This dissertation focuses on interpreting the impacts of foreign language anxiety and individual characteristics on the achievement expectations of Chinese second-language learners and English second-language students at the university level. Four research questions are examined through quantitative design. In relation to methodology, this study…

The purpose of this study was to investigate a class-to-class online English-Portuguese "Teletandem" program that was conceived, negotiated, and implemented cross-collaboratively between the foreign language instructors and language resource center (LRC) staff at two large state universities--one in the United States and the other in…

Beliefs are central constructs in every discipline which deals with human behaviour and learning. In addition to learner beliefs about language learning, language teachers themselves may hold certain beliefs about language learning that will have an impact on their instructional practices and that are likely to influence their students' beliefs…

This paper investigates the development of academic language proficiency through immersion in middle school programmes in Hong Kong and Xi'an. The study reveals that in both contexts students have exposure to complex academic language through teacher talk and textbooks; however, there is not sufficient support for students' academic language use…

Because idioms are omnipresent in the authentic language students are exposed to, to successfully comprehend and produce natural language, learners of a second or foreign language need to possess a good knowledge of idioms and competence in idiom use. This paper examines the approaches to teaching and learning idioms. A discussion of the…

The state of Utah is leading the nation in a surge of new elementary language immersion programs. Their unprecedented growth of programs, over a four-year span, has been both intentional and systemic, taking advantage of a supportive base and promoting language learning as a way to increase economic benefits for the state. While math and science…

Among the plethora of studies conducted thus far to explore the factors affecting EFL reading effectiveness, scant attention seems to be paid to the why of poor reading comprehension of most EFL learners. In this regard, the present article capitalized on qualitative research on a small scale, for the purpose of addressing the not-so-often debated…

This study aims to rank types of English language learning strategies that are used by Iranian female university level learners of English language as a university major. The results show that except for the Metacognitive Strategies category, the mean score for each of the five categories fell in the range of medium strategy use.

In this study the author draws on Jane Willis' TBL framework and examines its effects on the improvement of EFL learners' writing competence when such a framework is applied to college writing classrooms in Chinese EFL settings, and thus tentatively explores the feasibility of the task-based approach to the teaching of EFL writing. Results of this…

The purpose of this study was to establish an accepted skill set, knowledge base, and overview of personal qualities necessary to be a director of a university or college based, non-proprietary intensive English program (UIEP). This research serves as a means of moving towards meeting three critical needs in the field. This research should inform…

Interdisciplinary projects offer a strategy for German programs to become more visible and valued in the university context. Freedom Without Walls at Chapman University offers a case study of a project that situates the German program within an institution's larger goals. When building a project, the German program should look first to existing…

Little research currently examines language instruction educational programs (LIEPs) in states with a more recent growth of the Latino English learner population. To meet this need, the authors examined the content each of the state LIEPs, focusing chiefly on the extent to which the types of language support, as well as the stipulations associated…

We examined the progress of kindergarteners who entered the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) in 2008-09 and in 2010-11 who were identified as limited in English proficiency (LEP). For the 2008-09 cohort, English proficiency increased steadily over time. Few were able to exit LEP status in their first three years in WCPSS (10.5%); this…

The foreign-born Chinese speakers that currently make up the largest component of those training to become Chinese language teachers encounter challenges during their internship that differ significantly from those experienced by interns who are more familiar with U.S. culture and institutions. Qualitative case studies of three Chinese language…

The purpose of the current study was to identify Iranian EFL freshman university students' listening proficiency levels and the listening strategies they employed to investigate the relationship between these two variables. A total of 92 freshmen were involved in this study. The Oxford Placement Test was employed to identify the learners'…