Volume 9 (2018) Issue 2
pp. 147-148
Foreword
to the Issue
The present issue, which completes
JLLT's ninth yearly volume, comprises five articles which
cover the field of pragmatics in the realm of linguistics, and those
of language use in the English language classroom, reading research,
grammar teaching, and the teaching of French legal language in the
domain of methodology. Four of the subsequent articles are in
English, one is in French.
In a
linguistic, or, more precisely, pragmatic approach, Gerald
Delahunty (Fort Collins (CO,
USA) analyses international appeal letter by Amnesty International in
terms of the tenor used, the ideology expressed and the participants'
positioning embodied in them. The central speech act here is
persuading,
and it addresses government officials who are thereby incited to act
in conformity with human rights, and also the general public, i.e. AI
members and people who aim to act in favour of those ideals and to
financially contribute to them. In the article, the wording and style
of such appeal letters are analysed, with the direct form of
addressing the target group using the second person you,
representing one of the most important linguistic device here.
Another relevant speech act used in these letters is
presupposition.
The ultimate effect attributable to this type of letters consists in
forming a strong identity for addressees wiklling to belong to a
well-defined social group. This article thus represents an
enlightening read for those who are (professionally) interested
in pragmatics and also for those who have come to recognise the
ultimate importance of this field of linguistics.
The first article covering
methodological issues is the one by Georgios
Neokleous & Anna Krulatz
(both Trondheim, Norway), who detail the results of an empirical
study whose purpose it was to analyse the opinions of Norwegian EFL
teachers in view of their students using their own mother tongue in
class and the efforts these teachers make to predominantly implement
the foreign language in the classroom. The results found and
discussed here are of interest in the context of the multilingual
classroom, which
presently has recently become more and more en
vogue in modern
language methodology.
The
importance of leisure time reading performed by learners of English
is the topic of the contribution by Ghania
Ouahmiche (Oran,
Algeria)
& Khalid Ziad (Mila,
Algeria). The authors investigate the potential benefits of this type
of reading, in particular with regards to writing,
which is not primarily performed in the classroom, but represents
part of students private activities. The findings show that reading
performed outside the classroom and on learners' own accord is viewed
positively by students, especially as far as its beneficial effects
on the content of their written texts is concerned. The findings of
this study also show that even more importance should be attached to
motivating students of whatever foreign language to integrate it into
their every-day lives and to use it in whatever context they might
find appropriate, with extensive reading being just one of them.
The
mastery of a grammatical phenomenon, i.e. that of the Spanish verbal
aspect, acquired in the context of service-learning is
investigated by C.
Cecilia Tocaimaza-Hatch (Omaha
(NE), USA)
& Ashwini Ganeshan (Athens
(GA), USA). The empirical study performed in this context referred to
oral narration and was based on a classical research scheme. It
comprised a certain amount of awareness-raising because students were
requested to discuss their choice of aspect after having re-narrated
the underlying fictional story employed. In addition, students were
asked to evaluate their own use of Spanish verbal aspect. The
findings show some improvement in students' narration capacity and
point to the importance of service-learning as an environment in
which theory and practice can easily be combined, allowing learners
to develop their affective and cognitive skills. The article shows
that the learning of foreign languages while doing community service
can enhance students' personality building.
Another
approach to teaching is focused on by Karl-Heinz
Eggensperger
(Potsdam, Germany), who describes the teaching of legal French within
the framework of a double-degree programme between a German and a
French university. In his article, written in French, the author
analyses a special type of language course which is based on the
assumption that linguistic competence represents
a combination of skills that are necessary for mastering well-defined
communicative tasks. The diversity of these skills is shown in a
specific model, and the differences that exist between the legal
curriculum and the curriculum of teaching legal French are
exemplified, whereby concrete suggestions are made with regards to
teaching materials in view of LSP lexis, of note-taking skills to be
applied during lectures, and to the written preparation of student
presentations. The author's reflections point to the very necessity
to teach languages for specific purposes in a way which is distinctly
different from those ways in which foreign languages are generally
taught.
The
presented issue is completed by a book review of The
Essential Hyland
by Thomas
Tinnefeld
(Saarbrücken, Germany), which represents a collection of articles
by Ken Hyland on academic writing, reprinted and commented on by
prominent scholars.
As
usual, I would like to thank the aforementioned authors for their
contributions to this issue of JLLT,
look forward to further contributions of theirs in the future, and
wish all our readers a pleasant and instructive read.
Thomas
Tinnefeld
JLLT
Editor