<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The article analyses whether the expansion of English is adding to linguistic repertoires, or whether a process of linguistic capital dispossession of national languages is taking place. It explores the role that discourses of ‘global English’ and of English as a ‘lingua franca’ play in processes of global and regional European integration. It considers whether the linguistic capital of all languages can be made productive when in much of Europe there is a marked downgrading of the learning of foreign languages other than English, alongside the continued neglect of many minority languages. Language pedagogy and language policy need to be situated within wider political, social and economic contexts. EU schemes for research collaboration and student mobility are of limited help in maintaining linguistic diversity. The Bologna process furthers European integration but intensifies the hegemony of English. Nordic universities are moving into bilingual education, combining English with a national language. The 2006 Declaration on a Nordic Language Policy aims at ensuring that Nordic languages and English develop in parallel, that all residents can maintain their languages, and that language policy issues should be widely understood. If neoliberalism and linguistic neoimperialism are determining factors, there are challenges in maintaining the vitality of languages, and organizing school and university education so as to educate critical multilingual citizens.</abstract>

Language Challenges in Global and Regional Integration

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">In a global and multilingual society, indubitable is the importance of a reflection on the Self and the Other as defined by language. This interdisciplinary study aims at investigating, the narrative reinvention of the theoretical principles involved in the definition of the anthropological identity as expounded by Francesco Remotti. Specifically, we analyse a centenary trend in European literature identifying a peculiar form of multilingualism with the non-human and the lack of identity. From Dante’s <italic>Inferno</italic> to Joyce’s <italic>The cat and the Devil</italic>, the netherworld, its inhabitants and captives are characterized by the use of several (usually not intelligible) languages. According to this literary <italic>cliché</italic>, while the clarity and precision of a single language contributes to define a human identity, the plurality of languages is often a sign of a lost identity and of not being human anymore. It is not by chance that the verses of Dante ‘There sighs and wails and piercing cries of woe/ […] Strange languages, and frightful forms of speech,/ words caused by pain, accents of anger, voices/ both loud and faint’ are echoed in Primo Levi’s <italic>If This Is a Man</italic>. Multilingualism is the central point in Levi’s memories from the time spent in a concentration camp where ‘languages absolutely not understandable [...], the orders shouted in languages [we] were not able to recognize’ and the ‘endless Babel where everyone is shouting’ symbolize the lost human condition. Both the damned souls and the prisoners of the camp are not human anymore because they have lost their language and, with it, their identity. In our study, the comparative and hermeneutic analysis of the narrative and lexical choices adopted to represent multilingualism in European literature reveals a strong connection between human identity and the purity of language intended as a manifestation of human rationality. On the contrary, a number of recurrent diegetic choices and figures of speech seem to define the non-human as a multilingual world characterized by sighs, wails and strange languages, like the Bellsybable of Joyce’s devil.</abstract>

Identity and Multilingualism. An Anthropological Reading of the Representation of Alterity in Literary Katabasis

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">With the globalization of the world and the ease to travel to different parts of the globe, the popularity of exchange programs for students has increased. Many students around the world apply such programs in order to have international learning experiences in which they can, besides educational purposes, meet new social and cultural values while introducing their native cultures. As study-abroad experiences have attracted attention regarding their various effects on the participants, research focusing on students participating in such programs may provide useful insight on their contributions to pre-service teachers’ teaching philosophies. Therefore, this study is intended to investigate the effects of a study-abroad experience on the way three pre-service teachers perceived the teaching profession and whether it modified their teaching philosophy. The data were collected through reflection reports and semi-structured interviews with three Turkish pre-service teachers who spent a semester in Hungary on a study-abroad experience. Content analysis was adopted for data analysis. The results revealed that the participants developed in terms of their linguistic, personal, social, cultural and educational understanding, which in turn contributed to their perceptions and conceptions of the teaching profession and caused them to adjust their teaching philosophies. In the light of these results, some suggestions are provided.</abstract>

The Effects of a Study-Abroad Experience on Pre-Service Foreign Language Teachers’ Teaching Philosophies

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The article presents a scientific analysis of a practical application of multilingual and multicultural education at higher education, more specifically, the description of the eTandem project developed and launched by the Language Center of the University of Padua, which won the European Language Label (ELL) in December 2016. The project was selected and nominated since it provides a methodological approach and study strategies which favour multilingualism, mobility for young people and inclusiveness. The project is based on an online exchange between Italian students enrolled at the University of Padua and international students who will be coming to the University. It differs from many other telecollaboration projects in that it involves different languages, levels of language competence as well as various ways of interaction. Indeed, it implies three different ways of communication among participants: (1) one-to-one partnership in the students’ target language; (2) many-to-many interaction in Italian and/or English/French/Spanish as linguae francae on a Moodle platform and/or in a social Facebook area; (3) one-to-many multilingual interaction carried out by e-tutors in Facebook. They provide students with useful links regarding cultural events and things to do in Padua and its surroundings, as well as recent news and interesting linguistic and cultural issues related to different countries. Mobility, informality, autonomy, reciprocity, friendship, fun and multilingual community are the key words of this initiative whose objectives are aimed at developing linguistic, cultural, personal, social and digital skills in different languages, even in the less used and less taught ones.</abstract>

Linking Virtual and Physical Mobility: A Success Story of a Multilingual and Multicultural Exchange

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This case study examines the perspective of plurilingual primary school students on three aspects of their language use: code switching, positive language transfer and translation. In other words, the research question attempted to be answered in this paper is whether plurilingual primary school students use their communicative repertoires purposefully and strategically for their communication, acquisition, and learning of the languages. The research was conducted in a class of eighteen third-graders who attended an international primary school in Zagreb, with the average age of 9. Two questionnaires and a semi-structured interview were used to collect data about the students’ language background, their language use, and their motives for engaging in code-switching, positive language transfer, and translation. In this research, the majority of the participants reported code-switching, the use of positive language transfer and translation. The findings also suggest the students are aware of the benefits that accompany plurilingualism, and that most of the participants possess significant metalinguistic awareness regardless of their young age. To sum up, this case study brings a valuable insight into the plurilingual world of primary school children and the development of their metalinguistic awareness.</abstract>

Plurilingual Primary School Students and Their Language Use

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The aim of this study is to examine the interest, attitudes and learning of refugee students living in Turkey towards social sciences lessons from the perspectives of both teachers and students. This phenomenological study was carried out with 20 refugee students in 10 different public schools in Trabzon province, in the 2016–2017 spring term. In addition, 13 social sciences teachers working in these schools participated in the study. The participants were chosen via the purposeful sampling method of criterion sampling. An open-ended interview form was applied in the data collection phase, and the data were analysed through content analysis. The findings revealed that the social sciences teachers had problems in communicating with refugee students due to language barriers, and they were unable to apply individualized instruction with these students due to the limitations of the curriculum. It was further established that the refugee students had a particular difficulty in learning Turkish history and culture-related topics, because they were exposed to these subjects for the first time. On the other hand, it came to light that the students performed better when social sciences teachers taught their lessons using simpler terminology, assisted with visuals. As the results of the study highlight the fact that the social sciences curriculum is too intensive to allow for individualized instruction, it is suggested that additional studies should be carried out with refugee students; moreover, refugee students may be peer-educated with the help of other refugee students who can speak Turkish.</abstract>

Analysis of Refugee Students’ Interest, Attitudes and Learning in Social Sciences Lessons from the Perspectives of Teachers and Students

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of the use of communicative methods and form-focused methods as implemented in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses. To accomplish this, two groups of management students were selected for the study. Each group consisted of 30 participants. Their level of proficiency in English and their subject matter knowledge were tested through a sample of IELTS and a pre-test. The two groups were at the same level of proficiency in both general English and English for Students of Management before receiving treatment in 20 sessions within a period of 75 days. Participants in Group A received a form-focused method with some occasional uses of their L1. In Group B, however, the participants were exposed to a communicative ESP course which exclusively relied on English the L2. After the period of treatment, the two groups were examined via a post-test. Results showed that Group B was more successful in the post-test. Moreover, the learners who were proficient in English and the subject matter achieved more from the communicative methods of language teaching in the ESP course. Findings imply that the nature of the subject matter, or whether it is theoretical or applied, could be a factor in deciding a method of language teaching for ESP courses.</abstract>

A Comparative Study of Form-Focused and Communicative Methods of Language Teaching in ESP Courses

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The present paper introduces seven Polish and British incongruent terms referring to civil law and makes an attempt to determine the translation methods applied while forming English equivalents for the Polish terms (“mienie”, “rzecz”, “nieruchomość rolna”, “część składowa”, “część składowa rzeczy”, “część składowa gruntu”, “przynależność”). The terms under analysis are the terms that appear at the very beginning of the third section of the Polish Civil Code called “Mienie” and constitute “terms” according to <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_sm-2018-0008_ref_010_w2aab3b7b8b1b6b1ab1ac10Aa">Sager (1990, p.19)</xref> and “legal terms” according to the division of terms by <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_sm-2018-0008_ref_008_w2aab3b7b8b1b6b1ab1ab8Aa">Morawski (1980, p. 187)</xref>. The definitions of the Polish civil law terms are presented beginning with the definitions of a “term” and “equivalence”. The equivalents under analysis have been suggested in the IATE database and the most globally recognised forum for translators, “proz.com”. The research involves comparing the definitions of the terms and, if possible, the suggested equivalents, checking whether the equivalents appear in texts of the sources of the law of the United Kingdom. It has been concluded that the occurrence of system-bound terms as well as the phenomenon of the incongruity of terms make the process of translation extremely challenging, and it is difficult to find the single most adequate equivalent. Furthermore, the translation methods applied while forming the English equivalents have been determined.</abstract>

Incongruity of Civil Law Terms Under Polish and British Legal Systems: A Study of Translation Methods

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Translations serve as a right to the international existence as they allow the national literature to reach wider audiences. Moreover, they allow readers to get acquainted with literature of other cultures. For these reasons, translators have an important role in the literary world. Translators’ prefaces are the main link between readers and translators. However, there is a lack of analysis of this specific genre. This research aims at analysing translator’s preface as a genre and examining differences and similarities of genre features in Lithuanian and English prefaces. 30 Lithuanian and 30 English translators’ prefaces are analysed according to genre elements, such as the format, genre moves and functions. The analysis covers a wide range of examples of both Lithuanian and English fiction books. For this reason, the analysed translators’ prefaces are published in different years, are translated by different translators and are published by different publishing houses. It may be noted, that the analysis reveals that Lithuanian translators tend to be more invisible in their prefaces than English translators. They focus on the author and provide little of their own evaluation and explicit explanations on translation issues. However, English translators focus on the translation process and the subjective analysis. The analysis also demonstrates that the basic format of prefaces is beginning with a title and ending with a signature.</abstract>

Translator’s Preface as a Genre: A Comparative Analysis of Lithuanian and English Prefaces

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The main aim of this study is to probe into major impediments in teaching literary criticism to the Persian speaking Iranian students of translation studies and to argue in which ways teaching literary criticism may be a successful undertaking in the educational establishments in globally less widely taught and learnt languages like Persian. For this purpose, following a mandatory literary criticism course, 35 male and 65 female graduate students from Fars and Isfahan universities were selected through convenience sampling and encouraged to fill in “record-of-work” forms, including reflection on learning strategies as well as their personal experiences and impressions. Next, to triangulate the results, fifty participants were selected to partake in semi-structured interviews, and findings were sorted and content analyzed based on Oxford’s (1990) dimensions of Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) and the tenets of grounded theory. It was revealed that there exist major defects with the current socio-pragmatic and pedagogical status of teaching literary criticism to the Iranian MA students and educational gaps are typically ascribed to the learners’ cultural conditions in Iranian EFL context. Results can hopefully provide EFL teachers with ways to recover defects in teaching literary criticism in less widely taught and learnt languages and provide learners with immediate feedback to meet cultural requirements in doing literary criticism.</abstract>

Thorns and Flowers of Teaching English Literary Criticism to the Speakers of Persian as a Globally Less Widely Taught Language: a Case of MA Students of Translation Studies in Iran

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Volume 23 (2023): Issue 1 (December 2023)

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Sustainable Multilingualism

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