This study examines low-intermediate to advanced ESL learners' awareness of semantic prosody. Semantic prosody is a word/unit association that expresses an attitudinal meaning (described as favourable, neutral, unfavourable), which emerges from the word's typical lexical environment. Sensitivity to and awareness of such associations is an…

"Service-learning" (SL) is an experiential pedagogy that engages students in working for, with, and in communities in need. While prior research has explored the effects of SL on second language (L2) users' (perceived) language development (e.g., Gaugler & Matheus, 2019), intercultural awareness (e.g., Sa´nchez-Naranjo, 2021), and…

This research compared the contributions of lexical inferencing, decoding, and listening comprehension to reading comprehension in Chinese-speaking learners of English as a second language (ESL) enrolled in university bridging programs in the U.S. and Chinese-speaking university learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in mainland China.…

Studies have found that morphology awareness could assist writers to increase productive vocabulary (e.g. Green et al., 2003; McCutchen & Stull, 2015), reduce vocabulary errors (e.g. Karakas, 2012; Ririn, 2010), and produce complex sentence structures using various forms of words. Postgraduate students as second language users of English (L2)…

The present study investigated the relationship between student use of self-efficacy-building strategies through motivational partnerships and student levels of self-efficacy and motivation in an adult intensive English programme in the United States. The extent to which self-efficacy influenced motivation was also examined. After being organized…

The road to second language competence is a long and arduous one, and much of its effort involves learning to recognize and use vocabulary. Fortunately, anytime-anywhere learning with smart phones and smart apps offer a means to lessen the burden and make vocabulary learning more efficient. Accordingly, this study investigated 134 students across…

The vast majority of the studies concerning graphic organizer use for the improvement of reading comprehension have been carried out with first language (L1) learners. The recommendations to employ graphic organizers as part of reading instruction are frequently found in L1 reading literature (Blachowicz & Ogle, 2001; McKenna & Robinson,…

The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative study was to measure Feared L2 Self (FL2S) as a new component of the existing L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) and offer a new model through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). As for the instrument to measure L2 selves, an adopted survey consisting of 72 5-point Likert…

The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction between student engagement and achievement. The study sample was composed of 296 at Ufuk University in Ankara, Turkey. The participants were enrolled in the intensive English language program of the foreign language Preparatory School of the institution. Data collection was carried out with…

This paper presents a study that looked into the structuring of tasks that may foster oral fluency in an intensive eight-week course with 25 young adult and adult learners of English as a foreign language in a format of tutoring sessions for conversation. The action research involved two teachers and a research advisor, coauthors of this paper.…

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…

Intensive English Program (IEP) Instructors and content faculty both listen to international students at the university. For these two groups of instructors, this study compared perceptions of international student speech by collecting comprehensibility ratings and transcription samples for intelligibility scores. No significant differences were…

This study is an attempt to clarify the incremental and multidimensional nature of foreign language vocabulary development and its relation to the participants' reading and writing performances and general language ability of English as a foreign language (EFL). With this principle aim, the current study investigated the relationship between…

Formal English language education in Taiwan now starts at Year 3 in primary school, with an emphasis on communicative proficiency. In addition to formal education, attending English cram schools after regular school has become a common phenomenon for Taiwanese students. The main purpose of gaining additional reinforcement in English cram schools…

This article compares second language test-takers' performance on an academic listening test in an audio-only mode versus an audio-video mode. A new method of classifying video-based visuals was developed and piloted, which used L2 expert opinions to place the video on a continuum from being content-deficient (not helpful for answering…