Keywords

EAP, University language, Register, Situational language description, Proportional register use, Processing mode

Abstract

The extent to which university students read, write, speak, and listen in a range of registers is not completely understood, but such descriptions could lead to better designed curriculum for English learners. The purpose of this study is to estimate the proportions of time American university students spend reading, writing, speaking, and listening in various registers. The present study combines diary and survey techniques to describe the language use behavior for 53 university students. The results indicated that nearly half of university student language use time is spent listening (49.5 %), followed by reading (20.7 %), writing (18.2 %), and speaking (11.6 %). Students also engaged in 37 distinct registers, with face-to-face conversations (12.32 %), homework problems (10.70 %), and lyrical music listening (10.46 %) being the most frequent. This description of university student language use could be useful for ESL curriculum design and shows that proportional descriptions of language use are more feasible than previously asserted.

Original Publication Citation

Hashimoto, B. (2024). A proportional description of university student mode and register use. Linguistics and Education, 83, 101336.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2024

Publisher

Linguistics and Education

Language

English

College

Humanities

Department

Linguistics

University Standing at Time of Publication

Assistant Professor

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