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In 2006, Graddol predicted that numbers of 'English as a foreign language' learners would begin to decline through the second decade of this century, as global English achieves basic skill status for children entering education in more societies across the world. As he further noted, having skills in additional languages may thus offer a competitive edge in a global job market where English skills have become commonplace, and where monolingual and even bilingual English speakers may lose out to multilingual competitors. As yet, however, the extent to which the spread of global English may motivate individuals to diversify their language skills beyond English seems limited. Rather, both empirical evidence and commonly held perceptions would seem to endorse the view that global English tends to impact negatively on motivation to learn other languages, despite the growing linguistic and cultural diversity of today's societies. This article critically analyses this impact on motivation from two perspectives. First, from a macro-sociological perspective, it explores the tensions among language globalization, multiculturalism, and multilingualism in today's changing social world and examines the mixed messages communicated for language education in general and for language learners in particular. In so doing, it considers the socially distributed nature of motivation at the level of societal multilingualism and educational policy and practice, and the impact of the social on the individual. Second, from a theoretical perspective, the article considers whether the impact of global English on motivation to learn other languages might be more positively construed by shifting away from SLA frames of reference (concerned with progression toward proficiency in a particular language) in favour of a 'linguistic multi-competence' framework, defined by Cook (2016) as the overall system of a mind or community that uses more than one language. As the article concludes, an important pedagogical implication would be a focus on multilingual (rather than L2) speakers as the normative model of communication and instruction, and the associated promotion of ideal multilingual selves.

The multifunctionality of English in tourism has been a subject of considerable sociolinguistic and pragmatic research, highlighting its role in both communication and the creation of destination. This study examined the effectiveness of AI-driven language learning platforms in fostering linguistic, sociolinguistic, and pragmatic competence in Tourism English. The sample population of this study consisted of nine experts who evaluated three language learning platforms: Duolingo, ELSA Speak, and ChatGPT. Using a qualitative content analysis approach, the study evaluated these platforms' strengths and limitations in facilitating real-world tourism communication skills. The analysis proceeded through a systematic and multi-stage process encompassing data extraction, content analysis, expert evaluation, and thematic analysis, culminating in a comparative analysis and contextualization of findings. The findings showed that AI-driven tools have proven effective in reinforcing linguistic competence, such as grammar and vocabulary retention, yet they fail to fully address the complexities of sociolinguistic and pragmatic competence required for professional tourism communication.

Examining the effects of applying sociolinguistic competency teaching strategies on university students' linguistic proficiency and sociological variance among EFL learners is one of the key goals of this study, which aims to investigate one of the major obstacles associated with learning EFL. The research objectives were investigated through the use of a quantitative, descriptive approach. A questionnaire was employed as a means of gathering research data. One hundred fifty EFL students from several universities in Egypt were chosen at random to participate in this study. The data analysis was performed using SPSS. The research findings show that the implementation of sociolinguistic competence teaching strategies has a positive impact on linguistic proficiency and sociological variation as perceived by university EFL students. The results revealed that there are statistically significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) in the impact of implementing sociolinguistic competence strategies for teaching EFL on linguistic proficiency and sociological variation as perceived by participants according to gender. In addition, the results revealed that there are statistically significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) in the impact of implementing sociolinguistic competence strategies for teaching EFL on language proficiency and sociological variation as perceived by students according to academic level. The findings of the study demonstrated how crucial it is to use sociolinguistic competency techniques to illustrate linguistic performance and sociological variances in order to achieve sociological realization. Furthermore, the results indicated that this is the primary method used by EFL students in Egyptian universities to develop sociolinguistic competence.

New-born infants communicate from the first minute they come to life. This non-linguistic and non-verbal capacity to interact from the first day they come to life enables them to express their needs and evidence their typical development. This capacity to interact develops to include linguistic and non-linguistic use of verbal and non-verbal interaction, that is, pragmatics. Because pragmatics is heterogeneously structured of semiotic, cognitive, motor and sensory elements so it is vital to ensure successful human interaction. The other language elements (i.e., phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic) are essential inputs for this human interaction outcome (i.e., pragmatics). Accordingly, this study sought to map evidence that pragmatics can enhance children’s use of linguistic and non-linguistic capacities for interactive communication. This was addressed by conducting bibliometric and scientometric analyses of 6554 documents from Scopus, 1167 from WOS and 11,230 from Lens between 1939 and 2022. We analysed the past, present and future developments of the field of pragmatics using bibliometric and scientometric indicators. The scientometric analysis was conducted using CiteSpace 5.8.R3 and VOSviewer 1.6.18 software, which enabled the tabulation, visualisation and measurement of the impact of central influencers in the field of pragmatics. In the light of our results, pragmatics continues to expand in order to understand human interaction in a deeper way and to enhance children’s typical interactions with the environment around them. The group should also include adults or elderly people whose pragmatic language skills have been impaired due to any acquired or developmental disorder, such as a brain injury.

Early linguistic competencies are necessary prerequisites for later reading and writing abilities and thus for a successful school career. Various child and family characteristics have been identified as important predictors of children’s linguistic abilities, such as intelligence or the “home literacy environment” (HLE). Therefore, one way to improve children’s competencies is by enhancing the HLE they live in. Family literacy programs have proven to be successful with this task. However, most interventions used to improve HLE were fairly intensive and costly. In this study a nonintensive intervention procedure was developed to improve both, HLE and linguistic competencies. The sample consisted of 125 German children in their last year of kindergarten (mean child age at the beginning of the study: 5 years, 5 months) and their families who showed an above average socio-economic status. All parents were offered to participate in the intervention, consisting of providing them with relevant information on HLE at one evening meeting and providing an additional individual reading session that introduced them to the concept of dialogic reading. HLE and children’s linguistic competencies were assessed before and after the intervention. Participating and non-participating families did not differ in any of the study variables at the beginning of the study. However, families who participated in the interventions not only improved their HLE, but children in those families also showed greater linguistic competency development when compared with the non-participating group. The results indicate that less intensive interventions can have an impact on home learning environments and children’s linguistic development.

One of the objectives of the 2030 Agenda is the improvement of vocational education and training at international and national levels, achieving, among other things, the internationalization of such education. To meet this objective, it is necessary to improve linguistic competence in English as L2 of students undergoing vocational training. The purpose of this research is to analyze the influence of affective variables on the level of self-efficacy of English linguistic competence (L2) in early childhood education vocational education and training. Seventy-six students (M = 20.82; SD =2.30) in higher vocational education in this domain, with an average B1 level proficiency (according to CEFR) were selected and administered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the English Willingness to Communicate Questionnaire (WTC), the Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB), and an ad hoc questionnaire on self-efficacy in English language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing, reading comprehension, and English language in general). The results indicate that anxiety, willingness to communicate in English, and attitude/motivation toward English predict students’ self-efficacy in their level of English language proficiency (L2). Anxiety has a negative influence, explaining the low 15.6 percent of self-efficacy, and willingness to communicate and attitude have a positive influence explaining the 23 and 22.7 percent of self-efficacy, respectively. The practical educational implications, aimed at methodological proposals to improve the level of linguistic competence in English as L2 in vocational training, are discussed.

[...]DTSs have been created based on a competency-based approach that teaches students to apply the knowledge, skills and competencies they have acquired directly to their daily lives. Competence in working with information - the ability to search, sort, process, store, effectively use the necessary information from textbooks, manuals and media sources (radio, television, Internet, etc.), to have a media culture; Competence of self-development - continuous self-development and creative development, independent learning throughout life, continuous improvement of life experience, the ability to make independent decisions; Socially active civic competence - active participation in class, school, family, neighborhood and community activities, knowledge of one's duty, adherence to it; National and intercultural competence - devotion to the motherland, kindness to people and belief in universal and national values, understanding of works of art and art, adherence to a healthy lifestyle; Mathematical literacy, awareness and use of scientific and technical innovations - the ability to make personal, family, professional and economic plans based on accurate calculations, to read tabular data in daily activities. [...]the development of basic and linguistic competencies in mother tongue classes in grades 5-6 not only allows students to gain in-depth knowledge, but also allows them to apply theoretical knowledge in practice. [...]every topic and assignment included in mother tongue textbooks should be primarily aimed at this goal. [...]the problems solved in science are transferred directly to the educational process to be passed on to the next generation.

Errors are inevitable in the foreign language learning process. They are indications to educators of the unlearnt knowledge and problematic areas of the learners. For this reason, it is important to investigate and classify the most frequent errors produced by non-native speakers of English. The present research investigated the spoken errors of university level learners. A classification of spoken errors using the Common European Framework for Language’s (CEFL) (2001) on the communicative language competences was developed to shed light into the difficulties which learners experience in their learning progress. Data were collected from 40 EFL learners through in class observations and recordings. The results of revealed that the most prevalent errors were produced in the main category of linguistic competences. Within the linguistic competence the most prevalent errors were produced in the sub category of lexical competence followed by grammatical competence, functional competence, phonological competence, sociolinguistic competence, pragmatic competence and lastly semantic competence. The findings have implications for educators to understand the problems which learners encounter and set more realistic expectations for themselves and their learners.

This study assessed the effects of three different intervention programs on low-SES mother–child joint activities and on their kindergarten-age children’s progress in early literacy and language. Parents in three groups (119 mothers, 5 fathers) were coached to mediate child learning, respectively, in: interactive storybook reading, writing, or visuomotor skills. A group-specific workshop was followed by 7 weeks of tri-weekly structured dyadic interactions and weekly tutorial home visits. A fourth group (control) received no intervention. Results showed implementation success: Mothers coached in interactive storybook reading or writing mediation improved in the coached activity from pretest to immediate posttest and to delayed posttest. Interactive storybook reading improved less for older than younger children, whereas writing mediation improved more for older than younger children. No transfer emerged from one activity to the other: Coaching on reading had no effect on writing or visuomotor skills, and coaching of writing had an effect only on writing. Children’s alphabetic skills were enhanced in the writing mediation-coached group, whereas linguistic competencies, unexpectedly, were not enhanced in the interactive storybook reading-coached group. The significance of writing mediation as a dyadic activity promoting literacy is emphasized.

Applied linguists have been exploring approaches to second language acquisition and competence that move beyond a prioritization of cognition and grammar that was derived from the foundational structuralist legacy in linguistics. Recently, for example, they have collaborated in putting together an integrated alternative model (Douglas Fir Group, 2016) to move theory and pedagogy forward. Shifting further yet toward the material locus and spatiotemporal conditioning of communication, this article reports on the communicative practices of international STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) scholars. Its data analysis uses a spatial orientation informed by schools such as new materialism, post-humanism, and actor network theory, influenced largely by scholars in material and spatial sciences. The article calls for a fuller materialization, embodiment, and performativity in theorizing language competence than currently conceptualized in applied linguistics.