In the vast literature on language attrition, studies on the role of extralinguistic factors in language retention, particularly concerning foreign language (FL) skills acquired in formal instructional contexts, are scarce. We address this issue by focusing on the impact of the frequency of FL use, both extramural and in the classroom, and…

The significance of the body in learning and speaking a foreign language is an under-researched topic in a field characterized by a strong focus on cognition and sociolinguistics. This paper is designed to contribute to a newly emerging line of inquiry addressing the move away from the pure linguistic approach towards a more humanistic…

Previous studies provided evidence for a connection between language processing and language change. We add to these studies with an exploration of the influence of lexical-distributional properties of words in orthographic space, semantic space, and the mapping between orthographic and semantic space on the probability of lexical extinction.…

Although research in Translation Studies has burgeoned in the last decades, the number of studies dealing with the role of foreign language teaching for translator and interpreter trainees is still scarce. With a view to filling this void, the present article reports on students' perspectives on foreign language learning as an inherent part of…

A compulsory foreign language in Finland starts now in Grade 1 instead of Grade 3. The change has forced teachers to adopt new teaching methods. As young learners are not yet literate, teaching should focus on oral skills and awareness of diversity. Video data from 19 early foreign language lessons of five English, German, or French teachers in…

The privileging of French and English in Canada has led to an official language policy that minimizes the country's long-established multilingual realities in favour of a socio-politically constructed linguistic and cultural duality. The impact of this policy directly shapes the linguistically diverse yet monoglossically constructed French…

Today's changing sociolinguistic reality of English calls for a shift in paradigm in the field of English language teaching. Therefore, this study aims to examine Moroccan EFL learners' (MEFLLs) attitudes towards World Englishes (WE) and native and non-native English-speaking teachers (NESTs & non-NESTs). Firstly, building on the assumption…

Linguistic risks are situations in which learners are pushed out of their comfort zone to use the target language in meaningful and authentic settings. This article outlines a novel pedagogical and research approach to language learning through linguistic risk-taking. I review the construct of linguistic risk from interdisciplinary perspectives…

At a meso level, families have shown an imperative role in language policy in general and language education in particular. Predicated on the theories of family language policy and a transdisciplinary framework for L2 development, this study was undertaken to explore what three generations of a family did with the foreign languages they had…

The current article studies the competencies of plurilingual students and how these competencies are exploited in the learning of French as a Foreign Language. Adopting a translanguaging theoretical approach, we argue that learners of foreign languages who already speak at least one other language have some linguistic competencies which manifest…

This is the first large-scale study of resources as a form of "language management" -- that is, a way of influencing children's language practices. We introduce the distinction between child-directed resources (i.e. those providing parents with opportunities to engage with their children in the languages they are transmitting) and…

Despite much research on how multilingual learners view the linguistic properties of language, how they perceive languages as cultural capital has been far less investigated. Drawing on the theories of social cognition, this study explores how multiple foreign language learners' impressions, as a lens to observe their multilingual awareness, are…

This study investigated the relationship between Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE), Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA), Out-of-Class Foreign Language Use (OCFLU) and learner factors (FL and FL proficiency level). Participants were 611 foreign language (FL) learners aged 16-72 at Spanish Official Language Schools. An online questionnaire was…

Many educators in immersion contexts support a policy of strict separation of languages in the classroom as the ideal model for second language acquisition and are reluctant to make connections between the dominant language, the target language and pupils' home languages. This can result in missed opportunities for drawing on pupils' entire…

Given their significance in daily life and frequent inclusion in clinical and educational assessments, children's narrative abilities merit investigation. The present study examines the narratives of children acquiring an additional language, adding to the more abundant studies of monolingual children. Sixty kindergartners (mean age 68 months)…