4. Results
In this section, the results of different variables in the recorded language diary and the inferred relationship between the variables are presented to show the subject’s use of languages in different communicative situations in Hong Kong.
4.1 Overview of language use
Over the seven-day period, 83 interaction entries were recorded with 114 principal interlocutors involved (see Table 1). The largest number of interaction entries were made on 18 November (Monday), and the smallest number of entries appeared on 16 November (Saturday). Although living in a Cantonese-predominant area, the majority of interaction entries (55, 65.5%) were made in Mandarin in pure form or in mixed forms as the base language. Though it is not statistically predominant, English of its pure and mixed form as the base language (10, 12%) still ranks the second, followed by the pure Cantonese (7, 8.4%) and own dialect mixed with a few Mandarin (1, 1.2%). Another category - general mixture, in which different languages were equally mixed, was also recorded. There are three types of code mixing in the record, Mandarin and English (4, 4.8%), Mandarin and Cantonese (4, 4.8%) and Mandarin and her own dialect (2, 2.4%).
4.2 Exchange types
As Table 2 shows, the most frequently reported language exchanges occurred between the subject and her classmates (38, 45.8%) and her roommates (18, 21.7%). The communication with staff members, including shop assistants, cashiers and librarians, took up 19.3% (16), and there were 6% of interaction entries (5) that were produced with professor (and classmates). The interaction between the subject and her family members was very limited (3, 3.6%), since her family is not living with her in Hong Kong, and she c...
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...ublished MA Thesis. Department of English. City University of Hong Kong.
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Her principal was described as "maniacal" (Wong 1). Wong identified speaking Chinese as an "embarrassment" (Wong 2). The words she chose
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The scene is always the same: the three of us sitting in a room together, talking. I see her from the corner of my eye, glancing for only a second or two, but always long enough to notice the look on her face, the expression I’ve become so painfully familiar with over the years. I am forced to turn away; the conversation resumes. She is a few feet from us. She hears everything, and understands nothing except what she can gather from the expressions on our faces, the tone of our voices. She pretends not to be bothered, smiling at us and interjecting random questions or comments in Chinese—a language I was raised to speak, a language I’ve slowly forgotten over the years, a language that is now mine only by blood. It is an earnest but usually futile attempt to break through the invisible barrier that separates her from us, and in spite of all her efforts to hide it, that sad, contem...
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In the United States today, a nurse is more likely to encounter patients who speak a language that is different from their own. This kind of intercultural difference poses a formidable communication challenge, as one’s ability to communicate will depend on whether one can understand one another's verbal and nonverbal codes (Jandt, 2012).
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An individual is constructed through many aspects , whether it be their likes/dislikes, personalities, goals or self assigned origin(s), etc. One of these aspects that help build up and sketch an individual is the language they choose to speak. This does not simply include choosing between English or French but choosing or learning to speak high/low language, or the type of slang one uses, and even the rules that are set up with that language the individual has obtained.
People live in the world of communication. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Current English (Moore, 1997), communication is defined as, “The activity or process of expressing ideas and feelings or of giving people information”. The significance of communication can be found within the context of a human existing as a social being. As a human being manages his or her life in the course of the interaction between other members of the entire society, communication is inevitable. Communication occurs through the medium of a language and it is presented in two different forms which are written and spoken (Brown & Yule, 1983: 1-10). The importance of spoken performance of a language is becoming more prominent over the written performance capability. It is because the ability to speak a language reflects a person’s personality, self image, knowledge of the world, ability to reason, skill to express thoughts in real-time (Luoma, 2004: ix). These days, due to the global trend of internationalisation, the ability to communicate in English is needed as an essential skill. Whenever the international exchange happens, the use of spoken English entails. However, it is not always an easy task for people who use English as a second language to be able to speak to the level of a native speaker. They have to perfectly understand the sound system of English, have almost instant access to proper vocabulary and be able to place words together intelligibly without hesitation. Moreover, they also have to perceive what is being said to them and need to be able to respond appropriately to acquire amiable relations or to accomplish their communicative goals (Luoma, 2004: ix). Therefore, non-native English speakers encounter these barriers and they are subject to make mistakes often. In relation to this matter, this essay argues that there are socio-cultural factors as well as linguistic factors that affect non-native speakers’ communication in English. It provides analysis of several different situations when the use of spoken English has generated miscommunication problems in regards to author’s personal experience.
Society and the way it works has changed tremendously over the years. Business between countries has grown and connections have grown with it as well.The world is a boundless place full of many different cultures and has “roughly 6,900” languages around the world that are all unique in their own way (source B). Although there is an overwhelming