RELC Journal

Researchers and practitioners in foreign language learning continue investigating evolving technologies like machine translators and other artificial intelligence-assisted programs in classrooms. However, less attention has been given to less commonly taught languages, which often lack relevant resources compared to widely taught foreign languages such as English, despite machine translators’ potential in facilitating foreign language writing. This exploratory case study aims to address this gap by examining how US university students learning a less commonly taught language, Korean, use machine translators to revise their writing. Students were trained in a modified version of the Guided Use of Machine Translation model, which requires active engagement from students in selecting, comparing, revising, and justifying their writing choices. By analyzing their cognitive and behavioral engagement, the study sheds light on students’ approaches to incorporating machine translators’ output as feedback into their writing process. The findings suggest that students primarily focus on differences in word choice between their original writing and machine translators’ output over other areas such as particle usage. Students generally demonstrated the ability to accurately identify and correct their errors. Various revision strategies were implemented but adopting exact machine translators’ output was more commonly used, while students also exercised autonomy in their language choices.

Within the context of content and language integrated learning (CLIL), assessment assumes a pivotal role in fostering learning, given the dual emphasis on content and language acquisition. This dual focus engenders a heightened complexity in the assessment process within CLIL classrooms. Despite the escalating prevalence of CLIL classrooms, the aspect of CLIL assessment remains inadequately explored, constituting an unresolved issue in CLIL research and pedagogy. The enquiry into the assessment practices of CLIL teachers serves as a means to elucidate this research lacuna. This study aims to scrutinize the assessment practices employed by five Thai secondary school CLIL teachers, utilizing personal construct theory (PCT) as the foundational framework. Methodologically, data collection encompasses repertory grids and retrospective semi-structured interviews, with a pivotal application of focus grid analysis for data scrutiny and interpretation. The findings revealed that there was a strong preference for interactive and collaborative assessment methods that enhance both language skills and cognitive abilities. In particular, problem-solving tasks, lab experiments, and group discussions are effective in promoting higher-order thinking, while interactive projects and presentations boost language development. In contrast, traditional assessments such as multiple-choice questions are less effective. These findings highlight the need for professional development programmes and supportive educational policies to integrate dynamic, dual-focused assessments into CLIL curricula.

Imparting content through the medium of a foreign language is a phenomenon that has grown exponentially in tertiary education all over the world. English, which has an established status of a lingua franca worldwide, stimulates academic internationalisation of universities. Consequently, educational institutions with English medium of instruction are more favoured by students. As a result, English competes with Polish as the medium of instruction in Poland. The choice to use English exclusively in English-medium instruction courses results from methodological assumptions underscoring the exclusive use of English; therefore, it might seem unnatural to notice the translanguaging pedagogy being employed. On the other hand, bilingual and multilingual speakers may draw upon all their languages (e.g., Polish and English) to express their thoughts, make meaning in their situated social context and achieve specific goals. This study explores lecturers’ perceptions of translanguaging in a Polish higher education institution offering English-medium instruction programmes. Adopting a qualitative case study approach, this research revealed that instructors supported the use of various translanguaging strategies to create a ‘translanguaging space’ for content learning. The use of many of the students’ linguistic repertoires implied that several questions on terminology and content arose, leading to reflections, discussions and ultimately greater, deeper understanding of the content. Through the application of focus group discussions, the lecturers unfolded their perspectives on translanguaging in English-medium instruction courses, which revealed a collective and metalinguistic reflection, facilitating a co-construction of knowledge, meaning and understanding.

Textual enhancement (TE) refers to any modification made to written text for the purpose of drawing learners’ visual attention to the target area. Typically, TE is employed to encourage learners to notice specific aspects of language (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, discourse features). However, the current study sought to investigate TE's potential effect on a unique outcome: reading fluency (i.e., speed). N = 132 students at a Japanese university were asked to read two passages (one standard, one textually enhanced) and were assessed on both their reading speeds and level of comprehension. The results indicated that while there was a statistically significant (albeit, slight) increase in their reading speeds of the TE passage (t = 3.78, p < .001, d = .33) there was no significant difference in their comprehension of the two (t = −.60, p = .54, d = .05). Participants were also surveyed regarding their level of consciousness of the enhancements, along with their reactions to the technique. Surprisingly, students’ cognition of the enhancements was partially dependent on group membership: students who were exposed to the enhanced text first were less likely to notice that the two passages were stylistically different, indicating their focus on meaning entirely eclipsed a focus on form.

Teacher emotions are vitally important for the classroom environment and students’ language attainment; however, studies concerning foreign language teaching anxiety remain scarce. This study examined foreign language teaching anxiety through administering questionnaires to 235 in-service teachers to investigate the impacts of educational stages and teaching experience on foreign language teaching anxiety. The statistical results show that secondary school teachers exhibit significantly higher levels of foreign language teaching anxiety than their primary counterparts, especially in ‘lack of student interest’ and ‘fear of negative evaluation’. Novice teachers are significantly more anxious than experienced teachers in the dimension of ‘teaching inexperience’, whereas no other differences are shown in other aspects. No interaction effects are observed between the two variables. Pedagogical implications for understanding foreign language teaching anxiety in different educational and experiential stages and corresponding anxiety-reducing strategies are discussed.

The perceptions, use and understanding of swearing in a second language is an area of linguistics that is comparatively under-researched and rarely taught in the classroom. However, this issue has become increasingly important with the ever-bourgeoning use of online spaces that expose English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students to swearing in English. As a result, language learners are often left to their own devices in trying to understand if and when they can use swear words in English language that they encounter online. This study investigates how a group of students from a Confucian cultural background learn to swear in English. The results indicate that for EFL students, there is a significant level of uncertainty concerning what is appropriate in terms of when and where they can swear. This investigation contributes to filling the research gap in understanding the dynamics of swearing in English and emphasises the need for pedagogical attention to this evolving aspect of EFL education.

Limited access to English-speaking environments in contexts such as Taiwan presents a great challenge for learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Although synchronous online learning has shown promise in fostering authentic and interactive learning environments, its effectiveness for young learners of English as a foreign language, particularly those with limited resources, remained unclear. Therefore, this study examined the effects of synchronous online learning courses on EFL elementary school students’ listening and reading ability, as well as their levels of learning anxiety. Eighty-nine elementary school students participated in 10-week online courses, receiving around 160 minutes of instruction per week. Before and after the online courses, they received pre- and post-tests on their listening and reading ability and filled out learning anxiety surveys. Using paired sample t-tests, the analysis revealed significant enhancements in the students’ listening abilities after the online courses, accompanied by a significant reduction in anxiety associated with learning English. Although reading abilities showed some improvement, it was not statistically significant. The findings not only underscored the potential of synchronous online learning to enhance language abilities among young learners with limited resources but also highlighted its role in mitigating learning apprehensions. Therefore, this study offered pedagogical implications for the design and implementation of online language courses, particularly in contexts where traditional resources may be limited or inaccessible.

Despite task-based language teaching being a widely recognized and effective approach for developing learners’ language skills, many English-as-a-foreign-language teachers face challenges in implementing task-based language teaching in their classrooms. This article describes how a reflection activity was used to enhance a teacher's self-confidence and strategies for implementing language tasks in lessons. Over a three-week period, the teacher consistently applied a task-based language teaching lesson framework in a university English-as-a-foreign-language classroom. After each lesson, the teacher uploaded video recordings to a computer program and rated their teaching self-confidence on a per-second basis. The teacher then wrote reflections to explain broad changes in ratings during the pre-task, task performance and post-task stages, and set goals for improvement. Analyses of the ratings and written reflections indicate that the reflection activity facilitated improvements in task design, task implementation and assessment practices, as well as increased self-confidence across all stages of the task-based language teaching lesson cycle.

While a body of literature highlights the positive effects of digital multimodal composing (DMC) on second language (L2) writing, research into DMC assessment practices remains few and far between, particularly when scholars pay little attention to L2 learners’ perceptions towards DMC assessment. The current DMC assessment is largely confined to linguistic modes, leaving other multimodal semiotic modes almost unaddressed. This article, therefore, presents a learning-oriented assessment strategy to involve L2 writers in evaluating their digital storytelling videos through rubric-referenced multisource feedback. This gradeless DMC assessment practice encompasses three key features: (1) a tailored genre-based feedback sheet that provides students with standardized guidelines to deliver ungraded comments on their videos; (2) two hands-on workshops that offer foundational support and ‘just-in-time’ scaffolding for DMC creation and evaluation; and (3) the integration of self- and peer feedback, placing L2 students at the center to assess and reflect on their videos. The analysis of students’ group reflective journals, student-authored videos, and feedback sheets revealed that the rubric-referenced self- and peer feedback created a complementary process for DMC assessment. This approach facilitated the employment of cognitive and metacognitive strategies to self-regulate feedback and video revisions, promoted multimodal metalanguage development, and enhanced multiliteracies. Pedagogical implications for implementing multisource feedback to assess DMC in L2 contexts were discussed.

Language acquisition occurs when learners are exposed to comprehensible input slightly beyond their current level and are guided to notice and modify the errors in their output. However, mismatched input and inadequate feedback on output can hinder effective learning. Cathoven, an artificial intelligence assistant for language teachers, addresses these challenges by analyzing text difficulty, adapting materials, generating supplementary content and providing targeted feedback on students’ output. This tech review aims to present a comprehensive exploration of Cathoven's applications in English teaching and learning, highlighting both its advantages and limitations as a versatile tool.

The collaborative competence of subject (discipline) teachers and language (English for academic or specific purposes) teachers in higher education is a central concern in English-medium instruction contexts, where they frequently interact. This brief scoping review provides a snapshot of the current state of English-medium instruction teacher collaboration and guides collaborative practice to better support language teachers, subject teachers and (ultimately) students. The review is restricted to empirical studies and focuses on the forms of teacher collaboration, barriers to collaboration, and strategies to overcome these challenges. Teacher collaborations occur at institutional, departmental and individual levels, and, at each level, some obstacles limit the effectiveness and sustainability of collaborations. Proposed solutions range from individual initiatives to systematic institutional support. Based on these findings, the paper concludes with practical recommendations to enhance future collaborations.

Translanguaging pedagogy, referring to instructional approaches which open spaces for learners to make use of their entire linguistic repertoire, has become one of the cornerstones of contemporary scholarship in language education. Yet questions remain about how such a broad philosophical stance can translate into concrete classroom practices in different settings when considering differing teaching/learning objectives and the contrasting language ecologies within which teaching/learning takes place. In this article, I propose five principles for reflective translanguaging in English language teaching (ELT) in Southeast Asia, considering both the specific objectives of ELT/learning and the overarching challenges of linguistic ecologies in this region. First and foremost, I argue that translanguaging must focus on disrupting traditional boundaries, not only in the use of specific ‘languages’ (e.g., English) but also in the revaluation of Englishes found in the Southeast Asian context. Second, the focus on fluidity inherent in translanguaging must be balanced with a degree of respect for the position of mother tongues as distinct languages and their speakers as having political rights. Third, we must attend to how translanguaging can be integrated into both the process and products of teaching/learning activities. Fourth, the overall shift toward translanguaging pedagogy must involve a rethinking of how corrective feedback is given in language education, including greater emphasis on critical awareness. Finally, translanguaging should serve as a springboard for a wider transformation in ELT toward an educational model which foregrounds critical thinking and critical literacy, moving beyond the traditional narrow focus on ‘just English.’