When scaffolding is done correctly, students are encouraged to develop their own creativity, motivation, and resourcefulness. How teachers interact with students and how students interact with one another as they complete a task is important to students' ability to perform the activity. This article shows how scaffolding can be effectively applied…

During the last decade, increasing attention has been paid to the role of learner in the process of language learning and testing. Moreover, there is a general consensus in the literature that motivation is one of the key learner characteristics. The objective of this study was to explore the role of journal writing as a self-assessment technique…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine continuing education students' perceptions of adult education instructional practices at an urban community college. The continuing education students recently graduated from programs of law enforcement, truck driving, and health occupations. Perception analysis was based on the six principles…

The purpose of the present study was to examine and empirically test the language learning motivation model used to propose a new theoretical construct, the "L2 Motivational Self System," as conceived by Dornyei et al. (2006), in a different second language (L2) learning context. In addition, the study identified the interrelationships of the…

Background: Previous research is inconclusive regarding antecedents and consequences of achievement goals, and there is a need for more research in order to examine the joint effects of different types of motives and learning strategies as predictors of academic achievement. Aims: To investigate the relationship between achievement motives,…

This article explores the motivation to learn German for learners already proficient in English as a second language. Discussed are parts of the findings of an empirical study investigating the motivation of 12 Chinese students to study German as a major at a university in Hong Kong. The data collected for the duration of two academic semesters…

Increasingly, school leavers are taking time out from study or formal work after completing high school--often referred to as a "gap year" (involving structured activities such as "volunteer tourism" and unstructured activities such as leisure). Although much opinion exists about the merits--or otherwise--of taking time out after completing…

There is a wealth of literature examining the role of motivation in second language (L2) learning but remarkably little research that has examined how teachers can foster motivation in the classroom. For this reason alone Guilloteaux and Dornyei's (2008) correlational study of the relationship between motivational strategies and student motivation…

It was assumed that the effect of motivational regulation strategies on achievement is mediated by effort management and moderated by intelligence. A sample of 231 11th and 12th grade German high-school students provided self-reports on their use of motivational regulation strategies and effort management and completed an intelligence test.…

Learner motivation is a key to effective instruction and is critical to creating a successful online learning environment; yet, there is a paucity of theory and empirical research on how to create a motivating online learning environment. The purpose of the present study was to explore and describe the experiences of adult learners in a…

This study investigated the relationships among Hong Kong Chinese students' reading attainment in Chinese and English, their attitudes toward reading, and their self-concept as readers. The sample consisted of 1,232 fourth-grade students from thirty-eight primary schools. Predictably, the students' reading attainment was better when tested in…

The following article reports the findings of a qualitative evaluation of an online extensive reading program in German as a foreign language. Designed for advanced learners, it differs from traditional extensive reading programs in two important aspects: students read online instead of printed materials, and there was no teacher preselection to…

By 2010, all children at Key Stage 2 in England will be entitled to learn primary foreign languages (PFL); indeed PFL is now set to become part of the core primary curriculum. This policy is not uncontroversial. A number of studies have established the high levels of motivation that can be engendered among younger learners of modern foreign…

This article describes the design decisions, technical approach, and evaluation of the animation and interface components for an agent-based system that allows learners to learn by teaching. Students learn by teaching an animated agent using a visual representation. The agent can answer questions about what she has been taught and take quizzes.…

Empowered learners are more motivated to perform classroom tasks, and they feel more competent in the classroom, find the required tasks more meaningful, and feel they have an impact on their learning process. Previous work has concluded that empowerment is primarily influenced by teacher behavior, which is not consistent with contemporary…