This paper investigates the role of English in voice assistant (Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant) use from the perspective of language ideology. Major commercial companies in the voice assistant market use English as a training language for their speech technologies and offer the most optimised support for standardised varieties of English. This…

English has been for centuries seen as the native language of speakers in the English-speaking inner circle countries, as the second language of speakers in the former British-colony outer circle countries and as an international business lingua franca among speakers in the techno-economically powerful extended circle countries. Little is known…

Purpose: This study explored ESL learners' utilization of Online Discussion Forums (ODFs) in Interactive Reading for Academic Disciplines (iREAD) to assist reading of online scientific texts within an English for Specific Purposes course at a public university. Method: This qualitative research employed two data collection methods during lessons…

Medicine is a science dealing with uncertainty and the art of judging probability. For effective communication, doctors, researchers, or health sciences writers, need to master the use of modality whereby unreal situations can be discussed. How modal verbs -- the most commonly used type of modality applied in the writing of health and medical…

Syntactic complexity is a crucial aspect of linguistic proficiency and thus understanding and supporting such development in learners is a keen concern for language teachers. Research conducted has shown growing sophistication of noun phrase structures by writers of different abilities in academic writing (Biber & Gray, 2010; Liu & Li,…

Websites offer research groups a powerful tool for self-promotion and dissemination of their research to a diversified audience. The aim of this study is to explore how research groups affiliated to a research institution in a non-Anglophone country compose their websites to achieve visibility and impact and reach multiple audiences. Content…

In computer engineering education, specific English language practices are needed to enable computer engineering students to succeed in professional settings. This study was conducted for two purposes. First, it aimed at investigating to what extent the English courses offered to computer engineering students at the National School of Applied…

Analysis of tense usage in 20 scientific articles from the "Journal of Pediatrics" reveals a hierarchy of sociolinguistic relationships among context-dependent rhetorical functions, context-independent temporal meanings, and actual tense choices. (Author/CB)

Analysis of how students of English for Science and Engineering use certain categories of nouns in their technical writing projects revealed a significant use of "sub-technical" and "text-structuring" words serving both referential and discourse-oriented functions. The use of matching or cloze-type and open-ended writing exercises to improve…

The use of the cognate recognition strategy to enhance reading comprehension in a Latin American English-for-Special-Purposes context is considered. Focus is on the subtechnical vocabulary found in 40 texts from English engineering magazines, first describing vocabulary identification techniques and then assessing whether the items have Spanish…

Reporting verbs used in reporting statements, or citation, in medical journal articles are described, and their role in the discourse is examined. Choice among Discourse Verbs, Real-Word Verbs, and Cognition Verbs correlates with the rhetorical function of the report; e.g, Cognition Verbs correlate with reports of consensus views of the scientific…

This article analyzes four categories of English-language maritime telex service communication: (1) standard, system- generated messages; (2) standard procedures for transmitting messages; (3) nonstandard messages related to maritime mobile radio service (MMRS); and (4) nonstandard messages related to the organization, procedures, or equipment of…

Subtechnical vocabulary includes items that are neither highly technical nor obviously general, and rhetorical/organizational items are in this category. They serve to signal the writer's intentions or his/her evaluation of the material presented. A technique for identifying subtechnical items is explained. Three identified items are analyzed, and…

This article describes an analysis of English-language needs of an oil company in the Middle East, exploring the role of ethnography in carrying out the holistic research necessary to obtain a clear picture of the company's needs. It includes a discussion of the project's findings and recommendations for language training. (11 references) (MDM)

Examines the variations of 17 grammatical variables (verb tenses, voice, and form) within the communicative function of 51 medical English scholarly papers. Three axes of variable distribution are revealed that help categorize the papers as case reports, editorials, or research papers. Pedagogical guidelines for preparation and use of reading…