卷 6, 编号 2 (2020)

Although emotional intelligence (EI) and metacognitive strategies have been addressed by different researchers across the globe, the relationship between EI and the use of metacognitive reading strategies by L2 learners needs further exploration. To fill this gap, at least partially, the present study investigated the relationship between emotional intelligence and the use of metacognitive reading strategies by EFL learners. Based on the convenience sampling method, 119 Iranian EFL learners across the age range of 18-27 were selected as the earlier subjects. These subjects were then homogenized through the administration of the PET reading test, which reduced the number of the participants to 102 intermediate EFL. The main instruments included Bar-On's (1997) Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire and Mokhtari and Sheorey’s (2002) Survey of Reading Strategies Questionnaire (SORS) that measured metacognitive reading strategies use. The results revealed a moderate and positive correlation between a) emotional intelligence and the use of metacognitive reading strategies; b) intrapersonal skills, interpersonal skills, adaptability, and general mood and global metacognitive strategies; c) intrapersonal skills, interpersonal skills, and general mood and problem-solving metacognitive strategies; and d) intrapersonal skills, interpersonal skills, and general mood and support metacognitive strategies. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis results indicated that the EI scales of general mood and interpersonal skills significantly contributed to the prediction of the use of metacognitive reading strategies by EFL learners.

Equipping students with intercultural competence (hereafter IC) is a critical aim of English foreign language classrooms nowadays, and EFL teachers have emerged as essential players for accomplishing this. These teachers should essentially be competent in their intercultural skills so that they can pass these on to their students in order to foster interculturally competent language learners. However, teachers' perceptions regarding IC remain uncertain, particularly in the Turkish context. Thus, before asking teachers to apply methods and strategies so that they can enhance students’ IC in the classroom, it is vital that we investigate what they understand about IC. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed to reveal middle and high school teachers’ understanding of the IC phenomenon and their description of the characteristics of an interculturally competent foreign language learner and teacher. In addition, teachers’ perceptions regarding their own and their learners’ IC were also explored in this study. The participants were 30 middle and high school English language teachers teaching at state schools in Turkey. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the data. MAXQDA was exploited in order to analyse the data, primarily to code, categorize, and systematize the findings. The results indicated that the teachers considered IC to be the ability to communicate with people from various cultures effectively, having knowledge about one’s own, target, and other cultures, and developing positive attitudes toward other cultures and societies. They also emphasized the inseparability of language and culture and the importance of English as an international language. The teachers also indicated why they viewed themselves and their learners as interculturally competent or incompetent, which could provide insight into where to start intercultural learning and teaching in foreign language classrooms and how to train EFL teachers about different dimensions of IC.

This quasi-experimental study explores the relative efficacy of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and face-to-face picture book storytelling for promoting young EFL learners’ English word acquisition. Thirty-two young EFL learners participated in a 40-minute story session in the two aforementioned modes. Receptive and productive word gains were assessed through immediate and delayed receptive vocabulary tests and productive story recall tests. To better explain how the CMC and face-to-face settings affected the participants’ word gains, their involvement in the two types of storytelling settings was evaluated using an involvement load survey. The results show that the participants’ task involvement was higher in the face-to-face setting than the CMC setting, which led to better word gains. Within each setting, high-involvement participants’ word gain was better than that of their low-involvement counterparts. However, the difference between high-involvement and low-involvement participants was only manifest in the receptive word gains for the participants in the CMC setting, but not the productive word gains. These findings suggest that face-to-face storytelling might be the more effective setting when picture book storytelling is adopted to promote EFL young learners’ word gains, especially for receptive word gains.

The present research explored L2 motivation, demographic variables and Chinese proficiency among adult learners of Chinese as a second language. A total of 83 international students studying in a Chinese university in Beijing answered the 54-item L2MSS questionnaire and a Demographic Questionnaire. Analyses of the data revealed the following findings: a) the L2MSS scales were significantly highly related to one another and highly reliable, b) ideal L2 self was significantly correlated with gender and the number of foreign languages learned (NFLL); integrativeness was significantly positively related to NFLL, c) the whole sample, as well as male and female participants, scored high on all L2MSS scales and had (great) motivation to study Chinese, d) female respondents held significantly more favorable perceptions of their ideal selves than their male peers, and e) L2SSM had no predictive effect or interactive effect with demographic variables on the students’ Chinese proficiency. Nevertheless, length of stay in China and gender proved to be powerful positive predictors for the latter. Evidently, the L2MSS scales are important dimensions of L2 motivation and closely related to second/foreign language learning. Understandably, it is necessary to continuously explore, understand and enhance students’ L2 motivation.

Writers are often judged by their audience, and these evaluations can encompass both the text and the authors. This study built upon prior research on writing evaluation and error perceptions to examine how interconnected or separable are these judgments. Using a within-subjects design, college students evaluated four essays demonstrating no errors, lower-level errors, higher-level errors, or both types. Evaluations included writing quality traits (e.g., conventions, ideas, organization, sentence fluency, and voice) and author characteristics (e.g., creativity, intelligence, generosity, and kindness). Exploratory factor analyses identified latent constructs within these ratings. One construct, Writing Quality and Skill, appeared to combine writing traits and authors’ intellectual ability (e.g., intelligence and knowledgeability). The second construct, Author Personality, seemed to comprise interpersonal author traits (e.g., kindness and loyalty). The two constructs were significantly and positively correlated. These results suggest that students tended to form holistic impressions of writing quality and authors rather than distinct judgments about individual traits. The spillover onto perceptions of authors’ personal characteristics may be representative of latent biases. Student raters were also more sensitive to lower-level errors than higher-level errors. Implications for biases and training related to peer assessment are discussed.