Volume 111

Listening, as a foundational skill in language acquisition, is crucial for effective communication and cultural understanding. Traditional teaching methods tend to overburden the phonological working memory while failing to fully engage the brain's visuospatial systems. These difficulties highlight the need for learner-centered techniques. Since 2010, the field has witnessed a significant shift: advances in multimedia technology, virtual reality (VR), and mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) have enabled the integration of multimodal input—audio, visual, and kinesthetic— into second language (L2) listening instruction. This marks a clear inflection point in pedagogical research, where cognitive theories have begun to intersect meaningfully with digital innovation. This paper reviewes multimodal L2 listening within the framework of cognitive load theory. The findings reveal that multimodal approaches significantly enhance L2 listening comprehension by reducing cognitive overload and increasing learner engagement, thereby supporting the development of more efficient listening strategies in language learners. This paper offers a novel pathway to enhance comprehension and engagement in language learners.

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As internet usage expands, the proportion of Chinese netizens aged 50 and above has reached 30.8%. Cyber violence poses an increasingly severe threat to older adults. Through the systematic literature review, this paper examines the multifaceted impacts of cyber violence on the elderly's mental health, social participation, and daily life. The findings reveal that older adults are more susceptible to cyber violence due to limited digital literacy, inadequate social support, and lower psychological resilience, resulting in damaged self-esteem, social withdrawal, and reduced quality of life. The study further proposes targeted strategies, including digital skills training, community support networks, and psychological interventions, to enhance older adults' capacity to cope with cyber violence. This research aims to provide a theoretical basis and practical guidance for developing age-inclusive cyber protection policies and intervention measures.

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This paper uses the film Raise the Red Lantern (1991) directed by Zhang Yimou as an example to explore the tragic fate of women under China's feudal marriage system. TIn this study, I explore how cinematic techniques—specifically visual symbolism, color palettes, and framing—underscore the oppressive ambiance of feudal ethics. My analysis hones in on salient visual motifs, such as the recurring red lanterns, alongside ritualistic practices like foot massage and the concubine hierarchy, which collectively epitomize female subjugation and compliance. The characters in the film are interpreted as symbols of different social ideologies, with a particular focus on Songlian, Meishan, and Zhuoyun, who reflect different responses to systemic oppression. This study uses semiotics and feminist film analysis to interpret the narrative and stylistic strategies, highlighting institutionalized patriarchy in the film. The findings show that the film presents a harsh historical reality and exposes the internalized misogyny and self-destruction fostered by patriarchy. The conclusion reflects on the broader implications of gender representation in the film and the lasting impact of feudal values on modern cultural memory.

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This paper argues that gift-giving along the Silk Road was not peripheral to diplomacy—it was its primary medium. Gifts functioned not merely as symbols of goodwill or displays of wealth, but as strategic instruments employed to negotiate power, manage relations, and communicate intent across linguistic and cultural divides. They formed the basis of alliances, diffused tensions, and conveyed political positioning. Yet these objects did not circulate only between courts. They moved through markets, caravans, and everyday lives—shaping the rhythms of ordinary people as much as those of kings. Drawing on sources such as The Shiji, The King’s Road, and The Sogdian Ancient Letters, this study examines how gifts were selected, the purposes they were intended to serve, the social and logistical networks they activated, and the consequences of their refusal or misinterpretation. It argues that diplomatic gifts were not simply gestures—they were choices, with repercussions both symbolic and material.

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Childhood is a critical window period for the development of creativity, and artistic activities, as an important carrier for stimulating children's imagination and cultivating innovative thinking, greatly depend on teachers' scientific and appropriate interventions to be effective. Adopting a literature review approach, this study systematically combs through theoretical foundations and empirical studies to analyze and solve the status quo of cultural influences, timing of intervention, and teacher intervention. Meanwhile, the significance of this study lies in the hope of filling the research gap of cultural adaptability intervention mode at the theoretical level, and providing theoretical support for the dynamic balance of "teacher guidance child autonomy" in early education. At the same time, provide practical opportunities for teachers to intervene, helping them protect children's creative autonomy in artistic activities while also providing effective support promptly. Addressing the issue of artistic intervention through three dimensions: culture, giver and receiver. Early childhood art intervention needs to face various factors and difficulties, but there are also many opportunities for teachers to explore and implement. People need to gradually realize that reasonable artistic intervention for young children can lay a solid foundation for their lifelong creative development.

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Neurodevelopmental disorders such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are highly prevalent, often comorbid conditions that significantly impact cognitive, behavioural, and social functioning. Neuroimaging has emerged as an important tool in understanding the underlying neural mechanisms of these disorders, contributing to efforts toward biologically grounded diagnosis and personalised intervention. This review synthesises findings from 28 recent neuroimaging studies (2022–2025) using MRI, fMRI, EEG, and advanced computational modelling to examine structural, functional, and network-level abnormalities in ADHD and ASD, as well as transdiagnostic overlaps. ADHD-specific studies highlight fronto-striatal dysconnectivity, delayed cortical maturation, and reduced basal ganglia iron levels, with recent advances in machine learning enhancing precision phenotyping. ASD-focused research underscores heterogeneity in cerebellar morphology, atypical predictive coding, and genetically driven cortical thinning. Transdiagnostic investigations reveal converging alterations in executive control networks and shared dimensional traits across diagnostic boundaries, supporting dimensional models of neurodevelopment. Despite these advances, challenges remain, including small and heterogeneous samples, overreliance on cross-sectional data, limited reproducibility, and interpretability issues in multimodal integration. The review concludes by advocating for longitudinal, harmonised, and multisite neuroimaging designs aligned with frameworks like the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC), as well as the incorporation of machine learning models that integrate cognitive, clinical, and biological data. By identifying shared and distinct neural markers, this review aims to support the development of robust, developmentally informed, and transdiagnostically valid neuroimaging biomarkers to inform early diagnosis and tailored interventions in neurodevelopmental disorders.

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This study examines the triple marginalization of women in developing countries within the digital revolution, focusing on technological, discursive, and regulatory exclusion. This paper proposes a "decolonized digital feminism" framework integrating postcolonial theory with digital feminist scholarship to challenge western-centric approaches to digital inclusion. Through mathematical ethnography and multi-method research design, including algorithm audit experiments and transnational policy analysis, this paper investigates how algorithmic systems perpetuate gendered economic disadvantages and create new forms of digital colonialism. The findings reveal that platform capitalism and algorithmic bias systematically exclude women from digital economies, while surveillance technologies enable new forms of technological violence. However, this paper also documents emerging practices of resistance through community-driven algorithm auditing, participatory design approaches, and transnational digital solidarity networks. The study introduces innovative metrics, including the Global Mathematics Revenue Reduction Index (GDEI), and proposes legal frameworks for digital sovereignty through Digital Decolonization Clauses. The research demonstrates that reconstructing digital futures requires not merely technological access but a fundamental reimagining of power structures, governance mechanisms, and value systems. This work contributes to theoretical advances in feminist technology studies while offering practical strategies for activists, policymakers, and technology developers committed to inclusive digital transformation.

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Elderly suicide is a pressing public health issue characterized by notably high rates in many countries, including China. From an evolutionary psychology perspective, suicide represents a paradoxical, counter-evolutionary behavior that appears to reduce an individual’s inclusive fitness—the ability to pass on genes directly or indirectly through kin. This study investigates elderly suicide through the lens of inclusive fitness model, which suggests that under conditions of resource scarcity, older adults may opt for suicide as an adaptive mechanism to alleviate burdens on their kin while also promoting the wellbeing and future reproductive potential of younger relatives.The study hypothesizes that elderly individuals who perceive themselves as financial or emotional burdens to their families develop feelings of hopelessness and depression. Depression initially promotes rumination and social signaling aimed at eliciting support; however, when these efforts fail, cognitive confusion and impulsivity may emerge, weakening natural survival instincts and increasing suicide risk. We plan to conduct the study in several steps to illustrate the inclusive fitness model, and we will discuss the expected outcomes and implications. The plan of study could highlight adaptive mismatch, where evolutionary mechanisms misfire in modern social environments, stressing the need to address financial and emotional burdens through programs that enhance emotional connectivity, social roles, and community support to reduce elderly suicide risk. However, the plan also has limitations including self-reported data bias, sampling issues, and challenges applying evolutionary models across cultures, with future research urged to develop cross-cultural, multilevel interventions targeting psychological, family, and societal support.

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This research aims to offer a critical analysis of Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus and Thomas Nagel’s “The Absurd”. Based on key documents, the analysis draws on in-depth textual analysis and philosophy discussions to deep-dive into Camus’s and Nagel’s intellectual world. As revealed in this research, Nagel’s response to Camus on the absurd was unconvincing, from the conflation of feelings with convictions to the distortion of the original meaning of the concern about significance. Furthermore, Nagel downplayed the serious, tragic dimension of the absurd, but then he praised the transcendental consciousness, only to succumb to the same failure to appreciate our cosmic insignificance. Indeed, Camus himself never clarified how it did. In Camus’ re-imagining of the myth, Sisyphus neither characterized the condition of the human individual nor the way of mankind. Rather, it was symbolic of the comic or the divine totality. Nonetheless, it is observed that Camus’ recommended response to the absurd, unlike Nagel’s, belonged to that of the existentialist rather than the nihilist.

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In the context of deepening globalization, cultivating students’ intercultural communication competence and international perspectives has emerged as a crucial objective in the education of language majors within higher education institutions. This study focuses on the role of intercultural communication teaching within university linguistics courses and explores its impact mechanisms on the development of students’ international perspectives. Adopting the classical grounded theory approach, the research targets domestic and international students majoring in languages. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews and analyzed using open coding, axial coding, and selective coding to identify core categories and construct an influence pathway model. The results indicate that intercultural communication teaching enriches students’ cultural awareness, reshapes their attitudes, and enhances their intercultural communicative competence, significantly expanding their international perspectives. The pathway model reveals the internal mechanisms by which intercultural communication teaching influences students’ global outlook, and underscores the importance of integrating such pedagogy into language curricula to foster global competence.

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