http://hdl.handle.net/11089/54151 Sun, 05 Apr 2026 20:55:41 GMT 2026-04-05T20:55:41Z https://dspace.uni.lodz.pl:443/xmlui/bitstream/id/e1e70412-1ac1-49bc-894a-6c0aac39f122/ http://hdl.handle.net/11089/54151 http://hdl.handle.net/11089/54215 Students' Attitudes and Perceptions towards Learning EAP Courses during Emergency Remote Teaching: Insights and Implications Smirnov-Okanin, Inna; Michaelan, Roman; Munteanu, Sonia C.; Păduretu, Sanda Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic in the middle of the spring 2020 semester, many high education institutions were forced to move from face-to-face (FTF) teaching to remote instruction. The purpose of this study is to investigate students' attitudes and perceptions towards their learning of English for academic purposes mandatory courses and their engagement in learning these courses in comparison to FTF learning. The subjects of the research consisted of 712 students from two engineering higher education institutions (one from Romania and one from Israel) and one general higher education institution from Israel. Data were collected using a 5-point Likert-type survey. The results indicated that students had a positive attitude towards the remote learning of English and perceived it as having a positive effect on their learning experience and engagement. The results of the research can help educators in terms of adopting appropriate decisions regarding online teaching as a routine mode of learning (not in the emergency) and to make appropriate modifications and adaptations to the EAP courses. Thus, a better understanding of how this transition impacts students' attitudes toward learning could have important implications for instructional design, curriculum development, and teacher training. Tue, 31 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/11089/54215 2024-12-31T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11089/54214 Selected Acoustic Features of the Welsh Lateral Fricative /ɫ/ Baran, Michał The Welsh language exhibits a number of features uncommon from a cross-linguistic point of view, one of which is a relatively large number of fricative phonemes. This paper analyses selected acoustic features of the Welsh lateral fricative /ɬ/ in order to contribute to the debate on the laryngeal system in Welsh and the classification of /ɬ/ within that system. Total articulation length, voicing length and SMA parameters of the friction period are measured and analysed on the basis of recordings of 6 native speakers of Welsh. The results confirm the classification of /ɬ/ as a fortis sound proposed in earlier studies (Asmus and Grawunder 2017, Baran forthcoming) and suggest that the Welsh /ɬ/ may exhibit aspiration. Tue, 31 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/11089/54214 2024-12-31T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11089/54213 Exploring the Status of Voiceless Labiovelar Fricative /ʍ/ in Contemporary American English Walczak, Dominika The study attempts to investigate the current status of the voiceless labiovelar fricative /ʍ/ in American English with reference to selected sociolinguistic variables, such as age, regional background, formality of the speech and prestige. The study comprises 17 subjects and 34 recordings of their speech – two recordings of a different level of formality per each speaker. All of the analyzed recordings are available online. The analysis focuses on wh-words, such as e.g. why, while, whale or white. In the first part of the study, the number of wh-context words in each speech is juxtaposed with the actual production of the researched variable. The second part of the study concentrates on the comparison of the obtained qualitative data with selected social variables. The results of the study may not only broaden the understanding of the voiceless labiovelar fricative use in American English but may also have pedagogical implications to whether the variable should be included in the phonetic courses on American English. Tue, 31 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/11089/54213 2024-12-31T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/11089/54212 The Frames of Romance Scamming Faber, Pamela This paper studies love fraud or romance scamming as scripted communication within a commercial transaction frame. The main participants are the seller (fraudster), buyer (victim), goods (long-term romantic relationship), and money (paid by the victim). The data for this study were collected from 53 conversations between fraudsters and the author. The romance scamming frame was activated by language and lexical choices and geared to winning her trust. The process took place in stages or subframes that guided the victim towards the payment of a large sum of money. These subframes also corresponded to the different ‘subformats’ of an authentic script or ‘format’ used by romance scammers in West Africa. Tue, 31 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/11089/54212 2024-12-31T00:00:00Z