Game-based learning has attracted considerable attention over the past few years. Mobile apps are welcomed by the digital generation. Debate continues regarding the approach that will most benefit students in English language classrooms, and the impact of mobile applications, particularly on English as a foreign language (EFL) learning, remains unclear. Specifically, little is known about EFL learners’ perceptions of mobile applications. The main purpose of this study was to understand Chinese students’ attitudes toward the application of Kahoot!, a mobile game-based learning app, in a college EFL class in Taiwan. No gender differences were found in students’ perceptions of the use of Kahoot! for English learning. Although the participants expressed positive attitudes towards the application of Kahoot! in the EFL reading class, several negative opinions were expressed regarding the use of Kahoot! as a testing tool. These results provide support for the affective filter hypothesis. Implications for EFL teachers and future research are discussed.

This article presents a preliminary investigation of the inter-relationships between English learners' tolerance for ambiguity, their classroom work styles, and their level of English proficiency. The study population comprised 46 English as a foreign language (EFL) students attending a technical college in Taiwan. The findings indicated that a large percentage of these students had moderate to high levels of tolerance for ambiguity. In contrast to the findings of previous studies, our results showed no significant relationship between ambiguity tolerance and classroom work styles. The relationship between ambiguity tolerance and English proficiency in terms of the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) scores was almost statistically significant. However, tolerance for ambiguity and classroom work styles showed a statistically significant association with English proficiency. Recommended extensions of the study are discussed, and general directions for future research are suggested. Teaching implementations are also proposed.

Researchers have long supported the use of dictation as a test for language learners (Fountain & Nation, 2000), and dictation has been used as a test for learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). With the advantages of productive learning and reinforcing short-term memory, dictation is a commonly used technique to develop language skills, and it can be considered to be an assessment of foreign language learning (Kazazoğlu, 2013). However, the previous research has not fully explored how technology, such as text-to-speech (TTS), can be used in EFL classrooms. To address this issue, the researcher explored the use of traditional teacher-led dictation (TLD) and TTS dictation to compare the vocabulary performance of EFL learners. Forty-two college students participated in the study. The results indicated a significant difference between TTS and TLD on the participants’ vocabulary performance. Additionally, there was a correlation between the scores with TTS and TLD: the students who performed better with TLD also obtained higher grades with TTS. Based on the results, future studies and pedagogical suggestions are presented.

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