Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: motivación

Resumen:

With increasing attention paid to the effects of learning a foreign language (FL) on older adults in the currently ageing world, psychological individual difference (ID) variables (e.g. learning motivation) remain much under-investigated, compared with cognitive IDs. This exploratory study examined older adults’ English learning motivation in the Chinese context of English as a foreign language (EFL) by conducting a web-based survey (n = 510) and semi-structured interviews (n = 21). Results showed that (1) the selected sociobiographical variables influenced older adults’ English learning motivation to different degrees, among which education, use frequency of English and socioeconomic status (SES) emerged as very important predictors; and (2) four motivators for English learning by older adults emerged as traveling or visiting...

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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: factores afectivos

Resumen:

The development of positive psychology in the field of second language acquisition has focused scholarly attention on what helps second language learners thrive and flourish, rather than focusing solely on what hinders their development. A key positive emotion developed within this movement is enjoyment. The present study introduced the conjoint experiment approach, which allows for estimating the causal effects of various factors simultaneously, to validate the influences of learner-external factors (i.e., teacher characteristics and behaviors, peer relations, and task orientation) on learners’ perceived second language classroom enjoyment. A representative sample of 519 Chinese university-level English learners, quota-matched to China’s target learner population in gender, grade level, and geographic region, evaluated systematically...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: propuesta didáctica

Temas: enfoque por tareas

Resumen:

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En los últimos años, se ha generalizado entre los profesores de idiomas el uso de unidades didácticas basadas en el enfoque por tareas. Un enfoque que ha hallado un enorme eco tanto en la comunidad científica como en la educativa (Nunan, 1996; Peris, 2001; R. Ellis, 2003, 2005) desarrollando y sofisticando sus planteamientos y puesta en práctica. Centrar la secuencia de actividades en un ámbito temático de interés para los aprendientes está entre los aspectos de este enfoque a los que se ha dado mayor relevancia, por sus implicaciones en el aprendizaje. La unidad didáctica que presentaremos en este artículo se centra en este aspecto y es producto de una experiencia que se desarrolló con enorme...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: factores afectivos

Resumen:

Based on theories of emotion contagion and social appraisal in interpersonal affect transfer and the control-value theory of achievement emotions, the present study examined associations between students’ perceptions of peer emotions and their own self-perceived emotions in English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms. Data were collected from 103 seventh to ninth grade classrooms (n = 3,643) using self-report questionnaires. Doubly latent multilevel structural equation modeling showed that perceived peer enjoyment, anxiety and boredom, and students’ corresponding emotions for language learning, were positively related and that the effects of perceived peer enjoyment, anxiety and boredom on corresponding student emotions were mediated by control and value appraisals at the individual level. At the class level, however, the mediation...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: expresión oral

Resumen:

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Fluency is usually defined in relation to temporal features such as speed of delivery and pauses, and such features are generally the focus of research on fluency. The reasons why pauses occur, however, have received much less attention. This study first explores the distribution and location of pauses in short academic presentations given by students as part of an English for academic purposes (EAP) course at an Australian university. This data is then used to investigate the reasons for a sample of those pauses, using the researchers’ interpretations, followed by student explanations in stimulated recall interviews (SRIs). The main findings provide confirmation that the location and the reasons...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: enseñanza/aprendizaje de lenguas

Resumen:

This study reconceptualizes trait emotional intelligence (TEI) as a dynamic outcome of language learning experiences by examining the predictive roles of learner attitudes and engagement among English language learners in Pakistan. Grounded in trait EI theory and affective second language acquisition (SLA) frameworks, we investigated how attitudinal factors (beliefs, feelings, and predispositions) and engagement dimensions (behavioral and emotional) influence the development of self-perceived emotional competencies. Data from 515 Pakistani undergraduates were collected using rigorously adapted instruments: the TEIQue-SF (CFI = .93), Gardner’s AMTB attitude scale, and Skinner’s engagement measure, all of which were validated through confirmatory factor analysis and cultural modification. Bootstrap regression analysis revealed that: (1...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: propuesta didáctica

Temas: canciones

Resumen:

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No cabe duda de que las canciones son un recurso más del que disponen los profesores de una LE o una L2 para enseñarla. Sin embargo, diría que es un recurso poco explotado. Así, si recurrimos a nuestra experiencia como alumnos de L2 o LE comprobamos que si alguna vez se llevó una canción al aula solo sirvió para rellenar algunos huecos que quedaban vacíos y poco más; además, no estaba relacionado con ninguno de los contenidos que se había estado practicando en el aula.

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: enseñanza/aprendizaje de lenguas

Resumen:

Although boredom can be regarded as a ubiquitous emotion in most educational settings, including foreign and second language classrooms, and this condition can have a detrimental effect on the process of learning, it has to a large extent escaped the attention of second language acquisition researchers dealing with individual learner differences. The study reported in this article sought to fill this gap by investigating the trajectories of boredom exhibited in a practical English class by 11 Polish university students majoring in English. The data were collected by means of a background questionnaire, the Boredom in Practical English Language Classes Questionnaire (BPELC), and an in-class boredom questionnaire, including a self-report boredom grid, an open-ended query and an evaluation of the class based on a semantic differential...

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Tipo: artículo

Metodología: estudio empírico

Temas: motivación

Resumen:

Directed motivational currents (DMCs) are portrayed as highly intense and prolonged periods of motivation oriented to a much-desired goal of personal significance. While we have seen a recent growth in studies examining aspects of DMCs, evidence on the negative side-effects of DMCs remains inadequate to date. In response to repeated calls for research into this area, we conducted a qualitative study to scrutinize the negative side-effects of DMCs as experienced by 5 trainee teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Turkey. The database comprised in-depth, semi-structured interviews carried out twice per participant. Interview transcripts were analysed in line with the principles of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The findings suggest that the negative side-effects of DMCs manifest themselves as showing signs...

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