Designing pedagogic tasks for refugees learning English to enter universities in the Netherlands

There has been growing awareness that refugees profit from being involved in meaningful activities soon after arriving in their new country of residence. Learning the language of the host country seems to be a priority of many initiatives. Yet, in countries like the Netherlands, highly educated refugees might benefit more from initially improving their academic English, as this provides access to higher education and allows them to (re)enter professional life. Drawing on a small-scale needs analysis, this case study showcases the design and implementation of pedagogic tasks that intend to support refugees learning English in the Netherlands for academic or professional purposes

Chatting with Your Peers across Modalities:Effects of Performing Increasingly Complex Written Computer-Mediated Tasks on Oral L2 Development

This study investigates whether peer interaction in a second language (L2) using written computer-mediated communication (CMC or text chat) may function as a bridge into oral performance. By designing and sequencing tasks according to the SSARC model of task complexity (we also examine its effects on L2 development. Finally, we explore the role of learners’ affective variables for L2 performance and development. Fifteen low–intermediate adolescent refugee learners of L2 English in the Netherlands participated in the study. Using a within-subject pre-test post-test design, we examined their language performance in both text-based CMC and face-to-face (F2F) tasks before and after a task-based classroom intervention. Results show that the intervention had a significant and strong effect on most of the linguistic measures of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). Similar gains in text chat and oral interaction provide evidence that a direct transfer of language experiences across modalities can occur. Together with the fact that most participants valued the use of written CMC in the classroom, our findings indicate that increasingly complex text chat tasks can be an effective way to promote the oral skills of language learners. We discuss our findings in light of how the design of written CMC tasks can afford L2 development across modalities

An exploratory study on the aspects of vocabulary knowledge addressed in EAP textbooks

Vocabulary knowledge, which plays an important role in foreign or second language (L2) learning, involves a range of aspects such as form and meaning, grammatical functions, or word parts. Little research, however, has investigated how aspects of vocabulary knowledge are addressed in L2 textbooks. This study aims to fill that gap by examining the aspects of vocabulary knowledge that English for Academic Purposes (EAP) textbooks pay attention to. To that end, four EAP textbooks of upper-intermediate and advanced levels were investigated. A total of 873 vocabulary activities were identified and analysed based on Nation (2013) and Brown’s (2011) frameworks. Results show that grammatical functions, associations, and word parts receive the most attention in the EAP textbooks while written form, constraints on use, and spoken form receive the least attention. The findings also demonstrate variations among the EAP textbooks in their amounts of attention to different aspects of word knowledge.status: accepte

Lexical and syntactic alignment during English-Spanish teletandem meetings

First language (L1) interactants quickly develop a coordinated form of communication, reusing each other's linguistic choices and aligning to their partner (Pickering & Garrod, 2021). More recently, research became interested in second language (L2) alignment (cf., Kim & Michel, this issue). Earlier work has shown that both lexical and syntactic alignment can be found in L2 dialogue, with task type and context as potential mediating factors (e.g., Dao, Trofimovich, & Kennedy, 2018). This study adds to the existing work on alignment in second language production by exploring task effects in English-Spanish teletandem conversations. Twenty-nine English-Spanish tandem pairs completed video-based free conversation and Spot-the-Difference tasks, alternating the language of communication: both participants acted as L2 learner and as L1 expert in turns. The 174 task performances were scrutinized for alignment by identifying the number of overlapping lexical and syntactic n-grams (cf., Michel & Smith, 2018). We compared alignment between paired students (i.e., real pairs) to ‘coincidental overlap’ in created conversations of randomly combined speaker pairs. Results showed significantly more alignment by real than random pairs, and more syntactic than lexical alignment, while task effects were mixed. We discuss our findings in light of telecollaborative task-based interaction as support for L2 development

Exploring the relationship of working memory to the temporal distribution of pausing and revision behaviors during L2 writing

This study examined the extent to which L2 writers with varied working memory display differential pausing and revision behaviors at different periods during writing. The participants were 30 advanced Chinese L2 users of English, who wrote an argumentative essay. While composing, participants’ keystrokes and eye-gaze movements were recorded to capture their pausing, revision, and eye-gaze behaviors. The working memory battery included tests of phonological and visual short-term memory and executive functions. We divided the writing process into five equal periods. The results revealed that participants’ pausing and revision patterns were consistent with previous findings that planning, linguistic encoding, and monitoring processes dominate the initial, middle, and later composing periods, respectively. Various working memory components had differential effects on pausing depending on period, largely reflecting the predictions of Kellogg’s (1996, 2001) model. However, we identified no differences in the temporal distribution of revision behaviors contingent on working memory