Learning a foreign language is a long-term process requiring persistence and a willingness to engage in activities that will help develop communicative competence. An important role on the way to achieving linguistic proficiency is played by L2 grit. However, foreign language learners differ in the intensity of this trait. We identify the most…

Swearing uses language forms that are taboo and potentially offensive. These are often used for emotional expression. Multilingual research shows that because the first language retains most emotional force (Dewaele [2004]. "The Emotional Force of Swearwords and Taboo Words in the Speech of Multilinguals." "Journal of Multilingual…

This study investigated what psychological and social factors predict 'perceived nativelikeness' in late second language (L2) learners of French (L1 Swedish) (N = 62) with a minimum length of residence (LOR) of 5 years in France. The included factors were: language aptitude (LLAMA), acculturation (VIA), personality (MPQ), target language…

Theorizing classrooms as contexts of reception shaped by ideological, relational, and pedagogical dimensions, and drawing on ethnographic data from a yearlong study of recent-arrival immigrant youths' educational experiences in an urban U.S. high school, this paper describes how a group of recent-arrival youth acted upon the discourses,…

Recently, situated willingness to communicate (WTC) has received increasing research attention in addition to traditional quantitative studies of trait-like WTC. This article is an addition to the former but unique in two ways. First, it investigates both trait and state WTC in a classroom context and explores ways to combine the two to reach a…

Language learning is a complex process that is controlled or influenced by a host of linguistic and non-linguistic factors. Some of these factors are the main concerns of psychologists rather than linguists. Ever since psychology began to develop in the 20th century, more and more individual characteristics were identified and defined. Eysenck's…

The present study focuses on the link between psychological, sociobiographical and linguistic variables and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety of 348 Arabic learners of English (250 females, 98 males). Data were collected using the Arabic Foreign Language Anxiety Questionnaire (AFLAQ; Al-Saraj, 2011, 2014) and an Arabic version of the…

This study explores: (1) on the theoretical level, the relationship of certain personality characteristics to second language learning among young children; and (2) on the practical level, if the bases parents use for deciding whether to enroll their child in a second language program are well-founded. In their kindergarten year, 63 French…

Field independence, empathy, perceived social distance, and self-esteem are being examined in this on-going investigation of the characteristics of a good language learner. The results of various measures of these four variables are being correlated with language proficiency tests and teacher and self-evaluations. It is suggested that conflicting…

Discusses an observation of a class in English as a second language in which the Silent Way method was used. The focus is on some problems not thoroughly explored in the existing literature. (CFM)

Presents a study of Irish primary and secondary schoolchildren learning Irish as a second language. Discusses intelligence abilities, attainment in Irish, personality traits, and attitude toward learning foreign languages. Concludes personality measures were not strongly related to cognitive measures, but attitude may play a role. Reports no…

A large-scale test development project at the Language Teaching Research Center of the University of Gothenburg aims to develop tests in English as a foreign language for use in various areas of business and public administration. After testing, certificates stating current proficiency level in each of the four language skills (listening, reading,…

A return to basic inductive research methods is recommended. Specifically, the scientific method of "strong inference" ought to be applied in attempts to prove hypotheses concerning the relationship that may exist between attitude variables and the learning of a second or foreign language. These hypotheses, drawn from the literature and discussed…