Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching
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Dynamic properties of language anxiety
Get PDFThis article begins by examining previous empirical studies to demonstrate that language anxiety, or the negative emotional reaction learners experience when using a second language (MacIntyre & Gardner, 1999), is a dynamic individual difference learner variable. I show that it forms part of an interconnected, constantly-in-flux system that changes unpredictably over multiple time scales. While at certain times this system might settle into an attractor state that accommodates contradictory conditions, perturbations that arise may lead to development and change with the curious possibility that minor disruptions generate large effects while major alterations go unnoticed. In essence, language anxiety (LA) is part of a continuous complex system in which each state evolves from a previous one. After I establish LA as a dynamic variable using the aforementioned criteria, I outline the implications and challenges for researching LA using a dynamic paradigm, which include focusing on individuals, transforming LA research questions, designing interventions and re-thinking data gathering methodologies. I conclude with implications for language teaching that emphasize: 1) raising awareness of the importance of decoding nonverbal behavior to identify moment-by-moment shifts in learner emotion; 2) remaining vigilant concerning variables that are interacting with LA that make this factor part of a cyclical process; 3) understanding that anxiety co-exists with positive emotions to varying degrees and that language tasks are not unanimously enjoyed or universally anxiety-provoking; and 4) incorporating positive psychology activities that proactively encourage buoyancy and resilience for moment-by-moment daily perturbations as well as debilitating disruptions that result in long-lasting influences
Expanding the theoretical base for the dynamics of willingness to communicate
Get PDFThe dynamics underlying willingness to communicate in a second or third language (L2 for short), operating in real time, are affected by a number of intra- and inter-personal processes. L2 communication is a remarkably fluid process, especially considering the wide range of skill levels observed among L2 learners and speakers. Learners often find themselves in a position that requires the use of uncertain L2 skills, be it inside or outside the classroom context. Beyond issues of competencies, which are themselves complex, using an L2 also evokes cultural, political, social, identity, motivational, emotional, pedagogical, and other issues that learners must navigate on-the-fly. The focus of this article will be on the remarkably rapid integration of factors, such as the ones just named whenever a language learner chooses to be a language speaker, that is, when the moment for authentic communication arrives. Communicative events are especially important in understanding the psychology of the L2 learner. Our research group has developed the idiodynamic method to allow examination of an individual’s experience of events on a timescale of a few minutes. Results are describing complex interactions and rapid changes in the psychological conditions that accompany both approaching and avoiding L2 communication. The research takes a new approach to familiar concepts such as motivation, language competence, learning strategies, and so on. By examining willingness to communicate as a dynamic process, new types of research questions and answers are emerging, generating new theory, research methods, and pedagogical approaches applicable both within language classrooms and beyond
Are foreign language learners’ enjoyment and anxiety specific to the teacher? An investigation into the dynamics of learners’ classroom emotions
Get PDFPrevious research has considered fluctuations in students’ foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) over months or years (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014, 2016). However, there has been no investigation of the effect of the teacher on these emotions at a single point in time. In this study, we investigate the question whether FL learners experience similar levels of FLE and FLCA in the same language if they have two different teachers. Participants were 40 London-based secondary school students studying modern languages with one Main Teacher and one Second Teacher. Statistical analysis revealed that while FLCA was constant with both teachers, FLE was significantly higher with the Main Teacher. Predictors of FLE such as attitudes towards the teacher, the teacher’s frequency of use of the target language in class and unpredictability were also significantly more positive for the Main Teacher. Item-level analysis revealed that the teacher creating a positive emotional atmosphere in class contributed to the higher FLE score. Items that reflected more stable personal and group characteristics varied less between the two teachers. The findings suggest that FLE is more teacher-dependent than FLCA, which is more stable across teachers
Through the looking glass of student perception: How foreign language students see teacher trait emotional intelligence and why it matters
Get PDFThe aim of this study is to examine how students perceive teacher trait emotional intelligence (TEI) and how those perceptions relate to students’ own self-reported attitudes and motivation. Adult students of ESL/EFL were given an online questionnaire consisting of two parts: one to provide observer-reported data on their teacher’s trait emotional intelligence and the second to measure students’ own attitudes and motivation. In total, 129 participants of 28 nationalities took part. The results showed that the perceived teacher TEI domains of teacher sociability and teacher self-control were significant predictors of student positive feelings and attitudes towards the teacher. With this paper, we make the case that observer reports of teacher TEI by students could be a valuable tool in L2 instruction by offering teachers unique insight into their own classroom behavior, thereby increasing teacher self-awareness which could lead to improved classroom practices
Beliefs and experiences in the English classroom: Perspectives of Swedish primary school learners
Get PDFThis study investigates how Swedish learners make sense of and perceive English instruction and the process of foreign language learning in a target language-only primary school classroom. In small group discussions, 26 learners aged 9-10 were audio recorded while discussing questions related to their language learner beliefs and their classroom experiences. Learners expressed a strong consensus about the importance of both the teacher’s extensive target language input and the learners’ oral engagement, in alignment with the beliefs of the teacher. However, the analysis identified three mismatches among high anxiety learners in this context, related to incomprehensible teacher talk, social fear of making mistakes and classroom organization. As their voiced beliefs were at odds with their emotionally guided behavior of refraining from asking questions or volunteering to speak, their sense of agency was reduced. In this context, the target language-only approach appeared to have a negative impact on the emotional, organizational and instructional dimensions of foreign language instruction for many of the young learners. The findings illustrate the interrelated dynamics of beliefs, emotions and classroom context, and contribute to our understanding of learners’ foreign language anxiety and sense of agency in the primary foreign language classroom
Content and language integrated learning in Latin America 2008-2018: Ten years of research and practice
Get PDFBilingual education, usually a community’s L1 and English continues spreading geographically and across educational systems worldwide. With this expansion, the development of bilingual education approaches is under constant scrutiny. One recent approach is content and language integrated learning (CLIL). European in origin, CLIL can be viewed as an educational or language teaching approach and it refers to the teaching of curricular content and L2 in an integrated manner. This approach has received international attention, yet, how CLIL unfolds in settings outside Europe appears underrepresented in international publications. The aim of this article is to provide a critical review of CLIL in Latin America between 2008 and 2018. We surveyed 64 items (articles, book chapters, and dissertations) published in regional and international outlets: 41 empirical studies, 19 practice-oriented publications, and four reviews. It begins by summarizing the CLIL continuum with a focus on content- and language-driven CLIL and CLIL frameworks. It then provides a synthesis of empirical studies and practice-oriented publications about CLIL in different Latin American settings. The corpus is analyzed following these unifying themes: pedagogy, perceptions and beliefs, teacher education, global citizenship, and language development. From this review, it transpires that Latin American CLIL is mostly implemented and examined from a language-driven perspective in private primary, secondary and higher education. Suggestions and implications for further research and practice are included
Teachers’ self‐reported L1 and L2 use and self‐assessed L2 proficiency in primary EFL education
Get PDFThis study investigates teachers’ first language (L1, German) and second language (L2, English) use in the primary English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom in two federal German states. It particularly focuses on the question of whether a more frequent, (self-reported) use of the L2 is positively correlated to teachers’ professional qualification as well as (self-assessed) L2 proficiency. To this end, data was collected in 2017 through an online survey among German primary teachers teaching EFL in year 4 (N = 844). L2 use was assessed through a 4-point Likert scale comprising 16 items on various classroom situations. L1 use was surveyed with an open question on situations of L1 use in the L2 classroom. Moreover, teachers self-assessed their L2 proficiency with a 4-point Likert scale and adapted CEFR descriptors for speaking. Findings indicate that teachers claim to use the L2 more in L2-related situations and the L1 more in classroom management situations. The study shows that teachers with a higher formal qualification tend to assess their L2 proficiency higher and claim to use the L2 more often in the primary EFL classroom. In contrast, teachers with a lower formal qualification tend to assess their L2 proficiency lower and claim to use the L1 more frequently in the L2 classroom
Editorial
Get PDFThe second 2019 issue of SSLLT brings together six papers, all of which report empirical studies dealing with different aspects of teaching and learning additional languages in various contexts, and it also includes two book reviews. In the first contribution, Alastair Henry combines Hermans’ (2008) concept of the dialogical self with the tenets of complex dynamic systems theories (Hiver & Al-Hoorie, 2016) to investigate the developing professional identity of a preservice teacher of English during the practicum in a school in western Sweden. Using a combination of intra-personal data in the form of semi-structured interviews conducted before and after the practicum as well as inter-personal data in the form of forum postings and a stimulated recall discussion of a lesson taught by the participant, Henry shows that the construction of teacher identity entails interaction between present experiences and the imagined self. In the subsequent paper, Anne Huhtala, Anta Kursiša and Marjo Vesalainen seek to identify the motives driving 51 Finnish university students to learn foreign languages other than English, in this case French, German and Swedish, adopting as a theoretical framework Dörnyei’s (2009) theory of the L2 motivational self-system. Qualitative analysis of the narrative reflections written by the participants revealed that although the initial decisions to engage in language learning may be driven by social pressure, or the ought-to self, in the course of time it is the ideal self and the L2 learning experience that start to play the dominant role