There is a need for a continued focus on language learning in advanced language classes beyond the foundations that are formed in the beginning and intermediate levels. Despite this need, little work exists on how to implement language-focused instruction in upper-level courses. As one possible solution, this paper outlines a functional,…

This study investigated how students' self-reported individual differences predicted second language (L2) spoken discussion task output, an objective behavioral outcome, in the Japanese university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. Although numerous psychological theories are used as a rationale for task-based language teaching (TBLT),…

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) designed according to the First Principles of Instruction (FPI). A 15-h Japanese CLIL course was implemented. A total of 16 university students attended the course and data were collected from multiple sources, including learning tests,…

Machine translation post-editing (MTPE) has become a common practice in translation industry, which calls much attention in academia. However, little research has been carried out to investigate students' cognitive and motivational individual differences in MTPE. The purpose of the present study was to examine the predictive effects of…

This qualitative study uses a semi-structured interview to investigate why Saudi learners stop learning a third language and whether these reasons are permanent or temporary. The participants were six female master's degree students who had experience learning a third language outside of formal education or informal settings. This study identifies…

This article proposes a computer-based approach to effectively enhance second language learners' willingness to communicate in the target language. To do so, we implemented a conversational agent embedding a dialogue management model based on two conversational strategies (i.e., communication strategies and affective backchannels), serving as…

The role played by working memory (WM), that is, the capacity to temporarily maintain and cognitively process information, has been extensively studied in second language (L2) research. In a general sense, WM has been shown to be related to various aspects of L2 learning and use; however, little information is available regarding its relationship…

This article reports on a study investigating the role of scientific concepts in the metapragmatic awareness of Norwegian primary EFL learners following a four-week instructional intervention on requesting informed by sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 2012/1934). Through introducing pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic dimensions of requesting, the…

The purpose of this study was to analyze six English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' trajectories of discriminating near-synonyms in a data-driven learning task. Since the learners find it considerably difficult to learn subtle meaning differences of near-synonyms, corpus-based data-driven learning may provide an opportunity for them to…

Usage-based linguistics posits that communicative functions, including pragmatics, are at the core of language (Tomasello, 1992). It is surprising, then, that pragmatics is rarely systematically included in second language curricula (e.g., Bardovi-Harlig, 2017), especially since pragmatics instruction has been shown to significantly contribute to…

This study investigated the manner in which 56 infant educators used language to direct the behaviour of infants (defined as children aged birth to two years), on the basis that the ways in which educators frame their commands represent an important component of young children's learning experiences. Underpinned by systemic functional linguistic…

Inverted ("flipped") pedagogical models are rapidly increasing in prevalence within language education. These models are particularly relevant for language learning given that they promote learner agency and encourage the use of artifacts to mediate cognition. However, the specific methods used in these models are often not anticipated…

This paper seeks to address some key issues, which can influence as well as determine the nature of teaching and learning practices in an ELT classroom directly or indirectly. This paper views an EFL or ESL classroom as a dynamic and multi-dimensional platform open to different interpretations of teaching and learning. Factors like teachers'…

This book examines the role of interlocutors and their individual differences (IDs) in second language (L2) development from four theoretical lenses: the cognitive-interactionist approach, sociocultural theory, the variationist approach, and complex dynamic systems theory. A theoretical overview to each approach is written by a preeminent scholar…

This volume sheds empirical light on Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) by providing five sets of analyses of two longitudinal, interactional datasets, involving two dyads exchanging emails over one academic semester. The collective study on CDST is the first of its kind, in that it delves into multiple subsystems of learner language,…