The present study examines Iranian language learners' views on different types of oral corrective feedback and explores the relationship with learners' language proficiency. It then compares the learners' views with those of their teachers. The study is based on a 36-item questionnaire completed by 154 English as a foreign language…

Whereas there exists a plethora of research on collocations and formulaic language in English, this article contributes towards a somewhat less developed area: the understanding and teaching of formulaic language in German as a foreign language. It analyses formulaic sequences and collocations in German writing (corpus-driven) and provides modern…

Recent literature that examines the implementation of task-based language teaching (TBLT) in classroom settings has reported various challenges related to educational cultures, classroom management, teacher cognition and learner perceptions. To facilitate the smooth transition of TBLT from laboratory settings to classroom contexts, measures need…

This study investigates the combined effects of task-based careful online planning and the storyline structure of a task on second language performance (complexity, accuracy and fluency). Sixty intermediate EFL learners were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 15). Participants were asked to perform two tasks with different degrees of storyline…

A considerable number of studies on focus-on-form instruction, corrective feedback and uptake have been carried out in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) research over the last two decades. These studies have investigated the above-mentioned concepts from different perspectives, in a number of different contexts and in a number of…

This article reports the results of two studies on the vocabulary growth of advanced learners of English as a foreign language in an English-medium degree programme. Growth in learners' written receptive and productive vocabularies was investigated in one cross-sectional and one longitudinal study over three years. The effect of word…

A decade ago, Klapper (2003: "Taking communication to task? A critical review of recent trends in language teaching", "The Language Learning Journal" 27: 33-42) created the opportunity to reflect on the assets and limitations of task-based language teaching (TBLT) in comparison with more established communicative language…

This article explores ways in which learners' achievements can be assessed and reflected in both the domains of linguistic performance and subject-content learning. The content and language integrated learning (CLIL) approach adopted by the authors is one in which language learning and content learning are truly integrated and where neither…

This study presents an insight into content and language integrated learning (CLIL) practices in the Australian state of Queensland. The article comprises four main sections. The first section outlines the context of CLIL in Australia and Queensland; there follows a brief review of the literature on stakeholders in CLIL programmes, such as…

This article discusses issues related to oral assessment of school knowledge of L2-educated students. In particular, it examines benefits and disadvantages of students being tested in their L1 (their dominant language) and in their L2 (their language of instruction). The study draws on the data from 37 high school students studying in a content…

This study examines the problems encountered by trainee language teachers who strive to maintain their language skills at their optimum level in the classroom. Many trainees will admit that their language skills need refreshing and a significant number of mentors agree with them. This article explores language attrition and strategies that can be…

Much second language acquisition research in recent decades has assumed that a learner's main purpose for learning a second language (L2) is to develop communicative competence. Consequently, many studies have focused on investigating ways in which teachers and/or the learning environment may support the development of such competence. In…

With the spread of the Internet, students now have greater opportunities to use Japanese outside of the classroom. For example, they can interact with other Japanese speakers through instant messaging or social networking, or utilize online dictionaries and translation tools to decipher websites in ways that would be impossible with traditional…

The use of online language corpora in L2 teaching and learning is gaining momentum largely because corpora are an easily accessed source of language input that potentially provide rich and authentic lexico-grammatical data. This can be of particular use for students' writing as its incorporation can enhance the appearance of native-like…

In this article, the authors examine the fourth stage of their research into diversity in the languages classroom, focusing specifically on the teacher perspective in planning for and managing diversity in adult student groups. The article discusses findings from a day with experienced Open University language teachers working together on lesson…