Saturday, 30 September 2023

idiolect vs dialect

DIALECT

We know what a dialect is:

a form of a language that people speak in a particular part of a country, containing some different words and grammar, etc.

DIALECT | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

Dialect is not the same as accent:

An accent is simply how one pronounces words—a style of pronunciation. A dialect includes not just pronunciations, but also one's general vocabulary and grammar.

Accent vs Dialect | Rosetta Stone®

And dialect is not the same as language:

A language is a set of words and all of the systems about usage of those words that a group of people uses to communicate with each other. A dialect is a specific variety of a language spoken or signed by a group of people that may have different vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from the main form of the language. An accent is a distinct way of speaking or signing a specific language or dialect that is shared amongst a specific group of people, usually distinguished by geographic area or social class.

Language vs. Dialect Vs. Accent: Learn The Differences | Dictionary.com

It gets political!

A language is a dialect with an army and navy.

What's the difference between a dialect and a language?

Is it a language or a dialect? It's... political. - Don Enright

The Difference Between a Language and a Dialect - The Atlantic

Language vs Dialect vs Accent: What's The Difference? - YouTube

IDIOLECT

Each and every one of us has our own idiolect. And that makes language all the more complicated...

Every single person speaks differently. Sure, we speak the same languages as each other — communication would be impossible if we didn’t — but like snowflakes, no two people’s way of talking is the same. That means you could say that there are over 7 billion languages out there, and each of these tiny languages is called an idiolect. The idea of zooming in on language to such minute detail can seem like a waste of time, but understanding idiolects is key to understanding the human nature of language.

What Is An Idiolect?

An idiolect is the dialect of an individual person at one time. This term implies an awareness that no two persons speak in exactly the same way and that each person’s dialect is constantly undergoing change—e.g., by the introduction of newly acquired words. Most recent investigations emphasize the versatility of each person’s speech habits according to levels or styles of language usage.

Dialect | Linguistics, Regional Variations & Dialectology | Britannica

It gets quite deep:

Idiolects (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

To make it little easier, here are a couple of good videos:

Accents and idiolects - YouTube

Idiolect - YouTube

"children who read for pleasure are better at english"

THE POLITICAL:

Back in 2012, the UK government looked at the research evidence on reading for pleasure:

Benefits of reading for pleasure:

• There is a growing body of evidence which illustrates the importance of reading for pleasure for both educational purposes as well as personal development (cited in Clark and Rumbold, 2006).

• Evidence suggests that there is a positive relationship between reading frequency, reading enjoyment and attainment (Clark 2011; Clark and Douglas 2011).

• Reading enjoyment has been reported as more important for children’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status (OECD, 2002).

• There is a positive link between positive attitudes towards reading and scoring well on reading assessments (Twist et al, 2007).

• Regularly reading stories or novels outside of school is associated with higher scores in reading assessments (PIRLS, 2006; PISA, 2009).

• International evidence supports these findings; US research reports that independent reading is the best predictor of reading achievement (Anderson, Wilson and Fielding, 1988).

• Evidence suggests that reading for pleasure is an activity that has emotional and social consequences (Clark and Rumbold, 2006).

• Other benefits to reading for pleasure include: text comprehension and grammar, positive reading attitudes, pleasure in reading in later life, increased general knowledge (Clark and Rumbold, 2006).

reading_for_pleasure.pdf

But as author Charlies Connolley writing in the New European this month points out:

Almost 800 public libraries have shut their doors since the Conservatives came to power. That is 800 too many

The little local library that made me a borrower - The New European

THE PRACTICAL:

Going beyond the politics, the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education asks:

What if… we wanted all our children to read for pleasure? | Centre for Literacy in Primary Education

Teachers realise this - and have questions:

What would make children read for pleasure more frequently? - Merga - 2017 - English in Education - Wiley Online Library

Research suggests that reading for pleasure can boost comprehension, vocabulary and attainment, but what can teachers do to promote it?

Reading for pleasure: What does the research say? - Twinkl Digest Education

Here's a whole paper on the subject - for teachers of English as a second language:

Pleasure reading at home and its effects in the English classroom. How pleasure reading in English can improve children’s comprehension of and proficiency in English as a second language.

Pleasure reading for development of English as a second language

These pages have looked many a time at why reading for pleasure is a good thing:

Jay Doubleyou: how to get back to reading

Jay Doubleyou: reading really is the best way to improve (your own and a second) language

Jay Doubleyou: atelic activities

Jay Doubleyou: don't destroy a love of reading

Jay Doubleyou: extensive reading

Wednesday, 27 September 2023

why wiktionary is so good

There are lots of online dictionaries:

Jay Doubleyou: why the urban dictionary is so good

Jay Doubleyou: bab.la online dictionary

Jay Doubleyou: translate with reverso context

And words have lots of different meanings, use, origins, interest...

Jay Doubleyou: what is the english word of the year?

Jay Doubleyou: the meaning and use of the word 'woman' is changing

Jay Doubleyou: how many meanings are there to 'love'?

Jay Doubleyou: the african origins of 'ok'

Jay Doubleyou: what is 'woke'?

Jay Doubleyou: how new words are born

A very solid dictionary for all of this is Wiktionary:

Wiktionary (in English)

Wiktionary (German)

How much should you trust Wiktionary:

Being an administrator on Wiktionary, my answer may be slightly biased.

1) Wiktionary is a multilingual dictionary and each Wiktionary site attempts to translate words from all known languages into one single language (e.g., en.wikt for all languages into English). This is one advantage over OED or Webster.

2) Wiktionary (or volunteers who work on the website) strives to be descriptive. However, because we are all biased in one way or another, sometimes prescriptive information gets included in the dictionary. Unfortunately, because it is editable by every man and their dog on the Internet, sometimes these flaws get overlooked.

3) One may consider Wiktionary as a bridge between Urban Dictionary and more authoritative dictionaries like Oxford. As long as a term passes the CFI, it may be included provided references are given for the term. This is often at the discretion of administrators such as myself and if a term is disputed, it gets put on RFD or RFV to be checked and dealt with accordingly. There are also issues such as the offensiveness of certain terms, which are often dealt with on Tea room. This IS one of the best things about Wiktionary. Everything is open for discussion.

dictionaries - How much should I trust Wiktionary? - English Language Learners Stack Exchange

Here's another discussion:

Wiktionary is just so good : r/LearnFinnish

Here are a couple of comparisons:

Wiktionary vs Dictionary: Meaning And Differences

Wiktionary VS WordReference - compare differences & reviews?

Merriam-Webster VS Wiktionary - compare differences & reviews?

Here's a list from Wiktionary:

Wiktionary is an online dictionary and, as a means to that end, also an online community. Therefore, there are certain things that Wiktionary is not.

Wiktionary:What Wiktionary is not - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

And here's a nice example - across different languages:

Wiktionary - Why do we love Wiktionary, the free dictionary?... | Facebook

Tuesday, 26 September 2023

is clil working? is the bilingual class effective? are students learning through english?

CLIL has been around for some time now:

Content and language integrated learning (CLIL)[1][2] is an approach for learning content through an additional language (foreign or second), thus teaching both the subject and the language.

Content and language integrated learning - Wikipedia

Jay Doubleyou: clil: content and language integrated learning

And is getting more and more widespread:

Jay Doubleyou: the spread of clil

Here's a useful introduction:

CLIL: A lesson framework | TeachingEnglish | British Council

And there are a lot of materials to support teachers:

Content and Language Integrated Learning | TeachingEnglish | British Council

Lesson Share: How should CLIL work in practice? | Article | Onestopenglish

Working CLIL - Bringing together practitioners, researchers and teachers

(PDF) CLIL: Some of the reasons why … and why not

After some years of practice, there is now some reflection happening:

Critical Analysis of CLIL: Taking Stock and Looking Forward | Applied Linguistics | Oxford Academic (from 2014)

Revisiting CLIL: Background, Pedagogy, and Theoretical Underpinnings (from 2020)

...

We can also call it 'bilingual teaching':

In bilingual education, students are taught in two (or more) languages.[1] It is distinct from learning a second language as a subject because both languages are used for instruction in different content areas like math, science, and history. The time spent in each language depends on the model. For example, some models focus on providing education in both languages throughout a student's entire education while others gradually transition to education in only one language.[2] The ultimate goal of bilingual education is fluency and literacy in both languages through a variety of strategies such as translanguaging and recasting.[3]

Bilingual education - Wikipedia

Jay Doubleyou: bilingual teaching today

...

And then there is 'English medium instruction':

An English-medium education system is one that uses English as the primary medium of instruction—particularly where English is not the mother tongue of the students. Known as English-Medium Instruction[5] (EMI), or ICLHE (Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education),[6] this rapidly growing phenomenon has been contested in many contexts.[7]

English-medium education - Wikipedia

Here's a little more:

Frontiers | In English Medium Instruction you can walk and chew gum

How effective is English as a medium of instruction (EMI)? | British Council

And here's a critique:

English medium instruction may h ave negative learning outcomes for students - E L Gazette

...

What's the difference?

CLIL and EMI - From Schools to Higher Education | TeachingEnglish | British Council

English Medium Instruction vs Content Language Integrated Learning: Why is the distinction important? – annamend

And:

Education in two languages: bilingualism and CLILELT Learning Journeys

And:

Bilingual Education, CLIL and EMI - University of Chichester

Monday, 25 September 2023

flashcards: anki and quizlet

What are flashcards?

A flashcard or flash card (also known as an index card) is a card bearing information on both sides, which is intended to be used as an aid in memorization. Each flashcard bears a question on one side and an answer on the other. Flashcards are often used to memorize vocabulary, historical dates, formulae or any subject matter that can be learned via a question-and-answer format. Flashcards can be virtual (part of a flashcard software), or physical.

Flashcard - Wikipedia

Are they a good thing for learning and teaching?

Flashcards, especially in their digital incarnations, are some of the most powerful learning tools. They can also easily be a complete waste of time.
Powerful, because retrieval and spacing are key to memory. If you want to learn a topic with a lot of stuff to memorize, flashcards will help you do it better than almost anything else. Mnemonics are trendy, but for medium-to-long-term purposes, flashcards are probably better.
It’s also easy to waste your time with flashcards. You can spend a lot of time memorizing something you don’t need to, or fail to memorize the important things you do. Flashcard practice can also be a convenient way to avoid doing the real thing you need to learn. Some subjects may not be amenable to flashcards at all.
Let’s try to untangle these seemingly contradictory views…

Learning With Digital Flashcards: The Good and The Bad | by Scott H. Young | DataDrivenInvestor

Here are a few activities to try out:

Flashcards - The Bell Foundation

And here are the market leaders:

Anki - powerful, intelligent flashcards

Anki (software) - Wikipedia

How to use Anki Flashcards for studying - YouTube

And:

Digital Flashcards & Revision Cards for Students | Quizlet

Quizlet - Wikipedia

Quizlet - Review 2021 - PCMag UK

Compared: