Hikayat Lonthoir, a rare saga manuscript collection originating from the Banda Archipelago, Maluku, Indonesia, retains significant Indigenous oral history amidst the Western colonial narrative. This study seeks to leverage computational methods to analyze the historic manuscript that constitutes a combination of OCR-supervised transcription, corpus linguistic profiling, semantic clustering (Word2Vec + K-Means), and named entity network analysis. A validation of the dataset is performed on 2793 cleaned word tokens towards Indonesian and Malay dictionaries, showing that 50.3% overlapped with both dictionaries, with strong cross-dictionary agreement (κ = 0.76). The lexical analysis indicates that monarchy/governance, kinship, maritime vocabulary, and extensive morphological productivity (me-, di-, ter-, pe-/per-, -nya, -an), while semantic and network analyses identify two narrative cores, developed into Aarne–Thompson–Uther (ATU) and Stith Thompson’s Motif Index of Folk Literature classification systems. These findings demonstrate how computational methods can extract structural, thematic, and relational patterns from historical manuscripts and contribute evidence-based insights to digital philology and historical linguistics.

Refusal is a complex pragmatic act that often entails face-threatening consequences, requiring speakers to balance clarity, politeness, and interpersonal harmony. This study examines the refusal strategies employed by senior high school English teachers in Adonara Timur when responding to requests outside the classroom context. Using a qualitative research design and content analysis, data were collected from 13 teachers through a Discourse Completion Test (DCT) consisting of ten situational scenarios. The responses were analyzed using Beebe, Takahashi, and Uliss-Weltz’s (1990) taxonomy of refusal strategies. Findings show that indirect refusal strategies—such as providing explanations, expressing regret, offering alternatives, and citing external circumstances—were the most frequently used. Teachers also consistently employed adjuncts, including expressions of gratitude, appreciation, and apologies, to mitigate the force of their refusals and maintain positive interpersonal relationships. Direct refusal strategies appeared less frequently and were mostly used in situations involving institutional rules or established agreements, particularly in interactions with students. Overall, the study highlights the teachers’ strong orientation toward politeness, relational harmony, and context-sensitive communication. These findings contribute to understanding the pragmatic competence of English teachers in Indonesian educational settings and offer insights for integrating pragmatic awareness into language teaching materials and professional development programs.

This study examines the attitudes of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) civil servants toward the English Day Policy introduced in Governor Regulation No. 56 of 2018. The policy aligns with NTT’s focus on tourism development, emphasizing English proficiency as key to enhancing global competitiveness. Addressing a research gap, the study explores the sociolinguistic effects of promoting English in a multilingual, culturally rich region. Data was collected from 604 civil servants via an online questionnaire distributed through WhatsApp. The survey included seven Likert-scale statements and one open-ended question in Bahasa Indonesia. Using a mixed-method approach, the analysis combined quantitative data with qualitative sociolinguistic insights. Findings reveal generally positive attitudes toward the policy, with most respondents agreeing that English is crucial for tourism and acknowledging the policy’s benefits. They also dismissed concerns that the initiative could harm local languages or Bahasa Indonesia. However, participants noted limitations in implementing the language policy, highlighting that favorable attitude alone cannot ensure its success.

This study addresses the issue of low student participation in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms, which remains a persistent challenge in Indonesian secondary education. Although cooperative learning strategies have been widely promoted, there is limited research focusing on students’ active participation in junior high school EFL contexts, particularly in eastern Indonesia. This study aims to explore how the Think-Pair-Share (TPS) strategy enhances eighth-grade students’ active participation in English learning at SMP Negeri 7 Kupang and to examine students’ responses toward its implementation. Employing a qualitative case study design, data were collected through classroom observations, interviews, and documentation. The findings indicate that TPS significantly improves students’ behavioural, cognitive, and emotional participation by fostering collaboration, confidence, and engagement. Students also demonstrated a positive perception of the strategy. Overall, Think-Pair-Share is an effective approach for promoting active participation in EFL classrooms.

Vocabulary is a key component of language proficiency, supporting comprehension and communication. This study examined the level of English vocabulary mastery among students in class VII-C at SMPN 6 Satap Kupang Tengah. Using a descriptive quantitative design, all 21 students completed a vocabulary test consisting of written and visual-supported sections to measure receptive vocabulary—the ability to recognize and understand grade-appropriate words. Scores were converted to percentages and classified as Very Low (0–40%), Low (41–60%), Moderate (61–80%), or High (81–100%). Results showed a mean score of 41.0% for the written section (Low) and 36.9% for the visual section (Very Low). Overall, students’ vocabulary mastery was categorized as Low, with most scoring between 25% and 50%. These findings reflect limited exposure to English outside the classroom and highlight the need for targeted vocabulary instruction to enhance students’ English proficiency.