Tipo: artículo

Metodología: revisión bibliográfica

Temas: estrategias de aprendizaje

Resumen:

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Major advances have been made in research on language learning strategies (LLS) since it was triggered by good language learner studies (e.g. Rubin, 1975). Numerous accounts of strategy use have been compiled, key classifications have been proposed, some progress has been made towards furthering our understanding of the complex relationship between LLS use and attainment, an array of factors impacting strategy use has been investigated, some evidence has been gathered for the beneficial role of strategies-based instruction, and new data collection tools have been developed (see e.g. Cohen, 2011; Cohen & Griffiths, 2015; Cohen & Macaro, 2007; Griffiths, 2018, 2019; Griffiths & Oxford,...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: storytelling/narración

Resumen:

English is a widely spoken language around the world and is taught in German schools. Even though acquiring English proficiency is vital in today’s globalized society, students with learning disabilities (LDs) or other severe academic difficulties in Germany are often considered incapable of learning English as a second language (L2) beyond a very rudimentary level. In this study, we examined the effects of an English-language storytelling program on the vocabulary of German secondary school students with and without LDs ( N = 45) for four weeks using a pretest–posttest control group design with follow-up measurements. Results showed significant gains for participants in the treatment group compared to the control group. Moreover, the participants in the English-language storytelling program developed more positive attitudes towards...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: español como lengua extranjera

Resumen:

The present study examined the effect of a pedagogical intervention about humorous verbal irony in Spanish with a mixed group of 40 second language (L2) and heritage speakers of Spanish. Unlike previous studies that have considered only irony comprehension, this project incorporated both comprehension and production of irony into instruction and assessment. The intervention consisted of 2.5 hours of lessons that focused on humorous irony and irony cues. To assess effectiveness, participants completed a pretest and posttest of an irony comprehension instrument and a written production questionnaire designed to elicit humorous irony. The results from the study indicate that the intervention was beneficial in increasing participants’ accurate interpretation of irony and identification of tone of voice as an irony cue. Additionally, after...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: enseñanza/aprendizaje de vocabulario

Resumen:

The involvement load hypothesis (ILH), which predicts the lexical learning potential of tasks, assumes that writing sentences (SW) and compositions (CW) using novel target words (TWs) lead to similar lexical gains. However, research on the issue is scarce and contradictory. One possibility is that the higher cognitive load of CW hinders learning relative to SW. To verify the learning potential of SW and CW, we selected 20 English academic TWs and conducted a pretest–posttest quasi-experiment with Polish advanced learners of English. First, all participants wrote a control essay (without TWs), then SW participants wrote sentences and CW participants wrote two essays, each with 10 TWs. Generalized linear mixed models revealed higher gains in breadth and depth of knowledge for SW than for CW, which contradicts the predictions of the ILH...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: factores afectivos

Resumen:

This qualitative study explores learners’ perceptions of the sources of language anxiety in Chinese as a second language (L2) learning in online environments, and how they cope with it. Nine participants, all of whom experienced high levels of L2 anxiety, were selected from a group enrolled in synchronous online Chinese classes during the Covid-19 pandemic. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings reveal that learning languages online presents a unique anxiety-provoking situation, resulting in several distinctive sources of L2 anxiety, such as a lack of self-discipline, difficulty adjusting to the transition, fear of online exposure, unnatural online environment for interaction, etc. In response, learners employed a variety of strategies, such as snacking, reviewing...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: expresión escrita

Resumen:

This study investigated the effect of consistent freewriting practice on written fluency development. Thirty-nine first-year university students completed 70 10-minute freewriting activities over the course of an academic semester. Written fluency, measured as words produced per minute (wpm), increased from a mean of 19.5 wpm to 30.1 wpm over a period of 15 weeks. Further analysis revealed statistically significant gains over two-week intervals. The participants also wrote three timed TOEFL-style essays at the beginning, middle, and end of the semester to see whether fluency gains transferred to more structured contexts. The results showed a statistically significant increase in written output on the timed essays, along with an increase in holistic scores. Findings indicate that consistent freewriting can result in rapid and...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: enseñanza/aprendizaje de lenguas

Resumen:

This study explores how 30 Korean English as a foreign language (EFL) learners at three proficiency levels (CEFR A2, B1, and B2) manage third position repair during voice-based role-play tasks with ChatGPT-4. Over 12 hours and 30 minutes of recorded interactions were analyzed using conversation analysis, complemented by retrospective verbal reports (RVRs) to capture both interactional patterns and learner perceptions. The findings show clear proficiency-related differences. A2 learners (n = 10) consistently abandoned repair, either by switching to their first language or abruptly terminating the conversation, and none of their TPR sequences resulted in successful repair. B1 learners (n = 10) managed repair partially through simple repetition or confirmation checks but often prioritized progressivity over intersubjectivity;...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: formación de profesores

Resumen:

Exploratory practice (EP) is a form of practitioner research that has made inroads in second language learning and teaching since the special issue of Language Teaching Research (2003) in which Allwright et al. proposed its reconceptualization in language teaching. Two decades later, this article reports on the influence that EP has accomplished by having its principled framework integrated in the pre-service language teacher education (LTE) programmes of two Brazilian Universities. A British Council funded project (2018–19) enabled a group of Brazilian teacher educators to carry out a qualitative investigation to identify how 44 of their former teacher-learners who undertook these programmes between 2008 and 2018 perceive the value of EP in their professional lives. The thematic analysis of the discourse generated through face-to-...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: AICLE/CLIL

Resumen:

Content-based instruction (CBI) is a pedagogical approach used in the second/other language classroom that commits to addressing both language- and content-learning objectives. Scholars have found that, particularly in the planning stages, teachers struggle with achieving that balance (Donato, 2016; Lyster, 2007). This study examines world language (WL) teachers’ planning for CBI via these research questions: (1) When experienced teachers from traditional WL classroom contexts design CBI unit plans, what do these plans reveal about the pathways they take towards CBI in a traditional WL settings? (2) What broader challenges and opportunities related to using CBI in the traditional WL context are revealed? The data sources in this qualitative lesson analysis study are 36 unit plans developed as the final project for a graduate-level...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: feedback/retroalimentación

Resumen:

Student engagement with written feedback (WF) in English as a second language (ESL) / English as a foreign language (EFL) learning has been widely researched from cognitive, affective, and behavioural dimensions. Students’ textual change is taken as the only indication of their behavioural engagement with feedback. Students’ no-revision operation or their unaction is usually considered as their disengagement or lack of engagement, or excluded from the examination of students’ WF engagement. How students have possibly engaged themselves with WF before they consequently disuptake (used in the context of feedback engagement, as an opposite to “uptake”) it is hardly touched upon in most studies. To visibilize students’ invisible engagement, we contextualized the study in a natural EFL writing class involving students’ writing and...

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