Language Teaching Research

The accurate identification of likely segmental pronunciation errors produced by nonnative speakers of English is a longstanding goal in pronunciation teaching. Most lists of pronunciation errors for speakers of a particular first language (L1) are based on the experience of expert linguists or teachers of English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL). Such lists are useful, but they are also subject to blind spots for less noticeable errors while suggesting that other more noticeable errors are more important. This exploratory study tested whether using a database of read sentences would reveal recurrent errors that had been overlooked by expert opinions. We did a systematic error analysis of advanced L1 Arabic learners of English (n = 4) using L2 Arctic, a publicly available collection of 1,132 phonetically-balanced English sentences read aloud by 24 speakers of six language backgrounds. To test whether the database was useful for pronunciation error identification, we analysed Arabic speakers’ sentence readings (n = 599), which were annotated in Praat for pronunciation deviations from General American English. The findings give an empirically supported description of persistent pronunciation errors for Arabic learners of English. Although necessarily limited in scope, the study demonstrates how similar datasets can be used regardless of the L1 being investigated. The discussion of errors in pronunciation in terms of their functional loads (Brown, 1988) suggests which persistent errors are likely to be important for classroom attention, helping teachers focus their limited classroom time for optimal learning.

The regulation of language learners’ emotions by affective, or emotion-regulation strategies has received limited research attention. This gap is being filled among others by researchers who have developed and are applying a new research tool called Managing Your Emotions for Language Learning (MYE). It is based on the vignette methodology to investigate both positive and negative language learner emotions, emotion-regulation strategies that language learners employ, and language teachers’ interpersonal learner-directed emotion-regulation strategies used in a range of familiar language learning situations. In this study teachers’ interpersonal emotion-regulation strategies and their learner- and teacher-perceived effectiveness were investigated by means of MYE (n = 64: English-major learners) and semi-structured interviews with learners (n = 16) and teachers (n = 9). The results revealed a rich context- and participant-dependent list of language teachers’ interpersonal emotion-regulation strategies, the frequency of which was perceived differently by language learners and teachers, who, however, agreed on their good effectiveness. The strategies belonging to the categories of ‘cognitive change’, ‘situation modification’ and ‘competence enhancement’ were used the most often, but some gaps in teachers’ strategic repertoires were also identified. Pedagogy-wise, MYE seemed to be suitable for closing the gap between learners’ and teachers’ perspectives on teachers’ learner-directed emotion-regulation strategy use. Teachers and their pedagogical practice would benefit from training in the area of emotion-regulation strategies and support of educational authorities.

Recently, there has been a shift in the perception of tasks. Tasks are no longer viewed as ‘one-off’ activities, and the importance of studying the role of task repetition has been increasingly addressed (Bygate, 2018). However, the way task repetition effects are mediated by other instructional conditions such as corrective feedback has not been widely researched. The current study examined the effects of task repetition and indirect synchronous written corrective feedback (WCF) during collaborative writing on the quality of students’ written task performance and the learning of Korean grammar. Fifty-four Korean as a foreign language learners completed a pretest, two collaborative writing tasks, and two posttests over 10 weeks. Their task performance was analysed in terms of complexity, accuracy and fluency, and the pretest and posttest results were scored for both suppliance and accuracy of the production of target grammatical features. The findings showed that task repetition improved writing fluency, and while synchronous WCF negatively impacted fluency during collaborative writing, it facilitated accuracy in students’ writing. In terms of the learning of target grammatical features, no significant benefit of synchronous WCF was found.

Recent research on the effects of processing instruction (PI) have incorporated online research methods in order to demonstrate that PI has effects on cognitive processing behaviors as well as on accuracy (e.g. Lee & Doherty, 2019a). The present study uses self-paced reading and a moving windows technique to examine the effects of PI on second language (L2) learners’ processing of Spanish active and passive sentences to explore the effects of PI on instructed second language acquisition. One group received PI but the Control group did not. Between group comparisons on passive sentences showed changes in performance for the PI group but not the Control group with the PI group gaining in accuracy and processing speed, specifically faster response times to select the correct picture and faster reading time on passive verb forms. Within group analyses showed changes in the PI group’s performance on all dependent variables at the immediate posttest and a subsequent decline in performance at the delayed posttest (8 weeks later). We discuss the implications of our results and treatment format for classroom and hybridized instruction.

This study aims to explore the impact of oral corrective feedback types on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ willingness to communicate across proficiency levels. It also investigates how EFL learners view different types of feedback in relation to their willingness to communicate. Sixty Iranian EFL learners were tracked in four proficiency levels. Initially, the participants filled in a questionnaire to measure their attitudes to oral CF and their willingness to communicate. Subsequent to the teachers’ employment of explicit correction, recasts, and prompts, the learners’ willingness to communicate was measured anew. A semi-structured interview was also conducted. The results revealed learners’ high preference for prompts. A two-way mixed between-within ANOVA demonstrated a significant effect for both oral corrective feedback and proficiency level on willingness to communicate. Furthermore, elicitative types of feedback were ranked as the most contributory feedback type to L2 willingness to communicate.

A large number of studies have explored grammar instruction through implicit and explicit instructional conditions. The general conclusion drawn from these studies points to the superiority of explicit instruction; however, the claim has been attenuated by a number of reservations raised regarding its generalizability across types of grammatical structures and learners of different characteristics. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the comparative effectiveness of these two types of instructional conditions in acquiring explicit and implicit knowledge of complex and simple linguistic features by participants holding different epistemic beliefs. The results demonstrated a relative advantage for explicit instruction. However, the results also showed that the effectiveness of explicit/implicit instructional conditions varied for the participants. Additionally, the findings provided evidence against the assumption that complex structures are best learned through implicit instructional conditions and simple structures are best taught explicitly. The hypothesis that learners with more sophisticated epistemic beliefs outperform those with more naive epistemic beliefs in learning complex grammatical structures was not borne out by the analyses. Conclusions and suggestions for further research are provided.

The present study employed a mixed methods quasi-experimental design to investigate the effectiveness of applying motivational strategies and mental imagery (i.e. visionary techniques) to facilitate second language (L2) vocabulary learning. Four treatment sessions were integrated into a six-week language course offered to 150 intermediate students in nine classes of English as a foreign language (EFL), which were divided into three groups: motivational group, visionary group and control group. The target language items involved 56 formulaic sequences, and the outcome was assessed by a multiple-choice vocabulary test. The quantitative results were accompanied by qualitative data, aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of the test results. The findings revealed that both motivational strategies and visionary techniques proved effective in increasing the students’ ability to recognize the form of the target sequences, and that the visionary condition was superior to the use of motivational strategies. The benefits of the deeper engagement level associated with mental imagery were corroborated by a delayed posttest. The article concludes with a theoretical discussion of the benefits of visualisation in vocabulary acquisition.

The present study explores the effects of structured input and traditional instruction on the acquisition of English causative passive forms using online measurements (eye-tracking). Previous empirical research investigating the effects of processing instruction through offline measurements (sentence and discourse) has overall shown positive results for this pedagogical intervention. Research investigating the main factor responsible for the effectiveness of processing instruction has confirmed that it is the structured input component that is the causative factor for the positive effects of processing instruction. The main questions of this study are: (1) what are the effects of structured input and traditional instruction on accuracy when measured by an eye-tracking picture selection task? (2) would possible difference in accuracy between structured input and traditional instruction be accompanied by changes in eye-movement patterns? To provide answers to the two questions formulated in this study, one eye-tracking study was carried out. Fifty-two adult learners (aged 19–21 years) participated and were assigned to one of two groups: structured input (n = 26) or traditional instruction (n = 26). Neither instructional groups received explicit information. A pre and post-training design was adopted and the two groups received two different instructional treatments (structured input vs. traditional instruction). Participants were assessed through a picture selection eye-tracking task to measure accuracy and eye-movement patterns while they were processing auditory sentences. Results of the eye-tracking task indicated that the structured input group achieved significantly higher accuracy scores compared to the group receiving traditional instruction. The main findings from the present study reveal that structured input training causes a change in learners’ eye-movement patterns.

This study employs eye-tracking to investigate how first (L1) and second language (L2) glosses affect lexical uptake and reading behaviors in L2 learners of English. The study also explores the relationship between lexical uptake and reading behaviors as a function of gloss type. To investigate this, 81 Korean university students were asked to read a baseline passage with no gloss or the same passage with glosses in the study’s L1 (Korean) or L2 (English). Their eye movements were recorded with an eye tracker as they read, and they were subsequently asked to respond to two vocabulary tests. Analyses of eye-tracking data and vocabulary test scores revealed that the presence or absence of L1 and L2 glosses might produce differences in lexical uptake and dissimilar attentional mechanisms. For instance, the study found that L1 and L2 glosses failed to significantly enhance the acquisition of visual word forms, whereas both types of glosses were significantly effective in consolidating form–meaning associations. Additionally, correlation analyses indicated that the relationship between reading behaviors and lexical acquisition might differ depending on gloss type. Ultimately, our findings provide a more comprehensive picture of L1 and L2 gloss effects, and have significant implications for L2 pedagogy.

Many US K-12 teachers in ethnolinguistically homogenous, rural areas are not adequately prepared to meet the needs of their English language learner (ELL) students. Such educators often lack conceptual understanding of language pedagogy and affective investment in ELLs. The field of language teacher education (LTE) needs research on how to better prepare these teachers to serve ELLs. The teacher educator and lead researcher in this article responded to this need, implementing an LTE pedagogy of embodiment for preservice K-12 teacher-learners. Embodiment refers to ways in which a concept or feeling, related to language pedagogy in this case, is made physically or emotionally tangible. Participants – undergraduates in a TESOL survey course – took part in an embodied ELL lesson, which was rich in tasks that the teacher educator had developed years earlier for her own language learner students. In the context of the university teacher education classroom, teacher-learners participated in this authentic ELL lesson. Data include LTE classroom discourse, focus groups, written reflections, and background questionnaires. Findings reveal that two language learning tasks from the embodied lesson especially enabled teacher-learners’ language pedagogy concept learning. Namely, in a timed reading and video enactment, teacher-learners experienced and reflected on language pedagogy concepts related to task sequencing, collaborative interaction, fluency development, and engagement. The participants performed two distinct roles during the embodied lesson: at some moments, they ‘acted like’ language learners while at others like reflective language educators. These teacher-learners reported increased empathy towards ELLs as a consequence of their participation in the embodied lesson. This research offers insights into LTE pedagogical practices that promote preservice K-12 educators’ learning of language pedagogy concepts and their development of empathy for ELLs. By presenting the notion of an LTE pedagogy of embodiment, we contribute to sociocultural frameworks of learning.