Journal of Second Language Studies - Volume 9, Issue 1, 2026

Abstract

This study examines filled pauses and prolongations in Mandarin Chinese, Russian, and Hebrew by comparing monolingual and bilingual speakers to identify both universal and language-specific disfluency patterns. Data were collected from monologues produced by monolinguals and two bilingual groups: Russian-Hebrew speakers who acquired both languages in early childhood, and Mandarin Chinese-Russian speakers who learned Russian later as a second language (L2). Analyses focused on the frequency and types of disfluencies. Monolinguals showed similar disfluency rates across languages, suggesting some universal patterns. Early bilinguals mirrored monolingual patterns in both languages, likely due to balanced early exposure. In contrast, Mandarin-Russian bilinguals exhibited higher disfluency rates in L2-Russian, likely due to increased cognitive load during speech planning. Additionally, they produced unique filled pause types not found in monolinguals, reflecting cross-linguistic transfer. These findings highlight how factors such as language proficiency, language exposure onset, and typological differences shape disfluency patterns in bilingual speech.

Abstract

The present study tested the effects of interleaving versus blocking practice on contextualized grammar learning. An unfamiliar structure for the learners, the pronoun "y" in French, was used in meaning-focused activities, which are more challenging than existing studies, at three different tenses (past, present, and future) according to an AAA-BBB-CCC schedule in one group and an ABC-ABC-ABC schedule in another. Two groups from two intact classes (n=22 and n=23) of first-year Chinese students studying French participated in the study. A pretest-training phase-posttest design was adopted as in existing studies. The blocked group used the structure with greater fluency (reduction of mid-clause pauses) during the training phase and the posttest while the interleaving group used the structure more accurately, but at the expense of fluency. Blocked practice seems to promote an initial stage of proceduralization in the application of the rule, but with more errors produced than in the interleaved group.

Abstract

This study adopts a corpus-assisted approach to examine differences in interactional metadiscourse (IM) between TED Talks and L2 student digital persuasive speeches. Two corpora were compiled for analysis: a TED corpus and a STU corpus comprising English speeches delivered by L2 students in a public speaking course at a Hong Kong university. Quantitative results revealed significant differences across all IM categories except hedges, with the TED corpus showing higher frequencies of self-mentions and boosters, and the STU corpus featuring more directives and audience pronouns. Qualitative analysis further indicated that L2 students employed a narrower range of IM forms, often overusing or underusing specific types, resulting in less persuasive stance and weaker emotional appeal. The rhetorical divergences between the two genres offer valuable insights for L2 public speaking pedagogy, highlighting the importance of explicit instruction in stance and engagement through the effective use of IM in digital oratory.

Abstract

Given the increasing number of L2 Chinese learners in Europe, it is critical to understand their learning motivation and strategies to support successful Chinese acquisition. This study aims to explore learners’ motivation for learning Chinese and examines how these relate to their learning strategies. With a mixed research design, SPSS 28 was utilized for descriptive analysis, Mplus 8.3 was employed for Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and STATA 18.0 was adopted for analysing the relationship between learning motivation and learning strategies by a hierarchical regression model. In addition, MAXQDA2022 was employed for qualitative analysis of L2 Chinese learning motivation. The findings highlight diverse motivation of European L2 Chinese learners and their impact on the use of Chinese learning strategies. The study offers valuable insights on Chinese learning motivation, various learning strategies and provides implications for improving Chinese learning and teaching outcomes. It also contributes to the understanding of how cultural background and institutional contexts in Europe influence L2 Chinese learning, offering guidance for refining strategies to promote Chinese language education in European settings.

Abstract

This study investigates the predictive power of motivational orientations on second language (L2) writing task performance across different proficiency levels. Drawing on the framework of motivational orientations, including Promotion, Prevention, Assessment, and Locomotion, the research explores how these orientations predict various aspects of L2 writing, such as syntactic complexity, accuracy, lexical complexity, and fluency (CALF). The study also examines the interaction between motivational orientations and learners’ writing proficiency levels. To do so, 120 undergraduate English as a foreign language (EFL) learners participated in this research, categorized into three proficiency groups (low, mid, and advanced) based on their writing placement test scores. They completed a motivation questionnaire and performed an argumentative writing task. The essays were then analyzed using CALF measures. Results revealed that Promotion positively predicted phrasal complexity and lexical sophistication. Although Promotion was a positive predictor of overall syntactic complexity for the Upper Intermediate and Advanced groups, it negatively predicted this metric for the Intermediate group. Prevention positively predicted accuracy, particularly for the Intermediate group, while negatively predicting phrasal complexity and lexical diversity in lower proficiency groups. Assessment positively predicted syntactic subordination, especially for Intermediate and Advanced learners, while negatively predicting accuracy in the Advanced group. Finally, locomotion predicted fluency, especially for the Intermediate learners, but negatively predicted accuracy in the Advanced group. These findings suggest that motivational orientations predict L2 writing task performance, with varying effects depending on L2 learners’ writing proficiency levels.

This article reviews Technology‑Mediated Language Teaching: From Social Justice to Artificial Intelligence978-1-80041-989-6