Because listening has received little attention and the validation of ability scales describing multidimensional skills is always challenging, this study applied a multistage, criterion-referenced approach that used a framework of aligned audio passages and listening tasks to explore the validity of the ACTFL and related listening proficiency…

This study presents an experiment that explores the patterns of answers to yes-no truth-functional questions in English and Korean. The answering patterns are examined from 12 Korean-English bilingual children and 10 Korean-monolingual children. Four types of sentences in relation to given situations (Wason in "Br J Psychol" 52:133-142,…

This paper tries to analyze the problems arising in translation of English adverbs to Persian. For this purpose, the researcher introduces all kinds of English and Persian adverbs for familiarity with them and then asks some translation students to translate some sentences (they are free to use a dictionary). Two English translation teachers were…

Many students from China in U.S. universities have revealed their difficulties in using English in both communicative and academic contexts. Their difficulties have been a concern in the fields of academic practices and research studies. Accordingly, the current study was developed, to understand and support Chinese students in the U.S.…

This study investigates differences in the language and discourse characteristics of course blogs and traditional academic submissions produced in English by native (L1) and advanced second language (L2) writers. One hundred and fifty-two texts generated by 38 graduate students within the context of the same Master's level course were analysed…

Previous studies of multimedia presentations have determined the effects of the combination of text and pictures on vocabulary learning, but not those of the sound of new words. This study was intended to confirm those previous findings from the integration of mobile technologies and the approach of cognitive load. It adopted a within-subjects…

Legal translation of contract agreements is a challenge to translators as it involves combining the literary translation with the technical terminological precision. In translating legal contract agreements, a legal translator must utilize the lexical or syntactic precision and, more importantly, the pragmatic awareness of the context. This will…

Upper-secondary school students must prepare for adult life, which--among others--entails acquiring relevant skills and discovering their own potential. Efforts at European and national levels have been made to ensure that students gain the competences, the so-called key competences, which facilitate functioning in the modern world. However, in…

In this study, we explore the interplay between task complexity, task conditions and task difficulty introduced by Robinson (2001) in flipped classroom instruction at tertiary level through the data we collected from undergraduate English Language Teaching (ELT) department students studying at an English-medium state university. For the…

Cloze tests have been the subject of numerous studies regarding their function and use in both first language and second language contexts (e.g., Jonz & Oller, 1994; Watanabe & Koyama, 2008). From a validity standpoint, one area of investigation has been the extent to which cloze tests measure reading ability beyond the sentence level.…

Whether the study of languages should be a core element of a balanced and broadly based curriculum for all pupils in England's 11-16 state-funded secondary schools is also part of a wider debate concerning how to harness England's rich linguistic and cultural diversity and improve the quality and range of language skills of the country. While…

In the field of second and foreign language learning, how various task characteristics affect language learning has been the focus of many recent studies. Much of this research examined the relationship between task characteristics and task performance without fully taking into account learner related variables. The present study aimed to assess…

This study is an investigation of paperless language learning in the context of the United Arab Emirates. The purpose of this study was to examine Emirati level 1 English language learners' attitudes towards the iPad use as a means of language learning. It was done through a cross-sectional survey questionnaire, wholly composed of fixed-choice…

This study investigated the relationship between second language (L2) listening and a range of task and listener characteristics. More specifically, for a group of 93 nonnative English speakers, the researchers examined the extent to which linguistic complexity of the listening task input and response, and speed and explicitness of the input, were…

While there exists a considerable body of literature on task-based difficulty and second language (L2) fluency in English as a second language (ESL), there has been little investigation with French learners. This mixed methods study examines learner appraisals of task difficulty and their relationship to automated utterance fluency measures in…