On this page:

Reflective Empowerment Pedagogy (REP): A Humanist Pedagogical Framework for Writing Support

Noorlaksmita Ramadhanty
University of Arkansas
Arkansas, USA

This paper proposes Reflective Empowerment Pedagogy (REP), a humanist pedagogical framework informed by the daily struggle of supporting multilingual international (MI) students in a higher education institution. Same patterns were observed: staying silent, hesitating to push back, second-guessing ideas, and asking for reassurance. Those patterns made me pause and think about what kind of space really helps writers feel safe and capable. Over time, those reflections turned into a set of guiding moves for creating more inclusive, collaborative, warm, and inviting writing environments. The model unfolds through six repeating stages: ease, listen, invite, wonder, empower, and sustain. Each one marks a shift in the tutor’s stance: from calming tension to listening deeply to inviting co-ownership to wondering together to handing confidence back to the writer, and finally to sustaining growth beyond one session. Drawing on ideas from Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan), Reflective Practice (Schön), and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (Gay), REP views writing development as an emotional and relational process, not just a cognitive one. Visualized in spiral, this framework shows how assisting writing keeps circling back reflecting, building trust, and gaining voice. Originally developed through work with international students, REP extends to all writers navigating complex literacies. It argues that authentic learning begins not with correction, but with connection: when tutors ease the tension before asking, listen before teaching, empower before evaluating, and sustain students’ confidence long after the session ends.

Honjo Mutsuo's Literature Works in the Future Challenges for Real Education

Ryo Takahashi, Ph.D.
Health Sciences University of Hokkaido
Hokkaido, Japan

This presentation examines Honjo Mutsuo’s vision of education as both moral resistance and social responsibility. Situating the novel within Japan’s proletarian literature movement, this study highlights Honjo’s belief that teachers and writers alike hold power to challenge systemic injustice through education and art. The analysis focuses on "Ishikari River," a novel about the Date clan set in Tobetsu Town, written between 1938 and 1940, depicting the hardships of Hokkaido's development. The story recounts the process by which Agatsuma Ken, chief retainer of the Iwadeyama branch of the Sendai domain, received permission from the Meiji government to develop Hokkaido in May 1871, along with 161 vassals from 43 households. Honjo Mutsuo (1905- 1939) was born in Tobetsu Village, Hokkaido. Three months after finishing "Ishikari River," he published the novel in May 1939 at the age of 35. He burst into the literary scene and was expected to become a great writer, but he passed away two months later at his home in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, due to illness. It was as if his life had burned out, and he ended his life at the age of 35 from tuberculosis. While working as an elementary school teacher, he published works and became involved in socialism and the teachers' union movement. In 1929, he was detained by the police and dismissed from his teaching position, but in 1929 he joined the Communist Party and became active in the proletarian literature movement. This presentation shows what real teachers' responsibility is. Honjo wrote the elusive book "Elementary Schools Under Capitalism," which was banned upon publication, containing important and specific content on education. The novel "Ishikari River" was also released to the public after being censored by GHQ (General Headquarters)..

Designing Process-focused Feedback for College Writers Using GenAI

Emily Dux Speltz, Ph.D.
Darryl Chamberlain, Ph.D.
Maissane Aik
Beata Blood
Zoe Zaldivar
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Florida, USA

As generative AI tools like ChatGPT become more common in higher education, writing instructors face the challenge of guiding students toward effective and ethical use, particularly in asynchronous environments where immediate feedback is limited. This presentation reports on an exploratory study that addresses this challenge by shifting attention from AI’s outputs to students’ moment-by-moment writing processes. Grounded in applied linguistics approaches to writing research and process-tracing methods, the project employed case studies with both expert and novice users of GenAI. Expert participants, including academics and industry professionals, completed writing tasks while integrating AI into their workflows. Their sessions were recorded with a process-tracing tool and followed by stimulated recall interviews to elicit strategies. Parallel observations with student participants highlighted differences between expert-informed practices and the more fragmented ways students tend to engage with AI tools. Our analysis focused on when and how writers query GenAI, evaluate responses, and incorporate them into texts. From this, we developed a model of effective AI-assisted writing behavior. This model is being used to inform the design of a predictive system that provides process-focused feedback: rather than asking GenAI to generate advice, the system classifies student writing behaviors via supervised machine learning and delivers guidance aligned with expert strategies. The presentation will introduce the rationale for a process-oriented approach, share qualitative findings from expert and student case studies, and outline early development of the feedback system. Attendees will gain insight into how this research can inform pedagogy, assessment, and technology design for AI-supported writing instruction..

When Non-Native Speech Helps: Interlanguage Speech Benefit and Lexical Predictors of English Word Recognition in Noise

Takeshi Nozawa, Ph.D.
Ritsumeikan University
Kyoto, Japan

**Ratree Wayland, Ph.D***.*
Florida State University
Florida, USA

In multilingual classrooms and digital learning environments, second-language listeners often encounter degraded acoustic conditions where reliable perception becomes challenging. Understanding how learners process English in noise can inform more effective listening instruction and assessment practices. This study examines how Japanese listeners recognize English words in noise and how intelligibility varies as a function of talker type, lexical frequency, phonological neighborhood density, and syllable structure. Stimuli were produced by a native English talker and a Japanese-accented talker to investigate whether an interlanguage speech benefit would emerge.

Overall accuracy was higher for the English talker, especially for words containing codas or consonant clusters, indicating that native-like phonetic realization provides more recoverable segmental cues under adverse conditions. However, the talker advantage was not uniform. High-frequency and low-density words produced smaller talker differences, whereas low-frequency dense words yielded the largest gap, demonstrating that lexical statistics interact with acoustic clarity. Importantly, a subset of words—such as train and keen—showed higher intelligibility when produced by the Japanese talker, suggesting that phonolexical familiarity and loanword alignment can compensate for reduced phonetic accuracy.

Error patterns further revealed that English-talker errors reflected vowel substitutions and competition from phonological neighbors, whereas Japanese-accented productions induced restructuring consistent with L1 phonotactics (e.g., vowel epenthesis, coda deletion). These findings highlight the need for listening pedagogy that integrates acoustic training with lexical learning and raises awareness of how phonological structure and language experience shape perception in real-world listening conditions.

Features of Email Exchanges between Saudi EFL Students and their Instructors

**Alya Alshammari,Ph.D***.
Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

This study investigates the features of email exchanges between Saudi EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students and their instructors, focusing on communicative strategies and topics. The research analyzes 250 authentic emails sent by female undergraduate students in two Saudi universities to their Saudi non-native English-speaking (NNES) instructors. The findings reveal that facilitative topics, such as class attendance and assignment submissions, were the most frequently discussed (63.95%), followed by substantive topics like assignment clarification and evaluation (35.27%). Relational topics, limited to course-related gratitude, were the least common (0.78%). In terms of communicative strategies, requesting was the dominant strategy (93.5%), primarily for information and grades, while reporting (5.6%) and negotiating (0.9%) were less prevalent. The study underscores the pedagogical implications of these email interactions, highlighting how students' reliance on facilitative and substantive topics reflects their immediate academic needs and engagement with the learning process. The predominance of requests for information and clarification suggests gaps in classroom instruction, emphasizing the need for clearer communication of course expectations. Additionally, the minimal use of relational topics indicates a transactional approach to email communication, which may limit opportunities for building rapport and collaborative learning. The study highlights the importance of adhering to English email conventions and suggests the need for explicit instruction in email etiquette and pragmatic competence. It shows that making requests is a crucial aspect of communication that requires greater focus in EFL contexts.

Agency and Tragedy in Selkie Myths

Xailea Anderson-Iopa
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Hawaii, USA

Broadly, the paper analyzes selkie myths from a feminist critical lens. In particular, the essay tracks agency across three separate selkie myths. Agency in the essay is tracked primarily through the possession of the selkie’s coat. The myths analyzed are "Tom Moore and the Seal Woman," "The Grey Selchie of Sule Skerrie," and an unnamed myth recorded by folklorist W. Traill Dennison. In looking at these myths from a feminist lens, the author notes how there are vastly different portrayals of agency within selkie myths based largely on the characters’ gender. The author notes that male characters, both human and selkie, are presented as having more agency than their female counterparts. In many cases, male humans physically steal away selkies’ agency. It is pointed out in the paper that regardless of if the human is male or female, there always exists unequal relationships between the male and female characters, with the male characters being the dominant party. The essay then discusses the often tragic endings of these myths and asserts that while most selkie myths end in tragedy, it is often the male party who suffers more. As stated in the paper, this develops selkie myths as highly critical of male-dominant, unequal relationships.

The Use of Spaced Repetition Software for Improving ESL Learners’ Writing Fluency

Hannah Leonard
East Texas A&M University
Texas, USA

This study seeks to combine the benefits of spaced learning (e.g., Leitner system flashcards, distributed practice, etc.) with Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) systems (e.g., ETS e-rater, Grammarly, etc.) through the development of a Spaced Repetition System (SRS) software called AnkiWrite. More specifically, this software is an L2 writing tool modeled after the open-source application AnkiDroid, a flashcard program that schedules review sessions at optimized intervals to strengthen long-term memory retention. Extensive research has demonstrated the efficiency of both SRS and AWE, with SRS promoting long-term memory retention through systematic review intervals (e.g., Kim & Webb, 2022; Wei et al., 2023) and AWE systems providing immediate, individualized, and effective feedback for L2 writers (Nakata, 2008). However, common spaced learning methods are overwhelmingly tailored to discrete-item learning, feeding the assumption that it is fundamentally limited for teaching productive language skills. Evidence from Tabari et al. (2025) challenges this notion, showing that spacing repetitions of L2 writing tasks over days or weeks yields measurable gains in syntactic and lexical competence. To build on this emerging evidence and address the lack of spaced learning practice tools for writing, Ankiwrite will integrate LLM-powered AWE feedback with writing tasks targeting both microstructure (word and sentence-level writing) and macrostructure (long-form writing organization) of L2 writing. This presentation will outline the software’s development, functionality, future research plans, and long-term goals for releasing AnkiWrite as an open-source software for educators and researchers..

The Real Me: Autobiography, Memoir, and Autofiction in Contemporary Graphic Narratives

**Kirsten Møllegaard, Ph.D***.*
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Hawaii, USA

Life writing in the form of diaries, autobiographies, memoirs, letters, and various kinds of testimony has been popular throughout time, both professionally with publication in mind and for personal uses. Life writing constitutes a personal perspective on the broader historical, sociological, and psychological contexts that have influenced the writer’s life, thus offering a subtext to the meta-level of social experience at a certain time and place. For some writers, life writing focuses on overcoming personal trauma and healing from political or social injustices, while for others it provides a venue for self-understanding and self-acceptance. While scholars generally agree that the term “life writing” pertains to nonfictive, historically accurate narratives, it must also be acknowledged that elements of autofiction sustain the narrative drive of autobiography, for example in the form of reconstructed conversations and altered or imagined characters and scenarios. Autofiction thus constitutes a challenge to the aura of veracity and historical authenticity associated with memoir and autobiography. Through a Cultural Studies critical perspective, this presentation will focus on examples of autobiography, memoir, and autofiction in contemporary graphic memoirs, a literary genre which has seen a significant development since the millennium. The hybridity of fact and fiction in memoirs written and illustrated by millennial writers suggests new trends in self-fashioning and understanding of identity in printed media. Works discussed in this presentation will include Hyperbole and Half by Allie Brosh, Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls, and Impossible People: A Completely Average Recovery Story by Julia Wertz.

From Classroom to Global Citizenship: TESOL as a Gateway to Intercultural Competence

Edward Johns, Ed.D.
Moreland University
Washington DC, USA

As English continues to serve as a lingua franca connecting individuals across cultural, linguistic, and disciplinary borders, TESOL educators are uniquely positioned to cultivate intercultural awareness and global citizenship among their learners. This presentation explores the design and impact of the BE Global Camp Thailand—a two-week, credit-bearing study abroad program developed through a partnership between The Napua Initiative for Global Learning LLC, the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, and Mahidol University. The program integrates English-medium instruction with experiential learning on biodiversity, sustainability, and leadership. Participants engage in lectures, workshops, and field excursions while reflecting on cultural perspectives through guided dialogue and digital storytelling. Drawing from pre-departure orientation models, reflective practice, and post-program surveys, this session demonstrates how short-term immersion programs can meaningfully advance communicative competence, cultural empathy, and self-efficacy in language learners. Attendees will gain insight into practical frameworks for embedding intercultural learning outcomes into English-medium curricula, strategies for fostering inclusive dialogue across linguistic differences, and approaches to connecting environmental and social issues with TESOL pedagogy. The presentation concludes with recommendations for educators seeking to create globally minded English programs that prepare students to engage ethically and effectively in an interconnected world..

Trait anxiety and the learning of English prosody

Hiroko Nakamura, Ph.D.
Tottori University of Environmental Studies
Tottori, Japan

Professor Namie Saeki
Doshisha Women's College of Liberal Arts
Kyoto, Japan

This study investigates the influence of trait anxiety on the learning of English prosody among Japanese university students, using both questionnaires and acoustic measures. Anxiety is a key factor that hinders L2 oral proficiency, and the limited instructional focus on prosody in Japanese EFL classrooms may constrain learners despite its importance for intelligibility. Although previous studies have examined the impact of L2 anxiety on speaking performance, few have explored how trait anxiety affects prosody learning as measured acoustically. This study addresses three questions: (1) Does trait anxiety affect sentence stress in English? (2) Does four weeks of prosody-focused instruction improve sentence stress? (3) Do improvements differ between learners with higher and lower trait anxiety? Twenty-five students read an English passage, its Japanese version, and then the English passage again, assuming the initial English reading would induce greater anxiety. Prosody was analyzed by measuring the pitch range of target sentences. Participants also completed the Trait Shyness Scale, the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension, and the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale, followed by four weeks of prosody instruction. The findings were: (1) High trait anxiety was linked to a narrower pitch range in sentence stress. (2) A wider pitch range appeared after prosody instruction, regardless of anxiety level. (3) Participants with higher trait anxiety showed greater increase in pitch range than those with lower trait anxiety during the second reading after instruction. These results highlight the value of integrating prosody instruction into EFL classrooms to enhance oral proficiency and support anxious learners.

Populist Discourse versus Democratic Appeals: An Analysis of the Rhetorical Strategies of Trump and Harris

Habibullah Pathan, Ph.D.
Sohar University
Sohar, Oman

The purpose of this research is to examine the influence of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris during the 2024, U.S presidential election campaign, especially analyzing their impact on indecisive voters in battleground states. To reveal the dynamics of how populist discourse and strategy communication can shape water perceptions and decisions in high-stakes elections. Grounded in agenda setting this research carefully analyzes their campaign speeches to examine how key issues were framed and addressed water concerns and how it created an emotional connection. This research strategy was a mixed-method approach combining qualitative thematic analysis with quantitative evaluations. Speeches were analyzed and collected from YouTube then, transcribed by using the software Note-GPT, to find out the patterns in discourse, followed by thematic coding to do the exact textural analysis. Rhetorical approaches vary significantly, according to the result strategies. Trump's populist narrative leverages nationalism, economic revival, and border security, often couched with an "Us versus them" ideology that was designed to exploit the social divides and incite voter worries. Appealing to voters' frustrations and worries, his emotionally charged direct tone effectively galvanized support. In contrast, Harris centered on an optimistic and inclusive tone about the principles of democracy in her speech, delivered with hope aimed at fostering unity and motivating them to take action as a collective power.

Place names in Globalized World: Cultural Meaning and Linguistic identity in Zoomorphic Toponyms

Zhanna Bugybayeva, Ph.D.
University of California, San Diego
California, USA

Despite accelerating globalization and increasing linguistic homogenization, traditional place names continue to preserve culturally specific worldviews and historical memory. As enduring elements of linguistic landscapes, toponyms function not only as geographic identifiers but also as markers of cultural identity and collective experience. Among these, zoomorphic toponyms—place names derived from animal references—offer valuable insights into how societies conceptualize their relationship with the natural environment and encode symbolic meaning within language. This study investigates zoomorphic place names in Kazakh and American toponymic systems from a comparative linguocultural perspective. The research examines naming patterns, word-formation processes, and the symbolic meanings embedded in animal-based toponyms. The dataset was compiled from official cartographic sources and Google Maps and includes geographically attested place names containing animal lexemes. The analysis integrates semantic classification, etymological examination, linguocultural interpretation, and frequency-based comparison to identify both shared tendencies and culturally distinctive features. The findings indicate that Kazakh zoomorphic toponyms are closely linked to nomadic worldview, totemic traditions, and ecological knowledge, whereas American examples more frequently reflect frontier history, landscape perception, and elements of national symbolism. These patterns suggest that animal imagery operates as a durable cultural code through which communities articulate connections between language, land, and identity. By situating zoomorphic toponyms within contemporary discussions of globalization and linguistic identity, this study contributes to comparative onomastic research and underscores the continuing relevance of place names as carriers of cultural knowledge in an increasingly interconnected world.

AI-Mediated Translanguaging in Multilingual ESL Contexts

Najat Sghyar
University at Buffalo
New York, USA

Global patterns of migration, mobility, and digitalization are reshaping English as a Second Language (ESL) contexts, producing classrooms characterized by heightened linguistic diversity and uneven access to instructional support. These conditions increasingly challenge monolingual assumptions about English language teaching, particularly in adult ESL settings where teachers and learners often do not share a common first language. Translanguaging theory has foregrounded the pedagogical value of mobilizing learners’ full linguistic repertoires to support meaning-making and participation. Yet, in many ESL contexts, translanguaging remains difficult to enact in practice due to institutional preferences for English-only instruction and structural constraints on multilingual mediation. Grounded in translanguaging theory and sociocultural perspectives on mediated learning, this study examines how generative artificial intelligence (AI) can function as a mediating resource for multilingual meaning-making in ESL classrooms. The paper reports on an ongoing classroom-based study conducted in a multilingual adult ESL program, adopting a design-based research approach to explore AI-mediated translanguaging during meaning-focused instructional tasks. Learners engage with generative AI tools to support comprehension, vocabulary development, and sentence-level reformulation across their linguistic repertoires. Data sources include AI chat logs, learner-produced artifacts, classroom observations, embedded performance checks, and brief recall interviews. Preliminary findings suggest that AI-mediated translanguaging can support transformative instructional practices when aligned with clear pedagogical goals and guided by teacher mediation, enabling learners to access meaning and participate more fully in English-medium tasks. At the same time, the study highlights persistent challenges, including learner trust in AI-generated language, the potential reproduction of linguistic or cultural bias, and uneven levels of AI literacy. These findings underscore the need for critically informed and pedagogically grounded approaches to digital integration in ESL. By situating AI use within everyday instructional practice, this study contributes to global discussions on multilingual education and digital innovation, highlighting how AI-mediated translanguaging can support more equitable and transformative approaches to teaching and learning English in contemporary contexts.

Generative AI (GenAI) in the ELT teaching:A systematic review

Xie Ying
Chungnam National University
Daejeon, South Korea

The integration of generative AI (GenAI) into language education has garnered considerable interest owing to its versatile capabilities. However, prior literature reviews have seldom examined the cognitive and affective factors—such as teachers’ self-efficacy, beliefs, motivation, reflexivity, and emotions—that are crucial for understanding the practical implementation of GenAI. To address this gap, this systematic review analyzes 38 empirical studies published between January 2023 and December 2025, with a focus on research design, thematic emphasis, and the roles and challenges of GenAI in language teaching. The findings indicate that existing research has primarily centered on five themes:

Based on the analysis, this review recommends that future studies diversify research focus on teacher agency and identity, broaden investigations to global GenAI contexts, adopt longitudinal research designs, examine behavioral interactions with GenAI, and develop customized GenAI tools to support teachers gradually construct a new identity and teaching autonomy based on the technological environment.

Living in Someone Else’s Nation: Narrative Strategies of Sovereignty in Indigenous Fiction

Jordan K Fong
University of Hawaiʻi Maui College
Hawaii, USA

This study aims to elucidate how geography and colonial history shape the expression of sovereignty, isolation, and integration in Indigenous writing. Using a cultural and postcolonial approach, the paper compares the experience of living in someone else’s world. Native Hawaiians do not possess federal recognition and political autonomy like Native nations. With the illegal overthrow and annexation of the Hawaiian Kingdom, sovereignty is a prominent theme in contemporary Hawaiian literature. In contrast, sovereignty in many Native American contexts appears officially recognized yet structurally hollow, undermined by broken treaties, discretionary congressional funding, and chronic under-resourcing. Being forcefully integrated into the whole, is different when you’re still on little islands, surrounded by thousands of miles of ocean. Geographically Hawaiʻi is even more isolated than Navajo Nation, but Hawaiʻi is a destination. It is a paradise with an influx of outsiders. In fact, it's changed the entire culture of Hawaii. Native nations, like Navajo Nation, are more accessible, but it is actually much more isolated in many ways. It is its own “island” in the middle of the desert, with a shortage of doctors and other services because of its remoteness. This study suggests a new way of thinking about how an unevenly lived, place-based experience shapes narrative form and how it’s taught.

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in the Context of Teaching English to Women in Restrictive Settings

Jill Harold, Ph.D.
University of North Texas
Texas, USA

In the context of oppressive regimes, strict cultural barriers, and/or economic barriers to education, women are often excluded or restricted from secondary and higher education. However, many women continue to pursue education through humanitarian programs. Because learning English is a critical step in women gaining access to other education opportunities, such humanitarian programs often include English language learning. Unfortunately, the English language curricula have often not been adapted to the cultural context and constraints of women in oppressive regimes or facing cultural or economic barriers to education. Adopting a Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) (Gay, 2018) and developing culturally responsive curricula can improve learning outcomes for women facing barriers to their education. In this presentation, I will explain CRP principles, including an ethic of caring, an understanding of culturally and ethnically diverse contexts, social and emotional learning (SEL), cooperative learning, and community cultural capital. I will then provide details of a specific context in which CRP was successfully applied to improve learning outcomes for women under an oppressive regime with limited access to educational opportunities.

Rethinking Literary Education in the Age of AI

**Peter Conroy, Ph.D***.*
Tsinghua University
Beijing, China

For the past decade or so, scholars in the humanities have been under growing pressure to articulate the rationale(s) for what they do. The arrival of AI has increased this pressure. For even though this new technology has unquestionable value in the domains of literary scholarship and language teaching, it threatens to undermine the traditional rationales for literary study, writing and composition, and language instruction. Will the ability to craft finely wrought literary essays be as important as AI improves? Will AI replace language instructors? Will authorship be devalued after the AI revolution? These are deep and destabilizing questions, and they are only becoming more urgent as AI becomes more powerful. In light of this rapidly evolving situation, this presentation will attempt to develop a conceptual framework for thinking about the impacts of AI on literary education. More specifically, it will argue that we can only think clearly about the implications of AI if we first think clearly about the basic rationales for literary education itself. To elaborate on this point, it will build upon John Guillory's landmark book "Professing Criticism" (2022), which identifies five basic rationales for the study of literature: (1) linguistic/cognitive, (2) moral/judicial, (3) national/cultural, (4) aesthetic/critical, and (5) epistemic/disciplinary. With respect to each of these rationales, it suggests, AI contains both promise and peril.

Japanese EFL Teachers’ Appropriation of Knowledge Gained from the Overseas Teacher Training Program in Their School Contexts

Yuka Kurihara, Ph.D.
Nihon University
Tokyo, Japan

Researchers in L2 teacher education have discussed the complex nature of teachers' learning to teach for the last 30 years and have explored teachers’ learning in relation to broader sociocultural contexts (e.g., Freeman & Richards, 1996; Johnson & Golombek, 2011, 2016; Johnson, Verity, & Childs, 2023). Although these studies portray the dynamic nature of L2 teachers' learning experiences, they have not yet fully explored EFL teachers, particularly those who attend teacher training in English-speaking countries and subsequently return to teach in their home countries. Therefore, drawing on Vygotsky's sociocultural approach (Vygotsky, 1986), this study aims to understand the process of learning to teach among Japanese EFL teachers, focusing specifically on how they appropriated the pedagogical tools learned in the program into their school settings in Japan. The participants in this study were two secondary school Japanese teachers of English who participated in a three-week teacher training program in Australia, and then who returned to their own teaching settings. The data were collected qualitatively over a three-year period. The findings suggest that what teachers learned and how they used it depended on their motives, their beliefs about EFL teaching and learning, and the sociocultural contexts in which their learning occurred, including the training program in Australia and the Japanese school settings. Finally, implications for professional development for teachers and training programs will be discussed at both theoretical and practical levels.

Selective Transfer in Multilingual Acquisition:　Reconsidering Cross-Linguistic Influence Beyond L3

**Tomoko Sekiguchi, Ph.D***.*
Takasaki City University of Economics
Taksaki, Japan

Research on multilingual acquisition has been particularly active in the Nordic countries, where the widespread use of three or more languages in education and daily life provides an ideal context for examining cross-linguistic influence beyond the L2. In such environments, language education, societal multilingualism, and academic research interact closely, facilitating the systematic study of factors influencing the acquisition of multiple additional languages. This presentation introduces three major theoretical models in multilingual (L3 and beyond) acquisition research: the Typological Proximity Model (TPM), the L2 Status Factor, and the Scalpel Model. The TPM posits that learners draw primarily on the previously acquired language that is typologically closest to the target language, regardless of acquisition order. In contrast, the L2 Status Factor highlights the privileged role of the L2 as a formally learned foreign language, emphasizing the transfer of learning strategies and metalinguistic awareness rather than structural similarity. The Scalpel Model proposes a more flexible mechanism, arguing that transfer occurs selectively across linguistic domains—such as syntax, lexicon, word order, and phonology—rather than holistically from a single source language. The presentation further analyzes the presenter’s own multilingual learning experience involving Japanese (L1), English (L2), French (L3), and Korean (L4). The analysis reveals consistent domain-specific selective transfer, with conscious switching of reference languages depending on the linguistic feature in question. These observations suggest that the Scalpel Model offers the most comprehensive and empirically plausible explanation for multilingual acquisition among the three models discussed.

Bridging Cultural Divides: Japanese Translations of Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Sayaka Moue
Rikkyo University
Toshima, Japan

Literature from foreign countries began to be translated into Japanese in the Meiji period and Japanese readers learned foreign cultures through literature. However, in translating the different cultures, it was much more important for translators to make the readers understand the situation than to make near translations. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) was first translated into Japanese in 1896 in one of the major newspapers in the Meiji period. Since then, many translations were published for various purposes and many of them were the abridged versions of the original. Uncle Tom’s Cabin holds the difficult topic for the Japanese, which is “race.” Therefore, the translations tended to be the extracts of the aspects which appealed much to the readers who did not know the situation. In this paper, I would like to consider how the translators of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in Japan abridged the long original story to make it agreeable to Japanese readers and how they tried to bridge the gap between American and Japanese cultural differences through their translations.

What Works in Practice: Blending AI Tools and Multicultural Pedagogy in Japanese EFL

Swati Arora, Ph.D.
Yokohama National University
Yokohama, Japan

This presentation offers a practice-informed account of English language education in Japan, foregrounding the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and multicultural pedagogy in upper-secondary classrooms. Drawing on teaching at a bilingual international school in Tokyo, it examines how digital tools, especially generative AI are mobilized to support student engagement, L2 production, and learner autonomy, while positioning English lessons as sites for cultivating global citizenship through culturally responsive content. Illustrative classroom practices include AI-mediated creative writing, peer-teaching projects on social issues, and modules that embed diverse cultural narratives. A reflective analysis of student artefacts and feedback underscores both the pedagogical affordances and the constraints of these innovations in the Japanese context. The discussion addresses challenges related to teacher professional learning, digital literacy, assessment alignment, and curricular policy. The paper contributes to debates on English as a global language in Japanese schooling by advancing an integrated approach that couples language instruction with the development of critical thinking, intercultural competence, and digital fluency. Implications are offered for educators, curriculum designers, and policymakers engaged in language education reform.

Becoming Inclusive Educators: Fostering Teacher Agency and Identity in Preparing Secondary Teachers for Multilingual Classroom

William Blackwell, Ph.D.
Alma Contreras-Vanegas, ph.D.
Corinna Cole, Ph.D
Sam Houston State University
Texas, USA

Drawing from principles of inclusive education, this study explores the early development of teacher agency and identity among secondary-level teacher candidates (TCs) preparing to work with multilingual learners in Texas K-12 classrooms. Grounded in Pantić’s (2015) model of teacher agency, encompassing purpose, competence, autonomy, and reflexivity, the study examines how TCs in an ESL methodology course began to perceive themselves as inclusive educators prior to engaging in field-based experiences. Using survey data from 20 secondary education teacher candidates, findings revealed a limited background in working with multilingual learners, yet a notable shift in attitudes, confidence, and commitment by the end of the methodology course. Teacher candidates demonstrated an emerging sense of agency, with many expressing a strong sense of purpose, competence, and a willingness to pursue ESL certification. Reflexivity was evident, as TCs critically assessed their preparedness and identified areas for growth. The data suggests that when identity and agency are nurtured early in teacher preparation, particularly through explicit coursework focused on inclusive education, teacher candidates are more likely to develop the mindset and strategies needed to advocate for multilingual students. These findings have implications for curriculum design, fieldwork alignment, and long-term teacher retention, particularly in diverse educational contexts where responsive, inclusive instruction is essential.

How to Teach English Graphophonemics?: A Rule-Based Approach

Arlind Fazliu
Brikena Liko
University of Arizona
Arizona, USA

TEnglish word stress and pronunciation have long been deemed erratic, prompting pedagogical traditions to favor memorization over rule-based instruction. From Jones’s early skepticism (1918) to Cutler (1984), the prevailing assumption has been that English spelling offers little guidance to pronunciation. Yet this perception overlooks the systematicity that emerges when orthography is examined through a Guierrian, corpus-based lens (Guierre 1970; Duchet 1991). The main goal of this talk is to re-evaluate English spelling-to-sound correspondences as consistent, teachable regularities grounded in morphology. The proposed approach demonstrates that stress and vowel length are largely predictable from orthographic and morphological structure. For example, words ending in suffixes containing i + V (e.g., -ion, -ious, -ient, -ia, etc.) are stressed on the preceding syllable, with the stressed vowel long if followed by a single consonant – except /i/, which remains short (sagacious vs. opinion). Words ending in -ity are likewise stressed on the preceding syllable, with the vowel short if followed by one consonant – except /u/, which is long. A stressed vowel followed by a single consonant and final mute e is long (fate, scene), as is a stressed vowel before r and one consonant (mark, hurt, report). In total, roughly forty such rules display perfect or near-perfect regularity. We argue that classroom application of these graphophonemic correlations fosters metalinguistic awareness, accurate stress assignment, and improved reading fluency by enabling learners to internalize systematic rules rather than memorize isolated pronunciations.

“I have felt the most fulfilled and excited doing research when it has been collaborative”: Research collaboration in applied linguistics

Ekaterina Sudina, Ph.D.
Katherine Yaw, Ph.D.
Luke Plonsky, Ph.D.
University of Maryland, College Park
Maryland, USA

Research collaboration is arguably at the heart of L2 research and applied linguistics more generally, permeating virtually all stages of the research process from conceptualization and methodology to funding, data analysis, and manuscript preparation (see the Contributor Roles Taxonomy, https://credit.niso.org/). Moreover, recent syntheses have found collaboration and co-authorship to be the norm in all areas of applied linguistics (e.g., Amini Farsani et al., 2021; Pearson, 2025; Plonsky & Sudina, 2025). However, L2 researchers’ practices and experiences with scientific collaboration remain largely underexplored. To address our lack of understanding in this area, we surveyed 339 applied linguists from all over the world (33% PhD students or candidates; 67% PhD holders; 53% residing in the US; 94% affiliated with a university/college; 35% using mostly quantitative research approach) to gauge the extent to which they engage in research collaboration. The survey also elicited advice on successful collaboration with others (e.g., mentors, graduate students, practitioners, scholars from other cultural backgrounds). The results indicated that 91% of the sample have been involved in collaborative research projects and that 64–78% of research publications in the past five years have been co-authored. The average number of self-reported collaborators ranged from 1.5 (SD=1.59) to 5.77 (SD=4.61). Thematic analysis of qualitative comments on 17 open-ended questions shed light on applied linguists’ approaches to initiating and managing collaboration and their expectations for collaboration. The findings will deepen our understanding of research collaboration practices in the field and offer empirically based suggestions for engaging in successful collaboration.

Framing Culturally Sustaining Education: The Graphic Novel as Resilient Pedagogy in the Post-Pandemic Era

Patsy Iwasaki, Ph.D.
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Hawaii, USA

In the post-pandemic era, English literature instruction necessitates an intentional shift toward innovative pedagogical strategies that prioritize multimodality and culturally responsive teaching to foster community engagement. This IRB-approved study examines how the arts, humanities, and educational design converged to utilize a place-based resource addressing historical trauma and contemporary challenges in a community impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It explores the implementation of an original graphic novel about nineteenth-century labor advocate Katsu Goto on the Hāmākua Coast as a transformative literary tool for the contemporary classroom. Since the mid-nineteenth century, the Hāmākua Coast has been shaped by successive waves of migration from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and Europe, catalyzed by the labor demands of a thriving sugar plantation industry. In the decades following the industry’s collapse, the region navigated complex socio-economic challenges exacerbated by highway infrastructure development and the COVID-19 pandemic. Supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) SHARP pandemic grant, this project distributed the graphic novel to Hawaiʻi Island educators, providing a vital place-based resource to forge community connections and sustain cultural engagement. By establishing the graphic novel as a substantive literary format capable of navigating a post-pandemic world where traditional classroom boundaries have been displaced, this research demonstrates how multimodal storytelling facilitates learner engagement. Leveraging specialized visual techniques, from sequential inter-panel transitions to detailed close-ups of pivotal moments, the medium transcends traditional text. Ultimately, this study reframes literature as a dynamic pedagogical vehicle for cultural sustainability, community resilience, and the preservation of regional heritage for emerging learners.

Student Motivation, Strategies, and Challenges as Predictors of Learning Achievement: Insights from Omani Foundation English Courses

Marco Mamba
Sultan Qaboos University
Muscat, Oman

This study examined how student motivation, learning strategies, and challenges influence the achievement of learning goals in Omani Foundation English courses. Conducted among 638 foundation students enrolled across six intensive English courses at Sultan Qaboos University, the research sought to understand the factors behind students’ engagement and disengagement, their learning experiences, and their attainment of goals. Employing a descriptive-quantitative design, a structured questionnaire was used to explore students’ motivation levels, learning strategies, and learning achievement. Findings reveal that students’ motivation is primarily driven by future aspirations, a genuine desire to learn, and positive social support and interactions. Metacognitive strategies such as goal setting and time management were found to be strongly associated with students’ perceived progress and learning success. In contrast, demotivating factors included lack of interest, academic burnout, and low confidence. These findings underscore the need to provide individualized assistance and create empowering learning environments in EFL/ESL contexts. The study further highlights the transformative potential of integrating metacognitive strategy training and learner-centered teaching methods to maximize students’ opportunities for success. While grounded in the Omani context, the implications extend to similar foundation and preparatory programs globally, contributing to the growing discourse on effective language education practices. The results also validate the applicability of Self Determination Theory, the L2 Motivational Self System, and Oxford’s Language Learning Strategies framework as lenses for understanding student motivation and strategic learning in a changing world.

The JournaLISTO Experience: A Multi-Year Journalism Program Shaping 21st-Century Media Competence, Ethical Journalism, and National Recognition in Catholic Mass Media

John Kit Masigan, Ph.D.
Saint Paul University Philippines
Cagayan, Philippines

This study examined the JournaLISTO Experience, a multi-year journalism and broadcasting program implemented at St. Paul University Philippines–Basic Education Unit, aimed at developing 21st-century media competence, ethical journalism practice, and sustained competitive excellence among elementary learners. Anchored on constructivist learning theory, media literacy education, and values-based Catholic formation, the program integrates progressive skills training, media simulation, mentoring, and competition exposure over three years. Using a mixed-methods sequential exploratory design, the study involved current JournaLISTO participants (Grades 4–6), program alumni from earlier cohorts, and key informants including advisers and coaches. Quantitative data were gathered through researcher-designed questionnaires measuring learners’ media competence and ethical journalism practice, while qualitative data were obtained through interviews, focus group discussions, and document analysis of competition results. Findings revealed a high level of development in journalism writing, broadcasting, critical thinking, and digital media skills, alongside strong adherence to ethical standards such as accuracy, fairness, responsible sourcing, and values-based storytelling. Competitive performance data showed consistent success in Division, Regional, and National Schools Press Conferences, culminating in finalist recognition at the Catholic Mass Media Awards. Qualitative findings further highlighted increased learner confidence, leadership formation, and social responsibility attributed to sustained mentoring and authentic media immersion. The study concludes that multi-year, values-driven journalism programs such as JournaLISTO effectively cultivate competent, ethical, and nationally competitive student journalists. Recommendations are proposed to strengthen similar programs in basic education through long-term design, ethical grounding, and authentic media practice.

Englishness and Childhood: Lewis Carroll's Politics of Language in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Abu Shahid Abdullah, Ph.D.
East West University
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Lewis Carroll presents and represents Wonderland as a foil to Victorian society in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, in terms of rationalism, gender roles, class, education, nationality, and power and identity. In Victorian society, Englishness parades as a standard decorum and nobility, yet beneath this polished surface lie tensions of exclusion, rigidity, and imperial authority. Carroll’s Wonderland, by contrast, becomes a space where rules fail, meaning collapses, and the child’s voice emerges not as ignorant or unformed but as politically and socially subversive. Therefore, Carroll uses language to destabilise the adult-defined identity of the child and reveals that both nationhood and childhood are constructed and regulated through language in this text. This paper aims to show how Lewis Carroll highlights Englishness in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland through his politics of language. Here, the term ‘politics’ differs from the traditional term; it refers to an alternative narrative where an author uses language and techniques in a way that mirrors the society, highlights its significance, and critiques it. Again, this paper explores the interplay between politics of literature and politics of language to shed light on how language and literature shape meaning and construct and deconstruct Victorian society. Besides, this paper illustrates Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of ‘dialogism’ and ‘heteroglossia’ to emphasise how language helps to shape Alice’s Englishness practices in Wonderland, which further allows the reader to find their own meaning about childhood and nationhood. Finally, this paper examines how a child from the Victorian era forms and expresses a sense of English identity in another land where absurdity becomes freedom, authority is contested, and the child is empowered to challenge norms.

Reframing Needs Analysis in Community-Based ESP: A Seaport Project in Japan

Kazumi Kato
Tokai University
Shibuya, Japan

This presentation examines different aspects of needs analysis in an ESP project conducted at a small-town university in Japan. The presenter teaches at Tokai University’s Shizuoka Campus, located 7 km from an international seaport that receives approximately 100 luxury cruise ship visits annually. Since 2014, she has implemented ESP projects to enhance students’ motivation and speaking proficiency through community-based activities.　Initially, students planned to guide tourists to local attractions and create a sightseeing booklet to support their visits. Over time, however, it became clear that needs analysis should address not only tourists’ needs but also those of local shop staff. Many shop owners in a nearby shopping street are elderly, reluctant to engage with foreign visitors, and sometimes close their shops when cruise ships arrive due to communication difficulties.　In 2023, the presenter conducted interviews with all shop owners in the area and redesigned the project based on their needs. Students visited the seaport to observe interactions, identify communication challenges, and provide on-site support. To foster greater independence among local residents, students developed practical role-play scenarios reflecting authentic situations. These were compiled into a bilingual (Japanese–English), 100-page conversation textbook incorporating students’ part-time work experiences. The presentation discusses the evolving needs analysis process and its implications for community-based ESP materials development.

Improving English Vocabulary Skills Using Flashcard Games Among Pupils

Danieca Bulawin
Bazil T Sabacajan, Ph.D.
Department of Education, Philippines

It is known to many that the pupils in schools have poor vocabulary which hugely contributes to low performance in the international and local assessments. For this reason, this study aimed to assess the effect of flashcard games in the test scores of the pupils in vocabulary examinations. Thirty-six Grade 5 pupils composed the experimental group and 25 pupils for the control group. Using a quasi-experimental design, the participants were given a pretest and posttest within the timeframe of the study. In the implementation of the treatment, research protocols were observed religiously. With the use of appropriate statistical tools, results showed that the majority of the participants in both groups were females, with ages 10 to 11, from low-income but not poor families and whose parents graduated tertiary education. Both groups of participants had low mastery level at the start, only the experimental group moved to average mastery level in vocabulary acquisition using flashcard games. There was no significant difference in the posttest scores between the two groups of participants. Among the participants in the experimental group, there was no significant difference in the posttest scores when grouped by sex, learners’ age, and parents’ highest educational attainment. Only the family monthly income showed significant difference in the posttest scores, which favored those in the low-middle income level. The analysis also revealed that the independent variables or explanatory variables did not significantly predict the posttest scores of the experimental group. On these findings, the researchers recommended that future or other researchers may replicate this study provided the timeframe of the implementation is increased and scaffoldings are added to the learning intervention.

A training model for Ukrainian pre-service teachers in assessing integrated listening-into-writing

Yuliia Lavrenchuk
University of Kansas
Kansas, USA

The post-COVID educational landscape, the rising popularity of artificial intelligence, and the ongoing conflict have introduced new challenges for foreign language learning at the secondary school level in Ukraine. Frequent shifts between offline and online, synchronous and asynchronous learning, as well as threats to academic integrity and continuity demand a high level of language assessment literacy and adaptability in teachers of English as a second language. In this context, integrated listening-into-writing (ILW) is becoming increasingly relevant for student development. It offers multiple advantages over traditional non-integrated writing, particularly in fostering academic integrity and developing higher-level cognitive skills. However, despite its pedagogical benefits, practicing Ukrainian teachers report limited confidence in ILW assessment. In a survey conducted by the author in December 2024 with 34 Ukrainian teachers of English, only 35.5% rated their ability to assess ILW as good or excellent, whereas 67.6% reported a need for further professional training in ILW assessment. To address current educational demands, many Ukrainian universities are reconsidering the preparation of pre-service teachers to ensure more extensive hands-on training, including assessing ILW. This study aims to enhance teacher preparation by presenting a training model for pre-service teachers. Grounded in Weir’s sociocognitive framework (2005) and the action-oriented approach (Council of Europe, 2001), the model guides pre-service teachers through practical steps to engage with rating criteria and collaborate in decision-making as they assess and justify their judgments of authentic ILW samples. The model relies on the workshop framework and is embedded within the discipline of testing and assessment.

From Languages to Learning: Policy Directions on Language Mapping

Gaudencio Luis N. Serrano, Ph.D.
Department of Education, Philippines

This paper examines the institutionalization of the Language Mapping Policy for Key Stage 1 (Kindergarten to Grade 3) in the Philippines as a foundational mechanism for strengthening mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE). Anchored in Department of Education policy issuances and reinforced by Republic Act No. 12027 (2024), the policy establishes a systematic process for identifying and documenting learners’ home languages to guide the selection of the most appropriate Medium of Instruction (MOI). Implemented annually across both public and private schools—including Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd) and the Alternative Learning System (ALS)—language mapping positions linguistic diversity as a core dimension of inclusive and culturally responsive basic education. The paper outlines the policy’s implementation cycle, beginning with stakeholder orientation and administration of the Language Identification Tool (LIT), followed by data validation through interviews and classroom observation. Learners are grouped according to language profiles to inform instructional approaches, while consolidated data are uploaded to the Learner Information System (LIS) to support evidence-based lesson planning, contextualized resource development, and targeted teacher training. The collaborative engagement of teachers, school leaders, division and regional offices, and community members ensures both accuracy of data and responsiveness of classroom practice. Central to the policy’s effectiveness is the collaborative engagement of teachers, school leaders, division and regional education offices, and community stakeholders. This multi-level participation ensures the accuracy of language data while strengthening the alignment between learners’ linguistic realities and classroom practice. By integrating community knowledge and school-based insights, the policy enhances both data integrity and pedagogical relevance.

Translanguaging as Instructional Mediation in Key Stage 1 Classrooms: Evidence from Central Luzon, Philippines

Marie Ann C. Ligsay, Ph.D.
DepEd RO III
Philippines

This study investigates translanguaging as a form of instructional mediation in Key Stage 1 (Kindergarten to Grade 3) classrooms in Region III (Central Luzon), Philippines, where a single classroom teacher facilitates learning across all learning areas. In this context, language functions as a shared semiotic resource for sense-making, classroom interaction, and access to instruction rather than as a subject-specific medium. The study is situated within the implementation context of the Department of Education’s Early Language, Literacy, and Numeracy (ELLN) priorities, which emphasize strong oral language foundations and inclusive early learning. Guided by translanguaging theory (García & Wei), sociocultural theory (Vygotsky), and emergent literacy theory, the study conceptualizes translanguaging as a pedagogical strategy that mediates understanding, supports participation, and sustains learner engagement in multilingual classrooms. Data were drawn from selected public schools through teacher-reported instructional practices and learner-level classroom performance indicators aligned with early language, literacy, and numeracy domains. Statistical analyses were conducted to examine patterns between translanguaging practices and instructional clarity, learner responsiveness, and access to classroom tasks. Findings indicate that purposeful translanguaging, characterized by flexible movement across English, Filipino, and local languages, supports clearer instruction, more sustained learner participation, and smoother transitions between learning tasks. Rather than disrupting English language development, translanguaging functioned as a scaffold that enabled learners to engage meaningfully with classroom discourse. By foregrounding evidence from Region III, this study contributes to English Language Studies, applied linguistics, and multilingual education, offering implications for early-grade pedagogy, teacher preparation, and language-in-education policy in linguistically diverse settings.

Unraveling Metaphor in Pacific Narratives: Bridging Indigenous and Classroom Understandings

Norman F. Thompson III, Ph.D.
Brigham Young University Hawaii, USA

Pacific literature can be difficult to interpret given the abundance of metaphor it relies on to convey meaning. In conjunction with a narrative style that is often layered, even braided together, I’ve found that many of my Pacific Studies students often come away with only a vague understanding of the rich symbolism and meaning that Pacific stories present. An example of such a story is Māori author Patricia Grace’s “Busy Lines,” where the poetic demise of its protagonist is anything but clear. A thorough unraveling of the metaphors the story deploys, however, uncovers numerous allusions to the woman’s impending death, which can confirm, or reaffirm, readers’ suspicions. This presentation will highlight some of the metaphors critical to understanding Grace’s story more completely, while also articulating the importance of metaphor to Indigenous Hawaiian/Pacific learning processes. The core argument of this presentation is that metaphors are the key to bridging the gap of understanding for Indigenous Hawaiian/Pacific learners, but also their instructors, particularly in the university setting. Additionally, I will seek to outline key ‘āina/whenua-based themes of metaphor used in Pacific literatures in general, in an effort to also improve the understanding of Pacific meaning and symbolism for non-Indigenous Hawaiian/Pacific learners as well.

Consistency in Evaluating Students’ Essays: A Comparative Analysis of Teacher and AI Evaluations

Aries Dahan Gan
Waleed Al Harthy, Ph.D.
A’ Sharqiyah University
Ibra, Oman

Francisco P Dumanig, Ph.D.
University of Hawai’i at Hilo
Hawaii, USA

The assessment of student writing has traditionally relied on human raters who provide numerical scores to measure learners’ development. Despite their pedagogical value, human evaluations may be influenced by factors such as fatigue, implicit bias, and varying interpretations of assessment criteria, raising concerns about objectivity, consistency, and fairness. With the growing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in educational assessment, automated essay scoring tools have emerged as potential alternatives or complements to human raters, offering efficiency and consistency. This study investigates the objectivity, consistency, and efficiency in assessing students’ essays by comparing evaluations from 3 experienced teachers and the AI tool CoGrader using a standardized rubric. The sample consists of fifteen (15) essays written by Level 3 students at the Center for Languages and Foundation Studies at A’ Sharqiyah University, Students’ essays were selected based on prior academic performance (75–80% in Level 2), while three (3) teachers, each with four to five years of teaching experience, assessed the essays independently, and their scores were compared with the scores generated by CoGrader. This comparative analysis explores how AI tools align with human graders on objective criteria, such as task achievement, organization, grammar, vocabulary and mechanics. The findings aim to contribute to ongoing discussions on the reliability, and pedagogical viability of AI-assisted assessment in language education.

Local Roots, Global Impact: Engaging Learners through the Ka‘ao Framework and UN SDGs Using Place-Based Writing

Kimberly Russell, M.A.
Hawaiʻi Community College
Hawaii, USA

How do we move English Language Teaching from abstract exercises to real-world impact? With over 40 years of experience teaching academic English to both ESL and native speakers, I have found that students are most engaged when their writing serves a purpose beyond the classroom walls. This presentation introduces a transformative pedagogical approach grounded in the Ka‘ao framework—a traditional Hawaiian narrative structure that parallels the universal "Hero’s Journey." By framing the learning process as an intentional journey of personal and academic growth, educators can foster a deeper connection to language learning. To ensure this framework is globally applicable, I integrate the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with place-based learning. I will share a current project where students collaborate with the guardian of a local Wahi Pana (a celebrated or sacred site) to research and create professional fact sheets and digital content for a significant archaeological battlefield. This shift toward "real-world" writing allows students to navigate complex discourse and intercultural communication while producing tangible benefits for their community. Participants will receive actionable, "classroom-ready" solutions for designing curriculum materials that bridge the gap between academic theory and community impact. Whether in Hawaiʻi or abroad, this model demonstrates how honoring local wisdom and global goals can revitalize English Language Education and empower students to write with purpose. This 15-minute session will be followed by a 5-minute Q&A to discuss implementation across diverse international contexts.

Unequal Racialised Participant Roles in The Other Side: An SFL-Based Multimodal Study for Critical Media Literacy

Yumiko Mizusawa, Ph.D.
Seijo University
Tokyo, Japan

This study examines how race and participant roles are constructed in The Other Side (Woodson, 2001), a picturebook depicting a white girl and a Black girl forming a friendship across a racialised boundary during the segregation period. Drawing on Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), the study investigates how linguistic and visual choices differentiate the girls’ representations. The dataset consists of all pages of the book, with particular attention to the double-page spreads where both protagonists appear together. A transitivity and appraisal analysis was conducted for the verbal text (Halliday, 1994; Martin & White, 2004), while the visual analysis focused on participant configuration, viewer perspective, and compositional structure (Painter et al., 2012; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2024). The findings reveal a clear asymmetry: more than half of the material processes are initiated by the white girl, whereas the Black girl is positioned predominantly as Goal or as a reactive participant. The images similarly foreground the white girl as Actor in most narrative processes, reinforcing her role through spatial prominence and vector direction. Despite being written by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by E. B. Lewis, both of whom are Black, the book subtly reproduces an unequal distribution of racialised participant roles beneath its surface narrative of friendship. These results demonstrate the value of SFL-based multimodal discourse analysis, grounded in metafunctional resources, for enabling L2 learners to uncover implicit ideological meanings in both language and images, which in turn contributes to the development of critical media literacy.

Genetic Engineering and a Threat for Human Origin in Brave New World, Uglies and RoboCop

Abu Shahid Abdullah
East West University
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Investigating two dystopian novels, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies, and American futuristic sci-fi film RoboCop, the presentation will deal with newly emerging ultra-advanced technological practices such as genetic manipulation, cognitive enhancement, human, and machine amalgamation. This will find out the newly emerging bioethical dilemma which might question the natural biology and originality of human beings. In this presentation, we see how the flourishing medical sector of genetic engineering is giving people the right to manipulate human genetics. Instead of relying on nature, now people decide and design their future babies just like the way it was predicted in Brave New World. This presentation will show how body enhancement in the name of beauty enhancement is changing the idea of human form and a new hybrid and modified human form might be waiting for us which matches with the cyber punk look of Uglies or RoboCop. This presentation will attempt to closely study the ethical dilemma raised by genetic engineering and threat of losing basic human essence. It will also explore how in the name of omitting human physical limitation, the creation of cyborg might create new super species Human+ (popularly used in many scholarly articles to refer to technically and biologically enhanced, advanced human form) which might endanger humans without enhancement. Thus, this presentation will discuss predictions about these overall posthumanist and transhumanist crises.

George Orwell’s 1984 Through a Marxist Theoretical Lens

Lauren Aoki
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Hawaii, USA

This paper “George Orwell’s 1984 Through a Marxist Theoretical Lens”, studies how George Orwell’s critically-acclaimed novel 1984 and its depiction of the ruling totalitarian government Oceania can be understood through a Marxist theoretical lens and George Orwell’s own personal life experience. Marxism examines how class, economy, and state shape society and consciousness. Orwell was a self-proclaimed socialist who advocated for socialism through ethical means. 1984 takes inspiration from both Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Russia with parallels in characters, social structure, and literature. Oceania is divided into three parties: the Inner Party, the Outer Party, and the Proles. The Party serves as the Bourgeois, the elite who benefit from everyone else’s labor, while the Proles act as the Prolterians, the subjugated working class. The Party remains in power through the use of war, which acts as a strategic tool to keep the machine of Oceania’s labor running without improving the lives of its citizens. The Party and Big Brother shape the consciousness of Oceania through Newspeak and the erasure of the past, as Marxism suggests those in power will never give it up willingly, they will go great lengths to stay in power. The Party also reduces people to commodities, sexless and joyless beings who only serve to work and exist without human connection.

TSI Compliance Through Interdisciplinary Co-Requisites

Abigayle Farrier
University of North Texas
Texas, USA

Dallas Brister
Texas Christian University
Texas, USA

This presentation examines the design and implementation of co-requisite courses that combine general psychology and disability studies with developmental writing, aiming to support college students through an integrated, interdisciplinary approach. By pairing psychology and disability studies with content knowledge with reading and writing skill development, the courses help students build critical thinking, reading, and writing abilities while engaging with relevant material that enhances personal engagement and motivation. In Texas, students must be Texas Success Initiative, or TSI, compliant in reading and writing to graduate with their degree. Typically, if they do not enter college with a TSI compliant score, they are placed in a developmental English course. In this presentation, Abigayle Farrier discusses a pilot course, developed in the 2024-25 academic year, that pairs developmental writing with psychology, allowing students to earn 3 credit hours in psychology and become TSI compliant simultaneously. Rather than treating writing as a standalone skill, the course uses psychology concepts, such as memory, learning, behavior, and identity, for writing practice and academic exploration. Assignments are designed to deepen student understanding of psychological theories while simultaneously strengthening their ability to analyze, argue, and reflect in writing. Likewise, Dallas Brister shares from her work developing disability studies and co-requisite writing courses. The presentation shares sample assignments, curricular design, and assessment strategies that encourage active learning and metacognitive awareness. It will also address practical challenges in coordinating writing pedagogy across disciplines and balancing developmental needs with college-level expectations. Data from student feedback and outcomes illustrate the courses' impact on performance and student confidence.

Hawaiʻi-Based Literacy Pedagogies: Perspectives from Secondary and Post-Secondary Educators

Brooke Ward Taira, Ph.D.
Rebecca Arechiga, MFA
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Hawaii, USA

This session shares the moʻolelo of kumu (teachers) in Hawaiʻi who are integrating place-based literacies and sustainability-focused pedagogies within their classrooms. Grounded in a layering of asset-based and indigenous place-based frameworks, the research utilizes a relational "talk story" methodology—moʻolelo aku, moʻolelo mai—to explore how educators collaborate with families and communities to shape culturally sustaining instruction. Findings reveal that these kumu interweave cultural practices and ancestral knowledge, such as the story of Hāloa, to create interdisciplinary learning experiences that connect students to their ʻāina (land). Furthermore, the study highlights a shift toward ecological justice, where place-based literacies become tools for examining local environmental issues and fostering a sense of kuleana (responsibility). Ultimately, this research demonstrates how centering community and place can redefine education, moving beyond standard literacy models toward a transformative, culturally sustaining curriculum that honors the lived experiences and ecological realities of Hawaiʻi.

Harnessing AI for TESOL Teacher Preparation: Lessons from Online and Hybrid Context

Edward Johns, Ed.D
Moreland University
Washington DC, USA

The rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools presents new opportunities—and challenges—for TESOL teacher preparation. This presentation examines innovative applications of AI to support TESOL educators and candidates in lesson planning, assessment, and feedback within online and hybrid learning environments. Drawing upon experiences as an instructor and curriculum designer at Moreland University, the presenter demonstrates how purpose-built GPT systems were employed to align TESOL lesson objectives with established standards such as InTASC, NCSS, and CAEP. Through practical examples, participants will explore how AI can scaffold reflective practice, enhance formative assessment, and personalize professional feedback for diverse teacher candidates. The session will also address ethical considerations, including data transparency, bias awareness, and responsible integration aligned with institutional AI guidelines.

Rather than replacing the human element of teaching, AI can serve as a catalyst for creativity, innovation, and equity in language education. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies for integrating AI-assisted feedback and planning tools in their TESOL programs—empowering educators to focus on higher-order pedagogy, learner engagement, and intercultural communication.

English at the Edges: Checking its Boundaries in the Linguistic Landscape of the Philippines

Rodney Jubilado, Ph.D.
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
Hawaii, USA

This paper examines the limitations of English in the linguistic landscape of the Philippines, a multilingual and multicultural nation that has layered colonial history. English, as the co-official language, functions as a medium in government, education, law, business, and international communication. However, its dominance does not reflect the linguistic realities of the daily lives of the Filipinos, who have 187 spoken languages. Despite the institutional support, English proficiency remains unevenly distributed, correlating with socioeconomic status, urbanization, and access to quality education. In public signages and commercial spaces, English frequently appears as a language of prestige and modernity. But other languages such as Filipino and Spanish often compete with English. This paper argues that the prominence of English in the Philippine linguistic landscape reveals not only its functional utility but also its cultural, historical, religious, and political constraints. With the competing languages, this paper offers insights into how language choice in public spaces mediates power, identity, and memory in a multilingual society.

Students in Distress: Reducing Stress through Expressive Writing in Composition Classes

Hediye Ozkan Matz, Ph.D.
University of North Dakota
North Dakota, USA

The demands of college which create stress and pressure immensely affect first-year students’ success as well as mental health. Adopting to a new environment, course load, exams, time management, learning instructional systems, familial expectations, and financial concerns are major stress factors that can lead to lack of motivation, academic suspension and failure, and college dropouts (Abelson et al., 2022; Pascoe et al., 2020; Robertson et al., 2020). Although university counseling centers offer help, support, and resources to recognize, understand, and cope with internal and external stressors, most students avoid asking for help due to peer pressure, stigma, cost, accessibility, waiting times, lack of diversity, mistrust, or lack of awareness. The limitations of getting traditional professional support on college campuses lead me, a full-time Teaching English faculty, who interacts with up to 168 students in their first year, to consider creative approaches to reduce stress in the classroom. Considering the crucial role of English Composition classes in college curriculums, this study aims to stir discussion about whether Composition I and II classes help manage and reduce academic stress of first-year college students through expressive writing, a therapeutic way to make meaning of their experiences by exploring their thoughts and emotions. What kind of instructional techniques and strategies should be adapted to support mindfulness in Composition classes? Can students calm their body and mind while still analyzing, applying and evaluating diverse readings and creating different types of writing through hands-on experiences (“wonder walks,” “do yoga” “observe and write,” “interview,” “autobiography podcast”), creative and expressive (journals, memoirs, reflections, free writing, storytelling), and academic (proposal, abstract, literature review, annotated bibliography, research papers) writing? Discussing the benefits of expressive writing which helps construct a positive self, restore cognitive processes, extreme emotional responses, and modify emotion-based stress responses that influence the immune system (Lepore & Smyth, 2002; Niles et al., 2014), this study explores how integrating expressive writing in Composition classes can foster an inner dialogue with the self, regulate emotions stress, and promote student wellness for the first-year college students.

Patriarchy, Ecological Crisis and Female Resilience in India: An Ecofeminist Reading of Tishani Doshi's Poetry

**Md Nasir Hossain, Ph.D***.*
Madanapalle Institute of Technology and Science
Madanapalle, India

Tishani Doshi's poetry offers a compelling space for ecofeminist critique, where patriarchal domination and ecological destruction intersect, creating a profound commentary on the exploitation of both women and nature. Through close readings of poems such as Summer in Madras, What the Sea Brought In, The Women of the Shin Yang Park Sauna, Monsoon Poem, and Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods, this paper explores how Doshi critiques the symbiotic relationship between gendered violence and environmental decay in the Indian context. The research asks: How do Tishani Doshi’s poems subvert traditional portrayals of nature and femininity to critique the dual oppressions faced by women and the environment in patriarchal and capitalist societies? Employing an ecofeminist theoretical framework, this study draws on the works of Vandana Shiva, Val Plumwood, and Ariel Salleh to understand the intersections of gender, ecology, and colonial history. Through detailed analysis, the paper demonstrates how Doshi uses vivid imagery and subversive symbolism to expose the systematic exploitation of women and nature, while also offering hope in the form of female resistance and ecological regeneration. Key findings reveal that Doshi’s work reflects the ongoing struggles of women and nature within the socio-economic framework of contemporary India, calling for a holistic approach to justice that bridges gender and environmental concerns. The discussion further emphasizes how Doshi’s poetry engages with the complexities of ecofeminist resistance, offering detailed understandings of survival, regeneration, and collective memory in the face of ecological and gendered violence. The implications of this research extend beyond academic discourse, providing significant insights into how ecofeminist perspectives can inform our understanding of contemporary socio-ecological issues. In the context of India, where environmental degradation and gendered violence are pressing concerns, Doshi’s work presents an urgent call for collective resistance and systematic change. By linking the struggles of women with those of the natural world, this research highlights the necessity of adopting a more holistic, interconnected approach to addressing environmental sustainability and gender justice.

A few considerations on the effects of language contact in conversations between Romanian-English bilinguals

Victor Octavian Ionescu
University of Bucharest
Bucharest, Romania

The aim of this paper is to show how language contact phenomena shapes the bilingual mind, as well as the linguistic preferences and tendencies of the bilingual individual. This is shown through a rigorous analysis of a pre-existing corpus of transcribed conversations between Romanian-English bilingual speakers which take place in the months of September, October and November 2021. From the qualitative and quantitative analyses of the data, the following factors having an impact on English-Romanian code-switching have emerged, which not only affect bilingual language performance, but also account for different patterns of code-switching: (a) speakers who switched from English to Romanian were more comfortable either with one of the two languages, or with both languages, in the case of balanced bilinguals; (b) speakers who performed switches from Romanian to English felt less of a need to do so; (c) some conversations that may have had more untranslatable terms in the other language than others; (d) the age of second language (L2) acquisition; (e) the exposure to both the native language (L1) and the second language (L2); (f) personal language preferences; (g) the process of aging of a bilingual speaker. These factors are relevant not only for the sociolinguistic analysis of the data, but also for the personal development of the bilingual individual, providing valuable insight towards the understanding of the bilingual mind.

Pronoun Use in Japanese EFL Learners’ Spoken English: Discourse Patterns and Pedagogical Implications

Nobuyo Fukaya, Ph.D.
Niigata Agro-Food University
Tainai, Japan

This study investigates Japanese EFL learners’ use of English third-person plural pronouns “they” and “them” in spoken discourse, with implications for classroom instruction. While the Given-before-New (GN) principle predicts that discourse-given referents are typically encoded as pronouns to maintain cohesion, its application in L2 learner discourse remains underexplored.
Using spoken data from the International Corpus Network of Asian Learners of English (ICNALE), this study analyzes Japanese learners’ use of the pronouns “they” and “them” across CEFR proficiency levels, with native English speakers as a reference group. Frequency analysis shows that “they” is substantially overused at lower proficiency levels (A2: approximately 18,000 PMW) compared with native speakers (approximately 14,800 PMW), but decreases with proficiency (B2: approximately 11,400 PMW). In contrast, “them” is consistently underused across all levels, with approximately 1,100 PMW at A2 and only about 2,700 PMW at B2, compared with a native-speaker baseline of approximately 5,500 PMW. Discourse-level analysis further shows that nearly 30% of “they” tokens at A2 occur at the fifth mention or later, whereas over 75% of “them” tokens across levels are confined to first mention, indicating difficulty in sustaining object-pronoun reference. To illustrate the pedagogical implications, the presentation reports a survey of five representative Japanese junior high school Grade 7 English textbooks, showing that GN-compliant object-pronoun use is typically illustrated only once within a short example. It is argued that minimally extending such examples can make discourse-level pronoun use more visible and teachable.

The Linguistic Landscape of A'Sharqiyah University

Maxine Rafaella Rodriguez
A’Sharqiya University
Ibra, Oman

Lack of extracurricular exposure to English is a key contributor to students’ poor academic performance in English classes. English tends to be taught mechanically or far removed from naturally occurring phenomena, as instructors are required to teach and assess solely based on the prescribed textbook. Such is the case with the Centre for Language and Foundation Studies at A'Sharqiyah University (ASU), where students generally come from environments where little to no English is used. Employing geosemiotics, linguistic landscapes, and multimodality, this research investigates the role of written English and accompanying visual modes in improving students’ performance in English classes. Data are snapshots of English signs found in the ASU campus, and interviews with and surveys answered by students for their perceptions of their own academic performance after inclusion of extracurricular exposure to English in classroom instruction. As of this writing, preliminary results yield perfunctory translations of Arabic to English, and students’ positive engagement with class activities involving English signs and other visual modes in the campus. It is planned that this research would include a comparison of students’ actual marks from a regularly taught English class in one semester, and another in which extracurricular exposure in English is included in the Delivery Plan.

The effect of using AI on translating media text: with reference to style and message

Kais Amir Kadhim, Ph.D.
University of Malaysia Terengganu
Malaysia

Today's post-human translation studies have increasingly focused on exploring the intricate relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) and translation, delving into its implications. This paper delves into the complexities of AI, particularly machine translation (MT), and its transformative impact on the concept of translation in the context of technological advancements. This transformation has given rise to new roles and competencies for translators. The primary aim of this research is to scrutinize the quality of style and messaging in Arabic-English-Arabic translated media texts. We seek to shed new light on how AI challenges the translation industry, exploring potential advantages and risks for language professionals while presenting a theoretical framework delineating the evolving roles of human translators. This study focuses on pinpointing common errors in Google Translate (GT) when translating informative news texts from Arabic to English and vice versa. It aims to evaluate translation quality, assess fluency and semantic accuracy, and ascertain the necessity of human intervention to rectify translated outputs.To achieve this, purposefully chosen examples from online newspapers were selected. A mixed-method approach was employed for data analysis, qualitatively identifying errors guided by Hsu's (2014) classification of machine translation errors.

Evaluating Large Language Models for Language Learning: A Learner Corpus–Based Study

Yu Kyoung Shin, Ph.D.
Hallym University
Korea

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly deployed as natural language applications for second language (L2) writing support, automated feedback, and assessment (Hong & Shin, 2025). As such systems are adopted in educational contexts, a key evaluation challenge concerns whether LLM-generated texts adequately reflect learner language as empirically attested in learner corpora. Learner language exhibits systematic developmental patterns and proficiency-specific distributions that differ from native-speaker usage, raising concerns about the validity and fairness of LLM-based language applications trained primarily on native-speaker data (Bender et al., 2021). This study conducts a corpus-based system evaluation of three widely used LLMs (GPT, Google Gemini, DeepSeek) using a large-scale Korean EFL learner writing corpus as an empirical benchmark. The corpus consists of 1.6 million words of argumentative essays produced by university-level learners and is systematically annotated into six proficiency levels. Each LLM was prompted to generate learner-like English texts aligned with the same proficiency levels and writing tasks. The resulting outputs were compiled into model-specific AI-generated corpora, enabling direct and controlled comparisons with human learner writing. The study asks to what extent LLM-generated texts reproduce the structural patterns and functional distributions of lexical bundles observed in learner corpora across proficiency levels. Lexical bundles were extracted from both corpora and compared in terms of structural and discoursal functions. The results reveal systematic mismatches, with LLMs favoring standardized and native-like bundles and underrepresenting proficiency-specific learner features, particularly at lower levels. These findings highlight the value of learner corpora as evaluation resources for assessing LLM-based language generation systems.