Student ratings of instruction can be a valuable indicator of teaching because the quality measurement of instruction identifies areas where improvement is needed. Student ratings of instruction are expected to evaluate and enhance the teaching strategies. Evaluation of teaching effectiveness has been officially implemented in Taiwanese higher education since 2005. Therefore, this research inve...

There has been vast evidence to support the potential of electronic portfolios (e-portfolio) as tools for enhancing reflective thinking and professional development of student teachers. However, no study has been carried out to specifically determine English as a Foreign Language (EFL) student teachers’ perceptions on the role of eportfolios in their professional development. Therefore, this de...

Recently, speaking has played an increasingly important role in second/foreign language settings. However, in many Chinese universities, EFL students rarely communicate in English with other people effectively. The existing behavioristic role plays on New Horizon College English (NHCE) e-learning do not function successfully in supplementing EFL speaking classes. The present study aims at inves...

This study was designed to examine EFL student writers majoring in English as a foreign language at university level in Iran to describe their vocabulary related problems and the strategies they used to overcome these problems. Thirty EFL students were given a writing task for think-aloud composing. The resulting protocols were coded and analysed. The data were examined in relation to vocabular...

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between behavioral and emotional engagement of Iranian EFL learners and their attachment to their teachers. Both teachers’ and students’ perceptions of their relationships and students’ engagement have been taken into account. Questionnaire data provided by 311 EFL students and 70 EFL  teachers was used to investigate the relation betwee...

Reading exercises are critical for developing strong reading comprehension. However, due to resource constraints and a lack of accurate evaluation methods, English instructors can hardly assess student reading ability effectively. In past decades, learning by reading is known to be challenging for both teachers and students involved, especially for students learning English as a Foreign Languag...

Using the theories of critical reflection and community of practice, the aim of this paper was to explore the use of blogs as a reflective platform in the training processes of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) student teachers, who were learning to teach English for future employment in Taiwan. They made use of blogs as a platform to critically reflect on their learning processes as well as ...

The analysis of current EFL (English as a Foreign Language) education and literature indicates that most EFL practices can be characterised as traditional language learning settings in which teachers direct the learning process, and students are then assumed as passive receptors of knowledge. Furthermore, EFL learning has also been criticised as an in-class-only learning practice due to the rar...

Studies have mainly focused on strategies to motivate teachers or the student-teacher motivation relationships rather than teacher demotivation in the English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching process, whereas no data have been found on the factors that cause teacher demotivation in the Turkish EFL teaching contexts at the elementary education level. Thus, this study aims to investigate the ...

Second language reading comprehension is the most important skill required by students, especially in a foreign language context. One way to help these students improve their reading comprehension is strategy instruction. In the present study, the effect of two strategies, namely, summarizing and students-generated questions have been investigated. The participants in the study were all female ...