Showing papers in "Studies in Literature and Language in 2011"

Vocabulary Levels and Vocabulary learning strategies of Iranian Undergraduate students

Abstract: This study tries to investigate the vocabulary learning strategies and vocabulary level of Iranian EFL learners and any potential relation and contribution between these two variables. The research design of the study was quantitative method and the population of the study was Iranian junior EFL students. Thus, 238 participants- both male and female- were selected from Semnan universities according to random cluster sampling. Schmitt’s vocabulary learning strategies questionnaire (VLSQ) and nation’s vocabulary level test (VLT) were used to collect data. The resultsshowed that Iranian junior EFL students were medium strategy users with overall strategy mean score of 2.99. It indicated that the participants of the current study need more training on vocabulary learning strategies to become more familiar with all types of vocabulary earning strategies. Furthermore, memory strategy was found as the most frequently used strategy and cognitive strategy as the least frequently one. The descriptive statistics showed that students had sufficient vocabulary knowledge at 2000 and 3000 word levels. However, they did not have sufficient vocabulary knowledge at 5000, 10000, and academic vocabulary levels. The results indicated significant relationship between all vocabulary learning strategy and overall vocabulary level of the students. However, the strongest correlation was found between memory strategy and overall vocabulary level and the weakest correlation was found between social strategy and overall vocabulary level of Iranian EFL university students. It was found that all vocabulary learning strategy contributed to the overall vocabulary learning of the student. The highest contribution was related to memory strategy and the lowest to social strategy. Key words : Vocabulary; Leaning strategies; Vocabulary learning strategies; Vocabulary level; Vocabularysize

Textbook Evaluation: EFL Teachers’ Perspectives on “New Interchange”

Abstract: The present study aims at evaluating New Interchange Series, which is widely used in language classrooms in Iran. The purpose of this research project is to determine the overall pedagogical value and suitability of the series. Thirty-five Iranian EFL teachers comprising males and females participated in this study. The instrument employed in the study was a textbook evaluation questionnaire developed by Litz (2000). Descriptive statistics were carried out to interpret the data. The findings showed that most teachers have similar opinions with regard to the effectiveness and suitability of the series. Results also demonstrated that the series suffer from a number of weak points that require teachers’ awareness and consideration. Key words: Textbook; Textbook evaluation; New Interchange Series; Iranian EFL teachers

Edward Said's Orientalism and the Study of the Self and the Other in Orwell's Burmese Days

Abstract: Critics unanimously regard Said’s Orientalism as the cornerstone of postcolonial canon. It was this celebrated work that generated other related books and materials. Orientalism is a Western style for Orientalizing the Orient, i.e. how from knowledge of the Orient particularly from nineteenth century the Orient is defined by a set of recurring images and cliches and how afterwards this knowledge of the Orient is put into practice by colonialism and imperialism. Orientalism is affiliated with the representation of the Self or Occident and the Other or Orient in which the Self is privileged and has upper hand to define, reconstruct the passive, silent and weak Other. For Said, this geographical line made between the Occident and the Orient is arbitrary and numerous Western scholars, orientalists such as Burton, Lane, Lyall, Massignon, among others and literary figures like Aeschylus, Shakespeare, Austin, Flaubert, Kipling, Conrad, etc. contributed to the shaping of this discourse about the Orient and/or misrepresenting the Orient. Orwell as a Western writer was born in India and served five years in Indian Imperial Police in Burma and one of his major concerns during his life was the issue of imperialism and colonialism which is reflected in many works such as Burmese Days, Shooting an Elephant, Marrakech and Hanging. One characteristic which is shared among these western works and similar ones is the author’s conflicting feelings within them about the Orient and Orientals through Western’s lens. In this study, the relationship of the representer or Westerners and the represented or Easterners is fully expounded in Burmese Days in the light of Said’s Orientalism.Key words: Edward Said; Orientalism; Binary opposition; Orwell; The Self and the Other; Burmese Days

Speaking Fluency: Technology in EFL Context or Social Interaction in ESL Context?

Abstract: Language learning can occur outside the classroom setting unconsciously through interaction with the native speakers or exposure to authentic language input through technology. EFL context lacks the social interaction to boost language learning. Accordingly, this study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of exposure to audio/visual mass media as a source of language input in EFL context and social interaction as a source of language input in ESL context on speaking fluency. To achieve this purpose, a sample speaking test was administered to one hundred language learners in Iran which is an EFL context and one hundred language learners in Malaysia which is an ESL context. Then, forty participants from each context where selected. During the experiment, EFL participants had exposure to audio/visual mass media while the ESL participants had exposure to social interaction. At the end, both groups took another sample speaking test. The post-test showed that the EFL group performed better which proved that exposure to technology promotes speaking fluency. Key words: Exposure; Mass media; Social Context; EFL Context; ESL Context

Antecedents of Willingness to Communicate: A Review of Literature

Abstract: A number of factors have been identified as having an impact on learning a second/foreign language. A recent addition to this list of factors is Willingness to Communicate (WTC), which is indeed a new addition to individual differences research. With the growing value that modern language pedagogy has attached to training language learners who are able to communicate effectively, it is plausible that “willingness to communicate” attracts attention from researchers. The present article attempts to describe WTC model and review the past studies conducted on willingness to communicate, with the goal to identify the antecedents of this variable and the factors that influence it. The article concludes by discussing some pedagogical implications as how to enhance willingness to communicate. Finally, the gaps in the literature are stated in order to show directions for further enquiry. Key words: Communication; willingness to communicate; willingness to communicate model; antecedents of willingness to communicate

The Relationship Between Self-Efficacy and Use of Reading Strategies: The Case of Iranian Senior High School Students

Abstract: Reading is an essential skill and probably the most important skill for second language learners to master in academic context (Grabe, 1991). Reading strategies are also inseparable part of all reading activities and tasks. Many different factors may affect one’s knowledge of reading. One of such factors is self-efficacy. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between self-efficacy and use of reading strategies among Iranian senior high school students. 45 senior high school students in Shoushtar (a city in southwest of Iran) were randomly selected to participate in this study. Instruments used in this study were two questionnaires, one of which measured students reading self-efficacy and the other one measured use of reading strategies. The questionnaires items were on a 7-point Likert-type scale. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to investigate the relationship between self-efficacy and use of reading strategies. The result of the study indicated that the participants, on averages felt confident of their capabilities to perform general reading tasks. They also demonstrated an acceptable level of using three different subcategories of reading strategies (metacognitive, cognitive and socioaffective strategies). After computations, it was revealed that reading self-efficacy and overall reading strategies use and subcategories of reading strategies were significantly positively correlated. Key words: Self- efficacy beliefs; Reading strategies; EFL context

On the Impacts of Four Collocation Instructional Methods: Web-Based Concordancing vs. Traditional Method, Explicit vs. Implicit Instruction

Abstract: Due to the fact that collocations have been considered as one of the main concerns of both EFL learners and teachers for many years, the present study has dealt with this issue in a three-dimensional way. First, it compared the efficiency of teaching collocations both through web-based concordancing practices and through traditional methods. Second, it investigated and compared the impact of implicit and explicit collocation teaching on the students` learning. Third, it examined the effect of L1 (Farsi) on collocation learning; in other words, the effect of congruent (those collocations which have equivalent in Farsi) and non-congruent collocations. Fifty-four EFL students participated in this study. At the beginning, the researchers gave the participants a Michigan test to select those with the same level of proficiency. There were two treatments: A and B, the former investigated the effect of concordancing and traditional approaches, and the latter examined the implicit and explicit collocation teaching. In both treatments, learners were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. There were both a pre-test and a post-test to determine the effect of treatments. Subsequently, after obtaining the data, some statistical analyses (t-Tests) were performed. The results indicated that concordancing approach was highly efficient in teaching and learning collocations, and participants’ scores learning collocations through this method were higher than learners’ scores in traditional method (especially in learning non-congruent collocations that the difference was significant); in addition, learners’ performance in the group receiving explicit instruction of collocations was meaningfully better than those receiving implicit instruction through mere exposure. Key words: Collocation Learning; Web-based Concordancing; Traditional Method; Explicit Instruction; Implicit Instruction; L1

Speech Act of Condolence in Persian and English: A Cross-Cultural Study

Abstract: Different speech acts such as apologies, refusals, compliments, complaints and invitations have been studied and differences between English and Persian have been shown. However, the speech act of condolence has been neglected and there is little written on the way Persian speakers express their condolences. Therefore, the first objective of the present study is to make a cross-cultural comparison in the realization patterns of the condolence speech act between English and Persian. The second aim is to investigate the effect of social distance on condoling strategies in different situations. A discourse completion test consisting of four situations was given to eighty Iranian EFL students of the University of Isfahan. The collected data was coded based on Elwood’s semantic formula (2004) with some modifications. The analysis of data revealed that offering of condolence by Iranians who are members of a Moslem community is carried out through strategies which are unique to this religious culture and is considerably different from what was found in the English data. Also, social distance has significant effect on the frequency of the speech act in different situations. Key words: Speech act; Condolence; Cross-cultural; Persian

A Study of Pragmatic Transfer in Suggestion Strategies by Chinese Learners of English

Abstract: This study investigates pragmatic transfer in suggestion strategies by Chinese learners of English. The subjects of the study include ten native English speakers, ten Chinese learners of English and ten native Chinese speakers. All of them are university students. The classification of suggestion strategies is mainly based on Hinkel’s study.The data is collected by means of a discourse completion test questionnaire. The Chi-square test is used to compare frequencies of the use of suggestion strategies by the native English group, by the Chinese learner of English group and by the native Chinese group. Results indicate that although all three groups use opting out suggestion strategies the most frequently and direct suggestion strategies the least frequently, the Chinese learner of English group displays direct suggestion strategies and hedged suggestion strategies more frequently than the native English group. Such pragmatic transfer is transferred from Chinese culture and teaching-induced errors respectively, which provides pedagogical implications for both language teachers and language learners. Key words: Interlanguage pragmatics; Pragmatic transfer; Suggestion strategy; Chinese learner of English

The Relationship among Extraversion Tendency, Vocabulary Learning Strategies, and Reading Comprehension of EFL Undergraduates in Kerman Province

Abstract: This article aims mainly to explore the relationship among the degree of extraversion tendency, vocabulary learning strategies, and reading comprehension of EFL undergraduate students in Kerman Province. For this study, there are five different categories of vocabulary learning strategies as determination, memory, social, cognitive, and metacognitive. In order to investigate the current variables, 164 EFL undergraduate students in Kerman Province were chosen based on one-step cluster sampling. The data were collected by using Schmitt’s vocabulary learning strategies questionnaire (VLSQ) adopted from Bennett (2006), Eysenck personality inventory, revised version (EPQ-R), and TOEFL reading comprehension test. Then, they were analyzed by Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The findings showed that: a) overall strategy use and four categories (out of 5) of vocabulary learning strategies were not significantly correlated with reading comprehension, b) there was a significant and positive correlation between extroversion tendency and four categories of (out of 5) vocabulary learning strategies as well as overall strategy use, and c) there was no significant relationship between reading comprehension and degree of extroversion tendency. Key words: Vocabulary Learning Strategy; Reading Comprehension; Extroversion Tendency; Language Learning Strategy

Extensive Reading: A Stimulant to Improve Vocabulary Knowledge

Abstract: Extensive reading, ER, can be considered as a good learning technique to improve learners' vocabulary knowledge. Bell (2001) states that ER is a type of reading instruction program used in ESL or EFL settings, as an effective means of vocabulary development. The subjects participated in this study were 40 upper-intermediate and 40 lower-intermediate learners drawn from a population through a proficiency test to see if ER helps them improve their vocabulary knowledge at the above-stated levels. To this end, at each level an experimental and a control group (EG and CG) were formed each of which comprised 20 subjects randomly selected and assigned. All the conditions especially teaching materials were kept equal and fixed at each level, except for the EG the subjects were given five extra short stories to read outside for ten weeks. The results showed that EG at both levels indicated improvement in their vocabulary learning after the experiment. Key words: Extensive Reading; Reading; Vocabulary improvement

The Linkages between Concept Maps and Language Learning

Abstract: So as to know how to apply effectively concept mapping into practice to solve the problem of language learning, it is noteworthy to work out its theory. This paper reviews the literature to investigate the construct of concept maps as well as the relationships between concept maps and language learning. Key words: Concept maps; Language learning

English Camp Activities: A Strategy to Enhance Students’ English Proficiency

Abstract: Indoor or outdoor activities are part of the learning and teaching process. Activities can be of value added to students especially if they perceived positively and appreciate their contents. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of the English camp activities organised by the Faculty of Languages and Communication, University Sultan Zainal Abidin, Terengganu, Malaysia. The evaluations of the activities are based on the course objectives, activities covered and facilitators. In addition, the study also examines the benefits, types of improvement to be considered and the satisfaction level. The study was carried out in May to June 2010. Of 114 students taking TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) from Semester Two and Four, 73 students participated in the survey giving a response rate of 64 percent. Key words: Teaching And Learning; TESL; Effectiveness; English Camp Activities

An Exploration of Strategy-Based Reading Instruction Using Expository Science Texts in the Elementary Grades

Abstract: This qualitative exploration was designed to examine strategy-based reading instruction using science expository text in grades 2-5. This study centered on case studies of six elementary teachers and how they used reading strategies during science instruction. Findings revealed that although the teachers’ use of expository text was limited, teachers utilized particular reading strategies that extended and elaborated the students’ oral discussions during science instruction. The classroom conversations about science topics extended the students’ background knowledge of the science concepts that related to science expository text materials in grades 2-5. Further research could include alignment of reading strategy instruction with science instruction using print materials that are matched with the students’ instructional reading levels. Key words: Expository Text; Reading; Classroom Teacher; Comprehension; Strategies

Persuasive Strategies among Iranian EFL Learners

Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the application of persuasive strategies among Iranian learners of English as a foreign language. To this end, 150 Iranian English learners took part in this study. The data were collected by means of a discourse completion test (DCT) consisting of 6 questions similar to real life persuasive situations. The Chi-square test was applied to compare the frequencies of persuasion strategies’ application among Iranian EFL learners. Moreover, the influence of gender on the preference of persuasive strategies by respondents was discussed. Results demonstrated some differences and similarities inutilization of this speech act by male and female Iranian learners. Finally, the results were discussed in the context of language teaching and learning. Key words: Interlanguage pragmatics; Speech act; Persuasion strategies; Iranian EFL leaners

Language Acquisition with the Help of Captions

Abstract: English movies with captions have special advantages to compensate for students’ lack of experience abroad. With the help of captions, students could improve their English study interests and efficiency, improve their pronunciation, grasp more vocabularies, improve their cross-culture communicative competence and then increase their vocabulary application ability. Teachers should design all kinds of activities to achieve the goal of increase students’ vocabulary acquisition. Key words : English movies; Captions; Vocabulary Acquisition

Explicit Lexical Elaboration as an Autonomy Enhancing Tool for Acquisition of L2 Vocabulary from Reading

Abstract: Studies (Kim, 1996, 2006; Silva, 2000, for example) indicate that explicit lexical elaboration is the most significant technique to make the meaning of unknown words clear in the text. Through explicit lexical elaboration, definitions or synonyms of the difficult words in the text are provided after the explicit elaborative devices such as which means whereas appositive devices are used in implicit lexical elaboration. This study was an experiment to show that explicit and implicit lexical elaborative devices can serve as autonomy enhancing tools which assist L2 learners in recognizing the meaning of the unknown words in a text in the absence of dictionaries and instructors. To do the study, three groups of EFL participants (each group including 45 participants) were exposed to 30 low-frequency words by reading one of the three versions of an experimental text containing these words. A univariate factorial ANOVA was administered to analyze the data of the study. The results of the study showed that explicit lexical elaboration was the most beneficial technique in meaning recognition of L2 vocabulary in the text. It is also implied from the results of the study that the explicit elaborative device creates the best condition for learners’ autonomy in acquiring L2 vocabulary from reading. Key words: explicit and implicit lexical elaboration; learner autonomy enhancement; meaning recognition

A Postmodernist Reading of Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead"

Abstract: This study presents a postmodernist reading of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Although both modern and postmodern tendencies are traceable in Stoppard's dramatic achievements, the present study strives to analyze some vivid postmodernist features in his most controversial play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, as a model of postmodernism in theatre. The selected play will be analyzed in accordance with the specific concepts and theories which are more apparent in Stoppard's dramatic achievements including Lyotard's theory of the end of meta-narratives and also the theory of language game, Fredric Jameson's consumer society, Jacques Derrida's deconstruction and Jean Baudrillard's simulation. As an example of postmodernist play, Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead seems to embody ambiguity, discontinuity, disintegration, pluralism, uncertainty and deconstruction, which are the most outstanding features of postmodern works. Thus, the researchers make an attempt to consider his dramatic work as an example of postmodernist theatre and to apply these postmodern theories to his Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.Key words: Deconstruction; Difference; Intertextuality; Language game; Meta-narratives; Postmodernism; Simulation

Eight Types of Obscure Poetic Images

Abstract: The fundamentally “monologic” poetry seems “resistant” to the readers, to a remarkable extent, in that they contain obscure images inside to help convey ideas That the image as the signifier can be arbitrary, and that the signified could be infinite are so confusing that the poetry is believed sometimes “unreadable” By analysing the eight types of the obscurity of the poetic images in Yeats’ works, the essay wishes to help found a constructive way to read and interpret the poemsKey words: Obscure; Poetic image; Infiniteness; Symbolism

Collaboration between Native and Non-native English-Speaking Teachers

Abstract: This study is designed to be an empirical study of the nature of the collaboration between three NESTs and three Taiwanese teachers of English (TTEs), who are NNESTs, in elementary schools in Taiwan. The aim of this study is threefold: (a) to explore the nature of collaborative teaching by NESTs and TTEs, (b) to look into the support structures that I might have been developed during the collaboration between NESTs and TTEs, and (c) to gain insights into the experiences of NESTs and TTEs in connection with collaborative teaching in elementary school classrooms. The author wishes to build up knowledge of the practice of collaborative teaching by NESTs and NNESTs and accordingly to make viable suggestions on improving collaborative teaching of this kind. Key words: Collaborative-teaching; Native English-speaking teachers (NESTs); Non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs)

On Political Participation: Discursive Pragmatics and Social Interaction in Nolitics

Abstract: Nolitics is a Nigerian online political discussion forum that provides an opportunity for social interaction and political participation, through new media technologies. It is hosted by NaijaPals – a hosting website with social networking and blogging activities. Naijpals maintains an online community of bloggers with Nolitics as a discussion forum solely devoted to social and political debates. Members exchange information and engage in social analyses and criticisms of Nigeria’s political performances. A total of 104 ‘posts’ are analyzed in the framework of computer-mediated discourse analysis with insights and methods from pragmatics. Findings show that discursive/ pragmatic strategies such as modality, implicitness/implication, directive speech acts, proposition/inference and indirect speech acts function as a means of mobilizing people towards political participation e.g. voting during elections. They are also used as strategies for attacking corruption and political power abuse, initiating and practising political propaganda by politicians and as discourse tact of preventing offences. The study reveals that new media technologies not only promote political participation and governance but show that the people are hungry to be involved in political issues and questions that affect their lives. Corruption and political power abuse are identified as major banes of modern democracies, particularly the Nigerian context. Key words: Nolitics; Nigeria; Politics; Political Participation; Discussion forum; Posts

Waiting in T. S. Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land’

Abstract: Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land’ has never ceased stirring controversy among critics and readers of English literature. The multiplicity of its implications and deliberate gaps to be filled by the readers are some of its outstanding traits. The present paper, however, focuses its attention on the act of waiting as an underlying theme unifying its loose structure. The study comprises two sections. The first is preliminary in that it highlights the great amount of debate and polar appraisals of the poem and its writer. The second, much the longest, explores the different dimensions of this topic. Key words: Waiting; The Waste land; Meaninglessness; Redemption, Mythological; Saving

Chinese High School Graduates' Beliefs About English Learning

Abstract: This paper reports on an investigation of a cohort of Chinese high school graduates’ beliefs about English learning. A 24-item questionnaire is administered on 171 high school graduates to investigate their beliefs about the nature, difficulty, autonomy and learning environment in English learning. The data are analyzed through frequency statistics. Results show that Chinese high school graduates in general: 1) underestimate the difficulty of learning English; 2) expect communicative language teaching model; 3) demonstrate a high preference for an immersion approach; and 4) display a high degree of autonomy in English learning. The findings are beneficial for need analysis and provide guidance for curriculum design to the University in research and other similar contexts. Key words: High school graduates; Beliefs about English learning; English learning experiences

Discourse and Power in George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion

Abstract: George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion addresses the discourse of education (linguistic retraining in particular) and its interrelationship with other discourses, such as class, and the transformation of individual and social self. It also deals with the dynamics of teacher-student power relationship in the context of education discourse. Believing that education should produce humane and responsible citizens instead of docile slaves, Shaw displays the evils of an incompetent education system. This article explores the discourse of education, its effects on other discourses - particularly that of class - and the knowledge and power it produces with emphasis on Foucault’s theories about power, knowledge, and discourse. In addition to the Foucauldian conceptualization of discourse, linguistic discourse analysis (conversational analysis) is also applied to examine the link between the language use and the modality of power relations in Pygmalion. The aim is to display how education discourse functions through disciplinary productive power and gives rise to a kind of social knowledge. Shaw’s play, it is argued, intimates that an education incommensurate with socio-cultural factors could probably empower the marginal social subjects but it would also displace them, rather than truly promote them, socially. Key words: Bernard Shaw; Pygmalion; Education; Michel Foucault; Knowledge; Discourse; Power

The Compiling Methods for Pinyin Textbooks of Teaching of Chinese as a Foreign Language: A Case Study on the Textbook for Interesting Chinese Pinyin

Abstract: On the basis of reviewing and summarizing the current situation of Chinese Pinyin textbooks and considering the gains and experiences in the compiling process of The Textbook for Interesting Chinese Pinyin, this paper is to propose that Chinese Pinyin textbooks should take the difficulties for foreign learners fully into account and attach importance to the interest and practicality of teaching materials. We suggest to draw up a syllabus for Chinese Pinyin so that the teaching materials can effectively put teaching of pronunciation and speech flow together.Key words: Pronunciation; Chinese Pinyin textbooks; Compiling; Principles and methods

Some Proposals to Cope with Forms of Irony Typically Found in Literary Texts from a Relevance-Theoretical Perspective

Abstract: The study of irony has always been a field of interest for diverse disciplines. Whereas irony had been traditionally explained as a contrast between what was said and what was meant, more recent, pragmatically-oriented studies have adopted a wider perspective, by considering aspects like the speaker’s attitude, intention or context. Among these approaches, relevance theory has proposed an ostensive-inferential approach to communication, whereby the addressee seeks to infer the speaker’s intention. Such an approach seems to be appropriate for the study of irony, and in fact, irony has been a hotly-debated issue within the relevance-theoretical framework (Sperber and Wilson 1981, 1978), even before the model as such (Sperber and Wilson 1986/95) was explicitly fleshed out. Moreover, the proposals made reach very recent times (for instance, Wilson, 2006). In one of the contributions by Sperber and Wilson (1998), they claimed that irony was not a natural kind, and enhanced the echoic nature of verbal irony. A distinction between ostensive and non-ostensive forms of irony was put forward. Precisely, among the latter, Sperber and Wilson gave as instances forms such as dramatic irony, or irony of fate. Such types of irony may be frequently found in literary texts. As a matter of fact, they abound in the corpus selected for our study, Celestina (Fernando de Rojas, 1499/1502). This Spanish work was soon translated into English (Mabbe, 1631). The present paper sets out to provide a relevance-theoretical account of these forms of irony as manifested in the work. The discussion will be structured as follows: after the introduction of the theoretical background, we shall explain the tenets that can be applied in the forms of irony traced and under study in the corpus, and will provide with examples to illustrate our claims. Finally, the conclusions reached will be presented. The theory established a dichotomy between ostensive and non-ostensive forms of irony (Sperber & Wilson, 1998). Precisely, among the latter, these authors referred to forms such as tragic irony or irony of fate and dramatic irony. These and other related forms of irony abound in the corpus selected for our study: Celestina, an important literary Spanish work of the Late Middle Ages written by Fernando de Rojas (1499). All in all, therefore, the purpose of the present work is to analyse the forms of irony which have regarded as non-ostensive or non-echoic, taking into consideration that they seem to occur in literary works, as Rojas' work suggests. As a central hypothesis, we shall argue that the distinction between echoic and non-echoic irony should be best approached in terms of degree, as a continuum. Moreover, the corpus reveals that these forms of irony are most likely found in communicative acts which entail complex relationships between the different participants, so that not all the characters involved may have access to the context envisaged by the speaker, on the one hand, and on the other hand, characters’ actions may be mediated by the presence of an internal author that is only perceived by the external readership. Therefore, as a consequence of the differences in choice and accessibility, we shall find different levels of communication between addressers and addressees. These levels may contribute to the explanation of the forms of irony referred to above. Key words: Relevance-Theoretical Approach; Echoic Irony; Ostensive Irony; Forms Of Irony Found in Literary Texts; Celestina

Vietnamese EFL learners’ Difficulties with English consonants

Abstract: The research was conducted to examine the most problematic English consonants facing the students at Hung Vuong University. Data collated from the questionnaire survey reveals that the students have the most difficulty in pronouncing the English fricatives /∫/, /ʒ/ and the affricates /t∫/ and /dʒ/ among the English consonants surveyed. The students tend to substitute Vietnamese sounds for the English sounds. Key words: English consonants; Fricatives; Affricates; EFL

Event Models: A Socio-cognitive Study of Selected Interrogations in 2008 Quasi-judicial Public Hearing on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration in Nigeria

Abstract: This study carries out a socio-cognitive analysis of 2008 national quasi-judicial public hearing on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Nigeria. Video recordings of interrogations between the public hearing panel and complainants/defendants were used as data for the study, which were taken from the 2008 national public hearings on FCT administration in Nigeria. Van Dijk’s socio­cognitive approach to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was used in the analysis of the data. Twenty randomly sampled interrogations were recorded and transcribed. The event models of the interactants featured global topics and local semantics, argumentative and rhetorical strategies. These are influenced by protective, suppressive, defensive and restorative ideologies. The study helps in the understanding of public hearing interrogations as it gives one the knowledge of how ideologies can shape linguistic and semantic patterns in a text. Key words : Critical discourse analysis; Sociocognitive; Ideologies; Event models; Quasi-judicial Public Hearing

James Joyce’s Epiphany and Virginia Woolf’s “Moment of Importance”

Abstract: In English literature, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf are the two best-known novelists of the “stream of consciousness”. Joyce’s novels are written in accordance with his theory of “epiphanies” and Virginia Woolf’s works are characterized by the “moment of importance”. Both writing techniques are characteristic of stream of consciousness in modern fiction yet there are some similarities and differences between them. This paper tries to make such a comparison.Key words: Stream of consciousness; Epiphany; Moment of importance

Religion and Human Behavior in Eugene O’Neill’s Plays

Abstract: This study highlights role of religion in human behavior with reference to O’Neill’s plays Mourning Becomes Electra and Long Day’s Journey into Night . It has been argued that the role of religion in Eugene O’Neill’s plays is problematic and disrupts normal human behavior and relationships. In Mourning Becomes Electra , it creates a terrible conflict between religious forces that seek control of human thoughts as well as emotions and desire for liberation from this control. Sexual drives in the play represent individual forces of liberation from authoritarian religious control. The conflict, however, has regressive psychic and emotive effects on the personalities and creates severe psychic and familial disintegration. In Long Day’s Journey into Night , O’Neill treats this conflict much more subtly, avoiding eroticism as a metaphor of liberation from religious control. The play also dramatizes antithetical processes of adulation and aversion from religion in the familial context in the play The conclusion has been drawn that the role of religion in O’Neill is thoroughly on the negative side and is free from dynamic role in healthy personality development. Key words: Modern American drama; Religion; Human behavior and personality development