http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/topic/34/linguistics Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Sat, 30 May 2026 23:21:59 -0400 Sat, 30 May 2026 23:21:59 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1884/linguistic-affect-positive-and-negative-emotion-words-are-contagious-predict-likability-and-moderate-positive-and-negative-affect By Ryan M. Knuppenburg - Positive affect (PA) is active, enthusiastic, and happy engagement in pleasurable activities and negative affect (NA) includes aversiveness, anger, and fear (Watson et al., 1988). Two studies examined linguistic affect presented as emotion words used to describe experiences with PA and NA. The first study explored linguistic affect priming and altruistic decision-making, PA and NA valence word-choice, likability, and affect. 132 undergraduates were randomly assigned to read a narrative with positive or negative linguistic affect priming. Altruism was assessed and no difference in altruistic decisions... Fri, 05 Mar 2021 11:14 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1884/linguistic-affect-positive-and-negative-emotion-words-are-contagious-predict-likability-and-moderate-positive-and-negative-affect http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1861/the-efficacy-of-the-incorporation-of-first-language-in-esl-english-grammar-learning By Hiu Man Ho - English grammar learning is challenging but essential for English-as-a-second-language (ESL) learners. It is vital for ESL learners to develop effective learning strategies to facilitate grammar learning. The efficacy of the incorporation of a learners' first language (L1) in English grammar learning is in doubt. This article investigated the effectiveness of the inclusion of L1 in ESL learners' grammar learning based on analyses on the roles of L1 play in developing cognitive, metacognitive, social and affective learning strategies. To examine the hypothesis that L1 is beneficial for ESL learners... Mon, 11 Jan 2021 12:19 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1861/the-efficacy-of-the-incorporation-of-first-language-in-esl-english-grammar-learning http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1854/the-foreign-language-effect-and-disembodied-cognition-the-complexity-of-emotional-boundaries-and-linguistic-factors By Estefani C. Reyes - Cognitive psychology research informs on the complexities of human functioning and behavior and thereby, simultaneously, extends our agency to harness its potential malleability. Our various cognitive processes (e.g., decision-making, emotion, language) furthermore point to complex, interrelated relationships that coalesce into human intricacies. Indeed, the subfield of bilingual cognition points to a special premise of “disembodied” cognition such as in Keysar, Hayakawa, and An’s (2012) proposed foreign language effect (FLe) eliciting emotional and cognitive distance. The purpose... Thu, 31 Dec 2020 12:26 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1854/the-foreign-language-effect-and-disembodied-cognition-the-complexity-of-emotional-boundaries-and-linguistic-factors http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1829/construction-of-asian-identity-in-restaurant-menus-a-case-study By Mika Skibinsky - This paper explores the meaning and implications of “Asian” in the context of American restaurant menus. I determine what kind of language in dish descriptions, specifically ingredients and adjectives, indexes a restaurant or dish as “Asian.” Then, building on Mapes (2018), I observe how “Asianness” is constructed and performed using key discourse strategies, which I divide into two parts: Constructing “The Other” and Constructing “The Comfort Zone.” I then discuss how the construction of “Asianness” indexes the restaurant... Thu, 29 Oct 2020 09:56 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1829/construction-of-asian-identity-in-restaurant-menus-a-case-study http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1816/preserving-cultural-identity-in-english-language-use-by-korean-immigrants By Heajune Lee - This paper argues that the Korean cultural values of humility and social deference directly influence the linguistic choices in Korean immigrants’ English emails. This relationship can be seen in consistent qualification of requests, ambiguous use of power verbs, and excessive use of impersonal statements. To support this argument, I first examine the literature establishing a strong relationship between an individual’s identity and linguistic choices. Given the centrality of humility and respect in Korea’s Confucian society, I explore ways in which these cultural values are... Wed, 14 Oct 2020 08:25 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1816/preserving-cultural-identity-in-english-language-use-by-korean-immigrants http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1790/linguistic-essentialism-and-indigenous-authenticity-the-role-of-indigenous-languages-in-defining-indigeneity By Ella Agoos - Since the European invasion of Latin America in the sixteenth century, the concept of indigeneity has been inherently political. In what can only be described as an ongoing ethnocide, colonial powers did everything they could to stomp out the rich diversity of indigenous cultures throughout the land while imposing their Western Christian values upon colonized groups. After centuries of being denied their own culture, indigenous groups now struggle to preserve their surviving cultural practices. One such element of culture that many indigenous peoples see as tied directly to their identities is... Mon, 07 Sep 2020 10:03 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1790/linguistic-essentialism-and-indigenous-authenticity-the-role-of-indigenous-languages-in-defining-indigeneity http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1775/evidence-of-syllables-in-american-sign-language By Haley W. Gilreath - This paper will focus on the meaning of signed-language syllables, or the signed-syllable, in American Sign Language (ASL). It is assumed that syllables are applicable to ASL because the phonological representation can be seen in each individual hand movement. It is also interpreted as such by native speakers. This is important because it establishes credibility in the signed language, which is the initial step towards greater ASL accessibility. In America, The Deaf Culture makes up 13% of the overall population, according to Gallaudet University’s Deaf Statistics research. Upon further... Tue, 10 Dec 2019 09:12 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1775/evidence-of-syllables-in-american-sign-language http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1651/fighting-for-euskera-the-role-of-language-in-basque-nationalism-and-the-development-of-the-eta By Keely L. Smith - Basque nationalism is a movement that has encompassed myth, mystery, violence, and compromise, all of which have found their justification from the unique language, Euskera. The source of Euskera is uncertain due to its non-Indo-European origin, although there is evidence that it belongs “to the same agglutinative type of speech as do Santali, Mundari, Kurku, and other dialects of the Munda or Kolarian family of Bengal.”[1] This differentiation, though it gives little explanation as to the location of its foundations, does suggest that the Basques “are the descendants of indigenous... Fri, 09 Jun 2017 09:23 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1651/fighting-for-euskera-the-role-of-language-in-basque-nationalism-and-the-development-of-the-eta http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1617/a-theory-of-vernacular-rhetoric-reading-dantes-de-vulgari-eloquentia By Joseph P. Zompetti - The relationships between power and rhetoric have been the subject of many recent studies, most notably from the conversation concerning “critical rhetoric” (McKerrow, 1989; Murphy, 1995; Ono & Sloop, 1992; Shugart, 2003; Zompetti, 1997). Recent discussions have also occurred regarding the nature of vernacular discourse and how it affects disempowered groups (Berkowitz, 1997; Cheshire & Stein, 1997; Delgado, 1998; Hauser, 1998; 1999; McLaughlin, 1996; Ono & Sloop, 1995). Reflecting on the contemporary nexus between power and rhetoric certainly has its value, but we would... Thu, 06 Apr 2017 10:13 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1617/a-theory-of-vernacular-rhetoric-reading-dantes-de-vulgari-eloquentia http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1548/the-power-of-symbols-the-ideological-representations-of-a-french-revolution-playing-card-deck-the-revolutionnaires By Joseph P. Zompetti - In The Rape of the Lock, Pope’s mock epic about a game of cards, we read that “mighty Contests arise from trivial Things” (I:2); and since the entry of this line into the English language, the word ‘trivial’ has been inextricably linked to the playing card. Utterly ubiquitous, playing cards blend comfortably into the background of experience as a way of passing time, and because they are used as randomisers or markers in games, playing cards are most often seen as a means to an end rather than the focus of attention. It is this ostensible triviality of cards... Wed, 01 Mar 2017 04:39 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1548/the-power-of-symbols-the-ideological-representations-of-a-french-revolution-playing-card-deck-the-revolutionnaires http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1538/a-general-theory-of-buzzwords-synergistic-meta-linguistic-paradigm-shifts By Brahm Capoor - Liz Lemon, frazzled executive producer of a struggling sketch comedy show and main character of the NBC comedy 30 Rock is trying to convince her boss, Jack Donaghy, that it makes sense to send the show’s staff to Miami for a week. This is no meager request, and will require a convincing presentation. When this is pointed out to her, she smiles and confidently claims that she can sell this. The camera cuts to her and her assistant standing in Donaghy’s opulent office, in front of his imposing desk, as she confidently recites a string of important sounding, vaguely corporate phrases: &... Thu, 16 Feb 2017 09:07 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1538/a-general-theory-of-buzzwords-synergistic-meta-linguistic-paradigm-shifts http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1522/linguistic-hegemony-in-academia-and-the-devaluation-of-minority-identity-in-higher-education By Joe Henao - A commonly observed trend among American universities is the relative underperformance of minorities in the academic arena. The usual, often lazily regurgitated explanation for this phenomenon revolves around socioeconomic situations that minority groups find themselves in, contributing to their academic plight. While this deserves some credit, this fails to tell the entire story. Apart from the general socioeconomic status of many social groups, minorities often engage in academic communities that do not even remotely mirror their cultural upbringing, values, or habitus. Institutions of higher... Mon, 30 Jan 2017 06:01 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1522/linguistic-hegemony-in-academia-and-the-devaluation-of-minority-identity-in-higher-education http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1506/preserving-cantonese-television-and-film-in-guangdong-language-as-cultural-heritage-in-south-chinas-bidialectal-landscape By Rona Y. Ji - The sheer number of distinct dialects present within the country has long complicated Chinese language standardization and language policy. Furthermore, China’s history with colonial powers throughout the past three centuries has led to a distinct divide between language standardization in Northern China and Southern China. Despite the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to promote Mandarin as the primary language of the People’s Republic of China, Cantonese has been one of several dialects that has experienced special allowances from the Chinese government due to the colonial... Mon, 12 Dec 2016 06:20 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1506/preserving-cantonese-television-and-film-in-guangdong-language-as-cultural-heritage-in-south-chinas-bidialectal-landscape http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1502/first-language-attrition-in-german-jewish-refugees-of-the-nazi-dictatorship-the-impact-of-age-and-attitude-on-language-loss By Christian David Zeitz - First language attrition (L1) studies are a comparably young and theoretically unspecified field of research in bilingualism. Young, because the first scientifically acclaimed, related article, Andersen’s “Determining the linguistic attributes of language attrition,” was only published in 1982. (For comparison, Lennenberg’s monograph Biological foundations of language, widely cited in second language acquisition (SLA) studies, was published as early as 1967.) Theoretically unspecified, because most studies concerned with L1 attrition offer a well-derived discussion of data... Fri, 02 Dec 2016 10:46 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1502/first-language-attrition-in-german-jewish-refugees-of-the-nazi-dictatorship-the-impact-of-age-and-attitude-on-language-loss http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1466/right-hemisphere-involvement-in-auditory-processing-a-review By Lydia English - An orthodox opinion within neurolinguistics is left hemispheric lateralization for language processing. The left hemisphere of the brain is dominant for processing language, logic, critical thinking and reasoning (Gootjes et al. 1999; Hickok, Love-Geffen and Kilma 2002; Tyler et al. 2011), while emotion, auditory and non-verbal stimuli processing tends to be specialized to the right hemisphere (Joseph 1988; George et al. 1996). However, research on hemispheric lateralization adopts a limited view towards the right hemisphere and gives minimal recognition to its abilities and functions. Although... Mon, 24 Oct 2016 09:38 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1466/right-hemisphere-involvement-in-auditory-processing-a-review http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1422/the-crispr-fantasy-flaws-in-current-metaphors-of-gene-modifying-technology By Alex J. Maben - CRISPR gene-modifying technology continues to revolutionize fields involving biological research. Rapid advancements, however, have sparked a vibrant bioethical debate scene. This research focuses on the effective usage of CRISPR metaphors in scientific communication. Specifically, I argue that the current figurative terminology—gene editing, targeting, scissors, etc.—exhibit underlying oversimplifications that bias public perspectives on CRISPR. Though the actual experimental science occurs in lab, the world learns about the discoveries through literary expression. It is thus... Mon, 13 Jun 2016 10:59 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1422/the-crispr-fantasy-flaws-in-current-metaphors-of-gene-modifying-technology http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1579/first-the-land-and-then-the-language-linguistic-imperialism-in-transjordan-and-palestine By Kate Pashby - In Jordan, a state renowned for medical tourism, all physicians are proficient in English because medical classes are taught in English, indicating that English, rather than Jordan's official language of Arabic, is the prestige language of Jordanian medicine. As a result, Jordanians who have access to English through wealth and education receive more opportunities than those without access. These language ideologies come from Jordan's history as a British mandate. This paper applies the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis to a set of primary sources, Palestine and Transjordan administrative... Thu, 31 Dec 2015 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1579/first-the-land-and-then-the-language-linguistic-imperialism-in-transjordan-and-palestine http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1249/exploring-the-impact-of-the-autobiographical-story-on-learning-english-as-a-foreign-language-case-study-in-the-primary-classroom By Miren Askasibar - This case study examines the effects of an EFL teacher’s autobiographical story on 26 Spanish primary students in terms of comprehension, raising interest, engagement, motivation and willingness to communicate in L2, by comparing it to a story in the ELEANITZ multilingualism project. A questionnaire, a behavioural observation instrument and a post-test survey were used to collect data. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics, t-test, effect size (Hedge’s g) and content analysis. The results reveal that the students understood the autobiographical story better, found it more... Fri, 23 Oct 2015 11:29 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1249/exploring-the-impact-of-the-autobiographical-story-on-learning-english-as-a-foreign-language-case-study-in-the-primary-classroom http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1042/the-influence-of-language-difficulties-on-the-wellbeing-of-international-students-an-interpretive-phenomenological-analysis By Glory Gatwiri - Language difficulties are cited as the most critical issue facing international students today. This study particularly looks into the influence of language difficulties on the wellbeing of international students. The study was conducted at a student accommodation in Melbourne, Australia using an Interpretive Phenomenological Approach (IPA). This explored the subjective experiences of five international students from Colombia, Mongolia, China, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia. Results were organized into six themes, all of which supported the hypothesis that language difficulties influence the level of... Sat, 23 May 2015 10:17 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1042/the-influence-of-language-difficulties-on-the-wellbeing-of-international-students-an-interpretive-phenomenological-analysis http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/875/gender-differences-in-syntactic-development-among-english-speaking-adolescents By Hannah E. Cornett - Numerous studies have reported on the female advantage in language skills. It appears that across many domains of language, female language skills are more highly developed and often more complex than the language skills of their male counterparts. For instance, in a vast study of over 13,000 children in ten different language communities, Eriksson et al. (2012) found girls to be more advanced than boys in language abilities in each language community. Specifically, results showed girls to be ahead of boys in early communicative gestures, in productive vocabulary, and in combining words. Although... Mon, 24 Mar 2014 10:07 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/875/gender-differences-in-syntactic-development-among-english-speaking-adolescents http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/761/between-linguistic-universalism-and-linguistic-relativism-perspectives-on-human-understandings-of-reality By Aminata M. Kone - The most striking feature of language seems to be its diversity: contrary to the rather limited physical variations of the human species, there are 6,909 known languages worldwide – none of which are identical in sound, syntax, lexicon or grammar (statistic from Lewis 2009). This fact raises interesting questions about human understandings of reality: is it innate and universal, shared by all despite ‘surface’ differences in expression, or relative to the language one speaks? This essay begins with a discussion of linguistic structuralism and refutes its central claim, which... Thu, 19 Sep 2013 08:45 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/761/between-linguistic-universalism-and-linguistic-relativism-perspectives-on-human-understandings-of-reality http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/711/habermass-linguistic-theory-applied-to-david-mamets-films-communicative-action-in-action By Jenna N. Neumann - Jürgen Habermas - a prominent German philosopher and critical social theorist - offers a theory of language use that identifies and analyzes the rationality potential of communicative understanding between two parties. Habermas champions this theory of language use as a means to repair the breakdown of the surrounding lifeworld. This breakdown results from the use of strategic action, harboring deceptive perlocutionary aims. With strategic action, trust in communication breaks down and leads to disorder and disarray in their shared lifeworld. Habermas advocates communicative action as the... Wed, 31 Oct 2012 10:30 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/711/habermass-linguistic-theory-applied-to-david-mamets-films-communicative-action-in-action http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/679/dialogic-conflict-and-speech-identity-in-jean-rhys-let-them-call-it-jazz By Grace E. Afsari-Mamagani - The books at her disposal, about murder and ghosts, speak to society’s understanding of crime, punishment, and the afterlife. But, for Selina, it is not “at all like those books tell you”: the stories offered within their pages do not apply to her, are not written in the language through which she understands herself. By presenting the narrative in the patois of the West Indian immigrant to Britain, Rhys produces both interior and exterior dialogic conflict. The narrator’s vernacular serves as one within a series of signifying systems, or, as Mikhail Bakhtin posited, speech... Thu, 16 Aug 2012 08:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/679/dialogic-conflict-and-speech-identity-in-jean-rhys-let-them-call-it-jazz http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/414/using-online-forums-in-language-learning-and-education By Manprit Kaur - The online forum is an ideal place to put a learning community and its learning objects on the same page (Harman and Koohang 2005). In order to offer a successful discussion forum, teachers need to be fully skilled in practical use of the sites and committed to engaging with them, believing in their relevance and benefit for students and willing to spend dedicated time every week on the discussion forum with students. As Salmon (2004) advises, teachers need to take time to induct students to the online discussion tools and focus on familiarization and socialization into the online forum from the... Wed, 23 Mar 2011 09:52 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/414/using-online-forums-in-language-learning-and-education http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/357/the-n-word-the-use-and-development-of-the-term-nigger-in-african-american-culture-as-depicted-in-the-plays-of-august-wilson By Stephanie C. Grogan - August Wilson represents the experiences of African-Americans in each decade of the 20th century in his Pittsburgh Cycle, a collection of ten plays. Throughout this canon, language is used not just as an important form of communication amongst the characters, but also as a means of communicating the African-American experience and its changes across the decades of the 20th century. Because the language of August Wilson’s plays is representative of both African-American culture and American cultural shifts, the plays contain rhetorical and linguistic choices that are specific to... Mon, 10 Jan 2011 09:05 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/357/the-n-word-the-use-and-development-of-the-term-nigger-in-african-american-culture-as-depicted-in-the-plays-of-august-wilson http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/82/understanding-human-language-an-in-depth-exploration-of-the-human-facility-for-language By Kendra A. Palmer - First, the concept of language should be discussed. What is it, exactly? As Joel Davis notes in his work, Mother Tongue, “Everybody uses language, but nobody knows quite how to define it” (6). He indicates that renowned linguists, such as Edward Sapir, G. Trager, and Robert Hall have all attempted their own classifications but have not quite succeeded. Some of these proposed definitions seemed accurate at the time, but then excluded individuals who use Sign Language (through a purely nonverbal transmission), or animals, some of which are known to employ a kind of communication... Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:48 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/82/understanding-human-language-an-in-depth-exploration-of-the-human-facility-for-language http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/17/reconstructing-bridges-heritage-language-education-of-asian-americans By Scott Berghegger - Language use is a major factor in defining one’s cultural identity. People learn slang, lingo, jargon, idiomatic phrases, and other language tools, and with them participate in a cultural, social environment in which they can thrive. For ethnic minorities, however, there is the additional problem of the “heritage language.” A heritage language refers to “any ancestral language such as indigenous, colonial, and immigrant languages, which may or may not be a language regularly used in the home and the community” (Kim, 2003). For Asian Americans, and in particular Asian... Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:58 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/17/reconstructing-bridges-heritage-language-education-of-asian-americans http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/11/sermons-in-sociolinguistic-skins-an-analysis-of-wharrys-study-on-discourse-markers-in-african-american-sermons By Scott Berghegger - In her article, “Amen and Hallelujah preaching: Discourse functions in African American sermons,” Cheryl Wharry examines the use of “sermonic expressions” by African American preachers to denote textual changes, to mark rhythm (a feature commonly associated with traditional African American culture-speak), and to maintain an atmosphere of spirituality. Wharry refutes the assumption that Black preachers’ spiritual expressions are markers for a call-and-response technique, noting that call-and-response “is displayed in the overall service and in congregational... Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:31 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/11/sermons-in-sociolinguistic-skins-an-analysis-of-wharrys-study-on-discourse-markers-in-african-american-sermons