Language Issues Research Articles

TURKISHNESS AND TURANISM IN THE CREATIVITY OF MUHAMMAD HADI

The article examines the problem of Turkism and Turanism in the poetry of one of the Azerbaijani romantics, Muhammad Hadi. It is shown that his work in the magazine "Füyuzat" and being a representative of the "Füyuzat" literary school increased the opinion of Turks from the beginning of his work. The idea of homeland, nation, and people described in his articles, his attitude to the issue of literary language, and his poems were also related to Turkism. Like A. Huseynzadeh, I. Gaspıralı, H.S. Ayvazov, M. Hadi not only defended the all-Turkish literary language, but even considered it necessary to adopt the Ottoman dialect of this language. The processes that took place around Turkey during the First World War, his presence in the war, strengthened the position of Turkism and Turanism in his work, and the ideology of Turkism, which appeared in the language of his poems and articles at the beginning of his work, deepened and gained new content. In his poems written during the republic, he calls for Turkish unity. In many of his poems written during this period, the poet calls to protect the independence won by the Turkish nation and to protect the motherland from the enemy. Although the idea of Turan and Turanism are not clearly emphasized in M. Hadi's poems, the spiritual map and ideology of the image of Turan are drawn in the poetic understanding of the ideology of Turkism.

THE LATEST SOCIOLINGUISTIC SURVEYS IN UKRAINE AS A DATABASE IN LINGUISTIC AND CONFLICT STUDIES

The object of this research is sociolinguistic surveys as a source of information in resolving linguistic conflicts, which we understand as a clash of national and linguistic interests of representatives of different language communities due to the inequality of language statuses within a bilingual or multilingual society. The subject of the study is the language issue in Ukraine, which has been used by political elites during election campaigns throughout the years of independence to mobilise their electorate and speculate. According to many researchers, the language issue in Ukraine is directly related to the definition of national identity, so sociolinguistic surveys include questions about national identity, among other things. The purpose of this paper is to try to determine the correlations between the political and ideological agenda in the country and the results of the polls. Of course, the Russian aggression could not but affect the language issue in the country. Along with the influence of official political and ideological discourses, the so-called agency is beginning to influence language policy in the country, as language activists or agents are involved in language disputes, which has been the subject of separate scientific studies in European and domestic works. Results. By comparing the results of sociolinguistic surveys throughout the years of independence, scholars are trying to identify social trends in resolving language conflicts. However, political elites continue to use the language issue to divide society, despite the fact that sociolinguistic data show that the language issue was secondary for Ukrainians, at least in the pre-war period. Conclusions. Even the optimistic results of the surveys, which do confirm the existence of certain, but not so significant, differences between the linguistic orientations of different parts of the Ukrainian population, do not provide guarantees of conflict-free coexistence on linguistic grounds, since competition between political elites can again present the language issue as a conflictogenic one and people’s views as polarised and uncompromising through the construction of relevant political and ideological discourses.

Lost in Translation? Nineteenth-century German Romanticism and Translingualism in Andrés Neuman’s El viajero del siglo (2009)

This article examines the connections between contemporary theories of translation and translingualism and the Romantic ideals of nineteenth-century Germany as presented by Andrés Neuman in his seminal work, El viajero del siglo (2009). After introducing the relevant theories, namely the Romantic ideologies of Friedrich Schleiermacher, and translingualism as a field of academic study, the article analyses the novel, paying particular attention to the presence of translingual writing techniques (namely, linguistic borrowing). Focusing on issues of languages, literatures and translation, the article attempts to posit translingual analysis as a means of understanding trans-temporal and transnational texts such as Neuman’s in a way that connects languages, time periods and peoples alike, bridging gaps and promoting equal representation within world literature

For the Issue of Language as a Relationship, Culture and Nation Awareness

When teaching Georgian as a foreign language, not only the alphabet,morphological-syntactic, stylistic and lexical queriesare taught, but also the details of the national consciousness areshown. These details make one unity that determines the character,habits, traditions and actions of the nation.Foreign learner is interested in the whole cultural face of this orthat nation. This is why such request was brought by the life oftoday`s world. American Erin Meyer answered the challenge withthe book “The Culture Map”. You can find many nations with theirpractical views and cultural attitudes.Georgia`s place in this culture map was very interesting. Languageis learnt because of the communication – communication determinesthe cultural form – cultural view determines the mentalityof the nation, its consciousness. Language is an opportunity, it`s aweapon to codify the nation. If there is not this or that word, signifiesthat the nation has not thought of it, it hasn`t needed it.It is a question statement. We should build our cultural map, whichimplies and consumes of many things. Individuals, especially intellectuals,create the epoch, influence the generation, but determiningthe mentality is perceived according to the nation`s actions andis represented by the language.

“What's your accent, where are you from?”: Language and belonging among older immigrants

Researchers have identified immigration and marginalization as two processes that impact older immigrants' experience of aging in the U.S. Our paper draws on 42 interviews with a diverse group of older American immigrants to center issues of language, accent, and Othering. We argue that the importance of language extends beyond communication for older immigrants, as English proficiency and accent are important boundaries determining inclusion and recognition as an American. Accents are a racialized characteristic that can prompt microaggressions and exclusion. We identified a racial pattern in reported reactions to accents among the participants in our study. White immigrants generally described positive appraisals of their accent, and typically had a choice whether to emphasize their national origins. While white immigrants were viewed as “Acceptable Outsiders,” many immigrants of color described microaggressions, ridicule, and discrimination related to their accented speech. We contend that these experiences of Othering can have a profound impact on sense of belonging, as many of the older immigrants of color in our study expressed a persistent sense of exclusion and even alienation. We advance the concept of “aging off center” to describe how repeated experiences of Othering and exclusion shape aging experiences for immigrants of color who are long-term residents of the United States.

Language Issues and Monolingual Myopia in Japanese Business

Language Issues and Monolingual Myopia in Japanese Business

Volume Introduction: Special Issue in Honour of James Dean Brown’s Five-Decade Contribution to Language Testing and Assessment

It is not every day, year, or even decade that a journal dedicates an entire issue to honour the contributions of an individual scholar in the field. The purpose of this Special Issue of Language Teaching Research Quarterly is to celebrate the work of James Dean Brown, a scholar who has made an enormous impact on the field of language testing and assessment. Following his retirement from the field, this Special Issue was created in JD’s honour and is dedicated to him and his many contributions to the field.

A Different Perspective of Teachers on The Issue of Syrian Students in Türkiye: A Comparative Analysis

The purpose of this study is to comparatively examine the opinions of teachers who have Syrian students in their classrooms and those who have never been involved in educational activities with Syrian students. The study is based on the case study design, a qualitative research approach. The study group consists of primary school teachers who work at public schools and are divided into two groups considering the presence of Syrian students in their classrooms. In the research process, the data were collected using a semi-structured interview form and analysed through the content analysis method. As a result of the analyses, five themes were created to represent the problems experienced by the teachers who were instructing Syrian students. In this context, several codes were listed under the themes of “communication problems”, “disciplinary problems”, “adaptation problems”, “academic problems”, and “other problems”. The problems considered likely by the teachers who did not have any Syrian students were grouped under four themes, including “communication problems”, “disciplinary problems”, “adaptation problems”, and “academic problems”, and some codes were presented relevantly. Likewise, four themes were created to represent the solutions proposed by the teachers in both groups for the aforementioned problems, and several codes were listed under the themes of “academic measures”, “language education”, “harmonisation activities” and “other measures”. With these research findings, the problems and solution proposals expressed by the teachers were compared based on the presence of Syrian students in the classroom. Then the similarities and differences were listed. Consequently, it was revealed that the teachers in both groups mainly highlighted language issues as part of the communication problems faced in the education of Syrian students. It was also identified that the teachers in both groups expressed that the problems arising from the presence of Syrian students in the classroom would have highly adverse effects on other students. In addition, it was concluded that the teachers who had Syrian students mostly proposed solutions within the scope of academic measures and language education, whereas the other group of teachers generally offered solutions regarding language education and harmonisation activities.

Mind your language: an empirical investigation into the role of language in Indian expatriate professionals’ adjustment abroad

Expatriates are an integral part of international human resources, enabling multinational corporations (MNCs) to implement and execute strategy. Yet, the issues related to the expatriates’ adjustment to their new environments can negatively affect the ability of MNCs to do business. As the major currency of communication, language is among the most complex issues related to adjustment in a new host country. In this study, we contribute by utilizing social learning and linguistic relativity as two key theoretical lenses to identify and examine the dimensions of expatriate adjustment. To do so, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 Indian expatriates in several countries around the world (English and non-English speaking). Our findings revealed five dimensions including (i) nuances of language (ii) role of language (iii) mechanisms to overcome language issues (iv) support and (v) expatriates’ adjustment. We analysed the data using the Gioia methodology. We discuss our findings’ theoretical and practical implications and offer suggestions for future research.

Language in intercultural business interactions: A self-perceived power perspective

Intercultural business interaction has received limited scholarly attention in business-to-business (B2B) marketing research, with language and culture particularly being largely neglected topics despite the literature noting their importance in B2B marketing. This study addresses this omission by focusing on how managers make sense of the role of language in intercultural business interactions. We also explore the role of language as a potential source of individual power in international business (IB) relationships. The empirical enquiry focuses on an extreme case of Russians' intercultural business interactions with Finns or in Finland before the war in Ukraine. The findings show that context and language, as well as translation power dynamics are intertwined, generating an additional level of power dynamics that emerge from the business per se. Language particularly influences self-perceived power in business relationships and can lead to dependence or frustration due to linguistic limitations. The study contributes to research on B2B marketing and IB by highlighting that individual-level exposure to intercultural business interactions entails significant linguistic challenges that cannot be solved only by using English. Specifically, it contributes to addressing the issue of language in use, which has rarely been examined in the literature on intercultural interaction in the B2B environment.

Postcolonial Reflections in South Asian Literature

Postcolonial literature in South Asia stands as a vibrant testament to the enduring impact of colonial rule on the cultural, social, and literary landscape of the region. Emerging from the aftermath of colonialism, South Asian literature reflects the complexities of a postcolonial world, where nations once subjugated by imperial powers grapple with issues of identity, nationhood, language, and cultural hybridity. This body of literature serves as a powerful mirror, capturing the myriad ways in which the legacy of colonialism continues to shape the lives and narratives of the people of South Asia. Three novels selected to study Postcolonial Reflections in South Asian Literature are Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, and The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. These literary works explore the complex aftermath of colonialism and its impact on identity, culture, and society in the South Asian region. Through the works of renowned authors and emerging voices, it explores the multifaceted experiences of those who lived through and after colonial rule, shedding light on the resilience, creativity, and resilience of a postcolonial society seeking to define itself amidst the ruins of empire. In this exploration of postcolonial effects in South Asian literature, the rich tapestry of narratives that illuminate the ongoing struggle for self-definition, cultural reclamation, and social justice in the wake of colonialism's enduring footprint will be studied.

Drawn to Decisions: Hungarian Jewish Citizen Ignác Goldziher

Abstract In a previous study about Max Nordau (1849–1923), a doctor, writer, journalist, and Zionist born in Hungary who had spent his youth in Budapest and had a successful career in Paris, and Theodor Herzl (1860–1904), who became known as a playwright in Vienna, an employee of the newspaper Neue Freie Presse, and ultimately as the author of Der Judenstaat (The State of the Jews), I examined the role that assimilation, language, and identity played in the development of their careers. Ujvári, Hedvig, “Issues of Assimilation, Language and Identity in the Lives of Young Max Nordau and Tivadar Herzl”, AHEA: E-journal of the American Hungarian Educators Association 5 (2012), 1–20, http://ahea.net/e-journal/volume-5-2012. The present study is a continuation of that train of thought, this time focusing on Ignác Goldziher (1850–1921), the founder of what would become Modern European Islamic Studies. He and Nordau were high school classmates Goldziher himself refers to the classmate relationship in his Diary: “Max Nordau was among my classmates.” See Goldziher, Ignaz, Tagebuch, ed. by Scheiber, Alexander, Leiden: Brill, 1978, 30; Goldziher, Ignác, Napló [Diary], Vál., s. a. r., az előszót és a jegyzeteket írta Scheiber Sándor [ed. by Scheiber, Sándor], Budapest: Magvető, 1985, 39. and prepared for their graduation together, during which time Goldziher also attended the university lectures of Ármin Vámbéry (1832–1913) in preparation for his scientific career. At the age of 20, Goldziher completed his doctorate in Leipzig with every promise of a successful career in Hungarian higher education; however, the death of Minister of Culture József Eötvös dashed these hopes, József Eötvös (1813–1870): lawyer, writer, first minister of religion and public education in the Batthyány and then Andrássy governments, and president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1866–1871). and instead of joining the ranks of academia, Goldziher was forced to earn a living as a religious notary for the local Jewish community and worked on his academic research at night. He spent the rest of his life in Budapest, only leaving Hungary for short periods of time to attend academic events such as conferences on Orientalism, and consistently refused every foreign job offer that came his way.

Form (Prosody)-Meaning (Pragmatics) pairings of discourse markers: A case study of Nǐ zhīdào (‘You Know’) as a construction in Chinese media interviews

This article makes the first empirical corpus-based study of the actual performance of the discourse marker (DM) nǐ zhīdào (NZ) in Chinese media interview conversations from the perspective of synchronic Construction Grammar (CxG).1 The main objective is to pair the prosody of NZ at varying utterance positions (‘form’ properties at prosodic and discourse structural levels) with its pragmatic functions (‘meaning’ properties at the discourse communicative level), to enhance our understanding within the existing literature, specifically in relation to pragmatics in spontaneous speech, and provide implications for the broader study of discourse markers. The analysis of the ‘form’ properties of NZ reveals distinct, context-specific attributes of such prosodic metrics as duration, tempo, pause, F0, and intensity at varying utterance positions; the analysis of its ‘meaning’ properties discovers pragmatic functions with characteristic utterance distributions; and the form-meaning pairing between prosody and pragmatics highlights the roles of prosody in deciphering and materializing pragmatics and of pragmatics in underlying and motivating prosody. This study has shown that insights gained from CxG can enhance our understanding of the fields of pragmatics, discourse, and interaction, and specific linguistic phenomena whose importance has been entrenched in these domains can be sufficiently explained using CxG. It follows that the notion of construction can be extended to the discourse (e.g., dialogue and conversation) level to approach the complexities of spoken language and address diverse elusive pragmatic issues like DMs effectively.

Haciendo Espejos: Multicultural Children’s Literature as Mirror Making

ABSTRACT This study analyzes the outcomes of a service-learning course where Latinas in a higher education setting created a 16-page children’s book for at-risk students as part of their education coursework in a regional public Hispanic-serving institution (HSI). There is a well-documented lack of Latina/o/x representation in children’s literature, which has impacts on literacy gaps and student confidence, but little research on the potential of creating children’s literature as a means to bridge divides. A series of qualitative focus groups at an HSI in a U.S.–Mexico border community were utilized to define the process of mirror making. Mirror making occurs when students draw from their own literacy journeys as the basis for writing while attempting to represent the experiences of emerging readers. As such, the process of mirror making represents a way of narrativizing sociopolitical issues of language, gender, and family that are relevant to their formative experiences.

A Trend Analysis of the Challenges of International Students Over 21 Years

International students leave their countries to pursue their educational goals in a different country and must adapt to succeed. However, they may face challenges when adapting to and learning a new culture. This study investigates the challenges common to international students in their host countries and summarizes the publishing trends. A literature search of peer-reviewed articles published in Scopus, Taylor & Francis, EBSCO Host, Web of Science, Springer, PubMed, and Wiley Online over 21 years (2002–2022) was done for data collection. After the screening, a total of 175 articles were included in this review and analyzed with content analysis. The findings show that the top four destinations for international students (USA, UK, Australia, and Canada) produced the most articles about international students’ challenges. Additionally, most papers investigated more than one challenge, and sociocultural (82.9%) and academic challenges (82.3%) were the most researched, with language issues as the primary cause. The results also show no changes or improvement in the challenges of international students in 21 years, and areas such as psychological and economic challenges need more research. These challenges and other trends found in the articles are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.

Exploring the efficacy of peer assessment in university translation classrooms

ABSTRACT Informed by the effective feedback model, the study explored the efficacy of peer assessment (PA) regarding feedback content, strategy, and uptake along with their intertwined relationships in translator education. Multiple sources of data, including students’ translation drafts and their revised work, audio recordings of PA presentations and discussions, questionnaires, and teaching materials were collected. The results revealed that the students tended to provide direct correction and reformulation on lower-level language issues. While they positively responded to the peer feedback they received, the explicitness of the feedback and solutions to the problems significantly influenced their responses. The study also discovered associations between content and strategy, as well as between strategy and uptake, while no connection was found between content and uptake. The study contributes to the extant research on PA in higher education by investigating its efficacy from a multidimensional perspective and provides practical implications for its effective implementation in translation classrooms.

Developing an effective and comprehensive communication curriculum for undergraduate medical education in Poland – the review and recommendations

BackgroundThe recognition of the importance of effective communication in the healthcare system has been growing. Given that communication courses must be adjusted to the specificity of a particular culture, language, and other contextual issues, many countries and communities sharing a common language have proposed their recommendations for a communication curriculum for undergraduate medical education. To date, no recommendations have been developed for either any Central and Eastern Europe countries or for regions where Slavic languages are spoken. Their specificity of post-communist transformation should be acknowledged. This study aims to review communication curriculums and offer recommendations for medical communication training for undergraduate medical students in Poland.MethodsThe recommendations were developed through an iterative consultation process with lecturers, faculty members of medical schools, and education coordinators. PubMed and Google Scholar databases were searched to identify full text English and Polish language articles on communication curriculum for undergraduate medical education. Additionally, the new Regulation of the Polish Minister of Science and Higher Education, defining educational standards for undergraduate medical education was analysed in search of learning outcomes that could be applied in communication skills teaching. The authors extracted the most relevant communication skill competencies, as determined by the process participants, discussed current challenges, including those of the COVID-19 pandemic era, and indicated best practices.ResultsA review was conducted, and a set of recommendations was developed pertaining to the scope and methodology of teaching communication skills. The study included: (1) definition, (2) education content, (3) learning outcomes, (4) the recommended teaching methods. The recommendations are in concord with the graduate profile, as well as the current structure of medical studies. The authors listed and discussed the basic communication competencies expected of medical graduates, as well as medical communication course content viewed from different perspectives, including clinical, psychological, sociological, legal, and linguistic.ConclusionsDetailed recommendations aimed at integrating best practices into a comprehensive communication curriculum may promote successful teaching, learning, and assessment of medical communication.

Creating new pathways for sharing knowledge to support restoration initiatives

In response to pressing global threats, nations worldwide have committed to restore vast areas of degraded land. But many nations, particularly in the Global South, are experiencing challenges in planning and managing these programs. Access to knowledge from the scientific literature is limited by barriers such as paywalls and language issues for non‐English speakers. Limited accessibility to the scientific literature can impair the ability of restoration managers and practitioners to apply scientific knowledge on the ground, jeopardizing local and global restoration efforts. We present the case of an education and training project Restaura Consciencia, which is a website featuring multilingual summaries of published scientific articles on restoration, conservation, and related disciplines. This not‐for‐profit academic project promotes the application of research findings and increases the visibility of the authors of articles, including often marginalized authors who publish in their native languages but want to share summaries in English and other languages. Restaura Consciencia promotes collective academic collaborations to support restoration initiatives.

Different cultures review hotels differently

The issue of language and culture is recognized as paramount for the service industry, but has been poorly addressed by the academic literature. Framed within the Social Representation Theory and operationalized with the concept of high- and low- context cultures conceptualized by Hall, this research aims to explore differences in reviews written in different languages. Reviews written in French (high-context) and German (low-context) were analyzed in the original formats using descriptive statistics, automatic text analysis, network data visualization, and technical attribute assessment to seize the differences. This research found comparing to high-context culture, low-context culture reviews have high polarity but low subjectivity. Given the intrinsic differences in polarity and subjectivity between cultures, researchers and practitioners should monitor the changes of sentiments by cultures to reduce the bias resulted from the intrinsic differences. Furthermore, data visualizations show different topics between cultures and offer additional insights of the differences.

Language legislation in the era of independence: sociolinguistic dimension

The objective of the paper is to examine the sociolinguistic dimension of language legislation in Ukraine. The study focuses on the impact of the “language issue” on Ukrainian society in the context of war as well as to analyse linguistic representations, ideologies, and attitudes and their impact on the linguistic behaviour of Ukrainians. A resource for activating interpersonal solidarity and resistance to the enemy, and for modulating the manifestation of individual positions in macrosociological and political relations that may arise in the process of interaction. With the help of a critical approach to the theoretical guidelines of the study the role of language legislation in shaping language policy and regulating the use of languages in various spheres of life is analysed. The issues of linguistic equality, diglossia, and language policy in relation to minority languages are considered. The most important issue of the paper is that the language legislation of the independence era in Ukraine is of great importance for the sociolinguistic development of society. In times of war, it affects language processes, language policy, and the total transition to the state language. Excluding the language of the enemy, however, does not mean levelling all languages. It is important to strike a balance between protecting the language rights of citizens and preserving linguistic diversity in the country.