While task repetition is effective for improving oral fluency, some teachers are reluctant to use it in their classrooms due to the alleged negative perceptions of learners toward repetitive practice. To address this concern, the participants in the current study completed a posttask questionnaire probing their perceptions toward task repetition…

There are calls for developing ways to teach language that can inspire and motivate students to study additional languages. While previous research has pointed toward benefits of arts-based activities in language learning, combining language and dance has mainly been studied with younger language learners. Contextualized within the course…

The use of films as teaching and learning materials can provide a variety of opportunities for interaction in second language classrooms. Research on the usage of films in language-learning tasks to provide opportunities for learning and interaction, however, is scarce. Drawing on a database of video-recorded interactions in an upper-secondary…

In order to conceptualize materials used in pair-work activities from a sociomaterialist perspective, this study examined the moment-by-moment unfolding of 67 pair-work interactions in beginner-level Japanese-as-a-foreign-language classrooms. The types of pair-work materials used in the focal classrooms--either textbook or teacher-designed…

This systematic review synthesizes the literature (involving 62 empirical studies) regarding the effectiveness of cognitive linguistics-inspired language pedagogies (CL-ILPs) on second language (L2) learning. It begins with an overview of the main theoretical tenets of cognitive linguistics followed by a description of the data selection, coding,…

Integrating concepts and techniques from ethnomethodology and sociomaterialism, this article investigates the observable material processes involving human action and place-based contexts of language use enabled by locative media. The focal pedagogical intervention utilized mobile augmented reality (AR) activities, the development of which was…

The present meta-analysis aimed to summarize the extent to which second language vocabulary is learned from the most frequently researched word-focused activities: flashcards, word lists, writing, and fill-in-the-blanks. One hundred effect sizes from 22 studies were included in meta-regression analyses and administered separately for the…

Using the framework of conversation analysis, this study investigated the interactional workings of laughter in task-based interactions. The analysis was drawn from 160 cases of pair work interactions, collected in 2nd-semester Japanese-as-a-foreign-language classrooms. The pair work activities examined in this study are mostly grammar-focused,…

In a series of articles Dörnyei and his colleagues (Dörnyei, Ibrahim, & Muir, 2015; Dörnyei, Muir, & Ibrahim, 2014; Muir & Dörnyei, 2013) describe the phenomenon of a period of intense and enduring motivation in pursuit of a highly desired personal goal or vision. These surges of motivational energy, which they call "Directed…

In line with recent Conversation Analytic work on language learning as situated practice, this article investigates how interactants can create language learning opportunities for themselves and others in and through social interaction. The study shows how the participants of "Big Brother Finland," a reality TV show, whose main…

This study examines possible connections between second language competency and frequency and type of gesture use (illustrators, compensatory illustrators, adaptors, emblems, regulators, and affect displays). To this end, 75 students enrolled in beginning, intermediate, and advanced college-level Spanish courses were videotaped while conversing in…

Students' approaches to vocabulary learning were surveyed in two distinct learning environments: one in which English was studied as a second language (ESL), and another where it was a foreign language (EFL). A questionnaire was administered to 47 ESL and 43 EFL students about their vocabulary-learning activities. Cluster analysis identified eight…

Reports on three studies of the learning strategies of adult students of second languages. The research identified two distinct approaches to vocabulary learning that differed in aspects relating to independent study, self-initiated learning activities, recording of lexical items studied, review of these records, and practice of vocabulary outside…

Focuses on the relationship between flow experiences and language learning. Flow theory suggests that flow experiences can lead to optimal learning. Findings suggest flow does exist in the foreign language classroom and that flow theory offers an interesting and useful framework for conceptualizing and evaluating language learning activities.…