While Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is recognised as an effective approach worldwide, its implementation in foreign language (FL) classrooms remains difficult. Earlier studies have identified factors impeding CLT implementation, such as a lack of communicative lesson materials or teachers' more traditional views on language learning. In…

With the UK entering its fourth decade of this crisis with no end in sight, it is timely to ask how current policy directions for language learning beyond the compulsory phase (currently age 14 in all 4 UK nations) align with learners' psychological needs in relation to language learning. After a review of these psychological needs within…

The communicative language teaching approach that informs many school modern foreign language programmes has been realised in different ways as theorists and practitioners have sought to identify the most effective combinations of instruction and use [Mitchell, R. 2000. Applied linguistics and evidence-based classroom practice: the case of foreign…

That 'a picture can stimulate a thousand words' aptly summarises the role of the visual in the field of language learning and teaching. The power of the image to generate language output has been widely acknowledged in the field of second/foreign language acquisition. Posters, diagrams, symbols and pictures are often found in language classrooms;…

This article offers a critical perspective on Ofsted's (2021) "Curriculum Research Review for Languages" (OCRR). Whilst the OCRR contains much that we would agree with (including its underpinning principle of drawing on research evidence to inform policy and pedagogy), we are nevertheless concerned that it could result in unintended…

The present study was designed to explore the situational variables and their interaction determining the willingness to communicate (WTC) in English (L2) of six postgraduate business students in a university classroom in Pakistan. While much research has been undertaken to examine trait-like psychological antecedents, only a few studies have…

This article reports on the development of a scale for measuring the self-regulated motivation for improving speaking English as a foreign language (EFL). The scale, which is informed by Pintrich's self-regulated learning (SRL) model, addresses motivational aspects of SRL. The scale was constructed in three stages: item pooling, exploratory factor…

Many theoretical models of second or additional language learning posit a crucial role for meaningful social interaction in the target language. However, it is not always clear to language educators how to create such opportunities or what counts as meaningful interaction. This can become even more difficult when the target language is an…

This article expands upon research into task planning effects by looking at how the addition of planning prior to group discussions may positively and negatively influence performance. 24 Japanese university students performed three weekly discussions in groups of four. Prior to each discussion, they undertook either no planning, strategic…

Due to its essential role in communication among diverse individuals and human communities, the cultivation of interculturality is among the foremost aims of educational domains. Short-term study abroad can be one way to help students develop interculturality. However, there is a lack of a clear picture regarding the multidimensional impact of…

The number of pupils learning modern foreign languages (MFLs) beyond the age of 14 has fallen substantially over the last decade. Among other reasons, shortcomings in teaching methodology have been blamed for this situation. The methodology has been accused of applying the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach in a selective way and not…

Collaborative dialogue has been seen as an important aspect of L2 learning. However, the extent to which collaborative dialogue contributes to learning depends very much on the context in which it takes place. Informed by a sociocultural perspective of learning, this study investigated the nature of the collaborative dialogue between complete…

Language teachers are positioned differently depending on whether they are L1 or L2 speakers of the target language. In this article I suggest that, in language teacher education, it can be useful to think explicitly about this positioning as it pertains to both languages rather than just one. I propose a relational two-language continuum based on…

The concept of learner engagement has traditionally been examined in the field of education and it has been found to be associated with positive educational outcomes. While several studies in second language acquisition have looked at learner engagement with corrective feedback, there is a dearth of research investigating its relevance to…

This study investigated the relationship between language proficiency and negative pragmatic transfer from a first language (L1), focusing on the speech act of refusal as realised by American learners of Arabic as a Foreign Language (AFL) in Egyptian Arabic. Twenty American AFL learners (10 intermediate and 10 advanced) and 2 baseline groups (10…