This study investigates language teachers' verbal construals of classroom anxiety and its cognitive precursors by drawing on the TRANSITIVITY and ATTITUDE systems in systemic functional linguistics (Martin & White, 2005) and integrating them with appraisal theory in cognitive psychology (Smith & Lazarus, 1993). Three collegiate-level…

Empirical studies have long proven the link between speaking and second language learning. Despite its importance in determining one's success to master the target language, willingness to communicate (WTC) is not always high even among motivated and advanced English language learners. This often leads to them not taking the opportunities to…

Plenty of meticulous research has been conducted to investigate the entire process for implementing group activities in language classrooms. Nevertheless, few detailed empirical investigations have been pursued in the sub-area of what influences the participation of English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students in group discussions. Thus, the…

This article presents a case study of an adult Ukrainian orphan, Anna, who acquired English as a second and accessed U.S. higher education despite the fact that adopted children or aged out orphans face a unique constellation of educational and psychological challenges in language learning. This article presents Anna's story in her own voice and…

The goal of this study was to investigate the impact of using metacognitive awareness instruction (MAI) on EFL learners' writing skill. To follow this goal, research questions were designed and proposed. The questions sought to explore the impact of using metacognitive awareness instruction on the writing performance of the learners. To achieve…

Numerous studies have investigated the effects of prewriting tasks on writing quality and language (e.g., individual vs. collaborative planning, text-chat vs. face-to-face [FTF] discussion, etc.). Recent meta-analyses have found a small advantage for text chat on writing, but no studies involved logographic languages, for which character learning…

Purpose: Spoken language is inherently multimodal and multidimensional in natural settings, but very little is known about how second language (L2) learners undertake multilayered speech signals with both phonetic and affective cues. This study investigated how late L2 learners undertake parallel processing of linguistic and affective information…

In this Forum article, we discuss issues emerging from utilizing two significant theoretical constructs, Funds of Knowledge and Cultural Capital, in the field of second/multilingual language studies. Some similar underlying characteristics yet opposite perspectives surrounding the concepts and theoretical applications have confused researchers and…

The extent to which negative bias toward foreign-accented speakers originates from social categorization (in-group/out-group categorization) and/or from processing fluency (ease in processing information) is not clear. Some have argued that accent first induces a social identity effect and that processing fluency later modifies the impact of this…

In recent years, learner-centered teaching has emphasized the demand for making healthy environment where learners' preferences, interests, personal experiences, cultural backgrounds and lifestyles are taken into account when making decisions about various characteristics of language learning/teaching The choice of topics, which are used in EFL…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the theoretical structure of the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) developed for assessing ESL students' use of metacognitive reading strategies. The data for this study were collected from 1,431 Chinese college students whose second language (L2) was English. Both explanatory factor analysis (EFA) and…

With a communicative approach to language testing, performance assessment has taken on a prominent role in testing systems around the world. Specifically, Task-Based Assessment (TBA) is now being used to make inferences about people's language ability and what they can do with this construct under realistic communicative scenarios. This reflection…

Studying the factors of successful acquisition of ESL speaking skills in Ukrainian adult learners, the authors focused on the correlation between emotional intelligence and development of oral communication skills, and, on the other hand, on the growth of these indicators as a result of purposeful inclusion of content-related emotions into…

Blended learning approach has gained popularity around the globe and blended English language teaching has become a matter of considerable interest. Many higher education institutions have adopted the approach, and this raised a question of readiness among the students involved. The study aimed at investigating the students' readiness on English…

Background/Context: There is a growing body of literature about the educational experiences of students who are African immigrants in U.S. schools. This study looks closely at a Ugandan immigrant's educational experiences in the U.S. as well as the laws and policies that preempted her education. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study:…