Language learning activities involving time-pressured repetition of similar content have been shown to facilitate improvements in fluency. However, concerns have been voiced about whether these gains might be offset by reduced levels of grammatical accuracy. This descriptive study tracked the oral proficiency of 32 Japanese university students…

Higher education institutions often pair native speakers with English as a second and foreign language learners to encourage oral conversation practice. Born out of such circumstances, the current investigation, drawing upon the activity theory perspective, examined the plausibility of native-speaking conversation partners providing oral…

Second language learners, particularly those with lower proficiency, often struggle with insufficient practice and heightened anxiety when speaking. This case study investigates the impact of one-on-one online conversation lessons on a university student's speaking skills and language anxiety. The participant, a university student with low…

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) via Facebook as social media could support a relaxed and non-threatening learning atmosphere, augmenting EFL learners' engagement through increasing social interaction. To maximize the potential of CMC for English language learning outside of classroom activities, an understanding of communication flow through…

This dissertation investigates second language (L2) learners' comprehension of conversational implicatures that arise in two speech acts, requests and refusals. The review of empirical studies that investigated L2 pragmatic comprehension revealed two recurring issues: (a) the lack of a clear definition of conventionality, leaving open the…

According to the functional model proposed by Sampasivam and Clément in 2014, the two determinants that build towards second language confidence (L2C) are "richness and self-involvement" of the contact experience. This study adds to previous research by investigating, for the first time, the role of interlocutor type in the context of…

This study provides a research-based approach to reimagining the world language classroom through open educational resources (OER), primarily in higher education. Using quantitative and qualitative analyses, we provide insight into students' perceptions of OER in world language education classrooms, with a specific focus on conversation courses.…

Technology-enhanced language learning, or TELL, has played a major role in boosting EFL learners' speaking skills in recent years. The use of online technological methods such as vlogging and uploading videos to popular social networks such as YouTube, in particular, has been recommended as a tool to hone students' conversation skills in addition…

Using vocabulary learning strategies allows learners to gain vocabulary autonomously. This study presents data from a self-report survey of Korean university students comparing meaning discovery strategies they employ to comprehend unknown singleword items and unknown idioms. Survey data recorded strategies used by learners, and effectiveness of…

The Vygotskian concept of "perezhivanie," or emotional lived experience, was adopted to examine the learner identities of 2 Japanese university students in English language learning. Current studies on language learner identities have given analytic primacy to either psychological processes or social influences. In contrast,…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Extended Reality (XR) have been employed in several foreign language education applications to increase the availability of experiential learning methods akin to international immersion programs. However, research in multi-modal spoken dialogue in L2 combined with immersive technologies and collaborative learning…

This one-group pre- and post-test quasi-experimental study endeavored to investigate whether learner autonomy was developed with implementing language-in-talk log assignments as a monitored self-study task in a university English conversation course (890-020 English Conversation). Eighty-eight Thai second-year undergraduate accounting majors at…

This research was aimed at assessing the implementation of ZHA approach and students' opinion of the strategy. ZHA was carried out at the end of every "Konversation 2"(speaking) course class at the German Language Education Study Program at State University of Malang (PSPBJ UM). This research utilized the descriptive, qualitative…

The rapid transition to online teaching because of the global disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic exclaimed all the educators on finding the most efficient ways to teach in the presence of all rampant limitations caused in both social and academic lives. Facebook, as one of the favorite social networks, having hundreds of millions of users,…

This study aims at exploring Authentic Materials used in teaching speaking for university students. A case study method is implemented. The study was conducted at the language center of a university in Indonesia in the first semester of the 2018/2019 academic year. The data were collected by three instruments: interview, classroom observation, and…