It is asserted that task-based instruction improves the environment and makes it easier to teach English. Due to this, many EF language teachers and syllabus developers have recently turned their attention to task-based language education. With a focus on Business English instruction in Moroccan universities, this study examined ESP (English for…

One of the main generic competencies in Higher Education is "Learning to Learn". The key component of this competence is the capacity for self-regulated learning (SRL). For this competence to be developed, peer feedback seems useful because it fosters evaluative judgement. Following the principles of peer feedback processes, an online…

In 2 experiments, eye-tracking was used to examine individual differences in attention during encoding and their relation to associative learning. Pupillary responses were used as an indicator of the amount of attention devoted to items, whereas eye fixations provided a means of assessing attentional focus among items within each to-be-remembered…

This study investigated whether L2 English learners' prosodic properties in speech acts change as they are immersed in the English-speaking academic community over time, and if so, what individual and contextual factors (proficiency, orientation to language study, and target language contact) potentially affect these changes. Forty-seven Japanese…

Humanoid robots are gradually becoming part of everyday life as well as education. Virtual agents have demonstrated their benefits for years, and experts expect similar positive effects from the use of humanoid robots in education. Project H.E.A.R.T. (Humanoid Emotional Assistant Robots in Teaching), from Philipps-University Marburg, has developed…

This paper shows how Task-Based Learning (TBL) is used to equip second-year Spanish students at Cardiff University for their placements during their year abroad. We present a set of task-based projects embedded within the curriculum to enhance both (1) the competences students have to acquire throughout their degree, and (2) the skills to overcome…

Flow refers to a special experience of total absorption in one task. Sustained flow (also known as directed motivational currents) is the occurrence of flow in a series of tasks aimed at achieving a certain outcome (for example improving proficiency in a second language). In this article, we investigate "shared, sustained flow"--which…

Word clouds can be used as an effective tool for the teaching and learning processes in language learning, as the visual input during schemata activation, and other parts of the lesson, serve as manageable and meaningful target language input. There are emerging studies that explore their effectiveness, but less so with respect to their use in the…

This article describes an initiative launched at a Canadian bilingual university in order to encourage L2 French and L2 English learners to take 'linguistic risks': authentic, autonomous communicative acts where learners are pushed out of their linguistic comfort zone. The initiative was operationalized through the development of a Linguistic…

Locating a target in a visual search task is facilitated when the target location is repeated on successive trials. Global statistical properties also influence visual search, but have often been confounded with local regularities (i.e., target location repetition). In two experiments, target locations were not repeated for four successive trials,…

Research has documented two effects of interfeature causal knowledge on classification. A "causal status effect" occurs when features that are causes are more important to category membership than their effects. A "coherence effect" occurs when combinations of features that are consistent with causal laws provide additional…

Current theories of category learning posit separate verbal and nonverbal learning systems. Past research suggests that the verbal system relies on verbal working memory and executive functioning and learns rule-defined categories; the nonverbal system does not rely on verbal working memory and learns non-rule-defined categories (E. M. Waldron…

Two experiments examined the role of compatibility of input and output (I-O) modality mappings in task switching. We define I-O modality compatibility in terms of similarity of stimulus modality and modality of response-related sensory consequences. Experiment 1 included switching between 2 compatible tasks (auditory-vocal vs. visual-manual) and…

Perruchet, Cleeremans, and Destrebecqz (2006) reported a striking dissociation between trends in the conscious expectancy of an event and the speed of a response that is cued by that event. They argued that this indicates the operation of independent processes in human associative learning. However, there remains a strong possibility that this…

In essentially every domain of neuroscience, the generally implicit assumption that few, if any, meaningful differences exist between male and female brain function is being challenged. Here we address how this development is influencing studies of the neurobiology of learning and memory. While it has been commonly held that males show an…