Language Scholars Research Articles

Technology-Assisted EFL Academic Writing and Its Relation to Academic Writing Anxiety

Research practice is given top priority in universities worldwide. Scholars are pushed to write and publish articles in high-ranking journals with high citation indexes, mostly English-medium journals. English as a foreign language (EFL) scholars are anxious to publish articles in Anglophone journals and one of these obstacles is academic writing skills. Studies on academic writing paid more attention to the process and obstacles of EFL students of different ages. A few studies focus on strategies EFL scholars adopt, especially those related to technology. Hence, this paper bridged the gap by investigating the relationship between EFL scholars’ academic writing strategies with the assistance of technology and their second language academic writing anxiety (SLAWA) in China. This study is a quantitative study with 140 Chinese scholars participating. Participants used technology to gain online databases most frequently. It also showed that technological strategies in the planning stage positively relate to SLAWA. In contrast, technological strategies in the problem-solving stage have no relation with SLAWA. In addition, participants' characteristics such as age and gender have no significance with SLAWA. The findings of this study suggest that more academic writing training related to technology is needed especially in the before-writing stage where scholars complain about SLAWA mostly.

Developing Graduate Curriculum for Digital Language Archive Stewardship

Our interdisciplinary team including information and language scholars and educators and practicing information professionals at University of North Texas (UNT) and Indiana University (IU) is developing an evidence-based practice-oriented online curriculum to train library, archives, and museums (LAM) professionals in the archiving, curation, and ethical dissemination of resources that provide the means to revitalize community memory and language. During this 2-year project, over 30 LAM students will complete the project-developed UNT graduate course INFO 5385 Community Language Archiving and Curation for Information Professionals, and additional estimated 100 students at UNT and IU will complete individual project-developed learning modules integrated into other courses. Development of the learning materials is informed by digital language archive practices, research, and existing training materials for archive depositors. Resulting open-access adaptable learning resources are expected to be widely used by academic programs and educators for training LAM students and by participatory archives as continuing education resources.

EFL INSTRUCTORS’ PERSPECTIVES OF L1 USE IN L2 CLASSROOM: A CASE STUDY AT BİNGÖL UNIVERSITY

Language experts, educators, and scholars have long debated using first language (L1) in foreign/second language (L2) classrooms. During the heydays of the Direct Method, also called the Natural Method, which was sequenced by the Audio-lingual method, language scholars and educators strongly rejected L1 use in L2 classrooms. These two methods were an objection to the Grammar Translation Method that allows and facilitates L1 use in L2 classrooms. However, whether L1 use should be welcomed or refrained in L2 classrooms remains an open question. Ten English as a foreign language (EFL) instructors participated in the research. The required data was gathered using a questionnaire, and SPSS 20 was used for analysis. Three of the participants were interviewed in a semi-structured manner to gain a deeper understanding of their perspectives and to strengthen the quantitative data. This study was carried out to understand EFL instructors’ perceptions of using L1 in L2 classrooms who teach both in preparatory classes and at the English language and literature department at Bingöl University, Türkiye. The analyses and interpretations of the data showed that L1 is mostly used for teaching L2 grammar and vocabulary. The study also showed that there are too many contributing factors to L1 use, such as building mutual intelligibility (comprehension), giving clear instructions, setting up a good rapport with students, reducing anxiety, integrating humour into L2 classes, and reprimanding and appraising students.

Stewarding Contextual Integrity in Data Services for Indigenous Scholarship

ABSTRACTThe CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance provide essential guideposts for the stewardship of Indigenous data. To put CARE into practice in libraries and repositories, resources are needed to support implementation and integration into current research data services (RDS). Based on analysis of case studies with scholars of Indigenous language and culture, this paper articulates specific Indigenous research and data practices to guide metadata work and other areas of responsibility in RDS. The cases surface the richness of relationships and the significance of accountability in the research process—demonstrating the “relational accountability” inherent in Indigenous research methods. Robust representation of relationality is essential to retaining integrity of context in metadata for Indigenous research data. We consider the practical implications of documenting relational context with current descriptive metadata approaches and challenges in achieving CARE adherent metadata, which we argue is the backbone for broader application of CARE for Indigenous RDS.

A Linguistic-Discourse Analysis of the Language of Psalm 23

This paper examines the linguistic-discourse Analysis of Psalm 23, from the holy Bible, the book of the Christian religion. Linguistic-discourse analysis is one of the approaches used in disbanding the entanglements and ambiguities in language study. The linguistics and discourse features discussed include the graphological features, phonological features, syntactic structure,lexico-semantic representation, and cohesive relations. The graphological features are the punctuation marks, indentation, paragraphing and capitalization of letters in the text. The phonological features in the text are alliteration and assonance. Moreover, the syntactic structure includes short phrases, clauses, sentences, and pattern repetition, and the use of archaic pronouns which form part of the clauses and sentences. The lexico-semantic representation explains the linguistic explanation of the structure and meaning of the text. Consequently, the cohesive relations discussed in the text are anaphora, cataphora, substitution, conjunction, synonym,repetition and collocational converse. The theoretical framework adopted in this study is the Neo-Firthian Hallidayan Systemic Functional Grammar . The word 'systemic' means that language is viewed as a set of options for making meaning (Halliday, 1990; Obodeh, 2018). Brown and Yule (1983) Theory on Discourse analysis is also used as a backup to Halliday systemic grammar. The theory contains four approaches which include reference, presupposition, implicative and influence. Brown and Yule stated that the theory would help in the analysis of written textual, spoken and interaction for the research and also for the reader of the analysis, and this paper is an analysis of a written discourse. The library is also one of the research methods for this study. This is where books, journals and other useful research information are kept. The analysis in the study portrays the fact that a religious text could be analysed using the tenets of linguistics discourse. Since language is a tool of all activities in life, this paper therefore has tried to solve some language problems by analyzing the linguistics and discourse features of the language of the text, Psalm 23, for better understanding of the text by readers, clergy, congregations, and scholar of language and literature in particular and the academia in general.

Giovanni Meo Zilio dal Partito d’Azione alla Lega Nord: curve e spigoli di un intellettuale militante

Giovanni Meo Zilio (1923-2006) was a distinguished scholar of Ibero-American languages and literatures and was among the founders of the Interuniversity Center for Venetian Studies (CISVe). This article traces his profile as a public intellectual, spanning from his participation in the Resistance and his engagement in post-war political life with the Partito d’Azione, to his role in the Italian emigration to Uruguay in the 1950s and his subsequent activities in Italy as an intellectual connected with the Italian Socialist Party in the 1960s and 1970s, up to his involvement with the Lega Nord in the 1980s and 1990s.

ANALYSIS OF PHONOLOGICAL ERRORS IN MAHARAH KALAM PRESENTATION OF NAHWU WADHIFI BOOK

The lack of attention to the Maharah Kalam has made many Arabic language scholars unable to communicate using Arabic. Insufficient self-confidence, fear of being wrong in terms of rules and pronunciation create obstacles for students to speak Arabic, therefore an It is necessary to analyze linguistic faults so that Arabic pronunciation pays more attention and in order to avoid mistakes in Arabic pronunciation. The purpose of this study is to outline the types of phonological errors in Maharah Kalam, as well as to analyze phonological errors in student Maharah Kalam. This research is field research and is a qualitative descriptive study that employs a linguistic error analysis approach. Ways for gathering data that involve observation and recording. This observation is carried out by paying attention to students' speech and noting any grammar mistakes. Documentation is completed using recording technology. According to the study's findings, consonant sound alterations represent faults at the phonological (phoneme) level, including: changes in consonant /ث/ to consonant /س/, consonant /ع/ to consonant /أ/, consonant /ص/ becomes a consonant /س/. The other errors are errors in reducing phoneme sounds, phonological mistakes at the level of syntax, and phonological mistakes at the morphological level. It can be concluded that there are several errors in language and the factor causing language errors is a lack of attention to the language rules that should be applied. Apart from that, there is the influence of the student's mother tongue or second language, and the influence of the environment, both formal and informal, as well as the lack of application of Arabic. Several causal factors have a big influence on students' phoneme pronunciation errors. This research can provide a new platform for Arabic speakers to always pay attention to Arabic rules when speaking.

Metafora Maknawi: Pada Kata Al-Zhulumat dan Al-Nur dalam Kitab Tafsir Mafatih Al-Ghaib Karya Fakhruddin Al-Razi

The aim of this exploration is to recognize the enormous use of representation in the first verse of the Al-Qur'an Surah Ibrahim, especially the words Al-Zhulumat and Al-Nur. The main point is to interpret the task of isti'arah in giving an uncertain meaning to a part which can give rise to various translations. Using a scientific-rational approach, this research method examines the text of the Al-Qur'an through language and literature studies, with a focus on metaphors, especially relevant metaphors. This research approach is qualitative, with data collection using the Library Research method (library research). This investigation also includes interpretive efforts to better understand how isti'arah can be used as a tool of understanding, namely the translation of Fahruddin Al-Razi's Mafatih Al Ghaib. Findings (1). The study involved various translations resulting from the ideas of Intisari and Majaz in the application of isti'arah (2). Fakhruddin Al-Razi underlined that isti'arah helps Muslims understand the Al-Qur'an by explaining the meaning of complex verses, especially the terms Al-Zhulumat and Al-Nur in Surah Ibrahim verse 1. Apart from that, this study also functions as a reminder the idea of ​​content 'direction, which is not mentioned in the language of scholars but is present in the disciplines of tafsir and the Koran. Therefore, this research takes a dogmatic-ideological approach in studying the Koran while allowing for a rational-scientific approach.

Hegel and the Hatäta Zär'a Ya‛ǝqob: Africa in the Philosophy of History and the History of Philosophy

Abstract This article explores an episode in the reception of Hegel's philosophy of history and historiography of philosophy with reference to the question of the possibility of non-Western philosophy, in particular African philosophy. Section I briefly outlines the contents of the Hatäta Zär'a Ya‛ǝqob and the controversy over its authorship, focusing in particular on the argument of the Ethiopianist and scholar of Semitic languages Carlo Conti Rossini that ‘rationalistic’ philosophy was impossible in Ethiopia. In section II I suggest that a major component of the intellectual background to this notion of the impossibility of philosophy in Africa can be traced to Hegel's philosophy of history. To substantiate this claim I begin by providing an account of the broader historiographical shift between 1780 and 1830, in which Africa and Asia came to be excluded from the history of philosophy, and I suggest that Hegel's philosophy of history was decisive in this process. I examine how Hegel's account of history as the realization and actualization of freedom goes together with the development of cultural production culminating in philosophy, and how both of these processes (if they are really separate processes at all), can be mapped onto particular historical-geographical populations and cultures. I suggest that, even though this was not Hegel's intention, by the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries this served as a cultural justification for political domination: those who are unfree are unfree because they are unthinking (unphilosophical), and those who are unthinking cannot be free. Finally in section III I connect this Hegelian conception to Conti Rossini's work, both his article on the Hatäta and as apologist for Italian imperialism. I conclude by reflecting on what this underexplored connection between Hegel and early twentieth-century theorists of culture might mean for attempts to construct global histories of philosophy.

Dialogues between Past and Present? Modern Art, Contemporary Art Practice, and Ancient Egypt in the Museum

Whenever twentieth-century modern art or new contemporary artworks are included amongst displays of ancient Egypt, press statements often assert that such juxtapositions are ‘surprising’, ‘innovative’, and ‘fresh’, celebrating the external perspective they bring to such collections. But contemporary art’s relationship with museums and other disciplines needs to be understood in a longer-term perspective. Pairings of twentieth- and twenty-first-century artistic works with objects of antiquity is an activity that has been undertaken for more than a century in what has been a relatively long period of mutually reinforcing influences between modern/contemporary art, museum display, the art market, and Egyptian heritage. Together, they have decontextualised ancient Egyptian culture and shaped the language and perspectives of scholars, curators, and artists. In this paper, rather than considering how artists have been inspired by ancient Egypt, I will give a few examples of how more recent art practices from the late nineteenth century onwards have impacted the language and discourse of Egyptology and its museum representation. Then, using more recent artist engagements with the British Museum, I argue for greater interdisciplinary dialogues between artists and Egyptologists, as both take more critical stances towards research that recontextualises the power and agency of collections, representation, and knowledge production.

Betrayal in words: Examining the issues with translation difficulties

The translation has faced substantial opposition since its inception, as a multitude of scholars argue that it undermines the authenticity of the source material. Intentionally or unintentionally, challenges and acts of disloyalty occur during the translation process of grammatical structures, phrases, proverbs, quips, verbal imagery, poetry, and other components, according to this assertion. Additionally, translating commonly used terms that frequently conflict with the target language may present challenges. This subject is written in a descriptive and scholarly language. The research possesses importance in its translation, regardless of whether it is presented in prose or poetry format. It enhances the verbiage and fulfills the requirements of the audience. It also provides assistance to educators in the subject of education. Translation serves as a highly effective means of transmitting knowledge. Nonetheless, its efficacy and dependability are contingent on the subject matter's integrity being maintained. This objective can be realized when the translator demonstrates fluency in both languages and has in-depth understanding of the local customs, dialects, and subtleties.

Islamic Literacy and Scholarship in African Languages: The Case of Hausa in West Africa

Language is the main instrument in the wider spread and documentation of Islam and Islamic history in Africa and beyond. Historical development and rapid spread of Islam in African societies were historically accredited to African languages. The historic contact of the first Muslim generations with the Ethiopian emperor opens up the gate for the socio-linguistic development of translating Islamic dogma and messages into African languages. The Hausa factor in West African Islam is well noted in the writings of the early Muslim scholars. African linguistics contributions enhance the converts' literacy and develop a strong community of scholars of the highest historical relevance in the history of Islam in the African context. Africa is the home of about 2000 languages, Nigeria is with more than 556 languages, having Hausa leading the race with about 150 million speakers was rated as number 11 out of 7500 languages in the modern world as of 2022. Interestingly, about 85% of the Hausa native speakers are Muslims and about 69 percent of the Nigerian Muslim scholars are either Hausa natives or hausanized through Islamic activities in Hausaland. Thus, the spread of Islam in Africa was the handwork of African languages and not by the sword as alleged by the observers. My contact with Muslim scholars of various regions in Hausaland justified that, the technique of identification and naming Arabic alphabets are the same across the regions. In addition, the Ajami writing styles are the same. Hundreds of books and manuscripts are of the same orthography. These gave me the courage to investigate how it helps Islamic scholarship in the West African regions. This paper aims to study the role of Hausa Muslim scholars in the translation, naming, and adaptation of the 28 Arabic alphabets into the Hausa language which led to the innovation of Hausa Ajami writing and subsequent development of scholarship in the Hausaland. The paper would critically look into the Hausa-Arabic battle of alphabets treatment and the role of mother tongue in Islamic scholarship activities in West Africa Islam, with special emphasis on Hausa-speaking communities of West Africa.

Unravelling the deficit ideologies in English language education in Pakistan: A decolonial perspective

AbstractIn this study the author combines translingualism and raciolinguistic perspectives to analyze the language ideologies and idealized listening/reading subject positions that undergird discourses on English language teaching in Pakistan. Drawing on data from national policy documents, the national curriculum for English, and English proficiency assessment reports, he shows how discourses on English as a medium of instruction, the English language curriculum, and assessment in Pakistan are fraught with deficit ideologies that emphasize a particular view of English proficiency that serves as an imaginary line of demarcation between proficient and deficient English teachers and reinforce linguistic and socioeconomic hierarchies. Instead of reified, Anglo‐normative orientations to English proficiency, the author proposes a translingual orientation that places students' multilingual identities at the center of English language teaching (ELT) practices. He concludes with a call for ELT practitioners and critical language scholars to develop organic links between classroom translingualism and political activism in order to dismantle socioeconomic hierarchies.

Cultural Contents in Alsihah Dictionary by Aljawhari

Aljohari is one of the outstanding scholars of the Arabic language, and his dictionary, Alsahah, is one of the oldest, best, and most prestigious linguistic dictionaries. The research aims to clarify the cultural contents of this dictionary, and I have used the inductive method to achieve this goal. The cultural contents in this study are represented by three aspects: belief, devotion, and morality, and the moral aspects are the broadest and most covered in the dictionary. It is noted that there are some mistakes in the doctrinal aspects of Aljawhari in his determination of the meanings of some of the Unity of Allah's Names and Attributes, and he did not mention all the linguistic meanings of the monotheism of divinity. One of the most important recommendations is to study the topic: Doctrine issues in the Sahih dictionary of the essential critical study, and topic: Cultural contents in the dictionary of the tongue of the Arabs is a critical study.

A Study on the Lexicographic Approaches Utilized by English Language Scholars from Saudi Arabia: Emphasizing the Use of Dictionaries

This research investigates the lexicographic strategies employed by Saudi English language scholars, focusing on their utilization of dictionaries. The study also assesses the effectiveness of bidirectional Arabic-English dictionaries, particularly for Saudi Arabian students learning English as a foreign language. This study utilized (SPSS versiоn 21.0) tо analyze data cоllected оn dictiоnary use strategies amоng Saudi students. The Likert scale was emplоyed tо encоde respоnses, and Crоnbach's cоefficient alpha analysis ensured internal cоnsistency. Results indicated that strategic dictiоnary use amоng Saudi students falls within the medium range, with a mean scоre оf 2.87. Nоtably, participants shоwed a higher inclinatiоn tоward emplоying lооk-up strategies (average = 3.69) and dictiоnary selectiоn strategies (average = 3.51), while repоrting less frequent utilizatiоn оf awareness strategies (average = 2.01) and lemmatizatiоn strategies (mean = 2.10). As far as the efficacy, usage, attitudes, and impacts of bi-directional online translation tools are concerned, participants unanimously rated these highly (average= 4.7) for saving time, in cases where the word(s) was unknown (average= 4.5), and in recording the new word in the mental lexicon (average= 4.2), but as confusing (average= 4.8) when used for complex word structure translation. In conclusion, Saudi Language and Translation program students demоnstrated mоderate scоres acrоss the fоur categоries оf dictiоnary use strategies, with a higher inclinatiоn tоward lооk-up and dictiоnary selectiоn strategies and lesser emphasis оn awareness and lemmatizatiоn strategies.

English as the Scholarly Language: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Implications for Academic Reference and Instruction Librarians

English as the Scholarly Language: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Implications for Academic Reference and Instruction Librarians

When heritage speakers study in their heritage countries

Abstract With a well-established bedrock of literature exploring the benefits of study abroad (SA) in second/foreign/additional language learning contexts (e.g., Anderson et al., 2006; Smith & Mitry, 2008; Williams, 2005), Spanish as a heritage language scholars have only recently begun to explore SA settings (e.g., Pozzi et al., 2021; Quan et al., 2018; Shively, 2018). This short-term longitudinal multiple case study examines the experiences of four Mexican American college students during a SA program in Mexico, their heritage country, and their interplay with their evolving identities. We draw from social identity theory concepts and tools (e.g., Bucholtz & Hall, 2005; Hogg & Abrams, 1988) to compare the students’ individual expectations, experiences, and outcomes of participating in the program. Data were collected using personal reflections and individual interviews at three stages (prior to, during, and after completing the program). Results reveal general positive experiences at the superficial level, with changes in each individual’s ethnic identification, supporting the need to further examine individual differences in future SA research. Finally, drawing from these findings, we make recommendations to prepare students, host families, and instructors to engage practices that will aid in SA program success.

Linguistic annotation of cuneiform texts using treebanks and deep learning

Abstract We describe an efficient pipeline for morpho-syntactically annotating an ancient language corpus which takes advantage of bootstrapping techniques. This pipeline is designed for ancient language scholars looking to jump-start their own treebank projects, which can in turn serve further pedagogical research projects in the target language. We situate our work in the field of similar ancient language treebank projects, arguing that our approach shows that individual humanities scholars can leverage current machine-learning tools to produce their own richly annotated corpora. We illustrate this pipeline by producing a new Akkadian-language treebank based on two volumes from the online editions of the State Archives of Assyria project hosted on Oracc, as well as a spaCy language model named AkkParser trained on that treebank. Both of these are made publicly available for annotating other Akkadian corpora. In addition, we discuss linguistic issues particular to the Neo-Assyrian letter corpus and data-encoding complications of cuneiform texts in Oracc. The strategies, language models, and processing scripts we developed to handle both linguistic and data-encoding issues in this project will be of special interest to scholars seeking to develop their own cuneiform treebanks.

Becoming/being a care worker: personality in a language training for migrant job seekers in Flanders

Abstract In this article I will describe how personality was mobilized during a Dutch language course that prepared job seekers for the care sector. I show how more than language competences, what was valued was who someone was as a person. While the emphasis on job seekers’ personality in the context of a language course that prepared for an education and subsequent job in the care sector, is, on the one hand, in line with the general attention for the worker as a person and more specifically for what is generally referred to as soft skills, I show that the understanding of personality in the course also differs from how soft skills is generally understood: personality was seen as a stable essence, where potential for improvement was deemed to be limited. This view on personality can be associated with the history of care work and the morality attached to it, for which selection of workers is deemed necessary. Moreover, as I have shown, while personality is thought of as an abstract term that can be applied to categorize individuals separately from the specific context or from cultural or political influences, the type of personality that was required for a care worker was coded as feminine and associated with certain types of people along racialized lines. As such, there is an unequal distribution among which people are deemed suitable for care work. By demonstrating the effects of this specific understanding of personality, I also argue that it is important for language scholars to pay attention to such notions themselves, rather than to focus merely on their communication.

Mobilising language, gender and sexuality studies

This introduction frames the special issue ‘Mobilising Language, Gender and Sexuality Studies’, situating the contributions in relation to interdisciplinary scholarship on migration, gender, sexuality and language. In particular, this introduction draws attention to Global South theorisations of migration as resistance, suggesting that scholars of language, gender and sexuality can build on such approaches to trace forms of agency that otherwise might go unnoticed. The contributions to this special issue investigate how gender and language circulate in dominant migration discourses and are contested by mobile communities, linking normative ideologies to individual bodies and lives through the use of stereotyped figures. The introduction also highlights how themes of time, place and nation weave through the contributions and calls for a scalar approach that resists the widespread downscaling of migrants’ own discursive acts. It concludes with a call to action that urges scholars to consider how they might support the ways in which mobile communities are making sense of and taking action in the world.