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Screencast technology in English writing assessment offers personalized, detailed feedback, but not dialogic. However, integrating it with ipsative assessment (IA) principles may sustain conversations between teachers and learners on students' writing development. This study explored the impact of screencast-based ipsative assessment (SIA) on developing students' writing skills in an Iranian EFL context. Screencast technology recorded teachers' feedback and facilitated students' access to and reflection on their previous works. A qualitative research design was used to analyze teacher's feedback profiles and students' reflections. The findings revealed that SIA engaged participants in ipsative self-assessment, enhanced their self-regulation skills in writing, and created a comforting and socially safe environment where they felt supported and encouraged to take risks, knowing that their mistakes could be considered part of the learning process. However, SIA caused some students to focus on their scores rather than skill development in their writing tasks. The findings suggest that English teachers can utilize screencast technology for precise, detailed ipsative feedback in an IA regime. SIA procedures may encourage student self-assessment and foster a dialog between teachers and students to seek clarification and plan their next move in writing progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital Storytelling (DST) employs digital technology to enhance traditional storytelling by incorporating digital elements such as graphics, audio, video, and music. This study, grounded in sociocultural theory (SCT) and constructivism, investigated how DST contributes to and facilitates multi-literacy development and language skills among young students by leveraging cutting-edge technology. To achieve this, a narrative inquiry approach was utilised to provide insight into the lived experiences and emotions of 13-year-old twin participants. The observations, semi-structured interviews, and think-aloud protocols were used to collect data as the participants narrated their digital stories (DSs). Using thematic analysis, this study employed an inductive bottom-up coding strategy to comprehend the phenomenon by reducing and reconstructing the data into codes and categories. The findings revealed that DST can contribute to linguistic or non-linguistic skills, including multiple literacies, English language proficiency, diverse learning strategies, and social skills. In addition to demonstrating the instructional benefits of using DST, certain limitations were also identified. The implications of this study for instructors, researchers, and young students are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuous growth of production and the development of new video games have influenced many aspects of human lives, particularly the young generation. While video games may tap on the entertainment side, primarily aiming to entertain players, they may profoundly impact multi-literacy development. This qualitative study utilizes narrative inquiry, which involves collecting the data from the experiences of a teenager―a native video gamer―who has spent a significant amount of time since childhood playing video games. The data were collected from diverse sources across time, namely individual interviews, phone calls, verbal protocols, diaries, and WhatsApp texting. In this study, the teenager reveals how the pleasure of video games resulted in developing multi-literacy and learning the English language subconsciously. An analysis of the narrative provides insights into how playing video games results in multi-literacy development and impacts the native video gamer's cognition, affection, language learning, and cultural knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractStudies on listening comprehension have increasingly used Computerized Dynamic Assessment (CDA), a new strand of Vygotsky’s dynamic assessment. This study investigated whether English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ responsiveness to CDA mediation significantly enhanced their inferential skills in multiple-choice listening comprehension tests. Moreover, it examined the role of guess-checking items in reducing the guessing effect. A sample of 94 Iranian EFL university students of B2 proficiency level (38 male and 56 female) was recruited through purposeful sampling. The researchers designed and operated CDA software delivered through a dedicated website, www.lingeli.com, to assess EFL inferential listening comprehension skills. The quantitative data obtained from the participant’s performance in the pretest and the mediation stage were analyzed using SPSS. Two paired-sample T-tests were run to compare EFL learners’ mediated and actual scores to explore the development of their inferential listening and compare the actual scores of learners with and without calculating guessing effect scores, respectively. The results showed that learners’ responsiveness to mediation significantly changed their performance on the CDA of inferential listening skills. Additionally, adding guess-checking items significantly decreased the impact of guessing in the CDA multiple-choice tests, which provided the opportunity to obtain a more comprehensive picture of learners’ abilities. The findings offered more insights into the effective role of CDA in improving EFL learners’ inferential listening comprehension skills. They called for implementing CDA programs to diagnose learners’ deficiencies and strengths and uncover their zone of proximal development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis quasi-experimental study examined the effects of speaking tasks on EFL learners’ speaking skills and Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety (FLSA) using a mobile application conducted outside the classroom. A total of sixty Iranian upper-intermediate level EFL students were divided into experimental and control groups to compare the effectiveness of speaking tasks using the Clubhouse application. Data were collected using the FLSA scale and the speaking pre-and post-test scores of the participants. The speaking proficiency of the participants was assessed based on the IELTS band descriptor, which included fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation. Utilizing one-way ANCOVA and Mann-Whitney U test, it was concluded that participation of the experimental group in speaking tasks at the Clubhouse improved their speaking proficiency and reduced their anxiety when speaking in the target language compared to traditional classes. The findings of the study call for the integration of synchronous mobile-based apps such as Clubhouse for out-of-class speaking tasks to improve EFL learners’ speaking skills and reduce their FLSA levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of supplementary language learning applications has experienced considerable growth in recent years. However, evaluations of these applications concerning their affordances and limitations have not been fully explored. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the potential suitability and limitations of the mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) and computer-assisted language learning (CALL) application called "Mondly." Drawing on a framework and descriptive statistics, we sought to uncover whether Mondly met the assumptions of an appropriate learning platform. Based on a cross-sectional survey design, this study assessed the efficacy of Mondly by examining the opinions of its users. A cohort of sixty-two individuals, encompassing various genders and age groups, was selected to participate in the study. Participants had ten sessions to practice learning English. The results indicated that Mondly has the potential to benefit English as a foreign language (EFL) learning. The study highlights the importance of evaluating supplementary tools for instructional purposes and identifies some limitations. The evaluation can aid in adapting appropriate apps for specific purposes and enhance the quality of MALL applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in the educational context, particularly chatbotics, has made significant changes in learning English. This mixed-methods study is intended to explore university students' attitudes toward the potential role of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted mobile applications. Meanwhile, the role of social presence and human-likeness on learner motivation was examined through a chatbot lens. A total of 256 English as a foreign language (EFL) learners interacted with a chatbot known as Computer Simulation in Educational Communication (CSIEC). Participants' audio-recorded practices, transcriptions, three scales of social presence, learner motivation, and human-likeness, along with a semi-structured focus group interview, were used to collect data, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used for data analysis. Moreover, thematic analysis was adopted to explore the participants' attitudes and perceptions toward using CSIES. The quantitative results indicated that learner motivation was significantly predicted by social presence and human-likeness. The thematic analysis of qualitative data reflected that the attributed descriptions to the CSIEC teacher enhanced learners' motivation, eagerness, and confidence to learn English. The findings of this study may be used to guide future research in using chatbots outside the classroom to serve as learning companions, and educators can utilize them to tailor assessment and feedback procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretically drawing on Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of mind (SCT) and following a sequential exploratory mixed method design, this study probed into the impact of Group Dynamic Assessment (GDA) on the short and long-term Iranian high school students' grammar ability. Also, a focus group interview was conducted to explore students' attitudes toward concurrent GDA. This study used a convenient sample of 42 Iranian thirdgrade students in a private high school who prepared to participate in the Iranian University Entrance Exam (IUEE). The students of the two groups (i.e., GDA and Non-GDA) followed the same procedure (i.e., DIALANG test, pre-test, three conventional teaching sessions and one enrichment session, focus group interview (for GDA group), post-test and transcendence test). Quantitative findings using three independent sample t-tests and two repeated measure ANOVAs revealed that the GDA group significantly outperformed the non-GDA group regarding grammar ability and could apply them in more demanding circumstances. Besides, the thematic analysis of qualitative data showed that the concurrent GDA assisted students to improve their grammar ability. The study's findings highlight the importance of applying GDA as a mediational procedure that assists students in developing their grammar ability in L2 contexts. The findings of the study may assist L2 teachers to apply GDA procedure in their classrooms to save time for teaching and assessing grammatical structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]