This study aims to investigate the effect that studying abroad may have on pragmatic transfer in requests, refusals, and expressions of gratitude, produced by Japanese learners of English. Twenty-two Japanese college students completed a multimedia elicitation task (MET) before and after studying in the US for one semester, together with twenty-two L1 English speakers and twenty L1 Japanese speakers

EFL preservice teachers ’ research efficacy, as perceived competence to perform tasks in research, is crucial to their research engagement. This autobiographical narrative inquiry investigates the contribution of scaffolded research practice to a female EFL preservice teacher ’ s research efficacy. The data were collected through conversations, notes, journals, and portfolios. The findings suggest

The brain localization debate of lexical tone processing concerns functional hypothesis that lexical tone, owing to its strong linguistic features, is dominant in the left hemisphere, and acoustic hypothesis that all pitch patterns, including lexical tone, are dominant in the right hemisphere due to their acoustic features. Lexical tone as a complex signal contains acoustic components that carry linguistic

Although investigating metaphors in advertising is gaining in popularity, there are still certain unresolved arguments, such as the interaction between elements of different modalities. This study, composed of three behavioral experiments, aims to identify how verbal anchoring (literal anchoring, metaphor anchoring and unrelated anchoring) influences the processing of pictorial metaphors in advertising

The study employed ERP technique to explore whether the affordance derivation can facilitate semantic access in comprehending Chinese puns. ERPs were measured while participants read the pun sentences containing dual meanings and made a judgement about the following probes and statements. The results showed that highly related probes in pun sentences elicited a smaller N400 and a larger LPC than moderately

Alignment effect in language research refers to the social cognition process in which people cooperate, adjust, and adapt to each other in interaction. Through empirical study, this paper explores alignment effect in the continuation task of translation (CTOT) and its possible influence on learning of English as foreign languge (EFL). The study was carried out by means of a CTOT. Participants were

There has been a consensus that vocabulary knowledge has become a major contributor to L2 learners ’ efficient communication and comprehension. Incidental vocabulary acquisition relates to lexical gains as a by-product resulting from accomplishing another activity which is not aimed at learning vocabulary. This article intends to provide a digest of research on incidental vocabulary acquisition over

This study was conducted to explore the individual uses of formulaic sequence (FS) frequency and their effects on complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) in academic writing. Data was collected from the conclusion sections of a self-compiled corpus of 30 L2 master’s theses. Statistical analysis revealed several notable conclusions. 1) Student writers tend to make repetitive use of particular FSs in

Academic writing is social interaction between writer and reader, during which writers can employ discursive and non-discursive features to construct their identities. However, many student writers who are users of English as an additional language (EAL) may find it challenging to construct their identities in academic writing. Properly constructed identity in academic writing can help EAL student

Abstract The paper, based on the concept of FOOTING, makes a multimodal discourse analysis of the relationship between the judge’s discourse and his footing shifts in a criminal courtroom. The results show that in the interaction, multimodal resources in judges’ discourse include conversational features (prolonging keywords, interrupting, repeating, taking turns, etc.), acoustic ones (ascending F0

Abstract Based on concepts of horizon of expectation and indeterminacy in reception theory, this paper reports a comparative analysis of Chang Hen Ge, a narrative poem written by Chinese poet Bai Juyi in the Tang Dynasty, and its English translations by William John Bainbrigge Fletcher, Herbert Allen Giles, Xu Yuanchong as well as Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang. Results are as follows: 1) Xu’s translation

Abstract For years, personal and social voices have been the issue of discussion on voice construction in written discourse (e.g., Elbow, 1999; Flowerdew, 2011; Hyland, 2002, 2010a, 2012b; Mauranen, 2013; Ramanathan & Atkinson, 1999; Tardy, 2005). However, there is a lack of an integrated examination of the dimensions which determine voice construction in writing from personal and social perspectives

Abstract This article traces the evolution of the field of second language acquisition/development (SLA/SLD). It chronicles the evolution in terms of different disciplines and theories that have been influential, beginning with the origin of SLA/SLD in linguistic thinking and expanding its scope of inquiry to psycholinguistics. It has developed further with the disciplines of anthropology and sociology

Abstract Recent research on academic discourse has revealed the intersection of writing and writer identity construction. However, some terms that are being used in writer identity study are sometimes not only interchangeably used without making an explicit connection between them but also used in a way that may cause misunderstanding. The paper is intended to tease out four key terms, namely, stance

Abstract The establishment of Business English (abbreviated as BE hereafter) as an independent discipline for undergraduate education appeals to the higher professionalism of BE teachers’ knowledge structure. This paper introduces the results of a study that, by in-depth semi-structured interviews, investigated the knowledge structure of 18 teachers across three different BE course modules. Data are

Doctor Marta Bogusławska-Tafelska is the series editor of “The Studies in Ecolinguistics” series of linguistic monographs at Cambridge Scholars Publishing. She has authored several significant ecolinguistic monographs, including Towards an Ecology of Language, Communication and the Mind (2013), Towards the Ecology of Human Communication (2015), Ecolinguistics: Communication Processes at the Seam of

Abstract Business English is a newly developed applied discipline quite different from the traditional English discipline, and it requires different qualities for Business English teachers. This paper attempts to explore the specific professional qualities required of Business English teachers and put forward teacher development mechanisms for the purpose of promoting professionalism of Business English

Abstract The present study adopts a quantitative design to explore the effects of pre-designed teachers’ questions as the mediation tool to scaffold the development of students’ critical thinking and their discourse level writing skills in English from a sociocultural perspective. The participants were 39 sophomores from two classes. The results showed that: (1) teachers’ questions targeting specific

Abstract This study aims to explore the relationship among autonomous learning ability, learning burnout and English grades by structural equation modeling. The survey of 481 non-English majors showed that autonomous learning ability, learning burnout and English grades correlated significantly with each other, and the structural equation model of the three variables was stable. This suggests that

Abstract This paper systematically reviews factors related to the use of reading strategies among college-level learners of English as a foreign/second language (EFL/ESL). The author examines empirical studies published from 2000 to 2017 in order to answer two research questions: (a) What factors relate to the college-level EFL/ESL learners’ use of reading strategies? (b) How do these factors relate

Abstract In this paper, we wish to respond to the call for expansion on our knowledge about teacher beliefs (Kubanyiova & Feryok, 2015) and discuss findings of studies on teacher emotions conducted in Brazil with both in-service and pre-service teachers of English. More specifically, we focus 1) on the kinds of emotions these teachers have reported feeling, and 2) on the relationship between beliefs

Abstract Teacher well-being has been shown to play a central role in the quality of teaching and student achievement (Day & Gu, 2009; Klusmann, Kunter, Trautwein, Lüdtke, & Baumert, 2008). However, the teaching profession is currently in crisis as it faces record rates of burnout and attrition (Borman & Dowling, 2008; Hong, 2010; Lovewell, 2012), including stressors specific to the changing nature

Abstract This paper reports an investigation into the relationships between global trait emotional intelligence (Trait EI), as well as the four factors that constitute it (well-being, emotionality, self-control, and sociability), and quantitative data from 513 experienced ESL/EFL teachers from around the world about their love of English, their attitudes towards their students and institution, their

Abstract Few jobs come without irritations, and foreign language instruction comes with its own particular set of frustrations which, when accumulated, can lead to stress and eventual burnout for teachers. One mechanism for reducing such frustrations is that of emotion regulation, the cognitive and behavioral strategies individuals employ to manage the emotions they experience or display. To date,

Abstract A growing number of recent studies in applied linguistics focus on teacher emotions in response to several major shifts within the field, expanding the scope of analyses to include the social and affective dimensions of second language education. This paper aims to expand the discussion on the emotions of non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs) by examining their anxiety from the perspective

Abstract The ethical project of education hinges on the ideal of caring relations between teachers and students, an ideal that entails deep emotional commitments on the part of teachers. Drawing on interview data from a larger study of teachers’ lived experiences in Singapore’s secondary schools, this paper examines the cultural politics of caring as an emotional practice in teaching. The ethic of

Abstract This paper reports a case study that explores elementary learners’ reading anxiety over Chinese as a second language (CSL). Two elementary CSL learners were chosen as research participants. Lived experience descriptions, think-aloud, retrospective interviews, field observations, and research journal writings were used to investigate the sources of elementary CSL learners’ reading anxiety and

Abstract This study investigates word recognition processes and strategies of intermediate learners of Chinese as a Second Language (CSL) in contextual reading settings. Two intermediate CSL learners were chosen as research participants, and think-aloud methods and retrospective interviews were used to collect data. The data were analyzed by using Moustakas’ data analysis procedure, Creswell’s three

Abstract One of the characteristics of good writing is appropriate use of cohesive devices, which many learners often find difficult to do. Although there is a substantial body of research on cohesion in writing, little has been documented on how to teach it to EFL students. The present study was an attempt to address this under-researched issue by taking a terminological approach, as the diverse and

Abstract The experiment presented in this research is targeting a ‘positional’ stage of a ‘modular’ model of speech production originally proposed by Levelt (1989), Bock & Levelt (1994), where selected lemmas are inserted into syntactic frames. Results suggest a difference between L1 and L2 English speakers at the positional stage. While this might suggest that the speech planning process is different

Abstract Chinese as a second language (CSL) policy makers and scholars began to introduce task-based language teaching (TBLT) to CSL teaching more than a decade ago. However, policy innovations or theoretical precepts are not necessarily the blueprints of teachers’ classroom practice. It is assumed that teachers are more likely to accept or apply the new approach if the new philosophy is concordant

Abstract This study relies on a contrastive analysis to underscore the functions of stress as a shift in translation, especially when phonological specifications can have an impact on translation. In the original model of translation shifts proposed by Catford, only segmental linguistic elements are taken into consideration, while the model totally ignores stress as a supra-segmental linguistic element

Abstract Needs analysis as the central force of EAP has received insufficient practice, resulting in dissatisfactory pedagogy. This study proposes a framework of CEAPNA (comprehensive EAP needs analysis), and illustrates how the framework helps to shape learning-centered EAP pedagogy. The CEAPNA survey covered 452 undergraduates and 83 faculty members from science and engineering departments, and was

In my viewpoint comment, I will touch on issues concerning language learning as individual and social construction, the relationship between English as a lingua franca (ELF) and English language teaching (ELT), and pedagogical affordances of online ELF communication. The views discussed are intended to provide a conceptual framework for identifying options and opportunities for further enriching and

Abstract Based on Bhatia’s multi-dimensional analytical framework for discourse analysis, we explore key issues involved in genres construction such as private intention, manipulation of generic value and interdiscursive strategies. Two prefaces and two book reviews by expert linguists were collected and analyzed at great length from both text-internal and text-external perspectives. Meanwhile, four

Abstract The ability to employ the language as a communicational tool often serves as a measure of one’s speaking success in the language learning class. This research sought to investigate the effect of learners’ autonomous textbook selection on the speaking ability of Iranian English as foreign language (EFL) learners. Moreover, finding and analyzing factors considered by the learners in selecting

In this extremely well-organized seminar various aspects of the POA were presented in the morning while in the afternoon a group of invited evaluators discussed the approach. I would like to thank the organizers of the seminar for inviting me to join the panel of evaluators and to congratulate them on what proved an enlightening and rewarding experience. Various points were raised in the afternoon

Abstract Recent calls for promoting students’ critical thinking (CT) abilities leave second language (L2) teachers wondering how to integrate CT into their existing agenda. Framed by Paul and Elder’s (2001) CT model, the study explores how CT could be effectively taught in L2 writing as a way to improve students’ CT skills and L2 writing performance. In this study, an infusion approach was developed

In today’s post-method climate, it is unlikely that any named approach or method will be adopted as a whole in a large variety of contexts. While the Production-Oriented Approach (POA) is no exception, it is based on sound principles, and the activities in iEnglish, a tangible implementation of POA, provide excellent models for pre-service teachers. I discuss here some of the challenges for pre-service

Abstract The present study, using quantitative and qualitative analyses, aimed at delineating the interrelationship between the knowledge of metacognition and the regulation of metacognition, along with the role of learners’ regulatory ability in mediating the effects of task-induced involvement load on word learning. A total of 60 university EFL students were recruited to the study. They first completed

Abstract The scientific literature of humor processing between 2000 and 2016 was reviewed by means of scientometric methods. The clustered and visualized document co-citation network of the humor processing knowledge domain was analyzed in terms of common topics and content of co-cited references. Emerging trends of humor processing were detected through reference citation bursts. The combined dataset

Abstract This paper reports the design, implementation, and outcome of an action research. The research aimed to examine and improve college students’ attitudes towards varieties of World Englishes through a mild intervention in an intercultural communication class. Viewing education as a means to facilitate Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC), of which language attitude was an integral part

Abstract This article reports a study on the impact of L2 Korean on L1 Chinese lexical diversity and grammar in written expressions by Chinese bilinguals proficient in Korean. The statistical analysis showed that the cross-linguistic effects of L2 on L1 were significant although such impact was bidirectional. There were significantly more grammar errors and longer retrieval time committed by the bilingual

Abstract The present paper discusses the tension between tradition and modernity with respect to the teaching of English in Iran. It demonstrates that the second decade of the present century marks a shift, albeit nascent, in a) Iranian teachers and officials’ attitudes towards the content and method of English language teaching in terms of the need for greater interaction in the classroom, and b)

Abstract Based on the Asian Corpus of English (ACE) and the British National English (BNC), I investigated the features of discourse marker (DM) so in English as lingua franca (ELF) by comparing it with its use in native speech. I first calculated the frequency of so in ACE and BNC. Then, taking Buysse’s (2012) meta-functional theory of DM so as framework, I comprehensively analyzed the functions of

Abstract This study aims to investigate the effect of the continuation task (CT) on the acquisition of the Chinese spatial phrase structure (SPS) by learners of various L1 backgrounds learning Chinese as a second language (CSL). Two groups of participants were formed: a continuation group and a reading comprehension group. The former was required to continue in Chinese a text with its ending removed

Abstract This review study was designed to map out the research trends through an intensive text analysis of 1,366 research articles (RAs) of applied linguistics during the past 40 years (from 1976 to 2015). RAs were coded and analyzed by four analysts to identify their content of research, research methods, and statistical procedures. It was found that there has been an increase in the number and

Abstract This paper aims to investigate the effects of recasts and working memory on the acquisition of Korean morphological causatives by advanced Chinese learners of Korean. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups: A experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received intensive recasts during task-based interaction, whereas the control group did not. The effects of recasts

Abstract This study explores word class influence upon L1 and L2 word association. The participants included 26 L1 English speakers and 28 advanced EFL learners who finished an English word association test that involved three types of stimuli: nouns, verbs and adjectives. Response words to the stimuli were classified into paradigmatic, syntagmatic, encyclopedic and form-based categories. Results show

Abstract This is a qualitative study of the types of segmental repair that maintain mutual intelligibility in English-as-a-Lingua-Franca interactions among Chinese and Japanese speakers of English (Jenkins, 2000; Matsumoto 2011; O’Neal 2015a, 2015b, 2015c, 2015d, 2016, in press). Repair refers to a set of practices through which conversation participants stop the ongoing action to attend to actual

Abstract The global spread of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) has implications for practice in English Language Teaching (ELT) classrooms. This paper presents a study on attitudes toward ELF which is crucial to its incorporation because attitudes influence the learning output in ELT. It uses a mixed method approach through a questionnaire survey on attitudes toward ELF, which contains a modified Verbal

Abstract The Interpretation of Chinese relative clauses has become of significant interest in sentence processing research, since some studies found that Chinese comprehension patterns violate the well-known universal subject relatives preference proposed by NAPH theory and proved by cross-linguistic studies. The current study uses the neuropsychological measure of ERP. It supports such a language-specific

Abstract Successful language learning entails two levels of competence: adequate control of the grammatical system of the target language and ability to effectively communicate in pragmatic contexts. Espoused by the mantra of much inculcated communicative orientation in English language teaching and learning, the divination points to pedagogical trends which essentially jettison grammar instruction

Abstract It has been debated whether preference for subject-extracted relative clauses in language processing is a universal rule, with evidence from both first and second language acquisition studies. But very few studies focus on learners of Chinese as a second language. The current research studied Chinese subject/object-extracted relative clauses processing among the learners of Chinese as a second

Abstract This study draws on usage-based approach to language learning and investigates the role of syntactical indeterminacy and token frequency in constructional acquisition, for which reflexive verb constructions were selected as the testing field. Syntactic structures of reflexive verbs are either by reflexive constructions or adjectival passive, which have a polysemous interrelationship within

Abstract Current SLA theories have delivered important language-learning notions. This paper will report the results of a study into 64 high school English teachers’ beliefs about language learning and their instructional practices, with a focus on two of them. A questionnaire was developed on the basis of major tenets of second language learning and administered to the 64 participants. In addition

Abstract This study described the functions of you know and I mean in contexts of academic seminar discussions by ELF speakers. The data used in the study consisted of the multicultural discussions in the corpus of English as a lingua franca in academic settings (ELFA). The approach of conversation analysis (CA) was used together with corpus techniques with the aim to provide quantitative support to

Abstract This paper reports the attempt to apply the functional approach to the translation teaching practice that guides students in their study of Chinese essays and their English translations. The famed modern Chinese essay Beiying and its three English translations were taken for case study from the perspective of Experiential Function in Systemic Functional Linguistics. A process type analysis