The paper "The influence of translation on reading amount, proficiency, and speed in extensive reading" (Sakurai, 2015) outlined the first six years of the official English education system and policy in Japan. It then discussed the efficacy of extensive reading (ER) followed by a distinction between reading and translation. Previous…

This dissertation had a three-pronged approach by examining (1) the role and sustainability of university-based intensive English programs (IEPs), (2) the value of a master's in Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and (3) relevance of attending an IEP for international/English as a second language (ESL) students. IEPs face…

This study attempts to determine whether the students who receive explicit instruction make more gains in their abilities to use topic-induced phrases in their writing than those who do not. Additionally, through interviews with a selected group of students from the treatment group, the study attempts to glean insights into the approaches learners…

This study investigated the relationship between language proficiency and negative pragmatic transfer from a first language (L1), focusing on the speech act of refusal as realised by American learners of Arabic as a Foreign Language (AFL) in Egyptian Arabic. Twenty American AFL learners (10 intermediate and 10 advanced) and 2 baseline groups (10…

This case study investigates educational entrepreneurship in an intensive English as a foreign language (EFL) program at a major Thai university. Using a qualitative case study approach, the study draws on data collected in interviews, a focus group, and curriculum documents to investigate educational entrepreneurship in this context. The major…

Few studies have examined willingness to communicate (WtC) changes resulting from short-term intensive immersion programmes. This study investigated the antecedents to and changes in WtC during one such programme held at a Macau university. The programme required students to reside on campus and participate in extensive task-based communicative…

Intensive English programs (IEPs) have traditionally been central actors in promoting teacher professional development, curricular innovations, and applied linguistics and second language acquisition research. Yet at the same time, the programs are also central actors in neoliberal linguistic commodification. This article demonstrates how…

This book investigates the ways in which new developments in areas of language teaching practice, such as policy-making, planning, methodology and the use of educational technology are locally adopted, adapted, initiated, and implemented in Vietnam and Cambodia. The region is responding to a large number of significant challenges, including…

The purpose of this study was to investigate university students' perspectives of effective teaching that helped them learn English better. Adopting an interpretative approach to the research, the data was collected in three phases. In Phase One an interview was used and 17 university students studying English in Intensive English programs were…

Mastery of foreign languages is one of the important demands at all levels of education today. This has been demonstrated by government regulations that make English subjects a compulsory subject for students to learn from elementary school to higher education, especially after the application of the KKNI curriculum, English courses have become…

"Open Doors"® is the only long-standing, comprehensive information resource on international students and scholars in the United States and on U.S. students studying abroad for academic credit. "Open Doors" features graphic displays, data tables and analyses, and is the essential resource for those concerned with U.S.…

This study examines the effects of a 2-week intensive English program based on the college students' perceptions of core competencies: English Communication Competency, Self-Directed Competency, Community Competency, and Knowledge and Information Literacy Competency. The program was non-credit and was held in January 2019 for first-year students…

High-stakes tasks may prevent language learners from performing successfully due to factors of "communicative stress" (Skehan, 1996, p. 52). Little research, however, has directly examined phonological patterns in learners' performances on low-stakes, medium-stakes, and high-stakes classroom tasks. The current study investigated the oral…

The Houston Independent School District offers two different English as a Second Language (ESL) programs for students whose native language is not English and who need to develop and enhance their English language skills (English Language Learners, or ELLs). The Content-Based ESL model (CB-ESL) consists of an intensive program of English…

Stuart McLean refers in this commentary to Jeffrey Huffman's article "Reading Rate Gains during a One-Semester Extensive Reading Course" (v26 n2 p17-33 Oct 2014) [See: EJ1044344], in which Huffman reports that extensive reading (ER) was an effective way to provide large amounts of comprehensible input to foreign language learners, but…