Open Access
The impact of CLIL intensity and extramural English on the receptive skills of young EFL learners: CLIL intensity and extramural English
(John Benjamins Publishing, 2025-04-28) Lázaro Ibarrola, Amparo; Roothooft, Hanne; Ciencias humanas y de la educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak
Research on proficiency levels among instructed learners is abundant but still has significant gaps. There is little research with young learners, barely any research comparing different degrees of CLIL intensity, and very few studies considering exposure to extramural English (EE), that is, exposure to English outside of school via informal activities or private lessons. To address these gaps, our study investigates how the intensity of exposure in school and EE impact the reading and listening skills of 219 learners (aged 11-12) of English following high-CLIL (n= 85), low-CLIL (n= 82), and non-CLIL (n = 52) tracks. The results for reading and listening, without considering EE, indicate that the high-CLIL group obtained a significantly higher score in reading, but without significant differences in listening. EE was frequent, particularly among high-CLIL participants, and reading, watching TV, and listening to music positively correlated with scores. Private English lessons were associated with higher scores in the non-CLIL group.
Open Access
Investigating the interrelationship between rated L2 proficiency and linguistic complexity in L2 speech
(Elsevier, 2020) Bulté, Bram; Roothooft, Hanne; Ciencias Humanas y de la Educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak
This study investigates the relationship between nine quantitative measures of L2 speech complexity and subjectively rated L2 proficiency by comparing the oral productions of English L2 learners at five IELTS proficiency levels. We carry out ANOVAs with pairwise comparisons to identify differences between proficiency levels, as well as ordinal logistic regression modelling, allowing us to combine multiple complexity dimensions in a single analysis. The results show that for eight out of nine measures, targeting syntactic, lexical and morphological complexity, a significant overall effect of proficiency level was found, with measures of lexical diversity (i.e. Guiraud's index and HD-D), overall syntactic complexity (mean length of AS-unit), phrasal elaboration (mean length of noun phrase) and morphological richness (morphological complexity index) showing the strongest association with proficiency level. Three complexity measures emerged as significant predictors in our logistic regression model, each targeting different linguistic dimensions: Guiraud's index, the subordination ratio and the morphological complexity index.
Open Access
Teachers’ beliefs about oral corrective feedback: a comparison of secondary and adult education
(Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa, 2018) Roothooft, Hanne; Ciencias Humanas y de la Educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak
Aunque existe un gran número de estudios que demuestran la eficacia del feedback oral para la adquisición de una segunda lengua, no está claro hasta qué punto los profesores creen que el feedback es útil. Algunos estudios han mostrado que los alumnos generalmente quieren que se les corrija mucho más de lo que sus profesores estiman necesario. Sin embargo, otros aspectos relacionados con el feedback oral, como por ejemplo los tipos de feedback y el momento adecuado de dar feedback, han recibido muy poca atención en dichos estudios. Por eso, el presente estudio compara las creencias de dos grupos de profesores de inglés como lengua extranjera sobre: cuándo corregir, cuánto corregir y qué tipos de errores corregir. A pesar de las diferencias de contexto, los dos grupos estaban de acuerdo en que el feedback es importante, pero que demasiadas correcciones pueden interferir con el desarrollo de la fluidez y la confianza de los alumnos. La mayoría de los profesores también preferían tipos más implícitos de feedback. Estos resultados indican que existe la necesidad de incrementar la formación del profesorado en el tema del feedback oral.
Open Access
Pronunciation in EMI: conceptualization, interlocutor anxiety and attitudes towards lecturer speech
(Equinox Publishing, 2023) Gómez Lacabex, Esther; Roothooft, Hanne; Ciencias Humanas y de la Educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak
The consolidation of English as a global language has brought with it the need to reconceptualise aspects such as English pronunciation, which seems to be experiencing a detachment from the native norm and the integration of multicultural identities. EMI students have been reported to favour intelligibility over accurate pronunciation, as they represent a community of learners for whom English is a tool rather than a target. As previous research has reported that pronunciation may be an anxiety factor for students in speaking exchanges, this study explored how 126 EMI students envision the learning of pronunciation, their attitudes towards EMI teachers¿ pronunciation and their pronunciation anxiety upon interaction with different interlocutors in their EMI context: teachers, local peers, L1 English international peers and L2 English international peers. The data from a questionnaire and focus groups revealed that these EMI learners conceptualize pronunciation as a communication tool rather than a subject to be learnt; they revealed that they do not experience uneasiness during lessons owing to their lecturers¿ pronunciation, expressing that fluency is more important than pronunciation accuracy. Finally, they showed more pronunciation anxiety if the interlocutor was the teacher or an L1 English speaker than if it was a local peer or L2 English speaker.
Open Access
Conceptualising Integration in CLIL and Multilingual Education: reseña
(Universidad Cardenal Cisneros, 2018) Roothooft, Hanne; Ciencias Humanas y de la Educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak
Conceptualising Integration in CLIL and Multilingual Education provides us with useful insights into what still remains to be done if we want to put the “I” truly at the centre of CLIL.
Open Access
Pronunciation anxiety, pronunciation-related views and pronunciation learning actions of EMI and english major students
(University of Lodz, 2023) Gómez Lacabex, Esther; Roothooft, Hanne; Ciencias Humanas y de la Educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak
The present study explored pronunciation views, learning actions and anxiety in two differentiated English learner groups: one group which was studying English in an engineering degree and another group enrolled in an English major degree. The results froma questionnaire and focus group sessions revealed that the groups share some views such as a wish to improve their English pronunciation and adherence to native pronunciation references as well as pronunciation learning actions such as watching series ortalking to native speakers. However, we also observed significant differences between the groups as the English major students tended to view pronunciation learning as a discipline, while the engineering students saw it as a communicative skill. The English majors also exhibited more pronunciation anxiety, specifically fear of ridicule and worry of making mistakes. They also revealed more anxiety-related themes in the focus group discussions such as worry about their pronunciation, pronunciation shame or unease because they do not know how to pronounce a word or cannot understand. Finally, the English major group was also more demanding of lecturers¿ accurate pronunciation. These results suggest that differences regarding English pronunciation anxiety between different learner profiles may need to be considered during their English language learning progress.
Open Access
Feedback in second language writing: contexts and issues: reseña
(Asociación Europea de Lenguas para Fines Específicos (AELFE), 2020) Roothooft, Hanne; Ciencias Humanas y de la Educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak
Given the growing number of studies dedicated to feedback in second language writing in the last two decades, Ken Hyland and Fiona Hyland felt it was time for a second edition of the edited volume which was first published in 2006. Only four of the original chapters have been maintained, in an updated form, and ten new chapters have been added. The second edition of ‘Feedback in Second Language Writing’ touches upon a wide range of important issues, many of which are in need of further research.
Open Access
Comparing the effects of two types of output-pushing feedback on adult EFL students' oral accuracy
(Universidad de Sevilla, 2016) Roothooft, Hanne; Filología y Didáctica de la Lengua; Filologia eta Hizkuntzaren Didaktika
Aunque numerosos trabajos han demostrado que la retroalimentación oral inmediata puede ayudar a los alumnos de una segunda lengua a hablar más correctamente, no hay acuerdo sobre qué tipo de corrección es más adecuado. Si bien un gran número de estudios apoyan el uso de reformulaciones, autores como Lyster y Saito (2010) afirman que, en el contexto escolar, puede resultar más beneficioso proporcionar a los estudiantes los denominados 'prompts', que constituyen un tipo de retroalimentación que obliga a los alumnos a producir 'output'. A día de hoy, apenas se conocen los efectos de diferentes tipos de 'prompts', por ello, este estudio a pequeña escala compara dos tipos: la retroalimentación metalingüística y la elicitación. Dos grupos de alumnos universitarios de nivel intermedio (n=31) recibieron o bien elicitación o bien retroalimentación metalingüística mientras efectuaron actividades orales comunicativas. Los resultados muestran que los alumnos que recibieron retroalimentación metalingüística mejoraron más entre el test previo y posterior, aunque esta mejora no fue significativa. Asimismo, estos alumnos fueron más capaces de corregir sus errores durante la intervención en el aula.
Open Access
Spanish lecturers’ beliefs about English medium instruction: STEM versus Humanities
(Routledge, 2019) Roothooft, Hanne; Ciencias Humanas y de la Educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak
More and more European universities are implementing English Medium Instruction (EMI) programs, but such policies tend to be top-down and pay insufficient attention to contextual factors such as the degree of internationalization of the universities involved, or the actual subject taught and the perceived role of English in that subject. To understand such contexts better, it is essential to listen to the voices of the professionals actually involved in the transition to EMI, namely the lecturers themselves. This study focuses specifically on EMI lecturers’ beliefs in the Spanish context, and uses narrative frames to contrast the views of STEM and Humanities lecturers. In line with previous research, most of the 59 lecturers who completed our narrative frame indicated that they focused on content and not on language. Some differences in opinion between STEM and Humanities lecturers were found, especially with regard to changes in teaching style and L1 use. More Humanities teachers than STEM teachers felt that they had changed their teaching style. Humanities teachers also imposed stricter controls on L1 use, although overall attitudes to L1 use appeared to be determined more by other issues, such as the presence of international students, than by the actual subject in question.
Open Access
The effects of oral corrective feedback and language anxiety on pronunciation development
(Universidad de Sevilla, 2019) Luquin Urtasun, María; Roothooft, Hanne; Ciencias Humanas y de la Educación; Giza eta Hezkuntza Zientziak
Si bien una gran cantidad de estudios han demostrado que la retroalimentación correctiva oral (RC) es efectiva para la adquisición de la gramática en un idioma extranjero, muy pocos se han centrado en el impacto de la RC en el desarrollo de la pronunciación. Además, escasea la investigación de RC que tenga en cuenta las diferencias individuales, como la ansiedad en el aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera. Por lo tanto, el presente estudio investigó los efectos de las reformulaciones y la retroalimentación metalingüística sobre la pronunciación de la terminación de pasado -ed, comparando 30 estudiantes de ansiedad alta y baja con un nivel A2 + de inglés en una escuela secundaria de España. Un diseño pretest/post-test consistente en una lectura en voz alta y una narración fue llevado a cabo con un grupo de reformulación (n=10), un grupo de retroalimentación metalingüística (n=10) y un grupo de control (n=10). Cada uno de los tres grupos fue subdividido en un grupo de ansiedad alta (n = 5) y otro de ansiedad baja (n = 5). Se encontraron diferencias significativas entre el grupo de reformulación y el grupo de control, lo cual confirma investigación previa que demuestra que las reformulaciones son beneficiosas para el desarrollo de la pronunciación. Sin embargo, a pesar de ciertas indicaciones de que los estudiantes con ansiedad baja se beneficiaron más de la RC, y los estudiantes con ansiedad elevada parecieron beneficiarse especialmente de las reformulaciones, no se pudieron identificar diferencias significativas entre los grupos de ansiedad en este estudio.