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Conceptual mediation is one of the competences described by the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) during the acquisition of foreign languages. When practicing mediation, learners collaborate in the construction of knowledge to conduct activities that require higher-level cognitive skills, such as teamwork. This study analyzes the communicative functions and L1 use in peer interaction during a conceptual mediation activity in a group of students following Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) instruction and another receiving traditional language tuition. The sample was made up of 60 L1 Spanish, L2 German speakers enrolled in a A2.2 German course (age 18–20). For the analysis, the oral interaction of the groups was recorded through an online videoconference platform. The type of mediation used as well as the presence or absence of speakers' L1 (Spanish) were assessed. The analysis demonstrates that groups following a CLIL approach resorted to regulative discourse for work organization purposes (relational mediation) more frequently than those students following a more traditional approach. Regarding the use of the L1, non-CLIL groups used their first language to a greater degree in regulative discourse and during communicative mediation, that is, when they had to resort to translation to ensure comprehension among peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on loanword semantics seldom investigates systematic patterns of change because semantic change is not nearly as constrained and predictable as phonological change. Hong Kong is a bilingual city of English and Chinese/Cantonese, where people frequently use English loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese (ELCs). Drawing upon the notion of cognates, this questionnaire-based study examines the extent to which Hong Kong Cantonese speakers are aware of the contrasts in meaning between ELCs and the English words from which they have been borrowed. Three ELCs that are false friend cognates with their English source words were selected to be included in the study. Respondents who completed the questionnaire included a group of native English speakers (N = 19) and a group of native Cantonese speakers (N = 107). Their responses were compared and contrasted through both qualitative and quantitative methods. The results show that the ELCs affect the Cantonese speakers' understanding of the English source words. The English proficiency of native Cantonese speakers has been identified as a contributing factor that correlates with the accuracy of understanding word meanings. This study delineates the relationship between false friend cognates, ELCs and English vocabulary acquisition. It offers pedagogical implications for vocabulary learning and teaching in bilingual contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses CiteSpace to map the scientometric analysis of dynamic assessment (DA) research in the Web of Science core collection from 1990 to 2022 in the areas of psychology, education and language learning. Firstly, the study found that DA was initially employed in the fields of psychology and special education, and has been gaining attention from second language acquisition researchers in recent years. And Vygotsky, the representative figure of sociolcultural theory, has the highest influence, and Budoff has the greatest degree as a bridge. Secondly, five research topics are found through keyword clustering, which are early identification, group dynamic assessment, short-term progress monitoring, computerized dynamic assessment and teacher education. At the same time, the analysis of burst reference shows that the computerized dynamic assessment will be the trend in the future, and dynamic assessment of second language tends to use mixed research method. Through a review of previous studies, this paper explores the paradigms and methods of empirical research in DA, hoping to provide new alternatives for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this conceptual article, the author introduces decolonization as an alternative to social justice frameworks. As stakeholders in second language (L2) teaching, the author stresses decolonization as a means for L2 researchers to work against colonial practices in educational research, which negatively impact historically disenfranchised communities. Specifically, Patel's (Patel, Leigh. 2016. Decolonizing educational research: From ownership to answerability. New York: Routledge) answerability framework is introduced as a practical method to support decolonization in L2 research. The article is made up of four main sections. The first section explains the concept of settler colonialism and highlights how it is ingrained in educational research. In the second section, the author defines decolonization and distinguishes it from the more popular social justice movement. In the third section, the author summarizes four computer-assisted language learning (CALL) papers which were featured in a recent special issue on the topic of social justice. The author then provides a critical analysis of the reviewed studies from a decolonial perspective in the fourth and final section, while also suggesting ways in which researchers and educators can re-orient their work towards decolonization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of written text has been acclaimed to enhance L2 listening comprehension, yet some argue that using written text does not effectively prepare learners to listen in real situations. Thus, the study was conducted to explore the effect of written text on learners' perceived difficulty, listening comprehension and learning to listen through replicating the research by Diao, Chandler & Sweller (2007. The effect of written text on comprehension of spoken English as a foreign language. The American Journal of Psychology 237–261). Participants were 101 low-proficient English learners who were divided into three groups: listening with subtitles, listening with a full script and listening only. Each group first listened to a passage in their respective mode, then all three groups listened to another passage in the listening-only mode. Participants rated their perceived difficulty and completed a free recall task after each listening. Results suggest that the difficulty of written text should be tuned with learners' proficiency level so that they can benefit from the presence of written text in listening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The World Wide Web has often been considered too vast to be consulted for linguistic purposes or for language learning. This paper will explore whether second language learners can be taught how to navigate the web (i.e., how to perform Google linguistic research, or "Googleology"), in order to improve their language skills. To this aim, a 2 h trial lesson was organized. The trial lesson was delivered to 78 apprentices, divided into groups of 10–15, over a period of six months. During the lesson, the participants were taught how to work with Google Advanced Search syntax. At the end of the lesson, they applied the newly-acquired skills by completing a few tasks concerning term and/or collocational search. The paper findings will highlight that, despite initial hesitation or inaccuracies in completing the exercises, the tasks were performed well. The participants considered the lesson interesting, useful and enjoyable. They felt engaged irrespective of the level of their second language (L2) knowledge, and were more confident in approaching Google Search for linguistic purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the benefits of incorporating arts in second language (L2) learning from a Kantian approach. From a Kantian perspective, the use of arts in L2 learning enhances learners' motivation and engagement in their language learning by focusing on learners' subjective meanings, lowering the burden of cognition of employing categories for reasoning, lowering learners' instrumentalism in their language learning through a sense of disinterestedness, allowing a free play between imagination and understanding, providing learners with a purposiveness of form which enhances learners' cognitive capacity, allowing learners to achieve universal assent, and enhancing learners' morality. The proposed pedagogical suggestions based on the above benefits are emphasizing the subjective meanings of learners, emphasizing the non-reasoning aspect in arts integration in L2 teaching, highlighting the internal rewards of artistic activities learners engaged in the language classroom, using poetry for the enhancement of imagination, using natural beauty and diverse arts forms, using interactivity, and using arts of different cultures and historical eras in L2 teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates that it is necessary to look at learners' gestures and speech to have a complete picture of their conceptualizations in their L2. It argues that context and task affect learners' speech and gesture and need to be considered in SLA. A comparison of the speech and gesture of an L2 learner in two tasks (an oral proficiency interview and a narration task) over a fourteen-year period of time shows that fewer gestures per clause and primarily metaphoric gestures were produced in the oral proficiency task and more gestures per clause and primarily iconic gestures were produced in the narration. Implications for second language teaching are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Words which frequently co-occur in language ('collocations') are often thought to be independently stored in speakers' minds. This idea is tested here through experiments investigating the extent to which corpus-identified collocations exhibit mental 'priming' in a group of native speakers. Collocational priming is found to exist. However, in an experiment which aimed to exclude higher-order mental processes, and focus instead on the 'automatic' processes which are thought to best reflect the organisation of the mental lexicon, priming is restricted to collocations which are also psychological associates. While the former finding suggests that collocations found in a large corpus are likely to have psychological reality, the latter suggests that we may need to elaborate our models of how they are represented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]