The current research investigates the lexical coverage of reading passages required for achieving the minimal and optimal levels of reading comprehension in a foreign language. More specifically, the aim of the study is to identify the word frequency bands within the reading passages in the English tests of The Higher Education Institutions…

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize teaching and learning applications. This article examines the word cloud, a toolkit often used to scaffold teaching and learning for reflection, critical thinking, and content learning. Addressing the issues in traditional word clouds, semantic word clouds have been…

Schmitt and Schmitt (2014) labeled the first 4000 to 9000 word families as mid-frequency words and stressed their importance based on Nation's (2006) estimate that for adequate comprehension of a variety of authentic texts, knowledge of the first 9000 word families is necessary. Subsequent to this vocabulary goal is to determine what can be read…

Jeff McQuillan offers case studies of intermediate level language learners who read young adult and adult fiction successfully as an argument against explicit vocabulary instruction. Case studies provide useful insights into whatever is being investigated but may not always be generalizable. However, McQuillan's reference to case studies has made…

Instrumental texts, as an important part of the textbooks, play an important role in organizing the teaching content and the teaching activities, facilitating the communication of the teacher, students and textbooks. Therefore, it is of great theoretical and practical significance to study and evaluate the instrumental texts of the textbooks. The…

ESP textbook plays an important role in facilitating students to develop their profession-related language skills. However, ESP textbooks published in China are less developed and often criticized as ignoring the training of language skills. This research aims to reveal the specific problems of China's ESP textbooks by conducting a multiple-case…

Despite the vast extent of the English vocabulary, it has been estimated that only around 2400 high frequency word families, which are found on Browne, Culligan, and Phillips' (2013) "New General Service List" (NGSL), make up over 92% of most general English texts. Several studies have shown that a word must be encountered anywhere from…

Speaking English with fluency is one of the most demanding challenges students and teachers face in many educational communities, and it has been claimed that fluency problems can derive from lack of practice during independent study. This research article reports on a mixed-methods study that analyzed the effects of using collaborative and…

Following professional development, 4 teachers implemented instructional lessons designed to improve the written expression of 6th- and 7th-grade struggling writers in inclusive, self-contained, and co-taught classrooms. A multiple-baseline study investigated the effects of a computer-based graphic organizer (CBGO) with embedded self-regulated…

This study examined the effectiveness of Zipfian frequency at facilitating the acquisition of English prenominal past participles. Chinese middle school students (N = 103) were randomly assigned to a sequenced Zipfian frequency (SZF) group, a random Zipfian frequency (RZF) group, a balanced frequency (BF) group, and a control group. A mixed…

The present investigation seeks to determine whether and under what circumstances can adult bilinguals deploy segmentation strategies characteristic of their two languages, or of their dominant language. To that end, we inquired whether the context language employed during the segmentation experiment (i.e., the language in which participants…

This edited volume offers an insightful theoretical conceptualization of issues central to 21st century foreign language learning and teaching. Drawing on research results obtained in the fields of pedagogy, social psychology and sociology of education, this book provides a comprehensive practical exploration of issues experienced by researchers…

The current study examined the effects of text-based relational (i.e., cohesion), propositional-specific (i.e., lexical), and syntactic features in a source text on subsequent integration of the source text in spoken responses. It further investigated the effects of word integration on human ratings of speaking performance while taking into…

There is ample theoretical justification for incorporating reflection exercises as a tool for preparing students for life beyond university, yet the utility of such exercises needs to be documented if resources are to be devoted to their implementation. This study describes the implementation and evaluates the effectiveness of a reflection…

This study examines the lexical and grammatical use of a high frequency verb "MAKE" by Turkish EFL learners. Major goals are to investigate whether Turkish learners of English use MAKE appropriately in their argumentative essays and to see to what extent L1 transfer plays a role in such usage and to what extent different learner groups…