Second language acquisition (SLA) research offers valuable insight on how languages are learned and how they coexist and influence each other. Sign language learners offer unique perspectives on SLA, allowing researchers to test theories that are otherwise constrained by access to only one modality. Current literature on sign language learning…

This paper provides a research synthesis of intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) -- that is, cloud-based virtual assistants such as Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri -- for second language (L2) learning. The article also offers a theoretical justification for the use of IPAs in language learning and outlines the affordances and constraints of…

Extramural exposure, through activities such as watching TV, gaming, networking, and online reading, has become an important source of vocabulary acquisition in English as a foreign language, particularly when learners' first language (L1) has many cognates with English. Our study examined extramural vocabulary acquisition of 10th-grade L1…

The emerging interest in self-directed learning (SDL) in the context of language learning has focused less on specific learning strategies selected by language learners based on their discoveries. Anchored on Boyatzis' Theory of Self directed Learning (2001) and Classifications of Language Learning Strategies by O'Mally and Chamot (1990), and…

The current longitudinal case study investigated emotional and motivational states in a self-directed and mobile-assisted language learning environment. The participant of the study was a highly motivated language learner who used the Busuu application for a period of one year to learn German. Tracing the participant's emotional and motivational…

Writing in an L2 presents particular challenges (e.g., acculturating into new conventions) but also opportunities (e.g., the Joseph Conrad phenomenon, Scovel, 1988). In general, writing plays diverse roles in social, professional, and academic contexts and can significantly influence a writer's life experiences. Neither L1 nor L2 writers…

This research set out to evaluate video material contained within the English learning coursebook "English M1" which was designed for self-access use. "English M1" is a Brazilian government-sponsored piece of material available for free. It is the first stage of a course that learners would complete independently, unmediated by…

English learner (EL) students face the challenge of learning a new language while simultaneously learning other subjects. Similarly, English as Second Language (ESL) teachers have the added responsibility of teaching academic language in STEM subjects to EL students, in addition to language teaching. This article explores how a participant…

This study explores discourse markers (DMs) as they occur with compliment responses (CRs) in classroom interactions among Iranian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Using the tenets of conversation analysis, this paper draws on data from teacher-student interactions in several private language institutes in Iran. After audiorecording…

Theories of embodied cognition describe language acquisition and representation as dependent on sensorimotor experiences that are collected during learning. Whereas native language words are typically acquired through sensorimotor experiences, foreign language (L2) words are often learned by reading, listening or repeating bilingual word lists.…

This study explores how school professionals manage the challenges of educating newly arrived migrant students (NAMS), with a focus on the transition from the Language Introduction Program (LIP) to a national upper secondary school program or alternative forms of education. We draw on the theoretical framework of Inhabited Institutionalism to…

This paper presents the findings of a descriptive multiple case study carried out with six teachers of English in five public secondary schools in a city in northwestern Mexico aimed to determine how writing was taught. A mixed methods approach was followed with an embedded design in which qualitative data had increased weight and quantitative…

Second language (L2) research suggests that synchronous written corrective feedback (SWCF) in online collaborative writing tasks can help improve L2 linguistic knowledge and writing skills. Following the rise of online collaborative writing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this exploratory study examines L2 learners' perceptions of receiving…

Production-oriented Approach (POA) is an indigenous pedagogy with Chinese characteristics proposed by Chinese linguistic professor Wen Qiufang. It is one of the most popular research hotspots in English teaching in China, aiming to solve the problems of the "input-output separation" and "instrumentality over humanity" in…

Despite high aspirations to pursue personal development, self-sustaining employment, socio-economic integration, and stable futures in their host, origin, or resettlement countries through higher education, intersecting legal, economic, linguistic, and sociocultural barriers severely constrain refugees' options. There is limited research on how…