Sociocultural theories consider language learning as a social practice examines students as active participants in the construction of learning processes. This study investigates sociocultural theories' central concepts, which includes peer interaction and feedback, private speech, and self-efficacy. The present study is a case study of twenty…

Recently, the use of children's picture books to teach English has been increasing in Japan. An advantage of these books is the high proportion of basic vocabulary they include. Can picture books also be useful for teaching Japanese students Italian and increasing their motivation? The present study analyses the effectiveness of employing a…

This study reports the dominant linguistic errors that occur in the written productions of Arba Minch University (hereafter AMU) students. A sample of paragraphs was collected for two years from students ranging from freshmen to graduating level. The sampled compositions were then coded, described, and explained using error analysis method. Both…

The transformation of the education curriculum in the Malaysia Education Development Plan (PPPM) 2013-2025 focuses on the Higher Order Thinking (HOT) concept which aims to produce knowledgeable students who are critical and creative in their thinking and can compete at the international level. HOT skills encourage students to apply, analyse,…

This study reports on a sequence of iterative redesigns of a graduate-level foreign language teacher education course. The study describes the interplay between technology and pedagogy that resulted in important curricular changes, from a focus on individual to social and then holistic reflection. Using a team-based design model, instructional…

There is sometimes an assumption among language educators that students find the transition from school to university language learning a challenging process (see for example Busse & Walter, 2011; Chambers, 2014; Macaro & Wingate, 2004). In this research we set out to explore this assumption through a small-scale study of first-year…

This study aims both to provide information about the self-reflections of pre-service teachers keeping self-reflective e-journals during the practicum period and to determine the relationship between their self-reflection and self-efficacy levels. Both quantitative and qualitative data were analysed in integration to gain deeper insight into the…

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) utilization in Chinese as a "second" foreign language has mainly been focused on Learning Management System (LMS), digital material development, and quantitative analysis of learners' grammatical knowledge. There has been little research that has analyzed the effectiveness of…

This study examines an extra-curricular English course that gives a chance for the low-proficient seniors who have not yet met the graduation qualification to graduate upon completion of 90 hours of English program. The subjects were 14 seniors who failed to obtain the minimum requirement scores and had to complete the course in summer of 2014. A…

This study is aimed at ensuring the validity of the Practical English Certification Test (PECT) of the Chung-nam Office of Education (COE) in Korea. Motivated by the demand for a developing localized English test to empower English learning in public education, the COE conducted the PECT for 38,544 students of elementary, middle and high schools…

This article is based on a discussion with seven voluntary Spanish pre-service primary school English-language teachers on queer issues. The focus group followed a questionnaire on their knowledge and understanding of sexual identity issues in education. The facilitated discussion enabled the participants to be better prepared on the subject. At…

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects on motivation and success within the application of blended learning environments in the foreign language class. The research sample is formed by third grade students studying in the tourism and hotel management programs of the faculty for tourism and the faculty of economics and administrative…

While the extant literature has highlighted the important contribution of home literacy experiences to early literacy development, limited research has been carried out among children living in postcolonial contexts, where there is a mismatch between the home and school language. Such is the case of Mauritius. The present exploratory case study…

This study explores the relative contribution to EFL reading comprehension of the following individual-difference variables: prior knowledge, topic interest, linguistic proficiency, gender, reading motivation, and metacognitive awareness. It also investigates the relationship between the aforementioned individual differences and the role of text…

This study concerns the effect of letter position on the retention of words by EFL learners. Given the fact that everyone has a mental lexicon, we would suggest that words are possibly organized in alphabetical order, then it would be likely for the learners to retain the words easily when exposed to the first letters of given words. The study…