Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: metodología de investigación

Resumen:

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Practitioner research plays a crucial role in education because of its applied nature and its ability to address pertinent issues within learning and teaching contexts. Exploratory practice (EP) is a form of practitioner research that emphasizes puzzles while striving to understand and improve students’ and teachers’ quality of life in the language classroom. Our puzzlement as EP practitioners began to take shape as we received a variety of feedback – both positive and negative – on our EP-infused lessons from our past students. Therefore, we started to ponder the enduring repercussions of an EP experience on participants’ subsequent learning and quality of life, extending beyond the immediate...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: colocaciones

Resumen:

This study investigates the relative effectiveness of two methods for teaching a set of English verb–noun collocations: form-focused instruction (FFI) and concept-based instruction (CBI). The sample comprised 73 Chinese-speaking learners of English taking intermediate English courses, who were randomly assigned to one of three groups: an FFI intervention group, a CBI intervention group, and a control group. In order to determine the effects of the two instructional methods, the participants’ collocational knowledge was measured in three ways: via form recall testing, form recognition testing, and meaning recall testing. Specifically, all of the participants took pretests, immediate posttests, and one-week delayed posttests. The results of a comparison of the learning gains between the three groups showed that the CBI and FFI...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: motivación

Resumen:

While extensive research supported the facilitative role of motivation in general self-regulated learning (SRL) strategy use, its connection to writing-specific SRL strategy use remains underexplored. Furthermore, the exploration of the interplay between motivation and SRL strategy use in second or foreign (L2) writing was absent within the motivational-self system. Even less is known about the mechanism between motivational factors and SRL strategy use in L2 writing. This study aims to fill the gap by testing the mediating role of positive emotions (enjoyment, pride, and hope) between future L2 writing selves (ideal L2 self and ought-to L2 self) and SRL strategy use in the Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) writing context with a mixed method design incorporating both quantitative and qualitative methods. Three hundred and...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: adquisición de segundas lenguas

Resumen:

A large number of studies have explored grammar instruction through implicit and explicit instructional conditions. The general conclusion drawn from these studies points to the superiority of explicit instruction; however, the claim has been attenuated by a number of reservations raised regarding its generalizability across types of grammatical structures and learners of different characteristics. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the comparative effectiveness of these two types of instructional conditions in acquiring explicit and implicit knowledge of complex and simple linguistic features by participants holding different epistemic beliefs. The results demonstrated a relative advantage for explicit instruction. However, the results also showed that the effectiveness of explicit/implicit instructional conditions...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: factores afectivos

Resumen:

The concept of willingness to communicate (WTC) is pivotal in understanding student engagement in English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms. As a dynamic and multifaceted construct, WTC is subject to continual fluctuations throughout the communication process, often changing situationally. Traditionally, learner silence in class or during second language (L2) conversations is perceived negatively, as it can signal a lack of motivation to speak, thereby impeding optimal language acquisition. However, silence can also function as a communicative strategy or reflect learners’ essential feelings and emotions. This study explored the relationship between Japanese EFL learners’ situational WTC and their instances of silence during L2 (English) conversations. Participants were recruited for the study and were asked to deliver short...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: enseñanza/aprendizaje de vocabulario

Resumen:

This study investigates the effect of personal investment in the form of learner-generated content (LGC) on the lexical recall of beginning-level learners of Chinese. The study employed a 2 × 2 repeated-measures design with content at two levels – teacher-generated content or TGC, and learner-generated content or LGC – and time at two levels (immediate, delayed). Quantitative results were triangulated with qualitative thematic analyses of follow-up interviews. The study was conducted at an Australian university and aimed to identify a way of modifying current intentional vocabulary learning activities to increase learner investment in the learning process and improve retention. Participants completed two versions of a picture description activity that was commonly used to introduce and practice new vocabulary in the program. The first...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: español como lengua extranjera

Resumen:

Google Translate (GT) has become a popular machine translation (MT) tool among language learners, received by instructors with excitement over its pedagogical potential and concerns about its possible misuse in the classroom, particularly when this misuse goes undetected. This study investigated the suitability of natural language processing (NLP) software for the automated detection of MT use in second language (L2) writing, examining a dataset composed of written samples generated by GT and direct L2 writing produced by intermediate-level postsecondary learners of Spanish. NLP-powered analyses found significant lexical and sentential-level differences, as well as estimated proficiency-level differences across text types. Automated judgments based on lexical diversity and amount of coordination yielded detection accuracy rates of 73....

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: competencia intercultural

Resumen:

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Intercultural competence in foreign language teaching has gained importance in recent times. Although current work has highlighted the advantages of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) for intercultural development, little is known about its potential for teaching literature in secondary schools. Treating literature itself as an art form, the aim of this article is to formulate research-based design principles for an integrated intercultural literary pedagogy (IILP) that may foster intercultural competence through arts integration in foreign language classes. This article reports on the process of evaluating IILP-based pilot lesson materials in pre-university education in the...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: feedback/retroalimentación

Resumen:

Despite the recognized importance of supervisors’ feedback in enhancing students’ academic development, research on novice supervisors’ perspectives, especially concerning undergraduate thesis supervision in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts, remains scarce. In an attempt to address this gap, this qualitative case study explored the written feedback beliefs and practices of two novice supervisors in the department of English of two universities in mainland China. It examined how their beliefs were shaped and translated into practice during their supervision of EFL undergraduate students. Data were collected longitudinally over an 8-month period, including semi-structured interviews, written feedback samples, and voice messages, to capture the full thesis supervision process. Findings revealed that supervisors held varying...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: expresión oral

Resumen:

Within the same learning context, learners’ outcomes in terms of oral fluency vary greatly. This study tracked the relative contributions that first language (L1) and initial second language (L2) fluency skill and working memory (WM) made to L2 fluency development. We assessed the performance of French-speaking Grade 6 learners’ (n = 47, mean age: 11) in a 10-month intensive English program in Quebec, Canada using a picture-cue monologic task based on The Suitcase Story and a semi-structured interview based on the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). Working memory was assessed using a backward digit span task and phonological memory (PM) via non-word repetition and serial non-word recognition tasks. Overall, results suggest that L1 fluency, WM and PM played only a minor role in learners’ L2 fluency outcomes, whereas learners’ pre-...

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