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Written corrective feedback for improving L2 writing skills has been a debatable issue for more than two decades. The aims of this meta-analysis are to (1) provide a quantitative measure of the effect of computer-generated written feedback for improving L2 writing skills and (2) verify how moderators (i.e., adopted technology, task types, and learners' language proficiency) mitigate the effectiveness of corrective feedback provided by computer technology for developing the L2 students' writing fluency and accuracy. A comprehensive search was performed to collect the population of computer-mediated corrective feedback (CMCF) studies. The effect sizes were calculated for 14 primary studies with L2 participants (N = 1220). The findings indicate a large overall effect of CMCF (d = 1.21). A medium overall effect was found in using automated writing evaluation (AWE) technology for writing skills, whereas a large effect size was determined in using non-AWE technology. The results further indicate a large overall effect in using CMCF for both writing fluency and accuracy. As for the proficiency level of moderators, the results indicate a large overall effect in using CMCF among beginners and intermediate learners, whereas the overall effect is small among advanced learners. Limitations and recommendations for future studies are also raised in this study.

Automated Writing Evaluation programs have been used extensively to assist both L2 instructors and learners to get corrective feedback and to score students' final product of writing. Research has found that the AWE programs help in optimizing the writing output. However, little is known about the hybrid mode; use of AWE involving the evaluation of both modes instructors and the AWE program. This paper studies the effects of both modes in developing the students' writing outputs using a small case study of 6 EFL learners. The learners were exposed to both modes where in each mode they undertook two sessions using the program. In the first phase the learners wrote an essay via "MY Access" and then saved their input in the program. In the second session, they revised their essays based on the feedback given from the program. In the hybrid mode, the same students in the second session revised their input as per the instructor's feedback and then continued submitting their essays via "MY Access." Results found that under the hybrid condition students significantly outscored the learners with the AWE program.

Video captioning has been investigated extensively in the Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) literature to aid second language vocabulary acquisition. However, a little is known about how video captioning could foster learners' pronunciation, which is a component of second language vocabulary acquisition proposed by Nation (Nation, Learning vocabulary in another language, Cambridge University Press, 2001), when attending to video captioning. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of two types of video captioning, namely, full versus partial captioning, on mastery of word pronunciation. Furthermore, we tested the magnitude of the cognitive load imposed by video captioning types using NASA TLX. A total of 55 Arab English as a Foreign Language learners watched videos with full, partial or no captioning. Their perceptions about learning with captioning were also surveyed. Results of the pre-post-tests indicated that the captioning groups' performance in the pronunciation tests outscored the no captioning group. In turn, the partial captioning group's scores were slightly higher than those of the full captioning group. However, this difference was statistically insignificant. Cognitive load was found higher in full captioning and no captioning than that in the partial captioning mode. The participants showed highly positive attitudes towards learning with captions.

This study aims to investigate the acquisition of vocabulary recognition and vocabulary production in the short- and long-term via listening and reading comprehension activities using Voice® software. Sixty participants were invited to read or listen to two passages in different sessions, that is, three sessions in listening inputs and one session in reading comprehension. The materials in reading comprehension input were converted into audio and given for the students who were assigned to participate in the listening sessions. Vocabulary recognition was measured through written multiple-choice tests, whereas the vocabulary production was assessed by a cloze test for both scenarios. Each test was administered before the intervention immediately after the intervention and at a delayed post of time for both inputs. Results showed that the students were able to learn new vocabulary from both modes in the pre-post-delayed treatments. Participants scored higher in recognition vocabulary test than in the production test. In view of the vocabulary gains in both scenarios in the post-tests, the performance of listeners was significantly lower than that of readers after the first session, which was almost the same after the second session, and significantly higher after the third listening session. However, vocabulary acquisition from listening comprehension mode was significantly higher than that from reading input in the delayed post-tests.

Second language writing researchers have examined the affordances of Automated Writing Evaluation programs in providing immediate feedback that helps improve students' writing outputs. However, a little is known about tracking learners' process during writing essays and whether much/less pauses made by learners could predict good/poor quality of students' writing output. This article aims to address this issue by recording a case study of 8 postgraduate students' pauses during writing two types of text genre; descriptive and argumentative essays. Their pauses have been recorded using Keystroke logging program--Input Log 7.0 (Leijten and Van Waes in Writ Commun 30:358-392, 2013. 10.1177/0741088313491692) and their screen activities were captured by Active Presenter program. Findings revealed that the students' pauses were significantly higher in word boundary than in sentence and/or paragraph boundaries. Moreover, on word boundary, pauses before words were significantly higher than that after words for both types of text genre. Concerning pauses across text genre, students' pauses were significantly higher in the argumentative essay than that of the descriptive essay. Multiple regression revealed negative correlation between much pauses and poor quality of students' product in the descriptive essay while there was no correlation found in the argumentative essay.

This article investigates how the use of a deliberate approach of analyzing a given reading may predict differences in CVA effectiveness. Sixty Arab EFL learners were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group, thirty participants for each. The experimental group received training in the deliberate Clarke and Nation (System 8:211-220, 1980) CVA technique, whereas the control group were not guided through a training method. Then, both groups were asked to answer three vocabulary tests and then participate to finish a series of six readings adjusted using Nation's K-level reading lexicon to control the difficult words during readings. After treatments, the students took a post-test vocabulary session. Results show that the group that have used the deliberate CVA technique retained about twice as many new words as the other group did. That is the use of a deliberate-CVA methodology significantly improves learning. The experimental manipulation produced a learning effect that was 76.1% greater than that of the control group in terms of word context recognition and 128.0% greater than that of the control group in terms of word definition accuracy. Pedagogical implications, limitations and directions for further research are discussed.

Writing in a language different from one's mother tongue is a daunting task. The same challenge may apply to languages that have diglossic features whose spoken form differs from the written form. This article investigates Arab students' writing behaviors (fluency, pauses, and revision) in response to an argumentative composition in their L1 (first language: Arabic) and L2 (second language: English), given that understanding their complexities in writing processes would help instructors to rectify language writing-related problems. Guided by Kellogg's model, this article attempts to investigate the cognitive processes underlying these writing behaviors as aided by a keystroke logging program (Inputlog 7.0). It also examined if writing behaviors would be correlated to the writing quality of their produced final texts. Data were collected from log files of the Inputlog generated upon the students' writing processes, screened video recordings, and a stimulated recall interview. Results indicated that compared with L2 writing in character production, L1 writing processes were highly significant, less significant in pauses over word boundaries, and highly significant in time on the task factor. Concerning revision behavior, no significant differences were found in time spent on deletion and insertion, whereas a significant difference was found in R-burst for L2 writing. As regards quality of text, many pauses and minimal production of words tend to be negative indicators for writing quality output. Pedagogical implications and suggestions for future research are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread availability of technological infrastructure has enhanced the adoption of learning management systems (LMSs) in educational institutions. Blackboard is one of the most popular marketable LMSs adopted in higher education institutions. As some previous studies have viewed that positive perceptions played a vital role in adopting new technologies, this paper aims to investigate teachers' perceptions on blackboard applications in the context of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL). To gather data, 32 EFL university teachers from Saudi Arabia were surveyed and interviewed about their perceptions toward the use of the blackboard. The results from the data instruments reveal that EFL teachers have positive perceptions on Blackboard applications to English language teaching. Most teachers view Blackboard as a structured e-learning platform that helps improve the teacher-student relationship in a course and aids to make teaching English more successful. The study findings; however, revealed that the use of blackboard as a blending learning is still focusing on administrative issues rather than pedagogical significance for language learning. Recommendations and directions for future research are highlighted at the end of this article.

This article performs bibliometric analysis to study the contributions of Saudi institutions in the education field in journals indexed in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and Science Citation Index-Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED). Publications from 1991 to 2020 were assessed. Characteristics of document types, publication outputs, Web of Science categories and journals, and publication performances in terms of quantity for countries and institutes were investigated. To investigate performance quality, citation histories of the most frequently cited articles in the 30 years and the most frequently cited articles in 2020 were examined. The number of citations from the WoS Core Collection in the most recent year, total number of citations since the publication year 2020, and citations per publication were used to evaluate publication performances. Results showed that educational research articles were substantially published in the last decade. The most number of articles were published in the category of scientific disciplines education, followed by the education and educational research category. For international collaboration, Saudi Arabia had the most number of international collaborations with the US. However, articles that were collaborated with Germany had the highest impact. King Saud University was the most productive institution in terms of high-quantity and high-quality published articles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For years, computer-assisted language learning (CALL) has thrived as an interdisciplinary subfield, linking applied linguistics and educational technology. Despite its significance and a number of syntheses, CALL research has not yet undergone a comprehensive scientometric synthesis. This study synthesizes CALL research over a period of 42 years by employing a scientometric analysis of sources and document co-citation analyses. Scopus was used to retrieve original articles with a timespan limit from 1980 to 2021. Our records identified 4,631 articles representing CALL-based research, which were published in 63 peer-reviewed journals and collectively contained 186,589 references. The findings indicate that CALL research is supported by robust theoretical frameworks, grounded in socio-cultural and second language acquisition theories. Our research findings have revealed several significant clusters of interest within the realm of CALL, with a pronounced focus on writing among CALL scholars. Additionally, the study identified emerging research areas such as mobile-assisted language learning, synchronous computer-mediated communication, and data-driven learning in CALL literature. Notably, "CALL-core" journals exhibited high productivity, with Language Learning & Technology , Computer Assisted Language Learning , and Computers & Education standing out as top-ranked journals in terms of the Hirsch index (h -index) and co-citation. Suggestions for future research are outlined in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multimedia glosses have been examined extensively by researchers for over three decades to determine their possible effects in second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition. Many meta-analytic studies aimed to determine the extent to which glosses can impact L2 vocabulary learning and the moderators that can mediate the results of meta-analytic studies. This study integrated meta-analytic studies with document co-citation analysis (DCA) to elicit a fine-grained view of the thematic associations of relevant citing studies with the issue of glosses and L2 vocabulary learning. To address this issue, 18 target studies (N = 2991 participants) were selected as the study sample. Results revealed that glosses had an overall large effect size on L2 vocabulary acquisition (Hedge's g = 1.27); however, the effect size varied from small to large, depending on the level of proficiency of the learners. Concerning the tests type moderator, the effect size was large for recognition test but medium for vocabulary recall test. Results of the DCA (18 cited articles and 802 citing articles) identified 10 core papers, with highly significant co-citations, and 257 citing references, indicating the highly thematic relatedness of the target studies, and citing references to the issue under investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a comprehensive review on the use of help options (HOs) in the multimedia listening context to aid listening comprehension (LC) and improve incidental vocabulary learning. The paper also aims to synthesize the research findings obtained from the use of HOs in Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) literature and reveals the theoretical framework that has guided multimedia listening studies. The term HOs refers to any form of assistance, such as visual, auditory (ie, variety of pronunciations) or textual, that is displayed synchronously or asynchronously on the computer screen to facilitate language learning. The paper analyzes the potentials of HO techniques and reveals how these techniques are utilized in CALL literature. The paper then summarizes the overall gain in the use of HOs, highlights their limitations in LC tasks and recommends directions for future research.

One of the main issues in language learning is to find ways to enable learners to interact with the language input in an involved task. Given that computer-based simulation allows learners to interact with visual modes, this article examines how the interaction of students with an online video simulation affects their second language video comprehension and incidental vocabulary learning. Forty-three Arab adult learners were randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group. Students in the experimental group (players) participated in a virtual knee surgery simulation by dragging various surgery devices, which were shown in the clip, over the knee of a patient. Those in the control group (viewers) viewed the same video in YouTube and were requested to watch and listen to the video surgery. After the treatments, the students took comprehension and vocabulary recognition tests (image association with words). Results show that the players significantly outperformed the viewers in these two tests. The pedagogical implications of this study suggest that interactivity in language input is crucial in facilitating second language acquisition.

Several types of help options have been incorporated into reading and listening comprehension activities to aid second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition. Textbook authors, teachers, and sometimes even students may pick and choose which help options they wish to use. In this paper, I investigate the effects of two help options in a multimedia listening environment (annotated captioned animation versus annotated transcript animation) on L2 vocabulary acquisition. Thirty-four Arab learners of English as a foreign language watched and listened to an animated story under any one of the following conditions: (1) annotations + captions + animation (ACA) and (2) annotations + transcripts+ animation (ATA). After viewing the story, the participants received a vocabulary posttest (i.e., L2 spelling) and posttest of translating Arabic words into the target language (L2 form recall). These tests were readministered five weeks after the treatment. The results revealed that the ACA and ATA groups performed significantly better on both L2 vocabulary spelling and L2 vocabulary recall in posttest and delayed test treatments than on L2 vocabulary spelling and recall in the pretest treatments. No significant difference was observed between the ACA and ATA groups in terms of vocabulary posttests. However, the ACA group slightly outscored the ATA group in the long-term L2 form recall tests (i.e., delayed tests). The results suggest that both types (i.e., ACA and ATA) help improve L2 vocabulary acquisition, whereas ACA surpasses ATA in aiding L2 vocabulary acquisition over a long term. In light of these findings, pedagogical implications to teachers, learners, and curricula designers are discussed.

High-Variability Phonetic Training (HVPT) has demonstrated effectiveness in second language (L2) acquisition. This study utilizes a meta-analysis to explore the influence of high variability on learning L2 pronunciation and identifies the factors that moderate this impact. The studies were collected using a keyword search in the SCOPUS database. In total, our meta-analysis incorporated 18 primary studies that presented results obtained from experimental and control group designs, encompassing a total of 22 effect sizes. The results of our meta-analysis revealed that the overall effect size of HVPT on L2 pronunciation was medium (g = 0.77). Specifically, the effect size was large for consonant sounds and lexical tones, particularly pronounced when utilized by advanced learners. For beginners, the effect size was medium. The context in which the training was conducted also played a role, with a medium effect size observed when sentences were used. Additionally, the number of talkers involved in the study influenced the effect size, with a medium effect size found when 5 to 8 talkers were included. In other cases, the reported effect sizes were either small or non-significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to study Arab students' use of English relative pronoun 'who' via translating statements from their mother tongue (Arabic) into the target language (English). Thirty Saudi adult students, aged 18-20 years old, were asked to translate 20 relative clauses from Arabic into English. The results revealed that the students encountered various problematic areas in the use of relative pronoun 'who', viz. use of personal and possessive relative pronoun, position of relative pronoun, presence of resumptive pronouns in Arabic, absence of duality and plurality of relative pronoun "who", use of relative pronouns with prepositional verbs. Such problematic areas were manifested in various errors of omission, addition, selection, word order, and avoidance. The results also showed that the average of the students' errors in "avoidance, omission, and selection" were significantly higher than (30 %. 25%. and 24% respectively) the average for 'addition' and 'word order'. These errors could be attributed to language transfer, overgeneralization, and ignorance of rules restriction, which were possibly grounded in the lack of exposure to the TL rules and insufficient practice of grammatical activities. Pedagogical implications of this study suggest that instructors should make a good use of the recommendations of contrastive analysis hypothesis (CAH) and Error Analysis (EA). Namely, the students should be made aware of the areas of similarities and differences between English and Arabic practically rather than theoretically. The study stresses the limitations of the findings and directs outlines for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effects of multimedia annotations in CALL environment on the acquisition of English vocabulary for Yemeni EFL learners. Sixty freshmen students were randomly assigned to read stories either on computer screen or in printed text. They were divided into two groups; experimental group received treatments through multimedia software, control group received the same treatment but with traditional printed texts. Vocabulary pre-test and immediate test were administered to both groups. Four weeks later, a vocabulary delayed post-test was administered to both groups to check word retention. Participants of multimedia group were asked to fill in a short questionnaire to see their attitude towards the use of multimedia software. Results showed that experimental group scored higher than control group on the immediate posttest, and a decline in the delayed posttest of control group was greater than that of experimental group. Findings of the test revealed that learning occurred effectively through multimedia CALL. The study discusses the findings of the study on the light of theories of multimedia learning and suggests for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]