Journal of Critical Studies in Language and Literature

Exploring Digital Landscapes: An Analytical Book Review of Computer-Assisted Language Learning: Learners, Teachers, and Tools

Jacqueline Żammit — 2025-03-21

Jeong-Bae Son's edited volume, Computer-Assisted Language Learning: Learners, Teachers, and Tools (2014), offers an extensive examination of the landscape of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), illuminating the intricate dynamics among learners, educators, and digital tools. This review delves into the book’s diverse contributions, which range from empirical studies to theoretical discussions, shedding light on the evolving role of technology in language education. The book is structured into eight chapters, each addressing distinct aspects of CALL. Notably, Kao and Windeatt’s exploration of multimedia environments for low-achieving learners challenges the presumption that technology alone can overcome educational barriers, emphasising the need for supportive learning strategies. Similarly, Gobel and Kano’s analysis of mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) in Japanese contexts highlights the potential of mobile devices but underscores gaps related to the digital divide. Park’s task-based needs analysis for MALL offers insights into enhancing language proficiency but lacks a critical view of the limitations of mobile contexts. Dashtestani’s examination of Wikipedia use among English for Academic Purposes (EAP) students underscores the double-edged nature of open-access resources, stressing the need for digital literacy. The book also addresses professional development, with chapters focusing on Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and the transition from CALL coursework to practice. Despite its comprehensive coverage, the book would benefit from a more integrated approach to synthesising its diverse perspectives and addressing broader theoretical issues. Son’s volume remains a useful resource for understanding the complexities of integrating technology in language learning and offers practical insights for educators and researchers exploring this dynamic field.

The Art of Imprisonment: A Study of Oscar Wilde’s Carceral Works and the Theme of Confinement in De Profundis (1905) and The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898)

Mohsen Gholami — 2025-03-21

This paper explores the theme of imprisonment in Oscar Wilde’s carceral works, focusing on De Profundis (1905) and The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898). Written during and after his incarceration, these works reveal Wilde’s profound reflections on suffering, confinement, and human nature. In De Profundis, Wilde grapples with personal loss, redemption, and the transformative power of suffering, presenting imprisonment as both a physical and spiritual ordeal. The Ballad of Reading Gaol shifts focus to the collective experience of prisoners, highlighting the dehumanizing effects of the penal system and critiquing societal injustices. This research examines how Wilde’s incarceration shaped his writing, highlighting the complex interplay between art, morality, and confinement. By exploring themes of isolation, justice, and redemption, this study offers deeper insight into Wilde’s carceral literature and its lasting significance in discussions of the human condition and penal reform.

Reduplication and Phonological Copying in Lukisa Dialect

Amos Maina Oyoko — 2025-04-06

Reduplication is a grammatical process that occurs in human languages in which a whole linguistic constituent or part of it is repeated to form a new constituent. Reduplication can be both a morphological and phonological process of forming a new compound word by repeating all or part of a word. The reduplication involves a double selection and insertion of morphological constituents that agree in their semantic and syntactic specification such as root or stem. Phonological duplication is where the copying picks the closest phonological input restricted to cases of phonological necessity such as a vowel or consonantal sound and copies it without calling for semantic change of the reduplicant. Lukisa, a Luhya dialect is expected to exhibit a wide range of patterns in reduplication which varies from one element being copied to an entire phrase. Although linguistic forms of reduplication have been explored at lexical and functional levels, there is need to validate phonological copying as a limitless linguistic resource and an integrated facility in language. Therefore, the objective of this study was to describe the manifestation of phonological copying in reduplication in Lukisa dialect through phonological processes such as: vowel lengthening, vowel change and change in syllable weight. Inkellas and Zoll (2005) Morphological Doubling Theory, MDT was adopted for this study where the aspect of phonological copying whose scope is limited to narrow sets of contexts restricted to cases motivated by phonological necessity as what is copied is either a single vowel, consonant or syllable with a possible phonological modification of either or both the constituents. This phonological copying occurs as a side effect of sematic identity which postulates that reduplication results when morphology calls twice for a constituent of a given sematic description with a possible phonological modification of either or both constituents.

Beyond the Tragic Mulatta: The Case of a New Negro Woman

Milad Houshmand — 2025-04-09

Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God presents a radical departure from the tragic mulatta trope in African American literature by centering a black feminist protagonist, Janie Crawford, who is neither defined by racial ambiguity nor constrained by the moral expectations imposed on middle-class black women of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Unlike her literary predecessors, Janie speaks in black vernacular, embraces her sexuality, and ultimately finds agency outside of marriage, despite the novel’s exploration of love and relationships. This paper argues that Hurston’s portrayal of Janie’s three marriages illustrates a pessimistic view of black women’s status within love and marriage, revealing that even true love cannot fully liberate them from patriarchal constraints. Through an analysis of Janie’s relationships, this paper demonstrates how Their Eyes Were Watching God challenges intra-community sexism and critiques the internalization of white patriarchal values by black men. Additionally, it explores Hurston’s literary innovations, particularly her use of black dialect and folklore, as an intervention against white literary standards and a foundation for later black feminist narratives. Hurston’s use of black dialect and folklore functions not merely as a literary gesture, but as a deliberate political and aesthetic intervention. The black vernacular, often seen as non-literary or even “primitive” in dominant white and even black literary standards, becomes in Hurston’s hands a medium of authenticity, resistance, and empowerment. By embedding Janie’s voice within this dialect—particularly through her dialogues with other women and her defiance of male authority—Hurston decentralizes white linguistic norms and reclaims black southern oral traditions as legitimate literary forms.By foregrounding the singularity of Janie’s experience, Hurston’s novel marks a turning point in the representation of black women in literature, paving the way for subsequent authors like Alice Walker and Toni Morrison to further explore Black female autonomy and agency.