Despite growing criticisms of native-speakerism in English Language Teaching (ELT), the 'native speaker' concept is still used in the recruitment of teachers (Mahboob & Golden, 2013; Ruecker & Ives, 2015). This study critically evaluates the impact of native-speakerism on ELT hiring practices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). To identify…

This article intends to add to the rising discussion related to the employment of authentic plays and drama within a high school compulsory curriculum for enhancing learners' foreign language (L2) oral skills. In particular, it examines the pedagogical use of authentic contemporary plays for developing learners' L2 oral production in terms of (1)…

To avoid plagiarism, students have to learn the appropriate and effective ways of source text use, such as paraphrasing, summarizing, and citation. However, few studies have investigated how learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) employ copy and paraphrase as source text use strategies in completing writing tasks involving reading…

Engaging students in the second language (L2) classroom is a critical task that requires a clear understanding of the multilayered characteristics of the L2 classroom and the motivational mechanisms through which these characteristics influence student engagement. This study contributes to the L2 engagement literature in this regard by examining…

Using a structural equation modeling approach, this study investigates the structural relationships between second language (L2) oral proficiency and interest in learning the target language (L2 interest), in the presence of potential mediating variables (i.e. perceived importance of speaking, out-of-class contact with L2 resources). It also…

This study investigated whether second language (L2) classroom instruction that incorporates a principled approach into the use of the first language (L1) by students and instructors has an effect on beginning learners' development of L2 speaking and writing proficiency, compared to L2-only instruction, over the course of one semester.…

After the publication of the "CEFR Companion Volume" in 2018, a revision of the curriculum in force for the English subject in the Bilingual Sections in the Community of Madrid has been implemented. One of the main changes is the inclusion of the concept of linguistic mediation in the subject 'Advanced English' in the last stage of…

This study explores the complexities of teacher identity formation for two Chinese teachers of English in China, who represent two growing groups of English teachers: Alice, who worked in a private English training institution and John, who was a self-employed private English tutor. Drawing insights from Barcelos' (2015) theorization of the…

This study assesses a range of task-based interaction (i.e. structured vs. unstructured tasks) between lower-English-proficiency middle school English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in a task-based learning (TBL) class employing conversation analytic methodology. From the video data, which allowed for an emic analysis of the students' vocal…

Focusing on the teaching of listening strategies to second language (L2) learners, this study sought to revisit Renandya and Farrell's (2011) claims that explicit listening strategy instruction for lower-proficiency learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) is a fruitless endeavor. As such, we implemented a quasi-experimental study to…

Learners' anxiety has drawn widespread attention in the field of second language/foreign language (L2/FL) teaching and learning (e.g. classroom anxiety, communication (with foreigners) anxiety, and anxiety associated with the four macro-skills, namely listening, reading, speaking, and writing). However, this topic is under-explored in L2/FL public…

Multi-word expressions are formulaic language universals with arbitrary and idiosyncratic collocations. Their usage and mastery are required of learners of a second language in achieving naturalness. However, despite the importance of multi-word expressions to mastering a second language, their syntactic architecture and colligational…

This study examined the effects of watching gestures and lip movement on second language (English) listening comprehension. The participants were 30 high and 22 low proficient learners of English. There were six listening tasks combining two variables: modality and difficulty. The modality consisted of three types of assessments: Body (the upper…

One of the underrepresented aspects of pragmatic competence development is perceiving and responding to impoliteness acts. The present study reports on a quantitative and qualitative investigation of two international English language teaching (ELT) textbook series published by Oxford and Cambridge University Press; it focuses on the books highly…

Although several researchers have demonstrated that foreign language (FL) learning experience has a limited effect on the short-term development of second language (L2) fluency, recent studies have suggested that learners can gain long-term (over one year) benefits from FL learning experiences. As a part of the present study, 50 Japanese…