Vol 8, No 3 (2022)

Introduction. Citations of scholarly publications are considered an efficient measure of productivity of research and researchers. They are part of scholarly communication, driving the evolving knowledge in all disciplines. Citations form an integral part of literature practices of researchers. The latter are prone to deliberate or unconscious biases. One of the challenges all researchers face is to overcome or at least mitigate identified biases in citation. It may lead to distorting knowledge development in the least possible way.

Purpose. As the research of citations is on the rise, more theoretical background is being developed. The editors call the JLE readers attention to the Triangular Citations, with various relationships among publications formed by citations.

Results. Empirical studies are not unanimous in defining the features that affect citations most. Most researchers highlight a publication source as the most influential feature, with multi feature approach favoured by the academic community at large. Other features entail features relating to authors, journal, and publication itself. Moreover, there are varieties across the disciplines. The field of research of citation behaviour is only beginning to widen. The focus of such research is made on citation behaviour patterns, individual incentives behind the references and citations aligned with financial or reputation stimuli, and citations patterns linked to citation behaviour. Bias in citation threatens to distort knowledge and may evolve it subtly or obviously in a specific direction. Biases are not easy to deal with. In addition, values and mindsets vary across the countries and academic and scholarly communities that hinders efforts to overcome biases.

Сonclusion. The JLE editors sum up the best guidelines on improvements in publications that add to greater citations, with the high quality of articles as the key.

Background. Coherence is considered one of the most important qualities of written discourse. Despite its fundamental importance, it is still considered a fuzzy and abstract concept in most English Second Language (ESL) contexts. Consequently, many ESL learners struggle to produce a coherent text. Morphological, phonological, orthographic awareness, vocabulary knowledge, and grammatical competence have been identified as predictors of writing quality in novice writers. There is, however, a lack of data to assess whether such linguistic skills also predict coherence in adult ESL learners’ writing.

Purpose. The purpose of the study was to find out the relationships among a set of linguistic skills measures which included morphological, phonological, orthographic awareness, vocabulary knowledge and grammatical competence and coherence in adult ESL learners’ writing.  

Methods. To testify to the potential predictors of coherence in ESL writing, adult university students (126) were assessed by the measures of the linguistic skills mentioned above in addition to four measures of coherence: two relatively reader-based measures (ILETS and the Holistic Coherence Scale) and two relatively text-based measures (Topical Structure Analysis and Topic Based Analysis). All measures of the study were proved valid and reliable.

Results. The findings revealed that vocabulary knowledge, morphological awareness, and grammatical competence were related to the coherence measures, particularly the reader-based measures. In contrast, measures of phonological and orthographic awareness generally did not correlate with the coherence measures.

Implication. Reasons for the associations among the variables of the study were discussed and areas for future research were offered.

Background and Purpose. Given that definitional skills are closely related to literacy and reading comprehension, the purpose of this study was to extend the existing literature in definitional skills by empirically investigating the effect of new parameters that may affect word definitions and definitional types of content and form, such as grammatical categories, word structure, and semantic characteristics.

Methods. The sample consisted of 5152 recorded oral definitions produced by 322 individuals (pre-schoolers, school-age children, university students, and adults), who were asked to define 16 words orally. Definitions were transcribed and scored on a six-point scale along a continuum that reflects the developmental path of the definitions.

Results. The results indicated a significant interaction between grammatical category and word structure for content and form and also between word structure and semantic characteristics only for content. Furthermore, the grammatical category, word structure, and semantic characteristics were strongly associated with specific definitional types for content and form.

Implications. This paper broadens our knowledge on definitional skills and offers new insights into the variables that affect the production of definitions.

Background. The present paper focuses on meta-representational changes occurring in ageing by studying the decline in Definitional Competence, an ability so far little studied in this period of life.

Purpose. The paper hypothesises a relation between Theory of Mind (ToM) and Definitional Competence, in a view that posits the former as a preparatory and facilitating competence for a more complex linguistic production, that is lexicographic definition. The effects of levels of education on the decline in ageing for Definitional Competence and ToM are also investigated.

Methods. We recruited 24 adults (age range 21–55), 25 young-old adults (age range 60–70) and 25 old-old adults (age range 71–85) and administered them the Eyes task to measure ToM and the Co.De. Scale to assess Definitional Competence.

Results. Results suggest that Definitional Competence declines earlier on than ToM, mirroring the well-known process according to which in semantic knowledge, during ageing, taxonomic relations are lost before thematic ones. Our results also show that better levels of education are associated with better performance in both our key constructs and that ToM predicts Definitional Competence, in line with our expectations.

Conclusion. The paper offers one of the first systematic studies on the changes in Definitional Competence during the last phase of life and it provides theoretical insights into the relation between ToM and Definitional Competence in ageing. The paper is informative for future interventions aimed at enhancing linguistic and metalinguistic skills in ageing through the preservation of better levels of awareness and the assumption of a decentralised perspective in interpersonal communication.

Background. Recent years have seen tremendous research efforts in the development of English for academic and research publication purposes, utilising an established approach to comparative genre analysis. This growing interest is primarily driven by the global dominance of Anglophone writing conventions, which necessitates raising awareness among researchers, particularly in non-Anglophone contexts.

Purpose. This study explored and analysed the communicative intents of the discussion sections in research articles in two different contexts to investigate the effect of nativeness on the structural organisation in this genre. The focus of the study was on the rhetorical structure and employment of Moves in the applied linguistics research article Discussions, written in English by Iranian and native English-speaking researchers.

Methods. A mixed-methods research study was conducted on two corpora, comprising 40 Discussions written by Iranian scholars and 40 Discussions written by native English-speaking scholars, selected from research articles published in international peer-reviewed journals.

Results. The comparison of the two corpora revealed similarities and differences in the frequency, type, structure, sequence, and cyclicity of Moves. While there were significant differences in the frequency and sequence of Moves and Steps, both corpora employed the same types. They featured cyclical structures with no evidence of linear patterns across the Discussions. Both groups of researchers found it essential to provide background information and report and comment on the results in the research article Discussions, however, with notable differences in commenting strategies, i.e., Steps. The results indicated that socio-cultural conventions might have influenced the scholars' under- and over-employment of certain Moves and Steps in the research article Discussions.

Implications. The findings of this study provide research-based evidence to practically and pedagogically assist in the context of English for academic and specific purposes, particularly in teaching English for research publication purposes to non-native English-speaking scholars.

Background. Epistemic beliefs refer to a person’s viewpoints about the nature of knowledge and the process of knowing. A number of studies have explored language learners’ subjective views about what knowing and learning a foreign or a second language (L2) means to them personally. For the most part, these studies adopted quantitative research designs and employed self-reported questionnaires with Likert-type scales to collect the data.

Purpose. This pilot study aimed to assess feasibility of adopting Q-methodology (Q) for explorations of language-related epistemic beliefs held by Chinese university students. A detailed account is given of the development of the research instrument (Q-sample); the findings from the Q-sample piloting are reported.  

Methods. The newly-developed Q-sample consisting of 45 statements was tested among six students learning the English language in a university in Mainland China. The students were at a different level of the English language proficiency. The 11-point Q-sorting grid had the values ranging from -5 (“Most disagree”) to +5 (“Most agree”). To gain deeper insights into the students’ personal epistemologies, a semi-structured post Q-sorting interview was conducted with each student.  

Results. The newly-developed Q-sample was found suitable for exploring language-related epistemic beliefs. Two groups of students sharing similar beliefs were distinguished. Students who clustered together to form Factor 1 held stronger viewpoints concerning certainty of knowledge; these students were at a lower English language proficiency level. The students who conglomerated on Factor 2 were at a higher level of language proficiency and they held stronger opinions relating to the authority and source of knowledge.

Implications. The findings highlighted the relevance and salience of the epistemic beliefs pertaining to the process of acquiring knowledge. Further research with larger numbers of students is required to explore the role of language proficiency in shaping language learners’ personal epistemologies.

Background. Researchers and teaching practitioners are working on formulating instructional approaches that suit the students’ interests by incorporating the latest technology. The flipped classroom model emerges as an alternative to extend the classroom interaction, create a different atmosphere, and accommodate a meaningful and collaborative interaction in the class.

Purpose. This paper aims to present a systematic review of past studies focusing on the implementation of the flipped classroom for EFL/ESL instruction in higher education.

Methods. A total of 29 articles were selected using specific criteria comprising year and types of publication, contexts, and the determined quality standard. The collected articles were then analyzed to reveal the research components including the research designs, participants, and instructional tools.

Results. This study presents a discussion of the practical instructional benefits of the flipped classroom model and the possible barriers.

Implications. Furthermore, from this discussion, this study formulated pedagogical and research implications for possible directions in future studies.