Although the TOEFL iBT Listening test is sometimes used for other purposes, it was designed primarily for use as a college entrance examination. Item difficulty in TOEFL iBT Listening tests is the product of interactions between two sets of complex relationships: 1) relationships among numerous item characteristics themselves, and 2) relationships…

In this technology review, we explore the affordances of the generative AI chatbot ChatGPT for language teaching and learning. In addition to this, we also present debates and drawbacks of ChatGPT. Finally, we present the digital competencies teachers and learners require to use this chatbot ethically and effectively to support language learning.

This paper analyzes a few significant differences between Spanish and English in relation to phonological patterns. First, a short introduction is given about these two languages, and it is briefly explained in what linguistic aspects they are similar or different. Then, each of these linguistic features is analyzed in detail, clearly establishing…

Language proficiency is multi-componential in nature and, according to many SLA researchers and L2 practitioners, is best captured by the concepts of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). Two of the three studies reported in this paper adopted the Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson, 2003) as the means to address the question of whether increasing…

Macalister and Webb (2019) claim that "children's literature" written for native English speakers is too difficult for intermediate English as a Second Language (ESL) students, those who have acquired the first 3,000 to 4,000 most commonly used words in English. The authors analyzed a corpus of short stories written for a classroom…

The authors respond to the comment by Jeff McQuillan. It is important to question research findings and so they appreciate this opportunity to further discuss their two studies on the appropriacy of children's literature for foreign and second language learning (Macalister & Webb, 2019; Webb & Macalister, 2013). They also agree with…

In this review article, we discuss the construct of second language (L2) comprehensibility, which refers to listeners' judgments of ease or difficulty in understanding L2 speech. We first briefly describe intelligibility and comprehensibility, two measures that capture listener understanding of L2 speech. We then present evidence that supports the…

This paper presents IdiomsTube (https://www.idiomstube.com), the first-ever computer-assisted language learning tool for facilitating the learning of English idiomatic expressions from YouTube videos. The web-based tool is designed to automatically (1) assess the speech rate and lexical difficulty level of any learner-chosen English-captioned…

This paper aims to explore topic effect on syntactic complexity in Chinese EFL learners' and English native speakers' writings. To this end, the paper examined 600 argumentative essays on two topics, using 14 measures of syntactic complexity to investigate whether there is significant difference in topic effect on EFL writings and ENS writings.…

The Cognition Hypothesis postulates that more cognitively complex tasks can trigger more accurate and complex language production, thereby advancing second language (L2) development. However, few studies have directly examined the relationship between task manipulations and L2 development. To address this gap, this article reviews, via an analytic…

Virtual Reality (VR) is a valuable tool for learning, however, there is a lack of education-focused content for language learning needs. This article introduces the "VR Application Analysis Framework" (Lege, Bonner, Frazier, & Pascucci, 2020) to assist educators in scaffolding existing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) applications for…

The authors present a tool that teachers can use to evaluate the rigor of vocabulary apps for their English learners. The tool asks about effective instructional practices, types of instructional activities, and technology features. The authors used the evaluation tool to examine 53 vocabulary apps for English learners and found overall app…

This article reflects on the epistemological steamrolling that the 2021 Ofsted Curriculum Research Review (OCRR) accomplishes: in part, by the positioning of the problem and solution through highly selective cherry-picking (omitting key causal factors); in part, through the discursive move of acknowledging complexity before offering simple and…

Poetry is an effective and reliable material in teaching English language. It offers astounding opportunities for reading, writing, speaking and listening practices for English learners. Teaching English through poetry has many advantages such as it being of authentic material, being a medium to express emotions and feelings, being a wonderful…

Due to the variety of their local dialects and accents, Arab learners occasionally face some problems when pronouncing English letters and phonemes. These pronunciation errors are caused by the influence of native language interference. Each language in any part of the world has its linguistic characteristics and rules that control their…