There is no doubt that pair/group work is an integral part of language learning because it not only provides a unique opportunity for students to improve an array of skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, but also enables them to experience a diversity of personalities and perspectives. Frequent exposure to a wide range of…

This study explores useful ways of using an instant messenger in a peer-tutoring environment when two students exchange their mother languages. Seven learners of Korean and seven Korean students learning English were paired randomly to conduct language exchange via an instant messenger, KakaoTalk. The pairs (five of male and female pair and two of…

This study sought to explore the relationship between mindfulness, coping self-efficacy (CSE) and foreign language anxiety (FLA) among a sample of 295 Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. Further, the capacity of CSE in mediating the relationship between mindfulness and FLA was tested. The participants were administered…

In this article, we initially focus on how the conceptualization of leadership by Knight (2013a) in his leadership seminars became the basis for choosing a project-based learning (PBL) approach. We then consider how soft assembling can enhance the leadership project activities of student teams and group-work in general classes. Soft assembling…

This paper reports on a study of the identity perceptions of undergraduate and postgraduate students of Mandarin at UK universities. Interviews with 26 students were conducted over a three-year period, most of whom were multilingual. Approximately half spoke English as an additional language. The remainder were native speakers of English. The…

Despite the preponderance of theoretical and empirical evidence that suggests the use of pair/group work to promote second language learning, it is still unclear who can best form high performance groups. Should students be allowed to choose their working partners, or should teachers themselves assign students to pairs? This study set out to…

Research has shown that tasks provide second language (L2) learners with many opportunities to learn the L2. Task repetition has been claimed to benefit L2 learning since familiarity with procedure and/or content gives learners the chance to focus on more specific aspects of language. Most research on task repetition has focused on adult…

Using Englishes as a lingua franca ("EsLF") or international language among EFL learners in an out-of-class setting induces anxiety, then debilitates the intelligibility and comprehensibility of speakers. This research project reports the conceptualisation of EsLF anxiety and its effects on intelligibility and comprehensibility, with the…

This paper deals with the problems of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) and as a lingua franca (ELF) in the Italian educational system and, in particular, with introducing language variation in the English class. After briefly illustrating how English teaching has changed in the last few decades, an outline is drawn of what happens in…

This study investigated the occurrence of incidental focus on form in an under-researched context, i.e. the intact foreign language classroom with near-beginner adolescent learners. Two classes of near-beginner learners of L2 French and of L2 Spanish participated in the study. All interactions involving the teacher and a proportion of the students…

As a case study of non-linguists' perceptions of accent, this paper investigates how accurately and on what basis Japanese-accented English (JAE) is discernible from other L2 varieties of English in New Zealand (NZ). The paper sheds light on how a feature salient in speech is associated with the perceived sociolinguistic identity of speakers. An…

An Activity Theory framework has been increasingly applied for understanding the tension or contradictions in telecollaboration. However, to date, few researchers have applied it to the analysis of digital stories, and none of them, to our knowledge, have used it to analyze the co-creation of multilingual digital stories. In this study, we explore…

Translanguaging pedagogies are considered here as mechanisms that work against the normalizing ideology of monolingual and monoglossic school language. In so doing, we consider how this restrictive view of school language and of language education policy has served to minoritize bilingual students and act as an instrument to exert…

This research aims at finding out students' personal initiative towards their achievement in speaking English. This research was conducted in an English department at a university in North Sulawesi Indonesia. The data were obtained from the sixth semester students in English Language and Literature study program of academic year 2015/2016…

This article reports on a case study of a language school in Greece, with a view to putting forward an understanding of the drivers that sustain or delay curricular innovation. Key to this understanding is the construct of intentionality, defined as "purposes" that drive teaching and learning activity. In the article, we describe three…