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This study investigated the relationship between Saudi EFL learners' English language proficiency levels and their perceptions of the educational experience in the Preparatory Year Program using the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM). This study employed a mixed-method approach to explore learners' perceptions of the educational environment using the DREEM survey with 225 female participants across three proficiency levels. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 20 learners to gain deeper insights into their experiences. The findings revealed that Saudi EFL learners in their first year held more positive than negative perceptions of their educational environment, as evidenced by a mean score of 2.92/4 and predominantly positive perceptions across the five sub-scales of DREEM. The chi-square statistical analysis indicated a significant relationship between proficiency levels and perceptions of the educational environment, with advanced-level learners perceiving it as excellent in 16% of cases, compared to 6.7% for intermediate learners and 22% for beginners. Notably, only 49.3% of beginner-level learners perceived the environment as more positive than negative, but 22.7% considered it excellent. The study identified some problematic areas, such as authoritative teachers and the need for a better support system for stressed students. The findings have important pedagogical implications for English language teachers, teacher trainers, and policymakers.

While telecollaborative initiatives have flourished in promoting intercultural communicative competence (ICC) across Asian higher education, the lack of sustained Asia–Latin America partnerships reveals a significant gap in global intercultural education. Addressing this gap, the present study examined the impact of a 9-week telecollaborative program with Colombian peers on Chinese mainland students’ ICC development. A mixed-methods design was adopted, combining quantitative data from a questionnaire, analyzed using paired samples t-test and ANCOVA in SPSS, and qualitative data from focus group interviews, analyzed thematically in ATLAS.ti. A total of 65 participants were divided into an experimental group (n = 32) and a control group (n = 33). Results showed that, compared with the control group, the experimental group achieved significantly greater ICC improvement (p ≤ .001), particularly in the skills and awareness dimensions. However, ANCOVA results revealed no significant difference in the knowledge-self dimension between groups, likely because Chinese mainland students were already accustomed to political education and had previously developed relatively high levels of knowledge-self before the intervention. Interview data further highlighted key benefits of telecollaboration: (a) significant growth in cultural, linguistic, and digital aspects, and (b) stronger bonds through a shared EFL identity. These findings make two key contributions. Theoretically, they extend intercultural communicative competence research by highlighting Asia–Latin America telecollaboration as an effective context for fostering holistic ICC through reciprocal peer interaction. Practically, the study offers guidance for designing English-as-a-lingua-franca-based telecollaborative programs that combine linguistic simplicity with intercultural depth. Plain Language Summary Learning Across Cultures: How Chinese and Colombian Students Used English to Understand Each Other This study explored how Chinese university students improved their intercultural communication skills by working online with Colombian peers using English as a shared second language. Over nine weeks, the students took part in activities like sharing stories and discussing cultural topics. Compared to students who only learned in traditional classrooms, those who joined the online exchange showed greater progress in understanding other cultures, communicating effectively, and thinking critically

This study aims at determining the efficacy and motivational implications of word count tracking as a viable technique for improving writing output among Saudi EFL undergraduates. An intensive Writing Program was conducted at English Department Al-Majmaah University with two groups who were taught through two different approaches. The experimental group (n=23) took a writing session once a week (for six weeks) with word-count tracking strategy besides their regular credit hours writing classes, while the control group (n=22) was taught through conventional approach. The main hypothesis was that the experimental group will have higher mean score than the control group after the implementation of word-count tracking strategy. The difference between the mean score of pre-test and post-test of the experimental group and the control group was found statistically significant at p<.05. The experimental group, despite achieving lower mean score in the pre-test, made 48.51% improvement in the post-test, while the control group showed only 20.33 % output increase. Hence, the study deduced that the word-count tracking technique improved the writing fluency and motivation of students and should be implemented by the writing teachers. The researcher also administered a questionnaire at the end of the study to evaluate perception of the students toward this technique, the writing program and their overall motivational level after this program which showed that students had positive perception towards word-count and believed that it had enhanced their motivation as well as writing fluency.

This article aims to point out the advantages of using the Learning Management System to increase EFL learner skills and introduce it as one of the aid to support autonomous blended learning. This article also explains how LMS supports e-learning in learning language. Then, it shows how the e-learning can be implemented with using some models in teaching and learning process.

The contribution of emotional quotient and its dimensions to the students’ language achievement have been widely acknowledged; however, the association between the two variables has been varied in different contexts. In this vein, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between emotional quotient (EQ) and language achievement (LA) of Iranian EFL students, and the extent to which EQ components can predict their language achievement. To this end, 138 undergraduate Iranian EFL learners from three different Iranian universities in Shiraz, Iran were selected through the census sampling technique to participate in the study. General English questions (adapted from university entrance exam) and the Persian validated version of the Schutte Self-report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT) were employed to collect data on language achievement and emotional quotient, respectively and SPSS software was used to analyze the data. A total of 103 students, aged 18 to 27, returned the questionnaires. Findings revealed a significant correlation between EFL learners’ EQ and their LA, while EQ explained 6.7% of the variability of students’ LA, and none of the subscales of the EQ had a linear relationship with LA. Given the positive correlation between EQ and LA, educational policy-makers and education providers are recommended to focus on these factors that can leverage students’ and teachers’ emotions in the learning environment.

This study investigated the impact of using corpus-based activities on learning certain phrasal-prepositional verbs among Saudi EFL learners. It aimed to understand whether six hours of instruction using corpus-based activities were effective in teaching the forms of forty phrasal-prepositional verbs, enabled the participants to understand the metaphorical meaning of the prepositional verbs specified, and facilitated the accurate construction of the forms of the verbs while paraphrasing the sentences. The study used an indirect method comprising corpus-based activities that were conducted over six hours. These activities were elicited from the Corpus of Contemporary American English and included forty phrasal-prepositional verbs. The findings revealed that six hours of instruction using corpus-based activities had a positive effect on the form and use of phrasal-prepositional verbs among the Saudi EFL learners. It also presented significant results in relation to the students’ understanding of the metaphorical meaning of the phrasal-prepositional verbs used.

This study examined the relationship among foreign language enjoyment (FLE), second language L2 grit, online learning self-efficacy (OLSE), and online learning engagement among Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. The study involved 578 Iranian EFL learners who completed self-report measures of the four constructs. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were employed to confirm the validity of the scales and test the hypothesized model. The findings indicate that FLE positively affects online learning engagement and OLSE positively influences online learning engagement. Additionally, the study found that online self-efficacy mediates the relationship between L2 grit and online learning engagement. These results highlight the importance of FLE and OLSE in promoting online learning engagement, and the mediating role of online self-efficacy in the interplay between L2 grit and online learning engagement. This research sheds more light on the understanding of the factors that influence online learning engagement among EFL learners and has important implications for both theory and practice.

This article reports on changes in EFL learners' article choice performance before and after receiving lessons on the main rules applicable to article usage combined with dictionary consultation guidance. A sample of 43 Korean college students undertook the same forced-choice elicitation task once as a diagnostic test and again as a post-intervention test at three-month intervals. Unlike the diagnostic test, in which the participants were only asked to choose the correct articles, the post-intervention test asked them to give written accounts of their decision-making procedures as well. The analyses of the diagnostic test results, specifically the items requiring the indefinite article or the zero article, demonstrated EFL learners' struggle with indeterminate nominal numbers, underlining the importance of clear lexicographic treatment of such information. Further, the post-intervention test and the written think-aloud data analyses suggested that although using a bilingualised dictionary for nominal countability is useful in general, dictionary consultation can sometimes impede users from using articles correctly. Specific problem areas are discussed. 'n Leksikografiese benadering tot die onderrig van die Engelse lidwoordstelsel: 'n Hulp of 'n hindernis? In hierdie artikel word verslag gedoen oor veranderings in EVT-leerders se keuse van lidwoorde voor en nadat hulle lesse oor die hoofreëls wat van toepassing is op lidwoordgebruik asook leiding oor die raadpleging van woordeboeke ontvang het. 'n Steekproef van 43 Koreaanse kollegestudente het dieselfde opdrag uitgevoer waartydens gedwonge keuses ontlok is, een keer as 'n diagnostiese toets en weer as 'n postintervensietoets drie maande later. Anders as in die diagnostiese toets, waarin die deelnemers slegs die korrekte lidwoorde moes kies, is hulle in die postintervensietoets ook gevra om 'n geskrewe weergawe te gee van die besluitnemingsprosesse wat hulle gevolg het. Die ontleding van die diagnostiese toetsresultate, spesifiek die items wat die onbepaalde lidwoord of die zero-lidwoord vereis het, het getoon dat EVT-leerders sukkel met onbepaalde naamwoordgetalle, wat die belangrikheid van duidelike leksikografiese hantering van sodanige inligting beklemtoon het. Die postintervensietoets en die ontleding van die geskrewe hardop-dink-data het daarop gedui dat, alhoewel die gebruik van 'n verklarende woordeboek met vertalings oor die algemeen nuttig is vir nominale telbaarheid, die raadpleging van 'n woordeboek soms gebruikers kan verhinder om lidwoorde korrek te gebruik. Spesifieke probleemareas word bespreek.

ChatGPT, a general-purpose intelligent chatbot developed by OpenAI, has introduced numerous opportunities and challenges in the field of language education. With its remarkable ability to generate diverse forms of text, answer questions, and provide translations within minutes, ChatGPT has become an influential tool in the era of advanced AI technology. However, to what extent ChatGPT can be used to assist students in completing language learning tasks remains largely unexplored. Against this background, this study aimed to investigate students’ experiences with ChatGPT and their perceptions of its role in language learning through a small-scale qualitative study. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with five students at a top-tier international university in China. Students’ responses revealed that ChatGPT has the potential to serve as a valuable learning partner and aid students in completing language-related tasks. Furthermore, participants exhibited critical judgment in evaluating the quality of ideas and outputs generated by ChatGPT, as well as the ability to modify prompts to maximize learning benefits. Such critical judgment offsets the potential threats to academic integrity posed by ChatGPT. Our findings contribute to the understanding of the potential of ChatGPT in language education by adding empirical evidence from students’ perspectives. This study supports the idea that ChatGPT can work as an effective tool for providing students with immediate feedback and personalized learning experiences. Such findings generate implications for future pedagogical practices in the new era by providing students with personalized guidance, designing technology-embedded language support, and developing students’ lifelong learning skills (e.g., autonomy and evaluative judgment) with the support of ChatGPT.

Multi-word verbs (MWVs) can represent a challenge for EFL learners, with difficulties arising from the array of verb–particle combinations, many of which are polysemous and semantically opaque. Although MWVs expressing motion tend to be transparent, contrastive differences between languages regarding the description of movement in space may cause problems. This paper explores the use of MWVs in English by first-language (L1) Italian speakers and L1 English speakers in written descriptions of a clip from Chaplin’s The Kid. Their use in a corpus of texts by 281 Italian students ranging from B1 to C level in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) was compared with a comparable corpus of 73 native speaker (NS) texts. All instances of adverbial particles preceded continuously or discontinuously by a lexical verb were retrieved using AntConc and the concordance lines were checked manually. The research questions focus on which combinations are most frequent in the two corpora and how their use differs across CEFR levels and according to NS status. The large majority of verb-particle combinations turned out to express motion. Differences in the frequency and types of these combinations emerged, not only between NSs and learners of English, but also across CEFR levels. The paper highlights MWVs expressing motion that appear essential to describe the events unfolding in the clip. Considerations are made on how these findings can inform teaching materials, which can enable learners to make more informed choices when using MWVs to express motion.