Developing strong listening skills in a second language (L2) can be challenging for a variety of reasons. Within the context of L2 use in higher education, accurate and timely processing of aural input can be crucial for academic success, particularly because vast amounts of disciplinary-specific content are delivered via academic lectures in the…

This study investigates the effectiveness of TED Talks in enhancing EFL university students' English-speaking skills for presentations. Despite the widespread use of TED Talks in language learning, limited research has examined their specific impact on overall presentation skills, including fluency, pronunciation, anxiety, and confidence in…

This study addresses lack of student engagement in large English as a second language (ESL) classes at a Pakistani university, using cooperative learning within the framework of participatory action research. A reconnaissance of the literature and thorough situation analysis led to an initial plan based on two cooperative learning strategies:…

This study investigated how repeating a video-lecture-based task affects second language (L2) learners' processing and incidental acquisition of technical vocabulary as well as the relationship between processing and lexical gains. The participants were 75 Chinese learners of L2 English. Thirty participants performed the task once (control group),…

This research studied the impact of language barriers and cultural experiences on students' perceptions at the University of North Texas. The population of this study were students who had taken a class with a non-native speaking instructor and those who hadn't. Following a mixed-method research approach, online surveys were distributed to the…

The article shines light upon the differences in the vocabulary demands of academic spoken discourse between three broad scientific disciplines: Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences. By employing the Academic Word List (AWL) and British National Corpus/Corpus of Contemporary American English (BNC/COCA) wordlist, the present study…

In this mixed-methods study, we investigated the relationship between instructional approach, students' self-efficacy beliefs, and students' English language proficiency, as well as the perceptions of the instructor and students regarding problem-based learning (PBL) in a College English course in China. Using path analysis, we assessed the…

Language assessment is increasingly computermediated. This development presents opportunities with new task formats and equally a need for renewed scrutiny of established conventions. Recent recommendations to increase integrated skills assessment in lecture comprehension tests is premised on empirical research that demonstrates enhanced construct…

Much effort has been put into the design of video lectures, but little attention has been paid to the social environment in which learning takes place. The present study addressed this gap by assigning Chinese undergraduate and graduate students who had passed the College English Test-4 to learn easy or difficult English vocabulary words in three…

Learning to take effective notes is particularly difficult for non-English-native university students enrolled on English Medium Instruction (EMI) courses. However, time and cost constraints mean that many universities provide no support in English for academic purposes or academic skills. One solution to this problem would be to work closely with…

This study investigates the experiences of an international graduate student at a South Korean university via positional identity theory. It reveals the positional identities that evolved out of the student's experiences studying the Korean language prior to starting her graduate degree, and during her time as a graduate student. Applying…

Learners' interaction with lecture materials has remained underexplored despite the growing body of studies on the use of materials. The current study explored the actions EFL learners employed during the use of lecture materials in tertiary classrooms in China through the lens of a transactional view. This empirical study involved forty-two…

The current study aimed to explore undergraduate students use and perceptions of listening comprehension strategies (LCS) in online EMI lectures, and the extent to which LCS use depends on the students' general language proficiency and language exposure. A total of 76 English majors completed a language proficiency test, an LCS inventory and a…

Increasingly, New Zealand English and Te Reo Maori are being woven together in Aotearoa New Zealand. This weaving is evident in the text of many dual language picturebooks. While the combination of text and image in picturebooks creates a powerful pedagogical tool, there is little research exploring their use with tertiary Arts students. In this…

This study investigated the use and functions of metadiscourse markers in English as a foreign language (EFL) virtual classroom during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study examined which metadiscourse markers--interactive or interactional--were used more frequently and how they were employed in an EFL context. It explored two interactive metadiscourse…