At the turn of the new millennium, in an article published in Language Teaching Research in 2000, Dörnyei and Kormos proposed that ‘active learner engagement is a key concern’ for all instructed language learning. Since then, language engagement research has increased exponentially. In this article, we present a systematic review of 20 years of language engagement research. To ensure robust coverage, we searched 21 major journals on second language acquisition (SLA) and applied linguistics and identified 112 reports satisfying our inclusion criteria. The results of our analysis of these reports highlighted the adoption of heterogeneous methods and conceptual frameworks in the language engagement literature, as well as indicating a need to refine the definitions and operationalizations of engagement in both quantitative and qualitative research. Based on these findings, we attempted to clarify some lingering ambiguity around fundamental definitions, and to more clearly delineate the scope and target of language engagement research. We also discuss future avenues to further advance understanding of the nature, mechanisms, and outcomes resulting from engagement in language learning.

在新千年之交，发表在《语言教学研究》上的一篇文章在2000年，Dörnyei和Kormos提出，对于所有有指导的语言学习，“积极的学习者参与是一个关键问题”。从那时起，语言参与度研究呈指数级增长。在本文中，我们对20年的语言参与研究进行了系统的回顾。为确保覆盖面广，我们搜索了21种有关第二语言习得（SLA）的主要期刊并应用了语言学，并确定了112篇符合纳入标准的报告。我们对这些报告的分析结果突显了语言参与文献中采用了不同的方法和概念框架，并表明有必要在定量和定性研究中完善参与的定义和可操作性。根据这些发现，我们试图澄清一些关于基本定义的挥之不去的歧义，并更清楚地描述语言参与研究的范围和目标。我们还将讨论未来的途径，以进一步加深对参与语言学习的本质，机制和结果的理解。