This study had the purpose of testing two methods for teaching grammar in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) class: the deductive and inductive approaches in terms of effectiveness and rapport. This research was conducted in a public high school in Ecuador. Seventy students enrolled in the second year of senior high school participated. One in-service teacher taught the EFL classes during the process of intervention (10 weeks), and two EFL teachers observed all of these classes and recorded the information by filling in observation sheets. The students were administered grammar pre-tests and post-tests in order to assess their grammar knowledge. The results of the tests showed a significant difference in the scores in favor of the inductive approach. After the statistical analysis of the data obtained from the tests and observation sheets, we concluded that the inductive approach is more effective for teaching grammar in the EFL classroom in terms of instruction and rapport.

This study was conducted to identify teachers' and students' perceptions regarding the internal factors that influence English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning in the southern region of Ecuador. The participants were 257 children, who answered a questionnaire about motivation, anxiety, willingness, self-efficacy and memorization when learning English skills. The English classes that these students took were observed during a three-month period. In addition, eight teachers were interviewed in order to know their views about the students' internal factors in EFL learning. After analyzing the data quantitatively and qualitatively, the results evidenced that, according to the participants' perceptions, motivation decreases depending on the students' age and the type of skills. Furthermore, anxiety when speaking in front of the class and doing listening activities increases as the students get older. Students are also self-efficient in the classroom, and they recall what they have learned. All the implications that can be derived from these factors should be carefully analyzed by educational stakeholders in order to help students succeed in the learning process.

The present study was aimed at analyzing the factors that contribute to engage students in active learning through Formative on mobile devices. It also focused on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ perceptions of using this tool for enhancing active learning. The participants were 82 adult on-site learners en-rolled in five different courses of an English program at a university level. In ad-dition, 5 English instructors were in charge of teaching the aforementioned stu-dents. An action-research design along with a mixed-method approach were used to analyze the data in this study. The information was gathered through diagnostic questionnaires, observations, and perceptions questionnaires. The results evi-denced that engagement, motivation, participation, and reduction in students’ anx-iety constitute the most relevant factors that contributed to involve students in ac-tive learning through the use of Formative on mobile devices. The tool was per-ceived as motivating and engaging because it allowed students to enhance active learning and get directly involved in the class activities to demonstrate their knowledge.

The present study is aimed at analyzing the impact of digital sto-rytelling on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pre-service teachers’ writing skills. The participants were 101 students, who were enrolled in four distance courses of the English Major at a private university in Ecuador. Their ages ranged between 19 and 22 years old. They were divided into one control (49) and one experimental (52) group since this study used a quasi-experimental approach combined with a mixed-method design. The instruments included a pre-question-naire, a pre-test, a post-questionnaire, and a post-test. The main findings show that there was a significant improvement in students’ writing skills, particularly in aspects related to grammar and vocabulary. In addition, digital storytelling us-ing Storybird was perceived as a useful strategy to develop the participants’ EFL writing skills since they were more engaged in activities that allowed them to demonstrate their knowledge when designing narrative projects.

The study examined the use of Pixton to support the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) writing to students at a private university in southern Ecuador. For this purpose, 52 EFL students (male and female, aged 19–24 years old) who were enrolled in a writing course participated in the study for a period of five months. At the start, most of these students had an A1+ proficiency level, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The study employed an action research design. A diagnostic test was applied at the beginning of the instruction period, and, at the end, a final exam and a perceptions questionnaire were administered. The findings indicate positive perceptions about Pixton, and students’ online writing skills improved due to the pedagogical use of this technological tool. Furthermore, Pixton increased students’ engagement, motivation and dynamic work to a remarkable extent. Finally, an improvement was observed in aspects of students’ writing, such as grammar, vocabulary, coherence and cohesion.

Extensive studies have been conducted regarding mother tongue (L1) interference and developing English writing skills. This study, however, aims to investigate the influence of the Spanish language on second language (L2) writing skills at several Ecuadorian senior high schools in Loja. To achieve this, 351 students and 42 teachers from second year senior high schools (public and private) were asked to participate in this study. The instruments for data collection were student and teacher questionnaires, as well as a written test in which students were asked to write a narrative passage. The information gathered from the instruments was then organized and tabulated to determine the various interference variables. Afterwards, the most representative samples from the narrative texts were analyzed based on their semantic, morphological and syntactical features. The results from this study indicate that English grammar and vocabulary were the linguistic areas that suffered the highest level of L1 language interference. The most common Spanish interference errors were misuse of verbs, omission of personal and object pronouns, misuse of prepositions, overuse of articles, and inappropriate/ unnatural word order. Finally, some suggestions are given to teachers in order to help students prevent further Spanish interference problems during writing/composition classes.

The aim of the present descriptive research study is to determine the students’ reading and writing achievement level according to their learning styles, as well as their preferences regarding the reading and writing strategies in English, as a Foreign-Language (EFL) course. This work is a contribution to the debate on the controversial issue about the influence of learning styles on EFL reading and writing skills. The sample for this research was a group of 120 distance-university students (45 males and 75 females) enrolled in an English program. The data-collection instruments used comprised a perceptual learning-style preference questionnaire, reading and writing of online tasks, and a preference questionnaire related to reading and writing strategies, which were planned for the course. The data from the questionnaires and the students’ scores were analyzed statistically. The findings revealed that there is a minimal difference in the EFL students’ reading and writing achievement across four learning styles. In addition, students prefer reading strategies, such as multiple-choice questions, matching exercises, filling the blanks, and answering open questions. As for writing, the learners preferred strategies that include brainstorming, answering multiple-choice questions, matching, filling in the blanks, and answering open questions.

This study examined the effectiveness of using the Visual Vocabulary app as a metacognitive strategy for learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) vocabulary. The participants included 42 EFL pre-service teachers aged 18 -25 years old, who had an A1+ Common European Framework of References (CEFR) proficiency level and were enrolled in the second semester of an English program at a private university in Loja, Ecuador. These students were divided into experimental (20) and control group (22) by using purposeful sampling. Additionally, two teachers, who were in charge of planning and applying the activities in the classroom, participated in this study. A quasi-experimental approach was used, in which pre and post-tests, questionnaires and teacher's interviews were applied to the participants. In the experimental group, students employed the Visual Vocabulary app as a didactic resource twice a week to increase their lexical knowledge, which allowed them to have control over their own thinking and decisions related to the development of learning activities. As for the control group, they received the same time of instruction but they did not use the app in their classes; instead, they worked on regular classroom activities. The results indicate that the Visual Vocabulary app was effective as a metacognitive strategy to enhance EFL vocabulary learning, and students showed a positive attitude towards the use of this tool. Furthermore, this app was a motivating tool for vocabulary learning, being useful for providing immediate feedback and helping students build their confidence to develop their language skills.