This study investigated the negotiations and challenges experienced by five Chinese ESL (English as a second language) students of Commerce through their engagement in an academic presentation in a regular content course at a Canadian university. Multiple sources of data were collected, including interviews, class observations, group discussions,…

This article investigates the development of intercultural awareness in an electronic mail (e-mail) discussion project between Hungarian learners of English and American speakers. Students discussed topics relating to cultures, languages, and pedagogical issues. The e-mails were analyzed in terms of language skill improvement, apprehensiveness…

The Problem: The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the information structure of native-English speaking (NES) ESOL teachers in giving explanations in a grammar class at an Intensive English Program (IEP) at a university in southern California Method: This mixed-method study employed a sequential-exploratory design. Six grammar…

The framework of this study is cooperation between students of English at a Chinese university and their counterparts at a Danish university, i.e. neither group of students are native speakers of English. The theoretical framework for the study is Vygotsky's sociocultural approach combined with the work by a number of researchers on the link…

In 1996, we published an article that investigated the characteristics of basic language testing courses in terms of the instructors, course characteristics, and students. The present study is designed to describe the same characteristics of basic language testing courses in 2007 and to examine how such courses have changed since 1996. To those…

The effects of data-gathering methods on pragmatic data have been well documented, yet an inquiry into the interactive effects of assessment tasks with pragmatic instruction has received scant attention. This study investigated the interaction between two assessment tasks (e-mail and phone) and two types of pragmatic instruction (explicit and…

This book is a comprehensive guide to help foreign language teachers use technology in their classrooms. It offers the best ways to integrate technology into teaching for student-centered learning. CALL Activities include: Email; Building a Web site; Using search engines; Powerpoint; Desktop publishing; Creating sound files; iMovie; Internet chat;…

Instructors rely on asynchronous exchanges to provide learners with authentic input and opportunities to communicate in the TL. While most practitioners recognize the advantages of e-mail exchanges, learner benefits are not an automatic byproduct of participation in an exchange. This paper presents findings from an e-mail exchange carried out…

Due to the growing focus on learner independence, peer assessment has received a lion's share of attention in recent years. Nevertheless, this idea is novel to most English language teachers and students in Taiwan where traditional assessment is still dominant. This study investigated college students' attitudes towards and possible language…

Many researchers have investigated several aspects of using Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) applications and presented many advantages for using CALL in TESL setting (i.e. where English is taught as a second language). In this paper, the author aims to illustrate how CALL applications would improve substantially the process of teaching…

Little is known about what an apprentice scholar in a non-Anglophone context undergoes when writing a research article for publication in English-medium journals. This study highlights "a rich notion of agency" by examining a nonnative-English-speaking graduate student's engagement with his "community of practice" (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger,…

Provides an examination of the five categories of the national standards for foreign language learning in light of specific Internet resources that can help advance language learners' attainment of the standards. (Author/VWL)

Teaching Spanish has become increasingly popular in the United States due to demographic shifts. This study focuses on a Spanish-only initiative for an existing Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) program proposed by a southeastern public school district's school board. It analyzes discourses underlying the policymakers' rationales…

This study highlights the complexities associated with learning a heritage language (HL) abroad, specifically with regard to identity, expectations, and beliefs about language and language learning, by examining the ways that HL learners talk about themselves. These are important topics to study because perceptions of language learning have been…

This study focused on examining the overall effect of using email on the improvement of writing performance in aspects of syntactic complexity, grammatical accuracy and lexical density, as well as investigating the relation between the number of email exchanges and writing performance. Subjects in this study were 40 non-traditional EFL students…