This study tracks changes in high school students’ online processing fluency and explicit knowledge over time following data-driven learning (DDL) instruction and explores what their performance on two structures differing in difficulty may suggest about grammatical difficulty. A total of 37 participants received DDL instruction targeting the two grammatical structures. Online processing fluency was assessed through a self-paced reading task and explicit knowledge through an untimed grammaticality judgment test, with qualitative data from learning journals used to contextualize the quantitative findings. Analyses using mixed-effects models revealed two main patterns. First, gains in online processing fluency were sustained through the delayed test for both structures, whereas gains in explicit knowledge were not retained—a divergence that held regardless of grammatical difficulty. Second, the structure classified as less difficult based on acquisition order, linguistic complexity, and frequency nonetheless showed greater processing demands and lower comprehension accuracy, suggesting that semantic-logical properties such as embedded negation may also contribute to grammatical difficulty. These findings underscore the value of examining online processing fluency and explicit knowledge separately following DDL instruction and are consistent with a multidimensional view of grammatical difficulty. Pedagogical implications and directions for future research are discussed.
This study examines the acquisition of numeric approximators (APs) (e.g. ao redor de ‘around’, aproximadamente ‘approximately’) in third language (L3) Brazilian Portuguese (BP). APs are lexical items that make expressions containing numeric values vague by adding fuzziness or imprecision to their semantic boundaries. In BP and many other languages, APs have been shown to be native speakers’ preferred forms to discuss quantities that are uncertain or cannot be recalled with precision.. For this study, 39 participants completed a Written Elicited Production Task in which they provided answers to quantity-related questions that were uncertain to them. The participants were divided into three groups: two experimental groups of L3 learners with L1 English/L2 Spanish (n=10) and L1 Spanish/L2 English (n=10), and a comparison group of BP L1 speakers (n=20). We examined (1) the use of APs, (2) lexical variety (diversity of APs), and (3) lexical transfer, and found that most L3 learners not only have acquired APs but also used a wide variety of them. Additionally, regression models showed that L3 proficiency is the strongest predictor for the three variables under investigation, followed by target-language exposure and order of acquisition of English vs. Spanish as L1 and L2.
This study investigated Vietnamese undergraduate students’ preference for two types of written corrective feedback (WCF) in EFL writing and examined the extent to which learner autonomy (LA) dimensions were associated with these preferences. Using a quantitative correlational survey design, data were collected from 472 undergraduate students from two universities. Students completed a scenario-based WCF preference instrument covering direct and indirect feedback and a LA questionnaire aligned with a four-dimension model, namely initiating learning opportunities, monitoring learning processes, goal setting and evaluating learning, and using technology for learning. Scale reliability was supported by high internal consistency across the final six scales, with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from .842 to .943. CFA provided limited support for the adopted four-dimension LA structure, with strong correlations among some dimensions. Students reported significantly higher preference for direct feedback than indirect feedback. Direct WCF preference did not differ significantly by gender, while male students reported higher preference for indirect WCF than female students with a small effect size. Preference did not differ significantly by proficiency for either feedback type. Correlation and hierarchical regression analyses showed that LA dimensions were more consistently associated with indirect WCF preference than with direct WCF preference. Goal setting and evaluating learning and using technology for learning predicted direct WCF preference, while initiating learning opportunities and monitoring learning processes predicted indirect WCF preference. The findings indicate modest learner-variable associations in scenario-based WCF preference and suggest that feedback practices in Vietnamese higher education may need to consider both product-oriented and process-oriented learning needs.
The use of GenAI by higher education (HE) students may not surprise anyone now. However, English for Academic Purposes (EAP) University Teachers’ perspectives about their students’ use of GenAI and their own application of these tools in their classes at tertiary education in Peru remains understudied. Therefore, this paper explores, through two semi-structured interviews, EAP teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about GenAI use by their students in online English Composition courses, within an English Medium of Instruction (EMI) program, at a private university in Lima, and what possible obstacles these teachers may face in implementing GenAI-enhanced activities in said courses. The findings suggest that GenAI in EAP courses is a relevant, mostly troubling, and still unresolved issue in teachers’ minds. In addition, four obstacles prevented implementation of Gen AI-enhanced activities in online English Composition courses: a) Irrelevant teacher training, b) GenAI implementation procedures are still unclear, c) Aggravating context, and d) Lack of GenAI policies. The paper concludes that specialized teacher training and critical AI literacy courses for students are an urgent matter in HE institution curricula in Peru. Second, GenAI policies should have a multilateral, bottom-up approach and be developed at the department level by stakeholders (teachers and students); and avoid one-fits-all mindsets.
