Vol 8, No 1 (2022)

Introduction: The editorial aims to revisit the field of academic development as it is being researched worldwide. The JLE editors analyse the notion, its origin, domains, and implementation trajectories in various countries.
Overview of Global Research on Academic Development: A short overview of the previously published research on academic development shows that most publications date between 2000 and 2020, with a focus on teaching and learning, trajectories in higher education, trends in practices of academic developers, and research as part of academic development. The authors also dwell upon the research competencies and support to the researchers that have become an integral part of academic development programmes in many countries.
Survey: To clarify the attitudes to academic development in the regions that took up academic development some ten years ago, a Survey on Perceptions of Academic Development was conducted among university staff in Russia. It found out the placement of academic development in higher education.
Conclusion: Summing up the key issues relating to academic development, the JLE editors outline the research agenda on academic development for potential authors.

Background. The benefits of collaboration and summarizing strategy training in second language (L2) learning rest on solid theoretical underpinnings. However, the empirical evidence of those benefits in EFL context and in the spoken discourse has proven difficult. Focusing on the long-term influence of collaboration on students' reading comprehension provides another justification for this study’s novelty.

Purpose. Drawing upon Socio-Cultural Theory (SCT), this study inspected the impact of spoken and written summary training on intermediate EFL students’ long-term reading comprehension in individual and peer-mediated conditions.
Methods. 120 Iranian EFL intermediate male and female learners aged 16 to 18 years were randomly assigned into two main conditions (i.e., individual and peer-mediated). Moreover, each condition was divided into spoken, written, and no summary groups. The treatment lasted for six sessions, and then a delayed post-test, summarization scale, and a researcher-developed collaboration scale were administered at the end of the study.
Results. The outcomes of one-way ANOVA revealed that summary training was efficacious in improving EFL students’ reading skills. However, the verbal summary group exceeded the written and control groups. In addition, the findings of the independent-samples t-test demonstrated that the learners’ reading skills in peer-mediated groups significantly improved in the delayed post-test compared to their counterparts. Similarly, the findings emerging from the analysis of the questionnaires highlighted both instructors’ and the students’ positive perceptions on summarizing strategies and collaboration in the classrooms.
Implications. The implications are presented concerning the effectiveness of summary training and peer-mediation in EFL reading courses.

Research background: ESP vocabulary is pivotal for learners to master the ESP subject matter, so there has been growing interest in how vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) for ESP are used. In addition, understanding the underlying reasons for using VLS for ESP is indispensable.
Purpose of the study: To this end, this paper aims at exploring VLS for ESP in terms of metacognitive strategies, cognitive strategies, memory strategies, determination strategies, social (discovery) strategies, and social (consolidation) strategies employed by Vietnamese tertiary students and their reasons for such VLS deployment.
Methods: It involved 270 technical students from a higher education institution in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, who were conveniently selected. This mixed-methods research gathered data by means of a closed-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews.
Findings and Value added: The findings unraveled that participants employed strategies for learning ESP lexical items moderately. Remarkably, the metacognitive strategies were the most frequently used among six groups of VLS for ESP, whereas social (consolidation) ones received the least attention. The results further uncovered that participants used VLS for ESP because of efficiency and regular practice, while lack of confidence and environment for practice hindered them from making use of VLS for ESP. Such findings are expected to enrich the knowledge of how students learn ESP lexical items in the Vietnamese context and other similar ones.

Background: Classroom-based research in second language acquisition (SLA) has focused in the last decade on the pedagogical implications concerning the mental representation of language but has not considered the didactic training of pre-service teachers. Empirical analyses have been concerned almost exclusively with the linguistic development of foreign language learners, who do not receive specific training to become language teachers.
Purpose: Due to the lack of literature regarding simultaneous linguistic and didactic training with pre-service foreign language teachers, this exploratory classroom-based research analyses a case of linguistic and didactic dual training for pre-service primary education teachers of German in Spain, both when being trained to work as foreign language teachers, or as CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) teachers. The objective is to assess the effectiveness of the dual training by measuring the degree of the pre-service teachers’ (N=4) willingness to communicate (WTC) before and after each practice session (N=14). This is a mixed-methods research where data were collected through (i) a questionnaire answered by the pre-service teachers and (ii) the lecturer’s linguistic and didactic excursuses.
Results: The results show a high degree of WTC among the pre-service teachers, mainly as result of the Instructed Foreign Language Acquisition (IFLA)-based teaching practice model implemented, including linguistic training in German and didactic training (e.g., excursuses) in Spanish (L1). Factors like grouping increase the pre-service teachers’ WTC, while factors like talking to someone they know little about decrease it. However, personal traits need to be considered when it comes to WTC, even with individuals who share similar language proficiency.
Implication: The innovation of this teacher training methodology lies in the coordinated combination of linguistic (i.e., IFLA-based teaching model) and didactic training. IFLA-based teaching practices are evaluated positively by the pre-service teachers in terms of linguistic and didactic training and WTC. Final recommendations are suggested about teaching methodology.

Background: Academic writing is a complex and demanding activity in which students have to regulate their (meta)cognitive, motivational, and linguistic processes and self-regulatory writing strategies might serve as a tool to accomplish writing tasks. The research was done as part of a verification of Zimmerman & Risemberg’s (1997) model of self-regulation in writing. Previous research on the relationships between students’ self-regulated learning (SRL) and writing performance has suggested their positive impact.
Purpose: This paper provides insights into Croatian university students’ first/second language (L1/L2) writing performance regarding the SRL strategy use.
Method: Students’ written performance in both L1 (Croatian) and L2 (English) was checked, and the contributions of SRL and sociodemographic factors were explored. A total of 104 students from the initial and final years of teacher education study were included in the research. A quantitative research method was used including the following instruments: The learning orientation scale, the Perceived academic control scale, the Croatian version of the values subscale, Writing strategies questionnaire.
Results: Descriptive analyses revealed that students’L1/L2 writing proficiency was on average. There was no difference between L1 and L2 writing proficiency. Furthermore, the study showed that students mostly initiated learning goal orientation, writing tasks were valuable to them and they had more results of academic control over the mentioned tasks. Participants mostly used the most effective writing strategy - checking and correcting the text. The final study year students had better L1 writing proficiency compared to the initial study year students. Such results were expected since students were exposed to the extensive L1 academic experience, which was not the case with the exposure to learning English as a foreign language (EFL learning), resulting in a lower level of L2 essay writing proficiency. Success in L1 writing proficiency was explained more by cognitive and less by sociodemographic and motivational factors. The greater academic control over writing assignments and the lower goal orientation on avoiding effort was shown, the greater success was achieved. Success in L2 writing proficiency was mostly explained by cognitive factors, but also significantly by some sociodemographic and motivational factors. The higher GPA in L2 and the less asking for help and writing by the model strategy was employed, the greater success in writing assignments was achieved. The study indicated the importance of mastering SRL, especially cognitive factors in both L1 and L2 learning.
Implication: The implications of the study were discussed which may benefit L1/L2 teachers to teach their students SRL writing strategies by which students could self-regulate their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours throughout the writing process to achieve academic success.

Background: The link between context and identity is of paramount importance to language teaching and learning. Yet, less attention has been paid to the identity aspects in various EFL contexts.
Purpose: This study examined the identity aspects of EFL learners attending both public and private English language classes through self-reflection.
Method: In this mixed-methods design, 128 conveniently chosen EFL learners, including both genders, responded to the Identity Aspects Questionnaire, and 23 of those participants were invited to a follow-up semi-structured interview to triangulate the questionnaire data. The study conducted Paired Samples T-Test for quantitative data, whereas qualitative data underwent thematic analysis to extract and codify the themes.
Results: The results revealed no significant differences for personal and relational identity aspects over these two EFL contexts, while collective and social ones reached differences. The qualitative data indicated that the EFL learners synergically adapt and adopt some identities through retention and creation. The shared identity between the two EFL classes mainly occurred in personal and relational aspects, while social and collective ones seemed relatively varied. The participants held both individualistic and collectivistic cultural dimensions in these two EFL classes. However, they were more idiocentric in private English language institutes and more socio-centric in public high schools. The discussion concerning identity issues indicated that EFL contexts affect the socializing process. The individuals position in a context according to their shared identities, while the varied identities lead them to form or adopt new identities.
Implication: These findings could help ELT teachers and researchers to expand their perception of language learners’ identities in different EFL contexts.

Research background: The development of listening comprehension in a foreign language is a complex process, interrelated with the progress in other language skills, and could be affected by numerous variables, including age. This study responds to middle-aged adults’ complaints about their difficulties in listening comprehension in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) by examining the relationship between the success in listening comprehension in EFL and age.
Gap in knowledge and Purpose of the study: Although age is considered a crucial factor in language acquisition, there is a lack of studies providing evidence on the relationship between age and listening comprehension achievement in a foreign language in adult learners. This study aimed to find out whether age is one of the significant factors affecting listening comprehension in relation to other language skills.
Methods: Quantitative data analysis was used to determine the relationship between the success in listening comprehension in EFL and age in 1,323 Czech adults. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the success in listening in three age groups, tested within five academic years. Then a generalized linear model was used to assess the relationship between the success in listening and age.
Findings and Value added: The analysis of variance has shown that the age group 21—30 achieved significantly better results in listening than the age group 41—60 at p < .05. The logistic regression curve has illustrated a gradual increase in the percentage of ‘unsuccessful listeners’ aged 25 to 52 in relation to age. Thus, the study offers empirical evidence that there is a negative correlation between the success in listening comprehension in a foreign language and age. Educators should assist adult learners in developing knowledge, skills and strategies to overcome listening comprehension difficulties with respect to increasing age.

Research background: The effectiveness of Corrective feedback has been a controversial issue and thus a central part of second language writing instruction worldwide.
Gap in knowledge and Purpose of the study: It has been argued that the provision of written corrective feedback can affect the complexity of the written text negatively, and the issue is not sufficiently investigated. Therefore, this studyinvestigated the effects of two types of comprehensive written corrective feedback strategies: direct corrective feedback (DCF), and metalinguistic explanation (ME) on L2 learners’ written syntactic complexity.
Methods: This study was quasi-experimental and used a pretest-intervention-posttest-delayed-posttest design. Participants were 90 Turkish EFL upper-intermediate learners, whose L2 proficiency and L2 writing skills were controlled by administering the Oxford Placement Test and the IELTS Writing Task 2 test. They were assigned to three groups: DCF, ME, and NF (i.e., no feedback on grammatical errors).The treatment/control period lasted for five weeks. Every week, each participant wrote an essay of argument-led type in class and then received the specified feedback. No work was done on writing for the two-week interval between the posttest and delayed posttest. Lu’s (2010) web-based L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyser was utilised to calculate the syntactic complexity measures. The MANOVA test was utilized to find the results.
Findings and Value added: It was revealed the ME group was not significantly different from the NF group. The DCF group significantly outperformed the ME group in the clauses per sentence (C/S) of the texts both in posttests and delayed-posttests. The DCF group also significantly outperformed the NF group in the clauses per T-unit (C/T), complex T-units per T-unit (CP/T), and C/S in posttests, but the positive effect of the DCF on CP/T was not durable after the two-week interval.

Background and Purpose: This perspective article supports the need of an alternative plurilingual model to teaching languages to assert immigrants’ identities in Canada.
Approach: It examines the interplay between language and identity in immigration contexts, and investigates current language teaching models, including limitations, adopted in Canada. Although the article discusses the case of Quebec where the official language is French, it is not limited or restricted to a specific context. The case of Quebec is only given as an example to illustrate potential challenges immigrants might face in Canada.
Results and Implication: This article sheds light on advantageous future research orientations pertaining to immigrants’ identities in the language learning process. It can also inform language policies and pedagogies in Canada and other immigration contexts.

Background: The English language occupies a prominent role in today’s globalized world. The importance of this language is on the increase to the extent that this has become a major concern for governments, curriculum designers, educators, and parents. There are several factors, which contribute to achieving the successful learning of the English language. One of these factors is the role of the family and their involvement in the language development of their children.
Purpose and Method: The present systematic review is framed in a descriptive qualitative approach since its main objective is to analyze articles that contain information regarding family’s role and their challenging pedagogical commitment with their children to the learning of the English language. For this purpose, 16 empirical studies retrieved from SCOPUS and the Web of Science database published between 2016 and 2021 in different EFL contexts were analyzed. The present work followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and was analyzed thematically. Four themes were identified from the empirical studies and were discussed further.
Results: The results clearly suggest that the higher commitment of parents is directly proportional to the success rate in the learning of the English language. It also revealed the need for integrating the Family in the English language learning process and be considered while formulating any language/educational policy as well as curriculum development involving English as a foreign language (EFL) learning context in the future. Finally, the study provides information on limitations and implications followed by a conclusion.