Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching
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Review of Engaging language learners in contemporary classrooms; Authors: Sarah Mercer, Zoltán Dörnyei; Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2020; ISBN: 9781108445924; Pages: 208
Get PDFLearner engagement is key to successful learning experiences in general education and language learning is no exception. When students are engaged, they are focusing on the task at hand, paying attention and enjoying their language learning (Aubrey et al., 2020; Ellis, 2018; Mercer, 2019; Oga-Baldwin, 2019). Yet, as Mercer and Dörnyei affirm in their introduction to the book, “discussions of engagement . . . have been largely absent from the literature of L2 [second language] learning and teaching” (p. 4). Engaging Language Learners in Contemporary Classrooms addresses this gap directly and in great depth, thus making it a ground-breaking contribution to the growing body of second language (L2) literature on learner engagement
Editorial
Get PDFThe goal of the special issue is to provide robust examples of how we as a field can research the dynamic nature of learner individual differences (IDs). The papers in this volume provide both a sound theoretical discussion of several IDs in relationship to their (posited or empirically attested) role(s) in L2 learning, as well as specific methodological ideas on how to best reveal the dynamic nature of IDs
My many selves are still me: Motivation and multilingualism
Get PDFTwo concepts of multilingualism that relate to the selves aspect of Dörnyei’s (2009) L2 motivational self system (L2MSS) are highlighted in this article: Thompson’s concept of perceived positive language interaction (PPLI) and Henry’s notion of the ideal multilingual self. With the dynamic model of multilingualism informing both concepts (Herdina & Jessner, 2002; Jessner, 2006, 2008), the intangible advantage that multilingual speakers have over monolingual speakers is clearly articulated in the discussion of this topic. The interconnectivity of language systems is an inherent aspect of the DMM; as such, both Thompson with PPLI and Henry with the ideal multilingual self incorporate the DMM as a framework to indicate the fluid nature of these constructs as additional language learning experiences are added to the system over time. This article further explores the dynamicity of multilingual learners’ language systems and the influences that induce change. Specifically, data from Thompson’s (2017b) study on LOTE learners are re-examined to explore this question. Additionally, excerpts from Natasha Lvovich’s (1997) The Multilingual Self, an autobiography of an L1 Russian speaker, are analyzed to present different possible models of incorporating the multilingual self and PPLI. The article ends with a discussion of an inherently multilingual context, as well as thoughts regarding the possibility of different types of future selves
Oral English performance in Danish primary school children: An interactional usage-based approach
Get PDFFollowing the call in Sandlund, Sundqvist, and Nyroos (2016) for incorporating discursive approaches into the field of oral second language (L2) testing, this paper proposes an interactional usage-based approach to the analysis of oral L2 performance. Based on Eskildsen (2018a), we combine analytic tools from usage-based linguistics and conversation analysis. We draw on usage-based linguistics to analyze performance in terms of test-takers’ inventories of linguistic constructions and on conversation analysis to understand their interactional competence in terms of the relation between the linguistic constructions and the actions they are used to accomplish. Performance assessment is thus constructional and interactional. Participants in this pilot study were two Danish primary school children who performed two consecutive oral tasks: a semi-guided interview and a picture-elicited narrative task. Data were analyzed by means of cross-child comparisons and cross-task comparisons within each child. Our data confirm the observation from previous research that simple question-answer(-assessment) sequences dominate oral test formats, but also that the format is sometimes abandoned, which allows for the accomplishment of new social actions. Moreover, the picture-description task affords a different speech exchange system with the interviewer participating more as an active listener when the children do not voluntarily carry out the requested task
A comparison of the impact of extensive and intensive reading approaches on the reading attitudes of secondary EFL learners
Get PDFExtensive reading (ER) which encourages second or foreign (L2) learners to engage in a great deal of reading, has long been recognized as an efficient approach in L2 reading pedagogy. While many attempts have been made to understand the effect of ER on the cognitive domains of L2 learners, there has been insufficient investigation into how ER influences their affective domains. Particularly, reading attitudes, one of the key elements of affective factors involved in L2 reading, have received little attention. This classroom-based intervention study investigated the impact of ER on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ attitudes toward English reading compared to the influence of the traditional intensive reading (IR) approach. In addition, this study explored whether the impact of the ER approach on EFL learners’ reading attitudes is different depending on L2 proficiency. The study included two intact classes of EFL secondary learners (N = 72) who received either ER or IR instructional treatments for a 12-week period. For the results, ANCOVA showed that the ER approach fostered positive reading attitudes significantly more than the IR approach. In addition, the analysis indicated that the participants’ proficiency levels did not have a significant effect upon changes in their reading attitudes. That is, regardless of proficiency level, the ER approach demonstrated a significantly positive effect on participants’ reading attitudes in comparison with the IR approach
Review of Research methods for complexity theory in applied linguistics; Authors: Phil Hiver, Ali H. Al-Hoorie; Publisher: Multilingual Matters, 2020; ISBN: 978-1-78892-573-0; Pages: 286
Get PDFWhen I found out about the upcoming publication of a book devoted in its entirety to research methods that can be used to investigate issues in applied linguistics (AL) within the framework of complex dynamic systems theory (CDST), I immediately decided to include it in my reading list and, time permitting, review it for SSLLT. On the one hand, research into learning and teaching second and foreign languages is one of the most vibrant lines of inquiry in AL and therefore it is only fitting that the appearance of such a ground-breaking volume should be recognized by the journal. After all, it is an indisputable fact that CDST has made major inroads into the domain of second language acquisition (SLA) and it is beginning to change or, should I say, revolutionize the ways in which different aspects of SLA are examined. This is perhaps most evident in the case of studies of individual difference (ID) factors (e.g., Dörnyei, MacIntyre, & Henry, 2014; Hiver, 2017; Oxford, 2017) and has also found its reflection in the special issue of SSLLT (1/2020), titled Investigating the Dynamic Nature of Individual Differences in L2 Learning, guest-edited by Laura Gurzynski-Weiss. In addition, one cannot help but notice that this theoretical stance has started to be seen as a new creed for many specialists, to the point that there is perhaps a danger of its being perceived as the only “correct” approach to shedding light on various facets of SLA. As Diane Larsen-Freeman writes in her excellent foreword to the book, “this new way of thinking has called into question the conventional ideas about language and its learning/development” (p. vii). On the other hand, I cannot call myself an ardent enthusiast of CDST, not because I cannot see its many merits or do not acknowledge its enormous potential for expanding our understanding of how languages are learnt or taught, but because I believe that only a diversity of approaches can help us better grasp the intricacies of these processes. Still, I was certainly thrilled to finally see a publication that, instead of merely trying to convince us that SLA research should be grounded in CDST, in fact makes an earnest attempt to illustrate how this can be done in practice
Effects of frequency and idiomaticity on second language reading comprehension in children with English as an additional language
Get PDFVocabulary plays an important role in reading comprehension in both the L1 and the L2 (Murphy, 2018). In measuring vocabulary knowledge, however, researchers typically focus on mono-lexical units where vocabulary assessments tend not to take into account multi-word expressions which include phrasal verbs, collocations, and idioms. Omitting these multi-word lexical items can lead to an over-estimation of comprehension skills, particularly in reading. Indeed, adult learners of English comprehend texts containing a larger number of multi-word expressions less well compared to texts containing fewer of these expressions, even when the same words are used in each text (Martinez & Murphy, 2011). To investigate whether children learning English as an additional language (EAL) face a similar challenge, two reading comprehension tests were administered to EAL and monolingual (non-EAL) English-speaking children in primary school. Both tests contained the same common words, but whereas in one test some of the words occurred in multi-word expressions, in the other test they did not. Reading comprehension was significantly reduced for both groups of children when multi-word expressions were included. Monolingual participants generally performed better than children with EAL on both tests further suggesting that children with EAL may face a particular disadvantage in English reading comprehension. These results are discussed within the context of the importance of developing rich vocabulary knowledge in all children, and especially emergent bilingual children, within primary school and beyond
The use of refusal strategies in interlanguage speech act performance of Korean and Norwegian users of English
Get PDFThe present paper describes a contrastive study of interlanguage refusal strategies employed by Korean and Norwegian learners of English as an additional language. The data were collected from multilingual first-year students at an American university in South Korea and in an English-medium program at a Norwegian university by means of an online open discourse completion task and analyzed using the coding categories based on Beebe, Takahashi, and Uliss-Welts (1990), and Salazar Campillo, Safont-Jordà, and Codina Espurz (2009). The data were analyzed to compare the average frequencies of refusal strategies used by the two groups, and the types of direct, indirect, and adjunct strategies that they employed. Independent samples t-tests revealed significant differences in the use of direct and indirect strategies with small effect sizes. The differences in the use of adjunct strategies were not statistically significant, and the effect sizes were negligible. Descriptive statistics of the differences in the types of direct, indirect, and adjunct strategies also revealed interesting patterns. The findings suggest that multilinguals’ pragmatic performance is a complex phenomenon that cannot be explained by the differences in cultural and pragmatic norms of their first language alone
Review of Directed motivational currents and language education: Exploring implications for pedagogy; Author: Christine Muir; Publisher: Multilingual Matters, 2020; ISBN: 978-1-78892-884-7; Pages: 252
Get PDFThe construct of a directed motivational current (DMC), or “. . . a surge of motivational energy that seemingly picks an individual up and carries them sometimes unimaginable distances” (p. xvi) was introduced into research on motivation in second and foreign language (L2) learning less than a decade ago (e.g., Dörnyei, Ibrahim, & Muir, 2015; Muir & Dörnyei, 2013). Despite being a relative newcomer to the field, the concept has provided an impulse for empirical investigations which have primarily focused on validating its core assumptions and proposed dimensions using largely qualitative methodology (e.g., Safdari & Maftoon, 2007; Zarrinabadi & Tavakoli, 2017). The book Directed Motivational Currents in Language Education: Implications for Pedagogy by Christine Muir is another valuable addition to this line of inquiry and it can be seen in a way as a follow-up to and extension of the monograph Motivational Currents in Language Learning: Frameworks for Focused Interventions that she co-authored with Zoltán Dörnyei and Alastair Henry in 2016. Since I had the opportunity to write a review of this volume for Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching (Pawlak, 2017), I was all the more curious to see how research on DMCs has progressed and what promise it currently holds for L2 pedagogy. Therefore, the moment the publisher contacted me with the suggestion that SSLLT might be a good venue for a review, I immediately jumped on the offer and simply felt compelled to take on this task myself. I have to say from the get-go that the book has lived up to my expectations and, although I might be somewhat skeptical about some of the implications for classroom practice, I have to admit that Christine Muir’s work represents a so-much-needed step forward in the study of DMCs. This certainly cannot too often be said about all the apparently innovative ideas introduced into the domain of second language acquisition research