{"title":"Phones as a semiotic disadvantage","authors":"Stephanie Dryden","doi":"10.1075/aral.21028.dry","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\n While previous studies have outlined the advantages of semiotic resources for meaning making and relationship\n building, not all semiotic resources are equal in their ability to enhance these features. Using linguistic ethnographic\n interviews and focus group discussions, this article examines whether mobile phones provide sufficient semiotic resources for\n English as a Foreign Language (EFL) migrants to effectively communicate, particularly for service situations regarding finances\n where they often have to speak in English with unknown interlocutors. Two important elements are uncovered regarding EFL migrants’\n difficulty in using phones as a semiotic resource – (1) linguistic superiority, where they are judged by their English-speaking\n interlocutor as engaging in inferior English practices, and (2) paralinguistic insufficiency, where the lack of gestures and\n facial expressions takes away their ability to make meaning. These elements combined make telephone conversations difficult for\n many EFL migrants, affecting their expressiveness and ability to effectively communicate, leading to negative outcomes such as\n avoidance behaviors, and feelings of anxiety and disempowerment. Such difficulties lead to the finding that EFL migrants must be\n better accommodated when engaging in service transactions, with other, semiotically richer resources required to better aid their\n understanding and ease feelings of anxiety.","PeriodicalId":43911,"journal":{"name":"Australian Review of Applied Linguistics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9000,"publicationDate":"2022-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Australian Review of Applied Linguistics","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.21028.dry","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
While previous studies have outlined the advantages of semiotic resources for meaning making and relationship
building, not all semiotic resources are equal in their ability to enhance these features. Using linguistic ethnographic
interviews and focus group discussions, this article examines whether mobile phones provide sufficient semiotic resources for
English as a Foreign Language (EFL) migrants to effectively communicate, particularly for service situations regarding finances
where they often have to speak in English with unknown interlocutors. Two important elements are uncovered regarding EFL migrants’
difficulty in using phones as a semiotic resource – (1) linguistic superiority, where they are judged by their English-speaking
interlocutor as engaging in inferior English practices, and (2) paralinguistic insufficiency, where the lack of gestures and
facial expressions takes away their ability to make meaning. These elements combined make telephone conversations difficult for
many EFL migrants, affecting their expressiveness and ability to effectively communicate, leading to negative outcomes such as
avoidance behaviors, and feelings of anxiety and disempowerment. Such difficulties lead to the finding that EFL migrants must be
better accommodated when engaging in service transactions, with other, semiotically richer resources required to better aid their
understanding and ease feelings of anxiety.
期刊介绍:
The Australian Review of Applied Linguistics (ARAL) is the preeminent journal of the Applied Linguistics Association of Australia (ALAA). ARAL is a peer reviewed journal that promotes scholarly discussion and contemporary understandings of language-related matters with a view to impacting on real-world problems and debates. The journal publishes empirical and theoretical research on language/s in educational, professional, institutional and community settings. ARAL welcomes national and international submissions presenting research related to any of the major sub-disciplines of Applied Linguistics as well as transdisciplinary studies. Areas of particular interest include but are not limited to: · Analysis of discourse and interaction · Assessment and evaluation · Bi/multilingualism and bi/multilingual education · Corpus linguistics · Cognitive linguistics · Language, culture and identity · Language maintenance and revitalization · Language planning and policy · Language teaching and learning, including specific languages and TESOL · Pragmatics · Research design and methodology · Second language acquisition · Sociolinguistics · Language and technology · Translating and interpreting.