Since 2018, a language-learning scheme has been specifically designed for first-year students at the University of Lorraine. Its intended objective is to make them aware of the many possibilities, strategies and methodologies to learn languages, other than simply attending classes. Developing learner autonomy and inciting the students to use all…

In many high-stakes testing situations, test-takers are not allowed to draw on external writing resources while writing, a practice observed more frequently in classroom settings. This may pose problems with the representativeness of test tasks and score interpretations. This study investigates the domain definition of one particular test known as…

Studies show English language learners (ELLs) experience increased communication apprehension and foreign language anxiety more than primary English speakers. Strategies to better assist ELLs with their public speaking skills are needed, especially within communication centers. One way is to better understand the intercultural aspects of the ELL…

This article is my answer to the question: What is your vision of university language centres in the 21st century? I argue that language centres can best establish themselves as beacons of good practice by embracing, exploring and further developing the concept of plurilingualism, promoting the autonomy of their students, and constructively…

Autonomy in language learning is for many language centres in higher education a pedagogical goal. However, although autonomy is a concept that has been associated with language learning for almost 40 years, both the understanding of that concept and its implementation in classroom-settings and in self-access language centres vary considerably. In…

The UFR Lansad (Language centre teaching languages to specialists of other disciplines) was created in 2014 at the University of Lorraine. The process leading to its creation was led by a small number of teachers and researchers, from the pre-existing teams of the previous Lorraine universities (Molle et al. 2019). It is the result of didactic…

Online writing labs (OWLs) have assisted writers since the mid-1990s. Recently, increasing interest in creating OWLs outside of North America has arisen (Gu & Ding, 2002; Paiz, 2017, 2018; Tan, 2011). This interest in OWLs specially designed to address second language (L2) writers and their particular concerns, results from an interest in…

The online placement test for the Community English Language Program (CLP) at Teachers College, Columbia University has been administered in a computer lab since 2015. While most of the components of this placement exam system are online, including registration, exam delivery, scoring, and score reporting, the COVID-19 pandemic elevated the need…

This study examined if a faculty-run Reading and Writing Lab at a small, private university in the Midwest helped traditionally underserved college freshmen taking developmental English classes increase their levels of self-perceived comprehension and confidence. Students who typically need to take developmental English classes include English as…

Despite suggestions being a common speech act used by writing center tutors, very limited research is available on the use of suggestions in online writing center practice. Drawing upon multiple sources of data including the chat transcript, screen recording of the session, and final revised version of the writer's text, this case study explores…

The idea that genre-specific reading benefits apprenticing writers is a concept that the field of teaching writing values as an underlying constant. Following this, writing center directors select rhetorics (anthologies of writing exemplars) for their self-access library shelves from the over 200 rhetorics presently in print. To choose these…

The study aimed to determine the effectiveness of gamifying instruction in the English language proficiency of Grade 8 Filipino ESL students in one University in Bicol, Philippines, that offers Junior High School. The quasi-experimental single pretest-posttest design was used in the study. The researcher-made test which underwent series of…

The aim of the current study is to evaluate a preparatory progfram of a foreign language teaching department longitudinally via Patton's Utilization Focused Program Evaluation. More specifically, the study scrutinizes the pros, cons and aspects to be improved in the program, and whether the program contributes to overall English proficiency in two…

This paper reports reactions by candidates to the use of online proctoring (OLP), 'invigilation', in the delivery of high-stakes English language examinations. The paper first sets the scene in terms of the move from face-to-face to online modes of delivery. It explores the challenges and benefits that both modes offer, in terms of accessibility,…

The XXVth Anniversary of CercleS brings back memories not only of the CercleS Association and its development, but also of the role of Language Centres in European universities. This article presents the Centre of Languages and Communication (CLC) at Poznan University of Technology (PUT) in Poland. It focuses on the main challenges the CLC has…