This study investigated the relationship between learner autonomy (LA) and indirect written corrective feedback (IWCF) in an EFL writing classroom in Vietnam. Forty-one intermediate EFL learners from a class of a foundation writing course volunteered to participate in the study. During the course, the teacher provided IWCF in response to the…

Input is indispensable for language learning. Although opportunities for listening and reading, the two only channels of language input, can be scarce outside class in English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts, highly proficient learners often expose themselves to input aplenty. Their experiences of immersing themselves in input and their…

While its importance for promoting learning is well-documented, feedback can only promote learning to the extent that it is acted on by learners. However, there is evidence that students often have difficulty understanding feedback or with knowing how to act on it and/or are not necessarily receptive to the feedback provided. These kinds of…

This article discusses principles involved in developing course materials for technology-mediated Chinese language learning, with examples from a new course designed to take into account the needs of distance and independent learners. Which learning environment is most efficient for a given learning activity needs to be carefully considered. It…

Teaching and learning a foreign language at a distance implies many challenges, namely regarding oral skills. At Universidade Aberta (the Portuguese Open University), and taking into account its virtual pedagogical model (Pereira, 2007) and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Alves, 2001), we suggest curricular paths which…

This study explored the pedagogical benefits of flipped online kanji (i.e., Chinese characters used in Japanese) instruction integrated into college-level introductory and intermediate Japanese language courses. Using a quasi-experimental mixed design, the investigation looked at the effects of two instructional approaches: (1) a flip approach in…

This paper presents the findings of an experiment in which a group of 17 French post-secondary EFL learners used Google to self-correct several "untreatable" written errors. Whether or not error correction leads to improved writing has been much debated, some researchers dismissing it is as useless and others arguing that error feedback…

This longitudinal qualitative study investigates how cultural experiences of staying in Japan may affect attitudes and self-directed learning of kanji among learners of Japanese as a foreign language. Six beginner learners pursued semester-long weekly kanji learning sessions and their diachronic behaviours were observed and recorded for attitudes…

A student of Russian and German describes his method for improving reading skills in those languages, with emphasis on a field of specialization. (AM)

Presents a language-awareness (LA) perspective on the concept of autonomy in second-language learning. The article distinguishes between two kinds of LA, examines child development and the role played by metalinguistic knowledge and literacy in first-language acquisition and examines the role played by both kinds of LA in second-language pedagogy.…

An Englishwoman who had had no lessons in the Spanish language but had developed oral skills while on vacation in Spanish-speaking countries began reading Spanish newspapers and observed her reading processes. (CFM)

An analysis of Kanji errors made by students of Japanese at International Christian University over a period of a year, as well as answers to a questionnaire on Kanji study, indicate that the learning of Kanji relies greatly on individual work outside of class. A method is presented which uses slides to enable students to study Kanji on their own.…

This article describes an attempt at organizing a continuing, self-instructional language program designed at the request of a commercial enterprise. The program was to be over a three-year period, and was originally aimed at producing reading comprehension in English, but at the request of the students the program was expanded to add listening…

This is the third text in a series of Mandarin Chinese learning texts. It continues with the theme of learning to communicate in various forms, emphasizing in this text on going to and coming from places. Contents include: (1) Acknowledgments; (2) Introduction; (3) Unit Four, Going Places and Doing Things; (4) Appendices; and (5) Introduction to…

A PROGRAM WAS BEGUN IN AUGUST 1967 TO TEACH MANDARIN CHINESE IN TWO TUCSON, ARIZONA HIGH SCHOOLS. IT WAS FELT THAT SUCH CHINESE LANGUAGE CLASSES WOULD BECOME A COMPETITIVE ALTERNATIVE TO TRADITIONAL HIGH SCHOOL LANGUAGE OFFERINGS ONLY IF THESE PIONEERING CLASSES PROVED VERY SUCCESSFUL. IN ANALYZING THE BACKGROUND OF THE 42 STUDENTS ENROLLED IN THE…