Two concepts of multilingualism that relate to the selves aspect of Dörnyei's (2009) L2 motivational self system (L2MSS) are highlighted in this article: Thompson's concept of "perceived positive language interaction" (PPLI) and Henry's notion of the "ideal multilingual self." With the dynamic model of multilingualism informing…

The traditional definition of language aptitude sees it as "an individual's initial state of readiness and capacity for learning a foreign language, and probable facility in doing so given the presence of motivation and opportunity" (Carroll, 1981, p. 86). This conception portrays language aptitude as a trait, in the sense of exhibiting…

Instructed second language acquisition (ISLA) has been referenced in the larger field of the SLA literature for over two and a half decades. Currently, there are several theoretical underpinnings accounting for processes assumed to play a role in ISLA and quite an impressive number of studies have empirically addressed some aspect(s) of ISLA.…

Researchers in the field of instructed second language acquisition have been examining the issue of how learners interact with input by conducting research measuring particular kinds of instructional interventions (input-oriented and meaning-based). These interventions include such things as input flood, textual enhancement and processing…

Drawing on the numerous benefits of integrating literature in the EFL classroom, the present paper argues that the analysis of a fictional work in the process of foreign language acquisition offers a unique opportunity for students to explore, interpret, and understand the world around them. The paper presents strong evidence in favour of…

This article reports on a number of projects on early English teaching in the Netherlands. The focus of these projects has been on the impact of English on the development of the mother tongue and the development of skills in the foreign language. Overall the results show that there is no negative effect on the mother tongue and that the gains in…

In this paper I give an overview of recent developments in the L2 motivation field, in particular the movement away from quantitative, questionnaire-based methodologies toward smaller-scale qualitative studies incorporating concepts from complexity theory. While complexity theory provides useful concepts for exploring motivation in new ways, it…

This article sets out to illustrate possible applications of electronic corpora in the translation classroom. Starting with a survey of corpus use within corpus-based translation studies, the didactic value of corpora in the translation classroom and their epistemic value in translation teaching and practice will be elaborated. A typology of…

Various newspaper articles report that British ministers, university representatives, exam chiefs and business bodies agree that foreign languages skills in primary, secondary and tertiary UK education are in crisis. Lower funding and policy changes have caused language skills deficiencies felt gravely in the business sectors. Funding and support…

My point of departure for this paper is that translation, so long neglected in foreign language teaching, can not only improve students' linguistic competences in both a foreign language and their mother tongue, but also their awareness of cultural and intercultural elements. It is a widespread popular assumption, among those not involved in…

This paper examines the status of European English (EE) in current linguistic theory, in particular the hotly debated issue of whether or not it is possible to treat EE as an endonormative linguistic variety in its own right. Alternatively, EE may remain a form of English as a foreign language (EFL), and the decision has far-reaching…

In the last decade, there has been a major interest in content-based instruction (CBI) and content and language integrated learning (CLIL). These are similar approaches which integrate content and foreign/second language learning through various methodologies and models as a result of different implementations around the world. In this paper, I…

This article explores the potential offered by complexity theories for understanding language learners' sense of self and attempts to show how the self might usefully be conceived of as a complex dynamic system. Rather than presenting empirical findings, the article discusses existent research on the self and aims at outlining a conceptual…

The author analyses tendencies presented in recently launched EU reports claiming that newly published data reveal a need to rethink approaches to individual and social multilingualism. In the first part of the article approaches to individual as well as to societal multilingualism are discussed from a historical perspective. In the second part…

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) initiatives in schools have become widespread across Europe and beyond in the last decade or so. Drivers for this include the role of English as the language of international economic activity, media and culture, belief in the value of early start and meaning-focussed instruction in foreign language…