Indian Journal of Language and Linguistics

Year Naming Practice among the Haya and Nyambo Communities of Kagera Region Tanzania

2026-01-18T07:42:21+00:00

This paper explored the distinctive cultural practice of year naming among the Haya and Nyambo communities, a tradition that plays a vital role in their social and cultural activities. The study focuses on the names assigned to years from 1959 to 2022, investigating the linguistic features, the implications and socio-cultural impacts of these names. The year naming practice serves as a lens through which the communities articulate their historical narratives and collective memory. By documenting this tradition, the study aims to uncover how these names reflect broader cultural themes and issues related to identity within the Haya and Nyambo societies. The paper employs Descriptivist Theory. The descriptive approach was employed, utilising qualitative data gathered through interviews and focus group discussions involving 20 respondents from Karagwe, Misenyi, Kyerwa, and Muleba districts of Kagera region. The year names were systematically coded into lexical, phrasal and sentential structures which were analysed using tabulations. The study revealed that the year names among the Haya and Nyambo display both lexical and post-lexical structural features including lexical items, sentences, metaphorical and metonymic expressions, and elliptical forms with declarative sentences (49 year names) and metaohorical expressions (9 year names) leading. These structural elements reflect meaningful sociocultural functions tied to specific communal experiences. The naming conventions convey key societal themes such as encouraging resilience and hard work, prompting self-reflection and self-examination, acknowledging shared struggles and empathy, offering spiritual and moral guidance, and celebrating achievements. Ultimately, the research highlights a unique cultural practice that contributes to broader discussions about how language-based traditions influence collective identity and social cohesion. By examining these naming patterns, the study sheds light on the deep interrelationship between language, culture, and community life in these linguistically rich societies.

AI- and XR-Enhanced Multisensory Language Learning: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Effects on Second Language Acquisition

2025-12-19T13:40:48+00:00

Artificial intelligence (AI) and extended reality (XR) technologies, including virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), are increasingly being integrated into second language acquisition (SLA). Although individual studies have reported promising outcomes, the magnitude and consistency of their effects on language learning remain uncertain. This meta-analysis synthesized evidence from peer-reviewed experimental and quasi-experimental studies to estimate the effectiveness of AI- and XR-enhanced multisensory interventions on linguistic, cognitive, and affective outcomes in language education. Following PRISMA guidelines, 21 peer-reviewed studies published between 2010 and 2025 were systematically reviewed. Random-effects models were used to calculate pooled Hedges’ g effect sizes, with subgroup analyses conducted by outcome domain, technology type, and learner age group. Risk of bias and publication bias were also assessed. The overall meta-analysis indicated a moderate positive effect of AI- and XR-enhanced interventions on second language learning outcomes (Hedges’ g = 0.61, 95% CI [0.44, 0.78], p < .001). Domain-specific analyses suggested the strongest effects for linguistic outcomes (g = 0.68), followed by affective outcomes (g = 0.55) and cognitive outcomes (g = 0.42). Effects were generally positive across learner groups, with somewhat larger estimates for K–12 learners than for adult learners. Publication bias analyses suggested that the pooled effect may be slightly overestimated; however, trim-and-fill adjustments indicated that the overall conclusions remained substantively unchanged (adjusted g ≈ 0.54). These findings suggest that AI- and XR-enhanced multisensory interventions may support both linguistic and affective dimensions of SLA, particularly motivation, engagement, and confidence. However, the results should be interpreted cautiously given methodological heterogeneity, variable definitions of artificial intelligence, and the limited number of studies in some subgroups. Further large-scale and longitudinal research is needed to clarify the conditions under which these technologies are most effective and to support their responsible and equitable implementation in language education.

When Alignment becomes Reinforcement: Linguistic Mechanisms of Epistemic Drift in Human-LLM Dialogue

2026-09-21T07:23:27+00:00

Conversational large language models (LLMs) modify their answers based on the language and context that users provide. This modification enhances coherence and increases responsiveness. However, linguistic adaptation is not limited to form. In subsequent turns, a system might start to maintain the user's semantic frame, match the user's degree of certainty, validate an interpretation, or expand on that interpretation. The Linguistic–Epistemic Reinforcement paradigm (LERF), a conceptual and computational paradigm for studying this change, is presented in this article. Surface accommodation, semantic uptake, epistemic stance alignment, pragmatic validation, narrative elaboration, and recursive contextual reinforcement are the six analytical mechanisms identified by LERF. Rather than a predetermined causal sequence, their ordering reflects growing epistemic participation. Additionally, the framework defines epistemic friction as discourse behavior that maintains the distinction between evidence backed assertions and claims that are merely available in conversation. An evidence-adjusted increase in the assistant's stated commitment to a claim is considered epistemic drift. The framework also introduces proposal provenance, dependent-claim structure, and potential longitudinal measurements for computational analysis. Falsifiable research propositions and a controlled validation process support future empirical testing. Therefore, rather than being an established causal model of human-LLM interaction, LERF is offered as an operational research framework.

Career Advancement over Cultural Interest: Instrumental Motivation as the Dominant Force in Omani EFL Students

2026-04-15T19:59:05+00:00

Motivation remains a central construct in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) research, yet its dominant orientation within Gulf higher education contexts remains insufficiently documented. This study investigates whether instrumental or integrative motivation predominates among foundation-level Omani EFL learners and examines the influence of gender and study level. Using a quantitative correlational design, data were collected from 450 students through an adapted version of Gardner’s Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (5-point Likert scale). A paired-samples t-test revealed a statistically significant dominance of instrumental motivation (M = 3.82, SD = 0.99) over integrative motivation (M = 3.36, SD = 0.90), t(449) = -12.86, p < .001, d = 0.61. Independent-samples t-tests indicated that male students reported significantly higher levels of both motivational orientations, though effect sizes were small to moderate. A one-way ANOVA suggested that integrative motivation increased significantly with level of study, whereas instrumental motivation remained stable. This finding suggests that instrumental motivation plays a central role in shaping learners’ orientation in this context, highlighting the need for curriculum alignment with professional communication outcomes. Implications for TESOL practitioners in career-focused EFL environments are discussed.

Nigerian English Development Strategies by Crèche Pupils

2026-04-09T19:36:17+00:00

This study investigates how Nigerian crèche pupils (aged 1–3) contribute to the use of Nigerian English (NE) through everyday classroom interactions. Guided by Labov’s (1972) variationist sociolinguistic theory, a qualitative approach was employed across twelve schools in South-West Nigeria, using participant observation and caregiver interviews. The findings reveal rich, systematic use of NE in pupils’ speech. Onomatopoeic expressions such as quack quack for ducks, muu for cows, and wee-wee for urination helped children associate sounds with objects and actions, fostering both naming and social interaction. Lexico-semantic generalisations were common: the speaker referred to phones or radios, and to pencils, crayons, and pens; papa described any older male. These flexible uses show children simplifying categories for ease of communication. Reduplication patterns such as cry-cry, beggy-beggy, and small-small functioned as intensifiers, emphasising behavioural traits, movement, or social evaluation. Pupils also coined original expressions such as Mr Do-Good (disciplinary cane) and Big Daddy (an older male figure), demonstrating their creative engagement with sociocultural norms. Language transfer was evident in the everyday use of Yoruba terms like dodo (fried plantain) and ponmo (cow skin), which were generalised to refer to various meats. Unique phonological strategies included substitution (told for gold), deletion (apoo for apple), and insertion (bikitifor biscuit), and syllable reduction (dwink for drink), while grammatical forms, such as he say and off the light, showed alignment with established NE patterns. These findings affirm that Nigerian crèche pupils are early adopters of a distinct variety of Nigerian English.

Embodied Conceptualisation of Emotion Metaphors: A Cognitive Semantic Analysis of English, Hindi, Khortha and Marwari

2026-07-31T08:30:17+00:00

This study explores the embodied conceptualisation of emotion metaphors in English, Hindi, Khortha, and Marwari, examining how abstract emotional experiences are conceptually mapped through concrete bodily source domains. Drawing on the Conceptual Metaphor Theory framework of embodiment-based cognitive semantics, the study identifies and analyses metaphorical expressions of anger, happiness, sadness, social emotions (pride, honour, shame), and Heart as an embodied source domain collected through elicitation from native speakers above 25 years of age and from secondary textual sources, including folk narratives, proverbs, and idioms. English is included as a comparison language because of its extensive documentation in cognitive linguistic research. However, besides Hindi and English, Khortha and Marwari are largely unexplored in a cognitive-semantic context. Findings show that all four languages conceptualise anger through heat, pressure, fluid containment, and explosive release; happiness through upward movement, brightness, and expansion; sadness through downward movement, darkness, and submersion; and social emotions through bodily posture and body-part symbolism involving the head, chest, eyes, and nose. These patterns cluster into recurring oppositional cognitive schemas — upwardness versus downwardness, brightness versus darkness, expansion versus contraction, and fullness versus emptiness — that organise emotional cognition across the languages, lending support to the embodiment hypothesis of shared physiological grounding. At the same time, Hindi, Khortha, and Marwari display a wider range of body-part lexicalised metaphorical expressions, particularly involving blood, the heart, and the nose, along with culturally specific elaborations such as nose-based honour and heart-centred flourishing imagery that are comparatively less salient in English and are interpreted qualitatively. The study argues that emotion metaphors are simultaneously embodied and culturally mediated, and it contributes to cross-linguistic metaphor theory, Indo-Aryan cognitive semantics, and applications in translation studies, multilingual education, and computational modelling of emotion in low-resource regional languages.

Idioms as a Powerful Means in the Discourse of Advertising

2026-07-06T08:57:13+00:00

Idioms are a specific yet very broad linguistic means and are important because they can convey a message to a receiver without saying the idea in literal words. They can be categorised and divided from multiple points of view formed from their meaning or structure. On the basis of different approaches, our research is grounded on such types of idioms as semi-opaque, opaque, and semi-idioms, with their further subdivision. Our aim is to clarify how idioms are used in advertising texts, considering the division of common and prestigious brands. Our corpus material includes examples covering such brands as automotive clothing, retail and fashion beauty and personal care food and beverages financial services and real estate, and travel and tourism. Semantic, quantitative, and contextual analyses give us the opportunity to specify which types of idioms and with what frequency they are used by each brand; comparative analysis of the advertisements of the products and services of common and prestigious brands vividly shows what kind of idioms prevail in each group under discussion. Advertising, which consists of offering products and services to people, is expected to generate profits. Thus, the methods and techniques employed by companies are constantly changing, with specialists working on their further improvement. In so far as advertising refers to the specific ways of using language, symbols, and visual communication to persuade audiences to buy products or services, taking into account cultural systems, societal values, and behaviours, it can be considered as a discourse. Many linguistic and stylistics means are very useful in the discourse of advertising, and idioms, as shown in the results of our research, are one of them.

Artificial Intelligence in Language Education in the Generative-AI Era: A Systematic Integrative Review of Pedagogical Evidence, Methodological Quality, and Responsible Adoption

2026-08-12T12:03:15+00:00

Artificial intelligence has grown quickly in language teaching, particularly since the introduction of generative AI and large language models. Even so, the existing evidence is dispersed across various technologies, teaching applications, learner groups, and research approaches. This systematic integrative review examined 40 primary empirical or technical studies. It also used 15 systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and bibliometric syntheses to provide contextual evidence. The selected publications were published between 2017 and July 2026, while the majority of the primary evidence appeared after 2022. The review employed descriptive mapping, thematic synthesis, design-sensitive methodological assessment, and framework development. The primary papers were evaluated based on AI technology, educational application, language skill, learner group, research design, outcome type, multilingual representation, methodological quality, and ethical or governance concerns. Writing assistance, automated feedback, speaking practice, learner perceptions, teacher support, and AI-assisted pedagogy were the most extensively researched topics. In contrast, reading, listening, younger learners, low-resource languages, delayed learning outcomes, and validation across contexts received less attention. The evidence points to potential short-term improvements for writing revision, speaking practice, motivation, engagement, and teacher support. However, confidence in these findings is limited because many studies used small sample sizes, brief interventions, single-institution settings, self-reported measures, incomplete model and prompt reporting, and minimal external validation. Generative systems increased interactivity, adaptability, and task coverage but also introduced output variability, hallucination, authorship ambiguity, privacy risk, and reproducibility problems. Based on the integrated findings, the review proposes a responsible-adoption framework connecting AI-system characteristics, pedagogical design, human–AI interaction, contextual conditions, educational outcomes, and institutional governance. The findings indicate that educational value depends less on technological novelty than on task alignment, teacher mediation, learner agency, methodological rigour, multilingual inclusion, and accountable human oversight.