Orthographic congruence can interfere in L2 speech learning, especially in contexts where learners are highly exposed to the written form and at younger ages when grapheme-to-phoneme correspondences are still not fully settled. The present study explored the identification of English (mis)pronunciations based on Spanish and English grapheme-to-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) in a CLIL group and English as a foreign language (EFL) group of young Spanish primary L2 children. Participants demonstrated significantly greater accuracy in accepting English words pronounced according to English GPCs, compared to their performance in rejecting English words pronounced with Spanish GPCs, which did not exceed chance level. The CLIL group only modestly accepted correct pronunciations more often compared to the EFL group. No significant differences were observed between male and female participants. The results suggest that these young learners were not consistently able to reject mispronunciations influenced by their L1 GPCs. Results suggested that CLIL instruction may offer some mitigation of these effects at this early stage of language acquisition.
This article examines how humour functions in refugee ESOL classrooms as an affective, interactional, and pedagogical resource. Refugee learners may enter language classrooms with experiences of displacement, uncertainty, and linguistic marginalisation; yet humour in these settings remains under-theorised, especially in relation to trauma-informed pedagogy. Drawing on 85 hours of classroom observations, interviews with teachers and learners, and a creative role-play stimulus, the article analyses how humour operated across classroom moments and proficiency levels. The findings suggest that humour can ease anxiety in some moments, support participation, strengthen peer connection, and support recognition of multilingual identities, while also carrying risks when cultural knowledge, power asymmetries, or emotional boundaries are misread. The article makes three contributions. First, it examines how humour functions differently across refugee ESOL interactions rather than as a uniform technique. Second, it conceptualises playful resistance as humour through which learners may participate, reposition themselves, and resist deficit framings while remaining engaged in the pedagogical task. Third, it translates these findings into trauma-informed implications for teachers, especially around humour selection, boundary-setting, and repair when humour misfires.
Given the crucial role of student engagement with written corrective feedback (WCF) in facilitating writing performance and development, this study used a mixed-methods approach to explore how an under-researched learner group, Chinese junior high school students (n = 578), engaged with automated feedback provided by a popular automated writing evaluation (AWE) system (i.e., Pigai), the impact of the attitude variable on engagement, and the effect of engagement on writing improvement. An engagement with automated feedback scale based on Ellis' tripartite conceptualization of engagement with feedback was developed and validated, demonstrating good reliability and validity. Structural Equation Modeling was employed for data analysis. Results showed that this sample of junior high school learners displayed high-level engagement manifested in three dimensions, i.e., behavioral, cognitive, and affective. Additionally, students' rather positive attitudes towards WCF and towards the use of technology in language learning exerted significant impacts on all engagement dimensions. In terms of the predictive effect, among the three dimensions, only behavioral engagement could significantly positively predict students' improvement. Implications were offered for secondary EFL writing pedagogy as well as for AWE tool development.
This study examines how L1-L2 congruency affects the processing of Chinese collocations by English-speaking learners in the United States. Seventy-nine participants completed an online acceptability judgment task involving congruent (L1 and L2 structurally and semantically aligned) and incongruent collocations. Results showed that learners of Chinese judged congruent items more accurately than incongruent ones, particularly at lower proficiency levels. However, no clear congruency effect was observed in response times. Meanwhile, collocational frequency significantly predicted both accuracy and speed, with stronger effects among higher-proficiency learners. In contrast, native speakers performed near the ceiling, showing no sensitivity to congruency. L2 proficiency modulated the congruency effect in accuracy: lower-proficiency learners demonstrated greater sensitivity to congruency, while higher-proficiency learners processed both types more uniformly. These findings suggest that congruent collocations benefit from L1-based processing, especially for lower-proficiency learners, and that frequency plays a crucial role in facilitating collocational processing. The study has implications not only for Chinese instruction in English-speaking contexts but also for understanding formulaic language processing in logographic languages.
Studies of careful on-line planning in TBLT typically operationalize it by removing time pressure, assuming that extra time encourages careful planning and better performance. This study challenges that assumption by adopting the unforeseen situation approach: providing listener feedback between two consecutive performances. Sixty Chinese EFL learners were randomly assigned to pressured and unpressured groups and completed a narrative task. CAF measures were analyzed alongside self-reported on-line planning strategies. Results showed no significant between-group differences in CAF measures, except that the unpressured group produced significantly more long pauses (>= 1,000 ms); the two groups also reported similar patterns of strategy use. These findings suggest that time availability alone may not be decisive; task design that creates incentives for careful on-line planning may be more critical. Pedagogically, the unforeseen situation approach may help learners practice real-time linguistic retrieval and revision, which are necessary for real-world communication.
The effects of bilingual subtitles (i.e., subtitling in first and second languages simultaneously) remain insufficiently studied. This gap was addressed by assessing how word- and learner-related variables (frequency, relevance, word length, and proficiency) influence vocabulary learning. For this purpose, 84 EFL learners in China watched a documentary with or without bilingual subtitles and their vocabulary knowledge was measured at four levels (meaning recall/recognition and form recall/recognition) using a pre-post design. The results revealed clear positive effects of bilingual subtitles, whereby participants had a 67 % and 90 % chance of learning an unknown word based on meaning recall and recognition tests, and 0.7 % and 12 % according to form recall and recognition tests, respectively. Frequency, relevance, and proficiency were positively related to learning. Additionally, students with higher proficiency benefitted more from bilingual subtitles. The findings contribute to the field of bilingual captions for language learning.
Second language (L2) oral communication involves not only linguistic competence but also complex socio-psychological processes. Guided by the E4MC well-being model, this study employed Q methodology to investigate adolescent EFL learners' subjective perceptions of various socio-psychological factors influencing their willingness to communicate (WTC). The study involved 29 Chinese secondary students, who were invited to sort 47 statements covering six dimensions: emotions, emotional intelligence, empathy, engagement, motivation, and character strengths. Factor analysis identified six distinct learner profiles: (1) emotionally sensitive yet engaging learners, (2) empathic learners with interpersonal awareness, (3) confidence-oriented learners motivated by constructive feedback, (4) resilient learners with intrinsic motivation, (5) collaborative learners motivated by peer support, and (6) low-motivation learners reliant on teacher feedback. The findings further indicate that classroom oral communication is shaped by interrelated psychological and social dimensions, highlighting the importance of emotionally responsive and learner-centred pedagogy to promote well-being in L2 classrooms.
The proliferation of generative AI (GenAI) in academic writing necessitates that second language (L2) writers develop Critical AI Literacy (CAIL) - a set of competencies extending beyond operational skills to include ethical, strategic, and critical engagement. While conceptual frameworks for CAIL are emerging, a validated instrument to empirically measure this multifaceted construct for L2 writers has been conspicuously absent. This study addresses this gap by detailing the development and validation of the L2 Writers' Critical AI Literacy Scale (L2-CAILS). Following established psychometric procedures, the scale was developed through literature review, expert validation, and pilot testing, and was subsequently administered to 420 L2 university students. The data were subjected to both exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to establish construct validity and reliability. The analysis yielded a robust and reliable 25-item, five-factor model of CAIL: (1) Awareness and Understanding of AI, (2) Ethical and Responsible Use, (3) AI Application Strategies, (4) Critical Evaluation of AI Outputs, and (5) Metacognitive Engagement and Self-Regulation. The L2-CAILS provides a validated tool for researchers and educators to assess L2 writers' competencies, design targeted pedagogical interventions, and conduct empirical research on the role of CAIL in AI-assisted academic writing.
This study investigates the impact of learning contexts on the usage patterns of verbs and verb argument structure constructions (VACs) in L2 spoken production, comparing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. Analyzing spoken corpus data from 400 participants, we examined verb-VAC associations, semantic cohesion, and verb diversity. Results reveal that compared to EFL learners, ESL learners demonstrate significantly stronger verb-VAC associations, higher semantic cohesion within VACs, and a trend towards greater verb diversity. These findings suggest that immersive language environments facilitate the development of more native-like representations of verbs and VACs. We discuss these findings in connection with both usage-based theories of language acquisition and the noisy representations account.
This study employs a pre-test/post-test/delayed post-test design to investigate the long-term effects of pragmatics strategy instruction on Chinese EFL learners' email invitation-requests. It further examines the extent to which learner motivation influences instructional effectiveness. Two groups of learners - a high-motivation group and a low-motivation group - were formed. They received 12 h of pragmatics strategy instruction over one month, during which they were taught several cognitive and metacognitive strategies related to learning pragmatics. Learners' pragmatic performance was assessed through an electronic discourse completion test. Results from the post-test and delayed post-test indicated that both groups showed significant and sustained pragmatic improvements, with their frequency and variety of internal and external modifiers significantly increased. However, the moderating role of motivation was not confirmed. This study adds strong support to the facilitative role of strategy instruction in developing learners' email pragmatic competence and provides informed pedagogical implications for both L2 learners and L2 teachers.
English medium instruction often bears the promise of providing a meaning-focused approach to L2 learning alongside content learning. However, EMI teachers are found to resist their role as language teachers. A common reason is they are typically content specialists with no language training or teaching experience. This study investigates when EMI teachers do possess ESL/EFL teaching experience whether there is a difference in their integration of language during teacher-whole class interaction. The SLA concept, focus on form, is adopted to analyze the incidental and planned focus on form in 30 video recorded EMI science classes taught by 15 native speakers of English teachers (NSTs), where five of them possess past ESL/EFL teaching experience. Findings show teachers with such experience used more focus on form, and two teachers with extensive past ESL/EFL teaching experience had lengthy planned focus on form. Suggestions are made in optimizing focus on form in EMI classes.
Intergenerational trauma, rooted in histories of colonization and systemic exclusion, continues to impact the educational and psychological well-being of Indigenous communities, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia. In response to the enduring impact of intergenerational trauma, this study explores how a trauma-responsive framework can be strengthened through a translanguaging On Country framework that integrates translanguaging pedagogy with Aboriginal children's linguistic, communicative, cultural and identity repertoires. This ethnographic study was conducted at an Aboriginal school in Western Australia's Kimberley region. Drawing on an "On-Country Walk," this study reveals how Aboriginal children engaged in translanguaging to express themselves through full translingual repertories, including Gija, Kriol, Aboriginal English, Standard Australian English, and other semiotic resources, which promote a sense of belonging, strengthens cultural identities, and creates a sense of safety. Findings demonstrate that translanguaging On Country offers a harmonious and healing space for mutual learning where Aboriginal children confidently articulate their meaning-making practices while reclaiming their linguistic, cultural and epistemic agency.
Although subjectivity has been extensively examined in original academic writings, it remains comparatively underexplored in academic translations. For many non-native English-speaking scholars, academic texts are often initially composed in their first language and subsequently translated into English, either manually or with the assistance of AI-based technologies. Addressing this underexamined area, this study offers a comparative analysis of subjectivity in original, human-translated and ChatGPT-translated academic texts, combining factor analysis and random forest modelling. The results identify six latent dimensions underpinning the construct of subjectivity: authorial assertion, dialogic engagement, modalised stance, evidentiality-related evaluation, hypothetical reasoning and indeterminacy. Importantly, the study provides empirical evidence of a general loss of subjectivity in academic translations, a tendency more pronounced in human-translated texts across several dimensions. The key difference between human translations and original academic writings lies in their orientation towards the source text or the authorial presence, while the primary divergence between ChatGPT translations and original texts is found in the degree of academic modesty. These findings suggest that students who use AI tools to translate their first-language writings into academic English should be encouraged to adopt an active authorial stance and to engage in critical evaluation of the AI-generated outputs.
Combining move analysis with multidimensional analysis (MDA), this study investigates salient linguistic co-occurrence patterns ("dimensions") as well as linguistic variations in the rhetorical moves of English research article introductions (RAIs) in applied linguistics written by L1 English and L1 Chinese scholars. Our MDA of a corpus of move segments of RAIs from thirteen applied linguistics journals identifies five functionally interpretable dimensions: grounded evaluation, criticism with caution, stated purposes, author-involved narration of current study versus existing knowledge, and research- versus non-research-related information density. A comparative analysis reveals systematic variation in the linguistic features of specific moves between the RAIs written by L1 English and L1 Chinese scholars. Our findings have useful implications for research and pedagogy of English for academic purposes.
Research on incidental vocabulary acquisition through extensive reading has focused largely on textual features, with limited attention to individual differences, particularly in exam-oriented secondary school contexts. This study investigated the effects of individual differences on incidental vocabulary acquisition among Chinese EFL secondary school learners. Using a quasi-experimental design, pretests, immediate posttests, and delayed posttests measured five aspects of word knowledge: form recognition, meaning recognition, meaning recall, collocation recognition, and collocation recall. Over 6 weeks, the experimental group (n = 99) read graded readers, while the control group (n = 95) followed regular instruction. Participants' L2 vocabulary size, L2 reading ability, and use of incidental vocabulary learning strategies were assessed through standardized tests and questionnaires. Findings indicated L2 reading ability as the strongest predictor of delayed posttest scores, while vocabulary size and strategy use correlated with, but did not directly predict, outcomes. Results underscore the need for strategic reading instruction to enhance extensive reading's impact.
Speech production theories have underscored the significance of producing formulaic sequences, particularly collocations, in language. Yet, measuring collocational competence in second language (L2) speaking tests, especially in high-stakes assessments, is under-researched. Hence, this study aimed to measure Iranian test takers' lexical and grammatical collocations in terms of three dimensions of accuracy, complexity, and fluency in the IELTS speaking test across various proficiency levels. To further explore the relationship between the dimensions of collocational competence, the study also investigated the association between IELTS test takers' collocational complexity and their collocational accuracy and fluency. To achieve this, a corpus of 60 mock IELTS speaking tests with different proficiency levels (band scores of 6, 7, and 8) was collected, with 20 samples for each level, resulting in a total of 3,252 collocations. Results showed a positive correlation between collocation scores and higher band scores across accuracy, complexity (except for restrictedness), and fluency dimensions. Results from regression path analyses also showed no significant correlation between IELTS test takers' collocational complexity and fluency, while a significant negative correlation was identified between their collocational complexity and accuracy. These findings highlight the significance of oral collocational competence as a key factor influencing overall oral proficiency, particularly in the context of preparation for high-stakes tests.
This paper is a systematic review of the literature on translation in English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching in secondary and higher education settings. The review was conducted in order to explore translation-in-education research in relation to a translanguaging lens. The review follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. We used both inclusion and exclusion criteria to identify the literature collection in the Scopus database from 2014 to 2024, and a total of 44 publications out of 471 identified were included for review. All the studies under review, whether for experimental, teaching, or learning purposes, showed that translation played various roles in EFL teaching and learning, and machine technology (MT) was a particular focus. Translation was found to provide a number of advantages for language learners of varying proficiency levels, especially those with lower English proficiency, and attitudes towards translation were mostly positive. The main focus of the majority of the studies, however, was on understanding aspects of language, such as specific vocabulary and grammar, rather than on the act - or process - of translating. Suggestions for creating space for empirical research on translanguaging in translation scholarship are discussed.
This study explores the phenomenon of Chinese-English code-switching in interviews with 116 Taiwanese learners across proficiency levels within the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR; Council of Europe. 2020. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment companion volume. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing). The learner corpus data were extracted from the Taiwanese sub-corpus (Huang, Lan-fen. 2014. Constructing the Taiwanese component of the Louvain International Database of Spoken English Interlanguage (LINDSEI). Taiwan Journal of TESOL 11(1). 31-74) of the Louvain International Database of Spoken English Interlanguage (LINDSEI; Gilquin, Ga & euml;tanelle, de Cock Sylvie & Sylviane Granger (eds.). 2010. LINDSEI Louvain International Database of Spoken English Interlanguage. Handbook and CD-ROM. Louvain-la-Neuve: Presses universitaires de Louvain) and its expanded data (Huang, Lan-fen & Tom & aacute;& scaron; Gr & aacute;f. 2021. Expanding LINDSEI to spoken learner English from several L1s across CEFR levels. Corpora 16(2). 271-285). The analysis of relative code-switching frequencies revealed a consistent decline from A1 to C1, indicating that as proficiency increased, L1 use declined. Kruskal-Wallis tests presented clear evidence of a difference between higher (B2 and above) and lower (B1 and below) levels. The functions of Chinese use were explored and interpreted on the basis of empirical evidence within their immediate context, following the taxonomy of linguistic functions proposed by Kaneko, Tomoko. 2009. Use of mother tongue in English-as-a-foreign-language speech by Japanese university students. Gakuen 822. 25-41. By analysing a CEFR-rated Taiwanese learner corpus, this study provides practical insights showing how L1 use evolves with proficiency. It also proposes alternatives: English expressions and appropriate communication strategies to address referential code-switching, which probably stems from learners' limited proficiency. These findings yield practical suggestions and linguistic examples to support English language teachers working with Chinese-speaking learnerss.
Collocations are ubiquitous in language and important in successful second language (L2) use. Yet L2 learners’ knowledge of collocations, particularly their productive knowledge, is often considered inadequate. To further understanding of how learners’ productive collocation knowledge develops, effective methods of accessing and assessing this knowledge are necessary. To date, validated instruments for measuring productive collocation knowledge are lacking and ad hoc tools that appear to have undergone limited development prevalent. This paper therefore reports on the development of an instrument for measuring L2 learners’ productive collocation knowledge. Starting with an existing instrument that was considered promising, the paper sets out how a series of iterative trialling and development studies were undertaken to assess the instrument and enhance its validity. With revisions to its format, scoring and cues, a summative evaluation of the new form of the instrument, LexCombi 2, is described, and an initial evaluation of LexCombi 2’s validity given.
Implicit knowledge is one of the major goals of second language learning. Implicit knowledge is useful because of its automatic nature. There is a possibility that task repetition provides an opportunity to obtain implicit knowledge of chunks through frequent encounters to the same patterns during the repetition. If this frequency is enhanced by practice, learning of implicit knowledge of chunks is expected to be facilitated. The present study adopted oral repetition of chunk combinations as chunk practice to realize high-frequency encounters with patterns of chunks. This chunk practice, combined with picture description activities, was administered to the treatment group of beginner-level learners of English, while the control group engaged in the activities without the chunk practice. The treatment group outperformed the control group in the outcome of accuracy of article. However, statistically significant differences were not confirmed between the groups in fluency and accuracy of verbs and prepositions. The effect on accuracy of article endured for at least one week in the delayed performance. Transfer was not confirmed because both groups reached similar levels of unrehearsed performance.
