We investigated the effects of social interaction and out-of-class study time on foreign language proficiency and use among two hundred students from a Japanese university who studied abroad for one month. Participants' use of English and English proficiency were measured before and after the programme. Interaction with people from other cultures…

Listeners have been shown to judge second language (L2) users more negatively than L1 speakers on measures of language proficiency and even on personal qualities. However, less is known about what factors affect listener judgment which this study seeks to explore. In the study, one first language (L1) English speaker recorded her spontaneous…

We investigated whether primary-school teachers' beliefs towards early-English education are related to the type of English education they are involved in (early- or later-English schools), their English language skills and whether they teach English. Ninety-nine Dutch teachers filled in a questionnaire with 25 statements about early-English…

Direct Entry Programs (DEPs) at Australian universities are designed to enhance students' English language and academic skills, with the primary goals of preparing and assuring students' readiness for university studies. Given that university tasks often require the integration of language skills (e.g., writing assignments using information from…

Despite the growing body of technology-assisted vocabulary intervention studies, few have addressed learning outcomes beyond target vocabulary and the interaction between the interventions and English language learners' (ELLs) initially different levels of vocabulary knowledge. The study examined the differential effects of a texting-based…

We compared two tools that have been used to capture the linguistic heterogeneity and achievement of students in England: the exposure-based distinction between English as an additional language (EAL) and monolingual learners, and the 2017--2018 five level teacher rating of proficiency in English (from "New to English" to…

Glossophobia or fear of public speaking is commonly experienced by tertiary learners during classroom presentations. This study intends to examine the speech anxiety level experienced by engineering learners and the relationship between the learners' English language proficiency and their speech anxiety. The study will also identify the causes of…

As integrated writing tasks in large-scale and classroom-based writing assessments have risen in popularity, research studies have increasingly concentrated on providing validity evidence. Given the fact that most of these studies focus on adult second language learners rather than younger ones, this study examined the relationship between written…

Striving for greater English proficiency and securing a job are common goals of newcomers to Canada. For newcomers in the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program, the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB)/Niveaux de competence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) provide an indicator of their abilities and progress in their language…

This study examined the effects of using "captions", "subtitles" and "keyword captions" on the comprehension of audiovisual materials by English as a foreign language (EFL) learners, who were divided into two different groups, proficient and less proficient learners. It also investigated the participants' awareness of…

The growth mindset, or the belief that intelligence can be increased with effort, has been shown to be positively associated with improved learning outcomes. This association has been observed in a few studies that inquired into reading outcomes, and fewer studies that looked into reading in a second language. The current study used data from the…

This research aimed at investigating the anxiety levels affecting the English speaking ability of university students at a public university in the northeast region of Thailand as well as exploring the factors influencing such anxiety levels. The researchers employed a purposive sampling technique for the data collection by distributing 102…

International students make significant contributions to UK higher education and studying in the UK brings various potential benefits to international students. An in-depth exploration of the academic journey of Chinese international master's students, the largest body of overseas students in the UK, is needed to provide better insight into how to…

The literature on students' perceptions towards using Social Media (SM) for language learning reports mixed findings: while some studies indicate learners' positive perceptions of their use for academic purposes (e.g., Bani-Hani et al.), others suggest that learners' perceptions might vary due to their proficiency in the language (e.g., Gamble…

Current higher vocational English textbooks have limitations in providing timely work-related information, representing the nature of vocational education, preserving authenticity of text materials, and using technology to enhance textbook interactivity. To address the limitations of current higher vocational English textbooks, this study adopts…