One of the tasks for language teachers is to create an interactive environment to help learners communicate globally in the 21st century. Employing a case-study design, this research is aimed to explore how far using the target language (L2), as the main language of classroom interaction, can affect students' oral fluency through the technique of…

The purpose of this study is to explore the employment opportunities and challenges facing Lao graduates who studied abroad in China and returned home after graduation. A qualitative method was employed by utilizing semi-structured interviews with 17 Chinese-educated Lao graduates who now live in Laos. The findings revealed that although returning…

This volume integrates complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) and L2 writing scholarship through a collection of in-depth studies and commentary across a range of writing constructs, learning contexts, and second and foreign languages. The text is arranged thematically across four topics: (i) perspectives on complexity, accuracy, and fluency, (ii)…

This study adds to the literature on computer-mediated communication (CMC) by examining the impact of online voice recording (VR) activities and peer-to-peer videoconferencing (VC) conversations on the development of beginning Spanish learners' speaking performance. Specifically, this paper explores (1) whether VR and VC activities promote oral…

Collocations are word combinations essential for achieving fluency in a given language. Considerable emphasis should therefore be placed on teaching collocations as a part of vocabulary instruction in language teaching. However, there is no current consensus on how best to teach collocations, and few studies have addressed the issue. This…

This study investigates how using a voice-based Asynchronous Technology-Mediated Communication framework (ATMC) can affect English for Academic Purposes (EAP) students' fluency, accuracy, and intelligibility. Research has highlighted the benefits of ATMC in improving various elements of spoken communication, but to date, its application to EAP…

This paper reports on the evidence learning found from a flipped, blended, ubiquitous learning Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) course teaching global leadership skills using a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to Japanese undergraduates through English. The purposes of the current study are to see if (1) there was any evidence of…

The purpose of this study was to examine how classroom language contexts characterized by peer language skills and proportions of dual language learners (DLL) influenced English language development for DLL and non-DLL children. Participants were 2,131 children from 135 classrooms across preschool through Grade 3. Children were classified into…

Cognitive factors have been recognised as important in the interpreting process, but whether they could serve as valid components of interpreting aptitude still awaits further investigation. This study explores the predictive value of cognitive fluency in the simultaneous interpreting (SI) performance of trainee interpreters. Cognitive fluency…

Where the veracity of a statement is in question, listeners tend to interpret disfluency as signaling dishonesty. Previous research in deception suggests that this results from a speaker model, linking lying to cognitive effort and effort to disfluency. However, the disfluency-lying bias occurs very quickly: Might listeners instead simply…

Underpinned by a postmodern perspective of (teacher) identity, which characterizes it as unstable, multifaceted, unfinished, complex, dynamic, fluid, constructed in relation with others (Bauman, 2005; Bohn, 2005; Hall, 2006; Beijaard et al., 2011 among others), this qualitative research aims at exploring English language teachers' identities…

Codeswitching is reported to be a common feature of group work in EFL classes, particularly those with learners sharing the same native language. On the other hand, there is little research on codeswitching in group work in EFL contexts. This study aims to investigate the reasons why codeswitching is employed in EFL group work interactions among…

Research Findings: The Latino population within the U.S. is heterogeneous with diversity in education level, country of origin, and English language fluency. Latino children often enter school with limited English language skills. In the current study, we surveyed 448 Latino families of Cuban, Mexican, and Puerto Rican descent regarding their home…

The continuation task, a new form of reading-writing integrated task in which test-takers read an incomplete story and then write the continuation and ending of the story, has been increasingly used in writing assessment, especially in China. However, language-test developers' understanding of the effects of important task-related factors on…

Research has painted a pessimistic picture of students' second language (L2) writing skills in secondary education. One innovative tool that may help students foster their L2 proficiency, including writing ability, is in-class debate. Debate is commonly associated with oral communication and argumentation skills. However, debate may also offer…