CLEaR2015 Plenary speakers

Prof. Ulisses Tadeu Vaz de Oliveira

(Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados, Brasil)

LANGUAGE LEARNING IN BLENDED AND TANDEM WITH BRAZILIAN PARTNERS:

A SYSTEMIC-FUNCTIONAL APPROACH

Abstract: Institutions have long recognized the need of their learners to participate in education programs through a flexible delivery of instructions. Over the past twenty years, interest in the intersection of foreign language teaching, the language learning process and the use of technology has given rise to a dramatic increase in the number of studies in blended, tandem and teletandem. Blended learning is seen as an education program that mixes face-to-face and online learning through technological resources. Tandem is hereby defined as web-based interactions with foreign language pairs where learners use communication tools for L2 learning. Through the use of technological resources and in a collaborative way, participants can experience situations of real use of the target language by interacting with a native or a competent speaker. Tandem learning is based on principles of autonomy and reciprocity, at levels that vary according to the proposals and the aims of the process. In this presentation, I intend to bring the development and the current state of blended and tandem language learning in Brazil in the university context. The observation includes the analyses of learners’ perceptions of the use of technologies, with a view to identifying areas for enhancing the effectiveness of e-learning. Adopting the theoretical framework provided by the Systemic-Functional Linguistics, I look at the interpersonal implications on the learning process and the most accepted and effective computer-mediated methodologies and environments for Brazilian learners. The presenter aims to shed light on the following core issues: (a) the levels of interest, rejection and responsibility of the Brazilian graduating students as autonomous learners and tandem partners; (b) The students` savvy in some software applications. (c) The cultural and personality traces of the Brazilian partners in f2f and distance interactions.

Keywords: Tandem. Systemic-Functional Grammar. Blended Learning.

Bio: Ulisses Oliveira is a professor at Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD - Brazil), in the School of Communication, Arts and Language Studies, where he teaches disciplines of Linguistics, Literature and English. He was the Coordinator of LEP (Laureate English Program) of Laureate International Universities and an English Professor in the School of Business at the University Anhembi Morumbi, where he helped the implementation and was later in charge of the development of the English discipline in the School of Business and Hospitality. The university is a member of Laureate International Universities and has aimed the internationalization as a core concern. It was decided, at the time, that the course implementation would be in the hybrid modality of blended learning. During this time, Ulisses taught English to Marketing, Business Administration, International Trade, Hospitality and International Relations majors. Ulisses has also done research in the area of tandem learning, focusing ICT in education for In-curriculum Disciplines and Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) for undergraduate students. He received his Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics and Language Studies from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC-Sao Paulo) and holds M.A. degrees in the same area and university. He has experience in Systemic-Functional Linguistics, integrated with Portuguese Philology and diachronic studies involving medieval Galego-Portuguese chants.

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Magdalena Lewicka

(Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland)

The literature of Polish-Lithuanian Tatars: characteristics of the Tatar writings and areas of research

Abstract:The literature of Polish-Lithuanian Tatars constitutes the most important and richest part of their cultural heritage, as well as a lasting trace of Tatar settlements in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The literature that flourished during the spiritual revival of the Renaissance and Reformation somewhere in the seemingly God-forsaken, remote Eastern Borderlands has not been forgotten; on the contrary, it has been recognised as a unique phenomenon of great spiritual, literary and cultural value. This phenomenon manifests itself in the extraordinary combination of the oriental Islamic culture and Christian culture, two components that appear to be mutually exclusive but are in fact in perfect harmony with each other both in the life of society and in the literary works of Polish-Lithuanian Tatars.

There is an ongoing interest in the literature of Polish-Lithuanian Tatars even though it is not an easy subject of research. On the one hand, difficulties arise from the limited access to old writings which are held in private hands or library collections in post-Soviet countries. Another reason is the content and form of these works, written in Arabic script in Belarusian and Polish, interspersed with Turkish and Arabic texts. Combined with the enormous diversity of the content and peculiar character of these manuscripts, anonymity of authors and impossibility of chronological ordering, all these factors pose a considerable challenge to the exploration of the field referred to by researchers as “kitabistics” (a term derived from the most representative type of manuscript – the kit‚b).

Key words: the literature of Polish-Lithuanian Tatars, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, kitabistics

Magdalena Lewicka – doctor of human sciences specializing in Arab philology, director of the Department of Arabic Culture and Language  of Nicolas Copernicus University in Torun; Arabic and Islamic scholar, Arabic language lecturer, sworn translator, graduate of Arabic and Islamic Department of the University in Warsaw, graduate of Administration and Management Studies at Trade Institute, Damascus University, and Arabic Language School for Foreigners in Damascus and Cairo; member of Polish Orient Society, Polish Neophilology Society, Polish Society for the Study of Religion, Polish Society of Sworn and Specialised Translators, Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants; the author conducts research of Islamic and Arabic issues and language education (glottodidactics).

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Kais A. Kadhim Al Alwan

(University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur)

PROCEDURES OF PRODUCING CORRESPONDING ARABIC TEXTS FROM BBC POLITICAL NEWS

Abstract: This article has examined the procedures of producing corresponding Arabic texts from English BBC political news.  Comparing, matching and paring methods have been used. Using various defining characteristics that are gleaned from various definitions of translation, we pair or match these defining characteristic against  the corresponding Arabic text in terms of transferring or translating strategy, style and content of the message. Eight different ST and TT have been examined to exemplify eight different procedures of transferring or translating strategies, and the effect they have on styles and messages. It is found that the translators have been able to employ these eight different  translating strategies on eight different English BBC-news texts,  namely  the semantic translating strategy, communicative translating strategy, functional translating strategy, literal translating strategy, naturalization translating strategy, free translating strategy, word for word translating strategy and cultural translating strategy. Not only  has the translator been able to employ all the eight different translating strategies, but he also seems to have been able to execute these different strategies on different texts (with different styles and messages) as well as having done so eclectically; that is, his choice of any one of these strategies seems to be dependent on the following: (a) The nature of the ST (sentences, clauses, phrases, words) at hand; (b) The availability of finding corresponding equivalents (sentences, clauses, phrases and words) in the TT;  (c) The possibility of expressing the content of the ST in a TT that is congruent with the socio-linguistic and cultural contexts of the Arabic readers. With respect to translating strategies in general,  all the above strategies seem to have been able to manage and sustain the message when used in translating ST news into Arabic corresponding texts. Between the translating or transferring strategies, translation styles and translation objectives, the procedures of transferring/ translating a ST to a corresponding TT seem to have been multi-linearly ordered in the sense that the translator seems to be able to commence his work in any one of these three and moving back and forth. Having considered them (strategies, styles and objectives), then he will produce a translation output.

Keywords: translation, political text, style, message and strategies

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Mohammad Hossein KESHAVARZ  (CV)

(Near East University, Nicosia, North Cyprus)

Intelligibility plus desirability and acceptability: The case of pronunciation of non-native speakers of English as a Lingua Franca

Abstract: The notion of intelligibility in intercultural communication in general, and in the use of English as a Lingua Franca (ELI) or English as an International Language (EIL), in particular, has received a great deal of attention in the literature on ELI (see, for example, Jenkins, 2000, 2012; Jordan, 2011; Kenollmayer, 2003; McKay, 2002; and Smith, 1992, to name but a few). In this respect, pronunciation as a salient linguistic feature has gained unprecedented momentum as it has been found to be the main contributory factor in communication breakdowns among different L1 background speakers of ELI (cf. Jenkins, 2000).  In the case of pronunciation of non-native speakers (NNSs) of English, discussions have largely been restricted to intelligibility and comprehensibility, and other factors that may affect listeners’ attitude towards the speaker have been neglected. In this presentation, it will be argued that in addition to intelligibility two other factors namely desirability and acceptability affect intercultural communication among different L1 speakers of English as a lingua franca. This presentation is based on the author’s observation of the striking pronunciation problems of his multilingual/multicultural graduate students at a private university in Northern Cyprus. The observations were supported by students’ feedback as well as analysis of data collected through pronunciation tests.  Preliminary analysis of the data shows that non-native speakers of English find the pronunciation errors of other non-native speakers irritating and unacceptable. The findings of this research are interpreted to have implications for intercultural communication as well the treatment of pronunciation errors of ELI speakers. 

Keywords: Pronunciation, intelligibility, desirability, acceptability, intercultural communication, EIL