The onset of the COVID-19 crisis in March 2020 gave way to a precipitous transition to online learning in colleges and universities across the globe. Learners and teachers alike were forced to adapt to new procedures and norms within a matter of days. Among the many questions regarding the development of rigorous courses that can adequately…

Touted as the future of language teaching, task-based pedagogy is grounded in current Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theories, and is in line with the trend of learner-centeredness in general education. However, the method has yet to be fully embraced by the language teaching community due to the lack of 1) clear delineation of pedagogical…

To date, most classroom-based research into the learning of a third language (L3) in the US has examined patterns of acquisition among various groups of bilinguals. Situated mainly within the context of "Portuguese for Spanish Speakers" (PSS), studies typically group learners based on the sequence / age of onset of their main background…

Previous studies in second language teaching have called attention to the importance and benefits of including reading, especially graded readers (i.e., books adapted to the proficiency level of the students), in the L2 curriculum (Martinez, 2017; Rodrigo, 2018). On one hand, previous scholars have found the following benefits from graded readers:…

This research is about the underlying process language learners rely on to be able to engage effectively in unscripted conversations without premeditation, or "improvisation." To engage in improvisation in another language, one needs to recognize those elements of the evolving cultural context that are significant at the moment. By…

Students studying in beginning level foreign language classrooms often lack the opportunity to speak spontaneously (Kogan, 2023). Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is a pedagogical approach to language instruction that advocates for the use of tasks to develop learners' second/foreign language (L2) abilities. Games can act as tasks that prepare…

University mathematics classrooms are continuing to become more linguistically and culturally diverse. Students in these courses bring rich language resources for learning and engaging in classroom mathematical practices. Despite this diversity, little research has examined the role of language in post-secondary mathematics education. Using mixed…

The employment of genre-based pedagogy and Task-Based Language Teaching in second language education is representative of a paradigmatic shift towards a focus on meaning-making. Despite this shift, second language acquisition (SLA) research continues to predominantly rely on complexity, accuracy, and fluency metrics to assess learner production…

Adult first language (L1) English speakers who are advanced second language (L2) learners of Spanish demonstrate near-ceiling levels of accuracy for some features of Spanish, such as [Person] and [Number] for verbs (McCarthy, 2012; Rodgers, 2011). While for other features, such as [Aspect] for copulas (i.e. ser and estar), and [Person] and…

Multilingual instruction takes many shapes and forms depending on the affordances and limitations of the context in which it is implemented. Because multilingual instruction is often context-specific, it has to be designed in collaboration with local stakeholders and developed through multiple implementations in the context. While the field of…

With the shift toward a practice-based curriculum in teacher education (Grossman 2011; Grossman & McDonald, 2008; McDonald, Kazemi & Kavanagh, 2013), scholars (Hlas & Hlas, 2012; Kearney, 2015) in the foreign language field have started researching high-leverage teaching practices (HLTPs). In 2017, Glisan and Donato proposed six HLTPs…

This semester-long study was designed to benefit developing Second Language Acquisition (SLA) instructional methods, specifically honing French language instruction, creating a foundation on which to explore the connection between input frequency during instruction and aural comprehension of difficultly acquired forms. Concurrently, five current…

Online foreign language course offerings have grown exponentially in secondary and post-secondary schools during the last two decades. Although numerous instruments and surveys exist to assess readiness for a student to take online courses, insufficient research has dealt with the particularities of learning a foreign language online. This study…

There is an ongoing debate as to whether written corrective feedback (WCF) is effective for the improvement of adult second language (L2) writers' accuracy. Ever since Truscott (1996, 1999) began arguing against grammar correction in L2 writing courses, researchers have challenged his position (i.e. below). Although most of these studies show WCF…

Most adult English Language Learners (ELLs) in the United States struggle with the basics of English literacy and reading comprehension. The lack of metacognitive awareness during reading prevents ELL students from engaging actively in the learning process. The CALLA method was used as a conceptual framework for explicit instruction. The problem…