Language Teaching Research最新文献

{"title":"Learner attitudes to English instruction in Germany, Norway, and Poland: Insights from the ELT Survey","authors":"Theresa Summer, Jakub Przybył, Arild Høie Henriksen","doi":"10.1177/13621688251333092","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688251333092","url":null,"abstract":"Language learner attitudes have been linked to motivation, willingness to communicate, and attainment in second language (L2) learning research. Yet, explorations of learner attitudes remain scarce, especially concerning learners’ perspectives on the language instruction they receive in schools. To contribute to a more complete picture of L2 English instruction, we gathered data from 2,721 adolescent learners of English in German, Norwegian, and Polish schools through the English Language Teaching (ELT) Survey. Our measures of attitudes included summarized ratings of classes, semantic differentials, and responses to a reflective scale, all of which we subjected to inferential analyses. To explore the reasons behind learners’ attitudes towards L2 English instruction, we supplemented quantitative data with qualitative insights and interpreted attitudinal differences in the three countries. Although the evaluations of English lessons appeared relatively positive, participants’ perceptions of their L2 English instruction were largely unfavourable. English lessons were most often labelled monotonous by students learning in German and Polish schools. This remains in stark contrast to earlier findings on learners’ attitudes to English as a school subject from various countries. At the same time, our analyses revealed statistically significant differences across the three countries, with students in Norwegian schools being the most enthusiastic about their L2 English classes, and students in Polish schools being the most critical. These differences were largely parallel to the variation in participants’ self-assessment of attainment in English and, to some extent, their most recent marks in English. In the process of a reflexive thematic analysis, we identified five main themes illustrating explicit criticism related to a narrow scope of teaching methodologies, limited opportunities for communication, lack of real-life relevance, teacher-related challenges, and little emotional-motivational support. These qualitative insights allowed us to explain reasons behind learners’ generally negative attitudes. Our findings highlight the need to consider learners’ voices in research on attitudes to L2 instruction.","PeriodicalId":47852,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching Research","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143910550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"‘This is a Chinese vegetable’: Language socialization in dinner table conversations of Chinese immigrant families in the U.S.","authors":"Hao Wu, Endale Tadesse, Sabika Khalid, Chunhai Gao","doi":"10.1177/13621688251326213","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688251326213","url":null,"abstract":"This study explored the role of dinner table conversations in language socialization within three Chinese immigrant families in the U.S., examining how these interactions shape linguistic competence and cultural transmission. Analysis of audio recordings revealed that children in these families actively participated in language socialization, with older children playing a key role in socializing younger siblings, particularly in heritage language maintenance. The findings highlighted that older children, often more proficient in the family’s heritage language, acted as both recipients and agents of linguistic and cultural knowledge. Moreover, the study highlighted that birth order significantly influenced language socialization patterns, with older children frequently assuming the role of experts. The research also demonstrated that family routines and traditions were pivotal in strengthening children’s cultural identity and enhancing their connection to their heritage language. These findings underscore the importance of familial interactions in maintaining cultural values and supporting multilingual competence, particularly in multicultural and multilingual societies. This study contributes to understanding how everyday family interactions facilitate both language development and the preservation of cultural traditions among immigrant children.","PeriodicalId":47852,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching Research","volume":"70 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143898249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Understanding motivation, behaviors, and boredom in L2 learning: Variable-centered and person-centered approaches","authors":"Dawei Wei, Ping Wang","doi":"10.1177/13621688251324693","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688251324693","url":null,"abstract":"Language learning behaviors, such as procrastination and engagement, are concrete actions closely linked to learning outcomes, but our understanding of them, especially procrastination, is limited. Boredom is a ubiquitous negative emotion among second language (L2) learners. In researching learning behaviors and boredom, previous L2 studies have rarely considered all the core motivational variables (cost, in particular), so a full account of motivational dynamics in L2 learning is still lacking. Additionally, current knowledge on how multiple motivational constructs function together at the individual level in shaping learning behaviors and boredom remains limited. The present study aims to address these gaps by using both variable-centered and person-centered approaches. Participants were 784 university students as L2 English learners. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed self-efficacy and task values predicted behaviors and boredom. Notably, cost stood out as a unique predictor of procrastination and boredom. Latent profile analyses identified four motivational profiles (highly motivated, moderately motivated, less motivated, and demotivated) which were statistically different in students’ behaviors and boredom. These findings provide theoretical and pedagogical implications.","PeriodicalId":47852,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching Research","volume":"137 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143851019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reducing language anxiety by increasing language achievement: A new experimental study","authors":"Abdullah Alamer, Fakieh Alrabai, Richard Sparks","doi":"10.1177/13621688251322840","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688251322840","url":null,"abstract":"While researchers in the second language (L2) field often consider that L2 anxiety determines subsequent L2 achievement, an emerging line of research suggests that language skills better predict L2 anxiety. This viewpoint has yet to be experimentally evaluated, and thus it motivated the present study. Two groups of university language students enrolled in the Department of English as an L2 were followed over one semester at three time points while taking a general university course unrelated to language learning. The experimental group received extra instruction (course unrelated) designed to expand their L2 vocabulary knowledge, including strategies for learning and using new vocabulary in real-life contexts over the whole semester. A typical teaching method was delivered to the control group. The conditional dual-domain latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) with grouping variable as a covariate was used to study the possible effect of the intervention on the trajectory of language anxiety and vocabulary knowledge. Results indicated that teaching vocabulary knowledge to the experimental group led to an increase in their L2 vocabulary achievement. In turn, the increase in L2 vocabulary significantly reduced students’ L2 anxiety. Notably, this reduction in anxiety was attributed solely to the improvement in vocabulary achievement, as teachers did not employ any anxiety-controlling strategies. In contrast, the control group showed no significant changes in L2 vocabulary knowledge or L2 anxiety, which aligns with typical observations in standard learning settings. Findings from the present experimental study support the idea that increasing students’ L2 achievement (e.g. vocabulary) through providing practical resources, strategies, and opportunities for using the language (even with minor errors) can reduce their L2 anxiety. According to our findings, using language-enhancing strategies, rather than anxiety-reducing ones, can more effectively help reduce L2 anxiety.","PeriodicalId":47852,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching Research","volume":"108 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143836628","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Methodological innovations in language teaching research","authors":"Hossein Nassaji","doi":"10.1177/13621688251333605","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688251333605","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47852,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching Research","volume":"139 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143822655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Accuracy and response-time effects of structured input on the acquisition of English passive and active constructions: A self-paced reading study of native and non-native processing behaviours","authors":"Alessandro Benati","doi":"10.1177/13621688251329670","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688251329670","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates the relative online effects of structured-input practice on the acquisition of English passive and active sentences. The main purpose of this study is to compare native and non-native processing of English active and passive sentences. Non-native Chinese first language (L1) learners (26 participants) received structured-input instructional treatment on the target feature under investigation. After instruction, accuracy and response-time effects of the instructional efforts were measured using a self-paced reading test adopted to measure participant’s processing behaviours on passive and active verb forms. The native learners (17 participants) provided a baseline for comparisons. The main findings from this online study revealed that non-native participants were not statistically different, after receiving the structured-input treatment, from the native participants in terms of correctly processing sentences containing English active and passive constructions.","PeriodicalId":47852,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching Research","volume":"32 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143757787","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A phenomenographic study of engineering students’ conceptions of learning English as a foreign language","authors":"Amjad Owais, Tanya Hathaway","doi":"10.1177/13621688251326815","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688251326815","url":null,"abstract":"English is widely recognized as the language of science in the globalized world, with many higher education institutions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) adopting it as their medium of instruction. This study used the qualitative research approach of phenomenography to investigate engineering students’ experiences and conceptions of learning English as a foreign language at a university in the UAE. Four distinct conceptions of learning English as a foreign language emerged: Learning English as cultural experience, learning English as reward, learning English as global opportunity, and learning English as compliance. The findings revealed variations across four themes of expanding awareness within the phenomenon: the value of English as a foreign language, the nature of language, the source of language, and the role of others in language learning. The implications of these conceptions and variations in designing teaching and learning that engages students in deep approaches to learning are discussed, particularly in the context of mandatory courses in English as a foreign language.","PeriodicalId":47852,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching Research","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143736526","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating a task-based language teaching course for low-proficiency learners in ESP classrooms in Japan","authors":"Takuro Fujita, Natsuko Shintani","doi":"10.1177/13621688251324376","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688251324376","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the growing interest in evaluating contextualized task-based language teaching (TBLT), evaluation studies in ‘difficult contexts’, such as monolingual English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts with low-proficiency learners, remain limited. Employing a macro-evaluation framework, this study evaluates a TBLT program implemented in English for specific purposes (ESP) classrooms with low-proficiency learners in an EFL context. The course comprised two cycles of task-based lessons, each consisting of two lessons: one based on a simple oral task and another derived from a collaborative writing task of a laboratory report. This study examined the 14-week course from three perspectives – response-based, learning-based, and student-based – using multiple data sets, including task outcomes, worksheets, pre- and post-tests, and end-of-class and end-of-course questionnaires. The findings revealed that most students successfully achieved the intended task outcomes. While writing quality improved in complexity and fluency throughout the lessons, accuracy showed little improvement. The students demonstrated positive attitudes toward the task-based lessons, appreciating the oral tasks as valuable opportunities for second language (L2) communication and perceiving the writing tasks as relevant to their future careers. However, they raised concerns regarding task difficulty, limited teacher feedback, and pairing issues. These findings demonstrate that the TBLT course was largely successful, underscoring its potential value for low-proficiency learners in an acquisition-poor environment.","PeriodicalId":47852,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching Research","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143734151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Notes on Contributors","authors":"","doi":"10.1177/13621688251329751","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688251329751","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47852,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching Research","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143734152","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The time between tasks in task repetition research: A systematic review","authors":"John Rogers, Peilin Li","doi":"10.1177/13621688251323047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688251323047","url":null,"abstract":"This article reports on a systematic review of oral task repetition research carried out between 1996 and 2023. This review focuses on the methodological features of these studies, specifically on issues related to how tasks have been spaced and repeated within this body of research. This review starts with an overview of the concept of input spacing and the major methodological paradigms that have been used to investigate it across the psychological sciences. It then discusses task repetition, providing definitions and elaborations of theoretical models, discussing why spacing might influence task performance, and how this informs the synthesized research. The article then presents a synthesis of the methods and results of the 107 studies that have been analysed as part of the synthesis. The methodological synthesis includes analyses of how spacing has been implemented, the number of times tasks were repeated, and how researchers have justified their methodological decisions. The results of the synthesis highlight the need for greater systematicity and theoretical rationales for choice of spacing intervals, number of task repetitions, and transparency in reporting practices. The methods and results are discussed by identifying trends, exemplifying practices, and recommending solutions.","PeriodicalId":47852,"journal":{"name":"Language Teaching Research","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143702743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}