International Journal of Multilingualism and Languages for Specific Purposes

Language, learning, and power in contemporary digital multilingual contexts

Samantha Curle — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This editorial introduces Volume 8, Issue 1 of IJMLSP entitled “Language, Learning, and Power in Contemporary Digital Multilingual Contexts” by examining how language education is being reshaped by digitalisation, artificial intelligence, multilingual mobility, professional communication, critical discourse practices, and curriculum reform. It argues that these developments should not be understood only as technological or pedagogical change, but as a redistribution of communicative access, epistemic authority, and institutional responsibility. Drawing together contributions situated in Ukraine, Egypt, Indonesia, Thailand, Zambia, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, the editorial shows how multilingualism operates as a central condition of participation in education, work, civic life, and intercultural communication. The issue connects research on English for Specific Purposes, workplace-oriented language learning, web-based collaborative learning, AI-mediated hybrid education, AI literacy, inclusive smart learning environments, mobile-assisted vocabulary learning, political discourse, non-verbal hospitality encounters, prosody, and curriculum innovation. Across these domains, the papers demonstrate that digital and multilingual transformation is uneven: it can widen access, support autonomy, and enable more inclusive participation, but it can also reproduce inequalities when infrastructure, disability access, digital literacy, linguistic hierarchies, and institutional support are neglected. The editorial, therefore, develops a critical multilingual transformation perspective, foregrounding the need to evaluate innovation through its contribution to equity, agency, disciplinary relevance, critical literacy, and human judgment. It positions language learning as a question of social participation and epistemic justice and argues that future research must attend to the ways technologies, languages, bodies, institutions, and power relations shape who can participate, whose knowledge counts, and how more inclusive communicative futures can be designed.

Professional training of future ship engineers through ESP instruction

Diahyleva Olena, Kononova Olena, Yurzhenko Alona — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The paper deals with the demand for effective professional training of future ship engineers. English for Specific Purpose Learning is shown as an important component of the training of cadets of higher maritime education institutions. English is a working language used onboard ships and ensures safe professional communication in the mixed crew. The effectiveness of the blended learning approach was analyzed in the research. A pedagogical experiment was conducted at the Kherson State Maritime Academy, Ukraine. Two groups were created to split cadets into the Experimental Group and the Control Group. The traditional methods of English for Specific Purpose Learning were used for the Control Group. The experimental group had a deal with LMS MOODLE of Kherson State Maritime Academy, automated feedback, online Zoom classes, real-life situations, case studies, etc. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected during all stages of the pedagogical experiment (pre-, during, and post). The tests, surveys, questionnaires, and interviews were used to collect the data. Pre-testing on LMS MOODLE was done to prove the homogeneity of the Control and Experimental Groups. By the end of the experiment, the results have shown the progress of cadets of the Experimental Group. The findings confirm that blended English for Specific Purpose Learning increases the motivation of cadets to study. It also positively influences their communicative and professional competencies. The ability to apply English in professional maritime contexts is much more developed. The integration of role-playing, real-life simulations, authentic materials, etc., develops intercultural communication skills. The study concludes that modernizing English for Specific Purpose Learning increases the competitiveness of future ship engineers on the global marine market. Recommendations are also listed for curriculum development and digital learning implementation. The prospects of further research are seen in the further analysis of other digital tools of English for Specific Purpose Learning for future engineers (e.g., VR, Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence).

Microlearning in ESP contexts: A pedagogical strategy for enhancing language development

Eslam Yacoub — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study investigates the potential impact of a microlearning intervention on English for Specific Purposes (ESP) vocabulary acquisition and writing development. Employing an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, the research involved 213 undergraduate students from Medical, Engineering, Business, and Arts & Design disciplines. A quasi-experimental, pretest/post-test control group design was implemented, with the experimental group completing eight weeks of microlearning tasks via LMS, while the control group received traditional instruction. Quantitative results indicated that the experimental group showed significantly greater gains in ESP vocabulary (Cohen's d = 2.21) and writing sub-skills, particularly sentence structure and connectors, compared to the control group. These findings, however, should be interpreted with caution given inherent limitations of the quasi-experimental design, including potential selection bias, instructor variability, and testing effects that may affect internal validity. Engagement analytics revealed high task completion (87%), with engagement strongly associated with learning gains. Qualitative data from interviews and reflections revealed that learners attributed their success to the focused, repetitive, and interactive nature of micro-tasks. Furthermore, the study identified significant disciplinary variations, with Business and Engineering students benefiting most, suggesting that perceived relevance may play a meaningful role in outcomes. The findings suggest that microlearning may represent a highly effective pedagogical strategy for ESP, with engagement and scaffolded skill development appearing to contribute to improved learning outcomes. This study proposes a model for implementing discipline-aware microlearning to potentially enhance language outcomes in higher education, warranting further investigation through more controlled experimental designs.

Rural teachers’ perceptions of web-based collaborative learning to improve EFL speaking skills

Ranta Butarbutar, Angla Florensi Sauhenda — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Web-Based Collaborative Learning (WBCL) has been widely recognized as a promising approach for enhancing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) speaking skills. However, limited research has examined how rural teachers perceive and apply WBCL in geographically remote contexts such as Papua Province, Indonesia. This study addresses this gap by exploring teachers’ experiences, challenges, and pedagogical strategies in implementing WBCL to support students’ oral proficiency. This qualitative study employed online in-depth interviews and a focus group discussion (FGD) with three experienced rural EFL teachers at Universitas Musamus Merauke. Data were collected through recorded interviews, reflective journals, and students’ academic control cards. The analysis followed Miles and Huberman’s interactive model, involving data condensation, display, verification, and conclusion drawing. Findings indicate that teachers implemented WBCL through four interconnected stages: planning, supporting, monitoring, and reflecting. Three factors were found to facilitate the effectiveness of WBCL: pedagogical flexibility, social interaction through online platforms, and structured self- and peer assessment. Teachers reported improvements in students’ fluency, accuracy, vocabulary development, and confidence. WBCL also enabled continuous “seven‑day speaking practice” due to its accessibility in both online and offline modes. Despite these benefits, teachers highlighted contextual challenges, including limited digital literacy and unstable internet connectivity in rural areas. WBCL is perceived as a valuable and adaptable pedagogical approach for improving EFL speaking skills in rural contexts. Its effectiveness depends on thoughtful instructional design, collaborative task structuring, and ongoing monitoring. The study contributes to the literature by offering rural teachers’ perspectives on WBCL and underscores the need for future research to examine its limitations, including the absence of real-time interactive collaboration. Policy implications include the need for improved digital infrastructure and targeted professional development for rural EFL teachers.

AI-mediated hybrid learning and student attitudes toward digital communication in a multilingual Thai University context

Sommai Rodpan — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study discusses the concept of hybrid learning in the context of higher education and students who speak different languages. Data from 200 undergraduate students from the University of Phayao in Thailand were used to investigate the attitudes of students toward hybrid learning with a focus on interaction, engagement, and the use of digital communication within such learning formats. A questionnaire was used to gather data on students’ attitudes toward four different variables: learning flexibility, interaction between students and teachers, learning format effectiveness, and readiness to use technology for learning. The results indicated that students felt that the learning format was flexible, which is one of the major advantages of this type of learning. However, the interaction within the classrooms and the technological readiness of the students received low marks. Additionally, a positive correlation between the experience that students had with using technology prior to participating in hybrid learning classes indicated that students had more positive attitudes toward hybrid learning if they were more experienced with using technology for communication and learning. As a form of communication supported by artificial intelligence (AI), platforms such as Zoom and Google Classroom allow for the interaction of students of different languages within higher education settings. The findings of this study can help to discuss the role of digital and AI-mediated communication in specialized communication and how to overcome the challenges that exist in these areas of communication to ensure that all students, regardless of their location in the world, develop their digital communication skills.

Integrating AI literacy and critical discourse analysis into the 21st-century university curriculum

Pethias Siame — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into academia and industry necessitates a fundamental transformation of higher education curricula. Moving beyond purely technical proficiency, this paper proposes a comprehensive framework for embedding AI Literacy and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as transdisciplinary core competencies, positioning AI outputs not as neutral tools but as ideologically laden discourse requiring rigorous scrutiny. Drawing on a qualitative multiple-case study involving undergraduate Communication (n=45) and Business (n=38) courses at a Zambian university, this research demonstrates how a pedagogy synergistically combining CDA with hands-on AI interaction fosters deeper digital citizenship, enhances critical thinking, and improves employability skills. Over a three-week intervention, students applied Fairclough’s three-dimensional CDA model to AI-generated press releases and marketing content. The findings reveal three transformative outcomes: first, students adeptly identified embedded societal biases such as gendered leadership stereotypes; second, they reconceptualised AI from an authoritative “oracle” into a fallible, dialogic partner requiring ongoing interrogation; and third, they developed sophisticated, ethically-informed prompting strategies that directly corrected identified biases, a synergistic loop between critique and creation. This approach ensures graduates emerge as critical, innovative, and ethical producers rather than passive consumers of technology. The paper recommends curriculum design, including transdisciplinary modules, faculty development, open-access resources, and reformed assessment strategies that reward critical engagement over mere output generation.

The effectiveness of a smart learning environment supported by digital twin and virtual companion technologies in enhancing the learning of visually impaired students in Egyptian universities

Yasmin Ahmed Mahmoud Hassan — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a smart learning environment supported by digital twin and virtual companion technologies in enhancing the learning outcomes of visually impaired students in Egyptian universities. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design. A smart learning environment was developed to provide a digital representation of each student’s learning pathway through a digital twin, alongside a virtual companion offering realtime support and personalized guidance. The sample consisted of (255) visually impaired students distributed equally across three private Egyptian universities (Nile University, 6th of October University, and Horus University), with 85 students from each institution. Data were collected using a pre- and post-achievement test, an adapted academic engagement scale, and system log analytics to capture interaction patterns and actual learning time. The findings indicated statistically significant improvements in students’ post-test achievement scores and academic engagement levels, in addition to increased utilization of digital support tools and greater learner autonomy. The study recommends integrating digital twin and virtual companion technologies into higher education environments for visually impaired students, adopting universally accessible instructional design standards, and extending the application to other categories of learners with special needs to support educational equity and sustainable digital transformation.

Self-regulated mobile learning and gamification as key drivers of vocabulary learning motivation among Saudi EFL students

Husam Masaoud Alwahoub — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Vocabulary learning plays a vital role in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context, as it lays the foundation for language and supports effective communication. With the rise of mobile devices as powerful learning tools, research has increasingly focused on the educational benefits of mobile learning and gamification through platforms like Quizlet to support vocabulary acquisition. However, most existing studies have emphasized pre-existing or teacher-created materials at the tertiary level. In contrast, limited research has examined the impact of studentgenerated Quizlet flashcard sets on second language (L2) or foreign language (FL) vocabulary learning motivation, particularly in K–12 settings. This study investigates the impact of studentgenerated Quizlet materials on students' motivation to learn vocabulary in a K–12 international school in Saudi Arabia. A quasi-experimental design was employed, involving 83 sixth-grade EFL students selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected through pre- and post-study surveys and analyzed using SPSS version 26. The study revealed no significant impact of Quizlet on students' motivation, as pre-study survey responses showed 23 positive items compared to 21 in the post-study survey, with a shift from internal to external motivation. While motivation remained consistently high in the Quizlet group, the conventionally taught control group showed a larger decline, from 17 to 7 positive responses. These findings highlight the importance of examining the quality and nature of motivation in mobile-assisted vocabulary learning. Thus, the current study contributes to m-learning research by emphasizing learner-generated content and the complex relationship between gamification, learner agency, and motivation in EFL classrooms.

Investigating political conflict mitigation via language – A CDA and peace linguistics approach

Kassimawo Ramoni Stephen, Geraldine Nnamdi-Erachalu — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Conflicts and violence go hand in hand with politicking, and language remains the tool for either promoting or mitigating these issues in society. This paper is aimed at studying the deployment of language in the management of political conflicts in Rivers state, with a focus on post-state-of-emergency discourse. It deployed the Critical Discourse Analysis method in relation to power and solidarity provided in Johnstone & Andrus (2024) and peace linguistic analytical tools provided in Curtis (2022). Findings revealed that forty (41%) of the ninety-eight peace expressions deployed are inclusionary phrases in positive framing expressed with institutionally conferred power and solidarity. The remaining 59% are negative framing, with 5.2% of the 59% being an inclusionary phrase. The choice and functions of peace expressions and power and solidarity relations presented President Tinubu and Governor Fubara as strong yet caring leaders and helped maintain respect for hierarchy, quell the prevailing conflict atmosphere, and promote peace. The paper, then, concludes that peace discourse becomes more effective when it is backed by institutionally conferred power and solidarity.

A critical discourse analysis of APC’s rhetorical strategies in the 2024 Edo State gubernatorial election

Aikoriogie Augustine, Ogbeh Solomon Osuokam — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This paper examines the rhetorical strategies of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2024 Edo State elections to uncover discursive practices that shape political realities through linguistic choices, identity construction, and temporal framing. Scholars have demonstrated that the Nigerian political discourse operates across linguistic, sociological, psychological, and cultural levels, with strong identity-based appeals. This research is motivated by the intention to show how sub-national political actors manipulate language to achieve electoral goals while balancing ethnic authenticity with democratic inclusivity. Thus, this research significantly fills this gap by demonstrating that language can function both as a mechanism for democratic engagement and as a means of reinforcing social boundaries and political loyalties. Using qualitative research methods, the researchers collected selected video clips of the 2024 Edo State Gubernatorial campaign on YouTube, observed the speakers' speeches, identified rhetorical strategies, and analyzed them through the lens of critical discourse analysis. The study observed that language serves as a strong political tool for inclusion and exclusion, political legitimizing, divine religious constructions, et cetera. The study therefore concludes that the Edo 2024 campaign exemplifies language constructions which simultaneously sustain and undermine democratic values, and this generates tension between participatory inclusion and exclusionary identity politics.

Non-verbal communication in hospitality encounters: A cross-cultural analysis of Thailand and Bangladesh

Md. Niaz Alamgir — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Non-verbal behavior is often the most readily available channel for making sense of hospitality encounters, especially when hosts and guests do not share a common language. Yet what counts as “hospitality” is not only culturally patterned; it is mediated by setting, crowding, and the degree to which service interactions are routinized and professionally staged. This article examines how non-verbal hospitality is displayed and narrativized in tourist-generated Englishlanguage media about Thailand and Bangladesh. Using a comparative netnographic multimodal content-analysis design, the study analyzes 22 YouTube travel vlogs (Thailand n=10; Bangladesh n=12) and 20 written travel accounts (10 per country). Across both modalities, five cue dimensions were coded: smiling/facial expressiveness, ritual greeting, staff attentiveness/professionalism, helpful hosting, and perceived overwhelm/crowding. The article defines cue legibility as the context-conditioned capacity of a non-verbal cue or cue cluster to be noticed and read by a visitor as hospitality with limited local knowledge. In this purposive, contextually uneven corpus, Thailand encounters are more frequently framed through standardized friendliness within controlled service settings, whereas Bangladesh encounters are more often narrated through situational help and inclusion in mixed or street-oriented contexts, where crowding may reduce interpretive clarity. The contrast is therefore read as contextcontingent rather than as evidence of fixed national styles. The study contributes a cue-legibility perspective for linking micro-level interactional cues to tourist judgments and provides implications for hospitality training, visitor orientation, and English-mediated intercultural communication in tourism.

The role of pitch in Majhi stress-intonation alignment: Implications for prosody in multilingual contexts

Maryam Khalid, Abdul Malik Abbasi — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study aims to investigate how Pitch is related to the Syllable Structure, how Stress is presented via Pitch Movement, and how Intonation Patterns operate at the Word-level and Phrase-level. These acoustic baselines inform prosody-focused ESL pedagogy, contribute to dialect-inclusive speech recognition modeling, and provide empirically grounded criteria for bilingual pronunciation assessment. Particularly for disyllabic and trisyllabic words in contrasting Focus conditions, research from this study is focused on how Pitch interacts with stress and intonation in Majhi Punjabi. Ten native Majhi Punjabi speakers recorded their Speech, and the recordings were acoustically analyzed with Praat Software to investigate the F0 Contour (Fundamental Frequency Contours). The findings revealed that Pitch Peaks were consistently correlated with Heavy/Stressed Syllables and Light Syllables were lower in pitch than Heavy/Stressed Syllables. Majhi Punjabi's features thus reflect a hybrid model of prosody in which pitch acts as lexical and intonational factor. By offering implications for phonological theory and future cross-dialectal work, the study aims to clarify how Majhi Punjabi prosody functions rather than relying on non-realistic descriptions. It brings in acoustic evidence to show how pitch, stress, and intonation interact in real speech, which can make these abstract concepts a little more real and easier to think about across dialects.

From national curriculum to personal pathways: Autobiographical reflections on Kurikulum Merdeka

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Curriculum reforms increasingly prioritize individualized learning and teacher autonomy to enhance global educational outcomes. The introduction of Kurikulum Merdeka in Indonesia since 2021 signifies a substantial transition from standardized curricula to individualized learning trajectories and educational autonomy. Nevertheless, scant research has investigated lecturers' autobiographical experiences during this shift, especially concerning their professional identity and pedagogical practices. This autobiographical reflective research explores how lecturers perceive, negotiate, and implement Kurikulum Merdeka in higher education settings. Findings indicate prominent themes: enhanced pedagogical autonomy, substantial hurdles in curriculum implementation, transformative changes in professional identity, intentional adoption of learner-centered methods, and considerable institutional limitations. The findings reveal how lecturers continuously negotiated instructional flexibility, institutional expectations, and evolving professional responsibilities while attempting to implement more personalized forms of learning. This study contributes to ongoing discussions on curriculum transition by illustrating how lecturers interpret and experience educational reform within everyday teaching practice.