Open research questions in EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
2,055 gap statements mined from EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 15,708 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.
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What the literature leaves open
As the effectiveness of oral corrective feedback may vary according to the linguistic characteristics of target forms, caution is warranted when generalizing the findings to other grammatical features.
Enhancing Young EFL Learners’ Grammar Development Through Oral Corrective Feedback in Focus-on-Form Instruction · 2026 · DOIFuture research could examine WTC within authentic classroom contexts to further validate these findings. (2026), self-directed dialogic GenAI practice places greater demands on learners’ ability to provide effective input; when this is lacking, feedback may become insufficiently targeted, limiting the provision of comprehensible input (Long, 1983).
Comparing AI-Generated Feedback Modes in EFL Speaking: The Role of Interactivity and Embedded Teacher Expertise · 2026 · DOIAs few studies have tested the ILH using a receptive recognition test (see the review in Yanagisawa & Webb, 2021) and given the inconsistent findings of studies using this measure, we are led to a tentative assumption that the prediction efficacy of the ILH might not be that pronounced in some types of word-learning measurement.
This approach may obscure subscale-specific relationships; therefore, future research could explore these relationships at the subscale level and employ latent-variable techniques such as confirmatory factor analysis or structural equation modeling to clarify interactions among specific dimensions.
Loving pedagogy and foreign language teaching enjoyment as predictors of Iranian EFL teachers’ engagement in reflective practice · 2026 · DOIFuture research should examine more diverse populations over longer periods, incorporate additional language skills and objective learning or usage measures, and further investigate how autonomy, accountability, teacher support, and assessment jointly shape engagement and motivational experiences in AI-supported informal language learning across varied educational contexts.
Structured Freedom: How AI, Teacher Support, and Periodic Testing Shape Engagement in Informal Vocabulary Learning · 2026 · DOIConsidering that aptitude (measured by the MLAT) can predict both L1 and L2 attainment (Sparks, Dale, & Patton, 2023) and that WM capacity may vary across the lifespan (Gajewski, Hanisch, Falkenstein, Thönes, & Wascher, 2018), the observed patterns need to be replicated among populations of learners with lower L1 literacy and different ages (children, adolescents, and older adults).
Validating the theory-informed Tests of Aptitude for Language Learning (TALL) as predictors of L2 proficiency: Initial evidence from multiple regression analyses · 2026 · DOIWhile this article has focused on conceptual and theoretical considerations, there is a clear need for further empirical rese arch to support linguistically responsive SoR-aligned assessment in TESOL contexts. One priority area is the validation of assessment tools adapted specifically for Arabic-speaking EFL learners.
Reconceptualizing Assessment in Science of Reading–Aligned TESOL Contexts: Validity, Equity, and Linguistic Responsiveness in the Middle East · 2026 · DOIFuture research could address these limitations through larger and more diverse samples involving learners from different academic disciplines, together with sampling procedures that reduce the potential influence of the analytical framework on participant selection.
Navigating dual pathways: learning-oriented and instrumental identities in AI-mediated informal digital learning of English · 2026 · DOIReliability should be estimated by dimension, and convergent and discriminant validity should be examined against established language-mindset, SRL, resilience, motivation, self-efficacy, anxiety, and engagement measures.
Integrating Language Growth Beliefs and Regulatory Experience: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of the Language Mindset and Regulation Inventory in a Thai EFL Setting · 2026 · DOIResearch studies that compare SMAs and LMS, especially Facebook and Brightspace, for developing students’ English public speaking self-efficacy and peer feedback self-efficacy are scarce.
Peer Feedback, English Public Speaking Self-Efficacy, and Performance in Facebook and Brightspace · 2025 · DOIMore research is needed to corroborate the results of our study regarding the influence of two foreign languages on the mother tongue at an early age, especially considering that research on third language acquisition during early childhood remains relatively recent. Consequently, further empirical studies are required to deepen our understanding of this phenomenon.
Future research should address these limitations by investigating a broader array of institutional contexts, incorporating multiple stakeholder perspectives, especially those of students and institutional policymakers, and by adopting longitudinal methodologies to capture identity transformations more holistically.
Transforming Pedagogical Practices and Teacher Identity Through Multimodal (Inter)action Analysis: A Case Study of Novice EFL Teachers in China · 2025 · DOIFuture research could explore alternative ways to measure intrinsic motivation, such as refining and expanding the intrinsic motivation dimension to enhance its reliability or developing a separate subscale specifically dedicated to intrinsic interest.
Disappearing Integrative Motivation: A Validated Scale of Motivation for Learners of Southeast Asian Languages · 2025 · DOIThe lack of confidence and low academic writing skills in English among ESL learners. The challenge of meeting the evolving academic needs of ESL learners. The need to operationalize the integration of AI into the writing workshops.
As a line of future research, studies with larger, more diverse samples and control groups would enhance the robustness of the findings. Future studies can investigate the effectiveness of ChatGPT and its new features in EFL teaching and explore ways to overcome the challenges identified in this study.
Innovation Off the Bat: Bridging the ChatGPT Gap in Digital Competence among English as a Foreign Language Teachers · 2024 · DOIA key limitation of this validation study is the absence of concurrent validity that requires correlating the scale’s scores with scores from an established, external criterion measure administered at the same time.
Arabic Psychometric Validation of L2 Teachers Blended Learning Assessment Literacy Scale in Saudi Arabia · 2026 · DOIThe results suggested that the GenAI-created test demonstrated strong content validity in terms of its close correspondence with the task characteristics of the target test domain, but there was insufficient robust evidence to support its concurrent and face validity.
One major limitation was that qualitative narratives could not establish a causal relationship between enhanced writing performance and students’ engagement.
Whether the observed effects persist over time remains unknown and should be addressed in future longitudinal research. One limitation concerns the measurement of motivation.
This study examined the self‑reported language socialization experiences of L2 Korean learners at a variety of proficiency levels and who studied both in classrooms and through self‑study. It highlighted how discourses about language learning may have influenced these experiences, with a specific focus on the non‑honorific banmal speech category.
L2 Korean Learners’ Socialization into Discourses Around the Non-Honorific ‘Banmal’ Style: Affective and Pedagogical Consequences · 2025 · DOIPost-graduate entrance requirement I am going to work for BYD Company in Thailand after graduation, so now I should work hard to improve my Thai language skills.
Disappearing Integrative Motivation: A Validated Scale of Motivation for Learners of Southeast Asian Languages · 2025 · DOIThe study only included four first-year non-English majors from a key university in China, - The participants had limited exposure to English outside the classroom, - The study was conducted in a single classroom…
An idiodynamic investigation into task-specific WTC of Chinese EFL learners: a classroom-based study · 2026 · DOIInvestigate the task-specific WTC of EFL learners in different classroom settings, - Examine the impact of various pedagogical tasks on learners' WTC, - Explore the relationship between WTC and language learning…
An idiodynamic investigation into task-specific WTC of Chinese EFL learners: a classroom-based study · 2026 · DOISmall sample size of 26 male students, - Limited to a single 10th grade group enrolled in an ESL academic writing course, - Conducted in a bilingual private secondary school located…
In doing so, the study grounds broader theoretical claims in corpus-based evidence drawn from an underexplored L2 context.
Exploring the Cooperative Principle in Cross-Cultural Contexts: A Corpus-Based Pragmatic Study of International Students Learning Romanian · 2026 · DOI
Most-cited papers in EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
- Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety · Modern Language Journal · 1986 · 2,752 citations
- From communicative competence to communicative language pedagogy · Language & Communication · 2014 · 1,640 citations
- Critical period effects in second language learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language · Cognitive Psychology · 1989 · 1,507 citations
- The two faces of Janus? Anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom · Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching · 2014 · 1,421 citations
- Conceptualizing Willingness to Communicate in a L2: A Situational Model of L2 Confidence and Affiliation · Modern Language Journal · 1998 · 1,341 citations
- Interaction and Second Language Learning: Two Adolescent French Immersion Students Working Together · Modern Language Journal · 1998 · 833 citations
- Going beyond the Native Speaker in Language Teaching · TESOL Quarterly · 1999 · 750 citations
- What the "Good Language Learner" Can Teach Us · TESOL Quarterly · 1975 · 721 citations
- Willingness to Communicate in a Second Language: The Japanese EFL Context · Modern Language Journal · 2002 · 680 citations
- Motivation and Motivating in the Foreign Language Classroom · Modern Language Journal · 1994 · 669 citations
Most recent work
- Exploring the impact of AI-enhanced language tools on multilingual learners’ grit, enjoyment, anxiety, and emotional disengagement: a positive psychology 2.0 perspective · International Journal of Multilingualism · 2026
- Modelling students’ emotional engagement in AI-augmented English reading: Mediation of AI learning interest and reading enjoyment · Language learning & technology · 2026
- Empowering the autonomous learner: How AI-assisted language learning environments shape self-regulation, autonomy, and self-directed behaviors · Language Teaching Research · 2026
- Investigating the Interplay of Chinese English as Foreign Language Learners' Growth Mindset, Enjoyment, Adaptability, and Engagement in AI ‐Mediated Informal Digital Learning of English · Journal of Computer Assisted Learning · 2026
- The mediating role of emotion regulation in the link between enjoyment, anxiety, and emotional disengagement in multilingual learning: a response surface analysis · Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development · 2026
- L2 teachers’ foreign language teaching anxiety (FLTA) in AI-enhanced writing classrooms: A phenomenological nested ecosystem model · Journal of Second Language Writing · 2026
- The developmental trajectory of L2 students’ positive achievement emotions and flow experience within AI-enhanced classrooms: A latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) · Language learning & technology · 2026
- English Article System Errors among Saudi Arab EFL Learners: A Case of the Preparatory Year English Program Learners of King Saud University · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · 2026
- The Facilitating Role of Enjoyment and Anxiety in Shaping ( AI ‐Mediated) Informal Language Learning and Confidence: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed‐Methods Investigation · Journal of Computer Assisted Learning · 2026
- Writing in the AI era: Rethinking writing, research and teaching · Journal of Second Language Writing · 2026
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