This study investigates how meaning is constructed through embodied cognitive processes when EFL learners engage with The Old Man and the Sea. Grounded in Barsalou’s Embodied Cognition Theory (1999, 2008), which conceptualizes language comprehension as the reactivation of perceptual, motor, bodily, and affective systems rather than abstract symbol manipulation, the study examines reader responses to a literary text characterized by narrative restraint and minimal explicit emotional description. The participants were undergraduate students from the English Literature Study Program at Universitas Negeri Makassar enrolled in the History of English Language and Literature course (2024 cohort). 142 students across five intact classes (A–E), 57 students (40.1%) selected The Old Man and the Sea as their preferred final-test novel and constituted the focal participant group. Data were collected through an open-ended reflective questionnaire eliciting emotional reactions, imagined experiences, reflective pauses, and lingering thoughts after reading. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis with theory-driven coding, guided by embodied cognition categories including sensorimotor imagery, bodily state, action simulation, and affective response. The findings reveal that students consistently relied on embodied simulation to construct meaning, reporting strong experiences of empathy, loneliness, sadness, and admiration derived from imagining Santiago’s physical struggle, pain, fatigue, and isolation. Meaning emerged through experiential inference, as understanding developed from felt bodily and affective engagement rather than explicit textual cues. The study demonstrates the pedagogical potential of literary reading in EFL contexts to foster affective engagement, empathy development, and reader-centred meaning construction, while extending embodied cognition research to authentic classroom-based literary experiences.
This article discusses the application of the pedagogical approach of processing instruction to the teaching of basic Ukrainian grammar – particularly, at the initial stage of this process. Grounded in SLA theory and found to be very effective for the acquisition of various grammatical aspects of English, Spanish, French, and other commonly taught languages, processing instruction is only beginning to be applied to Ukrainian. The article summarizes the theoretical premises of this approach, which come from B. VanPatten’s model of input processing. This model describes how learners derive linguistic information from what they hear and read in the L2 and what can hinder their noticing of grammatical features in the input. The approach of processing instruction, which aims to help learners overcome their faulty processing tendencies, is then discussed. The article proposes using processing instruction as an effective alternative to mechanical drills, which are still often deemed to be a necessary first step in grammar learning. It summarizes the theoretical arguments against mechanical drills and for beginning grammar instruction with input-based activities, as is done in the processing instruction approach. The general applicability of processing instruction to Ukrainian is illustrated through a series of activities from the open-access online textbook of basic Ukrainian grammar Dobra Forma by O. Wallo, which utilizes this approach. The article explains the structure and benefits of these activities and addresses several challenges of using processing instruction (as formulated by VanPatten) for the teaching of Ukrainian grammar. They include the complex morphology of Ukrainian, which makes teaching only one grammatical form at a time impractical, and the existence in the Ukrainian language of many grammatical forms of low or no communicative value. Practical ways of dealing with each challenge are suggested and illustrated with specific examples from Dobra Forma.
This study addresses the pressing need for a unified analytical framework in cross-linguistic semantics by integrating five pivotal models: Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM), Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), Frame Semantics (FS), Semantic Field Theory (SFT), and Cognitive Grammar (CG) to examine meaning construction in English and Vietnamese. Although substantial theoretical progress has been made in semantic studies, existing research often remains fragmented, with limited integration across models and minimal application to typologically distinct languages. Employing a mixed-methods design, this study analyzed ten short stories using Wordsmith 8.0 and NVivo 14, capturing both quantitative patterns and qualitative nuances in linguistic structure. The findings reveal not only shared semantic primitives and embodied metaphors but also significant cultural variations in conceptual frameworks, including collectivist and individualist tendencies reflected in frame activation and metaphor usage. These insights contribute to the development of an integrated semantic framework that supports more nuanced cross-linguistic comparisons and highlights the dynamic interplay among cognition, language, and culture. Beyond its theoretical significance, the proposed framework holds practical value for language education, translation practices, and computational linguistics by enabling culturally informed semantic analysis. Ultimately, this research reconceptualizes contrastive semantics as an interdisciplinary and culturally grounded field, offering essential tools for enhancing semantic.
Andrew Gambardella, Takeshi Kojima, Yusuke Iwasawa
et al.
Typical methods for evaluating the performance of language models evaluate their ability to answer questions accurately. These evaluation metrics are acceptable for determining the extent to which language models can understand and reason about text in a general sense, but fail to capture nuanced capabilities, such as the ability of language models to recognize and obey rare grammar points, particularly in languages other than English. We measure the perplexity of language models when confronted with the "first person psych predicate restriction" grammar point in Japanese. Weblab is the only tested open source model in the 7-10B parameter range which consistently assigns higher perplexity to ungrammatical psych predicate sentences than grammatical ones. We give evidence that Weblab's uniformly bad tokenization is a possible root cause for its good performance, and show that Llama 3's perplexity on grammatical psych predicate sentences can be reduced by orders of magnitude (28x difference) by restricting test sentences to those with uniformly well-behaved tokenizations. We show in further experiments on machine translation tasks that language models will use alternative grammar patterns in order to produce grammatical sentences when tokenization issues prevent the most natural sentence from being output.
Aim. To identify the main trends in the study of the Chinese language grammatical structure in Europe at the end of the 19th century based on the analysis of the main works of S. Julien, J. Edkins and A. Hovelacque.Methodology. The leading research methods are the comparative-contrastive method, which includes correlating the opinions of the linguists under study, and the descriptive-analytical method, which includes generalizing the views of the scientists under consideration.Results. The study showed that the methods of studying the Chinese language by European sinologists at the end of the 19th century continued to be significantly influenced by the “Greek and Latin” grammatical system. The gradual rejection of the analysis of Chinese grammar through the prism of Indo-European linguistics was facilitated by typological studies of amorphous languages.Research implications. The data on the history of the study of Chinese grammar have been updated and expanded, and the specifics of the linguistic research of S. Julien, J. Edkins and A. Hovelacque have been defined, the contribution of scientists to the development of Sinology has been described, and the connection between the theories of scientists of the second half of the 19th century and trends in Sinology of previous and subsequent periods has been identified. The obtained research results can be applied when giving lectures and conducting practical classes on the history of studying Chinese, for writing bachelor's and master's theses on related topics
F. Orazbayeva, Zinura Utegulova, Baeshova Balzia Balzia
et al.
This article explores the importance of developing a cognitive model of linguistic categories to better understand them as outcomes of cognitive processes. It highlights the fundamental problem of how humans conceptualize the world and how these conceptualizations are translated into cognitive models, which in turn find expression in speech and communication. The study emphasizes the close interdependence between cognition and linguistic categories, showing that grammatical categories are not merely formal structures but rather reflections of different layers of abstraction that emerge from human cognitive activity. By reconstructing cognitive models of grammatical categories, it becomes possible to trace how language encodes the gradual stages of cognitive development. The primary aim of the article is to examine grammatical categories within phraseological units through the lens of cognitive model theory, communicative grammar, and prototype theory as developed in cognitive linguistics. Phraseological units are analyzed using cognitive descriptions and syntagmatic approaches across three interconnected dimensions: conceptual, grammatical, and communicative. Such an approach makes it possible to study phraseological units at both the internal and external levels of syntagmatics, offering a comprehensive view of their structural and functional properties. Ultimately, the article demonstrates that phraseological grammar cannot be fully understood without reference to the cognitive processes that shape language use.
This paper, A Comparative Study of the Translated Arabic Versions of the Novel to the Lighthouse under Feminist Translation Theory, examines the influence of feminist translation theory on the interpretation of Virginia Woolf’s iconic novel. It focuses on two Arabic translations, both completed by female translators, to investigate how gender, cultural context, and personal experiences shape the depiction of Woolf’s female characters and the feminist themes central to her work. The study delves into the translators’ individual backgrounds and feminist ideologies, exploring how their perspectives and the sociocultural dynamics of the Arab world influence translation decisions. By analyzing shifts in language, tone, and narrative emphasis, it reveals how these translations navigate the challenges of preserving Woolf’s feminist voice while resonating within the framework of Arabic literary traditions. The paper also investigates the interplay between power relations, societal norms, and translation strategies, highlighting the translators’ efforts to balance fidelity to the original text with cultural relevance. It emphasizes the complexities involved in translating feminist viewpoints into a linguistic and cultural context where gender discourse often intersects with deeply rooted societal structures. Through this lens, the study underscores the transformative potential of feminist translation theory in reinterpreting literature, challenging patriarchal narratives, and enriching cross-cultural dialogue. By bridging feminist theory and translation studies, this research contributes valuable insights into the evolving role of gender in literary interpretation and cross-cultural communication.
The paper applies Juri Lotman’s theory of the semiosphere to utopian studies with the aim of identifying the principal components and mode of functioning of classic utopian discourse. Without questioning the ultimate result of any interaction within a utopian dialogic situation, which necessarily demonstrates the superiority of the ideal world (no-place/ou-topos) over the external world of imperfection (e.g. Europe or America), it is argued that the encounter between the utopian and non-utopian semiospheres offers an interesting starting point for a discussion of intercultural translation and dialogicity involving two different mechanisms of sign production. Contrary to its ‘real-world’ counterpart, where the sign production is governed by asymmetry, binarism, replacement, and diversification, the utopian semiosphere relies on the truthfulness of signs, all-encompassing semioticity, unifying enhancement, and homogeneity. The hyperbolization of the opposition between the ideal state and the external world is metonymically reflected in the construction of the utopian state itself, with its centre and periphery radically polarized and separated by the impassable internal boundary. Although typical representations of the external utopian boundary foreground its distinctly separative function, multiple acts of the intercultural exchange between representatives of the two semiospheres expose the boundary’s translatory function.
The development and evaluation of Large Language Models (LLMs) has primarily focused on their task-solving capabilities, with recent models even surpassing human performance in some areas. However, this focus often neglects whether machine-generated language matches the human level of diversity, in terms of vocabulary choice, syntactic construction, and expression of meaning, raising questions about whether the fundamentals of language generation have been fully addressed. This paper emphasizes the importance of examining the preservation of human linguistic richness by language models, given the concerning surge in online content produced or aided by LLMs. We propose a comprehensive framework for evaluating LLMs from various linguistic diversity perspectives including lexical, syntactic, and semantic dimensions. Using this framework, we benchmark several state-of-the-art LLMs across all diversity dimensions, and conduct an in-depth case study for syntactic diversity. Finally, we analyze how different development and deployment choices impact the linguistic diversity of LLM outputs.
Large Language Models (LLMs) have demonstrated considerable cross-lingual alignment and generalization ability. Current research primarily focuses on improving LLMs' cross-lingual generalization capabilities. However, there is still a lack of research on the intrinsic mechanisms of how LLMs achieve cross-lingual alignment. From the perspective of region partitioning, this paper conducts several investigations on the linguistic competence of LLMs. We discover a core region in LLMs that corresponds to linguistic competence, accounting for approximately 1% of the total model parameters. Removing this core region by setting parameters to zero results in a significant performance decrease across 30 different languages. Furthermore, this core region exhibits significant dimensional dependence, perturbations to even a single parameter on specific dimensions leading to a loss of linguistic competence. Moreover, we discover that distinct monolingual regions exist for different languages, and disruption to these specific regions substantially reduces the LLMs' proficiency in those corresponding languages. Our research also indicates that freezing the core linguistic region during further pre-training can mitigate the issue of catastrophic forgetting (CF), a common phenomenon observed during further pre-training of LLMs. Overall, exploring the LLMs' functional regions provides insights into the foundation of their intelligence.
This study investigates the relationship between French and English grammar proficiency among university students in Meknes, Morocco. A statistically significant positive correlation (r = 0.797, p < 0.01) was found between French and English grammar test scores. This suggests that students with stronger French grammar skills also tend to perform better on the English grammar test. Aligning with research on positive grammar transfer, this finding highlights the potential benefits of a strong foundation in French grammar for Moroccan students learning English. However, the study acknowledges the limitations of a correlational design. Further research is needed to explore the underlying mechanisms that contribute to the observed relationship and the impact of instructional methods. The findings hold valuable implications for various stakeholders in education: educators (utilizing comparative grammar exercises and promoting cross-linguistic awareness), researchers (investigating mechanisms and effective instructional methods), and policymakers (optimizing bilingual education by emphasizing transferable grammar skills in French instruction and curriculum design). By acknowledging the transferability of grammar skills, stakeholders can collaborate to improve overall language proficiency among Moroccan students.
Leonie Weissweiler, Valentin Hofmann, Abdullatif Köksal
et al.
Construction Grammar (CxG) is a paradigm from cognitive linguistics emphasising the connection between syntax and semantics. Rather than rules that operate on lexical items, it posits constructions as the central building blocks of language, i.e., linguistic units of different granularity that combine syntax and semantics. As a first step towards assessing the compatibility of CxG with the syntactic and semantic knowledge demonstrated by state-of-the-art pretrained language models (PLMs), we present an investigation of their capability to classify and understand one of the most commonly studied constructions, the English comparative correlative (CC). We conduct experiments examining the classification accuracy of a syntactic probe on the one hand and the models’ behaviour in a semantic application task on the other, with BERT, RoBERTa, and DeBERTa as the example PLMs. Our results show that all three investigated PLMs are able to recognise the structure of the CC but fail to use its meaning. While human-like performance of PLMs on many NLP tasks has been alleged, this indicates that PLMs still suffer from substantial shortcomings in central domains of linguistic knowledge.
This study analyses the types of neurotic needs experienced by Griffin through three kinds of neurotic conditions, which indicate that he has a neurotic disorder. This study uses psychoanalysis social by Karen Horney's theory about the types of neurotic needs, namely the neurotic need for power, the neurotic need to exploit others, the neurotic need for self-sufficiency, and independence. This study aimed to determine the types of neurotic conditions experienced by Griffin. This research method uses descriptive qualitative. The data Source of this research is the novel The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells, published in 1897 but using the 2016 version, which consists of 250 pages and 28 chapters. Meanwhile, the instrument in this study is note-taking. The data analysis technique of this research uses the theory of Miles and Huberman, namely, data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions and verification. This study found that Griffin experienced three types of neurotic needs: the neurotic need for power, the neurotic need to exploit others, the neurotic need for self-sufficiency, and independence, which proves that he has a neurotic disorder or mental disorder. Social, cultural, and childhood life are the factors that influenced Griffin in a way to experience some types of neurotic needs.
Language. Linguistic theory. Comparative grammar, Computational linguistics. Natural language processing
Language understanding is a key scientific issue in the fields of cognitive and computer science. However, the two disciplines differ substantially in the specific research questions. Cognitive science focuses on analyzing the specific mechanism of the brain and investigating the brain's response to language; few studies have examined the brain's language system as a whole. By contrast, computer scientists focus on the efficiency of practical applications when choosing research questions but may ignore the most essential laws of language. Given these differences, can a combination of the disciplines offer new insights for building intelligent language models and studying language cognitive mechanisms? In the following text, we first review the research questions, history, and methods of language understanding in cognitive and computer science, focusing on the current progress and challenges. We then compare and contrast the research of language understanding in cognitive and computer sciences. Finally, we review existing work that combines insights from language cognition and language computation and offer prospects for future development trends.
The age of social media is rife with memes. Understanding and detecting harmful memes pose a significant challenge due to their implicit meaning that is not explicitly conveyed through the surface text and image. However, existing harmful meme detection approaches only recognize superficial harm-indicative signals in an end-to-end classification manner but ignore in-depth cognition of the meme text and image. In this paper, we attempt to detect harmful memes based on advanced reasoning over the interplay of multimodal information in memes. Inspired by the success of Large Language Models (LLMs) on complex reasoning, we first conduct abductive reasoning with LLMs. Then we propose a novel generative framework to learn reasonable thoughts from LLMs for better multimodal fusion and lightweight fine-tuning, which consists of two training stages: 1) Distill multimodal reasoning knowledge from LLMs; and 2) Fine-tune the generative framework to infer harmfulness. Extensive experiments conducted on three meme datasets demonstrate that our proposed approach achieves superior performance than state-of-the-art methods on the harmful meme detection task.
This article aims to highlight the role that generative linguistics play in developing the Arabic language curriculum Content, by adopting the universal grammar theory that seeks to explain how humans acquire linguistic knowledge from one side, and in all the means and medias that characterize languages from another. Also,this article presents the importance of benifiting from advanced scientific theories in the field of modern applied research, in order to crystallize good educational content that improves learners’ performance at the level of linguistic structure.Moreover, this research looked into organizing the educational content, for selecting knowledge that suits learners' level , in terms of teaching vocabulary and grammar. Then the new technology and the main techniques and components that are optimal for teaching the content of the Arabic language curriculum.
Classroom-based language assessment (CBLA) in the Indonesian context has become more significant since the shift of the assessment model from summative based assessment (Ujian Nasional or the final exam) to formative-based assessment (Asesmen Kompetensi Minimum (AKM); therefore, teachers need to develop their classroom-based language assessment literacy (CBLAL). The model places a greater emphasis on students' learning outcomes in class rather than final test scores. This study aims to examine the CBLAL level of experienced and novice EFL teachers, their perceptions of CBLAL, and their needs for CBLAL training. Quantitative and qualitative data were used in conjunction with a case study research design. The CBLAL questionnaire, adopted from Lan and Fan's work (2019), collected quantitative data from 55 EFL teachers. Meanwhile, the qualitative data were collected from four of them (novice and experienced) in the interview sessions. The CBLAL levels of 55 teachers are between functional and procedural-conceptual literacy levels. Both experienced (ETs) and novice teachers (NTs) could grasp fundamental principles in language assessment and can use them in the classroom. Although the ETs have higher levels, there is no significant difference in CBLAL levels between ETs and NTs. The study also revealed that the teachers' understandings of technical skills and language pedagogy were among the highest compared to their knowledge of theories and principles on language assessments. However, they indicated that still require professional development (PD) in CBLAL, despite their functional and procedural-conceptual literacy. The current study has pedagogical implications for both ETs and NTs. They should actively participate in various professional development activities, focusing on classroom evaluation.
Special aspects of education, Language. Linguistic theory. Comparative grammar
Abelardo Linares (1952) es el fundador de la editorial Renacimiento en 1977, que comenzó siendo tres años antes una librería de viejo establecida en el barrio de Santa Cruz de Sevilla, enriquecida con la compra de un millón de libros de la colección del librero Eliseo Torres de Nueva York. Además de todo ello, su labor poética, objeto de este trabajo, aunque no ha sido su prioridad, está recogida en cuatro volúmenes con voluntad antológica que dan cuenta de lo prolijo de sus versos: Mitos: Poesía reunida en 1979, Sombras en 1986, Espejos de 1991 y Y ningún otro cielo de 2010. El penúltimo de 1991, que hoy se analiza, fue Premio de la Crítica. En el presente trabajo estudiaremos la poesía de Espejos y trataremos de proponer el componente de la nostalgia como fundamental para el traslado del compromiso en la poesía de Abelardo Linares. Trataremos de concluir que es precisamente el componente nostálgico el que ayuda a potenciar el compromiso en la poesía linariana y cómo esta se constituye entonces como una muestra más de divergencia, de entre las muchas que ya se han puesto de manifiesto en las últimas décadas, con respecto a las líneas maestras de la llamada Generación del 70. Con este análisis recuperamos también la obra de un poeta parcialmente apartado del canon de las generaciones para tratar de renovar el interés por su poesía y ayudar a su inclusión paulatina en el discurso sobre la historia de la literatura de finales del siglo pasado.
Pre-trained Language Model (PLM) has become a representative foundation model in the natural language processing field. Most PLMs are trained with linguistic-agnostic pre-training tasks on the surface form of the text, such as the masked language model (MLM). To further empower the PLMs with richer linguistic features, in this paper, we aim to propose a simple but effective way to learn linguistic features for pre-trained language models. We propose LERT, a pre-trained language model that is trained on three types of linguistic features along with the original MLM pre-training task, using a linguistically-informed pre-training (LIP) strategy. We carried out extensive experiments on ten Chinese NLU tasks, and the experimental results show that LERT could bring significant improvements over various comparable baselines. Furthermore, we also conduct analytical experiments in various linguistic aspects, and the results prove that the design of LERT is valid and effective. Resources are available at https://github.com/ymcui/LERT