Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching
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Revisiting the relationship between global and specific levels of foreign language boredom and language engagement: A moderated mediation model of academic buoyancy and emotional engagement
Full text linkThe current research aimed to examine the relationships among three key aspects of the language learning process, namely, foreign language boredom (FLB), English language engagement (ELE), and academic buoyancy (AB), utilizing data collected from 2,992 Chinese language learners. In order to strengthen the accuracy and robustness of the results, we initially performed primary analyses to determine the most effective measurement solution for the three variables. As a result, we decided to use a bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) solution for FLB, a partial bifactor-ESEM solution for ELE, and a unidimensional confirmatory factor analysis solution for AB. The primary analysis demonstrated that the global factor of FLB strongly and negatively influenced the global levels of ELE. Both global and specific factors of FLB predicted different facets of specific ELE differently. The mediation-moderation analysis further confirmed the significance of the specific factors of emotional ELE as mediators and AB as a moderator in the relationships between global and specific levels of FLB and global and specific levels of ELE. The findings offer a basis for theoretical and pedagogical implications
Listener perception of appropriateness of L1 and L2 refusals in English
Full text linkEnglish has become an international language (EIL) as speakers around the world use it as a universal means of communication. Accordingly, scholars have investigated different aspects of EIL affecting communicative success. Speech scholars have been interested in speech constructs like accentedness, comprehensibility, and acceptability (e.g., Kang et al., 2023). On the other hand, pragmatic researchers have examined lexico-grammatical features of EIL that contribute to first language (L1) English listeners’ perceptions of appropriateness in speech acts (e.g., Taguchi, 2006). However, little is known about: a) how appropriateness is perceived by users of EIL of diverse L1s and b) how those appropriateness perceptions are related to lexico-grammatical and phonological features. Therefore, the present study had 184 listeners (L1 = English, Spanish, Chinese, and Indian languages) evaluate 40 speech acts performed by 20 speakers (L1 English and Chinese, 50% each) in terms of appropriateness on a 9-point numerical scale. Results from linear mixed-effects regressions suggested that: a) listener L1 did not contribute to listener ratings and b) speakers’ rhythm and lexico-grammatical features (i.e., use of different pragmatic strategies) significantly contributed to listener appropriateness ratings. The findings provide empirical evidence to support the phonology-pragmatics link in appropriateness perceptions and offer implications regarding the operationalization of English interactional appropriateness
The influence of teacher emotional support on language learners’ basic psychological needs, emotions, and emotional engagement: Treatment-based evidence
Full text linkThis study assessed the influence of a 10-week teacher emotionally supportive quasi-experimental intervention on the perceived teacher emotional support (PTES), basic psychological needs (BPNs) satisfaction, emotions of anxiety and enjoyment, and emotional engagement of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Strategies targeting the three dimensions of TES, that is, positive climate, teacher sensitivity, and regard for students’ perspectives, were deployed exclusively in an experimental group (N = 63), which was compared to a control group (N = 58) in which a more typical teaching approach was followed. Classroom observations and questionnaires were used to capture three time points of changes in learner behaviors. The results of multivariate analyses revealed significant positive changes over time in students’ self-reported PTES behaviors, BPNs satisfaction, emotions, emotional engagement and observed behaviors solely in the experimental condition. Learner BPNs satisfaction showed the largest group differences by mid-term treatment. With the continuous deployment of the treatment, the between-group differences peaked toward the end of the experiment for all learner behaviors. The largest variance at this stage was in learner PTES. These experimentally driven findings provide compelling evidence for the advantages of TES pedagogical interventions for second language learners
The effectiveness of comprehension-based visual arts instruction and production-based flashcard instruction in young English language learners’ vocabulary acquisition and retention
Full text linkResearch on young English language learners has been gaining popularity in recent years, but to this day remains underdeveloped. The present study aimed to add to this body of research by exploring the effects of visual arts activities implemented via comprehension and compared to more commonly used flashcard activities implemented via comprehension-based instruction on young English language learners’ vocabulary acquisition and retention. The study specifically focused on very young learners who do not have access to the English language outside of the classroom. This study employed a within-subjects counterbalanced design with young English language learners (N = 47) with a mean age of three years and eight months. The results provided evidence that both instruction types are highly effective in the productive and receptive learning of vocabulary among young English language learners. Furthermore, the positive effects of visual arts activities implemented via comprehension-based instruction on vocabulary retention were found to be significantly higher than those of the production-based instruction
The learning potential of English as a lingua franca contexts in the eyes of study abroad students
Full text linkThis paper presents insights from two interview studies with the aim of shedding light on the learning potential of studying abroad in an area where English is used as a lingua franca. The majority of previous research on study abroad focuses on students’ experiences of studying abroad in target-language regions, for example learners of English studying abroad in English-speaking countries. To date, the learning potential of spending time in English as a lingua franca (ELF) contexts remains an under-researched area. The present paper draws on two separate interview studies that have been conducted with five Turkish and five Swiss study abroad students that stayed in different European ELF contexts as part of their studies at higher education institutions. The data suggests that even though the participants still partially adhere to native speaker norms, they also discuss a number of characteristics of English as a lingua franca study abroad (ELFSA) contexts that they deem conducive to learning English and enhancing their plurilingual competences
A network approach to language learning burnout, negative emotions, and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies
Full text linkDespite the growing recognition of the impact of affective factors on second/foreign language (L2) learning, there remains a paucity of knowledge regarding academic burnout in L2 learning. Moreover, the intricate interplay between L2 burnout, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, and negative L2 emotions remains inadequately explored. Given the increasing acknowledgment of network analysis as an advanced and appropriate method for unraveling the complex relationships among psychological constructs in applied linguistics, the current study aimed to investigate the network structure of burnout, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, and negative emotions among 841 Chinese undergraduates who were learning English as a foreign language (EFL). The results of the network analysis revealed that shame, emotional exhaustion, and avoidance emerged as the most central nodes within negative emotions, burnout, and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, respectively; shame, emotional exhaustion, and avoidance were also the most powerful bridging nodes linking the aforementioned three constructs. Notably, the robust bridging association between emotional exhaustion and anxiety was observed. Overall, Chinese EFL students may experience high levels of burnout and negative emotions and apply counter-productive regulation strategies in English learning, but these reactions are intertwined rather than independent of each other. Students who are overwhelmed by anxiety and shame are more prone to burnout symptoms, while those dominated by anger are more likely to vent it out. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed
Developing explicit and implicit L2 knowledge with Duolingo’s input-based features: Case studies of L2 Spanish learning
Full text linkIn this single-case study with a quasi-experimental design, we set out to examine the role of two input-based features of the language learning app Duolingo on learners’ development of implicit and explicit second language (L2) knowledge. We investigated the effect of Duolingo’s Stories feature and Podcast feature on two Spanish-L2 learners’ performance on a battery of implicit and explicit L2 knowledge tests. Once a week, over a four-week period using these input-based features, both participants repeatedly performed oral narrative tasks, timed and untimed grammaticality judgment tasks, and metalinguistic knowledge tests. The participant assigned to the Podcast condition showed meager gains in productive implicit knowledge (measured by oral narrative tasks) but decreased in receptive explicit knowledge (measured by untimed grammaticality judgment tasks). The participant assigned to the Stories condition showed a large increase in receptive implicit knowledge of Spanish (measured by timed grammaticality judgment tasks). Neither participant showed meaningful gains in the measure of productive explicit knowledge (measured by metalinguistic knowledge tasks). Although there was a slight increase in receptive explicit knowledge for the participant using Stories, the data from both participants discount the idea that app-based mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) prioritizes receptive explicit L2 knowledge, at least when considering these novel input-based features of Duolingo. These findings add nuance to previous research showing that the primary outcome of MALL app use is receptive explicit L2 knowledge
Young beginning learners’ vocabulary learning via input and output tasks: The role of working memory
Full text linkWorking memory (WM) is essential to vocabulary learning. However, limited attention has been paid to young beginner learners’ vocabulary development under various task conditions from the perspective of WM. This study investigates how two types of WM – complex WM and phonological short-term memory – may influence two instructional approaches (i.e., input and output tasks) on picking up new words. 93 young learners studying English as a foreign language (EFL) participated in input and output tasks and four vocabulary assessments. These assessments functioned as a pretest, immediate posttest, and delayed posttest. The participants also took two WM tests: an operation span test for complex WM and a word repetition test for phonological short-term memory. The results demonstrated that: (1) both input and output tasks significantly influenced the learning and retention of new words, (2) complex WM did not substantially predict task effects on the learning and retention of new words, and (3) phonological WM had a notable impact on learning and retaining new words under the input and output task conditions. The findings emphasize the role of WM for EFL young learners’ vocabulary learning through tasks
Heritage language identity matters: Tracing the trajectory of a Chinese heritage mother and contested Chinese dual language bilingual education
Full text linkThis article presents a narrative inquiry of a Chinese heritage mother to theorize and explicate how historical, relational, and spatial processes impacted her negotiation with power and agency in relation to her own heritage language (HL) identity development. A narrative approach enables us to draw on participant counter-stories against master narratives that erase experiences of marginalization of Asians in Asian language education in the United States. We do this through a model of HL identity development (Zhou & Liu, 2022) supplemented by an AsianCrit lens (Iftikar & Museus, 2018). We show the importance of normalizing Chinese as a HL outside of the home in terms of language maintenance as well as the impact such normalization has on the development of an affirmative Chinese HL identity. We add that spaces for such identity development are deeply associated with language programs like dual language bilingual education (DLBE), especially as the number of DLBE opportunities grow in number and in popularity. Thus, language programs, including DLBE, have a responsibility to ensure that the language education they provide address the interests and investments of families with respect to their HL in order to decenter a primary focus on the interests of ethnolinguistic majoritized families
