As a reflection of the value attached to interaction in L2 learning, pair and small-group activities have been integrated into different phases in the writing process. Focusing specifically on peer interaction during the planning and revision phases, this "In the Classroom" study explores the relationship between peer interaction and…

Assessment practices occupy a significant portion of ESL teachers' time and have a considerable impact on students' engagement and learning. These practices are in turn strongly influenced by teachers' conceptions of L2 writing and the policy contexts in which they work. While several studies have examined ESL teachers' classroom assessment…

The following study focuses on learners of French in an English-dominant context and contributes to a better understanding of language hierarchization by investigating attitudes toward different varieties of French. It aims to identify a possible correlation between the evaluation of different varieties of French and the participants'…

Self-assessments are instructional tools with the potential to enhance self-regulatory and language-learning processes in students in the writing classroom. Although widely studied in the first language context, self-assessment research in L2 writing contexts is relatively unexplored. Yet recent research indicates that the demands of writing in a…

The role played by working memory (WM), that is, the capacity to temporarily maintain and cognitively process information, has been extensively studied in second language (L2) research. In a general sense, WM has been shown to be related to various aspects of L2 learning and use; however, little information is available regarding its relationship…

The Canadian Academic English Language (CAEL) assessment is a proficiency test for university admission. Most research has focused on the paper edition, not the recent computer edition (CE). Validity research on other proficiency tests found that relationships between proficiency scores and academic achievement measures can be tenuous because…

The vocabulary research of the 1980s and 1990s brought a breath of fresh air into the language classroom. Teachers in many remote EFL locations had long suspected that vocabulary was their learners' main challenge, but there was little research evidence to confirm this or say what to do about it. Then, suddenly, work by Nation, Laufer, Meara,…

Linguistic self-confidence is an underlying factor in L2 motivation and positive L2 learning outcomes. However, few studies have investigated its hypothesized relationship to objective L2 learning outcomes or the relationship between self-confidence and cognitive and affective individual differences that influence L2 learning. In this study,…

Research on first language, second language, and multilingual socialization has flourished over the past three decades in many formal and informal educational contexts around the world. One relatively recent site for such research, particularly for multilingual students learning English as an additional language, is post-secondary institutions…

Because many theorists propose a connection between accent and identity, some theorists have justifiably been concerned about the ethical ramifications of L2 pronunciation teaching. However, English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students often state a desire to sound like native speakers. With little research into ESL students' perceptions of links…

This article reports on a case study that investigates the learning preferences and strategies of Chinese students learning English as a second language (ESL) in Canadian school settings. It focuses on the interaction between second language (L2) learning methods that the students have adopted from their previous learning experience in China and…

Anxiety and L2 self-confidence have been suggested as vital determinants of willingness to communicate (WTC) in a foreign-language (FL) learning environment. Studies also demonstrate that it is a concern over pronunciation mistakes that is particularly likely to cause embarrassment and apprehension in FL students. Linking these two facts may lead…

This paper presents a case study of an individual student's increasing approximation of academic discourse during a third-semester Spanish class that included chat-based instruction. During both chat-based activities and oral discussions in class, the student's language use became increasingly characterized by longer turns and the use of…

There is a shortage of second/foreign language (S/FL) teachers in many parts of the world and the attrition rates are startling. The present study, grounded in social cognitive theory, investigates Canadian and US teachers' (N = 1065) sense of efficacy in teaching languages as it relates to teacher attrition. Findings indicate that S/FL teachers…

This study investigates the effects of pre-learning vocabulary on reading comprehension and writing. Japanese students studying English as a foreign language (EFL) learned word pairs receptively and productively; four tests were used to measure reading comprehension, writing, and receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge. The findings suggest…