This study was primarily aimed at developing an English-speaking proficiency test and analytic rubrics designed to measure speaking proficiency of Malaysian undergraduates. On the basis of Littlewood's Methodological Framework and Long's Interaction Hypothesis, the researchers derived three speaking tasks from four sources: (a) syllabus of the…

Despite the benefits of performance-based oral communication tests, a plethora of variables, as illustrated in Ockey and Li's (2015) model of oral communication assessment, can create construct-irrelevant variance in test scores. In relation to human participants in the oral communication tests, previous studies mostly focused on the direct effect…

The study aimed to achieve three objectives: 1) to identify the Multiple Intelligences (MI) perceived by Heilongjiang International University (HIU) students, 2) to develop and implement a task-based English speaking course with MI features, and 3) to evaluate the extent the developed English speaking course contributes to the improvement of HIU…

Because speaking appropriately and fluently is the ultimate goal in a foreign language learning process, the authenticity of dialogues in the ELT coursebooks becomes even more significant. However, it is rather doubtful whether the dialogues have the function of preparing students for the English language they are likely to encounter in daily life…

Aside from learning the basic and common grammatical structures, English as foreign language learners ("hereafter EFL") have to be familiar with a wide range of lexical chunks called collocations. Being sensitive to collocations is the key of attaining a native-like fluency in English. The aim of this study is twofold: to explore the…

This article expands upon research into task planning effects by looking at how the addition of planning prior to group discussions may positively and negatively influence performance. 24 Japanese university students performed three weekly discussions in groups of four. Prior to each discussion, they undertook either no planning, strategic…

With the increased emphasis in communicative language learning and task-based language teaching, classroom assessment increasingly includes performance-based assessments (e.g., essays, speeches, projects, presentations), which require careful planning and can be challenging to implement and assess. The ability to design and use well-designed…

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate how speech fluency in typical and atypical speech is perceptually assessed by speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Our research questions were as follows: (a) How do SLPs rate fluency in speakers with and without neurological communication disorders? (b) Do they differentiate the speaker groups? and…

Background: Parent-reported measures of early communication have limitations for use with infants experiencing adversity. Observational measures of early non-verbal and verbal communicative behaviours and mother-child turn-taking may provide a complementary method of capturing early communication skills for these children. Aims: To explore the…

Efforts to understand changes in language development and variations in language production across lifespan have increased considerably in the past several decades (Sankoff, 2017). In narrative discourse production, although several studies have reported age-related differences, the findings are not consistent. Additionally, previous research has…

This paper examines whether a web-based training on English discourse intonation leads to better spontaneous speech quality for Mandarin Chinese speakers who reside in the U.S. and in China. The four-week fully online training consisted of meta-instruction videos as well as listening and speaking activities, including instant visual pitch contour…

One of the most recent developments in the field of L2 motivation is the construct of Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs). This novel motivational conceptualisation is characterised by its energising capacity to promote and sustain action in a multitude of contexts whenever an individual is determined to attain a goal/vision he or she regards as…

Although research about the effectiveness of second or foreign language collaborative writing for jointly written products has proliferated in the last few decades, there has been less examination of whether and how pre-task preparation could maximize the language learning opportunities that collaborative writing can afford learners. Informed by…

This study examines the correlation existing between students speaking competency and their interaction with multimedia devices in the classroom learning process. A mixed-method study design has been employed to explore the impact of an interactive multimedia environment on their presentation and speaking skills. Initially, 46 Arabic-speaking…

The proliferation of assisted technology has been widely used in language learning, but this should be able to accommodate inclusive language learning which has become an important issue in today's English language teaching and the higher education landscape in Indonesia. This study examined the perception of EFL slow learners in terms of the…