International Journal of English Language and Literature Studies

Motivation and communication in ESL classrooms: A quantitative study based on Maslow’s needs and Grice’s Maxims

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0600

In the field of English as a Second Language (ESL) education, teacher communication and student motivation are widely recognized as critical determinants of learning outcomes. This study examined the relationship between learner needs, framed through Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and teacher communication effectiveness, analyzed using Grice’s Maxims. Data were collected from 240 students across 15 educational institutions in India, representing both technical and non-technical disciplines. A mixed-methods design was employed, combining quantitative survey data with qualitative classroom observations. Descriptive statistics indicated moderate levels of motivation across all five need categories, with Social Needs reporting the highest mean (3.04, SD = 1.10) and Esteem Needs the lowest (2.95, SD = 1.20). Teacher communication was also rated at a moderate level, with Clarity perceived most positively (3.05, SD = 1.10). Pearson correlation analysis revealed a negligible and statistically insignificant relationship between motivation and teacher communication (r = –0.01, p = 0.87). These results suggest that motivation does not substantially shape students’ perceptions of teacher communication. Instead, other factors such as teaching style, instructional relevance, and cultural context may exert greater influence in ESL classrooms.

Innovative ICT pedagogy for English language teaching by trainees in Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Neeta Chandra, R Vaijayanthi — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0600

Integrating ICT-based pedagogy in English language teaching is essential for improving educational outcomes, particularly in remote regions like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Existing studies primarily focus on urban settings, leaving a gap in understanding how ICT enhances instructional methods and student learning in rural contexts. This study investigates the effectiveness of ICT-based pedagogy in improving English language proficiency through the training of teacher trainees in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A total of 400 students from Grades 6 to 9 across eight government schools in both urban and rural areas participated. A Digital Literacy and Pedagogical Advancement Program was developed to train the teacher trainees in using ICT tools, who then conducted ICT-based English classes over two months using CBSE-aligned content. To assess student progress, Grade-Specific Linguistic Proficiency Assessment (GLPA) tests were designed to evaluate reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Pre- and post-tests were conducted, and the data were analysed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov, paired t-tests, and independent t-tests. Results showed significant improvements in post-test scores across all grades, confirming the effectiveness of ICT-based pedagogy. The findings support the scalability and adaptability of ICT-integrated teaching methods, advocating for their broader adoption to improve English language proficiency and modernize instructional practices in remote educational settings.

The interliterary reception of the Arabian Nights in O. Henry’s selected short stories

Nasra Ihmaid Jadwe, Majeed U Jadwe, Shaima Jabbar Ali — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0600

This paper critically examines the presence of the Arabian Nights in the short stories of the American writer O. Henry (1862–1910). Departing significantly from previous studies on this topic, this study challenges the traditional model of influence studies that has long dominated comparative literary scholarship. Such an approach, often restrictive, yields limited critical insight. Instead, this study adopts a reception-oriented framework to analyze the presence of the Arabian Nights in O. Henry’s selected short stories. This theoretical perspective offers a more nuanced understanding of how the host text interacts with the source text on a textual level. The analysis is guided by Dionýz Durišin's model of interliterary reception, which provides a more effective framework for assessing O. Henry’s creative engagement with the Arabian Nights. Additionally, the paper focuses on a specific subset of O. Henry’s short stories those that explicitly reference the Arabian Nights in their titles and structure their narratives around its master plots. The very act of interliterary reception that underlies the construction of the five 'Arabian Nights' short stories provides invaluable insights into the ways in which America of the late nineteenth century imagines itself critically in the mirror of the Arabian Nights.

Ann Radcliffean gothic heroine: Negotiating female agency through spatial constraint from eighteenth-century literature to contemporary media

Kun Hu, Yuancheng Zhong — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0600

This study examines the portrayal of the Gothic heroine in Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho from 1794 and The Italian from 1797, showing how her characterisation reshaped eighteenth-century Gothic fiction and influenced later narrative models. Radcliffe’s heroines, defined by courage, emotional sensitivity, and moral endurance, confront patriarchy, fear, and confinement through rational thought, psychological resilience, and the careful use of domestic or religious space. Using feminist theory and spatial criticism, the study argues that their agency develops not from rebellion but from calm reasoning, emotional control, and subtle resistance within restrictive architectural and social structures. The study also traces Radcliffe’s lasting influence in modern texts, including The Handmaid’s Tale and the film Ex Machina, where female characters continue to negotiate surveillance, containment, and the search for autonomy. These contemporary works reflect the same pattern of confined yet active agency that Radcliffe first established. Overall, the analysis shows that Radcliffe created a lasting model of female empowerment through spatial negotiation and inner strength. Her Gothic heroines endure because they transform confinement into agency, providing a foundation for later feminist storytelling in literature, film, and wider cultural production.

Beyond the feminine stereotypes: Tracing societal class barriers in Jojo Moyes' Me Before You

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0600

This paper examines the complex nuances of feminist narratives and their diverse interpretations through an in-depth analysis of JoJo Moyes’ novel Me Before You (2012). Within the framework of feminism, the paper questions normative gender ideals through the lens of the interconnectedness of class, culture, and identity. The paper fills a gap in the research on feminism, womanism, and related movements by analyzing them in a more contextualized way, demonstrating how sociocultural norms are imprinted on the lives of individuals. The paper summarizes how, even in the context of a familiar setting of Luisa Clark, the protagonist, sociocultural forces dictate class, gender, and caregiving expectations. Using a critical lens and sociocultural analysis, the article illustrates how family traditions and social practices strongly mediate Luisa’s decisions, needs, and self-worth. It provides a less radical tone but more pragmatic and inclusive feminism compared to much feminist rhetoric. Overall, the article advocates that more studies on feminist literature, gender stereotypes, and identity formation among cultures across the world, with a focus on intersections of gender, power, and social class, are needed. Thus, this study will offer researchers of literary criticism, feminist theory, and identity development with critical new knowledge.

Pedagogical translanguaging in multilingual writing: Eradicating monolingual ideologies and developing critical language awareness

Md Nesar Uddin, Mahmuda Sharmin — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0600

Although recent translanguaging studies have emphasized the pedagogical potential of translanguaging in various educational contexts, pedagogical translanguaging in multilingual writing at US universities remains little examined. This practitioner research investigated how pedagogical translanguaging in a multilingual writing class, comprising sixteen sophomores at a US research university, helped learners challenge monolingual ideologies and cultivate a critical awareness of linguistic rights and justice. The study used the Multimodalities/Entextualization Cycle framework during intervention. The data collected for this study include students’ reflections and critical discussions on CANVAS. This study coded the data with NVivo Plus and analyzed them thematically based on research questions about learners’ changing monolingual ideologies and their awareness of linguistic justice and rights. The data analysis shows that pedagogical translanguaging helped learners overcome their preconceived monolingual ideologies by fostering rhetorical sensibility and enhancing their critical awareness of linguistic justice. The results suggest that pedagogical translanguaging can be welcomed in multilingual writing classes when appropriate translanguaging materials are incorporated into pedagogical practices that educate learners about the practical values of translanguaging. The study contributes to the current scholarship that focuses on teachers’ pedagogical intervention designed to help multilingual learners challenge self-effacing attitudes toward and celebrate their linguistic and cultural resources.

Hydrocolonial currents: Water, migration, and climate allegory in Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island

Mohammad Rahmatullah, Muhammad Tofazzel Hossain — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0600

This article reads Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island through Elizabeth DeLoughrey’s hydrocolonial framework to argue that the novel reorients climate fiction from humanitarian spectacle to the ethics of passages. Treating water as both archive and infrastructure, this article traces an itinerary, deltaic edges in Bengal, littoral transits at sea, and lagoonal arrivals in Venice, showing how colonial sea lanes, port bureaucracies, and contemporary rescue regimes sediment into present mobilities. Allegory, here, is not evasive; it scales the Anthropocene through thick, local hydrohistories: Cyclone memory and salinization in the Sundarbans, vessel checkpoints and registries across the Mediterranean, and MOSE’s flood barriers as technopolitical palimpsest. Bringing DeLoughrey into dialogue with wet ontologies (Steinberg & Peters), tidalectics (via Ritson), slow violence (Nixon), and wake work (Sharpe), this paper models a teachable “Hydrocolonial Itinerary” method for literary analysis. It reframes care from rescuing bodies to safeguarding passages as commons, aligning blue urbanism with postcolonial oceanic ethics. Attending migrant narratives, cetacean signals, and digitized maritime surveillance, this paper shows how Gun Island reworks mobility from crisis-event to relational maintenance across waters, infrastructures, and species, suggesting a pedagogy that couples close reading with cartographic, archival, and policy literacies. This supports classroom and community-engaged blue humanities research today.

Construction and validation of an English language teachers' feedback practices scale in Chinese primary schools

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0600

The objective of the current study is to develop and validate a questionnaire “English Language Teachers’ Feedback Practices Scale (ELTFPS)” for assessing primary school English language teachers’ feedback practices, in the context English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in China. Based on Hattie and Timperley’s four levels of feedback model, the items for the questionnaire are sourced from past studies. The study used quantitative research methodology involving purposive sampling technique, and collected data from 10 private primary school EFL teachers in Guangdong Province, China. The study employed SPSS 27.0v, and SEM-AMOS software to study the psychometrics of the newly constructed ELTPS scale. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) confirmed 21 valid items under four dimensions, viz task, process, self-regulation, and self-levels of feedback practices. The results showed good model fit indices (χ²/df=1.83, CFI=0.95, RMSEA=0.06), confirming the reliability and validity of the ELTPS scale. This validated instrument precisely assesses primary EFL teachers’ feedback practices, that support in teaching evaluations of in-service and pre-service EFL teachers. The ELTFPS is a potential questionnaire in assessing and improving quality education in English language teaching in primary schools.

An investigation of cultural values and their impact on rhetorical use of pronouns and determiners in EFL essays

Andrew Schenck — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0600

Little empirical investigation of cultural influences on rhetoric has been conducted, limiting our understanding of how persuasive discourse may be enhanced in diverse contexts. To broaden our understanding of rhetorical variation and cross-cultural communication, the present study examined a variety of persuasive essays from the International Corpus Network of Asian Learners of English (ICNALE). English texts from college students at the highest proficiency level in the corpus (CEFR B2) were analyzed from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand. To evaluate the relationship between rhetorical variation and cultural beliefs, the frequency of first-person singular (I, me, and my), first-person plural (we, us, and our), third-person singular (he, him, his, she, and her), third-person plural (they, them, their), and second-person (you and your) pronouns and determiners was compared to cultural beliefs about power distance and individualism (vs. collectivism). Comparison using the non-parametric Spearman rho formula revealed that collective societies that accepted hierarchical differences had fewer first-person singular pronouns (rs = -.83; p =.011) and more third-person singular masculine pronouns (rs = .89; p =.003). Individualistic cultural groups had more first-person singular pronouns (rs = .78; p =.023) and less third-person singular masculine pronouns (rs = -.80; p =.017). Findings suggest that rhetorical use of pronouns for persuasion vary predictably in tandem with cultural values. Such information provides insights concerning how English rhetoric and pedagogy may be improved to enhance intercultural communication.

The impact of AI-driven features of social media platforms on collaborative English language learning: An applied linguistics perspective

Aby John — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0600

The daily lives of university students are profoundly impacted by social media. It has a considerable influence over their thoughts and actions. Although AI-driven features of social media platforms have a pivotal role in developing the English language proficiency of ESL students in engineering programs, studies exploring this role are scarce. This study fills the research gap and explores the significance of AI-driven features of social media platforms in collaborative English language learning (CELL). The practical strategies that educators and policymakers can utilize to foster AI-mediated informal digital learning of English (AIIDLE) with the support of social media platforms and a collaborative language learning approach are also discussed in this study. The data for the study were collected from 355 ESL students in engineering programs across various universities in India using a structured questionnaire. The reliability and internal consistency of the questionnaire were evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha. The collected data were analyzed using percentage analysis, KMO and Bartlett’s test of Sphericity, standard deviation, arithmetic mean, and ANOVA. The results of the hypothesis testing revealed a positive relation between AI-enabled social media usage and CELL among ESL students. It is observed that the autonomy and agency provided by social media enable ESL students to reduce anxiety, engage in cognitive restructuring, self-reflection, and self-directed language learning.

Historicizing the personal: A new historicist reading of Rohinton Mistry’s such a long journey

Pramod Kumar PS, Vishwanatha Vishwanatha — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0600

This study analyzes Rohinton Mistry’s novel Such a Long Journey through a New Historicist framework, illustrating how personal experience and historical discourse intersect within postcolonial India. Set in 1970s Bombay, the narrative reflects the socio-political turbulence of the period. Through the Parsi protagonist, Gustad Noble, the novel presents an alternative history that reveals how local, national, and geopolitical pressures shape the diminishing fortunes of his family and the wider Parsi community. The study investigates how history emerges through personal consciousness, domestic spaces, and everyday encounters, demonstrating how official nationalist and developmental narratives often sideline marginalized voices. By situating the novel alongside relevant historical “co-texts,” the analysis deepens understanding of its representations of state surveillance, corruption, and authoritarian governance. It further shows how the text challenges official histories by foregrounding everyday struggles and overlooked perspectives. Emphasizing conflict, contradiction, and contextual complexity, this research highlights the instability of fixed interpretations. It foregrounds subversive or repressed voices and shows how literature can recover “submerged histories.” Aligned with the principles of New Historicism, the study critiques dominant ideologies, interrogates power relations embedded in discourse, and positions the novel as a cultural artifact that simultaneously resists, critiques, and reflects hegemonic structures in historically grounded ways.

Peer assessment in English argumentative writing: Module development and its impact on writing proficiency and self-efficacy of Chinese college EFL learners

Lei Zhang, Samah Ali Mohsen Mofreh, Sultan Salem — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0600

This study investigates the impact of a structured Peer Assessment Argumentative Writing Module on the writing proficiency and writing self-efficacy of Chinese college EFL learners. It further examines the mediating roles of metacognitive awareness, writing engagement, and feedback uptake to explain the cognitive-behavioral processes through which peer assessment influences writing outcomes. A quantitative research design was employed, involving 251 Chinese undergraduate EFL students. Data were collected using validated scales measuring peer assessment, writing self-efficacy, writing proficiency, metacognitive awareness, writing engagement, and feedback uptake. Structural equation modeling using SmartPLS 4.0 was applied to test direct and indirect relationships among these constructs within the proposed conceptual framework. Results revealed that the Peer Assessment Argumentative Writing Module significantly enhanced both writing proficiency and writing self-efficacy. Metacognitive awareness, writing engagement, and feedback uptake were confirmed as significant mediators, demonstrating that students’ reflective regulation, sustained involvement, and effective use of peer feedback played crucial roles in transforming peer assessment experiences into improved writing outcomes. This study contributes to the literature by integrating social cognitive theory with multiple mediating mechanisms to explain how peer assessment supports argumentative writing development in EFL contexts. Practically, the findings offer evidence-based recommendations for designing structured peer assessment activities that strengthen students’ writing ability, confidence, and self-regulated learning in Chinese higher education.

Bernardine Evaristo’s the Emperor’s Babe as a liberal feminist manifesto in a postmodern context

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0600

Postmodernism refers to a range of artistic, cultural, and philosophical trends. Liberal feminism is a postmodern concept of women's emancipation that advocates for equal rights for both men and women across legal, political, and social domains. The objective of this research is to shed light on liberal feminist perspectives in Bernardine Evaristo’s The Emperor's Babe. This study employed a qualitative textual analysis of the novel. The theoretical framework for analyzing the characteristics of liberal feminism in The Emperor's Babe was based on works by Mary Wollstonecraft (A Vindication of the Rights of Women), John Stuart Mill (On Liberty and The Subjection of Women), Martha Nussbaum (Sex and Social Justice), and Susan Moller Okin (Justice, Gender, and Family). The study aims to provide a unique perspective on the novel's exploration of individual agency, gender equality, and autonomy through the principles of liberal feminism. The findings are compared with other research addressing liberal feminism. The study concludes that The Emperor's Babe exemplifies a liberal feminist stance because it challenges traditional gender roles and identity norms in a distinctly postmodern manner. While intersectional, black feminist, and postcolonial interpretations may offer additional insights, this research primarily focuses on liberal feminism.

From silent listeners to confident speakers: Strategies for promoting oral fluency in EFL settings

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0600

Oral fluency refers to the ability to speak smoothly and meaningfully, with appropriate speed, limited hesitation, and coherent message delivery. This study examines the influence of communicative instructional strategies on the oral fluency of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, with particular attention to reluctant or silent students. Specifically, it investigates the perceived effectiveness of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) techniques, peer interaction and group activities, and fluency-focused speaking tasks. The study adopts a quantitative design using a structured questionnaire administered to 101 EFL learners from multiple educational institutions; the instrument was validated for reliability before distribution. The findings suggest that interaction-rich, student-centred classroom practices are associated with stronger perceived oral fluency and speaking confidence. The study highlights oral fluency development as a core component of instruction for silent EFL learners and offers practical implications for designing curricula that prioritise real-life communication.

Political consciousness and feminist interpretations of social events in Isabel Allende’s Violeta and the house of the spirits

Lincy Kiruba Selvaraj, Ram Kumar Emaraj Vairamuthu, Newbegin Suganthamani — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0600

This study examines political consciousness and feminist interpretations of social events in Isabel Allende’s Violeta and The House of the Spirits, focusing on how historical and political realities shape women’s identities and resistance within patriarchal societies. Using a qualitative sociological content analysis, the study draws on feminist existentialism, particularly Simone de Beauvoir’s concept of woman as the “Other,” to analyze character development, narrative structure, and socio-political contexts embedded in the novels. The findings reveal that Allende intricately links personal experiences with broader political forces such as dictatorship, social injustice, and class conflict, portraying women as active agents who challenge gender hierarchies and reclaim autonomy. Characters such as Violeta, Clara, Blanca, and Alba demonstrate feminist awakening through resilience, emotional labor, and political engagement, illustrating how women’s lives are shaped by, and respond to, political oppression and social transformation. The study also highlights Allende’s use of historical realism and feminist discourse to amplify marginalized voices and critique male-dominated power structures in Chilean society. Practically, this research contributes to feminist literary studies by offering a framework for understanding how political awareness and gender consciousness intersect in Latin American literature. It further provides insights for scholars and students examining the role of literature in reflecting social change, empowering women’s voices, and fostering critical awareness of gender and power relations.