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Education Sciences
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Bilingual Education and Second Language Acquisition
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Bilingual Education and Second Language Acquisition

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "Language and Literacy Education".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (27 February 2026) | Viewed by 6084

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Evy Woumans

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Translation, Interpreting, and Communication, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 33, 9000 Gent, Belgium
Interests: bilingualism and all its (psycholonguistic) aspects; translation and interpreting processes; second language acquisition; instruction languages in education

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to systematise knowledge on bilingual education and second language acquisition by providing a comprehensive overview of the research efforts into the two strands undertaken by a number of disciplines (e.g., psychology, linguistics, sociology, and pedagogy). As such, the present volume will bring together multiple fields, methods, and perspectives to provide a cross-disciplinary and broad overview of the implications, as well as the advantages and challenges, of bilingual development and education. This Special Issue encourages manuscript submissions addressing research questions related to bilingual education and second language acquisition from a theoretical, methodological, and/or experimental point of view. It aims to cover a wide range of research including, but not limited to, the following topics:

 --Second language acquisition;

--Language learning;

--Language in society;

--Language development;

--⁠Language co-activation and cross-linguistic influence;

--Language teaching and language in education;

--Linguistic anthropology;

--Translation and interpreting;

--Executive control and cognitive reserve;

--Lexico-semantic and syntactic processing;

--Discourse analysis;

--Cognitive and/or neural models of language processing;

--Neurolinguistics.

Dr. Evy Woumans 
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • bilingualism
  • second language acquisition
  • language learning
  • education
  • immersion
  • content and language integrated learning
  • English as medium of instruction

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 924 KB  
Article
Reflections of Former CLIL Pupils on Their Motivations, Expectations and Perceived Learning Outcomes
by Niels Planckaert, Zoë Clabau and Evy Woumans
Educ. Sci. 2026, 16(3), 495; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16030495 - 21 Mar 2026
Viewed by 310
Abstract
This paper explores how former CLIL pupils who have completed secondary school reflect on their experiences with Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) through a survey with both open- and closed-ended questions. Data was gathered on former pupils’ initial expectations, their motivations, their [...] Read more.
This paper explores how former CLIL pupils who have completed secondary school reflect on their experiences with Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) through a survey with both open- and closed-ended questions. Data was gathered on former pupils’ initial expectations, their motivations, their evaluations of their teachers’ competence, and the perceived impact of CLIL on their language proficiency and content understanding. The sample consisted of 75 participants (ages 18–23) who had taken at least one CLIL subject in a Flemish secondary school. The results reveal that many pupils initially viewed CLIL primarily as a means of enhancing their language skills. This expectation was only partially fulfilled: while some reported increased proficiency and confidence, others were less certain of concrete linguistic gains. In terms of subject content, most pupils felt that learning in a second language had not negatively affected their content understanding. Teachers were mostly deemed competent as to subject knowledge, but language competence was more critically evaluated. Pupils who viewed their teachers’ language competence favorably were also more likely to report personal language improvement. Motivations for participating in CLIL included an interest in languages, a desire for an academic challenge, and perceived future benefits. These insights underscore the need for CLIL programmes to align expectations, teacher support, and target-language use with learners’ perceived experiences. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bilingual Education and Second Language Acquisition)
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19 pages, 1576 KB  
Article
Enhancing L2 Learners’ Perceived Social Presence and Vocabulary Learning Grit: The Mobile Vocabulary Learning-Pal Gamification
by Qian Xu, Zhuo Zhang and Jennifer C. Richardson
Educ. Sci. 2026, 16(2), 278; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16020278 - 9 Feb 2026
Viewed by 663
Abstract
Vocabulary learning has been a challenge for second language (L2) learners, often due to its repetitive nature and the massive time investment it requires. To address these challenges, digital gamification features have been introduced to L2 learners and educators in higher education contexts [...] Read more.
Vocabulary learning has been a challenge for second language (L2) learners, often due to its repetitive nature and the massive time investment it requires. To address these challenges, digital gamification features have been introduced to L2 learners and educators in higher education contexts to enhance the learning experience and foster learner grit. This study examined the impact of a mobile collaborative gamification feature, the learning-pal activity, on L2 vocabulary acquisition, focusing on learners’ vocabulary learning grit and perceived social presence. Using a quasi-experimental design, 100 L2 students from a Chinese university were divided into two groups: an experimental group (N = 62), which used the learning-pal feature within the Shanbay Danci (SBDC) app, and a control group (N = 38), which used the app without the collaborative feature. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study found that participation in the learning-pal activity significantly improved learners’ vocabulary learning grit. However, the activity did not significantly enhance perceived social presence; notably, the experimental group reported lower levels of perceived social presence than the control group. These findings suggest that mobile collaborative gamification can effectively foster sustained vocabulary learning efforts but provide limited opportunities for social interaction during the vocabulary learning process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bilingual Education and Second Language Acquisition)
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16 pages, 1421 KB  
Article
How Do Individual-Difference Variables Affect Adolescent Learners’ L2 English Speaking Development? A Microgenetic Study
by Vanessa De Wilde
Educ. Sci. 2025, 15(10), 1327; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15101327 - 7 Oct 2025
Viewed by 1128
Abstract
Researchers have found that learners’ second language development is influenced by internal and external individual differences but only few studies have adopted a longitudinal approach. In the present study, I aimed to investigate how several internal and external individual differences were interrelated and [...] Read more.
Researchers have found that learners’ second language development is influenced by internal and external individual differences but only few studies have adopted a longitudinal approach. In the present study, I aimed to investigate how several internal and external individual differences were interrelated and whether and how these variables predicted L2 English speaking development in adolescent learners. I conducted a dense longitudinal study with frequent measurements of L2 speaking skills. Learners in the first year of secondary school (11 to 13 years old, n = 48) did a weekly speaking task from September to May. At the start of the study, the participants also did multiple tasks, which measured various individual differences. Spearman correlations were calculated to shed light on the relationships between individual-difference variables, and generalized additive mixed models were used to model learning trajectories over time and to investigate the role of individual differences in this development. Results showed that learners’ speaking scores were predicted by time and prior L2 English receptive vocabulary knowledge, which was the main predictor of L2 speaking skills. Vocabulary knowledge furthermore significantly correlated with measures of out-of-school exposure and motivation. The results showed the key role of vocabulary in the early stages of L2 English learning. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bilingual Education and Second Language Acquisition)
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23 pages, 1187 KB  
Article
The Influence of Media Multitasking on Moroccan English as a Foreign Language Teachers’ Reading Habits
by Kouider Mokhtari, Nirmal Ghimire and Adil Bentahar
Educ. Sci. 2025, 15(5), 599; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15050599 - 13 May 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2669
Abstract
This study examined the impact of media multitasking on the reading habits and practices of 700 Moroccan English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers, utilizing a time-diary survey methodology. The findings reveal that a significant number of teachers engage in media multitasking, particularly [...] Read more.
This study examined the impact of media multitasking on the reading habits and practices of 700 Moroccan English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers, utilizing a time-diary survey methodology. The findings reveal that a significant number of teachers engage in media multitasking, particularly watching television and using the Internet, while reading for both academic and recreational purposes. Ordinal logistic regression (OR) analyses showed that school type and specific multitasking activities were significant predictors of the displacement of time spent on reading. Teachers in urban/suburban schools reported higher levels of displacement compared with those in rural areas (OR = 2.23; 95% CI [1.59, 3.14]), while more-experienced teachers (6–10 years) reported less displacement (OR = 0.56; 95% CI [0.39, 0.80]). Watching television “most of the time” while reading was associated with greater displacement for both recreational (OR = 2.61; 95% CI [1.18, 5.79]) and academic reading (OR = 2.64; 95% CI [1.16, 6.06]). Social network showed contrasting associations: significantly lower displacement for recreational reading, but no significant relationship with academic reading displacement. These results suggest that media multitasking has context-dependent effects on teachers’ reading practices, with implications for their professional development and literacy instruction. This study emphasizes the need for targeted interventions to help teachers manage digital distractions and foster focused reading habits in the digital age. Future research should explore the long-term consequences of media multitasking on teachers’ effectiveness and identify strategies to promote engaged reading across diverse educational settings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bilingual Education and Second Language Acquisition)
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