Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages

This research note introduces the ‘product-effect’, a novel framework derived from environmental psychology, to investigate the effectiveness of branding in nongovernmental organisations (NGOs). The framework explores how various elements of corporate visual identity (CVI), such as logos and names, influence public perceptions of NGO credibility and recognition. This article applies the product-effect to NGO branding, examining how specific CVI elements shape individuals’ perceptions and attitudes towards NGOs. The article details the research design, data collection procedures and analytical methods used, providing actionable insights for NGO leaders to optimise their branding strategies and enhance organisational impact. These findings contribute to both academic understanding and practical applications in the field of non-profit marketing.

Focus on the development of autonomous learning capacities among elementary English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners highlights the need for systematic inquiry into effective pedagogical approaches. This paper proposes a conceptual framework to integrate Learner-Generated Contexts (LGC) and generative AI (GenAI) to bridge this gap by promoting self-directed learning within collaborative environments through structured scaffolding. Grounded in heutagogy and obuchenie models, the framework emphasizes student agency and socially constructed knowledge. Students, within the framework, co-create learning contexts, while GenAI provides adaptive scaffolding and content generation that align with digital literacy standards. The framework comprises four components: (1) Learner autonomy and agency, (2) Teacher-guided scaffolded learning, (3) Cultivation of a collaborative learning environment, and (4) Assessment and evaluation. The proposed framework could empower elementary EFL learners to navigate digital and collaborative contexts confidently; it may also serve as a guideline for elementary school instructors to promote student collaboration and learning autonomy through LGC-based approaches.

ABSTRACT Students’ subjective task values (STVs) are vital in academic learning as they directly influence student engagement and academic performance. STVs are shaped by various personal, psychological, affective and cultural factors. While personality traits, positive emotions and learning motives have been linked to STVs, the degree to which they predict specific dimensions of STVs in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning remains underexplored. This study investigates the predictive power of L2 grit, foreign language enjoyment and learning motives on different dimensions of STVs among 577 EFL university students in Taiwan. Data were collected through an online questionnaire and analysed using standard multiple regression. The findings revealed that perseverance of effort, personal enjoyment and deep motives positively predicted intrinsic, attainment and utility values. Consistency of interest and social enjoyment positively predicted intrinsic values only, while surface motives negatively predicted intrinsic values. Additionally, teacher appreciation and surface motives positively predicted perceived cost. These results underscore the significance of personal, emotional and motivational factors in shaping students’ task value perceptions in EFL learning.

Indigenous entrepreneurship (IE) is generally considered to emerge within culturally and geographically monolithic communities, with academic literature presupposing those communities are stationary. This paper is among the first to investigate the role of migration and mobility in IE, developing an instrumental case study of Swalrawdru, a pseudonymous Rukai mountain community in Taiwan. Eight research participants were identified who migrated from the mountains to the cities of the plains when they were young and later returned to the mountains to establish a business. Through the use of a short survey and semi-structured interviews, we analyze the experiences of these Rukai entrepreneurs to consider the ways in which this mountain-plain mobility affects entrepreneurial aspirations and outcomes. In doing so, first, we challenge the dominant monolithic model in IE research. Second, we contribute to the migrant entrepreneurship (ME) literature. The Rukai entrepreneurs are embedded in mountain and plain settings, mirroring the focus within the prominent “mixed embeddedness” perspective on ethnic and non-ethnic networks and resources. However, we go beyond this focus on structural embeddedness to suggest that indigenous entrepreneurs’ aspirations and choices are inspired not by their mixed embeddedness per se, but rather by the place-belonging generated in the process of migration.

La demanda de organismos acuícolas para consumo humano, tales como pescados, mariscos y sus derivados, es cada vez mayor debido a su calidad nutricional; la disminución de los rendimientos de las pesquerías han mostrado un estancamiento. Los Lutjánidos son peces objetivo de las pesquerías artesanales en los estados costeros de las zonas tropicales y subtropicales de México, ya que son especies de gran demanda en el mercado y brindan grandes ingresos a los pescadores. Uno de los géneros de mayor importancia comercial perteneciente a esta familia, es el Lutjanus, dentro del cual están las especies Lutjanus peru, Lutjanus guttatus, Lutjanus argentiventris y Lutjanus colorado. Se han sugerido que estas son especies con gran potencial en la acuicultura. El propósito del presente documento es aportar información sobre aspectos reproductivos, fisiología, hematología, calidad de agua en cultivo y variables ambientales que inciden en su población natural y salud de los pargos. Los cambios en las prácticas de manejo pesquero y contaminación del medio ambiente pueden generar nuevos determinantes para la salud de las pesquerías.

Background: In English-medium instruction (EMI) classrooms, goal orientations, strategies, and communication play pivotal roles in facilitating effective learning. Achievement goal orientations (AGOs) guide and control learner competence-relevant behavior in academic performance. Communication strategies (CSs) are communication aids for learners to cope with problems or breakdowns while speaking the target language. Strategic competence is an indispensable affective-cognitive factor that promotes learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC) in a target language. Purpose: This study aims to investigate the role of AGOs and CSs in predicting WTC and the effect of English proficiency on AGOs and CSs in EMI classrooms. Methods: An online questionnaire survey regarding the perception of AGOs, CSs, and WTC was conducted with 595 university students taking one EMI course in social science and humanity domains in Taiwan. The items were on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’. Hierarchical multiple regression was adopted to predict WTC in EMI classrooms. One-way between-group MANOVAs were adopted to examine the individual and joint effect of English proficiency on the AGOs and CSs. Results: The hierarchical multiple regression model showed that task goal orientations and social affective strategies strongly and positively predicted the university students’ WTC in the EMI classroom. Performance-avoidance goal orientations and message reduction and alteration strategies were found to negatively predict WTC in EMI settings. Students’ English proficiency neither predicted their WTC nor affected their AGOs in the EMI classroom. High-proficiency students adopted accuracy-oriented, fluency-oriented, and negotiation for meaning while speaking strategies more frequently than low-proficiency students. Conclusion: It is suggested that a supportive and dynamic classroom environment with higher-order learning tasks involving cooperation, reflection, and objective assessment criteria can be incorporated into EMI programs. Besides, instruction in CSs and the use of multimedia teaching aids can facilitate EFL learners’ comprehension of subject-specific materials and encourage them to engage more in EMI classrooms.

Abstract Since the entry of the far-right party VOX into the Spanish government administrations in 2018, Spain's political scene has gone through a deep transformation. The disparity in opinions among the different parties concerning migration seems to tear the country's democratic foundation apart. This paper is a study of the language and discursive strategies used by VOX's leader, Santiago Abascal, articulating the party's populist propaganda for a united country to “make Spain great again.” The analysis was grounded on the theoretical underpinnings of Wodak's (2001) discursive strategies and Van Dijk's (1993) “Us” vs. “Them” framework. The data were based on Abascal's closing political campaign speech during the Madridlenian elections, which was televised in May 2021. The 30-minute video recording was transcribed, annotated, coded, and analyzed. The findings suggest a pattern of discursive practices aimed at diminishing other political parties and their representatives, vilify immigrants, and impugn government measures that were against VOX's authoritarian conservatism and nationalism. There was a predominant use of predication strategies to positively present VOX while denigrating its political rivals. Referential/nomination strategies were also used to divide the society between in-groups and out-groups. Strongly embedded in these strategies were perlocutionary acts used to incite hate toward the out-groups and evoke fear and anxiety toward the in-group, strategically employed as tools to gain votes in the elections.

In the turmoil in the spring of 2014, immediately following the Revolution of Dignity, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ordered an attack on Crimea and instigated and supported the separatist activities in Donbas. Encouraged by Russia’s early successes in its war on Ukraine and the lukewarm approach of some Western countries to imposing sanctions, Putin ordered the massive February 2022 invasion, initially focused on Ukraine’s capital and leadership.

At the threshold of its third year, Russia's large-scale and brutal war against Ukraine continues to kill thousands, terrorize millions of Ukrainians, and disrupt international supply chains, affecting global energy and food markets.This is the second journal issue dedicated to the ongoing war.It dwells on the issue of lustration -a problem Ukraine did not effectively address during its post-communist transition, which in turn led to the perpetuation of the Kremlin's ideology and, thus, its continuous influence on Ukrainian politics and society.Two articles explore the rationale for including Russia in the U.S. Department of State's list of state sponsors of terrorism.While some European countries and the European Parliament have already declared Russia a terrorist state, the debate in the United States is influenced by numerous additional considerations, and the decision is still pending.The link between military expenditures, defense industrial investments, and the general economic development and stability in wartime is also examined in detail.The final two articles analyze Moscow's interests and strategy towards the post-Soviet states and the strategically important Black Sea region.