Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: motivación

Resumen:

Motivation in language classrooms is often treated as an individual trait, yet periods of disruption reveal how strongly it is shaped through interaction. This study examines how learner and teacher (de)motivation was experienced and enacted during the return to offline English as a foreign language instruction following pandemic-related disruption. Using a convergent mixed-methods design, data were collected from learner and teacher questionnaires, regression analyses, Motivational Identity System-informed domain mapping, and teacher observational accounts. Findings indicate that learners maintained interest in English learning while experiencing moderate cognitive–emotional demotivational strain, suggesting vulnerability rather than pervasive demotivation. In contrast, teachers reported cumulative demotivational pressure arising...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: enfoque por tareas

Resumen:

While the research on pretask planning has concentrated on its effects on learners’ task performance in terms of fluency, accuracy, and complexity, its possible influence on the overall discourse level, such as discourse management and coherence, has been largely ignored. The present study addresses the inadequacy by uncovering the potential effects of pretask planning on Chinese EFL (English as a foreign language) learners’ selection of referential expressions in oral narratives. Fifty-six intermediate-level learners were tasked with retelling the story of Modern Times under one of two conditions, that is, either with 10-minutes strategic planning or without any planning time. An additional 25 native speakers (NSs) also narrated the same story under the same task conditions. Their narratives were audio recorded, transcribed, and...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: metodología de investigación

Resumen:

This article revisits the use of the term ‘think aloud protocols’ (TAP) as used in second language (L2) research studies as a means for collecting verbal report (VR) data dealing with language learner strategies (LLS). Given that there continue to appear L2 studies that use TAP without differentiating the actual type of VR that is involved, this study investigated the extent to which it makes a difference if the researchers fine-tune the types of VR responsible for yielding the given cognitive processing data. The study was conducted at the university level as part of an effort to investigate the dynamics of vocabulary strategy instruction (VSI) from different angles. Non-native-English-speaking developing teachers generated VR about the strategies that they selected when assuming the role of both tutor and student in one of six dyads...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: enseñanza/aprendizaje de lenguas

Resumen:

Incorporating mindfulness into education has been linked to improving academic, social and emotional learning. This article describes an investigation of the implementation of meditative practices in a foreign language setting (German). Two classes underwent distinct varieties of meditation: The count-to-ten method and the guided meditation approach, whereas a third class served as a comparison group by not partaking in meditative activities. Meditative practices were implemented for a period of one year and data were collected on students’ academic achievement, measures of mindfulness, and evaluations of their perspectives on meditative practices. Results revealed that classes in the treatment conditions showed marked signs of academic achievement and increased awareness relative to the comparison group. Differences were revealed...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: andamiaje/scaffolding

Resumen:

Studies have documented the significance of scaffolding as a sociocultural theory driven type of assistance for the development of English as foreign language (EFL) learners’ language skills in general; however, the comparative efficacy of various cognitive and/or metacognitive scaffolding procedures for EFL learners’ listening comprehension development and progress has received scant attention. As a partial attempt in this regard, this study investigated the comparative efficacy of cognitive and metacognitive scaffolding strategies for EFL learners’ listening comprehension development. For this purpose, 90 intermediate level EFL learners aged 15 to 20 were selected to participate in this study. The participants’ actual proficiency level was assessed using a sample TOEFL Junior Standard test and relatively homogeneous classes of...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: AICLE/CLIL

Resumen:

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This study examines the effectiveness of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) in primary school English teaching, focusing its impact on the English learning ability and interest of lower-grade students. Two hundred and forty first-grade students were selected from three primary schools in Shenzhen (115 in the experimental group and 125 in the control group) for a one-week intervention. Results showed that students in the experimental group significantly outperformed those in the control group in terms of English learning ability, maintaining a stable advantage across three tests. Additionally, the experimental group’s learning interest increased significantly from pre-test to post-...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: enfoque por tareas

Resumen:

Task design features have different effects on second language (L2) production and can be adopted for different pedagogical purposes. However, the synergistic effects of task features were left unexplored in the extant task-based literature. The present study investigated the synergistic effects of two task design features, namely, prior knowledge and reasoning demands, on the writing performance of Chinese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Fifty EFL learners were invited to complete two writing tasks, with varying reasoning demands, under one of two conditions, namely, with prior knowledge available or without prior knowledge available. Their written texts were analysed in terms of complexity, accuracy, fluency, and communicative adequacy, to reflect the multi-componential nature of task performance. The results...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: trabajo teórico

Temas: enseñanza/aprendizaje de lenguas

Resumen:

Despite growing calls to humanize materials for English language teaching (ELT), the emotional dimension of materials design remains largely overlooked, limiting their potential to foster affective engagement and support emotionally rich learning experiences that contribute to learners’ holistic development. This article proposes an emotional design framework for ELT materials, which draws on Norman’s Emotional Design Theory and empirical findings of emotional design in multimedia learning, and is informed by research in ELT materials, language education and applied linguistics. The framework outlines three levels of emotional design: visceral, behavioral, and reflective, to guide the development of ELT materials that stimulate the senses, promote meaningful and interactive language learning, and encourage personal reflection. To...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: inteligencia artificial

Resumen:

With a pretest/posttest/delayed posttest design, this quasi-experimental study compares the effectiveness of corpus use versus generative AI (GenAI) use in helping undergraduate students learn multiword constructions (MWCs) in written academic English and examines the moderating effects of learners’ learning styles. Six intact writing classes with a total of 210 students were assigned to one of three instructional groups with each group including two intact classes: Experimental Group 1 (using data-driven learning [DDL] only), Experimental Group 2 (employing GenAI-assisted learning combined with corpus analysis of teacher-generated concordance lines), and Control Group. MWC learning was measured by a MWC production test and a writing test that assessed both the overall writing quality and the frequency and number of types of MWCs used...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: enseñanza/aprendizaje de lenguas

Resumen:

This study is theoretically grounded in interactional sociolinguistics, drawing specifically on speech act theory and politeness strategies to discuss how language choices negotiate social relations. It investigates classroom power dynamics by analyzing how teachers construct identities with directive speech acts. The research employs an ethnographic microanalysis to analyze discourse in a video-recorded interaction in a Portuguese as a foreign language (PFL) classroom for Chinese learners at a university in Macau. This methodological approach allows for a fine-grained examination of the linguistic design of directives and their impact on classroom interaction. The analysis reveals that the teacher strategically wields directives to enact interconnected identity positions, each shaping a distinct power dynamic: a negotiatory authority...

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