The New English Teacher: Vol. 3, No. 1-2 (January - August 2009)

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    Some problems with research in Chomskyan linguistics as applied to ELT
    After discussing some of the most important reasons for conducting ELT research, the argument is made that the conflict between the "hard" sciences" and the humanities which has been a polarizing influence in ELT as it discourages many potential researchers from undertaking research when they think they must have mathematical models and use often opaque terminology. The argument is made that much in the "scientific" paradigm as it has been applied to language research is faulty. This claim is illustrated by looking at several issues raised by the Chomskyan claims to being scientific researchers. Several pitfalls or problems are identified that may warn a future researcher about the dangers of trying to be too much like a physics or chemistry researcher in what is actually a humanities-based discipline.
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    The shifting paradigms in second language research
    This paper first looks at the psychological oriented tradition in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and in spite of the valuable contributions made, the number of shortcomings in the explanation of how people learn a language. There has been a shift in paradigm in terms of research into SLA in the last few decades, in that a more socially oriented explanation of language learning is seen as equally important for a complete account of how language acquisition and development takes place. Research into SLA from this perspective would involve looking at how contexts of learning differ, the cultural and social characteristics of learners in varying contexts, the needs for and attitudes towards the language being learnt in those contexts.
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    Linguistic features of advertisements
    This paper aims to show how advertisements in English newspapers and magazines portray the cultural values and identity of the people by exploiting certain linguistic features of English. The first section of the paper will give an overview of advertising and discuss the structure of adverts in the print media. The second section of the paper will analyse the linguistic features of advertising texts after reviewing some key studies on the language of advertisements. This section will also examine the visual elements of advertisements, which add appeal and represent the cultural values of the readers. The final section will highlight how the discourse of commercial advertisements construct identities by representing certain products, personalities, and groups of people while neglecting the other segments of the society.