The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher最新文献

Students act according to their beliefs and mindsets. Being aware of such individual differences can help L2 teachers make sound and evidence-based educational decisions. Having said this, the purpose of the current study was to explore the relationship among language mindset, language proficiency, and anxiety through a path analysis in an EFL context at different proficiency levels. The study involved 500 Iranian English learners in six private language institutes. The instruments used were a modified version of the language mindset, foreign language anxiety, and self-reported proficiency. The path-analytic results revealed that the model with the three variables enjoyed a good fit, confirming an interrelationship among L2 language mindset, anxiety, and proficiency. Furthermore, the study also reported a significant relationship between mindset, anxiety, and language proficiency. Negative attitudes towards learning a foreign language, such as fear of negative evaluation, bad experiences in the classroom, and students’ beliefs about their abilities, have a significant association with L2 anxiety. In addition, students with higher levels of proficiency have more positive mindsets and experience less anxiety than their counterparts. We discuss the implications of these findings for EFL learners and teachers.

Theoretical linguistics, particularly within the domain of cognitive linguistic (CL) theories, serves as a comprehensive framework for understanding language interpretation and addressing fundamental questions about its nature. Within the framework of theoretical linguistics, this study focuses on linguistic theories that delve into cognitive processes. Specifically, it explores how CL theories contribute to the development of English language (EL) skills in college students. To achieve this goal, a well-structured questionnaire method was employed to gather insights from 190 college students, and the collected data were analyzed using SPSS. The study adopts a quantitative descriptive research approach with a cross-sectional research design. The chosen methodology involves a questionnaire survey method, specifically utilizing a closed-ended 5-point Likert scale for participant responses. The corpus linguistics-focused curriculum enhances college students’ writing complexity over traditional methods. This research contributes to the field of cognitive linguistics by not only emphasizing its role in EL development but also by addressing the integration of a corpus-based approach in English teaching. The study findings indicate frequent corpus-based language exploration correlates positively with students’ confidence in written and spoken English. Furthermore, the analysis results highlight the effectiveness of integrating CL techniques into EL teaching materials, showcasing improvements in students’ practical language skills and proficiency.

Studies remain controversial concerning how enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom relate to foreign language learning (FLL) achievement. There is an inadequacy of synthesis of factors addressing the debate on emotion correlations in the empirical results. Underpinned by the control-value theory (CVT) of achievement emotions, a meta-analysis is conducted to evaluate the correlation between language achievement and three emotions, namely enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom, as classified within CVT’s three-dimensional taxonomy, and to explore potential moderating factors that could influence the correlation. The researchers examined 34 international studies with 83 effect sizes on the strength of the association between achievement and the three emotions. Then, moderating effects of education level, cultural backgrounds, and instruments, i.e., the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ), the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale (FLES), the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS), and Foreign Language Learning Boredom Scale (FLLBS), were analyzed. Meta-analytic results show that FLL achievement correlates with enjoyment with a medium positive effect and correlates with anxiety and boredom with a medium negative effect. Notably, the association with enjoyment is the strongest, while that with boredom is the weakest. In subgroup analyses, it is found that participants’ cultural backgrounds have a moderating effect on anxiety, and emotion instruments have a moderating effect on enjoyment and anxiety. The findings provide significant implications for emotion research.

Drawing upon Pekrun’s (2006) control–value theory of achievement emotions, the present study explores the relations between online teaching factors (i.e., teachers’ information and communications technology (ICT) competence and provision of structure) and students’ control–value appraisals and achievement emotions (i.e., enjoyment, boredom, and anxiety) in an online foreign language learning context. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 12 international students and 6 teachers who were involved in a Chinese foreign language course delivered online during the coronavirus pandemic. Results from the thematic analysis showed that both students’ and teachers’ positive evaluations of teachers’ ICT competence and provision of structure were associated with students’ increased control beliefs and intrinsic value, but not necessarily with utility value. According to the participants, the two increased appraisals related to students’ greater enjoyment and reduced feelings of boredom and anxiety during the online language learning process. Findings are discussed in light of the role of online teaching factors in shaping students’ appraisals and emotional experiences in online environments, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic.

While empirical investigations of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots for English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners’ language skill development have been receiving considerable attention, a quantitative analysis of its effectiveness and how the pedagogical effects differ under different conditions is still lacking. To bridge the gaps, drawing on the usefulness theoretical framework and the proposed criteria, this study meta-analyzed 21 eligible studies published during 2008–2023 to gain a comprehensive understanding of the overall effect and moderator analyses of AI chatbots for EFL learning. Results indicated that the overall effect was g = 0.648, 95% CI [0.406, 0.891], suggesting that AI chatbots could be effective to facilitate EFL learners’ language skill development. Furthermore, intervention durations and interface designs were found to be significant moderators. Informed by the results obtained, implications for practice were also discussed.