The present study explored the home literacy environment for Chinese ESL kindergarteners and examined the relationships between home literacy practices and language and literacy skills. Ninety Hong Kong Chinese ESL kindergarteners were assessed for English vocabulary, phonological awareness, letter knowledge and word reading. Their parents…

Due to the increased interconnections among people, there has been an increasing awareness of the need to extend the knowledge of teachers to include global perspectives and cultural awareness. The objective of the study is to develop the intercultural competence of pre-service foreign-language teachers in a classroom context in Turkey. The study…

This research provides insight into Japanese students' perceptions and attitudes of participating in activities through Facebook for language learning. In addition, the authors discuss the overall implications of and potential uses for Facebook in the field of second language learning and teaching. Ninety-seven students from three private…

Purpose: The use of web-enhanced teaching of the English as a foreign language in higher education in Greece is addressed in this case study which examines the student's perceptions of online instruction using Moodle as a learning management system (LMS), with and without the use of Facebook (FB) as an adjunctive learning platform. The merging of…

This paper is a try to investigate the attitudes of English language university teachers in Kerman (Iran) toward computer technology and find the hidden factors that make university teachers avoid using technology in English language teaching. 30 university teachers participated in this study. A questionnaire and semi-structured interview were…

This paper was intended to examine teacher's corrective feedback and student's preferences in an advanced writing course. The study was conducted using a questionnaire as the instrument and 15 MA TEFL students from Ilam state university in Iran as the participants. The students were asked to prioritize among a list of ten aspects of error…

This article aims to advocate retelling stories technique for developing speaking ability of grade 9 students in Thailand. Morrow's theory (1981) and other scholars in retelling stories technique are presented. This technique is integrated in the lesson plans following Morrow's framework. Narrative text of short stories which refer to daily life…

In recent years, teachers' self-efficacy has demonstrated a profound influence on the daily lives of teachers and their students. However, little is known about the relationship between teachers' personality traits and their self-efficacy. To gain more insight into this area, this study sought to explore the interface between 100 male and female…

This report explores participant perspectives on L1 (English) use in foreign language classrooms. The study includes data collected from 25 participants, 23 students and 2 professors, from the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS). A combination of classroom observations, interviews, and questionnaires were used to collect data. The…

The use of songs and music in the Languages classroom is common practice. Research literature contains positive statements about music as a cognitive, linguistic and affective enhancer. Music and Languages risk becoming marginalised in the Western Australian curriculum due to curriculum pressures. Reduction of time in these learning areas could…

This paper reports on a study that examines the attitudes of university students and immigrants to the introduction of Swahili at a tertiary institution in South Africa. Data were obtained from a questionnaire survey and interviews with questions that covered the domains in which Swahili could be most useful, who should learn it and the reasons…

This study examines the ways in which college students in Japan overcame sensitivity to external evaluation and increased their willingness to communicate in English. It is not uncommon for university students in Japan, who are otherwise proficient speakers of English and motivated to learn, fail to exhibit English competency in real communication…

Current studies show that it is becoming clear that language teachers give significant importance to learners' motivation level, interest levels, and attitudes toward their learning. Motivated teachers can have a powerful influence on students' career directions, and positively impact learners' motivations and interests. However, not many studies…

Education is not an end, but a means to an end. The ultimate goal of education is to prepare students for their future life. Regarding this fact, English language classes and textbooks can be used as tools for improving learners' life skills. Meanwhile, informative textbooks with rich socio-cultural constructs that foster learners' life skills are…

In most learning situations, learners are learning with their peers, and the teacher is teaching to a class, not to an individual learner. As it is indisputable that learners conceptualize their learning as occurring in a group, it is logical to assume that the class group has some effect on learners' learning. Thus, it could be constructive to…