Critical thinking (CT) is widely recognised as a core competency in 21st-century higher education, particularly within English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning contexts. This study examines the extent to which motivation and engagement contribute to the development of CT skills among Chinese EFL university students. A sample of 626…

The affective turn in the second language (L2) acquisition literature has witnessed a shift from the periphery to a clear focus on emotions. Nevertheless, this shift tends to examine emotion separately from cognition. Vygotsky's "perezhivanie" provides a theoretical lens to explore the inextricable interconnectedness of emotion and…

Flow, a subjective state of optimal engagement and immersion, is characterized by a balance of perceived challenges and skills, interest, attention, and a sense of control (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). Investigating flow in language learning can provide valuable insights into effective learning processes and contexts (Egbert, 2003). Self-regulated…

This study investigates the effects of online instructors' use of initiation and maintenance rapport-building strategies (RBS) on Chinese EFL learners' CALL motivation and cognitive load management. Mixed methods research was used to concurrently triangulate different strands of data on the effects of RBS on 86 randomly sampled EFL learners. The…

This paper delves into the theoretical dimensions of metacognition, exploring how learners' awareness of their learning strategies and thought processes impacts language acquisition. Metacognition, or the awareness and regulation of one's own cognitive processes, plays a pivotal role in language learning by empowering learners to navigate the…

This study bridges a gap in the current research on motivation and demotivation learning a second language (L2). It is meant to provide an overview of students' goal setting when they start to learn an L2 at university level in Australia. Drawing on goal-setting and learning goal orientation constructs (cf. Miller, 2020), goal formation is…

The United States government is perennially in need of employees with proficiency in critical foreign languages to communicate with foreign counterparts and maintain relationships worldwide. In order to fulfill this need, the government devotes significant resources training federal employees to advanced levels of language proficiency through…

This study attempted to examine the patterns of motivational factors and their interplay involved in EFL learning through the lens of self-regulated learning. 285 grade-one senior high students from three Chinese middle schools completed a questionnaire which was designed to assess motivation (mastery goal, task value, and self-efficacy) and…

Despite the increasing recognition of English communication skills as essential for global participation, many students in non-native English-speaking countries experience reluctance to communicate in English, particularly in junior high school settings. This research investigates the effect of growth mindset on junior high school students'…

The study investigates the effects of AI-enhanced multi-display language teaching systems on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Utilizing a pretest-posttest random assignment experimental design, the research involved 302 EFL students aged 19 to 28 in a higher education setting. The study examines the effects of AI-powered virtual…

Learning strategies have been considered an important field of study since 1970s. Since that time the objective of reviewing studies in this field has been to determine the effectiveness of learning strategies in developing foreign language skills. For this reason, a comprehensive review of literature from Asia, Europe, and America on foreign…

This paper focuses on a fairly new motivational technique, the so-called Gamification, which consists of introducing game mechanics in non-game environments to promote motivation and engagement. By the turn of the 21rst century, Gamification took off in the business field and soon after became an attractive concept for researchers and…

Much effort has been put into the design of video lectures, but little attention has been paid to the social environment in which learning takes place. The present study addressed this gap by assigning Chinese undergraduate and graduate students who had passed the College English Test-4 to learn easy or difficult English vocabulary words in three…

Globally, the choice of language learning strategies by EFL learners is a debated issue in secondary schools in EFL countries due to the individual personality characteristics of the learners. This study investigated the relationship between three predictor variables (motivational processes, learning style, cognitive ability) and learners'…

The present study explored different types of task value and their associations with the use of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies across various English as a foreign language (EFL) learning scenarios. The application of SRL strategies is supported by motivational beliefs, including task value. Although prior research has demonstrated the…