Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching
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Exploring English self-concept and investment of successful EFL learners from a Chinese secondary school
Full text linkAcademic self-concept, a central psychological construct that powerfully explains learners’ varied motivations and learning behaviors, needs to be further explored to deepen our understanding of language learner psychology. Drawing on self-reported learning histories, this study investigates the English self-concept of successful English as a foreign language (EFL) learners and their mediated learning behaviors from the theoretical lens of personal investment theory (Maehr & Braskamp, 1986). Data were collected from 12 students at a key secondary school in Shanghai using retrospective narratives and semi-structured interviews. The analysis revealed three categories of cognitive and affective characteristics in the learners’ English self-concept and the corresponding investment features with subtle differences identified. Participants espoused average to high competency beliefs and moderate to strong positive affect toward English learning, nurtured by positive self-beliefs such as interest and self-efficacy formed through early English learning experience. Their sustainable, targeted, and resilient investment in English learning was also underpinned by the perception of mastery and performance goals appropriately afforded by teachers, parents, peers, or the school. Practical implications for parents and educators are discussed in terms of what they can do to help learners build positive self-perceptions as EFL learners
Language teacher professional curiosity: Understanding the drive for professional development
Full text linkTeacher professional development (PD) has been shown to have numerous benefits, such as greater self-efficacy, higher motivation, and enhanced wellbeing (e.g., Kimura, 2014; Polin, 2023; Wang & Chen, 2022), and teaching additional languages is certainly no exception. However, the extent to which teachers are willing and able to engage in PD throughout their careers depends on many factors, some of which are related to the context in which they work, while others are reflective of their individual attributes such as attitudes, motivations, and personality. This paper focuses on the latter by reporting the findings of a study that examined language teacher professional curiosity (LTPC). The data were collected through semi-structured interviews from 6 Austrian and 6 Polish language teachers at different stages of their careers. Qualitative analysis allowed valuable insights into the nature of LTPC, curiosity-driven behaviors as well as factors influencing these behaviors. It also provided the basis for a tentative cyclic process model of LTPC in which interest and curiosity interact to produce a focus of curiosity, which is impacted by motivation, agency, autonomy, and social context, generating a drive for teacher behaviors in respect to their PD
Introduction to the special issue on languages other than English: A reality check and a glimmer of hope
Full text linkThe role of languages other than English (LOTEs) in K-16 education is rife with controversy, particularly in Anglophone contexts. In a recent edited volume, Lanvers et al. (2021) tackled this controversy head-on by creating an anthology that not only described the “language learning problems in Anglophone countries in a holistic and universal manner” (p. 8), but also offered “solutions and examples of positive, forward-thinking practice” (p. 8). Certainly, with the rise of Global English, and even more recently, with the sudden proliferation of AI-enhanced communication strategies, languages other than English are being further marginalized. This marginalization often comes in the form of extreme budget cuts and elimination of courses and programs, as is being seen in a variety of Anglophone contexts and is particularly salient in the US context (Kingson, 2023)
Are enjoyment, anxiety and attitudes/motivation different in English foreign language classes compared to LOTE classes?
Full text linkThe current study focuses on the effect of the target language on learner emotions and attitudes/motivation. More specifically, it investigates whether the status and prestige of English results in more positive learner emotions and attitudes/motivation compared to less prestigious languages other than English (LOTE). Statistical analyses of a database of 360 students in an English-speaking university in Kuwait enrolled in English, German, Spanish and French as foreign language classes revealed that the LOTE learners (who also knew English) reported significantly more foreign language enjoyment (FLE), equal levels of foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA) and – surprisingly – lower levels of attitudes/motivation than their peers studying English. Due to confounding variables, it is impossible to establish the cause of the difference with certainty, but this outcome does show that a stronger motivation to study English does not necessarily translate into more enjoyment in class. In other words, while FLE and attitudes/motivation typically correlate, they are independent concepts
The role of critical experiences, positioning, and agency in the dynamic, emergent construction of heritage speaker selves
Full text linkPrevious research has proposed a crucial role for critical experiences in language learning to better understand how learners understand and discursively construct their self-concept (Mercer, 2011, 2016; Serafini, 2020a; Thompson, 2020). However, studies have mainly explored critical experiences in the narratives of foreign language learners of English with little attention to how heritage speakers of languages other than English (LOTE) draw on critical experiences in discursive constructions of self. To address this gap, this study aims to explore the impact of critical experiences in university heritage Spanish speakers’ self-narratives. Twenty heritage Spanish students completed a background questionnaire and peer-facilitated, video-recorded interview. Emergent, recurring themes were identified in transcribed interview data following tenets of grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006; Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Findings underscore the key role of positioning (Davies & Harré, 1990) in dynamic conceptions of self, particularly how heritage speakers (re)imagine and discursively construct past, current, and future self-states. Positioning was also linked to agency (Ahearn, 2001) in relation to students’ critical reflections on experiences of racialization and resistance to, or reproduction of, dominant language ideologies. Overall, the study provides valuable insights for (heritage) language educators seeking to enact critical pedagogical principles in their classroom and curriculum
Task-based elementary Spanish in rural Indiana: A practice-based collaboration
Full text linkSpanish is the second most spoken language in the United States and the most taught additional language (L2) in elementary-level schools. However, the amount and type of access differs according to the resources available. Rural settings, which comprise a third of all schools in the US, often have fewer resources and support for the development and maintenance of exposure-track L2 programs, which meet once per week with the goal of, as the name suggests, providing exposure to the L2, rather than a focus on cumulative language development. Given that there are immediate and long-term benefits of even low levels of early bilingualism, ensuring access to quality L2 education is a matter of equity. This paper centers on the first year of a longitudinal collaboration between an exposure-track Spanish language teacher in a rural elementary school, and the research team who created a task-based program tailored for the school following a needs analysis. We analyze the first year of the grant-funded program based on task effectiveness, student enjoyment, and teacher perspectives. We contextualize results within the rural community and offer initial longitudinal data on US exposure-track Spanish. We detail how we adjusted the program for the second year, are freely sharing the materials on the Task Bank (tblt.indiana.edu) and have transferred the program to the teacher’s autonomy. Finally, we highlight that the success of this program was and is due to the collaborative nature of the partnership between the teacher, the researchers, and the administrators
The effects of implicit corrective feedback on production of lexical stress in L2 English
Full text linkThe interactionist approach to second language acquisition has yielded a plethora of studies confirming the positive impact of interaction and corrective feedback on second language (L2) development. Nevertheless, only a few studies have attempted to investigate the development of L2 prosody using the interactionist approach. The current study contributes to this line of research by investigating the relationship between recasts and the production of primary stress in L2 English. Following a pretest-posttest design, 68 L1 Arabic speakers were randomly assigned to control and intervention groups. The pre- and posttest comprised sentence-completion and information-exchange tasks, whereas the intervention was a role-play task that dyads carried out with the researcher. The intervention group received a recast upon producing target words with misplaced primary stress, whereas the control group did not receive any corrective feedback. The results of acoustic analyses, which focused on syllable duration, intensity, and pitch, indicated a positive relationship between recasts and development of primary stress placement. The results were also supported by expert listener judgments. The findings suggest that interaction and implicit corrective feedback play a positive role in the development of lexical stress
“Nonnative? Next!” Native-speakerism in world language job advertisements
Full text linkGiven the lack of research into native-speakerism among teachers of languages other than English (LOTEs), this qualitative study aims to bridge the gap by investigating the discriminatory and inclusive language employed in online recruitment for post-secondary institution instructors of LOTEs. The study also looks at how post-secondary institutions phrase language requirements and whether there is a difference in “native-speaker-teacher” bias depending on the language. For the purposes of this study, qualitative content analysis was used to examine 187 online job advertisements for teaching positions of different LOTEs that were posted by different post-secondary institutions across the United States. The findings of the study show that post-secondary institutions use discriminatory language such as “native” or “near-native” much more often than inclusive language such as “superior language skills,” regardless of the language(s) that the position advertises for. The findings, however, show that job candidates for teaching positions of LOTEs are often required to have “native” or “near-native” proficiency in at least two languages, most commonly English plus the target language of focus