Since the initial application of the 'affordances' concept to the context of language learning by van Lier, relatively few studies have continued to explore its implications for second language (L2) learning. This study examines from an emic perspective the affordances that 13 Spanish learners in a study abroad context perceived in their…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

As part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a series of large-scale projects have been launched in the Arab Gulf due to its geopolitically strategic position. We examine the influence of Chinese as a third player, in addition to Arabic and English, in a UAE university educationscape together with Emirati students' attitudes towards its…

The present study aimed to explore the major patterns in the available scholarship on peer feedback in the writing classroom. In doing so, a bibliometric approach was utilised, where a nearly exhaustive search was conducted on the SCOPUS-indexed documents on peer feedback. After compiling a database, the scholarship on peer feedback was divided…

The Catholic Church is the oldest religious institution in the West and the biggest Christian denomination in Australia. Its success is partly due to its sustained efforts to supply missionaries across the globe. While the traditional missionary paradigm involved Europe-born religious workers being sent to colonies, this flow has been reversed in…

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…

Digital games have become an important educational tool for learning and teaching. The development of such games has advanced from 2D, desktop-based technologies to 3D, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR)-based technologies. Yet digital game-based language learning (DGBLL) with AR/VR has only recently started to be investigated, owing to…

This study investigated adult learners' experiences with the language of their new living environment. Migrants and refugees' personal goals for language learning in their specific life situations were captured in in-depth interviews conducted as part of ethnographically oriented field studies in Finland and Germany. Interpretative…

This reflective piece seeks to shed light on the numerous contributions of Diane Larsen-Freeman to theory construction, applied linguistics, and language education by drawing parallels and insights from the FIFA 2022 Qatar World Cup Final. Looking at the multitude of factors that affect both soccer games and language development research,…

This paper is part 4 in a series of workshops that examine the properties of some simple models of vocabulary networks. This Workshop explores how the overall activity level of a vocabulary network can be altered by changing the connections in the network (i.e., by implementing relinking events). The Workshop is linked to an online practice room…