The past few decades have seen a boom in English-medium instruction (EMI) in Chinese universities. Despite growing research interest in EMI policy and practices in China, little is known about how students' motivation to study in the EMI programs is influenced by EMI policy and its implementation at the meso and micro levels. This study addresses…

Over the past few years, the concept of gamification has gained increased attention in foreign language teaching research as it demonstrates potential to promote motivation and learner engagement. The authors of the paper believe that gamification can become an innovative and promising tool to help students overcome their motivational…

Fun facts--facts that are interesting, unusual, and often little-known--are a popular form of entertainment throughout the world. There are countless books, TV quiz shows (Jeopardy!), board games (Trivial Pursuit), and museums (Ripley's Believe It or Not!) dedicated to trivia and the unusual that fascinate people of all ages. Short oral…

This conceptual article argues that although imagination is a highly important dynamic of the mind with strong potential to assist language development, imagination alone does not work by itself. Instead, a strategic framework is needed to support imagination by connecting it with playful teaching and amusing content. The article begins by…

Many second language pedagogy experts recommend that curricular and instructional planning should begin with needs analysis. Few, however, recommend assessing students' strengths, and those that do seem not to consider learners' strengths to be integral to planning or instruction. Teacher preparation programs and materials that foreground needs…

There is a lack of research about the effective methods English language learners' (ELLs) teachers can use to motivate students to learn English as a second language by transmitting the importance and how they ensure successful student outcomes in all four language domains. Data that leads to effective motivational methods for English language…

With technological advancement, multimodality has received paramount importance in teaching and learning. Different technology-based assistance is available nowadays, and computer-assisted language learning (CALL) is one of them. It uses computer-based tools, materials, resources, and information to assist second language learning. Motivation…

This paper delves into the theoretical dimensions of metacognition, exploring how learners' awareness of their learning strategies and thought processes impacts language acquisition. Metacognition, or the awareness and regulation of one's own cognitive processes, plays a pivotal role in language learning by empowering learners to navigate the…

This paper shows that integrating various literary texts is a powerful tool for learning foreign languages. An experimental group with thirty-two students was exposed to poems, songs, long texts, short stories, novels, and movie reviews for one semester. The results reveal that students liked the topics dealing with current social developments…

In the contemporary digital era, the utilization of gaming has emerged as a prevalent method for actively engaging students in the learning processes at various levels of academic curricula and within the broader educational community. This trend is particularly pronounced in English language teaching curricula, especially among learners whose…

English language education in Thailand is rated poorly internationally and needs improvement. Research identifying the reasons for the l highlights assessment as a key concern since assessment has washback effects on learning. However, little is known about the assessment practices teachers use. This paper has three goals: to identify the…

Recent conceptualizations of language learning motivation have highlighted its dynamic and contextual nature. Yet the role of the L2 learning context in shaping motivation remains under-explored. This study adopts an agency perspective to examine emerging motivational orientations across diverse medium of instruction settings. The present study…

Goals are central to understanding how students learn a second language. Much of the existing research on goals in the field of language learning has focused exclusively on achievement goals, particularly mastery and performance goals. However, exclusively focusing on achievement goals precludes language researchers from exploring other important…

Despite the recognised importance of communicative competence in language acquisition, many English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners persistently grapple with affective barriers such as speaking anxiety, shyness, and demotivation, alongside underdeveloped social-emotional competence (SEC), challenges that traditional speaking instruction…

Over the past few years, the world's attention has been focused on gaming systems and their application in education through gamification, incorporating game features into learning tools. Against this backdrop, this study aims to investigate the motivation of EFL learners in a Gamified Formative Assessment (GFA). Theoretical insights from…