Second Language Research Articles

Assessment of Interactional Competence in L2 German: Integrating an innovative rubric to help language teachers effectively evaluate pragmatics

Research on the development of second language (L2) interactional competence (IC) has shown that IC is vital for L2 speakers' participation in the social world of the L2 and thus an important aspect of pragmatic competence. To date, however, there is little work on the education of future language teachers in the assessment of their learners' IC. More specifically, there is no research on language teachers' experiences using a rubric that focuses on specific interactional sequential features. We address this gap by presenting a study on training L2 German instructors to assess German response tokens — e.g., achso or echt. Building on a prior study on L2 German students' use of response tokens, this paper presents a study on devising a new, specific IC rubric on response tokens. By having L2 instructors use this new IC rubric, we show the advantages and disadvantages of the rubric concentrated around response tokens. Moreover, by collecting L2 instructors’ feedback via survey data on their experience, opinions, and concerns, we illustrate the importance of integrating response tokens into rubrics. We conclude the paper by considering pedagogical implications for language teacher education. The findings show that language instructors need input on the interactional function of response tokens and that instructors view assessing L2 interaction using a sequentially focused rubric as generally positive.

Translingual crossings: an enactive-performative approach to a pedagogical guide for the teaching of Portuguese as a welcoming language to children

ABSTRACT This article revisits the jongo activity ‘Pisei na Pedra’ (2014) integrated into the Nossa Casinha guide (Martins & Sala, 2022) for teaching Portuguese to migrant children. Jongo is seen as an Afro-Brazilian form of expression, encompassing chants, drumming, collective dance, and spirituality (Rufino, 2014, 2023). The connection between this assembly (Pennycook, 2018) and an enactive-performative pedagogy, uniting biological and aesthetic aspects of poetic languages (Aden & Eschenauer, 2020; Maturana & Varela, 1987; Lecoq, 1997, cited in Aden & Eschenauer, 2020), forms a translingual framework. This allows jongo to be understood as an Afro-diasporic expression in anti-racist education. This perspective also affirms the aesthetic, emergent, experiential, embodied, and transformative nature of jongo as a decolonial practice. By challenging the conservative approach of language activities favoring compartmentalization, assimilation, and monolingualism, the translingual framework promotes transformative education in Portuguese as an additional language. It embraces complexity, relationality, and affectivity as integral to our experiences in linguistic education.

Using Padlet in Secondary English Language Classroom: Perceptions and Practices

The research study aimed to explore the perceptions and practices of using the Padlet application in the secondary English language classroom. The research participants of this study included ten secondary-level learners from one of the reputed schools in Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City, Nepal, out of whom five were boys and five girls. The data/narratives were collected through the help of semi-structured interviews. The Narrative inquiry was taken as the research method for the study. A purposive sampling technique was used to choose the representatives who were familiar with using the Padlet application. The data was analyzed by drawing common themes from the narratives. The findings of the study demonstrated that learners felt positive while using the Padlet application in their classroom. It showed the various significance of Padlet which could foster the level of learners in different ways. The research study explored the significance of using the Padlet application in improving writing skills, collaboration, and teamwork, raising interest, fostering digital skills and knowledge and motivation as well as developing the communication skills of the learners. The study also highlighted some of the difficulties and challenges encountered while using digital tools in the English language classroom.

Motivation and professional development needs of foreign language teacher educators

ABSTRACT This study explores the motivational factors and professional development needs of lower secondary foreign language teacher educators (FLTE) at a Swiss University of Teacher Education (UTE). Existing research on the motivation of teacher educators is scant and mainly focused on their identities, professional development and professional standards. Understanding their motivation, however, is crucial owing to the pivotal role of teacher educators in enhancing teaching quality. The study uses semi-structured interviews with eleven lower secondary FLTEs and applies Ryan and Deci’s Self-Determination Theory to investigate the motives which drove them to become FLTEs and work at their institution, and their current motivation. Preliminary findings indicate the importance of relational aspects of motivation, in particular the relationship with student teachers and colleagues. The results can inform policymakers and the academic community in optimising decisions related to teacher education and supporting teacher educators in their profession.

An Assessment of Perceived Fluency German as a Foreign Language: Case Study

Speech fluency is an important aspect of foreign language competence that can not only be measured objectively but is also perceived subjectively by listeners. The term perceived fluency therefore refers to the subjective perception of the speaker's language competence. This includes a situationally appropriate speech rate and fluent speech without delays. The main goal of this article is the assessment and analysis of the perceived fluency of Croatian students of German studies in the context of a one-semester seminar. Speech fluency in German as a foreign language was assessed using assessment forms. The evaluation is the subjective assessment of an L1 speaker from Germany who was a participant in the same seminar. The evaluation criteria include speech rate, intonation, intelligibility, and delays of various kinds. This study particularly highlighted which components influence perceived fluency. Speech rate, which is very close to that of a native speaker, has a particularly positive impact on perceived fluency. While it is not a measurable assessment of fluency, it still provides insightful results. These could, for example, serve as a basis for developing targeted training tasks to improve the identified weak points.

From EMI to CLIL: negotiating teacher identity

ABSTRACT In English-medium instruction (EMI), students learn content knowledge through their additional language. Despite the implicit English learning goals, EMI content subject teachers have been urged to provide more language support for their students. Such expectations may not be something that EMI teachers were professionally prepared for. It is then worth examining how EMI teachers (re)construct their identity when facing such new expectations. Based on Wenger’s [Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge University Press] identity construction framework, this qualitative multiple case study reveals how three EMI teachers in Hong Kong and Mainland China secondary schools negotiated their identity when being supported to incorporate language teaching in their content lessons. From data collected in co-planning meetings, lesson observations and interviews, all the teachers were engaged in constructing the identity of language aware content teachers, but some of them appeared to experience identity conflicts. The contrast of the three cases reveals that teachers’ professional training, school context and curriculum requirement are important in shaping teachers’ professional identity. Teachers’ agency also impacts on how teachers negotiate their identity, especially when facing contextual constraints. These findings underscore the importance of preparing teachers both psychologically and practically in EMI teacher education.

Agency and competency-based communicative pedagogy in secondary additional language teaching in Catalonia

Agency and competency-based communicative pedagogy in secondary additional language teaching in Catalonia

A latent profiling approach to foreign language enjoyment and L2 achievement

ABSTRACT Both Broaden-and-Build theory and Control-Value theory (CVT) posit that enjoyment contributes to academic achievement. However, empirical studies show mixed results concerning the predictive effects between these constructs in Second Language Acquisition (SLA). This study examines the link between second language (L2) achievement and Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) among 1,360 Chinese tertiary-level students learning English as a foreign language (EFL). Participants completed a national standardised English language test and an FLE questionnaire. Data analysis involved the use of Mplus to perform factor mixture modelling (FMM), a technique that identifies latent subgroups within the sample based on their response patterns. Results revealed four distinct profiles, each displaying different FLE-L2 achievement profile characteristics. The importance of this study lies in its analytic approach, which recognises the non-uniform connections between the three dimensions of FLE and L2 achievement across learners. This finding challenges the notion of straightforward correlations and sheds light on the complexities of these relationships, thereby addressing inconsistencies observed in previous studies and paving the way for more nuanced future research.

Dialogic reading in preschool: a pragmatic randomized trial enrolling additional language learners

Additional language learners are at risk of presenting lower language skills in the majority language compared to peers. These differences in language skills have been observed at an early stage of education and may impact academic achievement later on. A randomized trial with a switching replications design was performed in Swedish preschools to examine the effectiveness of small group dialogic reading, aiming to promote oral language skills. The sample comprised 85 children with diverse language, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds attending nine preschools in three school districts. Dialogic reading was conducted by ten teachers, trained in dialogic reading and coached by three special education teachers. The dialogic reading intervention was feasible in preschool context and children progressed in their oral language skills during the intervention.

Parentheticals in spoken Indian and Sri Lankan English

AbstractWhile an increasing number of studies into the pragmatics of world Englishes indicate that sociobiographic factors—such as the speakers’ age or gender—influence pragmatic choices, most empirical investigations do not include sociobiographic information beyond said speaker characteristics. This study investigates parenthetical I assume/believe/feel/ guess/suppose/think in the spoken parts of the Indian and Sri Lankan English components of the International Corpus of English to answer the question of to what extent parenthetical function, that is, expressing either the speaker's opinion or insufficient knowledge, is influenced by structural, contextual and sociobiographic factors. Based on 1265 parentheticals, the results of multifactorial statistical analyses indicate that the speakers’ educational background and additional languages spoken at home are important predictors for the choice of parenthetical function. Therefore, the study calls for the inclusion of wide‐ranging sociobiographic factors (and combinations thereof) in the description of pragmatic speaker choices in world Englishes.

“My brain doesn't communicate with my hands”: navigating negotiated interaction in Swedish and Indonesian supervision

IntroductionThe importance of supervisory interaction facilitated by dialogic feedback is known to create a shared understanding between supervisors and students. However, previous studies of supervisory interaction mainly focus on exploring feedback provision as an input for specific improvement rather than as a process of interaction regardless of its discursivity. Informed by learning community theory, this study explores how thesis supervision in English as an Additional Language contexts is negotiated to identify the supervisory interaction patterns and strategies.MethodThis study applied a qualitative case study by involving six supervisory dyads (six supervisors and 15 students) in English- medium study programs. Thematic analysis was used to analyze 18 video-recorded supervision sessions from the beginning, the middle, and the end of the supervision process.Findings and discussionThe findings illuminate the negotiated interaction patterns and strategies in supervisory meetings that can be organized into three themes: (1) managing correction, (2) managing scaffolding, and (3) managing students' emotional expressions. The supervisory interaction patterns tend to take the form of a common institutional talk due to the students' desire for confirmation and suggestions. Prompting strategies through exploratory questions can scaffold students' development of argumentative skills although students' deviant responses frequently lead to supervisors' further explanation. The theoretical analysis underscores that learning community theory emphasizes the development of student's academic literacy and argumentative proficiency through dialogic inquiry. Yet, effective engagement in such inquiry necessitates prerequisite academic literacy and rhetorical competencies.ConclusionThis study highlights the need for developing student's academic literacy, research literacy, and communication skills to achieve an effective inquiry dialogue in thesis supervision.

Assessment symposium assessment practice in a changing world

The University English Centres of Australia (UECA) 'Assessment Symposium: Assessment Practice in a Changing World' at Southern Cross University in October 2022 highlighted the growing interest in integrated assessment in Australian university direct entry programs (DEPs) for English as Additional Language (EAL) students. In keynote presentations, Professor Antony John Kunnan, Carnegie Mellon University; Professor Guoxing Yu, University of Bristol; and Dr Paul Moore, the University of Queensland, shared an overview of their scholarly work on integrated assessment. The Symposium also included practitioner and student voices from Australia’s English language intensive courses for overseas students (ELICOS) sector in a panel discussion that considered the impacts of integrated and online assessment on assessment practices in their contexts over the previous three years. This paper provides excerpts from these speakers, contextualised with a brief discussion of DEPs globally, and focussing on the Australian university DEP context.

The economics of L2 English. Evidence from 2.0 mln subjects suggests an economics of language framework to account for country differences in L2 English proficiency

ABSTRACT We analysed Education First’s Standard English Test scores coming from 2 mln learners of English in 109 countries world-wide. Proficiency in English as a global lingual franca is an important skill in various areas of international communication. A larger linguistic distance between English as a second language and a learner’s first language has been put forward as increasing the efforts or costs of learning English. Instead of the subjective measures used in the past, we constructed a quantitative linguistic distance measure based on comparing words (lexicon), constructions (morpho-syntax), and sounds (phonology) between English and 59 mother tongues. Mixed regression analyses were carried out on the countries’ proficiency scores with a country’s human capital index, the official status of English in a country, and linguistic distance as predictors. All three predictors turn out to be robust proficiency determinants. Language skills constitute an essential component of human resources in today’s emerging and growing knowledge economy. These skills cannot be taken for granted and additional language training is required when linguistic distances are large.

THE APPLICATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) IN ENGLISH CLASSROOMS: A CASE STUDY OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BARISAL.

The present study examined the adoption of ICT in secondary English language classes in Barisal, Bangladesh, from the perspectives of teachers and students. The research included a survey of 40 students and in-depth interviews with three English educators. In Barisal city, Bangladesh, secondary English language classrooms employ ICT. This study sought to understand the utilization of ICT in secondary English language classrooms. The study used mixed methods to obtain quantitative and qualitative data. A student survey collected quantitative data, while teacher interviews and classroom observations collected qualitative data. According to the survey, most students believe that integrating ICT in the classroom improves learning and English language acquisition. Educators also believe ICT can improve English language learning. They lack ICT resources and technological expertise. Students prefer to use ICT in English classes because they believe it improves learning. The classroom observations showed that educators used ICT in their lessons, although to various degrees. The research found that secondary English language instruction in Barisal, Bangladesh, uses ICT. However, some instructors may have limited access to ICT resources and technical skills, so there is room for improvement. The study also found that students want to use ICT in English classes because they think it will improve their learning. This means that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can help secondary students learn English.

Patient and Provider Satisfaction With a Geomapping Tool for Finding Community Family Physicians in Ontario, Canada: Cross-Sectional Online Survey Study.

Language-concordant health care, or health care in a patient's language of choice, is an important element of health accessibility that improves patient safety and comfort and facilitates an increased quality of care. However, prior research has found that linguistic minorities often face higher travel burdens to access language-concordant care compared to the general population. This study intended to assess patient experiences and satisfaction with an online interactive physician map that allows patients to find family physicians who speak their preferred language in and around Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, as a means of identifying areas of improvement. This study used an online survey with questions related to user satisfaction. Responses to Likert-scale questions were compiled as summary statistics and short-answer responses underwent thematic analysis. The study setting was Ottawa and Renfrew County, Ontario, and the surrounding region, including the province of Quebec. A total of 93 respondents completed the survey and self-identified as living in Ontario or Quebec. Overall, 57 (61%) respondents were "very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" with the map, 16 (17%) were "neither satisfied nor dissatisfied," and 20 (22%) were "very dissatisfied" or "somewhat dissatisfied." We found no significant differences in satisfaction by preferred language, age group, physician attachment, or intended beneficiary. A total of 56 respondents provided short-answer responses to an open-ended question about map improvements. The most common specific suggestion was to show which physicians are accepting new patients (n=20). Other suggestions included data refreshes (n=6), user interface adjustments (n=23), and additional languages (n=2). Some participants also provided positive feedback (n=5) or expressed concern with their inability to find a family physician (n=5). Several comments included multiple suggestions. While most patients were satisfied with the online map, a significant minority expressed dissatisfaction that the map did not show which family physicians were accepting new patients. This suggests that there may be public interest in an accessible database of which family physicians in Ontario are currently accepting new patients.

The effects of task complexity on linguistic complexity and perception in English native speakers’ and L2 speakers’ argumentative writing

This study investigates how task complexity affects native speakers’ and second language (L2) learners’, and experts’ perceptions of task difficulty in writing tasks. It also explores how task complexity influences English native speakers’ and L2 learners’ linguistic complexity in their writing. Ninety participants performed one simple and one complex argumentative writing task manipulated by task complexity (± elements and reasoning demands) and counterbalanced. Their essays were analyzed using linguistic complexity metrics. The results showed that English native speakers, L2 learners, and experts perceived the complex task as requiring more mental effort, being more stressful, and creating more planning and writing time pressure than the simple task. The native speakers demonstrated greater overall linguistic complexity than the L2 learners in the two writing tasks. However, both English native speakers and L2 learners produced longer T-units and more diverse vocabulary in the complex task than in the simple task but also produced more syntactically similar structures in the complex task. Significant interaction effects of group (L1 and L2) and task (± elements and reasoning demands) were found for five linguistic complexity metrics. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed in light of Robinson’s cognition hypothesis and Hayes’s writing model.

Curriculum as ‘folding’ democratic practice: Integrating Deleuzian and Deweyan philosophies with the lived experiences of English teachers

AbstractThis article advocates the revision of the English as an Additional Language (EAL) Curriculum in Australia into a “curriculum as ‘folding’ democratic practice”, a concept deeply informed by the lived experiences of sixteen teachers of English from multilingual backgrounds. Using hermeneutic phenomenology and narrative inquiry, this study explores how these educators leverage their personal and professional lived experiences to transcend the limitations of a curriculum dominated by Australian Standard English. These narratives highlight the adaptation of the curriculum through ethical engagements with learners’ diverse needs, embodying democratic and pluralistic approaches. Drawing on Gilles Deleuze’s (1993) concepts of the “fold” and “molecular possibilities” and John Dewey’s “democratic education” (1916), the research illustrates the potential of a responsive and inclusive curriculum that fosters intercultural capabilities in superdiverse classrooms. This study advocates an EAL curriculum that not only imparts linguistic skills but also prepares learners for meaningful participation in a globally interconnected society, extending the scope of English language education and teacher capabilities in Australia and beyond. The research highlights broader implications for other subject-related curricula, suggesting principles that could foster inclusivity and intercultural understanding.

‘English as an additional language’, ‘multilingual’, and ‘vulnerable’: a reflexive account of the labelling practices surrounding school pupils in a researcher-practitioner collaboration

ABSTRACT Despite their diversity, UK school pupils with non-English home languages are uniformly labelled English as an additional language (EAL), presupposing linguistic deficiencies and academic challenges; thus, equating multilingualism with vulnerability. As part of a researcher-practitioner collaboration with a London primary school, we explore how researchers and educators assign and contest the labels EAL, multilingual, and vulnerable. Through this, we reflexively consider whether changing discourses around multilingualism can minimise potential vulnerabilities associated with EAL. We argue that researchers play a crucial role in mitigating a priori categorisation of EAL pupils and expose the impact of our agenda on potentially vulnerable pupils.

Teaching Strategies for Improving Creative Writing in English First Additional Language

Teaching Strategies for Improving Creative Writing in English First Additional Language

Exploring ethnic minority students’ perspectives on anxiety in learning Chinese as an additional language: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

ABSTRACT Existing research on ethnic minority students in Hong Kong (HK) has documented their struggles in learning Chinese-as-an-Additional-Language (CAL) and the linguistic challenges for ethnic minority students to learn CAL at school can be the source of their anxiety, which may prevent them from integrating into HK society. The paper aims to explore ethnic minority students’ perceptions of how their Foreign Language Anxiety (FLA) affect their learning of CAL. The data, from semi-structured interviews with ethnic minority students of varying CAL anxiety levels and fieldnotes from classroom observations and informal teacher interviews, were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The findings illustrate that while FLA can certainly influence students’ CAL learning experiences, other personal and sociocultural factors, such as students’ motivation to learn CAL, the prevalence of English-as-a-Lingua-Franca in society, and the impact of examination policies, also contribute significantly. This paper argued that the perceived relevance and importance of CAL in students’ lives are closely linked to FLA and can contribute to the lack of motivation observed in students with high or mid-level FLA. Thus, there is a need for teachers to attend to the interplay between other sociocultural factors and FLA when understanding ethnic minority students’ CAL learning behaviours.