International Journal of Applied Linguistics最新文献

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.

The ongoing movement in applied linguistics towards decolonisation and dehegemonisation demands that we acknowledge multilingualism and comprehend how marginalised multilingual researchers are excluded from global knowledge creation. In light of this, this qualitative study investigates the realities and lived experiences of applied linguistics and English language teaching (ELT) scholars in Bangladesh. Research participants include 14 applied linguistics and ELT academics who publish in national and international journals as well as on other platforms. The data analysis shows that English is the preferred language for academic publications among multilingual Bangladeshi applied linguistics and ELT academics. The acceptance and status of Scopus-indexed journals in academic avenues, policies, and practices for academic advancement and promotion based on publications in English and a fixation with the English language seem to be the main reasons for their preferences. Furthermore, despite their admiration for Bangla as a national language, they do not recognise it as a medium for scientific publications. However, they are aware that their scholarly publications in English do not have much impact on the local educational and social development or linguistic justice and equity in Bangladeshi society. The paper concludes that only when multilingualism is accepted within the circuits of knowledge production and only when workable ways are identified to invite policymakers, university authorities, educators and researchers to pursue more fruitful cooperation between the Global North and South, linguistic and epistemic inclusion and transformation of the ontology and epistemology of applied linguistics will be possible.

This study explores the potential of data-driven learning (DDL) as a complement to traditional coursebooks for multilingual learners of French as a foreign language. Motivated by the need to address insufficiencies in coursebooks, such as oversimplified and misrepresented grammar rules, the study aims to examine how DDL facilitates the learning of French, focusing on adjective placement. To investigate this, the study employed a mixed-methods experimental design incorporating corpus analyses to inform DDL materials, as well as pre-, post-, and delayed post-tests, questionnaires, focus group interviews, and field recordings. Findings indicate that while DDL and traditional instruction yielded comparable short-term outcomes, DDL enhanced long-term retention, critical thinking, and learner autonomy. By exposing learners to authentic language data, DDL heightened awareness of linguistic gradience and variability, supporting its role as a valuable complement to coursebooks in foreign language education.

This study explores the relationship between L2 self-guides and the affective, continuance, and normative professional commitment of 98 pre-service English teachers in China. The multiple regression results reveal that the ought L2 self/own significantly predicted each of the three dimensions of professional commitment, indicating that internalized responsibilities that develop during language learning play a crucial role in fostering persistence, obligation, and emotional attachment to teaching in this context. The ought L2 self/other negatively predicted affective commitment, suggesting that external pressures may hinder emotional alignment with the profession. The ideal L2 selves did not significantly predict commitment, implying that the participants’ professional dedication may rely more on perceived obligations than aspirational goals. The findings highlight the enduring influence of language learning experiences in shaping pre-service language teachers’ professional dedication and yield implications for understanding the developmental pathways of professional commitment in language teacher education.

Despite the growing scholarly attention to the issue of epistemic dissemination within a multilingual context, few studies have taken the agency of knowledge-receivers into account and considered the process of epistemic dissemination as a dialogue where both knowledge-providers and knowledge-receivers negotiate on the disseminated knowledge. In order to explore the dialogic nature of epistemic dissemination, this study draws upon the notions of stance-taking and stance negotiation, and based on the case of bilingual panel scripts used in Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum (SJRM), it investigates (1) how SJRM (knowledge-provider) took different stances to the history of Shanghai Jewish refugees (knowledge) in the bilingual scripts, (2) how SJRM, by producing the panel scripts, expected to negotiate these stances with different groups of target visitors (knowledge-receiver) for the dissemination of the knowledge, and (3) how visitors, as the other side of the dialogue, made a mixed response to SJRM's expectations on stance negotiation. Through this case, the study expands on the current understanding of epistemic dissemination and brings theoretical implications to the studies working on the related key notions.