The Effect of Globalisation in Africa and the Choice of Language in Publishing

This article shows us some of the problems of the domination of the ex-colonial languages for intellectual life in Africa. The author notes that English serves fundamentally the interests of those for whom it is both an export commodity and a language of conquest and domination. He argues that there is no compelling reason for adopting a foreign language as a national one. On the contrary, there is ample evidence that such linguistic imposition does more harm than good. When a language is artificially imposed, students are rarely able to master it sufficiently to work comfortably in it. Not only do they fail to acquire proficiency in the foreign language; they also lose proficiency in their own languages, becoming twice disadvantaged. The author sees dependency on a foreign language, like other forms of dependency, as a liability that a nation can ill afford. He quotes Ali Mazrui who raises the question: Will Africa ever effectively "take off" when it is so tightly held hostage to the languages of the former imperial masters?     

Language policy and science: Could some African countries learn from some Asian countries?

This article deals with the fact that most children in Africa are taught in a language neither they nor their teachers master, resulting in poor education outcomes. While there are also donor interests and donor competition involved in retaining ex-colonial languages, as well as an African elite that may profit from this system, one of the main reasons why teaching in ex-colonial languages persists lies in the fact that a large proportion of the general public still believes that the best way to learn a foreign language is to have it as a language of instruction. By contrast, research studies conducted in Africa, as well as examples from Asian countries such as Sri Lanka and Malaysia, have shown that children actually learn mathematics and science much better in local and familiar languages. Though the recent World Bank Education Strategy policy paper is entitled Learning for All, it does not specify which language learning should take place in. A claim one often hears in countries of so-called Anglophone Africa is that English is the language of science and technology, and that teaching these subjects through English (instead of teaching English as a subject in its own right as a foreign language) is best. The monolingual island of Zanzibar is in fact about to reintroduce English as the language of instruction in maths and science from grade 5 onwards in primary school. The author of this paper suggests that when it comes to language policy, some African and some Asian countries could learn from each other.     

Toward a Definition of Heritage Language: Sociopolitical and Pedagogical Considerations

Foreign language enrollments in the United States are experiencing a shift from the traditional European foreign languages toward the less commonly taught languages. Moreover, increasing numbers of students now have some degree of bilingual proficiency in the language that they are studying. As a result, much recent attention has been given to the issue of heritage language instruction by both researchers in applied linguistics and practitioners in language pedagogy. This article argues that the concepts of "heritage language" and "heritage learner" need clarification and should be placed within a larger national policy perspective. Pedagogical and sociopolitical issues surrounding the current heritage language debate are examined from a crosscultural and historical perspective. The article ends with some specific policy recommendations for the role of heritage languages and foreign languages within the current strategic context.     

外语学术研究应关注应用

中国的外语学术研究虽然取得了令人瞩目的进步,但还存在许多问题。最突出的问题是,对本学科的发展缺乏有效的规划,对外语语种布局、 人才培养、 教学理论和方法, 对外语学科在中国走出去的进程中究竟发挥什么样的作用没有充分的研究。鉴于外语学科的特殊性质和学科地位,本文作者认为, 外语学术研究应该为国家外语战略、 外语教育和人才培养、 中国文化和学术走出去等提供决策咨询报告,同时开展与此有关的基础理论研究。     

浅谈外语学习中重视汉语修养的意义

以语言是思维的基本形式立论,讨论了语言学习中外语与汉语的辩证关系,认为汉语作为外语学习的基础语言,其水平的高下不仅直接影响着外语学习,也会影响外语的应用。强调在学习外语的同时,不应忽视提高母语修养。     

跨文化交际中的肢体语言

肢体语言与学外语一样,都是文化的一部分。除一些世界公认的肢体语言外,不同的文化还有各自的肢体语言。跨文化交际时,相同的肢体语言形式可能具有完全不同的意义。本文简单对比中关肢体语言的差别,并介绍了一些国外常用的肢体语言,以此来说明在学习外语的同时,多了解一些国外常用的肢体语言是会有帮助作用的。     

翻译教学应重视学生语言运用能力的提高

本科阶段的翻译教学中，应始终重视学生语言运用能力的培养。英汉语言运用能力是进一步学习翻译理论和技巧的基础。章以一次成功的翻译教学实践为例说明重视英汉语言对比，提高学生语言运用能力是提高学生翻译实践能力的有效途径。     

Effects of Learning and Teaching in a Foreign Language

In countries with a small ‘language area’, internationalization may lead to increased use of foreign languages in engineering education. This paper investigates the possible effects of learning and teaching in a foreign language. To arrive at an answer, it reviews research into the relationship between academic success and foreign language proficiency. It concludes that, for engineering programmes, learning and teaching in a foreign language will reduce the quality of education. Not only should a considerable drop in study results be expected, but also an increased workload for both students and teachers.     

Language of instruction and student performance: new insights from research in Tanzania and South Africa

This article, drawing on a set of studies conducted in the framework of the Language of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa (LOITASA) research project, shows how well African students express themselves if they are allowed to use a familiar African language, and conversely the difficulties they have when forced to use a foreign language, a language they hardly hear and never use outside of school, as a language of instruction. A key finding of the research is that when the foreign language, English in this case, is used, there is a much larger spread in test performance between students. This means that a small group of students succeed while the vast majority sinks. The author therefore argues for working towards a goal whereby African children like children in industrialized countries may study in their own language. Pursuing this goal should be a centrepiece in poverty reduction strategies.     

母语阅读态度迁移对外语阅读态度的影响

阅读理解是一个复杂的心理思维过程,阅读态度是影响阅读理解效果的一个重要的情感因素.阅读态度是一个复杂的理论体系,它涵盖认知、情感和意动等方面的内容.有关研究表明,母语阅读态度和外语阅读态度之间有一定的关联性.文章通过对运城学院外语系、中文系和数学系的291名学生进行问卷调查和英语水平测试,试图探讨:1)母语阅读态度和外语阅读态度之间有何区别;2)母语阅读态度是否向外语阅读迁移;3)外语水平是否会对这种迁移产生影响等问题.研究结果为外语阅读教学提供了有益的启示.     

Playing football without a ball: language,reading and academic performance in a high‐poverty school

Second language (L2) reading research suggests that there is a complex interplay between L2 proficiency, first language (L1) reading and L2 reading. However, not much is known about the effect of L1 proficiency on L1 reading, and of L1 reading on L2 reading, or vice versa, in bilingual settings when readers have few opportunities for extensive reading in their L1. The relationships between L1 (Northern Sotho) and L2 (English) proficiency and L1 and L2 reading were examined in Grade 7 learners attending a high‐poverty primary school in South Africa, during the course of a year when a reading intervention programme was implemented. The effect that attention to reading and accessibility of books had on the learners' reading proficiency in both languages was examined, and the factors that predicted academic performance were analysed. When the learners were engaged in more reading, L2 reading contributed more variance to L1 reading than L1 proficiency. Reading in both languages also contributed significantly to academic performance. The study highlights the need for more cross‐linguistic reading research in different educational settings.     

Self—improvement of Teachers of Foreign Languages

In recents years,the research about the peda-gogical theory of language teaching has put more em-phasis on students.That is to say,students'role instudy has been more and more stressed.Obviously,this has corrected the teacher- centred tendency exist-ed in the traditional teaching methodology in whichstudents'own initiatives were often neglected.How-ever,atany time in the course of students'study,theguiding role of a teacher can never be neglected or re-placed.In other words,teachers of foreign…     

情感因素在外语教学中的作用

情感因素在人的认知过程中起着非常重要的作用,影响着外语教学的效果,但在外语教学中,很多教师忽略了情感因素的作用,从而造成了外语教学效率低下,教学效果不理想.作者从什么是情感因素谈起,分析了外语教学存在的问题,并提出了应对的办法.     

对我国双语教育的几点思考

改革开放以来,一种以提高外语水平为主要目的的双语教育在我国蓬勃兴起,然而,国内对双语教育的本质和内涵缺乏较为深刻的认识。国际上较为认可的双语教育一般为双重任务:一是实现教育目的的手段,二是教育目的本身。双语教育的基本类型主要为过渡性、单语识字、部分平衡发展、完全平衡发展四种。我国双语教育基本分为保持少数民族语言和提高学生外语水平两种类型,其效果都得到了肯定。当前,我国双语教育发展过程中应注意对双语教育本质的认识,加强对双语习得理论的探讨,把文化教育与语言教育紧密结合。     

二语习得中的石化成因研究

在语言学习过程中,许多语言学习者在达到一定程度之后,便出现相对的瓶颈期,无论怎么样努力都不能使自己习得的外语水平有所提高,被称为石化现象。该文立足于研究者们提出的石化现象解释理论模式,结合语言与文化的关系与语言的不断变化发展,进一步分析石化现象产生的文化原因及语言客观原因,从而提高语言习得者的语言习得效率。     

Language policies and practices in Tanzania and South Africa: problems and challenges

The authors of the present article are engaged in a research project funded by the Norwegian Research Council. In this project the language policies of Tanzania and South Africa, as well as the practices of these policies in the classroom are analyzed. The article gives some preliminary results from the project. While the language policies of Tanzania are described as confusing, contradictory, and ambiguous, the language policies of South Africa seem clearer and more progressive. In Tanzania, Kiswahili is seen as the national language, while both Kiswahili and English are official languages. The issue of language has, however, disappeared from the constitution in Tanzania. In the constitution of South Africa, 11 languages are official and seen as equal. But when it comes to practice in the classroom in both countries, the majority of the learners struggle to learn academic content because of the foreign medium that is used as the language of instruction from secondary school onwards in Tanzania and already from the fourth grade in primary school in South Africa. The research reported here shows that whatever the official policies may be the teachers in the classrooms will use whatever language they and their students feel most comfortable with. Examples are given here of the coping strategies teachers and learners use in both countries like translations, code-mixing and code-switching. At the end of the day the learners have to write their exams in English however. The language in education policy in most African countries lead many African pupils to fall even further behind. What seems to be a learning problem or a matter of bad grade, drop out and repetition is really a language problem.     

关于俄英双语对比教学的设想

针对部分高校俄语专业招收俄英双语制学生的现状,配合“宽基础、高素质、有特长、适应广”的人才培养目标,我们提出俄英双语对比教学的设想。通过对比教学使学生掌握俄英语音、语法、词汇、修辞、语言国情等知识,再通过交际情景发展学生跨化交际的技巧和能力,最终达到语言知识和言语能力的完美结合。这正是我们外语教学的最终目的。     

中英文交际用语的差别与应对策略

交际用语是对外交往中必不可少的语言,然而由于历史文化、风俗习惯等原因,不同文化间的交际用语存在着差异。本文通过列举具体事例,结合自身在国外学习的经历,阐述中英文常用交际用语差异,分析背后反映的中西方文化差异,并逐条对英语学习者提出应对建议。笔者认为,只有打下扎实的中外文语言功底,培养跨文化意识,才能更好地开展对外交流。     

“濒危语言热”二十年

文章回顾濒危语言热的20年,认为抢救濒危语言的提出是必要的,也是适时的,因为其理念是主张语言多样性,提倡保护语言生态.同时又认为我国的濒危语言研究必须从实际出发,不能完全照搬国外的做法.中国语言的濒危,没有像国外所说的那么严重,小语种并不是想象的那么脆弱.最后认为,必须加强濒危语言理论研究,建立适合中国国情的濒危语言理论、方法.