This paper examines the process of translating culture-specific items (CSIs) from English into Arabic in the Nigerian play Death and the King’s Horseman by the Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka. Anglophone African literary texts, particularly those rooted in indigenous belief systems and oral traditions, present unique challenges for translators due to their dense cultural and linguistic layers. Research on English–Arabic translation has largely centered on Western texts, while Anglophone African literature remains underexplored despite its distinct hybrid linguistic and cultural features. This study advances the field by examining the translation of CSIs in Nigerian literature as a double transposition process (Bandia, 1993). This study draws on Nida’s (1964) cultural categorization, Vinay and Darbelnet’s (1995) translation procedures, and Venuti’s (1995) concepts of domestication and foreignization. Through a descriptive and comparative analysis of representative CSIs, including ecological, material, social, religious, and linguistic categories, this research explores the translation problems encountered, the procedures employed, and the translator’s orientation. The findings reveal that religious and social CSIs are most prevalent, often leading to untranslatability and semantic loss. The translator employed a variety of procedures with a strong tendency toward domestication, while still preserving culturally significant foreign elements to sustain original cultural flavor. Moreover, the paper concludes that translating African literary texts into Arabic involves complex negotiations between cultural adequacy and reader accessibility. This study contributes to the field of translation studies of Anglophone African literature by shedding light on how cultural and linguistic asymmetries are negotiated in Arabic translations, offering practical insights for cross-cultural translation practice.

IntroductionMost research on critical thinking (CT) in project-based learning (PBL) has focused on whether CT improves following instruction, typically through composite or dimension-specific scores. Less is known about how learners experience individual CT subskills during task engagement.MethodsThis qualitative study examined how twelve Grade 12 students at a Sino-foreign cooperative secondary school in China described their use of six CT subskills during intercultural project-based tasks. Semi-structured interviews were conducted one week after task completion and analysed using a hybrid thematic approach.ResultsIn students’ accounts, the six subskills were not described as equally salient or simultaneously activated. Interpreting and analysing were commonly described as early, relatively consistent moves. Inferring and evaluating appeared more variable: under certain conditions they sharpened culturally responsive communication, while under others they narrowed cultural content through premature assumptions or receded into procedural compliance. Explaining and self-regulating were described as late-stage refinements, often compressed by time pressure. Perceived task stakes, rubric design, and feedback availability emerged as conditions that appeared to shape whether inference and evaluation took productive or constraining forms.DiscussionThese findings suggest that CT subskills may be experienced as unevenly distributed across task phases, and that fostering CT in intercultural PBL may require explicit attention to the conditions under which less stable and later-emerging processes are supported.

This study, grounded in a mixed-methods framework, examines the hindrances affecting the speaking skills of low-proficiency ESL undergraduates at a public university, with a specific focus on the perceived role of language anxiety. The study collected quantitative data by using a well-structured questionnaire, whereas qualitative insights were captured through semi-structured interviews to examine learners’ reported classroom experiences. Speaking proficiency has long been a persistent challenge, given its importance for English as a Second Language (ESL) learners, who need extended exposure yet have limited opportunities within formal language instruction, particularly in non-Anglophone higher education contexts. Descriptive statistical analysis indicated that psychological factors, especially presentation anxiety, fear of making mistakes, and low speaking self-confidence, were reported as key barriers alongside classroom-related and linguistic challenges. The thematic analysis of the interview data further suggested that English-only instructional approaches, teacher-dominated pedagogical practices, linguistic insecurity, and crowded classrooms were perceived to heighten learners’ anxiety and reduce their readiness or willingness to communicate. From a pedagogical perspective, the current study highlights the significance of affectively sensitive teaching strategies, including carefully scaffolded collaborative interaction, helpful feedback, and flexible language use, for developing communicative self-confidence.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how the teacher's perceived value of student knowledge assessment (PVSKA) influences student knowledge development (SKD) in lessons and learning studies. It also explores the mediating roles of assessment approaches and methods (AAM) and assessment context (AC) in shaping this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on data collected from 558 English teachers participating in lesson and learning study projects in China. A structural equation modelling approach was applied to test the hypothesised relationships within the proposed conceptual framework.FindingsThe results indicate that the PVSKA does not have a direct effect on SKD. Instead, AAM and the AC serve as full mediators. These findings suggest that positive PVSKA must be reinforced by appropriate AAM and supportive AC to produce meaningful improvements in SKD in English learning.Practical implicationsThe paper underscores the importance of designing systematic assessment strategies and fostering enabling contexts when conducting English lessons and learning studies. Researchers and practitioners can use the proposed model to strengthen the validity and credibility of evidence regarding SKD in classroom-based research.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the international lesson and learning study field by introducing and empirically testing a conceptual model of PVSKA. It offers new insights into how PVSKA can be translated into credible evidence of SKD through the interaction of AC and AAM.

While the effects of task repetition (TR) on L2 learning are well documented, studies on TR in writing must consider the role of written corrective feedback (WCF) and feedback processing in enhancing its effectiveness. Grounded in Schmidt’s Noticing Hypothesis and Swain’s Output Hypothesis, this study examined model text feedback (MTF) and tested whether combining MTF with TR leads to greater improvements in writing ability than TR alone. Fifty-nine sophomore English majors from two intact classes (n=27; n=32) were assigned to a TR group and a TR plus MTF group. Over eight weeks, both groups were required to complete four writing tasks, including the exact repeating task and procedural task. Writing performance was assessed using overall writing scores and measures of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) in pre- and post-tests. Data were analysed using paired and independent samples t-tests and repeated-measures ANOVA. Results revealed that although both groups improved similarly in overall writing scores, their developmental trajectories differed, indicating similar endpoint performance but different patterns of change during the intervention period. MTF showed a clear advantage in enhancing linguistic accuracy, but its effect on complexity and fluency was limited. These findings support the Noticing and Output Hypotheses, suggesting that MTF helps learners notice the gaps between their output and target forms, especially in accuracy, which promotes reflection, revision, and improved writing accuracy. MTF, therefore, remains a purposeful pedagogical tool that, when strategically integrated into TR-based writing tasks to strengthen linguistic accuracy and support overall writing proficiency.

This chapter examines the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into conference interpreting, particularly within medical and mental health contexts. It identifies key challenges, including terminological inconsistency, limited pragmatic flexibility, emotional flattening, and ethical risks. Although technologies such as neural machine translation, automatic speech recognition, and real-time captioning have advanced, they remain inadequate for high-stakes, context-sensitive interpreting tasks. The chapter argues that interpreters are shifting from linguistic conduits to cognitive and ethical mediators. Drawing on recent developments in system design, role theory, and quality assessment, it proposes a human–machine collaboration framework that enhances interpreter performance without diminishing professional agency. The framework emphasizes interpreter-centered design, multimodal adaptability, and multidimensional evaluation. Ultimately, the chapter calls for a cautious yet constructive approach to AI adoption.

Washback, a key concept in language testing, examines how high-stakes exams influence teaching and learning. In China, the College English Test Band 4 (CET4) plays a crucial role in shaping students’ English learning experiences. However, few studies have explored how students perceive and respond to the revised CET4 in real contexts. This study investigates undergraduates' attitudes toward the reformed CET4 and its washback effects on EFL learning in China. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining surveys (N=300) and follow-up interviews (n=8) at a Chinese university. Data were analyzed via SPSS (descriptive/inferential statistics) and thematic analysis. Students perceived the reformed CET4 as challenging yet valuable, particularly ilistening/speaking sections. Positive washback included diversified learning strategies and skill prioritization, though test-driven learning persisted. Results inform CET4's alignment with international standards and pedagogical implications for balanced language assessment. The test generally promoted essential skills like listening and speaking. Overall, the revised CET4 has a positive impact on EFL learning. While students appreciate its improvements, the difficulty remains an issue. Adjustments could help balance language skill development more effectively.

Many scholars contend that technical language is rigid in its style such as Witte (1985), Long (2003). This entails that the latitude of the translator is low most of the time. This paper questions this contention in a genre of language which is characterized by being standing on the border of technical and expressive language as termed business and economic language. Methods: The researchers explore the translator’s latitude by analyzing two websites that offer economic texts translated into Arabic and compared between the choices made by the translators to convey the semantic nuances of tenses and aspect used in the business and economic genre. Following Halliday and Hassan’s (1967) theory of discourse analysis, the researcher drew a purposive sample, including the three tenses and their multiple aspectual translations to meet the study objective. Results: The paper found that different choices were made by the translators in both websites where some of the nuances were not conveyed like the translation of the present perfect and some were expressed through other linguistic devices, mostly lexes. Grammar and semantics go hand in hand to build meanings through any language systems. Conclusion: This paper draws the lines to the features of the economic language which pours in the benefit of linguists and translators alike to converge meanings transferred from remote languages as is the case with English and Arabic.

This chapter provides a foundational overview of conference interpreting by tracing its historical development, distinguishing it from written translation, and exploring its cognitive demands. It begins with a review of early interpreting practices in imperial courts and colonial settings, followed by the profession's formalization during the Nuremberg Trials and its institutionalization in the UN and EU. The chapter differentiates interpreting from translation in terms of modality, performance, and training. Drawing on Gile's Effort Models and recent cognitive research, it examines how interpreters manage real-time processing, memory constraints, and stress. The chapter also introduces self-efficacy as a psychological construct shaping interpreter performance and professional development. Together, these themes establish interpreting as a dynamic, cognitively complex, and ethically situated profession, laying the groundwork for future discussion on training, technology, and quality in multilingual communication.

Translating literary texts is a way to get to know other language-specificities in terms of figurative language, structure, and tone, among others, during the translation process. Since translated texts from a specific period might be seen differently at another period, this study attempts to examine how figures of speech are dealt with diachronically. It particularly examines how they are translated from Arabic into English and what translation procedures were adopted in the process. In doing so, Abdul-Raof’s (2006) classification of figures of speech and Van Doorslaer’s (2007) translation procedures model are followed to describe and compare the translation of certain components of figures of speech of the source texts and the target texts in Antara’s Mu’allaqã. The data are identified, collected, and analyzed manually, using criterion-sampling. The findings reveal that translators have mainly employed ten procedures: paraphrase, compensation, adaptation, literal, modulation, addition, and substitution, whereas borrowing has been used as an additional procedure. The study also reveals that the translated texts have shorter sentences and a lower lexical density; this indicates that the translated texts have become simpler, more straightforward, and less complex in recent decades, which makes the recent translations more functional than the earlier ones.

This study investigates the ideological evolution in translator styles through a diachronic analysis of five English translations of The True Story of Ah Q . It aims to uncover how translators’ linguistic choices reflect their cultural, historical, and ideological contexts. A mixed-method approach was adopted, combining quantitative analysis using the Multidimensional Analysis Tagger (MAT) with qualitative interpretations based on Hatim and Mason’s ideological framework. The study focuses on six key features: modality, nominalisation, domestication, lexical recurrence, lexicalisation, and transitivity shifts, examining their role in conveying ideological priorities. Findings reveal statistically significant variations in translators’ linguistic strategies, with modality reflecting authority and agency shifts, while nominalisation and lexical recurrence highlight ideological reframing of key concepts. Domestication and transitivity shift further illustrate how translations align with target audience expectations. These findings underscore the non-neutral nature of translation, where linguistic choices serve as ideological markers shaped by sociopolitical environments and personal beliefs. This study contributes to translation studies and corpus linguistics by demonstrating how quantitative and qualitative methodologies can be combined to uncover ideological patterns in translation. It emphasizes the need to consider translators’ backgrounds and historical contexts when analysing translated texts, offering insights into the ideological dimensions of cross-cultural communication. Future research should expand this approach to larger translation corpora and multiple language pairs to deepen our understanding of how ideology shapes translation practices.