High-stakes reading tests significantly influence one's future success, leading many second language learners to engage in intensive test preparation. This study examines nine TOEFL reading preparation lectures from two popular cram schools, or [foreign characters omitted] "hagwons," in Korea, with a total duration of five hours and…

Language assessment is increasingly computermediated. This development presents opportunities with new task formats and equally a need for renewed scrutiny of established conventions. Recent recommendations to increase integrated skills assessment in lecture comprehension tests is premised on empirical research that demonstrates enhanced construct…

Listen-to-summarize cloze (LSC) tasks are not rare in high-stakes language tests; however, we know little about what test-takers do during the tasks. In our study, we examined 16 students' think-aloud protocols (TAPs) which were recorded while they were completing two LSC tasks. The analysis of the 16 TAPs indicated iterative cognitive processes…

Authentic materials such as TED Talks have become an everyday presence in the ELT classroom, often for practice listening and taking notes. However, teachers can struggle to teach the sub-skills that are involved in notetaking, and instead often simply tell students to 'take notes'. This approach lacks the scaffolding required for the complex…

The main purpose of this study was to examine the differences in students' English vocabulary learning performance as well as the instructional materials motivation, comparing the traditional lecturing method and the Augmented Reality method. This study adopted an unequal pre-test and post-test experimental design. Overall, there were a total of…

Concerns about the need for assessing multidialectal listening skills for global contexts are becoming increasingly prevalent. However, the inclusion of multiple accents on listening assessments may threaten test fairness because it is not practical to include every accent that may be encountered in the language use domain on these tests. Given…

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of active learning techniques applied in Vocational English Course on students' achievement and attitude. In the research, quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test control group model was used. The participants included the students majoring Tourism Management at a state university in…

This research investigated a comparison between the effect of cooperative learning and lecture teaching on Comprehensive English classes in a Chinese Independent College. An empirical study for two semesters was carried out in the forms of pretest, posttest, questionnaire and interviews. While control class was taught in the conventional way,…

Captions and subtitles as a form of scaffolding for audiovisual materials has gained much attention in second or foreign language (L2) learning in recent years and various studies report their positive effects on learners' listening comprehension. However, few attempts have been made to investigate how textual information specifically affects the…

Academic listening skill is an indispensable necessity for English for academic purposes (EAP) students in English-medium universities and also critical for their future success in comprehending conference lectures. But due to the specific nature of such academic lectures, nonnative students all too often face challenges in getting a full command…

The study investigated the criterion-related validity of the "Test of English as a Foreign Language"[TM] Internet-based test (TOEFL[R] iBT) Listening section by examining its relationship to a criterion measure designed to reflect language-use tasks that university students encounter in everyday academic life: listening to academic…

The student response system (SRS) is marketed as a reliable tool for improving students' academic attainment. However, findings to the question of whether or not the SRS does improve the learning outcomes of ESL [English as a Second Language] learners in primary education are not well documented in the research literature. Despite the wide use of…

For many years (1995-2002), the Department of English of the University of Blida witnessed low rates of academic achievement of students preparing an English Degree. An analysis of the second year students' course grades in academic years 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 and data from a preliminary survey with some teachers reflected signs that the…

Explores the effects of speech modification, prior knowledge, and listening proficiency on listening comprehension. Results show significant interactions between speech modification and listening proficiency and between prior knowledge and test type. The authors discuss the implications for teaching and testing of listening comprehension,…

"Edinburgh Working Papers" is intended to show a yearly cross-section of current work in Edinburgh's Department of Applied Linguistics and to elicit reactions and criticism. Articles in this volume include the following: "MSC Common Room Conversations: Topics and Terms" (Joan Cutting); "Speculation and Empiricism in Applied Linguistics" (Alan…