Previous research has documented positive effects of pre-task planning on task-based performance, commonly analyzed in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency, in an L2. However, the sources of planning have rarely been examined in the research of task-based language teaching. The present study explored EFL learners' oral performance across the…

This study investigates the impact on L2 oral performance of participatory structure of strategic planning (individual vs. collaborative pair planning) and task complexity (simple vs. complex tasks) defined according to the number of elements involved. It also explores individual and collaborative planners' planning behaviours prior to simple vs.…

While there is ample evidence that study abroad (SA) enhances oral fluency in a foreign language, the effects of different types of learning context on other aspects of oral skills, such as vocabulary use, have not received much attention in academic research and are less clear. The present study tries to fill this void by investigating lexical…

This study determines the fine-grained bottom-up linguistic features involved in successful second language (L2) English academic group oral tutorial discussion through the use of a spoken learner corpus composed of more than 20 hrs of L2 production. Student performances were graded by teacher-raters using a can-do rating scale, which assessed…

"Professional Learning Community: Emergent Literacy" was developed to support preschool teachers through collaborative learning experiences in a literacy professional learning community (PLC). PLCs are a form of professional development in which small groups of educators with shared interests work together with the goals of expanding…

This article reports a study which examined the effects of an "Awakening to Languages" (AtL) programme on preschool children's language abilities. This programme aimed at exposing children to language and cultural diversity as well as promoting positive attitudes towards different languages and cultures amongst children. However,…

This study focuses on the development of narrative structure and the relationship between narrative productivity and event content. A total of 172 Finnish children aged between four and eight participated. Their picture-elicited narrations were analysed for productivity, syntactic complexity, referential cohesion and event content. Each measure…

This study investigates the role of previously acquired linguistic systems, Mazandarani and Persian, in the acquisition of third language (L3) English at the initial stages. The data have been obtained from 31 students (age 13-14 years), testing the placement of attributive possessives in a grammaticality judgment task, an element rearrangement…

One of the major innovations of the "TOEFL iBT"® test is the incorporation of integrated tasks complementing the independent tasks to which examinees respond. In addition, examinees must produce discourse in both modes (speech and writing). The validity argument for the TOEFL iBT includes the claim that examinees vary their discourse in…