Language Linguistics and literary studies

As has long been known, though prevalent in everyday discourse across cultures, hyperbole is a neglected figurative language in the linguistic and/or literary sphere. In this talk, we propose a semantic taxonomy of hyperbole in American and British modern war poetry showing how this taxonomy helps readers figure out the poet’s meaning on a deeper level via a variety of hyperboles. The main objectives are to (1) identify the elements of such a trope in the corpora, (2) approach a semantic taxonomy of hyperbolic elements, and (3) come up with the true hidden messages and nature of the trope in accordance with the typology of the semantic field under which the trope is embraced. The corpora consist of two impressive poems – ‘Abu Ghraib’ by Curtis D. Bennett (American), and ‘A Message from Tony Blair to the People of Iraq by David Roberts (British). Findings indicate that both the evaluative and the quantitative dimensions are key characteristics that often coincide and should, therefor...

Popular science sphere of communication is acquiring new features of virtuality, globality, mosaic structure and social orientation, which are essential in fulfilling its functions in modern society. Based on the examination of 92 podcasts, the study deals with podcasting research identifying typical characteristics of the podcast and factors contributing to the spread of podcasting in the popular scientific hypermedia communication. The survey showed that increasing popularity of the podcast in the popular scientific sphere is explained by several factors. First, informing the user becomes more accessible, quicker and easier. Secondly, the listener takes part in interpersonal communication not with a virtual author, but with a real person, gets the opportunity to make his own conclusions based on sounding speech, which is more expressive, emotional, and has a strong impact on the addressee. Thirdly, most podcasts are interviews and discussions, which facilitates the perception and ...

This present study attempted to investigate the status of language anxiety and motivation orientation of the young Filipino learners of English and how these constructs are related to one another.  To address these research goals, a quantitative approach was employed using Liu and Cheng’s (2014) Factor Loadings for three-Component Solution for the Anxiety and Jin, Jiang, Juan, Zhang, Liang and Xie’s (2013) motivation in language.  Participated by 39 Grade 3 pupils from a premier basic education school in the province of Cavite, these instruments were simplified and translated to their first language (L1) to suit the understanding of the young learners of English.  Results showed that the respondents are highly motivated in learning the second language, but the ‘general anxiety in English class’ is evident on one hand.  These two significant factors showed strong correlation between anxiety and ‘negative evaluation’ and motivation.  On the other hand, there is a significant negative ...

The ability to cite reasons, to justify claims and give support to arguments is seen as primary characteristics of a critical thinker. This paper discusses how the ‘Elements of Reasoning ’ is employed with Socratic Questioning to develop critical thinking in the language classroom. The principles that guide the questioning are laid out clearly, just as is the response which must be backed by valid reasons, examples, and illustrations, pushing students beyond mere recall and into abstract thinking. It is based on the notion that through questioning, the process that occurs in the student’s mind creates thinking and learning.

This study investigated the performance of 150 Tagalog and 131 Sinugbuanong Bisaya grade three pupils with regard to solving mathematical word problems written in their mother-tongue (L1) and in English as their second language (L2). The respondents were subjected to a validated teacher-made parallel tests based on the competencies stipulated in the first and second quarter mathematics curriculum guide of the Philippines. Results of which were compared and analyzed using two-tailed t-test. Findings show that the Tagalog pupils performed better in their mother-tongue over English as their second language. On the other hand, Sinugbuanong Bisaya pupils performed better in English as their second language over their mother-tongue. While results appear contradictory, contextual discussions offer valuable insights into the situation, allowing avenues for more exploration and investigations. As implication to language policy development, this study offers the use of translanguaging in cont...

The article proposes a model for integrating TED Talks (TTs) in EFL college listening practice. It shows instructors where TTs can be located, gives reasons for using TTs, criteria for selecting TTs, the listening skills that can be developed, and an instructional strategy. TTs provide a variety of real-life themes, speakers, motivation, and inspiration. They save instructors’ time and effort as they are available on You Tube, mobile apps or in the TED website. In selecting TTs, the instructor should take into consideration the students' interests, difficulty level of the TT language and content, its length in minutes, and speed and accent of the speaker. Before watching a TT, she posts the title of the TT on an LMS or social media platform. She sets goals for listening and gives pre-questions to help the students comprehend the TT content. The students view the TTs on their smart phones in the classroom or at home; individually, in pair, or small groups; synchronously or asynch...

This paper aims to explore Helen Cixous’ postmodernist trends in her formulations of a new form of writing known as ecriture feminine. The paper attempts to validate the view that Cixous’ “The Laugh of the Medusa” is regarded as the manifesto of postmodern feminism. This is done by attempting a critical discourse analysis of Cixous' narrative of ecriture feminine. Deploying a multifaceted-framework, ranging from postmodernism to psychoanalysis through poststructuralist theory and semiotics, the study reveals Cixous' metamorphosing and diversified trend of feminist writing that transposes the subversion of patriarchy into a rather bio-textual feminism, known as bisexuality. The paper highlights the significance of Cixous’ essay as a benchmark of postmodern feminism.

http://ijlls.org/index.php/ijlls/article/view/115/52 Thomas Hardy is mostly acclaimed as a pessimist novelist whose plots are full of tearful tragic tales. In all his novels, the adverse situations come from the uncertain conditions of the role of the chance that emerges based on the characters’ psycho-analytic states and eccentric impulses, financial variations and barriers, irregularities of social status and standards, communal, cultural and ethnic misunderstanding, lack of trust in the marital relationship, thrust and lust of sexual pleasure, historical attitudes and backgrounds, highness of royal families, and religion egoism on the unmatched unities of action, place, and time in the Victorian modernity that forces all the characters to survive a life full of sufferings and misfortunes throughout the plots. But this paper has a fresh approach to exploring the philosophy of optimism in Hardy’s novels that how the male and female characters, despite facing the irony of fate and c...

This article tries to compare between two well-known American short stories, “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty and “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, from a comparative perspective. The author of the first of these stories is an African-American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. Alice Walker and the other story is written by an American short story writer, novelist and photographer, who wrote about the American South, Audra Welty. The specific reasons behind choosing these two short stories because they are written by women writers from different cultures, both deal with racial issues, but more importantly is that both include children characters that can add an attribution to be representations of the new African- American generation. Walker’s story includes the characters of two African- American daughters; Maggi and Dee, each of these characters behave in a different way, a behavior which consequently represents a special attitude towards the new generation of Afr...

For non-native English learners to successfully manage authentic intercultural and international communication, their pragmatic competence should be considered as fundamental as their linguistic capacity (Bachman, 1990). As the foundation for developing language skills, English textbooks provide EFL learners with preliminary exposure to real-life situated pragmatic interactions. However, there is limited empirical research on the authenticity and appropriateness of the pragmatic representations in Vietnamese EFL textbooks at present. To fill in the gap, this paper provides a content analysis designed to quantitatively and qualitatively investigate a cross-culturally written textbook used for secondary EFL learners in Vietnamese context. It aimed to examine (1) types and distribution of speech acts the textbook covered, (2) meta-pragmatic information accompanying the linguistic realizations of those speech acts, and (3) appropriateness and authenticity of such pragmatic representatio...

This paper investigates grammatical difficulty from the perspective of Saudi university students, of EFL as well as from the perspective of university teachers. It aims to find out which English grammar features are more difficult/less difficult than others. Furthermore, it attempts to determine the reasons and causes that account for such grammar difficulty. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were the two research instruments used in this study. A total number of 103 students and 85 university teachers took part in the questionnaire, while only 20 teachers and 25 students responded in the interview. All the participants were from Aljouf University (males and females). The results showed that some English grammar features were more difficult and some were less difficult than others. The obtained difficulty order determined by EFL learners and the one obtained by the teachers’ perceptions were compared. Some similarities and differences were found to exist in the rank orde...

The study  Ţiganiada, a  Language "poematicon"  constitutes an application on the literature field. The thesis in which direction is argued is the following: This paper aims to highlight the literary Romanian language evolution in the period 1700-1820.The text used is paradigmatic for the limit in 1800. Being published posthumously in about half a century after the passing of the author's work Budai -Deleanu not influence the direction of development of Romanian literature, but it is important for innovative sense of  language. For the study used meta-analytic method and the met
Conclusion: The text abound - a language that traces the evolution of literary language in shaking Slavic words and fluidity of language in relation to the literary Romanian language in a clearer picture of the meaning of words.hod of direct observation of the text.

In the Malaysian education system, English has always played an important role. In acknowledging its importance, Malaysian University English Test (MUET) has been introduced to enable continued emphasis on this role.  MUET has been made compulsory for those who wish to pursue a first degree programme in local universities. This study aims to examine the relationship between English language proficiency test (as measured by MUET bands) to predict the undergraduates academic achievement (as measured by Cumulative Grade Point Average score). It also aims to determine the recommended MUET band as an entry requirement for prospective technical programme undergraduates in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). The study was carried out among 225 final year undergraduates of five different faculties in UPM, namely Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Forestry, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.  The data used were obtained by administering a brief questionnaire and were quantitatively analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 19.  The study revealed that there is a medium positive correlation between English language proficiency and academic achievement where students who have scored higher bands for MUET are the ones who obtained higher CGPA in their study. Based on the findings, it is recommended that UPM and other local universities make changes towards the minimum MUET entry requirement to help prospective undergraduates excel in their academic study. Keywords: English language proficiency, academic achievement, technical programme, MUET, CGPA

The demand to make education inclusive requires assurance that the future teachers of indigenous students are fully equipped to handle multicultural classes. Hence, with an end goal of identifying inputs that could enhance pre-service teacher education, this study was conducted to determine the profile, experiences, knowledge, attitudes, and skills of the randomly selected teachers of indigenous students in the province of Occidental Mindoro. The data were gathered online through a questionnaire that underwent validity and reliability tests. Findings reveal that the teachers are graduates of bachelor of Elementary Education and have been teaching in the IP schools for not more than three years. The teachers frequently experience implementing the curriculum, monitoring student’s progress, and living with the IP community, and occasionally experience travelling to and from the IP community as they embark on the day-to-day activities of teaching their IP students. The knowledge, attitu...

This research paper is intended to shed light on the use of e-learning in learning and more particularly in foreign language learning by EFL students in higher education either to support the process of their traditional learning or for any other independent learning purposes. The aim is to identify how e-learning is used, the various existing e-learning strategies that students prefer to learn with and the extent to which EFL students are satisfied with the support offered by e-learning to assist the process of EFL learning. To answer these queries, a quantitative method is adopted for the collection of data using online tools in the creation and the administration of the questionnaire to the respondents. The findings of the study demonstrate that students usually use e-learning as it helps them to develop many language skills including communication skills, problem solving skills besides the four language skills. It has been shown also that students are highly satisfied with the u...

A “giuntina” edition of «Perì hermenèias» (Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, Stamp. 15826), belonging to Benedetto Varchi (1503-1565) and by him richly annotated, testifies on his study on Logica. During his stay in Padua (1537-1541), while giving lectures on Philosophy at the «Studium» and taking part to the Accademia degli Infiammati, the Florentine scholar prepared the ground for building a vernacular philosophic prose by translating and commenting Aristotle's work. When he was called back to Florence in 1543 with the assignment of writing the «Storia fiorentina», Varchi persevered in his efforts to realize the project of putting the philosophic and scientific doctrine into vernacular, by giving lectures on Dante and Petrarch at the Accademia Fiorentina. Such project, moreover, matched with the aim of Duke Cosimo I to make Florentine language an efficient tool of his cultural policy. ***************************************************************************************
L’edizione giuntina del «Perì hermenèias» (Firenze, Biblioteca Riccardiana, Stamp. 15826), appartenuta a Benedetto Varchi e da lui fittamente postillata, è il testimone dei suoi studi sulla logica. Durante il soggiorno a Padova (1537-1541), fra le lezioni di filosofia nello Studio e l’attività all’Accademia degli Infiammati, il letterato fiorentino, traducendo e commentando l’opera di Aristotele, pose le basi alla costruzione di una prosa filosofica in volgare. Richiamato a Firenze nel 1543 per scrivere la Storia fiorentina, Varchi s’impegnò anche, con le letture dantesche e petrarchesche all’Accademia Fiorentina, a mettere in pratica il progetto di trasferire in volgare la dottrina filosofica e scientifica, un progetto che nei principi s’incontrava con l’aspirazione del duca Cosimo I a fare del fiorentino un mezzo efficace della sua politica culturale.

Learner autonomy has been the concern of a number of researchers in English language teaching. The concept has begun life since the 1980s. It has been considered in the Moroccan EFL context among the priorities of education, which English language teachers try to implement in their classes. Studies revealed that there are correlations between learner autonomy and other variables related to learners, which makes autonomy a subject of interest and thus an ability that should be fostered. As such, the present study aims at investigating the extent to which secondary EFL teachers promote autonomy in their learners. To achieve this purpose, a quantitative research design was employed in the study, generating and analyzing quantitative data. Therefore, a sample of 96 (57 males and 39 females) EFL teachers completed the questionnaire. Drawing on the findings, it was found that EFL teachers promote learner autonomy to a great extent and that the results were conclusive among the teachers’ r...

This study is an attempt to analyse the postmodern aesthetics of the poetry collection of Clifton Gachagua. This analysis was informed by the need to critically identify the structure of postmodern writing and the tenets of postmodernism which informs the creative imagination of Clifton Gachagua in Madman at Kilifi.  This study critically appraised the manifestation of intertextuality, meaninglessness of meaning (populism), scatological imaging and formlessness in the poetry collection. The study revealed that the poetry collection is a reflection of Clifton Gachagua’s postmodernist inclination and masses oriented ideologies. The poet amplifies the need to advocate the dominance of consumerism and the urgent need to denounce globalization.    

The present study seeks to find the students’ performance towards the assigned tasks related to cartoons and their perceptions towards the use of it as an authentic, supplementary teaching tool to facilitate the process of speaking. A sample of thirty-five students was selected to involve in different tasks related to selected number of cartoons. The researcher conducted an empirical investigation by employing quantitative and qualitative research methods. Audio recordings and classroom observations were used to investigate the students’ active involvement towards the assigned tasks related to cartoons and a well-structured questionnaire was employed to evaluate their perceptions towards the use of it as an authentic supplementary tool in teaching the speaking skills of ESL learners. The results of the study revealed that a majority of students actively involved in the assigned task related to cartoons. The students gave a comprehensive and controversial account of the assigned cart...

Motivation is essential because it highly contributes to achievement. Teachers need to motivate their students in order to develop a positive outcome. Research on motivation for foreign language learning has shown that teachers should be aware of their actions and behaviors in classroom because it is very likely that they can demotivate learners. This study explores how motivational strategies used by English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers could increase the motivation of students to learn English as a foreign language. Participants included five EFL teachers along with one hundred first-year female students. The students completed a survey while the teachers took part in an interview. Both measures aimed to explore the attitudes of both teachers and students towards motivation in the foreign language classroom. Results showed that the most used motivational strategies were: resources that satisfy the students’ needs and interests, group work, active participation in class, an...

Exploring perceptual learning style preferences and their relationships with academic achievement is important to success in teaching and learning language. The aim of this study, therefore, was to investigate the perceptual learning style preferences of Libyan EFL University students majoring in English at Omar Almukhtar University and to check whether there is a significant relationship between students’ perceptual learning style preferences and their academic achievement. A total of 75 fourth year English major students were participated in this study. A self-reporting learning style questionnaire developed by Kinsella (1994) was used to collect data and final semester examination scores were used to determine the average academic achievement for each participant. The findings showed that tactile style was the most dominant learning style among the students followed by auditory style while kinesthetic style was the least favoured learning style. The findings also revealed that th...

This study investigates the factors that are responsible for the levelling of Ìkàr??-Àkókó dialect. Specifically, the paper examines the impacts of Nigerian indigenous languages, especially Yorùbá, on the dialect. The study aims at identifying the patterns of changes in the dialect and their impacts on the ethnic identities of the people. The work is based on the variationist approach pioneered by William Labov in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The tools used for data collection include questionnaire, oral interview and observation. The findings of the study reveal that the dialect manifests different stages of changes, vital domains like home, school and work place, which are supposed to be the strongholds of this dialect are being encroached upon by languages other than the mother tongue in the study area. It was found that the changes in the dialect are not due to the influence of English language only, but to indigenous Nigerian languages, mostly Yorùbá. It was concluded that t...

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is one of the widely discussed teaching approaches at present. Teaching a lesson using tasks needs careful consideration of the age and interests of the learners. This paper provides an overview, characteristics and advantages of TBLT; highlights teacher and student roles; and explores teachers’ perceptions of task-based language teaching. For this, I purposively selected two English language teachers teaching at secondary levels as the participants of my study. This study applies ethnographic research method and explores the participants’ perceptions of using language tasks in their classrooms. The findings suggest that though English language teachers hold positive attitudes on task-based language teaching as a current EFL approach, they are not well aware of the methods of using this approach in their classrooms.

Since titles are gateways to the heart of research articles (RAs), their organisational structure should be regarded very crucial in appealing to the potential reader. This study aimed to investigate how titles of RAs are presented in three disciplines (Gynaecology/Obstetrics, Business, and Law). After a thorough study of 574 titles, the study revealed that Business titles were averagely longer than those in the other two disciplines. In terms of title style, it was revealed that the Single Unit Title was extensively used in Gynaecology/Obstetrics and Law, while the Compound Unit Title dominated the Business titles. Syntactically, Noun Phrases extremely dominated the Single Unit Titles across the three domains. Detailed examination of the NP modifications showed that nominal titles which were both Pre and Post-modified were highly frequent in all the disciplines, which contrasts what is in the literature. The study also identified the Prepositional Phrase as the commonest structure ...

This present study attempted to investigate the status of language anxiety and motivation orientation of the young Filipino learners of English and how these constructs are related to one another.  To address these research goals, a quantitative approach was employed using Liu and Cheng’s (2014) Factor Loadings for three-Component Solution for the Anxiety and Jin, Jiang, Juan, Zhang, Liang and Xie’s (2013) motivation in language.  Participated by 39 Grade 3 pupils from a premier basic education school in the province of Cavite, these instruments were simplified and translated to their first language (L1) to suit the understanding of the young learners of English.  Results showed that the respondents are highly motivated in learning the second language, but the ‘general anxiety in English class’ is evident on one hand.  These two significant factors showed strong correlation between anxiety and ‘negative evaluation’ and motivation.  On the other hand, there is a significant negative ...

Obviously, in the era of digital literacy, human relationships in virtual learning communities are governed by much social behaviour that many students in higher education respect in some time, while others are rebellious against them. The aim of this article is to investigate if there is a correlation between ‘netiquettes’, which are the guidelines that should be developed by Internet users for an acceptable online behavior, and to build human relationships in learning. It is a case study of one group in the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences in Moulay Ismail University in Meknes, Morocco. A questionnaire is used to measure the predicted relationship between netiquettes and relationship building. The sample includes fifty male and female respondents. The findings of the study indicate that there is a significant relationship between respecting netiquettes and building online relationships, set as a hypothesis for this study.

More than the recognition, perception, and interpretation of written materials, reading has been dubbed as our bridge to other skills that are necessary for academic success. Subsequently, one way for teachers to monitor both the quantity and quality of output of the students is through Classroom discourse analysis, which is an aspect of classroom process research (Jiang, 2012). This paper, therefore, aimed to determine teacher’s questioning vis-à-vis students’ reading strategies in the case of an ESL reading class in one of the private schools in Zamboanga City, Philipenese through classroom discourse analysis. As a qualitative endeavor, it made use of classroom observations with the aid of an audio recorder to enable the analysis. A total of 131 exchanges were generated in a 45-minute discussion, with roughly 25 minutes allotted to the said discourse, and the rest for other activities. Teacher-Pupil-Teacher (TPT) captured as Teacher-Student-Teacher (TST) in the case of this paper,...

It is common knowledge that hedging devices as a rhetorical technique common in all persuasive writing are considerably important in scientific discourse, for they are tools which facilitate presenting claims or arguments in a polite, acceptable and respectful manner. In addition, they are discoursal resources available to a scientific writer’s propositions to express uncertainty, skepticism, and open-mindedness. Research articles are an important means of communication between different members of a discourse community, and will be convincing to a certain extent only when authors are able to employ rhetorical conventions, such as hedging devices, persuasively. However, hedging is a problematic aspect in EAP learning since rarely are the learners able to hedge their statements appropriately, engineering students not being an exception. Therefore, this article tends to linguistically analyze the function of rhetorical impact of using hedging devices in the results and discussion part...

This paper examines the political writings of the Moroccan nationalist Allal Al-Fassi (1910-1974). It argues that there exists a considerable political tendency in these writings with excessive utilisation of jargon related to liberalism and political theory. In his intellectual and political project, Al-Fassi theorises about the possibility of creating a modern state on solid democratic and liberal foundations. Yet, however legitimate and seemingly liberal his theorisation might seem, the paper argues that the formation of a liberal state and a democratic society appears to be a mere dream given the fact that Al-Fassi grounds his conceptions within the Salafist and revivalist intellectual systems. Reading between the lines of his political works, nevertheless, reveals the dominance of Salafist intellections which deem the past and Islam as restorative in attaining a modern renaissance, at the political, economic, and cultural levels.  This work, thus, problematizes three central po...