This study investigates the pragmatic development of the refusal strategies to the four different eliciting types (1 request, 1 suggestion, 1 invitation, and 1 offer) by Chinese English major students with low-intermediate language proficiency. The data was collected through written discourse completion tasks, and coded based on the modified…

The present study explored whether two semester overseas study programs had any impact on participants' language ability and motivation to study English. The language ability, L2 learning motivation and learning attitude of 65 Japanese university students participating in semester-long study abroad programs were measured pre departure and on their…

The current study aimed to investigate the tendency to use temporal markers (TMs) in English writing by three different levels of Thai writers. Data used in this study were based on the Corpus of Thai Writers of English. The corpus size of approximately 8,800,000 words consisted of essay writing produced by intermediate and advanced student…

The term 'struggling language learner' is one that is usually ascribed to students who are trying, without much success to master the English language in an academic setting. As a case study, this study was carried out to gain insights into the 'struggles' of the struggling English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. Ten students were selected…

Cohesive devices have long been a challenging aspect for second language learners of English, especially for learners whose native language is linguistically distant from English such as Arabic. This study investigates the frequency of using lexical cohesion by Arab ESL undergraduate students studying at the intensive English course at Ohio…

The Common European Framework of Reference for language teaching, learning, and assessment (CEFR) provides a guideline for English teaching aids and curriculum development in language courses. It identifies and describes the specific skills that language learners must acquire to improve their English language proficiency for communication (CoE,…

This study is intended to explore the influence of partners' L2 proficiency on test-takers' performance and on their interaction patterns in paired oral assessment, and it tries to analyze the underlying causes on the basis of Vygotsky's theory of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) and Storch's patterns of interaction. An experiment including…

In many parts of the world, learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) or English as a Second Language (ESL) often face language difficulties and challenges in their performance in learning. These challenges and errors have multiple forms and causes, covering various language and skills aspects. This study focuses on the types of grammatical…

The guidance effect of teacher feedback in contemporary English writing has been a hot topic for research. More and more researches focus on the effect of teacher feedback in senior high schools or universities. This research analyzed the supervisor feedback on 32 undergraduate thesis revisions from 8 students from three aspects: error feedback,…

In this study, the construct of English competence for non-English major postgraduates is defined as the ability to effectively use various strategies and comprehensively exert the ability of reading, listening, writing, speaking and translation with academic, world, linguistic and intercultural knowledge in academic activities, classroom learning…

The study examined the impact of a first language's summarizing skill and second language vocabulary size on summary performances in a second language. A total of 40 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners from a Japanese university with a mixed level of English language proficiency were asked to write a summary in English (i.e., their…

This study sought to investigate the impact of using Cambly, a computer-mediated communication tool, on the speaking proficiency of English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. Further, it aimed to explore the participants' perceptions of using Cambly. The study employed an experimental design featuring a mixed-methods approach to data collection…

Most people want to be able to read their reading materials quicker and remember them effectively. Covering a large quantity of reading materials at a normal speed requires much more time than is usually available. Good readers, however, can cover a lot of materials by identifying key elements of a sentence for key idea with the help of…

The purpose of this study was to identify the causes of speaking anxiety in highly anxious students, of which their teachers might not have been aware, and solutions to alleviate the problem. Sixteen students from a Japanese language-oriented university participated in an interview survey. The participants' anxiety levels were measured using a…

This study applies and tests the efficacy of the flipped learning approach designed for a business English translation course in a class consisting of 26 third-year business English major students in an independent college, the Yangtze University College of Arts and Science. Because the students in independent colleges usually have weak English…