There is a considerable amount of research investigating the impact of variables such as age, gender, and cognitive ability on second language acquisition. In second language acquisition, besides such individual variables, equal importance should be given to the social demographic variables. Therefore, it is crucial to direct this focus towards…

The importance of materials in learning and teaching has prompted a substantial number of studies on English language learning/teaching materials (ELLTM). To date, the field seems largely unstudied when it comes to identifying the focus, themes, and challenges. Hence the present study endeavored to systematically review, analyze, and synthesize…

This meta-synthesis reviewed and synthesized the findings of 53 studies on supervisory post-conferences and feedback with a total of 807 participants published between 2004-2023. The aim of this meta-synthesis was to illustrate the trends in the reviewed studies and synthesize the results of the studies on supervisory discourse and models of…

Over the past two decades, multiple empirical studies have examined how teacher audio feedback works in EFL/ESL writing courses. This review explores instructor audio feedback studies in higher education writing contexts. Seventy empirical studies were identified in literature searches published between 2000 and 2022 in several academic databases.…

In EFL countries where English is rarely practiced outside the classroom, textbooks have become the major input source for learners. Particularly in Vietnam, multiple textbook series are available simultaneously for the same grade. Thus, it is important to examine if their vocabulary is appropriate and of similar difficulty. This study aims to…

Teachers' language assessment literacy (LAL) refers to teachers' ability to perform assessment-related tasks. Despite the significant role of language assessment literacy in English language teaching and learning, many teachers reported to have an inadequate ability to perform assessment-related tasks because of the lack of assessment training…

This paper reviews the literature on the role of corrective feedback and instruction in L2 pragmatics. Pragmatics "focuses on how people perform, interpret, and respond to language functions in a social context" (Taguchi, 2011, p.289), and therefore its development is key to the development of language competence. Pragmatics entails both…

February 2022 marks the 100th issue of the "Teaching English as a Second Language Electronic Journal (TESL-EJ)," set up in 1994 as the brainchild of a group of scholars who saw the need for a freely distributed electronic academic journal covering a diverse array of interests within teaching English as a second language long before the…

Comparing language tests and test preparation materials holds important implications for the latter's validity and reliability. However, not enough studies compare such materials across a wide range of indices. Therefore, this study investigated the text complexity of IELTS academic reading tests (IRT) and IELTS reading practice tests (IRPrT).…

With a considerable emphasis on the role of feedback in L2 writing, the effectiveness of written corrective feedback (WCF) has been investigated extensively over the past 25 years. Conflicting findings have been reported regarding the efficacy of WCF in developing learners' written accuracy. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of research on…

This article takes a meta-analytic approach to investigate the efficacy of written corrective feedback in second language (L2) writing instruction. With its widespread practice in second language acquisition (SLA), written corrective feedback has increasingly garnered attention as much as it has continued to be a subject of considerable…

We present a systematic review of the literature on the use of multiuser virtual environments (MUVE) on the development of pragmatic competence in second language (L2) learners. Specifically, we reviewed studies examining the potential of L2 pragmatic development through synthetic immersive virtual environment (SIE) and massively multiplayer…

Searching prestigious Computer-assisted Language Learning (CALL) journals for references to key publications and authors in the field of evaluation yields a short list. The "American Journal of Evaluation"--the flagship journal of the American Evaluation Association--is only cited once in both the "CALICO Journal and Language…

Once considered a stylistic issue, metaphor is now considered a critical component of everyday and specialized language and most importantly, a fundamental mechanism of human conceptualizations of the world. The use of metaphor in language, thought and communication has been examined in second language (L2) learning. The body of literature that…

Reviews a number of sub-paradigms in cognitive research on memory enhancement and explores insights that they may have for theory and practice in English language teaching. (Author/VWL)