Stimulated Recall Sessions Research Articles

Student Engagement with Teacher Written Corrective Feedback among Chinese Private College Students of Varying Language Proficiencies

While the efficacy of teacher written corrective feedback (WCF) has been extensively explored, a research gap exists in examining the disparities in how low-proficiency (LP) and high-proficiency (HP) students receive such feedback in second language (L2) writing. Through an analysis of five writing tasks distributed over a 16-week course, this research explored the affective, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions of student engagement with WCF. Six Chinese EFL sophomores, three designated as LP and three as HP students, were selected through purposive sampling. Data collection methods included analysis of students’ L2 writing tasks and stimulated recall sessions. The findings illustrate varying engagement patterns, highlighting LP students’ frustrations and HP students’ reflective and constructive interactions with feedback. These patterns are interpreted through the lens of sociocultural, social cognitive, student engagement, and complex dynamic systems theories, offering a multifaceted framework for understanding the influence of WCF on L2 writing proficiency. These findings also contribute to language learning pedagogy by highlighting the importance of tailored feedback strategies that address the comprehensive dimensions of student engagement to enhance the pedagogical effectiveness of WCF in fostering language proficiency and engagement in EFL settings.

L2 irony comprehension and the role of L2 proficiency and use

The present study investigated how Cantonese speakers learning English as a second language (L2) would comprehend English irony and whether their L2 proficiency and use would moderate their irony processing. Thirty Cantonese speakers with differing English proficiency (intermediate vs advanced) were asked to complete an irony comprehension task in which they had to determine if given comments in literal or ironic situations were positive or negative. The irony comprehension task was immediately followed by a stimulated recall session to further explore the participants’ thought processes while responding to the irony comprehension items. The results revealed that the participants were faster and more accurate when processing positively-valenced comments (literal praise, ironic criticism), compared to negatively-­valenced ones (literal criticism, ironic praise). The findings suggest that learners had greater difficulty identifying ironic praises than ironic criticisms, underscoring the role of valence in second language irony inferencing. The stimulated recall data suggested that the anticipation of irony may accelerate the identification of ironic criticisms. While proficiency facilitated the speed of irony comprehension, the duration of L2 use, especially in speaking, emerged as an important factor in moderating the accuracy of irony comprehension. ABSTRACT (CANTONESE) 本研究調查廣東話(粵語)為母語的英語第二語言學習者如何理解英語的反è«·, 以及他們的第二語言熟練程度和使用情況是否會影響他們對反è«·的理解。三十位不同英語熟練程度(中級和高級)的廣東話使用者完成了一項反è«·理解任務。他們需要判斷在字面意義或反è«·情境下給出的評論是積極的還是消極。反è«·理解任務後, 參與者立即進行刺激回憶環節, 以進一步探索他們在反è«·理解任務時的思維過程。結果顯示, 相較於消極效價的評論(字面批評, 反è«·稱贊), 參與者在處理積極效價的評論(字面稱贊, 反è«·批評)時反應更快, 準確率也更高。這些結果表明, 學習者在識別反è«·稱贊時的困難大於識別反è«·批評。這顯示情感效價在第二語言反è«·理解中的作用。刺激回憶的數據表明, 預期反è«·可能會加速對反è«·批評的識別。儘管第二語言熟練程度有助提高反è«·理解速度, 但第二語言的使用時長, 特別是口語的使用, 爲影響反è«·理解準確率的重要因素。

A Sociocognitive Account of Willingness to Communicate from the Perspective of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory

This study investigates the dynamic nature of second language willingness to communicate (L2WTC) exploring the numerous factors that contribute to the construct. Drawing upon the sociocognitive perspective, we analyzed the environmental, individual, and linguistic factors that influence the development of L2WTC in an Iranian language learning context. Data were collected through interviews, stimulated-recall sessions, journal keeping, and observations from an intact class of five students. The environmental factors identified throughout the analysis stage were interlocutor familiarity, topic, teacher influence, task type, discussion dynamics, and family dynamics. The individual factors that were found to play a role in the development of L2WTC included anxiety, motivation, self-confidence, security, shyness, perfectionism, perceived need for the target language use, cultural identity, personality, interest in the topic, fear of failure, seeking validation, cultural adaptation, and emotional state. Finally, perceived and actual linguistic competence were among the linguistic factors that influenced L2WTC. Overall, the findings of this study confirmed that L2WTC is a multifaceted complex system that is constantly reacting to environmental changes.

University language teachers’ contextually dependent uses of instrumental emotion regulation

Emotion regulation is increasingly positioned as a skill that is developed ontogenetically across careers as language teachers come to recognise the impact that their emotional behaviour has on themselves and their classrooms. While recent research has attended to the connection between a teacher's regulation strategy choices and well-being, a broad view that recognises the full impact of emotion regulation actions on language teacher and student outcomes in highly contextualised circumstances is urgently needed. Adopting the position that emotion regulation is a motivated activity employed to achieve dynamic, contextually relevant goals, this study investigates the instrumental emotion regulation of 15 experienced non-Japanese EFL teachers at a university in Japan. Drawing on a corpus of 300,000 words obtained from 45 interviews and stimulated recall sessions, findings analysed through a complexity-informed approach demonstrate how emotion regulation strategies were employed to achieve a range of instrumental outcomes pertaining to identity projection, behavioural management, content engagement, and relational development. The data further illustrates that this emotion regulation was contextually dependent, informed by macro-level and internal factors, and that the participants' motive and strategy choices had a direct impact on their well-being.

Dynamic Changes in Pre‐Service Language Teacher Well‐Being in the Classroom Ecology: A Micro Approach

AbstractAlthough language teacher well‐being has been the focus of growing attention in recent years, there is little known of its dynamic and contextually dependent nature. Integrating the complex dynamic view of well‐being with an ecological orientation, this classroom‐based study examined the micro‐scale changes in pre‐service language teacher well‐being and the reasons for such changes using data from three pre‐service English‐as‐a‐foreign‐language (EFL) teachers in Türkiye. The individual trajectories of well‐being were tracked in a particular class over 4 weeks through self‐ratings of well‐being at 10‐minute intervals during the lectures, journal entries, interviews, and stimulated recall sessions on individual microteachings. The findings suggest that the experience of pre‐service language teacher well‐being in the classroom ecology remains subject to inter and intraindividual variability over time, displaying nonlinear trajectories not only within sequences of single lessons but also from one lesson to another in response to a host of personal and contextual factors. These findings imply that pre‐service language teacher well‐being is not static, but instead is enhanced and reduced at particular moments in the classroom as a result of the interplay of a myriad of variables. We end with a call for more research into micro‐scale changes in teacher well‐being within applied linguistics and beyond.

Exploring identity construction in team teaching: The case of Iranian student-teachers

The present study examined the professional identity development of five student-teachers in the context of team-teaching. Data were collected from stimulated recall sessions, semi-structured interviews, and reflective reports, which were analyzed through thematic analysis. Findings indicate that the student-teachers’ professional identity was shaped by meaningful cooperation with their mentor and peers. The student-teachers progressed from team-focused to self-focused professional identity, indicating professional development, self-regulation, and substantial gains in their satisfaction. The study provides implications for teacher educators to use team-teaching in their teacher professional development programs.

Teachers’ stated cognition and its relationship with oral corrective feedback practices in EFL classrooms

Many studies have examined the effects of oral corrective feedback on language learning. However, much less research has examined the role of teacher cognition in this area. In particular, research on teacher cognition and its relationship with teachers' actual classroom practices has received relatively less attention. The present study examined four male and female EFL teachers' stated cognition and its relationship with their corrective feedback practices in intermediate-level classrooms. Data consisted of audio recordings of 14 h of classroom interaction collected over five weeks, a cognition questionnaire, and stimulated recall sessions. The findings revealed that while all the teachers highlighted the importance of corrective feedback, important differences were observed in their views about corrective feedback strategies. Notable discrepancies were also observed between teachers' stated cognition and their actual classroom practices regarding both the types and the amount of feedback used. The findings further our understanding of what teachers’ cognitions consist of and what roles it plays in instructional contexts.

The relationship of proficiency to speed fluency, pausing, and eye-gaze behaviours in L2 writing

In this study we investigated the extent to which writing proficiency predicts L2 writers’ speed fluency, pausing, and eye-gaze behaviours and the cognitive processes that underlie pausing. Additionally, we explored whether these relationships were influenced by stage of writing (beginning, middle stages, end). The participants were 60 Chinese second language users of English, with proficiency levels ranging from CEFR B1 to C1 levels. They all completed two independent TOEFL iBT writing tasks over two sessions, with the tasks being counterbalanced across participants. While composing, we recorded participants’ keystrokes and eye-gaze behaviours. Participants also took part in a stimulated recall session based on the last writing task they had completed. A series of mixed-effects regression models found that proficiency was the strongest predictor of speed fluency. The stimulated recall analysis revealed considerably less variation in cognitive activities among lower- than higher-proficiency writers across writing stages.

Novice EAP teacher identity construction: A qualitative study from Iran

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teachers' job description involves contextual particularities that have roots in sociocultural and disciplinary dimensions. Such complexities may profoundly influence the identities novice teachers construct as they need to handle different dimensions of their career. However, there is little documented research on novice EAP teachers' identity construction. The present study reports on the identity construction of a novice Iranian EAP teacher (Alborz). Data were collected from semi-structured interviews, reflective journals, and classroom observations and the associated stimulated recall sessions. Our analysis of the data revealed three major themes in relation to Alborz's identity construction: (1) tensions between claimed and constructed EAP identities, (2) content-related emotional conflicts, and (3) EAP teacher as an undervalued professional. Alborz experienced various conceptual, emotional, and agency-related conflicts that had roots in contextual parameters of EAP teaching in Iran, yet at each stage of his development, these conflicts intensified, diminished, and took different shapes. In particular, managing the connection between language and content was a site of struggle for Alborz as he had to adopt identities that clashed with his professional understandings and idiosyncratic descriptions of EAP instruction.

Silence behind the Veil: An Exploratory Investigation into the Reticence of Female Saudi Arabian Learners of English

AbstractThis study explores the complexity of language learner silence in the female Saudi Arabian university English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom. To this end, a combination of two methodologies was used. First, a total of 296 students from 12 EFL classrooms were observed using the COPS structured observation scheme (King, 2013a, b) to measure the extent of silence and to identify relevant patterns of learner reticence. Second, to gain deeper insights into the participants' attitudes and feelings about silence in the EFL classroom, we used two complementary qualitative methods: semi‐structured interviews and stimulated recall sessions. The results suggest the existence of three interrelated groups of factors associated learner silence in the study's research context —(i) factors related to prevailing EFL teaching styles in Saudi Arabia; (ii) socio‐psychological factors; and (iii) underlying cultural factors associated with the value of silence and the role of women in Saudi society. The findings highlight the complexity of Saudi Arabian female students' silence and emphasize the need to view language learner silence as a multi‐dimensional phenomenon.

Translanguaging in online language teaching

The Covid-19 pandemic has restricted social interactions to online spaces, shifting usual face-to-face classrooms to online platforms. This article investigates how teachers and adult learners in an English as an additional language classroom experience these changes, solve problems that arise and negotiate their teaching and learning methods in an online space. Specifically, we focus on a case involving a teacher practising in an online Zoom English language classroom during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown in Aotearoa New Zealand. The data for this article come from a semi-structured narrative interview, four hours of online classroom observations and a stimulated recall session. Data analysis was conducted using the Interactional Sociolinguistics approach to discourse analysis. Findings from this study show how the teacher shifted to an online space, overcoming initial struggles and negotiating her teaching methodologies, including making use of new technological advancements of the online platforms she used. Additionally, the data highlight the teacher’s efforts to maintain pedagogical translanguaging in her online classes as an effective language teaching strategy. However, there are also restrictions in her awareness of benefits of using spontaneous translanguaging in the language classroom, highlighting that her choices do not always align with translanguaging as a form of social justice.

Investigating the impact of task complexity on uptake and noticing of corrective feedback recasts

Abstract This study investigated the relationship between task complexity, second language (L2) learners’ response and awareness of corrective feedback provided in the form of recasts during teacher–student interaction. Drawing on Robinson’s Triadic Componential Framework, the study examined how degrees of task complexity created by two specific task characteristics had an impact on learners’ responses (referred to as uptake), and their reported noticing of grammatical and lexical recasts. Data documenting learners’ uptake, operationalized as changes in response to feedback during interactions and noticing of recasts, as indicated in students’ self reports of detection and attention to recasts, were collected during one-on-one interaction sessions and stimulated recall sessions with ESL learners in Canada. Frequency analysis and Cochran’s Q analysis with multiple McNemar post hoc tests were carried out to compare the uptake and noticing of recasts across different tasks. The results revealed that tasks with different degrees of complexity impacted uptake and noticing of recasts differently. The results also showed that linguistic target, i.e., lexical or grammatical features, modulated the relationship between task complexity and recast uptake and noticing. The study calls for a more nuanced approach to investigating task complexity in research, and for practitioners to consider task complexity in decision making related to the use of corrective feedback and the design of classroom-based tasks.

Text Interpretation in Foreign Language Reading-to-Write

The present study investigated how English as a foreign language (EFL) writers read and used source texts whilst reading-to-write. Two separate studies were conducted. In Study I, 16 participants were first completing a reading-to-write task on an eye-tracker, and then a stimulated recall session was performed to elicit their text interpretation processes. In Study II, another 172 participants responded to a reading-to-write process questionnaire after completing the same task. Findings from eye-tracking data, stimulated recalls, and questionnaires showed that the participants engaged in several types of text interpretation processes through task completion, and they were using different reading strategies at various stages of reading-to-write to understand and exploit the text provided in the source materials and in their own writings.

Jack and Jill Went to Instill: Did the Educative Teacher Performance Assessment Cause Them to Falter?

Purpose: This study examined and deconstructed socialization experiences relative to the educative teacher performance assessment (edTPA) process of preservice teachers during their physical education (PE) teacher education program and induction year as a PE teacher. Method: Utilizing a multiple case study design, two PE teachers were purposefully selected and investigated from a PE teacher education program requiring a passing score on the edTPA. Interviews and stimulated recall sessions served as data sources. Results: The following themes were identified: (a) initial interactions and impetus for teaching—engaging and fun; (b) instruction in PE teacher education—learning a ton; (c) internship—gauging, I’m stunned; (d) implementation of edTPA—raging, I’m done; and (e) induction—waging has begun. Discussion/Conclusions: Although participants in this study were able to note several positives of the assessment, a majority of the findings corroborate previous research suggesting that edTPA may serve as a subtractive experience for PE preservice teachers.

A Mixed-Method Study of EFL Writers’ Monitoring and Revising Processes in Completing an Integrated Writing Task

This study investigated how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writers monitored the quality of their writings, and how they made revisions accordingly while completing a reading-to-write task. Two independent studies were conducted in this research study. In Study I, 16 participants completed a reading-to-write task, during which their eye movements were tracked. These eye traces then formed the stimuli for a stimulated recall session to elicit cognitive processes. In Study II, a reading-to-write process questionnaire was administered to another 172 participants after they completed the same task. Results showed that there is ample evidence of the use of monitoring and revising processes, most of which occurred during the writing and after writing the first draft. The participants conducted monitoring and revising activities at both a basic level, when they dealt mainly with textual features such as spelling, word use and sentence structure, and at a more advanced level, when they monitored issues such as relevance to the task, development of arguments and coherence and cohesion.

Understanding text-based studies of linguistic development through goals for academic writing

Numerous studies of written language development have shown minimal improvement over the course of an instructional period, yet these solely text-based studies offer little explanation for the lack of changes in writers’ language because little is reported about the classroom and the participants. The purpose of this study is to use goal theory to better understand students’ instructional contexts and their writing behaviors as they relate to textual features. We focused on six students in two English for academic purposes (EAP) writing classes, in which we conducted observations and teacher interviews. Students filled out an open-ended survey, wrote two essays using keystroke logging software, and participated in stimulated recall sessions. We first evaluated how instructional goals and practices aligned with students’ goals and writing behaviors. We first found that the instructors’ and students’ language-related goals did not completely match. Students had the goal of improving their language, but teachers focused on more global writing issues. In addition, teachers had a goal that students become independent editors of their language, but students missed opportunities to edit. A secondary yet important methodological finding was that the use of timed writing tasks in text-based studies did not allow students to apply explicit grammatical knowledge that the instructors expected the students to have. Pedagogical, research design, and assessments implications are provided.

Persuasive communication in medical decision-making during consultations with patients with limited health literacy in hospital-based palliative care

ObjectiveBoth patients in the palliative phase of their disease and patients with limited health literacy (LHL) have an increased risk of being influenced by healthcare providers (HCPs) when making decisions. This study aims to explore to what extent persuasive communication occurs during shared decision-making (SDM) by (1) providing an overview of persuasive communication behaviours relevant for medical decision-making and (2) exemplifying these using real-life outpatient consultations. MethodsAn exploratory qualitative design was applied: (1) brief literature review; (2) analysis of verbatim extracts from outpatient consultations and stimulated recall sessions with HCPs; and (3) stakeholder meetings. Results24 different persuasive communication behaviours were identified, which can be divided in seven categories: biased presentation of information, authoritative framing, probability framing, illusion of decisional control, normative framing, making assumptions and using emotions or feelings. ConclusionsPersuasive communication is multi-faceted in outpatient consultations. Although undesirable, it may prove useful in specific situations making it necessary to study the phenomenon more in depth and deepen our understanding of its mechanisms and impact. Practice implicationsAwareness among HCPs about the use of persuasive communication needs to be created through training and education. Also, HCPs need help in providing balanced information.

Teachers as slaves or masters to their coursebooks: An in-depth study on two English language teachers’ coursebook utilization

Addressing an underappreciated research area, this study reports on how two English language teachers in a Turkish tertiary education context use a global coursebook. At the beginning of the study, a metaphor elicitation task and pre-study interviews were employed to detect the teachers’ coursebook conceptualizations. Then, a total of 12 lessons were video-recorded and adaptations were identified using a research-informed framework developed for this study. The participants examined and evaluated their own practices in stimulated recall sessions, reflective conversations and journal writing. The study was concluded with post-study interviews. Data revealed that the teachers’ instructional practice was driven by the coursebook to a large extent as they stuck to minor adaptations and followed the guidance given by the coursebook. Along with the institutional constraints, the teachers’ practices were influenced by their own personal preferences, attempts to make coursebook tasks accessible to learners, lack of planning and the highly structured delivery of tasks in the coursebook. However, pedagogic considerations were not foregrounded by the teachers. The results of the study call for professional teacher development on coursebook utilization, coursebook-based instead of coursebook-led program planning alongside redesign of coursebooks as resources rather than instructions.

Students' Perception of Written Corrective Feedback: A Case Study of Pre-University ESL Learners in the Maldives

In language teaching pedagogy, feedback is crucial for English as a Second Language (ESL) students to achieve the target language competency they desire. According to literature, effective feedback can only be given when educators understand the way individual students perceive the feedback that they are given. Unfortunately, there are very few published studies on the Maldivian students’ perception of feedback till date. Therefore, to understand pre-university students’ perception of feedback, this qualitative case study used data through focus group discussions and stimulated recall sessions from a sample of six students. The findings indicated that the students from the selected institute felt encouraged as well as appreciated when the lecturers gave feedback. Moreover, they felt apprehensiveness when the lecturers failed to provide enough feedback, or any at all. This indicated that the students highly regarded the importance of feedback. Therefore, it is advisable for educators to consider how students perceive the written corrective feedback provided for them so that it may result in successful uptake.

Revising in a non-alphabetic language: The multi-dimensional and dynamic nature of online revisions in Chinese as a second language

While second language (L2) writing processes have received increased attention in recent years, few studies have considered writing processes in non-alphabetic languages. To help fill this gap, this study examined the online revision behaviours and associated cognitive processes of L2 writers of Chinese from a multi-dimensional and temporal perspective. Thirty-two L2 Chinese writers performed four writing tasks while their keystrokes were logged. Based on their last writing performance, participants engaged in a stimulated recall session, during which they were asked to describe their thoughts during revisions. Baseline data were collected from 32 first language (L1) writers of Chinese following the same procedure. Revisions were coded for linguistic domain, context, and level of transcription. Stimulated recall comments were categorised according to the orientation of revision. We found that L2 writers more frequently revised language than content, smaller linguistic units than larger ones, and text at the inscription point than previously produced text. They also revised Pinyin more than characters. Revisions occurred more frequently in the middle stages of writing, except for most contextual revisions made in the final stage. Similar trends were observed in L1 writing, apart from character revisions outnumbering Pinyin revisions and proportionately more revisions focusing on content.