Linguistic Confidence Research Articles

Building French-as-a-Second-Language Teacher Candidates’ Linguistic Confidence through Drama-Based Activities

French-as-a-second-language (FSL) teacher candidates’ French proficiency and confidence are key indicators of recruitment and retention of FSL teachers. This paper outlines a pilot project, the Conversation Club, that was used to address linguistic insecurity and proficiency in FSL teacher candidates at one university. The Conversation Club was a drop-in 1-hour session conducted over 5 weeks where participants conversed, played games, and participated in dramatic activities entirely in French. The findings from this pilot project demonstrate how linguistic confidence of FSL teacher candidates can be improved with only a few short sessions in French. Further, participants developed their pedagogical knowledge and skills through experiential learning by participating in activities that they could in turn implement in their FSL classrooms. Last, participants developed a social network of support. Findings support the benefit of implementing low-pressure, game-focused drop-in French-language support group within FSL teacher preparation programs to support FSL teachers’ linguistic confidence and, potentially, FSL teacher retention. An outline of the club and suggestions for implementation are included in the appendices of this article.

The Impact of Role-Playing Exercises on Conversational English Proficiency among University Students: A Study in Linguistic Confidence and Fluency Enhancement

The research seeks to determine the effects of role-playing exercises on improved conversational English proficiency among university students. It is designed as a comprehensive research design, where data is captured using questionnaires designed to measure different factors related to language fluency before and after having taken part in the exercise. Selection into the study was among participants from many college backgrounds that used real-life simulation situations as a way to enhance skills in communication, vocabulary, and linguistic competence. Ethical consideration during this research was done through informed consent, whereby it was noted and observed, and respect for confidentiality, which was not compromised throughout the research process. The analysis of the data showed that 80% of students who had a fluency of speech/clarity and fluency of speech, vocabulary, and confidence had significant differences and changes to the statistic before the test. This study's findings emanate as more evidence about the effectiveness of role-plays as dynamic and interactive teaching tools that contribute to great benefits in proficiency and confidence in the English language among university students.

Realities of comfort and discomfort in the heritage language classroom: Looking to transformative positive psychology for juggling a double‐edged sword

AbstractAs emotions research in the field of second language acquisition continues to evolve, it is equally important to explore the impact of social–emotional variables that are specifically relevant to heritage language (HL) contexts. Anchoring on foundations in critical heritage language education (HLE), this study examines the discomforts of the HL classroom from a diverse heritage speaker (HS) perspective. Additionally, comforts that support the HL classroom as a safe space for emotional security and well‐being for HSs across HLs are explored. Examining the HL classroom from the perspective of HL practices and knowledge systems, this study ultimately aims to: (a) outline the emotional complexity of HL pedagogical spaces, and (b) provide concrete and meaningful recommendations for supporting HS well‐being and HL development from a transformative positive psychology lens. Data for the current qualitative study were provided through two separate methodologies. First, 64 HSs of Spanish responded to a qualitative questionnaire probing the emotional reactions and memories instigated by authentic HL classroom reading material on sensitive topics of racism, bilingualism, and immigration. The themes identified in written narrative data through an inductive thematic approach were then used as a foundation for semistructured interviews with language learners (n = 6) and educators (n = 8) from eight different HL backgrounds. Findings revealed feelings of comfort and discomfort, and even trauma and healing, in HLE spaces rooted in (a) language learning experiences, (b) social memories of (dis)comfort, and (c) intergenerational histories. Together, the data suggest how the HL classroom can act both as a trigger of social injustice, linguistic insecurity, and family conflict and, at the same time, as a space instigating affective reactions associated with social rebellion, linguistic confidence, intergenerational healing, and emotional refuge. Specific pedagogical recommendations are made to equip educators with a concrete toolkit for the HL classroom.

Generative AI in student English learning in Thai higher education: More engagement, better outcomes?

Despite the growing body of research exploring artificial intelligence (AI) in educational contexts, there remains a critical gap in understanding the specific effects of generative AI (GAI) on English language learning, particularly within higher education in Thailand. This study addresses this gap by employing an explanatory sequential mixed-method design to explore both student and teacher perspectives. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U tests, Spearman correlation analysis, and Kendall–Theil regression to examine students' acceptance, usage, and the relationship between GAI engagement and academic performance. Qualitative data, collected through structured written interviews, were analyzed using thematic analysis to uncover key themes from both student and teacher narratives. Quantitative findings reveal high student acceptance of GAI tools in terms of performance expectancy (M = 3.66, SD = .58), effort expectancy (M = 3.61, SD = .59), facilitating conditions (M = 3.51, SD = .59), and use behavior (M = 3.52, SD = .48), while social influence remained relatively lower (M = 3.31, SD = .54). Mann-Whitney U tests showed no statistically significant differences in GAI usage across high- and low-performing students (p > .05). Correlation analyses indicated strong associations between performance expectancy and other factors (ρ = .87, p < .001), yet no significant correlation with GPA (ρ = −.06, p = .76). Qualitative results from student reflections revealed improved efficiency, enhanced engagement, and increased linguistic confidence. Yet, concerns about overreliance on AI and the necessity for critical use were noted. Teacher narratives accentuated ethical concerns and the potential for GAI misuse, highlighting the need for balanced, responsible integration of AI into pedagogical practices. These findings underscore the potential of GAI to enhance learning experiences while emphasizing the importance of maintaining academic integrity and fostering critical thinking.

Telecollaboration: from linguistic insecurity to linguistic confidence in Spanish as a heritage language

For heritage speakers (HSs), speaking their heritage language (HL) sometimes comes accompanied by HL anxiety and/or lack of confidence in their HL skills Although, HL anxiety and lack of confidence in the HL usually intertwine with few opportunities to use the language and/or being perceived as speakers of a stigmatized variety of the HL, the present study focuses on telecollaboration as a catalyst for linguistic confidence in the HL. For six weeks, 13 dyads of HSs and Mexican Spanish speakers synchronously interacted via Zoom and Google Docs. To observe the effects of telecollaboration on HSs’ linguistic confidence, data were collected via weekly written reflections and the recordings of the Zoom meetings. Although all HSs participants were enrolled in third-year courses for Spanish HSs at a large public U.S. university in Texas, their proficiency levels varied from low self-perceived to high self-perceived proficiency. Results exhibited that these differences did not derive in distinct outcomes and all the participants could develop linguistic confidence when interacting in their HL. These results shed light into the importance of providing HSs with more resources to maintain their HL and encouraging them to use Spanish in different contexts.

Linguistic Insecurity and Dialect Divergence in Southwestern Saudi Arabia: A Study of the Malki Dialect

Malki is an under-researched Arabic dialect spoken by an isolated speech community in Southwestern Saudi Arabia. The aim of this study is to uncover whether Malki dialect speakers experience linguistic insecurity and do environment, age, and gender as variables affect linguistic confidence? Data was gathered for quantitative analysis via survey on the Malki dialect using a five-point Likert scale. A descriptive statistical analysis and ANOVA test were conducted on 257 surveys, identifying eight groups determined by age and gender. Results showed that more formality of the environment and age of the participant were the most significant variables affecting attitudes about the Malki dialect. The greatest disparity occurred between the oldest age group (51+) and the youngest age group (18-25). Participant gender had no significant effect on linguistic insecurity.

Autonomous learning and the use of digital technologies in online English classrooms in higher education

This study investigated to what degree students can be autonomous in EFL classroom by deploying different digital technologies, including &lt;i&gt;Google Form, Quizizz, Quizlet, Kahoot!&lt;/i&gt;, and &lt;i&gt;Socrative&lt;/i&gt;, and the efficacy of these tools in online English classrooms. Utilizing a quasi-experimental research design, a sample of 48 first-year railway mechanical technology students from an Indonesian polytechnic was used and assigned to control and experimental groups. Data was gathered through a survey questionnaire and two tests (pre- and post-test), and was analyzed using descriptive statistics, the &lt;i&gt;N&lt;/i&gt;-gain formula, the paired-sample t-test and ANCOVA. The results revealed learner autonomy in listening, structure, and reading skills, encompassing self-reliance, information literacy, linguistic confidence, and learning strategy. Digital classes incorporating &lt;i&gt;Google Form&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;Quizizz&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;Quizlet&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;i&gt;Kahoot!&lt;/i&gt;, and &lt;i&gt;Socrative &lt;/i&gt;were more effective than traditional classes in terms of learning outcomes. Therefore, this study proposed a learning model utilizing digital technologies and autonomous learning concepts to improve students’ learning outcomes.

Feedback matters: Thwarting the negative impact of language anxiety

AbstractElaine Horwitz et al. (1986), in their seminal article that helped jumpstart our current interest in language anxiety, characterized this affective malady as composed of three elements: fear of negative evaluation, communication apprehension, and test anxiety. Notably, all three of these components are linked in different ways to learners’ perceptions about others’ assessment of their linguistic competence. Over the years since Horwitz et al.'s influential publication, research has only reinforced the idea that feedback provided to language learners has a powerful impact on their emotional well-being and levels of linguistic confidence. This article explores research on the various ways that learners can be supported via assessment practices and feedback techniques that not only counter the debilitating effects of language anxiety but also may even work preventatively to increase learner well-being. Among these is Appreciative Inquiry, a feedback technique that focuses on what learners are doing effectively, as well as other nondeficit, strengths-based approaches that concentrate on assets rather than fixing what is broken.

A Study on Classroom Shame of Japanese Learners among University Students in China

In the field of second language (L2) research, there is a growing recognition of the vital need to explore the diversity of emotional experiences of learning. This paper explores the problem of foreign language classroom shame (FLCS) in Japanese classes among university students in China. This study investigated China students’ perspectives on L2 shame in learning Japanese. Studies have shown that shame not only affects learners' linguistic confidence, but also affects their sense of identity, self-worth and self-esteem. The data suggest that FLCS may lead learners to engage in certain negative behaviors, such as avoiding interaction and speaking activities, ruminating over failure, giving up learning L2, and to have persistent L2-related anxiety due to fear of shame in the future. This paper argues that the study of this phenomenon in the process of language learning can provide a more comprehensive grasp of the psychology of language learners, and help learners develop a more positive self-perception, promote their willingness to participate in communication activities, and ultimately may bring their language competence to an improved level of proficiency.

A Promising Approach For Decision Modeling With CODAS Method for the Confidence Levels 2-Tuple Linguistic Complex q-Rung Orthopair Fuzzy Information

To finding appropriate recycling methods for plastic materials is a critical research issue and the effectiveness of a new method is being tested in this problem. Decision-making under conditions of ambiguity can be difficult due to the lack of understanding and incomplete information. The objective of this study is to enhance the process of selecting the most suitable recycling method. To address uncertainty in group decision-making, this essay proposes using MAGDM approaches with 2-tuple linguistic confidence level complex q-rung orthopair fuzzy sets (2TLCLCq-ROFSs). The CODAS method is extended to 2TLCLCq-ROFSs to tackle MAGDM issues. The 2TLCLCq-ROFSs is an innovative fuzzy framework that confirms positive and negative degrees on the unit circle of the complex plane to resolve ambiguity and vague data effectively. Using the innovative concept of a 2-tuple linguistic Cq-ROFS with confidence level , we presented a novel decision-making approach in this study (2TLCLCq-ROFSs). Additionally,we also perform a comparative sensitivity analysis to examine the results of CODAS method and compare it by some existing MCDM methods. These analyses show that the proposed method is efficient, and the results are also shown graphically in this work.

Language, Social Media and Ideologies: Translingual Englishes, Facebook and Authenticities

Language, Social Media and Ideologies: Translingual Englishes, Facebook and Authenticities

Less is more

Pedagogical practices that are effective in content courses are often effective in CLIL courses too, yet one such practice – content compression – is generally neglected. Content compression is the purposeful reduction of the content to be taught; however, the CLIL literature often warns against the reduction and simplification of content for fear that it might harm students’ understanding of the subject content. This paper explains the ostensibly paradoxical result that content compression improves students’ understanding of content and shows why it is well suited to CLIL, if applied correctly. It presents content compression principles and techniques that are appropriate to content production and teaching practice in the CLIL classroom and shows how it was used to enhance language acquisition by students in a CLIL business course at a Colombian university over a period of three semesters. This experience suggested that content compression, in combination with other pedagogical practices, not only increased students’ linguistic confidence, but also enhanced their perceived learning in both content and language.

How do affective variables (motivation, linguistic confidence, ego-resilience) predict language-based problem-solving skills in second language learners?

How do affective variables (motivation, linguistic confidence, ego-resilience) predict language-based problem-solving skills in second language learners?

How to turn the tide: the policy implications emergent from comparing a ‘post-vernacular FLP’ to a ‘pro-Gaelic FLP’

This paper compares the sociolinguistic trajectory of a ‘latent’ speaker mother to that of a ‘new’ speaker mother. Drawing on Shandler (TDR 48(1):19–43, 2004), it introduces the term ‘post-vernacular FLP’ as a means to conceptualise the latent speaker mother’s emblematic use of Gaelic with her child as a ‘seed’ from which language revitalisation can be cultivated, rather than a terminus. The paper discusses how the latent speaker mother’s current ideological landscape in many ways encapsulates the tepidity of the older generation’s ideologies. This contrasts to the new speaker mother, who has undergone the ideological transformation necessary to take an activist stance towards the language and implement a ‘pro-Gaelic’ FLP. The paper then considers the linguistic confidence barrier as described by both mothers, particularly in terms of using child-directed speech in Gaelic, and shows how the new speaker mother overcame this particular barrier. The paper concludes by discussing the policy implications of this analysis, and poses the crucial question: what specific on-the-ground measures can be taken to transform post-vernacular FLPs to pro-Gaelic FLPs?

Crossing borders . . . shifting sands: An investigation of Chinese students’ study experiences in the UK and China

In the current landscape of higher education in the UK, international students play a key role. It is an environment in which they not only cross borders physically but also transition through various identities as they develop their professional and linguistic confidence and skills to fully access and contribute to their programme of study and beyond. The aim of this paper is to outline the results of an empirical investigation into Chinese students’ perceptions of their study experiences in the context of student mobility and English-medium instruction in higher education. It reports on a study of two groups of Chinese students – one group studying in an English-speaking environment, the other in their home country where instruction is delivered through the medium of English. Semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted at each site which focused on the transition of “crossing borders” for educational purposes. The data was analysed using thematic analysis (Clarke &amp; Braun, 2016). The main finding was that both groups experienced remarkably similar learning issues, despite being located in very different learning environments and crossing different types of borders.

Linguistic challenges faced by rural Tshivenda-speaking teachers when Grade 4 learners transition to English

The general complaint of teachers in rural monolingual communities is that teaching becomes problematic after learners are promoted to Grade 4. While the transition to a next academic phase places new cognitive demands on the learners, they must also adjust to being taught in English after 3 years of mother tongue education. This qualitative case study was underpinned by Krashen’s theory of second-language acquisition which emphasises the importance of exposure to and interaction in the target language. Six Grade 4 teachers who are mother tongue speakers of Tshivenda and two curriculum advisors participated in the study. Data were collected through individual interviews and classroom observations. Initially, it was assumed that the transition was problematic, because learners’ English proficiency was inadequate, but teachers too struggled to impart academic content to Grade 4 learners and relied heavily on code switching. This strategy contributed to learners’ understanding of content, but militated against any improvement in their English. The remoteness of this rural monolingual community implies a limited exposure to the target language, but ought not to be reckoned an excuse. Means to build teachers’ linguistic confidence and improve their oral proficiency during initial teacher preparation as well as greater in-service support should ameliorate the transition for learners. A revision of the mother tongue Foundation Phase curriculum and monitored implementation is advisable.

Language Learning while Negotiating Race and Ethnicity Abroad

Despite institutional and national focus on the importance of study abroad (SA) in U.S. higher education, the number of students of color abroad is still disproportionately low (Institute of International Education, 2017). Moreover, there is limited literature examining how race and ethnicity shapes experiences abroad, despite SA research highlighting how identity negotiation influences language learning in the SA context (Kinginger, 2013). This study presents the cases of two U.S. students —an Iranian-American and an African-and Mexican-American —studying in Spain. Through journals, interviews, surveys, and the Versant for Spanishoral test, this study illustrates how these participants rejected negative racial and ethnic positionings by withdrawing from host country nationals and eventually re-evaluating experiences to align with their desired identities. Both learners improved their Versantpost-SA but their linguistic confidence in their Spanish language capabilities did not increase. The study concludes with implications for creating more inclusive and supportive SA programs.

Challenges and Prospects of CLIL for Training Mining Engineers

Increased international business contacts and mobility necessitates developing/mastering skills of communicating in a foreign language (FL) in engineering professionals, including mining engineers. However, the system of FL teaching for non-linguistic, and especially, engineering departments of the Russian higher educational institutions (HEIs) is generally inefficient. At the same time, given an insufficient level of FL skills in most content teachers, little support from their management, the lack of proper methodological training and complex linguistic learning situations, this process proves to pose considerable challenges for the existing educational setting of the Russian technical HEIs. This article summarizes the results of the expert opinion survey among Kemerovo State Technical University content and FL teachers showing a certain degree of doubt and unpreparedness in this respect. In this environment, the authors suggest that the optimal solution would be a gradual introduction of CLIL elements with a focus on more elaborated preparatory techniques. The study assumes the need for forming a specific support system provided by language teachers to boost learners’ linguistic confidence prior to students’ participation in CLIL format courses.

Social class and the inequality of English speakers in a globalized world

AbstractResponding to observations in ELF research that Anglophone-centric attitudes towards English are eroding among speakers of a younger generation, this paper demonstrates that attitudes towards English can in fact vary among youth of different social class backgrounds. Drawing on a case study of immigrant Filipino adolescents in Vancouver, this paper examines how class differences of these youth impinge on their lived experiences and the material conditions of their migration, shaping how they negotiate their linguistic capital, particularly their use of English. Data illustrate how such conditions shape their dispositions, their sense of agency, and feelings of linguistic confidence and insecurity. Using Darvin and Norton’s (2015. Identity and a model of investment in applied linguistics.Annual Review of Applied Linguistics35. 36–56) model of investment as a lens to investigate the interplay of identity, capital, and ideology in communicative contexts, this paper asserts how contrasting language attitudes are constructed by asymmetrical relations of power between speakers. In the spirit of accommodation and adaptation that characterizes ELF communication, this paper calls for a critical pedagogy that enables speakers to reflect on how they position themselves and others in these contexts, and assert their place as legitimate speakers of English.

Shame and SLA

The present article addresses the question of foreign language classroom shame (FLCS) in France. As a first step to collecting data, thirty participants were asked to narrate their language learning experiences in the context of the foreign language classroom by being interviewed individually and in depth. The two following questions were in focus: firstly, how does shame impact FL learners’ vision of themselves as English-learners/users? Secondly, why do some learners manage to overcome shame experiences while others seem to be particularly affected? The respondents’ narratives suggest that shame may impact not only L2 learners’ linguistic confidence but also their sense of identity, self-worth and self-esteem. Interestingly, some learners reported having developed strategies of resilience. The data also revealed that FLCS may direct learners to certain types of behaviours like avoiding interaction and speaking activities, ruminating over failure, or withdrawing from L2 learning, and lead to enduring L2-related anxiety due to fear of future shame-inducing situations. It is maintained here that taking this phenomenon into consideration in the language learning process could contribute to a better and more complete understanding of the psychology of language learners and help them develop a more positive self-regard, promote their willingness to participate in communicative tasks and may eventually enable them to reach an increased level of proficiency. The findings offer therefore strong support for the need to focus on developing a deep understanding of the role of shame in French FLL contexts and elsewhere.