This article presents a qualitative study of integrating target language (TL) materials and activities within a world language (WL) teacher preparation program at a large, Midwestern public university. Based on document and interview data, I analyze how teacher candidates engaged with curricular materials written in the respective TL, how they…

This study investigated the effects of varying text difficulty on L2 reading attitudes and reading comprehension. To provide the optimal challenge for L2 reading, comprehensible input hypothesis postulates that choosing text slightly harder than the learner's current level will enhance reading comprehension. Fifty-four freshmen from one university…

This paper presents the results of a study based on the change in language attitudes experienced by some allochthonous individuals through contact with the sociolinguistic situation in Catalonia. Previous studies have suggested that in some cases, contact with Catalan--a minority language with a valued identity--acts as a stimulus for some…

This study examines the influence of experience with a second language (L2) on the perception of phonological contrasts in a third language (L3). This study contributes to L3 phonology by examining the influence of L2 phonological perception abilities on the perception of an L3 at the beginner level. Participants were native speakers of Korean…

This study draws upon activity theory to better understand the implications of corrective feedback (CF) as an artifact on (1) the coconstruction of knowledge and (2) the action-oriented decisions of 10 mixed pairs comprising a foreign language learner (FLL) and a heritage language learner (HLL) of Spanish. To this end, the dyads were divided into…

The aim of this study is to evaluate learning and acquisition strategies used by second/foreign language learners. This study is a comparative investigation of learning and acquisition strategies of successful and less successful language learners. The main question of the study is to investigate if there is a relationship between the learners'…

Education systems around the world have experienced a rise in the number of newly arrived students. This article explores the manner in which the Swedish education system responds to the diverse needs of these students. Using the concept of post-migration ecology, the authors outline and critically discuss the legal, organisational, and…

The article discusses the investment of L2 learners in the English language on Facebook that they portrayed through their Facebook activities. It studied four informants consisted of diploma students in a Malaysian university. The study consisted of 14 weeks of online observation and semi-structured interviews. Data were collected from online…

The 21st century has seen the emergence of blogs as an authentic writing practice that provides students with a sense of immediacy by allowing them to document their lives as stories or to engage their classmates with real or imaginary tales. In this study, Saudi EFL students were asked to post their writing in a blog and collaborate with their…

States use standards-based English language proficiency (ELP) assessments to inform relatively high-stakes decisions for English learner (EL) students. Results from these assessments are one of the primary criteria used to determine EL students' level of ELP and readiness for reclassification. The results are also used to evaluate the…

The increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in academic settings necessitates greater cultural competence on the part of teachers, and enhancing the cultural competence of teachers requires a greater understanding of both the level of cultural competence among teachers and the experiences that enhance cultural competence. Teacher educators…

Undertaking a PhD is a challenging endeavour. Pursuing a doctoral education in a "foreign" context tends to increase the demands of this intellectual venture. The nature of research-based PhD programmes, often characterised by a lack of formal curricula where academic supervision lasts several years, may add another layer of complexity.…

This study investigated the effects of different types of corrective feedback (CF) provided during second language (L2) speech perception training. One hundred Korean learners of L2 English, randomly assigned to five groups (n = 20 per group), participated in eight computer-assisted perception training sessions targeting two minimal pairs of…

Can an early learned second language influence speech production after living many years in an exclusively monolingual environment? To address this issue, we investigated the consequences of discontinued early bilingualism in heritage speakers who moved abroad and switched language dominance from the second to the primary learned language. We used…

Much research has been conducted on factors that impact on second language (L2) speech production in light of the age of L2 acquisition, the length of residence in the L2 environment, motivation, the amount of first language (L1) usage, etc. Very little of this research has taken the perspective of interference between L1 and L2, especially with…