English Language Teaching Educational Journal

Exploring AI-mediated linguistic and cognitive support for non-native English speakers in English-only higher education

Ching-Yi Tien, Noor Azam Haji-Othman — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The release of ChatGPT by OpenAI in 2022 marked a major milestone, beginning a new phase in how artificial intelligence (AI) is used in education and transforming the way students access and engage with academic resources. This study explores how non-native English-speaking students handle the language challenges of content-area courses in higher education when instruction is focused solely on professional subjects in an English-only setting, with limited explicit language support to improve English skills. Using a sample of undergraduate students (N = 63), this research examines differences in AI tool usage, perceptions, and outcomes based on gender, nationality, major, and year of study. Independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA were performed on variables that measure perceived language learning benefits, cognitive skill development, creative tool use, and the overall effectiveness of AI tools. Open-ended questions provided qualitative data for this study. The findings show that AI and Generative AI tools meet students’ linguistic needs, address cognitive demands, support personalized learning, enhance understanding of subject material, and improve academic performance. Contrary to earlier research suggesting male students are more proficient with AI, this study finds that female students are more likely to view AI tools as beneficial for integrating thinking and higher-order cognitive skills. The study also discusses potential challenges related to AI use and notes its methodological limitations.

Evaluating the implementation of E-portfolio-based learning in ELT through the CIPP model: A qualitative descriptive study in Indonesia

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

E-portfolios have increasingly been integrated into higher education to promote reflection, documentation, and learner autonomy; however, their effectiveness in English Language Teaching (ELT) in Indonesia remains insufficiently examined. This study evaluates the use of e-portfolio-based learning in an Evaluation in ELT course by employing the Context, Input, Process, and Product (CIPP) evaluation model. Four research questions guided the investigation, focusing on the relevance of the programme context, the adequacy of inputs, the implementation processes, and the resulting learning outcomes. Using a descriptive qualitative design, data were collected through classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and documentation of students’ e-portfolios. The participants consisted of one lecturer and thirty-seven seventh-semester students (ten males and twenty-seven females) enrolled in the course during the 2022/2023 academic year; additionally, three students were purposively selected for in-depth interviews. The findings indicate that (1) the context supported the adoption of e-portfolios as it aligned with course needs and learning objectives; (2) the input—including digital facilities, infrastructure, and access to online tools—was adequate for implementation; (3) the process showed active student engagement, although challenges such as connectivity issues, device limitations, and time constraints were present; and (4) the product demonstrated positive learning outcomes, including improved documentation practices, better understanding of course material, and increased digital literacy. The study underscores the potential of e-portfolios to enhance ELT learning and suggests the need for more structured feedback mechanisms and technical support to optimise future implementation.

Teacher nonverbal cues and student first impressions in Vietnamese EFL classrooms

Quoc Cuong Phan, Angelica Puspasari Manao — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study explores the perspectives of Vietnamese students on nonverbal cues from their English teachers and how these cues influence their first impressions and motivation in EFL classrooms. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, the study first collected survey data from 97 students across four majors (Information Technology, Law, Marketing, and Public Relations) and then conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 voluntary participants. Quantitative results indicated consistently positive evaluations of nonverbal cues, particularly confident posture, neat attire, and smiling, with notable differences between majors: students in communication-oriented fields placed greater value on visual and interpersonal cues, while technical students adopted more neutral stances and frequently compared English teachers with instructors in their major subjects. Thematic analysis of interview data further revealed that nonverbal cues from teachers contributed to lowering anxiety, enhancing classroom inclusion, and increasing student engagement. In general, the study highlights the significant role of nonverbal communication of teachers in creating supportive and motivating EFL learning environments and provides pedagogical implications for improving teacher training and classroom interaction in Vietnamese universities.

Exploring the use of Facebook in developing EFL skills and student leadership

Nguyen Quoc Huy, Dat Bao — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

As social media becomes deeply embedded in the lives of young learners, English language educators are increasingly exploring its pedagogical potential. This article examines how Facebook can function as a multifunctional learning ecosystem that supports three key dimensions of EFL development: learner engagement, leadership growth, and humour competence. Drawing on reflective teaching practice and autoethnographic insights, the study synthesizes experiences from multiple classroom contexts in which Facebook was integrated into homework tasks, collaborative projects, and creative, meme-based activities. The findings reveal that Facebook fosters authentic communication, encourages active participation, and enables students to assume leadership roles through managing group discussions, organising challenges, and moderating peer interactions. Additionally, the strategic use of memes helps develop humour competence, a linguacultural and communicative skill often overlooked in language teaching. Despite challenges such as distractions, privacy concerns, and misinformation, the study demonstrates that when guided by clear pedagogical intentions, Facebook can serve as a holistic learning environment that enhances language proficiency, soft skills, and digital literacy. Implications are offered for educators seeking to integrate social media meaningfully into EFL instruction.

Unveiling university students' acceptance of Microsoft Teams in English courses

Duc Thuan Pham, Pham Thi Tam — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This research investigates university students’ perspectives on Microsoft Teams as a digital platform for English language learning, using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to guide the analysis. The study focuses on four core constructs: perceived usefulness, ease of use, attitude toward using the system, and behavioral intention. Data were gathered from a sample of 270 non-English major students enrolled in various English courses at a Vietnamese university. Quantitative analysis revealed a high overall level of acceptance, with perceived usefulness emerging as the most influential factor. The relationships among TAM components were found to be statistically significant, with perceived usefulness showing a strong effect on students’ attitudes and intentions to continue using the platform. Additionally, students in online learning environments demonstrated more favorable perceptions in terms of ease of use and intention to adopt the tool, compared to those in traditional face-to-face settings. While the findings offer important insights into students' interaction with Microsoft Teams, the study is limited by its single-site context and reliance on self-reported responses, which may introduce bias. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of this learning management system (LMS) adoption, future research should expand to other institutions and explore additional influencing factors such as teaching methods and course content.

A digital pragmatics inquiry: Academic performance and transformative awareness in Saudi EFL online environments

Mohammad Husam Alhumsi, Wesam Almehmadi — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Pragmatic competence is essential for communicative competence, yet under-researched in Saudi EFL contexts, particularly within the post-pandemic shift to digital instruction. This study investigates online learning as a transformative site for pragmatic development, examining Saudi EFL undergraduates’ pragmatic awareness within this digital context and the influence of gender, age, and GPA. A quantitative design utilized an online questionnaire with authentic scenarios. Data from 138 students, analyzed via t-tests and ANOVA, revealed that most students perceived the online environment as beneficial for developing pragmatic awareness. Participants demonstrated notable competence in specific digital interactions. While no significant differences were found based on gender or age, GPA emerged as a key factor. This study contributes to digital pragmatics research by empirically positioning the post-pandemic online classroom as a viable space for metapragmatic development, not merely a compensatory tool. It challenges demographic assumptions, highlighting academic profile as a primary differentiator in this new learning ecology. Pedagogically, it argues for intentionally leveraging online platforms to design targeted, authentic pragmatic practice for diverse learners.

Revolution or Ruin? Systematic Insights into the Redefinition of the Teacher Book

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study investigates the redefinition of the teacher book across nearly two decades (2006-2025) with the objective of tracing its conceptual evolution, theoretical contestations, and disciplinary reinterpretations. The research employed a systematic literature review following the PRISMA 2020 protocol, focusing on Scopus-indexed publications. An initial 74 records were identified, and after applying inclusion criteria (English-language, open access, research articles), 28 documents were analysed as the final corpus.The results indicate that the teacher book has undergone three significant shifts: (1) its early construction as a prescriptive instrument ensuring curricular compliance but constraining teacher creativity, (2) its contestation as both a pedagogical guide and a barrier to teacher autonomy within the discourse of innovative and student-centered learning, and (3) its transformative reinterpretation as a digital and cultural artefact, enabling collaborative, reflective, and context-based teaching practices. This trajectory illustrates that the teacher book operates not merely as a technical manual but as a dynamic discursive field where educational ideologies and practices intersect.Research implications highlight the necessity of situating the teacher book within critical pedagogy, constructivism, and digital literacy frameworks, as well as recognizing its dual role in reinforcing and challenging educational orthodoxies. Practical implications underline the need for teachers to adopt adaptive and critical use of teacher books, for curriculum designers to integrate technological and cultural responsiveness into their development, and for policymakers to encourage evidence-based resources that support creativity, critical thinking, and 21st-century competencies.

Between policy and practice: Project-based learning in Indonesian in-service English teachers’ professional education and classroom teaching

Ika Suciwati, Ramli, Jianing Zuo — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Project-Based Learning (PBL) has been widely promoted as a learner-centred pedagogy in English Language Teaching (ELT) and is increasingly emphasized in teacher professional education programs. However, limited research has examined how in-service teachers experience learning PBL during professional education and how such learning is subsequently enacted in classroom practice, particularly in online professional development contexts in developing countries. Grounded in Vygotsky’s social constructivist theory, this exploratory qualitative study investigates Indonesian in-service English teachers’ experiences of PBL during their Teacher Professional Education (TPE) program and their enactment of PBL in secondary school classrooms. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with three in-service English teachers and analyzed thematically. The study highlights a pedagogical disconnect between individualised professional learning experiences and socially mediated classroom practice and suggest that effective professional education for PBL requires structured opportunities for sustained collaboration, guided mediation, and technology-supported interaction that mirror the pedagogical principles teachers are expected to implement. This study contributes to international discussions on teacher professional learning, PBL enactment, and digitally mediated pedagogy in EFL contexts.

Informality features in Thai EFL academic writing: Corpus evidence and instructor perceptions

Thitirat Suwannasom — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In recent years, a slight increase in the use of informal elements has been observed in academic writing, indicating a shift toward a more interactive connection between authors and readers in scholarly communication. Although more flexibility is found in academic texts, EFL students’ ability to develop academic writing styles has not been fullyexplored in the Thai context. This research investigated the distribution of 10 informal features established by Hyland and Jiang (2017) in Thai EFL students’ academic essays and examined EFL writing instructors' perceptions of such features. The data were collected from a corpus of 147 academic essays (63,029 words) written by Thai undergraduate English majors. The survey responses were obtained from 31 EFL writing instructors regarding their perceptions of informal features collected through online questionnaire responses. The results revealed that the most frequently occurring informal features were second-person pronouns, first-person pronouns, and sentence-initial conjunctions, respectively. While the writing instructors perceived split infinitives, unattended anaphoric pronouns, and sentence-final prepositions as highly acceptable informal features, they were unlikely to approve of contractions, sentence-initial conjunctions, and exclamations in students’ academic assignments. The study combines corpus-based evidence with instructor perspectives to reveal a mismatch between students’ linguistic practices and academic writing expectations in the Thai context. It further suggests that explicit instruction in academic writing conventions should be more fully integrated into the writing curriculum to strengthen EFL students’ understanding and development of academic discourse proficiency.

Towards understanding EFL Research: Developing a well-designed teaching material

Teuku Zulfikar, Emawati Emawati, Mujiburrahman, Cut Fadhilah Alfa Karim — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study investigates how English as Foreign Language (EFL) research can be better understood by developing well-designed teaching materials that support students’ research literacy. Grounded in the need to enhance novice EFL researchers’ capacity to conceptualize, plan, and conduct research, this study explores the essential components of effective instructional materials and how these materials can scaffold students’ engagement with EFL research processes. Data were generated through focus group discussions (FGDs) conducted across three universities, involving a total of 15 participants comprising lecturers teaching research methodology in ELT. The FGDs examined participants’ experiences, challenges, and expectations regarding current research-related teaching materials. Thematic analysis revealed that students often struggle with identifying research problems, understanding methodological choices, and connecting theories to research practices, largely due to fragmented or overly theoretical materials. Participants emphasized the importance of structured, practice-oriented, and contextually relevant teaching materials that guide learners step-by-step through research tasks. Based on these insights, this study proposes a framework for designing pedagogically robust EFL research materials that integrate clear explanations, worked examples, reflective tasks, and opportunities for guided practice. The findings contribute to improving research pedagogy in EFL contexts and highlight the value of collaboratively informed material development to enhance students’ research competence.