International Journal of Linguistics and Translation Studies

Borrowings from English in Italian. Functional and Pragmatic Aspects

Alla Bykova — 2026-04-01

After the Second World War and during the American economic boom, the role of English in the world grew rapidly. English is increasingly used as the language of interstate relations in newly established international organisations and in intercultural and scientific exchanges. It is changing and simplifying to facilitate communication, which is why it has been chosen as the official language of such a global communication tool as the Internet. Modern mass media operate with information flows from all over the world. Italian online publications tend to use English-language sources from international news agencies. Sometimes they do not translate certain words. Instead, they use their foreign-language form to attract the attention of the audience. The article identifies eight main functions of Anglicisms in general. These are nominative, differential, integrative, euphemistic, expressive, manipulative, linguistic economy and linguistic fashion orientation. Three of these functions — nominative, integrative and differential — are considered to be linguistic in nature, as they are said to satisfy speakers’ needs for new or alternative linguistic means. The other five functions — integrative, euphemistic, expressive, manipulative and orientation towards fashion and prestige — are pragmatic and based on speakers’ psychological needs. The reasons for the adoption of Anglicisms are related to their functions.

From Words to Action: Translation as a Catalyst to Sustainable Health Development

Akponi Tarno — 2026-04-01

This study investigates how translation functions not merely as a linguistic exercise but as a transformative tool that facilitates knowledge transfer, cultural inclusion, and equitable access to information. It argues that translation practices can support global initiatives related to climate action, artificial intelligence, social justice, education, and public health (the focus of this study). Through the lenses of the functionalist approach, the research has analysed qualitative, quantitative and mixed data collected from participants and documentary sources involving multilingual dissemination of malaria public health campaigns in Togolese context with reference to French, Ewe and Kabiye. The analysis of the data proved that translation serves as a mediator and an amplifier of sustainable development efforts especially in the public health campaign domain. it has also found that translation is a powerful transformative tool with regard to public health decisions. Definitely, this study favours a strategic rethinking of translation as a dynamic force that can successfully bridge global-local knowledge and empower communities through inclusive communication.

Exploring Moroccan University EFL Teachers' and Students' Perceptions towards the Explicit Instruction of Communication Strategies

Imane Masmoudi — 2026-04-01

Communication strategies serve as key tools in addressing learners' psychological and linguistic deficiencies and fostering their communication skills. However, the teachability of these strategies remains a highly contentious issue, with some researchers advocating for their explicit instruction and others arguing against it. The present study, therefore, investigates Moroccan university EFL teachers' and students' perceptions towards the explicit teaching of communication strategies. It specifically aims to explore whether both groups endorse or reject the explicit instruction of these strategies and seeks to identify the potential benefits associated with their incorporation into the university EFL classroom. To this end, a qualitative research approach was adopted. Data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews with ten third-year university EFL students and five university EFL teachers from Moulay Ismail University, representing the Moroccan higher education context. Furthermore, thematic analysis was employed to examine the participants' responses. The study results revealed that both groups favoured the explicit instruction of communication strategies. The findings further indicated that the incorporation of communication strategy instruction can be perceived to enhance EFL students' strategic competence, promote oral fluency, foster learners' self-confidence, and support the development of learner autonomy, thereby contributing to the enhancement of learners' communicative competence.

Translating Humour (And More) For Dubbing and Subtitling: The Case of Young Frankenstein

Teresa Filizzola — 2026-04-01

This paper investigates translation for dubbing and subtitling when dealing with humour and other language- or culture-specific elements, which may hinder the ultimate purpose of producing the same intended effect of the original film among the target-language audience. Whether this aim is achieved or not will often depend on the strategies adopted by the translator, who may lean towards source-oriented solutions or target-oriented ones. As a case study, Young Frankenstein by Mel Brooks (1974) has been selected due to the numerous and different types of challenges involved in the audiovisual translation of this film. After an introduction presenting the content and the research question of this paper, its theoretical core will be illustrated, followed by a section that will briefly outline the film. A comparative analysis will come next, focusing on the original screenplay, the Italian dubbing and the Italian subtitling, so as to examine the most problematic cases and their translation. The results will then be discussed by distinguishing between the occurrences of literal translation and those of adaptation. Finally, the conclusions will reveal the extent to which the target-language dubbing and subtitling can be considered as source-oriented or target-oriented, if not as a combination of both approaches.

The Correlation Between English Grammar Competence Development and Social Media Engagement

Soukaina Ouahbi — 2026-04-01

Learners have become heavily exposed to foreign languages through various sources. We are at an era where it is easy for us to get familiarized with new languages. Either through language learning applications or through other digital means. One of the sources that has caught our attention is social media. This is due to the fact that the aim of these platforms does not target language development necessarily. However, students are exposed to language there. This study represents a continuum of our previous work, where we have established that learners’ grammatical competence is influenced by the learners’ social media engagement. This work comes to the surface to investigate the issue even further as this work investigates the type of correlation between social media engagement and the development of students’ grammatical competence. The sample of this study were third year Moroccan university students who belong to the English department at Moulay Ismail University, faculty of arts and humanities. The data was gathered through a 5-scale Likert scale and a written grammar test. For the results, the null hypotheses of this work were rejected. Moreover, the students exhibited awareness for their online presence and displayed positive attitudes towards social media engagement.

Intertextual Strategies in American and Vietnamese Politicians’ Discourse: A Comparative Analysis of Donald Trump and Tô Lâm’s Speeches

Thuat Van Tran — 2026-04-03

This qualitative paper aims to comparatively analyze the intertextual practices of US President Donald Trump and that of Vietnam’s Party General Secretary Tô Lâm in order to discover different models of political legitimation that the two leaders represent. In the study, a discursive dataset comprising 3 important speeches and public utterances of each leader has been analyzed in terms of manifest and constitutive intertextuality within the framework of CDA. The findings reveal the existence of two antithetical models: the populist disruptor (Trump), defined by a widely-open and eclectic discursive practice, and the institutional guardian (Lâm), characterized by a closed and coherent discursive practice. The results suggest that the function of intertextuality in these two distinct political systems is to establish disruption (Trump) and continuity (Lâm), respectively. This study proposes a new comparative model, demonstrating that the political function of language is deeply rooted in specific cultural contexts, thereby contesting the universal applicability of Western models of discourse analysis.

The Impact of Contextual Factors on Quality Translation

Nabil Amin Mohammad Ahmed Kassim — 2026-04-04

This study aimed to investigate the impact of context and contextual factors on achieving quality translation. To achieve the objectives of the study, the mixed-method approach including qualitative and quantitative methods was used. The data of this study were collected through three different tools: a close-ended questionnaire administered to 30 participants besides a structured interview and a translation task conducted with ten participants. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to analyze the data and identify key themes. The findings showed that the context and contextual factors have a significant impact on quality translation. Participants also showed that there are many challenges they may face and errors they they may commit due to the ignorance of context while translation. The study provided many practices and suggestions translators could use to get quality translation. The study recommended that translators should be aware of contextual meaning, especially when using artificial intelligence tools for translation.

Translanguaging Practices in a Vietnamese ESP Medical Classroom: A Qualitative Case Study

Gia Huy Huynh — 2026-04-10

This study investigates translanguaging practices in a Vietnamese English for Specific Purposes (ESP) medical classroom, aiming to understand how bilingual resources support learning in an ESP context. Adopting a qualitative case study design, the research views translanguaging as a purposeful use of both Vietnamese and English to facilitate meaning-making in medical education. Data were collected through structured observations, field notes, and audio recordings over 12 weeks in a medical university in Ho Chi Minh City. The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis based on Fang and Liu’s (2020) five-category framework. The findings indicate that five main translanguaging functions were consistently employed: concept explanation, comprehension checking, knowledge localization, instruction reinforcement, and rapport building, with concept explanation occurring most frequently. These practices helped students understand complex medical terminology, confirm comprehension, relate knowledge to the Vietnamese context, and participate more actively in classroom activities. The discussion suggests that translanguaging serves as an effective pedagogical resource that supports both understanding and engagement in ESP classrooms. It highlights the importance of recognizing students’ full linguistic repertoire as a valuable asset in learning, particularly in content-intensive and professionally oriented educational settings.

Voices in Tension: A Complexity Perspective on Conflicting Curriculum Stakeholder Views

Linda Esinam Dakey — 2026-04-13

This paper examines the persistent tensions and lack of consensus among key curriculum stakeholders, policymakers, teachers, industry players, and learners, about what curriculum should be, what it should include, and how it should be developed. These disagreements become especially visible within dynamic educational contexts and during periods of reform. Drawing on a qualitative study of three translator training institutions in Ghana, the research brings together perspectives of 28 participants to examine how these conflicting views emerge and play out in practice. Using complexity theory as an analytical lens, the study argues that such divergence should not be seen as evidence of dysfunction. Rather, it reflects the inherently adaptive and evolving nature of curriculum systems. By framing stakeholder tensions this way, this article offers a fresh theoretical lens for understanding curriculum development, not as a linear top-down process, but as a dynamic and interdependent system shaped by multiple actors in constant interaction.

Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies in Legal English: A Mixed-Methods Study of Vietnamese Economic Law Students

Chieu Huynh Van Nguyen — 2026-04-15

This study investigated the metacognitive awareness of reading strategies among Economic Law students at Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade in the context of Legal English reading. Adopting a mixed-methods design, the study collected quantitative data through the MARSI-R questionnaire from 414 undergraduate students who had completed a Legal English course, alongside qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 12 purposively selected participants. The findings indicated that students reported moderate to high levels of metacognitive strategy use, with Problem-Solving and Support Reading Strategies employed more frequently than Global Reading Strategies. Among individual strategies, underlining important information emerged as the most frequently used, whereas having a clear reading purpose was among the least utilized. Independent samples t-tests revealed no statistically significant gender differences across all subscales. Qualitative findings further showed that students relied heavily on text-marking and specialized legal dictionaries to manage dense terminology and complex syntactic structures, while experiencing difficulties with pre-reading strategies and sustaining attention during reading. These findings extend existing research on metacognitive strategy use into the domain of Legal English and suggest the need for more explicit instruction in strategy use, particularly in relation to pre-reading planning and selective marking techniques.

Adapting English Sports Terminology into Georgian: Mechanisms of Transliteration, Translation, and Hybridisation

Mariam Kilanava — 2026-04-17

This article examines the systematic integration of English sports terminology into Georgian, investigating the phonological, morphological, and semantic mechanisms through which English loanwords are assimilated into a typologically distant language system. Drawing on data collected from Georgian sports media, televised broadcasts, and social media platforms across a twelve-month period (January - December 2024), the study classifies English-derived sports terms according to a four-category taxonomy: pure transliteration, full translation, hybrid localisation, and full localisation. Georgian, as the sole surviving member of the South Caucasian (Kartvelian) family, presents distinctive phonological challenges an elaborate ejective consonant inventory and a constrained five-vowel system that fundamentally govern loanword integration. Analysis of 57 sport names and over 80 associated technical terms reveals that hybrid localisation constitutes the dominant adaptive strategy (45%), followed by pure transliteration (30%) and full translation (25%); no instances of full localisation were identified in the present corpus. Qualitative examination further documents principled phonological correspondence rules consonant substitution, epenthetic vowel insertion, and aspiration remapping alongside notable semantic narrowing in specific borrowings. These findings situate Georgian sports lexicography within broader cross-linguistic patterns of globalisation-driven language change while attesting to the resilience of Georgian linguistic identity.

Exploring Students' Willingness to Communicate in a Translanguaging Classroom: A Qualitative Study in Vietnam

Thach Ngoc Tran Duong — 2026-04-21

This qualitative case study explores EFL students' willingness to communicate (WTC) in a translanguaging classroom at a Vietnamese university. Drawing on MacIntyre et al.'s (1998) situational WTC model and sociocultural theories of translanguaging, the study investigates how seventeen non-English-major students enrolled in a Speaking course perceive translanguaging, what factors shape their communication willingness, and how translanguaging practices influence their actual communicative behavior. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations and analyzed using Braun and Clarke's (2006) thematic analysis framework. The findings reveal that translanguaging functioned as a cognitive and affective scaffold: it reduced speaking anxiety, strengthened comprehension, and created an inclusive classroom climate. Vocabulary limitations, fear of negative evaluation, and uneven participation were identified as persistent barriers. The study contributes to the growing literature on translanguaging pedagogy in Vietnamese higher education and calls for intentional integration of students' full linguistic repertoire in EFL speaking instruction.

Strategies for Translating Taboo Words and Expressions in Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North

Fatahelrhman Dafalla Abdelrhman Mohammed — 2026-04-26

In translation studies, translating taboo words and expressions has become a daunting task for Arab translators working in the translation industry, due to the significant cultural variation. Therefore, the study aims to identify the taboo words and expressions in Season of Migration to the North, by Tayeb Salih, and the strategies Denys Johnson-Davies employed in 1969 to translate them into English. The study employed a qualitative descriptive approach; data were collected through documentation of the novel and its English translation. The data were analyzed using Wardhaugh’s (1986) theory of taboo words and Davoodi's (2009) taxonomy of translation strategies. Various types of taboo language and expressions related to were identified throughout the novel, such as sexual, body-related, religious, and social behavior taboos. The findings showed that sexual taboo is the most common type that appeared in the novel, with a frequency of 32 expressions, along with other types like animal death, religious taboos, and racism. It has been stated that the translator mostly uses literal translation to preserve the original text's explicit meanings, while applying euphemism and generalization selectively to reduce cultural sensitivity. The study highlights the difficulties of translating taboo language and stresses the importance of balancing accuracy with cultural acceptability.

Moroccan EFL Students’ Perceptions of the Literary Studies Module: Evidence from ESEF Berrechid and Beni Mellal

REDOUAN BAGHIT — 2026-04-30

This study examined the perceptions of 306 EFL students from Écoles Supérieures de Éducation et de la Formation (hereafter ESEF) Berrechid and Beni Mellal regarding the Literary Studies module in Moroccan tertiary education. Using an online questionnaire, the research assessed students’interest, perceived value, difficulty, teaching methods, and overall satisfaction. Findings revealed that most participants considered Literary Studies a meaningful and enriching aspect of their academic experience. The majority reported high engagement, motivation, and satisfaction, recognizing the module’s contributions to linguistic proficiency, cultural awareness, and critical thinking. While some students found the reading materials challenging, adequate support and effective teaching strategies helped them overcome these difficulties. The study also explored gender differences in perception: both male and female students exhibited high levels of positive perception, with female participants reporting a slightly higher mean score; however, this difference was not statistically significant, indicating that gender minimally influenced attitudes toward the module. Contrary to previous literature that emphasizes ongoing negotiation or tension over the value of Literary Studies, this study’s results demonstrate near-universal positive perceptions among EFL students in this context.

Constraints Interaction in English Comparative Morphology: An Optimality Theory Analysis

Mohammed Bouallaoui — 2026-04-30

The prime objective of this paper is to provide a theoretical analysis of English comparative adjectives based on the Optimality Theory (OT). It concentrates on the functions of constraints interaction that the theory plays in the choice of surface forms of these types of adjectives. It is important to note that English is distinguished by two types of comparatives, synthetic and analytic. The synthetic adjectives are always formed by the addition of the suffix “-er”, resulting in forms such as “short” to “shorter.” The analytic ones are frequently formed by the juxtaposition of the free morpheme “more” word-initially, or “less”; e.g., “interesting” to “more interesting.” Comparative morphology also displays irregular forms where the root adjective is completely changed to a new lexical item, e.g., “good” to “better” and “bad” to “worse.” These manifestations are built on traditional theories limited to categorical distinctions like the number of syllables or the length of adjectives. However, traditional approaches remain deficient, as they cannot account for variations, gradient acceptability, and systematic blocking effects. Therefore, this study adopts the Optimality Theory as a framework that fits the current issue, claiming that English comparatives emerge from the interaction of constraints within the underlying grammar system. The most salient constraints governing these adjectives are markedness, faithfulness, and economy constraints. OT tableaux and analyses are provided to account for attested forms like “bigger,” “hapier,” and “more beautiful,” as well as unattested forms like “more bigger” and “interester,” along with irregular forms like “better” and “worse.”