This mixed-methods study explores the efficacy of a multidimensional identity measurement tool that aims to represent the diverse language experiences of heritage language learners (HLLs) and heritage language speakers (HLSs). Drawing on the thematic commonalities across 13 definitions of HLLs, a questionnaire was developed to capture age of…

The African Storybook (ASb) is a digital initiative that promotes multilingual literacy for African children by providing openly licenced children's stories in multiple African languages, as well as English, French, and Portuguese. Based on Darvin and Norton's (2015) model of identity and investment, and drawing on the Douglas Fir Group's (2016)…

This article describes a validation study using Retrodictive Qualitative Modeling, a framework for conducting research from a dynamic and situated perspective, to establish an empirical foundation for a new phenomenological construct--language teacher immunity. Focus groups (N = 44) conducted with second language (L2) practitioners and teacher…

Despite an increased awareness of language learner performance in task-based instruction, little is known about how learners perceive and respond to different task factors. This study investigates the effects of task complexity and modality on (a) learners' perception of task difficulty, skill, and its balance, and on (b) learners' task…

This study investigates 3 unexplored issues regarding Second Language (L2) Motivational Self System theory. It further validates the theory using multiple structural equation modeling (SEM) along with a procedure comparing the strength of corresponding paths. Japanese university freshmen (N = 2,631) responded to a questionnaire and took the…

The research reported in this article explores the relationship between Dörnyei's (2005, 2009) Second Language Motivational Self System (L2MSS) and the L2 proficiency level of Saudi learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Male and female participants (N = 360) responded to a questionnaire relating to the main components of L2MSS, the…

This study aimed to validate a newly-developed instrument, The Writing Strategies for Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) Questionnaire, with respect to its multifaceted structure of SRL strategies in English as a foreign language (EFL) writing. A total of 790 undergraduate students from 6 universities in Northeast China volunteered to be participants.…

This study examined relationships between language learning motivation and the longitudinal development of second language (L2) pronunciation. Twenty-six English-speaking learners of Spanish recorded a simplified picture description task 5 times over a year-long period spanning their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th semesters of Spanish language instruction.…

The constructs of teacher cognition and teacher identity have recently gained considerable attention in second language teacher education research for their crucial roles in understanding teacher learning. While a number of current studies have examined the contributions of both constructs, the connections between cognition and identity are yet to…

This study examined the extent to which 40 students enrolled in upper level foreign language literary/cultural studies content courses showed evidence of incidental language learning over the course of a semester. Students completed a cloze passage and provided both writing and speaking samples at the beginning and end of the semester. In…

The study addresses the degree of transfer of literacy dimensions of academic proficiency (AP), that is, reading comprehension and writing, across three languages--Russian (L1), Hebrew (L2), and English (L3)--and investigates whether a common conceptual source underlies the linguistic and cognitive operations of the trilingual learner (Grosjean,…

The educational impacts of mandated assessment in U.S. colleges is part of a growing research agenda focused on how methodologies of program evaluation best enable educators to improve teaching and learning. Accordingly, research has tried to identify the key aspects of evaluation/assessment "capacity" in college language departments…

This study investigated whether learners of Japanese with different first language (L1) writing systems use different recognition strategies and whether second language (L2) exposure affects L2 kanji recognition. The study used a computerized lexical judgment task with 3 types of kanji characters to investigate these questions: (a)…

While there exists a considerable body of literature on task-based difficulty and second language (L2) fluency in English as a second language (ESL), there has been little investigation with French learners. This mixed methods study examines learner appraisals of task difficulty and their relationship to automated utterance fluency measures in…

This article provides a snapshot of the experiences of 18 students studying abroad in Cairo, Egypt. Using a modified version of the language contact profile (Freed, Segalowitz, & Dewey, 2004), I investigate their language use and find that students use English more than they use Arabic and that there is considerable individual variation in…