This study was primarily aimed at developing an English-speaking proficiency test and analytic rubrics designed to measure speaking proficiency of Malaysian undergraduates. On the basis of Littlewood's Methodological Framework and Long's Interaction Hypothesis, the researchers derived three speaking tasks from four sources: (a) syllabus of the…

This investigation explores oral proficiency outcomes in short-term study abroad programs, as well as the interaction of those outcomes with the type of second language (L2) courses involved. For three years, speaking ability gains were measured in a study abroad setting among intermediate learners of Spanish under two different course conditions:…

This paper attempts to establish that there is a correlation between the sociolinguistic identities of high school students and their productive English-speaking abilities. The paper initially explains the basic concept of sociolinguistic identity and refers to various aspects of research into Japanese national identity to analyse how these may…

This study fills the existing gap in the research, which indicates that few researchers have examined multilingual writers' preference between audio and written feedback, and the impact of feedback format on their revision process. However, this dissertation has five interrelated purposes: 1. To understand the expectations of multilingual writers…

This study examined the relationship between negative pragmatic transfer and language proficiency with reference to the refusal speech acts as realized by Yemeni learners of English as a Foreign Language (henceforth referred to as YLEs). Forty Yemeni learners of English (20 of low proficiency level and 20 of high proficiency level) and 2 baseline…

The "NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements for Intercultural Communication" (2017) task educators with helping students better recognize "obviously inappropriate behaviors in familiar everyday situations" (p.15), yet today's L2 classroom rarely includes pragmatic speech acts in curriculum, especially with regard to online language…

Recent research indicates that bilingual children are more proficient in resolving cognitive conflict than monolinguals. However, the replicability of such findings has been questioned, with poor control of participants' socioeconomic status (SES) as a possible confounding factor. Two experiments are reported here, in which the main attentional…

Throughout the world, tests are administered to some examinees who are not fully proficient in the language in which they are being tested. It has long been acknowledged that proficiency in the language in which a test is administered often affects examinees' performance on a test. Depending on the context and intended uses for a particular…

For academically bound international students, university-based intensive English programs (IEPs) frequently function as an avenue to American undergraduate or graduate degree programs. This qualitative study examined how one university-based IEP was preparing its academically bound international students and facilitating their transitions to…

Substantial progress has been made toward applying technology enhanced conversation-based assessments (CBAs) to measure the English-language proficiency of English learners (ELs). CBAs are conversation-based systems that use conversations among computer-animated agents and a test taker. We expanded the design and capability of prior…

This case study contrasts sixth-grade student Antonio's perspective of himself as a "good student" with perceptions some of Antonio's teachers held related to his classification as a student with a Specific Learning Disability and an English Learner as enacted in classroom literacy practices. With Antonio's voice at the center,…

Undergraduate students fail to objectively self-assess grammar skills of English as a second language but mastering English grammar autonomously can assist. The article aims to describe and assess the Moodle plugin that offers undergraduate students individual learning paths in studying English grammar. An experiment with 3953 students was…

This study examined responses from a questionnaire administered to 98 second- and third-generation Rohingya refugees living in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Questions concerned participants' self-reported language proficiency levels in the Rohingya heritage language and Arabic and patterns of language use in various domains. Findings demonstrate that the…

With universities and other academic institutions now creating policies regarding the use of pronouns and the rights of individuals to use the pronouns they prefer, use of the singular they pronoun in academic discourse is a relatively new phenomenon and not one that is typically studied by English as a second language (ESL) students before their…

The purpose of this study was to compare the experiences and perceptions of UAE and Korean students in campus-based universities of online collaborative learning (OCL). 262 college students participated in online surveys. Their experiences in terms of frequency, assessment, barriers, support, and attitude for OCL in each country were examined.…