This article examines how tertiary language learners of German engaged with the novel "Blutbuch" (2022) by Swiss author Kim de l'Horizon. Celebrated as the first nonbinary novel in German literature, excerpts of this autofictional text were taught in a 3-week unit, which was part of a semester-long German course targeted at university…

The aim of this study was to examine the gender differences among EFL diploma students in grammar based on an English achievement test. This study was motivated by the observed challenges Saudi students face with mastering grammar, a crucial element of English proficiency that forms the basis of all four aspects of language: listening, speaking,…

This study examined second language (L2) learning difficulty of 13 Chinese grammatical constructions on the basis of teachers' perceptions and associated the L2 learning difficulty of Chinese grammatical constructions with teacher-perceived learner grammatical competence and with the instructional levels. A total of 77 experienced teachers were…

Theoretical linguistics, particularly within the domain of cognitive linguistic (CL) theories, serves as a comprehensive framework for understanding language interpretation and addressing fundamental questions about its nature. Within the framework of theoretical linguistics, this study focuses on linguistic theories that delve into cognitive…

For heritage speakers (HSs), speaking their heritage language (HL) sometimes comes accompanied by HL anxiety and/or lack of confidence in their HL skills Although, HL anxiety and lack of confidence in the HL usually intertwine with few opportunities to use the language and/or being perceived as speakers of a stigmatized variety of the HL, the…

Student plagiarism presents a serious challenge for higher academic institutions globally. This issue is particularly prevalent in developing countries like Bangladesh, where a lack of ethical academic policies and limited awareness of plagiarism impede efforts to effectively combat academic misconduct. Against this backdrop, this paper…

Key Findings: This study identifies a strong positive relationship between digital literacy and language proficiency, highlighting how technological competence enhances motivation, engagement and PL, leading to improved language learning outcomes. Purpose: This research explores the connection between digital literacy and language proficiency,…

Developing proficiency and intercultural competence are goals promoted by the Modern Language Association and widely shared by postsecondary second language programs across the United States. Although the development of proficiency has been studied extensively in this context, comparatively little is known about how intercultural competence…

Despite the vast research on test anxiety and test performance since the 1950s, studies on how students' English test anxiety affects their English proficiency test performance in the context of second- and foreign language learning remain few. Therefore, using a quantitative research design, this study explored students' English test anxiety and…

Second language (L2) utterance fluency is crucial for speaking proficiency assessment. The measurement of L2 utterance fluency relies heavily on silent pause identification. However, empirical studies establishing specific silent pause thresholds for L2 monologic speaking are scarce, and even fewer exist for L2 dialogic speaking. This study thus…

This study presents a comparative analysis of classical reliability measures, including Cronbach's alpha, test-retest, and parallel forms reliability, alongside modern psychometric methods such as the Rasch model and Mokken scaling, to evaluate the reliability of C-tests in language proficiency assessment. Utilizing data from 150 participants…

Prosody is considered one of the most challenging aspects of second language (L2) speech acquisition. This study explores the role of working memory (WM) in the perception and production of English nuclear accent (NA) by L1 Spanish learners. It focuses on both default and non-default patterns of NA placement in English. Twenty-four participants…

This study aimed to develop and validate an analytical rating scale specifically designed to assess the lexical proficiency of Chinese college students in Academic English speaking tasks. A multi-layer construct of lexical proficiency was first developed and operationalized into an eight-dimension rating scale, including word diversity, word…

The purpose of this paper is to investigate students' grammar performance and attitudes toward inductive and deductive approaches to teaching grammar in English. A mixed-method study in higher education tested the effectiveness of inductive, deductive, and a combination of both approaches on student performance on grammar tests using eight…

This narrative inquiry explores the experiences of two students in an English Medium Instruction (EMI) course at a Macau University. Through the lens of self-discrepancy theory and possible selves theory and drawing on data from field observation, interviews, and informal chats, the findings unearthed significantly different experiences of the…