Self-efficacy is a well-known individual difference variable within second language acquisition research (SLA), shown to have predictive validity in language learning contexts. Collective-efficacy (CE), a group level construct, has remained relatively untouched by researchers despite its potential importance in formal language learning contexts,…

Over the past few years, research has shown that stakeholders involved in CLIL develop positive views and attitudes alongside with higher motivation towards the foreign language (Czura, A., K. Papaja, and M. Urbaniak. 2009. Bilingual education and the emergence of CLIL in Poland. In "CLIL Practice: Perspectives from the Field," ed. D.…

This study investigates the impact on L2 oral performance of participatory structure of strategic planning (individual vs. collaborative pair planning) and task complexity (simple vs. complex tasks) defined according to the number of elements involved. It also explores individual and collaborative planners' planning behaviours prior to simple vs.…

Ofsted's 2021 Curriculum Research Review outlines a language pedagogy predicated on an exclusively cognitivist approach to language learning, which relies on three 'pillars of progression': phonics, vocabulary and grammar. The review makes a brief acknowledgement of the importance of motivational factors, including 'pupils' positive views of…

The CEFR was conceived as part of the Council of Europe's project 'Language Learning for European Citizenship'. The social and political context out of which this project grew has often been lost from view. This is perhaps due to the success of the CEFR not only within Europe but also worldwide. That success is largely due to the quality of the…

The objective of this study was to employ a new tool for assessing pragmatic "proficiency" (over "performance") in L2 students and to determine if pragmatic lessons on compliment sequences had a positive impact on L2 Spanish students' intercultural competence. To this end, students at a Midwestern college engaged in live video…

This "state of the art" review on the history of language teaching in Portugal provides an opportunity for a historiographical analysis, highlighting the relationships between languages, the links between languages and educational policy and implementation, and the cultural implications resulting from this. Researching language teaching…

This article is based on an investigation of the experiences of six native Chinese teachers working in British schools through the Confucius Institute and the British Council programmes. This qualitative study is located in the interpretivist tradition. It reveals that the target group of teachers construct their professional identity by means of…

This study investigates the provision of two types of auditory elaborative automated digital feedback (metalinguistic and informational) in the context of a digital game for reading skills development in English as a foreign language. Nineteen 11-year-old Spanish-Catalan school children played through two digital minigames while their…

The demographic change of Chinese bilingual preservice teachers (herein referred to as trainees) has caused a shift in the practitioner populations in the US This qualitative case study reports on how six female trainees experienced critical language awareness (CLA) as a collective struggle in the language awareness training sessions and in the…

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;…

The purpose of this article is to present qualitative and quantitative tools to assist teachers and authors of examination materials in their preliminary assessment of text complexity/difficulty according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The qualitative scales were compiled specially for this study, based on previous…

The main aim of this article is to evaluate the outcomes presented in the previous articles in relation to similar projects and studies conducted in monolingual contexts in other parts of Europe as well as Latin America, where bilingual education and CLIL are increasingly being embraced in the official curricula. The effects of CLIL on L1, L2 and…

The motivation to learn a third language (L3) has received increasing attention in research, especially with regard to how it evolves dynamically during the learning process. Underpinned by the L2 Motivational Self System [Dörnyei, Z. 2005. "The Psychology of the Language Learner: Individual Differences in Second Language Acquisition."…

This paper addresses a number of questions in the emerging area of blended Chinese language learning design. First, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the extant literature? Second, how might insights from the wider blended and blended language learning literature advance the field? Third, how might these literatures be synthesised to…