Two widely studied language skills in relation to reading comprehension are listening comprehension skill and academic language proficiency. Although their constituent skills and theoretical accounts of how they are related to reading comprehension share a large overlap, they have been studied in separate lines of work. In this study, we…

With a certain tone of concern, Suzanne Graham's article presents readers with a series of perceived problems related to current methods of teaching listening skills in the second language classroom. The general explanation behind these observations is the author's perception that language teachers' practices do not 'reflect current thinking from…

Through providing an external support to speech, gesture observation may benefit a student's learning in a variety of areas, including narrative comprehension. Across two studies, we investigated factors that could moderate when gestures are most beneficial to narrative comprehension, including gesture type, task difficulty, and age, in order to…

Rely on "I'm Listening" to help you drive deeper, more meaningful learning by integrating relationship building into lesson design. Written by practitioner Beth Pandolpho, this resource outlines how to foster a sense of belonging while also maintaining the integrity of the content. Using the book's practical strategies will help you…

Loneliness is on the rise. Students in higher education report increased feelings of isolation, anxiety, and depression and the non-stop transactional culture rarely leaves time for quiet self-reflection or the cultivation of deep ties. Drawing connections between this spiritual impoverishment and the infantilization of Roman Catholic laity, this…

The current study focuses on an e-learning platform called Furago designed to provide language instructors with exercises complementing activities already implemented in their classes. Its objective was to assess the impact the use of Furago could have on the listening skills of first-year Japanese university students. Statistical analyses that…

This dissertation study explored the feasibility of using authenticated spoken texts to test L2 Chinese listening comprehension. The spoken texts used in the study were created using an "authenticating" technique, in which scripted spoken Chinese texts were infused with characteristics of real-world, unscripted spoken Chinese. In the…

This volume presents research on oracy development in early language learning, with a particular focus on the pedagogical implications for growingly plurilingual classrooms. The chapters offer empirical results from diverse international contexts which reveal common and differing experiences of teaching methodologies and assessment practices,…

This study investigates the effectiveness of integrating Mongolian folk songs into contemporary literacy practices, focusing on enhancing student engagement and literacy development. By employing ethnographic methods, the research explores the effectiveness of using traditional music to foster cultural awareness and improve literacy skills among…

Oral language comprehension (OLC) and vocabulary depth are widely recognized as key predictors of reading comprehension. However, research has either provided a limited representation of OLC or failed to acknowledge the distinctive predictive nature of vocabulary depth. This study investigates the combined contributions of OLC, conceptualized as a…

In 2024, 2 in 5 (42.3%) children and young people aged 8 to 18 said they enjoyed listening to audio (e.g. audiobooks and podcasts) in their free time, compared with 34.6% who enjoyed reading. This is the first time more children and young people enjoyed listening than reading since National Literacy Trust started asking about listening in 2020.…

Background: Dialogic reading (DR) is an interactive book reading method in which parents use scaffolded questions and responses by reading picture books to their children to foster their language ability development, enhance their reading interest and reduce their reading anxiety. However, little is known about the effects of parent-child reading…

This paper investigates England's A-level Chinese examination from teachers' perspectives. This examination is one of the subject-based qualifications typically taken by students at the age of 18 who plan to go to university. Despite the government's promotion of Chinese teaching in different educational settings, there remains a lack of empirical…

Listening is a fundamental language skill that enables language learners to receive information and interact with others. Learners use strategies to facilitate learning, perform tasks, and compensate for gaps in linguistic knowledge. Listening and learning strategies have not received much attention at secondary level in Taiwan until recently.…

Background: In many universities, undergraduate engineering students are taught in English rather than their first language. This requires the crucial skill of academic listening, but many students have limited linguistic knowledge and skills, necessitating additional scaffolding by instructors. Purpose: The purpose of this study was thus…