Swansea Journal of Applied Linguistics Issue 3 (Summer 2020)

Swansea Linguistics Journal

Issue 3. Summer 2020

Swansea Linguistics Journal The Student-led Journal for the Applied Linguistics Department

One hundred words for snow?

Playing games with vocabulary

Lost in translation

Josh Richardson separates the facts from the fiction.

Freya Dong investigates gaming-learning in EFL classrooms.

Bihan Ma casts a critical eye over Chinese subtitle translation

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Page 49

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Welcome!

I think it’s safe to say that this has been a rather unusual year! I for one certainly didn’t expect to be finishing my second year at university in March. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted all of our lives, but that hasn’t stopped the students of Swansea University’s Department of Applied Linguistics from continuing to produce amazing pieces of work. We have the privilege of sharing some of these with you in this year’s edition of the Swansea Linguistics Journal.

We have not one but two articles this year addressing some of the popular myths about language. Josh Richardson takes on the myth that the Inuit people have many words for snow on page 5, and on page 12 Molly Chapman looks into whether adults are able to achieve fluency in a new language. We are also pleased to announce that this year features our first article from the field of Chinese translating and interpreting, with Bihan Ma investigating film subtitle translation on page 98. In between, we have research on gaming-learning, a genre analysis of lifestyle blogs, a look into translanguaging in the EFL classroom and many other fantastic articles.

Please feel free to email us at lingjournalswansea@gmail.com if you are a Swansea University linguistics student and are interested in publishing your work for the next journal in Spring/Summer 2021.

We hope you enjoy the journal.

Milo (Editor) Rosie (Editor)

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Meet the Team My name is Milo. I grew up in Swansea and liked it so much I saw no reason to leave! I decided to study English Language because I like how it combines the best bits of the sciences and the humanities to investigate one of the most fundamental aspects of the human experience. I have enjoyed pretty much all of the modules I have taken so far (even CELTA, which was exhausting but very rewarding!), but I am probably most interested in discourse analysis and psycholinguistics. After I graduate I am interested in continuing to study linguistics.

My name is Rosie and I am currently studying English Language with Media at Swansea. I first encountered this university a few years back when I accompanied my older sister who chose it for an open day. Ever since, Swansea University was at the forefront of my higher education. I am so happy I came here because it has given me opportunities such as this to provide a platform for hardworking students who deserve their work to be published. I have thoroughly enjoyed being a student at Swansea University and I look forward to pursuing my main interests which lies in investigative journalism and forensic linguistics.

My name is Tamera, but people call me Tam, as it’s far easier to pronounce! I am a ‘mature’ student here at Swansea University, and am in my 1st year of the Applied Linguistics and TESOL degree. I am also the Subject Rep and a Student Ambassador. I decided to get involved with

this journal as I like to be creative, so wanted to be a part of designing the website and help to compile the journal online. It is also a great way to meet other students, and provides you will lots of skills and experience to put on your CV. My name is Daniel Strogen, I am student here at Swansea University and I am currently entering the second year of my Undergraduate studies. In 2018 I spent a brief term reading History at the University of Exeter. From my subsequent transition from Exeter to Swansea, I learned that finding the best place for oneself above all else is paramount. I am lucky that I can say I have found that place here at the Applied Linguistics Department at Swansea University. I have thoroughly appreciated the process of editing the journal with the rest of the team and I sincerely hope that you enjoy reading these essays as much as I have.

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Contents Page 5 A Comparison and Synthesis of Positions on the Myth that Eskimos have Many Different Words for Snow – Josh Richardson Page 12 An Argument Paper Against the Myth that Adults Can’t Become Fluent in a New Language – Molly Chapman Page 21 Translanguaging in the EFL Classroom – Panayiota Hadjipapa Page 40 A Genre Analysis of Lifestyle Blogs – Milo Coffey Page 49 How useful is gaming-learning for Chinese students to learn vocabulary in an authentic EFL classroom? – Freya Dong Page 64 The Impact of Readability on the ‘Improvement’ of a Text – Ed Clarke Page 91 Some Considerations for EFL Teaching – Daniel Strogen Page 98 Commentaries on the subtitle translation of The Lion King – Bihan Ma Page 120 Aphasia – Alex Torry

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A comparison and synthesis of positions on the myth that Eskimos have many different words for snow Josh Richardson Far beneath the rigours of academia, the media continues to publish conflicting articles regarding Eskimo language. Washington Post supported the myth in their 2013 article ‘There Really Are 50 Eskimo Words For Snow’ yet failed to acknowledge opposing literature on the matter and ironically mocked linguists’ claims of “sloppy scholarship and journalistic exaggeration” as the origin of the myth’s existence (Robson, 2013). Strangely, Nunberg (1996) quotes an older article from the same Washington Post where the journalist acknowledges the falsity of the myth yet proceeds to use it to make a political point, showing that even when acknowledged as myth, it remains suspended in journalistic limbo. In contrast, The Atlantic published in 2016 ‘No, There Are Not 100 Eskimo Words for ‘Snow’, branding the myth a stereotypical lie and attempting to simplify Eskimo language rules for readers, while simultaneously failing to examine extensively any substantial counterarguments (Bogost, 2016). This sets a comically complex scene which for some appeared to be “showing signs of melting” (Nunberg, 1996, p. 206) over 20 years ago.

Martin (1986) insists the myth originated from Frank Boas, who originally suggested four Eskimo words for snow, a view later popularised and inflated by Benjamin Whorf. Pullum (1989) concurs, agreeing that Whorf provided very limited data to support his explorations and even less evidence for him and Edward Sapir’s Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. The hypothesis suggests languages differ due to linguistic relativity and determinism, or how “non-linguistic

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cognitive differences” (how reality determines the extent of vocabulary) and how “the structure of language” directly affects an Eskimo’s reality (Au, 1983, pp. 156-157).

Au (1983) provides a simple counterargument against Whorf’s claim that Eskimos couldn’t fathom using single words for different snow states: that it would be impossible to translate the concepts into English - the very thing Whorf did. In light of the claim’s supposed absurdity, Nunberg (1996, p. 210) quotes Lederer (1991) to remind readers the English vocabulary contains “as many as two million” entries, highlighting the unlikelihood that Eskimo concepts are as inherently untranslatable as Whorf insinuated. Further, both Martin (1986) and Pullum (2004) also agree that word counting is fruitless for languages such as Eskimoan which use postbases for word formation, making vocabulary size an incompatible concept, especially when compared to English.

Martin (1986) accused individuals like Roger Brown (1958) of “constructing a complex psycho-cultural argument” (Martin, 1986, p. 419); in his 1958 textbook, he provided little evidence to support his theories regarding Eskimo language habits. Many textbooks followed suit in reprinting the information, failing to acknowledge the issue of “morphology and syntax and not of lexicon” (Martin, 1986, p. 422). This emphasis is placed upon the destructive reach of unregulated academic texts and the result of lacking consultation by linguist or native speaker, an observation noticed especially by Kaplan (2003). Pullum (1989) blames “schoolteachers” and “columnists” (Pullum, 189, p. 275) for spreading convoluted information which was numerically inflated, suggesting a blurred line between academic and

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journalistic tendencies. Martin (1986), Pullum (1989), and Kaplan (2003) all emphasise a reckless distribution of information, reflecting instances seen in modern news articles regarding the matter written by journalists like Robson (2013) and Bogost (2016) whilst peripherally highlighting the importance of today’s rigorous academic review systems.

Nunberg (1996) suggested the inaccurate academic and journalistic spiral that followed is down to “exotica” (Nunberg, 1996, p. 206) that he suggests follows the strange and unfamiliar to the delight of media outlets which clearly contributed to the peddling of a myth where linguists’

interference would have been seen as pedantic. He emphasised the myth’s

exaggeration, stating “generality occasionally serves to keep us in ignorance of unsavoury realities” (Nunberg, 1996, p. 209), suggesting that human concepts exist in places that language often cannot convey, particularly in cross-language communication, nullifying the basis for such a reductionist myth in the first place. Kilarski (2014) agrees that the suppositions made against Eskimos ran parallel with racist tendencies during the 19th and 20th centuries, where Eskimo languages were often compared to modern Western civilisation in negative ways. Thus, it appears society seemed interested in the perpetuation of a simplification over facts which led to misconceptions and xenophobic generalisations about Eskimo language.

Pullum (1989) confirms Martin and Nunberg’s observations that poor academic stringency and media-driven, habitual folklore played a part in the myth’s spread. However, his claim that a large number of Eskimo word roots would not be “intellectually interesting” seems more self-confirmatory than exploratory: if this myth weren’t “intellectually interesting”, then

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its rapid travel throughout both academic and non-academic worlds creating heated discussion suggests it is more “intellectually interesting” than first suggested.

Regier et al. (2016) found in their Twitter experiments, where they attempted to correlate climate and frequency of word occurrence, that temperature and locale factored in the distribution of words such as snow and ice (coined an “environmental determinist stance”), but also found the opposite: that “snow and ice are fundamental concepts” (a “strict universalist stance”) (Regier et al, 2016, p. 8). They concluded that while languages in both cold and warm places have concepts for snow and ice, warmer countries reduce these distinctions, advancing that warm countries even borrow these words from English due to outside influence, and that fewer situational pressures in warmer places reduces the need to maintain words for snow and ice in order to adhere to language efficiency.

Regier et al.’s (2016) conclusions provide a slight against Martin (1986), who suggested environment reflected in language is highly exaggerated, but this could simply be an effect of “efficient communication”, as Regier et al (2016, pp. 8-9) point out; the existence of many snow words in a snow-ridden landscape could be a simple reality that experts may overly complicate.

Regier et al (2016) also critique Pullum (1989), assessing his comparison to the classification habits of physical professions like horse breeders and botanists (who have a greater need of more finely-grained semantic divisions) as obvious. However, Pullum suggests Eskimos “aren’t interested in snow” (Pullum, 1989, p. 279) because they are surrounded by it,

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downplaying any environmental impact upon the Eskimo lexicon. Regier et al. (2016) identify holes in this logic, arguing horse breeders spend most of their time around horses yet maintain distinctions in language for different breeds. This overlooked fact appears to have fuelled Regier et al.’s initial academic motives, as their empirical Twitter investigations suggest that the environment does have a reasonable effect upon the inventory/usage of snow words. In additional defiance, Regier et al. cite Krupnik & Mßller-Wille (2010); because other languages have words for certain states of snow, especially where it more commonly occurs such as Russia, diverse lexicons may be tied to locale more than critics of the myth admit, particularly evident for languages like English which lack as many lexemes for snow (yet contains up to two million words as Nunberg (1996) fails to correlate).

Krupnik (2011) supports the variance of Eskimo language with collected evidence. His assessment of sea ice terminology suggests Eskimo vocabulary is diverse due to social and geographical factors, and that different group members offer different levels of verbal ability depending on gender, age, and role within communities. Kaplan (2003) further suggests that specific ice terms regarding rivers are known only by intrepid hunters, enhancing the idea of location or experience driven vocabularies. Varied terms also exist between neighbouring dialects, suggesting a vocabulary disparity between differing Eskimo groups, some of which are endangered. This highlights the risk of Eskimo languages failing to be passed down and changing too rapidly to document. Critic Martin (1986) fails to acknowledge that West Greenlandic lacks a noun stem that other Eskimo languages contain, suggesting that not all Eskimo vocabularies are morphologically identical and thus cannot be generally compared as

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Martin appears to do (Kaplan, 2003). And surprisingly, the opposing Pullum (1991) supports Krupnik (2011)’s assessments, agreeing that vocabulary differences between the young and old is indeed drastic and that Eskimo language rules make the counting of individual words difficult due to unique inflectional and derivational patterns. This suggests that it’s unfair to assume there are set numbers of words for snow (or ice) for an entire ethnic group that is rapidly changing, that lexemes are somewhat influenced by locale, and linguists, while technically or pedantically correct in regards to whether Eskimo languages consist of true words, cannot fully answer the complexity of Eskimos having so many terms for snow without consistent empirical explorations from additional fields.

It is evident, at least according to the view of Nunberg (1996), Martin (1986), and Pullum (1989), that the media has not shifted behaviour since the inception of the myth. However, other arguments dictate no simple answer, especially when comparing empirical data suggesting rich Eskimo vocabularies do exist, just in ways separate to English. Regier et al.

(2016) rightly suggest a bigger picture that original scholars may have missed, but it is worth remembering that without their work, explorations of this myth would be drastically different than today.

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References Au, T. K. F. (1983). Chinese and English counterfactuals: the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis revisited. Cognition, 15(1-3), 155-187. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0010027783900380 doi:10.1016/0010-0277(83)90038-0 Bogost, I. (2016). Mini Object Lesson: No, There Are Not 100 Eskimo Words for "Snow”.

Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2016/01/mini-object-lesson-nothere-are-not-a-hundred-eskimo-words-for-snow/426651/ Kaplan, L. D. (2003). Inuit snow terms: How many and what does it mean. Building Capacity in Arctic Societies: Dynamics and Shifting Perspectives, 263-269.

Kilarski, M. (2014). Complexity in the history of language study. Poznan Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 50(2), 157-168. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1702716606 doi:10.1515/psicl-2014-0011 Krupnik, I. (2011), ‘How many Eskimo words for ice?’ Collecting Inuit sea ice terminologies in the International Polar Year 2007–2008. The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe Canadien, 55(1), 56-68. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.15410064.2010.00345.x# doi:10.1111/j.1541-0064.2010.00345.x Krupnik, I., & Müller-Wille, L. (2010). Franz Boas and Inuktitut terminology for ice and snow: from the emergence of the field to the “Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax”.

In SIKU: Knowing our ice (pp. 377-400). Springer, Dordrecht.

Martin, L. (1986). "Eskimo Words for Snow": A Case Study in the Genesis and Decay of an Anthropological Example. American Anthropologist, 88(2), new series, 418-423.

Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/677570 Nunberg, G. (1996). Snowblind. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 14(1), 205-213.

Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4047883 Pullum, G. (1989). The great Eskimo vocabulary hoax. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, 7(2), 275-281. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4047733 Pullum, G. K. (1991). The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax and Other Irreverent Essays on the Study of Language. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press. 168170.

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Pullum, G. K. (2004). Sasha Aikhenvald On Inuit Snow Words: A Clarification Retrieved from http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000405.html Regier, T., Carstensen, A., & Kemp, C. (2016). Languages support efficient communication about the environment: Words for snow revisited. PloS one, 11(4), 1-17.

Retrieved from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0151138 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0151138 Robson, D. (2013) There really are 50 Eskimo words for ‘snow’.

Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/therereally-are-50-eskimo-words-for-snow/2013/01/14/e0e3f4e0-59a0-11e2-beee6e38f5215402_story.html

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An Argument Paper Against the Myth that Adults Can’t Become Fluent in a New Language Molly Chapman There are four main points within this argument paper against the myth that ‘adults can’t become fluent in a new language.’ Firstly, the introduction of comparative evidence that children at the schooling age learning a second language are unable, in the masses, to achieve fluency status. This therefore suggests the presence of a flaw within the practice of language learning which may be responsible for this lack of fluency rather than the believed age of acquisition. Secondly, the evidence suggesting that adult language immersion programmes have proven to be an effective academic example of adult fluency attainment in an L2.

Thirdly, the evidence of the real-world example of successful adult acquisition concerning immigrants within the United States. The final aspect of the argument is the contradictory evidence of the ‘maturational constraints hypothesis’ which alleges that adults acquiring a new second language are unable to match the fluency ability of an L1 speaker of that language.

With this paper’s fundamental argument that adults can actually achieve fluency in a new second language, it would be important to note that the abstract noun “fluency” is subjective.

It raises questions such as; what is fluency? Is it having an academic achievement in a particular language subject? Or, is it being able to maintain a conversation with an L1 individual of that language? There are a probable number of answers to these queries based almost entirely upon individual experience. The closest assumed answer to any of the above interrogatives would be the dictionary definition. According to the Oxford Dictionary ‘Fluent’

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is defined as “able to express oneself easily and articulately” and “able to speak or write a particular foreign language easily and accurately. E.g. ‘she became fluent in French and German’.” (Oxford Dictionary of English, 2010). It is important to keep these subjective definitions at the forefront of one’s mind in regard to the following evidenced arguments.

Since it is the common misconception that adults are unable to become fluent in a second language it becomes, by default, the popular belief that children are better suited to acquire a new language successfully. A possible explanation for this belief is the focus of languagelearning in the schooling and education system. For example, all primary and secondary schools in Wales are required by government law to provide each student with a minimum of two hours per week of taught Welsh language learning. This may appear to be an effective form of language acquisition but according to the Welsh Language Use Survey 2013-15 this is not entirely accurate. Their findings discovered that only 13% of the 6,800-person sample learning Welsh as an L2 aged at the primary school level considered themselves to be fluent.

Further findings also highlighted a sudden decrease of only 2% of the sample aged at the secondary school level who considered themselves to be fluent in Welsh. (Welsh Language Survey 2013-15, 2015). These findings ultimately suggest that school children in English medium education are unable to effectively acquire Welsh as a second language with the current practice and structure built within the education system. Overall, this fundamentally suggests that the previous theory of critical period in age of language acquisition “as proposed

by Lenneberg (1967)” and “holds that primary language acquisition must occur during a critical period which ends at about the age of puberty with the establishment of cerebral

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lateralisation of function. A strong implication of this hypothesis is that the processes involved in any language acquisition which takes place after the age of puberty will be qualitatively different than those involved in first language acquisition.” (Snow & Hoefnagel-Hӧhle, 1978), does not always apply and is therefore flawed.

Now with the consideration that second language acquisition is not restricted to children only, the idea that adult second language fluency is possible appears to be much more realistic.

Returning to the previous argument that the quality of the practice is more important than the age of acquisition, Sanz (2005) highlights that “graduates from immersion programs learn faster and attain higher proficiency levels than L2 learners in foreign language programs.”

This proposes that academically fuelled, high focused language immersion is more beneficial in achieving second language fluency than the aforementioned failing schooling structure.

Sanz (2005) also highlights the complexity of adult language acquisition as an interdisciplinary practice; “although the volume takes a cognitive approach to L2 learning, it also accepts the importance of social context in both L1 and L2 acquisition. All knowledge, especially but not exclusively linguistic knowledge, is the results of learners’ interaction with their social context, and acquisition is thus both social and cognitive.” This suggests that there is no straight-forward explanation for language acquisition and that there are a number of disciplines involved in its practice such as sociology, psychology, and, naturally, linguistics.

In addition to these “immersion programs” (Sanz, 2005), there have been a number of studies focusing upon the fluency of adults acquiring a second language. Similarly, to the Welsh

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Language Use Survey 2013-15 (2015), Unsworth (2005) highlighted child fluency acquisition levels and additionally compared the results with those of the adult fluency acquisition levels to be able to dispute the myth that ‘adults can’t become fluent in a new language.’ Using Dutch as the practice language, the evidence suggests that both L2 children and L2 adults process “scrambling of objects” in exactly the same way; “The main findings are as follows.

In production L2 children and L2 adults passed through the same developmental sequence, which only differed from that of L1 children in that it included an initial stage of L1 transfer.”

(Unsworth, 2005). These findings further strengthen the argument against the titular myth as they emphasise no distinct differences in regards to the age of language acquisition of ultimately report several cases of Dutch fluency within the adults.

Moving away from academically driven environments and their second language acquisition programmes, there is also a focused number of studies regarding the real-world cases of adult acquisition. These studies highlight how adults are able to acquire second language fluency without the aid of academia and westernised educational structured practices. It is then sufficient to argue that adults are able to acquire fluency in a new second language via a variety of methods. An example of a case of real-world language acquisition is found in Stevens (1999) who summarised that “when investigating second language (L2) acquisition among immigrants, sociologists and economists often rely on ‘exposure’ or ‘human capital’ frameworks, in which L2 learning is prompted by opportunities and motivations to become proficient in English. Much of this research shows that social and demographic factors, such as length of residence in the U.S and educational attainment, strongly predict levels of

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proficiency in English among foreign-born adults. Linguists, by contrast start from the premise that language acquisition is a multi-dimensional phenomenon to be explained through a combination of linguistic, neurolinguistic, and psycholinguistic processes.”. This suggests that from the sociological perspective, the individual’s financial position acts as a contributing factor to their ability to acquire fluency in their second language. The further integrated the individual becomes within society, with stable employment, a progressive community etc., the chance of their adult acquisition of English becoming fluent is greatly increased.

Interestingly, from the contrasting linguistic perspective, emphasis should instead be placed upon the individual’s innate ability to process language in regards to cognition and integration to their environment. Due to both of these perspectives, it would be sufficient to argue that all of the aforementioned factors contribute to the overall success rate of the adult individual’s fluency in their second language.

The fourth and final argument within this paper evidencing that adults can acquire fluency in a second language is linked to the previously evidenced contradiction to the critical period of age acquisition. The ‘maturational constraints hypothesis’ is questionable. In summary, this refers to the “constraints on learning required to explain the acquisition of language…and second language acquisition suggests that normal language learning occurs only when exposure to the language begins early in life. With exposure beginning later in life, asymptotic performance in the language declines: the effects over age of first exposure are approximately linear through childhood, with a flattening of the function in adulthood.” (Newport, 1990,

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p.11). This essentially suggests that adults are restricted by the aging process and its consequences regarding cognitive function and language ability.

However, there have been a number of studies which contradict the basis of Newport’s (1990) findings. The previously discussed Stevens (1999), further extended her work regarding Dutch and its adult speakers’ abilities to achieve fluency in the language. Her findings include previous supportive studies in regards to successful adult acquisition and fluency; “Some scholars have argued that the maturational constraints hypothesis implies that non-native speakers of French, who started learning the language after puberty, were indistinguishable from native French speakers in tests of syntax. In White and Genesee’s 1996 study of 89 Canadians who learned English as L2 in adulthood, those who English abilities were ranked very highly by two judges (e.g. pronunciation, morphology) were largely indistinguishable from native English speakers in terms of grammaticality judgements. Bongaerts et al.’s 1997 study showed that, among a highly selected sample of 10 native Dutch speakers, several were indistinguishable from native English speakers in English pronunciation.” (Stevens, 1999).

Since these studies were conducted and published after Newport’s 1990 publication it suggests a certain amount of disagreement within the linguistic discipline in regards to the capability of adults regarding second language fluency. This conflict ultimately suggests that the process of adult acquisition is more complex than initially considered. The above evidence proves that, in the correct circumstances and environment, adult fluency in a second language is in fact achievable, therefore disputing both Newport’s (1990) and the earlier Lenneberg’s (1967) publication findings.

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To conclude, in regards to language acquisition in adults, and secondly children, it is important to credit the theory that when it comes to achieving fluency in a new language the importance lies in the method and practice rather than the age of acquisition as highlighted by the findings of the Welsh Language Use Survey 2013-15 (2015). This then ultimately disputes Lenneberg’s (1967) hypothesis of critical period and its effect upon language learning.

Also, in contrast to the titular myth, adult “immersion programs” (Sanz, C. 2005) have proved to be incredibly effective in achieving second language fluency in adults. It gives credit to highly focused, academic practice of languages in comparison to the failing schooling practice of two hours of language learning per week. This also further strengthens the argument that emphasis should be placed upon methodology rather than age ability. Thirdly, in addition to these effective academically driven methods, there have been a number of cases of success in real-world acquisition regarding immigrants within the United States. This then suggests that adults still possess the cognitive capability to acquire fluency in a new language, even without the influence of the previously explored academic, immersive methodology. Finally, recent studies have provided contradictory evidence to Newport’s (1990) findings regarding the ‘maturational constraints hypothesis’ which ultimately suggest that with the correct, effective resources and societal position an adult can confidently and successfully become fluent in a new language.

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References Newport, L. E. (1990). Maturational Constraints on Language Learning. Cognitive Science, 14(1), 11.

Oxford Dictionary of English. (2010). (3rd ed). Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Sanz, C. (2005). Mind & Context in Adult Second Language Acquisition: Methods, Theory, and Practice. Washington DC, Georgetown University Press.

Snow, E. C & Hoefnagel-HÓ§hle, M. (1978). The Critical Period for Language Acquisition: Evidence from Second Language Learning. Child Development, 49(4), 1114.

Stevens, G. (1999). Age at Immigration and Second Language Proficiency among Foreign-born Adults. Language in Society, 28(4), 555-578.

Unsworth, S. (2005). Child L2, Adult L2, Child L1: Differences and Similarities. A Study on the Acquisition of Direct Object Scrambling in Dutch. Language Acquisition, 14(2), 215-217.

Welsh Language Use Survey 2013-15. (2015). https://gov.wales/welsh-language-use-survey2013-2015

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Translanguaging in the EFL Classroom Panayiota Hadjipapa Nb. This article focuses on Moore, P. (2017). Becoming bilingual in the EFL classroom. ELT Journal, 72(2), pp.131-140. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccx045. ~ Ed. This text drew my attention because I plan on becoming a language teacher and encouraging students to translanguage may be a decision I may have to take.

It is an evidence-based, readable, and understandable research article with a suitable academic register. It is just nine pages long and simply laid out. It is not linguistically complex and dense, but it contains jargon and several linguistic terms. It cannot be fully understood by someone who is not in the field. The target audience is language students, language teachers, applied linguistics researchers, and practitioners.

The text was viewed 1436 times and was downloaded 515 times on the ELT Journal. Even though the times it is being cited fluctuate, it is still being cited. It was cited four times in Google Scholar because it is recent but with time more people will access it. 43% of the world population is bilingual and 13% of the world population is trilingual.

The article was published in the ELT Journal, a well-known, well-respected, and established academic journal which was first published in 1946. Moore cites other authors; hence, her text is credible and reliable as evidence is added to her arguments, claims, and observations.

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Pat Moore has been working for the ELT since the 1980s. She has worked in many countries.

She has been working in the Department of Languages and Translation at a university in Seville. She has been researching secondary bilingual education (CLIL) for ten years.

As far as the contextualisation is concerned, it is part of the ELT field. Translanguaging is an approach that cannot only be used in class but also outside of class since people can switch languages and/or translate to communicate. L2 learners and users feel more comfortable using their L1 in the classroom. This study links with the debate, bilingual education versus Englishonly. Another debate is whether the use of L1 in class reduces the L2 acquisition and diminishes the amount of L2 input. (Thornbury,2010) argued that translation is the ‘easy’ way thus less memorable and that translation is “not feasible in classes of mixed nationalities”.

(Thornbury,2010) also argued that translation is time-efficient in comparison with demonstrations, explanations, and “working out meaning from context”. For many years the general agreement was to discourage code-switch and translation Corcoll López & GonzálezDavies (2015). There was a belief that languages’ concurrent presence would bring interference and students would lack interest (Corcoll López & González-Davies,2015). Conteh (2018) explained that “there are controversies and challenges surrounding translanguaging in research, policy, and practice” because translanguaging challenges notions, such as standard and target language. They also argue that translanguaging questions social justice in teaching and it exposes how the spreading out of the linguistic resources negotiates social difference and inequality. Translanguaging resonates with the speakers’ identity and promotes belonging. The English-only policy is still present in most classrooms (Moore,2017). Another debate is which

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method is the best. Prabhu (1990) argued that there is no best method for teaching. However, is there still no best method, even with the intervention of the L1?

This article was written in 2017 hence, it is up-to-date and relevant to ELT debates. It is topical and the field is evolving and emerging. Cook (2016) argued that bilinguals and monolinguals do not think in the same way and SLA is interested in age and L1/L2 transfer. This study fits well with other studies done in the past on translating, code-switching and translanguaging including Corcoll López & González-Davies (2015) (Spanish-speaking students too). Codeswitching, and translation are beneficial especially in “intercultural development when the aim is to train plurilingual speakers with plurilingual skills, rather than aiming for the usually unattainable task of training for native-speaker-like language use.” Stern (1992) stated that new languages are learnt based on previous languages. Cook (1999) explains that L2 users should “be viewed as multicompetent language users rather than as deficient native speakers.”

(Cook,2016) also said that bilinguals should be proud of achieving things that monolinguals cannot do.

What makes this study unique is the original methodology. She sent letters to her students to answer. There is not enough research about learners/users’ opinions on translanguaging. This study fills a research gap and has a narrow focus. Her research can be used as a foundation for subsequent research. I will go into more detail in section 4.

1. Preview

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The article is written by Pat Moore, who is in the field for many years. It is published in the ELT Journal. It is aimed at foreign language learners and language teachers, researchers, and possible institutions. This article has a journalistic layout and she has cited many other authors.

It is a research article as it has an introduction, rationale and methodology, and a discussion section. She discusses her findings and expresses her opinion about some results and she also has recommendations about future studies. It is organised in sections, sub-headings, and paragraphs. Moreover, it contains an extract from the letter she gave her students.

2. Organisational Structure Introduction People can only be a native speaker in the first language they learn. Bilinguals use their linguistic repertoire and there are no boundaries between the languages. The author will explore students’ opinions on an ELF course where the English-only policy do not take place.

Context and participants The study takes place at a university in Spain during the course of a third-year English course.

There are approximately 100 students. Thus, there is a specific context.

Rationale and methodology

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The students replied to three letters, and this was the way the author assessed written interaction. The teacher evaluated the way the students responded to the prompts. In the letters, multilingualism is explicitly addressed.

Results and discussion 114 replies were received. 78 students replied to the notion. 55 students translanguaged.

In theory A third of the participants used the terminology used in the prompts.

Reactions to in-class practice They mentioned that translation improves memory. They found translanguaging realistic, exciting, and beneficial.

Reflections on out-of-class practice The participants that replied explicitly to multilingualism expressed positive attitudes and some found it logical. Some recognised the contextual dependence inherent for example, a student met an English native speaker and used to change from English to Spanish and vice versa to be fair and speak both languages. Therefore, they switched to a language that was available in both speakers’ linguistic repertoire and they rely on what is shared by both speakers.

Bilingual interaction

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They study the language for about 15 years hence they consider themselves bilinguals.

Conclusions Over two-thirds of the participants responded positively: either explicitly or implicitly to the topic. However, limitations are present. I will discuss this further in section 4.

3.

Vocabulary

3.1 Sentence(s) copied from the text: “Europeans tend to set the bar really high when it comes to acknowledging bilingualism” Paraphrase: Europeans usually have really high expectations for bilinguals.

Rationale behind choosing this idea from the article: This idiom was used to emphasise the fact the Europeans in contrast to other nationalities have high expectations for people that speak two languages. Thus, this puts pressure on L2 learners.

Hence, the audience is aware of what is going on in other countries as well.

3.2

3 collocations

1. “English-only policy” 2. “Native-speaker norms”

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3. “false cognate” 3.3

Phrase copied from the text with punctuation and accurate in-text citation:

“Their differences from native speakers reflect the complexity of a mind with two languages compared to the simplicity of a mind with one.”

Rationale behind choosing this phrase as being necessary to quote directly: Cook has an interesting distinction about the way monolinguals and bilinguals think. Using this statement, the concept of multi-competence is explained, and bilinguals are described in a positive light. I also chose this quote because the language is interesting, and I would not like to change or substitute any words of this sentence.

3.4

Sentence copied from the text containing the phrase or word:

“gauge student reactions/ attitudes/ opinions” Explanation for use and effect of the use: The choice of verb is interesting as it is not commonly used. It makes the text engaging, gripping, and compelling.

1. Make notes to help you summarise the main narrative of the article:-

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2. Additional ‘Brainstorm’ Template

3. Summary: Nativeness is no longer the target for learners of foreign languages. Translanguaging is a pedagogic technique that developed in Wales in the 1980s. Translanguaging is the pre-planned change of languages for input and output to encourage bilingualism. It includes code-switch, translation, coinages, and calques. Bilinguals use L1 to improve L2 development. Students’ opinions on an EFL course where the English-only police do not take place are explored.

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The study takes place at a university in Spain in 2015-2016 during a third-year course. The participants are 96 home and overseas students. Their level was C1 in the CEFR. Most students were Spanish, and English was their L2. Some students could speak three languages.

The goal was to make students think of themselves as bilinguals. The students designed a leaflet and retold the opening story from an Argentinian film in English. The way the students responded to the prompts of the three letters sent by the teacher was evaluated. The students did not have to answer everything.

114 replies were received, 78 participants replied either explicitly or implicitly to the question of multilingualism. 56 participants responded explicitly to the extract of the second letter. 22 translanguaged, but did not reply explicitly. 33 of the participants were translanguaged and replied explicitly. A third of the participants used the terminology used in the prompt and researched the topic.

Comments included that translation improves memory and multilingualism is exciting and realistic. Some were surprised that the English-only policy did not take place during the tasks because they were used to an L2 monolingual policy. Some stated that the use of L1 made tasks easier and faster, and useful for real-life situations and that talking in more than one language was chaotic but also time enriching and an interesting multicultural encounter. Students commented on L2 inauthenticity, having pan-linguistic gains and preferring to say some things in English instead of in Spanish because the meaning was not the same. Overall, over two-

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thirds of the participants reacted positively either explicitly or implicitly to translanguaging techniques.

SECTION 4: Detailed critique of the article.

An alternative title to the research article is ‘What do advanced-level learners of English think about translanguaging?’. The catchy question informs the readers that learners’ opinions regarding a current issue in ELT will be expressed.

Over two-thirds of the participants responded positively either explicitly or implicitly to the notion (results). However, opinions are not an actual measurement. A longitudinal empirical study showing the gains in the language is an alternative. The participants were more receptive to translanguaging and bilingualismi because they were learning many languages and were advanced-level (cause/effect). Students found translating beneficial, some said that the use of L1 made tasks faster and easier and useful for real-life situations. Some had pan-linguistic gains and seemed motivated and engaged as some researched the topic and put theory into practice.

Overall, the participants that replied explicitly to multilingualism expressed positive attitudes and some found it logical.

I agree with Moore’s opinions and interpretations of the evidence. Just like Corcoll López & González-Davies (2015) said, teachers should integrate “the advantages of teaching plurilingual students within a plurilingual approach”. Hence, I support the fact that she used Classroom Translanguaging techniques (process). Also, in terms of ethical consideration, all students agreed to have their texts used for research.

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Code-mesh, a cognitive tool enhances language learning, for example, to make sense of tasks and analyse the links of languages (Paquet-Gauthier & Beaulieu,2015). Translation improves “accuracy, certainty, speed of acquisition and resourcing skills” and fosters the ability to notice language hence encouraging metalinguistic thought (Corcoll López & González-Davies, 2015,p.72). Similarly, Moore encouraged the students to translanguage in their answers, she allowed them to talk in Spanish to create a leaflet and analysed differences between Spanish and English including false cognates when they translated the opening of a film (process). I support her approach, as it raises language awareness (Paquet-Gauthier & Beaulieu, 2015, p.168).

Moore has worked with a good number of participants. However, she did not say how many overseas students took that module and how many of them participated in the study. Another limitation is that she sent her students three letters, but they are considered old-fashioned as nowadays people use emails instead. Semi-structured emails in an alternative. One may say that three letters are not enough, and she did not mention when she gave them the letters.

Moore did not mention how the students responded to the other two letters and the rest of the second letter. Another limitation is that Moore did not mention the negative comments of the students. The only negative example included in this article is “the idea of talking in any (one) language was quite chaotic” thus showing bias results. She recognises the problem that the fact that the students were not told to answer everything in the letters was not ideal because they could have left things out, they considered it difficult, needed more time, or did not understand.

This could encourage students not to express their opinion if they disagreed with the notion or

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they were afraid of being penalised. Moore (2017) recognises limitations including that her way of evaluating the writing could have affected the results and when talking about controversial topics in class, they had no compunction in disagreeing with the teacher’s opinions. Reid (2019) explained that teachers should have a holistic perspective. They should not only focus on the learners’ strengths and weaknesses but also consider the preferred learning style. Most likely the students that favoured translanguaging are good at it and like doing it, however, the students that did not favour it did not like it, and perhaps like a different method or approach to learning a language.

The next step to this work could be the analysis and evaluation of the students’ negative comments. Moore recommends the elimination of the self-selection aspect for unbiased and accurate results. Building from section 2, I agree with her recommendation for her approach to be repeated with younger and lower-level students who only study one foreign language and with a variety of teachers. Hence, elicit a wider variety of participants. Researchers need to take ethics into consideration when working with children, because children may not understand the consequences of sharing their data.

Moore’s study has implications for teachers, policy-makers, and promoters of translanguaging pedagogy (Wei & Lin, 2019, p.213), as it shows that the system needs to change and people must see languages as equally valuable.

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SECTION 5: Currency Considerations Building from section 2, this topic is current because there is a rapid global increase in migration and mobility thus, broadening multilingualism (Conteh,2018). English Language’s rapid expansion puts pressure on teachers to teach in the best way possible.

Garcia suggests that translanguaging constructs translingual practice for social and pedagogic practice (Anderson, 2017,p.26). Learners and users of L1 benefit from L1-inclusive practices including translanguaging, translation, contrastive analysis, L1 clarifications of grammar, and production of bilingual writing (Anderson, 2017,p.31). EFL classroom must become recognised “as a translingual environment, where translanguaging” is seen “as an authentic, rather than deviant, practice of the classroom community” (Anderson, 2017,p.33).

There is a “debate about the nature of the linguistic system of bilinguals”. Additionally, educators regard persistent translanguaging as cognitive ‘errors’ and signs of psycholinguistic deficiency (Otheguy, García & Reid, 2019, p.647).

Google scholar has numerable 2019 publications about translanguaging. Translanguaging is an effective pedagogical practice in many educational contexts, it focuses on meaning, increasing experience, and developing identity (Wei & Lin,2019,p.211-213). Translanguaging challenges educational programs as they are controlled by monolingual language beliefs and disrupts the tendency in EFL education to not consider students as emergent bilinguals. Therefore, equity and social justice are promoted. Moreover, translanguaging empowers minoritized communities

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because it disrupts the socially established language hierarchies that suppress the languages of minoritized people (Cenoz & Gorter,2019).

There was a conference on translanguaging in Sweden in April 2019 and one at the University of Stirling in September 2019. (Ortega,2018) stated in the 2018 IATEFL Conference that the languages of an individual support each other in strong synergy, they do not compete with each other and for minority-languages students specifically, more L1 means better L2.

IllÊs & Akcan (2017) set communication as a priority and highlight the significance of real-life language in classrooms. When bilinguals talk the way they feel most comfortable, meaning using both languages to communicate, it’s considered real-life language.

A related key area that needs to be considered is how multilinguals and multilingual repertoire must be assessed. For example, looking at learners’ progress over time. This is still unsolved (Cenoz & Gorter, 2019, p.134).

SECTION 6: Reflective Task This challenging assignment made me read my chosen article numerous times in order to grasp all the details, thus made the progress of the coursework slower than I first expected. This assignment made me more conscious of paraphrasing and avoiding repetition. This assignment was challenging because I had a hard time expressing my opinions in an academic manner, but in order to have a valid opinion you must first have a great amount of knowledge about the topic, and before this course, I did not have much knowledge about the issues in ELT. I have learned

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to pay attention to details while reading and focus on in-text citations because often experts’ opinions are used to back up arguments. It was also helpful to make notes for each section and writing down to structure them properly and write the information in the right order efficiently.

Deconstructing the relevant information of academic texts is a valuable and transferable skill that has to yet be improved. I have yet to develop my academic voice and opinion on certain topics concerning this field. Additionally, while doing this assignment I had realised that it is sometimes better to do sections of assignments not in numerical order, but rather in a logical order.

This module made me improve my critical thinking through understanding and analysing academic literature, hence I can now write essays with greater depth and criticality. It is now easier to understand the objectives and stances of the authors. I have also widened my vocabulary and improved my academic writing. This module has taught me a lot about the field of ELT and made me aware of the different types of articles, including review articles, literature reviews, and opinion pieces. I am now aware of experts in this field that I will consider in my career as I would forward to becoming a teacher. I would like to research this field and I feel more confident to attend conferences in the future. Overall, this module because it made me more passionate about teaching. I have gained many skills throughout this course including time management that is beneficial for future studies and goals.

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References Anderson, J. (2017). Reimagining English language learners from a translingual perspective.

ELT Journal, 72(1), 26-37. doi: 10.1093/elt/ccx029 Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (2019). Multilingualism, Translanguaging, and Minority Languages in SLA. The Modern Language Journal, 103, 130-135. doi: 10.1111/modl.12529 Conteh, J. (2018). Translanguaging. ELT Journal, 72(4), 445-447. doi: 10.1093/elt/ccy034 Cook, V. (1999). Going beyond the Native Speaker in Language Teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 33(2), 185. doi: 10.2307/3587717 Cook, V. (2016). Where Is the Native Speaker Now?. TESOL Quarterly, 50(1), 186-189. doi: 10.1002/tesq.286 Corcoll López, C., & González-Davies, M. (2015). Switching codes in the plurilingual classroom. ELT Journal, 70(1), 67-77. doi: 10.1093/elt/ccv056 Illés, É., & Akcan, S. (2017). Bringing real-life language use into EFL classrooms. ELT Journal, 71(1), 3-12. doi: 10.1093/elt/ccw049 Otheguy, R., García, O., & Reid, W. (2019). A translanguaging view of the linguistic system of bilinguals. Applied Linguistics Review, 10(4), 625-651. doi: 10.1515/applirev-2018-0020

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Ortega, L. (2019). What is SLA research good for, anyway?. IATEFL Conference: British Council. Retrieved from https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/what-slaresearch-good-anyway Paquet-Gauthier, M., & Beaulieu, S. (2015). Can language classrooms take the multilingual turn?. Journal Of Multilingual And Multicultural Development, 37(2), 167-183. doi: 10.1080/01434632.2015.1049180 Prabhu, N. (1990). There Is No Best Method-Why?. TESOL Quarterly, 24(2), 161. doi: 10.2307/3586897 Reid, G. (2019). Dyslexia: Teaching Aprroaches – Dr Gavin Reid. Retrieved from https://www.drgavinreid.com/free-resources/dyslexia-teaching-approaches/ Thornbury, S. (2010). T is for Translation [Blog]. Retrieved from https://scottthornbury.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/t-is-for-translation/ Wei, L., & Lin, A. (2019). Translanguaging classroom discourse: pushing limits, breaking boundaries. Classroom Discourse, 10(3-4), 209-215. doi: 10.1080/19463014.2019.1635032

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A Genre Analysis of Lifestyle Blogs Milo Coffey Introduction A blog is a regularly updated webpage, distinct from a diary in their use of links and from a wiki in their personal nature (Myers, 2010, p. 2). Blogs vary greatly in subject matter, but the most widely read genre is the lifestyle blog – indeed, the first nine titles on a list of the most influential blogs contained the word lifestyle (Feedspot, 2020). The following is a genre analysis of three articles from three such blogs using the systemic functional linguistics (SFL) approach, developed by Martin and Rose (2008) based on the earlier work of Michael Halliday. This approach was selected because it is a flexible framework which has been successfully applied to a wide range of genres, including service encounters (Halliday & Hasan, 1985), religious texts (Inya, 2012), newspaper editorials (Ansary & Babaii, 2005) and online interactions (Goutsos, 2005). However, while some researchers have used alternative frameworks to analyse the genre of blogs (e.g. Herring, Scheidt, Bonus and Wright, 2004), little SFL analysis has yet been carried out. The texts analysed are articles from the blogs Zero Waste Life, Zero Waste Path and Trash is for Tossers, and are supplied in the appendix. Each text is examined and a generic structure potential (GSP) for the lifestyle blog genre is proposed.

Methods The SFL approach sees genres as “staged, goal oriented social processes” (Rose, 2012, p. 209) they set out to achieve some communicative purpose, and this unfolds over multiple stages.

Hence a genre can be defined in terms of the stages which are present and the order they appear

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(Rose, 2012). Some elements of this structure may be optional, others obligatory (Inya, 2012).

Halliday and Hasan (1985) named the range of optional and obligatory components that comprise a given genre as its generic structure potential, or GSP, and devised a system for categorizing these. Figure 1 shows this system applied to a generic service encounter.

Fig. 1: Generic structure potential of a basic service encounter. Adapted from Ansary and Babaii (2005, p.

276).

To classify the blogs in this way, it was necessary to first identify the stages they comprised.

Following Ansary and Babaii (2005), patterning of micro-level discourse features was examined

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to establish macro-level stage boundaries. Features examined included changes in tense and mood, the degree of self-mention, the use of pronouns and deixis, and the use of certain lexis (e.g. evaluative terms in conclusions).

Once stage boundaries had been identified, the stages of each of the texts were named and compared across the corpus to look for patterning on a structural level.

Results and discussion The three blogs are laid out similarly, each headed by the blog title accompanied by a navigation menu. Zero Waste Life and Trash is for Tossers also include links to their social media pages. The blog titles are meaningful, and fall into two categories: Zero Waste Path and Zero Waste Life are descriptive, giving readers an idea of what the blog is about, whereas Trash is for Tossers is a statement of opinion. By choosing this title, the author firmly establishes her positioning, or stance (Hyland, 2012), towards the issue of zero-waste – she is against trash and against those who possess it. This is marked affectively by linking Trash to the taboo term Tossers by means of the copula (i.e. there is no hedging or boosting).

This stage is followed by a large image and the article title. Each article title describes the content below, e.g. Seven Zero Waste Changes Which are Totally FREE! (Zero Waste Life) is followed by a list of seven zero-waste changes. Zero Waste Path and Zero Waste Life also include a publication date, whereas Trash is for Tossers gives an estimate for reading time and a list of ‘tags’. Tags are short descriptions used to label internet content, and their use in blogs is widespread (Hayes, Avensani, & Veeramachaneni, 2007, p. 2772). Tags are also present in the Zero Waste Life article, albeit at

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the end rather than the beginning. Zero Waste Path however does not include tags, possibly because the website serves primarily as a shop rather than a blog.

Each article begins with a few paragraphs that introduce the topic and provide some background information. These sections are characterised by declarative sentences with no hedging, indicating the writers’ commitment to their assertions (Hyland, 2012), and in the case of Trash is for Tossers and Zero Waste Life, use of the second person and self-mention to evoke a conversational style. As Myers (2010) notes, it is common for bloggers to address their audience in this way. This audience is assumed by the writer to be an interested reader whose purpose for reading aligns with their own (i.e. the blogger’s purpose is to share information about zero-waste living, and the reader’s is to learn such information) – they are, in the terms of Goffman (1981, p. 9), ratified participants in the discourse.

Following the introduction section, Trash is for Tossers and Zero Waste Life both move on to the main feature of the article: the list. Both articles signal this transition using deixis, for example Here are some brilliant tips… (Trash is for Tossers). The list sections comprise a repeating structure of the item title (IT); a description of the item (ID), which may include a smaller, bullet-point list (sub-list, SL); and in some cases an image relating to the item (item image, II). The GSP of this substructure can be represented using Halliday & Hasan’s (1985) notation thus: [IT^[ID(^SL)](^II)]

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Both the titles and descriptions are characterised by the imperative mood and the use of secondperson pronouns, and may include catatonic references to previous items. Zero Waste Path has a different structure, moving from an extended background section into a short section where the authors give their opinion on the topic (marked by self-mention), and then the list section. This list lacks item titles but is otherwise akin to the lists in the other two articles, hence the list substructure can be modified: [(IT^)[ID(^SL)](^II)] Zero Waste Path also includes a second, smaller list to give advice about avoiding palm oil. This list is given with an attribution link, which fulfils two of the ‘affordances’ of blogs described by Myers (2010): intertextuality (how texts draw on and interact with other texts) and evidence (how the writer supports their propositions). In this case, the writers of the blog use intertextuality as evidence, much like in academic writing (indeed, this article even includes a references section). The other blogs however do not use intertextuality as evidence – Trash is for Tossers only includes links to its own pages, and Zero Waste Life has no links at all. This difference may have arisen as a result of the providence of Zero Waste Path – according to the blog’s ‘About’ page, its authors have an academic background (Zero Waste Path, n.d.).

Finally, the main text of each blog ends with a conclusion section. This may include a summary of the article and a restatement of the authors’ stance (Zero Waste Path and Zero Waste Life), a request for feedback, e.g. Let us know which ones you’ve tried out (Zero Waste Life), and a ‘call to action’. This last feature is present in all three blogs, and serves as encouragement for the reader

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to use what they have learnt to take some action in the real world (e.g. to produce less waste).

This may be expressed using the imperative mood, e.g. Make this your least trashy school year yet!

(Trash is for Tossers), or in a more subtle way using deontic modality, e.g. …we should be ready to face the facts, and to find solutions to the problem… (Zero Waste Path).

Following the conclusion is the end matter. This differs across the blogs: Trash is for Tossers has links to the website’s online shop as well as to other articles, whereas Zero Waste Path and Zero Waste Life include a comments section. This is a common feature of blogs, and allows for a degree of interaction between the blogger and their readers (Lutzky & Gee, 2018). According to Lutzky and Gee (2018), blog comments are characterised by speech acts like thanking and complimenting. Also common are subscription boxes, where the reader can enter their email address so that they can be notified when the blog is updated.

Figure 2 shows the GSP of the lifestyle blog based on these findings, using the notation developed by Halliday and

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Hassan (1985).

Fig. 2: Generic structure potential of lifestyle blogs Conclusion This investigation has shown that it is possible to define a generic structure potential for the lifestyle blog genre through analysis of a small corpus. This was done by examining the microlevel discourse features that characterise the stages of each text. However, in order to verify the GSP proposed here, analysis of a larger corpus of lifestyle blogs is necessary. Future studies may also benefit from using a concordancer to look for patterns of lexical cohesion across texts in this genre, as it is possible that this too may be a defining feature of the genre.

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References Ansary, H., & Babaii, E. (2005). The generic integrity of newspaper editorials: a systemic functional perspective. RELC Journal, 36(3), 271–295.

Feedspot. (2020, March 20). Top 100 UK lifestyle blogs, websites & influencers in 2020.

Retrieved

from https://blog.feedspot.com/uk_lifestyle_blogs/.

Goffman, E. (1981). Form of talk. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press.

Goutsos, D. (2005). The interaction of generic structure and interpersonal relations in twofrom

party e-chat discourse. Language@Internet, 2. Retrieved https://www.languageatinternet.org/articles/2005/188.

Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1985). Language, context and text: aspects of language

in a

social

semiotic perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Herring, S. C., Scheidt, L. A., Bonus, S. & Wright, E. (2004). Bridging the gap: a genre analysis of weblogs. Proceedings of the 37th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. doi: 10.1109/HICSS.2004.1265271 Hyland, K. (2012). Stance and engagement: a model of interaction in academic discourse. Discourse Studies, 7(11), 173-192.

Inya, O. (2012). Generic structure potential of Christian apologetics. Linguistik online, 55(5), 75-87.

Martin, J. R. & Rose, D. (2008). Genre relations: mapping culture. London: Equinox.

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Myers, G. (2010). The discourse of blogs and wikis. London: Continuum.

Lutzky, U., & Gee, M. (2018). ‘I just found your blog’. The pragmatics of initiating comments on blog posts. Journal of Pragmatics, 129, 173.

Rose, D. (2012). Genre in the Sydney school. In J. P. Gee & M. Handford (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of discourse analysis (pp. 209-225). London: Routledge.

Hayes, C., Avesani, P., & Veeramachaneni, C. H. P. A. S. (2007). An analysis of the use of tags in a blog recommender system. In R. Sangal, H. Mehta, & R. K. Bagga (Eds.), IJCAI'07: proceedings of the 20th international joint conference on artificial

intelligence

(pp. 2772-2777). San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.

Zero Waste Path. (n.d.). Our story. Retrieved April 13, 2020, from https://www.zerowastepath.co.uk/pages/our-story Appendix Trash is for Tossers: https://trashisfortossers.com/a-guide-to-reducing-your-waste-in-college/ Zero Waste Life: https://www.zerowastelife.co.uk/our-blog-home/2018/4/2/7-zw-changes-which-are-totallyfree?rq=seven%20changes%20free Zero Waste Path: https://www.zerowastepath.co.uk/blogs/zero-waste-path-blog/palm-oil

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How useful is gaming-learning for Chinese students to learn vocabulary in an authentic EFL classroom? Freya Dong

1. Introduction Franciosi, Yagi, Tomoshige and Ye (2016) stated that foreign language learners can develop better vocabulary retention in the long-term via playing simulation games such as ‘3rd World Farmer’ than by learning with the online application ‘Quizlet’ in the classroom. A new similar study will be planned in this paper based on Franciosi et al.’s (2016) and it will mainly focus on investigating the positive effect of gaming-learning for Chinese students who are learning English words in the real classroom.

2. Literature review 2.1 The development of gaming-learning research It has been argued that foreign language learners can benefit from playing computer games in the target language by developing active interaction and having access to intense exposure in order to finish purposeful tasks and pass challenges (Peterson, 2009), and they are highly motivated by this fun type of learning (Ballou, 2009). Therefore it is not surprising that a large number of studies have been conducted to investigate gaming-learning in the foreign language vocabulary acquisition field, such as Milton et al’s (2012) and Chen’s (2014) re-search on 3D computer games, Macedonia & Klimesch’s (2014) on simulation games, and they all demonstrated that learners can master better vocabulary knowledge through playing various

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computer games. Besides, research such as Butler’s (2015) explored the effect of educational computer games which are also considered as serious games. These kind of games can provide corrective feedback on target language knowledge instantly which can assist learners to study foreign language better besides being attractive. Song (2008) even demonstrated that playing educational games can improve students’ critical thinking abilities when writing in the second language.

Moreover, aside from research being done to study gaming-learning in the practical formal instructing settings, some scholars have studied the influence of gaming outside of the classroom on foreign language learning such as Sundqvist & Wikström (2015) and Sylven & Sundqvist (2012). Their research all showed that the students who played computer games more frequently outperformed those who spent less time on digital gaming in the vocabulary tests. Ryu (2013) even studied the effect of the learners’ interaction with other game players after playing including sharing their gaming-experience or discussing some personal topics. In this way learners can learn the foreign language by communicating with peers who might be native speakers or more fluent target language learners. Furthermore, some researchers have also studied the gaminglearning effect compared with the traditional vocabulary learning approach. For example, Ebrahimzadeh & Alavi (2016) demonstrated that foreign language learners can learn new vocabulary more efficiently by playing serious games rather than engaging in a traditional vocabulary class.

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However, it is too complicated for many educators and students to use 3D or 2D simulation games due to the complex system of many of them (Franciosi et al., 2016). Besides, many advanced non-native English speakers are much less likely to improve their English by merely playing virtual games as they mainly focus on the repeated major topic words or sentences which can only help them to win (Peterson, 2011).

2.2 The Chinese students' English vocabulary learning situation Most educators ask the students to expand their English vocabulary size and develop better vocabulary knowledge frequently without being able to provide good teaching methods or learning suggestions in China. So most Chinese students consider learning English words as a boring and difficult task, but they are well aware of that it is vitally important to master a good size of English vocabulary. Thus, they have always struggled with achieving a certain vocabulary level when learning English.

Besides, most Chinese students cannot use the English words appropriately after learning due to the fact that they usually master new vocabulary through rote memorization (Gan et al., 2004, p. 236), which means that they need to focus more on learning and using the new studied words within authentic contexts. Moreover, many students often complain that they forget the majority of the new-learned English words easily very soon even though they spend a large amount of time to learn before (Smith et al., 2013) which leaves them feeling quite frustrated. Similarly, Yu

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(2018) stated that many Chinese students are still struggling with long term retention of English vocabulary.

2.3 Aim and research questions The effectiveness of ‘Quizlet’ has also been evaluated by some studies, for example, Baptist & Kuder (2018) stated that students who used ‘Quizlet’ to learn vocabulary received higher test scores than those who learned by traditional approach and most of the participants claimed that they enjoyed using ‘Quizlet’. However, not many studies have been done to explore and compare the effect of gaming-learning and ‘Quizlet’ together.

Given all the above considerations, it is worthy and needed to evaluate the effectiveness of gaming-learning for Chinese students gaining vocabulary productive knowledge in the EFL classroom compared with using of ‘Quizlet’. A simple educational digital game which can assist both advanced foreign language learners and beginners will be selected, and the study will mainly evaluate to what extent learners can improve their English words’ retention by playing this kind of game. The following are the research questions:

1. How useful is gaming-learning for Chinese students to learn English in an authentic EFL classroom?

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a. Can gaming-learning can assist the participants to develop better vocabulary retention than Quizlet in the short term?

b. Can gaming-learning can assist the participants to develop better vocabulary retention than Quizlet in the long run?

c. Is there a gender difference in the learning effect by playing serious games?

2.

Do the students prefer gaming-learning or using ‘Quizlet’?

The major hypothesis is a. Gaming-learning cannot support the participants to develop better vocabulary retention in the short term. b. Gaming-learning can help students develop better vocabulary retention in the long run. c. Boys will perform better than girls in the vocabulary tests by playing serious games.

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3. Method 3.1 Participants & materials Participants will be recruited from second-year students who age around 19-21 years old in a Chinese university which is located in Shanghai. It will be voluntary, and any sophomore students who are interested in this experiment are more than welcome to participate in it.

According to Sundqvist and SylvÊn’s (2014) study, boys would like to spend much more time than girls on playing games, which means that gender is a significant variable that can influence the research result of the gaming-learning study. So 60 participants with similar numbers of both female and male students who have similar English proficiency would be ideal, and they will be divided into two groups-control group & experimental group randomly, 30 students in each group.

Choosing an appropriate computer game is obviously a challenge because there are many different kinds of educational computer games that students might be interested in and there are no certain rules to select games. Usually, the kind of computer games that students like the most are not the best ones to support them in learning the target language efficiently (Butler, et al., 2014). Besides, boys and girls may favor different types of online games because of individual preferences. So it would be better if the computer game that will be used in this study is a genderneutral one, and it will be selected by the researcher, not the students. According to Jensen (2017), English computer games providing both written and oral target language input are the most favorable ones, and this kind of games can support learners to obtain better vocabulary

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knowledge. Given the above discussion, a serious computer game which can meet the majority of English learners’ various requirements such as “New Oriental Fun Vocabulary ”— one of the most popular educational computer games in China (Yu, 2018) will be used.

Moreover, a wordlist including 50 words will be created in the study. It will be designed by choosing 50 high-frequency English words which are unlikely to be known to the participants from the serious game. The 50 target English items will be used to create a study set in ‘Quizlet’, each English word will be presented with their Chinese explanation. It should be noted that this study set can be only used with the researcher’s permission.

3.2 Procedure This experiment will last for 7 weeks ideally. Two computer labs will be used, in this way it is convenient for the students to play a serious game or use the ‘Quizlet’ on the computer. The participants will attend the research following the sequence: pre-test—treatment—post-test.

There might not be a single best measuring method to evaluate students’ vocabulary knowledge so far (Milton, 2009, p.125), so all the tests in this study are created based on the aims of the research.

It should be noted that this study will be conducted following the ethical guidelines strictly during the whole procedure. All the students will be told clearly the main aim of the study before starting

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and the consent form will be signed in advance. There is no doubt that their information will be only used for this experiment anonymously. Any participant who wants to stop or quit doing the research anytime due to any reasons will be totally respected. Ideally, all the participants will complete and enjoy engaging this research in a relaxed and comfortable environment. The following is the major sequence to conduct the study • It is planned to start the study in the second week of June. In week 1, the researcher will

explain the procedure to the participants but the wordlist and the computer game will be confidential. All the students will complete a written-form pre-test in 30 minutes, wherein they need to write down the 50 English words’ meanings in Chinese. The pre-test is created mainly for measuring if most of the 50 English words are unknown to the participants.

Some of the words may be deleted if the pre-test shows that they are known to many participants.

• In week 2, the third week of June, the two groups will be met in the computer labs. In lab

1, the participants in the control group will use ‘Quizlet’ to study the target words for 90 minutes. In lab 2, the students in the experimental group will be asked to learn the target words for 45 minutes using ‘Quizlet’ first. Next, they will play the digital game for 45 minutes. 90 minutes later, the computer games will be closed and the study set in ‘Quizlet’ will not be allowed to use.

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words, the IPT-immediate post-test will be done. All the target words will be tested in the post-test in random order. The participants will be asked to write down the correct English words according to the given explanations and making reasonable sentences for each target word. The IPT will last for one hour ideally.

• In week 7, the end of July, five weeks after the target words being learned, the participants

will complete the DPT-delayed post-test. The DPT is the same as the IPT, it is mainly designed to evaluate the participants’ long-term retention of the vocabulary knowledge.

Finally, all the participants need to fill out a perception questionnaire to show whether they enjoy gaming-learning or prefer to study with ‘Quizlet’.

During the whole study process, some problems may occur, so the researcher should think of the extra methods or solutions in advance to make sure the whole research can be done smoothly. For example, when the participants need to do the DPT at the last week of July, some students may not be able to show up because of their summer vacation plans, then the post-tests need to be done online by the participant. Similarly, all the participants will engage the study online individually with the researcher’s long-distance instruction if it is not allowed to do the face-to-face experiment on the campus due to the coronavirus concern.

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3.3 Data collection & analysis

The research data will be the test scores and the questionnaires’ answers. All the three tests will be marked and collected by the researcher based on standard marking criterion. Some useful marking tools might be used during marking, for example, a Chinese online application that can test and mark the students’ spellings and the correctness of the sentences. This is free, reliable and quite simple to get access to. The researcher will analyze the data according to quantitative and qualitative data analysis rules. SPSS and/or ANOVA will be used to analyze the mean scores of the tests and the survey data in order to compare the variable differences which may occur in this study.

To answer the first research question, it will be necessary to compare and analyze the pre-test and post-tests scores. Also, the boys’ test performance and girls’ test scores will be compared seriously to investigate the gender difference due to the fact that many previous studies such as Neville et al.’s (2009) showed male learners like playing serious games much more than girls, as female students might feel unconfident and anxious when playing digital games in some cases.

This means gender is a crucial element which should not be neglected. Finally, analyzing the students’ answers to the questionnaire will answer the second research question.

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4. Conclusion This paper is a preliminary research proposal about gaming-learning which will be done in the authentic EFL classroom in China, and some related details need to be specified later. Be-sides, it might be necessary to adjust some parts of the proposal according to the real situation when conducting in the summer just in case some emergencies happen. It is expected that all the research questions will be answered after completing the experiment, and the final findings will provide helpful information to the EFL educators and learners.

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Appendix1: The Projects Ethics Assessment Approval

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References

Ballou, K. (2009). Language learner experiences in an online virtual world. The JALT CALL Journal, 5(2), 61–70. Retrieved from http://journal.jaltcall.org/articles/5_2_Ballou.pdf Baptist, S., & Kuder, S. Jay. (2018). Effects of Quizlet on Vocabulary Mastery, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.

Butler, Y., Someya, Y., & Fukuhara, E. (2014). Online games for young learners’ foreign language learning. Elt Journal, 68(3), 265-275.

Butler, Y. (2015). The use of computer games as foreign language learning tasks for digital natives.

System, 54, 91-102.

Chen, Y.-L. (2014). Virtual reality software usage in an EFL scenario: An empirical study.

Journal of Software, 9(2), 374–381. http://dx.doi.org/10.4304/jsw.9.2.374-381.

Ebrahimzadeh, M., & Alavi, S. (2016). Motivating EFL students: E-learning enjoyment as a predictor of vocabulary learning through digital video games. Cogent Education, 3(1), 14.

Franciosi, S., Yagi, J., Tomoshige, Y., & Ye, S. (2016). The Effect of a Simple Simulation Game on Long-Term Vocabulary Retention. CALICO Journal, 33(3), 355-379.

Gan, Z., Humphreys, G., & Hamp- Lyons, L. (2004). Understanding Successful and Unsuccessful EFL Students in Chinese Universities. Modern Language Journal, 88(2), 229-244.

Jensen, S. (2017). Gaming as an English Language Learning Resource among Young Children in Denmark. CALICO Journal, 34(1), 1-19.

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Milton, J. (2009). Measuring Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition (Vol. 45). Bristol, Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters.

Milton, J., Jonsen, S., Hirst, S., & Lindenburn, S. (2012). Foreign language vocabulary development through activities in an online 3D environment. The Language Learning Journal: Special Issue: Vocabulary, Part II: Input and Uptake, 40(1), 99-112.

Mark Peterson. (2011). Digital gaming and second language development: Japanese learners interactions in a MMORPG. Digital Culture & Education, 3(1), 56-73.

Macedonia, M., & Klimesch, W. (2014). Long- Term Effects of Gestures on Memory for Foreign Language Words Trained in the Classroom. Mind, Brain, and Education, 8(2), 74-88.

Neville, D., Shelton, B., & Mcinnis, B. (2009). Cybertext redux: Using digital game-based learning to teach L2 vocabulary, reading, and culture. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 22(5), 409-424.

Ryu, D. (2013). Play to Learn, Learn to Play: Language Learning through Gaming Culture.

ReCALL : The Journal of EUROCALL, 25(2), 286-301.

Song, C. (2008). Educational games with blogs. Online Information Review, 32(5), 557-573.

Smith, Glenn Gordon, Li, Mimi, Drobisz, Jack, Park, Ho-Ryong, Kim, Deoksoon, & Smith, Stanley Dana. (2013). Play games or study? Computer games in eBooks to learn English vocabulary.

Computers & Education, 69(C), 274-286.

SylvĂŠn, L., & Sundqvist, P. (2012). Gaming as extramural English L2 learning and L2 proficiency among young learners *. 24(3), 302-321.

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Sundqvist, P., & SylvĂŠn, L. (2014). Language-related computer use: Focus on young L2 English learners in Sweden *. 26(1), 3-20.

Sundqvist, P., & WikstrĂśm, P. (2015). Out-of-school digital gameplay and in-school L2 English vocabulary outcomes. System, 51(C), 65-76.

Zhonggen, Y. (2018). Differences in serious game-aided and traditional English vocabulary acquisition. Computers & Education, 127, 214-232.

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The Impact of Readability on the ‘Improvement’ of a Text Ed Clark 1.

Introduction

Readability has a great influence on the decision of how difficult a text is to read and is defined as “the ease of understanding or comprehension due to the style of writing.” Klare (1963).

However, this definition separates the writing style from issues such as content, coherence, and organization DuBay (2004), whereas when calculating the readability of a text, further factors are measured. For example, the extent to which the audience understand it, read it at an optimal speed, and find it interesting (Dale & Chall 1949). This demonstrates that readability is concerned with more than just the physical properties of a written material and differentiates it from other concepts such as ‘legibility’, which merely considers the text’s layout and typeface.

The readability of a text measures what literacy level one must be in order to understand the text. If the text exceeds the reading ability of the reader, they generally stop reading (DuBay, 2004). Therefore, even a piece of informative text can fail to serve its purpose if its readability level is beyond the literacy level of the reader. This paper considers which readability level conveys information on health issues to people of all literacy levels, in the most efficient way.

To do this, I simplified a written piece of medical information on skin cancer that is considered to be difficult to read, so that it went from a readability grade level of ten to five. To test whether the view that reducing a text’s readability score ‘improves’ it, I asked a selection of random people with a wide range of literacy levels their opinions on the texts. Therefore, this paper

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examines whether it is possible to ‘improve’ a text by maintaining the content whilst also making it accessible to a wider range of readers.

2.

Background

2.1 History and Formulas of Readability The earliest readability study was in the 1880’s when professor of English Literature, L. A. Sherman found that linguistic features have a direct impact on the readability of a text. In this case he “discovered that using shorter sentences and concrete terms increase the overall readability of the text.” (Asem, 2013). In 1921, Edward L. Throndike listed 10,000 words by frequency of use in the publication of the ‘The Teacher’s Word Book’ (Thorndike, 1921).

Thorndike found that the ease of a word is dependent on its frequency (DuBay 2007), and therefore is another linguistic feature that will determine the readability of a text. Further research and studies in the last 100 years have accumulated a wide range of equations that measure different aspects of a written material. Generally, one or more of the following equations are considered when working out the readability of a text: “average word length in syllables; average sentence length in words; proportion of common words used; proportion of words with three or more syllables in them; proportion of words which are monosyllabic.” (Ley & Florio, 1996). These factors allow an acknowledgment to the depth and breadth of lexical knowledge available to all speakers, readers, and writers; thus measuring the lexical sophistication of the text. (Kyle & Crossley, 2014) This shows that a wide variety of linguistic features are used in the process of measuring a written material’s readability.

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However, since readability measures are a purely quantitative approach (Chall, 1996), arguments arise on the basis of a failure to incorporate other important indications such as prior knowledge, language ability or motivation of the reader (Stevens et al., 1992). Furthermore, when one assumes Urquhart (1979) findings that creative thinking, learning and comprehension are all closely linked to reading, it becomes clear that reading is a highly individualistic activity (Selzer, 1981). Thus, readability measures will fail to accurately measure a wide set of readers.

The solution to this would be to introduce qualitative approaches in order for “readability (to) go beyond readability formulas” (Asem, 2013) and consider more than textual characteristics.

These qualitative approaches require the public to participate in more interactive and subjective activities such as Taylor’s (1953) cloze procedure. Despite these approaches providing more accurate results through analysis that is unique to each individual, they are time consuming and require more resources to complete than the majority of quantitative approaches.

2.2 Indicators of Literacy Levels The readability of a text categorizes readers into different levels of literacy abilities, the higher the number, the higher literacy rate. This indication of a reader’s ability is more accurate than other methods such as the time spent in the education system. For example, 24% of adults classed in NALS (National Adult Literacy Survey) category for weakest literacy levels, completed high school (Weiss, 2003). Further evidence of this poor indication is given through the research of Powers (1988) who found the correlation between literacy rates and years of school completed was merely modest. Thus, the categorization that readability offers should be

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used when determining one’s literacy ability and therefore what difficulty of text is appropriate for them. Baker (1997) shares this view and advises that “future studies of education and health outcomes should use literacy as their measure of educational attainment.” (Baker, 1997).

2.3 The importance of Conveying Health Information Portraying information on health issues in the best possible manner carries great importance as literacy is the best predictor of one’s health status (Weiss, 2003). Furthermore Baker (1997) conducted research that found “patients with inadequate functional health literacy were consistently more likely to report poor health than patients with adequate reading skills.” (Baker, 1997). This shows that medical texts are currently failing to provide adequate information due to isolating and high readability scores. People with low literacy levels do not understand the directions of correct care and therefore are receiving ineffective care. In addition to this, widening the accessibility of health information would reduce the amount of monetary investment the healthcare system needs. A poor distribution of time and resources currently costs an estimated 73 billion dollars to the US healthcare system (Weiss, 2003). Therefore, ‘improving’ medical texts could save a large amount of money.

3.

Aims

The purpose of my research was to investigate the possibility of ‘improving’ a piece of written material, through increasing its accessibility to a wider range of people consisting of varying literacy levels, whilst maintaining a sufficient amount of information. The search for an equilibrium between these two factors, would prove to make information on health more useful

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and understandable, a beneficiary conclusion on multiple levels. However, previous research has proven this to be difficult, with many results showing conflicting opinions on whether the text had ‘improved’.

4.

Method

1.

Type of Tests Used Table

1

-

("FREE

READABILITY FORMULAS: READABILITY

FREE TOOLS:

READABILITY SOFTWARE", n.d.).

Formula Type Flesch

Reading

Mathematical Formula/Process Ease

Readability Formula (Flesch,

RE = 206.835 – (1.015 x ASL) – (84.6 x ASW)

1948) The Level

Flesch-Kincaid Readability

Grade Formula

FKRA = (0.39 x ASL) + (11.8 x ASW) - 15.59

(Kincaid, Fishburne, Rogers &

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Chissom,

1975)

need

bibliography for these The Gunning’s Fog Index (or FOG)

Readability

Grade Level = 0.4 (ASL + PHW)

Formula

(Gunning, 1968) The

SMOG

Readability

SMOG grade = 3 + Square Root of

Formula (McLaughlin, 1968)

Polysyllable Count

The Coleman-Liau Readability

CLI = 0.0588L – 0.296S – 15.8

Formula (Coleman & Liau, 1975) The Automated Readability

4.71(characterswords)

Index (ARI)

(wordssentences) – 21.43

Linsear Formula

Write

Readability

+

0.5

1) Find a 100-word sample from your writing.

2) Calculate the easy words (defined as two syllables or less) and place a number "1" over each word, even including a, an, the, and other simple words.

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3) Calculate the hard words (defined as three syllables or more) and place a number "3" over each word as pronounced by the dictionary.

4A) Multiply the number of easy words times "1."

4B) Multiply the number of hard words times "3."

5) Add the two previous numbers together.

6) Divide that total by the number of sentences.

7A) If your answer is >20, divide by "2," and that is your answer.

7B) If your answer is <20 or equal to 20, subtract "2," and then divide by "2." That is your answer.

Formula Key for Table 1 â&#x20AC;˘ RE = Readability Ease â&#x20AC;˘ ASL = Average Sentence Length (i.e., the number of words divided by the number of

sentences)

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number of words) • FKRA = Flesch-Kincaid Reading Age • PHW = Percentage of Hard Words • L = The average number of letters per 100 words • S = The average number of sentences per 100 words

As seen in Table 1, the readability measurement I used included seven different types of formulas when calculating an overall readability score. The use of multiple formulas improve the validity of the results since there is no overruling consensus as to which formula is most compatible to assess patient education materials (Badarudeen & Sabharwal, 2010). The first formula used was the Flesch Reading Ease Readability Formula (Flesch, 1948), which considers the average number of syllables per word and the average number of words per sentence. The score ranges from 0 (unreadable) to 100 (very easy to read), however this gradation of results does not coincide with other formulas, making interpretations difficult (Badarudeen & Sabharwal, 2010).

The Flesch-Kincaid Formula (Kincaid, Fishburne, Rogers & Chissom, 1975) is a modified version of the Flesch Formula, which produces results in a Reading Grade Level. The fact that it is calculated only on polysyllable words and long sentences, indicates it fails to acknowledge the difficulty of uncommon, yet short, medical jargon (Badarudeen & Sabharwal, 2010).

Furthermore, Friedman and Hoffman-Goetz (2006) argue both formulas underestimate the difficulty of texts. A similar formula is used in the Fog Index (Gunning, 1968), establishing the same issues. The SMOG formula (McLaughlin, 1968) has a far stricter criteria than other

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formulas, requiring complete comprehension of the text. As a result of this the readability score may be slightly higher than other formulas, but it does generally take longer to complete. Its strict criteria means it is the most frequently used readability test, and its results are often compared with other instruments (Friedman & Hoffman-Goetz, 2006). Unlike other formulas, both Coleman–Liau Formula and the Automated Readability Formula rely on characters instead of syllables per word, whilst Linsear Write Readability Formula, focuses on sentence length and the number of words with three or more syllables ("FREE READABILITY FORMULAS: FREE READABILITY TOOLS: READABILITY SOFTWARE", n.d.).

4.2 Method of ‘Improving’ the Text I ‘improved’ and reduced the readability level of the original text (Text A), by focusing on adapting specific linguistic characteristics. Since the text provided scientific information, a lot of infrequent medical terminology was used, for example “non-melanoma skin cancer”. When the text was simplified I used these terms as infrequently as possible, and replaced them with less specific terms, such as “this type of cancer”. As I had already previously mentioned “nonmelanoma skin cancer” in the text, the reader would be able to infer which type of cancer I was referring to. I also replaced complicated terminology with pronouns. For example, as the text had already stated “radiotherapy”, I changed a later appearance of the term to “it”. These substitutions were based on Thorndike’s, (1921) research of how the frequency of vocabulary impacts the readability of a text.

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Another linguistic feature that I changed for Text B, was the average sentence length. For example, I segmented the sentence: “Curettage and electrocautery is a similar technique to surgical excision, but is only suitable for cases where the cancer is quite small.” into “Curettage and electrocautery is similar to SE. It is only used when the cancer is quite small.” By segmenting the original sentence into two sentences I decreased the average sentence length of the text, which, L. A. Sherman discovered reduces the texts readability. I set a criteria on how long the sentences should be based on Jackson (1991) view that usually long sentences should not be used and contain fewer than eight to ten words (Jackson, 1991).

4.3 Survey and Participants I submitted a survey to thirty people, ranging from ages eight to seventy-five, with a wide variety of literacy levels. After they read Text A and Text B, they were given three questions: • Which text did you find easier to read?

• Which text was more useful?

• Which text did you prefer?

They were then given the option to make any additional points in a comment section.

5.

Results

Table 2 shows the result for both the original piece of text providing scientific information of skin cancer (Text A), and the rewritten version (Text B). As seen in the table, each formula

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corresponds with similar differences between the two texts, with an overall Reading Grade Level of 10 for Text A and 5 for Text B. Figure 1 and Table 3 shows that out of the 30 participants, 80% thought that Text B was easier to read, demonstrating that the lower the readability level, the easier the text is to read. However, the results show that a low readability score does not assure the text will be more useful. As seen in Figure 2 and Table 4, Text A was the preferred option when participants were asked which text was more useful, with 80% of the responses. This indicates a general consensus that reducing a text’s readability does not necessarily make it ‘improved’, as other factors such as its usefulness need to be considered.

Despite there being a popular answer for both how easy and useful the texts were, when asked which text they preferred overall each text received the same amount of responses (12 each).

This is seen in Figure 3 and Table 5 and generates ambiguity as to whether the ease or the usefulness is considered the most important factor when deciding their favourite.

Table 2 Formula Type

Result for Text A

Result for Text B

Flesch Reading Ease

54.6

82.7

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Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level

10

4.6

Gunning Fog

13.2

7.2

The SMOG Index

9.7

5.5

The

10

6

9.8

3.7

11.5

5.6

10

5

Coleman-Liau

Readability Formula The Automated Readability Index (ARI) Linsear Write Readability Formula Readability

Consensus

–

Grade Level

Table 3 – Which text did you find easier

Amount of Responses for

to read?

each Text

Text A

4

Text B

24

Equal

2

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Table 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Which text is more

Amount of Responses for each Text

useful?

Text A

22

Text B

4

Equal

4

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Table 5 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Which text do you

Amount of Responses for each Text

prefer?

Text A

12

Text B

12

Equal

6

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6.

Discussion

The fact that the results for ‘which text is easier to read’ and ‘which text is more useful’, directly contradict each other, indicates that the original view that simplifying a text will make it more useful, as its range of accessibility increases, is false. Instead there are more factors that need to be considered when attempting to ‘improve’ a text. Since Text B was viewed as easier to read, reducing the readability of the text did increase the amount of people that could read and therefore find it useful. This factor’s importance should be emphasized as some participants did find Text A too detailed, with one stating: “no matter how useful a text is, it loses its power if the reader cannot assimilate all the information. This is where shorter paragraphs are helpful.”

This proves the importance of decreasing the grade level as the primary purpose of this

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informative text is for everyone to understand and benefit from it. Furthermore the excessive use of complicated terminology can overwhelm the reader, and add stress to an already difficult topic that is cancer. This is seen when a participant said: “I feel like I understood what I was being told in text B and would be calmer if I or someone I knew was suffering from skin cancer”.

Therefore the lack of complex terminology and syntactic structures does benefit the text to a certain extent.

However in order for the Grade Level to be decreased to a level 5, so much had to be changed from the original text that it lost a vast amount of important information. This is shown by the 80% of participants who found Text A more useful. Further evidence of this is provided from a participants view that “Text A provides the information in a clear and direct way. For this particular subject I believe text A is more effective in providing the necessary information.” This indicates the process of decreasing the readability level to increase the distribution of information, has become counter-intuitive as sufficient information is no longer present in the text. One must consider, whether it is possible to attain all the relevant information when making the readability a Grade Level 5.

Another issue that was raised with the reduction of the Grade Level, was that it made the text become patronising. This was often the reason participants preferred Text A, for example: “I prefer A because I feel slightly patronised by B”. Nonetheless, this would only affect people of high literacy levels, as the readability level is well below their own ability. This shows the difficulty in finding a balance between including people with low literacy rates and, keeping the

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readability to a level that doesn’t condescend and bore people with high literacy rates. One could argue it is more important to allow everyone to understand the information than increasing the readability level merely for some people’s preference. After all the main purpose of this medical text is to be informative, not to induce pleasure. However, there is a possibility that if the readability fails to coincide with the high literacy rates of some people, they will become bored and stop reading. One participant found this to be the case when they found that “B avoids people switching off due to jargon”. Therefore, the Grade Level of the text has been decreased excessively to the point where it fails to serve its original purpose. This is because, if people stop reading they will not be informed.

A final point some participants raised was the reassurance that Text A provides through the use of technical words. For example: “(Text) A sounds more medical & maybe more reassuring”.

As stated before, the stress that coincides with the topic of cancer should not be underestimated and therefore the public being reassured should be just as important as providing sufficient information. This is another factor that fails to be considered in the view that reducing the Grade Level will ‘improve’ a text.

Conclusion To conclude, the process of decreasing the readability of the text to a Grade Level 5 is beneficial as it increases the accessibility of the amount of people that can understand it. However, this change does not assure the text has been ‘improved’. Other factors, such as its overall usefulness, have been negatively impacted and therefore it cannot be said that Text B is an overall

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‘improvement’ from Text A. However, these findings do not explicitly prove it is impossible for the original text to be improved. Despite Spandorfer’s research stating there is a “five-grade difference between the reading level of the study population and the pre-printed discharge instructions”. (Spandorfer et al., 1995:74), it may be possible to adhere to all requirements from a population with various literacy levels, by decreasing the readability less excessively. For example reducing it from a Grade Level of 10 to one of 7/8. Therefore the amount of people whose literacy levels would be incorporated to the readability score would increase, whilst those of high literacy levels would not suffer as a result. There is evidence for success in finding a balance between Text A and Text B, through the perfectly equal overall preference of Text A and Text B (12 each). Thus a possible Text C at a Grade Level of 7/8 would provide optimal efficiency and possibly ‘improve’ the text.

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References ASEM, B. (2013). EVALUATION OF TEXTUAL READABILITY – AN ANALYSIS OF ITS VARYING APPROACHES. International Journal Of Research In Humanities, Arts And Literature (IMPACT: IJRHAL) ISSN 2321-8878, 1(4), 7-12.

Baker, D., Parker, R., Williams, M., Clark, W. and Nurss, J. (1997). The relationship of patient reading ability to self-reported health and use of health services. [online] pp.1027–1030. Available at: https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdfplus/10.2105/AJPH.87.6.1027 [Accessed 17 May 2019].

Badarudeen, S., & Sabharwal, S. (2010). Assessing Readability of Patient Education Materials: Current Role in Orthopaedics. Clinical Orthopaedics And Related Research®, 468(10), 2572-2580. doi: 10.1007/s11999-010-1380-y Chall, J. (1996). Varying approaches to readability measurement. Revue québecoise de linguistique, [online] pp.23-40. Available at: http://www.erudit.org/revue/rql/1996/v25/603215ar.pdf [Accessed 17 May 2019].

Coleman, M., & Liau, T. (1975). A computer readability formula designed for machine scoring. Journal Of Applied Psychology, 60(2), 283-284. doi: 10.1037/h0076540 DuBay, W. (2004). The Principles of Readability.

DuBay, W.H. (Eds.). (2007). The classic readability studies. California: Impact Information.

FREE READABILITY FORMULAS : FREE READABILITY TOOLS : READABILITY SOFTWARE. Retrieved from

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http://www.readabilityformulas.com/?fbclid=IwAR0jFWUSoGzy0By6sydIqfjh2W MmbY7Llsdzf_GRvdr_2W3l_HDtMv3Dj9Y Friedman, D., & Hoffman-Goetz, L. (2006). A Systematic Review of Readability and Comprehension Instruments Used for Print and Web-Based Cancer Information. Health Education & Behavior, 33(3), 352-373. doi: 10.1177/1090198105277329 Jackson, R., Davis, T., Bairnsfather, L., George, R., Crouch, M. and Gault, H. (1991). Patient reading ability: an overlooked problem in health care. pp.1172â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1175.

Klare, G. (1963). The measurement of readability.

Kyle, K., & Crossley, S. (2014). Automatically Assessing Lexical Sophistication: Indices, Tools, Findings, and Application. TESOL Quarterly, 49(4), 757-786. doi: 10.1002/tesq.194 Ley, P., & Florio, T. (1996). The use of readability formulas in health care. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 1(1), 7-28. doi: 10.1080/13548509608400003 Powers, R. (1988). Emergency department patient literacy and the readability of patient directed material. pp.124-126.

Read, J. (1998). Validating a test to measure depth of vocabulary knowledge. In A. Kunnan (Ed.), Validation in language assessment (pp. 41â&#x20AC;&#x201C;60). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

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Selzer, J. (1981). Readability Is a Four-Letter Word. Journal Of Business Communication, 18(4), 23-34. doi: 10.1177/002194368101800403 Spandorfer, J., Karras, D., Hughes, L. and Caputo, C. (1995). Comprehension of Discharge Instructions by Patients in an Urban Emergency Department. Annals Of Emergency Medicine, pp.71-74.

Stevens, K., Stevens, K. and Stevens, W. (2019). Measuring the readability of business writing: The cloze procedure vs readability formulas. Journal of Business Communication, pp.367382.

Taylor, W. (1953). â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cloze Procedureâ&#x20AC;?: A New Tool for Measuring Readability. Journalism Bulletin, 30(4), 415-433. doi: 10.1177/107769905303000401 Thorndike, E. (1921). The Teacher's Word Book. By Edward L. Thorndike ... Second edition. New York.

Urquhart, C. (1979). Reading, looking and learning. Journal of Information Science, pp.333-344.

Weiss, B. (2003). Health Literacy: A Manual for Clinicians. Part of an education program about health literacy.

Appendix Text A Surgery is the main treatment for non-melanoma skin cancer, although it may depend on your individual circumstances. Overall, treatment is successful for more than 90% of people with nonmelanoma skin cancer.

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People with cancer should be cared for by a team of specialists that often includes a dermatologist, a plastic surgeon, an oncologist (a radiotherapy and chemotherapy specialist), a pathologist and a specialist nurse. If you have non-melanoma skin cancer, you may see several (or all) of these professionals as part of your treatment. When deciding what treatment is best for you, your doctors will consider: the type of cancer you have the stage of your cancer (how big it is and how far it has spread), and your general health.

Your cancer team will recommend what they think is the best treatment option, but the final decision will be yours. Before visiting hospital to discuss your treatment options, you may find it useful to write a list of questions you would like to ask the specialist. For example, you may want to find out what the advantages and disadvantages of particular treatments are.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced healthcare guidelines about NHS skin cancer services. These outline NICEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main recommendations on how, over the coming years, people with skin cancer or melanoma should be treated.

Surgical excision is an operation to cut out the cancer along with surrounding healthy tissue to ensure the cancer is completely removed. It may be done in combination with a skin graft, if it's likely to leave significant scarring. A skin graft involves removing a patch of healthy skin, usually from a part of your body where any scarring cannot be seen, such as your back. It is then connected, or grafted, to the affected area. In many cases, this operation is enough to cure skin cancer.

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Curettage and electrocautery is a similar technique to surgical excision, but is only suitable for cases where the cancer is quite small. The surgeon will use a small, spoon-shaped blade to remove the cancer and an electric needle to remove the skin surrounding the wound. The procedure may need to be repeated two or three times to ensure the cancer is completely removed.

Cryotherapy uses cold treatment to destroy the cancer. It is sometimes used for non-melanoma skin cancers in their early stages. Liquid nitrogen is used to freeze the cancer, and this causes the area to scab over. After about a month, the scab containing the cancer will fall off your skin.

Cryotherapy may leave a small white scar on your skin.

Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) is used to treat non-melanoma skin cancers when: It's felt there is a high risk of the cancer spreading or returning the cancer is in an area where it would be important to remove as little skin as possible, such as the nose or eyes. It involves removing the tumour bit by bit, as well as a small area of skin surrounding it. This minimises the removal of healthy tissue and reduces scarring. Each time a piece of tissue is removed, it is checked for cancer. The procedure may need to be repeated two or three times to ensure the cancer is completely removed.

Chemotherapy involves using medicines to kill cancerous cells. In the case of non-melanoma skin cancer, chemotherapy is only recommended when the tumour is contained within the top layer of the skin. This type of chemotherapy involves applying a cream containing cancer-killing medicines to the affected area. As only the surface of the skin is affected, you will not experience

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the side effects associated with other forms of chemotherapy, such as vomiting or hair loss.

However, your skin may feel sore for several weeks afterwards.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is used to treat basal cell carcinoma, Bowen's disease and actinic keratoses. It involves using a cream which makes the skin highly sensitive to light. After the cream has been applied, a strong light source is shone onto the affected area of your skin, which kills the cancer. PDT may cause a burning sensation and around 2% of people who have this treatment will be left with some superficial scarring.

Imiquimod cream is a treatment for basal cell carcinoma with a diameter of less than 2cm (0.8 inches). It's also used to treat actinic keratoses. Imiquimod encourages your immune system to attack the cancer in the skin. Common side effects of imiquimod include redness, flaking or peeling skin and itchiness. Less common and more serious side effects of imiquimod include blistering or ulceration of your skin. Wash the cream off and contact your GP if your skin blisters or you develop ulcers after using it.

Radiotherapy involves using low doses of radiation to destroy the cancer. The level of radiation involved is perfectly safe. However, your skin may feel sore for a few weeks after radiotherapy.

Radiotherapy is sometimes used to treat basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas if surgery would be unsuitable, the cancer covers a large area, the area is difficult to operate on.

Radiotherapy is sometimes used after surgical excision to try to prevent the cancer coming back.

This is called adjuvant radiotherapy.

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Text B Surgery is the main treatment for non-melanoma skin cancer. There are different surgeries for different cancers. They are successful for more than 90% of people with this type of cancer.

People with cancer should be looked after by a team of specialists. The doctors will think about how you can beat your cancer in the best way. They think about the type and how big the cancer is and how your general health is.

The doctor's will say what they think is the best way to get rid of your cancer. You have the final decision. It may be useful to write down a list of questions before you visit the hospital. For example, you could ask what the good and bad things about different treatments are.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) give guidelines on how people should be treated.

Surgical excision (SE) cuts out the cancer with nearby healthy skin. This makes sure the cancer is 100% gone. If there is a chance of heavy scars, a skin graft may be done at the same time. It takes a patch of healthy skin from an area which cannot be seen. It is then connected to the affected area. This is often enough to cure skin cancer.

Curettage and electrocautery is similar to SE. It is only used when the cancer is quite small. The doctor will use a small blade in the shape of a spoon to take away the cancer. An electric needle is used to take away the skin around the cut. This may need to be done two or three times to get rid of the cancer.

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Cryotherapy uses liquid nitrogen to freeze the cancer. This makes a scab on the area. After about a month, the scab which has the cancer falls off your skin. This may leave a small white scar on your skin. It can be used when the cancer has just started.

Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) is used when there is a big chance the cancer will come back or spread. It is also used if it is important to remove as little skin as possible. MMS removes the cancer bit by bit and a small area around it. Less healthy skin will be taken away and there will be less scars. Each time a bit of skin is taken, it is checked for cancer. This may need to be done two or three times for the cancer to be 100% gone.

Chemotherapy (chemo) uses medicine to kill the cancer. It only works if the cancer is in the skin's top layer. A medical cream is used in this type of chemo. It is applied to the area where the cancer is. It only affects the surface of the skin. You will not have the side effects of other types of chemo (being sick and hair loss). The skin may feel sore a few weeks after chemo.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is used for basal cell carcinoma, Bowen's disease and actinic keratoses. It uses a cream which makes skin react to light. After the cream is put on, a strong light shines onto the area with cancer. This kills the cancer. PDT may cause a burning feeling.

Around 2% of people who have PDT will get some light scars.

Imiquimod cream is only used for basal cell carcinoma that is less than 2cm (0.8 inches) wide.

It's also used on actinic keratoses. This cream makes your body's immune system kill the cancer.

There are some common side effects. For example, redness, peeling of skin and feeling itchy.

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There are less common and more serious side effects of the cream like getting blisters or ulcers of your skin. If this happens, wash the cream off and see your GP. Radiotherapy uses a low amount of radiation to kill the cancer. It is 100% safe. Your skin may feel sore for a few weeks. It is used when either the cancer takes up a big area or it is in a place that is hard to operate on. It is sometimes used after surgery to help stop the cancer from coming back. This is called adjuvant radiotherapy.

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Some Considerations for EFL teaching Daniel Strogen 1

Introduction

Before using this activity in the language classroom, a teacher should consider a range of factors.

However, preparation will rely heavily on context, and any prescribed list will not be exhaustive.

In this essay, I will focus on Scrivener’s Stage 1 of his route map: “familiarising yourself with the material and the activity” (Scrivener, 2011, p.40). I will break down the given activity by looking at it closely through the lens of three questions: Who am I teaching? Why am I teaching?

And What am I teaching? Also included in my discussion will be a brief evaluation of the activity from a global Englishes perspective.

2

Who am I teaching?

Before using any activity in the classroom, a teacher should always consider who the learners are. To do this, a teacher may want to consider the proficiency level of their class. Scrivener (2011) states that understanding a class’s proficiency level can help the teacher gain an overview of their abilities. Through this, a teacher may better recognise the appropriacy of an activity for their learners. Is this activity challenging enough for them to learn something? Or is this activity too challenging for them? The given activity is stated to be appropriate for the learners, who are elementary-level L2 learners. Despite this, a teacher should consider that proficiency level does not wholly define their class, as Scrivener (2011) emphasises, proficiency level is dependent on the individual. In light of this, in my route map plan (see appendix) I have noted that a teacher should be available to help individual students during the running of the activity.

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Indeed, a teacher may also consider what errors are likely to arise specifically with their learners.

Scrivener (2011) suggests possible errors in terms of both “misunderstanding the task” and “using language”. In the route map for the given activity, language use is monitored closely by utilising shortened sentences (Scrivener, 2011). Learners may also misunderstand language they are required to use. For example, in the verbatim instructions the teacher consistently uses interrogatives to ensure that the learners fully understand the questions.

Moreover, a teacher should also consider whether they are teaching from a global perspective.

Mufwene (2001) argues that non-native English varieties are considered “illegitimate” offspring of the English language, while native varieties are regarded as “legitimate”. This distinction arguably feeds into a simplistic dichotomy, between native and non-native. As Galloway and Rose (2014) suggest, this constitutes a change in various levels of teaching as well as in the teaching itself. In the given activity, to encourage intercultural awareness, albeit in a small way, a teacher may want to encourage learners to substitute the more typically ‘western-centric’ foods with those from their own cultures (Corbett, 2003).

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3

Why am I teaching?

A teacher should also consider why they are teaching. What do they want to achieve by using this activity? Commenting on this, Scrivener (2011) presents a dichotomy in the nature of activities between “’working mainly on accuracy’” and “’working mainly on fluency’”. The given activity is an example of a fluency activity, focussing on communication. Scrivener (2011) describes the focus of communication activities is to be “realistic and meaningful…”. The design of the task and its aides are both realistic. Moreover, Scrivener (2011) also highlights the importance of a teacher’s non-intervention in fluency activities. For example, in the activity, a teacher should take a ‘back-seat’ during the running of the task.

Indeed, a teacher should also consider the genre of the task. Scrivener (2011) defines genre partly as being “why the speaking is being done”. Defining the genre of the activity beforehand will help both learner and teacher. For a learner, understanding the language genre will help govern one’s language use from grammar to politeness (Scrivener, 2011).

Therefore, for a teacher, especially when teaching L2 learners, this will colour the nature of the activity. For example, if the given activity is a role-play, enacting a common, transactional scene between customer and server. Transactional situations generally are more formulaic than interactional ones. Therefore, it may be useful to provide a framework of common phrases used.

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4

What am I teaching?

A teacher should also consider closely what they are teaching and therefore the implications this has on their preparation. For example, a teacher should consider the practical implications of the activity. The given activity is a role-play, enacting a common interaction between customer and server. The menu provided in the activity reflects the simplicity of the activity. Klippel (1984) suggested that role-play activities require both “role cards” and “cue cards”. Therefore, cue cards and role cards may be necessary for the students. Moreover, Klippel (1984) also emphasised the worth of using video examples in role plays which can be particularly challenging for learners.

Therefore, an example or model for the learners to experience prior to the activity may be beneficial to its fluency.

Moreover, a teacher may also want to more closely pay attention to what they are teaching, by planning their role throughout (Scrivener, 2011). When planning, an emphasis on the teacher’s role will be beneficial for both the learners and the teachers in the long term. For example, the given activity is an example of an activity focused on developing fluency in language use.

Scrivener (2011) suggests that a lack of correction and interference is vital in running such an activity, and therefore this has implication for the role of a teacher. It would be beneficial for a teacher to consider this during stage one, so that their role is clearly defined preventing inappropriate interferences. This can be seen in the verbatim instructions.

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5

Conclusion

In conclusion, before using this activity a teacher should take into account a range of considerations. Scrivenerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s activity route map provides a useful framework for teachers, and step one shows that there are many different elements to preparation. In this essay, I have discussed what is included in this preparation, compared it to the given activity and framed in the form of three questions a teacher should consider. However, on reflection it can be argued that preparation relies heavily on a range of factors, particularly context, and any prescribed list will not be exhaustive.

References Corbett, J. (2003). An intercultural approach to English language teaching. Great

Britain: Cromwell

Press Ltd. Galloway, N, and Rose, H (2014). Using listening journals to raise awareness of global Englishes in ELT. ELT Journal, 68(4).

Klippel, F. (1984). Keep talking communicative fluency activities for language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Mufwene, S. (2001). The ecology of language evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Scrivener, J. (2011). Learning teaching: the essential guide to English language teaching (3rd ed.).

London: Macmillan Education.

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Appendix A: Route Map

Hello everyone, may I have your attention? (wait until you have everyone’s attention) Thank you. (show a short video clip of a customer-employee transaction) Can somebody please tell me, what this video shows? (wait until a student raises a hand to answer the question correctly).

Correct. Yes, it shows a customer-employee transaction. Raise your hands if you have ever been in a similar situation? (wait for the students to raise their hands) Thank you. Yes. Of course, everybody here has gone to a cafe, cafeteria, restaurant, coffee shops or anywhere where they may will interact with a worker. And, some here may be that worker. I was. I was one of those workers and every day I would interact with a customer with a big smile (roll eyes exaggeratedly to emphasise humour).

Today, we will be learning about such interactions.

For our task today, I want you to work in pairs. I will give you each a letter and I want you to remember that letter. (Go around the class, pointing at each student clearly, assigning them either ‘A’ or ‘B’ alternatively and evenly). All A’s please raise their hand. (Wait, make corrections where necessary.)

All B’s please raise their hand (Wait, make corrections where necessary. Go around the class, using clear hand gestures pairing off the A and B students with each other. If there are an uneven number of students, explain that you will join in with them). Okay, [student’s name] are you by yourself? I will join you

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when we start the task. (Get everyone’s attention back to you – it may have wandered after you paired everyone) Attention please, thank you. Today we will be doing some ‘role-play’. A’s you will be the customer. B’s you will be the worker. A’s you will choose food and drink from a menu and order it. B’s you will take their order and tell them how much it is. (Take the printed-out activity sheets) These are your menus. But, if you want to, you can instead substitute any of the foods with foods from your cultures. (give out the activity sheets depicting the menus to each student) You will have 1 minute. Does anyone have any questions? (Wait for any questions and respond accordingly) Is everyone ready? Okay, start now.

(Keep an eye on the time, perhaps use a timer to ring when the 1 minute is up, get the classes attention once more). Now, I want A’s and B’s to swap roles. B’s you are the customer. A’s you are the worker.

You, again, have one minute. Any questions? Okay, start now. (Monitor by walking around to make sure the activity is running as it should be. Again, keep an eye on the time, using a timer to ring when the 1 minute is up. When the minute is up, call for the classes attention). Time is up, please stop. Okay, attention, please. Thank you.

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Commentaries on the Subtitle Translation of The Lion King (English to Chinese) B. Ma

1.

Introduction

In the context of today's globalized world, Disney undoubtedly acts as leader of the world's entertainment industry, and its films have become increasingly popular in the international market. These large and multilingual audiences present more stringent requirements for Disney movie subtitle translation. However, the content translated by many unprofessional translation groups is inappropriate or even wrong. This article takes Disney's latest movie, ‘The Lion King’, as an example, analyses its Chinese subtitles and proposes the inadequacies of Chinese subtitles in the film. In addition, this article will also use professional knowledge of the linguistics of subtitling to evaluate and analyse its advantages and disadvantages.

2.

Analysis of Chinese subtitle Translation

In movie subtitles, translation is rewriting (Díaz-Cintas & Remael, 2014). Therefore, the translation of subtitles is particularly important for the audience to understand the connotations of the film. Based on the chapter on the linguistics of subtitling in ‘Audiovisual Translation Subtitling’ (Díaz-Cintas & Remael, 2014), the comments below on the Chinese translation of ‘The Lion King’ will discuss condensation, reformulation, and omissions in the text reduction.

Moreover, the article will also discuss good aspects of the Chinese translation of the movie, such as evidence of professional translation skills like omission and segmentation.

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1.

The weakness of Chinese translation

2.1.1 Condensation and reformulation The principle of condensation and reconstitution is an important way to achieve text reduction, and the meaning of the original text is expressed in as much detail as possible by processing and re-creating the text. The new subtitles can effectively ensure that audience's time to read the subtitles is reduced and their attention is focused on the screen.

â&#x20AC;˘

Condensation and reformulation at word level Example 1â&#x20AC;&#x201D;4 Simplifying verbal periphrases Time

Original

The

text

revised

and

translation 99

00:08:59,520

and

-->

beaks

00:09:00,776

aren't built

translation

our

for it.

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292

00:20:04,920

Monarch

-->

who

00:20:06,673

ignores tradition?

358

00:22:51,440

It's gonna

-->

be

00:22:54,911

Simba's

King

finest fling.

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147

00:13:00,600

a true king

-->

searches

00:13:03,434

for what he can give.

Dialectal phrases in the first and second examples in Chinese have been changed in the revised translation, since the dialect of the region is not one that would be familiar with the audience, and hence they would not understand the situation. By using simplifying verbal periphrases, the Chinese translation of the example sentences in the dialogue becomes more fluid and is not be

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difficult to understand. The third example, finest fling, means in baseball, the pitcher threw the perfect goal. The Chinese literal translation would cause confusion to the audience, thus the translation has been extended into praise. In the fourth example, if the literal Chinese translation is used, the results are too long. Instead, what he can give can be summed up with contribution.

Example 5 Generalizing enumerations Time

Original

The

text

revised

and

translation 729 730

00:52:51,560

Oh,

-->

okay.

00:52:55,016

promise I'll walk

translation

oh, I

him

every day!

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If he makes a mess,

little I'll

clean it up.

Generalizing enumerations prevents wasted space on the screen and guarantees more details to the viewer. In the given example sentence, the speaker talks very quickly. The two subtitles are maintained on the screen for less than three seconds, and the Chinese subtitles have two lines. is a Chinese saying, which is often used in life, and four characters can summarize the contents of two sentences.

Example 6â&#x20AC;&#x201D;8 Using a shorter near-synonym or equivalent expression

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Time

Original text

The and

translation 269

00:19:16,640

We have an

-->

imminent

00:19:19,200

threat.

revised translation

Something is approaching.

386

00:24:02,200

Pinned

-->

Again.

ya.

00:24:03,839

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477

00:31:03,240

You

-->

deliberately

00:31:06,312

disobeyed me.

Using a short near synonym or equivalent expression is an effective way to reduce the length of subtitles. In translation, the choice of more appropriate synonyms is used to reduce the audience's thinking about dialogue and give more clear text clues.

In the above examples, the Chinese translation ignores the content of the picture of the movie, and the picture is separated from the subtitles. By using synonyms, the revised Chinese translation can achieve good consistency with the film and enhance the audience's understanding.

â&#x20AC;˘ Condensation and reformulation at clause/sentence level

Example 9 10 Changing questions into statements or imperatives

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Time

Original text

The revised and

translation

translation 212

00:16:35,320

How weird

-->

is that?

00:16:37,152

539

00:34:32,200

when

you

-->

can

00:34:35,352

feasting the

be

rest of your lives?

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The problem of rhetoric can be translated into a declarative sentence (Díaz-Cintas & Remael, 2014). As in the example, after translating the question into a declarative sentence, it can directly express the emotion and meaning of the speaker.

Example 11

Simplifying indicators of modality Time

Original

The

text

revised

and

translation 395

00:24:43,680

It means we

-->

can

00:24:45,080

home.

translation

go

Modal auxiliaries and other markers of modality express uncertainty or probability in a conversation. (Díaz-Cintas & Remael, 2014). The use of simplifying indicators of modality in the translation process can also reveal a change in personality or mood (Díaz-Cintas & Remael,

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2014). In the given example, can is translated into should, which can express the courage and rationality of the speaker, NANA, in the face of crisis.

Example 12 Manipulation of theme and rheme Time

Original

The

text

revised

and

translation 1456

01:34:13,880

Give

-->

one

01:34:17,760

reason

translation

me good

why

I

shouldn't rip

you

apart.

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In this scene, Simba already hates Scar who killed Mufasa. Therefore, using manipulation of theme and rheme to change the Chinese translation, Simbaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s emotions are emphasized.

2.1.2 Omissions Omissions are also an important means of achieving text reduction. Appropriately making an omission based on confirming that the audience can understand the subtitles can shorten the time spent reading the subtitles.

â&#x20AC;˘ Omissions at clause/sentence level

Example 13

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Relevance Time

Original

The

text

revised

and

translation 490

00:31:36,160

Yes.

I

-->

thought

I

00:31:40,234

might lose

translation

you.

The above-mentioned example I thought is easy to understand. It can be combined with I might in Chinese translation, and translated into I worry, which can reflect the personality of the character to the greatest extent and shorten the reading time of the audience.

2.

The strength of Chinese translation

2.2.1 Omissions

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Omissions at clause/sentence level Example 14,15

Interpersonal elements Time

Original

Original

text

translation

and

Literal translation 1262

01:22:40,160

You know,

-->

now you're

01:22:42,280

starting to sound like my father.

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996 997

01:06:52,720 --> 01:06:54,440 01:06:54,520

You know, the kind

other of

lion.

--> 01:06:55,840

You know, a real lion?

?

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Interpersonal elements, which indicate the relationship between people in greetings, interjections, vocatives, formulas of courtesy, are often omitted from translation. (DĂ­az-Cintas & Remael, 2014). The Chinese translation of You know has little effect on the audience, so it is generally omitted.

Example 16,17 Delete modifiers Time

Original

Original

text

translation

and

Literal translation 582

00:37:22,320

I think I

-->

know

00:37:25,199

way

a for

you to make it up to him.

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1094

01:10:34,920

I'm gonna

-->

go

01:10:38,960

some grubs

get

or something.

In the first example, I think is omitted, I know is combined with the direct translation in Chinese, and for can directly be omitted to save time, thereby focusing the audience's attention as quickly as possible back on the movie itself.

In the second example, or something as a supplementary modifier can be omitted on the basis that the speaker has given a definite behaviour.

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2.2.2 Condensation and reformulation â&#x20AC;˘ Condensation and reformulation at word level

Example 18,19 Using a shorter near-synonym or equivalent expression Time

Original text

Original and

translation

Literal translation 324 325

00:21:21,400

Kings don't

-->

need advice

00:21:23,232 00:21:23,320

From

little

hornbills

--> 00:21:25,880 for a start

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401

00:25:41,400

I laugh in

-->

the face of

00:25:44,677

danger.

In the first example, the speaker expresses dislike of the suggestor and conveys to the audience that I will not listen to any advice. In the Chinese translation, hornbills is therefore replaced by any.

In the second example, the use of negative Chinese translations is used to express the bravery of the speaker.

2.2.3 Segmentation and line breaks â&#x20AC;˘ Segmentation

When a speaker in a movie says a long sentence, the subtitle requires two lines. Segmentation of the information can help reinforce coherence and cohesion in subtitling.

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Example 20 732 00:52:56,280 --> 00:52:58,44

After then, the long sentence is divided into two lines. It also saves screen space while not destroying the sentence structure. The Chinese translation is

.

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The two parallel sentences still have independent meanings. This is a good example of a segmented sentence.

3.

Conclusion

In summary, due to the differences in grammar and vocabulary between Chinese and English, there are still many errors in the translation of movies. Combining professional knowledge of the linguistics of subtitles to evaluate and analyze its advantages and disadvantages, it is found that the errors in the Chinese translation mainly appear in condensation and reformulation. For example, translators have not been able to summarize some words and adjust dialects. The translator should also pay more attention to the personality of the film characters when translating, and make more appropriate subtitles by adjusting the Chinese translation to suit.

However, the Chinese translation of this film also has many good points. For example, strategic omissions to save reading time, and segmentation of long sentences to make them easier to read.

The above is the entire contents of commentaries of the subtitle translation of the Lion King.

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References

DĂ­az-Cintas, J., & Remael, A. (2014). Audiovisual translation subtitling: translation practices explained. New York: Routledge.

Wang, X. (2016). The reappearance of Disney's animated movies to the American dream: an analysis of "The Lion King" and "The Super Marines". Guangdong: Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.

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Aphasia Alex Torry 1.

Introduction

Aphasia is a language disorder characterised by impairment of a person’s speech or their comprehension of speech, resulting from damage to the brain (Ibanescu & Pescariu, 2010).

Damage causing aphasia symptoms is localised to the brain’s left hemisphere, but depending on the specific area of the hemisphere and the extent of the damage, a variety of symptoms will be present; Symptoms which can be used for the classification of aphasia into different types (Code, 1989). This essay will focus on defining three of these types, Broca’s aphasia, Wernicke’s aphasia, and anomic aphasia. The characteristics of these types shall then be used to analyse four aphasic patients with varying symptoms, to diagnose them with one of the aforementioned aphasia types.

1.

Broca’s aphasia

Broca’s aphasia is caused by damage to Broca’s area located in the brain’s frontal lobe of the left hemisphere (Sedivy, 2020). This is non-fluent aphasia also known as expressive aphasia and presents features such as producing short phrases made up of ‘halting and effortful speech that is meaningful’ (Traxler, 2011, p484), substantial difficulty in retrieving words (Sedivy, 2020), and for some, significantly more difficulty with the production of verbs when compared to nouns (Bastiaanse & Zonneveld, 2004). This reduces linguistic proficiency: a fundamental feature of Broca’s aphasia, but particularly so on a syntactic level (Blanken, Dittmann, Grim, Marshall &

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Wallesch, 1993) causing prominent displays of agrammatic speech (Bastiaanse & Thompson, 2012). The omission of functional categories commonly occurs within Broca’s aphasia, with patients often producing telegraphic speech (Grodzinsky & Amunts, 2006) devoid of features such as determiners, complementisers, auxiliaries, and conjunctions. A sentence such as “I am going to go for a walk” may, therefore, be reduced to “I walk”.

Although the language production of people with Broca’s aphasia can be affected significantly, their comprehension remains reasonably intact (Sedivy, 2020). However, Grodzinsky and Amunts (2006) state that sentences containing complex grammatical structures such as passive constructions, may still cause problems for sufferers of Broca’s aphasia, unless ‘the grammatical subject is not the same as the logical subject’ (Basso, 2003, p30). Basso (2003) corroborates this, stating that within a conversational setting, comprehension in Broca’s aphasics is fairly good; but, impairment is noticeable when they are confronted with syntactic structures, such as reversible sentences, that require understanding the word order.

1.

Wernicke’s aphasia

Wernicke’s aphasia is fluent aphasia, also known as sensory or receptive aphasia, which is caused by damage to Wernicke’s area (Sedivy, 2020). This area resides in the temporal lobe of the left hemisphere just below the Sylvian fissure (Fernández & Smith Cairns, 2011). For Wernicke aphasics, their speech is fluent with regular prosody, phrase length, and articulation

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(Basso, 2003); however, this speech tends to be incoherent and meaningless (Fernández & Smith Cairns, 2011) making their utterances nonsensical and incomprehensible to the hearer.

Features of Wernicke’s aphasic’s speech are characterised by paraphasia, where one linguistic form is substituted for another (Code, 1989). This can be extreme to the point that there is no relation between the produced word and the target word (Blanken, et al, 1993). Blanken et al (1993) state that phonemic paraphasia can also be present in large frequencies, leading to neologisms – meaning made-up words (Traxler, 2011) – and neologistic jargon (Blanken, et al, 1993). Traxler (2011, p484) states that the main cause of this production problem stems from a deficiency in mapping ‘conceptual representations of word meanings onto the phonological codes’ preventing speakers from conveying meaning with their words. He continues to say that this also impacts their access to conceptual representations when listening, therefore, Wernicke’s aphasic’s comprehension can be significantly impaired (Basso, 2003). Similarly, their reading comprehension may mirror their auditory comprehension, potentially displaying significant impairment too (Albert, Goodglass, Helm, Rubens & Alexander, 1981).

2.

Anomic aphasia

Anomic aphasia is not caused by damage to a specific area like the previous types, and even in severe cases is difficult to localize reliably (Basso, 2003). In anomic aphasia, problems with the retrieval of substantive words can be caused by damage anywhere in the language areas of the brain (Obler &Gjerlow, 1999). Anomic aphasia is fluent aphasia with impairment of the ability

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to retrieve the names of things, or accessing the internal lexicon (Kirshner, 2004). Anomia is common in all aphasia types; however, this naming problem is the only fundamental feature present within this specific type (Obler & Gjerlow, 1999). Word finding difficulties may be more prevalent within nouns than verbs, but may also be present for other grammatical classes (Basso, 2003). Therefore, the main symptom of this type is â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;a disturbance of lexical access and/or retrievalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Blanken, et al, 1993, p111). Anomic aphasics in the presence of these production difficulties, often use coping mechanisms such as circumlocution or describing what they are unable to name (Heilman, 2018) and co-verbal gesturing (Kong, Law, Wat & Lai).

Despite the key feature of anomic aphasia being an impairment affecting the production of language, anomic aphasicsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; syntax and fluency are preserved (Code, 1989). Comprehension is also retained, and reading and writing are only mildly affected, if at all (Basso, 2003). Patients are aware of their problems, so much so that they are able to recognize correct corresponding objects, even when they cannot produce the name and will accept the correct name when presented with it (Code, 1989).

3.

Data Analysis

Patients shall be analysed individually, however, specific data has been collected and presented for all patients collectively. This data is presented in the following graphs from which comparisons can be made which benefit the overall diagnosis of each patient. For instance, the

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first graph displays the mean length of utterances (MLU). vocalised sounds not considered to be morphemes or attempts at producing words such as “mhm”, “uhuh” and “oh” were omitted from the calculations. This is useful as it elucidates data which creates a general foundation to build the diagnoses on. Patients presenting lower MLU scores would be assumed to have Broca’s aphasia, whereas higher MLU scores would indicate either Wernicke’s or anomic aphasia.

Having this data allows for the scope of features looked at to be narrowed as it provides a general idea of which direction to look to for each patient.

The following graph presents the percentages of relevant responses to questions the patients were asked. Anomic and Broca’s aphasics are expected to hold scores in the higher percentages as

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their comprehension is well preserved. Wernicke’s aphasics, however, would be expected to hold lower percentile scores due to their comprehension being impacted and the higher possibility of paraphasia and neologism production.

1.

Patient 1 & 3

Patient one and three have a diagnosis of Broca’s aphasia. One of the primary indicators of this can be seen in their MLU scores of 2.65 and 1.81 respectively (see figure 1). This indicates, as was described previously, low fluency. This corroborates a study of four Broca’s aphasics who – through the application of the Western Aphasia Battery – displayed an average subtest score of

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only 4.3/20 in word fluency (Beversdorf, et al, 2007). Further evidence can be seen in their results of 83% and 70% regarding relevant responses to questions (see figure 2). As stated previously Brocaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aphasics comprehension is fairly intact (Sedivy, 2020), so the acquired data align as expected with this feature.

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As can be seen in figures 3 and 4, both patients presented a higher proportion of content words opposed to function words, exemplified by patient oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s explanation of making a sandwich (see table 1: example 1). This supports the consensus of telegraphic speech through the omission of functional categories in Brocaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aphasics as asserted by Grodzinsky & Amunts (2006).

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Much can be extrapolated from tables 1 and 2. Both patients present high frequencies of pauses and one-word utterances. This implies that both patients display features of slow, effortful speech and the use of short utterances similar to the ‘halting and fragmented’ unplanned speech of a Broca’s patient in a case study presented by Scott and Wilshire (2010). Agrammatic utterances

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are abundant with patient one, but only four occur with patient 3. This is due to 84% of their utterances being one-word utterances, many of which being simple “yes” responses (see table 2: example 1 & 2).

2.

Patient 2

Patient 2 has Wernicke’s aphasia. The MLU of this patient suggests this due to a score of 6.0; however, this is countered by only producing relevant answers to questions 40% of the time (see figures 1 & 2). This demonstrates two of the main features conducive to a diagnosis of Wernicke’s aphasia including high productive fluency (Basso, 2003) and heavily diminished comprehension (Fernández & Smith Cairns, 2011).

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Further evidence for diagnosis can be seen in the high number of non-sense utterances, as evident in the provided string of utterances lacking in intelligibility (see Table 3: example 1). These utterances are paraphrastic by nature, with profuse misplacement and incorrectly retrieved

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words, similar to cases outlined by Ziegler (1952). The patient also produced 43 total neologisms, some of which can be seen marked as ‘xxx’ in example 2 and 3 (see Table 3). These are nonsensical words highly associated with Wernicke’s aphasia (Blanken, et al, 1993). Prior research by the likes of Ziegler’s (1952) asserts that misdirected and mispronounced syllables – which result in neologistic words - are a feature often present in Wernicke’s aphasic’s speech.

3.

Patient 4

Patient 4 has a diagnosis synonymous with anomic aphasia. This conclusion was reached due to several symptoms presented by the patient. A significant feature is the reasonably high MLU of 5.83 that the patient exhibits (see Figure 1). This is expected of anomic aphasics due to their preserved fluency of spontaneous speech (Kirshner, 2004). As previously stated, anomic aphasic’s comprehension is generally preserved (Basso, 2003). Patient 4 score of 100% appropriate responses to questions asked (see Figure 2) supports this criterion.

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Table 4 indicates patient 4â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s difficulty in word retrieval which is widely accepted as a fundamental feature of anomic aphasia (Obler & Gjerlow, 1999). The patient produced 290 total pauses when trying to produce speech and as seen in example 1, verbally expressed their inability to produce desired words. This is further proven by the 26 occurrences of consecutive word repetitions when struggling to retrieve a word. Evidence of this is shown in Example 2. A surprising development was the lack of circumlocutions as a coping mechanism; however. The patient did employ other techniques to aid in their language production. One coping mechanism utilized was co-verbal gesturing. An example of this can be seen at 48:54 of the video when explaining how to make a sandwich. A study by Hogrefe, Ziegler, Wiesmayer, Weidinger, and Goldenberg (2013) supports this by concluding that speakers may use gestures to compensate for their impeded production of language. Finally, it has been noticed that despite production

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difficulties, the patient can produce well-formed sentences as evidenced in example 3 of the table.

This differentiates them from other fluent aphasias such as Wernicke’s aphasia which is evident from the high number of non-sense utterances patient 2 was seen to produce.

4.

Conclusion

In summary, this study took into consideration a variety of symptoms that could be used for the classification of aphasic patients into their correlating aphasia types. This included mean lengths of utterance and number of appropriate answers to questions asked. Further features conducive to specific aphasia types’ diagnosis were also analysed. In doing this it was concluded that patient one and three are Broca’s aphasics due to their non-fluent impeded production of language.

Patient two has Wernicke’s aphasia due to fluency yet at times nonsensical, paraphrastic speech.

Patient 4 presented fluent and coherent speech, with high levels of comprehension; however, they displayed difficulty with word retrieval, resulting in a diagnosis of anomic aphasia.

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References Albert, M. L., Goodglass, H., Helm, N. A., Rubens, A. B., & Alexander, M. P. (1981). Clinical aspects of dysphasia. Wien: Springer-Verlag.

Basso, A. (2003). Aphasia and its therapy. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bastiaanse, R., & Zonneveld, R. V. (2004). Broca’s aphasia, verbs and the mental lexicon.

Brain and Language, 90, 198-202. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093934X03004322.

Bastiaanse, R., & Thompson, C. K. (Eds). (2012). Perspectives on agrammatism. East Sussex: Psychology Press.

Beversdorf, D. Q., Sharma, U. K., Phillips, N. N., Notestine, M. A., Slivka, A. P., Friedman, N. M., Schneider, S. L., Nagaraja, H. N., & Hillier, A. (2007). Effect of Propranolol on Naming in Chronic Broca’s Aphasia with Anomia. Neurocase, 13, 256-259. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13554790701595471 Blanken, G., Dittmann, J., Grimm, H., Marshall, J. C. & Wallesch, C. W. (Eds). (1993).

Linguistic disorders and pathologies: an international handbook. Berlin: Dr Gruyter.

Code, C. (Ed). (1989). The Characteristics of Aphasia. London: CRC Press LLC. Fernández, E. M., Smith Cairns, H. (2011). Fundamentals of psycholinguistics. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.

Grodzinsky, Y., & Amunts, K. (2006). Broca’s region. New York: Oxford University Press.

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Heilman, K. M. (2018). Aphasia syndromes and information processing models: A historical perspective. In A. M. Raymer & L. J. Gonzales Rothi (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of aphasia and language disorders. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hogrefe, K., Ziegler, W., Wiesmayer, S., Weidinger, N., & Goldenberg, G. (2013). The actual and potential use of gestures for communication in aphasia. Aphasiology, 27, 10701089. doi:10.1080/02687038.2013.803515 Ibanescu, G., & Pescariu, S. (Eds). (2010). Aphasia: Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Kirshner, H. S. (2004). Language and speech disorders. In W. G. Bradley, R. B. Daroff, G. M. Fenichel & J. Jankovic (Eds.), Neurology in clinical practice (4th ed., pp. 141-160).

Philadelphia: Butterworth Heinemann.

Kong, A. P., Law, S., Wat, W. K., Lai, C. (2015). Co-verbal gestures among speakers with aphasia: Influence of aphasia severity, linguistic and semantic skills, and hemiplegia on gesture employment in oral discourse. J Commun Discord, 56, 88-102. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4530578/#R34 Obler, L. K., & Gjerlow, K. (1999). Language and the brain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Scott, R. M., & Wilshire, C. E. (2010). Lexical competition for production in a case of nonfluent aphasia: converging evidence from four different tasks. Cognitive

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Neuropsychology, 27, 505-538. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02643294.2011.598853 Sedivy, J. (2020) Language in Mind: an introduction to psycholinguistics (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

Traxler, M. J. (2011). Introduction to psycholinguistics: Understanding language science. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

Ziegler, D. K. (1952). Word deafness and Wernickeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aphasia report of cases and discussion of the syndrome. AMA Arch NeurPsych, 67, 323-331. doi:10.1001/archneurpsyc.1952.02320150056005

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Issue 3. Summer 2020