Motivation has been recognized by both psychologists and educators as one of the key elements for a successful learning outcome. In research on motivation in language learning, it is customary to view the construct as a dyadic unity of integrative and instrumental motivation. The former includes the learners' attitudes towards the culture and…

This study examines the motivations, attitudes, and goals of a Spanish for native speakers (SNS) class at a large Midwestern university over a semester, using questionnaires, student interviews, classroom observation, and instructor interviews as data sources. It presents results from four students who participated in the data collection, but…

Previous research indicates that foreign language learners are much more focused on accuracy, particularly grammatical accuracy, than their teachers are. The purpose of the current study was to gain a more detailed understanding of American learners' views of the need for accuracy in the oral production of a foreign language (German) by (a)…

Our business communication classes will continue to be enriched by students from various cultural backgrounds, many of them ESL learners. Among the numerous benefits of this diversity are opportunities for all students to develop essential life skills through course-embedded community service learning (CSL) projects. This study analyzes students'…

The current study examined the effects of Korean elementary school teachers' accents on their students' listening comprehension. It also examined students' attitudes toward teachers with American-accented English (a native speaker model) and Korean-accented English (a nonnative speaker model). A matched-guised technique was used. A Korean American…

Having grown up in an age of rapidly developing electronic communication technology, today's students come to higher education with high levels of comfort and familiarity with computer-mediated communication (CMC, hereafter). The students' level of comfort with CMC, coupled with CMC's promises of enabling supplemental class discussion as well as…

This qualitative study examines perceptions and use of assignment feedback among adult beginner modern foreign language learners on higher education distance learning courses. A survey of responses to feedback on assignments by 43 Open University students on beginner language courses in Spanish, French, and German indicated that respondents can be…

This study examines classroom code-switching in relation to individual and group identity and to functional use of two languages. It investigates how high school Chinese immigrant students perceive the use of first language (L1) and second language (L2) in class, and how they use these languages during group activities. The interview data…

This study sought to extend previous research on ethnographic interviews as a method of culture learning in foreign language classes by employing a qualitative case study methodology. Fifty-four university students in a first-year Spanish course worked in pairs to conduct a series of three ethnographic interviews with a native speaker of Spanish.…

Drawing on the narratives of four East European couples, this article offers a discourse-centered analysis of their gendered experiences in the second language (L2). The analysis of the data integrates critical feminist perspectives with a Bakhtinian lens to language and the self. Espousing Bakhtin's concepts of dialogue, answerability, and…

In this study, Turkish EFL students' conceptualization of an effective English language teacher is studied. A survey formerly developed by Yu-Hsin (1999) was adapted and administered to 100 foreign language learners studying at two state universities' English language preparatory schools. Also, participants' written responses were collected to…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine students' perception of end-of-semester Student Evaluations of Teaching (SET), and to explore the extent to which SET are biased by non-instructional factors. Design/methodology/approach: A survey questionnaire about the end-of-semester SET was designed and administered to 819 students selected from…

We previously defined the "by-products" of academic writing instruction as "affective and social changes perceived by students, "along with" changes in their writing, reflected in interpersonal and intrapersonal behaviors carried over into other spheres of their lives" [Katznelson, Perpignan, & Rubin, 2001. What…

From 1998-2001, students in Spanish classes at the University of Texas San Antonio competed surveys regarding how they defined their language skills and how they felt about special courses. A total of 642 students, of whom 482 were Hispanic, completed surveys. Overall, 70 percent of the students thought that if heritage courses were offered, they…

Six intermediate/advanced learners of English, studying in the United Kingdom, identified messages that they wanted to convey in specific future conversations and memorized native-like versions of them. Their ability to use them in practice and in the real conversation was analyzed. Propensity to attempt using memorized material correlated with…