International Journal of Applied Linguistics最新文献

This study investigated the beliefs of university students at a university in Canada regarding multiculturalism and multicultural society, through examining the metaphors they use to talk about these concepts. We interviewed 50 students about their perceptions and experiences of multiculturalism in Canada and then asked them to explain their choice of metaphors. Many of the metaphors could be grouped under more general metaphor themes, such as a multicultural society is a varied multicomponent piece of art/craft (comprising, e.g., mosaic and tapestry metaphors) and multicultural society is a container to mix things (comprising, e.g., melting pot and salad bowl metaphors). According to the literature, the former theme is compatible with the view that multiculturalism involves integration while preserving diversity, whereas the latter is associated with the notion of assimilation. Canadian students appeared to be more inclined than international students to use the (positive) varied multicomponent piece of art/craft theme relative to the other metaphors in the total data set. The interview data also revealed marked differences among participants as regards their awareness of metaphor but prompting them to reflect on their choice of metaphors often had an awareness-raising effect.

This study used the Vygotskian concept of perezhivanie, an emotionally lived experience, to examine the identities of two Turkish language learners. Learner identity has been researched from social and psychological perspectives; however, the role of emotion and its relationship with cognition has not been sufficiently addressed. As a unit of analysis, Perezhivanie offers a holistic approach to examining learners' identities by considering their emotional and cognitive processes in their learning environments. This study reports on a qualitative case study. Data were obtained from Dodo and Uraz's observations while taking an elective course in Global English and Culture, their multiple reflections written throughout the course, and their interviews. The data analysis revealed ontological instances of perezhivaniya (plural) that stemmed from the two participants' emotionally charged, memorable moments. It revealed how these perezhivaniya formed and transformed their identities throughout their language-learning experience. These results indicate the importance of assisting language learners by introducing them to the new World of Englishes, thus providing new theoretical frameworks that create a fertile environment for identity transformation.

Despite the rigorous efforts made to promote the use of English as a medium of instruction (EMI), EMI teachers still face linguistic and pedagogical challenges in effectively delivering subject content in English. Previous research has revealed that, faced with such challenges, teachers employ various strategies to make subject knowledge accessible to students, including pedagogical translanguaging. However, there is little empirical evidence of how EMI teachers deploy pedagogical translanguaging to facilitate content learning in secondary science classrooms, particularly in countries or regions where English is not widely used outside schools. Against this backdrop, the current study adopts a qualitative approach to examine the pedagogical translanguaging practices of two EMI science teachers, as well as the factors contributing to their practices at an international secondary school in Shanghai, China. The methods used were video-assisted classroom observation and semi-structured interviews. These were subjected to multimodal conversation analysis and thematic analysis, respectively. The findings reveal that teachers’ pedagogical translanguaging practices involve strategically incorporating and orchestrating all multilingual, multimodal, and multisemiotic resources available to facilitate meaning-making and enhance students’ comprehension of subject knowledge. Meanwhile, personal, social, and contextual factors play an important role in shaping teachers’ pedagogical translanguaging practices. This study showcases pedagogical translanguaging as a strategic means to create space for teaching and learning in EMI contexts, and provides useful insights into potential improvements to EMI pedagogy.

The continuation task, which involves reading an unfinished story and completing its ending, offers good potential for language learning. To enhance students' story-ending writing abilities, this study proposes two types of concept mapping strategies: group filling-in-the-blanks of a teacher-constructed guided map and group concept mapping, both of which are meant to help students clarify storylines by visualizing a story onto a concept map. A quasi-experiment was conducted in three classes. Students in Class 1 collaboratively filled in the blanks on a concept map and then wrote completions to three stories. In Class 2, students collaboratively constructed their own concept map and then wrote completions to the same stories. Class 3 students collaboratively wrote completions to the same stories without any concept mapping. Students’ story completions, diaries, responses to questionnaires, the researcher's observation notes, and teacher interviews were collected and analyzed using ANOVAs (Analysis of variance), paired-sample t-tests and thematic and domain analysis. The results showed that concept mapping strategies assisted students’ story-ending writing quality with students achieving higher scores when using the group concept mapping strategy compared to those not using any mapping strategies. Nine interactive patterns were identified, with the collaborative pattern dominating, and these patterns evolved dynamically as the co-continuation tasks proceeded. Overall, both students and teachers perceived the proposed strategies positively.

The present study reports on how peer modelling with collaborative ground rules may contribute to the pair dynamics of one intermediate-level English L2 learner when interacting with peers of the same as well as higher proficiency levels. The study was one-semester long (i.e., nine sessions) and our pair talk data were collected from an intact class where pair members were involved in performing narrative tasks. In this study, we focused on how one intermediate (i.e., core) learner as listener interacted in core-intermediate and core-advanced pairs in the opening talk of narrative tasks across sessions. Each session, adult Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) students narrated their short stories to three different interlocutors and also listened to three short stories of their classmates while recording their voices. On the fifth session, students viewed a staged peer modelling demonstration with built-in collaborative ground rules. The peer modelling was intended to demonstrate to the learners how best to perform the task to their mutual benefit. We transcribed pair talk data from the focused pairs and analysed them for instances of changes in pair dynamics and quantity of collaborative features based on Storch's framework. The results indicated that both core-intermediate and core-advanced pairs demonstrated more collaborative pair dynamics after the peer modelling session; the core-advanced pairs made greater improvement in terms of instances and number of collaborative features. Trends in our data support peer modelling as one effective pedagogical technique to raise learners’ awareness and to assist them in creating quality learning opportunities in their pair interaction. Our findings are discussed in terms of its implications for the integration of peer modelling in pair work tasks in language learning settings.

This study aimed to compare the English language learning motivation of two cohorts of Chinese primary school learners in a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and a non-CLIL instructional setting. A total of 270 learners from third, fourth and fifth grades in the CLIL programme (N = 184) and the non-CLIL programme (N = 86) participated in this study. Data were collected through a young learners’ L2 motivation questionnaire. Results indicated that CLIL learners overall displayed a significantly higher level of L2 motivation than their non-CLIL counterparts in the Ideal L2 Self domain and L2 Learning Experience. However, students in the non-CLIL programme overall rated themselves higher in the Ought-to L2 Self domain. When comparing L2 motivation levels between CLIL and non-CLIL sub-groups in different grades, we found that the non-CLIL subsamples’ mean motivational scores witnessed a continuous decline with the increase of grade in the scales of Ideal L2 Self, Ought-to L2 Self and Parental Expectations. Regarding Cultural Interest and L2 Learning Experience, CLIL students in both the fourth- and fifth-grade cohorts exhibited a significantly higher level of motivation than their non-CLIL peers. This study provides empirical evidence supporting the implementation of CLIL programme as a potential strategy to boost young learners’ motivation towards L2 learning.

Studies on the effectiveness of the word-writing strategy in vocabulary learning have yielded mixed results. However, this strategy has been widespread among learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). This study examines whether the word-writing strategy is effective and whether learners overestimate its effectiveness. Sixty-eight Japanese EFL learners acquired new English words through either a writing or a nonwriting condition. Immediately following the learning phase in each condition, the Behavioral Engagement Scale, the State Engagement Scale, and the global judgments of learning (global JOLs) were administered. A multiple-choice test for form and a productive test for meaning were administered at the end. The results showed no significant differences between the conditions in terms of learning outcomes. However, the writing condition outperformed the nonwriting condition on two engagement measures and the global JOL for form retention. These results suggest that the word-writing strategy has no effect on learning outcomes, but increases the sense of engagement during learning and misleads students into overestimating learning outcomes. EFL teachers should educate their students about the limits of this technique and recommend more effective learning strategies.

Under the premise that revitalization can be attained through multi-, inter-, or transdisciplinary fields, this article posits that teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) can aid in revitalizing the Aymara, an indigenous community in Northern Chile, to avoid their cultural and linguistic extinction. This qualitative study explored how EFL teachers’ practices can contribute to revitalizing the Aymara culture and language in schools located in Northern Chile. Ten teachers participated in individual semi-structured online synchronous interviews and a group interview. The findings revealed two types of practices: (a) non-intercultural teaching practices that were mediated by personal, educational, and institutional factors, and (b) approximations of intercultural teaching practices where the teachers valued and included Aymara culture, yet they did not generate spaces for intercultural dialog in the classrooms. The study concludes that the approximations of intercultural teaching practices contribute to an initial stage in revitalizing indigenous languages and culture, an implication that should be considered valuable in teacher education programs and the EFL classroom.