International Language Research Articles

THE ROLE OF ENGLISH IN SPREADING ISLAM RAHMATAN LIL ‘ALAMIN VALUES: MILLENNIALS’ VOICES

The rapid development of Islam in the world cannot be separated from the role of the international language. Islam, a Rahmatan lil 'Alamin religion, has a negative stigma in the international world. Millennials are young people who are very attached to information technology. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the voice of millennials more deeply toward the role of English in the spread of Islam Rahmatan lil 'Alamin values full of affection and peace. This study is qualitative research with a phenomenological approach. The data were collected by conducting semi-structured interviews. The results showed that millennials' voices toward the role of language are: ease of communication, medium of communication, and ease the information access. Then, millennials' voices toward the role of English in the spread of Islam Rahmatan lil 'Alamin values are: ease the convey Islam Rahmatan lil 'Alamin values through various fields, expand the reach of areas and targets in the spread of the values, ease in obtaining information about the spread of the values which can be accessed on the internet, supports efforts to straighten out the negative stigma directed at Islam and ease capturing messages about the values from various sources. The research implications suggest that leveraging English as a medium can significantly enhance the dissemination of Islam's values of compassion and peace among global audiences, particularly through digital platforms, thereby fostering greater understanding and reducing negative stereotypes associated with Islam.

English as a Medium of China’s National Storytelling

Foreign language education may serve many goals, but national storytelling would not be an obvious one. Due to the position of English as an international language, it has become an increasingly important tool for intercultural communication and international public relations for countries whose official language is not English. In this study, we will look into the case of China, where English has been seen as the most important medium of China’s national storytelling. Chinese youths are encouraged to learn English well and to equip themselves with the competence to tell China’s stories well in English. As a key theoretical underpinning in this study, national stories are taken as national identities to live by. To better understand this relationship, we have invited 100 undergraduate English Majors in a provincial Chinese university to each tell a China story in English. By subjecting the 100 China stories told by 100 Chinese youths in English to a rigorous thematic analysis, we hope to determine in this study what Chinese national identity is constructed through this national storytelling exercise. More importantly, by examining the Chinese case of English as a medium of national storytelling, this study aims to shed light on the specific purpose of English as a global medium for communicating a country’s national narratives and national discourses.

Analyzing The Problems of Chatgpt in Chinese International Education Based on The Classification of Educational Objectives

With the continuous development of generative artificial intelligence technology, ChatGPT has also had a significant impact on the education sector. ChatGPT can assist in the teaching practice of Chinese international education and has shown positive effects in empirical research. However, there is still insufficient research on the challenges and response measures of ChatGPT for the formation of international Chinese language education. Therefore, based on the teaching practice cases of ChatGPT in Chinese international education, this article selects qualitative research methods in methodology, summarizes the current application status and existing problems of ChatGPT in Chinese international education, and provides targeted suggestions in combination with Bloom's educational goal classification method. Research has found that, In the process of assisting Chinese international education, ChatGPT may lead to the subversion of ethical relationships between teachers and students, difficulty in ensuring the accuracy of generative artificial intelligence, or inability to meet the requirements of the artificial intelligence era. Teachers need to further improve their professional qualities, actively promote changes in educational concepts, and avoid technological dependence.

Interplay among Language and Home Variables in Lebanese Students’ Science TIMSS Performance: A Linguistic and Economic Capital Perspective

AbstractIn Lebanon, science is taught in an international language (French or English) based on a language-in-education policy rooted in Lebanon’s colonial history. Given the intersection among social/socioeconomic class, educational equity, and science performance, learning science in a language other than one’s own raises concerns around economically-marginalized students’ opportunities for quality science education and their development of science understandings and discourse. Bourdieu’s lens of cultural and linguistic capital was utilized to better understand the interplay among socioeconomic status and science performance. Specifically, we examined how different home context variables (including language) influence Lebanese learners’ science performance in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assessment. Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), we looked at how students performed in science based on how often they spoke the language of the test at home and other home variables such as parents’ education level. The findings indicate that language and various economic and home variables were significantly associated with science performance. Language had a differing effect for English and French tracks, whereby parents’ education level and other home variables emerged more significantly for French track students. Our study underscores the importance of preparing and supporting science teachers for equitable, asset-oriented, and linguistically responsive teaching that enhances diverse learners’ equitable participation and opportunities in the science classroom.

“I felt like I was being judged…”: A duoethnography exploring international language teacher educator identities

“I felt like I was being judged…”: A duoethnography exploring international language teacher educator identities

Innovation and integration: Analysis of research hotspots and frontiers in "Chinese + vocational skills" education—based on bibliometric analysis visualized by citespace

The "Chinese + Vocational Skills" education is a new form of education merging international Chinese education with vocational training. This paradigm has emerged as a focal point in research on international Chinese language education. This article is aimed to effectively dissect the developmental patterns and prevailing research topics on "Chinese + Vocational Skills", by employing CiteSpace, a tool for visualizing scientific data, to analyze pertinent literature spanning the last decade (2013–2023). The analysis offers insights into the overall landscape and evolutionary trajectory of research in this field. The findings therefrom indicate the followings: (1) Research on "Chinese + Vocational Skills" exhibits certain interdisciplinary characteristics, with an overall trend of rapid growth in research literature, but a relatively small volume of high-quality core literature. (2) "International Chinese Language Education", "Vocational Education", "Chinese + Vocational Skills", and the "Belt and Road" are current research hotspots in this field. "Chinese +",Chinese for Specific Purpose, demand analysis, and vocational skills serve as important turning points for research on "Chinese + Vocational Skills". (3) Research topics related to "Chinese + Vocational Skills" mainly concentrate on four aspects: international Chinese language education, vocational education, talent cultivation, as well as regions and countries, yet disparities of research endeavors exist across these fields. (4) The research frontier of the field mainly focuses on international Chinese language education, "Chinese + Vocational Skills", international vocational education on Chinese language in vocational colleges, and internationalization of Chinese language. Addressing contemporary demands, research in "Chinese + Vocational Skills" needs to align with global economic trends, cater to the actual needs for talent with such skills, and further enhance understanding from various perspectives including educational models, national demands, and internationalization efforts, thus fortifying the capacity of "Chinese + Vocational Skills" education to serve the development of industries.

A systematic review of international students’ experiences transitioning from non-Anglophone high schools to universities in Anglophone settings

ABSTRACT This systematic review explores the extent and nature of research on the experiences of international students transitioning from non-anglophone high schools to universities in anglophone settings and then curates and synthesises the empirical evidence on their experiences. An extensive and systematic search of the literature revealed 1247 potentially eligible papers. After screening, eleven empirical studies were deemed suitable for data extraction for narrative synthesis focusing on students’ transitional experiences. The university destinations in the included studies were the USA (n = 8), Canada (n = 2) and a variety of English-speaking university destinations (n = 1). Seven of the included studies were cross-sectional, and four studies were longitudinal. Results showed that previous studies have explored students’ decision-making processes, university and international readiness, and language and identity development. Five studies suggested the need for longitudinal perspectives to better understand student participants’ transition. Four studies proposed to incorporate the perspectives and impact of relevant stakeholders in investigating students’ transitional experiences, including students’ families, teachers, peers, and university professors. This review calls for more targeted, rigorous, and longitudinal studies to better understand and enhance international students’ experiences studying abroad.

Quiet Pandemic Amid COVID-19: A literature review on gamification for mental health

Background: COVID-19 affects individuals both physically and mentally. The key is to address emerging needs with a modest technique that helps boost the positive approach in individuals. Gamification offers attempts to engage users with the non-game approach, and its growing popularity in other fields, such as finance and retail, is evident. Objective: This research aims to study the available literature that analyzes and understands using the Gamification approach for mental health in the pandemic. Methods: The author performed a systematic literature review using the PRISMA technique among the selected articles published until Jul 2023, focusing on Gamification, mental health, and COVID in highly reputed record databases, which were peer-reviewed studies. Therefore, the studies using the standard international language of English were eligible for this Study. Results: The Study identified elevated articles exploring Gamification through mobile application software, web-based platforms, and other tools since COVID-19 limited in-person social contact for individual safety during peak time. Conclusion: There are limited studies of Gamification in mental health, and the existing studies suggest that Gamification supports the betterment of mental health. Future studies can explore the different areas of mental health with gamification-based applications or gamified approaches.

A Review of Research on Chinese Medium of Instruction

Medium language appears in the process of second language teaching and learning with high frequency, but related researchers have different attitudes towards medium language. By reviewing the relevant literature, sorting out scholars' views on the use of mediated language in Chinese language teaching and the application experiences developed by different views, this paper summarizes the current research results on mediated language in second language teaching, especially in international Chinese language teaching, and looks forward to the future development of international Chinese language education classrooms.

Language policy and linguistic landscapes in the internationalization of a non-Anglophone university

PurposeInternationalization strategies that have been issued for a decade affect non-Anglophone higher education institutions (HEIs) in the clash of importance in preserving national language or using international languages. One of the observable objects of this dilemma is the inconsistent language display of universities’ public signages as a linguistic landscape (LL). To address these issues, the presence of language policy is urgent unless the preservation of the national language is no longer the responsibility of HEIs. However, rigorous discussion about language policy in non-Anglophone HEIs remains limited. This study aims to address the gap by providing a critical analysis of the existing language policy documents in an Indonesian higher education institution that has a multilingual environment and its effect on the LL.Design/methodology/approachThis case study used document analysis and LL analysis. The setting was an Islamic university in Indonesia that represents the trial importance of building religious identity, preserving the national language and engaging with international demands. The data were collected from National Law Enforcement websites, which provided various national policy documents and the institutional documents that were retrieved from the university website by using the document analysis method by Bowen (2009). The secondary data were 216 visual images of public signage in an Islamic university in Indonesia as the representation of multilingual phenomena. The additional data were gathered from a pilot interview with a lecturer and a student.FindingsThis study found that both the national government and institutional administration in Indonesia do not have a language policy that regulates LLs or language preferences in public places for HEIs. The university tends to solely refer to international accreditation policy by using either bilingual English-Indonesian or monolingual English in the public signage. However, the limited use of the Arabic language in specific venues such as mosques and musallas shows that Arabic serves neither as symbolic identity nor communicative functions.Research limitations/implicationsThis study sets a single case study in an Islamic university, and the policy documents were limited to the Indonesian Government and institutions as the representation of non-Anglophone countries. Further studies are expected to have a bigger and larger size of data and settings.Practical implicationsThis study implies that non-Anglophone countries’ governments should start to design and enforce a language policy that preserves national language and facilitates major national and international language communities, such as Thai, Arabic, Javanese and Malay, without being absent in international competitive labeling. A practical implication for religion-based and cultural-based universities is that the function of their Holy Book or local languages can be used as communicative functions to strengthen the religious and local identity.Social implicationsThis study implies that non-Anglophone countries’ governments should start to design and enforce a language policy that preserves their national language without being absent in international competitive labeling.Originality/valueGiven the fact that there is limited awareness to bring the discussion about LL patterns into language policy issues in non-Anglophone countries, this study was originally conducted as a case study to pilot the discussion about the absence of language policy as represented through LLs in Indonesia. This case study was brought up as a pilot discussion to urge non-Anglophone countries lawmakers to issue language policy at the university level. This message is meant to respond to internationalization programs that can potentially jeopardize the existence of the linguistic and cultural diversity of non-Anglophone countries.

Delivering a pilot Institution Wide Language Programme (IWLP) at an Irish University: teachers’ perspectives

Abstract This paper analyses the language educator’s experience of delivering an Institution-Wide Language Programme (IWLP) in an Irish University. It uses a focus group to explore the experiences of six International Language Tutors who delivered modules on a pilot IWLP between 2021 and 2024. The findings indicate that designing and delivering the programme was a predominantly rewarding experience for the tutors involved. Positive aspects included engagement levels among students who completed the programme, the freedom to design, deliver and assess modules in a flexible and innovative manner, and the supportive nature of the tutor team. Negative aspects relate to policy issues concerning student eligibility for the programme, operational issues such as (de-)registration, attendance and attrition rates, and misalignment between student and module proficiency levels. Recommendations relate to IWLP design and administration as well as to supports for IWLP language educators. They include the use of hybrid teaching as standard, the opening of IWLPs to all staff and students (using caps on numbers and waiting lists), clear communication to potential participants in relation to the relationship between IWLP language modules and main degrees reflected in simplified registration, deregistration and certification processes, the provision of training in hybrid design and delivery of language modules as well as of appropriate teaching infrastructure, and full integration of the IWLP teaching team into institutional support structures.

Language Preservation through Popularization of Regional Indian Music: A Data-Driven Approach

The increased global connectivity due to internet penetration has resulted in the dominance of international languages and the decline of regional languages. To help preserve these languages, this study identifies the non-native regions in India that offer the most promising opportunities for expanding the popularity of music for each of the 14 regional languages. It analyses the audio features of 41,000 songs from 14 Indian languages on Spotify, employing two approaches – clustering algorithms and Random Forest Regressors. An overlap between the regions identified by both methods for any given language is considered a robust result, providing greater confidence in the results. The results show that while geographical proximity is a significant factor in determining non-native market fits for the music of a given language, alignment in preferences of audio features driven by cultural similarities plays an integral role as well. The findings have important implications for music industry stakeholders, including artists, management, digital platforms, and governments, who can leverage this data to devise strategies to expand the reach of regional music. This includes designing targeted marketing strategies, fostering cross-regional artist collaborations, and optimizing content recommendation algorithms, among others.

The Influence of Dialects in Northwest China on English Pronunciation Learning

In today's rapidly developing society, economic globalization is an irresistible trend, and exchanges between countries are becoming more frequent. As an international communication language, English has played a great role in various international cooperation and exchanges in China, and an increasing number of English learners have emerged in the world today. Pronunciation is the foundation and premise of learning every language, and students are inevitably affected by many aspects when they learn English pronunciation. Through research, it is found that the main factor affecting students' learning is that students are more or less influenced by their own local language and the influence of dialect habits. In response to this problem, this paper analyzes the factors affecting English pronunciation and proposes: let students intuitively understand the pronunciation of English and dialect, and let students imitate pure English pronunciation and practice more, so as to avoid the influence of dialect in learning pronunciation, as well as to improve students' English proficiency.

A mixed-methods investigation into complex components of multilingual international students' self-regulated learning in English as a foreign language context: A social cognitive perspective

Self-regulated learning serves as a fundamental framework for understanding the cognitive, motivational, and emotional dimensions of learning. Recently, a growing body of studies on such cognitive processes appears in multilingual populations. Applying a mixed-methods approach, this study examined the key components of the self-regulated learning process among 233 multilingual international students in China, specifically within the context of English as a Foreign Language learning. Qualitative data was analyzed through Pearson's correlation analysis, structural equation modeling, and path analysis, while semi-structured interviews were conducted to further confirm the results of the qualitative data analysis. 15 students were purposefully selected through purposive sampling to participate in follow-up interviews. Within the framework of social cognitive theory, the findings revealed that metacognition, motivation, self-efficacy, and feedback loops are the primary components of self-regulated learning. Additionally, path analysis confirmed that the four factors are positive predictors of self-regulated learning proficiency of multilingual international students in China. The interview outcomes further validated the integral role of these primary components in the self-regulated learning process within the context of multilingual study. This study underscores the significance of incorporating translanguaging backgrounds into teaching strategies and language policy. Findings may offer some insights for multilingual international students, language teachers, and language policymakers in the field of Chinese language instruction.

The Notion of English as an International Language in a Selection of Teacher Education Programs in Colombia

English as an International Language (EIL) constitutes a paradigm for the teaching of English from a pluri-centric linguistic, cultural, and pedagogical approach. This article reports on the partial findings of a Comparative Case Study (CCS) conducted to assess the manifestation of the notion of EIL in the curriculum policy documents of a selection of initial teacher education programs in Colombia. Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) was applied to the curriculum policy documents of three English teacher education programs, and a descriptive account of the contents of these documents is given to support the reported assessment. The analysis revealed that the manifestation of EIL, whenever found, was mostly inferable in the documents of two programs in the functional dimension of EIL and in its dimension of Teacher Education, whereas one program’s document generally did not show manifestation of this paradigm.

Editor’s note

We present a new issue of BJTLLL, with three articles based on doctoral studies, an interview and a review. The first contribution is by Óscar Gómez-Delgado, a study entitled "The notion of English as an international language in a selection of teacher training programmes in Colombia". Next, Sofia Di Sarno-García presents the study “Expectations and level of satisfaction of language learners in a telecollaboration project”. The third article, written by Hilda Buitrago-García, is entitled “Principles of teacher professional development and digital lexicographic skills for the design of continuing education modules”. In the interview (“The word to collectively build peace”), Natalia Quiceno Rodríguez talks with the professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal and the University of Lisbon Ana L. Costa. Finally, Marcos Antonio Troncoso Díaz presents a review of the collective volume “Advances in the study of scientific and academic language”, coordinated by Ventura Salazar García and María Aurora García Ruiz.

Motivation of Learning Chinese as an International Language: A Review of Theories and Research Findings

Motivation of Learning Chinese as an International Language: A Review of Theories and Research Findings

Introduction: Esperantists in the Twentieth Century: Making Connections in an Age of Division

The transcending of borders marked a large part of the political experience of the 20th century. This aspiration took shape in a century that strengthened and multiplied national barriers and that witnessed two world wars. In response to growing nationalism, many individuals, political movements and communities adopted an enlarged identity bound up with cosmopolitanism, internationalism, pan-Europeanism or, more recently, globalism. These categories, often part of a broader political frame of reference, established a connection between estranged nations but still referred to national divisions. Transnational history has shown how these tendencies were experienced not as a withdrawal of the border framework but as a link between nations-states. In this context, a particular and powerful way of abolishing national constraints has remained unnoticed by historians: the community of Esperanto speakers. They emerged at the end of the 19th century as an alternative to internationalizing models. With this aim, they developed a linguistic and cultural space that would not be marked by one specific culture to the detriment of the others. Nevertheless, the international language and the social movement created around it had to face the dominant ideological trends of the time. Through three case studies from the history of the Esperanto movement we propose to deepen the debate on the links between ideology and transnationalism. The first investigates the epistolary relationship between two communists, one Bulgarian and the other Japanese, discussing the trajectory of their political life and most notably their rejection of Stalinism. The second focuses on the link between Esperanto and anticolonial thinking in East Asia during the 1930s and early 1940s. Based on the study of literature and in particular of post-war Esperanto poetry, the third contribution examines the reasons that led a number of authors to choose the international language Esperanto to formulate their own account of WWII and to perpetuate the memory of the collective tragedy.

An Introduction to Global Englishes

The rationale for the recently established JALT Global Englishes SIG may be unclear and require explanation. To that end, some key relevant areas of debate are introduced that indicate the relevance and importance of the SIG’s interests to teaching: English as a Native Language; English as a Foreign Language; World Englishes; Standard English; English as a (Multi) Lingua Franca; and Teaching English as an International Language. These introductions are provided to show how and why there has been a shift away from English as a Native Language and Standard English towards alternative conceptions of English. Lastly, some of the implications of these debates for teaching are introduced.

Virtual Communication in the Online Game Counter-Strike as an English Learning Media

This research is motivated by the rise of people who play online games, one of which is the online game Counter-Strike 2, which is favored by the world community. Playing Counter-Strike 2 online games can be used as a medium of learning English because, in Counter-Strike 2 online games, you can communicate with the international community using English. People can improve their English language skills through the experience they get when communicating virtually with the global community by playing Counter-Strike 2 online games. The purpose of this study is for people to take advantage of Counter-Strike 2 online games, not just entertainment media so that they can use them to communicate virtually with the international public as a medium of learning and honing skills in English. This study uses a descriptive method with a qualitative approach. Data collection techniques used by researchers are interviews, observations, and literature studies. The results of this study show that playing the online game Counter-Strike 2 can be used as a medium of learning English. This is due to the player's habit of communicating with each player using the international language, namely English, when the game starts. Learning English through Counter-Strike 2 online games can add new knowledge that does not exist in formal education or books. Namely, we can learn new terms in English, known as slang. If you are used to communicating with the international public, it can increase your confidence in using English.