Learner engagement in second and foreign language learning cannot be fully explained by motivation alone, particularly in self-access and autonomous learning contexts where learners must actively negotiate their participation. This literature-based review examines L2 motivation as a dynamic, socially situated process by integrating three influential theoretical frameworks: Norton’s theory of Investment, Yashima’s concept of International Posture, and Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS). While each framework has been widely discussed independently, this paper brings them into dialogue to capture both the cognitive and social dimensions of learner engagement in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts. The review highlights how future-oriented self-guides (L2MSS), imagined global affiliations (International Posture), and socially mediated access to participation (Investment) interact to shape learners’ ability to translate motivation into meaningful action. By synthesizing these perspectives, the paper reconceptualizes motivation not as an individual psychological trait but as a context-dependent process unfolding at the intersection of identity, imagined futures, and institutional conditions. The review further discusses implications for self-access language learning, emphasizing the need for learning environments that support identity development, legitimize diverse forms of participation, and align learners’ aspirations with accessible opportunities for investment. The paper concludes by identifying directions for future research on motivation and engagement in self-access and autonomous learning settings.

This article is a review of the edited volume Apprentissage, Évaluation(s) et Autonomisation, l’Enseignement des Langues à l’Université by Peggy Candas, Pia Acker, and Denyze Toffoli (Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 2025). The volume is divided into three parts and builds on the 26th RANACLES (Réseau des Centres de Langues de l’Enseignement Supérieur, in French or Network of Higher Education Language Centers, in English), Congress, held in 2018 in Strasbourg, which focused on evaluation practices in language resource centers and the way formative, autonomy-supportive approaches can be identified, aligned with institutional missions, and theoretically grounded. Through 12 chapters that combine theory and case studies, the book explores the relationship among language learning in higher education, assessment, and automatization, while highlighting strategies that promote learner responsibility, reflection, and empowerment.

Learner autonomy is an ability that is highly correlated with learning motivation, language proficiency and performance. The roles played by language teachers in cultivating learner autonomy are under-explored in academic literature. Drawing on the Language Advising framework (Mynard & Carson, 2012), we conducted semi-structured interviews with nine student teachers based in six countries on their language teaching experiences. Specifically, we investigated their perceptions on implementing language advising to develop autonomy of their learners in a classroom setting. Inductive coding unveiled that learner autonomy has been well understood as a context-specific concept, which should be viewed in consideration with language teachers’ personal circumstances, working environments, and culture backgrounds that they are associated with. Despite the consensus on developing language learner autonomy, language advising is not a widely recognised pedagogical approach among participants; they have expressed a sense of curiosity for knowing more about the skills and possibilities of acquiring them in their specific teaching context, in order to promote learner autonomy. Findings suggest that language teachers could benefit from learning advising skill training that is tailored to their teaching contexts. We call for future studies to examine the implementation of advising skills in language classrooms.

This summary article describes the development of a special lecture series called The English Lounge (EL) Forum in Hirosaki University’s SALC. First, I outline the topics covered by the lecturers who come from various faculties at the university as well as individuals from outside the university. The goal is to develop a hub at the SALC for interdisciplinary learning and the sharing of new research and ideas through a “push-pull” framework that provides students activities that “pull” them back to the SALC throughout the year. Then, using data collected from the EL forum, I report on the number of participants, the diversity of the lecturers, and participation feedback. Finally, I provide some reflections and discuss future possibilities for the EL Forum.

Since the social turn in applied linguistics, there has been growing interest in the role of emotion in language practices. This role is especially relevant to self-access language learning in terms of how it influences learner autonomy and motivation. With its focus on autonomy and sociality, self-access learning offers unique affordances for facilitating learner and advisor awareness of emotion in language learning. To this end, this study used an arts-based method, language mapping, for learners to express their language practices in multimodal ways. Language mapping integrates body mapping and language portraits methods to catalyze individual and group reflection anchored by embodied, emotional experiences. The researchers collaborated with a Japanese university self-access language learning center to engage seven volunteer participants in a series of two workshops. Data were gathered through participants’ language maps, narratives shared in workshops, and questionnaire responses. Findings highlight the potential of language mapping in exploring learners’ affective connections to their named languages. While mother tongues were generally portrayed as comforting, vivid, default, and unconscious, relationships to learned languages were represented through more diverse visual and verbal metaphors. Key pedagogical considerations include the impact of exemplars and group processes.

In questo articolo, i tre autori (due studenti di italiano di livello A2 e un insegnante di italiano), esaminano sei risorse per l’apprendimento autodiretto dell’italiano. Queste risorse sono: due corsi online (Busuu ed EdX), un podcast, un’estensione Netflix, un libro e uno strumento AI. L’articolo suggerisce come le risorse possono essere utilizzate dagli studenti di italiano che studiano fuori dalla classe come parte di un piano di apprendimento autonomo. In this article, the three authors (two learners of Italian at the A2 level, and one Italian instructor) review six diverse resources for self-directed learning of Italian. These resources are: two online courses (Busuu and EdX), a podcast, a Netflix extension, a book, and an AI tool. The article suggests how such resources can be used by learners of Italian outside the classroom as part of an autonomous learning plan.

The research presented in this article was informed by the notion of language learners having a second language future-speaking self-image and how it can have an effect on their motivation to learn a second language. As part of a larger project, the researcher investigated the presence of L2 (second language) future self-images among 12 Japanese high school students (aged between 15 and 18), who took part in one-to-one interviews with the researcher. A thematic analysis of their responses was conducted to examine the extent to which their L2 future self-images had an influence on their L2 motivation. The results showed that the majority of the participants possessed L2 future self-images which are unique to them and that these have had an effect on their motivation to study English. The qualitative data gathered from one-on-one interviews between the researcher and the participants showed how individual language learning experiences can shape and alter L2 future-selves in multi layered and often complex ways.

This article provides a review of a recent monograph, Self-Regulated Learning and Second Language Writing, by Lin Sophie Teng, published by Springer in 2022. The book investigates practical applications to self-regulated second-language writing. Self-regulated learning (SRL) provides several benefits. For instance, it fosters active and productive learning, enhances writing achievement, impacts writing performance, and supports learning outside the classroom. Phases of forethought, performance, and self-reflection are pivotal domains of SRL and essential for effective self-access learning and writing beyond the classroom. The review concludes with some thoughts about the book’s strengths and weaknesses and recommendations for readers.

This resource description explores a web-assisted learning and teaching approach for Tamil facilitated by the Penn Language Center. Tamil is an ancient language spoken predominantly in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. The language has significant cultural and linguistic relevance. However, due to limited resources and geographical constraints, access to high-quality Tamil language instruction has often been challenging for learners outside Tamil-speaking regions. To address these challenges, the Penn Language Center developed the WALTT program, which integrates web-based technologies into Tamil language learning and teaching. This web resource description aims to examine the structure of the syllabi in detail. Overall, this resource description aims to decode the presence of web-assisted learning resources in the field of Tamil language education, as well as provide valuable resources for the broader community of web-assisted language learning and teaching practitioners and beginners of the language.