This article positions braille as a writing system worthy of study in its own right and on its own terms. We begin with a discussion of the role of braille in the lives of those who read and write it and a call for more attention to braille in the reading sciences. We then give an overview of the history and development of braille, focusing on its…

How we talk about bilingualism has an effect on how others think about bilingual individuals, and in turn, how "active bilingual learners/users of English" (ABLE) students are assessed and taught in schools. I use a transdisciplinary approach of bridging social semiotics, applied linguistics, psycholinguistics, and cognitive linguistics…

Third language (L3) lexical acquisition is still underexplored. In this article I overview theoretical and empirical evidence on L3 lexical acquisition and the role of cross-linguistic influence (CLI) in learning L3 words. I explain the mechanism of CLI as resulting from language co-activation in the multilingual learner's/user's mind.…

Linguistic personality, in the domain of applied linguistics and discourse analysis, has risen to the form, content and style of a genre in the contemporary linguistic paradigm. It is determined by an individual's language behaviors, inter-cultural interactions, and self-expression, and is shaped by the educational environment. The current study…

The effect of first language transfer on second language acquisition and learning has been a major theoretical concept in second language research and pedagogy since the 1950s. In order to give a historical perspective, the authors offer a brief presentation of some of the major topics from the broad spectrum of issues that have been examined by…

The traditional linear regression in applied linguistics (AL) suffers from the drawbacks arising from the strict assumptions namely: linearity, and normality, etc. More advanced methods are needed to overcome the shortcomings of the traditional method and grapple with intricate linguistic problems. However, there is no previous review on the…

The present study aimed at developing a second language pragmatic aptitude test. To do so, the relevant literature was consulted, different components contributing to pragmatics aptitude were identified and tabulated and test items were developed for each component. The outcome was a test comprising four sections, i.e. memory for pragmatic rule…

Learning vocabulary in any foreign language including English is vital, since it plays a central role in language learning. However, when compared to other skills, it is undoubtedly the most time-consuming skill to be mastered by learners and users of English due to various reasons. While learners exert much effort to memorise, store, and retrieve…

Interpretive theory of translation allows us to consider translation as a tool for studying the process of understanding. The study of the mechanisms of perception and understanding of the text in the process of English-Ukrainian translation permits to clarify the specifics of decoding information about COVID-19 in the pandemic of 2020. The…

Multilingualism is now seen as the norm rather than the exception in an age of migration and supranational entities, and where minority language rights and the consequent educational policies have become more common. The field of applied linguistics reflects that transition: second language acquisition (sla) research is slowly being replaced by…

This article considers the construct of fluency in second language assessment and how it might be informed by research in applied linguistics. It briefly describes the way fluency is conceptualized in four language tests, as embodied in their respective assessment criteria, to show where the field is at present. The article then takes into account…

This article updates the trends and developments of Japanese as a second language (JSL) research since Mori and Mori (2011) by reviewing nearly 200 selected empirical studies published in English or Japanese between 2010 and early 2019. The first section of this review examines the cognitive aspects of second language (L2) Japanese development,…

After an extended period of being on the periphery, numerous advancements in the field of second language (L2) pronunciation over the past decade have led to increased activity and visibility for this subfield within applied linguistics research. These positive developments notwithstanding, the vast majority of renewed applied pronunciation…

The paper outlines the peculiarities of Applied Linguistics as a branch of science and specialty provided by universities worldwide. Its scope, relevance in modern labour market and immediate relation to communication and language studies have been analyzed. Its advantages as a flourishing educational program for tertiary education and as an…

John Sinclair's Idiom Principle famously posited that most texts are largely composed of multi-word expressions that "constitute single choices" in the mental lexicon. At the time that assertion was made, little actual psycholinguistic evidence existed in support of that holistic, "single choice," view of formulaic language. In…