This article investigates the effects of language anxiety on course achievement in three foreign language proficiency levels of Spanish, namely, beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Participants completed the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986) and a background questionnaire. Results showed that language…

In the face of too much incoming information and too many people trying to convince us in today's world, the ability to think critically gains an ever greater saliency as a prime goal of student and teacher education. The present study aimed at substantiating the relationship between EFL teachers' critical thinking ability and their…

Language learners need to feel secure and to be free of stress so they can focus on language tasks (Ellis, 1994). A language teacher should use different tools to encourage students and make them involved in learning process. Humor and song are effective tools, as they develop creativity and make the class environment an appropriate setting for…

This paper is based on a study on speaking fluency performed by six low level students using retelling technique. The aim of the study is to find out the effect of retelling on the students' speaking fluency and to know the strategies used by those students while retelling a story. The data were the speaking transcripts which were analyzed to see…

ICT influences various phases of language studies and education. Its application for applied linguistics has been mainly attempted in the field of corpus linguistics, which describes how native speakers (NS) use the language and how its use by non-native speakers (NNS) deviates from the NS norm. In the current study, we focused on the English…

Previous research on blended learning (BL) implementation in L2 instructional settings considers L2 teachers' use of the incorporated CALL modes and learners' attitudes toward the CALL modes as critical factors, among other factors, for achieving successful BL implementation. In the literature, these two factors are suggested to be strongly…

Conducted in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classrooms at the university level in China, this quasi-experimental study compared the effects of three different corrective feedback treatments on 72 Chinese learners' use of regular and irregular English past tense. Three classes were randomly assigned to a prompt group, a recast group, or a…

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of a computer-assisted concept mapping learning strategy on EFL college learners' English reading comprehension. The research questions were: (1) what was the influence of the computer-assisted concept mapping learning strategy on different learners' English reading comprehension? (2) did…

This study investigated the change in sophomore reading scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test after the implementation of an academic vocabulary program and the change in teacher knowledge and professional practice after a program of staff development in academic vocabulary. The purpose was to determine if the impact of the…

In this three-state study, the authors estimate the magnitudes of achievement gaps between English learner (EL) students and their non-EL peers, while avoiding typical caveats in cross-sectional studies. The authors further compare the observed achievement gaps across three distinct dimensions (content areas, grades, and states) and report…

Using a quantitative approach, this study explores the use of textual elaboration as a modification option for literary texts in an intermediate-level Spanish as a second language (L2) course. The results suggest that, with elaborative modifications, literary texts could have an expanded role in L2 instruction for lower proficiency students, thus…

In the United States, foreign language immersion programs are K-8 voluntary programs wherein children are instructed in the core subjects in a language other than English. While these programs are quite popular, many parents, having chosen immersion for their child's education, change their minds and transfer their child into a "regular"…

This dissertation examined the impact that Proposition 227 had upon the identification and placement of English language learners in Special Education programs in small, necessary Special Education Local Plan Areas (SELPAs) in the state of California. Furthermore, this dissertation studied the practices and strategies used by small, necessary…

The problem. The purpose of this study is to investigate positive and negative cross-linguistic transfer on EFL learners' phraseological competence in collocations and its relationship to learners' linguistic proficiency. Method. A quantitative study was conducted. Two instruments, multiple choice test and grammaticality judgment test, were…

Video is widely used in the teaching of L2 listening, and SLA researchers have argued that the visual components of spoken texts are useful for the listener in comprehending aural information. Yet video texts are rarely used on tests of L2 listening ability, perhaps in part due to the belief that including the visual channel involves assessing…