Two-year, play-based, full-day kindergarten (FDK) has been shown to have long-term academic and self-regulation benefits for young children. This article addresses the question of whether FDK has particular benefits for children who may be at risk for placement in special education. Participants included 592 kindergarten children in their second…

For native and nonnative English speakers, employment increasingly requires proficiency in communication, given its critical role in employees' ability to successfully carry out work-related activities. Although communicating competently is important for employability, survey findings have suggested that employers believe that colleges are not…

Higher education institutions in the United States provide placement essay tests to ensure international students' readiness for college courses. The high-stakes nature of placement tests makes educators and researchers seek significant components of differentiating levels of placement tests. This study investigated the prediction of two levels…

In the scope of teaching English as a foreign language, and more specifically teaching speaking, reading, and writing, this study investigated the attitudes English language teachers-to-be have towards the three language skills modules, namely, Conversation, Reading, and Basic writing, offered by the College of Basic Education (hereafter CBE) in…

Background: Writing is among the most important skills, and globally it has received more emphasis in literature on language teaching than reading, speaking and listening. However, a paucity of studies is observed in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in contexts where English is being taught as an additional or foreign language, as is the case in…

This article reports on a mixed-method study that examined the washback of a local integrated theme-based high-stakes English language proficiency test that is used in a university English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program in Turkey. The assumption behind employing an integrated theme-based test, which resembles authentic language use, was that…

Purpose: The current research presents a 14-week experience of developing socially orientated narratives in a digital mode, which involved 60 female Saudi English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. Initially working together, they were later divided into groups of approximately eight members each. The purpose of this research is to determine…

This dissertation explores existing paraphrase pedagogies and the linguistic and rhetorical dimensions of expertly produced paraphrases in order to move both teachers and multilingual writers toward a balanced conception of acceptable academic paraphrase. Pedagogical treatments of paraphrase in a set of writing handbooks designed for students…

Building a text is a multidimensional endeavor. Writers must work simultaneously on the content of the text, its discursive organization, the structure of the sentences, and the individual words themselves. Knowledge of vocabulary is central to this endeavor. This study intends (1) to trace the development of writer's vocabulary depth, their…

Purpose: Since 2012, the University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt has been publishing an annual report on sustainability as part of its whole institution approach (WIA). This study aims to examine the participation in writing this report as it is experienced by the student stakeholders involved. The overall goal is to gain expertise concerning further…

Writing, a critical pedagogical tool, cultivates student learning and fosters deeper understanding of the material. When frequent, low-stakes (informal) writing activities help students write more freely, engage with the material and thus become active learners. Looking at students who are at opposite ends of a community college spectrum, this…

The aim of the present study is to compare the writing products of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university students using accuracy and grammatical complexity as measures. It also aims at examining the development of the morphological, syntactic, lexical, spelling, and punctuation errors committed by these learners when writing in English.…

Previous studies with English-speaking children showed that handwriting and spelling abilities played a critical role in the development of writing fluency and quality, particularly during the transition from the kindergarten to primary school; in contrast, studies dealing with orthographically transparent languages found small or no relations…

The present study explored the impact of WebQuest-based classroom on EFL learners' critical thinking and academic writing skills by collecting and analysing the data through a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach. Two intact classes, each with ten EFL learners, attending an IELTS course at a language institute in Sanandaj, Iran, took part…

Writing is a critical skill for graduate students, but few studies in the literature describe how it is supported in the training of biomedical graduate students. The Initiative for Maximizing Student Development program at Loma Linda University aims to develop this important skill in its students through an integrated, structured writing…