The place of grammar instruction in second or foreign language (L2) pedagogy has always been highly controversial and although there is currently consensus that such pedagogic intervention is beneficial, numerous questions remain as to how it should most propitiously be conducted. Different theoretical perspectives have resulted in a wide array of…

Grit is theoretically defined as the combination of perseverance and passion for long term goals. Both of these constructs are likely to be relevant for our understanding of how language acquisition occurs and for explaining between-person differences in the rate of language acquisition. Despite this relevance, there are methodological and…

Since the end of the last century, the English as a foreign language (EFL) community seems to have entered a new era: the postmethod era. Despite fierce debate about its rationality and feasibility, the three pedagogical parameters--particularity, practicality, and possibility--have been influential and applied to various teaching contexts. Under…

The first goal of this study was to examine how individual differences in initial L2 proficiency help explain L2 grammar development in oral production during short-term immersion abroad. The second goal of the study was methodological, and evaluated challenges that can result from operationalizing learners' initial L2 proficiency as pretest…

Online learning poses challenges that students might never have encountered in a face-to-face learning environment. In learning English, students may confront more challenges as they need both cognitive and metacognitive skills in dealing with the dynamic lessons involving interaction, online exercises, and audio, video and text downloads. The…

This study investigates the idea that knowledge of specialist subject vocabulary can make a significant and measurable impact on academic performance, separate from and additional to the impact of general and academic vocabulary knowledge. It tests the suggestion of Hyland and Tse (TESOL Quarterly, 41:235-253, 2007) that specialist vocabulary…

The present study aims to develop a model illuminating the relationship between student personality traits and motivation towards learning Mandarin as a foreign language. A model framework consisting of five exogenous variables and one endogenous variable of motivation are examined in the present study. Sample of 260 undergraduates taking Mandarin…

The Listening Vocabulary Levels Test (LVLT) created by McLean et al. Language Teaching Research 19:741-760, 2015 filled an important gap in the field of second language assessment by introducing an instrument for the measurement of phonological vocabulary knowledge. However, few attempts have been made to provide further validity evidence for the…

The present study reported an experiment examining whether both native speakers (NSs) and non-native speakers (NNSs) give formulaic sequences (FSs) priority over novel phrases in processing, as the dual route model has postulated. In this experiment, NSs and NNSs were asked to read Japanese versions of semi-transparent restricted collocations…

This study investigates the effect of sequenced, time-delayed, multimodal Chinese language and communicative literacy supports on the ability of learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language [CFL] to recognize characters and acquire literacy via writing in Chinese. A multimodal web application was designed and developed as a writing platform and…

The concept of Dominant Language Constellations (DLC) is complementary to the notion of language repertoire. It denotes the set of a person's most expedient languages, functioning as an entire unit and enabling an individual to meet all their needs in a multilingual environment. While a language repertoire refers to the totality of linguistic…

This dissertation examines the acquisitional process of middle se constructions by English- and Korean-speaking L2 learners of Spanish. Although clitic se is well known for its multifunctionality, there is a general tendency in the literature to analyze any use of "se" as a reflexive marker. This tendency is especially prominent in the…

While many studies have investigated the effect of task complexity on L2 writing, little has been reported on the effects of intended task complexity manipulations on task-generated cognitive demands in L2 writing. This study, therefore, was designed to examine the relative effects of task complexity and cognitive demands on students' L2 writing.…

To examine the effects of task repetition with different schedules, English-as-a-foreign-language classroom learners performed the same oral narrative task six times under three different schedules. They narrated the same six-frame cartoon story (a) six times consecutively in one class (massed practice), (b) three times at the beginning and at the…

The knowledge of vocabulary can be considered the main factor of understanding the context in learning a foreign or second language process. This can be seen clearly in international exams such as TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and IELTS (International English Language Testing System). This research aims to analyze the vocabulary…