This study examines four learner engagement dimensions (behavioural, cognitive, emotional and social) in pedagogical task performance and provides insights into the effects of two task types (information-seeking and direction-giving) and topic familiarity on learner engagement in a semester-long English course. A total of 28 foreign language…

This mixed method study was designed to discover the relationship between male and female Iranian EFL students' cultural schemata and their performance on three types of cloze tests. It also investigated the relationship between gender and Iranian EFL students' degrees of cultural familiarity with culture-specific cloze texts. In addition, the…

This study investigated the effects of synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) mode and interlocutor familiarity on frequency and characteristics of peer feedback in L2 interaction. Fifty dyads of EFL learners were equally assigned into familiar (+/--) groups and performed an interactive task in two SCMC modes (text/video-chats). After…

There has been a plethora of studies investigating the effect of semantic relatedness on second language (L2) word learning.However, most prior studies failed to control for the lexical properties of target words, which may be responsible for the mixed results yielded. This study, therefore, sets out to revisit this issue by controlling for L1…

Previous research has addressed the effects of digital storytelling (DST) on verbal English competence and demonstrated that students engage more and learn more effectively. However, the relationship between learner engagement and speaking competence needs a further analysis of the methods wherein a specific DST tool facilitates learner engagement…

Perceptions in English accents are of paramount importance to understand the use of English language in communication nowadays. Asian English accents recently become a trend of real communicative environment that Thai learners are getting more acquainted for work and socialize. Thus, this study aimed to investigate 152 first-year Thai…

Recent investigations into language assessment literacy (LAL) suggest that stakeholder groups might differ in interests, needs, and expectations in assessment practice, resulting in different LAL profiles. This qualitative study furthers this line of research by examining the effect of contextual and experiential factors on the LAL profiles and…

IELTS is used as a screening gatekeeper and plays a crucial role in Omani students to meet job requirements. This paper reports on Omani English-major undergraduate students' reflections on their experience of the reading section of Academic IELTS. The main aim of the study was to elucidate their difficulties and coping strategies to inform…

The aim of this mixed methods study is to identify the underlying structure of the construct of Foreign Language Anxiety in integrated listening-to-speak tasks. First, the analysis of the qualitative interviews with six postsecondary ESL learners reveals that anxiety for integrated speaking stems from four different factors: "listening,"…

Use of captioned video in classrooms has gained considerable attention in the second and foreign language learning. However, the effect of application of captioned video embedded with glosses on incidental vocabulary enhancement has not been explored. This study aims to examine the effect of video captions with glosses on EFL students' incidental…

In an effort to make the learning of the target culture a meaningful and motivating experience for foreign language (FL) learners, the researchers designed and implemented a semester-long project in which intermediate Spanish students used Pinterest to pin and comment on cultural artifacts and websites in the target language (TL) that were of…

Listening is an essential skill for English as a Foreign Language learners studying in English-speaking universities to succeed in various fields of study. To comprehend subject material and improve listening effectiveness, learners are generally advised to develop strategies which help them process the target language in specific contexts.…

The purpose of the pilot study, which is a part of a larger project on ESL writing involving freshmen college students in the Philippines, is to explore the relationship between writer's performance, writer's resources, and writer's idea generation process. To measure the writer's performance, diagnostic essays of 85 Filipino freshmen engineering…

This paper reports the compilation of a corpus of Taiwanese students' spoken English, which is one of the sub-corpora of the Louvain International Database of Spoken English Interlanguage (LINDSEI) (Gilquin, De Cock, & Granger, 2010). LINDSEI is one of the largest corpora of learner speech. The compilation process follows the design criteria…

Familiarity with the cultural features of the target language society and interest in learning those cultural features are the key factors to determine language learners' level of pragmatic comprehension. To investigate this issue, this study attempted to assess the relationship between attitude toward incorporating target language culture into…