Scott Aubrey

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Associate Professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong

This study examined the relationship between task-specific emotions and learners' use of planned content at two stages of a spoken task performance (i.e., problem and solution stage). Twenty-eight upper-intermediate English-as-a-second language learners from Hong Kong engaged in 10-minutes of collaborative pre-task planning before performing a 3-mi...

This study provides insight into the role of learner-generated content (LGC) in affective response and engagement during interactive tasks on a video conferencing platform. It also examines task content, affect and conation with respect to recall of the language used on tasks. The performances of four learners on recommendation tasks are analyzed i...

Two decades of L2 self-regulated learning (SRL) research has focused heavily on reading and writing, leaving speaking an under-explored area. While speaking is an important yet difficult communicative skill to master that often generates high anxiety for English learners, EFL contexts seldom provide enough practice opportunities beyond the classroo...

Despite task-based language teaching being a widely recognized and effective approach for developing learners' language skills, many English-as-a-foreign-language teachers face challenges in implementing task-based language teaching in their classrooms. This article describes how a reflection activity was used to enhance a teacher's self-confidence...

This study investigates the differences in pragmatic competence between Hong Kong and Chinese mainland university students. Participants included 19 native speakers of English, 115 Chinese mainland students, divided into those who had spent time abroad in an English-speaking country (CM A) and those who had not (CM NA), and 97 Hong Kong students, d...

The current systematic review aims to understand the role of individual differences (IDs) in second language (L2) pragmatics and offer recommendations for further research in this domain. To achieve this, 86 empirical studies in L2 pragmatics published in SSCI (Social Science Citation Index) journals from 2000 to 2023 were systematically selected a...

Eprint link is here: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/2KGGFTRZZPNGJ2SSDFSF/full?target=10.1080/17501229.2023.2288951 Conducting classroom-based research is a powerful route for student teachers’ professional development and a requirement for many pre-service teachers in undergraduate language education programs. Research is also a new experien...

This special issue will address a gap in the TBLT literature with a collection of empirical studies that brings new and emerging theoretical and methodological perspectives together with established perspectives on the role of learner factors in task performance and acquisition. Submissions will be of two primary types: (1) studies that investigate...

This study investigates the impact of using a criterion-referenced goal-tracking system on task engagement. The study was conducted during a fully-online TBLT program that consisted of 24 task performances of an interactive task type, Giving Directions, sequenced from less to more complex. Seventy-eight first-year English for International Communic...

This volume brings together the perspectives of new and established scholars who have connected with the broad fields of first language (L1) and second language (L2) writing to discuss critically key methodological developments and challenges in the study of L2 writing processes. The focus is on studies of composing and of engagement with feedback...

This classroom-based study investigated the differences in learner engagement when spoken second language (L2) decision-making tasks were performed in synchronous video-based computer-mediated communication (SvCMC) and face-to-face (FTF) modes. A total of 44 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners from two intact classrooms performed decision-...

This study investigated the impact of student-selected pairs on emotional engagement and language-learning opportunities generated during collaborative tasks. Sixteen learners of English at a Hong Kong secondary school performed collaborative tasks in two pairing arrangements: student-selected pairing and teacher-assigned pairing (mixed proficiency...

Mixed results in target language oral proficiency gains during study abroad (SA) have provided an impetus for further research into factors affecting L2 speech, such as the situated willingness to communicate (WTC) of individual learners. However, it is essential to address changes longitudinally to understand learners’ speaking experiences before...

The success of second language (L2) tasks relies in large part on individual learners' willingness to communicate (WTC) during the course of the task. Particularly relevant is situated L2 WTC, or the readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons using the L2. Situational conditions, such as the immediate t...

This comprehensive, forward-looking text is the first holistic research overview and practical methods guide for researching the role that affective and conative factors play in second language learners’ task performance and language acquisition. It provides a long overdue update on the role of the learner in task-based language teaching (TBLT). Th...

Highlights: • Pre- and early sojourn, linguistic issues (e.g. comprehension) hindered speaking. • During the sojourn, higher capacity to speak (CTS) with L2-than L1 English users. • Post sojourn, perceived L2 English use depended on interlocutors, topic and context. • Post sojourn CTS with international students was high socially but low in class....

Against the backdrop of internationalisation and growing attention to intercultural experiences in tertiary education, this mixed-methods study examined, in part I, language learning benefits reaped by active participants in intercultural activities. As English is widely used for communication among multilinguals, part II of the study focused speci...

Intercultural interaction, or engagement with members of different ethnolinguistic groups, plays an important role in shaping one's language-learning experience. In EFL contexts, where English is rarely used in daily communication, intercultural encounters with English speakers are novel but can be a powerful stimulus for motivational change and a...

The present study investigated 69 local Hong Kong English language education students’ cross-cultural learning as a result of an Internationalization at Home (IaH) initiative that made use of international students’ knowledge of English language education in contexts outside of Hong Kong. An analysis of written responses to open-ended questionnaire...

Research on pre-task planning to date has mainly focused on task performance. However, the effects of planning are contingent on what learners actually do during planning time. One important factor that may determine the quality and usefulness of planning is whether it is done in the first language (L1) or the second language (L2). This research ad...

Research has found that levels of enjoyment and anxiety fluctuate on a moment-to-moment timescale during second language (L2) spoken task performances as learners attempt to cope with various communication challenges. For L2 speakers, surges in these emotions can limit or expand cognitive resources, affecting speech processing capability. However,...

This study takes a dynamic approach to investigating engagement, examining fluctuations in cognitive-affective variables at regular time intervals during online collaborative second language (L2) writing tasks. Using online conference software and online editing software, 16 university students who use English as an L2, completed two collaborative...

This study examined the impact of collaborative pre-task strategic planning followed by rehearsal on the quantity and novelty of content used in task performances when strategic planning is performed in different language conditions in an online classroom. Forty Japanese university students of English as a foreign language (EFL) from two intact onl...

This article explores the potential for using a modified dictogloss task to improve ESL learners' use of genre-appropriate conventions and genre-appropriate style in the context of genre-based instruction for writing. Dictogloss has been traditionally used to enhance learners' focus on lexical and grammatical features through discussions during the...

Many studies have investigated the situational nature of Willingness to Communicate (WTC) in language learning. However, few studies have explored the possibility that a language teaching approach aimed at fostering communicative language use can effectively influence and thus facilitate L2 WTC development as it emerges in context (situational WTC)...

Dialogue journals are written conversations in which two partners communicate regularly. When practiced between a teacher and student, dialogue journaling has the potential to engage students in writing, and can lead to improved teacher–student rapport. In this Innovations in Practice article, we evaluate the use of structured dialogue journals bet...

This paper reports on the implementation of a language learning project in a Japanese EFL classroom in which the trigger, or motivational energy for involvement, came from interacting with English-speaking international students. The project provided a context to investigate the trajectory of one group’s (three learners) sustained engagement across...

Task-based language teaching research has investigated the impact of planning on task performance, but little has been reported on the processes that take place while planning is undertaken. This study builds on previous planning research by providing a detailed analysis of four Japanese university learners’ collaborative pre-task planning (two dya...

Learner engagement is crucial for ensuring the quality of learning experiences, and yet the study of ‘task engagement’ has received relatively little empirical attention in the language education domain. This article reports on a study exploring the factors contributing to learners’ engagement and disengagement during task performance in an English...

This study investigated the relative effects of four forms of task preparation on L2 speech production. One hundred forty‐four Japanese speakers of English completed an oral opinion task after 10 minutes of preparation. The same task repetition condition involved four iterations of the same pedagogic task (same procedures, same content), the parall...

This 13-week study investigated changes in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ motivational states due to face-to-face inter-cultural and intra-cultural contact treatments in a Japanese EFL classroom. Drawing on the L2 motivational Self System and International Posture, this quasi-experimental study took the form of a between-groups desig...

After more than 20 years of research, this is the first book-length treatment of second language task repetition – the repetition of encounters with a task that involve re-using the same content with the same overall purpose. The topic links task performance with the growing mastery of both the task and of relevant language, and constitutes a site...

Flow represents a state of complete involvement and heightened intensity that leads to improved performance on a task (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, 1990). The notion of flow has the potential to provide worthwhile insights into the area of task engagement, yet the construct has received relatively little empirical attention by second language acquisitio...

This study extends research on written corrective feedback (CF) by investigating how timing of CF affects grammar acquisition. Specifically, it examined the relative effects of synchronous and asynchronous CF on the accurate use of the hypothetical conditional structure. Participants were 68 intermediate-level students of English at a university in...

This paper reports on a study investigating changes in L2 motivation for Japanese learners of English as they completed their first communicative English language course at university. I aim to describe the strength and structure of students’ motivation and the degree to which these changed over one semester. A 36-item questionnaire was used to mea...

This paper discusses the use of audio diaries in the context of an ongoing study on the effect of intercultural contact on L2 motivation. Two groups of Japanese students kept detailed records of their daily interactions with international students. Ten participants were from an international university, and ten were from a non-international univers...

Recently, culture has taken an important role in language education. In this view, creating a global cultural consciousness among second language (L2) students can help bridge the gap between linguistic ability and functional intercultural communication. This paper, which makes reference to Japanese adult EFL learners, justifies the body of opinion...

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, The University of Auckland, 2010.