{"title":"EDITORS’ NOTE","authors":"Marta Antón","doi":"10.1111/modl.70020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70020","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145575618","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 leverages concept‐based language instruction (C‐BLI) as an innovative pedagogical approach to teaching academic citation practices and broader concepts of intertextuality in academic research writing. Participants were 34 undergraduate students, predominantly multilingual English writers, enrolled in an advanced writing course at a Hispanic‐serving US institution. The 4‐week C‐BLI workshop incorporated visualized conceptual aids to teach author prominence (i.e., integral vs. nonintegral citations) and authorial stance (i.e., reporting verbs). Moving beyond conventional rule‐based instruction, the workshop emphasized applications of concepts in instructor‐led and collaborative settings, verbalization of evolving understandings, and one‐on‐one interactions with the instructor. Data include students’ research papers before and after the intervention (with student revision rationales), instructor‐led text protocol conferences, in‐class activity data (e.g., concept identification, text analysis, and concept visualization), and written reflections. Students reported increased confidence and intentionality with target concepts, and changes in writing include a sharp increase in reporting‐verb types, more dynamic use of integral and nonintegral citation structures, and lower reliance on direct quotations. Case studies highlight evolving conceptual understandings of target concepts, growing awareness of intertextuality as a social practice, and increased ability to articulate writing decisions. This study highlights the potential of C‐BLI in fostering students’ engagement with citation as a rhetorical and agentive practice, addressing persistent challenges faced by student writers.
{"title":"“I dunno, as long as it proves my point”: A concept‐based approach to teaching citation and intertextuality to emerging writers","authors":"Yiran Xu, J. Elliott Casal","doi":"10.1111/modl.70010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70010","url":null,"abstract":"This study leverages concept‐based language instruction (C‐BLI) as an innovative pedagogical approach to teaching academic citation practices and broader concepts of intertextuality in academic research writing. Participants were 34 undergraduate students, predominantly multilingual English writers, enrolled in an advanced writing course at a Hispanic‐serving US institution. The 4‐week C‐BLI workshop incorporated visualized conceptual aids to teach author prominence (i.e., integral vs. nonintegral citations) and authorial stance (i.e., reporting verbs). Moving beyond conventional rule‐based instruction, the workshop emphasized applications of concepts in instructor‐led and collaborative settings, verbalization of evolving understandings, and one‐on‐one interactions with the instructor. Data include students’ research papers before and after the intervention (with student revision rationales), instructor‐led text protocol conferences, in‐class activity data (e.g., concept identification, text analysis, and concept visualization), and written reflections. Students reported increased confidence and intentionality with target concepts, and changes in writing include a sharp increase in reporting‐verb types, more dynamic use of integral and nonintegral citation structures, and lower reliance on direct quotations. Case studies highlight evolving conceptual understandings of target concepts, growing awareness of intertextuality as a social practice, and increased ability to articulate writing decisions. This study highlights the potential of C‐BLI in fostering students’ engagement with citation as a rhetorical and agentive practice, addressing persistent challenges faced by student writers.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145575699","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}
Laura Hamman‐Ortiz, Luis Poza, Deborah Palmer, Zhongfeng Tian, Caitie Dougherty
Translanguaging theory posits that bi/multilingual students have unitary, dynamic repertoires of communicative features and seeks to subvert monolingual norms and language standardization that perpetuate the marginalization of bi/multilingual learners. Yet, some argue that translanguaging research in education fails to live up to its transformative claims. Motivated by these ongoing debates, we conducted a systematic literature review of translanguaging research in US education spaces to explore if, how, and for whom translanguaging is transformative. Based on this analysis, we propose that the transformativeness of translanguaging in educational contexts exists along a spectrum: from recognition and inclusion (e.g., affirming students’ bi/multilingualism) to deconstruction and innovation (e.g., validating language “mixing” as legitimate bi/multilingual practice) to, finally, social critique and action (e.g., engaging in explicit justice‐oriented critique and action to challenge inequitable conditions). We contend that all of these categories denote transformation or transformative potential, albeit to varying scales and degrees. At the same time, given the relatively limited number of articles coded social critique and action, we call for more translanguaging‐in‐education research that embraces this more explicitly justice‐oriented praxis.
{"title":"Conceptualizing the transformativeness of translanguaging: A spectrum perspective","authors":"Laura Hamman‐Ortiz, Luis Poza, Deborah Palmer, Zhongfeng Tian, Caitie Dougherty","doi":"10.1111/modl.70011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70011","url":null,"abstract":"Translanguaging theory posits that bi/multilingual students have unitary, dynamic repertoires of communicative features and seeks to subvert monolingual norms and language standardization that perpetuate the marginalization of bi/multilingual learners. Yet, some argue that translanguaging research in education fails to live up to its transformative claims. Motivated by these ongoing debates, we conducted a systematic literature review of translanguaging research in US education spaces to explore if, how, and for whom translanguaging is transformative. Based on this analysis, we propose that the transformativeness of translanguaging in educational contexts exists along a spectrum: from recognition and inclusion (e.g., affirming students’ bi/multilingualism) to deconstruction and innovation (e.g., validating language “mixing” as legitimate bi/multilingual practice) to, finally, social critique and action (e.g., engaging in explicit justice‐oriented critique and action to challenge inequitable conditions). We contend that all of these categories denote transformation or transformative potential, albeit to varying scales and degrees. At the same time, given the relatively limited number of articles coded social critique and action, we call for more translanguaging‐in‐education research that embraces this more explicitly justice‐oriented praxis.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145545411","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}
James P. Lantolf, Matthew E. Poehner, Jacob Rieker
{"title":"Crisis! Commentary on “synergies” in second language acquisition and teaching (SLA/T) and how the field may advance","authors":"James P. Lantolf, Matthew E. Poehner, Jacob Rieker","doi":"10.1111/modl.70014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70014","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145485670","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}
Javier Muñoz‐Basols, Elisa Gironzetti, Sal Consoli
Engagement with research has long been recognized as a key driver of improved language teaching practices and teachers’ professional growth. Yet, language teaching practitioners often remain distanced from research activities, thus perpetuating a well‐documented gap between research and practice. While much of the existing scholarship has centered on English language teaching, this study shifts the focus on the rapidly growing field of Spanish language teaching (SLT). Drawing on data from 738 SLT professionals in Spain and the United States, we explore their research engagement and demographic profiles through the lens of communities of practice. Furthermore, we argue that combining these demographic insights with the concept of life capital—the accumulated wealth of one's personal and professional experiences—may uncover the human dimensions that shape a community of practice, thereby opening new avenues for promoting deeper research engagement. Finally, and equally important, by broadening the conversation to include languages other than English and adopting a comparative perspective, this study reveals overlooked factors that shape the research–practice divide, ultimately offering fresh insights and targeted initiatives to reconcile this longstanding research–practice gap.
{"title":"The demographic landscape of Spanish language teaching research: A cross‐national study","authors":"Javier Muñoz‐Basols, Elisa Gironzetti, Sal Consoli","doi":"10.1111/modl.70006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70006","url":null,"abstract":"Engagement with research has long been recognized as a key driver of improved language teaching practices and teachers’ professional growth. Yet, language teaching practitioners often remain distanced from research activities, thus perpetuating a well‐documented gap between research and practice. While much of the existing scholarship has centered on English language teaching, this study shifts the focus on the rapidly growing field of Spanish language teaching (SLT). Drawing on data from 738 SLT professionals in Spain and the United States, we explore their research engagement and demographic profiles through the lens of communities of practice. Furthermore, we argue that combining these demographic insights with the concept of life capital—the accumulated wealth of one's personal and professional experiences—may uncover the human dimensions that shape a community of practice, thereby opening new avenues for promoting deeper research engagement. Finally, and equally important, by broadening the conversation to include languages other than English and adopting a comparative perspective, this study reveals overlooked factors that shape the research–practice divide, ultimately offering fresh insights and targeted initiatives to reconcile this longstanding research–practice gap.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145485599","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 investigated linguistic laypersons’ use of nonverbal behavior when formulating judgments of second language (L2) ability. Eighty‐three first language (L1) English‐speaking participants watched and rated samples of L2 English speakers on language and affective dimensions. Twenty of the participants later took part in stimulated verbal recall sessions that elicited their decision‐making processes while rating the videos. An analysis of the sessions revealed that while participants largely commented on language, test interaction, and affect, 11% of their attentional focus was on nonverbal behavior. A breakdown of the comments showed that participants focused most of their attention on eye gaze, mouth behaviors, and paralinguistic cues. A thematic analysis of the dataset showed that participants used nonverbal behavior largely to interpret the speakers’ affect, which was an important heuristic in interpreting the speakers’ language proficiency. The speakers’ adaptability to breakdowns moderated the impact of comprehension breakdowns, while approachability played a role in comprehensibility. Assuredness, through confidence and low anxiety, was closely intertwined with overall language ability ratings without a clear causal role. Overall, nonverbal behavior and affect played an important, though often indirect, role in the perception of L2 ability.
{"title":"The interplay of nonverbal behavior, affect, and language in perceptions of second language ability","authors":"J. Dylan Burton","doi":"10.1111/modl.70012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70012","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigated linguistic laypersons’ use of nonverbal behavior when formulating judgments of second language (L2) ability. Eighty‐three first language (L1) English‐speaking participants watched and rated samples of L2 English speakers on language and affective dimensions. Twenty of the participants later took part in stimulated verbal recall sessions that elicited their decision‐making processes while rating the videos. An analysis of the sessions revealed that while participants largely commented on language, test interaction, and affect, 11% of their attentional focus was on nonverbal behavior. A breakdown of the comments showed that participants focused most of their attention on eye gaze, mouth behaviors, and paralinguistic cues. A thematic analysis of the dataset showed that participants used nonverbal behavior largely to interpret the speakers’ affect, which was an important heuristic in interpreting the speakers’ language proficiency. The speakers’ adaptability to breakdowns moderated the impact of comprehension breakdowns, while approachability played a role in comprehensibility. Assuredness, through confidence and low anxiety, was closely intertwined with overall language ability ratings without a clear causal role. Overall, nonverbal behavior and affect played an important, though often indirect, role in the perception of L2 ability.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145485629","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":"From the Editor: In recognition and with appreciation","authors":"","doi":"10.1111/modl.70015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70015","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145472908","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}
Input‐based tasks have shown promising outcomes for teaching concrete notions (i.e., vocabulary items and number marking) to beginner students in varied educational contexts, including with second language (L2) adults with little to no schooling experience. However, neither the teaching of more abstract notions nor the learning outcomes generated by such an intervention with this specific population of learners has yet been documented. We thus conducted a study targeting the expression of temporality in an intact L2 French language and literacy classroom ( N = 18), using input‐based tasks that required participants to process three‐frame picture stories representing the same action unfolding in time. The students who volunteered ( n = 6) were tested before and after the intervention on a receptive and a productive task. Results show not only that participants performed better after the intervention on both measures but also that their production of temporality moved from a picture‐by‐picture description to a more coherent description expressed through different means (lexical, morphological, etc.). The results of this study can benefit both researchers and practitioners focused on adult language and literacy learners, for whom evidence‐based research is scarce, but also to L2 researchers, who are encouraged to expand research beyond the traditional Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) populations.
{"title":"The use of input‐based tasks to initiate adult learners to the expression of temporality in French literacy and language instruction","authors":"Véronique Fortier, Suzie Beaulieu","doi":"10.1111/modl.70009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70009","url":null,"abstract":"Input‐based tasks have shown promising outcomes for teaching concrete notions (i.e., vocabulary items and number marking) to beginner students in varied educational contexts, including with second language (L2) adults with little to no schooling experience. However, neither the teaching of more abstract notions nor the learning outcomes generated by such an intervention with this specific population of learners has yet been documented. We thus conducted a study targeting the expression of temporality in an intact L2 French language and literacy classroom ( <jats:italic>N</jats:italic> = 18), using input‐based tasks that required participants to process three‐frame picture stories representing the same action unfolding in time. The students who volunteered ( <jats:italic>n </jats:italic> = 6) were tested before and after the intervention on a receptive and a productive task. Results show not only that participants performed better after the intervention on both measures but also that their production of temporality moved from a picture‐by‐picture description to a more coherent description expressed through different means (lexical, morphological, etc.). The results of this study can benefit both researchers and practitioners focused on adult language and literacy learners, for whom evidence‐based research is scarce, but also to L2 researchers, who are encouraged to expand research beyond the traditional Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) populations.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145472909","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}
Collocation‐focused exercises in language courses often require students to choose the right words from a given set of candidates to reassemble broken‐up collocations. Other exercises invite the students themselves to supply the missing words to complete collocations. One would expect exercises to serve the purpose of retrieval practice after students are first exposed to the collocations, but textbook analyses have revealed that they are also used in a spirit of trial and error. Collocation exercises thus show variation in format and in implementation, the combinations of which may yield different learning outcomes. The present study applied a 2 × 2 counterbalanced within‐participant design, where 56 ESL learners (international students enrolled in a TESOL program) tackled multiple‐choice or gap‐fill exercises on 32 verb–noun collocations (e.g., “catch fire”), half of which they had first been given a chance to study. This initial exercise was followed in the same session by a practice test to remind the participants of the correct collocations. One week later, they sat a delayed posttest. The gap‐fill format implemented as retrieval practice produced the best learning outcomes whereas the multiple‐choice format implemented in a trial‐and‐error fashion produced the poorest, despite feedback on both the initial exercise and the practice test. Despite its poorer effectiveness, one third of the participants expressed a preference for the multiple‐choice format in retrospective interviews.
{"title":"Formats and implementations of exercises for collocation learning: Learning outcomes and students’ beliefs","authors":"Alyssa Mengxue Li, Frank Boers","doi":"10.1111/modl.70007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70007","url":null,"abstract":"Collocation‐focused exercises in language courses often require students to choose the right words from a given set of candidates to reassemble broken‐up collocations. Other exercises invite the students themselves to supply the missing words to complete collocations. One would expect exercises to serve the purpose of retrieval practice after students are first exposed to the collocations, but textbook analyses have revealed that they are also used in a spirit of trial and error. Collocation exercises thus show variation in format and in implementation, the combinations of which may yield different learning outcomes. The present study applied a 2 × 2 counterbalanced within‐participant design, where 56 ESL learners (international students enrolled in a TESOL program) tackled multiple‐choice or gap‐fill exercises on 32 verb–noun collocations (e.g., “catch fire”), half of which they had first been given a chance to study. This initial exercise was followed in the same session by a practice test to remind the participants of the correct collocations. One week later, they sat a delayed posttest. The gap‐fill format implemented as retrieval practice produced the best learning outcomes whereas the multiple‐choice format implemented in a trial‐and‐error fashion produced the poorest, despite feedback on both the initial exercise and the practice test. Despite its poorer effectiveness, one third of the participants expressed a preference for the multiple‐choice format in retrospective interviews.","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"78 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145424239","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":"Congratulations to the NFMLTA/ MLJ Award and Grant Recipients","authors":"","doi":"10.1111/modl.70013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70013","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42049,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF THE MIDWEST MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145396782","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}
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