Shin, Cin, and Jinn in far east Asian, central east Asian, and middle eastern cultures : case studies in transethnic communication by exchange of terminology for elementary spiritual concepts of ethic groups

Methodology and Objects: Methodologically, from a diachronic linguistics perspective regarding the concept of the shin, spirits in folk belief in China and neighbouring cultures, we compare texts that comprise meanings a) historically in the local language and b) compared to the meanings of equivalent terms in languages of other cultures. Comparing sources of this belief, we examine if and how the shin belief can serve as an example of communication across cultural borders including practical forms of worshipping. Argumentation: We argue that the concept of the shin is across cultural and national borders a result from folk culture transcending political or cultural borders transmitted via migration of ethnic groups. Although similar, mind concepts of different cultures and groups never melted; evidence for this independence gives the Islamic distinctive separation between shin and jinn in this area in the Chinese Quran and other spiritual Chinese writings. On the other hand, the practice of worshipping is similar. Conclusions: A spiritual concept like shin varies in practice in different areas. Central Asia as the melting pot of Chinese and Middle East culture shows the cultural practice of Shamanism with shin belief, complex mind concepts like in Daoism, and religions incorporating shin belief (Islam). Observed changes in the particular local languages show the continuity of the local set of meanings. Multilingual and multicultural areas such as Central Asia rather integrate new words to increase their thesaurus with new meanings than to change the set of previous existing meanings in the languages. Arabic as a language of conquerors in Central Asia is a typical example for such a language that serves as a tool to set up new meanings

Databank on stakeholder views of technology in language learning tools

This paper reports on the creation of a new databank of technology tools for second language learning based on the results of a questionnaire distributed to directors, instructors, and students within the Language Flagship Program in the United States. A thorough list of technologies across nine categories is provided that highlights what these technologies are, where they can be found, and how different stakeholders have reported using them both inside and outside of the language classroom. The goal of this paper is to create a list of potential and accessible resources for teachers and researchers currently or interested in integrating more technology-based applications and tools into their teaching to promote second language learning, assessment, and maintenance for their students. In addition, this paper is presented in conjunction with a newly available toolkit for technology resources for language learning established by the Language Flagship Technology Innovation Center

From transliteration to trans-scripting: Creativity and multilingual writing on the internet

Although research on multilingual writing has widely explored transliteration and, particularly, Romanization practices, we know little about how related phenomena are reconfigured in social media contexts where users can manipulate a wide range of writing resources and navigate between multiple intertwining audiences. By analysing more than one thousand tokens of forms that illustrate what appears as reversed Romanization (i.e. English-related forms written with Greek characters, engreek), the study aims to discover, first, how these forms are created and, second, for what purposes, and for whom, they are mobilised at given moments. In order to address these questions, I propose a translanguaging lens for the study of multilingual digital writing and draw on the notion of trans-scripting as key for understanding such writing practices as creative and performative. My findings reveal that there is a link between trans-scripting as a creative practice and digital orality, as users orient primarily to phonetic respellings of the English-related forms and associate such spellings with particular forms of stylized speech and social personas. The paper concludes with a critical discussion of the study’s implications to research on the role of English as a resource for multilingual writing and current debates about language diversity and fluidity in the digital mediascape

Enlightened Romanticism: Mary Gartside’s colour theory in the age of Moses Harris, Goethe and George Field

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the work of Mary Gartside, a British female colour theorist, active in London between 1781 and 1808. She published three books between 1805 and 1808. In chronological and intellectual terms Gartside can cautiously be regarded an exemplary link between Moses Harris, who published a short but important theory of colour in the second half of the eighteenth century, and J.W. von Goethe’s highly influential Zur Farbenlehre, published in Germany in 1810. Gartside’s colour theory was published privately under the disguise of a traditional water colouring manual, illustrated with stunning abstract colour blots (see example above). Until well into the twentieth century, she remained the only woman known to have published a theory of colour. In contrast to Goethe and other colour theorists in the late 18th and early 19th century Gartside was less inclined to follow the anti-Newtonian attitudes of the Romantic movement

Developing Attitudes toward Learning Arabic as a Foreign Language among American University and College Students

This study investigates the developing attitudes of American university and college students toward learning Arabic as a Foreign Language. The primary goal of this examination is to shed light on the ways in which students\u27 attitudes toward learning Arabic affect their motivation to learn the language, as well as their commitment to learning it. A secondary goal of this study is to reveal students\u27 perceptions of the use of both Spoken and Standard Arabic in the classroom, and what effect their perceptions may have on their developing attitudes toward Arabic, and their motivation to learn the language and study its culture. A self-report questionnaire was utilized, which was divided into three parts. The first part was designed to obtain background information and information regarding the participants’ Arabic learning experience. The second part was developed to obtain attitudinal perceptions toward Arabic language varieties and Arabic culture, as well as participants\u27 overall attitudes toward learning Arabic. This part of the questionnaire was designed to elicit information regarding the students’ attitudes prior to taking any Arabic classes, and their attitudes upon completion of at least one Arabic course. The findings revealed that a more positive perception toward learning Spoken Arabic was developed over the course of the Arabic language classes, however participants also reported less positive attitudes toward learning Modern Standard Arabic, along with a negative perception of the dominance of Modern Standard Arabic in the classroom. The findings also indicate that instrumental motivation is more important than any other type among students who continue in the program and take advanced Arabic

Vocabulary learning strategies : an empirical study of their use and evaluation by Saudi EFL learners majoring in English

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Strategies and Difficulties of Learning English Idioms Among University Students

This study investigated the strategies and difficulties of learning English idioms among university students. The sample consisted of one hundred and twenty-nine students enrolled in the second semester of the academic year 2020/2021. The researcher prepared a question­naire to identify the strategies employed by students to facilitate learning idioms and to explore the difficulties that faced them during their learning. The results showed that the  participants had difficulty to learn idioms. They also revealed that the most common used strategies were predicting the meaning of the idioms, translating them to the first language, guessing the meaning of idiomatic expressions from the context, depending on verbal and visual information, and looking up unfamiliar idioms in the dictionary. The researcher gave some pedagogical implications and recommendations about learning idioms for further studies. Keywords: Idiomatic expressions, figurative meaning, learning strategies, learning difficulties, innovative learning strategies DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-23-10 Publication date:August 31st 2021