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This study investigates the perception-practice gap among English teachers in China concerning the integration of social media into teaching, blending the Language Teacher Cognition (LTC) framework with the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model. A mixed methods approach, including the adoption of online questionnaires, instructional documents and semi-structured interviews was utilised to investigate these research questions from different perspectives. We collected 119 valid questionnaires. From these, we selected seven volunteers—those who provided their contact information and represented a range of demographic profiles—for further study. Seven instructional documents were gathered from these volunteers. Subsequently, follow-up interviews were conducted with these selected participants to gain deeper insights into their experiences and perspectives. The study revealed a significant discrepancy between moderately high perceptions and relatively low practices. This dynamic and bi-directional gap is influenced by microscopic factors like schooling and affective issues, as well as macroscopic factors such as institutional and societal influences. These factors constitute a layered system. The findings illuminate the complexities underlying the perception-practice gap in English teaching with social media integration, offering theoretical, methodological, and practical implications.

This study, involving 100 Kazakhstani secondary school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers selected through convenience sampling, aims to explore their attitudes towards incorporating learners' first language (L1) and translation in English teaching. The results of a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire unveil a mixed attitude among teachers. They acknowledge the efficacy of integrating L1 and translation as pedagogical tools in language teaching while strongly favouring English-only instruction. This preference is influenced by institutional factors such as curricula, the opinions of colleagues, and textbooks, all of which actively promote English-only instruction. Additionally, the analysis of contextual variables, such as teaching experience, academic level, school type, class size, and language proficiency, suggests that the extent of L1 and translation use also depends on teachers' and learners' English language proficiency, school type, and class size. This research provides empirical insights into the use of L1 and translation in EFL classrooms and contributes to the broader discourse on language pedagogy and translation in language teaching (TILT). The findings suggest important implications for teachers, school administrators, textbook writers, and researchers, calling for a critical re-evaluation of current educational policies and tasks in English textbooks.

Despite the crucial role of teachers in connecting research to classroom practices, very little is known about the processes of research-informed practice through their reading, doing, and use of research. Also largely unknown is how the potential interconnections among these activities could influence teachers’ evaluations of research relevance and sustainability of their research-informed practice. This study, therefore, explores trajectories of teachers in adopting research-informed practice. Relying on an ecological theoretical lens through a narrative case study approach, we collected data from three in-service EFL teachers using in-depth individual interviews, multiple follow-ups, teacher-generated research logs, and researcher-made analytic memos. Data analysis revealed specific starting conditions (e.g., subject-matter explorations) for development of rudimentary familiarity, turning moments (e.g., developmental thresholds) giving rise to more sophisticated reception, and bottlenecks (e.g., disciplinary identity) for sustained involvement in research-informed-practice for teachers. Furthermore, on top of cyclical links among reading, doing, and use of research, we found perceived signature patterns of reading (i.e., empirical papers), doing (i.e., action research), or use (i.e., successful classroom application) for each teacher, as evidence for threshold crossing. Implications for theory and research, professional development, and policymaking, including key prerequisites that must be provisioned to prepare teachers for research-informed practice, are discussed.

Achievement goals (AGs) have been argued to influence general learning processes and outcomes, while their roles in L2 learning remain underexplored. This study, consisting of two sub-studies, aims to examine how different types of AGs (mastery-approach goals, performance-approach goals, mastery-avoidance goals, and performance-avoidance goals) contribute to overall and skill- (knowledge-)¹ specific L2 achievement (curriculum-based course exam scores) and proficiency (Cambridge English proficiency test scores) using cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches. Participants of both sub-studies were 1,355 adolescent EFL learners from a junior high school in rural China. In Sub-study 1, the students participated in a questionnaire survey, an end-term English exam, and a Cambridge English proficiency test. Path analysis results showed that different AGs predicted overall and skill-specific L2 achievement and proficiency with variations. In Sub-study 2, the same participants completed three waves of questionnaire surveys and end-term exams spanned over three 6-month semesters. Cross-lagged panel modelling results indicated that AGs positively influenced subsequent achievement, but the effects were unstable; achievement positively and stably influenced subsequent AGs. Our findings provide implications for L2 teachers to help their students set goals to close their achievement gap and reach their full L2 potential.

This study investigates the effects of biological age and intensive exposure on L2 learning in an International School context as regards variability in learning rate and L2 development among pre- versus mid-adolescent learners. Longitudinal data collection at three time-points over one year involved semi-guided interviews and written productions among 28 L1-French learners of English in two age groups, either 11 years or 15 years of age. The data were investigated using quantitative measures of accuracy, fluency and holistic proficiency, and analysed with robust repeated measures ANOVAs and ANCOVAs. The findings suggest that the one-year intensive experience of English learning in the International School promoted significant gains in accuracy and holistic proficiency, but only one aspect of fluency, i.e., speech rate. When initial proficiency as Time 1 performance was controlled, the 15-year-old learners performed better than their younger peers only in written proficiency, while the 11-year-olds showed a faster learning rate in some aspects of oral accuracy and fluency. However, initial proficiency eclipsed age and exposure effects on L2 proficiency development during the one-year intensive experience. These results suggest that, for the introduction of short intensive programs in instructed contexts, learners’ initial proficiency and biological age should be considered.

This study investigates the role of self-compassion in fostering work engagement among English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers, employing a serial mediation model that incorporates mindfulness and emotion regulation as potential mediating variables. Utilizing a cross-sectional design, the researchers examined self-reported data from 322 EFL teachers in Iran. Participants were recruited using a convenience sampling strategy, reaching out to directors of private language institutes across various districts who then distributed the survey to their teachers. Standardized measures were used to assess self-compassion, dispositional mindfulness, and emotion regulation strategies. The findings provide robust support for the hypothesized model, revealing a significant positive association between self-compassion and work engagement, partially mediated by both mindfulness and emotion regulation. These results suggest that cultivating self-compassion among EFL teachers may be a valuable strategy to enhance their overall well-being and promote a more engaged and fulfilling work experience. The study contributes to the advancement of knowledge regarding teacher well-being and offers practical implications for the development of interventions targeting self-compassion, mindfulness, and emotion regulation within educational settings.

Reading self-efficacy plays a key role in motivating students to engage in reading-to-learn activities as an active agent in the learning process. Given a continued interest in reading self-efficacy among educators and researchers for decades, surprisingly little systematic review of the research on reading self-efficacy has been conducted in the second or foreign language (SL/FL) context. In this article, a systematic review of 52 empirical studies on SL/FL reading self-efficacy was conducted to inform future research. Analysis shows a rich array of theoretical perspectives the reviewed studies drew on, and quantitative research methods were predominantly used. The foci of the reviewed studies include: 1) correlates of SL/FL reading self-efficacy; 2) impact of interventions on SL/FL reading self-efficacy; 3) contextual factors influencing SL/FL reading self-efficacy; and 4) measurement of SL/FL reading self-efficacy. Findings suggest that SL/FL reading self-efficacy instruments need to be multidimensional to reflect diverse types of task demands involved in the SL/FL reading processes, and that more studies with experimental and longitudinal designs are required to track trajectories of change in reading self-efficacy among SL/FL learners.

The role of students' emotions in their academic performance has been widely endorsed in the literature after the rise of positive psychology. However, the scholarly context of English for academic purposes (EAP) has limitedly inspected the status of students' emotions while learning English. One such emotion is oral communication apprehension (OCA), which is a widespread pitfall among EAP students. However, the causing factors and coping strategies of OCA across cultural contexts have been overlooked, to date. To fill this gap, this mixed-methods study scrutinized the level of OCA, leading factors, and coping strategies among 1618 Chinese and Iranian EAP students via questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The results of the measurement invariance test and independent samples t-test revealed a significant difference between Chinese and Iranian EAP students’ OCA with Chinese participants having a higher OCA. Furthermore, the results of descriptive statistics and thematic analysis demonstrated that Chinese and Iranian EAP students had analogous perceptions regarding the causes and solutions of OCA. They enumerated several instructional and psychological factors that generated OCA and proposed similar coping strategies to curb it. The study provides some practical implications for EAP teachers, students, and teacher trainers, who can realize the criticality of emotions in EAP.

This study investigated the impact of different semantic tasks (pleasantness-rating and translation reading-aloud) and structural tasks (letter-counting and word-copying) on Chinese-speaking children's learning of English words. Participants' memory of first language (L1) counterparts for second language (L2) words and learning of L2 word phonology and phonology-meaning mapping were respectively assessed via the L1 free recall, L2 free recall, and picture-cued L2 recall tests. Logistic mixed-effects regression modeling yielded the following findings. First, pleasantness-rating and letter-counting had minimal impact on the acquisition of L2 word knowledge, except that letter-counting significantly facilitated the recall of L2 word phonology. Second, translation reading-aloud and word-copying positively influenced L2 word acquisition, although the former did not significantly affect phonology learning. Third, translation reading-aloud outperformed pleasantness-rating when it came to recalling L1 counterparts and learning L2 word phonology and phonology-meaning mapping, and word-copying was more effective than letter-counting in the learning of L2 word phonology and phonology-meaning mapping. These findings partially support the transfer appropriate processing (TAP) framework and confirm the predictions of the processing-resource allocation (TOPRA) model, although some divergent results—most likely attributable to methodological difference—were observed. Additionally, these results offer valuable instructional implications.