Language and Linguistics

About the Journal

2025-06-25T15:08:13+07:00

Editorial Team

2025-06-25T15:15:15+07:00

Note from Editor

2025-06-25T15:16:57+07:00

Mental Representation of Rohingya Refugees in Thailand and Syrian Refugees in Europe: A Critical Discourse Study

2024-10-26T13:52:20+07:00

This study aims to compare the conceptual representations that reflect the polarized language characteristics in expressing opinions on the issue of Rohingya refugees in Thailand and Syrian refugees in Europe. The study employs discourse analysis based on van Dijk's Sociocognitive Approach (SCA) and Ideological Square to examine opinions expressed on YouTube videos containing news reports about Rohingya refugees in Thailand (2015–2019) and Syrian refugees in Europe (2013–2019), with 100 clips analyzed for each.

The comparative analysis of mental representation in Thai and English revealed a similar construction of meaning across various topics related to ethnicity and religion. However, multiple representations led to emotional dimensions of fear, hatred, and xenophobia towards foreigners, as well as prejudices towards behaviors in different national and religious contexts. The representation also included imagery of dangerous individuals, dangerous animals, and the unwanted, resulting in feelings of fear, suspicion, and disgust. Additionally, conceptual representations are constructed to convey the image of refugee groups through the use of pronouns, name-calling, verbs that highlight behavioral differences, and modifiers that emphasize the distinction between “us” and “them.” However, discrepancies emerge in portraying “us” roles associated with animals and evil entities such as “kind horse,” which appears in Thai discourse but is absent in English.

Development of an Intermediate Thai Language Instructional Package Using Intercultural Communication Theory for Chinese Students

2025-02-28T11:06:55+07:00

This research aimed to: 1) develop an intermediate Thai language instructional package using intercultural communication theory for Chinese students; and 2) examine the effect of using the developed instructional package. The sample consisted of 11 Chinese students studying Thai as a foreign language at the intermediate level, selected via purposive sampling. The research design was a one-group pre- and post-test design. The research instrument was the developed instructional package. Pre- and post-test means and standard deviations were compared to assess the effects of the instructional package. The results showed that the developed instructional package consisted of four instructional steps: (1) language and culture learning, (2) linguaculture presentation, (3) culture-based practice, and (4) conversation with native speakers in a real context. The package also included content on (1) classroom appointments, (2) group meetings and discussions, and (3) data presentation and learning exchange; a pre- and post-test task; an instructor’s manual; and a student manual. The mean score for intermediate-level Thai conversation ability among Chinese students increased following the instructional activities.

The Study of Grammatical Meanings and the Translation Into Thai of the Prepositional Structure “在 (zài)……上 (shàng)/下 (xià)/中 (zhōng)/里 (lǐ)

2025-02-17T14:44:07+07:00

This research has two main objectives: to analyze the grammatical meaning of the prepositional structure “在 (zài)……上 (shàng)/下 (xià)/中 (zhōng)/里 (lǐ)” and to investigate its translation into Thai. The findings indicate that this structure is not limited to conveying physical meanings related to the position or location, but also extends to five other aspects: 1) indicating perspectives or areas of expertise, 2) indicating boundaries, 3) expressing conditions and factors, 4) describing processes, and 5) denoting statuses, states, or conditions. Regarding its translation, it is observed that this Chinese prepositional structure is highly flexible and can function in multiple ways. It may appear at the beginning of a sentence or before a verb as an adverbial modifier, and it may follow a verb as a complement. Effective translation requires careful adaptation of sentence structures in the target language to align with their linguistic characteristics. For example, in Thai, commonly used equivalents include “ใน”, “บน”, and “ภายใต้”, which differ from Chinese. However, precise contextual analysis is essential to ensure that the translation fully preserves the original meaning while maintaining naturalness and communicative effectiveness in the target language.

Analysis of Splitable Compounds (离合词liheci) in Mandarin Chinese and Comparable Grammatical Units

2025-03-05T12:59:26+07:00

Academic studies often explain the usage patterns of separable words (离合词 liheci) in Mandarin Chinese by stating that, when other semantic constituents, such as noun modifiers, verb complements, or aspect markers, are present, they must be inserted between the two morphemes of the separable word. However, in this language corpus, separable words were found to appear as post-elements in certain contexts. Based on this linguistic phenomenon, the aims of this study were: 1) to investigate the use of separable words as post-elements, 2) to analyze their syntactic characteristics at the sentence level, and 3) to discuss notable findings arising from the analysis. The methodology comprised an analysis of separable words functioning as post-elements, as identified from the new Level 1–9 HSK test manual according to specific criteria; an examination of grammatical units comparable to these separable words at the sentence level; and a discussion of notable findings from the study.

The findings showed that the post-elements of separable words may take the form of a noun, a predicate, or a clause. When these final units co-occur with separable words at the sentence level, the separable words function in ways that are comparable to other grammatical units.

Vietnamese People’s Naming Strategies Based on Vietnamese Tonation Characteristics

2024-09-20T13:51:10+07:00

This research aims to investigate the naming criteria of Vietnamese people based on changes in tone pitch, within the theory of Vietnamese tone phonetics proposed by Đoàn Thiện Thuật (2016) and Hoàng Thị Châu (2009); namely, the number of syllables, tonal contour, and pitch. The data were collected from 50 Vietnamese people living in Hanoi and residing in the Northern region of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, consisting of 25 males and 25 females, divided into five generations based on their age every 20 years. The research found the number of syllables in Vietnamese names ranges from 3 to 4, with male names consisting of 3 syllables and female names ranging from 3 to 4 syllables. Vietnamese people prefer to use alternating type of tones, both in tonal contour type and pitch of each tone within the syllable. However, they tend not to use two-contour tones (T₂) or single contour tones with a glottal stop (T₃) placed together for more than two syllables. In addition, it is uncommon to name with high-level tones placed together for more than 3 syllables, especially with sắc and ngã, which are not typically placed together in more than two syllables, except for ngang. While low-level tones, such as huyền, hỏi, and nặng, are usually placed together in 3 to 4 syllables, the same tone is not typically placed together in more than 2 syllables. Therefore, Vietnamese names tend to have at least 2 tonemes but no more than 3. In other words, Vietnamese naming is based on the number of syllables and the characteristics of Vietnamese tones, with gender differences.

Impact of Active Learning Activities through Padlet on Writing Skills of Malay Language Students at Prince of Songkhla University

2024-09-16T14:20:13+07:00

Currently, teaching and learning are continuously being adjusted and developed to align with societal changes and student preferences, especially through the integration of technology in education, such as the use of Padlet. This research aims to: 1) Study writing skills through the use of Padlet learning boards among students majoring in Malay at Prince of Songkla University, and 2) Examine the satisfaction of Malay major students at Prince of Songkla University with using Padlet learning boards. The sample group consisted of 20 undergraduate students enrolled in the 413-326 Malay Language in Print Media course in the first semester of the 2021 academic year. The research tools included: 1) An active learning activity plan using Padlet, 2) A Malay writing skills test, and 3) A questionnaire on satisfaction with using Padlet. The research findings were as follows: 1) The writing skills of Malay major students at Prince of Songkla University using Padlet learning boards were 81.94% higher than the predetermined criteria, 2) The post-learning writing test skills of Malay major students at Prince of Songkla University were 75.5% higher than the predetermined criteria with the criterion set at 70% and 3) The satisfaction of Malay major students at Prince of Songkla University with using Padlet learning boards was at a high level, with an average score of  = 3.96 and a standard deviation of S.D = 1.97. This research indicates that integrating technology in the form of Padlet with teaching and learning not only enhances the effectiveness of education but also enables students to connect knowledge from multiple dimensions. This contributes to the development of essential 21st-century skills and fosters learners’ problem-solving abilities in real-world contexts particularly issues related to the effective application of digital technology for lifelong learning.

2025-06-25T15:19:58+07:00