Journal of Language Teaching and Research

ISSN 1798-4769

Volume 10, Number 4, July 2019

Contents

REGULAR PAPERS

Teaching a Language in Another Modality: A Case Study from Swedish Sign Language L2 659
Instruction
Ingela Holmström

A Narrative Analysis of Teacher Educators’ Motivation: Evidence from the Universities of Sindh, 673
Pakistan
Zafarullah Sahito and Pertti Vaisanen

Critical Reflection as Motivational Strategy of Learning Critical Reading 683

Yeshambel Tadele Alem

Extensive Reading for University EFL Learners: Its Effects and Both Teachers' and Learners' Views 692
Chaochang Wang and Chu-Tai Ho

L1 versus Multiple Vocabulary Teaching Techniques 702

Sultan Altalhab

Errors-based Rehabilitation within Phonological Framework: Segmental Changes in Broca’s Aphasia 710
I Ketut Wardana, I Nyoman Suparwa, Made Budiarsa, and Anak Agung Putu Putra

Familiarity with Collocations in EFL Context and Strategies Utilized in Translating Them into Arabic 724
Hussein Ali Habtoor and Raisah Hamad Al-Swaidan

Translation Procedure of Happy Emotion of English into Indonesian in Kṛṣṇa Text 738
I Wayan Suryasa, I Nengah Sudipa, Ida Ayu Made Puspani, and I Made Netra

The Relationship between Spatial and Musical Intelligences and EFL Learners’ Learning Styles and 747
Vocabulary Knowledge
Hassti Gholam-Shahbazi

English Major Undergraduates’ Needs and Perceptions of Business English Activities and Resources 757
in a Chinese University
Qing Xie

Empowering Indonesian Teachers to Improve Students’ Learning: Case Studies of Teachers’ Action 769
Research
Umi Tursini

A Comparative Study on Teacher Talk of Australian and Chinese English Teachers in an Academic 776
English Writing Course in Chinese EFL Classrooms
Julan Wang

Study on Origin of English and Chinese Proverb 782

Rongmei Yu
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Drums of Father Ned
Amal Kitishat and Hana Fathi Farajallah

Returning to Nature: An Eco-critical Study of “Big Two-Hearted River” 796

Yufeng Wang

Ideological Differences between America and China from Perspectives of Transitivity System — 800
Illustrated by Trump’s and Xi Jinping’s Presidential Inaugural Addresses
Guohai Liao and Geling Han

Exploring the Impact of VAK Learning Style on Teenager Level Language Learners in Indonesia 807
Rina Asrini Bakri, M. Asfah Rahman, Baso Jabu, and Jassruddin

On Back Translation of Sinological Works Written in English 815

Hongwei Ye

A Preliminary Study on International Ecological Discourse and Its Transitivity Analysis Model 820
Xinya Zuo

EFL Learners’ Behavior States and Academic Outcomes during Playing Games Strategy 826
Rashed Alghamdy

The Promoting Effects of Psychology in Business Negotiation 832

Qing Cheng and Yeli Shi

Lexical Features and Translati 838

Tianyu Wang and Gaofeng Yu

On Political Language Ideology: Critical View of Indonesian President Speech 843

David Samuel Latupeirissa, I Ketut Darma Laksana, Ketut Artawa, and I Gusti Ayu Gde Sosiowati

Analysis of the UN Secretary-general’s Remarks on Climate Change: From the View of 851
Ecolinguistics
Hecong Wang, Rui Zhai, and Xinyu Zhao

A Contrastive Study of Hard Times and the Two Versions from the Perspective of Textual Cohesion 858
Meng Yan

The Influence of Suggested Cornell Note-taking Method on Improving Writing Composition Skills of 863
Jordanian EFL Learners
Mohammad Akram Alzu'bi

A Survey on the Causes of Non-English Majors College English Learning Burnout in a Local 872
University in China—A Case Study of Anhui University of Science and Technology
Yaoqin Zhang

A Semantic Approach to the English Modality 879

Jinghua Zhang

The Ka- Passive Form in Balinese 886

Nyoman Sujaya, Ketut Artawa, I Nyoman Kardana, and Made Sri Satyawati
ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 659-672, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.01

Teaching a Language in Another Modality: A

Case Study from Swedish Sign Language L2
Instruction
Ingela Holmström
Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University, Sweden

Abstract—This study focuses on a Swedish Sign Language (STS) interpreting education, in which the students
learn a second language (L2) that is expressed in the visual-gestural modality instead of the auditory-vocal one.
Due to the lack of research on sign language L2 instruction, the teachers have limited scientific knowledge and
proven experience to lean on in their work. Therefore, an action research-based project was started with the
aim to enhance teachers’ knowledge about effective ways of teaching STS as an L2, and to examine how
teaching can lead to students making good progress and attaining deep knowledge in STS. The article presents
results from one of the projects’ sub-studies, Initial teaching through different primary languages, where a
hearing STS L2 teacher’s approaches are examined when teaching the hearing students the new language in
another modality than their previous language(s). The results show how this teacher uses her own knowledge
from learning STS as an L2 and how she, through using spoken Swedish, provides rich metalinguistic
knowledge that contributes to the students’ deeper theoretic knowledge about STS in addition to their
practical STS learning. This had pedagogical implications for the further development of the instruction at the
interpreting program.

Index Terms—sign language, second modality, second language, language instruction, second language teacher

I. INTRODUCTION
In Sweden, sign language interpreter training has been offered since 1986 when the Institute for Interpreting and
Translation Studies was established (Almqvist, 2013). This training has mainly been conducted in Swedish folk high
schools, 1 but in 2013, the first interpreter training at university level was offered at Stockholm University. This
education is now well established and is today offered in parallel with the three folk high schools that still have Swedish
Sign Language (STS) interpreting education. The university course in STS and interpreting is three years in duration,
leading to a BA in translation studies.
Because there is no prerequisite for the students to know any STS before they begin the program, the first year
mostly consists of courses in STS, including both practical training (i.e. language skills courses) and theoretical subjects
(i.e. courses in STS grammar and structure, and in Deaf culture and history, etc.). In the second year, similarly practical
and theoretical interpreting courses are introduced, while the students still receive STS practical training. Finally, in the
third year, no STS practical training is offered, but the focus is instead primarily on interpreting in theory and practice.
Figure 1 illustrates how the interpreter program curriculum is designed.

Figure 1. The Swedish interpreter program curriculum.

1
The Swedish Folk high school is an alternate form of adult education that provides general civic education and the courses may be equated with
the upper secondary school. See further https://www.folkhogskola.nu/globalassets/dokument-och-filer/folk-high-school---eligibility-higher-education-
and-higher-vocational-education_criteria.pdf

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In Figure 1, blue boxes show STS skills training, orange boxes interpreting skills training, green boxes STS related
theory courses and yellow boxes theory courses related to spoken language. The purple colour is an internship course
and the dark yellow a course focusing on both signed and spoken language from a contrastive perspective. The red box
is a graduation course in which the students write their BA thesis. The colours indicate the main focus in the courses
although for example in the STS courses 3-6, theoretical elements are also included, and in some more theoretical
courses, practical elements are included.
With only two years of STS skills training (a total of approximately 600 hours) the students are expected to learn as
much STS as required in order to start the interpreting process. This is obviously a very short time period in which to
learn a new language at a level good enough to be able to interpret to and from it. Therefore, the STS teaching per se is
also very important. But while there is a growing body of research on sign language second language (L2) acquisition
internationally (see e.g. Bel, Ortells & Morgan, 2015; Ferrara & Nilsson, 2017; Ortega & Morgan, 2015), to a large
extent, this has not focused on the teaching of an L2 sign language. The university teachers who teach STS have
therefore (almost) no scientific knowledge of how they should conduct their instruction in the most effective way. In the
Swedish context, the government has decided that STS education will be based on both scientific knowledge and
proven experience. By ‘proven experience’, the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education intends something that
is more than just experience:
It is [experience that is] tried and tested. This requires that it has been documented, in each
case communicated in such a way as to allow it to be shared with others. It must also have
been reviewed in a collegial context, based on criteria that are relevant to the operational
content of the specific experience. It should also have been assessed based on ethical
principles: not all experience is benign and thus worth following. (Swedish National
Agency for Higher Education, 2008, cited in Skolverket, 2014, p. 12).
For STS instruction, there is no process for creating proven experience, and therefore the teachers do not have this
proven experience to rely on. According to Quinto-Pozos (2011), the lack of research and publications on pedagogical
issues in (American) sign language teaching has led to a situation where sign language teachers have had to rely on their
own linguistic intuition and cultural beliefs when they teach hearing L2 learners. This has also been the case in Sweden.
However, when the Stockholm university program in STS interpreting started, new opportunities to conduct research on
STS L2 learning and instruction appeared and two large projects were started; one with a linguistic focus through the
creation of an STS L2 corpus, the project TATE (Schönström & Mesch, 2017), and one with the focus on teaching STS
as L2, the project UTL2 (Holmström, 2018a, 2018b). This article builds on data from the latter project, UTL2, which
will be further described below.
In the UTL2 project, one sub-study examined how the students’ (practical) STS acquisition should be best facilitated
if the instruction from the very beginning was given mainly in STS through STS first language (L1) teachers (with
additional use of written Swedish through PowerPoint slides and whiteboard notes) or in spoken Swedish through a STS
L2 teacher (who was hearing and talked about STS through the medium of Swedish, but showed signs and used STS
texts in her teaching). The results from this sub-study showed no differences in the students’ STS signing skills after the
first semester, but it appeared that the students who had received their initial instruction from the L2 teacher gained
better metalinguistic knowledge of STS. Therefore, although the analysis of L1 and L2 teachers’ teaching all revealed
interesting features and patterns, this article aims to more closely examine in particular how the L2 teacher instructed
the students. More specifically, this study examines the L2 teacher’s specific teaching methods, the recurring patterns in
her classroom instruction, and how these differ from those of the L1 teachers.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

A. Learning a Language in Another Modality
Hearing students who only have learnt spoken language(s) before they begin STS classes not only learn a new
language (an L2), but they also have to learn to understand and express this language through another modality than in
their L1 (see e.g. Chen Pichler & Koulidobrova, 2015). The students need to learn to use their bodies in expressing the
language, not only the hands and arms, but also the head and face. Sign languages also have a different structure than
spoken languages. Characteristics of sign languages are, among other things, that they use the space in front of the body
to place signs, they can express several linguistic elements simultaneously, and the signs are highly iconic.
Woll (2013) identified seven features of sign language that impact on L2 learning of it: 1) learnability (the difficulty
of learning to use the body to express language); 2) iconicity (a large proportion of signs are visually motivated and new
strategies to aid the memory for how signs are to be expressed need to be developed); 3) phonology and motor skills
(new motor skills have to be acquired, and already developed motor dexterities have to be re-learned in order to express
them as language with the correct phonology); 4) the role of the face (facial expressions also need to be reanalysed as
linguistic features and used as such); 5) grammar (another grammar, and way to express grammar, than in spoken
language needs to be learned); 6) the role of gesture (i.e. the possibility of using pre-existing visual-spatial skills from
gesturing as transfers); and 7) social issues (the possibility of interacting with deaf people outside the classroom). Chen
Pichler and Koulidobrova (2015), similarly, mention areas for modality effects on hearing L2 learning of a sign
language: phonology (the differences between how spoken and signed languages are expressed); space in front of the

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body (which is used in another and more explicit way than in spoken languages); and iconicity. They describe hearing
learners who for the first time learn a sign language as M2-L2 learners, where M2 stands for the learning of expressing
language in a “second modality”.
The modality differences between the expression of spoken versus signed languages have consequences for the L2
learning of STS. Previous research on L2 acquisition for spoken languages cannot just be transferred onto the teaching
of sign languages, because the modality differences also have to been taken into account. It is however undoubtedly true
that certain L2 phenomena found in spoken language acquisition, such as language transfers and language universals
can also be applied to L2 sign language acquisition (Chen Pichler & Koulidobrova, 2015).
B. Teaching a Language in Another Modality
In the twentieth century, language teaching was established as a profession and became treated as such. During the
following century, many teaching methods were developed and applied, leading to sometimes competing ideologies in
language teaching (Richards & Rodgers, 2001). For example, methods such as the direct method, the audiolingual
method and the communicative language teaching approach have been used in different contexts, with their points of
departure in different teaching ideologies. However, as mentioned in the introduction, sign languages appear not to have
been a significant focus in the research on teaching methods. This perception is confirmed through an overview of
studies that have been performed recently in the field of American Sign Language (ASL) teaching by Quinto Pozos
(2011). He shows, among other things, that in general there are no studies which have empirically examined the
efficacy of the teaching strategies used in adult L2 ASL instruction, nor has the efficacy of one ASL curriculum over
another been examined. The teachers have to a large extent been forced to use a trial and error approach, continuously
adjusting and improving their lessons and activities. This is also true in the Swedish context. Linguistic research on STS
has only been conducted since the 70s and is therefore still quite sparse, and as a consequence, only a very few studies
have examined different STS contexts. For example, there are no previous studies which have examined STS L2
instruction, and therefore, teachers have had to use L2 acquisition research on spoken language in a trial and error
approach, as highlighted by Quinto Pozos (2011).
C. The Native versus Non-native Teacher
Riordan (2018) highlights the differences between native and non-native speaker language teachers when teaching
learners of a target language in non-immersion school environments. In these settings, the teacher is often the primary
source for the students regarding the target language and its culture, and according to Riordan, native speaker teachers
are often preferred by institutions. These teachers have natural and deep knowledge in the language of instruction and
can thus become role models for the students in their endeavour to learn the new language in depth. Nevertheless,
research has shown no evidence that native speakers are better language teachers for L2 learners than non-native
speaker language teachers. It may in some cases instead be the opposite: “Speakers who have learnt a language at a later
stage may… have explicit language awareness combined with metalinguistic knowledge. These skills are particularly
important for language teachers, who may be required to provide explanations of grammatical forms or usage norms to
their students.” (Riordan, 2018, p. 148). Riordan suggests that non-native speaker language teachers often have a greater
knowledge of such grammatical forms and of usage norms, and that they can explain these at a level that is
comprehensible for the students. Native speaker language teachers instead have intuitive knowledge of the language. A
native speaker often knows how the language should be expressed correctly, but an L2 language teacher may also be
consciously aware of specific aspects of the language that differ from the students’ L1, and may be more experienced
and aware of it, and thus better able to explain these aspects to students.
Non-native speaker language teachers may have different linguistic deficits, for example regarding vocabulary,
fluency and pronunciation, but for the students, they can become role-models for bilingual speakers (Medgyes, 2017;
Riordan, 2018). Through their language forms and use, and their pronunciation and grammar, they show the students
how a bilingual individual can work and act. The students may see the native speaker language teacher’s language
proficiency as unattainable, while the non-native speaker language teachers give a more attainable model for usage of
the target language. Also, students can learn from this how they can code-switch in a bilingual way and use their
bilingual competence in different ways.
In the context of sign language teaching, there is an issue of whether the teachers should be solely deaf (i.e. native
speakers of a sign language) 2 or whether hearing teachers (i.e. non-native speakers) can also be teachers of sign
languages – and if spoken language should be allowed or not in the teaching of the latter. For example, Quinto-Pozos
(2011) states that several institutions have decided that no spoken language is allowed in the sign language teaching
context, irrespective of the teachers’ hearing status. But he also mentions that spoken language does have a role in
teaching, for example through (deaf teachers’) sporadic use of interpreters, and through hearing teachers’ use of speech
in shorter sequences to explain things when a learner has not understood the content or signing. This issue is however
not trivial, because there is globally a long history of hearing people’s oppression of deaf people and their sign
languages. Therefore, it is important to mention that in all sign language instruction, deaf teachers are very important
because they have fluency in their signing and deep knowledge of the language. They also have the experience of being

2
Native speakers of sign languages can however also be hearing children of deaf parents.

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visual language users and know what it means to be deaf in a hearing world. This is not to say that hearing teachers
cannot teach a sign language too, in close cooperation with deaf teachers, aiming to teach from just the M2-L2
perspective. In Riordan’s (2018) description of the non-native speaker language teachers’ teaching, for example they
use both their common language and the target language in the classroom, just as bilinguals do, often with the aim of
explaining things on a metalinguistic level that may differ particularly in the target language through the use of the
language they have in common.

III. METHODOLOGY
A. The Project UTL2
To address the lack of scientific knowledge and proven experience in the context of STS instruction, the project
UTL2 (Teaching Swedish Sign Language as a second language to interpreter students) was started in 2016 with the aim
of enhancing teachers’ knowledge about effective ways of teaching STS as an L2. A further aim was to examine how
teaching can lead to students making good progress and attaining a deep knowledge in STS (see e.g. Holmström, 2018a).
The project uses action research as its main method. The project is grounded in a desire to change, develop and
improve the teachers’ own practice, and to gain new knowledge about issues that are experienced as problematic. With
action research, connections can be made between theory and practice, as well as between reflections and actions (see,
e.g., McAteer, 2013). Action research promotes the needs and values that exist in teaching practice and provides
opportunities to examine teaching practice from the inside, in a close cooperation between teachers and researchers.
Until now, two sub-studies have been completed as a part of UTL2, and a third is ongoing. In this article, data are
used from the first of these sub-studies, Initial teaching through different primary languages. This sub-study aims to
explore the best possible way to begin teaching, for the purposes of L2 students learning a language in a new modality.
This could be through initial instruction in spoken Swedish by hearing L2 teachers, or directly in STS by deaf L1
teachers. The study examines this issue through the testing of two different teaching methods during the first three
weeks of STS instruction. The students, who had no previous knowledge of STS (except for knowing the hand alphabet
and/or a few single signs), were randomly divided into two groups, A and B, consisting of 12 and 13 students
respectively (the median age in group A was 24.5 years and group B 24 years. Only one of the students was a man). In
group A, the teaching was primarily conducted by deaf teachers in STS, while the medium of instruction in group B
primary was spoken Swedish, as used by hearing teachers. After the first three weeks, this was changed, so that all of
the students were instructed through both STS and spoken Swedish (in different lessons), although most of the teaching
was conducted in STS by deaf teachers.
B. STS Tests and Students’ Course Grades
Two tests were used in order to examine whether any differences appeared between the two groups, both initially and
in the longer term. One test was an elicited imitation task, SignRepL2, developed for the purpose of testing STS L2
global language fluency. In the test, the students watch video clips with sentences produced by a native signer and
thereafter they imitate as exactly as possible the sentence they just have viewed (see Holmström, 2018a; Schönström &
Holmström, 2017). For a deeper description of such sentence reproduction tests, see Hauser, Paludneviciene, Supalla &
Bavelier, (2008).
The other test developed was a phonological test in which the students watch video clips with different one- and two-
handed signs. After each clip, they try to identify the signs’ hand shape, location and movement with the help of
different pictures on a sheet of paper (see further Balkstam, 2018; Holmström, 2018a).
These two different tests were first conducted before the students started the course, and were thereafter repeated
three times: after half a semester when the first STS practical training course was finished (i.e. after 100 hours,
approximately 8 weeks of instruction), after one semester when the second STS practical training course was completed
(after 200 hours), and after one year when the third and fourth STS practical training courses ended (after 400 hours).
The results from the tests however did not uncover differences between the groups, except from the second SignRepL2
session. In this, group A showed some better fluency than group B. This was also expected because group A had
received most instruction through STS until then, while group B had received much more instruction through spoken
Swedish during the first three (of eight) weeks. But the difference between the groups had disappeared in the following
test occasions.
In order to find out if there were other differences, the students’ course grades from all the five courses in the first
semester (see Figure 1) were also compared on the group level. Almost no differences between the groups from the first
semester’s two STS practical signing skills courses (the first one graduated after 100 hours of instruction, and the other
one after 200 hours) could be detected. But, in the three theoretical courses given during the first semester, it appeared
that group B received higher grades than group A, indicating that their theoretical understanding of STS was better
developed. This was the greatest difference revealed between the groups, and a control was made of the students’
previous educational background, grades from upper secondary school, experience from learning other languages, and
whether the student had Swedish as second language. This control showed that the groups had very similar backgrounds
and thus there were no background factors influencing the results. It is also important to mention that in the theoretical
course Linguistic introduction to STS, the teacher of both groups was the same hearing STS L2 teacher who also taught

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group B in the practical course the first three weeks in the sub-study. In the other two theoretical courses; Deaf culture
and history, and STS 2 theoretical focus, the teachers of both groups were deaf (not the same teachers as in the practical
courses) and taught with the help of STS interpreters.
C. The Present Study
The instruction in the two groups during the first three weeks was also captured through video recordings of four
lessons (1,5 hour each) per week for each group (in total 18 hours of video documentation), and it is these recordings
that this article focuses on. Two cameras were used in each lesson, one directed towards the teacher and one towards the
students. Because the focus in the analysis here was primarily the teacher’s instruction, it is the recordings from the
camera directed towards the teacher that primarily have been used in this study. It was supposed that group B’s greater
knowledge of STS theory may originate in the initial instruction through spoken Swedish by the STS L2 teacher, and
therefore, it was of particular interest to examine just this teacher’s instruction more closely in order to identify
recurring patterns and particular characteristics in her teaching. This STS L2 teacher is a non-native speaker language
teacher, who has a background as STS interpreter. She began to learn STS in her twenties and was in her late fifties
when the study was conducted. She worked as an STS interpreter for many years, and still does so sporadically in her
spare time. She has studied STS linguistics up to BA level but has not received her BA degree. She has worked as a
teacher in STS since the early 2000s and is very engaged in pedagogical issues together with the other teachers in the
university team, who are all deaf.
All the recordings from the STS L2 teacher’s lessons have been examined, and recurring patterns that appeared in
them have been noted. Thereafter, illustrative examples from these patterns were chosen and analysed with the help of
the annotation tool ELAN (EUDICO Linguistic Annotator), a flexible computer-based tool for analysing (sign)
language texts through linking video sequences and transcriptions. In the analysis, different tiers in this software were
used for annotating the teacherś use of the different languages (i.e. spoken Swedish and STS), and another tier for her
use of gestures. One tier was also used for comments.

IV. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

In this section, three illustrative examples from the teaching will be used in order to describe the STS L2 teacher’s
instruction with respect to certain features in the students’ M2-L2 learning: i) the different view of hand shape
orientations; ii) constructed action; and iii) iconicity. The extracts are displayed in blocks in tables, where the first row
consists of the Swedish spoken by the teacher. The second row, in italics, is an English translation of the spoken
Swedish, and the third one is signs from STS transcribed in capital letters. 3 The fourth and last row consists of
descriptions, comments and explanations of the situation or the teacher’s behaviour, between brackets. The STS signs
and the comments are placed to show where in the utterances they are used in relation to the spoken Swedish. In the text
below, shorter extracts are provided. Extended extracts can be found in Appendix A-C.
A. The Different View of Hand Shape Orientations
The L2 teacher appear as well aware of STS being in another modality, in the classroom instruction. Among other
things, she explicitly explains the different view of signs for a signer and an addressee. Because signs are produced with
the signer’s own hands, their point of view is from their own eyes while the addressee perceive the signer’s hand shapes
from the opposite point of view. For example, if the signer produces a sign in the form of a thumbs-up, he or she looks
at the palm side of the hand, while the addressee instead looks at the back of the hand (Figure 2 a,b).

Figure 2a 2b

Excerpt 1 illustrates how the STS L2 teacher makes the students aware of this phenomenon through explicitly talking
about the different views, and how the signs looks different depending on whether the students are reading or producing
the sign. She starts by using a web page, visible on the screen, with an illustration of a drawn hand shape, together with
a film clip where an actor produces the same hand shape. She points at the screen, asking the students what the
difference is between the illustration and the film. Thereafter, she points out that the hand shape is viewed from

3
In the literature, it is a general convention to use capital letters for representing signs in written text. In the transcripts, sometimes there is a
hyphen between two words, indicating that several words are needed for expressing the meaning of the sign. In addition, on on e occasion ’@rd’ is
added after the word WALK, adding a meaning of ”long-time walking”. This reflects sign movement being reduplicated several times.

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different angles in both of them, and holds up her own hands and rotates them in the different directions in order to
make the angle differences explicit for the students. Thereafter, she went on to talk about the sign LIVE:
EXCERPT I.
Swedish Såom jag tecknar leva med tvåhänder som vi kallar för sprethand och en rörelse som går framåt
English So, if I sign live with two hands, which we call a spread hand and a movement forward
STS LIVE
Comment/ [holds up hands in the shape of spread hands] [shows movement with her hands]
description
Swedish leva såser ju du min handrygg
English live then you see the back of my hand
STS LIVE
Comment/ [holds up one hand and touches the back of the hand with the other hand’s fingers]
description
Swedish medans jag ser min handflata.
English while I see my palm.
STS
Comment/ [continues holding up the hand but now touches the palm with the other hand’s fingers]
description
Swedish Sådet här med att lära sig ett tecken det innebär att när ni ser ett tecken såmåste ni
English So the thing with learning a sign is, it means that when you see a sign, you have to
STS
Swedish tänka litegrann typ okej det ska inte vara leva,
English think a little like, okay that can’t be live,
STS THINK
Comment/ [Holds up the hands in wrong direction]
description
Swedish jag såg ju handryggen
English I saw the back of the hand
STS
Comment/ [touches the back at the one hand with the other hand]
description
Swedish dåkan jag inte göra det åt det hållet för jag såg ju handryggen dåjag avläste tecknet.
English then I can’t do it in this direction because I saw the back of the hand when I read the sign.
STS
Comment/ [continues holding up one hand in the wrong direction, then turns it inwards]
description
Swedish Tänk pådet hela tiden när ni lär er in nya tecken att det finns en avläseform och en egen produktionsform av ett tecken.
English Keep in mind when you learn new signs that there’s a reading form and your own production form of a sign.

The teacher here signs LIVE in its correct orientation, and thereafter in the opposite orientation while she talks about
the phenomena of different views of the hand shape orientations. During the lesson, the teacher frequently holds up her
hand(s) and explains what the students are looking at, such as the palm or the back of the hand, and sometimes she
shows the STS signs as just signs. The teacher here mentions that the students have to learn to understand both views of
all signs in order to learn both to correctly produce signs themselves, and to understand what a signer produces.
B. Constructed Action
In sign languages, a common way to represent a referent’s actions, utterances, feelings, thoughts etc. (both actual and
imagined) is to use constructed action (Metzger, 1995). This means that the signer uses the hands, head, face and body
in order to, for example, retell a dialogue or show how an action was carried out. Students who learn an L2 sign
language need to learn how such constructed action is performed and how they can understand the narratives they are
told. In excerpt 2, the teacher plays a film on the screen. She shows short sequences and repeatedly stops the film,
asking the students what they saw the actor perform. The students give suggestions, and the teacher extends and
deepens these, pointing out particular features in the narration. In particular, she mentions the common features that are
specific for sign languages, for example as in this extract, the actor’s use of constructed action in a story about a dog.

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EXCERPT II.
Swedish Gåja. Det här är ett fast tecken för gå, men ni ser att han gör något också, med kroppen
English Walk yes. This is a lexical sign for walking, but you see that he also does something with his body
STS WALK@rd------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comment/
description
Swedish Vi har ju inte pratat såmycket om vad resten av kroppen gör
English We haven’t talked so much about what the rest of the body does
STS [continues]------------
Comment/ [continues to move only her body]-------------
description
Swedish vi har ju bara pratat om tecknen.
English we’ve just talked about the signs.
STS SIGN-------------------------------
Comment/ [repeating the sign movement while talking]
description
Swedish Nu ska vi börja titta påvad gör resten av kroppen och framförallt, vad gör han med ansiktet.
English Now let’s start looking at what the rest of the body does and above all, what he does with his face.
STS
Comment/ [hands on shoulders and moves her body ][creates a circle in front of her face]
description
Swedish Vad, alltsåvad är det här? Det är en glad hund,
English What, so what was this? It’s a happy dog,
STS
Comment/ [shows a film clip in STS]
description
Swedish och nu har vi för första gången sett en man i grön tröja bli en glad hund.
English and now for the first time we’ve seen a man in a green sweater become a happy dog.

Swedish För det som händer nu i våra huvuden är att vi omedelbart accepterar att han gestaltar en hund.
English Because what happens now in our minds is that we immediately accept that he represents a dog.

Swedish Han säger inte om hunden, han blir hunden.

English He doesn’t talk about the dog, he becomes the dog.

Here, the STS L2 teacher starts by mentioning how the actor uses his body in the narrative, and highlights the fact
that the class has not focused much on body movements in signing before, and it is now time to learn more about them.
She says that the class will focus in particular on what the actor does with his face, and asks the students what they
perceive from it. Thereafter, she concludes that we perceive the narration as a happy dog, despite the fact that in reality
it is a man in a green sweater that is signing. She mentions that in our mind, as addressees, we accept that the actor,
through his use of body movements and facial expressions, takes the role of the dog he is talking about, and thus
“becomes the dog.” She also mentions that this is a common feature in STS, and that it differs from how narratives are
expressed in spoken languages. This excerpt thus illustrates how the students, through looking at and discussing
different STS narratives, learn how stories etc. are told in STS and how the students will perceive them in different
ways. The students also are made aware of the nuances in body movements and facial expressions, and that they must
not only consider what the hands are doing when they read sign language. This also supports their own sign production
through their growing awareness of the importance of using the whole body in their signing.
C. Iconicity
Iconicity can be defined as a resemblance between form and meaning. That is, it is possible to figure out the meaning
of an iconic sign because it looks like what it means (Taub, 2012). For example, when performing the STS sign DRIVE,
the signer holds up her/his hand as if holding a steering wheel when driving, and moves the sign forward. Iconicity does
exist in both sign and spoken languages, but is more pervasive in sign languages “because the resources of sign
languages lend themselves to presenting visual, spatial, and motor images, whereas the resources of spoken languages
only lend themselves to presenting auditory images.” (Taub, 2012, p. 408). In the STS L2 instruction, it is important to
make the students aware of the iconicity in the language, and the student learns about it in both theory and practice. As
shown in excerpt 3, the teacher uses a narrative film about different animals that crawl into a glove, and discusses the
actor’s choice of different hand shapes depending on which animal he illustrates.

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EXCERPT III.
Swedish Groda Groda. Och den lilla musen den hade rört sig såhär.
English Frog Frog. And the little mouse, it had moved like this.
STS FROG
Comment/ [shows with index fingers a small mouse’s movements]
description
Swedish Hur rör sig grodan?
English How does the frog move?
STS FROG-JUMPS [with two spread hands]----------------
Comment/ [points toward the screen while the film is paused]
description
Swedish Vad är det för handform?
English What's the shape of the hand?
STS
Comment/ [removes one hand while the other remains in front of the body in the shape of a spread hand]
description
Swedish Sprethand
English Spread hand
STS
Comment/ [moves the other spread hand back so that both hands are visible in front of the body]
description
Swedish Okej, varför har musen en så, eller en sån
English Okay, why does the mouse have a shape like this, or like this,
STS
Comment/ [hunch forward and uses index fingers close to each other]
description
Swedish och grodan en sån form? Vad tror ni det beror på?
English while the frog has a shape like this? What do you think it depends on?
STS
Comment/ [places two spread hands in front of the body]
description
Swedish Varför väljer han den för att gestalta en groda?
English Why does he choose this to represent a frog?
STS
Comment/ [points on the screen with a paused film, on the actor’s spread hand]
description
Swedish ja... grodfötter.
English yes ... frog feet.
STS
Comment/ [places two spread hands in front of the body, laughs------------------------------------------------------------
description
Swedish Grodans fötter har den här formen.
English The frog’s feet have this shape.
STS
Comment/ [continues]---[points on the one spread hand with index finger]
description

In this excerpt, the teacher discusses differences in how the narrative is expressed, depending on if it is a mouse or a
frog that is in focus. She shows with her index fingers how the mouse moves, indicating that it is a small animal, and
compares this signing with the use of both hands in spread hand shapes when the narrative is about the frog. In similar
ways, she shows the movement patterns that differ between the mouse and the frog, and discusses with the students why
the different hand shapes and movements are used. But it also appears in this part of the lesson that the teacher adds
theoretical knowledge to the discussion, through introducing the concept of iconicity, and what it means in STS (see
Appendix C). She tells the students that the way to choose hand shapes is an issue of iconicity, and asks the students if
they know what this concept means. The class discuss the meaning and the teacher concludes that it is something
similar to a picture that can be done by the hands, and that it is not possible in spoken languages, but is a particular
feature of sign languages. The students thereby both learn how narratives are expressed with different hand shapes and
movement, depending on what the narrative is about, and they receive metalinguistic knowledge of what this production
means from a theoretical perspective.

V. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

In this article, the STS L2 teacher’s different teaching approaches have been examined and three recurring patterns
have been analysed in depth. These patterns have revealed that the STS L2 teacher provides, to a high degree,
metalinguistic knowledge for the students in her teaching through both show signs and narratives and talk about the
features that appear in them. Just as Riordan (2018) highlights about the non-native language teacher, the STS L2
teacher appears very aware of STS linguistic structure, and she explains different features that are specific for STS in
her teaching. She also frequently compares STS and Swedish. She does not appear as a bilingual role model in the way
that Medgyes (2017) and Riordan (2018) suggest, but her experiences from being an L2 learner seem to be of great
importance. She often makes explanations about both linguistic features she herself has struggled with, and things she

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knows that many hearing students have difficulties with, particularly those that are modality specific.
The analysis of the STS L1 teachers’ instruction (which has not been the focus in this article) revealed that the
students by them got extended training in becoming more visually oriented in their communication. They were trained
to make and keep eye contact, how to get attention, how to use visual turn-taking, etc. In addition, they also were
trained to use different strategies in order to communicate with deaf people: through signs, fingerspelling, gestures and
written notices. The deaf teachers helped each student to perform signs, they went through different lists of signs, with
the teacher showing how to produce them, and the teacher gave many examples of signs and expressions. One thing that
was discovered through this analysis of the STS L1 teachers’ instruction was that the benefits from this teaching were
not mentioned in the requirements in the course goals, nor were they caught in the STS tests. It may be because of this
lack that no differences were found between the two groups that received different initial instruction regarding practical
signing.
Although the students themselves in interviews express appreciation for having deaf teachers as these are perceived
as role models for how STS should be expressed, and because they are forced to use STS when communicating with
them, the STS L2 teacher is also very much appreciated by the students, because they can ask questions and get deep
and extended explanations from her. This result, together with the other results from this action research project has
pedagogical implications: it appear that is important to allow for the use of spoken language in STS instruction, and to
give both languages their natural place. Sometimes the focus needs to be on building metalinguistic knowledge through
spoken Swedish, and sometimes the focus has to be to train to become visually oriented, and produce, read and
communicate in STS.
Action research makes it possible to take as the point of departure issues in the practice that teachers may experience
as problematic or difficult. In the education context that this study has focused on, one frequently-discussed issue has
been whether it is better to start with instruction directly in STS without use of any spoken Swedish, or vice versa. The
use of action research has made it possible to test this issue through systematic examination and documentation, with
colloquial reflections. The results revealed the importance of having both L1 and L2 STS teachers because these
contribute different values in the instruction, all of which are needed for aspiring STS interpreters. Through the study,
the teachers could also learn from each other. For example, the L1 teachers could learn from the specific L2 perspective
in the L2 teacher’s teaching, as shown in this article, and it made them more aware of modality specific difficulties for
the students. Thus, the study has led to a change in how the teaching is envisaged and planned, and the teachers’
practice has been developed and improved.

APPENDIX A. EXCERPT 1

Swedish Är det någon som pårak arm kan säga mig vad det är för skillnad mellan den som vi nyss såg och den här?
English Is there anyone who can tell me off of the top of their head what the difference is between the one we just saw and this one?
SSL
Comment/ [walks to the screen and points at a paused film]
description
Swedish Den var lite omvänd, vad beror det på?
English It was a bit reversed, what’s the reason for that?
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Den första bilden, den som är ritad, den är hur ni ser handen när ni utför tecknet.
English The first image, this one that’s drawn, it’s how you see your hand when you perform the sign.
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Det här är, eftersom den är filmad hur tecknet ser ut dåni avläser.
English This one is, because it’s filmed the way the sign looks when you read it.
SSL
Comment/ [points at the paused film on the screen]
description
Swedish Och det här är en sanning för alla tecken.
English And this is true for all signs.
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Såom jag tecknar leva
English So, if I sign live
SSL LIVE
Comment/
description
Swedish med tvåhänder som vi kallar för sprethand
English with two hands, which we call a spread hand
SSL
Comment/ [holds up both hands in the shape of spread hands]

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description
Swedish och en rörelse som går framåt
English and a movement forward
SSL
Comment/ [shows the movement with her hands]
description
Swedish leva
English live
SSL LIVE
Comment/
description
Swedish såser ju du min handrygg
English then you see the back of my hand
SSL
Comment/ [holds up one hand and touches the back of the hand with the other hand’s fingers]
description
Swedish medans jag ser min handflata.
English while I see my palm.
SSL
Comment/ [continues holding up the hand but now touches the palm with the other hand’s fingers]
description
Swedish Sådet här med att lära sig ett tecken det innebär att när ni ser ett tecken såmåste ni
English So the thing with learning a sign is, it means that when you see a sign, you have to
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish tänka litegrann typ okej det ska inte vara leva,
English think a little like, okay that can’t be live,
SSL THINK
Comment/ [Holds up the hands in wrong direction]
description
Swedish jag såg ju handryggen
English I saw the back of the hand
SSL
Comment/ [touches the back at the one hand with the other hand]
description
Swedish dåkan jag inte göra det åt det hållet för jag såg ju handryggen dåjag avläste tecknet.
English then I can’t do it in this direction because I saw the back of the hand when I read the sign.
SSL
Comment/ [continues holding up one hand in the wrong direction, then turns it inwards]
description
Swedish Tänk pådet hela tiden när ni lär er in nya tecken att det finns en avläseform och en egen produktionsform av ett tecken.
English Keep in mind when you learn new signs that there’s a reading form and your own production form of a sign.
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Sånär ni lär er tecken från lexikon, det ni ser är det den andra personens ska se dåni utför tecknet.
English So when you learn a sign from the dictionary, what you see is what the other person should see when you perform the sign.
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Det kanske låter som att slåin öppna dörrar men ni kommer att upptäcka att ibland
English It may sound like pushing against an open door, but you will find that sometimes
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish utför man tecknet spegelvänt eftersom man inte tänker påatt det finns tvåformer.
English the sign is mirrored because you don’t consider that there are two shapes.
SSL THINK
Comment/
description

APPENDIX B. EXCERPT 2

Swedish Gåja.
English Walk yes.
SSL WALK@rd------
Comment/
description

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Swedish Det här är ett fast tecken för gå, men ni ser att han gör något också, med kroppen.
English This is a citation form sign for walking, but you see that he also does something with his body.
SSL
Comment/ [continues]-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
description
Swedish Vi har ju inte pratat såmycket om vad resten av kroppen gör
English We haven’t talked so much about what the rest of the body does
SSL
Comment/ [continues]------------ [continues to move only her body]-------------
description
Swedish vi har ju bara pratat om tecknen.
English we’ve just talked about the signs.
SSL SIGN-------------------------------
Comment/ [repeating the sign movement while talking]
description
Swedish Nu ska vi börja titta påvad gör resten av kroppen och framförallt,
English Now let’s start looking at what the rest of the body does and above all,
SSL
Comment/ [hands on shoulders and moves her body ]
description
Swedish vad gör han med ansiktet.
English what he does with his face.
SSL
Comment/ [creates a circle in front of her face]
description
Swedish Vad, alltsåvad är det här?
English What, so what was this?
SSL
Comment/ [shows a film clip in SSL]
description
Swedish Det är en glad hund,
English It’s a happy dog,
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish och nu har vi för första gången sett en man i grön tröja bli en glad hund.
English and now for the first time we’ve seen a man in a green sweater become a happy dog.
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish För det som händer nu i våra huvuden är att vi omedelbart accepterar att han gestaltar en hund.
English Because what happens now in our minds is that we immediately accept that he represents a dog.
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Han säger inte om hunden, han blir hunden.
English He doesn’t talk about the dog, he becomes the dog.
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Det är jättestor skillnad påhur vi vanligtvis talar när vi talar talspråk,
English That’s a big difference from how we usually speak when we speak spoken language,
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish på svenska engelska eller oavsett, så pratar vi inte riktigt såhär…
English in Swedish, English or whatever, we don’t really speak like this ...
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish I direkt anförande, som om vi var någon annan eller en annan varelse.
English In direct speech, as if we were someone else or another creature.
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Det här är väldigt typiskt för teckenspråk
English This is very typical for sign language.
SSL
Comment/
description

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APPENDIX C. EXCERPT 3

Swedish Groda Groda.

English Frog Frog.
SSL FROG
Comment/
description
Swedish Och den lilla musen den hade rört sig såhär.
English And the little mouse, it had moved like this.
SSL
Comment/ [shows with index fingers a small mouse’s movements]
description
Swedish Hur rör sig grodan?
English How does the frog move?
SSL
Comment/ [points toward the screen while the film is paused]
description
Swedish
English
SSL FROG-JUMPS [with two spread hands]--------------------
Comment/
description
Swedish Vad är det för handform?
English What's the shape of the hand?
SSL
Comment/ [removes one hand while the other remains in front of the body in the shape of a spread hand]
description
Swedish Sprethand
English Spread hand
SSL
Comment/ [moves the other spread hand back so that both hands are visible in front of the body]
description
Swedish Okej, varför har musen en så, eller en sån
English Okay, why does the mouse have a shape like this, or like this,
SSL
Comment/ [hunch forward and uses index fingers close to each other]
description
Swedish och grodan en sån form?
English while the frog has a shape like this?
SSL
Comment/ [places two spread hands in front of the body]
description
Swedish Vad tror ni det beror på?
English What do you think it depends on?
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Varför väljer han den för att gestalta en groda?
English Why does he choose this to represent a frog?
SSL
Comment/ [points on the screen with a paused film, on the actor’s spread hand]
description
Swedish
English
SSL
Comment/ [places two spread hands in front of the body, laughs----------------]
description
Swedish ja... grodfötter.
English yes ... frog feet.
SSL
Comment/ [continues]-------------
description
Swedish Grodans fötter har den här formen.
English The frog’s feet have this shape.
SSL
Comment/ [continues]---[points on the one spread hand with index finger]
description
Swedish Det är ocksåtypiskt att när man väljer att gestalta någonting såväljer man en form
English It’s also typical that when you choose to represent something, you choose a form
SSL
Comment/
description

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Swedish som pånåt sätt kan appellera till det vi upplever är den riktiga formen i verkligheten.
English that in some way can appeal to what we experience as the actual form in reality.
SSL
Comment/
description
[…]
Swedish Det här sättet att välja när man visar det är något teckenspråket har
English This way to choose when you show it’s something sign language has
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish som kallas teckenspråkets ikonicitet.
English that's called sign language iconicity.
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Vad betyder det ordet?
English What does that word mean?

SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Ikonicitet.
English Iconicity.

SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Någon som vet vad en ikon är?
English Does anyone know what an icon is?

SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Vad är en ikon?
English What is an icon?

SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish En symbol för någonting och det är en bild.
English A symbol for something and that’s a picture.
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Det är en symbol för något och det är bildlikt och det kan man göra med händerna.
English It’s a symbol for something and it’s similar to a picture and you can do it with your hands.
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Det utnyttjar man med teckenspråk, man kan inte göra det såbra med rösten,
English It’s used in sign language—you cannot do it as well with the voice,
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish alltsåhar vi inte den möjligheten i talspråk påsamma sätt.
English so we don’t have this ability in spoken language in the same way.
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Såteckenspråkets möjlighet till ikonicitet avspeglas i hur vi väljer handformer
English So sign language's capacity for iconicity is reflected in how we choose hand shapes
SSL
Comment/ [points towards the screen with the paused film and moves her hand in a circle around the actor’s hand]
description
Swedish dåvi får välja fritt,
English when we can choose freely,
SSL
Comment/
description
Swedish Dåfår man välja en sånhär handform för en grodfot,
English Then you can choose such a hand shape for a frogs’ foot,
SSL
Comment/ [places two spread hands in front of the body and gesticulates around with them]

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description
Swedish och såhär eller ännu mindre om man pratar om ett djur som har en typisk liten tass.
English and like this, or even smaller if you talk about an animal that has a typical little paw.
SSL
Comment/ [cowers and uses the bent hand in front of the body and then changes to index fingers]
description

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wishes to thank Kristina Svartholm, Stockholm University, for comments on previous version of this
paper.

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Ingela Holmström, Assistant professor and lecturer at the Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University, Sweden. She get her
PhD in Education at Örebro University 2013 and her research is directed towards communication issues in interaction between deaf,
hard-of-hearing and hearing people both in and outside school contexts. She has a special interest in bi- and multilingualism and also
conducts research on teaching Swedish Sign Language as a second language for hearing students. In addition, Dr Holmström has a
background as a teacher for the deaf in upper secondary schools in Sweden.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 673-682, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.02

A Narrative Analysis of Teacher Educators’

Motivation: Evidence from the Universities of
Sindh, Pakistan
Zafarullah Sahito
School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, Philosophical Faculty, University of Eastern Finland,
Joensuu, Finland;
Sukkur IBA University, Airport Road, Sukkur, Sindh, Pakistan

Pertti Vaisanen
School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, Philosophical Faculty, University of Eastern Finland,
Joensuu, Finland

Abstract—The study was conducted to explore the factors of motivation of teacher educators of the
departments of Education at universities of Sindh province of Pakistan. The data was collected and analyzed
through narrative analysis technique, the qualitative research design. The total sixteen factors of motivation
were found as five intrinsic and eleven extrinsic respectively. The findings of the article would be suitable and
reliable addition in to the available literature to understand the phenomenon of motivation in organizational
setting to support their students’ to work for the betterment of society.

Index Terms—motivation, narrative analysis, intrinsic, extrinsic

I. INTRODUCTION
Motivation word is a part of any popular organizational culture depending on physiological and psychological
concepts to activate the behavior or a drive of individuals or process of moving to achieve the goal and incentive
especially the inducement of a desired behavior (Han & Yin 2016) with subordinates. It is an act of involvement and
commitment with himself or herself to perform any assignment honestly and actively for the benefit of all stakeholders.
It is a theoretical construct to explain the behavior of individual that provides the reason of any actions, desires and
needs of a concern, based on the reality and truth directed by one’s behavior, causes of the repetition of the behavior
and vice versa (Elliot & Covington 2001). Motivation is complexed term and considered as energy or drive to do
something by nature that is differentiated through two aspects i.e. reasons for deciding to do something and sustain
motivation that refers to the effort to do something. Dörnyei and Ushioda (2011) identified two dimensions of the
definition of motivation to make researchers agree such as direction and magnitude of human behavior, as the teacher
motivation (TM) is defined in terms of attraction, retention and concentration (Sinclair, 2008), which can be described
as the motivation to teach and to remain in the profession (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011).
The teacher motivation (TM) has been proved a crucial factor that closely related to student motivation, educational
reform, teaching practice and teachers’ psychological fulfillment and well-being (Han et al. 2016), depending on the
interaction of both conscious and unconscious factors; needs and desires; incentives and rewards; value the
organizational goals to achieve and the fulfill the expectations of the individuals and their peers. Research on TM
developed and expanded quickly and vastly during late 1990s, which marked high increase in existing literature across
various social and cultural contexts. Even though, some special issues were published on TM in 2008 focuses on the
latest motivational theories, known as zeitgeist of interest means the spirit of the time or age (Watt & Richardson, 2008).
FIT-Choice model was based on the expectancy value theory to guide the systematic investigations to explore the
factors influencing pre-service teachers’ choice to teach (Watt et al. 2012). The first part of the model comprises a
context, second intrinsic, personal and social utility values and third concerned with outcomes. The FIT-Choice model
has a good explanatory ability and provides an integrated approach to study the diverse samples and settings (Fokkens-
Bruinsma & Canrinus 2013; Watt et al. 2012) in different organizations.
A. Purpose of Research
The purpose of this study was to investigate the TEs perception about motivation and explore the specific
motivational factors that enhance their job activities and engagement. As motivation is positively and strongly
correlated with class choice, academic achievement (Legault et al. 2006), and student responsibility (Daniels &
Arapostathis, 2005).
B. Research Questions

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Two research questions were made to find out the answers from the recorded narratives of TEs such as (a). What
Intrinsic and extrinsic factors affect the motivation of TEs? (b). How TEs perceive and experience the process of
motivation?

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

The literature review of the research study is consisting of two main areas such as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
The details of both are as follows:
A. Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation is a derive of actions from inside the person or from the activity itself, which positively affects
the behavior, performance and well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2000a) of employees. It increases the behavior of an employee
to perform properly and actively for its own sake rather than to obtain material or social reinforcers. Intrinsic motivation
is an expression and feeling of personal desires or values, which refers to do an activity for internal self-satisfaction
(Lashway, 2001) based on the behavior of the employees towards their work. Intrinsic motivation can be encouraged
through giving free hand to employees and appreciating their efforts and abilities (Ryan & Deci, 2000b). Because,
autonomy-supportive teachers catalyze their students to work through intrinsic motivation, curiosity and the desire for
challenge, which create strong links between intrinsic motivation and satisfaction of the needs for autonomy,
competence and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2000a) as intrinsic motivation factors play a vital major role in TM in China
primarily derived from intrinsic values of teaching. Whereas, the teacher attrition is identified in many European
countries especially in Australia, England, New Zealand and USA (Dinham & Scott, 2000; Watt & Richardson, 2008),
which is labeled as teacher demotivation and concerned with negative factors (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011). As the
negative influence may be related to particular events, experiences and factors related to any particular social
environment, which demotivated the teachers who were once motivated in their past with their job but lost their interest
due to some unforgettable reasons (Kiziltepe, 2008). Performance approach, goal orientation, graded performance
trajectories; reflective thinking, intrinsic motivation and control-expectancy belief were associated with mastery goal
orientation and achievement among Finnish and Swedish school teachers (Malmberg, 2008).
B. Extrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic motivation is the attainment of externally administered rewards such as salary, material possessions,
prestige and positive evaluations, free accommodation, free meals, weekly duty, extra teaching allowances, advance
payments in case of financial problems, leave of absence and free medical (Sansone & Harackiewicz, 2000). The value
of extrinsic motivation can be seen that money in the form of pay is the most obvious extrinsic reward, provides the
means to achieve a number of different ends and outcomes. As the salaries of workers should be paid promptly and a
corresponding increase in the salary should be increased to create and enhance the satisfaction and motivation among
workers, which influence their performance directly. Because, pay has a strong positive affect on the employees’
performance and is a powerful motivating tool (Bratton & Gold, 2003). Whereas, extrinsic motivation is connected
with the employee performance to achieve required results through some rewards and awards i.e. salary. Although the
activity might be difficult, boring and unpleasant, but it can be made valuable and stimulating through rewards. Raise in
workload increase the dissatisfaction and demotivation among teachers, while in private organizations the financial
incentives are given to teachers for teaching their extra classes to increase their job satisfaction and motivation. As per
application of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, employees dedicate their energy and time to their organizational
duties and responsibilities if they are given sufficient payment to feed, shelter and protect their families well, which
provide them an assurance of sustainability of above basics to pursue their organizational goals for further development.

III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The qualitative research design was employed, revolving around epistemological and ontological assumptions of
philosophy, supported by interpretivism and epistemological constructionism means the reality is multiple and
multidimensional and the knowledge is constructed and a subjective in nature (Creswell, 2009) respectively. The data
was collected through semi-structured interviews from the sample of TEs, who were approached through their heads of
department and organizations. The short explanation of the research topic was made and shared with the recruited
sample before interview. The list of characterizing traits was used as the criteria for judgement of the quality for
reliability, validity and usability of the study (Sparkes & Smith, 2014), which includes the topic richness; the significant
contribution in literature; rich thoroughness and objectivity; selection of appropriate sample size and method;
significant claims generated from the data; soundness and rationality; requirement and nature of topic (Tracy, 2010).
Finally, the identical numbers as a code numbers were alloted to every TE to keep the interviewee identity and data
confidential and secrete.
A. Research Approach of the Study
The narrative inquiry and analysis was extensively used for this study to collect and analyze the data, as narrative
inquiry is suitable and strong tool to employ as an analysis tool. It has a capacity to records the correct and different

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human dimensions of experience and relationship concerned with cultural context (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000),
focuses on the details of stories with meaning depending on reality, inspired socially and culturally constructed
knowledge and texture of experiences (Polkinghorne, 1995). It convert the said narratives in to the real meaning through
analysis (Riessman, 2008), which constitutes the social reality of a narrator (Etherington, 2004), considered a powerful
method to use for summative studies (Muylaert et al. 2014) with the criteria consisting of preparation, initialization,
main narration, questioning and small talk conducted with one’s own (Etherington, 2000) or with other’s clients
(Etherington, 2007).
B. Participants of the Study
Forty participants were recruited for the study through multiple perspectives such as the Snowball and convenience
sampling techniques in order to collect the in-depth and real data. As, the number of research participants were ranging
from 1 to 30 or 40, as to report their details properly (Creswell, 2012). The recruited sample of (n=40) TEs was further
divided as (19 male; 21 female), six professors (1 male; 5 female); one male associate professor, nineteen assistant
professors (8 male; 11 female); and fourteen were lecturers (9 male; 5 female). The age group was stared from 28 to 58
years with an average mean of 44.65.

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The results of this study show the sixteen factors, which have been explored from the collected data of the TEs about
their motivation. All explored factors are settled down in table (1) with their description and definition in order to
understand the phenomena well and comprehensively. These descriptions highlighted and provided the explanations of
a researcher, which is prime work in qualitative research. Because qualitative researcher’s position is looking like a
bridge between the participants and readers, data collection and analysis and its sensible interpretations, which suits the
areas from which the data collected, its culture, routines, rules and regulation. Qualitative researchers and its knowledge
about any culture, system, phenomena, etc plays a vital role to explain the problems and their solutions properly and
authentically for the betterment of the majority of the stakeholders.
The professional stories of sixteen TEs were found impressive to produce primary data for this study to analyze, as
interviewees expressed their life experiences well supported by authentic reasons to quote as informative statements and
narratives.
A. Interesting Work
The male TE (3), working as lecturer and having a more than seven years teaching experience, focused on interesting
work and commented as “Interesting work increases my motivation and makes me energetic to perform my duties well.
Especially when I get subjects as per my qualification and research areas to teach in different classes”. The statement
shows interesting work helps people a lot and make them cheer and joy on performing their task especially when they
get the assignments matching with their research interest, qualification and experience. As the interesting work was
found the pivotal factors, which significantly contributed in propelling employee motivation at their workplace (Hossain
& Hossain, 2012) concerned with their interests to increase the performance in order to get identification and respect in
their particular organizations.
B. Appreciation, Recognition and Achievement (Rewards & Awards)
The female TE (8), working as assistant professor and having a more than eleven years teaching and research
experience, focused on appreciation, recognition and achievement as “My interest of work increased when I get
appreciation on my work performance that makes me prominent among my colleagues and become my recognition in
my institute and organization. It provides me the peace and rest of mind to work hard. The awards and rewards give me
immense pleasure and increase my motivation to work more. To teach well with practical approaches and research
based techniques”. The narrative explained that how appreciation is created, maintained and enhanced. Interest of work
was connected as a strong factor of appreciation on performance, which is the deepest desire in human nature, to be
appreciated and valued (Ndungu, 2017) tends to have higher self-esteem, more confidence and willingness to take on
new challenges and more eagerness to be innovative substantially. As performance of TEs became their identification
and respect in the sight of their heads of departments and organizations, which create pleasure and encourage them as
an employee and human being to achieve the highest in their life.

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TABLE. I.
FACTORS OF TEACHER MOTIVATION
Factors or Themes Description
Interesting work. Work that suits to the qualification, experience and willingness of the TE.
Appreciation, recognition and achievement. Rewards and awards given to TEs based on their hard work and performance
transparently.
Feeling involved in work progress. Responsibility, progress and product made by any TE when he or she was given any
involvement to work in any team.
Job security. Confident and security about job that will be long last.
Financial and fringe benefits. Any financial and other benefits such as salary / good wages, medical, house and other all
allowances, etc.
Teamwork (being a part of team). Active participation to fulfil the responsibilities and duties with in any group of team.
Help with personal problems. Support acquired from colleagues and heads whenever face any personal problems.
Trust building and management. Showing confidence and surety about any skills and capability of TEs that they will
complete the given work and assignment.
Mentoring, inspiration, commitment and The process of checking the activities by heads, which depends upon the leading and
passion. guiding attitude to support them to be skilled and experienced.
Status and respect. Any designation needs and acquire the respect during working hours as give and take
respect beyond any status and grade.
Career advancement and job enrichment. Learning of new knowledge, skills and dispositions in order to become an expert to lead
the upcoming employees for future endeavours.
Employees’ participation, support and Making surety that every employee has been given proper participation as per its
empowerment. responsibility, duty, skills and expertise to empower himself or herself with support in
initial years of job.
Home city posting. Posting in that city where the TEs families and relatives are living and they have sound
social relations.
Transparent and tactful discipline. Same treatment or discipline as per rules and regulation for everyone in the organisation
to deal with the maters of the TEs.
Students’ satisfaction and motivation, fair Support students through keeping and maintaining the social relations and provide them
dealing and mutual respect. the good opportunities for learning and grooming inside and outside the class and
organisation.
Good working conditions and environment. Making and availing all necessary facilities with proper system for work and performance
of duties with special reference to social and ethical support to each other.

C. Feeling Involved in Work Progress (Responsibility, Progress and Product)

The male TE (14), working as assistant professor and having a more than nine years teaching and research experience,
focused on direct involvement in work and its progress as the key factor of motivation as “The given responsibility
makes me motivated to fully involve in work all time. The active involvement gives me an insight of work and its
progress, betterment and quality”. The feeling involved in work progress consists on responsibility, progress and
product, which enable the employee to progress well. This progress can be done by producing good products through a
degree of freedom to make employees capable to take and implement their own decisions and ideas with liberty to take
on the responsibility (Ruthankoon & Ogunlana, 2003). As the responsible employees perform their job, based on their
knowledge and try to learn new things to be done better, faster and cheaper.
D. Job Security
The female TE (18), working as professor and having a more than twenty years teaching and research experience,
focused on job security as the key factor of motivation expressed as “Job security is like the heart in human body. The
feeling of job security is like blood and oxygen to keep heart functional and active to live a healthy life. Job security is
the only fundamental factor, which makes employees relax and motivated”. Job security works as safeguard to protect
human beings to increase the functioning through maintaining the healthy life and environment in different
organizations especially at educational institutions. Pleasant work environment, friendly management, attractive salary
package, organisational justice, career opportunities and job security (Okpara & Wynn, 2008) were the topmost factors
of job satisfaction and motivation. Because, job security make them strong to face different types of issues and
problems through effective and positive impact to become a more productive human resource. On the other side, job
insecurity creates an atmosphere of fear, worry and uncertainty that decreases the job performance as the lack of job
security, organizational justice and satisfaction can be a cause of decrease in organisation productivity (Imran et al.
2015).
E. Financial and Fringe Benefits (Salary / Good Wages, Medical, House and Other All Allowances)
The male TE (4), working as lecturer and having a six years teaching experience, focused on financial and fringe
benefits as the dominant key factor of motivation that minimizes and converts the issues and problems in to a happy life
as “Market based salary or good wages minimize many problems in day-to-day life routines. Minimization of the
problems, make TEs happy and motivated to fulfill their duties and responsibilities, which are visualized in overall
progress and achievement of organizational goals to earn respect in society”. The financial and fringe benefits i.e. salary
or good wages, medical, house and other allowances support employees to fulfill the needs of their family members to
live a happy life. As the prime goal of human resource management (HRM) strategies and reward management is to

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identify and satisfy the needs of employees through organizational reward system, which contains fringe benefits to
make connection between motivations and rewards (Olsen, 2006). The motivated and high productive employees are to
be paid through good wages according to their ability and performance otherwise the best employees can be stolen by
your competitors in the markets.
F. Teamwork (Being a Part of Team)
The male TE (1), working as associate professor and having fourteen years of teaching and research experience,
focused on team work such as “To be a part of any team, working on same project, training and activity make TEs
motivated. Especially when they observe and experience mutual interest and help to other as one-team members.
Mutual respect, consent, discussion and decision making make the project successful that strongly motivate the team
members”. Being a part of team, all members have to respect each other except any designation, grade and experience
in all perspectives, which are important across multidisciplinary groups (Bruce & Ricketts, 2008) to create collaboration.
Because teams are built to learn from each other’s expertise and experiences through supporting the phenomenon of
team science, discipline structure, boundary work, challenges of interdisciplinary research, the direction of research and
leadership in interdisciplinary teams (Adams et al. 2012) to bring positive change. The team members are attached
emotionally with the goal and aim of the team, which make them social enough and bring them closure to each other in
order to listen, respect and implement the instructions, objective-based team training, voluntarily formed teams, team-
based leadership and communication system (Jiang, 2010). Listening carefully, respecting with heart and properly
implementing the instruction is a guarantee of the success of whole team.
G. Help with Personal Problems
The female TE (20), working as assistant professor and having eight years of teaching and research experience,
focused on help with personal problems as “TEs get motivation when their heads and colleagues help them in their
personal problems. Especially when they need financial, physical, social and psychological help. To face any
emergencies, illness, familial, and other societal”. Receiving help from colleagues in the shape of financial, physical,
social and psychological aspects to solve the personal problems is considered as the blessing as extrinsic motivators that
help those who experience very low intrinsic motivation due to belief that they are unable to learn and work (Park,
2011). This blessing help TEs to face and solve the emergencies, illness, familial and societal problems, which re-
energize and motivate them to back to their work with more social feelings about their coworkers and bosses.
Employees’ needs are to be known well by their heads through using different tactics to motivate each of them based on
their personal wants and needs (Ganta, 2014). It can be vice versa, when the smart managers and heads do not help any
of their colleagues to deal with the personal problems.
H. Trust Building and Management
The male TE (33), working as professor and having twenty-one years of teaching, training and research experience,
focused on trust building and working relation management as “Trust building and development increase the level of
motivation among TEs because trust increase their confidence level that appreciate them to work with high interest and
responsibility, dedication, commitment, curiosity, trustworthy and honesty”. Trust building and management were
discussed and described as an important tool, which increase the confidence level of TEs, their colleagues, heads and
students to develop positive exchange relationships (Bernerth & Walker, 2009). Trust building increases the interest and
responsibility among TEs, which create the dedication, commitment (Han et al. 2016), curiosity and trustworthy for
their work to manage conflict and avoid trouble (Ertürk, 2010) in their department and organization. As, trust forms the
foundation for effective communication, associate retention, motivation and contributions of discretionary energy. Five
steps are important for creating and maintaining trust such as form teams to solve real work issues and processes;
review projects and progress through meetings; build fun and shared experiences; do introduction as exercise to
familiarize to all members of team; and celebrate group successes publicly.
I. Mentoring, Inspiration, Commitment and Passion
The female TE (23), working as assistant professor and having a more than eight years of teaching and research
experience, focused on mentoring, inspiration, commitment and passion as “Heads and senior faculty members being
mentors are the sources of inspiration for junior and newly appointed TEs. Inspiration motivates TEs to work out of the
way to benefit their students to get success, commitment and passions for quality education”. The heads, seniors and
other colleagues help a lot as mentor and inspire their juniors to have commitment and passion towards their job,
organization, colleagues and students for successful professional life, as passionate teachers are distinguished by their
commitment (Han et al. 2015) to achieve their goals. The best leaders adopt, practice and coach for better performance
through proper investment of time and energy (Carbonneau et al. 2008). They have an ability to sit down, mingled with
their colleagues as team member and have an open and honest discussion about their issues and problems in order to
increase the performance through their essential leadership skills concerned with emotional event requires receptiveness
and awareness of social interdependence, which mentor to inspire others for achieving organisational goals and visions
(Hudson, 2013).
J. Status and Respect

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The male TE (11), working as assistant professor and having a more than twelve years of teaching and research
experience, focused on status and respect as “Status counts a lot and respect is given to every TE at administrative
offices in educational institutions and universities. Respect inspires, motivates and makes TEs to feel proud about their
profession, as it is a prophetic profession to preach the humanity”. Status describes the position or rank of a person in an
organization, community and society based on the responsibilities fulfilled for the benefits of other members. Desire for
status is a fundamental motive (Anderson et al. 2015). People respect a lot the person, who fulfilled his or her
responsibilities to benefit the majority of the individuals in the society. Whereas, the rank of an employee especially the
TE is directly linked with his or her authority, power, responsibility and other facilities to utilize it properly and
authentically to benefit the people as they receive the respect and perceive to have higher status and power. Every TE
wants and struggles for a higher status to be respected by the majority of the people as financial success, power and
physical attractiveness and subjective well-being or self-esteem (Kahneman et al. 2006).
K. Career Advancement and Job Enrichment
The female TE (31), working as professor having more than nineteen years of teaching, training and research
experience, focused on career advancement and job enrichment as “Attending various trainings and workshops,
scholarships and study leave with all benefits and leniency motivate TEs. Trainings, workshops, research study in MS
and Ph.D are the core areas to advance the career through skill development to enrich the job”. Career advancement and
job enrichment found the high need and priority requirement of the employees of majority of the educational
organizations, which attract, motivate and retain talented people to remain responsible in order to arrange, organize and
design the work to produce finishing product (Robbins & Judge, 2011). An authentic example of advancement is to
enhance the employees’ performance by increasing their satisfaction level through enhancement, enrichment and
enlargement of job in their organization. The training and career development programs and organizational commitment
have a partial effect on job satisfaction and motivation of employees, which facilitate a good ground and opportunity to
get their promotion in their particular field and organization through getting help from their managers, heads and
leaders by disclosing and announcing the avenues and positions for promotion. Whereas, the career advancement, job
enrichment and job enlargement are the prime techniques of job design that increase the motivational level of
employees (Sushil, 2014), which are essential for achieving work life balance and sustainability.
L. Employees’ Participation, Support and Empowerment
The male TE (28), working as lecturer with more than seven years of teaching and training experience, focused on
employees’ participation, support and empowerment as “Giving and ensuring appropriate participation of TEs in policy
designing, implementing and decision making process create trust between administration and faculty. Trust ensures the
real participation of TEs and makes them empower to work well as an effective and beneficial employee.
Empowerment can be ensured through giving appropriate participation to TEs at all matters and levels that ensures trust
and motivation of TEs to work with free will”. In modern concept of HRM and industrial democracy, the employees’
participation means the employees’ empowerment. As the higher level of participation in decision making of employees
are associated with significantly higher competence, meaning, impact and self-determination (Emamgholizadeh et al.
2011). This realization of ownership supports them throughout their stay with the organization to work with high
interest. High interest and confidence make them empower to work with freedom to take decisions with in the required
time for the better execution of the matters and issues. The confidence, trust, belief, commitment, dedication,
trustworthy, motivation, satisfaction and innovativeness can be increased among employees through decision-making
power and empowerment.
M. Home City Posting
The male TE (35), working as assistant professor with more than ten years of teaching, training and research
experience, focused on home city posting as “I am working in the university situated in my home city, where I am
living and settle down since many years. Due to posting in home city, I look after my children and parents very well.
The life in this city goes on excellently as per previous routines such as to go for sports, meet relatives and friends
regularly. The social life and work go parallel and smooth, which highly motivate me to work well”. Home city posting
provides the opportunity to the TEs to fulfill their duties and responsibilities regarding their parents, brothers, sisters,
friends, relatives and other members of society on social and humanitarian basis. Posting and housing play a pivotal role
as a motivating factor to improve the performance of teachers through saving their time and fatigue (Okino, 2008). As a
practice of assigning posts and transfers in many countries, do weaken the system’s functioning and the core social
values of the institutions (Schaaf & Freedman, 2015). The quite frequent transfers are done in the public sector in
Balochistan, Pakistan, which affect negatively (Collins et al. 2000) on the personal and family life of employees,
administration and the system especially the ongoing projects. As mentioned by different authors in their studies about
medical projects that frequent transfers hindered the particular health project (Barker et al. 2007). Living at one place
especially at home town became a great opportunity for them to play different games with their old friends on regular
basis and make new friends during their engagements with sports and recreational activities, which make them fresh
and strong to work well.
N. Transparent and Tactful Discipline

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The female TE (37), working as lecturer with more than eight years of teaching and training experience, focused on
transparency and tactful discipline as “Transparency in dealing with matters and assignments increase the justice, equity
and equality system in an organization, which make TEs satisfy and happy to accept responsibility of their work.
Feeling responsibility of work create discipline among them to complete their assignments within given time. The
routine practice of fulfillment of responsibilities creates the techniques of discipline among TEs and increase their sense
of duty”. Transparency and tactful discipline is a process, which attract the majority of employees to work without
having any fear about injustice, unethical manners, illegal support, inequality and inequity. As, transparency considers a
fundamental driver of efficiency to value in any organization (Berggren & Bernshteyn, 2007), which enables the
workers to achieve the goals to promote successful execution of the transparency strategy (Kaplan & Norton, 2006), but
tactful discipline was kept on last choice explored by the studies of Kovach (1995) and Pia DiPaola (2010). Whereas,
tactful discipline was found less important in the professional life of teachers but highly important in the practice of
management.
O. Students’ Satisfaction and Motivation, Fair Dealing and Mutual Respect
The male TE (30), working as lecturer with more than eleven years of teaching and training experience, focused on
the students’ satisfaction and motivation, fair dealing and mutual respect as “The quality of teaching-learning process,
availability of resources and the dealing of TEs make students satisfy and motivated. Fair and transparent dealing of
TEs with all students motivate the both stakeholders to have good working relations that create mutual understanding to
motivate and respect each other for interactive and supportive learning environment”. Students’ satisfaction and
motivation is directly interrelated, intermingled and interacting with the TM, connected and concerned with collective
benefits and target awareness, which has an interfering effect on job motivation. Chinese culture prioritizes the
collective or group benefits, and organizational roles or missions are viewed as greater than personal needs as the
students’ satisfaction was found connected directly with TM, which has a rich and diverse history of fair dealing and
mutual respect. Because, motivations drive individuals’ behavior (Porter et al. 2003), which is not a static psychological
construct, but a dynamic process to be a successful member of the organization and society. Students discuss their
matters with their teachers in order to get suitable suggestion about their issues and problems. Students’ do teacher
evaluation and highlight their pedagogy, andragogy, management and organization of their courses, facilitation, support,
fair dealing and mutual respect to their students.
P. Good Working Conditions and Environment
The female TE (32), working as professor with more than twenty-three years of teaching, training and research
experience, focused on good working conditions and environment as “Good working conditions and environment
provide most of the material resources and peace of mind to work well with intellectual colleagues to learn from them.
The instructions, suggestions and freedom able them to discuss and make effective decisions”. Good working
conditions and environment provides a good material and human resources to faculty members, which help them a lot to
complete their assignments well in time. As the study of Jayaweera (2015) explored the importance of working
conditions that has a strong positive effect on work motivation, which appreciate the employees to improve their
performance. The main resources of good working environment and conditions are comprise of availability of human
resources and their support, all time availability of electricity, computers, printers, offices, multimedia and high-speed
internet facility that support the TM and their performance (Vischer, 2008), success and achievement. Whereas, the
environment comprises of both physical and psychosocial components to increase performance with incentives at
workplace because they have positive impact on employee’s motivation and performance. Furthermore, a safe, clean
and well-managed sanitary building also help the employees to take pride in their workspace that can be an office,
cubicle or workstation, which feel and like them that they have a place belongs solely to them.
The explored factors are divided and settle down as intrinsic and extrinsic factors of motivation. Where intrinsic
factors comprise of five explored factors such as interesting work; appreciation, recognition and achievement (rewards
& awards); feeling involved in work progress (responsibility, progress and product); employees participation, support
and empowerment; and students satisfaction and motivation, fair dealing and mutual respect. While, extrinsic factors
comprise of eleven explored factors such as job security; financial and fringe benefits (salary / good wages, medical,
house and other all allowances); team work (being a part of team); help with personal problems; trust building and
management; mentoring, inspiration, commitment and passion; status and respect; career advancement and job
enrichment; home city posting; transparent and tactful discipline; good working conditions and environment. The
majority of the explored factors support the finding and the theories of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory,
Alderfer’s Modified Need Hierarchy Theory, Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory and McClelland’s Achievement
Motivation Theory. Because, the conditions of employees and the systems of educational organizations in developing
countries just support and struggle for the basic needs and requirement of human beings. Even though in 21st century,
the employees are still searching and working hard to get a good job and salary for the survival of their families. There
is a great need to create the social welfare system in order to eradicate the unemployment and the fears of snatching of
job of employees especially teachers like developed countries to focus and work sincerely without any fears for the
betterment of the society. Because the performance of every teacher or TE or employee is important and necessary for
any organization to progress that can be achieved through employee motivate, their positive attitude and reinforcement

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(Sahito & Vaisanen, 2018).

The findings of the study conducted on TEs by Sahito & Vaisanen (2018) are highly concerned, reliable and sound in
this regards. Because, the conducted study is counted among important research conducted on the TEs, whose results
were found authentic and reliable. It is an excellent addition in to the available literature of motivation to understand the
available phenomenon of teacher motivation, its needs and requirements, its process and causations to make teachers
relax through maintaining the working environment and social relationships safe. Their findings consists of the
perception and experience of TEs that have been dealt with in their organizations such as motivation as: respect and
personal initiative; the discipline in life; need fulfilment; self-realization and self-satisfaction; model consideration and
inspiration; social services; job security; readiness; work and time management; dedication, commitment, delivery and
performance; students’ satisfaction and their support; social relationship and interaction; responsibilities and duties;
professional growth and development; cognitive competence, scholarship and authority; and self-assessment and self-
evaluation (Sahito & Vaisanen, 2018). These results show the great importance of the findings of motivation study in
the life of TEs.

V. CONCLUSION
Based on the findings of the study we conclude that the extrinsic factors of motivation played vital role to motivate
the TEs. Because, extrinsic motivation factors provide a suitable platform and the high way to the intrinsic factors of
motivation. Without the will, permissions and notifications of the heads of the organization no TE would be able to do
any effective input for the betterment of any organization and its all stakeholders. Without visionary leadership, nothing
would be done at any level to motivate the employees of any organization because it is the greatest job of visionary and
active leadership who work hard to know the professional, psychological, social and physical needs of the employee for
better-required results. As the material resources, policies and planning, instructions and guidelines are to be developed
by the will of the heads of the organization. The extrinsic factors have a more power and energy to infuse and create the
interest among the employees to get work done for quality education in a proper and authentic way to progress well at
national and international level through the improvement of the standards of education especially in Pakistan (GOP,
2009).
The results can be generalized, as each employee’s performance is important for the progress of an organization,
which motivate the employees through positive attitude and reinforcement to strengthen their behavior based on
consequences (Wei & Yazdanifard, 2014) in the organization. As Hinkin and Schriesheim (2004) explore that
employees who received their feedback may be positive, negative or corrective showed improved performance in their
daily routines. Because, employees do their work well when the high level of motivation is available for them
(Fagbohungbe & Longe, 2011) as rewards and punishment (Kohn, 2004), appreciation and sense of belonging to
achieve the required goals of the organization. While, no or less appreciation on good performance diminished
employees’ effectiveness and reduced their satisfaction (Hinkin & Schrieshem, 2004) and motivation. Therefore, it can
be said that both the extrinsic and intrinsic factors of motivation are important to create the interest among TEs to work
well for the betterment of their organization and concerned stakeholders such as students and faculty.

VI. FUTURE DIRECTIONS

The findings of the study could be researched further through quantitative methods for more understanding of the
phenomenon of motivation of TEs.

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Zafarullah Sahito is Ph.D. in Educational Science and Teacher Education and a Post-doc researcher at the School of Applied
Educational Science and Teacher Education, Philosophical Faculty, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu. Dr. Sahito is a
permanent employee (Assistant Professor) at the Department of Education, Sukkur IBA University, Sindh, Pakistan. He has over 20
years of teaching, training and research experience at school and university level in Pakistan.

Pertti Vaisanen is working as a Professor and vice Dean at School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education,
Philosophical Faculty, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu. Dr. Vaisanen has over 35 years of teaching, training, administrative
and research experience in Finland. He supervises many Masters, doctoral and post-doc researchers at his school in Joensuu.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 683-691, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.03

Critical Reflection as Motivational Strategy of

Learning Critical Reading
Yeshambel Tadele Alem
TEFL Program, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia

Abstract—The study investigated the effect critical reflection exerted on students’ motivation of learning EFL
critical reading. In this respect, the present study conducted quasi-experimental research design. 32
participants were involved in the control group while 31 were in the experimental one. According to the pre-
intervention questionnaire results by using independent samples T-test test of data analysis, participants of the
control and the experimental groups were almost homogeneously motivated while learning critical reading
although random assignment was not possible. In similar with the pre-intervention questionnaire, 30 questions
were also asked to participants (control and experimental groups) as post-intervention questionnaire to
evaluate to what extent participants improved their motivation of learning EFL critical reading after
practicing critical reflection. The post-intervention questionnaire results proved that critical reflection has the
effect in enhancing students’ motivation of learning EFL critical reading regarding independent samples T-
test test of data analysis.

Index Terms—critical reflection, learning critical reading, motivational strategy

I. INTRODUCTION
In the twenty-first century, education needs to keep pace for the rapid changes of the world and for educational
settings in a variety of socio-cultural, political and economic aspects. In this respect, teaching and learning at different
levels of education needs to provide opportunity to students to be engaged in a complex and dynamic world deeply
(EUCIS-LLL, 2012; Bolstad and Gilbert, 2012; Freire, 1974 and 1985). To be responsive for a complex and dynamic
world, educators have planned to have open design for critical, collaborative and team teaching and learning that
matches with the social and cultural aspects of EFL classes (Bolstad and Gilbert, 2012). To this fact, students and
teachers need to be involved on critical reflection in and/or outside teaching and learning classes (Bolstad and Gilbert,
2012) because it responds for a situation of fluidity, unpredictability and complexity (Bolstad and Gilbert, 2012).
Similarly, teaching and learning critical reading needs situational and flexible strategy that can answer
multidimensional questions of students, teachers and overall society in the context of the study. The situation of EFL
teaching and learning is not static by its nature, particularly at teaching and learning critical reading. Therefore, in
reading classes, students from different contexts do not need similar or water-flow like teaching and learning classes
because they come to school from different social, cultural, political and economic dimensions. To address those
students, students and teachers need to reflect their reading classes’ experiences critically while and/or after critical
reading teaching and learning proceeds. If practicing critical reflection provides opportunity to students to analyze, to
reconsider and to question what is going on in classes, their motivation may be enhanced to learn critical reading in an
effective way
A. Critical Reflection
Different educators have provided their views on the concept of critical reflection in their own perspectives although
the common sense of it stated by them is similar. Schön (1983), Redmond (2004) and Dewey (1933) defined critical
reflection as it is the term “critical” broadens the perspectives of reflection by bringing into focus the socio-cultural
context and historical events of classes. Freire (1972, 1974) also states that instead of the term reflection, critical
reflection is thought to deal socio-cultural factors and subjectivities teachers and students face in classes. Moreover, in
view of Richards (1990), the terms ‘reflection’ and ‘critical reflection’ can be used interchangeably in teaching and
learning classes. In addition, Bartlett (1990), Calderhead (1989), Jay and Johnson (2002) in Al-Kalbani (2007) revealed
that critical reflection can be defined into five directives: reflective teaching from a technical perspective, a contextual
perspective, an experiential or a deliberative perspective and a critical perspective. Brookfield (1990) also states that
critical reflection is a way of analysis on teaching and learning strategies, methods, or overall aspects of teaching and
learning experiences including social and cultural aspects of teaching and learning classes.
The concept of critical reflection has ancient origins (Nussbaum, 1997 in Fook and Gardner, 2007). The origin of
critical reflection goes back to the philosophy of Socrates (Bartlett, 1990). “Socrates, for example, stressed the
centrality of critical self-examination, or living the ‘examined life’, for ethical, compassionate, humane engagement
with the world and its moral dilemmas” (Nussbaum, 1997 in Fook and Gardner, 2007, p. 8).

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Educators, then after, often acknowledge the US educationalist, Dewey as the originator of the modern concept of
reflection although he took the ideas of classic educators, such as Aristotle, Plato, and Confucius (Gibbs, 1988; Rolfe et
al., 2001; Driscoll, 2007; John, 2009). Mezirow (1990) and Redmond (2004) also suggested that the original and
innovative assumption of Dewey (1916, 1933) has a cornerstone value to the development of the current notions of
reflection. Meaning, practical insight of reflective practice for teaching and learning was originated from the views of
US educationalist Dewey in 1910, 1916 and 1933 (Bartlett, 1999; Samuel, 1999; Carter et al., 2013). In relation to this,
Carter et al. (2013) states Dewey, considered the father of modern education, “wrote about reflective teaching over a
century ago” (P. 16). In view of Carter et al. (2013), then after, reflective practice has been supported by Kolb and Fry
(1975), Schön (1983, 1987), Gibbs (1988), Rolfe et al. (2001), Driscoll (2007) and John (2009) in their own aspects of
learning theories.
In a particular context, a single theory of learning is not possible to make the process of learning challenge free
because different aspects of learning need responses from different theories of learning (Mezirow, 2000, Brookfield,
1995; Carter et al., 2013). A variety of models, sets of assumptions and principles, theories, and explanations in a single
context of learning can be viewed as bases of knowledge and skills (Knowles, 1980; Cross, 1981; Freire, 2000 in
Mezirow, 2000). To this end, teachers and students need to be familiar on these integrated learning theories those can be
viewed in a single context of learning (Mezirow, 2000, Brookfield, 1995; Carter et al., 2013) because the more
educators are familiar with these theories, the more effective their practice can be, and the more responsive their
practice can be to the needs of students (Freire, 2000). Therefore, in most cases, three major theories: andragogy, self-
directed learning and transformational learning together with their practices are expected in the twenty first- century
teaching and learning classes (Knowles, 1980; Cross, 1981; Mezirow, 2000).
In a similar vein, critical reflection has different theoretical backgrounds: constructivism, socio-cultural theory,
experiential learning, critical theories and postmodern thought (Driscoll, 2007; Fook, 2010; Kolb and Fry, 1975; Schön,
1983; Freire, 1974, 1992; Brookfield, 1995; Mezirow, 2006). These theories in one and the other way grouped under
three major theories: andragogy (the art and science of helping students learn but not the art and science of teaching
students) (Knowles, 1980), self-directed learning (Cross, 1981), and transformational learning (Freire, 2000 in Mezirow,
2000). Having had a common sense about reflective practice and critical reflection, theorists theorized different models
and frameworks which are applicable and practicable to run teaching and learning in a progressive manner:
transformational learning (Mezirow, 2006), consciousness-raising and critical pedagogy (Freire, 1974), experiential
learning (Kolb, 1984) and the learning organization (Schön, 1983).
Critical reflection in the thought of constructivists’ theory allows students to construct their own understanding and
knowledge of the world through experiencing things and reflecting on these experiences (Lowenthal and Muth, 2008).
The process of EFL teaching and learning is also grounded in the socio-cultural theory of Vygotsky; this provides a
room for meaningful interaction one another among teachers and students to critically reflect on difficulties or best
practices of teaching and learning classes (Murphy, 2009; Lantolf, 2000). And, experiential learning facilitates language
learning in the process of transforming experience through critical reflection in view of the learning cycle of Kolb (1984)
originated from Dewey, Piaget, and Lewin’s views of integrated philosophy of reflection, interdependent/interactive
psychological perspectives, and individual inner mental processing respectively display a special insight in facilitating
teaching and learning (Ghaye, 2001; Walker et al., 2013).
Brookfield (1995), Freire (1992) and Mezirow (2006) argue that critical theory contributes to have deep reflection to
promote teaching and learning processes a step forward. In the thought of critical pedagogy, students and teachers are
considered as facilitators of changes through their active participation about the world to view their education as a
practice of freedom (Brookfield, 1995; Freire, 1992). In view of critical theory of learning, students are not the founders
of wisdom in the process of received knowledge; rather education is an active process in which the learners actively
involved through critical reflection for the sake of determining logical and reasonable rationales (Brookfield, 1995;
Freire, 1992). Students and teachers have a tendency to reject any ideas that do not correspond to their particular values,
associations and concepts. In a total sense, critical reflection, stemming from critical social theory, has played a role in
emancipator and transformational practice development (Brookfield, 1995; Freire, 1992).
Kumaravadivelu (2001) also stated that critical reflection is the perspective of postmodern deconstructive teaching
and learning assumption. Postmodern thought permits students and teachers to critically reflect on the experience of
teaching and learning to obtain convenient strategies as well as new unpredictable assumptions for immediate classes
(Kumaravadivelu, 2001). In this sense, critical reflection in view of postmodern thought permits to have socio-cultural
analyses which enable transformative change for the immediate teaching and learning classes (White et al., 2006).
B. Critical Reflection as Motivational Strategy of Learning Critical Reading
EFL Teaching and learning is challenging in a foreign language setting, where authentic language input is not readily
accessible outside classes and it is subject to a number of external and internal issues in the societies where critical
reflection is the best option to reduce the challenge (Gardner, 1985, 2006; Gardner and Lambert, 1972). If a number of
external and internal issues of EFL reading classes are critically reflected, students’ critical reading learning motivation
can be enhanced because critical reflection can handle positive attitudes of students to learn (Wheeler, 2007; Dornyei,
2001). To this end, educators and educational psychologists like Gardner and his colleagues have searched how students
can be motivated to their learning through consistent practice of critical reflection.

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Gardner and Lambert (1972), Gardner (1985, 2006), Brookfield (1995), Freire (1972), Mezirow (2006) and Larrivee
(2000) viewed that motivation for learning can be enhanced if students’ social, cultural, political, economic questions
are responded. Students in classes may not be motivated only through responding technical and practical challenges of
EFL classes; rather students’ socio-affective natures need to be analyzed critically (Gardner, 2006; Brookfield, 1995;
Freire, 1972). To analyze socio-affective natures of teaching and learning classes, teachers and students need to practice
critical reflection as a strategy (Freire, 1972; Brookfield, 1995; Mezirow, 2006; Larrivee, 2000) because critical
reflection helps to analyze students’ and teachers’ beliefs and attitudes including socio-cultural components in order to
motivate students to their learning. In relation to this, Gardner and Lambert (1972) revealed that EFL students need to
have a knowhow towards the linguistic-cultural community of the target language to create positive attitude among EFL
students to have an influence on the success of English as foreign language learning with a high motivation.
In view of Gardner (1985, 2006), Dornyei (2001) and Brown (2001), motivation is a combination of different issues
in teaching and learning classes: students’ desire, positive attitude, critical judgment of students about learning, the way
the teacher teaches, and the way learning activities presented. To analyze students’ desire and positive attitude and other
learning motivation issues, critical reflection needs to be practiced before and/or after classes (Locke and Latham, 1990;
Deci et al., 1999; Ryan and Deci, 2000). EFL teachers’ and students’ involvement on critical reflection leads to choose
appropriate contents in relation with the socio-cultural aspects of teaching and learning classes that can enhance
students’ motivation to learn (Dornyei, 2001; Brown, 2001; Gardner, 1985, 2006). Although basic principles of learning,
motivation, and effective instruction are applied to all students, students have different performances, capabilities, and
preferences of learning and strategies (Brown, 2001; Ryan and Deci, 2000). Brown (2001) emphasizes that these
diversified students’ learning motivation can be encouraged through critical reflection because critical reflection as an
aspect of meta-cognitive and students’ motivation has significant correlation (Martin, 2008; Linnenbrink and Pintrich,
2002; Mezirow, 2006; Larrivee, 2000).
However, Icemez (2005), Granville (2003), AbdKadir et al. (2014), Al-Oqaili (2007) and El-Maleh (2006) state that
many EFL teachers and students have not practiced critical reflection in teaching and learning critical reading
effectively due to minimum extent of students’ motivation. Inappropriate uses of strategies for motivation leads
students to minimum arousal to learn critical reading, unable to link their own realities and reading lessons and unable
to control their learning (Icemez, 2005; Granville, 2003); to this end, students have poor ability to use the critical
reading skills satisfactorily. Likewise, EFL teachers and students at secondary schools have numerous constraints that
limit practicing effective teaching and learning (Midraj et al., 2008). In a specific manner, teaching and learning critical
reading in reading classes is not also a challenge free process. To overcome the observed gaps of teaching and learning
critical reading in EFL reading classes, academic, social, emotional interests of students need to be into considered by
using critical reflection (Midraj et al., 2008).
To this fact, the current study is proposed to reveal the effect critical reflection exerts on students’ motivation of
critical reading that can make the study original. Therefore, the project is eager to provide awareness for unfamiliar EFL
teachers and students about the effect of critical reflection as motivational strategy of learning critical reading through a
research question stated below:
1. Does the use of critical reflection exert any effect on students’ motivation of learning critical reading?

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

A. What is Learning Motivation?
Motivation is defined as “students’ energy and drive to engage, learn, work effectively, and achieve to their potential
at school and the behaviors that follow from this energy and drive” (Martin, 2008, p. 239). Thorkildsen (2002) also
referred that motivation is important motive that activates, guides, and maintains behavior through the process.
Motivation is an important condition for students who are potentially weak to upgrade their learning achievement.
Pinder (1998) also defined motivation:
a set of energetic forces that originates both within as well as beyond an individual’s being, to initiate work-related
behavior, and to determine its form, direction, intensity and duration. Motivation is thusly manifested by attention,
effort, and persistence (P. 11).
In view of Gardner (2006), defining the term motivation is challenging because “the term motivation has been
viewed differently by different schools of thought” (P. 142), but Gardner (1985, p. 10) defined motivation as “the
combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorable attitudes toward learning
the language”. Gardner (2006) also argues that motivation involves answering the question "why does an organism
behave as it does?’ Brown (2000, p. 152) defined on motivation for learning that “motivation is commonly thought of
as an inner drive, impulse, emotion, or desire that moves one to a particular action”. Pintrich and Schunk (2002);
Dornyei (1998) provided their view on motivation that it is the way to be used for the success of language learning.
B. Theories of Motivation
In view of behaviorists, motivation is used as a reward and punishment as the way of enhancing learning.
Behaviorists’ theory of motivation encourages extrinsic motivation type (Deci et al., 1999). However, in the assumption
of cognitivists, the term motivation linked with learner's decisions as Keller (1983, p.389) in Glasersfeld (1989) stated

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"the choices people make as to what experiences or goals they will approach or avoid, and the degree of effort they
exert in that respect". Social cognitive theory emphasizes on three interactive motivational considerations:
“cognitive/emotional factors, like beliefs of capabilities, environmental factors, and behavior or performance” of
students (Alderman, 1999, p. 16 in Benson, 1991). Cognitive theory of learning overviews motivation as it is internal in
its nature. Meaning, cognitivists stated that students can be motivated intrinsically being this theory focuses on mental
processes of learning rather than social aspects.
On the other hand, constructivists argue that motivation is placed under emphasis on social contexts including
individual's decisions (Alderman, 1999 in Benson, 1991; Glasersfeld, 1989). Social interaction may enhance motivation
and prolong engagement with the task. Meaning, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation types can activate students’ learning
under constructivists’ view. The way how students can be motivated by the three paradigms of teaching and learning is
somewhat different, but the three thoughts of school have a common concept on motivation that motivation reveals the
desires of students in learning. Motivation emphasizes for the fulfillment of needs is rewarding, requires choices and be
interpreted in a social context (Deci et al., 1999).
C. Constructivists’ Theory of Motivation and Strategic Critical Reading Learning
There are many motivation theories in preceding EFL teaching and learning in a good manner. Among these theories,
Gardner (1985) established an influential motivation theory. Gardner (1985, p. 10) recommends that “motivation to
acquire a foreign language is a mixture of factors including effort, desire and a positive attitude toward the language
under consideration”. In the assumption of Gardner (1985), these different factors of motivation at foreign language
learning can be viewed differently in different paradigms of learning theories.
In the concern of constructivism view, sustaining motivation to learn is dependent on the students’ confidence in
their potential of learning (Glasersfeld, 1989). The experience of mastery of solving problems through critical reflection
leads students to be confident on what they did. The feeling of confidence among students can make them motivated in
their independent learning (Glasersfeld, 1989). Similarly, in view of constructivists, critical reflection can encourage
students to be motivated to their critical reading learning in reading classes. Students critically reflect their views on the
experience of teaching and learning classes to solve challenges they face and to sustain best practices (Glasersfeld,
1989). To sum up, constructivists thought that students’ enthusiasm in completing challenging tasks leads them to be
confident and motivated in embarking more complex challenges (Vygotsky, 1978).
D. How Is Critical Reflection Actually Practiced as Motivational Strategy of Learning Critical Reading?
Different strategies can be used to practice critical reflection in EFL reading classes Leijen et al (2011). Critical
reflection goes to the level of informal discussions to highly structured type of analysis through writing and
conversation (Leijen et al., 2011; Zalipour, 2015). Students and teachers critically reflect what they feel on the
experiences EFL reading classes individually or in pair or in group (Zalipour, 2015; Osterman and Kottkamp, 1993)
because of their diversified nature (Reflective Practice CD ROM, 2007). Osterman and Kottkamp (1993) magnified that
the learning “begins with a problem, unexpected event or a troublesome experience” (P. 20).
As a strategy of critical reflection, different activities can be performed (Brookfield, 1988): assumption analysis,
contextual awareness, imaginative speculation and reflective skepticism. Critical reflection in the step of assumption
analysis, critical practitioners think about the challenges their beliefs, values, cultural practices, and social structures in
order to assess their impact on their day to day happenings, while in the step of contextual awareness, critical
practitioners realize their assumptions are socially and personally created in a specific historical and cultural context
(Brookfield 1988; Reflective Practice CD ROM, 2007). At critical reflection in the steps of imaginative speculation and
reflective skepticism, critical practitioners imagine alternative ways of thinking about phenomena in order to provide an
opportunity to challenge their prevailing ways of knowing and acting and raise questions of universal truth claims or
unexamined patterns of interaction through the prior three activities as a strategy of critical reflection (Brookfield, 1988;
Zalipour, 2015).
In view of Surbeck et al. (1991), critical reflection can also be practiced by considering three different levels:
reacting, elaborating, and contemplating. At critical reflection, in the level of reacting, critical practitioners commenting
on feelings towards the learning experience, such as reacting with a personal concern about an event and in the level of
elaborating, students and teachers compare reactions with other experiences, such as referring to a general principle, a
theory, or a moral or philosophical position in needing further improvement (Surbeck et al., 1991). In the level of
contemplating, students and teachers critically reflect on how to construct personal insights or on problems or
difficulties, such as focusing on education issues, training methods, future goals, attitudes, ethical matters, or moral
concerns in creating convenient teaching and learning classes (Surbeck et al., 1991). The nature of the reaction initially
provided by teachers and students as well as the feedback they give or/and receive after the initial reflection can
determine the extent to which they reach the contemplation level of reflection (Surbeck et al., 1991). EFL teachers and
students in reading classes can be engaged in critical reflection though the following strategies: goal setting for
identified weaknesses or strengths, reflective journaling, writing reflections for implemented or observed lessons,
creating a growth portfolio, coaching and conferencing after teaching a lesson, and writing a reflective summary for the
whole course’s experiences as it is stated by Ryan and Cooper (2006).

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III. METHOD
Quasi-experimental research design was employed in the present research project. Pre- and post-intervention
questionnaires were conducted to confirm the difference of the effect critical reflection exerted on students’ motivation
of learning EFL critical reading among participants in the experimental and control groups. In the present research
project, quantitative data analysis method was employed to check motivation variations of pre- and post-intervention
questionnaires among students in the experimental and in the control groups because of critical reflection while learning
critical reading.
A. Participants
Sixty three English major 1st year students at Finote Selam Teachers’ Education College were participants of the
study because critical reading to those students was assumed to be challenging and de-motivating. Out of sixty three
participants, thirty were female students while the other thirty three were males. These participants were attending
reading course in two groups: thirty one in group one and thirty two were in group two. The researcher assigned group
one as experimental group while group two was as control group as they were in their naturally organized sections.
B. Instruments
To examine whether or to what degree the effect critical reflection exerted on students’ motivation of learning EFL
critical reading, standardized pre- and post-intervention questionnaires were conducted. Questionnaires helped to
simplify and quantify participants’ behaviors and attitudes in relation with their motivation to learn critical reading
effectively (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001). Therefore, to measure the level of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of
participants before and after experimental intervention in reading classes for critical reading, the researcher used
standardized questionnaires devised by Vallerand et al. (1992): cognitive consequences (concentration while learning
critical reading), affective consequences (psychological wellbeing in reading classes) and behavioral consequences
(behavioral intentions of learning critical reading) as sub-scales.
Vallerand’s et al. (1992) subscales of motivation contains 15 items, focusing on intrinsic motivation, were provided
to participants in the experimental and the comparison groups, while 15 items on extrinsic motivation were for
participants in both groups before and after intervention. In other words, the questionnaires contained 30 items before
and 30 items after intervention on a five point Likert Scale, consisting of five options strongly disagree, disagree, no
opinion, agree, and strongly agree.
C. Procedures
In the present quasi-experimental research design, the following steps were performed sequentially: administration
pre-intervention questionnaire to students in the control and experimental groups, practicing critical reflection as
motivational strategy of learning critical reading in the experimental group, administration of post-intervention
questionnaires to participants in both groups to confirm the effect critical reflection exerted on students’ motivation of
learning critical reading. On the side of the teacher, audio-recordings were used to make critical reflection easy to
enhance students’ motivation of learning critical reading. On the bases of what was recorded, practitioner teacher could
critically reflect on the previous happenings teaching critical reading. After listening repeatedly what was recorded by
taking some time, the practitioner teacher could critically reflect on what was taken as best practices to go ahead and
filled gaps for further improvement of students’ motivation of learning critical reading. During and after class, ten to
fifteen minutes was provided to students to forward their feelings about the pervious teaching and learning situations of
critical reading individually or in groups via interviews, formal or informal conversations, and questionnaires.
Forty eight sessions were permitted to provide a reading course to first year English major students. Out of forty
eight sessions of the course, twenty five was adjusted to manipulate the treatment to participants in the experimental
group but not for the controlled ones. The treatment was focused on scaffolding students’ motivation of learning critical
reading via critical reflection. The treatment was performed by the teacher and the students at experimental group.
To create awareness about critical reflection and how to practice critical reflection in reading classes for critical
reading, practitioner teacher and students of the experimental group were provided training. Practitioners used different
techniques for critical reflection: diaries, informal and formal conversations, interviews, and questionnaires. By using
the aforementioned techniques of critical reflection, the practitioner teacher and the students at experimental group
endeavored to enhance students’ motivation of learning critical reading. In each experimental session of teaching
reading for critical reading, new learning assumptions found from critical reflection were used to enhance students’
motivation of learning EFL critical reading skills. The gaps assumed by the practitioner teacher via critical reflection
and feedback given by students in the experimental group through conversations, interviews, and questionnaires were
the focus of the next reading classes to enhance students’ motivation of learning critical reading skills.
Experimental treatment, practicing critical reflection, was manipulated in the first semester between October and
December 2017 at Finoteselam Teachers’ Education College on the course of reading. Every session treatment was
evaluated each day to overcome gaps observed and to provide attention for best practices to continue further. During
the intervention, extraneous variables were provided serious attention. Except the identified issue of treatment, in all
cases, students in the experimental and control group were similarly treated. Even, the teacher for two groups was
similar to reduce the impact of teacher variation. And, the course modules, the time given for the sessions, course

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contents of the curriculum were the same for students in both groups. However, the researched treatment given for
students in the experimental group was different from the controlled one.
However, the degree of controlling extraneous variables in the present study was not this much sensitive like
experimental research design because the study was quasi-experimental research design. Participants were simply taken
as they were in a natural setting without mixing via random sampling method. Without any parameter, group one was
taken as experimental group while group two was for control group by assuming the two groups students can have
similar extent of motivation of learning critical reading because all participants are first year English major students.

IV. RESULTS
To analyze the results of the present quasi-experimental research, independent samples T-tests were used as tests of
data analysis. The results of the pretest and posttest were analyzed on the bases of independent samples (students from
the control and the experimental groups).
A. Pre-intervention Questionnaire Results
To confirm whether or not the results of pre-intervention questionnaire significantly different, the pre-intervention
questionnaire results of the two group’s samples were analyzed below:
TABLE I.
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR PRE-I NTERVENTION Q UESTIONNAIRE
Groups N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Experimental 32 12.62 1.581 .280
Control 31 12.68 1.739 .312

TABLE II.
INDEPENDENT SAMPLES T-TEST (PRE-I NTERVENTION Q UESTIONNAIRE)
Levene’s Test t-test for Equality of Means
of Equality of
Variances
F Sig T Df Sig Mean Std. error 95% confidence
(2- differenc Difference interval of the
tailed) e difference
Lower Upper
Equal variances assumed .624 .463 .125 61 .901 .052 .419 .889 .785
Equal Variances not assumed .125 60.038 .901 .052 .419 .891 .786

The pre-intervention questionnaire mean and standard deviations for the experimental and control groups were 12.62,
1.581 and 12.68, 1.739 respectively. According to the results analyzed from independent samples T-test, there was no
significant difference between the two groups regarding their motivation of learning critical reading before the
treatment was manipulated (t= 0.125, p= 0.463).
B. Post-intervention Questionnaire Results
To search the effect critical reflection exerts on students’ motivation of learning critical reading, post-intervention
questionnaire was employed to participants of experimental and control groups. Before comparing the post-intervention
questionnaire results of students in the control and experimental groups, the researcher need to analyze descriptive
statistics.
TABLE III.
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR POST-INTERVENTION Q UESTIONNAIRE
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
Experimental Group 63 1 2 1.48 .404
Control Group 63 11 32 16.67 5.682
Valid N (listwise) 63

TABLE IV
INDEPENDENT SAMPLES TEST (POST-INTERVENTION Q UESTIONNAIRE)
Levene’sTest t-test for Equality of Means
for Equality of
Variances
F Sig T Df Sig (2- Mean Std. error 95% confidence
tailed) difference Difference interval of the
difference
Lower Upper
Equal variances assumed 6.304 .012 5 .541 61 .00 3.484 .629 4.741 2.227
Equal Variances not assumed 5.488 44.212 .00 3.484 .635 4.763 2.205

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The aforementioned stated result of the table was calculated with independent samples T-test. As confirmed from the
given result of quasi-experimental study, significance difference was observed between the students in the experimental
and control groups. The result of independent samples T-test indicated that the experimental group performed
significantly better than the control group (t= 5.54, p= 0.012).

V. CONCLUSION
The main focus of the study was to confirm the effect critical reflection exerts on students’ motivation of learning
critical reading skills. First, pre-intervention questionnaire was conducted to students in the experimental and control
groups. Having checked the homogeneous nature of participants in both groups, intervention was taken place on the
side of students in the experimental group to overview the effect of critical reflection on students’ motivation of
learning critical reading skills.
To practice critical reflection in reading classes, different techniques were employed: diaries, conversations,
interviews, and questionnaires, lesson recordings and journal writing. After intervention, post-intervention questionnaire
was administered to students to overview motivation variations of learning critical reading among participants in the
experimental and control groups.
When the post-intervention questionnaire results of the participants of both groups compared, students in the
experimental group had better motivation than the controlled ones to learn critical reading. From the data analyzed, it
can be concluded that practicing critical reflection in reading classes has considerable positive effect in motivating
students while learning critical reading skills. Students’ post-questionnaire results, in the experimental group after
treatment was provided regarding standardized motivation questionnaire questions, can prove that critical reflection can
affect positively on the students’ motivation of learning critical reading skills in reading classes.

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[63] Zalipour, A. (2015). Reflective Practice. Teaching Development unit. The University of Waikato: Waikato.

Yeshambel Tadele Alem. He is from Ethiopia. The author works at Debre Markos University. He was born
in 8/8/1978. The author started teaching English in primary school after holding his diploma at Bahir Dar
University in teaching English in 2002. And, he got Bachelor Dgree in the same university in 2008 in the
Department of English Language and Literature. Then, the author continued education to get his second
degree in TEFL program in the aforementioned university and he graduated the program in 2011. Now, the
author is a PhD student in Bahir Dar University in TEFL program.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 692-701, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.04

Extensive Reading for University EFL Learners:

Its Effects and Both Teachers' and Learners'
Views
Chaochang Wang
Ming Chuan University, Taiwan

Chu-Tai Ho
Ming Chuan University, Taiwan

Abstract—The effect of reading on general communicative competence remains a focus of second language
acquisition research. Extensive reading, in particular, provides rich input and helps learners acquire languages.
Research has provided findings that support the value of extensive reading (ER); however, there is scant
evidence to date showing the relationship of extensive reading to overall competence and, particularly, writing
competence. The present study investigated the relationship of ER to overall English language competence as
well as teachers’ and students’ views about its implementation. The participants were 190 Taiwanese university
freshmen and their three English instructors. The data includes scores on pre- and post-tests measuring
students’ listening, reading, and writing as well as questionnaire responses and interview accounts. The
findings of the study indicate that the effectiveness of ER for the student participants is partially supported
and, hence, have implications for English teaching and learning in EFL contexts.

Index Terms—extensive reading, reading, EFL teaching / learning, Taiwan English language teaching,
language testing, learner attitudes, learner perceptions

I. INTRODUCTION
The process of learning a second language for most learners is one generating various emotions: excitement,
uncertainty, frustration, etc. While many are blessed to have overcome difficulty in learning the language and shown
confidence in using it, others may either feel powerless and suffer from this feeling or give up learning the language at
all. What contributes to the language learning process and eases learner anxiety has been a major concern to people
involved in language education.
Research in second language acquisition (SLA) has investigated possible factors impacting language learning and
built up theories of second language learning. Continued efforts in finding answers to the puzzles of language learning
(Brown, 2014) and their implications to learning and teaching have been taken. One area among many that have drawn
research attention is extensive reading. Extensive reading (ER) provides rich input (Krashen, 1982, Krashen & Terrell,
1983) and helps equip learners with necessary skills to gain information, make connection with the world, and, thereby,
feel empowered. Such reading practice has to be done extensively whether it is included in a second language
curriculum "as a separate, stand-alone course" or "as part of an existing reading course" (Day & Bamford, 1998).
Krashen (1993) has called ER pleasure or "free voluntary reading" and defined it as "rapid reading for main ideas of a
large amount of text" (Krashen & Terrell, 1983, p. 134). Anderson (1996) uses a different term from Krashen’s "wide
reading." Day and Bamford (1998) see ER as a reading process that helps develop language ability, a reading habit, and
positive attitudes toward reading. Namely, extensive reading is reading in quantity and for meaning, reading that
involves self-controlled reading and low-anxiety demands. It has gained widespread support in language teaching due to
its practice in accordance with theory of language acquisition, its effect in empowering learners, and many research
findings encouraging its implementation.
A. Extensive Reading and Its Impact on SLA
The rationale for the inclusion of ER in language learning and teaching is in line with theory of SLA and supported
by research findings.
Schema theory, for example, informs us of the way readers may construct meaning. Its central point is that a text does
not carry meaning itself. It is the reader who brings the so-called schemata to the text. What constitutes schemata may
include the reader's knowledge of the world, culture, emotion, personal experience, etc., which help the reader to make
meaning with the printed text (Brown, 2001). Thus, texts with contents and linguistic forms related to the reader's prior
knowledge or meeting the reader's interest make the reading process an easy one. Extensive reading with an emphasis
on the freedom for the reader to select his/her own reading and read on his/her own pace makes the reading act a
meaningful one and makes it possible for the reader/learner to make an optimal amount of reading.
Human learning theory also provides support for the inclusion of ER into language learning programs. Ausubel (1968)
indicated that learning must be meaningful learning in order to retain what is learned; that is, the new information or

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items should be made related to the learner’s existing cognitive structure or prior knowledge. According to Ausubel,
retention is far more possible when the newly learned is "subsumable" to one's cognitive structure. Hence,
"subsumption," association in nature, is the key to meaningful learning, to which extensive reading is relevant. The
topic / content and the linguistic part of the selected text in the free voluntary reading activity are relatable to the reader
/ learner's cognitive system. Accordingly, the nature of ER promotes language learning.
In connection with meaningful learning theory is Krashen's (1982, 1993, Krashen & Terrell, 1983) input theory
(currently termed as "comprehension hypothesis"). According to Krashen, optimal language learning takes place when
learners undergo an acquisition (or subconscious) process in contexts rich in comprehensible input and low-anxiety air.
Central to his theory is the comprehensible input hypothesis (i+1). Input for learners in terms of the receptive aspects of
learning is better to be a little beyond learners' current language competence. Another major hypothesis in Krashen’s
theory is his affective filter hypothesis. For language acquisition to take place, the "affective filter" according to
Krashen must be low, or learners will be overwhelmed with the learning of the new language. Undoubtedly, ER exposes
learners to rich comprehensible input and engages them in reading in a non-threatening way. In fact, Krashen (2004) has
put much emphasis on free reading and greatly promoted extensive reading due to its tremendous impact on learning.
In addition to language skills and language-related effects, extensive reading is closely related to the affective aspects
of learning. Learners’ confidence and perceived identity in learning a new language may all affect learning outcomes.
Paulo Freire (1993; Freire & Macedo, 1995) has proposed “The Pedagogy of the Oppressed” and indicated the
importance of making learning relevant to learners' existent and experiential world. His propositions about education to
empower learners by making learning relevant to them justify the implementation of extensive reading, which engages
learners in reading texts of their own interest and proficiency level. In the reading process, they can gradually develop
their confidence in not only learning the language but also making connection with the world with their growing ability
of reading and knowledge about the world.
B. Previous Research
Much research has been conducted to investigate the relationship of extensive reading and language ability.
In Lee, Krashen, and Gribbons (1996), language ability was defined as performance on the tests measuring the
restrictive relative clause competence. Meaningful to find is extensive reading was found to be the only predictor of
performance on the tests. Leung’s (2002) case study investigated extensive reading and its relationship with adult’s
self-study of Japanese over a 20-week period. Results indicate vocabulary and reading ability to have been affected with
the practice of extensive reading. Hayashi’s (1999) study revealed similar results despite its different research design
from Leung’s. The pre- and post-tests had results showing that the more self-selected books students read the greater
improvement they experienced in reading and vocabulary. Hong and Wang’s (2007) diary study of a female adult
learning French through ER reported her improvement in reading, listening, speaking and writing. Tsang (1996)
compared the effects of reading on writing performance among three English programs. They were a) regular plus
unrelated enrichment program, b) regular plus extensive reading, c) regular plus frequent writing practice. Results
showed that program b was more effective than the other two.
Extensive reading not only helps enhance vocabulary and reading ability, writing, as well as grammatical competence
(e.g., restrictive relative clause) but also other aspects of language competence. Ng and Sullivan (2001) reported studies
comparing children in two language programs, REAP (the Reading and English Acquisition Program) and NON-REAP,
the former with an emphasis on extensive reading. Results showed REAP children outperformed NON-REAP ones in
all language skills. Lituanas, Jacobs, and Renandya (1999) studied the effects of extensive reading for remedial students.
Sixty students were assigned to two groups. Both groups received 40-minute regular English teaching, with one group
getting another 40 minutes of intensive reading and the other group getting extensive reading practice of the same
amount of time. Results favored the extensive reading group. The pre- and post-tests design yielded a statistically
significant difference between the two groups. Another study by the same researchers (Renandya, Rajan, & Jacobs,
1999) examining the impact of ER on English learning of Vietnamese government officials has findings that support the
implementation of ER in language programs.
Research studies related to the effect of ER on language learning are numerous. Many had findings demonstrating the
positive effect of ER on language competence; quite a few (e.g., Lightbown, Halter, White, and Horst, 2002; Shih, 2015;
Williams, 2007) could not yield significant results. For example, Shih (2015) examined the impact of extensive reading
on college students’ English reading proficiency and found there was no positive effect of extensive reading on reading
proficiency whereas the experimental group improved their use of reading strategies. Further, Williams (2007)
examined effect of ER programs for primary school students with a time-lapse design and found the retesting results
decreased four years after the testing results. There are also studies (e.g., Davis, 1995; Day & Bamford, 1998; Leung,
2002) pointed out difficulties of its implementation and reasons for its failure. Nevertheless, measuring the results of
most studies on ER effect, ER has positive effects in general on reading proficiency, all language skills, vocabulary
sizes, reading rate gains, and the use of reading strategies.
Research on extensive reading also includes its relationship with affective factors. Krashen (1993, 1994; Krashen &
Terrell, 1983) highly promotes extensive reading for its nature of entailing subconscious learning, comprehensible input,
and low affective filter, the latter being very likely the crux for the learner to sustain efforts. Previous research studies
have provided findings related to extensive reading and attitude (e.g., Al-Homoud & Schmitt, 2009; Alshamrani, 2003;
Camiciottoli, 2001; Crawford Camiciottoli, 2001; Ji-Eun , 2009; Junko, 2013; Leung, 2002; McQuillan, 1994; Ng &
Sullivan, 2001; Yang, 2001).

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McQuillan (1994) elicited 49 learners' attitudes toward grammar exercises and extensive reading of popular literature.
Results show that learners perceived extensive reading to be more "beneficial" for language acquisition and more
"pleasurable" than the grammar exercises. Yang's (2001) comparison study had findings of not only English proficiency
gains but also motivational benefits. Leung's (2002) diary study mentioned above also showed that extensive reading of
an adult promoted a positive attitude toward reading. Alshamrani (2003) investigated nine learners' attitudes toward
extensive reading of authentic texts and found that they had positive attitudes toward the reading activity and were
motivated to continue extensive reading in the future.
Encouraging and attempting as it may seem for teachers and practitioners, little research on extensive reading has
been conducted on a large sample to identify its relationship with second language ability, in particular, writing
competence. In addition, learner resistance as a source of difficulty in implementing extensive reading has been
documented (Leung, 2002; Day & Bamford, 1998). However, learners' attitudinal (or affective) change and its
relationship with the amount of reading are seldom visited. Thus, this research aimed to study 1) the relationship of
extensive reading practice and English language competence, particularly writing ability, 2) reading teachers'
perceptions about the extensive reading component as well as learners' perceptions of this practice including their
attitude toward extensive reading, perceived importance and effect of extensive reading, their confidence gains, etc.
Also proposed to investigate was 3) student participants' perception change before and after the implementation of
extensive reading in their first-year reading program. Accordingly, the research questions this study addresses are as
follows:
1) What is the relationship of extensive reading and English language proficiency, in particular, writing ability?
2) How do student participants perceive extensive reading as a component of their reading programs before and after
the ER implementation? Do their perceptions change after the ER implementation for one year?
3) How do the reading teachers perceive extensive reading and its implementation in their reading class?

II. METHODOLOGY
A mixed research design that included the pre- and post-test method and a qualitative research method was employed
in the present study. Participants of this study were invited to take ELTS-developed tests (listening and reading tests) as
well as a writing test before and after the 2-semester implementation of extensive reading. Meanwhile, after taking the
pretests and posttests, they were also asked to respond to a questionnaire examining their perceptions /attitudes toward
the extensive reading practice that was required for all freshman and sophomore English majors. (See the design for the
quantitative part of the research in Table 1). In the end of the second semester, interviews with the instructors were
conducted and tape-recorded.
TABLE I.
RESEARCH DESIGN FOR THE QUANTITATIVE PART OF THE STUDY
Test Pretest Posttest gain t
Mean StD Mean StD
Listening
Reading
Writing
Attitude Pretest Posttest 1 Posttest 2 Posttest 1 Posttest 2 Posttest 1 Posttest 2
Mean StD Mean StD

** p<0.01

A. Student Participants
Subjects of the study were 190 freshman English majors at a northern university in Taiwan. They were from four
intact classes. Most of them were newly graduated from senior high schools with a similar English education
background. Their English proficiency was roughly between low to high intermediate levels. Although the department
made a reading policy of implementing extensive reading for all freshman and sophomore students, only the freshman
students were invited for this study, and the reason was because of the nature of this study being interested in their
novice experience of extensive reading.
B. The Reading Program and the Teacher Participants
The English-major program of this northern university has implemented extensive reading to both their freshman and
their sophomore students for several years. Based on this policy, a requirement of both freshman and sophomore
reading courses was for students to read on their own graded English books or teenager-literature books particularly
bought and reserved in the library for the English majors in the university. Ideally, after reading a book, a student would
write a report about it or do other kinds of writing (e.g., keeping a reading log) depending on what their instructors
require them to do. In addition, the minimum number of books for each student to read varied with the requests of
individual instructors. And the instructors teaching freshman reading may be different every year. How teachers
conducted extensive reading and integrated it into their reading courses was taken as a variable affecting the amount of
extensive reading and learners' competence in English. Information about the reading instructors' background was
shown in Table 2.

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TABLE II.
INSTRUCTORS’ BACKGROUND
Teacher Class Gender Minimum N. of books Educational background
Teacher 1 Class A & B F 24 Ph.D. in Education
Teacher 2 Class C F 10 M.A. in TESL
Teacher 3 Class D F Around 10 Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics

C. Instruments for Quantitative Data Collection

The reading and listening tests developed by English Learning Testing Service (ELTS) in Taiwan were conducted in
the beginning of the first semester and a post-test in the end of the second semester. The test consisted of listening (40
items) and reading (30 items). Instrument reliability was given using KR-20 (Henning, 1987) for the ELTS tests. Table 3
displays the reliability coefficients, which are satisfactory because according to Gay (1976) and Sax (1989) a test or a
questionnaire should have a reliability coefficient above 0.6.

TABLE III.
RELIABILITY COEFFICIENTS OF LISTENING, READING, AND WRITING TESTS
Listening Reading Writing
Pretest 0.70 0.64 0.67
Posttest 0.64 0.62 0.71

In addition, students were requested to take a pretest and posttest of writing. Each contains two different writing tasks,
i.e., an essay and a letter writing tasks. Henning (1987) indicates that the more the modes of tasks included in a writing
test, the more likely it exhibits test validity. After the subjects completed each writing test in which they were guided to
produce one-paragraph writing and a letter, three English speakers teaching at the same University were invited to rate
the collected writing data based on the degree each subject’s writing being interesting, informative and fluent, with a
rating scale of 2-14 points. That is, a holistic mode of scoring was employed. The writing data were scored based on the
following scale modified from Melendez (1993):
2 = for only several phrases produced, those that are not meaningful
3-4 = for only several short sentences produced, those that show an attempt to produce information
5-8 = for a complete paragraph or a letter, one that provides meaningful or interesting messages though sentences in
it are not necessarily logically connected.
9-10= for a complete paragraph or a letter that is meaningful or interesting with sentences logically connected.
11-14 = for a complete paragraph or a letter that is either very meaningful or very interesting, or both with sentences
logically connected.
The inter-rater reliability for the writing test was estimated using Spearman-Brown Prophecy formula. The reliability
coefficients of the pretest and posttest are 0.67 and 0.71 respectively.
Questionnaires were employed to investigate student participants' perceptions of extensive reading. The questionnaire
was pilot-tested to a group of 54 students first and improved for the formal study. It consisted of background
information questions, forty-four perception items accompanied by a seven-point scale in the Likert format, as well as
two open questions. The reliability coefficients were estimated and display in Table 4.
TABLE IV.
RELIABILITY COEFFICIENTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Attitude Importance Effect Confidence Total
Attitude
Pretest 0.83 0.87 0.93 0.92 0.96
Posttest 1 0.86 0.87 0.93 0.92 0.97
Posttest 2 0.86 0.82 0.92 0.92 0.96

D. Instruments for Qualitative Data Collection

To understand how individual instructors implement the department's reading policy, two semi-structured interviews
of 40~50 minutes were conducted to each of them in the end of each semester. A protocol of interview questions was
developed on the basis of needs.
To implement the extensive reading program to the freshman and sophomore students, the program has purchased
around five hundred English readers, including various graded series of novels and stories as well as books related to
children and teenager literature. Before the study was done, the library had bought almost two thousand books for this
reading purpose.
E. Data Analysis
The pretest and posttest data collected with the use of ELTS tests, the writing test, and the questionnaire were
analyzed using statistical procedures.
The interview data were transcribed verbatim. According to Spradley (1979), a verbatim record of interview data is
important for the investigator to be confident about findings. The analytic process included repeatedly reading the
transcriptions, coding, making comparisons, and making connections between categories emerging from the data,
following the content analysis method (Dörnyei, 2007).

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III. RESULTS
The study results are presented to address each of the research questions.
Research question 1: What is the relationship of extensive reading and English language proficiency, in particular,
writing ability?
Table 5 lists test results and learner attitudes. Analysis of test results using paired t-test indicated significant gains in
students’ listening, reading, and writing abilities. Listening ability reflected by the listening posttest results was
significantly higher than it was measured by the pre-test (posttest M=81.06 SD=8.08 pretest M=74.23 SD=9.99 t=11.71
p<0.01). Results of the reading posttest were also significantly better than those of the pretest (posttest M=83.02
SD=7.90 pretest M=78.45 SD=8.12 t=8.56 p<0.01). Similarly, average scores of the two writing tests indicated a
significant gain in writing (posttest M=17.23 SD=1.77 pretest M=15.81 SD=2.12 t=7.56 p<0.01). The increased English
ability may be a result of implementing extensive reading in the reading class for one year.
However, the single-group, pretest-posttest design in this study may have displayed a weak one. The gain in English
ability can be attributed to factors like the implementation of extensive reading. However, it may also be a result due to
“the process of maturation” (Hatcher & Stepanski, 1994, p. 196).
TABLE V.
IMPACT OF EXTENSIVE READING AND LEARNER ATTITUDES
Test Pretest Posttest Gain t
M SD M SD
Listening 74.23 9.99 81.06 8.08 6.83 11.71**
Reading 78.45 8.12 83.02 7.90 4.56 8.56**
Writing 15.81 2.12 17.23 1.77 1.42 7.56**
** p<0.01

In order to further explore the relationship between extensive reading activity and learning outcomes, Table 6
presents information of the minimum number of books students were required to read by different teachers as well as
the average number of books they actually read. ANOVA analysis of pretests and posttests at the three levels, i.e.,
listening, reading, and writing ones, showed no significant difference in the test means of individual classes. It also
yielded no significant results in the gains of test scores of the four classes except in those of the writing tests. Tukey’s
HSD test showed that students in Class B had a significantly higher average gain score in writing than that of the
students in Class D. The result implies the higher reading requirement (24 books) and averagely more books read (14.52
books) may have resulted in more writing improvement of students in Class B than students in Class D with less
reading requirement (8-10) and fewer books read (7.44).
TABLE VI.
ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE AND N UMBER OF B OOKS REQUIRED TO READ
Teacher 1 Teacher 2 Teacher 3
Class A Class B Class C Class D F-ratio
M SD M SD M SD M SD
Minimum number of 24 24 10 8-10
books required
Average number of books 16.23 14.52 9.65 7.44 18.86**
read
Attitude pretest 228.35 32.26 221.27 37.80 212.6 28.99 213.93 36.67 2.22
Attitude posttest 1 210.39 31.53 203.26 34.72 194.55 29.52 213.15 34.94 2.60
Attitude posttest 2 207 28.42 214.21 29.39 193.58 29.64 201.53 28.35 2.54
Listening pretest 73.73 11.08 73.78 9.35 72.40 10.00 76.05 9.13 1.22
Listening posttest 82.35 7.17 79.45 6.77 79.36 8.43 82.86 8.96 2.74
Reading pretest 78.07 8.80 78.51 7.89 78.49 6.97 79.47 8.26 0.28
Reading posttest 81.33 9.62 83.15 6.05 84.59 7.28 82.91 7.67 1.35
Writing pretest 15.60 2.41 15.14 2.39 15.92 1.80 16.20 1.69 2.04
Writing posttest 17.12 1.81 17.43 1.61 17.45 1.81 16.96 1.80 0.78
Gain in listening 8.57 8.17 4.78 6.86 7.15 8.77 6.33 6.82 1.66
Gain in reading 3.33 5.72 5.48 7.14 6.22 7.06 3.43 7.74 2.01
Gain in writing 2.16 2.78 3.08 2.54 2.17 1.75 1.14 2.31 5.03**
**P<0.01

Research Question 2: How do student participants perceive extensive reading as a component of their reading
programs? Do their perceptions change after the ER implementation for one year?
Results in Table 7 regarding learners’ perceptions about the inclusion of extensive reading in their reading class show
their views were significantly positive both before and after the ER implementation. Table 8 indicated learners tended to
hold a favorable attitude toward extensive reading in the three questionnaire investigations, perceive it to be important
and effective to learning, and have confidence in its effect. All the mean scores obtained in the three investigations were
significantly higher than the hypothetical means (μ). Learners held substantially supportive views in the beginning of
the first semester after their individual reading teachers explained how ER was to be implemented, and their views
remained highly positive in the end of the second semester though their views also decreased with time reflected in the
three investigations. The change in learner attitude detected in the pre- and posttests may be due to their high motivation
for the activity in the beginning and the pressure of meeting the requirement of reading the minimum number of books
set by individual instructors. Even so, comparing the mean scores of the three questionnaire results including the

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component means with their hypothetical means (μ), their overall attitudes / perceptions of ER were very positive.
TABLE VII.
STUDENTS’ ER ATTITUDES
Pretest Posttest 1 Posttest 2 Gain t
M SD M SD M SD Posttest 1 Posttest 2 Posttest 1 Posttest 2
218.92 34.11 205.62 33.04 204.61 29.40 -14.30 -15.31 -5.02** -4.62**
** p<0.01

TABLE VIII.
STUDENTS’ FOUR -ASPECT ATTITUDES
Questionnaires Component: Component: Component: Effect Component: Confidence Composite attitude
Attitude Importance M SD t
M SD t M SD t M SD t M SD t
Pretest 21.84 4.83 5.23** 27.37 4.82 20.87** 103.36 16.31 19.64** 66.45 12.14 11.77** 218.92 34.11 16.88**
Posttest 1 22.49 4.63 7.11** 26.35 4.63 18.13** 94.06 15.22 11.64** 62.49 11.14 7.62** 205.62 33.04 10.76**
Posttest 2 22.95 4.36 8.86** 26.70 3.96 22.02** 95.11 14.19 13.04** 62.78 10.89 7.90** 204.61 29.40 10.96**
Hypothetical
Mean (μ) μ=20 μ=20 μ=80 μ=56 μ=176

Regarding the attitudinal differences among the student participants in the four different classes shown in Table 6
above, it is interesting to find the number of books required and actually read did not result in difference in attitude.
Research Question 3: How do the reading teachers perceive extensive reading and its implementation in their
reading class?
The three teachers of the four freshman reading classes had a passion for their implementation of ER to a different
degree. Teacher 3 was very enthusiastic about and devoted to promoting ER; teacher 1 also took pleasure in including
ER in her reading classes though not so enthusiastic as teacher 3; while teacher 2 was relatively passive in
implementing the departmental policy. Analysis of the interview responses reveals several themes that affect teachers’
attitude toward ER for their reading classes. They are teacher confidence in applying ER to their reading classes, ER
implementation strategies, perceived impact of ER on English learning, and teachers’ future improvements.
Confidence in ER implementation. Both Teacher 1 and Teacher 3 were confident in doing ER-related activities with
students. Sources of their confidence may include their belief in its impact on reading and language ability as well as
their continued effort in keeping themselves informed by research and theory of ER. Teacher 1 had her initial contact
with ER theories at a workshop in Hawaii in 2003 and has started its implementation since then.
Excerpt 1: “I have been to Richard Day’s workshop. He is a person of enthusiasm that is infectious. So I think I can
do the same thing like him.”
She believed in the positive impact of ER on language learning and had developed an English reading habit herself.
She said, “I like reading anything English no matter what it is about….” During the year of including ER in her reading
classes for this study, she constantly consulted books and research papers for ideas and methods to improve her skills of
promoting ER. She not only read research for ideas but also bought recommended books of ER activities for her ER
teaching.
Various ways to get students tuned in ER typically introduced in Day and Bamford (1998). Teacher 3 was also
confident in and positive about teaching with ER. She indicated that she became more and more confident in teaching
ER as time went on. She said, “I feel more and more confident in implementing ER in my reading class.” She sought
ideas from relevant literature and developed her own approach to engaging students in reading extensively. In her class,
students shaped their own groups and chose and read the same books with their group members. Books chosen were
often graded literary books either recommended by her or by their peers in the group-sharing time. This way of
promoting ER was termed “literary circle.” Student read at home and for much of the class time. In her reading class,
more than half of the time was for ER-related activities. Students read together, shared their reaction, talked about the
stories in books, and even played out the story they read. Thus, students not just read but also talked much in class. It
was a creative way to involve students in reading. She not only looked for ideas in research but also conducted her own
research on ER using literacy circles.
Despite her low confidence, teacher 2 tried her best to implement ER. She said, “I didn’t do well this year…. I was
supposed to spend some class time on ER activities…. I really can’t.” Though not confident about her own ER
implementation, she promoted the basic form of ER in her class, meeting a minimum request of the department policy.
She set a minimum number of books (i.e., 5 books one semester) for students to complete reading and demanded a
report for each book written in a flexible way. No class time was spent on ER activities. According to her interview
responses, she knew ER’s effect on language learning, but she had little idea how she could engage students in reading
extensively. Students’ reports on books were even allowed to be replaced by reports on teacher handouts and films they
watched. “I’m a little rascal in accepting students’ reports when they asked whether it’s ok to write about films or
something else, I agreed.” Responses showing her feeble confidence on her own implementation were sporadic in the
interview with her.
Individual teachers’ ER implementation. The teacher participants’ way of implementing ER may well reflect their
confidence and attitude as mentioned above, and despite some common strategies, their way differed from one another.
All the three teachers had their students turn in a written assignment on each of the books they chose to read.
However, the assignment varied from teacher to teacher. Teacher 1’s students were requested to keep a reading log

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listing the books they had read and a short reflection on each as well as written reports on 3 books from the reading list
in one semester. The minimum number of books was 12. Each report may have been a reaction to a major character or a
summary of the story plus a feedback in any form.
Teacher 3 had her students read 4 to 5 books a semester and a written report on each book. Each report varied
depending on what instruction the teacher gave.
Similarly, teacher 2 assigned students to read five books a semester, and 15% of the course grade was given based on
the written reports on the books. Each report could be in any format of the one hundred ways of writing a book report
introduced by the teacher in the beginning of the semester.
Basically, a teacher only needs to set a minimum number of books for students to read and set their own strategies to
score their extensive reading, such as a written report for each book read and a reading log, in order to implement the
departmental policy of ER. For example, teacher 2 adopted this basic form of ER in her reading class; i.e., she collected
students’ writing on their chosen books toward the end of the semester and gave their ER scores based on the number of
books they read evidenced by their book report.
In addition to meeting the departmental requirement for all reading classes, both teachers 1 and 3 did ER activities in
class almost every week. Two components rotated in class: Extensive reading activities and reading strategy-based
activities. In the beginning, class time tended to be equally distributed; yet as time went on, more was on ER as was
requested by the students. ER activities included in their classes were many. For example, teacher 1 employed time
repeated reading, 5-minute silent reading, reading and anticipating what’s going to happen, group discussion, etc.
Teacher 3 motivated her students by putting them in small groups called “little literacy circles.” A group chose their
own reading books and read them at a similar pace. Classroom ER activities, therefore, included reading with group
members, swapping group members to form new groups and share books read, group sharing their responses to the
books read to the whole class by means of either oral report or performance on the stage. The last form of ER activities
was most appealing. Many of Shakespearian comedies and tragedies were adapted for stage performance. According to
teacher 3, students were observed to be both serious about and devoted to their performance. Though the average
number of books read by her students was smaller due to the group reading feature than those of other classes, esp.,
teacher 1’s classes, speaking was well integrated into ER in the form of discussion, sharing, group oral report, and stage
performance.
Perceived influence on language learning. All three teachers believed in the effect of ER on language learning.
Nevertheless, they were not certain whether it was effective to their students after promoting ER in their classes for two
semesters because they did not have objective evidence. However, they did indicate the positive influence perceived on
their students.
All three teachers could sense students’ positive attitude toward ER. They liked ER and its activities in class. When
teacher 1 switched her teaching emphasis to strategy-based teaching, her students asked to do more ER in class. She
said, “Students are less interested in strategy training and reading strategy training.” She even canceled the scheduled
curriculum on reading strategies for the last month and replaced it with pleasure reading. Same phenomenon applied to
teacher 3’s class. In the second semester, more of her class time was on ER because students were highly interested in it.
Students even extended their gratitude to her for her devotion to ER teaching.
Another noted influence of ER on learning was students’ reading habit. Although the habit of reading extensively
may not have applied to all students, most were perceived to have formed the habit. Teacher 1 stated as follows
regarding reading habit.
Excerpt 2: Sometimes when we were doing ‘talk about the book,’ I would ask them to reflect about…. Some stated
that he (they) felt they would shape a reading habit.
Teacher 3 also indicated this ER implementation entailed many students’ motivation to borrow the books
recommended by their peers. She said, “Most students feel through ER they are motivated to borrow books, esp., those
with very good comments from their peers.” They became more aware of what reading was than before. Some with
poor reading skills felt they could read faster; others asked to read more. The same teacher indicated, “There are
relatively more students who consider their English ability to be poor feel they can read faster now.”
Also noted was students’ reading pleasure. As mentioned above, many students asked to do more ER in class whether
it was reading silently or an ER activity. In addition, there were students asking for a reading list for the coming summer.
Teacher 3 said, “I have students who came to me and asked me to recommend a list of books for the summer time
reading.” Students of teacher 3 were especially interested in ER in terms of their devotion to ER and its follow-ups,
especially, the stage performance activity. Most of her students read and had a very good idea of Shakespeare’s four
tragedies and four comedies in the second semester and most were interpreted and performed on the stage. She could
perceive her students’ sense of achievements and pride in themselves raised after reading the books and performing on
the stage. She also felt her students transformed from those depending on teachers in learning to those learning on their
own, i.e., from passivity to activity. She said,
Excerpt 3: I want them all to be proud to tell others…. For example, during the year in the four tragedies and four
comedies, he can say, it is “The Twelfth Night” that few students and others would know about. But through drama
performance, almost all students wanted to read this book…. I hope they feel positive about themselves via this way…
and about their reading…and take pride in telling others that ‘I know this book.’ I feel students have become ones who
actively seek to acquire knowledge rather than depend on the teacher for knowledge.
Although all three teachers had no evidence showing ER’s effect on their students’ English learning and teacher 2
was uncertain about her students’ attitude toward ER, perceived effects were spotted in terms of students’ positive

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attitude toward ER, their reading habit formation, and their heightened reading pleasure observed.
Self-improvement in the future. All three teachers indicated change to be made in their future reading classes. Teacher
2 was positive about the implementation of ER and its effect but had little idea of how she could improve her reading
class in the next school year for her new students except sticking to the basic form of ER implementation. However, she
also showed her intention to consult with the other two reading teachers for more ideas to better her ER implementation.
For the other two teachers, due to their interest in ER-related research and capacity for implementing innovative
teaching, their motivation to better their ER promotion was relatively high. Both indicated to raise the ER percentage in
the course score, in particular, for teacher 3 to 60%. Teacher 1 has indicated to raise the percentage to be more than
20%.
They also indicated to increase group work in class for more interaction among students, i.e., for more speaking
practice. Teacher 1 believed in the equal importance of output with the reading input. Teacher 3 inclined to use only ER
books to replace a strategy-based textbook, implying most of the class time to be spent on ER-related activities in the
future. Even teacher 2 who spent no time on ER activities in class revealed she would give some class time for students
to share how they feel about books read.

IV. CONCLUSION
The results of this study have partially supported ER in terms of its effect on learning outcomes, student attitude
toward it, and teacher perception and have implications on language learning and teaching.
The pre-test and posttest design of this study did show statistically significant gains in the listening, reading, and
writing test scores after the implementation of ER for one year. The results corroborate findings in previous research
(Crawford Camiciottoli, 2001; Krashen & Cho, 1995; Lee & Krashen, Gribbons, 1996; Macquillan, 1994; Lituanas,
Jacobs, & Renandya, 1999; Renandya, Rajan, & Jacobs, 1999; Young, 1999). Further analysis of ER’s effect on
individual classes revealed a significant difference in the progress in writing reflected in the pre- and post- writing tests.
Students in Class A and Class B, taught by teacher 1, were required to read at least 24 books in the two semesters, and
they actually read around 15 books in average, much higher than the average number of books read by students from the
other two classes. The significant difference in the increased students’ writing ability may be a result of the different
numbers of books read by students. The more books students were required to read, the more likely they would read
more and make more progress in writing. This result was further strengthened by the significant correlation between the
number of books students read in the two semesters and their increased writing ability (the gain score in writing).
Krashen (1993) has pointed out the power of extensive reading. Simply reading extensively will suffice for tremendous
growth in language proficiency. Day and Bamford (1998) have similar views on the effect of ER alone in language
learning.
Analysis of their questionnaire responses indicated their highly positive views about ER as a component of their
reading classes. Most perceived the practice of ER in their reading classes to be favorable, effective in helping them to
enhance their English skills, important for their learning, and helpful in raising their confidence in learning English. The
results are in accordance with findings in previous research on learner attitude toward ER (Alshamrani, 2003; Crawford
Camiciottoli, 2001; Leung, 2002; McQuillan, 1994; NG & Sullivan, 2001; Yang, 2001). In addition, the instructor, who
approached ER teaching differently, did not appear to be a factor of student participants’ attitude toward ER.
As to teacher perceptions about ER, the interview accounts of the three teachers revealed a positive attitude toward
ER. Although one teacher appeared to be less confident in including ER in her class, the other two teachers are
relatively more devoted teachers in using ER. They had different approaches to implementing ER; however, students’
reduced fear in reading, nurtured habit of reading, and positive attitude in ER were observed.
Also emerged from teacher accounts was teachers’ move to access ER-related resources. One teacher had sought to
learn innovative teaching in an overseas workshop, and later she further consulted theories and techniques for teaching
with ER. There was another teacher of this study constantly looked for ideas to better her ER implementation. An
enjoyable activity favored by both the teacher and her students was called “literacy circle,” which entailed students’
devotion to further reading. In sum of teachers’ views about ER as a component of their reading classes, they have
shown a positive attitude toward its implementation, substantial devotion to its promotion, and strong willingness to
improve themselves in teaching with ER.
This study focusing on extensive reading and its relationship with English language learning and affective factors has
results rich in insights into language teaching and learning as well as research relating to extensive reading. A positive
relationship between the number of books read and learners’ gain in writing ability was identified in this study, which
information helps promote ER to wider population with confidence. Should a different relationship be identified, with
care ER should be implemented. Both teacher and student participants' responses also revealed information guiding
extensive reading practice. This study has also contributed to the research line regarding extensive reading in terms of
its relationship with language ability, in particular, the writing ability, the subjects being English-majors different from
those in most studies and its research design combining the quantitative and qualitative research methods for data
collection and analysis.
Although the number of books individual students read had an effect on their writing tests, the pre- and post-test
design also showed an increase in their English ability reflected on their test scores, and students' questionnaire
responses exhibited a perceived positive effect on their English learning, this study has limitations future research needs
to attend to. One limitation is that it did not employ a comparison research design that compares results of participant

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groups receiving different treatments. Future research on university students’ extensive reading in similar contexts may
use a quasi-experimental design to provide further evidence showing the relationship of extensive reading and English
ability. Another limitation of this study is that its subjects being English-major freshmen who were exposed to different
modes of English learning. Future research may consider sampling non-majors in order to limit the exposure they may
have during the period when the research is conducted.

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Cheah & S. M. Ng (Eds.) Language instructional issues in Asian classrooms (pp. 89-104). Newark, DE: International
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Language Annals, 29, 56-72.
[32] Melendez, M.M. (1993). The effects of grammar instruction on learners' development of grammatical competence in a foreign
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language. RELC Journal, 30, 39-61.
[35] Sax, G. (1989). Principles of educational and psychological measurement and evaluation. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
[36] Shih, Y. C. (2015). The impact of extensive reading on college business majors in Taiwan. The Reading Matrix, 15(1), 220-233.
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[39] Williams, E. (2007). Extensive reading in Malawi: inadequate implementation or inappropriate innovation? Journal of

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Research in Reading, 30(1), 59-79.

[40] Yang, A. (2001). Reading and the non-academic learner: a mystery solved. System, 29(4), 451-466.
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Chaochang Wang, the first author of this article, received a PhD degree in Applied Linguistics from the Pennsyvania State
University in 2000. She has been teaching at Ming Chuan University since 1986 and is currently Associate Professor of Department
of Applied English at Ming Chuan University, Taiwan. Her research interests include second language acquisition and teaching,
language testing and program assessment, and research methods.

Chu-Tai Ho, the corresponding author, earned a Master’s degree in TESOL from Teachers’ College, Columbia University in 1986.
She has been teaching at Ming Chuan University since 1987 and is currently lecturer of the Department of Applied English at Ming
Chuan University. Her research interests include teaching English as a foreign language and language test development.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 702-709, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.05

L1 versus Multiple Vocabulary Teaching

Techniques
Sultan Altalhab
Curriculum and Instruction Department, College of Education, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract—This study compares the effect of using different vocabulary teaching techniques and L1 (Arabic) on
vocabulary retention. The participants were 162 Saudi intermediate school students who were divided into two
groups. The first group was taught the target words using L1 whilst the second group was taught using
multiples teaching techniques (synonyms, body language and pictures). A pre-test, post-test and delayed post-
test based on meaning recall were utilised. The findings show that the multiple group achieved superiority over
the L1 group in both post-test and delayed post-test. Also, pictures were found to be the most effective teaching
technique while body language was the least.

Index Terms—L1, vocabulary, retention, synonyms, body language, pictures

I. INTRODUCTION
Using learners’ native language or the target language in teaching EFL is one of the areas that has been widely
discussed in EFL research. It seems to be a controversial issue in the field of language teaching, as will be shown. Some
of the empirical studies that have explored this area will be discussed here, especially those that are concerned with the
teaching of vocabulary.
Latsanyphone and Bouangeune (2009) suggested reasons for using L1 in teaching language. For example, some
learners, especially those who are shy or lack confidence in their proficiency may hesitate in using L2 in the classroom.
L1 use, however, might facilitate helpful activities in class, especially for low proficiency learners. The use of L1 also
seems to be popular among low level learners. Many researchers (Swain & Lapkin, 2000; Nation, 2001; Tang, 2002;
Mattioli, 2004) agree that L1 should be used when teaching lower-level learners in the target language. It has also been
suggested that learners at a lower level depend on L1 to transfer L2 meaning (Atkinson, 1987; Ellis, 1995; Nation,
1990). Nation (2003) states that “whenever a teacher feels that a meaning-based L2 task might be beyond the
capabilities of the learners, a small amount of L1 discussion can help overcome some of the obstacles” (p. 3). In other
words, using L1 when necessary is helpful for both the teacher and the student. Moreover, although the communicative
approach asserts the use of the target language in teaching, studies have shown that using English alone might be more
appropriate for both intermediate and advanced learners (Ramachandran & Rahim, 2004).

II. USING L1 AND L2 IN TEACHING VOCABULARY

One teaching technique for introducing the new vocabulary through the target language is the use of synonyms.
Webb (2007) investigated the influence of synonymy on vocabulary learning. Over 80 Japanese learners of English sat
10 tests, both receptive and productive, to examine the impact of synonymy on five aspects of word knowledge. The
learners encountered the new words in two conditions: glossed sentences and word pairs. The results revealed that when
presented with words whose synonyms they were familiar with the learners outperformed significantly. It can thus be
concluded that learning synonyms for known vocabulary is easier than learning vocabulary that does not have any
known synonyms. The findings of this study are interesting since little research has been conducted on the effect of
synonymy in vocabulary learning, although Webb (2007) did employ nonsense words in the experiment, which has its
limitations.
On the other hand, a study by Heltai (1989) looked at the use of translation when teaching vocabulary. He argued that
when oral translation is used to teach vocabulary, the activities should be carried out under specific conditions, which is
not incompatible with the communicative approach (Heltai, 1989). The first suggested condition is that such translations
are not used extensively or when there is no need for them. Secondly, translation exercises should be well prepared.
Thirdly, they should be combined with other activities and exercises should be interesting and motivating.
Ramachandran and Rahim (2004) argued that using translation in teaching vocabulary has a positive influence on the
meaning of recall and retention. They divided 60 Malaysian ESL elementary learners of English into two groups: an
experimental group that received the translation method as the treatment and a control group that received the non-
translation method. The treatment lasted four weeks, and the learners were given a post-test to measure the effectiveness
of the treatment. The participants were taught 20 new words. Based on a multiple-choice test with 60 questions, these
20 words received the highest percentage of inaccurate responses. However, receiving the highest percentage of
inaccurate responses may suggest that even a very small number of participants answered the questions on these 20

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words correctly. This could indicate that a few participants might have already known the meaning of these words
before starting the treatment. Therefore, a more sensitive test is clearly required to ensure that the words used in such a
treatment are new for all of the participants. Also, the timing of the treatment chosen in this study appeared to be
relatively short for assessing the effectiveness of the method, since some of the words were taught only a week prior to
the test.
The findings of Ramachandran and Rahim (2004) were later supported by Latsanyphone and Bouangeune (2009),
who carried out a similar study with a larger sample (169 students with a low level of proficiency), although the authors
did not clearly state the period of the treatment in their study. Also, as suggested earlier, a more sensitive test should be
applied to ensure that the words used in the treatment are new for all the participants, as the pre-test and post-test used
were different and the words in the post-test were already known by students. Although the research displays that L1
plays a small but crucial role in communicating meaning, the use of L2 should be increased in the classroom, indeed, its
use should be encouraged and it should be employed in classroom management (Nation, 2003, p. 1). Nation (2003)
suggested that the use of L2 should be maximised, especially when learners do not have enough opportunities to
practise L2 outside the class. One of the ways to achieve this is by managing the classroom in L2. For example, telling
the class what to do (‘take out your books’, ‘turn to page 7’ etc.), controlling behaviour (‘be quiet’), explaining
activities (‘get into pairs’). These suggestions appear to be useful even with low proficiency learners. If these
instructions are repeated in every class, learners will become familiar with the words being used. Another study by
Pakzadian (2012) compared L1 and L2 in teaching vocabulary to intermediate level learners. Sixty Persian leaners were
involved in comprehension and vocabulary tasks. The results revealed no difference between using L1 or L2 in
learners’ performance in the comprehension task. Nevertheless, the L1 group showed some superiority in the
vocabulary test over the other group.
In the Saudi context, one of the few studies focusing on using Arabic in English classes in Saudi schools was Al-
Nofaie’s (2010) study exploring the attitudes of Saudi teachers and students towards using L1 in the classroom.
Questionnaires, interviews and four observations from one classroom were used in the data collection. The results
revealed that although more than half the students believed using Arabic in class could impede their English learning,
70% of them reported that they preferred their teachers to use Arabic as a teaching technique. They thought that using
Arabic provided them with confidence and helped them to understand better. The teachers justified using Arabic to
explain difficult items, especially for students with a low proficiency in English. They employed Arabic in clarifying
grammar rules and new words, especially abstract words, whilst concrete words were taught by using pictures and
drawings. Nevertheless, their employment of Arabic in the classroom was limited, as they said they wanted to allow
more time for students to practise their English. This finding challenges several studies finding that teachers of English
at Saudi schools overused Arabic in their classes. The potential reason for this contradiction may be the different
context of Al-Nofaie’s (2010) study, which was conducted in a female only school, whereas the studies exploring this
area in Saudi Arabia were carried out in male only schools.
Alshammari (2011) examined this issue in a different context by asking 95 students and 13 teachers from two Saudi
technical colleges to complete questionnaires. The results showed that most students and teachers thought that Arabic
should be used in the classroom. More than half of the students reported that employing Arabic was necessary in
clarifying new words. A similar number of teachers mentioned that they used Arabic in order to save time, as the
students seemed to understand things better that way. Despite the fact that this study was conducted in a different
context, Saudi colleges, the issue was not explored in depth because the author only employed questionnaires in his
investigation. However, using other research tools, such as interviews and observations, could help investigate the issue
further.
The impact of learner proficiency and task type on the amount of Arabic used by Saudi college students in pair work
was investigated by Storch and Aldosari (2010). Fifteen pairs from three different proficiency levels completed three
tasks (jigsaw, composition and text editing), while their speaking was audio-recorded. The researchers found that there
was little use of Arabic during the pair work and that using Arabic was influenced more by the task type rather than the
learners’ proficiency level. Arabic was used in order to manage a task and to discuss new vocabulary. One of the
reasons for the modest use of Arabic in the classroom, as the researchers suggested, might be that the students thought
they should not use L1 in L2 classes, which was also reported in a previous study by Storch and Wigglesworth (2003).
There were no differences between the learners who used Arabic while working on tasks. However, the lower level
learners employed Arabic more than other learners when they worked on editing tasks; this might be due to the
increased level of difficulty involved and because it was conducted after doing two previous tasks. This shows that the
lower level learners are more likely to resort to L1 than other learners, which might be due to the limited vocabulary
that they have which impedes them from using L2. The issue examined in this study was not considered extensively in
the literature; however, the method used to determine the participants’ level of competence is questionable. The
researchers relied on the participants’ marks in English at secondary school, their marks in two grammar quizzes and
their teacher’s evaluation of students’ performance throughout the semester. These criteria seem to be insensitive,
because the learners’ competence might have changed from secondary school to college and the grammar quizzes tested
only one aspect of language. Also, these instruments may fail to assess learners’ competence in the spoken language.

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Another study by Carson and Kashihara (2012) revealed that Japanese low level EFL learners preferred to deploy L1
whereas the advanced learners showed the reverse.
Debreli and Oyman’s (2015) findings were in accordance with Storch and Aldosari’s (2010) and Carson and
Kashihara’s (2012) results in relation to the use of L1 in a L2 class by low level learners. They conducted a study to
explore this issue by asking 303 Turkish EFL university students to complete a questionnaire. They found all students
with different levels showed positive attitudes towards the use of L1 in a L2 classroom; however, low level learners
expressed higher positive attitudes. Nearly half the participants reported that the use of L1 was helpful in understanding
the meaning of the new vocabulary. This study recruited only a questionnaire to investigate this issue, however,
employing other research tools such as interviews would be helpful to provide more in-depth data. It can be noticed that
although different EFL learners, that is in terms of their native language (e.g. Saudi, Japanese, Turkish) were involved
in these studies, similar perceptions towards employing L1 were found.
As shown, existing research revealed that using L1 in teaching vocabulary could affect learning vocabulary
positively, especially in terms of recall and retention. Also, using L1 may be more suitable for beginners, rather than
intermediate and advanced learners. In the existing research, learners showed positive attitudes towards using L1 in
teaching L2.

III. BODY LANGUAGE AND PICTURES (AS NONVERBAL TECHNIQUES) IN THE EFL CLASSROOM
Body language has been defined as “real, complex, extremely precise, and inextricably bound to our use of spoken
languages as a way of accentuating, highlighting, and amplifying what we mean” (Thomas & Tchudi, 1999, p. 133).
This suggests that body language seems to be an unconscious process which speakers resort to as a means of delivering
certain thoughts. It should be noted that body language in the current study refers to the following: movement,
embodiment and gestures.
Non-verbal behaviours considered in the large body of research focus mainly on the use of gestures in the classroom
(e.g. Sime, 2006; Rosborough, 2014). Gestures play a role in communicative and cognitive abilities in language
learning and can be used as a means by which to deal with any difficulties in learning (Gullberg, 2006). Gullberg, de
Bot and Volterra (2008) summarised the role of gestures in language development, focusing on the following aspects:
“gestures as a medium of language development, gestures as a reflection of language development and gestures as
language development itself” (p. 150).
A number of studies have examined the use of body language in the EFL classroom. One of these studies by
Rosborough (2014) explored the role of body movement and gestures in an English language class in terms of
delivering meaning. He found that body movement and gestures play a key role in meaning-making. Sime (2008)
investigated learners’ perceptions of using gestures generated by their teachers. Videotaping was used to record
teachers’ verbal and non-verbal behaviours, while interviews with some learners were also employed. The results
revealed that gestures were employed to deliver meaning and as a means of interaction in the classroom. Smotrova and
Lantolf, (2013) investigated the use of a gesture-speech interface while teaching the meaning of new vocabulary in the
EFL classroom. They found gestures helpful for learners, aiding them in understanding the meaning of vocabulary.
They suggested that only using verbal teaching techniques might not be enough to deliver meaning, however. In
addition to facilitating meaning, Macedonia and Knösche (2011) examined the role of gestures in retaining the meaning
of concrete words. The results showed that gestures positively affect the consolidation of vocabulary meaning.
Lanzaraton (2004) explored an ESL teacher employing both gestures and speech in teaching vocabulary. Three
classes with this teacher were videotaped and the discourse in these classes analysed. Although the number of
participants in this study was limited, the study provided an insight into the role of non-verbal behaviours in the
classroom. The findings suggested that non-verbal behaviours are a fundamental aspect in L2 learning, providing
learners with comprehensible input. Recently, Chan (2018) asserted the role of body language in learning the
pronunciation of a new vocabulary by reviewing a number of studies in this area. She suggested that body language can
be an effective way to ensure accurate pronunciation.
In vocabulary studies concerned with vocabulary teaching techniques, the use of gestures was found to be one of the
techniques employed by EFL teachers to introduce new words. For example, Waring, Creider and Box (2013)
investigated the vocabulary teaching techniques used by two teachers through a conversation analytic framework. They
found gestures one of the techniques deployed by one of the teachers in explaining vocabulary.
Another nonverbal technique to be used in teaching vocabulary is pictures. There is a dearth of research on the role of
employing pictures in vocabulary learning, especially in an EFL context. One of the few studies that examine this
aspect was conducted by Chen (1990), who compared two methods of teaching: using L1 and using pictures to teach
French words to Cantonese students. The participants in the test were required to use L2 for items congruent (i.e. L1 for
L1 translation) and incongruent (i.e. pictures for L1 translation). The results showed that the participants who learned
L2 with L1 were faster in translating the meanings, whereas the participants in the picture group performed better at
naming pictures. Nevertheless, the main effect of the learning method was not revealed. Similar techniques were
examined by Lotto and De Groot (1998), where two groups of Dutch students were introduced to Italian words. The
results were similar to Chen’s (1990) results that indicated the effect of congruency when the test items were similar to

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the method of learning. However, the main effect of the learning method was found in Lotto and De Groot’s (1998)
study.
In the EFL context, a recent study by Emirmustafaogua and Gökmena (2015) compared the impact of using pictures
and L1 on vocabulary retention for 75 young Turkish learners. The findings showed that both pictures groups and the
L1 group achieved equal levels of performance. After discussing some of the studies conducted on the effectiveness of
employing pictures in teaching new vocabulary, it can be noticed the findings in these studies are still contradicted.
Also, the focus of these studies was on comparing the pictures to the use of L1 rather than other teaching techniques.
Therefore, the current study aims to investigate the following research questions:
1. Is L1 as a vocabulary teaching technique more effective than multiple teaching techniques (synonym, body
language, pictures)?
2. Which one of these vocabulary teaching techniques, synonyms, body language and pictures, lead to better
vocabulary retention?

IV. METHODOLOGY
A. Participants
The sample in this study consisted of 162 male Saudi students in three intermediate schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The total number of participants was initially 170; however, some of them were excluded from the study due to their
absence in one of the post-tests. The participants were 13-14 years old and native speakers of Arabic. They had studied
English as a subject for four years, three years at primary school with two classes a week and one year at intermediate
school where each class was 45 minutes long at both the primary and intermediate school level.
B. Procedure
First, a pre-test was used to examine the participants’ knowledge of the target vocabulary. Fifteen words chosen from
the low frequency words were employed in the study. The frequency levels of the target words were determined using
Vocabulary Profiler, which is available on the Compleat Lexical Tutor website. The type of words was considered in
terms of possibility, if it could be explained by pictures, body language and synonyms. The pre-test asked the students
to provide the meaning of the target words. The students were divided into two groups. The first group was the L1
group where the target words were explained used only L1, while the second group was taught through synonyms, body
language and pictures. In the latter group, the target words were equally divided into three groups as each group
included five words and were taught using a certain technique. A post-test was conducted on the following day. One
month later, the delayed post-test was utilised. The maximum score in the tests was fifteen as each answer was given
one point.
C. Data Analysis
In order to examine the impact of the vocabulary teaching techniques employed in the study, the data were analysed
using SPSS. Means of the post-test and delayed post-test were measured. A T-test was also employed to find any
significant differences between the participants’ performance in the two study groups.

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

As noted in the previous section, this study was conducted in order to determine the effectiveness of L1 explanations
versus the use of synonyms, body language and pictures in L2 learning. Additionally, this study also compared the
effectiveness of synonyms, body language and pictures as individual techniques. The results of the word meaning recall
tests are presented in the current section, with each of the two research questions addressed based on the results of the
data analysis.
Q1: Is L2 language learning greater when using L1 explanations or when using alternative techniques (synonyms,
body language and pictures)?
In order to address the above research question, the test data were analysed in terms of the mean scores for the
correct test responses. Table 1, below, presents the results of the data analysis for the two groups (L1 explanations and
synonyms, body language and pictures), using post-test (1 day after the pre-test) and delayed post-test (1 month after
the post-test) scores, with mean values provided. Each of the tests contained items relevant to the specific teaching
approach used for each of the groups. As illustrated in the table, it can be seen that the mean scores for the group
instructed using synonyms, body language and pictures were higher across both tests (12.45 for the post-test and 6.18
for the delayed post-test). They were higher than the mean scores for the group instructed using only L1 vocabulary
(8.23 for the post-test and 1.95 for the delayed post-test).

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TABLE I.

Groups N Mean Std. Std. Error T-test Df Sig.

Deviation Mean
L1 group 82 8.23 3.305 0.365
-8.293 160 0.000
Test (1)

Multiple teaching techniques

80 12.45 3.166 0.354
group
L1 group 82 1.95 1.898 0.210
Test (2)

-7.454 103.495 0.000

Multiple teaching techniques
80 6.18 4.709 0.526
group

In order to compare the scores of the L1 vocabulary group with the group instructed using synonyms, body language
and pictures, an independent t-test was performed on the data for each of the tests (post-test and delayed post-test). The
results of the independent t-test indicate that language meaning recall was stronger amongst the group taught using
synonyms, body language and pictures than amongst the group taught using only L1 vocabulary. The differences
between the two groups were found to be statistically significant in both the post-test (t = - 8.293, p = 0.000) and the
delayed post-test (t = -7.454, p = 0.000) (see Table 1).
The results of the data analysis indicate that the retention of new L2 vocabulary is significantly impacted by the
teaching method involved, with the use of synonyms, body language and pictures appearing to be more effective than
the use of explanations in the learner’s native language alone. Given this, the results of the post-test and delayed post-
test indicate that the use of L1 explanations in combination with no other technique is insufficient when teaching new
words to L2 learners. This is an interesting finding, given that researchers such as Latsanyphone and Bouangeune
(2009), Pakzadian (2012) and Ramachandran and Rahim (2004) all found that L1 explanations had a positive impact on
language learning with regards to vocabulary acquisition. However, all these studies examined L2 language learning
from a different perspective compared to the present study, comparing the use of L1 and L2 languages. This could
account for the disparity between the current findings and the findings presented in these earlier works. Another point
worth noting is that some Saudi researchers, such as Al-Nofaie (2010) and Alshammari (2011), found that L1
explanations were viewed favourably by both English language learners and instructors when explaining the meaning of
unfamiliar L2 words. This indicates that despite the results obtained in the current study, L1 explanations are still
perceived positively in real-world language learning practice. The reason for this could be that learners feel more
comfortable using L1 vocabulary when dealing with new L2 words, therefore increasing their preference for L1
language support when learning to speak English.
As noted earlier in this article, a pre-test was conducted the day prior to the post-test. The purpose of the pre-test was
to assess learners’ baseline L2 proficiency. Based on the results of the pre-test, which showed that none of the learners
knew the meaning of the selected L2 words, the participants involved in the current study can be considered low-level
L2 learners. Whilst researchers such as Carson and Kashihara (2012), Debreli and Oyman (2015), Latsanyphone and
Bouangeune (2009) and Storch and Aldosari (2010) suggest that L1 vocabulary could be useful when teaching such
students, it appears that this has no significantly positive impact on learning new L2 words. Rather, the use of additional
techniques – such as synonyms, body language and pictures – is recommended in order to help learners retain the
meaning of unknown L2 words.
Q2: Is L2 word meaning retained more effectively using synonyms, body language or pictures?
Whilst the first research question presented in this paper sought to explore the effectiveness of L1 vocabulary in
comparison to the use of the selected alternative techniques (synonyms, body language and pictures), the second
research question focused on examining the effectiveness of each of the alternative techniques individually. Therefore,
each of the individual techniques was analysed for each of the two tests (post-test and delayed post-test). The results
pertaining to the second research question are now discussed. Table 2, below, illustrates the mean scores of all correct
responses during each of the tests, with “body language 1” referring to the body language technique in the post-test,
“body language 2” referring to the body language technique in the delayed post-test, and so on.

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TABLE II.
Groups N Mean Std. Std. Error T-test Df Sig.
Deviation Mean
Body language 1 80 3.89 1.467 0.164
0.000
Pair 1 10.234 79
Body language 2 80 1.83 1.806 0.202

Synonyms 1 80 4.04 1.409 0.158

Pair 2 12.531 79 0.000
Synonyms 2 80 1.71 1.700 0.190

Pictures 1 80 4.53 0.811 0.091

Pair 3 10.071 79 0.000
Pictures 2 80 2.64 1.708 0.191

Total 1 80 12.45 3.166 0.354

Pair 4 13.710 79 0.000
Total 2 80 6.18 4.709 0.526

The post-test analysis illustrates a mean score of 3.89 for the use of body language, 4.04 for the use of synonyms, and
4.53 for the use of pictures. With the mean score being greatest for the use of pictures when recalling the meaning of
new L2 words, the results of the analysis indicate that out of all of the three chosen techniques (synonyms, body
language, and pictures), the most effective technique instructors can use when teaching the meaning of new L2 words is
pictures. The second most effective technique is therefore suggested as synonyms, with the third most effective
technique being body language. The results of the delayed post-test, conducted one month after the post-test, suggest
similar implications, with the use of pictures having the highest mean score out of the three techniques, at 2.64. The use
of body language and synonyms were found to be slightly less effective based on the results of the delayed post-test,
with mean scores of 1.83 and 1.71, respectively.
These findings are in line with the results of other researchers, such as Chen (1990) and Lotto and De Groot (1998),
who compared the use of pictures in language teaching to the use of one other language teaching approach. Both studies
indicated that the acquisition of new words is significantly improved by using pictures to provide meaning. Conversely,
the findings presented in the current paper conflict with the findings of a recent existing study (i.e., Emirmustafaogua &
Gökmena, 2015) in which it was indicated that the use of L1 explanations, compared to the use of pictures for language
teaching, had no significant impact in terms of measured L2 learning outcomes.
With regards to the effectiveness of synonyms in teaching L2 learners the meaning of new words, the findings of the
present study are in accordance with that of earlier studies, such as those conducted by Latsanyphone and Bouangeune
(2009), Pakzadian (2012) and Ramachandran and Rahim (2004). Whilst these studies aimed to explore the use of L1
versus L2 vocabulary, the similarity between the findings of these studies and the current study regarding the impact of
synonym use remains noteworthy. Both the current study and these earlier studies indicate that the use of synonyms as a
L2 teaching tool is less effective than other techniques (such as the use of pictures) when teaching new words to L2
students. These findings therefore present valuable implications for language teachers and may be considered when
constructing teaching plans.
Body language was found to be the least effective of the three chosen L2 teaching methods based on post-test scores,
with the mean score for body language being similar to that of synonyms based on the analysis of delayed post-test
scores. Interestingly, previous researchers, such as Lanzaraton (2004), Rosborough (2014) and Sime (2006), presented
opposing findings in their research. It is possible that the disparity between the findings of these researchers and the
findings presented in the current study could be due to the non-experimental nature of the previous studies. Additionally,
the research instruments used in the previous studies were markedly different to the instruments adopted in the current
study, and none of the previous studies compared the impact of body language to the impact of other teaching methods
with regards to word meaning recall.

VI. CONCLUSION
This study seems to have been the first to examine the effectiveness of L1 as a vocabulary teaching technique versus
various vocabulary teaching techniques (synonyms, body language and pictures) in consolidating the meaning of new
words. The results revealed that the use of multiple vocabulary teaching techniques (synonyms, body language and
pictures) led to better retention. When a comparison was conducted between these techniques, employing pictures
achieved the highest scores in the tests while body language scored the least. The results emphasise the importance of
recruiting different vocabulary teaching techniques rather than the direct use of L1. Although this study has provided an
insight into the use of different vocabulary teaching techniques, it has examined only one aspect of vocabulary
knowledge, meaning. Therefore, it is suggested that further research can consider other aspects of vocabulary
knowledge.

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708 JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH

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Language Journal, 97(2), 397-416.‫‏‬DOI:‫‏‬ https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2013.12008.x.
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[30] Waring, H. Z., Creider, S. C., & Box, C. D. (2013). Explaining vocabulary in the second language classroom: A conversation
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JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH 709

Sultan Altalhab is an Assistant Professor at College of Education at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. He is interested in
teacher education and vocabulary research. He teaches undergraduate and postgraduate TESOL courses and supervises postgraduate
research projects. Email: [email protected]

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 710-723, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.06

Errors-based Rehabilitation within Phonological

Framework: Segmental Changes in Broca’s
Aphasia
I Ketut Wardana
Mahasaraswati Denpasar University, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia

I Nyoman Suparwa
Udayana University, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia

Made Budiarsa
Udayana University, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia

Anak Agung Putu Putra

Udayana University, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia

Abstract—The studies of phonological therapy for patients with both phonemic planning and articulatory
implementation deficits report the related dichotomy of anterior and posterior syndrome with psycholinguistic
model. However, there must be some investigation on segmental errors as input of rehabilitation within
phonological framework. This study investigates whether the errors-based rehabilitation model can encourage
two Balinese individuals with Broca's aphasia (KW and NS) to reduce the phonological errors. The results
showed that KW and NS performed different segmental errors and types of the phonological process even
though they suffered from identical non-fluent symptom. KW, in pre-intervention tended to present phonemes
substitution, omission and insertion errors which mostly occurred in the initial position of words and he
transposed the onset of the second syllable to the onset of the first syllable. Meanwhile, NS in some cases,
tended to transpose the phonemes randomly, inserted other segments – especially [nasal] and [lateral] between
two vowels (hiatuses) and altered the high complex segments with less complex ones. The phonological error-
based rehabilitation was effective to reduce the errors and the phonetic relaxation helped them exhibit minor
errors. This indicated that phonetic based training can stimulate the articulatory processing deficit as anterior
syndrome.

Index Terms—phonological errors, rehabilitation, non-fluent, generative phonology

I. INTRODUCTION
Phonological rehabilitation for speech output of patients with aphasia has been broadly conducted as linguistic and
clinical efforts to fix the phenomenon of both phonemic planning and phonetic processing errors. Many previous
rehabilitation studies on speech output of aphasics with phonemic planning deficit are concerned with phonological
analysis as theoretical bases on the phoneme substitution, omission and insertion errors. Robson et al (1998) applied
phonological awareness therapy by stimulating the patients' ability in articulating the first phonemes of syllable
structure, while Howard (1995) has applied semantic therapy including word-picture matching, finding meaning of
words, and explaining the word clues. For more specific analysis on impaired system of language function due to brain
pathology, many studies have referred to the psycholinguistic model. Muso et.al (1999) committed training the brain
flexibility of aphasics and measurement through the token test correlated to cerebral blood flow in their brain. In other
cases, Kendall et.al (2003), Pascoe, Stackhouse & Wells (2004) have applied the combination of those approaches.
Furthermore, to describe the correlation of phonological errors with the natural language function of the brain,
Kemmerer (2014) and Bambini (2012) have applied descriptive cognitive neuroscience in the prospective of
neurolinguistic approach. However, the phonological approach is worth applying to analyze and rehabilitate the
phonological errors.
The application of the patients’ phonological errors-based rehabilitation has not been conducted yet, therefore, those
errors are worth analyzing with phonological theory as an input of the intervention strategy. In addition, it is primarily
required to explore the process of errors-fixing efforts with a descriptive method without concerning the efficacy of the
outcomes that requires experimental approaches to generalize the results. The descriptive analysis focuses on both
phonemic planning deficit and articulatory implementation deficits because the failure of articulating the sounds by
Broca's aphasic patients is associated with the impaired phonetic processing level in anterior site. Gandour (1992) poses
that "articulatory implementation deficits are circumscribed to anterior lesions" (p. 207). Meanwhile, Bastiaanse,

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JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH 711

Gilbers & Linde (1994) underline that some Broca’s aphasics also produce a considerable number of phonemic errors,
due to a disorder in phonetic processing, namely, planning and executing the articulatory programmes.
Concerning the traditional dichotomy between anterior and posterior syndromes, Gandour (1998) describes that
anterior aphasics exhibit deficiencies in articulatory implementation, whereas the consonant production deficits of
posterior aphasics reflect problems of phonological nature (p. 210). For example, the Balinese word guru ‘teacher',
which is realized as [kulu] by a patient with Broca's aphasia is considered as the failure of phonemic processing because
one segment is substituted or inserted by another segment. These errors are assumed to be attributed to a breakdown in
phonological processing in the posterior zone, that is, in transforming the underspecified lexical phonological form into
a phonemic representation (Bastiaanse, Gilbers & Linde, 1994). However, some Broca's aphasic patients mainly exhibit
inaccurate articulation, prolongation and devoicing. Cera & Ortiz (2010) argue that distortion and devoicing are
considered as a substitution type of errors since one phoneme is replaced by another (p. 59). For this case, the analysis
of generative phonology is considered appropriate to describe the phenomenon. Meanwhile, the errors at a phonetic
level in the word guru above occurs due to the articulatory implementation deficits in temporal parameters of
consonants and vowels in segmental co-articulations of /g/ with /u/ and of /r/ with /u/. Romani & Calabrese (1998) put it
that in a cognitive framework, "phonological errors can be attributed to different stages of a production model: they may
arise because the correct entry in the phonological lexicon cannot be accessed because of an articulatory planning deficit.
If a sequence of phonemes is too complex to be produced, it may be simplified by deleting, inserting, substituting, or
transposing phonemes" (p. 83).
Considering that statement, phonological awareness therapy consists of principles, namely developing stimuli
programs, selecting certain procedure and purpose, and setting the material and therapy schedule. This procedure
requires some knowledge of what can be done by therapists and what can be performed by patients. There are three
principles of direct rehabilitation; (i) natural therapy is the oldest approach that claims the dysfunction of the brain and
the cause of aphasia can be restored so that it can function again; (ii) process approach therapy is conducted to modify
the process that causes the aphasia, including the increasing auditory and visual perception, activating cortex function in
reorganization, and reintegration of memory for language and the right hemisphere involvement; and (iii)
communication approach therapy is conducted to develop patients' communication modality even though she or he is
suffering from aphasia. Associated with natural therapy, Blumstein (1973), Novick et.al (2010), Sengkey & Pandeiroth.
(2014) and Kemmerer (2014) report that the damage to the left perisylvian language structures typically results in one
of the classic aphasia syndromes. Therefore, this study analyzes the segmental errors in two parameters, namely
consonants and vowels in a sequence of syllables produced by the patients and rehabilitate them by stimulating the
articulatory planning to achieve the closer-normal conditions. The rehabilitation model is applied not only to change the
condition of phonological errors but also to maintain communication awareness.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

As consideration, previous studies of aphasia therapy may provide a lot of empirical information, and one of the most
common is known as phonological awareness therapy. This type of phonological analysis-based therapy is a conception
of word-sound structure or from syllable to phoneme (Benson, 1979). Meanwhile, phoneme awareness is the subtype of
phonological awareness that refers to certain knowledge of every phoneme in a word (Hesketh, 2009). Stimulation
training is considered prominent and significant for aphasic patients in order to increase reorganization of
neuroplasticity in the cortical area (Robson et.al, 1998, Muso et al.1999, Hesketh et.al, 2000, Kendall et al. 2003,
Pascoe, Stackhouse & Wells, 2004). So, this study submits that phonological awareness therapy can strengthen the
stimulation.
Furthermore, Robson et.al (1998) claim that naming therapy effectively influences the preexisting condition of
anomia by generalizing other items. With the cognitive neuroscience approach, Muso et.al (1999) expose ‘Training-
induced brain plasticity in aphasia' in Brain describes the impaired naming aspects of four patients with aphasia due to
the lesion in superior temporal gyri. Kendall et.al (2003) claim that the phonologically-based treatment programme
utilized in the study was effective in the treatment of the indirect process with some effect of generalization to behaviors
such as consonant repetition, non-word repetition, real word repetition and auditory syllable discrimination. Meanwhile,
Radman et.al (2016) claim that left parietal temporal modified the brain networks engaged in the phonological-phonetic
processing during naming only in the trained language for the trained items.
However, the present study tries to provide evidence of phonological errors and rehabilitate the errors based on a
phonological approach. Related to the analysis of segmental errors, Gandour (1998) argues that "the recent theory of
generative phonology which analyzes features of phoneme substitution errors of aphasic patients is categorized as
phonemic errors recognized in hierarchical tree structure" (p. 209). Meanwhile, Schane (1992) claims that "the
phonological process can be explained as an articulatory phenomenon" (p. 61) and Gandour (1998) believes that
articulatory planning is operated in the anterior of the left brain, so there must be a natural way to stimulate the impaired
part. Gandour (1998) poses that anterior aphasics tend to produce phonetics errors due to the failure of a phonetic
processing stage ascribed to a breakdown in planning the phonological messages. The types of errors in the anterior
stage are distortion, prolongation, and devoicing. The failure to present correct sequences of sound precision is
characteristic for the speech of Broca's aphasia (Lesser, 1995), meaning, the Broca's aphasic patients do not have

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problems with selecting the right words, but in realizing them. Based on this notion, the phonological errors of Broca's
aphasia will be worth discussing and treating them with generative phonology and phonetic side of views. Several new
developments in phonetics and phonology emphasize that phonetic substance interacts with phonological structure
(Ziegler & Aichert, 2015).
The primary aim of the present study is to identify the types of segmental errors and investigate the phonetic
realization of speech output of patients with Broca's aphasia after a phonological errors-based rehabilitation model is
applied. The following research questions were posed: (1) What incorrect sounds are articulated in pre-intervention? (2)
How does the sequence of phonological errors-based rehabilitation model work? (3) What correct sound outputs are
produced after the intervention is conducted?

III. METHOD
A. Participants
The first participant, KW, is a 70-year-old, a right-handed male with a BA degree in teaching and was employed as
an elementary school teacher prior to the onset of a left middle cerebral artery cerebral vascular attack in 2017. The
second participant, NS is a 52-year-old, a right-handed male, and a wood carver. He had Broca's aphasia too and right
hemiplegia immediately following the non-hemorrhagic stroke (NHS) in 2018. Both participants had the same
syndrome of non-fluent aphasia, such as difficulties in repeating words, phonological anomia, naming, reading, and
writing. Mostly, they have problems initiating an utterance, with groping movements, multiple false attempts (as in
Balinese word ngelah ‘have' is realized as [gege.. ge.. ge.. ige ige ulih ŋalek ŋulih] and self-correction (as in word aluh
‘easy' is realized as [lul..al.luh]).
B. Instruments
The participants’ speech output was stimulated by different eliciting phonological tasks, e.g, and word-picture
matching stimulation. They were given phonological tasks consisting of 260 simple and complex target words. These
words or pictures mainly represented consonants and vowels in different distributions, including consonant clusters.
The speech was digitally recorded using a SONY MP3 player. The observation of the recorded speech was conducted
by classifying types of phonological errors including phonemes substitution, distortion, insertion, omission, and
metathesis. The segmental errors were counted and transcribed phonemically and phonetically in accordance with I.P.A
by one of the authors (INS). The data were copied and measured in speech analyzer to ensure the acoustic features of
single sound. The acoustic measurement may provide any phenomenon of articulation errors.
C. Procedures
Word naming, picture naming, spontaneous speech, and oral reading, which were performed by the participants, can
provide information about any syndrome of non-fluent aphasia, determination of sound severity and the change of
segmental errors. The speech output of the participants was obtained by observing and noting the segmental errors of
vowels and consonants. Every consonant error was classified based on the place and manner of articulation group, e.g.,
bilabial, alveolar, velar stop, alveolar fricative, alveo-palatal affricative, liquids or glides so that the description of
phonological errors can provide an accurate analysis. These inputs were then treated in a mechanism of errors-based
rehabilitation model which is grounded by the phonological approach. A program of speech training was applied to
know exactly the physical property of impaired sound and types of errors occurred. Therefore, the mechanism of
phonological rehabilitation was applied to fix them and to achieve a certain range of close to normal condition. The
concepts of the errors-based rehabilitation model are manifested in three strategies, such as phonetical relaxation,
suprasegmental repetition, and segmental simulation, each of which is supported by procedures and better segmental
change possibility. The mechanism of the error based rehabilitation model is presented below.

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TABLE I.
MECHANISM OF ERRORS –BASED REHABILITATION MODEL
Phonetic relaxation Suprasegmental drill Segmental simulation
Step 1 Inform the patients that the Words and pictures that were failed to The mechanism and objective of
rehabilitation is conducted to reduce be articulated correctly by the patients the phonological rehabilitation
the segmental errors, not to cure the were treated in this strategy, e.g, /siap/, were informed to the patients
medical condition. The program was /selem/, /panak/. The word was then before the training was conducted.
started with a supportive approach to uttered 3 times without any rhythm and
increase their motivation and melody and then recorded. Another
awareness of communication. recording was conducted to repeat those
words without melody.

Step 2 The identified segmental errors are The headset was put in patients’ left The segmental errors were repeated
classified based on the features, ears and the recorded words without in sequence with vowels
e.g, .main class features [+obstruent] melody were played. individually by the researcher and
namely [p, t, k, b, d, g, c, j, s, h] and the patient was asked to look at the
[+ sonoran] such as: [a, i, u, e, o, ǝ, m, action of the articulators, e.g., [p],
n, ŋ, y, w. r, l]. [b] or reverse order [b], [p] and [pa]
[ba] or [ba] [pa] simultaneously.

Step 3 The patients were requested to The patients repeated those words three Pictures that were started by stop
combine the consonant errors with times, /siap/, /selem/, /panak/.. /siap/, sounds were shown and the patients
vowels, e.g,; /na/, /na/, /si,/ /si/, /se/, /selem/, /panak/…and switch them in were asked to say and change the
/se/ , /la/, /la/ /le/ /le/ in rytm of a correct phrase //panak/, /siap /, / selem pictures that were started with
song. //. fricative and affricative sounds.

Step 4 The patients were shown pictures The head set was open and patients One sentence was uttered, a picture
concerned with treated sounds, e.g,. a were asked to repeat the words three was shown to patients, and they
picture of rice and sweet potato ‘nasi' times. [eyap], [kuleb], completed the last syllable e.g, :
and ‘sela' respectively. /nasi/, /sela/. [pilanak],[eyap], [kuleb], /panake tuni meli to...(pictures of
[pilanak],[pilanak],[eyap], [kuleb]. tomato).

Step 5 The picture of the words, e.g, ‘nasi The headset was put in patients’ right Words were repeated by cutting off
sela'were shown and the patients ears and the recorded words with the last syllable related to the
trained to utter more complex words melody or rhythm were played 3 times. pictures and completed by the
without context. patients.

Step 6 The patients were encouraged to The head set was opened and the Sequences of pictures that have
complete the eliciting words patients were asked to repeat the word more complex syllable patterns
concerning the pictures given e.g, they heard. //panak/ /siap/ selem//. The were given to the patients, and the
//tiaŋ meli……….//’ I buy ….{picture patients were given pictures referring to first syllable were left
of rice) or ask them /dija meli the words heard in the headset and unmentioned, and the patients
…where do you buy {picture of rice}. asked to say them. completed them.

Step 7 Evaluation was applied to measure the The patients were encouraged to train Patients mentioned the complex
level of phonological correctness the consonant errors in such a way, like words without the pictures or any
which was compared with the errors the word ‘ngelah’ which was said other clue. A combination of
in pre-intervention.. [gege.. ge.. ge.. ige ige ulih ŋalek segmental clusters was given to
ŋulih]. encourage the patients to practice
the articulators.

The level of severity and possible change of phonological errors were measured by counting the total number of
errors either in pre-intervention or post-intervention. The test, which was conducted in pre-intervention and post-
intervention, was used to measure the pre-existing speech outputs of the participant and the post-test was given after the
intervention of the error-based rehabilitation model was applied.
D. Data Analysis
A phonological analysis on segmental errors, including substitution, distortion, omission and insertion was carried
out and treated as inputs of intervention. All errors that occurred across all tasks were analyzed. This analysis was
performed based on the distinctive features model proposed by Schane (1992) and used the segments matrix for the
Balinese language. The features contained in this matrix include: syllabic, consonantal, sonorant, anterior, coronal,
continuant, strident, delayed release, nasal, lateral, high, low, back, rounded and voiced. The phonological process such
as assimilation, syllable structure, and simplification were observed in order to understand the reason of errors, e.g., the
influence of neighboring phonemes. All the inputs were then classified based on the grade of complexity in articulation:
stops → affricative → fricative → nasal → liquids → glides → vowels. The segmental errors were rehabilitated
through the error-based rehabilitation model. All changes or outputs were analyzed to understand the phonological
process by applying the theory of phonology. The number of errors in pre-intervention was compared with the
phonemes rehabilitation to find out the different value as the outputs of the present study. Any phenomenon found in
the rehabilitation was described as either phonetically or phonemically based features.

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

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A. Pre-intervention
The speech output of KW and NS was considered severe in terms of word naming, pictures naming, spontaneous
speech, and oral reading. In 65 words in naming tasks, KW made 21 correct realizations or 0.32 %, in picture naming
he made 25 or 0.40% correct phonemes, in answering questions, there were 19 or 0.29% correct phonemes, in oral
reading, he scored 22 or 0.34% correct sounds. Based on the criteria of 5 of aphasia severity rating scale of the Boston
test, KW had 1.35% correct sounds and 3.48% incorrect sounds. Meanwhile, 65 words in each task, NS in word naming
made 19 or 0.29 correct sounds, 27 or 0.41% correct sounds in picture naming, 15 or 0.23 correct phonemes in
answering the questions, and 13 or 0.20% correct phonemes in oral reading. NS had 1.13% correct and 3.87% incorrect
target words. Of the four types of errors, phonemes substitution errors were highly dominant and the least was
phonemes omission errors. The number of omissions occurred more in onset of syllables than in coda. These errors
were then counted and analyzed for further treatment.
Based on the distribution of phonological errors in 4 different phonological tasks, KW made 65% phonemes
substitution errors, 20% phonemes distortions, 5% omission errors and 10% insertion errors. NS made 68% phoneme
substitution errors, 20% distortion errors, 11% omission errors and 1% insertion errors. Considering the phonemes
substitution errors above, it was found that the stop sounds could not be articulated completely well due to the
complexity of closure articulation. The segments of /p/, /t/, /k/, /d/, /t/, /g/, /Ɂ/ were mainly substituted by unvoiced
alveolar fricative [s], as well as the trill sound /r/ was realized as lateral [l] in all positions because the patients could not
rise, vibrate and glide the tongue across the hard palate. This study supports the statement of Romani & Calabrese (1998)
that this type of simplification occurs in Broca’s aphasia due to "the failure in phonetic processing" (p. 83-84). So in
short, the patients simplified those stop sounds by substituting them with more sonorant segments in sonority scale
(Bastiaanse, Gilbers & Linde, 1994). From the articulatory deficits side of view, "the realization error of unvoiced
fricative sound was associated in such a way with place of articulation and difficulties in vibrating the vocal cords
during the process of phonation" (Lieberman & Blumstein 1988, p. 101). The articulation of [s] was easier to be
articulated due to the simple mechanism of releasing the airstream from the oral tract. Concerning the devoicing, as
Cera & Ortiz (2010) found that "the voiced segment was mostly affected by the unvoiced segments" (p. 60). A unique
phonological rule of the substitution errors uttered by KW was in the word of kasur ‘matrass’, which was realized as
[satul].
This study also found that the voiced segments /b/, /d/, /g/ were realized as unvoiced stop sounds [p], [t] and [k],
however the unvoiced segments such as /t/, /k/ were realized as voiced sound [n] and [b]. Some articulatory- based
segments, in this case, had forwarding processes, e.g., velar sounds [k], [g], [ŋ] were substituted by alveolar sounds [t],
[d], [n], [s] and [l]. The alveolar sounds were altered by bilabial sounds [p], [b], [m]. The complex articulation of /s/ or /
k/ was simplified by substituting them with a glottal fricative sound [h]. In small percentage, the unvoiced segments
were substituted by voiced segments. Referring to vowel substitution errors, the complexity of high vowels /i/, /u/ were
substituted by low vowel /a/ or lower unrounded vowel /o/ as well as tense vowels /i/, /u/, /e/ were substituted by lax
vowels /I/, /U/ and /ǝ/. Concerning the phonemes insertion errors, vowels that were mostly inserted were /i/, /o/, /u/, /ǝ/
meanwhile, the inserted consonants were mainly /h/, /k/, and /l/ in the onset of a syllable. This occurred mainly in onset.
e.g: the word manas ‘pineapple’ was realized as [manles]. The segment /l/ was at the onset of the second syllable.
Omission of /k/, /t/, and /p/, /y/, /w/ that occurred in initial, medial, and final distribution indicated the most complex
articulation to be produced by KW and NS.
B. Phonetic Relaxation
Based on the segmental errors above, it can be reported that the phonemic and phonetic errors in speech outputs
produced by the patients with Broca’s aphasia is considered significant for further rehabilitation processes. The first
strategy of the error-based rehabilitation model, which is called phonetic relaxation, was applied to stimulate the
phoneme and phonetic awareness to change the initial condition of articulatory deficits. The training was focused on the
way or how to combine one segment to another. The segments treated were [p], [t], [k], [b], [d], [g], [s], [c], [y], [r], [w]
in initial position and the trained vowels were /i/, /u/, /o/. The difference of sound outputs between pre-intervention and
post intervention of two participants can be presented below.
1. Speech Outputs of KW
After the sounds articulatory training in phonetic relaxation, the abnormal segments in speech outputs of KW became
closer to the normal variation in terms of either place or manner of articulation in sequencing sounds. Some segments
were not able to be sequenced with other segments though the participants were able to articulate them individually.
The difficulty of blending the sounds together made KW choose the less complex segments, e.g., from voiced features
to unvoiced, from high features to low, or from coronal feature to anterior. To find out the significance of the
rehabilitation, the segmental errors in pre-intervention and post intervention can be presented below.

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TABLE II
THE DISTRIBUTION OF ERRORS PRODUCED BY KW IN PHONETIC RELAXATION
No Word naming Target target segment Segment Segmental Post Segmental
word realization errors Intervention error
1 Roko ‘cigarette’ /roko/ /r/, /k/ [lokoh] [l], [h] [loko] [l]
2 Katos ‘tuff’ /katos/ /k/, /t/, /o/, /s/ [hastuh] [h], [u], [h] [katoh] [h]
3 Kapak ‘axe’ /kapak/ /k/ [hapah] [h] [papak] [k],
4 Matah ‘raw’ /matah/ /t/ [madah] [d] [mat..tah] -
5 Papat ‘four’ /papat/ /t/ [papas] [s] [papat] -
6 /sate/ /t/ [sake] [k] [sat…te] -

7 /siap/ /i/ [seap] [e] [siap] -

8 /tabuan/ /t/,/b/, /u/ [na naŋkuan] [n], [ŋ], [k] [tabian] [i]

9 /topoŋ/ /ŋ/ [topo] [ŋ] [topon] [ŋ]

10 /ǝntip/ /n/, /t/, /p/ [empil] [m], [p], [l] [pit..emtip] [m]

Total 23 17 6

The segmental errors, such as /r/, /h/, /k/, /s/, /o/, /d/, /e/, /t/, /ŋ/, and /m/, in pre-intervention were treated as target
segments for rehabilitation. After the treatment, the participants were able to produce some correct words and the
numbers of segmental errors were less even though the sounds /l/, /s/, /k/, and /m/ in certain positions remained
unchanged. The sound /s/ could not be articulated correctly and was substituted by glottal fricative /h/ at the end of
word if and only if it was proceeded by rounded middle back vowel /o/. It means that the complexity of a segment was
influenced by coarticulation and its position. The evidence presented that some high complex consonants could not be
articulated correctly in initial position, e.g,. /guru/ → [kulu], /guak/ → [kuak] but they were at ease when they appeared
in final distribution, eg. /bǝdeg/ → [bǝdeg]. The complex consonants could not be articulated in a coarticulation with
any vowels in initial distribution. Compared to a syndrome of self-correcting in initial distribution, KW was able to
reduce repeating first and last syllable, but he failed to articulate the high complex consonants in initial.
2. Speech Outputs of NS
NS was given the same phonological task to recognize his speech outputs, and his phonological errors were
rehabilitated with the same strategy. Though both participants suffered from the same type of aphasia, the segmental
errors might be quite different. NS tended to mutate the segment in different positions though every single segment was
correctly articulated. The segmental errors found were /b/, /j/, /k/, /s/, /b/, /ǝ/, /p/, /u/, /o/, /ŋ/, /ǝ/, /n/, /r/. These segments
were treated by applying the phonetic relaxation strategy to stimulate the articulator to blend and combine one segment
with another. The complex sounds were trained to achieve better articulation. The evidence of segmental errors in pre-
intervention and any change that occurred after post intervention can be presented below.
TABLE III.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF ERRORS PRODUCED BY NS IN PHONETIC RELAXATION
No Word naming Target word target Segment Segmental Post Intervention Segmental
segment realization errors error
1 Baju ‘shirt’ /baju/ /b/, /j/ [padu] [p], [d] [badu] [d]
2 Katos ‘tuff’ /katos/ /k/, /t/, /o/, [hatoh] [h], [s] [satos] [s]
/s/
3 Kapak ‘axe’ /kapak/ /k/, /k/ [tapak] [k] [kapak] -
4 Bata ‘brick’ /batǝ/ /b/, /t/, /ǝ/ [tato] [t], [o] [ba..toh] [o], [h]
5 Papat ‘four’ /papat/ /p/, /t/ [tapat] [t] [napat] [n]
6 /sate/ /s/, /t/ [cate] [p] [sace] [t]

7 /siap/ /i/ [ipas] - [sipa] -

8 /tabuan/ /t/,/b/, /u/ [tabian] [u] [tabuan] -

9 /topoŋ/ /ŋ/ [topǝn] [o], [ŋ] [topon] [n]

10 /ǝntip/ /n/, /t/, /p/ [nitip] /i/, /n/ [nentip] [n]

Total 23 14 8

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From 23 target consonants and vowels, NS made 14 phoneme substitution errors, however after the rehabilitation,
only 8 phoneme errors were made. From the phonetic processing side of view, the target phonemes, /p/, /d/, /h/, /s/, /k/,
/t/, /o/, /u/, /ŋ/, /n/ were not able to be realized by NS due to the high complex articulation. The rehabilitation focused on
blending the complex articulatory-based consonants, such as stop, fricative, and trill, with less complex vowels, such as
low, back, rounded and lax (/a/, /o/, /I/). After some training, patients were given the same words or pictures to say, and
there were some decreasing errors, either in terms of number or of articulation quality. The segments that remained
unchanged were /d/, /s/, /o/, /h/, /n/, /t/. It was observed that e.g., the unvoiced velar stop consonant /k/ and unvoiced
bilabial stop consonant /p/ in the word katos ‘tuff’ and papat ‘four’ could not be realized in onset due to the anterior
lesion and it was substituted by /h/ and /t/. It can be noted here that /k/ and /p/ are the least sonorant sounds in the
sonority scale, so they were altered by more sonorant segments, and they said [hatoh] and [tapak]. The decreasing
segmental errors before and after the phonetic relaxation was applied can be presented in the following Fig. 1.

Application of Phonetic relaxation

25

20

15

10

0
Target segments Segmental errors Rehabilitation errors

KW NS

Figure1: Decreasing segmental errors of KW and NS in phonetic relaxation

C. Suprasegmental Drills
Based on the observation, individual sounds were able to be pronounced by the patients under study, however, they
could not blend the sounds in sequencing syllables. The prosodic approach can be applied to help them sharpen the
target words because the right hemisphere stays in great function. In fact, the application of suprasegmental drills is
believed to be able to strengthen the role of the right hemisphere. The segments articulation may be so weak due to the
failure of articulatory processing, but the prosody remains heard. The patients were trained to blend the sounds by
drilling the segments with prosodic features, such as stress, intonation, and rhythm. To understand the sound outputs
between pre-intervention and post-intervention of the two participants, the difference of errors of the two patients can be
described below.
1. Speech outputs of KW
KW tended to make self-correcting efforts in naming or repeating words or pictures due to an incapability of judging
the appropriate segments by repeating first syllables, doing metathesis, and repeating the last syllables. The phonemic
errors were /u/, /s/, /b/, /t/, /ǝ/, /a/, /d/, /l/, /n/, /ɲ/, /y/, /k/, /s/, /ǝ/, /g/ in all positions, and they were substituted by [o], [h],
[l], [k], [s], [p], [t], [w], [n], [b], [ɲ]. However, after the rehabilitation, some errors may have been reduced and some
errors remained unchanged. There were some prolongation and devoicing cases which indicated a typical syndrome of
anterior lesion. To find out the significance of the rehabilitation, the segmental errors in pre-intervention and treated
segmental errors of KW in suprasegmental drills can be presented below.

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TABLE IV.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF ERRORS PRODUCED BY KW IN SUPRASEGMENTAL D RILLS
No Word naming Target target Segment Segmental Post Intervention Segmental
word segment realization errors error
1 tebu ‘sugar cane’ /tǝbu/ /u/ [tǝboh] [o], [h] [tǝ….bu] -
2 saab ‘cover’ /sa:b/ /s/, /b/ [laǝp] [l] [saeb] -
3 tatu ‘wound’ /tatu/ /t/, /u/ [akko] [k], [o] [tat..tou] [o]
4 bata ‘brick’ /batǝ/ /ǝ/ [da bat oh] [o], [h] [bat..to] [o]
5 atat ‘parrot’ /atat/ /a/, /t/ [satup-tep] [s], [p] [ta.tatap] [p]
6 dauh ‘west’ /daUh/ /d/, /h/ [taoup] [t], [p] [dauh] -
7 aduh ‘auch’ /adUh/ /d/ [pa.. atuh] [t] [pa..tuh] -
8 natad ‘lead’ / natad/ /n/, /t/, [na….tad] - [natad] -
9 dedalu ‘insect’ /dǝdalu/ /d/, /l/ [dǝdaluh] [h] [dǝdalu] -
10 nyambu ‘guava’ /ɲambu/ /ɲ/ [sawub] [s], [w] [nambu] [n]
11 menyan ‘wood’ /mǝɲan/ /ɲ/ [menan] [n] [mǝɲi..an] [i]
12 saput ‘blanket’ /sapUt/ /t/ [sapub] [b] [sa..put] -
13 yuyu ‘crab’ /yuyu/ /y/ [julUh] [y] [l], [h] [yu..yu] -
14 buaya ‘alligator’ /buayǝ/ /y/ [buanya] [ny] [bua.. iǝ] -
15 kasa ‘clothe’ /kasǝ/ /k/ [sasǝ sǝ] [s] [kas..sǝ] -
16 akah ‘root’ /akah/ /s/, h// [katas] [s] [a..kah] -
17 pulu ‘scale’ /pulu/ /u/, /l/ [pou] [l] [pu.puluh] [h]
18 guak ‘crow’ /guak/ /k/ [kuak ku] [k] [guah] [h]
19 legu ‘mosquito’ /lǝgu/ /u/ [lego] [o] [lǝbu] [b]
20 beteg ‘swollen’ /bǝtǝg/ /ǝ/, /g/ [botek] [o], [k] [bǝdǝg] -
Total 38 28 8

The features of target sounds in word naming [+coronal, +anterior, +back, + high] are mainly substituted by
segments with features of [anterior, +coronal, +rounded, + lateral]. High complex features were mainly substituted by
lower complex features. In a case of voicing as part of articulatory planning deficit, the segments with [+voiced] can be
substituted by segments with [-voiced] in certain environments, as presented in the following phonological rules in the
target word of aduh ‘ouch’ which was realized as [atuh].

The substitution of segment /d/ into [t] occurred only when it was sequenced with [u] in middle distribution. The
substitution of /k/ with [s] in the target word kase ‘clothe’ is mainly influenced by the following /s/ in second syllable. It
was found that the patient KW tended to transpose the segment in the second syllable to onset of the first syllable.
2. Speech outputs of NS
The speech output of KW and NS presented specific differences in processing phonemic representation into phonetic
realization though they suffered from the same aphasia. KW tended to transpose the syllable and self-correct the sound
by repeating the first or final syllable, however NS transposed the segments randomly or without any certain patterns.
Furthermore, NS tended to insert other segments when he failed to access the right sequence of phonemes because of an
articulatory planning deficit. The target segments /p/, /t/, /k/, /d/, /g/, /s/, /c/, /r/, /l/, /ɲ/, /i/, /e., /u/, /o/ and /ǝ/ were
realized in substitution, omission, or insertion processes as [p], [t], [d], [s], [c], [l], [i], [ǝ], [o], and [a]. The segmental
changes of the treated errors of NS in suprasegmental drills can be presented below.

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TABLE V.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF ERRORS PRODUCED BY NS IN SUPRASEGMENTAL DRILLS
No Word naming Target word target segment Segment Segmental Post Intervention Segmental
realization errors error
1 Pianak ‘child’ /pianak/ /p/, /l/, /k/ [pilanak] [l] [pinanak] [n]
2 Lelipi ‘snake’ /lǝlipi/ /l/, /p/ [tilǝtip] [t], [ǝ] [telǝpi] -
3 Saip ‘sieve’ /saIp/ /s/, /p/ [atip] [t] [sa…ip] -
4 Pecok ‘damge’ /pecok/ /e/, /c/, /o/ [pitak] [i], [t], [a] [petok] [c]
5 Tape ‘food’ /tape/ /t/ [cape] [c] [tape] -
6 Gatep ‘fruit’ /gatep/ /e/, /p/ [gatit] [a], [i], [p] [hatep] [h]
7 Pepek ‘spoil’ /pǝpǝk/ /ǝ/ [pǝpak] [a] [pǝpǝh] [h]
8 Dupa ‘stick’ /dupǝ/ /d/ [tupa] [t] [du..pa] -
9 Getep ‘cut’ /gǝtǝp/ /g/, /ǝ/ [tǝp..titǝp] [t], [i] [tǝtǝp] [t]
10 Pura ‘tempel’ /purǝ/ /r/ [pululǝ] [l] [pu.. lǝ] [l]
11 Alu ‘monitor’ /alu/ /u/ [alud] [d] [alu] -
12 Saup ‘grab’ /saup/ /s/ [aup] [s] [taup] [t]
13 Polih ‘obtain’ /polih/ /o/, /l/, /h/ [pepit] [e], [p], [t] [poleh] [e]
14 Nyumprit ‘fall’ /ɲumprit/ /ɲ/, /r/ [numplit] [n], [l] [num...pǝlit] -
15 Prembon ‘dance’ /prembon/ /p/, /e/ [tobron] [t], [o] [plem...nbonm] [n]
16 Prumpung ‘old’ / prumpuŋ/ /p/, /r/ [tlumpuŋ] [t], [l] [plun..mpuŋ] [n]
17 Semprong ‘pipe’ /semproŋ/ /s/, /r/ [tǝmploŋ] [t], [l] [senm..pron] [n]
18 Pragat ‘finish’ /pragat/ /r/, /g/ [plapat] [l], [p] [pla..gat] [l]
19 Pripit ‘stingy’ /pripit/ /p/, /r/, /i/ [tǝplit] [p], [l], [ǝ] [pli….plit] [l]
20 Uled ‘caterpilar’ /ulǝd/ /u/, /d/ [olep] [o], [p] [uh..lǝb] [h]
Total 38 36 14

From the 38 target segments, the phonological errors in pre-intervention were 36 segments, including substitution,
omission, insertion, and distortion and after the errors were treated through suprasegmental drills, NS could reduce the
transposing of segments, repeating syllables and substitution, and only 14 remained unchanged. From the final result of
the treatment, it was found that the number of errors remained in a small amount and the segments were selected by NS
because the target was so difficult to be accessed, such as stop, fricative and velar sounds which were altered by [n], [c],
[h], [t], [n], [l], and [e]. The reduction of sound errors in suprasegmental drills mirrors the effective influence of
blending the sound in the prosodic approach. The segmental errors, after this strategy was applied, can be presented in
the following figure Fig. 2.

Application of suprasegmental drills

40
30
20
10
0
Target segments Segmental errors Rehabilitation errors

KW NS

Figure 2: Decreasing segmental errors of KW and NS in suprasegmental drill

D. Segmental Simulation
The last strategy of the error-based rehabilitation model is called segmental simulation. This strategy can stimulate
the patients' phonological awareness to combine two or three segments. When the segment is articulated, the articulators
anticipate the coming segments’ usual vowels that can influence the change or modify the preceding segment, as, in
generative phonology, this process is known as assimilation. This strategy is applied to stimulate the phoneme and
phonetic awareness to change the initial condition of articulatory deficits. The use of pictures and words completion
involved in this strategy can stimulate the accuracy of articulatory judgment. Both patients were given the same training
but the treated words were different, depending on the target words they mostly made. The condition of phonological
errors in pre-intervention and post-intervention of two participants can be presented below.
1. Speech Outputs of KW
The efficacy of phonological rehabilitation for aphasic patients is considered significant and successful if the
therapists use various kinds of sensory stimuli, e.g., audio stimuli, such as songs, words-rhyme sequencing models and
visual stimuli, such as pictures, flash cards or any other signs applied in routine training. The increasing difficulty in
speech stimulation may result in a better achievement. The phonological errors rehabilitation can be analyzed by
different sides of theoretical views, e.g., brain function. Luria (1973) argues that the basic functional system in a brain
zone consists of primary, secondary and lateral areas. Therefore, it is underlined that the rehabilitation concept is

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concerned with restoration of a specific function. To find out the significance of the rehabilitation, the segmental errors
in pre-intervention and post-intervention can be presented below.
TABLE VI.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF ERRORS PRODUCED BY KW IN SEGMENTAL SIMULATION
No Word naming Target word Segment Post Intervention Segmental
realization error
1 Pianak ‘children’ /pianak/ [pilanak] → [l] [pi..pianak] -
Somah ‘husband’ /somah/ [omah] → [s] [..somah] -
Pianak somah ‘family’ /pianak somah/ [pinanak tomah]→ [n], [t] [pinanak somah] [n]
2 Tabia ‘papper’ /tabiǝ/ [tapi yǝ]→ [p], [y] [tadiǝ] [d]
Barak ‘red’ /barak/ [balak] → [l] [balrak] [l]
tabia-barak ‘red papper’ /tabiǝ barak/ [tabiyǝ banlak] → [n] [tabiǝ banlak] [n]
3 Nasi ‘rice’ /nasi/ [masih] → [m], [h] [nasi] -
Jagung ‘corn’ /jagung/ [dabuŋ] → [d], [b] [dabuŋ] [d], [b]
Nasi jagung ‘rice corn’ /nasi jagung/ [nasi..jaduŋ] [j], [d] [nasi..jaduŋ] [d]
4 Kuah ‘soup’ /kuah [guah] →[k] [kuah] -
Pindang ‘fish’ /pindaŋ/ [pimndaŋ] →[m] [mpi..ndaŋ] [m]
Kuah pindang ‘fish soup’ /kuah pindaŋ/ [kuah mpin.. daŋ] → [m] [kuah min.. daŋ] [m]
5 Biu ‘banana’ /biu/ [biyuk] → [k] [biyuk] [k]
Kayu ‘wood’ /kayu/ [kayu] [kayu] -
Biu kayu ‘banana’ /biu kayu/ [biyuh kayu] → [h] [biyuh kayu] [h]
6 Siap ‘chicken’ /siap/ [seap] → [e] [siap] -
Selem ‘black’ /sǝlǝm/ [pǝnlem] → [s], [n] [pǝnlem] [p]
Siap selem ‘black chicken’ /siap sǝlǝm/ [sa..siap pǝnlǝm]→ [p], [n] [sa..siap sǝnlǝm] [n]
7 Pura dalem ‘temple’ /purǝ dalǝm/ [pulǝ da..nlǝm]→ [l], [n] [pulǝ da..nlǝm] [n]
8 Krapat-kripit ‘slow action’ /krapat kripit/ [tolapat plip plit tit → [t], [l], [tolapat plip plit tit [t], [o], [l]
32 28 17

The segmental errors made by KW in pre-intervention were [l], [s], [n], [t], [p], [y], [l], [n], [m], [h], d], [b], [j], [d],
[k], [h], [e]. These errors were dominated by the features [+obstruent], [+nasal], [+liquid], [+glide] and [+vowel]. These
phonemes were treated for rehabilitation that resulted in the reduction of errors. Some segments in target words were
able to be well articulated, however some features of segments remained unchanged due to phonetically based
complexity features, such as [+nasal], [+obstruent], [+lateral], and [vowel]. The difficulties raised due to the inaccuracy
of articulatory processing are a typical syndrome of Broca’s aphasia.
1. Speech outputs of NS
Increasing the complexity of the words structure for sounds errors rehabilitation can help the patients practice
manipulating the articulators to produce correct phonetic realization. The patients were given more complex words that
consisted of consonant clusters. Both KW and NS could say single segment alone and segments in single sequencing
words but both of them could not produce two or three complex words at ease. It can be noticed that the more complex
the articulation works, the more substitution errors occur as well as the more complex the words are sequenced, the
harder the patients blend the sounds. NS made phonological errors in two complex compound words though he almost
uttered the single words correctly. The segments treated for rehabilitation were [t], [d], [k], [h], [l], [j], [y], [l], [ŋ], [e],
[u]. The segmental training focused on articulatory judgment on words by words in single sequence, and they were
stimulated with more complex two words. The segmental errors in pre-intervention and the change in post-intervention
can be presented below.

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TABLE VII.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF ERRORS PRODUCED BY NS IN SEGMENTAL SIMULATION
No Word naming Target word Segment Post Intervention Segmental
realization error
1 biu ‘banana’ /biu/ [biyuk] → [k] [bi..yu] -
matah ‘unripe’’ /matah/ [matah] [matah] -
biu matah ‘unripe benana’ /biu matah/ [biyuh mua..tah] → [u] [biu matah] -
2 payuk ‘pan’ /payuk/ [pauk]→ [y] [pah..yuk] [h]
prumpung ‘old’ /prumpuŋ/ [pǝlumpuŋ]→ [ǝ], [l] [tlumpun] [t], [l]
payuk prumpung ‘old pan’ /payuk prumpuŋ/ [payuh pun..puŋ] → [h], [l] [payuk pǝlunpun] [l]
3 kopi ‘coffee’ /kopi/ [kopik] →[k] [koh..pi] [h]
manis ‘manis’ /manis/ [manes] → [e] [manis] -
kopi manis ‘sweet coffee’ /kopi manis/ [kopih ma..nis] → [e] [kopi man..lis] [n]
4 kuah ‘soup’ /kuah/ [oah] → [k], [u] [kuah] -
pindang ‘fish’ /pindang/ [pindan] → [ŋ] [pim,ndaŋ] [m]
Kuah pindang ‘fish soup’ /kuah pindang/ [kuak ..piŋ.daŋ]→ [k], [ŋ] [kuah mpin daŋ] [m]
5 biu ‘banana’ /biu/ /biyuk/ → [k] [biyu] -
kayu ‘wood’ /kayu/ /kaju/→ [j] [kahyuh] [h]
biu kayu ‘a type of banana’ /biu kayu/ /biuh ka..kadu/→ [h], [d] [biu kayo] [o]
6 siap ‘chicken’ /siap/ /seyap/→ [e], [y] [si..ap] -
selem ‘black’ /selem/ /tǝlǝm/→ [t] [pǝn..lǝm] [p]
siap selem ‘black chicken’ /siap selem/ /siap kǝlǝm/ →[k] [siap nǝlǝm] [n]
7 pura dalem ‘temple’ /pura dalem/ /pululǝ dahlem/→ [l], [h] [pulǝ dalǝm] [l]
8 krapat-kripit ‘slow action’ /krapat-kripit/ kulapat tlipit..pit/→[l], [k] Klapat klinpit] [l]
32 27 14

The 27 segmental errors produced by NS in articulating those complex words consisted of the stop, fricative, and
lateral sounds. Those segments were treated for rehabilitation and resulted in the reduction of errors. The remaining
errors after rehabilitation were [p], [t], [m], [n], [l], [h] and [o]. The substitution errors mainly occurred when the right
sequence of phonemes could not be accessed because of information decays in a phonological output buffer. The
patients, in such a way, justified the difficulty by selecting low complex articulation. In the following Fig. 3, the
evidence of natural errors was investigated and revealed the decreasing errors after the segmental simulation was
applied.

Application of segmental simulation

35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Target segments Segmental errors Rehabilitation errors

KW NS

Figure 3: Decreasing segmental errors of KW and NS in segmental simulation

The phonological errors in post-intervention produced by KW and NS were much less than in pre-intervention.
Referring to the figure above, there was a reduction of errors quantity in vowels and consonants produced by KW and
NS. The character of articulation approached the normal variation. The description of errors in two parameters of
Balinese segments produced by patients with Broca's aphasia in the initial condition and the changes after rehabilitation
can be presented below.

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TABLE VIII.
THE SEGMENTAL CHANGES THROUGH PHONOLOGICAL ERRORS-BASED REHABILITATION MODEL
No Vowels/ consonant Phonemes substitution errors Error based Rehabilitation
1 i /i/ → [e], [a] /i/ → [I], [e]
2 e /e/ → [ǝ], [I], /e/ → [I]
3 u /u/ → [ǝ], [æ] /u/ → [U]
4 o /o/ → [ǝ], [U] /o/ → [o]
5 a /a/ → [ǝ], [o] /a/ → [a]
6 p /p/ → [p], [l] /p/ → [h]
7 t /t/ → [p], [h], [k], [s], [c] /t/ → [d]
8 k /k/→ [t], [g], [s], [h], /k/ → [p]
9 m /m/→ [b] /m/ → [m]
10 n /n/ → [m] /n/ → [n]
11 s /s/ → [t], [k]. [l], [w], /s/ → [n, [t]
12 c /c/→ [p], [s] /c/ → [t], [s].
13 j /j/ → [b], [l], [d], /j/ → []
14 h /h/→ [p], [s] /h/ → [?]
15 b /b/ → [p], [n] /b/ → [p]
16 d /d/ → [t], [b] /d/ → [t]
17 g /g/ → [k], [t],[d]. /g/ → [h], [b]
18 ɲ /ɲ/ → [n], [s], [ŋ] /ɲ/ → [n]
19 ŋ /ŋ/ → [m] /ŋ/ → [n]
20 r /r/ → [l] /r/ → [l]
21 w /w/→ [y], [r] dan [ɲ]. /w/ → [a]

The vowels substitution errors were considered rare, however, the alteration clearly appeared in the form of distortion
as typical speech output syndrome of the anterior lesion, e.g. the word ipah ‘brother in law' was realized as [aleh].
Distortion in phonetic errors refers to inaccurate and unrecognizable phonemes production (Darley, 1975). After the
vowel errors rehabilitation, the alteration of vowels occurred in the form of simplification, e.g tense vowel [i] was
altered by [I] and prolongation. It is not just because the vowels are easier to be produced but the training of articulatory
stimulation could bring habitual formation.
Phonological errors produced by the patients were influenced by some factors, such as level of articulatory planning
deficit, psychological readiness, and medical condition. Specifically, the phonemes substitution errors were mainly
caused by the inability to start the first phonemes of the words, to blend one sound with another, and to present the high
complexity of phonemes articulation. The phonological process occurred in terms of neighboring sounds which was, of
course, related to the articulatory base. NS could not start the first phoneme of the word sumping ‘cake', so he
substituted /s/ with [n] because the articulators anticipated the coming nasal /m/ resulting in an assimilation process
(Schane (1992), and that was why /sumpiŋ/ was realized as [numpiŋ]. Bastiaanse, Gilbers & Linde (1994) consider this
as a phoneme substitution sonority, a term that refers to the substitution of one segment in sonority group with another
segment which is only one level more sonorant in sonority scale leading to a syllable peak.

V. CONCLUSION
The answers to the research questions above can be summarized that KW and NS performed different segmental
errors and types of the phonological process even though they suffered from some identic syndromes of non-fluent
aphasia. The phonemic representation, which was obscured by phonetic realization, resulted in articulation errors. This
study revealed evidence that KW, in pre-intervention, tended to present phonemes substitution errors and a small
percentage of omission, and insertion errors which mostly occurred in the onset of syllables. He transposed the onset of
the second syllable to the onset of the first syllable. The patterns of articulatory deficits of KW showed the features of
[+stop]→[+fricative], [-anterior]→[+coronal], [-anterior, -coronal]→[+coronal], [+voiced] → [-voiced], [+high] → [-
high], and [-lateral] → [+lateral]. He could not articulate stop sounds completely in initial distribution well due to the
complexity of closure articulation as well as the trill sound /r/ was realized as lateral [l] in all positions because the
patients could not rise, vibrate and glide the tongue across the hard palate. Meanwhile, NS, in some cases, tended to
transpose the phonemes randomly, inserted other segments especially [+nasal] and [lateral] between two vowels
(hiatuses) and altered the high complex segments with less complex articulatory based segments. The omission and
insertion mostly occurred in the onset of the syllable. The more complex the sound was articulated, the more possibility
that the sound was substituted, especially by a more sonorant segment. The phonological error-based rehabilitation was
effective to reduce the errors of both patients in which the phonetic relaxation obtained minor errors. This indicated that
phonetic based training can stimulate the articulatory deficit of anterior syndrome. However, all strategy solved the
substitution errors which are influenced by neighboring segments in the featured groups of sonority scale.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors wish to thank the patients and their family for their assistance with this study, and acknowledge that this
research is supported in part by a grant from Indonesian lecturer's scholarship no 20161141111537. The committee of
Badung Regional Public Hospital has approved and permitted the authors to receive the data based on the privacy rights

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722 JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH

of patients. The authors report no conflict of interest associated with this work and the authors are responsible for the
content of this paper.

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I Ketut Wardana is a doctoral student in the faculty of Culture Study, Udayana University, Bali, Indonesia. He was born on 30 th
September 1971 in Bali. He earned his Bachelor of Education degree in 2008 and later a Masters of Linguistic degree with a special
focus on Gender Discourse in 2011 He is currently working on his Ph.D. project on the phonological disorder of patients with Broca's
aphasia. His interests are phonology and neurolinguistics.

I Nyoman Suparwa is a Professor in Linguistics at Udayana University, Bali, Indonesia. His Bachelor degree was earned at
Udayana University in 1984 and graduated his master degree in Linguistics from Hasanuddin University in 1993. He earned his
Doctorate degree in Linguistics from Udayana University in 2008. His research mainly focuses on phonetics and phonology. He
engages as a vice dean, a reviewer, and a supervisor of many theses and dissertations. He spends his time on numerous national and
international conferences, books and articles.

Made Budiarsa is a Professor in Linguistics at Udayana University, Bali, Indonesia. His Master degree in Linguistics was earned
from Sydney University in 1988 and his Doctorate degree in Linguistics was earned from Gajah Mada University, Jogyakarta,
Indonesia in 2006. His research mainly focuses on sociolinguistics and other wide range of linguistics. He engages as reviewer
supervisor of many theses and dissertations. He spends his time on numerous national and international conferences, books and
articles.

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JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH 723

Agung Putu Putra is a Doctor in inguistics at Udayana University, Bali, Indonesia. His Bachelor degree was earned at Udayana
University in 1985 and his master degree in Linguistics was earned at Hasanuddin University in 1993. He earned his Doctorate
degree in Linguistics from Udayana University in 2007. His research mainly focuses on dialectology and phonology. He engages as a
lecturer, a reviewer, and a supervisor of many theses and dissertations. He spends his time on numerous national and international
conferences, books and articles.

© 2019 ACADEMY PUBLICATION

ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 724-737, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.07

Familiarity with Collocations in EFL Context and

Strategies Utilized in Translating Them into
Arabic
Hussein Ali Habtoor
Dept. of English, Aden University, Yemen

Raisah Hamad Al-Swaidan

Dept. of English, Najran University, KSA

Abstract—This paper aims at examining the familiarity of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners at
Najran University with English collocations and the strategies being used when translating them into Arabic.
The data of this study are collected from 40 female EFL learners of the English Department at Najran
University. The participants’ familiarity with English collocations is measured by means of a two-part test
adopted from Gyllstad (2007). A translation test consisting of 48 collocations in both short texts and short
sentences has been used to determine the participants’ familiarity with translation strategies when translating
English collocations into Arabic. Results show that Najran University EFL learners’ knowledge of collocations
is unsatisfactory and below what is expected from them as English language major students. The results of the
Pearson correlation test indicate a positive relationship between the learners’ familiarity with English
collocations and their ability to translate them into Arabic using different translation strategies.

Index Terms—collocations, translation strategies, translation problems, familiarity with collocations,

vocabulary acquisition

I. INTRODUCTION
For a long time, the importance of vocabulary acquisition has been neglected and deemed secondary, and learning the
vocabulary of a new language has been considered to happen spontaneously. The low priority given to vocabulary
learning stems from long-established language teaching approaches that focus on grammar and phonology. Only in the
late 20th century did the teaching of vocabulary gain recognition, and many scholars and language teaching approaches
have emphasized teaching vocabulary (Koç 2006). Wilkins (1972) asserts that ‘[without] grammar very little can be
conveyed; without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed’ (p. 111). At the beginning, vocabulary teaching merely
focused on memorising long lists of bilingual words in isolation. However, this approach has been proven ineffective
when employing vocabulary in communicative situations (Alsakran 2011).
Collocation is a subcategory of word combination. Oxford Collocations Dictionary (2002) defines collocation as ‘the
way words combine in a language to produce natural-sounding speech and writing’ (p.7). McCarthy (1990) asserts that
collocation is ‘an important organising principle in the vocabulary of any language’ (p.12). The knowledge of
collocations is vital and is regarded as a requisite for translators. To render natural and comprehensible texts in the
target language that convey the spirit and essence of source language texts, the translator should have a good command
of collocations. Still, translating collocations is a major challenge even for the most professional translators (Baker,
1992, Brashi, 2005, Dewik and Abu Shakra, 2011). Hatim and Mason(1990) note the ‘danger that, even for experienced
translators, source language interference will occasionally escape unnoticed and an unnatural collocation will flaw the
target text’ (p. 204).
The difficulty of collocations can be attributed to its arbitrary nature; that is, no hard and fast rule exists in deciding
how words collocate with each other (Farrokh 2012). Zughoul (1991) asserts that ‘different languages have different
collocation modes; what collocates in one language does not necessarily collocate in another language’ (p.5). More
emphasis is still placed on single words rather than collocations in compiling dictionaries and learning languages (Koç,
2006). Husni and Newman (2015) note that ‘[an] Arabic English translator was, until relatively recently, hampered by
the dearth of dedicated lexicographical tools as general dictionaries are often not of great help’ (p.15). Moreover, the
learners’ knowledge of collocations is generally observed to be far behind their knowledge of single vocabulary items
because the kind of instruction they receive focuses on learning isolated vocabulary items (Farghal & Obiedat, 1995;
Huang, 2001; Nesselhauf, 2003; Zughoul & Abdul-Fattah, 2003).
A. Statement of the Problem
Despite its undeniable importance, collocations are underestimated by teachers, EFL individual learners or those who
are responsible for language learning planning. Vocabulary acquisition in language learning is still mainly focused on

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isolated words, whereas the learning of collocations is left to chance or to the individual efforts of learners and teachers.
As a result, learners continue to have difficulty with comprehension or production of collocations. Similarly, translating
collocations represents a huge challenge for students and professional translators. Thus, they tend to use some strategies
when trying to overcome the difficulties in translating collocations. The learners’ awareness of English collocations and
the strategies employed when translating them into Arabic have to be identified. If a correlation exists between the
learners’ familiarity with collocations and translation strategies, then it is important to allocate.
B. Purpose of the Study
Many EFL learners face difficulty in comprehending and producing collocations because of inefficient teaching and
the inherent properties of collocations. Similarly, translating collocations is a challenging task for many students, who
have to use various translation strategies when hampered by these difficulties. This study aims to find if a relationship
exists between EFL learners’ familiarity with collocations and their awareness of translation strategies. In addition, this
study attempts to shed light on some of the causes of students’ difficulty when translating collocations. It tries to answer
the following questions:
1. To what extent are Najran University EFL learners familiar with English collocations?
2. To what extent are Najran University EFL learners familiar with translation strategies in rendering English
collocations into Arabic?
3. Is there a relationship between Najran University EFL learners’ familiarity with English collocations and the
strategies they use to translate these collocations into Arabic?
4. What are the most common reasons behind the students’ difficulties when translating collocations?

II. RIVERVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. The Importance of Collocations
Under the heading of ‘The Beautiful Language of Collocation’, Gazalah (2007) notes that collocations are ‘the source
of [the language’s beauty in the sense of being aesthetic, expressive, effective and hence rhetorical. After all,
collocations are in the heart of rhetoric’(p.19). He asserts that the incorporation of collocations leads to a more
beautiful, colourful and expressive language. He clarifies his point by listing examples of some collocations and their
counterpart ordinary words (p. 20). Collocations constitute an important part of any language and the collocational
knowledge is an indispensable requirement for learning a language. Collocations comprise ‘up to 70% of everything we
say, hear, read or write’ (Hill, 2000, p.53). Therefore, collocations deserve more attention when teaching a language.
Language is acquired and produced in chunks rather than in individual words. The vocabulary repertoire of the native
speaker consists of a large number of ready-made chunks that facilitate the communication process and save the effort
of using long phrases. Therefore, the knowledge of collocations helps develop not only the linguistic lexicon but also
the ability to communicate naturally and effortlessly. As stated by Lewis (1997), ‘fluency is based on the acquisition of
a large store of fixed and semi-fixed prefabricated items’ (p.15).
Regardless of the fact that collocation plays a vital role in the receptive and productive skills of a language and helps
to improve the overall communicative ability, it has been neglected for a long time when teaching vocabulary, and the
focus has been on isolated words rather than ready-made chunks used by native speakers in oral or written
communication.
B. Problems in Translating Collocations
As mentioned, collocations can be regarded as a standard for judging the naturalness of a text. Consequently, being
able to translate collocations and obtaining the most appropriate equivalent is crucial for any translator. Collocation is a
fascinating aspect of languages and an indication of the competence of translators. Translating collocations is not an
easy task because it requires a high degree of skills and knowledge on the part of the translator given that finding
accurate collocational equivalents across languages is almost impossible. Thus, translating collocations imposes a huge
challenge on translators even the most experienced ones. In this respect, Newmark (1988)notes:
Translation is sometimes a continual struggle to find appropriate collocations, a process of connecting
appropriate nouns with verbs and verbs with nouns, and, in the second instance, collocating appropriate
adjectives to the nouns, and adverbs or adverbial groups to the verbs; in the third instance, collocating
appropriate connectives or conjunctions. (p.213)
One of the factors to which the difficulty of translating collocations can be attributed is the arbitrary nature of
collocations where the meaning of collocations cannot be predicted using syntactic or semantic rules, or what Rabeh
(2009, p.31) refers to as ‘the difficulty of generalisation’. For example, some English words collocate with one and the
same words, but the Arabic equivalent of these words do not necessarily collocate with the same words in Arabic.
In addition, Rabeh (2009) asserts that the ‘variability’ of collocations adds to the difficulty of learning and translating
collocations by EFL learners. That is, different collocations can denote the same meaning in English, but only a single
collocation is used to convey the same meaning in Arabic and vice versa.
The large number of collocations in English is one of the important factors behind the problems of collocations.
Many studies indicate that the number of collocations in English is by far much larger than the number of vocabulary

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items. ‘The BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English offers more than 70,000 combinations and phrases under a total of
14,000 entries and Collins COBUILD English Words in Use provides approximately 100,000 collocational examples
which are grouped around 5,000 headwords from the core vocabulary of modern English’ (Bahns, 1993, p. 59).
Consequently, this factor imposes difficulty when it comes to deciding which collocations to focus on in teaching.
The effect of learners’ mother tongue ‘1L transfer’ is amongst the most prominent factors to which the problematicity
of collocations can be attributed. Many previous studies which aim to figure out the sources of collocational errors
made by EFL learners have found that most of these errors are due to students’ reliance on their mother tongue
(Nesselhauf, 2003;Zughoul & Abdul-Fattah, 2003;Brashi 2005). When students are unsure of a correct collocation used
in the target language, they resort to their first language to compromise this linguistic deficiency, and the result is
mostly odd and unnatural because of the arbitrary nature of collocations and how they widely vary across different
languages.
Furthermore, the negligence of collocations in second and foreign language teaching and learning is another factor
behind the problematicity of collocations. Nation (2001, p.33) asserts that knowing a word entails incorporating three
categories: meaning, form and use. The knowledge of a word’s form refers to the knowledge of its written and spoken
forms. The knowledge of meaning calls for the incorporation of a number of constituents including references,
connotative meaning and sense relations. The use category covers the knowledge of the ‘collocational behaviour of the
word’ and the stylistic and grammatical constraints on the use of the word in a given linguistic context. The last
category, ‘the use of word’has received the least attention in contexts of teaching and learning vocabulary because of a
general tendency to focus on words in isolation without considering their neighbourhood and how they are used in
chunks.
C. Translation Strategies
Translation is not an easy task as a translator faces various problems in the process. To solve these problems, the
translator uses certain strategies. Hence, translation strategies can be defined as ‘procedures which the subjects employ
in order to solve translation problems’ (Lörscher, 2005,p.76-81).
Various taxonomies and classifications of translation strategies have been proposed by different scholars depending
on their perspectives of translation. Newmark (1988) argued that ‘when the translator is involved in the process of
translation, he is always trying to solve a thousand small problems in the context of a large one’ (p.8). Thus, Newmark
(1988)offered a number of strategies(p.45-46) to help translators deal with problems:1.Word-for-word translation
2.Literaltranslation 3.Faithful translation 4.Semantic translation 5.Adaptation 6.Free translation 7.Idiomatic
translation 8.Communicative translation. Baker (1992) regarded translation strategies as ways to handle ‘various types
of non-equivalence’ (p.26). She suggested eight strategies used by professional translators to deal with translation
problems:1. Translation by a more general word. 2.Translation by a more neutral/less expressive word 3.Translation by
cultural substitution 4. Translation using a loan word or a loan word with an explanation 5. Translation by paraphrase
using a related word 6. Translation by paraphrase using unrelated words.7. Translation by omission.8. Translation by
illustration. The linear set of translation strategies suggested by Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) is one of the most
comprehensive taxonomies that can be applied to most translation actions and also one of the most quoted taxonomies
of translation solutions. Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) proposed two general translation methods or strategies:1. Direct or
literal translation. 2. Indirect or oblique translation. The two main strategies are broken down into the following seven
subcategories (Vinay & Darbelnet 1995, p.31-39):
1. Direct or literal translation which consists of: 1. Borrowing 2. Calque 3. Literal translation.
2. Indirec or oblique translation which consists of: 1. Transposition 2. Modulation 3. Equivalence 4. Adaptation.
D. Empirical Studies
Collocations have been receiving close attention in the last two decades. Many studies have dealt with different
issues related to collocations in the EFL context. Although some studies have focused on the acquisition, learning and
production of collocations, others have spotlighted collocations from the viewpoint of translation.
Zughoul and Abdul-Fattah (2003) investigated the proficiency level of translating English collocations into Arabic by
Arab-speaking EFL learners and the strategies employed in translation. The results indicated that the overall
performance of the subjects in the target collocations is far from satisfactory. A total of 12 distinct communicative
strategies were also identified and characterised as avoidance, literal translation, substitution, overgeneralisation, quasi-
metaphorical similarity, assumed synonymity, derivativeness, imitation of literary style, idiomaticalness, paraphrase and
circumlocution, graphic ambiguity and false TL assumption.
Al-Sakran (2011) investigated the productive and receptive knowledge of lexical and grammatical collocations
amongst advanced Arabic-speaking learners of English. He also explored the effect of learning environment (whether
EFL or ESL) on the acquisition of collocations. The study showed that the ESL learners performed much better than the
EFL learners, which indicated that the learning environment had a strong effect on the performance of learners.
Generally, the study reveals that the collocational knowledge of Arab-speaking learners of English is unsatisfactory and
has made pedagogical suggestions to improve learners’ performance in this important aspect of language.
Noor and Adubaib (2011) conducted a study to determine the strategies which Saudi EFL learners employ in
producing collocations. Thirty students of Taibah University were given two tests: fill-in-the blank test accompanied by

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a self-checklist and a translation test. Additionally, interviews were conducted with the participants to learn about the
strategies they used in the given tasks. The analysis of the collected data indicated that the students produced
unacceptable collocations more frequently than the accepted ones. The study also showed that the participants
employed L2-based strategies more often than other strategies in producing acceptable and unacceptable collocations.
The order of the strategies which participants used in producing collocations was as follows: firstly, L2-based strategies;
secondly, L1-based strategies; thirdly, reduction strategies and lastly, test-taking strategies (p.589).
Shammas (2013) attempted to assess the comprehension and production of collocation of Master of Arts (MA)
students from four Arab universities. The results of the study showed that the overall performance of the students were
unsatisfactory and below what was expected from MA students. The four factors influencing students’ weakness in
comprehension and use of collocations were identified as follows:
‘1. Lack of knowledge of the collocations in question; 2. Shortage or even scarcity of Arabic–English or English–
Arabic collocation dictionaries; 3. Lack of consciousness of the role of collocation in expressing ‘meaning’ as intended
in context; 4. Lack of concentration on collocation in EFL or translation classes at Arab universities or schools’ (p.15).
Abdullah (2014) investigated the knowledge of English collocations amongst Sudanese English majors and attempted
to identify the causes of collocational errors. The results show a low level of collocational knowledge amongst the
Sudanese learners. The inadequate knowledge was attributed to ‘lexical overgeneralization and negative interlingual
transfer from the mother tongue’.
Hadi (2014) conducted a study to investigate Iraqi EFL learners’ use of English lexical collocations. The results of
this study showed that the participants’ overall performance was ‘disappointing’ because of linguistic incompetence. To
overcome this obstacle, the students made use of three translation strategies: literal transfer, generalisation and transfer.
Jabak, Abdullah and Mustafa (2016) examined the difficulties faced by undergraduate Saudi learners when translating
collocations and identified the reasons. Findings of the study showed that the difficulties when dealing with collocations
could be attributed to the following: 1) students’ heavy reliance on literal translation, 2) use of bilingual dictionaries
only, and 3) deficiency in knowledge of collocations in both the Arabic and English languages.
Many studies investigated the knowledge of collocations of Arabic-speaking EFL learners from different levels and
proved that English collocations were a serious problem for most of them. Other studies focused on the strategies that
students could use when translating English collocations into Arabic. The present study attempts to determine Najran
University EFL learners’ familiarity with English collocations and also with the strategies employed when translating
English collocations into Arabic. Moreover, this study aims to investigate a possible correlation between the learners’
familiarity with English collocations and the strategies they use when translating collocations into Arabic. Furthermore,
this study attempts to understand the underlying process of producing collocations that learners employ to compensate
for their deficient knowledge, and whether their knowledge is reflected on their ability to translate collocations.

III. METHODOLOGY
A. Participants
The participants in this study are 40 EFL Saudi female students chosen randomly from Level 6 of the English
Department of Najran University. The mean age of the participants was 22. All of the participants are native speakers of
Arabic, and none of them has lived in an English-speaking environment previously. They have passed the Translation 1
course and are currently attending the Translation 2 course. These selection criteria establish that the participants have a
good command of English and are aware of the translation process and its strategies.
B. Instruments
For this study, three data collection methods are used: a diagnostic test, a translation test and a questionnaire. The
diagnostic test is used to identify the students’ proficiency level in English collocations to determine how familiar they
are with this linguistic aspect. The translation test is conducted to examine the strategies employed by students when
translating collocations from English into Arabic and to determine the correlation between the participants’ knowledge
of English collocations and the strategies they use to translate them into Arabic. The questionnaire identifies some of
the common reasons behind the students’ difficulties in translating collocations.
1. Collocation Test (COLLEX and COLLMATCH)
The collocation test, a two-part test with a total mark of 50 points, is intended to elicit students’ perception and
familiarity with collocations. These two parts are adapted from Gyllstad’s (2007) collocating lexis (COLLEX) and
collocate matching (COLLMATCH), respectively. The first part only includes 25 multiple choice questions out of the
40 original items from COLLEX. Each test item contains three word-combination options, where one of the options is a
natural and frequently occurring combination in the English language and the other two items are not. Students are
asked to choose the answers that they think are the most natural and frequently occurring in English. Each correct
answer is equivalent to one point and the test has a total score of 25 points. The second part only uses10 out of 20 items
from COLLMATCH. Each item comprises of five English word sequences. The five-word sequence includes common
English word combinations and word combinations that do not occur naturally in English. The students are asked to
choose the English sequences which are natural and frequently used. Each correct sequence is given half a point. The
students are given points for ticking the correct sequences and for leaving or crossing out the incorrect sequences, and

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all the wrong choices or blank answers are given zero point. The total points in this part are25. The number of correct
and frequent combinations in this part is 34 while the number of incorrect ones is16. A total of 59 collocations are
employed in this two-part test and the English level of the students (advanced and upper intermediate levels) are
considered when choosing the items for these two parts.
2. Questionnaire
A two-part questionnaire was used to obtain the reasons for the students’ difficulties in translating collocations and
used a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). The first part included six items on
the students’ background knowledge of translation and collocations. The second part included eight items on some of
the most common sources of difficulties in translating collocations.
3. Translation Test
A two-parts translation test was used in this study. The aim of this test was to investigate the strategies employed by
the students when translating collocations from English into Arabic. In the first part, the students were asked to select
one of three given texts in which a number of common collocations were used and translate the selected text from
English into Arabic. All three texts were taken from the book English Collocations in Use: Advanced by O'Dell, and
McCarthy, (2008), Cambridge University Press. The second part includes10 relatively short English sentences
containing common collocations to be translated into Arabic. In constructing the two parts of the test, the level of
students was considered and all collocations in the test were commonly used and relatively easy and suitable to the
participants’ level (upper-intermediate or advanced learners) of English; thus, the students would not experience
difficulty in understanding the meaning of the given texts.
C. Procedures
1. Administering the Collocation Test
The collocation test was distributed amongst 40 EFL learners chosen randomly from 58 sixth-level students. Aside
from the written instructions, additional explanations on the idea of collocation and examples of English and Arabic
collocations were given to the students to establish that all of them had a clear idea of the concept in question.
Furthermore, the students were given clear instructions on the purpose of the test and the confidentiality of the given
personal information.
2. Administering the Questionnaire
The questionnaires were distributed to the same participants who had taken the collocation test. They were given
instructions on the purpose of the study. Explanations in English and Arabic were provided for those students who had
sought clarification on some items.
3. Administering the Translation Test
After ensuring that all the items were comprehensible and appropriate to the participants’ level, the translation test
was distributed to the same students. The participants were asked to perform the translation task without consulting
dictionaries or any other materials because the purpose of the test was to determine the participants’ actual familiarity
with collocations without resorting to any resources. Use of dictionaries in the translation test might lead some students
to depend on finding synonyms, thereby preventing them from employing different translation strategies.

IV. RESULTS
This section describes the analysis of the collected data from the different tools applied in this study using descriptive
and inferential statistics. The collected data are analysed using SPSS. Percentage of the used strategies in the translation
test as well as the frequencies, means and percentage of the participants’ responses in the questionnaire are calculated.
For inferential statistics, Pearson correlation test is employed to determine the relationship between learners’ knowledge
of collocations and their awareness of translation strategies when rendering English collocations into Arabic. One
sample t-test is employed to investigate the learners’ familiarity with English collocations and with translation strategies
when rendering collocations from English to Arabic.
A. Learners’ Familiarity with Collocations and Their Translation Strategies
To answer the first question ‘To what extent are Najran University EFL learners familiar with English collocations?’,
we conducted a descriptive analysis of the collocation test. In this analysis, we examined the difference between the
assumed test value = 5 and the mean of the students’ scores in the collocation test using one sample t-test. The results
are shown in Table1.
TABLE I.
RESULTS OF ONE SAMPLE T-TEST OF ENGLISH COLLOCATION KNOWLEDGE
N Mean SD Std. Error Mean t-test df sig
Collocations test 40 21.36 5.63 0.89 18.37 39 0.65

Table 1 shows that the mean score of the sample in the collocation test is 21.36 with a standard deviation score of
5.63 and no significant difference exists between the mean degree of the students in the collocation test and our
supposed mean =5 (where t-value = 18.3, p>0.05).

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One sample t-test of the participants’ scores in the translation test was used to investigate the extent to which the EFL
learners were familiar with the translation strategies in rendering English collocations into Arabic. The difference
between the assumed test value (5) and the mean of the participants’ scores was examined. Results are presented in
table 2.
TABLE II.
RESULTS OF ONE SAMPLE T-TEST OF ENGLISH TRANSLATION STRATEGIES
N Mean SD Std. Error Mean t-test df sig
Translation test 40 10.96 3.18 0.50 11.83 39 0.55

Table 2 shows that the mean score of the sample in the translation test is 10.96 with a standard deviation score =
3.18. No significant difference exists between the mean degree of the students’ scores in the translation test and our
supposed mean of 5 (t-value = 11.83, p>0.05).
B. Translation Strategies Employed by Learners in Rendering Collocations into Arabic
As previously mentioned, the results of the one sample t-test for the students’ marks, which are obtained in the
translation test, indicate that they face difficulty when translating English collocations into Arabic and the level of their
awareness of translation strategies for translating collocations is unsatisfactory. The following section focuses on the
analysis of the used strategies in the responses given by the students.
The translation test consists of two parts. The first part comprises of three texts in which the targeted collocations are
written in boldface letters and the participants are asked to translate any one of these texts. Amongst the study
participants, 16 students decided to translate the first text, 11 chose the second and 13translated the third one. Thus, the
frequency of translation strategies used by the students in translating collocations are presented separately for each text
and the average of the frequencies of the translation strategies used in the three texts is calculated. The second part
consists of 10 sentences and each sentence contains a common collocation written in boldface letters. The frequencies
of the translation strategies used in these sentences are calculated and the average of the percentages of the used
translation strategies in both parts of the test is calculated to achieve the translation strategies employed when rendering
collocations from English into Arabic.
1. First: The First Part of the Test: Translating Texts
a. Translation Strategies Used in the First Text.
Table 3 shows that synonyms are the most frequently used strategy for translating collocations into Arabic with a rate
of 20.9%, followed by literal translation with a rate of 18.03%. The strategy of deletion accounted for 11.7%.
Paraphrasing and elaboration are the least frequently used strategies with rates of 3.28% and 4.5%, respectively.
TABLE III.
FREQUENCY AND TOTAL PERCENTAGE OF UTILISATION OF TRANSLATION STRATEGIES IN THE FIRST TEXT
No.

Used
Strategy

Correct

Incorrect

Synonyms

Literal

Deletion

Paraphrasing

Elaboration

Collocation
1 Landed a fantastic job 4 1 4 6 1 -
2 Heavy workload 2 2 6 4 - 2 -
3 Unsocial hours 2 3 2 5 - 2 2
4 Menial task 1 4 6 4 2 - -
5 Run errands 0 4 5 5 2 - -
6 Unpaid overtime 5 2 4 5 - - -
7 Living wage 4 3 - 4 2 - 3
8 Throw a sickie 3 5 - 1 6 - -
9 Get the sack 2 5 1 1 5 2 -
10 Be prospect for 4 3 2 3 2 - 2
11 Sweated labour 2 4 2 5 2 - 1
12 Realise his potential 3 3 5 3 1 - 1
13 High turnover of staff 3 3 3 3 2 - 2
14 Stay the course 2 3 4 2 3 2 -
Total 37 45 44 51 28 8 11
Percentage(%) 15 18 18 21 12 3 5

b. Translation Strategies Used in the Second Text.

Table 4 shows the percentages of the used translation strategies. Synonyms are the leading strategy used by24.3% of
the students followed by literal translation with 17.1%, while 5% of the participants employ the strategy of deletion.
Paraphrasing and elaboration are the least used strategies with rates of 2.1%and 4.3%, respectively.

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TABLE IV.
FREQUENCY AND TOTAL PERCENTAGE OF UTILISATION
OF TRANSLATION STRATEGIES IN THE SECOND TEXT

Collocation

Correct

Incorrect

Synonyms

Literal

Deletion

Paraphrasing

Elaboration
Sheer luxury 2 2 3 3 1 - -
Unrivalled service 3 3 2 - -
Exclusive restaurant 4 1 3 - 1 - 2
Gracious living 2 4 2 2 - 1 -
Grand style 2 2 4 3 - -
Anti-ageing properties 4 3 1 2 - 1 -
Clinically proven 3 2 2 2 1 1 -
Banish wrinkles 4 2 2 1 1 - 1
Luxury cream - -
Fine lines 3 2 3 2 1 - -
Flawless complexion 3 3 3 2 - - -
Pile on pounds 2 2 3 4 - - -
Tasty snack 3 2 4 - - 2
Feel peckish 2 4 1 1 2 - 1
Frequency 37 29 34 24 7 3 6
Percentage(%) 26 21 24 17 5 2 4

c. Translation Strategies Used in the Third Text.

Table 5 indicates that 26.8% is the percentage of the students resorting to the strategy of synonyms, while 22% uses
literal translation. Paraphrasing is employed by 3.94% of students and deletion has a rate of 2.4%. Only 0.8% of the
students’ responses show the use of elaboration strategy.
TABLE V.
FREQUENCY AND PERCENTAGE OF UTILISATION
OF TRANSLATION STRATEGIES IN THE THIRD TEXT
No.

Collocation

Correct

Incorrect

Synonyms

Literal

Deletion

Paraphrasing

Elaboration

1 Pass law 2 2 5 4 - - -
2 Introduce regulation 4 3 3 2 - 1 -
3 Standardise procedure 3 2 4 2 1 1 -
4 Adhere to standards 4 2 4 2 - - 1
5 Comply with law 2 3 5 3 - - -
6 Have an obligation 3 2 3 3 2 - -
7 Carry out risk assessment 4 2 2 3 - - -
8 Breach of the law 4 3 2 3 1 - -
9 Minimise danger 3 2 4 4 - - -
10 Satisfy the requirement 4 3 2 2 1 1 -
Total frequency 33 24 34 28 5 3 1
Percentage (%) 26 19 27 22 3.9 2.4 0.8

The total percentage of the utilisation of translation strategies is calculated using the average of the percentages of the
utilisation of the translation strategies in the three texts. Table 6 indicates that synonyms are the most employed strategy
with a percentage of (23%), followed by literal translation (20%). Deletion is used at a rate of 6.88%, while
paraphrasing and elaboration are employed at a rate of 2.6% and 3.2%, respectively, as shown in table 6.
TABLE VI.
TOTAL PERCENTAGE OF UTILISATION OF
TRANSLATION STRATEGIES I N THE THREE TEXTS (%)
Text No.

Correct

Incorrect

Synonyms

Literal

Deletion

Paraphrasing

Elaboration

Text 1 (%) 15.2 18.4 18.03 20.9 11.7 3.28 4.5

Text 2 (%) 26.4 20.7 24.3 17.1 5 2.1 4.3
Text 3 (%) 26 18.9 26.8 22 3.94 2.4 0.8
Total percentage (%) 22.5 19.3 23 20 6.88 2.6 3.2

2. Second: The Second Part of the Test: Translating Sentences

Table 7 shows the total frequency and percentages of the strategies employed in learners’ responses. Synonym comes

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first (21.5%), followed by literal translation (22.5%). Deletion accounts for 4.3% of the strategies. Paraphrasing and
elaboration are the least used strategies with rates of 3.8% and 3%, respectively.
TABLE VII.
FREQUENCY AND TOTAL PERCENTAGE OF UTILISATION
OF TRANSLATION STRATEGIES IN THE SECOND PART OF THE TEST

No.

Collocation

Correct

Incorrect

Synonyms

Literal

Deletion

Paraphrasing

Elaboration
1 Brain drain 5 11 7 9 5 - 3
2 Keep in touch 10 9 9 7 3 2 -
3 Lame excuse 7 8 9 11 3 2 -
4 Go astray 11 10 8 9 1 1 -
5 Mood swings 11 7 911 8 - 1 2
6 Heavy rain 14 6 7 10 - 3 -
7 Make a decision 11 7 10 9 2 - 1
8 Break the record 10 9 7 10 - 2 2
9 Piece of advice 12 5 6 9 2 4 2
10 Terribly sorry 13 4 12 8 1 - 2
Total frequency 104 76 86 90 17 15 12
Percentage (%) 26 19 21.5 22.5 4.3 3.8 3

To determine the total percentage of the utilisation of translation strategies in the entire translation test, we calculate
the average of the percentage of translating the three texts and translating the sentences. Table 8 shows that synonyms
are the most frequently used strategy with a rate of22.25%. Literal translation comes second with 21.25% and deletion
strategy accounts for 5.6% of the given responses. Paraphrasing and elaboration are the least frequently used strategies
with rates of 3.2% and 3.1%, respectively.
TABLE VIII.
TOTAL PERCENTAGE OF UTILIZATION OF TRANSLATION
STRATEGIES IN THE ENTIRE TRANSLATION TEST (%)
Used
Strategy

Correct

Incorrect

Synonyms

Literal

Deletion

Paraphrasing

Elaboration
No. Type

1. Texts (%) 22.5 19 23 20 6.9 2.6 3.2

2. Sentences (%) 26 19 21.5 22.5 4.3 3.8 3
Total (%) 24 19 22 21.3 5.6 3.2 3.1

C. Relationship between EFL Learners’ Familiarity with English Collocations and Strategies Used to Translate Them
into Arabic
To determine the relationship between Najran University EFL learners’ familiarity with English collocations and the
strategies they use to translate them into Arabic, Pearson correlation test is run between the results of the two tests.
Results are shown in Table 9.
TABLE IX.
CORRELATION OF FAMILIARITY WITH ENGLISH COLLOCATION AND STRATEGIES TO TRANSLATE INTO ARABIC
Translation strategies
used
**
Familiarity Pearson Correlation 0.734
collocations Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000
N 40

The results indicate that a positive correlation exists between the EFL learners’ familiarity with English collocations
and their familiarity with strategies to translate them into Arabic (R=0.734, p<0). As the learners’ familiarity with
English collocations increases, their ability to translate English collocations into Arabic and to use appropriate
translation strategies shows a significant increase.
D. Reasons behind Students’ Difficulties While Translating Collocations into Arabic
To determine the most common reasons behind the students’ difficulties while translating collocations, we prepared
and distributed a questionnaire citing some of the common reasons behind the difficulty of translating collocations.
Frequencies, percentages and means of the responses are calculated to determine the most common causes of difficulty
and to find which of these causes constitute more difficulty than others. Results of the questionnaire are shown in the
table below.

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TABLE X.
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS OF Q UESTIONNAIRE ITEMS

Percentage
Frequency/

Agree
Strongly

Agree

decided
Not

Disagree

Disagree
Strongly

Mean

SD
Item

F 9 13 4 7 7
1. I am aware of the processes and methods of translation. 3.25 0.89
% 22.5 32.5 10 17.5 17.5
F 8 13 3 8 8
2. I am fully aware of collocations in English. 3.12 0.84
% 20 32.5 7.5 20 20
F 6 10 3 9 12
3. I am fully aware of collocations in Arabic. 2.72 0.47
% 15 25 7.5 22.5 20
4. I have taken some practice in collocations in my BA F 6 8 4 9 13
2.62 0.58
English programme. % 17.5 20 10 32.5 20
5. I have practised translation of collocations in my translation F 8 5 4 10 13
2.62 0.53
courses. % 20 12.5 10 25 32.5
6. I am aware of the kinds of texts given for translation F 6 8 3 11 12
2.62 0.60
practice. % 15 20 7.5 27.5 30
7. I have difficulty in translating collocations from Arabic to F 12 11 4 6 7
3.37 0.63
English. % 30 27.5 10 15 17.5
8. I have difficulty in translating collocations from English to F 13 10 2 9 6
3.37 0.71
Arabic. % 32.5 25 5 22.5 15
9. I have difficulty in translating idiomatic expressions in F 14 12 2 6 6
3.55 0.74
general. % 35 30 5 15 15
10. I cannot translate collocations because I do not have much F 13 14 2 6 5
3.60 0.84
exposure to the English culture. % 32.5 35 5 15 12.5
11. I have difficulty in translating collocations because I F 10 11 3 9 7
3.2 0.78
cannot find the accurate equivalent of the words. % 25 27.5 7.5 23.5 17.5
12. I understand the functions of English collocations within F 8 7 2 13 10
2.75 0.65
the vocabulary usage. % 20 17.5 5 32.5 25
13. The difference between the source language and the target F 11 14 3 6 6
3.45 0.67
language systems causes difficulty in translating collocations. % 27.5 35 7.5 15 15
14. The metaphorical use of collocations causes difficulty for F 10 11 2 9 8
3.15 0.74
me to translate them. % 25 27.5 5 22.5 20

Table 10 shows that 55% of the participants agree with item 1, with a mean of 3.25 and standard deviation of 0.89.
Responses to item 2 indicate that 40%of the participants agree on being fully aware of collocations in Arabic and
42.5%disagree on it. With a mean of 3.12 and standard deviation of 0.84, responses to item 3 reveal that 52.5%of the
participants agree on being aware of collocations in English while 40.5%disagree and admit to having a low level of
collocation knowledge. Responses to item 4with a mean of 2.62 and standard deviation 0.53 indicate that only 37.5% of
the participants agree to have some practice in collocations in the BA English programme, whereas 52.5% of the
participants disagree about having practice in collocations in the English programme and 10% are undecided.
With a mean of 2.62 and standard deviation of 0.60, response results to item 6 indicate that only 35% of the
participants approve of being aware of the types of texts given for translation practice, while 57.5% disapprove of being
aware of the types of texts given for translation practice. With a mean of 2.62 and standard deviation of 0.58, response
results to item 5 show that a high percentage (57.5%) of the participants disagree on having practice in the translation of
collocations in translation courses, while only 32.5%agree on having practice in the translation collocations in
translation courses. Results of items 7 and 8 show that more than half of the participants agree on experiencing
difficulty in translating collocations from Arabic into English (mean [3.37], standard deviation [0.63] and percentage
(57.5%]). Respondents also agree on facing difficulty when translating collocations from English into Arabic (mean
[3.3], standard deviation [0.71] and percentage [57.5%]).
The results of responses to item 9 indicate that a high percentage (65%) of the participants agree on facing difficulty
to translate idiomatic language in general. Responses to item 10 show that 67.5% of the participants view the lack of
exposure to English culture as a leading cause of their difficulty in translating collocations. Responses to item 11 reveal
that 52.5% of the participants agree on having difficulty in translating collocations because of the difficulty of finding
the accurate equivalent for the words, with a mean of 3.2 and standard deviation of 0.78.Furthermore, results of item 12
indicate that only 37.5% of the participants agree on understanding the functions of English collocations within the
vocabulary usage, with a mean of 2.75 and standard deviation of 0.65, whereas 57.5% disagree on understanding the
function of collocations. Item 13(‘the difference between the source language and target language systems causes
difficulty in translating collocations’) acquires a high percentage (62.5%) of participants’ agreement. Finally, responses
to item 14 show that 52.5% of the participants agree on attributing some of the difficulty of translating collocations to
the metaphoric use of collocations, with a mean of 3.15 and a standard deviation of 0.74.

V. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
A. Learners’ Familiarity with English Collocations

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The first question of the study is related to the extent to which Najran University EFL learners are familiar with
English collocations. A descriptive analysis of the students’ results in the collocation test by means of one sample t-test
is conducted to answer the question (see Table1). The results show that the mean of the students’ results is 21 out of 50,
which is below 50% of the total mark, thereby indicating that the level of the learners’ collocation knowledge is poor
and beneath what is expected from Level 6 university students majoring in English.
In addition, the results of the t-test show no significant difference between the mean degree of the students in
collocations and the supposed test value, thus supporting the alternative hypothesis of the study which is ‘EFL learners
at Najran University are familiar with English collocations'. Although the EFL learners are familiar with the notion of
English collocations, the level of their familiarity is unsatisfactory as an expectation from sixth-level university learners
specialising in the English language. This low level of familiarity is consistent with the results of many previous
studies, including Zughoul and Abdul-Fattah (2003), Abdullah (2010), Al-Sakran (2011), Shammas (2013) and Hadi
(2014), which have revealed that the learners’ knowledge of collocations is disappointing and stated that further
emphasis on collocations is needed in teaching vocabulary.
B. Learners’ Familiarity with Translation Strategies When Rendering English Collocations into Arabic
To answer the second question of the study, which refers to Najran University EFL learners’ familiarity with
translation strategies in rendering English collocations into Arabic, a descriptive analysis of the mean of the students’
marks in the translation test is run using one sample t-test (see Table 2). The results show that that the mean of the
students’ mark is 10.96(out of 20), indicating that the students’ level of translation strategies when rendering
collocations into Arabic is inadequate and below the expected level. Furthermore, the translation strategies they use do
not fulfil the purpose of using them in the first place and do not truly solve the translation problems encountered. Thus,
the students do not resort to effective translation strategies in the case of translating English collocations.
The learners’ difficulty with translating collocations and using appropriate translation strategies for this purpose is
consistent with the results of many studies that have investigated the same subject. According to Jabak, Abdullah and
Mustafa (2016), most Arab university learners face difficulty in translating collocations because of their heavy
utilisation of literal translation and their insufficient knowledge of both Arabic and English languages. The result is also
in accordance with the findings of Koç (2006) that ‘most strategies used by the EFL learners are not helpful.
Nevertheless, they provide a holistic picture of the processes that students undergo while generating the target
collocations and can be helpful for teachers of EFL to know’ (p.31). However, Shraideh and Mahadin (2015) have
found that MA students have a good knowledge of translating collocations using the appropriate translation strategies
unlike BA students who show lack of knowledge of translating collocations.
The results of the t-test also show that no significant difference exists between the mean degree of the students in the
translation test and the supposed test mean, thereby supporting the alternative hypothesis that ‘EFL learners at Najran
University are aware of translation strategies in rendering English collocations into Arabic’. Nevertheless, the level of
their awareness of translation strategies is inadequate and disappointing particularly as the students are expected to be
advanced learners of English and the used collocations in the test are familiar and commonly used in the English
language.
An analysis of the strategies used in rendering the given collocations into Arabic also show that due to the learners’
inadequate knowledge of collocations, they resort to five distinctive translation strategies: nearest synonyms, literal
translation, deletion, elaboration and paraphrasing (see Table 8). The following are brief descriptions of these strategies
and some samples that are obtained from the participants’ responses:
Near synonyms: This strategy comes as the most frequently used strategy, accounting for 22.25% of the responses.
The learners’ heavy reliance on using synonyms as a strategy can be attributed to their inadequate knowledge of
collocations, which prevents the free replacement of words by their synonyms or near synonyms. This fact is stated
clearly by Baker (1992) as follows: ‘words which we might think of as synonyms or near-synonyms will often have
quite different sets of collocates’(p. 47). Some examples of rendering of collocations using this strategy include the
translation of ‘pass law’ as ‫يمرر القانون‬.‘Lame excuses ’is translated by some participants into ‫أعذار غير مقبولة‬and
‘unrivalled service’ is successfully translated using this strategy into ‫خدمة ال تضاهى‬.
Literal translation: This strategy comes second as it is used by21.25% of the students and only with a slight
difference from synonyms. When the learners are hindered by their inefficient collocational knowledge, they resort to
literal translation of the components of collocations, i.e., word-for-word translation as the result of the learners’
negligence of the restricted nature of collocations and the fact that no one-to-one correspondence exists between the
source and the target language. ‘By employing literal translation to render collocations that carry certain semantic
messages, the message implied is often distorted leading to more ambiguity’ (Dweik and Abu Shakra, 2010, p.29).
Examples of given translations using this strategy include the translation of ‘brain drain’ as ‫تصريف الدماغ‬. Similarly,
some participants have translated ‘run errands’ literally into ‫ يشغل المهمات‬and ‘lame excuses’ is translated by some
participants into ‫أعذار عرجاء‬.
Deletion: This strategy accounts for5.6% of the given responses by the participants who use it. When employing this
strategy, learners ‘tend to abandon large units of the message in the SL as a result of incomprehensibility of semantic
units’ (Dweik and Abu Shakra, 2010, p. 20). Some examples of renditions using deletion include the translation of
‘menial tasks’ into ‫ القيام بالمهام‬and ‘sheer luxury’ into ‫الرخاء‬.

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Elaboration: Based on the results, this strategy is employed only by a small percentage (3.2%) of the participants.
Sometimes, when the translator faces difficulty in finding the direct equivalent of a given collocation, he/she may
elaborate or explain to overcome this difficulty. Examples include the translation of ‘clinically proven’ into ‫تم اختبار نتائجه‬
‫وإثبات أنه فعال‬. Similarly, ‘sweated labour’ is translated into‫يقوم بالكثير من األعمال المتعبة و التي تتطلب جهدا كبيرا‬and ‘brain
drain’ is translated into ‫ انتقال العلماء و المفكرين إلى الخارج‬.
Paraphrasing: This is the least employed strategy with only 3% of the given responses. To overcome their inefficient
knowledge of collocations, the participants paraphrase the meaning of collocations using their own words, but‘ this
strategy is not highly recommended in translating collocations because it does not bring the source text effects to the
reader’ (Sharidah and Mahadain,2015, p.373). Examples such as ‘realise his potential’ is translated by some participants
into‫حتى يمكنه تحقيق التقدم في وظيفته‬. Similarly, ‘mood swings ’is translated into ‫سوء المزاج‬.
Some of the collocations under question in the translation test constitute more difficulty for the students than the
other collocations such as ‘menial tasks’, ‘run errands’, ‘pile on pounds’, ‘feel peckish’, ‘brain drain’ and ‘throw a
sickie’. These collocations received a fewer number of correct answers because of the following factors:1) the
collocations are less common to the participants than the other items, 2) the collocations are less congruent with their
mother tongue and 3) the translation strategies which the participants heavily relied on such as synonyms and literal
translation do not help achieve the meaning of these items. The items which have received more correct answers include
‘unpaid overtime’, ‘banish wrinkles’, ‘anti-ageing properties’, ‘breach the law’, ‘adhere to standards’, ‘keep in touch’,
‘heavy rain’ and ‘terribly sorry’. These items seem easier because they are more common to the participants. These
collocations are also more congruent with Arabic as ‘the first language interferes positively with congruent collocations
but it does not help with the non-congruent ones’ (Migdad, 2012, p.88). In the case of congruent collocations, the
heavily used translation strategies (synonyms and literal translation) help in arriving at the correct meaning of these
items.
C. Correlation between Learners’ Familiarity with English Collocations and Strategies Used in Rendering
Collocations into Arabic
To answer the third question, which refers to the relation between Najran University EFL learners’ familiarity with
English collocations and the strategies they use to translate them into Arabic, the Pearson correlation test is used. The
results of this test show a significant correlation between the learners’ familiarity with English collocations and their
ability to translate collocations and consequently use the proper strategies that yield acceptable translations (see Table
9). This result indicates that the more the learner is familiar with collocations, the better is his/her use of strategies when
translating them into Arabic. The learners’ knowledge of English collocations will reflect on his/her ability to translate
and employ the appropriate translation strategies when translating them into Arabic. These results are in parallel with
the findings of Noor and Adubaib (2011) who asserted that the teaching of collocational strategies may not help
improve the production of acceptable collocations, whereas the explicit teaching of collocations is more effective in
improving the production of acceptable collocations. This view is in accordance with the findings of Bialystok (1990)
who believes that ‘the more language the learner knows, the more possibilities exist for the system to be flexible and
adjust itself to meet the demands of the learner. What one must teach students of a language is not strategy, but
language’ (p. 147).
D. Reasons behind Students’ Difficulties While Translating Collocations
To investigate the learners’ difficulties while translating collocations, a questionnaire on the students’ difficulties in
translating collocations was developed and distributed amongst the same participants who had answered the collocation
and translation tests. Frequencies, percentage and means of responses are calculated to find out the most common
causes of the students’ difficulty in translating English collocations into Arabic (see Table 4-10). The reasons presented
in the questionnaire can be categorised into two dimensions. One of them is related to the students’ background and the
kind of education they have received on collocations and translation. The second dimension is related to the students’
perspective of the difficulty in translating Arabic and English collocations and some possible reasons which are related
to the inherent properties of collocations. The results show that the learners agree to most of the given items and see
them as reasons behind the difficulty in translating collocations. The items of the second dimension are observed to
constitute greater difficulty faced by the students than the items of the first dimension.
The first and the second items, ‘I am aware of the process and methods of translation’ and ‘I am fully aware of
collocations in English, ’have received 55% and 52.5% of the students’ agreement, respectively, thereby indicating that
the learners do not consider their familiarity with translation and its process and their familiarity with collocations as
causes of the difficulty in translating collocations because 35% and 40% have disagreed with these two items,
respectively. The results of these items support the results of collocations and translation test in this study, but the level
of the students’ familiarity is unsatisfactory as indicated by this study and many previous studies in this domain. The
results of the third item, ‘I am fully aware of collocations in Arabic, ’indicates that the participants are less familiar with
Arabic collocations than with English collocations because the former are rarely discussed in the general curriculum
and is taken for granted when teaching native speakers of a given language. The students also take some of the
responsibility for their insufficient knowledge of Arabic Collocations. The learners’ limited knowledge of Arabic

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collocations contribute to their low level in translating collocations because translation is a process that entails mastery
of both the source and target languages.
The results of item 4 show that 52.5% of the students do not agree on having enough practice in collocations in the
BA programme, whereas students’ responses to item 5 show that a high percentage (57.5%) do not agree on having
practice in translating collocations. Results of item 6 reveal that 57.5% of the students are unaware of the type of texts
used in translation practice. The results of items 4,5 and 6 indicate that the students agree on attributing some of the
causes of their difficulty in translating collocations to the curriculum and instruction they have received.
Items 7 and 8, which are about facing difficulty in translating collocations from Arabic into English and vice versa,
both have a mean of 3.37 and rates of 56% and 65%, respectively, which show the students’ agreement on facing
difficulty in translating collocations. Item 9, ‘I experience difficulty in translating idiomatic language in general, ’which
has a mean of 3.55 and agreement rate of 65%, is the second cause of learners’ difficulty when translating collocations.
The results of responses to item 10, ‘I cannot translate collocations because I do not have much exposure to English
culture,’ show that this item, with a percentage of 67.5% and a mean of 3.6, has the highest percentage of agreement as
a cause of difficulty in translating collocations. Item 13, ‘The difference between the source language and target
language systems causes difficulty in translating collocations, ’is the third most common cause of the difficulty with a
mean of 3.45 and agreement rate of 62.5%. The first three common reasons for the learners’ difficulty in translating are
the properties of collocations and source and target languages. The importance of the culture associated with the
language is emphasised by many studies on the translation of collocations including that of Nofal (2012) who considers
the cultural awareness of the source and target languages as a prerequisite for a successful translation. The difficulty in
translating idiomatic language has been confirmed by many researchers including Juma’a (2014) and Ali and Al-
Rushaidi(2016). The differences between the linguistic systems of the source and the target language as a cause of the
difficulty in translating collocations is confirmed by Sarikas (2006).
Furthermore, results of items 11 and 14 reveal that a large group of students view the lack of equivalents of some
collocations and their metaphorical use as causes of the difficulty when translating collocations (rate of agreement is
52.5% for both items). These results are in accordance with many studies, including Zughoul (1991) and Zughoul and
Abdul-Fattah (2013), which consider the lack of equivalence as a cause of the difficulty in translating collocations,
thereby explaining why most of the students resort to the strategies of synonymity and literal translation when
translating collocations. Shraidah and Mahadin (2015) show that synonym and literal translation are the most frequently
used strategies by MA and BA students when translating collocations.

VI. CONCLUSION
Although the importance of collocations has been recognised by scholars in the last two decades, EFL learners’
knowledge remains inadequate as indicated by the results of many previous studies in this domain. The present study is
in accordance with many previous studies in the sense that the findings reveal a low level of EFL learners’ collocational
knowledge and a low level of familiarity with strategies when rendering English collocations into Arabic as the learners
relied heavily on strategies, such as synonyms and literal translation, which yield unacceptable and odd collocations.
In addition, this study reveals a significant correlation between the learners’ familiarity with collocations and with
translation strategies when translating English collocations into Arabic. These findings suggest that the learners’
knowledge of collocations is reflected in their ability to translate them, thus indicating that expanding the EFL learners’
repertoire of collocations is more effective than focusing on teaching strategies for translating collocations.
Furthermore, the present study attributes the difficulties of learning and translating to several factors. Some of them are
related to the inherent properties of collocations, others are related to the curriculum and teaching material design and
the rest are attributed to language teachers and the learners themselves. Consequently, collaborative and comprehensive
work is necessary in the future. All the parties involved in the learning and teaching process should work together to
overcome the difficulties faced by learners in comprehending, producing and translating collocations.

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2/3/2018 ).

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[38] Zughoul, M. R. (1991). Lexical choice: Towards writing problematic word lists. International Review of Applied Linguistics,
29(1), 45-60.
[39] Zughoul, M. R., & Abdul-Fattah, H. (2003). Translational collocational strategies of Arab learners of English: A study in
lexical semantics. Babel, 49(1), 59-81.

Hussein Ali Habtoor is an associate professor of applied linguistics at the University of Aden, YEMEN. He
worked at King Saud University, Riyadh from 2007 till 2009. He is currently in a sabbatical at the University
of Najran in KSA as an associate professor of applied linguistics. His interests include Second Language
Acquisition, Reading in Second Language Research, Translation Studies and Critical Discourse Analysis. He
is an editorial member of a number of international journals and he is currently supervising a number of M.A.
research students at the programme of Applied Linguistics at Najran University

Raisah Hamad Al-Swaidan is a lecturer at the Department of English at the University of Najran, KSA. She did her M.A.
research in Applied Linguistics at the University of Najran. Her interests include Second language Acquisition Research and
Vocabulary Acquisition.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 738-746, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.08

Translation Procedure of Happy Emotion of

English into Indonesian in Kṛṣṇa Text
I Wayan Suryasa
STIKOM Bali, Denpasar, Indonesia

I Nengah Sudipa
Udayana University, Denpasar, Indonesia

Ida Ayu Made Puspani

Udayana University, Denpasar, Indonesia

I Made Netra
Udayana University, Denpasar, Indonesia

Abstract—The current study is aimed at identifying the translation procedure of happy emotion of English into
Indonesian. The emotion of happy is translated into several words included bahagia, senang, suka, lega,
kesenangan, gembira ria, riang, ceria, patah hati, and tenteram. The structural and metalinguistic differences
between language and culture, the effects of certain styles cannot be achieved without disturbing lexis or
syntactic order in the target language. In such cases, it is a more complex procedure must be used to convey
the meaning of the source text. It may looks quite modern, or even unusual, indirect translation procedure
allow translators to exercise over strict control the reliability of their efforts. The cultural system owned in SL
and TL is at a high level and/or high context. It prioritizes positive emotions, positive thinking, and positive
face rather than negative emotions. It is possible to be an evaluative the emotion in a part or fully their
configuration meaning and explication technique. The most of emotive words has a positive evaluation
regarded to positive feelings. It is categorized as a style and strategy communication.

Index Terms—culture, emotion, happy, translation procedure, transposition

I. INTRODUCTION
Emotion is the humans complex expression involved feelings, environment, desires, psychological changes, and self-
control (Wierzbicka, 2010). The emotions fundamentally are interests, joy, wonder, sadness, anger, disgust, contempt,
fear, shame, and sin (Wierzbicka, 1992). It is whatever stated by the humans must be based on certain emotions. The
study therefore on the translation of emotion is very important and how important the study on, it can be seen from a
philosophical rationally and an empirical point.
Regarding the philosophical rationally, the basic nature of the research is motivated by the epistemological aspects of
the translation from the Source Language (SL) to Target Language (TL). The meaning or message to be conveyed can
be through language or/with a sign system. In order to transfer the meaning is a basic principle of the translation. The
translation involves the form, function, and meaning through the semantic structure. The meaning is transferred and
must be preserved, however, the form can be changed. Larson (1998), argued that translation defined studying lexicons,
grammatical structures, communication situations, and the cultural context of SL. Observing the text in SL for its
equivalent on TL. The main basically thing is how to re-express the meaning of using a lexicon and grammatical
structure in accordance with the cultural context.
The study empirically has been conducted by Sumaranama (2015), about the emotions approached on the translation.
It was found direct and oblique procedures were applied evenly to the translation of negative emotions. This research
proved that translations and semantics were related and support each other in the analysis of the negative emotions.
Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) analysis especially that created a significant contribution about understanding
the lexicon studied. Therefore it is not shown to look for equivalence, but also how to convey the scenario cognitively,
and their effects in the translation results. It was all able to do with the NSM theory (Wierzbicka, 1986; 1990; 1992;
1994; 1995; 1999; 1999; 2003; 2009; 2010). This study has completed previous research of the translation to identify
the translation procedure of the positive emotions, espicailly happy in Kṛṣṇa text.

II. METHODS
This research method used the paradigm of phenomenological perspective thinking. Ricouer (2005), stated the
purpose of phenomenological research was to explain the essential meaning of the objects of observation through a

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phenomenal study. Husserl (2005), defined the research can also be conducted of dismantling ideas at reducing the
phenomenology of the world (spatiotemporal).
The research was qualitative descriptive. It was translation research that viewed translation as a product. The
problems and the focus of the research were determined in the proposal research before the researcher explored in the
test (Sutopo, 2002). The data was collected from the textbook titled Kṛṣṇa: The Supreme Personality of Godhead
(English version) and its TL titled Kṛṣṇa: Personalitas Tuhan Yang Maha Esa (Indonesian version). The research was
focused on the positive emotion of happy in the SL with reference to the TL. In order to identify its translation
procedure, the theory applied in the present article was Vinay and Darbelnet (2000) and supported by the theory of the
cultural scripts (Wierzbicka, 1994; Goddard, 1997; 2000; 2004). Something good happened concept of emotion
regarded happy was adapted from the scenario cognitive (Wierzbicka, 1999). The procedure of direct and oblique
translation is presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The procedure of direct and oblique translation (Vinay and Darbelnet, 2000)

Vinay and Darbelnet (2000: 84-93), stated the translation procedure can be divided into two; (a) direct translation
(borrowing, kalke, and literal, (b) oblique translation (transposition, modulation, equivalence, and adaptation).

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

There are several words of emotion that express emotion about something good happens, one of them is happy. The
emotion of happy can be translated into several words of emotion in the TL. An emotion of happy and its translation is
presented in Figure 2.

Figure 2. An emotion of happy and its translation

Figure 2 shows that the emotion of happy has been translated into several words of emotion included bahagia,
senang, suka, lega, kesenangan, gembira ria, riang, ceria, patah hati, dan tenteram. The following explanation is to
identify the translation procedure that is applied to translate the emotion of happy of the SL into the TL. In order to
know more about one word is for one meaning and one meaning is represented in one form, the culture scripts used as
supporting explication.
(1) SL TL
…he was so happy that he wanted to give many thousands of …dia bahagia sehingga dia ingin memberikan beribu-ribu sapi
cows in charity to the Brahmanas. (V1. p. 25) sebagai sedekah kepada para brahmana. (V1. p. 40)

Sample like the one presented in (1) happy in the SL is translated into bahagia in the TL. It is a very flexible
translation with reference to SL oriented concept. The same meaning in the SL is still available in the TL, even though,
it seems like a translation based on the meaning of the dictionary, however, it linguistically can be expressed with the
language consisted in the SL. Therefore, it can be identified that the translation procedure applied is transposition. The
word of emotion in the SL is a basic meaning and the meaning expressed in the TL as a result of transposition. It has
been oriented to the SL. The word of emotions of happy and bahagia can be configurated their meaning.

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People think like this:

When I say something to other people,
It is good if these people think that I feel something good
It is not good if these people think that I feel something bad (Wierzbicka, 1999).
Something good happened to someone, some good things happened to this person, this person wanted things like this
to happen, this person does not want anything else now. When this person thinks this, this person feels something good
because this person felt something like this. In term of this, happy is configurated as the main concept to explicate the
meaning of emotions in the other emotions in the TL. Therefore, for the further explanation towards translation
procedure, here, the same concept is formulated in the word of emotion happy and bahagia.
(2) SL TL
Nanda Mahrja was also very happy to see the pastimes of the Nanda maharaja juga sangat senang melihat permainan para
cowherd men and women… (V1. p. 34) pria… (V1. p. 64)

(3) SL TL
You have many animals--are they happy? (V1. p. 35) Engkau punya banyak hewan–apakah mereka senang? (V1. p.
68)

It is presented in (2). The emotion of happy is translated into an emotion of senang. There is a shift in the point of
view, based on the context of the story in this section. Wherein, the context that occurred in the SL is a situation about
something good happened. It is an emotion of happy. Based on the context it is translated to senang. Happy sometimes
is not seen explicitly due to happy is in the person’s heart, however, if the meaning of emotion of senang, it shows an
expression of being happy. Therefore, it can be identified, the translation procedure applied is transposition. The
emotion of senang is the result of transposition of the adjective happy. It is TL oriented.
The emotion of senang can be configurated that nonetheless, the cognitive scenario of senang (3) is simpler than that
of happy or happiness, and partly, for this reason, joy is a better starting point for the analysis of positive emotion terms
(Wierbicka, 1999). There are two crucial cognitive components in the senang scenario, an evaluative one: something
very good is happening, and a volitive one: I want this to be happening.
Senang is not a very common everyday word in modern Indonesian, and its frequency is much lower than that of the
adjective happy. One could be stated that the concept of being happy has expanded in the history of English emotions,
at the expense of senang. For example, in Shakespeare’s writings (Spevack, 1968) senang and happy have the same
frequency of 215, whereas in Bernard Shaw’s works (Bevan, 1971) happy is seven times more common than senang.
The reasons for this decline of senang and expansion of happy is expressed in the following configuration of Indonesian
emotion.
People think like this:
It is good if a person can often think that something very good happening.
It is good if a person can often feel something good because of this.
This person thinks this, this person feels something very good (Wierzbicka, 1999).
(4) SL TL
Such a person will not be aggrieved at any incident, happy or Orang semacam itu tak akan bersedih hati terhadap kejadian
miserable. (V1. p. 36) apa pun, suka atau duka. (V1. p. 69)

The emotion of suka in Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) happened universally to people. This emotion expresses
something good happened to a person. This person feels, this person want this is happening. It is due to something good
happened because of happy. It is identified, the translation procedure of transposition. Suka is expanded of the adjective
happy. It is defined as something good is happening. This emotion can be configurated its meaning in a part evaluative.
Person thinks like this:
When I say something to other people,
It is good if I think that I feel something good happening (Wierzbicka, 1999),
I always want this happened to me
Point of view if this is fully evaluative.
I think like this:
When I say something to other people,
I want to do something because I feel something good happening
Another person may be think something good or bad happening
I can not feel something bad happening because I want to feel something good happening to me
The emotion of suka can be evaluated based on the part and the whole perspective. In Bahasa Indonesia, this is a
reference to something or someone else. It is to show a little different from being happy and being suka. Happy is a
more personal expression than suka. The two-term is conceived as something good happened in positive thinking.

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(5) SL TL
…Kṛṣṇa very happy playing on his body, The cowherd men and …Kṛṣṇa dengan riangnya bermain-main di atas tubuh raksasa
women became very happy to get back their beloved child itu… Para pria dan perempuan gembala menjadi lega membawa
Kṛṣṇa. (V1. p. 43) kembali bayi Kṛṣṇa yang begitu mereka cintai. (V1. p. 90)

Indonesian society at large appears to value not just painted smiles, but smiles reflecting genuine riang, genuine
enthusiasm, a genuine state of feeling happy; but in the dominant hierarchy of values riang appears to be above
spontaneity and perhaps even above sincerity. It is illustrated (5) emotion happy is translated into dengan riangnya in
the TL. It is identified the translation procedure of transposition. It is categorized the adjective happy is translated into
the adverb dengan riangnya. It has occurred a change of the class of word into the TL. This is a configuration of
meaning, at defining riangnya with its prototype of riang as a semantic prime become a semantic molecule. The
emotion of riang can be fully explicated.
People think:
It is good if I think that something very good is happening now
It is good to say often something like this,
I feel something very good
An evaluative one: something very good is happening now, and a volitive one: I feel something very good. It defines
that riang is reflected in happy. However, the emotion of lega (1) in the TL, there is a cause-effect emotion. Therefore,
it is an applied translation procedure of transposition. It occurred a chronological process of how a person feels lega in
Bahasa Indonesia. It has a similar thing with satisfied. The full configuration can be explicated based on the script in the
Indonesian language.
People think like this:
It is good if when I say something to someone,
This person feels something bad because of it
Because of this, when I want to say something to someone (Wierzbicka, 1999),
I think something bad will have happened
I can not think like this because I do not want something bad to happen
I now know something good happened
It is good if I think about it for some time before I say it
It is to show that the emotion of lega basically someone feels something bad and definitely feels something good
happened. It released someone from their emotion of anxiety, thus, it is gone as not expected happen.
(6) SL TL
…the inhabitants of Vrndvana felt very happy. (V1. p. 57) …begitulah mereka memberikan kesenangan besar kepada
seluruh penduduk Vrndavana. (V1. p. 126)

The emotion of happy in the SL is translated into kesenangan (6) in the TL. It has occurred a change of class of word.
The adjective happy is transposed the noun kesenangan. Happy is in the SL; original expression is referred to as the
base expression, and kesenangan is the result as the transposed expression (Waliński, 2015). Therefore, it is identified
that applied the translation procedure of transposition.
Person thinks like this:
It is good if I know now, something very good happened, I didn’t know that this would happen. When this person
thinks this, this person feels something very good because a person thought something like this
Despite the morphological kinship with pleased, kesenangan is semantically only a distant cousin; when one is
contented, delighted, relieved, or excited, one feels contentedness, delight, relief, or excitement. One is pleased one
doesn’t necessarily feel kesenangan. In fact, kesenangan is usually not regarded as an emotion at all, and with good
reason, for it doesn’t imply any cognitive scenario at all, not even a prototypical one. Rather, it implies only that a
person feels something good because of something that is happening to him or her at the same time not necessarily
something seen as something good. It is only the feeling which is (feels) good, no cognitive evaluation needs to be
involved (Wierbicka, 1999).
Kesenangan is made quickly and automatically by all human beings, whatever their language or culture appears to
me/us unfounded. Moreover, since other languages don’t have words corresponding exactly to the Indonesia arousal or
kesenangan, imputing to all other people, whatever their culture or language, a quick and automatic judgment based on
these notions seem to me to suffer from the same flaw as imputing to people all over the world Indonesian categories
such as bahagia, marah, or sedih. The habit of uttering loud reiterated sounds from a sense of kesenangan, first led to
the retraction of the corners of the mouth and of the upper lip, and to the contraction of the orbicular muscles; and that
now, through the result is a smile (Darwin, 1955).
Kesenangan is in expressing aloud the emotions which are momentarily possessing them. There is a considerable
Indonesian vocabulary for the expressing of the emotions, pouring out one’s soul is one of the most common. For many
Indonesian, this is the most valued aspect of living. Indeed, feeling and expressing the emotions you feel is the sign that
you are alive; if you don’t feel, you are to all intents and purposes dead (Gorer, 1949).

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(7) SL TL
All the boys appeared very jolly and happy in that excursion. Mereka semuanya tampak sangat senang dan gembira ria dalam
(V1. p. 58) perjalannya. (V1. p. 131)

The emotion of happy is translated into gembira ria (7) in the TL. In term of this, happy is stand for a base
expression and gembira ria as the result of the transposed expression. The emotion of the adjective happy is a word and
its translation is a phrase in the TL. Based on this viewed it can be identified the translation procedure is a transposition.
Happy is a deep expression, unlike something happened personally in implicit viewed, however, gembira ria likely look
explicit emotion due to some expression in the face or smile. It was something good happened of happy and something
good is happening of gembira ria. In order to know the configuration of meaning gembira ria in Indonesian culture. It
can be fully explicated.
People think like this:
When something good is happening to a person, it is good if this person thinks,
I do not feel something bad, this is good and I wanted this happened to me
However, it doesn't imply anything contrary to expectations I do not feel something bad. Like joy, excitement refers
to current rather than past desires I wanted this happened, and this combined with the certainty that the desired event
will happen creates an impression of vividness, arousal, and something like a thrill.
Gembira ria is a joyful face for Indonesian people. This emotion is used to describe an occasion that is filled with
happiness. It is a positive adjective describing emotions, unlike happiness, love, inspiration, peace, hope, excitement,
gratefulness, and amusement. The emotion of gembira ria can help to describe other people, objects, places, and
situations in a pleasant way. This is useful for the factual situation. Additionally, gembira ria is useful when
communicating with someone who needs motivation or encouragement. They can be used to highlight the bright side of
any situation or to help someone identify their positive attributes and feel more confident.
(8) SL TL
The farmer then becomes very happy to see his field full of Petani akan menjadi sangat riang melihat sawahnya menguning
grains,… (V1. p. 94) penuh padi,.. (V1. p. 232)

The emotion of riang (8) in the TL is regarded from its translation of happy. In this case, there is a cause-effect of
happy; it is considered an emotion of feeling in a long time. This is a base expression with reference to its transposed
expression to be riang. It can be identified that the translation procedure applied to transposition. This procedure is in
accordance with the TL culture oriented. Based on the context that was happened in the story of Kṛṣṇa, this is a proper
translation. How the meaning of kinship the emotion of riang in Bahasa Indonesia can be explicated.
Meaning of kinship term of riang, it has a close meaning included riang gembira, gembira ria, and gembira. An
emotion of riang can be configurated its meaning like this.
People think like this:
When I say something to other people,
It is good if these people think that I feel something very good
It is not good if these people think that I feel something very bad (Wierzbicka, 1999),
I do not know this will happen because I never think this happened to me
Something very good happened
In an evaluative one; something good happened, in a volitive one; feel something very good. An emotion of riang can
be interpreted to someone has a characteristic always feel riang. It is referred to a person with a cheerful face. This
configuration of meaning illustrated differ emotion of happy and riang. In an evaluative one of happy; something very
good happened, in volitive one; feel something very good. Despite, there is a difference of an evaluative one, however,
they have a meaning of kinship, and it is something good happened. Riang is more visible than happy. Due to be riang
has an expression of face, that is, apparently because of the emotion of happy. An emotion of riang happened to
someone respecting got something, perhaps, having surprises, presents, or good news. This emotion is temporary
happened, it is not solid looks like the emotion of happy.
(9) SL TL
While the birds, trees, and branches were all looking very Ketika burung-burung, pepohonan dan tumbuh-tumbuhan
happy,… (V1. p. 99) semua tampak ceria,… (V2. p. 1)

The emotion of happy in the SL is translated into ceria (9) in the TL. This is a flexible translation based on the
context of the expression. The base expression here is the emotion of happy, this can express much emotion of
something good or positive thinking regarded to Indonesia culture. The proposed expression in term is ceria. It is
indicated the change of nuance of something good become something very good. Thus, it is identified that the
translation procedure applied is transposition. Take a look meaning of kinship between happy and ceria. It can be
explicated based on the configuration of meaning the emotion of happy and ceria.
People think like this:
When I say something to other people,
It is good if these people think that I feel something very good (Wierzbicka, 1999),

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I know now this is happening because I something very good happened to me

Something very good is happening
At the same time, Eckman (1972), argued that the meaning of a smile cannot be identified by means of one particular
Indonesian word, such as happy, because, first of all, some smiles
would often be interpreted as amused, cheerful, serene, joyful, playful etc. rather than necessarily ‘‘happy’’, and
second, because other languages have other interpretive categories and so it would be ethnocentric to interpret all
human messages (verbal or non-verbal) in terms of English lexical categories such as happy. The alternates in the
interpretation of smiling between different words, such as happy and ceria, as if these words meant exactly the similar
(Wierzbicka,1999).
Indonesian society at large appears to value not just painted smiles of ceria, but smiles reflecting genuine
cheerfulness, genuine enthusiasm, a genuine state of feeling happy; but in the dominant hierarchy of values cheerfulness
appears to be above spontaneity and perhaps even above sincerity. In Indonesia, there are many common speech
routines which manifestly reflect a cultural premiss to the effect that it is good to feel good and to be seen as someone
who feels good. In particular, the common apa kabar? baik routine implies an expectation that good feelings will be
expressed, and if need be, artificially displayed. Of course, this expectation may be violated, but it is undoubtedly there,
as highlighted by the dictum don’t tell your friends about your indigestion, how are you/apa kabar is a greeting, not a
question (Leech 1983). However, there is no normative script recommending to people that they should feel something
like that, as there are normative scripts of positive thinking or cheerfulness (Eva, 1989).
The importance of good feelings (such as ceria, riang, gembira, or gembira ria) in Indonesian culture and the
absence of similar norms in the high culture have illustrated an emotion of happy. An emotion of ceria can be seen to
someone face. It is although not easy to know someone feels happy or not.
(10) SL TL
We should try instead to be happy. (V1. p. 198) Malah sebaiknya, kami menikmati rasa patah hati ini. (V3.
p. 94)

This is an interesting phenomenon how come the emotion of happy in the SL is translated into patah hati (10) in the
TL. Viewing on the perspective of thinking is for Indonesian society respecting their high culture; it looks like
modulated emotion meaning transfer to TL culture. However, in this case, it is not only about positive thinking, but also
regarded the form of the word in the SL between the TL in the unit of translation such as happy become patah hati. The
word is translated into the phrase, it is identified the translation procedure applied is a transposition. It has been oriented
to the TL.
Solomon (1995), illustrated emotions were not just disruptions of our otherwise calm and reasonable experience; they
were at the very heart of that experience, determining our focus, influencing our interests, defining the dimensions of
our world of emotions. In order to know about the emotion of patah hati in the Indonesian language can be configurated
its meaning. Patah hati/broken heart/heart-broken is categorized as a negative feeling.
People think like this:
When I say something to other people,
It is good if these people think that I feel something very bad (Wierzbicka, 1999),
I do not want this happened to me, I feel something bad happened
It is not good if these people think that I feel something very bad
I do not want this happened to me, I feel something bad happened
Maybe something good happened to these people
But I feel something bad happened
Patah hati can be evaluated in a part or fully configuration of meaning. A part of an evaluative; something bad
happened, a volitive one; feel something very bad. A fully of an evaluative: something good happened to other people, a
volitive one; feel something very bad. The Indonesian cultural script is in the TL presented in (10), it consists of a high-
value philosophy to feel happy, positive thinking, positive face, and positive nuance in suffering.
Patah hati in term of verbal and nonverbal constraints is a perceived inability to defy the expressed wishes of
someone/Kṛṣṇa (and even a positive attitude towards complying with their/gopi will), and the perceived need for
caution in order to avoid causing them any negative feelings. It is also deeply flawed by terminological ethnocentrism in
its primary dichotomies of the positive face and negative face, and in its uncritical use of descriptors such as direct and
indirect expression, not to mention the quintessentially Indonesian term imposition. As for contrastive pragmatics, it is
flawed by the assumption that Indonesia speech act categories such as disappointed, request, apology, and compliment
are appropriate tools for describing languages and cultures which have such indigenous categories
(https://www.degruyter.com/files/pdf/9783110188745Introduction.pdf). It is to show that Indonesian culture has a high-
value level.
Patah hati universally mood is to feel negative, in this case, it is generating positive politeness strategies for getting
their desire, and contrastive pragmatics assumes conducted ny the gopi in the story of Kṛṣṇa.

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(11) SL TL
That kingdom is considered to be happy where there is no Sebuah kerajaan dianggap tenteram bilamana tidak ada
famine,… (V1. p. 247) bencana kelaparan,… (V.3 p. 248)

The word of happy in the SL is translated into tenteram (11) in the TL. Its translation occurred a cause-effect of the
nuance. There is not tenteram without happy. It defines if someone wants to be tenteram, they must be initially happy.
It is illustrated that to feel happy can be felt tenteram. The base expression is happy; the result of the emotion of happy
is tenteram regarded the transposed expression. It is identified that the translation procedure applied is transposition.
Have a look at the meaning of emotion of tenteram.
Tenteram refers to peaceful involving a context; there is no chaos, quite, calm and respect to the social welfare. To be
happy is to feel something good for personal reasons an ideal quite consistent with the general orientation of a culture
dominated by expressive and utilitarian individualism. This is the importance of positive feelings is also reflected in the
key role of the adjective happy (Bellah et al., 1985). In Indonesian discourse, used, among other things, is as a yardstick
for psychological well-being and social adjustment. The emotion of tenteram can be configurated its meaning.
People think like this:
When I say something to other people,
It is good if these people think that I feel something very good (Wierzbicka, 1999),
I wanted this, because of it
Something very good happens to me
Tenteram indicated something very good happen. The concept of tenteram is harmonious well-being and freedom
from hostile aggression. In a social sense, tenteram is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and
freedom from fear of violence between individuals or heterogeneous (relatively foreign or distinct) groups. It defines
that tenteram is something very good happen. Hirschfeld et al., (1994), argued mapping the mind based on the domain
specificity in cognition and culture. It described that positive thinking of happy can occur many positive emotions. The
one is tenteram.
The study is able to be identified the translation procedure that is applied in translating the emotion of happy in the
SL with reference to their translations in the TL tends to transposition. The procedure for translating transpositions is an
indirect translation (Vinay & Darbenet, 2000) that has been oriented to Indonesia culture or the culture of its readers.

IV. NOVELTY
It is often possible to overcome the gap between SL and TL. Transposing the SL message is word by word into TL.
The structural and metalinguistic parallelism occurred between language and culture. The translators have a look a gap
in the SL, they can use parallel categories or parallel concepts to convey meaning from the source text. It can be
conducted by a direct translation procedure. The differences of structural and metalinguistic between language and
culture, the effects of certain styles cannot be achieved without disturbing lexis or syntactic order in TL. It is complex
procedure must be used to convey the meaning of SL. Although, at first glance, they may look quite modern, or even
unusual, indirect translation procedures allow translators to exercise strict control over the reliability of their efforts.
The nuances of the positive emotions are very deep in the Kṛṣṇa text, especially in Indonesian culture, it is regarded
emotion of happy in the scenario cognitive as something good happen. It shows the cultural system is owned in the SL
and TL at a high level and/or hight context. It prioritizes positive emotions, positive thinking, and positive face rather
than negative emotions.

V. CONCLUSION
The most relevant translation procedures applied to translate the Kṛṣṇa text are the transposition procedure. This
procedure has an alignment to the SL culture. It has been orientated to the culture. There is in the TL, it determines the
translation procedure applied by the translator. This procedure is applied to create translation results; it easily
understood by the target reader. In this study, the target audience is the Indonesian culture.
Having seen the meaning transfer from the SL to the TL; the culture scripts theory is relevance used. It is possible to
be an evaluative the emotion in a part or fully their configuration of meaning. The most of words of emotion, in this
study, has a positive evaluation regarded to positive feelings. The feelings are categorized in the high level as a style
and strategy communication. It was applied the cognitive style of thinking as a practice of nonverbal communicative,
therefore, the emotion of happy; has many transposed expression included bahagia, senang, suka, lega, kesenangan,
gembira ria, riang, ceria, patah hati, and tenteram.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The study was financed by the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia.

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[36] Wierzbicka, A. (2008). A conceptual basis for research into emotions and bilingualism. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition,
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[39] Wierzbicka, A. (2010). On emotions and on definitions: A response to Izard. Emotion Review, 2(4), 379-380. Retrieved March
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I Wayan Suryasa, S.S., M.Hum. was born in Marga on July 5th, 1981. He is senior lecturer in STIKOM Bali,
Department of Computer System, Denpasar, Indonesia ID 80226 Ph. +6281338734500. He graduated his
bachelor degree in the Faculty of Letter, Warmadewa University in 2006. He finished his master degree in the
postgraduate program, magister program, linguistic studies, Udayana University in 2014. He currently is
completing his dissertation at Udayana University. He was the founder of the ScienceScholar institution in
Tabanan.
Email: [email protected] / [email protected]
Scopus ID: 57200211897 / http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5307-1828

I Nengah Sudipa, M.A. is professor in Udayana University, Faculty of Art, Denpasar, Indonesia, ID 80234
Ph. +628124667921
Email: [email protected]

Ida Ayu Made Puspani, M.Hum. is associate professor in Udayana University, Faculty of Art, Denpasar,
Indonesia, ID 80234 Ph. +6281239351550
Email: [email protected]

I Made Netra, S.S., M.Hum. is associate professor in Udayana University, Faculty of Art, Denpasar,
Indonesia, ID 80234 Ph. +6281337291620
Email: [email protected]

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 747-765, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.09

The Relationship between Spatial and Musical

Intelligences and EFL Learners’ Learning Styles
and Vocabulary Knowledge
Hassti Gholam-Shahbazi
Islamic Azad University South Tehran Branch, Iran

Abstract—This study investigated the relationship between spatial and musical intelligences and learning styles
of EFL learners and their vocabulary knowledge. Accordingly, relationship between spatial intelligence,
musical intelligence and vocabulary knowledge, visual learning style, auditory learning style, and kinesthetic
learning style with vocabulary knowledge, listening and vocabulary knowledge, and finally spatial, musical
intelligence, visual, auditory kinesthetic learning style as independent variables and vocabulary knowledge s
dependent variable was examined. This study is an experimental and applied research using four texts to
specify participants intelligence their learning styles, vocabulary knowledge and listening knowledge. For this
reason, four texts including MIDAS Test of Shearer (1996) the Persian of Spatial, and Musical Intelligence
VAK Learning Style Test (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic), Vocabulary Levels Test of Nation (2001) One
listening Test from the IELTS 5 book were applied. In this study, 200 Iranian senior BA EFL learners from
Islamic Azad Universities of Tehran, Male and Female, 22 to 30 years old, majoring in TEFL were examined.
Result of data analysis showed that there is a significant relationship between spatial and musical intelligences
and learning styles of Iranian EFL learners and their vocabulary knowledge. Also, multiple intelligence plays
a significant role in learning vocabulary, as the nature of intelligence represents this issue and shows that
learning is a psychological issue and human’s different aspects of learning depends of different aspect of
intelligence.

Index Terms—spatial intelligence, musical intelligence, learning style, vocabulary knowledge

I. INTRODUCTION
The systematic study of how people learn a foreign language is a fairly recent phenomenon. Most of the theories of
learning and intelligence models are all attempts to describe universal human traits in learning which means that the
cognitive domain of human behavior is of key importance in the acquisition of both first and second language. It is
argued that different types of intelligence might be in work while speaking about individuals learning styles.
Intelligence is not a single entity, it is made of different intelligences, the different abilities that different people have,
and it cannot be measured by only an IQ test, because it is combined of different intelligences. The idea of Multiple
Intelligences, The Theory of Intelligence first came by Howard Gardner (1983) indicated that “the traditional notion of
intelligences as measured by I.Q testing is far too limited, and there are not just 2 ways to be intelligent, but many
ways” (Gardner, 1983, p.51). “Intelligence as the ability to solve problems or to create fashion products that are valued
in one’s own culture or society.” (Gardner & Hatch, 1989, p. 4-9). “All of the people have all different intelligences, but
their degrees and levels are different” (Gardner,1999, p. 23). “The theory of MI creates a new way to consider
individual differences in education and educational settings”(Yenice & Aktamis 2010, p. 43). “Commonality of
Gardner’s MI theory in education led many teachers to take it as a basis from which to promote curriculum, syllabus
and methodology” (Sauer, 1998, p. 84). But how individuals with different types of intelligence may have different
types of styles has been assumed as a basis assumption in this study.
Style is a term that refers to consistent and rather enduring tendencies or preferences within an individual. Styles
characterize a general or more dominant pattern in your thinking or feeling. So styles vary across individuals (Brown,
2007). Research findings on learning styles prods us as teachers to help students first of all to take charge of their
language learning process- to become autonomous learners, and then to become aware of their styles, preferences,
strengths, weaknesses, and finally to take appropriate action on their second language learning challenges (Nosratinia,
2011). “the characteristic cognitive, affective, social, and physiological behaviors that serve as relatively stable
indicators of how learners perceive, interact with, and respond to the learning environment” (MacKeracher, 2004, p. 71).
“Each learner has his/her own preferred way of perceiving, organizing, and maintaining the incoming information, and
these different manners in which data are processed are generally regarded to be rather distinctive and consistent”
(Chou & Wang, 2000, p. 34). Researchers are now of the unanimous view that not all learners learn in the same way
(Witkin, 1973; Gregorc, 1979). “fixed methods for responding to and working with the existing stimuli in learning
circumstances” (Pham ,2000). “The process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience
[and in which] knowledge results from the combination of grasping and transforming experience” (Kolb ,1984, p. 41).

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The general approaches that students use in acquiring a new language or in learning any other subject (Celcia-Murcia,
2001).“Without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” (Sener, 2005). ''An
important predictor of efficient reading and of academic success in general, is vocabulary size" (Tschirner, 2004, p. 27).
In spite of the fact that there have been lots of theses and studies about relationship between MI and aspects of
language learning, and learning style, none of them was about the relationship between MI, and learning style of Iranian
EFL learners and their vocabulary learning. So the purpose of the present study is to find out the relationship between
the Spatial Intelligence, and Musical Intelligence, and learning style of Iranian EFL learners and their vocabulary
learning. In the present study 200 Iranian senior BA EFL learners from Islamic Azad University of Tehran, North
Branch were selected for this study in which were examined to answer the following research questions:
To achieve the purpose of the present study, the following research questions are proposed:
1. Is there any relationship between Spatial Intelligence and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL learners?
2. Is there any relationship between musical intelligence and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL learners?
3. Is there any relationship between visual learning style and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL learners?
4. Is there any relationship between auditory learning style and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL learners?
5. Is there any relationship between kinesthetic learning style and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL learners?
6. Is there any relationship between listening and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL learners?
7. Is there any significant regression relationship between spatial, musical intelligence, visual, auditory
kinesthetic learning style as independent variables and vocabulary as dependent variable?

II. REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE

Gardner (1993) indicated that death knell for formal education will finally occur and it would be difficult job to teach
intelligence. There are seven types of intelligence and it is hard enough to teach even when anything can be taught, also
it is asked what to do if there are distinct limits and strong constraints on human cognition and learning.
Generally it is believed that multiple intelligences consist of three domains: the analytical, introspective and
interactive domains. These three domains serve as an organizer for understanding the fluid relationship of the
intelligences and how the intelligences work with one another (McKenzie, 2002).
According to McKenzie (2002) the analytic domain consists of the logical, musical, and naturalist intelligences.
These are the intelligences that promote analysis of knowledge that is presented to the learner. These three intelligences
are considered analytic because they promote the processes of analyzing and incorporating data into existing schema,
even though they may have other components. The analytical intelligences are by their nature heuristic processes.
McKenzie (2002) indicates that the interactive domain consists of the linguistic, interpersonal and kinesthetic
intelligences. These are the intelligences that learners typically employ to express themselves and explore their
environment. These three intelligences are regarded as interactive because they typically invite and encourage
interaction to achieve understanding. Even if a student completes a task individually, s/he must consider others through
the way s/he writes, creates, constructs and makes conclusion. The interactive intelligences are by their nature social
processes (McKenzie, 2002). The introspective domain consists of existential, intrapersonal, and visual intelligences.
These are the intelligences that have a distinctly affective component to them. These intelligences are characterized as
introspective because they require a looking inward by the learner, an emotive connection to their own experiences and
beliefs in order to make sense of new learning. The introspective intelligences are by their nature affective processes (as
cited in Babu & Bindhu, 2016).
Gardner defined spatial intelligence as the ability to recognize both large and small visual patterns. He suggested that
navigators and pilots would possess high levels of spatial intelligence, as would sculptors, surgeons, chess players, and
architects.
Previous research in the domain of spatial abilities suggests that spatial visualization and spatial scanning are two
important and distinct aspects of that domain. Spatial visualization refers to the ability to imagine the movement of an
object and is typically measured with mental rotation tasks. Carroll (1993) noted that visualization tasks generally form
a first-stratum factor, and one that tends to be highly g-loaded. Spatial scanning is the ability to scan a field quickly, to
follow paths visually, and to reject false leads. Carroll (1993) tentatively identified this capacity as a first-order factor,
but stated that further research was necessary before it could be considered independent and interpreted accordingly.
Tasks assessing spatial visualization and spatial scanning tend to load on a second-stratum factor of broad visualization
ability, which corresponds also to Thurstone's (1938) spatial ability factor.
Gardner (1999) suggests that musical intelligence is parallel in structure to linguistic intelligence, and that it is
reflected in the performance, composition, and appreciation of musical patterns. With regard to the underlying abilities
involved in his musical intelligence, Gardner has claimed that the two most central constituent elements of music are
rhythm and pitch (or melody), followed in importance by timbre (which Gardner, 1983, p.105, describes as the
characteristic qualities of a tone). The eight music-relevant factors included the following: discrimination of tones and
sequences of tones with respect to basic attributes such as pitch, intensity, duration, and rhythm; auditory cognitive
relations (judgments of complex relations among tonal patterns); tonal imagery; discrimination and judgment of tonal
patterns in musicality; temporal tracking; ability to recognize and maintain mentally an equal-time beat; ability to retain,
on a short-term basis, images of tones, tonal patterns, and voices; and absolute pitch ability. Thus, given that rhythm

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and tone would appear to be core aspects of these narrow factors of musical ability, measures of the abilities to
discriminate between rhythms and between tones would be important elements in the assessment of Gardner's musical
intelligence.
Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory (MIT) (1983, 1999) is an important contribution to cognitive science
and constitutes a learner-based philosophy which is “an increasingly popular approach to characterizing the ways in
which learners are unique and to developing instruction to respond to this uniqueness” (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.
123).
MIT describes nine different intelligences. It has evolved in response to the need to reach a better understanding of
how cognitive individual differences can be addressed and developed in the classroom. Gardner (1999) identified the
mathematical-logical, the verbal-linguistic, the musical-rhythmic, the bodily-kinaesthetic, the interpersonal, the
intrapersonal, the visual-spatial, the naturalist and the existential intelligences.
The different intelligences are of neutral value; none of them is considered superior to the others. In their basic form,
they are present to some extent in everyone, although a person will generally be more talented in some than in others.
Each of these frames is autonomous, changeable and trainable and they interact to facilitate the solution of daily
problems (Gardner, 1999).
Learning style is important for many reasons; however, there are three vital ones. First of all, people’s learning styles
will vary because everyone is different from one another naturally. Secondly, it offers the opportunity to teach by using
a wide range of methods in an effective way. Sticking to just one model unthinkingly will create a monotonous learning
environment, so not everyone will enjoy the lesson. In other words, learning and teaching will be just words and not
rooted in reality. Thirdly, we can manage many things in education and communication if we really recognize the
groups we are called to. Of course, we may not know every detail; however, being aware of our students’ learning styles,
psychological qualities and motivational differences will help us regulate our lessons appropriately and according to the
conditions (Mc Carthy, 1982; Felder, Silverman, 1988; Coffield et al., 2004).
Learning styles are the ways that learners understand and get the new information and process it. “A term that
describes the variations among learners in using one or more senses to understand, organizes, and retains experience”.
(Dunn and Dunn ,1979). “The manner in which individuals perceive and process information in learning situations”
(Brown, 2000).
Amongst the earliest attempts aimed at delineating the term learning styles, one might refer to the definition set forth
by Pham (2000) where learning style is referred to as the “stable and pervasive characteristics of an individual,
expressed through the interaction of one’s behavior and personality as one approaches a learning task” (p.11). In a
similar vein, Kalsbeek (1989) defines the term as “a person’s preferred approach to information processing, idea
formation, and decision making; the attitudes and interests that influence what is attended to in a learning situation; and
a disposition to seek learning environments compatible with these personal profiles” (p. 32). Furthermore, according to
Pham (2000), learning styles are the learners‟ fixed methods for responding to and working with the existing stimuli in
learning circumstances. Carbo (1980) points out that determining the unique learning styles of students and making
necessary arrangements to adjust our instruction to such learner differences might help boost the educational
accomplishments of our learners.
Interestingly enough a high proportion of the studies on learning styles seem to have been conducted in the domain of
higher education (e.g. Biggs, 2001; Busato, Prines, Elshout, and Hamaker, 2000; Coffield, Moseley, Hall, & Ecclestone,
2004). Although these studies classify different learning types and/or styles in different ways, their aims and approaches
are, more or less, similar. Dunn & Dunn (1978) studied the learning styles of school age children, and he found that 20-
30 % of school age children learning style are auditory, learning style of 40 % of them is visual, and 30-40 of them are
tactile/kinesthetic learners.
Nation (2001) indicated that vocabulary learning strategies are thought as part of language learning strategies. In
learning any language it is believed that vocabulary is the center focal point of acquisition. As put forward by McCarthy
(1992) without words communication in L2 cannot happen in any meaningful way (p.50). Vocabulary would be
gradually recognized as crucial to language use in which insufficient vocabulary knowledge of the learners led to
difficulties in second language learning.
Carbo (1983) in a study found that visual and auditory students are good readers. In this regard Felder (1998)
indicated that since the instructional approaches around the cycle of learning models are similar, it is not important,
which learning styles instrument has been chosen in each investigation. Among the various learning style theories
available, the delineation put forth by Kolb (1984) characterizing the learning styles as the process in which knowledge
is created through the transformation of experience knowledge results from the combination of grasping and
transforming experience, has been adopted in the current study. There have also been some Iranian studies on the
learning styles like: Lous (2012) examined the relationship between the emotional intelligence
and learning English language vocabulary. The results of her study showed a low and negative correlation between the
students’ emotional intelligence and vocabulary knowledge.
Kim (2009) in a study entitled as “The Relevance of Multiple Intelligences to CALL Instruction” Following an
overview of Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences conducted a study comparing students’ learning preferences,
obtained through an MI inventory survey, to their listening scores before and after CALL instruction. The correlation

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between students’ MI scores and listening scores is then analyzed, determining whether their MI was improved by
CALL instruction, and if so, which MI and to what degree. The result of this study showed that CALL software can be
effectively used to enhance the many kinds of human intelligences employed when learning languages.
Arnold and Fonscca (2004) Intelligence Theory and Foreign Language Learning: A Brain-based Perspective found
that it is possible to motivate learners by activating multiple ways of meaning-making through the use of tasks relating
to the different intelligences and found that it possible to engage multiple memory pathways necessary to produce
sustained deep learning.
As teaching intelligences is not totally possible and students are responsible for their learning in this way a study was
conducted by Po-ying (2007) entitled as “How students react to the power and responsibility of being decision makers
in their own learning” as such students feel unsure of how to organize their own learning. Result of this study
emphasize on students ability to use their multiple intelligences regarding their own learning.

III. METHOD
To come up with justifiable answer to the research questions and to fulfill the aforementioned objectives of the study
200 Iranian senior BA EFL learners from Islamic Azad Universities of Tehran, Male and Female, 22 to 30 years old,
majoring in TEFL, Translation, and Literature were the participated in this study. All participants were examined using
four testing instruments as follows:
MIDAS Test
MIDAS Test of Shearer (1996) the Persian of Spatial, and Musical Intelligence parts of this test which are equivalent
to the original was used to measure the learners Spatial, and Musical Intelligences.
VAK Test
VAK Learning Style Test (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic), a self-assessment questionnaire by Chislett & Chapman
2005, was used to define the learners learning styles .VAK (Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic) model is one of most
popular models for gauging the learners‟ different learning styles. Based on this model, all learners draw on one of the
three major modalities, i.e. Visual, Auditory, or Kinesthetic, to acquire and learn new information and experiences. The
claim set forth by this model is that one or two of these styles might be dominant in a learner, which, in turn, signifies
the best way through which a learner takes in the new information by filtering what is to be learned. Thus, Visual,
Auditory and Kinesthetic (VAK) model says there are only three types of learning styles that all learner are said to
possess.
Vocabulary Test
Vocabulary Levels Test of Nation (2001) version A, was used to measure the learners' vocabulary knowledge. In this
test there is a 14,000 version containing 140 multiple-choice items, with 10 items from each 1000 word family level. A
learner’s total score needs to be multiplied by 100 to get their total receptive vocabulary size.
Permission is not required to use these tests in research, although acknowledgement in any thesis or publication is
appreciated. The reference for the 14,000 level test is Nation, I.S.P. & Beglar, D. (2007) A vocabulary size test. The
Language Teacher, 31(7), 9-13. (Check Publications on Paul Nation’s web site for current information on publications).
The test measures knowledge of written word form, the form-meaning connection, and to a smaller degree concept
knowledge. The test measures largely decontextualized knowledge of the word although the tested word appears in a
single non-defining context in the test.
Listening Test
One listening Test from the IELTS 5 book, examination papers from University of Cambridge ESOL examinations,
2006 was used .
Data was collected by giving the EFL learners these 4 tests, first the Spatial, and Musical Intelligences parts of the
MIDAS Test were given to the students by 30 minutes time, then the VAK learning style test by 30 minutes times, and
after that the Nations vocabulary levels test by 30 minutes for the 100 item tests, and at last the listening test by 30
minutes time were given to the students. The purpose of completing the questionnaires was explained to the learners
before any act, and they were told that the information will be used for research purpose only. The data was analyzed by
SPSS software and Pearson product moment correlation for finding the relationship between the variables. Correlations
was used to find out whether there was a relationship between the variables of the study, Spatial and Musical
Intelligences and Learning Styles of Iranian EFL learners and their vocabulary knowledge or not.

IV. RESULTS
Result of the Chronbach’s alpha test for every listening questionnaire used for 200 persons with 40 items was 0.949.
Also, table 2 shows the degree of reliability of each item by Cronbach’s alpha test for listening questionnaires. Results
showed that the value of Cronbach’s alpha for vocabulary questionnaire with 100 items and 200 persons was 0.899. The
value of Cronbach’s alpha for intelligence questionnaire with 29 items and 200 persons was .819. The value of
Cronbach’s alpha for learning style questionnaire with 29 items and 200 persons was 0.897.

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TABLE I
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR LISTENING AND VOCABULARY
Variables Mean Std. Variance Minimum Maximum
valid Missing Deviation
Listening 200 0 17.02 5.613 31.502 0 28
vocabulary 200 0 31.05 9.623 92.601 9 60

TABLE II
FREQUENCY OF D ISTRIBUTION FOR LISTENING AND VOCABULARY
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Percent
Listening 0-12 46 23.0 23.0 23.0
13-27 151 75.5 75.5 98.5
28-40 3 1.5 1.5 100.0
Total 200 100.0 100.0
Vocabulary 0-25 60 30.0 30.0 30.0
26-50 134 67.0 67.0 97.0
51-75 6 3.0 3.0 100.0
Total 200 100.0 100.0
Intelligence Musical 63 31.5 31.5 31.5
Spatial-Musical 33 16.5 16.5 48.0
Spatial 104 52.0 52.0 100.0
Total 200 100.0 100.0
Learning style Auditory-Visual 9 4.5 4.5 4.5
type
Auditory 124 62.0 62.0 66.5
kinesthetic 15 7.5 7.5 74.0
Visual-kinesthetic 3 1.5 1.5 75.5
Visual 49 24.5 24.5 100.0
Total 200 100.0 100.0

For listening variable the central tendency, mean and dispersion, standard deviation, variance, minimum and
maximum listening value was achieved as shown in table 1. The mean level of listening is 17.02 and the minimum and
maximum degrees are 0 and 28, respectively. Frequency distribution table for listening variable is classified in three
levels: from 0 to 13, from 13 to 27 and from 28 to 40. Result shows that 75.5% participants gain a score from 13 to 27
and 1.5% the same individuals gain a listening score from 28 to 40.
For vocabulary the table (1) represents central tendency, mean and dispersion, standard, deviation, variance,
minimum and maximum values. The mean level of gaining vocabulary score is 31.05% and the minimum and
maximum scores are 9 and 60, respectively.
Frequency distribution table for vocabulary variable shows that scores for vocabulary test is divided into three
categories: from 0 to 25, from 26 to 50 and from 51 to 75. Result shows that 67% of participants gain a score from 26 to
50 and 3% of participants gain score from 51 to 75.
Intelligence is one of the variables that consist of different types, that in this study, two types of them are analyzed,
namely musical and spatial intelligence. The compound of spatial and musical intelligence is tested as a new category.
Result shows that 52% of participants are better in spatial intelligence and 31.5% of participants better achieved in
musical intelligence. Also, 16.5% of participants benefit the compound of spatial-musical intelligence.
Learning style is the next variable that includes auditory-visual, auditory, kinesthetic, visual kinesthetic and visual
variable. Frequency distribution table for learning style variable shows that 62% of apprentices are better in auditory
learning style, and 7.5% of them are good in kinesthetic and 24.5% of apprentices are better in visual learning style.
A. Result of Hypotheses
H1: There is a significant relationship between spatial intelligence and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL learners.
H0: There is no significant relationship between spatial intelligence and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL
learners.
The following table represents correlation coefficient between spatial intelligence and vocabulary knowledge of
Iranian EFL learners. Correlation coefficient between special intelligence and vocabulary knowledge is -0.373 and the
Sig level (2tailed) is less than 0.01 (sig=.000). Therefore, H0 is rejected and there is significant relationship between
spatial intelligence and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL learners with 99% confidence.

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TABLE III.
CORRELATION COEFFICIENT BETWEEN SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE AND VOCABULARY
Title Spearman's rho
Spatial Vocabulary
Correlation Coefficient Sig. (2-tailed) N Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N
Coefficient
Spatial 1.000 . 200 -.373(**) .000 200
vocabulary -.373(**) .000 200 1.000 . 200
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

H1: There is a significant relationship between musical intelligence and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL
learners.
H0: There is no significant relationship between musical intelligence and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL
learners.
The following table represents correlation coefficient between Musical Intelligence and vocabulary knowledge of
Iranian EFL learners. Correlation coefficient between musical intelligence and vocabulary knowledge is.287 and the Sig
level (2tailed) is less than 0.01 (sig=.000). Therefore, H0 is rejected and there is significant relationship between
musical intelligence and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL learners with 99% confidence.
TABLE IV.
CORRELATION COEFFICIENT BETWEEN MUSICAL INTELLIGENCE AND VOCABULARY
Title Spearman's rho
Intelligence Vocabulary
Correlation Coefficient Sig. (2-tailed) N Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N
Coefficient
Intelligence 1.000 . 200 .287(**) .000 200

vocabulary .287(**) .000 200 1.000 . 200

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

H1: There is a significant relationship between visual learning style and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL
learners.
H0: There is no significant relationship between visual learning style and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL
learners
The following table represents correlation coefficient between visual learning style and vocabulary knowledge of
Iranian EFL learners. Correlation coefficient between visual learning style and vocabulary knowledge is -0.253 and the
Sig level (2tailed) is less than 0.01 (sig=.001). Therefore, H0 is rejected and there is significant relationship between
visual learning style and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL learners with 99% confidence.
TABLE V.
CORRELATION COEFFICIENT BETWEEN VISUAL LEARNING STYLE AND VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE
Title Spearman's rho
Visual learning style Vocabulary
Correlation Coefficient Sig. (2-tailed) N Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N
Coefficient
Visual learning 1.000 . 200 -.253(**) .001 200
style
vocabulary -.253(**) .001 200 1.000 . 200

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

H1: There is a significant relationship between auditory learning style and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL
learners.
H0: There is no significant relationship between Auditory learning style and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL
learners.
The following table represents correlation coefficient between auditory learning style and vocabulary knowledge of
Iranian EFL learners. Correlation coefficient between auditory learning style and vocabulary knowledge is -0.410, and
the Sig level (2tailed) is less than 0.01 (sig=.007). Therefore, H0 is rejected and there is significant relationship between
auditory learning style and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL learners with 99% confidence.

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TABLE VI.
CORRELATION COEFFICIENT BETWEEN AUDITORY LEARNING STYLE AND VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE
Title Spearman's rho
Auditory learning style Vocabulary
Correlation Coefficient Sig. (2-tailed) N Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N
Coefficient
auditory 1.000 . 200 -.410(**) .007 200
learning style
vocabulary -.410(**) .007 200 1.000 . 200

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

H1: There is a significant relationship between kinesthetic learning style and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL
learners.
H0: There is no significant relationship between kinesthetic learning style and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL
learners.
The following table represents correlation coefficient between kinesthetic learning style and vocabulary knowledge
of Iranian EFL learners. Correlation coefficient between kinesthetic learning style and vocabulary knowledge is 0.381,
and the Sig level (2tailed) is less than 0.01 (sig=.000). Therefore, H0 is rejected and there is significant relationship
between kinesthetic learning style and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL learners with 99% confidence.
TABLE VII
CORRELATION COEFFICIENT BETWEEN KINESTHETIC LEARNING STYLE AND VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE
Title Spearman's rho
kinesthetic learning style Vocabulary
Correlation Coefficient Sig. (2-tailed) N Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N
Coefficient
kinesthetic 1.000 . 200 .381(**) .000 200
learning style
vocabulary .381(**) .000 200 1.000 . 200

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

H1: There is a significant relationship between listening and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL learners.
H0: There is no significant relationship between listening and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL learners.
The following table represents correlation coefficient between listening and vocabulary knowledge of Iranian EFL
learners. Correlation coefficient between listening and vocabulary knowledge is 0.362, and the Sig level (2tailed) is less
than 0.01 (sig=.000). Therefore, H0 is rejected and there is significant relationship between listening and vocabulary
knowledge of Iranian EFL learners with 99% confidence.
TABLE VIII.
CORRELATION COEFFICIENT BETWEEN LISTENING AND VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE
Title Spearman's rho
listening Vocabulary
Correlation Coefficient Sig. (2-tailed) N Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N
Coefficient
listening 1.000 . 200 .362(**) .000 200

vocabulary .362(**) .000 200 1.000 . 200

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

H1: There is a significant regression relationship between spatial, musical intelligence, visual, auditory kinesthetic
learning style as independent variables and vocabulary as dependent variable.
H0: There is no significant regression relationship between spatial, musical intelligence, visual, auditory kinesthetic
learning style as independent variables and vocabulary as dependent variable.
TABLE IX.
MODEL SUMMARY OF REGRESSION MODE
Model R R Square Adjusted R Std. Error of the
Square Estimate

1 .375(a) .141 .119 9.035

a: Predictors: (Constant), kinesthetic learning style, musical intelligence, visual learning style, spatial intelligence, auditory learning style

Regression analysis of variables shows that there is significant relationship between special intelligence and
vocabulary knowledge, because the sig level is less than 0.01. Therefore, there is a regression relationship between

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spatial intelligence and vocabulary knowledge and H0 about special intelligence is rejected. Other variables significant
level for musical intelligence (0.293), visual learning style (0.380), auditory learning style (0.351), and kinesthetic
learning style (0.662) are higher than the standard level (0.01) and there is no significant regression relationship with
vocabulary knowledge and H0 is approved about relationship between Musical intelligence, visual learning style,
auditory learning style, and kinesthetic learning style.
TABLE X.
REGRESSION COEFFICIENTS AND SIG (A)
Standardized
Unstandardized Coefficients t Sig.
Coefficients
title
B Std. Error Beta B Std. Error
(Constant) 36.178 3.494 10.355 .000
spatial intelligence -5.413 2.025 -.262 -2.673 .008
musical intelligence 1.947 1.845 .101 1.055 .293
visual learning style -2.323 2.643 -.111 -.879 .380
auditory learning style -2.646 2.829 -.130 -.935 .351
kinesthetic learning style 1.454 3.320 .042 .438 .662
a: Dependent Variable: vocabulary

B. Discussion
Findings related to the hypotheses are discussed in this section and supportive indications from previous studies have
been presented. Results of the study indicated that there is a positive relationship between special intelligence and
vocabulary knowledge that is in line with the result of study by Louis (2012) who found a positive relationship between
spatial and visual intelligence and academic achievement. Also, result of studies by Kassaian (2007) is in line with
result of this hypothesis that maintains there is a positive and significant relationship between spatial and visual learning
style and fostering vocabulary items. Po-ying, 2007), Arnold and Fonscca (2004), Kim (2009), Louis (2012) in similar
studies found that there is a positive relationship between special and visual learning style and recalling vocabulary.
While none of the previous studies were against this study regarding positive relationship between special intelligence
and vocabulary knowledge.
Musical intelligence is the ability to recognize tones, sounds and rhythms. Vocabulary has musical sounds, stress,
and intonation. Result of this study showed that those who have greater musical intelligence have greater vocabulary
knowledge. Result of this hypothesis is in line with the result of study by McKenzie (2002) indicating that musical
intelligence promotes vocabulary knowledge, because they promote the processes of analyzing and incorporating data
into existing schema and consequently result in better recalling of items and vocabulary.
The two groups of visual-linguistic learners and visual-spatial learners are imagined for this type of learning style.
Visual-linguistic learners believed to be better in written language and also reading and writing tasks. And visual-spatial
learners believed to have problem with written language and are better with charts, and demonstration, videos and
visual materials. Result of this study proved that individuals with better visual learning style have better vocabulary
knowledge while learning foreign language. Result of this hypothesis is in line with the result of studies by Po-ying,
2007), Arnold and Fonscca (2004), Kim (2009), Louis (2012) indicating that there is a positive relationship between
visual learning style and vocabulary knowledge of learners.
Auditory learning styles represent the skills of learning through listening conversations and films and audiotapes. The
result of this hypothesis showed that students with better auditory learning style have better vocabulary knowledge in
the process of learning foreign language. Result of this hypothesis is in line with result of studies performed by Oxford
and Burry-Stock (1995) with respect to participation in the classroom and consequently better knowledge of vocabulary.
Also, Dunn and Dunn (1978) studying learning styles found that 20 to 30% of learning ability in children is due to
auditory learning style. In addition, result of this hypothesis is in line with result of studies by Louis (2012) and Chislett
& Chapman (2005) indicating that auditory learning style aids individuals to learn new information and experiences.
Kinesthetic learning style refers to learning through touch, handle, manuscript manuals and body language. The
result of this hypothesis is in line with result of studies by Louis (2012), (Chislett & Chapman, 2005), indicating that
kinesthetic learning style has a positive impact of on English language teaching and learning vocabulary.

V. CONCLUSION
In this study the relationship between Spatial and Musical Intelligences and Learning Styles of Iranian EFL learners
and their vocabulary knowledge was examined using experimental study. Result of data analysis showed that there is a
significant relationship between spatial and musical intelligences and learning styles of Iranian EFL learners and their
vocabulary knowledge. According to the result it is clear that multiple intelligence plays a significant role in learning

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vocabulary, as the nature of intelligence represents this issue and shows that learning is a psychological issue and
human’s different aspects of learning depends of different aspect of intelligence.
Familiarity with different types of intelligence and their influence on language learning helps instructors to measure
the students’ talents and to apply some courses that are on the basis of their talents and abilities. Intelligence also helps
students and language learners to select the best method of practice and language learning. Results of this study help
both teachers and students. Having higher visual learning helps individuals to have higher memorization through eyes.
Learning through different senses with help of different types of intelligence can be achieved. Therefore, human senses
and intelligence hand in hand foster the learning and foreign language acquisition.
As Gardner (1999) noted, the different intelligences are of neutral value and none of them is considered superior to
the others. Intelligences are present to some extent in everyone, although a person will generally be more talented in
some than in others. No matter if student is better in which intelligent, it is very important to identify intelligences in
individuals and to foster every person’s specific intelligence that is better in. Generally speaking this study was
achieved to help pedagogical planners different issues even intelligences in planning the courses to help better learning
foreign languages.

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[35] Po-ying, Ch.(2007). How students react to the power and responsibility of being decision makers in their own learning.
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Hassti Gholam-Shahbazi was born in Toronto, Canada in 1994. She holds an M.A in TEFL from Islamic
Azad University South Tehran branch (2018) and a B.A in English Literature from Islamic Azad University
North Tehran branch (2016).
She has 2 years of experience of working as an English teacher at Pardisan Institute at Janbazan Sharghi
Street in Tehran, Iran.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 757-768, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.10

English Major Undergraduates’ Needs and

Perceptions of Business English Activities and
Resources in a Chinese University
Qing Xie
Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China

Abstract—This article explores English major undergraduates’ views on business English skills and topics, and
investigates their perceptions of the meaningful activities and resources in one Chinese university context. The
main research instruments are questionnaires containing rating and open-ended questions, and researcher’s
participant observation with 149 English major undergraduates enrolling in Business English courses in 2016.
The results show that participants most often require improvement in note-taking skills, public speaking and
need to learn business communication topics. Participants value communicative teaching methodologies,
including role plays, oral presentation, theme-based discussion, games and group work. Participants more
often rely on electronic media resources, such as videos, internet and mobile applications than the print media
resources such as library, books and dictionaries. This study serves as basis for further business English
curriculum development and resources provision in the higher education setting. The study also indicates the
potential for business English resources development and exploitation in China within the international
education environment.

Index Terms—English major undergraduate, needs, perceptions, business English activities and resources,
Chinese university

I. INTRODUCTION
Business English or English for business purposes is a major type of English for occupational purposes which is one
of the two sub-branches under English for specific purposes (Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998, p.6). Business English
can be further classified as “English for general business purposes” and “English for specific business purposes”
(Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998, p.55). In the English for specific purposes research, understanding “learners’
expectations” is an important area for academic study, which are varied among business professionals and university
students (Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998, p.65). The focus of this study is to understand English major learners’
expectations of English for general business purposes teaching activities and resources.
The development of business English teaching content requires authentic input as it links students closer to the real
world of business. Frendo (2005, p. 52) summarizes that useful authentic content includes business communication
documents, audio-visual materials such as “TV adverts and company sales videos” and internet. Ellis and Johnson
(2002, p.162) also recommend recording “live events on audio or video” as sources of authentic learning content.
According to Frendo (2005), various reading, writing, listening and discussion activities can be designed based on
authentic materials to mirror the workplace interaction. The typical activities include “role play, simulation and case
study” (p.54) to develop business English reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in meaningful settings. Donna
(2000, p.126) mentions that business English courses should include “contextualized practice”, which links with the
authentic workplace settings. The development of business English activities should also consider whether students are
able to complete the tasks. As Hutchinson and Waters (1987) summarize, the methodology design should follow second
language learning principles. Moreover, Mishan (2013, p. 287) indicates that technological innovation transforms
delivery modes. The evolution ranges from the traditional “teacher talk”, to “blended learning, online chatting, mobile
based language learning, to self-access computer assisted learning”. There is no doubt that the technological
advancement also transforms business English activities and resources, making their access easier and the content more
diverse for learners.
In light of the trend, this study aims to explore the changes of learners’ needs and perceptions of business English
activities and resources under technological reforms. The investigation focuses on English major undergraduates in the
Chinese university context, who are learning English language and literature as their academic development priority.

II. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This study aims to investigate English major undergraduates’ preferences of business English topics and skills for
improvement, and their perceptions of activities and resources in the Chinese university context. It centers on the
following three main research questions:

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1. What are English major undergraduates’ needs of business English skills and topics in the Chinese university
context?
2. What are English major undergraduates’ perceptions of business English activities in the Chinese university
context?
3. How do English major undergraduates locate and use business English resources in the Chinese university
context?

III. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Understanding Business English Activities and Resources in the International Context
According to Emmerson and Hamilton (2005, p.1), business English activities can integrate speaking and writing
tasks. They are designed to focus on particular business or communication topics. They could be designed to “review
vocabulary”, “lead-in” discussion or round-off the class. The length of the business English activities varies, depending
on the functions in the curriculum.
Studies on business English activities and resources can be found in various contexts. In the study of Pratoomrat and
Rajprasit (2014) on business English instruction in the Thai university context, students and teachers’ perceptions of
business English instruction are investigated using syllabus analysis and questionnaires. The results show that
participants are positive towards the business English instruction. However, there is inconsistency between the needs
and the curriculum content. It is suggested that a needs analysis should be conducted to bridge the gap between the
business English courses and professional needs. In another context, Edwards’ study (2000, p.293) on a business
English training for German bankers has chosen “deductive presentations” and “communicative” language exercises
based on authentic texts from the business magazines and video records drawn from the workplaces.
Moreover, in the English for specific purposes context, Dudley-Evans and St John (1998, p. 204) have mentioned that
the use of technology in learning beyond classroom enriches the English language teaching content and provides more
resources and opportunities in enhancing learning outcomes. The technology advancement consists of “multimedia
resources, the internet, electronic mails, CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) materials and computer-based
corpora”. Robinson (1991, p. 62) mentions that the teaching resources can consist of “visual and mechanical aids,
videos and computers”. In the recent literature, the use of corpora in teaching has been a growing trend (Flowerdew,
2011).
Through three years of experiences in designing and implementing English for Specific Purposes program for mixed
level students, Yogman and Kaylani (1996, p. 321) summarize that mini-projects, technology such as video, ESL
situation such as communicating with native speakers and a portfolio approach should be adopted. In view of the lack of
correct understanding about computer assisted language learning in business English teaching, Vallance (1998) has
developed the internet resource of Business Meeting and gathered feedback from learners worldwide. The internet
resources prove useful and receive positive comments from both learners and English Language Teaching (ELT)
professionals. Effective individualized learning can be achieved. It can be summarized that in the current trend of
business English teaching, various technological innovations have been well incorporated into the curricula and the
technological resources should be exploited.
B. Business English Activities and Resources in the Chinese Context
In the Chinese context, Lu (2015) indicates that multimedia technology can be better used to collect teaching
materials for both teacher and students. It can optimize teacher-student interaction and nurture student creativity and
independence. Liu (2015) further elaborates that the use of internet learning resources should be fully utilized in
business English teaching. It can bring the real business situation to the classroom and diversify teaching models.
Teacher should introduce learning resources to students and establish instant communication and self-access learning
platforms. In view of the weaknesses in business English teaching practice in China, Hu (2015) summarizes that using
internet resources can enhance learners’ listening, speaking and writing skills development. Moreover, in the context of
Hong Kong, China for business English teaching, Evans’ study (2012) intends to bridge the gap between the classroom
and the workplace by designing email tasks based on the qualitative interview data, case studies and email samples
collected from the workplaces which have strong pedagogical implications.
Moreover, there is a recent trend that the newly developed Chinese teaching theory on the production-oriented
teaching approach (Wen, 2016) has been introduced into the business English courses. According to Wen (2016, p.4),
the production-oriented approach is “learning centered” and has a focus on “holistic development”. It integrates
learning and teaching and follows the process of “motivating, enabling and evaluating”. It mainly focuses on the
development of output skills such as speaking, writing and translating, based on the comprehensible input of reading
and listening materials. Sun (2017) has applied this production oriented approach in teaching business English
vocabulary in the university context, based on corpus data and cognitive theories.
In the context of business English course design, Cao (2015) mentions that in order to create a proactive learning
environment, rich teaching resources should be provided. It may consist of multi-media lab, internet-based self-access
learning center, wireless radio and a range of co-curricular activities such as English speech competition, English
singing competition and other communicative events. An (2008) mentions that internet resources can enrich the

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teaching materials. Software can be downloaded for language learning. Students can visit interesting language learning
websites and browse the e-library. Using e-learning tools can enhance students’ speaking and writing skills. In the
Chinese context, it is also seen that various technological reforms and authentic resources have been integrated into
business English teaching.
C. Investigating Learner Perceptions of English Language Activities and Resources for Various Contexts
As well documented in literature, McGrath (2013, p. 158) summarizes that English language teaching resources can
also be based on coursebooks and authentic materials. The sources of teaching resources can include “TV, magazine,
advertisement and popular music”. Internet can also provide additional materials for English language teaching. In
addition, students may have different preferences of the teaching activities, such as “small group work, pair work,
discussion and role play”. However it is indicated that results of the studies may vary as they may be context and
student specific. Previous studies explore from different angles learner perceptions of English language activities and
resources for various contexts.
In Barcelona, Spain, Block (1994) differentiates teacher’s and learners’ perceptions of activities in an English as a
foreign language class. The teacher and learners differ in viewing the purposes of the activities. It is suggested that
teacher orients the activities more in line with learners’ preferences. Based on the conception of learner-centered
curriculum, Barkhuizen (1998) investigates about 60 South African high school students’ perceptions of 15 English
learning activities using a multi-method approach, combining questionnaire, composition, observation and interviews.
The results show that teacher and students’ perceptions do not match.
In the Chinese university context, Wei (2004) investigates 192 English major undergraduates’ perceptions of 20 oral
English teaching activities regarding their effectiveness in improving oral communicative competence and whether
students consider them as interesting methods. Teacher guided practice is considered more effective while free talk and
practice is seen as more interesting. Simulated practices using drills are considered the least effective and interesting.
In Open University of Hong Kong, Zhang, Perris and Yeung (2005) explore students’ perceptions of the use of
technology and internet in course learning, as well as the online tutorial support. The study concludes that while
students have positive perceptions of the use of internet and technology, the focus should be shifted from the issue of
access towards “language and interaction” (p. 803). Jackson (2003) explores case-based teaching in the Chinese
university of Hong Kong by investigating the views of twenty business professors and 589 students by questionnaires
and follow-up interviews. The study reveals that while business professors generally consider Asian students as reticent,
the students raise the inadequacy of English language preparation for case-based discussion as the constraint factor. It is
suggested that group work should be used to facilitate the sharing of ideas in class.
However, it can be found that previous studies on learner perceptions of English language resources and activities
have not been focused on business English teaching for English major undergraduates. Previous studies did not compare
and contrast the usefulness of various business English teaching activities, as well as traditional and technological
resources, based on students’ perceptions.

IV. METHODOLOGY
Investigating learner needs of business English skills and topics and exploring their perceptions of activities and
resources require both quantitative and qualitative methodologies (Brown, 2014). It is considered that the combination
of quantitative and qualitative approaches would provide a more comprehensive understanding of the issue under study
(Creswell, 2014). The data collection, participant information and data analysis procedures are thus explained in the
following sections.
A. Data Collection
The study mainly adopts paper-based questionnaires as the data collection instruments. The questionnaires containing
13 rating and open-ended questions were administered in September 2016 in the first week of the course Business
English to English major undergraduates in a Chinese university. The course focuses on business English
communication skills at intermediate level. The course has 32 teaching hours within a 4-month period. The content of
the course is mainly based on the coursebooks Further Ahead: A Communication Skills Course for Business English
(Jones-Macziola & White, 2003) and Chinese Companies versus Foreign Companies: A Practical Business English
Reader (Yang, 2012). The 13 questions in the questionnaire are designed based on the instruments developed by Hedge
(2002, p. 344), Basturkmen (2010, p. 30) and Harding (2007, p. 20). It aims to gather participant views on business
English skills and topics for improvement, perceptions of business English activities and resources from different angles.
The data collection process follows the ethical principles of second language research (Dörnyei and Taguchi, 2011,
p.80). Participants consent was obtained prior to the data collection process. The confidentiality of the participant and
organization identity has been protected and pseudonym is used for this study.
Moreover, researcher also delivered the course and conducted participant observation for the business English
learning process to triangulate the findings from paper-based questionnaires with insider perspectives.
B. Participants

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This study chooses one Chinese university with a School of Foreign Studies which hosts a four-year bachelor
program of English language and literature, consisting of different modules, such as English foundation, translation and
interpretation, literature and business English. The modules are being upgraded regularly, with the aims to train
language professionals with diverse competence including professional communication skills.
149 English major undergraduates in their second year of the English program in the Chinese university were valid
participants of the study. All of them enrolled in an elective Business English in September 2016. Twenty-two
participants were male and 127 were female. Their age range was 18~22 years old. The average age was 19.4 years old.
Less than half of the participants had passed College English Test (CET)-Band 4. There were four advanced learners
who took International English Language Test System (IELTS) examination and one even obtained a high score of 8.
In order to know participants’ prior business English learning experiences, participants self-assessed their business
English levels. Beginner level takes up the largest group of 68.46% of the participants. The rest of the participants are
almost equally spread in higher beginner, intermediate and low intermediate levels.
In order to understand participants’ strengths and weaknesses in specific English communication skills, participants
also examined their own language abilities in listening, speaking, reading and writing, which are described through a
1~4 rating scale, with 4 being the highest level of language ability. It was found that reading had the highest mean of
2.62 while speaking was the lowest at 2.12. Listening and writing were in the medium at around 2.2. It indicates that
speaking should be the priority area for further improvement.
For motivation of learning English, 62.42% of the participants claimed medium level motivation while 31.54% of the
participants held high level motivation. There were only a few participants who had low level motivation.
For reasons to study business English, 31.54% of the participants linked business English learning to finding job or
career preparation. There were 14.09% of the participants who had clear objectives of working for international
organization or foreign company, such as “German company”. 12.75% of the participants had more general purposes
such as to learn knowledge, broaden horizon and improve ability. They may also hope to develop professional
communication skills. 8.05% of the participants considered business English as useful or they were interested in the
subject. A few participants hoped to know cultures of different countries. There were also practical learners who hope to
pass Business English Certificate (BEC) tests.
C. Data Analysis
The participants’ needs of the business English topics and skills are measured by the frequency of the main themes in
the responses and their percentages of the participants as learners of English language and literature as their major
academic study area. The participants’ learning needs are also measured by means of a range of 1~4 regarding how
often they do the different types of writing in their study. The frequency and percentage of participants’ perceptions of
activities and resources are also calculated. The differences of needs and perceptions of male and female participants, as
well as advanced and average learners are compared and shown in the following graphs, which add more substance to
the results. Theories of individual differences in second language learners have also revealed that gender and language
aptitude are two of the differentiating factors (Hou, 2008), which this study is focusing on. For qualitative information,
major themes are analyzed and best quotes (Guest, MacQueen & Namey, 2012) drawn from participants’ responses to
open-ended questions. The insights gained by the researcher through participant observation supplement the results
from paper-based questionnaires.

V. RESULTS
A. Participants’ Needs of Business English Skills and Topics in the Chinese University Context

Figure 1: Major writing in the program study

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Participants’ major writing tasks in the program study are summarized in Figure 1, in a range of 1~4, with 4 meaning
a lot while 1 indicating never. The analysis shows that note-taking in class has the highest mean of 3.57, with male
participants at 3.15 and female participants at 3.64, which clearly indicates note-taking as an important learning skill for
these English major learners. Essay assignments, essay tests, reports and note-taking/internet have means for all
participants at over 2.5, which are occasional writing activities conducted by the participants. Summary of lectures,
letters and research papers become less frequent writing tasks for participants. Male participants have lower means in
all types of writing than female participants, except in the item of research papers, which has higher mean than their
female counterparts. For advanced learners, essay assignment has the highest mean of 3.5, while research papers and
summary of lectures have the lowest mean of 1.5, same as the other participants.
The business English skills, categorized as specific speaking, reading, writing and speaking tasks, participants would
like to improve in their study are summarized in Figure 2. For speaking, over 75% of the participants hoped to improve
public speaking, with over 77% of male participants and over 74% of female participants. Staying on a topic and
persuasive questioning take up around 30% of the participants, with over 13% male participants and more than 37%
female participants. Public speaking can be a priority area for business English teaching.
For reading, over 60% of all participants needed to improve quick reading skills and understand articles, journals,
abstracts and trade publication. Over 35% of all participants needed to improve skills for reading reports and over 22%
of all participants also hoped to learn to read correspondence. For reading skills, the priority should be given to quick
reading, articles, journals, abstracts and trade publication.
For writing, more than 50% of all participants needed to improve writing reports, business letters, and applications,
proposals and invoices, which should be the focus of business English curriculum. Over 49% of all participants hoped
to improve note-taking on talks. Around 33% of all participants hoped to improve writing skills for emails, cover letters
and CVs. Memo writing takes up around 25% of the participants.
For listening, over 74% of all participants listened to radio, TV and internet broadcasts with over 68% of male
participants and more than 75% of female participants, which seems to be the main source of audio input. Over 60% of
all participants also needed to listen to natural speech. Over one third of all participants also indicated the need to
improve listening skills for the main idea/key points and to people from non-English speaking countries.

Figure 2: The business English skills to improve

Participants’ views for the business English topics to learn are summarized in Figure 3. Around 30% of all
participants mentioned business communication as the key topic for learning, with over 31% of male participants and
over 29% of female participants. These could vary from business report, email, CVs, business etiquette to attending job
interview. The following two participants have demonstrated how they should be trained for business communication
skills with a pragmatic focus.
I wish to learn how to act well when I was interviewed in a big company, how to leave a deep
impression to others. (Participant A)
I’m quite curious about the business etiquette which would help me to behave myself at the proper

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time. (Participant B)
More than 10% of all participants mentioned world trade and finance and marketing including advertising. Banking
is a frequent word. Around 6% of all participants hoped to learn about negotiation. These are mostly mentioned by
female participants. Participant C had the following explanation.
I wish I can learn negotiation and how should we prepare if we want to hunt for a job in a foreign
company. (Participant C)
Over 3% of all participants raised business vocabulary such as business English wordlist and usage as important
topics. Around 2% of all participants also mentioned the topics of corporate history, Chinese businesses, cross-cultural
communication including politics, jobs and statistics as they preferred. These are again all female participants. For
example, participant D had the following elaboration.
I am interested particularly in China’s business development, with companies such as the growth of
JD.com, Huawei and Wanda etc. (Participant D)
For the advanced learners in the group, their needs for business English topics range from drama to business practice
needs. Participant E mentioned “how to dress well in formal occasions/how to interpret some professional words”.
Other advanced learners also mentioned the needs to learn business subject knowledge such as marketing and to prepare
for BEC test, which are similar to the other participants.

Figure 3: Business English topics to learn

B. Participants’ Perceptions of Business English Activities in the Chinese University Context

Participants’ favorite activities in English classes are summarized in Figure 4. Over 15% of all participants
considered role play as meaningful activities with over 4% of male participants and over 17% of female participants.
Over 14% of all participants also mentioned group work/debating, oral presentation, and watching videos/movies as
useful learning activities. Participants F, G had the following elaboration.
I like group work. Many students sit together and then discuss about the topic. (Participant F)
When teachers show us films and play music, I feel more relaxed and focus more on English study.
(Participant G)

Figure 4: Favorite activities in English classes

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Over 8% of all participants also preferred topic-based discussion and games/performance, with over 18% of male
participants and over 6% of female participants. Participant H described her personal experience.
Games! Actually, I love those activities which push us to think and talk. (Participant H)
Reading articles, writing papers and listening to teachers were also indicated by less than 6% of all participants as
making important contributions to their language learning, who are mainly female participants.
For advanced learners, their favorite activities in English classes are the same as the other participants, which include
presentation/public speaking, role play, teamwork and debating.
Participants’ perceived most helpful business English activities are described in Figure 5. Around 20% of all
participants mentioned making speech/presentation as the helpful activity, with over 13% male participants and over
20% female participants. Over 15% of all participants praised group talk/debate, with over 9% male participants and
over 16% female participants. For example, participant I had the following explanation about the benefits of team event.
Team event. It usually concludes discussion, division of work, statement of the group. It can really
give more space to students and be more creative, active. (Participant I)
Over 14% of all participants favored team-based discussion, with over 13% male participants and over 14% female
participants. Participant J described her view.
The teacher will give us a topic for us to discuss freely. The teacher will then let students to speak and
state his or her view. It may be difficult for us to express clearly. But with guided classroom
discussion, our thinking and speaking ability can be improved. (Translation, Participant J)
Less than 10% of all participants also mentioned teacher-student interaction, role play, listening, doing exercises,
reading, dictation, teacher talk and communicating with foreigners as useful pathways, mostly female participants.
Participant K even raised “watching and experiencing the real situation” as an important route for improving business
communication skills. For advanced learners, three out of four mentioned that English speech and communicative
activities are helpful, which is the same as the other participants.

Figure 5: Most helpful business English activities

C. Participants’ Perceptions of Business English Resources in the Chinese University Context

For learning business English outside class, participants have identified various routes, as shown in Figure 6. More
than 48% of all participants indicated watching movies or TV shows, such as TED as their way of English learning,
with over 40% male participants and over 50% female participants. Two out of four participants also used movies and
videos as the resources for out-of-class learning. Participant L expressed her experience.
I tend to watch US TV series to get to know the customs and ideology. (Participant L)
Around 40% of all participants also mentioned listening and reading activities as useful routes for learning English,
which include books, magazines and news. Two out of four advanced learners are the same as this group of participants.
Participant M had the following explanation.
I prefer reading and reciting texts outside the room, which makes it easier and funnier to study.
(Participant M)
More than 13% of all participants also used mobile applications such as English learning software and Wechat as
useful resources for their learning, with over 9% male participants and over 14% female participants. Participants N, O
described their experiences.
I have downloaded many Apps and followed many Wechat Subscription Accounts. (Participant N)

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Use some Apps to help me to remember new words and read some English passages. (Participant O)
Less than 10% of all participants relied on internet, dictionaries, talking with foreign friends, doing exercises, taking
online classes and debating as sources of English learning. Two participants especially raised the importance of English
speaking environment. Participant P had her observation.
I am a crazy lover about traveling. This past summer I went to Sri Lanka to be a volunteer teacher and
traveled a lot for 6 weeks. So for me, being in an environment where everyone speaks English is the
best way to learn English. (Participant P)

Figure 6: Participants’ routes of learning business English outside class

How participants locate business English learning resources is described in Figure 7. The graph has shown that
internet has become one of the major sources of business English learning resources. More than 57% of all participants
have used internet as their business English learning resources, with 50% male participants and over 59% female
participants. Participants Q, R had their explanation.
Read internet expert’s recommended posts and join in English learning group. (Participant Q)
I usually use English as a practical skill for communication. And I have to contact friends English,
everyday through WhatsApp or emails. So maybe I usually use internet and read news every day.
(Participant R)
More than 20% of all participants also relied on teacher or friend’s introduction of learning resources, who are mostly
female participants. More than 13% of all participants relied on mobile apps, who are all female participants. Over 10%
of the participants searched books through university library, who are mostly female. Less than 10% of all participants
also praised the usefulness of books, newspaper, magazine, dictionary, and multimedia resources such as online videos,
BBC etc. as useful learning resources. The advanced learners are the same as the other participants.

Figure 7: How participants locate business English learning resources

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By participant observation, the researcher also considers that the promotion of business English learning activities
and resources available on campus is required. It is to ensure that the students realize the availability of the learning
resources, such as the series of public lectures given by foreign teachers, the internet resources on the university
websites including free lecture videos, and the various international communication activities among students from
different countries.

VI. DISCUSSION
A. Participants’ Needs of Business English Skills and Topics in the Chinese University Context
The study shows that all participants most often require note-taking skills in their program study. For advanced
learners, essay assignment is the most frequent writing type. Participants also often write essays, reports and
note-taking/internet. But summary of lectures, letters and research papers are not the usual writing types often done by
all the participants. For business communication skills, they most need to improve skills of public speaking, quick
reading and the writing of reports, business letters, and applications, proposals and invoices. Participants need to listen
to radio, TV and internet broadcasts. By comparison, it is very clear that public speaking and listening to multi-media
recordings become the most important business communication skills in participants’ perceptions. For business topics,
participants hope to learn business communication related themes most. Other topics such as trade, finance and
marketing etc. are also on the recommended list. For advanced learners, the preferred business topics are also specific,
which are relevant to the real-world business practice and concrete business knowledge. These preferred business
English skills and topics should be the focus of the curriculum development. They are covered in business English
courses (Donna, 2000; Irigoin & Tsai, 1995), and the content should also be connected to English majors’ program
study requirements.
B. Participants’ Perceptions of Business English Activities in the Chinese University Context
For business English activities, all participants value role plays. They also mentioned group work such as debating,
oral presentation, watching videos/movies as useful activities. They also like topic-based discussion, games and
performance. Reading, writing and listening activities also are useful, especially for female participants. Participants
consider making speech/presentation as most helpful activity. Teacher-student interaction, role play, listening, doing
exercises, reading, dictation, teacher talk and communicating with foreigners are also mentioned as useful way of
English learning, especially for female participants. Advanced learners are the same as the other participants. Most of
these business English activities perceived by the participants as effective ones belong to communicative methodologies
(Richards & Rodgers, 1986; Brumfit & Johnson, 2000). Similarly, for teaching and learning business English in the
Spanish university context, Fuertes-Olivera and Go´mez-Martı´nez (2004) also find that the grammar translation
methodology has negative influences on the learning outcomes and the norms of communicative methodology should
be introduced to students. Moreover, Emmerson and Hamilton (2005) indicate that the design of business English
teaching activities can integrate reading and listening texts with a communicative focus. Business English teachers are
suggested to use multiple approaches in designing activities.
C. Participants’ Perceptions of Business English Resources in the Chinese University Context
Participants mentioned watching movies or TV shows as their way of learning English outside class. They also rely
on mobile applications to learn English. They occasionally rely on internet, dictionaries, talking with foreign friends,
doing exercises, taking online classes and debating to learn English. Most of the participants rely on surfing internet to
gain learning resources. They also occasionally rely on teacher and friends’ introduction, university library, book,
magazines, news, dictionary and multimedia resources for learning English. The advanced learners are the same as the
other participants. The results show that these English major undergraduates no longer only rely on the traditional print
media for learning resources such as book, dictionary and library. They largely acquire English through electronic
media such as videos, mobile phone and internet. By comparison, it can be found that internet is the major source of
English learning resources. This trend is discovered in ranges of studies on the use of microblog (Davies, 2015) and
wiki platform (Wang, Zou, Wang & Xing, 2013) in language learning. Participants realize the importance of language
learning environment on improving business communicative competence. This is also recognized in the study of
Trinder (2013) in the Austrian university context. Trinder (2013) indicates that being immersed in the English use
environment and oral communication are two effective means of language learning. Successful learners have a higher
level of autonomy and exploit learning resources more effectively.

VII. CONCLUSION
This study investigates English major undergraduates’ views on business English skills and topics, and investigates
their perceptions of the meaningful activities and resources in one Chinese university context. It can be summarized that
public speaking, listening to multimedia resources, and business communication themes should be the focus of further
business English curriculum development. In general, female participants have stronger needs and expectations in
various English learning activities than male participants. Advanced learners have very concrete requirements of

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business English topics relevant to business practice and knowledge. Moreover, communicative teaching methodology
should be the focus of pedagogical innovation. This study offers unique insights into business English teaching and
learning in a Chinese university. It implies that systematic guidance is especially required to lead students onto the right
track of business English learning. The results of the study serve as basis for further business English curriculum
development and resources provision in higher education environment.
The study finds that internet as well as movies and videos are perceived as the most important electronic sources of
language learning resources. The study thus indicates the potential for business English resources development and
exploitation. The publishers and material developers should recognize the importance of electronic media in addition to
the print media. While learners have easier access to electronic media resources, the content developers should also be
ready with more diverse, up-to-date and attractive materials.
The results of the study inform business English teaching and learning in the university context. Though the study
offers results in only one university, the research process can be replicated in other cultural or educational settings. The
business English teaching professionals should follow the current trends to better meet student learning needs. Future
research should explore the possibility of incorporating technological innovation such as blended learning and online
learning in business English curriculum. Future research should also focus on how to cultivate practical communication
skills in business English programs.

APPENDIX
Adapted from Hedge (2002, p. 344), Basturkmen (2010, p. 30) and Harding (2007, p. 20)
Needs Analysis
1. Name________ Gender___________ Age____________
2. How would you describe your Business English level?
Beginner High Low Intermediate Intermediate High Advanced Native Level
Beginner Intermediate

3. English Proficiency Test Score (e.g. CET-4, College Entry Test Score, IETLS, TOEFL
etc.)_________________________________________________________________
4. Please mark the best/primary reason for you to learn business English: ____________
5. Please rate your level of overall motivation to learn English as ______________ (high/medium/low).
6. Circle the number that best indicates your perception of your language ability in your major with 4 being the
highest level of language ability.
a. Listening 4 3 2 1
b. Speaking 4 3 2 1
c. Reading 4 3 2 1
d. Writing 4 3 2 1
7. What kind of writing do you do in the program study? (4 a lot; 3 sometimes; 2 rarely; 1 never)
a. Essay assignments 4321
b. Essay tests 4321
c. Letters 4321
d. Reports 4321
e. Research papers 4321
f. Summary of lectures 4 3 2 1
g. Note-taking in class 4 3 2 1
h. Note-taking/internet 4321
i. Other: Specify______ 4 3 2 1
8. Which business skills would you like to improve?
Speaking
□ Public speaking
□ Describing things when you don’t know the exact word
□ Staying on a topic
□ Persuasive questioning
□ Dealing with communication problems
Reading
□ Reports
□ Correspondence
□ Articles, journals, abstracts and trade publication
□ Quick reading for specific information and key points
Writing
□ Reports

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□ Taking notes on talks

□ Memos/messages
□ Emails
□ Business letters
□ Cover letters and CVs
□ Forms: applications, proposals and invoices
Listening
□ To radio, TV and internet broadcasts
□ For the main idea/key points
□ To natural speech
□ To people from non-English speaking countries
Activity
9. What sort of activity do you like best in English classes?
10. What kind of activity do you find most helpful?
Material
11. Are there any topics of business English that you wish to learn? Please provide details.
Learning Resources
12. How do you help yourself to learn business English outside the classroom?
13. How do you locate the resources for learning business English?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author would like to express heartfelt thanks to the participants for their helpful contributions to the study. The
author is also grateful for the expert comments from editors and reviewers for revising this article. This work was
funded by 9th China Foreign Language Education Research Fund [ZGWYJYJJ2018B14].

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Qing Xie was born in Ninghai, China in 1981. She received her PH.D. in Language Education and Technical and Vocational
Education and Training from The Education University of Hong Kong, China.
She is currently a lecturer in the School of Foreign Studies, Jiangnan University China. Her research interests include English for
specific purposes, corporate training and curriculum development.
Dr. Xie is a member of China Foreign Language Research Association English for Specific Purposes Interest Group.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 769-775, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.11

Empowering Indonesian Teachers to Improve

Students’ Learning: Case Studies of Teachers’
Action Research
Umi Tursini
English Education Department, Universitas Kanjuruhan Malang, East Java, Indonesia

Abstract—This current study was undertaken to examine how Indonesian teachers implemented action
research (AR) in an attempt to develop their professionalism and provide better learning opportunity for their
students. The research approach in this study included qualitative case study design elements that involved
three English teachers who varied in terms of teaching experience, age, and academic qualification as the
research participants. The research participants were assisted to get more understanding about AR by inviting
them to take part in AR workshops, participate in focus group discussions, and undertake an AR project.
Multiple data sources were obtained through interview, observation, focus group discussion, and
documentation. The findings indicated that all participants learned important things about their teaching
practice and students’ learning through their engagement in action research activity. The findings also showed
that conducting AR had encouraged participants to be more reflective and empowered them to be a
researcher of their own classroom. In spite of the positive and promising results of this study, the success of
action research mainly depends on teachers’ own need and motivation to conduct AR to monitor their
teaching. Therefore, sufficient support should be provided to teachers to enable them to conduct AR including
focus group discussions since this study also highlights the importance of collegial dialogues in developing
teachers’ practice. It is reasonable to recommend educational or institutional leaders in Indonesia provide
opportunities for teachers to take initiative in referring to action research for achieving professional growth.

Index Terms—empower, student’s learning, case study, teachers’ professional development, action research,
focus group discussion

I. INTRODUCTION
Teachers have a vital role in school improvement and educational change because they make a significant
contribution to the quality of education provided to students. They directly facilitate learning opportunities to students
and the nature of these opportunities impact the extent and rate of student learning. In other words, the quality of
teachers is a key determinant of variation in students’ academic outcomes (Darling-Hammond, 2000; Ferguson & Ladd,
1996; Wenglinsky, 2000). It is therefore necessary for teachers to devote time to improving the quality of their
instructional practice to promote effective teaching that helps students to better learn and grow (Tuckman, 1995).
In Indonesia context, one of teacher professional development activities is introduced through the Musyawarah Guru
Mata Pelajaran (teacher association of subject teaching), known as MGMP. It is the activity of teachers’ focus group
discussion to specifically develop standardized concepts and the assessment of subjects (Saondi & Suherman, 2010,
p.75). It is usually conducted every month. However, this activity is still limited to discussions on teaching preparations
such as lesson plan, syllabus, or examination material. Teachers do not have ample opportunity to get ideas about
particular ways to maximize students’ learning. Therefore, it is necessary for Indonesian teachers to take part in other
professional development activities with the purpose of improving the quality of their instruction practice.
Conducting action research (AR) is a viable option for teacher professional development to provide better learning
opportunity for students. It can be defined as a valuable way to extend teachers’ teaching skills and gain more
understanding of themselves as teachers, their classroom, and their students (Burns, 2010, p.1). According to Mills
(2007, p. 5), AR is “any systematic inquiry conducted by teacher researchers, principals, school counsellors, or other
stakeholders in the teaching/learning to gather information about how their particular schools operate, how they teach,
and how well their students learn…”. In other words, within the AR process, teachers study their own teaching and
student learning with the aim of doing reflection on their teaching. That is looking back what has worked and has not
worked in the teaching and thinking deeply about the strategies to enhance their teaching skill and students’ learning.
This is in line with what Ferrance (2000, pp.2-3) said that teachers involved in AR are “not problem-solving in the
sense of trying to find out what is wrong, but rather a quest for knowledge about how to improve”. Therefore, the goal
of AR is to better understand and improve teachers’ instructional practice and “engage in a process of continuous
improvement” (Patthey & Thomas-Spiegel, 2013, p. 482).
According to Hagevik, R., et al (2009), action research is a series of cycles that include describing a problem, seeking
knowledge from previous investigators, collecting data, devising and implementing a strategy to change, evaluating the

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results, and planning for another cycle of improvement. In addition, Ferrance (2000, p. 2) stated that teachers who
conduct AR begin a cycle of asking questions, collecting data, and acting upon what they learn in their research. This
implies that AR involve a dynamic and integrated spiral process so that teachers may take the cycles as they need to
find out what works best in their particular class situation.
Although action research has been around since the 1950s (Kayaoglu, 2015), this notion was officially introduced in
the Indonesia context in 1995 through the Pendidikan Guru Sekolah Menengah Project (Roshsantingsih, 2004). It
means AR has been initiated since 21 years ago in Indonesia. However, there is little evidence that Indonesian teachers
have undertaken AR as a valuable way to enhance their professionalism. Some teachers are familiarized with AR
through educational seminar and workshops but only a few teachers apply it in their classroom. This is because of some
challenges, which hinder them from pursuing AR such as teachers’ unfamiliarity with the concept of AR, insufficient
opportunity and support from the institution, teachers’ heavy workloads, and large size classes (Wallace, 1998).
Moreover, the availability of AR activity itself depends highly on the institution (Rochsantingsih, 2004). Therefore,
Indonesian teachers should have awareness and be provided with support to undertake AR.
Relevant studies have recommended the implementation of action research and associated it with teaching
improvement and professional development. Rochsantiningsih (2004) conducted an AR to investigate Indonesian
teachers’ perceptions of the impacts of AR on their professional development. The findings suggested that teachers
were able to improve many aspects of their classes and shift from being technicians and more into decision makers. In
addition, Hagevik, et al (2012) conducted a study about the role of AR in promoting critical reflective thinking with the
participants of twenty pre-service teachers engaged in a year-long middle level program. The findings indicated that AR
engaged pre-service teachers in inquiry into their own practice. It also promoted critical reflection in a collaborative
learning environment and was also a means to reflect upon and determine ways to change their teaching practices.
Furthermore, Kayaoglu (2015) examined whether AR is a viable option for teachers in Turkey to carry out for their
professional development. The findings showed that teachers had positive response about AR and were able to
overcome some inadequacies in their educational environment.
As stated previously that not many Indonesian teachers have experience in undertaking action research. Therefore,
the main focus of the present study was engaging three English teachers from two different schools in Indonesia in AR
activity. The researcher facilitated them to employ AR in their classroom as one form of teacher professional
development activities without sacrificing their teaching schedule because AR could be interwoven during teaching. It
means the research participants were themselves involved in carrying out AR in their genuine teaching settings.
Specifically, this current study was undertaken to examine how Indonesian teachers implemented AR in an attempt to
develop their professionalism and provide better learning opportunity for their students.
To allow for a comprehensive understanding, two research questions were set out for the study:
1. What and how was AR implemented in Indonesian teachers’ classroom?
2. What did teachers think about the AR process in relation to their teaching and students’ learning?

II. METHODOLOGY
A. Research Design
The research approach in this study included qualitative case study design elements because this design is ideal for
understanding and interpreting observations of educational phenomena (Merriam, 1998). The educational phenomenon
examined in this study was the implementation of AR by Indonesian teachers and the ways AR assisted them to develop
their professionalism. Case study is defined as “an empirical study that investigates a contemporary phenomenon in
depth and within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly
evident” (Yin, 2009, p. 18). Accordingly, an in-depth analysis of teachers’ implementation of AR was conducted. In
addition, as stated by Merriam (1998, p. 1), “research focused on discovery, insight, and understanding from the
perspectives of those being studied offers the greatest promise of making significant contributions to the knowledge
base and practice of education”. Hence, this study employed a qualitative case study approach, that is, a case study of
Indonesian teachers trying to improve their instructional practice through AR.
B. Instruments
Four data collection tools were used in this study: interview, observation, focus group discussion, and
documentation. Yin (2009) considers interviews to be one of the most important sources of case study information. The
participants were interviewed using semi-structured interview twice: (1) after they took part in focus group discussion
for two times to ask about their AR preparation; and (2) at the end of the study to ask about how AR was conducted in
their classroom and their perceptions about the AR process as related to their teaching and students’ learning. All the
interviews were recorded and later transcribed. Observations were done once in every participant’s class when the
action research was being implemented, whereas focus group discussion was conducted four times. Documentation
used for this study included summary of teacher’s AR, lesson plan, and teaching materials.
C. Participants
Participants in this study included three English teachers who varied in terms of teaching experience, age, and

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academic qualification. In addition, all participants had no prior knowledge about action research. Table 1 summarises
the key detail pertaining to the participants in this study.
TABLE I.
RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS – KEY DETAILS
Name Gender Age Teaching Academic Teaching place Class used for AR
experience qualification focus of Teaching
Teacher A Female 23 years 1 year Undergraduate Degree Private school Year 7
Pronunciation
Teacher B Female 48 years 27 years Master Degree Public school Year 8
Speaking
Teacher C Female 48 years 21 years Undergraduate Degree Public school Year 9
Speaking

From the details presented in the above table, it is evident that the participants had various backgrounds and
experiences. All the teachers were female. Among them, teacher B held a master degree. One teacher was a novice
teacher who just recently obtained his/her undergraduate degree and was teaching at a private school. On the other
hands, the other two teachers were experienced teacher who had been teaching for more than 20 years and were
teaching at a public school. The class used for AR focus of teaching varied from year 7 up to year 9.
D. Data Collection and Analysis
Data in this study were collected over a six-month period. The researcher assisted the research participants to get
more understanding about AR by inviting them to take part in two workshops. The workshops focused on equipping the
research participants with necessary information about AR so that teachers felt emboldened to conduct their own
research in their classrooms. To help them to complete their AR, the researcher also facilitated them to take part in the
activity of Focus Group Discussions (FGD) with other participants. These FGD were as a means for the research
participants to share their issues in their classroom, their AR, or the difficulties in conducting AR. In summary, the
research strategy consists of a three-step sequence: introducing to action research, familiarizing with action research
practices in the field, and facilitating teachers to embark on their action research. The entire data collection process is
summarized in Table 2 below.
TABLE II.
STEPS IN THE RESEARCH SEQUENCE
Activity Focus
Workshop 1 This workshop was intended to introduce action research to the participants including
its features, models, benefits of AR to education, and researchable issues in AR.
Workshop 2 In this workshop, the participants were facilitated to get more understanding
aboutAR by giving more examples of AR projects and its reports.
Focus Group Discussion 1 This discussion facilitated teachers to identify some researchable issues in their
classroom by sharing their problems in teaching learning process to other
participants. The participants could then decide a topic for their AR.
Focus Group Discussion 2 This dicussion focused on the preparation of each participant to take part in AR in the
classroom. The participants were encouraged to express ideas or feedback about
other participants’ AR plan.
Interview This interview was conducted after the research participants took part in FGD for two
times. Its focus was to get information about their preparation in undertaking AR.
Class observation Class observation was conducted in every participant’s class when she was
implementing AR with the objective to observe what happened in the class.The
researcher then gave some suggestions related to every participant’s AR.
Focus Group Discussion 3 This discussion was used to share every participant’s AR that had been conducted.
New feedback and ideas about how to improve or what needed revising in every
participant’s AR became the focus of this discussion.
Focus Group Discussion 4 This last discussion was conducted after the participants accomplished their AR. It
was used by participants to present their AR and shared the summary of their AR to
others.
Interview This interview was conducted at the end of the study to ask about how AR was
implemented in their classroom and their perceptions about the AR process as in
relation to their teaching and student’s learning.

The researcher used case analysis to analyze the results of interview by focusing on the responses of each research
participant (Patton, 1980) with the purpose to understand how every participant’s opinions differed during the term, not
to reach a common truth among interviewees. Because the interviews were conducted in Indonesian, they were all
translated into English and subsequently transcribed. In this study, the researcher acted as the translator of the
transcriptions so that there was an opportunity to check the validity of interpretations and for “close attention to cross
cultural meanings and interpretations and potentially brings the researchers up close to the problems of meaning
equivalence within the research process” (Ferguson & Ladd, 1996, p. 168).
Furthermore, the data from observation and documents were analyzed using the content analysis method. First, they
were carefully sorted and coded and then categorized based on the research questions. Next, frequency of each code

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was counted to identify prominent themes. Following the completion of these steps of analysis, a cross-case analysis
was initiated to identify similarities and differences. As a result, themes emerged from the data with no predetermined
theoretical assumptions.

III. RESULTS
The organization of the findings of this study comprises two main sections: the implementation of AR in teachers’
classroom and teachers’ perception about the AR process in relation to their teaching and students’ learning.
A. The Implementation of AR in Teachers’ Classroom
As stated previously that all research participants in this study had no prior experience in undertaking action research
in their classroom although two of them had been teaching for more than 20 years. After they became quite familiar
with the spirit and stages of action research by joining the workshops, they came up with certain problems or concerns
to focus on, as presented in Table 3 below.
TABLE III.
TEACHERS’ CONCERN FOR ACTION RESEARCH
Name Focus on AR
Teacher A Students’ lack of basic pronunciation
Teacher B Students’ speaking in agreement and disagreement expression
Teacher C Students’ speaking skill in expressing opinion

As shown in the above table, all participants’ AR topics covered improving teaching practices and overcoming
problems in the class. In other words, they were interested in the topics of learning rather than teaching. This is in line
with the views of Richards and Lockhart (1994) who argued that the purpose of AR is to make changes and to make
improvement to the current teaching and learning. In this study, all teachers focused on making improvement in their
students’ learning. They were able to identify a problem to their everyday teaching as stated by Teacher A in the
excerpt below:
I could see clearly that the biggest problem in my class was the students’ pronunciation. They could not
pronounce the words correctly. I think I need to focus more on how to help them to improve their
pronunciation.
Similarly, when Teacher B was asked about the existing problems in her problem that needed to be solved, she
stated:
I found that the overall situation of my class was as not really favorable. The students were reluctant and not
motivated to participate in the class activity. Moreover, when I taught them about expressing agreement and
disagreement, some students did not able to do that.
Furthermore, Teacher C raised the issue of passive students in her class as presented in the below excerpt:
I had a heterogeneous class in which the students had various level of English speaking ability. Some students
were very dominant and active, while others were very quiet and passive in the class. I had to find a solution. I
think I need to use appropriate teaching method to encourage the passive students to participate in class
activity as well. When I delivered a material about expressing opinions, only few students were able to do that.
Most students were passive.
After all research participants decided the focus of their AR, they then designed a plan of action they intended to take.
Teacher A decided to use tongue twister to practice and improve her students’ pronunciation and fluency as written in
her AR summary of AR.
I gave a short passage for my students to read. I then more realized that many students made errors in
pronouncing the words. After joining FGD activity, my colleagues suggested me to apply tongue twister to
solve my students’ problem. I would use it in my class. I would find the material on the Internet and YouTube
and used a voice-recorder to see their improvement.
Another teacher who was aware that she needed to improve her students’ speaking decided to use problem-solving
strategy. This strategy was particularly implemented to assist students in agreement and disagreement expressions as
she wrote in her summary of AR:
When the first time I gave the material about expressing agreement and disagreement, I was not really happy
with the students’ response. I thought I needed different teaching technique to help them. I then came up with
problem-solving strategy after taking part in FGD activity. I would prepare some problems to solve in
flashcards.
Complaining of not having a homogeneous class, teacher C decided to use role-play technique to create a cooperative
atmosphere in her class so that every student would contribute in the class activity. He wrote in his/her summary of AR
as follows:
I wanted my students to cooperate with their friends so that the students who were passive would be
encouraged to be active. I thought the use of role-play in my speaking class might help. First, I would teach
them about expressing opinions in English. Next, I would prepare cards written with particular situations and
ask them to perform a role-play based on the situation in the card.

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After making some plans in their AR, the research participants then started to implement their AR project. Teacher A
reported:
I wrote the full version of the tongue twister in the whiteboard and asked the students to write it on their
notebook. Before reading it, I explained the students what the tongue twister was about. Then, I read the first
verse the tongue twister for them slowly and they repeated it. I continued this until the last verse. At the end of
the session, the students had to read the full verse of tongue twister and I recorded them.
Teacher B implemented the problem-solving strategy in her speaking class. She asserted:
After explaining how to express agreement and disagreement in English, I asked every student to take one card
and expressed the solution of the problem in the card. I asked every student to come forward to share his or her
solution in front of the class.
How teacher C implemented the role-play technique in her speaking class to help students’ ability in expression
opinion is found in the excerpt below.
Firstly, I gave the material about expression opinions in English. I then asked the students to express their
opinion by providing cards. The students formed a group of 3 students. One student from each group took one
card and the group needed to perform a role-play about the situation written in the card in front of the class.
After implementing their AR, research participants did the observation and reflection. Teacher A stated that she
needed to do the second cycle in her AR as presented in the following excerpt:
The students looked excited because of the repetition of the words, and got confused with how the words and
pronounced especially when the order of the words changed. It was not sufficient if the students only learn
how to pronounce words only from me, as I am not a native speaker. It would be better to let them hear how
native speakers pronounced some words, to familiarize them with how native speakers spoke and to better
practice some words. I would play an audio of Peter Piper recited as a fun song from YouTube by a native
speaker with varied speed from slow to fast, and asked them to sing along in the next meeting.
Teacher B also reported that she needed to do the second cycle since she was not really content with the outcome of
her AR. She reported:
When I required the students to take one card and express their agreement/disagreement about the provided
topics, they looked motivated. However, I thought that was not enough. I thought I still needed one more
meeting to maximize their learning. I would prepare more flashcards with pictures and more interesting
problems to solve. Next, I would ask my students to form a group of four. Each group would take one card and
expressed their solution about the problems provided in the card by discussing with their friends in a group.
The group representative then needed to share the solution to others.
Like teacher A and teacher B, teacher C also did the next cycle in her AR project to improve students’ ability in
expressing opinions as presented in the excerpt below.
I was happy since all students participated in role-play activity and could express their opinion quite well.
However, some students did not talk fluently and stopped at the middle of conversation for a very long time. I
thought I needed to give them more time to prepare their role-play. In the next meeting, I would ask them to
prepare their own role-play about expressing opinion at home then presented it in the class.
B. Teachers’ Perception about the AR Process in Relation to Their Teaching and Students’ Learning
At the end the action research undertaken by the research participants, the researcher asked them to share their
experience and overall outcome. All participants acknowledged that they AR had helped them to critically analyze their
students’ need and learning as stated by teacher A in the excerpt below.
My students’ pronunciation increased well after I played tongue twister in the audio. They seemed more
motivated. It caught students’ attention well, made them focused, and was faster to make them understand.
Eventually, students would be easier to remember how certain words were pronounced by native speakers as
they had listened to it. I now realize that my students are more motivated to learn English from interesting
media so that I will provide more interesting English videos for them.
Similarly, teacher B mentioned that her class was alive and the students were engaged in expressing their solutions
for the provided problems as presented in the following excerpt.
My students engaged in the class activity so well. After I asked them to work in a group, they were motivated
to discuss the solutions with their group. They provided interesting solutions, which encouraged other groups
to give feedback. I know now that my students are happy with new teaching techniques. Usually I just
followed the activity in the textbook. When I had a new class activity, they were much more excited to
participate in the teaching and learning process. Initially, I thought that this AR was tiring and time-consuming
since I was quite busy to prepare the teaching material and media such as flashcards and pictures. However,
when I know that what I prepared for this AR encouraged my students a lot to take part more in my lesson, I
felt so motivated as well to prepare more new class activities.
Furthermore, research participants indicated that action research boosted their self-confidence and inspired them to
be more reflective and creative. Teacher A, for example reported that AR helped her to become, “…more aware of
examining whether my teaching method was effective or not and whether my students were learning or not”. Similarly,
teacher C stated:

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The reflection at the end of my AR project showed that all students in my class were engaged in the class
activity when I asked them to prepare and perform a role-play. In other words, I need a class activity, which
facilitate all students to be active in teaching and learning process like role-play. The strategies I implemented
in my AR had solved the problems I investigated. I’m now confident enough that I will be able to help
students to better learn by providing more interesting and various class activities. That’s why I will keep using
more suitable activities for my students in the next class meetings.

IV. DISCUSSION
This study facilitated all research participants to conduct AR for the first time. Although they sometimes felt it was
time-consuming and hard due to overloaded teaching hours, they learned important things about their teaching practice
and students’ learning through their engagement in action research activity. Specifically, the participants reported that
the improvements as a result of specific actions taken in their research included students’ attitudes, involvement
behaviors, and learning. This is consistent with the views of Guskey (2000) who stated that the ultimate goal of teacher
professional development activity is to improve the students’ learning so that they can achieve and perform better.
Teacher C, for example, reported that after implementing a role-play activity, the situation in the classrooms improved
where students showed their increasing participation in the lessons. Learning became more enjoyable for the students.
She then decided to change her current teaching practice to facilitate all students to be engaged in teaching and learning
process by providing various activities. In other words, AR empowered teachers to try new teaching techniques and
materials in order to enhance instructional practice as part of the process of change. This supports the views of Burn
(1999) and Zeichner (2003) who stated that teacher AR brings real changes in the teachers, their classrooms, and their
schools.
The findings of this study also showed that conducting AR had encouraged participants to be more reflective. They
critically reflect on their existing practice with the aim of exploring new knowledge and understanding about their
teaching and student leaning. This is in line with the views of Feldman (2002) and Zeichner and Liston (1987) who
stated that through reflection on action, teachers became more thoughtful about teaching, aware of their practices and
the effects that their teaching had on their students’ thinking and learning. Initially, all participants questioned their
students’ problem in learning. They themselves then proposed a solution, implemented it and did reflection on it. For
instance Teacher B said, “AR gave me the ability to look in-depth at my instructional practice and students’ learning. I
tried to find what worked and what did not.”
Action research facilitated all research participants to choose the research topic and conduct it in their own classroom.
In other words, they became the managers of their own research. This enhanced participants’ self-confidence. Teacher
A, for instance stated:
After joining the workshop, I was challenged to identify a problem in the classroom and implement a particular
technique to solve it. That was a new experience for me. Initially, I was confused how to complete my AR. However, I
became more familiar with AR after I joined focus group discussions with other participants. I felt AR increased my
self-confidence.
This is consistent with the findings of Kayaoglu (2015) who reported that by participating in AR, “the teachers
adopted a researcher role and investigative stance towards their own classroom practices. The shifts in roles from the
teacher as operator to the teacher as problem-finder and solver boosted their self-confidence”(p. 155).

V. CONCLUSIONS
In this study, the researcher took the role as a facilitator to introduce research participants with action research by
presenting workshops on AR and facilitated them to take part in focus group discussions and conduct their own AR
project. The purposes were to examine how they implemented AR in an attempt to improve students’ learning and
explore their perception about the AR process in relation to their teaching and students’ learning. In spite of the positive
and promising results of this study, the success of action research mainly depends on teachers’ own need and
motivation to conduct AR to monitor their teaching. Therefore, sufficient support should be provided to teachers to
enable them to conduct continuous action research including focus group discussions since this study also highlights the
importance of collegial dialogues in developing teachers’ practice. It is reasonable to recommend educational or
institutional leaders in Indonesia provide opportunities for teachers to take initiative in referring to action research for
achieving professional growth as “teachers are unlikely to develop a respect for their own experience and knowledge
unless they can find wider support and acknowledgement for the value of their experience and understanding”
(Loughran& Northfield, 1996, p. 3). The necessary provisions must therefore be in place and will ideally include formal
training or workshops on AR, the allocation of time to carry out the process, and ongoing support to address teachers’
needs and concerns about the process in terms of consistency and timeliness.
The present study is limited in several ways. First, it was conducted in particular school in Indonesia. This project
was also a small- scale study involving three English teachers. Hence, the findings should not be interpreted as a way
to reveal the implementation of AR within the system of higher education in Indonesia. However, readers may find the
similarities with their own contexts and see whether the findings and implications are relevant. Second, this study

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focused on a short-term examination (six months) of the implementation of AR. Therefore, further longitudinal study is
needed into how teachers can sustain changes in their teaching practices that result from AR activity.

REFERENCES
[1] Burns, A. (1999). Collaborative Action Research for English Language Teachers. United Kingdom: Cambridge University
Press.
[2] Burns, A. (2010). Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching: A Guide for Practitioners. New York: Routledge.
[3] Darling-Hammond, L. (2000). ‘Teacher Quality and Student Achievement: A Review of State Policy Evidence’. Education
Policy Analysis Archives, 8 (1), 1–49.
[4] Feldman, A. (2002) Existential Approaches to Action Research. Educational Action Research, 10(2), 233-252
[5] Ferrance, E. (2000). Action research. Providence, RI: Brown University.
[6] Ferguson, R. F., & Ladd, H. F. (1996). ‘How and Why Money Matters: An Analysis of Alabama Schools’, Holding Schools
Accountable: Performance Based Reform in Education. Washington DC: Brookings Institute.
[7] Guskey, T. R. (2000). Evaluating Professional Development. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press Inc.
[8] Hagevik, Rita; Aydeniz, Mehmet; Rowell, C. Glennon. (2009). Action research to strengthen middle grades interns’ reflective
practitioners’ skills: a case in point at a large state university. In paper presented at the 61st annual meeting of American
association of colleges for teacher education, Chicago, IL.
[9] Hagevik, Rita; Aydeniz, Mehmet; Rowell, C. Glennon. (2012). Using Action Research in Middle Level Teacher Education to
Evaluate and Deepen Reflective Practice. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies,
28(5), 675-684.
[10] Kayaoglu, M. (2015) Teacher researchers in action research in a heavily centralized education system, Educational Action
Research, 23:2, 140-161.
[11] Loughran, J., & Northfield, J. (1996). Opening the Classroom Door: Teacher, Researcher, Learner. London: Falmer.
[12] Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education, Revised and Expanded from “Case
Study Research in Education”. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass Inc.
[13] Mills, G. E. (2007). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill
Prentice Hall.
[14] Patton, M. Q. (1980). Qualitative evaluation methods. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
[15] Patthey, G.G., & Thomas-Spiegel, J. (2013). Action research for instructional improvement: The bad, the ugly, and the good.
Educational Action Research, 21(4), 468–484.
[16] Richards, J.C., & Lockhart., C. (1994). Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
[17] Rochsantiningsih, D. (2004). Enhancing professional development of Indonesian high school teachers through action research
(Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation), Macquarie University, Australia.
[18] Saondi, O &Suherman, A. (2010). Etika Profesi Keguruan. Bandung: PT Refika Aditama.
[19] Tuckman, B. W. (1995). Teacher Effectiveness: A Look at What Works. Peabody Journal of Education, 70 (2), 127-138.
[20] Yin, R. K. (2009). Case Study Research Design and Methods Fourth Edition. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications,
Inc.
[21] Wallace, M. J., (1998). Action Research for Language Teachers. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
[22] Wenglinsky, H. (2000). How Teaching Matters: Bringing the Classroom Back into the Discussions about Teacher Quality.
Educational Testing Service. http://www.ets.org/research/pic/teamat.pdf. (accessed 20/2/2017).
[23] Zeichner, K.M. (2003). Teacher Research as Professional Development for P-12 Educators in the USA. Educational Action
Research, 11(2), 301-325
[24] Zeichner, K., & Liston, D. P. (1987). Teaching student teachers to reflect. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 23-48.

Umi Tursini, Ph.D is an English lecturer at the Faculty of Language and Literature, Universitas Kanjuruhan Malang, East Java,
Indonesia. She earned his PhD from the University of New South Wales, Australia. Her research interests include teacher
professional development, action research, and teaching speaking.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 776-781, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.12

A Comparative Study on Teacher Talk of

Australian and Chinese English Teachers in an
Academic English Writing Course in Chinese
EFL Classrooms
Julan Wang
SHU-UTS SILC Business School, Shanghai University, China

Abstract—Research on teacher talk has shown that many different teaching behaviors between native English
speaking teachers and non-native English speaking teachers may result form their different English
proficiency. This paper aims to examine the differences between Australian English teachers (AETs) and
Chinese English teachers (CETs) in an Academic English Writing course in ELF classrooms in China in terms
of language use, linguistic complexity, and linguistic variety. Two university teachers (one AET and one CET)
were recorded and observed for two weeks in October of 2017 in SHU-UTS Business School of Shanghai
University. Data were collected via classroom observation and analyzed by a qualitative research method. The
findings revealed although there are some differences in language use, linguistic complexity and linguistic
variety, both teachers are highly aware of the marking criteria for the writing task of the academic English
writing course and emphasize their teacher talk quality input for their students. The results, therefore, can
help teachers from Australian and Chinese cultures to continuously work on high quality teacher talk and
facilitate the development of a specific language skill-academic English writing for English learners in EFL
Chinese classrooms.

Index Terms—teacher talk, AETs, CETs, academic English writing, EFL classrooms

I. INTRODUCTION
In the recent two decades, many educational joint programs have been founded in many universities in China.
SHU-UTS SILC Business School was founded back in 1994 and has already developed as a leading institute in these
universities. One outstanding feature of all these programs is to conduct their courses in English, so intensive English
courses are designed in the first year to help students develop proper English proficiency to prepare them well for their
major studies. In order to alleviate the lack of qualified teachers, a surging number of English native speakers are
employed to teach English in Chinese EFL classrooms. In relation to the issue who teaches English better in EFL
classrooms, it is commonly assumed that native speaking teachers provide better input due to their English language
proficiency. However, the quality of teacher talk also plays a significant role in students’ foreign language learning.
Studies that examined teacher talk of native speaking teachers and non-native speaking teachers not only are rare but
also have mixed findings. Also, although an increasing number of Australians are teaching in many Sino-Australian
educational joint programs, there is not a study to examine the differences of teacher talk given by Australian English
teachers (AETs) and Chinese English teachers (CETs) in Chinese English language classrooms yet. The study aims to
examine these differences and to explore whether language proficiency influences teacher talk as teacher’s linguistic
input and discuss the implications for teaching academic English writing.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

Teacher’s linguistic input or teacher talk is perhaps the most significant feature of a teacher. In language classrooms,
its functions ranging from classroom management to input in the process of language acquisition cannot be stressed
highly. Teacher talk for learners is generally recognized as a potentially valuable source of comprehensible input which
is viewed as an essential part for language acquisition (Cullen, 1998). Researchers have discovered that native speakers’
input to non-native students is modified in various ways, in both spoken and written mode (Ellis, 1985b; Chaudron,
1998). Hadley (2001) pointed out that good teacher talk is an interactional input with modifications in classrooms and
aims to facilitate learner’s comprehension in the language acquisition process. Many teacher talk studies have examined
its forms, grammatical aspects and IRF (Initiation-Response-Feedback) exchange (Breidbach, Daniela and Andrea,
2011; Chadwick, 2012; Warford, 2007; Nakaruma, 2008; Hale, 2011), but how teachers should use this awareness
raising to facilitate English language learners’ acquiring specific language skills is not widely researched yet. Moreover,
because most teacher talk studies focus on discoursal and interactional features, its instructional and pedagogic effects
on teaching English writing, especially academic English writing, is not well investigated (Kiasi and Hemmanti, 2014).

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Hall (2011) argues that teacher talk should be discussed for the sake of pedagogy and negotiated meaning in interaction.
In terms of teacher talk in writing, because of the complexity of writing skills, English learners’ oral participation can
be reduced. Therefore, teacher talk’s quality is more important than its quantity if teachers aim to provide an invaluable
comprehensible input for their learners (Culleen, 1998). Additionally, the importance of teacher talk in an academic
English writing course is not just confined to the commonly discussed IRF or a quantitative view of teacher talk time
(TTT), but its linguistic complexity and appropriateness to the content are more significant. Ellis (2003) argues that
teacher talk should reflect a clear thematic focus in an EFL course and should be adjusted to the different levels of
students’ English proficiency. In an academic English writing class, because of different language proficiency between
native English speaking teachers and non-native English speaking teachers, how they skillfully adjust their language in
terms of linguistic complexity and linguistic variety is the primary purpose of the current study.

III. RESEARCH DESIGN

A. Research Questions
The research questions particularly focus on the use of English by AETs and CETs in an academic English writing
course. The theme of the academic writing course is global issues with the focus on global water scarcity. In the course,
there are two weeks specifically designed for writing assignment task which includes the analysis of the task itself,
brainstorming ideas for the task, finding supporting evidence for the task, and outlining the task.
The study aims to answer the following questions: 1) What types and amounts of language use do AETs and CETs
provide respectively in EFL classroom? 2) In terms of linguistic complexity, what are the differences between AETs and
CETs in terms of mean length of utterance, polysyllabic words and difficult words? 3) In terms of linguistic variety,
whatB. types and amounts of self-repetition are used by AETs and CETs in EFL classroom?
B. Research Methods and Participants
The study is basically of a qualitative research design by carrying out classroom observations of how one AET and
one CET provided their linguistic input and by audio recording and field note taking of the two teachers’ speech and
classroom situation.
The background information of the two participating teachers is shown in table 1.
TABLE I.
BACKGROUND I NFORMATION OF PARTICIPANTS
AET CET
Class level Freshman and sophomore Freshman and sophomore
Education Bachelor degree Master degree
(CELTA certificate) (TESOL certificate)
Teaching experience Nearly 10 years Almost 15 years
Number of students 45 (23 freshmen and 22 sophomores) 44 (21 freshmen and 23 sophomores)

The reason for selecting 1 class freshmen and 1 class sophomore for each teacher is that some sophomores failed the
course last time or they did not take the course in the first year because they are transferred students from other
universities and they need to take the course to meet the English credit requirement of SHU-UTS SILC School. These
four classes’ students English proficiency level is quite similar because they took the placement test arranged by the
school at the beginning of the term.
C. Data Collection
To collect as much and clear data as possible, the researcher set an audio recorder in the nearest place to the teacher.
Each class period lasted 45 minutes and was observed carefully. Each teacher was observed and recorded for two weeks
when they were covering the same unit in these two weeks. Each class was observed and recorded four times for four
classes. In total, 16 class periods were observed and recorded. The recording was transcribed verbatim, and double
checks with the two teacher participants were made as well in order to achieve accuracy. In addition, notes made on the
on-spot observations were used to compare the recording.
D. Data Analysis and Findings
The data collected from two teachers were analyzed from two perspectives: form analysis and function analysis. For
the form analysis, three characteristics were measured: language type, polysyllabic words and difficult words. For the
function analysis, self-repetition of teacher talk was analyzed.
E. Form Analysis
In this study, form analysis aimed to answer the first two research questions: types and amounts of teacher talk (i.e.
the ratio of L1/L2 use) and language complexity which comprises three indicators: mean length of utterance,
polysyllabic words and difficulty words.
F. The Ratio of L1/L2

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The Study adapted Duff and Polio’s (1990) method to quantify the ratio of L1/L2 use and each coded utterance
produced by teachers was classified in this study as one of the followings: L1: The utterance is completely in Chinese.
L1c: The utterance is in Chinese with one word or phrase in English. Mix: The utterance is approximately an equal
mixture of Chinese and English. L2c: The utterance is in English with one word or phrase in Chinese. L2: The teacher’s
utterance is completely in English. The result was shown in table 2: the ratio of L1 and L2 use (%)
TABLE II.
THE RATIO OF L1 AND L2 USE (%)
Class AET (freshman class ) AET (sophomore class) CET (freshman class) CET (sophomore class)
L1 L2 L1 L2 L1 L1c Mix L2c L2 L1 L1c Mix L2c L2
1st class 0 100 0 100 0 3.6 0 6.8 89.6 0 5.2 0 4.2 90.6
2nd class 0 100 0 100 0 4.2 0 3.6 92.2 0 2.6 0 4.3 93.1
3rd class 0 100 0 100 0 5.9 0 6.2 87.9 0 4.7 0 5.6 89.7
4th class 0 100 0 100 0 4.7 0 3.4 91.9 0 5.8 0 10.6 83.6
Average use 0 100 0 100 0 4.6 0 5 90.4 0 4.6 0 6.2 89.3

From table 2, it was found that the Australian English teacher used 100% English in both freshman and sophomore
classes, and the Chinese English teacher used both English and Chinese to conduct their teaching. However, the
percentages of English used by the CET either in freshman or in sophomore classes were over 85% and no single
utterance was completely in L1. A more close analysis of their recordings suggested that the CET used Chinese to
translate new words, clarify some instructions, summarize main points and assign homework at the end of class.
According to Krashen (2004), one important thing in foreign language classroom is to provide learners enough target
language input and exposure so that they can make progress by acquiring some authentic comprehensible input. Levine
(2003) also pointed out that reducing L2 input to comfort students learning may not be a good way for non-native
speaking teachers to relieve their anxiety in classroom. Instead, making L2 input more comprehensible either by verbal
modifications or nonverbal cues would be a better solution.
On the other hand, researchers pointed out that L1 helps when it is used to provide background information at the
beginning level and used separately from L2. Nevertheless, L1 may hinder learning when it is used to translate and
learners have no change to attend to the L2 input (Krashen, 2004). In other words, while there is a role for L1 in the
foreign language classroom, L2 still would be the major medium language. According to Tang (2002), 5 percent to 30
percent of L2 might be the best acceptable amount for learners. Therefore, although the amount of L1 used in class by
the CET was acceptable, she needs to modify her strategies of explaining new words rather than by translating. Also, it
is necessary for the Chinese English teacher to maximize L2 use in classroom. This improvement of target language can
also meet the requirement of English only in EFL classrooms in the school. Additional, this change to use English only
can motivate students to use English for discussions even when they encounter some challenges in their brainstorming
activities.
G. Language Complexity
In this study, MLU (mean length of utterance), polysyllabic (three or more syllables) and difficult words are three
indicators to assess language complexity of English was used. While MLU was used as a measure of sentence level
complexity, polysyllabic and difficult words worked for vocabulary level. The results of complexity analysis were
presented in table 3 (mean length of utterance), table 4 (polysyllabic words) and table 5 (difficult words), respectively.
1. Mean length of utterance
TABLE III.
MLU (MEAN LENGTH OF UTTERANCE)
MLU AET (freshman class) AET (sophomore CET (freshman class) CET (sophomore
class) class)
1st class 8．54 8．49 6．74 7．93
2nd class 7．59 8．65 6．96 8．03
3rd class 8．23 8．72 7．25 7．48
4th class 8．46 8．57 7．59 7．83
average 8.205 8.6075 7.0675 7.8175

As table 3 showed, the average MLU of CET for freshman and sophomore classes was 7.0675 and 7.8175
respectively, which was shorter than that of AET for freshman class (8.205) and AET for sophomore class (8.6075).
Also, it was clear that for both AET and CET, MLU for freshmen was a bit lower than that for sophomores. This result
was in accordance with Milk’s findings (1985): MLU of the native speaking teacher was shorter to beginners than to
advanced students. Even though the two sophomore classes did a placement test to be sorted out to be in the similar
English proficiency level of the two freshmen classes, the two teacher participants may assume that second year
students have one more year experience of learning English in universities, thus a seemingly higher language
proficiency. Thus, in teaching practice, they uttered comparatively longer sentences in their talk when they are with
sophomores. While English proficiency could be the reason for the CET producing shorter MLU, the use of Chinese in
class may cause the CET to produce shorter MLU.

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2. Polysyllabic words
Data calculation of polysyllabic was analyzed by using computer software PREP Program. According to PREP
Program, the average words of three or more syllables of each teacher discourse in the class were: 187.5, 206.25, 187.75,
and 196.5.Table 4 specifically showed the result for each class in four respective class periods.
TABLE IV.
NUMBER OF POLYSYLLABIC WORDS
Number of AET (freshman class) AET (sophomore CET (freshman class) CET (sophomore
polysyllabic words class) class)
1st class 175 259 162 207
2nd class 188 232 197 216
3rd class 203 196 207 184
4th class 184 138 185 179
average 187.5 206.25 187.75 196.5

This table showed that there were no great differences between the AET and the CET. Also, both of them used a high
level of polysyllabic words in their teaching. This indicated that teachers increased significantly the use of polysyllabic
words when compared with learners with lower-proficiency in English. The result also corresponded with the
requirement of marking criteria for vocabulary for the writing task. In the marking criteria for the vocabulary, it was
stated that a skillful use of less common words and academic word list (AWL) is required to get a highly distinguished
mark. Since many of lesson common words and the academic word list are polysyllabic, teachers are setting themselves
as good examples to their students in their talk in classes.
3. Difficult words
The other way of measuring lexically was the numbers of difficult words and the New Dale-Chall Formula was used
in this study to evaluate difficult words. The New Dale-Chall Formula is an accurate readability formula because it is
based on the use of familiar words, rather than syllable or letter counts. The calculation results of the number of difficult
words were presented in table 5 as follows:
TABLE V.
NUMBER OF DIFFICULT WORDS
Number of difficult AET (freshman class) AET (sophomore CET (freshman class) CET (sophomore
words class) class)
1st class 175 189 145 176
2nd class 162 204 159 209
3rd class 148 184 186 183
4th class 168 179 158 191
average 163.25 189 162 189.75

Table 5 showed that both the AET and the CET used more difficult words when teaching sophomores than teaching
freshmen. This seems to imply that the more the use of difficult words, the higher the linguistic proficiency of learners
teachers assume. Generally speaking, there was not much difference between AET and CET’s difficult words, 163.25
for freshman class by the AET, 162 for freshman class by the CET, 189 for sophomore class by the AET, and 189.75 for
sophomore class by CET respectively.
In summary, although the CET tended to offer shorter MLU in both freshman and sophomore classes, she actually
used approximately same number of polysyllabic and difficult words as those used by the AET. That is, in terms of
linguistic complexity, it seemed hard to draw a conclusion who, either the AET or the CET, provided more simple input.
Although the AET’s higher linguistic proficiency can make him produce longer utterances than his Chinese counterpart,
good understanding of the lessons aims and marking criteria of the writing task make her not lag behind in polysyllabic
and difficult words. In addition to being very familiar with the task requirement and marking criteria, the two teachers
were both aware that all the classes plan to take IELTS (international English language testing system) in this coming
summer. In IELTS, lexical resources are one of the criteria and this was well understood both by the AET and the CET
when they did their lesson plans. As a result, in the teaching practice, both teachers emphasized this point.
H. Function Analysis
Self-repetition was defined as any utterances that repeat or paraphrase a preceding utterance, which can be treated as
an index that reflects language variety. According to Urano (1999), there are three types of self-repetition:
exact-repetition, expansion and paraphrase. Table 6 and 7 showed the results of amounts of self-repetition.

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TABLE VI.
THE TOTAL PERCENTAGE OF SELF -REPETITION OF ALL TEACHER TALK
results of AET (freshman class) AET (sophomore CET (freshman class) CET (sophomore
self-repetition class) class)
(total percentage)
1st class 16.81% 17.20% 16.47% 18.94%
2nd class 14.35% 18.56% 19.58% 20.12%
3rd class 12.10& 16.43% 20.15% 19.54%
4th class 15.73% 13.41% 18.86% 22.72%
average 14.75% 16.40% 18.77% 20.33%

TABLE VII.
PERCENTAGES OF EXACT REPETITION, EXPANSION, AND PARAPHRASE OUT OF THE TOTAL REPETITION
percentages of AET (freshman class) AET (sophomore CET (freshman class) CET (sophomore
self-repetition class) class)
1st class
exact repetition: 17.42% 21.52% 22.59% 19.53%
expansion: 54.93% 67.36% 68.32& 70.27%
paraphrase: 27.65% 11.12% 9.09% 10.2%
2nd class
exact repetition: 20.20% 24.53% 35.37% 28.61%
expansion: 59.38% 56.74% 53.86% 57.62%
paraphrase: 20.42% 18.73% 10.77% 13.77%
3rd class
exact repetition: 17.35% 16.79% 31.76% 27.18%
expansion: 51.43% 59.21% 47.93% 47.29%
paraphrase: 31.22% 24.09% 20.31% 25.53%
4th class
exact repetition: 22.57% 18.94% 28.59% 27.53%
expansion: 49.52% 62.37% 60.17% 46.86%
paraphrase: 27.91% 18.69% 11.24% 25.61%
Average
exact repetition: 27.36% 20.45% 29.58% 25.71%
expansion: 58.29% 61.42% 57.57% 55.62%
paraphrase: 14.35% 18.16% 12.85% 18.78%

As table 6 showed, the CET on the whole used more self-repetition utterances than the AET did. With respect to
comprehensible input, the more self-repetition implied the better facilitative teaching. However, the data in table 7
showed that both the AET and the CET used lower percentages of paraphrase than exact-repetition in their teachings.
Table 7 also showed that they both used expansion most to repeat their utterances, but the percentages of expansion
used by the CET were a bit lower than those by the AET. According to Urano (1999), expansion and paraphrase would
provide a better linguistic input than that of exact-repetition because expansion and paraphrase can create a richer and
more natural learning environment. When teachers say the thing in several different ways, it gives students more than
one chance to figure out what has been said and get some clues to alternative expressions for one thing as well. Instead,
when teachers say the thing in just one way, it reflects the unnaturalness. The data indicated that both the AET and the
CET need to improve their paraphrasing skills when repeat the utterances in order to provide comprehensible input to
the learners. Also, the data indicated that the CET was a bit less flexible than AET in terms of language variety, which
also highlighted the relatively insufficient flexibility on target language use of the CET compared to the AET.

IV. IMPLICATIONS FOR ACADEMIC ENGLISH WRITING TEACHING

The empirical study showed that CETs indeed used less English in EFL classrooms, but they did not lag far behind in
terms of linguistic complexity and linguistic variety. In other words, AETs may offer more but not necessarily better
target language input in which quantity would be the major consideration based on the present study. Furthermore, the
study indicated that relatively less proficient English could be the major reason for different teacher talk even though
this proficiency was assumed by teachers, good understanding of teaching goals is also possible explanations for
language use in the classroom. Also, in order to provide learners with more authentic input, both AETs and CETs should
improve their paraphrasing skills. Paraphrasing is a crucial skill in academic English writing, and teachers can set good
examples of effective paraphrasing to students through their talk in classes. Finally, for CETs, they need to maximize
the use of English in classroom because use of L1 can reduce students’ opportunities to think in English and use it in the
classroom. After all, there are not many chances for learners to use English in their daily life outside the classroom.
Input quantity may enlarge the chance to quality exposure and comprehensible input.
Last, the study seems to justify hiring AETs to create a better English learning environment in terms of more
exposure to the target language, but it does not discourage the teaching of CETs. In EFL classrooms, apart from teacher
talk, other components in teaching such as methods, practices, knowledge and attitude are all very important. As Maum
(2002) concluded qualified and trained non-native speaking teachers can contribute in meaningful ways to the English
education field with their own experiences as English learners and their training and teaching experiences. Thus, hiring

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native English speakers can maximize learning opportunities for authentic communication.

V. LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

The study only examined two teachers’ language use in EFL classrooms, so findings have limitations. Due to the
small number of cases being representative all AETs and CETs in EFL classrooms, findings are difficult to generalize to
other contexts. Therefore, several suggestions for future research are made: 1). other methods such as questionnaires
and interviews can be used to enhance validity; 2). enlarge the number of teachers examined; 3). carry out comparative
studies in different contexts related to different learners’ English proficiency.

REFERENCES
[1] Breidbach, S., Daniela, E. and Andrea Y. (2011). Language Awareness in Teacher Education: Cultural-Political and
Social-Educational Perspectives, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main.
[2] Chadwick, T. (2012). Language Awareness in Teaching: A Toolkit for Content and Language Teachers. Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge.
[3] Chaudron, C. (1998). Second Language Classrooms: Research on Teaching and Learning, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
[4] Cullen, R. (1998) “Teacher talk and the classroom context”, English Language Teaching Journal, Vol.52, 179-187.
[5] Duff, P. & Polio, C. (1990). “How much foreign language is there in the foreign language classroom”? Modern Language
Journal, Vol. 74, 154-166.
[6] Ellis, R. (1985b). Understanding Second Language Acquisition, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
[7] Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based Language Teaching and Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[8] Hadley, A. (2001). Teaching Language in Context (3rd ed.), Heinle & Heinle, Boston.
[9] Hale, C. (2011). “Breaking with the IRF and EPA: Facilitating student initiated talk”, in A. Stewart (ed.), JALT2010 Conference
Proceedings. Tokyo: JALT.
[10] Hall, G. (2011). Exploring English Language Teaching: Language in Action, Routledge, Abingdon.
[11] Kiasi, M.A. and Hemmati, F. (2014). “The importance of ‘teacher talk’ in teaching EFL writing”, Porta Linguarum, Vol. 22,
95-108.
[12] Krashen, S. (2004). “Applying the Comprehension Hypothesis: Some Suggestions”, Presented at 13 th International Symposium
and Book Fair on Language Teaching (English Teachers Association of the Republic of China), Taipei, Taiwan.
[13] Levine, G. (2003). “Student and instructor beliefs and attitudes about target language use, first language use, and anxiety: report
of a questionnaire study”, Modern Language Journal, Vol.87, 343-364.
[14] Nakaruma, I. (2008). “Understanding how teacher and student talk with each other: an exploration of how “repair” displays the
co-management of talk-in-interaction”, Language Teaching Research, Vol.12, Issue 2: 265 – 283.
[15] Tang, J. (2002). “Using L1 in the English Classroom”, English Teaching Forum, Vol. 40, 36-43.
[16] Urano, K. (1999). “Teacher input and interaction: native and non-native speaker teachers in ESL classrooms”, Bulletin of the
Chubu English Language Education Society, Vol.28 265-272.
[17] Warford, M. K. (2007). “L1 vs. L2 in the foreign language classroom: New findings”, in NECTFL Review, Vol.60, 50-67.

Julan Wang was born in Jian, Jiangxi Province, China in 1976. She received her master degree in applied linguistic from Xiamen
University, China in 2003.
She is currently a senior lecturer in SHU-UTS SILC Business School, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China. Her research
interests include English as a foreign language teaching and learning and intercultural communication.
Ms. Wang is a member of Chinese Association of Foreign Language Teachers.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 782-790, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.13

Study on Origin of English and Chinese Proverb

Rongmei Yu
NanChang Normal University, China

Abstract—Proverbs are the summary of class struggle, working practice and life experience of human beings.
Proverbs represent the unique characteristics and cultural features of a nation. People of various cultural
backgrounds communicate with each other. Cross-cultural communication has been the focus of the present
era. Only through communication can we learn from each other and come to know each other better. Only
through communication can we give full play to human wisdom and enjoy the common fruits of civilization.
The achievements brought about by cultural communication can never be over-estimated. Therefore, in order
to gain a better cross-cultural communication with English speaking countries, it’s not only important but also
necessary to understand the English and Chinese proverbs and their origins from a cultural perspective. This
thesis analyzes and compares the cultural differences between English and Chinese proverbs from four
aspects---Human experiences, Literary works, Religions and Social discrimination.

Index Terms—English and Chinese proverbs, cross-cultural communication, origins

I. INTRODUCTION
A distinctive feature of human beings is that they possess linguistic power, which magically links people sharing the
same or different cultural backgrounds together. Language, known as the cultural carrier, serves as a bridge through
which cross-cultural communication has been made possible. Being the cream of language, proverbs play an
indispensable role in cross-cultural communication.
With the aid of the Hi-Tech of the 20th century, the planet on which the human beings are living is on its fast track to
become a global village. No country in the world can afford to be well developed itself economically and culturally
without keeping its door widely open to the outside world. Cultural exchange, an indispensable part of social
advancement, is no exception. It is a trend in the development of human society. The history has again and again proved
that culture needs exchanging and peoples need to communicate. The achievements brought about by cultural
exchange can never be over-estimated. Since proverbs are a general summary of human experiences, and no aspect of
life remains yet to be untouched by proverbs, it is no exaggeration to say proverb study can play a major role in
introducing various human experiences to people of different cultures. It can familiarize people of one country with the
cultural heritage of the other, thus achieve the goal of cultural exchange. In a sense, proverbs serve as a mirror of the
historical and cultural conceptions of a social community, reflecting the panoramic picture of linguistic and cultural
traits of that community in a most concentrated and profound way. Proverb study is, in fact, a question of apt treatment
of different cultural traits indicated by proverbs.
As far as cross-cultural communication is concerned, proverb study should be approached in a way that always takes
the culture background of the proverb into consideration. To study the proverbs, one also should do the careful work of
origins of the proverbs; achieving this, it will be easier to understand the proverbs.
Definitions of Proverb and Culture
Proverbs are the record of class struggle, working practice and life experience of human beings. They usually refer to
some fixed meaningful sentences, which, bearing national and cultural features, are found, selected, refined and
accumulated in the long course of language and social development. Just as clothes are to women, so proverbs are to
language. Without clothes, women's charms would be reduced; similarly, without proverbs, a language would be barren
and insipid, void of vitality, vividness and expressiveness. Although there are discussions and publications on proverbs,
close study of this subject is far from satisfactory. In order to get an overview of proverb, a general knowledge of
proverbs is necessary and instrumental.
According to the Random House Webster's College Dictionary, a proverb is "A short popular saying, usually of
unknown and ancient origin, that expresses effectively some commonplace truth or useful thought" (p. 1456). What
strike the author most in this definition are "short saying", "ancient origin" and `"commonplace truth and thought". A
similar definition is offered by the Collins English Dictionary, which goes like this: "A proverb is a short, memorable,
and often highly condensed saying embodied, esp. with bold imagery, some commonplace fact of experience" (p.1176).
In addition to its shared features with the above-mentioned definition, one more striking point from this one is "bold
imagery" which, combined with the overlapped features, produces a more comprehensive impression on readers. Since
in this dissertation a general study of both English and Chinese proverbs is to be undertaken, a definition from an
authoritative Chinese dictionary will more or less strike a balanced impression on the public readers. Cihai(《辞


This paper is funded by 11531 project of Nanchang Normal University

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海》)gives a definition like this“熟语的一种。流传于民间的简练通俗而富有意义的语句，大多反映人民生活和斗

争的经验”). Based on the definitions offered by different sources, a conclusion can be safely drawn that a proverb is
such a saying, popularly known and repeated, usually expressed simply and concretely, though often metaphorically, a
truth based on common sense or practical human experiences.
Proverbs, a unique part of a language, represent the unique characteristics and cultural features of a nation. In content,
proverbs are closely connected with history, everyday life and living conditions of a nation. In spite of the fact that both
Chinese proverbs and English proverbs embedded respectively in their unique cultures share much in common, they,
after all, belong to two different language systems of the different language families, so the disparities between them
outweigh their similarities.

II. ORIGINS OF ENGLISH AND CHINESE PROVERBS

As already noted, the most outstanding feature of proverbs is the distinctive cultural traits condensed in their pithy
forms. Proverbs are all of distinctive nature and they are culturally specific. The larger a cultural gap there exists
between two languages, the more difficult interpretation proverb will be.
Proverbs are the fruits of the development of language and culture, and manifest "the way of life" of the two nations
in various respects. Being linguistically specific, they cannot be appreciated without taking their language settings into
consideration. Being culturally specific, they can hardly be rendered without their cultural deposits recognized.
Therefore, the combination of language elements and highly diverse cultures contributes to the difficulty of proverb
understanding, with the difficulty brought about by cultural differences outweighing the difficulty caused by language
elements.
Because of all the cultural diversities indicated by proverbs, people should be able, for the most part, to adjust their
cognitive angle as they move from one proverb to another, for the fact that proverbs belong to a particular language
indicates a particular culture. What the cultural traits expressed by proverbs of one language may not be represented
accurately by those of another due to the cultural gap in between. Additionally, in order to convey the same concept or
idea, proverbs of different languages may resort to different cultural images and means; expressions. All these have
revealed the necessity that in case of proverb understanding we must take cultural features into serious consideration.
A. Proverbs Originate from Human Experiences
Human experiences hold an enormously broad impact on the coinage of proverbs. People have drawn, by various
means, ever so many elements from their daily practice to invent numerous proverbial expressions. Just as a famous
17th century British priest named Robert South (1634-1716) wrote in his mufti-column book entitled Sermons: what a
proverb, but the experience and observation of several ages, gathered and summed up in one expression? It goes
without saying that most proverbs come from the colloquial speech of the common people, for through their practical
work people have created a great number of proverbs, just as sailors in Britain have invented many lively sea proverbs,
laborers in the fields have created expressions concerning farm work and workers from occupations of all kinds have
given birth to numerous proverbs concerning their daily practice. These proverbs are terse, colloquial, vivid and charged
with life; therefore, they acquire a wide application to analogous situations in everyday life, and finally come to be
universally understood.
1. English Proverbs from human experiences
(1) Make hay while the sun shines.
The first reading strikes the readers that this English proverb tells the farmers to take the advantage of sunshine to
dry some hay in case of rainfall. However, it carries more profound meaning than its literal rendition. Apart from its
literal meaning, this proverb produced by English farmers indicates that one should make full use of something while it
is still available, for chances lost will be lost forever. This being the case, a literal version and an adding of its
implication will produce a vivid and correct impression “晒草趁天好，行事见良机，” on the Chinese readers.
(2) You may take a horse to the river, but you cannot make him drink.
Apart from proverbs concerning nautical activities, hunters also give birth to many proverbial expressions
according to their hunting experiences. On the surface level, each proverb is telling people some self-evident fact, but
the truth is, more often than not, hidden behind.
(3) Can the leopard change his spots?
It is a proverb adopting the self-questioned and self-answered rhetorical device with no intention to seek for an
answer. To change the leopard of his spots is tantamount to changing people’s nature, which is unlikely to be achieved.
The author suggests a humble version“豹难改花斑，人难改本性，with the former part rendered by literal approach
while the latter added as its implied implication.
(4) An old fox is not easily snared.
What a pleasant coincidence it is! Both English people and Chinese people hold the same view that fox is sly.
And "as sly as fox" and“狡猾得像狐狸一般”carry the same meaning with the same images in two different cultures.
Therefore, a literal version“老狐狸难得陷罗网”is sufficient to touch the feeling of the Chinese people that experienced,
shrewd, and even cunning people are not easily to be deceived.

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Compared with hunters and fishermen, housewives in Britain never fell behind the others in producing vivid colorful
proverbs relevant to their daily routine. For example:
(5) A watched pot never boils.
This proverb tells us an obvious truth that over care and anxiety does not help things. So“老是看壶水不开，
provided by the author can be reckoned as a faithful version.
(6) Omelets are not made without breaking of eggs.
It is said by way of warning to one who is trying to get something for nothing to accomplish some denied object
without being willing to take the necessary trouble or make the necessary sacrifice.“鸡蛋不打破，难以做蛋卷”is
considered to be both to the meaning and to the style of the original proverb.
No matter how much we have devoted to the discussion of human experiences, they can by no means be complete
without taking the summarization of British people's long years of weather observation into consideration because
weather plays a decisive role in their agricultural and husbandry output. Accordingly, proverbs of this kind find their
expressions in their respective fields. For instance:
(7) Under water, famine; under snow, bread.
水没庄稼，来岁饥荒:雪覆农田，面包在望。
(8) A rainbow in the morning is the shepherd's warning; a rainbow at night is the shepherd's delight.
清晨彩虹暮必雨，羊倌警觉在心里;晚霞贯空翌日晴，羊倌心会有好心情。
Examples (7) and (8) reveal respectively the significant role these proverbs play in the instruction of farmers in their
endless struggle against nature.
2. Chinese Proverbs from Human Experiences
China is a big country mainly of agricultural nature, especially in the past, although significant development has
taken place in industry in modern times. Related to agricultural activities or experiences are an enormous number of
proverbs which are probably incomparable. So, in all above-listed aspects of the English society, Chinese people are
never willing to lag behind in producing their proverbs. These proverbs are used not only literally to suggest a summary
of learned experience, but also metaphorically to connote a truth in a concise and witty way. See some examples below:
(9) 要知朝中事，乡间问老农。
Ask the common folk if you want to know how the country is faring.
This is not a very catchy proverb, but it contains a bit of universal folk wisdom , experiences are derived from daily
practices.
(10) 种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆。
Plant melons and you get melons, sow beans and you get beans.
A literal version of this proverb convinces English readers of the Chinese farmers' daily practice and their simple
summarization of the essential properties of objects and the objective law governing their development. A more glance
of this proverb call into English people's mind a similar proverb in their own culture "As you sow, so will you reap." if
we do things subjectively and violate these laws, we will run into difficulties and be foiled everywhere. Both Chinese
and English proverbs reveal an objective law, but the English one expresses a more general idea, whereas the Chinese
equivalent is more specific.
(11) 瓜田不纳履，李下不整冠。
Neither adjust your shoe in a melon patch; nor your hat under a plum tree to avoid arousing suspicion.
The pure literal understanding of this proverb fails to encourage English-speaking readers to dig out the implied
meaning of the Chinese proverb which actually gives advice to people on how to behave .themselves in certain
circumstances or surroundings, since to adjust one's shoe in melon patch may produce an false impression of attempting
to steal melons and to adjust one's hat under a plum tree may arouse other people's suspicion of one's plum picking
attempt. So the explanatory phrase "to avoid arousing suspicion" is very much necessary to reveal the intention of so
doing.
(12) 留得青山在，不怕没柴烧。
As long as the green mountains are here, one need not worry about the firewood.
This proverb at least reveals to English readers that ancient Chinese people's main source of fuel was the firewood
obtained from the mountains before coal was discovered. At the same time, it reveals people's attitude towards life:
where there is life, there is hope. Literal understanding should be adopted to convey this cultural element to the target
language readers. But this proverb is often quoted to describe that as long as human resource is kept, we are confident
of achieving success.
(13) 巧妇难为无米之炊。
Even the cleverest wife can't cook rice without rice grains.
It lays emphasis on the fact that materials are the source of all things on earth, and man can not live without them. So
the literal interpretation can strike a vivid impression on an English readers that even the most competent person cannot
accomplish his intention when lacking the necessary materials or conditions.
(14) 不当家，不知柴米贵。
The head of the house knows the cost of fuel and rice.

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The proverb, on the one hand, indicates that he who takes charge knows the responsibility, on the other hand, reveals
to English readers the distinctive cultural features of the ancient Chinese families, that is, firewood and rice were their
necessities.
Those above-mentioned two examples are all housewives' pithy summaries of their experiences marked with
distinctive Chinese cultural features. Like English hunters, Chinese ones also take part in the creation of numerous
Chinese proverbs in this regard.
(15) 不入虎穴，焉得虎子?
How can you catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's lair?
This proverb tells us that one cannot expect to achieve success without experiencing difficulties and risks; only those
who are bold in exploring and not afraid of hardships and dangers can achieve success. It employs the rhetorical
question to make a clear fact even clearer. So the literal translation is highly recommendable to keep the meaning and
style in one sentence with no need to offer an answer.
(16) 狼披羊皮还是狼。
A wolf remains a wolf even in sheep's clothing.
It conveys a warning that people must not easily believe what a person propagandizes if he is evil in nature even
though he may employ the high-flown language. A literal rendition of this proverb will not cause misunderstanding
among English readers, for English-speaking people have a similar idiom "a wolf in sheep's clothing" in their language.
Just as what has been shown above, weather exercises great influence on farmers' agricultural activities and their
practical life. Here are several Chinese proverbs that reflect Chinese farmers' patient observation of the law governing
the change of the weather.
(17) 早霞不出门，晚霞行千里。
Don't leave the house in the morning glow; but go for a long journey in the evening glow.
This proverb having a striking resemblance with the English proverb shown above "a red sky at night is the
shepherd's delight; a red sky in the morning is the shepherd's warning" indicates the experiences shared by both Chinese
and English peoples. Therefore, this pleasant coincidence makes the English version of this Chinese proverb quite easy
for English readers to understand.
(18) 蚂蚁搬家蛇过道，水缸出汗蛤蟆叫，燕子低飞山戴帽，不久将有大雨到。
A heavy rain is soon coming when the ants are moving and the snakes across the path slipping, the water jars
perspiring and the toads croaking, the swallows hovering and the mountains a white cap wearing.
There is no doubt that this jingle witty proverb could by no means obtain the present form without working people's
meticulous observation. Only through literal understanding, can Chinese farmers' painstaking efforts in weather
observation be vividly presented before English readers.
Human experiences are inexhaustible resources that provide abundant language materials for the constitution of
proverbs. People from all walks of life sum up their daily practice in forms of proverbs, and a comparative study of
Chinese and English proverbs reveals how people from both nations fashion their languages into the condensed present
forms from daily activities they are engaged in.
B. Proverbs Originate from Literary Works
Literature proves to be one of the most important sources of proverbs in both English and Chinese. The existence of
oceans of vivid and expressive proverbs would be unimaginable without so many excellent literary works in both
languages.
1. English Proverbs from Literary Works
The merit for the abundance of the English proverbs should, to a large extent, go to William Shakespeare's plays from
which spring up a great number of proverbs involving events and characters. These proverbs and the rich connotations
reflected by them have become a part of their life so that they quote them in their daily speech and writing often even
without definite consciousness of their origin.
As a matter of fact, proverbs from Shakespeare's works have enriched the English language so lavishly that nobody
dares to predict what the time-honored English language would be like without that literary giant. The following
examples are all proverbial expressions that found their way into Shakespeare's works.
(19) The course of true love never did run smooth.
爱情路上无坦途。
The literal rendition of this proverb echoes the same feeling in the Chinese people no love can be free from setbacks
and torments. The true love does surely experience the ups and downs, twists and turns that in turn will strengthen the
bond of love between people. Proverbs from Shakespeare's works are bountiful; a mere mention of a few is enough to
impress Chinese readers with the richness of the treasure the English literator Shakespeare left behind him.
(20) The wish is father to the thought. .
愿望是思想之父。
(21) Discretion is the better part of valor.
谨慎为勇敢之本。
(22) When the cat is away; the mice will play.

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猫儿不在家，老鼠闹翻天。
(23) Appetite grows by eating.
胃口越吃越开。
Of course, there are also numerous proverbs from English poets and other writers in the English language and those
proverbs have passed into the thought of common people who can pick up any of them and employ it in their
conversation without consciously knowing its origin. The following proverbs show how the wit and wisdom of English
poets and other writers have found their expressions among the common people.
(24) A little learning is a dangerous thing. (Pope, Essay in Criticism)
一知半解是件危险的事情。
(25) God helps those who help themselves. (Franklin, Zichard's Almanac)
天助自助之人。
(26) Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man, writing an exact man.
读书使人充实，讨论使人机智，笔记使人准确。
The above examples are so popular that they have, as Dr. Bradley Henry Bradley, 1845-1925), an English
lexicographer, puts it, "entered into tree texture of the diction of literature and daily conversation" and may now "fairly
be regarded as proverbs of the English language."
2. Chinese Proverbs from Literary Works
The same is true of the Chinese people who also enjoy a large treasure of literature with numerous proverbs in store.
Even though to exhaust the source of each proverb will prove to be hard, still The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is
sure to be one of the most important sources. As a Chinese classical novel, it plays an equally significant role in Chinese
literary history as Shakespeare's plays do in English literary history. The novel boasts a large number of breathtaking
events and heroic characters. They are so familiar to and so popular among the Chinese people that they are cited
commonly in daily conversation. What is more, with their allusions there, those proverbs are frequently quoted not only
to convey their denotative meaning but more importantly, to suggest some connotative meaning metaphorically.
(27) 三个臭皮匠，顶个诸葛亮。
Three cobblers with their wits combined equal Zhuge Liang the mastermind the wisdom of the masses exceeds
that of the wisest individual.
Zhuge Liang, a Chinese historic figure noted for his marvelous military schemes and unrivalled martial strategy and
tactics, has acquired the special meaning of being wise in Chinese culture, as "Solomon" as well as "Homer" does in
English culture. This may be very hard to be appreciated by average English readers if explanatory phrase is not
offered.
(28) 万事俱备，只欠东风。
Everything is ready except the east wind that is crucial.
This proverb, derived from a story concerning the kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu, means that everything is ready
except what is crucial. The east wind in this story played a decisive role in determining which side would take the upper
hand of the other.
(29) 司马昭之心，路人皆知。
Sima Zhao's ill intention is known to all.
The literal understanding of this Chinese proverb that keeps the image of Sima Zhao serves the purpose of
introducing the Chinese culture to the English-speaking people, if cross-cultural communication is intended. But the
historic figure Sima Zhao should be explained as far as his background is concerned; otherwise the inadequacy will
readily lead to confusion among target readers. Sima Zhao was a Prime Minister of Wei (220-265) who nursed a secret
ambition to usurp the throne. The emperor once remarked, "Sima Zhao's intention is obvious to every man in the street."
Both Chinese and English literally works contains a great deal of significant and useful proverbs. Different works
provide a source from the different proverbs which reflect the different culture background.
C. Proverbs Originate from Religions
Religion is another important source that has given rise to numerous proverbs in both Chinese and English. It is
known that religion came into being at the time when society as a whole remained backward and people could hardly
explain satisfactorily many seemingly unnatural events when actually confronted with various natural phenomena.
Gradually, mysterious religion came to their rescue. Religion once had and still has an immense influence on people’s
behavior, and mind, thought, etc. Naturally, these religions found their expressions in languages, especially in proverbs,
the cream of language, which mirror different events taking place at various stages of human development. Owing to
their different religious beliefs, English and Chinese people use different figures in their own proverbs with religious
allusions. "God", "heaven", "Devil", "Hell", "Church", etc. are often used in Christianity,
whereas“佛”(Buddha),“庙”(temple),“和尚”(monk), etc. in Buddhism.
1. English Proverbs from Religion
Christianity, the dominant religion in the West, has played a key role in people's life, the significance of which can
never be overstated. As a result, many English proverbs came from the Bible, textbook of Christianity. For instance:

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(30) A tree is known by its fruit (Matthew).

观果实可知树，观其行可知人。
According to Matthew 12, a chapter of the Bible, Jesus says that to make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or to
make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. The implied meaning of this proverb is that
a person can be known by his behavior. So, it is quite essential to bring out the implied meaning in its Chinese version.
(31) Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew).
口里所言的是心里所有的。
As Jesus states, the good man brings good things out of the good stored in him, and the evil man brings evil things
out of the evil stored in him. Therefore, it is natural that what one speaks is what one thinks.
(32) The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew).
心有余而力不足。
Man has numerous good intentions, but the limitation of his ability, wealth, and wisdom makes his intentions
unfulfilled.
(33) Men leap over where the hedge is lowest (Genesis).
篱矮有人跨，心软有人欺。
A self-evident phenomenon is employed to convey the fact that man of little or none resistance against the bullying
force will surely be ridden roughshod over.
(34) Judge not, that ye be not judged (Matthew).
不要对人非议，以免自己有非议。
This proverb warns people that to judge others, you will be judged by others in the same way, and in the measure you
use, you will be measured yourself.
(35) Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof (Matthew).
当天苦恼己足够，莫为明日枉发愁。
It implies that anticipating future anxieties is unnecessary, for people have sufficient problems to solve today.
Advanced worry about tomorrow's events will do no good but increase the burden of today; therefore people are
supposed not to confront and deal with tomorrow's problems until tomorrow comes.
Proverbs from the Bible are so rich that a mere mention of a few is enough to manifest how lavishly they had
enriched the English culture.
2. Chinese Proverbs from Religion
Unlike Christianity, there seems to be no particular religion holding a controlling position in China so far.
Buddhism and Taoism used to be comparatively popular among some of the Chinese people in the past. Therefore,
monk, temple, Buddha, etc. are borrowed to coin Chinese proverbs. For example:
(36) 道高一尺，魔高一丈。
The law is strong, but the outlaws are ten times stronger.
The metaphorical meaning is always surpassed by the newcomer that goodness, which is easy to lose when the evil
things of this proverb is the present winner.
(37) 放下屠刀，立地成佛。
The butcher, who lays down his knife, at once becomes a Buddha--a saintly person.
This proverb tells us that even an evildoer can become a good person as long as he sincerely repents and earnestly
reforms himself.
(38) 平时不烧香，临时抱佛脚。
Never burning incense when all is well, but clasping Buddha's feet in an emergency.
This proverb warns us to take precautions against all emergencies, and not wait for disasters to strike. If the necessary
preparation is not adequate, any rash remedy will be too late.
(39) 一人得道，鸡犬升天。
When a man is in power, all his followers like chickens and dogs are in favor.
This proverb is derived from a fairy tale that goes like this:a man who had attained the secret of immortality was
about to ascend to Heaven. He fed his dogs and chickens with some of the elixir he had used. So the dogs and chickens
went up to Heaven together with him. It is used metaphorically to mean that when a man rises in status, all his friends
and relations 一一 even the most humble will benefit.
(40) 一个和尚挑水吃，两个和尚抬水吃，三个和尚没水吃。
Owing to its unique way of expression and specific cultural manifestation, this Chinese saying presents a challenge
for the translators to render into English. Versions of several kinds have been suggested with one preferable by the
author of this thesis going like this:
A lone monk brings his own bucket of water to drink, two monks carry their bucket of water jointly, but when
three monks are together, there is no water at all more hands, less work done.
The target readers may familiarize themselves with the Chinese culture by reading this English version, but at the
same time, they may be confused about the way they obtain the water. Because temples in China used to be built in the
mountains, far away from the crowd, monks can obtain drinking water only from the rivers or the wells at the foot of

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the mountains by using bucket to fetch.

From the above-mentioned proverbs both from English ;and Chinese, one can see effortlessly that religion is an
essential component of culture, and the different religious beliefs people hold make one culture so distinctive and
colorful from the other. Proverbs are the mirror of the development and influence of religion, mostly through literal
understanding can accordingly serve the cross-cultural communication fine.
D. Proverbs Originate from Social Discrimination.
Although society as a whole has advanced significantly, it still leaves much room to be desired in many aspects.
Before everyone on the earth enjoys the true equality, we still need to go a long way to fulfill that aim. Social
discrimination as it was has taken its root in many aspects. As a result, no one can claim that everyone in his country
enjoys equal opportunity, respect and treatment, for it still needs some time for the planet to become an ideal global
village in which every global citizen will not be judged by the color, but by one's character; not by sex, but by one's
work; not by the position one holds, but by the contribution he makes to the society. So, it goes without saying that
progress of development of every society is stamped with the brand of discrimination of various kinds. As an indicator
of the culture traits, proverbs reflect these social events in a crystal way.
One is sex discrimination. Even though women's position in their families and society has been enhanced to a great
height, it is still far from being satisfactory. Sex discrimination is deep-rooted in China as well as in foreign countries.
As a result, women fall inevitably victims to this prejudice. Examples speak louder than words.
1. English Proverbs from Social Discrimination
(41) Women have no souls.
女人没有灵魂。
(42) When an ass climbs a ladder, we may find wisdom in women.
驴子能上梯，女人才会有智慧。
(43) Tell a woman she is fair and she will soon turn fool.
跟女人讲她漂亮，很快她就会晕头转向。
The above examples show that ignorance goes hand in hand with women. We hold it a self-evident truth that women
are as capable, if not more than, as men in many aspects. Distorted pictures of women were caused by society in which
men and women were treated differently to a remarkable extent.
(44) Women are saints in church, angles in the street, and devils at home.
女人在教堂里是圣人，在大街上是天使，在家里是魔鬼。
(45) A woman's tongue is the last thing about her that dies.
女人身上最后死去的部分是舌头。
We know that no evidence so far has proved that women are born with the instinct to gossip or to be affected. From
versions of these proverbs, Chinese readers can acquaint themselves with the sex injustice in English-speaking
countries.
Apart from sex discrimination, other prejudice exists as well, which has caught the attention of many socio-linguists
in recent years.
(46) To a red man read thy red, with a brown man break thy bread, at a pale man draw thy knife; from a black man
keep thy wife.
对肤色红的人可以讲心里话，同棕色的人可以分享面包，对肤色白的人要拔刀，对皮肤黑的人要当心你
的妻子。
Prejudice against colored people is felt nearly in every culture. It is believed that people with red skin are wise; those
with brown skin are reliable; those with fair complexion are jealous; and those with dark complexion are lustful.
Obviously, it is absurd to believe so, for no evidence comes up so far to prove that black people are lustful, white people
are jealous and so on.
The division of labor in society should be treated as a natural result of social development, but, in the class society,
superiority and inferiority have assumed the status of being two labels evaluating jobs of various kinds. Occupation
discrimination has found plentiful expressions in English language. The author of this thesis just names a few here.
(47) A good servant should have the back of an ass, the tongue of a sheep, and the snout of a swine.
好仆人要有驴的背，羊的舌，猪的嘴。
It means that being a servant, one has to bear the weight of any goods tolerantly, keep his lips tight all the time, and
eat the food of any kind.
(48) Nine tailors make a man.
九个裁缝才抵得上一个人。
Of course, this proverb is only a nasty gibe at the tailor. It means that tailors become thinner and weaker because of
their strenuous work. As a result, nine tailors combined together are equal to a man of other profession. Without this
proverb, Chinese readers will have no knowledge of tailor's being ill-treated in English-speaking countries.
2. Chinese Proverbs from Social Discrimination
The Chinese language, in all those above-mentioned aspects, is no exception, for China experienced a prolonged

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feudal society, which provided a hot bed for discrimination of all kinds to flourish. Women came first to be singled out
as the target of prejudice at that time.
(49) 女人头发长见识短。
Women have long hair and short brains (or long hair and short wit).
(50) 女子无才便是德。
A virtuous woman has no talent.
Clearly, the feudalistic thinking deprived Chinese women of their right of being educated in the past. Now, it is quite
ridiculous to say a woman of no talent has all virtues.
(51) 媳妇不打，上房揭瓦。
A woman who is free from being beaten will surely show no restraint in her behavior.
This proverb clearly conveys the fact to English readers that women in the old China were put at the bottom of the
family, and suffered a great deal in the hands of their husbands and husbands' parents.
(52) 男子走州过县，女人围着锅头转。
Men travel around the world, while women can only stay in the kitchen.
It was believed that women were born to be suitable for the housework because of their weak minds and bodies plus
their personalities. Even though literal understanding of those proverbs cannot keep their styles, meanings of proverbs
have been clearly presented. As Nida states in his book The Theory and Practice of Translation (1982) to
the effect that when translators are confronted with the dilemma of making a choice between meaning and style,
meaning should take precedence over style.
(53) 好男不跟女斗。
A gentleman is above exchanging angry words with a woman.
The prejudice in this proverb is self-evident, for woman is regarded inferior to any man or gentleman, whoever is
having words with any woman would be a condescending man.
Also, in Chinese feudal society, reading gains the top evaluation.
(54) 万般皆下品，唯有读书高。
All occupations are base, only book learning is exalted.
(55) 两耳不闻窗外事，一心只读圣贤书。
One should turn a deaf ear to all affairs outside and only fix his attention on book reading.
The significance of book learning can never be over-stated. But it would be wrong to regard book learning as the
most respectable occupation under the sun, for the far- reaching significance of other occupations cannot be ignored or
played down.
(56) 家有三斗粮，不做孩子王。
As long as one has the food hardly enough to fill the stomach, one will never give any thought to be the king of
children.
Profession of a kindergarten or a teacher elementary school was despised for a certain length of time by the whole
Chinese society. One chooses to be a teacher only if any other job opportunities were closed to him and he was faced
with starvation.
With space limited, the author just names a few proverbs that represent the relevant aspects. All in all, both English
and Chinese languages have given birth to oceans of heavily culture-loaded proverbs in their respective course of
development. They are fruits of the social development. They manifest "the way of life" of the two nations in various
aspects. Without presentation of the origins of proverbs, we can hardly move a step forward in the mutual
communication from cross-cultural perspective. Without a “cross-cultural perspective” principle, the vividness and
expressiveness of Chinese or English proverbs will be sharply reduced to a flat and insipid level.

III. CONCLUSION
As more and more people of different culture background communicate with each other, we are more aware of the
importance of the way cross-cultural communication is conducted. Proverbs, the cream of languages, mirror certain
cultures and express ideas of human experiences in an explicit way. As the valuable treasure of different cultures,
proverbs provide readers with plentiful information. Coming from various sources, proverbs present to readers a
panorama of cultures to indicate how people are thinking, doing and communicating. Just because of their quintessential
linguistic nature and their particular cultural traits, they play a lion in the way of cross-cultural communication, if
improperly handled. Rhetorical devices employed by both Chinese and English proverbs, to a large extent, also manifest
how people of different languages view the same or different things. However, owing to various reasons, peoples are
always led into various understanding that the author of this dissertation has displayed in the previous chapter. As a
result, the cross-cultural communication purpose will be hampered or misunderstanding between peoples will occur,
which may inflict unexpected damage, or unpleasant result to communication.
Meaningful understanding of proverbs requires attention to the subtle aspects of cultural distinctions. As already
discussed, human beings around the globe share, to a certain extent, some experiences, but the majority of their
experiences are different, which are reflected in their respective cultures. It is these seemingly similar but actually

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different cultural traits that usually serve as hidden pitfalls for people. Cultural gap proves to be a chief obstacle to
intercultural communication .In order to bridge it, people are required to conduct a careful comparative study of cultures
implied in proverbs. At the same time, he should be engaged in improvement of languages, so as to increase his cultural
awareness. While he is steeped in his native language and culture, he should also be at home in foreign language and
culture. The competence of being bilingual and bicultural enables him to achieve an accurate understanding of his
source text. Only by so doing can the purpose of proverb studying, which is to serve the cross-cultural communication,
be achieved to the maximum degree.

REFERENCES
[1] Chaika, E. (1982). Language, the Social Mirror, Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House Publishers, Inc.[4]Smith, W.G. (1952)
The Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs. 20ded. Oxford: Claremont Press.
[2] Chen Wen bo. (1986). Understanding and translation of English idioms and proverbs. English -Chinese translation
skills .Beijing: China foreign translation and publishing corporation.
[3] Du xue zeng. (1999). Comparison of Chinese and American cultural customs. Beijing: Foreign language teaching and research
press.
[4] Fen qin hua. (1997). Practical translation course .Shanghai: Shanghai foreign language education press.
[5] Ge zhi hong, Meng li. (1999). Aphorism English900 sentences. Beijing: China book Publishing house.
[6] Guo jiang min. (1992). A Study of Chinese proverbs .Lanzhou: Gansu education press.
[7] Hu wen zhong. (1999). Introduction to intercultural communication. Beijing: Foreign language teaching and research press.
[8] Hu wen zhong. (2000). English idioms and Anglo-American culture Beijing.Foreign language teaching and research press.
[9] William H. and Judith S. (1975). The New Encyclopedia Britannica. The Third Edition edited London: The Macmillan Press
Ltd.
[10] Zhen yi li. (1984). New English-Chinese dictionary The Second Edition Beijing . Beijing commercial press.

Rongmei Yu was born in Jiangxi province China in 1964. She received his Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature
from Jiangxi Normal University, China in 1989.
She is currently a professor in Nan Chang Normal University, Jiangxi, China. Her research interests include Intercultural
Communication and English Teaching.
Prof. Yu is a member of Jiangxi Translation Association and the teacher of Nan Chang Normal University.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 791-795, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.14

The Conflict between Paganism and Christianity

in Irish Theatre: A Cultural Study of O’Casey’s
The Drums of Father Ned
Amal Kitishat
Department of English, Ajloun University College, Al Balqa’ Applied University, Ajloun, Jordan

Hana Fathi Farajallah

Department of English, Ajloun University College, Balqa’ Applied University, Ajloun, Jordan

Abstract—While Irish theatre assures that it reflects Irish reality and aims at building a national identity in
which religion is a significant marker, the plays of O’Casey contradict with this tendency. This study aims at
discussing the conflict between an anti- Christian and pagan beliefs and Christian values in favor of anti-
Christianity over Christianity. In this article, the researcher takes O'Casey’s The Drums of Father Ned as an
example. The study discussed the tension between the pagan and Christian values as represented in the
conflict between the pagan and religious characters, represented by Father Fillfogue who is the representative
of Christianity; while The Celtic god Angus represents Pagan Celtic anti-Christian religion. Finally, the study
proved that O'Casey presented a skeptical attitude toward Christianity and favored pagan Irish local, regional
beliefs.

Index Terms—Irish drama, Sean O’Casey, Celtic culture, The Drums of Father Ned

I. INTRODUCTION
The study aims at investigating the conflict between Pagan and Christian values as represented in O' Casey's The
Drums of Father Ned. O' Casey has a major role in the reviving of the Irish cultural identity which was achieved by his
drawing on the ancient Irish culture as a major source for his plays. He found in Ireland's Celtic legends, folklore, and
pagan beliefs rich sources to emphasize the conflict between paganism and Christianity. An attitude which foreshadows
the regional and colonial conflict as well. What the study aims to prove is the hidden conflict between pagan and
Christian values in the underlying structure of the play.
O’Casey belongs to a Protestant family from a lower –middle Irish class. He lived in the impoverished slums of
Dublin and knew very well what poverty meant. According to Encyclopædia Britannica (2018) Because of this
background, O’Casey became occupied with Irish political and national reality, he changed his name from its English
version, John Casey, to its Irish form as Sean O'Casey. He showed a great sense of nationalism and learned the Gaelic
language.
Many critics discuss O’Casey’s attitude toward Christianity. Herbert Coston (1960), states that O’Casey’s life in
Dublin was full of challenges and “disillusionment faced each new turning,” (p.46) which led him to leave Ireland
because of his disappointment from the political and social injustice. He found refuge in drama to express his anger and
revolt against all forms of authority that deprived the Irish people of having their freedom. A clear example of this kind
of plays is The Drums of Father Ned. For instance, Cowasjee (1963) in Sean O'Casey: The man Behind the Plays
pinpointed that the play had much “controversy” because it uncovers the authorities that O’Casey was attacking.
(Cowasjee ,1963, p.231).
Moreover, in The Theatre of Sean O’Casey, James Moran (2013), presents many incidents reporting the reaction of
the Irish audience against O'Casey's irreligious treatment. For example, he reported that Father Gaffney protested
against this treatment, because as he claimed that most of his plays were "staged in the full panoply of blasphemous
crudity.” (Moran, 2013, p.11.)
Sean O’Casey was known of his sense of Nationalism,; he used drama as a weapon to achieve his goals. Christa
Velten (1989) comments on this particular point, she states:
O'Casey has been controversial from the time when he took his pen as a weapon to fight for Ireland's freedom, for
which he chose the stage in the first place. He did not fight for a freedom that exhausted itself in the attainment of
Ireland's political independence – even though this was undoubtedly one of his foremost alms, in the same way as it was
the aim of the numerous Irish nationalist movements of his time. (Velten, 1989, p.59)
Thus, the study sheds light on the tension between the pagan and Christian values as represented in the conflict
between the pagan and religious characters. In other words, the study aims to prove that though O'Casey stressed the

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significant elements in the Irish identity, yet when it comes to religion, he revealed a skeptical attitude toward Catholic
Christianity and favored pagan Irish local, regional beliefs.

II. THE CONFLICT BETWEEN PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN VALUES

The underlying structure of the play has revealed the conflict between pagan and religious ideas. Concerning the
tension between the pagan and Christian values, it is important to point out to the fact that pagan gods dominate the
action of the play. Father Ned is seen as a preacher who reminds the youth of Ireland of their legendary heroic past.
There is an apparent conflict between the pagan and religious characters in which Father Fillfogue is the representative
of Christianity
Focussing on the role of Pagan gods in The Drums of Father Ned; the most important god is Angus the Celtic deity
of youth governs the play's actions. His influence is seen on the young people of the town. His attitudes and actions are
represented throughout The Drums of Father Ned (Rollins, 1985, p. 86). Angus, the Celtic deity of youth, is defined as:
Angus (Aengus, Oengus) was in Celtic myth the natural son of Dagda by Boann and was often referred to as Macau
or the young God, the Celtic Eros. The deity of fertility and spring, he was beautiful and ever young, sleeping through
the winter and wakening each spring. A musician Angus, (his name in Celtic means excellence or virtue) was always
associated with his sweet music. In some instances his kisses became birds, and although they remained invisible, they
whispered thoughts of love to young people. His abode was the fairy palace at Brugh on the banks of the River Boyne.
(Jacobs, 1962, p.97) .
The man of the pike and the carpenter are working together preparing the stages and the Tostal posters for the festival.
According to father Ned who urges the people to retrieve their Celtic culture, The Man of the pike chose six Irish
figures that will be drawn on signs to be projected in the festival. Those six figures are selected from because every
character is associated with a quality that present Ireland lacks. Therefore, this show will be of a significant role since
each one of these Irish figures contributes to the country's benefit. Hence, he is one of the characters that the young
people want to paint with the other six Irish Celtic sources:
I wonder why Father Ned or Michael either wanted to show th' world th' kissers of th' old Irish gods and heroes? […],
a pillar holdin' up the head of Dunbo-whoever he was-a harp at th' pillar's butt, played be shadowy hands, th' thin string,
sho win' throu th' white twinklin' fingers; an' this one I'm doin' who was this kid. (O’Casey, 1960, act. II, p. 32).
Accordingly, it is clear that the six figures that O'Casey thinks are necessary to be impeded in the Irish daily life since
Ireland is in great necessity for them. Those figures stand for warriors, kings, and churchmen who combine characters
that Father Ned wished to be preserved and remembered by the Irish youth, represent Ireland's future. (Rollins, 1985,
p.88)
It is necessary then to give a brief account of each character that O'Casey has chosen to be presented in the Irish
cultural heritage. The first Celtic figure is Conn of the Hundred Battles.; apparently his name reveals his identity this
might be due to the fact that he is a mighty Warrior in Irish mythology, "One of the high kings of Tara whose
miraculous visit to Tir Na Og (my emphasis), the Celtic Paradise of the gods is[ ---] a sovereignty for the high kings in
Ireland"(Ibid). Consequently, this king stands for heroism that O'Casey thinks that is needed in contemporary Ireland.
The second figure is a real figure that is well-known in Irish history. Brian Boru is a powerful Irish ruler who was able
to bring order and unity upon the whole countries of Ireland. In the play, we are equipped with a brief hint about this
king's role in the history of Ireland. In the play, O’Casey says:
From the ninth century onwards, there were several attempts by great kings to establish themselves as masters of the
whole country by taking hostages from Provincial kings. Brian Boru finally realized this ambition in the loss, and from
then until the Norman Invasion, the kingship of Ireland, at least as an idea, may have said to have prevailed. (O'Casey,
1960, Act ii, p. 40)
This figure gives an impression of what kind of ruler O'Casey wants Ireland to have. He hopes Ireland to have a
powerful leader who can unify the Irish fighting countries against any colonial powers.

III. O'CASEY'S ATTITUDE TOWARD CHRISTIANITY

One major feature of O'Casey character is his skepticism toward Christianity. O'Casey comments on his religious
beliefs, "I'm an atheist, thank God." (David Krause,1966,p.145).When he was asked about if he still considered himself
a believer or not, O’Casey answered, “I never lost my faith, I round it, round it when Jim Larkin came to Dublin[...] I
round it in Jim's great socialist motto: 'An injury to one is the concern of all.'"(ibid). Taking declaration into
consideration, the study aims to examine religious beliefs in O’Casey by linking them to his portrayal of these figures in
his plays.
In most of his plays, O'Casey's made the religious hypocrisy as his target. He attacked with a high degree of scornful
criticism all forms of power that deprived a man of injustice and freedom. This made him an object for the religious
men attacks; especially from the part of Catholic religious believers. In this context, it is necessary to shed light on the
position of The Irish Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church has a very powerful existence in the Irish society; Mc Diarmidi comments on the role of the
Catholic Church in Ireland, she says:

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Although the Catholic Church in Ireland was not a nation, it functioned to some extent as a state within a state. A
large part, perhaps the central part of its glory and power, was its huge network of social service institutions:
orphanages, hospitals, asylums, primary schools […] that performed many state functions. (Mc Diamide, 2005, p.127)
Taking this reality into consideration, any attempt to criticize the church was considered as a taboo, and this explains
why many riots happened after any play that even tackled this sensitive issue. O’Casey’s plays show a severe criticism
against the bad aspects of Irish society; especially religious hypocrisy. Influenced by socialism, O’Casey calls for
equality between classes, and demand social reform especially for the poor working class to whom he belongs. Though
he was aware that criticizing religious and political figures was a taboo, however; he was like many of the Abbey
dramatists discussed the ills of the Irish society by choosing them as themes to be presented on the Stage of The Abbey
Theatre.
As a socialist, O’Casey tries to reach a compromise between Christianity and Marxism; Moran argues that “[t]here
might be something sacred about the Communist desire for equality, with O’Casey presenting the avowedly atheist
philosophy of the USSR in a language that Christians might understand and find appealing."In other words, O’Casey
tries to make alignment between Marxism and Christianity by using “the rhetorical tropes and philosophical ideas
associated with their faith in order to redirect attention to the more worthwhile goal of achieving global justice and
personal fulfillment in this world rather than the next."(Moran, 2013, p.11)
Concerning this point, in Sean O'Casey on the Absurdity of War, Christa Velten elaborates on how O’Casey’s drama
played a great role in revealing the contradictions inside the Irish society; she states:
The road to freedom leads through crises that develop from the confrontation with one's harsh reality. Not always
were the Abbey authors succeed in their attempts to open up the eyes of the public and to sharpen their senses for the
perception of their true problems. Often enough the majority of the Irish sought refuge behind their absolute trinity of
taboos: Religion, Sexuality, and Patriotism pouring their wrath onto those who lashed out against Ignorance, bigotry,
and complacency, onto those who tried to arouse pity and compassion. Thus James Joyce uses the image of the old sow
eating her farrow, in order to denote his country's hysteric aggressiveness towards its geniuses. (Velten, 1989, pp59-60)
However; he was disappointed due to the tension between the political trends and movements in his days, he
expressed his dissatisfaction of the Irish political order in his plays. To do so, he focused his efforts on describing the
life of the poor Dubliners in the so-called Dublin Trilogy which is a tragicomic dramatic presentation that reflect his
interest for his fellow slum inhabitants, realizing that they were them as impotent of giving a socialist dimension to the
Irish cause, “but at the same time admirable for their unconquerable spirit.” (Britannica Encyclopedia)
Of the aspects that O'Casey had criticized is the increasing power of the Catholic Church and the tension between
religious and secular. One of the major figures in his plays is the representative of the religious institution, that is the
Church. O’Casey presented Christianity in the figure of the Father Fillfogue. The existence of such a religious figure is
of great importance because it clarified O'Casey’s attitude toward religion. He did not mind people believing in religion,
but he mocked the ill deeds that the religious men committed in the name of religion. For instance, when people
revolted against poverty, the religious men ask them to accept it as part of "Gods divine will."(Krause,1984, p.139).
O'Casey wanted to have reliable holy men exactly as Columcille who is placed among the most significant Irish
character. He is introduced as a very influential Irish figure in both the religious and the political realms of early Ireland.
He is known as Saint Columba who is a "powerful sixth-century churchman in developing Irish church which
established an important monastic sanctuary at long. (Ibid). O'Casey has been challenged regarding his skeptical attitude
toward the Catholic Church. However, this assumption is not valid, since O'Casey never attempted to mock religion as a
system, but he wanted to criticize the bad practice of those who pretended to be religious. He declared his attitude to
religion, and he states that for a long time, O’Casey had lived among the poor Catholic slum dwellers of Dublin. He
considered himself as one of them, except their Catholic faith. (Krause, 1984, p. 142)
So, it is clear then that O'Casey has never been against religion; his choice of Saint Columba is a strong piece of
evidence against anyone who claims O'Casey's passive attitude to the religious men. The last two Irish heroes are
Cuchulain and Dunbo. The former character is well known since he is the greatest hero in the Ulster cycle of Celtic epic
tales. His manner of dying, (when he ties himself to a rock to die on his feet), is considered to be a symbol of heroic
dignity. (Rollins,1985, p. 87) The last character was Dunbo, (Dunn-Bo), a mythical Irish hero who is killed in "the
battle of Almu, his head continued to sing on the battlefield long after the battle had ended." (Ibid). When the paintings
become ready, the young people begin the preparations for the tostal.
In the play, O'Casey highlighted the tension between those who are in power and the ordinary Irish people. A clear
example is when the representatives of political and religious forces declared their objection of organizing a festival that
celebrates the old heroes. For instance, the mayor and his deputy who represented the governmental authorities object
the saying that “It's the waste of time Mc Gilligan and a waste of money; you Won't resuscitate us be bringin' back
shaded as O'men who done an' said things in a tormented time of long ago that have no bearin' on the life we live
today."(O'Casey ,1960,p.30)
Another character who expresses his disapproval of organizing such a festival claims that "things here have aged too
long for us to try to make them young again." This assumption has been immediately denied by one of the young girls
who prepare for the festival saying: "Old fields can still bring forth new corn, say, Father Ned.” (O’Casey ,1960, p.85).
Father Ned is the young priest who directed the young men and women in the play. He was not seen on the stage, but

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his instructions were reported to the audience by the other young men and women. Also, the sound of his drums assured
the audience of his presence. This symbolic presence of Father Ned made Father Fillfogue, the representative of
Christian religious men deny his real existence:
!Who is this Father Ned? Where is he an' who is he? My breath is gone. Where is that Father Ned of yours? At the
Tostal flag-pole; at the town hall, in the main street watching the window-boxes go up; yet I found him nowhere! Who
is he? (O'Casey, 1960, p.43)
Father Fillgogue's search is of no use since Father Ned can be seen as a personification of the life force of freedom
and joy in love and life. (Rollins, 1985, p. 85). However, O'Casey's use of Irish figure with their different perspective
implies the urgency of Ireland's transformation by anew heroic, economic, political, religious leaders. This is the gist of
the play that the study concluded. By the last act, the youth of Ireland followed the drums of Father Ned expect the
three figures who are representative of the political and religious authorities. This fact forced them to admit that Ireland
has revolted against the authorities that deny them from having freedom .It also an implication of Ireland’s aspiration
toward a new reality, and a positive futuristic change. (O'Casey, 1960, p. 53) Therefore, the play ends with the defeat of
the old passive authorities and the victory of youth. In the play, O'Casey offers us his dream of a New Ireland that has
the Gaelic spirit linked with its modern way of life.
O'Casey succeeded in transferring the Irish peasants' life from a realistic depiction into a universal worldwide appeal.
O'Casey's had a futuristic vision of Ireland; he asserted the necessity of having great influential leaders like Brian Boru,
Conn of the hundred battles, and like the grand hero Cuchulain.
He wanted the spirit of Angus (The Celtic god of youth) to offer Ireland a permanent youth and fertility. The image
of Saint Colmcille asserts his dream of true saints and religious men of present Ireland; this is the New Ireland that
O'Casey longs for having. His vision of Ireland free from poverty, illiteracy, false nationalism, religious and racist
discrimination is what makes him different from any other Irish dramatist. In other words, in The Drums of Father Ned,
O'Casey identifies the significant problems in Ireland with a satirical criticism of the negative aspects of a country that
is known to have a tremendous heroic culture and heritage.
Also, he maintained to have the Irish themes clear in all of his works, but at the same time, they indicated severe
matters that are of universal interests. O'Casey celebrated the life of the individuals, especially those Irish peasants, who
were presented as far away from religion; though they claimed to be religious. This created a kind of a hidden conflict
where Christianity did not have power if compared with Celtic pagan beliefs that many Irish people still considered to
have a holy presence. Within this nihilistic vision of man, O’Casey presents a pessimistic view of the future; it is like
schizophrenia that still has a function in Irish society. In other words, O' Casey presented a skeptical vision of the future,
where modern Irish man seems a weak creature full of contradictions unarmed against the political and cultural
challenges of the Post-colonial Ireland.

IV. CONCLUSION
By introducing the Conflict between Paganism and Christianity as a major theme in The Drums of Father Ned, O’
Casey succeeded in achieving a multipurpose function: the first is of a cultural aesthetic value which is manifested in
his using the Irish Celtic sources of the post-colonial Ireland as the source of most of his plays. This task is of great
significance because of its cultural as well as national significance. It functions as backfire against the cultural and
religious dilemma. O’Casey was able to bring the ancient Celtic pagan beliefs of the pre-colonial Ireland back to life.
The second function was to foster the loyalty and sense of nationalism of the Irish people away from any dominance of
any power that deprived people of their freedom including religion.
Therefore, the importance of the Irish theatre transcends the limitations of regionalism by the tremendous efforts of
both O' Casey in his treatment of the Pagan Celtic material so brilliantly. Finally, the study proved that O'Casey
presented a skeptical attitude toward Christianity and favored old local Irish regional culture over Christianity. To sum
up, O'Casey has been considered as a controversial figure who employed theatre as a powerful weapon in his war
against all forms of injustice and inequality because he believed that poverty and ignorance and religious hypocrisy are
Ireland's major enemies.

REFERENCES
[1] Atkinson, Brooks, ed. (1974). The Final Curtain. Conversation with Sean O'Casey. Eds. E.H. Mikhai1 and John O'Riordon.
London: Macmillan.
[2] Ayling, Ronald. (1985). "Character Control and Distancing Effects”. In Sean O'Casey: The Dublin Trilogy. A Case Book.
London: Macmillan. Pp. 171-188.
[3] Ayling, Ronald. (1991). Seven Plays by Sean O'Casey, London, Macmillan.
[4] Darin, Doris. (1946). Sean O'Casey. New York: Frederic Unger Publishing Co.
[5] Donoghue, Denis. (1976). The Sewanee Review 84. Winter. Pp. 129- 33.
[6] Donoghue, Denis. (1985). Peacocks and Mothers: Theme and Dramatic Metaphor. Sean O 'Casey: The Dublin Trilogy. A Case
Book. Ed. Ronald Ayling. London: Macmillan. Pp. 111 -121.
[7] Ferriter, Diarmuid. (2004). The Transformation of Ireland. New York, NY: Overlook Press.
[8] Heidenreich-Krawschak, Regina. (1978). The critical reception of Sean O'Casey in Berlin Since 1953. In Sean O'Casey Review,

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5(1) Pp. 55-68.

[9] Jacobs, Gertrude. (1962). Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore, and Symbol. New York: Scarecrow Press.
[10] Kitishat, Amal Riyadh. (2012). Colonialism and the recreation of identity: The Irish Theatre as a Case Study. In Journal of
Language and Culture. Vol. 3(5). Pp. 83-86.
[11] Krawschak, Regina Heidenreich. (1978). Critical Reception of Sean O'Casey in Berlin Since 1953.The Sean O'Casey Review,
Vol. 5(l), pp. 55-68.
[12] Krause, David. (1966).Towards the End. The Sting and the Twinkle: The World of Sean O'Casey. Ed. Sean Mc Cann. London:
The New English Library Ltd.pp. 137-156.
[13] Krause, David. (1982). The Profane Book of Irish Comedy, Ithaca, Cornell Un. Press.
[14] Krause, David. (1984). The Risen O'Casey: Some Marxist and Irish Ironies. O'Casey Annual 3, pp. 43-62.
[15] Kronenberg, Louis. (1952). The Thread of Laughter, New York: Hill & Wang.
[16] Mc Diarmide, Lucy. (2005).The Irish Art of Controversy. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
[17] Moran. James. (2013).The Theatre of Sean O’Casey. London: Bloomsbury.
[18] O'Casey, Sean. (1960). The Drums of Father Ned. London and York: Macmillan.
[19] Pilkington L. (2004). Historicizing is not Enough: Recent Developments and Trends in Irish Theatre History. Modern Drama.
Winter, XLVIII,4:721-731.
[20] Rollins, G.R. Ronal. (1985). The Drums of Father Ned: Celtic Heroes and Harps and the Merry Mummers of Modern Ireland.
Robert Rowling (ed) In O'Casey Annual, no 4. London: Macmillan.
[21] Saros, Cowasjee. (1963). Sean O'Casey: The Man Behind the Plays. London: Oliver & Boyd.
[22] The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2018). Sean O'Casey. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved on January 1/2019,
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sean-OCasey.
[23] Thomson, Laurence. (1974). The Rebel Who Never Retired. The Sting and the Twinkle: Conversations with Sean O'Casey.
London: Macmillan. Pp. 1-16.
[24] Thomson, William Irwin. (1988). "Easter 1916 - O'Casey's w. Naturalistic Image. In Sean O'Casey: The Dublin. A Case Book.
Ed. Ronald Ayling. London: Macmillan.Pp. 154-165.
[25] Velten, C. (1988). Sean O'Casey on the Absurdity of War: The Silver Tassie: On the Background of O'Casey's Life and
Philosophy. In Genet, J., & Hellegouarc’h, W. (Eds.), Studies on Sean O'Casey. Presses Universitaires de Caen.
Doi:10.4000/books.puc.12.

Amal R. Kitishat (Correspondent author): born in Salt city/The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 26 of May 1970. She obtained a
Ph.D. in English literature from Cairo University in 2006. She is a specialist in modern and contemporary drama.
She is an Associate Professor of English Literature, a specialist in contemporary and modern English &Irish drama. Formerly, she
held the position of Head of Department of English Language and Basic Sciences at Al Balqa Applied University\Ajloun -Jordan.
Currently she is a staff member in Faculty of Arts and Head of Scientific Research Unit. Her interests in scholarship include
Orientalism, English and Irish drama and literary criticism; she has published many books and articles in the field of English literary
studies.
Dr. Kitishat is a member in many literary professional societies such as ALECSO - Arab League Educational, Cultural and
Scientific Organization which belongs to the Arab League. Dr. Kitishat is a referee for many academic journals as well as a
representative for the department of English in the Deanship of Scientific Research Unit in Faculty of Arts.

Hanaa Fathi Farajallah (Co-author) was born in the United Arab Emirates on 24/ 3 / 1979. Farajallah has a Bachelor Degree in
English Language and Literature was obtained in 2002 from Al-al Bayt University, Mafraq, Jordan. The Master Degree in English
Literature and Criticism was gained in 2004 from Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan. The major field of study is literature and
criticism. She works as an INSTRUCTOR at Department of English Language and Literature, Ajloun University College, Balqa'
Applied University. Formerly, she worked as FULL-TIME LECTURER at Department of English Language and Literature, Irbid
National University from 2007-2012. She published many articles in the field of English Literature.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 796-799, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.15

Returning to Nature: An Eco-critical Study of

“Big Two-Hearted River”
Yufeng Wang
Xiamen University of Technology, Fujian, China

Abstract—“Big Two-Hearted River” is one of the Nick Adams Stories from Ernest Hemingway’s short story
collection In Our Time. The story is told in a detailed description of Nick’s “trivial” experience in his Michigan
resort after the veteran was back from the First World War. Up to now, the Nick Adams stories together with
Hemingway’s other works have been interpreted by literary critics from different perspectives, among which
the code hero image, death consciousness, nihilism, alienation and the artistic features are usually focused
upon. This article intends to investigate “Big Two-Hearted River” from an eco-critical point of view. The study
points out that Hemingway expressed his ecological consciousness in this short story about the harmonious
relationship between man and nature; through the detailed narration of Nick’s simple experience of camping
and fishing, “Big Two-Hearted River” vividly exposes the theme of returning to nature. The study actually
reflects Hemingway’s ecological consciousness based on his yearning towards the beauty of nature.

Index Terms—Hemingway, Big Two-Hearted River, nature

I. INTRODUCTION
Ever since the appearance of eco-criticism in the last few decades of the 20th century, the eco-critics began to re-read
literary works from an eco-centric point of view, with a particular emphasis on the representation of the natural world.
As the theorist Greg Garrard pointed out, “Eco-criticism is unique amongst the contemporary literary and cultural
theories because of its close relationship with the science of ecology. Eco-critics may not be qualified to contribute to
debates about problems in ecology, but they must nonetheless transgress disciplinary boundaries and develop their own
ecological literacy as far as possible” (Garrard, 2004, p.5). With such questions in mind as how nature is represented in
the literary work, what role the physical setting plays in the plot, and whether the values contained in the work are
consistent with ecological wisdom, eco-critics investigate the literary works and mean to make possible the connections
among self, society, nature, and text so that human beings can be introduced to a further understanding of the plight we
are facing as we step into the highly-developed industrial era and take it as a duty to protect the natural resources. Under
such a circumstance, the arousal of respecting and protecting nature lies not only in nature writings, but also in many
modern narrative fictions, as Leo Marx pointed out in his pioneering book The Machine in the Garden, “There can be
little doubt that it affects the nation’s taste in serious literature, reinforcing the legitimate respect enjoyed by much
writers as Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, and Robert Frost” (Marx, 1979, p.6).
In 1925, Ernest Hemingway published the book In Our Time, his first collection of Nick Adams story. The work
consists of fifteen short stories, among which “Big Two-Hearted River” is the last and longest one. And in the year 1950,
Hemingway confessed to the public that “‘Big Two-Hearted River’ had been published for twenty five years, but very
few people could really understand the work. It is quite true that the style is plain and the plot is simple, for Nick is the
only character in the story; and the whole work seems to be nothing more than a description of Nick’s camping and
fishing in his Michigan resort after he was back from the First World War. But why did Hemingway complain about
people’s lack of understanding about this work? The answer is clearly that the writer, in the short story, attempted to
demonstrate a deeper meaning than the literal surface. And the deep meaning can be explored through an eco-critical
point of view. That is to say, what Hemingway expressed in this short story is his ecological consciousness about the
harmonious relationship between man and nature.

II. THE HARMONY BETWEEN MAN AND NATURE IN “FATHERS AND SONS”
Hemingway is productive in his writing of novels, novelettes and short stories. The publication of Hemingway’s
short stories can be traced back to his middle school life. Throughout his writing career, Hemingway finished a great
many short stories which are generally collected into four volumes, namely, In Our Time, Men without Women, Winner
Take Nothing and The Fifth Column and First Forty-Nine Stories. In many of the short stories, Hemingway created a
special character called Nick Adams who is a largely autobiographical figure of the writer. He is, like Hemingway
himself, the son of a doctor as written in “The Indian Camp” and “The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife”; In “Big
Two-Hearted River”, we see him relish fishing and hunting in the northern peninsula of Michigan as Hemingway often
did. And as Hemingway himself, Nick Adams also went abroad during World War I and suffered a knee wound as
shown in “In another Country”. Up to now, the Nick Adams stories together with Hemingway’s other works have been
interpreted by literary critics from different perspectives, among which the code hero image, death consciousness,

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nihilism, alienation and the artistic features are usually focused upon. But as a canonized writer, Hemingway and his
works will definitely remain new in American literature. Today, living in the worsening situation of eco-crises, we find
it is of great significance to re-examine the works through an eco-critical point of view. “Big Two-Hearted River” is a
typical example showing Hemingway’s ecological consciousness of returning to nature.
In “Big Two-Hearted River”, Hemingway dealt with the emotions of a character that has been both psychologically
hurt and physically traumatized by war and is striving for a meaningful retreat. The story is about Nick, a veteran’s
returning to the Michigan forest after the war, yet there is not a single reference to the word “war” in the work. The
violence and devastation of war are never directly mentioned; instead, what the story stresses is Nick’s intention to
regain his psychological equilibrium, relaxation and comfort after he was back from the spiritual and physical torture in
the European battlefield. After all, “the devastating experience of the war can only serve to deface the environment of
Nick Adams Childhood” (Seo, 2016, p.448). At the beginning of the short story, the readers can see the burned-over
country, fire-split stone, and the burned-off ground surface, and the thirteen saloons that had lined the one street of
Seney had not left a trace. The dreary landscape of Seney can be interpreted as corresponding with Nick’s mental
anguish, or his spiritual wasteland. And this description actually symbolizes Nick’s miserable experiences and
psychological torment in the cruel war, as Sheldon Grebstein claimed “the burnt-over land which Nick crosses on his
way toward the river can be equated with his war-scorched nerves” (Grebstein, 1973, p.20). A sense of spiritual comfort
arose consequently from the harmony between Nick and the natural beauty around him.
The experience in the war is a heart-struck one to Nick. In trying to heal his inner and outer wounds, Nick decided to
leave the inhumane modern world and find solace in the woods. The veteran put himself in the wilderness, appreciated
the beauty of nature, gradually forgot about the misery and gained the recovery of his comfort. It is the beautiful wild
life that enabled the veteran to steer clear of the misery and appreciate the beauty of life. Being in the place far away
from modern civilization, Nick Adams was able to take possession of the sense of mental balance. The clean river, the
swimming trout, and the flying kingfishers were all so beautiful that Nick kept watching them for such a long period of
time. “It was a long time since Nick had looked into a stream and a trout. They were very satisfactory”
(Hemingway,1987, p.163). Nick was so attracted by the scene that he almost forgot about his own existence. It was
quite a hot day and his muscles ached; however, for Nick, it was even a happy job to walk uphill, because “He felt he
had left everything behind, the need for thinking, the need to write, other needs. It was all back of him”
(Hemingway,1987, p.164). This recovery is somewhat similar to one of Hemingway’s hobbies that whenever he
finished writing a book, he would run immediately to the west or Florida to revive his energy. In doing so, they derive a
certain pleasure from the day-to-day toil.
Normally speaking, people living in the developed civilization pay not so much attention to the natural environment
around. But when a person is back to nature, like Nick Adams, all of his or her feelings tend to be recovered through the
careful observation. In the short story we are able to detect that Nick was so absorbed in natural beauty that the author
even began to describe vividly his notice of the color of the grasshoppers along the road,
The grasshopper was black. As he had walked along the road, climbing, he had started many grasshoppers from the
dust. They were all black. They were not the big grasshoppers with yellow and black or red and black wings whirring
out from their black wing sheathing as they fly up. These were just ordinary hoppers, but all a sooty black in color.
(Hemingway,1987, p.165)
In the meantime Nick began to smell the flavor of the sweet fern. “He broke off some sprigs of the heathery sweet
fern, and put them under his pack straps. The chafing crushed it and he smelled it as he walked”. (Hemingway,1987,
p.165).Even the feeling of hunger is different because “he did not believe he had ever been hungrier”(Hemingway,1987,
p.167).The experience in such a beautiful place enabled Nick to harbor the sense of the harmony and vitality of the
great nature. It is also in this harmonious atmosphere that both the kingfishers and the trout were enjoying their happy
lives. “As the shadow of the kingfisher moved up the stream, a big trout shot upstream in a long angle”
(Hemingway,1987, p.163-164).There is no interruption among them but they are closely related to one another. The
grasshoppers all became black because they wanted to live in the burned land. And as for the pine trees,
The trunks of the trees went straight up or slanted toward each other. The trunks were straight and brown without
branches, the branches were high above. Some interlocked to make a solid shadow on the brown forest floor. Around
the grove of trees was a bare space. It was brown and soft underfoot as Nick walked on it. This was the over-lapping of
the pine needle floor, extending out beyond the width of the high branches. The trees had grown tall and the branches
moved high, leaving in the sun this bare space they had once covered with shadow. Sharp at the edge of this extension
of the forest floor commenced the sweet fern. (Hemingway,1987, p.166).
The whole setting is only a small ecological environment, but everything exists for its own reason and one is
dependent on another. It is in such a beautiful environment that people are able to remove their mental intensity and
regain their pleasure and relaxation. This assumption is also embodied in the following words written by the British
poet Thomas Traherne in his Centuries: “You never enjoy the world aright, till the Sea itself floweth in your veins, till
you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars: and perceive yourself to be the sole heir of the whole
world”. (Simons , 2002, p.192). A picture of harmony between man and nature practically appeared in front of our eyes.
Nick obtained the psychological comfort that he had been looking for in the beauty of such a wonderful natural world.
The complete unity with nature had given Nick such a wonderful sense of release that “his neck and back and the small

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of his back rested as he stretched” and “the earth felt good against his back” (Hemingway,1987, p.166). Towards the
end of the first day, Nick pitched his tent and crawls inside, noting with pleasure how homelike the space seems. He
thought, “He was settled. Nothing could touch him. It was a good place to camp. He was in there, in a good place. He
was in his home where he had made it” (Hemingway,1987, p.167).At the beginning of the second part of the story,
when Nick crawled out of the tent and looked at the morning, he found that “he was excited by the early morning and
the river” (Hemingway,1987, p.173).While Nick was sitting on the logs, smoking, drying in the sun that was warm on
his back and preparing for the fishing, he could perceive that “slowly the feeling of disappointment left him”
(Hemingway,1987, p.177).To a certain degree, “the story seems to be giving us a twentieth century version of Thoreau’s
retreat to Walden Pond”(Flora,1989, p.59). Just as Huck feels relaxed all over when he runs away from the civilized
society and places himself in nature in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which is highly praised by
Hemingway as the best work in American literature, Nick sensed the beauty of nature and the degeneration of modern
civilization. All the detailed descriptions above showed us that Nick had actually become a part of nature, living in great
harmony with the vital integrity and enjoying a true self and happy life. Like Thoreau, Emerson, and Mark Twain,
Hemingway also “decenters the epic of human history by way of an ecological scale of atoms within an energy
circuit”(Meehan,2013,p.310).With the interdependent unity of human and nonhuman, the beautiful nature purified Nick
and provided him with indispensable spiritual enjoyment and nourishment.
The main character’s harmony with nature lied as well in the fact that he showed concern and affection to the
creatures in the beautiful place. Nick found some grasshoppers when he was tired and sat down against the charred
stamp to have a rest. He at that moment carefully reached the hand down and took hold of a hopper by the wings only to
find that it was all black as a result of the burned land. Seeing this, a sense of sympathy for the little animal arose in
Nick’s heart. He spoke out for the first time, “Go on hopper. Fly away somewhere” (Hemingway,1987, p.165).The
readers can see that before the appearance of this sentence there was not a single monologue or dialogue except the
author’s third-person-singular narration. The very reason why Hemingway designed such a monologue here is that he
intended to stress Nick’s intimate friendship with the little creatures. What’s more, as Ju-Hyun Seo observed, the black
hoppers were the emblematic of modern people who had lost their potency and strong will, surviving and adapting to
the somber post-war world. They became somebody whom Nick sympathized and were related to Nick’s self-
emancipation,
They have turned black, an adaptive process that allows them to survive the burned fields. They cannot even think of
escaping from this blackened land. They have given up their willpower already. It is possible that these blackened
locusts are emblematic of modern people, surviving and adapting to the sombre post-war world. They have lost their
potency, their strong sense of identity and life force, yet still survive. If Nick Adams returns to civilization, there is a
distinct danger that he will succumb to the demands of modern technology or, worse, be enslaved to dominant material
values. If such a thing happens, he might (not unlike the lifeless black locusts) lose his own sense of identity and life
force. Therefore, when he exclaims to a hapless locusts, “Go on, hopper”. It can be read as a declaration of self-
emancipation. In addition, his aimless, unhurried amble through the scarred landscape becomes a ritual freeing himself
from the traumatic memory; his toil, a refusal to conform to the modernized world. So to speak, his physical endeavor is
a stimulant against self-paralysis, the kind of modern temptation which prevents him from responding to his dynamic
life force. (Seo,2016, p.455).
Unlike the intense description of the battle between man and fish in The Old Man and the Sea, Nick Adams’ fishing
in “Big Two-Hearted River” was described in a more relaxing and gentle atmosphere. Different from Santiago’s
motivation, Nick went to the fishing just for a recovery of both his mind and his spirit debilitated by war. The story
abounded in details of how splendid the fishing was and of what a good time Nick was having. We can not find a clue
that may signify Nick’s destruction of nature. Instead, Nick’s fishing experience in the story tends to stress the
harmonious relationship between man and nature, for they are so closely dependent on each other. According to
eco-critics, human beings are an inseparable part of nature. We have the right to take useful or necessary things from the
natural world, on the precondition that we do not go too far as to destroy the ecological balance. Every life form in the
world has the right to live and blossom. It is true that we have to kill in order to eat, but there is also a basic intuition
that we are not at all entitled to destroy other living beings without sufficient reason. We know Nick wanted to get a big
fish and sympathized with the small ones. In his eyes, small fishes belong to the weak as he himself does. But they are
also an essential part of the ecosystem and have every reason for their own existence. That is why Nick unhooked the
barb from the mouth of small trout when it was caught. And quite an unpleasant depiction came next of Nick’s continual
recalling of the dead trout, “Nick had again and again come on dead trout, furry with white fungus, drifted against a
rock, or floating belly up in some pool”, (Hemingway,1987, p.176),which symbolized Nick’s misery from the war and
emphasizes his compassion on the little animals. At almost the end of the story, the readers can see that, though Nick’s
attempt to hook the biggest trout he had ever seen ends with the trout’s escape, he had succeeded in getting two other
big trout alive. Nick felt very happy and satisfied, at the same time he realized that he had got enough pleasure out of
the hooking on that day and he should stop here. So “he went on a log, took a cigarette out and struck a match to light
it” (Hemingway, 1987, p.179) and went back to the camp, for the reason that he did not want to hurt any more trout. It is
quite true that the swamp which appeared next in some way accounted for the reason of Nick’s abandonment of more
fishing at that time. However, we should also be able to notice that Hemingway is a skillful expert at symbolism. In the

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following specific description he endowed the swamp with its symbolic meanings,
Nick did not want to go in there now. He felt a reaction against deep wading with the water deepening up under his
armpits, to hook big trout in places impossible to land them. In the swamp the banks were bare, the big cedars came
together overhead, the sun did not come through, expect in patches, in the last deep water, in the half light, the fishing
would be tragic. In the swamp fishing was a tragic adventure. Nick did not want it. He did not want to go down the
stream any further today. (Hemingway, 1987, p.180)
Nick knew well that there were many big trout in the swamp, but he still decided to change the fishing plan. He did
not want to go any further on that day. To avoid the possibility of defeat, Nick decided to postpone the adventure instead
of plunging into the armpit-deep water of the swamp overshadowed by big trees, where he might “hook big trout in
places impossible to land them”. The gloomy and somber swamp mentioned here is a certain admonition from the great
nature just like the appearance of the sharks in The Old Man and the Sea. If Nick, too, for the sake of getting more and
more trout, went on with the fishing without considering the possible danger ahead, maybe he will in the end receive the
same tragic punishment from nature as Santiago, who went out too far to the sea and experienced “a worst form of
unlucky” (Hemingway,1980, p.5). After all, “There were plenty of days coming when he could fish in the swamp”
(Hemingway, 1987, p.180) and he didn’t have to do it at the moment. As far as Nick is concerned, he had got enough
pleasure and comfort from the experience. Just as Glen Love claimed in his book of eco-criticism, “Fishing intensifies
the sense of simplicity and control that Nick seeks: he with his rod on one end; nature, alive, in the form of a fish, on the
other; and a taut line joining the two. Thus far, the story has followed a simple pastoral line, the hero having withdrawn
from some threatening scene on the horizon into the green world. Here the beauty and order of the setting permeate the
young man’s spirit and act to restore his inner equilibrium” (Love,1987, p.118). In this case, Nick’s fishing experience
also contains enough ecological elements that are related to man’s spirit and plays a significant role in regaining his
inner equilibrium.

III. CONCLUSION
The past twentieth century bears witness to man’s great power of changing and conquering nature. However, it is
quite often the great power that accounts for the potential threat of man’s own existence. The development of economy
and materialism has not only improved human beings’ living standard but also pushed people to destroy the ecological
environment. In order to survive well on the earth and have further social development, it is necessary for human beings
to live in harmony with nature and put more emphasis on environmental protection and conservation of the natural
resources. That is what Hemingway conveyed to us in “Big Two-Hearted River”. The short story is told in such a
detailed description of Nick’s “trivial” experience that some people may consider it as a tedious work and lose the
patience to read it through. Nevertheless, it is the trivial camping and fishing experience that vividly reflect Nick’s
harmonious relationship with the natural environment, taking mental recovery and relaxation without destroying the
ecological balance. It is also in this work that Ernest Hemingway neglected the incorrect anthropocentricity and gave
prominence to ecosystem. As a matter of fact, the story can be read as a nostalgia-filled journey through the natural
world. It is through the short story that Hemingway tried to advise human beings to give up the human-centered point of
view, come closer to the natural environment and achieve a complete unity with the great nature. In a word, “the return
to origins, to unspoiled nature, is never a simple or an unqualified one in the fiction” (Messent,1992, p.130). The
readers’ environmental consciousness will definitely be further aroused after they re-examine the short story with such
an eco-critical approach.

REFERENCES
[1] Flora, Joseph M. (1989). Ernest Hemingway: A Study of the Short Fiction. Boston: Twayne Publishers.
[2] Garrard, Greg. (2004). Ecocriticism. London: Routledge.
[3] Grebstein, Sheldon N. (1973). Hemingway’s Craft. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press,
[4] Hemingway, Ernest. (1987). The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
[5] Hemingway, Ernest. (1980). The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
[6] Love, Glen A. (2003). Practical Ecocriticism: Literature, Biology, and the Environment. Charlottesville and London: University
of Virginia Press.
[7] Marx, Leo. (1979). The Machine in the Garden. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[8] Meehan, Sean R. (2013). “Ecology and Imagination: Emerson, Thoreau, and the Nature of Metonymy”. Criticism, 2,299-329.
[9] Messent, Peter, ed. (1992). Modern Novelists: Ernest Hemingway. New York：St.Martin’s Press.
[10] Simons, John. (2002). Animal Rights and the Politics of Literary Representation. New York:Palgrave.
[11] Seo, Ju-Hyun. (2016). “Crossing the Wilderness: The Meaning of Toil in Hemingway's ‘Big Two Hearted River’ and
McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses”. The Journal of English Cultural Studies, 9,445-463.

Yufeng Wang was born in Fujian Province, China in 1979. He holds a Ph.D. degree in English language and literature and is
currently an associate professor for English majors at Xiamen University of Technology. He has published three books and more than
30 papers. His research field is British and American literature.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 800-806, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.16

Ideological Differences between America and

China from Perspectives of Transitivity System
—Illustrated by Trump’s and Xi Jinping’s
Presidential Inaugural Addresses
Guohai Liao
College of Foreign Languages, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China

Geling Han
College of Foreign Languages, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China

Abstract—Taking Systemic Functional Grammar proposed by M.A.K. Halliday as theoretical framework, this
paper is set to quantitatively analyze Donald Trump’s inaugural address and Xi Jinping’s first public speech
as president of China in the distribution and functions of six processes from perspectives of transitivity system.
Having done this, ideological differences between America and China beneath the textual discourse of their
speeches will be qualitatively illustrated. It finds that material, mental and relational processes predominate
both speeches and Xi’s speech mainly takes the overall lead in spiritual guidance and inclines to generally
control the economic and social development in China. For Trump, he needs to employ all his skill to induce
and gain the supports from American people, objectively depicting American mediocre situations by material
process, trying to narrow down the psychological distance between his governance and the people by mental
process and increasing the belonging of American people by relational process.

Index Terms—transitivity system, inaugural addresses, political ideologies, process type, systemic functional
grammar

I. INTRODUCTION
Donald Trump became the 45th president of the United States, on January 20, 2017, and later delivered his inaugural
speech. As a president without having any administrative experience, his inauguration speech has aroused widespread
attention and concerns in society. Meanwhile, in China, President Xi jinping made his public speech debut in the 12th
national people’s congress after his inauguration in May 17, 2013. The inaugural speeches of the presidents in United
States have consistently the focus of political life. In the speeches, presidents of U.S. commemorate the country’s past,
look for the future and strive to set the stress on the future term, while riveting enough attention to the present. For
China, public addresses released by Presidents or other administrative leaders will also herald future plans, political
intentions, the basic principles of governing the country. American president Trump inaugural address and china’s
President Xi’s first speech debut are kindred and congenial. They are both political speech covering all aspects of China
and the United States. However, there have been so far relatively few comparative studies on the political speeches
between China and America.
Systemic Functional Grammar can be applied to miscellaneous styles to reveal implicit meaning of texts or
discourses and conversations. As a sub-system of ideational metafunctionin Systemic Functional Grammar, the
transitivity system is considered to be an effective discourse analysis model. Halliday (1971) first analyzed William
Golding’s famous novel The Inheritors, becoming the pioneer in textual analysis using transitivity system. From them
on, transitivity system is used by a quite number of scholars from at home and abroad to analyze different text genres,
such as literary works, advertisements, news reports and forensic and political discourses (Shen, 2006; Gong, 2006;
Yang,2004). Wellman Kondowe (2014) used transitivity theory to investigate the Bingu wa Mutharika’s inaugural
address, condemning his autocratic and dictatorship leadership ideologies. China scholar Chen yin (2008) and Wang
li(2009) analyze the presidents Bush’s and Obama’s inaugural addresses respectively. Li Min (2010) in China does the
comparative study on Roosevelt and Obama’s addresses. Wen li (2013) collectively probe into the distributions and
function of six transitivity processes in speeches from several American presidents. It is clearly established that
previous studies have seldom given attention to the comparative analyses between China and America, that is, Chinese
and English, mainly focusing on the intra-language on some populous textual styles, such as literary works,
advertisements. This paper investigates how six transitivity processes are achieved in Trump’s and Xi Jinping’s
inaugural addresses and what differences of the distributions and functions of them Trump’s and Xi Jinping’s addresses
exist in hope of finding the ideological differences between China and the United States as transitivity system as

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theoretical model.

II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Based on Systemic Functional Grammar’s claims, language is a product of social activities. Language carries an
array of functions. Halliday (1994) classified language’s metafunctions into 3 types: ideational function, interpersonal
function and textual function. In their view, Clause, the basic unit in text for Systemic Functional Grammar, can be
regard as a representation which models experience of change (Halliday, 1994). “And experientially, the clause
construes a quantum of change as a figure, or configuration of a process, participants involved in it and any attendant
circumstances. (Halliday, 2004, p.169)” A figure refers a figure of happening, doing, sensing, saying, being or having
(Halliday, 2004). All such figures are sorted out in the grammar of the clause which can reflect a mode of action, of
giving and demanding goods and services and information (Halliday, 2004). “The grammatical system by which this is
achieved is that of TRANSITIVITY. The transitivity system construes the world of experience into a manageable set of
PROCESS TYPES (Halliday, 2004, p.170).” Each process type embodies it own model or schema for providing a
particular domain of experience as a figure of a particular kind (Halliday, 2004). Process types can be classified into 6
kinds: material process, mental process, relational process, behavioral process, verbal process and existential process.
M.A.K. Halliday argued (2004) that the clauses of material process and that of mental process are the fact that the
grammar sets up a discontinuity between these two (out experience and inner experience): it distinguishes rather clearly
between out experience [going on ‘out there’], the processes of the external world, and inner experience [going on
inside ourselves; including perception, emotion and imagination], the process of consciousness. The grammatical
categories are those of material process clauses and mental process clauses. Material process is a process of doing and
happening, specifically, transitive doing and intransitive happening. “Doing” process is realized by transitive verbs
while “happening” process is realized by intransitive verbs. Material process includes participants, like actor, goal,
scope, recipient, client, and attribute. Material process also can be concrete and abstract. Changes in the material world
that can be perceived and changes in physical world make up concrete material process. However, such concrete
material processes have also come to serve as a model for construing our experience of change in abstract phenomena
(Halliday, 2004). Material process can be creative clauses, where the Actor or Goal is construed as being brought into
existence as the process unfolds, or transformative ones, where a pre-existing Actor or Goal is construed as being
transformed as the process unfold (Halliday, 2004). The outcome of the transformation is an elaboration, extension or
enhancement of the Actor (intransitive) or Goal(transitive) (Halliday, 2004).
Mental process is a process of sensing, which has four sub-types: perception, affection, cognition, and desideration.
Participants involved in a mental process are senser and phenomenon. Relational processes are processes of being,
which refers to a kind of relation between entities. It can be further divided into attributive type or identifying type. The
former type aims to describe things while the latter one tries to define some entities. On the borderline between material
and mental are behavioral processes which refer to those that represent the outer manifestations of inner workings, the
acting out of processes of consciousness and physiological states, like coughing, laughing, breathing, etc (Halliday,
2004). Verbal process refers to a process of saying which is a symbolic relationships construed in human consciousness
and enacted in the form of language, like saying and meaning (Halliday, 2004). The central participant is sayer and the
content of say is verbiage. Existential process is a process regarding existence, the existential, by which all phenomena
are simply tended to happen or exist.

III. RESEARCH METHOD

A. Research Data
The research data used in this paper are two Presidents inaugural addresses. Due to the political differences in regime,
China does not have inaugural addresses. Therefore, President Xi jinping’s first public speech in the 12 th national
people’s congress after inauguration is adopted. The two public speech are kindred and congenial, and both are from
government official website. The tokens of inaugural address of Trump are 1476, and the words of first public speech
from President Xi are 3078.
B. Research Questions
This paper aims to do a transitivity analysis of Trump’s and Xi jinping’s inaugural addresses to try to answer the
following questions:
1. What are the distribution and differences of six transitivity processes in Trump’s and Xi’s inaugural speeches?
2. What are the differences of functions and ideologies the six transitivity processes try to present in Trump’s and
Xi’s addresses of inauguration?
C. Research Procedure
The research method used in this paper is mixed method, that is, qualitative method plus quantitative method.
Quantitative method is used to demonstrate the distributions and features of six processes by statistical tables in
Trump’s and Xi’s speeches. And then qualitative method is adopted to analyze and explain the functions of each

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transitivity process. The research, specifically, follows the 4 procedures. First, the number of clauses needed to be
analyzed is determined. Second, based on the criteria for distinguishing process types proposed by Halliday (2004), the
process type of each clause is analyzed. Third, the process types of all clauses are manually labelled and the research
calculates the total number of each type of process as a percentage compared with the total number of analyzed clauses.
The distribution of the six process types in Trump’s and Xi’s speeches is illustrated by table form in hope of finding
their similarities or differences. Last, having done quantitative analysis, the functions of the six processes in texts will
be qualitatively analyzed to interpret their ideological differences on the ground of the social and historical background
between China and America.

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A. The Distributions and Characteristics of Six Transitivity Processes in Trump’s and Xi’s Addresses

TABLE I.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SIX TRANSITIVITY PROCESSES I N TRUMP’S AND XI’S SPEECHES
Trump’s Inaugural Address Xi’s First Public Speech
Process Type
Frequency Percentage（%） Frequency Percentage（%）
Material 99 69.7 40 67.7
Relational 27 19.1 16 27.1
Mental 7 4.9 2 3.3
Verbal 1 0.7 0 0
Existential 5 3.5 0 0
Behavioral 3 2.1 1 1.6
Total 142 100 59 100

As can be seem from Table 1, the overall distribution of material processes in the inauguration speeches of President
Trump and President Xi is similar. In the two inaugural speeches, the material processes predominantly occur, 99 times
in Trump’s speech and 40 times in Xi’s speech, accounting for 69.7% and 67.7% respectively. Secondly, the relational
processes are 27 times in Trump’s speech and 16 times in Xi’s speech, up to 19.1% and 27.1% respectively. The number
of relational processes in Xi’s speech surpasses the number of those in Trump’s speech. The distribution of mental
processes in these two speeches is akin, up to 4.9% in Trump’s Speech and 3.3% in Xi’s speech. There is no verbal
process in Xi’s speech, but only one verbal process in Trump’s speech. Existential process can not be found in Xi’s
speech, but 5 times, up to 3.5% of distribution of it in Trump’s speech. Behavioral processes are quite rare to find in the
two speech texts, 3 times, accounting for 2.1% in Trump’s speech and one behavioral process, just up to 1.6% in Xi’s
speech.
Although there are similarities in the distribution of the six transitivity process types in the two speech texts, there
exist some differences. Verbal process, existential and behavioral process are not used frequently in Xi’s speech, while
these processes can be found in Trump’s speech, especially, existential processes, up to 3.5% of the total in Trump’s
speech. Overall, the last 3 processes, that is, verbal, existential, and behavioral processes are seldom used in the two
speech texts.
B. The Functions of Six Transitivity Processes in Trump’s and Xi’s Addresses
1. Material process
From Table 2, it is obviously established that in the inauguration speeches of two presidents, Trump and Xi, the
material processes have the highest occupation of occurrences in both speeches, accounting for more than 60% of the
overall processes. This shows that the two presidents are all concerned with the “doing” things, focusing concrete things
instead of taking the talk. As new presidents, both Trump and Xi, are inclined to show their ability to handle state
affaires and echo people’s empathy to advance the development of their countries. Material process is a good choice for
them to demonstrate practical practice concerns. However, there are also subtle differences in their speeches in using
material process.
For Trump, most material processes are used to depict the present political and economical specific situations in
America and profoundly illustrate the efforts the new government will take. He uses material process to show his
sincerity and practical practices and tries to narrow down the distance between his government and the public. However,
material processes in Xi’s first public speech mostly focus on the implementation of major policies, thoughts and tend
to encourage people’s actions on advancing China’s development and educate people from a more superior stance and
an overall ideological and spiritual perspective.
Example 1: Washington flourished, but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered, but the jobs left.
And the factories closed. The establishment protected itself but not the citizens of our country. (The Inaugural address
by President Donald Trump)
In Example 1, Trump uses material processes to depict present bleak and dismal American situationsin the filed of

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income, job problems and political issues. The verbs “flourish, share, prosper, left, close and protect” physically show
Trump’s determination in bringing America economy back on the track, making his speech more convincing and
promising.
Example 2: 全国各族人民一定要弘扬伟大的民族精神和时代精神，不断增强团结一心的精神纽带、自强不息
的精神动力，永远朝气蓬勃迈向未来。(The First Public Speech by President Xi Jinping)
In Example 2, Xi’s material processes more concentrate on the mental activities in people’s mind from an ideological
aspect instead of physical world depiction in China.
Example 3: We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and restore its
promise for all of our people. (The Inaugural address by President Donald Trump)
In trump’s speech, the personal pronounce “we” is used for the Trump’s government and American people, which can
narrow down psychological distance between the administration and the public and make people feel their stance also
shared by their government. The verbs “restore and rebuild” indeed cares people’s interests.
Example 4: 我们要坚持党的领导、人民当家作主、依法治国有机统一......我们要坚持发展是硬道理的战略思想，
坚持以经济建设为中心...我们要巩固和发展最广泛的爱国统一战线，加强中国共产党同....... (The First Public
Speech by President Xi Jinping)
Example 5: We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth, and we will
bring back our dreams. We will build new roads and highways and bridges and airports and tunnels and railways all
across our wonderful nation. We will get our people off of welfare and back to work rebuilding our country with
American hands and American labor....(The Inaugural address by President Donald Trump)
According to Example 4 and 5, Trump and Xi both use the personal pronounce “we” and “我们” in material
processes. Halliday(2004) claims that the pronounce “we” as actor traditionally relate to inclusiveness in ideologies.
Personal pronounces “We” and “我们” as actor account for 28.4% in Trump’s material processes and 27.5% in Xi’s
material processes. This shows that in material processes of public speeches, inclusiveness is more preferred. The
differences between the two speeches in material processes are that Trump more focuses on specific areas concerning
people’s life such as transportation, job, and welfare, and while Xi more intends to the intensification and
implementation of socialism spirits and thoughts.
2. Relational process
As is illustrated in the Table 2, relational process holds the second place in the distribution of the six transitivity
processes, which accounts for 19.1% in Trump’s speech and 27.1% in Xi’s speech. Although it is far below material
process, relational process occurs much more frequently than the other four processes. Trump’s relational processes
mainly focus on attributive type of relational process, physically depicting American situations and proposing a new
blue print for American people and American development. Relational processes of identifying type in Trump’s speech
identify the country belonging to their people, tending to narrow down the psychological distance between the new
government and American people. However, Xi’s relational processes concentrate on relational processes of identifying
type, mainly clarifying and defining the boundary of spiritual ideologies.
Example 6: When America is united, America is totally unstoppable. (The Inaugural address by President Donald
Trump)
In Example 6, it describes the future characteristics of America if unity features America.
Example 7: What truly matters is not which party controls our government but whether our government is controlled
by the people. (The Inaugural address by President Donald Trump)
Example 8: It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America. This is your day.
This is your celebration. And this, the United States of America, is your country. (The Inaugural address by President
Donald Trump)
Example 7 and 8 manage to identify the belonging of America and try to bridge down the mental distance between
the country and its people. Based on this, Trump, to some extend, make American people restore their confidence to
build their country.
Example 9:这种精神是凝心聚力的兴国之魂、强国之魄。(The First Public Speech by President Xi Jinping)
Example 10: 爱国主义始终是把中华民族坚强团结在一起的精神力量，改革创新始终是鞭策我们在改革开放中
与时俱进的精神力量。(The First Public Speech by President Xi Jinping)
Example 11:这就是中国各族人民大团结的力量。中国梦是民族的梦，也是每个中国人的梦。(The First Public
Speech by President Xi Jinping)
Example 9, 10 and 11 show Xi’s relation processes mainly upholding the spiritual ideologies Chinese people need to
remain committed to. It stresses patriotism, reform, and most importantly Chinese dream Chinese people should adhere
to.
3. Mental process
From the distribution of mental process in Trump’s and Xi’s speeches illustrated by Table 2, 4.9% in Trump’s speech
and 3.3 in Xi’s speech are counted. Mental process can effectively influence audience’s emotion. Both presidents use
mental process to arouse their people’s emotion. Meanwhile, there are some different connotations in their use of
mental process.

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Example 12: The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. (The Inaugural address by
President Donald Trump)
In this example, Trump uses mental processes to acclaim his empathy for his American citizens by using the
sub-categorization of cognitive expression “will be forgotten no longer” as a bridge between the senser and the
phenomenon.
Example 13: In America, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving. (The Inaugural address by
President Donald Trump)
In this example, the mental verb “understand” is used to convey Trump’s thinking and opinion on his governance and
the personal pronounce “we” is utilized to unconsciously bridge down the gap between himself and the public, enabling
people to support his administration.
Example 14: 我深知，担任国家主席这一崇高职务，使命光荣，责任重大。(The First Public Speech by President
Xi Jinping)
In this example, President Xi uses “深知” to emphasize his responsibility as a President of china, conveying a
positive image of his presidency for people. However, the personal pronounce “我” instead of “我们” is used, to some
extend, weakening the relation between his presidency and the people.
4. Verbal process and existential process
Verbal process and existential process are rare to find in two speeches. In Xi’s speech, there is no existence in the
distribution of verbal process and existential process, which means the high-level of formality in Xi’s speech. Only one
verbal process used in Trump’s speech is in the form of direct speech illustrated by the following example.
Example 15: The Bible tells us: “How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity.” (The
Inaugural address by President Donald Trump)
In this example, trump uses Bible’s quotation to enhance the credibility and reliability of his speech, making his
speech more authoritative.
Existential process often is used to objectively describe the present situations, making the speech more concrete and
convincing. However, the overuse of it will increase the dullness of the speech. Therefore, in the two speeches,
existential process is scarce to find.
Example 16: There was little to celebrate for struggling families al across our land. (The Inaugural address by
President Donald Trump)
Example 17: When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice. (The Inaugural address by
President Donald Trump)
Example 18: But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists. (The Inaugural address by President Donald
Trump)
In the three examples of existential process, it is obvious that Trump objectively analyzes the present situations of
America.
5. Behavioral process
Behavioral process is used to describe human physiological and psychological behaviors or activities, such as
breathing, coughing, and simile, so there is little or no behavioral process in the two speeches.
Example 19: 我们要随时随刻倾听人民呼声...... (The First Public Speech by President Xi Jinping)
Example 20: The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. Everyone is listening to you
now. (The Inaugural address by President Donald Trump)
Example 21: So to all Americans，in every city near and far，small and large，from mountain to mountain，and from
ocean to ocean，hear these words: You will never be ignored again. (The Inaugural address by President Donald Trump)
From the above three examples of behavioral process used in the two speeches, the behavioral verbs like “倾听”,
“listen” and “hear” are used to show the two presidents their sincere concerns for people’s well-being.
C. Ideological Differences between Trump’s and Xi’s Addresses
This study is set to analyze the distribution and functions of the six transitivity process in the inaugural speeches of
President Trump and President Xi Jinping, aiming to explore the similarities and differences between the two speeches
in transitivity system of Systemic Functional Grammar and further to investigate ideological differences behind their
speeches. Through statistical analysis, it is found that the distribution of six transitivity processes in the two speeches is
generally consistent, in which material process has the highest frequency and relational process ranks second followed
by mental process. The other three processes, that is, verbal, existential and behavioral processes rarely appear in the
two discourses. There are some subtle differences in the three lower-frequency processes. Existential and verbal
processes are nonexistent and only one behavioral process in Xi’s discourse.
In general, the similarities in material process in the two discourses are due to the fact that Trump and Xi as new
Presidents need to similar intentions, expressing their new ideas, clarifying their policies, caring people’s needs and
calling on their support. However, Xi’s material processes more concerns of doing spiritual consolidation and socialism
thought fortification instead of Trump’s concrete action in physical American situations. In relational process, Trump’s
discourse inclines to use attributive type of relational process, physical depicting the relations between entities, while
Xi’s speech more tends to use classifying type of relational process, prescribing the relations between entities, mostly

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the thoughts and spirits. In mental process, Trump more likes to show his empathy for people to arouse their emotion.
For Xi, he shows his own concerns for himself, his responsibility, his thoughts and his determination. There is no verbal
and existential processes in Xi’s speech, showing, to some extent, the formality of the speech, making Xi’s speech
solemn and sublime. From the opposition, Trump needs to make references from Bible, tries to increase his closeness to
his people and gains more support from the public. Nevertheless, in behavioral, both Presidents show their sincere for
people’s lives.
Due to the different cultural and political backgrounds, personal experiences and different intentions, the two
presidents differ in their speeches and the choice of transitivity processes. As the only president in the United States
with no political and military experience, Trump urgently needs to convince their people that he has the ability to lead
the country to a prosperous and thriving future. The separation of power and the system of checks-and-balances in
U.S.A. doom the presidency in America to people-inducing orientation. Presidents in America need to shape their
positive, credible and authoritative images and make their speech more convincing and instigating for their people.
Based on this, a quite number of material processes and relational processes of attributive type are used to describe
physical presentation of America. Mental process is used to bridge down the psychological distance between presidency
and the people. Quotations from Bible in verbal process try to make speech reasonable and impressive, for example in
Trump’s speech. For China, A President works as a leader of overall situations in spirit and thought, making our country
running on the right track and on the move. Presidency in China does not need to induce and instigate people because
our people are the country’s solid foundation and our main source of confidence to govern. There is no need of
disseminating the people reliance in presidency as a competitive advantage. Therefore, material processes and relational
processes in Xi’s speech mainly focus on the unity of though and spirit. In China, our party should lead all aspects of
the country. The superiority of presidency also does not need to be shown by any references or quotation marks.
Therefore, there is little verbal, behavioral and mental processes in China president speeches.

V. CONCLUSION
The study uses the transitivity process from Systemic Functional Grammar to explore the ideological differences
between China and America by using two presidents, Trump’s and Xi Jinping’s inaugural speeches. It finds that material,
mental and relational processes predominate both speeches and Xi’s speech mainly takes the overall lead in spiritual
guidance and inclines to generally control the economic and social development in China. For Trump, due to the
political background in America, he needs to employ all his skill to induce and gain the supports from American people,
objectively depicting American mediocre situations by material process, trying to narrow down the psychological
distance between his governance and the people by mental process and increasing the belonging of American people by
relational process. This paper provides people with a new perspective on political speeches, hoping to improve people’s
judgment when reading foreign and domestic political discourses, and further to enhance their understanding underlying
ideological differences behind political speeches.

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Guohai Liao was born in Fujian, China in 1995. He is a postgraduate student majoring in Pragmatics, Discourse Analysis, and
Systemic Functional Grammar in College of Foreign Languages, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (USST).

Geling Han was born in China on March, 1967. She is both a professor and Vice President in College of Foreign Languages,
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. Her research interests include Pragmatics, neurolinguistics, cognitive linguistics,
translation and Systemic Functional Grammar.

© 2019 ACADEMY PUBLICATION

ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 807-814, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.17

Exploring the Impact of VAK Learning Style on

Teenager Level Language Learners in Indonesia
Rina Asrini Bakri
STKIP YPUP Makassar, Indonesia

M. Asfah Rahman
Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia

Baso Jabu
Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia

Jassruddin
Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia

Abstract—This study aims at finding out whether Visual Auditory Kinesthetic (VAK) learning styles improve
the It presents pre experimental design to see the impact of VAK learning style with one group pre-tested and
post-tested, employing oral testing. The target group of this study was teenager level language learners at a
school in Makassar Indonesia in the 2015/2016 academic year. Twenty nine students with average speaking
ability participated in this study. A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit participants. The data
was collected through an oral proficiency. The results of the data analysis indicated that there was a significant
difference in the students’ English speaking skills before and after being trained using the VAK learning style.
Results indicated that post-test was greater than pre-test in accuracy, fluency, comprehensibility. Based on the
result of analysis can be concluded that the adoption of the VAK learning style can improve the English
speaking skills and the methodology can be used as a preliminary strategy to assess students’ learning
capability.

Index Terms—visual auditory kinesthetic learning style, English, speaking, teenager level

I. INTRODUCTION
Teaching English in the area of EFL has already conducted to the all scale of school in Indonesia. English has taught
in the scale of elementary school, junior high, and senior high. As we know that, since English as the foreign language
for the students there will be many gap that the learners got when studying English because it is only studied in an
environment where it is not the primary vehicle for daily interaction. As the common problem faced that the learners are
unmotivated. It might be caused by learners interpretation to English refer to the original of English has no similarities
to Indonesian. Most of the learners are also not interested in learning because quite complicated subject to be learnt.
Furthermore insufficient time becomes a matter in teaching English. The teaching time is often very short, so the
teacher has no enough time to create an innovative lesson plan, the teacher also found difficulties in review the last
meeting or material. This case also stated by (Syatriana, 2013) argues that English is taught as a foreign language in
Indonesia with a very limited time and it is not used in everyday communication so makes the students are difficult to
master the language. (Kartiah 2013) stated that the teachers of secondary school still face many problems in teaching
English as a foreign language in the area of helping students understand the material which are being taught, the
students feel bored and tired when learning English. It is probably caused by teachers who have not accommodated the
difference of students’ intelligence and learning style yet.
Learning style is one of the factors which affect students’ achievements in learning. Learning style is a cognitive
composite, affective, and psychological factor which acts as an indicator of how individuals interact and respond to the
learning environment (Duff 2000). Students have different type of learning style based on their personality (Duff 2000).
Teaching the students based on their learning style preference will help them to be more easily understand what they
learn. It is therefore important for a teacher to know a students’ preferred learning style, particularly in English teaching.
The teacher as facilitator plays a vital role in the teaching and learning process. A good teacher is always able to
determine the most effective teaching method and media for their students. Besides, teacher should know or recognize
more their students, because they come from very different backgrounds which have various learning needs and
preferred learning styles. (Jalal, 2007) stated “as the educator input will affect the learners output, so the less of the
students result or score can influence the quality of the educators”. Therefore, teachers must be competent and
professional, because they have good effect on the quality of teaching and the learning process.
As explained earlier, individual students use different learning styles due to their personal differences. Applying

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VAK (Visual Auditory and Kinesthetic) learning styles in a class to accommodate the students’ learning style
preference will likely bring good achievement in English speaking classes. An assessment of the appropriateness of the
VAK leaning style is of potential value in helping decide on the appropriate learning style for improving students’
speaking ability. Learning style is defined as a person's learning preferences to apprehend, organize, and process
information and experiences in learning (Smith, 2010; Buali, 2013). There are three condition that influence the
differences which already proven to the result of teaching and learning process; (1) the learners differences in learning
styles, some methods to learning styles, (specific ways in capturing the useful attention); (2) the learning approach
(superficial, depth, strategic.) and; (3) the development of inelegancy levels or affective to the real cognitive or thinking
and the way of getting and testing). Felder & Brent, (1996). Additionally, Felder (2005) stated that students’ learning
progress depends on the learning style, the fact that students focus on different types of information, and perceive
information differently, and achieve an understanding at different rates.
In this study, the three learning styles with related activities in learning to speak English, have been evaluated. The
first method is the visual learning style, the activities related to which involve watching videos or DVDs, describing
photographs, and imagining something. The second method is the auditory learning style which includes activities like
memorizing games, storytelling, and reading aloud. The third method is the kinesthetic learning style which includes
activities like role playing, socio drama, and gesturing. These learning styles were selected based on Fleming (2001),
according to this model he assumed that “each person has a dominant or preferred learning style" (Sashank Kodesia,
2013).
One of the important issues is that teachers or lecturers still face many problems in teaching English as a foreign
language in the area of helping students understand the material which is being taught, and finding ways to prevent the
students feeling bored and tired when learning English. This case is also described by (Ahmed, 2016) that the students
have very limited time in learning English curriculum and lacking encouragement to practice English outside the
classroom to get accustomed with English. Sometimes the student ability to speak English reflects whether the teachers
have accommodated the differences in students’ intelligence and learning style (Kartiah, 2013). Reflecting on the
important role of learning styles in learning and academic achievements, the present study explored the impact of VAK
learning style on adult beginner level language learners in speaking class at a secondary school in Makassar Indonesia.
A. Background
Understanding learning styles can be considered as one of the key components of managing classroom teaching
strategies (Jaeger et al., 2007). The VAK learning style enables teachers to expand their repertoire, and strategies in
teaching and learning processes. Most English teachers in secondary schools focus on linguistics and logistics when
teaching in the classroom (Kartiah, 2014), and the authors have observed the similar in Makassar in general.. Also
important is determining whether the teaching technique and subjects material are based on the learning styles
identifications of the learners is one of the best way in the use of conventional way in teaching strategy. Those who
have been taught based on their learning style preferences have been reported to have better performance in terms of
speaking ability than those who were taught using traditional teaching methods which is more teacher centered and high
reliance on written materials (Tulli et al., 2006).
The best definition of learning styles according to him is the truly way where learners learn the latest issue. Not many
learners use dominant style, however most teachers have only one exclusive style in teaching. Only few people use one
dominant style. Learners can study and learn more productively when the role is suitable to their learning style
(Davidoff & Berg, 1990). Furthermore, (Carson, 2010) after conducting research about the cultural values and factors
that affect the learning of Latin American and Asian students suggested for teaching to preferred learning styles. In this
case, teachers need to find in what ways the students learn best by knowing or indentifying the students’ learning style
preference first. By knowing it, a teacher can effectively design lessons to promote optimal learning for all students in
the classroom.
Besides the students assert that self-esteem blossoms through successful learning, reinforcing a positive attitude
toward future learning. Education researchers Dunn and Dunn reported that the educators be able to adopt every activity
that apply individual group activities in the learning styles theory elaboration in a theme, group activities can be
effective learning based on specific learning styles (Dunn and Dunn, 1990).
Real effect can appear and make the students become slow in improving their education (Higerson – Volk, 1987). It
is also explained by Dunn and Sanders (1981) why the educators should have learning style awareness. Further,
(Winetrenner, 1996) stated that the best strategy for students in fight by creating attention through teaching the learning
styles they acquire. It is also assumes that there are the relations between the teacher teaching strategies and the students
prior knowledge in learning.
In this case Teacher plays vital role in the classroom. De porter, (2001) states that learning style is a teacher plays a
role to create a conducive condition so the students can be active in the teaching & learning process. Furthermore
(Jaeger et al, 2007) stated that learning style was assumed as a main teaching tool in managing classroom. Learning
style activity as one of the possible answers that demand to accommodate differences of students’ learning style in
learning process. (Winebrenne, 1996) stated that students must be taught the learning styles in order to strengthening
their knowledge when find the difficulties in learning.

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B. Teaching Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic Learners

Based on the theory of VAK learning style (LdPride, 2009) described VAK learning style as follows:
Visual learners learn best through viewing concepts or picture. They learn from reading, seeing, writing, and like
written instructions, so they favor sitting in front of the class to take descriptive notes over the material being delivered.
They learn best when they can observe, pictures, diagrams, films and displays. This type of learners depends on the
instructor’s nonverbal cues e.g. gesture or body language can help them to understand. Instructor must give kinds of
media such as flashcards, webpage, and map as the students reference. They also will pay attention to the subject
material by using checklist.
Auditory students master new material best through listening and interpreting information by the means of pitch,
emphasis and speed. They gain knowledge from speaking information aloud or reading aloud in the class and repeating
key concepts. Writing activity is a kind of learning which get the students to communicate and discuss by giving a loud
information will show the core concepts. For the visual learners, they regard that auditory students prefer more about
activity in terms of lecturing, debating, or even small group discussion. Teacher can be the best master of learning for
learners by applying the repetition of main concepts in media such as music, and videos or film through oral
presentation in the curriculum implementation.
Kinesthetic learners learn best when permitted to move, touch and get active in some ways; they favor interaction
with the physical world, the teachers will do well to encourage and allow physical movement. Students who master
kinesthetic can be fun by using tools that activate the body organs like hand. In the application of teaching study tour or
direct observation in the lab is the best way for students in this style. This kind of learning style make the students
become active in move about. Teaching the students who prefer kinesthetic in the classroom will useless because they
tend to practice and touch or even perform what they learn about. Therefore teachers should accommodate the students
need.

II. METHOD
A. Participants
The population for this research was the fourth semester students of secondary school Class XIII.3 of SMPN 1
Makassar, in the 2016 academic year. There were 29 students in the class. For student sampling for the research 2016,
the researcher applied a purposive sampling technique and took class XIII.3, because based on evaluation of the
previous semester’s mark most of the students had the same level of speaking English ability.
This research was conducted to evaluate the students’ improvement in terms of speaking based on the VAK learning
style. The method and design applied a pre-experimental design with one group pre-test (O1) and E post-test (O2) design.
There was treatment (X) between pre-test and pos-test. The treatments involved four meetings of 120 minutes in each
meeting. During the treatment, the students were taught through VAK learning style activities.
B. Data Collection
The researcher administered a pre-test to evaluate the students’ prior speaking skills. Before giving the treatment, the
researcher gave reading texts to the students’. The topics of the texts were: “National Examinations”, “General
Election”, and “Negative Effects of Smoking”. After giving the texts, the researcher asked the students to retell what
they had read. Then, the students were given training about learning speaking through VAK learning style activities for
six weeks (six meetings). In the treatment, the researcher provided some materials which covered the three types of
learning style activity in each meeting. For visual learning style, the activities were: watching videos or DVDs,
describing photographs, and imagining something. For Auditory style learning, the activities included memorizing
games, learning from videos, storytelling, and reading aloud. The activities for the kinesthetic learning style were role
playing, socio drama, and gesturing. After giving the treatments in terms of the VAK learning style activity, the
researcher undertook a post-test of the class (an oral test).
Result
The measurement of the students’ result in the speaking test and the raw score of the students obtained through the
pre-test and post-test was tabulated and then analyzed in terms of percentage and mean score analysis. In determining
the quality of students’ score in the speaking test, their scores were classified into six levels as summarized in the
following table:

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TABLE I
PERCENTAGE AND FREQUENCY OF THE STUDENTS’ SCORE IN ENGLISH SPEAKING ACCURACY, FLUENCY, AND COMPREHENSIBILITY
Accuracy Fluency Comprehensibility
No Score Classification Pre-Test Post-Test Pre-Test Post-Test Pre-Test Post-Test
Perc. Perc. Perc. Perc. Perc. Perc.
Freq. % Freq. (%) Freq. (%) Freq. (%) Freq. (%) Freq. (%)
1 6 Excellent 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 5 Very Good 0 0 2 6.9 0 0 3 10.3 0 0 4 13.8
3 4 Good 1 3.4 6 20.7 2 6.9 7 24.1 3 10.3 12 41.4
4 3 Average 3 10.3 10 34.5 4 10.3 18 62.1 10 34.5 12 41.4
5 2 Poor 14 48.3 10 34.5 22 44.8 0 0 15 37.9 0 0
6 1 Very Poor 11 37.9 1 3.4 1 37.9 1 3.4 1 3.4 1 3.4
Total 29 100 29 100 29 100 29 100 29 100 29 100

The data of students’ accuracy in speaking shows the rate percentage and the frequency of the students’ pre-test and
post-test that there were variant scores on the table of the students’ pre-test. It could be seen that from 29 students, there
was one student (3.4%) obtained “good”, there were 3 students (10.3%) out of 29 students obtained “Average” score, 14
(48.3 %) students obtained “Poor” , and 11 (37.9 %) students obtained “Very Poor”. While the rate percentage of the
sudents’ post-test can be seen that there was no students obtained “Excellent”, 2 (6.9%) students obtained “Very Good”,
6 (20.7%) students obtained “Good”, 10 (34.5%) students obtained “Average”, there were 10 (34.5%) students obtained
“poor” and 1(3.4%) student obtained “Very poor”.
The data of speaking fluency shows the rate percentage and the frequency of students’ pre-test and post-test that,
there were 2 (6.9%) students obtained “good”, 4 (13.8%) students obtained “average”, 22 (75.9%) students obtained
“poor”, and 1 (37.4%) student obtained “very poor” score. While the frequency and rate percentage of the sudents’ post-
test can be seen that there was no student obtained “excellent” score, 3 (10.3%) students obtained “very good”, 7
(24.1%) students obtained “good”, 18 (62.1%) students obtained “average”,there was no student obtained “poor”, and 1
(3.4%) student obtained “very poor” score. Based on the result, it could be concluded that the rate percentage in the
post-test were higher that the rate percentage in pre-test.
The data of speaking comprehensibility shows the rate percentage and the frequency of the students’ pre-test and
post-test that, there were 3 (10.3%) students obtained “good”, there were 10 (34.5%) students obtained “average”, 15
(51.7%) students obtained “poor”, and 1 (13.4%) students obtained “very poor” score. While the frequency and rate
percentage of the sudents’ post-test could be seen that there was no student obtained “excellent” score, 4 (13.8%)
students obtained “very good”, 12 (41.4%) students obtained “good”, there were 12 (41.4%) students obtained
“average”, there was no student obtained “poor”, and 1 (3.4%) student obtained “very poor” score. Based on the result,
it could be concluded that the rate percentage in the post-test were higher that the rate percentage in pre-test.
Based on the data got, it can be concluded that the rates in the post-test were higher than the rates in the pre-test.=
VAK learning styles had improved the speaking English ability of the students, indicated by the three components of
speaking, i.e. accuracy, fluency and comprehensibility (Table 1).
The Improvement of Students’ Speaking Skill Through VAK Learning Style activities.
The material used in VAK learning style was interesting for the students, so that the students did not feel bored
during the research applied. The material and the strategy delivered based on (LdPride, 2009) theory about learning
style. Teaching speaking using the VAK learning style activity, the accuracy, fluency, and comprehensibility were
improved which was applied at the fourth semester at one of the the secondary school in Makassar Indonesia.
Accuracy
The researcher compared t-test values and t-table values to know whether the use of the VAK learning style activity
in teaching speaking accuracy was significant and improved learning efficiency. The degrees of freedom (df) the
researcher used formula N – 1 = 29 – 1 = 28, for the level significant (p): 0.05 and df = 28 and the t-table achieved a
score of 2.048 after calculating the t-test value, t-test obtained score 13.892 then comparing with t-table and t-test
(13.892>2.048). This result meant that there was a different result for the value of the t-test and t-table. This means that,
the use of the VAK learning style activity was effective for improving the students’ speaking skills in term of accuracy.
The data indicates that the score in the post-test was greater than the pre-test (Graph 1). The percentage also indicated
that the students’ accuracy was high. The students’ pre-test score was 1.79, whereas their post-test score is 2.93. There
was improvement of the students’ achievement in speaking accuracy in response to VAK learning style, the
improvement being 63.69%.
Fluency
The researcher compared the t-test value and t-table value to establish whether the use of VAK learning style activity
in teaching speaking fluency was significant and effective, and to find out the degree of freedom (df) the researcher
used the formula N – 1 = 29 – 1 = 28, for the level significant (p): 0.05 and df = 28 and t-table achieved a score 2.048
after calculating the t-test value. The t-test achieved a score of 13.892.

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The result of the research found that the students’fluence score in the pre-test was 2.24 while the students’ score
post-test was 3.38. This was considered as good result in response to the use of the “VAK learning style activity” to
improve the level of students’ fluency in speaking. The students’fluence score in the pre-test was 2.24 whereas the
students’ score post-test was3.38.This was considered as good result in response to the use of the “VAK learning style
activity” to improve the level of students’ fluency in speaking.
Comprehensibility
The result of research indicates that the score of the post-test was greater than the pre-test. This meant that the
teaching in speaking comprehensibility by using VAK learning style activity was effective for the students.There was a
43.65% improvement in speaking comprehensibility of the students from the use of the use of the “VAK learning style
activity”.
Based on the pre-test and post-test scores for accuracy, fluency, and comprehensibility, there were significant
improvements in the students’ speaking skills. It is concluded that the students’ improvement in speaking accuracy was
greater than the improvement of the students’ speaking fluency and comprehensibility, ( Graph 1).

The Improvement of Speaking Ability

100%

80%

60% 63.69
50.89%
40% % 43.65%
accuracy Fluency
20% Comp.

0%

Figure1.The improvement of the students’ speaking ability in term of Accuracy, Fluency and Comprehensibility

III. DISCUSSION
Discussion dealt with the interpretation of the students’ activities and the findings derived from the result of
statistical analysis during the classroom interaction.
The study results showed that the students’ English speaking ability improved significantly by using VAK learning
style activity. It is one way to accommodate the students’ learning preference in speaking by offering them various
materials which cover the three types of learning style activities.
Based on the findings of this study, an improvement was shown in the results for the pre-test to post-test. In the pre-
test, the researcher found that some of the students’ speaking skills (accuracy, fluency, and comprehensibility) were still
low. The researcher therefore decided to use VAK learning style activity and accommodate the students’ learning style
preference in learning speaking. In the first treatment students did not appear to be enthusiastic indicated by some of the
students who did not paying attention or not participating) in following the material. Only a small number of students
were active in the speaking class based on the use of the VAK learning style activity. Therefore, in the second treatment,
the researcher tried to give more interesting materials to make the students more active in the classroom interaction. The
result was the students showed an improvement in the class, they were actively participating in the class with the
material given. In the third treatment the students really enjoyed the activity, it can be seen from their higher
participation level during the class, because the researcher gave comprehensive explanations and motivated the students
during the classroom interactions. The researcher also provided some uncommon vocabularies with their translation
during treatment, so that the students found the English terms easy to understand. Finally, in the post-test after VAK
learning style activity, the researcher found that there was significant improvement in the students’ speaking skills.
There are some limitations identified relating to the students’ speaking skills when using the VAK learning style
activity. It was still difficult to create an enjoyable environment and make students active in the class. A more pleasant
environment by giving interesting materials and clear explanation and being is needed in the future study. Providing
some uncommon vocabularies with the translation to assist the students in understanding the materials can also be an
alternative strategy to motivate participants.
The researcher presented the discussion about the data analysis on the research that has been presented in the
previous part. In this case the researcher divided discussion into three parts: part (1) discussion about data analysis,
which is intended to find out the improvement of students’ speaking accuracy through VAK learning style activities , it
can be identified through the result of pre-test and post- test, (2) the discussion about the improvement of students’

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fluency in learning English speaking through VAK learning style activities that can be analyzed from the result of pre-
test, and post-test, and (3) discussion about data analysis, which is intended to find out the improvement of students’
comprehensibility through VAK learning style activities, it can be identified through the result of pre-test and post- test.
A. The Students’ Achievement in Speaking Accuracy
The description of data collected through the test as explained previously that the students’ knowledge about the
improvement in speaking accuracy through VAK learning style activity was significant. It was supported by t-test
value of the students was greater than t-table.
By applying VAK learning style activities in the class, the researcher found that the mean score of post-test of
students’ achievement in speaking accuracy was greater than pre-test, that in pre-test obtained 1.79 and after treatment
obtained 2.93. So, it can be indicated that there was significant improvement of the students’ speaking accuracy by
VAK learning style activity as one way in teaching speaking.
The improvement of the students’ speaking accuracy was 63.69%. It meant that there was significant of speaking
accuracy after teaching by VAK learning style activity. Therefore the result of data analysis from the students’
improvement in speaking accuracy toward post test indicated that value of t-test (13.892) greater than t-table (2.048).
B. The Students’ Achievement in Speaking Fluency
By applying VAK learning style activity, it was found that the mean score of post-test of students’ achievement of
speaking fluency was greater than pre-test, it is shown that in pre-test obtained 2.24 and after treatment obtained 3.38,
therefore the researcher indicated that there was significant improvement of the students’ speaking fluency by using
VAK learning style activity.
The improvement of the students’ speaking fluency was 50.89%. It meant that there was significant improvement of
speaking fluency. Therefore the result of data analysis from the students’ achievement in speaking fluency toward post
test indicated that value of t-test (13.892) was greater that t-table (2.048).
C. The Students’ Comprehensibility Achievement
The researcher found that the mean score of post-test of students’ achievement of speaking comprehensibility was
greater than pre-test, it is shown that in pre-test obtained 2.52 and after treatment obtained 3.62, therefore the researcher
indicated that there was significant improvement of the students speaking fluency by using Socratic Seminar method.
The improvement of the students’ comprehensibility was 43.65%. It meant that there was significant improvement of
students’ comprehensibility. Therefore the result of data analysis from the students’ achievement in students’
comprehensibility toward post test indicated that value of t-test (14.520) was greater that t-table (2.048).
The final result to this study highlight the importance learners learning style in helping them to achieve the best
knowledge outcome. The researcher found the significance difference between the result of learning style and academic
result. There was a significant improvement in students speaking skills in response to the VAK learning style activity of
teenager level at one of secondary school in Makassar Indonesia. A research by (Koch et al., 2011) the research sample
was nursing students in Australia, students are given the questionnaire of VAK, and the result reported that learning
styles as the strategy in empowering the academic result. A research by (Fleming et al., 2011) in addition (Vizeshfar, &
Torabizadeh, 2018) stated that it is crucial to give extra attention of the learners learning preferences than to teach them
conventional way. Therefore, considering students’ learning style when delivering the learning materials will affect
students’ learning outcomes.
D. Conclusion
Both teachers and students are sometimes not satisfied with teaching materials provided and teaching strategies. It is
therefore important for both teachers and students, to provide the appropriate learning materials and adopt the
appropriate teaching strategy. The learning activity should reflect the students’ learning style preference. The result of
the study indicates that the adoption of the VAK learning style activity affects the students’ learning achievements, and
it can build up their confidence in learning a language, especially speaking skills.
This study concluded that there was a significant improvement in the students’ speaking skills in response to using
the VAK learning style activity in the class. This was clearly reflected in the improvement in the students’ speaking
skills. The results of this study and other similar studies clearly indicate that different teaching methods and strategies
can potentially impact on student response, and that it is important to take into account the students’ learning preference
to achieve the best outcome in language learning. English teacher should use various methods, strategy, or techniques,
in teaching and learning process to avoid the monotonous classroom activities. VAK learning style can be considered as
the preliminary strategy to asses student’s learning capability. For further research, it is important to design material
which can accommodate the students’ learning style, to motivate, and attract students’ interest which will give good
effect on their learning outcomes. Also, there are still many things to be observed by further researcher related to the
English speaking skill because this study just focused speaking skill towards the use of VAK learning style activities.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The researcher addresses thank to Direktorat Kualifikasi Sumber Daya Manusia, KEMRISTEK DIKTI (Ministry of

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Research, Technology and Higher Education of Indonesia for the financial support (PKPI Program 2017), State
University of Makassar, The University of Queensland and STKIP YPUP Makassar. Big thank also goes to Dr. Shirin
m. Hassan Jamarani dan Dr. Yulina Eva Riani for guiding and mentoring the researcher during writing this article at
University of Queensland.

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[12] Gay, L.R. (1981). Education Research Competencies for Analysis and Application. Colubus: Bell and Howell Company.
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maghribicendekia.com/2013/04/ciri-gaya-belajar-anak-visual.html. Diakses Tanggal 29 Maret 2013.
[22] Mastura. (2002). Teaching Reading Comprehension by Using Sequence Pictures of the Third Year Student in SMPN 1 Maiwa.
Enrekang. A Thesis. Makassar: The State University of Makassar.
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[24] R.M. Felder and R. Brent, (2005). Understanding Student Differences. J. Eng. Education,94 (1), 57-72 (2005).
[25] Smith, M.K., (2010). ‘David A. Kolb on experiential learning’, the encyclopedia of informal education. Avilable.
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[26] Syatriana, Eny. (2013). Designing English Instructional Materials for EFL Senior High School Students Based on School
Curriculum. Dissertation. Unpublished. State University of Makassar.
[27] Tuli, S.Y., Thompson, L.A., Saliba, H., Black, E.W., Ryan, K.A., Kelly, M.N., Novak, M., Mellott, J., Tuli, S.S., (2011).
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Rina Asrini Bakri was born in Watampone, on January 22th 1985, in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. She is the
second child of Muh. Bakri dan Nursiah. She completed her undergraduate study in 2007 in English
Education at Universitas Negeri Makassar. She earned her Master degree from State university of Makassar in
Indonesia. Her research interest is in Teaching English as Foreign language. She is a lecturer at STKIP YPUP
Makassar. She is currently a Doctorate student at Universitas Negeri Makassar. She attended some
International Conference as the Presenter. Namely: The Presenter in International Conference of Language
Education (ICOLE). The Presenter in Seminar Presentation of PKPI Program Queensland University,
Australia (2017). Memorabilia Portfolio for Better Writing Quality, published in Proceeding International
Conference on Language Education in 2013. Teaching speaking through interpersonal interaction. Published
in RENAISSANCE JOURNAL 2014. The Effect of Inductive Approach in Teaching Grammar at English Department Students of
STKIP YPUP Makassar. Published at Al-ADABI JOURNAL 2016. Empowering Speaking Ability for Students using Psychology
Game Technique to the second Grade Students at SMA Bulukumba at Journal of Advanced English Studies 2018

Muhammad Asfah Rahman was born in Selayar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia on May 21, 1952. He
completed his undergraduate study in 1979 in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) at Ujung
Pandang Institute of Teacher Training and Education) in Makassar, Indonesia and master and doctorate
degrees in the field of Instructional Design and Technology at the University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA in 1986
and 1990 respectively. He is currently a professor in the Faculty of Literature and Language, State University
of Makassar, in Makassar, Indonesia. He has a lot of experience in elementary and secondary school teacher
training, teacher professional development, and teaching English to young learners. He was employed for five
years as ACADEMIC ADVISOR for USAID Decentralized-Basic Education leading university faculty
members to develop active learning training packages for elementary school teachers. In the last couple of
years, he did a research and a development study whose product is a training package for elementary school teachers of English. At
present, his research focuses on module development for improving EFL college writing. He has got the Best Paper Awards on his
article entitled “Reading in English as a Foreign Language: A Case of First Year Students of Junior Secondary Schools in South
Sulawesi Indonesia” from the 2nd International Conference on Theory & Practice (ICTP-2016) of Asia Pacific Institute Advanced
Research. His research interests include early reading program for learners of English as a foreign language. Prof. Rahman is a
member of Indonesian Linguistics Society (MLI), Indonesian Education Scholars Association (ISPI), and TEFLIN (Teaching English
as a Foreign Language in Indonesia).

Baso Jabu completed his undergraduate studies in 1987, majoring in Teaching English as a Foreign Language
(TEFL) at Ujung Pandang Institute of Teacher Training and Education (currently Universitas Negeri
Makassar), Indonesia. He completed his Master’s and doctoral degrees in the field of applied linguistics at
Hasanuddin University in Makassar, Indonesia, in 1995 and 2007, respectively. He was awarded a Specialist
Certificate in Language Testing at the Regional Language Centre Singapore in 1996. Professor Jabu is former
Director of the Language Centre at Universitas Negeri Makassar, where he manages training in some foreign
languages, as well as the Indonesian language for non-native speakers. He is currently as the Second Assistant
Director of Postgraduate Program of Universitas Negeri Makassar. He is a lecturer, and has been teaching
English as a foreign language at Universitas Negeri Makassar for more than 20 years. Prof. Jabu is a member
of TEFLIN (Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Indonesia) and MLI (Indonesia Linguistic Society). His research interests
are TEFL and language assessment.

Jasruddin was born in Matano, South Sulawesi, Indonesia on Desember 22, 1964. He completed his
undergraduate study in 1990 at Ujung Pandang Institute of Teacher Training and Education in Makassar,
Indonesia. Then he continued his magister and doctorate degree in Bandung institute of Technology in 1996.
He is a lecturer, and has been teaching Physics for more than 20 years at Universitas Negeri Makassar.His
research interest is semiconductor physics material, especially silicon amorf (a-Si) in making Thin Film
Transistor (TFT), Thin Film Light Emitting Diode (TFLED), and Solar Cell. He was also a director of Pasca
Sarjana Universitas Negeri Makassar. He is currently as director of L2 DIKTI area IX Sulawesi.

© 2019 ACADEMY PUBLICATION

ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 815-819, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.18

On Back Translation of Sinological Works

Written in English
Hongwei Ye
School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai, China

Abstract—The Chinese translation of sinological works is a unique translation phenomenon, because although
these sinological works are written in English, they reflect the social life of China and are full of Chinese
cultural elements. Based on the studying of the textual features sinological literature and the current situation
of sino logyical translation in China, this paper analyzes the back translation techniques commonly used in the
translation of sinological works.

Index Terms—sinological works, back translation, cultural elements

I. INTRODUCTION
During the past two decades, a large number of sinological works written by western sinologists in English have been
translated into Chinese. Although written in English, these sinological works are mainly about Chinese language,
society, history or customs, involving many Chinese cultural elments. In the translation of such works, cultural
restoration of these elements is often required, which is also known as back translation. This unique translation
phenomenon has attracted extensive attention and heated discussion among translators and translation theorists.

II. BACK TRANSLATION

As a special translation phenomenon, back translation has been discussed and defined in translation academia for a
long time, but its importance in translation practice and its position in translation theory research have not been fully
recognized.Ge（1980）defined back translation as the translation of a text previously translated from language A into
language B back to language A. He added that the advantages and disadvantages of this method of translation, as a
method of teaching, hve not been fully discussed. However, it is common in the actual translation today, though often
unconsciously. Shuttleworth and Cowie (2004)) defined back translation as “a process in which a text which has been
translated into a given language is retranslated into SL. The procedure of back translation has been used for various
different purposes.” (p.14) In western academic circles, back translation is more often used as a method of translation
teaching and language comparison to study the structural and conceptual differences between the source language and
the target language. Spalatin (1967) applied back translation into contrastive linguistics and pointed out that back
translation is a translation technique used to compare specific syntactic features, morphological features or lexical
features in two or more languages
In China, with more and more attention paid to back translation practice and related theories in recent years, its
definition is constantly revised and improved. In the early days, some Chinese scholars had a relatively narrow
understanding of back translatation. Feng and Li (2001), for example, believed that "back translation is the most direct
and reliable means to check mistranslation", and clearly pointed out that " back translation can be used to check the
translated text, and its efficacy is unmatched by other methods". He (2002) believed that "the so-called" back translation
"means to translate the target text again and turn the translation back into the original text"(p.46). Chen and Pan (2008)
pointed out that "back translation" refers to the translation activity of translating the linguistic and cultural materials
from the target language into the source language by tracing the internal linguistic and cultural connections. This
definition does not regard back translation as a simple process of returning to the original text, but emphasizes the
"internal linguistic and cultural relationship" between the source language text and the target language text, and
examines the two from the perspective of "intertextuality". In this way, the concept of back translation has been greatly
deepened and extended.

III. TEXTLESS BACK TRANSLATION

With the increasingly frequent exchanges and interactions between China and western countries, it is inevitable that
some Chinese cultural elements are integrated into foreign culture and written into the their literary works, making
some English texts to be translated mixed with Chinese culture, among which overseas English sinological works are


This article is one of the phased research results of "Foreign language and Literature First-Tier Discipline Construction Project（外国语语言文学
一级学科建设项目）" of Shanghai University of Engineering Science.

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the representatives. When this kind of Chinese cultural works written in English are translated into Chinese, it will
involve "textless backtranslation", a concept first put forward by Wang Hongyin. Wang (2004) began to pay attention to
this unique translation phenomenon in 2004 by quoting a paragraph from “The analects of Confucius-A philosophical
translation” by Ames T. Roger and Henry Rosemont (2003): In recent years, the "reciprocating translation" between
Chinese and English in Chinese traditional classics seems to be a noteworthy phenomenon. The so-called "reciprocating
translation" here refers to a situation in which a classic is translated into English and is accompanied by a large number
of notes provided by the translator, which involves not only certain specific historical knowledge and cultural
backgrounds but also the author's understanding and interpretation of the classics, and the translation of the classics
themselves, such as explaining why this paragraph or this sentence should be translated in this way, and so on. If this
kind of works are translated into Chinese publication, they have almost gone through the reciprocating cycle of
"Chinese→English→Chinese", which can be understood as the "reciprocating translation" between the two languages
in a broader sense. (p.325) In 2009, he first came up with the concept of “rootless back translation”.He pointed that
Moment in Peking takes Chinese culture and life in old Beijing as the theme and content, but its original text is written
in English. This kind of back translation to Chinese is only the return of culture, not the return of language, so it is
called "rootless back translation", that is, there is no back translation based on the original text. (Wang, 2009) After
years of academic research and observation, he revised the concept in 2015. He claimed that the expression "rootless
back translation" is not quite accurate, and would rather name it "textless back translation". The so-called "textless back
translation" is at best a back translation without the basis of the text, but there is still a cultural root (here is Chinese
culture, not general human culture) as the foundation, rather than a complete lack of cultural roots. Therefore, it is more
accurate to call it textless back translation. This revision of the concept is not literal or superficial, but essential and
critical. (Wang, 2015)

IV. TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION OF ENGLISH SINOLOGY WORKS IN CHINA

Sinology has a long history as a unique culture born, grown and developed after the collision, exchange and
integration of Chinese culture and heterogeneous cultures.With the further development of reform and opening up, the
unprecedented activity of cultural exchanges with foreign countries and the constant expansion of academic horizons,
domestic scholars are attaching more and more importance to the research results of overseas sinology, and a large
number of literatures related to "sinology" have been translated and introduced to China. The translation and publication
of these sinological documents not only provides a large number of first-hand research materials for domestic academia,
but also refreshingly benefits domestic scholars with their perspectives, methods and viewpoints on sinology. Since the
1980s, with the increasing translation and introduction of overseas sinological literatures in China, some publishing
houses began to cooperate with some domestic sinology research institutions to continuously translate and publish
sinological works from all over the world, forming a number of relatively complete and independent series. For
example, the "Overseas Sinology Series" published by Shanghai Guji Press has produced more than 20 kinds of
overseas sinological classics, which have been well received by the academic circles at home and abroad. The selected
works in the "Overseas Sinology Series" were all written by famous sinologists from the United States, Japan, France,
Britain, Canada and Russia, covering Chinese philosophy, history, literature, religion, folk customs, economy, science
and technology and many other aspects. Of all the sinological series, the largest and longest is the “Overseas Chinese
Studies Series” launched by Jiangsu People's Press, which has gone through a course of nearly 30 years since 1988.
More than 150 kinds of overseas sinological works have been translated and published, including the representative
works of many famous overseas scholars, such as John King Fairbank, Prasenjit Duara, Benjamin I.Schwartz, Stephen
Oven, David Faure, Jonathan D. Spence and so on, and enjoy a high reputation in the academic and publishing
circles.The Chinese Characteristics, for example, was written by American missionary Arthur Smith. He has lived in
China for more than 50 years, and commented on the characteristics of the Chinese people from the standpoint of
western civilization and Christianity, which can still arouse the interest of many Chinese people today. Since the 1990s,
nearly ten publishing houses, such as Xueyuan Press, Guangming Daily Press, Jinghua Press, Shanghai Xuelin Press,
Shuhai Press, New World Press, China Book Company and Shanghai Sanlian Bookstore, have translated and published
the Chinese version of this book. (Ye, 2015)
With the joint efforts of young and old scholars, remarkable achievements have been made in the translation and
research of foreign Chinese studies. The translation and publication of a large number of foreign classics of Chinese
studies have effectively promoted the development of domestic philosophy, historiography, literature, the history of
sino-foreign relations, the history of border regional culture, and so on. These works not only provide a large number of
first-hand research materials for domestic scholars, but also enlighten domestic scholars in methodology (Zhang, 1992).
The introduction of western sinological literature has greatly promoted the in-depth development of sinology studies in
China. In the meanwhile, many scholars and translators find it a unique translation phenomenon after reading or
translating sinological works involving Chinese cultural content, and discussed the problems in combination in them
with specific translation cases. The main problems in the translation of sinological works include: inaccurate
back-translation, lack of unified translation norms and lack of qualified translators.Zhang (2005) discussed the back
translation of Building Culture in Early Qin Yangzhou written by Tobie Meyer-Fong. He believed that "faithfulness and
truthfulness" are the basic norms of academic translation. Whether the translation of academic works can comply with

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this criterion is an important basis for judging whether they are excellent translated works. He pointed out that the
transtation of Building Culture in Early Qin Yangzhou had some common problems in the back translation of names,
places, titles and quotes from Chinese classics. He analyzed the reasons behind these problems and believed that in
addition to the translator's own attitude, the deeper reason might also be the current academic atmosphere and academic
evaluation system.Academic translation is a very hard work, and the current academic evaluation system does not put
the translation of academic works in an important position. Coupled with the short publication cycle, tight time and
other external factors, many of the works have been published without repeated revisions and careful
proofreading.Zhang (2007) claimed that the translation of sinological works has problems in terms of vocabulary,
syntax and knowledge background. After being translated back into Chinese, the polishing of words and the rhythm of
writing are also difficult problems for translators. He sumed up the skills used in the translation of the English version
Social thoughts of the Late Qing Dynasty, analyzed the challenges the translator confronts with and explored the theory
and possible means in handlingsuch tasks. Wei(2013) took the translation of China’s Megatrends: The 8 Pillars of a
New Society as an example and analysed the strategies of back translation and pointed out that translation should be
faithful to both the original text and common sense．He believed that due to the particularity of China-themed works,
Chinese translators should assume more responsibilities in the process of translation. The translators should not only
faithfully reflect the author's views and accurately transfer the Chinese elements in the translated works, but also give
full play to the translator's subjective initiative, review and proofread the facts and details related to China and Chinese
culture, correct the mistakes and even give feedback to the author in time. This is not only the translator's right, but also
the translator's responsibility, which is helpful to improve the overall quality of social science works related to China.

V. PRINCIPLES AND TECHNIQUES OF BACK TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH SINOLOGICAL WORKS

There are many reasons for the problems in the translation of sinological works. However, the main reason is
undoubtedly the translator's insufficient understanding of the particularity and complexity of back translation and the
lack of corresponding coping strategies. Compared with the general English-Chinese translation, the translation of
sinological works has its particularity. Translators need to fully analyze and consider the specific text and adopt
corresponding translation strategies in order to present high-quality translations to readers. To achieve this goal, the
following back translation strategies and techniques can to be taken into consideration.
A. Meeting Readers' Expectation
For a long time, traditional translation theories have ignored the role of readers. Only after the theory of reception
aesthetics was introduced into translation studies, did the factor of readers begin to be formally mentioned on the
agenda of translation studies, which is also favored by more and more translation researchers.In the process of
translation, the translator must consider the existence of the readers and, according to the expectation and acceptance
level of the readers, pursue the blending of the target text and the target text reader's vision as much as possible. It is
undeniable that readers have different expectations for the same work due to their different ages, educational levels,
cultural backgrounds and aesthetic orientations. However, since the sinological works deal with Chinese themes, the
readers' expectations for the translation are relatively more consistent. In the eyes of readers, the main themes of
sinology are undoubtedly Chinese society, history and culture,so Therefore, its Chinese expression should be smooth,
fluent and authentic. In addition, the translation should conform to the norms of Chinese expression and should not have
an obvious style of translationese.
Example: Generally speaking, no Chinese will leave his home to seek his fortune at a distance, unless he is in
someway driven to do so. His ideal of life is to be “Fixed like a plant on his peculiar spot, to draw nutrition, propagate,
and rot.” Generally speaking, no Chinese leaves his home not intending to return. His hope is always to comeback rich,
to die and be buried where his ancestors are buried.
Version 1：总的来说，除非被逼无奈，中国人不愿意背井离乡，到远方去谋生，中国人的理想生活是
“像植物一样根植土壤，生长结果，然后腐烂。”总的来说中国人没有离家之后不打算再回去的，他们
的希望永远是衣锦还乡，寿终正寝，最后被葬入祖坟。
Version 2：普遍来说，没有一个中国人愿意背井离乡，到远方寻找幸福，除非他们是逼迫上路的。他们
理想的生活是“像树一样扎下根，滋养，繁殖、腐烂。”总体说，中国人没有离家不归的，他总希望发
财回来，死在家里，葬入祖坟。
The Chinese language boasts very rich "four-character" phrases, most of which have been repeatedly condensed and
gradually formed. Although the four-character phrases are short, they often have profound meaning and strong
expressive force. Proper use of them can improve the quality of the translation and make the translation look more
authentic and natural. In particular, since the original work itself is to introduce the characteristics of the Chinese people,
readers will have expectations for natural and fluent Chinese expression.In both Version 1 and Version 2, the translators
translate “ leave his home” into “背井离乡”, and in Version 1, “come back rich”,and “to die and be buried” are
translated as "衣锦还乡" and "寿终正寝"respectively.These are typical four-character structure in Chinese, which not
only convey the content of the original text, but also easily arouse the resonance of Chinese readers and cater to their
the aesthetic expectations.

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B. Being Flexible in Back Translation

For a long time, back translation has been simply regarded as a textual research activity tracing back to its roots, and
the understanding and definition of "back translation" is relatively narrow. The Chinese cultural elements in sinological
works are often translated or pharaphrased by the author according to Chinese, so it is necessary to adapt them flexibly
according to the circumstances when they are translated back into Chinese. It is generally believed that back translation
is the process from the original text to the target text and then back to the original text. However, in actual translation
practice, there will be such a situation, that is, the quote in the English text is not necessarily a faithful translation of
Chinese, instead, it may be interpretation, description or rewriting. However, the process of these explanations and
descriptions being translated back into Chinese is also a kind of back translation.
Example: On the river island
The ospreys are echoing us
Where is the pure-hearted girl
To be our princess?
Version: 在河中的沙洲上,
白鹭与我们声唱音随。
心地纯洁的姑娘,你在哪里?
你将作我们的王妃。
Note: 关关雎鸠,在河之洲,
窈窕淑女,君子好逮。
It is generally believed that the best way to translate such quotations from Chinese is to find the original Chinese text.
which is also what we traditionally call the back translation.This is a poem cited in a sinological work. Since it is an
ancient Chinese poem, the wording in the poem is ancient and elegant, and the average young Chinese reader may not
be able to understand it, let alone foreigners. As a result, Tang(1991) argued that it was impossible for the young
American to read such ancient Chinese poem as "关关雎鸠,在河之洲”. In fact, he was reading a translated ancient
Chinese poem in English.According to the principle of equivalence, the information expressed in the original English
text about this ancient Chinese poem-that is, their interpretation and understanding of the poem-should be reflected in
the translation. Otherwise, wouldn't it be ridiculous for a contemporary foreign youth who doesn't understand Chinese
to read "关关雎鸠,在河之洲?"Of course, in processing, after translating the poem according to the original English text,
a note can be added to list the full text of the original poem."Translation Notes" is an important part of the translated
works, through which the translator can help readers better understand the original text. Therefore, it is also a
commonly used translation skill in the translation of sinological works.
Therefore, in the practice of back translation, flexible strategies should be adopted according to different situations.
The translator should pay attention to the comprehensive consideration of the Chinese classical quotations in foreign
language texts, conduct multi-dimensional analysis of the specific variables such as syntax, semantics, logic, culture and
communicative context, and adopt the processing method suitable for the specific context.(Liu, 2018)
C. Omitting Explanatory Text
The content of English sinology literature is about Chinese culture, but its readers are mainly British and American
people, some of whom are not familiar with Chinese cultural elements. Therefore, in the process of writing and
Chinese-English translation, the author will inevitably add explanatory text to some words and sentences involving
cultural elements so as to help English and American readers better understand the original text. When those works are
translated back into Chinese, the target readers become Chinese readers familiar with the Chinese language and culture.
If all these explanatory languages are translated into Chinese, the translated text will become redundant and even cause
confusion.
Example：There are three regular degrees conferred upon successful candidates at the government examinations. The
lowest gives the title of “Hsiu Tsai,” or “Budding Talent;” the second of “Chu Jên,” or Promoted Man;” and the third,
that of “Chin Shih,” or “Entered Scholar.”
Version1：参加科举考试的考生成功通过考试后，会根据所参加考试的级别分别授予三种常见学位，最低的
叫“秀才”，第二级叫“举人”，第三级叫“进士”。
The author introduces the imperial examination system in ancient China in English. In describing three different
degrees, the author uses three transliteration words “Hsiu Tsai”, “Chu Jên” and “Chin Shih” to represent them. The
average English readers do not understand the meaning of these transliteration words, so in order to help English
readers better understand them, the author adds an explaination after each transliteration,ie “Budding Talent”
“Promoted Man” and “Entered Scholar”. However, for Chinese readers, explanatory appositions are obviously
superfluous, unnecessary and should be omitted in translation. It can be seen that these explanatory texts, which are
compensated for to help the original readers understand the meaning of the text, have their value and necessity in the
original language text. But if it is still retained when translated back into Chinese, it will be inexplicable to Chinese
readers familiar with Chinese culture, because in their view, these are just common sense.

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VI. CONCLUSION
The translation and introduction of overseas sinology research results in China has played an indispensable role in
promoting the academic prosperity and cultural exchange between China and the West. Sinology translation is a bridge
between sinology scholars in China and abroad, and has great significance in inheriting civilization and constructing a
harmonious world.(Wan,2012) In the past, the translation of sinological works has not received enough attention from
the academic circle. However, at present, many studies have not only analyzed translation errors and translation skills in
the translated works, but also began to analyze the translation of sinological works as a whole. As a special translation
phenomenon, back translation of sinological works enriches the forms of translation and enables us to better understand
the complexity and diversity of translation activities. This paper analyzed the characteristics of the back translation of
sinological works and made a preliminary discussion on the back translation strategies in the hope of enlightening more
scholars to carry out more in-depth research in this field and constantly improving the translation quality of sinological
works.

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[1] Ames, T.R and H. Rosemont. (2003). The Analects of Confucius-A Philosophical Translation. Beijing: Beijing: China Social
Science Press. 325-326.
[2] Chen, Z.J.and H.L. Pan. (2008). Back translation: the intersection of Cultural Globalization and Localization. Shanghai Journal
of Translators. 3,58-59.
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[4] Ge, Chuangui. (1980). On Chinese English Translation. Chinese Translators Journal, 3, 2-5.
[5] He, X. (2002). Types, characteristics and application methods of back translation. China science and technology translation. 4,
46-47.
[6] Liu, A. H. (2018). Back-translation of Chinese Classics: A Multi-contextual Scheme. Foreign Language Research.4, 116-118.
[7] Shuttleworth, M and M.Cowie. (2004). Dictionary of Translation Studies. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education
Press.32-56.
[8] Spalatin, L. (1967). “Contrastive Methods”. Studia Romanica et Anglica Zagrabiensia 23,29 -48．
[9] Wang, H.Y. (2004). On Background Variables of Translation Criticism in Literature. Chinese Translators Journal, 2, 33-38.
[10] Tang, Z.Q. (1991). The Other Side of the Turkish Tapestry -- on the principle of equivalence in translation and its application
in practice. Chinese Translators Journal, 3, 21-25.
[11] Wang, H.Y. (2009). An introduction to Literary Translation criticism: from Literary criticism to Translation Teaching. Beijing:
China Renmin University Press.326-327.
[12] Wang, H.Y. (2015). Text-less Back translation Reviewed and Reconsidered. Shanghai Journal of Translators, 3, 1-9.
[13] Wei, P. (2013). “Faithfulness principle” in the Back translation of Chinese Elements in Sinological works. Shangdong Foreign
Language Teaching Journal. 1,105-107.
[14] Ye, H.W. (2015). Research on the Ttranslation and Publication of Sinological Literature in China in the Past 30 Years.Publish
Research, 5, 62-63.
[15] Zhang, N. (2007). On the Back translation Principles and Techniques of the English Sinological Publications. Journal of Hubei
University (Philosophy and Social Science).4, 92-93.
[16] Zhang, Y.Q. (2005). Ancient Literature: Translation and Back translation-Exemplified by the Chinese Back translation of
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National Library of China.1, 110-113.

Hongwei Ye was born in Jiangxi, China, in 1978. He received his MA degree in English language and literature from Shanghai
University, China, in 2006. He is currently an associate professor at the School of Foreign languages, Shanghai University of
Engineering Science. He is a member of Translators Association of China and a member of Shanghai Science and Technology
Translation Society.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 820-825, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.19

A Preliminary Study on International Ecological

Discourse and Its Transitivity Analysis Model
Xinya Zuo
Shanxi Normal University, China

Abstract—International ecological discourse belongs to the cross research field, which can be understood as a
study of international relations in discourse by means of ecological discourse analysis. The purpose of this
paper is to reveal the discourse influence of the speaker and analyze the ecological significance of discourse
transmission: to protect or destroy the international ecosystem, or to be in an ambiguous attitude. This paper
firstly clarifies the related concepts of international ecological discourse and international ecosystem, and puts
forward the ecological philosophy which can promote the good development of international ecosystem based
on Chinese traditional culture and diplomatic ideas. On the basis of these theories and the transitivity theory
in systemic functional linguistics, a transitivity analysis model reflecting the characteristics of international
ecological discourse is constructed, which involves ecological extension and refinement of the role of
participants and definition and interpretation of ecological benefit of process types: beneficial, neutral and
destructive.

Index Terms—international ecological discourse, international ecosystem, systemic functional linguistics,

transitivity theory

I. INTRODUCTION
Discourse has always been a key object in the study of international relations. The emergence of discourse in each
society must go through many processes of screening, organization and classification, which constitute the main
existence of society in different ways and have the characteristics of social construction. There is no denying that it has
a causal impact on international relations. (Fairclough,1992, p.36) If some words contribute to the establishment of
harmonious international relations, others will lead to the destruction of international relations. There is a close
relationship between discourse and international relations, and the analysis of different discourses can help us
understand the different realities of the international community. This mainly stems from the task of discourse analysis,
which is to explore the relationship between language use and social reality.
Moreover, in recent years, due to the strengthening of human ecological consciousness, “ecological turn” has taken
place in humanities and social sciences field. (Stibbe, 2010, p.407) Huang Guowen (2016) once proposed that the
emerging disciplines such as ecological aesthetics, ecological philosophy, ecological criticism, ecological translation,
ecological literature, ecological lexicology, ecolinguistics and some others have appeared in the field of humanities
subsequently. As far as ecolinguistics is concerned, subjects of the study include the social environment of language and
the ecological environment of society. The main research method is ecological discourse analysis. (Alexander & Stibbe,
2014, p.104).
In a word, driven by the focus of discourse in international relations and the ecological turn of discourse research, the
phenomenon of international ecological discourse needs the attention of academe. (He Wei & Wei Rong, 2017, p.19)
This paper firstly clarifies the related concepts of international ecological discourse and international ecosystem, and
puts forward the ecological philosophy which can promote the good development of international ecosystem based on
Chinese traditional culture and diplomatic ideas. On the basis of these theories and the transitivity theory in systemic
functional linguistics, a transitivity analysis model reflecting the characteristics of international ecological discourse is
constructed, which involves ecological extension and refinement of the role of participants and definition and
interpretation of ecological benefit of process types.

II. SOME BASIC CONCEPTS OF INTERNATIONAL ECOLOGICAL DISCOURSE

A. The Connotation of International Ecological Discourse
Alexander and Stibbe (2014) once gave a precise definition of ecolinguistics and proposed that it is the study to
examine the relationship between human beings, other organisms and the physical environment especially how
language maintains, influences or even destroys it. (p.104) In short, Ecolinguistics is a subject formed by the
combination of ecology and linguistics and is an interdisciplinary field of natural science and humanities. It studies not
only the social environment of language, but also the ecological environment in which society is located.(Xin Zhiying
& Huang guowen, 2013, p.7) As we know, ecological discourse analysis, one of the most important approaches of
ecolinguistic studies, chiefly studies natural discourse (such as natural poetry) and focuses on natural ecosystems at

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present. Nevertheless, we need to pay equal attention to the discourse study of the social ecosystems. For that reason,
this paper does not study the influence of language on the natural environment from the perspective of natural ecology,
but analyzes the role of language on international ecology and environment through international ecological discourse.
Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to reveal the discourse influence of a country and to analyze the ecological
significance of discourse transmission: to protect or destroy the international ecosystem, or to be in an ambiguous
attitude.
In the field of ecolinguistics, environmental discourse refers to the discourse about the environment, which is the
linguistic representation of the relationship between human beings and the natural environment. Similarly, international
ecological discourse is a discourse about the international ecosystem, which is the linguistic representation of the
relationship between countries. (He Wei & Wei Rong, 2017, p.19) As the name implies, international ecological
discourse concerns about the international ecosystem. So what exactly does the international ecosystem mean?
B. International Ecosystem
From the ecological point of view, the international ecosystem should not only refer to natural ecology, but also
include social ecology. The former mainly refers to natural resources and includes ecosystems that are less affected by
human beings, such as forest ecosystems. However, social ecology is concerning the political, military, cultural,
economic, educational and other artificial aspects of various countries and includes human activity-centric ecosystems
such as urban ecosystems. Therefore, the international ecosystem includes natural and social ecosystem. Looking back
on the previous literature, it can be seen that most of the studies on international ecosystems at home and abroad are
about natural ecology, but there are few studies on the ecology of the international community. (Wang Jinping, Gao
Feng, Zhang Zhiqiang & Tang Tianbo, 2010, p.1101; Fu Bojie & Liu Yu, 2014, p.893) Based on the fact, this paper
focuses on the social ecosystem. Accordingly, the international ecosystem and international ecological discourse
mentioned in this paper chiefly refer to the international social ecosystem and the international social ecological
discourse, respectively.
All countries and their components in the world are ecological factors of the international ecosystem and can be
divided into “life factors” and “non-living factor”, corresponding to the living part and inanimate part of the ecosystem.
Take an example, through an experiment, Zhang Hongzhong and Yu Xin (2013) once found that Chinese people have
different attitudes towards the United States and the people of the USA. The Americans are more popular than the
United States. (p. 40) Otherwise, the clauses “Chinese people are particularly friendly” and “China is particularly
friendly” both describe China, but they evaluate different ecological factors and leave different impressions to readers.
The former emphasizes the friendly image of the life factor “Chinese people” while the latter one focuses on the nation
“China” and its government.
And then, the “life factor” in the international ecosystem can be subdivided into “human life factor” (mainly refers to
nationals) and “non-human life factor”(such as animals and plants). Secondly, “Life factor” also includes “individual
factor” and “group factor”. (He Wei & Wei Rong, 2017, p.19) For example, “the Pakistanis are particularly friendly”
and “the Pakistani president is particularly friendly” are both descriptions of “life factor”, but the former evaluates the
group factor “Pakistani people”, while the latter evaluates the individual factor “Pakistani President”. Moreover, as a
non-living body, the international community has the characteristics of “place”, because its important ingredient
“country” is a regional concept. Leila Scannell and Robert Gifford (2010) has expressed that the place dimension has
been examined at various geographic scales and has typically been divided into two levels: social and physical place
attachment. (p.3) By this way, We may draw conclusion that the international community also has physical and social
characteristics, and then divides the “non-living factor” into “physical factor” (which refers to the physical parts of
ecological factors, such as geographical location, climatic conditions, mountains and rivers, etc.) and “social factor”
(which means the social parts of ecological factors, such as politics, economy, education, military, culture, diplomacy
and so on.).
From another angle, the international ecological environment involves natural environment and social environment,
in which the former mainly refers to the international natural conditions (such as forests, minerals, climate, and water)
and the latter mainly refers to the political, military, cultural, economic, educational and other artificial conditions of the
international community. (He Wei & Wei Rong, 2017, p.20) To sum up, based on the fact that the international
ecosystem is composed of international ecological factors and the international ecological environment, drawing on Ye
Jun’s (2006, p.54) interpretation of social ecosystems and the overall framework of social ecosystem analysis of Elinor
Ostrom (2009, p.419), we give a preliminary explanation of the international ecosystem: All the ecological factors and
environmental factors in the ecosystem interact with each other, that is, to achieve the dynamic balance of the whole
international ecosystem by exchanging, cooperating, complementing and sharing resources in all fields of the system.
C. International Ecological Philosophy
According to Halliday, human beings recognize the world and obtain the experience through language, and at the
same time use language to create meaning and build the world. The words and deeds produced by people are influenced
by (and also reflect) their own relationship with other people, species and nature in the ecosystem. (Huang Guowen &
Zhao Ruihua, 2017, p.586) Therefore, the analysis and classification of international ecological discourse can not be
separated from the thought of speaker, that is, the international ecological philosophy.

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As far as the international ecosystem is concerned, analysts have a variety of ecological philosophy. For instance, Li
Zhaoxing (2010, p.6777) emphasized that “harmony” is an extremely important concept among all the central elements
in the Chinese civilization; Rebecca Katz et al.(2011, p.503）found that the inseparable connection between health and
foreign policy require both the diplomatic and global health communities to reexamine the skills, comprehension, and
resources necessary to achieve their mutual objectives；Ana Cristina (2013, p.207) discussed a lot about win-win
economic cooperation tool used in Africa. This paper adopts the ecological philosophy constructed from Chinese long
traditional culture and diplomatic concept, that is, “harmony in diversity, reciprocity and mutual benefit” (He Wei &
Wei Rong, 2017, p.21), in order to promote the healthy development of the international ecosystem.
Arran Stibbe (2015) divided discourse into three categories: beneficial discourse, ambivalent discourse and
destructive discourse. Similarly, from the perspective of international ecology, based on the ecological philosophy of
“harmony in diversity, reciprocity and mutual benefit”, we can also divide international ecological discourse into three
categories: destructive international ecological discourse (which may hinder people to protect the international
ecosystem), neutral international ecological discourse (which neither hinder nor promote the protection of the
international ecosystem) and beneficial international ecological discourse (which can promote people to protect the
international ecosystem) .

III. INTERNATIONAL ECOLOGICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Ecological discourse analysis is considered “a central approach” in the subject of ecolinguistics. Above all, according
to Halliday, language creates meaning and is the medium of constructing reality. At the same time, people’s words
usually reflect what they think and do. Accordingly, the analysis of discourse from an ecological perspective can reveal
problems that we did not pay attention to before. (Huang Guowen & Zhao Ruihua, 2017, p.591) Thus, discourse
analysis needs linguistic theoretical basis, while systemic functional linguistics is a relatively suitable theory because it
not only has a strict theoretical framework, but also has strong maneuverability and practicability. It is also suitable for
ecological discourse analysis. The reason is that discourse analysts generally have their own ecological philosophy
which is closely related to our environment (such as geographical, historical and living environment, etc.). This is
consistent with the linguistic ideas of M.A.K. Halliday, founder of systemic functional linguistics. Generally speaking,
international ecological discourse studies on international relations through discourse analysis for which systemic
functional linguistics usually provides a powerful analytical tool. (Xin Zhiying & Huang Guowen, 2013, p.10)
A. Systemic Functional Linguistics and Transitivity Analysis Model
Systemic functional Linguistics argues that the main purpose of discourse analysis is to reveal the meaning and
communicative role expressed by discourse in practical language use, with emphasis on explaining the experiential
meaning, logical meaning, interpersonal meaning and textual meaning expressed in discourse from the perspective of
meta-function, and finally evaluate the validity and appropriateness of the discourse. (Huang Guowen, 2017, p.3)
This paper focuses on the experiential meaning, that is, the transitivity system, which is a semantic system to express
the ideational function and a system network about the clause expression of process types, participants and
environmental components involved. (He Wei & Wei Rong, 2016, p.1) As we know, systemic functional grammar
regards a sentence with subject-predicate components as a clause. A clause is a process, which is composed of process
verbs, participants and environment, and the participants complete the whole process in a certain environment. The
process verb is the center, the participant is the core component of the realization center, and the environment enrich the
meaning of the process verb in the aspects of time and space, causality, condition, way and so on.
That is to say, this system construes the world of experience into a manageable set of process types, namely material
process, mental process, relational process, behavioral process, verbal process and existential process. Each process has
its own participant role. (Halliday, 2014) In view of this, based on systemic functional linguistics and transitivity system,
this paper reconstructs the participant role system from the ecological perspective and gives ecological significance to
the main process system.
B. Participant Role System
Halliday distinguishes the corresponding participant roles for the six process categories: Actor and Goal in the
material process; Senser and Phenomenon in the mental process; Carrier and Attribute or Identifier and Identified in the
relational process; Behaver in the behavioral process; Sayer, Verbiage, Receiver and the target in the verbal process;
Existent in existential process.(He Wei & Wei Rong, 2016, p.4) The roles of these participants are relatively general and
can not reflect the characteristics of international ecological discourse. We need to redefine and refine the role of these
participants.
First of all, according to life factors and non-living factors in the international ecosystem, we divide the participants
into “life” participants and “non-living” participants in order to show the significance of the participant’s role in this
specific ecosystem and to intuitively reflect the ecological value of clauses. Then, we can further divide “life”
participants into human life participants and nonhuman life participants (just like “Chinese” in sentence A and “The
giant panda” in sentence B) or into individual life participants and group life participants (just like “the general” in
sentence C and “The army” in sentence D). It is important to note that although the C and D clauses have the same

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semantic configuration, that is, Carrier and Process, they leave different impressions to the reader, because the former
describes the great image of individual “general”, while the latter describes the great image of the inanimate “army”.
Furthermore, as a non-living body, regional places include physical and social places, according to which we believe
that the international community has physical and social characteristics hence the non-living participants can be divided
into physical participants and social participants.
A. Chinese are hospitable and kind-hearted.
B. The giant panda is one of the surviving ancient animals.
C. The general is in good spirits.
D. The army is in good spirits.
C. Process System
1. Material Process
The material process refers to “action” and is regarded as a “do-and-happen” process, which is used to understand the
material world experience of human beings. All things in nature have a cycle of birth, growth and death. In the process
of development, human beings engage in activities of discovery, invention, production and creation. All of this can be
explained by the material processes in systemic functional grammar. (Wang Zhenhua, 2018, p.60) In the international
ecological discourse, the action process also describes the dynamic activities of the relevant participants, and the three
kinds of international ecological discourse also correspond to three kinds of action processes: beneficial, neutral and
destructive.
For example, sentence E and F are action clauses describing the relationship between China and the United States.
There are two action processes in sentence E: “try”and “incite”. Firstly, the semantic configuration of “try” is “agent
(Some American politicians) - human life group participant + action process (try to)”. We need to notice that the word
“politician” is derogatory in American English and especially refer to political liars who play tricks and fight for
self-interest. So this process may mean that those people are plotting something immorally and belongs to destructive
action process because it is contrary to the ecological philosophy of “harmony in diversity, reciprocity and mutual
benefit”. Then, the semantic configuration of “incite” is “agent(Some American politicians) - human life group
participant + action process + affected - non-living social participant(antagonism between China and the United
States)”,which describes the fact that these American politicians are doing something harmful to the international order
and international ecosystem, so it’s also a destructive action process. As for sentence F, the semantic configuration of
“expand” is “agent-human life group participant (China and the United State) + action process (expand) + affected -
non-living social participant(mutually beneficial Cooperation between the two countries)”. It highlights the speaker’s
attitude of supporting mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the United States, which is in line with the
ecological philosophy of this paper and belongs to the process of beneficial action.
E. Some American politicians try to incite antagonism between China and the United States.
F. China and the United States should actively expand mutually beneficial Cooperation between the two countries.
2. Mental Process
Mental Process is a process of “perception”, which is used to understand the experience of people’s conscious world,
including perception, cognition, desire and emotion and involving two participants: senser and phenomenon. (Wang
Zhenhua, 2018, p.60) Meanwhile, the three kinds of international ecological discourse also correspond to beneficial
mental process, neutral mental process and destructive mental process.
Taake an example, sentence G and H are both mental clauses concerning war and peace. The mental process
“believe” in G reflects the speakers understanding and cognition of the certain phenomenon, and its semantic
configuration is “senser - individual human participant (I) + mental process (believe) + phenomenon(our cause is
reasonable)”. It shows that the speaker firmly believes in the justice of the war in Libya and tries to legitimize illegal
wars. This mental process runs counter to the purport of international ecological philosophy and is a destructive mental
process definitely. On the contrary, the verb “hope” in the clause H is a beneficial mental process. The semantic
configuration of this clause is “senser - individual human participant (I) + mental process (hope) + phenomenon (the
international community will be more peaceful and prosperous)”. It highlights the speaker’s hope to create a more
harmonious and flourishing planet.
G. I believe that our cause (war against Libya) is reasonable.
H. I sincerely hope that the international community will be more peaceful and prosperous.
3. Relational Process
This type can be classified into two types: attributive relational process and identifying relational process. Attributive
is about what attributes a certain object has, or what type it belongs to. The participants in the attributive process clause
“We are young” are the carrier “we” and the attribute “young” . For another one, the participants in identifying
relational process clause are token and value. For instance, if the sentence “Maria is the slim one” is used to answer
“Who is Maria?”, and “Maria” is token, “the slim one” is value. (Wang Zhenhua, 2018, p.60) In international ecological
discourse, the relational process establishes political, economic, military, cultural, diplomatic and other relations
between participants by describing who the relevant participants are, where they are, and what they have.
Sentence I concerns about an identifying relational process, its semantic configuration is “token - non-living social
participant(Japanese fascism) + relational process (is) + value( the greatest spirit on earth)” and expresses the speake’s

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pursuit of Japanese fascism. Nevertheless, historical facts warn us that Japanese fascism is an ideology that has brought
great disaster to the people all of the world. Therefore, it is obviously a destructive relational process. While clause J
belongs to an attributive relational process, the semantic configuration is “carrier- non-living social participant (The
CPC) + relationship process (is) + attribute (the core of leadership for the cause of socialism with Chinese
characteristics), which objectively describes the nature of the Chinese national government and has little to do with the
view of ecological philosophy. It is a neutral relational process.
I. Japanese fascism is the greatest spirit on earth.
J. The CPC (the Communist Party of China) is the core of leadership for the cause of socialism with Chinese
characteristics.
4. Behavioral Process
Behavioral Proces refers to physical and psychological behavior, such as breathing, coughing, smiling, dreaming,
scanning, etc. There is usually only one participant in the behavior process, that is, the behaver, such as the
action“laugh” in the clause “She’s laughing”. But in the clause “ She takes her medicine on time every day”, there are
two participants, “medicine” is scope.(Wang Zhenhua, 2018, p.60) In international ecological discourse, the purpose of
behavioral process is to describe the physiological activities such as exhalation and smile, which are unconsciously
shown by the participants concerned, and are also divided into three categories: beneficial, neutral and destructive
behavioral processes. For example, the semantic configuration of “breathe” in the sentence K is “behaver - human life
group participant + behavioral process (cannot breath) + location”, which shows that the speaker conveys the prejudice
against China. Moreover, the behavioral process “breathe” clause is followed by the mental clause “although I believe
China will become stronger and stronger”, which is more illustrative of the fact that the speaker lashed out at China
because he regarded China as its strong competitor, which is a destructive behavior process.
K. You cannot breathe freely in China.
5. Verbal Process
The verbal process is involved in exchanging information through speech, and the participants are the speaker, the
receiver and the content of the speech. (Wang Zhenhua, 2018, p.61) In the clause “My watch says it is half past ten”,
the participants are sayer (may watch) and verbiage “it is half past ten”. In the international ecological discourse, the
verbal process describes the process through which the relevant participants exchange information via language, which
includes the beneficial process of transmitting positive information, the destructive process of transmitting negative
information and the neutral process of transmitting neutral information. The semantic configuration of verbal process
“praise” is “sayer - non-living social participant (China) + communication process (praise) + communication content”
expresses the recognition of US side communication content by Chinese side, which is beneficial to the harmony
between China and the United States. It is a beneficial verbal process. The semantic configuration of verbal process
“reaffirming” is “say - non-living social participant (US side) + the communication process (reaffirming) + the
communication content (repeatedly reaffirming its adherence to the one-China policy)”, it also belongs to the process of
beneficial communication.
L. China praises the US side for repeatedly reaffirming its adherence to the one-China policy.
6. Existential Process
The existential process means the existence of things, and there is only one participant, that is, existent, such as
“many flowers in the garden” in the clause “There are many flowers in the garden”.(Wang Zhenhua, 2018, p.61) This
kind of process in the study of international ecological discourse is often used to describe the existence state of the
participants in the international ecosystem, including the beneficial process of describing the positive existence state,
the destructive process of negative existence state and the neutral process of neutral existence state.
The semantic configuration of clause M is “place + existential process + existence - non-living social participant”,
which objectively describes the number of population in the world, which is not related to ecological philosophy and is
a neutral existential process. The semantic configuration of clause N is “there+existential process (is) +existence - group
life participants”. Although holding guns in the United States as a right is provided for in the Constitution of the United
States, shooting innocent people is opposed to international ecological philosophy. It can be regarded as a destructive
existential process.
M. At present, there are 7.7 billion people in the world.
N. According to statistics, there are nearly 100,000 innocent people in the United States to be shot every year.

IV. CONCLUSION
This paper holds that, as a component of the international ecosystem, each country shapes the relationship between
the ecological factors in the international ecosystem through discourse, in order to have a causal impact on the
relationship between countries. The beneficial international ecological discourse helps to build friendly relations
between countries while destructive international ecological discourse may bring crisis to the international community.
In the face of the international ecological discourse research task, we first combine linguistic theory and ecological
philosophy, that is, to follow the “meaning-centered” language description principle and “harmony but diversity,
reciprocity and mutual benefit” to construct an ecological discourse analytical model which is based on the theory of
systemic functional linguistics and to reconstruct the participant system and redefine the process system. As mentioned

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above, ecosystems are combination of living and non-living organisms. Therefore, among them, international ecosystem
participants also can be divided into “living participants” and “non-living participants”, the former including “human
life participants” and “non-human life participants” and the latter includes physical participants and social participants.
Compared with the participant system based on language ontology, this classification can better reflect the ecological
attributes of the participants, and thus more obviously reflect the ecological value of clauses. Moreover, the process can
be refined into beneficial process, neutral process and destructive process. For example, the action clauses “It can
promote international cooperation” and “It can hider international cooperation” both express the effect on “international
cooperation” identified by the speaker, but contain different ecological meanings, the former conforms to the ecological
philosophy which we proposed in this paper, while the latter violates that ideology and is a destructive process. It can be
seen that there are two steps to judge the process nature of international ecological clauses: in the first step, the clauses
are classified according to the six action processes of the transitivity system; then, by analyzing whether the semantic
meanings of clauses conform to the ecological philosophy of “harmony in diversity, reciprocity and mutual benefit”, we
can classify three types of ecological processes, including beneficial, neutral and destructive processes. In a word, it is
hoped that this paper will provide a reference for guiding people to reduce the use of destructive discourse of
international ecosystem, improve the use of ambiguous or neutral discourse, and produce more protective discourse of
international ecosystem.

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[16] Stibbe，Arran．(2015). Ecolinguistics: Language，Ecology and the Stories We Live By. London and New York: Routledge．
[17] Wei He & Rong Wei. (2016). The connotation and Research Direction of International Ecological discourse. Foreign
Languages Research, 4(05): 18-24.
[18] Wei He & Rong Wei. (2016). Review of Transitivity Studies within Systemic Functional Linguistics. Journal of University of
Science and Technology Beijing (Social Sciences Edition), 32(01): 1-20.
[19] Zhaoxing, Li. (2010). Harmony and Chinese diplomacy. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(5): 6777-6779.
[20] Zhenhua Wang. (2018) Translating Chinese Clause Processes and Participants into English: A Perspective from Transitivity
System. Foreign Languages Research, 35(04): 59-65+112.
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Education, 34(03): 7-10+31.

Xinya Zuo was born in Linyi, Shanxi, China in 1995. She is a graduate student and currently studying in Shanxi Normal
University. Her research interests include linguistics, critical discourse analysis and ecological discourse analysis.

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Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 826-831, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.20

EFL Learners’ Behavior States and Academic

Outcomes during Playing Games Strategy
Rashed Alghamdy
College of Education, Al- Baha University, Saudi Arabia

Abstract—To identify the impact of playing games on the achievements of EFL learners, a quasi-experimental
design study was applied for 4 weeks at an elementary school in Saudi Arabia. This study examines the impact
of playing games in enhancing EFL students’ English skills ability in learning English as a foreign language
context. In particular, this study purposes to investigate the impact of playing games in comparison to
traditional learning in learning English skills on the achievement of EFL learners and their behavioral states
during playing games. The participants in this study were 52 male pupils, aged 12-15 years, level six at an
elementary government school in Al-Baha City. According to the results from the post-test obtained they
highlight statistical variances between the average scores from the EFL learners who were taught English
within the learning method of playing games and the control group taught English using traditional learning
methods. The variances favored the experimental group nevertheless the findings in the pre-test score
suggested there were no statistical variances amid the EFL learners in the first group and those in the other
groups in the achievement of English.
Furthermore, the observation findings indicate that the EFL learners in the experimental conditions displayed
more playing together behavior states and less playing individually on-task behavior states, non-playing
together behavior, and off-task behavior than their classmates in the control condition.

Index Terms—applied linguistics, teaching English as a foreign language, playing games strategy, Saudi
Arabia

I. INTRODUCTION
Research conducted on the use of games indicates that teaching a particular lesson in a game context appeals to
learners and enhances their enthusiasm for that lesson (Cornillie et al, 2013). According to Soyluçiçek (2011), games
offer communication, sharing, as well as, relaxing fields; which play a crucial role in the students’ education process.
Currently, in the US and other countries, games are employed as tools to achieve the K-16 educational objectives. For
example, Dance Dance Revolution is considered a physically demanding, interactive and digital COTS game involving
a wired dance-floor. Thai, Lowenstein, Ching, and Rejeski (2009) assert that a number of states have adopted this game
for their main physical fitness programs. The game requires students to reflect a particular movement in life, whereas
the receiver through a wired dance floor or hand-held device, detects their performance accuracy and precision (Ghaemi
& Ebrahimi,2015). The teaching of games has developed into a new technique in this era. Enthusiasts of teaching
gamed focus their teaching course on learning computer games, language games or motor activity. Studies exhibit that
educators take the advantages of gaming features as well as gameplay to accomplish their learning goals and objectives
(Gee, 2007; Federation of the American Scientists, 2006). Games can be employed as instructional tools to convey
content, enhance second language practice, as well as teaching strategies, skills, and information literacy. For example,
Rankin et al. (2006) and Crookall and Oxford (1990) assert that games encourage language practice.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

Independent studies conducted on 329 teachers regarding the application of gaming strategies were analyzed by
Haystead and Marzano (2009). The control group design was (N = 14,287) and based on this design, the researchers
reported an 18% measurable increase in the application of interactive games as a particular strategy. Also, 5 th graders
exhibited a 38% increase in the vocabulary as a result of playing different review games. Some of the games that were
used to teach vocabulary include Quia and Pyramid (both are computer-aided games without a 3-dimensional
environment). Pyramid refers to a word guessing game, whereas Quia refers to an online question that has a number of
gaming formats including concentration, matching, flashcards, word search, challenge board, Battleship, cloze hangman,
pop-ups, ordered lists, jumbled words picture perfect, scavenger hunt and patterns (Sandra,2017).
Clark et al. (2014) performed a meta-analysis on sixty-nine K-16 interactive gaming studies. These studies compared
gaming with a particular control group from 2002 to 2012. The outcomes were then published in various peer-reviewed
journals. This research should have employed random assignment in the particular form of experimental research.
Effect sizes were used, and they recorded a .33 standard deviation favoring the use of digital games over no games to
enhance interpersonal learning, cognition as well as intrapersonal learning. The positive result concurred with the other
scholar’s meta-analysis studies regarding the impact of digital games on learning, as mentioned in their reports.

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According to Griva et al. (2010), games are classified into various categories including physical games, role-playing
games, arranging puzzles, sorting or ordering as well as cooperative and competitive ones. Also, the categories can be
employed as a game-based learning setting. In such a setting, the students learn the game and teachers help them to
practice it. The learners are able to gain skills on the required point without any special attention. According to Donmus,
(2010) games have positive effects on students including motivation, enhanced attention, different learning environment,
as well as grasping the concept longer.
According to Thai et al. (2009), games offer students intrinsic motivation, as well as, a pathway that will enable
learners to achieve autonomy as they navigate through the world. For instance, games teach students self-regulation,
behaviors, systems thinking, problem-solving as well as self-concepts (Thai et al., 2009).

III. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The main purpose of this study is to identify how playing games enhance and provide more interactive and increase
the outcomes of EFL students in English and how they behave during playing with each other. In the study the
researcher aimed to find a new methodology which may help students to improve their English achievements and
eventually facilitate their interactions among their peers. The playing games method might be the solution because the
learners have the opportunity to play with their colleagues and communicate with each other to learn different English
skills.

IV. METHODS
A. Research Questions
1. What is the impact of playing games strategy on the EFL learners’ outcomes in learning vocabulary?
2. How do EFL learners behave during playing games strategy?
3. Do EFL learners Play with each other or they play individually?
4. Do EFL learners playing with Competitive behavior or Off-task behavior?
The researcher collected only quantitative data in this study. The instruments that were used to collect data is a pre-
test and post-test English achievement test and observation timetable.
B. Participants
The study involved participants fifty-two being male pupils aged between eleven and thirteen years being at level six
within a government elementary school in the Al-Baha city. The classes were assigned randomly to one of two
conditions. One class was selected randomly to create the experimental group and another class was selected randomly
as the control group. There were twenty-seven pupils in the playing games method having experimental conditions and
twenty-five pupils in traditional learning method having control conditions. Additionally, two male English educators
from the institution were involved as participants in the study. All English educators had relevant qualifications
including Bachelor Degrees in English and similar experiences teaching English.
C. English Achievement Test
The test offered was utilized as both the post-test and pre-test to look into the effect of the method of playing games
on pupil’s achievement of the English language especially in grasping vocabulary. The test was comprised of twenty
score points. The time given was thirty minutes. At the start of the test the participants were asked to listed and give
value to the words. There were colored pictures and numerous words. The students then listed to a stereo while giving
matches for the word to the correct picture. Also, songs and moving games were present during the test. One single
mark allotted for every correct answer in the exam.
The previous achievements of the participants in English became evaluated using the pre-test given to each
conditions before the study started. The pre-test served the purpose of assessing the background vocabulary knowledge
of the students. A similar pre-test was given at the climax of the study as a post-test to check the achievements of the
participants in the English achievement test. The post-test was purposeful in evaluating the effect of both of the playing
games method and the traditional method on student’s achievements. One English teacher who was not part of the study
corrected the test papers. He marked the test paper both at the start and at the end of the study.
D. Observation Timetable
The researchers made videotapes of two classes at a single elementary government school: the first class in the
experimental conditions who have obtained training in playing games and the other class within the control conditions
who had no such training for a period of four weeks. In the experimental conditions class pupils were in group divisions
of four and each division became video-taped triple times for fifteen minutes each. Likewise in the control class the
researcher asked the teachers to form group divisions of four in every classroom and each group became video-recorded
triple times for fifteen minutes each.
The English teacher of the experimental conditions class was involved in a workshop that built their knowledge of
the implementation process of playing games in their classrooms. The other English teacher in the control conditions
class did not participate in the training workshop. Nonetheless, the researcher spent the time introducing them to

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various books regarding teaching English as a second language in Saudi Arabia. The learners in both the control and
experimental conditions studied similar English lessons in their groups for one hour, four times in a week.
The study concentrated on several behavior states in each video clip including;
1-Playing together behavior (playing with his classmates)
2-Non-playing together behavior (competitive behavior)
3-Individual on-task behavior (playing individually)
4-Off-task behavior (Not playing with his friends and not playing individually)
E. Procedures
The study developed two separate workshops; one for the experimental group teacher who received training in
playing games method learning skills and the other for a teacher within a traditional class setting where learners
operated in traditional method but failed to obtaining training in methods of implementing playing games learning.
The study was done from the start of the first semester in 2018 for three weeks. In the beginning the researcher
invited from Al-Baha school two English teachers to be part of the research. Two classes from elementary school were
asked to participate in the research. One class was assigned the experimental group status and the other control group
status. A ministry of education assigned textbook was used as the teaching material for both the control and
experimental groups.
The students took part in different games such as listening to songs then repeating them, coloring various pictures,
acting various roles, hide and seek, moving games and so forth. The teacher in the experimental group class and the one
in the control group class taught one class each. They each taught similar content to all classes for a three weeks period.
The English achievement test served as both a pre-test and post-test to look into the effect of the learning method of
playing games on EFL learners. At the start of the test the participants were tasked to select the correct answers from
the options and the time given for the test was thirty minutes.
The previous achievements of the participants in learning English became evaluated using the pre-test given to both
experimental and control conditions before beginning the study. The pre-test served the purpose of assessing the
background knowledge of student’s in general English skills. The tests reliability is high having an Alpha-Cronbach of
eighty-three. A similar pre-test was available at the climax of the study as a post-test to check the achievements of
participants on the listening and vocabulary skills. The purpose of the post-test remained to be the assessment of the
influence of both the playing games method and traditional learning on achievement of students.

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

A. Findings of the Achievement Test
Fifty-two participants were involved in the study having been obtained evenly from two classes from a government
elementary school who experienced either the control condition or the experimental condition. To figure out if
variances existed in the EFL students’ scores in the English skills in both the conditions, an analysis of variance was
done. The standard deviation and means of the English achievement pre-test and pre-test score are highlighted in Table
1.
TABLE I.
MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATION I N THE TOTAL OF PRE -TEST AND TOTAL OF POST-TEST SCORES FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL
CONDITIONS.
N M SD
control 25 11.04 2.720
experimental 27 11.15 2.365
Pre-test total scores Total 11.09 2.521
52

control 25 12.54 2.549

Post-test total scores experimental 27 15.33 1.901
Total 52 13.96 2.631

In order to determine if there were differences between both the pre-test and post-test total score results, one-way
ANOVAs were conducted. As can be seen in Table 2, there were no significant differences between the experimental
and control conditions at Time 1 but there were significant differences at Time 2 (Alghamdi & Gillies, 2013).

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TABLE II.
TESTS OF BETWEEN-SUBJECT EFFECTS FOR PRE -TEST AND POST-TEST TOTAL SCORES
ANOVA SS df MS F Sig.
Pre-test total scores Between Groups .159 1 .159 .025 .876
Within Groups 330.369 51 6.478
Total 330.528 52
Post-test total scores Between Groups 103.463 1 103.463 20.575 .000
Within Groups 256.462 51 5.029
Total 359.925 52

Discussion
Table 1 indicates that statistical variances do not exist, p = 0.876 (p > 0.05), between the average results of the EFL
students who became taught English in the playing games method and the ones who were taught English utilizing the
traditional method in the pre-test (Alghamdi & Gillies, 2013).
Table 2 highlights that significant statistical variances exist, p = 0.000 (p < 0.05) between the average score of the
EFL students who became taught in the playing games method of learning and those taught English with the traditional
method in that post-test with preference on the experimental conditions.
The findings indicated that there are statistically significant differences, p = 0.000 (p < 0.05) between the mean
scores of the EFL learners who were taught English through playing games environment (the experimental group), and
those who were taught the English by using the traditional learning method (the control group) in the post-test. This
difference was in favor of the experimental group. However, the findings highlighted that there are no statistically
significant differences between the learners in the experimental classes and the others in the control conditions in their
English achievement test score at the pre-test.
These findings highlight the fact that the students had the same background knowledge of the items before the
implementing of playing games strategy, confirming that any gain in the EFL learners’ achievements could be
attributed to the playing games strategy. This research found that playing games strategy has a strong effect on EFL
learners’ outcomes. The result is in line with other findings like Turgut and Irgin (2009) which highlighted the
efficiency of playing games on the young learners’ language learning. Another study has done by Soyluçiçek (2011)
showed that games offer positive communications among students, sharing different roles, which play a crucial role in
the students’ learning another language skill. Rankin et al. (2006) and Crookall and Oxford (1990) found that playing
games strategy encourage acquiring language skills.
B. Findings of Observational Data
A test known as Kruskal-Wallis was utilized to determine the whole impact of the intervention on the behavior states
of the learners in the two conditions in the total three period of time. The specific test is used when datasets are small
and allows for between groups effects to be recognized. Since each class was video-recorded three times in the entire
study either in the control or experimental conditions the researcher evaluated and deliberated over all the video clips
starting from time one to three in order to provide better and reliable results. The eights classes had been video-taped at
the first week, the middle being second and third week and final stage of the study being week four.
1. Learners behavior states (Time one, weeks one to two)
To determine existing differences in the learners states of behavior between the conditions at time one, Kruskal-
Wallis test were done on the incidence of recorded states of behavior for the students in either experimental or control
conditions.
TABLE III.
TESTS OF BETWEEN-GROUP EFFECTS FOR FOUR BEHAVIOUR VARIABLES AT TIME 1 BY CONDITION
Variables N Mdn X2 P

Play together behavior

Control 16 8.00
34.179 .000
Experimental 16 11.50
Non-playing together behavior
Control 16 2.50
8.940 .003
Experimental 16 1.00
Playing Individually
Control 16 3.00
19.689 .000
Experimental 16 1.00
Off-Task Behavior
Control 16 2.50
8.753 . 003
Experimental 16 1.00

2. Discussions
Table three shows significant variances between the conditions within play together behavior, X2 (2, N = 16) =
34.179, p = .000; non-play together behavior, X2 (2, N = 16 = 8.940, p = .000; individually behavior, X2 (2, N = 16) =

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19.689, p = .000;individual off-task behavior, X2 (2, N = 16) = 8.753, p = .003 (Alghamdi, 2018).
The results indicated that the learners in the experimental conditions play more together compared to those in the
control conditions (Mdn = 11.5, N = 16) at time one. In addition, the results indicated the importance between the
learners within the experimental condition and the learners in the control conditions in terms of behavior (Mdn = 1, N =
16).
An examination of the Kruskal-Wallis tests indicated that the students in the experimental conditions showed more
playing together behavioral states and less non-playing together behavior states, playing individually and individual
nontask behaviors than their classmates in the control condition.
In addition, outcome scores were, on average, higher in the experimental condition for playing together behavioral
outcomes. They were lower in the experimental condition for Non-playing together behavior, playing individually and
individual nontask behaviors.
C. Students’ Behavior States (Time 2, Weeks 3 to 4)
Similarly, in order to determine if there were differences in the students’ behavior states between the conditions at
Time 2, four Kruskal-Wallis tests were conducted on the frequency of recorded behavior states for the students in the
different conditions.
TABLE IV.
TESTS OF BETWEEN-GROUP EFFECTS FOR FOUR BEHAVIOUR VARIABLES AT TIME 2 BY CONDITION
Variables N Mdn X2 P
Play together behavior
Control 16 7.00
38.801 .000
Experimental 16 13.00
Non-playing together behavior
Control 16 3.00
24.577 .000
Experimental 16 1.00
playing individually
Control 16 2.00
30.382 .000
Experimental 16 1.50
Off-task behavior
Control 16 2.00
18.155 .000
Experimental 16 1.00

Discussion
It is evident from Table 4 above that there were significant differences between the conditions in: play together
behavior, X2 (2, N = 16) = 38.801, p = .000; non-play together behavior, X2 (2, N = 16 =24.577, p = .000; playing
individually behavior, X2 (2, N = 16) =30.382, p = .000; ; individual off-task behavior, X2 (2, N = 16) =18.155, p = .000.
The results showed that the students in the experimental condition play together more than their peers in the control
condition (Mdn = 13.00, N = 16) at Time 1. Moreover, the results pointed out the significance between the students in
the experimental condition and the students’ in the control condition in terms of –task behavior (Mdn = 1, N = 16).
An examination of the Kruskal-Wallis tests indicated that the students in the experimental conditions showed more
playing together behavioral states and less non-playing together behavior states, playing individually and individual
nontask behaviors than their classmates in the control condition.
In addition, outcome scores were, on average, higher in the experimental condition for playing together behavioral
outcomes. They were lower in the experimental condition for Non-playing together behavior, playing individually and
individual nontask behaviors
The purpose of this research was to investigate if there were differences in the behaviors of the EFL learners in the
playing games groups and traditional learning groups. In order to examine the differences in the behavior states of EFL
learners, the present study also looked at whether the students’ achievements in English are positive or not and
evaluated the extent to which their behavior states affect their achievement in a playing games environment. The
findings, as stated above, have indicated that the learners achieved more scores in the playing games condition than did
their peers in the traditional learning condition (Alghamdi, 2018).
Thai et al. (2009), highlighted that games teach students self-regulation, behaviors states, systems thinking, problem-
solving as well as self-concepts. Griva et al. (2010) indicated that games are classified into different categories such as
physical games, role-play games and cooperative and competitive ones. According to Donmus, (2010) playing games
have strong positive effects on learners such as motivation, different learning environment. Thai, Lowenstein, Ching,
and Rejeski (2009) confirmed that a number of states have adopted playing games for their main physical fitness
programs.

VI. CONCLUSION
In order to investigate the effect of the playing games method of learning on the success of EFL learners, a design
study known as quasi-experimental became applied for four weeks at a government elementary school. The study looks

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into the influence of playing games in improving ability of English skills of EFL learners in acquiring English as an
alien language. In essence, the study aims to evaluate the influence of the playing games method compared to
traditional method of learning in obtaining skills in English on EFL students and their states of behavior during playing
games method. The findings indicated that significant statistical variances exist in that post-test when comparing the
average scores of the EFL students who learnt English skills using the playing games method of learning and those who
became taught English using traditional method of learning thus favoring the group under experimental strategy
environment. Moreover, the observational findings show that the EFL students in the experimental conditions indicated
more playing together behaviors and reduced playing individually on-task states of behavior, non-playing together
states and off-task stages of behavior compared to their classmates within the control conditions

REFERENCES
[1] Clark, D., Tanner-Smith, E., Killingsworth, S. (2014), Digital Games, Design and Learning: A Systematic Review and Meta-
Aeta-Analysis (Executive Summary). Menlo Park, CA:SRI International
[2] Cornillie, Frederik, Geraldine Clarebout & Piet Desmet. (2013), The role of feedback in foreign language learning through
digital role playing games. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences, 34, 49-5.
[3] Crookall, D., & Oxford, R. (1990). Language learning through simulation and gaming. New York, NY: Harper & Row.
[4] Donmus, Vildan. (2010).The use of social networks in educational computer-game based foreign language learning. Procedia
Social and Behavioral Sciences. 9, 1497-1503.
[5] Farid Ghaemi and Fateme Ebrahimi. (2015). The Impact of Implementing Computer Games and Motor Activity on Early EFL
Vocabulary Achievement. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 5, No. 6. Pp. 1216-1225, June 2015 Dol:
http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0506.14.
[6] Federation of American Scientists. (2005, October). Harnessing the power of video games for learning. FAS Summit of
Educational Games. Washington, DC.
[7] Gee. J.p. (2007). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy (2 nd ed). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
[8] Griva, Elni, KlioSemogloua,&Athina Geladaria. (2010). Early foreign language learning: Implementation overprotecting
game-based context. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 2, 3700-3705.
[9] Haystead, M. W., & marzano, R.J. (2009), Meta-Analytic synthesis of studies conducted at marzano Research Laboratory on
instructional strategies. Englewood. CO: Marzano Research Laboratory.
[10] Alghamdi, R. (2018). EFL Learners’ Behaviour States During Cooperative Learning Strategy. International Journal of
Linguistics. Vol. 10, No. 6.
[11] Aghamdi, R., & Gillies.R. (2013). The Impact of Cooperative Learning in Comparison to Traditional Learning (Small Groups)
on EFL Learners’ Outcomes When Learning English as a Foreign Language. Asian Social Science, 9 (13).
[12] Sandra Annette rogers. (2017). A Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game with Language Learning Strategic
Activities to Improve English Grammar, Listening, Reading, and Vocabulary. PhD thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of
the University of South Alabam.
[13] Soylucicek, Seza. (2011). Graphic design issues on educational computer games for children, Procedia Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 15, 642-645, Retrieved September 21, 2012, from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042812015613/pdf?md5=b504777d17810e0ea00e86aeca5e9456&pid=1
-s2.0-S1877042812015613-main.pdf.
[14] Thai, A. M., Lowenstein, D., Ching, D., Rejeski, Do. (2009). Game changer: Investing in children's play to advance children's
learning and health. New York. NY.

Rashed Zannan Alghamdy, is an Assistant professor at Al-Baha University in Education college, Saudi Arabia. His research
focuses on Applied Linguistic, Teaching English as Foreign Language, Mobile language learning, Verbal Interaction, discourse
analysis, learning process.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 832-837, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.21

The Promoting Effects of Psychology in Business

Negotiation
Qing Cheng
Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan, China

Yeli Shi
Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan, China

Abstract—with the prosperity of the world economy, each country gradually converts its priority of the
development to the economic growth. Economic activities such as import and export are more frequent than
before. In this process, business negotiation is indispensable. On the study of business negotiation, scholars at
home and abroad have put relentless efforts and have made tremendous contributions to the success of
business transactions. However, in practical business negotiations, although negotiators have mastered a
certain level of knowledge of business negotiation, they still encounter some problems. These problems, to
some extent, can be solved by the employment of psychological knowledge. In this paper, psychological theories
such as Attribution Theory, Intergroup Conflict Theory, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and Foot-in-the-Door
Technique are applied and analyzed to help negotiators achieve the most important goal in business
negotiations.

Index Terms—business negotiation, psychology, Attribution Theory, Intergroup Conflict Theory, Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs, Foot-in-the-Door Technique

I. INTRODUCTION
In today's world, a country's economy is not only related to national security, territorial integrity, but also to the lives
of the people. Under the background of economic globalization, economic activities are also more and more frequent,
and business negotiation is essential to economic activities. Business negotiation is the negotiation for reaching an
agreement between the two sides of the transaction, which will affect or even decide the content of cooperation.
Scholars at home and abroad are becoming more and more mature in the study of business negotiation, but they
mainly focus on the strategy, skills, influencing factors and cultural conflicts of business negotiation. Relatively
speaking, there is little research on the role of psychology in promotion and guidance of business negotiation.
As a discipline, psychology studies behavior and psychological activities. Although the business negotiation is the
exchange of interests between negotiators, but to some extent, it is the inner contest between business negotiators.
Business negotiators should first understand themselves. That is, they need to negotiate with themselves. In this part,
Attribution Theory can demonstrate why negotiators tend to produce some emotions in business negotiations. After
fully understanding their own existent emotions, negotiators may realize the multiplicity of themselves, and thus control
their own emotions in real business negotiations, and prevent themselves from losing control of emotions and avoid the
eventual failure of business negotiations. Besides, non-passive business negotiators know how to guide the opposite
side’s emotions in order to take control of business negotiations. Intergroup Conflict Theory shows that there are
inevitable conflicts in business negotiations, but negotiators should still extend themselves to avoiding confrontational
negotiations which will hamper the pace of win-win situation. When negotiators want to satisfy their own needs, they
must take the opposite side’s needs into account. In this process, negotiators will certainly keep the cost as low as
possible, where the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs functions as a guidance to find the opposite side’s biggest need.
Moreover, negotiators should try to form conditioned reflexes which are beneficial to business negotiations. Everything
should be done step by step, so in business negotiations negotiators cannot ask for everything up front, the principle of
which can be found in Foot-in-the-Door Technique. Negotiators need to first lead the opposite side to make the first
decision, an agreement reached on one small request, and then they may lead their rivals to more significant
agreements.
This thesis mainly discusses that the knowledge of psychology can assist negotiators in business negotiations in four
ways. One is that psychology can help negotiators understand their own emotions more clearly, and then know how to
control them. The second is that psychology can help business negotiators avoid confrontational negotiations and know
the significance of considering the opposite side’s needs. The third one is that psychology can help negotiators form
conditioned reflexes which can exert great impact on improving negotiators’ performance in real business negotiations.
The last one is that before putting forward the important proposals negotiators should let the opposite side agree on a
trivial request, an easy decision for the opposite side to make, which may pave the way for a bigger agreement.

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II. THE MULTIPLICITY OF NEGOTIATORS AND THE ATTRIBUTION THEORY

In business negotiations, negotiators often meet a kind of situation that they may generate some negative emotions
and even do not know why these emotions can be produced. The most severe problem is that negotiators cannot accept
these emotions, because they do not believe these emotions arise from their personalities. The reason for it is that
negotiators do not have a comprehensive grasp of themselves. That is, negotiators fail to realize the multiplicity of
themselves. For this reason, negotiators cannot detect the adverse emotions hidden inside negotiators, still less control
these emotions. However, controlling emotions is significant for negotiators, that is why negotiators need to know about
the multiplicity of themselves. Psychologist Jay Early described this well when he wrote, “The human mind isn’t a
unitary thing that sometimes has irrational feelings. It is a complex system of interacting parts, each with a mind of its
own.” (Fox, 2013) Negotiators have multi-faceted, and they usually focus on the certain good sides of their personalities,
but unconsciously close their eyes to those adverse sides which will result in anger, discontent, jealousy, and other bad
emotions. Therefore, negotiators are supposed to fully know about themselves, understand their own emotions so that
they can control their emotions in business negotiations. (Diamond, 2010) Attribution Theory, which may explain
conscious or unconscious social behaviors appearing in a certain environment, is conducive to the effective control of
emotions and adaption to the environment. It also gives a theoretical foundation to the existence of emotions.
The formal definition of Attribution Theory is provided by Fiske and Taylor (1991), “Attribution theory deals with
how the social perceiver uses information to arrive at causal explanations for events. It examines what information is
gathered and how it is combined to form a causal judgment”.
In 1958, Fritz Heider proposed the Attribution Theory from the point of naive psychology. He put forward two main
influential ideas: dispositional attrition (internal cause) vs. situational attribution (external cause). Dispositional
attribution ascribes the behavior to some internal characteristic of a person, rather than to outside forces, which backs
the idea that some unnoticed sides of negotiators will influence their behaviors. Erica Ariel Fox, a renowned
international negotiator and a professor of negotiation at Harvard Law School, introduced a situation called
performance gap, which was described as such what negotiators behaved in reality was not inconsistent with their
thoughts. “The first step in closing the performance gap was seeing your own role in the results you were getting”,
(2013:87) which required negotiators to have all-sided cognition of themselves. In general, business negotiators think of
themselves partially, and they generate self-cognition with those one-sided understanding. Therefore, it is necessary for
negotiators to get close to true self and envisage their good sides and bad sides, which will help negotiators to find the
reason of some behaviors.
For example, Giovanna (Fox, 2013) was a sales manager in a national insurance carrier, in charge of driving new
business and increasing premium income in her territory. In addition, she also oversaw several teams of sales
representatives. She felt awfully frustrated because of two consecutive failures to get promoted. She did not know what
the problem was, for she had made stellar performance. Her sales representatives had also met their premium targets,
and her agents had offered competitive price to consumers. She just accepted the first failure quietly, but the second
time she decided to ask for reasons from the director of sales, who told her that her sales teams showed unwillingness to
continue working for her, because she was too forceful when she was negotiating over sales targets with other team
members and once she was under pressure her hostility would arise. The director of sales even cautioned her that if she
did not get her management style under control, she would never be promoted. What the director of sales said shocked
her, because she did not realize her bad behaviors and unreasonable request to her sales representatives. Her account of
herself was a principled, hardworking, and very successful businesswoman. She just ignored that she sometimes was
draconian. What she needed to do was to be aware of some neglected bad sides in herself and to improve her
self-knowledge.
In this case, the negotiator’s self-knowledge can exert considerable impact on the business negotiation, which not
only will influence the relation between the negotiator and other members, but also is adverse to the final result
achieved by the negotiation. Negotiators should understand themselves comprehensively in order to raise the level of
self-knowledge. Dr. Daniel Siegel，a renowned brain researcher and professor at the university of California, Los
Angeles, explains it this way in his book Mindsight, “We must accept our multiplicity, the fact that we can show up
quite differently in our athletic, intellectual, sexual, spiritual or many other states. A heterogeneous collection of states is
completely normal in us humans.” (Fox: 105) Negotiators need to admit and accept some sides of their self-knowledge
that they fail to recognize yet in order to see how they are getting in their own way. (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2012) The
problem is not that negotiators cannot hear the feedback, but is that they will not believe it without making a change of
their self-knowledge. Therefore, self-knowledge is essential to business negotiation, which facilitates negotiators’ better
understanding of themselves through the familiarization of the causes of their emotions and their behaviors, thus
emotions will be no longer a hindrance for negotiators to successful business negotiations.

III. THE GUIDING EFFECTS OF PSYCHOLOGY IN BUSINESS NEGOTIATION

In business negotiations, negotiators’ performance is deservedly decisive, but because the business negotiation is the
exchange and communication between negotiators and the opposite side, it should also be taken into consideration that
the opposite side’ psychological status and emotions. The knowledge of psychology can help negotiators guide the

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opposite side’s emotions, which makes the business negotiation move toward a more favorable direction. For achieving
win-win situation, negotiators should avoid confrontational negotiation. Besides, considering the opposite side’s needs
can arrive at the achievement of mutual benefits.
A. Avoiding Confrontational Negotiation and Intergroup Conflict Theory
As negotiators proceed into the middle stages of the negotiation and the issues become more defined, it is important
for them to avoid confrontational negotiation (Dawson, 1999). In order to shun confrontational negotiating, negotiators
should make every endeavor to reduce the opposite side’s hostility. Hostility is extremely detrimental to business
negotiations, which can make negotiations difficult to move forward in that the opposite side is easy to generate
antipathy to the negotiator's proposals and lead to a rather embarrassing atmosphere or even a deadlock between the two
sides. As negotiators and the opposite side stand for different parties, so it is natural and unavoidable for negotiators to
be in conflict with the opposite side. The Intergroup Conflict Theory can give an elaborate and compelling explanation
of the existence of conflicts between negotiators and the opposite side.
The Intergroup Conflict Theory is about the reasons, functions and solutions of intergroup conflicts. One of the
reasons of intergroup conflicts is competition. The behavioral scientist that Andrew J. Dubrin, as the representative of
this theory, divided conflicts into two parts from two perspectives (1978). One is beneficial and harmful, and the other
is substantive and individual. Substantive conflicts are involved in hate and envy. They are rooted in personal emotions
and attitude.
For instance, Winston Churchill (Dawson, 1999) was a grand old man who had a serious problem that he loved to
drink. He was all the time quarreling with Lady Astor, who was in favor of liquor prohibition. One day, she came up to
him and said that he was disgusting and drunken, and he should quit drinking and totally change himself. He said to her
that she was absolutely right that he was a drunk, but she was ugly. And he would be sober again in the next morning.
In this case, when the two people are arguing over one subject, one chooses to agree with the other’s opinion, which
can make the other unable to counter immediately. In business negotiations, when the opposite side puts forward
unreasonable requirements, negotiators should be composed not to make any dissent straight away, because it will cause
the business negotiations to become confrontational. When disputes occur, it is instinct for the two side to argue with
each other. Instead of arguing up front, which may lead to confrontational negotiation, it is advisable that negotiators get
into the habit of agreeing first and then turning it around (Dawson, 1999). When the opposite side finds that his views
are accepted instead of being refuted, he will naturally appreciate the business negotiator. Business negotiators agree
with the opposite side’s views in order to disintegrate the opposite side’s psychological defense, thus facilitating their
acceptance of the negotiators’ views. In other words, business negotiators’ approval of the opposite side is in fact a way
to acquire the opposite side’s approval.
B. Considering the Opposite Side’s Needs and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
In business negotiations, both sides of the negotiation must have respective needs, and that is exactly why the
business negotiations happen. (Yang, 2017) Negotiators come to business negotiations, undoubtedly, for meeting their
needs. However, negotiators cannot only focus their own need, because the business negotiation is an economic activity
which should be implemented by both sides. When negotiators are willing to consider the opposite side’s needs, it will
make the opposite side feel that negotiators are sincere to negotiate and this business negotiation is meaningful.
Therefore, considering the opposite side’s needs can break down the opposite side’s psychological defense. What’s
more, consideration of the opposite side’s needs does not mean that negotiators make concession. In practice, it is more
unlikely that the opposite side will make concessive decision. Negotiators should find the opposite side’s real need in
order to prevent making excess and unnecessary losses and maximize their own benefits, which accords with the
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1943) expounds five kinds of needs. They are physiological needs, safety needs, love
and belonging, esteem and self-actualization. In business negotiations, negotiators should grasp the opposite side’s real
need, and if the need is reasonable, it is sensible for negotiators to agree to satisfy the opposite side, which can foster the
fulfillment of negotiators’ needs.
In 1970, an American lawyer (Fisher& Ury & Patton, 1991) got a chance to interview President Nasser of Egypt on
the subject of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The lawyer asked Nasser what he wanted Golda Meir to do. Nasser ’s reply was
to withdraw. The lawyer asked again, and Nasser’s answer was to withdraw from every inch of Arab territory. Then the
American lawyer asked incredulously whether she did so with a deal or she could get anything. Nasser replied that
nothing. It was their territory, and she should promise to withdraw. The American lawyer asked what would happen to
Golda Meir if tomorrow morning she appeared on Israeli radio and television, and said that on behalf of the people of
Israel she hereby promised to withdraw from every inch of territory occupied in 1967: the Sinai, Gaza, the West Bank,
Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, and she wanted people to know, she had no commitment of any kind from any Arab
whatsoever. Nasser burst out laughing, and said she would have trouble at home. In the end, Nasser accepted a
cease-fire in the war of attrition. Nasser considered Golda Meir’s need, and thus he reached his goal.
This case shows us that negotiators need to take the opposite side’s needs into account, if negotiators want to reach an
agreement with each other. (Lu & Qin, 2019) It is impossible for the opposite side to fulfill the negotiator’s needs
without getting anything from the negotiator. So negotiators have to give up something. When it is settled, negotiators

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should reckon what the real need of the opposite side is. The opposite side certainly has various needs, but what
negotiators should focus on is the real need, in other words, the most important desire. When negotiators meet the
opposite side’s real need, the opposite side will get the most satisfaction. So the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need Theory
can give negotiators instructions to find out the opposite side’s real need and finally arrive at an agreement with the
opposite side.

IV. THE CONDITIONED REFLEXES OF NEGOTIATORS FORMED BY PSYCHOLOGY

The emotion of the negotiator is particularly essential, which will seriously affect the application of the negotiator's
strategy and skills, and will make the whole business negotiation move to a direction that is not conducive to the
negotiator. In the previous part of the thesis, the use of psychological knowledge to control the emotion of negotiator
has been discussed. When the negotiator has learned how to control his emotion, the negotiator should also master how
to turn the response for controlling emotion into an instinct. (McGonigal, 2012) The negotiator does not have enough
time in the business negotiation to think about, and he has to respond appropriately in a very short period of time, so it
is necessary for the negotiator to turn the appropriate emotion into his instinct. It is obvious for negotiators to have some
instincts which are naturally produced but sometimes are not advantageous to business negotiations. Therefore,
negotiators can cultivate some new and more beneficial instincts to facilitate business negotiations.
Based on the study of salivating dogs (Hock, 2009), Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1890-1930) developed and articulated
the classical conditioning theory a hundred years ago in Russia. Pavlov’s physiological research mainly used the dogs as
the subjects for studying the role of salivation on digestion. When Pavlov continued his research, he started to find
strange and unexpected things that the dogs began to salivate before any food was put into their mouths and even before
the odor of food was present. After a period of time, the dogs were salivating at times when no salivary stimulus was
given to them. The reflexive action of the salivary glands was according to the dog’s experience in the lab. For example,
the dogs’ secretion may be triggered even by the sight of vessel with which the food was given to the dogs. The reason
why the dogs showed so strangely should be found in psychology. In reality, there are two kinds of reflexes. One is
called unconditioned reflexes, which do not need any studying and are inherent and automatic, like salivating when
food enters the mouth. The other is called conditioned reflexes, which is produced by studying, like salivating when
seeing the vessel. The Pavlov’s theories of classical conditioning explained a major portion of human behavior and
helped to launch psychology as a true science.
By way of analogy, people can also nurture conditioned reflexes, so do negotiators. The above-mentioned part of
thesis has discussed that negotiators should agree with the opposite side’s viewpoints first. As negotiators’ instinct may
make negotiators dissent from the opposite side, it is necessary and meaningful for negotiators to train themselves to
form conditioned reflexes. Negotiators should know what words are more acceptable to the opposite side. And the
words should be accompanied by a movement. Negotiators can design a movement which is imperceptible and natural
to make in business negotiations. Experiments on that unnoticeable movement should be made in business negotiations
so as to verify whether it is workable or not. Negotiators first make this movement, and then let others speak about what
they will agree on. If negotiators repeat this practice no less than twenty times, they will find an incredible result that
after the repeated movement, they will be easier to agree with others. This is just one case. Negotiators can use this way
to form other conditioned reflexes which favor business negotiations.

V. ACHIEVING NEGOTIATORS’ GOALS AND FOOT-IN-THE-DOOR TECHNIQUE

In business negotiations, it is a herculean task for negotiators to achieve their goals. Negotiators come to business
negotiations with their purposes, while the opposite side strives for accomplishing their own objectives and to some
degree the opposite side may prevent negotiators from achieving goals. Negotiators can use a strategy called nibbling.
That is, negotiators can make the opposite side agree on a small target, then put forward another target which is
relatively more difficult to accomplish, and in this way negotiators can gradually get what they want. Nibbling is
absolutely helpful for negotiators in business negotiations. First, it enables you to sweeten the deal you have made with
the buyer, and second, you can use it to get the buyer to agree to things that he or she would not have agreed to earlier
(Dawson, 1999). Foot-in-the-Door Technique also elaborates that once a person accepts one trivial request, in order to
avoid cognitive inconsistence or leave consistent impression to others, it is more likely to accept another larger request.
Foot-in-the-Door Technique states that a small agreement can build a connection between the requester and the
requested. Even if the requested may only have agreed to a trivial request, it will create a bond. After the requested have
agreed, he will justify the agreement to himself. Later, the requested will feel forced to agree another request, because
he needs to keep cognitive consistence with the former. So Foot-in-the-Door Technique expounds that a more important
request should be followed by a trivial one, which is similar to the strategy called nibbling.
Julia (Dawson, 1999) wanted to get a great graduation gift from her father, and there were three lists：one was a
five-week trip to Europe, the second was $1,200 in spending money, and the last one a new set of luggage. She did not
ask for everything together. Her first step began with the trip, and then gave her father a recommendation that spending
money should be $1,200. In the end she went up to her father and said whether he would want her to travel to Europe
with a ratty and old set of luggage. If she asked for everything up front, her father might refuse the requests of luggage

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and spending money.

It is evident that the opposite side will feel uptight when he needs to make the decision at the first time. Because the
opposite side could hardly be confident with his first decision, and he is under tremendous pressure to make up his mind.
However, once the opposite side has finished his first decision, he will hold unswerving support to his decision and
even gradually increase the approval in the decision. In conclusion, before the decision is made, the opposite side may
have the feeling of resistance, but once he has decided to do it, he will support it. So negotiators need to drive the
opposite side to make the first decision which helps the opposite side increase the confidence about his decision and
later he will be more decisive to another decision. The first request must be trivial, which can remove the pressure of the
opposite side to make a decision. Negotiators should know that the first decision, though superficially is not important
to themselves or the opposite side, may determine the result of the ongoing business negotiation. Just as a Chinese
idiom goes, “One ant hole may cause the collapse of a thousand-li dyke.” The first insignificant decision may shatter the
defensive mechanism of the opposite side and dismantle all the barricades of the negotiation.

VI. CONCLUSION
Business negotiations are increasingly significant in economic activities. Negotiators can reinforce their bargaining
power through the use of psychological knowledge. Psychology is able to help negotiators improve their self-awareness
and control their emotions, can also cultivate the ability of negotiators to guide their opponents’ emotions, assist
negotiators to achieve win-win cooperation, and help negotiators form conditioned reflexes that are more conducive to
business negotiations. Psychological theories provide negotiators a new way to achieve their goals.
Negotiators have a nature called multiplicity, but they often do not realize it. They are more liable to ignore or hide
unconsciously some bad sides of their personalities. Therefore, negotiators fail to care about the existence of some
adverse emotions, and then lose control of these adverse emotions. Keeping their emotions under control in business
negotiations is on the premise that they need to value the multiplicity of themselves and have comprehensive grasp of
themselves. Dispositional attribution, a major part of Attribution Theory, ascribes the cause of behavior to some
characteristic of a person.
After negotiators can take good control of their emotions, they should put emphasis on the opposite side’s
psychological states and emotions. The best goal of business negotiations is to achieve win-win situation, and
negotiators should avoid confrontational negotiation for this best result. When the opposite side is putting forward his
dissenting viewpoints, negotiators should be composed enough not to wrangle with the opposite side. Practically,
repulsion cannot foster negotiators to obtain more benefits. On the contrary, it will reinforce the opposite side’s hostility.
Intergroup Conflict Theory explains the conflicts between negotiators and the opposite side are prevailing in business
negotiations. Nevertheless, negotiators can make efforts to weaken the conflicts.
A successful business negotiation must make the both sides meet their needs. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
elaborates that people have different needs at different levels. Obviously, negotiators have their needs, and the opposite
side also wants negotiators to meet their needs in business negotiations. Negotiators should take the opposite side’ needs
into consideration, and find out what is the real need of the opposite side, which can advance the business negotiations
and facilitate the fulfillment of negotiators’ targets.
According to Ivan Petrovich Pavlov’s experiment (1890-1930), it is feasible for negotiators to form conditioned
reflexes. Besides, Negotiators need to achieve their goals step by step. That is, negotiators eventually get to a big deal
after a trivial agreement is reached, which is similar to Foot-in-the-Door Technique.
In conclusion, negotiators are supposed to extend themselves to improving their performance in business negotiations
with the knowledge of psychology.

REFERENCES
[1] Dawson, R. (1999). Secrets of Power Negotiating for Sales People: Inside Secrets from a Master Negotiator. Wayne: The
Career Press.
[2] Diamond, S. (2010). Getting More: How You Can Negotiate to Succeed in Work and Life. New York: Three Rivers Press.
[3] Dubrin, J.A. (1978). Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior. An Applied Perspective. Oxford: Pergamon Press Inc.
[4] Fisher, R. & Ury, L. W. & Patton, B. (1991). Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In. London: Penguin
Books.
[5] Fox, A. E. (2013). Winning from Within: A Break-through Method for Leading, Living, and Lasting Change. New York: Harper
Business.
[6] Gerrig, J. R. & Zimbardo, G. P. (2012). Psychology and Life. London: Pearson.
[7] Hock, R. R. (2009). Forty Studies that Changed Psychology: Exploration into the History of Psychological Research. London:
Pearson.
[8] Lu, X. W. & Qin, D. L. (2019). The Application of Language Arts in Business Negotiation. Literature Education, 1, 69-70.
[9] McGonigal, K. (2012). The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More
of It. New York: Penguin Group.
[10] Yang, M. (2017). The Analysis of Critical Control Elements in the Business Negotiation. China International Business, 2,
153-154.

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Qing Cheng was born in Quzhou, China in 1998. She is a junior majoring in Business English in the Foreign Language College,
Zhejiang Ocean University, China.

Yeli Shi was born in Zhoushan, China. She received her M.A. degree in literature and language from Zhejiang University, China.
She is an associate professor in the Foreign Language College, Zhejiang Ocean University, China. Her current researches focus on
English Language and Business English teaching.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 838-842, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.22

Lexical Features and Translation of English for

Psychology
Tianyu Wang
School of Foreign Languages, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093

Gaofeng Yu
School of Foreign Languages, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093

Abstract—English for Psychology has its particular lexical features, such as lots of specialized common words,
abbreviations, high requirements for professional knowledge. This paper, by way of examples, analyses these
lexical features and offers the related translation strategies.

Index Terms— English for Psychology, lexical features, translation strategies

I. INTRODUCTION
Psychology is a science that studies human psychological phenomena, mental function and behavior. In today's
society, people's life and survival pressures are increasing with the rapid development of economy, science and
technology, so psychology plays an important role in studying people's production and life. In 1879, Wihelm Wundt
established the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany, marking the birth of psychology.
However, the development of psychology in China was very tortuous. Until 1917, Cai Yuanpei established the first
psychology laboratory in Peking University, which marked the spread of psychology in China. Now, even though more
and more attention has been paid on psychology studies and significant progress has been achieved at home, it still has
not established a complete psychological system.
Nowadays, the development of the times and society has made the application of psychology more and more
extensive at home. However, we still need to realize that compared with Western countries, the development of
psychology in China is still far from mature, we still need to learn from foreign literatures and predecessors' researches.
Moreover, English for psychology is characterized by long sentences, multi-professional vocabularies, and is always
complicated and difficult to analyze. It is still a big difficulty to read foreign literatures accurately. Translation, as a
practical activity of bilingual conversion, bears the responsibility of promoting cultural integration, exchange of ideas
and common progress in science and technology between different countries. Therefore, only by mastering the
professional knowledge and lexical features of English for psychology can we accurately understand and translate the
meaning of the original text, and be in line with world psychology.

II. TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH VOCABULARY OF PSYCHOLOGY

A. Translation of Psychological Terminology and Psychologists
Due to the differences in social culture, some words in English have not be explained by foreign authors, but rather
be left in the basket, which may have an effect on our understanding. For the science of psychology, it is a science
emerging from the West. It was introduced to China at the end of the 19th century. There have been several different
translations: "Psychology", "Soulology", "Psychology", etc. The English word "Psychology", in terms of its literal
meaning, is originally related to "psyche", "soul", "mind" and "consciousness" in Chinese. It is related, but it does not
directly relate to the "heart" corresponding to our "temperament" in China. However, "心理学" is used to translate and
introduce the "Psychology" in the West. Shen Heyong (1996) argues that this is actually a combination of the "Mind" in
the West and the "Heart" in China, and Psychology in Chinese culture has been deeply included. Another example is
Gestalt Psychology, which is a branch of psychology that is independent from psychology. Shen Heyong (1996) argues
The more common translation of “Gestalt Psychology” is “格式塔心理学”，which was originally proposed by Xiao
Xiaorong. But the translation version of "完形心理学"also exists. Obviously, different translation versions of the same
term can cause confusions and misunderstandings of psychological concepts and terminology for readers, and even
cause errors in understanding and translation.
For the translation of the name of the psychologists, the first one to say is W.M.Wundt, the father of psychology. As
the founder of psychology, he established the world's first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig in


The paper is projected by 2017 Humanities and Social Sciences Cultivation Fund of University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. (Project
No.: SK17ZD05)

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Germany in 1879 and laid the foundation for psychology as a science. However, there are still two different translations
for his name. Gao Juefu translated it as "冯特", and Tang Cheng translated it into "冯德". Another example, the founder
of Gestalt Psychology, Max Wertheimer, there are several different translations for his name. Gao Juefu translated it as
“惠太海默”, Tang Cheng translated it as “魏特默”, and Lin Fang translated it as "韦特海默尔".Moreover, Kurt Lewin,
who had a profound influence on the development of Gestalt psychology and contemporary social psychology, there are
also several different translations of his name. The translation of Gao Juefu is "勒温", Lin Fang's translation is "莱温"
and Lu Yin's translation is "莱因", etc. In addition, for the child psychologist Jean Piaget，who put forward the
significant cognitive development theory, although "皮亚杰" has become the most popular translation , but also some
people translate his name as "皮阿热." The names of these psychologists may be distinguishable for readers of
psychology, but they are difficult for non-psychology readers. They cannot distinguish whether “冯特” and “冯德” is
the same person, “皮亚杰” and “皮阿热” is the same. Once the cognitive deviation occurs, it will also cause errors in
the understanding of the psychological text.
B. Specialized Translation of Common Vocabulary
Chen Ling (2008) argues English can be generally divided into English for General Purposes (EGP) and English for
special purposes (ESP), and vocabulary is one of the main differences between the two, and the polysemy is a major
difficulty in learning English for specialized purposes. In English for psychology, many common vocabularies from
English are given special meanings. These words often have several different meanings, also known as polysemous
words. The same vocabulary is quite different in general application and psychology applications. For example, the
general translation of "tolerance" is "公差，忍受力，耐受性" and it is translated as "抗药性" in psychology. The
ordinary translation of “withdrawal” is "撤退，撤回", and in psychology it is translated as "戒断". The ordinary
translation of "complex" is "复杂的，合成的", and it is translated as "情节" in psychology. The ordinary translation of
"insight" is "洞察力", and in psychology it is translated as "顿悟". The ordinary translation of "rehearsal" is "排演，排
练" and it is translated as "复诵" in psychology. Therefore, Tian Chuanmao (2016) argues that the translator should be
good at identifying the ordinary meaning and professional technical meaning of the words, and can not confuse one
with another.
C. Translation of Professional Vocabularies Consisting of Affixes and Roots
Most of the scientific vocabulary is composed of roots, prefixes and suffixes derived from Latin or Greek. This is a
major feature of scientific vocabulary in terms of etymology. A large number of vocabularies in English for psychology
are formed by the combination of derivative affixes or roots and ordinary vocabularies. Affixes and roots are essential
elements that constitute an English vocabulary for psychology，which has strong adhesion, great flexibility, and a strong
and extremely versatile ability. Based on these characteristics, there are some regular rules for translators to translate
professional English for psychology. For example, psycho-, its meaning is "心理的", which is used as a prefix and
combined with different common nouns to generate the following psychological professional vocabularies: (1)
psycho-dynamics (精神动力学) (2) psychoanalysis (心理分析) (3) psychotherapy（心理疗法） (4) psychologist (心理
学家) (5) psycho-physics (心理物理学). And bio-, of which the meaning is "生理的", as a prefix, it is combined with
different common nouns, it can generate the following psychological professional vocabularies: (1) biofeedback (生理
反馈) (2) bio-clock （生物钟）(3) bionergy （生命力）(4) biophilia (生物自卫本能) (5) bioreaction (生理反应).
Another example, re-, its meaning is "再，重新". As a prefix, it is combined with different common nouns to generate
the following psychological professional vocabularies : (1) recognition (再认) (2) relarning (再学习) (3) recall (回忆)
(4) relapse (复吸). In addition, such as the root -ism, its meaning is "论，主义", and there are the psychology
vocabularies derived from it: (1) behaviorism (行为主义) (2) determinism (决定论) (3) cognitivism (认知论) (4)
nativism (先天论) (5) empiricism (经验论). These words are derived from the combination of derived affixes or roots
and different common vocabularies, and they always have a special professional meaning.
D. Translation of Abbreviations in Psychology English
In recent years, the use of abbreviations has become more widespread, the number of Chinese abbreviations is small,
the meaning is clear, and the use is relatively formal. In contrast, the number of English abbreviations is huge, and it is
still increasing. If you are not careful enough in the process of use, it is easy to misinterpret the meaning of the original
text. As a science, rigor is indispensable for psychology, and there are also a large number of abbreviations in English
for psychology. Therefore, it is especially important to correctly understand the abbreviations when reading psychology
English literatures. For example: (1) CBT, it means Cognition Behavior Therapy in psychology, rather than Chicago
Board of Trade (2) TOT, it refers to Tip of Tongue, not Transfer of Technology (3) GSR, it is the Galvanic Skin
Response in psychology, not the General Staff Requirement (4) OCD, it is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, not Office
Of Civil Defense or Office for Child Development (5) PTSD, it is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is a widely
used psychology abbreviation because the symptom always occurs to people in modern life , and this abbreviation is
frequently occurs in a large number of psychological English reading materials. Therefore, it is very important to

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understand the professional knowledge related to psychology. Only by understanding and mastering the professional
knowledge of psychology and lexical features of English for psychology can we accurately and correctly translate the
materials. At the same time, translators can improve their productivity based on accurate translation.

III. VOCABULARY TRANSLATION STRATEGIES OF ENGLISH FOR PSYCHOLOGY

A. Accumulating Professional Knowledge of Psychology in Practice
Liang Bo (2017) argues that the translation of any terminology requires the translator to have a broad background of
professional knowledge. The translation of psychology terminology is no exception. As a science, psychology is closely
related to sciences such as physiology, physics, natural sciences, neuroscience, medicine, etc., and the knowledge
involved is also very extensive. It requires translators to have extensive and profound professional knowledge, further to
understand and translate the original text based on professional knowledge. In addition, based on the knowledge of
psychology, translators should do more translation practice. Only by practicing can they accumulate translation
experience and reflect the content of the source language text.
Example 1: Someone’s nature is their character, which they show by the way they behave.
Translation 1: 一个人的本质就是他们行为方式表现出的性格。
Translation 2: 一个人的行为方式体现出他们的性格。
Comparing the two translations in Example 1, we can obviously see that the translation 1 does not accurately
translate the meaning of the word "nature" in the sentence. The translation is very sturdy and difficult to understand. In
translation 2, the "nature" is accurately translated into "性格", and the “character” also means t“性格”, so the translation
is consistent. After combining the two translations and adjusting the translation order, as shown in the translation 2, the
meaning of the "nature" in psychology is correctly reflected.
Example 2：Yet scientists and laymen alike still spend too much time and effort trying to quantify the relative
importance of nature and nurture.
Translation: 但还是有一些科学家和非专业人员花大量时间和努力，试图量化先天与后天之间的相对重要性。
The "nature" in Example 2 is translated as “先天”. When the word "nature" and "nurture” appear in a psychology
article at the same time, the two words correspond to each other and are translated as “先天” and “后天”, and later
extended to “先天遗传说” and “后天培养说”. The word “nature” originally means "自然" in the natural sciences, "本
质，性质" in law, and often refers to "天性，性格，先天" in psychology. When reading psychology materials, you should
understand the original meaning accurately and translate accurately, moreover, the accumulation of professional
knowledge is also essential.
Such as the word "stage", it contains multiple meanings just as a noun, "阶段，时期，舞台，戏剧".
For example: Usually, the performance of actors is on the stage.
This sentence is very simple, and can be translated as: 演员的表演一般在舞台上展开。 In this sentence, because
there are two words "actor" and "performance” in the sentence, the deep meaning of the stage is also coming out,
obviously should be translated into “舞台”. However, in psychology, there are two professional vocabularies,
"preoperational stage" and "sensorimotor stage". These two words are relatively simple, and are respectively translated
into "远思时期"and "感觉动作期", at this time, the word "stage" represents "时期，阶段". These two words represent
the development of cognitive stages proposed by psychologist Piaget through observation and research on children's
behavior. He divides the cognitive development of children into four stages and the preoperational stage and
sensorimotor stage are the first two phases of these four. Another example is “ethology”, which means “动物行为学” in
animal science, and “习性学” in psychology; and the phrase “peg word”, “peg” means “钩”, word means “文字”, and
the phrase means "字钩法" in psychology; "coding specificity" means "登录特殊性" instead of "编码特殊性"; "sex
typing" means "性别配合" instead of "性别输入"; "autoshaping" means "性别塑造" instead of “自动形成”. The main
reason for the inaccurate translation of these words is that translators always rely solely on the relevant terms of the
dictionary for translation, lacking relevant professional knowledge, and cannot choose the correct meaning. According
to the above terminology, in order to accurately translate these words, translators must have a certain understanding of
the background knowledge in related fields. Fully consider the context of the context, and then translate the terminology
in conjunction with the expression habits of the psychology profession to avoid mistranslation. Qiao Junkai (2016)
argues that attention should be paid to the use of standardized terminology in translation to maintain the consistency of
terminology.
B. Translation of English for Psychology Needs Scientific and Strict Attitude
Psychology is not only a theoretical science, but also an applied science. This feature requires translators to have a
rigorous and scientific translation attitude. They should not rely solely on the dictionary or their own understanding of
related terms, instead, translators should refer to the literatures, select the exact meaning, and make sure the final
translation is correct.
Example 3: Freud （ 弗 洛 伊 德） exposes and releases the nosogenetic memories which repressed into the

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unconsciousness by Talking Cures.

Translation 1: 弗洛伊德通过谈话疗法来揭发并解放被患者压抑进无意识中的致病记忆。
Translation 2: 弗洛伊德通过谈话疗法来发掘并释放被患者压抑进潜意识中的致病记忆。
In Example 3, the main difference between the two translations is the meaning of "unconsciousness". In ordinary text,
the prefix "un-" often means “none, no”, but in psychology, "unconsciousness" represents sub-consciousness (潜意识),
not unconsciousness (无意识). These two are far apart in meaning. There is an obvious mistake in translation 1, that is
taken for granted, neglecting the meaning of professional vocabulary, and the self-understanding leads to translation
errors. In addition, the translations of "expose" and "release" are also improved in translation 2, making the translation
more contextual and more rigorous and accurate.
Example 4: Generally speaking, there are five stages of grief in psychology, including denial, anger, bargaining,
depression and acceptance.
Translation 1:总体而言，在心理学上悲伤有五个舞台,包括否认，愤怒，协商，绝望和接受。
Translation 2:总体而言，在心理学上悲伤有五个阶段，包括失落，愤怒，迷茫，消极和接受。
In Example 4, the main difference between translation 1 and translation 2 is reflected in the translation of "stage,
denial, bargaining and depression". In translation 1, the "stage" is translated into "舞台", which is obviously wrong. The
surface meaning of "stage" is "舞台", but it is always translated as "时期，阶段", and in psychology, the word "stage"
means "阶段" (the word has been mentioned in this paper). In addition, the translations of "denial, bargaining and
depression" in translation 1 also just take the surface meaning, instead of making in-depth research and thinking on
sentences. In psychology, these words have special meanings, indicating three stages of "loss, confusion and negative",
as shown in translation 2. The reason for these translation errors is that the translator does not have a rigorous scientific
attitude to verify the in-depth meaning of these words in the psychological text, but to take the surface meaning.
Therefore, when translating the psychological text, the scientific rigor attitude is an important criterion for ensuring that
the translation is accurate. When translating these vocabularies with shallow and deep meanings, the translator should
maintain the original text features, and the choices of words should be accurate when translating to avoid the ambiguity
of the translations.
C. Translation Methods Commonly Used in Psychological Text Translation
Translation methods commonly used by translators include literal translation and free translation. And n the
translation process of psychological texts, professional translators usually use the method of literal translation. The
so-called "literal translation" means that the translation not only conveys the content of the original text, but also
preserves the style and form of the original text as completely as possible. When the difference between the sentence
and the vocabulary of the original language and the target language is not large, the translation can be basically carried
out in the form of the original text. Because psychology texts are objective, clear in concept, and rarely emotional, so
literal translation is more likely to be used in the translation of psychological texts. In addition, other methods
commonly used by professional translators include Omission and Amplification. The so-called Amplification is to add
the necessary words, phrases, clauses, or complete sentences on the basis of the original text, so that the translation
conforms to the translation habits in grammar and language form. Furthermore, Qiao Junkai (2016) argues that in terms
of cultural background, word association, the translation should be equal to the original text from three aspects
including content, form and spirit.
For example, "elaboration" expresses “精致化处理” in psychology, rather than “精致化”, and the word “处理” is
added here. The word "elaboration" refers to the processing of the connotation and extension of concepts in
psychology as much as possible, which is a process. The phrase "method of location", namely "method of loci", which
means "位置记忆法" instead of "位置法", and the word "记忆" is added. It is a kind of traditional memory method. For
another translation method, Omission，as its name suggests, it is a translation strategy corresponding to Amplification.
Jia Wenbo (2007) argues that delete words that do not conform to the target language habits, language habits and
expressions to avoid the cumbersome translation.

IV. CONCLUSIONS
With the development of society and the increasing pressure of life, human beings have deepened their understanding
of themselves, and various psychological problems have gradually emerged. Psychology plays an important role in the
study of people's production and life. At the same time, the translation of psychology professional English is crucial to
the development of psychology in China. The translation of English for Psychology is not only a feature of scientific
English, but also has its own particularity. Translators should try to use standardized professional terms when translating,
not only should adhere to the scientific and rigorous attitude, but also need to improve their understanding of
professional knowledge of psychology, do practice under the premise of proficiency in professional knowledge, and
explore in practice. Besides, translators should summarize the characteristics of translation of English for psychology in
practice to avoid translation errors, ensure accurate understanding of the original text, correctly translate texts, and
promote the integration of Chinese psychology and world psychology.

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REFERENCES
[1] Chen Ling, Xiao Nan, Xiao Wenke. (2008). Study on the lexical features of business English--a polysemous phenomenon.
China Electric Power Education, 3, 189-191.
[2] Jia Wenbo. (2007). The Enlightenment of Functional Translation Theory to Applied Translation, Shanghai Journal of
Translation, 2, 9-14.
[3] Liang Bo. (2017). The terminology of photographic texts and English-Chinese translation. Chinese Science and Technology
Translators Journal, 1, 1-3.
[4] Qiao Junkai, Yu Gaofeng. (2016). The lexical features and translation of the manual for the use of technology products—take
SKF products as an example. Chinese Science and Technology Translators Journal, 29, 36-38.
[5] Shen Heyong. (1996). The Standardization of Psychological Terminology Translation. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 28, 425-430.
[6] Tian Chuanmao. (2016). The Trap in the Translation of Police Science and Technology—Taking the Chinese Translation of
Petroleum Machinery as an Example. Chinese Science & Technology Translators Journal, 9, 58-59.

Tianyu Wang was born in Jiangsu province, China in 1995.She is currently a postgraduate in the College of Foreign Languages,
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China. Her major is Master of Translation and Interpretation.

Gaofeng Yu was born in Henan province, China in 1959. He is currently an associate professor, M.A., College of Foreign
Languages, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China. His research interests include translation theory
and practice.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 843-850, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.23

On Political Language Ideology: Critical View of

Indonesian President Speech
David Samuel Latupeirissa
Department of English Literature, STIBA Kupang, Kupang-NTT, Indonesia

I Ketut Darma Laksana

Department of Linguistics, Universitas Udayana, Denpasar, Indonesia

Ketut Artawa
Department of Linguistics, Universitas Udayana, Denpasar, Indonesia

I Gusti Ayu Gde Sosiowati

Department of Linguistics, Universitas Udayana, Denpasar, Indonesia

Abstract—The current research aimed to explore the political language of Indonesia’s first president,
Soekarno. The exploration was conducted to reveal the ideology behind Soekarno’s political language. The
research was focused on inspecting the language form and ideology of the language. The researchers have
applied the three dimensions of analysis of the Critical Discourse Analysis theory proposed by Fairclough. The
projection of language form was inspected through the analysis of the first level, while the projection of
ideology was inspected through the analysis of the second level. Following that, an analysis of the third level
was conducted to indicate social-political change in Indonesia as an impact of Soekarno’s political language.
The findings have drawn conclusion about the three main ideologies of Soekarno that have shaped nation of
Indonesia. They are ‘unity as the most important value’, revolution as the soul of Indonesian’ and,
‘imperialism as the main enemy’.

Index Terms—critical discourse analysis, Fairclough's three-dimension analysis, political language, ideology

I. INTRODUCTION
Political language has played important roles in human civilization as the language of politics, philosophically, has
existed since the beginning of the human civilization era (Cobley, 2009, p.40). Coulthard (2014) states that it has been
used as a tool for performing meaning to uncover entities (p. 204). Furthermore, it has been a medium in the world
(Thompson, 2005, p.5) that constructs social life (Hymes, 2005), as well as ideology (Marlina and Shakila, 2016).
Based on that theoretical understanding fact, this study explores the phenomenon of how political language shapes
ideology in a nation. The construction can be a means of preserving or destroying the nation. It preserves a nation when
politicians use language to create positive ideology that is needed by the nation itself. By way of contrast, it destroys a
nation when politicians use language as a means of grabbing power and authority for themselves without considering
whether there is truth and reality in their words.
Some experts in Critical Discourse Analysis assert that most politicians use language to grab power without
considering truth and reality of their words. In Indonesia, where this study has been conducted, political language is
viewed as a means to cheat people. We believe that this phenomenon has occurred not only in Indonesia as an Asian
country, but also in America, Europe, and African countries. In order to examine these phenomena, the authors have
conducted a study on Soekarno’s Political Language (SPL).
Soekarno was an Asian nationalist as well as a socialist politician (Yang and Samsudin, 2017) who proclaimed
freedom for Indonesians on August, 17th 1945. He was also the first president of Indonesia. We have chosen SPL in
Indonesia because we perceive an erosion of Indonesia’s national ideology, and the political value of Pancasila1, has
occurred lately. It is our view, this erosion threatens to destroy what was established by the nation founders. At this
level, the gap between das sein and das sollen can be viewed clearly. The strength of the national ideology and political
values has been, and remains, a noble expectation for Indonesia. Unfortunately, the social phenomena that have
happened lately indicate that the political value of Pancasila is getting lower, and being destroyed by other Indonesian
politicians, along with the waning of patriotic ideology (cf. Ray, 2017, Bustan, 2012; Yuliono, 2013).
Furthermore, the fact that the ‘highest rate of corruption in Indonesia has acted by politicians’ (Tim Penyusun

1
Pancasila is the Indonesia State Ideology which places national unity as its high value.

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Laporan Tahunan KPK 2016)2 is a blow to the nation's social and political life. Latupeirissa et al. (2018), based on data
of Corruption Perceptions Index (2017), states that Indonesia scored 37 points out of 100 in 2017. The index of
corruption averaged 25.79 points from 1995 until 2017 (Latupeirissa et al., 2018). In the past, the political language,
especially SPL, was believed and accepted as a humane tool for the building and unifying of the nation. By way of
contrast, nowadays, most political language is being used as a means to deceive people. That is a kind of phenomena
that shows Pancasilaistic political values erosion as well.
Another urgency for this study relates to the historical value of the Indonesia nation as a part of Asian history.
Through the targeted results, it is also hoped to grow the wealth of an Asian history trail. That wealth will be a valuable
legacy for future generations. Similarly, the future generations, in this case, the generation of the Indonesian young,
may continue to maintain the identity of Indonesia by reflecting the ideology of Pancasila which has been constructed
in SPL.

II. MATERIAL AND METHOD

This study applies CDA theory proposed by Fairclough (1989, 1995, 2005, 2006), as its primary working hypothesis,
and supported by the theory of Hermeneutics. CDA Fairclough (1989, 1995, 2005, 2006) analyzes discourse critically
through three phases. The first phase is microanalysis, the second is discourse practice analysis, and the third is macro
analysis (Manmeet and Bharathi, 2016).
According to Fairclough (2005), each discourse appearing in text, conversation, or whatever, cannot be seen as
something natural, reasonable and neutral. He argues that discourses can be understood, as power fighting (Fairclough
2005; Latupeirissa et al., 2018). In the current study, SPL is viewed as struggling and fighting means. Further,
Fairclough (1995a) states that text may be judged as domain representation, significance of the word and experience,
which is open to various interpretations (Latupeirissa et al., 2018). The simplest discourse is a form of combat power
(cf. Rajandran, 2014; Maros & Nasharudin, 2016). In other words, any analysis of discourse, based on the critical views,
must be related to the power dimensions.
Jørgensen et al., (2010) stated that the critical approach proposed by Fairclough has a reciprocal relationship between
micro-events (verbal acts) and macro-structures. The critical approach rejects strict boundaries between micro and
macro studies. Operating with the dialectics between macro and micro in critical analysis, deeper understanding of
phenomena and ideology can be uncovered. This can also break down indications of social determination. To
understand the discourse as a whole, three levels or aspects of analysis are needed to be conducted. The first level is text
analysis, the second level is discursive practice analysis and the last is socio-cultural practice analysis.
The analysis of text levels is also known as syntactical analysis (cf. Rajandran, 2012), whilst analysis of the
discursive practice and socio-cultural is called paradigmatic analysis. In this study, text level analysis examines how
SPL was constructed. The analysis explores hidden text ideology (cf. Marlina and Shakila, 2016). The analysis of
discursive practice, in this research, focuses on the ‘whyness’ factors that made Soekarno produce particular ideology in
his political language, and the analysis of socio-cultural practices seeks to reveal how the ideology has changed the
nation of Indonesia. Discursive practice analysis and socio-cultural practice analysis were conducted through a
historical review and the application of the principles of hermeneutics.
This research views SPL as a natural phenomenon (Giorgi, 2002), that needed to be described as it was. In other
words, this research proceeded with an emphasis on a phenomenological perspective of SPL (cf. Shahidi et al., 2018).
The linguistic phenomenon of SPL focused on political speech texts as the corpus of data (Biber, 2006).
The corpus of Soekarno speech documents was taken from two trusted places. The first place was the office of the
Indonesian Republic National Archives (IRNA) that located in South Jakarta, while the second place was the National
Library of Indonesia Republic that located in Central Jakarta, Indonesia. The primary data sources were derived from
the places mentioned above, since both places were the official repositories for storage of original state documents
(Latupeirissa et al., 2018).
The research process was conducted following these steps and procedures. First, we took political speech texts (of
Soekarno as a portrait of Soekarno’s entire speech text. The total number of the documents were 919. All of them were
taken from IRNA and the National Library of Indonesia Republic. They were the corpora.
Second, we selected documents from the corpora. The selection was based on technique of purposive sampling. The
chosen documents were all Soekarno Political Speech (SPS) that delivered in August, 17th. There were 20 documents of
SPS that were delivered from August, 17th 1945 to August, 17th 1965. The corpus was filtered into research data. The
corpus of SPL, which was selected for special attention, and filtered into data, was SPS that delivered in August, 17th
1965. The title of this speech was ‘Tahun Berdikari’.
‘Tahun Berdikari’ was taken as the primary source for several reasons. The first reason, Soekarno himself stated that
this particular August 17th speech was the most important (Siswo, 2014; Latupeirissa et al., 2018). The second reason,
the speech of ‘Tahun Berdikari’ was the only speech that contains a summary of all the August speeches that delivered
by Soekarno from August, 17th 1945 to August, 17th 1965 (cf. Latupeirissa et al., 2018). In other words, it incorporates

2
(Indonesian: Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi), abbreviated as KPK, is a government agency established to fight corruption. In English, it is
called Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission

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the complete ideology of SPL. The third reason, in 1965, Indonesia faced critical times as the communist party
maneuvered to kill a number of Indonesian generals (Latupeirissa et al., 2018). The situation was continued by a
tragedy of large-scale killings as well as civil unrest which occurred over several months, targeting communist
sympathizers, ethnic Chinese and alleged leftists, often at the instigation of the armed forces and government (Melvin,
2017; Latupeirissa et al., 2018). Latupeirissa et al. (2018) interpret the situation as follows. Hermeneutically, as the
president, and as the founding father, with evidence of foresight, Soekarno appeared to feel and sense the crisis before
the tragedy happened (Latupeirissa et al., 2018). Many consider, including the authors, that he constructed and
delivered his best political speech in that year, on August 17th 1965.
Third, the research team identified data arising from research into problems. Fourth, data were selected and described
in order to be analyzed applying the principles of Fairclough’s CDA theory. As stated by Latupeirissa et al. (2018), the
principles consist of three phases namely microanalysis, discourse practice analysis, and macro analysis (cf. Abdullah,
2014; Latupeirissa et al., 2018). Microanalysis analyzed the form of SPL, while discourse practice analyzed ideological
meaning behind the language forms used in SPL as well as the whyness of these phenomena. Macro analysis briefly
investigated social change (cf. Latupeirissa et al., 2018). These three analyses provided the basic framework for
drawing conclusions that address scientific problems raised and discussed in the context of the research process.

III. DISCUSSION
In this section, we discuss the form of SPL, its ideology and the whyness or motivation that lies behind SPL. At the
end of this discussion, we propose a conclusion to the question of whether SPL was destroying or preserving the nation,
in this case, Indonesia. The idea proposed is based on hermeneutical principles that seek to interpret what was
previously identified and discussed as evidence.
A. Micro Analysis of SPL (First Level Analysis): Its Main Form.
In the corpus, the research team found that Soekarno adopted a style of repetition which was his most identifiable
characteristic form. Examples of forms of repetition occur at least 218 times in the corpus. It is the highest rank of
language style phenomenon that occurs and is spread across 145 different segments. In other words, at least, in each of
those segments, or in each paragraph, Soekarno used more than one example of repetition in his political speeches. In
the following table, it is displayed examples of total data gained (cf. Latupeirissa et al., 2018). The repetition
phenomena of SPL, that was taken from segment one to segment five, is shown in Table I.
TABLE I.
EXAMPLE OF TOTAL 218 REPETITION PHENOMENA FOUND I N SPL
No. Data Segment
1 Tjamkanlah saudara- saudara! Tjamkanlah, Tjamkanlah 1
2 Hari ini genap 20 tahun Proklamasi Kemerdekaan! Hari ini tepat 20 tahun kita 1
menjadi bangsa merdeka! Hari ini djangkap 20 tahun...
3 ...Negara kita! Negara Merdeka, Negara Republik Indonesia. 1
4 Hari ini, detik ini... 2
5 ...rasa hatiku luluh menjadi satu dengan hati Rakyatku, dengan hati Tanah-airku, 2
dengan hati Revolusi.
6 Fikiran dan perasaanku berpadu dengan fikiran dan perasaan semua... 2
7 di kota-kota dan di desa-desa, di gunung-gunung dan di pantai-pantai 2
8 ...dari Sabang sampai Merauke, dari Banda Aceh sampai Sukarnapura... 2
9 Hari ini..., hari ini..., hari ini..., hari ini..., hari ini..., hari ini... 2
10 ... bukan Sukarno, bukan Subandrio, bukan Ali, bukan Idham, bukan Aidit, bukan 2
Dadap, bukan Waru, bukan Suto, bukan Noyo, bukan Sarinah, bukan Fatimah...
11 ...bukan Kepala Negara, bukan Menteri, bukan pegawai, bukan buruh, bukan 2
petani, bukan nelayan, bukan mahasiswa, bukan seniman, bukan sarjana, bukan
wartawan...
12 ... bukan semata-mata politik, bukan melulu ekonomi, bukan hanya kebudayaan, 2
bukan mligi ilmu, bukan militer thok...
13 Allahuakbar, Allahuakbar, Allahuakbar 3
14 Kalau hari ini..., dan kalau hari ini.... Dan kalau di dunia ini... 4
15 Aku bangga..., aku bangga 4
16 ... mencerca kita, mengejek kita, mentertawakan kita... 4
17 ...memang beginilah..., memang beginilah... 4
18 Resapkanlah, endapkanlah, renungkanlah 5
19 Tergantung..., tergantung... 5
20 Manakala..., manakala..., manakala..., manakala..., manakala..., 5
21 Kita melempem..., kita lembek..., kita menjerah... 5
22 200 tahun..., 200 tahun..., 200 tahun... 5
23 ...bukan apa- apa,... bukan apa- apa... 5

As shown in the above table, it is apparent that the total number of repetitions significantly exceeded the number of
segments contained in the text of SPL. As the main characteristic of SPL form was identified as repetition, further
examination of this phenomenon was undertaken through the use of the computer software WordSmith 7. The program

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identified lexicons that were used repeatedly by Soekarno.

Using WordSmith 7, four main categories of repeated lexicons were identified. They are ‘yang’, ‘kita’, ‘Indonesia’,
and ‘memberikan’. ‘Yang’ was the most highly ranked lexicon that was used repeatedly by Soekarno. It occurs 383
times in SPL. It occupies 3.24 % of the corpus. Semantically, ‘yang’ is the only Indonesian conjunction word - ‘that’,
‘who’, ‘which’, ‘where’ - that acts as preposition of placement in relative clauses. It is used to explain something.
After ‘yang’, the personal pronoun ‘kita’ is the next highest ranking word used by Soekarno. ‘Kita’ means ‘we’, or
‘us’ in English. It appears 371 times, and occupies 2.14 % of the corpus. On a different side, ‘Indonesia’ is the highest
ranking noun used by Soekarno. It is used 121 times occurring in 1.02% of the corpus. The last, ‘memberikan’ is the
highest ranking verb that was used by Soekarno. Semantically, ‘memberikan’ is a verb that means ‘give’ in English.
‘Yang’, ‘Kita’, ‘Indonesia’, and ‘Memberikan’, the words used repeatedly by Soekarno, mirror his personality.
Hermeneutically, Soekarno was a politician who used language to explain. His explanations were offered because many
Indonesian people in the past did not have sufficient understanding of many things. Instead of commanding people,
Soekarno chose to offer explanations using ‘yang’. The authors surmise that if the highest ranked word in Soekarno’s
lexicon is a verb, then it might be concluded that Soekarno was a politician who just commanded people.
The personal pronoun ‘kita’ (we/ us) that was often repeated by Soekarno, hermeneutically reflects Soekarno as a
politician who did not only think of himself. What he did was not only for himself but for all people's sake. Again the
authors surmise, that if the personal pronoun that was most often repeated by Soekarno was ‘I’, then it might be
concluded that Soekarno was a selfish politician. Our interpretation of the use of ‘kita’ is supported by the finding of
another word, a noun, that was often repeated by Soekarno. The other noun was ‘Indonesia’.
As ‘Indonesia’ was the highest ranked noun repeatedly used by Soekarno, it reflects the thought that most occupied
Soekarno’s mind. The thing that was most consistently present in Soekarno’s thinking was Indonesia. Soekarno did not
only think of his position. Finally, Soekarno often repeated the verb ‘memberi’ (give/ giving). Our other interpretation is
based on the repeated verb of ‘memberi’ (give/ giving). Relating to the context, Soekarno often delivered speeches to
motivate all Indonesian people to offer or to give everything that could be given for the sake of Indonesia. Here,
Soekarno taught people to care for others. In fact, when the history of Soekarno’s struggle is examined, we find that he
did not only speak or teach people to give something for the nation, he personally demonstrated a life of offering and
giving. It showed his true struggle in the political world.
Based on the analysis of SPL’s main form, it can be stated that it was Soekarno’s normal pattern to offer explanation
to teach Indonesian people. His teaching was given for the sake of the people of Indonesia, not for his own sake. His
teaching was mainly motivating people to give something for the betterment of the nation.
B. Second Level Analysis of SPL: Its Ideologies and Motivation
Based on examination of the corpus, it is found that a style of repetition was the main characteristic of SPL3. Besides
the repeated lexicons, there is a pattern of repeating certain topics. Our examination found three main topics that were
repeated by Soekarno (cf. Latupeirissa et al., 2018). The first topic was unity, the second was revolution, and the third
was imperialism and capitalism. This phenomenon provides a base for further analysis, in particular discourse practice
analysis and macro analysis, that relates to ideology and motivation, as well as social change.
The findings reflect ideologies that lay behind SPL. The ideologies are: 1) unity as the most important thing for
Indonesian, 2) revolution as Indonesian soul, and 3) Imperialism and Capitalism is Indonesia’s main enemy (cf.
Latupeirissa et al., 2018). In 43 segments of the 145 segments, Soekarno discusses theme of unity as a very most
important thing for the Indonesian people (Latupeirissa et al., 2018). In the whole text, the theme of unity dominates
30%. Semantically, as stated by Latupeirissa et al. (2018), there are 119 lexicons that related to the topic of unity as the
most important thing for Indonesian people. Latupeirissa et al. (2018) state that the lexicons were used to persuade
people to be united. The persuasion was constructed by Soekarno because Indonesia, historically, is a multi-racial
nation, a multi-religious nation, as well as a multi-cultural nation (Sa’idi, 2017; Latupeirissa et al., 2018). Indonesia,
easily, could be separated due to the phenomena (Rosana, 2017).
The second main ideology that was identified, was about revolution in the Indonesian soul. It is found that 39
segments, talking about revolution, were constructed by Soekarno. It features in 27% of the whole text (Latupeirissa et
al., 2018). The main point of these segments is that ‘revolution must be sustained and continually lived out by all
Indonesian people’. It is also found that, as also has been stated by Latupeirissa et al. (2018), there are 204 lexicons
which have semantic relationship to the topic of revolution. 164 lexicons are related to the word ‘revolution’, and 40
lexicons are related to the word ‘revolutionary’. The first ideology about unity, and the second ideology about
revolution, are repeatedly expressed in SPL (Latupeirissa et al., 2018).
The third ideology, as identified, was ‘imperialism and capitalism as the main enemy of the Indonesian people’ (cf.
Latupeirissa et al., 2018). Similar to the statement of Latupeirissa et al. (2018), the total construction of segments that
speak about it was 31 segment. It features in 22% of the text as a whole (Latupeirissa et al., 2018). Furthermore, from
the semantical point of view, it is found that there are 76 lexicons which relate to ideology of fighting imperialism and
capitalism. Latupeirissa et al. (2018) present the following chart to show ideologies of SPL.

3
The discussion about repetition as the main characteristic of SPL, in general, has been presented in an article entitled “Repetition in Indonesian
Political Language” (Latupeirissa et al., 2018). It is needed to be referred as a ‘mirror’ of ideology of SPL.

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SPL I DEOLOGIES
Unity as the most important thing
Revolution as Indonesian soul
Imperialism and capitalism as Indonesian main enemy
Other topics

21%
30%

22%

27%

Other topics, collectively comprising 21%, discus about: (1) history of the Indonesian nation, (2) thanksgiving for
many positive aspects that have been given to Indonesian people, (3) the spirit of struggling in gaining freedom, (4) the
meaning of freedom, (5) do not give up in facing difficulties, (6) nationalism, (7) the spirit of independence, (8) real
leadership, (9) culture, (10) spiritual braveness, and (11) the ideology of marhaenism (cf. Latupeirissa et al., 2018). The
eleven ideas above, overall, are only 1.9 % of the SPL. In other words, they are not dominant in the text (Latupeirissa et
al., 2018). The dominant ideas, or the main ideologies, are ‘unity as the most important thing for Indonesians’,
‘revolution in the Indonesian soul’, and ‘Imperialism and Capitalism as Indonesia’s main enemy’.
C. Macro Analysis of SPL (Third Level Analysis): Its Impact
Analysis of SPL’s impact is a part of macro analysis in Fairclough’s theory. In analyzing the impact, we adopted the
method of interpretation based on the principles of hermeneutics. Hermeneutics interprets phenomena by looking at
historical review. In the historical review, the team identified some changes in Indonesian socio-culture. It is asserted,
that these changes may be explained by the impact of SPL’s ideologies. Herewith we display two impacts.
Firstly, SPL has impacted the way Indonesian people communicate with each other. With the ideology of unity,
Indonesian people have experienced a change in the way they communicate, namely in terms of language. From
different ethnic, racial and cultural backgrounds, there were, and are, a lot of different languages used in communication.
Tondo (2009) states that there are at least 742 different local languages in Indonesia. These language differences
represented a challenge, a gap in unity. However, Soekarno, as one of the founders of Indonesia, did not give up
working to unify the nation. He continued to change the way people communicated. Finally, Indonesian people began to
use Indonesian language as the language of unification.
As recorded in Asian history, Indonesian language as a unifying tool was initiated by the momentum created by the
youth oath on October 28th, 1928. The momentum birthed in this historic event was one of the seeds of Indonesian
Independence. It was carried out through unity. However, it is difficult to deny that the momentum of the youth oath as
a momentum for the birth of a unifying language did not immediately result in causing the entire nation to communicate
by using the Indonesian language. It took a struggle, with a strong determination to continue the noble ideals contained
in the oath of youth. This struggle, which was carried out by Soekarno, has continuing to spread the ideology of unity as
the centrally important thing. Since the proclamation of Indonesian independence on August 17th 1945, the Indonesian
people began to use Indonesian language more often. Increasingly over many years, the presentation of the use of
Indonesian language by Indonesian people has grown to be higher than in the past (cf. Cohn & Ravidranath, 2014).
Secondly, the ideology contained in SPL has brought a change in the way of life of the Indonesian people. The
ideology here is ‘Imperialism and Capitalism as the main enemy of Indonesia’. Historically, colonialism, constructed by
European imperialists, has influenced the way of life of many Indonesian people (cf. King, 2016). Therefore, in his
speech, Soekarno offended and denounced people who were westernized.
Next, in the Indonesian history of the early days of independence, there were many Indonesians who were proud to
speak Dutch or English compared to speaking in Indonesian. Some people tended to feel more honored if they were
friends of Europeans rather than being friends of their fellow Indonesians.
The western lifestyle adopted by Asian people, in this case, Indonesians, as already mentioned above, was destructive,
because it did not reflect nationalism. This is what Soekarno opposed. In the end, gradually, Indonesian people have
experienced a change in their way of life. In addition, Indonesian people began to use Indonesian language with pride,
and people also began to work hard to give meaningful expression to Indonesia's independence. Gradually, Indonesians

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have found their real identity as Asian people.

IV. CONCLUSION
Examining what have been discussed above, we conclude the following points. First, the main form of SPL is a style
of repetition. The words that were commonly repeated by Soekarno were ‘Yang', ‘Kita', ‘Indonesia', and ‘Memberikan'.
These four words have revealed Soekarno's character and his purpose in using political language. The character he lived
and the purposes of his political language were to build and to preserve Indonesia.
Furthermore, by examining text domination, we identified ideologies behind SPL. The ideologies support what we
have stated before. Soekarno, who was an Asian politician as well as the founder and the first president of Indonesia,
tried his best to sustain Indonesia. As a result of SPL's main form and ideology, Indonesia has become a better nation.
This shows that not all political language is used to cheat people.
Thomans & Wareing (1999) have stated that political language in any speech, through indirect manipulation of
language, is mostly intended to cheat people. In contrary, this research has shown that not all political language is used
for manipulation. It is undeniable that a skillful speakers of political language, one of them is Soekarno, are able to
influence the preconceptions, views, ambitions and fears of the public (Fairclough, 1989). They can persuade people to
accept false statements as true postulates, or even to support policies conflicting with their interests. But, as we have
found, Soekarno played the persuasion skills not for himself, but for humanity aims. Finally, the result of the current
research is proposed to be a mirror for other politicians, especially Asian politicians. We hope that the politicians may
use language to build, to sustain, and to preserve their nation. This would be a valuable action for humanity.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was financed by The Ministry of Research, Technology, & Higher Education of Indonesia.

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David Samuel Latupeirissa is a lecturer in STIBA Kupang, Indonesia. In STIBA, he teaches Discourse
Analysis and Semantics. The subjects have also been his interest in conducting researches. His researches
have been published in several reputable International journals as well as presented in International
conferences. Currently, He is studying at Doctoral program of Linguistics at Universitas Udayana Denpasar,
Bali- Indonesia. His dissertation, that is being written, entitled ‘Soekarno Political Language: A Critical
Discourse Study’.

I Ketut Darma Laksana is a senior lecturer as well as a Professor in Universitas Udayana Denpasar,
Indonesia. He is active in conducting researches related to morphology and Discourse Analysis. His
researches have been published in some reputable International journals, and presented in some International
Conferences.

Ketut Artawa is a Professor of linguistics in Universitas Udayana Denpasar, Indonesia. He is a senior

researcher who is known not only in Indonesia, but also in many places around the word. Currently, he is the
head program of Doctoral Program of Linguistics at Universitas Udayana Denpasar, Bali.

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I Gusti Ayu Gde Sosiowati is an associate Professor of Linguistics. Her interest is in Political Language.
Currently, she is teaching in Universitas Udayana Denpasar, Indonesia. She has conducted a lot of researches
related to the field of Discourse.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 851-857, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.24

Analysis of the UN Secretary-general’s Remarks

on Climate Change: From the View of
Ecolinguistics
Hecong Wang
School of English, China Three Gorges University, Da Xue Road, Yichang City, Hubei Province, China

Rui Zhai
School of English, China Three Gorges University, Da Xue Road, Yichang City, Hubei Province, China

Xinyu Zhao
School of English, China Three Gorges University, Daxue Road, Yichang City, Hubei Province, China

Abstract—Ecological discourse analysis could reflect the relationship between language and environmental
issues and awake people’s consciousness to protect our earth. According to Systemic-Functional linguistics,
language is not only a means of action but also a means of reflection. This study aims to use
Systemic-Functional linguistics to analyze the United Nation’s general-secretary’s remarks on climate change
and reveal the ecological ideologies from the perspective of Ecolinguistics, appealing for people’s ecological
values, and lead them to act ecologically and think ecologically (Huang Guowen, 2016) in their daily life.

Index Terms—ecological discourse analysis, systemic-functional linguistics, remarks, ideologies

I. INTRODUCTION
In the past century, with the rapid development of people’s economic levels, our living standards have improved
magnificently. However, the environment also changed a lot. Severe environmental problems appeared frequently
during these years. Human beings blindly meet their unsatisfied desire at the cost of destroying our habitats. When the
hot and humid conditions coupled with a haze that covered the cities of the world and healthy problems caused by
hostile weather start to occur, people’ ecological protection consciousness have already been awoken. The world
gradually pays more attention to the environment and related news continually appears in the print media and on
networks as well as on TV. Now, interdisciplinary studies in connection with ecology have gained in popularity around
the world. Eco-linguistics, which studies the impact of language on the life –sustaining relationships among humans,
other organisms and the physical environment, is normative oriented towards preserving relationships which sustain life
(Alexander & Stibbe, 2014). There are two main research approaches, the first one is Haugen’s mode and the second is
Halliday’s mode. Haugen’s mode believes that ecological environment is the basic condition of the language
development. Haugen’s mode is always known as the social accountability. Halliday emphasizes the significant function
of language in settling environmental problems. And it also reminds linguists to work out environmental problems and
make contributions all the way. Nowadays, more and more people come together and try to find the efficient way to
solve these issues. Linguists, especially the Chinese researcher attempts to find solutions in Chinese traditional
philosophy, such as ideologies between human and nature in Confucianism and Taoism. In this thesis, the author will
use the Chinese ecosophy as the basic guideline to analyze the speech made by General-Secretary of the United Nations.
So far, there are many scholars who have made studies from the view of Eco-Linguistics. But there are no researches
about UN general secretary’s speech on the climate summit in 2018 from the view of Eco-Linguistics. This study is
going to analyze the latest speech presented by UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, in order to arouse people’s
ecological consciousness.

II. DATA COLLECTION

This study will take the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres’s speech on the climate summit in 2018 as data. It is
collected from the official website of the United Nations (website: http://www.un.org/zh/climatechange/), which is
established by the United Nations to announce its latest news and policies. This website especially own a page named
Climate Summit 2019. In this page, it includes their actions about settling climate problems and latest news concerned
with environmental problems. This speech was collected from a video which showed in this column. The video is an
excerpt of general-secretary’s whole speech. Referring to its original speech draft given by the website of the United
Nations after clicking the title of the speech video,
(website:https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2018-09-10/secretary-generals-remarks-climate-change-deliver

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ed), we got this excerpt speech data of this video.This study shall apply qualitative and quantitative methods to make an
analysis of the speech draft in the general-secretary’s speech, and supplement the methods of inductive and deductive.
Furthermore, this study will be based on some basic concepts such as ecsophy in Eco-Linguistics and use them as the
ecological standard to guide people when handling the environmental problems. Moreover, this study will probe social
ecological view, humanistic ecological view and natural ecological view from General Secretary’s research as well as
investigate the influence of the speech after analyzing its language phenomena.

III. ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK

"Systemic Theory is a way of thinking about language and working on language and through language, on other
things" (Halliday, 1985, p.14). This thesis would use Systemic-Functional Linguistics as the main framework. Systemic
Functional Linguistics as an appliance linguistics has three main meta-functions, including experiential function,
interpersonal function and textual function. “Composing of experimental and logical functions, the ideational function
of language construes the world around us” (Halliday&Matthiessen, 2004, p.31). Experiential function is mainly
realized by the transitivity system, which is “construing the world of meaning potential manageable set of process
types” (Halliday, 1994/2000, p.106). Transitivity system consists of six processes, including material process, relational
process, mental process, verbal process, behavioral process and existential process. However, language not only
represents processes of doing, saving, sensing, etc. But also enacts personal and social relationships with other people.
According to Halliday, the interpersonal function is mainly realized through two schemes: mood and modality. If we use
language to express speakers' identity, status and motivation as well as their attitude, judgment and evaluation towards
other things, then we emphasize its interpersonal function. And there are four basic speech functions include offer,
command, statement and question. Different functions also indicate different meanings. Alongside types of modality,
there are three quantifiers related to modality, i.e. orientation, value and polarity. Thematic structure consists of theme,
which is the element that serves as the point of departure of the message and rheme, which is the remainder of the
message, the part in which the theme is developed.
This thesis will mainly use the three meta-functions of Systemic-Functional Linguistics to analyze the secretary’s
speech.

IV. FINDINGS
Firstly, the author strictly abides by the rules and sorting techniques of System-Functional Linguistics classifying the
General Secretary’s speech via the transitivity system. After marketing the numbers of all the sentences, the author also
picks out the processes, moods, speech functions, pronouns, modality as well as themes in the whole speech. Totally we
have numbered 27 sentences. The definite contents can be seen from Appendix 1 and Appendix 2.
The author made three tables. Table one is the overall processes and numbers.
TABLE 1
OVERALL PROCESSES AND NUMBERS
Process Material Relational Mental Verbal Behavioral Existential
type process process process process process process
Total Number
49 36(73%) 10(20%) 3(7.5%) 1(2%) 0 0

From table 1, we can find that there are 49 processes in total. The material process has presented 36 times which
takes the main part of process types in 73%. Relational process is in the second place and maintains 20%. The next is
mental process which owns 7.5%. And verbal process occupies the least place and only appears once with 2%.
Behavioral and existential process haven’t presented in the speech.
The second table is about the overall mood types involving with functions. The author has counted out the numbers
of mood types and statement used in the draft.
TABLE II
OVERALL MOOD TYPES INVOLVING WITH FUNCTIONS

Function
Mood Type Statement Question Command Offer Total Number

Declarative 24 1 25

Imperative 2 2

Interrogative 0

Total Number 24(89%) 0 3(11%) 0 27

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In this table, the author finds that it has three main mood types including declarative, imperative and interrogative
types and four functions containing statement, question and command functions. This thesis finds that the declarative
type mainly use the statement function with 24 times and constitutes majority parts in 89%. The rest types are
imperative mood type and declarative mood type with command function which account for 3 times with 11%. Without
interrogative mood types, questions function and offer function, the sum numbers of mood types are 27.
The third table is the overall themes involving with pronouns. In this table, the author clearly demonstrates the
relationship between pronouns and themes in definite sentences. The pronouns in the speech include the first person,
second person, third person pronoun and demonstrative pronoun. First person pronouns mainly are “I”, “we”, “us”, and
“our” in the passage. The second person pronoun is “you”. Third person pronoun in the speech is “they” and
demonstrative pronouns are “this”, “these”, “there” and “it”. We can see the definite statistics from the table below.
TABLE III
OVERALL THEMES INVOLVING WITH PRONOUNS
Pronoun First Second Third Demonstrative Total
person Person Person Pronoun Number
Selected I/we/us/our you they This/these/there/it
Examples
Total Number 15(65%) 1(4%) 2(9%) 5(21%) 23
Theme 6(67%) 0 1(11%) 2(22%) 9

The total number of pronouns is 23. First person contains the largest part with 65% and demonstrative pronoun in the
second place with 21%. Second person and third person respectively own 4% and 9% in total numbers of pronoun. And
the numbers which use the pronouns as themes are in 9 times. Using 6 times with first person pronoun about 67%, 22%
of demonstrative pronoun with 2 times and 11% of third pronoun which used as themes in sentences. And there are no
second person pronouns in the context.

V. DISCUSSION
After analyzing the speech from transitivity system, the author would discuss the speech from three dimensions.
A. Highlight the Human Values
This speaker believes the global warming would bring damages to humankind and their generations in the future.
Such as “yet the effects are being felt first and worst by the poorest nations and the most vulnerable peoples and
communities.” and “Every day we fail to act is a day that we step a little closer towards a fate that none of us wants.”
This kind of words appears quite frequently in this speech. But we all know that climate change would influence every
species on the earth, and some of them would become extinct along with the rise in temperature. Stibbe (2015) once
emphasizes that we should know that all of the lives, human and other species are indispensable in the earth. In
traditional Chinese philosophy, Confucianism proposes that benevolence is bestowed upon everyone by tian 天(heaven),
which represents the universe, the nature, the untouchable yet pervasive power of cosmos. Thus, benevolence is equal to
the law of life. In this sense, human beings are no other than normal constituents of the universe. So that the speech
almost did not mentioned the detriments towards other species, but highlighted the threats to humankind which put over
emphasis on the values of human being.
B. Highlight Natural Destruction Led by Human Activities
The General-Secretary has mentioned many times that it is the human’s inappropriate behaviors that finally caused
nowadays’ growing environmental problems. Such as “Scientists have been telling us for decades over and over again.
And far too many leaders have refused to listen. Far too few have acted with the vision the science demands. We see the
results.” Human beings overly disturb the living ways of other lives but never follow scientists’ advice, continuing to
explore the resources from the earth to meet their unsatisfied desire but never respond the nature. In Chinese Taoism,
“zi ran” is regarded as a central value which means naturalness. Chinese philosopher Lao Zi further reflects that the Tao
which is a key word in Chinese Taoism is respected and honored by ordinary people, and without bothering by any
human being, nature always runs in a natural way. Under such premises, human being is nothing special but the same
with animal, plant, rock or, a drop of water in the nature. Wu Wei is another principle of Taoism which literally
translated as non-action, or more precisely as Needham (1956) once mentioned that Taoism is the action which does not
go against the grain of nature and also suggests the same meaning. Some people may observe these words as a
pessimistic deprivation of human rights. However, if one reads these doctrines in the shoes of other entities, it is
obvious that human beings are not restricted but are given with similar rights with those entities. It is simply because
human beings are taking so many rights for granted from the natural world. It comes to the common sense in the speech
that human beings recklessly exploit natural resources and do not obey the laws of nature. The earth is already out of its
environmental carrying capacity. As everything has its own way of living, “a man should restrict his activities to what is
necessary and what is natural". (Fung, 1997, p100)
C. Appeal for Tackling the Climate Change

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This speech frequently uses material processes which contain 73% of the speech, such as “so we can hit the Paris
targets and inject the great ambition that is so urgently needed.” And relational process maintains 20%. Such as “The
world’s richest nations are the most responsible for the climate crisis.” It means that the General-Secretary strongly
appeals to us to come together to be confronted with the problems taking practical measures to tackle them. It also
means that the environmental problems have been in close connection with everyone in the world, and we do have the
responsibility to solve the problems caused by ourselves. This speech mainly uses the declarative sentences with
statement function which constitutes the majority in 89%. The rest types are imperative mood type with command
function constitute 11%, which infers that the environmental problem is an inevitable fact now. And there is no doubt
that right now it is an emergency to take action. Secretary does hope people could do something to ease the current
crisis in such pressing situation. In 1990s, ecolinguistics gained its momentum when M.A.K Halliday delivered his
keynote speech“New Ways of Meaning”. This speech discusses topics such as growthism, sexism classism and
speciesism and how they manifest themselves in the syntax of our languages. Halliday made strong assumptions about
the influence of language on ecological thinking and environmental issues and stressed the role of applied linguists in
the study of the growth of environmental problems. And Chinese linguist Huang Guowen (2016) mentioned that not
only should we bring up comprehensive social people but also we need to cultivate “ecological man” who is full of
ecological conscious and related behaviors. “Ecological man” could integrate their ecological conscious into their lives,
respecting and protecting nature, pursuing the coexistence with nature and full of benevolence towards environment, as
well as to sacrifice themselves for the ecological civilization. This speech has clearly delivered this kind of ideology and
sincerely calling upon everyone in the earth to protect our environmental world.
From the above discussion and analysis, we can see that throughout the speech, the General-Secretary conveyed his
ecological view and strongly urged us to take actions under the leadership of ecological consciousness. This Commons
about the importance and urgency to release climate crisis which proposed by the general secretary is explicit and clear.
And it also has mentioned that it is necessary to code with the environmental problems by using the joint efforts from
everybody. But this speech put over emphasizes on the benefits of human beings, and overlooks the other species values.
This kind of views confused the relationship between human and non-humans, which would mislead the audiences.
Following the Halliday’s approach, Ecolinguists study "the impact of language on the life-sustaining relationships
among human, other organisms and the physical environment" (Alexander&Stibbe, 2014, p118), which means that we
cannot separate humans from other organisms in the world. We should also be concerned about their living situations.
As Chinese linguist Meng Yuanpei (1997) proposes that we should withdraw from active involvement with the running
of other entities and let them have their way.

VI. CONCLUSION
Based on the Systemic Functional Linguistics, this study has used the three meta-functions to analyze the
General-Secretary’s remarks on climate change and try to reveal the ecological ideology in this speech and further
confirmed the operational and practical value of the three meta-functions when used as the framework in ecological
analyzing as well as to uncover the ideology. Through analyzing the speech, we find that this speech appeals for all of
us to take responsibility for the earth and should immediately take practical action to settle environmental problems.
And this study also calls on the linguists to use ecological analysis to reflect the relationship between language and
ecological phenomenon and arise people’s ecological ideology as well as lead them and change their consciousness
towards nature.

APPENDIX A. THE ENGLISH TEXT

Secretary-General's remarks on Climate Change
I am appealing for leadership from politicians, from business and scientists, and from the public everywhere. We
have the tools to make our actions effective. What we still lack , even after the Paris Agreement is the leadership and the
ambition to do what is needed. What makes all of this even more disturbing is that we were warned. Scientists have
been telling us for decades over and over again. And far too many leaders have refused to listen. Far too few have acted
with the vision the science demands. We see the results. In some situations, they are approaching scientists’ worst-case
scenarios. The world’s richest nations are the most responsible for the climate crisis, yet the effects are being felt first
and worst by the poorest nations and the most vulnerable peoples and communities. Existing technologies are waiting to
come online cleaner fuels, alternative building materials, better batteries and advances in farming and land use. These
and other innovations can have a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, so we can hit the Paris targets and
inject the great ambition that is so urgently needed. Let us use the next year for transformational decisions in
boardrooms, executive suites and parliaments across the world. Let us raise our sights, build coalitions and make our
leaders listen. There is no more time to waste. As the ferocity of this summer’s wildfires and heat waves shows, the
world is changing before our eyes. We are careering towards the edge of the abyss. It is not too late to shift course, but
every day that passes means the world heats up a little more and the cost of our inaction mounts. Every day we fail to
act is a day that we step a little closer towards a fate that none of us wants -- a fate that will resonate through
generations in the damage done to humankind and life on earth. Our fate is in our hands. The world is counting on all of

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us to rise to the challenge before it’s too late. I count on you all. Thank you.
Website: http://www.un.org/zh/climatechange/

APPENDIX B. DATA ANALYSIS

N clause process mood Speech pronoun modality Theme/marked

function
1 I am appealing for Appealing/mat statement command I I/unmarked
leadership from erial
politicians, from
business and
scientists, and from
the public
everywhere..
2 We have the tools to Have/material declarative statement we We/unmarked
make our actions Make/material
effective.
3 What we still Lack/material declarative statement we What we still lack,
lack ,even after the Is/relational even after the Paris
Paris Agreement is Agreement/unmarke
the leadership and d
the ambition to do
what is needed.
4 What makes all of Makes/material declarative statement This/we What makes all of
this even more Is/relational this even more
disturbing is that we Were disturbing/unmarked
were warned. warned/materia
l
5 Scientists have been Have been declarative statement us Scientists/unmarked
telling us for telling/verbal
decades over and
over again.
6 And far too many Have declarative statement And far too many
leaders have refused refused/materia leaders /unmarked
to listen l
7 Far too few have Have declarative statement Far too few
acted with the vision acted/material /unmarked
the science demands
8 We see the results. See/mental declarative statement we We/unmarked
9 In some situations, Are declarative statement they They/unmarked
they are approaching approaching/m
scientists’ aterial
worst-case
scenarios.
10 The world’s richest Are/relational declarative statement The world’s richest
nations are the most nations/unmarked
responsible for the
climate crisis,
11 yet the effects are Are/relational declarative statement Effects/unmarked
being felt first and Felt/mental
worst by the poorest
nations and the most
vulnerable peoples
and communities.
12 Existing Waiting/materi declarative statement Existing
technologies are al technologies/unmark
waiting to come Come/material ed
online – cleaner
fuels, alternative
building materials,
better batteries and
advances in farming
and land use
13 These and other Have/material declarative statement These Can/median These and other
innovations can Reducing/mate innovations/unmark
have a major role in rial ed
reducing greenhouse
gas emissions,
14 so we can hit the Hit/material declarative statement We Can/media We/unmarked
Paris targets and Inject/material
inject the great Is/relational
ambition that is so
urgently needed..

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15 Let us use the next Use/material imperative command us Let us/unmarked

year for
transformational
decisions in
boardrooms,
executive suites and
parliaments across
the world.
16 Let us raise our Raise/material imperative command us Let us/unmarked
sights, build Build/material
coalitions and make Make/material
our leaders listen. Listen/mental
17 There is no more Is/relational declarative Statement there There/unmarked
time to waste. Waste/material
18 As the ferocity of Shows/material declarative statement this As the ferocity of
this summer’s this summer’s
wildfires and wildfires and
heatwaves shows, heatwaves/marked
19 the world is Changing/mate declarative statement The
changing before our rial world/unmarked
eyes.
20 We are careering Careering/mate declarative statement we We/unmarked
towards the edge of rial
the abyss.
21 It is not too late to Is/relational declarative statement it It/unmarked
shift course, Shift/material
22 but every day that Passes/material declarative statement our but every day that
passes means the Means/relation passes/unmarked
world heats up a al
little more and the Heats/material
cost of our inaction
mounts.
23 Every day we fail to Fail/material Declarative statement We/us Every day we fail to
act is a day that we Act/material act /unmarked
step a little closer Is/relational
towards a fate that Step/material
none of us wants- Wants/mental
24 a fate that will Resonate/mater declarative statement Will/low a fate that
resonate through ial /unmarked
generations in the
damage done to
humankind and life
on earth.
25 Our fate is in our Is/material declarative statement our Our fate/unmarked
hands.
26 The world is Counting/mater declarative statement us The
counting on all of us ial world/unmarked
to rise to the Rise/material
challenge before it’s Is/relational
too late.
27 I count on you all. Count/material declarative statement I/you I/unmarked

REFERENCES
[1] Alexander & Stibbe. (2014). From the analysis of ecological discourse to the ecological analysis of discourse. Language
Sciences, 41(part A), 104-110.
[2] Guowen Huang. (2016). Ecological Orientation of Foreign Language Teaching and Studying. Chinese Foreign Language, 5:
10-13.
[3] Halliday, M. A. K. (1985). Introduction to Functional Grammar. London:Edward Arnold.
[4] Halliday. & Matthiessen. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar, London: New York: Routledge.
[5] Needham. (1956). Science and Civilisation in China: volume 2, History of Scientific Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
[6] Peiyuan Meng. (2004). Human and Nature: Chinese Philosophy’s Ecological Views. Beijing: People’s Publishing House.
[7] Ruijie Zhang. (2008). A Framework for Eco—oriented Discourse Analysis from the Perspective of Systemic Functional
Linguistics. Beijing University of Technology.
[8] Stibbe. (2015). Ecolinguistics: Language, Ecology and the Stories We Live By. New York: Routledge.
[9] Youlan Feng. (1997). Chinese Philosophy History. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 100.
[10] Zhiying Xin, Guowen Huang. (2013). System Functional Linguistics and Ecological Discourse Analysis. Foreign Language
Teaching, 3:7-10

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Hecong Wang (Corresponding Author) was born in Shiyan, Hubei Province, China in 1995. He is studying
master degree in China Three Gorges University, Yichang, Hubei Province, China.
His current studying field is Ecolinguistics. His tutor is Professor Hu Xiaoqiong in China Three Gorges
University, Yichang, Hubei Province, China.

Rui Zhai is a graduate student in School of Foreign Languages, China Three Gorges University, in Hubei
Province, China.
Her tutor is Liu Jingxia, who is an associate professor in English Department, School of Foreign
Languages, China Three Gorges University, in Hubei Province, China. She is interested in Discourse Studies
and the World Englishes.

Xinyu Zhao is studying linguistics in China Three Gorges, Yichang, China.

His supervisor is Hu Xiaoqiong, an honorable professor, who has offered a lot to him. His orientation is
Eco-linguistics and applied linguistics.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 858-862, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.25

A Contrastive Study of Hard Times and the Two

Versions from the Perspective of Textual
Cohesion
Meng Yan
Shanxi Normal University, China

Abstract—Cohesion is the semantic concept of discourse. And the key to coherence of discourse is to use
various cohesive devices rationally. Due to the different ways of thinking between China and the West, English
and Chinese have great difficulties in textual cohesion. In order to better carry out translation practice, it is
necessary to understand the cohesive devices of the text. Both English and Chinese use cohesive devices, but
they are different. The complicated work of English-Chinese translation is the treatment of cohesive devices
and the quality of the translation depends on the proper handling of the cohesive devices. This paper is based
on a book cohesion in English by Halliday and Hasan in 1976, whose research methods are comparative
analysis and descriptions. Choosing the works hard times of Charles Dickens, a famous British critic of the
19th century as well as Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press Mu Run and China Books Publishing
House Wu Sujun two versions as the research object. By analyzing the differences between English and
Chinese texts, the author tries to find out the reasons for the differences and hopes to provide some help for
English-Chinese translation.

Index Terms—Hard Times, discourse, cohesion, Comparative study of English and Chinese

I. INTRODUCTION
The rise of text linguistics has made more and more theorists realize the importance of discourse. As the most basic
unit of communication, in order to achieve more effective communication, the text must be clear, and at this time
whether the use of cohesion and continuous means is very important. The cultivation of textual cohesion awareness can
help translators understand the full text more comprehensively and improve the quality of translation. Both English and
Chinese texts often use a large number of cohesive paragraphs, but because of the great differences in culture and
thinking between the two languages, the use of cohesive devices in English and Chinese texts is not the same. Therefore,
in translation, the translator needs to use cohesive devices reasonably so that the wording of the target text is appropriate
and the meaning is clear. In 1968, Hassan first mentioned cohesion as a term in his book grammatical cohesion in
spoken and written English. In the book, he mentions: we need a term to refer to a single instance of cohesion, a term
that appears only for two closely connected sentences, and we call it "tie."Since its first publication in 1976, Cohesion
in English has established itself as a standard textbook, which written by co-authored Halliday and Hassan in 1976,
marks the establishment of cohesion theory. In cohesion in English, Halliday and Hasan clearly define cohesion as the
meaning relationship in which cohesion exists within the text and makes it a text, and those non-structural, textual
meaning relation.[1].And they put forward the Register cohesion Theory which holds that discourse coherence includes
two aspects: on the one hand, coherence with positional context, which is manifested as register consistency; on the
other hand, discourse itself is coherent, so it is cohesive. Cohesion Theory has been further developed after it was
introduced into China. Hu Zhuanglin, as one of the pioneers in the study of discourse, puts forward: "cohesion is
achieved through the relationship between the surface form of language and its statements, but coherence refers to the
cohesion between communicative behaviors."[2]He put forward the concept of multilevel cohesion theory and expanded
the scope of cohesion. Zhang Delu and Liu Rushan also put forward a comprehensive theoretical framework from some
novel angles: Positional context also has cohesive function. Therefore, it can be said that cohesive devices are an
important part of discourse coherence.
Cohesion is one of the structures of composition and textual function. And the comparison of cohesive devices
belongs to an important category of textual contrast. Although the cohesion among sentences belongs to the problem of
discourse surface structure, that is, the structure of language form, the study in this area can reveal the unique nature of
different languages, so the contrastive study of language surface structure is essential. Charles, a famous British critical
realist in the nineteenth century, is selected in this paper. Dickens' work Hard Times and two English translations of Wu
Sujun by China Book Publishing House and Mu run by Foreign language Teaching and Research Press are taken as the

[1]
Brown, G, &Yule, G, (1976).Discourse Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,127
[2]
Halliday, M.A.K.& Hasan, (1976)Cohesion in English[M]. London: Longman, 1-2.

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research objects. By comparing the English and Chinese languages and the cohesion at the textual level of the two
versions, this paper finds out the similarities and differences and analyzes the reasons for the differences, so as to
provide the target language readers with a reasonable, smooth and natural translation to reproduce the original style.

II. A CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE HARD TIMES AND THE CHINESE VERSION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF COHESION
Textual cohesion is an important means to achieve textual coherence, and the construction of a coherent text by
means of textual cohesion is the main purpose of English writing, and the meaning of the text is inferred from the
textual cohesive devices. Understanding the overall effect of text Reading is the goal of text Reading. According to
Halliday and Hasan, textual cohesive devices are mainly divided into grammatical cohesive devices (including
reference, ellipsis, connection and substitution) and lexical cohesive devices. Grammatical cohesion mainly includes
reference, substitution , ellipsis, connection and so on. It is one of the important means to construct discourse and
achieve semantic coherence.This chapter analyzes the differences between English and Chinese in terms of grammatical
and lexical cohesion pairs.
A. Theme of Hard Times
Hard Times (1854) is a masterpiece of Charles Dickens, a famous British critical realist writer in the 19th century.
The novel depicts the profiteering of the bourgeoisie, the poverty and suffering of the masses of workers as well as the
contradictions and struggles between labor and capital which reflect the class relations and social outlook of Britain in
the 1850s and make a more profound exposure and criticism of the bourgeoisie. Gradi hard, the protagonist, is a retired
hardware businessman and a utilitarian belief. whether he educates his children or holds social education, he makes
people believe in the "facts" and regards life as a kind of "cash transaction across the counter." Under his education, his
daughter Louisa was forced to marry a capitalist thirty years older than her, Bounderby, who was mentally tortured after
marriage; his son Tom gambled and fled overseas as a thief. Bounderby, a factory owner and banker, concocted his story
and boasted that he had started from scratch in order to paralyze the workers and eventually lead to defections. Through
the description of Graddish and Bounderby's two typical characters and their family experiences, the author reflects the
class relations and social features of England in the 1850s, and makes a more profound exposure and criticism of the
bourgeoisie.
B. Differences in Cohesive Devices between Hard Times and the Chinese Version
Although both English and Chinese cohesive devices can play the role of connecting context to transmit semantic
relations in the text, there are obvious differences in the specific use of cohesive devices. This section will make a
contrastive analysis of the textual differences between English and Chinese from the aspects of vocabulary, ellipsis,
substitution and anaphora cohesive devices.
1. Differences in lexical cohesion between English and Chinese
Lexical cohesion refers to the realization of textual cohesion and semantic coherence through the relationship
between repetition and co-occurrence of words. Lexical cohesion is another form of cohesive devices,which divides
lexical cohesion into co-occurrence relationship and repetition relationship. Co-occurrence relationships include
antonyms, lower words and word collocations, and repetition relationships include repetition, synonyms, synonyms and
upper words.
Eg1：Such a woman! A poor, drunken thing. Hardly able to sit up. Dirty, untidy hair covered her purple face.
Mu Run’s version: 一个可怜的醉鬼，几乎无力坐起身来，肮脏零乱的头发披在她发紫的脸上。（ Mu
Run,1995,p97）
Wu Sujun’s version: 这是一个什么样的女人呢？一个穷困潦倒、醉醺醺的废物，甚至连站都站不起了。她衣衫
褴褛那脏兮兮、乱蓬蓬的头发遮住了她发紫的脸。Wu Sujun2006,p,53)
In the example sentence, "thing" is translated as“醉鬼” “废物”,which means the general term for describing all the
bad state of the woman after she is drunk; "dirty" untidy "is repeated in the example sentence using the inflection form
in English. The sentences are connected from the text level, while the Chinese is gathered in form and mind, combined
with context and association. The choice of words and sentences in a text is a chain that runs through the full text. When
translating, it is necessary to understand the meaning and usage of the words, and to convey the author's intention
through words as much as possible while maintaining the semantic coherence of the full text.
2. Differences in ellipsis reference between English and Chinese.
Ellipsis is to avoid repetition, highlight new sentences and thus save some components . English and Chinese have
different structures, and their ellipsis is also different. Ellipsis refers to the omission of one or more elements of a text.
Its function is similar to that of substitution, but also in order to avoid repetition, make the expression concise and
clear, and at the same time make the context of the text compact and coherent.
Eg2: so there is some difference in your ages. But from the point of view of social position there is no differences.
Love does not come into the question.
Mu Run’s version: 在年龄上是有些差距，但从社会地位的观点看却没有差距，爱情跟这没有关系。（Mu
Run,1995,p79）

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Wu Sujun’s version: ： 年 龄 上 是 有 些 不 相 称 ， 但 在 社 会 地 位 上 是 平 等 的 ， 爱 情 不 是 一 个 问 题 。 (Wu

Sujun2006,p,113)
In example 2, it is obvious that the English sentence has a corresponding subject "there, love". However, in the
Chinese article, a series of sentences without a subject omit the subject "you". Grammar and logicality are often
considered in English. The subject can not be omitted otherwise the sentence is incomplete, but the Chinese parataxis
language can achieve meaning in ellipsis without considering the grammatical structure.
3. Differences in substitution between English and Chinese.
The substitute word only replaces a certain component in form, and its meaning also needs to be found in the relevant
context. Substitution refers to the replacement of a component with an alternative word. Alternative words are only
forms, and their semantics should be found from the components they replace. On the one hand, its function is to avoid
repetition and make the expression concise, compact and clear. on the other hand, it is to connect the context and make
the meaning coherent.
Eg3: Your word is law to me. Yes, and a good, bright law. Better than some of the real ones.
Mu Run’s version: 你的话就是我的法律。对，光明而美好的法律。比有些真的法律还好。（Mu Run,1995,p53）
Wu Sujun’s version: 你的话就是我的法律。是的，多么欢快的、美好的法律啊！比那些真的法律要强的多了。
(Wu Sujun, 2006, p, 75)
In this example, it can be seen that "ones" replaces 法律 in the text, but there is no such corresponding word in
Chinese to replace 法律.For substitution, Chinese often uses the way of reproducing the original words to form the
cohesion to the following text. If there is no substitute, the translation repeats the same elements.After the substitution,
the text becomes concise and more in line with the Chinese expression.
4. Differences in connection between English and Chinese.
Connectives often play an excessive role in causality, time and so on. because of the different ways of thinking
between China and the West, English and Chinese are not the same in connection translation. In a sentence, among
clauses, there are usually connective elements to connect them, indicating the logical semantic relationship and
interdependence between clauses. This connection usually runs through the full text.[1]
Eg4: Whenever things are bad, i will try to think of you, and look forward to a time when you and i can walk
together in peace and happiness.
Mu Run’s version:无论什么事情再糟，我都会尽力想到你。希望有一天，我们俩能平平安安、幸福快乐地走在
一起。（Mu Run,1995,p73）
Wu Sujun’s version: 无论何时碰到任何坏事，我都会试着想想你，盼着有朝一日你和我可以平静幸福地走在一
起。(Wu Sujun2006,p,101)
In the example sentence, the three conjunctions "whenever", "and" when "clearly show that the semantic relations
between English sentences appear by conjunctions, while the understanding of sentences in Chinese depends on logical
relations and their order of invisibility.
5. Differences in reference between English and Chinese.
Reference is the understanding of a word that can be expressed by the object referred to in the context. In a text, if the
interpretation of a word cannot be obtained from the word itself, but must be answered from the object to which the
word refers, this gives rise to a reference relationship. In this reference relationship, one component acts as the reference
point of another component, that is, the relationship between one language component and another component that can
be explained to each other.
Eg5: “Fancy,” said the gentleman, “You must not do that. You must stick to the facts, and forget the word Fancy.
Wu Sujun’s version: “幻想，”那位绅士说， “你绝不可那样的。你必须忠于事实，忘了‘幻想’这个词儿吧。你
不能和它沾上边。(Wu Sujun2006, p, 10)
Mu Run’s version: “想象！”那位绅士叫了起来，“你不能那样做，你不能坚持事实，忘记想象。 （Mu Run,1995,p6）
In this sentence, the definite article the appears three times, especially for a specific person or thing in the text; in
Chinese, it is not.

III. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TRANSLATOR' S CHOICE OF COHESION IN DEALING WITH THE ORIGINAL TEXT
The translator's style is not the same. This chapter makes a contrastive analysis of the reasons for the different styles
of the two Chinese versions and the two translators in dealing with the original text from the perspective of textual
cohesion.
A. A Contrastive Analysis of Textual Cohesion in Two Chinese Versions of Hard Times
Eg6: I am so proud and so hardened, so confused and troubled, so full of hate that everything seems dark and
stormy to me. Doesn’t that frighten you?
Mu Run’s version:我铁石心肠，现在的处境有很困难。在我心中充满了仇恨，一切对我来说都是黑暗无边。这
些不让你害怕吗？（Mu Run,1995,p171）
Wu Sujun’s version: 我是如此傲慢，如此冷酷，而且心绪紊乱，痛苦不堪，对一切都充满了厌恶，任何事物

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对我来说都是黑暗和粗暴。对这样的我，你不害怕吗？(Wu Sujun2006, p, 243)

In example 6, the translation of the wooden version of "铁石心肠，现在的处境有很困难" is more general, translated
as "hard heart, the present situation is very difficult," while Wu Sujun's version tends to translate literally. Reproduce
the original text in a clear, shallow, vivid language translated as "傲慢，如此冷酷，而且心绪紊乱，痛苦不堪"
Eg7: When he rose to return to his hotel for the night, the whelp immediately offered his services as guide.
Mu Run’s version:当哈特豪斯动身去旅馆过夜时，小狗立刻自告奋勇为他领路。(Mu Run, 1995, p101)
Wu Sujun’s version: 晚上他起身回旅馆时，那个小兔崽子便立即自告奋勇地要当向导。(Wu Sujun2006, p,151)
In example 7, Mu run and Wu Sujun take two different approaches to the translation of the same character. the
original the whelp originally refers to the protagonist's son Tom. Because of the retribution for strict tutoring, Tom
became a dissolute, hedonistic and hypocritical young man, but very much loved by his sister. Mulun's version,
translated as "puppy", uses irony to highlight the character's character, while Wu Sujun uses "little son of a bitch" as a
nickname to explain the character from the sister's point of view.
B. Reasons for Translators' Different Styles
The translator's style is influenced by many factors, including the translator's sociocultural background, translation
purpose, target readers, and his translation theories or viewpoints. It is not easy to convey a writer's style "authentic"!
Because of the differences between the two languages, especially between the East and the West, it can be asserted that
it is almost impossible to express the style of a writer 100%. Since the translator has his own writing style, it is difficult
for him to overcome his own writing style and use another writing style to translate the works of another writer when
translating the works of different writers. What we often see is that the same translator always uses the same tone when
translating the works of different writers. From the study of cohesion theory, it is found that Mu run's version and Wu
SuJun's version are different in the way of cohesion, The language style of Mu Run translation is close to that of the
target reader, the vocabulary is rich, the sentences are authentic, and the amount of text also accords with the translation
principle. The overall colloquial features of the translation are obvious and readable. Mu run not only takes into account
the subjective position of the reader, but also faithful to the original text, and strives to maintain the characteristics of
the original text. Wu SuJun's translation tends to be more flexible in cohesive devices under the influence of the target
language, and the Wu SuJun version is more influenced by the original language system and faithful to the original. Wu
Sujun's version to a large extent retains the characteristics of concise whitening of the source text; on the basis of highly
retaining the characteristics of the original text, it is more inclined to save the translation of the whole sentence than to
add the whole sentence. Therefore, his translation style presents the characteristics of concise, simple and clear words
and sentences. From the age, it can be seen that Mu run was earlier than Wu Sujun, they received different cultural and
linguistic backgrounds, and their translation strategies were different. In a word, both the Mulun version and the Wu
Sujun version provide cultural transformation in English-Chinese translation.

IV. CONCLUSION.
Due to the different ways of thinking between China and the West, English and Chinese have great difficulties in
textual cohesion. In order to better carry out translation practice, it is necessary to understand the cohesive devices of
the text.There are similarities and differences between English and Chinese textual cohesion. As Halliday and Hasan
[1]
say, "the fundamental difference between a text and a non-text lies in whether it is textual, and textual is the formation
of cohesive relations" Discourse is coherent, and textual cohesion is an important means to achieve textual coherence.
The study of the characteristics and functions of textual cohesion is of great significance to English learning and its
application. on the one hand, it can help English learners to identify textual cohesive devices and understand the
author's true intention. On the other hand, it can help learners to construct coherent texts, accurately express their own
ideas, and achieve successful communication with readers. Cohesive devices play an important role in semantic
coherence and logical relations. From the contrastive analysis of English and Chinese, it can be seen that English is
more likely to reproduce, refer to and replace the original words of lexical cohesion than Chinese, while Chinese mostly
uses ellipsis. Compared with the Chinese version, it can be seen that the translator's age is affected by social
environment factors, and the translated text is also very different. Combined with the cohesive coherence theory of
Halliday and Hasan, this paper analyzes the sentences containing cohesive devices in the book from three angles:
reference, substitution and ellipsis, and connection. The translation strategies of cohesive devices in English-Chinese
translation are briefly summarized. Through translation practice and analysis, the author finds that English emphasizes
hypotaxis, grammatical structure is rigorous, grammatical means are often used to form cohesion, while Chinese
emphasizes parataxis, and the treatment of cohesive devices is more flexible. In the process of translation, translators
mainly use the following three means: ellipsis, repetition, adjustment of wording and word order. Ellipsis can be used in
personal reference, supplementary connection, turning connection, causal connection, clause ellipsis translation
repetition can be used in personal reference, noun substitution, and ellipsis cohesion translation; The method of
adjusting wording and word order can be used to compare the translation of reference, transition connection, causal
connection and patio-temporal connection. However, these methods are not absolute, but also need to make a specific
analysis according to the context. The cohesive devices discussed in this paper are based on the theory put forward by

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Halliday and Hasan and are limited to the surface structure of the text, but the scope of cohesion is much larger than that
proposed by Halliday and Hasan. Based on the contrastive analysis of the characteristics and differences of textual
cohesion between English and Chinese, combined with concrete examples, this paper seeks effective strategies in
translation so that translators can draw lessons from them and go further in translation.

REFERENCES
[1] Brown, G, &Yule, G. (1976). Discourse Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,127
[2] Dickens, Charles. (1995). Hard Times. Translated by Mu Run. Beijing: Foreign language Teaching and Research Press.
[3] Dickens, Charles. (2006). Hard Times. Translated by Wu Sujun. Beijing: China Book Publishing House.
[4] Halliday, M.A.K.&Hasan. (1976). Cohesion in English. London: Longman, 1-2.
[5] Huang Guowen. (1998).Theory and practice of discourse Analysis. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign language Education Press.
[6] Hodges B D, Kuper A, Reeves S. (2008). Discourse analysis. London: British Medical Journal, 337:a879.
[7] Hoey, Michael. (1991). Patterns of Lexis in Text. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[8] Van Dijk, T.A. (1977). Text and Context: Explorations in the Pragmatics of Discourse. London & New York: Longman.
[9] Widdowson H G. (1984). Explorations in applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984.
[10] Zhang Delu, Liu Rushan. (2003). The Development and Application of discourse coherence and cohesion Theory. Shanghai:
Shanghai Foreign language Education Press.

Meng Yan was born in Hubei, China in1994. She was admitted to Shanxi Normal University in 2017, majoring in linguistics and
applied linguistics. And now she’s a second-year undergraduate. The direction she is interested in is translation and pragmatics.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 863-871, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.26

The Influence of Suggested Cornell Note-taking

Method on Improving Writing Composition
Skills of Jordanian EFL Learners
Mohammad Akram Alzu'bi
English Department, Ajloun University College, Al-Balqa Applied University, Jordan

Abstract—The study aimed at discovering the impact of suggested Cornell Note-Taking Training Model on
improving writing composition skills. The sample of the study consisted of (58) English students in the second
year selected randomly from the English departments in Al-Balqa Applied university. The sample was divided
into two groups: experimental and control group. The researcher designed an exam and examined the students
in both groups in pre-test and post-test to find the equivilance and the difference between both groups. After
examination and analyzing data, the results of the study show statistical significant differences at the
significance level (α≤ 0.05) between the mean scores of the experimental group which taghut by using Cornell
method and the control group which used the conventional method in teaching composition.

Index Terms—Cornell note-taking method, composition writing skills, EFL learners

I. INTRODUCTION
Many specialists have defined writing in different ways, for example, Daniels & Bright (1996) defined it as a system
of more or less permanent marks used to represent an utterance in such a way that it can be recovered more or less
exactly without the intervention of the utterer. According to (Nunan, 2003), writing is physical and mental act to
develop ideas into paragraphs and it is a process which is created by the writers and also a product which is read by
audience for communication. However, none of them defined it perfectly to cover all of its systems, and most of them
share the same items. Therefore, the researcher suggested that writing skill is a method that includes sets of visual
symbols for representing spoken language in visual form for the purpose of communication.
Writing should be graded from the easiest parts to more complicated ones so before learning how to write
composition, students should learn how to write paragraphs. Bani Yaseen (2010) focused on adopting before-writing
skills and gradation to fulfill the different purposes of witing at every age period regardless of types of writing.
Unfortunately, most Jordanian school and university students face problems with the skills of writing composition such
as difficulties in using processes of planning, construction, and revision. Moreover, the time of the writing lessons is
limited, so it is difficult for the students to realize the important information to write down and how to organize in order
to write after the class time. In the past, Nakkash (1978) claimed that most of the difficulties in writing composition
come from the necessary information and the ability to arrange them in a suitable order. Out of his experience, the
researcher has found that students have problems with adopting the stages of writing composition (pre-writing, while-
writing, and post-writing), although they have studied the elements of writing composition theoretically.
When the researcher contacted his students who studied the advanced writing course personally, they complained
about the methods of learning how to write composition at school; teachers only gave them feedback in examinations
without applying helpful strategies at the time of writing composition about any topic. Trying to find solutions for the
above mentioned problems of writing composition, the researcher suggests that instructors and teachers should use
useful methods in teaching writing. Thus, to learn how to write composition effectively, students need to adopt specific
methods to help them in writing composition and essays. As a result, the researcher selected Cornell method because of
its advantages in improving students' studying in general and it might improve the skills of writing composition in
particular. Cornell method is an essencial method to organize information and record the information (William, 2004)
Since most studies have found that using Cornell method in English language learning class was effective in most
subjects especially in learning listening comprehension, the researcher conducted the present study to find out wheather
Cornell Method helps improve writing composition skills of Jordanian EFL Learners and solves their problems in
writing composition.
A. Statement of the Problem
Based on his teaching experience in universities at English department, the researcher has noticed that most students
get low marks in writing courses because they face difficulties in writing; for example; they don’t understand new
words and they couldn’t either use them properly in writings. In his experience as a language lecturer, the researcher has
also noticed that many students write without employing suitable strategies for remembering and organizing the
material presented in the class, and they forget a lot of information while learning paragraph or essay Writing classes.

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Finally, students do not use the all three stages of writing while writing composition or paragraph; for example, most of
them do not use the pre-stage or post-stage correctly in the writing process so they need a useful method to solve all
above mentioned problems. The researcher found that Cornell method is the most suitable to improve writing
composition because of its nature and characteristics so the researcher conducted the study to find the effect of
suggested Cornell method on improving writing composition.
B. The Importance of the Study
It is believed that this study is considered as an important related study for many researchers and writers in the future
because the researcher rebuilds Cornell method to be suitable and effective in writing composition since the present
study introduces a practical model in writing instead of theory. In addition, the study provides a prepared training
program, reliable instruments, active procedures, and experimental findings to be employed in future research.
C. The Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of the study is to measure the effect of Cornell method on improving composition writing by
answering the following main question:
What is the effect of Cornell method on improving the skills of writing composition?
D. The Operational Definitions of Terms
Cornell Method is a note-taking format designed by Walter Pauk which involves a card to record main ideas,
supporting details, and summaries as shown in Appendix A (Pauk & Owens, 2011).
Suggested Cornell method is a method for taking notes that designed by the researcher according to the note-taking
card which designed of Walter Pauk. The card is redesigned according to the three stages of writing (pre-reading, while-
reading and post-reading) and elements of composition to help English students at Jordanian universities learn how to
write composition.
Writing achievement is the scores of the students in the post-test of composition.
E. Limitation of the Study
The current study is limited by the participants of the study who studied English as a forighn language (EFL) in Al-
Balqa Applied University. Also, it is limited by the suggested program which based on Cornell method designed by the
researcher and confined to writing composition elements.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

A. Theoretical Framework and Related Studies
Cornell method was developed by Pauk 1974 in order to help students in Cornell University to organize, record and
receive notes. It uses a card of three sections (see appindix 1); the right column for recording the lecturs ideas, the left
column (cue column) to fill questions and outlines in later and the third section which is at the bottom of the card for
summarizing and evaluating (Pauk, 2011, Pp. 237-238).
Cornell method was derived from the cognitive psychology which focuses on information processing that affects data
storage in the-long term memory. Lieberman (2000) claimed that information processing comprised of three stages; the
sensory memory, the short-term memory and the long-term memory. The first stage which takes place in the sensory
memory recieves the information and transfers them to the short-term memory (working memory). The second part is
the working memory which can hold limited information for limited time and it transfers the information to the third
memory which is the long-term memory if there is no interference and stored until it is needed.
B. Related Studies
The literature review arranged in a systemetic way, the first part handled the influence of note-taking strategies on
students’ listening comprehension as well as their writing skills as follows:
Few studies are conducted about the effect of using note-taking on the first (L1) and second language (L2) because
teachers and researchers do not pay enough attention to investigating issues related to the effect of note-taking on
improving the language skills or about note-taking and second language learning in general (Chaudron, Loschky, &
Cook, 1994; Clerehan, 1995; Famhy & Bilton, 1991). Moreover, no studies are conducted about the effect of Cornell
method on writing but there is a study examined the effect of note-taking in general on writing which was invistigated
by (Al-Ashkar, 2014). One of its results showed that note-taking improved writing skill. However, the researcher has
mentioned some studies about the effect of using different strategies of note-taking on achievement in general and
language skills and its components.
Firstly, three studies were conducted about the effect of Cornell method on improving achievement in general; the
first study was conducted by (Jacobs, 2008) which aimed at reviewing some studies about the effect of note-taking
methods on 58 English students’ performance. After reviewing, the researcher used the same tests on the students and
found that the Cornell method was useful, although the students who used the guided notes method showed a showed
better achievement than the Cornell group. The second study conducted by (Zorn, 2017) showed a positive
improvement using the Cornell method to improve students’ achievement.

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Cornell method not only has positive influance on normal students, but also it is effective on students with disabilities.
For example, Baharev (2016(carried out a study that compare students with and without disabilities at sixty eighth grade
who learned by using note-taking using Cornell method with those who learned by using lecture method. The results of
the study indicated that note-taking strategy improved the student’s performance.
Secondly, the researcher found three studies that were conducted about the effect of using Cornell method on English
language skills such as grammar and listining. The first study (Davoudi, Moattarian & Zareian, 2015) aimed at finding
the effect of Cornell Method on Grammar. The researchers selected seventy intermediate Iranian EFL students (44
males and 26 females) and distributed them to two groups. After giving both groups a pre-test to make sure that both
groups are equilvilant, the experimental group was trained by using Cornell method in learning grammar. After
administrating post-test to both groups to find the differences between them, the researchers analyzed the obtained data
by using T-tests to find out if Cornell method affects learning grammar positively or negatively. The results of the study
indicated that the Cornell method improved grammatical knowledge and critical thinking. In the other studies (Rahmani
& Sadeghi, 2011& Hayati, 2009) examined the impact of note-taking technique on improving the listening skill. The
first study examined the effect of note-taking on Iranian EFL learners’ comprehension. The sample of the study
consisted of 108 students who were assigned to experimental and control groups; the experimental group consisted of
48 students and the control group which included 60 students. The researchers trained the experimental group by using
note-taking “graphic organizers”, while the conventional group did not receive any instruction. The researchers used
two multiple-choice reading tests to measure note-taking effectiveness. The findings of the study indicated that students
who used graphic organizers performed better rather than students who studied by using the conventional method. The
second study (Hayati, 2009) selected a sample in his study that consisted of sixty undergraduate students, majoring in
English at Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz to find out if note-taking strategies improve listening comprehension.
The researcher divided the sample into three groups and one of them is taught by Cornell method. The results of the
study revealed that there were significant differences while using Cornell method so it affects positively on listening
skill.
Althogh the results of all previous studies approved the positive effects of note-taking strategies like Cornell method
on students’ achievement, (Borr, et al., 2012) conducted a study to find the effect of the Cornell method on student’s
performance and he concluded that there was no significant difference in Cornell note-taking on student performance.
The researcher discussed his results and justified the result by saying that “Cornell note-taking is a method for
organizing notes and there was no way to know if students were actually using the notes for study purposes.”
Respecting Jordanian context, no studies have been found about the influence of using Cornell method in an English
classroom environment, particularly in writing. The present study was conducted to achieve this aim while providing
valuable insights for language teachers and learners.

III. THE METHODS AND PROCEDURES

A. Study Subjects
The sample of the study consists of fifty-eight students from two classes of “writing composition course”: One class
is considered as an experimental group; and the other class as the control group. This sample depends on the
distribution of the Registration Department at Ajloun University College in Al-Balqa' Applied University, Jordan. The
treatment’s period takes one semester (The 1st semester, 2019).
B. Instruments of the Study
To achieve the purpose of the study, the researcher developed two instruments: the writing comprehension test and
the instructional program as follows:
C. The Achievement Test
The researcher designed the test to compare the achievements of the two groups on the pre and post tests to write a
composition (see appendix C). It includes 3 topics based on the students' grades levels (low, average, and high) to write
a perfect composition of 5 paragraghs about one of the copmposition types (process, describtive, and classification
compositions).
The researcher followed a kind of validity based on analyzing content by asking a number of expert referees to judge
the test for producing the final draft (see appendix E). The researcher used a rubric to correct the students' compositions
based on the objectives of the test (see appendix D).
The test measured the students’ ability to:
 Use unfamiliar words in writing composition.
Organize the composition perfectly according to the elements of writing composition.
 Adopt the mechanics of writing such as punctuation, capitalization, numbers and numerals, format and
constraction.
 Use English appropriatly.
D. The Instructional Program

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The researcher redesigned the Cornell card according to the concerned elements of composition writing and stages of
writing. Cornell card is usually divided into three sections; the left column, the right one and the beneath section for
summary. The researcher rebuilt the card to suite the elements of writing composition and the three stages of writing
(pre-writing, while-writing, post-writing). While using the card in writing composition, several teqniques were used like:
recording, questioning, reciting, reflecting, and reviewing. To summarize, the researcher suggested a new suggested
Cornell card after redesighning the original one based on the stages of writing, elements of writing composition and
number of classes. Appendix (B) is a model example that consists of one lesson about how to select a topic, how to
write the first element of writing composition which is introductory paragrgh based on the three stages of writing.
The researcher used the content-method program to work out the validity of the program (see appendix E). He
distributed the prepared program on experts to produce the final draft.
E. Statistical Treatment
The researchers used the T-test to find the differences between the two groups.
F. The Procedures of the Study
The researcher followed certain procedures to conduct the study:
 Reviewing the literature review (theoretical and practical studies).
 Selecting the sample of the study of male and female students who study EFL from Al-Balqa applied University.
 Designing the instruments of the study (test and instructional program) according to Cornell method and
composition course.
 Establishing the validity and reliability of the instruments.
 Training the students and the lecturer in the experimental group on how to deal with the suggested Cornell
proceadures in teaching and learning composition.
 Applying the pre-test in order to find out if the both groups (experimental and control) are equivilant then
analysing the obtained data depending on the t-test.
 Applying the suggested Cornell method under study in the writing experimenat class and the traditional method
of teaching composition in the writing control class
 Following the participants inside both classes.
 Applying the post-test for both groups (experimental and conventional) and gathering data by correcting all
papers of the post-test then analysing the obtained data depending on the t-test.
 Discussing the results and suggesting recommendations.

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The study analyzed the data obtained from the pre0test to be sure that both groups are equivilant by using the
following t-test in (table 1) below:
TABLE I.
T-TEST RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS ON THE PRE-TEST OF WRITING COMPOSITION.
Sig. (2-
GROUP N Mean Std. Deviation T Df tailed)
PRE TEST Experimental 30 38.57 5.341 -.714 56 .478
Control 28 39.50 4.550

Before starting the experiment, table (1) showed that the difference between the mean scores of both groups on the
pre test was not statistically significant (t ≥ .005). Also, students' mean scores for both groups (38.57 and 39.50) were
almost equivalent in pre-test so both groups are equivalent
To find whether both groups have statistical significant difference on the pre test, t-test also conducted as follows:
TABLE II.
T-TEST RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS ON THE POST-TEST.
GROUP N Mean Std. Deviation t Df Sig. (2-tailed)
POST TEST Experimental 30 44.80 4.180 2.200 56 .032
Control 28 42.11 5.123

As shown above in table (2), there are statistical significant differences at (≤ 0.05) between the means of both
groups on the post-test of writing composition in favor of the experimental group. While looking through the mean
scores in table 2, one notices that that the mean score of the experimental group (44.80) is higher that the mean score of
control group (42.11) so students who learn composition by Cornell method showed higher levels of writing gains than
those who learned by using the traditional method.
T-test showed that there was a statistical significant difference at (≤ 0.05) between the mean scores of the

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experimental group and the control group on the post-test regarding writing composition. The difference was in favor of
the experimental group which used Cornell method since the mean scores of Cornell group (44.80) was higher than the
mean scores of the control group (42.11).
The positive effect of Cornell method on improving writing composition skills is expected because it has significant
features and advantages. In Cornell method, the students can write the details belonged to the elements of the
composition on the right side of the paper such as, writing details about the introduction and the body. On the left
column (cue column), students can practise the pre-stage of writing through gathering information and details about
their topics before while-writing stage and write the forgotten main ideas later while writing in the writing stage which
tales place in the right column. Finally, the writers pratise post-writing in Cornell method through reviewing and editing
the previous notes in the third section of Cornell card which is called “summary section”.
Cornell method increases the students’ knowledge and masters their information. Moreover, it motivates the students
to focus on what they write and helps them remember. To summarize, this method helps the students to keep their
writing organized then it makes connections to the information and revises to produce the final draft of composition.
There are no big differences between the mean scores of the experimental group and control group for several
reasons. One reason related to the students who are unfamiliar with taking-note strategy in general and lack of Cornell
method skills in particular. Rockler-Gladen (2007) claimed that many students lack note-taking skills so the researchers
should train students how to deal with this method before applying their studies. Another reason goes to the fact that
most of the students coudn’t follow the speed of the instructor while teaching them writing accodring to Cornell method
so they missed a lot of information which affected on their writing negatively.
Most of the related studies mentioned in the literature review (Jacobs, 2008; Zorn 2017 &Baharev, 2016) found out
positive effects of using Cornell method strategy on achievement of students. Also, (Davoudi, Moattarian & Zareian
2015) showed that Cornell method has positive influence on learning grammar. For listening, (Rahmani & Sadeghi,
2011 &Hayati, 2009) showed significant differences in their studies while comparing Cornell method with the control
methods in favor of Cornell method. Finally, the main finding of the study was in line with the findings of (Al-Ashkar,
2014) whose results provided evidence for the positive effect of using note-taking on improving writing skill. However,
(Borr, et al., 2012) showed no significant difference in Cornell note-taking on student performance. He mentioned that
there were several factors that had some bearing on the results such as the variation of learning styles among students
and there was no way to determine if notes were actually used for studying.

V. CONCLUSIONS
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of suggested Cornell method on improving students’
writing composition. The results of data analysis revealed that students who learnt composition by using the suggested
Cornell method performed considerably better than did students who learnt through conventional method. The result of
the currecnt study agreed with the previous related studies (Jacobs, 2008; Zorn 2017; Baharev ,2016; Davoudi,
Moattarian & Zareian, 2015; Rahmani & Sadeghi, 2011 &Hayati, 2009) which showed positive effects of using Cornell
method on improving language skills and its components.

VI. RECOMMENDATIONS
To apply Cornell method effectively inside the class, the lecturer should be slow in order to help students in writing.
Also, the information shoud be also accurate because the Cornell method allows students to take notes in short form and
reserve the left side for cues. Moreover, the study suggested to provide colleges and schools with enough materials to
facilitate the use of Cornell method and minimize the large number of students in writing classes. Finally, the decision
makers in the educational institution shoud hold workshops for training teachers or lecturers on how to teach the
language skills according to Cornell method.

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APPENDIX A. THE CORNELL CARD

APPENDIX B. SAMPLE OF LESSON PLAN

A. The main objective
Students are expected to:
1. Select a process topic.
2. Write an introductory paragraph for a process composition.
B. Teaching and learning aids:
3. Cornell cards
4. pencils

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5. Pages for taking notes.

C. Period of time: two lectures
D. Procedures:
1. Preparation stage
 Students should carry all necessary items and materials to class such as notebook, planner, pens, pencils,
Cornel cards, and small dictionary.
 The instructor meets their students to clarify concepts related to Cornell method and elements of writing
composition.
 Students should begin taking notes for every lecture on a new card so the instructor prepares enough
printed cards for the students to be used in all lectures.
2. Before writing stage:
 St should identify the chapter being covered at the top of the page, for example, process composition.
 Sts should discuss the topic with each other to be more familiar with the topic. They may use one of pre-
writing strategies like clustering, brainstorming and free writing.
 The students should determine a suitable topic to describe the sequence of steps in a procedure, for
example: describing types of friends, changing a flat tire, studying for an exam etc….
 Students should use the top of Cornell cards to write their own selected topics.
 students should follow the instructor while discussion in the class.
 students should listen carefully and write the important instructions of the teacher in the right column of
Cornell card (Note-taking column). The instructor directs the students through giving them pre-writing
techniques to gather information about the topic in order to write the first element of writing composition
(introductory paragraph).
 Students should rewrite the general ideas of the details to reconstruct the important elements of the writing
by using the left side of their cards.
3. During writing stage:
 The instructor should use a large Cornell card to enable students following the steps of using Cornell
method.
 Students should focus their attention on listening for any comments regarding the next lecture topic.
 Students should stay focused on what the instructor is saying.
 Students participate in class activities.
 Students have to use symbols and abbreviations whenever possible.
 Students should take too many notes. They can always omit unnecessary information later.
 Students should focus on the point the professor is making, rather than scrambling to copy the entire
overhead without listening to what the professor is saying.
 Students write down notes in their own words when possible and think about what the professor is saying.
 Students add examples their professor provides in order to clarify abstract ideas and to jog their memory
when studying later.
 Students should make eye contact with the lecturer.
 Students shouldn’t be a clock-watcher.
4. After writing stage (evaluation section)
 Students read over the notes from the previous class at home.
 Students should review, revise, or edit the notes as soon as possible after the lecture by filling in the gap
(summary section).
 Students should conduct short weekly review periods. Once a week, she goes through all her notes again
and puts reviews on her calendar and makes it a habit.
 Students talk to the lecturer before the next lecture about any problems.
Note: In the next lecture, each student should use another card to start learning other elements of writing
composition.

APPENDIX C. WRITING COMPOSITION TEST

Write a composition of five paragraghs about one of the following topics:
1. The best way to loose weight.
2. How to quit smoking.
3. How to succeed in college.

APPENDIX D. THE RUBRIC

1. To write the introductory paragraph.
2. To write supporting paragraphs.

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3. To write the concluding paragraph.

4. To use correct grammar.
5. To not make spelling errors.
6. To use the suitable punctuations marks.
7. To establish coherence by using linking words.
8. To organize and order the composition.
9. To use suitable vocabularies.
10. To follow the composition format.

APPENDIX E. THE LIST OF JURY FOR VALIDATING THE INSTRUMENT AND THE CIRC PROGRAM

Name Specialization Affiliation Academic position

Ibrahim Al-Marzouk Curricula & Methods of Ministry of Superviser
TEFL education
Ahmed Al-Zu'bi Curricula & Methods of King saud Assistant Professor
TEFL university
Abd-Alruhman Bani-Melhim Applied linguistics Al-Balqa Applied Professor
University
Murad Al-Kayed Linguistics Al-Balqa Applied Assistant Professor
University

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The researcher would like to thank the deanship of scientific research in Al-Balqa Applied University who funded the
current project and supported the researcher to achieve the study.

REFERENCES
[1] Al-Ashkar, B. (2014). The influence of note-taking strategy on improving students’ academic achievement from English and
TEFL majors’ perspectives at An-Najah National University. Master degree. An-Najah National university
[2] Al-Nakkash, N. (1978). Different techniques for guided compositions. IDELTI Journal 10, 130-138.
[3] Baharev, Z. (2016). The effects of Cornell note-taking and review strategies on recall and comprehension of lecture content for
middle school students with and without disabilities. Ph.D. dissertation. The Graduate School of Education, Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey.
[4] Bani-yasain, M. (2010). The language. Jordan, Irbid: Hamada Company.
[5] Borr, M.; Duffield, S; Napoleon, L. & Welch, A. (2012). The Impact of the Cornell Note-Taking Method on Students’
Performance in a High School Family and Consumer Sciences Class. Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences Education 30.1,
27-38.
[6] Chaudron, C., Loschky, L., & Cook, J. (1994). Second language listening comprehension and lecture note-taking. In J.
Flowerdew (Ed.), Academic listening: Research perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[7] Clerehan, R. (1995). Taking it down: Note-taking practices of L1 and L2 students. English for specific purposes 14.2, 137-157.
[8] Daniels, P. & Bright, W. (1996). The world's writing systems. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[9] Davoudi M; Moattarian N. & Zareian G. (2015). Impact of Cornell note-taking method instruction on grammar learning of
Iranian EFL learners. Journal of Studies in Education 5.2, 252-265.
[10] Fahmy, J.J. & Bilton, L. (1991). Listening and note-taking in higher education. In S. Anivan (Ed.), Language teaching
methodology for the nineties. Singapore: SEAMO Regional Language Centre.
[11] Hayati, M. (2009). The impact of note-taking strategies on listening comprehension of EFL learners. English language
Teaching 2.1, 101-111.
[12] Jacobs K. (2008). A Comparison of Two Note Taking Methods in a Secondary English Classroom. Proceedings of the 4th
Annual GRASP Symposium, Wichita State University.
[13] Lieberman, D.A. (2000). Learning: Behavior and cognition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
[14] Nunan, D. (2003). Practical English language teaching. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
[15] Pauk, W., & Owens, R. J. Q., (2011). How to study in college. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
[16] Rahmani, M.& Sadeghi, K. (2011). Effects of note-taking training on reading comprehension and recall. The Reading Matrix
11.2, 116-128.
[17] Williams, G. T. D. (2004). Assessment of 8th grade students’ attitudes and perceptions of Cornell’s note-taking. Ph.D.
dissertation, Union University.
[18] Zorn, D. (2007). Increasing Achievement Scores with the Use of the Cornell Note-taking Style. Master degree. Hiritage
College.

Mohammad A. Alzu'bi is associate professor in Albalqa Applied University in Jordan and got his PhD in Applied Linguistics-
TEFL and curricula. His main research interests lie in the four skills, grammar and vocabularies' strategies, second language
acquisition and learning, translation, CALL, TEFL, and TESL. Also he is expert in analyzing and designing curricula for primary and

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JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH 871

secondary stages at schools. He has published several researches and attended several conferences. Finally, he is awarded as one of
the best researchers at Albalqa Applied University.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 872-878, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.27

A Survey on the Causes of Non-English Majors

College English Learning Burnout in a Local
University in China—A Case Study of Anhui
University of Science and Technology
Yaoqin Zhang
Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, Anhui, China

Abstract—This paper aims at explaining the college English “learning burnout” phenomenon with descriptions
and statistics from a survey conducted in Anhui University of Science and Technology in October, 2018. The
survey was mainly geared to investigate on the causes of college English “learning burnout” syndrome among
freshmen and sophomores. The analyses of the causes are made from both learners’ and teachers’ perspectives.
With some solutions are presented in the end. It is hoped to help to solve and enlighten the improvement of
College English learning and teaching in local science and technology universities in China.

Index Terms—non-English-major students, college English learning burnout, local science and engineering
Universities

I. INTRODUCTION
A. The Term “Burnout.”
The term “burnout” was originated in Graham Greene’s novel A Burnt-Out Case (1960), in which a desperate
architect quits his job and escapes the African jungle (cited in Maslach, 1976), it was for the first time, “burnout” was
used as a term referred to a psychological syndrome which resulted from chronic stressors on the workplace (Maslach et
al., 2001). In 1974, Freudenberger (1974:p.159) first used the word “burnout” to describe a social phenomenon, in
which human service professionals were so exhausted that they could no longer perform their tasks effectively. From
that time on, a lot of studies on “burnout” focused primarily on studying this concept in terms of how it related to
occupational work (eg. Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001). In addition to burnout among professionals, burnout among
students has lately become a field of research. The term “learning burnout” first appeared in works of Pines & Katry in
1981, as it puts, “learning burnout” is a phenomena which students have suffered from the learning process; In 2002,
Schaufeli and other scholars started to regard “learning burnout” as a kind of emotional loss; and then in 2005, Chinese
scholars Yang Lixian and Lian Rong put forward a point of view that “when students are not interested in learning or
lacking of motivation to learn but have to, they will feel tired, fatigue, frustration and setbacks. This results a series of
inappropriate behaviors. Such a state is known as the learning burnout.”
B. The Background of the Survey
The survey is based on a serious decline in students’ liking for college English classes, just as the figures showed in
table 1.

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TABLE I.

Like so-so dislike just for exams

From figures in table 1 we can see the severe situation of college students’ attitudes towards College English class.
Over 50% of the participants involved showed negative emotion toward college English class, and only 7% of the
participants stated out their positive emotion toward English class. As a teacher who teaches college English, the author
also wants to know what causes the lack of interest of college students in English learning. Through the investigations,
the author finds that the reason why college students lack interest in College English classroom is that they are tired of
English learning. But because the external pressure from society as well as the job market, they have to learn, which
leads to learning burnout syndrome. Just as Yang Tao has presented in 2010, that college English learning burnout is a
kind of psychological syndrome which is caused by the differences between the content, process or the result of English
learning activities and expectations of the learners themselves. It features in exhaustion, indifference to English learning
and the negative emotions related to decadence in English learning. English learning burnout syndrome has hindered
students from learning English well, thereupon it influences students’ personal improvement in the long run. Particularly,
under the current College English teaching reforming circumstances, it is crucial to understand the causes of students’
learning burnout.

II. THE STUDY

Here comes the survey. It consists of questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaires were conducted among the
non-English major students of the 2018 freshmen and 2017 sophomores in Anhui University of Science and Technology,
with answering questions like, how do you think of college English, is English important for your future career planning,
how do you behave in College English classes, and do you like English class and what is your purpose of learning
English, and so on. Questionnaires were put on the internet with multi-order sample; students could answer the
questions with their Smartphone. There were totally 25 questions in the questionnaire, most of which are selected. The
questions involved in the questionnaire ranged from the students’ attitudes toward English learning to college English
teaching, as well as to the college English teaching effect in the class. Interviews were conducted among the 28
front-line college English teachers. The author investigated on the students’ performance in English class, asked such
questions as, did your students previewed before class, did your students behaved well in the class and did your students
actively complete all the homework after class, etc. this study aims at investigating on the causes of the learning burnout
phenomenon among college English class, and then giving out some solutions on how to solve it.
A. The Aim and the Objectiveness of the Study.
The present study has set itself the objective of focusing on the presentation of the wealth of data which emanated
from the students’ questionnaires and provided rich insights into non-English-majored students’ actual burnout situation
and to seek intervention. Nevertheless, it should be put forward that the learning burnout situation has not been limited
to the college English class only, the learning burnout situation is also common among other courses.
In particular, the basic objectives of this part of the research project were:
To present the current psychological problems prevalent in College English learning;
To identify the causes of negative emotions toward college English learning;
To give out suggestions on what should be done to buffer the learning burnout.

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B. The Participants
The participants involved in the study were 361 non-English majors of Anhui university of Science and Technology,
Huainan, Anhui province in China. Of them 57.62% were male and 42.38 female. Their age range varied; however, the
majority of them (74.5%) were 18-22 years old, as for the interviews, 28 front-line college English teachers were
interviewed in the study.
C. Research Methods and Tools
A multi-method approach which involved both quantitative and qualitative research methods was adopted in the
study. Data were collected through the students’ questionnaire which included closed- and open-questions and was
administered to 361 students. Moreover, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 college English teachers in
an attempt to gain more meaningful insights into the situation.
D. Data Analysis
The data derived from the questionnaires and interviews were analyzed by using descriptive statistical methods.
Frequencies and percentages for all items of the questionnaires were obtained.

III. FINDINGS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE

A. The Current Situation of College English.
With respect to the attitudes toward college English, a considerable number of the participants (90.03%) stated the
importance of learning English. Those non-English major students believed college English was very important for their
future career. For instance, over 90% of the 361 participants have agreed that English is very important in finishing their
college studies and providing them with good job opportunities in the future, and 62% of those polled said they thought
college English was practical, but it was only practical in passing cet4 or cet6, which the certification could help them
in finding a good job opportunity, therefore in answering their purpose of learning English, over 72.02% of the
respondents viewed learning college English as the necessity for planning their future career. Regarding the
practicability of English, the participants declared it is practicable either “very practical”(23.55%) or “practical”
(39.06%); as for the purposes of learning English, 78.67% of the participants asserted that they learned it for mastering
a useful language skill, while 55.12% believed in learning it for passing exams, only 28% of the participants considered
it is of great help in understanding the European and American culture. Through the statistics we can see, college
English is still believed to be very useful in helping shape the participants’ future career.
B. The Causes of Negative Emotion toward College English Learning
1. The conventional teaching methods caused students’ antipathy against learning English.
The survey data found that, the college English teachers mainly taught vocabulary, grammar and analysis of the
structure of both the sentence and paragraphs in their classes. This kind of teaching methodology, we call it
conventional teaching methodology, makes students in a state of being listened to and being forced to learn. For
instance, in answering “what does your college English teacher focus on?”, over half of the 361 participants have stated
that their English teachers would teach them grammatical knowledge, and 62.05% of those polled said their English
teachers would teach them vocabulary, and over 72% polled students stated that their English teachers would focus on
the analysis of sentence structure, and 34.9% of the participants said their English class would focus on the examination
skills, and only 15.24% of the participants stated that their teachers would focus on the cultural background knowledge.
Through the statistics we can see, the present conventional college English teaching method makes students in a state of
being listened to and being forced to learn. Thus this kind of state has caused students’ antipathy against learning
English, and gradually against going to college English class, which, in turn, reflected out students’ lacking interest in
learning English.
2. The purpose of passing the examinations dispirited students’ interest in learning.
The present examination evaluation system depressed students’ enthusiasm toward college English learning. For the
examination-oriented education system, students mainly focus on the grammatical study, for instance, according to the
data, there are more than 73.96% of the respondents believed that vocabulary was their learning focuses, and over 65.93%
of the respondents thought training in listening, speaking, reading and writing skills were their learning focuses. So
when answering “what do you hope to achieve through college English learning?” over 72% polled participants stated
that they wanted to pass CET4 or CET6, because the cet4 or cet6 certifications will help them find a good job, and
correspondingly improve personal social status. Therefore it is naturally for them to learn English with focuses on
learning the skills in dealing with examinations as well as the grammatical information contained in the texts. This
causes their English class to be monotonous and tedious. Another aspect of the reason is that, although all the students
work hard in college English, the exam results turn out to be undesirable; this also depressed most of the students in
learning English. According to the data, nearly half (49.02%) of the participants were unsatisfied with their scores, and
about 40.17% of the participants were disappointed with their college English learning. According to Achievement
Motivation Theory, the probability of success, which is the most likely choice for students, is about 50%. If students
think that no matter how hard they work, they will certainly fail, which will cause their learning motivation at a very

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low level. Gradually they will lose interest in learning.

IV. FINDINGS OF INTERVIEWS

Rich insights into the college English learning burnout were provided through the interviews of 28 college English
teachers which complemented the findings of the questionnaire. Through the teachers’ interviews we can see the
learning burnout phenomena had closely related to the foundation of English learning, frustration in English learning,
and the lack of English learning atmosphere. For example, there were 25 out of 28 teachers believed the low proficiency
and weak foundation in the basics of English knowledge, as well as incapability in self-learning had caused students’
lacking interest in learning college English; as for speaking and listening skills, almost all the teachers believed that
poor pronunciation led the students’ lack of courage to express in English, which directly or indirectly led to their low
proficiency in both listening and speaking. The interviews also showed that students commonly relied heavily on their
teachers in English learning. They usually accepted knowledge passively and could not think actively in the class, while
the current college English teaching mode gave top priority to students-centered mode which required high self-learning
capability and strong self-control ability of students in the class. Because of the weak learning foundation and the lack
of autonomous learning ability, it was often difficult for students to adapt to the college English teaching mode, which
led to the decrease of interest in learning.
Also, through the interviews we can see, teachers insisted that the lower academic achievement constantly hampered
students’ interest and self-confidence in learning. Students feel frustrated in English learning in the class. College
English teachers mostly teach in full English or more English, which makes it difficult for students to adapt to,
exacerbates the frustration. Students lack interest in English learning. They are half-hearted in class and seldom carry
out corresponding consolidation exercises after class. The influence of English learning atmosphere, learning
atmosphere is an important factor affecting students’ learning English, a strong learning atmosphere can improve
students’ enthusiasm for learning English. Schools attach importance to creating a good atmosphere for learning English,
students will have the desire to learn English well. If schools do not attach enough importance to it, or only emphasize
professional learning, then students will be inert in learning English and easy to cut classes. Besides, as a front-line
teacher in College English class, the author also often sees this situation in the course of class: the whole class is
basically a teacher singing a monologue, the participation of students is not active, on the contrary, some students are
not even interested in College English learning, some students are drowsy in class, some students do not leave their
hands on their mobile phones, and so on. These behaviors of students bring great difficulties to teaching activities, and
even make teaching activities difficult to carry out. There are 23 out of 28 teachers interviewed stated that the College
English classroom atmosphere is dull and students’ awareness of participation is very weak. It is not uncommon for
teachers to engage in selflessness while students are absent-minded underneath.
Additionally, according to the interviewed teachers, although there are many college students eager to learn college
English well, but they still haven’t found proper learning methods. For example, while learn college English, they tend
to memorize new words today, look at the grammar tomorrow, practice listening and speaking the day after tomorrow,
for those students, they are lacking of systematic learning, what’s even more, they have no feasible English learning
plan. Therefore, it is easy for them to fail when it comes to the exam. Correspondingly, the setbacks will cause them to
feel they have a weak English foundation, so it is natural for them to restart learning from scratch. As a result, time is
wasted on the inefficient vicious circle of knowledge, but the situation has not improved at all, which leads to despair
and completely loses interest and confidence in the course of College English learning. The reason for this phenomenon
is that students’ long-term interest in English learning has been exhausted by countless examinations and rote-learning
methods, and even become bored of learning.
To summarize, 1) although almost every non-majored college students believed English to be very helpful in their
future career planning, they felt they were forced to learn English well, which, for a college student who has just passed
the college entrance examination, now, without pressure coming from both parents and teachers, was difficult for them
to focus on the tedious English learning, therefore, they become bored of learning English; 2）there are differences
existed in college students’ English proficiency and autonomous learning ability, some students show low learning
ability in English learning. For instance, some students try hard to learn English in the very beginning, but because of
the improper learning methods, they made no obvious progress in learning, they get frustrated, and then their interest in
learning English becomes weaker and weaker, therefore it is easy for them to show strong inferiority complex in
English learning, gradually, those students will generate a sense of despair and a complete loss of interest and
confidence in the course of College English learning; 3) there is no proper motivation in learning English. The
conventional teaching method and the present examination evaluation system bruised their enthusiasm in English
learning away, and their senses of achievement have been contused by the repeated failure in English class. Besides,
after entering college, their major becomes more important than other courses, they pay much more attention and
energy to their major-related courses, and less attention to the humanist aspect of learning, English is a language, it
belongs to humanities, which seems has nothing to do with their natural science oriented subjects, therefore they
become less willing to come to English class, and lack of interest in learning English.

V. RESULTS

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Due to the various reasons listed above, students are in a dilemma. For in one aspect, college English is of great
importance for their future career, while in another aspect, they tend to be lacking interest in English. Students are
insensitive to English class, they are forced to come to English class, therefore it is natural for them to cause antipathy
against English class, gradually, they will against go to college English class. While out of social needs, they have to
pass cet4 or cet6 examinations if they want to have a better future career, thereupon, it seems someone forced them to
learn. This kind of forceful feeling, together with their setbacks in learning, make them feel tired, fatigue, frustration,
which is what has been called “the college English learning burnout.” Just as Yang Lixian and Lian Rong put it—“when
students are not interested in learning or lacking of motivation to learn but have to, they will feel tired, fatigue,
frustration and setbacks,” in fact, it is a kind of psychological syndrome, “It features in exhaustion, indifference to
English learning and the negative emotions related to decadence in English learning.”(Yang Tao) this kind of emotional
exhaustion was caused by the decrease or lack of interest in learning, the decrease of self-efficacy or the pressure of
heavy learning tasks.
To conclude, after at least six years of good or bad English learning experience before entering to the university, with
the changes of learning environment and learning purposes, non-English major students commonly tend to have college
English learning burnout syndrome. This learning burnout syndrome plays a negative role both in the learning of
learners themselves and in the teaching of teachers.

VI. SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING

As a major obstacle in college students’ learning process, learning burnout is a very negative emotion and passive
psychological syndrome, it is very harmful to students’ learning and life. To a large extent, it affects students’ English
learning, and then affects students’ personal development and the better personal development. If teachers can attach
importance to students’ burnout in English learning, and with might and main to change this phenomenon, their
teaching effect will be better, students’ learning will be better, either. So how to solve this problem is particularly
important. In order to solve English learning burnout syndrome, this paper also presents several suggestions for both
college English teachers and non-English majored students.
For college English teachers, the first and foremost thing for them to alleviate learning burnout syndrome is to
consider what should be taught in college English class? The paper believes in the attitude. After all, attitudes decides
everything, therefore the conventional English classroom teaching mode should be converted into drawing students’
interest into learning English. Particularly speaking, the modern intelligent teaching method should be energetically
implemented into English classroom and the multi-media equipment with the intelligent situational simulation teaching
methodology should be utilized to lead students to step into a native language context, and help students create the real
scene of language learning, and make students integrated into the English classroom actively and quickly. The second
thing for college English teachers to alleviate learning burnout syndrome is to push forward the current
Examination-oriented Evaluation System reformation. To advocate a kind of evaluation method which not only
evaluates and tests students’ English learning achievement and level according to their performance in the class and
after their completion of homework after class, but also requires the college English teachers not confine themselves to
simply testing students’ foreign language knowledge, but pay more attention to assessing students’ ability to
communicate in English. With this kind of assessing system, it can not only encourage students to participate in the
classroom, improve their confidence in language learning, but also can improve their sense of achievement and
recognition, which are very useful in alleviating students’ learning burnout syndrome. The last one for college English
teachers to alleviate English learning burnout syndrome is how to create a pleasant and harmonious classroom
atmosphere. Happy and harmonious classroom atmosphere is very important to protect students’ learning motivation.
More and more scholars believe that only by reducing the control of students and providing them with opportunities of
autonomy, initiative and self-expression as much as possible, can we create an environment for more effective learning
and stimulating students’ learning motivation. Therefore, in teaching, we should create a learning atmosphere that
makes students feel safe, tolerant and conducive to their development, show sincere concern for each student, highlight
the value of learning process and task, and do not pay too much attention to learning results, so as to reduce students’
anxiety. With a pleasant and harmonious classroom atmosphere, students will more likely to engage in learning English,
and therefore alleviate English learning burnout syndrome.
For the non-English majors, the first thing to alleviate English learning burnout syndrome is to give full play to
autonomous learning. The so-called autonomous learning here refers to a modern learning mode corresponding to
traditional acceptance learning mode. As the term suggests, it takes students as the main body of learning, and students
can achieve their learning goals by means of independent analysis, exploration, practice, questioning and creation. As
the Outline of Basic Education Curriculum Reform (Trial) has put it, the specific objectives of basic education
curriculum reform is “To change the current situation of curriculum implementation which emphasizes too much on
accepting learning, memorizing by rote and mechanical learning, we should advocate students’ active participation,
willingness to explore and be diligent in doing so, and cultivate students’ ability to collect and process information,
acquire new knowledge, analyze and solve problems, as well as their ability to communicate and cooperate.” through
advocating students to learn how to study independently, willing to learn and form a strong learning motivation,
increase interest in learning, make students willing to learn and enjoy learning, solve the problems of students’

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weariness and truancy, which correspondingly alleviates students’ English learning burnout syndrome. The second thing
for students to alleviate English learning burnout syndrome is to have a clear learning purpose and correct learning
attitude. Different learning purposes will inevitably lead to different learning effects. Generally speaking, students with
definite and long-term learning purposes work harder and learn more durably in the learning process. Only by clarifying
the purpose of learning, can students turn “I want to learn” into “I want to learn”, which will need to be translated into
motivation. The ultimate goal of College English teaching is to cultivate students’ practical ability to use language. Only
when students combine “instrumental” motivation with “integrated” motivation and use English as a communication
tool to learn, master and use it, can they have a correct attitude towards learning and improve their enthusiasm and
consciousness in learning.
The last thing for students to alleviate English learning burnout syndrome is to overcome anxiety and build
self-confidence. The word “anxiety”, as it puts it in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anxiety, “Anxiety is
an emotion characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil, often accompanied by nervous behavior such as
pacing back and forth, somatic complaints, and rumination.” (Walker EF, Rosenhan DL) It is not the same as fear, which
is a response to a real or perceived immediate threat, whereas anxiety involves the expectation of future threat. “Anxiety
is a feeling of uneasiness and worry, usually generalized and unfocused as an overreaction to a situation that is only
subjectively seen as menacing.” (Bouras N, Holt G, 2007.) It is often accompanied by muscular
tension, restlessness, fatigue and problems in concentration. Therefore anxiety is a kind of negative emotion, which
refers to the nervous and fearful emotional state formed by the individual’s failure to achieve the expected goal or
overcome the threat of obstacles, which frustrates his self-esteem and self-confidence, or increases his sense of failure
and guilt. English learning is an activity that easily threatens self-esteem or self-confidence, for instance, introverted
and self-confident students are prone to anxiety because they are not good at communicating with others, are afraid to
take part in English practice actively, and are nervous when speaking; fear of negative evaluation can also lead to
anxiety; fear of making mistakes, caring about others’ opinions and worrying about negative evaluation are common
psychological phenomena in English learning. Furthermore, examination anxiety is another very common phenomenon
among college students, many students cannot treat the exam correctly and worry about failing the exam. Some students
always put too much emphasis on the test results, and the mental pressure is too great. Owing to so many anxieties and
worries, it is easy to cause excessive tension beyond the psychological load. Therefore, how to reduce anxiety in
English learning is crucial in alleviating English learning burnout syndrome. As college students, if we want to reduce
anxiety in English learning, we should first encourage ourselves, refuel ourselves and say to us “I can do it”, and master
good learning methods, develop good learning habits, pay attention to listening, speaking, reading and writing, which
will help us in improving English learning while reducing anxiety, and then alleviating learning burnout, or even getting
interested in English learning again.

VII. CONCLUSION, LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES

Take all the things into consideration, this paper analyzed the causes of non-English majors’ learning burnout
syndrome in English learning and proposed some solutions of how to solve the burnout syndrome, it hoped to help both
the college English teachers and the non- English majors to have a better understanding, and grasp how to alleviate or
even avoid the occurrence of burnout syndrome in the process of teaching and learning, and what’s more, with
understanding of the causes of the learning burnout syndrome, teachers can stimulate and strengthen students’ interest in
learning English, promote English teaching from various specific factors affecting students’ learning in the actual
teaching process, while students can also adjust their interest in learning English and renew their enthusiasm for
learning.
Though the present study has provided a survey detailed description of the non-English majors’ learning burnout,
there are still some limitations of the study. Having the limitations in mind, suggestions for further research, therefore,
can be put forward at the same time in order to achieve a better effect in teaching and learning English. For example,
being time limitation and practical restrictions (the survey only confined to sophomore and freshman students in one
university), therefore, the statistics need to be further collected in further studies; more instruments should be used in
the investigation if a further research is being made. Despite of the restraints of the study, it is hoped that it can offer
some guidelines for further studies in this area.

REFERENCES
[1] Bouras N, Holt G. (2007). Psychiatric and Behavioral Disorders in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (2nd ed.). New
York: Cambridge University Press. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anxiety. (accessed 17/4/2019).
[2] Freudenberger, H.J. & J. (1974). Staff burnout. Journal of Social Issues, 30,159-165.
[3] Greene, Graham. (1961). A Burnt-Out Case. New York (Amer. ed.): The Viking Press. p. vii-viii.
[4] Leiter, M.P; Maslach, C. (1999). Six areas of worklife: A model of the organizational context of burnout. Journal of Health and
Human Resources Administration, 21, 472–489.
[5] Lian Rong, Yang Lixian, Wu Lanhua. (2005). The Relationship Between College Students’ Professional Commitment, Learning
Burnout and Scale Compilation. Acta Psychologica Sinica, Beijing: Science Press. 5, 632-636.
[6] Maslach, C.; Jackson, S.E. (1981). The Measurement of Experienced Burnout. Journal of Occupational Behavior. 2, 99–113.

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[7] Maslach, C. (1976). Burned-Out. Human Behavior. 5, 7-22.

[8] Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W.B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job Burnout. Annual Review of Psychology. 52, 397-422.
[9] Meier, S. F. & Schneck, R. R. (1985). The Burned-out College Student: A Descriptive Profile. Journal of College Student
Personal. 26 (1): 63-69.
[10] Pines, A. & Kafry, D. (1980). Tedium in College. Paper Presented at the Western Psychological Association Meeting, Honolulu,
Hawaii. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service NO. ED199210.)
[11] Seligman ME, Walker EF, Rosenhan DL. Abnormal psychology (4th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton &
Company. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anxiety. (accessed 17/4/2019).
[12] Yang Tao. (2015). Research on the Relationship between Foreign Language Learning Burnout and Motivation. Beijing: Science
Press.7, 187.
[13] Zhu Zhihong. (2008). Attribution Survey of English Learning Failure of Non-English Majors, Journal of Shijiazhuang Railway
Vocational and Technical College. Shijiazhuang: Shijiazhuang Railway Vocational and Technical College. 2, 26.

Yaoqin Zhang (1982 -), female, was born in Linyi, Shandong Province, China. She received her Master’s degree in language and
literature in Sichuan International Studies University in 2007.
She is currently working as a lecturer in Foreign Languages College of Anhui University of Science and Technology, her research
interests include English Language and Literature.
She is a member of the Foreign Language Educational Technology Committee.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 879-885, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.28

A Semantic Approach to the English Modality

Jinghua Zhang
Yanbian University, China

Abstract—Modality is a semantic concept dealing with necessity and possibility of the knowledge of the world.
It is basically divided into two types, viz. epistemic modality and deontic modality. Various grammatical
categories are possibly used to show modality. However, modal verbs are one of the most important means
related to the modality. Modal verbs are flexible in showing modality. This article discusses basic knowledge of
modality including definition, classification (epistemic and deontic) and relationship between modality and
modal verbs etc.

Index Terms—modality, epistemic, deontic, modal verbs, semimodals

I. INTRODUCTION
Propositions in the world may be an assertion that concerns truth of the real world based on the factual proposition.
However, sometimes it is very hard to assert some proposition based on the background of the knowledge either it is
true or not. In order to express this kind of situation, people use the concept modality. Assertion deals with factual
propositions based on the real knowledge of the worlds, while modality focuses on the necessities and possibilities of
the proposition. Modality is an important semantic category that attracts many scholars’ interest. Many expressions in
our lives are related to modality. Modality often deals with possibility and necessity. In general, scholars divide
modality into two major subcategories, viz., epistemic modality and deontic modality, and modal verbs are the main
carriers to show modality. This article will focus on some of the major issues of modality.
Modality is one of the important semantic categories. It refers to “language whose meaning depends on alternate
possible worlds” (Portner, 2005, p.154). It is also considered as a category of linguistic meaning having to do with the
expression of possibility and necessity. Modality is closely related to the modal auxiliary verbs such as can, must,
should etc. to express probability, possibility, necessity, permissibility and obligation etc. Modal verbs with frequent
occurrence are will, can, may, must, should, ought to, would, could, might, need1, dare, have to2, be able to etc. In a
word, modality deals with possibility and necessity of the possible world. Though different scholars such as, Saeed
(2003) and Kearns (2000) have their own definition to modality, the focus on the possibility and necessity of the
language is consistent. Modality is different from assertion which shows definite meaning of a proposition with high
level of necessity and it is also different from mood which has similar meanings with modality. The term mood is used
by some authors in the same sense as the modality, while most of the scholars argue that modality and mood are the
different concepts. They argue that mood is a set of distinctive forms that are used to signal modality, while modality is
a facet of illoucutionary force, signaled by grammatical device (viz. moods), to show illocutionary point of the speakers
such as commitment to the proposition’s believability, obligatoriness, desirability or reality etc. According to Chung and
Timberlake (1985), Palmer (1979) and Bybee (1985) et al, modality is expressed by lexical means as well as
grammatical means, and it is considered as the synonym of illocutionary force which is related to the knowledge of
pragmatics.
However, it is not the case that modality only depends modal verbs. Some other grammatical categories also show
modality such as, adverbs, nouns, adjectives and verbs etc. These categories can also show modality. However, modal
verbs are generally considered to be the primary source of showing modality.

II. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Many scholars have made research on modality such as, Jesperson (1924), Von Wright (1951) and Halliday (1985)
etc. In this article, perspectives provided by the two famous scholars, viz., Von Wright (1951) and Palmer (1979) are to
be concerned. Von Wright (1951) divides modality into four categories. He called modality modes. His classification
includes following four categories including two of the most important modalities—epistemic modality and deontic
modality.
a. The alethic modes or modes of truth. (Alethic modality)
b. The epistemic modes or modes of knowing. (Epistemic modality)
c. The deontic modes or modes of obligation. (Deontic modality)
d. The existential modes or modes of existence. (Existential modality)

1
Need and dare are more used as main verbs rather than modal verbs.
2
Some scholars argue that have to, be able to, had better etc. are semimodal verbs. These words are similar in meaning to the typical modal verbs,
but they are considered as the supplementary forms to modal verbs.

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Each subcategories include a list of concrete contents of modality.

Palmer argues that “There is, perhaps, no area of English grammar that is both more important and more difficult
than the system of the modals.” (1979, Preface) He defines modality based on the relations between modality and
modals, and further remarks that modals and modality has the same relations as form and meaning have. Therefore, they
are inseparable.
"Modality in English is defined in terms of the modal auxiliaries, we shall, by including will, have to include within
the system of modality both futurity, which seems to belong more to the system of tense, and volition, which has little in
common with the more obvious modal concepts of possibility and necessity, but belongs more with the verbs of wanting,
hoping, etc. which are essentially lexical rather than grammatical in English." (Palmer, 1979, p. 2)
From this citation, we can see Palmer’s perspectives on modality. He argues that modality deals with possibility and
necessity. Modals belong to lexical category and meaning of modality has relations to this lexical category, viz., modal
auxiliaries or modal verbs.
In addition, other scholars also defined modality with similar concepts. For example, Saeed (2003) argues that
modality is a semantic category “which operates at the sentence level and it is a cover term for devices which allow
speakers to express varying degrees of commitment to, or belief in, a proposition”. Griffiths (2006) also argues that
modality is “the term for a cluster of meanings centered on the notions of necessity and possibility: what must be or
what merely might be.” (p. 110)

III. TYPES OF ENGLISH MODALITY

Modality is generally related to the necessity, possibility, obligation, permissibility, feasibility and certainty etc. As
for the classification of modality, there are several proposals. However, many scholars agree that there are generally two
major types: epistemic modality and deontic modality. To begin with, let’s briefly go over various perspectives on the
classification of modality.
Jesperson (1924) divided modality into twenty subcategories which involved “certain attitudes of the mind of the
speaker towards the content of the sentence” (1924, p. 313). This kind of classification has a significant influence to the
modern research on modality and its classification though it has too many subcategories with many overlapping.
The second classification was made by Rescher (1968, pp24-26). He divided the whole modality system into eight
subcategories and his classification also includes two most important categories of modality that we still use nowadays,
viz. epistemic modality and deontic modality.
One of the classifications widely accepted by many scholars was made by Von Wright (1951). He divided the
modality into four categories. He called modality modes at that time. His classification also included two of the most
important items that had been mentioned in the previous two classifications. Von Wright’s classification is as follows.
Four modes by Von Wright (1951)
1) The alethic modes or modes of truth.
2) The epistemic modes or modes of knowing.
3) The deontic modes or modes of obligation.
4) The existential modes or modes of existence.
From these classifications, we can see that epistemic modality and deontic modality are the two most important
categories in modality, though the criteria of the classification are different.
Based on these classifications, scholars generally divide modality into two major types: epistemic modality and
deontic modality.
A. Epistemic Modality
"Epistemic interpretations have to do with knowledge and understanding" (Griffiths, 2006). It concerns the necessity
and possibility of a proposition when there is clear-cut evidence. Therefore, epistemic modality is derived from the fact
that can be true from reality. It connotes how much certainty or evidence a speaker has for the proposition expressed by
his or her utterance.
(1) There’s no answer, Mary must have gone.
Epistemic modality is different from logical modality which always can be true in any case. Epistemic modality is
further divided into two subcategories, viz. epistemic necessity and epistemic possibility. Epistemic necessity cannot
always be true though it comes from real knowledge of the world. Epistemic possibility, on the contrary, isn’t based on
the knowledge of the real world. It only provides one of the possibilities according to the speaker’s assumption. For
example,
(2) Epistemic necessity:
The dinosaurs must have died out suddenly. (Kearns, 2000)
(3) Epistemic possibility:
It is possible that there is intelligent life in deep space. (Kearns, 2000)
Epistemic modality is also divided into evidentiality and judgement modality according to Chung and Timberlake
(1985) and Bybee (1985) etc. Evidentiality is an epistemic modality that connotes the speaker’s assessment of the
evidence for his or her statement. Judgment modality is an epistemic modality that connotes the speaker’s strength of

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inference or degree of confidence in the reality of the proposition expressed by his or her utterance. According to
Jesperson (1924), epistemic modality is further divided into apodictive, necessitative, assertive, presumptive, dubitative,
potential, conditional hypothetical and concessional modality etc. Generally speaking, non-human subjects are used in
epistemic sentences.
B. Deontic Modality
Deontic modality is a modality that connotes the speaker’s degree of requirement, desire or commitment to the
proposition. It relates to “constraints grounded in society: duty, morality, laws, rules etc.” and deontic proposition often
concerns obligations or permissions, hope or requirements etc. (Griffiths, 2006) Deontic modality chiefly depends on
modal verbs such as, can, must, have to, ought to, could have done etc. to express the meanings. Deontic modality is
also divided into deontic necessity and deontic possibility. Deontic necessity concerns obligations and regulations that
must be followed by the people, whereas deontic possibility concerns permissible proposition.
(4) Deontic necessity:
You must abide by the rules of the school.
(5) Deontic possibility:
You may go home.
There are also some other ways of classifying deontic modality by the scholars. For example, deontic modality can
be divided into commissive modality, directive modality and volitive modality according to Chung and Timberlake
(1985) and Palmer (1986). Commissive modality is a deontic modality that connotes the speaker’s expressed
commitment, as a promise or threat, to bring about the proposition expressed by the utterance. Directive modality is also
one of a deontic modality that connotes the speaker’s degree of requirement of conformity to the proposition expressed
by an utterance. Directive modality is further divided into deliberative mood, imperative mood, jussive mood,
obligatory mood, permissive mood, precative mood, prohibitive mood according to Palmer (1986), and Quirk,
Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik (1985). The third type of deontic modality is volitive modality. It is a deonitc modality
that expresses the speaker’s attitude of hope, wish, or fear concerning the proposition expressed by the utterance. It is
also further divided into imprecative mood and optative mood according to Pei and Gaynor (1954) and Palmer (1986).
This kind of classification is very much alike the different categories of the speech acts which are related to the certain
illocutionary acts in pragmatics. Jesperson (1924) classifies deontic modality into jussive, compulsive, obligative,
advisory, precative, hortative, permissive, promissive, optative (realizable), desiderative (unrealizable) and intentional
etc. In general, human subjects are used in deontic sentences.

IV. MODAL VERBS AND MODALITY

Modal verbs are the main carriers of modality. Though we can use inflection of the verbs, viz. mood to show
modality, it is not enough. Therefore, it is necessary to apply some other means of modal expressions and that is modal
verb. Modal verbs are also regarded as helping verbs or auxiliary verbs.
A. Classification of English Modal Verbs
Quirk et al. (1985) classify the modal verbs into can/could, may/might, shall/should, will/would, must, be used to,
ought to, need and dare etc. Palmer (1986) remarks that modal verbs are can/could, may/might, shall/should, will/would,
must, ought, dare and need etc. Modal verbs help the main verb in the sentence to add more information on the different
levels of necessity and possibility. Modal verbs that are related to the obligation, requirement or no choice etc. are must,
need, have (got) to. Should and ought to are generally related to the recommendation to the hearer. Can and its past
form could (without relationship with tense) are connected with possibility. Options, choices and permissions are to be
expressed via modal verbs may and might. The following table shows the details.
TABLE I.
CLASSIFICATION OF MODAL VERBS AND SEMANTIC VARIATION
Modal verbs Meanings or illocutionary act presupposition
Must, (have to) , will Obligation, requirement, no choice Facts
Should, ought to Recommendation Norms
May, might Options, permissions, choices Facts
Can Possibility Facts

B. Modal Verbs and Grade of Possibilities

Modal verbs have high frequency in practical use. According to the statistics made by Biber et al., “it was found that
modals were used in about 15 per cent of clauses that could have them.” (1999). Some of the modal verbs used often are
will, would, can, could, may, might, shall, should, must and ought to etc. In addition, there are also some other means,
(viz., semimodals) to show modality. For instance, have to, need to, be able to etc. In the following parts, some of the
basic modals are to be discussed first.
Modal verbs are the basic means or main carriers to show modality. Many of the modal verbs have both epistemic
and deontic use of modality. Generally speaking, epistemic modality deals with possibility, necessity, predictability and

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ability etc. Modal verbs like must/ have to, should/ought to, will/shall, would/should, may/might, can/could/be able to
etc. are often used for these modality. Deontic modality deals with obligation, volition and permission and modal verbs
such as must/have to, will/shall, may/can etc. are often used.
Modal verbs have different grades in their strength of possibilities. For example, must is generally considered as a
mark of strong modality. It delivers strong certainty to the proposition by the speaker. In contrast, may, can or might,
could are often related to the possibilities with less certainty than must or have to.
Generally speaking, modal verbs are different in showing strength of possibilities. Though most of the modal verbs
such as, might, may, could, should, ought to, would, will, must show epistemic possibility, they are different in the
strength of possibilities as follows.
TABLE II.
GRADE OF POSSIBILITIES (MODAL VERBS)
Modality Modal verbs Certainty
Necessity Must High certainty
Will
Predictability Shall
Would
Epistemic Ought (to)
modality Probability Should
Can
May
Possibility Could
Uncertainty
Might

C. Modal Verbs and Epistemic Modality

Epistemic modality concerns the necessity and possibility. Epistemic modality derives from the fact that can be true
from reality. Sometimes it connotes certainty or evidence a speaker has for the proposition. Epistemic modality is
divided into epistemic necessity and epistemic possibility. Modal verbs can/could; may/might; will/would; shall are
often used for epistemic possibility, and must; should/ought to are used for epistemic necessity.
1. Epistemic Possibility:
(1) Can/Could:
Use of can/could is related to the abilities, possibilities (epistemic modality) and permission (deontic modality).
Scholars have different perspectives on the classification of can when it is related to the ability. Some scholars argue
that can is non-epistemic, while others suggest that can is epistemic. Coates (1983) remarks that can is deontic when it
refers to the ability. Coates (1983) regards ability as the core meaning, extending towards possibility as primitive and
establish a cline of ability-oriented meanings as one moves towards the periphery. Some scholars also argue that
“ability” meaning of can belongs to dynamic modality and it cannot be replaced by may when it refers to the ability.
However, many scholars agree that can is possibly replaced by be able to or be capable of etc. and dynamic modality
actually belongs to the epistemic modality (Griffiths, 2006). Therefore, ability meaning of can is considered to be a kind
of possibility. When it shows possibilities, can is often used in negative or interrogative sentences. According to the
statistics (Lancaster Corpus, cf. Coates, 1983), among three major meanings of can, possibility occupies the highest rate.
Could may be used as the past tense of can. However, in many cases, it has no relationship with past tense, but
politeness or some other indirect speech which have pragmatic considerations. Could (possibility) is much more related
to the remoteness in time and reality.
(6) Can you help me tomorrow? (ability) (Griffiths, 2006)
? May you help me tomorrow?
(7) He can’t finish his task. (possibility)
Can you do it for me? (possibility)
(8) Could you give me some help? (politeness)
Could you open the door? (indirect speech)
(9) When John was young, he could read English. (remoteness in time)
If I were you, I could do it in this way. (remoteness in reality)
(2) May/Might:
May/might is related to possibility. However, might has lower strength than may in the degree of possibility. Both
may and might are used as epistemic modality to show possibility. Might is often used to show either mere possibility of
present situation or politeness. Might is generally weaker than may in the possibility.
(10) He may be home. (possibility)
He might be home. (mere possibility)
Might you be free to help me tomorrow? (politeness) (Griffiths, 2006, p. 111)
I thought that he might come to school. (mere possibility)
(3) Will/Would:
Will and would are often concerned with prediction. Therefore, they are much related to the futurity. Because

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prediction is made by personal judgement on the possibilities, it often shows epistemic modality. Would is often related
politeness as well. If it is used as the past tense of will, it means past prediction or past futurity. Will/would also is used
as deontic modality.
(11) He will be here at 5. (prediction-futurity)
I will come this afternoon. (prediction-futurity)
Would you help me? (politeness)
I thought he would be here at 5. (past futurity)
(4) Shall:
Shall can also show prediction as will. However, it is restricted in the use of first person subject. However, in modern
English, particularly, in American English, will is used even in the structures with first person subject to show prediction
in the future. In the interrogative sentences, shall is used as obligational meaning, viz. deontic modality rather than
epistemic modality.
(12) I shall/will be happy if he comes. (prediction)
I shall finish the work if others help me. (prediction)
2. Epistemic Necessity:
(1) Must:
Must often deals with epistemic necessity. In addition, must is also used as deontic modality to show obligation. It is
hard to differentiate these two modalities. Therefore, scholars argue that context is very important to distinguish
epistemic and deontic modality of must. Must often emphasizes subjectivity rather than objectivity. Have to which has
the similar meaning with must can’t be replaced by must in showing epistemic modality. Have to is only used as deontic
modality.
(13) The ground is wet. It must have rained. (necessity)
(14) He must be studying in the classroom, because he always does so.(epistemic necessity)
He must be studying in the classroom, because he has on other places to go. (deontic)
Negated must is often replaced by can’t when it shows epistemic necessity. Must and can are different modals.
However, when they are negated, the meaning becomes identical because the two sentences are convertible based on the
relative scope relationship.
(15) You must not provide the receipt.
You can’t provide the receipt.
You must not provide the receipt.  It is necessarily not that you provide the receipt. necessarily not P
You can’t provide the receipt.  It is not possible that you provide the receipt. Not possibly P
necessarily not P (proposition)  not possibly P (proposition)
You must not provide the receipt.  You can’t provide the receipt.
(2) Should/Ought to3:
Should is used as a necessity modal like must. However, it isn’t as strong as must. Generally speaking, should and
ought to are interchangeable. Palmer (1979) argues that “it is not at all clear that English makes any distinction between
should and ought to”. However, some scholars insist that there is difference between should and ought to. One of the
representatives who suggests that should and ought to are different is Coates (1983). Should and ought to are weaker in
force compared with must and the result will not actually be carried out.
(16) They really should be home by now. (necessity)
They really ought to be home by now. (necessity)
D. Modal Verbs and Deontic Modality
Deontic modality is concerned with requirement, desire, commitment, obligations, permissions, hope or requirements
etc. (Griffiths, 2006) Deontic modality chiefly depends on modal verbs such as must, have to, ought to, may, can, etc. to
express the meanings. Deontic modality often shows the meaning of obligation, volition and permission etc.
1. Deontic Possibility:
(1) May; Can:
May and can are often used to show possibility. However, they are also used as deontic modality. In this case, they
are more concerned with permission rather than possibility. Can is more informal than may. Therefore, it is more
frequently used in the conversation. In contrast, may is used formally. In some cases, can is disallowed to replace may.
Past form of may, might is argued to be stronger in the power of permission than may, and it often transfers to
requirement.
(17) You may go home. (permission)
May I come in? (permission)
(18) You can go home. (permission)
You can leave now. (permission)
I will wander along to your loo if I may.

3
Some scholars suggest that ought to is a semimodal verb (Fintel, 2006). This article considers it as a modal verb.

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*I will wander along to your loo if I can.

You might take off your dirty shoes. (permission  requirement)
2. Deontic Necessity:
(1) Must/Have to4:
When must/have to is used as deontic meanings, it means necessity and obligation. When must refers to the futurity, it
becomes deontic rather than epistemic by showing obligations or duty. Compared with must, have to is more objective.
Have to is only used for objective obligation.
(19) You must finish all the tasks. (obligation)
You must receive a good supply of both sunshine and moisture to be healthy. (obligation)
(20) You must be in London next week. (obligation)
You must work hard. (subjective obligation)
You have to work hard. (objective obligation)
(2) Will/Shall:
Will is used as deontic modality when it is related to the volition. Volition includes intention and willingness. This
volition is much related to the futurity. Will is often used in the interrogative sentences with second person subject when
it shows willingness. Past form would is also possible in this case. However, the willingness will transfer to the slight
obligations to the listeners. When the subject is the first person, volitional or intentional shall shows speaker’s
undertaking to pursue a course of action and may be treated deontically. In questions, shall shows obligational meaning.
(21) My chauffeur will help you. (willingness)
Will/would you like to help me? (willingness slight obligation)
(22) I shall do it myself. (volition)
(I intend to do it myself.)
(23) Shall we replace the carpets? (obligation)
(Let’s replace the carpets.)
(3) Should/Ought (to):
Should is the past form of shall. Should and ought to are almost the same when they are used as deontic modality.
Coates (1983) argues that,
"It is possible that OUGHT occurs more frequently in speech than in written language because of its potentiality for
stress. That is, if a speaker wants to emphasize the modality expressed by OUGHT and SHOULD, he will tend to choose
OUGHT rather than SHOULD. This distinction is lost, however, in written language". (p. 70)
Both should and ought (to) focus on subjectivity rather than objectivity. Though should and ought to show obligation
similar to must, they are not interchangeable. Compared with must/have to, should and ought to are much weaker in
showing deontic modality. What’s more, the result will not actually be carried out, when should and ought to are used.
(24) * I must finish the work, but I don’t want to. (contradictory)
I should/ought to finish the work, but I don’t want to. (deontic)
(25) * I had to finish the work, but I didn’t. (contradictory)
I should/ought to finish the work, but I didn’t. (deontic)
E. Semimodals
In addition to the modals discussed above, there are some more words which are considered as semimodals.
Semimodals have both features of main verbs and modal verbs. Quirk et al. (1972) call these words semi-auxiliaries,
Chapin (1973) calls them quasi-modals and Palmer (1974) calls them quasi-auxiliaries. These semimodal verbs are need,
be able to, dare and had better etc. Semimodals have the meanings similar to modals. It is reported that there are about
twenty semimodal verbs in English (Quirk et al, 1972). Some of the major semimodals commonly concerned are need,
be able to, dare, had better, would rather and be going to etc. and these are closely related to the epistemic and deontic
modality respectively.
F. Flexibility and Ambiguity of Modal Verbs
Modal verbs can be used flexibly in showing either epistemic modality or deontic modality. In the following part, the
article focuses on some of the core modal verbs used for epistemic modality and deontic modality. As a matter of fact,
many of the modal verbs can be used for both epistemic modality and deontic modality. Firstly, we will see must, have
to and will. Must is a modal verb with strong possibility derived from the factual proposition. However, it can be related
to the obligations as well.
(26) a. He must be a student because he wears school uniform. (Epistemic)
b. He must finish all the work till 5 o’clock PM. (Deontic)
(27) This has to be a joke. (Griffiths, 2006)
a. Epistemic modality: This must be a joke, because nobody believes it. (Possibility)
b. Deontic modality: This must be a joke. Otherwise, the situation will become very serious. (Requirement or
hope)

4
Quirk et al. argue that have to is a semi-auxiliary verb.

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Sometimes, words like please can be considered as one of the markers to distinguish the epistemic from deontic
modality. Because the word please itself shows polite requirement, sentences including please generally belong to
deontic modality. When it is used in the epistemic modality, it functions as the converter to change epistemic modality
into deontic modality. In the following example (28), the sentence sounds like someone with a vested interest in this
proposition praying that its truth will be confirmed or accepted.
(28) Warmer summers must please be a sign of global warming. (Epistemic → Deontic) (Griffiths, 2006)

V. CONCLUSION
Research on modality is closely related to the possible world. Modality shows necessity and possibility of the world.
This article focuses on some major aspects of modality such as, epistemic modality and deontic modality, usage of basic
modal verbs, some semimodals that are frequently used and ambiguity of modals in meanings etc.
Modality deals with necessity and possibility. These two are the core concepts of modality. Many scholars classified
modality according to their own standard. However, epistemic and deontic modality are the two forms existing in all the
classification types. That implies epistemic and deontic modalities are most frequently used. Modal verbs are the main
carriers to show modality. This article analyzes major types of modality and semimodal verbs/semi-auxiliaries such as
need, dare, be able to etc.
Modality is a very important semantic concept that attracts many scholars’ interests. A number of studies on modality
have been conducted. In addition to the modal verbs, some other syntactic forms such as adverbs, nouns, verbs,
adjectives etc also can represent modality. However, this part is not much concerned in this article. These are also many
intriguing topics in the semantic field of modality and further studies will be pursued in the future.

REFERENCES
[1] Biber, D., et al. (1999). Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. London: Pearson Education Limited.
[2] Bybee, J. (1985). Morphology, TSL No.9, Amsterdam: J. Benjamins.
[3] Chapin, P. G. (1973). Quasi-Modals, Journal of Linguistics. Vol.9, No.1, pp1-9.
[4] Chung, Sandrea; and Timberlake, Alan. (1985). "Tense, aspect, and mood". In: Shopen, Timothy(ed.), Language typology and
syntactic description. 3. Grammatical categories and the lexicon 202-258. Cambridge etc.: Cambridge University Press.
[5] Coates, J. (1983). The Semantics of the Modal Auxiliaries. London: Croom Helm.
[6] Cruse, Alan. (2000). Meaning in Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[7] Fintel, Kai von. (2006). Modality and Language. In Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd ed. D. M. Borchert: MacMillan.
[8] Givon, Talmy. (2001). Syntax. Volume I. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
[9] Griffiths, Patrick. (2006). An Introduction to English Semantics and Pragmatics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
[10] Groefsema, Marjolein. (1995). ‘Can, may, must and should: a Relevance theoretic account’, Journal of Linguistics,
Vol.31.No.1,pp53-79.
[11] Halliday, M.A.K. (1985). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold.
[12] Hoye, Leo. (1997). Adverbs and Modality in English. England: Addison Wesley Longman Limited.
[13] Jesperson,O. (1924). The Philosophy of Grammar. NY: Norton.
[14] Kai von Fintel. (2006). Modality and Language, Encyclopedia of Philosophy-Second Edition. Detroit: Millan Reference.
[15] Kearns, Kate. (2000). Semantics. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
[16] Palmer, F.R. (1974). The English Verb. London: Longman.
[17] Palmer, F.R. (1979). Modality and the English Modals. London: Longman.
[18] Palmer, F.R. (1986). Mood and Modality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[19] Pei, M, Gaynor, F. (1954). Dictionary of Linguistics. New York: Philosophical Library.
[20] Porter, Paul H. (2005). What is Meaning? Fundamentals of Formal Semantics. UK: Blackwell Publishing.
[21] Quirk, R. et al. (1972). A Grammar of Contemporary English. London: Longman.
[22] Quirk R, Greenbaum, S., and Svartvik, J. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman
Group Limited.
[23] Rescher, N. (1968). Topics in Philosophical Logic. Dordrecht: Feidel.
[24] Saeed, John I. (2003). Semantics, 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell.
[25] Von Wright, G. H. (1951). An Essay in Modal Logic. Amsterdam: North Holland.

Jinghua Zhang, Ph.D. associate professor in English Department of Yanbian University. Her main research interest lies in English
linguistics and language education.

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ISSN 1798-4769
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 886-894, July 2019
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1004.29

The Ka- Passive Form in Balinese

Nyoman Sujaya
Warmadewa University, Bali, Indonesia

Ketut Artawa
Udayana University, Bali, Indonesia

I Nyoman Kardana
Warmadewa University, Bali, Indonesia

Made Sri Satyawati

Udayana University, Bali, Indonesia

Abstract—This paper accounts for the ka- passive form in Balinese. It focuses on its syntactic and semantic
representation. Using the data taken from Balinese narrative texts issued in the Bali Orti of Bali Post
newspaper, and applying the RRG theory by Van Valin and Randy (1999), it was found out that the ka-
passive belongs to a morphological passive voice of Balinese where the the voice is marked on the verb (it is
marked by prefix ka-). The ka- base form can be attached by applicative suffixes such as -ang, -in, and –an.
These morphological verbs imply various syntactic structure and semantic representation.

Index Terms—prefix ka-, passive, syntactic and semantic analysis

I. INTRODUCTION
Balinese is one of the larger regional languages in the middle part of Indonesia. This language is spoken by around
3,247,283 speakers, about 77% of the population of Bali, which was recorded as 4.2 million. Balinese language is
mainly spoken by Balinese people living in Bali and those living in other parts of Indonesia, like Lombok, and Sulawesi.
Although Balinese is widely used in social interaction, especially in custom and cultural interaction, in practice the
native speakers of Balinese often made errors in using their own language. This is possibly due to the influence of
Indonesian, the national language, and the English language which nowadays is widely used in Bali for tourism
businesses. This phenomenon possibly makes young Balinese more interested in using Indonesian and English rather
than Balinese so that they are not fluent enough in using their own language, Balinese. In their daily life some Balinese
are not good in using suffix -ang and -in. They used them interchangeably. They often say enjuh-in tambahe ‘hand over
the hoe for ‘enjuh-ang tambahe ‘hand over the hoe’. It is like the error of using suffix -i and -kan in Indonesian. It is
wrong to say Dia menyuguh-kan tamu itu dengan kue ‘She offered cakes to the guest’. The correct one is that the verb
suguh ‘offer’ should be in the derivational form with suffix -i if it is directly followed by an animate object.
Seeing the condition that the use of Balinese by young Balinese is decreasing, the government of Bali made an effort
to preserve it through offering Balinese subject in the curriculum of the elementary, junior and senior high schools. The
government also offered Balinese day on Wednesdays for every institution in Bali. In this case everybody is obliged to
use Balinese when they communicate with each other. Not only that, the Balinese government also put Balinese
teachers at every school in the countryside as the extension agent.
In recent years, a number of linguists have done researches on syntax of Austronesian languages, including Balinese.
Artawa (2013) wrote about the basic verb constructions of Balinese. In his study it was stated that Balinese has a
number of peculiar properties. It has passive like properties in which the patient is the subject but the verb is unmarked.
There is also a split of the third pronominal Agent in Low Balinese represented as an enclitic -a on the verb followed by
an Agent adjunct represented by a prepositional phrase. Indrawati (2011) examined about Balinese serial verbs
construction and found out that the Balinese serial verb constructions express a single macro-event that can be classified
into two types: component SVC and narrative SVC. Syntactically, SVCs in Balinese are biclausal constructions, some
are monoclausal, and some are successive clausal. Arka (1998) made a research on speech levels, social predicates and
pragmatic structure in Balinese and found out that social information be treated in terms of social predicates and
modeled using LFG-style parallel structures. The social predicates are contained in what is called pragmatic- structure
(prag-str). It is demonstrated that this approach can account for the plain as well as the (dis) honouring use of linguistic
forms in Balinese. Other works on Balinese related to grammar have also been discussed by some linguists like Kersten
(1984) and Oka Grandoka et al. (1985). Another researcher, Suryati (1997) with the topic Balinese verbs that have
complementation in Balinese, is about grammatical analysis on Balinese verbs. However, they have not discussed how
the morphosyntax works on passive voice in Balinese that has several forms and implies various different constructions
and meanings. They have not analyzed it in detail seen from syntactic and semantic viewpoint.

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The focus of this study is on the syntactic and semantic analysis of the ka- passive form in Balinese. The analysis was
supported by data in the form of narrative text taken from Bali Orti pages of the Bali Post newspaper issued in the year
2017, 2018, and 2019. The text contains some different kinds of articles that generally use low and high Balinese. In
this study, the notion of Patient and Agent as the macroroles which was quoted from Van Valin and Randy (1999) were
used for the analysis.
The structure of this paper is organized as the following sections. Section one is about the introduction. In this case it
is explained why this topic is necessary to discuss. Not only because of theoretical reason but also because of practical
reason. In two, there will be about the related study. In this section it is explained about the Balinese noun phrase
construction, verb morphology, basic verbs, and derived verbs. This is necessary to do since the analysis is mainly done
through analyzing the morphosyntax phenomenon. In section three there will be the discussion of ka- constructions with
its semantic and pragmatic representation. It will be clearly explained how the morphosyntax works for the passive
using the ka- forms. And for the last section, it will be about the conclusion of this study.

II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This research uses the RRG theory proposed by Van Valin and Randy (1999). This theory states that language is a
system of communicative social action, and that’s why analyzing the communicative function of grammatical structures
plays important role in grammatical description. RRG not only concerns with syntactic structure but also with semantic
and pragmatic relations. However, since this is about the syntactic and semantic analysis of Balinese prefix, in this
section it is necessary to explain about Balinese syntax and morphology, including the noun phrase and Balinese
derivational morphology.
A. Noun Phrase Structure
According to Artawa, in Balinese, like in other languages, a noun phrase (NP) consists of a noun (as the head) and
usually followed by a modifier (Artawa, 2013).
Examples:
Cicingégedé
Jelema lengeh
When a noun phrase is definite, the noun head is marked by -éand this definite noun phrase is usually used together
with demonstrative pronouns ené‘this’ or ento ‘that’. Examples:
Definite noun phrase without demonstrative pronouns show ambiguity.
Cicingégedé
Deg-DEF big
The example above may mean ‘the big dog’ or ‘the dog is big’
Balinese noun phrase, like the examples above, can also occur with relativiser ané/sané.
Examples:
Cicing-é ané gedéento
Dog-DEF which big that
‘The big dog’
A modifier expressing an inherent property of its referent in a definite noun phrase is marked by -éattached to the
modifier.
Examples:
Motor vespan-é
Motor vespa-DEF
‘The vespa motor’
A noun head can also be modified by a clause, which is usually introduced by the relativiser ané/sane.
Examples:
Motor ané tegak-in cai ento maal.
Motor DET ride-APPL 2nd that expensive
‘The bike that you ride is expensive’
A definite noun phrase can also be in the possessive construction. In this construction it is usually the possessor
which is marked.
Examples:
Motor cai-né
Motor 2nd-POSS
‘your motor bike’
However, if the possessor is a third person noun or pronoun, possession can be marked either on possessor or
possessee.
Examples:
Motor Nyoman-é‘Nyoman’s motorbike’
Motor-néNyoman ‘Nomam’s motorbike’

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B. Balinese Derivational Morphology

Balinese, like many other languages in Indonesia, has basic and derived verbs (Warna, 1983). Beside these two kinds
of verb construction, there is also the existence of what Artawa calls ‘precategorial’ roots (Artawa, 1994), a lexical form
which will only have verbal lexical function if it is attached with prefix or suffix. Take the form enjuh ‘give’ as an
example. In order that this form can function syntactically, this root should be attached with prefix N- and/or suffix -in
or -ang like in the following examples.
*Icang enjuh ia tambah
1SG hand 3SG hoe.
‘I handed him a hoe’
Icang N-enjuh-in ia tambah
1SG N-hand-APPL 1SG hoe
‘I handed him a hoe’
C. Basic Verb and Derived Verbs
Basic verb, called keruna lingga in Balinese, is a base form with no affixation and reduplication. The basic verb can
be classified into transitive or ditransitive.
Céléng-éadep tyang
Pig-DEF sell 1SG
‘I sold the pig’
Pipis-é baang tyang iya
Money-DEF give 1SG 3SG
‘I gave him the money’
A derived verb is a verb formed through the attachment of affixes. The forms like dagang ‘seller’, adep ‘sell’, dan
jéjér ‘in line’ belong to basic forms. Now let us see the derived ones.
Dagang-é ma-dagang dagang-an
Dagang-é ma- dagang dagang-an
Seller-DEF VBL-seller seller-NOM
‘the seller ‘to sell’ ‘things sold’
We can see here that the word dagang-écomes from dagang plus suffix -é, ma-dagang from dagang plus suffix ma-,
and dagang-an comes from dagang plus suffix -an.
Balinese has prefix N-, ma-, ka-, pa-, pi-, sa-, a-, pra, pari-, pati-, maka-, saka-, kuma-. Balinese suffixes are; -a, -
ang, -in, -an, -é, -né, -n, -ing. Those belonging to confix are; pa – an, ma – an, ka – an, and bra – an. Balinese infixes
are; -um-, -in-, -el-, -er-. The four kinds of affix in Balinese can be attached to noun, adjective, adverb, or verb to form
derivation forms and express various meanings.
In Balinese, the morphological distinct kinds of prefixes and suffixes bring not only different functions but also
syntactic alternations and semantic representation. Prefix ma-, for example, is never followed by an object. Let’s have a
look the following examples.
*Ia ma-gaébanten
1SG work offering
‘She made offering’.
Ia N-gaébanten
1SG make offering.
‘She made offering’
In Balinese derived verb constructions, the verb can be transitive or intransitive. A transitive can be mono transitive
or ditransitive (verb with three arguments). Free base verbs and bound verbs can become the verb of three arguments
through morphological processes (such as the suffixation of an applicative).
Consider the following examples.
Mén Sulastri ma-gaé
Mother Sulastri work
‘Mother Sulastri works’
Mén Sulastri N-gaébaju
Mother Sulastri make shirt
‘Mother Sulastri made a shirt’
Mén Sulastri N-gaé-ang panak-né baju
Mother Sulastri work-APPL child-POSS shirt
‘Mother Sulastri made her child a shirt’
D. Balinese Passive Verbs
As stated previously, ma- form can be used to express passive sentence in Balinese. In fact, Balinese passive
sentences can be realized by various constructions among those there is the ka- form. Generally, when the verb is in ka-
form (-ang or –in) the agent is expressed with the PP. This form expresses passive voice. This will be further discussed

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in section three.
1. Basic form
As stated by Kersten (1984), Balinese basic verb construction can be one type of passive sentence. It was also stated
that the agent can be first, second, or third person pronoun. As stated by Artawa (2013), traditionally passive
constructions have patient subject. The general word-order of the basic form denoting passive is Patient + Vp (base) +
Agent (Recipient).
Kadén melahan tunas surudan-néanggon iraga padidi (Bali Post, 27/8/2017)
Indeed better take offering-DEF for us alone
‘Indeed it is better to take the offering for ourselves’
Di Bali kadirasa makejang dadi adep (Bali Post, 7/1/2018)
In Bali seem all can sell
‘In Bali it seems everything can be sold’
2. Suffix -a
The subject of verbs with -a may be any of the three person, but the suffix shows that the agent is in the third person,
though the context may not tell who he is. The meaning of the suffix is thus that an event occurs, originated by someone
other than the subject. This indication which is often not expressed in English, but taken for granted, is significant for
the Balinese: usak ‘in damage condition’ usaka ‘it has been damaged by someone or something’
Though in theory the suffix -a refers to a definite, known agent, in many instances this does not mean that someone
acted, rather an event is being described. In this case the -a becomes merely an ending indicating the passive voice of
the verb.
If the speaker prefers to express the agent with a preposition, he uses L tekén or baan, H ring, or antuk and the
phrases follow the verb, though not necessarily immediately.
Examples:
Nasin-é bang-a pianak-né baan I mémé
Rice-DEF give-PASS child-POSS by mother
‘The cooked rice is given to the children by mother’.
Ia lakar ngempug waluh ané bang-a ngidih tekén
3rd will open pumpkin that give-PASS give by
I Dadong Rangsasané(Bali Post, 25/2/2018)
I Dadong Rangsasa
‘She will open the pumpkin that was given by I Dadong Rangsasa’
3. Ma- form
In Balinese there are some forms with ma- base that express the subject that does not play the role as agent, but rather
a patient. In this case, although they have passive interpretation, they are considered transitive. This form is used when
it is considered that the agent is not important (Joseph, in Hunter: 1988). In this case the ma- stative has passive
meaning. It refers to patient argument rather than agent.
Examples:
Bé-né suba ma-goréng
Fish-DEF already sta-fry
‘The fish has been fried’
Sampi-né jani ma-tegul
Caw-DEF now sta-tie
‘The caw now is tied’

III. RESEARCH METHOD

This paper applies a descriptive qualitative method using Balinese narrative texts in the form of articles occurring in
the Bali Orti, special pages of the Bali Post newspapers issued on Sundays. The data were randomly taken from the last
three years (2017 - 2019) copies so that there were about 576 pages. The texts were in the form of articles with Low or
High Balinese register. Informants (some of them are Balinese teachers) were also used to support the data.
The analysis was done through applying the RRG conception, that was analyzing the grammatical structure with
reference to semantic and communicative functions. The analysis was to show how the morphosyntax works on the
constructions of the ka- form. It was tried to see the arguments involved in the ka- forms so that we could see the word
order assigned by the ka- forms. By applying this method and using the macrorole theory of Van Valin and Randy
(1999), we could have syntactic and semantic properties of the ka- form.

IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

It is true that in passive sentences the patient is the main orientation, the agent is not the focus or not being
considered. In Balinese, the ka- passive forms show the morphosyntactic variation and they carry a number of different
meanings. In relation to this study, it was found out that there were five types of ka- passive form; ka- base form, ka-

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base -ang form, ka- base -in form, and ka- base -an form. In ka- passive form, the agent, if mentioned, is marked by
preposition teken, baan (low register), and antuk, or ring (high register) ‘by’.
A. Ka- + Base Construction
In this construction the ka- only modifies the transitive verbs. It means that it cannot be attached to other verbal bases
like an adjective, adverb or intransitive verb except it is followed by suffixes (-an, -ang, or -in). This type of
construction is used to express a non-volitional activity. It can also be used to express the meaning of ‘in the condition
of’.
Examples:
I pianak patut taler ka-icén paplajahan sanéanut (Bali Post, 27/8/2017)
DET child appropriate also given knowledge that good
‘Our children are appropriate to be given good knowledge’
Ipun stata ka-pracaya nabuhang rindik rikala ngayah
3SG always PASS-trust play rindik when serve
wiadin pentas (Bali Post, 3/2/2019)
or perform
‘He is always trusted to play rindik when serving or perform’
Dané ketah ka-panggih ngatur-ang ayah (Bali Post, 7/1/2018)
3SG/PL often PASS-find give-APPL service
‘They are often found to do social work’
The ka- base form is often used with no agent. Ka- base constructions with no expression of agent may have the
construction of V – P.
Examples:
Ka-cerita Ni Ubuh sedekan maan ngidih padi (Bali Post, 3/2/2019)
PASS-tell Ni Ubuh ASP get have paddy
It was told Ni Ubuh had got paddy’
Nénten ka-rasa yéning mangkin galahésampun wengi (Bali Post, 4/3/2018)
Not PASS-feel if now time already evening
‘We do not realize that it is going to be dark’
Ka-rereh dewasa Karna Sula sanémajanten kapanggihin pangrauh-ipun
PASS-find good time Karna Sula that certain found coming-its
nyabran sasih (Bali Post, 10/9/2017)
every month
‘It is tried to find a good day of Karna Sula that really comes every month’
Lantas ka-tegul bungut kuluk-é
Then PASS-tie mouth dog-POSS
‘Then the dog’s mouth was tied’
If there is an agent, they may be in the first person, second person or third person. However, this type is very limited.
Examples:
Ka-manah antuk tittiang
PASS-think by 1SG
‘understood by me’
Yan sampun pagentosan, sinah ka-panggih antuk bapa.
If ASP change sure PASS-find by me
‘If it were for me, I would find it’
Anget ka-rasa antuk ida angkihan Ni Serimpen.
Hot PASS-feel by 3SG breath NI Serimpen
He felt Ni Serimpen’s breath was hot’
The agent that is strongly used in the ka- base form is the preposition baan ‘by’ with the construction V – baan – A
(pro) – O
Example:
Sawireh tan ka-pineh baan kai unduké nto
Because not PASS-think by 1SG problem that
‘Because I did not understand the problem’
This type is usually replaced by the type of passive using the base form.
Examples:
Katulak antuk titiang  tulak titiang ‘I refused it’
Kapanggih antuk bapa  panggih bapa ‘I found it’
The agent in the first clause can also be the agent in the second clause.
Example:
Méga motong tumpeng ulang tahun-éka-atur ring Gusti Ngurah Jelada (Bali Post, 4/2/2018)

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Méga cut rice birthday-DEF given to Gusti Ngurah Jelada

‘Méga cut the birthday rice and it was given to Gusti Ngurah Jelada’
B. Ka- Base -ang
The ka- base -ang constructions, considered as the Second Passive by Kersten (1984), express patient reference. In
this construction the base can be filled by adjective, noun, adverb, intransitive verb, and transitive verb. These
constructions express various meanings.
1. Ka- -ang Modifying Adjective
When ka- -ang modifies an adjective base, the resulting derived transitive has or express the meaning of ‘making
something in the condition denoted by the base’. The logical structure, as defined by Van Valin & Randy, is
“BECOAME predicate’ (x)”. In this case x represents the underlying adjectival base.
Examples:
Akéh pisan maduépepunded sanéka-tami-ang saha
Many very have object that PASS-inherit-APPL and
ka-tenget-ang olih karma-né irika (Bali Post, 16/12/2018)
PASS-haunted-APPL by people-DEF there
‘There were many sacred objects that were inherited and haunted by the people there’
Tembok-ésampun ka-tegeh-ang tiang
Wall-DEF already PASS-tall-APPL 1SG
‘I have made the wall high’
2. Ka- -ang Modifying Noun
The ka- -ang modifying a nominal base forms a transitive verb that has the logical structure of an accomplishment
verb of passive form “BECOAME predicate’ (x)”. In this case x represents the underlying nominal base.
Examples:
Ida sane ka-plebon-ang punika prasida gelis mamargi becik (Bali Post, 16/12/2018)
He that PASS-cremate-APPL that can soon go good
‘He who is being cremated will soon run well’
Sinah nyanan ka-margi-ang antuk tatujon (Bali Post, 20/1/2019)
Seen next PASS-go-APPL by purpose
‘We can see it will be done in accordance with expectation’
3. Ka- -ang Modifying Adverb
There is also a directional aspect with -ang in the passive form with ka-. This is used to indicate the performance of
an intransitive action related to the base (for instance with compass points).
Examples:
Ka-tengah-ang ngejang gelas-é!
PASS-center-APPL put glass-DEF
‘Move the glass to the middle’
4. Ka- -ang Modifying Intransitive verb
This construction also expresses the meaning of making something do the action denoted by the verbal base
represented in the construction.
Examples:
Napi-késampun sami senjatanéka-medal-ang (Bali Post, 18/2/2018)
What-? already all weapons PASS-out-APPL
‘Have all the weapons been taken out?’
Tumpang-tumpangan-ipun ka-adung-ang malih (Bali Post, 16/12/2018)
stages-POSS PASS-match-APPL again
‘The stages were again readjusted’
Prabéanémakasami ka-medal-ang antuk désa
Cost-DEF all PASS-take out-APPL by village
‘All the cost was paid by the village’
5. Ka- -ang Modifying Transitive verb
-ang in this construction refers to changes of state or transferable states meaning that the action is volitional and the
agents are animate. It may express benefactive or causative meaning.
Examples:
Sekancan sanéka-dué-nang taler kaicén jotan (Bali Post, 27/8/2017)
Everything that ka-own-APPL also given offering
‘Whatever they own were also offered with offering’
Ka-beli-ang tiang panak tiang-é sepeda
PASS-buy-APPL 1SG child 1SG-POSS bicycle
‘I bought my son a bicycle’

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C. Ka- Base -in

Like ka- base -ang, the ka- base -in constructions quite frequently have an agent, normally expressed by preposition
L tekén , baan ‘by’, H antuk ‘by’. But occasionally these verbs are followed by an unmarked noun agent. So the
construction will be: P – V – (prep) A
Examples:
Keben-é ka-penpen-in baas baan I Kadék
Basket-DEF ka-fill-APPL rice by I Kadék
‘The basket was filled with rice by I Kadék’
Ada bambang linggah bek ka-pacek-in tumbak
There hole wide many ka-pierce-APPL spear
‘There was a hole that was full of spears’
In example above we can see that the agent I Kadék is marked with preposition baan ‘by’, while in the second
sentence it is not.
If the agent is the first person or second person, it is suggested to use the base-in form which applies the agent
postverbally.
Examples:
Penpen-in tiang ‘I fill’
Penpen-in cai ‘You fill’
The word class of the base in this construction may be an adjective, a noun, or a verb. They express various meanings
(depending on the lexical base).
1. Ka- -in modifying an adjective.
This construction expresses the meaning of ‘become more’
Example:
Ka-tegeh-in témbok tiangé apang kéweh malingé macelep
Pass-high-APPL wall 1SG-POSS in order difficult thief-DEF come in
I made my wall higher in order that the thieves will difficult to go inside’.
2. Ka- -in Modifying Nominal Base
This construction expresses the meaning of ‘wearing’ or ‘using’
Example:
Tan ka-udeng-in panak tiang-ésawiréh ia kari cenik pisan.
Not Pass-udeng-APPL 1SG-POSS because 3SG small very
‘I did not wear him udeng because he is still very young’
3. Ka- -in Modifying Verb Base
This construction may imply a number of different meanings.
a. –in Implying Goal Applicative
Palinggih sanémajanten ka-panggih-in marupa Padma (Bali Post, 27/8/2017)
Palinggih that certain PASS-find-APPL in the form Padma
‘Pelinggih that will be definitely found is Padma’
b. –in Implying Recipient Applicative
Penari-né ka-atur-in wédang lan sanganan (Bali Post, 7/1/2018)
Dancer-DEF ka-give-APPL coffee and cakes
The dancers were given coffee and cakes’.
c. –in Implying Instrument Applicative
Botol lengis-é ka-sengseng-in tiang baan sambuk
Bottle oil-DEF PASS-clog-APPL 1SG with coconut fiber
‘I clogged the bottle of the oil with coconut fiber’
D. Ka- Base -an
Normally ka- forms without suffix and ka- form with suffix -an do not have an agent. In the Ka- base -an
constructions the agent is completely suppressed. These forms express two kinds of different meanings. First, it
expresses an accidental passive, and second it expresses abstrumental passive.
The examples of accidental passive:
Ada koné anak luh daa, ubuh uli cenik ka-tinggal-an
There told child girl young orphan since young ka-leave-APPL
rerama luh muani (Bali Post, 3/2/2019)
parents female male
‘It was told that there was a young girl who became an orphan since she was very young’
Pradédi malipetanéCening lantas ka-tengah-an, uber-a
If at return-DEF 2SG then PASS-middle-APPL run after-3SG
Cening tekén rangsasané. (Bali Post, 16/12/2018)

© 2019 ACADEMY PUBLICATION

JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH 893

2SG by giant-DEF
‘When in your return then you go deeper, you will be chased by the giant’
Sukat ia ngaba jimat tusing taén ka-ilang-an pipis
Since 3SG bring talisman not ever ka-lose-APPL money
‘Since he brought the talisman he never lost his money’
In some cases, this construction, according to belongs to the type of abstrumental passive, it is a locative-like of -an,
the agent is not thought about. And the construction is P –V - NP/abstrument. However, the usage of this form is very
limited. Let us see the following examples.
Carikné ka-pegat-an yéh
Rice paddy-pro3 PASS-cut off-APPL water
‘His rice field got its water cut off’’
Rauh irika Ida ka-atur -an rayunan
Arrive there 3SG PASS-offer-APPL food
‘Arriving there he was offered food’
If there an agent in this construction, the agent is considered in common or unmarked, not definite or certain person
or thing.
Examples:
Karauhan tamu ‘visited by guests’
Karangsukan babai ‘filled by the magic power’
Katimpan rejeki ‘got sustenance’
Katinggalan mémébapa ‘left by parents’
Katiban rejeki ‘got sustenance’
The verbs kélangan which is in low register with ilang as its base and Kécalan which is in high register with ical as
its base belong to the ka- base -an passive forms. These verbs are sometimes uncontracted: kailangan, kaicalan. The
meaning of these verbs are ‘be lost’, ‘vanish’, or ‘disappear’. In the construction of these verbs, the subject of the
passive verb is not the thing lost but the person who lost something. Kélangan and kécalan means ‘be lost from
something’.
Examples:
Anaké cenik ento k-élang-an mémé bapa
Child-DEF small that Pass-lose-APPL mother father
‘The little kid lost his parents’
Gusti Ngurah k-écal-an bungkung asiki
Gusti Ngurah PASS-APPL ring one
‘Gusti Ngurah lost one ring’

V. CONCLUSION
This paper has discussed syntactic and semantic analysis of ka- passive form. How the morphosyntax works in this
construction has also been introduced. The use of the ka- passive form, as one of the passive forms in Balinese, has also
been described. However, there are constraints in terms of sociolinguistic factors in choice of the ka-passive types.
Syntactically, the ka- passive forms imply participant marking morphology, and they have important functions in the
organization of discourse, especially when used with -ang and -in applicatively. It is important to note that the ka- basic
(suffix) derivations are used in all register to indicate reference to patient argument where the action is seen as non-
volitional activity, it is like experiencer role. Ka- basic (suffix) sentences are typically found in P – V – (A), V – P – (A),
or V – A – P form. The difference between the ka- form with suffix -ang and -in is that when there is the meaning of
dynamicity of the patient, or when the construction is used to express the mobile object, the -ang form is chosen. -in
form is chosen when the subject of the passive clauses is as source.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Jro Mangku Alit (the priest of Balinese family temple), Nyoman Juana (the head of Abian
Kapas traditional village), Dewa Putu Sumantra (the expert of Balinese and Indonesian language), Ketut Subagia (a
linguist), and other Balinese friends for being informants in relation to this study.

REFERENCES
[1] Arka, I Wayan. (1998). From Morphosyntax to Pragmatics in Balinese: A Lexical Functional Grammar. Sydney: University of
Sydney.
[2] Artawa, Ketut. (1994). Ergativity and Balinese Syntax. Australia: La Trobe University.
[3] Artawa, Ketut. (2013). The Basic Verb Construction in Balinese. Jakarta: NUSA Vol. 54. The Center for Language and Culture
Studies Atma Jaya University.

© 2019 ACADEMY PUBLICATION

894 JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE TEACHING AND RESEARCH

[4] Hunter, Thomas Marshall. (1988). Balinese Language: Historical background and contemporary state. USA: The University of
Michigan.
[5] Indrawati, Ni Luh Ketut Mas. (2011). Konstruksi Verba Beeruntun Bahasa Bali (Kajian Semantik dan Sintaksis). Denpasar:
Program Pascasarjana Universitas Udayana.
[6] Suryati, Ni Made. (1997). Verba Berkomplemen dalam Bahasa Bali. Bandung: Program Pascasarjana Universitas Padjajaran.
[7] Unnamed. (27/8/2017). Bali Orti. Bali Post.
[8] Unnamed. (10/9/2017). Bali Orti. Bali Post.
[9] Unnamed. (7/1/2018). Bali Orti. Bali Post.
[10] Unnamed. (4/2/2018). Bali Orti. Bali Post.
[11] Unnamed. (18/2/2018). Bali Orti. Bali Post.
[12] Unnamed. (25/2/2018). Bali Orti. Bali Post.
[13] Unnamed. (4/3/2018). Bali Orti. Bali Post.
[14] Unnamed. (16/12/2018). Bali Orti. Bali Post.
[15] Unnamed. (20/1/2019). Bali Orti. Bali Post.
[16] Unnamed. (3/2/2019). Bali Orti. Bali Post.
[17] Warna, I Wayan, et. al. (1983). Tata Bahasa Bali. Denpasar: Pemerintah Daerah Provinsi Daerah Tingkat I Bali

Nyoman Sujaya, was born in Singaraja, Bali, Indonesia. He is one of the lecturers at the English Department,
Faculty of Letters, Warmadewa University, Bali, Indonesia. He obtained his master degree in linguistics from
Udayana University, Bali, Indonesia in 2003. He is currently a doctorate candidate in linguistics majoring on
syntax at Udayana University and his main research focusses on Balinese “Giving” Verb Constructions.

Ketut Artawa is a professor in Linguistics at Udayana University, Bali, Indonesia. He received his Master Degree in Linguistics
from La Trobe University in 1992 and got his Doctorate also from La Trobe University in 1995. His research interest involves a wide
range of topics about syntax and he has supervised many theses and doctorate dissertations. Up till now he has written a lot of books
and articles and has participated in a number of national and international seminars and conferences.

I Nyoman Kardana is a professor in Linguistics at Warmadewa University, Bali Indonesia. He got his Master Degree in
Linguistics from Padjadjaran University, Bandung, Indonesia in 1998. He obtained his Doctorate Degree in Linguistics from
Udayana University, Bali, Indonesia in 2004. His research interest involves a lot of topics about syntax and semantics and he has
supervised many papers, theses and doctorate dissertations. He has also written a lot of articles and books and has participated in a
number of national and international seminars.

Made Sri Satyawati is a lecturer at Udayana University, Bali, Indonesia. She obtained her Master Degree in Linguistics from
Padjadjaran University, Bandung, Indonesia in 1999 and she got her Doctorate Degree in Linguistics from Udayana University in
2010. Her research interest is linguistics, namely syntax and semantics. Her publications involve study on local languages in
Indonesia. She has supervised many theses and doctorate dissertations and has participated in a number of national and international
seminars.

© 2019 ACADEMY PUBLICATION

 Call for Papers and Special Issue Proposals
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A Survey on the Causes of Non-English Majors College English Learning Burnout in a Local 872
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The Ka- Passive Form in Balinese 886

Nyoman Sujaya, Ketut Artawa, I Nyoman Kardana, and Made Sri Satyawati
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