Research has identified a particularly useful lexicogrammatical resource that language learners need in order to develop academic literacy, that of grammatical metaphor (GM). GM enables the wordy expression characteristic of informal, spoken discourses to be reorganized into the cohesive and abstracted expression valued in academic texts. Although…

The present study adopted a praxis orientation to second language (L2) research and pedagogy to explore the professional development needs of three English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers after their first attempt at implementing dynamic assessment (DA) of essay writing. To date, few studies have examined how teachers learn to implement DA,…

Lexical proficiency in a second language (L2) has long been effectively assessed through the measurement of various lexical indices, or textual characteristics that act as observable indicators of such conceptual categories as lexical richness, diversity, sophistication, and fluency. While many studies have established links between these lexical…

Students are often encouraged to proofread their writing by reading it aloud. Presumably, this will allow writers to correct local errors. Yet even though this strategy may be effective for native speakers, there is little empirical evidence of its benefit among second language writers. Therefore, we wondered how many errors second language…

Accompanying the recent rise in cautious popularity surrounding Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen-AI), some language educators are exploring innovative linguistic interactions with Gen-AI. Seeking to add a literature approximation to such criticism, this article explores two activities that feature Gen-AI in undergraduate literature courses.…

As student creativity is increasingly emphasized in English as a Foreign Language education, it is necessary to consider instructional techniques to encourage it. This study examines the effectiveness of two instructional techniques on creative writing performance of English as a Foreign Language students in a South Korean university. These…

This qualitative, case-study research explores the English language learning history of a Japanese pre-service teacher by analysing five English-language poems and a self-reflective essay regarding her experiences of learning the target language. The methodology chosen in this study was a poetic inquiry through which the investigator reconstructed…

Grammatical knowledge for effective English writing remains a significant need among Thai university students, while identifying the relevant grammatical topics to address this need continues to be a challenge in teaching writing courses. Previous papers on writing in Thai universities have mainly focused on writing performance issues, rather than…

A well-written argumentative essay requires a thorough analysis of the topic with sufficient supporting evidence. However, obtaining information on the topic, summarizing the reading materials, and then presenting them in the form of an argumentative essay can be a challenging task, especially for English as a foreign language (EFL) learners.…

This study explored the relationship between task complexity, textual emotionality, and linguistic complexity in second language (L2) writing. Fifty-eight L2 English learners performed simple and complex versions of an argumentative writing task manipulated along with resource-­directing variables. The essays were first analysed for textual…

There now exists an established body of work outlining the challenges international students can face as part of the acculturation process, including a range of academic and non-academic pressures to overcome. For many students, writing essays in academic English for the first time is problematic. This article considers pedagogical approaches for…

In this study, the authors investigated the attitudes of Japanese junior high school students towards studying English from the perspective of the Self-worth Theory. A total of 383 students aged 12 to 15 years participated in the qualitative study. Students were required to write three essays about how they would react under hypothetical…

High school students for whom English is a second language (L2) often struggle with effective text revision because of limited ability to self-regulate their writing, that is, to manage the subprocesses of writing and to use writing-related knowledge and strategies. To help students in China acquire effective text revision skills for English…

This qualitative study explores challenges and benefits of introducing theater techniques into Higher Education (HE) undergraduate intermediate Italian language classrooms. Drawing on student surveys and reflective essays, the study offers original insights into how collaborative, performance-based activities can result in greater student…

Despite extensive research on task planning in L2 writing contexts, the optimal length of pre-task planning time remains uncertain due to varying lengths used in TBLT studies. This study aimed to address this gap by investigating the effects of different pre-task planning times (nil, 5, 10, and 15 minutes) on the argumentative writing task…