ABSTRACT Embracing “the political economy turn,” applied linguistics has increasingly examined socioeconomic class as a central construct in language learning. Prior research highlights links between socioeconomic status (SES) and learning outcomes, often contributing to divides such as the English Divide in South Korea. Yet few studies have systematically incorporated perceived SES as a predictor of learners’ language learning choices. Two additional constructs—international posture and initial proficiency—also remain underexplored despite their potential to shape learners’ selection of learning contexts. To address these gaps, this study examines three groups in Korea ( n = 207)—study abroad sojourners, working holidaymakers, and at‐home students—with respect to their perceived SES, initial proficiency, and international posture, using the Douglas Fir Group's three‐level framework. Mixed‐methods data were collected through surveys, elicited imitation tasks, and interviews, and analyzed through a multinomial logistic regression and thematic analysis. The findings revealed that perceived SES, initial proficiency, and posture collectively predicted learners’ choices across micro‐, meso‐, and macro‐levels. This study demonstrates how individual difference variables interact with meso‐level structures and broader macro‐level sociocultural ideologies, ultimately shaping learners’ decision‐making processes and language learning trajectories.
ABSTRACT Pluriliteracies teaching for deeper learning (PTDL) focuses on the development of learners’ disciplinary literacies in additional languages. This study investigates teacher‐made materials through PTDL within a government‐supported initiative in the Basque Country (2022–2026). Drawing on a continuing professional development (CPD) programme with 69 primary and secondary teachers, we examine (1) how teachers constructed professional knowledge to design PTDL‐oriented materials, and (2) what characteristics these materials displayed. Situated in a pragmatist paradigm, the study uses qualitative data generated ecologically across the CPD: group discussions, 143 written reflections, 69 action‐research plans, 138 lesson plans, 301 teaching artefacts and 162 mentoring sessions. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings indicate an iterative, practice‐driven sequence—considering context, languaging, analysing examples, revisiting policy and enacting/reflecting (CLARE)—through which teachers developed PTDL understandings and teacher language awareness. The resulting materials were typically multilingual, multimodal and oriented to cognitive discourse functions. We propose four interconnected principles for teacher‐made PTDL materials: contextual relevance, cognitive‐linguistic integrative development, inclusiveness and engagement. The study advances materials development scholarship by evidencing how PTDL can be operationalised through teacher agency in CPD and by offering transferable heuristics for designing pluriliteracies‐focused classroom resources.
ABSTRACT A large and emerging body of evidence has challenged the classic view that L2 anxiety is a causal factor in L2 learning achievement and that when anxiety is mitigated, L2 proficiency improves. This classic “anxiety → achievement” view has three major problems. First, studies frequently draw causal conclusions from cross‐sectional associations, even though such designs cannot establish temporal precedence and are highly vulnerable to reverse causality and confounding. Second, common L2 anxiety self‐report instruments embed language skills and self‐perceived competence within item content, inflating anxiety–achievement correlations. Third, the classic view on anxiety has developed an “anxiety monoculture”: a persistent tendency to favor the affective interpretation “anxiety → achievement” while neglecting rival explanations, language‐related confounds, and falsification‐oriented designs. In this paper, we synthesize evidence from longitudinal and experimental work indicating that language achievement more plausibly precedes anxiety than the reverse, and provide pedagogical implications that highlight emotional support as an important resource in the process rather than a key causal factor. We then propose an alternative research agenda for the new view on L2 anxiety comprising four components: (a) stronger causal‐inference designs, including longitudinal and experimental approaches; (b) improved measurement standards that decouple anxiety from language ability; (c) explicit accounting for language achievement and L2 aptitude measures when modeling the anxiety–achievement relationship; and (d) reconceptualizing anxiety as a reflection of the learner's concurrent level of language proficiency, which can decrease as language competence and language achievement grow. We argue that progress in conceptualizing L2 anxiety depends crucially on moving beyond past designs and interpretations by adopting these recommendations.
It has been suggested that informing language learners about the original, literal meaning of idioms helps them to remember these expressions, but the empirical evidence is limited. A new study was conducted with three groups of learners of English (53 Chinese students at a university in Canada, 56 students at a university in China, and 77 high school students in Belgium). Each time, the students were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In both conditions, they were asked to infer the meanings of 18 idioms, followed by feedback. In one condition, the inference task was supported by two illustrative sentences. In the other condition, it was supported by one such sentence and a note about the original, literal meaning of the expression (e.g., that jump the gun alludes to a false start in track athletics). The students' ability to recall the figurative meanings was assessed 1 week later, after which they were also quizzed about the origins. Multilevel regression modeling revealed better meaning recall after the learning condition that included notes about the idioms' origins, especially for the students who remembered these notes. Inference accuracy at the learning stage also emerged as a strong predictor of meaning recall.
As the open science movement has gained momentum and the emphasis on study quality has increased in applied linguistics, transparency has become both a methodological necessity and an ethical imperative across the field. However, systematic evaluations of transparency in applied linguistics remain limited. Drawing on previous synthetic work, this systematic review examined the transparency practices in quantitative second language (L2) (quasi-)experimental research being carried out in China. We coded 393 studies drawn from 330 peer-reviewed articles published between 2020 and 2024 in 19 major applied linguistics journals for 108 indicators of transparency. These features spanned the entire research cycle, from the formulation of research questions to the documentation of participants, experimental manipulations, measurement procedures, data collection and analysis, and results reporting. The findings revealed both strengths and persistent limitations across these domains. We conclude by discussing the implications for enhancing transparency within the context of Chinese L2 research and in the broader discipline of applied linguistics, and by providing recommendations for multiple groups of stakeholders.
