Second language acquisition (SLA) research offers valuable insight on how languages are learned and how they coexist and influence each other. Sign language learners offer unique perspectives on SLA, allowing researchers to test theories that are otherwise constrained by access to only one modality. Current literature on sign language learning…

This paper provides a research synthesis of intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) -- that is, cloud-based virtual assistants such as Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri -- for second language (L2) learning. The article also offers a theoretical justification for the use of IPAs in language learning and outlines the affordances and constraints of…

Extramural exposure, through activities such as watching TV, gaming, networking, and online reading, has become an important source of vocabulary acquisition in English as a foreign language, particularly when learners' first language (L1) has many cognates with English. Our study examined extramural vocabulary acquisition of 10th-grade L1…

OpenCourseWare (OCW) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have gained increasing popularity and importance because they greatly expand students' access to university lectures. Although the main component of OCW and MOOC platforms is lectures, their differences may potentially affect the difficulty of academic listening comprehension. This study…

The emerging interest in self-directed learning (SDL) in the context of language learning has focused less on specific learning strategies selected by language learners based on their discoveries. Anchored on Boyatzis' Theory of Self directed Learning (2001) and Classifications of Language Learning Strategies by O'Mally and Chamot (1990), and…

With the rapid advance in educational technology, electronic feedback (e-feedback) has found its way to EFL writing process. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of three e-feedback modes, that is, automated written corrective feedback (AWCF), asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC), and their combination on EFL…

Developing L2 learners' productive mastery of vocabulary is a challenging task. Recent research has called for greater attention to understanding how receptive vocabulary may be transformed for productive use (Schmitt, 2019). Using a design-based research methodology, this study investigated adult ESL learners' productive oral vocabulary…

The current longitudinal case study investigated emotional and motivational states in a self-directed and mobile-assisted language learning environment. The participant of the study was a highly motivated language learner who used the Busuu application for a period of one year to learn German. Tracing the participant's emotional and motivational…

A growing body of vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) studies focuses on accumulating empirical evidence on the relationship between frequency of VLS use and vocabulary acquisition by using the frequency-based measures of VLSs. Our study by contrast, examined which VLSs are perceived as important and useful, and how they are employed by Japanese…

Our study proposes the use of a free classification task for investigating the dimensions used by listeners in their perception of nonnative sounds and for predicting the perceptual discriminability of nonnative contrasts. In a free classification task, participants freely group auditory stimuli based on their perceived similarity. The results can…

Writing in an L2 presents particular challenges (e.g., acculturating into new conventions) but also opportunities (e.g., the Joseph Conrad phenomenon, Scovel, 1988). In general, writing plays diverse roles in social, professional, and academic contexts and can significantly influence a writer's life experiences. Neither L1 nor L2 writers…

This research set out to evaluate video material contained within the English learning coursebook "English M1" which was designed for self-access use. "English M1" is a Brazilian government-sponsored piece of material available for free. It is the first stage of a course that learners would complete independently, unmediated by…

Reading is a complicated cognitive procedure of deciphering symbols to create meaning. It's a complicated relationship that the reader has with the text and is lead by a reader's previous knowledge, experiences, attitude, and culture. Second language (L2) reading comprehension is perhaps a more complicated procedure and there's a need to ensure…

The purpose of this systematic review was three-fold: (a) to convey technology-assisted language learning (TALL) affordances that facilitate catering to the nonlinearity and dynamicity of the second language (L2) motivational factors, (b) to identify TALL challenges that inhibit the integration of educational technologies to enhance L2 motivation…

This study explores discourse markers (DMs) as they occur with compliment responses (CRs) in classroom interactions among Iranian learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Using the tenets of conversation analysis, this paper draws on data from teacher-student interactions in several private language institutes in Iran. After audiorecording…