http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/language 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 Tue, 05 May 2026 04:47:58 -0400 Tue, 05 May 2026 04:47:58 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1896/ethnography-folklore-afanasev-and-russian-self-identity By Margaret R. Devlin - While the history of ethnography in Russia dates back to the Kievan Rus era, modern ethnographic production in Russia developed in the 17th century and expanded during the late 18th and early 19th centuries as interest in folktales and in the lives and natures of Russian peasants exploded amongst the Russian elite. This paper briefly explores the history of Russian ethnography before examining the Russian concepts of narod (народ, the people) and narodnost (народность, the Russian soul). This work examines the folklore collections of Alexander Afanasev and his process of editing... Thu, 08 Apr 2021 03:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1896/ethnography-folklore-afanasev-and-russian-self-identity 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/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/1739/specific-language-impairment-in-children-with-high-functioning-autism-spectrum-disorder By Pamela Lim - Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are among the most common neurodevelopmental disorders. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), studies in Asia, Europe, and North America have identified individuals with ASD with an average prevalence of about 1% (CDC, 2015). ASDs are typically diagnosed in early childhood, often at or before preschool age. However, there is no specific genetic test or clinical procedure for diagnosis. Diagnosis is based mainly on documented core impairments related to social interaction, communication, as well as restricted and repetitive behavior (... Fri, 25 May 2018 10:16 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1739/specific-language-impairment-in-children-with-high-functioning-autism-spectrum-disorder 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/1546/bilingual-episodic-memory-and-eye-witness-testimony By Ketaki A. Tongaonkar - The human memory system comprises multiple components. The focus of this paper is on the encoding and decoding process of episodic memories. Events that catch the attention of individuals either consciously or sub-consciously are stored in a particular sequence, which constitute episodic memories. The storage of these memories is dependent on a variety of factors such as attention paid to the event, ambient surroundings, and the significance of the event for the individual. Language plays a crucial role in the encoding/decoding process of episodic memories. Multiple research studies have... Tue, 28 Feb 2017 11:45 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1546/bilingual-episodic-memory-and-eye-witness-testimony 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/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/1457/poetic-sovereignty-in-the-work-of-the-romantic-poets-self-determiniation-and-revolutionary-thought By Hayley E. Tartell - This essay first explores how Romantic poets William Wordsworth and Percy Shelley invoke the medium of language, specifically poetic language, to opine on the relationship between the reader’s sense experience and freedom. Subsequently, this piece delves into Romantic thinker Walter Benjamin’s analysis of Holderlin’s poetic language in order to reveal the power dynamics between poetry and the readership. Furthermore, by probing and fleshing out the work of Shelley, one can gain a deeper understanding of the nature of poetic sovereignty and its rootedness in themes of possession... Mon, 10 Oct 2016 08:45 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1457/poetic-sovereignty-in-the-work-of-the-romantic-poets-self-determiniation-and-revolutionary-thought 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/1087/sociolinguistic-bias-in-ap-style-how-news-media-deny-african-american-vernacular-english-realities By Andrew B. Keefe - In Media Representations and the Global Imagination, Orgad (2012) addresses the division between content and interpretative analyses of media representations in critical theory research (36). This paper attempts a marriage of structural and cultural methods, both highlighting the bias embedded within Associated Press (AP) style and employing critical discourse analysis of journalistic productions. I argue that U.S. news media that follow AP style prioritize the realities of Standard American English (SAE) speakers; this sociolinguistic bias complements symbiotic relationships between news media... Tue, 01 Sep 2015 09:48 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1087/sociolinguistic-bias-in-ap-style-how-news-media-deny-african-american-vernacular-english-realities 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/907/graphic-novels-preparing-for-a-mulitmodal-and-multiliterate-world By Katherine F. Rycroft - Graphic novels have become increasingly popular in the classroom as a means to engage English language learners (ELL) in new ways (Christensen, 2007). The accessible and diverse content of graphic novels can inspire critical discussions by encouraging students to become ‘agents’ of their own meaning-making experience (Boatright, 2010). Using both text and sequential art to tell what are often serious, non-fiction narratives, many graphic novels use intelligence and humour to explore sensitive issues of race, social justice, global conflict and war (Christensen, 2007). The wide range... Tue, 05 Aug 2014 06:17 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/907/graphic-novels-preparing-for-a-mulitmodal-and-multiliterate-world 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/764/unclean-unsaid-undead-beckett-merleau-ponty-and-the-degradation-of-body-and-language By Tausif Noor - To study the myriad ways in which Beckett engages with philosophical implications within his text necessitates an understanding of how the texts command some sort of philosophical work; that is to say, one must go beyond simply listing instances in which philosophical themes emerge in the work and consider how they apply within the text.[2] Phenomenological interpretations of Beckett’s work have attempted to imbue the recurring themes of the oeuvre – such as memory, perception, imagination – with an abstract and often impenetrable dialectic that is far removed from both the content... Tue, 24 Sep 2013 04:28 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/764/unclean-unsaid-undead-beckett-merleau-ponty-and-the-degradation-of-body-and-language 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/619/william-tyndale-contribution-to-the-english-language-and-father-of-the-english-bible By Veronika Walker - The English language is constantly changing. More and more editions of the Webster’s Dictionary are being published every decade, more vernacular is being considered as “standard English,” and more and more leniency is being advocated for by students in higher-level academics. English, on the whole, has always been a language of variation, a turbulent construction of roots, suffixes, and tenses. Due to a very long process and many historical upheavals, however, English has stabilized into the useable vocabulary taught today. Still, one has to wonder how it got to be what it now... Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:46 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/619/william-tyndale-contribution-to-the-english-language-and-father-of-the-english-bible http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/591/the-word-pocalypse-joss-whedons-dollhouse-and-dystopian-language By Elizabeth Padden - In my linguistic analysis of Dollhouse I will begin by examining four words: Attic, Echo, Active, and Doll, selected for their frequent usage in the series and for their exemplification of the way in which new meanings are associated with words that already have preexisting meanings. Using Hayakawa's definitions of the two categories of word meaning, denotative and connotative, I will deconstruct the preexisting meanings of the selected words and address their relationship to new denotations and connotations associated through context. Literal denotative meanings and associative connotative meanings... Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:05 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/591/the-word-pocalypse-joss-whedons-dollhouse-and-dystopian-language http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/530/vehicles-for-story-chinua-achebe-and-ngand#361;gand#297;-wa-thiongo-on-defining-african-literature-preserving-culture-and-self By Kristina S. Ten - For example, the average English-speaking American is unlikely to learn an ethnic language from a country thousands of miles away just so he or she can read a book from that country. Writers cannot rely on readers worldwide to cater to one country’s causes. If the writer’s objective is to garner awareness and readership on a large scale, it is his or her responsibility to make the story accessible to the masses. The world is growing evermore cluttered with information; getting attention is a matter of competition. Storytellers must continue to push through the clutter, using any means... Fri, 20 May 2011 08:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/530/vehicles-for-story-chinua-achebe-and-ngand#361;gand#297;-wa-thiongo-on-defining-african-literature-preserving-culture-and-self 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/381/gender-specific-language-of-the-major-prophets-in-the-hebrew-bible-the-case-of-the-first-and-second-isaiah By Iulia O. Basu-Zharku - Prophecy is one of the most important institutions in the Hebrew Bible. The prophet is regarded as the voice of the Lord, bringing God’s will and commandments to the people who often forget to follow the rigors of the Law. The prophets have, also, designated roles. Some are advisors to the king (in the way Samuel advises Saul and Nathan advises David), sometimes even admonishing the monarch. Others are mendicants, unattached to a specific court and living off of what people give them. They travel extensively, prophesize the word of God, and they also perform symbolic actions (Elijah and... Fri, 04 Feb 2011 08:05 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/381/gender-specific-language-of-the-major-prophets-in-the-hebrew-bible-the-case-of-the-first-and-second-isaiah http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/364/incorporating-technology-into-the-modern-english-language-arts-classroom By Steven A. Carbone II - The mere mention of the English Language Arts content area, for many people, might conjure images of ancient, dusty tomes, the sound of a classroom full of pens scratching across college-ruled paper, or the palpable befuddlement of students staring down a school year full of challenging texts and writing. Enter technology, and along with it an entirely new skill set and accompanying literacies. This is the twenty-first century after all, and English teachers would be remiss if they did not take advantage of the latest and greatest technological methods of reading, expression, and communication... Mon, 17 Jan 2011 09:05 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/364/incorporating-technology-into-the-modern-english-language-arts-classroom http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/209/the-breakdown-of-censorship-in-american-cinema By William K. Boland - In America, the years from 1946 to 1962, labeled the “post classical era” of cinema, were years in a state of transition. American culture was simply unstoppable and alive, constantly changing and growing toward a more open society. However, though there was a shift in American values toward openness in addressing sexuality and violence as well as other societal issues, it was in direct conflict with the conservative government currently in power. This conflict of ideals resulted in a caustic, explosive period of heightened awareness of violence, sexuality, social problems, and individuality... Mon, 22 Mar 2010 08:50 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/209/the-breakdown-of-censorship-in-american-cinema