If maximal exposure were the key to success in language learning, then adult learners at the university level would be doomed to fail. Not only are they presumably too old to learn additional languages effectively, but target language (TL) input appears to be insufficient, especially when other languages are allowed in class. Nevertheless,…

The study aimed to explore the evidence of first language (L1) mediation in second language (L2) word associations and the L2 learner-related factors affecting the extent of L1 mediation with the following approaches. First, different from previous research, word association tests (WATs) embraced both receptive and productive word associations in…

Self-determination theory is one of the most established motivational theories both within second language learning and beyond. This theory has generated several mini-theories, namely: organismic integration theory, cognitive evaluation theory, basic psychological needs theory, goal contents theory, causality orientations theory, and relationships…

This study examines university teachers' beliefs and practices related to task-based language teaching while teaching English as a foreign language. Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has become a prominent topic for researchers and practitioners in recent decades. It is also advocated by the Chinese Ministry of Education for college English…

This study examined the impact of collaborative pre-task strategic planning followed by rehearsal on the quantity and novelty of content used in task performances when strategic planning is performed in different language conditions in an online classroom. Forty Japanese university students of English as a foreign language (EFL) from two intact…

We investigated the extent to which English learners developed knowledge of pragmatically-appropriate request-making forms through task-based gameplay involving virtual dialogues with fictional professors, employers, and friends on a virtual US campus. The digital game presents players with several scenarios, asking them to select the most…

We evaluate the impact of gestures during the teaching of vocabulary in a foreign language (FL). Spanish speakers learned words in a FL in four gesture conditions according to the relationship between the meaning of the words and the gestures (congruent gestures, incongruent gestures, gestures without meaning, and no gestures). The participants…

This study investigates the effect of personal investment in the form of learner-generated content (LGC) on the lexical recall of beginning-level learners of Chinese. The study employed a 2 x 2 repeated-measures design with content at two levels -- teacher-generated content or TGC, and learner-generated content or LGC -- and time at two levels…

In this enquiry, I (the first author) as a teacher of English as a foreign language (EFL) reflect on my own deep-seated reluctance to use pair/group work activities in my classroom, although I am aware of the benefits of pair/group activities for second language (L2) learning as abundantly documented in empirical studies. Through an…

This qualitative, case-study research explores the English language learning history of a Japanese pre-service teacher by analysing five English-language poems and a self-reflective essay regarding her experiences of learning the target language. The methodology chosen in this study was a poetic inquiry through which the investigator reconstructed…

Implementing social-emotional learning skills into Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR), the current study intended to extend the efficacy of CSR for teaching reading strategies when applying it to students in rural areas from a working-class community. To this purpose, forty-four students who made the comparison and the experimental groups were…

Research has shown that learning a known-and-unknown word combination leads to greater learning than learning an unknown word alone (Kasahara, 2010, 2011). These studies found that attaching a known adjective to an unknown noun can help learners remember the unknown noun. Kasahara (2015) found that a known verb can serve as an effective cue to…

Research on the effects of second language (L2) listening strategy instruction (SI) has gained momentum in recent years (e.g. Vandergrift & Tafaghodtari, 2010). However, the reported results have been inconclusive and varied across studies. Synthesizing the results of quantitative research in this domain, the present meta-analysis sought to…

In today's society, marked by the spread of Covid-19 that forced the shift from a traditional face-to-face to a fully online setting, digital tools are becoming more and more essential to engage 21st Century students in their classroom activities. In the context of ELT (English Language Teaching), Digital Game-Based Language Learning (DGBLL) has…

While research into various dimensions of language learning strategies has been thriving over the recent years, grammar learning strategies (GLS) have largely remained under-explored. The present mixed methods research aimed to explore GLS in the three stages of classroom grammar tasks, while striving to determine the sequence of GLS and their…