Uncertainty is unavoidable in life; it is also an indispensable characteristic of educational settings. The process of learning a foreign language naturally involves interaction and coconstruction of knowledge. During this process, students may encounter uncertainty from a variety of sources, including the course, context, friends, or the teacher.…

This article presents the use of conversation analysis (CA) in the context of sociocultural theory (SCT) driven research on L2 development, or CA-for-SCT. I focus specifically on the CA concept of action ascription as it applies to understanding the nature of mediation in interaction. I begin with an overview of the concept of action ascription…

Collocational priming is a priming effect induced by collocationally related words; it has been taken to explain the cognitive reality of collocation. Collocational priming has largely been observed in first language (L1) speakers, whereas work on the representation of collocation in a second language (L2) is still limited. In the present study,…

Most second language acquisition (SLA) research has documented the processes involved in learning second/foreign languages, with few studies focusing on the durability of attained second language (L2) skills once instructed learners/users are no longer receiving formal instruction. The current study examines the effects of continued exposure and…

Second language acquisition theory has traditionally focused on the cognitive and psycholinguistic processes involved in additional language (L2) learning. In addition, research on learner psychology has primarily centered on learners' cognitive abilities (e.g., aptitude and working memory) and internal traits or states (e.g., dispositions,…

Drawing on recent scholarship integrating usage-based linguistics (UBL) and conversation analysis (CA) in the investigation of second language development, this paper reports on a microanalysis tracing one adult learner's recurring, increasingly frequent, and diverse use of the multiword expression "det er sant" (it/that is true) (DES)…

This study attempted to investigate the effects of two forms of text-based glosses, namely dynamic and non-dynamic glosses, on vocabulary learning of EFL learners. To this end, two experimental groups and one control group, each comprising 25 participants, took part in the study. The DIALANG test was employed as a homogenizing tool to ensure the…

Despite the existence of many studies on language learning strategies (LLS), little scholarly work reports the LLS used by multilingual foreign language learners. To fill this empirical gap, the present qualitative case study investigates how polyglots employed their strategies over their path of learning multiple foreign languages. We collected…

Older migrants are often later-life language learners by necessity. While the bulk of extant research on older language learners focuses on those who elect language learning as a constructive leisure pursuit, for older migrants with low proficiency in the dominant host country language, progress in language learning is a key factor that…

This opinion paper focuses on foregrounding the issue of the hidden curriculum in L2 writing and how addressing its negative sides can greatly move forward our understanding of students' writing learning experiences and further promote more effective and equal writing teaching. Specifically, this paper argues that the negative sides of the hidden…

This study reports on findings from two experiments investigating the interpretive patterns of overt pronouns in an embedded subject position with three types of matrix subjects (i.e. a referential NP, a quantified NP, or a "wh"-phrase) in Mandarin, English, and Japanese. According to the Overt Pronoun Constraint (OPC), overt pronouns in…

Background/purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the efficacy of the dynamic assessment (DA) Portfolio model for language learning in higher education. This study was conducted in the Indonesian Syntax classroom at Universitas Negeri Surabaya (Unesa). Materials/methods: The learning topics selected in this study were syntactic…

In this Methods Showcase Article, we illustrate mixed-effects modeling with a multinomial dependent variable as a means of explaining complexities in language. We model data on future-time reference in second language Spanish, which consists of a nominal dependent variable that has three levels, measured over 73 participants. We offer step-by-step…

Eye tracking has taken hold in second language acquisition (SLA) and bilingualism as a valuable technique for researching cognitive processes, yet a comprehensive picture of reporting practices is still lacking. Our systematic review addressed this gap. We synthesized 145 empirical eye-tracking studies, coding for 58 reporting features and…

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is considered a critical competence for lifelong learning that requires explicit instruction and consistent practice, especially for college students. Despite the abundant intervention studies on the role of SRL in students' academic performance in the Western world, very little is known in China in English as a…