Fluency in terms of speed of speech and (lack of) hesitations such as silent and filled pauses ('uhm's) is part of oral proficiency. Language assessment rubrics therefore include aspects of fluency. Measuring fluency, however, is highly time-consuming because of the manual labour involved. The current paper aims to automatically measure aspects of…

Mobile-assisted Language Learning (MALL) has been widely adopted in teaching and learning, yet there has been scant research concerning speaking test adaptation. An emerging type of mobile application is designed to facilitate test takers' performance in a high-stakes speaking test (e.g., the International English Language Testing System (IELTS)).…

Background: Assessing the speech production of multilingual children is challenging for speech-language therapists (SLTs) around the world. Scientific recommendations to improve clinical practice are available, but their implementation has mostly been described in studies from English-speaking countries. Aims: This survey aimed to describe the…

This article presents the impact of digital teaching method in the form of Rosetta Stone program on the quality of English language acquisition. The study involved 320 third-year students who study in the People's Republic of China. Group B post-assessment results show an increase in scores on the four assessment criteria: reading, listening,…

Globalisation has made English a dominant language both in education and in manpower recruitment worldwide. Due to globalisation and Vision 2030 in Saudi Arabia which enhanced the involvement of Saudi youth in the work force, the study of English language, especially English for Specific Purposes (ESP), has become increasingly important in the…

Developing new scales to measure aspects of mentoring, including guidance in scientific communication (SciComm), is important to enhance success among trainees pursuing research careers in science and medicine. This study examined the psychometric properties of three new measures, based on social cognitive career theory (SCCT), as mentors address…

This study examines whether or not cultural capital has a predictive role in speaking performance. This is a mixed-methods study. Its data were collected from 263 participants (118 females, 145 males) of different ages and professions. The Cultural Capital Scale and a semi-structured interview form were used to collect the data. The participants'…

The present action-research study analyzes students' basic perceptions about the use of the Flipped Classroom as part of their EFL class in a Mexican technical high school. To this end, 47 5th semester students took two versions of a survey, which combined provided an understanding of their views after having taken part of a six-week intervention.…

In this study, the perceptions of international students who were learning Turkish through distance education regarding Turkish language course and language skills were examined. The research was designed in accordance with the phenomenology pattern. The study group of the research consisted of 27 international students who received Turkish…

High-quality public speaking skills convey strong and effective communication, a critical professional and workplace competency that positively impacts personal lives as well. Skill acquisition and mastery improve public speaking confidence, which in turn reinforces the speaker's abilities. Improving oral communication skills requires instruction,…

This dissertation investigates second language (L2) learners' comprehension of conversational implicatures that arise in two speech acts, requests and refusals. The review of empirical studies that investigated L2 pragmatic comprehension revealed two recurring issues: (a) the lack of a clear definition of conventionality, leaving open the…

Purpose: Facial transplantation involves partial or total replacement of neuromuscular and skeletal structures of the face, head, and neck using donor tissues and is among the most extensive facial reconstructive procedures. This case report compares changes in speech production and articulator movement in a 44-year-old man from pretransplant to a…

The "Woodcock-Camarata Articulation Battery" (WCAB) is an empirically-based instrument intended to test the speech skills of children and adults age two up to ninety plus years. Its administration requires the examinee to look at pictures of predetermined common objects and repeat English words that are associated to the pictures.…

This study explores the affective aspects -- willingness to communicate (WTC) and International Posture (IP) -- and speaking skills after using technological tools. Online synchronous meeting tool, Zoom, and the asynchronous tool, Padlet, were used as online learning platforms. Data were collected using an 8-item questionnaire on the WTC and a…

This experimental research examined the effectiveness of using chatbots in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms at a Chinese elementary school. Seventy-four students were divided into two groups: one employing traditional methods, and the other using chatbots. Before and after the 3-month teaching period, pre- and post-tests were used to…