The present study investigates the effects of two subsequent learning contexts, formal instruction (FI) at home and a 3-month stay abroad (SA), on vocabulary acquisition in English as a foreign language (EFL) writing and speaking. Data were collected from 30 Catalan/Spanish learners of English before and after each learning period using a written…

This study investigated how learners' ages affect their interpretation of the nonverbal behaviors (NVBs) of teachers and other students in distinguishing between questions and statements in the second language (L2) classroom. After watching 48 short video clips without sound in which three L2 teachers asked a question or made a statement with or…

The present mixed-methods study examined the role of learner appraisals of speech tasks in second language (L2) French fluency. Forty adult learners in a Canadian immersion program participated in the study that compared four sources of data: (1) objectively measured utterance fluency in participants' performances of three narrative tasks…

Adopting an "exploratory action research" design and drawing primarily on a reflective journal and interviews, this study recounts the process of supporting first-year Applied Languages students (learning French, German and Spanish) as they started to engage in language research. Certain challenges they faced in engaging with the…

Previous studies have shown that intentional learning through explicit instruction is effective for the acquisition of collocations in a second language (L2) (e.g. Peters, 2014, 2015), but relatively little is known about the effectiveness of incidental approaches for the acquisition of L2 collocations. The present study examined the incidental…

The purpose of this exploratory longitudinal study was to evaluate the efficacy of two new forms of recasts (i.e., elaborated and paraphrased recasts), each of which was designed to be more in accordance with contested views of input processing. The effectiveness of the two new forms of recasts was compared to that of conventional standard…

This article reports on a pedagogical project aimed at helping second language (L2) learners of English develop the ability to detect and appropriately interpret spoken sarcasm. The study used a pre- and posttest procedure to assess the development of learners' ability to both detect sarcasm and impute appropriate speaker intentions and attitudes…

While learners' engagement has been recognized as important for second language (L2) learning in task-based language teaching (TBLT), how engagement is manifest in learners' L2 use during task performance and how tasks can be designed to facilitate better engagement have not received enough attention in the L2 research. This study investigates the…

In view of ongoing debates about the future of task-based language teaching (TBLT) in contexts of English as a foreign language (EFL), we present a detailed case study of teacher beliefs and practices regarding TBLT conducted in a secondary school in mainland China with a long history of communicative and task-based teaching approaches. We used a…

Recently, situated willingness to communicate (WTC) has received increasing research attention in addition to traditional quantitative studies of trait-like WTC. This article is an addition to the former but unique in two ways. First, it investigates both trait and state WTC in a classroom context and explores ways to combine the two to reach a…

A review of the literature on language teaching reveals predominantly negative attitudes towards the use of translation in language teaching (TILT) (Cook, 2010). The purpose of this article is to explore the question of whether this negativity is reflected in the attitudes and behaviours of university lecturers engaged in language teaching as well…

English language teaching (ELT) currently occurring in diverse social settings points to the need to locate ELT in its social context. Many researchers have highlighted the need to explore local vernacular practices, in particular ELT practices in peripheral contexts. The present study investigates events in an English language classroom at a…

Inspiring teaching is the kind of pedagogy that motivates pupils to study autonomously, in their own time, of their own volition beyond the classroom, and may be particularly important for long-term endeavours such as learning a second language. This study aimed to find out the prevalence and nature of inspiring English language teaching in the…

The study explores the complexities associated with graduate language instructors' NS/NNS identities and teaching of culture. Researchers, who work mainly in the English as a Second/Foreign Language field, have been discussing this divide and have examined the advantages and disadvantages each group brings to the profession, but not the influence…

Studies show that incorporating self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies into foreign language teaching encourages the development of autonomous learners. However, interviews with teachers (n = 51) indicate that they mostly do not consider SRL in classroom practices. The present study attempts to highlight the significance of SRL in language…