The integration of multimedia would enable teachers to take maximum advantage of technology to educate nonnative students regarding Arabic language proficiency. Multimedia teaching has many benefits compared to the conventional teaching model, where we differentiate by incorporating multimedia which makes Arabic classes more energetic, vibrant and…

Cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA) has been applied to language assessment in a number of studies in which a diagnostic classification model (DCM) was retrofitted to the results of a non-diagnostic assessment. However, the need to apply CDA through utilization of an inductive rather than a retrofitted approach has been a recurrent theme in…

Studies from various disciplines have reported that spatial location of options in relation to processing order impacts the ultimate choice of the option. A large number of studies have found a primacy effect, that is, the tendency to prefer the first option. In this paper we report on evidence that position of the key in four-option…

Grammar has always been considered by language learners as well as by those engaged in language education as an essential component of language, and their expectations from and planning for any language education programs have been conditioned accordingly. The definitions of the term grammar and its categories in all languages go back to…

There remains a dearth of research on the effects of student perception of teacher happiness and the ramifications of those perceptions on student feelings and attitudes. Using an online questionnaire, data were collected from 129 adult students of ESL/EFL across the world who were enrolled in formal English classes of intermediate to advanced…

Purpose: Communication technology is used in diverse ways in our everyday lives. This research aims to fill a gap in research into L2 learner psychology connected with using online communication tools such as messaging platforms. Approach: The article focuses on practitioner research into feelings experienced during online L2 text chat. Twenty-one…

There is a growing research interest in a variety of emotions in foreign and second language (L2) classrooms, especially since the introduction of positive psychology. However, research on the ubiquitous emotional experience of boredom is scant. Building on its prevalence and documented deleterious effects, I argue that research on the antecedents…

Background: Diversity across the world is changing, given the growing number of immigrant children in schools. These increases in transnational mobility have teachers struggling to reconsider their everyday practices to accommodate many more newcomers in their classrooms. The need for teachers to become more responsive to changing social…

This article presents an autoethnographic exercise focused on exploring my history as a teacher educator and researcher in ELT. With this article, I try to show, starting from my life experiences as a teacher and the different concerns that arose during them, my transformation as a researcher. Likewise, I analyze how these transformations are also…

The present study explored whether the use of Virtual Reality (VR) technology can help lower public speaking anxiety in the L2. To this end, we conducted an exploratory effect-of-instruction study using a one-group pre-test/post-test design with nine learners of English as an L2. The results from the post-test show that using VR in combination…

With the outbreak of COVID-19, universities worldwide were forced to quickly transition to online emergency teaching in order to secure the well-being of students and teachers. The paper analyses students' attitudes towards the use of the Microsoft Teams platform in the instruction of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) at the Faculty of Technical…

Comparative Judgement (CJ) has emerged as a technique that typically makes use of holistic judgement to assess difficult-to-specify constructs such as production (speaking and writing) in Modern Foreign Languages (MFL). In traditional approaches, markers assess candidates' work one-by-one in an absolute manner, assigning scores to different…

This contribution reflects on some of the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced for languages in Higher Education (HE). In particular, two areas are discussed: the delivery of teaching and learning activities, including assessments, and the year abroad. These two areas, on which the enforced move to online provision has had a significant…

Exeter students who had their 2019-2020 Year Abroad (YA) cut short by the COVID-19 health crisis were offered alternative online language provision to support their learning. This contribution discusses the students and staff's experience in the light of 'learning is a journey' metaphor. [For the complete volume, "Languages at Work, Competent…

Second language (L2) teachers' practices in the classroom can influence their students' motivation for learning the L2. However, most of the research in this area has been conducted with students learning English as L2. Guilloteaux and Dornyei (2008) recommended that more research be conducted on the use of motivational teaching practices in…