Motivation and anxiety are two crucial factors influencing learning outcomes, yet limited empirical research on expectancy-value theory can be found within previous literature about Chinese undergraduate students studying English as a foreign language (EFL). Moreover, few studies have examined the interaction between motivation and skill-specific…

Many bilingual preservice teachers in Texas are not able to get certified because of language limitations. Although they have grown up listening and speaking their native language at home, with family and friends, many face challenges when using academic language in a formal setting. There is a mismatch between their language level and their…

Recent empirical research in sociolinguistics and social psychology has established the existence of the socio-psychological phenomena known as linguistic stereotyping (LS) and reverse linguistic stereotyping (RLS), which have an implicit or unconscious effect on listeners' perception of speech and speakers. Despite such findings, little research…

This study examines how immigrants' enculturation/acculturation, language use, and parenting were linked to their oral and written language proficiencies in multilingual Hong Kong (speak English, speak Cantonese, read and write Chinese). Participants in this study included 655 immigrant parents (from Pakistan, Nepal, India, Philippines, Indonesia,…

This article examines visiting Chinese undergraduate students' engagement with the linguistic landscape (LL) in the city of Edinburgh as they participated in a University summer school. A pedagogical approach was taken involving capturing LL on display during a 'camera safari'; reflecting on questions through dialogic discussion and in writing and…

Global efforts for standards-based linguistic assessment increasingly hold that examinees should be tested in the language with which they are most familiar. Yet, language use still occurs differently from its characterization in exams, even as exams are increasingly developed in historically minoritized languages. Drawing from two years of…

As a result of the fact that judgments of non-native speech are closely tied to social biases, oral proficiency ratings are susceptible to error because of rater background and social attitudes. In the present study we seek first to estimate the variance attributable to rater background and attitudinal variables on novice raters' assessments of L2…

This study investigated the correlation between oral English language proficiency, primary language use, and sense of efficacy by Chinese-speaking teachers using English medium of instruction (EMI) in Chinese university courses. Twenty-one Chinese EMI university teachers participated in the study by completing an online survey to find how these…

"Cunt" is currently one of the most offensive words in the English language and is usually censored in the English press and media. The present study looks firstly at differences between 1159 first (L1) and 1165 foreign (LX) users of English in their perceived understanding of the word, its perceived offensiveness and their self-reported…

A key factor in providing quality education is the main language of instruction (M-LoI). This creates a challenging situation for education policymakers in post-colonial multilingual countries such as South Africa. Language-in-education policies must valorise indigenous languages and redress their exclusion in past education systems while ensuring…

Literacy is increasingly essential for Americans' health, economic well-being, civic engagement, access to higher education, and social participation. Rapid growth in technology and globalization have increased demand for both universal literacy and higher levels of literacy than in the recent past. Yet national and international assessments…

Expanding upon Yosso's theory of "community cultural wealth," this interview-based qualitative study finds that Mexican youth in an urban two-year English immersion high school here referred to as Literacy High are assisted academically by what Yosso would call their "aspirational capital" and what the present article theorizes…

This article draws on data from an ethnographic multiple-case study on the identity, positioning, and interactions of Spanish as a heritage language (SHL) students in regular Canadian high school Spanish classes. Interview and classroom observational data are discursively analyzed to reveal the presence of a form of language ideology that equates…

Analyzes linguistically "naive" native Spanish speakers' evaluations of American students' performance on oral Spanish interviews. Results found considerable divergence in how evaluators viewed particular candidates' proficiency, although evaluators were consistently more strict in their evaluations than was a trained rater. (Author/CB)

Suggests some considerations crucial to maintaining and improving the current acceptance and promotion of foreign language instruction, focusing particularly on notions involving functional language learning and oral language skills. (CB)