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27 SES 06 B JS: Joint Paper Session - Multilingualism and Language Education - NW 27 and NW 31
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27. Didactics - Learning and Teaching
Paper CLIL Theory, CLIL Practice: Investigating the balance between content and language The University of Melbourne, Australia Presenting Author:Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is a didactic model distinct from adjacent bilingual approaches because of its commitment to a “dual focus” on developing both language and content (Marsh, 2002; Coyle et al., 2010). On a continuum between content and language, for example, Macaro (2018) positions approaches such as English‑medium instruction (EMI) at the content‑focused end—primarily oriented toward knowledge‑based outcomes despite being delivered in contexts where English is an additional language—while content‑based teaching (CBT) tends to sit at the language‑focused end, privileging target‑language development over mastery of the subject-matter being discussed. CLIL, in contrast, is positioned squarely at the centre of Macaro’s continuum: an orientation premised on the intentional, principled scaffolding of both new communicative competence and new subject‑matter knowledge. This study seeks to advance knowledge of CLIL by bringing these theoretical assumptions about the balance of content and language into conversation with Bourdieu’s theory of practice; in particular, his concept of “dispositions”. Dispositions are strands that come together to comprise Bourdieu’s better-known concept, the “habitus”: our sense-making system internalised over time that helps us to navigate social spaces, often without conscious awareness (Bourdieu, 1977, 1979, 1990). As Bourdieu explains, the habitus is an internalised ‘system of durable, transposable dispositions which functions as the generative basis of structured, objectively unified practices’ (Bourdieu, 1979, p. vii, emphasis added). Dispositions therefore represent fine-grained areas of the habitus. Recent work on “social justice dispositions”, for example, reveals how teachers’ pedagogic practice is differently shaped due to variations in teachers’ sense of what seems to be the “just” or “right” thing to do in the moment, with relation to equity and fairness (Cross et al., 2025). As guidance that is pre- or un-thought, disposition offers a novel analytic construct to help investigate the dissonance that sometimes unfolds between what might be said (i.e., articulating conscious thought) and then done. This paper uses dispositions to examine the translation of CLIL theory into practice. Specifically, despite CLIL’s theoretical commitment as a didactic activity to balance content and language, it seeks to discover whether teachers reveal a tendency to instead emphasise one more than the other more heavily in practice. It is guided by these research questions:
Data comprised a series of stimulated-recall interviews based on video-recordings of four CLIL teachers in Australian primary classrooms. These were transcribed and, using cultural‑historical activity theory (CHAT) to generate systematic accounts of each teacher’s practice (Engeström, 1987; Cross, 2010), were then analysed to identify recurring patterns, tendencies, and rhythms that characterised each case. These patterns led us to differentiate cases as having either a language-focused, content-focused, or dual-focused disposition, and to document the impact of those dispositions on how CLIL was enacted in practice. The study demonstrates that, despite teachers’ commitments to balance both language and content in planning, unintended emphases and tendencies—what “feels natural” to do in flight—deeply shape the translation of CLIL’s dual focus into practice. By making these dispositions visible, the paper contributes a new conceptual lens for understanding CLIL enactment, alongside empirically grounded insights with potential to strengthen CLIL teacher education given greater awareness of the impact of dispositions on pedagogic design. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used Sitting between what teachers think or say and what they actually do, dispositions are difficult to identify using conventional methodological techniques such as interviews (which elicit articulated beliefs) or classroom observations (which capture externally visible actions but not any sense of the reasoning that guides them). To address this challenge, the study employs a two‑stage methodological design informed by prior work on researching social justice dispositions (Cross et al., 2025). Stage 1—Stimulated Consciousness: Teachers first participate in a 30‑minute interview designed to generate a narrative account of their CLIL practice. This “baseline” account captures teachers’ espoused understandings of CLIL, including how they believe they balance language and content. It provides the necessary point of comparison from which to interrogate subsequent data. Stage 2—Stimulated Recall: Participants then take part in three 30‑minute stimulated recall interviews. Each interview uses video playback of recurring actions observed across three lessons. Teachers are asked open‑ended questions—e.g., “What do you see happening here?”—to prompt noticing. This juxtaposition of stated beliefs (Stage 1) and noticed actions (Stage 2) creates opportunities for teachers to identify moments of in/congruence between what they say and what they do. This process is critical for surfacing un/pre‑thought operating strategies (dispositions), which Bourdieu suggests are often manifest through repeated, taken‑for‑granted tendencies (Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992). Transcripts were then analysed using CHAT to create “activity systems” (Engeström, 1987), providing representations of each teacher’s practice in a systematic, coherent way for comparability (Cross, 2010). Recurring tendencies that characterised each case were then identified, helping to distinguish whether there was recurring emphasis in practice that leaned more heavily towards content, language, or there remained a balanced commitment to both. The research design thus allows us to move beyond statements of belief (“I treat language and content equally”) toward recognition of un/thought patterns (“I actually tend to foreground language/content more than I realised”). The small sample—four CLIL primary teachers—supports depth of qualitative insight into how dispositions manifest within CLIL pedagogic activity. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The findings revealed clear patterns that enabled us to differentiate between content‑disposed and language‑disposed CLIL teaching in practice. Given teachers’ conscious commitment to attending to both language and content in planning and their accounts of ideal CLIL practice, these differences did not appear as explicit choices, but as durable tendencies that unfolded in the lesson itself. It was especially evident with respect to how teachers interpreted lesson goals, their students’ needs, and their choice of mediating tools. Such tendencies influence the degree of integration achieved in CLIL lessons and therefore the extent to which CLIL’s dual focus is realised. The study shows that making dispositions visible provides a powerful tool for understanding why CLIL practices diverge despite shared theoretical commitments. Teachers’ “feel for the game” operates beneath conscious awareness and strongly influences moment‑to‑moment decision‑making in ways that structured professional learning often fails to address, given that the current knowledge base presumes conscious commitment to and awareness of theory follow through into action. Methodologically, the two‑stage process of stimulated consciousness and stimulated recall proves productive for surfacing these patterns. Stimulated recall, in particular, creates the conditions for reflexive noticing that can unsettle taken‑for‑granted assumptions (“I thought I was doing X, but my actions show Y”). This approach offers a replicable model for research in other domains where dispositions are likely to shape practice. Practically, the study also flags the need for CLIL teacher education to explicitly address the dispositional dimensions of pedagogy. Knowledge of these dispositions provides a foundation for designing CLIL teacher education that moves beyond technical strategies to address the deeper, often unrecognised orientations that shape pedagogic choices. References Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge University Press. Bourdieu, P. (1979). Algeria 1960. Cambridge University Press. Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice. Stanford University Press. Bourdieu, P., & Wacquant, L. J. D. (1992). An invitation to reflexive sociology. University of Chicago Press. Coyle, D., Hood, P., & Marsh, D. (2010). CLIL: Content and language integrated learning. Cambridge University Press. Cross, R. (2010). Language teaching as sociocultural activity: Rethinking language teacher practice. Modern Language Journal, 94(3), 434–452. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2010.01058.x Cross, R., Mills, C., & Gale, T. (2025). Social justice dispositions in schools: Thinking with Bourdieu, reading dispositions in practice. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315170435 Engeström, Y. (1987). Learning by expanding: An activity‑theoretical approach to developmental research. Orienta‑Konsultit. Macaro, E. (2018). English medium instruction. Oxford University Press. Marsh, D. (2002). CLIL/EMILE—The European dimension: Actions, trends and foresight potential. University of Jyväskylä. 27. Didactics - Learning and Teaching
Paper EFL Teacher Motivation and Student Performance: Focus on Motivation, Strategies, and Achievement Nagoya University, Japan, Japan Presenting Author:Aims This study investigates how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students' perceptions of their teachers' motivation influence student outcomes in Myanmar secondary education. Specifically, we examine whether students taught by teachers perceived as more motivated demonstrate higher autonomous motivation, greater use of self-regulated learning strategies, and better academic performance compared to students whose teachers are perceived as less motivated. Given the critical role of teacher motivation in shaping classroom environments, understanding its perceived impact on student outcomes has important implications for teacher education and professional development in resource-constrained EFL contexts. Theoretical Framework The study is grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000), which posits that social contexts significantly influence individual motivation. Within educational settings, teachers' motivational orientations may be transmitted to students through observable teaching behaviors. Research suggests that teacher motivation influences instructional quality (Roth et al., 2007), which in turn affects student motivation and learning strategies (Skinner & Belmont, 1993). We conceptualize perceived teacher motivation through the Teacher as Social Context framework (Skinner & Belmont, 1993), examining three dimensions: autonomy support, structure, and involvement. These dimensions represent visible manifestations of teacher motivation that students can perceive and respond to. The study tests whether these perceptions relate to students' autonomous motivation, self-regulated learning strategies, and ultimately, academic achievement in English. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used Methodological Design and Methods Participants included 371 high school students (ages 15-17) learning English as a foreign language across four classrooms in Myanmar. Students were distributed across four English teachers: Teacher 1 (170 students), Teacher 2 (75 students), Teacher 3 (100 students), and Teacher 4 (26 students). Students completed validated questionnaires assessing: (1) Perceived Teacher Motivation using the Teacher as Social Context Questionnaire short form (Ahn et al., 2021), measuring autonomy support, structure, and involvement (24 items, α = 0.786); (2) Student Autonomous Motivation combining identified and intrinsic motivation scales (Maulana et al., 2016, 8 items, α = 0.655); and (3) Self-Regulated Learning Strategies using the metacognitive strategies subscale from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Duncan et al., 2015, 12 items, α = 0.626). Academic performance was obtained from students' most recent English examination grades, classified using Myanmar's grading system (A = 80-100, B = 60-80, C = 40-60, D = below 40) and converted to numerical scores. Teachers were classified based on aggregated student perceptions. Each teacher's average perceived motivation score was calculated, and teachers were grouped using a median split: high motivation group (Teachers 2 and 3, n = 175 students) and low motivation group (Teachers 1 and 4, n = 196 students). One-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) compared student outcomes between groups, with eta-squared (η²) calculated to assess effect sizes. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings Expected Outcomes/Results Results demonstrate that students' perceptions of teacher motivation significantly relate to all measured outcomes. Students whose teachers were perceived as highly motivated reported significantly higher autonomous motivation (M = 3.93, SD = 0.43) compared to those whose teachers were perceived as less motivated (M = 3.81, SD = 0.62), F(1, 369) = 4.80, p = .029, η² = 0.01. Similarly, students in the high teacher motivation group demonstrated greater use of self-regulated learning strategies (M = 3.49, SD = 0.30) than their peers in the low motivation group (M = 3.40, SD = 0.50), F(1, 369) = 4.56, p = .033, η² = 0.01. Most notably, academic performance showed a substantial difference. Students whose teachers were perceived as highly motivated significantly outperformed those whose teachers were perceived as less motivated (M = 10.78, SD = 0.41 vs. M = 10.05, SD = 0.22), F(1, 369) = 465.70, p < .001, η² = 0.56. This large effect size (56% of variance explained) provides strong evidence that perceived teacher motivation represents a critical factor in student achievement. These findings suggest that teacher motivation perceived by students would have meaningful consequences for their learning and motivation. The particularly strong relationship with academic performance indicates that efforts to support and sustain teacher motivation may yield substantial benefits for student outcomes. For teacher education in EFL contexts, these results highlight the importance of not only developing pedagogical skills but also cultivating and maintaining teachers' own motivation as a visible, impactful element of effective teaching. Limitations include the small number of teachers (n = 4), which precluded multilevel modeling, and the cross-sectional design, which limits causal inference. References References Ahn, I., Chiu, M. M., & Patrick, H. (2021). Connecting teacher and student motivation: Student-perceived teacher need-supportive practices and student need satisfaction. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 64, 101950. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2021.101950 Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “What” and “Why” of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01 Duncan, T., Pintrich, P., Smith, D., & Mckeachie, W. (2015). Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) Manual. Unpublished. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.2547.6968 Maulana, R., Helms-Lorenz, M., Irnidayanti, Y., & Van De Grift, W. (2016). Autonomous Motivation in the Indonesian Classroom: Relationship with Teacher Support Through the Lens of Self-Determination Theory. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 25(3), 441–451. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-016-0282-5 Roth, G., Assor, A., Kanat-Maymon, Y., & Kaplan, H. (2007). Autonomous motivation for teaching: How self-determined teaching may lead to self-determined learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(4), 761–774. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.99.4.761 Skinner, E. A., & Belmont, M. J. (1993). Motivation in the classroom: Reciprocal effects of teacher behavior and student engagement across the school year. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85(4), 571–581. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.85.4.571 27. Didactics - Learning and Teaching
Paper Is Multiliteracy as an Empty Signifier Eroding Finnish L1’s Disciplinary Identity and Core? A Coherence Reading of Curriculum and Textbooks Tampere university, Finland Presenting Author:Our research approaches the theme of uncertainty from the perspective of school subjects. The current era of uncertainty and crisis is not a novel phenomenon; rather, crisis-related perspectives—such as those associated with the climate crisis and the post-truth era—have already shaped curricula formulated in the 2010s. These overarching themes and transversal aims have informed both the conceptual and skill-based objectives of school subjects to such an extent that research has raised the question of what is essential within each subject.
Recent curriculum reforms in L1 education have increasingly adopted umbrella concepts such as multiliteracy and broad notions of text, aiming to respond to requirements of 21st century skills. International and national research has increasingly questioned multiliteracy’s curricular hegemony and the consequences of broad concepts for L1’s disciplinary identities and educational aims (e.g. Green & Erixon, 2020; Krogh, 2020; Löfgren & Erixon, 2022; Ongstad, 2024). Critiques point to a “pragmatic turn” linked to transnational policy pressures and large-scale assessments, where competence-oriented formulations may marginalise aesthetic and Bildung-related orientations, particularly in literature education (e.g., Green et al., 2022). In the Finnish context, parallel concerns have been raised: literature education is perceived to be overshadowed by reading and text skills in lower and upper secondary education (e.g., Gourvennec et al., 2020; Mäkikalli, 2023), and teachers have reported difficulties in grasping what multiliteracy adds beyond earlier curricular terminology (e.g. Kulju et al., 2020). These debates foreground a curriculum-theoretical issue: how is coherence constructed when an expansive concept becomes a key organiser of content and aims in a complex, multidisciplinary subject?
This study introduces conceptual perspectives for examining L1 and literature curricula by combining didactic transposition, curriculum coherence, and Laclau's discourse analysis. The overall objective is to analyse how coherence is constructed in the Finnish National Core Curriculum for Basic Education (NCCBE 2014) when Finnish language and literature (L1) is framed through multiliteracy, and what kinds of disciplinary knowledge the curriculum conveys. The study addresses three research questions:
The theoretical framework draws on didactic transposition understood as the transformation of disciplinary knowledge into knowledge-to-be-taught (Chevallard & Bosch, 2020; Krogh et al., 2023; Schneuwly & Ronveaux, 2021). In this perspective, the NCCBE is approached as an outcome of external didactic transposition, where selections, delimitations and recontextualisations of disciplinary knowledge are negotiated within a “noosphere” of curriculum actors. This highlights epistemic and political dimensions of curriculum making: which knowledge domains become visible and stable, and which are rendered implicit, blended or marginal.
Complementing this, curriculum coherence (Fortus & Krajcik, 2012) is used to examine unity, consistency and logic across grade levels and within the subject. Coherence is conceptualised as vertical coherence and horizontal coherence, recognising that in L1 and literature education horizontal coherence is also intradisciplinary.
To analyse conceptual dominance and boundary drawing in the curriculum text, the study additionally applies Laclau's discourse analysis. Key concepts include nodal points, chains of equivalence, boundary construction, and the dynamics of floating and empty signifiers (Laclau, 2005). This lens enables an examination of how multiliteracy is positioned as a dominant organiser of meaning, what is articulated into its orbit, and what happens to disciplinary identities when an organising concept expands and becomes semantically diluted. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used Data. The research material consists of the objectives and content areas for Finnish language and literature (L1) in the Finnish National Core Curriculum for Basic Education (NCCBE 2014) across grade bands 1–2, 3–6 and 7–9 (phase 1) and the local school-level curricula (phase 2). The analysis focuses particularly on curricular formulations related to reading, writing/text production, text interpretation, and literature education, with attention to their continuity, parallelism and progression. The research material for research question 3 and for examples of learning materials consists of Finnish text books in L1 and literature education (grades 1–9). Analytical design. The study combines (1) coherence-oriented content analysis, (2) Laclau's discourse analysis and (3) content-driven content analysis of learning materials. 1. Coherence-oriented content analysis. Curricular statements were extracted and organised into structured tables by grade band, separating objectives and content areas. The coherence reading proceeded grades beginning with the curriculum’s general descriptions (the task of the subject, transversal competences, assessment emphases). The approach supports the analysis of vertical coherence by foregrounding the curriculum’s end-point expectations and examining how earlier grade bands are positioned as precursors. Horizontal coherence was examined by mapping how key content domains are distributed within each grade band and by tracing their interrelations and relative prominence within the subject. 2. Laclau's discourse analysis. The curriculum text was analysed to identify dominant discourses and their structuring principles. We identified discursive nodal points, mapped chains of equivalence (Laclau, 2005), and examined how boundaries are drawn around multiliteracy and adjacent concepts. Particular attention was paid to whether multiliteracy operates as a stabilising concept or becomes a floating/empty signifier as it absorbs increasingly heterogeneous content domains. The discourse analysis was used to interpret coherence findings and to clarify implications for disciplinary knowledge and knowledge selection in external didactic transposition. 3. Inductive content analysis. The learning materials were analysed by using qualitative inductive content analysis (Kyngäs et al., 2020). It was performed according to following steps: data reduction, data grouping ant th formation of concepts that can be used to answer research questions. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The analysis is expected to show that NCCBE 2014 contains a wide range of L1 objectives and content areas, but that these are organised through a dominant multiliteracy discourse. (In phase 2, the analysis of school-level curricula will be conducted.) Multiliteracy is likely to function as a nodal point articulated through broad chains of equivalence (e.g., interpretation, production and evaluation of multimodal texts and general communicative competences). As the concept expands, it may become semantically diffuse, approaching an empty signifier whose central role in organising curricular meaning is not matched by conceptual delimitation. From a coherence perspective, the study is expected to reveal tensions in both vertical and horizontal coherence. Vertically, later-grade expectations may not be consistently scaffolded through clearly articulated progressions in earlier grades; some domains may shift emphasis rather than deepen cumulatively. Horizontally, while multiple subdomains are present, not all emerge as distinct, stable curricular discourses: reading, writing, language knowledge and literature may be discursively subsumed under multiliteracy and generic textual competence formulations. A key anticipated implication is that positioning an empty (or emptifying) signifier multiliteracy as a dominant organiser obscures disciplinary identities. In particular, reading, writing and literature education risk losing visibility as distinct knowledge domains with their own epistemic aims, which has consequences for teacher s ’ interpretation and enactment of the curriculum and for the curriculum’s capacity to support coherent educational pathways and text book authors to follow the meaningful coherence of subject contents. The study contributes conceptual tools for curriculum analysis and offers research-based considerations for future curriculum development, especially regarding how to maintain disciplinary clarity while integrating new societal and technological demands. References Chevallard, Y., & Bosch, M. (2020). Didactic transposition in mathematics education. In S. Lederman (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education (pp. 214–218). Springer International Publishing. Fortus D., & Krajcik J. (2012) Curriculum coherence and learning progressions. In B. Fraser, K. Tobin, & C. McRobbie (Eds.) Second International Handbook of Science Education (pp. 784–798). Springer International Handbooks of Education, vol 24. Gourvennec, A. F., Höglund, H., Johansson, M., Kabel, K., & Sønneland, M. (2020). Literature education in Nordic L1s: Cultural models of national lower-secondary curricula in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 20, 1–32. Green, B., & Erixon, P. O. (2020). Understanding the (post-)national L1 subjects: Three problematics. In B. Green & P.O. Erixon (Eds.), Rethinking L1 education in global era, (pp. 259–285). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0303-55997-7_6 Green, B., Molyneux, P., & Scull, J. (2022). Rhetoric, agency, pedagogy: a “new” perspective on language and literacy education. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 45(3), 297–308. Krogh, E. (2020). Bildung and Literacy in Subject Danish: Changing in L1 Education. In B. Green, & P. O. Erixon (Eds.), Rethinking L1 education in global era (pp. 157–176). Krogh, E., Qvortrup, A., & Graf, S. T. (2023). The question of normativity: Examining educational theories to advance deliberation on challenges of introducing societal problems into education. In Bildung, Knowledge, and Global Challenges in Education (pp. 171–202). Routledge. Kulju. P., Kupiainen, R., & Pienimäki, M. (2020). Raportti luokanopettajien käsityksistä monilukutaidosta 2019. [Report on classteachers understanding of multiliteracy]. Kansallisen audiovisuaalisen instituutin julkaisuja 2/2020. Kansallinen audiovisuaalinen instituutti. Kyngäs, H. (2020). Inductive Content Analysis. In H. Kyngäs, K. Mikkonen, & M. Kääriäinen (Eds.), The Application of Content Analysis in Nursing Science Research (pp. 13–21). Springer International Publishing. Laclau, E. (2005). On Populist Reason. Verso. Löfgren, M., & Erixon, P. (2022). Literature—A high risk implementation route to literacy? L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 22, 1–27. Mäkikalli, A. (2023). Lukion opetussuunnitelmat, oppikirjat ja kaunokirjallisuuden lukeminen 1980- ja 2020-luvuilla. In P. Hiidenmaa, I. Lindh, S. Sintonen, & R. M. Suomalainen (Eds.), Lukemisen kulttuurit (pp. 293–306). Gaudeamus. Ongstad, S. (2024). L1-didactics and the global pressure from Anglo-Saxon new literacies. Gained Disciplinarity at risk?. L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 24, 1–30. Schneuwly, B., & Ronveaux, C. (2021). Une approche instrumentale de la transposition didactique: Quelques thèses illustrées par l’analyse de l’enseignement de quelques objets de la discipline ”français”. Pratiques, 189–190. 27. Didactics - Learning and Teaching
Paper Teaching Methods for Developing Adult Learner’s Spoken Foreign Language Skills University of Latvia, Latvia Presenting Author:Lifelong learning (LLL) became an important part of our daily life in this quickly developing century. LLL supports people keep learning and learning what they need or want (Ginzburg & Daniela, 2024). These aspects help a person to be more useful and needed, first of all, at work, and then, in general, in their life activities, like learning a new language can help you to meet new foreign friends, be promoted in position at work, to travel freely, etc. Hence, there can be found a lot of advantages of LLL, but somehow the niche of learning throughout your life, specifically in adult foreign language learning, is not researched too much. Therefore, more investigation in adult foreign language learning and suitable methods in teaching them are needed, because it would help adults to learn better and faster. Furthermore, there exists a well-known fact that society in Europe is aging and this process became very fast. Year by year the number of adults and old people will clearly overpower quantity of children and teenagers, which also evidence that adults will need to work for longer year (i.e., pension will be delayed), therefore LLL is a great solution and advantage for adults who want to be more instrumental at work, in searching new better positions, or increasing their mental health by not stopping to learn new things, like new languages, which not only can help you to work at international company, but as well, would increase your brain neuroplasticity for longer time (Goldberg, 2022, Gkintoni et al., 2025). Hence, the object of this research is teaching methods which are used by a teacher in adult teaching process when teaching a spoken foreign language. The aim of this research is to investigate and highlight teaching methods specifically suitable in adult spoken foreign language learning. Therefore, this study seeks to analyse existing literature (i.e., articles) to find out whether there are any specialised teaching methods for this learner group, and if there are, then to identify these methods. The objectives in order to achieve the aim: a) to perform systematic literature review; b) to conduct the best teaching methods suitable for adults when learning a spoken foreign language. In conclusion, during this analysis the scientific articles were found in Scopus and Web of Science databases whereas the article published from 2015 to 2025 were used to differentiate teaching methods. The most reliable articles related to the topic were selected to collect the best teaching methods in learning a spoken foreign language. Furthermore, this research seeks to answer these research questions: Are there any unique methods in scientific literature for teaching adults a spoken foreign language? What are the teaching methods mentioned in literature? Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used This research applies a systematic literature review approach to analyse existing research published between 2015 and 2025, and provide an overview of methods and strategies used in adult spoken foreign language learning. The systematic review was selected because it is perfectly suitable for synthesis of literature that can assure that conclusions are factual. Also, it was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines (Page et al., 2021). Further, inclusion and exclusion criteria were set before the searching process. Only studies written in English, published in peer-reviewed journals, and indexed in Scopus or Web of Science were included. These articles should have been conducted in formal and non-formal educational settings, like universities, language schools, or community programmes, in order to be used for analysis. Hence, Google Scholar was used at the beginning, and as the second option was used Sage Journals. And this database worked great, but it was still a lot of information, though less than in Google Scholar. At that point only two databases, Scopus and Web of Science, and newer materials starting from 2015, were chosen. Hence, we started taking keywords one by one to find all related articles to this theme, and those suitable we added to the Excel file. Surprisingly, more than 21 000 open access articles were found, but still it was too many, therefore it was decided to use all keywords for a final search: e.g., OR adult learner, OR foreign language, OR learning methods, etc. The results showed less – 105 documents –, but only 31 articles could be read, whereas 20 of them were suitable for this research, and just a bit really similar to the topic. A comprehensive search was performed in Scopus and Web of Science and supplementary search using reference lists and grey literature sources. The final search was conducted in July 2025. The searching strategy combined keywords, i.e., Teaching methods AND Adult learners OR Adult learner AND Spoken foreign language AND Foreign language. Articles were evaluated by two reviewers, and a narrative synthesis approach was applied to integrate study findings. The synthesis concentrated on finding recurring teaching methods and their characteristics, effects on learners’ spoken proficiency, and factors influencing effectiveness. These points were planned according to instructional approaches (e.g., task-based learning) and learning outcomes (e.g., fluency, pronunciation). Also, quantitative data were generalised in order to illustrate effect sizes and outcome trends. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The research argues that adult learners have special motives and needs for learning a spoken foreign language. A spoken language competence is essential for daily life and professional communication, and social integration too. An investigation of adult language learning can help teachers to develop teaching methods that serve to learners’ affective, cognitive, and social needs in order to ensure that learning is useful for them. The review specified few methods targeting spoken language acquisition. These include traditional methods applied for oral use (e.g., total physical response) and innovative approaches, like a digital storytelling, task-based learning, flipped classrooms, and AI-assisted oral evaluation tools, etc. Indeed, most of methods incorporate Oxford’s (1995) direct and indirect language learning strategies. There is a necessity to find methods that focus on oral communication, learner autonomy, and personalised learning. Wen adults learn a spoken language, they better use the methods that support interaction, goal-oriented assignments, real-life practise, feedback, and motivational support. IT and AI tools became important for individualised evaluation and learning outside the classrooms, as well. Moreover, the review shares effective methods for adult spoken language learning, like: memory methods (digital storytelling, listening, and repetition), cognitive methods (task-based learning, self-regulated learning, CLIL, flipped classroom), and compensation methods (communicative method, total physical response), metacognitive methods (self-assessment, feedback, planning, use of AI-assisted oral evaluation), affective methods (motivation models, emotional support), and social methods (cooperative learning, communication with native speakers). Finally, this review demonstrated that there is not enough information about teaching methods for adult learners who learn a foreign spoken language. Specifically, there is a bit of information for average adults, like working parents who want to learn a new language for communication, traveling or just for learning experience. Therefore, further research would be useful for improving adult foreign language learning. References 1. Ginzburg, T., & Daniela, L. (2024). Adults’ Perceptions of Studying English in Face-to-Face, Online, and Blended Modalities. IAFOR Journal of Education: Language Learning in Education, 12(1), 67-92. https://doi.org/10.22492/ije.12.1.03 2. Gkintoni, E., Vassilopoulos, S.P., & Nikolaou, G. (2025). Brain-Inspired Multisensory Learning: A Systematic Review of Neuroplasticity and Cognitive Outcomes in Adult Multicultural and Second Language Acquisition. Biomimetics. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics10060397. 3. Goldberg, H. (2022). Growing Brains, Nurturing Minds—Neuroscience as an Educational Tool to Support Students’ Development as Life-Long Learners. Brain Sciences, 12(12), Article 1622. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12121622 4. Oxford, R. L. & Ehrman, M. E. (1995). Adults’ language learning strategies in an Intensive foreign language program in the United States System. ScienceDirect, 359-386. https://shorturl.at/JQ4HT 5. Page, M.J., McKenzie J.E., Bossuyt. P.M., Boutron. I., Hoffmann. T.C., Mulrow. C.D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J.M., Akl, E.A., Brennan, S.E., Chou, R., Glancille, J., Grimshaw, J.M., Hrobjartsson, A., Lalu, M.M., Li, T., Loder, E.W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., ... Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.), 372(71). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71 | ||