Motivation is repeatedly found to be a determining factor for achievement in language acquisition at school. Decades of Self-determination theory (SDT) research has shown that students exhibit higher levels of engagement and positive learning behaviours when their basic psychological needs of competence, autonomy and relatedness are satisfied,…

The method of learner-created knowledge--where students engage with others in order to connect what they know with new knowledge to construct new meaning--ties into a broader support for learner autonomy in English language teaching (ELT) and learning. In countries like Cameroon, the social power orientation is mirrored in classroom practices, and…

Placement tests are used to support a particular need in a local context--to determine the best starting place for a student entering a specific programme of language study. This brief report will focus on the development of an innovative placement test with self-directed elements for our local needs at a university in Canada for students studying…

This paper proposes an updated framework for the evaluation of the computer-assisted language learning (CALL) framework, further developed from Chapelle (2001) and González-Lloret and Ortega (2014). Based on a review of prominent previous CALL evaluation frameworks, an exploration of relevant literature in formal evaluation and my own first-hand…

Generative AI offers significant opportunities for language learning. Tools like ChatGPT provide second language practice through chats in written or voice formats, with the learner specifying through prompts conversational parameters. AI can be instructed to give corrective feedback and create practice exercises. Using AI, instructors can build…

In this article, I offer my observations of the epistemological shifts that have taken place in the TESOL discipline as a result of the inexorable forces of globalisation. Specifically, the article highlights how the multicultural, multilingual, and multimodal nature of communication in the 21st century has disrupted various assumptions on how…

The purpose of this chapter is to present peer group mediation as one of the assessment practices within Teletandem Brasil, a Virtual Exchange (VE) project which uses tandem practice between university students of different countries for foreign language learning, carried out through videoconferencing tools. Peer group mediation sessions are…

This article describes the implementation of project-based learning in an upper-level German as a Foreign Language writing course at a North American university. This pedagogical approach focuses on active learning, learner autonomy, collaboration among peers, tangible products, and developing transferable skills with meaningful, real-world tasks…

With the research on fostering and cultivating learner autonomy in foreign/second language teaching and learning, teacher autonomy has gained momentum in the research of foreign language teacher education. There have been many theoretical research and discussions about the definitions of learner autonomy. Many researchers acknowledge that language…

When trying to promote empathy, it is not sufficient to merely learn about other people and cultures if we seek to understand them better (Case, 1993). As a language arts teacher and researcher, the author sought to explore the potential for multicultural literature to expand adolescent learners' worldviews and shape their perceptions as global…

Despite the increasing body of scholarship on multilingual children, little insight has been provided about what researchers need to consider when documenting and exploring young children's multilingual experiences. In this essay, I engage in a reflective account of designing and employing child-centered interview activities (i.e., drawing, mind…

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has increasingly made advances across various fields, including ELT. In this article we embrace an egalitarian dialogue framework to explore and understand the role of AI in language education. This format provides a useful backdrop for navigating the dual responses--enthusiasm and scepticism--by which…

Second language (L2) motivation research has been thriving for the past decades by emphasizing L2 motivation theories and describing the motivated learner, while relatively few studies have dealt with how to motivate students in a systematic way. Approaches in these studies either included investigations into the role of different motivational…

With the explicit goal of today's school students being active citizens, critically engaged and democratically minded over the long course of their schooling, the authors of this article focus on the notions of "rhetoric" and, relatedly, "rhetorical agency." While these notions are increasingly understood in secondary school…

We propose five research tasks targeting grammar teaching and learning, focusing on extending previous research and exploring under-studied features and contexts. The first two tasks outline replications and extensions of seminal studies on pedagogical grammar, Toth (2008) and Samuda (2001), designed to advance our understanding of the teacher…