Writing as a Tool for Transformation

Not an Spotless Abstract The abstract of the paper written by Magre and Vishnu Joshi (2013) is a four-sentence unstructured abstract since it is written in a single block paragraph. As regards the type of abstract described by Swales and Feak (1994), this abstract can be classified into the category of research paper abstract since it is based on the paper already written by the authors, and it can also be considered as an indicative abstract since it provides a general summary of the paper, results are not specific and it describes what the researches intended to do in the " Researchers tried to find out the opinion of the secondary school teachers...“  (Magre &Vishnu Joshi, 2013, abstract). Taking into consideration the linguistic features of this abstract, it can be claimed that the authors tried to include full sentences; however, their organization is not the optimal and the lack of linking phrases among sentences disrupts reading continuity. Moreover, the past tense is u...

          Overcoming Pronunciation Challenges in Adulthood at a Private Institude in Escobar   Ayelén, A. Miwszuk and Laura A. Valcheff                                                                   Universidad CAECE                     Abstract               Pronunciation is an integral part of foreign language learning since it directly affects students’ communicative competence. Communicative approaches to language teaching emphasize the importance of achieving intelligibility above native-like pronunciation. In this study, the researchers will attempt to identify the possible factors that may be preventing a group of adult Argentine stude...

    Intelligibility in Pronunciation- An Essential Feature of Communicative Competence   With the advent of Communicative Language Teaching CLT, the main goal of language teaching became to promote communicative competence. Nonetheless, fully communicative competence cannot be achieved without intelligible pronunciation. Most of the current literature emphasizes the importance of achieving this intelligibility “not as helping students to sound like native speakers but as helping them to learn the core elements of spoken English so that they can be easily understood by others” (Gilbert, 2008, p.1). However, in many English language classrooms, teaching pronunciation is granted the least attention (Gilakjani, Ahmadi,& Ahmadi, 2011) . Even after years of exposure to the target language, the acquisition of intelligible English pronunciation is a barrier which impairs the effective communication process of adult Argentinian learners in a private institution in the cit...

  Three Moves for a Successful Introduction In the introduction of the present article (Pinto et al., 2021) the three moves of a research proposal (Swales & Feak, 1994) are included. The authors establish a research territory in the following example:   “Gamification techniques can be introduced to improve user’s engagement further and achieve the best possible results”  (Pinto et al., 2021, para. 5). This example if followed by a review of the literature related to this topic from paragraph six to paragraph thirteen. Then, the authors establish the niche by stating “ Although there is already some investigation regarding the use of VR to learn a foreign language, none of the identified studies included gamification”  (Pinto et al., 2021, para. 14). Move three can be seen in the last part of the introduction where the authors outline the purposes of their research and the research questions that are going to structure this research paper. Regarding these questi...

Better English Pronunciation Pourhosein- Gilakjani, A. (2012). A study of factors affecting EFL learners' English pronunciation learning and the strategies for instruction. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(3), 119 -128. Retrieved from http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_2_No_3_February_2012/17.pdf   Affirms that limited pronunciation skills can decrease learner’s self-confidence. States that perfect pronunciation should no longer be the objective of teaching.   Identifies the main features of English pronunciation and highlights the importance of teaching suprasegmental features above segmental ones. Explains four factors which may affect the learning of pronunciation. Superficially discusses some general strategies for teaching pronunciation such as identifying features that cause problems to learners and making students aware of the prosodic features of English.

  Research Proposal a. Research topic   Pronunciation in Argentine adult learners from a private institute in the city of Escobar, Buenos Aires.  b. Research problem Even after years of exposure to the target language, the acquisition of intelligible English pronunciation in adulthood of Argentinian speakers from a private institute in the city of Escobar is a barrier which impairs the effective communication process. c. Research questions Which factors can hinder the process of acquiring an intelligible English pronunciation in these speakers who have started learning English in adulthood? What teaching strategies can be implemented to facilitate the process of acquiring intelligible pronunciation? d. General objective To identify the reasons which may be preventing these adult  learners from acquiring an intelligible English pronunciation.   e. List of bibliographic entries containing: 1 book, 1 chapter in a book, 2 journal...

  Defining Terms Research problem: Even after years of exposure to the target language, the acquisition of  intelligible  English pronunciation in adulthood of Argentinian speakers is a barrier which impairs the effective communication process. The word intelligible is a synonym for comprehensible and understandable. “Intelligibility is the technical term for understandability of speech sounds and words. This is the term used in the field of speech science and speech therapy to quantitatively describe pronunciation accuracy".  (What is intelligibility?, n.d., para. 1). In this context, the term intelligible will refer to a pronunciation which causes little or no trouble to be understood. Reference: What is Intelligibility? (n.d.).   Clear Talk Mastery . Retrieved from  https://www.cleartalkmastery.com/what-we-do/intelligibility/

Research problem Even after years of exposure to the target language, the acquisition of intelligible English pronunciation in adulthood of Argentinian speakers in the city of Escobar is a barrier which impairs the effective communication process.