Search results for 'tag:Universities tag:Dialects' matching tags 'Universities' and 'Dialects'

Re: Medical English/mature teacher

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:40:02 GMT

Dear Loretta: Thank-you for your letter. It is always interesting to hear from someone with a similar background or interest. Let me answer some of your questions for you. I want to share with you what I have learned over the years in this business. I hope I can be blunt? 1) You asked: what is the value of these certifications if one is already fluent in english and has taught professionals as part of their professional career? I teach adults at work all the time. My response: This is a common question for people who want to teach at any an all levels of ESL. a) Simply being fluent in a language doesnât make you good at it. Think of all the regional dialects and inner city dialects of English just in the USA alone. Surely to goodness you can see this? This question (and I know from experience) is perceived as incredibly rude and un-knowing by those people who have spent the time, effort and dedication learning how to teach language. b) I am on faculty teaching nursing in a university program, full time. There is a great deal of difference in teaching in a program and curriculum (particularly a program that moves in a lengthy step wise progression) than there is in teaching patient groups and communities in short programs. I have done both of these (because I am a nurse) and am able to compare and contrast the two. c) This statement could be perceived as diminishing the importance of teaching programs everywhere. It suggests that just because a nurse has experience âteaching adults at work all the timeâ that he/she might just as well apply for a teaching job in general education! Can you see where I am going with this? Ouch. It devalues the importance of undergraduate, graduate and PhDs/MEds in education. What if the teachers were to say this about nursing? d) What is the value? Well, if you wish to teach in a school of any merit, you will need this type of credential, for the reasons I have just cited. If you donât mind teaching at âany old language schoolâ of questionable repute and wages, then the credential isnât necessary. Please donât let that discourage you. You can always, always find work without the TESL certification and this is a FANTASTIC WAY to see the world. FANTASTIC. It just depends on your personal plans. 2) You asked: if I have a web-based business for international students, do I still need TESL certification if I am not traveling abroad to teach? My response: no, you donât really ever NEED to have the TESL, as Iâve said. But having it will improve your credibility exponentially. Just in closing, Iâd like to share a bit about myself so that you will see I am speaking from experience. I am a native English speaker. I studied French in school. I started my young adult years teaching English at Berlitz School of Languages and this helped pay for part of my nursing education. In later years, I picked up the TESL Certificate because I wanted to travel and work teaching English. Then I picked up Spanish! Throughout all of this, I have been a career nurse & nursing instructor first and foremost. I have a post-graduate diploma in Adult Education and a Masters of Science in Administration (Health focus). In the next couple of months I will graduate with a Masters of Education in TESOL. I believe I have a very, very solid background in language studies, adult education and nursing combined. That is why I have been able to build up a reputation for English for Nurses and English for Medical Purposes worldwide. Loretta, you have a fabulous background in Nursing and I would really like to encourage you to pursue your idea to teach Medical English. Those of us who are dually trained (Nursing and ESL) are very, very rare. Itâs a challenging but rewarding niche market to get into! Yours very truly, Melodie Hull, RPN, MSC, BA, TESL, PID, MED (candidate) Nurse-Educator & Consultant Canada Ps: Yikes, just one more thing. If you wish to be seen as a credible English language teacher, you must, must use proper grammar and capitalize titles, names and proper nouns as appropriate, especially if you are posting on the web. (Just a friendly hint.) MH

Re: Curious about Comtemporary RP Accent**

Tam Sadek — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 02:50:13 GMT

According to John Wells at University College London:

"I do not understand the proposed distinction between Mainstream RP and Contemporary RP (unless the writer thinks, wrongly, that âcontemporaryâ means âyoungâ)."

You can read more of what he says about it at: http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/blog0707a.htm

Whereas according to the British Library's Accents and Dialects of the UK website in their section on London RP, the commentary says:

"Michelle speaks with an accent most of us would immediately associate with a middle-class background. Many of the vowel sounds she uses have a traditional RP ring, but she also uses a number of pronunciations characteristic of contemporary RP. In other words she uses certain features we only encounter among younger speakers."

You can read more about this as well as hear a sample of this accent at: http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/received-pronunciation/london/

Make of this juxtaposition what you will...

Hope that helps

Re: spoken English

Tanit — Sun, 27 May 2007 10:15:11 GMT

Hi, Kooyeen,

Kooyeen wrote:

I know you won't like my answer, but... what's wrong? That part of speech was ok. My goal is to talk like that. Ok, not really like that, but that was not "non-English", so it was ok in the end (I guess).

I never said it's "non-English", I said it was ""non-BBC English." Besides all the interruptions, changes of subject, etc, the guy had a distinctive Welsh accent, which made it more difficult for me to understand and write down each and every word... It takes really a long time to get used to non standard (BBC like) pronunciation.

Is that your goal? wow, if it were also my goal, than I'd say I'm half way through speaking like that! Just kidding, I don't want to speak that way!

Kooyeen wrote:

I'd say learners shouldn't study prescriptive grammar. And the reason is simple, no one talks the way prescriptive grammars told you to talk. We should all see the English language from a descriptive point of view ... Ok, I think there aren't any good descriptive grammars. Because the real problem is that even prescriptive grammars are biased, imprecise, wrong. And it seems 90% of all the ESL material (grammars) there is available focus on some kind of British English.

I see your point, but it wouldn't work for me. Research demands good writing skills, and what you call "prescriptive grammar" (I would call it simply grammar) is necessary for me.

Kooyeen wrote:

So the only solution for a learner is moving to an English speaking country and find a "tutor" (a friend, someone) to copy.

Yes, that's one reason why I'm here. The problem is, there seem to be at least two different languages. The difference between English as it is spoken inside the University (by teachers) and outside (in a store, a pub etc.) is kind of shocking, expecially at the beginning. I feel comfortable with the first one, but I'm still not used to the second.

Kooyeen wrote:

I haven't posted yet, but the idea was basically to create a wiki-grammar here, as a part of Englishforums. A descriptive grammar of every kind of English, from formal British to African American English, from "subject verb inversions" to "I wish I was/were". I had that idea for two reasons:
- first, I noticed there aren't any good descriptive grammars that are not confusing and have a lot of examples in context;
-second, I feel most information written here in this forum is being wasted and forgotten. There are a lot of threads about the same subject, many good old threads are difficult to find, some threads are full of unnecessary and confusing information... So, in the end, this forum contains a huge amount of information, but it is not neatly arranged.

That's a nice idea. Whenever I find a good explanation about something I have problems with, I copy and paste it in a word document, so I've already done something like that, but it's only my little, personal archive

Kooyeen wrote:

Edit to Clive: Italians? LOL, Italians don't know how to speak! Everyone says what they want, most people actually don't know what is correct and what is not. Some Italians also don't speak Italian very often (like me), so you are likely to hear very strange structures and strange words sometimes

It depends on where you go ... I've never spoken other than Italian (I mean, no dialects), as most of my friends. We do have an accent and we cannot differentiate pÃ¨sca and pÃ©sca, but our grammar is absolutely standard and clear ...

Re: Canadians and their English

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 05:54:21 GMT

General Canadian English is extremely similar to General American English. However, there are a number of differences between the two dialects. Firstly, GCE (General Canadian English) exhibits a linguistic phenomenon called Canadian Raising. Basically, the diphthong âaiâ--as in "by" or "lie"--is raised before voiceless consonants (t, k, p, s, f); by contrast, this diphthong is not raised before other consonants (v, z, d, b, l, m, n, r, etc). Thus, by using Canadian Raising, the words in the following word pairs can be pronounced differently: ride and write, five and fife, and rise and rice.
The diphthong "au," as in "loud," is commonly raised before the consonants "t," "th," "ch," and "s." This diphthong is not raised before the consonants "d," "z," "n," and "j." As was pointed out, the word "about" sounds like "a boat"... well, to American ears, that is. In General American English, the diphthong "ai" is not raised before any consonant, nor is the diphthong "au." Yet, this raising has been occurring in various areas of the U.S., and it has spread quite far.

Another difference between these dialects is that, in GCE, the vowel "o" is always pronounced as "o" before the consonant "r." Therefore, âsorryâ is pronounced sor-ee, âborrowâ is pronounced bor-row, and âsorrow,â sor-row. In General American English, the vowel "o" is sometimes pronounced as the vowel "a"--as in "father"--before the consonant "r." In GAE (General American English), "sorry" is pronounced sar-ee, "borrow" is pronounced bar-row, and âsor-rowâ is pronounced sar-row. This, nevertheless, isn't very common in GAE; in fact, I canât think of any other word that is pronounced with the vowel âa,â other than sorrow, borrow, and sorry.

Many Canadians pronounce the word "marry" as "merry." In GAE, âmarryâ is pronounced with the vowel âae.â

In GCE, "pasta," "mazda," "lava," "drama," âYahooÂ®,â "taco," and other similar words are pronounced with the vowel "ae." In GAE, these words are pronounced with the vowel "a.â In GCE, on the other hand, these and few other foreign words are pronounced with the vowel "a": macho, Guatemala, Bach, and karate. Why is this so? I sure as heck don't know; it's an anomaly.

Of course, let's not forget Canadian lexicon. In Canada, "pop" is universally used as a term for a carbonated beverage. Even in the U.S., "pop" is used quite widely. It's largely used in the Midwest, Upper Midwest, and Northwest. As well, many Canadians refer to candy bars as "chocolate bars."
In GCE, the idioms "in hospital" and "to university" are used, in lieu of the American idioms "in the hospital" and "to the university," which includes a definite article. So, one may say, "I'm going to have my surgery in hospital," or "I'm going to attend university during the fall."

The last letter of the Canadian alphabet, "zed," is different from the last letter of the American alphabet, "zee."

Well, this is pretty much all I know about GCE.

Re: Is grammar essential for learning a language?

Francesca — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 11:43:02 GMT

I agree with Nona.

I would like also to add something:
all the Italians speak their language without doing any effort, but this doesn't mean that they speak a correct Italian, because you must know the grammar rules in order to speak in a very correct way.
Anyway I guess it depends on what 'you have to do with the language': for example when I'm talking to teachers or professors at University or at work I speak a very correct Italian, when I'm with my friends I don't pay too much attention about verbs or pronounciation and I tend to speak my dialect. By the way I can speak even in a correct way just because I studied Italian grammar, from what I can see people who didn't can hardly speak in a correct way.

Re: can be able to

CalifJim — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 07:26:10 GMT

I think her sentence is gramatically wrong

I agree.

is there any dialect that uses 'can be able to'?

I have never heard of such a thing.

what do you think of a university English teacher using this kind of wrong sentence in front of her students?

It's lamentable, but it happens. You just have to keep a positive attitude toward the subject even if the person teaching the subject makes mistakes. Nobody is perfect.

CJ

can be able to

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 06:18:47 GMT

Hello.
I major in English at university.
In my university, there is a female professor who often says 'I can be able to do --'.
I think her sentence is gramatically wrong because it's redundant, but is there any dialect that uses 'can be able to'?

Also, what do you think of a university English teacher using this kind of wrong sentences in front of her students?
I'm aware of her wrong sentences, but many of those around me don't seem to notice them.

Re: Why are you learning English?

Englishuser — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 13:50:05 GMT

Hi Inchoateknowledge,

Thanks for an intriguing post!

The one I often hear being referred to as BBC English.

I have spoken about it with some people who have been raised in an English-speaking country: South-Africa, USA, England, Scotland, Philippines, from the four corners of the world; and they were all of the opinion that what we hear on BBC is the language most widely understood and used.

General American English and most Canadian dialects of English are as widely understood as is 'BBC English'. General American English is much more common in the world on the whole than 'BBC English'. I should add that 'BBC English' as a term isn't very specific as so many dialects are represented on the BBC these days.

Do Ivy-league graduates, professors speak different dialects irrespective of where they were raised?

That would depend on the Ivy League graduate/professor. Most of them do not change their accents that much. They are, however, more likely to use a more 'standard' grammar than most other people, but this is, in fact, typical of any university graduates, not only those who were educated at an Ivy League institution.

Do graduates who came down from Oxford and speak with a plum in their mouth speak a different dialect from that their Ivy-league counterparts do?

Most people I've met who study/have studied at the University of Oxford do not sound 'plummy' at all. They mostly had what linguists call 'demotic RP accents' which is the way many educated people in England speak. Ivy League universities, on the other hand, are located in the US, and as you might guess, most people at these universities speak American rather than British English.

Englishuser

Re: Russia

Ruslana — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 20:02:17 GMT

Here I am, Hep!

Hey, you scare me with your intention to ask lots of questions...

But I'll try my best, after all! So let's start!

Hepburngeng wrote:
1.What are the top-10 Russian family names nowadays?

Hm, it is difficult to say, really... I don't have such statistics, but the first 10 which has come to mind are Ivanov, Petrov, Sidorov, Yakovlev, Leonov, Borodin, Arkhipov, Pavlov, Fedotov, Fadeev. Lay stress on the bold letters.

Hepburngeng wrote:
2.I heard that married women in Russia will change their family names to their husbands',and their changed family names are a bit different from their husbands'.Is that right?Give me some examples please

Yes, that is right. For example, if a girl's family (maiden) name is Arkhipova, but her boyfriend's family name is Sokolov, then, if she marries him, she will be Sokolova.

Hepburngeng wrote:
3.Is the Locomotive Stadium the biggest one in Moscow?If not,what is it?

As far as I know, the biggest one is Luzhniki.

Hepburngeng wrote:
4.How many kinds of dialects in Russian language?When two Russian people,who speak very different Russian dialects,have a conversation,can they understand each other easily?

Generally, we have three dialects: North-Russian, South-Russian, and Middle-Russian. But the difference between them is really little (almost none), and we can understand one another very easily. For instance, there is a girl from Siberia at my University (in my group), and I understand her without any difficulties, as if she was from Moscow too.

Hepburngeng wrote:
5.How many kids does a typical Russian family have?

I guess two.

Survey of English dialects :)

Zokniszosz — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 17:52:12 GMT

Hello. My name is Norman Foldvari, I am an English major student at Debrecen University, Hungary. I am graduating this year and I am doing a little research on my own for which I would like to ask your help. I am writing my dissertation about English dialects and for this topic I have made a questionnaire.
I hope you will support me in this task, I would be very grateful for any kind of help. Now let's see what is this form about.

The form has 3 sections.

In the first one you can find a list of words. These words are common words, the interesting thing is with their pronunciation. For these words I presented two kinds of pronunciation in two columns: Received Pronunciation and a pronunciation typical for a certain dialect. The task would be to fill in the blank column, where you should indicate that according to you which dialect the given word belongs to. If you cannot recognize the dialect just skip the word. I do not expect from you to identify all of them, rather just the words that belong to your dialect. But if you have any guesses please do not hesitate to indicate it. Besides, I would like to know another thing in connection with the words as well. This is the following (please indicate it in the blank column, too):

- Which pronunciation do you use? (RP= similar/closer to Received Pronunciation; D= similar/closer to dialectal pronunciation)

In the second section you can find a list of words typical in certain dialects. Please indicate the dialect you think the word belongs to, whether you use it (U) or not (N) and write the meaning as well (I wrote the meaning of certain words in advance to avoid confusion). Naturally, you can make your guesses (about the dialect) in the case of words that do not belong to yours.

In the third section you will find grammatical features with a very short explanation. The task is the same: identify the dialect (guess where you feel), and indicate whether you use them (U) or not (N).

This is the sructure and content of my questionnaire. I hope I managed to write down the instructions clearly. If anything is ambiguous, please ask me.

- If you are ready, please send the filled out doc file to my email address: normika@gmail.com
- Please indicate the town where you live (e.g Yorkshire, Nottingham, etc); your sex (male/female); your age; your profession. This is very important for me, because I have to analyse the data from a sociolinguistic point of view as well. Of course, if you find any of my requests insulting or indiscreet, please ignore it.

IMPORTANT:

1. You have to have the Arial Unicode MS font type installed on your computer in order to properly see the IPA symbols. This font type is usually at present on computers with Word. If you do not have it do not worry: I also attach a pdf version of the document. If you cannot see the symbols in Word, please see the pdf for the pronunciation. As you cannot edit it, please fill in the Word form.

Here are the links for the two files:

http://worldshots.uw.hu/normi/survey.doc

http://worldshots.uw.hu/normi/survey.pdf

2. This questionnaire only deals with the dialects of England (because it would be too long to deal with other versions of English: for example American, Australian, Cornish, Welsh, Scottish English). Thus in the first place I expect those to take part who live in this area.

Finally, I would like to thank for everyone in advance, who takes the time and helps me in my little research, either with filling in the form or suggesting some kind of improvement in connection with it.

Thank you very much,

Norman Foldvari