The use of text chat in synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC) could help remedy the widely reported lack of active involvement in online language learning. However, the nuances and complexities of learners' text-chat actions warrant further examination. This exploratory study used observational data collected from 40 students in a…

This study investigates the potential of "VoiceThread" (VT) as a learning tool in order to enhance learners' performance and confidence, and to provide the basis for continuing independent practice. The participants were students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds on a 10-week English for Academic Purposes (EAP)…

Adopting a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach, this study explored the impact of electronic writing portfolio on writing performance in English as a foreign language (EFL) context. Two intact classes were first selected and randomly assigned to an electronic writing portfolio group (22 EFL students) and a conventional (i.e. paper-based)…

The objective of this study was twofold: (a) to determine the extent to which three types of instruction could improve writing performance of railway engineering students and (b) to explore students' perceptions of flipped classroom, Edmodo, and Google Docs for improving their academic writing performance. The participants were 61 undergraduate…

The purpose of the present study was to investigate if following data-driven learning (DDL) to raise the learners' awareness of discourse organizers through concordancing improves their comprehension of English academic lectures. To address this issue, the current study adopted a quasi-experimental (comparison group, pretest-posttest) design. 96…

This study set out to examine which peer review, face-to-face given orally or online given in writing, is more effective in improving the overall argumentative writing achievement of English as a foreign language (EFL) university learners. The study utilized an experimental design and reported on one experiment including online peer review (OLPR)…

This paper reports on the development of constructive EAP CALL courseware, and its integration into blended learning contexts, as a solution to the problems in EAP courses in Chinese universities. A case study of a defining skills package, developed for undergraduates at the University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), is used to…

Knowledge of collocations is essential for English academic writing. However, there are few academic collocation referencing tools available and there is a pressing need to develop more. In this paper, we will introduce the ACOP (Academic Collocations and Phrases Search Engine), a newly developed corpus-based tool to search large academic corpora.…

AWCF can facilitate academic writing development, especially for novice writers of English as a foreign language (EFL). Existing AWCF studies mainly focus on teacher and learner perceptions; fewer have investigated the error-correction effect of AWCF and factors related to the effect. Especially lacking is research on how successfully students can…

The educational potential of mobile and social media technologies in combination is becoming increasingly salient with the advance of modern technology. However, there is a dearth in the research on educational use of mobile social media for language learning. This study adopted a qualitative single case study approach to investigate a language…