In the literature of learner characteristics in applied linguistics, learning attitudes, strategies and motivation have received most attention. These learner individual difference variables have usually been seen as background learner variables that modify and personalize the overall trajectory of the language acquisition processes (Dörnyei, 2009). Embedded within a mainly psycholinguistic per...

Sensitivity to regularities plays a crucial role in the acquisition of various linguistic features from spoken language input. Artificial grammar learning paradigms explore pattern recognition abilities in a set of structured sequences (i.e., of syllables or letters). In the present study, we investigated the functional underpinnings of learning phonological regularities in auditorily presented...

Open and Distance Learning (ODL) gives learners freedom of time, place and pace of study, putting learner self-direction centre-stage. However, increased responsibility should not come at the price of over-burdening or abandonment of learners as they progress along their learning journey. This paper introduces an approach to wayfinding support for distance learners based on self-organisation th...

Objectives: According to the OPTIMAL theory of motor learning (Wulf & Lewthwaite, 2016), autonomy support contributes to successful performance and learning in part by enhancing learners' expectancies. The present study was designed to test expectancy-related predictions. Specifically, we examined the effects of practice with autonomy support on learners’ self-efficacy, positive affect, and tho...

A map is frequently combined with a text to provide spatial and non-spatial information for learners. How a map and a text are combined and the characteristics of learners are keys for understanding successful learning. This study used a cognitive experiment to investigate spatial learning by explaining performance on a test of acquired knowledge with variables related to the learning environme...