Despite scholars' advocacy of intelligibility over nativelikeness in the EFL education context, many learners still seem to favour standard British and American accents. However, comparisons across studies have shown some changes in learners' perceptions, suggesting a move away from standard accent orientation. This article reports part of a…

This study investigated the relationship between changes in language learning beliefs and English proficiency among 41 Korean university students who participated in a short-term English program. Participants' beliefs were assessed using the Beliefs About Language Learning Inventory (BALLI), and their proficiency was measured using the Test of…

With the ability to provide feedback and assistance, humanoid educational robots have been proven effective in assisting students to overcome learning challenges and enhancing individual learning outcomes. However, the strength of humanoid robots in promoting social and emotional skills has not been well investigated. Socially supportive behaviour…

Integrated writing is increasingly used in language assessment programmes. As a hybrid task, it requires students to coordinate different language skills, i.e. listening, reading and writing, to retrieve information from multiple sources, and compose an essay for a specific purpose. Tapping into the varied skills that contribute to successful…

College transfer students are those who follow a different trajectory in their higher education journeys than traditional students, completing a sub-degree before pursuing a bachelor's degree at a university. While the possibility of transferring makes higher education accessible to these students, previous studies have found that they face…

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a structural-cum-communicative approach to the teaching of vocabulary to students possessing a low level of English proficiency. A total of 52 foundation degree students taking a 13-week preparatory reading and writing course participated in the present study. Both the control and the…

Secondary school-leaving English examination results are often regarded as indicators of students' competence to study in English-medium universities, which is usually demonstrated through source-based academic writing. In English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) contexts, many English-medium universities require local undergraduates to…

The language learner strategies research field has often tried to identify the good language learner (GLL) by distinguishing more proficient from less proficient learners. However the notion of 'good' may be problematic without taking into account an individual's linguistic knowledge (LK). This article foregrounds LK in relation to strategy use in…

Over the past two decades awareness has been growing that English language teachers need good English language proficiency and professional training to teach effectively. To address this issue, a benchmark--minimum standards assessment test--was initiated, developed, and introduced in Hong Kong in 2001. Because more than a decade and a half has…

Background: This study aims to develop a low-stakes assessment tool to establish a classroom English language benchmark that Japanese teachers of English can use for their own professional development purposes. To start with, we describe the differences between CLA (Classroom Language Assessment) in Hong Kong and the IDS (Integrative Diagnostic…

This study aims at investigating the language strengths and weaknesses of Hong Kong self-directed learners, their learning needs, and their self-directed learning experiences with the use of diagnostic language test and examining whether the test can help the learners to self-direct their own learning. The test results showed that less than half…

In this study we used grounded theory framework to explore how preparation for studying abroad affects the academic success of East Asian undergraduate students in U.S. universities. Based on interviews with 12 participants from China, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan, we found that knowledge of English language and American culture, which is…

Entry to the teaching career in most education systems nowadays is based on academic qualifications and professional credentials. The requirements and trainings for teachers of English vary in different regions and countries. This short review presents the professional preparation of pre-service teachers of English and the English language…

This study investigates how second language (L2) fluency is influenced by two factors: Pre-task planning and content familiarity. Planning was adopted as a between-participant variable, combined with content familiarity as a within-participant variable, in a 2 × 2 split-plot factorial design. Nineteen measures of fluency phenomena, constituting…

This study determines the fine-grained bottom-up linguistic features involved in successful second language (L2) English academic group oral tutorial discussion through the use of a spoken learner corpus composed of more than 20 hrs of L2 production. Student performances were graded by teacher-raters using a can-do rating scale, which assessed…