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Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 
Department of English Studies, Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts, Adam Mickiewicz University, Kalisz 

SSLLT 4 (1). 2014. 11-12 
doi: 10.14746/ssllt.2014.4.1.1 

http://www.ssllt.amu.edu.pl 
 
 
 

Editorial 
 
The  first  2014  issue  of  Studies in Second Language Learning and Teach-

ing brings together five papers, which either report the results of original em-
pirical studies or provide valuable insights into the methodology of research 
into the processes of language learning, teaching and use. In the first contribu-
tion, Kay Irie discusses the tenets of Q methodology, an alternative approach 
to exploring individuals’ views about complex issues or phenomena that com-
bines the features of quantitative and qualitative paradigms but has yet to be 
applied on a larger scale to empirical investigations of language learning and 
teaching. She also presents a detailed procedure for conducting such research 
with reference to her study on language learners’ self-concept, discusses the 
possible applications of this approach and addresses its limitations. In the next 
paper, Muriel Gallego presents the results of a study which aimed to tap learn-
ers’ perceptions about dictogloss and showed, on the basis of the data collect-
ed by means of posttask surveys administered to 497 participants from two 
different universities, that this activity is favorably received by learners, with 
the caveat that it is appreciated more by those who represent higher profi-
ciency levels and are cognitively ready to engage in a task of this kind. Abulfazl 
Mesgarshahr and Esmaeel Abdollahzadeh, in turn, touch on the relationship 
between the use of communication strategies and language learners’ Willing-
ness to Communicate, a potentially very promising line of inquiry that has thus 
far been, somewhat surprisingly, neglected by researchers. They found in their 
experimental study that training students in the use of a wide variety of com-
munication strategies translated into a dramatic increase in the level of Will-
ingness to Communicate, at least in the case of pre-intermediate learners. The 
final two papers included in the present issue focus on learners’ interlanguage 
development, seeking to account for factors leading to fossilization and tracing 
the development of a particular linguistic feature. First, Musa Nushi puts to the 
empirical test Han’s (2009) selective fossilization hypothesis, demonstrating 



 

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that although L1 markedness and input availability indeed influence whether or 
not second language forms fossilize, other factors, such as individual variation, 
have to be taken into account to explain adult language learning. Second, 
Shaopeng Li and Lianrui Yang explore the development of topic prominence in 
Chinese learners of English as a foreign language from a discourse perspective 
with respect to topic chains and zero anaphora, providing evidence that dis-
course structures are likely to be impacted by typological differences between 
the  mother  tongue  and  the  target  language.  I  am  deeply  convinced  that  all  of  
these papers make a valuable contribution to the field of second language ac-
quisition and will provide an inspiration for other researchers, both in terms of 
further  exploring  the  themes  addressed  as  well  as  embracing  and  refining  the  
methodological procedures employed. 

 
 

Miros aw Pawlak 
Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland 

pawlakmi@amu.edu.pl 
 

 
References 
 
Han, Z.-H. (2009). Interlanguage and fossilization: Towards an analytic model. 

In V. Cook & L. Wei (Eds.), Contemporary applied linguistics. Vol. 1: Lan-
guage teaching and learning (pp. 137-162). London: Continuum.