Abstract The study assesses the English writing level of South Indian native Tamil language post-graduate students. The paper highlights the impact of native language sources in English writing and discusses the strategic implications. The study framed an English writing test instrument applying Bloom’s Taxonomy to assess the level of writing. Quantitatively, 300 randomly sampled written transcriptions were taken for analysis. Qualitatively, a structured oneto-one interview was conducted among 27 language instructors, and 127 transcripts were observed to highlight the usage of native language sources, which resulted in poor writing. It assessed the students’ level in L2 writing as mediocre, which was explained by 74% of the sampled responses. It found that the interference of native language in English writing made students make more mistakes in the order of words, subject-verb agreement, usage of tenses, and application of grammar rules. Further, it discussed the strategic implications for improvement as - a) repetitive incremental practice – teaching structures, tenses, and grammar rules of native and target language, b) conversational instruction – sharing differences in native and target languages, sharing of mistakes and errors, and c) timely feedback – a part of follow up mechanism for assessment.

Abstract This study investigates what L2 learners perceive as the impacts of their engagement through self-made video (SMV) creation on their vocabulary development (VD). Employing a qualitative inquiry, this study involved 12 Indonesian L2 learners attending an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Vocabulary in Context course at a private university in Indonesia. A semi-structured interview was used to collect the data. The study found that L2 engagement in SMV creation led to repeated-driven retention, contextualisation, and vocabulary comprehension, promoting VD. The findings suggest that L2 engagement in SMV creation promotes high exposure to new vocabulary through planning, researching, scripting, filming, and editing. The findings also indicate the importance of L2 learners’ engagement in the vocabulary learning process, as it fosters the ownership of learning, leading to improved learning motivation and vocabulary knowledge. The study provides implications for L2 instructors and educators, suggesting incorporating SMV creation into language instruction to promote VD, improve long-term retention, and enhance learner engagement and motivation.

Abstract The paper investigates the feedback from 2nd and 3rd year students in a teacher training programme as part of the e-portfolio course implementation. Mahara e-portfolio platform was used in a compulsory elective course to enhance the learning experience and provide online space for completing various reading, listening, writing, speaking skills, and vocabulary tasks. The research adopts a qualitative approach and analyses expectations, fears, and contributions (before the implementation) related to e-portfolios and likes, dislikes, and suggestions (after the course completion). The paper reflects the students’ first-hand experience with e-portfolios and seeks to contribute to the growing area of research on this topic. Based on the data, the expectations towards e-portfolios were relatively positive. The students showed concerns, especially over technical issues and digital skills. As to the potential contribution, the students highlighted the interactive nature of e-portfolios. At the end of the course, the students appreciated especially peer-to-peer learning. On the other hand, the students showed a negative attitude towards difficulties and challenges with using the eportfolio at the beginning of the process. The students also suggested using one platform instead of multiple platforms. The findings can be of interest to teachers, lecturers, instructors or anyone planning to implement eportfolios in the field of education, especially with a focus on higher education.

Abstract Despite significant advances in the conception of cultural teaching and learning in recent decades, some unresolved problems remain. In Intercultural Learning, the cultures between which learners mediate still appear as bounded, nation-type cultures. In Transcultural Learning, it is unclear how learners could acquire knowledge of an unstable, dynamic, and hybrid object. This article suggests Cognitive Cultural Didactics, which relies on the concept of cognitive scripts, i.e., generic mental representations of everyday activities. Cognitive Cultural Didactics reconsiders cultural learning as the additive acquisition of cognitive scripts that govern everyday interactions in geographically more remote locations. By doing so, the cognitive paradigm can resolve some of the current intercultural and transcultural learning limitations. Moreover, Cognitive Cultural Didactics has essential implications for Anti-Racist Pedagogy. It may serve as an antidote against a racist mindset that puts people into binary categories based on skin colour, place of birth, or parents’ place of birth (‘Us’ vs. ‘Them’). In contrast, Cognitive Cultural Didactics highlight that everybody has a complex collection of scripts reflecting their multi-faceted past experiences and observations. As a result, no person, whether born abroad or not, with native parents or not, can usefully be described with binary labels that simplify their actual complexity. A racist mindset can thus empirically be shown to be untenable with study evidence from cognitive research.

Abstract Despite its crucial importance and being a topical issue in the current SLA research, EFL students’ WTC has received little attention in the Ethiopian educational context. The current study therefore aimed to explore EFL students’ WTC across communicative situations in an Ethiopian higher education instructional context. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data from a randomly selected sample of 258 first-year EFL students taking “Communicative English skills” courses in Werabe University, one of the public universities in Ethiopia. The data were analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that the target students’ WTC varies across communicative situations. While Topic enticement, Off-instruction communication and Integrative orientation were found triggering students’ WTC, low perceived competence, communication anxiety, low learning responsibility, and classroom conditions (in part) were found hampering the students’ WTC in the class. The finding is believed to be useful reference especially for teachers to help achieve the desired goal of ESL/EFL instruction.

Abstract Proverbs in English pose a challenge for EFL learners due to their metaphorical nature. This study compared three approaches to enhance EFL students’ proverb comprehension: Conventional-based, Pictorial-based, and Conceptual Metaphor-based. Pre- and post-tests were conducted on 70 EFL students divided into three groups. The Conventional-based Approach was used with 22 students, the Pictorial-based with 25, and the Conceptual Metaphor-based with 23. A one-way ANOVA revealed significant differences among the groups. The Conceptual Metaphor-based group outperformed the Conventional-based and Pictorial-based groups. It is recommended that EFL teachers adopt the Conceptual Metaphor-based Approach to deepen proverb understanding and retention. This approach enables learners to uncover the cultural values within proverbs, fostering language proficiency and critical thinking.

Abstract This study aims to investigate the use of text-organising metadiscourse markers as a means of the author’s stance expression in academic texts from a cross-linguistic and cross-disciplinary perspectives. This comparative study analyses scientific research articles in the fields of technology and social sciences (economics) written in Lithuanian and English. The results of the study revealed that the authors of the studied articles tend to create a coherent text, therefore the markers such as transition, endophorics, and references to the text are quite often. The more frequent evidentials, which are intended to refer to the publications of other authors, show the individual choices of the authors in the field of technology, probably determined by the peculiarities of the discipline or the requirements for publications of the scientific journals regarding the scope and organisation of the text. The results of the quantitative research demonstrated that more text-organising markers were found in the articles written in Lithuanian rather than English. The cross-disciplinary research indicated that authors use text-organising markers in the scientific articles of economics more often than the authors of technological academic texts, which means that disciplinary differences prevail. Qualitative research disclosed cross-linguistic and cross-disciplinary similarities, as the analysed examples of markers were employed by authors to perform the same functions. Furthemore, a similar perception of the organisation of the text emerged. No qualitative differences were observed in the use of the text-organising markers.

Abstract This paper attempts to explore Slovak EFL learners’ perceptions of the fundamental principles of communicative approach, which has been employed as the primary way of teaching foreign languages for the past five decades. Research participants were formed by 111 Slovak university EFL leaners – teacher trainees (n = 111), who were asked to demonstrate their level of agreement to the statements concerning communicative language teaching by responding to a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. The calculated means indicate that overall, the research participants are in agreement with the selected principles of CLT as they agreed with 16 out of the 18 chosen statements. However, they appear to be neutral about two aspects of CLT, the use of native language at EFL lessons and discovering and investigating grammatical rules by learners themselves. Arising out of the research results, the conclusions are drawn, and pedagogical implications are discussed.

Abstract It is incontrovertible that African, and in particular, isiXhosa children’s oral songs play a significant role in the educational and instructional facets given their propensity to contribute to children’s cognitive development when used and applied meticulously. Bearing that in mind, this article aimed to unravel two selected children’s oral isiXhosa songs in respect of their didactic and pedagogical components. The principal objective, among others, was to determine their latent interplaying meanings. The sociocultural theory of learning was deployed to examine the two songs while the songs themselves served as a primary source of data subsumed under qualitative research methodology. The examination and discussions maintained that isiXhosa children’s oral songs contain educational and instructional dimensions that may not be privy to everyone, and as such, it is consequential that they continue to be probed. The closing remarks underlined the deficit in the evaluation of isiXhosa children’s songs concerning their didactic and pedagogical facets.

Abstract Student profiling and learning strategies have gained the interest of many researchers. In language learning in particular, understanding students’ learning strategies as well as their multiple intelligence profiles is significant because it allows the teachers to develop and design lessons and materials that are customised to their diverse learning needs. Hence, this study investigates the Multiple Intelligences (MI) and Language Learning Strategy (LLS) profiles of students from various science and technology faculties of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Terengganu, with a focus on gender differences. The study’s objectives were to determine the dominant students’ MI profiles, their preferred LLS, and gender variations in these variables. Two instruments were adopted in this study, namely McKenzie’s Multiple Intelligences Inventory and the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL). The findings indicated that the students mostly acquire introspective intelligence, and the majority of male respondents use metacognitive learning strategies. However, the findings revealed a significant positive relationship between MI and LLS. Based on these findings, the study emphasises the importance of incorporating MI and LLS in language teaching and learning and provides recommendations for language teachers to create lesson plans and teaching materials that suit the students’ needs.