Peoples and individuals around the globe continuously develop their own communicative habits. With each generation, adjustments to changing circumstances are made — economic circumstances, natural... Show morePeoples and individuals around the globe continuously develop their own communicative habits. With each generation, adjustments to changing circumstances are made — economic circumstances, natural circumstances, and, for instance, mobility circumstances. The outcome of such transitions is cultural variation, which is visible in hierarchical social systems, belief systems, legal systems, traditions, attire, and all kinds of rituals. Communicative systems are part of culture, and they deserve a role in research focussing on language and communication. However, applying culture as a variable is a challenge, not only because of the cultural variation between peoples and individuals but also because the effects of culture on actual language utterances are hard to measure. Another issue is the dominance of Anglowestern cultural patterns in many analyses. This paper explains these issues and critically reviews the various criteria that well-known cultural models — like the one by Hofstede (1980), Lewis (1969), and Hall (1959, 1976) — use to categorise cultures. Examples of such criteria are: region, relationship with uncertainty, femininity/masculinity, and power relations. The paper concludes by giving a number of practical solutions to the challenge of treating culture as a variable in sociolinguistic research. These solutions are related to, amongst others, the reviewing process for journals, widespread norms of ‘good academic language’, author/editor selection, cross-cultural academic cooperation, and sharing of funds. Show less
While English is used more and more at Dutch universities, it is subject to criticism, specifically regarding the lack of expressiveness. Our study described the differences in linguistic... Show moreWhile English is used more and more at Dutch universities, it is subject to criticism, specifically regarding the lack of expressiveness. Our study described the differences in linguistic expressiveness between L1 spoken Dutch and L2 spoken English of nine Dutch university lecturers, by comparing their adjective and verb use mainly: variation of words used, frequencies, sophistication of word choice, and accuracy. It also looked at the views of the lecturers themselves on the richness of their language. Type/token ratio analyses showed that both the lectures in their L1 (Dutch) and those in their L2 (English) conformed to what may be expected in terms of variety of words used in academic lecturing. Frequency analyses for both L1 and L2 speech yielded remarkably comparable lists of highly frequently used, basic, commonly known words, and considerable lists of infrequently used, typically sophisticated and academic words. However, although the comparison of words, and in particular adjectives and verbs, suggested little to no difference between the L1 Dutch and L2 English of the speakers, a comparison of verbs in context showed that in L1 Dutch most common verbs were used in more elaborate and complicated idiomatic sentences. Show less
Voges, L.; McCracken, M.; Rahmeh, S.; Totibadze, S.; Smakman, D. 2018
This article lays out ways to study communication patterns in cities. It starts by explaining the aspects of urban communication that make the city a relevant object of study. It does so by... Show moreThis article lays out ways to study communication patterns in cities. It starts by explaining the aspects of urban communication that make the city a relevant object of study. It does so by pointing out the role that urban investigations can play in theorisation on human communication in diverse settings, and it explains how the data of such research can be used towards the solution of practical communication problems. It explains how phenomena such as liminality, language regimes, rituals, and political correctness have been understudied and could enlighten our perspective on how communicative tools are used in urban communication. Finally, examples of insightful urban research are presented. Show less
This study described the results of an investigation into the effect of an intensive 12-week pronunciation course in British English which 30 Dutch female 1st year university students of English... Show moreThis study described the results of an investigation into the effect of an intensive 12-week pronunciation course in British English which 30 Dutch female 1st year university students of English students took. They were split up into three groups on the basis of their starting level. They read out the same text before and after the course. Eleven phonemes that were produced this way before and after the course were investigated by means of auditory and acoustic analysis: /æ, ɒ, ɔː, ʌ, ʊ, ð, θ/, medial /t/, coda /r/, and syllable-final /d, v/. Four degrees of success (or lack thereof) were defined. The results show that the consonants caused the least effort, as they were already relatively acceptable before the course started. This was true for students with a high, intermediate and low starting level. The three levels of students are mutually mainly distinguishable mostly on the basis of the development of the consonants during the course. The weaker students’ consonants in particular benefitted from the course. The research revealed that initial level can be used to predict the trajectory of improvement. A general conclusion is that teachers may recognise types of students before the course starts and subject them to different types of teaching. Show less
![Amsterdamse eettentjes gebruiken nog minder Nederlands dan Chinees [Dutch eateries use even less Dutch than Chinese]](/sites/all/modules/custom/islandora_solr_search/images/defaultimg.png?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=abd67e3884231aa42291&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=3)
