Multilingual Contexts Research Articles

L2 English listeners’ perceived comprehensibility and attitudes towards speech produced by L3 English learners from China

ABSTRACT This study investigated the perceptions of second language (L2) English learners from Hong Kong on the speech produced by third language (L3) English learners from the Greater Bay Area (GBA) of China. Twenty L2 learners from a local university were asked to listen to speech recordings from two L3 learners, and then complete an online survey, which focused on comprehension of the speech and four dimensions of language attitudes, namely Appropriateness, Solidarity, Status, and Dynamism. Results showed correlations between the phonological performance of learners and the perception of listeners. Specifically, vowel replacement and addition, as well as consonant addition were found to have a negative correlation with the learners’ actual comprehensibility. Replacing /ə/ with Chinese ‘er’ /ɚ/ only affected their perceived comprehensibility. For perceived attitude, the presence of vowel replacement and addition had an adverse effect on the rating of Dynamism. These two features, along with consonant addition, also negatively affected the rating of Status. Moreover, consonant addition was the sole factor that negatively affected the rating of Solidarity. These findings provided pedagogical insights for learners to communicate in English as well as social implications for language paradigm, particularly in a multilingual and multicultural context such as the GBA.

From founding voices to future visions: languages and literacies in science education

ABSTRACT Over the past decades, languages and literacies have become a prominent focus in science education research and practice. While there is broad consensus on the central roles of disciplinary, representational, and cultural languages and their associated literacies in learning and teaching science, the field faces a critical moment. An ever-growing number of new theoretical and methodological perspectives have revealed rich facets of the multilingual and multimodal nature of learning processes in science. These developments prompt us to reflect on the distinct identity and impact of languages and literacies on the contemporary discourse in science education, especially in light of technological innovations (e.g. large-language models) and societal developments (e.g. multilingual contexts). This position paper offers an opportunity to assess the field's past developments and future directions, building on a recent meeting of the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Languages and Literacies in Science Education under the European Science Education Research Association (ESERA). We present viewpoints from four founding members of the SIG, discussing current trends, challenges, and visions for the future. Ultimately, this paper invites our global community to engage in informed dialogues on the role and value of languages and literacies in science education today.

A novel socio-pragmatic framework for sentiment analysis in Dravidian–English code-switched texts

The advent of global digital communication has accentuated the complexity of multilingual code-switching, presenting formidable challenges for sentiment analysis by necessitating nuanced interpretation of linguistic and socio-pragmatic cues. This research introduces MultiSwitchNet, a pioneering sentiment analysis model tailored for the intricate dynamics of Dravidian languages mixed with English code-switched texts. MultiSwitchNet leverages the linguistic prowess of XLM-RoBERTa, combined with socio-pragmatic insights through a novel Socio-Pragmatic Embedding Layer (SPEL) utilizing DistilBERT. Evaluated on the Dravidian Code-Mixed Dataset, MultiSwitchNet achieved superior performance metrics, including an accuracy of 72.3%, precision of 72.9%, recall of 72.1%, and an F1-score of 72.5%. Its effectiveness extends across varying degrees of code-switching complexity and demonstrates remarkable consistency in sentiment prediction across semantically similar yet syntactically diverse sentences. Statistical analyses, including ANOVA and post hoc tests, underscore the model’s significant outperformance compared to both baseline and state-of-the-art models, highlighting the indispensability of integrating socio-pragmatic awareness for accurate sentiment analysis. MultiSwitchNet’s innovative approach sets a new benchmark for sentiment analysis in multilingual contexts and opens avenues for future research into models capable of discerning the rich socio-pragmatic fabric of global digital communication.

SEMANTIC DYNAMICS OF BUSINESS IN STYLISTICS OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATION

The article is devoted to the linguistic and stylistic motivation of the "business" nature in the time and space of culture. The research idea regarding the need for professional analysis of the evolution of business is formulated and argued: from the primary meaning of the word to the modern one, which reflects the values and priorities of the development of the modern world, verbalized as a result of active processes of literary language development. The functioning of "business" concept in heterogeneous communicative fragments — in the structure of word combinations and fixed expressions — is studied, which explains the nature and scope of its application and the effective expediency of its use in multilingual contexts. The status of business in the language consciousness of society and the general state of business activity are considered through a diachronic comparison of the semantics of the term "business" in general language dictionaries of different editions. Therefore, attention is focused on common and professional definitions of the concept of business, their features and differences. For the dynamics of the objectivity of stylistic studies of business communication, it is determined that it is relevant to characterize the nature of business as a phenomenon, its strategies and tactics, which appear as systematized communicative intentions of speakers and determine effective models of their verbal interaction in this area. At this stage, we consider such tasks to be promising for further research, since business linguistics aspectology is projected onto the system of current issues that determine the vectors of development of national linguistics. Taking into account the development of multimedia technologies, which today actively affect all spheres of public communication, determine the dynamic nature of their functional and stylistic adaptation to the priorities and values of the mass audience, the task of the research perspective of creating and implementing an effective functional model of business communication, in particular, in the media space, was formulated.

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Teachers’ Voices: English as an International Language (EIL) in Cyprus Context

This research study reports on the in-service English as a Foreign Language teachers’ perceptions of and needs and expectations regarding EIL and EIL-informed pedagogy in Northern Cyprus, which is a multilingual and multicultural teaching-learning context. A mixed method research design was utilized by collecting data through a questionnaire and interviews. A total of 152 in-service EFL teachers responded to the questionnaire, and 23 of them participated in the interviews. The findings of the study indicated that although the teachers welcomed the inclusion of EIL-aware pedagogy, they were hesitant to implement it in their classrooms due to lack of EIL-bound materials and existence of native speaker bound tests. The analysis also showed that teachers are aware of the EIL and EIL-aware pedagogy to some extent, however they lack the practical experience and expertise in order to implement such an approach to their daily practices. The findings of the study are believed to help raise EFL teachers’ awareness on how to integrate an EIL-informed approach in not only the local context but also in other multilingual and multicultural teaching-learning contexts worldwide.

Interplay of Language and Identity in Education: Prospection for Urdu and English Language and Second Language Teaching and Learning

Educational contexts are the primary sites for the promulgation of linguistic ideologies and for determining the linguistic market for a language. English language in Pakistan is considered vital for mundane, official, and academic activities hence its learning gains currency in the polity. Conversely, the learning outputs are unsatisfactory which necessitates understanding how English language learners perceive themselves concerning the languages they are taught in the educational context. This study explains the language identity for Urdu (L1) and English (L2) of Pakistani undergraduate English as second language (ESL) learners for institutionally recognized and prescribed languages in the national curriculum to explicate the interplay of language and identity of learners in educational settings. Learners’ demographic profiles (previous education, schooling system, language proficiency, and family’s socio-economic status) were also inquired to understand relationship variation across demographic traits. A validated survey questionnaire was administered to a sample (N=316) comprising male and female students from 28 different programmes at a large public university in Karachi. Descriptive analysis and one-way ANOVA were carried out using the IBM SPSS 22 version. The findings attest to learners’ hybrid identity revealing attachment neither with L1 nor to L2. Learners acknowledged the privileged status of the English language in polity and preferred British English compared to the indigenous variety of Pakistani English [PakE] echoing the language ideologies permeated through the Educational context. They also endorsed English language speaking skills for gaining higher recompenses in society however deluded themselves in code[1]switching instead of practicing speaking skills. Besides, no significant difference was found in the language identity of ESL learners across demographic traits. The study has strong implications for devising language policies for education and adopting pedagogical approaches calling to accentuate language identity as a catalyst in the teaching-learning process and not considering linguistic diversity a barrier in the multilingual context.

LA TRADUZIONE COME CATALIZZATORE DI CHIAREZZA NEI TESTI NORMATIVI A PARTIRE DA UN’ANALISI COMPARATIVA DELLA SINTASSI IN VARIETÀ DI ITALIANO LEGISLATIVO

Translation is often considered as an ally of plain legal language. This corpus-based study sets out to provide empirical support for this hypothesis by comparing different varieties of legislative Italian used in a monolingual context (Italy) and in two multilingual settings (Switzerland and the European Union). The investigation relies primarily on a quantitative analysis of syntax informed by natural language processing (NLP) methods. The results suggest that translated legislation features shorter sentences, fewer nominalizations, an underuse of the passive voice, fewer non-finite clauses, less deep syntactic trees, shorter dependency links, and a preference for the SVO order with an explicit subject. Among the two multilingual contexts, Swiss legislation shows a slightly higher level of accessibility compared to EU directives. A complementary analysis using readability metrics confirms these trends. Nevertheless, in addition to the translation process in multilingual contexts, other latent external variables may have a (hardly quantifiable) impact on the level of accessibility, such as institutional language policies, legal traditions, drafting guidelines, and training programs for translators and language experts.

Inclusive Integrativeness: A New Approach to ESL Learning in Multilingual Contexts

Inclusive Integrativeness: A New Approach to ESL Learning in Multilingual Contexts

Attitudes towards English for research publication in a multilingual context: The case of Polish linguists

Although the impact of English as a language of science on other languages and communities has been discussed from various perspectives, it has less often been explored in Slavic contexts. This paper analyses the attitudes of Polish linguists towards English for research publication, with special attention to its perceived impact on the discipline, language, and academic careers as well as perceived risks and benefits it entails in these areas. The analysis follows a mixed method design based on data from a survey at Polish universities and interviews. The results show that in comparison to other cultural contexts, more participants perceived the status of English as a threat to locally relevant research and as an unfair advantage to L1 English scholars. The main risk areas include academic practices, locally relevant research agendas, and cooperation with regions where English is not a commonly known language; the main benefits, access to recent findings, broader research perspective, and wider audience. Respondents identified the source of the problems with policies that seal the status of English as the language of science, affecting locally relevant research and disciplinary practices and contributing to the sense of disadvantage associated primarily with manifold costs incurred by publishing in English.

Evolving Dynamics of Language Policy and Chinese Language Education in the Philippines: Future Direction and Challenges

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of language policy in the Philippines, with a particular emphasis on the status, challenges, and future prospects of Chinese language education within the national framework. The study is structured into five distinct sections. Firstly, the historical development of language policies in the Philippines is explored, tracing the transitions from colonial to contemporary eras and assessing their implications for language education. Secondly, an in-depth exploration of the present landscape of Chinese language education is provided, evaluating its integration into the Philippine education system and the effectiveness of existing programs. Thirdly, a critical examination of the current state of local Chinese language teacher training is conducted, analyzing the approaches used to foster a sustainable local teaching workforce. Fourthly, strategic pathways for the next decade are outlined, focusing on the localization of Chinese language education in alignment with the plans of the Philippine Department of Education and broader educational objectives. Finally, the concluding section synthesizes insights garnered from the preceding sections, reflecting on the significance of these developments for the future of Chinese language education in the Philippines. It underscores the pivotal role of Chinese language education in promoting cultural and educational exchanges and facilitating the modernization processes in both China and the Philippines. By addressing these dimensions, the paper offers a comprehensive overview of the intersection between language policy and Chinese language education in the Philippines, providing valuable insights for policymakers, educators, and researchers engaged in language education and policy planning in multilingual and multicultural contexts.

Naming in a multilingual context: Norms for the ICMR-Manipal colour picture corpus in Kannada from the Indian context

There have been many published picture corpora. However, more than half of the world’s population speaks more than one language and, as language and culture are intertwined, some of the items from a picture corpus designed for a given language in a particular culture may not fit another culture (with the same or different language). There is also an awareness that language research can gain from the study of bi-/multilingual individuals who are immersed in multilingual contexts that foster inter-language interactions. Consequently, we developed a relatively large corpus of pictures (663 nouns, 96 verbs) and collected normative data from multilingual speakers of Kannada (a southern Indian language) on two picture-related measures (name agreement, image agreement) and three word-related measures (familiarity, subjective frequency, age of acquisition), and report objective visual complexity and syllable count of the words. Naming labels were classified into words from the target language (i.e., Kannada), cognates (borrowed from/shared with another language), translation equivalents, and elaborations. The picture corpus had > 85% mean concept agreement with multiple acceptable names (1–7 naming labels) for each concept. The mean percentage name agreement for the modal name was > 70%, with H-statistics of 0.89 for nouns and 0.52 for verbs. We also analyse the variability of responses highlighting the influence of bi-/multilingualism on (picture) naming. The picture corpus is freely accessible to researchers and clinicians. It may be used for future standardization with other languages of similar cultural contexts, and relevant items can be used in languages from different cultures, following suitable standardization.

Lexical Availability in Multilingual CLIL: Gender-dependent Differences in English and French

It has been suggested that Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) positively affects learners’ content-related vocabulary. While CLIL has become increasingly popular throughout Spain, the language of instruction in this learning environment has predominantly been English, largely to the neglect of other languages. Calls have consequently been made to conduct comparative research across other languages to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of CLIL irrespective of the language of instruction. In addition, female learners have been found to outperform males in areas of vocabulary such as lexical availability (LA) in English. However, given suggestions that CLIL may blur gender differences, it is unclear whether this difference is also found in a multilingual CLIL context. This study thus aims to determine whether an English advantage is observed in LA in a multilingual CLIL environment, and whether this advantage varies in male and female learners. Results indicate that there is a clear dominance in English over French, regardless of gender. However, analysis across different grades reveals that CLIL instruction has a clear effect on the students’ LA in different languages, but in different ways for male and female learners. The findings are of key importance to CLIL stakeholders wishing to support male and female learners in multilingual classrooms.

Challenges and Strategies in Teaching Mandarin Chinese Tones

Tone instruction is an integral component of Chinese as an additional language (CAL) education. The present study aimed to explore the challenges and strategies of teaching of Mandarin Chinese tones in the multilingual and multicultural context of Macau SAR, China. Employing a qualitative methodology, this study drew on multiple data sources (e.g. classroom observations and interviews) of five participants. It revealed various challenges in teaching Mandarin Chinese tones, such as the backgrounds of CAL learners, the teaching context, and the sociocultural environment. At the same time, the teacher participants employed a range of strategies that included cognitive, emotional, and behavioural aspects to address these challenges. This study not only enriches our understanding of the complexities of Mandarin Chinese tones teaching but also provides practical implications for CAL teachers in teaching Mandarin Chinese tones within complex teaching contexts.

Language use and attitudes of prospective teachers: a comparison of the Basque and Friulian multilingual contexts

ABSTRACT Since educators play a decisive role in the formation of language attitudes, this study analyses perceived competence, habits of language use and attitudes towards three languages in contact harboured by prospective teachers. Our research replicates a 20-year-old study and is comparative, as it parallels two European regions: the Basque Autonomous Community in Spain, and Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy. The sample was made up of 553 participants. Quantitative data were collected by means of the original questionnaire. Significant results were obtained, with strong effect sizes. As for the minority language, our results show that while Basque is mainly linked with the educational domain and tends to be used more often with younger people, the situation is different for Friulian, which is virtually absent from the educational domain and tends to be used in exchanges with older people. The status of majority language is especially true for Italian in FVG, which, in addition to being the main language in education, is predominantly used by future teachers in all domains of their daily life. As for English, our findings seem to indicate that its general position is becoming stronger, and this trend may be maintained in both contexts in the future.

Understanding parents’ pragmatic and emotional attachments to ‘their' language in multilingual family contexts: exploring self-assessment options for family well-being

ABSTRACT In recent years, the conceptualisation of heritage languages in both family and society has received increased attention, including the motivations behind heritage language maintenance. This paper explores the development of the Heritage Language Identity Questionnaire (HLI-Q) as a tool for facilitating reflective discussions with parents in multilingual family contexts. Informed by preceding studies which established a theoretical framework to help describe parents’ pragmatic and emotional attachments to ‘their’ language within the family context, an initial form of the HLI-Q instrument was administered to 505 participants for further development. Exploratory factor analysis of the resulting data is supportive of the four-factor theoretical model while also yielding a helpfully reduced set of 20 questionnaire items, facilitating further use of the instrument by professionals and parents to help explore their attachments to linguistic heritage within their family contexts. The study contributes an important tool to improve understanding of emotional and pragmatic reasons behind heritage language maintenance, opening up opportunities for family support and further research with specific population groups.

A research bibliography for world Englishes and Cultural Linguistics

AbstractThis research bibliography lists some of the hallmark works in the field of Cultural Linguistics and has an exclusive thematic focus on cultural‐linguistic approaches to world Englishes. Therefore, other important and congenial works that have been published under the umbrella of, for example, Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) or deal with langauges other than English are excluded but can be found in the respective references of the individual contributions of this special issue. The research bibliography offers reference works for research strands of the world Englishes framework, such as English language teaching and language use in multicultural and multilingual contexts, as well as language use in the public space. Furthermore, with a collection of publications ranging from the 1980s to most recent state‐of‐the‐art works from the year 2024, the authors identify trends and topical developments in the synthesized research of Cultural Linguistics and world Englishes and offer an outlook on new frontiers in this realm.

A one-man bilingual cocktail party: linguistic and non-linguistic effects on bilinguals’ speech recognition in Mandarin and English

Multilingual speakers can find speech recognition in everyday environments like restaurants and open-plan offices particularly challenging. In a world where speaking multiple languages is increasingly common, effective clinical and educational interventions will require a better understanding of how factors like multilingual contexts and listeners’ language proficiency interact with adverse listening environments. For example, word and phrase recognition is facilitated when competing voices speak different languages. Is this due to a “release from masking” from lower-level acoustic differences between languages and talkers, or higher-level cognitive and linguistic factors? To address this question, we created a “one-man bilingual cocktail party” selective attention task using English and Mandarin speech from one bilingual talker to reduce low-level acoustic cues. In Experiment 1, 58 listeners more accurately recognized English targets when distracting speech was Mandarin compared to English. Bilingual Mandarin–English listeners experienced significantly more interference and intrusions from the Mandarin distractor than did English listeners, exacerbated by challenging target-to-masker ratios. In Experiment 2, 29 Mandarin–English bilingual listeners exhibited linguistic release from masking in both languages. Bilinguals experienced greater release from masking when attending to English, confirming an influence of linguistic knowledge on the “cocktail party” paradigm that is separate from primarily energetic masking effects. Effects of higher-order language processing and expertise emerge only in the most demanding target-to-masker contexts. The “one-man bilingual cocktail party” establishes a useful tool for future investigations and characterization of communication challenges in the large and growing worldwide community of Mandarin–English bilinguals.

First language primacy in multilingualism and emotion research: a view from Africa

ABSTRACT The interaction between multilingualism and emotions has so far mostly been researched in Northern contexts. The findings obtained suggest that the first language is typically preferred for emotional and mental activities (i.e. ‘first language primacy’). In this article, we extend this area of investigation to Africa. We use the Bilingualism and Emotions Questionnaire to probe first language primacy in South Africa, employing a novel analytical approach – multiple correspondence analysis – that allows us to examine the relationship between particular languages and their order of acquisition. Our findings, in part, do reflect favouring of the L1, but with two important qualifications. First, English is also widely used for emotional expression in non-intimate domains. Second, L1 isiXhosa speakers prefer English for mental calculations, and isiXhosa is generally not associated with positive emotional characteristics. We explain these trends in relation to the multilingual context of South Africa, which, like many postcolonial countries, uses a former colonial language extensively in formal institutional spaces.

Effect of Cultural Factors on Speech Perception in Multilingual Contexts in United Kingdom

Purpose: The aim of the study was to analyze the effect of cultural factors on speech perception in multilingual contexts in United Kingdom. Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: Cultural factors significantly influence speech perception in multilingual contexts in the United Kingdom, impacting individuals' ability to discern phonetic contrasts across languages. Language exposure, cultural identity, and social interactions all contribute to shaping speech perception abilities among multilingual speakers. Considering socio-cultural context is crucial in understanding these phenomena, as cultural norms and values influence auditory processing mechanisms. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Social identity theory, acculturation theory & communication accommodation theory may be used to anchor future studies on analyze the effect of cultural factors on speech perception in multilingual contexts in United Kingdom. Develop culturally responsive language education programs that recognize and celebrate linguistic diversity. Advocate for policies that promote linguistic and cultural inclusivity in education, workplace, and public services.

Teaching strategies in mother-based multi-lingual education context: Inputs to the development of contextualized model

Teaching strategies in mother-based multi-lingual education context: Inputs to the development of contextualized model