Background/purpose: This study aims to analyze the need for local wisdom-based Indonesian as a Foreign Language (BIPA) evaluation materials for Thai students and propose a design to enhance language proficiency and cultural awareness. The growing interest in learning Indonesian stems from diverse purposes, including business, academics, and…

Despite the progress in information technology, artificial intelligence as well as all kinds of machine translation software, we found that to dynamically capture the essence and the spirit of the cultural item, one needs to resort to the human mind rather than to the machine that only decodes words away from their shades of meaning. The objective…

Despite some rises and falls in the numbers due to various reasons, including the political climate in the Trump era and the COVID-19 pandemic (Laws & Ammigan, 2020), each year universities in the United States host a large number of multilingual international students from different parts of the world. Based on their TOEFL scores, many are…

This volume brings together studies which represent current perspectives on second language learning and teaching in relation to language and culture in intercultural contexts. The authors reflect on and analyse a variety of topics such as the significance of recognizing and valuing heritage speakers in intercultural contexts, the role of…

This research paper delved into the critical issue of applying English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) assessment principles in local English language tests used for non-native English speakers in Iranian language institutes. A qualitative content analysis was made on 60 local tests, dissecting them into domains, dimensions, and rating rubrics to…

The continuous growth of production and the development of new video games have influenced many aspects of human lives, particularly the young generation. While video games may tap on the entertainment side, primarily aiming to entertain players, they may profoundly impact multi-literacy development. This qualitative study utilizes narrative…

Intercultural Competence Assessment (ICA) has recently become a central issue in applied linguistics in general, and language testing and assessment in particular. The present paper aims to investigate the difference between native and non-native assessment experts' beliefs about incorporating ICA in the Language Proficiency Assessment (LPA).…

The present study attempted to examine the effect of using the connectivist approach on developing secondary-stage students' cross-cultural awareness and translation performance. The study comprised thirty-two first-year secondary stage students enrolled in El-Jalawea Institute, Sohag Governorate. The study adopted the quasi-experimental design.…

Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) has recently attracted the researchers' attention in the English as a foreign language (EFL) context; however, insufficient studies seem to have examined the role of online programmes in enhancing EFL learners' ICC. The current study, therefore, employed a mixed-methods approach to explore EFL learners'…

The use of translation and interpreting (T&I) in the language learning classroom is commonplace, serving various pedagogical and assessment purposes. Previous utilization of T&I exercises is driven largely by their potential to enhance language learning, whereas the latest trend has begun to underscore T&I as a crucial skill to be…

Aptitude is a hypernym used in training and practice-based contexts to refer to a person's natural or acquired ability to do something. It tends to be an attribute that is 'forward-looking', i.e. referring to a person's probability of achieving success in the future. This paper adopts a retrospective perspective in looking at the 'success…

The purpose of this study is to explore the use of equivalent conceptual metaphors and the correspondent linguistic expressions in refugee students' L1s and L2s and examine the possible positive effects conceptual metaphors can induce for vocabulary learning and retention in second language learning. Moreover, another aim of the research is to…

Affordance refers to the opportunity available to a learning activity. Taking affordance as a theoretical and analytical construct, this exploratory study investigates learners' attitudes and the opportunities WeChat may provide for Chinese cultural knowledge (CCK) learning. The aim is to find out the potential new affordances and compare learners…

As language acquisition research supports the value of the interactive scaffolded environment and awareness-raising communicative tasks for the development of pragmatic knowledge, the present study attempted to investigate the effect of Collaborative Translation Task (CTT) on learning and retention of request speech act strategies. The main…

Drawing from humanizing pedagogies (Bartolome, 1994; del Carmen Salazar; Freire & Ramos, 1993) and humanizing research (Paris & Winn, 2013), in this article I propose an approach to "humanizing assessment" that begins with the position that inclusive and equitable educational opportunities and assessment practices that meet the…