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Variation in teachers' talk: the effects of proficiency
Author(s) -
Gadir Yousif Amna Abdel
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
international journal of applied linguistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.712
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1473-4192
pISSN - 0802-6106
DOI - 10.1111/j.1473-4192.1996.tb00097.x
Subject(s) - variation (astronomy) , linguistics , psychology , language proficiency , first language , noun , competence (human resources) , noun phrase , verb , mathematics education , social psychology , philosophy , physics , astrophysics
A great deal of research addresses the use of linguistic modifications by native speakers to non‐native speakers with limited L2 competence in interactional situations. This study differs from previous ones by examining the speech of (Sudanese) non‐native speakers of English when lecturing to non‐native speakers from two different proficiency levels (high and low) in content‐subject classes to test whether the lecturers simplify their language syntactically by proficiency level. The analysis indicates that the lecturers' use of 5 syntactic variables was affected by the proficiency level of the students and that there was individual variation across lecturers. Two of the variables – complex noun phrases and complex verb phrases – represent new measures of complexity.