-354-
2014 CALL Conference
LINGUAPOLIS
www.antwerpcall.be
Jonathan R. White
Högskolan Dalarna, Falun, Sweden
jwh@du.se
Native and Non-native Norms in CALL
Bio data
Jonathan White
is a senior lecturer in English linguistics at Högskolan Dalarna in
Sweden. He also teaches courses in oral and written proficiency. His research covers
computer-mediated communication, and in particular how language is economized in
textchat. Interaction through economized language is another strand of research, and the
affordances through CMC for participants to interact are of special interest.
Abstract
This talk discusses the problems of native and non-native norms in CALL research.
Stemming from the tradition of error analysis, learners’ competence is often measured
against native speaker norms. Deviations from these norms are identified as errors. Work
since then, and particularly research rooted in World Englishes, has moved this debate on
towards an acceptance of non-native norms as a valid learner target. Discourse
communities of practice develop their own norms of usage, whether they comprise native
or non-native speakers (Lave and Wenger 1991, Wenger 1998).
Methodologically, the setting of norms is a complex process to map, and requires large
sets of data over long periods of time. Variation among learners is a common feature
that complicates the research process. However, as Larsen-Freeman and Cameron
(2008), and Larsen-Freeman (2012) note, in Complexity Theory variation is an inevitable
component of a system, and in fact can be seen as a marker that a system shift (such as
the setting of a discourse norm) is in progress. The replicability of studies of norms can
also be questioned, as the identification of the norm-setting process depends very much
on the linguistic feature(s) in question, plus the make-up of the community.
In the talk, we demonstrate that it is possible to identify the process of norm-setting in
limited corpora of CALL data. We focus on the standardisation of reduced linguistic forms
(such as clippings and homophones) within a community of Internet practice. We
demonstrate that the process is visible over the period of an MA course in English
Linguistics, and that it is the non-native speakers that are in control of it. As we might
expect, the process is not complete in this limited time, and so longer-term studies are
needed to truly see the whole process.
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