This study investigated the relationship between a large-scale and high-stakes English test and test takers' learning behavior. Specifically, it explored whether and how the National Matriculation English Test (NMET) influenced test takers' extracurricular English learning activities under the Chinese Mainland educational context. Based on…

Self-Directed Informal Digital Learning of English (SD-IDLE) plays a crucial role in informal language learning. This study aims to examine the SD-IDLE nature of English learning among Indonesian university students and its impact on language learning and personal development. The research used a sequential explanatory mixed methods design,…

This study examined the effectiveness of guided data-driven learning (DDL) activities on helping technological university students with a lower-intermediate proficiency level to learn grammar and vocabulary topics for the TOEIC test. The question of whether inductive learners make more progress than deductive learners was also addressed. A total…

With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, online education has been embraced as an instructional delivery mode to ensure continuity in all levels of education including higher education. Given the fact that the success of online learning heavily relies on the learner's ability to autonomously regulate their learning, this study focuses on…

This paper reports on a qualitative inquiry into Japanese students' self-regulated learning processes to improve their listening proficiency outside the classroom in an English as a foreign language context. Four Japanese university students with different levels of self-efficacy and listening outcomes were closely examined from a social cognitive…

The road to second language competence is a long and arduous one, and much of its effort involves learning to recognize and use vocabulary. Fortunately, anytime-anywhere learning with smart phones and smart apps offer a means to lessen the burden and make vocabulary learning more efficient. Accordingly, this study investigated 134 students across…

Easy and rapid access to the Internet, the affordances of Web 2.0 tools and technological advances, such as smartphone applications, have rendered informal contact with English an undisputed reality. This out-of-class contact without the primary or conscious objective of language learning has been the focus of recent research into the field of…

This is a longitudinal case study using a mixed-methods research design to track how two Korean university students improved their English writing competence over one year with the aid of automated writing evaluation (AWE) program, Criterion. The participants wrote essays outside of class every month for one year, submitting first and later second…

Living in learning societies encourages learning outside the classroom. Alongside this reality, higher education institutions have been incorporating policies and procedures that support recognition of prior learning (RPL). This development means establishing adequate RPL assessment practices. Our empirical study at the Aalto University Language…

This study investigated the effectiveness of group work (GW) in EFL vocabulary learning by second year, non-English major, university students in Taiwan, in comparison with working individually (IW). The students (N = 44) worked in mixed ability groups of 3-4 or in IW to complete vocabulary exercises following reading activities. The classroom…

Studies show that incorporating self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies into foreign language teaching encourages the development of autonomous learners. However, interviews with teachers (n = 51) indicate that they mostly do not consider SRL in classroom practices. The present study attempts to highlight the significance of SRL in language…

Listening comprehension has gained more prominence in EFL/ESL classes. Due to this prominence, scholars have tried to shed light on different ways of improving learners' listening comprehension. One of these ways is using listening strategies. There is still a controversy over the effective role of these strategies in improving listening…

This paper presents a case study of using blended learning to enhance students' language skills and learner autonomy in an Asian university environment. Blended learning represents an educational environment for much of the world where computers and the Internet are readily available. It combines self-study with valuable face-to-face interaction…

Taking a report on the effects of cooperative completion of cloze by Jacobson (1990) as its point of departure, this study used English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students to investigate the potential of the cloze procedure and of group work for learning, including its usefulness as an instructional or self-instructional procedure for language…

Results of a survey of students of the University of Dublin concerning their language learning experiences and attitudes are reported. The study was undertaken within a larger study of self-directed language learning. The questionnaire had seven sections. The first and largest covered these topics related to students' language background: (1) the…