Earticle

Recent studies show that the influence of metacognitive knowledge on the second language reading increased with the increasing vocabulary knowledge. However, the relationship among metacognitive knowledge, language knowledge and EFL reading still needs to be further clarified. How does vocabulary knowledge make an independent contribution to L2 reading? How does it moderate the effect of metacognitive knowledge on L2 reading? This study assesses the roles of metacognitive knowledge and vocabulary size in EFL academic reading based on Chinese tertiary EFL learners. The participants include 548 non-English major sophomore students in mainland China. The instruments include a questionnaire on the metacognitive knowledge of EFL reading comprehension, Vocabulary Levels Test (Nation, 1990) and an EFL reading comprehension test. The findings reveal that Chinese tertiary EFL readers only approach 3,000-word level. Vocabulary size does not only exert direct influences on EFL reading comprehension ability, but also plays a significant moderating role in regulating the effect of metacognitive knowledge on EFL reading comprehension ability. When the vocabulary size reaches above the threshold of 3,000 words, metacognitive knowledge plays an increasing role in EFL reading comprehension ability. The theoretical and educational contributions of these findings for L2 academic reading are discussed.

This study examined the effects on 25 Japanese university students’ text revisions following teacher feedback through written recasts. Written recasts were categorized as recasts given on learners’: (1) grammatical errors; (2) lexical errors, (3) unsolicited use of Japanese, (4) spelling errors and (5) content. Recasts were also categorized according to (6) the degree of differences between students’ original erroneous utterances and written recasts, as well as (7) recast lengths. In total, 125 written recasts were provided on students’ essays, and students were directed to revise their first draft referring to these recasts. The students’ revised essays were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. The results showed that written feedback in the form of recasting is, in general, beneficial for learners to notice their errors or mistakes leading them to repair regardless of the degree of differences and the length of the recasts. However, their effects varied according to students’ error types. The development of their writings from the first draft to a revised version was examined from the points of accuracy, fluency and complexity. It was found that written recasts contributed to the development of the three aspects reducing trade-off effects between accuracy and fluency.

This study is targeted at investigating the effects of design features of narrative tasks on the oral performance of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). To this aim, it explored the combined effects of information grounding and inherent task structure on complexity, accuracy, and fluency in participants’ oral production. In doing so, the effects of performing four oral narrative tasks which differed in terms of information grounding and inherent structure on learners’ complexity, accuracy, and fluency in producing English language were examined. Sixty Iranian intermediate-level EFL learners participated in this study. Using a between-groups design, the researchers required each participant to recount one of the narratives on a random basis. The results of one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) revealed that participants’ performance in the tightly structured narrative tasks was significantly more accurate and to a great extent more fluent than that in the loosely structured ones. The outcomes also indicated that more syntactic complexity was associated with narratives that had both foreground and background storylines. Additionally and more importantly, it was found that performing a tightly structured narrative in which information is presented in both foreground and background significantly advantages complexity, accuracy, and fluency. The outcomes have certain pedagogical implications for practitioners in EFL context.

This study examines the approaches considered effective by EFL teachers in solving their learners’ major listening difficulties. In-depth semi-structured interviews were adopted to probe into 10 Chinese EFL teachers’ beliefs about what they perceived to be effective methods that would assist their students in dealing with their listening difficulties. In the interview, the teachers were asked to identify the main sources of their students’ listening difficulties, discuss their preferred approaches to helping their students deal with their listening problems, and describe instructional procedures that would enhance their students’ overall listening abilities. The results show that in general these teachers share a preference for a bottom-up approach to teaching L2 listening, stressing the importance of giving priority to developing their students lower level skills such as coping with fast speed and recognizing words in speech. However, differences in opinions are identified among the teachers, especially regarding the degree of importance attached to the teaching of listening strategies. Overall, the results seem to lend support to the argument that enhancing EFL learners’ bottom-up processing competence is perhaps the first thing that needs to be addressed to help EFL learners build a solid linguistic foundation before they move on to learning the more advanced listening skills.

This study was an investigation of the effect of English as a Foreign Language at Elementary Schools (EFLES) in Japan on students’ later English language learning in junior high school. The participants were a total of 2,000 public junior high school students in grades 7, 8, and 9 (about 220-260 students in each grade for a three-year research period). The participants received from 10-90 hours of EFLES in grades 5 and 6 of local public elementary schools. The amount of EFLES implementation basically increased every year. The research question was: To what degree does EFLES affect the students’ future English skill development in vocabulary and grammar, reading, and listening measured by standardized tests administered respectively in grades 7, 8, and 9? The positive effect of EFLES was observed in the grade 7 students who had received 90 hours of EFLES classes since grade 4. An advantage was shown in higher English test scores for vocabulary and grammar, reading, and listening, though it did not reach a statistically significant level. In speaking tests conducted in grade 8, students’ scores improved each year to a statistically significant level with large effect sizes (d = 1.23, d = .80 for story-telling test).

English-medium instruction (EMI) has become popular in universities in Korea. The trend, spurred by the media-initiated university rankings and the globalization policy of Korean universities, has been found to bring about several adverse effects. The purpose of this research was to investigate the perceptions of the implementation of EMI at a science and engineering university in Korea and the effects of EMI on content teaching and learning outcomes, and to suggest ways to maximize the advantages of the policy while decreasing its disadvantages. Questionnaires were administered to 41 faculty members, 439 undergraduate students and 403 graduate students of a university that has enforced the EMI policy since 2010. To examine in-depth the opinion and perception of the policy, structured interviews were also conducted with seven professors, ten undergraduate students and eight graduate students. The questionnaire and interview results show that the EMI policy implemented in an EFL context proved to be ineffective and unsuitable in delivering course content due to the limited English proficiency of professors and students. Professors and students also demonstrate strong opposition to the policy because it was imposed unilaterally by the university without their support and consensus. Suggestions from the perspectives of ESL/EFL practitioners are provided to minimize the side effects of the EMI policy in an EFL context.

As Writing Centers begin to expand from the West to new international contexts, L2 tutors, instead of native speaker tutors, are now being hired. These tutors face distinct problems in tutoring EFL students and little research has been done on the types of challenges these tutors encounter or the implications these issues have for tutor development. This paper examines the types of problems L2 writing tutors face when tutoring EFL students and the role reflective journals plays in understanding these issues. Data was collected from five L2 writing tutors in the form of nine reflective journal entries, per tutor, over a two month period making for 45 in total. The results show that tutors had difficulty in distinguishing between lower order concerns (LOC) and higher order concerns (HOC). Tutors also expressed that they were often required to take on a didactic role through being asked to offer explicit knowledge about an assignment. It is argued that there are two potential benefits in utilizing L2 tutors: empathy for the tutee and explicit grammar knowledge. In the discussion, the author analyzes the experiences of the L2 writing tutors and explores the ways in which these insights can be useful to their professional development.