While language learners and teachers have long known that individual differences (IDs) among students result in differential learning, we still do not know how traditional ID variables interact or the specific impact each one has on language learning. The present study proposes that instead of looking at isolated variables, researchers should…

In a previous study, we demonstrated that the experience of learning a new language positively influences the metacognitive awareness of young plurilingual children in terms of willingness to communicate and strategic competence. In the present study, we expanded the analyses of the observations of 101 children to examine two hypotheses. First, we…

The purpose of this article is to illustrate the potential contribution of a multimodal approach to English language teaching and learning in the educational context. Collaborating with English as a second language (ESL) and classroom teachers to explore ways to improve pedagogy in multilingual, multicultural schools, the authors discovered many…

As an important and a challenging source-based writing task, synthesizing offers rich opportunities to explore the connections between reading and writing. In this article, we report findings from a qualitative study of two Chinese students' learning experiences with academic synthesis writing in a university ESL composition course. Specifically,…

This article draws on research carried out in a Chinese complementary school in Scotland. The research focused on children's experience of learning to read Chinese and on the strategies that they used to support their learning. Here, I provide an account of one particular aspect of this research, namely the creation of a dialogic space for…

Task based learning (TBL) continues to evolve as information and communication technology (ICT) inspired tools and teaching approaches afford the possibilities of transforming students' learning experiences by heightening their motivation and sense of autonomy, and in turn, their vocabulary development. To capture this synergy, teachers will need…

The paper proposes a new conceptual perspective for understanding students' engagement in L2 learning, in particular the concept of interest development in learning English. It investigates situational features that trigger interest in learning English, employing data from interviews with non-native English speaking students studying in TESOL…

This article illustrates the pedagogical value of incorporating parallel corpora in foreign language education. It explores the development of a Chinese/English parallel corpus designed specifically for pedagogical application. The corpus tool was created to aid language learners in reading comprehension and writing development by making foreign…

We examined how age of acquisition in Spanish heritage speakers and L2 learners interacts with implicitness vs. explicitness of tasks in gender processing of canonical and non-canonical ending nouns. Twenty-three Spanish native speakers, 29 heritage speakers, and 33 proficiency-matched L2 learners completed three on-line spoken word recognition…

Instructional support has been widely discussed as a strategy to optimize student-learning experiences. This study examines instructional support within the context of a multimedia language-learning environment, with the predominant focus on learners' perceptions of captioning support for listening comprehension. The study seeks to answer two…

This study investigated English speakers' perception of Mandarin sounds, aiming to answer three major questions. First, does the perceived similarity between Mandarin and English sounds affect learners' acquisition of Mandarin sounds? Second, do the groups with different amounts of Mandarin experience differ in their perception of…

Having a clear idea of the knowledge in the heritage language that a student brings to the classroom is essential for a successful language-learning experience; for that reason, research in heritage language education has been focusing increasingly on assessment issues, especially language placement exams. Professionals debate whether assessment…

This article explores the idea of portfolios as a way to collect evidence of pupils' learning and achievement in their language learning in the primary school. The emphasis is on portfolio work as an active and reflective process to underpin and support learning and to show evidence of achievement and progression. Pupil choice and reflexivity are…

Conducting research into young learner experiences of school poses methodological challenges which are compounded when, as is increasingly the case, the classroom interaction is multilingual and the research methods are participatory. Each new or adapted method sheds further light on the issues that can arise. Researcher-initiated role play is a…

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…