We investigated the relations among theory of mind (ToM), mental state talk, and discourse comprehension. Specifically, we examined the frequency of mental state talk in children's oral recall of narrative texts and informational texts as well as relations among ToM, mental state talk (inclusion of mental state words in the recall of narrative and…

Oral-corrective feedback (CF) has often been a significant concern in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). This study sought to investigate teachers' and students' attitudes toward the oral CF in traditional and technology-enhanced classes. It also investigated the extent to which teachers' attitudes toward the oral CF matched their…

The study examined the use of the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) in assessing Chinese as a second language and the challenges faced by teachers in the Chinese Language Scholarship (CLS) program. The Concurrent Triangulation Mixed Method Research was used in the study in which qualitative and quantitative data are collected simultaneously,…

This research paper investigates the effects of integrating multiliteracies in a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) programme on language development and content understanding among preschoolers in an urban city of Greece. The case study focuses on early literacy skills, spoken discourse and vocabulary. The research questions, which…

Background: It is widely acknowledged that children with developmental language disorder (DLD) predominantly have difficulties in the areas of grammar and vocabulary, with preserved pragmatic skills. Consequently, few studies focus on the pragmatic skills of children with DLD, and there is a distinct lack of studies examining the effectiveness of…

This discussion describes a collaboration between a high school for recently arrived immigrant and refugee youth and a local college. Across 6 weeks, college tutors read a wordless graphic novel, "The Arrival" (Tan, 2007), with newcomer students to support oral English language development, to develop interpretations, and to invite…

Studies on hard of hearing (HH) individuals have focused mostly on children's experiences in school. However, their lives as young adults have not received much attention. The present study therefore examined HH young adults' experiences of social identity and group membership. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 16 individuals (10…

In this study, we present the development of individualized feedback for a large-scale listening assessment by combining standard setting and cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA) approaches. We used the performance data from 3,358 students' item-level responses to a field test of a national EFL test primarily intended for tertiary-level EFL…

"Tender Shoots" compared two book-reading and conversation approaches for parents and preschoolers to an activity-based control group. The "Rich Reading and Reminiscing" (RRR) condition taught parents to converse about the storyline; the "Strengthening Sound Sensitivity" (SSS) condition taught parents to converse…

This study is intended to explore the influence of partners' L2 proficiency on test-takers' performance and on their interaction patterns in paired oral assessment, and it tries to analyze the underlying causes on the basis of Vygotsky's theory of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) and Storch's patterns of interaction. An experiment including…

The increasing popularity of self-assessment prompted several scholars to investigate its effectiveness and accuracy in relation to teacher assessment. However, most of these studies focused only on the consistency estimate perspective. Thus, the current study investigated the interrater reliability between self- and teacher assessment of…

Oral language skills are essential for developing good interpersonal relationships, for emotional and behavioral function as well as for academic and vocational success. Language problems can have serious, adverse consequences, and individuals coming into conflict with the law often have a history of undiagnosed language problems and poor academic…

Shared book reading in preschool settings plays an influential role in supporting children's oral language and emergent literacy skills. Early childhood teachers can provide high-quality shared book reading experiences using extratextual utterances (reading beyond the story text) to maximise these learning outcomes. We report on the development…

In 1981, Sweden was the first country in the world to entitle deaf pupils to a bimodal-bilingual education. However, drawing from interviews with key past Stockholm teacher trainers and on our own efforts to update teacher training, we note that sign-bilingual teacher training in Sweden has been ad hoc to this day. The interviewees' accounts…

Differentiated second/foreign language (L2) instruction (DI) has received growing attention in pedagogical research. Yet, as a cornerstone of inclusive education, the DI is still under-documented. In this study, we integrated diagnostic assessment (DIA) and collaborative language learning in a differentiated (tiered) oral tasks intervention and…