English medium instruction (EMI) is a growing phenomenon in higher education contexts across the globe, and EMI programs are expanding rapidly in Japan as part of their internationalization efforts. This paper explores the relationship between student self-beliefs and their success in an EMI course within a bilingual business program. It analyzed…

The development of travel opportunities and technology in the 21st century has brought people from different cultures and countries more opportunities to closely interact. The purposes of the study are to assess the degree of Taiwanese college students' intercultural sensitivities, ethnocentrism, and attitudes toward native English speakers (NES)…

This paper reports on the results of an investigation of the relationships between motivation, motivation intensity, use of Chinese outside of class and self-rated competence in Chinese. Analyses of 162 questionnaires and 17 semi-structured interviews revealed the following findings: (1) the participants reported having high integrative…

The general purpose of the current study was to clarify the role and estimate the correlation of specific cognitive abilities with Second Language (L2) reading achievement of English Foreign Language (EFL) university students. Since there are not ample available studies about the cognitive correlates of reading comprehension in a second language,…

This paper presents an empirical study that investigates the role of vocabulary knowledge in listening comprehension with 33 advanced Turkish learners of English as a foreign language. The Vocabulary Levels Test (Schmitt, Schmitt & Clapham, 2001) is used to measure the vocabulary knowledge of the participants and a standardized listening test…

The purposes of the present research work are to investigate which aspects of depth of vocabulary knowledge have strong and significant correlation with academic reading comprehension and examine to what extent different dimensions of depth of vocabulary knowledge have predicted to academic reading success in an EFL context. A total sample of 175…

This study investigated the relationship between critical thinking and the writing ability of Iranian EFL learners, and the interrelationship among the subskills of the two constructs. Furthermore, it aimed at finding which skills of critical thinking predicted the participants' writing ability. To this end, 104 students majoring in English…

In order to understand variability in second language (L2) acquisition, this study addressed how individual differences in cognitive abilities may contribute to development for learners in different contexts. Specifically, we report the results of two short-term longitudinal studies aimed at examining the role of cognitive abilities in accounting…

This study investigates 128 Chinese college students to examine the effects of their musical aptitude and musical training on phonological production in four foreign languages. Results show that musically-trained students remarkably possessed stronger musical aptitude than those without musical training and performed better than their counterpart…

This study explores different variables leading to proficiency in English as a second language. Level of English on a placement exam taken upon entering a private university in Mexico was correlated to several variables. Additionally, participants (N = 218) were asked their perception of their own proficiency. A linear regression and a one-factor…

The present study was conducted in the context of learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) with the purpose of assessing the roles of breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge in academic listening comprehension. The Vocabulary Size Test (VST, Nation & Beglar, 2007) and the Word Associates Test (WAT, Read, 2004) were administered to…

This study explored the effects of need satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) on English as a foreign language (EFL) online learner satisfaction and validated the Chinese versions of the need satisfaction scale (NSS) and online learner satisfaction scale (OLSS). We collected data from a questionnaire administered to 199 EFL students…

The overarching aim of this study was to investigate students' perceptions of the learning environment and whether these influenced their motivation and self-regulation in learning English as a second language at the university level in Jordan. Our sample involved 994 students, drawn from 13 schools, within three faculties (humanities, health…

Cloze tests have been the subject of numerous studies regarding their function and use in both first language and second language contexts (e.g., Jonz & Oller, 1994; Watanabe & Koyama, 2008). From a validity standpoint, one area of investigation has been the extent to which cloze tests measure reading ability beyond the sentence level.…

International students represent a significant proportion of the college student population in the United States (Institute of International Education, 2015). They contribute to campus research, diversity, and the economy. In order to maintain these academic, cultural, and economic profits, universities should investigate the factors related to…