A growing body of research has examined the incorporation of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) into Second Language (L2) instruction in various settings. Despite pedagogical innovations in L2 classrooms, little research has embodied retrospective explorations of the impact of ELF interventions with concrete instruments to measure the exact change…

This paper examines the role of metacognitive awareness in academic writing in a mixed-method study. In addition to validating an instrument assessing metacognitive knowledge and strategies in the context of academic writing, the study uncovered how Chinese multilingual students' metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive strategies, and metacognitive…

Studies have shown that raising L2 learners' metaphor awareness contributes to the acquisition of figurative language, which fosters students' development of language skills. However, the instruments measuring metaphor awareness, in the majority of relevant research, did not seem to have undergone proper methodological procedures for checking…

This study investigates how task complexity affects native speakers' and second language (L2) learners', and experts' perceptions of task difficulty in writing tasks. It also explores how task complexity influences English native speakers' and L2 learners' linguistic complexity in their writing. Ninety participants performed one simple and one…

This study employed a mixed-methods approach to explore the attitudes of second language (L2) learners and L2 teachers toward the use of learners' first language (L1) in L2 classrooms. Interview data were collected from Japanese college students (n = 91) and their English teachers (n = 9) to identify salient themes related to the reasons for…

This study investigates the motivations of both heritage and non-heritage students of Portuguese at two universities in Rhode Island where Portuguese-speaking migrant communities have settled and their language has strong visibility. Attention is drawn to motivation since it is known to be a significant factor in the development of linguistic…

There is now increased awareness of the need to challenge 'common sense' ideologies of language in education, turning language classrooms into spaces of analysis and liberation. Key to achieving this goal is equipping students with the skills needed to navigate diverse, complex discourses about language (critical thinking), as well as fostering an…

This study explores the relationships between learner autonomy (LA), self-directed learning (SDL), goal commitment (GC) and academic achievement in English and also examines the scores which Turkish EFL learners obtained on selected measures according to demographic variables. The participants were 248 English-major Turkish undergraduate students.…

Foreign language learners' failure in learning English despite many years of language instruction in state schools has been a widely discussed topic. However, relatively few studies have attempted to explore possible effects of failure attributions and metacognitive awareness on language learning. As metacognitive awareness is an acknowledged…

Teachers in France working with (emergent) bilingual pupils often not only feel ill-equipped to provide the specific support these learners require, but also find it difficult to accept that languages other than French have a right and role as learning resources in the classroom. Challenging such monolingual mindsets whilst helping teachers to…

Research shows that gestures help L2 learners compensate for shortcomings in their second language, aid in the language learning process, and facilitate successful classroom communication between teachers and students . Despite this, there has been little research into whether L2 learners can benefit from classroom activities to raise their…

Research in metadiscourse has foregrounded the multiple ways in which writers build a relationship with readers through internal discourse. Yet, few studies consider the relationship between the texts writers create and the metalinguistic thinking which informs their decision-making as writers. This paper draws on data from a larger study which…

This study explores how primary school children develop their metacognitive knowledge and vocabulary knowledge and how both types of knowledge are dynamically correlated from 1st to 4th grade. The longitudinal sample included 426 first-grade students (M = 6.6 years, SD = 0.51; 50.2% boys, 49.7% girls) from five public primary schools in China. A…

This study reports on the journal entries written by undergraduate students (N = 42) after participating in Spanish as a foreign language classes with a critical pedagogy orientation which unfolded from the exploration of homophobia in a poem by Luis Cernuda. Students were requested to express their views on how the lessons had impacted their FL…

Research on language acquisition has long examined the native/non-native English-speaking teacher (NEST/NNEST) debate, particularly in relation to how teachers are perceived. Despite this body of research, the point of view of the parents has been disregarded, as well as the analysis of crucial variables such as students attending extracurricular…