Foreign language writing enjoyment: Conceptualization, sources, and measurement

In the context of reform and opening up and the requirements of the new era, foreign language teaching has always been an important part of cultivating high-quality talents in China, especially English teaching. However, there is still a traditional way of education in the college oral English classroom. Teachers focus on the output of English knowledge, while students need more opportunities to practice speaking English. Thus, there is still room for improvement in the content and form of oral English classes in colleges and universities, which has some research value. In order to improve the oral English classes in today’s colleges and universities, this study takes the English majors’ Oral English class at Xiamen University Tan Kah Kee College as the research object. Based on the interview of the oral English teacher and the observation and analysis of the classroom, the strengths and weaknesses of the classroom are discussed, alongside feasible suggestions and reflections. Meanwhile, it can provide some reference for foreign teachers and other majors in teaching English as a foreign language and provide practical suggestions for improving the content and form of the speaking class in the future to improve students’ language skills and communicative abilities in an absolute sense.

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Reading Aloud as a Technique for Developing Teachers’ Awareness of English Phonology

Language skill is the capacity to create and convey meaning through the use of the English language, including reading, writing, speaking, and listening (Eslit & Michael, 2013). Having high proficiency in one’s language skill is significant especially for college students – especially those who are English Majors in their transition towards being professional (Norcross, 2020). As cited by Borkala (2022), language skills are a sought-after tenet that employers look for with their employees – it decides if one can get a job or not. However, due to the differences of first language and English as a second or foreign language, Wang and Li (2013) as supported by Wilczewski and Alon (2022) posited that college students who are non-native English speakers may find it difficult to speak, write, listen, and read in English as opposed to their lingua franca.

Chinese universities provide courses in learning French as second language to undergraduate English majors. French plays an important role in the professional courses for undergraduate English majors as a choice for second foreign language courses. Based on the trilingual acquisition theory, this study focuses on the phenomenon of language transfer in learning French as a second language from the perspective of learners. Through the research and analysis of the phenomenon of the transfer of English majors' second foreign language, the influential factors of the transfer of English majors' second foreign language are obtained. Meanwhile, through the empirical research of English majors' second-foreign language French learning, the influence of language transfer on the second foreign French learning has been summarized. In addition, the current situation and obstacles to English majors' second foreign language learning are studied and some learning suggestions are given. Finally, the research results, limitations, and prospects are listed.

In recent years, we can witness a still growing interest in the method, sometimes called Telecollaboration, sometimes Virtual Exchange, not only in foreign language education but also in many other disciplines. Basically, this is a long online communication between groups of students or pupils from different geographical locations and different cultural contexts. The aim of this method is to help students gain intercultural experience and learn more about people from other countries, to improve and deepen their language skills and make them more active in physical mobility, both in formal and informal educational processes. As part of their schooling or academic training, learners also have the opportunity to acquire media competences (the so-called digital literacy), which means key competences for their future career in the globalized world of work. This paper is going to provide an example of concrete collaboration between groups of students from the Czech Republic and France within the framework of the Evolve project.
 Keywords: telecollaboration, virtual exchange, language skills, intercultural experience

This study explores the impact of dictation exercises in Chinese English classrooms on the language skills of English majors. 120participants from three parallel classes participated in a continuous experiment for 16 weeks within a semester. The experimental results show that dictation scores are significantly correlated with the overall scores of TEM4(Test for English Majors,Band4), indicating that systematic dictation exercises contribute to improving the listening level and dictation ability of English majors. The results also show that short-term dictation exercises are more effective for students with relatively high English proficiency. This study points out that dictation exercises, as a time-saving and effective classroom dictation practice, can be promoted and applied in English majors’ classes.

Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that: (1) The language skills of grade V students of SD Negeri 0607 Pagaran Batu are good. Although there are still some students who are lacking in several indicators, for example, the intonation of the voice is still lacking, the correct pronunciation of vowels, and the lack of fluency in speaking. However, students' language skills changed after watching the TikTok video. The changes that occur are related to the language students use in everyday life. The existence of the TikTok application can change student behavior, especially in the style of speech that students see on TikTok and students imitate it. (2) The Impact of TikTok Social Media on the Language Skills of Grade V Students of SD Negeri 0607 Pagaran Batu includes: enriching students' vocabulary and can be used as a medium in learning foreign languages, for example English and Arabic. In addition, the use of TikTok can also increase creativity in the use of language and students' social interactions. TikTok encourages users to be creative with language, for example through poetry, songs, or comedy sketches, which can strengthen students' language and literacy skills. Then another positive impact is that it can be used in cultural learning. Videos on TikTok often reflect the culture of different countries, allowing students to learn about different cultural contexts and how language is used in those situations. The negative impacts of using TikTok on the language skills of grade V of SD Negeri 0607 Pagaran Batu include the use of non-standard language and grammatical errors. TikTok can improve students' language skills, but the language used is not grammatical, sounds rude and impolite. In addition, TikTok also has an impact on the lack of real social interaction. Excessive involvement with TikTok can reduce the time students spend interacting directly with friends, family, and teachers, which is important for the development of healthy language skills.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many educational changes, especially the shift towards the use of technology in all subjects. This longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the effect of learning environments—blended and online, alone and with graded-reading websites/applications—on the reading comprehension of Saudi undergraduates majoring in English during COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, 130 participants were selected (control: male [N = 21], female [N = 54]; or experimental: male [N = 21], female [N = 34]). Although the four gender-based groups were exposed to the same learning environments—first blended and later online, which were either partially or dependent on technology—only the male and female experimental groups were required to use graded-reading websites/applications for approximately 10 months during the COVID-19 school lockdowns. All participants took four tests (pretest, posttest 1, posttest 2, and delayed posttest). Using the SPSS program, the results indicated that the learning environments alone had a limited positive effect on the control groups’ reading comprehension in the short term, which either decreased significantly (male control group) or remained unchanged (female control group) in the long term. There were significant differences between all control groups and experimental groups across all tests (p < 0.000). However, the experimental male group outperformed their male counterpart across all posttests except for the second posttest: experimental male group mean was 15.43 whereas it was 16.19 for the control male group. However, combining learning environments and graded-reading websites/applications yielded gradual positive effects on the reading comprehension of the experimental groups in the short term, which continued into the long term for the male experimental group. The experimental groups outperformed the control groups on at least two out of three posttests. The study concluded that the effect of technology on the reading comprehension of Saudi male and female undergraduates is bounded by the type of specialized technology (i.e., reading websites/applications) and the applied learning environments (i.e., blended and online). Additionally, the study indicated that there is a need to investigate other important factors related to technology used in Saudi institutes, as well as its effects on students’ learning processes in ongoing changes in the education sector in Saudi Arabia.

1. Introduction For many students reading is the most important of the four skills in a foreign language. If we consider the study of English as a second or foreign language around the world and the situation in which most English learners find themselves, we recognize that reading is one of the main reasons why students learn the language (Richards & Renandya, 2002).Researchers believe that there are some common factors which influence L2 reading comprehension.One of them is individual factors which include “L1 knowledge, language proficiency, the use of strategy, knowledge of different text types and pragmatics, metalinguistic knowledge, background knowledge, and motivation”(Alderson, 2000, p.60 as cited in Orbea & Villabeitia, 2010).However, according to Dornyei (2005), the effect of individual differences (ID) is produced in interaction with the environment, including classroom instruction and interaction with teachers and classmates. Therefore, the present study is designed to shed light on the effect and interaction of Iranian EFL learners’ level of motivation (as one of the factors of individual differences) with the type of instruction based on receiving reciprocal teaching and cooperative grouping intervention program. The results showed that the intervention changed motivation for reading efficacy, reading challenge, reading curiosity, competition in reading, recognition for reading, reading for grades, social reasons for reading and compliance. 2. Methodology This study was based on a quasi-experimental, pretest/posttest design. The participants were not randomly assigned to groups but rather belonged to whole classes.There were four groups of participants. The control groups received the typical reading instruction and the experimental groups received the intervention.The study took 14 sessions of 90 minutes during a semester. Meanwhile, in order to control the effect of the text type on reading comprehension, the textbook of all groups was the same. 3. Discussion The results of the study show that the type of intervention is effective on reading comprehension ability of Iranian English learners. Therefore, the significant feature of the intervention which includes interaction between the teacher and the students could be considered as a key point in the process of instruction. Meanwhile, the results highlight the great influence of scaffolding as the fundamental element of the intervention. Scaffolding in the process of instruction provides opportunities for learners to improve their language knowledge and to become autonomous (Ellis, 2003).In this regard, Walqui (2006) suggests six main types of instructional scaffolding. One of them is modeling which is used in reciprocal teaching and cooperative grouping intervention program. In addition, the study reminds us of the significant role of motivation. The intervention changes motivation for reading efficacy, reading challenge, reading curiosity, competition in reading, recognition for reading, reading for grades, social reasons for reading and compliance. Therefore, as Guthrie, Cox, Knowles, Buehl, Mazzoni, & Fasculo (2000) mentions, language learners with high intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy as well as competition and challenge are moderately active readers and high achievers in the process of reading comprehension. 4. Conclusion This study highlights the significant role of interaction and cooperation .The related literature in educational field shows that there is a significant relationship between applying reading strategies(through reciprocal teaching and cooperative grouping intervention program) and improvement in reading comprehension ability of language learners(Topping, Thurston, Tomlie, Christie, Murray, & Karagiannidou, 2011).The results would be highly beneficial for instructors and course designers since they could form authentic and real-life contexts in which the learners would be more involved in problem solving tasks and critical thinking activities. This area of attempt needs special attention in Iran since educators do not focus on the importance of interaction and negotiation; therefore, we face reluctant readers who prefer to work individually. The practice of reciprocal teaching and cooperative intervention program would facilitate the relation between teacher and students and between students themselves. On the other hand, learners with different features learn in different ways and give different feedback to the instruction. Therefore, instructors should prepare the learning contexts by considering learners’ individual differences in a way that the environment would satisfy each learner’s needs. Each learner with his/her own unique characteristic would like to know the course objectives and the instructor’s plan during the course. Therefore, preparing a concise lesson plan with all the explanations and details improve learners’ level of motivation and enable them to complete their tasks including reading ones in the process of instruction. Meanwhile, lack of motivation and interest towards the reading activities in the classrooms would be the result of the instructional techniques which are employed. Therefore, instruction should include a selection of appealing activities .Also, the content should be related to the learners’ educational backgrounds and level of motivation so that they could become more motivated and encouraged in the process of learning (Tomlinson, 2003).

Based on the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and following a blended learning approach (a supplement model), this article reports on a quasi-experiment where writing was taught evenly with other language skills in everyday language contexts and where asynchronous online activities were required from students to extend learning beyond classroom hours. The experiment was carried out with freshmen in one of the Egyptian private universities. Twenty one pre-intermediate level students represented the experimental group that was taught the new CEFR course, and twenty six other students of the same level represented the control group that was taught the traditional face to face academically contextualized course. A pre and post writing tests were used to reveal students’ writing proficiency before and after the experiment, and a t test was also used to measure the development of each group to find out whether their writing has developed after tutoring or not. Results indicated that the experimental group transcended the control group in 70% of the rubrics used to grade students’ writing, and when measuring the results of the experimental group in the pretest and the posttest, there was a significant development in their writing proficiency level. This experiment is considered a step towards developing students’ learning techniques in the institution; henceforth in the country. The experiment is one of the leading initiatives to teach English as a Foreign Language according to CEFR following a blended learning approach to undergraduate students in Egypt.

Abstract
 Indonesian that taught as the foreign language in BIPA (Indonesian for Foreigners) classes and its authenticity are inseparable. Authenticity is related to the originality. In the context of BIPA learning, the authenticity can be presented in class activities related to contexts and real experiences, for examples students are asked to shop at the market, practice to bargain, practice to use public transportations, practice how to introduce themselves, interview native speakers, and many other authentic tasks. However, what makes it challenging today is that BIPA students cannot come directly to Indonesia and the learning process should be conducted online. Nonetheless, the authenticity can be still presented in authentic texts, not only in written but also in spoken. In addition, texts have complete thinking structures and understandings. Before presenting them in the class, teachers should understand the texts, situation context, culture context, authenticity, and types of text. The author also analyzes Graduate Competency Standards (SKL) of BIPA to identify types of text based on student’s level. 
 Keywords: texts, situation contex, culture contex, authenticity, types of texts

Schools as Complex Host Environments: Understanding Aspects of Schools that May Influence Clinical Practice and Research

The use of information and communication technology greatly improved foreign languages teaching and learning. Learning management systems, such as Moodle, used to create and deliver courses, facilitate e-learning in different types of educational institutions. Blended learning as a combination of face-to face and e-learning is conducive to deep learning. We designed a new course “Teaching English as a foreign language to learners with special educational needs” to provide students enrolled in a master’s programme – pre-service English teachers, with an opportunity to enhance their language and professional skills as well as to develop their learner autonomy through meaningful learning experiences blending learning can supplement. We considered micro, meso and macro levels of the course implementation and functioning. In this paper we describe the context in which the course is introduced by providing information about the setting, the curriculum, the need for including this course in the master’s programme at the faculty of foreign languages. We also outline the way the course is designed, including its structure, particular tasks and assessment procedures and present students’ feedback about the impact of the course on their foreign language skills and learner autonomy. The results indicate that blended learning is an effective tool for development of pre-service teachers’ English language skills and learner autonomy. The findings of the study can be applied by faculty and administrators involved in the design of courses at tertiary level.

With the development of economic globalization in the past decades, the demand for Japanese-speaking talents has been increasing and an unprecedented upsurge of learning Japanese has appeared at tertiary education in China. In terms of English majors, not only are they stipulated to lay a solid foundation for English, but they also need to take another foreign language course and meet corresponding requirements. Due to the national and international environment nowadays, more and more English majors make their own choices in learning Japanese as another foreign language. However, compared with studies focusing on Japanese major education, research concerning non-major education, including English majors’ learning Japanese as a second language, is still scant. The questionnaires and interviews conducted at a university in Jiangsu, China indicated that English majors’ Japanese learning was somewhat problematic, which included poor motivations, inappropriate learning habits, and some apparent learning difficulties. Actually, it is found that both subjective elements (i.e. emotional resistance and discrimination, unawareness of the importance of Japanese, inappropriate learning methods) and objective elements (i.e. misallocation of time and class periods, disadvantages of the teaching material) contributed to the situation. Therefore, learning strategies have been put forward in this paper to help students optimize their learning. Article visualizations: