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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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: feedback/retroalimentación

Resumen:

Although the learning benefits of peer feedback in English-as-a-foreign-language writing instruction have been well recognized, the process and effects of peer feedback are largely reliant on teacher agency in conducting such activities. However, inadequate research has been conducted on this issue, leaving the dynamic features and causes of teacher agency in peer feedback largely unknown. Drawing on an ecological perspective, this comparative case study examined how two English-as-a-foreign-language teachers from two universities enacted agency in organizing peer feedback activities in their writing instructions. Multiple data including classroom observation, interviews and relevant teaching documents were collected and coded for themes. The study revealed that both teachers exerted dynamic agency in creating peer feedback...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: expresión escrita

Resumen:

Second/foreign language writing consists of a cycle of three phases (i.e., forethought, performance, and reflection) that interact with each other. However, studies on the interaction of these different phases are limited. Self-regulated strategies are used and enacted differently across these phases of second/foreign language writing, forming sequential relationships within the strategic system. However, the interconnections among phase-specific strategies (especially the theoretically directional relationships across these three phases) remain underexplored. Combining structural equation modeling and thematic analysis, this study explored the impact of pre-writing task perception on post-writing feedback handling, with five during-writing task implementation strategies as mediators and second/foreign language writing proficiency as...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: multilingüismo

Resumen:

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Given the complex language repertoire of a large number of students within Austrian schools, particularly in lower secondary schools, it would be critically important to understand their practices, attitudes, and beliefs towards the multiple languages they encounter in their different areas of life. In this study I redefine and expand on the construct of engagement with language to incorporate an investigation of the different languages (hereafter LX) that learners come into contact with in and outside of school. I propose the construct of ‘engagement with LX’ to depict how learners utilize, reflect on, and relate to the LX in their repertoires in all contexts of their lives, including English as...

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