Maya Sugita McEown

The key to successful language learning depends on the extent to which learners are self-regulated in learning a second or foreign language (L2). In this process, learners’ perceptions and beliefs about their abilities play a crucial role in predicting or controlling positive or negative emotions, motivation and the use of strategies. Therefore, it is vital to clarify the role that learners’ perceived abilities play in self-regulated language learning. The present paper aims to: (1) provide a review of empirical studies related to L2 strategy use, motivation, and social regulation about ability beliefs, (2) explore the reciprocal relationship between these constructs, and (3) suggest future research directions that will help promote self-regulated language learning research. By doing so, we aim to contribute to the broadening of L2 proficiency research, provide a more comprehensive understanding of the second language acquisition process, and ultimately support language teachers in understanding the developmental processes of L2 learners.

The current study examined the relationship between trait emotional intelligence (TEI), academic stress, burnout, and engagement in Japanese undergraduate students learning English as a second language. One hundred eighty-four participants (females = 87, mean age = 19.7 years) completed two questionnaires, one administered at the beginning of the academic semester (i.e., baseline), and one administered at the end of the academic semester (i.e., follow-up). Structural equation modeling revealed that TEI factors predicted engagement and negatively predicted academic stress, while stress strongly predicted burnout. Cluster analysis and ANOVA revealed that participants with high TEI reported significantly lower scores for stress and burnout and higher scores for academic engagement (i.e., emotional and agentic) compared to participants with low TEI. In addition, exhaustion significantly increased between baseline and follow-up for participants with low TEI but not for participants with high TEI. For participants with high TEI, inadequacy significantly decreased whereas emotional engagement significantly increased between baseline and follow-up. Results suggest that increasing TEI may reduce academic stress and burnout while increasing engagement among second language learners in a Japanese context.

Teachers often face pressures both from above and from below as they adhere to their supervisors’ requirements and work with students who may be disengaged from the learning process. These interpersonal influences are argued to thwart instructors’ teaching motivation and result in a more controlled teaching experience and a more controlling teaching style, whereas supportive supervisors and engaged learners could promote a self-determined motivational orientation and greater teaching engagement. Regression analyses of survey responses collected from 63 English language instructors in Canada showed that supportive supervisors helped satisfy English language teachers’ psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which in turn promoted self-determined motivation and teaching engagement. Student disengagement undermined the satisfaction of instructors’ needs and led to more controlled teaching motivation, but student engagement enhanced teachers’ self-determined motivation and/or teaching engagement. These results underscore the importance of supervisory attentiveness to instructors’ psychological needs. As well, they suggest that whereas teachers might be inspired by engaged students, they might also need to find strategies to cope with the potentially negative impact of disaffected students on their own teaching motivation and engagement.