Solving Dialectical Issues of Speech Communities - Research Proposal Example

RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON SOLVING DIALECTICAL ISSUES OF SPEECH COMMUNITIES [Name] [Adm No] [Institutional affiliation] [Course] DECLARATION I declare that the proposal and the contents herein are accredited to me as my original work. This work has not been submitted to any educational institution for consideration of any academic merit whatsoever. Name Signature……………………………………………………………. Date…………………………………………………………………. Supervisor’s Declaration Submission for consideration of this proposal is recommended after my consent and determination of the validity and reliability of its content; [Supervisor’s Name] Signature…………………………………………………… Date…………………………………………………………. DEDICATION This proposal for a research study is thereby a dedication to ………………………………... and …………………………….. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would to affirm the fact that this project would have been a hard task to accomplish were it not for the support that I received from various people as mention herein. First, my deepest and most sincere appreciation is extended to my supervisor whose assistance and support were invaluable. His contribution saw me successfully complete the task. The supervisor’s remarks, observations and corrections helped me improve in various areas which meant better quality of this proposal at the end. I would like to acknowledge the contribution of my friends undertaking their Bachelor’s degree for their ideas and recommendations which were incorporated to realize a better proposal. I also wish to recognize the contribution of my family who were a source of moral and financial help. I would like to specifically thank them for their understanding and patience through this work. Table of Contents DECLARATION 2 DEDICATION 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 4 ABSTRACT 7 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 8 BACKGROUND FOR THE PROPOSAL STUDY 8 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 9 OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH 10 GENERAL RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 10 SPECIFIC RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 10 RELEVANCE OF THE STUDY 10 SPECULATED LIMITATIONS TO THE RESEARCH STUDY 11 DELIMITATION STEPS 11 CORE ASSUMPTIONS MADE DURING THE RESEARCH 12 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 13 INTRODUCTION 13 THE USE OF DIALECT AND FORMATION OF PERCEPTION ABOUT THE TEACHER 13 FORMATION OF CONNECTION BETWEEN TEACHER AND LEARNER BASED ON DIALECT FEATURES 15 SWITCHING BETWEEN DIALECTS BY STUDENTS 17 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 19 INTRODUCTION 19 DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH STUDY 19 AREA OF STUDY 20 POPULATION OD STUDY 20 SAMPLING TECHNIQUE 20 METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION 20 ETHICAL CONSIDERATION OF THE RESEARCH 21 REFERENCE 22 APPENDICES 23 APPENDIX A: BUDGET AND TIME FRAME 23 BUDGET 23 TIME FRAME 24 APPENDIX B: 25 QUESTIONNAIRE 25 APPENDIX C: 26 INTERVIEW 26 ABSTRACT Variations exist between the speakers of a language in the manner of their diction and pronunciation. Research has shown that there is a connection between the perceptions of individuals of a given speech community to their actual chosen way of peaking. Studies have been carried out to look into the contribution of dialects in the daily lives of people from divergent speech communities and their interaction. However, there has been a void left in these past research studies carried out, as the researchers have not endeavoured to determine certain key issues with regard to the presence of people from variant speech community in a similar context. This research study will thus seek answers to the question on the general implication on student perception of a teacher from a different speech community. The research shall basically study the patterns of speech and perception among college students in Australia and their interaction with lecturers from different speech communities, preferably those of American origin. In order to get answers to the research questions, a number of techniques will be employed. Distribution of survey tools for data collection from Australian college students as well as teachers shall be pertinent. Such a tool will give reliable demographic information of the respondents. The data shall then be analyzed for the purpose of drawing informed conclusions with regard to the perception of learners towards their teachers of different speech communities. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND FOR THE PROPOSAL STUDY The perception of students on their teachers is impacted upon by a number of reasons. The knowledge base of the teacher, the mode of communication, and specifically, the manner in which the teachers pronounce words and the vocabulary they choose to use as they talk to their learners. The way through which learners form their perceptions of their teachers has therefore been noted as indicator towards their views on the speech community from which the teacher originates with regard to their own speech mannerisms as a representatives of a speech community. Research has revealed that learners do carry out criticism of the teacher’s choice of words and the manner in which the teacher will pronounce certain words. Further, there have been claims of the teacher being able to successfully use the features specific to certain dialects to find a link with their learners in class and school context. Therefore, the manner in which the teacher forms a connection to their learners is defined by the use of the dialect features among the teacher-learner discourses. There exist reasons for the learners’ choice of dialect, and a number of factors have been suggested for the learners’ action of switching between dialects. Various schools of thought have emerged with different arguments on the manner in which students switch between dialects and the purposes for which these learners opt to switch between the dialects. However, it is worth noting that researchers have generally identified that students will switch from one dialect to another for specific reasons and in defined contexts. Others have noted that students have a tendency to form perceptions about their teachers based on the teacher’s speech community mannerisms during speech. Such arguments thus imply a link between the teacher and their learners based on the learner’s features of chosen dialect, the perception of the learners with regard to the teacher’s chosen speech community mannerisms and the reasons behind learners using more than one dialect in their speech actions. This paper is thus a proposal to a research which seeks to determine how a learners are influenced to form perceptions about their teacher’s dialect, the role of dialect feature in formation of connections between the teacher and the learner and the purpose for learners switching between dialects. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM It is a basic assumption that learners form different perceptions of their teachers with regard to the teacher’s speech behaviour. In most cases, the learners are most likely to form perceptions depending on the manner in which the teacher selects on a preferred dialect and incorporates its features into their overall speech actions. The Australian education system used the standard British English as stipulated by the educational policies, with total disregard for foreign students and lecturers who might be involved in the educational activities within the country. Therefore, formation of perceptions about foreign teachers has been a common occurrence in Australia. In the same manner, teachers have used the dialect features that are superfluous to the speech trends of their learners to form connections with these learners. However, there has been no comprehensive research undertaken to determine the validity of such arguments as the formation of perception by learners on teacher’s preference of a given dialect and the manner in which teachers may form connections with their learners through guidance by certain features of dialects. This has therefore necessitated the carrying out a research on Australian college students to ascertain these assumptions. OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH GENERAL RESEARCH OBJECTIVE This research seeks to bring solve issues of perception that are common among two variant speech communities when they come in contact. SPECIFIC RESEARCH OBJECTIVES In more precise terms, the research seeks to; 1. Determine the manner in which usage of a given dialect might impact on the perception that learners form on their students. 2. Identify the ways through which a teacher can may use the features of a dialect to connect to their learners. 3. Determine the manner in which learners switch between dialects. 4. Identify the reasons behind learners switching between dialects. Specification of these research objectives will inform the course of the research study. RELEVANCE OF THE STUDY Identification of the creation of perception by learners on teachers through use of dialect, determination of how a teacher dialects features to initiate connection to learners and dialect switching among learners can be effective in shaping the interaction between students and their teachers for better performance. Such determination will also enhance the academic and social development of participants in a speech action on an individual level. Therefore, realization of the research objectives will enhance the general teacher-learner interaction for better performance and socialization through provision of solutions to the issues discussed in the problem statement. SPECULATED LIMITATIONS TO THE RESEARCH STUDY A number of factors are expected to cause hindrance to smooth progression of the research study. The factors identified are herein listed. The participation from the parties involved in the research process might not willingly and freely give information that is require for effective completion and analysis in the study. Lack of adequate time allocated for the completion of the research study is thought to hinder comprehensive achievement of the research objectives. The financial resources allocated might not adequately meet the demands of the research study process. DELIMITATION STEPS Although there are projected limitations to the research process, a number of steps can be devised to totally curb or reduce the impacts of the limiting factors for effective research study. Herein presented are the suggestions to the research limitations. Sampling as a method of data collection is suggested. The method of sampling will ensure that although all the affected stakeholders do not take part in the research study process, samples of participants are used to provide relevant data for the research. Sampling also ensures that the financial resources dedicated for the research study are effectively used for optimal results. Research studies to be undertaken in future should be carried out where population samples are likely to positively turn out for the research studies. This implies that a study on the responsiveness of the participants should be ascertained to be positive before embarking on the research study. There should be adequate time resources and additional financial resources set aside for costs which have not been projected for during the research study progress. Such allocation will ensure continuous and steady research study progress. CORE ASSUMPTIONS MADE DURING THE RESEARCH A few research study assumptions were made. They include; 1. The response of respondents will be positive towards the research study 2. The results to be obtained from the research will be a reliable representation of the relationship of the two research communities involved in the study. 3. The resources dedicated towards carrying out the research will be adequate for the completion of the research for effective results. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW INTRODUCTION It has been noted that if teachers are in favour of a specific dialect in their teaching, use the same dialect to carry out their learner assessment, it is expected that the learners who use the selected dialect as their language of speech in and out of school contexts are most likely to score better grades as opposed to those learners who have been exposed to different dialects (In Mahboob & In Barratt, 2014). Trainees in pedagogy cannot help to identify with a number of facts as relating to the use of different dialects in classroom situations and its impacts on the academic performance of learners and their perception of the teacher. THE USE OF DIALECT AND FORMATION OF PERCEPTION ABOUT THE TEACHER It is common to find that teachers who use a dialect different from the learners’ will be constantly involved in the correcting learners on usage of language. The teacher has the feeling that the learners could be using a certain language improperly, thus the need to make corrections to the learner’s language use. Non-native English learners in countries with education systems that have approved the use of standard British English have a difficult task in acquiring the suggested educational language(In Mahboob & In Barratt, 2014). Although there are other native speakers of English who could be using sub-standard English, which is understood as a dialect of the English language. In Mahboob & In Barratt (2014) note that the twenty first century is characterized by increasing dialectical diversity among students in different countries. There is need to thus improve the learner perception of the teachers through initiation of culturally sensitive educational policies that will enable effective learning for international students whose linguistic backgrounds do not match the native English speech community. Thepresence of different dialects within the classroom context has seen the emergence of categorization of the language used as either regional or social dialect(In Mahboob & In Barratt, 2014). There have been perceptions about the kind of dialect chosen upon by the teacher. In the American society, dialects have been understood to have links to the ethnic background and the social status of the speaker. Learners have thus formed a tendency to link the teacher’s use of Standard English to intelligence, possession of desirable employee characteristics and good personal attributes. Speech communities using a dialect seen as a bastardized version of a more superior language are associated with low intellectual capabilities and undesirable personal attributes(In Mahboob & In Barratt, 2014). In this order, the teachers who could not be using a standard could be perceived as individuals with stigma. Such teachers are understood to be deficient in the areas pertinent to education and it systems. Such perceptions do not only exist among learners; the relevant authorities in the education sector have similar perceptions. Such individual who are perceived to be superior by virtue of their dialect believe that the disadvantaged speech communities have to adopt to the superior dialect. Students whose dialect is not used as a medium of instruction are at risk of poorer performance. Most learners are judged by the manner in which they either write or speak. Worth noting is that superfluous influences of an individual’s dialect impacts on their speech and writing skills. The performance in schools is indicative of the effectiveness of classroom communication. It can be perceived that a school with better overall performance has links to better effective communication with regard to context, as the dialect chosen by individuals is determined by the context in which the speech action takes place. Learners might also perceive teachers who use given dialects that are not popular among the student speech community as being discriminative. Teachers who do not recognize a student’s dialect might develop feelings of minority treatment towards such a learner(In Mahboob & In Barratt, 2014). Even though learners with non-standard speech dialects are potential academic performers, most of learners from such dialects are considered on a less favourable platform. It is for such consideration that the learners perceive their teachers as discriminative. FORMATION OF CONNECTION BETWEEN TEACHER AND LEARNER BASED ON DIALECT FEATURES Teachers can potentially form connections with their students based on the dialect features they can be able to identify with. There are similar expectations of language use between people of a common speech community when they share a dialect. Teachers can identify the features that they use in their dialects. Such commonness of features between the dialect of the learner and that of the teacher creates a connection between the teacher and the learner. Establishment of connection between the learner and the teacher results in improved interactivity. A classroom that is characteristic of positive interactivity is defined by enhanced dissonance in culture of the participants. Such interactivity between the teacher and their learners is key to analyzing and subsequently gaining insight into the cultural and linguistic actions of the learners. A teacher who clearly understands their learner’s cultural and linguistic disposition is most likely to correctly interpret the cognitive capabilities of the learner. It has been argued that effective connections formed by teachers and students on the basis of the features explicit in the dialects used may result in the teachers comprehension of the fact that a learner’s performance and classroom participation has a link to the student’s cultural and linguistic background as opposed to other indicators of academic and classroom participation(In Mahboob & In Barratt, 2014). Linguistic study of language study within educational institutions reveals that schools might have their routines and rituals, and that these in most cases involve the trends of language use in class and the kinds of connections which exist between teachers and learners(In Mahboob & In Barratt, 2014). The kind of routine adopted by a school and the language teacher has massive impact on the kind of connection that will emerge between the teacher and the learner. Of importance is the teacher appreciating the divergent features of dialects used in class by the learners and create an enabling environment for such underprivileged students so that they are courageous to participate in classroom learning. Such enabling environments in the classroom realizes positive and good rapport in class. This generally calls for teacher expertise in recognition of dialectical differences and determination of ways of incorporation of minority learners in classroom activities which gives them a feeling of belonging. It is a lot easier for teachers to form connections with their learners if the dialects they use is similar(In Mahboob & In Barratt, 2014). This is enhanced by the environment of certainty created in class for the students. Such an environment id behind the effective skills of literacy and language. Research indicates that there exists a reasonable connection between the student’s general performance in academics and their language use. A teacher who is aware of dialectical diversity is thus is in a better position to form better connections with learners resulting in their improved performance. However, the process of bond formation might not be an easy task if the class is made of highly divergent learners in terms of dialectical background. Such a situation is characteristic of numerous challenges that relate to diversity in language use. It is important that teachers note such variations and positively use their technical knowledge on variations of dialect to manage the process of bond formation with their learners. SWITCHING BETWEEN DIALECTS BY STUDENTS Switching between dialects involves the action of users of a language alternating between two or more variant forms of a similar language(In Mahboob & In Barratt, 2014). These language varieties have to be used in the same speech action for dialect switching to be said to have taken place. Although the trend of switching between dialects is diminishing among students, the use of various dialects among students still is a common phenomenon in some places. There are arguments which hold that the ‘superior’ forms of a language are used for specific functions defined by seriousness, complexity and importance among students while the ‘inferior’ dialects of a language are used for other functions defined by their less serious, complex and important nature(In Mahboob & In Barratt, 2014). This inequality is evident in student usage of language as they use of multiple features of the language forms in the same conversation, although the features of one form might be more as opposed to features of the other. Learners have different reasons for their choice of mixing of features of language forms in a single conversation. The purposes for dialect switching are herein elaborated. Learners attempt to switch between dialects as an attempt to fit with the expectations and standards of language among their peers. Students are fond of seeking the acceptance of their peers through presentation of themselves as appealing counterparts. It is for this reason learners have been identified as common users of varieties of the same language. The need to talk as peers has forced learners to switch between dialects, and in most cases it makes communication easier among the learners. The need for effective communication is a major reason for learners to use variant forms of the same language(In Mahboob & In Barratt, 2014). This purpose implies that learners will attempt to mix their dialectical features in effort achieve a certain communicative goal. The learners will not be hesitant to use certain features specific to divergent language forms if they can best communicate through use of such features. Learners however are aware of the need to use dialects in the right context in order to achieve their communicative goals. The learners will therefore use certain vocabulary or accent in speech. Dialects have been used as a secret language. Learners have been identified to use variant forms of the same language to secretly pass information so specific people during a conversation(In Mahboob & In Barratt, 2014). Learners will use dialects to take about topics they are uncomfortable having other participants hear them converse about. Therefore, dialects become an effective way of hiding the meaning of their conversation to participants or people not involved in the conversation. Therefore, the use of certain dialects in speech by learners usually has a purpose that the learners would like to achieve as they converse. CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY INTRODUCTION This third chapter is a discussion on the design of the research study, the study area, the population and the ethical consideration of the research. DESIGN OF THE RESEARCH STUDY The research basically relies on the qualitative study design in attempt to determine the connection between the student perception formation about the teacher with regard to the dialect used. The study will be carried out on sample college students in Australia to ascertain the arguments proposed in the literature review. The population sample will involve college students in Australia, both native and non-native English speakers, and their lectures of English and foreign speech community origins. AREA OF STUDY The research will be carried out on students in colleges in the major Australian cities. POPULATION OD STUDY College students in Australia, both native and non-native English speakers, and their lectures of English and foreign speech community origins will form the study population to this research. SAMPLING TECHNIQUE Determination of the number of respondents to be considered in deriving conclusions after the research study will be determined through the following formula; For reliable results, the number of respondents will be considered, and appropriate decisions of scaling the number up or down will be taken. METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION Various means of collecting data will be used. Use of the questionnaire for data collection will be important in getting answers with regard to the formation of perceptions about teachers on use of dialects. They also will be vital in the access of information regarding why learners find it necessary to switch between dialects. The tool also will collect the views of the respondents on the formation of bonds between teachers and students based on features of dialects. Demographic information of the respondents is to be recorded on pieces of paper, and question elements will be designed and printed on the pieces of paper. These special questions will give direct information that can give an overview of the expected responses with regard to the research objectives. The questionnaires will them be availed to students and tutors of selected colleges within the cities of Australia. It will be expected that duly filled questionnaires will be returned after a period of three days. Interviews are also to be used in data collection. The interview process is expected to be carried out on the sample population earlier identified. The respondents are thought to be willing to give correct and reliable information. The face to face mode of data collection will afford the data collection process to cater for information that would not be obtained through literature review and questionnaires, since these modes do not allow for such designs as illustrations and explanations. Understanding of the theoretical arguments with regard to performance of learners and the usage of dialects in the educational context gives a better understanding of the kind of information the research method of data collection seek. Such theoretical arguments are adequately covered in the literature review. Review of past works on related topics of dialect use in school contexts thus gives an in-depth comprehension of the topics in question. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION OF THE RESEARCH Upon approval of this research proposal, effective research action will commence immediately. Results obtained from the research will be communicated to the Australian education systems for appropriate considerations and changes in need be. The research results however will mandatorily be presented to the colleges from which students were used for data collection for decision making with regard to adoption of language policies for better performance. REFERENCE In Mahboob, A., & In Barratt, L. B. (2014). Englishes in multilingual contexts: Language variation and education. APPENDICES APPENDIX A: BUDGET AND TIME FRAME BUDGET TIME FRAME APPENDIX B: QUESTIONNAIRE 1. Are you a native or non-native English speaker? 2. What is the manners in which students form perceptions about teachers with regard to use of dialects? 3. In your opinion, is there a connection between a learner’s performance and their use of language forms? 4. What is your view on the school’s language policies? 5. Had you the opportunity to change the school’s language policy, what would you improve on? APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW 1. What’s your name? Which college are you enrolled in? 2. Give your understanding of language policy? 3. Out of five, how would you rate the foreign student participation in class discussion in your college? 4. There have been claims saying performance is linked to one’s language capability. Give your stand with a justification. 5. Comment on student forming perceptions about teachers with regard to use of dialects. 6. How often do your lecturers involve you in the learning processes? 7. Comment on dialect switching among learners. 8. State the responsibilities of the learners, school administration and teachers and in adoption of foreign student recognition in colleges. Read More