Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on SpeakApps, a major collaborative computer-assisted language learning project, developed based on an open source techno-pedagogical solution to facilitate online oral language production and interaction. Design/methodology/approach: A mixed method approach was incorporated as part of the…

The pace of speech i.e. tempo can be varied to our mood of the moment. Fast speech can convey urgency, whereas slower speech can be used for emphasis. In public speaking, orators produce powerful effects by varying the loudness and pace of their speech. The juxtaposition of very loud and very quiet utterances is a device often used by those trying…

Oral presentation skills are considered essential workplace skills and are therefore highly valued in higher education. However, research into this aspect of adult learning is limited, especially in the context of distance and online education. This paper reports on an innovative approach used in a university preparatory program in Australia.…

Although corrective feedback (CF) has received much interest in the second language acquisition literature, relatively little research has investigated the relationship between CF and learner affect in concrete practice situations. The present study investigates learners' affective states and practice behaviour in a novel context: oral grammar…

The purpose of a "Critical and Creative" approach to literacy is not to place the burden of our responsibility on students, but rather to liberate them from the feeling of being trapped by unmalleable, self-defeating circumstances. Through actual demonstration and experience, teachers need to give students the confidence that they are…

This study investigated tourism graduate students' perceptions of academic achievement as revealed in the end of term self-assessment grids for the course English for tourism. Data were collected from 59 first year Romanian Master of Arts students by examining their personal portfolios after the in-class and follow-up activities. The selection of…

According to the common underlying proficiency model (Cummins, 1981), as children acquire academic knowledge and skills in their first language, they also acquire language-independent information about those skills that can be applied when learning a second language. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relevance of the common underlying…

Listening and speaking skills are fundamental determinants of an individual's academic success. The aim of this research is to establish the relationship between listening and speaking skills, and study how listening predicts and cognitively arranges speaking. The research was carried out using the quantitative pattern in correlational type. The…

Feedback is an important but challenging aspect of higher education pedagogy. In addition to providing quality feedback, teachers are expected to develop students' skills and awareness for effective feedback processes. This case study addresses both processes and products of a Chinese university English teacher's feedback enabling practice by…

This quantitative study focuses on the relationship between foreign language learners' aptitude and proficiency test scores. Four groups of 136 beginning students received six months of Initial Acquisition Training (IAT) in four different language categories, according to the level of complexity for an English speaker: French (Category I),…

In this study we evaluated whether the sophistication of children's invented spellings in kindergarten was predictive of subsequent reading and spelling in Grade 1, while also considering the influence of well-known precursors. Children in their first year of schooling (mean age = 66 months; N = 171) were assessed on measures of oral vocabulary,…

Error treatment has long been studied in ELT, and the attitude of the learners and teachers towards correction might be acknowledged as the main focus in most cases. Breen et al. put forward that negotiation is inevitable in modification; hence, the primary concern of this study is to explore teachers' and students' perceptions of modification in…

This study examines test-takers' views on a computer-delivered speaking test in order to investigate the aspects they consider most relevant in technology-based oral assessment, and to explore the main advantages and disadvantages computer-based tests may offer as compared to face-to-face speaking tests. A small-scale open questionnaire was…

Commonly defined as L2 teachers' responses to learners' erroneous utterances, oral corrective feedback (OCF) is an interactional classroom phenomenon which frequently occurs in foreign language classes and has gained growing momentum in SLA research in recent years. However, how OCF preferences of English teachers vary in terms of their…

Studies investigating teacher candidate performance on traditional assessments of content knowledge place emphasis on just one of many skills needed to be an effective foreign language teacher; they also fail to explain why many teacher candidates with advanced oral proficiency struggle in the classroom and why some with less advanced language…