Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies

Language attitudes research: A classification of methodological issues

Sopuruchi Christian Aboh — 2025-05-27

Language attitudes research focuses on the evaluative reactions to languages and varieties. Previous attempts to classify language attitudes research have focused on approaches to studying language attitudes, such as direct, indirect and social treatment studies as well as the core foci of language attitudes research, such as documentation, explanation, development, consequences and change. However, language attitudes research has not been classified based on linguistic aspects such as segments and suprasegments, which form the basis for evaluating languages and varieties. Language attitudes research has also not been classified based on the number of languages evaluated. Hence, I propose a classification of language attitudes research comprised of three dimensions: data type and range, linguistic numerality and linguistic aspects. The review indicates that data used in language attitudes research can be categorised into monodata (one source of data) and multidata (two or more sources of data). The analysis also indicates that research involving attitudes towards languages can be univariate or multivariate (subdivided into unidirectional and multidirectional). I present the implications of this new classification for language attitudes research and language education.

CLIL research over the past three decades: A bibliometric analysis

Qin Yongli — 2025-05-27

Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is a pedagogical approach that merges language and content learning. It originated in Europe and increasingly influences bilingual and multilingual education worldwide. This article reviews the international research literature on CLIL, focusing on publications from 1994 to 2022, to discern patterns, evaluate the progress of the field, and anticipate future directions. The analysis reveals a marked growth in CLIL research, with a notable spike since 2007, and Europe’s dominant role, especially contributions from Spain, the UK and Germany, reflecting the influence of EU language policies and the concentrated academic efforts in this region. CLIL research primarily revolves around bilingual/multilingual education and language teaching, involving five key areas: impact on language learners; teaching effectiveness evaluation; influencing factors on implementation; professional development of teachers; and CLIL practice in higher education. Future CLIL research will focus on the deeper integration of language and subject learning, combining CLIL with English as a medium of instruction (EMI), embracing learner diversity, and aligning with pluriliteracies. These findings guide language education transformation and further CLIL research development.

Structures and functions of lexical bundles in FinTech discourse

Su-han Cheng — 2025-05-27

Lexical bundles perform a wide range of functions, and present disciplinary variation in written academic prose. However, little is known about the characteristics of lexical bundles used in interdisciplinary domains. Therefore, this study investigates the use of lexical bundles in the field of FinTech, an amalgam of finance and technology, by building a 127 472-word corpus of 114 published research articles related to FinTech. A total of 180 four-word lexical bundles are identified and thereafter analysed in accordance with the taxonomy of structures and functions devised by Biber et al. (1999). The results reveal that (1) the proportion of bundle ending with nouns is twice that of bundles ending with verbs, (2) these identified lexical bundles are dominated by VP-based expressions, and (3) referential bundles account for almost 50% of the 180 instances. The existence of disciplinary variation is once again confirmed in this study, and the discipline specific multi-word combinations may deserve attention in the instruction of EAP writing as they can help students to be more articulate in their academic discourse communities.

Using bundle analysis to uncover formulaic language patterns in seminar discussions

Hadi Kashiha — 2025-05-27

Seminars serve as a valuable instructional tool in higher education, enabling scholars to engage in discussions, ask questions, and gain a clear account of the topic through interactive sessions. This leads to the significance of deciphering the discursive patterns and linguistic choices made by speakers in these academic discussions, one of these patterns is lexical bundles. This study focused on identifying the most frequently used four-word lexical bundles in 78 seminar discussions sourced from three online repositories. Drawing on Biber et al.’s taxonomy, the identified bundles underwent functional categorisation. This involved examining their contextual meanings through concordance lines to reveal something of the discoursal and communicative practices inherent in this genre, and explore how speakers organise their discourse in a formulaic way. The findings demonstrate the prominent presence of formulaic bundles in seminar discussions. Stance, which relates to the speaker’s degree of knowledge, their attitude and judgments, emerged as the most salient function of bundles, followed by referential and discourse-organising functions. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of discourse decisions in seminars, and offer insights into the formulaic linguistic choices made by speakers as they interact with their audience.

The influence of British and American Englishes on Lesotho English

Ntšoeu Seepheephe — 2025-05-27

Very little work has been done on Lesotho English. The aim of this study was to advance the literature on southern African English by exploring the influence of American English and British English on Lesotho English. Using data obtained from 45 speakers of Lesotho English who were selected using purposive sampling, the study compared the ways in which the two varieties have influenced the structure of Lesotho English and the way in which speakers of Lesotho English perceive its identity. To collect the data, the study employed a questionnaire, and to analyse the data, the study employed a qualitative analysis that included the use of descriptive statistics. The findings show that none of the respondents used the term ‘American English’ as the name of the variety spoken in Lesotho, with the significant majority (69%) naming it ‘British/UK English’, which indicates a strong influence of British English on how the respondents view the identity of Lesotho English. However, the results for the influence of the two varieties on the structure of Lesotho English as spoken by the respondents showed that American English has slightly more influence than British English. These findings have implications for the teaching and use of English in Lesotho, the major one being that the influence of American English may complicate English learning, since British English has traditionally served as a model for ‘correct English’ that provides norms in the teaching and learning of English in the country.

Idea generation and planning time in second language academic writing: An empirical investigation at Howard College Campus, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

Entisar Khalifa Aljoundi — 2025-05-27

Idea generation is a cognitive process which underlies the production of coherent writing. However, little is known about the nature of this process and how it is affected by different preparatory conditions. The current study examines the effects of three planning time conditions: ‘planning time’ (10 minutes), ‘extended planning time’ (20 minutes) and ‘no planning time’ and two task conditions, namely ‘topic given’ and ‘topic and ideas given’, and their effect on the quality and the quantity of idea units produced in the planning notes and essays of 30 English Second Language (ESL) learners at a South African university. The study aims to replicate an earlier study by Ong, and tests four hypotheses: hypotheses 1 and 2 state that an extended planning time has a positive effect on both the quantity and the quality of ideas generated in planning notes (hypothesis 1) and essays (hypothesis 2). Hypotheses 3 and 4 state that additional ideas alongside a topic enhance the idea generation process in both planning notes (hypothesis 3) and essays (hypothesis 4). Our findings do not verify hypothesis (1) as neither in the planning notes nor the essays was the quantity of ideas affected by the planning time conditions. Hypothesis 2 was partially verified as the quality of ideas in the essays — but not in the planning notes — improved as an effect of an extended planning time. These results differ from Ong whose data fully support both hypotheses 1 and 2. Our data falsify hypotheses 3 and 4 as the topic-given condition consistently produced both a better quality and a larger quantity of ideas in the planning notes and in the essays of the participants. This finding concurs with Ong. In conclusion, the attempt at a replication of Ong only partially yielded the same results. Interestingly, the data indicate that the idea-generation process differed between the production of the planning notes and the production of the essays.

Kimbu speakers’ attitudes toward language endangerment

Helena Gabriel — 2025-05-27

This article is based on a study that assesses the attitudes towards language endangerment of Kimbu speakers, a minority language spoken in the Chunya and Sikonge Districts in Tanzania. The study used a descriptive approach to assess whether Kimbu speakers have developed negative attitudes towards their language, have ambivalent language loyalty and are indifferent about language transfer to children. Data for this study were collected through interviews with 50 Kimbu speakers. The study revealed that most of the Kimbu parents and younger generation are ambivalent and indifferent about their language, and they have developed negative attitudes towards it, claiming that it has no socio-economic and educational significance. Because of such a situation, they have ceased using it in most genuine and natural domains like home and other social functions in favour of other co-existing languages. The study concludes that the Kimbu language is relatively unsafe from endangerment. The recommendation is made that Kimbu speakers should be told of the importance of ethnic community languages and that they make a symbolic identity, therefore teaching their children the language and encouraging the use of it everywhere in the community will pave the way to positive attitudes, and ensure language vitality.

Yahooism to ritualism: Ideological motivations for cyber fraud in selected Yoruba films

Temitope Michael Ajayi — 2025-05-27

The rapid growth of the internet and increased accessibility to technology have led to a surge in cybercrime, otherwise known as Yahoo Yahoo in the Nigerian context. With its large population and many internet users, Nigeria has become a hub for cybercriminals. This study investigates the ideological motivations and justifications for cyber fraud in Nigeria, particularly focusing on the representation of cybercrime and perpetrators in Yoruba films. From the standpoint of van Dijk’s sociocognitive approach to ideology and the Yoruba ọmọlúàbí ideological phenomenon, this study explores how perpetrators foreground ideological justifications for engaging in Yahoo Yahoo. It essentially tracks the transitioning of the activities of cybercriminals from Yahoo Yahooism to ritualism, as depicted in Yoruba films. Ideologically, Yahoo Yahoo, complemented with ritualism, is discursively constructed in the selected films as the non-political solution to the socio-economic pressures Nigerians face and a weapon to fight back against the colonial exploitation of Africa by the West.

Discursive strategies of framing in Nigerian and South African headlines on xenophobic violence

Chuka F. Ononye — 2025-05-27

This article examines the frames built in Nigerian and South African newspaper headlines and the linguistic strategies by which they are characterised. Sixty headlines (thirty from three Nigerian newspapers – Vanguard, DailyTrust, The Sun, and thirty from three South African newspapers – Cape Times News, City Press, SowetanLIVE) on South African xenophobic violence, published between February 2017 and October 2019, were purposively sampled and analysed using insights from frame theory and critical discourse analysis. Three frames were noticed: ‘South African government as not able to check xenophobic violence’ (co-constructed by both Nigerian and South African headlines); ‘South Africans as not able to accommodate immigrant competitors’ (by Nigerian headlines); and ‘Immigration control as a means of checking xenophobia’ (by South African headlines). Frame One is typified by topoi (with lexical choices, and structural opposition) and perspectivisation (with epistemic modality and presupposition). The second is marked by intensification (with aggregation and metaphorisation) and prediction (with evaluative nouns and thematisation). The third is indexed by the topos of immigration control (with specialised vocabulary items) and predication (with emotive metaphors/adjectives and rhetorical questions). Aside from the significant addition made to media studies on xenophobia, the article sheds additional light on the often-neglected role of the media in shaping people’s ideological outlooks.

Expanding subtitles: An exploration into scaffolding and deepening educational content through subtitling

Natalie Katherine Boyd — 2025-05-27

Educational videos have proliferated in recent years due to increased demands for online content in massive open online courses (MOOC) and blended classroom and pandemic contexts. While these videos are often subtitled to provide greater access, questions remain about whether the educational content of these videos can be deepened. This qualitative study initiates exploration into whether subtitles could and/or should be expanded, providing more in-depth information and thus bridging gaps in background knowledge and deepening comprehension of the video content. The study suggests expanding subtitles by creating clickable keywords and concepts within the subtitles. The findings indicate that higher-risk participants who accessed a moderate number of expansions (approximately one every 90 seconds) had better comprehension outcomes than lower-risk participants who either did not access expansions, or accessed a high number of expansions (approximately one every 50 seconds). Furthermore, the study finds that there was a positive attitude towards expanded subtitles, with 60% of participants indicating a desire to see more expanded subtitles. These findings suggest that future research taking a quantitative approach is necessary to determine the full educational value of this subtitle format.

Not Eleven Languages: Translanguaging and South African Multilingualism in Concert

Mampoi Irene Mabena — 2025-05-27

No abstract.