I have noticed that many of our threads, as in the example below, have been "morphing" into new topic areas, sometimes far removed from the original message in the threads. Could all members please adjust the subject lines before sending their e-mails to better match topics of their discussions (note: my infinitive was deliberately split). This care about the subject lines will help all of us follow those threads that we are interested in and save us much time and labor in navigating our sometimes large "Inboxes." Thanks for your cooperation, Paul D. ----- Original Message ---- From: Yvonne Stapp <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2006 12:19:07 PM Subject: Re: The role of English teachers Eduard, Some people might use the term semilingual to refer to monolinguals. It is definitely more strongly associated with the bilingual environment. The term used by most people who deal with the monolingual situation is “delayed language.” Both terms usually refer to children in a school setting, where the L1 skills have not reached the level necessary for the development of literacy. In general everyday discourse is also limited in these groups. I do want to make clear that I would not refer to the college students/teachers (my data) –who were all literate-- as semilingual (or “delayed L1” or whatever). I am sure that when those adults were children their L1 skills were sufficient to begin literacy development on schedule and that they were never referred for language therapy/assistance. However, as they went through the K12 system they were given very little instruction in formal English (grammar, vocabulary) and skill development (writing). Because of the lack of instruction, they had problems composing complex sentences and using more formal vocabulary. Their grammatical problems –or even their lexical problems—would not be evident in everyday discourse, because the vocabulary and structure of everyday discourse are more limited. BTW, the everyday level is the level acquired through do-it- yourself foreign language lessons (i.e., up to intermediate- level proficiency) for anyone who has tried such a program. To acquire the formal level of the L2 a person would have to really hit the books, just the way you did. The point is that the formal level of discourse has to be very consciously learned and practiced. My sense is that many educators still continue to conflate everyday discourse and formal discourse, and also incoherence with language variation. yvonne ---- Original message ---- >Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 14:07:20 -0500 >From: "Eduard C. Hanganu" <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: Re: The role of English teachers >To: [log in to unmask] > >Yvonne, > >You state that "Semilingualism refers to non-native speakers (e.g., >ESL students, and usually identified in elementary school settings), >who have not acquired a sufficient foundation in either the first or >second language." > >Alan Davies, though, in his book "The Native Speaker: Myth and >Reality," applies the term *semilingualism* both to native and non- >native speakers. He states: > >"What semilingualism argues (Skutnabb-Kangas, 1981) is that in >certain situations, "either of a multilingual character or an >impoverished one, which creates a climate of disadvantage, children >may be brought up with no fully developed linguistic system and what >they have will be either (a) a set (two or more) of partial systems >or (b) one inadequate system." (p. 30) > >Eduard > >To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html >and select "Join or leave the list" > >Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ Yvonne Stapp PhD Assistant Professor of ESL James Madison University Dept of Exceptional Education MSC 6908 Memorial Hall 3130B Harrisonburg, VA 22807 phone 540-568-4525 To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/