Positive psychology has been flourishing within applied linguistics, providing new insights into the role of concepts such as positive emotion, grit, and well‐being. The founders of positive psychology envisioned three pillars on which it stood, positive emotions, character traits, and positive institutions. Relative to emotions and traits, institutions have been the somewhat neglected pillar, though there is a robust but disjointed literature to be found. This article serves to introduce a discussion of the role of institutions in teacher and learner well‐being from a positive psychology perspective and outline the scope of the special issue. A review of the positive psychology of institutions focuses on characteristics of organizations and individual well‐being. Each of the contributors to the special issue address their particular context, using a variety of mostly qualitative methods. The present paper provides an integration of the themes across the special issue and offer suggestions for the way forward.
{"title":"Positive institutions for language learning","authors":"Peter D. MacIntyre","doi":"10.1111/modl.70038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70038","url":null,"abstract":"Positive psychology has been flourishing within applied linguistics, providing new insights into the role of concepts such as positive emotion, grit, and well‐being. The founders of positive psychology envisioned three pillars on which it stood, positive emotions, character traits, and positive institutions. Relative to emotions and traits, institutions have been the somewhat neglected pillar, though there is a robust but disjointed literature to be found. This article serves to introduce a discussion of the role of institutions in teacher and learner well‐being from a positive psychology perspective and outline the scope of the special issue. A review of the positive psychology of institutions focuses on characteristics of organizations and individual well‐being. Each of the contributors to the special issue address their particular context, using a variety of mostly qualitative methods. The present paper provides an integration of the themes across the special issue and offer suggestions for the way forward.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"134 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146153512","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study investigates the pedagogical impact of integrating cognitive linguistics (CL) into concept‐based language instruction (C‐BLI) for teaching English modal verbs. Eighty‐nine Mandarin‐speaking university learners were assigned to one of three instructional conditions: C‐BLI with CL‐based conceptualizations (C‐BLI‐CL), C‐BLI with non‐CL functional grammar explanations (C‐BLI‐nonCL), and traditional definition‐based instruction (control). All groups completed pre‐, post‐, and delayed post‐tests measuring conceptual languaging and cloze‐based modal accuracy. Results showed that both C‐BLI groups outperformed the control group, but the C‐BLI‐CL group demonstrated significantly higher gains in meaningful and systematic languaging, as well as sustained accuracy in modal usage over time. In contrast, the C‐BLI‐nonCL group showed greater verbal explicability but experienced an accuracy decline at the delayed post‐test. The findings support the compatibility of CL and C‐BLI in promoting durable L2 development and suggest that instructional design grounded in conceptual coherence facilitates deeper learning. Implications are discussed for advancing meaning‐oriented grammar pedagogy through concept‐based and cognitively informed approaches.
本研究探讨认知语言学(CL)与基于概念的语言教学(C - BLI)相结合对英语情态动词教学的影响。89名说普通话的大学学习者被分配到三种教学条件中的一种:C - BLI与基于CL的概念化(C - BLI - CL), C - BLI与非CL功能语法解释(C - BLI - nonCL),以及传统的基于定义的教学(对照)。所有组都完成了测量概念语言和完形填空模态准确性的前、后和延迟后测试。结果表明,C - BLI组和C - BLI组的表现都优于对照组,但C - BLI - CL组在有意义和系统的语言方面表现出了明显更高的进步,并且随着时间的推移,在情态使用方面也保持了持续的准确性。相比之下,C - BLI - non - cl组表现出更强的语言可解释性,但在延迟后测试中准确性下降。研究结果支持CL和C‐BLI在促进二语持久发展方面的兼容性,并表明基于概念一致性的教学设计有助于更深层次的学习。通过基于概念和认知知情的方法,讨论了推进意义导向的语法教学法的含义。
{"title":"Developing L2 semantic knowledge of English modality through concept‐based language instruction: Do cognitive linguistics materials have an advantage?","authors":"Helen Zhao, James P. Lantolf","doi":"10.1111/modl.70033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70033","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates the pedagogical impact of integrating cognitive linguistics (CL) into concept‐based language instruction (C‐BLI) for teaching English modal verbs. Eighty‐nine Mandarin‐speaking university learners were assigned to one of three instructional conditions: C‐BLI with CL‐based conceptualizations (C‐BLI‐CL), C‐BLI with non‐CL functional grammar explanations (C‐BLI‐nonCL), and traditional definition‐based instruction (control). All groups completed pre‐, post‐, and delayed post‐tests measuring conceptual languaging and cloze‐based modal accuracy. Results showed that both C‐BLI groups outperformed the control group, but the C‐BLI‐CL group demonstrated significantly higher gains in meaningful and systematic languaging, as well as sustained accuracy in modal usage over time. In contrast, the C‐BLI‐nonCL group showed greater verbal explicability but experienced an accuracy decline at the delayed post‐test. The findings support the compatibility of CL and C‐BLI in promoting durable L2 development and suggest that instructional design grounded in conceptual coherence facilitates deeper learning. Implications are discussed for advancing meaning‐oriented grammar pedagogy through concept‐based and cognitively informed approaches.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"92 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146146017","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Introduction to responses to Lantolf, Poehner, and Rieker's (2025) “Crisis! Commentary on 'synergies' in second language acquisition and teaching (SLA/T) and how the field may advance” (a response to Atkinson, Michel, and Ribeiro (Eds.) (2025) MLJ special issue: “Synergies in second language acquisition and teaching (SLA/T)”)","authors":"Marije Michel, Dwight Atkinson","doi":"10.1111/modl.70042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70042","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"288 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146122008","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Simona Pekarek Doehler, Steven L. Thorne, Søren W. Eskildsen, Marije C. Michel
{"title":"On the need of pluralism and common ground in SLA","authors":"Simona Pekarek Doehler, Steven L. Thorne, Søren W. Eskildsen, Marije C. Michel","doi":"10.1111/modl.70043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70043","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146122009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Advocating theoretical plurality and methodological flexibility toward humanistic synergy in SLA/T research: A response to Lantolf, Poehner, and Rieker (2025)","authors":"Yongyan Zheng, Miyuki Sasaki, Xuesong Gao","doi":"10.1111/modl.70041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70041","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"292 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146098397","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Multimodal materials (e.g., written text supplemented by images and/or audio) are commonplace in language classrooms. While they have been consistently shown to be beneficial for vocabulary acquisition, the efficacy of multimodal input in scaffolding text comprehension is less clear. Conflicting findings have also been reported in terms of the relationship between comprehension and attention to pictures as measured by eye tracking. In this preregistered study, we provide further empirical evidence to this research base by testing a new population, adult beginners, and by including a reading‐only, no‐image condition as the baseline. In a counterbalanced within‐subject design, 65 learners of Spanish were exposed to different parts of a story on an eye tracker under three experimental conditions: reading only (RO), reading + image (RI), and reading + image + audio (RIA). Results revealed that comprehension was higher in the RIA and RI than in the RO condition, indicative of the usefulness of the audio and/or the image. The number of looks at the images was higher in the RIA condition, confirming that the audio allowed readers to attend to the pictorial information provided. Attention to the image, however, positively predicted comprehension scores only for the RIA condition.
{"title":"The effect of multimodal input on L2 learners' reading comprehension: A preregistered eye‐tracking study","authors":"Tetiana Tytko, Bronson Hui, Nick B. Pandža","doi":"10.1111/modl.70023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70023","url":null,"abstract":"Multimodal materials (e.g., written text supplemented by images and/or audio) are commonplace in language classrooms. While they have been consistently shown to be beneficial for vocabulary acquisition, the efficacy of multimodal input in scaffolding text comprehension is less clear. Conflicting findings have also been reported in terms of the relationship between comprehension and attention to pictures as measured by eye tracking. In this preregistered study, we provide further empirical evidence to this research base by testing a new population, adult beginners, and by including a reading‐only, no‐image condition as the baseline. In a counterbalanced within‐subject design, 65 learners of Spanish were exposed to different parts of a story on an eye tracker under three experimental conditions: reading only (RO), reading + image (RI), and reading + image + audio (RIA). Results revealed that comprehension was higher in the RIA and RI than in the RO condition, indicative of the usefulness of the audio and/or the image. The number of looks at the images was higher in the RIA condition, confirming that the audio allowed readers to attend to the pictorial information provided. Attention to the image, however, positively predicted comprehension scores only for the RIA condition.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"184 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146006000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study explores how Chinese‐Australian families defy systemic pressures toward English monolingualism to achieve exceptional heritage language maintenance (HLM). Through a tripartite Family Language Policy (FLP) framework—ideologies, management and practices—the research examines three ‘positive deviant’ children who sustain high‐level Chinese proficiency in Australia. The research, conducted between 2017 and 2020, employs a qualitative approach through interviews, conversations, observations and documentation of literacy resources to explore the children's linguistic adjustment, bilingual practices, HL learning, socialization and proficiency. Findings highlight the interplay of deliberate FLP, child agency and transnational resource mobilization in achieving exceptional HLM. By centring rare successes, this research shifts discourse from HL attrition to resilience, offering actionable insights for families and policymakers navigating bilingualism in host sociolinguistic climates. However, findings also reveal systemic barriers and class disparities that perpetuate linguistic marginalization, fostering elite bilingualism accessible primarily to privileged families. It calls for educational reforms valuing multilingualism and redistributive policies to support diverse diasporic communities.
{"title":"Defying the odds: Exceptional heritage language maintenance among Chinese‐Australian children","authors":"Yining Wang, Jian Wang","doi":"10.1111/modl.70035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70035","url":null,"abstract":"This study explores how Chinese‐Australian families defy systemic pressures toward English monolingualism to achieve exceptional heritage language maintenance (HLM). Through a tripartite Family Language Policy (FLP) framework—ideologies, management and practices—the research examines three ‘positive deviant’ children who sustain high‐level Chinese proficiency in Australia. The research, conducted between 2017 and 2020, employs a qualitative approach through interviews, conversations, observations and documentation of literacy resources to explore the children's linguistic adjustment, bilingual practices, HL learning, socialization and proficiency. Findings highlight the interplay of deliberate FLP, child agency and transnational resource mobilization in achieving exceptional HLM. By centring rare successes, this research shifts discourse from HL attrition to resilience, offering actionable insights for families and policymakers navigating bilingualism in host sociolinguistic climates. However, findings also reveal systemic barriers and class disparities that perpetuate linguistic marginalization, fostering elite bilingualism accessible primarily to privileged families. It calls for educational reforms valuing multilingualism and redistributive policies to support diverse diasporic communities.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146005999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Second language (L2) motivation research is facing a validation crisis surrounding the L2 motivational self‐system, the field's most widely used framework. Critical reviews have underscored its conceptual and empirical limitations, leading to calls for alternative approaches. This conceptual article introduces one such promising alternative, identity‐based motivation (IBM) theory first introduced by psychologist Daphna Oyserman. IBM explains motivation as context‐sensitive, tied to identities activated in the moment and to interpretations of difficulty as either threatening or identity‐congruent. When tasks are perceived as aligned with salient identities, persistence and engagement increase. The article outlines IBM's theoretical foundations, compares them with constructs currently used in L2 research, and explores further implications. IBM emerges as a theoretically well‐specified, empirically grounded, and pedagogically relevant model that can offer new directions for theorizing L2 motivation.
{"title":"Situating identity‐based motivation theory in second language acquisition: Foundations, comparisons, and implications","authors":"Sophia Strietholt","doi":"10.1111/modl.70032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70032","url":null,"abstract":"Second language (L2) motivation research is facing a validation crisis surrounding the L2 motivational self‐system, the field's most widely used framework. Critical reviews have underscored its conceptual and empirical limitations, leading to calls for alternative approaches. This conceptual article introduces one such promising alternative, identity‐based motivation (IBM) theory first introduced by psychologist Daphna Oyserman. IBM explains motivation as context‐sensitive, tied to identities activated in the moment and to interpretations of difficulty as either threatening or identity‐congruent. When tasks are perceived as aligned with salient identities, persistence and engagement increase. The article outlines IBM's theoretical foundations, compares them with constructs currently used in L2 research, and explores further implications. IBM emerges as a theoretically well‐specified, empirically grounded, and pedagogically relevant model that can offer new directions for theorizing L2 motivation.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146000838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This between‐languages replication study relates the development and testing of a nuclear, families‐based, pedagogical word list for French as was previously done for English. A word family includes base and inflected words (or lemmas) plus derivations. A nuclear family is reduced to the most frequent of these, with less frequent members set aside according to a frequency criterion. Such a list is needed in French because existing French word lists are impractically large in size yet insufficient in coverage and being lemma based obscure the relationship between base, inflected, and derived words. The base list for nuclearization in French was created through a process of finding, fleshing out, and familizing a lemma list. The resulting base list is 3000 word families (25,141 word types) with 96%–98% coverage across a range of text types, in itself unique in French pedagogy. Nuclearizing the base list involved deriving one or more sublists from the base list through two user choices, a corpus representing a particular topic of interest or level of study and a frequency criterion within that corpus for inclusion of base list word types. The resulting nuclear list is 2,871 families in 10,458 word types with ∼90% coverage in texts potentially used in reading instruction.
{"title":"A nuclear families word list for French","authors":"Thomas Cobb, Christina Lindqvist, Mårten Ramnäs","doi":"10.1111/modl.70021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70021","url":null,"abstract":"This between‐languages replication study relates the development and testing of a nuclear, families‐based, pedagogical word list for French as was previously done for English. A word family includes base and inflected words (or lemmas) plus derivations. A nuclear family is reduced to the most frequent of these, with less frequent members set aside according to a frequency criterion. Such a list is needed in French because existing French word lists are impractically large in size yet insufficient in coverage and being lemma based obscure the relationship between base, inflected, and derived words. The base list for nuclearization in French was created through a process of finding, fleshing out, and familizing a lemma list. The resulting base list is 3000 word families (25,141 word types) with 96%–98% coverage across a range of text types, in itself unique in French pedagogy. Nuclearizing the base list involved deriving one or more sublists from the base list through two user choices, a corpus representing a particular topic of interest or level of study and a frequency criterion within that corpus for inclusion of base list word types. The resulting nuclear list is 2,871 families in 10,458 word types with ∼90% coverage in texts potentially used in reading instruction.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145968406","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Darío Luis Banegas, María Gimena San Martín, Fabiana Sacchi, Melina Porto
This article reports on a 2‐year collaborative action research project carried out in 2022–2023, which investigated the intersection of social justice and advocacy in English language teaching. The aim was to describe how English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers working at state secondary schools in two Argentinian cities harnessed their agency to mobilise advocacy among their secondary school students. Theoretically grounded in social justice language education, advocacy in language education, and teacher agency, participants were seven in‐service EFL teachers, five pre‐service teachers, and 220 secondary school students, of whom 30 were adult learners. Research instruments comprised open‐ended questionnaires, teaching artefacts, lesson plans, classroom observations and interviews. Reflective thematic analysis was used. Findings indicate that the teachers enacted a set of principles as their identity as advocates for social justice through situated pedagogical practices: (a) teachers’ reflexivity, (b) shift from a focus‐on‐form teaching approach to critical approaches to language teaching, (c) localisation, (d) social responsibility and action cultivation and (e) synergy between teachers’ and students’ agency. Teacher agency, mobilised through reflection and action, became a driving force and an organising device. Implications for language teacher education for social justice and advocacy are considered.
{"title":"Teachers promoting advocacy through social justice English language education: A collaborative action research study","authors":"Darío Luis Banegas, María Gimena San Martín, Fabiana Sacchi, Melina Porto","doi":"10.1111/modl.70034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70034","url":null,"abstract":"This article reports on a 2‐year collaborative action research project carried out in 2022–2023, which investigated the intersection of social justice and advocacy in English language teaching. The aim was to describe how English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers working at state secondary schools in two Argentinian cities harnessed their agency to mobilise advocacy among their secondary school students. Theoretically grounded in social justice language education, advocacy in language education, and teacher agency, participants were seven in‐service EFL teachers, five pre‐service teachers, and 220 secondary school students, of whom 30 were adult learners. Research instruments comprised open‐ended questionnaires, teaching artefacts, lesson plans, classroom observations and interviews. Reflective thematic analysis was used. Findings indicate that the teachers enacted a set of principles as their identity as advocates for social justice through situated pedagogical practices: (a) teachers’ reflexivity, (b) shift from a focus‐on‐form teaching approach to critical approaches to language teaching, (c) localisation, (d) social responsibility and action cultivation and (e) synergy between teachers’ and students’ agency. Teacher agency, mobilised through reflection and action, became a driving force and an organising device. Implications for language teacher education for social justice and advocacy are considered.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145954984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}