TESOL Quarterly Research Articles

Five decades of language learning strategy research: a bibliometric review and research agenda

ABSTRACT As of 2024, almost fifty golden years have passed since the language learning strategy (LLS) concept was first brought to wide attention in 1975. This study analysed 2,580 publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection over the past five decades using bibliometric analysis and science mapping visualisation techniques to delineate the burgeoning scholarly discourse on LLSs regarding the leading researchers, countries, institutions, and sources. Author keywords were also analysed to explore the main research topics and h-classics publications were reviewed to understand the key focuses of the most impactful publications in LLS research. The findings reveal that research on LLSs is extremely vibrant despite facing severe competition from the self-regulation front in recent years. The USA, the PRC, England, and Taiwan dominate the production of knowledge in this field, and Rebecca Oxford, Ernesto Macaro, Suzanne Graham and Lawrence Jun Zhang have the highest average citations in their publications about LLSs. Further, System, Modern Language Journal and TESOL Quarterly have been the leading venues of publication for the most impactful outputs. The review of the 55 h-classics gave insight into future directions for LLS research theoretically, methodologically, and/or pedagogically.

New Theoretical and Practical Horizons in Data‐driven Learning: Introduction to the Special Issue

AbstractThis paper introduces readers to the TESOL Quarterly special topic issue: Assessing the effectiveness of corpus‐based approaches to English language teaching. The authors open by briefly defining and outlining data‐driven learning (DDL) research on second language (English) teaching. This is followed by an extended discussion of four themes, which pertain to recent developments and future directions in DDL. These themes include: (1) selecting corpora for corpus‐based language teaching; (2) pushing the boundaries of DDL; (3) preparing language educators for corpus‐based language teaching; and (4) reflecting on theory and methods. Throughout the piece, readers are also introduced to those contributions within the special issue, which include a diverse range of pieces that focus on aspects of theory, research, and pedagogy.

On language ideology and education policies: A conversation with Thomas Ricento

Dr. Thomas K. Ricento is a professor emeritus of education at the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary in Canada. In 1987, he received his PhD degree in applied linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles. Around his research interest in language policies in the context of minority languages in North America, he has conducted numerous international projects. He is the editor of the foundational reference work An introduction to language policy: Theory and method. Also, he is the author of the recent book Refugees in Canada: On the loss of social and cultural capital and has numerous books published in international venues. He has co-edited special issues in well-established journals such as TESOL Quarterly and Language Policy. Furthermore, his articles appeared in venues such as Journal of Sociolinguistics, Discourse & Society, and Journal of Language, Identity & Education. On 17 April 2023, Dr. Huseyin Uysal conducted this interview with Dr. Ricento virtually. Later, he transcribed the recorded audio and edited the text to maximize the readability.

Issues with pedagogical implications in applied linguistics research: A mixed-methods systematic evaluation

Applied linguists often aim to conduct research with implications for practitioners (widely construed), but only recently has a research agenda emerged which empirically investigates whether this aim is being regularly met (see Sato, 2023). While multiple survey studies (e.g., Marsden & Kasprowicz, 2017; Sato et al., 2021) have made important contributions to this literature, no study has systematically examined how researchers offer implications to intended practitioner audiences. To explore this topic, we conducted a systematic analysis of 118 empirical studies published in TESOL Quarterly. We developed highly reliable scales (avg. IRR = 0.88) to assess the quantity, salience, and quality of pedagogical implications (PIs). Qualitative genre analysis further allowed us to synthesize the features of highly informative PIs. Based on these findings, we offer concrete recommendations for maximizing PI quality for researchers, editors, and reviewers.

Review and analysis of empirical articles published in TESOL Quarterly over its lifespan

We report the results of a bibliometric study of 696 empirical articles (EAs) published in TESOL Quarterly (TQ) over its lifespan (1967-2019). We report overall and periodic reviews (1967-1979, 1980-1989, 1990-1999, 2000-2009, 2010-2019) concerning the following themes: (1) contexts and participants, (2) research foci and theoretical orientations, and (3) research methodology and data sources. A typical article was written by a single author addressing a learning/teaching English issue related to undergraduates in US universities. The most common research foci were instruction, learning, and assessment. A quarter of the articles did not have a specifiable theoretical orientation, and for those that had, the main theoretical orientations were linguistic/scientific, linguistic/cognitive, and social. The most frequently used research methodologies were quantitative, qualitative, and eclectic, and the top three data sources used by researchers were elicitation, multiple sources, and observation. Based on the findings, we make suggestions for future research in TESOL. Overall, the present review and analysis of published EAs give readers a birds-eye view of the research gravity in TQ over the last 52 years.

School actors navigating between implementor & arbiter – a qualitative study on the dynamics in multilingual schools’ language policy

ABSTRACT Over the past two decades, heightened migration has increased linguistic diversity in schools. For schools to cope with this multilingualism, many governments impose a monolingual policy where only the language of instruction is allowed. Although many schools adopt such a policy, the classroom practices may differ since multilingual students often revert to translanguaging-as-practice. Drawing on three key conceptual language policy (LP) models (Bonacina-Pugh, 2012. Researching ‘practiced language policies’: Insights from conversation analysis. Language Policy, 11(3), 213–234; Johnson & Johnson, 2015. Power and agency in language policy appropriation. Language Policy, 14(3), 221–243; Ricento & Hornberger, 1996. Unpeeling the onion: Language planning and policy and the ELT professional. TESOL Quarterly, 30(3), 401–427), this study explores LP formation across macro (government), meso (school), and micro (classroom) educational levels in Flanders, Belgium. Macro-level analysis involves scrutinizing policy documents from the Educational Department of Flanders. Meso-level investigation includes policy documents from three secondary schools, compared with insights from interviews with the schools' principals and language coaches. Semi-structured interviews with teachers (n = 18) and classroom observations (n = 138 hours) provide nuanced perspectives at the micro-level. Triangulating data reveals declared, perceived, and practiced language policies at various levels. The study underscores LP's intricate nature within a multilingual educational context. Results highlight the contrast between macro-level policy straightforwardness and the complexity faced at meso- and micro-levels, where context-specific challenges arise. As schools navigate linguistic diversity, the role of language coaches becomes pivotal in creating inclusive and effective educational settings.

EVALUATING THE RESEARCH TREND ON THE APPLICATION OF MULTIMODAL APPROACH IN ESL CLASSROOMS

The growing needs for employing multimodality in teaching have sparked research activities all around the world. Due to its broad range of applications, multimodality has received a lot of attention as an approach to be applied in any fields specifically in education. This bibliometric study aimed to evaluate the global research trends in applying multimodality to ESL classrooms based on publication outputs, co-authorships among authors and affiliated countries, and co-occurrences of author keywords. A total of 1303 journal articles published between 1972 and 2022 were retrieved using the Scopus database. The results demonstrate that the number of publications has been steadily increasing since 1972. Approximately 29% of the global total publications were contributed by researchers from the United States and the TESOL Quarterly published the greatest number of articles related to research on the multimodal approach in ESL classrooms. The findings of this review show that the application of multimodality to ESL classrooms may eventually supplant the clusters that dominated multimodality research in the past. In conclusion, the recent progress in implementing the multimodal approach in ESL classrooms includes the following, but not limited to, i) teaching strategies, ii) teaching environments, and iii) teaching and learning with educational technology.

“Going around it to go into it”: tensions and questions in teacher–researcher work towards a critical translanguaging stance

Abstract This article blends autoethnography with other qualitative research methods to address the following question: what tensions and questions emerged as a white, English-dominant researcher and white, English-dominant teachers co-developed a critical, anti-racist translanguaging stance? The co-development of such a stance occurred through a year-long professional development (PD) series on critical translingual approaches to English teaching (Seltzer, Kate. 2020. “My English is its own rule”: Voicing a translingual sensibility through poetry. Journal of Language, Identity and Education 19(5). 297–311), which, unlike many traditional teacher education and development programs, shifted away from “strategies” and “best practices” and instead centered and aimed to unpack ideologies that lead to deficit perceptions and ways of teaching racialized bi/multilingual students. By drawing on three moments from this PD series, I explore and raise questions about how (or whether) the translanguaging co-stance (García, Ofelia, Susana Johnson & Kate Seltzer. 2017. Rejecting abyssal thinking in the language and education of racialized bilinguals: A manifesto. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies 18(3). 203–228; Tian, Zhongfeng & Leah Shepard‐Carey. 2020. (Re) imagining the future of translanguaging pedagogies in TESOL through teacher–researcher collaboration. Tesol Quarterly 54(4). 1131–1143) the teachers and I were developing was as explicitly critical and anti-racist as I intended. To delve into these moments, I mesh data from the PD project with scholarship on whiteness, translanguaging, and raciolinguistic ideologies to explore these tensions and reflect critically on my own ways forward in collaborative translanguaging research with teachers.

Ethnic group affiliation and second/foreign language accentedness in English and Mandarin among Hong Kong speakers

ABSTRACT As part of a larger project that investigates the issue of identities in Hong Kong, this study anchored on the sociocognitive paradigm in second language acquisition (SLA) explores the potential relationship between one’s identity and perceived language accentedness. Our study set in Hong Kong (HK) aims to extend Gatbonton and colleagues’ works (e.g. [2005]. Learners’ ethnic group loyalty and L2 pronunciation accuracy: A sociolinguistic investigation. TESOL Quarterly, 39(3), 489–511. https://doi.org/10.2307/3588491; [2008]. The ethnic group affiliation and L2 proficiency link: Empirical evidence. Language Awareness, 17(3), 229–248. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658410802146867; [2011]. Ethnic group affiliation and patterns of development of a phonological variable. Modern Language Journal, 95(2), 188–204. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2011.01177.x) that examine the relationship between ethnic group affiliation (EGA) and language proficiencies in diglossic contexts. HK is a multi-glossic context where Cantonese, English and Mandarin are the official languages, and they perform distinctive functions in various public and private domains. Through analysing participants’ (n = 65; born between 1970s–1990s) self-identification and their reported accentedness in English and Mandarin, we address the question of whether EGA as a set of social factors has a bearing on a person’s linguistic achievements. Findings indicate that participants’ identification with the Chinese/ HK identity is related to their perceived accentedness in the targeted languages in intricate ways that do not align completely with our predictions. We conclude by calling for further socio-cognitively informed research that investigates multiglossic situations where languages/ language varieties complement or compete with each other.

A cognitive dissonance approach to moderating listener perception of L2 English speakers

ABSTRACT Research has shown that listener bias and stereotyping affect listeners’ attitudes towards L2 English speakers [Lindemann, S., Litzenberg, J., & Subtirelu, N. (2014). Problematizing the Dependence on L1 Norms in Pronunciation Teaching: Attitudes Toward Second-Language Accents. In J. Levis & A. Moyer (Eds.). Social Dynamics in Second Language Accent (171–194)]. However, little research has explored ways to mitigate such prejudice to combat the linguistic discrimination prevalent in our society [Kang, O., D. Rubin, and S. Lindemann. 2015. “Mitigating U.S. Undergraduates’ Attitudes Toward International Teaching Assistants.” TESOL Quarterly 49 (4): 681–706; Subtirelu, N. C., and S. Lindemann. 2016. “Teaching First Language Speakers to Communicate Across Linguistic Difference: Addressing Attitudes, Comprehension, and Strategies.” Applied Linguistics 37 (6): 765–783]. The present study explored the effect of a one-week intervention on U.S. undergraduate students’ perception of L2 speakers. This study included three intact undergraduate-level writing classes (n = 25 each), two intervention groups and one control. Before the intervention, all students completed a perception questionnaire to measure listener perceptual judgement of language attitude, comprehensibility, and accentedness of L2 English speakers. The intervention included (a) one 50-minute discussion which explicitly addressed social justice issues related to multilingual speakers, designed according to the cognitive dissonance theory [Festinger, L. 1957. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson] and (b) three 50-minute laboratory sessions for reflection papers. An immediate post-test and a delayed post-test (11 weeks after) were administered. Linear mixed-effects models showed significant and sustained improvement of language attitude and comprehensibility ratings for the intervention groups across time, but not for the control group. The findings provide a relatively short, easily replicable, and sustainably effective intervention program to mitigate listener bias against L2 English speakers.

Introduction to the special issue on English medium instruction: Areas of research needing urgent attention

English medium instruction (EMI), both in higher and secondary education, is now a well-established field of education research and, indeed, many applied linguistics journals are publishing regularly on a variety of EMI topics. Recently, a new journal, Journal of English-Medium Instruction, has been established that is dedicated entirely to this area of academic enquiry. Recent years have also seen several special issues emerge on topics within EMI in journals such as Applied Linguistics Review (published advanced online), System (in 2023), and TESOL Quarterly (in 2018).

Podcasting for peace: Resettled refugee youths' self‐sponsored counter‐storytelling practices

TESOL JournalEarly View e737 CLASSROOM EXPLORATIONS Podcasting for peace: Resettled refugee youths' self-sponsored counter-storytelling practices Megan Heise, Corresponding Author Megan Heise [email protected] orcid.org/0000-0001-6546-0671 Indiana University of PennsylvaniaSearch for more papers by this authorAsifa Hassan, Asifa Hassan Youth UnMutedSearch for more papers by this author Megan Heise, Corresponding Author Megan Heise [email protected] orcid.org/0000-0001-6546-0671 Indiana University of PennsylvaniaSearch for more papers by this authorAsifa Hassan, Asifa Hassan Youth UnMutedSearch for more papers by this author First published: 15 June 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.737Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL REFERENCES Barabas, C. D. (2022). Implementing peer podcasting in an EFL literature course. TESOL Journal, 14(2), e686. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.686 Choi, J., & Yi, Y. (2016). Teachers' integration of multimodality into classroom practices for English language learners. TESOL Journal, 7(2), 304– 327. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.204 Halaczkiewicz, M. D. (2020). Harnessing writing in the wild: Practical applications of affinity spaces for English language instruction. TESOL Journal, 11(1), e00453. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.453 Lindenman, H., & Rosinski, P. (2020). Writing outside of class: The untapped potential of students' non-academic writing. Writing Program Administration, 44(1), 17– 44. https://wpacouncil.org/aws/CWPA/asset_manager/get_file/555792?ver=3 Martin-Beltrán, M., Montoya-Ávila, A., & García, A. A. (2020). Becoming advocates: Positioning immigrant youth to share, connect, and apply their stories as tools for social change. TESOL Journal, 11(4), e567. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.567 Martinez, A. Y. (2020, March). Counterstory: The rhetoric and writing of critical race theory. Paper presented at the Conference on College Composition and Communication of the National Council of Teachers of English, online. Montero, M. K., & Al Zouhouri, A. (2022). Fear not the trauma story: A trauma-informed perspective to supporting war-affected refugees in schools and classrooms. In L. J. Pentón Herrera (Ed.), English and students with limited or interrupted formal education: Global perspectives on teacher preparation and classroom practices (pp. 83– 100). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86963-2_6 Pentón Herrera, L. J., & Martínez-Alba, G. (2021). Social-emotional learning in the English language classroom: Fostering growth, self-care, and independence. Alexandria, VA: TESOL Press. Solórzano, D. G., & Yosso, T. J. (2002). Critical race methodology: Counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 23– 44. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800103 Yi, Y., & Angay-Crowder, T. (2016). Multimodal pedagogies for teacher education in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 50, 988– 998. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44984730 Yi, Y., & Angay-Crowder, T. (2018). Self-sponsored writing. In J. I. Liontas, TESOL International Association, & M. DelliCarpini (Eds.), The TESOL encyclopedia of English language teaching (pp. 1– 6). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0521 Youth UnMuted. (2020). Now you hear us. [Podcast]. Youth UnMuted. https://www.youthunmuted.org/now-you-hear-us-podcast Zapata, G. P., & Prieto Rosas, V. (2020). Structural and contingent inequalities: The impact of COVID 19 on migrant and refugee populations in South America. Bulletin of Latin American Research, 39(S1), 16– 22. https://doi.org/10.1111/blar.13181 Early ViewOnline Version of Record before inclusion in an issuee737 ReferencesRelatedInformation

Modality in the moves of the discussion section of research articles

Various studies have been conducted on the rhetorical mechanism of Research Articles (RAs). However, the use of modal verbs in the Discussion section of a Research Article (RA) has not been adequately addressed. Thus, this study analysed modal verbs within the four generic moves in the Discussion sections of RAs using the model of Kanoksilapatham (2007). A corpus of 60 RAs written in English was selected from four Applied Linguistics journals: Language Testing, TESOL Quarterly, Pragmatics, and Second Language Research. The analysis of the corpus included two phases: (1) the identification of moves in the Discussion sections and (2) identification of modal verbs and their use within the identified generic moves in the Discussion sections. Chi-square was used to determine the distribution of modal verbs within the moves in the Discussion sections in each journal. The study revealed the significant distribution of modal verbs within three moves: 2, 3, and 4. The study also showed that the way modal verbs are distributed reflects the importance of their use as they have pragmatic functions in the Discussion section of a RA. It is hoped that this genre-based analysis of modal verbs in the Discussion section can make novice writers aware of how expert writers use modal verbs effectively in the moves of the Discussion section.

More diversity, more complexity, but more flexibility: research article titles in TESOL Quarterly, 1967–2022

More diversity, more complexity, but more flexibility: research article titles in TESOL Quarterly, 1967–2022

From the Queen's English to reclaiming indigenous languages: An African poetic perspective

From the Queen's English to reclaiming indigenous languages: An African poetic perspective

Contributors

Contributors

Bilingual education in China: a qualitative synthesis of research on models and perceptions

Abstract Bilingual education has become increasingly popular in China, with a subsequent growth in research, particularly research with a qualitative component that examines learners’ and teachers’ experiences and perspectives. These studies have mostly been conducted in individual classroom settings where contexts and learners differ, making findings less transferrable to other educational settings. To address this need, we conducted a qualitative synthesis of research that aims to provide a holistic and rich description of bilingual education in China. Our focus is on the implementation of bilingual education in different educational contexts, learners’ and teachers’ perceptions of bilingual education, and the research instruments used for the evaluation of bilingual education. Following a discipline-specific methodological framework for conducting qualitative research synthesis (Chong, Sin Wang & Luke Plonsky. 2021. A primer on qualitative research synthesis in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly 55(3). 1024–1034), we identified suitable studies using a pre-determined search string within various databases. Search results were screened based on a set of inclusion criteria and relevant information was extracted from the included studies using a piloted data extraction form. The extracted data were synthesised using grounded theory to identify new themes and sub-themes. Our findings point to the need for more fine-grained classifications of bilingual education models, despite the fact that Chinese learners generally show positive attitudes towards bilingual education. The study ends with an analysis of limitations, as well as recommendations for future research and practice.

Introduction to the Special Issue

Recent years have seen increased attention to the need for promoting diversity and inclusion in language education. A recent special issue of ELT Journal, for example, was devoted to an exploration of the importance of creating educational environments that are inclusive of different identities that relate to gender and sexuality (Banegas & Evripidou, 2021). Around the same time, a special issue of the Forum of another leading journal of the field, TESOL Quarterly, focused on the notion of ableism. In the words of the guest editor Subtirelu (2021, p. 670), the issue was “intended to explore how concepts of what ‘normal’ abilities are or should be make English language teaching inaccessible, ineffective, or oppressive for many students”. In this special issue of TESL-EJ, we focus on Global Englishes and translanguaging, two areas that have attracted much recent interest and efforts as ways to advance the agenda of diversity and inclusion in language education. As expressed in the initial call for papers for this special issue, a major aim of the special issue is to engage in and promote exchanges which offer insights into how language learning and teaching based on the spirit of Global Englishes and translanguaging: 1. acknowledges the strengths and talents of all students; 2. promotes student engagement, agency, and voice; 3. contributes to the acceptance and celebration of different language backgrounds, cultures, beliefs, and values of students; 4. suggests a change of the teacher role in the classroom; and 5. encourages a rethink about issues of materials design, language assessment, curriculum development, teacher education, and language policy.

English medium instruction for whom and for what? Rethinking the language-content relationship in higher education

ABSTRACT In this conceptual paper I examine how current understandings of English medium instruction (EMI) can be refined to inform language policy-making and practice in higher education. Starting from a set of EMI definitions (Dafouz, E., & Smit, U. 2020. ROAD-MAPPING English medium education in the internationalized university. Palgrave Macmillan; Macaro, E. 2018. English medium instruction. Oxford University Press; Pecorari, D., & Malmström, H. 2018. At the crossroads of TESOL and English medium instruction. TESOL Quarterly, 52(3), 497–515) and the language-content spectrum that was first put forward by Met (1998. Curriculum decision-making in content-based language teaching. In J. Cenoz, & F. Genesee (Eds.), Beyond bilingualism: Multilingualism and multilingual education (pp. 35–63). Multilingual Matters), I highlight how EMI has been approached in existing literature and how it may converge or diverge with other bilingual labels. Using an institutional case as an example, I argue that the conceptualisation of the language-content duality could be expanded to better reflect the different manifestations of EMI in reality, and to provide space for tracing terminological movements in the process of policy implementation. To do so, a dynamic language-content model is introduced, drawing attention to different depths of integration based on what is controlled (e.g. language and/or content) and how much control is taken (e.g. in curriculum-planning, teaching, and/or assessment). The model can be viewed as a second generation of the language-content continuum, complementing existing EMI definitions while opening up wider possibilities for dealing with the interplay between language and content in university settings. The paper closes with implications for EMI policy-making and practice.

Including children's voice in family language policy: an exploration of the tensions between mothers’ and children's language beliefs

ABSTRACT This article discusses family language policy and the tensions between mothers’ and children's language beliefs in two Vietnamese immigrant families in Melbourne. These tensions have frequently been discussed from the parental perspective, but it is less common to include the children's voice. We draw on a larger in-depth qualitative study of family language policy in Vietnamese families living in Australia to explore the language beliefs of both children and adults. Employing Fitzsimmons-Doolan’s [2018. “Language Ideology Change Over Time: Lessons for Language Policy in the U.S. State of Arizona and Beyond.” TESOL Quarterly 52 (1): 34–61. doi:10.1002/tesq.371] notions of pro-multilingual and pro-monolingual ideologies and Bourdieu’s [1986. “The Forms of Capital.” In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, edited by J. G. Richardson, 241–258. Greenwood Press] concept of capital, we explore family language policy from the perspectives of both children and their mothers, and show how these perspectives are associated with each other. Findings reveal the pro-monolingual stance of the children in opposition to the pro-multilingual stance of their mothers where the children and their mothers appeared to attach different degrees of value to English and Vietnamese. The findings reinforce the complexities in realising family language policy across languages.