Many learners of English as a foreign language often feel that learning spoken English is frustrating and quite difficult, especially when they have to talk to English-speaking foreigners. In general, because they are unfamiliar with the spoken mode of English and are worried about making grammatical errors, they often feel very scared to speak…

Nonverbal behavior can impact language proficiency scores in speaking tests, but there is little empirical information of the size or consistency of its effects or whether language proficiency may be a moderating variable. In this study, 100 novice raters watched and scored 30 recordings of test takers taking an international, high stakes…

Background: With the growing trend of integrating technology into teaching environments, using Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) in writing instruction has been extensively studied over the last two decades. The studies on AWE mostly investigated its impact on students' writing proficiencies and revealed conflicting results. However, very few…

In a global context increasingly prone to e-learning formats at all levels of education, especially in and after the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the acquisition of skills in distance learning programmes should not differ from the ones in onsite learning programmes. The main objective of this study is to analyse the perception that master's…

The objective of this study was twofold: (a) to determine the extent to which three types of instruction could improve writing performance of railway engineering students and (b) to explore students' perceptions of flipped classroom, Edmodo, and Google Docs for improving their academic writing performance. The participants were 61 undergraduate…

Affordance refers to the opportunity available to a learning activity. Taking affordance as a theoretical and analytical construct, this exploratory study investigates learners' attitudes and the opportunities WeChat may provide for Chinese cultural knowledge (CCK) learning. The aim is to find out the potential new affordances and compare learners…

The present study investigates whether or not Thai students' English writing skills can be improved by using an online grammar checker. First, typical syntactic errors made by undergraduate students majoring in English and English for Careers were examined. Secondly, possible reasons for syntactic errors in English writing in the light of Lado's…

In the pursuit of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), universities play a pivotal role in driving transformative change. This paper focuses on innovative approaches centered around the role of the English language and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in English language education. The goal is to empower and prepare…

Flow, a subjective state of optimal engagement and immersion, is characterized by a balance of perceived challenges and skills, interest, attention, and a sense of control (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). Investigating flow in language learning can provide valuable insights into effective learning processes and contexts (Egbert, 2003). Self-regulated…

Public speaking is considered the most anxiety-provoking speaking activity for English as a foreign language (EFL) learner. While traditional lecture-based classrooms hinder EFL learners' constant practice and frequent interaction due to large class sizes and limited time, recent developments in technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI),…

This paper compares and analyzes a selection of popular multilevel tests used for quick accreditation of English as a foreign language worldwide. The paper begins by stating the current need of accreditation of English language competence for both academic and professional matters. It then looks at their defining features and differences. After,…

With the outbreak of COVID-19, universities worldwide were forced to quickly transition to online emergency teaching in order to secure the well-being of students and teachers. The paper analyses students' attitudes towards the use of the Microsoft Teams platform in the instruction of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) at the Faculty of Technical…

Comparative Judgement (CJ) has emerged as a technique that typically makes use of holistic judgement to assess difficult-to-specify constructs such as production (speaking and writing) in Modern Foreign Languages (MFL). In traditional approaches, markers assess candidates' work one-by-one in an absolute manner, assigning scores to different…

Perusall, a web-based collaborative reading platform characterised by its social annotation functionalities, was introduced in a postgraduate teacher-training language-awareness course in Hong Kong during the shift to online teaching and learning brought about by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Tasks were designed on Perusall to engage the…

This study explored the effects of three types of lexical tools (MOOCs, E-dictionaries, and lexical concordancers) and three types of lexical applications (technology-mediated communication-based applications (TMCA), Anki as an e-flashcard application, and WordUp as a dedicated lexical application) on learning academic core words among a sample of…