Second language (L2) researchers have often studied how L2 speaking anxiety and self-confidence influence various aspects of the language learning process whereas the sources of these emotions have remained under-explored. Drawing on Dweck's (1999) theory of motivation, the present study examined L2 learners' mindsets (beliefs about the…

International teaching assistants (ITAs) often encounter challenges, and with the popularization of English medium instruction (EMI) in international higher education contexts, these problems are no longer restricted to English-speaking countries. Against this backdrop and drawing on the concept of identity paradox, the author presents an…

If extraneous information leads listeners to biased judgements, then their speech perceptions are likely to manifest distortion in that direction. This phenomenon is known as reverse linguistic stereotyping (RLS), which has been confirmed by 25 years of empirical study. Recent research on effects of listener background on ratings of speaker…

Despite their centrality to undergraduate teaching in U.S. universities, few studies focus on ITA's and their experiences within ITA training classes. Through a multiple case study of two In-Service ITA's (China, Taiwan) investments (Darvin & Norton, 2015) in one such class, it became clear how idiosyncratic are perception of these courses:…

"Accent work" is a term used to describe the preparatory work that professional actors undergo to attain a speech accent for a role. However, this article presents international teaching assistants (ITAs) as another set of workers who engage in their own type of accent work. Since the accents of ITAs are constructed as…

This study investigated how the NAO robot as a teaching assistant affects the way university students learn vocabulary and their attitudes towards it. A mixed method approach was followed to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. A quasi-experimental design, including a pre-test and a post-test, was employed to explore the impact of the…

The highly diverse character of US universities provides an opportunity for writing programs to (re)examine the extent to which their current administrative, curricular, and pedagogical practices support a growing student population with unique linguistic, cultural, and educational backgrounds, resources, and needs. This dissertation research…

This study investigated U.S. undergraduates' perceptions of non-native speakers' (NNS) speech which had received 100% proficiency scores on the TOEFL iBT test. Fifty-five U.S. undergraduates rated 20 speech samples for comprehensibility, accentedness, and acceptability. The speech samples were also analyzed for acoustic fluency. Descriptively,…

This study examined the international doctoral students' perceptions of graduate advising and communication with their advisors in online learning environments during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used semi-structured interviews to investigate how international doctoral students at Auburn University perceive their advising relationships with…

The higher education community often views international students through a homogenous lens. To challenge the cultural norms set by the dominant group, researchers need to explore how these norms affect international teaching assistants (ITAs). The following questions guided the current study: (a) How do ITAs construct intersecting identities of…

Linguistic stereotyping research posits that native speaker favor standard variety speakers which results in discrimination against non-native speakers (Rubin 2002, Kang & Rubin, 2009). However, it may be possible to improve native speaker attitudes towards accented speech, and through that, accented speakers. Research on improving native…

Drawing on qualitative data gathered from interviews with twelve doctoral students in a composition program at a mid-size public university in the Northeast United States, this article documents graduate teacher-scholars' conceptual understanding of translingual pedagogy in the context of college writing instruction. I analyze and describe the…

In countries such as the United States and Canada, an increasing number of non-native English speaking graduate students work in the capacity of university teaching assistants. Over the past several decades, a number of communication challenges between non-native English speaking International Teaching Assistants (ITAs) and native English-speaking…

There is a pressing need for language instructors and programs to develop a critical consciousness of how teaching and institutional practices may perpetuate harmful language ideologies and an urgency to promote structural changes (e.g., at the curricular level, via teaching training and equitable pedagogies) to meet the needs of both L2 and…

Informed by Poststructuralist Theory, this study investigated the impact of stereotyped notions of English on three doctoral Asian teaching assistants' (TAs) professional identities development as instructors at a US university. This article employed a qualitative approach to examine the Asian TAs' views of standard and stereotyped views of…