IF 4.9 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2025-04-18 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2025.103688

Xiaopeng Xu, Averil Coxhead, Jean Parkinson, Peter Gu

{"title":"Investigating the dynamics of English for Medical Purposes (EMP) textbook design and use in China","authors":"Xiaopeng Xu, Averil Coxhead, Jean Parkinson, Peter Gu","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103688","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103688","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>English for Medical Purposes (EMP) education is extensively implemented at universities in China. EMP textbooks are crucial for providing medical students with access to authentic medical language and supporting general English teachers' transition to EMP instruction. The limited existing research on EMP textbooks in China has largely relied on researchers' impressions or teachers' evaluations rather than analyzing textbook content. Broader ESP literature has given limited attention to textbook designers' selection of text types, adaptations of authentic materials, and design of authentic tasks, and has rarely connected textbook design to textbook use. This research analyzed a commonly used EMP textbook in China, focusing on text type, text authenticity, and task design, and used questionnaires to explore how EMP teachers and learners used their textbooks. It aimed to reveal relationships between EMP textbook design and use and provide insights into effective EMP textbook design and ways to maximize its impact. The textbook analysis showed that the textbook writers adapted authentic texts and offered limited text type variety and tasks with restricted authenticity. Questionnaire findings showed that the teachers actively adapted their EMP textbooks through addition, deletion, and modification, and that the learners exercised autonomy in their textbook use through selective content focus and personalized learning methods. These findings provide empirical evidence that EMP textbook design may influence how teachers and learners use textbooks, while highlighting their autonomy in maximizing the textbook's impact. This research offers recommendations for improving EMP textbook design and enhancing effective textbook use by teachers and learners.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 103688"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143844047","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

Productive tensions in language teacher education: How educator self-study can inform the research-practice nexus 语文教师教育中的生产张力：教育者自学如何影响研究与实践的联系

IF 4.9 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2025-04-18 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2025.103691

Gary Bonar, Ruth Fielding, Meihui Wang

{"title":"Productive tensions in language teacher education: How educator self-study can inform the research-practice nexus","authors":"Gary Bonar, Ruth Fielding, Meihui Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103691","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103691","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In language teacher education, balancing theoretical ideals with classroom realities presents inherent tensions. Achieving the goal of teaching-informed research and research-informed teaching is particularly challenging in the context of teaching diverse languages other than English, where the required socio-cultural knowledge is both extensive and under-researched. Framed by the sustainable ecology of multilingual language education and recognising the complex multilingual identities of pre-service and in-service teachers, this study explores the role and agency of language teacher educators (LTEs) across macro, meso, and micro levels of influence. Using a Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices (S-STEP) methodology, the study examines how LTEs reflect on and adapt their practices in response to systemic, institutional, and classroom-level challenges. Data were collected through reflective journals, team meetings, and engagement with PSTs during a language methodology course. Analysis focused on identifying tensions in practice and how these were reframed to support pedagogical decision-making through the integration of theoretical knowledge (episteme) and practical wisdom (phronesis). Findings highlight persistent challenges in bridging theory and practice, supporting PST agency, and preparing teachers for diverse, under-supported school contexts. Key themes include the importance of reflective practice, the influence of contextual constraints, and the need to connect theory with lived experience. By situating these findings within ecological and multilingual frameworks, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of language teacher education and offers practical insights for designing responsive initial teacher education (ITE) programs. It also underscores the importance of LTE reflexivity in strengthening the research-practice nexus.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 103691"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143850675","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

IF 4.9 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2025-04-18 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2025.103684

Chenxi Zheng

引用次数: 0

Early career language teachers' motivation in the making: An ecological perspective on their motivational resources 早期职业语言教师动机的形成：动机资源的生态学视角

IF 4.9 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2025-04-17 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2025.103685

Minoo Alemi , Neda Khanlarzadeh , Zia Tajeddin

{"title":"Early career language teachers' motivation in the making: An ecological perspective on their motivational resources","authors":"Minoo Alemi , Neda Khanlarzadeh , Zia Tajeddin","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103685","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103685","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite its significance in second language teacher education, teacher motivation has been neglected for a long time. Lack of teacher motivation is a critical issue that can impact the quality of teachers' practice and students' achievements. The present study sets out to explore motivating influences among six Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers by analyzing the data collected from interview sessions and teachers' journals through a multi-system ecological lens including microsystem (teachers' individual and interpersonal factors), mesosystem (interaction between different microsystems), exosystem (institutional policies), and macrosystem (sociocultural and educational norms). The content analysis of the data illustrated that several resources in ecosystems contribute to teachers' career motivation. While teachers' affective resources and attitudes, as well as their relationship with their families and students, play a salient part in microsystem, the importance of collegial and teacher-parent relationship was observed in mesosystem. In exosystem, resources such as salary, promotion opportunities, and institutional support were found to be critical. Finally, at the outermost level, macrosystem, teachers' social status in society and higher-level teaching policies were found to be influential. The findings offer a myriad of implications for teacher educators and administrators regarding the improvement of teacher motivation in relation to nested ecosystems and consequently EFL learners’ outcomes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"132 ","pages":"Article 103685"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143869577","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

L2 development of Chinese correlative connectives: Cluster and error analyses 汉语关联连接词的二语发展：聚类与错误分析

IF 4.9 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2025-04-16 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2025.103668

Yuan Lu

引用次数: 0

Foregrounding language teacher agency and positioning of EFL teachers in the research-practice nexus 重视语言教师的能动性和 EFL 教师在研究与实践之间的定位

IF 4.9 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2025-04-15 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2025.103682

Zhiyi Liu, Mary B. McVee

{"title":"Foregrounding language teacher agency and positioning of EFL teachers in the research-practice nexus","authors":"Zhiyi Liu, Mary B. McVee","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103682","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103682","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This qualitative study explores the interconnections among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' experiences, agency, positions, and future-oriented thinking within the research-practice nexus. The authors utilized a positioning theory framework along with Biesta et al.’s (2015) agency model, focusing on narrative interviews conducted with EFL teachers at a research-oriented university in China. This study explored how EFL teachers positioned themselves in their narrated research and teaching experiences. Furthermore, it investigated what factors influenced EFL teachers to exercise agency, or lack thereof, in the dynamic research–practice interaction process while they were in such positions. The findings revealed 1) EFL teachers' agentic teacher positions with positive attributes and 2) current positioning of passive teachers toward future positioning as agents of change in research engagement. Our findings indicated that factors such as EFL teachers' previous research-related experiences, research-informed teaching beliefs, school structures, and available resources influenced the achievement or limitation of teacher agency in relation to enhancing or decreasing teaching quality and research engagement. The exploration of the participants' positions as agentic teachers holds implications for enhancing a sustainable relationship between research and practice for language teacher education, curriculum design, and research development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 103682"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143829401","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 mediating effects of online learning engagement on the relationship between Chinese university students’ L2 grit and their English language achievement 网络学习参与对中国大学生第二语言砂砾与英语成绩关系的中介作用

IF 4.9 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2025-04-15 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2025.103689

Lin Luan , Bowen Jing , Jon-Chao Hong , Pei-Hsin Lin

{"title":"The mediating effects of online learning engagement on the relationship between Chinese university students’ L2 grit and their English language achievement","authors":"Lin Luan , Bowen Jing , Jon-Chao Hong , Pei-Hsin Lin","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103689","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103689","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>L2 grit is widely regarded as an important personality trait in second language acquisition (SLA). However, SLA researchers still hold controversial beliefs about the predictive effects of two facets of L2 grit (i.e., perseverance of effort [POE] and consistency of interest [COI]) on language achievement. To address this issue, this study proposed a mediational model based on the Trait Activation Theory (TAT), with the aim of unveiling the intricate relationships among L2 grit (i.e., POE and COI), learning engagement (i.e., cognitive, behavioral, emotional and social engagement) and English language achievement (ELA) in online English as a foreign language (EFL) learning environments. A total of 415 university students in China participated in the study. The results of structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis confirmed that both POE and COI significantly and positively predicted EFL learners' behavioral, emotional and social engagement in online learning. Compared to the COI facet, the POE facet of L2 grit demonstrated superior predictive power with regard to students' cognitive engagement. The four subtypes of online learning engagement also partially mediated the link between the two components of L2 grit and ELA. This study contributes to the current knowledge base by highlighting the equally important roles of both facets of domain-specific L2 grit (i.e., POE and COI) in relation to L2 achievement in an online setting. Pedagogically, it is suggested that EFL instructors embrace new pedagogical practices and instructional technologies to cultivate students’ L2 grit and foster more effective online learning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 103689"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143850666","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

Technology-enhanced self-regulated second language learning interventions: A systematic review 技术增强的自我调节第二语言学习干预：系统回顾

IF 4.9 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2025-04-15 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2025.103675

Mengru Pan , Chun Lai , Kai Guo

{"title":"Technology-enhanced self-regulated second language learning interventions: A systematic review","authors":"Mengru Pan , Chun Lai , Kai Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103675","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103675","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Self-regulated learning (SRL) is crucial to academic success and lifelong learning. Thus, considerable attention has been directed to cultivating students’ self-regulated second language learning (SRLL). Technology has been integrated into SRLL interventions to enhance the innovativeness and effectiveness in promoting SRLL for the past decade. This paper intends to give an overview of empirical studies on technology-enhanced SRLL interventions on three aspects: (a) how is technology incorporated into SRLL interventions; (b) how effective are technology-enhanced SRLL interventions; and (c) what instructional design features are critical. The review was based on 57 empirical studies from 2012 to 2024. The review revealed three types of technology-enhanced SRLL interventions: technology-supplemented SRLL intervention (i.e., technology as a space for immersive SRLL practice to supplement SRLL strategy training), technology-delivered SRLL intervention (i.e., technology as a tool for delivering SRLL strategy training), and technology-amplified SRLL intervention (i.e., technology as a pedagogical amplifier of SRLL practice without providing strategy training). The effect of technology-enhanced SRLL interventions on SRL and second language learning, although positive in general, varied across the three types. Different design features are essential to the three types too. The review generated a framework of critical design features for each type of technology-enhanced SRLL intervention.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 103675"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143829400","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 the intra- and inter-lecture developmental trajectories of mind-wandering in L2 classrooms 第二语言课堂中走神发展轨迹的建模

IF 4.9 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2025-04-14 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2025.103687

Xiaoming Yang , Zhongren Yang , Huiyuan Jin

{"title":"Modeling the intra- and inter-lecture developmental trajectories of mind-wandering in L2 classrooms","authors":"Xiaoming Yang , Zhongren Yang , Huiyuan Jin","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103687","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103687","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mind-wandering, a momentary shift of attention away from ongoing activities to task-unrelated thoughts, is a major challenge in second language (L2) classrooms. While engagement in L2 classrooms has attracted substantial attention, the prevalence and impacts of mind-wandering—conceptually situated at the opposite of the attentional spectrum from engagement—remain underexplored. This study contributes to the literature by investigating the intra- and inter-lecture developmental trajectories of mind-wandering in L2 classrooms and their impacts on L2 performance over a semester. Throughout nine lectures spanning a 17-week semester, 569 first-year college students responded to thought probes embedded in slides presented at three approximately equal intervals within each L2 classroom session. An unconditional latent growth curve model (LGCM) reveals that students' minds wander more as an average lecture progresses. Another unconditional LGCM indicates that throughout the semester, students experience less mind-wandering as lectures progress, and that individuals with higher initial levels of mind-wandering experience slower growth rates than their counterparts. A mixed model reveals a significant negative effect of mind-wandering on students' quiz performance in an average lecture controlling for L2 proficiency. A conditional LGCM further indicates that students with higher initial levels of mind-wandering at the beginning of the semester perform worse on the final examination, while the growth rate in mind-wandering shows no significant effects. These findings advance our understanding of students’ attentional state and their impacts on learning achievement in L2 classrooms. Reasons for developmental trajectories of mind-wandering, their impacts, and implications for pedagogical practice are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 103687"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143844048","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

Investigating the dynamic relationship of lexical and syntactic complexity in L2 writing across proficiency levels: A CDST-inspired study 二语写作中词汇和句法复杂性的动态关系研究：一项基于cdst的研究

IF 4.9 1区文学

System Pub Date : 2025-04-11 DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2025.103678

Jinlu Liu , Ming Wu , Haitao Liu

{"title":"Investigating the dynamic relationship of lexical and syntactic complexity in L2 writing across proficiency levels: A CDST-inspired study","authors":"Jinlu Liu , Ming Wu , Haitao Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103678","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.system.2025.103678","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the development of lexical and syntactic complexity in L2 writing across five proficiency levels (ST2-ST6) of Chinese EFL learners. Analyzing 3423 essays from the Chinese Learner English Corpus (2003), we employed the Moving-Average Type-Token Ratio and Mean Dependency Distance to measure lexical and syntactic complexity, respectively. Results revealed significant, though non-linear, increase in both measures across proficiency levels. Syntactic complexity showed consistent growth, while lexical complexity plateaued at intermediate levels. A dynamic relationship analysis indicated periods of compensatory growth between lexical and syntactic complexity, particularly at lower proficiency levels. A combined complexity measure demonstrated an overall linear trend with significant non-linear components. These findings, interpreted through the lens of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory, suggest that L2 writing development involves intricate, sometimes competitive interactions between different levels of language proficiency. The study's outcomes have implications for language pedagogy, particularly in informing stage-appropriate instructional strategies and multi-dimensional assessment practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48185,"journal":{"name":"System","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 103678"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143817314","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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