The increasing trend of early English education has promoted the rapid growth of English private tutoring (EPT) for children, which garners attention in research as a global educational phenomenon. In China, EPT for children experienced a fervent expansion under neoliberalism. However, a recent policy (Double-Reduction Policy) has banned EPT for…

Motivation and anxiety are two crucial factors influencing learning outcomes, yet limited empirical research on expectancy-value theory can be found within previous literature about Chinese undergraduate students studying English as a foreign language (EFL). Moreover, few studies have examined the interaction between motivation and skill-specific…

This study investigates Chinese parental beliefs about and engagement with their children's Chinese and English language learning in Yinchuan, China, utilizing the theory of planned behaviour as an analytical framework and a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data from 879 parents reveals a strong preference for Chinese language education based…

In recent years, language portraits (LPs) have emerged as a valuable tool for visually representing multilingual learners' linguistic repertoires. However, previous studies have primarily relied on traditional methods of inviting participants to sketch their language portraits on paper using pens and crayons. In this paper, we propose the use of…

Informed by a mixed methods research design, the study investigates the interrelations between students' attitudes toward English learning, English-medium instruction (EMI), and the use of their first language (i.e. code-switching) in relation to a range of biographic and contextual factors in their situated EMI programmes. The quantitative…

Studies on epistemic beliefs in L2 research are in a nascent stage. Acknowledging deeply rooted and complex intersections between prevalent cultural norms within a society, individually held beliefs, and mutually shared opinions among members of a social group, this Q methodological study explored Chinese university students' rationales for…

This study employs a mixed-methods design to explore the attitudes and expressed beliefs of Chinese postgraduate students regarding the strategic use of their entire range of languages in English academic writing (EAW). The survey findings suggest that while students generally accept the idea of mixing languages during the writing process, they…

Because of the quickening pace of globalisation, recent years have witnessed a rise of bilingualism throughout the world. Prior research has documented a range of cognitive benefits and costs of being bilingual. The current work uncovers another potential positive side of being bilingual: the control of overconfidence in peer-comparison problems.…

This paper proposes a concept of "campus vitality" of languages: the ability of a language to maintain its prestige, visibility and continuity on university campuses. A seven-factor framework is developed for on-the-ground investigation of the relevant languages in a given campus context. These indexical factors are the number,…

Drawing from (Dörnyei's, The Psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition, 2005) L2 Motivational Self System, this case study delved into the L2 learning motivations of liberal arts and science English majors at a transnational university in China, where English Medium Instruction (EMI) is prevalent.…

Private English education has been expanding rapidly across China during the past three decades. This study investigates the resignification of English through the linguistic landscape of a private English training centre in Datong, a small and less-developed city of China. The findings show that the centre draws from both neoliberal discourse and…

In this article, we present our vision of a transformed second language acquisition and teaching (SLA/T) disciplinary community that approaches second language (L2) education through four pillars. The first pillar is praxeology (i.e., the study of human action) to highlight the sociocontextually emergent nature of L2 competence. It locates the…

The present study investigated the interactions of trait emotional intelligence (trait EI), foreign language anxiety (FLA), and foreign language enjoyment (FLE) in the foreign language speaking classroom. Data collected from 274 Chinese postgraduate EFL learners showed that the subjects generally had medium to high scores on global trait EI; in…

This study navigates the constructive role of English as a foreign language (EFL) as a critical intercultural discourse of locus of enunciation and linguistic citizenship through which teachers in Chinese educational context act as agents of action and social change. Based on a critical discourse analysis of learner diary entries, the study traces…

In language learner identity research, there is an underrepresentation of LOTE-as-L3 learners in instructed foreign language learning contexts. This study addresses this gap by exploring the multilingual identity profiles of Chinese high school LOTE-as-L3 learners in two school contexts and seeks to understand how the schools may influence…