Paul Nation’s talents and interests extend well beyond vocabulary to include research on speaking, writing, classroom learning and teaching, reading, and fluency. In keeping with Nation’s interests in fluency, extensive reading, and reading instruction, I outline current perspectives on reading fluency and its role as a key component of reading comprehension abilities. This discussion will incl...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of two types of paragraph on EFL learners’ written production. It addressed the issue of how three aspects of language production (i.e. complexity, accuracy, and fluency) vary among two types of paragraphs (i.e. paragraphs of chronology and cause-effect) written by EFL learners. Thirty intermediate level learners of English participate...

Building on Robinson’s (2001, 2003) Cognition Hypothesis, Skehan’s (1998) Limited Attentional Capacity Model, and Kellog’s (1986) model of writing, this study examined the effect of task planning on the fluency, accuracy, and complexity of 60 Iranian EFL learners’ argumentative and narrative writings under different planning conditions. A quasi-experimental design with three levels of planning ...

the present meta-analysis was conducted to provide a quantitative measure of the overall effects of task complexity on chinese efl learners’ language production. based on the strict inclusion criteria, 12 primary studies were synthesized according to key features. eleven of them were meta-analyzed to investigate effects of raising the resource-directing task complexity. results revealed that ...

Relations between reading and writing have been studied extensively but the less is known about the developmental nature of their interrelations. This study applied latent change score modeling to investigate longitudinal relations between reading and writing skills at the word, sentence and text levels. Latent change score models were used to compare unidirectional pathways (reading-to-writing...

The longitudinal effects of repeating a timed writing activity on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ second language (L2) writing development were investigated. Data for 46 students in two university classes (23 in each class), each with a different course objective, were collected 30 times in the same way over one year. The students’ compositions were analyzed for fluency, grammatic...

Freehand Sketch Recognition for Computer-Assisted Language Learning of Written East Asian Languages. (December 2010) Paul Piula Taele, B.S., The University of Texas at Austin Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Tracy Hammond One of the challenges students face in studying an East Asian (EA) language (e.g., Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) as a second language is mastering their selected language’s w...

In order to develop effective computerassisted language teaching systems for learners of English as a foreign language, it is first necessary to identify gaps between learners and native speakers in the four basic linguistic skills (reading, writing, pronunciation, and listening). To identify these gaps, the accuracy and fluency in language use between learners and native speakers should be com...

In the present study, two different models of task complexity; namely, limited attentional capacity model and cognition hypothesis were examined. To this end, the manipulation of cognitive task complexity along +/- single task dimension on Iranian EFL learners’ production in terms of fluency was explored. Based on the results of the writing test of TOFEL (2004), 48 learners were selected as the...

Writing is regarded as a crucial skill in English language curricula at the secondary and tertiary levels Chinese education system. Currently, teachers of foreign (EFL) often adopt product approach to teaching EFL writing, which they emphasize quality their students’ written products show little concern with writing process. To help L2 learners achieve sustainable development proficiency, emplo...