This study investigates the experiences of an international graduate student at a South Korean university via positional identity theory. It reveals the positional identities that evolved out of the student's experiences studying the Korean language prior to starting her graduate degree, and during her time as a graduate student. Applying…

To educate multilingual global citizens and follow the multilingual turn in language education, universities are faced with the challenge of developing their language pedagogies. This article reports on a study conducted in the context of university language studies that take a multilingual perspective to learning languages for academic and…

The research on language dynamics in the context of migration and integration has been dominated by applied linguists and educators, who described and measured native language attrition and emerging bilingualism among immigrants and their children. In parallel, sociolinguists discussed the role of language ideology/policy of the host society and…

This study investigates pronoun interpretation by second language (L2) learners of English, focusing on whether first language (L1) transfer and/or processing difficulty affect L2 learners' pronoun resolution. It is hypothesized that L2 learners' non-target performance in L2-pronoun interpretation is attributable to two sources. The first is the…

Although there is a body of research on the teacher first language (L1) use in English-medium-instruction (EMI) classrooms, very little research has probed into how international students perceive local teacher L1 use and their learning practices in the English as a lingua franca (ELF) context. To address the gap, the present case study explored a…

Purpose: The study explored how Feifei, a 3-year-old trilingual girl living in England, uses touchscreens across her multiple languages (English, Mandarin, and Bahasa Indonesia), exploring how her languages and social interactions interact with her touchscreen use. Design/methodology/approach: The research adopts a case study approach, using…

This study contributes to research on the doctoral experience of international students who are parents, and for whom the temporary experience of living elsewhere is both a challenge and a resource for all members of the family. The study investigated how a group of these students positioned themselves to their children's English and home language…

While translanguaging has been adequately researched in various educational sectors, there is scant research at the primary-level English-L2 classroom in the Chinese educational context. Within a monolingual English-only immersion policy favoured by the state in China for many decades now, translanguaging has been a debated issue recently. Within…

The paper focuses on the communication of three bilingual couples, each speaking a different lingua franca (LF). Positioning theory offers a methodological framework to explain language choice in interactive positioning within personal contacts. A comparative view of the couples' storylines benefits from the differences between them. The analysis…

Numerous studies suggest that bilinguals demonstrate smaller vocabularies than monolinguals, and that bilinguals' breadth of vocabulary knowledge - both expressive and receptive - is linked to input frequencies in each language [e.g. Hoff, E., S. Welsh, S. Place, and K. Ribot. 2014. "Properties of Dual Language Input That Shape Bilingual…

The present study tested whether the switch costs of production-based language switching tasks by trilinguals are due to competition from outside language schemas or from within language systems. We recruited 90 Tibetan-Chinese-English trilinguals in 10th grade in a Tibetan middle school in China to name digits and number words using different…

The recent focus on Communication Language Teaching (CLT) seems to have fueled a belief in an English-only classroom. It appears to have fostered the notion that English should be taught exclusively in classrooms. In EFL classes, however, the views of teachers and students towards the use of English-only instruction have received a comparatively…

In Vietnamese EFL classes, teachers manage classroom interaction and use their language as the course object. Classroom language is the primary source of foreign language learning and a tool for teaching. Understanding teachers' language can improve students' learning and make better use of teacher talk, requiring theoretical and practical…

We evaluated external and internal sources of variation in second language (L2) and native language (L1) proficiency among college students. One hundred and twelve native-English L2 learners completed measures of L1 and L2 speaking proficiency, working memory, and cognitive control and provided self-ratings of language exposure and use. When…

Using written texts elicited from students with different proficiency levels, we studied the acquisition of nominal cases in Russian as a second language. We established the order in which cases were acquired (nominative, locative, accusative, genitive, instrumental, and dative), as well as certain characteristics of their acquisition…