Aptitude is a hypernym used in training and practice-based contexts to refer to a person's natural or acquired ability to do something. It tends to be an attribute that is 'forward-looking', i.e. referring to a person's probability of achieving success in the future. This paper adopts a retrospective perspective in looking at the 'success…

Three groups of EFL freshman students were concurrently enrolled in a grammar and a writing course. One group was taught the grammar and writing courses by the same instructor; the other two groups were taught grammar and writing by two different instructors using the same textbook but different instructional and assessment techniques. The study…

A primary objective of development is to build a knowledge base. To accumulate knowledge over time and experiences, learners must engage in productive processes, going beyond what is explicitly given to generate new knowledge. Though important to accumulating knowledge, these processes are also easily disrupted. Individuals often depend on surface…

Assessing English learners (ELs) in US schools is challenging because many widely used assessments have not been designed with ELs in mind. Yet if teachers are sensitive to how ELs may perform differently from native speakers on such assessments, these assessments reveal useful information about ELs' language and literacy skills. This mixed-method…

Vocabulary development is an essential goal in any language teaching program, and considering the multidimensional nature of this construct, achieving this goal needs effective assessment of all dimensions of word knowledge, i.e. breadth, depth and accessibility of word knowledge. Most of the current vocabulary assessment tools measure the breadth…

In recent years, gloss presentation format or the location where a gloss appears with respect to its related target word has received renewed attention. Research suggested that different gloss presentation formats could have differential effects on reading comprehension and/or vocabulary learning. This study hypothesized that the effectiveness of…

This research study empirically investigated the impact of study abroad context on L2 learners' pragmatic development compared with study at home group in Iran. For the study abroad group the participants were selected from the Iranian students who registered in a six-month program in language institutes in India (Mysore) and for the study at home…

The present study investigates Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) in the classroom. Participants were 1746 current FL learners from around the world. We used a measure of FLE, based on Likert scale ratings of 21 items (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014), and a measure of FLCA based on 8 items extracted from…

This study investigated the influence of general vocabulary knowledge, science vocabulary knowledge, and text based questioning on the science reading comprehension of three types of students who varied in their English language proficiency. Specifically, grade 5 English-Only speakers, English Language Learners in the United States, and students…

Any description of what it means to know a word in a foreign language is likely to include recognition of form, both how a word sounds when heard and what it looks like when written. However, tests of vocabulary knowledge focus almost exclusively on the written form of the word. We have little idea of learners' phonological vocabulary knowledge or…

A number of studies have examined the process and product of writing instruction under different conditions. Fewer studies have investigated the development of knowledge and its relationship to writing performance. While some writers may be able to draw upon knowledge of text in their writing, others do not possess this knowledge and yet others…

Roles of language proficiency and general developmental factors on metaphor interpretation were examined for 60 Spanish- and English-speaking and 60 monolingual English-speaking children aged 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12 years. Language proficiency in English and socioeconomic status were considered, but both were less important in metaphor interpretation…

Analysis of French used in teleconferences between American and French university students, relative to technical and discursive dimensions and learners' Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), found much of the language used was beyond these learners' capability, due to heightened classroom anxiety and differences in language varieties used by…