AILA Review - Online First

Existing literature shows that discrepancies between the expectations of students and language instructors might discourage high school students from progressing in their language learning at college. This study aims to address such discrepancies by examining students who studied Chinese in high school but were still taking an introductory-level language course at college, with the intention of declaring a minor or major in Chinese Studies at a Midwestern university in the United States. Drawing on the concept of identity and investment, a qualitative research method was employed to address the time- and context-sensitive nature of identity and investment. Data were collected from interviews and reflection journals to reveal their investment in Chinese language learning and how they coalesced their identities as Chinese language learners in high school and college. Findings show that they firmly fought against the stereotypical assumption that taking another introductory-level class at college was for an easy A, as current world language education policy and implementation rendered them voiceless in the top-down implementation process. This present study provides new insights into the connections between investment and articulation in world language education, and invites stakeholders to reevaluate the predominant emphasis placed on language proficiency in foreign language research and education.

This study investigates the perceived effect of friendship on the difficulty arising from the fear of negative evaluation experienced by Japanese university students when engaging in pair work and speaking English. Furthermore, this study aims to determine the perceived effectiveness and opinions towards friendship-building activities in an L2 English classroom. The investigations administer a questionnaire to students after 14 weeks of friendship-building activities that include icebreakers, games, and randomly assigned seating. Students report their perceived level of difficulty when engaging in pair work and speaking English with friends and non-friends. Additionally, students report on their perceived effectiveness and opinions towards friendship-building activities. The investigations find that learners associate less difficulty with pair work and speaking English among friends. Moreover, the results indicate that learners perceive friendships as a mitigator of the fear of negative evaluation and its effects. The results also suggest that friendship-building activities facilitate the creation of friendships and are perceived as necessary and positive by learners. The study promotes the use of friendship-building in the classroom, particularly for learners with sociocultural backgrounds that are more prone to experiencing the fear of negative evaluation.

Over the past two decades, translanguaging has become a powerful concept in applied linguistics, enabling teachers and students to respond to linguistic and cultural diversity in the classroom. However, how teachers and students prepare for translanguaging pedagogy and practice in writing has so far received less attention (Huang & Chalmers, 2023). Therefore, this systematic review focuses on the application of translanguaging strategies in the English as a Foreign/Second Language (EFL/ESL) writing classroom. Following the PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews, this study searched five databases to obtain articles spanning from 2013 to 2023. We reviewed 23 articles focusing on translanguaging, writing and higher education. Our results show that (1) most studies were conducted in North America and Northern Asia, with qualitative studies being predominant; (2) most researchers implemented translanguaging interventions in the EFL/ESL classroom to study the impact of translanguaging on students’ English writing skills; (3) students applied translanguaging strategies during the writing process to communicate with others on content and vocabulary; (4) translanguaging strategies provided teachers with diverse perspectives and enhanced students’ various skills; (5) the use of digital resources and different types of activities contributed to the application of translanguaging in the writing classroom, but students’ limited language skills in their L2 but also in their L1, and their uncertainty about their linguistic identity limited implementation of translanguaging in the English writing classroom. This systematic review points towards the need for educators to consider the various factors, functions and applications of the use of translanguaging strategies in English writing classrooms.

The study aims to conduct a thorough examination of the semantic space of a literary text, taking into account the preservation and stylistic alteration of both the explicit and implicit meanings of the work during the translation process. The study is grounded in a methodological approach that combines theoretical, conceptual, and comparative methods, along with elements of lexical semantics, to analyse a literary work. This study focused on examining how extralinguistic reality is reflected in verbal expressions, both explicitly and implicitly. The research also involved a detailed analysis of the semantic space, taking into account its conceptual layers, translation strategies, and methods (such as transliteration and the use of descriptive constructions). Furthermore, the study examined the semantic and stylistic transformations of these concepts and reflected on the parameters that shape the semantic structure of a literary text. The study’s materials can be utilised to examine the techniques and approaches involved in constructing the conceptual framework of a translated text. This is achieved through the use of explicit and implicit lexico-semantic tools such as metaphorics, symbolism, subtext, folklore, and historical allusions.

In developing English as a Lingua Franca, educators and researchers must employ new methods in language acquisition to make the learners internationally intelligible and comprehensible. This study aimed to determine the implication of infinite access to Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR)-based language-learning program promoting pronunciation skills acquisition of vocational higher education students. In this study, the students learned English as Lingua Franca (ELF) through a collaborative approach. It applied a qualitative approach with 67 first-year university students from three intact classes as participants. One class of 24 students was assigned as the first group utilising the ASR BoldVoice as the additional learning materials in their speaking class. In contrast, the other two classes of 43 students were set as the second and third groups carrying out conventional learning procedures. The development of participants’ utterances was analysed in terms of fluency, completeness, and accuracy at pre- and post-test. In order to support the obtained data, a semi-structured interview was performed right after the post-test. The result showed that the pronunciation skill of the experimental group was significantly improved in particular phones of pronunciation: /ch/, /th/, /sh/, and /j/. The analysis of the interview data confirmed that the students gained substantial improvement with regard to their pronunciation and communicative competence compared to the conventional learning process.

Purpose: Experimental research on the processing of literary metaphors in a foreign language (L2) is scarce, as well as research on how non-native speakers perceive the aesthetic value of such metaphors. The paper aims to gain a deeper insight into the topic.

Method: The team experiment was conducted in 2022 at the University of Warsaw. The methodology consisted of both online (eye tracking) and offline (comprehension tests, appreciation ratings) methods. The following research questions were formulated: (a) How do we process literary metaphors in L2? (b) Is their processing cognitively demanding? (c) How well do people understand literary metaphors in a foreign language? (d) How do we evaluate their aesthetic value? The participants were Polish EFL students (English level B2 and higher) who were given an excerpt from “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde. The experimental group read the original text with metaphors, and the control group read an adapted text where metaphors were rewritten in plain language.

Results: (1) Non-native readers process metaphors significantly slower than they do non-metaphorical expressions (a three-stage model of metaphor processing in L2). (2) All eye-tracking parameters were much higher for metaphors, indicating increased cognitive load. (3) Non-native readers rate the aesthetic value of metaphors in L2 higher than they do the corresponding non-metaphorical expressions. In addition, the more aesthetically appreciated the metaphor was for the respondents, the more time they spent on its reading.

Conclusion: The processing of literary metaphors in L2 is associated with increased cognitive load and enhanced aesthetic evaluation.