3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature® The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies
3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature® The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies is an ESCI (ISI, WoS) and Scopus indexed peer reviewed international journal published by UKM Press. The journal is committed to exploring and highlighting insights into key issues dealing with English Language Studies in multilingual contexts within the fields of Language, Linguistics and Literature. While the ultimate objective of the journal is to create critical awareness of global concerns with all areas of English language Studies, it especially welcomes perspectives from marginalized communities in Southeast Asia and across the globe. 3L publishes issues in March, June, September, and December. We also publish special sections alongside regular issues.
If the article is accepted for publication, copyright of this article will be vested to UKM Press, National University of Malaysia (UKM). All articles published in this journal are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, unless otherwise stated.
Telling Your Side of the Story: A Critical Discourse Analysis of News Coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in Israel-(non) Normalising Middle East Countries
This study used Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine how Israeli and Palestinian social actors were represented in news coverage during the May 2021 Gaza war, focusing on newspapers from countries with and without diplomatic relations with Israel. van Leeuwen's (2008) Framework directed the examination of role allocation, subjection, assimilation, and identification to analyse discursive practices influencing these representations. Utilising corpus linguistics methods, the study examined 40 news reports totalling 159,282 words drawn from four English-language newspapers, which are Daily Sabah, The Tehran Times, The Khaleej Times, and The Gulf Daily News. Fisher's exact test uncovered significant differences in the representation of social actors between countries with and without diplomatic ties to Israel, with non-diplomatic ties countries often depicting Palestinians as victims and Israelis as aggressors, contrasting with more nuanced or positive portrayals of Israelis in countries that have diplomatic ties with Israel. These different media representations seem to advance different narratives of the conflict that support the sponsoring states’ agenda. This research enhances understanding of how linguistic and sociological factors shape public perceptions of the conflict, providing insights into media strategies in reporting contentious geopolitical events. Keywords: Media Discourse; Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA); Diplomatic Relations; Israeli-Palestinian Conflict; Middle East
Copyright (c) 2025 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature® The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies
Restorative Rhetoric and Ideological Positioning in Leaders’ Social Media Crisis Communication on Food Security
In times of global crisis, leadership discourse plays an important role in shaping public perception and establishing trust. At the intersection of restorative rhetoric and ideological positioning, this study examines how leaders in global food security engaged in social media crisis communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic disrupted food systems and heightened public anxiety, social media emerged as a critical space for leaders to offer reassurance and counter misinformation. This provided a unique opportunity not only to investigate how their discourse functioned to manage the crisis, but also to examine the underlying ideological positioning of these leaders. Drawing on a qualitative research design, tweets from six high-ranking leaders of international food security organisations were analysed by employing a dual analytical framework integrating restorative rhetoric theory with ideological discourse analysis. It was found that the communication of the crisis leaders progressed through five stages of restorative rhetoric, from initial crisis reaction to corrective action and rebuilding. Within these stages, a discourse analysis revealed systematic ideological positioning of leaders as well as the organisations they represented through the use of both semantic structures and formal structures. Leaders consistently emphasised positive institutional attributes while deflecting responsibility. The use of inclusive language served to construct solidarity while maintaining institutional authority. This study uniquely demonstrates that restorative rhetoric in crisis communication is not ideologically neutral, revealing how leaders simultaneously engage in empathetic messaging and strategic legitimacy management, thus contributing to a critical understanding of institutional discourse during global crises. Keywords: crisis communication; crisis leaders; ideological discourse; restorative rhetoric; social media
News Media Representation of China’s Three-child Policy in China Daily: A Corpus-assisted Critical Discourse Analysis
Since 2021, China has implemented the three-child policy to address the demographic problems arising from an ageing population and a low birthrate. The representation of the policy in newspapers holds an important position in its communication and interpretation. However, critical discourse analysis of the newspaper coverage on this policy remains scarce, especially when approached through a corpus-assisted methodology. Therefore, this study conducts a corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis of the representation of China’s three-child policy. Four hundred twenty-one news articles were collected from China Daily, and keyword analysis and concordance analysis were conducted to identify the topics of the news articles and the argumentation strategies adopted. The findings reveal three main topics within the news articles, namely social and economic matters, national/regional entity and social identity, along with a variety of topoi used to legitimise the stated claims. This study provides insights into how the three-child policy is represented in China’s English-language newspaper. Keywords: three-child policy; corpus-assisted approach; critical discourse analysis; topics; topoi
Disrupting Masculine Hegemony: Feminist Stylistics and the Discursive Construction of Vulnerable Masculinity in The King’s Speech (2010)
This study draws upon Sara Mills’s Feminist Stylistics framework and examines how the biographical film, The King's Speech (2010), reconfigures power and masculinity by disrupting hegemonic norms. The film centres on King George VI’s struggle with a debilitating speech impediment against the backdrop of patriarchal monarchical traditions. Through close analysis of key linguistic and discursive features, including metaphor, pronoun usage, modality, lexical choices, and ideological framing, this research investigates how language destabilises hegemonic masculinity and constructs alternative narratives of male identity. The findings highlight how the interplay between vulnerability and power disrupts traditional norms of masculinity, positioning emotional openness and relational dynamics as integral strengths. The study subsequently critiques the patriarchal foundations of leadership and demonstrates how discourse can reimagine masculinity through feminist perspectives. By illustrating how films such as The King’s Speech challenge binary gender constructs, vulnerability is not framed as a form of weakness but as a site of transformative power and resistance, advocating for inclusive and equitable representations of masculinity. Keywords: critical discourse analysis; feminist stylistics; vulnerable masculinity; feminist media critique; film discourse
Text Mining Analysis of Malaysia’s National Image in China Daily
This study takes October. 4. 2013, as a temporal dividing point, conducting a comparative analysis of news closely related to Malaysia in China Daily, over the 10 years before and after this date. The qualitative research software Leximancer 5.0 is employed for text mining analysis. The findings reveal that the themes in the news transitioned from relatively dispersed, generalised coverage to a more focused, in-depth exploration of major events and China-Malaysia cooperation. The primary social actors demonstrated minimal change over the 20 years but became increasingly focused. Sentiment analysis shows that reporting on Malaysia has predominantly been positive, with the proportion of positive sentiment showing an upward trend. However, some negative factors were also observed, such as a shift in the portrayal of the 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia, from positive to negative. Notably, although the MH370 incident was reported with a predominantly negative perspective, it did not persist for long. Positive sentiments towards all associated social actors, except Indonesia, have continued to grow, including China, Singapore, Australia, and ASEAN. This study portrays Malaysia as a promising partner in economic growth and development, an important player in regional and global relations, and a stable and enduring strategic ally. By employing an innovative combination of text mining techniques and discourse analysis, the research not only provides empirical evidence of the evolving discourse surrounding Malaysia but also offers methodological insights for applying computational tools in media studies. Keywords: national image construction; text mining analysis; qualitative research software; media discourse analysis; diachronic study
Do Modern Arab Televangelists Argue or Preach? A Pragma Dialectical Analysis of Mustafa Husni's Live the Moment TV Show
Modern Arab didactic TV shows are widely categorised as religious; however, most of them target social issues from different perspectives to ensure a persuasive impact on a broad audience, specifically the youth. Despite their significance, almost no research has been conducted to determine the remarkable features of this genre. Therefore, this study aims to reveal the argumentative features of Arab didactic TV shows and investigate their preaching and persuasive functions. Four episodes from Mustafa Husni's (2014) Live the Moment show were randomly selected, downloaded from Husni's YouTube Channel, and manually transcribed. Following a qualitative-quantitative approach, the researchers translated selected examples and quantified the frequencies of the argumentative aspects utilised in the show, which were then descriptively analysed in terms of the pragma-dialectical theory (van Eemeren et al., 1996, 2002). The study findings indicated that the remarkable macro-structure features include the domination of the argumentation stage, the implicitness of both the confrontation and opening stages, and the absence of the conclusion stage due to the show's monologue nature. Moreover, the most frequent micro-structure argumentation elements are the coordinative and multiple structures and the causal and symptomatic schemes, respectively, for their persuasive and didactic functions. The study contributes to interdisciplinarity by enhancing the understanding of pragma-dialectics, uncovering the persuasive features of argumentation in this genre, and boosting the media literacy of producers of awareness-raising TV shows. Keywords: Argumentation stages; argumentation schemes; argumentation structures; didactic TV shows; Pragma-dialectics
Copyright (c) 2025 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature® The Southeast Asian Journal
Rhetoric in the Translation of Selected Kinship Terms in the Holy Quran into French and English
Translating the Qur’anic real meaning into other languages is considered to be a unique challenge as it is deeply rooted in Arabic culture and language. Thus, this operation often loses the rhetoric and poetic beauty of the Qur’anic text, hindering a deep understanding of its spiritual and moral significance. This study constitutes a part of a comparison study of certain kinship terms in Qur’anic Arabic' abawayn / wâlidayn, zawj / ba'al, and imra’a / zawj / ṣaẖiba and their equivalents in French and English versions. It is actually about providing some details on these Arabic terms and their equivalents by examining how they have been used in the Qur’anic context to indicate specific meaning. It is divided into two main parts. The first discusses the issue of the rhetoric in the translation. The second analysis differentiates between French and English translations of these Qur’anic terms. This research aims to highlight the importance and the role of rhetoric in translating these terms into other languages in order to convey their meaning in an exact or even a correct way. The study concludes that gaps and shortcomings in the process of converting the meaning of kinship terms contribute to the distortion of the original meaning in general and the text in particular. The data analysis underscores the significance of distinguishing between seemingly synonymous terms to prevent misinterpretations. Moreover, by overlooking the cultural and linguistic nuances of these terms, translators may inadvertently convey inaccurate or incomplete meanings. Keywords: English language; French language; Kinship terms; Rhetoric; Translation
Neo-Orientalist Representations of Muslims in the 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World Senior High School Textbooks
This study examines the discursive construction of Muslim and Moro identities in Senior High School literature textbooks in the Philippines, specifically the 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World series. Drawing on Wodak’s Discourse-Historical Approach and Behdad and Williams’ theory of neo-Orientalism, the research interrogates how editorial framing and paratextual materials in the anthology-type pedagogic texts operate as sites of epistemic violence. A critical discourse analysis of six widely used textbooks reveals that while some Muslim-authored texts are framed with universality and neutrality, others are subject to reductive and essentialist framing strategies. The analysis identifies recurrent use of nomination, predication, intensification, mitigation, and perspectivisation, discursive tools that render Muslim identity as synonymous with violence, repression, or cultural backwardness. With Moro narratives consistently omitted, spatially isolated, or tokenised, what emerges from the analysis is the structural pattern of containment that mirrors global neo-Orientalist logics under the guise of multicultural and liberal education. Editorial choices such as guide questions, backgrounding, and visual cues frequently prime students to interpret Muslim identities through ideologically loaded lenses. The study concludes that these textbooks function as ideological apparatuses that reinforce dominant narratives, marginalise subaltern voices, and perpetuate colonial hierarchies in the unique context of the Muslim-majority region of Bangsamoro. It calls for urgent curricular reform and the inclusion of Muslim perspectives in content development to foster genuine epistemic justice in Philippine classrooms. Keywords: Neo-Orientalism; Critical discourse analysis; Epistemic violence; Islamophobia; Textbook analysis
Servant Subversions: Reading the British Anxiety over ‘Native Nuisance’ as Infra-Politics in Anglo-Indian Household Manuals
The British colonial domestic space emerges as a critical site for interrogating the racialised dynamics of empire, owing to the proximity it fostered between the coloniser and the colonised. While extant scholarship predominantly underscores colonial hegemony and control within this space, our study, while acknowledging this premise, undertakes a contrapuntal, against-the-grain reading of Anglo-Indian domestic manuals to foreground the subversive agency of “native” servants. These manuals—produced between 1850 and 1900, a period roughly coterminous with the apogee of Victorian moralism and imperial confidence—serve not merely as instructional texts but as anxious colonial archives, inadvertently documenting servant resistance. Using a qualitative methodology grounded in close textual analysis, this study probes the discursive constructions of “native servant problems” as symptomatic of deeper tensions and anxieties embedded in the colonial household. By exposing the manuals’ aporias and symptomatic silences, we argue that seemingly mundane acts—such as feigned ignorance, strategic disobedience, delay, pilferage, and non-verbal defiance—constitute forms of infrapolitics that subtly unsettled the Anglo-Indian domestic order and, by extension, the colonial power matrix. The manuals analysed were selected based on their accessibility and availability, ensuring a representative sample of prescriptive domestic literature circulating during high imperialism. Our findings reveal that native servants were not passive subjects but stealth agents of disruption, whose infrapolitical manoeuvres subverted the performative authority of white domesticity. This reframing compels a reconsideration of the colonial household as a fraught space of power, negotiation, and everyday resistance. Keywords: Anglo-Indian; colonial; servants; domestic manuals; infrapolitical resistance
Relating Behavioural Intentions towards Collaborative Discussions and Language Performance of ESL Online Game Players in MMORPG Context
With the advancement of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs), there has been an increase in the number of ESL learners who are involved in online games. However, there is a lack of empirical studies that focused on the impact of MMORPGs on ESL learners’ language performance and their behavioural intentions related to collaborative discussions. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of learners’ behavioural intentions towards collaborative discussions and their language performance through playing MMORPGs. Using a mixed methods approach, 16 online ESL game players were invited to play MMORPG for 15 hours. The changes in language performance of online ESL game players were based on pre- and post-language tests. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was used to assess the participants’ intentions towards collaborative discussions in online gameplay. The players' interactions during gameplay were also video recorded and analysed to capture instances of collaborative discussions. The findings indicate that participants with high intentions towards engaging in collaborative discussions seem to show a higher frequency of participation in collaborative discussions and scored higher in both language tests. The results revealed that these players’ intentions to engage in collaborative discussions do influence their language learning behaviour and their language performance. This study highlights how the MMORPG context could incentivise ESL learners’ engagement in collaborative discussions, which inherently impacts their English language performance through verbal exchanges during gameplay sessions that mirror authentic language use. Keywords: Digital-Game Based Learning; Behavioural Intention; Collaborative Discussions; Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game; Theory of Planned Behaviour
To Mix or Not to Mix? A Study of English-Vietnamese Code-Mixing in Vietnamese Weekly Magazines
Vietnam is becoming increasingly interconnected with modern Asia and the wider global community across professional, cultural, and social spheres. This study investigates how English terms are used in Vietnamese magazine articles, exploring how such usage aligns with broader sociolinguistic trends and is shaped by the sociocultural context of contemporary Vietnam under globalisation. Framed within sociolinguistics, this mixed-methods study examines systematic patterns of code-mixing in the media, drawing on a substantial and carefully curated corpus of over 500,000 words from magazine articles published in 2024 targeting the educated general public. Three key research questions guide the analysis: (1) Which English terms appear in Vietnamese magazines, and what are their frequencies and distributions? (2) What patterns and functions do these borrowings serve? (3) What are the morphological and phonological characteristics of both non-English and Vietnamese-adapted English terms? The findings revealed that English borrowings accounted for less than 1% of the total word count across all thematic subsets. Their presence varied significantly by topic, with technology- and science-related articles, as well as those on music, travel, and cuisine, showing higher concentrations of foreign terms. Adapted English terms exhibited notable phonological and morphological features, while a small number of borrowings from French, Korean, Indonesian, and Malay were also identified. These findings reflect Vietnam’s dynamic engagement with both Western and Asian cultural and geopolitical influences. The study contributes to our understanding of Vietnam’s evolving media landscape and offers meaningful insights to the Asian Englishes research agenda. Keywords: sociolinguistics; code-switching; code-mixing; English-Vietnamese code-mixing; Vietnamese weekly magazines
Using Digital Tools and Storytelling for Transforming the English Language Pronunciation in Thai Tertiary Contexts
This research aimed to study the impacts of using digital tools and storytelling on Thai EFL pre-service teachers’ pronunciation ability. The research employed a mixed-methods design to gather qualitative and quantitative data. To investigate the effectiveness of the instruction, integrating digital tools and storytelling on pronunciation, a pre-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design was conducted with 34 EFL pre-service teachers at a public university in the lower north of Thailand for eight weeks. The research instruments comprised 1) lesson plans, using digital tools and storytelling to enhance pronunciation ability, 2) pre- and post-tests on testing pronunciation ability, 3) learning logs, and 4) an attitude questionnaire. The statistical measurements included means, standard deviation, percentage, and a dependent t-test. In terms of qualitative analysis, the coding and thematic analysis methods were adopted to analyse the data. The findings revealed that the post-test average scores of the Thai EFL pre-service teachers’ pronunciation ability were higher than the pre-test (p < 0.05). The average attitude level of the pre-service teachers towards the instruction using digital tools and storytelling to enhance pronunciation ability was at the strongly agree level, with a mean score of 4.52, indicating that they perceived the instruction as having a positive impact. For the qualitative findings, the impacts found were 1) phonological awareness, 2) confidence increases, 3) positive learning motivation, 4) pronunciation improvement, 5) pronunciation teaching application, and 6) self-directed learning. Keywords: digital tools; storytelling; pronunciation ability; feedback
Tracing the Spectral Bodies and Ghostly Landscapes in Iraqi Fiction
This research examines the ghostly materiality and phantasmal legacy that haunt the collective psyche of the Iraqi people, as documented through the devastation and subliminal changes in the war-torn landscape, as reflected in the chosen works of fiction. The study investigated the transformation of these places ravaged by war into ghostly records that disrupt the temporal and spatial bounds. This paper presents an investigation into the two texts, Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi and The Corpse Exhibition by Hassan Blasim, through the lens of Jo Frances Maddern and Peter Adey’s technique of mapping ‘Spectro-geographies,’ employing a content-based textual analysis of the chosen texts. The research particularly looked at the suffering of Iraqis within these texts and how they made sense of the constant inconsistency that emerged from the ruination and turmoil that had visited the Iraqi land, the gothic nature of the war, and its several aftermaths. Through the notion of spectro-geography, the research stressed the landscape’s struggle to come to terms with its forever changed and constantly altering phantasmic character and primal reality. Keywords: Spectro-geographies; ghostly records; gothicism; Iraqi fiction; war-torn landscape
“What Does the Virus Look Like…?”: Disability, Pandemic, Senility and the Bodily Embodiment of Crises in Namita Gokhale’s The Blind Matriarch
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities, increasing the vulnerability of disabled individuals to social isolation, inadequate healthcare and the barriers imposed by an inaccessible environment. The novel The Blind Matriarch is a matrix of crises of impairment, pandemic, ageing and death, and it 3narrativises the crises of embodying disability during the COVID-19 pandemic. The novel presents Matangi Ma, an eighty-year-old, visually impaired matriarch living in C100, a four-storey house in Delhi, as COVID-19 ravages the whole world unsparingly. The havoc Ghokale poignantly captures in the novel evokes the Oppenheimerian apprehension of the Bhagavad Gita ‘Now I have become death, the destroyer of the world’ This study undertakes a cultural and literary analysis of the bodily embodiment of disability, pandemic, senility and womanhood in Gokhale’s The Blind Matriarch. It aims to examine the socio-cultural implications and representation of these minority identities through the lens of disability studies, particularly their narrative construction. Employing Anne Waldschmidt’s cultural model of disability studies as an analytical tool, this research explores the representations of disability within literary discourses. Keywords: disability; COVID-19 pandemic; embodiment; crises; cultural model
Unmasking Slow Violence: Ecological Imperialism and Climate Justice in Amitav Ghosh’s The Nutmeg’s Curse
Using Rob Nixon’s idea of “slow violence” as the theoretical foundation, this paper examines the association between ecological imperialism and climate justice in Amitav Ghosh’s The Nutmeg’s Curse. Marginalised communities are disproportionately affected by slow violence, which is marked by gradual and frequently undetected environmental and social devastation over extended periods. This study examines the enduring impact of colonial practices on contemporary ecological crises and climate injustices by critically analysing Ghosh’s portrayal of the Banda Islands and the colonial exploitation of their natural resources. The analysis shows how Indigenous livelihoods and local ecosystems have been disrupted by ecological imperialism in the past, which has led to long-term environmental degradation, highlights the ongoing ecological disparities in the Global South, and draws a connection between past injustices and current climate justice challenges. This study also examines Ghosh’s use of narrative techniques to vividly and visually unfold the process of slow violence, highlighting the importance of literature in promoting greater public awareness and an in-depth understanding of climate justice. This paper recommends a climate justice methodological strategy that considers the historical legacy of ecological imperialism. It calls for actions and policies that support social justice and environmental sustainability, guided by a theoretical understanding of slow violence and the lessons from Ghosh’s The Nutmeg’s Curse. Keywords: Ecological imperialism, climate justice, slow violence, environmental humanities, environmental degradation
A New Historicist Analysis of Gendered History in Mo Yan’s Soaring
Mo Yan critically examines Chinese history and culture, focusing on the experiences of ordinary people within specific historical moments. His work provides a more personable and relatable perspective on history. Through the lens of new historicism, this paper will examine how literature and history intertwine in Mo Yan’s short story Soaring. By applying Louise Montrose’s concepts of historicity of texts and textuality of history, the paper will explore how historical narratives are not neutral but rather constructed and contested within literary texts. Additionally, by employing De Beauvoir’s concept of the Other, this paper investigates how Mo Yan’s female characters navigate the historical and patriarchal forces shaping their agency. Mo Yan’s portrayal of female characters in the story reflects the cultural tensions of 1980s China. By integrating New Historicist and feminist perspectives, this study provides a deeper understanding of Mo Yan’s engagement with history and gender, contributing to broader discussions on the role of literature in reconstructing marginalised voices within historical discourse. Keywords: Mo Yan; History; Gender; New Historicism; Soaring
Language Innovations in Digital Literature: Neologisms in Filipino Alternative Universe Fanfiction
This study examined neologisms in a 702,917-word corpus of Filipino Alternate Universe fanfiction on X and TikTok. One hundred one neologisms were analysed based on their morphological structure following Dimaculangan and Sarmiento’s (2024) proposed framework for Philippine English (PhE) word-formation. The study also expands the framework by proposing additional categories such as phonetic play, the multi-layered processes, and subcategories of orthographic deviation, namely, syllabic metathesis, retro spelling, extensionism, punctuolexicalization, and alphanumeric substitution. Additionally, 100 Generation Z participants were surveyed as to their familiarity with the identified neologisms. Results revealed a prevalent understanding of these neologisms, suggesting their widespread use in digital literature and discourse. This study contributes to the expanding lexicon of PhE and the Filipino language, offering insights into Gen Z's digital language innovation. Keywords: Alternative universe; gen Z; morphological analysis; neologisms; Philippine English
Rejecting “His” Food: An Animal Ecofeminist and Eco-Deconstructive Reading of Han Kang’s The Vegetarian (2007)
This paper interrogates the sexual politics woven into the dietary choices in Han Kang’s novel, The Vegetarian (2007). It unveils how these culinary preferences reflect the complex social dynamics among characters. The novel focuses on one woman’s transformative shift to vegetarianism and its effects on her relationships. Utilising Jacques Derrida's eco-deconstructive theory and ecofeminist perspectives, the study reveals how dietary choices shape gender and power relations. That is, eating transcends mere preference, becoming a battleground for sexual politics. Male characters are deeply rooted in a carnophallogocentric mindset, raising consciousness on how they attempt to dominate women and animals alike. In this patriarchal framework, meat consumption symbolises hierarchical control. This paper concludes by arguing that the narrative is a call to view eating as a commentary on the intersected issues of gender, power, and identity in societies, generally marked by exploitation and subjugation.
Koch and al-Attas on Solitary Freedom: An Analysis of Bryce Andrews’s Ranch Memoir
Solitude has gained attention lately due to the growing emphasis on mental and emotional health. Freedom is one of the fundamental aspects of solitude. This study comparatively explores the concept of solitary freedom in Bryce Andrews’s ranch memoir through the distinct perspectives of Philip Koch and Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas. While literary studies increasingly acknowledge the significance of solitude and its connection to freedom, there remains a gap in exploring how diverse philosophical traditions, particularly Islamic understandings of freedom, inform the theme of solitary freedom within Ranch Literature. To address this, the study examines Andrews’s work by first employing Koch’s features of freedom to detail experiences related to solitude. It then comparatively interprets these categories through the lens of al-Attas’s Islamic outlook on freedom. Through a content analysis of textual evidence expressing solitude, the findings reveal complementary aspects of how Koch and al-Attas illuminate solitary freedom in Andrews’s ranch-themed work. This paper responds to the need to heighten interdisciplinary awareness, as well as enabling inter-discourse studies of literature and Islamic philosophy. Keywords: freedom; Philip Koch; ranch literature; solitude; Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas
Spiritual Beliefs in Early 20th Century Arab Culture Amidst a Pandemic: Taha Hussein's Al-Ayyam
Spirituality often emerges as a source of resilience and identity formation for marginalised communities, particularly during times of crisis such as pandemics. Yet, the cultural dimensions of spiritual responses in literature remain underexplored, especially in narratives shaped by historical, social, and religious complexities. This study examines al-Ayyam, the autobiographical novel by Taha Hussein, as a literary lens to understand how spiritual practices and beliefs function as coping mechanisms in the face of adversity. Set in early 20th-century Egypt, the novel reflects the lived experiences of a socially and physically marginalised individual navigating a society marked by tradition, inequality, and upheaval. Using a qualitative content analysis guided by the Symbiotic Cultural Framework (SCF), this research explores the novel’s portrayal of spiritual resilience, communal identity, and cultural continuity during a pandemic. The findings reveal how spiritual elements rituals, beliefs, and inner faith are intricately woven into the narrative to underscore both personal survival and collective endurance. By highlighting the intersection of marginalisation and spirituality in al-Ayyam, this study contributes to ongoing discussions in literary and cultural studies on how literature gives voice to the silenced and sustains cultural memory in times of crisis. Keywords: al-Ayyam; Arab culture; pandemic; spiritual beliefs; Taha Hussein
Media Representation of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in Arab and Western Outlets: A Critical Discourse Analysis
This study examines the contrasting media coverage of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood to uncover the ideological underpinnings of the accounts presented by Al-Jazeera and CNN. It examines how the two leading media outlets report the same event from essentially contradictory viewpoints, thereby mirroring wider geopolitical divides. The study compares the narratives and examines the ideological parameters which shape the conflict reporting. It also employs Fairclough’s three- dimensional approach to conduct a textual, discursive and sociocultural analysis of the context embedded in media reporting. Besides, the study conducts a qualitative content analysis of Al-Jazeera and CNN news reports and evaluates the narratives to explain the differences in the representation and inherent bias. The study design employs qualitative content analysis of broadcast news reports released by both Al-Jazeera and CNN, as well as a comparative evaluation of the narratives to explain variations in representations and inherent biases. The findings show that CNN reporting is characterized by violence- and hostility-focused language that frames the event as a legitimate use of force. However, Al-Jazeera’s coverage places the emphasis on the themes of liberation and resistance. CNN’s ideological bias reflects the Western geopolitical interests and Israeli sympathies, while Palestinian actions are discursively constructed as terrorist acts. By contrast, Al-Jazeera's narratives are congruent with the Middle Eastern perspectives and represent the operation as both a battle against occupation and a struggle for Palestinian independence. The study highlights the significance of media literacy in fostering critically engaged news media consumption and calls for more balanced perspectives in news coverage on international conflicts. It also underscores the value of employing diverse analytical approaches to deepen understanding of media representations in conflict contexts, thereby expanding on existing research in this particular field. Keywords: Media representation; ideological framing; Israeli-Palestinian conflict; narrative analysis; critical discourse analysis
[EDITORIAL BOARD SPECIAL SECTION] Minority Sites and Situations: English Language Studies in an Age of Evolving Intelligences
EDITORIAL BOARD SPECIAL SECTION Vol 31(3), September 2025 Minority Sites and Situations: English Language Studies in an Age of Evolving Intelligences This Special Section marks a milestone in the collaborative ethos of 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature® The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies bringing together the editorial board and its longstanding community of reviewers in a shared act of collegiality. It is curated on the premise that it takes a global village to raise a journal to esteemed heights—and that such heights are best reached through dialogue, trust, and intellectual generosity. Each article in this collection is the result of a partnership between the 3L editorial board members and reviewers who have shaped the journal’s peer review culture over the years with care and rigour. Together, they reflect on how far English Language Studies—with its sinews of linguistics, literature, and translation—has travelled beyond predictable boundaries into uncharted territories. The section also asks: How might such scholarship engage with and elevate minority sites and situations in an age of evolving intelligences? Above all, this Special Section stands as testimony to the dedication of the journal’s editors and reviewers to cultivating a culture of reciprocal scholarly commitment and engagement. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shanthini Pillai Editor-in-Chief 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature® The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia https://ejournal.ukm.my/3l
Kaherak-herak na Orag: Gender, Violence, and Cultural Translation in a Bikol Romeo & Juliet
This paper examines a 1993 adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet from Camarines Sur in the Philippines’ Bikol region. Written in Bikol colloquial language and set amid 1990s Bikol culture, the play offers a culturally specific rendering of Shakespeare that foregrounds male violence and diminishes female agency. In “Ang Kaherak-herak na Pagkaminootan na Romeo & Juliet” (The Tragic Love of Romeo and Juliet), attributed mainly to Rodolfo Alano, Shakespeare’s tragedy is rewritten and adapted through the lens of orag (a complex cultural term connoting male excellence, prowess, bravado, and dominance) and pagkamoot (love). Shifting the tragic focus from forbidden or doomed love that is romanticised in many Philippine adaptations, Alano’s play critiques the violent consequence of this patriarchal order, transposing the tragedy from the realm of pure and transcendent love to that of masculine pride. Drawing on Bikol cultural studies of orag as male-oriented Bikol aesthetic as well as gender and translation frameworks, this paper argues that Alano’s cultural translation serves as a gendered critique of local power structures, demonstrating how Shakespeare can be “claimed” not simply as a source but also as a site for rethinking Bikol regional identity and masculinity. Keywords: Philippine Shakespeare; Romeo and Juliet; Bikol adaptation and translation; gender and literary criticism; Bikol orag
“No longer languished in the periphery of existence:” Female bodies, computational-sentiment analysis, and Malay folktales
The marginalisation of women in folktales generally exists within the undermined, peripheral female characters. This article takes up this very challenge to revisit and rearticulate such a marginalisation by exploring the representations of the female body through an analysis of recurring emotional patterns. These characters include Mahsuri, Puteri Lindungan Bulan, Puteri Gunung Ledang, Deruma of Si Tanggang, Tanjung of Batu Belah Batu Bertangkup, and Mak Labu of Bawang Merah Bawang Putih. Specifically, this article presents a computational approach to understanding how female characters and subjectivities are portrayed across these narratives. By employing sentiment analysis functions and Robert Plutchik’s Wheels of Emotions, comprising eight fundamental extended degrees of emotions, Malay folktale texts in the English language are processed for word frequency, emotional polarity, and intensity to unveil the palimpsestic depth of women's depictions involving the human body and sociocultural representations concerning body imagery. By exposing these layered emotional arcs and the ways female characters shift between prized virtues and punitive portrayals, the study reframes inherited narratives and demonstrates sentiment and emotion analysis as powerful tools for uncovering subtle biases and evolving agency in literary traditions. Keywords: emotions; female characters; folktales; Malays; sentiment analysis
Religiously Deviant or a Cult? A Corpus-based Collocational Analysis of the Representation of GISBH in Malaysian English and Malay News Reports
Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH), a Malaysian conglomerate known for operating a wide range of businesses in accordance with Islamic principles, came under intense media scrutiny in September 2024 following a police operation that uncovered allegations of child abuse in care homes under its management. The incident reignited public discourse surrounding GISBH’s historical links to the banned Al-Arqam sect, which has been widely described by Malaysian Muslim scholars and organisations as religiously deviant or cult-like. Given this and the central role of Islam in Malay cultural identity in Malaysia, the current study examined how GISBH is represented in Malay-language media in comparison to its portrayal in English-language outlets in Malaysia. Drawing on West and Langone’s (1986) conceptualisation of cults and Langone’s (2015) framework of cult characteristics and using corpus linguistics techniques, namely collocational analysis, this study analyses the representation of GISBH in a corpus of Malay and English news reports published between September and November 2024. The analysis involved identifying collocates of the term “GISBH” in each language, categorising concordance lines according to Langone’s cult characteristics, and thematically evaluating them based on West and Langone’s core elements of cultic groups. The findings show that religious themes were minimal. While the data suggest GISBH is portrayed as non-conformist and cult-like, neither sub-corpus explicitly used the term, and overall representations were similar across both languages. Keywords: GISBH; representation; cult; Malaysian media; corpus-based semantic analysis
Changing Covenants: Sociolinguistic Mobilities and the Transgenerational Discursivities of the Convent in the Malaysian Cultural Imaginary
The convents of Malaysia, founded by the Sisters of the Infant Jesus—emboldened women who journeyed across the seas from 19th-century France—hold profound cultural and historical importance. Rooted in their mission of faith, charity and outreach, the convent schools transformed into dynamic centres of learning that bridged linguistic and cultural divides. While initially dedicated to promoting educational egalitarianism among the less fortunate, the convents gradually adapted to local contexts, shaping identities and nurturing generations of young women. The image of the "convent girl," characterised by intellectual refinement and social poise, became emblematic of the elite status associated with these schools. Convents stand as rich emblems of the complexities of mobility, cultural adaptation, and education in Malaysia's history, given their French foundations in a British protectorate in South East Asia. What was the impact of travel and mobility on the cultural ideology of the French convent and its founders? In what ways did the transplantation of French convents into British colonial environments lead to a simultaneous transformation and estrangement in communal perceptions of the Sisters of the Infant Jesus as well as their convents? How did the mobility factor contribute to the shift from the original mission of educational egalitarianism to the creation and perpetuation of the trope of the elite 'convent girl' identity? To delve into the heart of this matter, we use, as our research corpus, three Malaysian texts written by three "convent girls" across time and the transgenerational discursivities of the convent. We especially interrogate the cultural materiality of central tropes tied to the image of the convent in the hope of dismantling the monoliths of elitist discursivities and bringing to the fore the pluralities that lie hidden deep within its grains. Keywords: Linguistic mobilities; convents; French female Missionaries; transgenerational discursivities; elitist tropes
Conceptual Metaphors of Time in Malaysian English Textbooks: A Comparative Cognitive Linguistic Study
Traditional vocabulary research often overlooks the crucial role of metaphorical language, essential for comprehensive lexical understanding. The presence of conceptual metaphors in English language textbooks for non-native speakers remains under-examined, despite their pervasive nature. This study addresses this gap, investigating conceptual metaphors of time in selected Malaysian English language textbooks to highlight their importance for second language learning. A qualitative, corpus-driven study analysed conceptual metaphors of time in two intermediate and upper-intermediate secondary English language textbooks: Healan et al.’s (2018) Close-Up and Mitchell and Malkogianni's Full Blast Plus 4 (2019). Using Sketch Engine’s Word Sketch and Concordance tools, the research identified verb + time collocations, cross-referencing them with the British National Corpus (BNC). For comparative analysis, the Malaysian Web Corpus in Sketch Engine was used to investigate verb + waktu (Malay for time) collocations. Linguistic metaphors in both corpora were manually analysed to identify incongruous vehicle terms and their target domain (time). Analysis of verb + time collocations in Close-Up and Full Blast Plus 4 revealed nine distinct verbs: have, take, spend, and leave. All identified collocations were metaphorical, predominantly conceptualising TIME as MONEY, VALUABLE COMMODITY, or LIMITED RESOURCE. A comparative analysis with the Malaysian Web Corpus showed striking similarities, with Malay waktu + verb collocations also conceptualising time as MONEY, VALUABLE COMMODITY, and LIMITED RESOURCE. The conceptual metaphor TIME IS MONEY emerged as a pervasive underlying system characterising all time-related collocations in both languages, reflecting cultural conceptualisation tied to time's quantification. The results of the current study have substantial theoretical and practical implications for integrating conceptual metaphor understanding in second language teaching. Keywords: metaphor; time; corpus; textbook; Malaysia
Authorial Voices and Minority Realities: South Indian Muslim Women's Narratives
This research paper examines the narratives of South Indian Muslim women writers across three distinct waves: the first wave (late 19th to early 20th century), the second wave (mid to late 20th century), and the third wave (21st century). It explores how these writers articulate their experiences and social realities within the minority contexts of South India, utilising W.E.B. Du Bois' concept of "double consciousness" to analyse the internal conflicts faced by Muslim women. The study further expands upon this framework through the concept of "subjugated consciousness," as adapted by Joe L. Kincheloe and Shirley R. Steinberg, which highlights the significance of women's subordinated knowledge in understanding their responses to oppression. Additionally, the research incorporates the notion of "authorially defined social reality," as articulated by Raihanah M. M., to examine how these writers construct their social realities through their narratives. Using a qualitative, thematic textual analysis grounded in critical theory, this paper investigates the works of notable authors such as P.K. Haleema, Haleema Beevi, Sara Aboobacker, Banu Mushtaq, Khadija Mumthas, Rajathi Salma, and Andaleeb Wajid, reflecting the interplay of cultural, religious, and gendered dynamics. Key themes such as education, social justice, identity, and resistance are identified, providing insights into the socio-political landscape affecting Muslim women in South India. By emphasising the significance of authorial voices in shaping minority narratives, this paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of South Indian Muslim women and their assertions of agency within a complex environment. Keywords: Andaleeb Wajid; Banu Mushtaq; minority narratives; Muslim women writers; Rajathi Salma; South India
Attitudinal Stance and Code-Switching as Persuasive Tools in Malaysian Digital Activism: A Corpus-Assisted Discourse Analysis of Mobilisation Discourse
This study explores the mobilisation discourse surrounding the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement on social media. It investigates the linguistic strategies employed by Malaysian influencers, identified as digital activists, focusing on their persuasive tactics. This research particularly examines attitudinal stance and code-switching in online mobilisation discourse. We consider how rhetoric may have evolved, or remained consistent, in the age of social media, algorithm surveillance, and digital technology. Employing a corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis methodology, which integrates corpus linguistics techniques with a critical discourse analysis approach, we examined 30 posts from Malaysian TikTok activists to understand the characteristics and features of the persuasive language used by them. The study found that these digital activists evaluate Israel mostly using judgment rather than affect or appreciation based on the attitude system. Additionally, code-switching was widely used, with motivations for marked code choice including avoiding social media monitoring, negotiating identities, and connecting with diverse groups. These activists also employed coded language and focused on information sharing rather than engaging in blatant criticism of the Zionist movement. This study argues that social media discourse, particularly digital activism responding to humanitarian crises like the genocide in Palestine, offers a significant area for understanding public mobilisation. By utilising corpus linguistics techniques, this research uncovers interesting language patterns and sheds light on language's crucial role in contemporary mobilisation and activism movements. Keywords: corpus-assisted discourse analysis; attitudinal stance; code-switching; Tik Tok; digital activism
Framing the Marginalised: An Analysis of Themes in History and Sociology Book Reviews
Adopting a quantitative and corpus-based methodology, the present research examines the framing of the minority-related themes in academic book reviews in History and Sociology. Two corpora of book reviews (1,000 reviews in total, 500 for each discipline) from 2000 to 2024 were compiled and utilised for data analysis purposes. A theory- and data-driven keyword taxonomy, consisting of seven main themes and 27 keywords, emerged from the literature review, concordance analysis and expert validation. Keyword frequencies were generated, normalised, and transformed into a comparison using AntConc software. Inferential statistics such as Chi-square, Z-test, and hierarchical clustering methods were used to find out significant differences and thematic clusters of keywords in disciplines. Findings show strong disciplinary leanings: reviews in history are much more likely to discuss themes such as “native” and “indigenous”, which is consistent with historical understandings of ethnicity and marginalisation. In contrast, Sociology reviews foreground contemporary and intersecting concerns, frequently employing keywords such as “queer”, “gender” and “racialised”. This lexical pattern reflects a critically engaged stance, highlighting the discipline’s active negotiation of identity, diversity, and social justice in current scholarly debates. These findings demonstrate how book reviews both reproduce and produce disciplinarity, providing important indications toward knowledge dissemination and minority discourse. The methodology exemplifies that thematic patterns can be recognised using corpus-based and statistical analyses. It has significant implications for diversity efforts, disciplinary pedagogy and corpus-based research beyond and including academic discourse analysis, providing insight into the more general disciplinary involvement in marginalisation. Keywords: minority-related themes; corpus-based; quantitative; book reviews; History and Sociology
Untranslatable Flavours: Examining the Loss of Culinary and Cultural Nuance in Chinese-to-English Dish Name Translation
As globalisation broadens culinary exposure, accurately translating Chinese food names into English has become crucial in bridging cultural and linguistic gaps for international diners. However, the translation of Chinese dish names into English often entails a significant loss of culinary and cultural nuance, resulting in a diminished representation of the original flavours, techniques, and heritage. This study explores the intricacies and limitations inherent in conveying the essence of Chinese cuisine to English-speaking audiences. The research aims to investigate the extent to which translation fails to capture essential cultural and culinary elements, thereby impacting international diners' understanding and appreciation of Chinese dishes. The primary objectives of this research are to explore how translation strategies such as literal translation, transliteration, and term translation affect the conveyance of culinary and cultural elements, and to evaluate the extent of nuance loss in translation. Methodologically, a corpus of English-translated Chinese dish names was compiled and analysed to examine the linguistic structures, cultural markers, and culinary terms to uncover patterns and identify translation limitations. This study adopts Cultural Translation Theory as its analytical framework to examine how cultural meanings are mediated and transformed across languages, with a focus on the interplay between language, culture, and identity in the context of culinary discourse. The analysis drew on established frameworks in translation studies and cultural semiotics to interpret how language choices influence the perception of the original dishes. By focusing exclusively on comparative analysis, this study provides insights into the complexities of culinary translation, highlighting the challenges of preserving cultural authenticity in cross-linguistic contexts. The study reveals that the translation of Chinese dish names into English is shaped less by cultural fidelity than by pragmatic considerations of clarity, accessibility, and marketability. Keywords: Chinese dishes; translation; linguistic structures; cultural markers; culinary terms
Unspoken Thresholds: Exploring Spatiality and Invasion in Zoya Pirzad's Things We Left Unsaid and Vanessa Chan’s The Storm We Made
In the context of architecture, spatiality signifies dichotomies of interior and exterior, domestic or private and public or social domains, which are socially and psychologically meaningful. In a similar thread, spatiality within the literary context draws on elements that create boundaries between internal and external spaces within a text. This paper delves into the interior and exterior spaces presented by Zoya Pirzad in Things We Left Unsaid and Vanessa Chan in The Storm We Made. With distinctive references made to racial and ethnic conflicts within the respective nations, this paper seeks to examine how the female characters within the margins of society are represented when encountering the invader. Additionally, through the examination of spatial divides, we explore the notion of the threshold as a tangible and intangible idea or construct, acknowledging the distinction between the interior and exterior domains presented in both texts. In both works, the threshold within the spaces occupied and the characters' identities become intelligibly connected through various encounters, thoughts, and decisions drawn. The findings of this paper ultimately emphasise how thresholds in works of fiction, like these two novels, create a sense of comfort, safety, belonging, and the consciousness of self within the created space, as characters jostle between the invasion of the established threshold and the restructuring of the ruined threshold. Keywords: Iranian literature; Malaysian literature; spatiality; threshold; invasion
Translating Emotion Words in a Japanese Healing Fiction – Days at the Morisaki Bookshop
Studies on emotion words indicate that they tend to be culture-specific, as there is an inclination for different cultures to use words that are difficult to translate literally due to their cultural attributes. Although numerous studies have explored emotion words, many of them have not considered emotions as cultural-specific items. Therefore, this study is conducted to explore emotion words from one specific culture and to investigate how these words are translated into the English language. The novel ‘Days at the Morisaki Bookshop’ was chosen because it is considered as one of the ‘healing’ fictions, and thus centres around the emotions of its characters. To explore the emotion words, firstly, the study chose the most significant emotions words in the book by counting the frequency of its appearance in the book. Next, the translation strategies were analysed by comparing both the original Japanese text and its English translation. This analysis of translation strategies was used to deconstruct Japanese emotion words and to discuss how they were translated in ways that fit into the emotional realm of readers from a different culture. The findings show generic emotion are the most frequent emotion words in the source text, followed by positive emotion words, ‘suki’ and ‘aisuru’, which literally mean ‘like’ and ‘love’. The next most frequent are the negative emotion words, ‘shinpai’ and ‘okoru’, which literally mean ‘worry’ and ‘angry’. Japanese often expresses emotions through specific words, while English tends to show emotions through actions or context. Translators may leave out emotion words to match English styles, which prefer clear, natural, and less direct expressions. This approach reflects cultural differences and helps keep the emotional meaning and effect when moving between languages. Keywords: Japanese; emotion words; source language oriented translation strategies; target language oriented translation strategies; healing fiction