This paper presents findings on the application of Google Docs as a collaborative writing platform for a research report assignment. Based on a mixed method study, 34 first year students were put... Show More

This paper presents findings on the application of Google Docs as a collaborative writing platform for a research report assignment. Based on a mixed method study, 34 first year students were put into eight groups of four to five and tasked with writing a research report. Four groups adopted Google Docs to discuss and develop the assignment whilst the other four groups adopted a more traditional face-to-face approach. Two sets of questionnaires, pre and post to the assignment, were distributed to investigate students' attitude and preference towards both approaches. Findings indicate that students shared mixed feelings towards Google Docs where students without prior experience found it a positive experience and useful for their learning. Students preferred the real-time accessibility and time-saving features of the platform as compared to face-to-face, with results indicating that a blended approach of online and face-to-face meetings is the best approach to maximise student learning.

Foreign language anxiety (FLA) has a debilitating influence on the oral performance of EFL speakers. Over the past decade, most research in MALL has emphasized the use of mobile applications on... Show More

Foreign language anxiety (FLA) has a debilitating influence on the oral performance of EFL speakers. Over the past decade, most research in MALL has emphasized the use of mobile applications on improving language skills, but little research has explored the impact of using video recording tool to decrease foreign language speaking anxiety (FLSA). Hence, this study examines the effect of using video recording tool on students' EFL speaking anxiety. Twenty-eight pre-intermediate freshmen at Van Lang University, Vietnam, participated in a seven-week project. In this research, mixed method was used in combination with three data collection instruments: questionnaire, observation notes, semi-structured interview. The results indicated that video recording tool significantly lowers EFL speaking anxiety. Therefore, this study makes a major contribution to research on FLA by exploring freshmen's anxiety causes and its impacts on learners' oral performance and offering a technique to help them overcome that phobia: mobile phone video recording.

The 21st century education is to provide students with digital learning experiences alongside creating a path to independent and collaborative learning. In this regard, computer-mediated... Show More

The 21st century education is to provide students with digital learning experiences alongside creating a path to independent and collaborative learning. In this regard, computer-mediated communication (CMC) is receiving great attention in the field of education. Using a case study mixed methods approach, this paper examines the communication strategies used by postgraduate students, who are also in-service teachers, using the asynchronous WeChat mobile app for academic problem-solving purposes. It also explores their opinions on the practicality of using the oral asynchronous communication programme for problem-solving activities. It is found that the asynchronous spoken medium triggers ‘presentation speech' patterns that reflect both spoken and written features. The problem-solving process in the asynchronous spoken medium also is mediated via a low frequency of the use of communication strategies. The findings shed light on teaching and learning via oral-based asynchronous medium pertaining to the types of tasks and learning objectives to be achieved.

Setting up an eye tracking experiment involves multitier processes that cover important issues such as developing the data collection guidelines, establishing data analysis protocols, and giving... Show More

Setting up an eye tracking experiment involves multitier processes that cover important issues such as developing the data collection guidelines, establishing data analysis protocols, and giving meaning to data. Although eye tracking handbooks have established imperative discussion on how the data should be analysed and written, there is still a dearth in the literature on data collection guidelines caused by the variety of features in different kinds of eye trackers. In this study, the researchers review the use of a wearable eye tracking apparatus with authentic materials and interview protocols. Exemplified through a preliminary study conducted on Year Six students in a primary school that investigates the internal processes of reading ESL texts, the significance and implications of using a wearable eye-tracking apparatus with a single point calibration are reported to improve the data collection guidelines. Relatedly, considerations for research procedures and instrument designs are also made in this paper.

Using persuasion role-play data, this study examined the features of the persuasion by Japanese learners of English (JLE). The quantitative and qualitative comparisons between the JLE and the... Show More

Using persuasion role-play data, this study examined the features of the persuasion by Japanese learners of English (JLE). The quantitative and qualitative comparisons between the JLE and the English native speakers (ENS) showed that (1) the JLE took turns 16–26% less and spoke 8–35% less, and they did not speak more than the interviewers; (2) they used first/second-person pronouns 19-86% less; (3) they overused fillers and “want,” while they underused hedges, second-person pronouns, amplifiers, and semi-prefabricated phrases; and (4) they were divided into three subgroups (novice, lower-intermediate, and upper-intermediate) in terms of the use of high-frequency words, and the novice learners were characterized by talking about themselves, the lower-intermediate learners by generalizing their claims, and the upper-intermediate learners by making their persuasion more effective by utilizing their lexical and grammatical knowledge. These findings could be utilized for the development of new teaching materials and curriculums to enhance L2 learners' persuasion skills.

The advent of technology has facilitated the study of language development and writing development in the form of learner corpora. While learner corpus studies have flourished in recent years, few... Show More

The advent of technology has facilitated the study of language development and writing development in the form of learner corpora. While learner corpus studies have flourished in recent years, few consider evaluative language development. This paper reports on a study which examines the use of evaluative that-clauses, a linguistic structure that is regularly used to express evaluation in academic writing, in a longitudinal corpus of 304 argumentative essays written by a group of undergraduate students at a university in Brunei. Results suggest students' dynamic use of language resources over time, and support the findings of previous research on the use of evaluative that-clauses by undergraduate students in other contexts of learning. This study, based on an approach to treating learner language in its own right, contributes to the understanding of the nature of language development. Implications for language teaching, including a revised role for teacher feedback and the use of longitudinal learner corpora for students' learning, are considered.