Regarding the three main features of scaffolding, namely, contingency, fading, and the transfer of responsibility, contingency entails the assistance adjusted to a learner's existing level of understanding. The present study investigated the effect of the model of contingent teaching on improving Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL)…

This article investigates the effect of concept-based instruction (CBI), a pedagogy based on Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, on second language (L2) learners' writing development. A quasi-experimental intervention lasting 16 weeks was conducted involving 88 first-year Chinese university students of English. The participants were assigned to three…

There is growing consensus that the provision of Written Corrective Feedback (WCF) on second language (L2) writing is beneficial for long-term L2 development. Yet, while WCF may help improve linguistic accuracy, there is no evidence that it promotes the development of linguistic complexity. Further, WCF is also often laborious and time-consuming…

This article reports on an experimental study that set out to investigate and compare the effectiveness of a direct and an indirect approach to data-driven learning (DDL) in facilitating Chinese learners' mastery of a challenging type of lexico-grammatical resource (i.e. hedges) in an undergraduate English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) writing…

This study examined the effect of feedback, feed up (comments on goals and students' success in achieving goals) and feed forward (comments on the next step in learning during the semester) on writing motivation, writing self-efficacy, and writing anxiety. Two hundred and ten female intermediate language learners (age[subscript mean] = 17.2) were…

This study investigated the short-term and delayed effects of comprehensive written corrective feedback (WCF) on L2 learners' revision accuracy and new pieces of writing (i.e., the transfer effect of feedback). Three types of feedback were compared: direct feedback and two types of indirect feedback that differed in their degree of explicitness…

Although the effects of different types of written corrective feedback (WCF) have been examined in great detail, learners' revision behavior in response to WCF has not been systematically investigated. The current study compared students' classroom revision behaviors when they worked in pairs and when they worked individually. It further compared…

Most second language researchers agree that there is a role for corrective feedback in second language writing classes. However, many unanswered questions remain concerning the linguistic features to target and the type and amount of feedback to offer. This study examined essays by 151 learners of English as a second language (ESL), in order to…

Writing for academic purposes in a second/foreign language is a major challenge faced by many students at both secondary and tertiary levels. This suggests that displaying content knowledge and understanding of a subject through a second language is a very complex process. This article discusses the findings of a longitudinal intervention study…

Skilled writers have at their disposal a range of rhetorical strategies for positioning themselves as competent members of a particular discourse community, including the judicious use of self-referential pronouns (e.g. "I," "she," "he") to overtly signal authorial presence. However, while researchers routinely recommend that second language (L2)…