Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching
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Teacher questions, wait time, and student output in classroom interaction in EMI science classes: An interdisciplinary view
Full text linkPast research has often shown a lack of student output in English medium instruction (EMI) classes (e.g., An et al., 2021; Lo & Macaro, 2012) and this study seeks to identify possible reasons. Guided by literature on wait time (Rowe, 1986) and teacher higher-order thinking questions (Chin, 2007), this study explores whether these two pedagogical moves have the same impact on classroom interaction in EMI science classes. 30 EMI science lessons were recorded from seven EMI high school programs in China, taught by 15 native speakers of English to homogenous groups of Chinese students. Correlation tests showed that when there was more wait time after a teacher question, the students produced lengthier responses with more linguistic complexity, took up more talk time, and asked more questions. However, greater use of teacher higher-order thinking questions, coded by Chin’s (2007) framework of constructivist questions, did not correlate with any student output measures. This suggests that wait time may be a more effective factor leading to more student output in EMI classes than asking higher-order thinking questions. Qualitative analysis showed teachers’ follow-up moves may have also played a role in the limited success of higher-order thinking questions
Examining the role of English language proficiency, language learning anxiety, and self-regulation skills in EMI students’ academic success
Full text linkThis study focuses on the predictive power of linguistic (i.e., general English proficiency; identified simply as “proficiency” in this paper) and non-linguistic (i.e., language learning anxiety and self-regulation) factors on the academic success of English medium instruction (EMI) students studying in engineering and social sciences programs in a Turkish university setting. Data were collected from 705 conveniently sampled EMI students of four academic subjects (international relations; N = 158; business administration; N = 184; mechatronics engineering; N = 181; mechanical engineering: N = 182) representing two disciplines (i.e., social sciences and engineering) from a public university. Pearson correlation and SEM analyses were run to determine the relationships among language learning anxiety, self-regulation, proficiency and EMI success. Findings revealed that anxiety and self-regulation skills do affect EMI students’ proficiency irrespective of academic disciplines. Both self-regulation and proficiency impacted EMI students’ academic success in engineering, while only proficiency predicted academic success in the social sciences. These results are discussed and pedagogical implications are given related to the impact of linguistic and non-linguistic factors in EMI contexts
A longitudinal study on students’ self-regulated listening during transition to an English-medium transnational university in China
Full text linkListening to academic content in English medium instruction (EMI) classrooms at university can be a demanding task for students who transition from first language (L1) instructed secondary schools. This longitudinal mixed methods study analyzes data from 316 students collected at the beginning, midterm, and the end of their first semester after entering an EMI transnational university in southeast China. The analysis of questionnaire responses revealed significant variations in students’ listening strategies over time, with a significant decrease in deep processing cognitive strategies at the midterm when content difficulty increased. Conversely, two types of metacognitive strategies (problem solving, plan evaluation) increased significantly during the second half of the semester. Informed by Zimmerman’s (2000) social cognitive self-regulated learning (SRL) model, thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 34 participants revealed that students generally developed a more top-down listening approach focusing on content learning over the semester and became more selective in their strategic and self-regulatory processes after the midterm “watershed” moment. Results highlight the importance of structured topic knowledge in EMI curriculum design and the necessity of strategy training in language support programs
Research on the learning/teaching of L2 listening: A bibliometric review and its implications
Full text linkThis bibliometric study examined the development of research on the learning and teaching of second language (L2) listening from 1948 to 2020 (73 years). Specifically, the study involved: (1) a search and analysis of all the noun phrases to identify important research topics in the abstracts of the published journal articles on L2 listening over the 73 years (divided into three periods) using self-made Python scripts and (2) three co-citation analyses of the references in these articles regarding highly cited authors, publications, and journals, respectively, via the VOSviewer program. The keyword/phrase analysis produced results that helped uncover and delineate the research trends in L2 listening across the three time periods. The co-citation analyses identified the most highly cited authors, publications, and journals as well as the interrelations among the most highly cited items in each of the three categories illustrated with network maps. The results of the analyses and their implications are discussed
How and why can explicit instruction about L1 reduce the negative effects of crosslinguistic influence? Evidence from accuracy and reaction time signatures in L1 comprehension
Full text linkThis study revisits and extends McManus and Marsden (2019a) to better understand how and why providing additional explicit information (EI) about learners’ first language (L1) alongside EI and comprehension practice in the second language (L2) improved the accuracy, speed, and stability of L2 comprehension of the French Imparfait, a functionally complex and late-acquired target feature. Building on previous L2 research that has provided instruction about L1 without analyzing L1 knowledge/use, the current study examines learners’ item-by-item comprehension of L1 sentences that was completed during the L2 instruction to better understand the learning mechanisms at play in McManus and Marsden’s (2019a) findings. Two groups of English-speaking learners (L2+L1, L2+L1prac; N = 36) received the same EI about aspect in French, followed by comprehension practice of French and English sentences. The L2+L1 group received additional EI about aspect in English. Results showed no impact of the instruction on L1 accuracy in either group, but the speed of L1 comprehension changed over time in the L2+L1 group. It is argued that the L2+L1 instruction directed attention to and clarified crosslinguistic differences in how L2 and L1 express the same meanings, which rendered the L2 practice more effective for noticing Imparfait and developing appropriate strategies for processing L2 forms. Implications for theory-building and instructional design are discussed
Dialogic investigations: Motivation in Japanese language learning
Full text linkOver the past 15 years, the L2 motivational self system (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009) has been a dominant framework in the field of second language (L2) motivation. Yet, since the model’s introduction, there has been a theoretical discordance between the two components associated with future self-images (the ideal L2 self and the ought-to L2 self) and the third component related to the actual process of learning (the L2 learning experience). To remedy this shortcoming, this study draws on Bakhtin’s (1981, 1986) theory of dialog. Bakhtin claims that any use of language is a dialog between self and others and that language is learned through the assimilation of speech genres used by others for similar purposes in typical situations of social communication. The analysis of interview data obtained from three Japanese-as-a-second-language learners shows how situation-specific and future-oriented motivations are related to each other. The learners’ engagement in dialog with imagined Japanese speakers is developed through their engagement in dialog with actual Japanese speakers, and regardless of whether the dialog is actual or imagined, the participants orient themselves to speech genres of the language that correspond to particular social contexts
Introduction to the special issue on English medium instruction: Areas of research needing urgent attention
Full text linkEnglish medium instruction (EMI), both in higher and secondary education, is now a well-established field of education research and, indeed, many applied linguistics journals are publishing regularly on a variety of EMI topics. Recently, a new journal, Journal of English-Medium Instruction, has been established that is dedicated entirely to this area of academic enquiry. Recent years have also seen several special issues emerge on topics within EMI in journals such as Applied Linguistics Review (published advanced online), System (in 2023), and TESOL Quarterly (in 2018)
English medium instruction (EMI) in Moroccan secondary schools: Science teachers’ perception
Full text linkThe present study explored a small-scale English medium instruction (EMI) initiative in Moroccan secondary schools, which is part of a top-down multilingual policy based on teaching science subjects through foreign languages, namely French, English, and Spanish. 18 secondary EMI teachers of math, physics and life and earth sciences were interviewed in order to understand the new policy. Following grounded theory (GT) methodology, the findings show positive attitudes towards the implementation of EMI in Moroccan education, but the teachers seemed unsatisfied with the way it has been implemented. They thought science teachers were not prepared for such a new tendency. The study also revealed that teachers’ low English proficiency was considered the major challenge to the successful implementation of EMI in Moroccan secondary schools and the essential reason behind using the first language in the EMI classroom. To prepare future generations for extending EMI in the Moroccan education, the teachers called for a switch to English as the first foreign language, instead of French, in all levels of schooling, and suggested gradual introduction of EMI in primary and middle schools. The study ends with some implications for overcoming the challenges of the new policy
English
Full text linkAs a researcher in multilingualism and multilinguality, I always await any new publications by Larissa Aronin. They not only add to our understanding and knowledge of this fascinating field, but also inspire us to look into the various dimensions not yet explored by other researchers. A truly imaginative and inspiring mind, hers has been a significant contribution to models of multiple language acquisition, the theory of affordances (Singleton & Aronin, 2007), and the material culture of multilingualism, not to forget – what I consider to be her biggest and most fascinating area of research – dominant language constellations (Aronin & Vetter, 2021; Lo Bianco & Aronin, 2020,) and also, fairly recently and still at the developmental stage, the philosophy of multilingualism (Aronin & Politis, 2015)
