Journal of Research in Language & Translation
Journal of Research in Language & Translation (JRLT) The Journal of Research in Language & Translation (JRLT), ISSN 1658-9246, is an open-access, bi-annual, peer-reviewed journal published by the College of Language Sciences, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. JRLT publishes original research papers and critical reviews of recently published books. JRLT was first launched in 2021 and sponsored by the Vice Rectorate for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research (VR-GSSR) at King Saud University.
The Discourse-Pragmatic Functions of ‘Samm’ in Najdi Arabic
This study presents the first empirical analysis of the multifunctional discourse-pragmatic marker Samm in the understudied context of Najdi Arabic. Despite its high frequency and cultural salience, Samm has not been systematically described. Based on 220 naturalistic interactions, this study identifies eight core functions of Samm, showing its primary role in interpersonal management (over 70% of uses). The analysis reveals that Samm is a grammaticalized resource whose specific meaning is dynamically co-constructed through prosody, sequential context, and shared cultural knowledge, functioning as a face-threat minimizer, a turn-manager, and a key contextualization cue in ritual and sarcastic speech. The paper argues that the complex multifunctionality of Samm, rooted in its grammaticalization pathway, necessitates an integrated analytical approach and provides a significant case study for theories of grammaticalization and semantic-pragmatic change, filling a critical gap in Arabic pragmatics and dialectology. The findings thus provide a significant case study for theories of grammaticalization and semantic-pragmatic change, with clear implications for advancing research in Arabic pragmatics, dialectology, and the cross-linguistic study of discourse markers. PDF
Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Research in Language & Translation
Investigating Pragmatic Competence in EFL Classrooms: A Descriptive Study of Speech Acts and Politeness Strategies Employed by University English Teachers in Yemen
This study investigates the role of pragmatic competence in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching, focusing on teachers' perspectives regarding speech acts and politeness strategies. The study explores EFL instructors’ perceptions of pragmatic competence and the challenges of integrating it into classroom teaching. A mixed-method approach was employed, collecting data from 60 teachers at Shabwah University and Aden University through a Likert-scale questionnaire. Quantitative analysis assessed the perceptions and practices of university English teachers in Yemen regarding the role of pragmatics in enhancing students' communicative competence. Findings indicate most teachers (94.6%) agreed that pragmatic instruction enhances communication skills. However, only 81.4% felt fully confident teaching pragmatics, indicating a need for professional development. Regarding speech acts, 80% agreed that understanding them improves comprehension and interpersonal relationships, yet only 78.6% strongly supported explicit instruction, indicating implementation challenges. Politeness strategies were also deemed crucial, with 86.6% acknowledging their cultural variability, emphasizing the role of cultural awareness in language learning. Additionally, social and contextual factors—such as cultural norms, situational context, and social hierarchy—were found to significantly influence pragmatic use. The study aligns with existing research while revealing gaps in teacher confidence and instructional support. Despite recognizing pragmatics' importance, educators require additional training and curriculum adjustments to bridge theory and practice. These findings highlight the need for targeted professional development and resource allocation to enhance pragmatic competence in EFL classrooms. PDF
The Effects of Social Distance, Power, Gender, and Imposition on the Request Behavior of Saudi EFL Learners and English Native Speakers
Little research has examined the production of L2 requests by Arabic second language learners of English. The present study aims to compare the request strategies employed by Saudi Arabian learners of English and English native speakers. It investigates the effects of social distance, power, and level of imposition on the production of requests in both groups. Results from the Discourse Completion Task revealed that Conventional Indirect strategies (CI) were the most frequently used request strategies by both native and non-native speakers, with no significant differences between the two groups. There was an effect of social power on request strategies, with Direct strategy being used more frequently in low-power than in high-power situations. Non-native speakers used Supportive Moves more frequently than native speakers, and high-proficiency learners used Supportive Moves more frequently than their low-proficiency counterparts. There was a positive association between all the social variables and the number of Supportive Moves used by both native and non-native speakers. PDF
Localization of Cultural Values: A Case Study of "Visit Saudi" Website
The Saudi Tourism Authority seeks to increase tourism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, both locally and internationally, by implementing advanced localization methods on the "Visit Saudi" website. This research addresses the lack of localization studies on international and local tourism websites, particularly those concerning the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study aims to explore how localization visually and linguistically depicts cultural values in tourism destination content and to analyze how these values are represented for different local and international audiences. The study consisted of a single case study adopting a qualitative research design. The findings reveal that the "Visit Saudi" website integrates textual and visual elements in the presentation of a key tourism destination, AlUla, conveying positive cultural values to prospective tourists, including traditional heritage, Saudi hospitality, royal architecture, and traditional customs. The research concludes that promotional content reflects cultural values in Saudi society and significantly impacts the tourism industry. These outcomes will enable policymakers to design inclusive tourism policies that prioritize linguistic accessibility, cross-cultural communication, and lead the development of culturally sensitive content for both local and global audiences, potentially enhancing heritage tourism. PDF
Serial Verb Constructions in Hijazi Arabic: A Lexical-Functional Grammar Approach
This study investigates Serial Verb Constructions (SVCs) in Hijazi Arabic within the framework of Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG). While SVCs are extensively documented in typologically diverse languages such as Yoruba, Thai, and Mandarin, their presence in Arabic dialects remains underexplored. This study examines the morphosyntactic structure, argument-sharing mechanisms, and functional dependencies of Hijazi Arabic SVCs. The analysis reveals that Hijazi Arabic exhibits core SVC properties, including monoclausality, the absence of overt coordinators and complementizers, and robust patterns of subject and object sharing. By leveraging LFG’s parallel architecture, the study demonstrates how functional control, predicate composition, and argument structure mapping effectively capture the syntactic and semantic integration of SVCs in Hijazi Arabic. The findings contribute to both the typology of SVCs and the theoretical development of LFG, offering insights into how the framework can be extended to accommodate the complexities of multi-verb constructions in Arabic dialects.
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Research in Language & Translation
Investigating Creativity in the Persian Translation of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse (1927) Based on Schjoldager’s Taxonomy
This research investigates creativity in the Persian translation of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse (1927), using Schjoldager’s taxonomy. Schjoldager identifies 12 micro-strategies, categorized as more or less creative (8 for creative translation and 4 for non-creative translation). First, this study examined 103 samples based on Krejcie and Morgan’s Table of the original English text and its Persian translation by Saleh Hosseini to identify instances of innovation and creativity in the translation. This implies that one sample was randomly selected from each page, whether a sentence or a paragraph. After that, the different forms of creativity were explained based on Schjoldager’s micro-strategies. The study found that 77.6% of the creative features were present in the translated texts. The results indicated that the most frequently used translation strategy was “paraphrasing,” accounting for 35% of the techniques and considered a highly creative approach according to Schjoldager’s classification. In contrast, the second most used strategy was “oblique translation,” accounting for 18.4% of the techniques employed, all of which were categorized as non-creative. This research offers useful insights for translation trainees and beginners, helping them select effective strategies and engage creatively in adapting source texts. Additionally, it assists translation instructors by providing practical, specific methods for teaching these strategies in the classroom. PDF
The Representation of Children in Saudi Arabic Media: A Corpus-Based Critical Discourse Analysis
Previous investigations of media discourse worldwide have repeatedly identified the underrepresentation and misrepresentation of children in news reporting. However, Arabic-language outlets remain largely unexplored. As such, this study analyzed more than 59 million words from Saudi print media—including newspapers and news agencies—over a ten-year span (2009–2019) to explore the portrayal of children in media discourse. The quantitative data included frequencies, collocations, concordances, and contexts. Further qualitative analysis was conducted within Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and the Social Actors Approach (SAA). The collocates of the keyword child were extracted and the results showed that most collocates serve the identification function, followed closely by functionalization, which indicates their roles. We found that children in Saudi media were predominantly portrayed in the role of victims, followed by being the objects of emotional appeal. This representation may have contributed to diminishing children's agency, potentially silencing their voices in the media discourse. Moreover, the majority of topics found in the categorization of themes were related to accidents, war, and violence. The concordances within topics of healthcare and education similarly reveal focus on children being objects of emotional appeal. The findings also indicate that descriptions of beauty and innocence collocate with the feminine suffix for female children only, which indicates cultural evaluation. These findings corroborate results from other countries. Therefore, we advocate for a nuanced media discourse portrayal that acknowledges children's diverse capabilities and roles beyond their vulnerability.
Morphophonological Patterns of Diminutive Nouns in Modern Standard Arabic: A Templatic and Moraic Analysis
This study investigates the morphological and phonological structures of diminutive nouns in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), focusing on their classification, formation processes, and theoretical implications. Drawing on naturally occurring linguistic data, the research identifies six primary moraic templates that govern diminutive formation: disyllabic iambic, trisyllabic amphibrachic (with and without feminine markers), trisyllabic anapaestic, tetrasyllabic quartus paeonic, and tetrasyllabic secundus paeonic structures. These templates illustrate the systematic nature of diminutive morphology in Arabic, which operates through predictable phonological and morphological rules. The study employs a combination of autosegmental phonology, moraic theory, and templatic morphology to analyze diminutive formation. The findings reveal that diminutive morphemes in Arabic are not inserted as single affixes but are distributed throughout the word, consistent with Arabic’s nonconcatenative morphological system. This process, known as transfixation, involves the interleaving of vowels and consonants to restructure the base word. Notably, diminutive morphology often overrides other morphemic influences, such as pluralization, demonstrating its dominance in word formation. Key patterns identified include the consistent use of [u] as the first vowel and [aj] as a glide in diminutive forms. The study extends previous research by McCarthy and Prince (1990) and Watson (2006) by documenting previously unexamined structures, such as tetrasyllabic patterns for longer roots. These findings highlight the regularity and complexity of Arabic diminutives, challenging assumptions about their arbitrariness. The implications of this research extend beyond Arabic linguistics, offering insights for comparative studies with other nonconcatenative languages, such as Hebrew and Maltese. Future research could explore whether similar morphological processes exist in other Semitic languages, contributing to a broader understanding of nonconcatenative morphology in linguistic theory.
Verbal gender agreement in Standard Arabic: A comparison between Arabic heritage speakers and French-speaking L2 learners
This study examined second language (L2) acquisition of verbal gender agreement with third-person singular subjects in Standard Arabic by comparing the linguistic performance of Arabic heritage speakers (bilingual in spoken Arabic and French) with French-speaking L2 learners. The study also examined the effects of nominal properties (gender and noun class) on verbal gender agreement acquisition. A grammaticality judgment task was used to assess sensitivity to verb-subject gender agreement violations. The study sample included 12 Arabic heritage speakers, 15 L2 learners, and 25 Arabic controls. The results demonstrated superior linguistic performance for Arabic heritage speakers compared with L2 learners. Unlike in French, verbal gender agreement with singular subjects is similarly inflected in spoken and standard Arabic. Therefore, Arabic heritage speakers benefit from a positive transfer from the spoken variety. The Arabic heritage speakers’ judgments were comparable to those of Arabic controls. Both groups performed with a higher accuracy on sentences containing human subjects than on those containing animal subjects. In contrast, L2 learners did not display the same noun class effect but rather showed a gender effect that interacted with grammaticality. The feminine verbal form was tolerated under both the masculine and feminine conditions. These findings suggest that learning a standard variety can differ from learning a foreign language, particularly when linguistic properties overlap between standard and spoken varieties. This study also demonstrates the varying semantic effects of human and animal nouns on verbal gender agreement in Standard Arabic, indicating the influence of factors such as the morphological similarity of masculine and feminine forms.
Critical Language Awareness in Translation: Towards A Critical Cognitive Corpus-Based Training of Translators
Despite previous studies on language awareness in translation, there remains a lack of acknowledgement, among practitioners, of how critical language awareness (Fairclough, 1992/2003) of the cognitive side of meaning is essential to the work of translators, both trainees and professionals working or teaching and training in the field of translation. The current study examined the extent to which trainee translators demonstrate critical awareness of conceptual structures in both the source and target languages when rendering figurative lines from Arabic poetic discourse into English. The aim was to offer pedagogical recommendations for enhancing translation training through empirical evidence drawn from a cognitive corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of trainees' translations. The findings revealed widespread conceptual distortions stemming from inadequate awareness of the Source Language’s (SL) metaphorical meaning, conceptual schemas, and cultural narratives. The focus group and interview data revealed that these errors were often linked to an overreliance on bilingual dictionaries, limited historical knowledge, and a lack of critical awareness of the discourse world of the source text. The current findings shed light on the merits of incorporating cognitive corpus-based analysis of translated discourse in translators’ pedagogy and training to enhance their critical language awareness, not only to develop their skills and careers but also to avoid chances of arriving at inaccurate translations that may threaten their cogency and distort the intended meaning of the original (source) text.
cognitive corpus-based critical discourse analysis
A Comparative Transitivity Analysis of Human vs. Artificial Intelligence-Based Translations: An Evaluation of Abstracts from Humanities and Social Science Studies
This study aims to compare and assess the system of transitivity analysis in translations produced by AI-based translation systems (ChatGPT and Google Translate) and human translation, examining their performance in translating a research abstract. To identify the transitivity process, Halliday’s transitivity system theory was adopted, highlighting critical discourse analysis. Due to the nature of data, a quantitative method was employed. Only material, relational, and verbal processes have been involved in the analysis. The findings revealed that ChatGPT Translation outperformed the other methods in highlighting material processes, while Human Translation was more effective for relational processes. Performance across all methods was largely consistent in the verbal category. In addition, in terms of quality, the identical n-gram counts across Human Translation, ChatGPT Translation, and Google Translate indicate that all three versions follow a similar pattern concerning linguistic structure. The BLEU score of 0.988 in this evaluation demonstrates high-quality machine translations, closely aligning with human reference. Future studies may address large number of abstracts that probably incorporate more process types with variable evaluation to gain more comprehensive understanding.
The Interplay of Globalization, Localization, and Translation in Shaping the Linguistic Landscape of Saudi Arabia
This study investigates the dynamic interplay of globalization, localization, and translation within Saudi Arabia’s linguistic landscape (LL), focusing on commercial signage in cities like Riyadh, Jeddah, and Abha. It aims to explore how translation practices influence language use in public spaces, affecting cultural representation and accessibility. The study highlights how Saudi Arabia balances global influences with its cultural identity in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030. This is demonstrated through the analysis of translation patterns such as direct translations, transliterations, and hybrid language signs. The methodology combines an LL approach with semiotic and thematic analysis to assess over 300 shop signs. Shop sign data were categorized into five translation patterns: direct translation, English-to-Arabic transliteration, Arabic-to-English transliteration, English-only signage, and mixed-language signs. The study also evaluates relevant language policies, including the guidelines under Saudi Vision 2030, to contextualize the findings within Saudi Arabia’s broader goals of cultural preservation and modernization. The findings indicate that English-to-Arabic transliteration and direct translation are the most commonly used patterns in shop signs, comprising over 70% of the total. The other three categories appear far less common. English-to-Arabic transliteration is identified as a key tool for reconciling globalization and localization, allowing international brands to retain their phonetic identity while making them accessible to Arabic speakers. This practice reflects Saudi Arabia’s approach to modernizing without compromising its cultural heritage. Moreover, the research offers insights into how translational practices in the LL serve not only functional purposes but also ideological ones, symbolizing a Saudi identity that embraces global engagement while preserving its local roots. These findings can inform policymakers, business stakeholders, and researchers in developing strategies that support both cultural integrity and global accessibility in Saudi public spaces.
Saudi EFL Learners’ Use of Self-Regulation and Language-Learning Strategies: A Comparative Study
The aim of this study is to compare the implementations of language-learning strategies (LLS) and self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies by female Saudi learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) who have different educational and proficiency levels. To accomplish this, two questionnaires investigating the implementation of SRL and LLS strategies were administered to 118 female Saudi EFL learners who had various proficiency levels; that is, levels A1, A2, B1, and B2. The findings revealed no significant differences in the implementation of LLS among female Saudi EFL learners across educational and proficiency levels. Although there were no significant differences in SRL usage across educational levels, a significant difference was found between learners at the B2 level and those at the A2 and B1 levels, as learners at the B2 level reported the lowest use of SRL. According to the results of this study, Saudi EFL learners employ similar LLS strategies and, to some extent, similar SRL strategies across various educational and proficiency levels. These findings could provide instructors, and academics with valuable insights into the implementation of SRL and LLS by female EFL learners in Saudi Arabia.
Exploring the Linguistic Landscape of Jazan, Saudi Arabia: A Case Study of Two Commercial Zones
The remarkable economic growth and unprecedented social transformations make the underexplored Jazan city in Saudi Arabia rich and promising for linguistic landscape (LL) research. The current study has the following aims: a) To explore the LL of Jazan City, Saudi Arabia; b) To compare and contrast the LL of two commercial zones within Jazan City: The Internal Market and the Corniche Road, and c) To discuss the factors affecting the LL of Jazan City in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. 200 sample signs, 100 from each location, were collected through pictures, videotapes, field notes, and Google Maps for confirmation. The analysis revealed the following significant findings: 1) the dominance of Arabic in the signage of the Internal market, and 2) the dominance of English in the signage of the Corniche Road with the presence of other new languages (e.g., Spanish). Like other Saudi cities and Arab countries, English's gradual dominance and prioritization challenge the current LL status of Arabic in Jazan. Improved language policies are necessary to promote and sustain the presence of Arabic while accommodating the practicalities of global communication.
Learning English in an Arabic context: A study of first-year Libyan university students’ challenges in the learning of English
This study sought to identify the challenges that lecturers and students faced in developing English language communicative competence for academic purposes at a Libyan university. The EFL challenges in learning English have been mostly studied by Arab learners in some of Arabic countries. Such a line of research has been relatively unexplored in Libya; hence, this study addressed this gap. This research canvassed students’ and lecturers’ experiences and perceptions in the teaching and learning of academic English in a foreign language context. Within a case study approach, a convergent mixed methods research design was used. Data was collected through qualitative and quantitative methods in an interpretative paradigm. The study employs three data generation methods, a semi-structured interview, focus group discussion, and questionnaires. The findings suggest that this study can be classified into four categories of EFL Libyan learning challenges: linguistic, cultural, institutional, and structural challenges. Linguistic challenges are those related to language issues confronted by both lecturers and students. Most participants agreed that Arabic and English are linguistically dissimilar. The cultural challenge manifests as a dissonance between students’ cultural predilections and the decoding required for meaning making in English as a foreign language. Institutional challenges are described as the general position of higher education in Libya, and the problems students encounter when joining this education system. Finally, structural challenges were related to the overall teaching program coherence. The study concludes by making suggestions to improve communicative competence in the target language at the research site, and to explore how students can overcome their English learning challenges. Read more!
Strategies and Sensitivities in Arabic Subtitling of Taboos in Horror TV Series
This paper explores Arabic translation of taboos in horror TV series by examining how translators navigate the delicate balance between preserving the intended emotional impact of this type of language and adhering to religious and Arabic cultural norms associated with the Arabic-speaking audience. The study implements a qualitative analysis of a select corpus of texts from a horror TV series in English (ST) which has been translated into Arabic (TT) by both commercial subtitlers and cybersubtitlers. The analytical framework relied mainly on Toury’s notion of norms to illustrate how different strategies/approaches may affect the emotional impact of taboos in TT. This research contributes to the understanding of how the function intended by the TT may be different from those intended by the ST, which is an aspect of ‘Skopos theory’. The study investigates these research questions: 1) how do Arabic translators handle the translation of taboos in horror TV series/movies, considering cultural and religious sensitivities? 2) What strategies are employed to maintain the ST’s intended emotional impact of taboos? The taboos in the analyzed corpus were subjected to these criteria: they must be explicit in the ST and used as a taboo and not a conversational gap filler; there is no need to analyze each example of each taboo if they are similar in context and function. It was found that commercial subtitlers and cybersubtitlers tend to use euphemisms and deletions when rendering most English taboos. It was also found that cybersubtitlers were, in some cases, more courageous as they tend to keep some of the ST’s intended emotional impact by translating taboos. Read more!
Exploring EFL Instructors’ Awareness of Metacognitive Strategy Use in Saudi Higher Education Institutions
Metacognition is a crucial component of the psychology of foreign language instruction. Although metacognitive strategies are essential, there is limited understanding of how EFL instructors recognise and implement them in their teaching practises due to the lack of studies focusing on instructors in higher education institutions within the Saudi context. This study explores the awareness of metacognitive strategy among EFL instructors in Saudi higher education institutions. The participants were 160 instructors, consisting of 80 males and 80 females, who were selected using a nonprobability convenience sampling method from various universities and colleges in Saudi Arabia. The Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAIT) by Balçıkanlı (2011) was used to assess gender differences and categorise metacognitive awareness into six levels: declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, conditional knowledge, planning, monitoring, and evaluating. The analysis showed no statistically significant gender-based differences in EFL instructors' awareness of metacognitive strategy, nor among the subcategories of metacognition. This study offers insights and suggestions for andragogical practises in higher education institutions. Instructors are encouraged to attend training workshops that increase their awareness of metacognitive practises. These professional development opportunities will enable educators to reflect critically on their instructional philosophy, enhancing their classroom effectiveness. Additionally, researchers are advised to conduct further research exploring higher education institutions to bridge the gap between theoretical framework and practical implications. Read more!
Issues of Rendering some Polysemous Quranic Words into English: A Qualitative Study
One of the inimitable aspects of the Quran is the presence of a large number of words with polysemic significance. This paper aims to examine the different manoeuvres that translators of the Quran who have their roots in different linguistic and cultural milieux employ to tackle this predicament. Polysemy poses a quandary for translators since they have to take on the role of an exegete in addition to their role as linguistic mediators. Generally speaking, translators of the Quran do not adopt a unified strategy when they encounter words with multiple senses. They tend to adopt the meaning that tallies with the common (or primary) import of these words taking into consideration the relevant linguistic context. Sometimes, they depart from the primary sense of the word that comes to the mind when found in isolation and pick out a meaning that better collocates with the surrounding context. Put differently, it is usually the context that dictates this course of action. In this paper, the author argues that some translators of the Quran inadvertently put their readers at a disadvantage by depriving them of a window of opportunity to be more appreciative of the sublime grandeur of the linguistic miracles of the Quran. The study at hand has revealed that a couple of meanings can coexist and it is incumbent on the translator to make the reader informed about such aspects of the Quran which has made it inimitable in its original form. While millions of people are indebted to many translators of the Quran for their no mean feat considering its unsurpassable eloquence , there is always room for improvement. Read more!
Supporting Learners’ Participation in Collaborative Writing through Technology and Teacher Feedback
The advent of technology has revolutionized collaborative writing by offering platforms that facilitate real-time interaction and document sharing, which are essential for effective group work. But despite the evidence on the affordances of Web 2.0 tools in collaborative writing, a single Web 2.0 technology may restrict students' active engagement in collaborative writing. The current study, therefore, aimed to explore the affordances and challenges involved in a combination of Google Docs and mobile instant messaging (MIM) in collaborative writing among 11 pairs of undergraduate students of English. Analysis of learners' interactions, drafts of assignments and follow-up interviews highlight effective practices for leveraging technology and feedback to support and enhance collaborative writing experiences. Findings from the analysis of empirical evidence suggest that while WhatsApp facilitates learners' pre-writing, Google Docs facilitates learners' joint writing and edits. From students' perspectives, although the learners perceived WhatsApp as a platform that affords their connections to the task and accessibility of the course instructor and Google Docs as a convenient and interactive tool for collaborative writing and text editing, their engagement was challenged by WhatsApp-related issues: its distractive nature and how to maintain group discussions and Google Docs-related issues: internet disconnection, effort-consuming work and previous experience in using it in peer writing. These findings underscore the importance of continued innovation in the implementation of technology in supporting learners towards more fluency in collaborative writing.
Cross-Lingual Transfer Learning for Neural Machine Translation: A Novel Approach to Improved Fluency and Accuracy
In the field of Neural Machine Translation (NMT), achieving natural-sounding and contextually accurate translations has been a key challenge. This research introduces a novel study on cross-lingual transfer learning, a method aimed at enhancing the fluency and accuracy of NMT systems. The study's importance is twofold: it tackles the quality gap between translations of widely spoken and less-resourced languages while also seeking to improve overall NMT model performance. Our approach is based on a comprehensive framework that combines deep learning architecture with transfer learning principles. We first developed a base NMT model using a diverse, multi-language dataset. We then applied a transfer learning approach to adapt this model to target languages, utilizing knowledge gained from data-rich source languages. This process was enhanced through innovative regularization techniques and attention mechanisms designed to capture linguistic nuances and enhance generalization. Our experiments yielded notable results, demonstrating significant improvements in both translation fluency and accuracy across various language pairs. The model showed a notable ability to generate translations that were contextually appropriate and aligned with the target language's stylistic norms. The cross-lingual transfer learning method proved particularly effective for low-resource languages, substantially improving translation quality. This research presents an innovative approach to NMT that overcomes traditional data scarcity limitations, opening up possibilities for more equitable and high-quality translation. By narrowing the gap between high- and low-resource language translations, it provides a solid foundation for future research and practical applications in machine translation.
Keywords: Accuracy, Cross-Lingual Transfer Learning, Fluency, Neural Machine Translation
Copyright (c) 2024 Journal of Research in Language & Translation
Examining Deep Learning's Effects on Critical Reading and Self-Regulation in Female EFL Students
This study investigated the impact of deep learning-based instructions on critical reading skills and self-regulation among freshman English learners at Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University (IMISU). The research involved eighty Saudi female university students studying English as a foreign language (EFL) at IMISU. The students were divided into an experimental group, which received deep learning-based instruction, and a control group, which followed traditional classroom methods. The study employed a mixed-methods research design, collecting quantitative data through critical reading and self-regulation questionnaires, as well as a posttest. Qualitative data was gathered through class observations. The results indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group in the posttest, and the self-regulation and critical reading questionnaires yielded positive outcomes. The study concludes with pedagogical implications and recommendations for further research. Read more!
Conceptual Narratives in Translated Discourse: Ideology and Social Values at an Intersection or Crossroads
Discourse -language use as a social practice- (Fairclough, 1995) is an effective tool of communicating ideas and spreading values in social contexts (cf. Baker et al, 2013; Faiq, 2019). Given that discourse and ideology are indivisible, the narratives a translated discourse may bring to the target culture may pass unnoticed and, in many cases, unquestionable! The current paper investigates how the narratives of translated discourse can contribute to the spread of particular ‘socio-cognitive models’ ( van Dijk, 1998) in the target culture, e.g., the Arabic culture, to the extent that ‘a faithful’ translation of the source text may lead to a kind of an intellectual dominance of certain ideologies apart from the original purpose of the translation, cf. Al-Hejin (2012) and Elewa (2019).
Phonetic and Sociolinguistic Dynamics of Vowel Variation in Hiberno-English: An Acoustic Analysis
This study aims to establish phonetic and sociolinguistic aspects of Hiberno-English with a focus on vowel variation. Utilizing a three-pronged methodology encompassing a literature review, data collection through high-quality audio equipment, and descriptive analysis via software tools like Praat and Audacity, the research identifies significant phonetic shifts in vowels such as /ɪ/, /ɑ:/, and /æ/ that clearly distinguish Hiberno-English. These variations in sounds are shaped by social, geographical, and cultural factors. This shows the impact of the phonetics on sociolinguistics and the formation of dialects. The novel method, mixing isolated vowel articulation, formal elocution, and unrehearsed dialogues, offers an overall understanding of Hiberno-English vowel sounds. The results show that Hiberno-English phonetics are undergoing a process of evolution, taking their cue from globalization, media, and migration, which points to a dynamic dialect in which new elements have been introduced without losing their character. The thematic analysis explores the sociolinguistic setting of Ireland, looking at the case of regional dialects, social mobility, globalization, and code-switching. By comparing the acquired data against standards, such as those supplied by Ladefoged (2006), this research contributes to comparative phonetics and, in general, the linguistic discipline. Read more!