In the past two decades, the synergistic relationship among task-based language teaching (TBLT), instructed second language acquisition, and computer-assisted language learning has gained increasing interest.Technology-mediated TBLT combines these three research domains by integrating the use of technology with task-based approaches for second language (L2) learning purposes. Since the emergence of this framework, empirical studies have increasingly explored the incorporation of tasks with technology-mediated settings for L2 learning and teaching purposes. To understand the methodological characteristics of technology-mediated TBLT research to date, we conducted a systematic search and reviewed 254 technology-mediated TBLT studies published between 2000 and 2022 in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. These studies were coded for methodological features, research foci, and types of technology. We further examined the role of technologies in task performance to identify their effectiveness in creating authentic tasks. The findings revealed that technology-mediated TBLT research investigated a rather limited scope of contexts, learner groups, and linguistic features, with little attention paid to evaluating the quality of task outcomes. The types of technology used were skewed toward computer-mediated communication. The results also showed that studies examined various interactional features, and the majority reported both quantitative and qualitative data. Furthermore, technologies were integrated into task design to create meaningful language use contexts. Based on these findings, we share suggestions for future technology-mediated TBLT research.

In light of findings from research on informal foreign/second language (L2) learning, with a focus on English as a target language and using the concept of extramural English (EE), this position paper argues that learners’ engagement in EE (through activities such as watching television or films or playing digital games) constitutes an important individual difference (ID) variable that needs to be included in studies that aim to measure L2 English proficiency or development. In addition, it is suggested that if EE as an ID variable is left out in such studies in the future, the rationale for exclusion should be clearly stated. This position paper also discusses research instruments and methods used in this area of research, the benefits and drawbacks of different methods, and identifies research gaps and under-researched learner groups. Further, it is argued that in some contexts, EE has replaced classroom activities as the starting point for and foundation of learning English.

The effects of deliberately and selectively manipulating instructional conditions are at the heart of instructed second language acquisition (ISLA) research and, ideally, are designed to inform practice. Knowing how an intervention works, by what mechanisms and processes the treatment is beneficial—and for whom—are complex questions. In this piece, we problematize intervention-based research paradigms that do not account for context, individuals and their proactivity, or temporal variation. We highlight several key challenges that remain for ISLA research and propose a more reflexive approach to intervention that attends to these central considerations in implementing study designs.

Response times (RTs) have become ubiquitous in second language acquisition (SLA) research, providing empirical evidence for the theorization of the language learning process. Recently, there have been discussions of some fundamental psychometric properties of RT data, including, but not limited to, their reliability and validity. In this light, we take a step back to reflect on the use of RT data to tap into linguistic knowledge in SLA. First, we offer a brief overview of how RT data are most commonly used as vocabulary and grammar measures. We then point out three key limitations of such uses, namely that (a) RT data can lack substantive importance without considerations of accuracy, (b) RT differences may or may not be a satisfactory psychometric individual difference measure, and (c) some tasks designed to elicit RT data may not be sufficiently fine-grained to target specific language processes. Our overarching goal is to enhance the awareness among SLA researchers of these issues when interpreting RT results and stimulate research endeavors that delve into the unique properties of RT data when used in our field.

High-quality replication studies are widely understood to be critical to the growth and credibility of our discipline, as shown in commentaries and discussion since the 1970s, at least. Nevertheless, misunderstandings and limitations in the aims, designs, and reporting of replication research remain, thus reducing the usefulness and impact of replications. To address this issue and improve the rigor, quality, and conduct of replication studies in applied linguistics, a new standard for reporting replication studies that captures several critical features of replication research not discussed in current reporting guidelines is proposed. Importantly, this standard applies basic expectations in replication reporting so that outcomes can be better understood and evaluated. By applying this standard, replication studies will better meet their aims to confirm, consolidate, and advance knowledge and understanding within applied linguistics and second language research. In addition, readers will more easily understand how the replication study was carried out and be able to better evaluate the claims being made.

Transformative justice is a vision, a framework, and a theory of change which pushes for radical abolition and reimagining of entire systems. It is a community-led strategy which centers on and seeks to uproot structural determinants of oppression. In this article, I outline how applied linguistics can and should draw on transformative justice principles as a methodology for doing applied linguistics and as an underpinning theory of change for the discipline itself. I explore how transformative justice in applied linguistics involves addressing the colonial roots of the discipline and its complicity in perpetuating raciolinguistic ideologies and co-constituted discourses of linguistic deficiency. I argue for new conceptualizations of impact which prioritize community solidarity. I argue for applied linguists to end collaborations with the police, the military, and the prison industrial complex, showing how these collaborations rely on systems of punitive accountability and modest reforms. I argue that transformative justice is a life-affirming theory of change for the discipline of applied linguistics and for the marginalized communities we work with.

Positionality statements have increasingly become the norm in many strands of social science research, including applied linguistics. With reference to current research, theory, and the author’s own work, this paper reviews some of the promises and perils of such statements, including their performativity and lack of reflexivity. The author concludes by arguing that positionality statements need to offer both more and less, to be better targeted, and be more effectively and widely utilized within the field of applied linguistics.

This study proposes and tests a comprehensive model (with demographics, informal digital learning of English, ideal/ought-to L2 self, L2 enjoyment, and self-perceived communication competence) of face-to-face and digital communication anxiety's relationship to willingness to communicate in a second language (L2 WTC) within in-class, out-of-class, and digital contexts. A structural equation model of survey responses from 1,269 Koreans learning English as a foreign language (746 secondary and 523 university students) showed that in all three settings, students with lower anxiety showed greater L2 WTC. Within in-class and out-of-class contexts, students with higher self-perceived English ability had lower face-to-face anxiety, which in turn yielded higher L2 WTC. In digital settings, students with a higher ideal L2 self (i.e., a more positive evaluation of their ability to attain the ideal L2 self) showed less overall anxiety (comprising face-to-face and digital anxieties), which yielded greater L2 WTC. These results suggest that future studies can test whether interventions to lower anxiety can increase L2 WTC across communication venues.

Language anxiety plays a key role in language learners’ silent behaviors in class (King, 2013). Given its public nature and emphasis on interaction within it, the classroom context plays a significant role in the production of language anxiety. Anxious people are more likely to negatively appraise situations, affecting their behavior. That is, it is not just the subject content that causes anxiety, it is also the cognitive processes that occur from being in the classroom environment (Clark & Wells, 1995; Horwitz et al., 2010). King (2014) found that anxious language learners’ thoughts often contain feared predictions about the social costs of speaking in the classroom and worries about how peers might negatively evaluate performance. These fears about external factors contribute to learners becoming inhibited and using silence to avoid the discomfort of speaking. Also, while anxious learners tend to have content-specific concerns, for example, making mistakes, self-focused thoughts are often intensified by contextual factors, such as interacting with peers (Gregersen & Horwitz, 2002). This article looks at the relationship between language anxiety and silent behavior from a cognitive-behavioral perspective, emphasizing how the dynamic interplay between an individual learner and the classroom context can result in even the most motivated and proficient learners missing opportunities to develop their language skills through target-language interaction.

Measurement invariance (MI) is essential to bolstering validity arguments behind psychometric instruments (Zumbo, 2007). Nonetheless, very few second language (L2) anxiety scales, including the most widely used L2 anxiety questionnaire—the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS; Horwitz et al., 1986)—have been tested for MI. The present paper seeks to address this deficiency in the literature (a) by demonstrating why this procedure is key to enhancing our understanding of the latent phenomenon in question, particularly in relation to different language learning contexts, (b) by outlining the main stages of MI testing with specific recommendations for L2 scale developers and users, (c) by providing commendable examples of the application of MI in applied linguistics research in order to illustrate the potential of this technique, and (d) by making a case for employing MI in future validation studies, thereby promoting methodologically sound research practices in the context of anxiety scales and elsewhere in applied linguistics.

Second language (L2) anxiety is the most studied affective factor in the field of second language acquisition. Numerous studies have been conducted on this emotion from different perspectives over the last few decades. These studies can be classified into three groups. The first group has tried to conceptualize and operationalize L2 anxiety and identify the different components or dimensions of the construct (e.g., Cheng, 2004; Horwitz et al., 1986). The second group has explored the impact of L2 anxiety on various motivational, behavioral, learning, and performance aspects of L2 learning (e.g., Gkonou et al., 2017). Finally, the third group has investigated different sources of L2 anxiety (Papi & Khajavy, 2021). In this manuscript, we will draw on studies from the three strands to present an overview of the state of research on this construct and conclude by discussing major issues with the conceptualization, measurement, and design of studies on L2 anxiety.

This article takes a comparative look at language teacher anxiety (LTA) vis-à-vis students’ language classroom anxiety (LCA) and contends the benefit of pursuing and expanding LTA research. Specifically, the paper first traces the development of LTA inquiry from its inception in the 1990s until today and highlights how it historically aligned with and, more recently, diverges from LCA research. After establishing LTA as an idiosyncratic variable in instructed language learning and teaching contexts, I grapple with the questions of whether and why LTA merits further research attention and suggest that the pursuit of LTA research is not only beneficial to examine the role of teachers’ emotions in instructed language learning but also for the advancement of three other flourishing domains in the field of second language acquisition (SLA). These include the diversification of theoretical frameworks through which language classroom emotions can be examined, the advancement of research methodologies, and the role of emotions in social justice-centered approaches to language teaching (e.g., pedagogies of discomfort).

Language learner anxiety—and emotions in general—has constantly attracted academic attention in the second language acquisition (SLA) field for almost 40 years (Plonsky et al., 2022). However, within the context of the foreign language classroom, epistemic emotions remain understudied, despite their demonstrated effects on performance (D'Mello et al., 2014) and learners’ cognitive processes (Muis et al., 2018a). Epistemic emotions are academic emotions that “relate to knowledge-generating qualities of cognitive tasks and activities” (Pekrun et al., 2017, p. 1268). Their object focus lies in the generation of knowledge (Vogl et al., 2019a) and therefore are prominent during learning activities in academic settings. Recent research in SLA shows that epistemic emotions play a considerable role in instructed language learning (Fraschini, 2023; Nakamura et al., 2022). This current study analyses how two common epistemic emotions—epistemic anxiety and curiosity—mediate the link between a learner's perceived value and intended effort. Empirical data was collected using a tailor-designed survey administered to learners of Korean as a foreign language enrolled in a hybrid university course. Results show that epistemic anxiety and curiosity are independent of each other and coexist during language learning tasks. Furthermore, both epistemic emotions significantly correlate to a learner's perceived value of language learning, with opposite effects. While learners with a higher perceived value tend to be more curious, they also appear less anxious. These results are further discussed considering teachers’ and learners’ characteristics and in relation to theoretical and pedagogical implications for the language classroom.

Ipampiri lhe inyatshella buhlogwa be kuhlaganela musebeti gekuphidza tiyato le tifikelwe yhitikhulumi lhetiyati-mukhulumo emusebetini whekutleketa mukhulumo whesiPhuthi lheku sivusuluta. Ekubeni kusjiyekiye te tikhulumi letitigidi letimbalwa temukhulumo, siPhuthi sikegotini lesabekako yhekucimela; futshi mukhulumo lho lhetikhulumi tawo tiya swayiwa kabhe tiya khetshullwa emayemweni hhemaphasi hhakeLesotho lakeSouth Africa. Titleketi letitshatfhu talhe ipampiri, sikhulumi sesiPhuthi (L1) lhetiyati-mukhulumo letibini takeMusjiya, isali bahlaganele lho musebetii kudlula minyaka lemunyuka ledluliye. Ebayemedi bemukhulumo labachaphatelekako lhetiyati-mukhulumo banka ematiphedvulello laphabhene kusebetana lhetidzaba letigesihlokweni kulho musebeti, kutjho kutshi, kutinswa emadla kwebaPhuthi lhekuvusulutwa kwemukhulumo whesiPhuthi.

Charity Hudley and Flores give you the real about the papers in this volume and share their direct vision for how to take this work forward in theory and practice. They shout out the leadership of emerging scholars as key to dreaming a world and a role for applied linguistics in the ongoing struggle for justice and liberation throughout the whole world. They lift up the volumes as the start of a new model of justice in scholarly publishing in applied linguistics and linguistics, where the conversations between emerging and more established scholars are more regularly integrated into our scholarly output. In doing so, the flavor that emerging scholars are adding to our understanding of language in various applied contexts will more quickly become part of the educational policy and practice that we legit need everywhere all the time.

Criticality has become legitimate and prominent in the field of applied linguistics. Given the realities of our uncertain and worrying times, however, it is essential to consider (a) how criticality can move beyond the rhetoric of inclusion, social transformation, and justice, and (b) the direction(s) in which critical applied linguistics research must point. This paper conjoins criticality, identity, and ethics and proposes the construction of ethical subjectivity as a way to reorient applied linguistics research toward the public good. Drawing on Foucault's later work, I contend that the process of becoming an ethical subject, which involves both internal and external transformations, would create alternative spaces and ways of action—giving new momentum to the project of realizing the world we wish to live in together.

This study explores English language learners’ cosmopolitan language practices. Based on the concepts of cosmopolitanism (i.e., becoming a global citizen) and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), it investigates how South Korean high school students engage in collaborative English writing practices to interact with audiences in a global writing community. Using discourse analysis of students’ artifacts, this study argues that cosmopolitan language practices are beneficial for cultivating global citizenry. The findings indicate that students positioned themselves as effective communicators and meaningful collaborators for change as they developed intercultural and collaboration skills. Researchers and educators are encouraged to create opportunities for language learners to engage in cosmopolitan language practices utilizing digital technologies.

As the world continues to experience the recent wave of racial reckoning and its associated backlash, the field of applied linguistics has been called upon to renew efforts through which language functions as an avenue for redemption and restoration of humanity and of the world. Acknowledging the role of racialization in the language-related challenges faced nationally and globally has spurred on a wave of examinations that extend beyond a focus on the intellect and that increasingly allow for a simultaneous grappling with what it means to advance language solutions that equally center human sensitivity and the body. Among such acknowledgments have been the effects of racism on language use by immigrants, including immigrants of color, many of whom are often introduced into the U.S. as “languageless.” We operate now on the verge of an imminent global metaverse within which the world will soon largely exist, provoking questions about the degree to which language, and racialized language, will continue to function as the primary mechanism for operating in a future world order. Given this impetus, I draw from the Black immigrant experience in the United States in this brief essay to demonstrate why the future of applied linguistics in a global metaverse must be concerned with “transraciolinguistic justice” that: (1) creates opportunities beyond racialized [language] as a function of the imminent global metaverse; (2) disrupts the racialization of [language] for relegating citizenship based on national norms as a function of civic engagement; and (3) dismantles racialized [language] and borders that hold up the exclusion of “foreignness” to transform the relational experience. The impending reality of a global metaverse that lays flat distinctions among migrants while also introducing a plethora of spaces where racialized language further functions as subtext in a nonmaterial world calls for a (re)thinking of what it will mean to instruct, assess, plan for, and preserve [languages] in a soon to be, predominantly, virtual global existence. Civic and legal engagement in a global metaverse that can potentially transcend racialized language allows for the disruption of perceptions that advocate a lack of connectivity of diverse human publics across national and global borders. Relational healing through a focus on transraciolinguistic justice in a global metaverse represents an opportunity to restore the brokenness of the oppressed and cultivate opportunities for building bridges across diverse realities, critical to the abandonment of centuries of, and the introduction of, an era of peace. To the degree that the field of applied linguistics is prepared to engage transraciolinguistic justice, will determine, in large part, the extent to which it adjusts to a largely virtual world.

The colonial history of many English language teaching (ELT) contexts has shaped how the concept of language is understood, how language policies are constructed, and how language education is organized. Various aspects of ELT in countries that were colonized continue to promote the imperialism of English (Motha, 2014) through the naming (i.e., labeling of linguistic phenomena as distinct languages, dialects, and language varieties), separation and hierarchization of languages, and the dominance of monolingual policies and practices in the classroom. Translanguaging, a theory and pedagogy that challenges colonial understandings of language and monoglossic norms in language teaching, has the transformative potential to liberate language practices that have been rendered invisible by abyssal thinking in ELT (García et al., 2021). Translanguaging as a theory posits that multilingual learners do not possess two or more autonomous language systems but rather that they select and deploy linguistic features from a unitary linguistic repertoire (Vogel & García, 2017). Translanguaging as a pedagogy urges educators to leverage learners’ entire linguistic and semiotic repertoires to support their learning instead of requiring them to keep certain languages outside the classroom. However, in educational contexts that respond to socially and politically imposed boundaries between languages, there are ideological and systemic challenges to the enactment of translanguaging as a pedagogy. This paper discusses these challenges with reference to the Malaysian language education context and draws on data from a collaborative translanguaging pedagogy designed through teacher-researcher collaboration and implemented in two Malaysian elementary English classrooms to offer recommendations for how ELT can be decolonized.

The paywall blocks broad participation in scientific discourse, and it is both financial and psychological. The financial paywall makes access to peer-reviewed research prohibitively expensive for many researchers. The psychological paywall refers to the gatekeeping nature of academic language. Elites hoard the products of scientific research and gatekeep membership in the specialist communities via arcane vocabulary and discourse structures, together with imposition of a tone that demands dispassionate engagement with topics that are urgent and painful to the participants of their research. To exclude the perspectives of those outside the ivory tower is to dismiss unique experiences and epistemologies, essentially blocking diversity of thought in linguistic science. A range of tools is needed to undermine this power structure. Here I highlight one, which is diverse media, in general, and podcasting, specifically. Podcasting brings diverse views into the conversation and allows racially offensive ideas to be understood as such so they can then be challenged. I present the case study of the putative so-called “30-million-word gap”—the claim that, by the time they are four years old, historically marginalized children are exposed to thirty million fewer words than middle- and upper-class white children. I use this notion, which is preposterous on its face, to illustrate the emancipatory potential of the podcast medium.