Open research questions in EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning

What the literature leaves open

• Future research is recommended to investigate additional variables, such as motivation, self-efficacy, classroom climate, and language learning strategies, using broader participant groups and longitudinal or mixed- method approaches to develop a more comprehensive understanding of factors influencing English-speaking proficiency.

  THE CORRELATION BETWEEN STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ANXIETY AND THEIRORAL PROFICIENCY · 2026 · DOI

• Future research could address this limitation by incorporating classroom observations to examine how ChatGPT-generated materials and activities are used in teaching and assess their effectiveness in real instructional settings. Lastly, the study lacks data triangulation, as it primarily relies on self-reported interview data.

  Understanding ChatGPT Integration in EFL Teaching: A Dual-Model Analysis in Vietnamese Higher Education · 2026 · DOI

• Interestingly, price value, an underexplored factor in previous studies, Volume 5 Issue 1 ISSN 2790-9441 T E S O L C o m m u n i c a t i o n s | 23 emerged as meaningful, as some participants used the free version while still feeling satisfied.

  Understanding ChatGPT Integration in EFL Teaching: A Dual-Model Analysis in Vietnamese Higher Education · 2026 · DOI

• 1. Sustainability through follow-up practice: Implement periodic refresher workshops (3–6 months post-training) emphasizing oral fluency, negotiation discourse, and spontaneous interaction to consolidate gains and ensure long-term retention. 2. Rigorous assessment and monitoring: Incorporate paired statistical analysis (e.g., t-tests, effect sizes, confidence intervals) in future cycles to strengthen internal validity and support evidence-based decision-making. 3. Genre sequencing in curriculum design: Begin with structured written tasks to establish measurable progress, followed by immersive oral simulations and authentic workplace dialogues to foster spontaneous communicative competence. 4. Fidelity and dose tracking: Record attendance, participation rates, and completion of assigned communicative tasks to evaluate training intensity and learner engagement as predictors of performance outcomes. 5. Contextual adaptation and scaling: Conduct mini needs analyses before expanding the model to other departments or organizations to ensure lexical, functional, and pragmatic alignment with each occupational domain. 109 2026 دد 1 علا 6 . دلجملا ةيسفنلاو ةيوبرتلا مولعلل طسولأا قرشلا ةلجم 6. Measure retention and workplace transfer: Collect post-course data on email clarity, report quality, and supervisor satisfaction to demonstrate organizational return on investment (ROI) and evidence of workplace integration. 7. Enhance experimental rigor: Future studies should employ matched comparison or control groups to mitigate threats to internal validity (e.g., testing effects, maturation) and allow stronger causal inference. 7.Conclusion While the results were highly encouraging, the study’s quasi-experimental single-group design limits generalizability. The absence of a control group and the reliance on self-reported affective data warrant cautious interpretation. Additionally, the short duration (two months) may not fully capture long-term language retention or transfer to workplace performance. Future research should explore longitudinal follow-ups, cross-sector replications, and mixed- methods designs integrating performance-based workplace metrics to validate and extend the current findings Equally significant was the affective shift: reported barriers fell from an average of 20 to 9, indicating reduced language anxiety and greater perceived readiness. This combination of strong competence gains and marked affective improvement underscores the organizational value of short, task‑focused ESP modules for rapid workplace impact. With modest methodological strengthening and planned retention measurement, this model offers a scalable, high‑impact approach to corporate language capacity building. The evidence justifies wider adoption and systematic follow‑up, positioning focused ESP interventions as an effective strategy for enhancing workplace communication and reducing language‑related barriers.

  Assessing the Impact of English for Specific Purposes Training Course on Professional Language Competence: An Applied Case Study · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should explore longitudinal follow-ups, cross-sector replications, and mixed- methods designs integrating performance-based workplace metrics to validate and extend the current findings Equally significant was the affective shift: reported barriers fell from an average of 20 to 9, indicating reduced language anxiety and greater perceived readiness.

  Assessing the Impact of English for Specific Purposes Training Course on Professional Language Competence: An Applied Case Study · 2026 · DOI

• Based on the findings of this SR and MA, and supported by established principles of early language acquisition, this study proposes the following recommendations for parents, teachers, early childhood educators and curriculum designers: 1) Strengthening Early Arabic Literacy Foundations requires addressing persistent difficulties in sound–symbol association, written–sound mapping, and structural analysis through explicit instruction in phonological awareness and decoding, with systematic practice in segmenting, blending, and manipulating sounds. Instruction should also provide structured exposure to Arabic orthography, including hamza, shadda, long and short vowels, and common morphological patterns, alongside increased exposure to Standard Arabic through shared reading, storytelling, and age-appropriate texts that build vocabulary and syntactic awareness. In addition, early screening and targeted support are essential for children who exhibit ongoing challenges in decoding or structural analysis to prevent these early weaknesses from developing into long-term literacy difficulties. 2) Strengthening early English language instruction requires adopting naturalistic, mother-tongue–like approaches that emphasize meaningful interaction, repetition, and exposure in real-life contexts. Effective instruction involves consistently using the target language in class without relying on L1 translation, allowing students to internalize vocabulary, structures, and pronunciation more naturally through immersion supported by gestures, real objects, role-play, and contextualized interaction. Sensory-based learning experiences—where children learn through touch, movement, and concrete activities— further enhance comprehension and reduce dependence on abstract grammar explanations. Repeated exposure to rich language input helps children internalize linguistic patterns effortlessly, especially when teachers maintain high expectations for learners’ innate ability to imitate sounds and self-correct. Integrating real-world learning experiences in authentic environments such as markets, playgrounds, and community spaces makes language learning meaningful and memorable. Early reading should be supported through phonics-based instruction that teaches letter sounds rather than letter names, using flashcards and word-building activities to strengthen decoding skills. Creative tasks such as writing simple poems, short stories, or thematic sentences—even for beginners—promote confidence, deepen vocabulary retention, and foster ownership of the language. Incorporating songs, chants, and rhythmic activities supports pronunciation, intonation, and vocabulary development, while cultivating a positive emotional climate through teacher enthusiasm and warmth enhances motivation and engagement.

  Children’s Language Acquisition and Development in Saudi Arabia: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis · 2026 · DOI

• This study makes a noteworthy contribution to the field of SLA and grammar ped- agogy by addressing an underexplored yet pedagogically significant area: Chinese col- lege EFL learners’ preferences for isolated and integrated forms of FFI.

  Preferences of Chinese EFL college learners for isolated and integrated form-focused instruction · 2026 · DOI

• On the other hand, while this study is exploratory and limited to a selection of textbooks, it opens lines for future research, including empirical investigations into learner comprehension and production, the testing of pedagogical interventions based on this framework, and the extension of the approach to other discourse particles and languages.

  Exploring the Uses and Pragmatic Functions of 呢 (Ne): Enhancing Chinese Language Teaching · 2026 · DOI

• Based on the synthesis of the 21 studies, several practical recommendations can be offered to instructors, curriculum designers, and assessment specialists. First, instructors are encouraged to adopt skill-specific assessment frameworks that clearly articulate the subskills to be measured and align test content with instructional objectives. Detailed tables of specifications, explicit instructions, and transparent scoring criteria should be standard components of all assessment practices. Skill-specific assessment should focus on both the listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar skills process and product especially when the target students are trained to be translators and interpreters. Second, teachers should integrate diagnostic and formative assessment into their regular instructional routines. Tests should not be limited to summative evaluation but should be used to identify learners’ strengths and weaknesses, guide remediation, and Page | 28 JWEEP 8(2): 11-33 support ongoing skill development. Providing students with constructive feedback, supported by rubrics and sample responses— can significantly enhance learning outcomes. Third, institutions should invest in assessment literacy training for instructors. The findings show that teacher expertise, pedagogical choices, and familiarity with assessment principles directly influence student performance. Professional development programs focusing on test design, rubric construction, and technology-enhanced assessment tools can improve the quality and fairness of classroom evaluation. Fourth, instructors are encouraged to make greater use of digital assessment tools, such as iRubrics, mobile learning applications, and online platforms. These tools enhance transparency, consistency, and efficiency, and they support student engagement and self-assessment. Finally, curriculum designers should ensure that assessment practices reflect the cognitive and linguistic complexity of academic tasks, particularly in ESP and higher-education contexts, where learners must navigate specialized vocabulary, disciplinary texts, and research-related skills.

  A Systematic Self-Review of Specific-Skill Assessment Studies: Principles and Practices · 2026 · DOI

• However, using an English-only policy can lead nowhere, especially with low-level learners, at times of complex, complicated instructions and activities that require diverse vocabulary and grammatical rules; this will result in silence or no English usage. Hence, it becomes necessary to use the L1 in a limited and controlled way to create opportunities to practice English as much as possible, especially during speaking and listening, and to reassure the learners. Teachers must use English to teach English; however, occasionally, it is advisable to use L1 in a limited way to enable the learners to benefit as much as possible from activities related to the four skills. Sandwiching is one of the techniques that can be employed to facilitate learning L2 without making L1 the language of teaching. Teachers can use sandwiching when they present a sophisticated activity for the learners. Hence, they can say the instructions in English, then in the L1, and then repeat them in English. By using sandwiching as a method, the teachers ensure that the learners understand the instructions in their L1 and have also learned the equivalent in English. After using the exact instructions multiple times, the teachers will assume that the learners have grasped the information and will not be obliged to use L1 to present similar activities. Thus, sandwiching allows the minimum employment of L1 for a defined purpose: practicing activities in English (Ji, 1999). Bilingual instructions are another way to maximize the use of English. The teacher can use bilingual instructions to check the learners' understanding of the presented task and guarantee the whole class's participation in the activity. The instructor can give the instructions for a task in English and ask one learner to re-state the exact instructions in L1 (Nurpahmi et al., 2018). The strategy of bilingual instruction first minimizes the teacher's use of L1. Secondly, it helps the teacher determine whether the learners have understood the activity, and thirdly, it encourages selflearning and collaboration between learners. Another strategy that teachers and language instructors can also use is the' own language moment' to ensure the success of classroom activities and increase learners' focus during the class (Kerr, 2019). Learners in a language class cannot focus for long periods; the period that a learner can entirely focus on the learning material depends on the lesson or the course they are studying at that moment, the age of the learner, mood, motivation, size of the class, and time of the day. Thus, the period of concentration varies according to those factors. It is impractical to assume that the learners will be able to concentrate during a lesson of forty-five or fifty minutes, especially with low achievers and low-level learners. The shrinking of the level of focus is a barrier that hinders learners from completing a task. The aforementioned idea puts the language teacher between two hard choices: either abandon the task or stop for a moment and let the students recharge their batteries. 'Own language moment' is a strategy to let the students break from the traditional language classroom that uses only the L2 to let them recharge their batteries by discussing the topic in their mother tongue (Hall & Cook, 2014). The 'own language moment' can be used with speaking activities. During a speaking activity, learners may not participate or say little. Hence, using this strategy can lead to much more classroom participation. This strategy can take place in different places. It can be used before the speaking task starts to brainstorm ideas and think about the topic at hand, and it can be used as a savior to rescue a speaking task from being abandoned. Suppose the learners are saying little during the discussion. In that case, the teacher can let the learners take an 'own language moment' to discuss the topic with a partner and think about what to say after resuming the task; learners should change the partner after resuming the task (Kerr, 2015). Learners can also use the 'own language moment' to talk about learning; various academic research suggests that reflection about the learning process and self-evaluation help accelerate the improvement in language learning and proficiency. Such activities require a high level of mastery of L2, which is not possible for low-level learners. Hence, it is practical to conduct this type of discussion using L1.

  Revisiting Arabic as a First Language in English Teaching: Evidence from the MENA Region · 2026 · DOI

• rather to Future research should consider larger and more diverse samples across multiple Colleges of generalisability. The sample size was relatively small and limited to a specific institutional context, which may affect the generalisability of the findings to other Colleges of Education in Ghana or similar settings.

  Digital Micro-Teaching and Phonetic Skill Development Among Teacher Trainees in Ghanaian Colleges of Education: A Quasi-Experimental Study · 2026 · DOI

• Nevertheless, the study identified limitations in full implementation. Teachers primarily used drama and role-play, with limited use of music, positive suggestion, and relaxation strategies.

  Effectiveness of Suggestopedia in Enhancing English Language Learning in Secondary Schools: Evidence from GS Kamabare, Rwanda · 2026 · DOI

• This study explored novice teachers' preparedness and efficacy in teaching English as a foreign language at primary schools in Northwest Cambodia, addressing a critical gap in understanding how Teacher Education Colleges (TECs), specifically Phnom Penh Teacher Education College (PTEC) and Battambang Teacher Education College (BTEC), prepare graduates for the realities of English language instruction.

  Exploring Preparedness and Efficacy of Novice Teachers in Teaching English as a Foreign Language at Primary Schools in Northwest Cambodia · 2026 · DOI

• This overview has established the critical role of group dynamics—a significant social variable—in shaping the L2 classroom experience. The evidence clearly shows that positive group dynamics can enhance motivation, affect, and cognition, leading to better language development and to other positive psychological outcomes for both learners and teachers. While a modest body of research in different contexts and with different L2 learners has been conducted on this topic, it has been heavily concentrated in university settings, particularly in Japan. To achieve a more comprehensive understanding, future research must expand to include primary and secondary school contexts and diverse geographical regions. The empirical review revealed a variety of research designs that have been used to investigate group dynamics, each offering unique insights and opportunities for future work. Researchers have employed traditional quantitative methods, such as large-scale questionnaires and the use of inferential statistics. More complex statistical tools like structural equation modeling (SEM) have also been applied, though sparingly. As Fukada et al. (2019) argue, SEM represents a particularly useful tool to "untangle causal relationships among multiple variables" (p. 314) and warrants greater use.

  Group Dynamics in the Language Classroom: A Theoretical and Empirical Overview · 2026 · DOI

• By addressing these elements within the SCT framework, this study fills a significant gap in the literature, as the role of family influence in L2 learning has often been overlooked.

  Parental Influences on Young EFL Learners’ Affection, Cognition, and Achievement in the English Classroom · 2026 · DOI

• Kahraman & Cephe LATER, 2026-1, 63-76 It is therefore plausible that subtle changes began to emerge but were insufficient in magnitude to reach statistical significance within the available sample size and timeframe.

  Teacher Well-being in Teacher Education: Evaluation of a Positive Psychology-based Intervention for EFL Instructors · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should explore long-term impacts of AI on learners’ cognitive and social development and investigate how AI can be better integrated into diverse educational contexts. Future research could address these limitations by involving larger, more diverse samples and exploring long-term impacts of AI integration on learners’ cognitive, emotional, and social development.

  Examining Positive and Negative Impacts of Artificial Intelligence in English as a Foreign Language Learning: A Case Study at IAIN Parepare · 2026 · DOI

• Future research may investigate how to emphasize and be didactically explicit about the value of the fluency and accuracy aspects of oral production in FL edu- cation, which hark back to communicative language teaching roots, since both are important, in particular at lower language levels. Being explicit in general about expectations for classroom practice may be beneficial so that students see this as skill building exercises, and not simply as a traditional academic task to be eval- uated. It may also investigate what occurs with tandem oral practice, both private and public, paying special attention to evaluation frameworks, so that such prac- tice is not penalized. On behalf of both authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

  ICTs for language learning anxiety in pre-service teachers · 2026 · DOI

• Based on the theoretical analysis and empirical evidence reviewed in this article, the following seven practical recommendations are offered: 1. English language teachers should systematically incorporate board games from the Activate collection — available free of charge through the American English digital portal (American English, 2024) — into their regular lesson plans, ensuring that game activities are clearly aligned with curricular vocabulary and language objectives and embedded within a structured pre-game, during-game, and post-game instructional sequence. 2. Teachers are advised to begin with shorter, more structured game activities before progressing to more open-ended formats, allowing students to develop familiarity and confidence with game-based learning gradually. Teachers should explicitly communicate the communicative learning objectives of each game activity to students, countering any perception that games are insufficiently rigorous. 3.

  <b>THE ROLE OF BOARD GAMES IN ENHANCING ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING AMONG ACADEMIC LYCEUM STUDENTS IN CENTRAL ASIA</b> · 2026 · DOI

• 1 Dunifa, Ahiri & Ahiri 135 clarifies that even though they are majored in English and have learned English speaking (in a particular course named Speaking Subject), which is supported by learning other language skills and language components, making students proficient in oral English communication is still insufficient.

  English Major Students’ Speaking Ability and Areas of Their Weaknesses in Assessment: A Cross-Sectional Study · 2026 · DOI

• The following four fundamental recommendations were forwarded based on the findings of the study Anatolian Journal of Education, April 2026 ● Vol.11, No.1 102 Assessing Linguistic Barriers to English Speaking Skills…

  Assessing Linguistic Barriers to English Speaking Skills in Research-Based Courses: A Study of University Students · 2026 · DOI

• Furthermore, the variation in how these challenges are experienced or acknowledged among students indicates a potential gap between actual performance and students’ awareness of their linguistic limitations, pointing to the need for further investigation into students’ metacognitive understanding of their language skills.

  Assessing Linguistic Barriers to English Speaking Skills in Research-Based Courses: A Study of University Students · 2026 · DOI

• Therefore, future investigations could examine how peer mentoring can be integrated with other instructional approaches, such as teacher feedback, technology-enhanced learning, and collaborative tasks, to maximize its pedagogical benefits. In addition, further research is needed to examine the factors influencing the successful implementation of peer mentoring, including learners’ attitudes, proficiency levels, cultural expectations, and classroom dynamics.

  Peer Mentoring in the Saudi EFL Context: Exploring Students’ Views on Learning Effectiveness · 2026 · DOI

• In recent years, there have been increased calls to integrate MSA and dialect in Arabic language teaching (Al-Batal, 2018), but limited research on actual classroom practices in integrating Arabic varieties.

  Teacher Talk in Multidialectal Classrooms · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should address these limitations while expanding our understanding of the complex relationships between technology use, emotion, and language learning. Students may have underreported MT use due to institutional prohibitions or overreported anxiety levels due to the study's focus on this relationship.

  Machine Translation and L2 Anxiety Among L2 Learners: Patterns, Motivations, and Pedagogical Implications · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning

• Large language models in education: A focus on the complementary relationship between human teachers and ChatGPT · Education and Information Technologies · 2023 · 545 citations
• To resist it or to embrace it? Examining ChatGPT’s potential to support teacher feedback in EFL writing · Education and Information Technologies · 2023 · 310 citations
• Improving EFL learners’ speaking skills and willingness to communicate via artificial intelligence-mediated interactions · System · 2024 · 299 citations
• Learning to Become a Second Language Teacher: Identities-in-Practice · Modern Language Journal · 2011 · 264 citations
• Taking stock: A meta-analysis of the effects of foreign language enjoyment · Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching · 2022 · 221 citations
• The Development and Validation of the Short Form of the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale · Modern Language Journal · 2021 · 216 citations
• Learning Strategy Applications with Students of English as a Second Language · TESOL Quarterly · 1985 · 209 citations
• On the Teachability of Communication Strategies · TESOL Quarterly · 1995 · 199 citations
• Classroom social climate, growth language mindset, and student engagement: the mediating role of boredom in learning English as a foreign language · Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development · 2022 · 190 citations
• The Comprehension Strategies of Second Language (French) Listeners: A Descriptive Study · Foreign Language Annals · 1997 · 175 citations

Most recent work

• Investigating the Interplay of Chinese English as Foreign Language Learners' Growth Mindset, Enjoyment, Adaptability, and Engagement in <scp>AI</scp> ‐Mediated Informal Digital Learning of English · Journal of Computer Assisted Learning · 2026
• The Facilitating Role of Enjoyment and Anxiety in Shaping ( <scp>AI</scp> ‐Mediated) Informal Language Learning and Confidence: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed‐Methods Investigation · Journal of Computer Assisted Learning · 2026
• Large Language Model Self-Efficacy and Metacognition as Bridges in Cross-Linguistic Self-Efficacy Transfer · The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher · 2026
• The Impact of GenAI Feedback on Chinese EFL Students’ Emotional Engagement: A Mixed Effect Modelling Approach · The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher · 2026
• From interaction to competency: the mediating role of social engagement in the emergence of materials-use competency among pre-service EFL teachers · Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education · 2026
• Unveiling the Role of L2 Writing Feedback Engagement in ChatGPT‐Mediated Language Learning Environment: Teacher Support, L2 Motivation, and Emotions as Predictors · European Journal of Education · 2026
• Teachers’ Knowledge of Language and Literacy Concepts: A Meta-Analysis · Educational Psychology Review · 2026
• Multilingual language learning in a multimodal metaverse: a multidimensional study of communicative, affective, and cognitive development · Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching · 2026
• Transformative learning in teacher development: the impact of a teacher education course on EFL teachers’ perceptions and experiences of the emotional dimensions of language assessment literacy · Language Testing in Asia · 2026
• Exploring the Role of Artificial Intelligence Tutors in Enhancing Motivation and Learning Behavior in Language Learners · Arab World English Journal · 2026

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