Vol. 27 No. 3 (2023)

Volume 27, Issue 3 of The English as a Foreign Language International Journal (EFLIJ) includes three articles and one book review that address the multifaceted nature of teaching English as a foreign language. In the first article, “The impact of using captions on the speaking abilities of low-level and high-level EFL students”, Adam Christopher delved into the ramifications of incorporating captions on the English-speaking aptitude of low- and high-level learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). With the captioned group and the non-captioned group throughout a 13-week academic term, all participants were exposed to audiovisual materials with or without captions and were subsequently assessed in speaking to gauge the impact of caption utilization. The usage of captions significantly enhanced the overall speaking accuracy of EFL learners, with speaking fluency and accuracy in favor of the high-level learners. In the second article, “Teacher written feedback on higher order skills of writing: A case study of L2 Vietnamese students”, Hieu Manh Do and Huong Le Thu Phan explored the influence of teacher feedback on Vietnamese undergraduates' writing capabilities and their preferences for various types of feedback. The findings unveiled the positive effects of teacher feedback on learners' organizational skills, particularly in relation to the delineation between main and supporting ideas within their writing texts. Most students, particularly those with lower proficiency levels, exhibited a preference for direct written feedback and oral conferences. Interestingly, formative assessment methods were endorsed as highly effective approaches to these L2 Vietnamese learners, who were more accustomed to summative assessment practices in the past.