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Una Cunningham

Bio: Una Cunningham is an academic researcher from University of Canterbury. The author has contributed to research in topics: Pronunciation & Language education. The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 44 publications receiving 286 citations. Previous affiliations of Una Cunningham include Dalarna University & Uppsala University.

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It appears that student beliefs and student expectations lead to hidden challenges associated with mixing these groups of students, and the study concludes that unless teaching assistance is available, it is not easy to afford online students the same right to speak as campus students.
Abstract: This study examines what happens when online and campus students participate in real time in the same campus classroom. Before this study, postgraduate students studying online in a course intended primarily as professional development for language educators were taking the course through reading the course literature including assigned articles, writing reflective texts in the asynchronous forum and doing the course assignments. They had a very different experience than the campus students who met weekly for discussion of the reading. Some online students were not active enough in the course, and showed low levels of engagement. The online students were invited to participate in scheduled campus classes via Skype on iPads. After some hesitation, four of the six online students took up this real-time participation option. Initial difficulties with the technology were addressed after seeking input from campus and online students. A series of adjustments were made and evaluated, including a move to a model in which three online students in different locations participated in a single Skype group video call on a laptop in the campus classroom rather than on multiple individual Skype calls on iPads. After the course, the online and campus students were asked to evaluate the experience of having physical and virtual participants sharing a physical space and to relate this experience to the asynchronous channels previously available to the participants. The comments of both groups of participants were interpreted in the light of previous work on social presence and of activity theory. It appears that student beliefs and student expectations lead to hidden challenges associated with mixing these groups of students, and the study concludes that unless teaching assistance is available, it is not easy to afford online students the same right to speak as campus students.

64 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: "Can you hear me, Hanoi?" : Compensatory Mechanisms Employed in Synchronous Net-Based English Language Learning
Abstract: "Can you hear me, Hanoi?" : Compensatory Mechanisms Employed in Synchronous Net-Based English Language Learning

49 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper studied the factors that lie behind the choice of models and targets for the pronunciation of English by learners of English in Vietnam and in Sweden, and argued that the traditional learner target of approaching native speaker pronunciations is not appropriate for either group, but especially not for the Vietnamese learners.
Abstract: This paper aims to account for the factors that lie behind the choice of models and targets for the pronunciation of English by learners of English in Vietnam and in Sweden. English is the first foreign language in both Vietnam and in Sweden. English is used as a language of international communication in both settings. Swedish learners have much more exposure to spoken English than do Vietnamese learners and the Swedish language is more similar to English than is Vietnamese. These reasons, among others, explain why Swedish accents of English are typically considerably more intelligible than Vietnamese accents of English. Given that the majority of English speakers in the world are not native speakers, it is argued that the traditional learner target of approaching native speaker pronunciations is not appropriate for either group, but especially not for the Vietnamese learners. Instead maximal international intelligibility is a more useful target. To this end, learners need to be exposed to a variety of native and non-native models.

17 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The children of migrants grow up with influence from at least two cultures, and they must negotiate their path to adulthood through one or more ethnicities and language varieties that m....
Abstract: The children of migrants grow up with influence from at least two cultures, and they must negotiate their path to adulthood through one or more ethnicities and one or more language varieties that m...

17 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a case study explores the impact of ubiquitous smartphones and a task-based language teaching approach on students' and teachers' perception and motivation in improving English writing skills.
Abstract: Integration of technology in task-based language teaching (TBLT) has long been a source of attraction for language teachers (Pierson, 2015). In the case of developing countries, such as Pakistan, mobile phones are the modern form of technology commonly available at low cost to individuals as well as institutions. The present descriptive case study explores the impact of ubiquitous smartphones and a TBLT approach on students’ and teachers’ perception and motivation in improving English writing skills. A mixed method approach was used to explore the qualitative and quantitative data. Smartphones were used to complete writing tasks on blogs. The results of the study reveal that using smartphones, combined with a TBLT approach, created learning environments which promote self-confidence and interaction with the teacher and peers. It also helped the teacher in providing individual feedback to the students, improving students’ engagement in learning tasks as well as self-expression in English.

14 citations


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01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: This book discusses the development of English as a global language in the 20th Century and some of the aspects of its development that have changed since the publication of the first edition.
Abstract: A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 521 82347 1 hardback ISBN 0 521 53032 6 paperback Contents List of tables page vii Preface to the second edition ix Preface to the first edition xii 1 Why a global language? 1 What is a global language? 3 What makes a global language? 7 Why do we need a global language? 11 What are the dangers of a global language? 14 Could anything stop a global language? 25 A critical era 27 2 Why English? The historical context 29 Origins 30 America 31 Canada 36 The Caribbean 39 Australia and New Zealand 40 South Africa 43 South Asia 46 Former colonial Africa 49 Southeast Asia and the South Pacific 54 A world view 59 v Contents

1,857 citations

01 Mar 2008
TL;DR: It’s time to get used to the idea that there is no such thing as a “magic bullet”.
Abstract: 中國科技大學通識教育中心英語文證照奬勵金實施要點 中華民國 105 年 1 月 8 日通識教育委員會議通過 一、 中國科技大學(以下簡稱本校)為鼓勵本校學生通過具公信力機構之英語文能力測驗或 取得證照,特訂定「中國科技大學通識教育中心英語文證照獎勵金實施要點」(以下簡 稱本要點)。 二、 學生於就讀本校期間,通過歐盟共同架構(CEFR)語言能力參考指標 B1(中級)同等級英 語文能力測驗以上(含)者,得依據本要點酌予獎勵。檢測項目請參閱本中心「歐洲語言 學習、教學、評量共同參考架構與各英語檢測分級對照表」(參見附表);未列於標準 對照表之測驗項目不給予獎助。 三、 凡本校學生,除應英系外,均得申請。大學部學生通過同等級以申請一次為限,在學期 間得重複申請,但該次申請之級別不得低於前次。 本獎勵金每學期核發乙次,每次核發全校前 10 名,各名次核發金額如附表。 四、 申請人應提供在學期間,申請當(學)期參加考試之證明文件及成績證明或證照,以憑辦 理。 五、 獎勵金申請作業:請至通識教育中心網頁下載「英語文證照獎勵金申請表」(附件 1), 填妥後檢附成績單正本及影本(背面簽名並註明與正本無異)各一份、本人金融帳戶存 簿(郵局或土地銀行)封面影本送至通識教育中心。 通識教育中心得每學期遴選受獎代表,擇期公開頒奬,並辦理後續請款作業。 六、 奬勵金申請期限:通過相關證照考試半年內應提出申請,逾期視同放棄。 七、 本要點之獎勵金由學校開設通識教育中心專戶,一切收支專款專用;每年度如有剩餘 款,則移至翌年度繼續使用。 八、 本要點經通識教育中心會議審查通過,陳請校長核定後公告實施,修訂時亦同。

1,468 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Fishman and Clevedon as discussed by the authors proposed the Reversing Language Shift: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages, which is the foundation of our work.
Abstract: Reversing Language Shift: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages. Joshua A. Fishman. Multilingual Matters, 76. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 1991. 431 pp.

861 citations