Crickets Chirp

[cathschaffstump]

The ever present philosophical question: is hearing nothing better than getting rejections? My writing mailbox is pretty quiet right now.

Work still continues comparing English teaching in Japan and in the US. What I’m learning right now is that Japanese students prefer adhering to the native speaker model, at least in one pilot study done in Nagoya.

Nativism seems to run counter to embracing World English. Depending on the purpose of English, say, for example, to succeed in a US classroom, nativism may be a preferred model. What generally occurs in any given communication is a negotiation between accuracy and comprehensibility, and I wonder if the Nativists are too much in the former camp, and the proponents of World English are too much in the other.

Enough of that. I’ll get you back to faerie princesses as soon as I can. However, if any of you closet linguist eggheads want to weigh in, I’m here for you.

Professionally yours,
Catherine

Originally published at Writer Tamago. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[sarah-prineas.livejournal.com]

Hi there, fellow Iowan! Thanks for the LJ add.

I guess hearing nothing is better, if it hasn't been too long. Because then there's still hope...

[cathschaffstump.livejournal.com]

Nice to meet you. jimhines pointed me in your direction.

I agree that silence equals hope. :)

I hope to meet you at Wiscon.

Catherine

[didjiman.livejournal.com]

Karisu told that as she understands it, the Japanese teaches English using the Kana pronunciation, with the resulting "beeru," Edowarudo etc. atrocities. It will go a long way if that is changed.

[cathschaffstump.livejournal.com]

Certainly, that's part of the phonological features of katakana, and there is a movement around the world to accept such variances of English as "World Englishes," validating words like beeru as okay.

You can imagine the controversy.

However, at this point in Japan, the Japanese are trying to embrace a more communicative practice of language instruction, especially at the tandai where I did my work last year. At the same time, students want to speak like native speakers. At the same time, they don't.

It's a fascinating set of sociological problems.

Catherine

[erised1810.livejournal.com]

that bubbledu loads of questiosn but idont' knowwhere to stat. i thin kit's better to get a nintroducit nto linguistics from m ylibrar yinstead. but whati nthe world is 'world english?' is thatthe kidn of spelling/ writing where one mixes uk and us words?

[cathschaffstump.livejournal.com]

Good question, Yvonne.

World English is the idea that one dialect of English is as valid as another, so yes, it would encompass the differences between British English and American English, but it would also validate the English of countries like Singapore and India, which are VERY different than "standard" English.

Part of the issue is that there are more non-native English speakers now than native ones, and there is this idea that speaking like a native speaker is out, while speaking intelligibly, even with a usage accent is in.

There's a lot to read about this in research journals right now, because it's a very hot, controversial topic.

If you'd like, I'd be happy to send you a copy of my (somewhat stuffy academic) paper when I'm done.

Catherine

[erised1810.livejournal.com]

i thought as muc honce iread the comments. it remindedm e how i curled my toes when i saw japanese harry potter translationes adn i forget how they rendered the names buti do remember potteru adh tnhinkng eagh.
i'm also thinking it dependso nthe sounds/accents you grow up wit hwheather your'e gonne be abe to produce the soudns of a nother language. it is overl yhard for east-asians to learn dutch for instance. it is hard or some people (sometiems for me acutally)to imagine how difficutl it is for someone to learn your name.

[cathschaffstump.livejournal.com]

Phonology (sounds) ARE a huge contributor to a World English, as are grammar, local slang, and language overlap.

Catherine