As the most prominent and frequently consumed component of online news discourse, headlines play a vital role in shaping readers’ initial understanding of complex geopolitical events. This study aims to investigate the manner in which The New York Times online news headlines portray the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict during March-April 2026. It examines the representations of political actors as well as the linguistic construction of their actions, with attention to discursive strategies that shape these representations and influence audience interpretation. The study therefore adopts a Critical Discourse Analysis framework supported by Systemic Functional Linguistics to analyze key linguistic features such as Theme-Rheme organization, transitivity patterns, and lexicalization. The dataset comprises 71 online news headlines systematically collected and analyzed within a defined time frame. Each headline was also examined to identify dominant process types and patterns of information structuring, with the aim of uncovering how agency, responsibility, and evaluation are constructed. The findings show a tendency to foreground specific political actors, particularly through the repeated focus on a central figure, whose actions are highlighted and often framed through conflict-oriented processes, evaluative language, and ideologically loaded lexical choices. Material processes accounted for 53.8% of the dataset, constructing the conflict as action-driven and emphasizing responsibility. Verbal processes represented 23.1%, which highlights how political discourse is used to shape and reinforce particular narratives. This study demonstrates that online news headlines are not neutral summaries but discursive tools that actively shape public perception and help construct ideological meaning.
This study aimed to investigate English for Specific Purposes (ESP) students’ perceptions of Socratic Questioning (SQ) in reading instruction and to identify the challenges encountered during its implementation. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was employed involving 30 Management students at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Muhammadiyah Palembang. Quantitative data were collected through a 20-item five-point Likert-scale questionnaire, followed by semi-structured interviews with 10 purposively selected students. Questionnaire data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while interview data were examined through thematic analysis to explain and elaborate on the quantitative findings. The findings indicated that students generally perceived SQ positively, with 95% agreeing that its implementation had a positive impact on their learning and 80% strongly agreeing that it enhanced their critical thinking skills. In addition, 75% strongly agreed that SQ facilitated deeper understanding of reading texts, while 75% strongly agreed that it improved their participation in academic discussions. The qualitative findings supported these results and revealed that SQ encouraged deeper engagement with texts, critical evaluation of information, justification of interpretations, and connections between reading materials and real-world contexts. However, students initially experienced difficulty responding to open-ended and higher-order questions, while time constraints also emerged as a challenge during classroom discussions. These findings suggest that SQ can serve as an effective dialogic approach for promoting critical thinking, deeper reading comprehension, and active participation in ESP reading instruction. Its successful implementation, however, requires systematic scaffolding, gradual exposure to higher-order questioning, and effective management of classroom discussion time.
Online peer assessment is one of the strategies in authentic assessments in English class. However, few studies investigate the impacts of online peer assessment to foster EFL learner autonomy for writing class in higher education context. This study aims to explore online peer assessment on the promotion of learner autonomy in an EFL writing class. Drawing on Cotterall's (1995) learner autonomy dimensions, the research employed a qualitative design using semi-structured interviews with six participants selected purposefully and classroom observations of 22 undergraduate students enrolled in an English writing class at a reputable private university in Eastern Jakarta. The study employed Braun & Clarke's (2006) thematic analysis framework to analyze the data. The findings revealed that online peer assessment positively impacted five key aspects of learner autonomy: students’ perceptions of the teacher’s role, goal-setting behavior, responsibility for learning processes, use of learning strategies, and capacity for self-evaluation. Additionally, online peer assessment served as a motivational catalyst, enhancing students’ engagement and confidence in writing. Online peer assessment also enhanced deep learning by guiding students beyond surface corrections toward analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, fostering reflective practices, higher-order thinking, stronger writing strategies, and long-term knowledge retention. Implications for practice and future research are also discussed.
Educational tourism (Edu-tourism) offers opportunities to enhance English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning by connecting language instruction with authentic cultural experiences. However, the integration of cultural heritage and local wisdom into English for Tourism (EFT) courses remains underexplored, particularly in the Indonesian higher education context. This study investigates how cultural heritage and local wisdom can be integrated into an English for Tourism course through an edu-tourism framework and how such integration influences students’ engagement, language learning, and cultural awareness. Using a qualitative case study design, the research involved 15 fifth-semester EFL students and three lecturers from an English Education Department at a state university in Central Java, Indonesia. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom and field-based observations, and document analysis, and were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings reveal that integrating cultural heritage and local wisdom into EFT through contextualized lesson plans, experiential learning, and collaborative Edu-tourism projects enhanced students’ engagement, cultural awareness, confidence in using English, and appreciation of local culture. Field-based activities provided authentic opportunities for language use, while collaborative projects fostered critical thinking and creativity. Nevertheless, the implementation encountered several challenges, including limited resources, insufficient culturally integrated teaching materials, students’ initial hesitation during field activities, and time constraints within the academic schedule. These findings suggest that integrating Edu-tourism with cultural heritage and local wisdom provides an effective contextualized approach to English for Tourism instruction while simultaneously promoting cultural preservation and sustainable tourism education. The study also highlights the need for greater institutional support and curriculum development to facilitate the wider implementation of culturally responsive EFL learning.
Feedback in thesis writing is usually studied as a two-way exchange between student and supervisor, yet students draw on a wider ecology of advisors, peers, institutional services and digital tools. This study examines how the feedback ecologies of Indonesian EFL thesis writers are composed and how they change across undergraduate, master's and doctoral levels. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design combined a questionnaire completed by 23 students from 11 universities with semi-structured interviews with six of them, two at each degree level. Advisors formed the core of every ecology, named as a feedback source by 12 of 14 undergraduates, all 4 master's students and 4 of 5 doctoral students. Peers formed a supporting layer that thinned with degree level: 9 of 14 undergraduates named peers, compared with 2 of 4 master's and 1 of 5 doctoral students, and no doctoral student combined advisor and peer feedback. Writing centres were used only by three undergraduates. Advisor feedback was rated the most effective support overall (M = 4.45 on a 1-to-5 scale), while undergraduates rated peer mentoring, writing centres and workshops lower than postgraduates did. Interviews showed undergraduates embedded in reciprocal peer groups described as bahu-membahu, master's students drawing on seniors and graduates, and doctoral students working in relative isolation, with one noting the absence of a peer-review culture. The study proposes a layered model of advisor-centred, peer-supported feedback ecologies and argues that institutions should strengthen the peer and institutional layers, particularly for postgraduate writers.
