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Comparing language tests and test preparation materials holds important implications for the latter's validity and reliability. However, not enough studies compare such materials across a wide range of indices. Therefore, this study investigated the text complexity of IELTS academic reading tests (IRT) and IELTS reading practice tests (IRPrT). Fine-grained quantitative analyses were undertaken to delineate measures of lexical, syntactic, and discourse complexity across a corpus of 108 IRT and 108 IRPrT published by Pearson, Macmillan, and Cengage Learning. The results suggest little difference between IRT and IRPrT at the lexical level; however, there were significant differences in some measures of syntactic and discourse level complexity. The findings bear implications for stakeholders including learners as test takers, instructors, material developers, and language testing researchers. We interpret this to mean that while IRPrT materials are lexically conducive to the practice for IRT and can provide a similar experience, the IRPrT do show some differences in the amount of subordination and idea repetition at the discourse level. Therefore, instructors and learners may seek to supplement practice with these structures when preparing for IRT, and the designers of such practice materials should consider aligning these factors in the future.

Although group work activities are commonly employed in communicative second language (L2) classes, there are few studies that investigate how much teachers and students, the two main stakeholders, agree or differ on how group work activities should be conducted. To fill this gap, this study, which was carried out at a public university in Vietnam, examined the perceptions of both teachers and students to uncover matches and mismatches in their perceptions of important issues for effective group work implementation. The study explored the actual experiences of six teachers and ten students, who were chosen by convenience sampling. Thematic analysis of the interviews indicated that the benefits of group work were widely agreed upon, as were the preferences for group size and self-selection of group members. However, there was disagreement over ways of grouping, the role of leadership, and the use of peer assessment. The findings have significant implications for relevant stakeholders, especially in the Asian English as a foreign language (EFL) context, about what would work well and what needs to be addressed to maximize the effectiveness of group work implementation.

The real estate and construction industry have significantly played a particularly important role in economic development in each economy. In the case of Vietnam, the real estate and construction industry have greatly contributed a large proportion to the gross domestic product (GDP) growth with a sustainable annual growth. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of manager’s ability, wage minimum policy, and firm size on firm performance. Using 220 real estate and construction firms in the case of Vietnam, results depict that a greater ability of managers in the real estate and construction sector will significantly enhance the efficiency of businesses. In addition, a larger firm can reach a higher firm efficiency while the efficiency of the real estate and construction firms is not impacted by changes of wage minimum policy.

Written corrective feedback (WCF) has been widely deployed in teaching second language (L2) writing skills, partly because it is generally perceived to promote and consolidate learning. Whilst a burgeoning body of literature affirms its virtues pertaining to fostering L2 learners' writing performance, which method of correction could yield the greatest enhancement remains a point of contention among researchers. This research review is proposed to condense findings of contemporary studies on the use of WCF in teaching and learning writing in English as foreign language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL) setting. It commences with a summarization of key terms and proceeds to afford a brief discussion on students' and teachers' perceptions towards using WCF. Subsequently, a critical synthesis of findings from current studies into the effectiveness of different types of WCF, namely direct, indirect, metalinguistic, focused, and unfocused strategies, will be presented. Drawing on the empirical evidence thus far, we deduce that no one-size-fits-all WCF approach best facilitates L2 learners' writing development. Furthermore, any judgement on the effects of WCF should be taken into account in relation to personal and contextual factors as they are moderating variables affecting which WCF type is best suitable. Teachers, therefore, are recommended to consider numerous factors concerning learning environments and learners' differences in providing WCF. It is also suggested that more extensive studies into WCF's long-term effects and those regarding various aspects of L2 learners' writing performance apart from grammatical accuracy should be conducted.