This study investigates the motivations of both heritage and non-heritage students of Portuguese at two universities in Rhode Island where Portuguese-speaking migrant communities have settled and their language has strong visibility. Attention is drawn to motivation since it is known to be a significant factor in the development of linguistic…

This study aims to compare the opinions of optional and compulsory preparatory class students about learning English and the target culture. Furthermore, students' reasons to learn English are examined in terms of independent variables (gender, going abroad and status of prep class). In the present study, data are gathered through a questionnaire…

Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) has been widely acknowledged as a core element of today's foreign language education. However, even though the importance of intercultural language teaching is commonly recognized among adult learners and at the post-secondary level, teachers of adolescent English learners often find it hard to…

This study aimed to scrutinize the measurement of ICC and then investigate the relationship between Iranian L2 learners and their L2 learning motivation, and achievement on the one hand, and the difference between ICC and motivation of EFL learners, on the other. To do this, the participants included 60 B.A. Translation and 60 B.A. non-Translation…

This 13-week study investigated changes in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' motivational states due to face-to-face inter-cultural and intra-cultural contact treatments in a Japanese EFL classroom. Drawing on the L2 motivational Self System and International Posture, this quasi-experimental study took the form of a between-groups…

This cross-sectional study provides a language learning motivational profile of undergraduates from science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) degrees taking language IWLP courses (language options open to all undergraduates) in a UK institution. Trends were generated through a questionnaire (363 participants) using self-determination…

Although previous research has examined how generic skills and disciplinary contexts are related, such investigation has not been conducted from students' perspectives. Implications of disciplinary differences for the design of a generic skills curriculum have also remained unexplored. In this study, a questionnaire was administered to 502…

To meet the demands of contemporary society, students need to develop the ability to interact effectively with people from different cultures. To advance this goal, a project involving ethnographic interviews was introduced to an intercultural communication course. Participating students' attitudes toward other cultures were measured on a Likert…

The changing of the English profile to English as an International Language (EIL) has broadened the definition of competent users of English around the world to include the ability to shuffle between English in local contexts (Canagarajah, 2013). However, Thai EFL learners continue to show an inability to understand and use English in…

Films and TV series are widely used to support teaching in English language classrooms. They are seen largely as a source of authentic language, as a way of motivating students or as a means of conveying knowledge about another culture. There is less emphasis on their use as a focus for developing intercultural competence. This is particularly the…

Argues for a critical language awareness (LA) and for LA to be closely linked to the development of learners' practical language capabilities. The paper offers a critical evaluation of three major programmatic statements about LA: Committee for Linguistics in Education (1985); National Congress on Languages in Education (1985); and Hawkins (1984).…

Although drama has been used successfully in English as a second language and has been shown to have positive effects on achievement and on self-confidence and motivation in various studies, it has received little attention in French immersion context where subjects are taught in French, the second language of students. The objective of this study…