CONTENTS

Deciphering the Tagalog Verb - Part II

-Reill Bautista-

p.1

The Chart of Metaphor(m), -Central Trope In Art-Mark Staff Brandl-

The Tale Of The Ancient Mariner - Translation-Jeremy Graves (Paiodd) -

p.6

p.8

Prompts And Recasts, And Their Role In Classroom

Second Language Development

p.14

-Fouzia Erraihani-

Book Of Genesis , Chapter 1 Translation

-James Allen-

The Fleeing Of The Nmmezse

p.32

p.34

-Marcas Brian MacStiofin Mhaiti Domhnaill-

If Then And Relative Clauses In Amrikst

p.37

-Elijah Henson-

BLISSYMBOLICS
The Conlang That Revolutionised
Simple Communication p.39
-Gabe Witmonger-

Take Your Conlang To The Expert Level

-Time Mapping- p.41
-Sabrina Palis-

Bibliography and Acknowledgements

Editorial Team
Editor in Chief:
Jonathan Fleury
Layout Design & Graphics
Gabe Witmonger
Senior Editor
Sabrina Palis
Proof Reading & Editing
Christian Evans
Founders
Gabe Witmonger
Jonathan Fleury

Deciphering The Tagalog Verb - Part II

I have published the Part I of this article in the previous
issue of Conlangs Monthly. I shall quote a few paragraphs
from the introduction to acquaint the new readers:

This article wont be about morphosyntactic alignment of Tagalog nor is something

similar to a set of grammar lessons. However, we shall approximate such format
to make things clear. I will desist from detailed glossing, and allow you to judge
what the particles and other grammatical structures mean. But of course, I will
supply what the words mean. I shall also mark the affixes with a boldface style. I
would use pronouns, but the glosses wouldnt be clear so we can skip discussion of
pronoun forms. Finally, I wont do IPA of the words; the focus is in morphosyntax.
Tagalog is rich in affixes and particles that carry subtleties in meaning. Instead
of seeing the affixes as having separate range of meanings, it must be treated
as having overlapping range of meanings, with the non-overlapping ranges as
being the identity of the affix. The meanings carried by affixes can vary by
dialect; so to make things clear, I note that I live in a province near Manila.
We have discussed these features of verb conjugation, now putting
1.
2.
3.
4.

<um> affix completed action

First syllable doubling contemplative
Combination of first syllable doubling plus <um> - continuous
<in> affix changes the roles of particles

These particles are also discussed because they are essential to understanding Tagalog verb conjugation:
1. Ang/si
2. Ng/ni
3. Sa
Again, if ever you want to try what you learned here in conversing with Tagalog, do not try to attempt to
extrapolate what you learned by guessing the meaning with the verbal affixes which are not discussed
here.
What we shall add in this part are the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Imperative form
<mag>, <ma>, and <mang>
<an> and <in>
<kay> particle
1

We again review the three features of verb conjugation we discussed

before, but this time we put them into a table, with some verbs included
as examples:

Another table to summarise the particles:

We shall now name the class of verbs that follow this conjugation as
<um>-<in> class. Most of the basic verbs fall in this class, so if you took
Tagalog lessons, you would spend a lot of time with this verb class.
We are going to add the imperative form to the scheme:

The <um> imperative is the same as the form for complete action while <in> imperative involves suffixing
<in> to the root form of the verb.

The difference between the two sentences is in focus:

for the first sentence, the focus is on the person while
on the second sentence, the focus is on the object. In
this case, the focus is on food.

We now begin discussion of two more classes: the

<mag> and <ma> class. Like in <um>-<in> class, the
first syllable of the root is doubled for both the contemplative and continuous.

Unlike in other languages, these classes are not exclusive in nature. In fact, there are several verbs which straddle more than one class, each class containing nuances in meaning.
One example is the verb bangga (to hit). It straddles three of the classes: <um>, <in> (Ive
separated <um> and <in> since a verb can be conjugated using <in> but not using <um>,
but dont worry. Verbs that use <um> use <in> unless the object focus is pragmatically
impossible), and <ma>.

Our focus is on <in> and <ma>. Both actually capture the sense of a passive
voice (the more linguistically acceptable term is object focus, but Tagalog
Structures put <ma> in actor focus), but there are important differences:

Since several verbs use both of these conjugations, the choice is left
to the speaker whether to convey intentionality or not. (Achievement
unlock: show how intentionality is shown in Tagalog)

We discussed <um>-<in> pairing before, there is another class to pair

with <mag>: <an>. Verbs also use <in> to pair with <mag>, so the
choice between <an> and <in> depends on the verb itself.

There are two things here. The first one is that <an> cheats by also
using <in>. The second one is that the <in> changes into <ni> and
moves to the front for certain verbs. This movement usually occurs in
verbs where the first consonant is <l>, <y>, and <w>.

Let us add another class: the <mang> class:

The <mang> class has a dark secret: unlike in other classes, <mang> is
affected by sound change, so <ng> either blends with the consonant it
precedes or gets retained, depending on the consonant:

*orthographically, that is. Theres a glottal stop tucked in place instead

so phonetically speaking there is still a consonant in place. But thats not
important for this discussion. (inb4)

Of course these rules are rife with exceptions (and speakers who do not
faithfully follow the blending), but here are the examples for <mang>:

The last one of the classes to discuss is <i>. It is prefixed to certain verbs
that uses <mag> class for object focus. Like <an>, <i> also uses <in> in its

Examples:

<Kay> particle

We have intransitive verbs, transitive verbs, and ditransitive verbs. Ditransitive verbs take an actor, direct object, and indirect object. For indirect
object, <kay> particle can be used. <kay> is used with proper nouns;
its partner for common nouns is <sa>.

Part II ends here.

The series will continue for a few months.
Theres a lot to discuss in verbs alone.

have simply titled Space. This is an imaginary

zone which contains what the two inputs have in
common, ones working space. This is pictured in
the diagram with a stage-like curve in green. It is
that site wherein the blending becomes possible
and useable.

The Chart Of Metaphor(m),

Central Trope In Art
To a fellow compulsive diagrammer.
James Elkins 1
I am an inveterate lover of diagrams and charts,
perhaps because I use similar structures in my art,
yet I always enjoy them in theoretical essays, no
matter what they are about. Many others as well;
indeed, one of the most popular posts here on the
Metaphor and Art site was the one with my chart
of the History of Composition in art.
Thus, like all the theories I find most pleasing,
mine has a chart (see above). It describes the
production of central tropes and is noticeably
based on Fauconnier and Turners diagrams of
conceptual blending, such as that on page 46 of
The Way We Think.2
I will lay the chart out in words. A formal element
of art-making (the left-hand yellow oval, Input
Space 1 in Fauconnier and Turners terms) is
seen to be (or appears to be able to be made to
be) like an image (the right-hand light blue oval,
Input Space 2). This cross-space mapping yields
two cognitive spaces: first, the Generic Space in
the authors terms, above the two ovals, which I

Fauconnier and Turners charts of cognitive

blending suggest an equality of the two inputs
which I find especially apt for describing central
metaphor in visual art. I have turned their Generic
Space Oval into an embracing, stage-like form
to better illustrate the way in which this space
is the background, amphitheater and world of
most artists. It is indeed an arena of sorts for
artists, representing their art itself, their medium
when particularise, and their life as artists when
broadened. Most importantly, mapped onto
one another, the two inputs blend to produce
the metaphor(m), the green oval at bottom, the
Blended Space as Fauconnier and Turner call it.
This is the specific trope unique to that creator
(and often reveals the reason, or drive behind the
initial mapping). This trope, by generalization, is
based in the foundational metaphors (the larger,
darker blue oval on the right) with which we all
think in the culture under question. This self
discovery, or self-construction, of a metaphor(m)
is delimiting in that not all core metaphors are then
applicable, but is also enriching and constructive,
as it permits the artist integrated access to all the
related foundational tropes (thus the larger size of
the blue oval, of which only a section overlaps with
the image oval).
This metaphor(m) can then be applied to as many
aspects of an artists process and creations as she
desires, or is able to achieve, through extensions and
applications of her central trope. This is represented
in the chart by the cascading, overlapping ovals
emanating out of the metaphor(m) oval. One goal
and measure of artistic success is how completely
a creator accomplishes a thorough pervasiveness
of the central trope throughout the elements of
creation: creating many of these offshoot ovals.
The entire chain of image-mapping through
trope complex to foundational metaphors is
exciting to trace in the oeuvre of artists. I do it in
this dissertation to several creators, sequencing
Lakoffian chains of metaphorical reasoning.
From my own experience, I suspect creators in
their own thoughts place the weight on the initial
creative discernment of seeing a trope in a technical
or formal quality, for that is the vision that granted
them their individual theatre of possibilities, their
future.
By and large, this visual and tropaic breakthrough
is accomplished by artists in the process of creating
6

works, the so called happy accident or ahaexperience. This circles back on our central thesis,
showing the inevitable centrality of embodiment
and performative, perceptual experience to
innovation.
I have painted my way here into a theory, one that
is a doorway, though, not a corner. The proof of
any hypothesis, nevertheless, is in the testing. This
statement has more to do with painting than most
people imagine. Artists who have chosen to be
makers of objects do so because we are unremitting
believers in a world out there beyond a simply
conceptualised world, one involving our bodies
and reality exterior to us. Very few painters are
crypto-Descartian dualists in the way that many
Conceptualists appear to be, except for rampantly
subjectivist Expressionists (who may go as far as
solipsism). Those two groups, especially now in
Neo-Conceptualism and Neo-Expressionism, have
much more in common than they would ever dare
admit, both splitting the mind (whether thoughts

or emotions) from the body.

That is one source of the enmity between the
two; they share a philosophy of mind/body split,
while esteeming opposed halves and scorning the
others. We who are not of those two camps believe
one cannot truly think without making. This is
a production which is followed by judgment of
the creation, both for its internal qualities and in
regard to the external experience to which it refers,
which instigates alterations and adaptations, that
is, additional making further painting and so
on, until the object appears to be complete enough
to be sent out on its own. Hence, one also cannot
make without thinking. This is the dialectic of
the fabricated object and palpable experience. In
the future on this site, I will often carry analyses
of artists using my notion of metaphor(m)/central
trope, and therefore this chart as well. Look for
them!

The Tale Of The Ancient Mariner

-Samuel Taylor Coleridge-

10

11

Gepj
Vousena chess tico. Csena raebb
thuralceta csena rn usena.
Vousena chess! Vousena chess!
Shatan usena csena voula rn,
chizan fuidir gu this oz gu
brrir melsem?
Chesrum sem ceta butsubb rum
chizen ceta am:
Zhabales sem zhabales
chizan mra sem
azvenca togg siman gu o.
Butsubb, am, togg - csiman gu o
Chizan chizen rabeus rabeus sem
cetsheda chunsess sem dhimmra,
sem chunduc faseldo itsimbat.
Reva bitshsenu mna cep
aegu pirpu u shu
Csena chunula ga ancul aegu taisu
Huss gu cap aluc diol
chas gu Auss! Auss!
Reva bitshsenu mna cep
agu ches aesem zobot
Bion! Ala aesem mndoul
shr suerir aesem cl
cetsheda csem aesem loc.

asem mn wol, asem thish thusa

asem joun sosha ceta eshol:
asem hanstobb fan ceta stopaser
Stluss ashicir-siebb sem,
siman hatcidec lotha diol lza.
Itsimir eus hapsem cuvuelta
maundh aerum blou
Eoss nula! Gu liues! Liues!
Sem ut mnvus chizha j.
Apsubb hur; dhil vora hemir:
Cetsheda rum pinga eus chiain;
mnvoza zobata thorir, onir auceda.
hemfs waegg asusa.
Aegu shop thes itsimir ondir!
agu chiamir sheda tirgir
sthaem pluc agu siepdiol!
Dhil lila cai vuelttenceta,
Slmalissota thogg avu fannima diannima.
Sumadd aluot calpir zha
chizan farir eonchiba stonir reuc
Sibb jiutha dhila vula
siman supa nebulsupir.
Crum wal crum, sb dhila,
vora sena thuscaula u temthsena
aesem thogh crum bat stthiza
asem rma gu sem sidut.

Az! Az! gu chas, aechizu sem itsimbet!

Joren sem alsa agu biss;
Vozu u aucatzhibu sem eus
Onitir filalsima sem erinelis.

Thou maiaemai lodh siepa

( zobotu gu u thuscaul u temthsem)
sonca shiptza siepu togg
luot, crum wal crum.

Fuetir paichun sthosa

serss sima uac.
sunir paichomir fuetir
ahs abb vala aepoula
Chizan hanpuajalir togg hddhoes
aerumir aegu abb.

Atush dalazha asem tsha tsha aesem alir u arizir!

csen atuss, gu sem tico,
cetsheda vish ewondoula!

Tim muriz abb eonchev vualt

(Aiona zhur dhoisnir agu sil!)
cetsheda this sem ticalir eonchiva
thaga vala diana
Aress! (ra gu agu chiom bult aeteza)
Shatan vora sem rabeus.
Melsem asem aush, siman vu ebir,
cetsheda vatha zhepa?
Melsem asem chiongugg siman ticalir
athes abb, sheda ticalir eonchiva?
melrotan csena auscaiss?
Melan ashigg? melsem aerum?
Melguir rota ashigg?
12

Part III
There passed a weary time. Each throat
Was parched, and glazed each eye.
A weary time! a weary time!
How glazed each weary eye When looking westward, I beheld
A something in the sky.
At first it seemed a little speck,
And then it seemed a mist;
It moved and moved, and took at last
A certain shape, I wist.
A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!
And still it neared and neared:
As if it dodged a water-sprite,
It plunged and tacked and veered.
With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,
We could nor laugh nor wail;
Through utter drought all dumb we stood!
I bit my arm, I sucked the blood,
And cried, A sail! a sail!
With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,
Agape they heard me call:
Gramercy! they for joy did grin,
And all at once their breath drew in,
As they were drinking all.
See! see! (I cried) she tacks no more!
Hither to work us weal;
Without a breeze, without a tide,
She steadies with upright keel!
The western wave was all a-flame,
The day was well nigh done!
Almost upon the western wave
Rested the broad bright sun;
When that strange shape drove suddenly
Betwixt us and the sun.

Her lips were red, her looks were free,

Her locks were yellow as gold:
Her skin was as white as leprosy,
The Nightmare Life-in-Death was she,
Who thicks mans blood with cold.
The naked hulk alongside came,
And the twain were casting dice;
`The game is done! Ive won! Ive won!
Quoth she, and whistles thrice.
The suns rim dips; the stars rush out:
At one stride comes the dark;
With far-heard whisper oer the sea,
Off shot the spectre-bark.
We listened and looked sideways up!
Fear at my heart, as at a cup,
My life-blood seemed to sip!
The stars were dim, and thick the night,
The steersmans face by his lamp gleamed white;
From the sails the dew did drip Till clomb above the eastern bar
The horned moon, with one bright star
Within the nether tip.
One after one, by the star-dogged moon,
Too quick for groan or sigh,
Each turned his face with a ghastly pang,
And cursed me with his eye.
Four times fifty living men,
(And I heard nor sigh nor groan)
With heavy thump, a lifeless lump,
They dropped down one by one.
The souls did from their bodies fly, They fled to bliss or woe!
And every soul it passed me by,
Like the whizz of my crossbow!

And straight the sun was flecked with bars,

(Heavens Mother send us grace!)
As if through a dungeon-grate he peered
With broad and burning face.
Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud)
How fast she nears and nears!
Are those her sails that glance in the sun,
Like restless gossameres?
Are those her ribs through which the sun
Did peer, as through a grate?
And is that Woman all her crew?
Is that a Death? and are there two?
Is Death that Womans mate?

13

Prompts And Recasts, And Their Role In

Classroom Second Language Development
Investigations into the most effective ways to
provide EFL learners with corrective feedback
have often been overly comprehensive in the range
of error categories examined. As a result, clear
conclusions about the efficacy of such feedback
have not been possible. Thus, this research paper
presents the results that examined the effectiveness
of corrective feedback, including prompts and
recasts, to see if such techniques were helpful for
EFL learners. Eighteen Moroccan EFL learners
participated in this experimental classroom
study, which investigated the effectiveness of two
corrective feedback techniques, namely prompts
and recasts, on students ability to accurately use
adverbs of frequency.
The participants were classified in three groups
of high school EFL learners (n=18). They were
randomly divided into two experimental groups,
one worked with recasts, the other one with
prompts, and one control group with no feedback.
Analyses of pre-tests and immediate post-test
results did not show a significant increase in the
ability of students who were exposed to CF. Results
of the tests revealed that CF, including prompts
and recasts, do not have a strong bearing on L2
development. The overall accuracy did not increase,
and the groups were not highly distinct from each
other after the treatment sessions. Implications for
further research on CF and instructional context
are suggested.
Objectives of the study
On the face of it, it might seem that the question
of corrective feedback has been thoroughly
investigated by a myriad of researchers, giving rise
to a great deal of theoretical and empirical studies.
SLA researchers perceptions on the effectiveness
of corrective feedback are different. One the one
hand, one group bases their work upon the idea
that CF is of a prime interest (White, 1989). Under

this view, CF can match the learners utterance

with its corresponding version in the target
language (TL), and shift his attention to structures
that have not been mastered yet. In contrast,
another group assumes that CF does not positively
affect the learners development in the route of L2
acquisition. In effect, they maintain that an explicit
focus on form, on meaning, is unimportant
(Krashen, 1981, 1982). Grounded on this state
of affairs, the main objective of this study is to fill
the gap of the current issue, surrounding the place
of CF in language education by providing an indepth exploration of two types of CF (i.e., recasts
and prompts). As an additional aim is that, is that,
the current study seeks to shed light on methods
that would facilitate CF tasks, it also encouraged
teachers and learner into sharing meaningful
comments for the benefits of added perspectives.
1. Rationale
Based on my teaching experience, I have been
continually noticing that students in EFL classroom
required additional support through receiving
corrective feedback. I realised the significance of
teacher/ student interaction and how it may have
a positive bearing on their L2 acquisition. Even
more, I came to the realisation that the feedback
I was giving to my students, has, to some extent,
affected their grammatical accuracy when they
made oral statements. As a result, my interest has
expanded and I began to call into question the
differential effects of each technique. By doing so,
the present study may be an additional support for
teachers about the way CF should be provided in
the classroom settings. After reviewing relevant
literature that pursues the problems faced by
students, I found out that there was a significant
gap that needs to be explored.
All too often, a plethora of researchers aimed to
centre their attention on the level of exposure
14

received by L2 learners. Still, there is an ostensibly

insufficient amount of studies whose research
pertains to error correction. This being the case,
the primary purpose of this research is to study
closely the effects of CF, particularly prompts and
recasts and to explore the teachers views on error
correction.
2.

Research Questions and Hypothesis

a)

Research questions

In this selected review of empirical studies of CF

and L2 learning, it is apparent that the studies
give voice to miscellaneous questions, taking into
account a variety of types of error correction,
examine different populations, put to use different
measures, and apply different methodologies.
For that reason, each study gives birth to results
that often differ from others with respect to their
findings and interpretations. With these thoughts
in mind, we describe and evaluate the extent to
which the current research has managed to address
the following questions:
- Will corrective feedback improve the
learners ability to accurately use adverbs of
frequency?
-
If there is any evidence about the effects
of prompts and recasts, then which type is more
effective?
-
In terms of using corrective feedback in
formal instruction, do teachers opt for prompts or
recasts?
b)

Research hypotheses

The purpose of this study is to test the prediction

that corrective feedback will improve the students
ability to use adverbs of frequency, if provided
with opportunities to notice the occurrence of
these adverbs. The study aims to bring about a
change in the learners representational system by
providing them with opportunities for feedback
through the provision of different types (prompts
and recasts), which are hypothesised to trigger
their awareness. The studys research hypotheses
are thus formulated as follows:
-
Moroccan EFL learner will outperform
students whose attention is not drawn to adverbs
of frequency through CF.
- The group who received prompts will
perform better than the group who does not.
-
The group who received recasts will perform
better than the group who does not.

SLA Historical backgrounds, foundations and

issues:
Second Language Acquisition has undergone
several changes, and one obvious consequence of
these changes is that there are now different theories
on the matter from a wide range of backgrounds.
For that reason, to understand its history, we will
see through this section that the kinds of questions
researchers are asking nowadays are for the most
part clearly rooted in linguistics, psychology,
sociology or pedagogy. Although there are many
theories that may be considered essential for the
field of SLA, I have merely chosen those which
permeate with the research and that are integral
for reading this section.
a) Definition:
It might seem natural at this point to accurately
say what is meant by SLA, but to do so is much
harder than it appears. We all have some intuitive
notion of what Second Language is; a simple
definition might be that it is a language that that
somebody learns to speak well and they use for
work or school, but that is not the language that
they learned first, i.e. ESL or English as second
language. (Oxford Leaners dictionaries). Put
differently, SLA or L2 acquisition occurs when a
child or an adult has already become competent at
a language (L1) in an attempt to learn another one.
We should, however, be able to distinguish between
learning a second language naturalistically (i.e.,
when a child or person moves to a new country
full bilingual-) and learning an L2 in a classroom
setting.
Beyond what has been stated, the difference
between learning a first language (L1) and a
second language (L2) must, of necessity, be
outlined in order to understand the process of SLA
as it is constructively useful. Children develop
the ability of acquiring their primary language in
a spontaneous manner without obvious efforts
except in cases of complete isolation, (e.g., in the
case of Genie as reported in Curtiss (1977)).
To put it more plainly, unlike learning a second
language in adulthood, acquiring a mother tongue
does not demand systematic instruction. Over the
course of many years, the richness of the language
environment, to which children are exposed to,
influences how they learn their native language.
Thus, parents do not usually teach children the
explicit rules of language or tell them what kind
of sentences they need to utter. As a matter of fact,
children habitually acquire their language merely
by being exposed to environmental input (for
further details, see Kennison, 2013).
15

The following conversation is reported by McNeil

(2006) between a child and his mother:
Child: Nobodydont like me
Mother: No, say ``nobody likes me.
Child: Nobodydont like me. (Eight repetitions of
this dialogue)
Mother: No, now listen carefully; say ``nobody
likes me.
Child: Oh! Nobody dont likes me
What could be deduced from the example is that
children use, for instance, double negation (nobody
dont like), which is an option that is ill-formed
in Standard English. As the dialogue goes on,
correction does not seem to have helped the child
very much; he finally notices the use of dont but
fails to take the advantage of the whole content of
the correction. This is known as overgeneralisation
(Selinker, 1972).
The same cannot be said, however, about SLA as
myriads of L2 learners who have failed to acquire
native competence in the languages they were
exposed to in their naturalistic or formal settings
(classrooms). Suffice to say that this state of affairs
suggests that children acquiring their primary
language from birth can rely on a Language
Acquisition Device (LAD), which is a part and
parcel of first language development (Chomsky,
2006). Although some adult-second language
learners become proficient in pronunciation,
which can in many cases be native-like, they keep
their interlanguage tied to a particular target
language. This linguistic phenomenon is known as
fossilisation. (Selinker, 1972; Tarone 1979).
Sometimes it is necessary for us to make
further distinction, a distinction that has caused
controversy itself, between what is referred to as
learning and acquisition claiming that they are
two different processes, as evident in (Krashen,
1981). The Acquisition vs. Learning distinction
is, therefore, of a great importance among all the
hypotheses in Krashens. According to Krahsen,
there are two independent systems of second
language performance: the acquired system and
the learned system. Acquisition, according to the
author, occurs unconsciously through informal,
implicit or natural learning just like the case of
a child acquiring his/her primary language. In
sharp contrast, the learned system is regarded as
the conscious part of forging a linguistic system
through lessons and explicit knowledge in the
target language.

In this regard, Krashen claims that:

Conscious language learning, on the
other hand, is thought to be helped a great deal
by error correction and the presentation of explicit
rules [] No invariant order of learning is claimed,
although syllabi implicitly claim that learners
proceed from simple to complex, a sequence that
may not be identical to the acquisition sequence.
(Krashen, 1981)
Learning, as discussed by Krashen, is an
inadequate component for second language
acquisition for it does not lead to acquisition.
That is to say, learning demands a formal setting
by which a learner fathoms the properties of the
target language. However, acquisition is likely to
be defined from an informal context (external
data).
More importantly, as Krashen (1988)
pointed out, the monitor hypothesis
throws
lights on the relationship between learnt and
acquired language and identifies the influence of
the latter on the former. As reported by Krashen,
the acquisition system is the utterance initiator,
whilst the learning system acts as the monitor or
the editor (Marysia, 2004). This being the case,
the role of conscious grammar is limited in second
language performance as it performs the role of
planning, editing and correcting.
The monitor hypothesis gains a prestigious status
in Krashens hypothesis and planted the seeds for
a fruitful discussion regarding the complex nature
of second language acquisition. However, his
hypothesis has been criticised extensively.
The flaws in his hypothesis, in my view, lie in the fact
that separating language learning from acquisition
is deemed as impossible. Therefore, saying that the
learned system functions as a monitor merely
seems to be hard to prove. In addition to that, the
claim that learning acts as an editor invites further
criticisms. That is, L2 learners are able to put the
learning system in use not only for editing, but
also to pave the way for communication. Still,
how can we tell when a learners production is
the result of conscious part and when it is not?
Such questions invalidate the central claim of the
Monitor Hypothesis.
b) Foundations:
In order to provide a context for discussing SLA, it
is instructive to consider its historical development.
The study of SLA, as a sub-discipline of applied
linguistics, represents a relatively young enterprise
as it dates back roughly to 40-50 years. Although it
would be arbitrary to fix the beginning of the field
of SLA at any precise time, there is however some
reason to trace it back to the end of 1960s. This
field, as a matter of fact, has moved from a field
16

of study that was based on pedagogical issues to a

study that focuses on the internal knowledge of L2
learners (See: Bill Van Patten, 2006; Geoff Jordan,
2004; Corder, 1967). The effects of instruction on
learning, and much of the theories are specifically
undertaken with language pedagogy in mind, for
instance Krashens Monitor Hypothesis (Krashen,
1981); Longs interaction Hypothesis (Long, 1996);
the theory of Instructed Language (Ellis, 1994)
and Van Pattens Input Processing Theory (Van
Patten, 1996). All these models address the role of
instruction.
The peculiarity of this area lies in the fact that it
takes into account myriad of important issues
which might be, in a way, examined systematically
from a wide range of backgrounds, i.e., sociology,
psychology, education, pedagogy and linguistics,
to name just a few. Quite obviously, different
approaches to the study of SLA have developed
from each of these perspectives in attempts to
answer the three basic questions: What exactly
does the L2 learner come to know? How does the
learner acquire his knowledge? Why are some
learners more (or less) successful than others?
Thus, if there is agreement on any aspect of SLA
research, it is in the area of its objectives. Everyone
agrees that the study of SLA is about studying,
discovering, and identifying the characteristics
of any language acquired after the putative first
language. (Lightbown, 2000; Bhatia &Kitchie,
1996).
In this respect, Schechter acknowledges that:
SLA is a discipline devoted to discovering and
characterising how is that a human being is able
to learn a second language, what pre-knowledge
does he/she brings to the task, what set of learning
procedures does he or she use, what strategies are
appropriate for certain phenomena and not other,
etc(Schechter,1993).
In particular, since SLA began as an interdisciplinary
field, two papers continued to be seen as seminal
to the development of SLA as a modern study:
Pit Corders 1967 the Significance of Learners
Errors, and Larry Selinkers 1972 article
Interlanguage. As a result, the field witnessed
an apparent development in the following years
(Gass&Selinker, 2008). Since then, SLA has been
studied from various perspectives and theoretical
frameworks.
Due to the interdisciplinary nature of SLA, the
research and the theory do not outline a growing
body of research on how instruction might simplify
language learning. No agreement has been made
on whether to put in use traditional focus-onform approach, focus on communication along
with attention to the linguistic features of the

target language (TL), or teaching grammatical

features. Nor is there an agreement on which type
of Corrective Feedback (CF) should be used in the
classroom. What these debates imply is the fact
that SLA is a complex process.
C) Major factors in SLA:
In a book published in 1959, Popper gives insights
on how to analyse a scientific phenomenon.
According to him, the best way to do so is to
map out the puzzling phenomena which tends
to explain it. Here I will briefly sketch out some
of the most important issues that are currently
discussed in the study of SLA research (Hulstijn,
2007). It should be noted that the following is not
an exhaustive list.
* The poverty of stimulus:
The poverty of stimulus (POS), as reported by
Chomsky (1980), is one of the compelling arguments
for the innateness of Universal Grammar (UG) and
key concept within generative linguistics. For this
argument to be remarkably convincing, he argues
that humans are endowed with a language capacity
of having acquired lexical items provided by UG.
According to Chomsky, the primary linguistics
data (i.e., the linguistic utterance learned by a
child) are not error-free and cannot specify the
grammar used to produce them. Putting this in
another way, Chomsky claims that the principles
of the language are highly characterised by its
abstractness that a child cannot acquire from a
linguistics input (Ibid). Still, I shall not take here a
position on whether the stimulus is erroneous or
not. What I wish to do here is, instead, to take into
account the questions that pertain to the UG and
its relation with L2 acquisition. That is, to what
extent does Universal Grammar influence second
language acquisition? Are L2 learners guided by
UG or other mechanisms? Does UG atrophy with
age? (White, 2003).
* The age question:
A major problem faced by SLA researchers
attempting to assess and interpret evidence
concerning language acquisition is the issue
of whether age plays a significant role in the
acquisition of other languages. The critical period
hypothesis (CPH), has set up a critical window
among researchers of SLA. (Lenneberg, 1967;
Robert, 1959).
As such, the theory has attracted a lot of attention
in the field of SLA as some would support the
evidence of CPH, while others challenge it. In an
attempt to address this issue, a wide range of studies
have tried to falsify or validate the CPH since
17

then. One example would be Johnson & Newport

(1989) who examined the effects of age of learning
on ultimate attainment. Their study provided with
proof that humans have a superior capacity for
learning languages early in life. According to the
maturational state hypothesis (Ibid), this is one
of the most common versions of CPH, states that
maturation has a bearing on the acquisition of any
language. In other words, the acquisition of a first
or second language should begin early in life. The
human capacity, then, decreases or disappears with
maturation. As far as this hypothesis is concerned,
learners cannot attain the proficiency level after the
critical period of the L2. Other studies contradict
the aforementioned results, and find that nativelike proficiency is likely to be achieved by late
learners. White & Genesee (1996), for instance,
argue that is possible to master a second language
after puberty. To put the problem in its simplest
and starkest terms, are children better than adults
at learning languages? How can the absence or the
presence of a CPH be explained?
* The difference between L1 and L2 acquisition:
The difference between L1 and L2 remains one
of the most important issues in the SLA field.
In fact, it has been hypothesised that L1 and L2
acquisition use very different learning mechanisms
(Bley-vroman, 1989). That is, children learn their
mother tongue rapidly thanks to the fact that they
are biologically guided by innate mechanisms,
which are said to be part of UG (Chomsky,
1981). Therefore, in order to explain the apparent
difference between L1 and L2, we should be able to
handle such a question: Are L2 learners guided by
other additional mechanisms?
* External factors:
It should be viewed that it is a miracle that L2
learners, who differ from each other with respect
of their L1, show a common development. It
is plausible to say that external factors such as
motivation and social factors do influence the
route of the SLA process, although it is unclear to
what extent and in what way.
*The behaviourist theory:
Before the 1960s B.F Skinner was the most
renowned proponent of the behaviourist approach.
His book Verbal Behaviour (1957) captures the
essence of the behaviourist approach towards
language. It has been mentioned by his followers
that language neglects the idea of mind as an
object of inquiry and any other internal processes,
as it was strongly attributable to behaviours and
habit formations.

In the behaviourist view (Bloomfield, 1933; Skinner,

1957), language learning is regarded as a habit
formation. Their work stems from psychological
approaches, which saw learning as any kind of
behaviour that forges a strong relationship between
the input and the output. In a point of fact, this
view sees humans as being exposed to numerous
stimulus and response in their environment.
Thus, they believe that it would be easier for the
learner to learn the target language (TL) if L1 and
L2 are similar. The Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis
(CAH) was a predominant tool in this approach.
It was thought that by comparing both languages,
area of difficulty could be predicted, which will
make teaching more efficient (Lado, 1957).
Lado assumes in the first chapter of his book:
In the comparison between native and foreign
languages lie the key of to ease or difficulty in
foreign language learning [] those elements that
are similar to the learners native language will
be simple for him, and those elements that are
different will be difficult. (Lado, 1957)
As far as I am concerned, I do believe that
repetitions and drills can be effective for teaching
set of phrases and new vocabulary, and they also
help shy students to learn linguistic features orally.
Still, when it comes to leaning more complex
structures and communication, other methods
need to be used. Additionally, CAH turns a blind
eye on other factors which may well affect the
learners performance such as his learning and
communication strategies, training procedures,
and psychological factors and so on.
* The communicative approach:
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has
been at the centre of language teaching discussion
since the late 1960s. Proponents of this approach
came to the realisation that the behaviourist
approach, whose focus was in grammar, could
have a damaging effect on the acquisition of a
second language (Krashen, 1981). As with the
communicative approach, this may result in
making behaviourist approach fall apart. According
to Terrell, communication is seen as the primary
function of language, and since his theory is based
on communicative abilities, he refers to it as The
Natural Approach. The communicative approach
is similar to other communicative approaches
being developed today (Krashen& Terrell, 1983).
These few brief remarks indicate that Krashen and
Terrell totally reject earlier methods of language
teaching, such as The Audio-lingual Method,
which gave importance to grammar and does
not give an adequate picture on communication.
Hence, Krashen and Terrell claim that acquisition
can take place only when people understand
18

messages in the target language (Ibid). Likewise,

Krashens Monitor Model is one of the popular and
internationally disseminated theories. Krashen
has seen the usefulness of the monitor theory for
teaching and learning as it moves from theory to
classroom practice. This model rose to prominence
in the late 1970s in a series of articles; but it was
expanded and refined in the early 1980s in a series
of books (1981, 1982,). The model consists of five
hypothesis which accounts for all phenomena
in SLA research and practice: the AcquisitionLearning hypothesis, the Comprehensible Input
Hypothesis, the Affective Filter, and the Natural
Order Hypothesis and the Monitor Hypothesis
(Krashen, 1982).
* The place of grammar in CLT:
In very general terms, from the perspectives
outlined in the preceding section, CLT can be seen
as an approach that gives importance to the goals of
language teaching. Since 1970s, CLT is considered
as the driving force which calls for a change in the
implementation, planning and the evaluation of
English Language Teaching (ELT). That said, over
the last fifty years, it has become apparent that the
CLT revolution, so to speak, has been accompanied
by a decline in grammatical awareness and standards
at levels of language learning. Thus, researchers
started to question the place of grammar instruction
and the way it should be taught and practiced in the
classroom. Traditional methods (e.g., Grammar
Translation Method) based their instruction on the
explicit explanation of grammatical features of the
TL. Since then, some researchers would agree that
teaching should be exclusive at the sentence level;
whilst others hold the view that an explicit focus
on form is unimportant because the L2 proficiency
might be developed if learners focus on meaning.
(Krashen, 1981, 1982). Following this line of
thoughts, Heikel&Fotos (2002) have maintained
the view that grammar does not help learners to
develop communicative ability in the TL.

some remarks. Although the effects of grammar

teaching remain limited, it might have a facilitator
role. Will we be, therefore, talking of more implicit
methods of grammar teaching?
* The interaction hypothesis:
Over the years, the role of linguistic input has been
of a prime importance in SLA theory, research and
pedagogy. By way of illustration, Krashen (1982,
1985) sketches out how the comprehensible input
develops the learners second language competence.
Still, a follow-up research enterprise of this sort has
emerged with close ties to Krashens theoretical
framework hasbecame increasingly interested
in how the input remains comprehensible to L2
learners (Long, 1983).
Long calls for the recognition of the importance
of conversation as a driving force of SLA (e.g.;
clarification requests, confirmations checks). It
should be kept in mind that interaction (Long, 1981,
1983) builds on the central role of conversation,
typically the notion of negotiation of meaning.
He suggested that negotiation acts as a facilitator
acquisition because the learners attention is focused
on particular problematic parts of the conversation.
To quote Long:
Negotiation for meaning, and especially
negotiation work that triggers interactional
adjustments by the NS or more competent
interlocutor, facilitates acquisition because
it connects input, internal leaner capacities,
particularly selective attention, and output in
productive ways (Long, 1966).
As a case in point, the following example from Pica
(1994:514) captures the meaning of negotiation
within second language literature:

NNS: The windows are crozed.

NS : The windows are what?
NNS: Closed.
NS : Crossed? I am not sure what you are saying!
In order to measure the effects of different NNS: Windows are closed.
instructional programs, Spada (1986) carried NS : Oh! The windows are closed, ok sorry!
out an investigation in this regard. The evidence
provided is that if a learner has access to both The extract from Picas example shows that the
grammar instruction and exposure to English, he non-native speaker talks about the windows being
would, beyond shadow of doubt, gain proficiency. crozed which the native speaker had difficulty to
She commented (1986) attention to both form and understand (I am not sure what you are saying
meaning work best for L2 learners. In this same way, here). Accordingly, the answer the windows
Montgomery and Eisenstein (1985) drew the same have what? indicates that there is a problem there
conclusion. They found out that both a combination to which the NNS responds with a reformulation
of focus on form and meaning in language teaching closed. In this vein, interaction fosters acquisition
is more beneficial than an absolute focus on form. when a communication problem arises and learners,
Based on this state of affairs, I am rather skeptical therefore, are engaged in negotiating for meaning
about the significance of using only the CLT. Despite (Long, 1996).
the fact that we cannot draw a definite conclusion
about the role of grammar, I may be able to make In short, this section has given insights to make
19

research on the major changes in the pedagogical

approaches in the last few decades. The principles
of CLT will be of a prime importance to explain
the effectiveness of the CF in the next section.
The concept of corrective feedback:
Of all the different aspects of the teachers
language, corrective feedback has received a
considerable amount of attention. In this section,
we will be concerned only with the concept of CF
and its effectiveness and how errors are handled
in classroom contexts. We will not consider the all
substantial number of laboratory studies nor the
classroom-based experimental studies of CF. The
section will also cast light on a discussion of some
types of CF. I still hope to be able to incorporate
an exposition (much abbreviated) of some recent
work.
a) Definition:
Before we proceed further in our discussion of the
CF, it may be worth pausing to consider how the
concept of CF is understood. The term feedback
is used to refer to an interlocutors response
to a speakers utterance during interaction. If
the response comprises information about the
ungrammaticality in the utterance, the interlocutor
provides the speaker with a negative feedback. In
this respect, Iwashita (2003:2) defines feedback as
an interlocutors interactional move that indicates
explicitly or implicitly in any non-target-like
features in the learners speech.
There are various terms that are used to refer to
identify errors and provide CF in the SLA literature.
The most common notions are: Negative Feedback,
Corrective Feedback and Negative Evidence.
These terms have been used to point out the same
phenomena by SLA researchers. Still, confusion
is likely to arise from the use of this terminology;
therefore a brief review of the definition of this
concept is presented below:
Chaudron (1980) argues that the term CF holds
different layers of meaning. In Chaudrons view,
the term treatment of error simply refers to
any teacher behaviour following an error that
minimally attempts to inform the learner of the
fact of error. Along the same line, Lightbown and
Sapada (1999) define corrective feedback as:
It is any indication to the learners that their use
of the target language is incorrect. This includes
various responses that the learners receive. When
a language learner says He go to school every day,
corrective feedback can be explicit, for example,
no, you should say goes, not go or implicit yes,
he goes to school every day, and may not include

meta linguistic information, for example, do not

forget to make the verb agree with the subject.
(Lightbown&Spada, 1991)
According to Schachter(1999), corrective
feedback, negative evidence, and negative feedback
are used in the field of teaching respectively and
interchangeably. Following her definition, she
maintains that feedback may be either explicit
(such as grammatical explanation or an over error
correction) or implicit (such as confirmation
checks, repetition, recasts, clarification requests
and so on). (See: Ellis, Basturkmen&Loewen,
2001).
* The effectiveness of Corrective Feedback:
Given the importance attributed to interactional
feedback and the role of negotiation in L2
learning, a considerable body of research has been
conducted in recent years to empirically investigate
the effectiveness of feedback ( see: Ellis et al, 2001).
It is worth bearing in mind that CF does not
seem to play a significant role in L1 acquisition.
Children do acquire their mother tongue via social
interaction. L2 acquisition, on the other hand, is
argued to be a process which takes place while
receiving an input. CF has not been a question of
obvious interest in Krashens theories.
His influential Input Hypothesis proposes that
exposure to a comprehensible input is adequate
for fully acquiring an L2. Besides, he assumes that
the learned system, such as explicit instruction,
does not lead to L2 proficiency. Therefore, it was
considered as irrelevant to SLA (Krashen, 1977).
However, the aforementioned results remain
a minority in SLA research; typically among
proponents of the Interaction Hypothesis as most
of them agree that CF is beneficial (Long, 1996;
Rusel&Spada, 2006). As for them, correction is
viewed positively, as an essential component when
learning an L2 (McLaughlin et al, 1983; Harmer,
1998, 2001).
* The treatment of errors in the classroom:
It has been maintained that questions which
surround the issue of error in language development
have long been debated. Until now, there have been
no general accepted definitions of the term error
(Ellis &Barkhuzen, 2005). In one definition,
Allwright& Baily (1996) defines errors as any
other behaviour signaled by the teacher as needing
improvement. Another definition states that error
is a form rejected by teachers (Tsui, 1995:43). In
very technical terms, Corder (1967) argued that
errors are indications of the learners attempt to
find out about the underlying rule governedsystem . Corder, in his prominent article, defines a
20

distinction has been made between mistakes and

errors, which has been subsequently maintained
by applied linguists. Thus, mistakes are temporary
slips of tongue and not systematic, whereas errors
are prompted by a lack of knowledge and are
systematic (Ibid).
From considerations of this kind, it follows that
behaviourists viewed errors as a bad habit which
must be connected to avoid fossilization (Skinner,
1975). On the other hand, Corder has pointed out
the significance of learners errors for teachers. One
of his key insights was that learners errors are of a
prime importance since they are an evidence of a
developing a definite system of language (Corder,
1967).
On the basis of the above, the treatment of L2
learners errors has been the subject of much
debate and investigation among both SLA
researchers and teaching practitioners. Results
of some studies (Truscott & Hsu, 2008; Kepner,
1991) typify that error correction is ineffective and
destructive to L2 development. Still, others (Young
& Cameron, 2005; Bitchener, 2008) indicate that
error correction is helpful in the improvement of
some students L2.
However, in order to avoid demotivation,
correction should be done in such a way that the
students actual needs are taken into consideration.
This said, the issue of error correction has been
attracting a lot of attention in recent years (for
example, Ellis &barkhun, 2005). Teachers ought to
look forward to more guidance from researchers
regarding the ways errors should be treated in the
classroom.
* Types of Corrective Feedback:
While primary attention should be paid to
meaning, acquisition demands that L2 learnerspay
attention to form (Schmidt, 2001).According
to Long (1991) focus on form overtly draws
students attention to linguistics features as they
arise incidentally in lesson. He also assumes that
focus on form often consists of an occasional
shift of attention to linguistic code features-by the
teacher (Long & Robinson, 1998).
CF should, therefore, be understood as a way to
work with form since it provides students with
corrections. Learners who experience this kind
of instruction are likely to develop significant
learning (Ellis et al, 2006). In this way, Lyster and
his colleagues outline six types of feedback which
teachers may use to draw the learners attention to
form:

1- Explicit feedback: The teacher clearly

indicates that the learner has said something
wrong by making the correction.
Student: I ate cree apples.
Teacher: I ate three apples.
2- Clarification request: It is offered when the
teacher asks for repetition or reformulation of the
utterance.
Student: I can writing my paper.
Teacher: Can you repeat that please?
3- Recasting feedback: The teacher makes the
correction when he/she repeats the phrase.
Student: I goed to university.
Teacher: I went to university
Student: Yes, I went to university.
4- Metalinguistic feedback: The teacher poses
questions like Do we say it like that? or Does
that sound right to you?.
Student: There is not many books.
Teachers: Does that sentence sound right to you?
5- Elicitation feedback: The teacher directly
elicits the correct form other students by asking
questions or by pausing to allow students to
complete the teachers utterance (e.g., He is).
Student: Tomorrow, I visited my grand-father.
Teacher: No! Tomorrow, I?
6- Repetition feedback: The teacher repeats
the students error and changes intonation to draw
students attention to it.
7- Explicit feedback: The teacher clearly
indicates that the learner has said something
wrong by making the correction.
Student: I ate cree apples.
Teacher: I ate three apples.
8- Clarification request: It is offered when the
teacher asks for repetition or reformulation of the
utterance.
Student: I can writing my paper.
Teacher: Can you repeat that please?
9- Recasting feedback: The teacher makes the
correction when he/she repeats the phrase.
Student: I goed to university.
Teacher: I went to university
Student: Yes, I went to university.
10- Metalinguistic feedback: The teacher poses
questions like Do we say it like that? or Does
that sound right to you?.
Student: There is not many books.
Teachers: Does that sentence sound right to you?

21

11- Elicitation feedback: The teacher directly

elicits the correct form other students by asking
questions or by pausing to allow students to
complete the teachers utterance (e.g., He is).
Student: Tomorrow, I visited my grand-father.
Teacher: No! Tomorrow, I?
12- Repetition feedback: The teacher repeats
the students error and changes intonation to draw
students attention to it.
* Recasts and Prompts:
> Recasts:
Mindful of the importance of correcting learners
utterance, recasts are regarded as a corrective
technique which was primarily used in the L1
context. It is true that researchers of L1 have
observed that adults fix or add the missing items
in their childrens utterances by recasting their
morphosytnactic and semantic errors.
The best-known early commentators of this state
of affairs are Carkaddon, Nelson &Bonivillian
(1973) who used this concept to point on adults
responses to childrens utterances. Bohannon et al.
(1988) gave a broad definition of recast stating that
recasts are a broad set that includes all recasts that
display relations between an initial child utterance
and a recast that expands, deletes, permutes, or
otherwise changes the platform while maintaining
significant overlap in meaning. A typical example
of recast would be:
Student: I want write.
Teacher: What do you want to write?
Returning to recast, there have been various
definitions proposed for corrective recasts in the
literature which seems to define the characteristics
that are inherent in recasts:
-
A corrective feedback move immediately
after the ungrammatical utterance.
-
A reformulation of the ill-formed utterance.
-
An expansion of the erroneous utterance.
> Prompts:
Curiously, prompts are an alternative type of CF
that has been compared with recasts in classroom
setting (Lyster, 2004). It provides signals to learners
so that they self-repair rather than providing them
with a correct reformulation of their utterances, as
do recasts.
Prompts comprise repetition requests, clarifications
and metalinguistic clues. Ellis, Loewen and Erlam
(2006) have conducted a classroom study in which
they tried to compare the effects of recasts versus

prompts on students use of the simple past tense

in English. Thus, they found that prompts were
significantly better than recasts.
> The effectiveness of prompts and recasts:
It would be extremely difficult in a brief space
to give an adequate analysis of the effectiveness
of either prompts or recasts. The following is not
intended to be a full-fledged analysis, but it may
highlight some of their effects.
As we have already had the occasion to define
prompts and recasts, now it would be plausible
to present some of their effectiveness. Prompt
and recast have been largely investigated
by Ammar&Spada (2006) through a quasiexperimental study. Findings from their study
reveal that prompts are described as feedback
techniques that [ push learners to self-correct
or peer-correct (Ammar & Spada, 2006).
Elicitation, repetition and meta linguistics are
the types of prompts that have been used in their
study. In fact, one of the groups received negative
feedback in the form of recasts and the other in
the form of prompts, while the control group did
not receive any type of negative CF. The targeted
structure was the third- person possessive
determiners his and hers, a difficult aspect of
English grammar for francophone learners of
English. As such, the results obtained indicated
that the two groups receiving negative feedback
achieved better results than the control group.
Still, prompts were more effective than recasts and
the effectiveness of recasts depends on learners
proficiency. This is to say that learners with highproficiency benefited equally from both prompts
and recasts, whereas low-proficiency benefited
particularly from prompts than recasts.
* Previous studies in the Moroccan context
Considerable research of both a descriptive and
experimental nature has been done to examine the
effects of CF on students accuracy. In actual fact, a
host of studies conducted so far have delved into the
effectiveness of CF, including prompts and recasts
(Russel & Spada, 2006; Schachter, 1991; Lyster;
2004). However, there are numerous studies on CF
among EFL learners. One of the recent descriptive
studies was carried out by Zarrouk (2013), who
investigated the different types of CF provided to
Moroccan students by the researcher. One area of
emphasis has been on the effects of prompts, as
opposed to recasts. Zarrouk (2013) investigated
how Moroccan EFL learners of English benefited
from the two techniques. This said, the objective
of this study was to determine the deferential
effects of CF in SLL, particularly in enhancing
22

students grammatical accuracy. The study was

conducted in a Moroccan high school. Sixty
students from intermediate classes were invited
to take part in the study. They were divided into
two groups; one experimental and the other one
a control. Participants, in the experimental group,
received prompts and recasts as a reaction to their
erroneous utterances, while the control did not
receive any feedback treatment, continuing with
its regular program of study. The importance of
including a group not exposed to CF is to ascertain
whether mere exposure to CF is sufficient to effect
any change in the students ability to improve
their grammar accuracy. The findings of the study
confirm the generally favorable results researcher
hold toward CF (Lyster, 2004; Iwashita, 2003).
Analyses of the effectiveness of these techniques
showed that the experimental group, that received
CF, attained improvement across the duration of
the study when compared to the control group.
The results of the tests indicated that CF is clearly
effective at improving students grammatical
accuracy.
* Conclusion:
For all intents and purposes, the previous
chapter has given insights to the field of SLA and
its various aspects of second language learning
which gave birth to a number of theories. The
literature on L2 learning has continuously shown
varying positions regarding the effectiveness of CF
on errors. This said, SLA researchers has become
concerned with whether CF affects the learners
interlanguage development, and for those who
argue about, what type of CF is most effective.
However, as it has been stated in this chapter, there
is a great amount of research showing that CF may
well affect the learners development positively.
The chapter has also demonstrated a number of
types of CF which can be classified as follows:
-

Explicit and Implicit

Prompt and Recasts

These types of CF have allowed researchers to

investigate the frequency with which different
strategies are used by teachers. A clear finding is
a preference to recasts and they are now viewed
as more diverse in their degree of explicitness.
Still, it is worth bearing in mind that feedback
can affect both learners motivation and selfesteem. We all recall critical situations in which
we were encouraged or discouraged to perform
a task. Feedback of this type its responsible for
regulating the students efforts and maybe their
future. Therefore, it would seem plausible to take
the learners goals into account.

In the previous section, a literature review was

provided in order to delineate the major issues
under which SLA is based and emphasizing the
importance of CF. Now that this foundation has
been laid, the present chapter dives right into the
subject matter which is the general methodology
of the current study, the research design, research
instruments, participants and the interviewing
procedures used. It also draws on the research
questions in depth, and discusses the appropriate
methods, with respect to the aims and the nature
of the research. Additionally, given the fact that
numeric evidence is, as a matter of fact, associated
with the quantitative research, the procedures for
conducting appropriate statistical measures are
also described.
* Research questions:
This study is considered unique as it targets new
grammatical items other than those which have
been the focus of most studies such as possessive
adjectives and simple past tense. All too often,
familiarity with the new grammatical structures
may be an advantage for CF strategy at the cost
of others. To put it simply, recasts are of a great
benefit for the acquisition of new grammatical
items while prompts are likely to be effective for L2
learners who are already familiar with the linguistic
features. From these general perspectives, a
number of specific research questions and issues
have sprung up and were further refined in the
course of developing the research design.
Specifically, this study pursued the following
questions:
- Will corrective feedback improve the
learners ability to accurately use adverbs of
frequency?
-
If there is any evidence about the effects
of prompts and recasts, then which type is more
effective?
-
In terms of using corrective feedback in
formal instruction, do teachers opt for prompts or
recasts?
* Research hypothesis:
In the light of previous research it is predicted that
students who provided with CF will outperform
students whose attention is not drawn to adverbs
of frequency. This is because they are left to their
own devices to process the grammatical patterns.
Accordingly, the first hypothesis posits the
following:

23

1- Moroccan EFL learners will outperform

students whose attention is not drawn to the use
of adverbs of frequency.
Practically speaking, L2 development along with
research that has revealed the limited effectiveness
of recasts and the highly effectiveness of techniques
that helps learners to self correct or peer-correct
(referred to as prompts in the current study), the
second hypothesis postulates the following:
2- The group who received prompts will
perform better than the group who does not.
Taking into account another case of assumption of
CF which states that recasting is an ideal type of
feedback because L2 learners are able to store the
target reformulation in working memory. Thus,
the third hypothesis is presented as follows:
3-
The group who received recast will perform
better than the group who does not.
* Research design:
A plethora of different approaches to studying
the learning and the teaching of languages are
currently being applied, all of which can be useful.
The purpose of this section is not to argue that one
approach or a statistical research is the only type of
investigation that is worth doing or even the best
type rather than the remaining ones.
> Research: Role and Purpose
Before cutting to the heart of the issue, it is
important first to be clear about the role and the
purpose of research. Fortunately perhaps, there
are almost as many definitions of research as there
are authors writing about the subject. Still, the
different definitions formulated by researchers
have common elements. In this respect, Wiersma
(1995) defines research as a systematic, defensible
pursuit of results which will solve a problem.
Research is good if it consummated an ordered,
reasonable, communicable research. By and large,
a research is, in its most basic and simplest sense,
a studious inquiry or examination; especially
investigation or experimentation aimed at the
discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of
accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts,
or practical application of such new or revised
laws.
The National Academy of Sciences held the view
that the object of research is to extend human
knowledge of the physical, biological, or social
world by what is already known. It is interesting
to note that research is radically different from
other forms of discovering knowledge, because
it, simply, opts for a systematic process called the
scientific method. The latter is based on observing

the world around you and creating a hypothesis.

When a researcher forms a hypothesis, this acts
as a map through the research study for it tells
the researcher about which factors are important
to the research and how they are related to each
other (e.g. interaction of variables), or caused
by a manipulation that the research implies (e.g.
treatment or change, progress).
> Research design:
Now, a recurrent question arises regarding the
definition of the word design. Oxford Dictionaries
entry suffices to give a general picture:
Noun: The systemic investigation into and study
of materials and sources in order to establish facts
and reach new conclusions.
In very general terms, it is simple to assert that a
research design refers to situating the researcher
in the empirical world. Practically speaking, it is a
way of connecting the research questions to data.
That is, design lies between the research questions
and the data, showing how the questions are
to be connected to the data, and what tools and
procedures to use in answering them. Therefore,
as far as research design is concerned, the design
is the ground of a piece that is contingent on
empirical investigation, and it comprises five main
ideas: strategy, conceptual framework, who or
what will be studied and the tools and procedures
to be used both for collecting and for analyzing
materials. Accordingly, these are the five main
questions for research design:

What strategies are to be followed?

Within what framework?

From what will the data be gathered?

How will the data be collected?

How will the data be analysed?

In a general sense, it is usually possible (and

certainly popular), in an educational research, to
characterise a research studys methodology as
qualitative, as quantitative, or as including both
methods.
> Quantitative research:
Broadly speaking, a quantitative research seeks to
minimise objectivity, reliability, and generalizability
of findings, and is particularly interested in
prediction. Thus, a researcher is expected to turn
a blind eye on his/her experiences, perceptions,
and biases to guarantee objectivity in the study
conducted in accordance with the conclusions
being drawn. Integral to this, there are some key
24

features of a myriad of quantitative studies such as

the use of instruments including tests or surveys
to collect data and reliance on probability so as to
test the statistical hypotheses that has to do with
the research questions. The following definition is
taken from Aliga and Gunderson (2000), which
describes what we mean by quantitative research
methods:
Quantitative research is explaining phenomena
by collecting numerical data that are analysed
using mathematically based methods (in particular
statistics). (Aliga and Gunderson, 2000) How
many males get a first-class degree at university
compared to females? What percentage of teachers
and schools leaders belong to ethnic minority
group? Had pupils achievement in English
improved over time? These are all questions we can
look at quantitatively, as the data available would
be based on a numerical form
> Qualitative research:
Equally importantly, it is worth considering
that qualitative research differs radically from
quantitative ones. Qualitative research refers
to a method that centers on discovering and
understanding the experiences, perceptions and
thoughts of participants. To put it differently, a
qualitative research method helps to explain the
social world and social phenomena. It involves,
necessarily, looking in depth at non-numerical
data, taking a deep look on the phenomena. Below
are some examples of qualitative methods:
a)
Content analysis
b) Observation data
c) Ethnography
d) Unstructured interviews
e)
Focused interviews
* Rationale behind research design:
In order for the design to suit the scope of the
current study, the research questions and the
current situation of knowledge in the field have
been carefully studied. The underlying purpose
of selecting a quantitative research in this study
is to examine, numerically, the effects of Recasts
in comparison to Prompts on the learning of
Adverbs of Frequency by Moroccan EFL learners.
As a result, the study will provide a contributing
research to the growing body of literature that
investigates Corrective Feedback. As outlined
throughout the pervious sections, the research
questions are explanatory in nature, thus, a
quantitative methodological approach will be
carried out in the present study.

* Research Participants:
At the core of a quantitative research, variables
are of prime interests which help a research to use
the findings to draw conclusions beyond those
participating in it. In order to accomplish this,
quantitative researchers should, in fact, select
their participants in a systemic way. A sample is
chosen from a larger population through random
selection. In other words, a sample is a smaller
version of the population, the group on which the
researcher would like to generalise the results of
the study.
> Demographic features:
The participants in this study were about 20
Moroccan beginner learners of English in a high
school who undertook an experimental study,they
volunteered to participate in this study when
I visited their class to recruit participants. The
participants were all in Common Core from the
same school and they were in the second half of
the school year (i.e. February to June). Based on
their declarations, no one had attended English
language centers before and they reported limited
exposure to English outside of school. That is to say,
they were supposed to be at the same proficiency
level. The participants age ranged from 15 to
16. Consent forms were obtained from parents,
directors and teachers, and permission was granted
from the head of the English department and the
administration.
> Teachers:
Regarding the interview, two experienced EFL
English language teachers (henceforth referred
to as Teacher A and Teacher B) were chosen to
take part in the current study. The teachers were
located and contacted through emails. On one
hand, Teacher A is Moroccan, whose mother
tongue is Tarifit but has an advanced level of
English proficiency. Teacher B, on the other hand,
is an Ecuadorian, but studied and lived in the
USA. The following Table reveals the profile of the
teachers with demographic information, including
age, gender, number of years teaching English, and
qualifications.

25

> Selection of participants:

It is important to consider first that previous
studies on corrective feedback have centered on
English EFL teachers and students as participants.
The current study seeks to achieve consistency with
participants that were incorporated in previous
studies. The present research study selected
EFL teachers and EFL students as participants.
In the same vein, participants were chosen for
willingness to participate. EFL English language
teachers were selected in order to provide in depth
exploration. Both of them accepted to participate
and to contribute to the present research. They also
revealed interests in the focus of the study, which
is namely corrective feedback strategies.
> Experimental and control groups:
In some experiments, the independent variable
consists of only two: a treatment-present condition
and, for comparison purposes, a treatmentabsent, or no treatment condition. Therefore, an
experimental group is the one that receives the
variable being tested in an experiment, whereas
the control group is that one that receives no
treatment or standard treatment.
Class ss ranged from 19 to 20, with an average
of 7 students per each class. Accordingly, three
groups were formed: one recast group (n= 7), one
Prompts groups (n=7), and one control group
(n=11). Prior to the study, the research objectives
and procedures were fully discussed with the
supervisor, the director and the teachers.
> Operationalization:
Recasts:
Recasts were operationalised as a reformulation
of the learners erroneous utterance, without
changing the original meaning intended by the
learner (Sheen, 2006). In the current study, recasts
were delivered with no extra emphasis or unusual
stress on the corrected form of the utterance. By
way of illustration, the following example, from the

current studys data base, represents how recasts

were operationalised in the study.
Example1:
Learner: It rains rarely in the summertime.
Interlocutor: It rarely rains in the summer
Prompts:
Prompts were operationalised as the teachers
repetition of the students ill-formed utterance by
adjusting the intonation to highlight the error. The
following example shows how prompts feedback
were operationalised.

Example2:
in the fall, I have usually a lot of pumpkins.
Interlocutor: Do you think that this sentence is
right?
Justification of the choice:
In a research, there are certain objective criteria
that permit the researchers to evaluate the quality
of a study. Reliability and validity are substantial
concepts in a qualitative research. Therefore, a
researcher would make a well prepared design
methodology that would yield to valid and reliable
results. In order for the researcher to meet those
necessary requirements, she has opted for a lower
level so that the research would be based on
reliability and an empirical validation.
The targeted structure:
For all intents and purposes, adverbs of frequency
(always, usually, often) were chosen as the
targeted form for several reasons. First, the
participants of the present study had not received
any explicit instruction regarding adverbs of
frequency before the study. This said, the targeted
structure was deemed to be appropriate to isolate
the effects of the treatment. Second, as far as the
objectives of the research are concerned, Adverbs
of Frequency are easy to elicit and measure in the
context of activities.
26

Thus, adverbs of frequency as in the following

example sentences were chosen as linguistic targets
for the current study:
- Every day, I buy new games.
I always/ never buy new games.
* Instrumentation:
In an explanatory research, the researcher goes
beyond merely describing the characteristics to
analyse and explain how something is happening
in depth. Thus, in order for the researcher to
measure the causal relationship between variables,
he/she should rely on instruments in the datacollection process. Still, it is interesting to note that
the instruments are not only related to the design,
construction or selection, but also to the conditions
under which the instruments are administered.
> Experimental study:
A researcher should revisit the research questions
in order to determine what type of research design
to use in his/her study for they guide this decision.
Statisticians and others, working from a set of
basic concepts and tools have developed a vast
literature of different approaches to study design.
Most of this literature deals with experimental
study, since it is in these studies that the ability
factors allow an efficient design to be developed.
In this type of study, the researcher has a control
over the situation to decide which participants
receive which conditions at which times. As an
illustration, lets suppose that we are interested in
the difference between students who read a book
and those who read books and also attend lectures.
A researcher is able to conduct an experiment
through which he/ she sets up the conditions and
assigns subjects to them.
a) Advantages:
Experimental research focuses mainly on the
relationship between variables. A central aspect
of this study is that variables are controlled and
manipulated by the research. In other words,
variables are higher controlled compared to other
types of research methods. Based on this, better
results are likely to be achieved due to the strict
conditions and the control.
b) Disadvantages:
Just like any other type of research, experimental
studies are also subjected to human error and this
has a bearing on the efficiency of results. Besides,
personal biases, unreliable samples, artificial
results, and results that can be applied to one
situation and may be hard to replicate in measuring
human response.

> Semi-structured interview:

There is no denying that the current study has
also adopted a qualitative design, which attempts
to approach and probe into the teachers beliefs
towards corrective feedback through interviews.
Interviews are highly revealing in that they can
pave the way for the researcher in the process
of investigating a particular issue. One of the
advantages of an interview is that it helps the
researcher to center his/her attention on the issue
being studied. Another advantage is that it gives
insights, which corroborate a specific phenomenon.
Thus, by using a semi-structured interview,
teachers beliefs, regarding error correction, are to
be elicited in a detailed account in order for the
researcher to investigate their practices.
Based on the above mentioned strengths, the
research design comprises two audio recorded
semi-interviews with two EFL teachers. The main
aim is to delve right into the teachers views towards
the issue of error correction, as an instructional
method for improving their students accuracy.
The following sets of open-ended questions were
asked to both teachers in the hope of eliciting their
beliefs with respect to the importance of error
correction and their practices inside the classroom
settings:
-
Do you use correction to edit grammatical
errors? If yes, what error correction strategies do
you use, prompts and recast? And why?
-
What, according to you, are the advantages
in the correction strategy you have chosen? Are
there any disadvantages?
-
Should the teacher locate and correct errors?
Or should students correct errors for themselves?
-
What do you expect your students to do
after providing your correction strategy?
-
What are the problems you face, if any, in
correcting students errors?
-
Based on your experience as a teacher, is
providing a corrective feedback helps the students
to enhance their language?
-
In your opinion, what is the best way to go
about corrective feedback? Please explain your
answer?
> Treatment of materials:
In the present study, in order to measure the
participants knowledge, oral and written examples
were used regarding the targeted structure. These
examples were based on their English book Visa.
27

In the first phase of the instruction, the researcher

provided, through some example, a brief explanation
about the adverbs of frequency. In the second phase
of the study, the teacher engaged the participants
in some controlled practice of the form such as
fill in the blanks with the correct form (selecting
the appropriate form from given options) and
dialogues. Lyster (2004) held the view that prompts
cannot be used to elicit forms that students do not
know. Therefore, the targeted structure of the study
was explained and practiced. After the instruction,
the researcher engaged the participants in some
activities such as choose the correct form during
which experimental groups received CF according
to the group they were placed in.
> Testing the material:
Participants were given two sets of choosing the
appropriate options from the given choices, while
testing the materials. One of the tests used was
the pretest before the instruction of the targeted
structure (intervention) took place. On the other
hand, the other test was a post-immediate test
contained 9 items and was administered in each of
the three groups. Due to their limited knowledge
about the adverbs of frequency, the tests consisted
of two choices items, like the example below:

The students were taught explicitly using different

teaching materials; however, grammatical rules
were presented in the deductive way starting with
an explicit language rule illustrated with numerous
examples and followed by formal practicing.
They were asked to do a host of exercises so that
they could check their knowledge of newly taught
language forms (i.e. adverbs of frequency) and
also have opportunities to use English naturally in
speech.
In group one, the researcher tended to correct the
participants errors by recasting their erroneous
utterances.
Student: I practice my usually English. (= wrong
word order)
Interlocutor: I usually practice my English.
In the second group, the teacher used repetition,
clarification requests in accordance with highlighting
the errors. Others students were engaged in the
correction in case the student failed to self-correct
his/her ill-formed utterance. Therefore, prompts
were the error correction method.
Student: She often go to work early. (S= spelling
error)

1-
I eat a lot of bananas, but my friend Sara does
not like it
Interlocutor: What? Is it correct?
-

Sara always/never eats bananas.

* Procedure:
The current study took place in the spring semester
in 2015 and lasted for about 3 hours. This quasiexperimental study investigated the benefits of
two corrective feedbacks techniques (recasts and
prompts) for learners of different proficiency levels.
Participants were assigned to two experimental
groups; one received corrective feedbacks in the
form of recasts and the other group in the form of
prompts, and a control group. Before the instruction
took place, a pretest was performed in the three
groups. As mentioned above, the tests consisted of
9 items due to the participants low level about the
adverbs of frequency and they also consisted of two
choice items. The reason why the researcher opted
for fewer items, it is because the items became so
repetitive.
Immediately after the pretest, the instruction
phase was performed in all the three groups. The
researcher taught the participants the meaning and
the rules of adverbs of frequency (See Appendix). In
the second phase, the participants were engaged in
some semi-controlled communicative activities of
that rule such as substitution and fill in the blanks.

In the third group, the researcher provided the

participants with no corrective feedback in their
erroneous use of position of adverbs of frequency.
To this position, they were not invited to execute
any revision. Instead, they were presented with
new tasks to offer them an extra opportunity to
practice their oral skills. After the instruction, the
immediate post-tests were administered in all the
three groups. Regarding the scoring of the tests,
each correct item was given two points, and all the
correct answers added up to the total sum.
* Statistical measures:
In a number-based research discipline, quantitative
research statistically measures the participants
attitudes, behaviour, and performance. By using
these series of tests and techniques, a quantitative
research will yield data that represents a larger
population. Thanks to the fact that a quantitative
research is deeply rooted in numbers and statistics,
it will have the ability to translate the data into charts
and graphs. Therefore, in the current study, for the
group to be comparable and for an experiment like
this to be valid and reliable, a one-way ANOVA
and a paired sample T-test were used to find the
differences of the scores of the groups.
28

a)

Paired samples t-test:

(Teacher A)
Extract3: Many of them unfortunately dont take it
A paired sample T-test (also called the dependent to consideration for future writings.
test, matched pair T-test) is used in statistics to
compare the means between two related groups (Teacher B)
on the same dependent variable. It is often used to Extract4: Young people tend to make fun of their
establish a comparison between before and after peers when trying prompts, which in turns ends up
scores in experiments to determine whether a hurting the entire class.
significant change has occurred. It also tests the null
hypothesis that there are no differences between the
means of the two groups.
Broadly speaking, it can be inferred from the results
that teachers believe that the provision of a corrective
As an illustration, a researcher could use a dependent feedback set the scene for substantial increase in L2
T-test to understand whether there was a difference learning. Put simply, it is effective and it is an allbetween the time that males and females spend in purpose tool, which can be used wherever the need
watching TV.
is greatest. By way of illustration, Teacher A thinks
that providing learners with prompts is a great way
b) One-way ANOVA test:
of helping the student to reconsider his/her output.
The one-way ANOVA test (also referred to as one
way analysis of variance) is used to determine
whether there are any significant differences
between the means of two or more independent
variables with respect to the unrelated groups.

* Disadvantages of corrective feedback:

Based on the results of the current study, various

answers to the issue of the advantages of corrective
feedback have been offered by both teachers.
Generally, teachers held that providing corrective
feedback help to facilitate the process of L2
learning and to guide them in the classroom.
Teachers perception with respect to the provision
of corrective feedback was presented in their
responses during the semi-structured interviews.
Excerpts of responses of the teachers are outlined
below:

(Teacher A)
Extract1: Yes of course. It helps a lot because many
students do not want to lose faith in professor.

It is beyond shadow of doubt that teachers held

the idea that providing a corrective feedback is
substantial for academic achievement. The use of
praise, for example, certainly makes students more
The results of one-way ANOVA are considered open to receiving correction. Put differently, when
reliable as long as the following assumptions are learners do not receive feedback (error correction),
not violated:
they may have no idea why they are struggling and
will have no information that help them to get back
-Samples are independent.
on track. Still, Teachers become increasingly aware
of the shortcomings that relate to error correction.
-Variances of populations are equal.
Excerpts of responses during the semi structured
interviews, as presented below:
-Response variables are normally distributed.
Teachers responses regarding the shortcomings of
Advantages of corrective feedback:
corrective feedback:

(Teacher B)
Extract2: Prompts have the advantage of helping
the student put to use what he has learned on his
own and to recreate the same mental pattern later
on when the student engages in a conversation with
a native speaker.

(Teacher A)
(Teacher A)
Extract3: The students reaction is generally
Extract1: The worst that can happen is to have the satisfactory to writing feedback.
same student making the same mistake in another
occasion especially in writing.
(Teacher B)
Extract4: Prompts also tend to make students more
(Teacher B)
curious of their language level and consequently it
Extract2: Recasts, if used too much, tend to make helps them to continue self-improve their skills.
the students lazy to elicit correct output.
In examining the responses of the teachers regarding
error correction, it is immediately apparent that
it has some disadvantages. In some cases, when
29

corrective feedback is conducted in an intensive and

thoughtless manner, it might lead to discouragement
and humiliation. After all, learners are supposed to
be exposed to their teachers feedback even if it may
be painful, but being laughed at and embarrassed
could have a negative bearing on their self-esteem
and self-efficacy. Teacher B assumes that prompts
may not work with students who have got a lower
level for they cannot deduce the correction readily.
In the same vein, Teacher A states that some
students take the correction to heart that they tend
to turn a blind eye on their mistakes.
> The importance of corrective feedback
It may be necessary for classroom teachers to
increase their students level by providing a
corrective feedback, which will eventually help them
to reconstruct the grammar of their interlanguage.
In other words, error correction facilitates students
awareness of grammatical forms and meanings in
order to comprehend them. However, despite the
continuous debate on the effectiveness of corrective
feedback, teachers still think that the provision of
corrective feedback helps the learners to relate to
L2 forms in a more meaningful and personal way.
Teachers beliefs concerning the significance of
providing a corrective feedback are reflected in their
answers, during the semi structured interviews.
1.

Summary of the results

To recapitulate the main points, the findings

reported in the current research paper do not lend to
positive results. Up until now it could be reasonably
be argued that CF provided, in the course of the
treatment session could not be partly responsible
for the development of L2. In the second place, not
only did the treatment results are not displayed, but
the participants, on the other hand, did not display
the same level of English proficiency with respect to
the experimental groups. The findings of this study
stands in contrast to the outcomes of the previous
studies and could be correlated with other variables
(i.e., individual differences) that are at play in the
process of L2 learning.
Based on the above sketched ideas, the results
presented above could be interpreted on the
grounds of a myriad of variables, which might,
to a larger extent, results from the fact that the
groups were distinct in terms of proficiency level.
Simply put, L2 learners manifested different levels
regarding performance at this point, which made
the results open to doubt. Aside from investigating
the effects of prompts and recasts, a semi-structured
interview was conducted in order for the researcher
to throw lights on the teachers perceptions toward
the provision of error correction.

The main points, which emerged during the

interview could be summarised as follows:
-
The teaching process runs smoothly with the
provision of corrective feedback, regardless of its
types.
- Generally, teachers feel the need to correct their
students errors; they differ with regard to what
errors they think need correcting, who should
correct, and when they should provide a feedback.
- In some cases, error correction might lead
to embarrassment and humiliation when it is
conducted in an intensive and thoughtless manner.
2.

Research limitations:

The current study, as presented above, sought to

raise and document a plethora of issues with respect
to corrective feedback. In some respect, the findings
of this study may contribute to the realm of SLA,
especially the area of error correction. However,
the present research suffers from a couple of short
comings. It is eminently important to consider the
fact that, due to time constraints, the participants
in this study were limited to only two EFL teachers
and three groups of EFL learners. The research
would have been ideal to conduct observations and
interviews on a wider score of participants, with
different backgrounds, different levels of English.
This said, a rich node of information might be
provided about the teachers beliefs if it has examined
a larger group of participants. Besides, data for this
study was collected within two days; a longer time
frame for data collection was not possible. As a
result, longitudinal research deigns may investigate
the extent to which language teachers use their CF.
All in all, the improvement of the current studys
limitations may lead to clear-cut results, which
are necessary for future studies with regard to the
investigations of CF, practices, and students beliefs.
3.

Pedagogical implications

What pedagogical implications should be

drawn from the present study? As is well known,
the role of CF is highly recognised in the field of
formal instruction, bringing to light a wide range
of studies, suggest that the teacher may immerse it
into communicative frames. Still, the issue of what
type of CF is more effective is not clear. Given the
fact that there is no agreement on the superiority
of one type over another, it could be best to
integrate different types of feedback. Pedagogically
speaking, a considerable amount of importance
should be given to L2 learners as part of a two-way
communication.
30

That is, students are not merely empty vessels waiting to be filled, and teachers are
not mediators of the unknown. It is assumed that the feedback given to students
should, to some extent, improve their proficiency level, and it also should be viewed
as a communication tool. One way to set up this is by seeding the learning process
through combining strategic planning and familiarity with the individual differences,
which may enhance the route of language teaching.
Based on the findings of the study reported throughout the previous chapter, another
pedagogical implication seems to be thought about. Workshops should be available
for beginner teachers in order to raise the awareness with regard to error correction,
and this will likely broaden their experience repertoire.
4. Conclusion
In our responses to the research questions, it may be reasonable to state that the
study has offered arguments, which we hope will be thought provoking for all SLA
researchers. From this present research, it is apparent that CF research is broad and
it is preferable to not make generalizations about the superiority of any type of CF.
As so many researchers and scholars assume, it is advisable to conduct more research
to further our understanding concerning CF together with its effectiveness.

31

Genesis 1

Shorkth: kaeazenthalaetn

Genesis: Chapter 1 (NIV Translation)

1) kaeazenthdre, Lorzaher drngeta ghgtipn

shorkth torltr. 2) kidr, ghgeta shorazhntorth
hariranharypyn, rnator drechkdr tepylhth,
Shorsh Lorzaherth shkum katorpnm
sharkidr. 3) tkaethysh, rna shorsh oren Lorzaher azh torltr, rna shorsh torpine. 4) Lorzaher rna grshaemth trash torltr, rna ranators
chkintr torpnl. 5) Lorzaher rna gorzhaea, ranatorpn razhaea shk torltr. drarzh gorzhipn
mza torsytm gorrzhia zenth.

1) In the beginning God created the heavens and

the earth. 2) Now the earth was formless and empty,
darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the
Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3) And
God said, Let there be light, and there was light. 4)
God saw that the light was good, and he separated
the light from the darkness. 5) God called the light
day, and the darkness he called night. And there
was evening, and there was morningthe first day.

6) tkaethysh, eta shar shars chkintorl shorsh

oren sharkidia Lorzaher azh torltr. 7) Lorzaher
eta shorkth torsytl, shar etis shars etidr
chkintr torpnl. shorsh ktorsytm. 8) Lorzaher eta hketa shk torltr. drarzh gorzhipn
mza torsytm gorrzhia firth.

6) And God said, Let there be a vault between the

waters to separate water from water. 7) So God
made the vault and separated the water under the
vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8) God
called the vault sky. And there was evening, and
there was morningthe second day.

9) tkaethysh, shar hketis dra oren fnzendr,

ghk trashmn pene Lorzaher azh torltr. shorsh
ktorsytm. 10) Lorzaher ghk ghgn, sharkypyn drkth shhdky shk torltr. Lorzaher
shen grshaemth trash torpnl. 11) tkaethysh,
ghgn gorplorky shorsh ltren: gorplorky
zdumm, hgorploraetkypin gorplorzdumm
gorplorazmykidr; nvinky fghnmth Lorzaher azh torltr. shorsh ktorsytm. 12)
ghgn gorplorky shorsh torltr: gorplorky
zdumm nvinky fghnmth, hgorploraetkypin gorplorzdumm gorplorazykidr nvinky
fghnmth. Lorzaher shen grshaemth trash
torpnl. 13) drarzh gorzhipn mza torsytm
gorrzhia lorth.

9) And God said, Let the water under the sky be

gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.
And it was so. 10) God called the dry ground land,
and the gathered waters he called seas. And God
saw that it was good. 11) Then God said, Let the
land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and
trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds. And it was so. 12)
The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed
according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit
with seed in it according to their kinds. And God
saw that it was good. 13)And there was evening,
and there was morningthe third day.
32

14) tkaethysh, ranky drngetidre gorzhaea

razhis chkintorl shorsh oren; kaeakishky
blavinth, gorrzhiky, kaeakinkypin r kpnilky,
15) ranky drngetidre ghgn rna kpnilky, Lorzaher azh torltr. shorsh ktorsytm. 16) Lorzaher rankyshfir shorkth torltr: ranna gorzhaea chgll, rannys razhaea chgll. shytrilky
shorkth indrtorpnl. 17) Lorzaher shenky ghytor tyrltr drngetidre ghgn rna ksytnilky, 18)
gorzhaea razhipn chgil sytenl, rna ranators
chkyntor sytnilpn. Lorzaher shen grshaemth
trash torpnl. 19) drarzh gorzhipn mza
torsytm gorrzhia betth.

14) And God said, Let there be lights in the vault

of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let
them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days
and years, 15) and let them be lights in the vault of
the sky to give light on the earth. And it was so.
16) God made two great lightsthe greater light to
govern the day and the lesser light to govern the
night. He also made the stars. 17) God set them in
the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18) to
govern the day and the night, and to separate light
from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19)
And there was evening, and there was morning
the fourth day.

20)
tkaethysh,
shar
bartunzyn
oren
shoretkirum,
hkoraetky hkan aren
ghgindr hketinum Lorzaher azh torltr.
21) Lorzaher shoraetky hth, shorashknpn
shhdth benghnm nvinky fghnmth,
hkoretknpn nvinky fghnmth shorkth
torsytl. Lorzaher shen grshaemth trash
torpnl. 22) Lorzaher shenky morazith torltr,
zdum, vomthpn, fanpn ilarenky shhadkidre;
hkoraetky vomth penm ghgindr azhl. 23)
drarzh gorzhipn mza torsytm gorrzhia
ghmth.

20) And God said, Let the water teem with living
creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across
the vault of the sky. 21) So God created the great
creatures of the sea and every living thing with
which the water teems and that moves about in it,
according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22) God blessed them and said, Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and
let the birds increase on the earth. 23) And there
was evening, and there was morningthe fifth day.

24) tkaethysh, ghgn shorshky shorsh ltren

nvinky fghnmth: ghginoraetfn, shorshky
benghnm ghginrum, saefnaetkypin nvinky
fghnmth Lorzaher azh torltr. shorsh
ktorsytm. 25) Lorzaher saefnaetky nvinky
fghnmth, ghginoretfnpn nvinky fghnmth,
shorshknpn benghnm ghginrum nvinky
fghnmth shorkth torltr. Lorzaher shen
grshaemth trash torpnl.

24) And God said, Let the land produce living

creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the
creatures that move along the ground, and the wild
animals, each according to its kind. And it was so.
25) God made the wild animals according to their
kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all
the creatures that move along the ground according
to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26) tkaethysh, tlerythaetky shorkth mlatrenky

bchor mkith fghnmth, shoraetky shhdre
hkoraetkypin
hketidre,
ghginoraetfn,
saefnaetknpn, shorashknpn benghnm ghgindr,
chgl ksytnilky Lorzaher azh torltr. 27) Lorzher
tlerythaetky shorkth torsytl bchor indr
fghnmth, bchor Lorzaherth fghnmth,
shenky shorkth indrtorltr; shenky shorkth
indrtorltr,drgaraenarpn.28)Lorzahershenky
morazith torltr, ghenky zdum, vomthpn, fanpn
ilarenky ghgindre, shen drgzdmaet ilpnilky.
shoraetky shhdre, hkoraetkypin hketidre,
shorashknpn benghnm ghgindr chgl ilatrenky.
azhl. 29) tkaethysh, ghilky gorplorkne
zdumm ghgetianedr, hgorploraetkynpn
gorplorzdumm gorplorazykidr on mltr.
pishton ilkakmky kkidr. 30) ghginoretknedr
ghginth, hkoretknpn hketi, shorashknpn
benghnm ghginrum mkndr hogndr
shor gorplorkne orzhar on mltr,
pishton kksytnilky. Lorzaher azh torltr. shorsh
ktorsytm. 31) Lorzaher mkne shorkthik
indrarum,
grshaemthyth
kkatorpynmky.
drarzh gorzhipn mza torsytm gorrzhia tae.

26) Then God said, Let us make mankind in our

image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over
the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the
livestock and all the wild animals,and over all the
creatures that move along the ground. 27) So God
created mankind in his own image, in the image of
God he created them; male and female he created
them. 28) God blessed them and said to them, Be
fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and
subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds
in the sky and over every living creature that moves
on the ground. 29) Then God said, I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth
and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They
will be yours for food. 30) And to all the beasts of
the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the
creatures that move along the groundeverything
that has the breath of life in itI give every green
plant for food. And it was so. 31) God saw all that
he had made, and it was very good. And there was
evening, and there was morningthe sixth day.

33

The Fleeing Of The

Nmmezse

with reference to the Conlang Nmmezse

In days long gone, before the Nmmezse lived in the to leave their nomadic life and live in settlements,
northern region of Lemunanm (the Moicha word although a few endured...for a while anyways.
for those lands). They lived in ldeimm, a small
town in Rnum. This story tells of why they moved. The two brothers cosied down in their little wooden
house, for while they had no food, they had a good
fire to warm their souls. Not long afterwards they
Im so hungry said the starved hunter, he looked were sleeping and dreaming.
over to his brother cant we eat one? just one? We
have no food to take home to our dear old mother, Fomhiuhi dreamt that he was in his wooden house
surely the punishment for hunting a Serolferoc cant chewing on some tasteless grass. He swallowed the
be that bad? They are just like the deer we would hunt unsavoury snack when he heard the faint sound of
if there was any
the Fmhfyml bellowing in the still night air, never
No Fomhiuhi the brother spoke, the Serolferoc was music so beautiful , and never was music so sad.
are holy creatures that have the souls of our ancestors, Fomhiuhi left his house to find the unusual sound,
the punishment for hunting one is volatile, now dont listening with his ears he was guided to a dark forest
think such thoughts
with trees standing tall. Just as the music was getting
louder he saw small flashes among the trees. He went
That little chat ended another hunt with nothing forward to see that those flashes were fires around
hunted. The two brothers went home that day with a great hall, with a piper playing the beautiful, sad
empty stomachs and hopes of a better hunt tomorrow music. Fomhiuhi walked further on and saw people
morning. But those hopes were seeping away with dancing with gusto on a level place to the most
each night for the deers numbers were dropping with beautiful , happiest music, he couldnt help but dance
each day ever since the wolf spirit Nhah iwlwn ate merrily with them and soon found himself dancing
most of the deer in mlomn long ago, there wasnt with gorgeous girl called Pinhr, with hair brown as
enough left over for the Sumn, a tribe of nomadic a summer doe. Together they danced all over with
deer hunters, to hunt, forcing many of the Sumn
34

smiling eyes. But Fomhiuhi smelled food cooking,

the teasing scent came from the great hall and the
hunger stabbed his stomach harshly. He left the girl
and went in the hall with hopes of quieting his hunger.
There he found a large gathering of people eating
more food and drink than he had ever seen. He went
to where the food was cooking and asked the cook
for some meat. Of course! She said, she gave him
a plate with the most beautiful, most succulent meat
get that down your throat!. Fomhiuhi are one little
peace, for just that one little peace amazed his mouth
with taste. What is this meat youre cooking?
Fomhiuhi asked the cook.
That is Serolferoc

throughout the clearing and forest, throughout the

house where the hunters mother was cooking a poor
dinner. The shriek vibrated in Fomhiuhis chest.
Right away Fomhiuhis brother came running down
the hill to see what the commotion in the air was. His
brother came to find a black and sorry sight, he saw
Fomhiuhi take his bloody arrow out of the dead
creature.
I told you! it is just a deer, a big white deer full of
meat! We will eat well today! The whole village eat
well with this one Serolferoc!
Fomhiuhi! What did you do! Im deeply ashamed!
a Serolferoc!

Fomhiuhi awakened.

It is food, Twlorc, my brother, food! A whole lot of

food! Dont tell me that the hunger isnt striking at
He ran outside the house and listened to the morning your own stomach now, help me carry this home so
air...no music, he spied the forest not far from his that we can eat!
house...no great hall... Oh well, just a dream, as was
the meat I ate..the Serolferoc meat...Im hungrier As ashamed as he was, Twlorc also couldnt endure
now
the hunger. And as the deer was dead anyways,
Twlorcs starved mind though it would be just as
Hey Fomhiuhi, get ready for hunting today his well to eat the dead holy creature. So together they
brothers voice cut through the morning air like a carried the deer home and cooked it, they ate like
crows screech. He got himself ready and set out for starved dogs and for once their stomachs were full
the hunt. As the hopeless brothers searched for deer and happy. The cooking gave of a scent that wandered
in the cold and open clearing, Fomhiuhis hunger through the whole village and soon there was people
made him think about his dream...how good the at their door asking the hunters what they smelled,
Serolferoc was, how it satisfied his hunger. He knew the two brothers told them that they found a herd
it was wrong, he knew that the Serolferoc were holy of deer by the hill and hunted a few deer, and that
spirits, he knew that there was a vicious punishment there was enough food for everyone. That night the
for anyone who dare hunt such a holy creature... village forgot what hunger was, everyone was so
but...he was just...so..hungry. Like yesterday there happy that there was dancing, singing and laughter,
was no deer to hunt..although there was a big herd and everyone slept with hope in their hearts.
of Serolferoc, just grazing. No man or beast scared
them because nobody dare hunt them, a whole herd The morning after was an odd one, it was quiet...
of them, just grazing...
too quiet. The birds werent singing, th wind wasnt
blowing, the babies werent crying, the children
Fomhiuhi said to his brother go over to that hill werent playing, no cooking fire would burn. The
and look over the land, you may see a few deer that village had a firm and unusual feeling in their hearts
way, I will stay here and look for deer down here, is but nobody could say what it was...everyone except
that okay?
two brothers had a clue. But the quiet was broken
by a long screeching, terrible howl that made the air
Yes, sure, Ill see you later said the brother.
itself shake and put fear in even the toughest heart...
then it was calm again. Everyone gathered outside in
Now alone with nothing but his hunger and a bow the village to see what it was but nothing was seen.
and arrow, Fomhiuhi walked close to where the The two brothers knew however, now with minds
Serolferoc were grazing. With a shaky hand he took that arent blinded with hunger they knew that their
an arrow and drew eis his bow and aimed for one punishment was coming, but they didnt dare tell
large, white, sacred creature. The Serolferoc rose its anyone what that meat was. Fomhiuhi opened his
head and looked at Fomhiuhi, with a plain look that mouth to speak to his brother
a child would give to a passing curiosity. Fomhiuhi
had some reserve...but also a harsh, stabbing hunger... Bro...
he couldnt endure the hunger any longer...it took his
mind and removed all reserve...and made him shoot
the Serolferoc. The Serolferoc gave out a terrible Fooooomhiiiiiuuuuuuhiii
shriek as the arrow struck its pure flesh. its shriek
filled the air even after it died, the shriek echoed
35

Before he could finish one word another shriek struck their ears. But with it a great cold wind blew that
nearly blew ever off their feet.
Im sorr...
Foooooomhiiiiiiiiuuuuuuuhiiiiiii
Twlorc looked over to his brother, but all he saw was Fomhiuhi running through the village and to their
house, Twlorc followed him in.
Here, help me hide this Serolferoc meat, maybe if we hide it the shrieking will stop Fomhiuhi said to his
brother with fear in his voice.
I told you the punishment would be viscous, Im not helping you hide anything, I didnt hunt the Serolferoc,
it was you that shot it, not me!
Before Fomhiuhi could put in another word there was frightening howls again. But now it was the villagers
that made the sound. Fomhiuhi and Twlorc were stuck solid with fear. Both of them exited the house to
find the villagers running away, not a soul except the two brothers were left.
What are they running from?...
They turned around and saw a thick mist, and in the thick mist was a Serolferoc with blood in its hair,
standing eight feet tall and great antlers that were even higher. It just stood and looked at the hunter and
gave a deep and loud bellow that almost said Fomhiuhi. Then with the speed of a winter wind it smacked
the ground with its hooves and ran for Fomhiuhi. The hunter put his arms before him and shut his eyes,
waiting for the antlers to tear him open, the pounding hooves were getting closer and closer...but there was
quiet again...Fomhiuhi put his hands down and saw that the Serolferoc was gone.
Oh, not so...
FOOOOOOOMMHIIIIUUUUHIIIIII
In the mist two giant bright yellow eyes shone, the creature behind the eyes was
so large that it made the brothers look like little mice next to a great bear. From
its mouth the creature blew a blizzard that buried the village in white snow, and
froze the brothers so quick that before they could cry for help, they were two,
frozen, cold, dead, ice statues.
By this time the villagers had a long distance between them and the village. When
they stopped to rest they started to wonder why their village was attacked. The
brothers old mother, ashamed, told everyone that the night before they all ate
Serolferoc meat, hunted by her own sons. They never did go back to their village,
but rather they fled east and south, it was a harsh journey, with no buildings
to keep the wind off them many died in the cold night, even Fomhiuhis own
mother. More than half of them died, but the ones that endured travelled to
Lemunanm and made a settlement. Where the Nmmezse live to this day,
and no matter how hungry they were, none of them hunted or ate a Serolferoc
again.

Notes
The girls name Pinhr comes from the Old Sumr name Pie meaning she who rejoices
The Fmhfyml is a Sumric music instrument that is a tall and thin horn which stretches vertically above the blowers head, the end
where the air comes out is often shaped like a deer
The Nmmezse village name ldeimm comes from the Old Sumr ildr meaning wrongdoing and -mm which is a place name
forming suffix, itself a contraction of a word for campsite.
The first name Fomhiuhi roughy translates as bothersome one.

36

When developing my languages, in particular

Amrikst[mke]Ioftendrawupthephonology
and the orthography first, as it makes it easier to begin
writing out notes. Immediately after, I basically
tackle any grammatical structure I can think of!
Figuring out the way the languages grammar works
first is critical to me; it challenges me to come up
with my own sentences. In this process, I can kill
two birds with one stone: Establish an important
communicative rule, and develop vocabulary as
I go along! Sure enough, this process has recently
brought to my conlang two pretty interesting words,
if I do say so myself!

U and ka are two clause-joining, bridging
particles inAmrikst! They are used to express that one
clause is a condition, and the other is a consequence.
In English, these sentences would be translated as
an If then type of sentence. Though usually
the condition, or the if, is stated first, either clause
can introduce the sentence as long as either u or
ka lies between them. The consequence clause is
marked by the verb, utilizing the prefix zo- or z. This is also the subjunctive mood! The only time
one would state the consequence first, typically, is in
response to a yes or no kind of question.

Note: This is also one of the few cases where youll

almost always see z used instead of zo. The
former is simply a softer, less meaningful form of
the subjunctive, and is used in this case mainly to
match the askers use of v, which is a softer form
of vo, the optative mood marker (want to). Most
speakers would, however, simply leave out Zntee
vakk and begin the sentence with ka.
One very important thing to know is that u and
ka are not interchangeable! The nature of the
consequence determines the appropriate selection.
U is used when the consequence is involuntary;
its simply a natural, factual reaction to the condition.
On the other hand, ka is used for voluntary
consequences, reactions that are chosen upon ones
free will. Here are some examples:

And Relative Clauses

In Amrikst
While using the less correct particle would give
off an inaccurate implication, it would simply be a
sign of a non-native speaker. Using one instead of
the other still tells the speaker what the condition
is and what the consequence is. Using ka where
u would be more appropriate always just sounds
unnatural, but sometimes speakers will use u
for voluntary consequences, to exaggerate the
likelihood, sometimes comically.

37

These words can also be used to form questions by

placing u or ka at the end of a statement. This is
used to ask reasoning behind an action one of the
ways English speakers use why. The speaker still
must choose the correct word of the two. If asking
the cause of something, u is used. When asking
why someone chose to do something, ka is used.

When it comes to case, the verb (V) in the very

beginning of the sentence governs the case of the
subject of all relative clause verbs. For instance,
in a V1S1V2S2O sentence, S2 could be in the
nominative or the accusative case, while S1 can only
be in the nominative. The case of O has to be the
opposite of S2. Essentially, the case of S2 determines
the meaning of the entire sentence. If nominative, the
sentence describes two subjects that do something
to the same object. Otherwise, it describes a subject
doing something to an object which is also a subject
that does something to another object.
The other most commonly encountered relative
clause construction is V1V2SO1O2. Here, O2
can only be in the accusative case, but S and O1
determine the meaning. If S is nominative, then the
sentence describes a single subject (S) that does one
action (V1) to one object (O2), and that does another
action to different object (V2, O1). An accusative S
means that an object (O1) of one verb (V2) does
another action (V1) to another object (O2). This
can turn out to be quite the confusing concept, but
with time, this aspect of Amrikst can come very
instinctively. Lets look at some examples, courtesy
of Zompist:

Conjunctions are very useful to language speakers;

being able to relate two ideas can be very
communicatively powerful. Sometimes, however,
no conjunctions are needed! In English, we can
denote relative clauses a variety of ways. There are
three words: That, Which, and Who, and the
fourth method is to use no word at all. The semantic
difference between The butter I ate and the butter
that I ate is extremely minimal the latter is just
more specific. In Amrikst, there are no words like
this, i.e. The butter I ate is gone. is the closest
English approximation to the Amrikst equivalent.
This is where the two noun cases in Amrikst
become very important! Amrikst has nominative
and accusative cases, but when relative clauses are
inserted in the sentences, their traditional roles can
be reversed, i.e. the accusative case noun can be the
subject, and the nominative the object. When we
talk about the general syntax of a language, we use
initialisms.
Amrikst, being a Verb-Subject-Object language,
would be described as VSO. If you want to add a
relative clause to describe the subject or the object,
you just replace that component with another
VSO clause! So the sentence can end up looking
like a VVSOO sentence, or a VSVSO, or even a
VVSOVSO sentence!

I find that it is these kinds of quirks that give a

conlang, at least an a priori one, its personality. Its
very easy, when developing a language, to hold
a belief that it must work a certain way usually
that of ones native language. When the language
constructor keeps in mind that anything is possible,
really unique and creative constructs can come
about!

* 1 The number indicates the order in which

the grammatical features appear

38

BLISSYMBOLICS
The Conlang That Revolutionised
Simple Communication
Year: 1938, the German Army invades Austria
(a country with a government already destabilised
by Nazi-Mobs) with the purpose of annexing a
German-speaking nation to the Third Reich. Hitler
is enthusiastically met by the Austrian citizens, and
by forcefully blackmailing and coercing Chancellor
Dr. Kurt von Schuschnigg turns the nation into a
Nazi-allied Federal State, under threat of a violent
raid to overtake the country should Schuschnigg fail
to comply.

Among those Jews sentenced to death, a chemical

engineer in his 40s, Charles K. Bliss hopes for a
miracle to be set free as he is moved from Dachau
concentration camp to Buchenwald. Claire, his
German-Catholic wife, achieves the impossible and
gets him released after arduous pleads and they are
required to leave the country immediately, lest he is
discovered and sent to the camps again.

Hitler is welcomed in Austria

The Nazi occupation causes a ferocious and brutal

hunt of Jews, even more atrocious that the ones
occurring in Germany itself. Jews are humiliated
everywhere and several thousands are sent to
concentration camps to work and die.

Buchenwald
Concentration Camp

39

In their migrational banishment they split up and are forced to travel

around England, Romania, Greece, Canada, Japan seeking for a
safe harbor to start again amidst a world immersed in a futile war.
Some time later, they manage to meet again in the Japanese-occupied
Shanghai and forced to live as reffos in the Hongkew ghetto among
other thousands of Jews who had been laboring to survive in one of
the poorest and most crowded areas of the city.
Hongkew Ghetto
-Shanghai-

During their time there, Charles Bliss (back then Karl K. Blitz) becomes fascinated by the Chinese
characters and their capacity for expressing thoughts pictographically, and undertakes learning the
language during his years of stay. However, It was not long until he shifted his attention from the
monumental task of learning the thousands of characters to start a colossal, psycholinguistic and
semiotic research in quest for the perfect-ideographic-international conscript and conlang, later
called The Semantography Language.
During the cold times and blacked-out nights of war-time he studied and marveled at the beauty
and complexity of human language and over the course of years crafts with the aid of his wife,
his utopic World Writing, a permanent, creative and logical solution to linguistically unite the
world.
His international auxiliary language (auxlang), finally called after his name Blissymbolics, was
a visual-speechless language, strongly influenced by the ideas of C. K. Ogden in his work The
Meaning of Meaning and the language concepts of I. A. Richards. This auxlang was devised using
the triangle of reference as foundation; a semantic tool that allows to correlate three different
types of elements which each other.

End of part l

40

Take Your Conlang To The Expert Level

Time Mapping
When designing a constructed language, it is often
advised to start with phonology and morphology,
i.e. a sound system, and word-formation rules, and
then to focus on syntax, i.e. rules for arranging
words within sentences.
Though this way of proceeding sounds reassuring
for neophytes, it has for me one major pitfall: it
gives exaggerated preeminence to the mechanics of
the language, and I suspect it to hinder creativity
and the design of a dramatically different language.

Some languages, such as American Sign Language,

ASL, use several axes thus adapting signing space
to express temporal information at the lexical level
and at the discourse level. Signers, as they express
time, shift not only their hands, but their whole
body along some of these axes.

So, how to take your conlang to the expert level?

By truly conculturing as you conlang, through the
creation of an innovative system of conceptual
metaphors.
Lets take for instance the mapping of time. How do
you see it in your conlang?
Most Westerners have a horizontal left-right mental
line, which is consistent with the direction of their
reading/writing. In contrast, Arabic and Hebrew
speakers have a horizontal right-left mental line.
What about Chinese? If many use a horizontal
timeline, some map time along a vertical axis
corresponding to their vertical to bottom written
language.
41

All these languages seem to have not only characterised time with
properties of space, but have also mapped the future as if it were in
front of the ego and the past behind, to the point that it was considered
as a cognitive universal among humans - the Universal Mapping
Hypothesis.
However Aymara departs from the standard model, the Amerindian
group locates this imaginary abstraction the other way around: with
the past ahead and the future behind. And when talking of the future,
they thumb or wave over their shoulders.
Aymara
Traditional Dances

Where will you place the future?

Front? Top? Bottom?
What about being bold by making time-mapping very relative,
full of worm-holes and distortions?
As you design your language, you create your own reality. The
paradigms we know are mere stepping stones towards limitless
possibilities of fantastic new relations with the outer world.
We look forward to reading about your experience with timemapping on the CM fb page!

42

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