This study compares how the native speakers of Thai (TTs) and American (AEs) as well as the Thai learners of English as a foreign language with high exposure to English (TEHs) and those with the low exposure (TELs) perform the speech acts of compliments (Cs) by taking the context of age into their consideration. The data were collected by means of…

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a world crisis of an unprecedented nature. In March 2020, due to closing of non-essential private and public educational institutions, early childhood professionals had to quickly adapt and respond to the demands for social distancing, hygiene, new protocols and transition to online education. Alternatively,…

This study aimed at investigating the problems that translators faced when subtitling cultural expressions from English into Arabic. To achieve this goal, the researchers selected a convenient sample comprising 40 graduate and 40 undergraduate students who were enrolled in the English language programs during the academic year 2012/2013 in…

The world is changing. Human mobility is at an all-time high, and globalization is a consequence of that mobility. Traditionally, a preservice teacher preparation program would require students to spend one to two semesters teaching in local schools under the guidance of an experienced teacher. Conversely, intercultural student teaching programs…

This article reports on an investigation of the role raters' language background plays in raters' assessment of test takers' speaking ability. Specifically, this article examines differences between American and Indian raters in their scores and scoring processes when rating Indian test takers' responses to the Test of English as a Foreign…

Americans in general tend to pay less attention to international affairs than their counterparts around the world. Therefore, Americans know much less about international affairs and lack international knowledge than people in other countries (Ivengar & Morin, 2006). As we move to high levels of globalization on all fronts, we must confront…

This research compared three clinical preparedness domains, communication ability, social comfort, and clinical confidence, between US-born and non-US born radiation sciences students. The aim of the study was to determine if there were perceived differences in clinical preparedness between them. Student's place of birth was found to be an…

This study reports the development of a scale to evaluate the speech act performance by intermediate-level Chinese learners of English. A qualitative analysis of the American raters' comments was conducted on learner scripts in response to a total of 16 apology and request written discourse completion task (WDCT) situations. The results showed…

As educators of foreign and second languages debate the most efficient methods of implementing pragmatic instruction in the L2 classroom, is it possible that Spanish pragmatic instruction is not necessary if American Spanish pragmatic norms are no different than American English norms? The present investigation studies the pragmatic norms in…

The amount of second language (L2) use has significant influence on native speakers' comprehension of L2 learners' speech. Nonetheless, few empirical studies examine how differences in the amount of language use affect the intelligibility and comprehensibility of nonnative speakers' reading and spontaneous speech. This study aims to contribute to…

Teacher authority has long been recognized as one of the critical factors that contribute to the formation of effective learning circumstances (Haywood-Metz, 2006). A survey was developed based on Dornbusch and Scott's (1975) theoretical framework of distinction between formal authority and informal authority, named "The Attitude towards…

Granted the fact that different cultures have different speaking styles, knowledge of these styles can help people grasp the essence of social cultural knowledge to communicate with others more successfully. In this regard, the present paper aims at comparing the use of speech act of gratitude in Persian and Chinese EFL learners and English native…

This study investigates the relationship between acculturation and language learning during a year-long study abroad program at the pre-collegiate level. The researcher presents the experiences of four U.S. American sojourners to Sweden as case studies. This mixed-methods study looks specifically at students with no prior knowledge of the target…

This microethnographic case study focuses on patterns of interpretation and decision making of undergraduate preservice teachers as they participated in observations, co-teaching, and teaching in elementary schools in northern Mexico. At the core, this study explores the deeply embedded assumptions preservice teachers may bring to new…

Background: Speech-language pathologists often advise families about interaction patterns that will facilitate language learning. This advice is typically based on research with North American families of European heritage and may not be culturally suited for non-Western families. Aims: The goal of the project was to identify differences in the…