The Modern Language Journal

Volume 107, Issue 1, Spring 2023

    The Modern Language Journal（SSCI一区，2022 IF：4.9，排名：6/194）2023年第1期共发文10篇，均为研究性论文。论文主题包括多语言学习研究、二语习得及教学研究等，内容涉及认知心理学、形态学、语音特征、数字档案、超语实践、语言意识形态、多模态学习、评价理论、继承语研究等方面。欢迎转发扩散！

    往期推荐：

    刊讯｜SSCI 期刊《现代语言杂志》2023年第S1期

    刊讯｜SSCI 期刊《现代语言杂志》2022年第2-4期

    刊讯｜SSCI 期刊《现代语言杂志》2022年第1期

目录

ARTICLES

■ Multilingualism and persistence in multiple language learning, by Alastair Henry, Pages 183–201.

■ Exploring phonetic predictors of intelligibility, comprehensibility, and foreign accent in L2 Spanish speech, by Charlie L. Nagle,  Amanda Huensch,  Germán Zárate–Sández, Pages 202–221.

■ Helping learners develop autonomy in acquiring multiword expressions, by Frank Boers, Thuy Bui, Julie Deconinck,  Hélène Stengers,  Averil Coxhead, Pages 222–241.

■ Building a community-centered archive for Cherokee language description, documentation, and reclamation, by Taylor Snead,  Ellen Cushman, Pages 242–267.

■ Exploring the lexical profile of advanced L2 writers: Longitudinal data from the Russian Overseas Flagship program, by William J. Comer, Pages 268–288.

■ Translanguaging as a space of simultaneity: Theorizing translanguaging pedagogies in English medium schools from a spatial perspective, by Prem Phyak, Pages 289–307.

■  Using multimodal language learning histories to understand learning experiences and beliefs of second language learners in Japan, by Tae Umino, Pages 308–327.

■ An appraisal-based examination of language teacher emotions in anxiety-provoking classroom situations using vignette methodology, by Julia Goetze, Pages 328–352.

■ An evaluation of a multidimensional identity measurement instrument: The heritage language speaker identity tool (HLS-IT), by Valerie Garcia,  Caitlyn Pineault,  Lara Bryfonski, Pages 353–372.

■ Academic word difficulty and multidimensional lexical sophistication: An English-for-academic-purposes-focused conceptual replication of Hashimoto and Egbert (2019), by Joseph P. Vitta,  Christopher Nicklin,  Simon W. Albright, Pages 373–397.

ANNOUNCEMENT

■ Congratulations to the NFMLTA/MLJ Award and Grant Recipients,  Pages 398–399.

WHAT'S COMING IN FUTURE ISSUES?

■ Forthcoming in The Modern Language Journal, 107, 2, Pages 400

摘要

Alastair Henry, Department of Social and Behavioural Studies, Lund University, Centre for Languages and Literature, and University West, Trollhättan, Sweden

Abstract For language learners who aspire to become multilingual, commitment involves a personal journey. Defining persistence as a preoccupation with goal-focused action directed to a desired future state and drawing on research from cognitive psychology and the mental time travel paradigm, this article presents an identity-based framework of persistence in multiple language learning. In the framework, persistence is supported through the operation of 3 interconnecting processes: (a) the generation of personally meaningful goals aimed at becoming multilingual, (b) the conjuring of mental images that represent states, events, and values associated with being multilingual, and (c) the integration of representations of multilingualism within an unfolding personal history. To illustrate these processes, data from online sources and research literature exploring language learners’ narrative biographies is used. The relevance of the framework is critically assessed in relation to (a) the development of interventions supporting motivation for foreign language learning, (b) the exploration of motivational processes through narrative-based inquiry, and (c) the varying linguistic, social, and societal contexts in which multiple language learning takes place.

Key words 

goal self-concordance, linguistic biographies, mental time travel, multilingual identities, multilingualism, persistence

Charlie L. Nagle, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

Amanda Huensch, Department of Linguistics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Germán Zárate–Sández, Department of Spanish, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA

Abstract Although current approaches to second language (L2) pronunciation underscore that instruction should concentrate on pronunciation features that help learners be more intelligible (and not necessarily more native like), there is little empirical evidence as to what those features are, especially in languages other than English. To address this gap, this exploratory study examined phonetic predictors of listener-based dimensions—namely, intelligibility, comprehensibility, and foreign accent—in L2 Spanish speech. Samples were taken from 42 Spanish learners of varying proficiency while performing a picture description task, rated for global measures by 80 native Spanish listeners, coded for phonemic errors, and analyzed phonetically for pronunciation features that previous research has reported as challenging for English-speaking learners. Mixed-effects models were fit to the data to examine relationships between the phonetic features and the listener-based dimensions. Results revealed that rising intonation and diphthongization of word-final /o/ predicted intelligibility, rising intonation predicted comprehensibility, and a variety of features were associated with foreign accent. Overall, results confirmed that non-target-like production of L2 pronunciation, including areas known to be challenging for Spanish learners, does not necessarily lead to intelligibility and comprehensibility issues. Based on these findings, we make recommendations regarding what features should be prioritized in L2 pronunciation instruction.

Key words 

comprehensibility, foreign accent, intelligibility, L2 Spanish, phonetic features, pronunciation

Helping learners develop autonomy in acquiring multiword expressions

Frank Boers, Faculty of Education, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

Thuy Bui, University Studies and Academic English Division, Lincoln University, Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand

Julie Deconinck, Brussels Institute for Applied Linguistics, Vrije Universiteit, Brussels, Belgium

Hélène Stengers, Brussels Institute for Applied Linguistics, Vrije Universiteit, Brussels, Belgium

Averil Coxhead, School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn, Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract Second language (L2) learners stand to gain substantially from mastering a wide range of multiword expressions (MWEs), and several studies have examined the benefits of language courses that regularly draw learners’ attention to MWEs. However, most of these studies focused on the learners’ retention of the MWEs included in the course materials and did not examine a potential broader and longer term effect. In the present study, upper-intermediate students of English (N = 54) attended extracurricular classes over the course of 11 weeks (40 minutes per week) in which they either extracted MWEs from texts or engaged only in content-related activities. Outside the context of the experiment, the students occasionally wrote essays as part of their regular L2 curriculum. One of these essays was collected before the intervention, another shortly afterward, and a third 5 months later. Three coders independently identified MWEs in these essays. Both postcourse essays written by the students who had focused on MWEs were found to be richer in MWEs than those written by the comparison group. The difference was only in part due to a greater use of items encountered in the course texts, suggesting a broader and longer term effect on the students’ autonomous acquisition of MWEs..

Key words 

dictionary use, learner autonomy, lexical richness, phraseology, writing

Building a community-centered archive for Cherokee language description, documentation, and reclamation

Taylor Snead, Digital Archive of Indigenous Language Persistence, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Ellen Cushman, Department of English, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Abstract In light of recent calls for decolonial approaches to Indigenous language learning, documentation, and reclamation, we describe the creation of a digital archive initiated and sustained by community collaboration. We work with members of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes to translate and analyze Cherokee texts. Cherokee speakers participate in the narrative commentary around these previously dormant texts. We find three ways in which a digital archive can be leveraged for language reclamation, description, and documentation, while being initiated and sustained by community collaboration: (a) by developing collaborative translation environments across communities of users, (b) by developing software engineering methods to build reliable infrastructure for the archive, and (c) by creating collaborative workflows that center community practices and design insights. Translating historically dormant texts for this archive creates a use-inspired language act central to language description, documentation, and reclamation. The collective translation process of building this digital archive provides a sense of continuity that grounds language learning in use-inspired practices. Going forward, we will continue to center speaker and community-use-inspired language practice as we expand the archive to support more types of community contributions and other languages. 

Key words 

Cherokee, decolonial, digital archives, human-centered design, Indigenous language, language reclamation

William J. Comer, Department of World Languages and Literatures, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, USA

Abstract This study explores the lexical profile of essays written by 48 advanced learners of second language (L2) Russian who participated in the Russian Overseas Flagship, an intensive year-long study abroad program designed to help students reach Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) Level 3 proficiency in all skills. Using the lexical frequency profile and P–Lex as measures of vocabulary sophistication, the study found that over the 9 months of the program, students significantly increased their usage of words from the lowest frequency bands. This adds to previous findings that knowledge of lexical items at the 3,000–5,000 word frequency levels predicts reading proficiency at the ACTFL advanced high–superior level in Russian. However, the increase of vocabulary sophistication was not clearly correlated with improvements in the students’ writing proficiency scores, as measured on the ILR scale. A qualitative analysis of the students’ low-frequency vocabulary usage reveals their control of native Russian vocabulary and derivational morphology. The analyses reveal the effects of writing tasks on student vocabulary usage.

Key words 

derivational morphology, Interagency Language Roundtable Level 3, L2 writing, lexical frequency profile, lexical sophistication, Russian

Prem Phyak, Department of English, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR

Abstract This article theorizes translanguaging as a space of simultaneity to analyze how teachers use translanguaging to create a multilingual classroom space and engage students with their multilingual identities and epistemologies in the classroom. The data in this article are drawn from an ethnographic study of language policies and practices in a public school in the hills of eastern Nepal. The analysis of classroom anecdotes, observation notes, and interviews with teachers reveals that translanguaging reconfigures the classroom as a critical social space where students’ identities are recognized as multilingual and multiepistemic beings representing their home, community, and school spaces. I argue that translanguaging pedagogies should pay attention to connecting the perceived, conceived, and lived spaces of students to help them resist unequal pedagogies and reclaim their identities as multilingual and multiepistemic subjects. The findings of the study imply that a spatial perspective on translanguaging helps teachers expand the scope of translanguaging pedagogies to transform a monolingualized institutional space as a space of simultaneity that embraces multilingual language practices, transformative ideologies, and the lived experiences of students.

Key words 

English as a medium of instruction, language ideology, social space, thirdspace, translanguaging

Tae Umino, Institute of Japan Studies, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Tokyo, Japan

Abstract This study explores the possibilities of using digitally produced multimodal language learning histories (MLLHs) to understand the experiences of learning a second language (L2) of a group of university students in Japan (N = 21). The study observes that learners’ MLLHs are texts in which the visual elements of language, place, person, learning resource, and self-analysis of learning process are represented visually. It also identifies 4 patterns in the ways the MLLHs are constructed by focusing on a certain type of visual element. Person-oriented MLLHs focus on L2 learning as emotional experience. In resource-oriented MLLHs, learning is perceived to occur because of engaging with language via favorite media. In analysis-oriented MLLHs, learning is regarded as a matter of going up and down the scale of linguistic measures. Place-oriented MLLHs emphasize being on site at an L2-speaking region as being the key in the era of globalization and mobility. These patterns reflect learners’ beliefs on L2 learning as viewed from a contextual perspective. This study further argues that a multimodal approach can have a significant influence on making visible learners’ subjective perspectives and beliefs as lenses through which they frame their learning experiences, as well as visualizing the dynamics and individualities of learning.

Key words 

beliefs, Japan, learning experiences, multimodal language learning histories, second language learning

Julia Goetze, Department of German, Nordic, Slavic +, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Abstract Despite emerging evidence for the link between teacher emotions and student outcomes, research on language teachers’ classroom emotions is still scarce. This study adopts a framework rooted in appraisal-based emotion theory to explore the complexity of teachers’ emotional lives and the nature of language teacher emotions in the classroom, using anxiety as a starting point and drawing on vignette methodology for emotion elicitation. A total of 272 foreign and second language teachers from North America, Asia, and Europe completed an online version of the Foreign Language Teacher Emotion Questionnaire. Each teacher evaluated two vignettes of anxiety-provoking classroom scenarios along six appraisal dimensions and reported their emotions. Results indicate great levels of emotional complexity, revealing both the frequent presence of multiple positive emotions and the rare experience of anxiety as the sole emotion in anxiety-provoking classroom scenarios. At the same time, regression analyses found that anxiety's appraisal pattern explains between 16% and 48% of the variance in anxiety across all vignettes. Implications for adopting appraisal-based emotion theories and vignette methodology in language teachers’ classroom emotion research in second language acquisition are discussed. 

Key words 

appraisal theory, emotional complexity, language teacher anxiety, language teacher emotions, vignette methodology

Valerie Garcia, Department of Linguistics, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

Caitlyn Pineault, Department of Linguistics, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

Lara Bryfonski, Department of Linguistics, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

Abstract This mixed-methods study explores the efficacy of a multidimensional identity measurement tool that aims to represent the diverse language experiences of heritage language learners (HLLs) and heritage language speakers (HLSs). Drawing on the thematic commonalities across 13 definitions of HLLs, a questionnaire was developed to capture age of acquisition, self-reported proficiency level, home exposure, language maintenance efforts, and cultural and familial ties to the heritage community. Questionnaire data spanning HLSs (N = 135) of 41 heritage languages were submitted to K-means cluster analysis to investigate identity-based trends across respondents. Interviews (n = 10) and autobiographical essays (n = 4) from a subset of respondents from each resulting cluster were thematically analyzed and used to corroborate descriptive HLS profiles from cluster analysis results. Three HLS profiles emerged from the data set, and their defining characteristics (based on the five HLL identity themes) illustrate the complex interplay of language, culture, family, and education within the HLS population. Qualitative analysis of respondents’ perspectives highlights the challenges of quantitatively measuring inherently qualitative experiences. The study concludes with implications for how questionnaire-based instruments derived from bottom-up statistical analyses can be leveraged in future research, advancing the agendas of linguists and educators to better understand and support HLSs.

Key words 

cluster analysis, heritage language studies, identity construction, second language research methodology

Joseph P. Vitta, Faculty of Languages and Cultures, Kyushu University, Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka-ken, Japan

Christopher Nicklin, Center for Foreign Language Education and Research, Rikkyo University, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Simon W. Albright, English Language Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

Abstract As multilingual language teachers ourselves, we believe that this book brings an end to the ongoing debate regarding native speakers versus non-native speakers in language teaching research with a single, well-aimed blow. Nevertheless, situated in a complex, ecological context, the idea of being multilingual instructors as recommended by Kramsch and Zhang remains a highly challenging goal for many language teachers to pursue. We start this review by outlining what the book achieves, before we comment on some outstanding issues that still deserve more attention.

Key words 

frequency, lexical sophistication, replication, TAALES, word difficulty

期刊简介

The MLJ is an international refereed journal that is dedicated to promoting scholarly exchange among researchers and teachers of all modern foreign languages and English as a second language. The journal is particularly committed to publishing high quality work in non-English languages. 

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https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15404781

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