English Language Teaching Educational Journal

Gains and hurdles of English language instructors in developing writing skills of criminology students in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Aldren Lim — 2026-08-31

This study explored the perspectives of English language instructors on the gains and challenges of developing the writing skills of criminology students in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), as well as the strategies they employed to address these challenges. A qualitative research design was employed using semi-structured interviews with 6 English language instructors teaching writing in criminology programs at a criminology school in the Philippines. The interview data were analyzed through thematic analysis to identify recurring patterns and shared experiences. The findings revealed that instructors perceived AI as beneficial in facilitating writing instruction, improving the quality of students’ written outputs, and supporting the writing process through planning, modeling, feedback, and increased learner confidence. However, instructors also identified challenges associated with AI-assisted writing, including students’ overdependence on AI-generated outputs, concerns regarding comprehension and authenticity, and reduced critical engagement in writing tasks. To address these issues, instructors implemented strategies such as guided AI use, independent and contextualized writing activities, and controlled AI-assisted writing tasks to promote ethical and critical writing practices. The study concludes that while AI offers valuable support in writing instruction, its effective integration depends on instructors’ pedagogical guidance to ensure the development of students’ authorship, critical thinking, and responsible use of AI.

Pragmatic markers and interpersonal alignment in contemporary British: A corpus-assisted study

Ha Thu Nguyen — 2026-08-31

Pragmatic markers are small conversational forms, but they carry substantial interactional weight in spoken English. They organize discourse and shape interpersonal meaning. This study examines the functions of you know, I mean, well, like, so, and I think and their contribution to interpersonal alignment in contemporary British conversation. Adopting a corpus-assisted qualitative design, the study analyses approximately 50,000 words from around 40–50 Spoken BNC2014 extracts involving adult speakers. Extracts were selected based on the six markers and surrounding turns for contextual analysis. AntConc was used for corpus retrieval and frequency analysis, while NVivo 12 supported qualitative coding. Each occurrence was examined in context, and lexical or grammatical uses were excluded, leaving 812 eligible tokens. Like was the most frequent marker (218; 26.8%), followed by well (176; 21.7%), you know (147; 18.1%), I mean (112; 13.8%), so (94; 11.6%), and I think (65; 8.0%). The findings show four interconnected functions: constructing shared knowledge, facilitating reformulation and repair, managing turns and sequences, and expressing stance and mitigation. You know invited listener recognition; I mean clarified prior talk; well and so managed responses and progression; and like and I think made meanings more approximate and negotiable. Alignment interpretations were grounded in surrounding sequences and interlocutors’ responses rather than in the markers alone. The findings indicate that pragmatic markers support interpretive coordination, relational sensitivity, and conversational continuity. The study contributes to corpus-assisted and interactional pragmatics and offers implications for learners’ pragmatic competence.

Exploring teachers’ perspectives on student and teacher challenges and solutions in inclusive senior high school English learning in Yogyakarta: A case study

Rovi Kholifah — 2026-09-01

This study explores teachers’ perspectives on both student and teacher related challenges, as well as the solutions employed in English language instruction within inclusive senior high schools in Yogyakarta. Using a qualitative case study design, data were collected through interviews with three types of participants. English teachers, a teacher assisstant and school principals, complemented by approximately five hours of classroom observations. The data were analyzed thematically through initial coding, categorization, and triangulation to ensure credibility. The findings reveal five major themes, including challenges in addressing diverse learner abilities, particularly between students with special educational needs (SEN) and their peers, as well as constraints related to resources, time management, and instructional strategies. Teachers addressed these challenges through institutional support, comprehensive and adaptive assessment practices, and the development of engaging and differentiated learning activities. This study extends existing research on inclusive education by specifically examining EFL instruction in Indonesian inclusive senior high schools from teachers’ perspectives. The study highlights future prospects including enhanced teacher training, the development of innovative media, and collaboration with international institutions. These insights contribute to strengthening inclusive English education practices in Indonesia.

Additive, not conditional: Text difficulty, self-efficacy, and classroom climate as predictors of reading anxiety in Indonesian EFL higher education

Eva Faliyanti — 2026-08-31

Foreign language reading anxiety (FLRA) is a persistent affective barrier in EFL contexts, yet research in Indonesia has remained largely descriptive, ranking the sources of anxiety without testing whether they predict FLRA inferentially or whether learner and classroom resources alter their impact. This study addressed both questions through moderated multiple regression with 178 EFL undergraduates (semesters 3–6) at a university in Lampung, Indonesia, using six adapted instruments. The central finding was not the one anticipated. Neither reading self-efficacy nor classroom supportive climate moderated any relationship between text difficulty and FLRA (all p ≥ .53; ΔR² = .002), and a sensitivity analysis confirmed that the design could detect interactions of f² ≥ .045, so conditional effects of practical magnitude can be excluded although smaller ones cannot. Instead, both resources operated additively rather than conditionally, reducing FLRA directly and uniformly (self-efficacy b = −0.221; classroom climate b = −0.188) and adding 10.4% of explained variance. Among the predictors, performance worry dominated (b = 0.389, f² = .350), outweighing vocabulary difficulty and topic familiarity; together the three explained 46.4% of FLRA variance. Confidence and a supportive climate therefore appear to lower the anxiety baseline without blunting specific text-difficulty triggers. Indonesian EFL instruction should reduce the evaluative stakes of reading tasks directly rather than relying on affective resources to buffer them.

Effects of talker and vowel context in Thai learners’ discrimination of English dental fricatives

Patchanok Kitikanan — 2026-08-31

L2 speech perception is shaped by variability in both talker characteristics and phonetic context, yet how these sources of variability interact remains insufficiently understood. This study investigated how talker accent and vowel context interact to influence L2 speech perception among Thai learners. Thirty-eight Thai undergraduate learners completed an ABX discrimination task testing five English consonant contrasts (/f–θ/, /ð–d/, /θ–ð/, /f–t/, and /t–θ/) produced by five talkers (Thai, Philippine, Indian, British, and American English) across three vocalic environments (high, low, and back vowels). Accuracy was analysed using a binomial generalised linear mixed-effects model (GLMM). Results revealed a significant three-way interaction among consonant contrast, vowel context, and talker (p < .001). Talker effects were limited in high- and back-vowel contexts but pronounced in the low-vowel context. Similarly, vowel-context effects were non-uniform; for instance, low vowels degraded /ð–d/ discrimination for American, Indian, and Thai talkers, whereas back vowels impaired /t–θ/ discrimination specifically for the Thai talker. Overall, no single talker or vowel context provided a uniform perceptual advantage. These findings demonstrate that L2 phoneme discrimination is dynamically co-conditioned by phonetic context and talker variability, carrying important implications for models of L2 speech perception (PAM-L2, SLM-r, L2LP) and contextualised perception pedagogy.

From production to reflection: Integrating video project-based learning and dialogic pedagogy in tertiary EFL Speaking

Teguh Sulistyo — 2026-08-31

This study examines the effects of integrating Video Project-Based Learning (VPBL) and Dialogic Pedagogy (DP) on tertiary EFL students’ speaking performance. It explores their self-reflection and self-efficacy during the learning process. A quasi-experimental convergent mixed-methods design was employed with two intact groups of second-year university students: an experimental group receiving VPBL integrated with DP and a control group receiving conventional speaking instruction. Quantitative data were collected through pretest and posttest speaking assessments based on Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency (CAF), together with self-reflection and self-efficacy questionnaires. Qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with students from the experimental group. Speaking performances were assessed by two raters, and inter-rater reliability was established using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC). ANCOVA was employed to examine posttest performance while accounting for students’ initial performance. The findings revealed significant differences in the patterns of overall speaking performance and Fluency between the instructional groups, whereas no significant group effects were found for Complexity and Accuracy. The questionnaire findings indicated relatively high self-reflection and moderate self-efficacy among students in the experimental group. Qualitative findings further revealed that video production, dialogic interaction, feedback, and reflection formed an interconnected learning process. Overall, the findings suggest that integrating VPBL with DP may be particularly responsive to fluency-related and broader aspects of oral performance. However, the development of Complexity and Accuracy may still require more sustained exposure, practice, and form-focused support. These findings suggest that speaking development is not solely a linguistic process, but a multidimensional phenomenon shaped by the interplay of cognitive, affective, and social factors.

Pre-service English teachers’ perspectives on global Englishes in Banda Aceh, Indonesia

Diana Fauzia Sari — 2026-08-31

The role of English as a global language has sparked debates in English Language Teaching (ELT), particularly within the context of World Englishes. This study investigates Indonesian pre-service teachers’ perceptions of five key issues: English as a global language, language ownership, native versus non-native speaker status, cultural content in ELT, and the appropriateness of teaching methods and materials. The study was conducted in Banda Aceh and used a mixed-methods approach, combining questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with 15 participants. The findings show that while participants recognize the global importance of English, they express concerns about its dominance over local languages and cultures. Native speakerism is contested; some value native speakers’ linguistic accuracy, while others prioritize teaching ability. The participants note challenges in adapting Western materials to local contexts and encourage a hybrid approach combining global perspectives with local relevance. They find that English teaching should be more flexible and inclusive to help students understand global English while valuing local cultures.

Insights into the effects of Online-based Writing Mock-Tests on EFL learners’ writing skills

Tham My Duong — 2026-09-04

This quasi-experimental study primarily aims to examine the effects of online-based writing mock tests (OWMT) on Vietnamese EFL learners’ writing skills and their attitudes toward OWMT. Thirty-six learners at an English center in Ho Chi Minh City participated in a ten-week course. Nineteen experimental learners participated in an OWMT platform called Cambridge English Write & Improve (CEWI), whereas 17 learners in the control group studied with the traditional teaching method. Quantitative data were collected from pre-tests and post-tests, evaluating four writing criteria (content, communicative achievement, organization, & language), analyzed by using SPSS through descriptive statistics and T-tests. Questionnaire data were collected to respond to the effects and learners’ attitudes towards OWMT. Ten experimental learners were invited for semi-structured interviews, analyzed by the thematic analysis approach. Findings indicated OWMT significantly improved learners’ writing performance, particularly in language, organization, and communicative achievement. Participants specifically demonstrated positive attitudes as dynamic triangular relationship of cognitive, affective, and behavioral, assisted their learning. These findings indicate that OWMT can serve as an effective formative assessment tool to foster writing development and learning autonomy.

Becoming someone else in English through self-efficacy and identity positioning in Vietnamese EMI classrooms

Thi Thuy Nhung Le — 2026-09-05

English-medium instruction (EMI) requires learners to reconstitute academic selfhood through a language that is not their own, yet this process remains undertheorised. This study examined how self-efficacy beliefs are associated with identity positioning across four dimensions, disciplinary, academic, linguistic, and social, among Vietnamese EMI undergraduates. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design (N = 266 quantitative; n = 18 qualitative), the study integrated Bandura's (1997) self-efficacy theory, Norton's (2000) investment framework, and Dörnyei and Ushioda's (2021) L2 motivational self-system. Regression with all four self-efficacy dimensions entered simultaneously showed disciplinary identity most strongly associated (f² = .418), followed by academic (f² = .293), linguistic (f² = .209), and social identity (f² = .182), with academic self-efficacy the strongest predictor across all four. Thematic analysis identified three dimension-specific themes: an efficacy-attribution pattern for disciplinary and academic identity, a written-oral modality split for linguistic identity, and an emerging cultural-threshold proposition linking Confucian face-saving norms to social identity positioning. These findings suggest identity positioning in EMI is dimension-differential rather than unitary, and that self-efficacy is associated with identity through attribution-conditional rather than performance-contingent pathways.

Learning-by-doing and traditional instruction in hospitality ESP: A quasi-experimental comparison

Matias Vedaschi-Ozzola — 2026-09-28

This study compares the effectiveness of a learning-by-doing methodology against traditional classroom-based instruction in ESP training for hospitality employees. A non-equivalent-group quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test design was implemented with 36 Food and Beverage staff members (B1 CEFR level) from a hotel chain operating in Gran Canaria, La Palma, Tenerife, and Fuerteventura (Canary Islands), allocated to a traditional instruction group (n = 18) or a learning-by-doing group (n = 18) based on staff availability. Both groups completed a 12-hour intervention delivered over three days. Performance was assessed using a researcher-developed 30-item written knowledge and situational-judgement test administered before and after the intervention. Given a significant baseline imbalance between groups, an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare post-test scores while controlling for pre-test performance. The learning-by-doing group achieved a higher unadjusted post-test score than the traditional group (6.91 ± 1.83 vs. 4.83 ± 2.45, p = 0.0069, d = 0.64); however, after adjusting for baseline differences, the between-group difference was no longer statistically significant (adjusted difference = 0.43, 95% CI [-0.73, 1.58], p = 0.459, partial η² = 0.017), and absolute change scores were comparable between groups (2.23 vs. 2.46 points, p = 0.6585). These findings offer preliminary, context-specific support for the potential benefits of experiential instruction in hospitality ESP, while underscoring the need for larger, better-balanced samples and direct observation of workplace performance before firm pedagogical recommendations can be made.

A corpus-based multi-paradigmal analysis of multidisciplinary terms for ESP pedagogy: Cross-linguistic insights for Ukrainian tertiary education

Svitlana Terekhova — 2026-09-28

The study of polyparadigmatic analysis of terms is timely due to the growth of interdisciplinary communication, which requires a deep understanding of how terms adapt across different fields of knowledge. The article aims to conduct a polyparadigmatic analysis of multidisciplinary terms in Ukrainian and English in order to establish their semantic, structural, and functional characteristics. The research utilized UberText 2.0, ukTenTen, the Corpus of Contemporary American English, and the Open Parallel Corpus. Quantitative, corpus-based, contextual, and definitional analyses were applied. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the χ² test, cluster analysis, ANOVA, and Tukey’s test. The findings showed that terms exhibit varying degrees of semantic flexibility and cross-disciplinary adaptation. The term “Field” showed the highest average correlation (0.82), indicating its universality, while “Agent” and “Vector” showed low correlation (0.26), indicating a narrow specialization. The terms “Code” (0.91) and “Structure” (0.75) had a high level of cross-linguistic equivalence, confirming their stability in translation. Cluster analysis identified three main groups: technical terms (average frequency 320), universal terms (210), and bio-technical terms (180). The study revealed significant semantic flexibility in multidisciplinary terms, confirming their disciplinary specificity and cross-linguistic consistency. Pedagogically, these findings provide ESP educators and curriculum designers with empirical evidence to prioritize vocabulary instruction based on cross-disciplinary frequency and semantic stability. The identified clusters offer a roadmap for designing corpus-informed lexical modules that reduce conceptual transfer errors and foster academic literacy. Future classroom-based research is needed to test the effectiveness of these terminological clusters in Ukrainian tertiary ESP settings.

The role of interactive exercises in developing multicultural competence among Ukrainian high school EFL learners: A quasi-experimental mixed-methods study

Ihor Bopko — 2026-10-08

In view of the growing intercultural interaction, foreign language education requires effective approaches to the development of students’ multicultural competence. In this context, interactive culturally oriented teaching methods that are able to combine language training with the development of tolerance and intercultural communication are being under special focus. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether interactive culturally oriented exercises were associated with changes in students’ multicultural competence, understood as the integration of cognitive, affective, and behavioural capacities required for intercultural interaction. The study involved 120 Ukrainian high school EFL learners (EG, n = 60; CG, n = 60) in a quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test design. The intervention combined interactive culturally oriented activities, including Story Circles, OSEE exercises, role-playing, discussions, and scenario tasks; analysis included ANOVA, Cohen’s d, Pearson’s correlation, and reflective diary analysis. Significant Group × Time interactions were found for all three MCC components (all p < .001), indicating greater pre-test–post-test improvement in the EG than in the CG. Large within-EG pre-test–post-test effects were observed in the B1 and B2 subgroups (d_z = 1.64–2.08), and post-test correlations among the MCC components were strong (r = .76–.87). The findings indicate that the intervention was associated with substantial improvement in MCC in this sample, although the quasi-experimental design limits strong causal inference. The academic contribution lies in the differentiated examination of coordinated changes in the cognitive, affective, and behavioural components of MCC in a Ukrainian high-school EFL context. Further research prospects are related to testing the methodology in other educational contexts and expanding the qualitative analysis.

From linguistic tokens and functions into English language teaching pedagogical tools: Exploring schoolscape in Marawi’s Islamic and integrated school

Juhaid H. H. Abbas — 2026-10-08

Schoolscape, a focused strand of linguistic landscape research, refers to the linguistic displays in school environments that reflect institutional ideologies, language practices, and pedagogical priorities. This study qualitatively examines the schoolscape of Dhayfullah Islamic Institute Foundation (DIIF) in Marawi City, Philippines, with particular attention to the extent of English representation and its role in facilitating English language teaching and learning among learners and teachers. Data were collected through systematic photographic documentation of school-based signs, complemented by in-depth interviews with administrators, English teachers, and selected students. The signs were analyzed through linguistic and functional classification, while interview transcriptions were examined thematically and compared with the visual findings to identify converging and divergent perspectives. The findings reveal that English-only signs were highly visible with 58.24% of the schoolscape. Additional multilingual signs, combining English with Arabic and Filipino, constituted 35.71% of the corpus, indicating that multilingual representation was present but less prominent than English. Participants perceived the schoolscape as a useful environmental linguistic resource that provides repeated exposure to English, reinforces classroom learning, supports incidental vocabulary engagement, and creates low-stakes opportunities for language use. The study does not establish measurable learning gains or treat schoolscape as a tested instructional intervention. However, it shows how systematically designed linguistic displays can complement formal instruction, while more intentional multilingual representation can strengthen the cultural and linguistic inclusivity of the school environment.