In recent years, Eco-Translatology, an interdisciplinary paradigm that integrates ecological wisdom and translation studies, has experienced remarkable advances in both theory and practice. As the prologue to the sequel Eco-Translatology: Translation Dao and Translation Art — a follow-up to the seminal monograph Eco-Translatology: Construction and Interpretation that was published a decade ago — emerging developments in the field are described in this article. Key discussions include a holistic reinterpretation of Eco-Translatology, its life-oriented translation Dao (guiding principles) and source-oriented translation art (practical methodologies), value orientation, eco-translatological cultural construction, and philosophical essence, as well as novel reflections on the discipline’s evolution within AI-driven contexts. These insights are anticipated to enhance the understanding of Eco-Translatology’s theoretical framework while fostering deeper, more systematic research trajectories.

China’s economic growth and improved international status have created an urgent need for high-level international communication capabilities to support national development in the era of AI. The objective of enhancing China’s capabilities in this regard is to cultivate high-level talents who possess a “5+5” set of skills: the five mindsets of “global vision, national standpoint, political acumen, economic thinking, and cultural inclusiveness”, and the five communication abilities of live broadcasting, resource integration, current affairs collection and editing, and translation and interpreting from a foreign language into Chinese and vice versa. To help cultivate international communication talents in the era of AI and put China’s interpreting talents at the center of the international stage, we have constructed the discipline of multimodal interpreting (MI). This research is grounded in the theory of Marxist materialism, General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thought on international communication, and the theories of interpreting communication studies (ICS) and communication interpreting studies (CIS). Beginning with the practice of interpreting, it reviews the evolution of interpreting studies and proposes a new perspective on the construction of the MI discipline, which integrates “practice-teaching-research” (PTR) with the aim of achieving improved interpreting practice, teaching, and research. This paper not only emphasizes the importance of interpreting practice and teaching but also enriches the theoretical connotations of interpreting studies, ICS, CIS, and embodied-cognitive interpreting studies, expands interpreting research ideas, and enhances international communication capabilities in the era of AI.

In terms of discipline attribution and the theoretical integration of studies of eco-translatology, the research pedigree and thinking forms of Eco-Translatology require systematic summarization and theoretical refinement in order to reveal the entire profile of the eco-translatological theory system. The research pedigree of eco-translatology consists of theoretical research, descriptive research, and applied research. Of these, the “quadrilife-oriented view” draws on the field of general theory for theoretical research, the “trilife-oriented configuration” is the object of its descriptive research, and “green translation” is the new issue of its applied research. Thinking forms of Eco-Translatology consist of life-oriented thinking, existence-oriented thinking, and eco-thinking. Life-oriented thinking is referred to as “translation as textual transplant,” existence-oriented thinking involves “translation as adaptation/selection,” and eco-thinking is related to “translation as eco-balance.” The systematic formation of the eco-translatology research pedigree is of tremendous importance in the construction of the eco-translatological discourse and knowledge systems.

The aim of this study was to explore the influence of peer interaction on learning engagement in English classrooms through the mediating effect of academic self-efficacy. The study’s participants were 1,143 non-English majors; the quantitative data were analyzed via a descriptive analysis, a multiple regression analysis, and structural equation modeling. Some of the participants were then invited to participate in semi-structured interviews. The results revealed that the content and mode of peer interaction were both positive predicters of the three dimensions of learning engagement; while the perception of peer resources positively predicted cognitive and behavioral engagement, it did not significantly affect emotional engagement. Moreover, peer interaction was a direct positive predicter of learning engagement in English classrooms; it also indirectly affected learning engagement via academic self-efficacy, with academic self-efficacy playing a mediating role in the relationship between peer interaction and learning engagement in English classrooms. The transcription and analysis of the interviews confirmed these quantitative results. The study enhances the understanding of the path relationship between peer interaction and learning engagement in English classrooms, thereby providing insights for teachers to improve learning engagement through both peer interaction and academic self-efficacy.

Any new academic theory or new discipline must have a new research object and a new theoretical system. The paper argues that transknowletology performs the same function as translatology, both of which aim to study the translation of knowledge. The processing and translation of knowledge has always been carried out according to different disciplines, fields, and genres. The goal of transforming local knowledge into global knowledge through translation is to enable target-language readers to have the same understanding and perception of the translated text as source-language readers do of the original text. Therefore, it is necessary to process the original knowledge by selecting appropriate linguistic forms, rhetorical devices, and discourse modes based on the specific communication methods and audiences of the different disciplines to which the knowledge belongs, rather than interpreting or reflecting on the knowledge. This study suggests that for transknowletology to achieve breakthroughs, it must draw on perspectives from international communication studies, systemic functional linguistics, and language for specific purposes (LSP) theory to provide a theoretical basis for the processing or translation of disciplinary knowledge.

Professor Hu Gengshen’s academic journey, practice, and research spanned nine cities and over five decades. In this paper, Professor Hu’s academic life is investigated according to five aspects: the nine cities in his academic journey, his academic achievements, his scholarly methods, his reputation as the founder of Eco-Translatology, and his wisdom in life. His innovations in academic research and his outstanding contributions to translation schools are analyzed, and his scholarly methods and wisdom in life are summarized with the aim of showcasing the long-term efforts and accumulated expertise behind the success of this translation theorist in the hope of setting an example for future scholars.

Citation data currently serve as the most reliable indicator of scholarly impact. By performing a citation analysis on highly cited literature from 21 core journals, this study delineates the landscape and developmental features of contemporary translation studies in China. The findings reveal that traditional domains, such as culture, strategy, literature, interpretation, and teaching, form the core research areas of the field. However, significant new hotspots have also emerged, including the construction of indigenous theories, the integration of translation technology, and the service of national strategies. Theoretical research demonstrates a shift away from a primary reliance on Western theories towards a dynamic dialogue between Chinese and Western perspectives, as well as the rise of local theories, with frameworks such as Ecological Translatology gaining substantial influence. The study identifies several challenges, including a lack of original topics within popular fields, a dearth of focused perspectives, and a discernible gap in international scholarship, particularly with respect to audiovisual translation. These findings offer a systematic framework for understanding the discipline’s trajectory and charting future research directions.

According to the core principle of Embodied-Cognitive Linguistics, “Reality-Cognition-Language”, we have developed “symmetrical embodied cognitive strategy” in our minds due to the ubiquitous phenomenon of symmetry in the external world; this has led to the emergence of numerous symmetrical expressions in language, particularly in Chinese, in which a large number of symmetrical phenomena appear at various levels, such as phonetics, characters, vocabulary, syntax, and discourse. We intend to regard this as the most important grammatical mechanism in Chinese, which belongs to the category of “isolating languages”. By contrast, languages such as English, which are “inflecting languages”, require word forms to be adjusted according to grammatical rules when included in a sentence to maintain a strict correspondence between word classes and syntactic components. This is called the “word-based” grammatical theory. In recent years, many scholars have found this theory to be unsuitable for constructing Chinese grammar; although various X-based theories have emerged in China, they have all overlooked “the symmetrical strategy” that is widely used in Chinese. When conducting comparative studies of English and Chinese, it is essential to emphasize the difference between “correspondence and symmetry”, as this difference is important for language research and teaching.

The impact of peer interaction patterns on learner engagement is examined in this study by following Philp & Duchesne’s (2016) framework of learner engagement. Two classes of first-year non-English-major students participated in the research and engaged in topic discussions as required. Based on the analysis of the recorded data obtained from 25 paired interactions, the findings revealed that there were three patterns of paired interactions, with collaborative and passive parallel patterns being the main types. The interaction pattern affected learners’ behavioral, cognitive and social engagement, as evidenced by the significantly more usage of words, turns, idea units, and responsiveness in the collaborative pattern compared to those in the passive parallel pattern. The results of the interviews with six pairs of students showed that cooperative learners exhibited more positive emotions in interactions, while passive parallel learners were relatively negative. The findings indicate that it is necessary for teachers to guide learners to cooperate in order to promote their language learning.

Learning engagement is an important topic in the research on second language education. Exploring the impact of motivational factors on learning engagement enables researchers to understand college students’ self-regulated learning mechanisms. Based on goal-orientation learning theory, the impact of goal orientations and motivational regulation strategies on engagement in English learning was explored in this study, as well as the mediating role of motivational regulation strategies through a survey of 299 non-English majors and structural equation modeling. The results revealed that both mastery and performance-approach goal orientations had direct and positive effects on learning engagement, while performance-avoidance goal orientation had direct and negative effects. Motivational regulation strategies had direct and positive effects on learning engagement; while such strategies could partially mediate the positive relationships among mastery, performance-approach goal orientations and learning engagement, they could not mediate the negative relationship between performance-avoidance goal orientation and learning engagement. The findings can provide empirical evidence for teachers to improve students’ engagement in English learning by cultivating motivational beliefs and motivational regulation.

Corporate websites are not only the crucial online communication medium for companies, they are also typical platforms for multimodal resources. In this cross-cultural study, which was inspired by the GeM model and cross-cultural theories, the multimodality of Chinese and US corporate websites were compared by adopting a corpus-based approach. The results show that both Chinese and US corporate websites are dominated by text-typographic and photo-pictorial elements, followed by diagram-representational and video-animated elements. However, the Chinese sites tend to employ more multimodal elements in total and more text-typographic and video-animated elements compared to the US sites. The Chinese sites featured more news and photos that are arranged in an atomized and compartmental format, while the US websites often use larger-sized pictures as backgrounds on which other elements are embedded in a more complex manner. In addition, the Chinese sites display more indicative elements with interactional functions to assist readers to navigate the sites and to build rapport with the audience. Finally, the Chinese sites use more QR codes and include more videos and flash videos, while the US sites display more social media icons. Conclusions about corporate multimodal discourse are drawn and implications for corporate web communications in a cross-cultural context are provided.

The bibliometric software CiteSpace was used to conduct a visual analysis of research articles on metadiscourse that were published in international journals from 2006 to 2024 based on the Web of Science database. In this article, we present the most frequently cited references and prestigious authors, and investigate the knowledge base, research frontiers, and important topics in international metadiscourse studies. The results revealed that metadiscourse research is increasing and developing rapidly, particularly since 2014, with a significant increase in both publication volume and citation count. Moreover, high-impact and high-centrality references mainly focus on metadiscourse conceptions, research models, and research paradigms, and the research topics and important academic issues are academic discourses, metadiscourse markers, corpus data, linguistic features, and disciplinary differences. These findings could help domestic researchers to understand the trends in international metadiscourse research in more detail and provide valuable insights for metadiscourse research in China.

The English translation of The Three-Body Problem (2014) by Ken Liu has set the highest record for sales of English translations of contemporary Chinese literature and for global library collections, marking a significant milestone in the translation and international dissemination of contemporary Chinese science fiction. In this article, the perspectives of transmission and reception were employed to analyze how the English translation of The Three-Body Problem achieves communication and interaction with English-speaking readers through various elements of peritexts and epitexts based on paratext theory with the hope of providing original perspectives and new approaches for the dissemination and acceptance of Chinese contemporary literature. It is suggested that the main text of the English translation serves as an intrinsic force, while the paratexts function as extrinsic forces. By interpreting, deepening, and extending the main text, the peritexts and epitexts both provide support for the main text, forming an organic and dynamic system that expands the communicative space and channels of The Three-Body Problem, collectively facilitating its dissemination and reception in the English-speaking world.

From the perspective of language communication, language influence is defined in this article and its generation mechanism and measurement methods are explored systematically. First, the concept of language influence is clarified and made concrete based on the argument that it emerges from the process of language communication and is a key indicator of communication effectiveness. Second, the generation mechanism is analyzed in detail across the three dimensions of language power, the transmission and reception phases, and language influence. It has been found that language influence is generated throughout the entire dynamic process of language communication. The realization of language influence follows the path of “language power → transmission and reception phases → language influence”, and its resulting effects ultimately feed back to strengthen language power, initiating a new cycle of language communication. Finally, a Language International Influence Evaluation Index System (LIIEIS) has been constructed using six observational indicators to provide a quantitative assessment of the influence of 25 languages. The aim of this article is to offer valuable insights for understanding the current global language landscape and to enhance the international status and influence of the Chinese language.

Translating for museum serves as a vital component of cultural communication, including essential features, processes, and evaluation criteria. This paper explores these topics through the lens of Gadamer’s hermeneutics, identifying the understanding mode and dialogical character in the formation of a common understanding during the translation process. It concludes that the criteria for translating for museum should move beyond traditional notions of straightforward equivalence, emphasizing the importance of participation in the creation of sensus communis. By integrating theory with the self-constructed Parallel Corpus of Translated Introductive Texts of Chinese Museums — History Exhibition (PCTITCM-HE), this study analyzes the differentiated practice in museum text translation. Our findings reveal the significant role of evaluative statements in shaping audience perceptions or prejudice and the impact of informative statements in fostering new understanding. Ultimately, this research aims to advance the quality of museum text translation in China.

Based on the principles of embodied-cognitive linguistics, embodied-cognitive poetics (E-C Poetics) is a literary research method that aims to explain the interactive relationships among authors, texts, and readers. In E-C Poetics, “embodiment” can be understood from the perspectives of the author and the reader. From the author’s perspective, embodiment refers to the writer’s lived experience of reality, which explains the origin of literary creations. From the reader’s perspective, embodiment denotes the aesthetic experience of engaging with a literary work, which is also based on an understanding of the essence of literature. Similarly, the “cognition” in E-C Poetics involves both authors and readers. For the author, cognition refers to the creative processing of lived experiences into literary works. For the reader, the act of reading is in itself a cognitive process, which means that interpretations of a text will vary based on individual aesthetic experiences. By establishing connections among authors, texts, and readers, E-C Poetics explores the correlation between literary ontology and epistemology, thereby offering fresh insights and perspectives for understanding literary creations, reading, and criticism.

Language is a means of communication, and is related to the state of an individual’s health. The relationship between language and health has recently attracted interest in academia, with language health services being one of a prominent area of research and discussion. Planning is essential for the development of the field. In this article, we introduce the relationship between language and health, and discuss the implications and characteristics of the development of language health services. The authors advocate for strategic planning for language health policy, language health information, language health care, language rehabilitation, language health technology, and language health talent education and training, among other topics. To achieve the planned goals, joint efforts need to be made by stakeholders such as the government, society, individuals (family), and other actors. The authors recommend coordinated collaborations on the part of all the participating parties in terms of institutional mechanisms, technology integration, and human and material resources. These efforts will help to popularize language health knowledge and will advance research on language health products, which will ultimately improve the overall quality of language health services. Lastly, the authors propose the integration of resources to meet the diverse individual needs of the society and to help to achieve the vision and goals of the “Healthy China Initiative”.

By addressing the problem of cultural identity imbalance caused by deviations in language outlook, this paper aims to inform the implementation of the core task of “fostering virtue through education” in China’s new era of foreign language education. It systematically explores how foreign language education shifts from the perception of “language as a tool” to a “linguistic worldview” by way of transformation logic and various implementation paths. This paper proposes five practical dimensions for the transformation of foreign language education: cultivating the competence of foreign language teachers, reforming talent cultivation models, reforming curriculum systems, selecting teaching materials, and integrating foreign language education development across primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. Foreign language education does not deny the “instrumental nature of language”; instead, it injects the “soul of worldview” into the “tool theory”, unifying “language skill cultivation” with the shaping of values. The ultimate goal is to cultivate students who are “double-excellent”: possessing foreign language talent alongside both a sense of national identity and an international perspective.

Social media platforms offer new channels for intercultural communication and relevant studies are emerging consistently. In this article, we review 272 relevant studies that were published in SSCI journals from the four aspects of disciplines, theories, topics, and methods. The findings showed that the number of scholarly publications contributed by various disciplines in this field has increased since 2008. The underpinning theories included intercultural communication, sociology, and information science, and the trendy research topics in the past decade included social media intercultural instruction, intercultural corporate communication on social media, cross-cultural differences in social media and privacy concerns, multilingual communication on social media, cross-cultural differences in social media users’ behaviors, and the role of popular culture in transcultural communication on social media. Furthermore, the popular research methods included online surveys, qualitative analyses, content analyses, and discourse analyses. The study’s findings have academic, practical, and pedagogical implications for domestic researchers and practitioners.

Translation for international organizations has received scanty academic attention to date. Drawing on the theory of the State Translation Program, this paper discusses the concept, characteristics, and functions of supranational translation practices. Using relevant literature such as memoirs of and interviews with liaison officers, this study examines translation activities within the United Nations, specifically focusing on China’s peacekeeping operations. The study reveals the significant and indispensable role of translation in UN peacekeeping operations, whose mission is to maintain peace and security worldwide. Characterized by supranational objectives, professionalism, and diverse agents and roles, supranational translation has made outstanding contributions to China’s peacekeeping units in terms of internal coordination, external communication, and cultural diplomacy. The study will provide insights to inform our efforts in cultivating talented translation professionals for international organizations and in building a community of shared future for mankind.

Although the terminology that is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) may appear dull and difficult to comprehend, understanding the underlying motivation will make the terminology easier to learn. In an interdisciplinary context, we can use cognitive linguistic theories to conduct research on the terminology that is used in TCM. Both linguistic and TCM researchers have obtained research results using this method. Previous theories of motivation have contributed to improvements in the theory of the motivations underlying TCM terminology; these motivations can be divided into external motivations and internal motivations. In this paper, we present a supplement and an amendment to the former theories of linguistic motivation, as we believe that cultural motivations should be included in internal motivations. As a component of internal motivations, cultural motivations can be divided into various types, such as philosophical thought motivations and family culture. Cultural motivations have influenced different aspects of the production of TCM terms to various degrees during different periods. The motivation of philosophical thought is mainly embodied in the three aspects of the metaphorical cognitive model of the corresponding holographic medical view of nature and man, the metaphorical cognitive model of Yin and Yang theory, and the metaphorical cognitive model of the five elements theory. The philosophical thought in TCM terminology can explain the meanings of quite a number of TCM terms, making the learning of TCM terms simple, interesting, and efficient.

Ideological and political teaching in a mixed foreign language classroom with students from multiple ethnic groups and countries (regions) is a complex system. It involves the interpretation of ideological and political education, the professional landing of foreign languages, and the coordination and identification between nationalities and cultures. Based on the field investigation of six first- and new-first-tier city universities, this study focuses on the curriculum design of ideological and political teaching of foreign language courses with the aim of building a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, explains the connotation and dimension of ideological and political education in multi-ethnic and multi-country and regional mixed classrooms at the theoretical level, and analyzes the realistic dilemma of implementing ideological and political education in cross-cultural classrooms. At the practical level, the paper puts forward a systematic teaching implementation path based on the sense of community of the Chinese nation, and focuses on the following aspects: (1) the dual track of ideological and political education content system in multi-ethnic and multi-country and regional mixed foreign language classrooms; (2) the sharing of teaching mode and the gradation of teaching platform; (3) the technological innovation and incentive of curriculum evaluation system;(4) the guarantee and implementation of the curriculum coordination mechanism. The two levels support each other, and the four implementation paths are coordinated and unified. They provide effective pathways for implementing ideological and political education that strengthens the consciousness of the Chinese national community in multi-ethnic and multi-country and regional mixed classrooms.

Harmonious discourse analysis is a novel ecolinguistic framework introduced by Professor Huang Guowen in 2016, developed specifically to address the Chinese linguistic and cultural contexts. This article examines harmonious discourse analysis through three key dimensions of it: its historical evolution, its classification within the broader field of ecolinguistics, and its three foundational components. The review reveals three significant insights. First, the development of harmonious discourse analysis has followed two primary trajectories: its progression from its initial conceptualization to gaining international scholarly recognition, and its evolvement from establishing systematic analytical models to embracing more diverse analytical practices. Secondly, this approach is rooted in critical ecolinguistics and eco-critical discourse analysis. Harmonious discourse analysis, in its narrow sense as harmonious ecolinguistics, represents an advancement of ecological discourse analysis. This concept is grounded in systemic ecolinguistics within the Chinese context and falls under the umbrella of micro-ecolinguistics. It draws on the rich traditions of Chinese ecological wisdom centered on harmony. Third, the fundamental meanings of the three elements — “harmony as context”, “discourse as object”, and “analysis as approach” — reflect three linguistic perspectives, constructive, functional, and evolutionary, embedded within this emerging analytical framework. The article calls for further investigation into the emerging research areas, including harmonious discourse system, harmoniousness of discourse, and harmonious analysis of discourse.

Harmonious discourse analysis is an approach to ecological discourse analysis developed by Chinese scholars based on their understanding of the interrelationships and interactions between language and ecology. Its philosophical foundation lies in traditional Chinese ecological concepts, particularly the principle of harmony, while its theoretical framework is grounded in systemic functional linguistics. This problem-oriented approach adheres to the idea of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. This paper provides an overview of harmonious discourse analysis and synthesizes international scholarly evaluations of the framework. The paper aims to stimulate greater attention to research on the relationship between language and ecology, and to encourage Chinese scholars to further explore the role of language in fostering harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.

This study explores Chinese college students' behavioral engagement with Sino-US peer feedback and its influencing factors in second language writing. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of initial and revised essays, peer feedback and reflective journals reveal that: (1) For the genre of movie review, there is no significant difference in Sino-US peer feedback uptake among Chinese college students, whereas the frequency of revisions triggered by American peer feedback is significantly higher than that triggered by Chinese peer feedback. (2) Feedback uptake shows a marginal correlation with explicitness but no correlation with feedback focus. Revision modes are influenced by feedback explicitness, while revision behaviors are influenced by feedback focus. (3) Behavioral engagement is influenced by multiple factors such as individual characteristics, context and society. The study may provide some implications for the design of peer interaction activities.

Lexical inferencing strategies play a significant role in second language (L2) lexical development and discourse meaning construction. The present study explored an effective and appropriate mode for delivering lexical inferencing strategy instruction to Chinese EFL learners. Sixty-one undergraduates majoring in English were recruited, with 30 assigned to an experimental group that received a year-long strategy instruction and 31 to a control group that received no specific strategy instruction. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed to compare the lexical inferencing performances of both groups prior to and after the instruction period. The results showed that: (1) there was no significant within- or between-group difference in terms of the types and percentages of knowledge sources used, indicating that the instruction had no significant effect on these variables; and (2) there was a significant increase in the post-test lexical inferencing success rate in the experimental group alone, suggesting that the instruction significantly promotes the learners’ lexical inferencing competence. These results, to some extent, confirm the effectiveness of long-term L2 lexical inferencing strategies instruction in the classroom.

The effects of learning conception and engagement on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' willingness to participate in virtual reality- based (VR-based) instruction and their oral performances were investigated in this study. The data were obtained via two surveys (learning conception and learning engagement) and students' audio-recorded oral performances. The results indicated that students' learning conception in the virtual environment included four factors, namely improving presence, increasing motivation, enhancing interaction, and extending learning. Students' learning engagement in the virtual environment consisted of four factors, which were cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social engagement factors. The regression analyses revealed that the factors of learning conception and learning engagement were correlated, and that emotional engagement was associated with being more likely to participate in VR-based instruction. The study provided empirical evidence for using VR in language instruction.

The State Translation Program plays a vital role in strengthening China’s international communications capabilities. Translation practices at the local level, deeply rooted in distinctive regional cultures, constitute a fundamental component of a country’s state translation practice. It is these diverse regional cultures that fashion the unified identity of the national culture. Regional cultural cognition not only directly affects the implementation and effectiveness of the Regional Translation Program, but also indirectly influences national cognitive behavior, which affects the State Translation Program. This paper clarifies the connections between the concepts of regional cultural cognition and those underlying the State Translation Program, analyzes the differences between the translator and their audience in terms of cultural recognition, and proposes countermeasures to regional cultural cognition in the State Translation Program. The goal of this research is to enhance the role of regional culture in the State Translation Program from a cognitive perspective, guiding the Regional Translation Program to assume more responsibilities within the State Translation Program and thereby improving China’s international communication capacities in all directions.

The initial acquisition of expressions of passive meaning by three Mandarin-speaking children is investigated in this paper. It has been found that children initially express passive meanings using the simplest patient-subject structure, “S_p+VP,” which has the same syntactic and semantic features as adults' production. Typical marked passive “bei” (被) sentences, which contain two arguments, are produced three to five months later. Furthermore, all the verbs in the “S_p+VP” structure has been used in the one-word sentence stage. The findings have revealed that the expression of passive meaning has experienced the construction process from single verb to single-argument patient-subject sentences to marked “bei” (被) sentences. The passive expression “S_p+VP” is an absolutive-like structure, which forms part of the ergative-absolutive or nominative-accusative language pattern, while the marked passive “bei” (被) sentences form part of the nominative-accusative language pattern. The initial acquisition of the expression of passive meaning by Mandarin-speaking children has shown a transitional character from an absolutive-like structure to a nominative-accusative pattern. Children initially acquire single-argument patient-subject sentences to express passive meanings. Input is a necessary but insufficient condition for this acquisition, and the decisive factor should be that the “S_p+VP” structure meets an utterance's demands in terms of syntax, semantics, and function expression to the greatest extent.

Based on three morphological types of languages, this paper selected 45 language samples to explore the argument alignment patterns of world languages, particularly their splits and factors. The results were as follows: (1) languages that lack inflectional morphemes usually use particles and syntactic means to exhibit their argument alignment patterns, which are not neutral; (2) the proportions of ergative languages are different in languages with different morphological types, and agglutinative languages account for the largest proportion; (3) nominative-accusative languages and ergative-absolutive languages both have nominative-accusative pattern and ergative-absolutive patterns; (4) the implicational universal of case markers satisfies the hierarchy: nominal case markers > pronoun case markers; that is, noun phrase case markers entail pronoun case markers; and (5) the ergative-absolutive alignment patterns tend to use the markers in the hierarchy from left to right: nominal case markers > pronoun case markers > cross-referencing.

Supranational communities have assumed an increasingly pivotal role on the global stage, intertwining its activities with the shared future for humanity. Translation at this level functions as operational mechanism for such communities and warrant greater scholarly attention. This form of governance-oriented translation initiated by supranational communities to safeguard their interests, achieve their goals, and promote their values, is conceptualized as the “supranational translation program”. Endowed with the attributes of supranationality, supranational interests, and translanguages, the supranational translation program is an indispensable avenue for internal self-governance as well as engagement in regional and global governance. In the context of building a global community with shared future, a systematic exploration of the supranational translation program’s conceptual framework, technical implementation and supervision mechanisms can provide theoretical support for supranational communities’ translation initiatives and facilitate China’s deeper participation in global governance.

Discourses of metatranslation refer to translators' discussions about translation in translated works, and they are frequently seen in paratexts such as the introduction, afterwords, and the translated text itself. There are usually many discourses of metatranslation in works written in non-native languages or about non-native cultures, works which, on the whole, can be considered to be translations (without original texts). Some displaced (non-native language or non-native culture) written works are taken as examples in this paper in an attempt to describe the manifestations of explicit and implicit discourses of metatranslation, particularly those relating to the translation of terms and culturally loaded words. Their potential roles are summarized, such as embodying an author's or a translator's views on translation, revealing the complexity of translation and enhancing the foreignness of translated works. As a new concept in translation studies, discourse of metatranslation deserves further research, which might also shed light on translation practice.

Drawing on harmonious discourse analysis and the theory of the transitivity system, this study compares the ecological attributes of English and Chinese public signs relating to environmental protection, aiming to elucidate their similarities and differences and provide suggestions for environmental sign-making. The results reveal that English environmental protection-related public signs primarily rely on cognitive mental processes to represent the principle of conscience and relational processes to symbolize the principle of proximity. In contrast, Chinese public signs related to environmental protection primarily employ action processes to express the principle of regulation. This research suggests that Chinese environmental protection-related public signs should incorporate cognitive and relational processes, utilizing anthropomorphic techniques to foster a harmonious relationship between humans and nature. This would help raise the public’s awareness of environmental protection and increase their willingness to take action to protect the ecological environment.

Guided by the theory of translator behavior criticism, this paper examines legal translation through two dimensions: intra-translation and extra-translation. From the extra-translation dimension, the contemporary imperative to communicate rule of law narratives in China effectively positions legal translation at a critical forefront. The finite capacity of translators, contrasted with the infinite range of translatable legal texts, underscores the strategic importance of text selection. Furthermore, establishing sound professional ethics is a prerequisite for translators engaged in legal translation services. From the intra-translation dimension, the distinctive features of legal language and the unique nature of legal translation necessitate a high degree of fidelity to source texts. Synthesizing both dimensions, legal translators must seek an optimal balance along the truth-seeking-utility-attaining continuum to enhance the appropriateness of translator behavior. Truth-seeking demands that legal translators uphold principles of strict accuracy and consistency, while utility-attaining requires clarity and concision, and stylistic standardization to facilitate cross-cultural legal communication.

Taking Wing-tsit Chan’s and Frederick G. Henke’s translations of Chuanxilu, a representative work of new Confucianism, as a case study, this paper applies syntactic complexity analysis methods, including mean dependency distance, to compare translator behaviors between direct and indirect translators. The findings reveal that the indirect translation exhibits lower mean dependency distance and syntactic complexity, higher simplification, reduced normalization and explicitation levels, reflecting a translator’s prioritization of truth-seeking alongside complementary utility-attaining. In contrast, the direct translation exhibits higher mean dependency distance and syntactic complexity, lower simplification, increased normalization and explicitation levels, demonstrates a behavior of prioritizing utility-attaining with complementary truth-seeking. This study integrates extra-translational factors — including translation purpose, translator identity, and translation context —with the linguistic features of translated texts. By employing syntactic complexity as an analytical lens, it aims to contribute new perspectives and methodologies to research on extra-translational aspects of translator behavior.

The current internal and external environment of foreign language education in China provides a prior reason for constructing a curriculum chain based on the “Spirit of Scientific Culture”. The core of this initiative lies in reconstructing the humanistic perspective and integrating the humanistic and scientific spirits, thereby establishing a transformative paradigm for foreign language education reform in China. This paradigm focuses on exploring and critically examining the spirit of scientific culture, alongside the writing, translation, and dissemination of related stories. Its primary goal is to cultivate students’ humanistic qualities and innovative thinking, empowering them to actively write about and articulate China through foreign languages. On one hand, it aims to achieve the objective of “cultivating students through moral education” by guiding them to develop rational thinking and sound values. On the other hand, it seeks to enhance students’ language proficiency and rhetorical skills by encouraging them to creatively transform vivid materials into compelling literary works. Through this process, students will acquire a deep understanding of the cultural codes and mechanisms underlying the use of both Chinese and foreign languages, ultimately enabling them to significantly improve their cross-cultural communication abilities.

The Strong Minimalist Thesis of Generative Grammar posits that the Merge operation, in alignment with the economy principle, is conducive to deleting unnecessary elements in the course of language externalization. Consistent with such biological themes, it is inappropriate to use theta terms like AGENT/PATIENT to describe the semantic roles of the NPs (noun phrases) in Yi guo fan chi wu ge ren /Wu ge ren chi yi guo fan. This is because the relevant NPs are not the S-selected arguments of the relevant verbs; in such structures, the NPs are actually C-selected by the quantifier head of distribution Mei, which is responsible for the structures’ core semantics. Quantifier phrases that denote measurement are obligatory in this type of structure, whereas any definite NPs may undermine the core theta content of such sentences, which can be described as having a “for/use” meaning with corresponding variants. The absence of a quantifier head may create difficulty in terms of the perception and comprehension of such structures during communication; the verbs are optional due to their function as adjuncts. An analysis based on the local asymmetric C-command indicates that various sequences in linearity may be derived from the same structural configuration, thereby manifesting the Strong Minimalist Thesis’ three criteria of learnability, universality, and evolvability. The novel contribution of this article resides in its conjecture that such clauses can be categorized as a subtype of imperative sentences, whose noun phrases are inherently assigned partitive cases due to their number-denoting nature.

The traditional concepts of subject and intersubjectivity in writing originate from Husserl’s phenomenological perspective and focus on human factors in writing activities. Consequently, the subjects of writing are limited to the writer and reader, while intersubjectivity is confined to their bilateral interactions. This paper proposes reconceptualizing these concepts from the perspective of Activity Theory, which views writing as a social activity. Using English scientific experimental reports as an illustrative case, the paper redefines the subject and intersubjectivity in writing, elucidating the connotations of the subject and the mechanisms of intersubjectivity. It argues that, as a form of social activity, the subjects of writing encompass not only the writer and the targeted readers but also the subject matter, the instruments and the written product itself as well as the socio-cultural contexts—both micro and macro—in which these elements are situated. The completion of writing activities emerges from dynamic interactions among these elements, forming the mechanism of intersubjectivity in writing. This intersubjectivity manifests primarily through three forms: sharing, interaction, and unification. This research aims to deepen understanding of the essential nature of writing, particularly scientific report writing in English, and to provide theoretical guidance for academic writing practice and pedagogy.

Since the beginning of this century, foreign language attrition has drawn increasing attention from scholars, both in China and abroad, due to its unique research value. Based on a review of classical studies of language attrition, the existing research is categorized according to four types in this paper: longitudinal tracking, cross-sectional comparisons, mixed-method studies, and other approaches. Building on this synthesis, several widely acknowledged findings are identified: (1) the primary aim of research on attrition is to resist language attrition in order to better retain foreign language proficiency; (2) vocabulary remains the focus in the study of language attrition; (3) research methods are increasingly becoming interdisciplinary in nature; and (4) multiple internal and external factors interact in shaping the outcomes of attrition. Finally, a forward-looking perspective from four dimensions is presented in this paper, namely enhancing the systematicity and specificity of research methods, broadening and deepening the scope of the study, refining and integrating intra- and extra-linguistic factors, and innovating and expanding theoretical frameworks. It is hoped that this review will serve as a useful reference for future research on foreign language attrition.

The defeat of the American South in the Civil War not only destroyed the plantation economy, but also the racial order under slavery. The question “Who are we?” haunted people, floating in the South and created a unique landscape of identity in an era of a radical shift from the old to the new. By adopting the theory of three-presence relations proposed by Stuart Hall, the father of contemporary cultural studies, and conducting an analysis of Faulkner’s major novels such as The Sound and the Fury, Absalom, Absalom! and As I Lay Dying, the aim in this paper is to point out that, for Southerners with different skin colors, cultural identity is a never-ending process of production. Whether it is the Présence Européenne at the level of power and ideology or the Présence Africaine at the level of time and history, they are only the process of the Southerners of different colors discovering and confronting their collective history and cultural memory. It is only the Présence Américaine at the level of space and geography that provides them with an open platform for the construction of a racial identity that embraces diversity and difference, and reconstructs the identity of the United States of America in the midst of contradictions and conflicts accordingly.