International Journal of Applied Linguistics

Lee, Yeong‐Ju; Roger, Peter

doi: 10.1111/ijal.70244pmid: N/A

With the growing recreational use of digital media technology, informal language learning occurs more frequently within individuals’ everyday lives. However, the interplay between digital and physical spaces in informal language learning remains underexplored. By bringing together ecological and spatial perspectives on language learning to investigate this interplay, this study explores how individuals’ physical activities influence their use of digital resources and language learning, drawing on the experiences of three international students studying English in Australia. A narrative approach to the analysis of data gathered from journal entries, stimulated recall interviews and social media posts reveals precisely how individual learners utilised diverse digital resources while engaging in various offline recreational and social activities. The learners adapted the affordances of particular digital tools and features in response to physical surroundings and situational circumstances. They also transported their identities and interests between physical and digital spaces, thus enriching their learning experiences. These experiences included acquiring new vocabulary knowledge through offline interactions with local residents and sharing this knowledge through online networks. This study provides insight into the interface between digital and physical spaces and its significant impact on shaping informal language learning.

Pan, Ziwen; Zhang, Yi

doi: 10.1111/ijal.70248pmid: N/A

The rapid integration of AI into educational settings has reshaped second language (L2) writing, calling for a clearer understanding of domain‐specific AI literacy. While recent research has begun to conceptualize L2 writing AI literacy, its heterogeneity among student writers and its relationship with writing self‐regulated learning (SRL) strategies remain underexplored. Addressing the gaps, this mixed‐methods study adopted a person‐centered approach to examine L2 writing AI literacy among 1001 Chinese EFL student writers, followed by semi‐structured interviews with 21 participants. Latent profile analysis identified four distinct AI literacy profiles: Skeptical and Resistant (P1: 12.0%), Moderately Balanced (P2: 63.4%), Confident Yet Less Reflective (P3: 6.2%), and Comprehensive High‐Literacy (P4: 18.4%) profiles. These profiles reflected marked differences in how students evaluated and reflected on AI in their writing. Multinomial logistic regression showed that disciplinary background, rather than gender or educational level, significantly predicted profile membership. MANOVA results further revealed significant differences in writing SRL strategies across profiles; however, this pattern was not consistent across learners, as our qualitative findings indicated that some learners in P1 still demonstrated obvious self‐regulation. Interview data also revealed the antecedents of each profile and provided insights into how learners described their SRL processes in AI‐mediated writing contexts while highlighting the emergence of performative AI literacy in authentic writing practices.

AO, Yutong; Liu, Meihua

doi: 10.1111/ijal.70243pmid: N/A

This study focused on student differences in metacognitive writing strategies, higher‐order thinking skills, and English‐as‐a‐foreign‐language proficiency. By collecting data from 203 Chinese ninth graders, a latent profile analysis was first conducted based on their levels of metacognitive writing strategies, including planning, monitoring, and evaluation strategies in English writing. Two groups of students were identified, which were (a) low‐to‐medium planning, monitoring, and evaluation, and (b) medium‐to‐high planning, monitoring, and evaluation. Independent sample t‐tests presented that the two profiles of students differed significantly in levels of higher‐order thinking skills and English performance. Next, the study built a multigroup structural equation model to investigate the relationships between English performance and higher‐order thinking skills, including creativity, critical thinking, and problem‐solving, between the two groups. Results indicated no differences in predictive relationships between the four variables. These findings highlight the importance of accounting for varied metacognitive writing strategies profiles in understanding higher‐order thinking skills and second language performance.

Chou, Mu‐Hsuan

doi: 10.1111/ijal.70252pmid: N/A

With the rise of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), AI‐based tools are reshaping educational practices and raising important questions about teachers’ competence in AI‐enhanced environments. Drawing on the intelligent Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (intelligent‐TPACK) framework, this study examined the effects of pre‐service EFL teachers’ growth mindset on intelligent‐TPACK (AI‐TPACK), with AI‐related teacher efficacy as a mediator and substitute teaching experience as a moderator. Questionnaire data were collected from 208 pre‐service EFL teachers in Taiwan and analyzed using IBM SPSS and SmartPLS. The results showed that growth mindset positively predicted both AI‐related teacher efficacy and AI‐TPACK. Teacher efficacy partially mediated the relationship between growth mindset and AI‐TPACK. In addition, moderation analyses indicated that pre‐service teachers with less teaching experience were more open to adopting AI‐based tools, which enhanced their AI‐TPACK, whereas those with more teaching experience demonstrated higher efficacy in using AI tools, which in turn strengthened their AI‐TPACK. Substitute teaching experience did not moderate the relationship between growth mindset and teacher efficacy. The findings suggest that AI‐TPACK is not only knowledge based but also belief‐driven and enacted through efficacy‐related processes. Pedagogically, the study highlights the importance of integrating reflective mindset development with AI‐supported instructional practice in pre‐service teacher education.

Zhang, Zhihui; Aubrey, Scott; Guo, Zihao; Chiu, Thomas K. F.

doi: 10.1111/ijal.70256pmid: N/A

This qualitative study explores how second language (L2) learners negotiate meaning and co‐construct knowledge with generative AI (GenAI) in a 12‐week multimodal creative writing project. Chinese middle school students (N = 75) created English picture books using a conversational GenAI agent supporting textual and text‐to‐image generation. By extreme‐case sampling, 28 focal participants (14 high‐ and 14 low‐performing) were selected based on creative product quality. Student‐AI textual interaction logs were analyzed using the Negotiation for Meaning (NfM) framework and Gunawardena and colleagues’ Interaction Analysis Model (IAM), supplemented by artifact analysis and interviews. Results revealed distinct patterns: high‐performing learners showed active, evaluative engagement with longer prompts, higher NfM completion rates, and deeper IAM phases. They treated GenAI as a scaffold for linguistic and multimodal refinement while retaining strong authorial control. Low‐performing learners, conversely, displayed passive patterns with vague prompts and greater AI content retention, yielding a weaker personal voice. Findings suggest creative outcomes in GenAI‐assisted L2 multimodal writing depend more on depth of meaning negotiation and strategic mediation than interaction frequency. The study extends interactionist and sociocultural perspectives to GenAI‐mediated creative genres and underscores scaffolds for negotiation competence and authorial agency.

Luo, Kaizhou; Wu, Yumeng; Xu, Jian

doi: 10.1111/ijal.70249pmid: N/A

As multimodal input becomes integral to real‐world communication, test‐taker engagement has emerged as a critical concern in the design and validation of English speaking assessments. While previous research has examined performance outcomes across input types, few studies have investigated how input formats shape test‐taker engagement across multiple dimensions. This study addresses this gap by adopting a four‐dimensional engagement framework—behavioral, cognitive, social, and emotional—to examine how different input formats influence test scores and engagement in a speaking task based on a workplace negotiation scenario. Thirty‐eight Chinese undergraduates completed three versions of the task presented in audio, animation, and simulated‐live video formats. Engagement was measured using seven discourse‐based indicators capturing behavioral, cognitive, and social dimensions, complemented by questionnaire and interview data on emotional engagement. Results revealed no significant differences in test scores across formats. However, the simulated‐live video format, featuring a virtual interlocutor in a first‐person view, substantially enhanced cognitive, social, and emotional engagement. Notably, only social engagement (specifically direct address) significantly predicted test scores across all formats, whereas the other dimensions did not. These findings suggest that input format shapes how test takers interact with tasks, and further reveal differential links between engagement dimensions and performance. This study highlights the need for engagement‐sensitive task design, demonstrates the potential of simulated‐live tasks to foster more authentic and productive test‐taking experiences, and expands the operationalization of social engagement through pragmatic discourse features.

Amini Farsani, Mohammad; Saedi, Taha

doi: 10.1111/ijal.70250pmid: N/A

As pivotal components of academic discourse, limitations embrace multiple structures, serve different roles, and contribute to the rigor and quality of studies. Thus, solidly navigating them is quite essential in all research undertakings. However, they have received scant empirical attention across various disciplines, especially in applied linguistics (AL), where issues of language come to the fore. Among methodological orientations, mixed methods research (MMR) is perfectly suited to address the complex nature of language‐related inquiries. Hence, this investigation built upon a credible framework for the discourse of limitations in light of their domains, functions, and specificities to examine 215 AL MMR studies over 10 years (2014–2023). It was disclosed that they were methodologically oriented, mostly lacked a detailed account of rigor, and did not contain any limitations unique to the language of MMR. The outcomes of this study would consolidate the practices of AL researchers both theoretically and practically. It would also nurture the knowledge of higher education students and research course instructors by raising their methodological and theoretical awareness, enhancing the overall quality of MMR practices in AL as a burgeoning field. Further discussions about the implications and future research are discussed.

Hou, Xiaoming; Cai, Xizhen

doi: 10.1111/ijal.70257pmid: N/A

This study investigates character recognition development among 60 L2 Chinese learners enrolled across four collegiate course levels at a liberal arts college in the United States. Using a Standards‐based character recognition test drawn from the Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards, we estimated each student's character recognition size and examined differences across course levels and learner‐related predictors. The results showed mean recognition sizes were 284, 516, 761, and 966 characters for first‐, second‐, third‐, and fourth‐year Chinese courses, respectively. ANCOVA revealed a strong effect of course level, and pairwise comparisons indicated significant gains between adjacent levels. Substantial within‐course variability was observed at all course levels, and age showed a marginal negative association with recognition size. These findings document a clear pattern of growth in character acquisition in a United States college context and provide empirical evidence relevant to both theory and pedagogy. They also highlight pronounced individual differences and underscore the need for broader, multi‐institutional data to establish practical benchmarks for L2 character recognition development.

Zhang, Xiaoyi; Nguyen, Trang Thi Thuy; Hajek, John

doi: 10.1111/ijal.70254pmid: N/A

This article examines the language life of young Malaysian Chinese immigrants in Australia and their construction of multi‐membership as reflected in their daily language behaviors. It develops the concept of everyday linguistic citizenship and uses this concept as a theoretical lens to understand how the young adults build, maintain, and negotiate their membership of different social units through language. Ethnographic interview data suggests that the participants’ language practices, language beliefs, and (perceived) language activism, which showed their rights and responsibilities within the communities they engaged in, were guided by affective conditions and social commitments. The young adults' language practices and language beliefs were where they negotiated their membership and sense of belonging, expressed their sentimental attachments to, and exhibited the emotional dimensions of their everyday linguistic citizenship of different (imagined) groups or institutions. The participants’ (perceived) language activism, on the other hand, showed their desire/endeavor to engage with meaningful attempts beyond daily activities to enact the participatory aspects of their everyday linguistic citizenship. The young adults’ citizenship status in multiple communities might be, however, in a strong or weak form, depending on non‐language factors that had an influence on their connection with people in these communities.

Kim, Sumi

doi: 10.1111/ijal.70251pmid: N/A