This study is an investigation of paperless language learning in the context of the United Arab Emirates. The purpose of this study was to examine Emirati level 1 English language learners' attitudes towards the iPad use as a means of language learning. It was done through a cross-sectional survey questionnaire, wholly composed of fixed-choice…

Investigating how foreign language learners' discourse mediates their demotivation construction is a relatively new area of inquiry. This paper examined the discursive construction of four (two males and two females) Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' demotivation at Shiraz University, Iran. Employing Fairclough's (2003)…

Integration of the four language skills can be enhanced by focusing on back translating--translating an English text into the students' first language and then back into English. This article describes a three-step process for using back translation in reading classes as a way to help students identify gaps in their English competence.

Based on recent research in cognitive science, interaction, and second language acquisition (SLA), I describe a sociocognitive approach to SLA. This approach adopts a "non-cognitivist" view of cognition: Instead of an isolated computational process in which input is extracted from the environment and used to build elaborate internal…

Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year for 2013 is "selfie" (Oxford University Press, 2013). At its essence, the selfie is simply a digital self-portrait shared on the internet. As with all tech trends, the selfie suffers from much hype and even more criticism. In the authors' experiments with the medium, they have found that…

One of the recent issues in English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) writing instruction has been the quest for a more effective way to give feedback to L2 learners' writing drafts. Although teacher-learner writing conferences have been increasingly used for providing ample opportunity for negotiating revisions, relatively little attention…

As it becomes increasingly apparent that nonverbal conduct plays an integral role in pedagogical interactions (McCafferty & Stam, 2008; Zwiers, 2007), researchers who study interaction "in situ" are shifting focus from solely talk toward a multimodal approach (Lazaraton, 2004; Olsher, 2004; Seo & Koshik, 2010; Taylor, 2014). From…

The current article presents some key theories most relevant to the development of oral communication skills in an Indonesian senior high school. Critical analysis on the learners' background is employed to figure out their strengths and weaknesses. The brief overview of the learning context and learners' characteristic are used to identify which…

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been increasingly employed as a teaching and learning approach in many disciplines in higher education. In English medium of instruction (EMI) universities in Asia, PBL can further enhance knowledge construction as well as development of disciplinary language and communicative skills. It is necessary to explore how…

Purpose: This study aims to explore how the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model (2000) is used to categorize students' and teachers' interactions in an asynchronous discussion and how these interactions are able to help students add quality to their narrative writing. Design/methodology/approach: The interactions were categorized based on teaching,…

The studies in task-based approaches in second language acquisition claim that controlled and goal convergent tasks such as information gap tasks surpass open-ended conversations such as personal information exchange tasks for the development of the learner's interlanguage, in that the formers promote more repair negotiation. And yet, few studies…

The internationalisation of the Portuguese language has become a priority for academic institutions of different Portuguese-speaking countries which are trying to adapt to the current context of globalisation and ubiquitous communications through digital media. In order to achieve it, several challenges should be faced, namely providing…

Discourses of globalization and cosmopolitanism, focusing on the rapid flows of people, resources, and knowledge around the globe and subsequent encounters between global citizens, present a binary between "global" and "local." At the same time educational theories, perhaps especially in the areas of language and literacy…

Learners, teachers and peers constantly interact in classroom settings. Indeed, within the framework of learning-oriented assessment (LOA), the interactional dimension plays a critical role in bridging learning gaps (Purpura & Turner, 2014). For this reason, this dimension resounded throughout the talks at the 2014 Roundtable in Second…

This study aims to clarify the relationship between task types and foreign language learners' social presence (SP) in text-based SCMC learning modes. The participants in this study comprised 38 high-intermediate level English as a foreign language (EFL) learners from different disciplines of a university in Taiwan. They were divided into two…