System最新文献

{"title":"Transformative Pedagogy: Integrating linguaculture and technology-enhanced Fanfiction in Chilean EFL classrooms","authors":"Tiare Gonzalez-Vidal","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103987","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103987","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This qualitative, multiple-case study explores the integration of linguaculture (LC) —the meaning side of language—and fanfiction writing tasks supported by platforms like <em>Fanfiction.Net</em> in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education within Chilean school contexts. Grounded on Risager's critical linguaculture pedagogy, the study adopts a transformative lens to examine how fanfiction can be used to interrogate cultural representations, stereotypes, and power relations in language learning through creativity and imagination. The Chilean EFL context was chosen due to insufficient curriculum guidance and professional development in integrating Computer-assisted Language Learning (CALL) and culture teaching methodologies. In response, the study examines fanfiction as a vehicle that merges language, culture, and technology education in EFL classrooms. Participants included three case study teachers who engaged in a reflective workshop to enhance their pedagogical practices through fanfiction task design. Data sources comprise teachers' project plans, reflective journal entries, post-workshop surveys, email interviews, and pre-workshop questionnaires, coded using NVivo 12 software and analysed thematically. Findings revealed that the workshop facilitated shifts in teachers' perceptions and practices, enabling them to meaningfully integrate local geography, historical events, and cultural perspectives into fanfiction-based tasks. The study suggests that strategic use of technology in LC-based fanfiction projects fosters deeper cultural understanding and student engagement beyond traditional classroom boundaries. Theoretical implications highlight the role of critical reflection and transformative pedagogy in enhancing educational practices, while practical implications emphasise the need for teacher training programs to incorporate reflective practices and technology skills. These findings contribute to the broader field of language education by advocating for innovative pedagogical approaches aligned with global educational agendas. Such approaches equip students for global citizenship and for navigating complex communication challenges in multilingual, transnational contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 103987"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146173358","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":"L2 speaking functional adequacy in study abroad: Development in monologic and dialogic task conditions","authors":"Tongzhou Xiao,&nbsp;Ying Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103984","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103984","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In recent decades, the number of international students has grown substantially, alongside increasing research interest in second language (L2) learning within Study Abroad (SA) contexts. In SA research, the Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency (CAF) framework, has predominantly been used to assess the linguistic aspects of L2 performance. Recent L2 research has highlighted the need to move beyond CAF to incorporate Functional Adequacy (FA), a multidimensional construct representing the degree to which communicative tasks are successfully fulfilled. However, few SA studies explicitly measured FA and tracked its development. This longitudinal study investigates the development of FA in both monologic and dialogic tasks during SA, analyzing the developmental patterns and their connection to students’ egocentric social networks, a crucial predictive factor of L2 outcomes in SA environments. Data were collected from 46 Chinese-speaking international students at three time points during their one-year academic sojourns in the UK via placement tests, questionnaires, and speech elicitation tasks. Our findings revealed that students made statistically significant gains in the following FA dimensions: <em>task requirements</em>, <em>content</em>, <em>comprehensibility</em>, <em>coherence &amp; cohesion</em>, and <em>interaction</em>. Among these, <em>content</em> and <em>task requirements</em> showed the most considerable gains in both speech modes. Notably, dialogic tasks consistently received higher FA ratings than monologic tasks throughout SA. Social network patterns identified through Hierarchical Cluster Analysis significantly predicted FA outcomes, though their effects differed across task conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 103984"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146022857","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":"Pride and its role in multilingual identity construction: a qualitative study with LOTE-learning high school students in China","authors":"Xinran Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103977","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103977","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Pride, as one of the signature positive emotions experienced by foreign language (FL) learners, is found to have important influences on learners' identity construction given the self-reflexivity and sense of affiliation involved. Language-related pride is thus connected to one's multilingual identity (MI), which concerns one's self-perception as a multilingual and relationship with their multilingual repertoire. However, there is a scarcity of qualitative investigations into FL learners' experience of pride regarding its causes and functions. This study explores the mechanism of the pride perceptions among learners of Language-other-than-English (LOTE) in Chinese high schools and the role of pride in their MI construction based on the FL study logs and interview data of 16 Japanese learners collected over one academic year. Data show that three factors, namely the special status as a LOTE learner, progress-making in FL learning and the future utility of multilingual competence, concomitantly provided the basis for participants' experience of pride as LOTE learners and emerging multilinguals, exerting complex, recursive and non-linear influences. Although pride and MI development could be mutually enhancing, the pride related to a specific FL did not necessarily lead to growth in MI. A fixation on pursuing pride could generate stress and self-doubt, which eventually depressed learners' MI and pride perceptions. The findings vividly testified to the nuances and tensions in participants' pride perceptions as underrepresented, ‘odd’ multilinguals striving for success and affirmation amidst the neoliberal discourse and the global dominance of English. Pedagogical implications on enhancing multilingual learners' pride and MI are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 103977"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146022951","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 effect of bilingualism on foreign language learning: A longitudinal study from kindergarten to the end of primary school","authors":"Sümeyye Koşkulu-Sancar,&nbsp;Rick de Graaff,&nbsp;Elena Tribushinina","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103972","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103972","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examined whether bilingual children outperform monolingual peers in English as a foreign language (EFL) from kindergarten through primary school, and how their learning trajectories compare over time. A total of 691 monolingual children and 193 bilingual children in the Netherlands participated. English vocabulary and grammar skills were assessed at four timepoints: kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 3, and Grade 6. Control variables included English exposure outside school, parental education, attitudes toward learning English, non-verbal IQ, child age, gender and school type (bilingual vs. mainstream). Results showed that bilingual children outperformed monolingual peers in both vocabulary and grammar in kindergarten and Grade 1. However, these differences disappeared by Grades 3 and 6. Growth analyses indicated that monolingual children exhibited faster progress across primary school compared to bilingual children. These findings point to an early bilingual effect in English, followed by a catch-up effect among monolingual children in the later primary years.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 103972"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145927601","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":"Apology strategies and ritual frame indicating expressions (RFIEs) in advanced Korean learners’ Chinese: An interlanguage pragmatic study","authors":"Li Yang ,&nbsp;Jing Yan ,&nbsp;Zhou-min Yuan","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103974","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2026.103974","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Based on Kádár and House's (2020b) Ritual Frame Indicating Expressions (RFIEs) framework, this study investigates how advanced Korean learners of Chinese produce apologies in hierarchical contexts compared with native Chinese speakers. Forty advanced Korean learners and 40 native Chinese speakers performed role-play tasks across three power scenarios (to a child, schoolmate, teacher). The results indicate that Korean learners relied heavily on L1-influenced forms, such as <em>honorifics</em> like <em>“您” (honorific you),</em> and <em>pragmatic particles</em> like “<em>吧” (ba/ne</em>), but underused context-sensitive strategies, such as <em>expressions of concern</em> and <em>repair offers</em>. In contrast, native speakers displayed greater strategy variation, adapting RFIEs to reflect power differentials. These patterns suggest that Korean learners' pragmatic transfer and limited strategy repertoires may lead to intercultural misalignment, which underscores the need for targeted pedagogical interventions. This study extends the RFIE theory to interlanguage pragmatics, showing how ritualized pragmatic norms are acquired and transferred in L2 Chinese. Pedagogically, it recommends contrastive instruction, immersive scenario-based training, and metapragmatic awareness-raising tasks to strengthen Chinese learners' sociopragmatic competence. These insights offer practical applications for teaching L2 apology strategies in power-sensitive contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 103974"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146078206","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":"Reconceptualizing instructional materials: Integrating roles, orientations, and instructor styles in foreign language teaching","authors":"Hongjing Liao","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103964","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103964","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This collective case study examines the conceptualizations and use of instructional materials by twelve foreign language instructors across three U.S. universities. Employing a qualitative-dominant, mixed-methods design, the study integrates quantitative and qualitative data to explore instructors' perspectives and practices. Findings indicate that instructors possess a complex, multi-dimensional understanding of instructional materials, encompassing a broad range of resources evaluated based on quality, format, and origin. Conceptualizations of materials centered on cultural and curricular elements. Analysis of material use revealed four primary orientations: practical, relational, philosophical, and personalized. The results demonstrate significant instructor autonomy and the adoption of hybrid practices that transcend conventional frameworks. These findings underscore the importance of a holistic approach to understanding the use of instructional materials in foreign language education, emphasizing the dynamic interplay of factors that contribute to the development of meaningful materials and effective practice.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 103964"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145842556","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":"Activity systems in transition: GenAI-Mediated thesis writing strategies and contradictions among Chinese doctoral students in Australia","authors":"Lubei Zhang ,&nbsp;Junzhe Li ,&nbsp;Linda Tsung","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2026.104002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2026.104002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the roles of Generative AI (GenAI) in the thesis development of Chinese doctoral students in Australia, using Engeström's activity system theory. By examining the GenAI-mediated strategies employed by 24 Chinese doctoral students in different thesis development activities, the study highlights how GenAI tools reshape the traditional academic roles. The findings indicate that in the hybrid process of thesis development, facilitated by human-AI collaboration, Chinese doctoral students strategically utilize GenAI for translation, summarization, idea generation, and stylistic refinement, which significantly helps them overcome language barriers, improve writing efficiency, and manage complex academic tasks. However, the use of GenAI also introduces contradictions between efficiency and intellectual development, and between linguistic support and authentic academic growth. These tensions, rather than being obstacles, serve as catalysts for expansive learning, encouraging students to critically engage with both technology and academic norms. The study offers key insights for supervisors, institutions, and policymakers aiming to better support Chinese doctoral students in adapting to AI-integrated academic environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 104002"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146173362","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":"“Like porcupines and hedgehogs”: Building positive teacher-student relationships in L2 classroom assessment from a relationships motivation theory perspective","authors":"Xiaoli Su ,&nbsp;Hongbiao Yin","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103968","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103968","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fostering positive teacher-student relationships is essential for effective classroom assessment in second language (L2) education, as it enhances both teacher well-being and learner engagement. Scant attention has been paid to how teachers build strong teacher-student relationships in L2 classroom assessment within higher education contexts. This qualitative case study investigates how seven L2 teachers in a Chinese university cultivate these relationships during classroom assessment, utilizing a relationships motivation theory perspective. Data gathered from semi-structured interviews and vignette-based discussions reveal 12 relationship-building strategies categorized into relatedness support, autonomy support, and competence support. The study highlights how Chinese L2 teachers balance assessment power and relational care in L2 classroom and underscores the impact of cultural factors on relationship-building practices. The findings provide theoretical insights into the application of relationship motivation theory in L2 classroom assessment. They also emphasize the pedagogical importance of incorporating strategies that foster high-quality teacher-student relationships into L2 teachers’ assessment literacy. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the delicate balance between traditional Chinese wisdom and contemporary assessment practices, suggesting the value of exploring relationship-building strategies in diverse cultural contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 103968"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885739","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":"Teaching Chinese characters in CFL education: Beliefs, practices, and contextual influences","authors":"Jinghan Yu ,&nbsp;Jo Fletcher ,&nbsp;John Everatt ,&nbsp;Chris Astall","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103954","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103954","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reading provides a fundamental skill in modern language learning. Hence, the teaching of Chinese characters can be considered a key part of learning Chinese, both for first language acquisition and in Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) education. This study explores CFL teachers' beliefs and practices regarding Chinese character instruction. Online teaching has also developed as a key feature of modern language learning. Therefore, the current study focuses on the perceptions of online CFL teachers. However, it contrasts these perceptions with those of university CFL teachers and pre-service CFL teachers. Interviews were used to gain an understanding of the views of CFL teachers. Thematic analysis suggested all CFL teachers perceived learning Chinese characters as essential for language development, advocating its early introduction, but the three groups of teachers differed in their pedagogical decisions. Compared to university CFL teachers, online CFL Teachers were more student-centred and employed a relatively simplified teaching model, emphasizing recognition over decoding. Their instructional choices seemed to be influenced by online settings and digital tool availability, which lead them to adopt typing in place of handwriting. University-based CFL teachers emphasized recognizing handwriting over typing to support recognition and used decoding strategies to support learning and Chinese character proficiency. The pre-service teachers’ self-reports also varied from online CFL teachers suggesting varying perspectives may not be due to experience prior to teaching in an online context. The findings argue for the need to prepare future CFL teachers for varied contexts of practice, including online.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 103954"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145748412","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 complex interactions between foreign language emotions and engagement in AI-assisted EFL classrooms","authors":"Shuai Dong,&nbsp;Hao Wang,&nbsp;Jihua Dong","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103900","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103900","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explored the effectiveness of AI-assisted EFL classrooms on EFL learners’ FL emotions and foreign language engagement (FL engagement). The data involved 465 EFL students from a university in eastern China. One-way ANCOVA, paired sample T-test, structural equation model, and psychological network analysis were adopted to examine the effectiveness of AI assistance on moderating FL emotions and engagement. The results showed a positive effect of adopting AI in enhancing FL enjoyment (FLE) and engagement and reducing FL anxiety (FLCA) and boredom (FLB) compared to the traditional EFL classroom setting. FL emotions emerged as significant mediating factors in the link between FL engagement and AI, while FLE demonstrated the strongest mediating effect. The results also revealed complex interactions between the FL emotions and FL engagement and highlighted the pivotal role of FLE in mediating and influencing the system in AI-assisted EFL classrooms. The findings help to enhance our understanding of AI in enhancing FLE and FL engagement while reducing FLB and FLCA. This study also provides pedagogical insights for EFL teachers to promote positive emotions and classroom engagement.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"137 ","pages":"Article 103900"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145580107","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}