This study investigates how second language (L2) fluency is influenced by two factors: Pre-task planning and content familiarity. Planning was adopted as a between-participant variable, combined with content familiarity as a within-participant variable, in a 2 × 2 split-plot factorial design. Nineteen measures of fluency phenomena, constituting…

This research paper reports on the development of oral presentation skills in a 3D virtual world called "Moviestorm" machinima, in contrast with real-life videos. In this way, the implementation of both types of videos sought to promote the improvement of oral communication skills, specifically oral presentations in a foreign language,…

In this study, we examined whether interpreters and interpreting trainees are better predisposed to respeaking than people with no interpreting skills. We tested 57 participants (22 interpreters, 23 translators and 12 controls) while respeaking 5-minute videos with two parameters: speech rate (fast/slow) and number of speakers (one/many). Having…

The aim of the present study is to examine the effects of integrating Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) on the motivation of students learning English in a preparatory school at a private university in Istanbul, Turkey. The study also attempts to find out how the students and their instructor perceive teaching and learning English…

Background: Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a slowly progressive multi-systemic disease with an autosomal-dominant inheritance caused by a mutation on chromosome 19 (19q13.3). Aims: To explore speech characteristics in a group of individuals with the congenital and childhood-onset forms of DM1 in terms of intelligibility, speech-sound…

This study investigated the effect of utilizing Facebook activities on enhancing oral communication skills for English as Foreign Language learners (EFL) in the English Department at Yarmouk University, Jordan. Participants of the study were first year English Language Bachelor degree students who speak English as a foreign language. The…

The linguistic, social, and intercultural benefits of overseas experiences for English as a foreign language (EFL) learners continue to gain attention as the significance of English as a lingua franca proliferates. As the use of English for international communication increases, it is important to examine such interactions from multiple…

Patient-provider language discordance is a growing problem in health care among Spanish-speaking patients. To produce graduates capable of linguistically competent care, three university programs are incorporating Spanish language instruction into their curricula (pharmacy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology). We review these three…

This case study utilized the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) theoretical framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) as a lens to examine the instructional strategies of four English as a second language (ESL) teachers and their rationales for incorporating technology into their instructional practices in teaching oral communication…

Pronunciation features are not equal in how they affect listeners' ability to understand. Some are low value, while others are high value. This study explores whether contrastive stress is high value. Previous research has shown that identification of contrastive stress is learnable (Pennington & Ellis, 2000), and that explicit teaching about…

In an increasingly multilingual world, the question of how to improve foreign language speaking skills of pupils in British schools is of paramount importance to language teachers and policy-makers today. This paper examines how an explicit focus on metacognitive strategy use within secondary school foreign language lessons impacts pupils'…

Following the integration of an online homework tool--MyEnglishLab (MEL)--into their English courseware products, Pearson sought to explore how one of these products, Speakout, was being implemented with MyEnglishLab and perceptions about the impact it was having on learning. Speakout is a comprehensive eight-level General British English course…

This executive summary report highlights Austin Independent School District English learner students' (ELs) state-required English language proficiency test performance on the 2018 Spring administration. Student performance is summarized by domain and composite ratings, and years in U.S. schools. The changes made to the test are also discussed. A…

Research on the age of learning effect on second language learners' foreign accents utilizes human judgments to determine speech production outcomes. Inferences drawn from analyses of these ratings are then used to inform theories. The present study focuses on rater differences in the age of learning effect research. Three groups of raters who…

This research report presents a summary of research and development efforts devoted to creating scoring models for automatically scoring spoken item responses of a pilot administration of the Test of English-for-Teaching ("TEFT"™) within the "ELTeach"™ framework.The test consists of items for all four language modalities:…