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LongShiKong
Joined: 28 May 2007
Posts: 1082
Location: China
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 Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 7:00 pm Post subject: |
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| fluffytwo wrote: |
| How is it the native speaker(-teacher?)'s fault if a learner doesn't spot and learn~know the difference between such basic items (to borrow Nomad's somewhat more explicit example) as 'BE (< > there) left' and simply LEAVE? |
Who's implying it is? Note the learner DID learn the distinction prior to acting? What we don't know is:
a) the word;
b) the dictionary referred to;
c) what sense, connotation, or usage information the dictionary left out;
d) the recipient's L2 level:
| Quote: |
| Unsure of the word, the recipient found two contradictory meanings in his dictionary. He acted on the wrong one. |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 7:00 pm Post subject: |
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| fluffytwo wrote: |
| How is it the native speaker's (teacher's?) if a learner doesn't spot or know the difference between such basic items (to borrow Nomad's somewhat more explicit example) as 'BE (< > there) left' and simply LEAVE? One can't anticipate and avoid every last little linguistic difficulty (otherwise the language starts to lose its functionality), and non-natives at that low a level shouldn't be anywhere near senior management decisions that somehow end up costing hundreds of thousands of dollars if silly errors are made in the process. |
FYI: My example of "leave" was simply to show what a contronym is. More complex words could get lost in translation if the context is vague or ambiguous. |
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fluffytwo
Joined: 24 Sep 2016
Posts: 139
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| Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:21 pm Post subject: |
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The article is.
If you have harder, less clear cut examples, then give them.
Give me strength!  |
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nimadecaomei
Joined: 22 Sep 2016
Posts: 605
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| Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 12:31 am Post subject: |
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What I don't get is how this makes a native speaker a poor communicator. It was the non-native speaker who refused to clarify the meaning. As a non-native Chinese speaker it is my job to clarify when I misunderstand. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to tell people here they are speaking past me. Can you say it more simply, please? What do you mean by x? I mean to simply come to a negative conclusion based on your dictionary, that seems like bad communication skills to me.
To say someone is embarrassed to clarify something and that makes the person speaking at fault is a major cop out. If I am doing business or having a casual conversation with you I am not interested in assessing your English. If you want me to do that then you should be paying me for it. If something is unclear ask. If someone is speaking to fast tell them. I mean these are supposed to be professional people. I tell native English speakers to slow down sometimes, nothing embarrassing about it. Sometimes people get excited and have something all thought out, but they are not taking into account other people do not know what they are thinking. At some point someone has to tell them. |
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Mikalina
Joined: 03 May 2011
Posts: 140
Location: Home (said in a Joe90 voice)
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| Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 4:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Luke Graves: I’ve just been on Trip Advisor. Nothing about how to deal with a cut knee. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 7:29 am Post subject: |
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| To assess whether someone would be competent as an EFL teacher, watch her/him interact with people who have limited English. See how communication happens (or does not happen !) |
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