This article answers questions concerning the naming of Translator Behavior Criticism as why“translator behavior”is for the theory but“translator’s behavior”is more often seen in the studies, why“行为”is expressed as“behavior”instead of“action”or“act”, why the“theory”cannot be refereed to as“idea”, why “translator behavior studies”can also be taken to be translation theory discourse as well as why“utility-attaining”is a term but“beyond utility-attaining”is not, and under what condition could“beyond utility-attaining”be a term, and the like. Doubts need to be cleared by the initiator of the theory in time so that the theory and the relating studies could be developed in its right way.

ChatGPT, based on a wide range of pre-trained Internet text data, can assist in completing translations and creative writing. This study, however, is an experiment on writing a research paper with the help of ChatGPT. We selected a research topic and used ChatGPT to generate each section of the research paper — title, outline, introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, and references — according to the prompts provided. The results reveal that ChatGPT can successfully write an entire paper based on hypothetical data, generating high-quality text with appropriate content and language quickly and efficiently, which saves a significant amount of time and effort. The limitations are also obvious, including the use of outdated studies, inconsistent arguments, irrelevant and illogical explanations of the results, and incredible citations. We suggest integrating ChatGPT into academic writing courses offered at tertiary institutions. Teaching students to effectively use it could be made the core of the instruction. For instance, students may learn to ask questions, give correct and specific prompts, identify mistakes or problems in the generated texts, as well as ensure the texts’ accuracy, consistency, and credibility, and be knowledgeable about the topic selected for the paper. Students should learn to follow academic conventions and avoid plagiarism.

As one of the world’s cradles of agriculture, China has long maintained an advanced level of agrarian civilization. China’s practical advantages in agricultural production have given rise to a large number of valuable and diverse agricultural classics, which have had a profound impact on the development of crop cultivation, production tools, and techniques worldwide. The impact of these agricultural classics can still be felt to this day, as they are deemed to be an essential constituent of China’s state project “Chinese culture going global through translation”. In this context, how many agricultural classics have been translated and the number of articles about their English translations that have been published are first addressed in this paper, followed by a systematic account of these articles in terms of their topics and theoretical bases, as well as the journals in which they were published and the classics on which they focused. The analysis revealed that only a small number of these classics have been translated, with studies of their translations having focused predominantly on certain specific texts. Furthermore, there is a noticeable lack of research from a broader macroscopic perspective, as well as an over-reliance on traditional research methodologies, among other identified issues. Finally, a summary of the paper’s limitations is presented and suggestions for future studies are provided.

How can translator behavior/act be well defined? Can we develop an operable analytical framework of translator behavior/act, based on a certain theory or paradigm, to produce new knowledge through systematic research? This study provides a preliminary reflection on these questions from the perspective of Cognitive Translatology. Specifically, it explores the levels and embodied attributes of translator behavior/act to further clarify the goals, dimensions, problems, analytical categories and methods of cognitive research on translator behavior/act, and to identify the aspects that distinguish the embodied cognitive approach from previous studies.

Toward the end of 2020, a novel online greeting construction, instantiated by “Good morning, Laborers!” went viral on Weibo or WeChat Moments of the young netizen group. Despite its superficial form of greeting, this construction serves both self- and in-group banter functions. As its syntactic and semantic features cannot be indicated from its components or from existing linguistic structures, it can only be stored as a construction in the speakers’ mental grammar. Classic construction grammar research has extensively explored grammatical constructions; however, emphasis on the constructional variations used by specific social groups is lacking, and the social information stored in these constructions has seldom been addressed. Drawing on insights from Embodied Cognitive Sociolinguistics (ECS), this paper begins by refining the embodied principles of linguistic structures from a socioecological perspective, encompassing the self in action, the audience in the virtual friends’ circle, and prevailing societal events. Subsequently, based on these principles, it systematically describes the constructional information stored in viral online greeting construction and explores the factors that contribute to its popularity and productivity. This study found that online viral construction mainly serves the purpose of temporarily constructing the speaker’s social identity. Its meaning-making mechanism can be attributed to four embodied-cognitive operations: the generic metaphor of split “subject-self”, scenario metonymy, the contrast of virtual-real situations, and the construal of audience roles. It also claims that ECS aligns with the foundational principles of the third wave of language variation research in terms of its theoretical underpins and research goals.

A history of terminology is a history of professional discourse. Terminology is the basic element of professional discourse, and the construction of a system for terminology is a mirror of the progress and direction of any discipline. This paper presents an outline of the ideas underlying the compilation of A Dictionary of Translation Studies in China (Second Edition), and introduces the editorial policy, the selection principles, and the editorial practice of the dictionary. It reveals that the amount of literature on Chinese translations occurs in tandem with improvements in the translation discourse system. The dictionary has witnessed the conception, birth, and development of the discipline of translation.

As the categorization of thick translation remains a controversial issue, this paper presents an attempt to recategorize thick translation based on the analysis of its connotations and denotations from the perspective of its form and content; four criteria for classification are proposed. First, from the perspective of its form, thick translation can be classified as in-edition and out-edition types based on its location. The in-edition type can be classified as in-text and out-text types, and the in-text type can be further classified as in-sentence and out-sentence types. Second, based on its representing mode, thick translation can be categorized as overt and covert types; third, from the perspective of its content, thick translation can be semantic or cultural depending on the nature of its explanation. Fourth, based on the sources of its explanation, thick translation can be introductory or evaluative. Such elaborate recategorizations are theoretically important for understanding the nature of thick translation and for expanding the scope of its research.

Evolutionary psychology attempts to explain human thinking and behavioral patterns from the perspective of adaptive evolution in natural and social environments. Previous studies have largely overlooked the perspectives of cognitive linguistics and evolutionary psychology, resulting in subjectivity and bias in the analytical process. This study considers the nutrition of pragmatics and relevance theory, combined with cognitive frameworks, to analyze the significant contributions of these theories in explaining and interpreting critical discourse analysis (CDA). Cognitive linguistic methods can reduce the subjectivity in CDA by providing more explanatory models that enhance the scientific and reliable nature of discourse analyses. Future CDA should focus more on the construction of cognitive representations by the addressee to verify the rationality and validity of the psychological modules or mechanisms proposed in evolutionary psychology.

This study analyzes the “reality-cognition-language” and “interaction-conceptual metaphor-metaphorical expression” theoretical models of embodied linguistics based on “body and cognition”, with the help of Marx and Engels’ practical materialist perspective of language (including the material source of language production, the cognitive basis of language, and the practicability of the linguistic cognitive system in three aspects). In this study, we interpret and explain the practical materialist view of language in the context of embodied linguistics, which is the latest research on localized cognitive linguistics in China. We will also highlight the significance of the interaction between “body” and “cognition” in promoting the cutting-edge development of cognitive linguistics and further elaborate the significance of embodied linguistics for the contemporary development of the practical materialist perspective of language.

The central task of the Communist Party of China on the new journey in the new era is to realize the Second Centenary Goal and to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization. From the perspective of Chinese Modernization, it is of great significance to clarify the ontological characteristics, historic missions and practical paths of Area Studies with Chinese characteristics. In terms of ontological characteristics, Country and Regional Studies in China not only has the common characteristics of similar studies in other countries, that is, “the study of thinking about how to change in a changing world”, but also has the Chinese characteristics based on national conditions, that is, “the study of the times guided by the concept of promoting a human community with a shared future”. In terms of historic missions, accelerating the discipline construction and practice of Area Studies is an inevitable requirement to promote Chinese modernization, an urgent need to build a human community with a shared future, and an integral component in accelerating the construction of philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics. In terms of practical paths, this paper tries to answer the academic questions such as “for whom” “who will study” and “how to study” from the aspects of research objectives, research subjects and research principles, and finds out three practical paths: the unity of knowledge production and reality-driven demand, the unity of discipline construction and talent training, the unity of problem-oriented research and people-centered ideology.

As of early 2022, the “Library of Chinese Classics” series had translated and published 112 English versions of Chinese classical works. From a certain perspective, the domestic effort in translating Chinese classics into English could be considered to have reached a temporary conclusion. So, apart from continuing translations into other languages, what should be the next step for the translation of Chinese classics in China? This paper proposes four suggestions: historical documentation, comparative studies, expansion and in-depth exploration, and personnel training. Specifically, historical documentation involves examining and organizing the history of translating Chinese classics into foreign languages; comparative studies aim to enhance the quality of future translations through comparisons of different translations; expansion and in-depth exploration refer to continually broadening the scope of translated classics and deepening understanding and reflection of this scope; personnel training focuses on improving translators’ proficiency in Chinese, English, and cultural knowledge, particularly their ability to read classical Chinese. The author offers specific suggestions for each of these four aspects.

Creating a high-quality teaching workforce is crucial in building China into an education powerhouse. In the new era, the emergence of novel liberal arts, the integration of ideological and political curricula, and the digital transformation of education pose fresh challenges to the professional development of foreign language teachers. An exploration of the new connotations of professional development for foreign language teachers in universities within the context of the new era is presented first via a literature review. Data were gathered via questionnaire surveys and interviews to assess the current status and influencing factors of professional development amongst foreign language teachers at colleges and universities in China. The study’s findings revealed that teachers generally acknowledged the interdisciplinary nature of foreign language disciplines and XXXtilizatio the importance of course-based ideological and political education, as well as digital literacy. However, there is still scope for improvement in conducting interdisciplinary research, implementing course-based political education pathways effectively, and improving digital teaching capabilities. Furthermore, the factors that influenced teachers’ professional development encompassed both internal and external dimensions. Internally, the six dimensions were career development stages, educational background, research interests, knowledge structure, teacher cognition, and individual agency. Externally, the three dimensions were academic leadership, the selection and XXXtilization of teaching materials and methods, and the developmental environment of the foreign language discipline. Lastly, based on the requirements and concepts pertaining to teacher development in the new era, practical suggestions to bolster the comprehensive literacy of foreign language teachers are offered with the aim of providing insights for promoting teachers’ professional development.

The attitude of the Government of Japan (GoJ) toward the Belt and Road Initiative has gone through three stages, namely, the “questioning stage”, the “wait-and-see stage”, and the “stage of limited areas of cooperation with China”. Aiming at representing the GoJ’s attitude changes in discourse, the present study adopts the critical metaphor theory into the analysis of Japanese news discourse and builds a corpus based on the topic of the Belt and Road Initiative by the Asahi Shimbun. The analytical results suggest that the metaphors adopted in the three stages have shifted from conflict metaphors to journey metaphors and building metaphors, which implicitly represents the diachronic change in the GoJ’s attitude toward the initiative from conflict to cooperation in limited areas. Critical metaphor analysis is an effective construal operation for objectively reproducing the real attitudes, intentions, and values of social actors in news discourse.

The human-AI interactive language-learning environment, driven by artificial intelligence (AI), presents new opportunities for self-regulated learning (SRL). However, the specific manifestations of SRL within this environment still require further exploration. To address this, a three-level coding has been conducted using MAXQDA 12 software, based on grounded theory by analyzing retrospective logs and interview data from 30 graduate students majoring in English. In addition, a theoretical saturation test has been performed to check the coding results with the aim of identifying the specific manifestations of SRL in human-AI interactive language-learning environments and to construct a theoretical model of SRL. The SRL model that has been developed in this study consists of three phases: personalized learning planning, SRL implementation, and reflection on learning process and outcomes. The personalized learning planning phase includes a needs analysis, experience seeking, goal-plan setting, and recommendation and selection of learning resources. The SRL implementation phase encompasses task completion, human-AI collaborative assessment, human-AI monitoring and regulation, human-AI supportive guidance, and community interaction. The reflection-on-learning-process-and-outcomes phase focuses on summarizing effective outcomes and identifying areas that requires improvement. This three-phase SRL model not only expands the theoretical perspectives on SRL, but also provides intervention strategies to enhance learners’ SRL capabilities in human-AI interactive language-learning environments.

The facilitative role of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in learning English as a foreign language (EFL) has been widely acknowledged, and students’ attitudes toward GenAI have a significant influence on the adoption of GenAI technologies. While current scales can assess students’ attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI), they are not tailored to GenAI. Therefore, the reliability and validity of the existing scales require reconsideration. To address the research gaps, this study was to develop and validate a scale to assess Chinese university students’ attitudes toward GenAI-assisted EFL learning. Our study comprises two separate samples. As for Sample 1 (n=379), we used an exploratory factor analysis to develop a scale consisting of 15 items that we categorized according to three dimensions (affect, behavior, and cognition), explaining a total variance of 65.719%. As for Sample 2 (n=418), a confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that this three-factor structure was appropriate. In addition, we evaluated the scale’s criterion validity, internal consistency, and measurement invariance across genders, and found a strong performance across these measures. Thus, the scale developed in this study exhibited robust psychometric properties, and can effectively assess Chinese learners’ attitudes toward GenAI-assisted language learning in the context of Chinese universities.

Research on teachers’ digital literacies is a burgeoning topic in foreign language education; thus, understanding the status quo of teachers’ digital literacy development is an important prerequisite for the emerging field of technology-empowered foreign language education. Using questionnaires and interviews as the research methodology, the present study aims to assess the development of the digital literacies of 316 English teachers in elementary and secondary schools in China and to identify the factors that influence the teachers’ development of digital literacies. The results has revealed that the overall development of teachers’ digital literacies is desirable, and the ranking of the dimensions of teachers’ digital literacies is as follows: digital morality > digital attitude > digital awareness > digital ability > digital knowledge. In addition, factors such as age and educational background have a significant impact on the development of teachers’ digital literacies, while gender and school location have no significant impact. Digital nativity significantly influences teachers’ digital literacy. Finally, corresponding countermeasures to intervene in and to improve the development of foreign language teachers’ digital literacies are proposed, echoing the call for AI-empowered foreign language teaching and the facilitation of teachers’ professional development.

The relationship between resilience and emotion regulation remains a crucial yet insufficiently explored domain within foreign language education. This mixed-method study investigated the interplay between these psychological constructs amongst English teachers in Chinese senior high schools. The findings indicated that, on average, these teachers demonstrated high levels of both resilience and emotion regulation, with each sub-dimension exceeding the norm, albeit with individual variations. A notable positive correlation between resilience and emotion regulation was evident. This study’s findings emphasise the importance of addressing teachers’ emotional well-being and the necessity of cultivating an ecological environment that promotes the development of both resilience and emotion regulation skills.

Utilising the three-dimensional discourse analysis model of Fairclough (1992), this paper focuses on a corpus-based examination of the linguistic characteristics of Singapore’s diplomatic discourse and an analysis of the depiction of China via the collocations and concordances of the word “China”. The results of critical discourse analysis revealed that China is perceived politically as a responsible major nation that exerts a positive influence on international and regional affairs. Economically, it is a close and amicable partner to Singapore, boasting a robust economy with a vast market and a favourable business environment and, as a nation, while it is encountering developmental challenges, it has the confidence to overcome them. Furthermore, China’s image is influenced by Singapore’s diplomatic strategies, its interest demands, and its Eastern values. This study highlights the importance of discourse in image construction and provides academic support for the promotion of China’s image.

In this study, a Latin square design was adopted to examine the impacts of task type on the immediate learning of second language (L2) vocabulary. In addition, we tested the applicability of the type of processing-resource allocation (TOPRA) model from the novel perspective of the form-meaning mapping component. Fifty-one first-year non-English majors were recruited as participants; they learned a total of 24 words in the following three conditions: a semantic task, a formal task, and no task. A vocabulary test was administered immediately after the completion of the learning phase to measure the free recall and cued recall of the 24 words. The results of the first language (L1) free recall subtest showed that the task type had a significant effect on the learning of the semantic aspects of word knowledge, with the semantic task promoting and the formal task impeding the learning of the semantic aspects of word knowledge. The results of the L2 free recall subtest indicated that the task type had no significant effect on the learning of the formal aspects of word knowledge. The results of both the L1 and the L2 cued recall subtests showed that the task type had a significant effect on the learning of the form-meaning mapping component, with both the semantic task and the formal task impeding the learning of the form-meaning mapping component. These results partially supported the TOPRA model. This study has pedagogical implications for teaching L2 vocabulary.

The cooperation mechanism between China and the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) has experienced more than 10 years of development since it was established in 2012. We reviewed and analyzed the research that Chinese scholars conducted on the CEECs during this period with the aim of providing reliable information and suggestions for researchers focusing on studies of the CEECs. We adopted the literature review method to systematically observe the academic work and disciplinary distribution that have been carried out from 2012 to 2022. The findings revealed significant improvements in the quantity and quality of the research on the CEECs. However, some problems need to be noted, such as the lack of specialized talents who are familiar with CEECs and insufficient interdisciplinary research. We provide strategic and academic research suggestions based on the study.

Language and social development are intertwined, with legal language serving as the cornerstone of China’s legal system and cultural construction. The establishment of a socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics in the new era is heavily reliant on the support of the language of the rule of law. This paper introduces a novel concept, namely the language of the rule of law, from the perspective of language governance, which expands on the central concept of legal language. The language of the rule of law embodies deeper thinking and an in-depth approach to the rule of law, with a broader scope of application than simply legal language itself, and represents an overflow phenomenon of legal language. In order to shape the image of China as a country ruled by law and to tell its story, the planning and research of legal foreign languages are indispensable. Strengthening the study of the language of the rule of law has immense significance for advancing the construction of China’s rule of law system, enhancing its international discourse power, and promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.

The xu-based continuation writing tasks provide new approaches to teaching foreign languages, and the facilitating effects of continuation writing tasks on the acquisition of foreign vocabulary have been thoroughly substantiated. This review presents a discussion of the theoretical background and the facilitation mechanism of the xu-argument, followed by a summary of the status quo of the research on the facilitating effects of continuation writing tasks, including the types of tasks that are used to promote vocabulary acquisition, the research paradigm adopted to collect the data, and the factors that are assumed to influence the facilitating effects. Specifically, research on the facilitating effects of continuation writing tasks on the acquisition of foreign vocabulary has involved (1) a limited number of task types, omitting tasks with greater alignment magnitude, such as multi-turn continuation writing or cross-type continuation writing; (2) has frequently adopted a traditional paradigm with a sole focus on the depth or quality of vocabulary knowledge, overlooking the indispensable role of lexical fluency; and (3) has identified alignment magnitude and foreign-language proficiency as factors that influence the facilitating effects, with little attention having been paid to cognitive and emotional factors. The corresponding trends and prospects are also discussed in this review.

Multimodal diplomatic discourse plays a pivotal role in promoting diplomatic ideologies, advancing diplomatic endeavours, and shaping national images. Conducting research on multimodal diplomatic discourse is extremely important for enriching the understanding of diplomatic discourse studies and for deepening the exploration in this domain. This paper is based on an analysis of the classification of multimodal diplomatic discourse, and describes its distinctive features and the underlying translation principles. The key characteristics of multimodal diplomatic discourse encompass its political nature, multimodality, visualisation, compatibility, and interactivity. These attributes have a profound influence on the principles that guide the translation of multimodal diplomatic discourse. Given the objective of constructing effective multimodal diplomatic discourse, translation should adhere to the principles of fidelity, coordination, and cultural adaptability to ensure the accurate and comprehensive communication of meaning.

Due to the positive turn in second language education, the multidimensional concept of “flow” has attracted the attention of researchers in this field. Flow not only positively influences learners’ academic achievements, engagement, and well-being, but also has profound implications for second language teacher education. In this article, Flow Theory is introduced by explaining its concept, components, and model. The current state of flow-related research in the context of second language teacher education is then reviewed. Building on existing research findings in the field of second language education, the implications of Flow Theory for teacher education are explored. Future research endeavours could investigate the antecedents and consequences of teachers’ “flow”, as well as the interactive mechanisms of flow between teachers and students, thereby providing novel perspectives for the professional development of second language teachers and the enhancement of teaching effectiveness.

In recent years, research on teachers’ psychological development has gained significant momentum within the field of foreign language teacher education. As a pivotal component of teacher development, teacher immunity serves as a crucial metric for assessing teachers’ mental well-being and promoting their overall psychological health. The concept of teacher immunity is provided first in this paper, followed by an overview of the current state of research in this area. Recommendations for future research are then provided, encompassing research content, perspectives, and contexts, with the aim of enriching the understanding of foreign language teacher immunity and fostering the professional growth of foreign language teachers.

Translators play a pivotal role in translation activities, which has received much attention in translation studies both in China and across the world. This study employs a bibliometric approach to examine journal articles related to translators’ behavior in the Web of Science Core Collection database. The research findings reveal that (1) sociological concepts, the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) paradigm, and empirical-experimental methods are utilized by the international translation studies community to delve into translators’ behaviors in classical text translation, self-translation, slang translation, web search for translating, and translation revision, as well as to investigate the correlation between translator behavior and psychological cognition; (2) the international community does not regard “translators’ behavior” as a distinct field but addresses it as an object in translation sociology, translation process research, translator competence research, and cognitive translation studies. International studies on translators’ behavior are scattered across various fields of translation studies, whereas domestic studies on translator behavior has developed into a mature research field characterized by practical terms, a systematic theoretical framework, and diverse topics. Nevertheless, frequently used methods in international studies, including corpus-assisted methods, ethnographic methods, experiment-based methods, and triangulation, can also offer valuable insights into China’s translator behavior studies.

According to the xu-argument proposed by Wang (2016, 2017), languages are acquired via xu (a Chinese word with the meaning of continuation), and highly efficient language learning can be achieved through xu. We hold the view that the learning effect of xu can be promoted if language learners have fully developed competence in xu, hence the term xu-competence. What is xu-competence? Is there any evidence supporting the analysis of xu-competence? How might foreign-language teaching and research benefit from research on xu-competence? To answer these questions, an analytic model of xu-competence is proposed in the present paper with the aim of not only explaining what xu-competence is, but also of validating the power of xu-argument research. It points out that xu-competence, or competence in interaction and alignment is, in essence, a dynamically composed cluster of cognitive abilities and interactional skills. Evidence from cognitive research, educational research, and empirical xu-based research is then examined in this paper, and the value and challenges of xu-competence research are also discussed.

The State Translation Program (STP) concept system provides a “state” perspective for translator behavior criticism. The STP represents the mainstream of translation history; therefore, exploring translator behavior criticism from the “state” perspective is both reasonable and necessary. Based on the re-examination of translation practices, including Xuanzang’s translation of Tao Te Ching, the study finds that translation can be regarded as a “state-initiating act” that encompasses not only an interlingual practice but also a discourse and political practice. The subject of translation behavior can be understood as an integration of state, translation institution, translator community, and individual translator, and the attributes and types of translators display “three-dimensional” characteristics. From a state perspective, the translator’s behavior is focused on the state’s interests; the interaction between the two categories of individual translator’s behavior and translator community behavior reflects the trinity of the state will, collective will, and individual will. The state perspective inspires translator behavior criticism to probe the interaction between language, society, and the state, giving full play to the critical function of the STP theory.

The practical and instrumental rationalities of translation have significantly influenced the perception of the function and value of translation studies. A major reason for the long-term marginalization of translation studies in institutionalized academia lies in its failure to systematically and effectively explore translation’s practical value, and to construct a scientific disciplinary, academic, and discourse system. The disciplinary construction of translation studies began when linguistics incorporated it as a subdiscipline, followed by a wave of cultural translation studies that focused on literary text translation. Language serves as the medium of translation, culture as one of its contextual elements, and literary translation encompasses complex translation issues. Therefore, the traditional research approaches and orientations in translation studies are not only justified but will continue to constitute essential components of the field. However, the function of translation studies should not be limited to exploring the intrinsic value of translation; it should also investigate its extrinsic effects, namely how translation impacts the development of human civilization. Extending this to pragmatic translation studies, its scope should encompass practical translation studies, pragmatic translation studies, and appliable translation studies. This paper emphasizes that constructing a discourse system for pragmatic translation studies and strengthening its pragmatic research have urgent disciplinary needs and practical significance.

This paper presents an investigation of Chinese freshmen’s English receptive collocational knowledge and its relationship with vocabulary breadth knowledge and lexical frequency using the British National Corpus-based vocabulary size test and a collocational knowledge test. The results revealed that the participants had poor performances in English collocational knowledge, which lagged behind the development of vocabulary size, there was a relatively high correlation between receptive collocational knowledge and vocabulary size (r=0.51) although the correlation was not significant for the low vocabulary group, and there was a low correlation between receptive knowledge and lexical frequency (word frequency and collocational frequency) (r=0.21); for high vocabulary size group, the correlation was slightly higher than it was for the low vocabulary size group. The results revealed the neglect of collocation when teaching English vocabulary at primary and high schools, which suggests that a fundamental change is needed in English teaching pedagogies in the initial stages by moving from “grammar+words” model towards “focusing on collocation” teaching, and that sufficient language input should be provided to enhance the frequency effect of collocation.

In order to better understand the role of input in written products, the focus in this study was on input processing from the perspective of noticing to explore the influence of Chinese English learners’allocation of noticing on writing outcomes in the continuation task. Input processing was recorded via the research methods of thinking aloud, notes, and immediate retrospective interviews, and was coded based on the three aspects of meaning, form, and organization. A correlation analysis to determine the proportion of noticing and the corresponding analytical scores (content, language use, and organization) was conducted. The results revealed that the noticing of meaning accounted for the highest proportion in the two tasks, followed by the noticing of organization and form. The noticing of form had a direct impact on writing outcomes, as the proportion of the noticing of form was negatively correlated with lexical complexity and positively correlated with accuracy. The focus on form during input processing was directly linked to the output results; therefore, in teaching practice, attention should be paid to the quality of learners’attention. This stimulates deep processing, thus facilitating effective language acquisition and internalization.

This paper presents an analysis of the important function of metonymic mechanisms in the translation process of literature of the Communist Party of China (CPC) based on the cognitive view of metonymy. The findings showed that metonymy is closely related to the generation and interpretation of source language (SL) texts and to the construction of target language (TL) texts. Based on different idealised cognitive models (ICM), the two conceptual configurations related to metonymy-producing relationships (i.e., ICM and its parts are mutually referential, and the parts of an ICM are mutually referential) can lead to a variety of contiguous relations, which can help translators to interpret SL texts more accurately and can provide them with various metonymic processing means to construct TL texts. Translators can find interlingual conceptual entities that share identical or similar embodied cognition with proper contiguous relations, which will provide the cognitive basis for the achievement of acceptability, linguistic economy, and political fidelity of the TL texts.

With the gradual implementation of the “Four New Disciplines” Construction that encompasses new engineering, new medical science, new agriculture, and new liberal arts, teaching and learning reforms have set higher standards for materials use. Effective materials use plays a vital role in the development and cultivation of top talents against the backdrop of the “Four New Disciplines” Construction. Addressing the challenges associated with practical materials use, this study explores how English language teachers can interpret and adapt textbooks. It first illustrates four key aspects of textbook interpretation: compiling principles, theme selection, input material, and activity design. Furthermore, it discusses how to adapt textbooks in alignment with teaching practices while adhering to key principles. This study aims to provide insights into more effective consumption of materials, fully achieving educational goals, and advancing the “Four New Disciplines” Construction.

The advent of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly reshaping the language service industry, and is having a profound impact on its supply-demand dynamics, the industry structure, and the overall industry ecosystem. GenAI’s enhanced capabilities have led to increased productivity and supply chain flexibility, driving demand growth and structural shifts in the industry. This expansion of the value chain, while presenting new opportunities, also challenges the traditional translator’s role. As traditional translators encounter potential shifts or transformations in translation tasks, new and specialized roles, such as data annotation and model training, are emerging, requiring language service professionals to develop an evolving skillset. To navigate this evolving landscape, language service education must adapt to cultivate a new generation of professionals capable of thriving in the GenAI era. The study analyzes the multifaceted impact of GenAI on the language service sector and provides insights into and recommendations for educational innovation and talent development strategies to ensure a sustainable future.

Although widely used, the licensing conditions for nominal independent clauses remain unresolved. The grounding theory provides a new analytical approach to solving this problem. Based on this theory, the concept of “quasi-grounding elements” for Chinese nominal independent clauses is proposed in the present study, and the licensing conditions as well as the cognitive motivations for different subtypes of nouns have been explored. The main research findings are as follows: Firstly, the licensing condition for a monosyllabic proper noun is that it should be grounded with quasi-grounding elements such as a title, and the licensing condition for an individual noun is influenced by the means of construal. Secondly, material, abstract and collective nouns cannot stand alone in the same way as a sentence does, except if they are in the form of boundarization or appear in the modifier-head construction. The novelty of this study is that it not only solves the long-standing problems regarding the licensing conditions for nominal independent clauses, but also contributes to the exploration of licensing conditions for other parts of speech.

The prosodic cues in a speaker’s verbal output play a vital role in smooth, mutual communication for both parties. Research has shown that native English speakers can use prosodic cues during speech production to convey the intended meaning of an utterance. However, little is known about whether Chinese learners of English as a second language (L2) provide prosodic cues to achieve syntactic disambiguation when producing sentences in their L2. The present study aims to determine the precise prosodic cues that the Chinese learners of L2 English use to disambiguate prepositional phrase attachment (PP-attachment) sentences and whether these cues differ from those used by native English speakers. Under contextualized experimental conditions, Chinese college students who were learning English participated in a constrained task involving the verbal production of ambiguous English sentences with prepositional phrases. The results revealed that the Chinese college students who were learning English could use similar prosodic cues to those used by native English speakers to resolve the ambiguity in PP-attachment sentences. The findings highlight the interaction between prosodic features and implied meaning in English speech production, and suggest ways in which training in English prosody can improve not only Chinese learners’ pronunciation ability, but also their listening and reading proficiency.

This study examines the Records of the Three Kingdoms in Plain Language rendered by sinologists Wilt L. Idema and Stephen H. West based on the Translator Behavior Criticism Theory. The study findings demonstrate that scholarly translators seek truth at the linguistic level within the target text, reshaping the narrative style of the source text. The academic space is explored using prefaces, annotations, and references to attain academic utility. As a model of academic translation, this rendering provides an opportunity for equal dialogue between Chinese and Western academics and the multiple dissemination of literature and art related to the Three Kingdoms stories.

Four forums on translator behavior studies and two seminars on local cultural translation and dissemination have greatly advanced the studies of translator behavior criticism, which has entered a new phase. By reviewing the academic achievements regarding criticisms of translator behavior since the first forum in 2019 and examining the development of Zhou Lingshun’s thoughts on translator behavior studies, it has been found that a research path of “constructing theory-verifying the validity of the theory-strengthening the evaluation of the theory-taking roots in practice” has been established over the past five years (2019-2024) with the aim of “sustainable development”, exhibiting the following characteristics: First, theoretical construction, particularly the construction of the social dimension, is constantly being strengthened via the construction of a trinity evaluation system of “text-behavior-society” to achieve a comprehensive evaluation of translator behavior. Second, translator behavior criticism theory is investigated from both practical and academic perspectives through various means, such as publications, Q&A sessions, dialogues, and specialized columns, with its utility and operability being greatly improved. Third, the theory has been assessed in terms of its academic, innovative, and scientific value from multiple perspectives. Fourth, theoretical constructions and interpretations are closely correlated with practice, with theories guiding practice and practice extending the theory.

Metaphors are not only a convenient way for humans to communicate with each other and to gain insights into internal and external worlds, but are also an indispensable tool for thought. However, while metaphors have definite practical functions, they also inevitably emerge in conjunction with biases, narrow scopes, and even threats. In this paper, the metaphorical thoughts of the distinguished master of pragmatics, Jacob Mey, are traced from the perspectives of speech acts, pragmatic acts, embodied experiences, and ecology, and are categorized as follows: (1) Metaphor is a socially-oriented dynamic situational speech act; (2) Metaphor is a pragmatic act; (3) Metaphor is a practical activity rooted in the social context; (4) Metaphor is an ecological tool; and (5) Metaphor has two sides, with both “benefits” and “drawbacks” coexisting. Given the nature of metaphors as a “double-edged sword”, Mey has pointed out that, when using metaphors, it is necessary to reveal the social relations that they reflect and the mental and physical labor that they embodies. In order for metaphors to serve humanity more efficiently, we need to understand metaphors by having an open and inclusive attitude, to approach metaphors from a broad and multidimensional perspective, and to utilize metaphors rationally and in an appropriate manner.