Integrated writing tasks, which require students to incorporate information from multiple sources into their writing, are gaining attention in language assessment and writing instruction due to their alignment with the expectations of academic and professional writing. Understanding what aspects of integrated tasks are perceived as challenging by…

This experimental study examined the influence of vocabulary and spelling on teachers' perceptions of English as a second language (ESL) essays. Sixty-nine pre-service teachers from Switzerland and Germany rated four upper-intermediate ESL argumentative essays and provided written comments on strengths and weaknesses of the student compositions.…

With the spread of the Internet, students now have greater opportunities to use Japanese outside of the classroom. For example, they can interact with other Japanese speakers through instant messaging or social networking, or utilize online dictionaries and translation tools to decipher websites in ways that would be impossible with traditional…