Prevalence and developmental course of 'secret language'.

The prevalence and developmental course of supposed ‘secret language’ was examined in a cohort of twins and closely spaced singletons pairs, with systematic assessments at 20 months and again at 36 months. Two forms of apparent ‘secret language’ were examined: (1) shared understanding—speech directed generally but unintelligible to the parent, although apparently clearly understood within the child pair, and (2) private language directed exclusively to the other twin/sibling—not intelligible to the parent, but apparently clearly understood and used only within the child pair. Both occurred in singleton pairs, but the rate was much higher in twins. In most cases it seemed to be a developmental phenomenon occurring in the second year of life with the emergence of immature speech, and decreasing considerably over the next 16 months. A small group of children, primarily male twins, was reported to use a private language at 36 months. This group had poorer cognitive and language functioning, and was characterized by highly dependent relationships. Some aspects of the twins’ home environment were less stimulating and less responsive, most probably reflecting the abilities and relationships of the children. A follow-up of these children when they were ~6 years of age showed that language outcome was poor for the subgroup (n = 4) who did not develop normal language alongside the use of a private language.

EAP essentials : a teacher's guide to principles and practice

Book review - Ancient scholars once journeyed across the Alps to study Italian law while some sailed the Mediterranean to learn Greek philosophy or examine Arabic scripts on science, medicine and mathematics. Devotees of philosophical and religious thought migrated to the Orient in search of transcendental wisdom. Today, the quest for knowledge has not changed as English-medium universities experience unprecedented internationalisation. This book is a publication for such a time as this. The authors invite readers to "join the tribe" (Becher, 1998) and learn the specific academic discourse and culture of English for Academic Purposes (EAP).

The right to a voice and the fight to be heard: The experience of being an ESL user in Australia

This paper focuses on the fundamental right to be heard, that is, the right to have one’s voice heard and listened to – to impose reception (Bourdieu, 1977). It focuses on the ways that non-mainstream English is heard and received in Australia, where despite public policy initiatives around equal opportunity, language continues to socially disadvantage people (Burridge & Mulder, 1998). English is the language of the mainstream and most people are monolingually English (Ozolins, 1993). English has no official status yet it remains dominant and its centrality is rarely challenged (Smolicz, 1995). This paper takes the position that the lack of language engagement in mainstream Australia leads to linguistic desensitisation. Writing in the US context where English is also the unofficial norm, Lippi-Green (1997) maintains that discrimination based on speech features or accent is commonly accepted and widely perceived as appropriate. In Australia, non-standard forms of English are often disparaged or devalued because they do not conform to the ‘standard’ (Burridge & Mulder, 1998). This paper argues that talk cannot be taken for granted: ‘spoken voices’ are critical tools for representing the self and negotiating and manifesting legitimacy within social groups (Miller, 2003). In multicultural, multilingual countries like Australia, the impact of the spoken voice, its message and how it is heard are critical tools for people seeking settlement, inclusion and access to facilities and services. Too often these rights are denied because of the way a person sounds. This paper reports a study conducted with a group that has been particularly vulnerable to ongoing ‘panics’ about language – international students. International education is the third largest revenue source for Australia (AEI, 2010) but has been beset by concerns from academics (Auditor-General, 2002) and the media about student language levels and falling work standards (e.g. Livingstone, 2004). Much of the focus has been high-stakes writing but with the ascendancy of project work in university assessment and the increasing emphasis on oracy, there is a call to recognise the salience of talk, especially among students using English as a second language (ESL) (Kettle & May, 2012). The study investigated the experiences of six international students in a Master of Education course at a large metropolitan university. It utilised data from student interviews, classroom observations, course materials, university policy documents and media reports to examine the ways that speaking and being heard impacted on the students’ learning and legitimacy in the course. The analysis drew on Fairclough’s (2003) model of the dialectical-relational Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to analyse the linguistic, discursive and social relations between the data texts and their conditions of production and interpretation, including the wider socio-political discourses on English, language difference, and second language use. The interests of the study were if and how discourses of marginalisation and discrimination manifested and if and how students recognised and responded to them pragmatically. Also how they juxtaposed with and/or contradicted the official rhetoric about diversity and inclusion. The underpinning rationale was that international students’ experiences can provide insights into the hidden politics and practices of being heard and afforded speaking rights as a second language speaker in Australia.

The relationship between listening and other language skills in International English Language Testing System

Listening comprehension is the primary channel of learning a language. Yet of the four dominant macro-skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), it is often difficult and inaccessible for second and foreign language learners due to its implicit process. The secondary skill, speaking, proceeds listening cognitively. Aural/oral skills precede the graphic skills, such as reading and writing, as they form the circle of language learning process. However, despite the significant relationship with other language skills, listening comprehension is treated lightly in the applied linguistics research. Half of our daily conversation and three quarters of classroom interaction are virtually devoted to listening comprehension. To examine the relationship of listening skill with other language skills, the outcome of 1800 Iranian participants undertaking International English Language Testing System (IELTS) in Tehran indicates the close correlation between listening comprehension and the overall language proficiency.

Grunt language versus accent : the perceived communication barriers between international medical graduates and patients in Central Wheatbelt catchments

Due to the chronic shortages of GPs in Australian rural and remote regions, considerable numbers of international medical graduates (IMG) have been recruited. IMG experience many difficulties when relocating to Australia with one of the most significant being effective GP-patient communication. Given that this is essential for effective consultation it can have a substantial impact on health care. A purposive sample of seven practising GPs (five IMG, two Australian-trained doctors (ATD)) was interviewed using a semistructured face-to-face interviewing technique. GPs from Nigeria, Egypt, United Kingdom, India, Singapore and Australia participated. Interviews were transcribed and then coded. The authors used qualitative thematic analysis of interview transcripts to identify common themes. IMG-patient communication barriers were considered significant in the Wheatbelt region as identified by both IMG and ATD. ATD indicated they were aware of IMG-patient communication issues resulting in subsequent consults with patients to explain results and diagnoses. Significantly, a lack of communication between ATD and IMG also emerged, creating a further barrier to effective communication. Analysis of the data generated several important findings that rural GP networks should consider when integrating new IMG into the community. Addressing the challenges related to cross-cultural differences should be a priority, in order to enable effective communication. More open communication between ATD and IMG about GP-patient communication barriers and education programs around GP-patient communication would help both GP and patient satisfaction.

The Coming of Post-reflexive Society: Commodification and Language in Digital Capitalism

Language is a unique aspect of human communication because it can be used to discuss itself in its own terms. For this reason, human societies potentially have superior capacities of co-ordination, reflexive self-correction, and innovation than other animal, physical or cybernetic systems. However, this analysis also reveals that language is interconnected with the economically and technologically mediated social sphere and hence is vulnerable to abstraction, objectification, reification, and therefore ideology – all of which are antithetical to its reflexive function, whilst paradoxically being a fundamental part of it. In particular, in capitalism, language is increasingly commodified within the social domains created and affected by ubiquitous communication technologies. The advent of the so-called ‘knowledge economy’ implicates exchangeable forms of thought (language) as the fundamental commodities of this emerging system. The historical point at which a ‘knowledge economy’ emerges, then, is the critical point at which thought itself becomes a commodified ‘thing’, and language becomes its “objective” means of exchange. However, the processes by which such commodification and objectification occurs obscures the unique social relations within which these language commodities are produced. The latest economic phase of capitalism – the knowledge economy – and the obfuscating trajectory which accompanies it, we argue, is destroying the reflexive capacity of language particularly through the process of commodification. This can be seen in that the language practices that have emerged in conjunction with digital technologies are increasingly non-reflexive and therefore less capable of self-critical, conscious change.

Pattern-based analysis of EAI languages : the case of the business modelling language

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) is a challenging area that is attracting growing attention from the software industry and the research community. A landscape of languages and techniques for EAI has emerged and is continuously being enriched with new proposals from different software vendors and coalitions. However, little or no effort has been dedicated to systematically evaluate and compare these languages and techniques. The work reported in this paper is a first step in this direction. It presents an in-depth analysis of a language, namely the Business Modeling Language, specifically developed for EAI. The framework used for this analysis is based on a number of workflow and communication patterns. This framework provides a basis for evaluating the advantages and drawbacks of EAI languages with respect to recurrent problems and situations.