This paper will discuss how intercultural communication (ICC) and Spanish classes at the Sydney Institute of Language and Commerce (SILC)-Business School at Shanghai University were adapted to be conducted virtually during COVID-19. The platforms used included Zoom, WeChat, and pre-recorded videos of lessons. While the Spanish course met for short…

The elicited imitation task (EIT), in which language learners listen to a series of spoken sentences and repeat each one verbatim, is a commonly used measure of language proficiency in second language acquisition research. The "TOEFL® Essentials"™ test includes an EIT as a holistic measure of speaking proficiency, referred to as the…

This report describes the development of efficient second language (L2) writing assessment tasks designed specifically for low-proficiency learners of English to be included in the "TOEFL® Essentials"™ test. Based on the can-do descriptors of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages for the A1 through B1 levels of…

The Malaysian government has long recognized the significance of mastering the English language among its citizenry. The government has planned, and subsequently, implemented many policies to ensure Malaysians master the English language. Although civil servants have a strong desire to master the English language to perform their duties more…

Word-initial stops in Mandarin and English show a distinctive phonological categorization but a similar phonetic realization along the VOT (Voice Onset Time) continuum. Previous research reported that native Mandarin adults produce measurably longer long-lag VOTs than native English adults. The present study examined whether and how the difference…

This study investigates foreign language teachers' beliefs about information and communication technology (ICT) and factors contributing to their belief formation through in-depth interviews with eight teachers and the principal of a public primary school. The participants held overall slightly positive attitudes towards the effectiveness of ICT…

Recent developments in multilingualism research urge us to move beyond seeing bilingualism as 'double monolingualism' and towards "translanguaging," which conceptualises language as a bundle of socially constructed linguistic resources that individuals can deploy to make sense of their multilingual world. Despite this theoretical…

The world recently witnessed the unexpected emergence of a coronavirus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic and severely impacted all aspects of human life. The sudden lockdown that came with the announcement of the pandemic affected health systems, the world economy and, inevitably, education systems across the globe. Due to the pandemic, schools…

Grammarly's Tone Detector is included in the free version of the application and is available for major phone and computer program platforms. Its strength is in helping students compose pragmatically appropriate texts which could substantially increase their confidence and the feeling of autonomy. It accomplishes this by providing writers with…

Debates around the impact of English-medium instruction (EMI) as part of transnational higher education (TNHE) typically focus on macro-level impacts on host country languages, cultures, and economies. Adopting the methodology of institutional ethnographies, this reflective study narrates how I came to find problematic such totalizing narratives…

This article reports on a study of policymaking at transnational and local universities in China concerning English Medium Instruction (EMI) provision, and the impact this has on stakeholder experiences. It explores policymaking at two transnational universities, which are compared and contrasted with data collected at six other Chinese…

This column traces the evolution of electronic resources for language learning over the past 25 years, focusing on the arrival and transformation of the "world wide web", the dramatic changes in mobile technologies, and the movement towards commercial and all-in-one solutions to online learning. In the choice and use of learning…

This article takes the plurilingual repertoires of foreign language teachers -- and thus the teachers' linguistic diversity -- as a starting point for exploratory research into the potential of visual methods in teacher education for changing mind-sets. Describing and reflecting on the ubiquitous manifestation of a monolingual habitus in foreign…

For many years, technology has been applied to improve the quality of language learning and teaching. However, the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the integration of technology in different language learning contexts. The sudden shift to online teaching faced educators with an array of challenges they had not experienced before. In…

Language policies of countries have focused especially on the teaching and learning of English, the universal language of communication because of the increase in international exchange of information. In this context, one of the changes which were made in the field of foreign language teaching in recent years in Turkey is that the intensive…