Search Results (87)

Research on language contact outcomes, such as code-switching, continues to face theoretical and methodological challenges, particularly due to the difficulty of comparing findings across studies that use divergent data collection methods. Accordingly, scholars have emphasized the need for publicly available and comparable bilingual corpora. This paper introduces the El Paso Bilingual Corpus, a new Spanish–English bilingual corpus recorded in El Paso (TX) in 2022, designed to be methodologically comparable to the Bangor Miami Corpus. The paper is structured in three main sections. First, we review the existing Spanish–English corpora and examine the theoretical challenges posed by studies using non-comparable methodologies, thereby underscoring the gap addressed by the El Paso Bilingual Corpus. Second, we outline the corpus creation process, discussing participant recruitment, data collection, and transcription, and provide an overview of these data, including participants’ sociolinguistic profiles. Third, to demonstrate the practical value of methodologically aligned corpora, we report a comparative case study on diminutive expressions in the El Paso and Bangor Miami corpora, illustrating how shared collection protocols can elucidate the role of community-specific social factors on bilinguals’ morphosyntactic choices. Full article

The growing number of public one-way and two-way immersion schools (French/German) in the Swiss cantons of Bern, Jura, and Neuchâtel has resulted in an increased need for teachers who are explicitly prepared for those schools. This need led to the thoughtfully conceptualized two-way immersion curriculum “Cursus bilingue/Bilingualer Studiengang,” jointly offered by two universities of teacher education located in the French- and German-speaking areas of Switzerland. This study explores the professionalization process of future primary teachers from Bern, Jura, and the bilingual program who are confronted with professional requirements. A scientific tool, used in a longitudinal perspective (2020–2023), documents how students of the two-way immersion and the French and German programs (n = 1021) weigh these requirements in the competence and challenge dimensions. A linear mixed-effects model was used to analyze their appraisal within each dimension across time and context. Independently of the context, the competence weighting increases for all students between t₁ and t₃. However, the challenge weighting exhibits a peak at t₂ in all contexts, maybe due to the consciousness-raising of faced challenges after half of the program. With teaching internships in two linguistic regions, two-way immersion students demonstrate a capacity for adaptability. Research-based and practitioner-informed implications for an induction program aiming to foster the further professionalization needed to master the new complexities during the career-entry stage are presented. Full article

The concept of gaming is universal and familiar to students worldwide. Gamification involves integrating game elements and mechanics into non-game environments, making it a valuable tool for enhancing user engagement and motivation in Human–Computer Interaction. This approach is particularly valuable for primary school education. Students are exposed to a great deal of information daily. This contains several inaccuracies and misinformation regarding the tourism sector. Our research is being conducted as part of the Computer Science course to help students aged 9 to 12 understand the concept of fake news in the context of tourism. Bilingual students brought valuable perspectives to the classroom, especially during discussions about cultural representation and media bias. Incorporating intercultural communication into learning activities helped these students enhance their language and critical thinking skills while navigating various cultural contexts. We used an application with gamification elements to engage the students and enhance their learning experience. We evaluated user experience and usability using quantitative methods through questionnaires. The results revealed that students found the application easy to use and had a positive experience with it. This study assessed the effectiveness of the educational intervention by comparing pre-test and post-test scores on a Likert scale on four key questions. The intervention was largely successful in enhancing student outcomes. These findings suggest that participants not only maintained stable information literacy behaviors over time but also showed improvements in critical evaluation and skepticism. Full article

Paraphrasing means expressing the semantic meaning of a text using different words. Paraphrasing has a significant impact on numerous Natural Language Processing (NLP) applications, such as Machine Translation (MT) and Question Answering (QA). Machine Learning (ML) methods are frequently employed to generate new paraphrased text, and the generative method is commonly used for text generation. Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) models have demonstrated effectiveness in various text generation tasks, including summarization, proofreading, and rephrasing of English texts. However, GPT-4’s capabilities in Arabic paraphrase generation have not been extensively studied despite Arabic being one of the most widely spoken languages. In this paper, the researchers evaluate the capabilities of GPT-4 in text paraphrasing for Arabic. Furthermore, the paper presents a comprehensive evaluation method for paraphrase quality and developing a detailed framework for evaluation. The framework comprises Bilingual Evaluation Understudy (BLEU), Recall-Oriented Understudy for Gisting Evaluation (ROUGE), Lexical Diversity (LD), Jaccard similarity, and word embedding using the Arabic Bi-directional Encoder Representation from Transformers (AraBERT) model with cosine and Euclidean similarity. This paper illustrates that GPT-4 can effectively produce a new paraphrased sentence that is semantically equivalent to the original sentence, and the quality framework efficiently ranks paraphrased pairs according to quality criteria. Full article

This article explores the features of speech practices of young people in Kazakhstan in the conditions of interaction between Kazakh, Russian, and English, taking into account the influence of the digital environment and modern socio-cultural factors. The relevance of this study is determined by the rapid transformation of the language situation in Kazakhstan, where traditional bilingualism is evolving under the influence of globalisation and digital factors, contributing to the formation of new models of language interaction in the youth environment. The aim of this research is to study the mechanisms of language functioning in different communicative contexts, including digital communication. As a methodological basis, the methods of sociolinguistic and discourse analysis were applied, including the collection and interpretation of young people’s written texts, as well as interviewing respondents to identify their language preferences and communication strategies. The empirical analysis allowed us to identify new models of young people’s linguistic behaviour in various communicative environments, including online space. The leading factors influencing the choice of language code were identified, and the characteristic mechanisms of integrating elements of Kazakh, Russian, and English into a single speech act were recorded. Special attention is paid to the specifics of language interaction in digital environments, where hybrid forms of communication are observed due to technological and globalisation processes. This study considers the speech of young people not only as a linguistic phenomenon, but also as an instrument of intercultural communication, reflecting trends in the development of polylingualism. The findings of this study can be used to improve language policy and to develop educational programmes that take into account modern trends in youth communication. Full article

Pedagogical translanguaging (PTL) refers to the use of educational techniques that incorporate learners’ entire linguistic repertoire. Recent studies indicate that PTL is efficient in the teaching of morphological awareness to bilingual children. The question remains whether it can be successfully applied in the highly specific context of adult forced migrants’ classrooms. This study describes a new protocol developed within the framework of PTL to teach derivational morphology to L2 French and Greek adults. We used questionnaires to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the feasibility of the protocol, teachers’ and learners’ attitudes, and learners’ emotions in the PTL lesson. A total of 141 migrant learners (79 forced migrants) and 13 teachers were involved in 23 2 h lessons. Teachers and learners gave high overall evaluations of the feasibility of the PTL protocol and of their pleasure from teaching and learning using PTL tools. Learners’ ease of learning and learning benefits were positively influenced by their perception of the proximity between their L1 and L2. Learners reported higher positive emotions and lower negative emotions during the PTL lesson, while forced migrants showed more hope and shame overall than voluntary migrants, as well as gained more benefits from PTL due to enjoyment. These findings suggest that the use of pedagogical translanguaging in migrants’ classrooms is feasible and develops positive attitudes and emotions, which are more pronounced in forced migrants. Full article

Mid-vowel contrasts often present perceptual challenges for speakers of languages that lack these distinctions. However, bilingual speakers, who have access to two phonological systems and exhibit greater metalinguistic awareness, might not necessarily encounter such difficulties. In this study, 27 Ukrainian–Russian bilinguals listened to an unfamiliar language, European Portuguese, and completed two tasks: an identification task where they assimilated the seven stressed oral Portuguese vowels to the closest Ukrainian categories and a discrimination task featuring the Portuguese vowel contrasts /ɛ/–/e/, /e/–/i/, /ɔ/–/o/, and /o/–/u/. No bilingual advantage was observed: the discrimination performance on all contrasts was slightly above or near a chance level (A-prime scores varied between 0.55 and 0.20). These perceptual difficulties may be attributed to the acoustic similarities between the vowels within the contrasts rather than to the differences between the phonological inventories of the languages (the most challenging contrast was not a mid-vowel contrast but acoustically similar /o/–/u/). Although with the back mid-vowel contrast, the difficulty seems to also stem from the possibility that both Ukrainian and Russian have only one back mid-vowel, /o/, and this category occupies a wider area in the vowel space of Ukrainian–Russian bilinguals. The results suggest that bilingual advantage does not always manifest itself in the perception of a new language, especially if two typologically close languages are involved. Full article

This study investigates the effectiveness of a proposed version of Meta’s LLaMA 3 model in detecting fake claims across bilingual (English and Romanian) datasets, focusing on a multi-class approach beyond traditional binary classifications in order to better mimic real-world scenarios. The research employs a proposed version of the LLaMA 3 model, optimized for identifying nuanced categories such as “Mostly True” and “Mostly False”, and compares its performance against leading large language models (LLMs) including Open AI’s ChatGPT versions, Google’s Gemini, and similar LLaMA models. The analysis reveals that the proposed LLaMA 3 model consistently outperforms its base version and older LLaMA models, particularly in the Romanian dataset, achieving the highest accuracy of 39% and demonstrating superior capabilities in identifying nuanced claims, over all the compared large language models. However, the model’s performance across both languages highlights some challenges, with generally low accuracy and difficulties in handling ambiguous categories by all the LLMs. The study also underscores the impact of language and cultural context on model reliability, noting that even state-of-the-art models like ChatGPT 4.o and Gemini exhibit inconsistencies when applied to Romanian text and more than a binary true/false approach. Full article

In today’s globalized world, more children are born to parents who speak two or more languages between them. These families manage complex language dynamics, with diverse language practices influencing communication among family members. The complexity intensifies when multilingual and multicultural parents move with their children to a country with a new majority language, while keeping connections to their original society. In such cases, balancing heritage and host country languages affects both cultural preservation and integration into a new society. Based on semi-structured interviews with seven Generation 1.5 Russian–Hebrew bilingual parents living in Finland, this paper explores their strategies for managing their children’s multilingual development. The study poses two key questions: What are the language management strategies reported by the parents? What are the major challenges these parents face in maintaining heritage Russian and Hebrew languages in Finland? Thematic data analysis using ATLAS.ti software highlights the parents’ persistent commitment to maintaining multilingualism within their families, focusing on preserving existing social connections and fostering new ones for the entire family. The findings reveal key aspects of parental language management, parental involvement and home environments, along with reported challenges, both personal and institutional, in maintaining Hebrew and Russian as heritage languages in Finland. This study offers a new perspective on language management strategies in multilingual families, handling a less-explored language combination. By analyzing individual language management approaches, this study reveals common strategies used to support multilingualism and balance heritage languages with those of a new environment, thereby contributing to discussions on linguistic diversity and multicultural integration in transnational settings. Full article

Bilingual acquisition research has so far focused on comparisons with monolingual children in terms of linguistic features, performance on standardised tests, input, etc. In contrast, new methodologies, such as eye-tracking, can offer a more detailed understanding of the way bilinguals use both language systems. Eye fixations provide evidence of online processing. This study investigates spoken word recognition in children and adults. Word retrieval is affected by the number of words that minimally differ from the target (neighbourhood). Previous research found that only bilingual adults activated a similar-sounding competitor from the other language. As children have been found to be sensitive to neighbourhood density from quite early in previous research, similar results might be expected. This study includes 56 subjects (11 German–English bilingual and 12 English monolingual children, aged 8; 21 English monolingual and 12 German–English bilingual adults). The subjects’ online processing of competing items for high- and low-density targets was compared. The results confirm that neighbourhood density affects word recognition in adults and children. The bilingual children activated same-language competitors as well as similar-sounding competitors from the other language. Adults and children differed in terms of latencies, and the monolinguals were more accurate than the bilingual subjects. Full article

This article presents a multifaceted portrait of immigrants to Germany from the post-Soviet states. The article traces the paths of two families over the course almost of a third of a century after immigration, focusing on language use and integration into the new environment. In-depth interviews conducted at various stages of the integration process and age-appropriate tests served as research material. The content, text, and lexical analyses, as well as a linguistic biography method, were used. The research included four generations of Russian Germans and Jews in each family. Russophones in Germany have not had an easy time integrating but, ultimately, have a positive attitude toward their adoptive country. The results show that the German language became the primary means of communication outside the family and partly within the family where Russian dominates among the second and third generations. The oldest generation (great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers) were fluent in German to some extent; those who moved at the age of 20–40 learned it sufficiently for their jobs; their children studied in German preschools and schools and became completely bilingual; and the great-grandchildren were born in Germany. The younger generations have fully integrated into German society, although strong connections with locals exist among the older generations too. Proficiency in the Russian language is still maintained even among the great-grandchildren’s generation, although not to the same extent as among the generation of young parents. Full article

Background: In contrast to most other languages, where the spoken and written words are similar, children that have mastered Spoken Arabic (SA) learn to read a new written form of Arabic usually called Literary Arabic (LA). This phenomenon is called “diglossia”. Methods: Based on a series of studies comparing monolingual Arabic speaking and bilingual children, it has been suggested that Arabic speaking individuals develop metacognitive abilities that are considered bilinguals de facto. Some of the cognitive functions that would seem to benefit from fluency in more than one language are metalinguistic and metacognitive awareness. Results: This review article summarizes the results of studies on the relationship between bilingualism, diglossia and executive functions (EFs) which involve metacognitive awareness, selective attention, control of inhibition and cognitive flexibility as well as working memory (phonemic manipulation and metalingual performances). Conclusions: The findings are in line with research results that have shown that bilingualism has a positive effect on the functioning of an individual’s attentional system across the lifespan. The neural basis of diglossia in Arabic, as well as the conclusions and implications drawn from the impact of diglossia on EF and on reading in Arabic, are discussed. Full article

Many parents and professionals believe that learning to speak, read and write in two languages can lead to academic deficiencies due to cognitive overload and the risk of confusion linked to handling two language codes. Therefore, some bilinguals abandon or are tempted to abandon one of the two languages, often the first language, in exchanges with their children, in favor of the language of schooling. However, all recent scientific data tend to show that bilingualism is an asset more than a handicap. Nevertheless, these positive results most often concern English-speaking contexts and are not directly transposable to a French-speaking context. Drawing on the results of our work carried out in Oceania and in other territories, this article will deal with bilingual development and the impact of educational systems that promote the heritage or local languages from primary school. More specifically, the oral language of the bilingual, biliteracy and the effects of cross-linguistic transfer will be addressed. Results from both longitudinal studies in New Caledonia and French Polynesia, confirmed by other studies conducted in Sub-Saharan African, show a positive effect of the bilingual education curriculum on local language (Drehu and Tahitian) skills without having negative effects on French. We demonstrated that the expected effects of cross-linguistic transfer are only possible if the pupils learn to read and write in the two languages (local language and French). Additionally, learning to read in one of those local languages makes it easier to learn to read in French, which has a more opaque writing system. Full article

Caring for people living with dementia during the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic significantly impacted the emotional, physical, and social well-being of carers. However, no study has focused on the well-being of Chinese carers of people living with dementia in New Zealand during the pandemic. This study aimed to explore the support needs of Chinese carers of people living with dementia in New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by two bilingual and bicultural researchers. Thematic analysis was used to explore the resilience resources for Chinese carers. Twelve Chinese carers were recruited from four community organizations in New Zealand. Four themes were identified: (1) social isolation, (2) emotional loneliness, (3) ambivalent feelings of being a carer, and (4) a variety of unmet needs. The findings of our study provide new insights into the multiple support needs of Chinese carers of people living with dementia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Implications for practice include the establishment of culturally appropriate care support services and the development of tailored resilience-building interventions to address the unmet needs of Chinese carers of people living with dementia. Full article

The 19th century saw the important transformation of modern Western concepts into Chinese lexical resources. The missionaries were the initiators and important driving force for the translation of Western books into Chinese in modern China. They promoted ‘translating terms’ and ‘coining terms’ in their translations of Western books and the compilation of dictionaries with the cooperation of Chinese intellectuals. Their work provided a tangible ‘word’ carrier of ‘concepts’ for disseminating modern knowledge from the West to the East. Compiled by missionaries, the English–Chinese bilingual dictionaries introduced a brand-new concept of dictionary compilation and changed China’s history of having zidian (字典, character dictionaries) but no cidian (辞典, specialized dictionaries). In particular, John Fryer applied the translation method of creating new words or characters in the translation of chemical terminology. Members of the School and Textbook Series Committee, including John Fryer and Calvin Wilson Mateer, made great contributions to theories and strategies for translation, which keep inspiring Chinese–English translation of terminology and its theoretical construction. Full article