This study aimed at investigating the problems that translators faced when subtitling cultural expressions from English into Arabic. To achieve this goal, the researchers selected a convenient sample comprising 40 graduate and 40 undergraduate students who were enrolled in the English language programs during the academic year 2012/2013 in…

Language learners invariably struggle with the target language pragmatics, and helping them to understand and use it appropriately is not an easy task for ESL teachers. Specific pragmatic acts, such as requests, involve myriad elements that, despite being inherent to these acts, are quite elusive. No wonder so many ESL teachers feel intimidated…

A substantial part of interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) research has contrasted explicit and implicit teaching designs, generally finding that explicit approaches--those featuring metapragmatic rule provision--are more effective than their implicit counterparts, which are characterized by the absence of metapragmatic information. A second dichotomy…

There are some striking parallels between the critical theory concept of second nature as the product of reified ideas and some of the more radical work done in the area of metaphor theory. This discussion is an attempt to synthesize some of the ideas from these two fields of study and to explore their implications for music education. In this…

This paper advocates a new perspective on languages. It begins by demonstrating that, the occasional disavowals of sociolinguists notwithstanding, the lens through which we in the 21st century, both specialists and laypeople, view languages is predominantly biological. It then suggests that this biological metaphor is conceptually unhelpful and…

Purpose: The authors examined the language used by mothers from low-income and rural environments with their infants at ages 6 and 15 months to identify predictors of maternal language use at the 15-month time point. Method: Maternal language use by 82 mothers with their children was documented during book-sharing interactions within the home in a…

Each of us as language learners had different language experiences, yet somehow we have converged upon broadly the same language system. From diverse, often noisy samples, we have attained similar linguistic competence. How so? What mechanisms channel language acquisition? Could our linguistic commonalities possibly have converged from our shared…

As a result of the ACTFL/NCATE Program Standards for the Preparation of Foreign Language Teachers (2002) much progress has been made with regard to identifying what teachers should know and be able to do. A survey of secondary Spanish teachers in the 20 largest school districts in Alabama and Mississippi investigated teacher beliefs about their…

This paper examines the use of turn-initial "yeah" in learner English, focusing on non-canonical uses of "yeah." By showing how NSSs use "yeah" in ways different from that of native speakers (NSs), this paper aims to provide a nuanced view of the function it serves in NSSs' speech. It demonstrates that…

Self-naming has long stood as the primary assertion of power for disenfranchised communities in the western world. While person first language (e.g. "person who is deaf") has been the preferred language of disability and disability services for the last 20 years, members of the Deaf community have asserted their cultural capital, and…

This book offers a unique view of multilingualism in higher education from a global perspective. It presents a contextualised case of a multilingual language policy which takes the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) approach. The volume discusses various approaches to multilingual education including CLIL and then proposes guidelines…

It is important for students to understand and analyze political language so that they can be participatory members of a democratic society. This article stresses the importance of understanding and analyzing political language. The author claims that the mastery of such skills is what allows students to be participatory members of a democratic…

In this article, I will discuss the importance of the fundamental aspect of "bridging" in the wider context of language teaching. I will use "bridging" particularly in terms of cultural differences and underline the pivotal role of specific techniques, in a language class as well as in a pedagogy class or seminar, to help…

Learning chemistry vocabulary that has both scientific and everyday meanings, which we call dual meaning vocabulary (DMV), can be challenging for many students. This qualitative study investigated how college students understand 11 selected DMV words before and after traditional chemistry instruction and to what extent they retain the scientific…

Varied realities surround the use of mother tongue education in Africa. These realities are entrenched in the attitudes and misconceptions that have gone unchallenged due to inadequate literature on the successful use of mother tongues in the classroom and beyond. The realities discussed in this paper include the frustrations of children…