Research suggests that individual differences in additional language learning may play a more important role in taxing situations when learners are confronted with unfamiliar or difficult tasks. However, studies to date have mostly focused on second language (L2) learners/bilinguals, while individual differences within multilingual populations…

English medium instruction (EMI) is widespread in European universities. In most such contexts, students and teachers are able to communicate in at least one other language, generally the shared L1. Recent studies in English-speaking countries and postcolonial settings have suggested that attitudes towards L1 use in EMI are changing, and that…

Current scholarship on translingual pedagogies focus on writer's translingual strategies and practices. While scholarship explores translingual assessment practices, there is limited quantitative research on how we can measure students' translingual dispositions. This article examines factor structure of a Translingual Disposition Questionnaire to…

This study describes how oral language was assessed in an advanced-level college foreign language (FL) conversation course. Learners used the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Proficiency Guidelines to guide self-analyses of their oral production at intervals throughout the course. The intent was to provide opportunities for…

The role of metalinguistic knowledge of language and knowledge of technical terms (i.e. metalingual knowledge) in second language (L2) learning and use is a matter of controversy in the field of Second Language Acquisition. This paper examines the development of these two types of knowledge in adult university-level learners of L2 Spanish, and…

This narrative interview study of a Spanish learner documents and explains apparent contradictions in a student's story when reporting on why she continues to take Spanish even when she does not like it or perform well in foreign language courses. A dialectical approach to human activity based on sociocultural theory is used to make sense of her…

This study investigates learners' knowledge of word classes (i.e. noun, verb, adjective) in their second language (L2). Although some L2 studies have examined the problem of word class indirectly through a focus on vocabulary and the teaching of derivational morphology (Morin, 2003, 2006; Schmitt & Zimmerman, 2002), little is known about learners'…

L2 prepositions are traditionally taught in a non-explanatory manner by having students learn each use individually. This study examines the effectiveness of an alternative explanatory approach based on cognitive linguistics, which considers the multiple uses of a preposition as related. Consequently, learners can be shown a general schema that…

This study was designed to identify strategies used during intentional vocabulary learning and to assess the relationship between strategy use and vocabulary learning performance. English-speaking students of Spanish studied new Spanish words while viewing word-picture pairs. The participants then completed posttests and answered questions about…

This paper analyses how two multicompetent speakers engage with protocolling, i.e. verbalising their thoughts, while writing in two languages different from their first. The study explores how procedure- and language-related episodes of awareness affect both the writing process itself and the written product. The research draws on current issues…

This paper investigates the development of L2 Spanish students' cultural awareness through the teaching of literature by the application of the method Focus-on-Cultural Understanding. The paper partially reports on a one-semester study in which 17 intermediate L2 Spanish students at a state university in Midwestern US were exposed to a variety of…

Emphasizes the goal-directedness of activity in relation to the intentionality of those involved, both individually and collectively, and with regard to sociohistorical and sociocultural contexts. Adapts and applies previous research to investigate the retention of new second language vocabulary. The study was carried out in a third semester…

This study examined 29 second-year undergraduate students of Spanish using a self-access learning environment for the first time, focusing on their language attitudes and learning strategies. The results show that, even as modern languages majors, the students possessed a model of language and strategies for learning that were significantly…

Compares some of the writing behaviors present in the think-aloud protocols of three male Spanish university students while writing in Catalan, their native language, and in Spanish and English. Analysis of the subjects' composing behaviors based on think-aloud protocols shows that their planning and other strategies are consistent across the…

Based on the premise that teachers gain useful insights by considering what students notice when evaluating a written text, this pilot project reports on the implementation of an evaluative activity with one group of students and considers the implications of the results for classroom practice. Thirteen students in a university-level Spanish…