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This study aimed to explore the linguistic factors that influence the development and diversification of World Englishes along with implications for language teaching, learning, and policy, and to examine the trends in research related to WEs. Using a systematic review process with MAXQDA 20.2.1, the findings indicate that research on World Englishes has focused on a variety of linguistic elements, with a particular emphasis on syntax, phonology, and discourse and pragmatics. The study also highlights the importance of understanding the cultural and linguistic contexts in which English is being used, as these contexts can have a significant impact on the linguistic features and pragmatic norms of different varieties of English. Regarding the challenges that learners face when learning WEs, the findings suggest that learners may struggle with the different semantic features and pragmatic norms of different WEs varieties. In terms of trends in research related to WEs, the findings show a growing interest in the study of WEs from various linguistic and cultural perspectives, including sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, and language education. However, there is a need for a more interdisciplinary approach to research on WEs, incorporating diverse perspectives and methodologies.

Idiomatics--the scientific study of idiomatic language and figurative language--is a pervasive theme in global literature, yet its precise terminology often lacks clear definition. This article addresses this challenge directly by delving into the etymology, significance, and universality of idiomatics. It emphasizes the pivotal role of idiomatics in understanding human behavior and language development, stressing its interdisciplinary relevance. Advocating for idiomatics to gain recognition as a distinct academic discipline, the article calls for the establishment of clear boundaries and methodologies within academia. It concludes with a compelling appeal for collective action, urging idiomatists worldwide to unite under the imperative "Make it happen!" To this end, it presents ten strategic priorities that transcend geographical and linguistic divides, uniting researchers and language professionals in a common mission to advance idiomatics. These priorities underscore the urgency of addressing the current state of idiomatics and shaping its future trajectory, emphasizing the need for decisive action and collaboration. Through concerted efforts, the article seeks to propel idiomatics into new heights of understanding and application across diverse linguistic and cultural contexts, one priority at a time.

Scaffolding is a contributing factor to the effectiveness of pragmatic instruction. Although there is a large body of research on the means of scaffolding in second language teaching, research on scaffolding in L2 pragmatic instruction, especially in online teaching, is still in its infancy. To bridge the gap, this study investigated the means of scaffolding (feedback, giving hints, instructing, explaining, modeling, and questioning) utilized by teachers to aid learners in producing pragmatically appropriate speech acts of request and refusal. The data from 18 hours of online pragmatic instruction to 21 intermediate EFL learners via the Skyroom platform showed that the most frequent means of scaffolding used by three teachers participating in this study were questioning and explaining. Employing questioning, teachers used display questions to guide learners toward the appropriate production of request and refusal. Moreover, explaining, as a means of scaffolding, helped learners establish connections between new pragmatic knowledge and their prior knowledge of the speech act. The other three means of scaffolding, including feedback, giving hints, and modeling, were characterized by almost the same rate of frequency. The least frequent means of scaffolding was found to be instructing. It can be concluded that teachers tend to use questioning as a means of scaffolding more frequently because pragmatic knowledge needs to be improved through interaction. The findings can help teacher educators heighten the teachers' knowledge of various means of scaffolding to enable them to employ different means of scaffolding instead of overusing questioning and explaining.

Mastery of the art of crafting online reviews and responses is essential as a valuable additional tool for enhancing learners' English proficiency in specialised contexts. This study aims to: 1) Examine the formality levels in crafting reviews and responses; 2) Explore face-threatening acts utilised in reviews and politeness strategies employed in responses; and 3) Uncover moves and steps in composing reviews and responses. Data was collected from the Top 25 Hotels in the World in 2022 according to Tripadvisor.com. Six distinct corpora were formed, comprising positive, negative, and mixed reviews, along with corresponding responses, resulting in 87,973 tokens. Findings show reviewers leaned towards casual language (85.87%), while respondents used a consultative style (82.67%) in their responses. The shift from casual to consultative occurred most frequently (70.67%). For politeness, admiration (73.07%) and expressions of complaints/reprimands (64.53%) were common in reviews. In responses, strategies like offering, promising, or giving gifts (72.00%) and apologising and begging for forgiveness (50.40%) were prevalent. Reviews used three moves and ten steps, while responses employed six moves and 16 steps. These insights can be integrated into ESP classrooms to enhance review and response writing skills effectively.

This study investigated the contributions of flipped and blended teaching to EFL learners' pragmatic awareness. The participants were 90 Iranian intermediate female EFL learners in six intact classes divided into three 30-member groups each comprising two classes (i.e., two experimental and one control group). A Preliminary English Test (PET) was administered to assure language proficiency homogeneity. Next, the three groups received a discourse completion test (DCT) before instruction in flipped and blended modes for the experimental groups and conventional instruction for the control group. After treatment, the posttest of DCT was administered. Moreover, 20 students took part in semi-structured interviews. The results of One-way ANOVA revealed that flipped and blended instruction significantly improved participants' pragmatic awareness. The analysis of interview responses indicated that both groups held positive attitudes towards using flipped and blended instruction. EFL teachers may decide to implement flipped and blended instruction to enhance EFL learners' pragmatic awareness.

The present study employs regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997) to investigate the effects of L2 speakers' chronic regulatory focus on their L2 pragmatic versus grammatical awareness. It involved the participation of 121 Chinese students, who are English language learners, at a university in the United States. Haws et al.'s (2010) questionnaire was used to examine the participants' regulatory dispositions, and a judgment task was adapted from Bardovi-Harlig and Dörnyei (1998) to assess participants' awareness of grammatical and pragmatic errors, as well as the severity of each type of error. Multiple regression results largely confirmed the predictions. Prevention regulatory focus, concerned with obligations, responsibilities, and negative outcomes, predicted L2 speakers' recognition of grammatical errors and their severity. Conversely, promotion focus, which emphasizes growth, accomplishments, and positive outcomes, positively predicted L2 speakers' perceptions of pragmatic error severity. These findings contribute to the understanding of how differences in chronic motivational orientations can lead to different L2 use patterns and characteristics.

English has become an international language (EIL) as speakers around the world use it as a universal means of communication. Accordingly, scholars have investigated different aspects of EIL affecting communicative success. Speech scholars have been interested in speech constructs like accentedness, comprehensibility, and acceptability (e.g., Kang et al., 2023). On the other hand, pragmatic researchers have examined lexico-grammatical features of EIL that contribute to first language (L1) English listeners' perceptions of appropriateness in speech acts (e.g., Taguchi, 2006). However, little is known about: a) how appropriateness is perceived by users of EIL of diverse L1s and b) how those appropriateness perceptions are related to lexico-grammatical and phonological features. Therefore, the present study had 184 listeners (L1 = English, Spanish, Chinese, and Indian languages) evaluate 40 speech acts performed by 20 speakers (L1 English and Chinese, 50% each) in terms of appropriateness on a 9-point numerical scale. Results from linear mixed-effects regressions suggested that: a) listener L1 did not contribute to listener ratings and b) speakers' rhythm and lexico-grammatical features (i.e., use of different pragmatic strategies) significantly contributed to listener appropriateness ratings. The findings provide empirical evidence to support the phonology-pragmatics link in appropriateness perceptions and offer implications regarding the operationalization of English interactional appropriateness.

Nearly all multidimensional models of communication competence have pragmatic competence at their core. Proper assessment of second language (L2) pragmatics makes many demands on L2 teachers, both in terms of understanding the construct and in language test development. Therefore, being assessment literate helps teachers in developing effective tests geared toward educational outcomes. Despite the importance of assessment literacy (AL) for pragmatics, the field is still under-researched. Mindful of this fact and the significance of pragmatics in L2 learning and assessment, this study adopted the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) model of pragmatic competence to examine Iranian L2 teachers' AL for L2 pragmatics and linked the results to the Sociocultural Theory (SCT) for formulating theory-informed answers to the problems in the teachers' assessment of L2 pragmatics. Group interviews were run with 67 participants and then qualitative and quantitative content analyses were performed. The paper discusses the identified problems in the assessment of L2 pragmatics and offers recommendations for raising L2 teachers' AL for L2 pragmatics.

This research investigates impediments to the successful implementation of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. Going beyond typical discussions on teacher training and curriculum development, the study explores entrenched resistance stemming from traditional teaching methods among teachers and students. The examination system, emphasizing rote memorization and grammar, poses a significant obstacle to CLT's communicative goals. Sociocultural factors, including a conservative view of education and perceived threats to Arabic identity through English acquisition, contribute to the resistance. Conclusively, the research highlights the interconnectedness of these challenges, proposing that transforming English assessment methods could gradually reshape student perspectives and boost motivation for communicative language acquisition. The study advocates pragmatic solutions such as curriculum adjustments aligned with cultural norms, comprehensive teacher training, and adaptations to the testing system to evaluate real-life language use. These strategies aim to cultivate an environment conducive to CLT adoption in Saudi EFL classrooms, moving beyond theoretical considerations to actionable steps. The research underscores the need for ongoing exploration through future studies, assessing the long-term impact of these strategies on learner attitudes and language acquisition outcomes. It emphasizes a sustained commitment to refining language education practices in Saudi EFL contexts and beyond.

Being ubiquitous, language is essential to our everyday existence. Human language is seen to be a traditional field that depends on using words in accordance with intricate standards. In this study, the idea of aggressiveness is investigated from a pragmatic viewpoint. The goals of this research are to identify the aggressive techniques that Clinton uses in her speeches, to show the impoliteness tactics that she mostly uses to accomplish her goals, and to expose the pragma-rhetorical tropes that are mostly mentioned in her speeches. The research proposes that in her presentations, Clinton utilizes indirect verbal passive aggression, mostly negative impoliteness techniques, and often metaphor as the main rhetorical device. The study's results validate that Clinton utilizes indirect verbal passive aggression, mostly employs negative impoliteness techniques, and emphasizes overstatement as the main rhetorical device in her hostile speeches. Clinton's speeches are analyzed pragmatically to find rhetorical devices, aggressive messages, and rudeness tactics. The research admits several limitations, namely the subjectivity that might lead to interpretive biases in pragma-stylistic analysis. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, this research provides important new information on the aggressive language used by public authorities to shape public opinion.

Linguistic personality, in the domain of applied linguistics and discourse analysis, has risen to the form, content and style of a genre in the contemporary linguistic paradigm. It is determined by an individual's language behaviors, inter-cultural interactions, and self-expression, and is shaped by the educational environment. The current study aimed to examine the issues faced by students in developing their linguistic personality in higher education institutions and understand the impact on students' pragmatic self-esteem. The intent of this study was to raise students' awareness about the quality of an individual's speech and word choice, which can help them become more adept at assessing and analyzing their own speaking abilities. A descriptive research design was used in the study, employing cognitive and linguistic analysis along with content and semantic processing of the language data to investigate the linguistic personality and literary impact of the well-known Kazakh author Mukhtar Auezov (1897-1961) on readers. Results made evident many ethnic realia, terms and phrases and images abound in Auezov's literary works. Students must be trained to study literary works and classic writers from their adolescence. This can help preserve literary continuity, foster the growth of future generations, and advance literary excellence. The study's findings will support educational initiatives that teach literature and languages and create efficient methods for developing a language's personality.

Whilst teaching and learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) rightly focuses on meaningful and purposeful transactional language use, interpersonal language is often downplayed or given cursory treatment even though it is an equally essential and perhaps even more fulfilling dimension of target language interaction. Interpersonal language as expressed through small talk, for instance, represents an important personal and interactional resource for establishing, developing, and maintaining relationships. However, small talk is often reduced to formulaic categorisation or practised through routinised communicative functions. To understand how foreign language users engage in small talk, a qualitative study was carried out through conducting participation-observations. The results of this study reveal the exploratory, celebratory, and supportive relational dimensions to small talk and illustrate how such insights can be exploited in FL teaching and learning. In this article, we argue that small talk should be appreciated, valued, and accentuated not only for its ability to enhance meaningful and productive communication but also needs to be exploited for its exploratory, celebratory, and supportive interactive function.

While acquiring a second language, learners may encounter challenges and difficulties in effectively carrying out verbal communication in the second language. Mastering the apology speech act is a challenge for L2 learners. The objective of this study is to identify the apology strategies utilized by individuals learning the Japanese language, as well as the specific types and underlying causes of errors produced during the execution of apologetic speech acts. The results of this study were gathered via the Discourse Completion Test (DCT), which encompassed a sample of 150 Japanese language learners. The gathered data were further classified using eight semantic formulas based on the research conducted by Haristiani and Sopiyanti (2019), while the various types and sources of error categorization were conducted based on the theories proposed by Corder (1981) and Richards (1975). The results of this study suggest that Japanese learners utilize the same primary strategies in apology speech acts. Furthermore, the study findings indicated that learners at the intermediate level displayed a higher frequency of errors in their speech compared to learners at the beginner levels and pre-intermediate levels, particularly in the strategy of taking responsibility. The main reason for this was primarily a lack of familiarity with the conventions of sentence structures, the proper use of language, and the appropriate use of expressions. The other sources of errors in language learning are likely to be ignoring language rule restrictions, incomplete application of rules, the learner's false hypothesis, overgeneralization, and language transfer. This study is anticipated to function as a point of reference for research in interlanguage pragmatics, second-language acquisition, and error analysis. Gaining comprehension of the various problems and difficulties encountered when performing the speech act of apology in Japanese can assist both learners and educators in reducing these errors.

In the field of applied linguistics, Diane Larsen-Freeman is widely recognized, among her numerous contributions, as the originator of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST). Over the years since her seminal publication (Larsen-Freeman, 1997), CDST has evolved into a meta-theory that guides the field's thinking on a variety of developmental phenomena, not least the study of second language acquisition. As its theoretical potency rises, so does the need to achieve a tangible understanding of CDST's core constructs. In this paper, we empirically examine one such construct, co-adaptation, in the context of asynchronous dyadic interaction. A data corpus of 39 emails sent between two college students in China and the United States over the course of seven weeks is analyzed using NVivo 12. Co-adaptation is observed at the pragmatic, discourse, and linguistic levels. True to the spirit of CDST, we describe, and discuss the nuances of, our findings. Considering the novelty of our approach to data analysis, we end by reflecting on the limitations specific to our study, as well as worthwhile directions for future pursuits.

This paper presents findings from a quasi-experimental study that examined the effect of corrective feedback (CF) on L2 pragmatics, specifically comparing Face-to-Face (FF) and Technology-Mediated (TM) modes. The study involved a total of forty-four ESL students from three parallel intact classes. The primary focus of this paper is to report the results obtained from data collected through production tasks employing Role-play scenarios. To analyze the data, a mixed-model Analysis of Variance was conducted, examining the main and interaction effects of CF, delivery mode (FF and TM), speech act type (request and refusal), and time (pre-test, post-test, and delayed post-test). The results demonstrated that CF had a substantial positive effect on L2 pragmatic production, resulting in significant overall improvement. Furthermore, the results showed that both FF and TM modes of CF were similarly effective for enhancing pragmatic production. Additionally, the study demonstrated that the effects of CF on pragmatic production were durable and long-lasting. Altogether, these findings support the utilization of corrective feedback in technology-mediated language instruction within L2 classrooms.

The current study examined Thai EFL Mattayom learners' pragmatic discourse of givenness via A-movement constructions. While previous studies focused on Thai undergraduate students and their error production in passive voice, this study innovatively contributes to the field by selecting a different group of participants. The participants in this study were 67 Mattayom students in Thailand, of which 45 were from public schools and 22 were from private schools. The participants were asked to write an academic essay on the topic of Thai Soft Power, which is the Thai government's campaign for tourism and culture from 2023 to 2024. The data analysis follows the principle of pragmatic discourse of givenness. The SPSS version 29 was used for the data analysis to seek a correlation between the production of passive voice by EFL learners and pragmatic discourse of givenness via A-movement constructions. The study showed that there is no statistically significant relationship between the production of passive voice by EFL Mattayom learners and pragmatic discourse of givenness where the p-value is reported at 0.79. It seems that Thai EFL Mattayom learners have not yet acquired the pragmatic discourse of given and new information in producing A-movement constructions in English. The discussion is given in the scope of a lack of experience of writing passive voice with other discourses. In addition, the traditional styles of teaching active and passive voice as interchangeable structures in Thai schools do not support the actual use of A-movement constructions in practicality. It is recommended that pragmatic discourse of givenness via A-movement constructions should be built into the curriculum for Thai EFL learners to develop cohesion in writing academic texts.

This study aims to examine the diverse strategies employed in apology and request, investigate the influence of cultural factors, social power, and social distance on these strategies, and explore the existing limitations and gaps in the literature for future research. Data collection is conducted using the qualitative technique. Qualitative content analysis is employed for data analysis. The SLR process provides a structured framework for analyzing various strategies employed in speech acts and investigates the impact of cultural variables and social distance on these strategies. Through the implementation of a predetermined review procedure, a total of 16 papers published between 2018 and 2022 were identified and analyzed. The findings demonstrated that many studies examined apologies and requests using different strategies and sub-strategies. Notably, politeness usage by Indonesian English teachers reflected social power dynamics, while linguistic strategies among Thai students and EFL learners were shaped by social distance. Thai study underscored the importance of cultural immersion, variations among interactants, and teaching factors in pragmatic competence. The PRISMA-guided systematic review effectively synthesized existing literature. The gaps, novel insights, and unresolved issues identified provided a roadmap for researchers to propel the field forward. This systematic review contributed a snapshot of current knowledge, charted a course for future investigations, identified gaps, and leveraged the strengths of systematic approaches.

This study delves into the syntactic parsing abilities of children and infants exposed to Catalan as their first language. Focusing first on ages 3 to 6, we conducted two sentence-picture matching tasks. In experiment 1, 3 to 4-year-old children failed in identifying singular third-person subjects within null-subject sentences, although they performed above chance in all other scenarios, including plural third-person subjects and sentences with overt full DP subjects. This is reminiscent of the results of Pérez-Leroux for Spanish. In experiment 2, with the same design but involving numeral distractors, children's performance was above chance level across all conditions from age 3 to 4. Then, in experiment 3, we moved to a younger age range with the help of eye-tracking techniques. The findings revealed that infants at 22 months had the ability to parse subject--verb agreement in sentences with third-person null subjects, and at 19 months there was evidence of parsing for third-person plural null subjects. These findings are inconsistent with the perception of children grappling with syntactic agreement computation. We argue that instances of underperformance in subject--verb agreement parsing identified in the literature often stem from task-related and pragmatic issues rather than core syntactic delay. If so, the putative asymmetry between early production of verbal inflection and late comprehension disappears; rather, the results suggest early establishment of matching operations and mastery of language-specific agreement properties before production starts.

One of the underrepresented aspects of pragmatic competence development is perceiving and responding to impoliteness acts. The present study reports on a quantitative and qualitative investigation of two international English language teaching (ELT) textbook series published by Oxford and Cambridge University Press; it focuses on the books highly popular among a thriving representative sample of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) across four language proficiency levels and explores their coverage and treatment of impoliteness acts and their responses. Drawing on stringent models and taxonomies, the findings reveal that this unpleasant side of language is ignored and misrepresented in the textbooks, particularly at lower proficiency levels. We draw on our own and others' previous incivility studies and argue for the inclusion of impoliteness especially from earlier stages of language learning owing to its saliency in authentic interactions. The study concludes with implications and suggestions for language learners, instructors, textbook writers, and researchers.

This article offers a descriptive account of seven interjections, "eish", "yho", "tjo", "sho", "hayi", "hau", and "mxm", which are adopted from different local South African languages into South African English. It investigates the frequencies, orthography, syntactic position, collocational forms and discourse-pragmatic roles of these seven interjections, through the lens of pragmatic borrowing and postcolonial corpus pragmatics. The data were retrieved from the South African segment of the Global Web-based English corpus and underwent quantitative and qualitative analysis. The findings indicate that the interjections are all emotive interjections, which mostly express negative emotions, except "hayi", which is a phatic interjection that is largely used to show disapproval of some information. All the interjections favour clause-initial position except "mxm", which is a loan interjection that represents the kiss-teeth or suck-teeth oral gesture that is common in some parts of Africa and the Caribbean. The article affirms that these loaned interjections accentuate the distinction of South African English from other varieties of English.

Translanguaging has been documented to be frequently adopted in day-to-day online interaction. To date, except for Ren and Guo's (2022. Translanguaging in self-praise on Chinese social media. "Applied Linguistics Review" 169. 1-22) pioneering study examining translanguaging practices in online self-praise, there has been scanty focus on how translanguaging is manifested in the realisation of specific speech acts, particularly the face-threatening speech act of refusing. To fill this research gap, the study explores the strategies, distributional patterns, and functions of translanguaging practices in digital refusals through the analysis of naturally occurring data collected on WeChat over five months. The findings indicate that online interlocutors utilized a wide range of translanguaging strategies from multimodal, multilingual, and multi-semiotic resources. Four turn positions are identified in decreasing order of frequency: single turn, turn final, turn medial, and turn initial. Furthermore, translanguaging in refusals denotes interpersonal, expressive, textual, and operational functions, with the first two constituting the majority. Based on these findings, three types of refusals shaped by translanguaging are identified, namely, refusals with translanguaging as a redressive strategy, refusals with translanguaging as a marker of mock impoliteness, and refusals with translanguaging as a facilitator of smooth online communication. The study concludes by highlighting that the nature of the speech act, digital genres and platforms, and the relationship existing between interlocutors contribute to translanguaging practices in online refusals.

Pragmatics refers to the ability to effectively use and interpret language in different contexts. Pragmatic abilities develop and refine through childhood, and they are essential for socialization, academic achievement and wellbeing. The scarcity of assessment tools in this field makes it challenging to provide a comprehensive assessment of pragmatic abilities. The Pragma test, originally developed for Finnish and also adapted into Italian, consists of a battery of tasks assessing children's pragmatic abilities. In this study, a first evaluation of the psychometric qualities of a Norwegian adaptation of this test is presented. In addition, we investigated pragmatic development between ages 5 and 7, and explored possible gender-based differences. Altogether 119 Norwegian-speaking children participated in the study. The children were tested with the Pragma test and parents completed the Children's Communication Checklist-2. The children were allocated into three groups: 5-year-olds, 6-year-olds and 7-year-olds. The psychometric qualities of this Norwegian adaptation supported its use as a tool for assessing pragmatics in children aged 5-7. Strong and significant growth in pragmatic competence was observed from age 5-6, subsequently flattening out between age 6 and 7, and gender differences in favour of girls were identified. These findings indicate that pragmatic ability, as measured by the Pragma test, shows similar age effects in a Norwegian setting as in Finnish and Italian contexts, paving the way for further cross-cultural and cross-linguistic studies.

Generative AI offers significant opportunities for language learning. Tools like ChatGPT provide second language practice through chats in written or voice formats, with the learner specifying through prompts conversational parameters. AI can be instructed to give corrective feedback and create practice exercises. Using AI, instructors can build learning and assessment materials in a variety of media. Generative AI provides affordances for both autonomous and instructed learning. In addition, AI is poised to enhance dramatically the usefulness of immersive technologies. For both learners and teachers, it is important to understand the limitations of AI systems that arise from their statistical model of human language, which constrains their capacity for dealing with sociocultural aspects of language use. Additionally, there are ethical concerns over how AI systems are created and deployed, as well as practical constraints in their use, especially for less privileged populations. Nevertheless, the power and versatility of AI tools are likely to turn them into constant companions in many people's lives, creating a close connection that goes beyond simple tool use. Ecological theories such as sociomaterialism are helpful in examining the shared agency that develops through close user-AI interactions, as are the perspectives on human-tool relationships from Indigenous cultures.

Purpose: The aim of this research note is to introduce a new appraisal form, the Classroom Communication and Collaboration (C3) Appraisal, designed to evaluate communication and collaboration within classroom settings. Method: A comprehensive synthesis of the key skills from a broad range of publications on successful communication and collaboration in the classroom was conducted. The resulting appraisal comprises 39 items across six scales: crafting clear messages, appropriateness of communication exchange, active listening, pragmatics and discourse, communication breakdown, and collaboration. To demonstrate its application, an exemplar usage of the C3 Appraisal involving a hearing child and a child with hearing loss engaged in a collaborative learning task is presented. Results: The C3 Appraisal allowed for the quality and successfulness of the collaborative learning task between the two children to be assessed and quantified across the six scales. Conclusions: These findings highlight the utility of the C3 Appraisal as a valuable tool for evaluating communication and collaboration in classroom environments. Next steps are to test the reliability and validity of the C3 Appraisal on a large data set.

More than 50 years ago, Bongard introduced 100 visual concept learning problems as a challenge for artificial vision systems. These problems are now known as Bongard problems. Although they are well known in cognitive science and artificial intelligence, only very little progress has been made toward building systems that can solve a substantial subset of them. In the system presented here, visual features are extracted through image processing and then translated into a symbolic visual vocabulary. We introduce a formal language that allows representing compositional visual concepts based on this vocabulary. Using this language and Bayesian inference, concepts can be induced from the examples that are provided in each problem. We find a reasonable agreement between the concepts with high posterior probability and the solutions formulated by Bongard himself for a subset of 35 problems. While this approach is far from solving Bongard problems like humans, it does considerably better than previous approaches. We discuss the issues we encountered while developing this system and their continuing relevance for understanding visual cognition. For instance, contrary to other concept learning problems, the examples are not random in Bongard problems; instead they are carefully chosen to ensure that the concept can be induced, and we found it helpful to take the resulting pragmatic constraints into account.

This study investigates whether there are different first-language-second-language (L1-L2) dependency resolutions by focusing on less-studied crosslinguistic variances in L2 acquisition of Chinese, a null-subject language, by speakers of English, a non-null-subject language. The overt subject pronoun of a Chinese main clause has free orientation and its antecedent can be the subject or object of the preceding causal subordinate clause, depending on pragmatic biases. The null subject of a Chinese main clause, however, is subject-oriented, and this subject orientation is not affected by any pragmatic bias. English does not allow null subjects and, like Chinese, overt subject pronouns in English have free orientation. An acceptability judgement task and an interpretation task were adopted, and the results suggest that only the free orientation of overt subjects, but not the subject orientation of null subjects, is acquirable for English-speaking learners; they are found to be influenced by the pragmatic bias. This provides evidence for the cue-based model (Cunnings, 2017), which states that L1-L2 differences in dependency resolution can be explained in terms of L1-L2 differences in susceptibility to interference and L2ers' over-reliance on discourse-based/pragmatic cues. It is also observed that in L1 Chinese, competition between the target antecedent and distractors occurs during the reading of the sentence, while in L2 Chinese, this occurs after the reading of the sentence. These findings add to our growing understanding of different mechanisms in L1 vs. L2 dependency resolutions.

Using self-paced reading, the present study compared native English and adult L1-Korean-L2-English speakers' processing behaviors during online comprehension of underinformative scalar sentences and non-scalar sentences like "Some/All elephants have trunks and ears." Results indicate that native speakers showed online sensitivity (i.e. slower reading) to underinformative scalar sentences relative to non-scalar sentences, but second language (L2) speakers did not. These results are interpreted in support of the Relevance Theory claim that scalar implicature generation is modulated by contextual and individual factors, in particular by the language condition, that is, whether sentences are presented in L1-English versus L2-English.

Pragmatic formulas have been recognized as linguistic building blocks necessary for successful speech act performance. Current approaches to speech act teaching overlook pragmatic formulas, promoting an incomplete view of pragmatics instruction. This paper reports on the results of a classroom-based study in which a formula-enhanced treatment focusing on both pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic components of pragmatic ability was tested. Seven students from the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program participated in four lessons involving pre-, post- and delayed post-test measures. During the treatment, the students were exposed to target formulas from four interaction contexts. A qualitative utterance analysis was conducted to determine how pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic abilities of the students evolved after the teaching intervention. Additionally, three expert judges evaluated students' pragmatic performance. The results indicate that improvements in both pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic abilities of the students were associated with the use of target-like formulas in their speech acts.

Though dynamic assessment (DA) has gained strong theoretical and empirical support over the last decades, second language (L2) practitioners have blamed it for its applicability in large classes. To ameliorate this limitation, peer-dynamic assessment (peer-DA), rooted in the conceptualization of zone of proximal development (ZPD), can be introduced and practiced as an alternative approach. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effects of peer-DA on cultivating Iranian upper-intermediate EFL learners' interlanguage pragmatic (ILP) competence. Additionally, it was to disclose how peer-DA leads to improving the learners' ILP competence. To achieve these aims, a sample of 84 upper-intermediate EFL learners, including females was selected through a convenience sampling method at Iran Language Institute in Borujerd City, Iran. Then, a total of 37 EFL learners whose scores fell around the mean score were selected and randomly assigned to two groups, namely an experimental (n = 19) and a control (n = 18). Then, they went through a pre-test, interventions (lasting 16 one-hour sessions held two times a week), and a post-test. The experimental group's interactions were meticulously recorded. The collected data were analyzed through two independent samples t-tests, and the microgenetic development approach. Findings documented a statistically significant difference between the experimental group and control group concerning the gains of ILP competence on the post-test. Furthermore, the results of the microgenetic development analysis evidenced how the gradual, contingent prompts could lead to noticeable improvements in the learning of ILP features. These findings may have some pedagogical implications for different stakeholders.

This sociopragmatics study aims to investigate the various types of directive speech acts and the markers of local wisdom in the communication of elementary students in Kolaka. The research design employed is qualitative descriptive, chosen for its ability to describe the types of directive speech acts and the manifestation of local wisdom within the context of elementary school students. The participants in this study consisted of elementary school students from Kolaka Regency. Data were collected through nonparticipant observation, and the analysis followed qualitative data procedures based on the interactive model developed by Miles and Huberman, which involved data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. The findings revealed four types of directive speech acts commonly used by elementary school students: demanding, commanding, begging, and challenging. These directive speech acts were found to be influenced by the cultural context, specifically manifested through the use of clitics. The clitics -ko, -mi, - ka, -hae, and -na were identified as significant markers of the local wisdom in the communication of elementary students, observed in utterances such as lihatko, ayomi, pindahko, biarmi, siniko, and jemputna. These clitics not only serve as markers of cultural identity but also indicate different levels of politeness in communication. Further implications for language teaching practices are also discussed.

This study investigated the efficacy of explicit lexical collocation instruction via the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). To improve competence in lexical collocation and writing performance and to examine whether collocational competence and writing performance have a linear interrelation, 16 international English for Academic Purposes students received training on the use of the COCA interface. They were asked to first analyze the lexical collocations used in an academic paper, then search COCA for collocations to see how they are used pragmatically, and, finally, write an academic research paper on their own. A dependent t-test measured significant differences in performance, and the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient identified the strength of the correlation between lexical competence and writing performance and their association with each other, respectively. The results showed that when students are given explicit instruction on how to utilize COCA to identify lexical collocations and their use in various contexts, both their lexical collocational competence and writing performance improves and, furthermore, these improvements correlate with each other. Implications for teaching lexical collocation are also discussed.

This study investigates the complex dynamics of semantic change and cultural adaptation of metaphor in multilingual communication. The research uses cognitive linguistics, sociolinguistics, and pragmatics to develop a model that explains the fundamental mechanisms of metaphorical expression and comprehension across languages and cultures. Using qualitative analysis of 12 semi-structured interviews with senior-level academicians with experience in industry and academia, this study examines the interplay between semantic transformation, cultural adaptation, metaphor comprehension, cognitive processes, and contextual variables. The results demonstrate that as a metaphor is transmitted and adapted across languages and cultural contexts, it undergoes a complex semantic modification process. Cultural influences significantly affect the adaptation and interpretation of metaphors, highlighting the significance of sociocultural context in the production of metaphorical expressions. In addition, cognitive processes mediate metaphor comprehension and adaptation, emphasizing the significance of cognitive mechanisms in international communication. This research contributes to the theoretical understanding of metaphor in multilingual communication by illuminating the cognitive and social mechanisms that influence metaphorical discourse. The findings have implications for language instruction, translation, and communication in environments with linguistic diversity. The comprehensive approach of this study provides valuable guidelines for metaphorical expression and comprehension in various linguistic and cultural contexts.

A large body of research has been conducted on the requests employed by monolingual children, whilst knowledge about the requests uttered by bilingual children has remained scarce. To address this issue, this paper, for the first time in the literature, focuses on the request strategies and purposes employed by preschool children bilingual in Turkish and Zazaki in Turkey. By examining the requests of these children, this paper demonstrates how these learners differ from monolingual preschool children concerning their requestive language and the affordances of the local context. The investigation was based on the video-recorded spontaneous speech of 10 five-year-old preschool children (range = 5.0-5.6 years). The results were analyzed according to the request strategies and then according to the purposes of requests. The interactions were handled under two headings: child-child and child-teacher interactions. The outcomes indicated that imperative forms constituted the most frequent strategy both in child-child and teacher-child interactions and that the use of hints was revealed at a rudimentary level, and request for action was the most common purpose elicited in both interactions.

The objective of this survey study was to explore pre-service English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' opinions concerning the pragmatic aspect of language and their awareness of certain pragmatics concepts. Thirty-three pre-service EFL teachers from a state university in Türkiye participated in the study voluntarily. As a data-collection instrument, a survey with Likert scale questions and a few additional questions was used. Results of the descriptive and frequency analysis demonstrate that the pre-service EFL teachers understood the value of pragmatics in language teaching and learning since they mentioned communicative competence as an important aspect of language use. They also believed that learning a language requires an understanding of both its linguistic and communicative components. The definitions of "pragmatics" given by participants reveal that they are knowledgeable with the concept's theoretical underpinnings. The results highlight that participant teachers learned certain pragmatics concepts, like speech acts, pragmatic awareness, and face-threatening acts, in their university courses, but they were less familiar with some pragmatics concepts compared to others. Results suggest that more emphasis should be given to pragmatics in teacher education curriculums to make teacher candidates more aware of the importance of pragmatics and more capable of applying their theoretical knowledge of pragmatics in actual language use.

In L2 pragmatics, only a few studies have examined task complexity. Furthermore, the existing studies have predominantly focused on the cognitive dimension and have lacked consistent findings. González-Lloret and Ortega (2018) and Pallotti (2019) have thereby contended that socio-interactional features be incorporated into task design. Along this line, this study investigated perceptions of L1 and L2 speakers of English regarding the difficulty of four role-play tasks with differentiated degrees of (dis)preference and imposition. Participants included 33 L1 speakers and 63 Korean L2 speakers at intermediate-level (n = 32) and high-level (n = 31). Results showed that participants' perceived difficulty matched the design intentions exclusively affected by request size, responsibility for the problem, and persuasion across complex versions of the tasks. Moreover, the linguistic consequences of such factors entailed challenges among L2 speakers. There were also various factors that emerged for task difficulty other than the manipulated task design features, underscoring the importance of participants' explanatory comments in L2 pragmatics.

Although numerous studies show that intelligence, measured by various tests, is a significant predictor of school achievement, this cognitive variable can only explain about 50% of the variance. It is also known that communicative language ability represents an important basis for learning subject content in the early period of formal education. One of the most comprehensive models of language ability (Bahman, Palmer, 1996), in addition to strategic knowledge, includes language knowledge that includes organizational language knowledge (grammatical and textual) and pragmatic language knowledge. Although the non-cognitive factors de facto participate in the explanation of school success, the aim of the research presented in this paper was to determine the predictive influence of intelligence and communicative language ability, i.e. organizational and pragmatic language knowledge on differences in school achievement in Serbian, English and Mathematics at the end of the first half of the fifth grade. The research was conducted on the sample of 197 fifth-grade students (51% girls, average age 11.5 months) in elementary schools in Loznica. The authors of the paper applied an adapted form of the test of communicative language abilities that was applied in research in a bilingual context (Šimonji-Cernak, 2005). Revisk was used to test verbal and manipulative intelligence (Biro, 1997). We started from the assumption that organizational language knowledge, has a more significant predictive influence on differences in school performance in the above-mentioned subjects than intelligence. Hierarchical regression analysis model determined that the predictor variables of organizational language knowledge explain 36.8%-49.4% of the variance in school achievement, while the intelligence variables are related to the achievements in Serbian and Mathematics and explain 0.6%-3% of the variance. A significant partial contribution of pragmatic knowledge and knowledge of verbs as an element of grammatical language knowledge were determined in all three subjects, as well as the contribution of knowledge of grammatical rules only in the Serbian language.The results confirm the hypothesis and indicate that for success in the mother tongue, foreign language and mathematics it is important to develop grammatical knowledge, and pay special attention to the importance and strategies of developing pragmatic language function in the period of early formal education.

This study aims to investigate the types and functions of expressions of fear realized in the form of sentences. With a special context in horror movies, the researcher attempted to reveal the types and functions of fear expressions such as directive, commissive, expressive, assertive, and declarative. This research focuses on the subtitles of the Stranger Things season 1 series with 8 episodes, one of the best-selling serial films on the Netflix application. As research aids, the researcher used the Aegisub application and live transcript to ensure the accuracy of speech data. Findings suggest the dominance of the use of directive speech acts as a form of expression of fear. Then, commanding speech is the function of most utterances found as an expression of fear. This study concludes that expressions of fear realized in sentences do not only exist in expressive speech acts but also in other speech acts such as directive, assertive and commissive.

Bilingualism has been the subject of a lot of research in the last century. Bilingualism is having the competence to speak two languages. The reasons for bilingualism of individuals may differ. Some of them may have parents from different languages, some may be children of ethnic minority or immigrants. In daily life it is possible to encounter more bilinguals than monolinguals. Bilingualism is not a new phenomenon, and it takes place in the media and news in different ways under different titles related to it. In this study, the news about bilingualism in the newspapers of the USA, the UK, France, Germany, and the Netherlands is analyzed in terms of content which is named as discourse analysis. The contents are categorized under five different titles which are neurological, social-cultural, psychological, educational, national categories. It has been found that majority of news related to bilingualism belong to educational category which shows that bilingualism draws attention and is given importance in educational contexts. Another categorization in this study is implemented for speech act categories. Each headline is categorized according to the speech acts which are representatives, directives, commissives, expressives and declaratives. In this study it was found that majority of headlines belong to representative category of speech acts.

The study identified the pragmatic competence level of the second language (L2) learners through Written Discourse Completion Test (WDCT) administered to purposively selected 40 first-year education students. A modified questionnaire based on Survey for Academic English Language Exposure (SAELE) was used to determine the effectiveness of academic English language exposure on the pragmatic competence development of the respondents. The study employed the descriptive correlational method, while various statistical tools were utilized to analyze and interpret the data. Weighted mean was used to determine the respondents' pragmatic competence level and the effectiveness of academic English language exposure on the pragmatic competence development of the respondents. Moreover, Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was employed to determine the significant relationship between the two variables. Results in WDCT showed that the average scores in the pre-test and post-test results fall under the competent level. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of academic English language exposure on the pragmatic competence development of the respondents was 0.207, which is ineffective. Lastly, the statistical correlation of the two variables showed no significant relationship between them (r=0.046, p>0.05). Based on the study's results, pedagogical implications for pragmatic and L2 teaching and learning were conceptualized.

Negative yes-no (polar) questions in Colloquial Arabic (CA) are formed by intonation without adding yes-no question particles, in which case, a statement is uttered with a rising intonation, whether this polar question is negative or affirmative. This case is more common in CA than written MSA. Sometimes, the same negative polar question is uttered with different intonations, giving different meanings. This article investigates the multiple meanings of negative polar questions in Hijazi Arabic (HA), the kinds of ambiguities resulting from using different rising intonations, and how negative polar questions are answered. A sample of negative polar questions in HA was collected. Each was uttered with different rising intonations by a sample of students enrolled in a Semantics and Pragmatics course at the College of Languages and Translation and recordings of those were made. The student informants were asked about the meaning conveyed by each intonation of the same negative polar question. Results showed that [Arabic characters omitted] Didn't you buy a dress last week?" is a negative polar question formed with a change in intonations. It is ambiguous and may render the following meanings: (i) a neutral question about whether she bought the dress or not, replying with the truth-value of the situation, or is replying to the polarity used in the question. The answer would be either "Yes" or "no", or an echo answer: "Yes I bought it" or "No I didn't buy it"; (ii) a confirmation question to which the reply is "yes" only; (iii) a confirmation question to which the reply is "no" only; (iv) disapproval: "Didn't you buy a dress last week? Why do you want to by another dress? (v) an exclamation: Wow! You have bought a new dress, although you bought one last week! What a surprise! The context makes it clear which meaning each intonation implies. Detailed results of the interpretation of a sample of ambiguous spoken negative polar questions are reported.

Language testing is witnessing increasing interest in the potential for AI to support test development and validation. To date, published research involving AI in language testing has typically been conducted in the context of high-stakes proficiency tests and the potential for this technology to support local language testing is under-researched. The current study seeks to address this gap by reporting on the piloting of an AI generated language test in the context of a university in the UK. The focus of the paper was selected to explore two key areas in the work of J.D. Brown, namely pragmatics and connected speech. In the study, international students with English as a second language completed an AI generated test of pragmatics created from a transcript of spontaneous interaction, and a test-taking strategy questionnaire. Results demonstrated that the test did not provide a sufficiently reliable measurement of test takers' pragmatic competence, although reliability estimates did improve with the removal of problematic items. Implications for language test development involving AI are discussed.

Panahi and Mohebbi review James Dean Brown's 50-years of research in language testing, curriculum development and research statistics with reference to an impressionistic framework for analysis containing two components with their subcomponents: Annotations (i.e., briefing and implications) and main concepts and themes (i.e., testing and teaching terminology, research design, research instruments, data analysis, and domains). The review was carried out in two phases: In Phase I, we (Ali Panahi and Hassan Mohebbi) reviewed Brown's all works and extracted approximately 1100 main concepts and themes leading to 28 main entries for testing and teaching terminology. The issues he has examined are much more extensive; the first 10 topics and themes most widely investigated, in the order of frequency, are language testing and assessment, research and statistics, curriculum development and language programs, cloze tests, CRTs and NRTs, TESOL, ESL, applied linguistics and language testing, placement, standardized and proficiency tests, connected speech and reduced forms, pragmatics tests and issues, and reliability and validity. In Phase II, JD Brown provides a discussion and his personal reflections on the systematic review.

This research focuses on the use of parental support messages for children and what these messages mean. Messages of support are a form of positive communication to encourage children to become better individuals. This research used the qualitative method. In answering the formulation problem, speech act theory was used by Yule (2006) which was elaborated by Duncan (2009) regarding messages of support, and Wolfson & Judd (1983) about the meaning behind these support messages. The data in this study are expressive utterances that contain praise, approval, and encouragement originating from films about parenting. The data were collected using listening and note-taking techniques and then analyzed using Spradley (2016). From the research that has been done, it is concluded that each message of support conveyed has its own aims and objectives. The delivery of messages of support is influenced by the background of speakers and speech partners. Those indicate that parenting support messages play a role in parent-child communication. Its main role is to strengthen solidarity and maintain harmony between speakers. So, the language aspect must be considered by parents. This research used term "Parentinguistic" or abbreviation of Parenting Linguistic, to invite further research on the relationship between parenting and language.

This article explores how research on the teaching of pragmatics, specifically as it relates to the use of explicit and implicit instruction, can serve as a guide for expanding the instruction of social language to immigrant students in Australia as well as other students. The curriculum and expectations from the Australian Migrant English Program (AMEP) are used as an example, but teachers working in similar programs can benefit as well. Several activities specific to explicit and implicit instruction are used to illustrate how to teach social language to learners from beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels of proficiency.

The Holy Qur'an, as an oral revelation by Allah to Prophet Muhammad through Gabriel, is a conveyance of the message of Almighty Allah to humanity. It takes the form of monologic argumentation which is the fountainhead of divine orientation for Muslims. Yet, the Qur'an, sometimes, offers detailed accounts of historical events and narratives in the form of dialogues. The present study carries out research to examine how Allah's message is pragmatically structured as monologic and dialogic argumentation, by outlining the argumentative strategies exploited to convey the intended message. To achieve these aims, the relevant literature was surveyed and a qualitative analysis was conducted by means of a model adopted for this purpose. This kind of research is characterized by following certain procedures which pragmatically aim at finding out the pragmatic characteristics which are peculiar to the divine verses of the holy Qur'an.

Generative AIs such as Google Bard are known to be equipped with techniques and grammatical principles of human language based on a large corpus of text and code that allow them to generate natural-sounding language, and also identify and correct grammatical errors in human-written texts. Still, they are not perfect language generators, and this paper reports some interesting errors produced by Google Bard regarding interpretation of English plain and reflexive pronouns. Although Google Bard is clearly well aware of how to locate the antecedents for English pronouns, it consistently produces seemingly random interpretation errors when the prompt asks it to create a short story based on test sentences containing a plain or a reflexive pronoun. Since it is quite evident that Google Bard does not have an inborn system of grammatical principles including the binding principles, which are used to account for how human beings deal with pronoun interpretation, other approaches to processing human language need to be considered to explain Google Bard's errors and the underlying mechanisms leading up to the errors. Thus, a processing account based on the Emergentist approach (O'Grady, 2005) and the Emergentist Reflexivity Approach model (Sperlich, 2020) is adopted, and the two separate levels of processing, that is, sentence processing and pragmatic processing, are introduced to account for Google Bard's errors and the human language interpretation mechanism that might be underlying. These findings can not only shed light on how generative AIs might be analyzing human language but also contribute to our better understanding of human language and related theories.

Superhero films have become a popular cinematic genre that has attracted the attention of scholars, many of whom focus on the films' dialogues. Through a pragmatic approach, this small-scale study investigates how directive speech acts are represented by the three Asian characters in the superhero movie "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings." Based on previous research, the directive speech acts in the film were extracted and analyzed, and a directive classification taxonomy was created to categorize pragmatic structures and strategies of directive speech acts. Of 342 directive utterances, the characters tend to favor both [H] and (S) oriented structures with more preference toward Single[H] and (S)+[H] structures. Of the 5 directive strategies, "Nonsentential," "Direct," and "NonConventionally Indirect/Hint" are the preferred strategies over the "Conventionally Direct" and "Hybrid ones." Such preference could be mapped along the directness continuum from the most direct force strategy, Direct directive strategy, to the least direct force strategy, "Non-Conventionally Indirect/Hint." The findings may contribute to further exploration of pragmatic features, especially the linguistic constructions of the "Nonsentential" directive strategy and its function in films, and movie script writing.

Completing a postgraduate dissertation requires various types of support, whether it be academic, moral, or financial. One way to express gratitude towards those who contribute is through the acknowledgement section. However, the guidelines provided by universities appear to be inadequate to support students, which poses challenges for those who are non-native English speakers. The present study, therefore, aims to examine the generic structure of the move patterns and the frequency of moves in the acknowledgement sections written by Thai EFL graduate students in applied linguistics. A corpus of 60 acknowledgements from the e-databases of two public universities was compiled. Hyland's (2004) framework of dissertation acknowledgements, consisting of three moves with their sub-units, was adopted as the analytical framework. The findings revealed that the thanking move appeared in every acknowledgement and was thus regarded as an obligatory move. However, both the reflecting and announcing moves were considered optional moves. Interestingly, one new move was found, suggesting a specific characteristic of Thai EFL graduate students in composing this section. The findings have pedagogical implications for both English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teachers and students in terms of raising their awareness of the diverse acknowledgement patterns that they can utilise.

The paper investigates a Hungarian-English bilingual child's Sarah's second language acquisition (SLA) with a special focus on how she integrated English (L2) into her speech to convey the intended meaning and negotiate the multiple identities she developed in her bilingualism in various social contexts. An ethnographic single-case study research seemed to be a relevant method of giving an exploratory, interpretive, and in-depth description of my single participant's language development (Creswell & Creswell, 2018, Duff, 2007). The applied qualitative data collection comprised the participant's everyday interactions, semistructured retrospective interviews, and her own spontaneous reflections. The findings indicate that Sarah used L2 as a complementary set of linguistic forms to differentiate meaning and as a social site for negotiating and gauging her own and her interlocutor's conduct and language use. Use of L2 expanded her linguistic repertoire, conveyed communicative intentions, and shed light on her transitory bilingual roles. The various feedback she received from her social environment shaped her self-concept and called for discussing and revisiting her own language competence. What she thought about peer feedback exerted a powerful impact on her self-image. The study might provide incentive for teaching English to young learners in home settings and might underpin the relevance of investigating single-case scenarios.

The learning effects of task-based interaction is an emerging topic in the field of instructed pragmatics for ESL learners. Specifically, researchers are exploring the impact of different task features on pragmatics learning. This article reports a review of the extant research. First, the review aimed to identify specific task design and implementation characteristics that appeared to enhance learners' use of pragmatic features during task performance. Inter alia, the review indicated greater benefits from tasks which learners completed collaboratively versus individually and tasks which presented learners with relatively complex versus relatively simple cognitive demands. Secondly, the review aimed to assess evidence of learning across this body of research. The review could not establish whether the enhanced pragmatic language use observed during task performance equated with long-term learning as very few studies included delayed post-tests, an obvious lacuna in the body of research to date.