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This study compared the effects of computer-mediated (CM) versus pen-and-paper (P&P) writing on written accuracy and feedback processing in tasks written and rewritten collaboratively following a pedagogical treatment in two intact authentic classrooms. The study involved 32 secondary education low-proficiency English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners writing two descriptive texts collaboratively and receiving in-class training in the identification and correction of grammatical, lexical, and mechanical errors. Participants were provided with unfocused direct error correction (EC). Error logs were used to facilitate noticing of teacher corrections (i.e., feedback processing). Dyads were required to rewrite their texts for evidence of feedback uptake. Results indicate that writing collaboratively on the computer with the availability of the Internet contributes to increased grammatical and lexical accuracy. No differences were found between writing environments regarding feedback processing or accuracy of rewritten texts.

Syntactic complexity has been extensively approached in the fields of corpus linguistics and academic discourse studies. However, works focusing on disciplinary variation in terms of linguistic complexity and comparison of professional and novice academic writing are scarce. Addressing these issues is likely to have important implications for EAP/ESP practitioners in terms of selection of target structures and learning material design. This study is a corpus analysis of the use of clausal complexity features in two social sciences, management and economics. The research is based on two kinds of corpora: expert corpora which comprise articles published in peer-reviewed journals, and learner corpora of L2 undergraduate students' research papers. This work aims at answering two questions: Do clausal complexity features vary in the texts in management and economics? What are the differences in syntactic use between the academic texts written by professional authors and learner writing? The data showed that economists and managers tend to use the structures under consideration with significantly different frequencies. The professional writing was found to demonstrate more signs of clausal complexity than the learners' texts.

This short article reviews key corpus-based pedagogic initiatives in the spirit of the Swalesian tradition of genre analysis. Pedagogic genres covered include report writing, thesis writing, writing a grant proposal and legal essay writing. More recently, attention has been paid to the writing of research articles by postgraduate students for whom published articles are becoming a prerequisite for a PhD to be awarded. These pedagogic endeavours invariably commence from a top-down perspective. Genre moves are first identified followed by more bottom-up corpus searches for the identification of prototypical lexico-grammatical patterning for specific move structures. In a few cases, relevant sub-sections of freely available corpora, such as the Michigan Corpus of Upper-level Student Papers (MICUSP), are used. However, most pedagogic initiatives make use of self-compiled specialised corpora to meet the needs of students from a specific discipline. Genre-based research findings can also usefully inform classroom-based corpus activities.

This paper examines how internationalisation of higher education institutions is reflected through their mission and vision statements by comparatively analysing the mission and vision statements of selected universities in Malaysia and the Philippines. To carry out the study, twenty (20) mission and vision statements of public and private universities in Malaysia and the Philippines were collected and analysed, underlined by the importance of textual agency in policy orientations. The framework used in analysing the mission and vision statements includes the analysis of textual practice and discourse practice. The micro-level analysis of the discourse focused on the textual practice, such as vocabulary, grammar, and text structure. Moreover, the genre and style of text were also analysed. The findings of the study reveal that the mission and vision statements of universities in Malaysia and the Philippines align with respective country policies, and have something in common as far as the concept of internationalisation in higher education is concerned. It is also evident that universities in both countries emphasise the importance of producing global and competent graduates, and obtaining international recognition and world-class education.

This text critically examines traditional methodologies for teaching grammar in the context of Portuguese as a Foreign Language (PFL). It proposes an alternative, eclectic approach, which can be used in any foreign language. Drawing on evidence from research and pedagogical practices, it highlights areas for improvement in current approaches, such as the decontextualization of linguistic structures and insufficient gradual progression in exercises. The paper suggests a teaching framework based on Motivating-Grammaring-Applying (MGA), aiming to embed grammar learning in meaningful, communicative contexts and develop grammatical proficiency beyond mere rule memorization. The MGA model foregrounds the importance of authentic texts, student-centric discovery learning, and the application of learned structures in diverse communicative tasks. The paper further emphasizes the potential of digital tools and the importance of integrating grammar learning with other linguistic and cultural skills. Ultimately, this study encourages PFL teachers to diversify their pedagogical strategies and reconsider the role of grammar teaching in language learning, aiming at empowering students for effective communication in real-world contexts.

As an effective tool to advance language competence, writing papers collaboratively has the characteristic of improving author language skills, providing authors with opportunities to practice language skills in meaningful contexts. As authors collaborate to yield a paper, they get exposure to grammar genres, structures, and expressions. Concurrently, during the process, language is applied to communicate ideas effectively. This paper aims to investigate whether collaboration is really a beneficial aspect for authors. This qualitative investigation was embedded in case study design to uncover truths experienced in real-life situations. To collect data, semi-structured interviews were administered to five university scholars chosen from a population of authors reported to have successfully written publishable papers. It emerged as major findings that individual comprehension can be improved when authors collaborate on paper writing, and, as authors receive written feedback from each other, language competence advances. Although previous publications on writing collaboratively exist, research is silent on improved language competence acquired through this practice. It is concluded that individual comprehension can be improved by collaborative paper writing as the process provides opportunities for authors to justify and discuss their ideas. As they work collaboratively, authors deepen their understanding of the material and enhance their language skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a need for a continued focus on language learning in advanced language classes beyond the foundations that are formed in the beginning and intermediate levels. Despite this need, little work exists on how to implement language-focused instruction in upper-level courses. As one possible solution, this paper outlines a functional, meaning-based approach to teaching language that could be easily adopted by all instructors, regardless of their professional training and/or research interests. As an example of this approach, the study described in this paper investigates the instruction of Subjunctive 1 through its function as indirect speech in a literary context. Eight participants in a fourth-semester German course engaged with the Subjunctive 1 form through a lesson focused on Kafka's authorial choices in the text "Vor dem Gesetz" that create a sense of uncertainty. This approach complements the traditional teaching of Subjunctive 1, such as in journalistic contexts, by centering it as a tool for meaning making in an author's lexicogrammatical toolkit. An analysis of pre/posttests that included both quantitative and qualitative data was used to assess the effectiveness of the approach. The results indicate an overall positive effect for the instruction but also individual variation by the learner. These findings support both the utility of and need for functional, meaning-based approaches in upper-level courses. Finally, I discuss how this type of approach could be adopted for any linguistic feature and by any instructor teaching advanced courses to support students' linguistic growth throughout the curriculum.

This paper presents the findings of a descriptive multiple case study carried out with six teachers of English in five public secondary schools in a city in northwestern Mexico aimed to determine how writing was taught. A mixed methods approach was followed with an embedded design in which qualitative data had increased weight and quantitative data was supportive. Qualitative data were collected through an interview guide approach, non-participant observation, and qualitative document analysis, while quantitative supporting data were collected using structured observation and quantitative document analysis. In the qualitative analysis, four themes emerged: (1) writing activities, (2) resources, (3) assessment, and (4) frequency of work on writing. Results suggest that writing activities in which students are required to write one word, a phrase or a sentence predominate. Also, findings show that paper-based resources for writing tasks are frequently used. Qualitative results suggest that written exams, word dictation and class projects were assessment practices assigned by teachers; besides, findings suggest that the writing activities are form-driven rather than meaning-driven. The relevance of this research is that findings might provide the basis for designing quantitative studies in this context that allow for generalizations.

Large Language Models (LLMs) are a powerful type of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that simulates how humans organize language and are able to interpret, predict, and generate text. This allows for contextual understanding of natural human language which enables the LLM to understand conversational human input and respond in a natural manner. Recent examples of this, such as the Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (GPT) model, popularized by OpenAI's web application, ChatGPT, are able to complete an astounding variety of tasks when provided with simple language input. For education, LLMs can alleviate teacher curriculum and grading workloads and even perform specific tasks such as generating creative ideas for activities. Specifically for language learning, LLMs can draw on their immense corpus of language content to generate learner-centric materials to aid teachers in delivering targeted, personalized language instruction. The aim of this paper is to provide the reader with examples of how LLMs can be utilized for materials development, classroom activities, and providing feedback. After giving specific examples and explanations, the paper will conclude with a discussion of how this technology can provide teachers with new innovative ways to streamline the teaching process to focus on learner needs.

This study investigates the extent to which paper-based data-driven learning (DDL) activities can improve Thai EFL students' grammar learning of conditional sentences (the second condition), as well as the participants' attitudes toward learning through the DDL approach. This was a two-week research using a one-group pre-test and post-test design. The convenience-sampled participants were 15 Thai EFL undergraduate students majoring in English at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. This study included three research instruments: a pre/post-test, an attitudes questionnaire, and interviews. The instructional approach, which consisted of the paper-based DDL material, was devised using The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) consisting of 40 concordances. Using non-parametric statistics Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, there is a statistically significant difference in mean scores in the findings (p<0.001), indicating that their grammatical knowledge was developed after participating in DDL activities. Furthermore, the participants had positive attitudes towards DDL learning since they considered DDL as a fruitful and beneficial tool in helping them acquire grammatical knowledge and language patterns by themselves. Therefore, the outcomes of the research have a noteworthy impact on the field of teaching English, showcasing the potential of utilizing corpus data to analyze genuine language patterns and enhance learners' understanding of language structure.

Although numerous studies show that intelligence, measured by various tests, is a significant predictor of school achievement, this cognitive variable can only explain about 50% of the variance. It is also known that communicative language ability represents an important basis for learning subject content in the early period of formal education. One of the most comprehensive models of language ability (Bahman, Palmer, 1996), in addition to strategic knowledge, includes language knowledge that includes organizational language knowledge (grammatical and textual) and pragmatic language knowledge. Although the non-cognitive factors de facto participate in the explanation of school success, the aim of the research presented in this paper was to determine the predictive influence of intelligence and communicative language ability, i.e. organizational and pragmatic language knowledge on differences in school achievement in Serbian, English and Mathematics at the end of the first half of the fifth grade. The research was conducted on the sample of 197 fifth-grade students (51% girls, average age 11.5 months) in elementary schools in Loznica. The authors of the paper applied an adapted form of the test of communicative language abilities that was applied in research in a bilingual context (Šimonji-Cernak, 2005). Revisk was used to test verbal and manipulative intelligence (Biro, 1997). We started from the assumption that organizational language knowledge, has a more significant predictive influence on differences in school performance in the above-mentioned subjects than intelligence. Hierarchical regression analysis model determined that the predictor variables of organizational language knowledge explain 36.8%-49.4% of the variance in school achievement, while the intelligence variables are related to the achievements in Serbian and Mathematics and explain 0.6%-3% of the variance. A significant partial contribution of pragmatic knowledge and knowledge of verbs as an element of grammatical language knowledge were determined in all three subjects, as well as the contribution of knowledge of grammatical rules only in the Serbian language.The results confirm the hypothesis and indicate that for success in the mother tongue, foreign language and mathematics it is important to develop grammatical knowledge, and pay special attention to the importance and strategies of developing pragmatic language function in the period of early formal education.

This article reviews conversation analytic research on explanations in pedagogical interaction, particularly in language learning classrooms. In reviewing this literature, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive account of what is interactionally involved when giving pedagogical explanations so that future research investigating the effectiveness of these kinds of explanations can be appropriately measured. The paper first discusses characteristics of explanation as interactional phenomena, namely that they are sequentially organized, either planned or unplanned, and either monologically or dialogically organized. Then, the paper details how explanations in three particular linguistic domains (i.e., pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary) are accomplished interactionally. In doing so, this paper highlights similarities and differences across linguistic domains that are frequently found in language learning classrooms. The paper ends by identifying patterns across pedagogical explanations and by suggesting directions for future research.

With the change in socio-political and educational contexts in global academia, the trend of writing academic papers has arisen among Nepali students and educators in higher education. However, many of them are still unfamiliar with the basic standard to be incorporated in an academic paper. In this context, this study examined the post-graduate students' errors in writing research proposals. A textual analysis method was employed, where quantitative phase of analysis was followed by qualitative, and the data were collected from 24 purposively selected research proposals and from the interview with 10 students. The quantitative data were gathered from content analysis of the research proposals and qualitative data were collected from the unstructured interview. The collected proposals were studied, erroneous expressions were listed and categorized in to four parameters like grammatical errors, lexical semantic errors, mechanic errors and syntactic errors. The information from the interview was recorded, noted and analyzed. The results exhibited that (1) article and preposition usages were more persistent grammatical errors; (2) run-ons and fragmentation were more reiterated syntactic errors; and (3) uses of single lexical items were more common lexical-semantic errors and punctuation was the more regular mechanical errors. These findings reveal that students have insufficient knowledge and skills for academic writing. Therefore, they need academic writing courses, training, or workshops from the early level of their schooling. The findings of this study are useful for curriculum designers, policymakers, instructors, and students because it provides significant information on the building blocks experienced by English language learners in writing research paper.

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of the analysis performed on the way in which grammar is presented in an English coursebook created by the Ministry of Education of Colombia (MEN) to provide contextualized material to learners in public school settings. The evaluation criteria to evaluate the grammar were developed considering elements from different frameworks. The focus of the evaluation was selected based on the role that grammar plays in the teaching and learning process in the given context. The results show that the coursebook has a noticing approach to grammar and forms-focused discovery activities are assigned to the students, in terms of the linguistic forms that are presented, it was found that the students have a lower level considering the learning outcomes that learners are intended to achieve as part of national language policies.

Despite undeniable advances in research on language learning strategies in the last several decades, empirical investigations of actions and thoughts that learners engage in to better understand and use grammar structures in different contexts, or grammar learning strategies (GLS), remain scarce. Moreover, there is a paucity of studies examining the effects of pedagogical interventions in this area, both with respect to the use of different types of GLS and the mastery of grammar structures in terms of explicit and implicit (automatized) knowledge. There is also no empirical evidence concerning the mediating role of individual difference (ID) factors in this respect. The paper outlines a study currently in progress that seeks to address all of these gaps. The first part is devoted to a brief overview of key issues related to the definition and classification of GLS as well as a synthesis of available research in this area. This is followed by a description of an intervention-based research project which explores the effects of strategies-based instruction (SBI) targeting GLS by English majors in Poland, also taking into account the moderating impact of selected ID variables. In particular, the methodology of the study is presented and the envisaged contributions of the intervention are considered.

The need for IT professionals with fluency in foreign languages becomes increasingly critical as the Kazakhstani government implements steps to foster IT innovation. However, there are structural, geographical and professional imbalances in the interaction of supply and demand for IT professionals who can speak a foreign language in the modern labour market which is the main problem that is currently hindering the growth of the IT sector in Kazakhstan. The aim of this study was to assess the development of subject communicative language competencies (a) in linguistic or grammatical ability and (b) in discourse ability in first-year students for the proposed author's innovative learning technique in the educational process as well as the appropriate technological and systematic procedures. A mixed-research method was used in this study. The study involved 365 learners in the "Informatics" direction at the International University of Information Technologies in Almaty, Kazakhstan during the school year 2021-2022. According to the findings, the experiment participants did not develop subject-related communicative language competencies. The results show that the degree of capability formation is not satisfactory. 52.8% is the basic level, 41.6% is the production point and only 5.8% is the high level. Positive dynamics shaping learners' subject-related language communication competencies were identified as a result of the implementation of innovative techniques. This paper contributes to the research on teaching IT students in developing countries and highlights the most important factors that contribute to improve the level of subject-related communicative language competencies of IT students.

This paper aims to explore the perception and usage of epicene pronouns in English among Chinese EFL teachers, as gender fair language becomes increasingly important for promoting inclusion, respect for identity and expression. This study employed a survey of 284 EFL teachers along with a follow-up written task to assess their views and actual use of epicene pronouns. The results indicate that while English teachers in China are familiar with the increase of "they" as an epicene pronoun, the use of "he or she" is their preferred choice in the survey, with generic "he" being more common in the written task. The study further reveals that the selection of the epicene pronoun is influenced by factors such as the antecedent type, social gender and the teachers' socio-cultural background. Promoting gender-fair language in L2 English teaching in China is crucial. Efforts are needed to increase awareness and usage of gender-neutral language among Chinese English teachers, emphasizing the importance of incorporating actual language use and adapting to grammatical changes.

This study fostered grammar learning outcomes of tenth-grade students and handled technological inclusivity by using Quizizz paper mode, especially in understanding and using simple past and present perfect tense. This study utilized four stages of classroom action research encompassing planning, implementation, observation and evaluation, and reflection, the researchers used pre-tests, post-tests, and questionnaires for collecting the data. The outcomes unveiled a substantial improvement in students' learning from 66.50 to 89.50. Furthermore, students displayed favorable reactions, affirming the power of Quizizz paper mode in addressing challenges in grammar learning due to its engaging nature, cost-effectiveness, and provision of real-time feedback. Additionally, it fostered inclusivity by allowing every student to participate, irrespective of their access to technology. Moreover, it allowed students to rest their eyes on electronic devices while combining physical and digital learning experiences. The findings of this study suggest that integrating technology-based platforms like Quizizz paper mode can enhance grammar mastery by promoting increased engagement and interactivity among students. based on those results, it is recommended that future researchers explore Quizizz paper mode for teaching various grammar topics or language skills by applying larger sample sizes and examining the prolonged impacts of this tool on students' mastery of grammar or other language skills.

This paper focuses on examining the use of the Duolingo App as a supplement to the traditional ESP courses in Secretarial Studies, for Advanced ESP learners Classes of Lycée Technique et Professional de Porto Novo (LTP-PN), in the Benin Republic. The Objective is to assess substantial improvement of Learners Oral Communication skills after 3 months of studious use of mobile language learning apps. An experimental mixed-method research design in two stages have been used. During the first stage, quantitative data was collected using questionnaires administered to Ten (10) ESP teachers and Forty (40) randomly selected ESP secretarial studies learners of LTP-PN. Qualitative data was also gathered during classroom observations. In the second stage, the experimentation process involving the Experimental Groups (EG), which received the treatment, that is "the use of Duolingo for 15 Mn", and the Control Group (CG) were tested. The data was collected and computed using one way ANOVA test in SPSS 26. The result shows a statistical significance between the use of Duolingo and Secretarial Studies ESP learners' oral proficiency improvement. This paper further suggested that mobile learning apps such as Duolingo should be used as a supplement to the traditional ESP courses. It also pointed out the necessity for ESP teachers to invest in their professional development rather than waiting for the government.

This paper is set up to outline the most common challenges in writing short sentences encountered by the first-year students at the English language departments at Al-Baha University campuses. The study is considered necessary because it raises the awareness of both students and instructors to improve their sentence writing. A mixed approach (quantitative and qualitative) was used to collect the data using questionnaires and interviews. Approximately122 students who study English as a Foreign Language (EFL), (%50.4 females and %49.6 males), together with 30 EFL instructors (15 males and 15 females) who were randomly selected. The paper addresses three questions. They are: (1) What common challenges do students face when writing short sentences?; (2) What are the most frequent challenging short sentence components among the students?; and (3) What are the differences between male and female students regarding difficulties in writing short sentences?. The study found significant challenges in constructing short sentences, distinguishing between active and passive voice, and using conjunctions, punctuation, quantifiers, and appropriate auxiliary verbs. Additionally, students encountered difficulties in building short sentences. Moreover, the study revealed that a high percentage of students have very low English writing skills practice. To overcome any obstacles and push students forward in their learning later, this study highly recommended that EFL instructors should pay more attention to the development of writing skills. Thus, extra written activities and peer assessment must be granted to students in writing short sentences. Moreover, more research should be done to explore and evaluate the most prevalent problems and barriers that first-year students encounter using written samples and paperwork.

This paper examines initial teacher training policies in the context of youth digitalisation. Based on international ICT competency frameworks for teachers (UNESCO, 2008, 2019) and information literacy, MIL (UNESCO, 2011), we analyse how Spanish (public and private) universities represent digital innovation, and the identity practices of young people, linked to hyperconnectivity. Focusing on initial training received by future secondary teachers, the sample was selected according to the criteria of non-presential learning (online, distance, blended) applied in the teacher training process. Results confirm ongoing deficiencies in critical teacher digitalisation management, highlighting certain asymmetries between the categories constructed. Data reveals the prevalence of intervention more geared towards formal knowledge than towards decoding digital grammar (which is how digitalisation is used in education). The paper concludes by advocating convergence strategies as a circular mechanism that must underpin all teacher training policies in the age of hyperconnectivity.

Vocabulary knowledge is very crucial for learners who want to be competent in a language. Vocabulary knowledge means having the knowledge of or command over words of a language and their usages in real-life contexts. Vocabulary knowledge can be gained incidentally and intentionally. The paper compares the effectiveness of the reading-only condition and reading-while-listening condition in incidental vocabulary acquisition. It seeks to find out whether students acquire more vocabulary knowledge by reading a text only or reading the text while listening to it. It also disseminates the effect of word exposure frequency. By applying four vocabulary tests, it proves that learners can gain vocabulary knowledge in both the conditions; but the reading-while-listening condition can result in more gain of vocabulary knowledge. The paper also shows that the more the number of encounters with words in context, the more the vocabulary gains. Studies with students from different levels of education and gender based studies can be conducted. This is a pioneering study on this topic in Bangladesh, so the paper will pave a way for the researchers who want to work on the same topic.

Most people want to be able to read their reading materials quicker and remember them effectively. Covering a large quantity of reading materials at a normal speed requires much more time than is usually available. Good readers, however, can cover a lot of materials by identifying key elements of a sentence for key idea with the help of connectives when skimming. Constructivism theory emphasizes that students need to actively construct the meaning of their knowledge they have learned, and actively explore and discover knowledge. Syntax is the core of the whole language system with syntactic structure occupying a macroscopic and important position in improving students' language ability and language level in a real sense. This paper introduces and analyzes how to identify key elements of a sentence for key idea with the help of connectives under constructivism so as to find a practical and feasible reading strategy when skimming. It is advised that readers glance at secondary sentences by reading the connectives as they are helpful in getting possible additional information while successfully identifying key elements of a sentence for key idea. The method fundamentally helps students improve their reading speed and develop their skimming understanding ability. The research methods of this paper are the ones of experience, literature review, theoretical basis, the main language order and keen analysis. This paper concludes by understanding the method of identifying key elements of a sentence for key idea with the help of connectives in skimming practice when reading under constructivism theory and its role is to guide readers to apply the knowledge of subject-predicate-object grammatical rule as the main language order in the skimming practice to help readers to get the general meaning of a sentence, paragraph, passage and a text.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) are a popular assessment method because they enable automated evaluation, flexible administration and use with huge groups. Despite these benefits, the manual construction of MCQs is challenging, time-consuming and error-prone. This is because each MCQ is comprised of a question called the "stem", a correct option called the "key" along with alternative options called "distractors" whose construction demands expertise from the MCQ developers. In addition, there are different kinds of MCQs such as Wh-type, Fill-in-the-blank, Odd one out, and many more needed to assess understanding at different cognitive levels. Automatic Question Generation (AQG) for developing heterogeneous MCQ stems has generally followed two approaches: semantics-based and machine-learning-based. Questions generated via AQG techniques can be utilized only if they are grammatically correct. Semantics-based techniques have been able to generate a range of different types of grammatically correct MCQs but require the semantics to be specified. In contrast, most machine-learning approaches have been primarily able to generate only grammatically correct Fill-in-the-blank/Cloze by reusing the original text. This paper describes a technique for combining semantic-based and machine-learning-based techniques to generate grammatically correct MCQ stems of various types for a technical domain. Expert evaluation of the resultant MCQ stems demonstrated that they were promising in terms of their usefulness and grammatical correctness.

Interpreting a seemingly simple function word like "or," "behind," or "more" can require logical, numerical, and relational reasoning. How are such words learned by children? Prior acquisition theories have often relied on positing a foundation of innate knowledge. Yet recent neural-network-based visual question answering models apparently can learn to use function words as part of answering questions about complex visual scenes. In this paper, we study what these models learn about function words, in the hope of better understanding how the meanings of these words can be learned by both models and children. We show that recurrent models trained on visually grounded language learn gradient semantics for function words requiring spatial and numerical reasoning. Furthermore, we find that these models can learn the meanings of logical connectives and and or without any prior knowledge of logical reasoning as well as early evidence that they are sensitive to alternative expressions when interpreting language. Finally, we show that word learning difficulty is dependent on the frequency of models' input. Our findings offer proof-of-concept evidence that it is possible to learn the nuanced interpretations of function words in a visually grounded context by using non-symbolic general statistical learning algorithms, without any prior knowledge of linguistic meaning.

Science educators now broadly recognize the multimodal nature of learning in science, where learners make meanings within modes (linguistic, mathematical, visual, and actional) by using the conventions of different sign systems or grammars in these modes. However, how teachers guide students to link and infer new meanings across modes, called "transduction" (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006. Reading images: The grammar of visual design. Routledge, p. 39), is less clear. This mapping of meanings across modes through realizing, generating, aligning, and coordinating meanings in representations is crucial to learning and communicating scientific concepts, inquiry processes, and reasoning. In this paper we propose a pragmatist account of how young students can be guided to achieve cohesion in this process. Drawing mainly on Peirce's (1998, The essential Peirce: Selected philosophical writings. Indiana University Press) theory of sign functions and affordances, we describe how, in practice, transduction entails a sequence of meaning-making steps across and within sign systems. For Peirce, sign systems in science enable inferential meaning-making within modes, but signs within these grammars can also prompt, support, and confirm meanings across modes. We analyze student learning in an elementary school astronomy class to identify how transduction is enacted and supported. We draw on micro-ethnographic analysis of the teacher's interactions with students and their artifacts to identify key transduction enablers. We found that young students can engage successfully in trans-modal reasoning if multiple conditions are met, with implications for science inquiry design in general and the teacher's key role in transduction guidance.

This study aims to investigate Vietnamese students' perceptions of portfolio assessment and how it affects their writing performance. Furthermore, the study explores problems encountered during the assessment process, which could offer professional support for teachers, particularly novice teachers, when applying this formative assessment to teaching writing. Data was collected through students' written papers, observations, and semi-structured interviews with a total of thirteen low- and intermediate-level undergraduate students. The findings demonstrate the aspects of the assessment usefulness, namely validity, authenticity, interactive-ness, and impact. Accordingly, the assessment provides students with a comprehensive understanding of academic writing that enhances their writing abilities. In particular, students recognize their common grammatical errors, pay more attention to organizing ideas logically, and develop writing habits throughout the writing process, which have not been carefully addressed in prior education. Nevertheless, there are a number of issues that need to be carefully considered, including idea development, plagiarism knowledge, self- and peer-assessment, and the order of writing steps. In order to improve the reliability and practicality of the assessment, solutions to those concerns are provided.

Even though peer review enjoys sound theoretical support, classroom research has not always provided a clear picture of its effectiveness, particularly when it comes to form-focused editing. In addition to yielding conflicting findings with respect to the number of corrections students make based on peer feedback (Connor & Asenavage, 1994; Mendonça & Johnson, 1994; Paulus, 1999; Villamil & de Guerrero, 1998), several gaps in the literature remain unaddressed, particularly in terms of error detection rates. This study sought to determine to what extent learners are able to (a) detect errors during peer editing, (b) provide each other with correct information, and (c) incorporate peer-provided suggestions in subsequent individual writing tasks. Participants were 20 undergraduate students enrolled in an intermediate Spanish course. They individually wrote a story based on pictures, exchanged papers with a partner, and provided each other with feedback on lexical, grammatical, and orthographic issues. The learners' audio-recorded interactions and the narratives produced by the learners during and after the peer-editing session were analyzed. Results indicate that even though learners detect a small proportion of errors, the majority of corrections were accurate and were incorporated in writing tasks completed immediately after the peer editing session, as well as two weeks later.

While writing has evolved away from the conventional method of using pens and paper in favor of digital tools (Li et al., 2019), English teachers continue to face difficulties in teaching writing. This study shows how mind-mapping and the program, Writeabout, can be merged for online writing classes in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) classrooms. It reports on a classroom-based research with a qualitative research design which includes class observations and essay analysis of first-year undergraduate students enrolled in the Railway Mechanical Technology program in Indonesia during the academic year 2020/2021. The analysis of students' essays via TOEIC-adopted writing criteria showed that the students lacked competence in vocabulary (range: 2-5), grammar (range: 2-5), and sentence quality (range: 2-5). However, their text organization skills were a bit higher (range: 3-7), which was likely due to the course instructions incorporation of mind-mapping techniques. The findings revealed that incorporating the mind-mapping technique and the Writeabout application into online writing lessons can have a positive effect on students' writing.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays an increasingly important role in language education; however, the trends, research issues, and applications of AI in language learning remain largely under-investigated. Accordingly, the present paper, using bibliometric analysis, investigates these issues via a review of 516 papers published between 2000 and 2019, focusing on how AI was integrated into language education. Findings revealed that the frequency of studies on AI-enhanced language education increased over the period. The USA and Arizona State University were the most active country and institution, respectively. The 10 most popular topics were: (1) automated writing evaluation; (2) intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) for reading and writing; (3) automated error detection; (4) computer-mediated communication; (5) personalized systems for language learning; (6) natural language and vocabulary learning; (7) web resources and web-based systems for language learning; (8) ITS for writing in English for specific purposes; (9) intelligent tutoring and assessment systems for pronunciation and speech training; and (10) affective states and emotions. The results also indicated that AI was frequently used to assist students in learning writing, reading, vocabulary, grammar, speaking, and listening. Natural language processing, automated speech recognition, and learner profiling were commonly applied to develop automated writing evaluation, personalized learning, and intelligent tutoring systems.

A central concern of the cognitive science of language since its origins has been the concept of the linguistic system. Recent approaches to the system concept in language point to the exceedingly complex relations that hold between many kinds of interdependent systems, but it can be difficult to know how to proceed when "everything is connected." This paper offers a framework for tackling that challenge by identifying *scale* as a conceptual mooring for the interdisciplinary study of language systems. The paper begins by defining the scale concept--simply, the possibility for a measure to be larger or smaller in different instances of a system, such as a phonemic inventory, a word's frequency value in a corpus, or a speaker population. We review sites of scale difference in and across linguistic subsystems, drawing on findings from linguistic typology, grammatical description, morphosyntactic theory, psycholinguistics, computational corpus work, and social network demography. We consider possible explanations for scaling differences and constraints in language. We then turn to the question of *dependencies between* sites of scale difference in language, reviewing four sample domains of scale dependency: in phonological systems, across levels of grammatical structure (Menzerath's Law), in corpora (Zipf's Law and related issues), and in speaker population size. Finally, we consider the implications of the review, including the utility of a scale framework for generating new questions and inspiring methodological innovations and interdisciplinary collaborations in cognitive-scientific research on language.

Explicit knowledge of language is posited as a core component of language teachers' professional knowledge, as it impacts on their classroom practice, cognition and professional reflection. In response to a sociocultural turn in teacher education, this paper presents a sociocultural rationale for the implementation of an explicit-inductive approach to grammar teaching in L2 teacher education. In an explicit-inductive approach, students are guided to induce and articulate grammatical rules for themselves. A tripartite analysis of: "teacher educator as pedagogue," "student language teacher as teacher-learner" and "pedagogy as process" within an explicit-inductive approach is presented, to form a sociocultural model for the teaching of explicit knowledge in L2 teacher education. It is argued that an explicit-inductive approach which is grounded in praxis has the potential to develop student language teachers' (SLTs') content knowledge, i.e., their declarative knowledge of grammar, as well as their pedagogical knowledge of how to teach grammar. The paper calls for further discussion and critical reflection on the teaching of explicit knowledge in L2 teacher education.

Linguistic plurality is a situation in which a speech community speaks more than one language. It is a complex sociolinguistic phenomenon that helps explain the complexity of human nature. Human beings cannot exist in isolation and are therefore inclined towards interaction and transaction. The need and desire to interact leads to language contact, where two or more languages co-exist and are constantly used by people who share definitive interests. Linguistic homogeneity is illusory, since there is hardly any linguistic community that is absolutely monolingual. Despite the complexity of linguistic diversity, the world has recorded tremendous developments in the arts, sciences, and technology. This highlights the strength that lies in diversity. The utilitarian nature of multilingualism can be explored for the growth and development of human society, as language is a key factor in development. Although multilingualism might pose a threat to nationalism, it is apparently the basis of nationhood in Nigeria, having existed even before colonization. The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of linguistic plurality for sustainable development. This study uses a descriptive and qualitative methodology, heavily relying on the nativist theory and the framework of Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) as its major underpinnings. Drawing from these frameworks, the paper observes that language acquisition occurs naturally with the presence of the Language Acquisition Device (LAD), and consequently, languages are used to perform functional roles. The scope of this work is limited to multilingualism and sustainable development in Africa, with particular emphasis on Nigeria.

Examination questions need to be sufficiently novel if they are to be effective as measurement instruments. Novelty, however, presupposes creativity, suggesting that question writing is, or should be, a creative process. To explore the boundaries of creativity in question writing, this study made use of two data sources: two corpora of examination questions, and interviews with professional question writers. The study identified various factors that appear to restrict question writers' freedom, exposing a tension between creativity and constraint in question writing. In addition, it illuminated the architecture of examination questions and the mechanisms via which this architecture may affect the predictability of assessment design. The paper argues that, in the context of question writing, constraints are essential as they help to enhance the quality of the assessment. However, when they exceed a certain threshold, they can undermine the purpose that rendered them necessary in the first place.

The abstract nature of grammar makes metalinguistic thinking a challenge for both teachers and students. However, it is suggested writing conferences in which students are encouraged to reflect on grammatical choices and their impact on meaning may be an effective means to develop metalinguistic awareness. This paper draws on cognitive linguistics and mentor texts to investigate what impact a concept-led, dialogic approach to grammar teaching has in the context of student-teacher discussions. By means of writing conferences between a teacher and three Year Five students, the paper explores how students made effective grammatical choices, as a result of metalinguistic dialogue with their teacher. Six concepts, scope, action chains, deixis, attentional windowing, fictive motion, and figure and ground, provided the explicit foci for imagining narrative scenes and appropriate grammatical choices. The findings suggest these concepts may have an enduring effect on students' ability to make independent and creative choices in their writing.

Presentations are often incorporated into higher education without any instruction on how to present, or the features by which presentations will be assessed. This lack of instruction risks disadvantaging many students judged by tacit criteria they may not meet, including English as an additional language students, first generation university students, and international and/or cross-disciplinary students coming from educational contexts with different presentation styles and values. This paper presents one lecturer's efforts to meet the needs of her students to develop presentation skills by focusing a significant portion of an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course on presentations over four years. The paper outlines the curricular design for this focus, which included multiple presentations in multiple formats and an explicit Teaching and Learning Cycle (Rothery, 1994). Further, it presents some of the concepts and approaches that are used to shape an intersemiotic awareness of presentations, including the grammar of bullet point form, image-language relations, how to talk about complex slides, presentation delivery strategies, and how to scaffold practising in class. Finally, it concludes with some challenges about the formal evaluation of such presentations. It offers both design and activity descriptions for interested teachers to consider incorporating, whether in EAP or in other courses.

As a public compulsory course for Non-English majors in colleges and universities, College Public English should not only develop students' language and cross-cultural communication skills, but also cultivate their correct outlook on life, values, world and native land emotion, which is consistent with the ideological-political goals of the course. English textbook is the guarantee for the smooth progress of English teaching, and more importantly, it is an important carrier to practice Chinese teaching ideas. This paper mainly focuses on how to integrate ideological-political elements into English teaching from textbook perspective. It discusses the measures of integrating ideological-political education into College English courses from four aspects: teaching objectives, unit themes, and knowledge points, grammatical structure and word explanation. It is finally pointed out that exploring and integrating ideological-political elements in textbooks is the key link to realize ideological-political education in College Public English courses.

This study aims to examine the impact of gamified learning using Quizizz on English as a second language (ESL) learners' grammar achievement. The pre-/post-test control group design was applied to research 63 English-majored freshmen. 20 multiple-choice quizzes were designed based on grammar points included in the basic grammar course over a 10-week intervention period. There were 33 students from the experimental group doing the quizzes on Quizizz, while 30 participants from the control group did the same quizzes on paper. The findings indicate that although students from the two groups both improved their marks on the post-test compared to the pre-test, students from the treatment group got significantly higher scores than those from the control group on the achievement test. However, educators are supported to consider using this gamified learning platform as a supportive tool besides choosing the appropriate instructional content to optimize the quality of their teaching.

This paper presents a systematic literature review of studies about writing in elementary schools. A systematic search of databases was conducted to select studies. The aim was to identify and categorize difficulties and suggestions. A total of 52 articles published in peer-reviewed journals over the past 21 years were reviewed and analyzed using a well-established systematic literature review methodology, in academic-based research databases, after carefully reviewing the available literature and utilizing relevant sources. This review revealed that the studies mainly emphasize the relation between reading and writing, using technology in teaching writing, acquisition of writing and a method/approach or strategy suggestion, and structure/grammar in writing. Additionally, feedback, affective domain, and teaching writing at an early age are the focus points of other studies. The findings of this literature review allow teachers, administrators, and policy makers to employ and explore efficient writing activities to improve student engagement, motivation, and performance.

Owing to the complex nature of the English Grammar, teachers of English language and linguistics face many challenges when teaching Grammar. Besides, it is difficult for students to master grammar structures though English teachers in Albania try hard to make grammar teaching as engaging as possible but through the traditional grammar teaching approach. The traditional approach and techniques have produced ineffective learning and inert knowledge problems. However, through alternative teaching approaches, especially the communicative one, students learn the language in all its three dimensions, form, meaning and use. This helps them to make use of grammatical structures meaningfully, accurately, and appropriately. With the view to investigate Albanian University lecturers' perspectives in teaching English grammar in foreign languages departments in Albania, this research paper aimed to survey English Language lecturers' most effective grammar teaching approaches and strongly suggest them teaching grammar communicatively. With the aid of a questionnaire, lecturers provided their opinions on the effectiveness of this alternative teaching approach and its impact on their students' success. As an integral component part of language, as a mechanism that makes language move, grammar improves the quality as well as accuracy of English language writing and fluency, and the best approach to integrate it into English language teaching skills, should be applied by all English language lecturers. The questionnaire's results show an integration of both approaches. Lecturers prefer teaching grammar communicatively to the traditional approach; however, they also use elements of the traditional one.

This study examined the effectiveness of guided data-driven learning (DDL) activities on helping technological university students with a lower-intermediate proficiency level to learn grammar and vocabulary topics for the TOEIC test. The question of whether inductive learners make more progress than deductive learners was also addressed. A total of fifty-one non-English majors in a freshman English class participated in the study. Five computer-based and four paper-based DDL lessons were developed to increase students' awareness of the usage of particular grammar items and the distinction between three sets of synonyms. In order to determine the effects of the treatments, all the participants took pre-tests and immediate posttests. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between pre- and post-tests on grammar and vocabulary. However, inductive learners did not outperform deductive learners. As for students' perception of the treatments, it is noteworthy that they tended to take a neutral to less than positive attitude towards this DDL experience even though such an experience helped them significantly improve. The results suggested the existence of a gap between students' perceived satisfaction and their actual achievement. Pedagogical implications of these findings were discussed to improve the efficacy of DDL in Taiwan's EFL context.

This paper examines the impact of employing an assistive humanoid robot in acquiring and retaining grammar among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. To this end, forty-eight Iranian young male students (between 11 to 15 years old) were equally divided into three groups: RALL (Robot-Assisted Language Learning), GBLL (Game-based Language Learning), and the control group. While the teacher, the textbook, and teaching materials were identical in all groups, a set of similar games were played only in the RALL (with the participation of the NAO H21 robot) and GBLL groups. A 20-item grammar pre-test was taken at the beginning of the classes. Overall, a total of ten intervention sessions (each lasting for 60 minutes), 15 (each lasting for 90 minutes), and 15 (each lasting for 120 minutes) were respectively administered for the RALL, GBLL, and control groups. At the end of the treatments, the acquisition and retention of grammar were evaluated through immediate (at the end of class) and delayed post-tests (two weeks later), correspondingly. The results of descriptive statistics and ANOVA indicated that the RALL group outperformed the two groups in the immediate and delayed post-tests. The students in the RALL group had a very positive attitude toward robot presence in the class and scored higher on the post-test. This study suggests that RALL can be very beneficial in assisting teaching EFL classes. The results of the current innovative study can equally yield important implications for language education and social robotics fields and further contribute to providing clear evidence of the impacts of RALL on Iranian young learners' English grammar acquisition.