IRAL-INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Teacher emotions and the emotional labour of modern language (ML) teachers working in UK secondary schools
King J, Almukhaild H, Mercer S, Babic S, Mairitsch A and Sulis G
The present paper seeks to explore the contextual factors shaping the emotional labour experiences of secondary school teachers and explain the ways these educators manage their emotions. Data were generated through a series of 20 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with modern language (ML) teachers in the UK. The findings showed that teachers experienced primarily negative forms of emotional labour and these experiences were driven by five interrelated contextual factors: the lack of institutional support, heavy workload, low perceived status of MLs, students' lack of motivation, and classroom misbehaviour. To manage their emotions, the study reveals that teachers used a wide range of coping mechanisms such as suppression, venting, social support, positive reframing, and the development of positive student-teacher relationships. In light of our results, we call for the emotional dimension of teaching to be better integrated into training programmes, an improvement in working conditions and better support mechanisms for teachers.
Lexical stress assignment preferences in L2 German
O'Brien MG and Sundberg R
Assigning stress to the appropriate syllable is consequential for being understood. Despite the importance, second language (L2) learners' stress assignment is often incorrect, being affected by their first language (L1). Beyond the L1, learners' lexical stress assignment may depend on analogy with other words in their lexicon. The current study investigates the respective roles of the L1 (English, French) and analogy in L2 German lexical stress assignment. Because English, like German, has variable stress assignment and French does not, participants included English- and French-speaking German L2 learners who assigned stress to German nonsense words in a perceptual preference and a production task. Results suggest a role of the L1, with English-speaking German L2 learners performing more like L1 German speakers. While French-speaking German L2 learners' performance could not be predicted by other factors, L2 German proficiency and the ability to produce analogous words were predictive of English-speaking German L2 learners' production performance.
Using eye-tracking to study the on-line processing of case-marking information among intermediate L2 learners of German
Jackson CN, Dussias PE and Hristova A
This study uses eye-tracking to examine the processing of case-marking information in ambiguous subject- and object-first -questions in German. The position of the lexical verb was also manipulated via verb tense to investigate whether verb location influences how intermediate L2 learners process L2 sentences. Results show that intermediate L2 German learners were sensitive to case-marking information, exhibiting longer processing times on subject-first than object-first sentences, regardless of verb location. German native speakers exhibited the opposite word order preference, with longer processing times on object-first than subject-first sentences, replicating previous findings. These results are discussed in light of current L2 processing research, highlighting how methodological constraints influence researchers' abilities to measure the on-line processing of morphosyntactic information among intermediate L2 learners.
The effects of L2 proficiency level on the processing of wh-questions among Dutch second language speakers of English
Jackson CN and van Hell JG
Using a self-paced reading task, the present study explores how Dutch-English L2 speakers parse English wh-subject-extractions and wh-object-extractions. Results suggest that English native speakers and highly-proficient Dutch-English L2 speakers do not always exhibit measurable signs of on-line reanalysis when reading subject- versus object-extractions in English. However, less-proficient Dutch-English L2 speakers exhibit greater processing costs on subject-extractions relative to object-extractions, similar to previously reported findings (e.g., Dussias and Piñar, forthcoming; Juffs 2005; Juffs and Harrington 1995). These findings are discussed in light of relevant research surrounding on-line processing among L2 speakers and their ability to adopt native-like processing patterns in the L2.