This study investigates second language (L2) interactional competence in Mandarin Chinese, with a specific focus on dispreference organization in refusals. Twenty-eight L2 Chinese learners at 3 proficiency levels (A2, B1, and B2) and 10 native speakers each participated in 3 role plays. We found that learners at different levels clearly differed…

The relevance of foreign language proficiency of university graduates led to the design and pilot study of the of non-linguistic students' language mediation development model. This model was implicated at the MGIMO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, the Odintsovo branch (Moscow Region) in the I-IV courses, Plekhanov University of…

This study attempts to answer one straightforward question: "what is the relationship between students' proficiency level and their willingness to communicate?", i.e., their "readiness to enter into discourse at a particular time with a specific person or persons", using an L2. Understanding the link between proficiency and WTC…

This study explored the complex relationships between immigration, volunteering, and life-long learning among older adults. It investigated adult teaching and learning and active ageing from the perspective of immigrant volunteer instructors of English as additional language. Using a grounded theory method (GTM), comprising a combination of…

Purpose: This study aims to understand the effect of therapies on dual language children with developmental language disorder (DLD) on a range of bilingual language outcomes, compare with second-language-only therapy and determine whether there is any cross-linguistic transfer. Methods: A systematic review of English articles in 10 electronic…

This qualitative study investigates how migrant students from mainland China attending Hong Kong universities, as scale makers, negotiate and construct new scales and identities by utilizing their sociolinguistic resources, and how their scale making is related to such social categories as history and politics. The findings suggest that…

The COVID-19 pandemic led to rapid innovation among language assessment developers who had to adapt their testing processes to address various restrictions from governments and institutions. This overview introduces some of the challenges and opportunities test developers grappled with during this period as well as introduces the six commentaries…

The "2020-2021 WIDA Assessment Guidance" provides information on the following 14 topics: (1) English Language Proficiency Requirements; (2) WIDA Assessments in Grades K-12; (3) WIDA ACCESS Annual Assessments Test Window; (4) Participation Requirements; (5) Indiana English Learner Entrance and Exit Criteria; (6) Scheduling and Timing…

Starting from its first implementation, Subject Knowledge Test (henceforward SKT) has been investigated in various subject fields due to the emerging questions about its content and applicability in selecting prospective teachers. With the contribution of 355 participants including senior students and the graduates from different ELT undergraduate…

This study underpinned the authentic materials using images for reading comprehension. It sought to determine the proficiency level of the respondents in reading comprehension skills along with vocabulary, making inferences, sequencing events, and drawing conclusions and proficiency level of the respondents in the comprehension of advertisements,…

Research suggests that gendered languages are associated with gender inequality. However, as languages are embedded in cultures, evidence for causal effects are harder to provide. We contribute to this ongoing debate by exploring the relationship between gendered languages and the gender gap in mathematics achievements. We provide evidence for…

This longitudinal, quantitative study examined the differences in second language acquisition among "first-" and "second-year" English language learners (ELLs) who attended newcomer and comprehensive middle schools. The study is organized into six cohorts by students entering middle school between 2006 and 2013 then graduating…

The employment problem of college graduates has evoked concern from students to politicians. Since 1999, the Chinese government has promoted an enrollment expansion policy evident in the subsequent data which identified an increased college graduation rate. Furthermore, the English language proficiency of Chinese college students was emphasized…

Bilingual children demonstrate varying levels of proficiency in each of the two languages to which they are exposed. Even though it is widely acknowledged that bilingual children are not a homogenous group, existing studies on dual-language profiles in bilingual children have focused on expressive language profiles. In this study, we used the…

This study attempts to explain a systematic phenomenon that has been described in interlanguage grammars crosslinguistically: Null-Prep, which consists of omitting the obligatory preposition in certain movement constructions. We propose that Null-Prep is not related to lack of knowledge of "wh"-movement, as previously assumed, but to…