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The recent decades have seen enthusiastic calls for reconceptualizing English as a foreign language (EFL) education, taking into account the current socio-lingual status of English and how it is used genuinely for communication interculturally and internationally. However, a wide gap still exists between promulgation such as intelligibility over nativelikeness in pronunciation instruction and realities in the EFL classroom. The study investigated pre- and in-service teachers' cognition about accents and the incorporation of different accents in their classrooms. One hundred and sixty-six EFL teachers (89 pre-service and 77 in-service) from Hong Kong and Guangdong (a province in China) completed a questionnaire. Contrary to expectations, the teachers' overall attitude was neutral rather than positive towards General American (GA) / Received Pronunciation (RP)1 associated with EFL teachers' accents and EFL education. Only two thirds of the teachers were certain about which accents to use and to teach in listening and pronunciation lessons (i.e. as many as one third were uncertain). Also, the participants were neutral about incorporating non-GA/RP accents into EFL lessons, with around one third objecting to doing so. Although no differences were found between pre- and in-service teachers' cognition, additional analysis revealed that teachers' individual background variables, namely teaching experience, self-rated language proficiency, and knowledge of sound systems (IPA for English; pinyin for Mandarin), have significant correlations with their cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the predictability effects of pitch accent on word recognition using the sandhi rule in Kansai Japanese (KJ). Native KJ speakers and native Tokyo Japanese (TJ) speakers (control group) saw images of four objects while hearing modifier + noun phrases and selected the corresponding image as quickly as possible. The word-initial tone of the noun's initial mora was predictable or unpredictable based on the tone of the preceding modifier's final mora in KJ but not in TJ. Experiment 1 found faster reaction times in the predictable conditions compared with the unpredictable conditions in KJ speakers but only when the modifier had an all-low tone sequence. This finding suggests that a modifier-ending that changes following the sandhi rule can function as a reliable cue to constrain an upcoming tone, whereas a modifier-ending tone that remains the same as in the citation form cannot (although the next tone is predictable). Unexpectedly, we found the same effect, albeit weaker, in TJ speakers. Experiment 2 replicated this effect and additionally showed that the facilitation effect was not due to TJ speakers having sufficient exposure to KJ to be familiar with the KJ sandhi rule. We speculate that the effect in TJ speakers is related to a language universal constraint against a sequence of low tones without a high tone within a phonological word, which may urge listeners to listen for a high tone in the upcoming input. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sheds light on the semantics and pragmatics of an uninvestigated aspect of Japanese linguaculture (ways of speaking and living). It explores euphemistic verbs for Japanese shinu 死ぬ ‘die’ using corpus analysis and Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM). Owing to space constraints, only the 15 most frequent verbs are investigated. The meaning of each verb is unpacked using very simple words that have exact equivalents in Japanese. Additionally, light is shed on several cultural norms that direct native Japanese speakers in their use and interpretation of some of these verbs. Like each of the verbs in question, each cultural norm is paraphrased employing simple words. This study contributes to the fields of semantics, pragmatics, and anthropology. It is the first study to analyze and explicate Japanese euphemistic verbs for die in self-explanatory terms and to uncover some cultural norms that aid the Japanese to appropriately interact with each other when referring to the death of someone. As the paraphrase of each verb and norm is written in simple, (semi-)universal language, it can readily be translated into most (if not all) languages and can thus give any cultural outsider access to the meanings of these verbs and norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Test preparation has garnered considerable attention in second language (L2) education due to the significant implications that successful performance on a language test may have for academic advancement, future career opportunities, and immigration prospects. Meanwhile, an overemphasis on test preparation has been criticized for encouraging the cultivation of construct-irrelevant test-taking strategies at the expense of developing general language proficiency. To systematically explore how test preparation has been investigated in the literature, we conducted a scoping review of 66 studies on L2 test preparation. Specifically, this study examined the key characteristics of publications on test preparation, the main themes explored, the study and participant characteristics, as well as the essential aspects of their research methodologies. The results of this review revealed various trends in the literature on L2 test preparation, such as the exclusive focus on English as the target language, the lack of diversity in stakeholders as participants, the dominance of international language tests, and the paucity of experimental studies that utilize advanced statistical techniques. In addition to interpreting the results of our analysis, we discuss the implications of this scoping review and outline several directions for future research on test preparation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All languages in the world use different mechanisms to create new words. compounding is a morphological process whose main function is the formation of new word -forms. In Persian, compounding is the most productive morphological process. One of the compound words is numeral ones; a numeral in the broadest sense is a word or phrase that describes a numerical quantity. The main purpose of this research is to study the compound numeral construction [Num X] in Persian within the framework of Construction Morphology (CM) to investigate its semantic variations, the most general schema and subschemas. The data analyzed in this study has been gathered from six sources: Reverse Dictionary (Zansu) (Keshani, 1993), Persian Linguistic Database (PLDB), FarsNet, Farhang -e Bozorg -e Sokhan (Anvari, 2002), Google and Persian Wikipedia. The findings of the research show that [Num X] has different meanings (functions) and thus we can consider it as a polysemous construct. Its polysemy is not explainable at the level of words, but at the level of abstract schemas; hence, it is called ‘constructional/ logical polysemy’. The results of this study indicate that ‘distinctive property of an entity related to SEM Number and X” is the prototypical meaning of [Num X] which is the most abstract correlation among meaning and form in Persian language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines the integration of environmental protection language into China's Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) with African states, exploring the extent to which such language reflects international norms and contributes to China's legitimacy on the global stage. Through a legal analysis of four generations of Sino-African BITs, the study investigates the evolving environmental content within these agreements, particularly in the context of China's development discourse and its ecological ambitions. The research highlights the selective incorporation of environmental clauses, the challenges posed by authoritarian governance structures, and the implications for corporate social responsibility. Ultimately, the paper argues that while recent treaties demonstrate a shift towards acknowledging environmental concerns, the effectiveness of these reforms in fostering genuine environmental protection remains contingent upon the political will of both China and its African partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research on academic vocabulary lists has been a topic of interest for decades, as a good command of academic words may in part define a learner's academic performance. With China's increasing international impact over the past decades, more learners have chosen to learn Chinese as their foreign language. In response, a few word lists of general Chinese have been developed, while no vocabulary list of academic Chinese is available. In this study, we developed the Academic Vocabulary List in Chinese (AVLC) based on our home‐made large‐scale dataset of academic Chinese. The words to be included in our list were carefully selected with strict criteria regarding frequency, range, dispersion, and discipline measures. Our AVLC list contains 594 words, which explain 12.28% of the corpus data. In addition, their coverage in academic texts is much higher than that in non‐academic texts, such as news and literary works, which shows that the AVLC includes words that are particularly used in academic texts. The AVLC is, to our knowledge, the first vocabulary list of academic Chinese. Pedagogical implications and directions for future research are also discussed in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

‘Cosmopolitan nationalism’ may be employed by international English language schools (IELS) as an ideology to create representations that simultaneously account for local/national agendas and support cosmopolitan understandings and practices. A fundamental factor for IELS’ popularity is their ability to mobilize themselves within students’ and parents’ minds as a means for transcending the national/local to reflect the international, the global and the cosmopolitan. This vision derives its legitimacy from contrasting the local (which implies traditionalism, conformity and conservatism) with secularism, modernity and status-bearing significance sustained by American and/or British culture(s) and the perks of their people. Using email interviews with parents and students of the American Language Center (ALC) in Morocco, this article contributes three main conclusions. First, ‘cosmopolitan nationalism’ may blur the western dominance in postcolonial spheres under the guise of glocality. Second, ‘cosmopolitan nationalism’ should be understood and operationalized as an analytical approach as well as an ideology. This includes, for instance, examining ‘cosmopolitan nationalism’ as an ideology used by international schools to reconcile the agendas of neo-nationalism and cosmopolitanism/globalization. Third, presenting cosmopolitanism and nationalism in binary terms may obfuscate the operation of these ideologies within a complex interweaving of rationales, factors and objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This systematic review explores the emerging role of online virtual reality (VR) technology in international Chinese language education, addressing the growing need to enhance educational sustainability through innovative methods. This review identifies key trends and applications of VR in Chinese education by analysing literature from the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. A systematic search using specific keywords led to the selection of 19 relevant articles out of 526 published between 2020 and 2024, following strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. The findings reveal three primary VR applications in international Chinese education: Virtual Reality Chinese Live Streaming Classrooms, Digital Venue Tours, and Chinese Simulation Training. The review also highlights significant challenges in international Chinese language education, including linguistic and cultural differences, the complexity of Chinese character strokes, pronunciation difficulties, and vocabulary acquisition. This review provides valuable insights for educators and practitioners, emphasizing how VR technology can be effectively integrated into international Chinese language education to overcome these challenges and ensure sustainable learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-Verbal Cues (NVCs) add to communication effectiveness among individuals in both real and virtual world. Thus, NVCs transference between the two receives increased attention from both the industry and research community. Their efforts lead to sophisticated technological solutions which allow high fidelity NVCs to be transferred from real individuals to virtual characters/avatars, in real-time, adding to the communication effectiveness of both standalone Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) applications and Social Virtual Reality (SVR) platforms. That combination triggered the development of Virtual Reality Learning Environments (VRLEs), aiming at assisting students towards learning sign language and communicating through it in both virtual and real world. Still, technological limitations affect the quality of such learning and communication experience. This work presents the design, development, and evaluation of an SVR compatible system for sign language learning and communication in virtual worlds. The system considers lessons learned from previous studies and was used to create a VRLE mimicking learning and examination processes students of sign language follow in real life. The results of our study show that despite the appreciation of technological solutions efficiency towards NVCs transference, there are still several issues to be investigated to increase the effectiveness of communication through sign language in virtual worlds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yarning circles of the Australian aboriginal peoples are an example of how culture has evolved through the sharing of stories and experiences with others over time. They illustrate how language, culture, identity and geographical location are inextricably linked. Australian aboriginal languages are unique and unrelated to any other language group due to having developed in a place completely cut off from the rest of the world, but all languages and cultures are linked to particular locations and distinct groups of people. There are over 7,000 languages spoken in the world today. So how are we to overcome the barriers created by the existence of so many different languages and cultures? Is it possible to translate culture as well as language? What is involved in making the transition from one language and culture to another? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Achieving greater diversity among postgraduate cohorts and practicing psychologists is important for serving Australia's equally diverse population. Increasing representation of linguistically and culturally diverse undergraduate students provides an opportunity to work towards greater diversity among psychologists. To achieve this representation, non-native English-speaking psychology students (NESPS) should be recruited and retained throughout undergraduate and postgraduate study. However, non-native English speakers encounter significant obstacles in coursework, where language proficiency is central to success. Identifying academic barriers to progression and targeted writing and social supports are key to diversifying psychology student cohorts. Method: A qualitative approach was used to explore the experiences and needs of NESPS in psychology courses. The study involved semi-structured interviews with six participants identifying as non-native English-speakers from India, Indonesia, and Pakistan. Results: Reflexive Thematic Analysis was employed and generated five themes including misconceptions about psychology, a perceived lack of diversity in postgraduate selection panels and course content, a perceived lack of community for international students studying psychology, and proposed services such as discipline-specific writing support. Conclusion: The findings indicate that undergraduate coordinators should develop a community for NESPS, offer a discipline-specific writing centre, and promote diverse representation on postgraduate selection panels. KEY POINTS: What is already known about this topic: (1) The field of psychology has long suffered from a lack of diversity, with calls for greater representation for at least three decades. Increasing the number of psychologists from diverse backgrounds can greatly benefit linguistically diverse individuals and communities in need of assistance. (2) To increase the number of linguistically and culturally-diverse psychologists, their needs to be adequate representation within undergraduate psychology courses. (3) Due to the extensive vocabulary and complex concepts involved, studying psychology can pose real challenges for students from diverse backgrounds, particularly for those who are non-native English-speakers. What this topic adds: (1) A psychology-specific writing center is required to address discipline-specific language barriers faced by non-native English-speaking psychology students. (2) Students perceived a grading bias in comparison to local students. Marker training should aim to mitigate implicit grading biases against non-native English speakers to enable fair evaluation. (3) Establishing a dedicated community for international students studying psychology was recommended to promoting belonging and provide peer support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the potential of virtual reality (VR) technology in language learning, specifically for the Maltese language. Despite the popularity and advancement of VR, its use in teaching minor languages like Maltese has not been extensively explored. The concern is that the lack of technological resources may lead to the extinction of the Maltese language in the digital world. The study utilizes a primarily qualitative research methodology, with a minor quantitative component, to collect data from twenty-five teachers regarding the use of VR in Maltese language learning contexts. The findings reveal both the potential benefits and challenges of using VR in teaching Maltese as a second language (ML2). Although the participants have not used VR for teaching Maltese due to the absence of Maltese VR apps, they have experience with VR in English. They praise VR for its ability to create an immersive and engaging learning environment with entertaining features. However, the study also highlights several challenges associated with VR, including high costs, the bulkiness of headsets, and technical issues. It underscores the pressing need for additional research and development in this field to ensure the preservation of the Maltese language in the digital era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we describe the architecture of the LIMA (Libre Multilingual Analyzer) framework and its recent evolution with the addition of new text analysis modules based on deep neural networks. We extended the functionality of LIMA in terms of the number of supported languages while preserving existing configurable architecture and the availability of previously developed rule-based and statistical analysis components. Models were trained for more than 60 languages on the Universal Dependencies 2.5 corpora, WikiNer corpora, and CoNLL-03 dataset. Universal Dependencies allowed us to increase the number of supported languages and generate models that could be integrated into other platforms. This integration of ubiquitous Deep Learning Natural Language Processing models and the use of standard annotated collections using Universal Dependencies can be viewed as a kind of model and data interoperability, complementary to the technical interoperability between systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I first reconsider the personal links between Comenius and Leibniz, searching for how Comenian texts and ideas may have reached Leibniz. For that reason, I outline a constellation of thinkers within Central European Protestantism, since a vast majority of the important intellectuals with some noteworthy link both to Comenius and Leibniz were based there. Second, I investigate more closely one particular intellectual link between Comenius and Leibniz, namely their common combinatorial standpoint, because the striking parallels, connections and similarities between Comenius's and Leibniz's ideas on combinatorics, universal language and relational metaphysics have been largely overlooked thus far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses how adapting assessment and grading practices based on equity principles may impact students positively, considering their specific needs in the post pandemic era. We reflect on how some equitable grading practices such as flexible deadlines, a friendly tone of communication, and allowing multiple attempts have a positive impact on students' personal and academic life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans share information through natural languages, where ambiguity is an inherent feature, allowing words that can be understood in various ways, often determined by the context in which they are used. Many words in languages around the world have different senses, and consequently, language resources and hierarchical organizations like WordNet highlight the notion of semantic proximity. This work presents a knowledge-based Word Sense Disambiguation approach that leverages the WordNet dictionary and principles of computing semantic similarities between concepts to facilitate this process. The model aims to contribute novel insights into the extraction of word senses, the delimitation of the context in which the ambiguous word occurs, and the proposition of an algorithm based on vector representations to compute similarities. To assess the most suitable senses of ambiguous words, an algorithm is proposed that combines the use of Wu-Palmer and Leacock-Chodorow semantic similarities on vector representations to analyze semantic tendencies and define the sense that offers the highest score. The goal is to provide a degree of certainty regarding the probable semantics of the sentence. The experimental results support the development of a semantic relationship between the occurrence context of the ambiguous word and the structure of the WordNet taxonomy. Therefore, the proposed method is expected to have a positive impact on work dealing with word semantics in various domains of artificial intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Linguistic Research / Dilbilim Arastirmalari Dergisi is the property of Bogazici University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Tupas and Lorente (2014. A 'new' politics of language in the Philippines: Bilingual education and the new challenge of the mother tongues. In Peter Sercombe & Ruanni Tupas (eds.), Language, education and nation-building: Assimilation and shift in Southeast Asia, 165–180. New York: Springer) contended that "the politics of language in the Philippines always featured the tension between English on the one hand and the vernacular languages on the other." But how exactly does this language dynamic manifest itself in the linguistic landscapes (LL) of the Philippines? To explore this question, this paper conducted an exploratory LL analysis of Intramuros, the famed "Walled City" of Manila, using Scollon and Scollon's (2003. Discourses in place: Language in the material world. London: Routledge) place semiotics and Ben-Rafael et al.'s (2006. Linguistic landscape as symbolic construction of the public space: The case of Israel. International Journal of Multilingualism 3(1). 7–30) top-down and bottom-up sign classification. It found that English-based signs are used to accommodate a global audience, i.e., foreign tourists, whereas Filipino-based signs are used to police and regulate the behavior of residents and, to a certain extent, local tourists. To conclude, it argued that by looking at its linguistic landscape, historical districts like Intramuros articulate beliefs and assumptions on language that, in turn, make them deeply political and ideological sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes a panchronic perspective to show that the evolution of a linguistic concept in a worldview embraces this concept's diachronic depth and this concept's diachronic variation. The diachronic depth of a concept is an archaic image (modal mental representation) that was prerequisite for this concept (amodal mental representation) to emerge; this image had formed perceptually in the human mind, through the direct visual experience humans had in perceiving the world, which accounts for this concept's embodiment. Mental image at this concept's diachronic depth and embodiment of this concept are the two facts that this paper assumes one can see when viewing this concept panchronically. This paper treats panchrony as the combination of diachrony of language with universal processes of human cognition, and suggests that the panchronic mechanism behind linguistic semiosis is the modal-to-amodal conversion that takes place in the human mind and has the inner form of the word as its panchronic product and the image-driven interpretation of the word as its emergent product. This mechanism operates at each stage in language evolution, determines the genesis of the word as that of a sign-symbol, and is universal for the speakers of language by virtue of their embodiment. This paper's theoretical commitments find application in the case of SIN in the English worldview: archaic image at SIN's diachronic depth is reconstructed using methodologies of etymological research, as the inner form of the word sin in English; SIN's content in diachronic variation is reconstructed using methodologies of cognitive linguistic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent can statistical language knowledge account for the effects of world knowledge in language comprehension? We address this question by focusing on a core aspect of language understanding: pronoun resolution. While existing studies suggest that comprehenders use world knowledge to resolve pronouns, the distributional hypothesis and its operationalization in large language models (LLMs) provide an alternative account of how purely linguistic information could drive apparent world knowledge effects. We addressed these confounds in two experiments. In Experiment 1, we found a strong effect of world knowledge plausibility (measured using a norming study) on responses to comprehension questions that probed pronoun interpretation. In experiment 2, participants were slower to read continuations that contradicted world knowledge-consistent interpretations of a pronoun, implying that comprehenders deploy world knowledge spontaneously. Both effects persisted when controlling for the predictions of GPT-3, an LLM, suggesting that pronoun interpretation is at least partly driven by knowledge about the world and not the word. We propose two potential mechanisms by which knowledge-driven pronoun resolution occurs, based on validation- and expectation-driven discourse processes. The results suggest that while distributional information may capture some aspects of world knowledge, human comprehenders likely draw on other sources unavailable to LLMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language-related IB research predominantly targets large MNCs, often overlooking the challenges that internationalizing SMEs face in effectively utilizing their limited language resources. To address this gap and assist SMEs in overcoming their unique language challenges, we develop a scale for language operative capacity (LOC), which measures a firm's capacity to deploy language resources most productively throughout its global operations. We validate this instrument with data from 417 SMEs and examine its impact on two critical internationalization metrics: export performance and international networking capability. Our study makes three key contributions to language-related IB research and capacity research. First, we provide a comprehensive and robust LOC instrument, incorporating distinctions between potential and realized capacity from the capacity literature. Second, we offer a deeper understanding of language as a multi-level phenomenon by highlighting the interaction between individual-level language skills and organizational-level capacities. Third, we extend the scarce language-related IB research on SMEs by offering a nuanced understanding of LOC as a strategic resource, by validating the LOC instrument in the context of internationalizing SMEs, and by demonstrating its explanatory power for essential internationalization metrics. Additionally, our research provides SMEs with an actionable tool to assess their linguistic capacities, develop their language resources and optimize the use of these language resources in international operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English has long been regarded as the universal language. Countries that were earlier reluctant to learn English have also changed their stand due to its global reach. The nonnative English speaker's proficiency largely depends on the College English Teaching (CET) and its evaluation methods. Traditional teaching evaluation models failed to consider all the difficulties of language learning. This drawback has led to researchers focusing on integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques in CET evaluation. This work is in line with such an effort to contribute a novel Teaching Evaluation Method (TEM) that employs a Machine Learning (ML) algorithm. The objective of this work is to provide colleges and other institutions with a practical framework for evaluating the CET by modifying the existing models through contemporary pedagogical approaches, thereby helping the institutions meet the complex demands of teaching and collaborative research. The study proposes a novel ML model that combines Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) with a Grey Correlation-Based Genetic Algorithm (GCBGA) to meet the challenges in the traditional TEM. The proposed TEM model fared better than the other models in terms of English Teaching Evaluation. The performance enhancement is attributed to the novel GCBGA that optimized the proposed CNN model by avoiding it from getting stuck in local minima. This new method makes it easier for CNN to consistently judge the quality of teaching because it gets rid of the subjectivity and unpredictability of the conventional methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The special issue of the Oxford Literary Review commemorates the twentieth anniversary of Jacques Derrida's passing by exploring the evolving understanding of 'world' since his death. The issue features Derrida's unpublished reflections on the notion of 'world', as well as essays by scholars examining topics such as the politics of light, acosmology, and pain. The issue sheds light on Derrida's influence on diverse fields and highlights the ongoing relevance of his work in shaping contemporary philosophical discourse. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses computational approaches to morphological typology, focusing on the classification of languages into morphological types and the complexity of morphological systems. It highlights the use of large databases and modeling to study morphological systems across languages. The article also presents specific papers within the issue that explore topics such as alignment in argument marking, zero marking in inflection, and inflection vs. derivation. The challenges and future directions in morphological typology research are also discussed, emphasizing the importance of standardization and openness in data sharing. [Extracted from the article]

Most research on dialectometry so far primarily focuses on European languages. Within these studies, analyses on the phonetic level predominantly focus on segments. A lack of studies on languages outside of Europe means that the variation in many lesser-studied languages, including tonal languages, is largely unknown. Tonal languages are languages which pitch is used as an indication in the lexical realisations in (at least some) morphemes, and over half of the world's languages include lexical tones. Despite tones being the inseparable and unneglectable part of the majority of the world's languages, there is only a handful of quantitative dialectometric studies on the dialectal variation in tonal languages. In this paper, we explore the phonetic and phonological variations in Yue, a lesser-studied tonal language spoken by around 80 million people in Southern China. Using a newly devised tone representation (modified Onset–Contour–Offset) combined with the Levenshtein distance, we explore the patterns of dialectal variation on the tonal level, as well as to what extent tonal variation correlates with segmental variation. Our results show that tones behave rather differently from segments, and thus, we illustrate that studying lesser-studied and tonal languages can contribute immensely to the study of dialect variation in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How might picturebooks serve as reading and conversation materials in language cafes for international immigrants aiming to learn the local language? How might these books help foster meaningful exchanges between program volunteers and participants, and what might the broader significance of this be for immigrant inclusion and integration? To gain insight into these questions, this study investigates the experiences of volunteers and participants with using picturebooks as a basis for conversation at language cafes in Norwegian public libraries. The study is based on participant observation and qualitative interviews with language café volunteers and participants. Picturebook theory on representation of emotions serves as the theoretical lens for analyzing the selected texts used at the different language cafes. The findings reveal that a broad range of picturebooks are used for reading and conversation at language cafes and their use is generally experienced as fruitful by the participants, especially for learning new words and engaging in visual narratives. The experience of using picturebooks varies for volunteers, from pure joy to discontent, depending on whether they found the selected books interesting or useful for engaging with the participants. The study concludes that picturebooks can work well for facilitating dialog at language cafes, however the successful use of them depends on the competent selection of books. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arts for Linguistic & Literary Studies is the property of Thamar University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Using the case of multiracial Korean Americans, who are positioned across/between the boundaries of language and race, we explore language choice and use as sites for reimagining intercultural communication. Analyzing in‐depth autobiographical interviews, we ask how cultural difference and sameness are constructed and how understandings of English as a world language shape multilingual interactions. Findings reveal how, despite being familiar with cultural norms of Koreanness, multiracial Korean Americans are still constructed as cultural others by Korean speakers and rely on understandings of English as a world language to resist the metapragmatic frames their interlocutors would inscribe onto them. Use of English became a method for protecting their Korean identity, thus challenging the notion that use of a heritage language is essential for maintaining the ethnic identity. Consequently, we discuss the intersections of multiraciality and multilingualism to refine understandings of race and culture in intercultural communication and the globalization of English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT As the use of English in digital spaces continues to grow, there is an increasing amount of research focused on how it is adapted to local contexts. Proceeding from the argument that we need to go beyond studying English in isolation to investigate how it gets localized in digital settings, the purpose of the study is to investigate Instagram English teaching posts intended for an Iranian audience. To this end, we collect and analyze a dataset of Instagram posts aimed at teaching English. The research questions center on the resources which come together in these posts. Theoretically, the analysis draws on language assemblages. The findings show that English is entangled with a range of other resources and these Instagram posts emerge as engaging in edutainment, a material activity involving three interlined semiotic processes. While these processes do involve drawing from the users' L1s, they are more complex, involving a more varied set of resources than language. The social practice of edutainment comes to the fore as central, and forms are enlisted to serve this practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a method for automatically recognizing spoken digits in the Adi language using the highly effective open-source voice recognition toolkit, “Kaldi”. The study also includes an analysis of the formant frequencies and spectral characteristics of Adi digits. Adi is a zero-resource indigenous tribal language of Arunachal Pradesh with its roots in Tibeto-Burman. UNESCO's 2009 Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger classifies Adi as an endangered language in India. The research utilizes a modest digit corpus from 42 native Adi speakers, employing Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) and Perceptual Linear Prediction (PLP) features from continuous Adi speech utterances. The study explores both Monophone and Triphone models for digit recognition, with notable improvements in accuracy from 79.14% in the Monophone model to 84.29%, 88.43%, and 90.86% in the Triphone models (Tri1, Tri2, and Tri3). This proposed model holds promise for the development of Adi language speech recognition applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hearing loss is one of modern society's most understated and overlooked clinical conditions, with several hundred million people (per WHO) around the world requiring rehabilitation to address "disabling hearing loss." Another large segment of sign language user is 'hearing nonverbal children.' They are nonverbal due to conditions such as down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, trauma, and brain disorders or speech disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents findings from a six‐month Language and Social Justice course collaboratively designed with multilingual educators in the Dominican Republic. Teaching and learning processes with Dominican and Haitian youth (ages 18–24) illustrate how opportunities to learn about English and Kreyòl from a transnational perspective can disrupt dominant discourses about youth's relationships with themselves and each other. By intentionally focusing on counternarratives to notions that Dominican youth reject their Blackness and that Dominican and Haitian youth interact in tension rather than solidarity, this study highlights how youth “translate blackness” (García Peña, 2022) through language learning. Drawing from transnational literacy frameworks that engage the cultural and linguistic repertoires of Black youth in relationship with one another (Skerrett & Omogun, 2020; Smith, 2023) and from Black‐centered language pedagogies (Anya, 2017; Clemons, 2021b), I describe how youth negotiate meanings and orientations to Blackness through language and literacy practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this comparative cross-linguistic study we test whether expressive interjections (words like ouch or yay) share similar vowel signatures across the world's languages, and whether these can be traced back to nonlinguistic vocalizations (like screams and cries) expressing the same emotions of pain, disgust, and joy. We analyze vowels in interjections from dictionaries of 131 languages (over 600 tokens) and compare these with nearly 500 vowels based on formant frequency measures from voice recordings of volitional nonlinguistic vocalizations. We show that across the globe, pain interjections feature a-like vowels and wide falling diphthongs ("ai" as in Ayyy! "aw" as in Ouch!), whereas disgust and joy interjections do not show robust vowel regularities that extend geographically. In nonlinguistic vocalizations, all emotions yield distinct vowel signatures: pain prompts open vowels such as [a], disgust schwa-like central vowels, and joy front vowels such as [i]. Our results show that pain is the only affective experience tested with a clear, robust vowel signature that is preserved between nonlinguistic vocalizations and interjections across languages. These results offer empirical evidence for iconicity in some expressive interjections. We consider potential mechanisms and origins, from evolutionary pressures and sound symbolism to colexification, proposing testable hypotheses for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and sociolinguistics in an African context, highlighting the challenges and opportunities presented by AI technology. It emphasizes the importance of human sociolinguists in interpreting data and the limited representation of African languages in AI technology. The text also explores the impact of AI on accents, voice modification, and the authenticity of sociolinguistic data, calling for more inclusivity and ethnographic research in tech innovations. Additionally, it addresses the influence of AI on multilingualism in African contexts, emphasizing the need for collaboration between sociolinguistic researchers, computational linguists, and tech innovators to navigate the evolving human-machine relationship. [Extracted from the article]

Objective: This study aims to elucidate the cognitive underpinnings of language abnormalities in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) using a computational cross‐linguistic approach and ultimately enhance the understanding and diagnostic accuracy of the disease. Methods: Computational analyses were conducted on language samples of 156 English and 50 Persian speakers, comprising both AD patients and healthy controls, to extract language indicators of AD. Furthermore, we introduced a machine learning‐based metric, Language Informativeness Index (LII), to quantify empty speech. Results: Despite considerable disparities in surface structures between the two languages, we observed consistency across language indicators of AD in both English and Persian. Notably, indicators of AD in English resulted in a classification accuracy of 90% in classifying AD in Persian. The substantial degree of transferability suggests that the language abnormalities of AD do not tightly link to the surface structures specific to English. Subsequently, we posited that these abnormalities stem from impairments in a more universal aspect of language production: the ability to generate informative messages independent of the language spoken. Consistent with this hypothesis, we found significant correlations between language indicators of AD and empty speech in both English and Persian. Interpretation: The findings of this study suggest that language impairments in AD arise from a deficit in a universal aspect of message formation rather than from the breakdown of language‐specific morphosyntactic structures. Beyond enhancing our understanding of the psycholinguistic deficits of AD, our approach fosters the development of diagnostic tools across various languages, enhancing health equity and biocultural diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mathematics is one of the sciences that is the cornerstone of human development and is used in every field of our life. Throughout history, mathematics has been developed not only as a field of science, but also as the ability to think and solve problems. Mathematics occupies an important place in every area of our lives. Mathematics is not just about numbers and formulas; it is a tool that develops our thinking and problem-solving skills and helps us see the world differently. Better mastering and teaching mathematics, which makes our lives easier and plays an important role in the development of technology, is of great importance for the future. Mathematics is one of the main pillars of science and is widely used in various fields. Mathematics is not only the study of numbers, but also includes topics such as geometry, algebra, statistical analysis and mathematical logic. Mathematics is one of the sciences that develop people's ability to solve problems and think logically. In modern times, mathematics plays a major role in technology, engineering, physics and many other fields. At the same time, mathematics is an international language. Numbers, symbols and mathematical laws are understood in the same way all over the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English is considered one of the most important languages in the world. It is taught in every school, college, and university in the world. English has become an international language and the language of science, technology, and business (Haidar, 2019b). McKay (2002) states it is an important tool in educational careers worldwide. The main priority of students and parents is to acquire a complete command of English and develop skills to conquer the business and technological fields that dominate the world today. Students should know the importance of the English language in professional life shortly. They should also know that the business and financial structure now depend on English. Today, English is recognized as the language of innovation, discovery, learning, teaching, and marketing. Researches briefly discussed that English has become the sole source of communication worldwide. Many researchers and scholars work in their libraries and research laboratories to display the results of their research in the field of English. Therefore, English is still taught in educational institutions around the world. Language is the center of social interaction in every society regardless of space and time. Language and social interaction are interrelated: language shapes social interaction, and social interaction shapes language. Learning a language is going through the learning process of indoor, outdoor, formal, or non-formal education. Teaching, language learning, socio-cultural contexts, and language variations must be taken into account as they affect the success of learning a language. The teacher may not neglect the influence of different languages and socio-cultural contexts of the participants, especially in the mother tongue or the foreign language. It is related to the roles that facilitate learners to achieve the goals of language learning. The conditions of socio-cultural contexts and language variations can be covered in sociolinguistics research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study investigates the motivations, contributions, and challenges faced by international researchers employed at Japanese companies. It utilizes Tomlinson's Graduate Capital Model to gain insight into their experiences. Design/Approach/Methods: This study employs Tomlinson's Graduate Capital Model as an analytical framework to analyze data from semi-structured interviews with 15 international researchers, focusing on their experiences and perspectives. Findings: The study indicates that international researchers' motivations to work in Japanese companies include professional advancement, the research environment, academic opportunities, economic factors, and cultural elements. Language proficiency in Japanese and English significantly influences career choice and mobility. The post-COVID era impacts their mobility, with funding availability, institutional support, and policy changes playing critical roles. In addition, this study highlights the need for holistic support, multilingualism, and multicultural integration among Japanese companies to enhance their competitiveness in the global talent market. Originality/Value: This study fills a significant gap by offering a deeper understanding of the experiences of international researchers in Japanese companies, and by delivering insight and practical implications for policy considerations and talent management strategies in a rapidly evolving and increasingly globalized labor market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children acquiring language must learn a variety of words mapping on to different kinds of concepts. Typically, word learning accounts focus on how children strategically acquire words for entities (nouns) and events (verbs). Often underrepresented are word for properties (adjectives). While adjectives, like verbs, may trail behind many nouns in early production, and may not always be required to refer or express truth‐conditional meaning, they are essential for distinguishing among entities and events in the world, and communicating clearly in disciplines such as language arts and science. Moreover, nearly every language has the grammatical category of adjectives. It is therefore critical to know what challenges children face in acquiring adjectives, and what supports their acquisition. Here, I outline three main aspects that, together, render the process of learning adjectives both vexing and linguistically intriguing. First, there is cross‐linguistic variation in how languages around the world treat words for properties. Second, the syntactic position of adjectives varies across and within languages, and is often correlated with subtle differences in meaning. Third, within the category of adjectives, a wide range of meanings may be encoded. I review findings across these areas that document children's successes and challenges with these aspects of adjective distribution and meaning. To counter these challenges, I end by covering three effective and empirically documented strategies for adjective learning, which rely on attending to key information in both the linguistic and extralinguistic context. I close with a brief discussion of prospects for future research on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2017, language learning in post-primary schools in Ireland has been supported by the government strategy, Languages Connect (LC). In conjunction with key stakeholders, the strategy aims, among other things, to raise awareness of the importance of language learning, to diversify the languages on offer and to make connections between language learning and the world of work. Six years into the strategy, it is opportune to assess the views of students in relation to their opinions of their learning experiences framed against the goals of the strategy. After launching a creative language competition during the Covid-19 pandemic, researchers sought to capture the perceptions, challenges and desires of participants in Transition Year, focusing on the languages that they would like to learn, their experience as language learners and the role of languages in their future careers. This article presents an analysis of this data in the context of LC with the aim of providing a snapshot of evidence-based data on the process that is being undertaken nationally in this arena. The article begins by discussing the challenges and opportunities in the language learning space in the Republic of Ireland. The analysis and discussion of the data follow a description of the methodology employed and the article concludes with a positive outlook on language learning from the student perspective; however, the data reveal that areas that are not necessarily part of the LC strategy need to be addressed. It is hoped that these conclusions will be useful for researchers, practitioners, state agencies and policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of this research lies in the fact that models and practices of the introduction of multilingualism are an important cross-cutting problem that concerns the social, cultural, economic and, consequently, educational spheres, which contribute to the promotion of rarer languages. It is important to assess the cultural value of linguistic diversity at all levels of education and training, while simultaneously spreading information about the multiplicity of languages and their importance in the world. The purpose of the study is to consider the models and practices of the introduction of multilingualism in the context of education in the Republic of Kazakhstan through comparative sociological analysis. To achieve this goal, the following methods were used: sociological, statistical, and comparative. The research findings highlight the importance of multilingualism in personal and societal development, emphasising the need for incorporating multilingual practices in educational policies and teacher training. Additionally, the introduction of multilingualism in Kazakhstan, particularly the trilingual approach involving Kazakh, Russian, and English, is influenced by global processes and the prestige associated with different languages in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advancements in deep learning techniques utilizing large-scale data, such as self-supervised learning, have significantly improved the accuracy of speech and language processing technologies for major world languages. However, for dialects with limited transcription resources, technologies like automatic speech recognition and search have yet to be realized at a practical level. This issue is particularly pronounced in Japanese dialects, which are classified into dozens of different and mixed dialects, and remains unresolved. In this study, we focus on two large-scale pre-trained models that have demonstrated top-tier performance in recent automatic speech recognition system research, and present examples of unified automatic speech recognition systems adapted for Japanese dialects, as well as the potential applications of the content detection task - query-by-example spoken term detection. Both compared models are trained on thousands or more hours of multilingual speech, with one being an automatic speech recognition model based on self-supervised learning and the other (Whisper) a model based on multi-task learning, including machine translation. Experiments on automatic speech recognition models are conducted using several tens of hours of adaptation data for both standard Japanese and Japanese dialects, which have distinct characteristics depending on the region. The result shows that the dialect-independent automatic speech recognition model based on the self-supervised learning pre-trained model and 3-step adaptation strategy achieves the best accuracy with a character error rate of 29.2%, suggesting that it is important to consider regional identity due to the diversity and limited resources of Japanese dialects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to discuss the work of the digital classicist, based on the concept of professional genre (Clot, 2000). For this, we make use of oral texts and the textual analysis proposed by Sociodiscursive Interactionism, in order to verify their academic activities and the emerging characteristics of their métier. The results reveal elements regarding the institutional displacement of the digital classicist; the use of English as an international language; the diversity of the group of workers; the conflicting but enriching interactional environment; the computational artifacts and the use and creation of digital data; sharing and collaboration between researchers and collaborators; and the need to establish scientific actions and procedures that adapt according to technological innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces a significant case regarding the European reception of ʿilm al-ḥurūf wa-l-asmāʾ (the science of letters and divine names) in the Oedipus Aegyptiacus by the Jesuit polymath Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680). Classis V in Tomus II.1, Caps. I-X, and Classis VII, Cap. VI in Tomus II.2 contain Kircher's most comprehensive engagement with the science of letters, referred to as the Cabala Saracenica in juxtaposition with the Cabala Hebraica. In addition to identifying crucial sources that influenced Kircher's understanding of the science of letters, this article demonstrates how "Cabala" serves as a comparative tool in Kircher's construction of a universal language for the Church. It encapsulates his approach to sacred oriental philology, revealing the Hermetic and Kabbalistic erudition absorbed by their native users. This exposure aims to demonstrate that wisdom ultimately reveals the truth of Christian doctrine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes universal conceptual modeling, conceptual modeling that strives to be as general-purpose as possible and accessible to anyone, professionals and non-experts alike. The idea of universal conceptual modeling is meant to catalyze new thinking in conceptual modeling and be used to evaluate and develop conceptual modeling solutions, such as modeling languages, approaches for requirements elicitation, or modeling tools. These modeling solutions should be usable by as many people and design agents as possible and for as many purposes as possible, aspiring to the ideals of universal conceptual modeling. We propose foundations of universal conceptual modeling in the form of six principles: flexibility, accessibility, ubiquity, minimalism, primitivism, and modularity. We then demonstrate the utility of these principles to evaluate existing conceptual modeling languages and understand conceptual modeling practices. Finally, we propose future research opportunities meant to realize the ideals of universal conceptual modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]