This post is based on my Masters dissertation, as well as a couple of workshops delivered at IATEFL Pre-Conference Event 2009 (Cardiff) and NATECLA 2009 (Leeds) My small-scale study aimed to discover differences in the writing processes of ESOL learners whilst completing timed writing tasks across paper-based (PB) […]
When it comes to defining a second-language learner’s proficiency, what options are there? Most of what is available is time consuming and expensive. However, the DIALANG project has developed a Web-based instrument that allows learners to assess their proficiency in, particularly EU, languages. The method is entirely ‘self-assessment’ […]
Test your knowledge of various areas of linguistics with these interactive exercises. Just follow the links below: Language and communication Grammar (syntax, morphology, phonology, phonetics) First language acquisition Second language acquisition Semantics and Pragmatics Sociolinguistics
Now that the unintentional sabbatical is over…. What do the following phrases have in common? Hasta la vista baby It’s a nice day, hana? Sometimes I’ll start a sentence in English y termino en español Answer: they are all forms of ‘code-switching’; that is, the (more or less […]
My specialism is ESOL (English for Speakers of other Languages, or EFL/ESL as it is sometimes referred to) and Applied Linguistics; it’s what I teach and research. This blog entry is connected to an essay that I wrote some time ago and, as this blog attracts people with […]
What precisely is a cliché? And is it really the ‘bad guy of the English language’? Or is that just a vexed question? As even bad guys have their defendants and McArthur in The Oxford Companion to the English Language reminds us that the general dislike of the […]
By Nicholas Ostler Publisher: HarperCollins ISBN: 0007118708 Year: 2005 Pages: 624 Hardback Historical linguist Nicholas Ostler presents herein an in-depth and comprehensive biography of the world’s languages—a story that has been little told; making this book one of a few in this genre (see also ‘Dictionary of Languages’ […]
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