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This study examined self-recorded video-speaking tasks of 48 Korean university students in an online English for Special Purposes (ESP) course to determine the task’s contribution to learners’ self-regulation while learning English as a foreign language (EFL). Students selected and researched topics in science and engineering, self-recording three-to-five-minute speaking videos and sharing them via a learning management system (LMS) with unsynchronized question-and-answer (Q&A) peer interaction. Then, they submitted self-reflections on their course experiences. I analyzed speaking videos and self-reflections to examine self-regulation. The results showed positive speaking proficiency but less sufficient pronunciation and grammar than other components (fluency, vocabulary, and content), suggesting that EFL learners in ESP courses require more effort in learning technical terms in their natural spoken language. Also, they intertwined components of Zimmerman and Moylan’s (2009) three-phase self-regulated model into their tasks. They linked subsequent goal-setting to motivation and self-efficiency. The self-recording process provided opportunities to rehearse pronunciation, fluency, and organization; an imagery process helped cognitive memory for fluency and vocabulary. Technology was a good helping tool to support self-taught learning. However, instructors should guide speaking with a camera on or not simply reading from pre-written manuscripts for better self-regulated learning.

Second language (L2) learners’ positive emotions have recently attracted a growing amount of researchers’ attention since positive psychology was introduced to second language acquisition (SLA) research. The present study focused on foreign language enjoyment (FLE), one of the positive emotions that are assumed to be correlated with SLA. It explored its relationship with self-efficacy, engagement, and L2 vocabulary learning in Japanese learners of English. The participants were 71 first-year university students. The data on the variables were collected over a 15-week semester. The main results of quantitative analyses indicated that FLE, engagement, and self-efficacy were significantly positively correlated, and FLE and engagement significantly predicted each other. It was also found that FLE was positively associated with achievement in the formal and semantic aspects of L2 vocabulary words. The results of qualitative analyses identified several learner variables and contextual variables causing the participants’ FLE and anxiety. The present findings suggest reciprocity between FLE and engagement and positive relationships between FLE and the achievement of L2 vocabulary. The pedagogical implication is that teachers should try to increase their students’ FLE and engagement in the classroom, ultimately leading to their L2 achievement and well-being.

Student engagement with language learning is a vital concern for all language programs, and self-efficacy is a primary factor that can impact a student’s level of engagement with various tasks in the language learning classroom. In this study, the language learning histories of two female Japanese university students were analyzed through an analysis of narrative approach using a series of journals and interviews to determine potential patterns in the development of their self-efficacy, as well as their engagement with language learning. The narratives of the two participants revealed that as their self-efficacy for specific domains and tasks increased, their engagement with the macro-skills of language learning changed. Thus, it is possible that through understanding the sources of self-efficacy and how they contribute to an individual’s belief in their capabilities, teachers and researchers might also better understand various patterns of engagement and disengagement with language learning. The discussion section also considers how the experiences of the women in this study might relate to the experiences of students in other contexts, as well as how teachers might address developing the self-efficacy of their own students.

This study investigated the usage of high-frequency English phrasal verbs (PVs) and the effects of L1 typology for learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Essays by native English speakers and by Chinese and Japanese EFL learners from the International Corpus Network of Asian Learners (ICNALE) were analyzed to determine directional, aspectual, and idiomatic PV usage. As English, Chinese, and Japanese are typologically different languages, comparing their PV usage revealed preferences for how the three groups expressed motion, as seen in directional PVs, and change of state events, which are often seen in idiomatic and aspectual PVs. A Chi-squared test revealed a significant association between L1 typology and PV types, and a pairwise comparison indicated a disproportionate use of PVs among the groups. For example, the two EFL learner groups used fewer directional PVs than the English native speakers. Accordingly, L1 typology appears to be a factor in influencing the types of PVs that are used. Considering the high frequency of the PVs investigated in the current study, there are important pedagogical implications for educators who are recommended to take into consideration their learners’ L1 and how it can affect their ability to acquire and use PVs of varying types.

This study aims to examine the effect of mobile application types on learners’ vocabulary ability and affective domain. Using two different types of mobile applications, ClassCard and Kahoot!, this study investigates how flashcard-type and game-type mobile applications affect students’ vocabulary retention and factors related to affective domain. One hundred forty-one participants in S public girl’s high school in South Korea participated in this study, and they were divided into ClassCard and Kahoot! group based on their pre-test vocabulary scores. Results collected from pre-, post-, and delayed-post vocabulary tests and pre- and post- surveys were analyzed using SPSS program. Independent sample t-test was used to compare and contrast the results between the ClassCard and Kahoot group, and paired sample t-test and repeated measures ANOVA were conducted to analyze in detail the effect of each mobile application. The results have shown that there are no significant differences between the two experimental groups in terms of vocabulary retention and affective factors. However, in-depth analysis of each application showed significant improvement in all areas.

Research conducted into scaffolding variations has widely investigated first/second language teachers and learners who do not have communication constraints. However, little is understood about how an EFL teacher scaffolds a young autism spectrum disorder (ASD) learner’s shared reading experiences with a storybook app. This study aims to draw an EFL teacher's cognitive, affective, and technical scaffolding and investigate to what extent Vygotsky’s theory accounts for the three types of scaffolding during shared reading activities with a storybook app. This case study design involved an EFL teacher and an ASD learner (aged 12, with an IQ of 110). The ASD learner only learned English from his teacher and a storybook app for more than one year. The EFL teacher’s frequency of utterances was transcribed, coded, and interpreted into three scaffoldings behavior. The results indicate that the three types of cognitive behavior frequently emerged during shared story activities to support learners’ interactive communication. This study offers a robust framework of how the three scaffolding categories are applied concurrently during interactive story sharing with the storybook app. It recommends that future researchers examine teacher's scaffolding behavior using a specific micro-analytical approach.

It is evident that English classes in Thailand are overcrowded, as students frequently come from diverse backgrounds and have a variety of skills and interests. In response to this out-of-control circumstance, Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence (MI) theory proposes a new style of teaching that accounts for individual differences. This study seeks to investigate 1) the effects of MI-based instruction on English achievement and 2) the extent to which MI-based instruction fosters learner autonomy (LA). A quasi-experimental design was used to assess students' language achievement, while mixed-method research was used to assess students' LA. This study included 123 engineering faculty members from a university in the central region of Thailand. The English achievement test was used to assess their general English proficiency, while the adapted questionnaire from Murase's (2015) Measuring Instruments of Language Learner Autonomy (MILLA), the semi-structured interviews and the teacher's log were used to assess their LA. The results showed that the experimental group improved their listening, speaking, reading, writing and grammar skills, while their writing skills did not differ from the control group. There was no significant difference in the students’ level of LA after the MI-based instruction.

The present study investigated whether and how the selected cognitive and affective predictors namely, reading strategies, L1 reading attitudes, and L2 reading attitudes contributed to L2 reading comprehension. 145 Iranian male 10th grade senior high school students of three public schools participated in the study by completing questionnaires and taking a reading comprehension test. Pearson’s r was applied to estimate the degree of correlation among cognitive, affective and linguistic constructs. All Pearson observed values were then subjected to t-test for Pearson r to test the hypotheses concerning the significance of the population correlation in each instance of estimated correlation. Then, structural equation modelling was employed to verify the hypothesised model of relationships among the variables. The study revealed L1 reading attitude, reading strategies, and L2 reading attitude were all positively and significantly correlated with L2 reading comprehension. It further showed that L1 reading attitude and reading strategies both had positive correlations with L2 reading attitude, and that L2 reading attitude mediated the effect of both L1 reading attitude and reading strategies on L2 reading comprehension. Significant pedagogical implications drawn from the results of the study are discussed.