Vol. 7 No. 1 (2025)
In this edition, AIJOSH features six original research articles that traverse the domains of literary criticism, religious communication, language pragmatics, socio-cultural identity, and second-language acquisition. This diverse issue reflects the journal’s commitment to fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and showcasing empirical insights from Southeast Asia and beyond.
The issue opens with Pratiwi and Qarimah’s investigation into Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner as a poetic form of rebellion against Enlightenment rationalism. By unpacking Romanticism’s aesthetic critique of reason and its reverence for nature, the article argues that Coleridge mobilizes allegory, penance, and the supernatural as acts of resistance. The mariner’s spiritual journey is read as an indictment of Enlightenment hubris and a plea for re-enchantment in an increasingly secular and mechanistic world.
In the second article, Mulkan Darajat Silaen and Syukur Kholil turns our attention to the organizational landscape of Al Jam’iyatul Washliyah in North Sumatra. His study maps the external communication networks of this influential Islamic organization and reveals its role in shaping social development in Labuhanbatu Utara. By applying organizational communication theory, the article offers insight into how religious institutions operate as dynamic agents of grassroots change.
Continuing this theme of religious engagement in society, Dedi Subiantoro & Syukur Kholil present a timely and policy-relevant investigation into da‘wah and rehabilitation practices for narcotics inmates. Their multi-institutional study highlights how collaborative communication between correctional facilities, the National Narcotics Board, and Islamic organizations creates a space for moral reform and spiritual recovery—an intersection where faith-based initiatives meet state rehabilitation agendas.
The fourth contribution, by Anne Pratiwi et al., delves into the pragmatics of commerce through a study of speech acts in Minangkabau language during traditional market transactions in Mentawai. By identifying illocutionary types in this multicultural setting, the research reveals how language use not only facilitates trade but also preserves cultural cohesion and social harmony within diasporic Minangkabau communities.
In the fifth article, Imelda Indah Lestari et al., examines the intimate intersection of language and identity through child-naming practices in contemporary Indonesia. Her study interrogates how parents negotiate traditional values, linguistic choices, and global influences when naming their children, showing that naming becomes an act of cultural positioning and intergenerational meaning-making.
The issue closes with Rima Devi and Darni Enzimar Putri’s pedagogical research on ippunkan supīchi, or one-minute speech, as a strategy to improve Japanese conversation skills. Their findings demonstrate significant affective and cognitive gains among students at Universitas Andalas, suggesting that structured spontaneity can boost both fluency and confidence in foreign language learning.
Collectively, the contributions in this issue illuminate how individuals and communities communicate, contest, and create meaning within diverse institutional, linguistic, and cultural fields. We extend our appreciation to all authors, reviewers, and readers who continue to support AIJOSH as a space for critical scholarship in the socio-humanities.
Editor-in-Chief
