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The immersive and interactive technology of extended reality (XR) blurs the lines between the physical and virtual worlds, offering new ways to experience and interact with content. This technology supports a diverse range of applications, from enhancing language acquisition and cultural awareness to improving interpreting skills through realistic simulations. XR is increasingly integrated into language learning, intercultural communication, and interpreter training with the aim of moving beyond mere novelty and unlocking substantial educational potential; the adoption of XR in education emphasizes a transformative learning approach, leveraging the ability of technology to provide immersive multimodal experiences that can lead to better engagement, motivation, and understanding. Despite the optimism surrounding the application of XR to educational settings, challenges related to accessibility, the digital divide, and the potential physical side effects of long-term use remain. The effectiveness of XR in achieving long-term learning gains requires further research. This paper advocates for a balanced understanding of the capabilities of XR, adopting a social constructivist perspective and urging educators to critically assess its impact and potential to enrich the learning experience beyond the initial allure of technological innovation.

The current study aimed to explore receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge among 278 (N = 278) freshmen EFL students in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their vocabulary knowledge was measured by Vocabulary Levels Tests targeting words that belong to 2000, 3000 and 5000 frequency levels. This vocabulary knowledge was assessed in relation to a few factors, namely, the self-rated overall English proficiency, the average EFL grade during elementary and high school, the type of high school attended, and the length of formal EFL learning. The students achieved much higher scores on the receptive than productive knowledge measure, the former ranging from M = 9.94 to M = 13.95, and the latter from M = 4.45 to M = 8.78, with the gap between receptive and productive scores being the greatest between scores for 3000 frequency level words. The results of MANOVA and ANOVA statistical tests showed that all the aforementioned factors, except for the length of learning English, significantly impacted both receptive and productive EFL vocabulary knowledge. This study is expected to significantly contribute to current understanding of EFL learning, and vocabulary knowledge development as its integral part, in the Global South context. It will offer both students and teachers a valuable assessment of the current situation, along with practical guidelines for further improvement in this respect.

Following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran revised its English language education strategy, customising English Language Teaching (ELT) resources to better align with local contexts. This study examines cultural representation in locally-developed (Eight, The ILI, and Merit) and internationally-published English language textbooks (World English, Top Notch, and Four Corners). Employing a mixed-methods design and frameworks by Moran (2001), Chao (2011), and Dahmardeh & Kim (2020), 58 textbooks were purposively sampled. Quantitative content analysis assessed the frequency and types of cultural elements, while qualitative thematic analysis provided deeper insights into the cultural dimensions represented. Findings indicate that locally-developed textbooks incorporate more local cultural perspectives, whereas international textbooks emphasise cultural products. Both types equally represent cultural practices and persons. The study underscores the importance of incorporating diverse cultural elements in ELT textbooks to promote intercultural competence, offering practical recommendations for educators, curriculum developers, and policymakers.

While critical thinking is becoming gradually more important in education, memorisation of rules, procedures and facts is still predominant. Italy has undergone a moderate level of innovation over the last two decades. Despite this, rote-learning strategies appear to be the norm at secondary education level (Vincent-Lancrin et al., 2019). This paper examines whether the currently compulsory CLIL activity, with its focus on higher-order thinking skills (Coyle et al., 2010), has had a beneficial impact on learning in Italian secondary education. More specifically, teachers’ current practices and students’ reactions to them after the official CLIL implementation are discussed, through analysis of data collected from 1,343 respondents to a questionnaire distributed throughout the country. The findings align with the thinking-centered, integrative nature of the approach advanced by CLIL scholars, providing evidence both of the success of CLIL teacher training measures in the Italian context and of further cognitive achievements stemming from CLIL activity. However, critical considerations of the need to update assessment measures in light of these findings are included.

This study investigated the potential of case-based learning (CBL) integration in English education to enhance nurse communication. Recognizing the relevance of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses to nursing, this research explores the application of CBL as a bridge between theoretical knowledge and practical communication skills. The qualitative research methods focused on one lecturer, a class, and 15 students. Data collection included observations and document analysis to better understand CBL implementation and outcomes. Preliminary findings indicated CBL alignment with established frameworks, involving case introduction, source analysis, group discussions, role-play, feedback, and reflection. It was concluded that, by adopting case-based learning, nursing education can equip future professionals with the language mastery that is essential for impactful patient interactions and collaborative care. The findings of this study provide insights into a practical methodology for enhancing nurse communication and English skills.

This qualitative study aimed to analyze the rhetorical structures and linguistic features of motivation letters written by scholarship awardees when they applied to scholarship programs. 20 motivation letters written by former students of Universitas Islam Negeri Ar-Raniry (UINAR) and Universitas Syiah Kuala (USK) were used for this study. The motivation letters were examined using a seven-step analysis model as a procedure to analyze genres in a discourse. The results showed five out of seven moves were used in the motivation letters. However, the way the students used the moves varied. Move 1 (establishing credentials) and Move 2 (introducing candidature) were found in 19 motivation letters while other moves were found variously in 1 to 4 motivation letters. This study concluded that the obligatory moves used in the motivation letters are (a) establishing credentials and (b) introducing candidature. Linguistic features used in the data were personal pronouns, present simple tense, present perfect tense, passive voice, adverbs, and modals.

This study illustrates how EduTok applies Nano-Learning principles to improve grammar instruction, offering avenues for targeted, efficient language learning. Nano-Learning (NL) is gaining traction in modern education due to its focused, adaptive content presentation. EduTok videos are utilized to teach topics like English grammar, presenting information in manageable segments. This study analyzed 55 videos from one TikTok account, focused on video length, content, and NL principles. The findings showed that EduTok videos focus on a single grammatical concept, real-world application in everyday life, and common grammatical mistakes, using multimodal elements for contextual learning. The key features of these nano-learning videos include brevity, video length, visual engagement, and interactive delivery. The instructional style includes grammar tips, binary exercises, and conversational approaches to encourage learner engagement and accessibility.

Presuming two major interrelated and at the same time distinct perspectives on pragmatics, the current paper seeks to delineate the similarities and differences of dialectic versus dialogic pragmatics. It begins with a brief and informative overview of rhetoric and claims that rhetoric is essentially a kind of pragmatics where a rhetor carries dialectic into oration to challenge, sway, persuade, or defeat an adversary through elocution. It then moves on to a brief overview of dialogic pragmatics and argues that it builds on a cooperative dyad where the interlocutors work in tandem to co-create a dialogue. Assuming an inclusional distribution between the two, the paper concludes that dialectic pragmatics is essentially concerned with one form of intentionality and can therefore be called micro-pragmatics whereas dialogic pragmatics encompasses all forms of intentionality including that of rhetoric, and that it can therefore be called macro-pragmatics.