This paper looks at intensive program students' perceptions of English-speaking skills and emphasizes the immediate need for improving them at all levels of higher education. For this purpose, 100 students (50 males and 50 females) of the intensive program from colleges of Arts, Business and Community, Saudi Arabia were administered a…

This present study closely examines a particular type of institutionalized interactions for second language (L2) learning, namely one-on-one instructional sessions between instructors and learners of Japanese at an intensive summer study abroad program in Japan. During these sessions, both instructors and learners employ various form-focused…

This study investigates the acquisition of null subjects by Mandarin Chinese native speakers ('Chinese NSs' hereafter), with different levels of L2 English proficiency, at initial stages of L3 Italian acquisition. The aim is to find out if, when acquiring Italian null subjects, Chinese NSs resort to their L1, which, like the L3, allows null…

L2 test developers often use scripted spoken texts in their L2 listening tests, because it is efficient and practical to create scripted spoken texts that meet predetermined test specifications. But because scripted spoken texts differ in a number of fundamental ways from unscripted spoken language, there are potential threats to validity when…

Acknowledging the distinction between two types of form-focused instruction (FFI) on grammar, this study investigated learners and teachers' stated beliefs about isolated and integrated FFI. Placed in two major groups (ESL and EFL), 120 teachers and 280 learners were recruited from college-wide Intensive English Programs in Iran and USA. The…

Formulaic sequences comprise a large body of language and their mastery is supposed to be a key determiner of language proficiency. However, despite their significance in language learning, they are seldom taught in any principled manner in language classrooms and their correct and appropriate use remains a particular challenge to language…

Previous studies have shown that learner individual differences have important impacts on L2 accuracy development. The present study examines a learner variable (i.e. extraversion versus introversion) and its effects on incidental focus on form. Twenty-eight ESL students in two classes (an advanced and an upper-intermediate class) and their…

Fluency is an essential part of a language learner's skills. Despite various studies on fluency, little is known about the effects of different pedagogical methods on the development of written fluency. In this paper, we examine how different pedagogical methods affect the development of second language learners' written fluency. Participants in…

The Interaction Approach argues that negotiation for meaning and form is conducive to second language development. To date, most of the research on negotiations has been either in face-to-face (FTF) or text-based synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) modes. Very few studies have compared the nature of negotiations across the modes.…

This study took place at a medical college with 57 Arabic first-year students taking an intensive English course. The aim was to address the problems that learners experience when using the English tenses properly. The didactic model was developed and implemented in the study group only (27 students). Pre-, mid-, and post-tests were administered…

This study focuses on the pedagogical applications of structural priming research in an English for academic purposes (EAP) context, investigating whether priming activities are an effective tool for eliciting production of target grammatical structures. University students across four EAP classes carried out a total of 6 information-exchange…

While research suggests that study abroad (SA) benefits second language (L2) oral fluency, its benefits for other domains are less clear, especially for shorterterm programs, which are becoming more common. Additionally, studies investigating the relationship between cognitive capacity and benefits of SA report inconsistent patterns. In light of…

This article reports on a study examining the language practice opportunities that occurred during a range of paired and small group interactive tasks in an intensive English as a Second Language (ESL) class of francophone Grade 6 students. The analysis focussed on the opportunities the tasks provided for the use of two complex and challenging…

This study investigates the effect of using rubrics as an instructional tool on students' writing performance in English as a foreign language. The major goal was to liberate the students from the narrow perception of writing based solely on the notion of correct grammar which is strongly felt in EFL writing. In this quasi-experimental research,…

Past research has found that many pre-university L2 learners, having completed an Intensive English Program (IEP) still have difficulty in undertaking various disciplines in English-speaking tertiary institutions and continue to exhibit numerous linguistic problems (Bialystok, 2001, Celce Murcia 2001). The purpose of this paper is to present the…