DESCRIPTION OF DATA
Three minutes and twenty six seconds of audio-recorded first generation spoken language have been transcribed to examine for lexis, grammar, syntax and phonology. From this I aimed to discover whether there was evidence of basic differences in word selection including knowledge of correct nouns, construction of sentences, and understanding of syntax and complexity of explanations. By comparing the English speech in giving a recipe with the recipe given in Bengali I could determine whether speech patterns were actually based on Bengali.
ANALYSIS
DATA A
Answers to oral questions in English were recorded then transcribed to provide a sample of spoken Bengali.
- Grammar
When reading the answers to the first two questions there are obvious variations from accepted English sentence order. The lexis is limited and specific or precise language choices are sacrificed for more general or vague terms e.g. ‘curry and rice’, ‘piece, piece’. Lack of use of proper nouns or verbs has resulted in losing the ability to recall the word. However, along with this is the adaptation of Bengali syntax into English. Since my informant seems to think in Bengali rather than in English (she appears to be translating word by word without reference to English sentence construction.
Further peculiarities are seen in lines 21 and 22. Here the syntactic order has impeded the sense of the instruction. Line 24 has the verb ‘chop’ at the end of the sentence, resulting from translating directly from Bengali word order. The wrong word order adds the uncertainty to the explanation, yet the interviewee is a recognized competent cook who could demonstrate the making of the dish easily. Confusion between the usage of Bengali word order and English is noticeable in line 7 and this along with inconsistent word choices blurs the sense of meaning of this step of the recipe.
- Lexis
This lack of precision is evident in the description of ‘yellow powder’ instead of e.g. ‘egg food colour’. Using the verb ‘make’ to replace ‘becomes’ reflects her inability to recall principal verbs through her lack of speaking practice. Line 24 (‘danya’), is an example of replacing an unknown English term with a Bengali substitute.
- Phonology
There are many hesitations and repairs to be noted in this data. Line 3 which demonstrate lack of confidence in using the superlative word form. Her obvious embarrassment leads her to simplify the statement to ‘I like chicken balti’. See line 14. The repairs demonstrate her awareness of choosing the wrong word and her struggle to find the more precise ‘paste’. Confusion with the order of words in lines 21 and 22 leads to another repair.
In data A there are a total of 76 hesitations and pauses which make the content difficult to follow. In line 3 the informant hesitates because of apparently having difficulty in expressing her thought in English. The hesitations and pauses in lines 6 – 8 appear to be caused by a difficulty in explaining a process she understands well. The use of ‘err’ gives her mental thinking time as she tries to think of the description of the action or correct name. This lack of fluency prompts me to believe that formal language training does not lead to fluency in the spoken aspect of language.
SUMMARY OF DATA A
DATA B
The informant was questioned orally using the Bengali language. Her recorded answers were then transcribed and translated to examine the patterns of Bengali speech. The spoken English of Data A could then be compared to the language construction of Bengali.
- Grammar
The data shows that although the grammatical composition of the sentences and the word order is standard, recognized Bengali, when translated into English there are many inconsistencies with spoken Standard English.
Verbs are placed at the end of sentences showing a direct translation word by word firm Bengali e.g. line 5, ‘boil’, ‘made’.
This translation affects the sense of the sentence when spoken in English as can be seen on lines 9 -10. The words are simply grouped in phrases; simple co-coordinating conjunctions are used to link these.
- Lexis
Meaning is blurred over the use of the verb ‘make’, which seems to be an imprecise translation of an appropriate active Bengali verb and denotes the origin of the action lies in Bengali. This lack of specific verb use represents the social status of Bengali women who are taught practical cooking skills from an early age and therefore, have no need to consult recipe books which would further enrich their vocabulary.
Some English words are seen even in the Bengali speech, this is the assimilation of words borrowed from another language and used everyday, not a mixing of the two languages by mistake e.g. ‘oil’, ‘fry pan’. The use of ‘onion’ instead of ‘fyaz’ in line 22 is, however a mistake possibly because of having been asked to speak English immediately preceding this explanation (i.e. Data A) which demonstrates some confusion between the two languages.
‘Small, small’ line 14 is a comparative adjective and is used in spoken Bengali regularly. This reflects the use of ‘piece, piece’ in Data A which replaces smaller/ smallest pieces. The repetition appears to replace the adjectives or adverbs in English.
To explain the ingredients and process required, mainly concrete nouns are used, although the definite or indefinite article does not always accompany these, for instance in lines 5 and 6 ‘just water in boil’, ‘rice more anything need’. A proper noun is used ‘fish curry’ which is not seen in Data A – since a more specific word choice is known when using Bengali. Common nouns are listed showing ease of recall when speaking Bengali. There are no obvious hesitations in data 2, when compared with data 1; the struggle to express the answer in English is evident. The use of ‘all types of fish’ shows confidence in the knowledge that there is a possibility of adapting the recipe and that higher order nouns are known in Bengali.
The apparent confusion of the English translation of Data B is heightened by a lack of use of modifiers which may explain the repetition of certain words.
Line 4 finishes with a preposition which would not normally happen in English. Verbs in the present tense are used correctly in instructions and explanations, no evidence of any data of past/ future verb tenses was found. Perhaps this shows a lack of knowledge of tense or that the verb forms are direct translation of Bengali.
The phraseology of speech in data B does not represent standard spoken English or written English, but appears to be closely linked with the Bengali language.
- Phonology
Repetitions are a pattern in Bengali speech, ‘fish curry, fish curry’, ‘fry I do, fry I do’. This is used to add emphasis to a statement, however in English it is seen as a measure to gain time to think about what to say next.
SUMMARY OF DATA B
DATA C
An initial glance at this data shows immediately that it is more detailed and comprehensive than the spoken recipe. When reading the text a more appropriate and varied vocabulary is evident. The text is cohesive and easy to follow. The correct framework for an instruction text is used. First the ingredients are listed, commas are used correctly and then the method and preparation is explained in chronological order.
- Grammar
The imperative verb is used correctly for instance in line 7, ‘take some mince meat’. The order of stages is described sequentially using ‘next’, ‘after’, ‘later’ which denotes the time stages with correct connectives. This follows the fact that the learning of English was through written work, giving higher order skills when writing than when speaking.
The written syntax includes compound and complex sentences not following the pattern of the simple sentences seen in the transcript of spoken speech. ‘After half an hour take it out from the freeze and make them boil’ – is an example of a compound sentence. Another compound sentence is ‘take some mince meat, and then chop the onion and green chilly and coriander leaf.’
A subordinate clause is included in lines 13 – 18, ‘after half an hour… meatball’, although no punctuation is used to separate it. This is an example of confidence in using more complex sentence construction when writing English than when speaking it. Only simple sentences were used in Data A. Having a longer time period to write English than is available to think of words when searching for fluency in speech has allowed informant A to recall more detail and more precise language. As in Data A and B there is a lack of use of the definite article, on the whole. This could relate to the fact that there is no specific word for ‘a’ or ‘the’ in Bengali, which is the informant’s first language. The order of words within a sentence accords to the pattern of English speech. For instance in line 19 she says ‘Next you have to make some grows’. Precise word choices are made to illustrate the meaning as in line 23, ‘blend’.
The grammatical structure provides clarity to the information given – ‘after half hours take it out of the freeze.’ This shows that the written English has more fluency than the spoken.
- Lexis
The sense of the written recipe is clarified by the addition of adjectives, which are not used in the other data samples. For example line 16 states ‘deep fry pan’. ‘Stir until the onion is soft’ and adjectival clauses. This demonstrates that the informant has a greater knowledge of English words than she can instantly recall when speaking. This could be due to the fact that by having some difficulty in translating Bengali – English quickly enough for speech and giving all her attention to this task, there is no consideration given to using high quality vocabulary choices when speaking. This appears to support my hypothesis. This is also apparent in the inclusion of adverbs in the written recipe for example line 29, ‘properly’.
The lexical field associated with cookery language is used. Word choices are more precise, showing a range of vocabulary not evident in the spoken Data A/B. Compound words such as ‘meatball’, and correct common nouns such as ‘green chilly, coriander leaf’ et cetera are examples. This would imply a more knowledgeable vocabulary than the data A/B would indicate. Only a small amount of known words are used in her speech.
Appropriate nouns are used; many concrete nouns are listed in the first paragraph. The informant can recall these although she never uses them in speech or writing ordinarily. I believe that this reflects the teaching style she experienced, which provided a broad vocabulary without the equal ability to use it in speech.
Although only simple regular verbs were spoken in Data A/B. Data C, more suitable, descriptive verbs are chosen for instance ‘blend’, ‘preparation’. Again this leads me to suppose that a greater fluency is exhibited in written English than in its spoken form. This appears to support my hypothesis that learning English in a formal way, even for a prolonged period, does not necessarily lead to the ability to speak it fluently.
SUMMARY OF DATA C
REPRESENTATION OF SOME FINDINGS IN DATA FORM
Note: Hesitations marked by ‘err’.
The graphs show that spoken English is the most hesitant.
CONCLUSION
The three pieces of data that were collected from a Bengali/ English speaker were studied to analyse the speech patterns. As has been stated there is a close link between the improvised speech in Data A and the Bengali translation in Data B. When examining Data C, an improved grasp of the English Language is evident. This shows that the informant’s command of written English is superior. I conclude from this that fluent spoken English seems to depend on an oral method of learning language being a high priority when the teaching of English as a second language occurs. Lack of use of English in a variety of situations means a limited vocabulary is used. This seems to be caused by the oral language being non English. Translating from Bengali when using spoken English results in meaning and fluency being lost in translation.
Studying Data B made me realise that data A was closely linked to Bengali and supports my hypothesis that language needs to be used especially in two way conversations, for skills and understanding to remain. The emphasis on original learning by the informant through the written method, which has not been transferred to vocal skills, appears to have had limited use for communicating in spoken language.
EVALUATION
I found the study most useful and interesting. Having the opportunity to examine in detail the speech of a Bengali/ English speaker has improved my wider understanding of linguistics.
Although I have stated that non-verbal communication is an important part of ‘fluency’ in speech I did not include an analysis of this in this study. A future aim would be to use a video camcorder instead of a Dictaphone which would then allow me to analyse body language as well.
I realise, however, that such a small data sample cannot be classed as complete evidence and in the future I would like to interview more Bengali women to find out how much English is spoken, by the 1st generation females, in general. I hope to have the opportunity to study and compare the English fluency of a male Bengali.
Following up the study with the study of the language skills of 2nd generation Bengalis at a future time would be more indicative of any changes due to their learning English, with an emphasis on using oral skills, in English schools and in social situations. Some confusion was shown in differentiating between English/ Bengali words (see Data B Line 23), perhaps this indicates the future of English Bengali Speakers?
I feel that further studies would then be a more conclusive proof to the theory that ‘Practice makes perfect’.
DATA A – SPOKEN ENGLISH (1:39)
DATA B – SPOKEN BENGALI (1:47)
DATA C – WRITTEN ENGLISH
