Research on the experience of growing older with autism is very limited. In this study, 13 people with autism aged over 50 years participated in semi-structured interviews about their experiences of diagnosis, social support and getting older. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Three overarching themes were generated: difference,…

Being a student describes a multi-component reality with both individualistic and social inclusions. How this reality is established and how subjects position themselves in their current educational environments historically, culturally, and sociologically are one of the most controversial topics of educational sciences. Therefore, this study…

This study explored the interplay of diversity experiences and critical thinking of Pakistani college students and determined how the classroom experience supported and exposed students to diversity and critical thinking. The researcher conducted teachers' interviews to gather data in a college in Pakistan. Teachers were asked to respond to a…

This paper presents an exploratory-interpretive study of two multilingual adults acquiring Norwegian through extensive reading. The study examined social and cognitive aspects of language acquisition, and individual factors, such as the language learning behaviors, experiences, attitudes, and beliefs of the participants. The data were collected…

As we face increasing accountability in higher education, how we measure student learning should exceed the calls for an account of learning that places students at the center. Qualitative approaches to assessment and theoretical underpinnings gleaned from the qualitative research tradition may provide a way that we can support a more holistic…

I argue that Ricoeur's "preunderstandings" can be used as a heuristic to aid researchers who collect narratives as data (1) to identify cultural meanings that become resources for participants' positioning work, (2) to ground the identified cultural meanings in participants' experiences, and (3) to understand participants'…

Individual differences researchers have recently begun to investigate the concept of emotions and their role in language learning (MacIntyre, Gregersen, & Mercer, 2016). Our aim is to report on a project exploring English majors' feelings related to their use of foreign languages. Using a qualitative research design, participants were asked to…

This study elucidates the experiences of HBCU (historically Black colleges and universities) students who are racially Black, but differ in nativity and nationality from their Black American peers. The purpose is to examine Black HBCU international students' sense of belonging on campus. This study engages qualitative individual interviews with…

The purpose of this study is to examine the reasons why Japanese visiting scholars visited the United States, their activities and experiences during their visits, their challenges and support for their transition, and personal and contextual factors that affected their transition in different stages. Although short-term international scholar…

While language learners and teachers have long known that individual differences (IDs) among students result in differential learning, we still do not know how traditional ID variables interact or the specific impact each one has on language learning. The present study proposes that instead of looking at isolated variables, researchers should…

The present study uses oral interviews with foreign language learners in search of influential factors in their language learning histories. The sample for the study was drawn from a larger sample of intermediate/advanced learners of English as a foreign language with a minimum of 10 years of exposure/instruction. The sample includes 6 early…

Due to the growing number of plurilingual learners in the world today (Hammarberg, 2010), the present multiple case study examines four plurilingual participants' beliefs toward first language (L1) and second language (L2) mediation in the acquisition of French as a third language (L3). During a 16-week classroom-based study in a French university…

The purpose of this study was to understand how White students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds (operationalized as students who are both low income and of the first generation in their family to attend college) experience and navigate social class during college. This was a qualitative research study employing a phenomenological research…

Student engagement is required for effective distance learning. Amongst other things, it is built by fostering connectedness amongst tutors, academic advisors, and students, and by providing high-quality content and materials through appropriate technologies. Students are more likely to succeed when they experience these different aspects as a…

Affective factors in language learning have long attracted attention. While research findings indicate substantial links between affect and achievement, further inquiry into the role and contribution of affect in language learning has been limited by a narrow focus on single emotions and on the disruptive effects of emotion. Drawing on social…