Volume 61, Issue 1

This study investigates the choice between two near-synonymous Mandarin Chinese possessive constructions, namely, the PP+DE+N (e.g., wǒ de mama , ‘my mom’) and PP+N (e.g., wǒ mama , ‘my mom’). Deploying a mixed effects logistic regression model to evaluate the impact of linguistic (syntactic and semantic) and extralinguistic (register) factors, this study reveals a substantial relationship between the selection of possessive constructions and several fixed effects including the number of attributes before N, the syntactic component of PP+(DE)+N, the semantic connection between PP and N, the person and number of the PP, and the context or style of the texts. Furthermore, this study uncovers that the noun serves as an essential random effect that helps determine the conceptual distance between the PP and N. To conclude, this study unveils the patterns governing the use or omission of de in Mandarin Chinese possessive constructions, hence enhancing our comprehension of syntactic nuances in the language. It also offers a potent methodological approach for future investigations of the reasons underpinning the formal marking of possessive constructions.

This study explores how conjunct locus and D(iscourse)-linking can improve the acceptability of Korean across-the-board (ATB) wh-questions that violate the case-match requirement of wh-fillers. A 2 × 2 design is employed – involving Korean ATB wh-questions with the first-conjunct or second-conjunct case-mismatches and with bare or D-linked wh-phrases. The results show that the first-conjunct case-licensing of a wh-filler is crucial when the wh-filler is bare, as reconstruction into the first conjunct is allowed while reconstruction into the second is not. Meanwhile, the first-conjunct case-licensing of a wh-filler is not crucial when the wh-filler is D-linked. More precisely, D-linking improves the acceptability of syntactically ill-formed ATB wh-questions which violate the first-conjunct case-licensing requirement of a wh-filler, but it does not improve the acceptability of syntactically well-formed ATB wh-questions. These results thus suggest that the amelioration effect of D-linking only occurs as a last resort when the acceptability of ATB wh-questions is degraded due to a violation of certain grammatical principles.

Recent psycholinguistic research has demonstrated that structural priming can occur not only within linguistic cognition but also across different cognitive domains. However, the factors influencing cross-domain priming remain underexplored. This study aims to investigate the roles of working memory, L2 proficiency, and cognitive flexibility in the priming from mathematical processing to L2 comprehension. Sixty-three Chinese college students learning English were recruited as participants. Simple mathematical expressions were presented as primes, and English sentences with relative clauses served as the targets. The participants were categorized based on their working memory, L2 proficiency, and cognitive flexibility. They processed mathematical expressions followed by an English sentence comprehension task to examine whether the processing of mathematical expressions influenced their comprehension of English relative clauses, which shared structural similarities with the mathematical expressions. The results revealed that (1) a priming effect existed from mathematical expressions to L2 sentence comprehension and (2) working memory, L2 proficiency, and cognitive flexibility significantly impacted the priming effect. These findings suggest that cross-domain structural priming is constrained by cognitive factors such as working memory, L2 proficiency and cognitive flexibility.

English has become the primary medium for global communication, with most users being non-native speakers. However, the English Language Teaching industry has been slow to adapt to English’s changing role and global importance. The traditional native-speakerist paradigm persists in many ELT contexts, where native speakers and their language proficiency are still regarded as ideal models and norms. Employing a mixed-methods approach, this study investigates the impact of a series of lectures on Global Englishes (GEs) on students’ opinions and attitudes towards the concept of GEs. The findings of this preliminary research project suggest that students are receptive to revising their often outdated beliefs concerning native speakers’ role and status, language teaching and learning objectives, and the position of English speakers from Outer Circle countries. This study contributes to the ongoing discussion on English Language Teaching and emphasizes the importance of embracing Global Englishes within educational settings.

This article constructs the multidimensional paradigm to specify the continuum of ideational metaphor by virtue of metaphoricity. Metaphoricity is redefined as a relative term measured by the amount of grammatical metaphor and the rank-shift to delineate the continuum of metaphorization. As an expression is packed and repacked by ideational metaphor, its semantic density increases in implicitness. But its context-dependency declines since ideational metaphor smashes its iconic relation with the reality, which to a certain extent weakens semantic gravity. The orientation towards the nucleus can be instantiated to illustrate the direction of metaphorization. In contrast, as a metaphorical expression is unpacked, its semantic density decreases by releasing the inter-stratal tension between grammar and semantics. Its context-dependency strengthens by rebuilding its iconicity with the reality, which reinforces semantic gravity. An element with the lower nuclearity to Center may be unpacked at the initial stage. This article provides an academic lens for knowledge construction in English teaching and learning.