We are delighted to present the newest volume of our series entitled Applied linguistics in the 21st century. Although this is the third monograph in our series, this is the first one in English, which we hope will help the internationalization and wider recognition of research results from Hungarian contexts. Ágnes Albert’s work takes us to applied linguistics research pertaining to second language learning in Hungary, and it presents the investigation of the role of a psychological variable in task-based learning. This field of research is particularly important in our country given the fact that Hungarians are still somewhat lagging behind in second language knowledge in the European Union. There are several reasons for which Ágnes Albert’s work contributes to our field in a unique way. Most importantly, her research is not only another study into one individual difference variable that might shape students’ long- and/or short-term successes in learning, but the investigation is situated in one particular approach within communicative teaching, that is task-based teaching. As a result, a distinctively situated study is detailed in this monograph that can inform Hungarian classroom practitioners in multiple ways. Hence, we hope that the monograph will not only inform interested readers but will also motivate further research into this fascinating subfield of applied linguistics.