Mirosław Pawlak

Adam Mickiewicz University | UAM

James P. Lantolf, Greer Professor in Applied Linguistics, Emeritus, the Pennsylvania State University. From 2017 to 2020 he was Yangtze River (Changjiang) Professor of Applied Linguistics in the School of Foreign Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University. He was president of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (2005), and received its Disting...

Peter D. MacIntyre is a full professor of psychology at Cape Breton University. His research focusses on the psychology of language and communication. He has published over 150 journal articles and chapters on topics such as emotions, flow, motivation, willingness to communicate, and personality. His most cited papers often focus on methods and met...

Although the number of studies into boredom in second and/or foreign language (L2) learning is evidently on the rise and our understanding of this negative emotion has been considerably extended, surprisingly, empirical evidence is still scant with respect to boredom experienced in out-of-school situations. This study addresses this gap by: (1) exa...

NOTE: The timeline for this special issue has been updated as of August 4, 2023. For more information please visit: https://www.lltjournal.org/post/17/

The aim of this study was to test a model of second language (L2) boredom based on coping self-efficacy (CSE), foreign language enjoyment (FLE), and mindfulness among English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. In so doing, 456 EFL learners from Iran took part in this study by completing an online survey which included scales tapping into the fou...

Interlanguage pragmatics has been the focus of many studies since its inception in the 1980s, with several issues being investigated and a variety of approaches being applied. However, studies on the learning processes and strategies which are specifically responsible for the acquisition of interlanguage pragmatics (ILP) knowledge are rare. Therefo...

The present research used a longitudinal framework to test a model of willingness to communicate (L2WTC), informal digital learning of English (IDLE), and foreign language boredom (FLB) in learning English as a foreign language among 325 Iranian university students attending a course in general English for four months via a latent change score medi...

The aim of this research was set to test a model of willingness to communicate (WTC) based on ideal L2 self, foreign language enjoyment (FLE), and intercultural communicative competence (ICC) among English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. To this end, 601 intermediate EFL learners volunteered to take part in an online survey by completing the...

The paper accepted for publication in International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching. Boredom has recently become the subject of inquiry in L2 studies, which has resulted, among others, in the development and validation of several boredom-measuring scales mostly through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor ana...

Results of Univariate latent change score models To assess within-system growth patterns across four times, competing models were evaluated independently for FLE, FLP, and FLB. The evaluation of model fit was made via the consideration of several indices. Table 1 displays fit metrics for univariate FLE models. The constant change model of FLE (whic...

In a dynamic system, time-dependent links between affective factors can provide more information than the level of response within a single isolated system. In the present study, influenced by the positive psychology movement and the complex dynamic systems theory in the domain of second language acquisition, first, we dealt with change in terms of...

The study intended to describe profiles of three achievement emotions (enjoyment, boredom, anxiety), their associations with each other and with control-value appraisals within the framework of the control-value theory. A total of 2002 Chinese university EFL students from 11 universities in China participated in the questionnaire survey. Descriptiv...

Free eprints: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ZPBHIEIZDDAQJV7SXG2S/full?target=10.1080/09588221.2021.1907416 The paper presents the results of a quasi-experimental study which was conducted with a view to determining the effect of an intervention in the form of the application of teacher-designed Internet-based resources (i.e., websites, pod-ca...

The current study aimed to examine how university students complain and how teachers respond to their complaints. Data were collected from 40 undergraduate students and 40 university teachers at a private Egyptian university using role-plays. Students’ complaints were coded with the use of an adapted version of Trosborg’s (1995) coding scheme for c...

Recently research on boredom has gained momentum in the field of applied linguistics. Both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) have been used to validate the Boredom in Practical English Classes – Revised scale (BPELC-R). Yet, these techniques are not free from limitations. In order to address these limitations,...

Although there is consensus that second language grammar instruction is needed, some controversial issues remain. Whatever instructional options are selected, it is vital that they allow the development of not only explicit knowledge but also implicit or at least automatized knowledge that can be used in real-time interaction. Since this aim is dif...

The present study examines the direct and indirect relationships between classroom environment (CE), L2 (second/foreign language) learner emotions (i.e. enjoyment, anxiety and boredom), and their willingness to communicate (WTC) in classes for English as a foreign language (EFL). Participants were 2,268 university students in China. Pearson correla...

This study aimed to test a model of classroom social climate, growth language mindset, boredom, and student engagement among English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. In addition, the mediating role of boredom in this structural model was examined. To this end, 287 English major students from various universities in Iran participated in the stu...

This book syntheses cutting-edge research on the role of individual differences (IDs) in the field of SLA and in computer assisted language learning. It also outlines the theoretical and methodological issues at the heart of this research, presents empirical findings and charts future directions of this research. Pawlak and Kruk provide an overview...

Grit is among the individual difference (ID) variables that have recently come to the attention of researchers investigating second language acquisition. While some empirical evidence has been accumulated, it is clearly scant and limited, also because of the fact that many studies have looked into domain-general grit rather than this attribute as r...

Relatively few studies in the field of second language acquisition have undertaken to investigate the interrelationships of constellations of individual difference variables. This is certainly true of how complexes of ID factors impact motivation to learn an additional language. In order to address this gap, the paper reports a study that examined...

Although research into boredom has gained popularity in traditional, in-person English classes over the past few years, still little is known about this context-bound, aversive, and multifaceted emotion in other settings such as those prompted by the sudden COVID-19 outbreak. With this gap in mind, and given the situated nature of boredom, in this...

The present research aimed to explore the dynamic growth of two emotional constructs: foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language learning boredom (FLLB) among L2 learners. To do so, we used a method that would capture the inherent dynamicity of L2 learners’ enjoyment and boredom during an EFL course. To this aim, a bivariate latent growt...

The present study employed an interpretive approach to investigate individual learners’ viewpoints on foreign language learning boredom (FLLB). To this aim, a Q method, which has features of both qualitative and quantitative research approaches, was used to explore 37 Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ perceptions of the potentia...

The present research aimed to explore the dynamic growth of two emotional constructs: foreign language enjoyment (FLE) and foreign language learning boredom (FLLB) among L2 learners. To do so, we used a method that would capture the inherent dynamicity of L2 learners’ enjoyment and boredom during an EFL course. To this aim, a bivariate latent growt...

English as a medium of instruction (EMI) has been extensively growing as a global phenomenon in higher education. This study investigates the predictive impact of mediating variables – non-linguistic factors (i.e., students' type of motivation, self-regulation skills, and self-efficacy) and linguistic factors (i.e., general English proficiency) – o...

Learning a second and/or a foreign language (L2) is accompanied by both positive and negative emotions which influence the quality, dynamics and efficiency of this process. One of the achievement emotions that has only recently been recognized by second language acquisition (SLA) researchers as an important individual difference (ID) factor is bore...

The concept of boredom has recently attracted the attention of researchers in L2 education. As most of the available literature has focused on traditional, in-person classes, very little is known about how L2 students experience this aversive emotion in online classes, especially those prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. To fill this gap, this large...

The crucial role of individual difference (ID) variables in second language acquisition has long been attested to. It has also been acknowledged that ID factors need to be explored in a contextual manner as their role and impact might vary across learning environments. This is also true about study abroad (SA) where constellations of ID variables d...

Although boredom has been the subject of increasing scrutiny in second language (L2) learning recently, very little is known about how this emotion can affect teachers and students involved in Covid-19 prompted online English education. To address this gap, through maximum variation sampling, this qualitative study surveyed the opinions of 34 teach...

The foreign and second language (L2) learning process is shaped by a constellation of individual difference (ID) factors, some of which (e.g., age, anxiety, motivation, aptitude, learning styles, language learning strategies) have long been investigated by specialists, whereas others have only recently attracted their attention. One of such underex...

The study aimed to examine temporal change of boredom in English classes (BPELC) and test the longitudinal validity of the boredom in practical English classes-revised (BPELC-R) scale via longitudinal confirmatory factor analysis-curve of factors model (LCFA-CFM) approach. This approach ensures measurement invariance of BPELC over time, deals with...

In this study we used a factor of curves model (FCM) to examine the codevelopment of the subdomains of boredom in practical English language classes in an online setting (BPELC) over time in four phases of an online L2 course to explore the covariance of the initial level and slope of the sub-domains, as well as to check to what extent the variatio...

The preceding chapters have provided a backdrop to the research project by offering an overview of the relevant theoretical issues and empirical findings regarding the link between ID variables and the knowledge of English grammar as well as the ways in which relationships of this kind were investigated. The aim of the present chapter is to report...

In response to a request to comment on the essence of L2 grammar, the vast majority of individuals would in all likelihood simply start talking about the knowledge of rules, the ability to explain them and the capacity to use them correctly, presumably in controlled exercises (e.g., putting the verbs in brackets in the right form or paraphrasing) o...

As was made evident in the preceding chapter, there is still a paucity of research that would look into the mediating role of ID variables in determining both the process and outcomes of L2 learning. Several caveats are in order at this point. First, most of the existing empirical evidence is related to the mastery of TL grammar, whether it is conc...

Although there are numerous studies that have investigated the impact of various instructional options and teaching processes on the development of L2 knowledge, relatively few of them have also taken into account the mediating role of ID factors or have narrowly focused on such that may be of limited relevance to practitioners.

The focus of Chap. 1 was primarily on the nature of L2 grammar knowledge, in particular in terms of the crucial distinction between explicit and implicit (highly automatized) knowledge as well as issues involved in the measurement of different dimensions of such knowledge. The present chapter goes a step further by considering the role of individua...

Nauczaniu i uczeniu się języka obcego towarzyszą emocje – tak o negatywnym, jak i pozytywnym zabarwieniu oraz o różnej intensywności ich odczuwania. Autorzy artykułu oferują krótki przegląd badań empirycznych koncentrujących się na obu grupach emocji i wskazują, że każda z nich powinna być uwzględniana w klasie językowej. Zwracają też uwagę na to,...

Despite the growing body of research on boredom in traditional, in-person English classes, little is known about how this silent, aversive emotion is experienced by students learning English in online classes prompted by the current COVID-19 health crisis. To fill this gap, the present study explores causes of and solutions to boredom as well as th...

Boredom is one of the most pervasive and unpleasant emotions in school settings, yet it still remains a neglected and underappreciated research area (Daschmann, Goetz, and Stupnisky, 2011. “Testing the predictors of boredom at school: Development and validation of the precursors to boredom scales.” British Journal of Educational Psychology 81: 421–...

While the need for grammar instruction has always been a highly controversial issue, there is currently broad consensus that such pedagogical intervention is facilitative and may even be indispensable in some contexts (e.g., Loewen, 2020; Nassaji, 2017; Larsen-Freeman, 2014; Pawlak, 2014, 2017, 2020a). However, there is still little agreement on th...

Second language acquisition (SLA) researchers have long been engaged in investigating the effect of a range of learner individual differences (IDs, e.g., motivation, anxiety and aptitude) on L2 learning and achievement. At the same time, there are no more than a few studies focusing of on learner personality and its place in SLA and the relationshi...

Although recent years have seen a growing interest in positive emotions in second or foreign language learning and teaching, negative emotions are always present in the classroom and they deserve to be investigated in their own right. The article focuses on boredom, a construct that has been explored in educational psychology but has received only...

This paper reports the findings of a study that investigated the relationship between phonological short-term memory (PSTM), working memory capacity (WMC), and the level of mastery of L2 grammar. Grammatical mastery was operationalized as the ability to produce and comprehend English passive voice with reference to explicit and implicit (or highly...

Despite a growing focus on positive psychology in recent years, negative emotions have not ceased to play a crucial role in learning additional languages in the classroom. This paper reports a study that investigated one such negative emotion – boredom – as experienced by 115 advanced learners of English. They were asked to write a descriptive para...

Language learning strategies (LLS), or “actions chosen by learners for the purpose of language learning” ( Griffiths, 2018) have been the object of empirical inquiry for over four decades since specialists identified their adept use as one of the characteristics of good language learners (e.g., Rubin, 1975).

The construct of a directed motivational current (DMC), or “. . . a surge of motivational energy that seemingly picks an individual up and carries them sometimes unimaginable distances” (p. xvi) was introduced into research on motivation in second and foreign language (L2) learning less than a decade ago (e.g., Dörnyei, Ibrahim, & Muir, 2015; Muir...

Edukacja hybrydowa (ang. blended learning) to kompromis między tradycyjną lekcją a używaniem w procesie nauczania i uczenia się nowych technologii oraz zasobów internetu. Chcąc połączyć te dwie formy, warto wykorzystać potencjał światów wirtualnych, tak podczas zajęć, jak i przy zadawaniu prac domowych. Artykuł prezentuje wyniki ankiety dotyczącej...

The present chapter is devoted to the presentation and discussion of the results of the study undertaken for the purpose of the present volume. Specifically, it focuses on the outcomes of the in-depth analysis of the patterns of boredom as well as the influences shaping these patterns in the four integrated skills classes taught to two groups of Po...

The previous two chapters have provided an overview of crucial issues related to the experience of boredom in educational contexts, thus offering a backdrop to the study reported on in the remainder of this book. To be more specific, Chapter One focused on the efforts to define boredom, the theoretical perspectives that have striven to shed light o...

This chapter aims to delve into the essence of boredom and specify its place in the process of second and foreign language learning. The concept of boredom has only recently attracted the attention of second language acquisition (SLA) researchers, which explains why it is still an insufficiently researched and thus poorly understood emotion in this...

The present monograph has been dedicated to the experience of boredom, an academic emotion that is pervasive in educational contexts, including such that involve the learning and teaching of additional languages, but at the same time it has been sidelined by both SLA researchers and foreign language teachers. This is because, on the one hand, there...

The present chapter aims to provide an overview of empirical investigations into the much neglected phenomenon of boredom, first, with respect to educational psychology, and, second, in relation to L2 learning.

This paper explores the underappreciated phenomenon of boredom and its causes in relation to practical English classes attended by university students majoring in English as a foreign language. It begins with a brief description of boredom where the focus is on its components, intensity and factors contributing to the experience of this negative em...

The book focuses on boredom, a construct that has been explored in educational psychology but has received only scant attention from second language acquisition researchers. Although recent years have seen a growing interest in positive emotions in second or foreign language learning and teaching, negative emotions are always present in the classro...

The paper explores study abroad (SA) experiences concerning interrelationships of three individual difference (ID) variables: motivated learning behavior, self-efficacy beliefs and self-regulatory strategy use (SRSU). This study was motivated by the increasing availability of SA programs in Europe (European Commission, 2018) and the accompanying ne...

Lessons from Good Language Teachers - edited by Carol Griffiths April 2020

Lessons from Good Language Teachers - edited by Carol Griffiths April 2020

Although boredom can be regarded as a ubiquitous emotion in most educational settings, including foreign and second language classrooms, and this condition can have a detrimental effect on the process of learning, it has to a large extent escaped the attention of second language acquisition researchers dealing with individual learner differences. T...

Although boredom is among the most commonly experienced emotions in the foreign and second (L2) language classroom, it has so far been given little empirical attention compared to other learner variables, such as anxiety, joy or interest. This paper provides an overview of previous research examining various aspects of boredom in L2 learning and re...

As some language tests may be more anxiety-provoking than others, anxiety, other affective reactions, and related perceptions evoked by the English oral elicited imitation test (EI), a sentence repetition task measuring the implicit knowledge of grammar in a way not resembling natural communication, were investigated during first-time administratio...

Examining boredom in practical English classes as viewed from the macro and micro perspectives Although boredom is among the most frequently experienced academic emotions, it has received surprisingly little attention from L2 researchers and teachers. This paper aims to discuss and evaluate the existing quantitative and qualitative instruments that...

While there is copious evidence concerning the effectiveness of different instructional options in teaching grammar (e.g., Nassaji, 2017 ; Pawlak, 2017 ), less is known about the extent to which the contribution of pedagogical intervention is mediated by individual factors. The same can be said about the product of instructed but also uninstructed...

Boredom is one of the few individual learner variables whose negative influence on foreign language learning has not yet been fully realized and examined, although this negative emotion is reported to pervade school settings. This is why this paper focuses on the place of boredom in the foreign language classroom. It consists of two parts, theoreti...

Major advances have been made in research on language learning strategies (LLS) since it was triggered by good language learner studies (e.g. Rubin, 1975). Numerous accounts of strategy use have been compiled, key classifications have been proposed, some progress has been made towards furthering our understanding of the complex relationship between...

Although major advances have been made in research on language learning strategies (LLS), there are some areas that have been somewhat surprisingly neglected by specialists. This applies without doubt to the strategies that learners draw on to better understand and learn grammar rules but also to employ grammar structures in real-time processing, a...

Learners’ beliefs concerning the process of learning and teaching a foreign language without doubt play a very important role since they can determine the effectiveness of the instructional techniques and procedures that are employed by teachers, thereby considerably influencing the outcomes of that process. This applies in equal measure to teachin...

The process and outcome of second or foreign language (L2) learning are mediated by an array of variables, the most important of which are perhaps individual difference (ID) factors (cf. Dörnyei, 2005; Dörnyei, Ryan, 2015; Pawlak, 2012a, 2017a). It is therefore not surprising that such factors have been addressed by hundreds, if not thousands, of s...

Willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second language is the outcomeof mutual influences of a wide array of psychological, linguistic, educationaland communicative factors, including those that are dependenton a specific situation, such as the character of a particular class or thetask being performed. All of them can increase or decrease the level...

Second language acquisition research often involves the need to determine the degree of attainment in the target language, either with a view to establishing the effects of a specific pedagogic intervention or to gaining insights into the relationship between the proficiency level and some other variable, such as strategy use, anxiety or motivation...

The phonological loop, which is a component of working memory, is considered to be one of the most significant factors affecting L1 and L2 learning. In order to measure this construct properly, a reliable instrument in the native language of the participants is needed. The purpose of this paper is to present the Polish Nonword Span PNWSPAN, which i...

Although there is a considerable body of research aiming to determine the effectiveness of different techniques and procedures in promoting the mastery of grammar structures in the target language, little is still known about how this effectiveness is mediated by individual difference (ID) variables, which, in turn, may determine learner engagement...

Disparate goals that learners might have in learning second or foreign language pronunciation and the scant classroom time that can be dedicated to teaching this target language subsystem dictate that learner autonomy is of vital importance in this case and adept use of pronunciation learning strategies (PLS) can be viewed as key to the development...

Despite all the progress that has been made in research on language learning strategies since the publication of Rubin’s (1975) seminal paper on good language learners, there are areas that have been neglected by strategy experts. Perhaps the most blatant manifestation of this neglect is the paucity of research into grammar learning strategies (GLS...

In this concluding paper to the special issue (SI) we seek to achieve three main goals. First, based on the papers it included in the SI, other recent publications as well as our own ideas, we point to the future directions of research into language learning strategies. Second, we comment upon the methodological issues that such research inevitably...

Although multilingualism has become a fact of life in the last few decades, this phenomenon has largely failed to find a reflection in research on language learning strategies. Even when scholars have addressed this issue, it has mostly been done with the purpose of proving the advantage of multilingualism over bilingualism, and scant attention has...

Although the ability to speak is usually seen as a key manifestation of learners’ ability in the target language they are attempting to master, research has not given ample attention to strategies that can be employed to enhance this skill. In fact, the bulk of such empirical investigations has mainly focused on communication strategies that are re...

While a lot of research has been conducted into the effects of different instructional techniques, little is known about how their contribution is moderated by individual (ID) difference variables. The study aimed to fill this gap by investigating the effect of three different types of input-based intervention as a function of the use of grammar le...

There has been a major shift in research on second language motivation in the last fifteen years, with researchers becoming more and more interested in how this attribute changes over time rather than merely establishing the reasons for learning and seeking relationships between levels of motivation and attainment (cf. Dörnyei, 2005; Dörnyei & Ryan...

This edited collection brings together papers by eminent scholars who attempt to demonstrate how challenges can most successfully be ameliorated with an eye to enhancing the effectiveness of the processes of language teaching and learning. In Part One, emphasis is placed on challenges that second language education has to face, both those more gen...

This edited collection provides a state-of-the art overview of research on willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second and foreign language. In particular, it includes innovative studies seeking to demonstrate the ways in which WTC can be examined within the framework of complex dynamic systems, how the construct is related to self-assessment, ret...

This book offers a comprehensive account of individual differences variables as well as contextual factors that impinge on second language learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC). Firstly, it adopts a macro-perspective on WTC, which entails an attempt to identify variables that are related to WTC, taking into account the specificity of the Polis...

Individual differences in second language acquisition (SLA) encompass differences in working memory capacity, which is believed to be one of the most crucial factors influencing language learning. However, in Poland research on the role of working memory in SLA is scarce due to a lack of proper Polish instruments for measuring this construct. The p...

As is the case with the learning of other language skills and subsystems, success in learning foreign language grammar entails taking charge of one’s own learning and going beyond the requirements specified by the teacher. This is particularly important if it is acknowledged that complete mastery of this subsystem is by no means confined to the fam...