This paper puts forward a research agenda in the area of explicit and implicit knowledge and learning of second or additional languages. Based on a brief overview of reliable findings as well as open questions in the field, three agenda items are highlighted. First, valid and reliable measures of explicit and, in particular, implicit knowledge and…

Research on input processing and processing instruction has often employed a scoring method known as trials to criterion to observe the effects of instruction that emerge during training. Despite its common use in this research (see Fernández, 2021) this metric has never been evaluated critically. The present study first discusses several…

This paper evaluates the use of Factor Analysis (FA) in English education research in Korea and suggests improvements in methodology. A detailed coding protocol was used to review 179 FA cases from 12 major English education journals (2014-2023). The review identified several key issues, including small sample sizes and lenient criteria for sample…

This case study examines the key steps and challenges that were involved in a mixed methods research project relating to Japanese first-year medical students' English academic vocabulary learning. Conducting mixed methods research can be both conceptually and administratively challenging under any circumstances. However, this study was especially…

This study explored the challenges faced by doctoral students in preparing and publishing research in reputable international journals. A descriptive qualitative approach was employed to gather in-depth information from four doctoral students in three higher education institutions in Sumatra, Indonesia. The participants were recruited through…

Swales' (1990) Creating a Research Space (CARS) model has spawned a large number of studies focusing on investigations of research article introductions (RAIs), and the reports have given meaningful contributions to guide novice and non-native authors in writing English RAIs. However, the investigation of authors' research gap strategies in RAIs…

Morphological awareness has been assessed longitudinally for monolinguals and bilinguals to trace the developmental trend. Researchers have found the important role it plays in literacy development including vocabulary growth and reading development. Conclusions about the important role morphological awareness play in literacy development are…

Interview-based research in multilingual situations can present researchers with specific ethical challenges relating to language-based power play, data handling and presentation. Studies indicate favouring the L1 (first language) as an interviewing language may produce better quality data, but external pressures can favour English as the dominant…

This report presents a review of the statistical practices of 30 journals representative of the second language field. A review of 150 articles showed a number of prevalent statistical violations including incomplete reporting of reliability, validity, non-significant results, effect sizes, and assumption checks as well as making inferences from…

This paper systematically reviews the studies of working memory in second language learning in China over the past 20 years. A total of 140 studies that were published in 13 major foreign language journals during the past 20 years (2000-2019) were categorized and analyzed according to research method, educational level, and research content. For…

Situational Teaching plays a crucial role in English classroom teaching in Chinese Primary Schools; hence the relevant research prospers simultaneously. This study is devoted to reveal the research characteristic on English Situational Teaching in Primary Schools in the past 6 years. Result of contrastive analysis and survey of the essays…

Video-stimulated verbal recall is becoming an increasingly popular method for examining a broad range of research topics across academic disciplines. One of its major appeals is that it makes it possible to capture and investigate the dynamic nature of task performance and has the potential to provide a wealth of information on the cognitive…

I found the need to explore the difficulties faced by Arabic-speaking English language learners studying mathematics as soon as I moved to the United Arab Emirates. Thus, I began a line of research that aimed to explain and understand these issues and find effective teaching strategies for the students. This case study describes the first research…

Applied linguists have turned increasingly in recent years to meta-analysis as the preferred means of synthesizing quantitative research. The first step in the meta-analytic process involves defining a domain of interest. Despite its apparent simplicity, this step involves a great deal of subjectivity on the part of the meta-analyst. This article…

This research project case study describes the research practicalities and design of a mixed methods dissertation study about the language-learning motivation of students who had attended a language immersion school. Mixed methods research, an approach to research in which elements of both quantitative (numbers-focused) and qualitative…