Language & CommunicationPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2026-01-14DOI: 10.1016/j.langcom.2025.12.005
José Ángel Gascón
{"title":"On the distinction between arguments and explanations","authors":"José Ángel Gascón","doi":"10.1016/j.langcom.2025.12.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.langcom.2025.12.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The distinction between arguments and explanations is both conceptually significant and pedagogically indispensable. Misidentifying arguments and explanations can lead to flawed evaluations and pedagogical confusion. However, while the traditional criteria (discourse function, acceptance of the statement, and acceptability of the reasons) offer some guidance, they frequently fail when applied to complex or ambiguous cases. I show that these criteria are insufficient to account for the interpretive challenges posed by real-life discourse. Instead, I propose the principle of charity as a more robust interpretive tool: we should favour the reading that best satisfies the standards of either argumentative or explanatory discourse. Although this approach will not eliminate ambiguity, it provides a consistent framework for navigating it.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47575,"journal":{"name":"Language & Communication","volume":"107 ","pages":"Pages 12-22"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145980504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Language & CommunicationPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2026-02-16DOI: 10.1016/j.langcom.2026.02.001
Atekah Abaalkhail
{"title":"Engagement in health representatives’ speeches of Covid-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia and the UK","authors":"Atekah Abaalkhail","doi":"10.1016/j.langcom.2026.02.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.langcom.2026.02.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Health speeches delivered by governments during the Covid-19 pandemic played a critical role in fighting the virus by engaging the public and shaping their behaviour. This research study examines engagement markers in health representative speeches in two different contexts, using Hyland's model of metadiscourse (Hyland, 2005a). The data comprises two datasets: speeches of the Saudi Arabian minister of health and the speeches of the United Kingdom secretary of state for health and social care from 2020 to 2021. The findings revealed that both speakers employed engagement markers but in different ways. In the SA speeches, the audience pronouns and shared knowledge employed were directly connected to the culture of SA and the Arabic language. The UK secretary of state for health utilized inclusive pronouns and directives to encourage compliance. The findings highlight the usefulness of the metadiscourse model when applied to a language other than English, taking into account the cultural context. The study emphasizes the importance of understanding linguistic resources in health communication and the need for tailored communication strategies in health messaging.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47575,"journal":{"name":"Language & Communication","volume":"107 ","pages":"Pages 159-174"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147397809","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Language & CommunicationPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2026-01-16DOI: 10.1016/j.langcom.2025.12.004
Jess Kruk
{"title":"Interlocutor reference and competing social imaginaries in a predominantly Chinese Indonesian workplace in West Kalimantan","authors":"Jess Kruk","doi":"10.1016/j.langcom.2025.12.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.langcom.2025.12.004","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47575,"journal":{"name":"Language & Communication","volume":"107 ","pages":"Pages 23-36"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145980503","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Language & CommunicationPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2026-01-10DOI: 10.1016/j.langcom.2025.12.002
Piotr Zemszał
{"title":"The pragmatically conditioned shift from relative to qualitative adjectives in Soviet totalitarian discourse of the 1950s: A synchronic and qualitative analysis","authors":"Piotr Zemszał","doi":"10.1016/j.langcom.2025.12.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.langcom.2025.12.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article investigates the pragmatically conditioned shift of relative adjectives into the category of qualitative adjectives within the ideological discourse of the Soviet Union. The study draws on texts from the newspaper Pravda (1953–1957) and the Russian National Corpus, examining how strong axiological polarization – typified by the opposition of US versus THEM – motivated evaluative reinterpretation of adjectives. Unlike metaphorical shifts observed in non-totalitarian language use, this transformation is driven by ideological function. The analysis demonstrates how relative adjectives such as \"sovetskij \" (Soviet), \"buržuaznyj\" (bourgeois), and \"amerikanskij\" (American) acquired gradability and emotional connotation, indicative of a shift into the qualitative category. The findings provide insight into the interaction between political ideology and grammatical change in language.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47575,"journal":{"name":"Language & Communication","volume":"107 ","pages":"Pages 1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145941309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Language & CommunicationPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2026-01-31DOI: 10.1016/j.langcom.2026.01.003
Amandeep Dhaliwal, Deepti Dabas Hazarika
{"title":"The semiotics of emojis & emoticons: Social hierarchies, platform preferences, and functional implications in digital discourse","authors":"Amandeep Dhaliwal, Deepti Dabas Hazarika","doi":"10.1016/j.langcom.2026.01.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.langcom.2026.01.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The use of emojis and emoticons in digital communication has become an integral part of online interactions, allowing individuals to convey emotions and tone in a way that text alone cannot. This study examines usage patterns through the analysis of 391 participants aged 18–65, investigating platform preferences, social contexts, semantic awareness, and functional applications of digital paralanguage. The results indicate that, despite the widespread adoption of emojis and emoticons, the frequency and patterns of their use reflect nuanced forms of social stratification, with users deliberately avoiding emojis and emoticons in professional communication contexts. The platform choices revealed the popularity of informal media, which dominate emoji communication. Strong consensus also exists regarding emojis' and emoticons’ functional utility; however, semantic confidence remains moderate, expressing low meaning awareness. The study further reveals concerns that excessive emoji use is often perceived as “childish,” thereby increasing the possibility of communicative misunderstandings. Findings suggest emoji function as obligatory paralinguistic elements in peer communication while operating within sophisticated social appropriateness norms governing frequency, context, and relationship dynamics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47575,"journal":{"name":"Language & Communication","volume":"107 ","pages":"Pages 69-83"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146079252","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Language & CommunicationPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2026-01-19DOI: 10.1016/j.langcom.2025.12.003
Rosina Márquez Reiter , Mandie Iveson
{"title":"The quiet resourcefulness of Falderos: Embodied salesmanship in motion","authors":"Rosina Márquez Reiter , Mandie Iveson","doi":"10.1016/j.langcom.2025.12.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.langcom.2025.12.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper advances a posthumanist approach to interaction by examining <em>faldear</em>—a pervasive yet analytically neglected form of ambulant vending in Buenos Aires’ underground trains and, more broadly, in public transport across the Global South. Drawing on video-ethnographic fieldwork, the study shows how <em>falderos/as</em> transform the moving, enclosed space of the carriage into a site of livelihood through embodied, materially distributed sales practices.</div><div>The analysis challenges speech-centred analyses of (sales) interactions in language and communication research. It demonstrates that rather than principally relying on speech, <em>falderos/as</em> mainly orchestrate transactions through bodily movement, tactile product placement, and the spatial choreography of proximity and attention. Products themselves function as communicative agents—capable of redirecting attention, mediating social distance, and organizing temporal coordination within a mobile ecology.</div><div>By tracing how these workers’ agency circulates through bodies, objects, and movement, the paper frames <em>faldear</em> as a materially mediated, emplaced and culturally embedded livelihood practice, extending sensory and object-mediated interaction to the contingencies of hidden economies. In doing so, the paper redefines how communicative agency in economic interaction can be theorised, positioning <em>faldear</em> as a relevant case for rethinking language, labour, and embodiment in motion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47575,"journal":{"name":"Language & Communication","volume":"107 ","pages":"Pages 37-55"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146038896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Language & CommunicationPub Date : 2026-01-01Epub Date: 2025-12-07DOI: 10.1016/j.langcom.2025.11.003
Jingwei Zhang, Ting Jiang
{"title":"Persuading disputants toward reconciliation: Discursive legitimation in Chinese mediation","authors":"Jingwei Zhang, Ting Jiang","doi":"10.1016/j.langcom.2025.11.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.langcom.2025.11.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Chinese mediation is a vital social practice for settling disputes and maintaining social harmony. However, little research has examined the linguistic maneuvering through which mediators promote reconciliation within the Chinese socio-cultural context. Drawing on authentic data collected from Chinese mediation sessions and applying the models of legitimation strategies and the Attitude system, this study explores the discursive legitimation patterns deployed by mediators and the socio-cultural underpinnings of their discourse. The study finds that mediators use four discursive legitimation patterns to legitimize their discourse of persuading disputants toward reconciliation: invoking authorities to assign blame to disputants engaged in misconduct (authority legitimation); appealing to moral expectations to represent making concessions as morally appreciated (morality legitimation); framing reconciliation as a rational and sensible choice (rationality legitimation); displaying and eliciting emotions to foster reciprocal understanding between disputants (emotion legitimation). The findings further uncover that Chinese mediators’ discourse is shaped by modern institutional authorities and traditional cultural values (such as <em>guanxi</em>, <em>renqing</em>, and <em>mianzi</em>).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47575,"journal":{"name":"Language & Communication","volume":"106 ","pages":"Pages 30-39"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145750249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Language & CommunicationPub Date : 2026-01-01Epub Date: 2025-12-03DOI: 10.1016/j.langcom.2025.11.002
Ernest Nyamekye , Esther Asare , Abdul-Rahman Mutawakil , Solomon Domfeh , Love Kafui Mensah
{"title":"Multilingualism in parliamentary discourse: Unpacking ideological conflicts over the use of native languages in the parliament of Ghana","authors":"Ernest Nyamekye , Esther Asare , Abdul-Rahman Mutawakil , Solomon Domfeh , Love Kafui Mensah","doi":"10.1016/j.langcom.2025.11.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.langcom.2025.11.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines X users' (formerly Twitter) reactions to Hon. Ohene Kwame Frimpong's use of the Akan language in Ghana's Parliament—a move legally allowed but socially contested. Using critical discourse analysis, it examines the language ideologies surrounding multilingualism in the legislative sphere. Findings show a divided youth perspective: while some praise the use of native languages as promoting linguistic diversity, revitalisation, and resistance to English dominance, the majority express concern. They argue it sets a negative precedent, undermining professionalism, international competitiveness, and even linguistic diversity itself. A key fear is that privileging Akan in parliament may lead to its expansion at the expense of other indigenous languages, further deepening linguistic inequality in Ghana's multilingual landscape.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47575,"journal":{"name":"Language & Communication","volume":"106 ","pages":"Pages 1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145658984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Language & CommunicationPub Date : 2026-01-01Epub Date: 2025-12-05DOI: 10.1016/j.langcom.2025.10.006
John E. Joseph
{"title":"Schizolinguistics, from Tuczek's Analyse einer Katatonikersprache (1921) to Wolfson's Le Schizo et les langues (1970)","authors":"John E. Joseph","doi":"10.1016/j.langcom.2025.10.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.langcom.2025.10.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Attempts to diagnose schizophrenia have been grounded in theories concerning what linguistic deviance reveals about mental function. Tuczek's patient ‘Frau M.’ was institutionalized for using a language which mixed German and French elements. The psychiatrist Goldstein cherry-picked her utterances to support his advocacy of frontal lobotomy. Louis Wolfson was subjected to electroconvulsive therapy for his intolerance of hearing or seeing English, his mother tongue. His book lays out his phonetic and translinguistic strategies for converting English utterances into other languages. The evidence provided by these cases of schizolinguistics are significant for present-day understanding of the psychology and philosophy of language.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47575,"journal":{"name":"Language & Communication","volume":"106 ","pages":"Pages 13-29"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145693284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Language & CommunicationPub Date : 2026-01-01Epub Date: 2025-12-16DOI: 10.1016/j.langcom.2025.12.001
Hasan Shaikh
{"title":"Discursive strategies of stigmatization: The case of Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir in news media","authors":"Hasan Shaikh","doi":"10.1016/j.langcom.2025.12.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.langcom.2025.12.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) is a major ideological force in Bangladesh, making its media portrayal a constant battleground. Thus, in contested political landscapes, media do more than reporting, they construct, categorize, and cultivate public consciousness. This study claims that political smear campaigns are not merely inadvertent errors of journalism but conscious productions sculpted through subtle discursive strategies. Applying the Discourse-Historical Approach, this paper analyzes how <em>The Daily Star</em> framed ICS from February 2015 to December 2024. As outcomes, the ICS is on constant framing with terms of criminalization and militancy, and it is stripped of political legitimacy. Second, the legacy of 1971 is recycled strategically by assigning collective guilt to contemporary members, on the basis of which previous atrocities can get incorporated as historical exclusions. Third, these framings are replicated in law, educational, and policing institutions, pumping institutionalized discrimination. Fourth, the salience of framing intensifies during political instability, in synchronization with state repression and framing popular assent to coercive action. Finally, the discourse creates an intergenerational stigma that forever excludes Islamist-leaning youth from political participation. These dynamics illustrate that this outlet acts not as a passive informer but as a discursive agent of the state, scripting enemies and narrowing civic space. Therefore, this study challenges our understanding of power dynamics in Bangladesh's illiberal democracy and offers discourse analysis a critical lens for analyzing how ideological threats are managed through media-led erasure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47575,"journal":{"name":"Language & Communication","volume":"106 ","pages":"Pages 40-49"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145798487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}