This study provides specific evidence regarding the extent to which quantitative measures, common sense notional measures, and comprehensive measures adequately characterize spontaneous, although engaged, speech. As such, the study contributes to the growing body of literature describing the current limits of automatic systems for evaluating…

Primary Turkish lesson curriculum aims to educate individuals who can use Turkish and the abilities of speaking, writing, listening and reading efficiently; who can express feelings, ideas and dreams; who are sensitive to national values and who has the consciousness of language and the top level conscious abilities such as classification,…

Reformulation is mostly considered as an important verbal mechanism for coping with non-native speakers' speech production problem in second language acquisition. Drawing on interlanguage pragmatics and conversation analysis, the present study examines the specific ways in which reformulation is used to achieve mutual understanding in the…

Cooperative learning has frequently been used in language classrooms, from in-class task-based group work to group presentations. Research suggests that cooperative learning provides mutual support, as well as successful and effective learning outcomes of tasks. The present research addressed a number of problems discovered in group oral…

Purpose: Researchers have used the distortion-sensitivity approach in the psychoacoustical domain to investigate the role of auditory processing abilities in speech perception in noise (van Schijndel, Houtgast, & Festen, 2001; Goverts & Houtgast, 2010). In this study, the authors examined the potential applicability of the…

The purpose of this study is to focus on interactionally developed explanations in everyday conversations as important pedagogical contexts. The research question is: "How do teachers invite children to participate in co-constructions of explanations in everyday conversations and what may children learn from this?" Learning to explain…

In spite of the relevant role of prosody in communication, and in contrast with other linguistic components, there is paucity of research in this field for Williams syndrome (WS). Therefore, this study performed a systematic assessment of prosodic abilities in WS. The Spanish version of the Profiling Elements of Prosody in Speech-Communication…

The "Picture Exchange Communication System" (PECS) has emerged as the augmentative communication intervention of choice for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with a supporting body of single-participant studies. This report describes a meta-analysis of 16 single-participant studies on PECS with percentage of nonoverlapping data…

This study proposes to expand the scope of oral communication across the curriculum research by exploring oral genres in a dietetics curriculum from the perspective of the dietetics faculty. The goals of this qualitative study, couched within the communication in the disciplines framework, are to identify the oral genres integral to the study and…

Recent years have brought increasing attention to studies of language acquisition in a country where the language is spoken, as opposed to formal language study in classrooms. Research on language learners in immersion contexts is important, as the question of whether study abroad is valuable is still somewhat controversial among researchers…

At the time of writing, primary English education is, once again, at a crossroads. Within the context of a continuing focus on underachievement in writing for key groups of learners and a large body of research, which suggests that classroom talk is a powerful means of improving children's success in all areas of the curriculum including writing,…

The content that test-takers attempt to convey is not always included in the construct definition of "general" English oral proficiency tests, although some English-for-academic-purposes (EAP) speaking tests and most writing tests tend to place great emphasis on the evaluation of the content or ideas in the performance. This study…

One problem common to many Oral Communication (OC) classrooms in universities in Japan and other countries is that English major students often lack the impetus to proactively develop their oral language proficiency. In this paper, we present our investigation into whether regular self-, peer-, and teacher-assessment would promote the use of…

Joint attention (JA), which occurs when two individuals focus on the same object or event, plays a critical role in social and language development. Two major kinds of joint attention have been observed: response to joint attention (RJA), in which children follow the attentional focus of their social partners, and initiation of joint attention…

Thus far, few research studies have examined the practice of integrated speaking test tasks in the field of second/foreign language oral assessment. This dissertation utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) and qualitative techniques to explore the relationships among topical knowledge, anxiety, and integrated speaking test performance and to…