The present study integrates service learning into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) speaking class using Web 2.0 tools -YouTube and Facebook -as platforms. Fourteen undergraduate students participated in the study. The purpose of the servicelearning project was to link service learning with oral communication training in an EFL speaking class by having each student create two YouTube videos in which they made informative presentations about the university (e.g., transportation system) and the city (e.g., sightseeing spots) in English to international students on campus. A Facebook community was established as a forum for students to share their videos with the international students and peers. The results suggest that the project enhanced EFL students' public speaking-related skills (e.g., idea and content development, and pronunciation), built their confidence in speaking English, and allowed them to develop their own learning process and strategies. Moreover, Web 2.0 tools endow service learning with new possibilities of reaching a greater number of the target audience and provide the members of the community with alternative means of communication.

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The present study explored the types of errors found in Google Translate (GT) Chinese-to-English translations and, based on those error types, proposes strategies for optimizing the performance of GT. Seven abstracts written in both Chinese and English from seven articles published in English Teaching and Learning in 2017 were selected as the materials. The researchers compared the GT translations to the English abstracts written by the original author(s) and analyzed the problems in the translations. The problematic translations consisted of grammatical errors (35%) and lexical errors (65%). Relatedly, we propose nine specific strategies to employ when writing Chinese abstracts to be translated into English using GT. According to the strategies, we suggest that users (1) avoid native language-specific expressions, (2) maintain the use of original English terminologies in composing Chinese abstracts, and (3) enhance logical relations and expressions for the discipline-specific discourse community. Further analyses revealed that 99% of the 69 identified problems in the GT translations of the seven abstracts could be avoided by using the proposed strategies. A conceptual framework for the collaboration between GT and GT users is proposed and pedagogical implications are discussed.

This study investigates the effects of employing extended online thematic listening tasks on the development of listening comprehension in an English course focusing on reading and writing skill development. To accomplish this aim, extended online thematic listening tasks were designed and implemented in English as a Foreign-Language (EFL) college level General English course. Pre- and post-tests were conducted to examine students’ gains in overall listening proficiency. Moreover, students’ mid-term and final exams were compared in order to track student progress. Data on student perceptions of online thematic tasks was also collected and analyzed. Findings suggest that extended online thematic listening tasks may constitute a dynamic forum which fosters significant gains in listening comprehension, test performance, and development of learning strategies. In addition, the findings reveal that students’ initial enthusiasm toward extended online listening tasks faded and the efforts that they put into the tasks gradually decreased as the semester progressed. Therefore, time availability and management become an important pedagogical issue in e-learning.

This study investigates the effects of employing extended online thematic listening tasks on the development of listening comprehension in an English course focusing on reading and writing skill development. To accomplish this aim, extended online thematic listening tasks were designed and implemented in English as a Foreign-Language (EFL) college level General English course. Pre- and post-tests were conducted to examine students’ gains in overall listening proficiency. Moreover, students’ mid-term and final exams were compared in order to track student progress. Data on student perceptions of online thematic tasks was also collected and analyzed. Findings suggest that extended online thematic listening tasks may constitute a dynamic forum which fosters significant gains in listening comprehension, test performance, and development of learning strategies. In addition, the findings reveal that students’ initial enthusiasm toward extended online listening tasks faded and the efforts that they put into the tasks gradually decreased as the semester progressed. Therefore, time availability and management become an important pedagogical issue in e-learning.