Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) has been widely promoted as a communicative methodology, yet its implementation in Japanese EFL classrooms has often proven problematic due to exam-oriented curricula, limited input, and entrenched teacher-centered practices. This paper critically examines these challenges and shows how they conflict with the realities of Japanese EFL (Sato, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2024). Drawing on previous critiques and debates, it argues that while tasks can enhance motivation and fluency, they cannot serve as the sole framework for instruction. As a pragmatic alternative, the Revised Presentation–Practice–Production (R-PPP) approach is proposed (Sato, 2009, 2010; Sato et al., 2022). R-PPP retains the structural clarity and explicit focus on form characteristic of PPP while incorporating scaffolded opportunities for meaningful communication. By balancing accuracy and fluency, structure and flexibility, R-PPP offers a context-responsive pathway for Japanese EFL classrooms and other exam-driven EFL environments, providing a practical model for fostering communicative competence without disregarding classroom realities.

Despite its potential, data-driven learning (DDL) remains underutilized in pre-tertiary education, partly due to the lack of tools that provide ample and level-appropriate example sentences. This classroom-based case study investigates whether generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) can generate suitable example sentences to help elementary-level learners distinguish between the synonyms “gather” and “collect”, and whether the learners can discern their differences through hands-off DDL with the AI-generated example sentences using a pre- and post-test design. Analyses based on the English Vocabulary Profile (EVP) and Coh-Metrix revealed that GenAI can generate sentences that align with the CEFR levels specified in the prompt (i.e., A1-A2). Furthermore, a Bayesian Wilcoxon signed-rank test yielded a Bayes factor (BF₁₀) of 31.564 and an effect size (δ) of -0.68, indicating that the hypothesis that post-test scores are higher than pre-test scores is approximately 32 times more plausible, representing a medium effect size. Although this is a small-scale, classroom-based case study, the findings suggest that GenAI can function as a user-friendly concordancer, offering accessible tools for younger learners and potentially addressing some of the key barriers to implementing DDL in schools.

Effective business writing skills are essential for workplace success in today's globalized economy, yet academic training often inadequately prepares students for real-world professional communication demands. This study designed and implemented an integrated pedagogical framework that sequentially combined tasksupported and apprenticeship learning models in a Business English course. Thirty undergraduate English majors at a university in Taiwan participated in an 18-week program featuring a two-phase structure: Phase 1 involved task-supported learning to develop foundational competencies in business writing genres, language use, and formats; Phase 2 featured apprenticeship learning where students applied these skills to authentic workplace projects under industry professional mentorship. A mixedmethods design was employed to collect data from course evaluation surveys, academic performance records, TOEIC scores, reflective journals, and semi-structured interviews with six students. The findings demonstrated that the integrated approach bridged the gap between academic writing instruction and the requirements of professional business communication. Advanced students readily embraced openended writing and valued real-world feedback, while lower-proficiency students participated actively but relied more on templates and required additional support. Both groups rated expert feedback positively, indicating that mentorship was valuable for all proficiency levels. The study discusses pedagogical implications for English for Specific Purposes curriculum design and offers suggestions for future research.

Recent product-oriented studies have suggested that integrated writing tasks are beneficial for language development. Nevertheless, research examining the manner in which learners process linguistic form during writing remains limited. The present study sought to compare the processing of form during integrated and independent writing tasks. Japanese EFL university students were required to complete both an integrated writing task, which involved summary writing, and an independent writing task, which involved essay writing. The processing of form during writing was analyzed using stimulated recall and eye tracking. In both tasks, the participants were found to primarily process lexis. Additionally, the independent writing task yielded increased grammatical processing. A detailed analysis indicated that integrated writing tasks facilitated the processing of lexis at the elaboration level. The eye-tracking analysis indicated that the participants consulted the reading passage when focusing on lexis in the integrated writing task. Conversely, when confronted with a grammatical issue, they applied their expertise to solve the issue. The analysis of the writing quality revealed only minor differences in lexical variety and pause location frequency. The implications of integrated writing tasks in classroom instruction and the contribution of this study to the field of L2 writing research are discussed in detail.

Task planning has received substantial attention from researchers within task-based language teaching. However, there is some uncertainty regarding the impacts of different classroom organizations in pre-task planning on task performance. Accordingly, this research examines how various planning conditions affect students' L2 oral performance in task-based activities in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Sixty intermediate EFL students were divided randomly into three experimental groups and one control group. While the control group performed without planning, experimental groups completed a decision-making task under different planning conditions: individual, pair work, or guided (with content and language guidelines). Findings showed that individual and pair work planning significantly improved fluency compared to guided planning, but not accuracy or complexity. Individual planners achieved the highest complexity levels, followed by pair work and guided planners, whereas guided planning produced better accuracy than both individual and group-based conditions. The findings suggest that variation in classroom structure in pre-task planning is beneficial to different areas of language performance.

This study examined the effect of two EFL instructional approaches, Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) and Presentation, Practice, Production (PPP), on Japanese EFL university students' Willingness to Communicate (WTC) and Conversational Involvement in L2 English. To this end, 64 Japanese university students, enrolled in an English Listening and Speaking course, participated in the study. The 64 participants comprised two separate classes of 32 students, each receiving a different instructional approach: one group was taught using TBLT, while the other followed the PPP model. Assessments of each participant's WTC and involvement in conversations were conducted at the course's beginning and end (after 15 weeks, which consisted of approximately 45 hours of instruction). Each of these assessments involved participating in a dyadic conversation with a classmate (which was transcribed verbatim and analyzed for the number of words uttered and questions posed) and completing a WTC questionnaire. Overall, the results demonstrated that TBLT was significantly more effective than the PPP approach across all measures of conversational involvement, including students' willingness to communicate (WTC) in L2 English, the number of words spoken, and the number of questions posed.

The study examines the perceptions of Indian and Iranian students, toward blended language learning (BL), using both quantitative and qualitative data. A total of 213 responses were obtained through convenience sampling, comprising 52.6% Indian and 47.4% Iranian undergraduate students, all of whom had prior experience with blended learning, utilizing a 24-item questionnaire. The data collected were analyzed using IBM SPSS v26. Descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), reliability tests, and t-tests were conducted. The quantitative analysis indicated a generally positive response toward blended learning. The results indicated a significant difference in the general perception of blended learning suggesting that Iranian students may have a more favorable perception of BL compared to their Indian counterparts. However, no significant differences were found in other constructs, including BL Usage, Preferred Learning Environment, Learner Experience, and Personal Factors. The qualitative analysis highlighted the multifaceted nature of BL, revealing both its strengths in fostering an inclusive, cooperative learning environment and the challenges it poses for language teaching and learning. The qualitative insights revealed cultural differences, particularly concerns about maintaining cultural and linguistic heritage among Iranian students and the potential for disengagement due to the lack of face-to-face interaction. Based on the findings, it can be safely concluded that there exist potential differences in how students engage and perceive BL indicating the need for culturally tailored approaches for enhancing the effectiveness of blended learning.

This duoethnographic study explores the Global Englishes (GEs) instructional practices and adjustments of two university-level English teachers in Taiwan and Japan. Despite individual journeys towards GEs awareness, shaped by personal language learning experiences and professional trajectories, both encountered similar challenges in integrating GEs perspectives into their instructional practices due to entrenched preference for native English speakers as ideal language models among students and colleagues, and rigid curricular and institutional constraints. These connected challenges, reflecting broader patterns in ELT contexts, shape the article's analytical focus. Through reflective dialogue and analysis, the study highlights how each teacher faced resistance to GEs-informed instructional efforts and how they responded both explicitly through learning content and implicitly through teaching behaviours. While both reported resistance from students, colleagues, and curricula, subtle behavioural adaptations in teaching were practical in classroom settings and occasionally helped students feel more confident using English. The duoethnographic approach allowed for a dialogic reflection on practice and mutual understanding between the researchers. This work offers insight into how contextual and professional factors can shape what is possible in GEs instructional practice.

Despite the widespread availability of commercially produced supplementary materials, many teachers choose to supplement textbooks with their own materials. These teacher-generated materials currently represent an under-researched area within the larger field of materials development. This study explores the motivations of English teachers in the Japanese junior high school context to create and use teacher-generated materials. A review of the literature relevant to materials development and teacher-generated materials is presented, followed by an examination of the methods used for data gathering and analysis. Employing an approach based upon the grounded theory methodology, this study reveals four primary motivations for the choice of teachers to develop teacher-generated materials as a supplement to mandated textbooks. The data analysis and discussion reveals four primary reasons for teachers in this context to create their own materials. These motivations represent both an empirical confirmation of previous theoretical proposals and new findings and contribute towards establishing teacher-generated materials as an area of materials research with significant potential.

This study investigates anxiety, metacognitive strategies and multiple intelli- gences in the context of Vietnamese English language classroom. It is a quan- titative project that adopts a descriptive-correlational design. This investigation seeks to describe Hanoi secondary school English language readers and to characterise the relationships among such variables as gender, length of English language learning or experience in reading in the native language. The sample consisted of 379 participants, both male and female, who were recruited using simple random sampling. Three online quantitative instruments were employed to collect the data. These were modified versions of the EFL Reading Anxiety Inventory (Zoghi, 2012), the Survey of Reading Strategies (Mokhtari & Sheorey, 2002) and the Multiple Intelligences Inventory (McKenzie, 1999). Various correlations between the three constructs listed above were sought. The data allows interesting observations to be made, especially with regard to Viet- namese 11th graders’ levels of reading anxiety and their use of metacognitive strategies while reading in target language. The study also produced a profile of the multiple intelligences of the participants. However, explicit links between the three constructs under study were not observed, which begs for more research. After the findings have been described, implications for reading instruction are offered.

In response to the recent surge of interest in incidental vocabulary learning, this article synthesizes ideas about such learning in practice. I specifically derive seven critical issues from studies on the topic. I also examine vocabulary learning through incidental means based on various input sources while considering frequency, context, motivation, and strategies and tasks to foster deeper mental processing and better retention. Findings can inform pedagogically sound guidelines for effective vocabulary instruction. Actionable suggestions are provided to enhance incidental vocabulary learning, given an understanding of relevant issues.

This paper outlines a research study conducted in Indian schools, focusing on the motivation of students to learn English and the teachers' predictions regarding their students' motivation. The study applied the self-determination theory to the Indian context. A total of 36 teachers and 379 students participated in this mixed-method study by completing questionnaires--including both closed-ended and one open-ended item--exploring intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, external regulation, and amotivation. The findings revealed that the teachers were able to accurately predict students' responses regarding intrinsic motivation and identified regulation. In terms of what was enjoyable for students in their English language classes (i.e., intrinsic motivation), both the teachers and students identified discussion/interaction, fiction/stories, and vocabulary learning as the top three items. Reasons for the findings and pedagogical implications will be discussed.

This classroom-based study examines how Japanese EFL university students with no previous peer feedback (PF) experience perceived English paragraph writing instruction with the addition of two types of PF: written-only and written-plus-spoken feedback. Over a 13-week semester, one group of students received English writing instruction with written-only PF, whereas the other group received the instruction with written-plus-spoken PF. Specifically, the study compared the two groups’ perceptions of PF, attitudes towards English writing, and writing improvement. In each class session, students exchanged writing assignments with new partners and participated—using English—in PF sessions during pair work. Afterwards, they also received teacher feedback on their writing. The results found no significant differences in student perceptions between the two groups except that those who experienced multi-modal feedback enjoyed writing feedback more and felt it easier to write English at the end of the course than those who only provided/received written feedback. Although the effects of neither type of instruction were great enough to significantly improve student abilities or boost confidence in English writing, those who experienced written-only PF showed some positive improvement on subsequent writing. Possible directions for future L2 writing research and instruction are suggested.

Collaborative writing, defined as “writing involving two or more writers working together to produce a joint product” (Anderson, 1995, p. 195), is a common occur- rence across educational and professional contexts. This study attempted to further the research on collaborative writing by focusing on students’ descriptions and perceptions of engaging in group writing in an English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) writing class over the course of an academic semester. Data sources included students’ individual and group writing assignments, questionnaires, interviews, rele- vant entries in students’ e-portfolios, and audio-recordings of students’ group work. The results indicated that most students perceived their collaborative writing experi- ences quite positively. Students’ perceived benefits of collaborative writing were numerous, ranging from opportunities to exchange ideas to development of communi- cation and interpersonal skills. On the other hand, students reported problems with conflicts, the pressure to maintain group harmony, and uncommitted group members.

Recently, calls have been made to move research away from the tradition that defines reading narrowly as psycholinguistic skill. In response to these appeals, this study aims to understand how an EFL learner has developed reading English texts within temporal and social contexts. The main conceptual frame- work of the study is Gee’s (2001) sociocognitive perspective on reading, which views reading as a social practice in a Discourse. An experienced L2 reader in Taiwan at the age of 60 participated in the study. The senior reader participated in three life story interviews; the audio-taped interviews were transcribed verbatim and served as the main data source. The life story interviews showed that (1) the reader’s social context supported reading and school-based secondary Discourse socialization; (2) the learner could avail himself to strate- gies to overcome challenges while socializing in Discourse involving L2 reading/ learning; (3) globalization, an external Discourse, had remote influences on the local reader’s literacy practices. In sum, the interviewee’s long-term reading history revealed his interplay with his context in an intensive, complex, and dynamic way.

Previous L2 studies (Liao & Fukuya, 2004; Laufer & Eliasson, 1993; Hulstijn & Marchena, 1989; Dagut & Laufer, 1985) have failed to consider the learning context and/or task type as possible explanations for avoidance of English phrasal verbs. This study overcomes these shortcomings in its investigation of phrasal verb usage by L2 learners of English and explores other potential causes for avoidance. A total of 52 L1 Chinese speakers of English participated in the study. Participants carried out three tasks over a one-hour period, which included multiple-choice, translation, and story-retell tasks. Each task targeted 10 literal and 10 figurative phrasal verbs that were selected from a corpus of spoken English based on comparable frequency. The findings suggest that factors such as learning context, task type, and phrasal verb type influence the extent to which learners avoid English phrasal verbs.

Second language writing courses need to remain open to the value of peer review and consider the writing gains beyond what students can obtain from a teacher and from their own review process. The mixed method design of this study divides students in peer review and self review groups to avoid putting students in paradigm of comparing feedback from a teacher versus from a peer. The overarching finding is that the value of peer review came from the collabor- ative process, with students achieving through discussion what was not achieved in solitary. Students who were actively engaged in peer review often did not take the exact advice of their peers, but the process of exchanging feedback prompted them to transform their ideas that they then incorporated into their revisions whereas self reviewing students maintained their original trajectory of thought. Additionally, results indicate that students gained from the reviewing process differently depending on their proficiencies. A final key finding is that students were more likely to make effective local changes when peer reviewing than self reviewing, regardless of the “correctness” of the comments. The analysis brings insights to ownership of ideas and development of concepts in the peer review process within a Vygotskian framework of concept formation.

It is far from easy to practice assessment for learning in a test-driven teaching context where institutional and cultural constraints often discourage teacher practitioners from further action. The present study investigates an innovative assessment practice undertaken by an EFL teacher of an oral English course at a mainland Chinese university in an effort to confront the testing culture and make assessment function more for her students’ learning. The study focuses on a form of curriculum-embedded assessment and explores how the assessment interacts with learning and how it is perceived by the learners. Using qualitative data from interview and questionnaires, the study found the various assessment tasks as implemented brought to students a good many opportunities to develop their oral English skills and gave them a sense of their progress. However, the students did not see all tasks as equally valuable, and they also raised questions about an assessment regime rewarding effort at the expense of ability. The paper concludes that the innovation was well worth the effort but required more frequent interactions between the teacher and students in order to win more acceptance from the students in advance and to be able to support them while they were engaged in the assessment.

This study examined the beliefs about effective language teaching held by a group of Chinese College English teachers. The extent to which teachers felt their classroom practices reflected these beliefs was also studied together with an analysis of the factors that, according to the teachers, limited the realization of their beliefs in their teaching. The findings show that while the teachers felt that their teaching reflected their beliefs, there was a significant difference between the value assigned to particular teaching behaviors and practices and the extent to which these were reported to occur in teachers’ work. In explaining the reasons for this mismatch, teachers felt that student factors, institutional factors, and teacher factors were influential.

The development of educational partnerships between U.S. and Chinese univer- sities looking to internationalize is leading to a growing demand for online English language courses for students seeking to improve their English prior to U.S. arrival. The purpose of this study was to identify the current English for Academic Purposes writing (EAPW) and online learning needs of the students from a major Chinese university. A multiple-source/multiple-method approach to data collection was implemented. The results showed that half of the partici- pating Chinese students were ready for basic EAPW and the other half for first- year EAPW courses. Although most of the students in the study were already exposed to (mostly passive) online learning practices, they would need to be taught interactive and collaborative online learning techniques in order to perform well in an online EAPW course. The study found that the Chinese participants have good command over some important EAPW features, espe- cially when these occur in familiar tasks. Overall, the study suggests that EAPW course designers do not need to overhaul their EAPW curricula, but rather shift their focus to incorporating and scaffolding culturally-sensitive assignments, interaction, and technical support.

Reading is an important source of input for incidental vocabulary learning, and vocabulary learning strategies may affect incidental vocabulary learning outcomes from reading. This paper investigates incidental vocabulary learning through word-focused exercises among students learning English as a foreign language (EFL). The extent to which vocabulary learning strategies predict these impacts is also considered. Specifically, this study involved 486 Chinese university EFL students who were randomly and equally assigned to three word-focused exercise conditions: reading with marginal glosses plus comprehension questions; reading with a digital dictionary; and reading and filling in the blanks with a digital dictionary. All learners completed a survey on vocabulary learning strategies. The Vocabulary Knowledge Scale was adapted to measure vocabulary knowledge gains. Results showed that learners who read and filled in blanks with the use of a digital dictionary demonstrated significantly better vocabulary learning outcomes than the other groups. No significant differences were detected between the groups that read with marginal glosses plus comprehension questions or read with a digital dictionary. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed the roles of different vocabulary learning strategies on vocabulary learning outcomes in each group. Relevant implications are provided based on these findings.

The main aim of this study was to determine whether different purposes for reading can result in more or less incidental vocabulary acquisition from reading. Three intact classes of Grade 7 junior high school students from Mainland China were recruited and oriented to read for different purposes: interest (n = 42), exam (n = 45), and baseline (n = 45). After reading, the three groups completed an unexpected receptive form and productive meaning test, followed by an unexpected receptive meaning test as an immediate posttest. Two weeks later, the participants were given the same assessments as the delayed posttest. The posttest results for all types of vocabulary knowledge showed that the interest group outperformed the exam group, which outperformed the baseline group. However, on the delayed posttests, the same pattern of results as for the posttest was shown only for receptive form knowledge. The productive meaning and receptive meaning assessment outcomes showed that the exam and interest groups had similar performance and outperformed the baseline group. The implication is that teachers should clearly orient learners prior to giving them any task that intends to promote vocabulary learning, especially those that involve reading.

Vocabulary knowledge is essential for language learning. This is particularly so for English as a second language (L2) and foreign language (EFL) learners, whose affordances of input and output opportunities may be limited. A rich contextual learning environment is instrumental for these language learners because it enables incidental learning to take place. However, little research has investigated the role of vocabulary knowledge in developing EFL learners’ writing proficiency. The current study, drawing upon two vocabulary tests, one writing test, three focus group interviews, and two case studies, addresses this gap from multifaceted perspectives. The findings of the study provided empirical evidence of the critical role of vocabulary knowledge in EFL learners’ writing proficiency. The results also revealed the centrality of a contextual learning envi- ronment in developing EFL learners’ writing skills. The paucity of such an envi- ronment limited the learners’ writing experience, hampered their confidence, and caused their misconceptions of what counts as good writing. This study contrib- utes to research on the relationships between learners’ vocabulary knowledge and writing proficiency. It has significant implications for intentional and inci- dental vocabulary learning and profound implications for EFL teaching pedagogy.

This article explores the underresearched area of single words and collocations in English textbooks for Chinese tertiary students. The present study is based on a corpus of English tertiary textbooks consisting of texts from the three most widely used materials in Chinese universities covering two years of English learning. By examining a range of indexes of single words and collocations, this study reveals interesting findings for EFL learners. Our results show that text- books might not provide enough opportunities for students’ incidental learning of vocabulary. In this case, students’ current level of vocabulary size would have to be enough to achieve acceptable comprehension of the texts. Our analyses showed that the majority of single words and collocations appeared only once in the textbook series. In addition, the results showed that the overlap between the single words and the required vocabulary list issued by the Ministry of Educa- tion in China is relatively modest. Relevant implications are discussed based on the findings.

Recent years have witnessed an increasing number of empirical studies in second language acquisition (SLA) pointing to the important role of working memory (WM) in various aspects of L2 learning. Major findings of this body of research are outlined here, which is followed by a summary of potential limitations and caveats in research design and methodology. To address these issues, we draw on nomothetic WM theories and WM-SLA research insights to propose a theoretical model to conceptualize and measure the WM construct in specific SLA domains and activities. Basic tenets and principles of this integrated WM-SLA model are highlighted as well as their underlying rationale. Overall, it is argued here that such an integrated theory makes vital contribution to the advancement of WM-SLA research and practice.

This paper investigates the effects of working memory (WM) on Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' thematic inference generation during L2 narratives comprehension. Eighty-five sophomore English majors in a university in mainland China participated in the study. The experiment was implemented by using E-Prime and L2 narrative passages to measure the response time and response accuracy on the topic sentence. The experimental design is a 2 (WM: low and high) × 2 (discourse relation: same-theme and different-theme condition) factorial design. The results demonstrate that (a) WM span contributes considerably to Chinese EFL learners' thematic inferential processing during L2 narrative comprehension. Compared with low-span participants, high-span learners responded significantly faster to topic sentences and had higher response accuracy during thematic inference processing; (b) On the response time, the main effect of working memory span and the main effect of discourse relation are both significant. The interactive effect of the two factors is not significant. Regarding response accuracy, the main effects of each factor and the interactive effect of the two factors are not significant; (c) Discourse relation also influences learners' thematic inference construction, but does not reflect on response accuracy.

Several studies have examined the effects of task repetition and task recycling on L2 oral production. The findings of these studies speak to the effectiveness of this task-based implementation variable on L2 production (measured in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency). However, so far no published work has addressed whether and how such individual difference variables as working memory capacity (WMC) could interact with the effects of task repetition on L2 oral production. This article reports on a study which aimed to investigate the way working memory capacity regulates the effects of task repetition on L2 oral production. Forty-two intermediate EFL learners participated in this study. A listening span task in the participants' L1 was used to measure their working memory capacity. Participants performed an oral narrative task twice with a two-week interval, and their L2 oral production was measured in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Results revealed that on the second occasion of task performance, participants with greater WMC produced more fluent and accurate language.

It is hypothesized that working memory (WM) mediates the effectiveness of corrective feedback as a cognitive factor. Yet little is known about the mediating process itself. The present study investigates whether corrective recasts (CR) facilitate L2 learning and examines whether recast-driven L2 learning can be predicted by different aspects of WM. To this end, a pretest-immediate posttest-delayed posttest design was employed with three classes of first-year English majors from a Chinese university as test control, task control and CR groups. The effect of CR was evaluated using oral production (OP) tests and WM was measured by means of nonword span, digit span and listening span tests. The results showed that the CR group significantly improved its accuracy in the use of the final “s” of the third person singular from pretest to posttests and outperformed the test control group on the immediate posttest. There were differential relationships between the efficacy of CR and different components of WM. While nonword span predicted immediate and delayed OP performance, listening span predicted only the immediate language development and digit span seemed less relevant to L2 learning.