Investigating the impact of linguistic characteristics on visual word recognition in children, we studied whether differences in native (L1) and second language (L2) processing already emerge at the beginning of reading development. German elementary school students in grades 2 to 6 completed a battery of standardized tests and a lexical decision…

A growing body of literature has investigated impoliteness in many domains. Nevertheless, little research has examined impoliteness done by foreign language learners. Impoliteness used in interlanguage complaints by English as a foreign language learners was observed. The effects of interlocutors' different status levels and social distance on the…

This dissertation explores Spanish nominal plural formation from a morphophonological perspective. The primary objective is to better understand heritage bilinguals' (HBs') phonological categorization of the morphological element of number in their heritage language. This is done by way of picture-naming elicitation tasks of consonant-final nouns…

The purpose of this study was to explore the ways emergent bilingual first-graders draw on multiple linguistic resources during reading assessments and the participation of their Spanish-dominant parents in those assessments, as children engaged in English and Spanish retelling tasks. Informed by a translanguaging lens, sociopsycholinguistic and…

There has been a constant advance of the labour markets and permanent reorientation towards digital Industry 4.0. Yet, the environments for learning remain unchallenged when it comes to the provision of new professionals across the globe. Therefore, this has created a gap in transversal competences, which has compelled students of higher learning…

Despite calls for engaging assessments targeting young language learners (YLLs) between 8 and 13 years old, what makes assessment tasks engaging and how such task characteristics affect measurement quality have not been well studied empirically. Furthermore, there has been a dearth of validity research about technology-enhanced speaking tests for…

This dissertation investigates the knowledge of English non-finite complement constructions by near-native L1 Spanish/L2 English learners. In particular, this study concerns Object Control, Raising to Object, and "for"-type constructions. Although the three constructions look identical on the surface, they are in fact distinct syntactic…

The use of mobile devices inside and outside formal settings is often associated with innovative practices in the design of language learning activities. This often implies the reconceptualization of language learning tasks and of the role of the teacher in the mobile classroom. In order to investigate current research and practices in secondary…

This study investigates the relationship between performances on the speaking component of the TOEFL iBTTM with performances on academic oral assessment tasks. For the academic tasks, we recorded and transcribed the performances of five local and five high-achieving international undergraduate students on oral assessment tasks in core first-year…

During spoken interaction with peers, ESL or ELF learners use peer feedback to negotiate and converge on mutually intelligible pronunciation. In contrast, for EFL learners who interact mainly with same-L1 peers, it is not clear whether the giving and receiving of peer feedback on intelligibility can facilitate uptake leading to improved…

The current 2-part study investigated the relative contributions of English language training (ELT) and computerized Cogmed working memory training (WMT) to improvements in English-as-a-foreign language (EFL) proficiency and working memory capacity. In Study 1, Japanese undergraduate EFL learners were randomly allocated to 1 of 3 experimental…

This mixed-methods study investigates writers' task representation and the factors affecting it in test-like and non-test-like conditions. Five advanced-level L2 writers wrote two argumentative essays each, one in test-like conditions and the other in non-test-like conditions where the participants were allowed to use all the time and online…

The role of literature as a teaching and learning tool in English as a Foreign Language has long been acknowledged. Literary texts offer teachers opportunities to provide students with authentic materials to heighten their motivation by involving them in challenging Task-Based activities in which they interact with authors and learn about features…

Studies about the learning value of group presentations in ESL and EFL have become increasingly common, particularly in relation to spoken fluency. However, few studies have explored their impact on students' intelligible pronunciation. In a Vietnamese context, recent changes in teaching and learning strategies set by the government have shifted…

It is widely accepted that the learning of a new language, among other advantages, promotes respect and interest of the students towards other cultures and languages. The question is how learning languages can be promoted in educational settings. The aim of the present study is to explore the principles of communicative language teaching in…