘a loss of enthusiasm for teaching’ or ‘fuss surrounding the resident’. This sense of alarm triggered the remediation phase. However, the diagnostic and remediation phases did not appear consecutive or distinct, but rather intertwined. Conclusions The processes of identification and remediation of unprofessional behaviour in residents appeared to be intertwined. Identification of behaviours related to lack of introspection or integrity were perceived as the most important to remediate. The results of this research provide supervisors and faculty with an appropriate language to describe unprofessional behaviours among residents, which can facilitate timely identification and remediation.

scholarly journals The Role of Camp in Promoting the Participants’ Spoken English Expression

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-58
Author(s):  
Jalaluddin Jalaluddin
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
English Expression ◽  
Speaking Skill ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Group Interviews

The study investigated the topics of participants’ spoken expressionin an English camp and how the topics were discussed.A case study was applied as the research design. Data were gained from focus-group interviews, observation, and questionnaire. The results showed that the participants talked about various topics, which could be categorized into two types i.e. guided topics and situational topics. Guided topics were discussed by the participants in guided conditions. On the other hand, situational topics appeared naturally with respect to the situation. The data also indicated that the activeness and confidence of the participants to talk in English gradually increasedduring the English camp. The findings suggested that English campsbeheld regularly as they can boost the participants’ English speaking skill.

An Analysis of Adverse Beliefs About Cyberbullying Among Taiwanese Adolescents

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1116-1134
Author(s):  
Yun-yin Huang ◽  
Chih-ming Chang ◽  
Yinlan Chen ◽  
Huei-chuan Wei ◽  
Chien Chou
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Effective Intervention ◽  
School Age ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Group Interviews

Cyberbullying has emerged as a new threat to adolescents’ well-being in modern society; yet, little is known about adolescents’ alternative views on this virtual form of aggression. This study investigated Taiwanese students’ misconceptions about cyberbullying and the logics behind. We first surveyed 8,547 students nationwide (4th–12th grades) on potential misconceptions. Then, we administrated 6 focus group interviews to further explore students’ adverse beliefs on justifying cyberbullying, not reporting, and disseminating cyberbullying contents. We also found that students did not associate cyberbullying with anonymity as past research suggested. These findings extend the existing knowledge about cyberbullying in school-age youth in East Asian contexts and could lead to appropriate and effective intervention and prevention.

scholarly journals Linguistic Identities and Experiences of Generation 1.5 Teacher Candidates: Race Matters

2012 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farahnaz Faez
Keyword(s):  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Positioning Theory ◽  
Generation 1.5 ◽  
White Teacher ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Native English Speaking ◽  
One Year

This article recounts the experiences of six Generation 1.5 teacher candidates (TCs) as they grapple with the significance of their racial identity in asserting their native-English-speaking status. A one-year qualitative case study, it draws on critical race theory and positioning theory to elucidate how native-English speaking status is linked to levels of language proficiency and country of birth as well as to individuals’ race. Whereas Generation 1.5 non-white teacher candidates’ discourses reveal instances of marginalization and racism, discourses of white Generation 1.5 teacher candidates express privilege and acceptance.

scholarly journals Research-based occupational therapy education: An exploration of students’ and faculty members’ experiences and perceptions

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0243544
Author(s):  
Kjersti Velde Helgøy ◽  
Jens-Christian Smeby ◽  
Tore Bonsaksen ◽  
Nina Rydland Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Occupational Therapy Students ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Use Of Research

Introduction One argument for introducing research in bachelor`s degree in health care is to ensure the quality of future health care delivery. The requirements for research-based education have increased, and research on how research-based education is experienced is limited, especially in bachelor health care education programmes. The aim of this study was to explore how occupational therapy students and faculty members experienced and perceived research-based education. Methods This qualitative, interpretative description consisted of three focus group interviews with occupational therapy students in their final year (n = 8, 6 and 4), and three focus group interviews with faculty members affiliated with occupational therapy programmes in Norway (n = 5, 2 and 5). Interviewing both students and faculty members enabled us to explore the differences in their experiences and perceptions. Results Five integrative themes emerged from the analysis: “introducing research early”, “setting higher expectations”, “ensuring competence in research methods”, “having role models” and “providing future best practice”. Research was described as an important aspect of the occupational therapy bachelor program as it helps ensure that students achieve the necessary competence for offering future best practice. Students expressed a need to be introduced to research early in the program, and they preferred to have higher expectations regarding use of research. Competence in research methods and the importance of role models were also highlighted. Conclusions Undergraduate health care students are expected to be competent in using research. Findings from our study demonstrated that the participants perceived the use of research during training as important to ensure future best practice. Increasing the focus on research in the programme’s curricula and efforts to improve students’ formal training in research-specific skills could be a starting point towards increased use of research in the occupational therapy profession.

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