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This paper discusses the design of a digital Chinese character composition game with the paper-interface named as ARC (Augmented Reality-based Chinese Characters) and its implementation in a Singapore primary school. The ARC game is designed to help beginning Chinese as second language (L2) learners to develop Chinese orthographic knowledge and improve quality of collaboration. Underlying sociocultural perspectives of learning, it seeks to enable learners to complete the game collaboratively in classrooms, and in this process to build a deep understanding of linguistic knowledge in solving in-situ language-related problems that emerge in language use. The results of a quasi-experiment indicate that ARC is an effective system for improving Chinese character learning performance and collaborative learning quality. It suggests that the augmented paper, enabling natural interactions, allow more and potentially young students to engage with educational content and collaboration. The problematizing scaffold should be embedded in the game design to elicit more opportunities for collaborative dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research highlights how agentive capacities for complex meaning-making can be developed among language learners during study abroad (SA) (e.g. Diao and Trentman 2021. Language Learning in Study Abroad: The Multilingual Turn. Multilingual Matters). In this regard, we focus on students’ translingual development, or their emerging capacity to communicate across sociopolitically-constructed linguistic and cultural borders (Canagarajah 2013b), during a 12-week program for U.S.-university students in Guatemala. Drawing on ethnographic data, particularly audio-recordings from a small, intermediate-level, second language (L2) Spanish class, we compare classroom interactions from the beginning and the end of students’ sojourn. Our qualitative findings demonstrate participants’ increasing utilisation of diverse semiotic strategies – along with linguistic resources associated with multiple languages and varieties – to make meaning and further their Spanish learning. In so doing, students and their instructor transformed their classroom into a translanguaging space where their full linguistic repertoires and identities were activated and encouraged (Wei 2018. “Translanguaging as a Practical Theory of Language.” Applied Linguistics 39: 9–30. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx039). We further note students’ translingual development in their emerging ability to engage in transcultural reflection and communication as time progressed. As such, this paper argues for the promotion of translingual development in SA and L2 pedagogies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intentional Teaching Gestures are gestures that have been created as a pedagogical tool for second language teaching and learning and are used in many Japanese programs. Despite their widespread use, little is known about their impact on students' oral language production. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the effect of Intentional Teaching Gestures on students' Japanese production. This paper reports on the quality of students' oral language production from two Story Re-tell tasks, one with and one without viewing Intentional Teaching Gestures (ITG), after learning Japanese as a second language with ITG. Thematic analysis was undertaken of the Story Re-tell transcription data from 170 primary school participants. Findings identify that viewing ITG whilst doing Story Re-tell positively impacted learners' oral production. The breadth of benefits included increases in the quantity of output that students produced, the expanded informational content included in their stories, and students' increased use of a range of verbs and particles in their utterances. Viewing ITG also provided support for students' structuring of utterances, supported self correction, and led to an improvement in their overall oral performance. These benefits have wide ranging pedagogical implications for Japanese teachers and learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of English in international communication has focused scholarly attention on L2 learners' development of interactional competence (IC), that is, the ability to co‐construct interactions purposefully and meaningfully in specific contexts. Under Hong Kong's bilingual education policy, students mainly learn and speak English in two classroom contexts: (1) English language and (2) English‐medium‐instruction (EMI) content‐area subject lessons, which may contribute to their IC development. This study compared the English‐speaking/learning experiences of students in these two classroom settings in three Hong Kong secondary schools. Task‐based language teaching (TBLT) was the recommended teaching approach in the English language subject in all these schools, but they adopted different medium‐of‐instruction arrangements in content‐area subjects. Their students also had different academic attainments. The investigation adopted a case study approach consisting of a questionnaire and semi‐structured focus group interviews (N = 160). Our findings suggest that students generally lacked opportunities to speak English, regardless of the specific school‐based policies. The higher‐proficiency students were given more opportunities to speak English in group/pair activities both in English language and EMI content‐area subjects. In contrast, the lower‐proficiency students received more explicit teaching of the linguistic forms/structures required in English examinations. The paper concludes by highlighting several critical issues concerning students' IC development in bilingual education, namely, the effects of English‐medium education on students' speaking ability, implementation of TBLT, the influence of examinations on teaching practices, and teachers' role in promoting students' interactional competence through classroom interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the implementation of a reading program designed for third grade elementary school classrooms in Austria. Using a mixed-methods approach, lesson types were identified, respective class compositions analyzed, and the effects on students' reading gains examined. The results show that the lesson types seem to reflect learner group needs as students in the different lesson types profited similarly from the reading program. This supports the hypothesis that reading is a highly individualized process and leads to the conclusion that the instructional approach of the reading program investigated supports teachers in conducting reading lessons tailored to their students' needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As more people around the globe become immigrants or refugees, an increasingly popular subsection of research has aimed to investigate how these populations use mobile‐assisted language learning (MALL) to learn the language(s) of the host country. Objectives: This study examines how the language learning, inclusion and self‐regulation are moderated by MALL different methods in immigrants and foreigners (with different backgrounds) regarding two settings (foreign language and second language). Materials and methods: We desired to explore whether MALL results in better language learning for foreigners, refugees and immigrants compared to traditional methods (physical tools) and how various factors affect MALL, such as whether MALL is utilized in a formal versus informal context. Hence, this article conducts a systematic review through a meta‐analysis and thematic analysis of 17 total quantitative and qualitative studies regarding MALL research on immigrants and refugees. Results and Conclusions Our results suggested that the MALL method is in general beneficial for second or foreign language learning, but with limitations based on the individual learner (motivations, demographics, etc.) and sociocultural factors, especially within informal contexts (e.g. fear of being seen as an immigrant when using a mobile learning app). Considering the variables that affect MALL that we observed and discussed in our review, we suggest more attention to the specific needs and potential issues refugees and immigrants may encounter when using MALL in order to create mobile applications that best aid this population in learning the host country's language(s), thus making resettlement an easier process. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Mobile‐assisted language learning (MALL) technology has been identified as an effective tool for learning a language in short bite‐size lessons.The advantage of MALL for foreign language learners with no immigration status.Positive attitudes and inclusion are the highlights that should be considering in MALL for other groups of foreigners. What this paper adds?: Foreign language learners and second language learners are different groups that require different approaches of MALL.Not all MALL devices and gaming is appropriate for immigrants, refugees and other foreigners.Devices and digital tools are differently perceived by second language learners. Implications for practice and/or policy: Immigrants have different usage and attitudes toward mobile devices for learning.Applications should be learning daily‐basis but should be more culturally sensitive.Refugees and specific migrant groups need different methods when in MALL context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the potential of pedagogical translanguaging in a community/heritage language context. With focus on Arabic as a multidialectal and multiglossic language, the paper primarily examines the function of translanguaging practices in teacher-learner and learner-learner interaction to construct and negotiate linguistic knowledge in the standard variety of the language. The results show that the learners' linguistic repertoires (multiple varieties of Arabic and English) are actively and dynamically employed in the exchanges to negotiate linguistic knowledge (lexical and grammatical) in a setting that venerates the standard variety as a medium of instruction with a monolingual policy. Also, the results show how these multidialectal practices are sometimes utilised to acknowledge and give voice to the heritage learners' dialectal identities. It is argued that community/heritage language learning contexts are ideal translanguaging spaces in which heritage language learners find ample opportunities for identity negotiation and knowledge construction. These opportunities are augmented in a classroom atmosphere that gives legitimacy to their dialects and challenges the monolingual ideology. Pedagogical implications are discussed for Arabic heritage and mainstream second language programmes with heritage learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between gender and second language (L2) learning through a narrative case study. Drawing on the construct of investment in understanding language learning, the present study investigates the role of gender ideologies and gendered identities in a female L2 learner's English learning experiences in an English-medium university in Hong Kong. Findings reveal that multiple gender ideologies mediated the learner's access to L2 use opportunities and her participation in in-class and out-of-class contexts in complex yet contradictory ways. In particular, gendered expectations influenced the learner's agency in investing in L2 practices in specific contexts and accumulating particular forms of (gendered) capital. Her L2 investments were also shaped by her negotiation of gendered identities and her pursuit of imagined identities related to her professional aspirations. Based on the findings, a gendered model of L2 investment is proposed. It illustrates the complex interplay between gendered capital, gender ideologies and gendered identities in shaping L2 investments and foregrounds the role of gendered agency in mediating the impact of gender ideologies and gendered identities on L2 investments. The study also suggests the need for contextualized and personalized approaches in understanding the gendered nature of L2 learning in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South African Sign Language (SASL) has become an increasingly popular language that hearing university students want to learn as a second language. This requires more qualified SASL instructors and new curricula at South African universities. This paper considers ways in which challenges associated with the teaching and learning of SASL can be overcome. Krashen's Comprehension Input Hypothesis and Swain's Output Hypothesis form the theoretical framework as reference to our own independent experience, praxis, and reflection. This study considered different teaching methods and pedagogies and found the post-method approach suggested by Kumaravadivelu (2003) a viable method for teaching SASL as a second language. This method aligns with the method we had independently identified as the most empowering for teachers to create their own strategies focused on their intuition, experiences and pedagogy. Therefore, we do not favour one specific method above another, but rather adopt an integrated approach. We make a few suggestions regarding sign language curriculum content and further research in sign language as an L2, which need urgent attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South African Sign Language (SASL) has become an increasingly popular language that hearing university students want to learn as a second language. This requires more qualified SASL instructors and new curricula at South African universities. This paper considers ways in which challenges associated with the teaching and learning of SASL can be overcome. Krashen's Comprehension Input Hypothesis and Swain's Output Hypothesis form the theoretical framework as reference to our own independent experience, praxis, and reflection. This study considered different teaching methods and pedagogies and found the post-method approach suggested by Kumaravadivelu (2003) a viable method for teaching SASL as a second language. This method aligns with the method we had independently identified as the most empowering for teachers to create their own strategies focused on their intuition, experiences and pedagogy. Therefore, we do not favour one specific method above another, but rather adopt an integrated approach. We make a few suggestions regarding sign language curriculum content and further research in sign language as an L2, which need urgent attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our paper we introduce a bilingual language learning material developed in the framework of the so-called three dimensional virtual library model (3DVLM). This model inspired by the history and organization of the famous ancient Library of Alexandria forms the basis of the virtual library project which started about eight years ago as part of the Cognitive Infocommunications (CogInfoCom) research. The current version of the 3DVLM uses the excellent 3D features of the MaxWhere Seminar System which makes it suitable for both individual learning and classroom use. In the following, we would like to introduce first the basic framework of our development, then describe in detail the data structure and organization of the developed bilingual language learning material. The basic idea of the material is to present selected phrases and contexts from classical literary works in English and from their parallel translations in Hungarian in order to improve both the language skills and background knowledge of Hungarian language learners at an advanced level. We found that using web technology was especially useful for developing the language learning material and the developed hypertext structure formed a scale-free network of interconnected nodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This commentary focuses on clitics in Spanish and discusses two recent studies that report on clitics in language contact situations: Mayer and Sánchez (2019) on clitics in bilingual Quechua-Spanish and bilingual Shipibo-Spanish varieties, and Jiménez-Gaspar, Pires, and Guijarro-Fuentes (2020) on clitics in Catalan and Spanish in contact. We briefly discuss the properties of clitics in Spanish, followed by their role in language variation and contact (i.e. language contact, heritage Spanish, and second language learning). We then comment on the two papers on clitics in language contact, which show how the outcomes of language contact vary across language pairings and contact situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper gives an overview of the general and special factors of L2 learning of Hungarian minorities across the borders of Hungary, that is, in Slovakia. Indigenous minorities like Hungarians in Slovakia are strongly interested in fluent state language knowledge. Still, the state school system failed to work out and implement a suitable language pedagogy for linguistic minorities, since the state curriculum comprised only one type of Slovak lessons, the one for pupils speaking Slovak as their mother tongue. This curriculum does not consider the special needs for bilingual pupils (on different levels of bilingualism) and those growing up in pure minority environment. The paper introduces functional cognitive linguistics as a usage-based theory and descriptive activity that gives new methods for L2 learning and teaching, building on the vernacular linguistic and conceptual knowledge of the pupils, focusing on the meaning – form pairs of linguistic expressions both in the vernacular and the second (state) language. In the second part, certain grammatical units are discussed as the topic of functional language pedagogy: lexical units and their grammatical adjustment to the syntactic and semantic structure of the sentence, or metaphor in use. In the third part, the topics of the previous section are treated in a comparative Hungarian – Slovak style, as examples of L2 teaching methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the attitudes of undergraduate language learners and their lecturers towards the introduction of an attendance policy in an Irish Higher Education Institution. It also analyses the relationship between the introduction of this policy and student performance (average grade) and progression (pass rates). The policy was introduced on a pilot basis on thirty core language modules delivered on first or second year undergraduate programmes. They consisted of language modules in German (beginners and intermediate), French (intermediate), Spanish (beginners and intermediate), Chinese (beginners) and Japanese (beginners). The findings suggest predominantly positive attitudes towards the attendance policy among both staff and students. They also indicate a positive impact on performance and progression in some modules, in particular first year beginner languages where attendance has been an issue in the past. The paper considers the implications of these findings both for this field of research and for practitioners particularly in university language learning contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction to the special issue offers a brief report on the proceedings from the 16th International Conference on Language and Social Psychology (ICLASP16) and concludes with an invitation to participate in the upcoming ICLASP17 (Hong Kong, 2020). The nine papers selected for this special issue represent the diversity of scholarship and methodology presented at ICLASP16 (held in Edmonton, Canada, 2018). It includes student debut work, student-faculty collaborative pieces, keynote addresses, competitive papers, and an invited state-of-the-scholarship review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emergency remote teaching refers to the unanticipated, involuntary shift to a virtual learning environment due to, for example, a natural disaster or political instability. The sudden nature of this transition creates additional challenges to effective learning. In this article, we investigate one such challenge, namely the potential for teacher–student miscommunication. We report on a study involving 674 language learners and 61 language teachers. The participants were asked to rate a number of education‐related ١problems that could potentially arise in the context of emergency remote teaching. Learners rated these concerns in terms of the extent to which they had actually experienced them, while teachers were asked to rate the extent to which they perceived these to be concerns for their students. The results showed that teachers believed that students required additional training on using learning management systems, that students did not take online teaching seriously, and that emergency remote teaching would encourage students to cheat. Students disagreed with these statements (ds = 0.53–0.65). We discuss the implications of these teacher–learner discrepancies in light of the need for explicit guidelines and clearer expectations of students during online learning and assessment. Lay Description: What is currently known about this topic: Understanding students' perceptions about the learning process is important.Improving the fit between learner perceptions and the learning environment facilitates better learning. What their paper adds: Teachers underestimate their learners' skillfulness in technology.Teachers do not think that students take online learning seriously.Teachers think that online learning will encourage students to cheat.Students disagree with all of these three points. Implications of study findings for practitioners: Teachers should set explicit guidelines and clearer expectations of students during online learning and assessment, to avoid subjectively labelling students as unserious or lazy.Teachers should try to ensure that learners' expectations match the actual expectations of the online course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Profiling Elements of Prosody in Speech-Communication (PEPS-C) is a computerised test for assessing the abilities to understand and use speech prosody in communication. It has been used to obtain a profile of strengths and weaknesses in different prosodic forms and functions for different clinical populations (e.g., autism spectrum disorders, Down syndrome) and second language learners. The 2015 edition of PEPS-C incorporates four new subtests addressing the understanding and production of lexical stress and phrasal stress, and collapses four form subtests (Intonation/Short-Item Input and Output, Prosody/Long-Item Input and Output) into two (Discrimination, Imitation). However, the suitability of these new tasks has not been reported in any published studies, although they are likely to be relevant for learners of English. Moreover, the present authors update the Irish English (IE) version of PEPS-C to the 2015 edition for another research project on prosodic skills in children with spina bifida. Hence, this paper reports the making of PEPS-C 2015 (IE) and examines the usefulness of this test in assessing a group of non-native speakers of English, as compared to a group of native speakers of IE. Methods: PEPS-C 2015 for Irish English was developed by adapting the test items of the UK English version of the test. The PEPS-C 2015 (IE) was then trialled on 25 native speakers of Irish English and 10 Spanish speakers who speak English as a second language (ESL). Results: All native speakers of Irish English showed competence (scored ≥75% correct) in the comprehension and expression of prosodic form and functions assessed. For the ESL speakers, the test identified two areas of possible difficulty for this group: Phrase Stress Comprehension and Expression, and Contrastive Stress Comprehension. Conclusion: The PEPS-C 2015, with its extra stress tasks, might therefore be useful as a prosody assessment tool for ESL speakers, particularly those with a Romance first language or at an early stage of learning, but further research is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the impact of video design on Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) learning. The instructional videos were produced by the researchers and featured the 把 (bǎ) construction in Mandarin Chinese. This was a two-way experiment in which the first independent variable was the lecture presentation style (single-lecturer talking and two-lecturer conversation) and the other one was the lecturer questioning strategy (no question prompt requests and with question prompt requests). The dependent variable to measure was learner flow experience. A sample of 40 CSL learners participated in the study. The results showed that significant interaction effects existed. Discussions on the findings and pedagogical implications are offered in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In tandem learning, a model for two-way language learning originally developed for non-formal education, language is learned through interaction between two native speakers with different first languages learning each other's languages in cooperation. A high level of authentic learning characterises this model. The original tandem learning model has been developed and transferred to a formal educational context. However, the effects of this transition on the authentic character of tandem learning has not been investigated, and research in this field is needed. This paper aims to increase knowledge and understanding of the challenges of implementing authenticity of tandem learning in formal language education by analysing the learning tasks in a handbook developed for classroom tandem, a model for language learning and teaching, within second national language education in Finland. The results indicate a large variation in authenticity levels among classroom tandem tasks, indicating that the implementation of tandem learning in a formal educational context has compromised authenticity. The results identify aspects of learning tasks that are problematic and could be further developed. The results point to areas for further development of the classroom tandem model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports a mixed-methods study about using virtual reality (VR) tools (Google Cardboard and Expeditions) for developing students' oral proficiency in learning Chinese as a second language. Twelve students role-played as tour guides for six locations throughout a semester: four of them with VR tools and two without. Data collection included oral presentations recorded at four different times of the semester (for Presentations 1, 3, 4, and 6), class observations, participants' reflection papers, and individual interviews at the end of the semester. Results revealed that the content and vocabulary of participants' oral presentations when using VR tools scored statistically significantly higher than when not using VR tools. Qualitative data showed that participants felt that VR tools facilitated preparation and encouraged active learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language learner strategy research has been dogged by criticisms in recent decades culminating in calls for the field to be replaced with the construct of self-regulation. This paper aims to evaluate how the field has responded to such critique, and to investigate how self-regulation has impacted strategy research in recent years. The study utilizes a systematic review methodology to examine key studies conducted and published from 2010 to 2016 to reveal current trends, and to elucidate best research practices. After initially searching more than 1000 research papers, 46 of the most field-aware studies were selected for data extraction, of which 24 were included in a final systematic map for analysis. Results show strategy research is highly reliant on quantitative measures of data collection, but also reveal a number of context-situated qualitative methods which have produced valuable results. An in-depth review of the 15 most relevant studies revealed a number of innovations that have considerably advanced language learning strategy research in recent years. In a field awash with studies that are anchored to past methodologies, this paper showcases state-of-the-art work in the field, with an aim to inform future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to outline the teacher's role in classroom tandem. Classroom tandem is a student-centred model of language learning and instruction; there is a need for more knowledge about the teacher's role in a tandem classroom. Tandem learning, based on a social-interactional view of second language learning, requires that two students with different first languages cooperate in dyads. They switch languages and, in turns, act as learners in their respective second languages as well as models and support in their first languages. The empirical data consist of video recordings of teacher–student interactions in tandem classrooms in a bilingual, upper-secondary school campus. The analysis focuses on situations, where teachers interact with individual tandem dyads. We identify how teachers orient to different aspects of the tandem dyads' cooperation and language knowledge. Based on the analyses, we outline different roles of a tandem teacher. In addition to a facilitator role that is common for teachers in all school subjects today, tandem teachers act as language experts, as in all language instruction. The role of the teacher specific to classroom tandem entails coaching students in their roles as language resources and second language learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a small‐scale study examining the effects of metacognitive reading strategy instruction on English language learners' reading comprehension in a Hong Kong international school. Twenty‐five primary school (Grade 5) students who learn English as a second language participated in this study. Metacognitive instruction was incorporated into 10 process‐based reading lessons. Data were collected from notes learners took during reading, post‐reading reflection reports, teacher‐facilitated group discussions and two types of reading tests. Results revealed that the young learners could articulate several knowledge factors that influenced their reading. In addition, learners reported a better understanding of the nature and demands of reading, a deeper awareness of metacognitive knowledge in improving reading comprehension and increased confidence in handling reading exercises. The learners also showed enhanced reading performance compared to those in a control group without metacognitive intervention. This study highlights the potential of metacognitive instruction to enhance primary school English learners' reading literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the motivations of Chinese learners of Japanese across three different grades through Elicited Metaphor Analysis and semi-structured interview. Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 Japanese majors (55 in total) in a Chinese university were asked to produce metaphors that reflected their motivations to learn Japanese. The metaphor data were analysed by two coders in three steps: Labelling, Sorting and Categorisation. It is found that Year 1 learners were enthusiastic about learning Japanese, using mostly leisure and eating metaphors; Year 2 learners often used journey metaphors to indicate the difficulty they were facing; and Year 3 learners were more concerned about the benefits and practical outcomes of learning, using mainly learning other skills metaphors. The metaphor and interview data together confirm the dynamic and situated nature of language learning motivation. The data also reveal that Japanese learning in mainland China was associated with an interest in the culture of Japan and subject to negative interference from English. The study concludes with implications for enhancing the teaching of Japanese in similar contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines a variety of personality and motivational characteristics of two talented foreign language learners. The purpose of the case study is to present personality-motivation profiles of two teenage gifted L2 English students. The EPI (Emotions Profile Index) and Intrinsic Motivation Inventory tests were used as instruments. The study revealed that two different profiles of gifted students can be distinguished: artistic and scientific. As far as their motivation is concerned, the results show that gifted students can be both intrinsically and extrinsically oriented. The conclusion is that different personality and motivational characteristics of talented students need to be taken into account in order to create an effective curriculum. Further investigation into the field is required, to confirm these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated older adults' motivation to learn English as a second/foreign language (L2 motivation) in the Chinese Universities of the Third Age using Elicited Metaphor Analysis and semi-structured interviews. Based on the analysis of seven key conceptual metaphors generated from 412 elicited linguistic metaphors and 34 follow-up interviews, key cognitive, emotional and behavioural characteristics of L2 motivation later in life are outlined. It is argued that the quality of the learning experience later in life carries more weight than the learning outcomes. Learners here confirm the need to have fun and pleasure, enjoy positive interactions in the classroom. They receive contentment from accomplishing moderately challenging tasks. Significantly, the learning process enables older learners to cultivate an intimate relationship with the L2 and formulate more specific goals. Chinese older adults tend to demonstrate a high level of resilience by being persistent despite their tiredness in learning; they remain patient with their progress and achievements, believing that positivity will always emerge after any negative experience. A better understanding of the L2 motivation of older adults can inform teachers to help these learners to fully reap the benefits apparently brought by L2 learning later in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My paper situates literacy in the pre-symbolic implications of the maternal relation. Turning to child psychoanalysis, particularly Melanie Klein's theories of infancy and symbolization, my paper discusses the role the child's inner life plays in her engagements with literacy. Citing cases of second language learning, I pose literacy as an emotional situation. I insist that educators begin to acknowledge and attend to the inner life of children in their practices of literacy. Reorienting literacy toward its emotional, relational, and maternal wellspring might develop within us new orientations to literacy as psychosocial experience and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present paper argues for a shift in teacher knowledge and beliefs about the role of group work in the teaching and learning of emergent bilingual students. Using case study data from an eighth grade classroom, the authors analyze the role of collaboration in the interaction with grade-level text of emergent bilingual students. The analysis demonstrates that the quality of collaboration mediates in significant ways the opportunities available to emergent bilinguals for both content and language learning. The authors suggest that expanding students’ repertoires of practice to include collaborative learning should be a worthwhile instructional goal in mainstream classrooms. The analysis problematizes the currently dominant view of group work as an instructional strategy, and supports the positioning of collaboration as a key disciplinary practice in the new college and career readiness standards. The article offers a conceptual framework for contrasting different types of collaboration that is based on Engeström's (1993. “Developmental Studies on Work as a Testbench of Activity Theory.” InUnderstanding Practice: Perspectives on Activity and Context, edited by S. Chaiklin and J. Lave, 64–103. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) activity theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores two questions central to understanding the nature of formulaic sequences: (1) What are they for? and (2) What determines how many there are? The 'Communicative Impact' model draws into a single account how language is shaped by cognitive processing on the one hand and socio-interactional function on the other: Formulaic sequences play a range of coordinated roles in neutralizing unanticipated perturbations in the cognitive management of language, so the speaker's socio-interactional goals can still be achieved. One role involves compensatory actions to sustain fluency. However, these actions are themselves context-sensitive, so the balance of types of formulaic sequence will vary according to situation. The model applies equally to temporary cognitive pressure and chronic problems such as dementia and limited linguistic competency in a foreign language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on an exploratory inquiry into the perceptions of a group of second language (L2) learners of English with regard to their identities in English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) communication contexts. Drawing upon data gathered from two rounds of in-depth interviews with nine participants from a Hong Kong university, the study found that these L2 learners displayed different degrees of affiliations with their local and global identities in ELF communication. While some participants expressed their preference to foreground either their local or global identities, some other participants reconciled their local and global identities and embraced their hybrid, glocal identities in ELF communication. The analysis suggests that ELF communication could offer a myriad of identity options for L2 learners and give rise to hybrid linguistic practices in their L2. Finally, the paper points to the need to acknowledge the role of individuality in identity construction in ELF settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the qualitative part of a larger experimental study in which three groups that is, Control Group (taught through traditional method), Experimental Group I (taught through communicative grammar translation model), and, Experimental Group II (taught through information and communication technologies supported communicative grammar translation model) were compared to examine the effect of technologies supported communicative grammar translation model on students' motivation for learning English language. A total of 15 students from a public sector university were interviewed. The data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. The findings revealed awareness among students from all groups about the importance of English as an international language and the use of translation method with focus on grammar before the intervention. However, after the intervention, the three groups showed commonalities and differences in themes contributing towards motivation of language learning. The Experimental Group II showed increased motivation for language learning due to use of technology oriented methodology that enhanced learning all language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). The findings also indicated that Experimental Group I was greatly motivated through the use of communicative skills that enhanced speaking and writing skills compared to other two groups. The results have important implications for increasing motivation in English language learning through technology in Pakistan and other countries with similar contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile technologies are increasingly finding their way into classroom practice. While these technologies can create opportunities that may facilitate learning, including the learning of a second or foreign language (L2), the full potential of these new media often remains underexploited. A case in point concerns tablet applications for language practice: while tablets allow writing, as in penand- paper exercises, current applications typically offer multiple-choice exercises or fill-in-the-blank exercises that require typing and tapping. This change in medium and practice modality might have an impact on the actual second language learning. Based on the embodied cognition perspective, this study hypothesizes that, for the learning of French L2 vocabulary, writing leads to better memorization, spelling, and use of diacritics in comparison with typing and completing multiple choice exercises. This hypothesis is tested in a quasi-experimental classroom-based study in which learners (n=282) practiced French vocabulary on a tablet in one of three modalities: multiple choice, typing, and writing by means of a stylus. Whereas all three practice modalities aided learning, results show that pupils who had practiced vocabulary by writing or typing obtained higher scores on spelling and use of diacritics than the pupils who had practiced by means of multiple choice. Spending more time on learning vocabulary at a higher processing level leads thus to greater vocabulary gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In educational psychology and other fields connected with education, the research technique known as phenomenography has long been used to investigate student perceptions of learning and how those perceptions impact what is learned. Although phenomenography has not yet been accepted as a mainstream methodological approach in second language studies, it has much to offer the field. This paper provides a detailed background of the perspective, focus, methods, and outcomes of phenomenography, along with an exploratory study that suggests the usefulness of this research approach in second language acquisition. Overall, the paper argues that phenomenographic inquiry may contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of how individual differences, framed by a learner's relationship with the context and object of learning, can influence the product of language acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines opportunities for language learning in a cleaning job, which is a typical entry-level job for immigrants. An ethnographic case study approach is taken to investigate examples of the conditions that allow or prevent language learning for the focal participant, a sub-Saharan man who works as a cleaner in Finland. This case illustrates on a micro-scale the impact of the new economy on a worker in a company that has outsourced its cleaning services. Theoretically and methodologically, the study applies van Lier's (2004) ecological approach to language learning and Scollon and Scollon's (2004) nexus analysis. The analysis of interaction order shows that within outsourced cleaning services, the cleaner is isolated from the work community around him and communication between him and clients is relayed through intermediaries. Consequently, only occasional opportunities arise for interaction in L2 in the workplace. Examples of work situations that offer affordances for linguistic action are analysed in depth to find out how work-related language learning could be supported. However, the pedagogical value of such affordances might be rather low, and hence, as it often offers very limited opportunities for developing second language skills, cleaning may be a dead-end job. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances our conceptualization of second language (L2) learning as gendered practices through a narrative inquiry into two Chinese female students' experiences of learning English as an L2 at an English-medium university in Hong Kong. The findings of the study reveal that the two students' divergent patterns of investments in L2 learning practices inside and outside the classroom appear to be shaped differentially by their varying responses to traditional gender ideologies, their differing evaluations of their gender capital, and the different ways in which they negotiate their desired gender identities. Importantly, the findings suggest that gender as a social construct appears to be implicated in the two students' L2 learning practices in complex and multifaceted ways and that the ways in which gender plays out in their L2 learning experiences can be highly individualized. Overall, the study elucidates the interconnectedness of gender ideologies, gender identities and gender capital in co-shaping individuals' L2 learning practices in situated contexts. It also calls for attention to the complex interactions between the social and the individual in order to account for the varied and differentiated ways in which gender mediates situated L2 learning practices across individuals and across contexts for a given individual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on fieldwork conducted over the course of one academic year in two urban high-school English learner (EL) classrooms located in the south-western part of the United States. As part of a larger interest in how language ideologies mediate classroom discourse practices, this paper analyses the role of awareness in language ideological (LI) inquiry, its methodological implications, as well as pedagogy in second language learning. Classroom surveys, observations and teacher interviews were conducted and analysed using content and discourse analysis. When probed for language issues within their classrooms and over their lives, students were able to articulate explicit awareness of how rules of language use mediated their lives. More importantly, they were able to articulate issues of status and difference vis a vis language which points to a critical view of LI inquiry. Teachers also expressed explicit rules regarding language use for instructional purposes. While explicit articulations of language ideologies were rare, especially within everyday classroom practices, they provide a valuable and necessary reference point for understanding the implicit ways in which language ideologies frame interactions within EL classrooms. This dimension enhances the empirical validity of LI inquiry in classroom settings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper considers the case of Intercultural Understanding (IU) as a component part of foreign language learning and teaching in the upper stage of primary schools (roughly ages 7–11 years) in the UK. It is set within a specific context of curriculum innovation, namely recent policy changes which have introduced IU as a key part of primary modern foreign languages (PMFLs). The paper begins with setting out the background to this policy and the place of IU within it. It then addresses the following questions: how is IU defined and what is the theoretical rationale for it occupying such a prominent position in the PMFL curriculum? Is there a link between the theoretical justification for IU inclusion and its practice? Is there the danger that the rhetoric surrounding IU promises more than it delivers? The way in which IU is treated in the PMFL curriculum in the UK is then contrasted with a range of other IU schemes and taxonomies. Finally, it raises a number of pertinent issues with respect to IU and assesses its potential role in future developments in PMFLs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper contributes to the literature on the transferability of grapho-morphological awareness (GMA) for second language (L2) learners by analysing L2 learners’ knowledge of morphology in reading. GMA helps readers to identify grammatical categories, infer meanings of unfamiliar words, and access stored lexical information. Previous research indicates that L2 GMA is influenced by first language (L1) GMA. In this paper, L1 Spanish speakers (n = 30) and L1 English speakers learning Spanish as an L2 (n = 46) completed two timed lexical decision tasks in English (only English speakers) and Spanish, a reading task, a Cloze Task, and an oral interview (only English speakers). Results indicate that L2 learners show a native-like word recognition pattern, providing evidence for language-specific processing. Also, L2 learners could recognise and decompose words into morphemes and roots throughout the different tasks, which implies that they neither ignore morphology nor follow a whole-word reading approach. The results suggest that intermediate L2 learners with an L1 alphabetic writing system can develop a native-like GMA in an alphabetic L2, and that the relationship between proficiency and GMA is reciprocal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education institutions across Europe are currently involved in a major process of reforming and restructuring as part of the Bologna process which stresses the role of competences and outcomes in curriculum design. This paper reports on the findings of a research project whose purpose was to assess the clarity and the appropriate calibrations of oral production learning outcomes specifically developed for students of engineering and architecture in higher education. Two studies to evaluate the learning outcome descriptors in terms of clarity and calibration to levels of the common framework for language were carried out on three groups of engineering students and another on a group of 13 experienced educators. The results show that problematic learning outcomes can be classified into three types; oral production outcomes describing strategy use; outcomes describing technical activities and outcomes whose language was found to be difficult to understand by the learners, especially outcomes containing dead metaphors. This paper considers the practical implications of these findings for future research on the learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a study that examined a group of advanced German L2 learners' awareness and use of English focusing devices. Recent studies suggest that learners are aware of lexical resources, but lack awareness of grammatical structures. Focus constructions, i.e. pragmatically motivated word order variations, are pivotal to any text where information cannot be highlighted by prosodic means. They are also important with respect to idiomaticity and stylistics, and thus, an ideal topic for an integration of linguistics and literature in the foreign language classroom. German university students of English were confronted with a literary text in which focus constructions abound, and then given several tasks to assess their awareness of and ability to (re-)produce them. The findings show that even advanced students have only a very general awareness of information highlighting by means of formal aspects and genre-specific devices, while their awareness of syntactic means is very low. The paper discusses the pedagogical implications of these findings and argues for a discourse grammar approach to the teaching of focus constructions, proposing a teaching unit designed to raise students' awareness for the fundamentals of information structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What syntactic patterns emerge in students' use of articles and modals? What are thereasons for these patterns? What implications do the findings of the study have for English language instruction in Botswana? Exactly 1556 essays comprising class assignments, written seminar presentations, test papers and examination scripts from 514 randomly selected students of the University of Botswana were analysed. The findings indicate that there were systematic omissions, substitutions and insertion of the definite and indefinite articles as well as recurrent use of the expression can be able. Students' indication of different forms of epistemic modality was confined to the use of could while complex verb phrases involving negation had their constituents reordered such that the negative operator not consistently succeeded the perfective auxiliary. The study shows that the reasons for these errors are both intra- and interlingual, namely the complexities of the two grammatical structures, articles and modals, and the influence of L1. Since the Botswana Senior Secondary Assessment Syllabus specifies 'accuracy' in the use of grammatical forms, by demanding high language achievement standards, this paper argues that a return to the teaching of basic grammar in the high school is important for the students' mastery of articles and modals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While theoretical approaches to error correction vary in the second language acquisition (SLA) literature, most sources agree that such correction is useful and leads to learning. While some point out the relevance of the communicative context in which the correction takes place, others stress the value of consciousness-raising. Trying to reconcile the two approaches, this paper describes an application of artificial intelligence in the second language error remediation process. The software presented is called the Intelligent Tutor. It diagnoses some typical errors in the writing of university students who are learning English as a second language. A quasi-experimental study consisting of a grammaticality judgment pre-test, a treatment in the form of the Intelligent Tutor and a short answer post-test, was carried out with 266 university students in three countries. The findings show that artificial intelligence is an efficient instrument of error remediation, reducing the error rate by an average of 83%. This paper discusses the theoretical underpinnings of the software used, briefly describes the software itself and then presents the study design, its findings and their implications in the wider context of second language learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning at school is a complex process of socialisation into selected and valued practices of a society. As children and students progress through levels of education, they are instructed in increasingly specialised cultural practices defined in the curriculum as subjects. This paper describes subject-specific teachers working with non-English-speaking immigrant students in a secondary school in South Australia. It examines teachers' subject discourses as opportunities for students' apprenticeship into the practices of two secondary school curriculum subjects, science and home economics. The focus of this paper is on the way teachers' practices and discourses constructed specific cultural domains of the school curriculum for immigrant students. In class, students experienced language in context, which served the social purposes of their community of practice. Teachers and students carried out practices of science and home economics with distinctive spoken and written discourses, which were linked with material and behavioural semiotic resources in the processes of instruction. The study proposes that through their involvement in the social practices of content subjects, newcomers experience and are apprenticed into selected discourses for cultural participation in education. The study suggests that for new arrivals or immigrants, the curriculum experiences are engagements with cultural practices, which constitute part of their socialisation into new cultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that writing should play a more prominent role in classroom-based studies of second language acquisition. It contends that an implicit emphasis on spoken language is the result of the historical development of the field of applied linguistics and parent disciplines of structuralist linguistics, linguistic anthropology, and child language development. Although writing as a communicative modality has been marginalized, it is key to understanding second language acquisition in contexts such as elementary and secondary level content area classrooms where literacy plays a central role in communication and transmission of subject matter. In all, the paper argues that while it is important for classroom-based studies to investigate how students learn how to write in a second language, it is equally important to learn how students learn a second language through writing. Implications of this perspective are noted for notions of learner and target language variation, multimodality and language socialization, and interactionist approaches to classroom research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In studying second language (L2) fluency attainment, researchers typically address questions about temporal and hesitation phenomena in a descriptive manner, cataloguing which features appear under which learning circumstances. The goal of this paper is to present a perspective on L2 fluency that goes beyond description by exploring a potential explanatory framework for understanding L2 fluency. This framework focuses on the cognitive processing that underlies the manifestation of fluency and disfluency, and on the ways social context might contribute to shaping fluency attainment. The framework provides a dynamical systems perspective of fluency and its development, with specific consequences for a research program on L2 fluency. This framework gives rise to new questions because of its focus on the intimate link between cognitive fluency and utterance fluency, that is, between measures of the speed, efficiency and fluidity of the cognitive processes thought to underlie implementation of the speech act and measures of the oral fluency of that speech act. Moreover, it is argued that cognitive and utterance fluency need to be situated in the social context of communication in order to take into account the role played by the pragmatic and the sociolinguistic nature of communication in shaping L2 fluency development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In content-based instruction (CBI) programmes, students learn content subjects through a second language (L2), so that they can incidentally learn the language. To further facilitate students' L2 development, the collaboration between L2 and content subject teachers has been strongly advocated. Previous research on such kind of collaboration mainly focused on how it may be realised, and on identifying potential obstacles, while its effectiveness remains under-explored. This paper reports the findings of a small-scale project conducted in a Hong Kong secondary school in which CBI is practised. Teachers of English, Integrated Humanities and Science collaborated in the design and teaching of several units for Grade 8 students. With data collected from teacher meetings, lesson observations, and students' performance on the pre- and post-tests, this study evaluated whether and how cross-curricular collaboration contributed to students' L2 learning. The findings show that students in classes where cross-curricular collaboration was practised demonstrated a better understanding of the targeted grammatical items. This could be attributed to enhanced teachers awareness of students' needs, a more suitable curriculum and changes in teachers' pedagogical foci in lessons. This study thus suggests the potentials of cross-curricular teacher collaboration and provides important implications for further enhancing the effectiveness of CBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are two important dimensions to successful second language learning: what goes on inside the classroom and what goes on outside of the classroom. While language teaching has always been seen as a preparation for out-of-class uses of language, much of the focus in language teaching in the past has typically been on classroom-based language learning. At the same time the limitations of classroom-based learning have been frequently acknowledged. The opportunities for learning or ‘affordances’ available in the classroom are hence quite restricted, consisting of a limited range of discourse and literacy practices. Today, however, the internet, technology and the media, and the use of English in face-to-face as well as virtual social networks provide greater opportunities for meaningful and authentic language use than are available in the classroom. In view of the growing range of opportunities and resources available to support out-of-class learning the paper examines what some of these opportunities are, how they are used, the kinds of learning affordances they provide, and the issues they raise for classroom based teaching as well as second language teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accepting the fact that culture and language are interrelated in second language learning (SLL), the web sites should be designed to integrate with the cultural aspects. Yet many SLL web sites fail to integrate with the cultural aspects and/or focus on language acquisition only. This study identified three issues: (1) anthropologists’ cultural models mostly adopted in cross-cultural web user interface have been superficially used; (2) web designers deal with culture as a fixed one which needs to be modeled into interface design elements, so (3) there is a need for a communication framework between educators and design practitioners, which can be utilized in web design processes. This paper discusses what anthropology can contribute to language learning, mediated through web design processes and suggests a cultural user experience framework for web-based SLL by presenting an exemplary matrix. To evaluate the effectiveness of the framework, the key stakeholders (learners, teachers, and designers) participated in a case scenario-based evaluation. The result shows a high possibility that the framework can enhance the effective communication and collaboration for the cultural integration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the theoretical and methodological foundations of the Teixint Cultures 'Weaving Cultures Together' project: a communitarian research-action programme aimed at providing literacy skills in Catalan for African immigrant women, which uses their 'Funds of Knowledge' to develop bilingual books in Catalan, Arabic and Mandinka for their children. The results show the benefits of implementing projects that promote literacy activities at home as well as the empowerment of immigrant women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]