This study continued a project aiming at empirically investigating the Plurilingual Creativity paradigm. It looked at the mediating role of tolerance and intolerance of ambiguity in the relation between plurilingualism/pluriculturalism and creativity. To test the research hypotheses, we recruited 261 participants using a simple random sampling…

This paper describes a narrative-based design framework that organizes three narrative elements (i.e., storyline, character, and quest) to support a contextual game-based environment for language learning. Using this design framework, a PlanetAdventure system was developed to examine its feasibility and its effects on student language learning. A…

This study tested the effect of Spanish-accented speech on sentence comprehension in children with different degrees of Spanish experience. The hypothesis was that earlier acquisition of Spanish would be associated with enhanced comprehension of Spanish-accented speech. Three groups of 5-6-year-old children were tested: monolingual…

This study aimed to elicit students' perceptions regarding their language-learning strategy preferences (LLSPs). A sample of 198 college-level students participated. Data were collected through a questionnaire and interviews. The findings reveal that language students tend to adopt a holistic view of the learning task and relate it to real-life…

This article reports on a case study that investigates the learning preferences and strategies of Chinese students learning English as a second language (ESL) in Canadian school settings. It focuses on the interaction between second language (L2) learning methods that the students have adopted from their previous learning experience in China and…

This study is an examination of language learning motivation and multilingual status in the Turkish English as a foreign language (EFL) context. Using Dörnyei's L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) framework, specifically the ideal and ought-to L2 selves, this study examines the relationship between motivation and two operationalizations of…

The research reported in this article explores the relationship between Dörnyei's (2005, 2009) Second Language Motivational Self System (L2MSS) and the L2 proficiency level of Saudi learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Male and female participants (N = 360) responded to a questionnaire relating to the main components of L2MSS, the…

Given that private tutoring has received increasing attention in research as a global educational phenomenon with significant implications for educational practices, it has become necessary for TESOL researchers and practitioners to become aware of its impact on language learning and pedagogy. This study investigated the learning experience and…

In this paper, we discuss the problem of articulation between levels in the educational system, as the transition from a rather more communicative, content-based and holistic approach to English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching at primary level to more formal and explicit ways of foreign language (FL) teaching at secondary is often experienced…

This paper investigates the use of "Facebook" for out-of-class, informal language learning. 190 New Zealand university language students (Chinese, German, French, Japanese and Spanish) completed an anonymous online questionnaire on (1) their perceptions of "Facebook" as a multilingual environment, (2) their online writing…

This article aims to address the practical question of whether there is educational value to embedding second-language (L2) learning experiences in intergenerational contexts. In particular, a case study was conducted of a novel, university-based ESL program in Hong Kong in which a group of older adult volunteers with a high level of English…

This article examines the claim that a fully immersive English language learning experience can be ensured by universities engaged in transnational education through offshore campuses. Taking as a case study one South East Asian offshore campus of a Western university, the inquiry was designed to discover the extent to which students did, in…

Learning opportunities offered by digital games have become an important research topic in recent years. Language learning is one of the areas in which games could prosper but the question then is whether these should be specialized language-learning games or commercial off-the-shelf games for entertainment. The goal of this paper is to compare…

While there have been a number of studies exploring the impact of time-on-task and language background on language achievement for both English and other languages, the Student Achievement in Asian Languages Education (SAALE) project constitutes the first systematic attempt to gather empirical evidence of these effects for four Asian languages…

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the relationships between working memory (WM) and three commonly used learning strategies or conditions in the nature of proficiency among adult L2 Russian learners. Based on the aptitude-learning condition interaction framework articulated by Robinson (2002b), the study identifies two types of…