Learning-oriented assessments have been implemented in the English language classroom to maximize students' ability to acquire a language through their involvement in assessment processes. Nevertheless, empirical studies investigating the oral communication ability of students using learning-oriented assessments remain limited. This study aims to…

Our contribution draws on quantitative data from a longitudinal mixed-methods study to uncover different patterns of social contacts of study abroad (SA) students and the relationship of these social contacts with (a) language use, (b) target language development, and (c) contextual variables. Data were obtained by means of online questionnaires…

Speaking English in a face-to-face classroom versus an online classroom may make EFL students feel uneasy in different ways, depending on a variety of factors. To help students reduce anxiety, teachers must understand the different levels of anxiety they experience in different situations. This study investigated the differences in…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of online speaking tasks (OST) on the English communication ability of Thai EFL undergraduates. The study further examined students' perspectives toward online oral presentation tasks. A questionnaire translated into the participants' native language was utilized and distributed to…

Human raters and machine scoring systems potentially have complementary strengths in evaluating language ability; specifically, it has been suggested that automated systems might be used to make consistent measurements of specific linguistic phenomena, whilst humans evaluate more global aspects of performance. We report on an empirical study that…

This study aims to discover whether the oral placement tests in English language institutes in Iran conform to interview principles. To achieve this goal, thirty four placement interviews from different English language institutes in Iran are investigated and compared with the interviews principles in different point of views. Patton 2002 believes…

This six-week action research study explored the use of a media-based adaptation of a popular student-centered, extensive reading-based activity known as Literature Circles (LCs). Twenty Chinese students decided upon groups and assigned themselves specific roles before viewing episodes of a selected television series for homework. The prepared…

The results of our previous research on the pedagogical use of Speaking Robots (SRs) revealed positive effects on motivating students to practice their oral skills in a stress-free environment. However, our findings indicated that the SR was sometimes unable to understand students' foreign accented speech. In this paper, we report the results of a…

Suprasegmental features have received growing attention in the field of oral assessment. In this article we describe a set of computer algorithms that automatically scores the oral proficiency of non-native speakers using unconstrained English speech. The algorithms employ machine learning and 11 suprasegmental measures divided into four groups…

The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction between student engagement and achievement. The study sample was composed of 296 at Ufuk University in Ankara, Turkey. The participants were enrolled in the intensive English language program of the foreign language Preparatory School of the institution. Data collection was carried out with…

Attaining oral production is a challenge for most English language teachers because most of the strategies implemented in class do not engage students in speaking activities. Tasks are an optimal alternative to engage learners in communicative exchanges. This article presents the results of a qualitative action research study examining the effects…

The present study was designed to investigate: (a) the effect of podcasts in EFL students' oral performance, (b) the effect of podcasts in EFL students' speaking anxiety, (c) the relationship between speaking anxiety and oral performance, and (d) EFL students' perceptions of using podcasts. This study was conducted in a high school in Istanbul,…

Purpose: This paper reports on a part of a larger research project concerning the conceptualisation of English language speaking-in-class anxiety, attitudes to speaking English in class and self-ratings of English-speaking ability, and perceived sources of this situation-specific anxiety. Methodology: The participants in this study were 282 Thai…

The number of English learners (ELs) in U.S. schools continues to increase rapidly. Schools often struggle with the issue of providing English language instruction that does not interfere with ELs' content instruction. Many instructors are turning to coteaching: a content teacher and an EL teacher working together to meet the English and content…

Second Language learners' oral task performance has been one of interesting and research generating areas of investigations in the field of second language acquisition specially, task-based language teaching and learning. The main purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of focus on form and task complexity on L2 learners' oral…