Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: enseñanza/aprendizaje de lenguas

Resumen:

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This longitudinal research presents case studies of three English as a foreign language (EFL) student teachers showing their development regarding target language (TL) use, taking into account both the amount of TL use and the classroom situations the TL is used in. Additionally, the factors that influence their TL use are discussed. The data consist of four questionnaires, three classroom observations, and a written reflection on TL use. Results show that – similar to experienced teachers – these student teachers used the TL more in senior than in junior classes and mainly in linguistically predictable situations. On the other hand, the amount of their TL use was high, especially in senior...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: factores afectivos

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Second language acquisition is a complex process that involves numerous challenges and is influenced by various factors, including linguistic competence and classroom settings. This study examines the concerns and emotions experienced by 43 adult international students learning Maltese as a second language. By employing a mixed-methods approach, the research collected both qualitative and quantitative data through questionnaires and interviews. The results reveal a spectrum of positive and negative emotions experienced by students during a Maltese language learning session that incorporated digital resources. The evidence presented in this research shows that students have both personal and...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: motivación

Resumen:

Higher education serves as a fundamental driver of social progress and individual professional development. This study examines the motivational profiles of 112 Spanish-speaking college students who are learning Chinese as a foreign language, focusing on the factors that influence their decision to study this language and their academic satisfaction within the university context. The study is based on an analysis of data collected from these students, using statistical analyses to explore relationships between motivational factors, academic satisfaction, and academic performance. The findings reveal that intrinsic motivations—such as interest in Chinese culture and traditions, personal growth, and intellectual challenge—predominate over extrinsic motivations, including prospective employment opportunities, when selecting Chinese as a...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: aprendizaje colaborativo

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Groupwork has become ubiquitous in language education, with the clear benefits of interaction and output on language acquisition. A body of research has investigated this interaction in pairs and small groups, and there is an increased understanding that individual group context is a key factor in determining the behavior of students. This article reports on a study that first investigated emergent leadership within groups, and the influence of the group on leader stability. The study then examined how leadership is represented in student task engagement. Students were placed into fixed small groups for the first semester, and then allowed to self-select into groups for the second semester. Perceptions of leadership were measured three times in each semester, and leaders were identified in each group. Results showed that changing...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: expresión escrita

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Collaborative writing (CW) involves two or more students writing a single text together. Previous studies mainly focused on students’ cognitive engagement in CW and investigated their attention to various language-related problems during task interaction. However, little CW research to date has considered that engagement in language-related discussions can manifest from three dimensions: cognitive, social, and affective. Focusing on the multidimensional characteristics of engagement, this study investigated how Russian learners’ social and affective reactions influence their focus on language use while they completed a CW task. Drawing on Svalberg’s framework of engagement with language to identify the three dimensions of engagement, I conducted a mixed-method approach towards analysing the audio-recorded collaborative dialogues by...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: interacción

Resumen:

Using multimodal conversation analysis, this study examines how assessments function as interactional resources for managing second language (L2) discussion topics in conversation for learning (CFL) contexts. Drawing on nine hours of video-recorded discussions, we analyse how students initiate and expand topics through assessments directed at either the primary speaker or third parties. Our guiding research question is: How do first-position assessments in CFL discussions shape participation, topic progression, and the management of interactional contingencies? The analysis reveals that assessments directed at the primary speaker, whether positive or negative, prompt elaboration or justification, leading to extended participation. In contrast, assessments of third parties produce different interactional outcomes: positive assessments...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: español como lengua extranjera

Resumen:

This study investigates pronunciation instruction in Spanish and Portuguese classrooms at universities in Japan and South Korea, contexts underexplored in applied linguistics. Using a mixed-methods approach, surveys from 120 participants (29 professors and 91 students) reveal disparities in attitudes and practices. South Korean professors place greater emphasis on pronunciation’s role in communicative competence, whereas Japanese professors report challenges linked to insufficient training and the marginalization of pronunciation in curricula. Students in both contexts highlight engagement gaps and self-perceived difficulties, particularly among Japanese learners of Portuguese. The findings challenge pervasive native-speaker ideologies, advocating for a shift toward intelligibility-focused instruction that values linguistic diversity...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: enseñanza/aprendizaje de lenguas

Resumen:

The selection of lexical units for pedagogy and research has been a contentious issue in second language (L2) vocabulary studies; however, many investigations have lacked classroom-based research. This mixed-methods quasi-experimental study examined the effects of teaching word families on vocabulary acquisition among adolescent first-language (L1) Chinese English-as-a-foreign-language learners. The quantitative component employs a quasi-experimental research design with 2 groups: an experimental group—the word-families group (n = 44)—which received structural elaboration instruction on 50 target words from the course textbook along with their inflected and derived forms, and a comparison group—the individual-word-forms group (n = 49)—which received semantic elaboration instruction focused on individual word forms and their meanings....

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: marcadores discursivos

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Este trabajo parte de la cuestión acerca de cómo se enseñan los marcadores del discurso, orales y escritos, en la clase de E/LE. Para ello, analizamos el tratamiento de estas unidades en varios manuales y gramáticas de E/LE y sugerimos una propuesta a partir de nuestra investigación. Nuestra aportación consiste en la aplicación didáctica del concepto de posición discursiva de los marcadores del discurso a la clase de E/LE. Esta propuesta práctica va dirigida a profesores que imparten clases de español a extranjeros de nivel intermedio-avanzado (B2, C1 y C2, según el MCER).

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: enfoque por tareas

Resumen:

This study investigates the effects of two task factors (i.e. task complexity and task sequence) and an interlocutor factor (i.e. interlocutor familiarity) on Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ self-repair strategies during synchronous online task-based interaction. Four decision-making tasks were conducted to elicit oral interactions from 44 low-level proficiency EFL learners, who were required to complete the tasks in pairs in either a simple-to-complex sequence or a complex-to-simple sequence. Information about the learners’ familiarity with their partners was collected through interviews. Learners’ self-repair was analysed in terms of various recycling and replacement strategies. The results revealed that complex tasks facilitated learners in replacing items to solve problems, while the simple-to-complex task...

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