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This study investigated the effects of assisted oral reading on EFL learners' oral reading rates and took into account repetition times, passage features (length and type), and language proficiency. Forty-nine students from a university of technology took part in a 27-week oral reading program. Teaching assistants were assigned to assist individual students' oral reading and offered immediate feedback for their performance. Students read a total of 27 texts, one per week. The texts involved 9 short- and 9 long-conversational texts, and 9 monologic texts. Each text was read six times and the time for each oral reading was recorded. The collected data were analyzed with HLM. The dependent variable was students' oral reading rates, and three fixed factors were repetition times, text features, and students' language proficiency. The results showed that students' oral reading rates significantly improved with times of repetition increased. Text length (shorter or longer) did not affect students' oral reading rates but text types (conversational vs. monologic) did. Higher-level students read significantly more fluently than those in the lower-level. Implication of the study results was discussed.

Scientific communication (SC) has important social-cognitive, behavioral, and career-related benefits for emerging researchers, but both mentors and mentees find development of SC skills challenging. Whether training mentors to effectively mentor development of SC skills could have a meaningful impact on mentees was not clear. The Scientific Communication Advances Research Excellence (SCOARE) project has conducted faculty training workshops in techniques for mentoring SC skills since 2018. To study indirect workshop effects of mentors' attendance at the SCOARE workshop on their matched PhD and postdoctoral mentees (N = 477), we surveyed mentees before and 6 months after their mentors attended and measured their social-psychological and behavioral outcomes. To examine the effectiveness of the workshop and to explore whether workshop effects vary based on mentee demographic characteristics, including home language variety (speaker of standardized English [STE], non-standardized English [NSTE], or another language [L2]), we conducted multilevel models. After adjusting baseline scores, mentees of mentors who attended SCOARE workshops (W +) were more engaged in speaking activities ([beta] =0 .30, p = 0.016), had higher science identity ([beta] = 0.20, p = 0.048), and were less likely to reconsider their career due to SC skills ([beta] = -- 0.39, p = 0.004) than mentees in the W-- group. Across demographic groups, mentees of mentors who attended SCOARE workshops showed similar improvements in SC outcomes. Postdoctoral mentees, compared to doctoral mentees, had higher science identity and lower intention to pursue a non-research-intensive career. Comparing mentees of the 3 categories of home language variety, both the NSTE and L2 groups, compared to the STE group, were more likely to reconsider their careers due to SC skills and had a higher intention to pursue non-research-intensive careers both at baseline and post-workshop, suggesting the possibility of language background as a barrier to mentee career progression. Mentor training for SC skill development can improve social-psychological and behavioral outcomes for mentees, including science identity, frequency of speaking, and reconsideration of research careers due to concerns about SC.

This study synthesized the research on listening instruction (LI) and its effectiveness on L2 learners' listening competence development based on studies published from 1980 to 2019. After a literature search, well-designed studies that involved not only experimental or quasi-experimental and control groups but also pretests and posttests were selected for the analysis. A total of 39 samples from 32 primary studies with 2,797 participants were included. A random-effect model was employed to assess the differences in the treatment effect, which might be moderated by mediator variables: treatment length, treatment method, implementation types, and measurement types. The result showed a small effect size (Cohen's d = 0.25) for listening instruction. Meta-regression for treatment length showed that the longer the treatment period is, the better the effectiveness is. A significant difference was found for implementation types, but not so for the treatment methods and measurement types. Pedagogical implications for LI are discussed, and directions for future studies are provided.

This article presents the ENglish Reading Online (ENRO) project that offers data on English reading and listening comprehension from 7,338 university-level advanced learners and native speakers of English representing 19 countries. The database also includes estimates of reading rate and seven component skills of English, including vocabulary, spelling, and grammar, as well as rich demographic and language background data. We first demonstrate high reliability for ENRO tests and their convergent validity with existing meta-analyses. We then provide a bird's-eye view of first (L1) and second (L2) language comparisons and examine the relative role of various predictors of reading and listening comprehension and reading speed. Across analyses, we found substantially more overlap than differences between L1 and L2 speakers, suggesting that English reading proficiency is best considered across a continuum of skill, ability, and experiences spanning L1 and L2 speakers alike. We end by providing pointers for how researchers can mine ENRO data for future studies.

In this article we describe the Books 2 Basketball (B2B) program created by a school counselor for Black youth along with some preliminary outcomes examined after its implementation. This program was not evaluated for effectiveness but to determine if the program was feasible and to share feedback from some of the participants. The B2B program is facilitated after-school and geared toward exposing Black youth to college preparatory dialogue using the development of basketball and academic skills. The overarching goal of this program is to promote students' potential for academic success, which enhances post-secondary options, by teaching children basic basketball and basic arithmetic/mathematical skills (i.e., how to calculate fractions, percentages, decimals, and ratios). The feedback from the student participants provides implications for the use of sport and recreation-related programs to promote their learning, career development, and physical health. We conclude this article with implications for research, practice, and policy for educators unveiling the brilliance of Black/African American youth.