This study explores the role of cognitive task complexity in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curriculum development and its impact on learner engagement, motivation, and learning outcomes. A mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative methods, was employed to gain comprehensive insights into the topic. The qualitative…

Many international students in American universities are required to take writing courses in English as a second language (ESL) before participating in a mainstream first-year composition (FYC) course. Given that the goal of ESL writing course is to prepare students for FYC course, the connection between ESL and FYC courses is significant. This…

Willingness to communicate (WTC) research has recently witnessed a paradigm shift with the more recent studies looking at the shifting and dynamic nature of the variable. A growing body of literature has interpreted such dynamicity from a complex dynamic systems (CDS) perspective. The theory of CDS has four basic properties, one of which, and the…

Building up on Munro and Derwing, the current study set out to re-examine and generalize the Functional Load (FL) principle (Brown, 1988) as a tool to identify a set of relatively crucial segmental features for successful understanding in L2 communication. In Experiment 1, 40 Japanese learners of English in English-as-Foreign-Language settings…

Personalized learning has become an important and powerful paradigm catering for various needs, styles, preferences, and modes of learning. Several methods including task recommendations and path planning have recently emerged to effectively implement personalized learning using e-learning systems. The literature shows that the use of task…

The use of group-based, task-oriented, peer interaction formats in classroom and public L2 speaking tests has grown in recent years. However, these assessments have received comparatively little attention when compared to other formats such as the oral proficiency interview (OPI). In order to better understand the local exigencies of this…

The present study sought to investigate the effects of Summary Writing (SW), Picture Writing (PW), and Topic Writing (TW) tasks on the accuracy and complexity of Iranian intermediate EFL learners' writing performance. To this end, of 61 students majoring English Literature in Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran, 43 (10 males, 33 females) of them…

The impacts of task characteristics on second language (L2) writing require further exploration. This study examined the effects of increasing task complexity on L2 argumentative writing. Upper-intermediate L2 learners performed two writing tasks with varying degrees of complexity in relation to the number of elements and the degree of reasoning.…

This article reflects on the concept of meaningful literacy. It offers a classroom methodology, posting on a closed Facebook Group, that manifests this approach to English as a second language (ESL) or English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom meaningful literacy instruction. This study aims to produce empirically informed teaching materials…

Students of private universities in Bangladesh are often found to be less competent in spoken English. Since the universities have adopted EMI (English medium instruction) policy, the prevailing linguistic condition on the campus is an "English only environment." In this context, students are required to communicate in English both…

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 study investigated the effect of problem-based learning through cognition-based tasks on speaking proficiency of Iranian intermediate EFL learners in comparison to the effect of objective-based tasks. To this end, a true experimental research design was employed. Ninety five (N = 95) language learners studying at a language institute in the…

This article describes a transcription task cycle that was designed to facilitate the development of skills for the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) speaking test at a language school in Japan. The cycle involved practice test, transcription, student correction, teacher correction, and retrial of the original test and…

This study investigated the impact of metacognitive instruction on the listening skill, and metacognitive knowledge of a group of male students (N = 30) who were learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Iran. The study participants spoke Persian as a first language and were high-intermediate EFL learners. The participants received a guided…

In most settings, task-based language teaching and testing have been dissociated from each other. That is why this study came to rethink of the learners' views towards awareness and implementation of task-based language teaching through IELTS listening tasks. To these objectives, after sketching instrumentation, the learners were divided into…