IF 5.6 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-21 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2026.103982

Shangchao Min , Yuhong Gao , Jie Zhang

{"title":"Exploring L2 learner engagement in spoken English practices with a GenAI-powered chatbot","authors":"Shangchao Min , Yuhong Gao , Jie Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103982","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103982","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) engages students in targeted and context-aware interactions, holding the potential to revolutionize chatbot-supported second language (L2) learning. However, GenAI-assisted language learning research has been inadequate in addressing learner engagement that depicts the entire learning process. This study explored 89 Chinese English learners' engagement when they practiced spoken English with E-Talk, a GenAI-powered chatbot, under different pedagogical designs. Data sources included engagement questionnaire, human-GenAI chat logs, and semi-structured interviews. Analyses revealed that the teacher guidance group demonstrated significantly higher behavioral, cognitive, and social engagement compared to the regular group, revealing the value of structured instructional support. Notably, cognitive engagement was jointly shaped by teacher guidance and task mode, as thematic dialogue elicited higher cognitive engagement in the teacher guidance group. Taken together, the results highlighted the importance of pedagogical design and the context dependency of learner engagement in GenAI-assisted spoken English practice. This study provided empirical evidence supporting the role of teachers and task design in enhancing GenAI-powered L2 learning experience and contributed to a wider discussion on the importance of pedagogical design to facilitate GenAI's role in individualized learning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 103982"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146022858","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}

引用次数: 0

Affordances and learner agency: Chinese EFL learners’ English vlogging practices on Douyin 支持与学习者代理：中国英语学习者在抖音上的英语视频实践

IF 5.6 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2025-12-25 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2025.103963

Ying Li , Feng Ding

{"title":"Affordances and learner agency: Chinese EFL learners’ English vlogging practices on Douyin","authors":"Ying Li , Feng Ding","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103963","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103963","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite extensive research on the role of social media in language learning, learner-generated resources have received limited scholarly attention. Drawing on the ecological concepts of affordance and agency, this study investigated the educational affordances of learner-generated English vlogs on Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) and explored how learners enacted agency to orchestrate these perceived affordances. Data from semi-structured interviews and digital behavioral traces on Douyin revealed four key affordances: linguistic, digital, social, and emotional. Learner agency—manifested in both individual and collective forms—was demonstrated through their perception, interpretation, and action upon these affordances. The agency was mediated by an interplay of factors across iterational, practical-evaluative, and projective dimensions. The findings indicate that affordances and learner agency are dynamically co-constituted. Constrained affordances stimulated learners’ adaptive agency, while their agentive actions led to the reinterpretation of affordances through creative engagement. This study elucidates the role of learner-generated English vlogs as creativity-driven, skill-enhancing, interaction-rich, and development-visualized digital learning practices, highlighting the complex manifestation of learner agency in informal digital settings. It thereby contributes to research on the underexplored educational value of social media by examining how learners exercise agency to act on affordances through English vlogging.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 103963"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885687","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}

引用次数: 0

How engagement dynamics shape collaborative writing processes: Perspectives from EAL learners 参与动态如何塑造协作写作过程：来自EAL学习者的视角

IF 5.6 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-29 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2026.103997

Zhenhao Cao , Rachael Ruegg , Stephen Skalicky

{"title":"How engagement dynamics shape collaborative writing processes: Perspectives from EAL learners","authors":"Zhenhao Cao , Rachael Ruegg , Stephen Skalicky","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103997","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103997","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While learner engagement is recognised as crucial in second language (L2) collaborative writing (CW), research often prioritises outcomes over the process, leaving learner perceptions of the dynamic interplay of their engagement dimensions and its influence on the collaborative process underexplored. Addressing this gap, this study conceptualises engagement as a multidimensional construct (cognitive, behavioural, affective, social) and investigates how seven English-as-an-additional-language learners perceived their engagement during two online CW tasks and how these perceptions shaped their collaborative process. Data were drawn from peer interactions during two CW tasks and post-task semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal engagement as a reciprocal system where cognitive, behavioural, affective, and social dimensions dynamically interact. Crucially, social mutuality emerged as an important mechanism acting as a critical catalyst or inhibitor for engagement across all dimensions. Significant variations in distinct individual engagement profiles were observed, transcending group-level trends. These profiles were meaningfully explained by learners’ subjective perceptions of their social positioning and the perceived value of their contributions within the group. This study underscores that engagement is fundamentally co-constructed through social mutuality and necessitates recognising distinct individual profiles within collaborative settings. These insights offer vital pedagogical implications for designing CW tasks that explicitly foster reciprocal peer responsiveness and inclusive group dynamics to maximise engagement for all learners.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 103997"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146173359","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}

引用次数: 0

Modeling relationships among frequency, salience, lexical diversity and rated L2 writing quality: An SEM approach 频率、显著性、词汇多样性和二语写作质量之间的关系建模：一种SEM方法

IF 5.6 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2025-12-19 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2025.103958

Hang Li , Rui Zheng

{"title":"Modeling relationships among frequency, salience, lexical diversity and rated L2 writing quality: An SEM approach","authors":"Hang Li , Rui Zheng","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103958","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103958","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Using structural equation modeling, this study examined how word frequency and salience, two key factors in usage-based accounts of language acquisition, predicted rated second language writing quality, explored their interrelationship, and tested their mediating roles in the relationship between lexical diversity and writing scores. A corpus of 578 English argumentative essays written by college-level Asian English learners was analyzed to derive observed indicators from natural language processing tools. Three latent constructs were modeled, namely word frequency, salience, and lexical diversity. The full model showed excellent fit and explained 36.8 % of the variance in writing quality. Word frequency had a significant negative effect (<em>β</em> = −0.504, <em>p</em> < 0.001) and salience a significant positive effect (<em>β</em> = 0.462, <em>p</em> < 0.001). The correlation between frequency and salience was weak (<em>r</em> = 0.332) in the model including only these two predictors and writing quality, suggesting that they capture distinct aspects of lexical knowledge. Additionally, frequency and salience were found to fully mediate the relationship between lexical diversity and L2 writing quality, indicating that high-quality second language writing tended to feature a diverse range of low-frequency words with weak salient associations. Implications for evaluating lexical features in L2 writing and for pedagogical practice are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 103958"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145792213","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}

引用次数: 0

A qualitative exploration into L2 learners’ enjoyment and emotional variability in directed motivational currents 二语学习者在定向动机流中的享受和情绪变化的定性探讨

IF 5.6 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-28 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2026.103998

Arkadiusz Pietluch

{"title":"A qualitative exploration into L2 learners’ enjoyment and emotional variability in directed motivational currents","authors":"Arkadiusz Pietluch","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103998","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103998","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Directed motivational currents (DMCs) describe atypically intense motivational surges capable of sustaining long-term behaviours, such as learning a foreign language (FL). While DMCs have traditionally been associated with positive emotions and portrayed as highly enjoyable due to their focus on accomplishing personally meaningful goals, emerging research shows that their emotional landscape is more varied and can also include negative affect. Following calls for greater attention to emotional diversity in DMCs, this study adopted a qualitative exploratory design to investigate how foreign language enjoyment (FLE) evolved over time amongst four Polish FL learners in the midst of sustained, intense, and goal-driven pursuits. The analysis, based on daily enjoyment graphs and weekly interviews, revealed considerable variability in participants’ enjoyment trajectories, driven by factors such as goal centrality, ownership of the learning experience, feedback quality, social support, and the capacity to manage the emotional and cognitive demands of sustained engagement. Participants also varied in the extent to which they actively sought and applied strategies to sustain both their enjoyment and motivational momentum. Drawing on the findings, the study proposes strategies to promote emotion regulation and reflective awareness in long-term pursuits, including fostering learner agency, guiding task management and progress monitoring, reappraising setbacks, encouraging reflection, and providing scaffolded learning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 103998"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146173360","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}

引用次数: 0

How does generative AI-mediated informal digital learning of English speaking practice influence intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy and performance of vocational college students? 生成性人工智能介导的非正式数字化英语口语练习学习如何影响高职学生的内在动机、自我效能感和表现？

IF 5.6 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-17 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2026.103979

Jing Zhang , Heng Zhang , Xintao Wu

{"title":"How does generative AI-mediated informal digital learning of English speaking practice influence intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy and performance of vocational college students?","authors":"Jing Zhang , Heng Zhang , Xintao Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103979","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103979","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recent studies have shifted the attention to trends and applications of chatbots in education, but there is a lack of using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) on second language (L2) speaking for vocational college students. To address such a research gap, the present study draws on the theoretical framework of social cognitive theory to investigate the impacts of GenAI-assisted Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE) speaking practice on intrinsic motivation, speaking self-efficacy, and speaking performance among vocational college students. Based on findings from an experimental design, practicing a speaking task with GenAI was shown to significantly improve speaking performance of the same task, but there was no statistical difference when it came to the intrinsic motivation and speaking self-efficacy. The qualitative findings indicated that students boosted learning confidence by facilitating language skills and broadening the knowledge reserve from the GenAI-IDLE speaking practice. Finally, this study enriches the current explorations about IDLE activities by unveiling the potential of AI-powered chatbots in facilitating intrinsic motivation and speaking self-efficacy with an educational experiment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 103979"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145978298","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}

引用次数: 0

Effects of shared book reading intervention on L2 Chinese reading in ethnic minority kindergartens in Hong Kong 共享阅读干预对香港少数民族幼儿园二语中文阅读的影响

IF 5.6 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-17 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2026.103980

Mingyao (Michelle) Sun , Shui Duen Chan , Sihui (Echo) Ke , Xinhua Zhu , Yuan Yao

{"title":"Effects of shared book reading intervention on L2 Chinese reading in ethnic minority kindergartens in Hong Kong","authors":"Mingyao (Michelle) Sun , Shui Duen Chan , Sihui (Echo) Ke , Xinhua Zhu , Yuan Yao","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103980","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103980","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Guided by Grolig (2020)'s bioecological perspective, this research aimed to examine the effects of a shared book reading intervention for ethnic minority kindergarteners learning Chinese as a second language (L2) in Hong Kong. Additionally, it explored the influence of children's initial L2 reading proficiency and home literacy environment (HLE). A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 365 kindergarteners using convenience sampling and stratified random sampling. There were three participant groups: an experimental group consisting of L2 Chinese children from ethnic minority families who received an 8-week intervention, a control group of L2 Chinese children and another control group of Chinese-as-a-first language (L1) children who received business-as-usual instruction. To assess the effectiveness of the shared book reading intervention, pre- and post-test reading outcomes were compared between the experimental and control groups. The study yielded four major findings: (1) Ethnic minority kindergarteners in the experimental group showed significant improvement in their L2 Chinese reading subskills following an eight-week shared book reading intervention. (2) L2 Chinese kindergarteners displayed different initial levels of L2 reading proficiency, with those at low and mid-levels initially gaining more from the intervention compared to those at the high level initially. (3) L2 Chinese kindergarteners with initial high-level of L2 reading proficiency performed on par with their L1 Chinese peers in the post-test of Chinese metalinguistic awareness. (4) The Chinese reading proficiency of L2 Chinese kindergarteners was affected by their HLE, including father's educational background, parents' proficiency in Chinese listening and speaking, and the number of children's books available at home.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 103980"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146022952","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}

引用次数: 0

The stability, change, and predictive value of L2 grit: A longitudinal study L2粒度的稳定性、变化及其预测价值：一项纵向研究

IF 5.6 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2025-12-22 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2025.103960

Hitoshi Mikami, Tadashi Shiozawa

{"title":"The stability, change, and predictive value of L2 grit: A longitudinal study","authors":"Hitoshi Mikami, Tadashi Shiozawa","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103960","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103960","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recent research shows that second language (L2) grit, a language-domain-specific personality trait, is not only associated with achievement in language learning, but may also be subject to change in response to learning conditions. As most of these findings are based on cross-sectional data, the objective of this longitudinal study is to examine L2 grit's stability, capacity for change, and power to predict future proficiency levels. Eighty-nine English majors at a Japanese university participated in a semester-long/15-week study, with 50 of them undertaking a study abroad (SA) program at a US university, while the remaining 39 students continued their learning at their home university. All participants completed both questionnaire surveys and standardized L2 proficiency tests at the beginning and end of the research period. The results revealed (a) the stability of L2 grit and its perseverance sub-component (b) the positive impact of SA participation (i.e., a novel learning condition) on both grit components, and (c) that the passion sub-component predicted future listening proficiency scores. These findings underscore the value of efforts to foster L2 grit in language programs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 103960"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145841815","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}

引用次数: 0

Developing L2 turn-taking with ChatGPT: A longitudinal conversation analytic study 运用ChatGPT发展第二语言的回合转换：一项纵向会话分析研究

IF 5.6 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2025-12-26 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2025.103959

Min Gyeong Choi , Sun-Young Oh

引用次数: 0

Can GenAI-empowered feedback promote L2 learners’ self-regulation strategic behavior and writing performance? genai授权的反馈是否能促进第二语言学习者的自我调节、策略行为和写作表现？

IF 5.6 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2026-01-03 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2026.103970

Lin Sophie Teng, Xinjie Deng, Jing Yang

{"title":"Can GenAI-empowered feedback promote L2 learners’ self-regulation strategic behavior and writing performance?","authors":"Lin Sophie Teng, Xinjie Deng, Jing Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103970","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103970","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Drawing on self-regulated learning (SRL) theory, the present quasi-experimental study investigated the effect of feedback types on SRL strategies and writing performance. Eighty-four English as a foreign language (EFL) learners were recruited from three intact classes in a Chinese university. They were assigned to three conditions: a Bingo group (an automated writing evaluation tool, AWE) (<em>n</em> = 29), an ERNIE group (a GenAI tool, like GPT) (<em>n</em> = 29), and a comparison group (<em>n</em> = 26). The two experimental groups were required to complete and revise three argumentative essays based on the AWE feedback and the GenAI feedback over three months, while the comparison group performed the same writing tasks without any feedback. All the participants were invited to complete writing tests and writing strategies for SRL questionnaires before and after the experiment. Mixed factorial ANOVAs revealed that the ERNIE group with GenAI feedback outperformed the other two groups in the overall writing scores. In terms of subcomponents, the ERNIE group outscored the Bingo group in content and the comparison group in mechanics. Two-way ANOVA further revealed that L2 proficiency levels affected students' writing development across three groups. For intermediate-proficiency learners, the GenAI feedback was more effective in improving their writing scores than the AWE feedback. The advanced-proficiency learners benefited more from receiving AWE feedback than the intermediate learners. The findings revealed the optimal effect of GenAI feedback in promoting students’ use of SRL strategies and the moderation role of language proficiency in the effect of feedback types on writing development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 103970"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145927604","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}

引用次数: 0

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