JOURNAL FOR THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE LEARNING

Introduction to the Issue

2024-04-23

The Influence of Emergent and Assigned Leaders on Interactive Group Work Tasks in the L2 Classroom: Focusing on the Group Work Dynamics, Motivation, and Linguistic Performance

Makoto Mitsugi — 2024-04-23

This study compares two leadership styles, emergent leader (EL) and assigned leader (AL), to explore effective leadership in second language (L2) group work. ELs were spontaneously chosen by the group, while ALs were pre-assigned by teachers before the task. The study involved 45 university students, who were divided into seven EL groups (n = 21) and eight AL groups (n = 24). Complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) was used to explore how these leadership styles impacted group work dynamics, motivation, and task outcomes. Findings revealed that having a group leader was beneficial for task performance, regardless of the leadership style. However, the study identified qualitative differences in group work dynamics and motivation between EL and AL groups. Behaviors contributing to group work activation were more frequently observed in the AL groups. Additionally, motivation increased gradually in the EL groups, while it peaked early and remained high in the AL groups. Results suggest that pre-assigning a leader with a clear role can ensure favorable initial conditions for the group, leader, and members, while accelerating the growth of group work dynamics and motivation in short-timed group tasks. Therefore, the study provides evidence supporting the effectiveness of pre-assigning a leader in L2 group work.

Language Teacher Resilience: Antecedents and Experiences

Glen Stewart — 2024-04-23

The aim of this study was to re-analyze data derived from the lead author’s recent implementation of the approach, active learning in an English-language course in Japan through the lens of language teacher resilience. To do this, the study drew on the complexity-informed model of teacher resilience proposed by Kostoulas and Lämmerer (2018) and sought to investigate the antecedents to changes in teacher resilience that emerged during the implementation and their impact on the teacher’s resilience system that comprised part of the model. A number of antecedents were found. These were stressors (related to e.g., the context, the implementation of the approach), positive appraisal of events, stressors and then appropriate action in response (e.g., accessing the literature, drawing on an existing skill), having a belief based on prior experience in the context, not being sufficiently informed about learners’ language-learning goals and needs, and moderate interpersonal skills. Overall, the antecedents appear to have contributed to a re-configuring of the teacher’s resilience system further in the direction of adaptive adjustment. Implications are discussed and suggestions for future research are made.

Sociocultural Influences on Young Japanese English Learners: The Impact of Parents’ Beliefs on Learning Motivation

Shoko Tanaka — 2024-04-23

In this quantitative study, we investigated the relationships between parenting and young learners’ English learning—specifically parents’ sociocultural influence on elementary school children’s motivation—within the framework of self-determination theory (SDT). We surveyed 212 dyads of Japanese parents and their children (8–12 years old) and used structural equation modeling to elucidate the causal relationship between parents’ attitudes and children’s motivation for their second language (L2) learning, which is English as a foreign language learning context in this study. We found that parental involvement in children’s English education positively impacted children’s perceived competence in L2 learning and their interest in other countries, improving their L2 learning motivation. This demonstrates that parental involvement is a significant predictor of young learners’ L2 motivation in Japan. We also identified a discrepancy between children’s and parents’ perceptions. Parents believe their involvement in children’s L2 learning is autonomy-supportive behavior, while children do not always perceive this. We conclude that parental involvement in children’s home L2 learning supports children’s learning motivation. Our final model expands the SDT framework for language learning and covers both parenting and language learning research realms, improving our understanding of how parental attitudes and behavior influence children’s L2 learning.

The Role of the L2 Learning Environment in Shaping Individual Learner Factors and Language Achievement: A Comparison Study of Danish and Spanish Learners of L2 English

Teresa Cadierno — 2024-04-23

Based on the assumption that individual learner factors are context-dependent, this exploratory study examined whether differences in two learning environments (Denmark and Spain) have a differential influence on a set of learner factors that have together been previously identified as important in second language (L2) research, specifically, foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA), English competence beliefs (ECB), motivation (ideal L2 self) and attitudes towards English language learning. The study also examined whether the L2 learning environment and learner factors had a differential influence on the proficiency of two groups of adolescent learners, as measured by a more instruction-related test (grammaticality judgment test) and a more out-of-school-exposure-related test (listening comprehension test). The results showed that learning environment had a differential influence on FLCA and that gender had an impact on FLCA and ECB. Furthermore, the study showed a differential impact on the L2 English proficiency of the two learner groups of four different factors (i.e., FLCA, ECB, learners’ ideal L2 self, learners’ attitudes towards the presence of English in the academic context, and ECB interacting with FLCA). These findings point to a crucial role of the learning environment in L2 learning and provide empirical support for a context-dependent view of the expression of learners’ individual characteristics in relation to L2 learning.