This study investigates the effectiveness of online versus paper-based reading strategy instruction on EFL learners' reading comprehension. Fifty-seven university students from two intact reading classes with comparable proficiency levels were assigned to participate in either a paper-based or an online reading instructional module. Both…

This research combines corpus-based and intuition-based approaches in developing a list of important words in business news that Thai learners of business English need to know. The Thai corpus of English for Business and Economic News (Thai-EBEN) has been compiled from English business news articles in the Thai press. A computer concordancing…

Since listening is a crucial component of language competence and fundamental for successful communication as well, its development has been gradually given much attention from language teachers and researchers. This study is aimed at investigating the effectiveness of two pre-listening supports, i.e. question preview and topic preparation on the…

Although pair and small group activities are commonly used in second language (L2) classrooms, there are very few studies which can inform teachers about whether it is best to have students work in pairs or in small groups. In this study, conducted in a junior high school in Indonesia with learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), we…

This paper is motivated by the premise that little is known about the use of requestive strategies in request emails in Chinese English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) context. Specifically, the paper examines and compares requestive strategies in request emails between two groups of university students, namely English majors (EM) and non-English…

Despite the influence of changing demographics in Japan, the National Center Test for University Entrance Exams continues to assert an ever increasing role in the process of university admissions. In preparation for this examination, the majority of senior high school students learn from textbooks approved by the Japanese Ministry of Education,…

In the field of vocabulary acquisition, there have been many studies on the efficacy of word lists. However, very few of these were based on research in a classroom setting, and therefore, their results may not be applicable to standard classroom situations. This study investigated which of the five types of word lists (synonyms, antonyms,…

The Systemic Textual Analysis (STA) is a text-based approach to teaching writing based on a combination of the genre-based theory and systemic functional linguistics. Central to this approach is the teacher-learner collaborative analysis of various text types in terms of structure and texture through the use of genre analysis and systemic…

This article traces the evolution of the English language curriculum for senior secondary school in China from 1949 against the background of national developments in China. The latest English language curriculum (2003) is then introduced and discussed in comparison with the 1993 syllabus. The comparison suggests that the 2003 curriculum…

In order to motivate university students to improve their English proficiency, the Hong Kong government decided to adopt a common exit English language test for all graduating students. In the process of selecting a suitable measure for this purpose, an empirical study with a sample of over 240 students was conducted to compare two English…

Needs analysis is an issue of major concern for courses of English, both for English as a Second Language (ESL) and as a foreign language (EFL). In my study, I examined two EAP programmes at two universities--in New Zealand and Vietnam--to see if needs analysis receives any attention in these two programmes, and, if so, how needs analysis is…

This study investigated learning vocabulary in group work at university in Vietnam. The students were studied in two kinds of group settings, "unassisted" and "assisted", the first consisting of five students from the same class level and the second of four from the same class and a student from a higher class. Differences were observed in both…

Second language researchers and trainers have met with some success in teaching language learners the skill of inferring meaning from context while reading, using a variety of teaching methods. This paper describes a study that attempts to compare the effectiveness of three teaching methods, on ESL learners' ability to infer from context and…

The oral performance of a sample of 87 undergraduates was evaluated first in a face-to-face setting and then through audio recordings of that same performance. Results confirm that effectiveness in oral communication clearly is not dependent on words and sounds alone but that paralinguistic and extralinguistic data also play a significant role.…

Two types of verbal-report data (concurrent and retrospective) and four major introspective methods used in second-language research (L2) (thinking-aloud, questionnaires, interviews, diary-keeping) are described in a discussion of introspective L2 research studies. It is argued that, though incomplete, verbal reports from informant-learners offer…