International Journal of Applied Linguistics最新文献

For second-language (L2) learners of Chinese and Japanese, mastering multi-character compounds is essential yet challenging. Meaning extraction from opaque compounds, where constituent characters do not represent the meaning of the whole word (e.g., 親切 [kind] comprises 親 [parent] and 切 [cut]), is particularly difficult. In contrast, the meaning of transparent compounds (e.g., 最短 [shortest]) can be gleaned through their constituent characters (e.g., 最 [most] and 短 [short]). Since it is unclear whether knowledge of constituent characters facilitates or impedes learning of opaque compounds, this study aimed to investigate the effect of transparent and opaque two-character compounds training under two conditions: with or without presentation of information about constituent characters. Furthermore, the time that learners spent learning each type of compound was examined, assuming that opaque compounds require more study time than transparent ones due to cognitive demand. Fifty-six intermediate-level L2 Japanese learners were the participants in the study; their recognition and meaning production of the target compounds were analyzed while controlling for their existing knowledge of constituent characters. The training analysis results indicated that existing knowledge of constituent characters assisted learners in memorizing new compounds, particularly transparent ones. Regarding the study time for compounds, learners were found to consistently allocate extra time to studying constituent characters regardless of compound transparency. This suggests that in learning new compounds, L2 learners of Japanese focus on constituent characters for concept building rather than establishing semantic connections with the whole two-character compounds.

This study explores the transformative impact of participatory research on the conceptualization of Kongish. A hybridized written form comprising a creative blend of Cantonese and English, Kongish is a grassroots media-linguistic phenomenon within the vibrant sociocultural ecology of Hong Kong. Our research aims to evaluate how a participatory methodology—as opposed to traditional researcher-oriented approaches where researchers remain at arm's length with their research subjects—reshapes the understanding of Kongish as well as Hong Kong English (HKE). Using a participatory linguistics framework, this study triangulates data from focus group interviews, individual interviews, and online surveys to explore the reciprocal influences between researchers and participants. The study is organized into two tiers: first, the transformation of participants, and second, the transformation of researchers. Each tier draws on personal narratives to offer distinct insights into real-life encounters with Hong Kong's written vernacular. By integrating the “lived experiences” of both researchers and participants, the study reveals how our interactions continuously influence each other's perceptions of language, language practices, and personal identities.

Studies have established a strong relationship between vocabulary and second language (L2) listening comprehension. While some studies adopted main-idea scoring for listening comprehension, this study investigated this topic by controlling learners’ proficiency levels and adopting main-point scoring for analysis. Fifty-eight Japanese intermediate-level university students listened to and transcribed two passages and demonstrated their comprehension via free written recall. Their aural decoding and listening comprehension exhibited a correlation of 0.72 overall, and were higher for higher-proficiency learners than others. Errors that were phonologically similar to the input accounted for most errors. While more errors were observed in function words than in content words, the ratio of errors that were phonologically similar to the input was higher in content words.

Drawing on the literature on emotion labor, in this study, we propose the concept of purpose-based emotion labor (PBEL) as an exploratory heuristic for (re)conceptualizing teacher emotion(s). PBEL is defined as engagement in purpose construction, invoked and shaped by personal, interpersonal, institutional, and sociocultural issues, as individuals navigate emotion labor to ultimately facilitate their professional development. We then present the findings of a study that collected data from English language teachers through open-ended questionnaires, narrative frames, and semi-structured interviews. Our findings highlight PBEL's strong influence on participant teachers’ agency, well-being, and identity. We argue that purpose is not merely an individual, cognitive attribute but also a socioculturally mediated emotional process that defines teachers’ temporal and spatial meaning-making as well as professional practices. Based on the findings, we offer recommendations for teachers, teacher educators, and researchers to harness PBEL in sensitivity to contextual emotional dynamics to advance teachers’ professional growth.

In deep orthographic languages, a separate phonetic transcription system, such as the Pinyin system in Mandarin Chinese, plays a crucial auxiliary role in helping learners master the pronunciation of written words. While many studies have indicated that learning Pinyin enhances Chinese reading, its relationship with listening comprehension in L2 Chinese remains under-explored. The current study investigated whether Pinyin transcription skills predict short- and long-term listening comprehension performance of L2 Chinese learners at different proficiency levels. A total of 120 non-native Chinese speakers were tested twice (with an interval of one semester, 5 months) on sound-to-Pinyin transcription, character-to-Pinyin transcription, character production, and listening comprehension skills. The results suggest that Pinyin transcription skills had positive effects on listening comprehension. Specifically, sound-to-Pinyin transcription skills showed direct and immediate effects on listening comprehension for both elementary and intermediate learners. Character-to-Pinyin transcription skills directly predicted listening comprehension for elementary learners but with some delay. It also predicted listening comprehension mediated by the character production skill, which occurred without any lag for elementary learners but with a lag for intermediate learners. Our study demonstrated that the benefits of learning Pinyin for listening comprehension vary among L2 Chinese learners at different levels. Some of these effects may not be immediately observable but become apparent after a period of accumulation.

Research on the translation of idioms is scarce. The present study aims to examine how translation trainees render figurative idioms. A total of 131 translation trainees were recruited from two universities in Saudi to represent two levels of training (novice vs. advanced). The participants were administered a translation task involving 18 idioms (e.g., “cold feet”, “old hat”, “fat cat”) and were instructed to translate them from English to Arabic. In addition to the level of training, the study examined the effect of context informativeness on the naturalness of the renderings provided. Finally, we administered a vocabulary size measure in English to assess any modulating effect of vocabulary size on the two main factors. Results showed no effect of the level of training. However, there was a significant effect of contextual clues; more informative contexts led to more natural renderings of idioms than less informative ones. Interestingly, vocabulary size interacted with informativeness; smaller differences between levels of informativeness as vocabulary size increased. The study has important implications for the training of translators.