While aptitude has been seen to contribute to second language (L2) development, most studies have examined its contribution as a fixed trait, rather than viewing it as a dynamic, changing variable. There appears to have been little or no investigation of the role that aptitude plays in the development of L2 pragmatic ability. Therefore, this study…

The present study empirically scrutinizes the fixed natural order of grammatical morphemes relying on a manual analysis of an EFL learner corpus. Specifically, we test whether the accuracy order of L2 grammatical morphemes in the case of L1 Turkish speakers of English deviates from Krashen's (1977) natural order and whether proficiency levels play…

Motivational currents, a relatively new concept in the field of language learning, has contributed to understanding how long-term motivational energy can be sustained among learners. Despite such critical contribution, little is known on how one of its core elements called vision, a vivid image of one's future self, can be sustainable in such a…

In this study, I investigate whether three A2 Key for Schools practice tests from Cambridge Assessment English for 6th-graders (11-12 years old) in Argentina measure growth and produce scores that are meaningful. Drawing data from three consecutive years, I analyze the scores of 80 children over a school year and consider whether the tests are…

The current study sought to examine the validity of a General English Achievement Test (GEAT), administered to university students in the fall semester of 2018-2019 academic year, by hybridizing differential information (DIF) and differential distractor function (DDF) analytical models. Using a purposive sampling method, from the target population…

Recent years have seen a surge of calls for personalization of education. Automatised adaptivity in serious games has been advocated as a potential instantiation of such calls. Yet little is known about the extent to which personalised learning through automatised adaptivity poses an advantage for language learning over generalised teacher-led…

This study aimed at developing the Silpakorn Test of English Proficiency (STEP), in alignment with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and in accordance with the theoretical framework established by Alderson et al. (2006). Four major steps were involved in the test construction. First, English language lecturers who…

For teaching and learning Malay language grammar, there are many types of online assessment tools and applications have been developed in Malaysia. One such application is Quizizz, a game-based online quiz that facilitates teaching and learning. The purpose of this research is to measure the effectiveness of Quizizz application to teach and learn…

This study explores the effective utilization of the online program Forms via smartphones to enrich the classroom experience for both students and teachers in two prep classes for the standardized English Test, Eiken. The instructor used Forms to create, distribute, collect, and analyze surveys and quizzes. Students' attitudes toward English and…

This study explored the relative effect of recasts on second language (L2) Korean learners' accuracy development of the object relative clauses (RCs) and the honorific subject-verb (S-V) agreement in Korean and its relationship with language analytic ability (LAA). Forty-five L2 Korean learners participated in the study and five Korean native…

Despite previous research suggesting that first language (L1) use fulfills important functions in collaborative writing (CW) tasks, research has yet to examine whether L1 or second language (L2) use may lead to variation in the lexico-grammatical aspects of learners' collaborative texts and the pair talk. Using a corpus-based approach, this study…

This study uses Fairclough's critical discourse analysis (CDA) paradigm to analyse Korean Ministry of Education (MOE) policy documents legitimising the National English Ability Test (NEAT) and consolidating a testing regime wherein educational testing is strongly positioned as a social technology facilitating practical English use. Focusing on…

In this study, we investigated if children build a print-to-meaning connection via the semantic radical -- a mechanism we call "semantic decoding" -- and its interaction with phonological decoding in orthographic learning of Chinese compound characters. Ninety-two Grade 4 children were taught the pronunciations and meanings of 16…

This paper reports a study that investigated the dimensions underneath the construct of foreign language classroom enjoyment and explored the pattern in which these enjoyment dimensions affect foreign language achievement. To this end, 320 first language Chinese senior high school students, who were learning English as a foreign language (EFL),…

This paper investigates the effectiveness of students playing the "Spaceteam ESL" video game to enhance their pronunciation of English words and sentences. To achieve this goal, the researcher conducted a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest research design. The formation of the experimental group and control group employed the practice…