{"title":"Charting the development of second language proficiency and intercultural competence in postsecondary education","authors":"Bing Mu, LeAnne Spino","doi":"10.1111/modl.12986","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12986","url":null,"abstract":"Developing proficiency and intercultural competence are goals promoted by the Modern Language Association and widely shared by postsecondary second language programs across the United States. Although the development of proficiency has been studied extensively in this context, comparatively little is known about how intercultural competence develops domestically as part of a broader postsecondary educational experience. To chart the development of proficiency and intercultural competence, 296 students studying seven languages completed the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Oral Proficiency Interview–computer and the Intercultural Development Inventory. While students’ proficiency increased statistically during their postsecondary studies, their intercultural competence did not. Furthermore, proficiency and intercultural competence were not correlated. In addition, students who studied abroad as part of their educational experience were not statistically different on either measure compared to those who did not. While the last finding is tentative in nature due to a small sample size (26 students who had studied abroad for at least 3 weeks vs. 77 students who did not study abroad, a subset of the students who were toward the end of their language studies at the postsecondary level), these results may have important implications for language instruction and the potential role of study abroad in the educational experience.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"54 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143599925","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Equitable language allocation and program models in dual language bilingual education: From oversimplification to decision‐making processes at all scales","authors":"M. Garrett Delavan, Juan A. Freire, Ester de Jong","doi":"10.1111/modl.12989","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12989","url":null,"abstract":"This theoretical article, with recommendations for practice, interrogates how the field discusses dual language bilingual education (DLBE) models in the United States, with international implications for bilingual, immersion, and content and language integrated learning contexts. We reconceptualize the equity problems and potentials of so‐called program models and language allocation as aspects of what we term <jats:italic>linguistic resource strategy</jats:italic>—the various language‐related resources that language users strategize their use of. We describe three inequitable oversimplifications that stem from what we call <jats:italic>models‐talk</jats:italic>—the oversimplified ways in which the dominant definitions of program models structure much of the DLBE conversation. We then respond to these three problems by offering a framework that can help educators and scholars more easily embrace the complexity of the full spectrum of decision making involved in allocating language(s) and how to assess its degree of equity. Building on theories of translanguaging and a retheorizing of linguistic resources and repertoires, this framework for language allocation conceptualizes three decision‐making processes: grouping by students’ linguistic repertoires, alternating and connecting language(s), and allotting content and time to language(s). We identify questions to drive equity‐centered planning at three scales: macro (government or district, school, and program policy), meso (planned curriculum, instruction, and materials), and micro (in‐the‐moment implementation decisions).","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143599928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Language classrooms as communicative settings for learners’ development of sociolinguistic competence during study abroad","authors":"Devin Grammon","doi":"10.1111/modl.12990","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12990","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines language classrooms as communicative settings for learners’ development of sociolinguistic competence involving target language variation in a study abroad context. Specifically, it investigates how two Spanish teachers in Peru imparted knowledge of the social and contextual appropriateness of local linguistic variants that were not taught as part of the official curriculum. An analysis of ethnographic data reveals that these instructors explicitly socialized students into sociolinguistic competence through specific classroom activities intended to guide their naturalistic acquisition of Spanish away from “incorrect” forms that learners are exposed to outside the classroom. Students later reproduced their teachers’ stigmatizing evaluations of these forms and described the importance of these activities for learning Spanish in homestays. These findings advance a holistic approach to research on learners’ development of sociolinguistic competence as a process of language socialization that occurs both within and beyond language classrooms. Curricular reforms, teacher training, and instructional best practices are recommended that support this development without instilling the social prejudices and discriminatory practices of dominant groups from a host society.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143599926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sign language for all? Profile and retention of students in a beginner sign language program","authors":"Louisa Willoughby, Adam Schembri, Jess Kruk","doi":"10.1111/modl.12987","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12987","url":null,"abstract":"Around the globe, beginner sign language programs have seen surging enrolments in recent years. Yet relatively few learners progress to higher‐level sign language study. In this article, we explore factors shaping retention and attrition among a cohort of 70 beginner Australian Sign Language (Auslan) students studying in a vocational education context. We explore the influence of both demographic variables and measures of study approach via a questionnaire administered in the initial weeks of the Auslan study. We then tracked consenting students’ course completion over the next 5 years. Results show that the 28 students who continued to upper‐level Auslan study were more likely than the 42 who left at the end of the first semester to declare that they intended to use Auslan in their future career. They also scored significantly higher on foreign language enjoyment measures and on social contact with deaf people. Both groups also listed distinct challenges and helpful tips in open‐ended questions about their Auslan study. Collectively, we see that the two groups approach their study differently even in the initial weeks and that those at risk of discontinuing might benefit from more structured support in effective independent study strategies.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143599927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Theorizing agency from a complex dynamic systems theory perspective: Evidence from language learner narratives in online shadow education","authors":"Kevin Wai Ho Yung","doi":"10.1111/modl.12988","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12988","url":null,"abstract":"The recent dynamic turn in second language acquisition research has called for an investigation in learner agency by taking its complex dynamic nature into account. Informed by complex dynamic systems theory (CDST), this study investigated the agency of learners in a complex educational context where mainstream schooling and private tutoring (shadow education) coexist, and when teaching and learning was switched online. Through longitudinal narrative inquiry, this study analyzed the experiences of three senior secondary students enrolled in online English private tutoring. Data were collected through three rounds of individual interview and two pieces of learner reflective writing, supplemented by artifacts such as participants’ language‐learning materials and interviews with their tutors, schoolteachers, and parents. The multiple sources of data collected for 1 year were compiled as narratives for analysis. The findings highlight the importance of considering learner agency from the perspective of CDST, acknowledging characteristics such as its relational, ecological, emergent nature, and its spatiality, multidimensionality, and sustainability. This study sheds light on the complex agency–structure interplay in shadow education situated in the wider education context, and offers implications for educators to support language learners to be agentic in regulating their learning.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143528344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Diverse perspectives on second language learning and teaching (SLA/T) research in dialogue, co‐constructing common ground: A response","authors":"Scott Thornbury","doi":"10.1111/modl.12981","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12981","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"64 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143451427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A psycholinguistic perspective on SLA/T","authors":"Xiaomei Qiao","doi":"10.1111/modl.12973","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12973","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143451431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marije Michel, Dwight Atkinson, Amable Custodio Ribeiro, Theodora Alexopoulou, Marco Cappellini, Søren Wind Eskildsen, Xuesong (Andy) Gao, John Hellermann, Hayriye Kayi‐Aydar, Wander Lowie, Jorge Andres Mejía‐Laguna, Lourdes Ortega, Simona Pekarek Doehler, Miyuki Sasaki, Masatoshi Sato, Steven L. Thorne, Yongyan Zheng
{"title":"Forging common ground in second language acquisition and teaching: A combined synergy statement","authors":"Marije Michel, Dwight Atkinson, Amable Custodio Ribeiro, Theodora Alexopoulou, Marco Cappellini, Søren Wind Eskildsen, Xuesong (Andy) Gao, John Hellermann, Hayriye Kayi‐Aydar, Wander Lowie, Jorge Andres Mejía‐Laguna, Lourdes Ortega, Simona Pekarek Doehler, Miyuki Sasaki, Masatoshi Sato, Steven L. Thorne, Yongyan Zheng","doi":"10.1111/modl.12983","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12983","url":null,"abstract":"In this final article in this guest‐edited issue on synergies in second language acquisition and teaching (SLA/T), we attempt to bring together the main content of this issue in an overall, combined synergy statement, concluding this project as a whole. Let us remind readers of the project: A shared effort by 17 scholars taking 11 different perspectives on SLA/T is not the norm in our field. Our aim has been to promote the intermingling and cross‐pollination of ideas, on the conviction that such efforts are needed to promote a field that is more than simply the sum of its parts, which are quite dispersed. In this article, we take up the challenge of synergizing the synergies. Taking into account the group synergy statements (Articles 2–4 of this guest‐edited issue), we explore those areas where we find synergies, commensurabilities, and complementary insights based on cross‐pollination among a collection of scholars representing diverse perspectives on SLA/T.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143452343","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Diversity within unity","authors":"Diane Larsen‐Freeman","doi":"10.1111/modl.12972","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12972","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143452324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Praxeology, humanism, equity, and mixed methods: Four pillars for advancing second language acquisition and teaching","authors":"Yongyan Zheng, Lourdes Ortega, Simona Pekarek Doehler, Miyuki Sasaki, Søren Wind Eskildsen, Xuesong (Andy) Gao","doi":"10.1111/modl.12977","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12977","url":null,"abstract":"In this article, we present our vision of a transformed second language acquisition and teaching (SLA/T) disciplinary community that approaches second language (L2) education through four pillars. The first pillar is praxeology (i.e., the study of human action) to highlight the sociocontextually emergent nature of L2 competence. It locates the emergence of L2 grammar and interactional competence in humans acting conjointly with others with and through their L2 across a large variety of social situations and transnational, transcultural, and translingual spaces. The second pillar, humanism, calls for a complex dynamic systems theory–informed understanding of individual differences, with learner agency as a central driving force. The third pillar is equity to confront the field with the recognition that language learning is profoundly inequitable and that most present forms of inequity and injustice, including language‐related inequities, are rooted in coloniality, a matrix of power invented in the late 15th century by European White settlers to ensure the success of colonial domination. Mixed methods research, the fourth pillar, emphasizing emic perspectives, can make findings generalizable and transferrable for practitioners and policymakers, while also revealing the nuanced voices of underrepresented language learner populations. We close by illustrating our vision with the vignette of a language learner and calling researchers to use these four pillars in collaborative pursuits of this SLA/T synergy.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"81 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143451426","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}