Preface The purpose of the Preface to this new issue of Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition is twofold. Firstly, it offers a short introduction for new readers to familiarize them with the origins of the journal (a per- manent element of the Preface). Secondly, the text provides a fairly detailed comment on the contents of the present issue. Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition was founded as a forum of discussion for both Polish and foreign scholars and seems to have fulfilled its mission as a journal on the rise. The present volume marks the eighth year of its presence in the scholarly world. The journal has become quite popular and we receive more and more qualified submissions from Polish and foreign researchers. Indeed, since its foundation, every consecutive issue of the journal has welcomed contributions from many renowned researchers, including Peter MacIntyre, David Singleton, Larissa Aronin, Sarah Mercer, Tammy Gregersen, and Jean-Marc Dewaele, among others. Also, the fast growing number of OA uploads testifies to the journal’s increasing popularity, as does the queue of articles already accepted and awaiting their turn to be included in the next volumes to be published. This is why we have decided to increase the number of research papers published in a single volume for the second time: in the first years of the journal’s existence there were six, last year seven, and starting with issue 8(1), TAPSLA includes eight research contributions, followed by two book reviews. It is the journal’s ambition to demonstrate new trends and hitherto unknown venues for research in SLA, focusing both on theoretical discussions and the practical solutions to prob- lems that are based upon them. We aim not only to publish and share with our readers contributions from well-known and respected scholars but also to promote young researchers from all over the world, who often present fresh and innovative ideas or open up new perspectives on issues already under discus- sion. In other words, the journal hopes to become a venue for the exchange Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition vol. 8 (2), 2022, pp. 1–5 https://doi.org/10.31261/TAPSLA.13253 https://doi.org/10.31261/TAPSLA.13253 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en 2 Preface of ideas between well-established academics and those inspired by them. In terms of its content, the journal presents contributions on issues ranging from purely linguistic and cognitively-oriented research on language acquisition processes to psycho- and sociolinguistic studies, always trying to feature the most recent developments in terms both of topic choice and of the methodology of research. We publish our journal through an open access system, where the entire production process is executed online and the final product is available to everyone, thus offering an opportunity to share ideas through a broad, ef- fective and economical mode of dissemination. We aim at keeping high stan- dards and quality, which are guaranteed by the international Editorial Board of TAPSLA, whose members are well-known Polish and foreign experts on a wide range of second language acquisition issues. The journal is indexed in numer- ous databases, including Scopus. The journal is published by the prestigious Polish academic publisher, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego (University of Silesia Press in Katowice), which provides an experienced team of editors to oversee the copyediting and technical side of the production. Updated informa- tion and all the issues published so far are available on the journal webpage at www.tapsla.us.edu.pl. The present volume 8(2) offers a wide variety of interesting topics well- grounded in theoretical considerations and literature overviews, but importantly, also reporting on empirical projects carried out by researchers, some of them well-known scholars, others young aspiring academics. The articles selected also offer a variety of contexts in which the studies were conducted, ranging from that of our local Polish research to Iranian university studies, which are quite well-represented here. The opening text by Liliana Piasecka, entitled “When “grass was greener”: Longplay Album Covers and Learning English. A Retrospection,” at first sight looks like a sentimental journey into the world of music (which it is in part). The author’s aim is to demonstrate the power of experiential learning which combines elements of material culture that are meaningful to a learner and thus, that motivate him or her to learn a FL. The account is based on the author’s own reflections on her learning experiences and the impact of longplay album (LP) covers of the 1960s on her learning success. The text also offers some practical ideas for a FL classroom. In the next text, “The Development of Language Skills in Speakers of English as an Additional Language. What Matters More, Daily Use or Age of Onset?”, Luca Cilibrasi and Daniela Marková once again question the importance of age of onset, which was assumed in earlier research, compared to daily exposure and language use in terms of vocabulary and overall proficiency in this language. The study, which is based on a large number of public datasets and analyzed statistically, shows that language use is a better predictor of language proficiency than age of onset. Another text focusing on the age factor in a FL context, authored by Anna Borkowska and entitled “The Relationship between Age-advanced www.tapsla.us.edu.pl 3Preface Learners’ In-class Willingness to Communicate in English, Intrinsic Motivation, Classroom Environment and Teacher Immediacy—A Pilot Study,” looks at third age learners of foreign languages (seniors). The main objective of this questionnaire study was to establish the relationship between willingness to communicate (WTC), intrinsic motivation, classroom environment, and teacher immediacy. The analysis of the data leads the author to the conclusion that senior FL learners are more eager to use meaning-focused activities (such as dyadic interaction tasks) than form-focused ones, emphasising that practical communication is for them the main purpose of FL learning. These seniors’ motivation to learn a FL is defined as communication both in a natural envi- ronment (abroad) and in the classroom in a non-threatening climate established by a professional, patient, and empathetic language teacher. The next three articles in this issue introduce readers to themes investi- gated in the FL instructional settings at the authors’ academic institutions in Iran and Korea. The topic of FL learning motivation is taken up in the text by Yahya Ghelichli, Seyyed Hassan Seyyedrezaei, and Zari Sadat Seyyedrezaei, “Improving Student Engagement and Motivation: Perspectives of Iranian EFL Learners.” The authors state that intensive language engagement increases motivation to learn a language, which has been the topic of many quantitative studies but fewer qualitative ones. The study presented in this article uses the qualitative paradigm of a semi-structure interview, in which a group of Iranian male learners of English reflected upon the determinants of and relation be- tween their engagement and motivation to learn. It seems that, among other factors, it is teacher behavior that impacts their engagement most, whereas both teachers and parents are important in the development of their motivation to learn. The next article, by Hyang-Il Kim and entitled “Investigating the Roles of the Four Sources of Self-Efficacy Beliefs in an EFL Listening Context,” demonstrates the importance of self-efficacy beliefs in FL learning. It reports on an empirical study conducted with Korean learners of English. The author aimed to verify the self-efficacy hypothesis proposed by Bandura (1997), this time in the context of listening tasks. The four sources of efficacy proposed by Bandura were confirmed by the data collected in the study, which demonstrated that they all affect basic self-efficacy, while emotional states are evidenced in advanced-skill efficacy. In their text “Effects of Adjunct Model of Instruction on EAP Learners’ Reading Comprehension Skill,” Mahzad Karimi and Elahe Ghorbanchian investigate the possibilities and effectiveness of new methodolo- gies of online teaching employed in the conditions of pandemic restrictions in a course of English for Academic Purposes (EAP). The effectiveness of devel- oping reading comprehension by means of the adjunct model was measured in an experiment conducted among university architecture students. The statistical analysis (ANOVA) established the effectiveness of the adjunct model compared with more traditional teaching. The text by Danial Babajani Azizi, Nourollah 4 Preface Gharanjik, and Mahmood Dehqan entitled “The Effects of Mobile-mediated Explicit and Implicit Feedback on EFL Learners’ Use of English Prepositions” also takes up the theme of technology used as a tool in language instruction. In this paper, the authors focus on use of the WhatsApp application in giv- ing corrective feedback. Their experiment aimed at comparing the effects of mobile-mediated explicit and implicit corrective feedback on learner perfor- mance in a selected area of grammar. The results of tests administered at vari- ous stages of instruction (pre-test, post-test, delayed post-test) demonstrated that the groups improved significantly on the immediate post-test but also maintained higher scores on the delayed post-test. The closing article, by Aleksandra Szymańska-Tworek and entitled “Mentoring as Professional Development for Mentors,” moves away from the issue of language instruction as such and focuses on FL teacher professional development. The author offers an innovative view on the importance of being a school-based mentor to pre-service EFL teachers. The process of mentoring is seen by the author as an important element of teacher professional development and growth. On the basis of the data collected from a web-based questionnaire for teacher-mentors, the author concludes that mentoring practice develops teachers’ capacity for reflection and leadership skills as well as fostering co- operation and inspiration in the trainees. The two book reviews published in this issue are of two works that have ap- peared as part of a series. They both offer the latest findings of theoretical and empirical research on the fairly new concept of dominant language constellation (DLC) and its application in multilingualism research and multilingual language education, The first book review, by Bessie Dendrinos of Dominant Language Constellations: A New Perspective on Multilingualism (2020, edited by Joseph Lo Bianco and Larissa Aronin), points out the merits of the book as offering a comprehensible and complete explanation of the construct of DLC as defined by Larissa Aronin and its application in developing our understanding of the phenomenon of multilingualism. The reviewer also sees this volume as having value as an inspiration for different and innovative multilingualism studies, pro- vided by the examples it contains of studies conducted in a variety of cultural contexts around the world. The second review, by Lisa Marie Brinkmann, is of a companion book on DLC, Dominant Language Constellations Approach in Education and Language Acquisition (2021, edited by Larissa Aronin and Eva Vetter), and goes back to defining and redefining the concept of DLC, but its spe- cific focus is on demonstrating how this concept applies to language education and educational policies. Apart from theoretical considerations on DLC in language education policy and school practice, the concept is presented in ac- tion in empirical studies that focus on teacher training and on researching the language identities of multilingual language users and learners by means of qualitative methods (narratives, visualizations). The appearance of these two 5Preface volumes on DLC does not exhaust all the possibilities the concept offers in multilingualism research, as a third volume is now in preparation. We would like to emphasize that although the articles contained in this is- sue offer mainly reports on empirical research, they are also grounded in solid theoretical bases and overviews of literature in a given area. Additionally, the research presented here has a strong potential for language practitioners and the practical ideas proposed by some of the authors can be adapted for many other teaching and learning contexts. The texts cover a whole array of topics focusing on FL learners and teachers in their different capacities and show empirical work that is being done in various contexts of bi- and multilingualism in different parts of the world. This diversity of contexts is a valuable asset as it allows us to compare research interests and the research methodologies ap- plied. Publishing in our journal, which is available online in open access, our contributors are all able to reach a wide readership around the world. We believe that researchers, teachers, and students can all benefit from this issue of TAPSLA and will find the articles published here not only useful but also inspirational. In this place, we would like to thank all the authors in this issue and, as is our usual practice, extend our invitation to all Polish and foreign researchers and academics to share their work with us by submitting it to the journal. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0626-0703 Danuta Gabryś-Barker https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0308-4337 Adam Wojtaszek https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0626-0703 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0308-4337