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English Language Coursework

This document presents an investigation into the linguistic features of English used by Asian individuals who speak it as a secondary language. It explores various aspects such as phonology, syntax, and code-switching, highlighting the influence of age and linguistic imperialism on language acquisition. The findings indicate patterns of non-standard grammar and phonological features, with a focus on the limited semantic fields discussed by the interviewees.

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Peeta Stebbenwolf
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18 views18 pages

English Language Coursework

This document presents an investigation into the linguistic features of English used by Asian individuals who speak it as a secondary language. It explores various aspects such as phonology, syntax, and code-switching, highlighting the influence of age and linguistic imperialism on language acquisition. The findings indicate patterns of non-standard grammar and phonological features, with a focus on the limited semantic fields discussed by the interviewees.

Uploaded by

Peeta Stebbenwolf
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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English Language Coursework

An investigation into different linguistic features


of language used by Asian people who use
English as a secondary language. (L2 speakers)

Title
 Riazul Haque
 NEA Language Investigation &
H470/03
 Harton Academy 6th Form
 Candidate Number (2281)
 Centre Number (39427)

Content
 Introduction
 Hypothesis
 Methodology
 Analysis
 Conclusion & Evaluation
 Bibliography

Introduction
I have chosen this topic for my investigation as it
interests me how certain unique linguistic
features used by Asian people using English as a
secondary language can impact our language.
From the conversations that have altered how
people speak English to the addition of new lexis
through many businesses created by these Asian
people, modern day English has clearly had some
influence by these Asian people and is often a
topic brought up by prescriptivists when arguing
for the concept of language decline.

Adults often do not show competency in second


language as the ability to acquire knowledge
between the ages of seventeen and thirty
gradually reduces (Newport 1989). In this theory,
Newport states that foreign accent is inevitable at
this age range and that age of arrival of language
has a correlation with the use of grammar by L2
speakers.

The theory of linguistic imperialism is also very


prevalent (Thompson, S. 2001). Languages are
made up of layers called strata. Sometimes a
replacing language (superstrate) is still influenced
by the original language (substrate). When
languages contact with one another, the influence
of a lower prestige language (substrate) on a
higher prestige language (superstrate) in called
“substrate influence”. If the influence is the other
way round, it is called “superstrate influence”.
The changes they make for the other language in
general are called “contact-induced changes”.
Due to sheer inexperience, we could potentially
see a predominantly superstrate influence within
conversations however, subconsciously a
substrate influence could also be formed within
the conversations

There is the view that there is no such thing as a


“single style speaker” and that we all speak
different varieties of English including standard
English. This was deemed as “code-switching"
(Trudgill 1989).

The idea of language being an act of identity can


be further supported from the research carried in
London and Bradford regarding Asian English
code-switching in conversations between
students and members of staff (Gary Ives 2014).
Ives noticed that L2 speakers in Bradford made
the conscious decision to code switch from
English to their L1 language. However, some of
the people interviewed in the data did not code
switch as much because they did not want to
associate with the term “freshy” like other people
from similar background suggesting language use
to assert identity.
Regarding phonology, an individual’s phonological
change happens slowly due to the immersion in a
different accent and languages (Williams 2012).

Hypothesis
I anticipate the following:
 Differing phonology such as: merging of
sounds, substitution of sounds, TH-stopping,
rhoticity, zero article (omission of “a”,”an”
and “the”)
 Exclusion of certain linguistic features that the
average fluent English speaker would use such
as puns, perfect progressive aspect, slang,
alliteration
 Frequent use of code-switching and turn-
taking
 Non-standard and simplified syntax in speech
 Lack of past tense and perfect progressive
aspect in speech
 Contact-induced changes – superstrate
influence being the most common type
throughout the entire data set
 Non-standard grammar and a foreign accent
throughout the data

Methodology
I will gain permission to interview different
Asian L2 speakers in English and attempt to
interview as many people who fit the criteria as
much as I can for further reliability. Every
interviewee will be a person who I have known
for at least a few years and am familiar with. I
will let them know beforehand of the purpose
behind the conversation. The conversations will
be at most three minutes long for each person
mainly due to the very limited experience in
English but also to try and keep a consistency in
length for each transcript.
Every interviewee speaks the L1 language of
Bengali and have all immigrated from
Bangladesh to England somewhere between 15-
20 years ago which creates a predominantly
middle-aged group set (the youngest
interviewee was 37 years old while the oldest
was 51 years old). Everybody in this set did not
study or have any qualifications related to
English language and had only used English
when speaking to people who were not fluent in
Bengali. Three out of the four interviewees had
jobs within the restaurant industry and had
previously stated that their jobs helped them in
learning more about English.

When examining all of my data collected, I will


focus on exploring patterns and features of
grammar, syntax (arrangement of words in
language used), phonology (pronunciation and
accents), semantic features.

These patterns and features I focus on will be


laid out into separate sections.
Analysis

Syntax:
Below is a counter of how many times each of
these tenses and aspects are used within all of
the recorded transcriptions when the L2
speakers are talking about themselves.

Simple Perfect Progressive Perfect


progressive
Present 6 1 3 1
Past 3 4 2 0

The first thing I noted was the small capacity of


L2 speakers to implement the perfect
progressive aspect to their speech. Sometimes
during the conversations, the L2 speakers had
opportunities to use the perfect progressive
aspect but what I found was that they instead
chose to use other aspects - “I do some
cleaning” “I was feeling poorly”. In transcript 3,
the L2 speaker even states, “I:: did some (.)
cleaning” which would classify as a past tense
and simple aspect. Substitution of the perfect
progressive tense was the feature I concluded
to be present throughout the entire data set.

Phonology:
The first feature regarding phonology would be
the merging and substitution of certain sounds.
The most common sounds this applied to were
“v” and “w” as well as “v” and “b”. When it
came to the “w” sound a lot of merging
occurred as the L2 speakers would merge the
“w” sound with “v” - “vant”, “alvays”, “vork”.
Overall, both sounds were pronounced
interchangeably. (prevalent in transcript 4). This
helps with the research conducted by Jonnie
Robinson who produced an article titled Asian
English. As for the middle eight “v” sound, it is
commonly substituted for the early eight sound
“b”. This is interesting as this feature can also
occur with children during child language
acquisition. This goes to show that perhaps
these sounds are not as practised by the L2
speakers in their natural language and because
of this they naturally resort to altering the
phonemes due to inexperience. This could
perhaps be a part of a broader pattern

Secondly, in most words the phoneme “r” is


pronounced after the vowel. Examples where
this occurs is in words such as: “better”,
“learning”, “working”. This feature is called
rhoticity and is more common with Asian L2
speakers in comparison with L1 speakers in the
UK. However, in the USA the feature of rhoticity
is very common and this could possibly mean
that Asian L2 speakers have been influenced by
the USA by adopting the rhoticity feature.
Another phonological feature that was present
throughout the data set is the use of TH-
stopping. In words like: with, there, the, and
they, this occurs. Words like “with” end with the
phoneme “t” rather than with the “th”
consonant cluster. In transcript 2 the “th”
consonant cluster is substituted by the
phoneme “d”. Transcript 2 also shows the
consonant cluster “th” being used correctly
which could support the view that an
individual’s phonological change happens slowly
due to the immersion in a different accent and
languages (Williams 2012). The difference
between the speaker in transcript 2 and the
other speakers is the experience and time spent
speaking and learning English as the speaker in
transcript 2 has had more time and experienced
in comparison to the other speakers.

Semantic features:
The common semantic fields featured
throughout my entire data set are related to
work, family and health. Wider and more
specific topics are not present within the
conversations. Lev Vygotsky’s social interaction
theory hypothesises that learning and
development is supported and enhanced
through interactions. This is important as all of
the L2 speakers I conversated with had only
used English when faced with another person
who only spoke English. Most of the time they
would have talked with interlocutors in their
natural language. This is most likely why the
number of semantic fields created from our
conversations was limited. Also, these
interactions with other people who can only
speak English has allowed the L2 speakers to
develop their English language use. Every
speaker had no experience with English
language lessons/courses before which proves
how vital interactions have been in the
acquisition and development of English
language on L2 speakers.
Grammar and Accent:
Throughout my data set there was a non-
standard grammar use and a frequent use of
foreign accent. This is shown through the word
formation as well as the syntax - “eating de::
breakfast”, “I calling him lots”, “not good at
Ee::nglish speaking”. Each speaker displays some
form of foreign accent in their pronunciation -
“bery”, “de”, “chennel” and “Ee::nglish”. The
morphology is relatively the same for each
speaker and this is most likely due to the age of
arrival of English language for each person.

Every person had previously stated that they


acquired English language at an age above 20.
Newport states that foreign accent is inevitable
at the age range of 17-30 and beyond and that
age of arrival of language has a correlation with
the use of grammar by L2 speakers.

Conclusion and Evaluation


I was able to obtain many different linguistic
features by Asian L2 speakers as well as identify
patterns throughout my data set. From this, I
made speculations and linked them with past
theories.

The different phonological features I identified


from rhoticity to v-w merging to TH-stopping
and even the two cases of code-switching,
manage to link with different views of language
change (Williams and Trudgill). The nature of
these transcripts lacks a level of language
prestige and are all consistent in the topics and
semantic fields explored due to the simplicity
and inexperience of all of the L2 speakers.

Most of my hypothesis was proven by my data


however I was surprised at the zero article and
omission of tense/aspect not being a common
feature. Code-switching was not as frequent as I
expected it to be (only occurring twice
throughout the entire data set). Despite the lack
of code-switching, the moments when code-
switching is used - “natok”, “baghna” helped to
establish some form of identity (Bengali lexis)
which would slightly support the research that
Gary Ives conducted in Bradford with other
Asian L2 speakers.

In terms of contact-induced changes, the


dominant influence throughout my data set
would be superstrate influence as I did not
change my language to match the language
spoken by the interviewees however there were
a few cases of the interviewees being
influenced by my higher prestige language use
such as removal of foreign accent during speech
- “sitting in” “create and set up a business”,
overall closing the difference in language and
accent. This would support Thompson’s theory
of linguistic imperialism as superstrate influence
is a key feature.
My data set was very limited in quality as it
included L2 speakers who were all of a similar
background and did not truly represent most
Asian L2 speakers throughout England. It was
also limited in quantity as I managed to only
interview 4 people. (3 men and 1 woman).

I think for further reliability, I could have made


my data collection more diverse by interviewing
more people, people from different areas
throughout the UK, different age groups, a more
equal ratio of males to females and different
backgrounds.

Bibliography
https://www.bl.uk/british-accents-and-
dialects/articles/asian-english (phonology and
hypothesis)
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/
archive/2015/12/language-immigrants-
multiethnolect/420285/ (hypothesis)

https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/
questions/11401/examples-of-linguistic-
features (linguistic features)

Microsoft Word - Speech Sound Development2


(noblesvilleschools.org) (sound stages)

Social Development Theory (learning-


theories.com) (Vygotsky’s social development
theory)

untitled (Newport’s statements on the features


of the language of L2 speakers related to his
theory proposed in 1989)

Accent and Dialect Theories


(kelseysenglishlanguageblog.blogspot.com)
(Research conducted by Gary Ives)

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