Several researchers (e.g., Allen & Paesani, 2010; Maxim, 2009; MLA Report, 2007) argue that the language-literature divide limits language development in many foreign language departments and that the speaking skill is the most affected by this common two-tiered curriculum (Swender, 2003). This study investigates the implementation of the…

Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop a child self-report questionnaire measuring bilingual experience and self-perceptions of Spanish and English proficiency and establish preliminary evidence of validity and reliability for the questionnaire. Method: Participants included 113 Spanish-English bilingual children with and without…

Teacher attrition is a global concern. Because motivation drives a teacher to persist in their teaching career and affects their effectiveness, persistence among pre-service teachers is important. This exploratory study (N = 55) of college of education students at a university in metropolitan Seoul, South Korea, using survey data, used: (1)…

This study investigated whether second language (L2) classroom instruction that incorporates a principled approach into the use of the first language (L1) by students and instructors has an effect on beginning learners' development of L2 speaking and writing proficiency, compared to L2-only instruction, over the course of one semester.…

Adults, preschool children, and infants gesture more with their right hand than with their left hand. Since gestures and speech are related in production, it is possible that this right-hand preference reflects left-hemisphere lateralization for gestures and speech. The primary purpose of the present study was to test if children between the ages…

A language 'test' is a systematic procedure for observing a person's behavior and describing it with the aid of a numerical scale or category system (Cronbach LJ 1971: 26). A test cannot be based on a selection of items chosen on linguistic grounds alone, and that to devise an effective test, it is necessary to specify how an examinee requires to…

Bilinguals can be proficient in oral language without necessarily knowing how to read and write in at least one of their languages. Literacy has been shown to affect language processing in monolinguals. In the present study, we test if literacy affects grammaticality judgments for Cantonese-English bilinguals who varied in Chinese literacy…

The widespread availability of mobile phones has facilitated mobile learning and ubiquitous learning in language education. Although numerous benefits have been documented, the evidence for speaking fluency enhancement is relatively scant. Firmly grounded in humans' cognitive structure and learners' prior knowledge, this study proposes a…

Students with a mother tongue other than English often struggle with the demands of an academic programme at tertiary institutions where the medium of instruction is English. If their English language proficiency is inadequate, it may hamper their academic progress. Students feel that their command of English is unsatisfactory, and this causes…

This study investigated the relationship of a set of word-combination-based measures of phraseological diversity, sophistication, and complexity to second language (L2) Chinese proficiency and writing quality in comparison to that of a set of large-grained topic-comment-unit-based measures. Our dataset consisted of 101 assessed narratives produced…

The purpose of this study was to examine L2 learners' perceived writing anxiety and the usefulness of freewriting in improving L2 writing fluency. Seventeen L1-Korean preservice English teachers enrolled in a teacher education program at a university participated. An L2 writing anxiety survey, 170 freewritings, and 17 reflective writings were…

In this article, we will describe the design of a diagnostic orientation session offered to university academics by a faculty-based academic writing center. The session can serve as a model for identifying academics' needs in mastering English for Research Publication Purposes. We aim at sharing practical activities that successfully worked as a…

This study was a mixed method research. The quantitative part investigated Saudi English learners' English vivid phrasal (VP) idiom detection differences by lexical level, semi- lexical level, and post-lexical level, as well as comprehension and interpretation by zero-context and full-context conditions. It also researched the extent to which…

This study investigates the effects of multilingualism and the degree of proficiency in different languages on vocabulary knowledge among Spanish language learners. Participants completed a 160-word meaning recall test designed to measure their knowledge of the 8,000 most frequent Spanish words and a self-assessment questionnaire on their…

Neural Machine Translation (NMT) has gained increasing popularity among EFL learners as a CALL tool to improve vocabulary, and many learners have reported its helpfulness for vocabulary learning. However, while there has been some evidence suggesting NMT's facilitative role in improving learners' writing on the lexical level, no study has examined…