International Journal of Linguistics and Translation Studies

The Translation and Adaptation of Chinese Songs from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence Theory: A Case Study of the MelodyC2E Team at Shanghai International Studies University

Xiaojun Cai — 2026-10-02

This study examines the Chinese-to-English song translation practice of MelodyC2E, a student-run translation team at Shanghai International Studies University, within the theoretical framework of Nida's functional equivalence. The team, composed of non-professional student translators, releases English translations and cover versions of Chinese songs across three genres: Chinese-style songs, pop songs, and film and television soundtracks. Drawing on functional equivalence theory, the study constructs an analytical framework encompassing the lexical, syntactic, cultural, and rhythmic dimensions, and applies it to a purposive sample of nine representative songs, including “Big Fish,” “Encounter,” and “Light Chaser.” The analysis reveals that MelodyC2E's translation strategies are governed by the dual goals of musical adaptation and cultural dissemination, with reader-response equivalence as the core principle and singability as the primary requirement. Translators adjust their strategies according to genre: Chinese-style songs prioritize the conversion of cultural imagery, pop songs favor colloquial expression, and film soundtracks emphasize the restoration of situational emotion. Across genres, the team consistently employs strategies such as splitting long sentences, adapting end-rhymes, and simplifying redundant expressions. The study highlights the theoretical, practical, cultural, and campus-educational value of these translations, identifies limitations concerning translator competence, cultural depth, literary scope, and dissemination channels, and proposes corresponding recommendations, offering a reference for student participation in cross-cultural communication.

Enhancing Employability through Curriculum Reform: A Mixed-Methods Study of Learning Gaps in the Schools of Letters and Humanities at Moroccan Universities

Abdelaziz OUCHAIB — 2026-10-02

The present study investigated the responsiveness of education programs in the schools of letters and humanities at Moroccan universities to students’ employability needs. We made use of a mixed-methods, two-phase case study design. In the initial quantitative phase, a Likert scale questionnaire was administered to 622 students to investigate the extent to which education programs develop in them the competencies required for employability. Further, in the follow-up qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 doctoral students to extend and explain the quantitative results. Findings indicate that the sampled institutions inadequately address three fundamental employability needs: proficiency in foreign languages, development of soft skills, and competency in information and communication technologies. Based on these findings, the study recommends substantial curricular adjustments, including integrating foreign language education, soft skills training, and ICT instruction in higher education in order to align educational outcomes with the evolving demands of the labour market.

Human vs. AI: A Comparative Analysis of Translating Near-Synonymy in the Quran

Bilal M.J. Ibrahim Zakarneh — 2026-10-02

Near-synonymy in the Qur’an challenges translators because related lexical items can differ in intensity, scope, expressive force, and contextual function. This exploratory qualitative study compares selected English expressions by Arberry and Irving with excerpts reported as GPT-4 outputs. Eleven lexical items in ten verse contexts are examined through a translation-oriented adaptation of Murphy’s Relation by Contrast approach. The analysis draws on published, tafsir-informed semantic profiles and distinguishes local semantic adequacy, preservation of lexical contrast, contextual fit, and English idiomaticity. The results vary by item. All three products maintain lexical differentiation between bathth and ḥuzn in Qur’an 12:86. Irving’s ‘famine’ and the AI expression ‘severe hunger’ express different aspects of the masghabah/jūʿ contrast. Arberry’s ‘grievous sin’ makes religious condemnation explicit, while ‘fault’ remains defensible for khaṭīʾah. The AI excerpts make regret and private speech explicit, but ‘despair impatiently’ is an unusual collocation. These findings support evaluation by specific semantic features rather than an overall human-AI ranking. The contribution is an account of how lexical contrast, interpretive choice, and English usage interact in selected translation examples. Incomplete AI provenance, excerpt-level evidence, and the absence of independent ratings limit the conclusions. A supervised revision workflow is proposed for subsequent testing.

Individual Contributions in Project-Based Learning: A Qualitative Study of Moroccan EFL Students

Rachida Moussaoui — 2026-10-07

Project-based learning (PBL) has increasingly been used to promote active participation, collaboration, learner autonomy, and meaningful language use in English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms. However, collaborative project work may make individual participation difficult to observe, particularly when students work collectively toward a shared final product. This study explores how Moroccan EFL students describe their individual contributions and difficulties during collaborative project work. The study adopts a qualitative descriptive case-study design and draws on individual progress records completed by approximately 26 secondary-school students during classroom project work. The analysis indicates that students’ reported contributions extended beyond the production of the final project and included research and information gathering, writing and content preparation, drawing and visual design, decision-making, planning, presentation preparation, and other practical tasks. Students also reported different forms of difficulty, particularly uncertainty about how to complete particular tasks and challenges associated with design and project preparation, while some students reported experiencing no significant difficulty. The findings suggest that individual progress records can help make otherwise less visible forms of self-reported participation more observable within collaborative PBL. Rather than evaluating the effectiveness of PBL, the study provides a classroom-based account of what students reported doing during project work and the challenges they reported encountering. The study contributes to the limited body of research documenting reported student participation in Moroccan secondary-school EFL project work.

Mathematical Proof as Disciplinary Discourse: Verbal-Symbolic Meaning-Making in Graduate Proof Writing

ROGEN DORONILA — 2026-10-07

This article examines how natural language and mathematical notation organize reasoning in twenty graduate-level proof texts from one university in the southern Philippines. A qualitative corpus-based analysis combines Systemic Functional Linguistics, speech-act perspectives, and content analysis to examine verbal-symbolic coordination, recurrent linguistic features, and their potential contribution to inferential transparency. Language introduced objects and assumptions, marked warrants and consequences, maintained reference, and signaled conclusions. Recurrent resources included discourse markers, conditionals, directives, assertions, impersonal formulations, and technical vocabulary. The study contributes a proof-level functional account linking these resources to the status and progression of mathematical claims in student-produced texts. Close analysis also shows that explicit transitions and fluent explanation can coexist with incomplete or circular justification. Persuasiveness is interpreted as textual support for reconstructing and evaluating reasoning; reader comprehension and persuasion were not measured. The findings are limited to the selected corpus and suggest that proof instruction can use annotation and revision to connect linguistic choices with mathematical justification.

(Re-)Construing Communication Through the Socio-Cognitive Approach: Implications for Autism Interventions

Oumaima Atti — 2026-10-02

Communication is often conceptualized as a cooperative, context-dependent process, a perspective classically shaped by Paul Grice's theoretical framework. Grice's theory provides an idealized model of how speakers and listeners interact, emphasizing shared intentions. Gricean theory of implicature assumes a relatively smooth communicative process in which interlocutors adhere to cooperative principles/maxims, yet emerging perspectives challenge this idealized view. Notably, the socio-cognitive approach (SCA) redefines communication as a dynamic interplay between social and cognitive factors, incorporating both cooperative and egocentric processes. These limitations of traditional pragmatic theories become particularly evident in studying social communication challenges in autism. Autistic individuals show considerable variability in social communication, with some experiencing challenges in areas such as conversational implicature, nonliteral language, and reciprocal interactions. Some accounts have attributed such differences to Theory of Mind (ToM) and pragmatic-language difficulties. This narrative review explores how the SCA offers a re-construal of communication, emphasizing the integration of individual cognitive tendencies with social interaction. By re-conceptualizing social communication as inherently tied to social cognition, the paper highlights the potential of targeted, culturally sensitive social-cognitive interventions to address communication challenges in autistic learners.

Research on Pakistani English: Developments and Directions

Naeem Khan Jadoon — 2026-10-02

This article examines advancements in Pakistani English studies over the past forty years. It systematically reviews and synthesises existing research—a first for the field in the wider context—and highlights key issues and research gaps. This helps researchers grasp the field's developments, major themes, and areas that need further study. The article demonstrates that, despite being frequently regarded as understudied, Pakistani English has attracted significant scholarly attention. However, much of this research remains inaccessible to readers outside Pakistan. This article uses a qualitative, synthetic approach to review trends, interests, and developments across multiple language domains, to map perspectives, and to identify future research directions. However, this study does not claim exhaustive coverage of the existing body of research on Pakistani English; rather, it seeks to address as much relevant literature as possible. The researchers believe scholars and researchers in Pakistan and internationally will find this study valuable for future research on Pakistani English.