This paper reported on a study of using blogs as out-of-class assignments for the development of learners' writing competence. There were 36 students of English majors from an intact second language (L2) writing class participating in this study. A mixed method design was employed to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data. The results…

The study aimed at investigating TOEIC score distribution patterns and learner satisfaction in an intensive TOEIC course and drew implications for pedagogical practice. A one-group pre-test post-test experiment and a survey on learner satisfaction were conducted on Taiwanese college EFL students (n = 50) in a case study. Results showed that the…

Existing research from Western countries has consistently shown that the learning environment is an important factor for academic motivation. Self-determination theory, which serves as a theoretical foundation of the present study, suggests that teachers' involvement is an important element of students' learning, regardless of the cultural…

E-learning has become an important tool to impart education. This study examines the awareness and perception of e-learning among Indian students enrolled for a business management course at a premier business school. It is generally perceived that since Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) is universally acknowledged for its quality…

Drawing on a participatory study of the Perplex City alternate reality game, this paper considers the data obtained through participation and a detailed survey of the most engaged players, in order to determine the most engaging features and suggest methods for their transfer to educational contexts. Originally presented at a conference in 2008,…

The imagination is powerful, in part, because of the emotions that can be activated by imagining future states. Imagined future states are a key feature of the L2 self-system proposed by Dornyei, and emotion may be the key to the motivational quality of the imagined future self. In particular, this paper focuses on positive anticipated and…

Frequently interacting with other people or working in an information-rich environment can foster the "accidental discovery of information" (ADI) (Erdelez, 2000; McCay-Peet & Toms, 2010). With the increasing adoption of social web technologies, online user-participation communities and user-generated content have provided users the…

Saudi Ministry of education is highly concerned with the pursuit of excellence in effective EFL teaching-learning in the arena of education but it experiences tardy progress especially in college level. This is a common scenario in almost every stage of learning in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Behind this backdrop, this paper explores the new…

The purpose of this study is to design different hands-on science activities and investigate which activities could better promote female students' learning motivation towards science. This study conducted three types of science activities which contains nine hands-on activities, an experience scale and a learning motivation scale for data…

More than an estimated 90 million adults in the United States lack the literacy skills needed for fully productive and secure lives. The effects of this shortfall are many: Adults with low literacy have lower rates of participation in the labor force and lower earnings when they do have jobs, for example. They are less able to understand and use…

Inductive reasoning is a core cognitive process of fluid intelligence, predicting a variety of educational outcomes. The Cognitive Training for Children (CTC) program is an educational intervention designed to develop children's inductive reasoning skills, with previous investigations finding substantial effects of the program on both inductive…

Although the role of individual differences in second language (L2) speech has been extensively studied, the impact of individual differences on the process of second language writing and the written product has been a neglected area of research. In this paper, I review the most important individual difference factors that might explain variations…

Blogs have been increasingly used to supplement traditional classroom lectures in higher education. This paper explores the use of blogs, and how student attitudes towards online peer interaction and peer learning, as well as motivation to learn from peers, may differ when using the blog comments feature, and when students are encouraged to read…

This paper describes a phenomenological study in which the authors explored students' experiences learning qualitative research in a variety of academic fields. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with six participants from various academic fields who had completed at least one post-secondary-school-level qualitative research course…

Research on motivation in second language (L2) education has tended to focus on learning; this study took an alternative perspective, examining students' motivation to transfer L2 learning. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 40 students who were enrolled in several sections of a university English-for-academic-purposes…