Our preferences and evaluations are often affected by contextual factors. One unavoidable context is language. We used an evaluative conditioning (EC) paradigm (pairing neutral stimuli with emotional or neutral stimuli) to investigate whether our evaluations are equally conditioned in a first (L1) and a second language (L2). An EC effect was…

Focusing on how a world of possibilities is opened up by language learners themselves, imagination has been regarded as an elusive but indispensable element in second language (L2) education. Drawing on notions of international posture (Yashima 2002), Ideal L2 Self (Dörnyei 2009), and imagined communities (Norton 2001), we theorised imagination…

In many contexts of multilingualism, language learners can initiate communication in the target language (TL), or a contact language (such as English). Patterns of use emerging from these choices affect TL development. They also vary between individuals. Willingness to communicate (WTC) needs to be investigated in ways that capture these…

Due to the 'global English bias' in the field of L2 motivation, many motivational constructs have been primarily investigated in relation to learners of English. One of these, international posture, has been recently found to hold some relevance to LOTE students. Despite this, no research has examined comparatively similarities and differences in…

Employing neoliberal governmentality as a conceptual frame, this paper presents evidence from the mushrooming English language academies from Pakistan to demonstrate that how neoliberal rationality as a normative order of reason governs the minds of learners and teachers without governing. Drawing on the analysis of an open-ended interview…

In many contexts of multilingualism, language learners can initiate communication in the target language (TL), or a contact language (such as English). Patterns of use emerging from these choices vary between individuals and affect TL development. Willingness to communicate (WTC) needs to be investigated in ways that capture these variations. So…

Inclusive schooling practices that support immigrant students with low language-of-schooling proficiency to actively participate in learning within mainstream contexts is crucial during the newly-arrived phase. The concept of reciprocal integration and its more recent evolution through the inclusive education movement, reframes school-community…

The present study contributes to the field of L2 motivation by exploring the link between emotional experience in language learning and motivational self from a multilingual perspective. Specifically, it evaluated the empirical support for the validity of the ideal multilingual self on simultaneous language learners in China and assessed the…

Linguistic diversity emerging from international student mobility, in non-anglophone universities, is typically eclipsed by the existing tensions between the national language(s) and English as 'Lingua franca'. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with university lecturers, this study highlights the tensions surrounding national…

This article investigates the role self-efficacy plays in the relationship between Neuroticism and foreign language attainment (operationalised as final grades and self-perceived foreign language skills). To date, the role of personality in foreign language learning has not been clearly specified; moreover, self-efficacy related to this domain has…

This paper builds on a collaborative pilot project on "Critical Multilingual Language Awareness" (CMLA) in a linguistically diverse Preparatory Class with migrant adolescents in Sweden. Importantly, the approach involved Multilingual Study Mentors (MSMs), whose role normally is to provide scaffolding in the strongest language of recently…

Since its introduction to the field of modern language instruction, willingness to communicate (WTC) attracted much attention from researchers and practitioners. Since then, a large and growing body of literature has investigated the factors influencing language learners' WTC. Among the factors identified, individual factors were found to have…

Education for multilingual Physics students in South Africa still has a monolingual bias despite such pedagogy being repeatedly identified as the key factor in students' academic underachievement in the subject. The paper reports on the pivotal role language plays in the comprehension and subsequent academic performance of students in science…

Research has demonstrated that second language immersion is an effective means of facilitating primary school students' second language acquisition without undermining their competence in their first language. Despite the rapid growth of Chinese-English bilingual programmes in China, limited empirical research has been conducted thus far by which…