Learning a foreign language is not only an interesting cognitive process. It is also a means of communication with other peoples and becoming acquainted with their cultures. Therefore, learning a foreign language can contribute to the development of intercultural competence, i.e. the competence to manage new communication conditions and…

This study examines creative uses of emerging image-based social media for informal language learning. Adopting the ecological concept of affordances, it investigates new technological features on Instagram and TikTok and how they are utilised as resources for language learning. Using public data of Instagram photo/video and TikTok video posts,…

Structural equation modeling (SEM), as a flexible and versatile multivariate statistical technique, has been growingly used since its introduction in the 1970s. This article presents a methodological synthesis of the characteristics of the use of SEM in L2 research by examining the reporting practices in light of the current SEM literature to…

Grammatical and vocabulary knowledge (i.e., breadth and depth) are widely acknowledged as key predictors of reading comprehension in a second language (L2). However, it remains unclear how different aspects of vocabulary depth may independently contribute to L2 reading comprehension and how learners' proficiency may moderate the relative…

This study examines the impact of instructor-led (IL) versus self-access (SA) web-based pragmatic instruction on novice second language learners' (n = 28) awareness and oral production of Spanish apologies. Two sections of a second-semester Spanish course were assigned to either the IL or the SA group. The web-based resource "Dancing with…

In this study, we examined interaction behaviors between a small number of participants in two massive open online courses (MOOCs) and an FAQ chatbot, focusing on the participants' native language markers. We used a binary native language marker (non-native English user vs. native English user) to distinguish between two groups in this multiple…

Intercultural communicative competence has been offered as an open-minded replacement for ego-centric biases stemming from dogmatic national prejudice and its associated self-aggrandisement. While being a commendable proposal, its implementation in foreign language education has not been a widespread success story. Recent attempts to theorise…

First (L1) and second (L2) language speakers process information differently. The current study explores whether L1 and L2 English language speakers process the emotional connotations of high and low-frequency words using the emotional Stroop task. With this task, we measure the reaction time required to name the color of words with positive,…

Over the last two decades, the question of to which linguistic cues learners pay attention when they decode a new language has been subject to controversy in the field of third language (L3) acquisition. In this article, we present an artificial language learning experiment that investigated how lexical and syntactic similarities between an…

Large individual differences in language skills are well documented in monolingual children (e.g., Kidd, Donnelly & Christiansen, 2018). In bilinguals, the broad variation is even more pronounced. Interestingly, some bilingual children might be weak in their Heritage Language (HL, also labeled as Minority Language, Home Language, Community…

Incidental acquisition of vocabulary has been extensively studied by many researchers through various media, such as employing reading comprehension. However, there is a dearth of studies that focus on the contribution of listening to the incidental acquisition of vocabulary. The current study aims to fill this gap. This study explored the effect…

Students' knowledge of academic vocabulary is a crucial aspect of learning English as a second or foreign language at the university level. Using academic vocabulary lists could be a valuable resource in teaching and learning vocabulary. This study measured the academic vocabulary size of Nepalese university students using Schmitt's (2010)…

Although studies have consistently found negative correlations between second language (L2) anxiety and L2 achievement, the anxiety concept is criticized for the failure to consider confounding variables, particularly first language (L1) achievement, in the relationship between language anxiety and language achievement. Also, past studies tend to…

Second language (L2) listening comprehension is a function of many variables. We focused on metacognitive awareness, which we measured using the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ; Vandergrift et al., 2006), and meta-analyzed (a) the factor structure of the MALQ and (b) the relationship between metacognitive awareness and L2…

As a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine, two million children have been forced to flee their homes in order to seek safety in other countries. In addition to having a safe place to live, every child must be able to access education in order to gain the knowledge they need to meet their full potential. This is the belief at the "Let's Shake…