Understanding latent variables is essential in EFL research. This article examines key latent variables, such as linguistic competence, cognitive ability and socio-cultural factors. These variables play a crucial role in shaping EFL learning experiences and outcomes. Researchers can use methods such as exploratory factor analysis (EFA),…

This paper investigates how Hebrew is taught and perceived at American part-time Jewish schools, based on surveys of 519 school directors, classroom observations, and 376 surveys of parents, students, teachers, and clergy. We found misalignment of rationales and goals for Hebrew education among these stakeholders. Most schools emphasize Liturgical…

This dissertation uses the Conceptual Blending Hypothesis from the socio-cognitive method presented and refined by Kecskes (2002, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2020) to explain how the lexical choice of bilinguals differs across sociocultural situations. Quantitative (lexical density, lexical diversity, and lexical sophistication) and qualitative (lexical…

Study Abroad (SA) has often been referred as the ideal means to learn a second language due to the unique opportunities it brings to the learners. SA provides learners access to both formal and communicative learning contexts where they can interact with the members of the target language community. Existing studies identified various contextual…

World language classrooms in the United States have been significantly impacted by the physical and ideological disruptions experienced in recent history. Such disruptive times call for the reform of pedagogical practices to raise awareness of social justice issues and ignite real change both in and out of language classrooms. This essay outlines…

Population displacements have occurred in tremendous amounts in the last few decades due to the collapse in civil order of the neighbouring countries of Turkey. This situation not only created a need for researchers to deal with the social, psychological and economical aspects of this forced mobility, but also with the acculturation process of the…

This article considers the creation of online materials and a set of online processes for language teacher education at a distance in challenging contexts. The tool we used to mediate the processes was Skype. We used a Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) analysis to show how our activity system "expanded" as the materials and…

Context-dependent learning systems are now becoming more common in museums, as most students are equipped with mobile devices. As there has been little research into context-aware mobile applications in museums, the present study aims to investigate ubiquitous language learning in socio-cultural contexts, as well as recent trends in using…

The social basis of a teaching profession is created through behavioural and cultural patterns, specific artefacts, and their connection to certain institutional practices. The purpose of this study is to discover the conditions that structure the teaching profession in a cultural context and to find out what it is to be a foreign language (FL)…

Learning English as a foreign language (EFL) has long been regarded a challenging task. Said challenge is clearly evident in the many studies attempting to delineate some of the major problems faced by EFL learners while trying to uncover both the sources and the solutions. This paper turns to the Vygotskian approach to language learning, in…

This contribution gives an account of the results of an action research in which a task-based plurilingual programme was implemented with postgraduate students of Foreign Languages and International Business. Using a mixed-methods approach, combining questionnaire, interview and observation data, we sought to explore the degree to which the…

This study examined how language learners' preconceptions about a task influence their approaches to second language reading and the sociocultural basis for such preconceptions. Participants were 30 students learning English at a Korean university. The researchers told half of the participants that they would do a recall task after reading an…

Learning takes place in a particular social context and in interaction with others. One of the tools of mediation between the learner and the subject to be learned is talk. In a teacher training context, it is through the use of particular talk that trainers can guide and scaffold their trainees towards learning, and the basic premise is that…

This research endeavour is a major contribution to the current debate on the integration of non-native varieties into the school curriculum in non-native settings. Taking the specific case of Cameroon, this work rests on the solid assumption that the promotion of CamE to the detriment of Standard British English accent is definitely a fallacy. The…

With a focus on bilingual students' sociocultural learning and cultural assets, the current study presents in-depth interview data from five bilingual Latino/a graduating seniors at a public high school in California. All five participants come from immigrant families and are first-generation college-bound students. Their voices speak to the role…