ERIC Number: EJ1460627
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Jan
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0026-7902
EISSN: EISSN-1540-4781
Available Date: 2025-02-19
Praxeology, Humanism, Equity, and Mixed Methods: Four Pillars for Advancing Second Language Acquisition and Teaching
Modern Language Journal, v109 suppl 1 p64-89 2025
In this article, we present our vision of a transformed second language acquisition and teaching (SLA/T) disciplinary community that approaches second language (L2) education through four pillars. The first pillar is praxeology (i.e., the study of human action) to highlight the sociocontextually emergent nature of L2 competence. It locates the emergence of L2 grammar and interactional competence in humans acting conjointly with others with and through their L2 across a large variety of social situations and transnational, transcultural, and translingual spaces. The second pillar, humanism, calls for a complex dynamic systems theory-informed understanding of individual differences, with learner agency as a central driving force. The third pillar is equity to confront the field with the recognition that language learning is profoundly inequitable and that most present forms of inequity and injustice, including language-related inequities, are rooted in coloniality, a matrix of power invented in the late 15th century by European White settlers to ensure the success of colonial domination. Mixed methods research, the fourth pillar, emphasizing emic perspectives, can make findings generalizable and transferrable for practitioners and policymakers, while also revealing the nuanced voices of underrepresented language learner populations. We close by illustrating our vision with the vignette of a language learner and calling researchers to use these four pillars in collaborative pursuits of this SLA/T synergy.
Descriptors: Praxis, Humanism, Equal Education, Social Environment, Second Language Learning, Mixed Methods Research, Foreign Countries, English (Second Language), Chinese, College Students, English Departments, Majors (Students), Student Attitudes, Language Attitudes, Change, Spanish, Adjustment (to Environment), Prior Learning, Barriers
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1English Department, College of Foreign Languages and Literature, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; 2Department of Linguistics, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA; 3Institute of Language Sciences, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland; 4Faculty of Education and Integrated Arts and Sciences, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan; 5Department of Design, Media and Educational Science, University of Southern Denmark, Kolding, Denmark; 6School of Education, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia