Journal of English Language and Linguistics

Learner perspectives on PIM-supported dilemma-based EFL writing.

2026-09-02T06:39:20+07:00

Thai undergraduate EFL learners are increasingly expected to write texts that are not only grammatically accurate but also analytically developed, logically organized, and adequately supported. This article explores learners’ perceptions of PIM-supported dilemma-based EFL writing instruction, with particular attention to dilemma-based problem-solving writing tasks, student collaboration, and teacher guidance. Although previous research has shown that task-based learning, collaborative learning, process-oriented L2 writing pedagogy, and teacher scaffolding can support writing development, less is known about how learners experience an instructional model that integrates these elements within a staged writing process. This article reports the qualitative, process-oriented strand of a broader mixed-methods classroom intervention involving nine Thai undergraduate English majors enrolled in a writing course. Data were drawn from post-questionnaire responses and a group reflection discussion. The findings indicate that learners perceived the instructional process positively. Dilemma-based problem-solving writing tasks encouraged deeper thinking before writing, student collaboration helped learners clarify prompts and expand ideas, and teacher guidance supported planning, organization, revision, and editing. However, several learners still found the transition from collaborative preparation to individual writing challenging, particularly in selecting ideas, organizing support, and composing with confidence. The findings suggest that PIM may be strengthened by adding more explicit transitional scaffolding between collaborative planning and individual composition in EFL writing instruction.

Academic reading comprehension and students’ attitudes toward flipped classroom instruction among graduate students in Thailand.

2026-09-02T06:39:17+07:00

Academic reading comprehension is essential for graduate students; however, many learners experience difficulties in understanding complex academic texts. The flipped classroom approach has been proposed as a learner-centered instructional strategy that promotes active learning and learner autonomy. This study aimed 1) to compare graduate students’ academic reading comprehension before and after instruction using a flipped classroom approach, and 2) to investigate their attitudes toward the instructional method. The sample consisted of 36 graduate students enrolling in the first semester of the academic year 2025 at a government university, selected through cluster random sampling. A one-group pretest-posttest design was employed to examine changes in academic reading comprehension after an eight-week instructional intervention. The research instruments included eight lesson plans, an academic reading comprehension test, and an attitude questionnaire. The results showed that the mean posttest score ( = 24.42, SD = 1.66) was significantly higher than the mean pretest score ( = 14.36, SD = 3.80), t(35) = 18.76, p < .01. In addition, students expressed positive attitudes toward the flipped classroom approach ( = 4.30, SD = 0.87). The findings reveal the evidence that the flipped classroom approach at a graduate-level English language learning context can contribute to improvements in academic reading comprehension and promote positive learning attitudes among graduate students.

Localized CLIL lessons for Grade 2 English learners in southwestern China

2026-09-02T06:39:19+07:00

In response to the problems of limited English proficiency among young Chinese learners and insufficient adaptability of CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) lessons, this study designed and implemented a localized “CLIL-ized” lesson model. The study invited 60 Grade 2 students from a primary school in Southwestern China to participate. The students were eight years old and had an introductory level of English proficiency. 16 CLIL-ized lesson plans were designed. Through classroom observation, the effectiveness of CLIL-ized lesson plans was examined, focusing on learners’ motivation for learning English, confidence in English use, and enthusiasm for communicating in English. Classroom observations in this study indicated increased students’ participation and willingness to use English during the lessons through increased use of visual auxiliary teaching materials and interactive games. At the same time, learners showed a stronger willingness to use the target language. The innovation of this study is to use CLIL-ized lesson plans to provide young learners with a new English learning environment, with practical implications for promoting the popularization of CLIL in primary education.

The impact of job position on English communication problems in the construction industry: A case study of Phuket

2026-09-02T06:39:14+07:00

English language proficiency has become increasingly important in Thailand's construction industry, particularly in Phuket, where tourism growth has driven foreign investment and international projects. This study had two aims. The first was to identify the English communication problems faced by employees in Phuket's top 10 construction companies. The second was to determine whether these problems varied across job positions. A quantitative survey of 65 employees, including administrators, engineers, foremen, and architects, was conducted using a structured questionnaire validated with the Index of Item-Objective Congruence (IOC). The results revealed that speaking was the most problematic skill, followed by writing, reading, and listening respectively. The ANOVA revealed no statistically significant differences across job positions (F = 0.871, p = 0.461), indicating that challenges are widespread throughout the organization. These findings highlight the need for ESP-informed training programs that address all four language skills and reflect the specific communicative demands of each occupational group.

Language choice and rhetorical persuasion in the linguistic landscape of Koh Samet, Thailand

2026-09-02T06:39:15+07:00

This study investigates language choice and rhetorical persuasion in the English-containing linguistic landscape of Koh Samet, a popular tourist destination in Rayong Province, Thailand. Previous linguistic landscape research in Thai tourism contexts has primarily focused on the visibility and distribution of languages on public signs, with less attention paid to how rhetorical resources enhance persuasive communication. Addressing this gap, the analysis explores both language combinations displayed on signs and how rhetorical devices in English contribute to tourism branding, place representation, and the construction of local and global meanings. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach, total of 226 publicly visible signs were photographed along the main road and accessible routes on Koh Samet and analyzed using linguistic landscape frameworks (Landry & Bourhis,1997) in combination with rhetorical frameworks proposed by Leigh (1994) and McQuarrie and Mick (1996). Bilingual signs were the most prevalent within the English-containing corpus, with English-Thai combinations as the dominant pairing, followed by monolingual English, and multilingual signs appeared less frequently. This distribution suggests that English functions as both a communicative and symbolic resource in tourism signage, while Thai remains central to expressing local identity and audience accessibility. The rhetorical analysis identified 108 occurrences of tropes and schemes, especially imagery and alliteration, which help create memorable, appealing, and more commercially persuasive in tourist destinations. The study demonstrates that tourism signs should be viewed not only as multilingual displays of language choice but also as persuasive discourse that contributes to destination branding, potentially shape visitor expectations, and expressing the connection between local identity and globalization by incorporating rhetorical analysis into linguistic landscape research.

Thai tourism students’ attitudes toward English accent varieties: Intelligibility, linguistic identity, and communication confidence

2026-09-02T06:39:12+07:00

This study investigates Thai undergraduate tourism students’ attitudes toward English accent variety and examines their relationships with linguistic identity and communication confidence. Guided by Global Englishes and English as a Lingua Franca perspective, a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed. Data were collected from 50 students through a questionnaire, followed by semi-structured interviews with 15 participants. Quantitative results indicated relatively high exposure to diverse English accents (M = 3.77), with Thai English (M = 4.53) and American/British accents (M = 4.33) most frequently encountered. Intelligibility was prioritized, with exposure facilitating comprehension (M = 4.02), while native-speaker accents remained associated with professionalism (M = 4.10), despite the general acceptability of Thai English (M = 3.85). Interview findings further revealed that students evaluated accents based on communicative effectiveness rather than native-like pronunciation, and that real-world experience enhanced their confidence in interacting with diverse speakers, although native accents continued to be linked to prestige. Overall, the findings highlight a tension between communicative effectiveness and native-speaker ideology in tourism contexts.

The effectiveness of the SQ5R reading strategy in enhancing English reading comprehension among first-year students at MCU, Chiang Mai Campus

2026-09-02T06:39:08+07:00

This study aimed to identify the reading comprehension problems encountered by first-year students before the implementation of the SQ5R reading strategy, compare students’ reading comprehension scores before and after the implementation, and assess students’ perceptions of the strategy at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Chiang Mai Campus. The study employed a quasi-experimental one-group pre-test post-test design. The participants were 58 first-year English major students enrolled in the Structure in Reading Comprehension course during the 2025 academic year. The research instruments included a diagnostic test, pre-test, post-test, six-week SQ5R-based lesson plans, and a perception questionnaire. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and one paired-samples t-test. The findings indicated that students experienced difficulties in identifying main ideas, understanding vocabulary in context, making inferences, and critically analyzing texts during the diagnostic assessment. After the implementation of the SQ5R reading strategy, the mean post-test score (M = 28.07, SD = 2.99) was significantly higher than the mean pre-test score (M = 26.72, SD = 3.68), t(57) = −2.66, p = .01, indicating an overall improvement in students’ reading comprehension performance. Students also expressed positive perceptions toward the SQ5R reading strategy, reporting high levels of agreement regarding comprehension improvement, ease of applying the strategy, motivation and engagement, and overall satisfaction.

Let them play football: An investigation of English program language teachers’ maxims

2026-09-02T06:39:10+07:00

The study aimed to identify the beliefs of English language teachers in English Programs (EP) in Chonburi Province, Thailand, and to examine what facilitated or hindered teachers from following their beliefs. Borg’s (2003) concept of teacher cognition informed the research, while Richards (1996) work on educational maxims (Empowerment, Involvement, Encouragement, Conformity, Accuracy, Order, Efficiency, and Planning) served as the framework for understanding teachers’ belief systems. The study implemented a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. The quantitative phase consisted of a 24-item questionnaire, distributed to EP teachers from schools around Chonburi, Thailand, to obtain their maxims. The qualitative phase of the study followed three of these 15 for observations of their classes and post-observation interviews to uncover aspects that adhered to each of the 8 maxims, areas where teachers felt supported in following their beliefs, and areas they felt impeded. The findings showed EP teachers most often held maxims aligned with empowering and encouraging their students and least aligned with conformity. Follow-up observations and interviews showed an incongruence between teachers’ identified maxims and classroom practice and highlighted potential causes. Finally, the study identified a potential ninth maxim, the maxim of disengagement, as an emergent qualitative theme.

Urgency and hope as evaluative orientations in United Nations SDG report forewords: A diachronic analysis (2021–2025)

2026-09-02T06:39:05+07:00

The foreword to each Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) report precedes the statistical sections and sets an evaluative frame. As recurring governance texts, SDG report forewords offer a revealing site for examining how crisis framing and ongoing commitment are negotiated across reporting cycles. This study examined diachronic variation in urgency and hope as higher-order evaluative orientations across five SDG report forewords published between 2021 and 2025, a period of pandemic recovery and global disruption as the 2030 target year for achieving the SDGs approached. The analysis combined Appraisal theory with corpus-assisted discourse analysis of a 3,132-word corpus. Functional categories for each orientation were developed inductively and coded at the clause level. Instances were normalised per 1,000 words. For each year, an urgency–hope ratio was calculated to capture the relative prominence of the two orientations as a proportional independently of text length. Intercoder agreement, assessed on a double-coded sample of 100 instances, was high (κ = .94). Across the five reporting cycles, urgency remained more prominent than hope in normalised frequency terms. Hope-related resources were absent from the 2022 foreword but returned in subsequent years. Both orientations reached their highest normalised frequencies in 2024, and the urgency–hope gap narrowed in 2025. The forewords did not maintain a stable evaluative profile across the five years. The study contributes to Appraisal-based research on institutional genres by showing how ratio-based comparison can reveal evaluative differences across comparable texts and track change over time.

Lexical choice in international sports news headlines: A study of the near-synonyms Sack and Fire

2026-09-02T06:39:03+07:00

This study investigated lexical choice in international sports news headlines through the near-synonyms sack and fire in reports of the same managerial dismissal event. The study aimed to examine the usage of these near-synonyms in the headlines across three outlet groups (UK-based, US-based, and international/global outlets), as well as investigate how they reflect register, tone, headline-lead alignment, and agency construction. Thirty English-language sports news headlines reporting Ruben Amorim’s dismissal at Manchester United were purposively selected and divided equally among the three outlet groups. The news headlines were qualitatively analyzed using media discourse analysis with descriptive quantitative support. The findings revealed that sack was the dominant lexical choice, occurring more frequently than fire and other dismissal-related expressions. UK-based outlets strongly preferred sack, while US-based outlets used both sack and fire. This suggests regional preference in headline language. Meanwhile, international/global outlets also favored sack but showed some lexical diversity through alternatives such as out and axed. In terms of register and tone, sack appeared in a wider range of contexts, from neutral to evaluative and sensational headlines, whereas fire was mainly neutral or evaluative. Most lead sentences supported the lexical framing of the headlines by matching rather than softening or intensifying it. The analysis of agency also showed that passive voice was slightly more common. Overall, the study demonstrated that sack and fire are not fully interchangeable in sports news discourse, as their use was framed by regional preference, register, evaluative tone, and grammatical framing.

Pre-service English teachers' perception of feedback during micro-teaching sessions

2026-09-02T06:39:07+07:00

This study investigated Thai pre-service English teachers' perceptions of effective feedback during micro-teaching sessions at Buriram Rajabhat University. A mixed-methods approach was employed to collect data from 158 fourth-year English major students between 2022 and 2024 using a questionnaire and self-reflection journals. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation), while qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed high levels of agreement with the effectiveness of feedback, with mean scores ranging from 4.05 to 4.86. Participants perceived feedback as valuable for enhancing their confidence, teaching competence, reflective practice, and professional development. Feedback from both instructors and peers was considered beneficial for identifying strengths, addressing areas for improvement, and supporting professional learning. The findings suggest that incorporating effective feedback into teacher education programs may enhance pre-service teachers' professional learning and teaching development.

A phonological errors analysis of English consonants produced by Thai EFL undergraduate non-English major

2026-09-02T06:39:01+07:00

English pronunciation remains a persistent challenge for Thai EFL learners, primarily due to structural disparities between the Thai and English phonological systems. This study examines consonant production errors and the extent of L1 interference across word positions. This research aimed: 1) to analyse the pronunciation errors of English consonant sounds across three phonological positions-initial, medial, and final-among Thai undergraduate students who are non-English majors and study English as a foreign language; and 2) to investigate the effects of first language (L1) interference on the pronunciation of English consonant sounds in these three phonological positions. The sample consisted of second-year students from the Faculty of Education at Loei Rajabhat University in the academic year 2023 who were non-English majors. The participants were selected using cluster sampling from 15 separate programs, totaling 142 students. The research instrument was a set of vocabulary items covering 24 English consonant sounds, with one to six words selected for each consonant in each word position. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that lateral approximants (98.58%) and affricates (97.39%) constituted the most serious pronunciation difficulties, followed by fricatives (77.30%), indicating extensive first-language transfer effects. The predominance of sound substitution, devoicing, unaspiration, unreleased final stops, and vowel epenthesis demonstrates that the Thai phonological system strongly influences English consonant production across initial, medial, and final positions. These results highlight the need for explicit pronunciation instruction targeting English consonants that are absent or phonologically distinct from Thai, particularly lateral approximants, affricates, and fricatives.

Circumfixation in Akan: A morpheme-based analysis of nominalization and pluralization

2026-09-02T06:38:59+07:00

This study examines circumfixation in Akan (Kwa), focusing on its role in nominalization and pluralization. While prefixation and suffixation in Akan have received extensive attention (Dolphyne, 2006; Bodomo & Marfo, 2005; Ofori, 2016), circumfixation remains understudied. We argue that Akan has three productive circumfixes: a- -e(ɛ) for locative nominalization, n- -ɪɪ(ɛ) for non-locative nominalization, and e/a- -fo(ɔ) for pluralization of [+human] nouns. These circumfixes undergo ATR vowel harmony and consonant assimilation, yielding predictable allomorphic variants. Applying Siegel’s (1974) Level Ordering Hypothesis, we demonstrate that the suffixal component (Class 2, category-maintaining) attaches before the prefixal component (Class 1, category-changing). This analysis provides new evidence for the reality of circumfixation in Kwa languages and contributes to the typology of discontinuous morphology.