Integrated speaking tasks requiring test takers to read and/or listen to stimulus texts and to incorporate their content into oral performances are now used in large-scale, high-stakes tests, including the TOEFL iBT. These tasks require test takers to identify, select, and combine relevant source text information to recognize key relationships…

Through Many-Facet Rasch analysis, this study explores the rating differences between 1 computer automatic rater and 5 expert teacher raters on scoring 119 students in a computerized English listening-speaking test. Results indicate that both automatic and the teacher raters demonstrate good inter-rater reliability, though the automatic rater…

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a neurodegenerative condition characterized by language and cognitive decline. Word-retrieval deficits are the most common PPA symptom and contribute to impaired spoken expression. Intense semantic interventions show promise for improving word retrieval in people with PPA. In addition, people with PPA may learn…

The present study was an attempt to investigate the differential effect/s of three different planning time scenarios (i.e. 0 min, 10 min, & 20 min), as well as three task conditions of (1) topic given, (2) topic and ideas given, and (3) topic, ideas and macrostructure given on EFL learners L2 writing complexity, accuracy and fluency (CAF).…

This study was set to cross-validate a bilingual Persian-English version of the Vocabulary Size Test (VST) against the monolingual English version and compare Iranian EFL learners' performance on the two versions. Various bilingual versions of the VST have been developed based on the assumption that bilingual versions are not affected by the…

This paper is an account of how a group of Japanese English language teachers, who questioned current teacher professional education and English language education reforms, learnt to challenge the dominant discourse and find ways of conducting more democratic teacher professional education. It describes how those teachers, including the author,…

In this paper we report on a project in which we developed tools to support the classroom assessment of learners' interactional competence (IC) and provided learning oriented feedback in the context of preparation for a high-stakes face-to-face speaking test. Six trained examiners provided stimulated verbal reports (n = 72) on 12 paired…

Resultative constructions show a wide range of cross-linguistic variation, which may pose nontrivial challenges to L2 learners. This study investigates how syntactic and semantic differences between L1 and L2 affect L2 acquisition of resultatives. In particular, we investigate how L1-Korean learners project the syntax and semantics of L2-English…

In order to investigate the internal factors present in the interlanguage of learners of English as a foreign language, a qualitative research study was implemented to analyze the written productions of college students. The main objective of this case study was to identify the type of errors the students made and suggest the cognitive reasons…

In this study, it was aimed to determine the effect of Plickers, which is one of the Web 2.0 education tools, on success in affix-root teaching to 5th grade students. In the study, random design with pretest-posttest control group, which is one of the real trial models, was used. The study group of the study was determined by homogeneous sampling…

This manuscript-based dissertation is comprised of three interrelated longitudinal studies on Spanish language growth and deceleration and its impact on English language growth and English reading skills in bilingual children. Chapter 1 introduces the manuscript-based dissertation and provides the background on existing, longitudinal work of dual…

This research was conducted to suggest a set of WhatsApp activities to enhance pedagogical knowledge and classroom practices that can be used in TEFL courses and to explore student-teachers' reflection towards the use of WhatsApp and the suggested activities. By reviewing related literature of using social networks and WhatsApp and though…

Previous studies in the acquisition of clitic se in Spanish have focused on the syntactic processes needed to perform detransitivization. However, current approaches on event structure reveal that "se" encodes aspectual information which is crucial for its acquisition. We examine the use, intuition and interpretation of the aspectual…

This study investigated the efficacy of explicit lexical collocation instruction via the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). To improve competence in lexical collocation and writing performance and to examine whether collocational competence and writing performance have a linear interrelation, 16 international English for Academic…

This study examines a common pedagogical approach whereby students view teacher feedback outside of class time. Facilitated through Moodle, it aimed to investigate not only the effect of written corrective feedback (WCF) on learning outcomes, but importantly, how frequently students review the feedback they receive. The study was conducted at a…