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Readers respond is a forum for individuals to contribute their own reactions, perspectives, or experiences in relation to a specific article or articles published in a recent issue of ELT Journal. These views are not necessarily those of the Editor, the Editorial Panel, or the Publisher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The action-oriented approach (AoA) is a powerful basis to inform teaching, learning, and assessment in the classroom that identifies learners as social agents and focuses on language learning through language use. This paper answers the call for developments that help teachers teach and learners learn in an AoA-informed way. We argue that cognitive discourse functions (CDFs) align with AoA, helping to develop learner thinking by focusing on the learners' use of language. We complement our conceptual discussion referring to the process of developing a self- and peer-assessment tool informed by AoA and CDFs and the initial application of this tool in an advanced academic writing course in a Japanese university with B1 and B2 level students. We discuss how this tool can guide learners' understanding of their writing process and fosters learners' responsibility for deciding how they mobilize their linguistic resources to express particular language functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article responds to Wingate and Hakim's paper, where they criticise English Medium Instruction (EMI) research for not drawing on research and practices from EAP. We concur that this cross-fertilisation of knowledge is beneficial for both fields but emphasise the breadth of the current EMI research agenda, which explores several issues beyond English language and academic preparedness. We also counter their claims of a lack of awareness by highlighting several examples of knowledge exchange, much of which has been driven by EMI scholars working within EAP contexts, and vice versa. Finally, we urge caution in recommendations to uncritically adopt EAP practices from Anglophone university settings into EMI settings, due to the complexities associated with EMI growth and provision, where the challenges raised are not necessarily identical. Overall, we agree with the authors that EAP and EMI have much to gain from each other in their shared endeavours and welcome their calls for future research collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 25 years, scholars have proposed several recommendations for including spoken grammar in second language classrooms. However, recent studies point to potential challenges in this endeavour: learners may feel inauthentic when using what they see as 'native-speaker' forms, and interlocutors may see these forms as less acceptable when used by non-native speakers. This paper examines current recommendations for teaching spoken grammar in light of these issues and proposes a functional teaching approach that presents spoken grammar as a communicative resource rather than a formal characteristic of native-speaker usage. It then reports on a pilot study exploring the feasibility and students' reception of such an approach. The paper concludes that it is possible to adapt spoken grammar pedagogy to be more socioculturally sensitive, and that teaching should aim towards a fuller understanding and appreciation of the affordances of spoken grammar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study sets out to understand the beliefs, functions, and practices of using L1 among EFL learners while they learned new L2 vocabulary. Forty-two Saudi male university students were randomly assigned to 21 pairs and asked to complete three reading comprehension tasks. All pair interactions were audio-recorded. Afterward, interviews were conducted with 21 students. The results suggest that the use of L1 in L2 vocabulary tasks assists students in understanding the meaning of new words. They also revealed the complex sociocultural nature of peer-to-peer collaborative interaction and the role L1 plays in L2 vocabulary learning. The interviews revealed that some participants thought that L1 should not be used in the L2 class, a belief that contradicted their actions. The paper calls for Saudi L2 educational contexts to embrace translanguaging as a beneficial practice that enhances student L2 acquisition and reduces the emotional stress of using L1 in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study of EFL classroom talk with the focus on how teachers successfully encourage and elicit student dialogic talk through questioning. It is based on observation data from forty-nine classes involving eleven teaching staff in a university in central China. The findings reveal the difficulty of engaging students to be the first to participate in dialogic interactions in a culture where deeply engrained reserve is the accepted norm. Two teacher questioning patterns are identified that are effective in eliciting students' first dialogic contribution in each interaction. These patterns can also serve as a profitable investment to elicit subsequent productive talk from students. This study also argues for a situated, contextualized analysis of classroom talk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the impact of the growth in English medium instruction (EMI) on the field of ELT. Increasing studies report students' language-related challenges and linguistic preparedness to be major barriers to successful implementation of EMI. These challenges, which have accompanied an unfettered growth in EMI provision, impact on practitioners and students and highlight the role of ELT practitioners in providing language support. This paper outlines how EMI is changing the role of ELT practitioners in the internationalized and 'Englishized' higher education sector, who increasingly teach on EAP programmes. EMI research is in a relative stage of infancy, yet a growing body of evidence highlights the importance of academic and language support. Drawing on evidence from recent research, we explore the integral role that ELT instructors have in helping students with their content learning, and make suggestions to facilitate greater integration of ELT within EMI contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In countries in which opportunities to use a foreign language are mostly limited to the language classroom, teachers and students need to seek occasions to practice it. Luckily for them, virtual worlds provide many ways of practicing the language they study and communicate with many target language speakers. This paper reports a study that investigated changes in motivational dynamics and factors contributing to changes in the levels of motivation as reported by two advanced learners of English. They were asked to use the virtual world Second Life after classes and practice English. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data revealed changes in intensity of motivation and several factors responsible for them. On that basis, some guidelines for increasing motivation in the context of virtual worlds are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the potential of learner-initiated exploratory practice (EP), which encourages learners to set their own investigative agenda based on their curiosity-driven puzzles. A case study was conducted in a remedial course for undergraduate students at a university in Japan. Data included student puzzles, posters, and reflective questionnaires. Student investigations of their puzzles remind teachers and researchers of the affordances of learning from learners. The results suggested that, despite their previously disoriented attitudes towards learning English, this form of fully inclusive practitioner research, EP, provides learners with an opportunity to realize their curiosity and reinvigorate their motivation towards language learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the implementation of a language learning project in a Japanese EFL classroom in which the trigger, or motivational energy for involvement, came from interacting with English-speaking international students. The project provided a context to investigate the trajectory of one group's (three learners) sustained engagement across three tasks that formed the subgoals of the project. Data sources include learner diaries, engagement questionnaires, and transcripts of task conversations, which together were used to describe the level of engagement for each learner at key times throughout the project. The findings indicate that engagement is sustained by certain flow-like conditions during tasks (i.e. control, interest, challenge-skill balance), group cohesion among project members, and a growing focus on the long-term goal of the project. The results highlight project design features that teachers should consider when implementing projects with the purpose of engaging students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the effects of blogging as an approach to journal writing in the EFL writing classroom by means of a 16-week comparative experiment involving two groups of EFL college students. The experimental group (EG) was required to blog daily while the control group (CG) was asked to do so using traditional pen-and-paper methods. The writing performance and general attitudes to and perceptions of journal writing in both groups were evaluated through a writing test and a semi-structured survey. The research results show that blogging a journal helped the students to achieve a greater improvement in their writing than did the regular pen-and-paper treatment. Additionally, although both groups developed similar learning attitudes in general, the EG experienced significantly less anxiety in writing than did the CG. This suggests that the blogging approach is an effective approach for students in developing both writing skills and learning attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Universities in English medium instruction (EMI) settings are generally reticent about the linguistic diversity of their student body. Very often, a monolingual mindset dominates institutional thinking that casts linguistic diversity as obstacle rather than asset for the EMI curriculum. This has given rise to deficit models of English language provision in which language tutors are viewed as offering language support and 'fixing' language problems. It is timely to address these anachronistic views. In this paper, I do so by making the case for the multilingual agenda in EMI higher educational institutions. From a plurilingual perspective, I examine three narratives for developing the multilingual agenda: (1) 'the institution as anglophone and multilingual'; (2) 'students as plurilingual speakers'; and (3) 'EMI curriculum and pedagogy informed by language-as-resource'. I argue that the significance of these narratives lies in treating them as interrelated and demonstrating their salience for enacting wider higher education agendas at the institutional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of English as a multilingua franca (EMF) positions English within multilingualism, and EMF awareness prepares students to communicate effectively in this multilingual world of mobility. The present paper explores how, if ever, EMF-aware pedagogic intervention influences Japanese students' perceptions of their communicative practices, particularly for English-major undergraduates in L1-shared classrooms. This intervention was made by providing opportunities for participants to engage in EMF and by examining their first-hand experiences and published EMF communication extracts in the classrooms. Empirical data from an open-ended questionnaire demonstrate that multilingual and transmodal accommodation was a way for them to notice and take advantage of global networks, develop capability and confidence in communication, and foster sensitivity to interactants' backgrounds. The data also illustrate the invaluable role of individual multilingual experiences as classroom 'materials', and suggest that discussing these experiences potentially turns L1-shared classrooms into EMF scenarios through foregrounding students' multilingual repertoires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational institutions are placing increased value on language tandems owing to the language development opportunities they offer for learners of modern languages. Where these learners lack autonomous language learning strategies, however, the results can be disappointing, with limited linguistic development taking place. This paper reports on recent research into the language tandem experiences of international study abroad students during their period of study at a British university. When it became apparent that the students lacked skills in managing their language tandems to meet their learning needs, strategy instruction was introduced to facilitate more effective language learning strategy use. The findings suggest that such an intervention can significantly increase learners' ability to create a language tandem which meets their learning needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that UK ELT Master's programmes are numerous, diverse, and financially important, very little research has been conducted on whether they deliver teaching practice (TP) or micro-teaching (MT), and on what students' expectations of these modules are. The present paper addresses this gap by examining how many ELT-related Master's programmes in the UK offer TP/MT modules and by investigating students' expectations of these modules. Drawing on data from document analysis, we show that only 34 out of the 141 UK ELT-related Master's programmes offer a TP module and 12 offer an MT module. Data from pre-/post-study questionnaires and focus groups indicate that students consider practical teaching experience an important part of their programmes, and report that they would like more course time to be spent on it. Based on these findings, we recommend that UK ELT Master's programmes should provide students with ways to gain such practical experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of individuals undertaking IELTS has continued to grow in recent years, standing at approximately 3 million candidates per year in 2016. As a result, this high-stakes, high-pressure test has become firmly entrenched as a global gatekeeping institution, regulating the international flows of people for migration and academic study. This paper provides critical perspectives on the design and administration of the IELTS test from the viewpoint of the often-ignored, yet key stakeholders in IELTS: the test-takers themselves. It argues that, with the growth in the need for recognized and trusted evidence of English language proficiency internationally, the co-owners of IELTS have amassed enormous global power over the lives of millions of people, with considerable ethical ramifications. It critiques seven features of IELTS and suggests implementable solutions to enable IELTS to become a more democratic and humane testing system, imbued with potential for learning, for the benefit of its test-takers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns over the quality of peer feedback and entrenched teacher-driven learning have resulted in the limited use of peer assessment in Chinese EFL writing instruction. This study sought to effectively implement peer assessment for EFL writing in China, by addressing learners’ concerns through tailor-made teacher intervention strategies. Eighteen English majors participated in peer assessment for nine writing tasks. Pre-intervention surveys elicited learners’ concerns over peer assessment, leading to the design of teacher-led support strategies. Post-task surveys examined learners’ satisfaction with teacher-supported peer assessment, and were supplemented by the assignment feedback data. The results show that a dynamic and continuous teacher support approach to peer assessment was reported which proved to substantially affect learners’ perceptions, and the nature and the perceived value of peer assessment respectively. This paper provides implications for EFL writing teachers regarding pedagogic motivation and strategies for the effective use of peer assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

While there are a variety of reasons for implementing English medium instruction (EMI) at higher-education institutions (HEIs) worldwide, this decision is often made without consideration of its potential impact on student learning. Federal HEIs in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are no exception. With English language admission standards at between 5.0 and 5.5 IELTS, students are frequently challenged to successfully complete the tasks required of them and faculty can be frustrated by the level of work they receive. This article describes the findings of a research project, conducted with Emirati art and design students at one of these HEIs, which identified challenges experienced by students and faculty in an EMI setting. A subsequent initiative investigating writing genres students need to be familiar with is also discussed. Finally, collaboratively developed teaching materials are also described. With appropriate contextual modifications, these initiatives could be replicated in EMI contexts elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jason Anderson's proposal, in ELT Journal (2015), for an affordance-based approach to lesson planning raises important issues in teacher education. However, his arguments against the role of planned outcomes in favour of an affordance-based focus using learning opportunities as units of planning fail to acknowledge the complexities involved and teachers' needs in mastering this essential task. By way of response, in this article I first echo the legitimate concerns raised in Anderson's paper about lesson planning, then follow with a critical analysis of three fundamental issues of curriculum planning which reflect fallacies in his core argument. Then, based on a holistic perspective, I propose scaffolding lesson planning in teacher training, using the companion guides of a planning template and the lesson plan pro forma. Practical suggestions are also made for a three-level planning model for EFL/ESL practice with the support of a generic lesson plan incorporating examples of reasoning and ways of representing the decisions made during the plan writing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores variation in willingness to communicate (WTC) in English between whole-class interaction and dyadic and group interaction, and teacher interaction strategies identified to sustain students' WTC in whole-class interaction that primarily followed the initiation–response–feedback (IRF) pattern. Data were collected from a regular English class at a university in China through audio-recording of a lesson, classroom observation, self-rating of WTC by 23 students, and stimulated recall interviews with four focal students. The results indicate that WTC in whole-class interaction did not significantly differ from WTC in dyadic and group interaction. Teacher interaction strategies, including the use of open or referential questions in the I-move and F-move, manipulation of wait time following prompts, and monitoring private speech and contextual or multimodal clues of students' WTC, functioned to sustain classroom WTC. Implications for adopting teacher interaction strategies in line with lesson plans within the framework of IRF pedagogic discourse are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores Japanese EFL learners' perceptions of face-to-face vs. anonymous peer review in a writing classroom. Albeit few in number, some studies claim that Asian students exhibit difficulty in providing negative feedback because they tend to be hesitant for cultural reasons to criticize others' work. To verify and extend such observations, this study collected data from 64 Japanese college students regarding their experiences and perspectives after they performed peer review in both conditions. Analysis of the data collected through a survey and semi-structured interviews did not support the previously held views that learners from non-Western cultural backgrounds are predisposed to be reluctant peer reviewers. Further, the findings indicated that Japanese EFL learners' preference for a specific peer-review mode interacts closely with various factors. Possible pedagogical implications are discussed in relation to ways to better implement peer-review sessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on a study of the validity and reliability of tests administered in an EFL university setting. The study addresses the question of how well face validity reflects more objective measures of the quality of a test, such as predictive validity and reliability. According to some researchers, face validity, defined as the surface credibility or public acceptability of a test, has no theoretical basis since it is based on the subjective perceptions of stakeholders such as teachers and students. However, due to lack of time or resources, or due to a perceived lack of competence, practitioners tend to rely on the ‘appeal’ of language tests, rather than seek empirical evidence. This article describes several ways of evaluating achievement tests, comparing their results in order to shed light on what measures can and should be taken to ensure that achievement tests accomplish their purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For more than twenty years the benefits of extensive reading have been proclaimed to the ELT community, but the inclusion of extensive reading in ELT programmes is far from universal. Extensive reading appears to be particularly absent in higher educational and English for Academic Purposes settings. This paper reports on the implementation of an extensive reading component in a pre-university study EAP programme. Learners responded positively to the loss of teacher-centred class time and a non-EAP focus for part of each lesson. While the implementation of extensive reading will vary from setting to setting, this action research project shows that extensive reading can have a place in an EAP programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing use of digital educational technologies in higher education (HE) means that the nature of communication may be shifting. Assessments of English for academic purposes (EAP) need to be reconceptualized accordingly to reflect the new and complex ways in which language is used in HE. With a view to inform EAP assessments, our study set out to identify key trends related to academic English using a scoping review of the literature. Findings revealed two major trends: (1) a shift towards multimodal communication which has in turn resulted in the emergence of new types of academic assignments, multimodal genres, and the need for students to acquire new skills to operate within this multimodal arena; and (2) the limitations of existing skills-based approaches to assessment and the need to move towards integrated skills assessment. We discuss the implications of these findings for EAP assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking notes while simultaneously listening to academic content in a second language is a daunting task for many students. While doing so, the note-taker is faced with a number of choices, including when, where, and how to take notes. Choices that students make are related to the overall format and system of notes as well as how to record specific pieces of information. The option of translanguaging, or making use of their multilingual resource, in note-taking is often overlooked by students and teachers in English for academic purposes (EAP) settings. The present article reports results of an international survey of EAP students with respect to their translanguaging habits and preferences when taking notes and presents a range of related pedagogic implications with the intent of preparing students for English medium instruction (EMI) in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated students' perceptions towards translanguaging in their English-medium instruction (EMI) experiences to understand how it affects their access to the subject content. The focus is on EMI at a leading, research-intensive university in South Korea, qualitatively explored using data collected from interviews with ten undergraduate students, and analysed using the principles of constructivist grounded theory. The emerging theory indicates that students' experiences of 'monolingually framed' shifts between L1 and L2 systems can be understood using the notion of 'trust' and that trust reinforces binary choices, in particular EMI situations, of using either the L1 or the L2 system. Further discussion indicates that, over time, these patterns of trust may constrain learning. The study suggests that instilling a competence of translanguaging in students will help them overcome these constraints. Pedagogic implications are discussed for ELT practitioners who prepare students for EMI and/or support EMI content instructors in their teaching practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

L2 learning literature has reflected on the problems surrounding the application of teacher written feedback and peer feedback in EFL contexts. To address the disadvantages of these feedback forms, this exploratory case study examined EFL learners' reactions to a collaborative revision activity. Interview data were collected from eight native Persian-speaking university students enrolled on an English essay writing course. Data analysis indicated that not only did the participants express positive attitudes towards this activity, but also that the problems associated with teacher and peer feedback were not raised by the students. The research concludes that, in teacher-centred L2 writing contexts, the shift from teacher to peer feedback should be gradual, and collaborative revision can be considered as an intermediate approach between these two feedback forms. In such contexts, EFL learners' concerns are addressed and they receive preparation for more participatory forms of feedback in L2 writing classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identifies reasons for the low attendance of a peer-tutoring scheme for English language learners at a Colombian university. In what may be the first study of its kind, the article draws on concepts from realist evaluation to analyse the data from semi-structured interviews with six EFL teachers and two peer tutoring scheme staff. The findings suggest the importance of regular communication between tutees and their English teachers for the success of such schemes. The study also identified other factors that impact low attendance such as the value of English, student anxiety, motivation, and institutional constraints. These findings have implications not only for the implementation of English language peer-tutoring programmes in other EFL contexts, but also for EFL teaching more generally. To boost participation rates in such programmes, the study recommends compulsory participation for struggling learners, teacher training in motivational strategies, and activities aimed at increasing stakeholder involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The English as a lingua franca (ELF) and languaging research areas have challenged the norm that the goal of ELT is to teach a standardized language. This article reports on a course following the principles of ELF and languaging where the goal is to support students to use and grow their existing repertoire of resources to do things in English. The course was taught at a Thai university and was organized around each student learning a hobby of their choice. Focusing on strategies for using language, the course provided support for students to learn about their hobby, to interact with others through social media, and to create videos. Students' reflections on their learning show substantial developments in their ability to do things in English and preliminary changes in attitude. The shift from teaching linguistic features to exploring strategies for exploiting existing learning resources provides a new paradigm in ELT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In South Africa, English is used as a language of learning and teaching for most students from Grade 4 onwards. National policies have requirements for all teachers regarding language proficiency in English, and they also require all teachers from Grades R (pre-school) to 6 to be English language teachers. Because most teachers are not English home language speakers, it is necessary to build academic language proficiency across school subjects along the lines of multilingual content and language integrated learning (MCLIL). National policy documents show little awareness of this and constrain teacher education for multilingual contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 led to a transition to 'remote emergency teaching' in higher-education contexts across the globe. The impact of this on English-medium education in multilingual university settings (EMEMUS) contexts is yet to be fully understood, but it is clear that it will be long lasting. This article outlines three online pedagogic activities that were adopted in an English-taught course that transitioned from the classroom to online. Based on a conceptualization of English as a 'glocal language' and motivated by an orientation towards a 'pedagogy of care', the activities were designed to draw on students' rich linguistic repertoires and support community building. The first activity was a language portrait, the second entailed online and offline exploration of the linguistic landscape of the local contexts, and the third activity was the critical analysis, editing, translation, and/or adaptation of Wikipedia pages. All activities can be adapted for the ELT classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This mixed-methods study explores the language-related difficulties and ELT support offered in English-medium programmes at eight universities in China. Data included a student questionnaire (n = 394) measuring the difficulties of 45 academic tasks, organized around the four skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Results revealed students faced the largest difficulties with productive skills, especially writing. To explore structural language support for overcoming such challenges, fieldwork interviews with twenty-six senior faculty at eight universities in four cities in China were conducted. These revealed three main types of institutional support: concurrent language support from English language teachers offered alongside English medium programmes; preparatory programmes taken before students enrolled in English medium courses, which were prevalent in language-specialist universities; and self-access learning and writing centres, which were found at two transnational universities. When structural support was lacking, content teachers reported making grassroots efforts to help students understand content via use of the students' multilingual repertoires in explanations, interactions, and materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the results of an intervention conducted with adult EFL learners in Barcelona, Spain, to foster engagement with the target language outside class time. As part of the programme, the messaging service WhatsApp was used to carry out a range of voluntary communicative tasks, in learners' own time. Familiarity with this tool made it easy to use, and learner feedback was positive. Analysis of the resulting chat transcript indicated that (1) off-task participation increased as learners appropriated the space as a vehicle for their own communication, (2) off-task interactions fell predominantly into two categories: administrative and social, and (3) despite being voluntary and unevaluated, with minimum teacher intervention, English was overwhelmingly the language of choice within these interactions. We hope this study can serve as an example of the possibilities offered by the WhatsApp medium in an EFL context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reverse linguistic stereotyping (RLS) has been shown to affect students' attitudes towards non-native teachers as well as their performance and retention of information. This study investigates ESL students' preconceived ideas about non-native English teachers. Seventy-one students enrolled in an intensive English programme at a southwestern university in the United States listened to two speech samples produced by an advanced non-native speaker. Using a matched guise technique, students were led to believe that there were two speakers: a Caucasian teacher and an East Asian one. Students showed proclivity to RLS as measured by their speech evaluations, their comprehension scores, and their teaching competence ratings. These findings help better understand learners' perceptions of language proficiency and teaching competence of a non-native teacher in the context of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores possible benefits of freewriting for EFL students' writing anxiety and fluency. Thirty university students who were enrolled in an academic writing class participated in the study. Pre- and post-writing anxiety surveys, freewritings, pre- and post-essays, and student reflections were collected as data. The study found that EFL students experience varying degrees of writing anxiety, and anxious students tended to perform poorly on the writing test. Analysis of 540 freewritings revealed that all students' fluency improved as the semester progressed, showing a similar trend. Students generally reported positive attitudes toward the freewriting activity. They largely agreed that it improved their confidence, lessened their fear of evaluation, and deepened their thinking skills, but they disliked the absence of feedback, the topic selection, and the activity's time limits. Benefits, possible adaptations, and the pedagogic value of freewriting were also discussed in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is a growing call for L2 teachers to invest in using digital multimodal composing (DMC) as an instructional activity, there is a paucity of research on whether and how L2 teachers invest in DMC, and the impact of DMC on their teaching and changing identities remains underexplored. This study reports on a longitudinal case study of an EFL teacher's investment in DMC in a university-based EFL classroom in China. A qualitative analysis of the data gathered from observation, interview, and informal conversation reveals that through investing in DMC this teacher started to renegotiate herself as a composing guide, a peer mentor, and a change agent. These shifts of identity were mainly driven by her enhanced cultural and social capital after investing in DMC, despite constraints from ideology and the policing of technology, language-dominant assessment, and other institutional demands. Implications on using DMC are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the perceptions of learning EAP of first-year undergraduates with high ESL proficiency admitted to an English-medium university in Hong Kong. Two in-depth individual interviews were conducted with nine participants and their written assignments were analysed. The data reveal several challenges facing the high achievers in learning EAP. One evident aspect is how to properly cite academic sources. The participants struggled with selecting suitable texts from sources, paraphrasing them, and using them to support their arguments. They also perceived a need to abandon the recited formulaic expressions which may have helped them score highly in the secondary school examination. This study reveals gaps between the English learnt in secondary school and EAP and offers insight into what first-year students need when they transition from secondary school to university studies. It argues that EAP should be made an essential component of first-year undergraduate programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variation in the use of terminology in the field of ELT can make dialogue difficult, if not impossible, with significant implications for sharing knowledge, structuring language provision, and, ultimately, teaching practices. Furthermore, such variation has the potential to influence negatively the perceptions of stakeholders both within and outside of the field, for it can convey a sense of disparateness and disunity that can seriously undermine the ability of ELT professionals to appear credible, to influence, and to pursue their work effectively. This is particularly true of terminology closely associated with the teaching of English within tertiary settings. This article looks at six terms, differentiating them and reflecting on their scope and areas of overlap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This exploratory study fills the gap in research on using print board games to teach English prosody to advanced EFL learners at university level. We developed three in-class print-and-play board games that accompanied three prosody-related topics in a course in English phonetics and phonology at a Polish university. For those topics, compared to topics without any board games, learners reported higher in-class engagement and obtained higher post-class quiz scores. At the end of the course, learners rated board games as equally or more useful than some of the other teaching aids. Although traditional printed worksheets were still rated as the most useful teaching aid, learners expressed their preference for using extra classroom time for playing board games instead of completing extra worksheet exercises. We hope these promising results will encourage teachers to experiment with implementing these and other board games in their advanced curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the central role of topic in the IELTS Speaking Test (IST). Topic has developed a dual personality in this interactional setting: topic-as-script is the scripted statement of topic on the examiner's cards prior to the interaction, whereas topic-as-action is how topic is developed by the candidate during the course of the interaction, which is consequential for the grades they receive. The key interactional structure in the IST is the 'topic-scripted Question–Answer adjacency pair' produced by the examiner. In order to obtain a high score, candidates need to do the following: (a) understand the question they have been asked; (b) provide an answer to the question; (c) identify the topic inherent in the question; and (d) develop the topic inherent in the question. Comparing the two personalities of topic enables methodological analysis and evaluation of the interaction and can be used for preparing candidates for the IST. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a response to William Pearson's article, 'Critical Perspectives on the IELTS Test'. It addresses his critique of the role of IELTS as a test for regulating international mobility and access to English-medium education and evaluates his more specific prescriptions for the improvements to the quality of the test itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Instructed second-language acquisition (ISLA) research endeavours to make positive changes in pedagogical practices. In this regard, there is a recent debate concerning whether teachers are (or should be) willing to engage with research. To investigate the research–pedagogy link, the current case study conducted interviews with 12 EFL teachers in Chile. The findings suggested that teachers' understanding of research was relatively consistent with SLA researchers' practices, although their awareness of instructionally oriented research was low. Teachers were willing to use research because it gave them emotional support and helped them deal with novel pedagogical issues. The use of research was facilitated by external pressure in the current landscape of higher education. However, teachers lacked physical accessibility to research such as time and resources as well as institutional support. They shared invaluable advice to researchers in promoting the research–pedagogy dialogue, such as creating communities of practice and conducting classroom research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored EFL teachers' perceptions of two popular reflection approaches, namely teaching journal and peer observation. The participants consisted of two cohorts of 10 and 11 EFL teachers who attended separate practicum courses in two consecutive years. Each participant was required to submit five teaching journals and five observation forms during the course. At the end, focus group interviews were held to examine participants' perceptions of their reflection experiences. Research findings indicated that the teachers generally favoured peer observations over teaching journals. This preference was attributed to the evaluation criteria in observation forms, alternative teaching models the participants were exposed to, and collegial collaborations developed through post-observation discussions. The teachers also argued that receiving feedback on journal entries, conducting observations prior to keeping journals, and establishing criteria to guide journal writing could further the benefit of the two reflection approaches. The implications for teachers and teacher education are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflection is an important component of teacher education and forms part of the assessment of candidates on CELTA courses. However, questions remain regarding the level of reflection candidates can demonstrate on the CELTA and how best to assess such reflection. The current study analyses reflective assignments from full-time CELTA candidates in order to investigate the level of reflection they demonstrate. The study revealed varying degrees of reflectivity, which contradicts some of the existing research into reflection on pre-service teacher training courses. The study also developed a reflective framework that can be used to inform the assessment of reflection on such courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article responds to recent critiques of the usefulness of research findings to teaching, and the call for teachers to rely on their experiences and intuition. I discuss the fallibility of intuition and then examine the nature of research and of critical thinking and their importance for teachers and teacher education. I provide evidence of how research has been able to broaden and deepen our understanding of teaching and learning in ways that can be applied to both the classroom and to language teaching materials. I end by exploring the ways in which researchers and teachers in the area of second language teaching can continue to support each other: on initial teacher education programmes; through the materials made available to teachers; throughout continuing professional development; and through teacher research. Most importantly, I stress the value of maintaining a two-way dialogue between EFL teachers and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vocabulary knowledge is recognized as an essential element for second language acquisition and reading comprehension. One known way to encourage and support vocabulary development amongst second language learners is keeping a vocabulary notebook. The primary purpose of the present study was to document two aspects of student teachers' own development: (1) linguistic (expansion of their own vocabulary) and (2) pedagogical (internalization of the approach and their readiness/willingness to use vocabulary notebooks in class; empathy towards their own students; and comprehension of the learning processes in light of their own successes and failures in vocabulary acquisition). Participants were 13 third-year students in an English teaching programme at a teachers' college in Israel. A mixed methodology was implemented. Results indicate positive outcomes in target vocabulary acquisition and retention. Results are discussed from theoretical and pedagogical perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2013/2014, I conducted two consecutive cycles of exploratory action research aimed at improving the quality of my French engineering students’ oral presentations in English. Each cycle involved a different group of students. I collaborated with the students extensively throughout the project and found that the experience was highly beneficial for everyone involved. Presentation quality and the learner/teacher experience were enhanced through student engagement in each cycle and from cycle to cycle, with the second group of students building on the experiences of the first. I tried to exploit this positive dynamic by creating and testing two ‘legacy tools’ explicitly designed to communicate ideas and experiences from previous to future student-participants. This article focuses on the project’s subsequent third and fourth cycles, which took place the following year, and demonstrates that, despite their limitations, the tools proved to be an effective way of conveying the findings from one group of students to another, helping to produce richer learner/teacher experiences and better oral presentations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to benefit from feedback on their writing, students need to engage effectively with it. This article reports a case study on student engagement with computer-generated feedback, known as automated writing evaluation (AWE) feedback, in an EFL context. Differing from previous studies that explored commercially available AWE programs, this study focused on a student’s engagement with a freely available AWE system. The construct of student engagement was operationalized in three interconnected dimensions: behavioural, emotional, and cognitive. Data were collected from three sources: ten written assignments completed by the student, AWE feedback on each assignment, and one retrospective interview with the student. Findings from this study suggest that AWE feedback is likely to have a positive impact on EFL writing, but this impact depends on how individual students engage with the feedback behaviourally, emotionally, and cognitively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fields of Corpus Linguistics and Teacher Education, there is a substantial body of research relating to corpus applications in the classroom. However, the majority of such work relates to teacher training in tertiary education. In this article, a research project is described in which corpus training was included as part of a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA), the popular four-week teacher training programme. Specifically, the project focuses on web-based corpus tools that provide frequency information. Observations and evidence are offered from both the trainees’ and trainers’ perspectives, and the subsequent analysis reveals a number of trends. Overall, it is argued that corpus tools are a valuable training resource on CELTA programmes in terms of developing language awareness and assisting in lesson planning, but that expecting trainees to use corpus tools during teaching practice remains unrealistic. In the ensuing discussion, practical considerations are provided for the integration of corpus tools into CELTA programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews patterns of interaction (i.e. learner role relationships) in peer communicative tasks, and uses data collected from different tasks to explain what happens in peer interaction and its impact on the learning opportunities interlocutors create for each other. It proposes that, with L2 peer interaction gaining popularity in language classrooms, an in-depth understanding is needed of how learners relate to each other in paired dialogues to jointly build new knowledge. In particular, the view that learners will naturally collaborate with each other to complete tasks is challenged. Consequently, based on the discussion of previous studies and data from the present study, implications and suggestions for organizing effective peer interaction activities are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]