Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: mediación

Resumen:

After the publication of the CEFR Companion Volume in 2018, a revision of the curriculum in force for the English subject in the Bilingual Sections in the Community of Madrid has been implemented. One of the main changes is the inclusion of the concept of linguistic mediation in the subject ‘Advanced English’ in the last stage of secondary education. In an attempt to understand how linguistic mediation strategies and activities are being developed in real classroom contexts, this study has focused on teachers’ perceptions of linguistic mediation. A questionnaire and a focus group were used to examine teachers’ understanding and awareness of linguistic mediation, as well as the type of mediation activities that are relevant for their students and the extent to which they include linguistic mediation activities and strategies in their...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: materiales didácticos

Resumen:

While the importance of materials in second language (L2) learning and instruction has been widely acknowledged, research on how materials mediate classroom interactions are still relatively scarce. This, however, is crucial considering the complex interplay among teacher, students and materials in classroom interactions. The study investigates this issue from an ecological perspective, regarding students’ learning through material use as holistic, dynamic, and emergent. Multiple data were collected combining classroom discourse analysis with students’ reflection and interview data. Findings revealed that: (1) different materials catalyse different patterns of classroom interactions as well as teacher and students’ talk; and that (2) while students tended to be more expressive in texts that are personally relevant, texts with literary...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: factores afectivos

Resumen:

Teacher enthusiasm is attracting growing attention in educational and learner psychology research. There is evidence that teacher enthusiasm is contagious in class and positively affects student emotions. Their fundamental role in shaping student engagement has also been well documented. However, the links – between teacher enthusiasm and student emotions, and between student emotions and engagement – remain underexplored in instructed second language acquisition. The present study adopted a mixed-method approach to examine the complex relationships between perceived teacher enthusiasm, emotions (enjoyment and boredom), and social-behavioral learning engagement among 2,002 learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) from 11 universities in China. Quantitative analyses showed small to large correlations between perceived teacher...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: diferencias individuales

Resumen:

Although the number of studies into grit in second/foreign language (L2) learning is on the rise, available empirical evidence is still scant, particularly in relation to links between the two facets of (L2) grit (i.e. perseverance and interest), positive (i.e. enjoyment, curiosity) and negative (i.e. in-class and after-class boredom, anxiety) emotions as well as motivation. In addition, most research has been quantitative in nature and has mainly targeted Asian contexts. In order to fill these gaps, a mixed-methods study was undertaken among English majors and English student teachers in Hungary. It aimed to: (1) characterize the participants in terms of the variables under investigation, (2) identify their profiles in relation to general grit and L2 grit, and (3) determine the differences between the identified clusters with respect...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: comprensión lectora

Resumen:

Myriad studies have been conducted to test the benefits of extensive reading (ER) on second language (L2) acquisition, while limited research has addressed or sought solutions to the unpopularity of ER in L2 classrooms, especially in secondary teaching contexts. With the aim of exploring both teachers’ and students’ perceptions and practice of ER, this study reports on two reading programmes carried out in Chinese secondary schools with variations in educational development, teacher training opportunities, and students’ overall competence. Data were collected from a student questionnaire survey (n = 86), two interviews with teacher participants (n = 2), and one interview with student participants (n = 9), teachers’ reflective journals, and various documents related to the reading programmes. Thematic analysis was adopted to analyse...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: enfoque por tareas

Resumen:

This qualitative study examined factors mediating a novice’s and an experienced English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher’s different adherence to critical components based on a tentative framework of fidelity of implementation (FoI) for task-based language teaching (TBLT). The 18-week study involved two teachers and 109 students at a Chinese University. Qualitative findings suggested that, compared with the experienced teacher, the novice teacher implemented with lower fidelity to three pedagogical principles, encouraging inductive (“chunk”) learning, focusing on form and providing negative feedback. Elicited data from observation logs and interviews indicated that factors influencing the teachers’ variation entailed their beliefs, teaching experience, and teacher–student relationship. Implications for upskilling and supporting...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: factores afectivos

Resumen:

Learners’ anxiety has drawn widespread attention in the field of second language / foreign language (L2/FL) teaching and learning (e.g. classroom anxiety, communication (with foreigners) anxiety, and anxiety associated with the four macro-skills, namely listening, reading, speaking, and writing). However, this topic is under-explored in L2/FL public speaking (e.g. oral presentations in academic studies), in which anxiety is especially prominent. This study investigated the relationships between EFL (English as a foreign language) learners’ anxiety in public speaking, self-perceived pronunciation competence, and actual speaking proficiency. 176 tertiary-level EFL students in Hong Kong participated in this mixed-methods study using questionnaires and interviews. Overall, different aspects of self-perceived pronunciation were negatively...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: feedback/retroalimentación

Resumen:

Although research on written corrective feedback has proliferated over the past decades, scant attention has been paid to how dyadic interaction pattern influence English-as-a-foreign-language learners’ behavioral engagement with feedback. This study explored the extent to which patterns of interaction affect the degree of learner engagement with teacher corrective feedback, learners’ revision behavior, and revision outcome. Forty learners of English as a foreign language on an advanced writing course participated in the study. Learners were provided with comprehensive teacher feedback on six writing tasks and were required to collaboratively process feedback over a 4-month semester. The qualitative analysis of recorded learner talk revealed that although the learners were at the same proficiency level, they adopted a variety of...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: enfoque por tareas

Resumen:

Tasks with different design factors may dissimilarly affect oral production, and thus can be adopted for different pedagogical purposes. However, the functions of task types are not fully explored. To address this gap, this study investigates the influence of content familiarity and task repetition on sixty English as a foreign language learners’ speaking performance, in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). Participants twice performed four monologic tasks, and received stimulated recall interviews. The findings indicate that participants produced structurally more complex speech under familiar conditions, and increased their CAF in task repetition. Furthermore, content familiarity and task repetition may facilitate conceptualization. Task repetition may also direct participants’ attention towards lexical choices and...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: feedback/retroalimentación

Resumen:

This multiple case study explores how and to what extent Chinese English-major students engage affectively, behaviorally, and cognitively with supervisory feedback on their English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) undergraduate theses, as well as how motivation and second language (L2) proficiency may mediate their engagement. Data were collected from three students through stimulated recalls, interviews, thesis drafts with supervisors’ feedback comments, and audio recordings of supervisor–student conferences. Qualitative data analyses revealed that the three participants differed markedly in their engagement with supervisory feedback on their undergraduate theses. Driven by different motivations and mediated by their levels of English proficiency, the students took different stances and employed different cognitive strategies in their...

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