Study abroad (SA) provides a space and place for second language (L2) learners to be challenged in terms of their target language skills and intercultural awareness. In order to appropriately equip learners, a task-based approach seems ideal to identify learners' specific needs (Long 2015). The present study reports a multiphase needs analysis…

Over the past decade, there has been an increasing emphasis on English for Specific Purposes (ESP) within China's higher education language programs. However, the shift towards ESP presents a multifaceted challenge, particularly for business English teaching at higher education, where speaking proficiency is crucial yet often falls below…

Despite conclusive evidence from high performing higher education (HE) institutions worldwide demonstrating the benefits of strong alumni relations, institutions in many evolving countries often neglect their graduates. And this, despite rapid advances in technology that can support ongoing relations. The objective of our year-long project was to…

Test takers' individual characteristics may have a significant impact on their test performance (e.g. Bachman & Palmer, Language assessment in practice: Developing language assessments and justifying their use in the real world, 2010). However, given their dynamic and context-sensitive nature, different variables of test takers' individual…

Research has revealed the positive impact of intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) on L2 learners' oral development and learning attitude. These studies, however, focused mostly on the in-class use of IPAs, with existing research on the out-of-class use being exploratory. To fill the gap of lacking empirical investigations on IPA-based autonomous…

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive narrative of the current status of Chinese language teaching at upper secondary schools in the Czech Republic. Processes involved in developing the Chinese language curriculum in upper secondary schools were mapped through a qualitative survey. Representatives of 20 schools were interviewed to identify…

This dissertation employs a multiple case study approach to explore the views and expectations of Latino-Hispanic parents of ELLs regarding their children's school English language acquisition programs (ELAP). The central research question investigates the perceived effectiveness of these programs and their alignment with parents' aspirations for…

In 1997, the Department of English (Faculty of Languages, University of Tripoli) canceled Graduation Project (GP) as a graduation requirement primarily due to growing student plagiarism. Two decades on, the Department decided it is time for Returning to Graduation Project (RGP). In preparation for this, a Research Methods (RM) module was delivered…

The communicative language teaching approach that informs many school modern foreign language programmes has been realised in different ways as theorists and practitioners have sought to identify the most effective combinations of instruction and use [Mitchell, R. 2000. Applied linguistics and evidence-based classroom practice: the case of foreign…

The present study seeks to examine the relationship between the motivation of adult ESL learners, their willingness to communicate, their perceived competence, and the frequency of L2 use. Three research questions motivate this study: (1) Is there a relationship between the motivation of L2 learners and their willingness to communicate? (2) Is…

The state of language education in Australia has long been described as paradoxical. Oscillating between periods of increased attention and seeming invisibility, over the last thirty years, the language learning sector has been punctuated by a succession of aspirational declarations and funding injections with little long-term impact on its…

Language is commonly positioned as an economic resource. Recent debates have argued that policy interpretations of language as economic resource can potentially undermine language positioning and reduce understanding of the cognitive, cultural and social benefits of language learning. In monolingual policy contexts, such a positioning means that…

It is generally accepted that culture is inseparable from language. However, the provision of culture in FL courses takes different forms. At Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), minor route/30 credit language students in the Uniwide Language Programme are allocated 1 h for cultural studies (known as the project hour) in addition to a weekly…

Discussing and reasoning remain essential activities in a 21st educational and professional ecosystem, which are often supported by multimodal communication. This paper links learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) to a professional and communicative approach through the debate task, which is supported by a ubiquitous CALL/MALL environment.…

Although several studies have investigated the self-assessment (SA) of writing skills, most research has adopted a cross-sectional research design. Consequently, our knowledge about the longitudinal development of SA is limited. This study investigated whether SA instruction leads to improvement in SA accuracy and in second language (L2) writing.…