This study tested the effects of hand-clapping to the rhythm of newly learned French words on the pronunciation of these words by 7- to 8-year-old Catalan children. In a short training experiment with a pre- and posttest design, 28 children either repeated cognate words in French (e.g. French "aspirateur," Catalan "aspirador"…

The increasing linguistic diversity of the students in schools poses a major challenge for inclusive educational systems in which everyone can learn the language of instruction effectively and, likewise, can have access to contents, being language the necessary tool to the latter end. Research suggests that there is a robust connection between…

The study investigated the beliefs expressed by a sample of 206 Polish and Spanish teacher-trainees about the use of learners' native language (L1) in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL). Quantitative and qualitative data from a questionnaire revealed considerable differences between the two nationality groups in their beliefs about both…

There is now extensive theoretical and empirical literature on the place of the first language (L1) and the second language (L2) in the foreign language (FL) classroom. Although this body of work includes related teacher beliefs and practices, less attention has been paid to the factors that may influence these practices across different national…

This study used a pre-test post-test research design to investigate the role of explicit strategy instruction on Spanish English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' ability to write authentic email requests to faculty. Drawing on Taguchi's (2018) classification of pragmatics learning strategies, the instructional intervention followed a…

This study set out to test the theoretical premise of the SSARC model of pedagogic task sequencing, which postulates that tasks should be sequenced for learners from cognitively simple to complex. This experiment compared the performance of three tasks differing in cognitive complexity in a simple-complex sequence versus in the absence of any…

Although CLIL (content and language integrated learning) programmes are now globally expanding, the number of studies that have examined their impact on both multiple language learning (students' L1, L2 and English as a foreign language) and content learning are scarce. This study investigates the effects of a CLIL programme implemented in a rural…

The use of communication strategies (CSs) in oral and written second language (L2) production has been widely investigated (e.g. Muñoz, 2007). As for content and language integrated learning (CLIL) settings, learners seem to resort to the first language (L1) less often than in traditional foreign language instruction (e.g. Celaya & Ruiz de…

Research has shown that tasks provide second language (L2) learners with many opportunities to learn the L2. Task repetition has been claimed to benefit L2 learning since familiarity with procedure and/or content gives learners the chance to focus on more specific aspects of language. Most research on task repetition has focused on adult…

This study examines whether task-modality (speaking vs. speaking+writing) influences first language (L1) use in task-based English as a foreign language (EFL) learner-learner interaction. Research on the topic has shown that different task-modality triggers different learning opportunities with collaborative speaking tasks drawing learners'…

The aim of this article is twofold: to assess the effectiveness of a CLIL (content and language integrated learning) module on affective factors (motivation and self-esteem), and to test the purported blurring effect of CLIL on gender differences in foreign language learning. Forty-six students in their fourth year of compulsory secondary…