Few studies have examined willingness to communicate (WtC) changes resulting from short-term intensive immersion programmes. This study investigated the antecedents to and changes in WtC during one such programme held at a Macau university. The programme required students to reside on campus and participate in extensive task-based communicative…

Formulaic sequences comprise a large body of language and their mastery is supposed to be a key determiner of language proficiency. However, despite their significance in language learning, they are seldom taught in any principled manner in language classrooms and their correct and appropriate use remains a particular challenge to language…

Research suggests that pre-task planning time provides learners with opportunities to formulate, organize, and mentally store content, thereby freeing up attentional resources during tasks (Skehan, Xiaoyue, Qian, & Wang, 2012). However, relatively few studies to date have investigated pre-task planning in a synchronous computer-mediated…

Collaborative text reconstruction tasks such as dictogloss have been suggested as effective second language (L2) learning tasks that promote meaningful interaction between learners and their awareness of L2 target grammatical structures. However, it should be noted that the effect of pair interaction on the final product may differ depending on…

Learner perceptions toward and utilization of L1 glossed feedback in an automated writing evaluation (AWE) program were investigated in an Intensive English Program (IEP) class. This small case study focused on two Chinese students who responded to weekly surveys, semi-structured interviews, and screen capture videos of their revisions over a…

Adopting retrospective verbal report, or RVR as the instrument, this study reports an analysis of the perceptions of native-English-speaking (NES) and non-native-English-speaking (NNES) students, who apologised to their instructors in coursework-related situations. Sixty NESs from different levels and disciplinary areas and 63 NNESs (Arabic and…

This mixed methods classroom research examined if accountability groups in the lower proficiency levels of a university intensive English program would improve students' language acquisition. Students were assigned partners for the study period with whom they completed assignments inside and outside of class, as well as set goals for use of…

This study explores L2 learners' awareness of meaning of L2 conventional expressions and the effect of form-meaning associations on the use of the expressions in L2 pragmatics. Definitions and examples were elicited through an aural Vocabulary Knowledge Scale modified for expressions. Elicited definitions were used to explore the meanings that…

This study investigated the ways in which two groups of four adult learners of English as a second language (ESL) responded to unfamiliar words they encountered in four communication tasks and the effect that different levels of engagement with these words (including negotiation of form and meaning) had on subsequent recall of word meaning. Of the…

Online technology and streaming video have the potential to generate tremendous interest and motivation in ESL/EFL students. Unfortunately, as the basis for a task-based language teaching (TBLT) program, such technology often places students in a passive position and limits inter-student communication. This paper describes a successful TBLT course…

Because interaction gives language learners an opportunity to modify their speech upon a signal of noncomprehension, it should also have a positive effect on native speakers' (NS) comprehension of nonnative speakers (NNS). This study shows that interaction does help NSs comprehend NNSs, contrasting the claims of an earlier study that found no…

Utilizing a pre- and posttest research design, with an instructional intervention of good practices in notetaking, the notes taken by examinees during a computer-based listening comprehension test prior to and following the instructional intervention were examined for particular notetaking strategies. Questionnaires probed perceptions of the…