This paper proposes the application of ecolinguistics as a conceptual framework for understanding the role of learners’ identity and agency in foreign language acquisition. Rooted in the ecological view that language, identity, and learning environments are interconnected, the study uses theoretical synthesis and critical analysis to examine how learners negotiate meaning, reposition themselves socially, and construct dynamic identities within multilingual and globalised contexts. Integrating perspectives from language ecology as well as theories on identity and agency, the research highlights how learners’ investments, aspirations, and self-regulatory practices are shaped by sociocultural and institutional ecosystems. Adapting an ecolinguistic lens reveals foreign language acquisition as a socially mediated, transformative process in which learners exercise symbolic power, resist imposed roles, and co-construct linguistic and professional identities. The paper proposes an ecolinguistic model of foreign language acquisition, illustrated in a diagram, demonstrating how identity, agency, languaging, and ecological environments interact to shape foreign language acquisition.

This research examines the use of allusion as a powerful linguistic tool employed by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his international war discourse. Faced with the urgent need to secure assistance and support from the world community throughout the first year of Russia’s large-scale invasion, Zelenskyy strategically references well-known cultural facts to create a specific mental image of Ukrainians as a nation that upholds humanistic values such as tolerance, equality, and justice. The study analyses five types of audiences targeted by the Ukrainian President in his appeals: national parliaments, collective political bodies, business forums, educational institutions, and cultural assemblies. The findings demonstrate that allusion in his discourse is a key discursive practice tailored to each audience’s specificity. In every instance, the identified allusions reveal their emotional, evaluative, and associative connotations. In President Zelenskyy’s speeches, allusions also function as tactical instruments that yield effective results in his communication with international audiences. The paper concludes that the use of allusion makes the President’s speeches emphatic and his audiences more receptive, showcasing a high pragmatic capacity to craft desired images within foreign linguistic and cultural contexts.

The headline is a salient element of the news story, whose aim is to summarise the story and attract attention to its full text. The internet and online news dissemination and consumption have strongly transformed journalistic discourse, including headlines, which have become longer, significantly more complex, and multifaceted in their aim to attract readers’ attention. This paper presents the results of a qualitative comparative study of online headlines published on Croatian and Lithuanian media outlets from a discourse-analytic perspective. The data was collected from four top-read online news outlets (jutarnji.hr, index.hr, lrytas.lt, delfi.lt) and qualitatively analysed bearing in mind linguistic and visual strategies used to frame the news story and attract readers’ attention. The analysis showed that similar clickbait and narrative strategies are consistently aggregated across semiotic modes in all four news outlets in both countries. Apart from minor context-specific distinctions, no substantial differences were noticed in the overall discourse of headlines in the Croatian and Lithuanian observed media outlets.

This article examines seven different renditions of Aesop’s fable “The Rooster and the Pearl”, written by various 19th-century Lithuanian authors. The aim is to show how these texts reflect the demands of early readers and the literary consciousness of 19th-century Lithuanian society. The differences in the texts and their significant features are revealed by comparing them with each other and with the original sources, where such sources can be identified. Of particular interest is the inclusion of Lithuanian elements in these narratives, typically used for their evocative imagery or to capture the reader’s attention. The influence of social and cultural life on literature is bidirectional. As societies change over time in cultural, ethical and other ways, these changes inevitably affect literary production. The ethical perspective is relevant to the plot of The Rooster and the Pearl, but the specificity of the texts analysed is determined more by aesthetic and persuasive qualities, thus serving as precursors to shifts in literary consciousness.

Research on the translation of metalinguistic comments (MLCs) in parentheses is rather scarce considering the relevance of the topic. The quality of the translation largely depends on the use of translation strategies such as the omission and addition of MLCs in the target texts as well as the retention or displacement of punctuation marks based on the function of the comment in the original language and the pragmatic aspects of punctuation. The aim of the study is twofold: to determine the functions of MLCs in parentheses in a popular science text and the strategies of their translation into Lithuanian. The study is mainly based on the typology of the functions of MLCs in parentheses and the classification of translation strategies, developed by Levin and Ström Herold (2021). The results of the study revealed that MLCs in parentheses in popular science texts were mostly used for the purposes of specification and were always retained in target texts. MLCs in parentheses that appeared only in the target text included cases of additions and shifts that were used to maximise the pragmatic effect, to highlight the author’s subjective opinion or to hide information that was not particularly relevant to the target reader. Omission, on the other hand, was more of a coincidence than a tendency.

The Strike series of contemporary crime fiction novels by Robert Galbraith exhibits an abundance of descriptions of real-life London. The aim of this article is to explore their functions in the context of the author’s works. Characteristic properties of the cityscapes in the novels are the merged perspectives of the omniscient narrator and a character, foregrounded details, contrasts in images and attitudes, and the use of metaphor and personification. Text World Theory allows us to explain how they aid in constructing mental representations, or text-worlds, of the city and examine functions fulfilled by the depictions of London in R. Galbraith’s fiction: (1) emphasising connectedness between the discourse- and text-worlds, (2) creating an atmospheric background, (3) broadening readers’ understanding of characters, (4) making London a character in its own right, (5) advancing the story. The first function is typical of all the text-worlds analysed; it indicates the real-world nature of fictional information as a distinctive feature of the Strike series.

The aim of the following article is to discuss the impact of the English language on Polish youth speak. First, the paper demonstrates databases that can be useful while analyzing the language of contemporary Polish teenagers. Next, it presents the English-origin lexical units that were classified to the final stage of the Polish Youth Word of the Year 2022 plebiscite. Finally, it highlights the similarities and differences between the use of a specific term in Polish and English. The results of the study show that the English-speaking culture has an enormous impact on how Polish teenagers communicate and perceive reality. Twelve of twenty lexical units selected in the plebiscite can be linked to the English language. Some of them loosely refer to English expressions or sounds. Many words are directly transferred from slang. They often originate from the world of computer games or social media. In today’s day and age, common access to the Internet makes them well-known in various parts of the world.

The present research aims at investigating the pragmatic features of paratext and their functions in contemporary American and Latvian travelogues. The presence of numerous paratextual elements in travel writing often helps to differentiate the genre among other literary genres. This, together with the fact that Latvian travelogues are not frequently studied, adds novelty to the present research. In addition, paratextual apparatus plays an essential role in constructing the modality of a travel narrative; moreover, certain paratextual elements (photographs, illustrations, archival documents, etc.) serve as a witness for the veracity and authenticity of narration as well as create a communicative bond with a potential reader. Paratextual apparatus can be viewed from various perspectives due to the fact that its elements bear various functions from informative (preface, postscript, genre specification, etc.) to performative (dedication, epigraph, etc.). The research focuses on such paratextual elements as extended titles, genre specification, dedications, epigraphs, illustrative and archival materials used in several Latvian and American travelogues of 1962–2015. The research methodology was based on the analytical and cultural historical methods, which contributed to the deeper insight into the concept of paratextuality. The pragmatics of paratext in travel writing was investigated by means of synthesising the structural-semiotic method and the method of comparative analysis in the critical perception of travelogues under consideration.

This review focuses on the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Audiovisual Translation study programme that took place at Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty. TELL ME MORE: Translation Conference for Students and Early Career Researchers took place on April 25, 2023, and on the following day, April 26, 2023, the tenth anniversary of the Audiovisual Translation study programme was commemorated. In the article, the work carried out over the decade, the scientific publications and conferences organised, the changes in the study programme, the dynamics of the graduates, and the contribution of the social partners to the development and improvement of the Audiovisual Translation study programme were presented.

In the Middle Ages, hair was an element of great interest to men and women. Subject to daily treatments and activities, they played an important role in everyone‘s life. In medical treatises, compendia and handbooks from the 12th to the 14th century were the subjects of theoretical considerations and practical advice. According to the prevailing humoral theory, their colour, length, shape, and loss or excessive growth were meticulously analysed and explained. Attention was drawn to the issue of hair dyeing and the possibility of changing the colour. Particular attention was paid to baldness and greying, giving practical advice and simple or more complex recipes to prevent these processes. The source base is the works of St. Hildegard of Bingen, pope John XXI, Vincent of Beauvais, Taddeo Alderotti and Bernard de Gordon. In these sawmills, the issue of hair was highlighted, which in the Middle Ages played a significant role in the lives of both women and men.