Local Events: Purdue University Graduate Symposium on ESL Research

PURDUE UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE SYMPOSIUM ON ESL RESEARCH

“THE EFFECTS OF THE GLOBAL SPREAD OF ENGLISH ON ESL RESEARCH AND TEACHING”

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~eslgo/symposium.html

PROGRAM AT A GLANCE

8:30-9:00 Registration

9:00-9:10 Opening remarks by Prof. Margie Berns, Purdue University

9:10-9:40 Invited plenary speech
Graduate Student to Faculty, and Local to Global: Two Transitions
Prof. Tony Cimasko, Miami University

9:40-9:50 Break

9:50-11:10 Session 1: English in the Global Contexts

11:20-11:30 Break

11:30-12:00 “Hot” Topic Round Table: All Cultures “BIG” and “small”

12:00-1:00 Lunch (provided by the Symposium)

1:00-2:00 Keynote speech
World Englishes, Globalization, and the Politics of Conformity
Prof. Rakesh M. Bhatt, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

2:00-2:15 Break

2:15-3:35 Session 2: Second Language Writing

3:35-3:50 Break

3:50-5:10 Session 3: Application of SL Research to Instruction in a U.S. College

5:10 Concluding Remarks by Prof. Tony Silva, Purdue University

6:00-9:00 Dinner at Puccini’s

Plenary speakers: Prof. Rakesh Bhatt, U of Illinois Prof. Tony Cimasko, U of Miami

World Englishes, globalization, and the politics of conformity

Rakesh M. Bhatt
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

The sociolinguistic phenomena of world Englishes in the era of globalization is becoming less predictable and more complicated as translingualism, translation, and transmodality open up new semiotic spaces for discursive displays of identity and interpretation. In order for us to understand the various complexes of sociolinguistic nuances of the acquisition and use of Englishes worldwide, we need to accomplish the following:
1. liberate the field of world Englishes from the orthodoxies of the past by constantly examining expert discourses, old and new, on the structure and functions of world Englishes in order to move the field forward from a politics of conformity—uncritical acceptance of received wisdom—to a politics of possibility, of growth, and of dialogue across intellectual (and even ideological) fault-lines;
2. connect the field of world Englishes to a more general theory of the sociolinguistics of globalization (cf. Blommaert 2003, 2005, 2007; Coupland 2003).
In this talk, I will address these two issues by first offering a discourse-theoretic analysis of linguistic ideologies, following Irvine & Gal (2000), which captures the underlying political logic of conformity. I will then engage the study of world Englishes with the processes of linguistic globalization: the complexity and simultaneity of linguistic choices, the commodification of linguistic forms and functions, the worldwide patterns and stratifications of English language acquisition and use, and the creative potential of bilingual English users.

Graduate Student to Faculty, and Local to Global: Two Transitions

Tony Cimasko
University of Miami

Much has been said about how language and language pedagogy are affected by the broad contexts in which they exist, but less has been said about the effects that the same circumstances have on professional demands faced by recent graduates and new professors. This presentation will highlight the speaker’s professional experiences over the past year, first as a Ph.D. candidate in ESL facing both a dissertation defense and an increasingly difficult job market, then as a newly hired faculty member continuing to work for professional advancement in his university and in his field. All of this has happened in a context of rapid globalization that has dramatically affected his university and his position. The presentation will conclude with comments on what these experiences have to say for graduate students on the verge of transition.

SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM

Opening remarks by Prof. Margie Berns, Purdue University, 9:00-9:10

Invited plenary speech, 9:10-9:40
Graduate Student to Faculty, and Local to Global: Two Transitions
Prof. Tony Cimasko, Miami University

Break

Session 1: English in the Global Contexts, 9:50-11:10
Session Chair: Cindy Torres, Purdue University

Emergence, Usage and Implications of Hinglish in Bollywood Films
Presenter: Suneeta Thomas, Purdue University
By observing the emergence of Hinglish in Bollywood, this study analyzes code switching and code mixing between Hindi and English and how it acquires the form Hinglish. Implying the adoption of Hinglish by the current Indian youth, the study questions the possibility of Hinglish usage in Indian academic contexts.


Japanese English Language Learners’ Attitudes Towards Native and Nonnative English Accents
Presenter: Masakazu Mishima, Purdue University
This quantitative study investigated the attitude of 195 Japanese High School students towards native and nonnative English accents in terms of their learning preference. Participants responded to four different English accents: 1. American, 2. British 3. Indian and 4. Japanese, which represent Kachru’s three concentric circles.

The Role of CALL Technology in ESL/EFL Global Contexts
Presenter: Aliel Cunningham, Purdue University
This paper surveys the relative usefulness of CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) activities and software programs in targeting speaking and listening skills in the ESL/EFL classroom. Under investigation are the computer-mediated strategies which have the potential to enhance EFL learner's opportunities to improve in pronunciation, prosody, and listening targets.

The sociolinguistic Reality of a New Branch of English Literature: World Englishes Literature
Presenter: Kinga Volkan Kacso, Purdue University
This research proposes a closer look at English literature from the angle of World Englishes asking questions like: besides native speakers (NS), who (else) writes creatively today in English? Why do these authors choose English as their communication tool? And, what are the consequences of this choice?

Break

Hot Topic Round Table, 11:30-12:00
All Cultures “BIG” and “small”
Facilitators: Kyle McIntosh & Mira Bekar, Purdue University
The spread of English as a global language has brought renewed attention to the complexity and controversies surrounding the concept of culture. This roundtable addresses a number of these concerns, including the debate between “big” and “small” cultures, to determine what place, if any, culture has in second language studies.

Lunch

Keynote speech, 1:00-2:00
World Englishes, Globalization, and the Politics of Conformity
Prof. Rakesh M. Bhatt, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Break

Session 2: Second Language Writing, 2:15-3:35
Session Chair: Fatima Essili
Examining Students’ Use of Their L1 During Idea Generation in a Free-Writing Activity
Presenter: Joshua Paiz, the University of Toledo
This pilot study examines ESL students’ use of their L1 during a free-writing activity designed to generate ideas for a writing task. The study investigates whether students generate more ideas when using their L1 compared to English. This study investigates what impact the free-write has on the final essay.

Comparing Comments in the L1 and the L2 During the Peer Review Process
Presenter: Terra S. Myers , the University of Toledo
This study investigates the use of ESL students’ L1 during peer review. For this study, we will examine whether ESL students produce more comments during peer review if they are allowed to use their native language, or if they produce more comments when they are allowed to only use English.

Suggestions in Teacher Written Comments on Freshman Compositions
Presenter: Lixia Cheng, Purdue University
Suggestions are complex yet common pragmatic choices that people make every day. This preliminary study explores whether there are significant differences between native and highly advanced non-native speaking instructors in the ways they realize the speech act of suggestion when they provide written feedback to their students’ compositions.


Let History Tell the Current: Aspects of Chinese Rhetoric in Contrastive Rhetoric Studies
Presenter: Xinqiang Li, Purdue University
This study aims to explain some much discussed (in contrastive rhetoric studies) Chinese writing features through a close study of historical development of Chinese rhetoric. In this way, a better understanding of these writing features as well as the formation of modern Chinese rhetoric could be achieved.

Break

Session 3: Application of SL Research to Instruction in U.S. Colleges, 3:50-5:10
Session Chair: Haying Cao

Asian Interplay Between TAs and ESL Graduate Students at UIUC
Presenters: Qi-shu Liu and Katherine Wu, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
The number, as well as the contribution, of international ESL teaching assistants has been thriving in the U.S. Recent decades witness an increasing concern for International Teaching Assistants (ITAs) in various conferences. The aim of this presentation is to utilize students’ feedback, facilitating Asian TAs to become better instructors.

Instructional Choices: Sanctioning ELL’s Vernacular in the English Language Classroom
Presenter: Zaira R. Arvelo-Alicea, Purdue University
This working paper discusses an ethnographic case study done in a college level English classroom in Puerto Rico. It focuses on the negotiation an American teacher does regarding the uses of the target language (English) and students’ vernacular (Spanish) in two course components: the classroom and students’ blogs.

The ESL Student in a Community College
Presenter: Barbara Gilbert , Wright State University
ESL students in a community college are very different from ESL students in intensive English for academic purposes programs in four year colleges or universities. Most ESL students in a community college are either refugees or immigrants who face not only language issues, but other issues regarding work and family.

The Influence of Motivation within Second Language Acquisition
Ryan D. Wright, The University of Toledo
This study investigates the core factors that aid in explaining for the discrepancy in motivation among students who are learning second language (i.e. ESL students). I will review the research and determine the most significant factors that drive a student’s level of motivation during the process of second language acquisition.

Concluding Remarks by Prof. Tony Silva, Purdue University, 5:10

Dinner at Puccini’s, 6:00-9:00