Gender gaps in students' foreign language proficiency self-assessment can negatively impact their educational careers and position in the labour market. We investigated how female and male students self-assess their English as a foreign language (EFL) proficiency in comparison to their EFL test scores. We further examined the potential…

English language proficiency enhancement remains one of the most complex and multifaceted challenges in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts. While the question "How can I improve my English?" appears straightforward, it encompasses intricate pedagogical, psychological, and strategic dimensions that demand systematic examination.…

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) conversational agents in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) environments has received attention for its potential to enhance language learning outcomes. This study investigates the effects of AI conversational agents on EFL learners' self-regulated learning (SRL) and retention in CALL…

Despite growing interest in task-based language teaching (TBLT), limited empirical work has examined how different rhetorical task types influence second language (L2) writing development, especially in relation to affective variables, such as writing anxiety. Existing research in TBLT has largely focused on cognitive dimensions, often neglecting…

Translanguaging and multimodality pedagogies are key instructional approaches to support and encourage the development of biliteracy skills. Translanguaging supports language development, validating emergent bilingual students (EBs) unique language qualities. Multimodality supports text representation and meaning making, especially in the early…

English is a vital tool for global communication and development, and also a compulsory course for college English as a foreign language (EFL) students. College students as the backbone of social development whose English proficiency is worth noting. Up to now, much research has empowered language learning by technology, which shows its…

The present study was undertaken to analyze pre-service EFL teachers' (PSTs) noticing during the practicum process over 14 weeks. In total, 26 PSTs took part in the present study. Data were collected through joint reflection sessions (JRSs). For JRS, PSTs met in their group every week after their practicum days and discussed what they noticed on…

In this study, we conduct a longitudinal experiment to explore the effects of adaptive phonetic training on the identification of the English vowels /i/ and /I/ by learners in China. The vowel /i/ in English has a low F1 value, a high F2 value, and a long duration. In contrast, the vowel /i/ has a high F1 value, a low F2 value, and a short…

One of the critiques of proficiency as defined by scales, such as that of ACTFL, is its lack of grounding in linguistic realities. Measures of complexity, accuracy, and fluency provide a route in which proficiency can be quantitatively measured by identifying linguistic correlates (see Brown et al., 2017; Long et al., 2012). This project aimed to…

The present study aims to explore the knowledge level and preferences regarding vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) among the EFL university students studying English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses. It also investigates the impact of vocabulary learning strategies on EFL learners' performance. A sample of twenty students from an intact…

Research on integrated writing tasks is increasing, while there is a paucity of empirical findings on graph-based writing, as one type of these tasks. The present study purports to examine the contribution of L2 writing anxiety to university students' graph writing performance and the strategies they employ for these tasks. The participants of…

One feature of Spanish that presents some difficulties to second language (L2) learners whose first language (L1) is English concerns lexical stress. This study explores one aspect of the obstacle these learners face, weak phonological processing routines concerning stress inherited from their native language. Participants were L1 English L2…

In two visual priming experiments, we investigated the relation of form-identical word forms with different grammatical functions in L1 and L2 German. Four different grammatical types (inflected verbs, infinitives, deverbal conversion forms, and countable nouns) were used as primes and their influence on the processing of form-identical inflected…

Critical Discourse Studies (CDS) has increasingly served to examine the content of textbooks. Given momentum by critical social inquiry pertaining to textbook content, this study looks at peer-reviewed literature drawn from three scholarly databases (JSTOR, ERIC, and SAGE; cross-referenced with searches on Google Scholar) that use CDS for those…

The majority of US university students studying foreign languages are enrolled in introductory courses that are typically part of a coordinated curriculum. Such courses conventionally include the assessment of second language (L2) writing skills. However, given that these assessments can be broadly conceived and vary by program, their design and…