Scores of different language tests intended for similar purposes (e.g., admission to higher education) are used to determine candidates' language proficiency and readiness for a chosen domain. To be fair to all students irrespective of the test they took, score requirements should be comparable. Score concordance tables provide an empirical basis…

Emotional vocabulary is an important element in daily conversations, and knowledge and teaching of this vocabulary in a second language (L2) should be a primary goal in migration contexts. This study aimed to identify the emotional words used in the written productions of 288 adult immigrants from different countries of origin who were…

Inferring the meaning of words and then verifying one's interpretations is widely believed to create relatively strong memories of the items. According to the available research, it is when the inferences are accurate that the learning outcomes are the most promising. The present study extends this inquiry to idioms. Fifty-six ESL learners were…

This study explores the impact of a classroom intervention on second language (L2) Spanish learners' attitudes towards bilingualism and language learning. Language attitudes are crucial to student success (Cummins, 2000), influence students' decisions to continue language learning (Bartley, 1970) and can start developing as early as childhood…

This article connects two fields of applied linguistics: research into the role of the social context in learning additional languages and Language Policy and Planning. It introduces Family Additional Language Policy and Planning as an approach to analysing parental role in children's additional language learning. We applied Family Additional…

Personality has been identified as a possible antecedent to emotions experienced in the foreign language (FL) classroom. However, contrasting results and differing personality models have resulted in ambiguous findings. This study set out to delve deeper into the role of personality as a predictor of FL emotions through a series of increasingly…

This study modeled the effects of essay length and language features on the rated quality of second language (L2) expository and argumentative essays composed by Chinese university students. Latent variables were writing quality captured by essay scores, and lexical sophistication, syntactic complexity and cohesion, each of which was measured by…

This conceptual paper deals with ways in which gesture or embodied utterances create deictic expressions (i.e., deixis) that are relevant to second language teaching and learning. While many gesture types have been found to be material carriers of meaning (McNeill, 1992; Vygotsky, 1986), deictics have the ability and function to create new…

This study investigated whether structural priming, as a reflection of error-driven learning mechanisms, could facilitate second language (L2) learning of the dative alternation in Mandarin. We sought evidence of learning from both priming and acceptability judgment data. Participants were 25 native speakers and 41 classroom learners (CLs). After…

The revised Speech Learning Model (SLM-r) postulates that learners with more precisely defined categories in their native language (L1) exhibit greater proficiency in acquiring sounds in a second language (L2). Despite its recent emergence, empirical studies validating this hypothesis remain scarce. This study aims to investigate the predictive…

Adult immigrant students in language courses benefit from paired discussions not only by acquiring second language proficiency, but also by developing soft skills that enhance their employability in the host society, such as the ability to maintain meaningful discussions with unknown people, interview, and networking skills. Applied regularly,…

Motivational drivers and emotions that students experience play an important role in the process of learning a new language (L2). This has been recognised by researchers and educators, and extensive research has been conducted in recent decades to examine the psychological and emotional factors involved in L2 learning. However, two ubiquitous…

Immigrant families bring myriad strengths through their home literacy practices, which contribute to their children's biliteracy growth. This systematic review critically analysed 28 recent studies on the relationship between home literacy practices and biliteracy development of immigrant bilingual children. Against a backdrop of host societies…

The Austrian education policy employs a segregated model of language support, ostensibly to provide equitable opportunities for language learners. Prior research has demonstrated that this model has not fully achieved its objective of equalizing opportunities, as students persistently confront many academic and socio-emotional challenges. To gain…

Research shows that bilingual learners move naturally between their languages to learn; however, this practice is not welcomed in many second/foreign language classrooms given the belief that first language (L1) use negatively affects second language (L2) development, despite much empirical evidence to the contrary. Moreover, translanguaging…