Unlike success in first language acquisition, success in learning a second or foreign language is considerably more variable. Recently, second language acquisition researchers have called for more integrative research on individual difference factors. With this goal in mind, this study followed a larger, quantitative study of the links between self-directedness for language learning and English language learning attainment among university students on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong. Drawing on the findings of that study (Gan, 2003), this 1-semester study looked closely at 2 small groups of tertiary-level English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in China in order to document how they carried out their out-of-class (self-directed) English learning, as well as to elaborate issues that may be critical to understanding the variability that had already been observed in their English learning outcomes.The data were gathered through interviews, diaries, and follow-up email correspondence with 9 successful and 9 unsuccessful second-year EFL students at 2 Chinese mainland universities. Using grounded theory methodology (Strauss & Corbin, 1994, 6 categories of qualitative data were constructed: conceptualizing English language learning; perceptions of the College English Course; learning and practising strategies; self-management; internal drive; and English proficiency tests. The study findings suggest that different levels of success may be explained by a complex and dynamic interplay of internal cognition and emotion, external incentives, and social context. The findings imply the need to take a holistic view of variation in language learning outcomes and to broaden the scope of the current practice in learner strategy training.INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE DIFFERENCES between successful and unsuccessful learners in the field of second and foreign language learning attracted attention with the studies of Rubin (1975), Stern (1975), and Naiman, Fröhlich, Stern, and Todesco (1978, which aimed to establish what good language learning strategies might be and to share them with unsuccessful learners. Continuing these initial investigations, various other researchers explored the relationships be-tween reported strategy use and language learning outcomes in the hope of identifying the range and nature of learning strategies employed by good, successful, or effective language learners, with good, successful, or effective generally understood to mean those learners who perform well on tests or examinations, or who are rated as such by their teachers (

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This article examines the interactional work in which two groups of secondary ESL students engaged to achieve and sustain participation in group oral assessment, which is designed to assess a student’s interactive communication skills in a school-based assessment context. The in-depth observation of the ways in which participants co-constructed talk-in-interaction led to the discovery of the particular pattern of speech exchange within each group.Within the higher-scoring group, the students engaged constructively and contingently with one another’s ideas, demonstrating a range of speech functions such as suggestions, agreement or disagreement, explanations, and challenges, which resulted in opportunities for substantive conversation and genuine communication to be engineered. Within the lower-scoring group, the resulting interactions appeared more structured, apparently as a result of the pre-set prompts that were originally set for the purpose of facilitating within-group discussion. However, a picture emerges of lower-scoring group members naturally engaging in negotiation of meaning over linguistic impasses, which turned out to serve as the stimulus to collaborative dialogue. There is also evidence of lower-scoring group members assisting each other through co-construction both to find the right linguistic forms and to express meaning. The nature of these interactions suggests that the group oral assessment format, as operationalized in this context, can authentically reflect students’ interactional skills and their moment-by-moment construction of social and linguistic identity. However, the lack of contingent development of topical talk within the lower-scoring group implies that the assessor’s good intentions in providing pre-set prompts may end up restricting students’ performance. The risk of such task/topic-related effects on the quality of student discourse and interaction warrants further research.

This study investigates the challenges sixteen nonnative preservice ESL teachers in a Bachelor of Education (English

The article reports on a study that examined self‐directed language learning (SDLL) attitudes and strategies that may be characteristic of Chinese EFL students. A description of the development of the instrument used to measure these attitudes and strategies in an EFL context is provided, the results of which showed that SDLL strategies seem to be directly implicated in language proficiency. Attitudes to SDLL do not seem to have a strong direct effect on proficiency, but major attitude components are closely associated with all SDLL strategy components, possibly exerting their effect mainly through the mediation of strategies. The data suggest that students’ SDLL attitudes and strategies were apparently determined by the constraints of the specific contexts of teaching and learning. In addition, the data seem to cast doubt on the stereotypic notions of passive and dependent Asian learners. Implications of the results for instructional interventions and institutional support are discussed.

Compared with reading, writing and listening, there has been a paucity of empirical data documenting learners' experiences of speaking English as a second language (ESL) or English as a foreign language (EFL) in different learning contexts in spite of the fact that developing the ability to speak in a second or foreign language is widely considered a daunting task for most language learners. This paper reports on the findings of a questionnaire survey of the English speaking difficulties experienced by two Chinese populations: one group of university students from mainland China and one group of university students from Hong Kong. Drawing on various theoretical perspectives, the students' perceived difficulties are analysed in relation to linguistic deficiency, oral language processes, conversational skills and academic speaking conventions, affective influence as well as affordance of opportunities to use English for spoken communication in the students' learning contexts. Important implications of the results for pedagogical practices that foster development of ESL or EFL speaking skills are discussed.

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This study investigated Chinese university students’ technology-assisted self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies and whether the technology-based SRL strategies mediated the associations between English language self-efficacy, English enjoyment, and learning outcomes. Data were collected from 525 undergraduate students in mainland China through three self-report questionnaires and the performance on an English language proficiency test. While students reported an overall moderate level of SRL strategies, they reported a high level of technology-based vocabulary learning strategies. A statistically significant positive relationship was noted between the use of technology-based SRL strategies and students’ English learning outcomes. English language self-efficacy and English language enjoyment were both related to technology-based SRL strategies. Furthermore, SRL strategies fully mediated the relationship between English enjoyment and English learning outcomes, but the association between English enjoyment and SRL strategies was only partially mediated by English language self-efficacy. Pedagogically, findings of this study suggest that training and instruction aimed at promotion of modern educational technology among students need to give attention to developing their strategic awareness of motivation regulation in optimizing effectiveness of their technology use in learning the target language.