This paper presents the findings from a study that examines the motivations of adult Australians of non-Italian origin to learn Italian in continuing education contexts in Sydney. The study embraces a view of motivation as a multifaceted phenomenon that is produced in a social environment through the interaction between the second language…

Studies on critical thinking (CT) in education have been of paramount importance in recent decades to help individuals develop skills such as analyzing, synthesizing, higher-order thinking, and assessing. In line with such studies, this study aims to examine aspects of critical thinking dispositions of Turkish adult learners of English in a…

In this qualitative study, researchers focused on providing explicit knowledge of personality traits via the Enneagram profile to a group of 10 adult advanced students of English for speakers of other languages. Through the Enneagram and two surveys, researchers gained insight into how students perceived the influence of their personality type on…

This article reports on one teacher's journey, Nan's, as she struggled to provide appropriate instruction to low-literate day laborers in an English as a second language (ESL) class for adult learners. In her efforts to do so, Nan became inspired to implement alternative pedagogy based on a culturally responsive approach that resonated strongly…

This article proposes an exploratory application of the principles of critical geragogy (Formosa, 2002, 2011, 2012) to foreign language (FL) education (i.e., L2 learning in the L1 community). Critical geragogy is an educational, practical framework intended to empower older adults and lead them to emancipate from age strictures (Glendenning &…

Searching for the real voices in regard to pedagogical challenges Iranian EFL teachers may struggle against seems to be an unexplored issue, which is the purpose of this qualitative grounded study. To achieve generalizable findings, based on the tenets of grounded theory, data were collected using an open-ended questionnaire with 187 Iranian EFL…

Retrospective Miscue Analysis (RMA) has proved to be a useful instructional tool in language arts classrooms and for English learners from various cultures. However, it has not been used with native Mandarin-speaking English learners. This qualitative case study explored the reading process of two adult Mandarin-speaking ELs through RMA. They read…

This study critically addresses the assumptions made by educators and providers in the field of Dutch second language (L2) acquisition about the online learning of Dutch L2. These include assumptions about advantages and disadvantages of online language learning, such as flexibility, learner autonomy, enhanced opportunities for remediation and…

This enquiry based project set out to find out if adult English language learners, known as ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) learners in the UK, might benefit, in terms of their acquisition of English, from studying maths. This research has been conducted at a medium sized FE college in the East Midlands where I teach. I evaluate…

This study highlights learners' perceptions about their experience with self-access materials with a qualitative orientation as the best way to understand nuances of how students learn and what they need from learning materials. This paper presents English as a foreign language learners' attitudes when interacting with the computer-reading section…

This article aims to show and explain the growing motivational, personal or affective difficulties that unemployed adult learners are currently facing in the English subject when they decide to retake their education in age-diverse Vocational Training Programs in the Spanish educational system. The results presented in this article are based on a…

This paper explores strategies used by teachers of English in Spain to compensate for learning limitations associated with student age. As part of a qualitative study of multiple cases, twenty teachers from different vocational programs volunteered to participate in semi-structured interviews. The interviews revealed the difficulties that older…

Much research has been done on blended learning and the design of tasks most appropriate for online environments and computer-mediated communication. Increasingly, language teachers and Second Language Acquisition (SLA) practitioners recognise the different nature of communications in online settings and in face-to-face settings; teachers do not…

The purpose of the study was to understand the role of culture in English as a Second Language (ESL) nurses' clinical communication experiences in the United States, and how these experiences demonstrate the need for continuing education for ESL nurses. Five Taiwanese nurses who worked in U.S. health care contexts were recruited in the study. Data…

Pre-writing stage has been considered very significant as it enhances writing performance in that learners can have discussions with the teacher and/or their peers. They can also outline and organize their ideas individually to prepare themselves for writing. This study investigated the effects of using pictures and interactions in the pre-writing…