Ampersand最新文献

{"title":"Assessing pragmatic comprehension competence in Farsi as a second/foreign language: From the perspective of speech acts in Farsi","authors":"Hamed Ghaemi","doi":"10.1016/j.amper.2026.100255","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.amper.2026.100255","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Farsi's pragmatic comprehension development as a second or foreign language is examined in this paper with an eye toward learners' capacity to understand inferred meaning and contextually appropriate language use. Although pragmatic competence is quite important in efficient communication given the high-context character of Farsi, little study has looked at how L2 learners pick up these abilities in Farsi. Using both judgment tasks and reaction time measurements, the mixed-methods designevaluates the pragmatic comprehension of two groups: native and non-native speakers. The latter group was also divided into beginner and intermediate Farsi learners. 60 people in all finished a set of discourse completion tasks (DCTs) meant to assess sensitivity to indirectness, politeness, and speech act interpretation in formal and informal settings. With intermediate students performing more nearly to native speakers, quantitative data revealed notable variations in both accuracy and reaction times between competency levels. Learners who received explicit pragmatic instruction also showed faster response times and better comprehension than those without such instruction, therefore underscoring the success of formal teaching interventions. Particularly in informal settings, qualitative analyses exposed ongoing difficulties identifying indirect requests and culturally nuanced expressions. These results highlight the importance of educational resources and curricula including explicit pragmatic awareness training since they imply that both proficiency level and instructional method greatly influence pragmatic comprehension in Farsi.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":35076,"journal":{"name":"Ampersand","volume":"16 ","pages":"Article 100255"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146173191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Use of English in engineering workplace: Frequency, skill hierarchy, and functions","authors":"Adilur Rahaman ,&nbsp;Shuvo Saha ,&nbsp;M. Obaidul Hamid ,&nbsp;Harunur Rashid Khan","doi":"10.1016/j.amper.2025.100252","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.amper.2025.100252","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The existing body of research on workplace English for engineers highlights the significance of English in the engineering work. However, there is limited understanding of the use of English in the engineering profession in terms of the frequency of English use, the relative importance of macro skills such as speaking and writing, and the functions of the English language. This study examined diaries written by 97 in-service mechanical engineers regarding their experiences with English language use in their workplaces. Follow-up interviews were conducted with a sub-sample for triangulation. A summative content analysis of the diary data was carried out to identify the frequency of the use of English and the hierarchy of the use of the four skills (i.e., reading, writing, listening, speaking). In addition, thematic analysis and summative content analysis were employed to identify the functions of English in the engineering workplace. Findings reveal that the majority of the participants used English on 21–25 days during the 30-day data collection period. ‘Writing’ is the most frequently used skill, and ‘informative’ is the dominant function. Besides, in the engineering workplace, English primarily serves transactional functions while interactional uses remain limited. We conclude with implications for language educators and policymakers in relation to the use of the English language in the engineering sector.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":35076,"journal":{"name":"Ampersand","volume":"16 ","pages":"Article 100252"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145926527","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enhancing scientific writing skills among postgraduate students: Evaluating the impact of academic writing training at the institute of Accountancy Arusha, Tanzania","authors":"Simon Mlundi","doi":"10.1016/j.amper.2025.100251","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.amper.2025.100251","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Academic writing plays a vital role in postgraduate education, particularly in the realm of scientific research. This study examined the effectiveness of an academic writing training programme designed for newly enrolled master's students at the Institute of Accountancy Arusha. The primary objective of the training was to strengthen postgraduate students' proficiency in scientific writing. Conducted at the Institute of Accountancy Arusha in Tanzania, the study involved 115 master's students who participated by completing questionnaires. Employing a quantitative research method within a descriptive framework, the research evaluated changes in academic writing skills and overall academic performance before and after the training. Analysis using correlation techniques and descriptive statistics demonstrated notable improvements in writing abilities, particularly in enhancing students' confidence in composing scientific papers, essays, dissertations, and citations. Additionally, the training positively impacted time management skills, indicating that targeted academic writing instruction can significantly enhance the scientific writing capabilities of postgraduate students.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":35076,"journal":{"name":"Ampersand","volume":"16 ","pages":"Article 100251"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145926528","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring linguistic fingerprints in human and AI-generated texts: An NLP-based approach in second language writing","authors":"Fatemeh Etaat","doi":"10.1016/j.amper.2026.100258","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.amper.2026.100258","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The aim of this study is to conduct a linguistic analysis of English essays produced by intermediate-level second language (L2) learners compared to those generated by AI, across five linguistic dimensions: lexical richness, syntactic complexity, semantic similarity, discourse cohesion, and surface-level errors. A parallel corpus of 160 essays, 80 AI-generated and 80 learner-written, was collected and analyzed using Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques. The results revealed that AI essays tend to be longer and syntactically more complex, with significantly higher lexical diversity and greater use of content words. While both types of essays share similar sentiment and cohesion patterns, the AI essays demonstrate more advanced sentence structures and deeper syntactic tree depths. Readability metrics show that the learners’ essays are simpler and more accessible. Error analysis revealed that the human essays contain four times more errors, particularly in spelling and stylistic choices. The study highlights how AI-generated language diverges from learner-produced writing and offers insights into how AI tools can be effectively leveraged to support language development at this proficiency level.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":35076,"journal":{"name":"Ampersand","volume":"16 ","pages":"Article 100258"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146173190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of dialogue journal writing on EFL learners’ writing performance: A focus on content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanics","authors":"Abebe Tilahun Mogesse,&nbsp;Hailu Wubshet Degefu,&nbsp;Eskinder Getachew Degaga","doi":"10.1016/j.amper.2025.100249","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.amper.2025.100249","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The main aim of this study was to examine the effects of dialogue journal writing on the writing performance of EFL first-year students at Hawassa University. Two intact classes were randomly selected from the Social Science stream to participate in the study. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design was employed. After administering a pre-test to both the experimental and comparison groups at the onset of the intervention and after checking their comparability, the two groups were randomly assigned to experimental and comparison conditions. Following thirteen calendar weeks of intervention using dialogue journal writing for the experimental group and the conventional method for the comparison group, a post-test was administered to both groups. To analyze the data, both descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics, including a one-way MANOVA and paired samples t-test, were employed, with data analyzed using SPSS version 26. The findings of the study revealed that the intervention significantly improved the experimental group students' writing performance as a combined dependent variable, with a moderate effect size. A follow-up ANOVA indicated that the intervention significantly improved all aspects of writing, including content, organization, vocabulary, and language use (with a modest effect size). However, the treatment did not significantly improve the experimental group's writing performance in terms of mechanics, although they scored a higher mean (M = 2.93) than the comparison group (M = 2.82). Therefore, EFL university instructors are encouraged to integrate dialogue journal writing into their writing classes to enhance students' writing performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":35076,"journal":{"name":"Ampersand","volume":"16 ","pages":"Article 100249"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791450","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rewriting language support: Bridging pedagogical cultures through writing centre integration in French higher education","authors":"Clive E. Hamilton,&nbsp;Lucy Merkin","doi":"10.1016/j.amper.2025.100250","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.amper.2025.100250","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the evolving role of Language Resource Centres (LRCs) in French universities and critically evaluates the potential benefits of incorporating writing centre principles commonly found in US institutions. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data from student and teacher questionnaires, the research reveals a pronounced mismatch in perceptions of academic language competence, especially in French and English. The findings suggest that student self-assessment may underestimate skill gaps identified by educators. The paper situates these observations within broader trends in higher education internationalisation and draws on comparative pedagogical models to propose pragmatic solutions. Notably, both stakeholder groups overwhelmingly support the establishment of writing centres as dynamic support structures. By rethinking the function and scope of LRCs, this research advocates for a more integrated and responsive approach to academic literacy in multilingual university contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":35076,"journal":{"name":"Ampersand","volume":"16 ","pages":"Article 100250"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Human-AI collaboration in academic writing: Exploring university students’ agency through a sociocultural lens","authors":"Abdulqader Alyasin,&nbsp;Muhammad Athar Shah","doi":"10.1016/j.amper.2026.100256","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.amper.2026.100256","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Framed through Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and a metacognitive lens, this research investigates university students' reflections on utilizing AI (specifically ChatGPT) to support academic writing development. Drawing on 37 written reflections from undergraduates across diverse majors at a national university in Qatar, thematic analysis was employed to gain nuanced insights into students' critical engagement with generative AI. Six themes emerged, namely textual quality, collaborative synergy, iterative support, cognitive engagement, learner motivation, and ethical awareness, highlighting ChatGPT's potential to enhance both linguistic development and metacognitive growth when writing instruction is appropriately anchored and scaffolded. Students' reflections and selective integration of AI outputs demonstrated authorial agency, positioning the chatbot as a co-participant in the writing process. The study contributes to evolving discussions on AI in education and advocates for moving beyond polarized AI debates towards a post-process, recursive, and ethically grounded model of AI-integrated writing pedagogy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":35076,"journal":{"name":"Ampersand","volume":"16 ","pages":"Article 100256"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146077913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A cross-cultural comparative study of language learning applications for self-regulated language learning: Insights from mainland China, the UK, and the US","authors":"Noble Lo ,&nbsp;Yuming Chang","doi":"10.1016/j.amper.2025.100246","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.amper.2025.100246","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study comprises a cross-cultural comparative study of the ways in which foreign-language learners regard and use language learning applications (LLAs) as part of their strategy of language acquisition. Through providing questionnaires and undertaking interviews with language learners at universities across mainland China, the United Kingdom and United States of America, the study seeks to understand how factors such as motivations behind learning languages, attitudes towards language learning applications, and confidence in self-regulated learning skills can impact outcomes such as application choice and time spent using language learning applications. On the basis of survey responses from 1298 students and interviews with some 30 of this number, the study notes a number of conclusions pertinent to its aims. It highlights important differences in how students from China, the UK and USA use LLAs for self-regulated language learning, particularly between the Chinese context and Anglophonic contexts. Chinese students favour applications that facilitate the structured delivery of content reflecting predetermined goals, whereas English and American students favour applications that offer more flexibility and personalised feedback. Motivations also vary, with Chinese students prioritising professional development and certification, whilst British and American students value personal growth and cultural appreciation. Identified challenges also differ, with Chinese users struggling to comprehend written content – prioritising written comprehension over other competencies – and confidence in SRL, whilst British and American users are often frustrated with repetitive content, a lack of sufficient personalisation, and insufficient opportunities for practising speaking and listening.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":35076,"journal":{"name":"Ampersand","volume":"16 ","pages":"Article 100246"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145705696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Peer interactions of multilingual toddlers in early childhood education and care in the Netherlands: An exploratory observation-based social network study","authors":"Anne-Mieke M.M. Thieme,&nbsp;Josje Verhagen,&nbsp;Folkert Kuiken,&nbsp;Sible Andringa","doi":"10.1016/j.amper.2026.100257","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.amper.2026.100257","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Peer interactions in early childhood education and care (ECEC) contribute to young children's development. Earlier studies show that children's linguistic resources might relate to how much they interact with peers, and with whom they interact. However, it is unclear to what extent interaction preferences are shaped by young children's language background, language proficiency, and communicative competence. In this exploratory study, we tried to examine this question using the latest innovations in social network analysis, namely generalized exponential graph models and observation apps. We investigated to what extent children's linguistic resources are related to whom they interact with and how much. We observed a free play episode (30–60 min) in twelve linguistically diverse toddler groups in the Netherlands (N = 124) with a specifically designed observation app and looked at which children interacted and how much. Exploratory analyses across nine playgroups showed that children who shared a home language had more interactions with each other. There was no effect of multilingualism or ECEC language proficiency on peer interactions. We found that teacher involvement in free play was positively related to the quantity of peer interactions. In terms of practical implications, this suggests that teachers play an important role in stimulating (multilingual) children's peer interactions in ECEC. Teachers might be advised to connect multilingual children to same-language peers and encourage translanguaging practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":35076,"journal":{"name":"Ampersand","volume":"16 ","pages":"Article 100257"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146077912","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The usage of artificial intelligence in legal translation: Bridging the gap between law and language","authors":"Amjad Mohammad Badah ,&nbsp;Camellia Najeh Khalaf ,&nbsp;Fatima Jamil Dwaikat ,&nbsp;Naji AlQbailat","doi":"10.1016/j.amper.2025.100248","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.amper.2025.100248","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the translation industry, translators are increasingly relying on AI-powered tools in their translation tasks to accelerate the translation process and improve the quality of their output. Undoubtedly, legal documents demand utmost precision, and while AI tools promise enhanced efficiency and consistency, their ability to fully grasp the intricate cultural and legal nuances that human translators master remains limited. In this context, the present research conducts a comparative analysis of Arabic-English legal translations produced by 27 university translation students and two AI-powered tools (ChatGPT and DeepSeek), examining three key dimensions of translation quality: accuracy, naturalness, and error typology, including lexical, syntactic, and pragmatic errors. The dataset comprises two authentic Arabic legal texts: one special power of attorney and one judicial pleading. They were selected to represent distinct legal genres and levels of linguistic and cultural complexity. We found that while AI excels in technical terminology and structural coherence, it often stumbles with culturally rich expressions and subtle contextual meanings. Human translators, despite occasional terminological inaccuracies, demonstrate a superior understanding of these critical cultural and legal elements. In conclusion, the study supports a collaborative approach that integrates the efficiency and accuracy of AI with the cultural awareness and contextual expertise of human translators. By adopting such a hybrid model, it becomes possible to bridge the gap between law and language, ultimately ensuring the production of high-quality legal translations in an increasingly interconnected world. The current study offers empirical evidence on the strengths and limitations of AI translation systems and human translation in the Arabic–English legal context, informing best practices for quality legal translation. The findings contribute empirical evidence to the growing body of research on AI-assisted legal translation, highlighting both the potential and limitations of large language models in Arabic-English legal contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":35076,"journal":{"name":"Ampersand","volume":"16 ","pages":"Article 100248"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}