Foreign Language Teachers' Perceptions of Students' Academic Skills, Affective Characteristics, and Proficiency: Replication and Follow‐up Studies

The relationship between teachers' perceptions of students' foreign language (FL) academic skills and affective characteristics and their performance on tests of native language skill and FL aptitude was examined. Students were divided into HIGH, AVERAGE, and LOW groups according to their scores on each of seven native language skill measures and a FL aptitude test. Teachers' perceptions and end-of-the-year FL grades were compared by group. Results showed that students who scored lower on the testing measures were perceived by teachers as having weaker FL academic skills and less positive affective characteristics (i.e., motivation, attitude, anxiety) than students with strong native language skills and FL aptitude. Results also showed that students who scored lower on the testing measures made lower FL grades than did students who scored higher on the measures. Differences in teachers' perceptions of students' FL academic skills and affective characteristics may be associated with their level of...

Foreign language anxiety (FLA) has been a perennial concern in language learning, as foreign language (FL) learners often communicate feelings of anxiety, stress, or nervousness. This study explored the role of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in speaking practice for FLA management of 48 undergraduate participants in an EFL class in Egypt. An eight‐week, quasi‐experimental pretest–posttest design examined learner anxiety levels using a 33‐item FLA questionnaire. Their oral proficiency was assessed via roleplaying using an interaction‐enhanced public version of the IELTS speaking evaluation rubric. The results confirmed that FL learners experienced FLA pre‐ and post‐intervention. The identified anxiety levels played a facilitative role in FL learning with several ensuing gains. The use of conversationally enhanced AI chatbots in interactive activities slightly intensified learners' FLA, thus meriting further investigation of these objectives. Overall, subject to further development, AI chatbots are promising for significantly improving linguistic output gains; however, this study found that learners' speech‐related anxieties were not reduced following the interactions with the chatbots. It is concluded that FLA plays an underexplored facilitative role in sharpening learner cognitive faculties and linguistic capacities. Moreover, AI chatbots may be beneficial in advancing FL learning with significant potential in EFL contexts, facilitating improved interaction and oral communication. These findings support the integration of AI technologies as effective tools in FL education, providing flexible, interactive, and learner‐centred learning. This study is expected to be of considerable interest to FL educators and learners.

هدف از این پژوهش، بررسی رابطه‌ی بین هوش هیجانی، استقلال، خودتنظیمی و تمایل به برقراری ارتباط با مهارت خواندن و درک مطلب فارسی­آموزان غیرفارسی‌زبان است. 141 نفر از دانشجویان 28 کشور جهان که در 12 دانشگاه ایران بودند، در این پژوهش مشارکت کردند. این افراد در مراکز زبان فارسی دانشگاه­ها مشغول به یادگیری زبان فارسی به عنوان زبان خارجی بودند یا دانش‌آموخته‌ی زبان فارسی از همین مراکز بودند. دانشگاه­های منتخب تحقیق حاضر در بخش­های مختلف کشور، یعنی شمال، جنوب، شرق، غرب و مرکز ایران واقع شده­اند. ابزار مورد استفاده در پژوهش حاضر، آزمون خواندن و درک ­مطلب فارسی و چهار پرسشنامه‌ی تمایل به برقراری ارتباط، خودتنظیمی، خودراهبری و هوش هیجانی بوده است. نتایج ضریب همبستگی پیرسون نشان می‌دهد که هر چهار متغیر با مهارت خواندن و درک مطلب رابطه­ی مثبت و معناداری دارند. همچنین، بین تمامی زیرمؤلفه­های استقلال، هوش هیجانی، خودتنظیمی و این مهارت نیز روابط مثبت و معناداری وجود دارد. به منظور سنجش قدرت پیش‌بینی کننده‌ی 4 متغیر مستقل به همراه زیرمؤلفه‌های تشکیل‌دهنده‌ی آن‌ها نسبت به مهارت خواندن، از روش‌های آماری رگرسیون چندگانه و استاندارد شده استفاده شد. هر 4 متغیر مستقل و اغلب زیرمؤلفه­های مربوط به آن­ها قدرت پیش­بینی خوبی از مهارت خواندن دارند. به‌علاوه، به منظور فراهم آوردن بینش عمیق­تر در مورد متغیرها و برآورد قدرت روابط علی میان آن­ها، مدل معادله‌ی ساختاری از طریق نرم‌افزار ای‌ام‌ا‌اس استفاده ­شد. هر چهار متغیر مستقل پیش­بین مهارت خواندن و درک مطلب بودند و از میان آن‌ها متغیر تمایل به برقراری ارتباط قوی­ترین پیش‌بین این مهارت بود.

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This study examined the relationship between anxiety and native language skill and foreign language aptitude measures among 154 high school foreign language learners. Three levels of anxiety were identified using the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale or FLCAS (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986). Low Anxiety (LO‐ANX) students were expected to have significantly stronger native language skills and foreign language aptitude than High Anxiety (HI‐ANX) students and significantly higher foreign language grades. Average Anxiety (AVE‐ANX) students were expected to score somewhere in‐between. Findings showed overall significant differences among the groups on nine variables, including measures of native language phonology/orthography, semantics, and verbal memory; foreign language aptitude; eighth‐grade English grade; and end‐of‐year foreign language grade. On measures of phonology/orthography, eighth‐grade English, and foreign language grade, LO‐ANX and AVE‐ANX students outperformed HI‐ANX students. On a foreign language aptitude measure and foreign language grade, LO‐ANX students outperformed both AVE‐ and HI‐ANX students. On measures of verbal memory and reading comprehension, LO‐ANX students outperformed HI‐ANX students. Discriminant analysis results showed that all test measures but one were significant in distinguishing the three groups. Among others, implications include the suggestion that skill in one's native language and aptitude for learning a foreign language may affect anxiety level and that the FLCAS may provide an early indicator of basic language problems.

This study compared the perceptions of low (LR) and high risk (HR) students and students with learning disabilities (LD) enrolled in first year high school foreign language courses on a questionnaire‐the Foreign Language Attitude and Perceptions Survey (FLAPS)‐designed to elicit responses to questions relating to their foreign language academic history, learning attitudes, and academic skills. LR and HR students were identified by an author‐designed screening instrument, foreign language grade, and teacher recommendation. Students with LD were enrolled in special, self‐contained sections of a foreign language course. Using a MANOVA procedure, results showed overall significant differences among the three groups on the FLAPS. Individual ANOVA results showed that LR students reported significantly higher estimated grades in the foreign language courses and expressed more positive attitudes about their academic skills than HR andLD students. HR and LD students perceived themselves as lacking the academic skills to master a foreign language, and their attitudes about foreign language learning were generally less positive than the LR group. Differences between HR and LD students were found on only two questions, relating to perceived levels of distractibility and spelling. All three groups expressed positive attitudes about wanting to learn a foreign language. Findings are interpreted in light of the Linguistic Coding Deficit Hypothesis (Sparks, Ganschow, and Pohlman, 48), which speculates that students with foreign language learning problems have underlying but subtle native language learning difficulties, and that affective differences are, most likely, consequences of these native language differences.

The present study is aimed at investigating the level and sources of foreign language enjoyment of foreign language teachers. The focus is to probe into foreign language enjoyment of teachers’ foreign language learning as well as foreign language teaching practices. The current research study has a mixed-method approach, and the research instrument is an online questionnaire with quantitative and qualitative items shared with foreign language teachers to fill out. We analyzed quantitative data through SPSS by applying descriptive and inferential statistics. The results highlighted a higher level of enjoyment in foreign language learning in comparison to foreign language teaching and there is no significant difference found in foreign language teaching enjoyment among all studied variables. Teachers’ positive attitude and positive FL learning environment in the classroom are the major ingredients for an enjoyable foreign language learning experience. The implication of the study lays stress on the versatile role of the teacher who is central to the whole learning process. Future researchers are prompted to probe into the insightful experiences and gain in-depth knowledge from foreign language teachers to identify and determine the areas that tend to render more foreign language learning and teaching enjoyment.

Collocational knowledge and competence are essential for effective foreign language (FL) and second language (L2) learning. Since teachers' conceptualizations shape their instructional practices, understanding their perceptions of collocations and their instruction is crucial. Despite its significance, limited research has examined teachers' beliefs, knowledge, and practices regarding collocation instruction, particularly in secondary education. This study addresses this gap by investigating the beliefs, knowledge, and practices of 286 Dutch secondary school FL and L2 teachers. Drawing on data from questionnaires and follow‐up interviews, the findings indicate that while teachers acknowledge the importance of teaching collocations and their role in language learning, they tend to exhibit a limited understanding of the concept and effective methods for collocational instruction. This limited understanding hinders their ability to effectively address students' collocational deficiencies. Furthermore, L2 and FL teachers face several challenges in implementing collocation instruction, the most significant of which is the lack of a well‐defined pedagogical approach. The findings also reveal key differences in the perceptions of L2 and FL teachers. In light of these results, the study discusses pedagogical implications and suggests avenues for enhancing collocation instruction.

This thesis was elaborated from an inter/transdisciplinary approach that includes Applied Linguistics (AL), Dialogical Discourse Analysis (DDA) and French Line Discourse Analysis (DA). The developed research had as purpose to analyze how abroad experience and International Mobility Program (IMP) participation are discursively represented by the individuals when they occupy the discursive place of (future) Foreign Languages (FL) teachers. This means that we aim to investigate how the abroad experience faced by these individuals can influence their academic education and their professional practice. Regarding the research participants, we analyzed how four (04) pre-service or in-service FLs teachers (English and French) who participated in the program, representing IMP, contact with FL abroad and FL learning teaching process. These four teachers testimonials were collected through the AREDA Proposal (Analysis of Discursive Resonances in Open Testimonials) (SERRANI-INFANTE, 1998). As a result, it was possible to realize that the relation of the research participants in concerning to the experience faced in the IMP is marked by three representations, which are: i) representing IMP; ii) representing the contact with abroad FL; iii) representing FL teaching-learning process. These representations interpenetrate and interconstitute themselves, and the built discursiveness in some of enunciators sayings beckons for some discursive inscriptions, namely: i) the IMP inscription as reference for FL teacher formation and the inscription in the (illusion) of completeness (IMP representing); ii) excellence speech inscription and completeness of the other (representing the contact with the FL abroad); iii) enrollment in PMI as a reference for learning and teaching (representing the teaching-learning process of FL). Therefore, in order to place IPM influence in its academic education and in its professional practice, the teachers discursively register themselves in order to represent the IMP from the socio-historical-ideological-discursive place they occupy. The dialogue established by the discursive inscriptions reveals the positioning of those individuals who build an imaginary place for IMP, in order to represent it discursively as essential/fundamental for FL teaching and learning and for FL teacher formation and practice, in other words, there is an inscription in the IMP's supremacy discourse for FL teacher's constitution.

This article reviews the empirical research literature on foreign language (FL) learning and teaching published between 2005 and 2010 in Germany. It focuses on the empirical studies that have attracted the greatest interest among researchers during this period of time. These include research on educational standards, teacher education, early FL learning, content and language integrated learning, motivation and interest, intercultural learning, literacy, learning strategies and cooperative and computer-assisted language learning. The review reveals rich and diverse research studies in the field of FL teaching and learning. As a relatively young discipline without a longstanding research tradition, this field overlaps in its research interests and methods with other research fields such as educational psychology, linguistics and the educational sciences. The review also shows that the research into FL teaching and learning is to a large degree dominated by small rather than large-scale projects and is characterized by its largely practical relevance. The review ends with recommendations for future research as a conditio sine qua non for further development in the field.

Metaphor, as a conceptual and cognitive tool, plays an important role in language learning and teaching. Based on the related research on metaphor, this paper discusses the performance of metaphor in foreign language learning and teaching and the relationship between them. This paper discusses the relationship between metaphor and foreign language learning from three aspects: vocabulary, foreign language communicative competence and culture. Finally, this paper summarizes the implications of metaphor for foreign language teaching: developing metaphoric awareness, strengthening metaphoric competence and using metaphor analysis in teaching evaluation.

Pre-service English as a foreign language teachers' perceptions of the relationship between multiple intelligences and foreign language learning

Exploring social and computer science students’ perceptions of AI integration in (foreign) language instruction

Two studies examined students classified as having learning disabilities (LD) who had received course substitutions for the college foreign language (FL) requirement. In the first study, 42 students at one university were divided into groups and compared on measures of IQ, academic achievement, FL aptitude, college grade point average (GPA), and FL and English grades. Findings showed that most of the 42 students had been classified as LD in college after experiencing problems in FL courses. Comparisons based on students' performance on measures of FL aptitude, native language skill, and performance in FL courses showed few significant group differences. In the second study, the 42 students from the first study were compared with 86 students at another university who had also been classified as LD and received course substitutions for the college FL requirement. Comparisons on demographic information and measures of IQ, academic achievement, FL aptitude, college GPA, and FL GPA showed few significant differences between the two groups. Both studies suggest that students classified as LD at different universities exhibit similar demographic, cognitive, academic achievement, and FL aptitude profiles and that educators should not make the a priori assumption that students classified as LD require course substitutions for the FL requirement or experience problems with FL learning.

Teaching is a career with a high rate of anxiety and burnout in all phases of teaching with specific challenges related to the feature of language education. The concept of motivation can be an important basic mechanism since educators who are not motivated are distressed because of the anxious characteristic of the education profession. Moreover, educator identity is a new issue that has built a perspective to examine educators’ growth by thinking about who they are as well as how they perform what they perform in a specific situation. Recently, programs that are based on mindfulness are known as efficient interventions enhancing motivation and decreasing tension in people. Given the prominence of mindfulness in educational settings and its neglected role in foreign language learning, the contemporary review attempts to inspect the function of mindfulness on English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ motivation and identity. Subsequently, some pedagogical recommendations for the educational representatives such as teachers and teacher trainers are offered.