This article seeks to examine the transformative impact of SMS text messaging on student written communication skills. Using the survey method, the article examines how pervasive the use of SMS texting is among polytechnic students; its possible effects on students' writing skills; and, what lecturers and students themselves think about the phenomenon. Based on responses from survey participants, the article argues that even though mobile phones are handy ICTs for harnessing and disseminating information, they could have their dark side too: the SMS text messaging function could heighten the tendency among students to adopt non-standard uses and contracted forms of English words in their classwork, examinations and research reports especially in an academic environment where English is the L2 of most students.
Glossophobia, an individual’s anxiety of public speaking, has been observed to be a common phenomenon among students. The present study explores factors associated with glossophobia among ESL students of a tertiary institution in Upper-West Ghana, the Dr. Hilla Limann Technical University, Wa and makes recommendations for improvement in their public speaking skills. The study combined both quantitative and qualitative research approaches in an opinion poll involving 46 participants from the Level 300 class of the Secretaryship and Management Studies of the Business School. Participants acknowledged the importance of public speaking, but conceded that at some point in their student lives, when they had to speak in public, glossophobia prevented them from making a good impression on the audience. Speaking English before a crowd was identified as the most dreaded experience. Low self-confidence in speaking in public; lack of constant speaking experience and lack of knowledge in public speaking; fear of making mistakes and being laughed at; inadequate preparation and timidity were also identified as challenges affecting participants’ ability to speak English in public. To help students overcome that phobia, the study recommends that lecturers should adopt an interactive approach combined with the appropriate communication strategies to promote positive attitudes and create the desirable atmosphere for boosting students’ confidence. Lecturers should also organise seminars on public speaking skills and encourage regular individual oral presentation in class so students can practise to develop positive attitudes towards public speaking.
This study sought to establish from teachers of English in Senior High Schools in the Upper-West Region of Ghana what they considered to be the main challenges confronting their students in the Oral English course. Thirty-four (34) teachers participated in the survey, which used questionnaire and personal observation for data gathering. The study found that there was a high tendency for features of the L1 of students to affect their learning of L2, especially in the areas of phonemes, morphemes, words, sentences and discourse structures. This was not surprising, as English was the L2 of majority of high school students in the region. The study acknowledges the need for language teachers to understand the linguistic systems of the second language of the student and how they function and be able to differentiate between the first and second language of the learner. It further concedes that a teacher's ability to speak and understand a language is not a guarantee for attaining the requisite technical knowledge for understanding and explaining the system of the language. It was observed that the challenges of pronunciation were not limited to students but affected the teachers too. The study recommends the teaching of pronunciation at basic level in an ESL context like Ghana's and also the provision of relevant teaching and learning materials for schools as well as periodic training for subject teachers.
This paper argues that the use of proverbs in translating the Bible into mother-tongues constitutes an essential ingredient to naturalness in the receptor-language text, thereby enhancing acceptability. Thus, the subject of translating proverbs and translating using proverbs should be handled with the attention it deserves. Using the Dagaare New Testaments as the main texts, the study aims to explore the use of proverbs in the Dagaare text in general; examine how English proverbs were translated; identify which proverbs translate well between English and Dagaare; find out how parallel proverbs were used in Dagaare and how non-proverbial expressions were translated as proverbs in the RL. This study also considered how proverbs were translated as ordinary expressions and how connotative proverbs used in the Dagaare text manifest themselves. Proverbs thus identified were read out to users of the text drawn from different denominations in the area to test for naturalness. The study found that majority (50%) of the SL proverbs translated into Dagaare were 'near natural'; 33% 'natural', and the remaining 17% 'less natural'. This study recommends that, in future reviews of the two Dagaare NT texts, translators and consultants take note of suggestions made so that proverbs/idioms and cultural equivalents that translate more naturally into the language are adopted to enhance the quality of the translation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.