The purpose of this quasi-experimental, mixed-methods study was to address the gap in understanding regarding second language (L2) comprehension of stories by using a taxonomical approach based on Anderson and Krathwohl's (2001) revised taxonomy that includes multiple levels of cognitive processing to provide insight into L2 learners' depth of…

The current study investigated L2-based assumptions of the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning and Cognitive Load Theory for the multimedia, modality, and redundancy principles. In this non-equivalent groups quasi-experimental design study, four groups of Turkish-speaking teacher trainees of the English language received a 12-minute non-paced…

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the duration of students' augmented reality (AR) experience on reading comprehension and cognitive load in reading activities carried out with an augmented reality storybook. The participants are 134 secondary school students aged between 11 and 12 attending a school in Antalya. They were…

The present study is a partial replication of the most widely cited study of lexical coverage and reading comprehension by Hu and Nation (2000). Ninety-four advanced L2 learners read a short story at one of 90%, 95%, 98%, and 100% lexical coverage and then completed a 14-item reading comprehension test. The results showed that although…

In response to the calls for making key stakeholders' perspectives relevant in the test validation process, the study discussed in this report sought test-taker feedback as part of collecting validity evidence and supporting the ongoing field testing efforts of the new "TOEFL ITP"® Speaking section. Specifically, I aimed to investigate…

Previous research suggests that learning from combined textual and pictorial representations is generally more effective than from text alone. However, when these elements are spatially separated, learners must mentally integrate them, increasing cognitive load. According to cognitive load theory, such split-attention formats are less effective…

Cross-linguistic studies found that reading comprehension correlates with oral reading prosody. The study examined whether text difficulty would be involved in oral reading prosody in orthographically deep languages like Mandarin. One hundred and three fourth-grade children were recruited in Taipei, Taiwan. Their oral reading prosody was elicited…

Inference-making is a central element of successful reading comprehension, yet provides a challenge for beginning readers. Text decoding takes up cognitive resources which prevents beginning readers from successful inference-making and compromises reading comprehension. Listening does not require any decoding and could therefore offer a less…

This article examines the determinants of Syrian refugee students' language comprehension difficulties in Lebanon, Türkiye and Australia, three host countries offering refugees different types of legal status (short-term, medium-term and long-term legal settlement). To understand the influence of legal status and its corresponding educational…

This study investigates how the presence and proper use of causal and concessive connectives affect the comprehension and production of English discourse among Chinese English learners. Seventy-two English major undergraduates with similar language proficiency levels read four narrative texts featuring varying connective conditions (correct use,…

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is widely used in the design of curricula and materials for Teaching Turkish as a Second Language (TTSL), yet concerns remain about the consistency of text difficulty across CEFR-labeled materials. This study examined 31 B1-level international learners of Turkish as they read four…

Recent research focusing on the sources of listening anxiety identified individual and external factors (IEF), listeners' control over input (LC), and perceived level of task difficulty (PTD) as the main causes of anxiety among L2 listeners. This correlational study aims to explore whether the sources of anxiety in L2 listening have a causal…

Official communications and media news in Greece about the COVID-19 pandemic very often involve a multitude of numerical concepts and mathematical relationships, which are presented in different forms and in various contexts. This paper reports selected findings of a survey among adults, which had two aims. First, to investigate their subjective…

This study investigated the effects of four subtitle modes on the listening comprehension of TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talks and academic vocabulary learning of intermediate (non-English major) and advanced (English major) English as foreign language (EFL) learners. A total of 272 Chinese college sophomore students were randomly…

This study investigated multimodal multiple text comprehension (MMTC) among forty-eight Taiwanese university students, considering their cognitive and affective characteristics. A randomized trial with pre- and post-tests design was applied. The experiment group received a browser-embedded note-taking device along with epistemic prompting. The…