Chinese students are frequently seen as passive learners because of their apparent reluctance to speak, particularly in English classrooms. However, this impression seems to reflect a stereotype which is likely to confound willingness to communicate (WTC) and communication behaviour. In this article we argue for more attention to be paid to…

Recent years have seen a growing research interest in the notion of directed motivational currents (DMCs) that defines highly intense motivational surges oriented to a much-desired goal of personal significance. However, the learner characteristics that induce individual-level variability in DMCs have yet to be explored. In particular, the role of…

Educational recommender systems have been supporting personalized learning in various ways. However, less discussion is conducted about whether and how to personalize the strategies to generate recommendations based on student differences. In this study, we aim at investigating how students judge recommendations based on different strategies, and…

The pivotal role of communication in second language (L2) learning has triggered plethoric research to identify factors that may influence learners' willingness to communicate (L2 WTC). However, there is a dearth of comparative research on L2 WTC, especially among EFL learners studying English at different educational institutions. To this end,…

As generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) increasingly penetrates language education, understanding learners' continued intention to use this technology becomes crucial. This study examines EFL learners' continuance intention to use GenAI for language learning through PLS-SEM and fsQCA methodologies. Participants were undergraduate EFL…

Latent Class and Latent Profile Models are widely used in psychological assessment settings, especially when individual differences are suspected to be related to unobserved class memberships, such as different personality types. This paper provides an easy-to-follow introduction and application of the methodology to the data collected as part of…

This study set out to explore levels of religious affect (measured by the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity) and personal affect (measured by the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire) among samples of Catholic students in the Republic of Ireland attending fifth- and sixth-year classes (N = 3015) and Catholic students in Northern Ireland…

Grit is among the individual difference (ID) variables that have recently come to the attention of researchers investigating second language acquisition. While some empirical evidence has been accumulated, it is clearly scant and limited, also because of the fact that many studies have looked into domain-general grit rather than this attribute as…

The foreign and second language (L2) learning process is shaped by a constellation of individual difference (ID) factors, some of which (e.g., age, anxiety, motivation, aptitude, learning styles, language learning strategies) have long been investigated by specialists, whereas others have only recently attracted their attention. One of such…

Retrieval practice is a learning strategy that has repeatedly been found to have positive effects on memory and learning. However, studies indicate that students rarely use retrieval practice on a voluntary basis. The objective of the present study was to examine students' self-regulated use of retrieval practice, and to determine whether sex and…

Relatively few studies in the field of second language acquisition have undertaken to investigate the interrelationships of constellations of individual difference variables. This is certainly true of how complexes of ID factors impact motivation to learn an additional language. In order to address this gap, the paper reports a study that examined…

Extensive research has been conducted to understand how accurately students monitor their studying and performance via metacognitive judgments. Moreover, the bases of students' metacognitive judgments are of interest. While previous results are quite consistent regarding the importance of performance for the accuracy of metacognitive judgments,…

Feedback can rarely enhance learning unless it is used; however, few studies have examined individual differences in students' engagement with feedback. The present study explored: (1) the extent to which personality variables and achievement goal orientation are associated with students' self-reported use of feedback; and (2) whether beliefs…

This study examines the relationship between personal differences and use of Facebook by pre-service teachers and compares the results from Turkey and the U.S. In addition to the "big five" personality traits, attitude, motivation, and specific motives are also examined among personal differences. The sample consisted of 762 pre-service…

Research on personality in the educational context has primarily focused on quantitative approaches, so this study used a mixed methods approach to capture the boarder aspects of students' learning processes. Goals were to ensure that student responses were reliable and normal (quantitative data), and to examine qualitative reflections on…